A group of soldiers who went out to fight were about to serve as laborers to build a city. Not only did the officers and soldiers below have opinions, but even Tang Yin and Zhang Lun, the middle and upper-class people in the army were complaining.

Although they don’t need to make a lot of effort to build the city this time, they have to be responsible for the supervision, coordination and dispatching of many things.

Tang Yin and Zhang Lun came out of the Central Army tent together. Zhang Lun turned his head and said helplessly: "Brother Bo Hu, if you have any problems in the future, please give me more advice, so as not to be blamed by the adults. Fortunately, the adults will not pursue the matter today, otherwise..."

Tang Yin directly retorted: "Don't count on me for everything, you have to figure it out for yourself... Shangshu Chen's ideas are often unpredictable. But now it's okay, at least someone in the army can help do odd jobs. When there are more civilians, the soldiers in the army will be responsible for training and garrison."

Zhang Lun blinked and asked, "Sir, do you have any instructions for the troops stationed in the future and daily training?"

Tang Yin shook his head directly: "No, but I believe there will be something soon. When the army arrives at the local area, it's time to do some serious business? The seashore cannot be leveled for the time being, and the whole court is staring at it. Who dares to move rashly?"

At night, the camp adjacent to the county government in Shanghai was adjacent to the county government.

From the Jianxian County of the Yuan Dynasty to the Hongzhi period of the Ming Dynasty, Shanghai had no city wall protection. It was mainly because it was a coastal town and had almost never suffered from war. Wars mostly occurred in the inland areas, and by the time of the sea, it was already peaceful. In addition, the residents here mainly used sailing for a living, and it was inconvenient to build high walls.

But this world was influenced by Chenxi. Ten years ago, he drove the Japanese pirates from Fujian and Guangdong to Zhejiang, making the Zhoushan Islands a base for Japanese pirates earlier than in history. Therefore, over the years, Zhejiang's coastal areas suffered hardships, and Shanghai County, which had no city wall protection in the southern Zhili area, was also affected. Last year, taking advantage of the northern court to use troops against the Tatars, he was robbed by Japanese pirates five times in just two months. The county magistrate, county magistrate and magistrate died one after another, and the county was almost ruined.

Songjiang Prefecture naturally could not give up a relatively wealthy county. In addition, it was responsible for defending the territory. Therefore, the prefect's office built a city wall with a circumference of nine miles and a height of two or four feet, which is the current Shanghai county wall through the method of gentry fundraising and the allocation of the court.

Unfortunately, the devil is one foot taller. The Japanese pirates obtained advanced firearms and manufacturing methods from their relatives Zhang brothers, which made it much easier to attack than before. Half a year ago, the county town of Shanghai was captured by Japanese pirates, and all from the county magistrate to the yamen runners were killed in battle. The official army organized counterattacks several times, and they had to retreat to the defense lines of Jiading, Taicang Prefecture and Kunshan for nearly a month.

After continuous march and preparation for war, the officers and soldiers under Chen Xi were in full swing. At this time, a sluggish aura was filled with the army.

Chen Xi personally inspected the camp that night. Accompanied by Tang Yin, Song Shu, Hu Songyue and others, he traveled all over the city. No matter where he went, although the officers and soldiers respected Chen Xi, Chen Xi could clearly see the loss on their faces, because this time the troops stationed were different from before, and there was a possibility that there would be no war in the future for a long time, and they would also change from professional soldiers to labor service. This status gap is very large.

"These bastards look like eggplants made from frost, and they are no longer amazing... Now everyone else is probably sleeping in the tent, so the adults can call them up and talk to each other." Hu Songyue said.

Chen Xi did not disturb the soldiers' rest, but only met some of the soldiers on patrol. He did not need too much politeness to ask about his well-being. He just shook hands hard, patted his shoulders, and nodded, which made the soldiers' eyes red.

After checking the camp, Chen Xi felt the sluggish morale among the army and couldn't help but feel a little moved.

When they arrived at the Central Army's tent, Chen Xi did not allow Song Shu and Hu Songyue to accompany him, only Tang Yin and Ma Jiu followed him into the tent.

When he arrived in private, Tang Yin commented without hesitation: "The soldiers are homesick and lazy in fighting are very serious, and Shangshu Chen has to be careful."

Chen Xi nodded slightly and then asked, "Brother Bo Hu has a good solution?"

Tang Yin shook his head. He was probably clear about the current situation in the army, but he had no way to solve it. The Japanese pirates fled back to the sea, which was equivalent to the dragon entering the sea. Their ships were more powerful than the ships of the imperial court. Even if Shenxi could be invincible on land, it was difficult for the small boats to go to war head-on with the Japanese pirates on the sea.

Chen Xi sighed slightly: "This war actually took four or five years and made the Japanese pirates grow stronger... I led my troops to the coastal areas to calm the pirates. At that time, the Japanese pirates' troubles were far from as huge as they are today."

Tang Yin certainly knew all the reasons, because that was also something that changed his destiny. It was because Chen Xi went south and was forced to tie him up to the south that he embarked on a different path. Now his family is happy, his career is successful, and he no longer has the embarrassment of poverty and poverty.

Chen Xi did not comment too much and said to Ma Jiu: "Each officer and soldier temporarily gave two taels of silver reward, and deducted them from today's seizure, and then distributed the condolences reserved by the army. The soldiers were homesick and tried their best to satisfy them in terms of expenses and food and drink. In the past two days, ten brick and tile kilns were built in the upper and lower reaches of the Huangpu River and at the intersection with the Suzhou River. Then, according to the plan of the Wuchang Industrial Park, a supporting cement factory, glass factory, pottery factory, etc. will be built next to the brick and tile kilns... As for the location of the shipyard, I have to inspect the situation along the Huangpu River and select the place to build it."

"Yes, sir."

Ma Jiu took the order and he had to distribute some of the barbed meat, salted fish, cloth and other items in the army that were still available. Each soldier would also be rewarded with two taels of silver, which was equivalent to first meeting the material needs of the soldiers and letting them temporarily dilute the tiredness in their hearts.

After Ma Jiu left, only Tang Yin and Chen Xi were left in the tent.

Tang Yin smiled bitterly and said, "This time I took over the Shanghai county town and seized more than 5,000 taels of gold and 60,000 taels of silver. There is no more reward left. In addition, it is not helpful to just rely on buying people's hearts to boost the morale of the army. It is better to continue to conquer the Japanese pirates and leave the construction of the city to others. What the soldiers are most afraid of is not to go on a long journey to start a war with the Japanese pirates, but to be afraid that there is no war to fight."

Chen Xi smiled and said, "Brother Bo Hu can see it thoroughly."

Tang Yin said ashamedly: "Maybe Shangshu Chen should have recruited troops from the south of the Yangtze River and left these northern soldiers in the south. It might not be so good if they don't fight for a day or two. If it lasts for a long time... I really don't know how big a mess will happen."

...

...

That night, Chen Xi returned to the well-preserved county government, and Huiniang and Li Jingang were about to rest.

For the soldiers of the three armies, the desolation and dilapidation of the Shanghai County Town made them feel that this place was an unacceptable wilderness, and for women like Hui Niang and Li Jin, it was not easy to accept.

Hui Niang and Li Jin suffered a lot along the way. They thought they could settle down a little while when they arrived in a city, at least they didn’t have to sleep in the open air. But when they arrived at the place, they found that it was not as good as the wilderness along the way. At least the tents were clean and tidy. The three county magistrates in the county government all died here, which was a truly haunted house. In addition, when they moved in, Hui Niang and Li Jin saw many corpses dragging them out with their own eyes. They felt ghosts all over the night, which made people shudder.

"The master is back?"

Hui Niang walked over with a wooden basin in her hand, which contained hot water but not a lot of hot water. She explained, "There are corpses floating in several rivers in the city, and there are corpses in the county government and wells near the yard of the house. I finally found a clean ancient well. The soldiers still need to drink water, so there is not much water, so just use it..."

Hui Niang and Li Jin are women after all. Those big men can not take a shower or change clothes for a few days, but Hui Niang and Li Jin cannot accept it. At least they can get some water from the camp.

Chen Xi sat down, washed his face first, then washed his feet, and finally said: "The running water does not rot and the door hinges do not rot. When tomorrow the soldiers salvaged the corpses of the rivers in the city, then landed the ancient wells that were fished out of the bodies. In addition, digging water wells will soon solve the problem of water difficulties. This is Jiangnan, and it is the richest place in the Ming Dynasty. Are you afraid that there is no clear water?"

"Um."

Hui Niang nodded slightly, handed the wooden basin with the turbid water inside to Li Jin to take it away, then sat on a low stool next to Chenxi, and asked in a low voice, "Will we live here for a long time from now on?"

Chen Xidao: "That's right, I'm going to spend a few days to clean up the city, sort out the intact houses, and arrange for the soldiers to move in. It's very humid and I can't stand it when I lie on the ground for a long time. After solving the problem of the soldiers' accommodation, I will then demolish the city wall and use the bricks of the city wall to the coastal workshop area. When the cement factory, brick kiln, etc. are built, the shipyard and brand new residential communities can be built, so that the craftsmen and civilians who come to live in it. This will develop slowly, and it won't take long for a city to take shape..."

Hui Niang asked in surprise: "Master, do you mean... there will be no walls in this city in the future?"

Chenxidao: "It's not that there is no city wall, but there is no for the time being. I'm considering building a city around the intersection of Wusong River and Huangpu River. It borders Qiujiang River in the north, Longhua Port in the south, and Huangpu River in the east. This city uses a city wall to form a three-dimensional defense. The city wall does not have to be too high. It mainly serves as a defensive role. When the enemy launches an attack on the city, it will be hit in all directions..."

Although Hui Niang didn't know the geography, Chen Xi roughly took out a map and showed it to her. After reading it, she was stunned: "Is the new city so big? Isn't this much bigger than the capital?"

Chen Xi smiled and said, "That's nature... The geographical conditions here are unique. Once developed, the future is unlimited, especially in the current era of great navigation, it will surely become a pearl of the East!"

Hui Niang thought about it for a long time and couldn't figure it out, so she had to shake her head: "When you were a child, you always thought about something strange, and in the end you made it work. I hope this time will be no exception!"

...

...

The next morning, the soldiers got up and were busy.

This time, it is not a marching or training, but a cleaner and a construction worker, carefully alienating the entire city, demolishing all the collapsed houses, and the dismantling materials obtained are used to repair those relatively intact houses, and the old city will be used as a military important place in the future.

As the leader, Chen Xi was not idle either, but he didn't need to do the hard work, but took Ma Jiu and the guards to check the situation everywhere and guided many things.

Of course, the most important thing at hand in Chen Xi was to inspect the locations of various areas he planned. All the previous plans were just paper talks and they didn't know much about the situation on the ground. After all, the Ming Dynasty was very different from later generations. He needed to take the drawings to check them everywhere, then mark them on the drawings, and even let people insert wooden stakes and other signs in different places, leaving some useful signals.

As a planner of a city, Chenxi must be familiar with where the workshops of this new city will be, where the people live, and where the business area will be...

Many things do not mean that a piece of land can be used to solve all problems. Chen Xi needs to consider all matters in advance.

"Sir, are you busy?"

It was almost noon and Chen Xi was about to return to the camp for dinner. Zhang Lun came over and said with a smile, "The imperial edict has been received from the capital, saying that you are asking you to come and receive the edict."

Chen Xi didn't say anything. Tang Yin, who had just arrived by his side for a while, asked curiously: "Is it the father-in-law in the palace who came to pass the order?"

Zhang Lun shook his head and said, "No, it's people from Nanjing who came to deliver imperial edicts, saying that they also brought letters from Duke Wei and Duke Zhang Yong and Eunuch Zhang. They invited Lord Shen to visit Nanjing at any time."

Tang Yin murmured: "Reasonably, we should connect with the local government first. Why do we directly connect with Nanjing? Do we have to go to Yingtian Mansion to ask for anything in the future?"

Chen Xi ignored Tang Yin's criticism and took Zhang Lun, Tang Yin, Ma Jiu and others back to the county government. He saw a man wearing eunuch's clothes waiting there from a distance. When Chen Xi's eyes lit up, the man hurried over to salute, and the duck's voice yelled from a distance.

"This must be Lord Shen, right? The villain greeted you... You are really extraordinary. The villain in the crowd recognized him at a glance!"

This was very false, and Zhang Lun came over next to him and said, "Mr. Shen, when he saw Hu Yi, he said the same thing, he just recognized the wrong person."

Chen Xi smiled, disregarding her concern: "If you have something to do, go in and talk."

...

...

In the central army's tent, someone from the visitor showed his identity and purpose, but he was the eunuch of the Nanjing Temple Prison, who was considered to be Zhang Yong's subordinate, who helped Zhang Yong with his work, named Feng Jiang.

The main purpose of Feng Jiang's visit this time was to send the imperial decree from the court to Chen Xi, which was the imperial decree of the imperial decree of Chen Xi to allocate the manpower and material resources of Jiangnan, as well as the endorsement of the Nanjing Governor's Governor's Office and the six ministries' yamen, and it was related to the previous agreement between the Duke of Wei Xu of Xu who promised to help raise materials.

Xu could not just talk in front of Shen Xi and finish it. In just a few days, Xu gathered local officials and gentry to raise a batch of money, grain and materials, including some cement, bricks, cloth, and teak, pine and fir used for shipbuilding, and sent it to Shanghai County by ship.

Although this batch of materials is not a lot, it is enough to cope with the initial construction. It can be seen that Zhang Yong and Xu are very concerned, which is enough to reflect their support for Chen Xi.

"Mr. Shen, these things have just been raised, and now there is only a list. As for the transfer and delivery time to be delivered, it may take ten days and half a month to complete. As for the delivery... it will take one month later." Feng Jiang said.

Zhang Lun next to him mocked: "Why don't you wait for the end of the year to deliver it?"

Feng Jiang smiled and replied: "Young Master is really good at joking. These things are coordinated by Eunuch Zhang and Duke Wei. At the same time, they also have to preside over the recruitment of craftsmen and civilians in the local area. Everything is done according to Lord Shen's instructions. This time, the villain must bring Lord Shen's official letter when he returns, so as not to run back and forth."

Chen Xi shook his head slightly: "I won't bother Eunuch Feng anymore. I believe your journey back will not be smooth. It's better to let the post station send a message."

Feng Jiang realized that his good face was not recognized by Chen Xi. Chen Xi seemed kind, but he just sold him as an angel of the court, and even doubted the speed of his return.

Feng Jiang still smiled and said, "There are not far away, and there are no robbers and Japanese pirates on the road. Don't you know that Lord Shen personally led his troops to come. The water bandits and Japanese pirates hid far away. They dare not come around in front of Lord Shen."

Zhang Lun said: "It's really a coincidence that the Japanese pirates had an empty city plan before, but they were ambushing fire thunders in the city and around them. Fortunately, Lord Shen was alert, otherwise there would be many soldiers who would not know that they would be killed or injured, but they were afraid that someone would have too optimistic about the war and deliberately delayed it behind the scenes."

Feng Jiang looked embarrassed, but he did not dare to debate with Zhang Lun. After all, he knew Zhang Lun's identity and the grandson of the Duke of England's mansion was fully qualified to talk to him like this.

Tang Yin and Ma Jiu couldn't help but look at Zhang Lun. Zhang Lun was usually kind and would not use the identity and attitude of the prince to suppress others. It seemed that it was because Feng Jiang had mistakenly thought him for Chen Xi before, and there was some offense in his words, which made Zhang Lun's attitude towards Feng Jiang very badly.

Feng Jiang said: "If Lord Shen doesn't have to go back to deliver the message, the young man will rest in the city for a day and leave tomorrow morning."

Tang Yin asked curiously: "Are you not in a hurry to go back and hand in the office? Why do you have to stay in the city for an extra day?"

It was obvious that Feng Jiang wanted to stay and see what happened in Chen Xi's army, and Shen Xi's preparations for building cities in Shanghai and surrounding areas, and after returning, he could tell people who were concerned about this matter, which was very meaningful to supervise.

But the more he wanted to stay here, the more he aroused the disgust of Chen Xi's subordinates, and it became much more convenient for Feng Jiang to pick on him.

Tang Yin's words like this are probably in support of Zhang Lun. If Zhang Lun was just putting pressure on him, it would not only make Feng Jiang think more, but Chen Xi might also blame him. Tang Yin understood the worldly style. In order to show the unity of Chen Xi, he began to speak for Zhang Lun.

Feng Jiang said: "Isn't this to see what can help Lord Shen in Nanjing? Lord Shen has been tired from the journey. He has to build a city just after the battle with the Japanese pirates, and he also has to build a large ship here. If Lord Shen turns back and brings a message to the old friend in Nanjing, he can say to the little one. The little one wants to stay for one or two more days to learn from Lord Shen."

Feng Jiang doesn't seem to have much ability and can compliment people, but in the end he is the old eunuch who has been immersed in the power field for many years and has been sending him away for a long time. He is in his words and says the excuses as if they are real.

Tang Yin wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Chen Xi's hand and said loudly: "Eunuch Feng wants to stay in the army for one day. It is my honor. Eunuch Feng sees something wrong with this place, and I hope he will give me some advice."

"The villain is so scared, how dare you!" Feng Jiang felt flattered at Chen Xi's polite words, so he quickly saluted.

Chen Xi's subordinates had a bad attitude towards him, but he maintained a basic courtesy to him, which made him realize that his trip was not in vain. After all, he did not come to curry favor with Tang Yin, Zhang Lun and others. Chen Xi was the only one who could be attracted to Chen Xi's army.
Chapter completed!