Chapter 631: If We Want to Be Rich, Build a Road First

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

The food that Su Ying got people to send here could last them at least half a month.

However, she did not distribute all the food at once. Instead, she told them to come and collect the food once every three days.

It was already spring, but the weather was still a little cold. The clothes the villagers wore were very thin. If they wanted to sleep well at night, they had to burn charcoal for warmth.

Su Ying transferred a few people who knew how to make charcoal from the city and told them to teach these villagers how to make the most basic charcoal.

This would at least enable them to be self-sufficient.

If there were excess charcoal, the black-robed men would gather them and sell them. Thereafter, the silver they received would be returned to the villagers. This would also help provide them with an additional source of income.

“City Lord, what are you looking at?”

The Black Guardian followed Su Ying out of the Tiger Base and saw Su Ying standing still by the roadside.

Su Ying stretched out her hand and pointed in the direction of Sky Alpha City. Then she looked in the direction of the entrance of the northern wilderness.

“We have to build a road.”

After solving the problem of filling their stomachs, she could go about building some basic infrastructure.

She had wanted to do it in the past, but she had not done so primarily because the grain production had not increased enough yet. In case there were emergencies, she decided against undertaking such a major project. After all, building roads was labor-intensive and resource-consuming.

“City Lord, what kind of road do you want to build?”

There was no cement or concrete in this era, so they could only use stones or bricks. The requirement for these raw materials was definitely very high, and it was difficult to gather them from nature alone. Su Ying was thinking about whether she could fire green bricks and use them as the main building material.

Su Ying got the Black Guardian to keep an eye on the Tiger Base while she led her group back to Sky Alpha City.

As for the search for the wasteland, she would leave it to Cheng Ming.

After a period of recuperation, Chu Yun’s body had almost recovered.

Right now, Su Ying delegated to him some of the more complicated miscellaneous affairs in the city.

Su Ying summoned Chu Yun after returning to the city.

“Greetings, City Lord.”

Su Ying motioned for him to rise.

Chu Yun knew that Su Ying would never summon him for no reason. “May I know what instructions you have for me, City Lord?”

“I plan to build a road in the northern wilderness. What do you think?”

Chu Yun was taken aback. “Build a road? Where do you want to build the road from and to where, City Lord?”

Su Ying took out the map of the northern wilderness and spread it out on the table. “These places, where I have drawn a red line.”

Chu Yun stepped forward to take a look. The area where the red line was drawn was a little too big…

“Why did you think of building roads, City Lord? Do you think that the current road is not easy to travel on?”

Su Ying’s fingertips tapped on the map. “In the past, I only considered that it was good enough when we had a safe place to settle down after arriving here. However, things have slowly developed to the current state. Since we have already accommodated so many people here, we can’t just let them go around in circles. We have to develop and move forward. Staying stagnant is not the way to develop.”

Chu Yun was smart and understood Su Ying’s meaning at once. “City Lord, you want to enable the people from the outside to come in and things from inside to go out.”

“Mm-hmm. But the northern wilderness is mostly wild, undeveloped land. If there is no guiding path, it will be somewhat inconvenient.”

If there was a main road leading to the outside, then the things produced here could be more easily sold outside.

For the long-term development of the northern wilderness, she felt that having a road would bring them greater convenience.

Chu Yun pondered for a moment before saying, “I understand what you mean, City Lord. It’s just that it’s not that easy to build this road.

Building a road required a large pool of workers and materials, which was a huge expenditure.

“Mm-hmm. I know. I don’t mean we have to build the whole road all at once. We can take it slow and start from the section between Sky Alpha City and the

Tiger Base.”

Chu Yun saw that Su Ying had already made up her mind and he also felt that this project was indeed a good thing for them. Thus, he said, “City Lord, do you wish to explain this to the other people?”

Su Ying nodded. “You take charge of the arrangements and look for someone who knows how to fire bricks. After discussing everything, we can start preparing.”

“Yes, City Lord.”

After a few days of discussion, the road construction project was finalized.

Su Ying wanted to build a road because they had already started excavation works in the iron ore mine. When the time came, having a wide road would be more convenient for ore transportation.

If they were to use green-fired bricks to pave the road, they had to fire their own bricks.

Su Ying personally led a team and they found a large open space to build the brick kiln.

They also needed to get a large amount of clay, which was a necessary material for making green bricks.

Su Ying told Qiao Yang to lead people to look for clay every day, and the more they could find, the better. They could dig it up and keep it on one side first. When the kiln was ready, they would then filter the clay to make the base material.

Meanwhile, Zhou Wei had also arrived at the border of the Jin State to meet up with Lord Wang.

When Lord Wang saw Zhou Wei, he immediately knelt down to beg for forgiveness.

Lord Wang was Xie Rui’s trusted aide. Now that Xie Rui had landed in trouble, he had undeniable responsibility. However, now was not the time to blame him. It would not be too late to settle the score after rescuing Xie Rui.

“Third Master, I’ve already sent a few groups of people to scout for news, but there hasn’t been any definite news yet to date. I only know that there’s a big city in the northern wilderness, and His Highness is very likely locked up in that city.”

Zhou Wei took a sip of hot tea and his brows became tightly knitted. “It’s been so long, yet you still haven’t found out where His Highness is. It’s just a wasteland, but you can’t even handle it.”

“I… I am incompetent. Please forgive me, Third Master. Previously, I also thought that it was a place of wilderness without any owner and that no one there would dare to offend His Highness. To our surprise, these people who were not afraid of death actually abducted His Highness.”

“What did you give them during those two exchanges?

Lord Wang took out the list that Su Ying sent over.

After Zhou Wei had a look, he instructed Lord Wang to prepare some more cloth and food supplies.

“What does Third Master plan to do?”

When Lord Wang sent the goods the last time, he wanted to take the opportunity to send people in there to scout for news. Unfortunately, the people he sent were all discovered by the other party.

However, other than this method, it was difficult for them to have any other way to infiltrate the enemy’s camp.

“Get the things ready first. I’ll send someone to take care of the rest.

“Yes, yes. I’ll get someone to prepare them now.”

Lord Wang did not dare to delay and got everything ready that night.

“Send a message to them and express our goodwill. Let them think that we’re afraid and that we are worried that His Highness will be hurt. It’s fine to make things clear. Let them think that they’ve gotten a hold of our sore spot now and that we can’t do anything to them and can only be manipulated by them.”

Lord Wang did not know what Zhou Wei was up to but he still did as he was told dutifully.

After receiving the letter, the Green Guardian was getting ready to take it to Su Ying, but on the way, he ran into Qiao Yang who came looking for Su Ying.

“Where are you going?”

Qiao Yang called out to the Green Guardian.

“To see the City Lord,” the Green Guardian said officiously without any emotion on his face.

Qiao Yang glanced at the note in his hand. “Who sent this?

The Green Guardian didn’t say anything. He was silently indicating that he didn’t want to talk to Qiao Yang.

“You brat, why are you still behaving in such an annoying manner after so long? Can’t you act like a normal human?”