Zhang Dongyun had a rough idea of what Gao Qi and the others were thinking.
These people did not feel that they had committed a great sin, and they preferred to undergo punishment as prisoners for atonement.
They were worried about their families and relatives.
Chang’an Fortress had wiped out the two Tang Dynasty armies.
Whether they died or were captured, they were all trapped in Chang’an Fortress.
Zhang Dongyun did not forbid the flow of news to and from Chang’an Fortress.
The fortress was not isolated from the world.
Many people in the fortress went down the mountains to search for their lost relatives, hoping to bring them back to the mountains and to the paradise of living in peace and working happily in Chang’an Fortress.
Through these people’s words, the outside world would easily know that not all the Tang Dynasty troops who had attacked the fortress were killed.
On the contrary, most of them were actually captured.
After they were captured, they worked as prisoners and did hard labor, so the Eastern Tang Dynasty might still spare them.
However, it was hard to say how the Eastern Tang Dynasty would react if they were to pay allegiance to Chang’an.
Therefore, many Tang Dynasty troops, including Gao Qi, were in a state of conflict and torment, and they could only endure in silence.
Of course, some of them were very dissatisfied with this, and their patience was gradually reaching the limit.
They naturally could not explode in silence and rebel against Chang’an Fortress again.
The only thing to do then was to pay allegiance and strive to be a citizen of Chang’an Fortress.
Right now, the undercurrent of the division was constantly surging among the Tang Dynasty troops.
Zhang Dongyun saw all of this.
He had considered this when he had been willing to take in the refugees and settle them in the fortress, rather than capturing many Tang Dynasty troops to make up the number.
Zhang Dongyun would not force people to change their views.
In any case, whether they were sincere in paying allegiance or forced to submit, it did not affect their contribution to building Chang’an.
Most of these Tang Dynasty troops were local people from Longbei County.
As Chang’an expanded, Longbei County, which was closest to the fortress, would certainly be the first to be claimed.
However, Longbei County had been suffering calamities in recent years.
Most of the prefecture capitals in the county had starving refugees with nothing to eat.
In the past few days, scattered people had been traveling over long distances to Dragon Ridge.
The population of Chang’an Fortress was gradually growing.
Right now, a large number of people were farming outside the fortress.
Chang’an Fortress provided land, grains, farming tools, and even cattle.
When it was time to harvest the grains, they would also be accounted for.
It was a paradise for these people fleeing from famine.
However, many of them still missed their homelands.
For others, Chang’an was already a new home where they could live and work happily.
As time went by, people from the mine came back one after another.
“You’re back, Little Six?” The folks were extremely shocked to see him. “Did the mine release you?”
The man looked wretched. “How can they be that good? It’s called… uh, a holiday? You can only take a day off if you work for ten days.”
Upon hearing that, the others exclaimed, “The mine lets people back every few days?”
They sized the man up. “You’re not hurt anywhere, are you?”
“I’m not.” The man grumbled, “We’re just in charge of transporting the stones out of the pit, and other people are digging underneath.”
“Are they really those cultivators who offended Chang’an?”
Everyone suddenly became interested and came forward to ask questions.
With his vanity fed, the man said in a boastful manner, “Why would anyone lie about that? Let me tell you. There are Daoist priests of the Forgotten Truth Temple inside!”
The Forgotten Truth Temple had unquestionable prestige in Longbei County.
When Xie Zhao, Tang Chi, and the others had been captured, their prestige had reached rock bottom, and the people still could not believe that these old and young immortals of the Forgotten Truth Temple would actually do hard mining labor.
The people asked questions, and the man had the intention to show off and exaggerated.
Thus, everyone knew that the mine in Chang’an Fortress differed greatly from other places.
It was hard work, but the toughest work was assigned to the prisoners with cultivation.
The high and mighty cultivators did the most dangerous and hardest jobs in the mine.
Although the common people were tired from work, at least they did not need to face any danger.
Also, their income was plentiful and completely proportional to the hard work they put in.
For those who were used to being lazy, this naturally made them cry out in bitterness.
But when some people in the fortress heard about this, they felt moved.
Just as Zhang Dongyun had expected, some people in the fortress took the initiative to go to the mine to seek a job.
Fortress Lord Zhang was naturally pleased with this.
However, there was also something that he was not yet satisfied with.
The people in the fortress were either refugees who had fled from famine or troops of the Tang Dynasty.
Regardless of the latter, the former was satisfied with having enough food to eat.
Right now, the people in the fortress had very little spending power.
The fortress could not afford to develop trade and commerce for the time being because of that.
In addition to the farmers working in the fields, there were also a few craftsmen among the people.
Right now, the most popular were blacksmiths.
Farming and mining were in full swing outside the fortress, and there was an immense demand for building and repairing farming tools and mining tools.
The skilled blacksmiths in the fortress were extremely busy.
Because of the construction of various facilities in the fortress, including houses, carpenters and masons fell short in supply.
Other than that, businessmen and craftsmen were not in demand.
Zhang Dongyun sighed. It would be more profitable to push a cart to a construction site or the mine to sell wontons.
Well, there was actually another way to make a living.
In addition to food and clothing, people needed various daily necessities.
At the moment, a considerable part of these items relied on the connections of the Cold Mountain Sect in Qinzhou Prefecture.
Many sellers went over the mountains and arrived at Chang’an Fortress to do business on the simple roads created by the Tang Dynasty troops.
Despite having relevant craftsmen in the fortress, there was a shortage of raw materials.
“I have contacted some relevant people to come directly up the mountain and set up roots in the fortress,” Hui Tianyu reported respectfully to Mister Black Cloud. “And we’re also gathering the relevant raw materials. When these are more complete, we won’t have to go back and forth over the mountains for some purchases.”
At the same time, they would not need to worry about outsiders holding a stranglehold on them and looking for trouble in this small place.
It would be a real joke if a piece of soap, a mirror, a basin, a piece of paper, or a pen caused an unsettled public.
“Good. Well done.” Zhang Dongyun, who had incarnated into Mister Black Cloud, did not hesitate to praise him.
Right now, Chang’an Fortress was in its infancy and just starting out. Everything needed to be built from scratch, so there was no hurry.
According to what Zhang Dongyun had seen and heard in his previous life, Chang’an was more like a township that had emerged from the mining industry on the mountains than a fortress, apart from its majestic walls and gates.
It’s not prosperous enough!
The people of the fortress don’t have a good foundation, and the fortress can’t afford to support so many craftsmen, so many places for consumers, and so much trade and commerce.
Transportation is always a big problem for trade and commerce to flourish.
Chang’an Fortress is lacking in that area due to its location in the deep mountains of Dragon Ridge.
As the fortress expands, I believe it will improve.
As for the goods produced in the fortress, it will be a different scenario if there’s an outlet for these goods.
The business of the mineral veins of turquoise crystals is just the beginning.
But all this needs to be done slowly.
Before that, Fortress Lord Zhang had one more thing to ask about first. “How is the recruitment of weavers going?”
“We have eighty percent of them,” Hui Tianyu replied. “Many women either go to the fields with the men or have to take care of their children.”
Zhang Dongyun nodded slightly.
It was a bit nonsensical, but this aspect was neither too big nor too small.
The previous disasters and the fact that they fled from their homes had left many people with broken families and caused them to become separated from their spouses and children.
A man being left as a bachelor was certainly tragic, but a woman separated from her family was a different story.
When they first entered the fortress, there was no problem due to the disaster relief given.
After everyone was left to fend for themselves, some women slowly drifted into the ancient profession.
In this current era and society in this alternate world, this profession was not illegal.
It certainly counted as self-reliance.
But Zhang Dongyun still thought that women had an equal part to play in society, so he drove them all into workshops.
Although they aren’t sweatshops, am I restricting their freedom and exploiting their labor?
After letting Hui Tianyu leave, Fortress Lord Zhang looked up in the sky and sighed.
At that moment, Wen Hu from the Heavenly Punishment Hall came to seek an audience. “Senior, someone from my sect came and wants to meet you.”