roccoschili Chapter 53 The Watchtower
Chapter 53 The Watchtower
To build a new town from scratch, the first step is to determine its core.
That was undoubtedly his own large courtyard house.
It's a two-story, three-courtyard house with east and west wings and a back garden. Once built, it won't need to be replaced even if you have a large number of wives and concubines.
Of course, it can't compare to the Marshal's Mansion.
With only a few hundred thousand silver dollars, it was simply not enough to build such a land-based vessel, and the construction period also did not allow it.
Before winter arrives this year, we'll finish building the main courtyard house. If the construction speed is fast enough, we'll also build the east and west wings.
As for the elaborate garden, we can leave it for next year or the year after.
Master Xiao reviewed the blueprints, listened to Lu Xingzhou's requests, and discussed the details with him.
"Young Master Lu, the location at the source of the Liao River is really remote. Is it really necessary to leave space for wiring such as electric lights and telephone lines?"
In Northeast China today, nobody knows what a diesel generator is.
Even if you knew that, that thing would be too noisy. It's fine for temporary use in a factory, but it's not suitable for home use.
Furthermore, given the development speed of Fengtian Province, it would be impossible to extend the power line to the source of the Liao River within 20 years, which is why Xiao Yuanshan made such a statement.
"If you follow my design, even if it doesn't work, I won't blame you, right?"
Although Lu Xingzhou's large toy design is not progressing as well as expected, it is showing some promise and will be usable sooner or later.
"Fine, you're the owner, you call the shots!"
Next comes the design of the drainage and septic tanks.
"I've never seen a septic tank like this before. It must have used up a lot of steel and cement. Without a large cleaning opening, how can it be effective?"
"No problem with the specifications!"
Lu Xingzhou provided a three-compartment septic tank, commonly used by farmers in modern new rural areas, built in a 2:1:3 ratio. He also added a water purification pool for bathing and washing vegetables, and an ecological pool with pebbles, charcoal, rag bags, and grass for planting, which was aesthetically pleasing.
The excrement is all organic matter, and it has ample time to ferment and decompose in the three pools in turn. After that, there is not much dry matter left. According to the size he designed, it will not need to be emptied once every eight or ten years.
The two pools at the back perfectly handle all domestic sewage.
It could actually produce biogas, but given Lu Xingzhou's own abilities, he was not allowed to replicate such a complex structure.
As for the rest—flushing toilets, fireplaces, heated kang beds, fire walls, and the like—Master Xiao was far more knowledgeable than Lu Xingzhou.
They even directly pointed out the irrationality of Lu Xingzhou's kang (heated brick bed) flue:
"A kang with holes like this can get hot enough, but it wastes too much firewood. I think a zigzag flue is more suitable."
Lu Xingzhou wasn't entirely headstrong: "We can do it your way."
The heated brick bed he remembers dates back to an era when fuel waste was no longer a concern, so it's normal that it's no longer suitable for modern use.
Without extravagant decorations, the main building of the courtyard house is actually very simple, and the two finished their conversation quickly.
Next comes the main event – Lu's New Rural Village.
Actually, the biggest point of contention between him and Yu Fengzhu regarding the construction of the long-term workers' dormitory was not about whether they had more or less money, or whether they were kind or evil.
It is consciousness.
Even if Yu Fengzhu is kind, he still thinks like a businessman, considering costs and profits. Lu Xingzhou, on the other hand, doesn't see himself as a businessman at all.
Instead, they planned residential areas for the farmhands from the perspective of a city builder.
His courtyard house is built 500 meters from the river. The garden behind the east courtyard can be extended to the riverbank in the future, where a small dock or something can be built.
To the north are four giant warehouses, one of which even has a large underground cellar. A small dock was also built next to it to facilitate the entry and exit of goods. It will become a storage area in the future.
To the south lies the industrial zone.
This position also needs some explanation.
The Kanto region experiences year-round northwest winds in winter, so any pollution from other workshops or factories that may be built in the future will not spread to residential areas.
He first built a mill, an oil press, a tofu workshop, and a vermicelli workshop, which not only met his self-sufficiency needs, but also completed the agricultural and sideline product processing industry he wanted to develop in the early stages.
The livestock sheds for cattle, horses, pigs, sheep, and poultry pens for chickens, ducks, and geese are heavily polluting, so they are built in the southernmost downstream area, which does not pollute the domestic water supply at all.
To the west of the traditional courtyard house, next to the north side of the warehouse, a school that could accommodate 500 students was built.
To the south of the industrial zone, build a large canteen that can accommodate 500 people at the same time.
From the beginning, Lu Xingzhou did not want his subordinates to live behind closed doors. He believed that they should always have a sense of collective life, so building a canteen was necessary.
There is a large square between the two.
There is plenty of space for both long-term workers to rest and for students to play after class.
The westernmost part is the residential area for farmhands.
Four terraced two-story brick-concrete buildings, each with two bedrooms and a living room, with 25 units per floor and 50 units per floor, accommodating a total of 200 households.
If it's not enough to live in, it can be expanded at any time, with buildings constructed in a ring around Lu Xingzhou's private residence.
Next to the workers' dormitory were toilets and a communal bathroom with a boiler room and hot water room.
We don't yet have the capacity to provide the farmhands with separate bathrooms with flush toilets, and Lu Xingzhou isn't simply pursuing large and comprehensive facilities.
The hot water room is a perk byproduct of the bathroom boiler room, while the bathroom itself is designed to ensure that everyone accepts and follows the decisions made by the staff.
In the summer, no one objects to letting everyone bathe in the Xiliao River, but if they do it in the winter, given the weather in Northeast China, the farmhands will either rebel or people will die.
Xiao Yuanshan meticulously noted down all the details.
Once these old buildings, divided into zones, were put up, Xiao Yuanshan, who had worked in an arsenal, understood what was going on.
This young master Lu wasn't aiming to build a large, nouveau riche estate, but rather a small town, which would provide him with plenty of business opportunities in the future.
Therefore, even if you want a long-term income, you should still raise concerns:
"Young Master Lu, your design here is quite good, but isn't the courtyard wall too low at only 1.5 meters? And the cannon platform is 20 meters high, which is too tall and impractical, isn't it?"
Lu Xingzhou stated, "The wall only needs to protect against wild animals; it doesn't need to be too high!"
Not counting the threat from the bearded wild boars, two large wild boars weighing around 400 pounds and one weighing over 600 pounds have been killed in the enclosure recently, and lynxes are occasionally spotted there as well.
Without walls for protection, women and children are too vulnerable to injury.
In the Kanto region where wildlife is overly active, Lu Xingzhou would not be so overconfident as to build a modern town without walls.
"Then what's the point of using a beard protector?!"
Lu Xingzhou pointed to the three "fortifications": "I've drawn these, they're pillboxes!"
The pillbox was not invented by the Japanese, but they certainly popularized it.
With proper weaponry, a few dozen Japanese soldiers could render our army helpless against an entire county or even a prefecture.
Lu Xingzhou's design for the pillbox had only three floors, each equipped with multiple firing ports and reserved space for light and heavy machine guns.
The top platform is used for lookout, signal communication, or auxiliary firing; further back, it can even house several mortars, making it absolutely armed to the teeth.
The watchtowers offered ten times better protection for gunners than the open gun emplacements of typical fortifications; their only drawback was their high cost.
But Lu Xingzhou didn't care that other landlords were unwilling to spend money.
If you need money, just go to the Bandit Brand ATM to withdraw cash.
This was also Xiao Yuanshan's first time participating in the construction of a pillbox, and he confirmed the details with Lu Xingzhou repeatedly.
Although such expensive buildings make it difficult to open up the market, he still put a lot of effort into dealing with Lu Xingzhou, a potential major client.
"I've learned enough about Young Master Lu. I'll return to Fengtian to adjust the materials and manpower, and I'll come back in ten days to build your house!"
"good!"
Lu Xingzhou had a couple of drinks with Steward Sun. When he saw him off, he heard that Wu Junsheng had already led his troops to Hulunbuir, but he didn't take it seriously.
It's already early May.
The daytime temperature has risen to around 20 degrees Celsius, which is good for planting vegetables.
But he had already been at home long enough, and he couldn't delay any longer about visiting Zhao's family, as he had promised Wu Junsheng.
It wasn't that he was worried Wu Junsheng would blame him, but that if he delayed a few more days, Zhao would pass away.
That's the downside of being a farmer; your life is completely planned out for you all year round, and you have very little freedom.
Fortunately, he was a landlord, so he had the means to be capricious.
"Uncle Zhu, is it okay if we delay planting the vegetables for a few days?"
Zhu Kaishan, who had been summoned, knew that he had something to do and needed to go out: "Vegetables mature quickly and can be harvested in multiple batches, so planting three to five days later won't have much of an impact."
Normally, these things would be done by the village head, but since Zhu Kaishan knew he had a special ability, Lu Xingzhou was indispensable for breeding.
"Then I'll go to Xinmin. Five days should be enough for the round trip."
Since there's still time, let's go and offer some warmth to young Liu Zi first.
Meanwhile, in Beiping (Beijing).
A small banquet is being held at the newly completed Bai Mansion.
A group of gentlemen dressed in long gowns and Western suits were smoking and toasting each other in a Western-style banquet hall.