"This winter is indeed much warmer." Kong Xiaoer, a grain station guard at Dandong County, Liaodong Prefecture, finished patrolling the nearby area with a horse lantern and quickly returned to their class's shed.

The lantern is a rare thing sent by the local government. It is said that the price is not expensive and the output is not large. The army purchased a batch from the Guangming Candle Factory and distributed it to various places for use. Their grain station was divided into two, one in the hands of the station manager and the platoon leader, and the other for patrol. As a guardian of the grain station who often patrols at night, Kong Xiaoer especially likes this kind of lamp that is not afraid of wind, not afraid of slight vibrations, can carry it and is particularly bright (this is very important). He thinks it is really a blessing for them, and it is much better than the dimly lit lantern. The only disadvantage is that the lamp oil is too expensive, so that the platoon leader strictly controls it. He does not light it at all when he is fine, so as to save precious fuel.

However, when the platoon leader said that when he went to the county for a meeting, the battalion commander gave them a tip. In 1693, every grain station in the county would install a gas lamp system. These gas lamps were the first generation of gas lamps eliminated from the local area. The army bought them at a low price, and then transported them to the Far East through the Immigration Department's transport ship and distributed to various departments for use. Because the grain stations are all at important transportation nodes, they not only store grain, but also have a large amount of military supplies stored here. Speaking of which, it is a logistics station, so it is still necessary to install a gas lamp system, which is of great significance to security.

"Come on, let's have a meal." The husband Lao Zhou brought a plate of cakes, a salted fish and a small plate of pickles to Kong Xiaoer, and then scooped a bowl of cabbage soup from a large wooden bucket and sent it to Kong Xiaoer, and said, "Eat more. Those animals have eaten them all, I specially kept them for you and Wang Dabang. Dabang has finished eating them. It's time to slap the corpse, so you can eat them while they are hot."

"Lao Zhou, how is the situation at home?" Kong Xiaoer put the rifle on the gun stand, grabbed a bench and sat down, and asked.

Lao Zhou and Kong Xiaoer were both from the First Infantry Regiment, and they were in the same village. Lao Zhou was four years old earlier. This year, he was almost forty years old, and Kong Xiaoer was only twenty-five or twenty-six years old. Lao Zhou was tall and wore heavy armor in the early years. Later, due to injuries, his legs were a little bit too straight. In addition, he was old, so he moved to the grain station to work as a cook and continued to receive a military salary. Kong Xiaoer had been in the army for several years, but he had no achievements. He has not even been beheaded the capital. He has always been a big-headed soldier carrying muskets, so ordinary that he can't be more ordinary.

Lao Zhou took a leave a while ago and returned to his hometown with some money and rare things like tobacco, alcohol, sugar, cocoa powder and other saved in daily life. His two children are now adults, and his youngest son works in the logging farm in the village, and his eldest son farms at home. They are all honest and honest people.

Lao Zhou chatted with his eldest son and learned that the village had also established a cooperative. What is the "new life movement" now is being carried out to force the people to change some of their past bad habits and learn more advanced lifestyles. For example, bad hygiene habits must be removed to reduce the incidence of various diseases, improve people's physical fitness, and reduce mortality. In fact, people from the East Coast have emphasized this before, and the Denglai, Ningbo and other places in the south have been implemented better, but in this Liaodong area, due to the arduous land reclamation activities and the threat of war, it has not been systematically carried out.

In addition, clan signs in rural areas will also be extinguished. Most of the people in the Liaodong counties come from Shandong, and a small number come from Ningbo and Manchu and Mongolia. They are immigrants, and these things should not exist. However, over the past few decades, the population of many families has increased significantly, and some whole households have moved over when immigrating, so clan signs have begun to appear. Village chiefs and militia directors in many villages have to discuss with families with more people in the village when doing things, which makes some cadres in the county very unhappy, so the "de-clanization" in the countryside was later added to the "New Life Movement".

The cadres also have sufficient reasons. Rural clans have great negative significance for agricultural cooperatives, and are also unfriendly to rural taxation activities. They must be exterminated when there is a sign. Otherwise, if the momentum becomes greater in the future, it will inevitably have an impact on the rule of the East Coast government at the grassroots level.

Another major content of the New Life Movement is to enrich the people's spiritual life, that is, various dances, dramas and other artistic performances should be promoted as soon as possible. At the same time, farmers should be organized to conduct various military training, sports competitions, etc. during the slack season in winter. This can regulate the atmosphere, relieve mental tension and fatigue, and also enhance cohesion and improve organizationality, without doing useless work.

When Lao Zhou returned home, he saw a opera troupe performing repertoires in the village. The price was not expensive, just a few cents per person, and people flocked to it. In addition, he also participated in a tug-of-war competition. The atmosphere felt that the atmosphere was very strong and everyone's cohesion increased. Once the enemy attacked in the future, it might play an unexpected role.

"The family is in good condition, don't worry. The agricultural cooperative is still very reliable and has helped us farmers a lot. The food in the field is enough to eat, and the excess can be sold to the grain station for some money, and it is still very good to buy new clothes and new food for the children. Now the village has to measure the height and weight of children under 18 years old every year and put it into a book and report it." Old Zhou took out a bag of dry tobacco and said while smoking "shot".

"Children are eating much better than when we first came." Kong Xiaoer said enviously: "I've eaten well, and they all run faster. They will be good soldiers in the future."

"Hehe, why do you need so many people to join the army to eat food? I heard that our village and several nearby villages have to run a primary school, and these kids will have a place to go to school in the future. This is not much better than being a big soldier and fighting hard everywhere?" Old Zhou said bluntly: "Our grain station has only 20 soldiers. Even if the grain warehouse, arsenal guards and helpers, there are only 40 or 50 people. Once the enemy attacks, how many will survive? I'm afraid you, Kong Xiaoer, will be the first to die because you often have to patrol at night. This way, don't make a living on your belt. I don't want my son to continue working. I'm enough."

Kong Xiaoer didn't agree with him, but he didn't want to argue with Lao Zhou. Lao Zhou was a warrior, but after being seriously injured, his ideas changed a lot, which seemed a bit cowardly to Kong Xiaoer. Kong Xiaoer supported the current court very much because in his opinion they did a good job, the people had food, clothes, and money to spend. There were no bandits and bandits in the country that disrupted public order. The men generally had good food and did not pay heavy taxes. Therefore, this kind of thing was like this.

The court, which was rare in ancient times, is indeed worth fighting for him! Yes, yes, he is not just a soldier and eat food, he feels that he has the obligation to fight for this court. If the enemy fights, even at the critical moment, he feels that he may not choose to escape, but continue to fight. This is the biggest difference between him and Lao Zhou. Lao Zhou is old and has become too philanthropic and cowardly. He does not want to be such a person. He also wants to make merits and protect this peaceful and prosperous era.

Kong Xiaoer heard the platoon leader chatting last time and learned that maybe in a few months, they would be in a platoon rotation with the Second Infantry Regiment, and then return to the establishment of the First Regiment, and the entire regiment drove north to build a new settlement in the upper reaches of the Yalu River. The upper part had even thought of the place name of the new city, and it was called "Jian County".

The construction of Ji'an is jointly responsible by the Liaodong Regional Administration and the Kingdom of Korea. Basically, both sides contribute half of the investment. The North Koreans also have to go out to help build the city. Ji'an County is built on the riverside and is affiliated with a wharf. Future immigration will mainly come from the south, that is, people under the jurisdiction of the Southern Development Team. The place has a pleasant environment, developed economy, and has a very rapid population growth. The fierce competition has caused many people to go out to sea to make a living.

Liao Dashui of Denglai has agreed with Liu Houfei that a group of Ningshao immigrants will be introduced next year (1693), with a number of about 3,000 people. In order to get the male pioneer team to cooperate with them in recruiting immigrants to pioneer the territory, Liao Degong will make full use of his influence to speed up the Nan Railway Company and do all his strength to build the Shangding Railway. The people of Ningshao have been waiting for too long for this first modern railway in the history of South China.

Once Ji'an County is completed and gains a foothold, the defense line of the people on the east coast in the Yalu River Basin will extend a large part of the defense line northward, which is already faintly echoing the troops heading westward in Vladivostok and southward. Some people may say that this defense line is too long and lacks strategic depth, so it is not very stable. But you have to consider that the people on the east coast have the transportation road of the Yalu River in hand, so logistics supplies are actually not a big problem, especially during the flood season.

Moreover, the Yalu River not only does not replenish food, weapons and other supplies, but also can also replenish soldiers. Soldiers can easily go south and north on small steamers with small steamers without power, which is much faster than walking. Although there are many rapids and dangerous shoals in the middle of the channel, people on the east coast have been trying to clear the channel over the years. Besides, we can sail in sections. At worst, we can get off the boat more often and get on the boat a few times, which is always faster than walking. There is no doubt about water transportation.

Another advantage is that the Qing court's troops in Manchuria have been drawn in large numbers, and their enemy Galdan is wandering on the grassland and ready to bite Kangxi at any time. Even if Kangxi is angry, he will definitely not dare to go to war with the people on the East Coast. Therefore, Ji'an is generally safe and has plenty of time to gain a foothold.
Chapter completed!