"That's settled then. We will take a portion of the resources in this county to replenish the supplies for the barracks. I will leave the rest to you. I will not interfere with any of the mines, and you will be in charge …"
Zhang Xiaoqiang casually tossed out the county as if it was an insignificant toy. Three and Guo Qiming were so shocked that they could not close their mouths. Three was stunned by Zhang Xiaoqiang's gift, and Guo Qiming was the first to react. He immediately took over Zhang Xiaoqiang's topic and said, "Zhang Xiaoqiang is truly generous, but we do not need so many resources. We only need thirty percent of the resources from Zhang Xiaoqiang, and we will think of our own ways to get the rest. If Zhang Xiaoqiang needs us to do anything, just tell us, and we will definitely do our best …"
Guo Qiming did not have the guts to take all the resources in one go. This was a huge fortune, enough to feed a hundred thousand people. They had been thinking about it day and night, and were even prepared to lose a portion of their soldiers. Yet, Zhang Xiaoqiang just gave it to them with a wave of his hand, and it felt surreal. Three levels of resources were more than enough to satisfy them, and with these resources, the Jiangxi branch's development would definitely rise to a new level. They did not ask for anything else.
"That's right, Zhang Xiaoqiang, we did not do anything, and we are not worthy of this. I feel that three levels of resources is already a lot, two levels should be enough …"
Three was embarrassed to decline Zhang Xiaoqiang's gift, but Guo Qiming secretly tugged on his sleeve, which was flung away by him. In his mind, a few words flashed past, 'Don't accept a reward without doing anything'. They had not returned to Hubei, and they did not have the face to accept these resources. Zhang Xiaoqiang really did not care about these resources, and casually said, "You don't have to be so polite. I originally wanted to transfer a batch of resources from Wuhan to support you, but now that we have them, we can save a lot of trouble. As long as you follow me closely in the future, I will naturally not treat you unfairly in certain aspects. Furthermore, these resources are really not much …" Three was silent.
Zhang Xiaoqiang owned the entire Wuhan and J-City, and he did not care about these things. Ever since he left the base, he had put in a lot of effort to develop the base to where it was today. Originally, when he met Huang Quan, he thought that he could hold his head high, but who knew that in his eyes, he was still as poor as a beggar. This made him feel uncomfortable, and he secretly decided that he would definitely achieve something in the future, to prove that he, Three, was not a good-for-nothing ….
The recapture of the small county caused the population under Three to boil over. Tens of thousands of people left the crowded base by the lake and officially entered the small county to start a new life. Guo Qiming could be considered as one of the more capable subordinates. As a former government official, he was familiar with the arrangements of the immigrants. One by one, the survivors who had nothing were given houses that could shelter them from the wind and rain. At the same time, Guo Qiming also made a decision that Zhang Xiaoqiang could not have imagined, he used the resources that they had collected as loans, charging low interest rates to lend to the survivors who had nothing, allowing them to use the resources to start a business. It was as if overnight, the small county regained its liveliness. Restaurants were opened, clothing stores, shoe stores, and all sorts of handicraft workshops were opened. Even a small cinema was opened, using diesel generators and small transformers as its power source. Just by playing all sorts of movies from before the apocalypse, the small cinema was filled to the brim. Most of the people had seen those movies, but they could not help but want to work hard for an entire day, to relive the enjoyment they had before the apocalypse. In a short period of time, the lively small town gave Zhang Xiaoqiang a lot of inspiration. Although his subordinates were developing well, it still made people feel depressed.
The problem lay in the public economy and the private economy.
When Gao Feng returned, he was stunned when he saw the small town. Previously, he had said out of anger that he wanted to build a small town with complete facilities. He did not expect that in just a few days, the other party had already built one. He immediately felt as if he had been slapped in the face, and he did not like the Jiangxi Detachment. The small town regained its liveliness, and the soldiers who had been to the barracks could not hold themselves back anymore. Soldiers also needed entertainment. Normally, there would be so many people coming and going in the barracks. Now that there was a place to relax, they all wanted to take a break and bring their special supplies to the small town to relax.
The Jiangxi Detachment erupted with passion and motivation because of a small town. Every survivor's face was filled with joy and hope. All of this was seen by Zhang Xiaoqiang, and in his heart, he was already thinking about Guo Qiming, the small Jiangxi official. This kind of talent was exactly what he needed. To be honest, Zhang Huai'an could not compare to him.
Song Weidong was the first person to receive the recognition of the grassland army's chief, Jin Xing. When the workers were rioting, he used his blood and vigor to suppress everyone. After that, he soared into the sky and became the captain of the engineering team attached to the Ministry of Construction. This engineering team was the main construction party of the Yinshan Mountain Range's defense system. From the workers to the foremen and engineers, they were all chosen from the original survivors of the Yinshan Mountain Range. After numerous replenishments, the number of people in the engineering team had reached tens of thousands. Compared to the majority of the survivors of the Yinshan Mountain Range who farmed while waiting to be sorted out, the engineering team under Song Weidong's command had soared to the heavens in a single step. They were provided with rice to fill their stomachs, and they had no lack of clothes or personal necessities for all seasons. They also had a military ticket worth two yuan per day, which could buy one kilogram of rice per day. With a salary, the workers were more motivated to work. Under Song Weidong's management, as well as the perfect reward and punishment system, the construction of the Yinshan Mountain Range's defense system sped up.
However, Song Weidong was a little worried today. The construction required a large amount of steel and cement stones. Stones were fine, as they could be used to blast open the mountains with explosives, but steel and cement were different, as they had to be transported from the rear. The transportation department's chief, Bayan, had long since viewed Jin Xing as a dangerous person. Every time Jin Xing came looking for Bayan to cause trouble, Bayan was very annoyed. However, there was only so much transportation capacity. Aside from transporting construction materials for the engineering team, they also had to transport ammunition and supplies to the two divisions in the Yinshan Mountain Range, as well as transporting raw materials and semi-finished products between several cities. The grassland's oil supply was also very tight, and the Sun Bamboo's electric drive had encountered difficulties. All sorts of worrying matters gathered together almost drove Bayan crazy. However, even if Bayan was driven crazy, the construction still had to stop due to the lack of materials.
This was what made Song Weidong the most anxious. The construction period was fixed, and if they could not complete the task on time, he would be held responsible. However, this was not his fault, so he could only look for Jin Xing. Jin Xing had already used all the methods he could think of, and Song Weidong was also helpless. In the end, he had to let Song Weidong think of a solution himself.
Looking at the densely packed workers sitting around doing nothing, Song Weidong's brows furrowed. As he sighed, he couldn't help but think of the method he had suggested before, but Jin Xing had rejected it. This method involved too many aspects, and if someone pointed out that it had ulterior motives, even Jin Xing would be in trouble, let alone a lowly manager like him.
"Song Weidong, you can't always let the workers rest. If there is nothing to do, there will definitely be people who will be dishonest. If there is a problem, I will ask for …"
Jin Xing's roar made Song Weidong jump up from the ground. He turned his head to look at Jin Xing, who was walking towards him with a straight face. Song Weidong groaned in pain in his heart, but he took the initiative to greet Jin Xing and whispered, "Minister, it's not that we don't want to work, it's just that there is no work to do. We have used up all the explosives, and we went to the army to borrow them, but they chased us back. The stones have also been sent to various construction sites, and all kinds of miscellaneous things, whether it is maintenance of the machinery or cleaning the toilet, we have done them all.
Seeing Song Weidong's complaints, Jin Xing shook his head and said,
"Don't expect me to get the materials for you. Ten carts of steel will be delivered in the afternoon, and then you will have work to do. As for the rest, you will have to figure it out yourself …"
"Minister Jin, even if we have steel, we can't do it. What we lack the most is cement. With cement, everything will be fine, but without cement … it's useless even if I shout at the sky …"
Song Weidong kept thinking about his method. Jin Xing's eyes suddenly revealed an ominous glint, and he whispered to Song Weidong:
"Can't you think of some other way?
Do you know how much effort it takes to organize the survivors to transport supplies?
If you want to guarantee your materials, you will need at least fifty thousand people to transport them back and forth. Who will pay for the food they consume? I calculated, at least thirty thousand people to transport food, and twenty thousand people to transport supplies. Now that Zhou Jie has given a death order, unless the administrative department issues a transfer order, no one can touch those survivors. You can't, and I can't … Also, about the military tickets, you better keep your mouth shut. That thing is not currency, it is our internal settlement certificate. If Zhou Jie finds out that I privately printed money, we will all lose our heads … "