The crisp autumn air was a lovely, refreshing phrase. But when the people labored in misery and poverty, in this bitterly cold land of Liaodong, it was hardly something pleasant, for it heralded the coming of winter, and the people of Liaodong were far from ready to face it. In truth, they had never been ready, yet they had no choice but to endure it.
People naturally gathered on plains and shallow banks. Even along the narrow, lengthy stretch of the Western Liao Corridor from Linyu (Shanhaiguan) to the Tu River, where arable land was scarce, many Han and Wuhuan people still farmed there.
The militia under General Tianwu were led by settlement officers appointed by the general—men with some education. They registered the native inhabitants, surveyed the fields, planned areas for land reclamation, while other militiamen and all males over fifteen felled forests on a massive scale and entered the mountains to clear out man-eating beasts. At the same time, blacksmiths, carpenters, and others began preliminary resettlement work and started manufacturing tools in assembly-line fashion.
Suizhong and Xingcheng had been commanderies and counties established by the Qin. By the Eastern Han Dynasty, they belonged to the Liaodong Dependent State and fell under the jurisdiction of the Tu River.
Wang Yan also sent people to search for mineral deposits. Gourd Island still had no shortage of minerals—metals, stone, and more were all abundant. In the real world, he had settled down in Gourd Island, so he knew the situation here fairly well; the local government had introduced it to him in great detail. Even without that, Wang Yan was thoroughly familiar with mineral deposits throughout China and indeed the world.
Meanwhile, those whom Wang Yan had previously taught began firing bricks and stone in great quantities along the route. This