According to the custom of the village, this banquet lasted until the evening.
It became more lively at night. Dozens of bonfires were lit on the yard outside the Yan family compound, and whole lambs were roasted on each bonfire. The opera troupe invited by Zhou Hongda began to sing on the temporary stage set up in the yard amid the bonfire flames and the aroma of mutton. The stage was packed with men, women, old and young from Liuhe Town. The atmosphere inside and outside the Yan family was even more festive than Chinese New Year.
At this time, Yan Liqiang had quietly withdrawn from the bustling crowd and was talking about his plans with Lu Wenbin in a study room in his home.
"The expansion of Liuhe Town this time will be about five times larger than it is now..." Yan Liqiang said while pointing to the sketch of the expanded Liuhe Town he drew last night. "This is the old town of Liuhe Town. The layout of the old town will not change. The direction of expansion is mainly in the south, northwest, and east of Liuhe Town, with the focus on the west of Liuhe Town. There will be more than 2,000 acres of land to be expanded here. This land is a wasteland by the river. After the expansion, Liuhe Town will be connected to Liuhe River. At the same time, a wharf will be built here, a wharf that is at least three times larger than the current wharf in Qinghe County. In this way, in addition to the land route, Liuhe Town will have another water route. Liuhe River is connected to Xijiang River. In the future, the ships on the wharf can go up and down. It is not a problem to go to Huanglong County, Pingxi City, or even Pingxi County by water from here, and travel to various counties in Ganzhou by Xijiang River..."
There were three lamps lit on the lampstand in the study, illuminating the room brightly. The wicks would occasionally emit small sparks, making the study seem even quieter.
Although Steward Lu had made some mental preparations before coming to Liuhe Town, and Old Man Lu had told him what he was going to do in Liuhe Town this time, when Steward Lu looked at the sketch Yan Liqiang placed on the table and listened to Yan Liqiang's rough description of his idea, Steward Lu also felt dry mouth and was shocked by Yan Liqiang's generosity. He couldn't help but pick up the teacup next to him and took a sip of water to moisten his throat before carefully asking, "Sir, there is no such a large fortress in the entire Pingxi County. If Liuhe Town is expanded according to this scale, it will cover more than 10,000 acres of land, which is almost the same size as the county seat of Qinghe County. This... The scale of Liuhe Town's expansion this time is so large. According to the current population of Liuhe Town, many places in the expanded Liuhe Town are empty, and the construction of a fortress is extremely expensive. This... this... is it necessary?"
"It's only temporary!" Yan Liqiang shook his head. "After the expanded ground is leveled, I will naturally make other arrangements..." At this point, Yan Liqiang pointed to the empty spaces on the sketch he drew. "I plan to build a large comprehensive trading market here in the future to welcome visitors from all directions. Next to this market are the new main streets of Liuhe Town. There will be many shops and inns on these main streets in the future. At the same time, here, here, and here, in the northwest, north, and south of the newly expanded Liuhe Town, I will build several large workshops and warehouses. Once these workshops are built, the newly expanded Liuhe Town will not be considered too big. It may even be a little too small!"
"Young Master wants to build so many workshops in Liuhe Town. I wonder what you want to produce?" Lu Wenbin asked curiously.
"In the future, most of the people from the Huanglong Craftsmen's Camp will move here and settle down in Liuhe Town. The people from the Craftsmen's Camp will be divided into several specialized workshops. I will also make my own arrangements for the other workshops!" Yan Liqiang smiled and kept the secret, not explaining everything clearly.
Lu Wenbin smiled awkwardly. He knew that he could not guess what was in the mind of a man like Yan Liqiang. Some things might have a big impact. For example, the lotus root coal that Yan Liqiang had made before would not be publicized before it was made. Seeing that Yan Liqiang did not want to elaborate on the arrangements of the workshops for the time being, he did not ask. Instead, he adjusted his thoughts, carefully looked at the plan Yan Liqiang had written on paper, and quickly calculated with his fingers, "Then I wonder how large the fortress wall and fortress that the young master is going to build outside Liuhe Town will be?"
"Does Ganzhou have any restrictions on the size of forts and fortresses built locally?" Yan Liqiang asked in return.
"There are no restrictions!" Lu Wenbin shook his head. "Other states and counties in the Han Empire have requirements for the height and size of forts and fortresses built locally. Exceeding these requirements is considered exceeding the regulations. However, our Ganzhou is a border state and has always been a place of many battles. The court has relaxed the restrictions in Ganzhou. As long as you have money and land, you can build the forts and fortresses to any size you want. It does not count as exceeding the regulations!"
Yan Liqiang hesitated for a moment and said resolutely, "The fortress wall should be built as high and solid as possible. It should be 40 feet high from the ground, and the road above should be 9 feet wide. There should be arrow towers at the four corners of the fortress wall, and an arrow tower every 100 meters. The highest level of the arrow tower can hold an eight-ox heavy crossbow!"
Manager Lu took a deep breath and looked at Yan Liqiang in disbelief. "In this case, it will cost a lot of money. Only the military fortresses at the border need to be built on such a scale. The whole Liuhe Town will need at least 400,000 or 500,000 taels of silver to expand and renovate in this way. This is a huge amount of money. I wonder how much this money will cost...!"
"Don't worry about the money. I've already prepared it. Manager Lu just needs to make the arrangements..." Yan Liqiang said calmly.
Since it was known that the Han Empire would undergo a great change in four years, and the subsequent situation might collapse to an unimaginable level, Yan Liqiang directly prepared to turn Liuhe Town into a solid fortress with high standards when considering the expansion of Liuhe Town. Such a fortress would not only protect the villagers and their families and friends in Liuhe Town during wartime, but also be a solid refuge comparable to a county town for the people in the surrounding villages and towns. Of course, the fortress was not the only focus, but the workshops that would be built inside the fortress were the real focus.
On the way back this time, Yan Liqiang had already thought it through. This time he came back, the hundred-foot high platform was built from piled earth. He wanted to use his hometown Liuhe Town as a starting point to build his own foundation and power step by step. With this foundation and power, he didn't have to look at anyone's face and had the ability to influence the overall situation. This was the cornerstone of his future life. Without such a foundation, no matter how good his martial arts skills were, he would just become a character like the Twin Devils of Heaven and Earth. The Twin Devils of Heaven and Earth could kill people, but they would always be pawns in the hands of others and could never change or influence the overall situation. This was certainly not what Yan Liqiang wanted.
As for the money for building the fort, Yan Liqiang still had the large amount of silver that he had robbed from the Shatu people in Pingxi City in the early days. Although he spent some of it on running a newspaper in Dijing City last time, the emperor later gave him another 100,000 taels of silver for the start-up fee of the Supervisory Office. Therefore, Yan Liqiang still had more than 500,000 taels of silver available.
At this time, Yan Liqiang had a feeling that it seemed as if God had asked the Shatu people to prepare the silver for him just to be spent here.
To do big things, of course you have to spend big money.
The reason why Yan Liqiang asked the Lu family for help was because he had to do a big thing this time, which would cost a huge amount of money. He and Yan Dechang did not have anyone around them who could coordinate and control the situation. In this regard, although Zhou Hongda was the current steward of Yan Liqiang's family, he had never experienced such a thing, and he had no experience, let alone such ability. Zhou Hongda was diligent and honest, so he asked Mr. Lu to send a group of capable stewards and accountants from the Lu family. These stewards and accountants of the Lu family had experienced the scenes and experiences of the Lu family, and everything was in order. They were naturally good at handling such things.
Yan Liqiang and the Lu family were so "open and honest" that they directly used people from the Lu family to work for him, which made Mr. Lu very happy. Therefore, the people Mr. Lu sent to Yan Liqiang this time were also the "elite soldiers" of the Lu family.
"In addition to the expansion of Liuhe Town, I heard that the young master also wants to open a Kyudo Club. Will this Kyudo Club also be set up in Liuhe Town?"
"The Kyudo Club is not in Liuhe Town, but it is not far from Liuhe Town. I plan to put it on Baizhang Mountain. I will not occupy the fertile land in Liuhe Town. I will just buy a piece of wasteland and woodland next to the mountain. Manager Lu has also considered this matter. When the time comes, the Kyudo Club will also need to build some houses and venues, just like the martial arts school. As for the money, I still say the same thing. Manager Lu, don't worry, just spend it. If it's not enough, tell me..."
"Then I wonder how many people the Kyudo Club's venue is going to accommodate?"
"Manager Lu, how many people do you think will want to sign up if I make the name of our Kyudo Club known?" Yan Liqiang asked back.
"This..." Manager Lu frowned and hesitated for a moment. "It's really hard to say. With your reputation in Ganzhou today, if the news of your archery gym recruiting people is spread, I'm afraid people from all over Ganzhou will want to come, and even more from Pingxi County. I can't predict how many people will come!"
"Then let's start with a scale of 2,000 people!"
"Two thousand people?" Manager Lu confirmed. Judging from Yan Liqiang's expression, this number was a bit conservative. However, in the entire Pingxi County martial arts halls, the largest number of people was only a few hundred. If a Kyudo club with these two thousand people could really be established, it would already be the number one in Pingxi County.
"Yes, just 2,000 people. For the first batch of students for the Kyudo Club, I will only recruit students from Pingxi County. No one from outside of Pingxi County will be recruited for the time being. Just consider it based on this scale!"
"Okay, I understand!" Lu Wenbin nodded.
The two were chatting when there was a sudden knock on the door outside the study. Zhou Hongda's voice rang out, "Sir, the mutton is ready outside. The master is going to divide the mutton. Please let me go over..."
"Okay, tell my dad and I'll be there right away!" Yan Liqiang said in the room, then looked at Lu Wenbin, "That's all for today. Let's go, Manager Lu, let's go outside to eat roasted lamb. If you have any questions later, we'll talk again!"
Lu Wenbin nodded and stood up first, "Sir, please..."
Yan Liqiang then went directly to the yard outside the Yan family. There were thousands of people on the yard, sitting on the ground around the bonfire, roasting lamb and watching the show. A group of half-grown children in the town were happily releasing sky lanterns, also known as Kongming lanterns, around the yard. The scene was unrestrained and cheerful. This is the style of Ganzhou.
Yan Dechang and Qian Su were sitting together and talking. After drinking a little bit of wine, their faces turned slightly red, which made them look a bit cute.
Dividing the sheep was also one of the etiquettes of the banquet. Yan Liqiang took Manager Lu directly to the main seat near the stage and sat down. Then Yan Dechang had someone bring up the whole sheep that was roasted on the bonfire. He stood up and took the knife to cut off various parts of the whole sheep and distributed them to the leading figures of the surrounding Liuhe Town.
Sixth Grandpa got both the head and the tail of the sheep. This was a sign of respect for Sixth Grandpa. The others each got some parts of the sheep.
Yan Liqiang shared a lamb trotter and a lamb chop.
Yan Liqiang was just about to start eating when a slightly drunk uncle suddenly stood up from the crowd next to him and said loudly to Yan Liqiang, "Everyone knows that you, Liqiang, are the top three in our... Qinghe County's national martial arts county examination. Your martial arts are naturally amazing, no doubt..." The uncle burped, swayed his body twice, and gave Liqiang a thumbs up, "But the folks have heard that you, Liqiang, are as good as a master in archery. You have made a great reputation in the Imperial Capital. Even the emperor said that you are amazing. The folks have never seen your archery skills, Liqiang. I wonder... I wonder if you can show your skills to the folks tonight so that everyone can open their eyes and see what is so amazing about your archery that you can teach the prince of the Han Empire. What do you think of my suggestion..."
“Okay…” As soon as the uncle finished speaking, a lot of cheers instantly rang out from the surroundings, and the atmosphere in the yard suddenly became noisy again.
Yan Liqiang turned his eyes and looked at the uncle who suggested that he show his skills. He found that the uncle had no other thoughts in his mind. He was just curious and wanted to see what kind of archery skills could make the emperor praise him. Not to mention that man's curiosity, even Yan Dechang, Qian Su, Lu Guanshi, Zhou Tiezhu and others who were sitting next to Yan Liqiang showed their interest after hearing this proposal, because Yan Liqiang's archery skills had never been shown in front of these people. After hearing so many rumors, everyone wanted to see it.
"Li Qiang... Well, all the villagers are here today. Everyone is so excited and wants to see your skills. If you don't mind, show them your skills!" Yan Dechang said.
Since Yan Dechang had spoken, Yan Liqiang had no reason to refuse. He waved his hand and Hu Haihe came to his side, "Go and get my strong bow and quiver!"
"Yes, sir!" Hu Haihe bowed and trotted towards the Yan family's courtyard.
Today, Yu Qing was in the kitchen, doing things according to Wu Ma's instructions, so Yan Liqiang had not seen Yu Qing at the banquet until now.
As everyone was expecting, in just a short while, Hu Haihe carried over the bow bag and quiver of Yan Liqiang's 20-stone bow.
"To shoot arrows, you can't do it without a target..." Yan Liqiang smiled, pointed to a harvested field 300 to 400 meters away from the storage yard, and said loudly to a group of teenagers and children in the town who were busy lighting sky lanterns and now stood there with wide eyes, hoping to see him show off his skills, "Whoever can run to that field ridge the fastest and release the sky lantern in his hand into the sky, I will give him one tael of silver for each lantern he releases!"
When the children heard that they could earn one or two taels of silver by releasing a lantern, they thought it was such a good thing, so they all ran towards the ridge of the field that Yan Liqiang pointed to, holding their sky lanterns.
The children were very fast. They ran to the ridge of the field in just two minutes, covering a distance of several hundred meters. Then they lit the sky lanterns they made with tissue paper, thin bamboo strips and cotton balls dipped in a little oil.
In a moment, one sky lantern after another floated up from the distant ridge and slowly flew into the air.
The yard was completely silent, with only the occasional crackling of firewood in the bonfires. Even the opera troupe on the stage stopped performing after a song was finished. Everyone held their breath, wanting to see how Yan Liqiang would perform...
Everyone was waiting for Yan Liqiang to take action, but Yan Liqiang was not in a hurry.
One by one, the Kongming lanterns rose into the sky one after another. There were exactly seven of them in total. The Kongming lanterns in the sky kept rising higher and higher. When the wind blew, they floated away all of a sudden and scattered in the sky.
Yan Liqiang looked unhurried. He took out the bow from the bow bag slowly and calmly looked at the seven sky lanterns flying high in the night sky.
In just two minutes, the seven Kongming lanterns flew very high, almost out of sight, and became just a shining point of light like the stars in the sky. Yan Liqiang just watched calmly.
Everyone on the yard had strange looks on their faces, thinking that it was impossible for anyone to hit the seven sky lanterns at this distance, when Yan Liqiang took action.
Yan Liqiang shot two arrows in less than half a second. For the first arrow, he grabbed four arrows with one hand and shot them out. For the second arrow, he grabbed three arrows with one hand and shot them out at the same time.
Yan Liqiang moved as fast as lightning. After he shot two arrows, others couldn't even see his movements clearly.
"Sorry for the poor performance!" Yan Liqiang handed the bow to Hu Haihe, clasped his fists and smiled at the villagers around him.
What does this mean? The seven Kongming lanterns are still lit in the sky, why did you make a fool of yourself
Many people at the yard blinked, still unable to react.
Then, almost at the same time, the seven Kongming lanterns in the sky went out at once. To everyone, it was as if seven stars in the sky had gone out at the same time...
"good… "
"good!"
"It's a magical skill, it really is a magical skill..." Sixth Grandpa was so excited that he was shaking all over.
"It's like an arrow dropping a star, an arrow dropping a star!"
After more than ten seconds, the thunderous cheers and crazy shouts finally rang out in the yard...
That night, Yan Liqiang's archery skills shocked the entire Liuhe Town. His skill of shooting down stars with an arrow also spread throughout Pingxi County and Ganzhou...
(End of this chapter)