Chapter 583: Our Own Family

"They say the dishes at Pozidun are northern-style, so we'll eat right here, the two of us."

In front of the food stalls outside Pozidun, Ceng Zhimu, his face wreathed in smiles, pointed to the food stall ahead. Today was the rest day that came once every ten days, and the two of them had come out to eat. Old Ceng usually ate in the camp; ninety percent of the Anqing Battalion were southerners, and the meals were all southern-style. It was rare for him to get out. Some other northerners at the Stable Office had recommended this place before, saying Pozidun had northern flavors, which was why they had come here.

The food stall at Pozidun up ahead was packed with people. Several old women bustled about inside, shouting nonstop in northern accents. Business looked very good, and the food was probably not bad either.

The old man turned around. Behind him, the young Xiao Wazi, wearing a felt hat, kept his head down, his cheeks mostly hidden by the hat's brim. He raised his head slightly to glance at the food stall, and his expression suddenly changed. He immediately reached out, grabbed the old man's arm, and pulled him back. The old man looked baffled but asked no questions, following Xiao Wazi for over ten paces before they stopped.

Xiao Wazi's lips trembled a little. "Grandpa, there's an old woman from the Western Camp in there. She might recognize me. We need to go, fast."

Old Ceng froze for a moment, then turned to look at that food stall. He turned back to Xiao Wazi and said kindly, "Even if she does recognize you, so what? She's just an old woman, and she came from the Western Camp herself. She doesn't know how you got here. Why would she come pester you?"

Xiao Wazi stood stunned for a moment, at a loss for how to answer the old man.

The old man patted him on the shoulder. "Child, you are now a groom of the Anqing Cavalry Camp. Even if you don't fight, you still draw pay, so you count as a man of the Anqing Battalion. The women in this mound are all those captured back at Susong. They have no grain and no pay, just scraping a living here. She's only afraid people will make trouble for her; she absolutely wouldn't dare make trouble for anyone else."

Xiao Wazi's face was a little pale. He kept vigilantly watching the pedestrians on the street. The old man looked at him for a moment, then added, "Child, what exactly are you afraid of? Who else in this Anqing Battalion could possibly know how you got here?"

Xiao Wazi's gaze fell upon the old man's aged face. He hesitated a moment, then shook his head.

The old man, not giving it much more thought, said, "Since that old woman is there, we'll just skip eating at this place."

Hearing this, Xiao Wazi's expression relaxed a little. Old Ceng suddenly smiled. "No rush to eat. Let's go see our family's house first."

Xiao Wazi nodded. The old man led him further into the street. Both sides of the road were piled everywhere with bricks, stones, and tiles, and the road surface was all mud. Finally, the old man stopped in front of an excavated foundation pit.

The plot of land they had chosen was in the lane across from Pozidun. The street entrance was not far from that food stall, though it was actually a bit far from the old Shipai Market town. But by now, it was already considered a fairly good plot, because Shipai had developed too fast these past few years. Especially recently, with a sudden influx of large amounts of capital, buildable land had become extremely tight.

During that incursion in the early Chongzhen Eighth Year, all three counties along the mountains in Anqing had been overrun. They were very close to Shipai, and these counties had close dealings with Shipai. The misery of the calamity had been felt very keenly.

The entire Anqing region faced a severe threat from the Roving Bandits. Shipai had no soldiers and no city wall; it could face total annihilation at any moment. The gentry here who had money went to Nanjing, those slightly less well-off went to the Prefectural City, and those whose assets could not be liquidated could only stay in Shipai in constant fear.

Geographically, Shipai sat at the center of Anqing. Roads extended in all directions, the Wan River connected to the great river, water and land transport were convenient, and the surrounding area was all grain-producing land. Supplying grain and forage was even more convenient than in the Prefectural City.

More importantly, this place was some distance from the Prefectural City and would not draw as much attention. Pang Yu's previous strength had all been hidden within the imperial court system. With this round of army expansion, its scale was already hard to conceal. Moving to Shipai could reduce a lot of trouble. This place was gradually becoming the key stronghold of the Anqing Battalion. As large amounts of capital were poured into Shipai, people and goods were all gathering toward Shipai Town. Nianyu Ferry could no longer accommodate the docking; the docks were being expanded, and the market town was expanding along with them. Newly designated streets were everywhere.

Previously, because Pozidun needed large open spaces for drying forage, its location was a remote spot outside the market town, even some distance from the camp area. But with the expansion of the Martial Academy, the old forage-drying grounds had been taken over to build the Drill Ground and a large number of Barracks. The number of people bringing their Family Dependents increased accordingly, and they all bought land nearby. Gradually, the spaces in between were filled in, and then expansion continued into the surrounding areas. Demarcated plots were everywhere, and the area around Pozidun was showing a trend of becoming prime real estate.

In this block, there were a few other Tile-Roofed Houses under construction, but they too had only dug the foundation trenches, with no Artisans in sight to build the houses.

The old man pointed to the foundation trench in front of them. "This plot is our family's. I've already booked the Artisans. These Artisans are from Chizhou. Originally, the cavalry side recommended a group from Shandong who were cheaper. I asked, but they said they'd gone to Zongyang. There's construction there too, so they all ran off over there. Other people say the craftsmanship from Chizhou is good. It's a bit more expensive, but so be it — after all, it's a place to live for a lifetime." Old Ceng coughed twice and continued, "I booked the bricklayer, the tiler, and the plasterer all together, and gave them an extra two taels of silver to start work before the new year, so they can pick right up again when they come back after the year."

Xiao Wazi patted the old man's back, his eyes constantly glancing at the excavated foundation nearby. There were several people there who looked like Laborers. Among them, one person was holding a water basin, and inside the basin there was also a bowl. He had no idea what it was for.

"Grandpa, what are they doing with that basin?"

"Setting the level line. Once the foundation trench is dug, it becomes the base for the house later. If the ground isn't level, the house will be crooked." The old man wore a smile, his eyes full of kindness. "Back in our old home, every time another family raised the main beam, people from several li around would go to watch. The host family needed lots of people to help. If you contributed labor, they'd provide a meal, sometimes two. I had the strength back then, so I often went to work. The happiest part was, if the ridgepole was set well, maybe the host would be so pleased he'd give everyone more to eat. If it happened near year's end, you might even get a couple bites of meat. So every time I saw someone digging a foundation trench, I'd be truly happy, waiting to go help him raise the beam. I just never imagined that one day I, too, could build a brick and tile house for my own family."

Xiao Wazi turned his head to look toward the street entrance. The Pozidun food stall over there was already some distance away, and people's faces were a bit blurry. He slowly crouched down beside the old man, looked at the foundation trench before him, and murmured, "Building a house takes so much effort."

"A house is what a family relies on. You dig the foundation trench for the base, then you set the main beam. The house is framed up with several large logs. Only after that do you lay the bricks and do the woodwork. Once the tiles are on, it's about done. Then you still have to add lots of furniture before a home is truly established."

Xiao Wazi raised his head and happened to see a Tile-Roofed House nearly finished in the next block. "Shipai here doesn't even have a City Wall. If Eight Master and his lot come, after all your hard work building it, he'll just burn it down with one fire."

"How would the Roving Bandits dare come to Shipai? This place is full of Anqing troops. That Eight Master from the Susong incident — we nearly beat him to death. You invite him to Anqing, and he still wouldn't come. Even if he did come, I still want to build a brick and tile house for my own family. I'll live in it as long as I can."

Xiao Wazi's mouth stretched wide, almost like a smile. He waited a moment, then said, "Grandpa, why are they digging trenches everywhere, but once they're dug, no one's working?"

"That's because it's easy to find people for the trench-digging work, but not for the skilled trades." Old Ceng pointed to a spot nearby where they were digging a trench. "The one holding the basin is doing the leveling; he's a skilled worker. For the manual labor of digging and filling earth, you just hire Laborers. They're easy to hire — they're everywhere in Shipai. Just feed them and that's enough. One skilled worker can lead several teams of men digging trenches in a day. It's the bricklayers, carpenters, and tilers who come after that are the skilled trades, and they're in short supply everywhere. Once the foundation trench is dug, you can only wait. Right now, it's not just a shortage of people; the main beams, bricks, and tiles are all in short supply too — especially the main beams. They say the bamboo and timber yard at Sheng-Tang Ferry is completely empty of wood. Even good, usable mud is in short supply."

Xiao Wazi nodded. "Then we have to wait anyway. Why did he dig it open so early?"

The old man crouched down in front of his family's foundation trench, his eyes full of hope, as if the house were about to be finished any moment. "When those master Artisans take on a construction job, they dig the trench first to set the client's mind at ease. Also, once it's dug open here, it counts as him having made a start, so it's harder for the client to switch to someone else. If there's a shortage of people for the skilled work later, he can just drag it out. If you, the client, want to switch, he'll use this to quarrel with you. If quarreling really doesn't work, then he'll overcharge for the trench digging. Once the client gets annoyed enough, he'll just pay it. Either way, the Artisan doesn't lose out."

Xiao Wazi looked at the man holding the water, and said coldly, "These master Artisans are hateful. If this were before, I'd have just cut him down with one stroke of the Sword."

"That is hateful, but if you cut them all down with one stroke, there'd be no one left to build houses." The old man sighed. "Living here, we feel at ease compared to before. Do you know why we can feel at ease?"

Xiao Wazi said blankly, "Why…"

"Because this place has rules." The old man pointed to the street entrance outside. The road was full of Anqing soldiers in red uniforms, and occasionally a three-man team of Pacification Commissioners walked by. "When soldiers from other places come out, the shops on the street all close, and girls and young wives run for their lives. Now when they come out, no one runs, no one flees, and they can still do business and earn money. If there were no rules, you could kill people at random, and people could kill you at random. In the end, no one would survive. Plenty of people curse that Wu Dacai, but the rules in Shipai were established by him. Say what you will about some things being unreasonable, but on the whole, it's better than having no rules."

The old man looked at his family's dug foundation trench. "The Herald came today. After the new year, the Cavalry Camp is likely to march out. If not to Huguang, then to Henan. The Logistics Officer in charge of the horses said this trip will be a long one, and he wants me to go along so he can rest easy. I agreed. This trip will take at least half a year. I told that master Artisan, if it's still not finished when I get back from this campaign, I'll switch to someone else to build it, and I won't pay him for the work either. The master Artisan agreed to that. When we return this time, our family, the two of us, will have our own brick and tile house to live in."

Xiao Wazi clasped his hands together, rubbing them back and forth constantly. He turned his head again to look at the food stall at the street entrance for a moment. Finally, his gaze settled on his family's foundation trench, and he murmured, "Our own brick and tile house."