Chapter 83 Food Prices Charcoal Burning

Yangjia Village.

When Yang Mingwu returned with fifty soldiers, it was inevitable that he would attract countless attention and discussion.

Many villagers greeted Yang Mingwu enthusiastically.

"Mingwu, are these all your subordinates?"

"I heard that you are already a deputy captain? Is it true?"

"Is Uncle Zhengshan okay?"

"You must remember Uncle Zhengshan's support, we must not forget our roots!"

Listening to the villagers' concerned and envious words, Yang Mingwu smiled with a big grin.

He finally walked out of the enthusiastic villagers and came to Yang Zhengxiang.

"Chief!"

"Not bad, you are stronger!" Yang Zhengxiang stroked his long beard and looked him up and down.

Compared with the original Yang Mingwu, Yang Mingwu is now more burly and more sturdy, but the premise is to ignore the silly expression on his face.

"How is the chief recently?" Yang Mingwu was also looking at Yang Zhengxiang.

Yang Zhengxiang is old, even though he is a warrior, he cannot hide the fact that he is aging.

However, his spirit is very good, and his turbid eyes are shining, as if they are full of infinite vitality.

"Well, I am very good now!" Yang Zhengxiang laughed.

With the development and growth of the Yang family, he, the patriarch, is also a well-known figure in the whole Anning County.

Especially after Yang Zhengshan was promoted, many people came to visit him, wanting to find a future under Yang Zhengshan through his relationship.

With so many people praising him and so many people serving him, Yang Zhengxiang seemed to have a second spring, and he was energetic and full of energy every day.

Yang Mingwu also laughed, but his eyes quickly moved behind Yang Zhengxiang.

"Dad, Mom! I am unfilial, I kowtow to you!"

Yang Mingwu said clumsily, but he knelt down in front of his parents and kowtowed three times.

"Get up quickly, get up quickly!" The old couple looked at their eldest son, happy and distressed.

He was happy that his son had made a difference, but he was distressed that his son had to go to the battlefield and fight against the brutal Hu tribe.

"Dad!" Yang Mingwu laughed, and his eyes fell on the woman behind his father. The woman was holding a three or four-year-old baby in her hand. That was his wife and child.

"Boss!"

"Dad!"

The family reunited and had a lot to say.

Yang Zhengxiang naturally would not disturb the reunion, so after meeting Yang Mingwu, he let Yang Mingwu go home first.

As for the soldiers brought back by Yang Mingwu, he made proper arrangements.

After a night's rest, Yang Mingwu came to Yang Zhengxiang's house again.

"Chief, this is the letter from the adults!"

Yang Zhengxiang took the letter and frowned slightly after reading it.

"Is the drought in Chongshan Town very serious?"

Yang Zhengshan had written to him before, saying that Chongshan Town was suffering from a severe drought and that the price of grain might increase this year, and specifically told him not to let the tribesmen sell the grain at a low price.

"Well, many places have no production, and the better ones are only 30% to 40% of previous years!" Yang Mingwu said honestly.

Yang Zhengxiang nodded, stroked his beard and thought for a while, "The grain price in Anning County has also risen a lot. I can decide for the tribesmen and sell the grain to you at the price of previous years!"

He was talking about you, not Yinghebao.

"No, the adults have already said that the tribesmen cannot suffer losses!" Yang Mingwu shook his head.

"Will the price be too high, will it cause trouble for Zhengshan?" Yang Zhengxiang had such a worry.

"There will be trouble only if the price is too low!" Yang Mingwu smiled.

He is simple, but he is not stupid.

The price of grain in Chongshan Town is bound to rise. If Yang Zhengshan brings back a batch of low-priced grain at this time, then if other people also ask Yang Zhengshan to buy grain, how should the price be calculated?

It's okay for other people, but what about officials of Jianning Guard?

They don't necessarily buy grain for soldiers, they may just want to make money.

Therefore, if Yang Zhengshan really bought the grain at a low price, not only would it not bring any benefits, but it might also cause trouble.

Yang Zhengxiang thought about it again and said, "Then let's charge four taels of silver per load!"

"Okay!" Yang Mingwu agreed very readily.

Before returning, he had been to Anning County, and now the price of grain in Anning County is about four taels of silver per load.

It is actually a bit high to collect grain from Yangjia Village at this price.

But then again, it is autumn harvest now, which is the time when there is the most grain, and it should also be the lowest grain price in the year. If it is after the New Year, the grain price will definitely rise.

The villagers of Yangjia Village only need to keep the grain until after the New Year, and they will definitely be able to sell it for four taels, or even more than five taels.

After agreeing on the grain price, Yang Zhengxiang immediately called the villagers to start selling grain.

After Yang Mingwu handed the silver to Yang Zhengxiang, he went to Yang Zhengshan's house.

"The master told you to pack up and go back to Yinghebao with us in two days!" Yang Mingwu said to Yang Mingcheng.

Yang Zhengshan had already decided to take all his family members to Yinghebao. Now that Yang Mingwu is back, they can go back to Yinghebao together.

"Really!" Yang Mingcheng was overjoyed.

If there were no letters sent back from Chongshan Town, he would have thought that Yang Zhengshan, his biological father, had forgotten about their family.

Yang Zhengshan had been away from home for more than half a year. He really wanted to see Yang Zhengshan again, and even more wanted to stay with Yang Zhengshan.

"Yes! The master has always been thinking about you!" Yang Mingwu said with a smile.

"Then I'll get ready!" Yang Mingcheng couldn't wait.

…

Outside Yinghe Fort.

Yang Zhengshan was directing a dozen young men to dig river mud and build charcoal kilns in front of the river beach.

Next to it was a pile of firewood cut from the mountains.

The charcoal kiln they built is a triangular charcoal kiln, with a side length of about two meters and a depth of more than one meter underground. The front end is slightly higher than the back end, and a flue and smoke exhaust hole are dug in the back.

After the charcoal kiln was built, Yang Zhengshan directed people to start baking the kiln.

"Dad, can this really produce charcoal?" Yang Minghao couldn't help but ask as he looked at the already burning charcoal kiln.

That's right, all Yang Zhengshan has to do is burn charcoal.

The winter in Chongshan Town is long and cold, and the people have a great demand for firewood and charcoal.

Especially the families of officials would purchase a large amount of charcoal before winter, and the price of charcoal was not cheap.

Yang Zhengshan had seen videos about burning charcoal in his previous life, and even thought about trying it. Unfortunately, he was busy with work at the time and had no time to try.

Now he wanted to find a job for the military households in the camp, and charcoal burning was undoubtedly the most suitable job.

The market is big enough and the cost is low enough. The key is that there are a lot of mountains and forests around Yinghe Fort.

If it were Linguan Fort, Yang Zhengshan would definitely not burn charcoal, because there is not a lot of wood around Linguan Fort to use.

Yinghe Fort is different. To the west of Yinghe Fort is the continuous mountain forest, and the most important thing is wood.

In addition to Yinghe Fort, the wood resources around Sanshan Fort are also very rich.

With abundant wood resources, the cost of burning charcoal is nothing more than labor cost.

Compared with Linguanbao's front workshop, the profit from burning charcoal will be greater.

"It should be possible!" Yang Zhengshan was a little unsure.

After all, he had never actually had a burn, but had only watched some related videos.

After the kiln started, Yang Zhengshan arranged for two people to watch the fire and left first.

The kiln takes two days. Whether the charcoal can be produced will be known after two days.

After returning to Yinghe Fort, Yang Zhengshan went to take a look at the military residential area behind the government office.

After the autumn harvest was over, he mobilized all the military households in the entire camp.

Burning charcoal is only a trivial matter, twenty people are enough. The real big deal is the construction of the fort.

Although the houses in Yinghe Fort are much better than those in Linguan Fort, Yang Zhengshan is still not satisfied.

And next, he will recruit refugees, resettle them, and build some houses for them.

So now Yinghe Fort, Sanshan Fort and Xiangyuan Fort are undergoing major construction.

Build a house, build a stable, build a pig pen, build a chicken coop and more.

To put it simply, Yang Zhengshan wanted to renovate all three forts.

Not only the three forts, but also all the piers and beacons will be renovated after the renovation of the forts is completed.

Looking at the busy military households, Yang Zhengshan nodded with satisfaction.

"Old Li!"

"grown ups!"

Lao Li, who was building a stable with a group of half-grown men, heard the call and hurriedly ran to Yang Zhengshan.

"Get two pigs and give everyone extra food today!" Yang Zhengshan ordered.

"Sir, be kind!" Lao Li suddenly smiled.

If everyone adds extra food, he will also add extra food.

He was naturally happy to be able to eat free pork.

"By the way, let me inform you that no one is allowed to raise pigs, chickens or ducks in the camp from now on!" Yang Zhengshan said, thinking of the smelly environment in the camp.

For military households, it is normal to raise pigs and chickens at home.

But Yang Zhengshan had to prohibit it.

Tunpu is so big, and the houses of every military household are lined up together and arranged very compactly.

Military households are not like farmers in the village. Farmers have a big yard, and there are some vacant plots between neighbors. They can raise pigs and chickens without worrying about stinking the neighbors.

The military households in the camp were different. Their yards were very small. This family raised two pigs and that family raised a few chickens, which made the entire camp stink.

"Should we raise them together?" Old Li was not stupid. When he was at Linguan Fort, Yang Zhengshan built pig pens and chicken coops and hired military households to raise them. It should be the same here.

Yang Zhengshan nodded, "I'll leave this matter to you."

After arranging things in the camp, Yang Zhengshan returned to the government office.

"Sir, the first batch of soldiers to receive training has been determined. Would you like to take a look, sir?" Yang Chengxu handed a roster to Yang Zhengshan.

Yang Zhengshan did not take the roster, but said: "You can do whatever you want! When are you going to start training?"

"Tomorrow I will send people to notify the camps to start training in three days!" Yang Chengxu said.

"Yes! Have you found the cook in charge of the food?"

"We've found them all. There are twelve in total. We can start work at any time!" Yang Chengxu smiled with two small tiger teeth.

The soldiers who received training were all taken care of by the government. There were a total of two hundred soldiers in this first batch, and cooking alone was no small task.

"Is the tent enough?" Yang Zhengshan asked again.

"That's enough. There are thirty tents in the warehouse. In addition, there are more than a dozen houses in the fort, which can accommodate two hundred people!"

Yang Zhengshan nodded slightly, "Then go and get busy!"