Wu Zheng wiped the sweat from his head. He had been in Nanyang for several months and was still a little uncomfortable with the climate here.
Northern Shaanxi, where he was previously, has four distinct seasons.
There is only one season here in Nanyang. Every day is unbearably hot. If it is slightly cooler, it will rain heavily.
Wu Zheng looked at the Hexi Village that had taken shape, and he looked proud.
This is a village that he built little by little while leading the villagers.
In the woodland next to the river, the trees were cut down one by one.
Dig ditches to isolate the fields from the mountains and forests, when the wind direction is suitable.
A fire ignited all the weeds and leaves that had been accumulated in the forest.
The weeds and leaves on the ground were burned away, and what was left was a large piece of fertile farmland.
After the fire burns out, plant ash is a good fertilizer.
A raging fire can also burn away pests and weed seeds on the land.
Pests and weeds will not affect the harvest of food in the fields.
Thatched houses were built one after another in the village, and each family was assigned a thatched house.
Carpenter Zhang is very skilled, but he did not show all his skills in the immigration camp.
Building his own house shows his superb craftsmanship.
The thatched house looks simple, and there are many tips to build it.
The thatched house built under Carpenter Zhang's guidance did not use a single nail and relied entirely on mortise and tenon structure, but it was able to withstand violent storms.
The thatched house is also very capable of sheltering from rain. There has been heavy rain in the village for more than a month, and there is no leakage in the thatched house.
Everyone worked hard to build a new home, which made all the villagers become one.
The composition of the villagers in Hexi Village is very mixed, and most of them are people who were affected by the disaster and accepted immigrants from the imperial court.
There are also some prisoners who were sentenced to exile by the government.
Normal immigrants, when they see the deported prisoners, are initially a little afraid of them and dare not approach these people.
There are also former Korean immigrants who occupy the third floor and are incompatible with them. They were forcibly immigrated to Nanyang by Jinghai Mansion.
In the past, many Han people called them Korean Bangzi. The relationship between the two parties was very bad, and there were even fights in the immigrant camps.
As people worked hard to build Hexi Village, more than a dozen newlyweds were born.
The barriers between the two parties gradually dissipated.
In this strange realm, they are all from Hexi Village.
Wu Zheng was worried at the beginning. He was afraid that the two sides would be like fire and water.
The turning point for both parties was that the indigenous tribes actually rushed out of the forest with bows, arrows and swords.
This allowed the two parties, stimulated by the common enemy, to quickly bridge their differences and unite together.
Several gunshots rang out throughout Hexi Village.
When Wu Zheng heard the gunfire, he trembled all over.
Thinking again of that night a few months ago.
More than 20 young indigenous people went directly to the village.
If Lu Guangming hadn't been vigilant and arranged militia sentries to scare away these natives.
Their whole village is completely ruined.
Wu Zheng's daughter Wu Wen'er heard the gunfire.
She said happily: "Wild boars, big wild boars, eat meat."
At a young age, she only remembered that the sound of gunshots was related to meat.
Wu Zheng rushed out immediately and quickly arrived at the south end of the village.
He then saw Lu Guangming leading a militia team, tying up three young and shirtless natives with colorful faces and hemp ropes.
The young and strong natives are much shorter than them and look lean and lean.
That night, the natives were scared away by the sound of gunfire. Wu Zheng had never seen what a real native looked like.
Now he really saw the local indigenous people in Nanyang.
When Wu Zheng saw the appearance of the natives, he immediately showed contempt.
No wonder Lord Wang Qiyun calls these natives monkeys.
Their body shape really looks like a giant monkey.
Lu Guangming looked at the tied native, bared his teeth and screamed at Wu Zheng, which frightened Wu Zheng so much that he almost fell down.
He raised the butt of his rifle and hit the aborigine hard on the back of the head, knocking him unconscious.
"Village chief, none of us understand these indigenous languages, so we can't understand what he said at all.
It is too dangerous to raise them in a village.
Once the rope is opened, except for the militiamen, there is no match for these young and strong natives in the village.
Keeping them in vain is a waste of food.
The village chief thinks, what should we do?"
Wu Zheng stood up straight and listened to Lu Guangming's words.
Lu Guangming's words had the same meaning inside and outside: he wanted to execute these three young indigenous men.
Lu Guangming is a prisoner exiled in Nanyang, and he is not suitable to make this decision.
Wu Zheng was the village chief appointed by the county magistrate. Now the government system in Nanyang is imperfect and there is no Dali Temple nearby to sentence criminals. The decision can be made by the village chief.
What's more, the "Law of Dahua" governs the people of Dahua, and the indigenous people are not considered people of Dahua at all, and they are not under the protection of the law.
Wu Zheng looked at the bow and arrow and long knife in Tu's hand.
What they held was not bone arrows and stone knives. The indigenous people in the Nanyang region still had a certain level of civilization.
He always felt that he couldn't give the order to kill him.
Maybe in the future, after experiencing training, he can issue such iron-blooded orders.
But now he has only been promoted from a disaster victim to the village chief, and he does not yet have the ability to ignore life.
Wu Zheng said: "Lock them up first, and I'll send someone by boat to ask for instructions from Lord Wang Qiyun."
Wu Zheng chose the most conservative method.
Everything is decided by the superior, and he will not bear any responsibility.
Carpenter Zhang ran towards them quickly, shouting: "Cows, cows, so many cows."
Wu Zheng looked at Carpenter Zhang and said with a puzzled look on his face: "Old Zhang, you married a Korean daughter-in-law, why are you so unreasonable in what you say?
Cow, where did our Hexi Village cow come from?
Not to mention an ox, there isn’t even a mule.”
Carpenter Zhang took a quick breath, smoothed it out and said, "Master Wang Qiyun sent us a lot of cows.
Mr. Wang is now at the dock by the river. I will inform the village and go to the dock to pick up the cattle."
When Wu Zheng heard the news, he immediately notified the villagers who were good at raising cattle to go to the dock to pick up the cattle.
Master Wang Qiyun sent them cattle, which solved the most urgent need in the village.
The village is now worried whether to plant paddy fields or dry fields.
The dry land is ready to grow some corn and spices.
The paddy fields were used to grow rice.
Wu Zheng learned in the immigration camp that rice here in Nanyang can be harvested three times a year.
There are three crops of rice a year, and as long as you guard a few acres of farmland in the village, no one will starve to death again.
To be continued...