Xie Nanxiao did not continue the topic. Instead, he said, "You all go to the city gate first. I will go and see if the Lord has arrived."
Sun Yi and the others hurriedly replied, "Alright, alright, go about your business."
Seeing Jiang Jin again gave him a surreal feeling, as if a lifetime had passed. At the time, he never would have imagined that this young woman could directly conquer Gefeng.
Jiang Jin smiled and greeted them, "Village Head Sun, Village Official Zhu, Village Head Su, it has been a long time. Why don't we head into the city first?"
Sun Yi and the others hurriedly bowed in respect, their attitudes reverent. "My Lady."
Jiang Jin nodded.
The procession quickly entered the city, and Jiang Jin led them to the military barracks.
It could not be helped. The county town had houses, but most of them were collapsed and uninhabitable.
Fortunately, the barracks were large. In the past, they had housed thousands of soldiers, so arranging them in a military style provided plenty of space.
Jiang Jin exchanged a few pleasantries with Sun Yi and the others before taking her leave.
Not long after, Dong Si arrived with Luo Qingci, Feng Qingzhu, and a few others.
Dong Si and his group began to check their household registers, record the population details, and so on. Once finished, they quickly arranged housing for everyone.
By evening, the villagers from the grain transport team, escorted by Zhou Sui and his men, marched grandly into the city.
That night, a high-level meeting for Gefeng County was convened.
Looking at the statistical data in her hands, Jiang Jin noted that the population of Gefeng had suddenly reached over 3,300 people!
She had brought about 300 people herself.
Gefeng County Town had a total of over 600 people.
Today, the total number from the villages of Sun Yi and the others was nearly 900.
The villages associated with the grain transport team brought back over 1,100 people, plus over 300 able-bodied young men like Zhang Jinshan who were transporting the grain.
She looked around at everyone and began, "With the population in the county town increasing, there are many things we can do now."
"First, military recruitment. The age limit is between fifteen and twenty-five. Zhou Sui will be in charge of this."
"Second, building houses. With so many people, everyone living in the barracks is definitely not a long-term solution. Furthermore, the winters here are cold and long. For the sake of the people's better livelihood, I plan to build houses with heated brick beds and heated walls."
The crowd was puzzled. Xie Nanxiao was the first to ask, "My Lord, what are heated beds and heated walls?"
Jiang Jin glanced at him. "You will know in the future."
"Tomorrow, I will assign Kang Sheng as the foreman for this project. Chen Xi, you will be the head of the construction team." She looked at Chen Xi.
She spread out a map of Gefeng County Town that she had drawn herself and pointed at it.
"I intend to divide Gefeng County Town into seven major districts: the residential district, commercial district, industrial district, armory district, horse ranch, administrative district, and military district."
Everyone looked at the map and indeed saw various sized regional blocks drawn on it, with the districts clearly labeled.
Jiang Jin tapped on the residential district. "This area needs to be cleared out first, and then the foundations laid. Once the bricks are fired, we can start building."
"A logging team can also be established. There are quite a few birch trees on a small slope to the east in front of the Gesi Mountains, which I plan to use for making charcoal. Charcoal kilns will also need to be built. Oh, and send more people to the brick kilns as well..."
Charcoal burns much longer than firewood, making it more cost-effective.
Most importantly, charcoal produces a higher temperature, which can later be used to fire ceramics and forge weapons and iron tools.
As long as she built workshops with floor heating and heated walls, work could continue normally no matter how cold the winter got. Such a long freezing period definitely could not be wasted.
Jiang Jin continued, "We can have the carpenters go to the surrounding mountains to see what other trees are usable. We cannot solely rely on that one birch forest."
"Right, we also need wood for making bows and arrows. I noticed the raw materials in the armory are running low; we need to start preparing them."
Everyone nodded repeatedly.
Jiang Jin went on, "Third, with the growing population, the county office must recruit runners. What do you all think: should we select people directly from our military, or should we recruit anew?"
Yun Ci stroked his beard. "I think we should recruit anew. Our soldiers have been training for a while now; it would be a pity to have them serve as yamen runners."
The others nodded in agreement.
Jiang Jin had no objections to this. She glanced at Luo Qingci. "Luo Qingci, if I hand the county office over to you, do you dare to accept?"
In this era, there were no female officials, nor were there female soldiers.
She had set the precedent for female soldiers, so naturally, she could set the precedent for female officials.
Although the past few days had only involved simple household registration and handling population matters, she could tell that Luo Qingci possessed strong organizational skills and some administrative experience.
After all, her father was a commandery governor. Having been constantly exposed to such matters, her knowledge surpassed that of most people.
Of course, it had only been a short time, and further observation was needed.
Therefore, she did not give a direct appointment. This was giving Luo Qingci an opportunity to first perform the duties of a county magistrate—in modern terms, a probationary period.
After all, Gefeng was now Jiang Jin's stronghold. It was incredibly important to her; it was no exaggeration to call it her great rear base, but she did not have much time to deal with these trivial matters.
Hearing Jiang Jin's words, not to mention the others, even Luo Qingci widened her eyes in sheer astonishment. This was quickly followed by wild joy. Her heart surged with emotions, feeling a mix of overwhelming gratitude and swelling pride.
Her face flushed red, and it took her a long while to calm her emotions before she answered in a loud voice, "I dare."
Jiang Jin nodded in satisfaction. "Very well, then the recruitment of yamen runners will be left to you."
She then looked at Feng Qingzhu. "Feng Qingzhu, you will temporarily hold the position of Master of Records."
The Master of Records here was primarily responsible for household registers, documents, and similar affairs.
Feng Qingzhu felt a sour prickle in her nose, holding back tears. She never imagined she would see the day she became a female official. Even though the Lord said it was temporary, she was completely satisfied.
Seeing her excited and touched expression, Jiang Jin could not help but smile. She turned to Dong Si and said, "From now on, you are responsible for the finances and provisions of Gefeng County. You will report directly to me."
Her words meant that the administration and finance of Gefeng were directly separated.
However, everyone understood that this was not out of distrust for Luo Qingci. Rather, this was no ordinary county town, and the appointments and arrangements of the county office naturally could not follow conventional operations.
Dong Si was so thrilled that tears almost fell from his eyes. He choked up and said, "Rest assured, My Lord. I will go through fire and water for you, and I will not betray your trust."
Jiang Jin: "..." That really isn't necessary.
The meeting lasted for over two hours. When it adjourned, everyone wore excited smiles on their faces.
They all saw hope, looking forward to the day when Gefeng County Town was fully built. According to the Lord's plans, what a magnificent scene that would be!
The next morning, Jiang Jin called Kang Sheng over and handed him the blueprints for the houses. "Take a look. If there's anything you don't understand, ask me."
Kang Sheng was bewildered. He stared at it for a long time but still couldn't quite grasp it. "This humble servant is slow-witted. I don't quite understand the purpose of the internal structure of these houses, My Lord?"
Jiang Jin knew that heated beds and heated walls did not exist in this era, so it was completely normal for him not to understand these new concepts.
She explained in detail, "You burn a fire for warmth, and the heat circulates through the flues..."
Kang Sheng listened extremely carefully; it was as if a whole new world had been opened up to him...
On the other side, various recruitment drives—for soldiers, yamen runners, kiln workers, construction workers, and more—were vigorously launched across Gefeng.
The people in the city were buzzing with excitement, and whenever they met, they discussed the recruitment.
"Is your boy planning to join the army? Being a soldier is good! You can get half a stone of grain a month."
"That's true, but it's easy to get killed... sigh."
"Nowadays, you could lose your life doing just about anything. If I weren't so old, I'd enlist in the army to kill those barbarians myself."
"You said it. Come on, let's go sign up as bricklayers and see if they'll have us."
