Chapter 408 - 402: Control
Another person is Zhao Cheng’s cousin on his mother’s side, a child of one of the Zhao Family’s grandaunts, so he counts as Zhao Hanzhang’s cousin. His mother passed away early, and his father remarried within a year. Unable to get along at home, he ran away on his own and made his way back to his maternal family.
It was said that when he first arrived at Zhao’s Fortress, everyone thought he was a beggar.
The Fifth Uncle took pity on him and let him stay at the house. Later, after nursing him back to health, he was sent to Zhao Cheng’s side to study and has been following Zhao Cheng ever since.
His name is Ning Yu.
Last year, Zhao Hanzhang was selecting people from Zhao Cheng’s side, but he didn’t sign up and even avoided Zhao Hanzhang’s selection, so Zhao Hanzhang didn’t know of his existence at first.
Zhao Hanzhang then smilingly asked, "Would Cousin Ning be willing?"
Zhao Cheng nodded, "He admires you greatly, so I think he would be willing."
Zhao Hanzhang nodded in agreement and further inquired, "What about Zhao Ze and the others?"
She still favored Zhao Ze and Zhao Zheng more, as they were both lively and intelligent. They could talk to anyone, including her and the Second Son, without any barriers. Losing such talents would indeed be a waste.
Zhao Cheng looked at her with helplessness and said, "They’re still young."
"Not that young, just two years younger than me. Last year, I was already leading soldiers to fight, and the Second Son is even younger, just thirteen. He’s the same age as Zhao Ze and has already accrued enough military merit to become a lieutenant."
Zhao Cheng was slightly stunned, glancing over at Zhao Hanzhang, and refrained from further objections.
With Zhao Cheng’s tacit approval, Zhao Hanzhang smiled and was about to rise to take her leave and call for Zhao Ze and the others.
However, Zhao Cheng stopped her and asked, "How do you plan to use them?"
Zhao Hanzhang sat back down and said, "I want to keep them here to assist County Magistrate Chen in building the county town. Uncle hasn’t been to Song County and doesn’t know what it’s like there. When I came from there, most of the town had been burned to ashes, with only ruins remaining. Only a few families still resided in the town, and even the outlying villages had less than one-tenth of their population left."
"Rebuilding such a county town not only consumes a lot of manpower and resources but also saddens the people," Zhao Hanzhang said. "There, I only felt deathly stillness, unlike Chen Family’s Castle here, which, although small, is vibrant and lively. Building a county town here might also attract others from Song County, allowing them to settle and work peacefully."
After a moment of silence, Zhao Cheng asked, "Is that the only reason?"
Zhao Hanzhang smiled and said, "Additionally, it’s not far from Song County town. If the population increases in the future, people could be distributed over there. Ahead of this place is a three-way intersection, a key location, coincidentally similar to Song County, where the area can be defended."
After passing the three-way intersection at Chen Family’s Castle and traveling approximately the same distance, one reaches Song County town. She thought that when Song County was initially chosen as the county seat, there must have been such considerations. Now that she is choosing a new location, she must also consider this strategic point.
"Also, there’s the mountain not far from the castle," Zhao Hanzhang sighed. "Although I hope Yu State remains peaceful, I cannot guarantee that with my strength alone, so I must consider the worst-case scenario."
"If one day I cannot hold Yu State, I would hope that the people of Song County could retreat into the mountains from here," Zhao Hanzhang said. "I’ve left the mountain bandit dens alone. They could use the natural defenses after retreating into the mountains and forests."
Seeing how much Zhao Hanzhang had considered, Zhao Cheng nodded, "Alright, I’ll have them stay."
Sighing, he said, "But they’re still young, and I’m afraid it will be difficult for them to realize your grand plans. Well, since you’re building a school here anyway, I’ll stay to help guide them."
Zhao Hanzhang’s lips curved, but she resisted halfway, with a troubled expression. "This isn’t good, Uncle. You don’t know, but Seventh Ancestor has already written urging me to send you back to Xiping."
Zhao Cheng immediately made up his mind, his expression darkening, "It’s settled. Find us a house; we can’t have so many people staying at the Chen family. Haven’t you seen their whole family crammed into the side rooms?"
Generously, Zhao Hanzhang waved her hand, "Since Uncle is staying, how can he live in those old houses? I’ll have someone build a house right away."
Not waiting for Zhao Cheng’s objection, Zhao Hanzhang turned and ran, loudly calling for Zhao Kuan and Fan Ying, "Quick, quick, quick, go find construction materials like stones and wood. Call the soldiers to dig foundations; I’m going to build a house."
Zhao Kuan was stunned, "We’re not leaving?"
Zhao Hanzhang glanced at him and said, "What are you thinking? I’m going to build the school, the county government, and residences for the officials."
She said, "These three places are the most important and need to get started immediately."
Zhao Kuan gulped, "Sir, building a house isn’t a one-day task. Are we going to stay here to build houses all the time?"
Fan Ying: "Are you stupid? What you can think of, wouldn’t the Sir have thought of it too? It’s definitely to lay the foundations first, make a model, and let County Magistrate Chen follow."
Zhao Hanzhang nodded in approval, noticing that Fan Ying was finally thinking, and this time, his thoughts aligned with hers, against Zhao Kuan’s.
She said, "County Magistrate Chen has no experience with work-for-relief projects. Although I set the rules with him, he hasn’t practiced it, so it’s inevitable that he’d be flustered. We’ll set an example for him."
"Now there are many refugees housed within the castle. They alone could build a county town, not to mention that we are providing support?" Zhao Hanzhang shared a particularly good piece of news, "Uncle Cheng plans to leave Zhao Ze and others to help."
Fan Ying shared Zhao Hanzhang’s joy, "Congratulations, Young Lady, on gaining more talents."
Zhao Kuan felt a mix of emotions. He has been lectured by the teacher these past two days, leaving his heart timid, but to hear that the teacher was staying, not leaving with them, left him feeling quite disappointed.
In the future, it would be just him facing Zhao Hanzhang and Uncle Ming alone.
Alas~~
The location of the county government was already decided between Zhao Hanzhang and Chen Yin, not within the castle, but outside.
Because the castle is small and they plan to expand it in the future. She intends to move the county town closer to the mountains, using the mountain as a new barrier, so she selected the county government site outside, to eventually encompass the castle.
Chen Yin was initially reluctant, but upon seeing the extensive plans Zhao Hanzhang had for construction, he could only agree.
Because what she planned was truly a lot.
Next to the county government are the residences for officials, separated by a street is the county school. Around the county school are residences for students and teachers...
All in all, it’s a vast construction system. His little castle couldn’t possibly contain it, not to mention the residential and commercial areas.
Once Chen Yin agreed, Zhao Hanzhang led people to mark the area on the drawings, directly marking out the county government and school sites, "Start with these two, bring lime, encircle the ground and begin construction."
Chen Yin assented but was actually a bit bewildered, unsure where to start.
But Zhao Kuan and Fan Ying, having experience, first called in craftsmen to measure, and once determined, they used lime to outline while also building a wooden shed nearby for workers to rest.