Chapter 91: The Road to Development (Part 1)

Li Bucai said, "No, have you inspected the waterway downstream?"

"What's the matter?"

"This river starts three li downstream and runs all the way to Shalanjiang. There are three shoals in total; the shortest stretch is just over 50 m, the longest exceeds a hundred meters. Clearing a river channel is a massive undertaking. Without proper engineering equipment, even the smallest fishing boat would require a channel at least four meters wide and deeper than 1.5 m to navigate safely. With only our meager manpower, it would take about a month just to dig it out. Moreover, shoals are rapids, and digging them would only make the flow faster; without rope pullers, it's hard to go upstream. Besides the shoals, there are at least three more rapids downstream. Even if we dug them, the river's flow is modest and the bed is all pebbles. When the summer rains surge, a single flood could fill all the navigation channels." Li Bucai had seen rivers this large; each flood reshapes the riverbed.

"I never thought about it that much; turns out it's that complicated."

"Then we could just build a floating bridge here, from here to the riverbank. Rest assured, we won't tax you."

"Crossing the river from his side, if we want to reach our own territory at San Shuikou, we'd still need to build a floating bridge there; moreover, few civilians can swim, and I'm worried they might suffer losses."

The school‑uniformed girl thought for a moment and said, "Just as you said, once a flood comes, the floating bridge will be washed away, so during the rainy season I won't be able to fish. I think I'll still consider carving a path through the mountains. How many guards do you have over there?"

"Five hundred."

"Wow, that many. How about this: I'll cut a trail through the mountains to the Shalanjiang bank, then build a pier there. I have few people, and the mountain road is hard to traverse. Once my pier is built, could you watch over that side? Of course I won't waste your men; I'll pay you ten bolts of cloth each month. How does that sound?"

One bolt equals ten meters and is worth about one silver; ten bolts make one gold. At our current level of industry, ten bolts of cloth are not easy to weave.

"Have you started raising silkworms over there?"

"Hmm, I have a mulberry grove here with fresh leaves, and I bought silkworms from Sky City. The carpenter is now forging a spinning wheel; I expect to have cloth woven by the end of the month." The school‑uniformed girl added, "Also, when you have time, could you come over and look at it, help me choose the best route for road construction."

"Sure, when do you plan to start construction?"

"When we have settled all the civilians, I'll send someone to invite you."

"Alright."

"Then it's settled." The school‑uniformed girl waved goodbye to Li Bucai, and the two went their separate ways from the riverbank.

…

Not far in front of the stockade wall stood a wooden pen for cattle, housing nearly a hundred calves captured earlier from the Shadow Valley. Eight civilians helped the herder bring in fodder, and the herder placed the fodder into the troughs.

These cattle are all very young hornless ox calves; hornless oxen give birth in spring, and these are less than a month old, just weaned, not as wild as adults.

"How about it, can these oxen be tamed?" the person building houses was busy; there was nothing else going on there, so Li Bucai went to inspect the cattle first.

"Yes, my lord, they still have some wildness. After a while, once we fit them with nose rings, they should obey, probably in about a month. Hornless oxen have great strength and will make fine draft oxen."

Li Bucai's intention in capturing them was to train them as draft oxen, and he nodded with satisfaction: "One hundred oxen, one hundred horses, and three phantom pigs—can the few of you handle that?" Including two herders, only ten people are available to tend the livestock.

"We can manage for now, but after a few more days when the nearby fodder is exhausted, if the road is farther, it will be uncertain."

The eight civilians cut grass to feed over two hundred livestock, and indeed the supply falls short.

"Manpower is a bit tight now; once the houses are finished, I'll immediately assign more workers to you. Also, before the oxen can pull carts, you can take one or two horses from the herd; I'll have them build a carriage in their spare time." To accelerate production, of the hundred horses, sixty are for cavalry and the remaining forty are intended for pulling carts to aid production.

The herder gladly said, "If we have a carriage, we can reach even farther places."

Li Bucai nodded, "Then, for the next couple of days, I'll trouble you."

…

Under Yan Qiu and the others' command, construction proceeded unusually fast; on the open ground, the frames of over a hundred wooden houses had already been erected, neat and orderly, with clear roads between them, resembling a western frontier town, spread on both sides of the stockade.

While there was still time, Li Bucai, accompanied by Yue Ji, Wan'er, Shan Ji, and his cavalry, left the stockade—both to ride the horses and to carefully survey the plain, delineating the area to be cultivated.

The plain is covered with fertile soil, stretching over twenty li north‑south, and at its widest east‑west it exceeds fifteen li, making it an excellent grain region. Moreover, from a pass linking Wolong Shanmai to the Shadow Valley, a creek a little over two feet wide winds down from the mountain foot toward the White Horse River. Though its flow isn't large, it's sufficient to irrigate a hundred mu of rice paddies.

This time Li Bucai bought a large amount of grain and vegetable seeds from Sky City: rice seeds that mature in four months, corn seeds in four and a half months, round‑potato seeds—similar to Earth's potatoes—maturing in two months, plus various leafy vegetables; the fastest is spinach, ready in one month, while the rest take over two months.

We can first set up a garrison here to safeguard the villagers. In the future, a stone fortress will be built in this area—to protect the farmland and because the city gate opens directly onto a pass. As we learn more about the Territory, the main city may be placed deep inland, making this spot its gateway.

After confirming these matters, Li Bucai returned to the Shalanjiang bank. The Tan family brothers had threatened to attack tomorrow, so to leave nothing to chance, Li Bucai moved westward along the river to scout the surrounding mountains. After walking a distance, the path was blocked by mountains; the riverbank was flanked by high peaks with no passable gap. At the end of the road, however, a wide meadow stretched from the mountain foot to the riverbank, over five li wide, covered with grass a foot high. A herd of Lulu beasts was still grazing there, having lingered for a month.

"Lulu beasts, should we catch a few more?" Wan'er and the others, who had previously hunted Lulu beasts with him, leapt at the sight of the herd.

"No, don't disturb them yet; there's enough grass here for a while. When we build the pier in a few days, we'll clear them out."

The Tan family brothers could launch an attack at any time; with this herd of Lulu beasts nearby, they might serve as a decoy force, and when needed, the beasts could be used to disrupt the enemy's formation.