Chapter 275 Ice House

Early that morning, Yang Zhengshan left the city with his personal entourage.

He wanted to personally see the damage done to military households.

The snow on the road is so thick that even riding a horse can only move forward slowly.

Hongyun didn't like such thick snow very much, and kept kicking the snow on the road with small steps.

Yang Zhengshan looked at the vast expanse of white, his mood becoming increasingly heavy.

He had predicted this heavy snowfall, but he was unable to make complete preparations.

Tenglongwei has been in poverty for a long time, and many problems cannot be solved in a short time.

Take the house as an example. It's so cold that it's impossible to renovate the house. We can only simply strengthen it.

The so-called reinforcement is nothing more than supporting a few more tree trunks in the house.

Nothing else can be done.

After spending more than half an hour, they walked almost twenty miles and came to a fort.

The Tunpu here is different from the Tunpu in Chongshan Town. The Tunpu in Chongshan Town all have external walls to resist the invading Hu tribe, while the Tunpu in Tenglongwei is more like a village.

This fort is called Nanling Tun. There are more than thirty military households. It used to be a hundred-household settlement, but now it only retains the organizational structure of a general banner.

When Yang Zhengshan came to Nanling Village, the military households in the village were busy building houses.

Someone saw Yang Zhengshan and a group of people coming, and soon a man wearing a fur coat ran out of the village.

"Master Commander!" The man said with some uncertainty when he saw Yang Zhengshan.

"Hmm! Are you the chief flag officer of Nanlingtun?" Yang Zhengshan jumped off his horse and asked.

The man's expression became serious, he quickly clasped his fists and saluted, saying, "Zhang Hu, the flag officer of Nanling Tun, pays homage to the commander!"

Zhang Hu was originally a general bannerman of Tenglong Vanguard. Some time ago, he was transferred to Nanlingtun due to the major adjustment of Tenglong Guard.

Tenglongwei's major adjustments mainly adjusted officials at the Baihu and Deputy Qianhu levels, but some general banners were also transferred to other forts.

The adjustment of Baihu and Deputy Qianhu was just to prevent those people who were originally close to the Lan family from causing trouble, and the transfer of some general banners was because Xie Yuan selected a group of available manpower.

The Lan family controls Tenglong Vanguard mainly by controlling high-level officials, using their own family members as Qianhu, and then cultivating other deputy Qianhu and Baihu as cronies.

As for the general banner and Xiaoqi, the Lan family still looks down upon them, and they don't have much thought to win over these low-level officials.

Therefore, there are still some capable and responsible flag officers in Tamron Vanguard who can be reused.

These flag officers selected by Xie Yuan also wanted to train them. If they are really capable, they can be reused in the future.

Xie Yuan had already reported this matter to Yang Zhengshan, and Yang Zhengshan was also aware of the situation.

"How is the situation in the village?" Yang Zhengshan walked towards Nanling Village and asked.

Zhang Hu said in a low voice: "There are now thirty-three military households in Nanling Village, with a population of one hundred, six hundred and eight, including sixty-seven adults, thirty-three principals, and twenty-six Yudings!"

Adults refer to men between the ages of sixteen and fifty, who are considered the main labor force in military households.

Zheng Ding refers to the registered soldiers, and Yu Ding refers to the reserve soldiers.

A military household must have a principal member. If the principal member dies in battle or is unable to serve, the remaining member will take over.

At the same time, Yu Ding is also the main labor force in the field, because Zheng Ding sometimes goes on missions, participates in training, or guards city defense passes, etc.

There are only 168 people in the thirty-three military households, and the average household only has five people. This is obviously unreasonable.

It can only be said that poverty prevents military households from having children or raising children.

If there was a battlefield, many of these military households would be wiped out directly.

Yang Zhengshan stopped and saw a collapsed house.

"Did you crush anyone to death?"

"No, we are ready. After the house collapsed, we immediately rescued the people!" Zhang Hu replied quickly.

Rescue people after the house collapses!

Yang Zhengshan took a deep breath and asked again: "How many houses collapsed?"

"Well, not many, only four houses are not supported!" Zhang Hu said with some shame.

The superiors had issued orders many times before to reinforce dilapidated houses, and he had done so seriously. Unfortunately, houses still collapsed under the weight of heavy snow.

Yang Zhengshan nodded slightly, did not speak, and just continued to observe in the village.

When the military households in the village saw Yang Zhengshan, they all retreated to the side, their eyes full of fear.

Compared with those collapsed houses, Yang Zhengshan felt that the fear in his eyes made him feel more uncomfortable.

Fear means that they have been bullied before, and this is not just ordinary bullying.

Those oppressions have crushed their spirit and blood, leaving them no longer in the slightest mood to resist when facing officials.

But how can a group of bloodless people become a group of ferocious soldiers?

Whether a soldier is strong or not, the most important thing is not how well he can fight, but whether he has a bloody heart and whether he has that ruthlessness. Do you dare to risk your life on the battlefield?

No matter how strong a person is, if he does not have the determination to dare to die, he is still a coward on the battlefield.

The reason why the soldiers of the Anyuan City garrison camp dared to fight was because Yang Zhengshan met their needs in life and gave them no worries. And it's because they have the determination to die, the determination to go through mountains of swords and seas of fire with just one order.

Obviously, these people in front of me are too far apart.

There is a huge gap between their spiritual will and their own strength compared to the elite soldiers. It can even be described as a world of difference.

To train these people into elite soldiers, Yang Zhengshan still needs to do a lot.

However, the most urgent thing at present is to let them survive this cold winter.

"Do they have a place to stay?" Yang Zhengshan looked at those who were still searching for things in the ruins.

These houses collapsed not just one room, but the whole house collapsed.

They are all adobe houses, and the beams are all made of wood. Once one room collapses, the rooms connected to it will also collapse. If you are lucky, the house next to it can still be kept, and if you are unlucky, the whole house will collapse together.

"This, if you squeeze, you can still live!" Zhang Hu said.

"Squeeze!" Yang Zhengshan frowned.

What this means is that there are no vacant houses to accommodate these people without houses, but it is also true that Nanling Village is poor, and there are no idle houses.

As for squeezing, if one person is accommodated in a family, there will always be a place to sleep.

But in this way, it is very inconvenient.

This is not squeezing for a few days, but squeezing for several months.

It is only November now. If you want to build a new house, you have to wait until the beginning of March next year at least, which means you have to squeeze in more than three months.

Those who lost their houses will feel uncomfortable, and those who help will also feel uncomfortable.

Conflicts will inevitably arise over time, and more conflicts will lead to greater troubles.

Yang Zhengshan fell into deep thought and thought it would be better to arrange separate residences for these four families.

We definitely can't build houses now!

"Build a few ice houses!"

If you can't build a mud house, then build an ice house.

According to the weather conditions in Liaodong, Yang Zhengshan thinks that this ice house can be lived in at least until February next year.

By then, the temperature will rise. Although it will still be very cold, there should be a way to survive.

Living in an ice house is naturally not as comfortable as living in an adobe house, but now the ice house is the best choice. Of course, the most important thing is that building an ice house is simple and easy, and it only takes a few days to complete.

"Ice house?" Zhang Hu obviously didn't know what an ice house was.

Yang Zhengshan nodded, "Ice house is a house covered with ice!"

As he said, he glanced around and walked to a well.

The well is about two meters deep. There is a thin layer of ice on the water surface. There is a long stick next to it. You can use the stick to break the ice surface when drawing water.

"Just put the water in the bucket and leave it overnight. It should be completely frozen. Then use the ice blocks as bricks and stones to build a house."

"The ice house does not need to be too big. A smaller one will be warmer."

"If there are gaps between the ice blocks, you can pour water on them. After the water freezes in the gaps, it will naturally block the gaps!"

"Although such an ice house is not as comfortable as an adobe house and cannot be used as a kang, it can block the wind!"

"Cover a few more quilts, and it is still okay to live in it!"

"Well, if there are no quilts, then put more straw!"

Yang Zhengshan tried to describe the situation of the ice house in simple words. The conditions were difficult, so he could only make do like this.

However, Zhang Hu's eyes lit up as he listened. Although he had never built an ice house, he knew that this method was feasible after listening to Yang Zhengshan's description.

"Your Excellency is brilliant!"

"The idea of ​​the ice house is great. Not only them, but others may also come up. We can use ice to reinforce the house!"

Zhang Hu said excitedly.

Yang Zhengshan was stunned.

Reinforce the house with ice!

This seems to work!

It's freezing cold now. It's impossible to dig the soil to build a house. It's impossible to dig at all.

As for wood, there are no dense forests around Tenglongwei, and wood is also a scarce material.

This is why they couldn't do it well before when they wanted to reinforce the house.

But if ice is used, it will be much simpler.

Which village doesn't have a well?

Ice making requires molds. It doesn't matter if there are no suitable molds. There are always buckets and wooden basins. If the size is not suitable, you can chisel it or connect them together.

With the coldness of Liaodong, a bucket of water can be frozen solid overnight.

This Zhang Hu is good. He can draw inferences from one example. Yang Zhengshan just said to build an ice house, and he can think of using ice to reinforce the house.

Yang Zhengshan stroked his beard and glanced at Zhang Hu.

Damn, why didn't I think of it before?

If I had thought of it earlier, these houses might not have collapsed under the heavy snow!

Zhang Hu thinks Yang Zhengshan is smart, but Yang Zhengshan thinks Zhang Hu is smart.

Yang Zhengshan's smartness comes from the short videos about ice houses he has seen in his previous life, but Zhang Hu's smartness is really smart.

Yang Zhengshan really didn't think of using ice to reinforce the house. In fact, even the ice house was something he thought of temporarily.

Of course, Yang Zhengshan would definitely not say it clearly. He is also a person who wants to save face. How can he expose his own shortcomings?

"Well, since you have figured it out, take someone to try it!"

"Yes, sir!" Zhang Hu responded excitedly.

And Yang Zhengshan did not continue to stay in Nanlingtun. He could not help here at all. Instead, it would make these military households timid and restrained.

He originally wanted to continue to inspect other Qianhu Suo and garrisons, but after thinking of the method of building an ice house and using ice to reinforce the house, he immediately returned to the Acropolis.

He immediately wrote down these two methods, and then asked the clerks in the government office to copy dozens of copies and sent them to each Qianhu Suo.

This is a good idea, maybe not a perfect one, but it can help many military households get through this cold winter.