Chapter 1289: Progress

Before anyone had much of a feeling for it, Winter had already completely arrived; the weather was getting colder and colder, and the Dahe had also completely frozen over.

After Yishang returned to Huaxia City, his first task was not to check on his own body, but rather, after handing over his work and telling Baifeng that their mission this time had failed, he went to fulfill the promises he had made to those Soldiers.

Grain, Cloth, and the like were delivered to the homes of those Soldiers cart by cart, and they were all physical goods, not Cloth Coupons or Grain Coupons, because physical goods could better highlight his generosity and let everyone see that he kept his word.

Baifeng did not criticize anyone involved in this operation, because the failure of this operation was not due to them, but due to uncontrollable factors.

The subsidies that should have been given were all issued in full, without the slightest delay; as for the Soldiers who brought Yishang back, Baifeng did not give them extra rewards, because this was their own mission, and if a precedent for commendation were set this time, if a mission were executed next time and the lead general were injured or sick, wouldn't everyone then be inclined to retreat and fight over who gets to carry the lead general just to earn a commendation for themselves?

As for what Yishang gave personally, that was his own business; after all, they had saved Yishang's life, and Baifeng would not interfere.

Those Leaders of the Suiren Tribe, after obtaining the results they wanted, all left Huaxia City and returned to the Suiren Tribe; calculating the time, they should have arrived at the Suiren Tribe by now.

Those Laborers of the Xuanyuan Tribe, after reaching a consensus, chose two plans; a portion of them were willing to take the land route back directly—it would take longer and be more tiring, but they could get home sooner—while the others set off and left after waiting for the Dahe to freeze over; now, outside Huaxia City, it is very quiet.

Winter has arrived, and everyone doesn't have much to do, so they have all stayed in their own homes to prepare for Winter; the hunters also chose to finish their work for the season, as hunting in Winter is quite dangerous after all, and if one were to encounter heavy Snow and get trapped in the mountains, it would be troublesome; the current Huaxia does not need to let people risk their lives for a little bit of meat.

The team sent to the Suiren Tribe to request people will return in these two days; during this period, the Nobles of all of Huaxia are hiring large numbers of tenant farmers and then requesting Workers from the Ministry of Works to build houses on their own fiefs in advance.

It is just that the houses are very crude; the earth-and-wood structures are just like the ones Huaxia built at the beginning, so the construction speed is relatively fast, and they managed to complete the wall construction before the ground froze, and they also dried out.

Before the temperature dropped, they successfully completed the ridge beam and roof covering; the Tile situation is a bit troublesome because the roads are not connected and are very difficult to travel, so the Tiles fired from Huaxia City cannot be transported over, and the Brick and Tile Factory in Huaxia City cannot fire that many Tiles at once; it is estimated that it will take an entire Winter to be about enough.

The previous inventory was completely emptied just for the housing of those thirty thousand people; the Brick and Tile Factory works almost non-stop all year round, and only stops when the soil can no longer be dug and the mud bricks cannot be air-dried.

Fortunately, there won't be too many people on the fief of each Noble, so the initial construction is not too big a problem for them, and it can still be barely completed.

These past few days, they have been constantly transporting firewood and cutting Grass to serve as items for those Residents to keep warm in Winter; the Grass is used to cover the roofs—without Tiles, they use Grass as a substitute for now.

It doesn't rain in Winter, but when the Snow melts, it will also erode the roof; the roof is made of mud, and if this part isn't done well, it will definitely leak.

No farm work can be done in Winter, so these Nobles are truly going to support those people for the entire Winter for free; of course, this was also Baifeng's intention.

The Suiren Tribe has a large population and insufficient grain, so supporting too many people through the Winter is definitely a bit strenuous, and it is estimated that quite a few people will starve or freeze to death.

It is also very troublesome for him to send people to transport grain over to help; the loss along the way alone is very high, and this back-and-forth is not as good as directly bringing their people to Huaxia and letting the Huaxia Nobles support them; anyway, they have grain, so it is a case of one side willing to pay and the other willing to accept, which can also solve the problem of grain shortages in the Suiren Tribe.

With so many fewer people, the remaining people can share more grain, so at least not too many people will starve to death this year; this is also a good thing for Huaxia, as the people of the Suiren Tribe are, after all, the people of Huaxia, and Baifeng does not want the people under his rule to starve to death.

As for Xiao Town, it is still a bit troublesome now; once Winter comes, there might be accumulated Snow on the roads and it will be very cold, so moving house at this time is definitely not a good choice, but it must be done.

The families willing to move to Xiao Town to seek better development have already been counted, and they have been told that they could set off at any time.

The people among them are basically tenant farmers who have just obtained land and houses; even if they only own one foot of land, they can no longer be considered tenant farmers and can have more opportunities.

Furthermore, the hiring prices for Residents and tenant farmers are not the same; the Residents' will be higher, but the land of these tenant farmers is not enough to support their whole family, so they can only wait until next year to continue to be hired by others, continue to earn grain, buy land, and reclaim wasteland.

But now there is a better opportunity in front of them, which is to go to a new town where they have houses and land as soon as they arrive, and the reclaimed land belongs directly to them, plus there are various tax exemption policies.

There are tax exemption and reduction policies around Huaxia City, but because of the geographical location of Huaxia City, the policies are not as good as in other places; the policies of Xiao Town can be said to be extremely good.

And there is no need to be hired by others; after going there, besides farming, a considerable number of people can become Workers, receiving wages and eating the King's grain, so their status will rise to another level.

With several people in their family, some farming and some working, it would be hard not to be prosperous; furthermore, facilities like the Hospital and schools are already fully equipped, and from Xiao Town to Huaxia City, it is normally a seven to eight-day journey, which is not considered far.

The children can study in Huaxia City later, attending Middle School and Advanced School, and come back during Winter and Summer vacations to stay for a period of time—how wonderful; when the children are not there, they can also work hard to "create people" and produce more children.

Huaxia City is already preparing to build collective dormitories for those students from the towns and other cities that are further away, though currently, there are no students who have reached that level yet.

For those in the surrounding towns, it is also possible to arrive by walking a bit more every day, so it is not strictly necessary; once the collective dormitories are built, this trouble can be saved.

And with the children not at home, houses can be freed up for more small children to live in; everyone just thinks the King's approach is fantastic!