Chapter 133 Mutual Assistance

Chapter 133 Mutual Assistance

Chapter 133 Mutual Assistance
Tanshanwu is not completely empty.

In fact, this was a large slum area, housing 300 families of bandits and more than 300 refugees from Bingzhou, totaling more than 2,800 people.

This year they reclaimed seventy hectares of land along the river, yielding about two hu per mu - not enough for their own consumption.

"Do you have any idea about next year?" Shao Xun looked at Mao Er and asked.

"Master Shao, we have repaired many ditches after the autumn harvest. We are going to use the mud flats to dig a large pond after winter. We will definitely have more fields next year."

"Ditch? Is it a gravity-flowing canal?" Shao Xun asked.

Mao Er had never heard of the term "artesian canal", but he understood it literally and immediately replied, "It is a gravity canal, and it can only be a gravity canal now. No one in Kinmenwu knows how to make a water truck."

"Not bad." Shao Xun nodded, thinking that after returning to Luoyang, he would have to find someone who could make a water truck. Some places were high in terrain and water could not flow through. If there were water trucks, more irrigated land could be opened up.

"How many hectares do you plan to plant next year? I just want the numbers," he asked again.

"We plan to plant 150 hectares," Mao Er said solemnly, "We will not give up until we achieve our goal."

"Then I'll wait." Shao Xun said with a smile.

In fact, he is now a little excited.

Does the dung mountain have any effect? ​​How much difference will it make to production?

Although his experience told him that this was useful and very useful, he was not as sure as he seemed before he saw the facts.

If it is really useful, then it will be an important booster on his road to takeoff, and the originally estimated development route can be revised.

"The population of Jinmenwu is similar to yours. Lu Heigou has also vowed to open up 150 hectares of land. When the time comes, you two can compete to see who produces more grain. The winner will get a reward." Shao Xun said again.

"What reward?" Mao Er asked curiously.

"Become a Taixue student." Shao Xun said with a smile.

Mao Er's face turned red, and he said, "Master Shao, I will definitely win."

"Haha." Shao Xun patted his shoulder and said, "I also think you can win, but don't take it lightly."

Well, that’s what he said in Kinmenwu.

Lu Heigou was more excited than Mao Er.

Tai students are qualified to become officials - not necessarily with actual vacancies - and this is a great temptation for people like them. After all, they are native Jin people, and although they have only received two or three years of education, some of these desires have been incubated since childhood.

Shao Xun calculated silently again.

If Yunzhongwu can sow 250 hectares, and Kinmen and Tanshanwu can sow a total of 400 hectares, and the yield per mu is three hu, the annual production of grain can reach hu, while they themselves consume a little over hu - in fact, the consumption is more than that, because they also have to build docks, dig ditches, and ponds, which are all heavy physical work.

With this calculation, food expenditures are still insufficient to cover income, but the deficit has indeed been greatly reduced.

However, a deficit is a deficit, and it must be filled. Moreover, he is still recruiting refugees, and the expenditure next year will be far more than this.

He had made a great contribution by breaking up Liu Qiao and his son, but with the Xuchang Armory case, it was very likely that he would get nothing.

But that's normal.

The situation is not normal now, because Sikong obviously wants to go west to Guanzhong and attack Sima Yong, and he has to use Shao, so he cannot be suppressed too much.

How can you hide your good bow when the birds are still flying?

But it is impossible to reward him with an official position.

Since ancient times, there has been a system for rewarding merit. What if someone makes meritorious contributions in a short period of time and is promoted too quickly?
At this time, there will be no promotion, and the money will be made up from other places.

Reward titles, money, land, mansions, beauties, land of protection, population, and the number of places for your descendants to enter officialdom, or simply grant official positions to your immediate relatives.

Sometimes, you are even given majestic ceremonies and treatment that exceeds your family background and official rank - generally speaking, these are all flashy and superficial things.

In short, the imperial court will not allow itself to fall into a situation where there is nothing left to reward.

So, what to do if there is really nothing left to reward? It’s simple, kill!

The gentler ones will pick on your minor faults and demote you, reduce your fiefdom, etc. In short, there is a way.

Against the backdrop of the westward advance, Sikong would not really investigate the Xuchang Arsenal case—at least he would pretend to do so.

Then, he would most likely reward you with money, land, beautiful women, etc.

As for titles and official positions, haha, I'm afraid they are not that generous.

But at this stage, money is indeed the most cost-effective. After all, Shao Xun's business is a bit too big and his progress is too fast, so there are many places to spend money.

A prince and a general in the palace were pretending to be friendly with each other, and this matter stayed that way for the time being.

******
When Shao Xun returned to Yunzhongwu, he met Du Dan who came to visit him after hearing the news. "Mr. Du is so leisurely and elegant." Shao Xun dismounted from his horse and saluted Du Dan.

Du Dan returned the greeting and walked over slowly.

"Mr. Du is not at home training the farmhands, so why is he coming to Yunzhongwu? Do you want to have a drink with me?" Shao Xun asked with a smile.

Du Dan waved his hand and said, "If you want to drink, that's fine, but now I have something to ask."

"We are all from Yiyang and we help each other. Mr. Du, feel free to speak your mind," Shao Xun said seriously.

"Some soldiers returned to Luoyang and boasted among the neighbors, saying that you defeated Liu Qiao's army of 100,000 with only 1,000 men. Is that true?" Du Dan asked.

"You are talking big." Shao Xun laughed and said, "Mr. Du is well-educated. You should know that Liu Qiao does not have many soldiers, and most of them are newly recruited. Most of the elite troops in Yuzhou are in the hands of King Fanyang, but now they are fighting in Hebei."

Yuzhou was an old military governor's district with a certain military strength. But after so many years of struggle, the losses were not small. Sima Hu basically took all the more capable ones to Hebei, and now handed them over to Gou Xi.

Liu Qiao did have some soldiers on hand. They were his old troops when he went south to Jingzhou to pacify Zhang Chang. However, there were only a few thousand people. Later, he recruited more than 10,000 new soldiers, so the overall combat effectiveness was not very strong.

If Sima Hu returned with his entire army, Liu Qiao would have been in danger, but most of his troops were trapped in Hebei and could not be brought back.

"Liu Qiao has at most 20,000 soldiers." Du Dan smiled and said, "But the young master is still very capable. Even though he took advantage of the unexpected, his bravery and advanced military strategy are still impressive. The youthful spirit is magnificent!"

"Mr. Du has a profound family background in learning. He was able to predict my military plans based on just a few half-true and half-false words. I admire him very much." Shao Xun said sincerely.

Du Wuku's son might be knowledgeable about military affairs. It is interesting to be able to infer Shao Xun's military strategy through the simple battle time and the recent uproar over borrowing horses.

"My dear, you are too kind." Du Dan said modestly, "Are we going to Hongnong next?"

"Didn't Shi Chao and others retreat?" Shao Xun asked.

After Yecheng was captured, not everyone followed Sima Ying to Luoyang. Shi Chao, Lou Quan, Gong Shifan and others were leading troops outside at the time and did not follow.

Later, the soldiers naturally lost their will to fight and fled. Some of these people stayed in Hebei to hide, while others fled to Guanzhong through secret roads and were taken in by Sima Yong.

This time, Sima Yong gave them 1,000 to 3,000 soldiers and ordered them to march east through Tongguan and attack Hongnong and Luoyang. If there was an opportunity, they could return to Hebei to support Gong Shifan and others.

Unfortunately, they didn't even take the first step.

Mi Huang fortified the city and cleared the fields, defended the city, set up camps at various strategic passes, stationed troops and horses, and fought back and forth with Shi Chao and others.

Just yesterday, Shao Xun received news that Shi Chao and others had retreated.

Mi Huang has managed to stabilize the situation this time.

He is indeed capable of building a strong camp and fighting a stupid battle.

"That's right." Du Dan said, "But if they can come once, they can come a second time."

"Mr. Du, just speak frankly." Shao Xun said.

"Since you won a great victory in Yuzhou, I believe you must have captured a lot..." Du Dan said.

Shao Xun was delighted.

That's exactly what he meant.

But in this case, whoever speaks first will suffer. Du Dan actually took a fancy to the equipment he seized, so he could naturally buy food from him.

The weather in recent years may be an exaggeration to say that it has been good, but there have not been many disasters. The Du family's Yiquanwu is quite large, and all the cultivated fields are cultivated. There is a lot of grain stored, and there is enough to sell.

Besides, there are still many forts in Yiyang and even in the whole of Hongnong. Through the connection with local bosses like the Du family, the business can be expanded.

They would not suffer any loss. Even if Shao Xun was a ruthless person, the price of the weapons he sold was not high, and they were well-made weapons, so they could even say they made a profit.

This is called a win-win.

The war is imminent, and fort commanders in places like Hongnong that are caught in the middle and have a sense of crisis will all think about stockpiling equipment and improving the level of armaments. After all, there is plenty of food - well, if a disaster occurs, then food is more important than weapons. The decision at this time is likely to be wrong, but people do not have the ability to predict the future.

"Since Lord Du has such intention, how can I hide it and not give it to him?" Shao Xun said with a smile: "There is no rush for this matter. We will consider it after the troops return."

"That's true." Du Dan nodded slightly and said, "Then it's a deal."

"It's a deal." Shao Xun said.

At present, the fort owners in Yiyang are all targets that can be won over.

He was a sixth-rank palace general, and had a close relationship with the governor Mi Huang, so he had an official advantage. In the context of a large area with few people, the commanders of Yiyangwubao had no need to deliberately target him. There was no major conflict of interest between them, and they could completely help each other.

If we encounter a large enemy attack in the future, this kind of relationship of mutual assistance will be crucial, and we will need to have more exchanges in the future.

(End of this chapter)