Flowers in full bloom

Chapter 345: Prevention is better than cure

However, there is no way around it. This has been the standard that the Ministry of Justice of the Dasheng Dynasty has implemented for decades, and Hualei does not want to break it presumptuously. Hualei has this self-awareness.

Although she already had three meals a day, there were some things that she couldn't change, so she just had to obey them. So Hualei still prepared for the pioneers according to the prison's custom of two meals a day. But since they were helping her to open up the land, Hualei didn't feel comfortable treating them too harshly.

So Hualei decided to have one black-faced steamed bun for each meal, plus one mixed-faced steamed bun or mixed-faced vegetable bun. Each bun was slightly bigger and firmer than the ones in the cell, and two days every ten days, the black-faced steamed bun was replaced with a mixed-faced meat bun.

The amount of rice in the porridge is controlled to a certain extent, not too watery. And from time to time, fresh vegetables and the residue left over from cooking lard are added to the brown rice porridge, and some salt is added to make it taste better. Some fermented bean curd and pickles made in Yuanying Village are also provided to go with the porridge and steamed buns, and a vegetable soup is also provided.

Taking the cold weather into consideration, Hualei decided to ask Aunt Song to supply hot water from morning to night every day, and provide each person with a portion of soy milk every two or three days. Anyway, the soy milk is made in their own farm and doesn't cost much. As for other things, Hualei can't do anything about it.

However, even with such a small change, the prisoners who often didn't have enough to eat in prison were grateful, and they scrambled to come to Hualei's barren hills to help open up the wasteland, and they worked even harder. Otherwise, going to other places would be just as hard and tiring, but they would only have cold steamed buns and cold porridge to eat, and not even a sip of hot soup.

Because time was tight and there was no time to build a house at the foot of the barren mountain, Hualei used the straw fans she exchanged from Yuanying Village to build a few simple straw sheds in a suitable place. She also built a few large earth stoves to prepare for providing food here in the early stage.

Then, Auntie Song hired a group of women to work in the bun shop in Qingyun Lane to help make steamed buns for the pioneers. The first batch of steamed buns were steamed in Qingyun Lane and sent over in the morning, and the buns were made there in the afternoon. They also prepared porridge and tea to provide the pioneers with food in the afternoon.

After the straw shed was built, the problem was temporarily solved, and Hualei was relieved temporarily. These simple straw sheds still could not completely solve the problem.

Next came winter. The thatched hut was drafty on all sides. Not only was it inconvenient to steam buns or cook porridge, but the steamed buns and porridge also cooled too quickly, making it easy to get an upset stomach.

If these pioneers get sick from eating their own food, it will be troublesome. They will have to pay for medical treatment and medicine themselves. After all, they are helping them to open up the land and they got sick after eating their own food.

Instead of paying the expensive medical bills later, it is better to pay more attention to their meals now, let them eat better, and ensure that they can drink hot soup in the cold winter to prevent them from getting sick from stomach upset.

There is a saying that goes, it is better to take precautions once than to try to fix the problem a thousand times.

Moreover, the current medical level is not high. Even if I pay the expensive medical expenses, these patients are likely to lose their lives. Then the small matter will become a big matter. Hualei feels that she cannot bear this responsibility.

After all, although these prisoners are in prison, their crimes are not punishable by death, and they do not want to be responsible for human lives, so they still have to build houses and pay attention to food safety. Even if they cannot make it delicious, at least they have to ensure that it is hot.

During the development period, I will definitely have to come here often to check on it. It will not do if there is no place or even a table.

However, if they build a brick house, they need to bring the bricks and tiles here, which is troublesome, and the terrain here may not be suitable for building brick houses. So Hualei decided to use local materials to build some simple herringbone wooden houses.

After coming up with the idea, Hua Lei asked Uncle Fu to take a group of people to the North Mountain to select suitable trees and start cutting them down, preparing to build a wooden house.

Ten days later, Rong Jin brought the pioneers from the prison to Hualei's barren mountain and began to formally help Hualei reclaim the land.

I don't know how Rong Jin got the job of guarding the prisoners. For the next period of time, these prisoners will be under Rong Jin's charge. This is also good news. After all, it is easier to get things done with acquaintances. Hua Lei also came to the foot of the mountain early with Uncle Fu and Uncle Zhao.

Because there are more than 450 people coming today, looking at the crowded group of people, Hua Lei suggested to Rong Jin that for the sake of ease of management, the pioneers should be divided into nine groups, each with 50 people, and two people should be selected from them to serve as the team leader and deputy team leader. In the future, any matters concerning the group will be announced by the team leader.

When Rong Jin heard this, he thought it was a good idea and immediately started to make arrangements according to Hua Lei's suggestions. In less than a quarter of an hour, he had completed the grouping and selected the group leaders, and then numbered the groups from one to nine.

Therefore, Hualei specially transferred 50 people from Group 9 to help Uncle Zhao build a wooden house at the foot of the mountain. If there were still not enough trees, they could go to the North Mountain to pick suitable ones and continue to cut them. The personnel from Group 1 and Group 2 first cut the wild grass all over the mountain and dried it, which could be used for steaming buns in the future.

Because the barren mountain is so large, it would take a long time to mow the grass, so Hualei decided to start mowing the grass at the foot of the southeast slope of Dongshan. The slope here is relatively gentle, so no major changes are needed.

Now many weeds on the barren hills have turned yellow and dry. It might be easier to burn them with fire. Hualei also has certain theoretical knowledge about fire prevention. You can first dig out an isolation belt, have someone guard the isolation belt, and then burn the weeds in the isolation belt with fire.

However, theory is theory and reality is reality. She was afraid that these pioneers would not seriously implement her words, or would cut corners in their work. The mountain was so large that it was impossible for her to visit every place.

If fire is used, it may cause a forest fire. You know, there are more than 20 barren mountains nearby, all of which are mostly withered and yellow weeds. In addition, it has not rained for a long time recently, and the weather in this area is very dry. There are no large water sources or rivers near the barren mountains that can be used directly to extinguish the fire. If a forest fire occurs, it will be a catastrophic disaster.

Therefore, Hualei was cautious and asked the pioneers to cut the grass manually. Although this method was a bit slower, it was safe. Safety first was Hualei's first choice for survival.