Infrastructure Throne

Outside Yuanliu City, dozens of off-white canvas tents rose from the ground, and were firmly fixed in the soil with thick hemp ropes and wooden stakes around them, barely blocking the cold spring outside.

Each tent has a fixed amount of briquettes for heating every day. After more than half a month, nearly 2 people have been accommodated here, and there are more homeless refugees on the way to Yuanliu City.

Zhaoli is also one of them.He was originally the son of the eldest son of a middle-class family in Nanji City. He received a good elite education since he was a child. After Nanji City was broken, all the elders of Zhaoli's family were buried in the mouth of beastmen.

The only food left in the cellar allowed him and the remaining dozen brothers and sisters to survive until the tide of beasts receded.

When they left the cellar carefully, looking for their family members with a glimmer of hope, all they got was the unrecognizable corpses of their family members.

The world outside is devastated, the city lord's mansion has long been flattened, there is not a grain of wheat left in the warehouse, disorder, chaos, hunger and death are everywhere.

Zhaoli's family used to be a small nobleman. Although they were down and out, they still kept their wealth and the knowledge and dignity of being a nobleman.

But this dignity was quickly destroyed by the ruthless reality.

In order to let his brothers and sisters who are waiting for food have a bite to eat, he has to give up etiquette and all self-esteem, and fight beggars and wild dogs for food.

But soon, everything that could be looted in Nanji City was swept away, and they had to abandon their homes that had been run for generations and embark on an unknown journey of wandering.

The news about Yuanliu City reached Zhao Li's ears at this time.

At first, he didn't believe that this small town, which was poorer than Nanji City, had the ability to defeat the orcs, and still had the capacity to accommodate refugees.

But under the expectant eyes of his younger brothers and sisters, without hesitation, he took the only remaining family members and joined the mighty army of refugees heading for Yuanliu City.

Along the way, they subsisted on wild fruits, bark and wild birds, their feet were worn out by the long journey, and the clothes they wrapped around them were torn and dirty.

The three words Yuanliu City were like an illusory hope, supporting their last breath.If this hope is dashed, there will be countless refugees who have suffered like them, starving to death in despair.

After walking for more than ten days, Zhaoli's family finally saw the walls of Yuanliu City alive.

It was sunset at that time, and the solid and tall city walls stood in the setting sun, baptized by blood, frost and snow into iron gray.

Countless tents are stacked under the city wall, and the crowd is crowded. A large number of refugees flow slowly and orderly in the wooden formation. Crying, laughing, and shouting interweave into a lively symphony, echoing in the sky .

The expressions on people's faces became visibly vivid, and they were no longer insensitive along the way. The magnificent sunlight covered them with a hazy halo, as if a new hope had been born.

The rumor turned out to be true!

Shocked and delighted, Zhaoli hurriedly took his family to find a tent to keep warm. Their hands and feet were numb from the cold, and the backs of their hands were covered with chilblains.

After explaining their origins and identities to the registration staff, the other party stuffed a small wooden sign with their names on them one by one, hung them around their necks, and followed the instructions of the militiamen on duty, and took them to the thickest tent.

Soon, Zhaoli and his party were intercepted, and the other party wanted to forcibly take away Zhaoli's sisters, which scared everyone.

Zhaoli opened his hands to protect his younger sisters tightly, like an old hen protecting its cubs, and would never let the younger sisters out of his sight.

In the end, two women with cloth towels on their heads came forward and told Zhaoli that this was to "separate baths for men and women", and took them to take a bath and change new clothes, so as not to carry any unclean poison on their bodies, which would cause a plague and spread among the refugees. camp infection.

What?Give them a bath?Use hot water?

Zhao Li almost suspected that there was something wrong with his ears, until several female refugees who had just come out of the "bathhouse" confirmed the woman's words and ensured that there was no man inside, Zhao Li was slightly relieved.

A group of people hurriedly washed off the dirt and weather on their bodies, changed into brand new cotton clothes, and were forced to cut off their dirty and clumped hair. When they walked out refreshed, it suddenly seemed like a lifetime ago.

Next, the militiamen took them to another tent for dinner. Their stomachs were already growling with hunger. Today, they only ate a few rotten wild fruits in the early morning.

Zhaoli thought to himself, if he could have some naan bread or porridge, even if he could share a few bites with each other, he would be able to make do with it.

Unexpectedly, as soon as they entered the tent, the smell of wheat porridge got into their noses, and each of them got a small bowl of wheat porridge!

The spoon is inserted into the porridge bowl and can stand upright.

They couldn't wait to hold the porridge bowl and began to gobble it up. In addition to wheat and barley, they sprinkled a few grains of salt in the porridge. Under the fear of hunger, they could eat the porridge with relish, and even licked the bottom of the bowl.

Looking at the satisfied expressions of his younger siblings, Zhao Li held the hot porridge bowl, his throat seemed to be choked with hot air, his nose was sore, and his eyes were almost filled with tears. Until this moment, he felt reborn from a lonely ghost to a human .

Until the bowls and spoons were taken away, Zhao Li's eyes were glued to them reluctantly, but he knew that it was impossible to ask for more.

A group of people came to the tent where men and women lived separately. They heard that there was a gangster with a ulterior motive who sneaked into the tent where the women lived and wanted to do something wrong, but was caught by the militia on the spot.

He hung on the execution rack the next day and was stoned to death by angry refugees.

Zhaoli took his younger brothers into the tent, and the warm air rushed towards his face. There was briquette burning in the charcoal stove. Their family had also used it. It is said that it was passed from Yuanliu City to Nanji City, but the price was several times more expensive. .

The bed was a big bed for ten people side by side, and the bottom was made of red bricks, which was very warm and comfortable to the touch.

Zhao Li was dazed by waves of surprises, and relaxed his body and retracted into the quilt. He was tortured by hunger, labor and hardship for days, and his eyelids were very tired soon.

He didn't understand why the people in power in Yuanliu City were so kind to these refugees. If they were lucky enough to see each other, he would give everything to repay Jinxi's grace of rebuilding.

※※※

The next day, early in the morning, Zhaoli was woken up by the loudspeakers of the militiamen on duty.

A neat row of small stalls were set up outside the tents, and each stall had a wooden board with bold characters written in charcoal: doctors, teachers, craftsmen, farmers, businessmen, folk husbands and so on.

Zhao Li was taken aback, it turned out that he was recruiting workers.

Unexpectedly, Yuanliu City didn't intend to use these refugees as coolies. As long as they had a skill, they would assign jobs to them.

What surprised Zhaoli even more was that the remuneration was quite generous, much better than that in Nanji City.

Zhao Li became more and more curious about who is the ruler of Yuanliu City who is willing to spend so much effort and gold coins on these "untouchables".

Zhaoli looked at the job types and salaries of each booth one by one, and finally stopped in front of the booth recruiting teachers.

He hesitated, feeling a little embarrassed. He and his siblings were well-educated nobles, but now he had to beg others to be a low-status teacher.

"Sir, are you literate?" The militiamen in the teacher's booth have been idle for most of the day, just like the doctor's booth, deserted.

These days, 90.00% of the refugees are illiterate, let alone professionally educated.

After finally catching a guy who looks gentle and handsome, the militiaman immediately greeted him enthusiastically, looking at Zhaoli with the eyes of a treasure.

Alas, worry, the superiors remind me every day, saying that the priest is planning to build a school, so that all school-age children in the city can read and read, but there are not enough teachers. Among the common people in the city, literate people are rare species, and there is a shortage of manpower everywhere. .

Hearing the rustic foreign accent, Zhaoli nodded reservedly: "I can read, and I, as well as my younger siblings, can also read."

"Really? That's great!" The militiaman slapped his hands suddenly, overjoyed, "Come on, sign this contract quickly, our Yuanliu City treats teachers preferentially, and includes food and housing, and the city will expand in the future How about housing allocation, one silver coin per month, and a salary increase after working for a year? Are you excited?"

Zhao Li clicked his tongue secretly. In the past, according to the family's assets, he naturally didn't pay attention to a mere silver coin.

However, for a mere teacher, the salary of one silver coin per month is at least that of a scholar hired by a noble mansion.It's unbelievable that Yuanliu City didn't even blink an eye to a refugee who could read and write.

He looked around and found that behind the booth, there was a row of workshop booths, recruiting craftsmen, and the billboards read: steel factory, agricultural tool factory, match factory, sugar factory, etc., and there were many things he couldn't understand. Workshop name.

The militiamen saw him looking around, and hurriedly stopped him: "Sir, those are all physical labors. Seeing how thin you are, I'm afraid you won't be able to bear the hardship. You should come to our school to be a teacher."

Zhao Li curiously pointed to one of the workshops: "I understand firewood, but the match factory, is it for cutting firewood? And the sugar factory? Is it caramel? Aren't the agricultural tool factory and the steel factory all blacksmiths? Why is it divided into two?"

The militiaman glanced at his mouth helplessly, forget it, for today's performance, he endured it.

"Brother, a match is a wooden stalk the length of a little finger, with something like sulfur wrapped around the end, used to light fire, here."

He took out a small half-finger-wide cardboard box from his pocket, picked one, and rubbed it lightly on the side, instantly sparking a cluster of sparks.

With a light blow, the match went out again, which surprised Zhao Li.

The militiaman snorted softly, put away the wasted matchbox in distress, and couldn't help revealing a complacent look while talking:

"The sugar factory is said to press a plant called sugarcane. The juice produced is clear and sweet, and the sugar made is white, like salt particles."

"The farm tool factory is even more amazing. I heard that Master Lance invented a wooden machine for harvesting by animal power. You can cut wheat by yourself with oxen and horses. The steel factory has been expanded again, and that is a factory built by our Lord Priestess." What about the square?"

When this topic was mentioned, Bingmin immediately stopped feeling drowsy, opened up the chatterbox, and babbled endlessly. With that posture, he wished to blow the officiant for three days and three nights.

Zhaoli listened, and became more and more surprised: "This refugee camp is also an order from the Priest of Yuanliu City?"

"Isn't it?" the militiaman murmured, "However, the food in our city is also limited. Meals are free for the first three days, and from the fourth day onwards, you will have to exchange your labor for food money. Yuanliu City does not feed for free. of."

"If someone is lazy, or makes trouble, well, the execution frame is there."

Zhao Li nodded again and again: "I understand, I understand."

Suddenly, there was a commotion outside the crowd.

Zhao Li turned his head, and vaguely saw a white-clothed figure in the middle of the dispersed crowd, surrounded by guards, approaching slowly.

Zhao Li stood on tiptoe, stretched his neck and looked in, the figure of the man gradually appeared in the cluttered field of vision.

He is slender and tall, with a calm walk, slightly long black hair, half-hidden face, and deep facial features. When scanning the crowd, his deep pupils are like two magnets, firmly attracting people's attention.

Zhao Li's eyes widened, staring at Shen Qingze without blinking, and some people in the center of the crowd began to prostrate themselves and shouted, Lord Officiant.

Zhaoli immediately understood that this was the benefactor of his whole family, his eyes were a little red, and he subconsciously moved his Adam's apple, just staring at him blankly.

Until everyone around him bowed down, he still stood there abruptly, like a dumbfounded fool.