Overlord's Road to Ancient Emperors

"My lord, if you go further south, you will cross the border of South Vietnam, do you want to continue?" Kou Xiao asked Li Xu for instructions.

"Tell me, are those people who fell into the sea as thieves all from Lingnan?"

"Mostly, there are also some prisoners fleeing from various places and some people who don't want to work."

"Where did they get their boats? Have you seen their boats, can they travel far on the sea?"

Kou Xiao nodded, saying that he had seen it before, "Actually, their ships are not much stronger than Nanyue's, it's just that this group of desperadoes dare to take risks and are not afraid of the wind and waves at sea, but none of the pirates can really escape from Lingnan. "

Li Xu couldn't understand the court's approach, how could it love to exile criminals to the border!Doesn't this add to the chaos at the border?The southeast side is okay, but beyond that is the sea. If the prisoners exiled in the northwest want to cause trouble and collude with foreign invaders, it will be hard to guard against.

Li Xu actually had an idea in his heart, which was a bit risky, but South Vietnam is really short of people, the land is vast and abundant, but the land is sparsely populated. If we can get more people, even criminals will be fine, instead of letting them idle and commit crimes Gang, why not catch them all to build bridges and roads for him, and build city walls.

Labor reform, maybe it can make them change their minds.

But this matter can be big or small, and it can't be done if you think about it. To subdue this group of villains, you must first improve your foundation, have sufficient force to deter and have sufficient financial support, and then you can do both.

"I won't continue going south. The king has already taken a fancy to two places, and he can recruit people to start construction at any time."

Seeing that he was confident, Kou Xiao said, "Are you going back tomorrow? Where are you looking forward to? At the end, you can send people to enclose the land first."

Li Xu pointed to his feet, "It's right here, but in addition to building the salt fields, we also need to build a port nearby to facilitate the transportation of goods by ships, otherwise it would be very inconvenient to rely on land transportation."

Kou Xiao didn't quite understand, "Why is this place suitable for building salt fields?"

Can Li Xu tell him that this place is still a big salt factory in future generations?He has visited salt fields before, and he knows the general process of drying salt, but whether he can succeed at one time depends on whether God will reward him with food.

"I figured it out by pinching my fingers, does General Kou believe it?"

Kou Xiao frowned, thinking to himself: Only ghosts can be believed in you.But since people don't say it, forget it, it's a secret, the less people know, the better.

"However, General Kou said that this place is very close to Lingnan, so how can we ensure that this salt field will not be discovered and disturbed?"

Kou Xiao had an idea in his mind, and it was a very exciting idea. He asked back: "Can the prince guarantee that there will be money in the treasury this summer?"

"I can." He thought for a while, then nodded confidently: "Yes, don't worry, I can definitely." Even if the production of sun-dried salt is poor this year, he still has other ways to make money.

"Well, the general will issue a conscription order immediately, and send five thousand soldiers to guard here first, and the newly recruited soldiers will be able to use it after a few months of training."

"It doesn't take as many as 5000 people, one thousand is enough." Li Xu looked at the nearby terrain, and it is still an undeveloped area. Because it is near the sea, the common people dare not live near it, so their eyes are desolate.

A few hundred miles to the south, because it is the border, there are garrisons all year round, so pirates rarely invade from the south, and basically sneak in from the sea by boat, so the real thing to guard against is the pirates who come ashore from the sea.

According to the news he got, most of the pirates have been eradicated by Kou Xiao in recent years, and very few of them can become successful. They basically aim at fishing villages and small towns by the sea and run away. Generally, they will not go to such a remote and uninhabited place. place to come.

But he can't take chances, what if it's such a coincidence.

Li Xu thought for a while, and discussed with Kou Xiao, "Why don't we build a naval base near here."

"Naval base?" Kou Xiao's eyes lit up. He originally only wanted to take this opportunity to recruit troops to expand his army, but he didn't expect the prince to think further than him.

South Vietnam is naturally short of sailors, otherwise it would not be so difficult to fight pirates these years, but sailors are not just about recruiting a group of people to serve as soldiers, they need to be equipped with sea ships, and the weapons on sea ships are also indispensable. .

Li Xu couldn't make guns and cannons, but he knew the formula of gunpowder, and it was still possible to get a few packs of explosives, but he didn't plan to take them out now.

"To build a naval base with thousands of people, at least a few hundred salt workers are enough. These hundreds of people must also participate in drills in their spare time. At least they can take up weapons to fight one or two when the enemy attacks."

"I heard that all the people of the Xiongnu are soldiers. Even the old and weak, women and children can take up weapons to kill the enemy. If Nanyue can do the same, they won't be afraid of any pirates."

Li Xu shook his head and disagreed with this point of view, "The geographical location is different, the physical fitness of the South Vietnamese people is still different from that of the Huns, but the innate conditions are not as good as they are, and we can make up for it the day after tomorrow."

"Once the military training starts here, everyone around will know about it."

"This is a good thing. Let others think that the movement here is caused by military training. As long as you stop those who come to spy on the news, this Yantian can be hidden for a long time." He is no longer afraid of the salt fields that come to covet him.

The two had a careful discussion, and Kou Xiao had a clear idea, so he simply took Li Xu to the nearest Zhangyi County, put on his identity and directly entered the county government office, and then posted the recruitment notice on the same day, and sent the county lieutenant Take full responsibility for this matter.

Kou Xiao roughly knew the population of the surrounding area, so he only asked the county lieutenant to recruit [-] soldiers, and the treatment was very good, and the training base was near Zhangyi County, close to home, and he could take turns going home to visit relatives every month when there was nothing to do. And it was just to train soldiers instead of going to the battlefield when they were brought in. After hearing the news, many people rushed to sign up.

The county lieutenant eliminated a large number of people according to Kou Xiao's request, and finally accepted a total of more than 860 people.

Sitting in the county government office, Li Xu looked through the files of these more than 1000 people, feeling deeply moved. In the past, watching TV dramas and movies always involved hundreds of thousands of troops, but when he really arrived in South Vietnam, he knew that there was no such thing here. It is hard to say whether the combined population of South Vietnam is 100 million or not.

During the few days when Li Xu was in the county government, he also met with officials of all sizes here. The county magistrate who was in charge of household registration was stumped by one question, but he only asked the most basic question: the population of Zhangyi County.

The county magistrate couldn't give him the exact number, and neither could Kou Xiao. Only then did Li Xu know that his next work focus is not only to make money, but also to pay close attention to the census and register.

"The thousand or eight hundred people are all young and middle-aged, and they have families and surnames. Their backgrounds can be checked. The prince can rest assured."

Since Li Xu wants to train the salt workers as soldiers, it is of course impossible to recruit the old, the weak, the sick and the disabled. Among these people, [-] people with superior physical fitness will be selected to fill the Kou family's army and train them into the first navy army. The remaining [-] people It is the salt workers of the salt factory.

Li Xu is not afraid that they will not be happy. He offers a very high salary and good benefits. If you don’t come, there will be people waiting for you. If it’s not because of time constraints, he can even recruit people from other places. The local residents will take care of them first. .

In addition to recruiting soldiers and salt workers, Li Xu also needs to recruit a group of construction workers. Someone needs to build the base, but Kou Xiao said that the construction of houses can be done by soldiers in the future. The houses here are almost all civil structures, and the roofs are covered. Qingwa, every household can do it.

But Li Xu wanted to try to build a brick and tile house, which would be more resistant to typhoons, so he hired more than a dozen craftsmen.

The county magistrate of Zhangyi County, surnamed Zhong, is a gray-haired old man. I heard that he is only 49 years old, but he looks like 79. Li Xu knows that in this era, life expectancy is not long, the conditions in South Vietnam are even worse, and banditry is severe. , and the average life expectancy is even lower.

As soon as Zhong County Magistrate heard that the prince was going to build a naval base near Zhangyi, he immediately took care of the recruitment. "The county government can't get money, but there are still enough manpower. The soldiers just need to work hard. Those who build the base It’s up to ordinary people to do things.”

If this base can be built, any pirates who come ashore in the future will have to pass through the water army first. It will undoubtedly be a great event for the local people, and the county magistrate Zhong will definitely support it.

But he was puzzled by Li Xu asking him to search for lime and clay in large quantities. What are the functions of these two things?But the old county magistrate didn't dare to ask or speak, and silently settled the matter.

If Li Xu hadn't seen that he was too old, he would have poached him to train him as a member of his team, he would have been short of this kind of quiet and capable official.

In the next few days, Li Xu found a brick kiln factory at the foot of a mountain outside the county seat. The workers were recruited from nearby villagers, both men and women, and what they did was digging soil and burning bricks.

Li Xu can only build a red brick kiln at present. The oldest solid brick is made of loess, which is made of embryos and then fired. The process is simple. Although it takes a lot of soil and wood, it is currently the most convenient and simplest method. .

When it was time to set off, there were thousands of people in the team. In addition to the recruited soldiers and workers, more than half of the county government servants were dispatched, and there were also officials of all sizes transferred from various departments to help manage the population, register and keep accounts. There are also some women who follow the past to do some chores, wash and cook, so that the workers who have worked hard all day can't even drink hot water.

While admiring Li Xu, he suspected that if the County Magistrate Zhong hadn't been old, maybe he would have followed him, he is really a good official who has everything.

After the team left Zhangyi, it took only three hours to arrive at the beach. After the dry food was distributed, everyone slept on the beach overnight. When they got up early in the morning, these people were divided into two groups and went in different directions.

After all, Li Xu is the boss of a real estate company, and he did not miss construction sites back then. He even moved bricks on construction sites as a foreman when he was young. He must be more familiar with this aspect of the construction industry.

He knew that the earliest cement was made by mixing lime and volcanic ash. He couldn't find volcanic ash for a while, so he could only use clay instead. He first tried to build a few large fire stoves, and the effect was not bad.

The wind was strong by the sea, and Li Xu didn't plan to build a tall building, so he built a one-story brick house. Since there was no steel bar, the load-bearing parts could only be replaced by wood. In the end, a bungalow with brick and wood structure was built. Even so, the house was built After all, it still shocked everyone.

Especially when Kou Xiao saw it, he fondled touching the wall back and forth, and then pushed hard. If it wasn't for Li Xu watching him vigilantly, he would have smashed it with all his might.