Chapter 117 Laying bricks and building houses by the river
I took a look at the nearby rivers and made some on-site measurements. To be precise, the distance from the Don River to the Volga River where it empties into the Caspian Sea is 120 versts.
In order to open up the river channel, Bestudev had already ordered the smelter to cast enough picks overnight, which were His Majesty's improved shovels.
After getting a handful of men, Bestudev ordered all the soldiers to start working.
Bestudev also wielded the hoe and worked for a while, and soon he was sweating all over. It was not that the shovel was too laborious, but that Bestudev had always been the deputy minister of general affairs, and was no different from other noble lords.
Never worked.
Seeing an officer who was bigger than an army lieutenant general also wielding a hoe, the soldiers became more motivated, but Apraxin was a little disapproving.
He asked the Deputy Minister of General Affairs to take a rest, and then asked:
"Minister of General Affairs, do we really want to stay here for a year and a half?"
Aprakshin looked reluctant. What's the benefit of being here? He has always been eager to move the Caspian Fleet to the border near the Sea of Azov and fight the Ottomans. However, he has made several suggestions, but they have all been rejected by His Majesty.
Denied.
Bestudev understood Aprakshin's intentions. After all, the Army Lieutenant General also served as his deputy in the Privy Council for a period of time before leaving Moscow.
Bestutev said meaningfully:
"Do whatever His Majesty asks you to do. You may have what you want in the future."
Apraksin couldn't help but smile bitterly. He was already over forty, could he still catch up with what he wanted?
He knew that the Deputy Minister of General Affairs' trip was to open up the Don River and the Volga River, but the Caspian Sea Fleet was already entrenched on the west side of the Caspian Sea. Did Persia in the south dare to say anything?
Now, if the Don River and the Volga River are connected, apart from making transportation more convenient and faster, what else can it do?
Seeing that the Deputy Minister of General Affairs did not want to say too much, Apraxin had no choice but to walk aside with a depressed look on his face, stepped on the shovel into the ground, and twisted it on the upper armrest. The soft soil that had been soaked by water suddenly
Was pushed aside.
Bestudev shook his head. Regardless of whether Aprakshin is willing or not, he will do these things. Moreover, Bestudev believes that with Aprakshin here, the Caspian Fleet will also do these things.
A lot less trouble.
He believed that with the influence of Apraxin's ancestors, things would be much easier.
And while more than two thousand soldiers were working hard, the surrounding areas were not idle. The male and female armbands under Notre Dame who had been transported by land began to be busy.
Providing food for two thousand people is a big workload. There is almost no place to live in this place, so the food must be prepared in advance.
In order to improve efficiency, these armbands are transferred from the city closest to the Don River.
But even if it is close, it is still 50 versts.
Fortunately, Bestutev made third-hand preparations.
Before departure, the arrangement submitted to His Majesty by Bestutev detailed how the Don-Volga canal would be dug.
His Majesty gave new instructions.
A batch of equipment was ordered to be transferred from the Urals, and three national treasure-level beings were transferred from Moscow's top craftsmen to be responsible for the production of cement.
For these three craftsmen, Bestudev valued them far more than he did the army lieutenant general Aprakshin.
It is not an exaggeration to say that we value it tenfold.
Because they know how to configure cement.
Surrounding these three craftsmen, there were fifty soldiers each who were ready to obey their orders, both to protect their safety and to prevent leaks.
Although His Majesty did not look very worried, Bestudev, who had seen cement with his own eyes, did not dare to be careless at all.
If the cement formula were spread to other countries, whether it was Prussia or not, Bestutev could not imagine what terrible things would happen.
This is a national weapon for Russia, but it is also a weapon for other countries!
Therefore, whether it is for national or personal considerations, Bestutev will not allow leaks to occur.
A large amount of red bricks were stored in equipment near the river that was arranged in advance, and a group of workers who fired red bricks were also moved here.
"The Point Guard Is Here"
These red bricks are the result of half a month's work.
When these workers saw thousands of soldiers disembarking from large canvas boats, they were stunned.
No one told them what they came here to do besides firing red bricks, but what they saw now was clearly not a trivial matter.
Then, they saw strange equipment. The equipment was not made of red bricks, but soon, the equipment was surrounded by pieces of oilcloth and covered up.
A few days later, when bundles of sticky gray mud were transported out, the workers suddenly realized.
It turns out that this is cement used for paving roads.
"Fular, aren't the rivers being dredged here? Do we still need to pave the road here?"
A worker asked in a low voice, confused.
The person he asked came from the Ural Smelting Center. He was experienced and well-informed. During the time when he was making red bricks, he counted the days on the ground. Although it was painful, he quickly became familiar with it.
Fulal was also puzzled. He looked at the cement being transported here, and at the soldiers who were working to dredge the river but did not use them, and shook his head.
He doesn't know either.
Soon, a cart filled with cement was pushed in front of them.
The person pushing the cart was a craftsman from Moscow. He glanced at these workers who were transferred from other places, with a somewhat arrogant look on his face, and he said directly:
"My lord has said, you must obey my order first. It is now eleven o'clock, and fifty houses must be built by seven o'clock in the evening."
Fifty institutes?
Fulal and other workers were shocked, and they all remembered the punishment for failing to complete the task.
This kind of punishment was often carried out by the supervisor before they were transferred, leaving their skin and flesh bruised and still fresh in their memory.
Although the person in front of them seemed to have the same background as them, but just because he came with the adult who was heavily protected by soldiers, the workers did not dare to offend him.
Fular summoned up his courage and said:
"How are we going to build this house? Where can we find the wood?"
The cart looked contemptuously and said, "We don't need wood to build a house here, we just use the red bricks you burned and these cements."
Knowing that they had never done such a thing, Hughes simply demonstrated it himself.
It is natural to look down on these workers who are not from Moscow. The nobles in Moscow and St. Petersburg also look down on the nobles from other places, but they still have to do what needs to be done.
This was the order of the closely guarded master.
Moreover, Hughes did not dare to be careless in doing this, because after these houses were built, not only they, but also the soldiers would live there.
If something happened accidentally, Hughes couldn't imagine how those soldiers would treat him.
So, Hughes asked for thirty red bricks and began to show the workers what bricklaying was.