jdhmnovel Chapter 249 The Mindset of Transmigrators
Chapter 249 The Mindset of Transmigrators
As for the quantity of bricks and tiles needed, Magistrate Yang had no intention of getting a reliable answer from Wang Laowai.
To calculate how many bricks and tiles are needed in Ningyang County, we first need to determine how many houses in Ningyang County need to be demolished and rebuilt, and then determine the size of these houses, whether to use 2:8 bricks, 3:7 bricks, or single bricks. Before these data are determined, simply discussing the number of bricks and tiles needed is meaningless.
Even the last question, "Can the brick kilns in Ningyang County fire particularly large ceramic pipes?", was of little concern to Magistrate Yang.
After all, this broken thing is only big enough for one person to stand in. How could a brick kiln that can fire 20,000 bricks not be able to fire it?
To put it simply, Magistrate Yang was really bored lately, so he came to visit the brick kilns in Ningyang County to relax and get a general idea of the kilns' production capacity.
However, to Magistrate Yang's surprise, after pondering for a while, Wang Laowai slowly replied, "Your Excellency, a courtyard like the one belonging to the Liu family usually requires about 10,000 bricks, while a courtyard for an ordinary family usually only requires about 5,000 bricks."
"I just don't know how many households in Ningyang County need to rebuild their courtyards, so I have no way of knowing how many bricks and tiles are needed in total."
Based on the data provided by Wang Laowai, Magistrate Yang couldn't help but start to feel a headache after just a quick mental calculation.
Ningyang County currently has only seven or eight hundred households. If we take a maximum of one thousand households, and each household needs five thousand bricks, that would amount to approximately five million bricks.
For example, in Ningyang County, it takes about half a month to fire a brick kiln once, and sometimes it may take twenty days or even longer.
Assuming three brick kilns can fire 60,000 bricks each time, five million bricks would require approximately eighty kilns. If each kiln takes half a month to fire, then eighty kilns would take forty months.
Goodness, you don't realize how much of this mess you have until you start calculating it.
Forty months would take more than three years, even with continuous firing day and night, not to mention that brick kilns simply cannot be fired indefinitely.
At the very least, it's impossible to make brick blanks when the ground is frozen in winter.
If we take that time into account, wouldn't it take five or six years, or even longer, to fire these eighty kilns of bricks?
No, once Xu Da has completely pacified the Qin and Jin regions, Emperor Zhu will launch a massive migration, moving people from Shanxi to Shandong. At that time, Ningyang County will definitely be allocated some people, and these people will also need to build houses, requiring even more bricks.
But upon further reflection, Magistrate Yang realized that he had fallen into the same misconceptions that time travelers often have.
Building a house isn't as simple as just piling up bricks. It takes time to lay the foundation, time to build the walls, time to put the roof on, and time to work the craftsmen involved, including bricklayers, carpenters, and various assistants.
Under normal circumstances, it takes at least two months to build a courtyard, and it requires several craftsmen, plus a dozen or so able-bodied young men.
In Ningyang County, each community and village needs to draw young and strong men to dig mud and fire bricks, and also to plow and harrow the land. The number of young and strong men who can be drawn specifically to build houses is very limited, which will greatly slow down the construction speed. It may take three months to complete the construction of a courtyard.
In other words, if a kiln can produce 60,000 bricks, it is enough to supply the housing needs of twelve households.
If we also consider that not all houses were started at the same time, and the time when the bricks were used varied, one batch of bricks might be enough for twenty-four households at the same time. When one batch of bricks was almost used up, the next batch of bricks would be ready.
Thinking of this, Magistrate Yang simply left the brick kiln and headed straight for Xihe Village, which was not too far to the west of the brick kiln. There he found Wang Wuqi, the head of Xihe Village, who was leading a dozen or so young men to demolish houses.
Magistrate Yang immediately summoned Wang Wuqi and asked, "How long can those cracked houses in your commune hold up? How long can the worst-case scenario house hold up?"
Wang Wuqi was somewhat bewildered by Magistrate Yang's question. After regaining his senses, he pointed to the house that was being demolished and said, "Your Honor, please look. This house belongs to Wang Er's family. His house has the biggest crack. If it is not demolished and rebuilt, it will probably only last until next spring. If there are a few heavy rains, it may not last until next autumn harvest."
"As for the houses of other people, since the cracks are not as big as those in Wang Er's house, they can be repaired and fixed. They should last another three to five years without any problem. If they are lucky and don't encounter an earthquake, they might last another ten or eight years without any problems."
Only after hearing a definite answer from Wang Wuqi did Magistrate Yang finally feel relieved.
When it comes to understanding the houses, the common people like Wang Wuqi certainly know more about them than he, the county magistrate. He said that if they could hold out for another three to five years, then these mud-brick houses could definitely hold out for another three to five years, at least until next summer.
This gave the people of Ningyang County more time to build their houses.
After pondering for a while, Magistrate Yang instructed Wang Wuqi: "Then you all do a good job and make sure the foundation is solid. Also, leave me a plot of land in the village large enough to build a three-courtyard house, which I will use to build the community school later."
Wang Wuqi was slightly taken aback, then asked with a pained expression, "Society?"
Magistrate Yang nodded and said, "It's the community school. In the future, a community school will be built in every community outside the city, so that the children in the village can study directly in the community school."
"Listen up, I know exactly how many children in your village are in school. If I find out that anyone is preventing their child from going to school, I'll have you dragged back to the county office and whipped. Got it?"
Upon hearing that he wasn't being asked to attend the community school, Wang Wuqi immediately nodded his head like a chick pecking at rice: "Don't worry, sir, I'll keep a close eye on them. If anyone tries to stop the child from going to school, I'll beat them to death before you even have to lift a finger."
……
After personally visiting all eight communities and sixteen neighborhoods in Ningyang County and confirming the extent of damage to people's houses with the community leaders and neighborhood chiefs, Magistrate Yang once again adopted a "laissez-faire" approach.
It wasn't until Zhu Biao, along with his two brothers Zhu Lao Er and Zhu Lao San, arrived in Ningyang County again, escorted by the brothers Chang Mao and Chang Sheng.