Spy Wars: I can get rewards by being a bully!

Chapter 685 Port Construction

There was nothing on the land in Tanggu that was planned to be used to build a port.

But it doesn’t matter. The victims have survived these days of fleeing famine and have slept in the open air. Although they have no place to live now, at least they don’t have to worry anymore.

The people from the Coordination Bureau began to count and register.

The victims were first separated into genders, and then classified according to age: first, children under fifteen years old; second, semi-laborers between fifteen and eighteen years old; third, full laborers between eighteen and forty-five years old; and fourth, the elderly over forty-five years old.

The process of inventory and registration is also the process of establishing order.

There were a few ruffians who followed the fleeing group. They were pulled aside, tied up and beaten for the slightest attempt to disobey orders.

A whip as thick as a thumb hit his body, leaving a bloody mark.

Every time they wailed, the people trembled.

Oh my god, what kind of people are these?

What on earth do they want to do by bringing us here?

Only Old Man Li, holding the puppy, remained unmoved.

He knew that those ruffians had joined the group fleeing famine and had done nothing against their conscience. The more these officials beat them, the more it showed that they were good to us ordinary people!

The official fed the puppy some sugar water. That's sugar, so precious!

After the inventory, it was found that there were more than 6,300 men, women, young and old, including more than 4,000 semi-laborers and able-bodied laborers, and the number of elderly people, children and women was relatively small.

Come to think of it, they have already walked a long way to escape here, and those who are in poor health have already collapsed along the way.

Then the young men from the Coordination Bureau brought a few large pots and started to make a fire and cook.

Of course, there was no cooking skill to speak of. He didn't even wash the rice. He just threw it into the pot, added other coarse grains and a lot of dried sweet potatoes that he chopped up and threw in, then added water and started cooking.

Add salt when it is almost cooked, and just before it boils, throw in some vegetable leaves and reed roots dug from nearby.

Compared with the food at the Auxiliary Management Bureau, this is simply unpalatable.

But the common people were stunned when they smelled the smell!

Is that...rice?

That's.....Salt!?

A man stepped forward and asked bravely, "Sir, this...isn't the last meal before execution?"

Yu Xuecheng heard this and said in surprise, "You are just fleeing from famine, you haven't committed any crime, how can you get a last meal? Come eat quickly, and then divide into several teams to level the land, clear the silt, dig the soil, and the elderly, women and children can help build the shed!"

Tears welled up in the man's eyes. "Hey! Hey! We can work. As long as we have something to eat, we have strength. We don't need to eat so well. Sorghum rice is enough. As long as we have sorghum rice to eat, it's fine!"

Yu Xuecheng smiled and said nothing more.

These more than 6,000 people took root in the port construction area.

When Lin Ze came back two days later, the place had changed.

The North China Transportation Corporation sent people to prepare to build a port authority here. Some equipment also began to move in to help level the land, and countless machines and resources were continuously transported here.

In the divided residential areas, the shacks are very neatly arranged. Although simple, they are very clean.

The clothing factory under Miyamoto Trading Company sent a lot of clothes, all of which were made of blue coarse cloth. These clothes were made uniformly for the disaster victims, no, now they are workers, to wear so that they would look decent.

It is certainly impossible to expect these people who previously worked in the fields to adapt to industrial life all at once.

For a project of this magnitude, we cannot rely solely on these 4,000-odd workers.

Fortunately, Tianjin has a good industrial foundation. In the past two years, all industries have been in decline, and there are many men who cannot afford to eat and have to carry heavy bags. Some of these people have been working in factories for more than ten years and are valuable talents.

When people heard that they would be provided with food and accommodation and receive two dollars a month, they almost crowded the recruitment office.

Thousands of newly recruited experienced workers were mixed with the previous disaster victims, with the old bringing up the new, and the construction of the port began in full swing.

Dominic followed Lin Ze breathlessly, "Major, these people are so tireless, it's amazing. Without large equipment, I thought the dredging work would take a long time to complete. Look at them, they can even jump into the mud to dig at the command. My God, they are so brave!"

Lin Ze lit a cigarette and said, "Lao Duo, you have stayed in the concession for too long. Compared to the heavy work, poverty and hunger are the most frightening. In any case, the harder these workers work, the more secure your investment will be. Don't forget that it is difficult to raise supplies now. The task of providing food for the workers is now given to you. You have to ensure that our workers have food to eat and eat well."

Dominic chuckled, "Please rest assured, compared to the huge investment in port construction, the food is worthless. I will take it seriously."

At the construction site, Old Man Li was working hard.

He originally belonged to the category of "old people", but a full-time worker could earn two dollars a month. An old man who could only do odd jobs had food and lodging provided, but he did not have as much money.

Old man Li found the person in charge and tried hard to prove to him that he still had strength and was not old.

After his physical condition was confirmed, he was finally allowed to do some heavy work.

However, the person in charge was very kind and did not ask him to dredge the silt. Instead, he was assigned to a transport team to transport the cleared silt to a distant place using a wheelbarrow.

One person pushed and the other pulled the rope. Old man Li was the one pulling the rope in the front. Except for being very tired when going uphill, it didn't take much effort on flat ground.

"Okay, let's take a break and eat!"

Another truckload of soil was transported, and the team leader came over and called everyone to eat.

Large barrels were brought in and piles of stoneware bowls were laid out.

There is not much good food on the construction site, mainly stews.

Put wild vegetables, potatoes, dried sweet potatoes and other ingredients in a big pot and stew them until they are soft, add salt, a little oil, and serve with black steamed buns made of sorghum flour. This is the ultimate delicacy.

But today the workers noticed something different.

Soon someone shouted, "There's meat!"

Everyone was shocked!

Although they still followed the rules and lined up, not daring to rush forward, they all leaned forward to look, "Really? Is there really meat?"

The captain smiled, "Okay, everyone has a share, one piece each. Don't swallow it all at once, savor it slowly, okay? We are enjoying ourselves, who would have thought we could taste meat!"

Each person gets a piece of meat, about three or four centimeters square.

But it brings infinite happiness to the workers.

Old man Li got the meal and carefully picked out the meat. He had nothing to put it in and hesitated whether to put it in his pocket so that he could wash it with water when he got home and feed it to the puppy.

The captain saw it and said, "Old Li, eat it. The children also have two slices each."

Old man Li smiled ingratiatingly but continued to eat.

At the end of the meal, there was still some meat left in the bowl. Lao Li took the meat out and put it in his pocket.

The little dog ate two pieces of meat, plus his own piece, that made three pieces in total!

What a great day!

On the hillside, Dominic said with a proud smile: "Major, how is it? The food I provided is not bad."

He knew that Lin Ze was coming today, so he arranged this specially to please him.

Lin Ze patted him on the shoulder and said, "Very good. I'll come every three days from now on. Be generous and bring more meat. You Americans don't lack food. Just order some more canned meat!"

Dominic was speechless.

Canned meat? Feed these peasants canned meat?