Chapter 700: Starting Work

The people of the Ministry of Works led the Laborers out of Lema City, intending to head west along the constructed road. However, they discovered that after a winter of being nourished by snowmelt and the loosening of the soil, various weeds, as well as fallen rocks, tree branches, and dirt, had appeared sporadically on the road they had repaired. If it were not maintained, this road would become unusable.

Consequently, they had no choice but to slow their pace and, following the segmented subcontracting method used during the road's construction, began to repair the road once more. The Laborers officially began their work; everyone was assigned tools. The Laborers, clutching various Iron tools, were incredibly excited, harboring thoughts of wanting to use these tools as Weapons to kill the enemy.

However, under the patrols of the supervisors and the Huaxia Soldiers, they could only work diligently and had to protect their tools well. Yet, it was indeed as the Huaxia people had told them: they were not treated like Slaves while working. Even the supervisors only gave them guidance on how to work and how to use the tools.

The greater effect was actually one of deterrence. The Laborers dared not be too presumptuous in front of the supervisors, mainly because the work was not arduous, and they had no need to slack off; they could complete the work quite easily.

If they suddenly needed to use the toilet, they had to tell a supervisor or a patrolling Soldier, who generally would not disagree. However, if someone's frequency was too high, they would be asked if they were feeling unwell. If it were discovered that they were intentionally using this as an excuse to escape work and slack off, they would be recorded by their number. After making such mistakes several times, they would be sent back. Such people, upon returning to the Xuanyuan Tribe, were also easily punished by Dahong.

Furthermore, they had to go to the toilet in groups and could not go too far; someone had to stand guard. The mountain forests here had not been visited by hunters for too long. Previously, many fierce beasts had been dealt with, but now, no one knew what the situation was here; perhaps more fierce beasts had long since arrived to occupy the ownerless territory.

Road maintenance did not take much effort; it was faster than building from scratch, by who knows how much.

However, this time, the people of the Ministry of Works decided to build more houses along the road to serve as post stations for passing teams. They had to ensure that at the normal travel speed on this road, one could find a room to rest in every day.

The team was too large and the number of people too great, so they split into six groups to travel. All the Artisans, Laborers, Soldiers, and logistics personnel were divided into six parts, each assigned a section of the road, starting from clearing the road surface and then proceeding to the construction of houses.

Every team could obtain the protection of hundreds of Soldiers. Among these Soldiers, there were at least ten Ox Cavalry, so there was absolutely no need to worry about combat effectiveness. They could easily handle ordinary wild beasts; even a large wolf pack of hundreds of wolves could not pose a threat to them.

They also brought enough Bombs. They were confident they could take down the most threatening fierce beasts, such as bears and tigers, without injury. However, for animals like elephants, if there was a herd, they still had to consider driving them away first. After all, elephants were too thick-skinned, and Bow and Arrow were not Barretts. A single long-range shot, even if it hit the heart or lungs, might not necessarily penetrate the skin. If they angered the elephant herd, they might not even have the chance to use the Bombs.

Once the road was cleared, the Artisans began selecting locations to build houses by the roadside. The site selection for the houses could not be too casual; geological and climatic factors had to be considered.

After selecting the locations, the Laborers began digging into the earth and mountains to level the foundations. A portion of the Laborers had to search for timber. Originally, timber needed to be dried for a period before it could be used, but the people of the Ministry of Works discovered that a large portion of the wood they had cut down previously but not used, which had been placed by the roadside as road railings, could be used. The wood and the degree of dryness were just right. Even after picking out the ones with slight rot or insect damage, there was enough for them to build houses.

The people of the Ministry of Works truly had not expected this unexpected joy. The first team to discover this felt that the Artisans of the other teams would definitely discover it as well. After all, as an Artisan, the first thing to do before construction was to look for suitable wood. With so much wood on the ground, there was no reason they would not look down.

The wood cut down by the Laborers, after being debarked, became the material to replace those logs. The road railings were still not destroyed, the Artisans had enough timber, and the progress of house construction was even higher.

Without Brick and Tile, the houses built could only be all-wood or a mix of earth and wood. A single house could not hold many people and could only serve as a temporary place to rest, or to store goods on rainy days to prevent them from being soaked by rain. The baggage they currently had on the road relied entirely on animal hides for waterproofing; there was simply no other way. Grass could be woven into waterproof grass mats, but the weight was truly too high, far less practical than using animal hides. Animal hides could also be used as bedding after the goods arrived.

There were other waterproof materials; oil paper had already been made, but it was somewhat fragile and the price was truly too high. How much Tung Oil could be bought in the Xuanyuan Tribe in a year? Even now, they were also purchasing from the Suiren Clan, but the production of the Suiren Clan was also extremely small. After pressing out the oil, the amount of Tung Oil in Huaxia was pitifully small.

Tung Oil was fought over by every department of the Ministry of Works. Each department had only a tiny quota; how could there be any excess Tung Oil to make oil paper? The oil paper that was made was all taken away by Baifeng.

Baifeng wrapped all the books he had written in oil paper and also made boxes out of camphor wood to prevent them from being eaten by insects or soaked by water. The remaining oil paper was used to make umbrellas, but in all of Huaxia, only a few people could afford to use them or buy them. Even ninety-nine percent of the people in Huaxia had never seen or heard of the thing called an umbrella.

Once the houses were built, some furniture had to be prepared inside. Beds and tables were essential. The Artisans also worked very earnestly because this was done for their own tribesmen; in the future, they themselves might come here to live.

Among the straw in the carts, the Glass was well protected. The Glass was installed on the windows to ensure lighting, but to ensure the Glass was not damaged, they also made an openable wooden window on the outside. Only after opening the wooden window could the Glass window be displayed, and only then could there be sufficient lighting in the room.

The construction work of the rooms was still somewhat slow, and the entire road was also very long. When the first team began to build the houses, the sixth team had not yet reached its designated position.