Start North America 1400: nation building

Chapter 58 [58] Busy

9 month 4 day.

Zhou Li'an did not come to the tribe.

Give them room to think, and engage in a long period of brainstorming.At the same time, prepare yourself mentally for the "test".

The implementation of the southward migration plan will never be easy.

The migration of tens of thousands of people is bound to encounter many difficulties and obstacles.

At that time, the help that Zhou Li'an could provide was very limited, nothing more than food and clothing support, but they needed to walk the hundreds of kilometers across mountains and rivers by themselves.

The "test" was set in advance to avoid the dependence of the tribal people.

This migration, our Lord will not give them much help, on the contrary they need to prove themselves in this test.

To prove their devotion, to prove that they are willing to go through hardships and die to follow in the footsteps of our Lord.

The 'cryonics' of Snow Girl is also a test.

After arriving at the destination in a few months, it will be possible to verify whether the proposition of "theoretical longevity" is true.

at the same time.

Zhou Li'an, who is in the present world, is extremely busy.

Contact vegetable and grain suppliers to pile up a large amount of food for the system space; including cooked tortillas, sausages, etc., to avoid being unable to light a fire for cooking when encountering rain on the road.

Then there is the purchase of warm clothes, waterproof shelters, and ropes.

Running around, it took four or five days to solve the material problem.

Subsequently, the previously ordered carriages arrived in batches.

The frame is made of iron, the body is made of wood, and there is also a skeleton-type folding retractable canopy design, and the wooden hub is thickened and enlarged. Everything is based on practicality.

It is impossible to deliver goods from the carriage workshop to assemble a carriage, so the body, frame, and wheel hub are disassembled into parts.

Two technicians showed Zhou Li'an the effect of disassembly and assembly on the spot. It only took them [-] minutes to assemble the carriage, without much technical content.

Then Zhou Li'an started to learn it again, and it was done within [-] minutes. If he mastered the tricks of assembling, the time could be shortened.

The divided carriage is just convenient for Zhou Li'an to throw into the system space, otherwise, after the carriage is assembled, it will exceed the free use standard of 150 kg.

Why bother with a transportation fee of 1 US dollars for 10 ton.

When the time comes to put it in the tribe, there are craftsmen in the tribe who are responsible for making tools such as traps. As long as the method is taught, assembling the carriage does not require much technical content.

All 100 carriages are in place.

9 month 10 day.

Wang Defa, who hadn't contacted for a long time, called and invited Zhou Li'an for a dinner.

Because today is the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Compared with today's festive atmosphere in China, where young people are busy with work and give up the sense of ritual, this group of Chinese living overseas attaches great importance to the arrival of traditional festivals.

Not to mention their stance, even if they are yellow-skinned and white-hearted, the faces of yellow-skinned Asians cannot be erased. At least they still remember where their ancestors came from.

However, Zhou Li'an declined the invitation: "I'm very busy recently, and I'm going on a business trip tomorrow."

While Lao Wang expressed regret, he implicitly proposed that he was looking for him to discuss the establishment of a leather factory.

I have been spending money recently, and then throwing 500 horses to the tribe will directly cut the deposit amount in half.

Not to mention the huge investment required next.

If you don't have money, you can't play the system.

Zhou Li'an thought for a moment and said, "So, you agreed to cooperate?"

"I trust Zhou Sheng's character and channels. Zhou Sheng gives me the opportunity to make a fortune, so of course I have to grasp it."

The two sides finalized their intentions and contacted him after he came back.

The next day, Zhou Li'an came to the airport and went to Montana.

Before he set off, he did not contact the Stone family.

After landing at Billings Airport, he called a real estate agent who had made an appointment two days ago.

Take the real estate agent's car, go to the small town of Belfry, nearly 100 kilometers northwest of Billings, and come to an idle horse farm that is rented out.

He had already read the information on the racecourse.

It has been idle for two years, and no one has responded to the listing.The owner of the horse farm is an old couple who moved to the east coast to live with their children.

The industry is entrusted to the intermediary to take care of it.

The racecourse facilities are very simple, but it meets Zhou Li'an's needs as a "transfer station".

The person in charge of the horse farm is a sixty-year-old widowed old man.

"That's old Kenting. When he was young, he was a bard. He traveled to many places. When he had no money, he would work on farms and ranches to earn some living expenses."

"Later, when I got older, I got along well with the racecourse couple, so I stayed there and is now the gatekeeper of the racecourse."

The two stood in the distance, and after hearing the real estate agent's introduction, Zhou Li'an frowned slightly: "This is something not mentioned in the materials, so can I fire him?"

"Oh, I'm sorry." The real estate agent said with an exaggerated look, "This is my negligence at work, but it may not be possible to fire him."

"The only requirement of the race owner is to give old Kenting a job, which does not require too high a salary, and guarantees that he can have three meals a day, which only costs 700 dollars a month."

"However, it's best to settle it with a weekly salary, otherwise he will spend all the money on wine and drink, and live a life of drunkenness every day."

Zhou Li'an was very upset: "Since it is the only request of the owner of the racecourse, you still tell me that this is your negligence?"

"Do you mind? Zhou, I'm really sorry."

"Yes, I mind."

The real estate agent was embarrassed, he did play tricks, just because he heard on the phone that Zhou Li'an urgently needed to rent a horse farm.

"Then how about I help you find a horse farm again? But it will take some time. In fact, there are more idle farms and pastures in Harding Town..."

Harding, isn't that on Stone's property?

Zhou Li'an chose this place just to avoid them.

He said helplessly: "Can't you fire him? I can negotiate with the race owner and jointly pay him a severance package."

The real estate agent quickly refused: "Old Kentine's situation is special, he is disabled, um... a mute."

"Mute? Didn't you say he was a bard?"

"That was when he was young. Later, he was cut off by some ruthless people because of trouble in a bar. He could no longer sing, so he settled down and drank all his worries away."

"This is a poor man, but I swear, he does his job well, don't look at him is sixty years old, can ride to town every week to buy wine, is in good health, and the horse farm is well taken care of by him; otherwise the pair The old couple will not say that they insist on keeping him."

Dumb, drunkard.

For Zhou Li'an, these two items are the old man's bonus points.

Zhou Li'an hesitated for a long time, and said, "Can I talk to him? Maybe I can persuade him to leave by himself?"

"Of course you can talk about it, but I don't think you can convince him that this is the only place for old Kenting to stay."

The estate manager made a gesture of pity.

Zhou Li'an laughed directly, and said bluntly: "Are you kidnapping me morally? Let me pity this old man? You are so kind, why don't you take him to your home for the elderly?"

"you……"

"Shut up! You lied to me. I could have turned around and walked away, but I didn't. This is my kindness, and all you have to do is clamp your mouth."

"Or..." Zhou Li'an looked at him indifferently, "The deal was canceled? I don't care, you are not the only real estate agent in southern Montana."

The real estate agent was trembling with anger, and wanted to turn around and get into the car several times, but in the end he still stood where he was, panting heavily.

Zhou Li'an didn't bother to talk to him, so he walked towards the old man not far away.

"Old Kenting? I'm Zhou, and I plan to rent this horse farm."

Old Kentine didn't speak because he was dumb.

Zhou Li'an asked tentatively, "You can't speak?"

He nodded, then took a note from his leather jacket and handed it over.

After Zhou Li'an read it, he knew that he had prepared it a long time ago. The note was a bit old. It must have been written for a long time, but it has not been able to be used.

"I'm Rob Kent; a decent cowboy who can get a lot of work done, even though I'm old."

"The Dylans left here, they gave me my last home, and of course I know I can't delay them selling the farm, but if the new owners can keep me, I will work hard."

It also stated the salary he requested, just as the real estate agent said, $700 a month.

And when Zhou Li'an raised his head, he was showing a begging look.

Zhou Li'an stared straight at him, trying to test and pierce his disguise, but he always maintained a humble appearance and did not dodge anything.

At this point, Zhou Li'an said: "I can let you stay, but can you guarantee that you will listen to me in everything?"

Old Kent nodded quickly, and patted his chest to reassure him. He took out the small wine jug, unscrewed it, and gave off the pungent smell of inferior whiskey, inviting him to drink.

Zhou Li'an shook his head and refused, and continued: "I won't stay at the racecourse for a long time, this is just a transit point for me to transfer horses."

"Every time I come, I will arrange work for you...for example, can you drive?"

Old Kenting raised his eyebrows, as if to say who in the United States can't drive?Except he doesn't have a car.

"Finally, if you don't feel offended, I want to see your tongue."

Old Kentine froze for a moment and frowned, but finally he opened his mouth.

The confirmation is correct, no doubt really dumb.

Zhou Li'an nodded slightly: "You are hired! But drinking is not allowed for a few days. I need you to drive and transport the horses for me. After I leave, you can do whatever you want. Will you make a deal?"

He looked down at the jug, and finally tightened the cap and handed it to Zhou Li'an.

Only then did Zhou Li'an turn around and go back.

The real estate agent had already adjusted his mood and squeezed out an ugly smile: "So, Zhou, how did the discussion go?"

"I apologize to you again for my dereliction of duty. If you are not satisfied, I can help you find it again..."

Zhou Li'an said: "Here it is! Sign it! Then send me back to the city."

The real estate agent didn't know what the two of them talked about, which changed his attitude, but when he heard that the deal was concluded, he immediately took out the prepared contract, for fear that he would go back on his word.

Sign and pay, except for the rigid terms of hiring old Kenting in the agreement, there are no other restrictions.

It has to be said that the old couple were kind people.

Zhou Li'an didn't keep old Kenting because of his kindness, he hated being kidnapped by morality.

It's just that he had no choice but to be forced to accept it.

Putting in the system every time 20 horses are transported would be awkward.

It is impossible for Zhou Li'an to take away the horse an hour ago and return an hour later to say that it has been delivered.If you come to Montana on a three-to-four-day cycle, it will take three months to pull all 500 horses away.

Of course, you can also rent more than 500 trucks and take 1000 horses away at one time, but even if you don’t mention the truck transportation fee, you will have to stop every 3 or 4 hours to get the horses time to rest.

A horse needs to ingest more than 20 liters of water every day, and five hundred horses drink a huge amount of water.

This is not something that truck drivers can do, and a large number of cowboys and veterinarians need to be hired to take care of them.

Feeding, shoveling manure, and resting, even if they arrived at the place without any surprises and dangers, 500 horses probably died half of their lives after a 1000-kilometer car transfer, and they needed time to recuperate to prevent epidemics.

Finally, the quarantine procedures for passing by are troublesome.

Spending money is secondary, Zhou Li'an doesn't want to complicate simple things.

Therefore, leasing a staging station, under the pretense of storing horses, fulfills its rationality.Then put the horses directly into the tribe at one time.

Old Kenting's appearance was an accident.However, he was just a mute, a mute who was addicted to alcohol, Zhou Li'an felt that it would not be difficult to deal with him.

after an hour.

He returned to the city in the real estate agent's car and went his separate ways.

He rented a pickup from a car rental company and drove to the parking lot where he parked the horse cargo box last time before driving back to the racecourse.

"Old Kentine, let's go, the sooner I finish my work, the sooner I leave, the sooner you can drink, right?"

"If your work ability satisfies me, I may surprise you before leaving."

Old Kenting smiled and nodded, and set off in Zhou Li'an's pickup truck.

Only then did he contact the Stone family, saying that he was about to bring people over to transport the horses.

The car drove into Stone Ranch.

The Stone family came out to greet them.

Martina was not there, she left home to return to school after the summer vacation, and left a message for Zhou Li'an on social software.The two of them would only chat a few words every now and then, mainly because Zhou Li'an didn't have time to spend time with the little girl.

This time, Zhou Li'an also acted anxiously. After paying 75 US dollars, he told them that he rented a horse farm in Belfry as a transportation transfer station. After a few days, he would organize a team and manpower to transport the horses back to Oregon at once. .

Ben Stone immediately expressed doubts: "Why don't you just come to me and take it away? Renting the racecourse will increase your expenses, won't it?"

Zhou Li'an had already prepared an excuse: "You know that transshipment for 1000 kilometers is a very hard work. After I went back last time, some horses fell ill due to fatigue."

"This time I plan to vaccinate them against transporting fever pneumonia. If you keep these 500 horses with you, I am worried that some horses will have side effects after the vaccination and infect other horses on the farm."

The side effects of vaccination are very small, but with a huge base of 500 horses, what if one or two horses are unlucky enough to be recruited?When the disease spreads, no one can bear the consequences.

The Stone family looked at each other in blank dismay, finally convinced of this statement, and kept thanking Zhou Li'an for his thoughtfulness.

Afterwards, the Stone father and son each drove a car, and asked the neighbors to borrow the horse's cargo box to help them transport together.

It takes 2 hours to travel from Harding to Belfry without any stops, and three vehicles can take 60 horses at a time.

It's still early today, and 180 horses can be pulled away in three runs before dark.

Tomorrow morning, the remaining 320 horses can be pulled at once.

Seven o'clock in the evening.

Returning to the racecourse for the third time, today's task was successfully completed.

Because there was nothing to eat at the racecourse and everyone was exhausted, Zhou Li'an did not entertain Stone and his son.

It just means that tomorrow is over and we will have a good gathering the day after tomorrow to thank them for their help.

Stone and his son, who received a huge sum of 75 yuan, of course don't care about the issue of one or two meals. For them, this transaction is tantamount to a pie in the sky, which greatly relieves their financial pressure.

After sending the two away, Zhou Li'an stayed in the racecourse villa.

Old Kentine would come in every week to clean, and he himself lived in a hut next to the vegetable patch.

got a job again...

Before Zhou Li'an rested, he saw him rushing to the stables many times at the window, delivering hay and water; after the adaptation period of the horses tonight, they could be released back to the pastures of the horse farm and run freely to eat.

The pastures that have not been eaten for several years are extremely rich.

Five o'clock the next morning.

Zhou Li'an knocked on the door, waking up old Kenting.

He seemed to have slept through the night.

"you've been drinking?"

Old Kenting hurriedly waved his hands, rummaged through boxes and cabinets to find a pen and paper, and wrote a crooked line: "I don't drink alcohol, it's hard to fall asleep, I'm sweating all night, it's hard! But I promise you, I will restrain myself during work." .”

Zhou Li'an sniffed, only the smell of sweat on the old man's body, and there was no alcohol, so he said with satisfaction: "Old Kenting, don't worry, when this work is completed, I will only come here two or three times a year, and the rest of the time is free. How do you drink, and I will pay your salary on time, when the time comes, this horse farm will still belong to you alone."

(End of this chapter)