Work Prophet
Chapter 415 - 33: Helping Me Is Helping You

Chapter 415: Chapter 33: Helping Me Is Helping You

Although the Arias family’s territory was vast, the population had not been large before.

Now, as many people had flocked to Green Field, the compulsory days off had reduced the available labor time by nearly one-third.

Thus, Miss Rabbit did not have much additional manpower at her disposal.

Of course, workers could still be hired if one was willing to spend money, but with the popularization of new agricultural tools and farming methods, the labor costs in Green Field were also increasing.

After all, farming now generated much more income than before, and fewer farmers were willing to sell their labor to the Lord.

Moreover, the Double Rest Sect was also hiring, offering very generous compensation, making it difficult for Miss Rabbit to compete.

Another significant reason for the shortage of manpower was the current unrest in the west; many powerful and wealthy families started to prepare in advance, recruiting warriors and training militias.

The Arias family was no exception. Although Miss Rabbit was thrifty, her sense of crisis was quite strong, and she had been focusing intensely on military affairs ever since the Dragon Slayer success, but recruiting and training soldiers also consumed a large amount of labor.

Observing the thriving scenery outside Teacup Castle without the protection of city walls always made the Lady feel somewhat uneasy.

Advisor Fosto suggested building a wooden fence around the perimeter first, which was a low-cost solution that did not require too much manpower and still provided some defensive capability.

In fact, in the west, not all towns and castles were built of stone; rather, those that could afford stone constructions were in the minority, while wooden castles and gates were more common.

After all, there were many Lords with only a few hundred or even a few dozen golden lions in annual income, and they had numerous family members and many expenses to manage.

Without some windfall, they neither had the resources to afford the high cost of building stone castles nor the capability to pay for their subsequent maintenance.

So, although Teacup Castle was not very large, it was a famous stronghold in the west, helping the Arias family defend against strong enemies several times.

Strictly speaking, the castle was not built by the Arias family; most of the construction costs were sponsored by the then-principal lord of the west, Earl Philip.

Officially, it was a reward for an ancestor of the Arias family for his brave fighting and excellent performance in conquering the west, but in reality, it was mainly to monitor and guard against the Immanuel Family, who had surrendered early on.

Regardless, the Arias family had indeed picked up a great bargain.

If Miss Rabbit did not have a stone fortress, she might have accepted Fosto’s proposal, but now she did not think much of wooden fences.

As the saying goes, when in doubt, consult Merlin.

The Lady did not linger long over this issue; when Li Yu next arrived, she directly sought his advice.

Li Yu thought for a moment and said, "Use rammed earth walls."

"What is a rammed earth wall?" the Lady inquired humbly.

"It’s a wall made of earth."

"How can earth serve as a wall?" Miss Rabbit asked skeptically, shaking her head. "If enemies attack, they won’t even need to breach the gates; they could just dig a tunnel right into the city. Maybe they wouldn’t even need soldiers. What if the wall just collapses under heavy rain?"

"Rammed earth walls aren’t that fragile," Li Yu replied.

Although this City Building Method had existed since the Yin and Shang dynasties, it was still used in some areas up to the present day, like the earthen buildings along the Fujian and Minnan coasts, which were improved versions of rammed earth construction, possessing excellent quality and impressive defensive capabilities, not inferior to those of a stone castle.

When the era of firearms later emerged, they could still be effective and wouldn’t be phased out like stone castles.

As for the issue of waterproofing, rammed earth walls themselves have some degree of water resistance. The density of the earth increases when compressed and, following chemical and physical reactions, it turns into mature soil, which was even used by Da Yu for constructing dams during his water control projects.

However, overall, rammed earth walls are still quite susceptible to water. Historical records occasionally mention such walls collapsing due to heavy rains or flash floods. The seeds mixed within the walls might also sprout when exposed to water, damaging the structure, thus regular maintenance is necessary.

But the climate in the western regions is relatively dry, and rainfall isn’t too heavy, so rammed earth walls are quite safe there.

Nevertheless, Li Yu also understood the Lady’s concerns and added, "If you are really worried about rain, you can later cover it with a layer of bricks."

Rammed earth covered with bricks dates back to an era still debated by archaeologists, but it likely became widespread during the Ming dynasty. This not only reduced the damage from rain to the rammed earth walls but also made the walls sturdier, therefore, able to withstand cannons and large catapults.

The Double Rest Sect currently has many brick kilns, and their brick-making skills are improving, making brick production not a problem at all.

Rammed earth walls also require a lot of manpower, but the advantage is the availability of local materials, which saves the effort of mining stone and transporting it. Work can start immediately, and if initially there is a shortage of manpower, the wall can be built lower, about four to five meters would suffice.

They could gradually increase the height later, and finally cover it with bricks. The initial engineering and investment won’t go to waste, and it also saves money.

Miss Rabbit was convinced by Li Yu, although using earth for city walls felt a bit embarrassing, and she guessed it might be mocked by other nobles.

But saving money was one aspect, and more importantly, Li Yu promised that once the wall was built, it would be sturdier than traditional stone walls, making it tough to breach.

Thus, the Lady no longer hesitated and finally approved the plan recommended by Li Yu.

Later, Li Yu gathered some information about rammed earth walls from the internet, including the mix ratio, wall structure, and ramming method, and had Clara translate it into the Universal Language of the Continent for the Shipwright Fitzwilliam to study.

Indeed, if there was a transmigrator with civil engineering experience to handle this, the efficiency would undoubtedly be higher, and the final quality of construction could be improved by more than a notch.

Regrettably, Li Yu did not have such talent at hand.

Compared to the progress in the Bratis Continent, the recruitment of Rebirth Volunteers wasn’t going smoothly. It required Li Yu to take the risk of being seen as a swindler and personally convince each one. Up to now, he had only recruited two Servants.

One of them even studied computer science.

The other had been a gourmet section up-master for so long and was always keen on bizarre video editing, making it uncertain how much of his previous professional knowledge remained.

Li Yu had also gone to buy some textbooks related to the necessary professions for Lu Weijia, planning to help him refresh the knowledge he had previously learned.

But unexpectedly, Lu Weijia was the first to approach Li Yu with a request.

"What, you said you want a camera and a laptop, what for?"

"To make videos," Lu Weijia answered truthfully.

"......"

"You do know Bilibili doesn’t exist anymore, right? And why should I fulfill your request?" Li Yu countered.

"Because helping me is helping you," Lu Weijia said confidently.