Kuai Liang had always been calm and steady, but Liu Xin had never seen him so flustered before. Her heart tightened and she asked, "Zirou, what happened?"
Jushu, who was just about to go out, also stopped and looked at Kuai Liang worriedly.
Kuai Liang had just jogged all the way here, and now he was sweating profusely. He gasped and said, "My lord, there is water in the north gate area."
Liu Xin was shocked. He knew very well that buildings in this era used a lot of wood. The Beimen area was an old city, and the density of houses was very high. If a fire broke out, a large area would often be burned down.
Jushu was in charge of the Phantom Secret Agent and asked sensitively: "That's not right. It's daytime now. How could it happen?"
Kuai Liang wiped his sweat and said: "The specific situation is not clear yet, but the fire spread quickly, and now it is almost burning to the Prefecture Mufu. All local troops and police officers have been dispatched, but the fire still cannot be controlled. Please ask
The Lord is sending troops for reinforcements."
Liu Xin suddenly jumped up from the chair: "What! It's almost burning here!"
Kuai Liang hurriedly waved his hands and said: "No, no, no, my subordinates didn't make it clear. The original prefectural pastoral residence is about to be burned down."
Liu Xin glared at him angrily and said to Jushou: "Quickly, inform Xu Huang to mobilize 3,000 soldiers from the First Army to fight the fire. It's broad daylight and the fire came out of nowhere. Send someone to check again."
what is going on."
After saying that, he turned to Kuai Liang and said, "Let's go, take me to the fire scene."
The Zhou Mu Mansion in Kuai Liang's mouth was the original Governor's Mansion, which was originally located in the center of the old city of Xiangyang. As Xiangyang City expanded east to south, the location of this large mansion has been moved to the northwest of the city. The Governor's Mansion
northwest plain
There was a large open space, but because the governor had been vacant for a long time and there was no one to control it, many people took the land as their own and built houses. The houses were built in a messy and overcrowded area, and many of the lanes could only accommodate one person.
The fire started here. Although Kuai Liang arranged for many people to rush to put out the fire, they could not get through it after arriving at the Governor's Mansion. The wind happened to be blowing from the northwest that day, and the wind of the fire battle was strong, and he watched helplessly as the flames were almost dying.
He rushed to the Governor's Mansion. The southeast area of the Governor's Mansion was populated by gentry and gentry families. Kuai's conscience was so anxious that he hurriedly asked Liu Xin for help.
Liu Xin had just arrived at the Governor's Mansion, and Xu Huang had also arrived with a large group of people. Although there were more people, the road was narrow and they couldn't move. Even adding 30,000 more horses would be of no avail. Liu Xin looked at the fire and raised his hand
Pointing at the Governor's Mansion, he made a decisive decision: "Come here, demolish all these houses quickly!"
Kuai Liang hurriedly stopped him and said, "My lord, you can't do it. This is government property."
Liu Xin waved her hand and said firmly: "Demolish it!"
Xu Huang's soldiers swarmed up and demolished the house with a bang. Liu Xin then said to Kuai Liang: "Zirou, there is nothing to worry about. If this house is not demolished, it will be burned to the ground soon."
It’s clean. Besides, after the house is demolished, won’t this place still be government property? As long as this place is completely demolished, the fire will not spread, and a large area of houses to the south will be safe.”
The governor's mansion had just been half demolished when a fire broke out. But as a result, there was a large open space in front of the fire scene, and people could spread out. Suddenly, everyone carrying burdens and buckets was busy putting out the fire.
.At this time, the advantage of having more people was finally shown, and the open flame was gradually put down.
Liu Xin breathed a sigh of relief and ordered Kuai Liang: "Zirou, arrange for personnel to inspect carefully to prevent a resurgence. In addition, inventory the damage caused by the disaster and properly arrange the lives of the victims."
These are Kuai Liang's duties, so naturally there is nothing to say.
When Liu Xin returned to the mansion, she still felt smoke coming out of her throat. Now that she thought about it, she was really scared. If she hadn't moved to this new mansion, it would be unthinkable. Liu Xin secretly rejoiced at how wise her decision was.
While I was thinking about whether it was time to renovate the old city.
At this moment, little Liu Rui jumped in from outside, threw herself into his arms, and shouted: "Dad, you haven't told me a story for two days."
These days, Liu Xin has to deal with government affairs while insisting on going to the academy to teach. In the evening, she needs to ask Ma Yun for advice on something she doesn't understand. She is really busy. Today's fire,
It made him even more upset and angry. When he saw Liu Rui pestering him to tell stories again, he couldn't help but yelled at her: "Okay, don't you see that dad is busy? Let's talk about it tomorrow!"
Not only is Liu Rui waiting to hear his stories every day, there are also a bunch of people following this little girl Liu Rui. Bian Yu, Cai Yan, Qiao'er, Ying'er are all her loyal listeners now, and even Ma Yun
She seemed to listen with great interest. Every time she brought back something new from Liu Xin, a group of people would immediately surround her. At this moment, the little girl always felt like a princess. She was already enjoying it. Listening
When Liu Xin yelled at her, the little girl suddenly felt very wronged. She stayed there for a long time without moving, and then burst into tears with a loud "Wow".
Liu Xin was also stunned. She slapped her head. She was such an idiot. No matter how busy she was, she couldn't get angry at children. She just couldn't hold her breath when she encountered a little thing. What achievements could she make in the future? Thinking of this, Liu Xin hurriedly
The little girl picked her up, coaxed her for a long time, and then promised to tell her a story now. Liu Rui then broke down in tears and smiled.
After today's story was finished, Liu Xin emphasized: "Rui'er, dad is really busy now. From now on, we will change it to every two days, okay?"
Liu Rui's face was still stained with tears, but she already smiled. She tilted her head and asked in confusion: "Dad, what does it mean to update every two days?"
Liu Xin smiled and said, "I just tell a story every two days."
Liu Rui blinked and said, "So, updating every three days means telling a story every three days?"
Liu Xin pinched her nose and said: "Well, Rui'er is really smart. But you have to listen to dad in the future. If you disobey one day, dad will stop. Do you understand, that is
I’ll never talk about it again.”
Liu Rui said nervously: "Dad, please don't stop updating, Rui'er will be very good."
Liu Xin laughed and said, "If Rui'er is really good, go to Mom's place quickly and let Dad do his job well."
Liu Rui got out of his arms very obediently this time. Before leaving, she waved her little hand to him and said, "Goodbye, daddy."
The results of Jushou's investigation soon came out. There was no conspiracy in this fire. It was set off by a few children while they were playing. The children saw a pile of bamboos lying there unattended, so they thought of setting off firecrackers.
He was playing with it, and it caused a fire. Liu Xin was speechless. The firecrackers at this time did not contain a lot of gunpowder like in later generations. They were real bamboos, and they could actually cause a fire. He was really dumbfounded.
The task of renovating the old city was quickly assigned to Kuai Liang. He was the governor of Xiangyang, so he naturally had the unshirkable responsibility. However, Liu Xin still made clear requirements on how to do it. A piece of land was set aside in the southwest corner of the new city and a new batch of masonry was built.
Structure houses are used to house residents who have moved out of the old city. As for the gentry and gentry who still live in the old city, the government provides land and they build their own houses, but the requirement is to use as much masonry materials as possible
In order to encourage people in the old city to take the initiative to move into the new city, Liu Xin also promised that the government would provide appropriate subsidies.
Xiangyang's new urban area is developing rapidly. Since the beginning of spring, neat street trees have been planted on both sides of the avenues. The street trees chosen for each avenue have their own characteristics. Some choose laurel trees, some choose green sandalwood trees, and some choose sycamore trees.
The middle of the avenue is paved with bluestone, which is solid and durable and suitable for vehicle traffic. The paths for passers-by on both sides are made of special blue bricks. These blue bricks are in the shape of an inverted trapezoid with a wide top and narrow bottom, and have a strong
It is water-absorbent. There are also drainage culverts built on one side of the blue bricks. All culverts lead to the water gate in the northeast of Xiangyang City. Except for the location of Xiangyang Academy and other three academies and the area where Jingzhou officials live together, both sides of the avenue in other areas have been unified.
A row of shops were built. A special cleaning team was organized in the new city to ensure the cleanliness and hygiene of the urban environment.
After Liu Xin implemented the policy of halving commercial tax, although it did not last long, the effect was very obvious. The halving of commercial tax revealed a signal that Liu Xin paid more attention to the development of business, and the noble families could rest assured to increase their investment in business.
At the same time, with the reduction of commercial taxes, the cost of doing business has also been further reduced, and the prices of commodities have also dropped, which in turn has promoted the people's desire to buy. For the people, some commodities that were originally available or not are now available.
You can buy it.
The development of commerce will inevitably bring about a large demand for shops. The first batch of shops put on sale by the government were all sold out before the Spring Festival. Many merchants are waiting for the sale of the second batch of shops with money.
In fact, Liu Xin's original idea of expanding Xiangyang City was to make money. After the city was expanded, the land that used to belong to the suburbs was now transformed into urban land. The value of the land naturally increased significantly. This area can bring him a lot of money out of thin air.
However, the actual development is not as he expected. The sales of shops are very prosperous, but it has not also led to the hot sale of land in the new urban area. So far, those who have expressed a desire to buy the land used for building residences
There are very few people.
Liu Xin looked at the report in front of her and was puzzled. This report had just been sent by Kuai Liang. It was a summary of the development of Xiangyang New City in February. Due to the use of Xiang paper, according to Liu Xin's suggestion,
This type of report has adopted a very modern table style, which looks clear at a glance, and has now been extended to Xiangyang and other Jingxiang counties.
Liu Xin threw the report aside, closed her eyes and thought for a moment, then said, "Zirou, how is the business of the shops that have been sold?"