Chapter 113 Farming and Warfare

Chapter 113 Farming and Warfare

Chapter 113 Farming and Warfare
When Shao Xun received the land deed, he happened to be in Jingu Garden.

This is such a hot potato that no one dares to take it.

It is also a huge fortune, and countless people are staring at it with wide eyes.

In fact, if he had a choice, Shao Xun would rather sell the exquisitely decorated buildings, precious flowers and trees, and other valuable things in Jingu Garden. He only wanted the land.

But this is just something we can think about.

"These houses were originally decorated with many pearls, agates, amber, rhino horns, and ivory, but now they are gone." Shao Xun looked at the pavilions and towers built on the mountain and scattered at different heights, and sighed, "Let people in."

"Yes." Chen Yougen immediately ran out of the door and led the person who delivered the land deed in.

Shao Xun sat on the stone pier and waited quietly.

The thawed Jingu River gurgled between the terraces and pavilions, making a tinkling sound from time to time.

In the pond, the fish jumped high, making happy "splash" sounds.

The birds chirped and jumped happily on the branches, which made the manor even more quiet.

There are neat bluestone roads under your feet.

There are even stone railings on both sides of the road, with many lifelike animals carved on them.

Shi Chong'er's mother was a maidservant, what a luxury!
"Yang Ming pays his respects to the general." Not long after, a young man in his twenties bowed and saluted.

"Your surname is Yang, but are you a member of the Yang clan?" Shao Xun asked.

"I am a distant descendant of the Yang family. I am sorry to have embarrassed you, General." Yang Ming replied.

"What's going on?"

"Here is the deed to the Golden Valley Garden for the general."

Shao Xun was silent for a moment.

In fact, he already knew that the other party was here to deliver the land deed, because he had stated his intention outside the mountain gate.

After thinking for so long, he has made up his mind: What if he takes over this garden?

When Shi Chao came, he moved in directly.

If Shangguan Si could stabilize his position in Luoyang, he would not let go of Jingu Garden.

I, Lao Shao, am the head of a large army in Luoyang, and am automatically labeled as "greedy and tyrannical". If I don't do some tricks like occupying land and raping women, would I still be considered a warrior?
Yang Ming observed Shao Xun's expression and saw that he didn't say anything, so he handed the deed to Chen Yougen, took two steps back and bowed.

Chen Yougen handed the land deed to Shao Xun.

Shao Xun took a quick look at it, put it away, and asked again: "The Queen sent you here, do you have anything to say?"

Yang Ming looked at Chen Yougen awkwardly.

"Just say it directly. He is my confidant and I will not avoid him in anything." Shao Xun said.

"Prince Meng of Dongping sent an envoy to the capital to meet with the emperor in secret. He cried for half a day and said that the King of Donghai had committed illegal acts..." Yang Ming finished speaking, then looked up at Shao Xun.

"Go on." Shao Xun urged.

"The envoy also mentioned that many officials in the Xuzhou government have secretly communicated with the King of Donghai and spoke on his behalf." Yang Ming continued, "The King of Dongping is very worried and asked the court to make a decision for him."

Shao Xun closed his eyes and dozed off, thinking silently.

The imperial court has the final say? The imperial court cannot make the final decision.

From the perspective of the emperor, he certainly did not want to see Sima Yue lead Xuzhou again. But what if there was external pressure? For example, Sima Yue ordered Mi Huang to mobilize troops and threaten the emperor and empress.

Admittedly, this is a bit ugly, and Sima Yue will not really fall out while negotiations are still possible.

But Shao Xun suspected that he had lost his patience, and Sima Mao was just struggling in his death throes and asking for help subconsciously.

He couldn't delay much longer.

"Did the envoy say what King Dongping would do?" Shao Xun asked.

"No." Yang Ming shook his head and said, "But the King of Dongping recently dismissed two of his staff members and is investigating spies in Xia Pi. I'm sure he won't give up Xuzhou willingly."

Shao Xun nodded slightly.

How could a local lord willingly give up his territory?

If what Yang Ming said was true, then Sima Yue would not be able to take Xuzhou without mobilizing troops. Even now, he could not pass through Xuzhou along the post road and return to Luoyang.

It’s not impossible to take a detour, but isn’t it too embarrassing?
Shao Xun suddenly felt that Sima Yue was also in a difficult situation. He only had a few thousand new soldiers, who had been roughly trained for three or four months. If he fought Sima Mao head-on, he would probably be embarrassed again.

This is the winner of the Eight Kings Rebellion? This is too much.

Back then, Sima Yi mobilized tens of thousands of imperial guards and fought a bloody battle with Zhang Fang and Lu Ji's 300,000 troops for half a year.

Such a person can barely be called a powerful official.

Sima Yue is far inferior to Sima Yi.

Shao Xun thought about it and felt that if Sima Mao did not know what was best for him, Sima Yue would eventually "move people around". With the army approaching, Sima Mao would eventually surrender if he did not want to die.

That's about it.

"Go away." Shao Xun waved his hand.

Yang Ming bowed and retreated.

It seems that a new storm vortex has formed in Luoyang, and many people do not want to see Sima Yue come back.

So, do I want to?
The figure of Concubine Pei appeared in Shao Xun's mind.

It seems that - I don’t really want to see Sikong come back.

******
After the remaining snow had melted, people in the suburbs of Luoyang were already carrying out spring sowing.

Shao Xun, who was riding his horse to this place, stopped to take a look.

No winter wheat was planted after the autumn harvest last year, so millet is being sown this spring.

It seems that wheat planting had not yet been widely promoted, and this had to be in the middle and late Tang Dynasty. Even in the early Tang Dynasty, millet was still the main crop in the north, although the proportion of wheat planting had been greatly increased at that time. But once people tasted the sweetness of growing wheat, they would not stop. By the Northern Song Dynasty, wheat planting in the north had become very common, completely overwhelming millet and becoming the mainstream crop.

After all, the times are moving forward.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, there were still large areas of land left fallow, the main reason being insufficient soil fertility.

By the Wei and Jin dynasties, fallow periods were no longer as frequent as in the Spring and Autumn Period. The amount of land plowed once a year increased greatly, and there was even a small amount of the phenomenon of three crops every two years. This shows that people at this time knew better how to maintain soil fertility than in the Spring and Autumn Period.

An agricultural society is based on agriculture.

Perhaps, we can think of a solution from this aspect.

Fighting and farming require both hands to be strong.

"Master Shao, we have reached an agreement with the cattle market. All the more than 200 bulls in the pen belong to us." Mao Er came over riding a donkey and said happily.

Shao Xun turned his head to look at him and asked, "This is your first time negotiating such a big deal, how is it?"

"My palms were full of sweat." Mao Er sighed, "I was afraid of being cheated and overpaying, so I bargained over and over again. In the end, I almost got beaten up."

"Haha." Chen Yougen and others laughed.

Mao Er also laughed.

He had done some research beforehand and roughly knew the price of oxen, but since it was his first time negotiating such a big deal, he was still extremely nervous. Even though he had already agreed on a price, he was suspicious and felt that he had paid too much, so he continued to bargain.

After much discussion, we finally agreed on a better price. But then we lost confidence again and thought we should bargain again...

If Mao Er had not been accompanied by the soldiers of the teaching team, he would have probably been beaten.

"How much did it cost?" Shao Xun asked.

"Four pieces of silk and one end." Mao Er replied.

"Not bad, I thought it would take five horses." Shao Xun said.

The price of oxen is not constant. In fact, it is affected by supply and demand and fluctuates greatly.

In the Tang Dynasty, a working ox cost more than three thousand coins in some places and more than two thousand coins in other places. At the cheapest time, it even fell below two thousand, and at the most expensive time, it exceeded seven thousand.

In addition, in an era when precious metals were in short supply, physical transactions were often adopted. Silk and grain could be used to buy cattle, and a temporary valuation would suffice.

This trading system is very complicated. The simplest thing is that the price of silk varies greatly.

The same size of silk can cost as little as two hundred coins at the cheapest and as much as a thousand coins at the most expensive. Some silks that can be considered luxury goods are even more expensive.

Silk from famous origins will have a premium when it is appraised. Silk from less famous origins will not sell for a high price even if its actual quality is just as good.

Not to mention, there are factors such as year and style involved - in the humid and hot south, thin silk is more popular, while in the north, such silk would be considered to be of insufficient material and the price would plummet.

The silk given by Concubine Pei was of sufficient material and good quality. It was produced in Hanoi. Although it was not the top-quality local product, it was still very popular.

One bull is worth four pieces of silk. The other party will definitely make a profit and will not have to take any real money.

"Mao Er." Shao Xun shouted.

"exist."

"You will stay in Luoyang and be responsible for buying oxen and farm tools. When the money is spent, send someone to inform me."

"promise."

"There is never enough money..." Shao Xun felt helpless.

In fact, it is very good to be close to the "big city" of Luoyang, because it is a large distribution center for many commodities.

Next to the residences of Wu and Shu in the east of the city is the famous horse market. Before the war broke out, business was booming, with a large number of horses being traded every day.

The bull market is in the south of the city.

When Shao Xun was defending Biyong, he also went there to pursue and defeat the enemy.

After the war ended in the first month of last year, Luoyang was generally peaceful.

Starting from March and April, merchants from nearby areas began to tentatively come to Luoyang to do business.

In the second half of the year, merchants from farther away also came, and the cattle market, horse market, and sheep market also reopened at that time, but they were rather deserted.

After the fifteenth day of the first lunar month this year, perhaps because confidence has been restored, business has become increasingly active.

To be fair, even though Luoyang has many disadvantages, it is very convenient for business.

It is difficult to buy more than 200 oxen in a short time in other places, because there is no such professional distribution market. When oxen are needed, they either buy calves and domesticate them themselves, or buy them from people they know. It is a small-scale peasant economy with a low degree of commercialization.

But in Luoyang, the cattle market not only provides oxen for plowing, but also oxen for pulling carts - because the scholars like this - not to mention cattle, you can even find a large herd of sheep for pulling carts in the sheep market.

While Luoyang is still here, enjoy the services it provides, as each day counts.

After explaining everything to Mao Er, Shao Xun asked Chen Yougen to send a team to the cattle market to get the cattle, and then bring them to Shao Garden, ready to send them to Yunzhongwu together.

At the same time, messengers were sent to Yunzhongwu to ask them to prepare grain, beans and fodder. After the long journey, the oxen had lost a lot of weight and needed to be replenished before they could work.

"Master Shao, do you want to buy a horse? Someone at the horse market said that there is war in Bingzhou now, and the horse merchants dare not go there, so there are not many horses left in the horse market. If you don't buy now, you can only wait a few more months. Maybe some horse merchants in Liangzhou will send horses over." Mao Er reminded.

"Just save some money. Don't you think about how much money you have?" Shao Xun said with a smile, "Even if five households share one ox, I still need 600 oxen. Oh, and there are farm tools to buy. Luoyang is cheaper, but it still costs money. Pei - the money I got is not enough."

Mao Er was a little dejected.

As the most gifted student soldier among the first batch of Donghai students, Mao Er knew which direction he should develop in.

Master Shao once said privately that he was reluctant to send him into battle and wanted him to study hard. Therefore, in addition to reading and learning to read, and studying arithmetic, he also devoted some of his energy to learning how to do business, manage people and things, and felt that he had gained a lot.

To some extent, Mao Er is already one of the core members of their group.

As time went on, his importance grew, even surpassing many Silver Spear Army officers.

Farming and fighting, farming and fighting, farming is the foundation.

If they can do this well, no matter how the situation in Luoyang changes, their small group will be able to stand firm.

(End of this chapter)