There is a ferry crossing in the winding place of the Yellow River, called Jiuliangjin. A few decades ago, a ferry was set up here for a brief period and traded with the foreign tribes on the other side of the Yellow River. Later, forbidden areas were set up along the border, and people moved homes, and the ferry crossing was abandoned.

The first settlement area chosen by Du Zhongxiao was near the ferry. The terrain here is flat, the Yellow River has deep silt and fertile soil, making it a good place to reclaim farmland. When crossing the Yellow River, there are a wide range of coal in the mountains opposite the mountain, and there are many open-pit coal mines that can be used as fuel.

Cheng Wenli and Du Zhongxiao stood on the bank of the Yellow River, looking at the flowing slowly, and exclaimed: "The big river is walking along the mountains here, leaving such a large area of ​​flat land on the east bank, which is really a gift from heaven. This river beach is less than a thousand hectares. If it is cultivated, the volcanic army will have no food and grass from now on."

In the northern hemisphere, most of the rivers will swing westward and continuously cut the west bank. Therefore, the rivers flowing north and south will mostly wash out the flat ground on the east bank of the river, and the flat ground will mostly flow eastward on the south bank. This area is deep in loess, and the Yellow River comes out of the mountains. By coincidence of the soil layer, it first turns westward, encounters stone mountains, and then turns south, and rushes out of this large river beach. It is indeed rare.

Du Zhongxiao looked around and said to Cheng Wenli: "I have roughly checked here. From the south to the military city and the north to the Dongjiazhai, all of them can be reclaimed and nearly 10,000 households can be reclaimed. But now they are all weeds, so it is not easy to reclaim. A few days ago, I ordered people to purchase steel from the Baode Army and build iron tools. These days it should be here. With iron tools, opening the land can be half the result with twice the effort."

Cheng Wenli hesitated: "There is a close neighbor here and there are many foreign people. I'm afraid that it's a bad thing to build iron tools-"

Du Zhongxiao shook his head: "What are you afraid of? There are many soldiers in these four nearby soldiers. Which one has not used a steel knife to defend itself? There is no need to look forward to it. Besides, the Khitan has always produced good iron, and it doesn't rely on us."

Both the Song and Khitan banned the export of iron tools, and more for the purpose of restricting the manufacturing of each other's weapons, and both countries could be self-sufficient. The real iron shortage was Dangxiang. They could buy iron from the Khitan before, and the two countries had a feud, and they had no source of iron tools.

The two of them walked along the river bank with their entourage to check the terrain. The east bank of the Yellow River in this area is mostly river beaches with a large number of swamps, while the other side is close to the foot of the mountain. The reason why the ferry is located in Jiuliangjin is that there is a flat land opposite and the water flows smoothly, just like the ferry is traveling.

Shisanlang and Chen Qin brought soldiers to support the ferry on the river surface, constantly testing the water situation. The boatman was recruited from Dongjiazhai and ran in the Yellow River for a lifetime, familiar with the water situation nearby.

Standing under the big willow tree by the river and watching the ferry slowly dock, Du Zhongxiao said to the old boatman: "Boss, is it okay to set up the ferry here?"

The old boatman said: "Returning to the official, this is an ancient ferry, so it is naturally suitable. It's just that I haven't used it for decades. I'm afraid of accidents when the waterway changes, so I have to investigate it again. According to the old man, the ferry here is still located at the original site, and some changes will be made on the other side."

Du Zhongxiao nodded. The Yellow River has a lot of sediment deposits, and the underwater situation will be different in decades. It is not surprising that the change will change. Since forbidden areas are set up along the border and no logging is allowed, the Yellow River in this area is not much sediment, not turbid, and the water conditions change not violently.

Shisanlang helped the boatman to the shore, under the willow tree, and saluted Du Zhongxiao and Cheng Wenli.

Du Zhongxiao looked at the Yellow River in front of him and asked, "The Yellow River in this area is wide and the water flows are not fast. I don't know if I can take a boat."

The old boatman shook his head: "As far as I know, from Dongjiazhai to Fuzhou, there is no obstacle to sailing. Other river sections have many dangerous shoals and rapid water flow, so it is not easy to sail. However, there are wooden rafts for stealing large wood, which sometimes go down the river."

"What a pity." Du Zhongxiao shook his head. The most convenient transportation now is water transportation. The rivers cannot be shipped, and it is inconvenient to enter and exit materials.

Shisanlang stepped forward and said to Du Zhongxiao: "Officials, this area is full of puddles, and there are many big fish inside. If you fish in a net, you will not have to worry about not having meat. Plowing here for many years has been prohibited from plowing, and there are many deer and rabbits in the grass. It is such a good place."

Du Zhongxiao smiled and said, "You just focus on your work, can you eat less?"

After saying that, he turned around and looked towards the horse and headed downstream.

Wild game and fresh fish are good things in places with abundant supplies, but now there is a lack of food, which is another matter. Most of the people who work here, whether it is the military or the civilian, are a little nutritious. In other words, the belly is short of oil and water, and the wild animals are not very attractive to them. What they like most are foods that are heavy with oil and salt. A large bowl of noodles with oil flowers is much better than wild game in their eyes.

The most important thing for the Volcanic Army this year was to renovate land in this area. Du Zhongxiao invested a lot of stored grain, especially the soybeans stored as horse feed, and almost allocated them. Oil pressing workshops and tofu workshops were being built not far away, which were good things to fill the stomach.

After walking a few miles along the river, I arrived at the base camp and divided the people I collected into several places to build various facilities.

He was commanding the tribe to repair the fragrant cloth of the big wooden people. He saw Du Zhongxiao from afar and hurriedly came up to salute.

Du Zhongxiao turned over and dismounted and preached to Xiang: "You have been here for some time, but are you still used to it?"

Xiangbu nodded repeatedly: "I am used to living, I am used to living! I don't know how much food and accommodation here are better than before. All the tribesmen who followed me are grateful and will definitely not repay the kindness of the officials."

When he sat down on the chair on the side, Du Zhongxiao said, "A few days ago, you brought your tribe members back and offered more than fifty horses. I kept my word and paid for you according to the twenty cents of each horse. If you don't, you will be converted one by one. However, now the yamen is short of money and cannot give you cash. In a few days, you will go to the military city and get tea, salt and other items from the military warehouse. You will definitely not treat it unfairly."

Xiangbu thanked her repeatedly. For mountain people, tea and salt are important materials, but now they have come out of the mountain and are different from before.

Turning around and looking behind him, Du Zhongxiao pointed to a continuous low hill and hills and said, "The area is high and vast, with abundant water and grass. The yamen has already been appointed as a pasture. Choose a few strong and smart people from the tribe, go to find Chen Qin, and arrange for grazing in the future. The other households will be organized into the field affairs, divide the villages and households, and cultivate the fields themselves. The terrain here is low, and there is river water to irrigate, and when wheat is planted in autumn, I have sent people to Jinzhou to buy good wheat seeds, and wait for the land to be reclaimed, and then plant them."

Xiangbu smiled all over her face: "We people in the mountains have never seen what wheat looks like. We only know that pasta is delicious. If we can grow wheat here and have noodles to eat every day in the future, wouldn't it be like a god!"

The terrain of Hedong Road is too high and cold in winter. Most areas in the north cannot grow wheat, especially winter wheat, which is only a small part of the area. The flat land of the Volcanic Army is in the mountains and has a low terrain, which is a rare area where wheat can be grown. The wheat yield may not be higher than millet, but because it is a winter crop, it can be planted for a season of mixed grains in summer, which seems to be extremely precious. Of course, the taste of flour is stronger than that of mixed grains, which is even more attractive to people. Du Zhongxiao is eager to reclaim wasteland because white flour is very precious in this area and is a high-end food.

Seeing that the sun had set in the west, the supervisors beat the gong and ordered the work to finish the meal. Although they did heavy work, due to the limited conditions, the people here still had two meals a day. They ate breakfast early, worked in time, and ate dinner early, and after eating, the sun happened to set. Working at sunrise and resting at sunset is a rhythm that has lasted for thousands of years, and here is no exception.

To fill the stomachs of so many people, Du Zhongxiao can't afford the pasta, only millet and millet. The leaders and technicians eat millet, while ordinary people eat millet. Although the conditions are simple, the levels are still clear.

Xiangbu took out a large hidden porcelain bowl from his residence, took a small wooden spoon, and lined up behind several officials to make food. As the leader, he treated the same as the officials who supervised the work here, ate soft yellow rice, a large spoon of broth and three radish sticks. The meal was simple, but compared with his previous life, I don’t know how much better it was. He hadn’t had many days, and his complexion became rosy.

When he arrived, the official who was serving food saw that it was Xiangbu, he smiled and said, "You barbarian are the most capable of eating, so give you more."

Xiangbu thanked him repeatedly, and looked at his large thick porcelain bowl filled with yellow rice, and couldn't help swallowing. After serving the rice, another official scooped a large bowl of broth, mixed with some vegetables, and poured it onto the rice in Xiangbu's large bowl.

Finally, he took three of his salted radish sticks, Xiangbu returned to the tent outside the residence, sat on a big tree lying on the ground, smelled it hard and said, "It smells so fragrant!" Then he buried his head and started eating it voraciously.

There is no shortage of cattle and sheep in this area, and the price is not expensive. Nearly a thousand people gathered here, and a few lambs are killed every day. The lamb is supplied to officials, and the excess is sold in the hotel next to it. The lamb bones and various water are used to cook soup, and the lamb oil collected is added. Xiangbu and other people actually have no meat in the broth, and all kinds of vegetables are placed in it. There is no particular thing, so the cooking staff will go back in after getting any vegetables. Xiangbu and other supervisors also have a few slices of lamb liver and minced lamb meat in the broth, and ordinary people who work have no meat.

Don’t underestimate this bowl of broth. With it, it saves a lot of food. People who do heavy physical work will have less oil in their meals and will have a lot of appetite. With the oil stars in the broth, they will have the strength to work.

Du Zhongxiao sat under the tree and looked at the scene of the bustling surroundings, as if he had returned to the scene of building a farmland business in Yongcheng as an official. Two years later, I hope that this place will flourish and flourish as the farmland business in Yongcheng.
Chapter completed!