Chapter 281 Testing

Chapter 281 Testing

Chapter 281 Testing
Shunyang prefect Yang Man came to Guangchengze.

To be honest, he served as Liang Ling for quite a while, but he didn't go to Guangchengze very often. The few times he went there were to visit Shao Xun, because he was like an old farmer, tending to the crops all day long.

The scene in Guangchengze in winter is very monotonous.

Everywhere you look, there are dead branches and fallen leaves. After a snowfall, even these dead branches and fallen leaves are covered, leaving only the vast snowfield.

But unlike the bleak environment, the people in Guangchengze are very lively.

There are still ten days until the Chinese New Year, and Lutian near Shaogongbi is crowded with people.

The laborers skillfully dug out turnips, placed them on the cart, and pulled them away.

This was the land of the Duke of Luyang County—oh, now he should be called Marquis Chen—which originally had 10 hectares, all planted with alfalfa to feed livestock. Later, another 10 hectares were allocated and all planted with turnips.

The twenty hectares of land as an official stipend had always been managed by people assigned by Yang Xianrong. Marquis Chen never asked about it and was even too lazy to care how much was collected.

Yang Man glanced at his sister and sighed deeply.

You are Queen Hui, what are you thinking about all day?
"In June of the second year of Yongxing in the Later Han Dynasty, there was a locust plague. The emperor ordered the affected counties to plant turnips to help people eat." Yang Xianrong's long skirt dragged in the field, which was already full of filth, but she didn't care at all. She said excitedly: "I heard that turnips can still grow in winter, so I sent people to plant them. It turns out to be true!"

Yang Xianrong's face glowed with an indescribable glow. As she walked, she chattered on and on, "Brother, you may not know that turnip is also known as 'Zhugecai'? It is said that when Zhuge Kongming was on a campaign, he ordered his soldiers to plant this vegetable to help feed the army, hence the name. This vegetable can grow all year round, and this is the first time I have seen it."

"When the grass withers in winter, we can eat turnips. This way, we don't have to slaughter a large number of livestock in late autumn. The cattle and sheep I raise will be more next year."

"Then there will be plenty of time for making cheese, milk porridge or marrow cakes."

As Yang Man listened, she felt somewhat moved.

Have you ever cared about one person wholeheartedly? When my sister was the queen, I'm afraid she didn't care so much about the late emperor.

"Turnips were introduced to the Central Plains during the Western Han Dynasty. Three hundred years have passed, but few people have planted them." Yang Man said, "If they can be widely planted, livestock will not lack fodder in winter, and people can have an extra winter vegetable on their tables."

He knew that at this time most states and counties were still planting in spring and harvesting in autumn, and then the fields were left empty waiting for sowing in the spring of the following year.

If turnips can be planted after the autumn harvest in August, they can be harvested in the winter, which will be beneficial to the livelihood of the people.

As for whether growing turnips will make the field thinner, that is really not a problem.

The world is in chaos, there are few people and much land, so crop rotation will do the trick.

"That's Prime Minister Cui's land, and they also grow turnips there," Yang Xianrong said, pointing.

Yang Man was too lazy to look.

I have heard that Prime Minister Cui is good at business. While other people's land is used to grow millet and wheat, he insists on using part of it to grow vegetables.

It turned out that he was right, growing vegetables brought higher returns, especially winter vegetables.

"You look like a peasant now." Yang Man looked at his sister and said.

"I'll be the gardener next year." Yang Xianrong smiled and said, "Last year I sent people to Wu to get cabbage and brought it back. I've been planting it in the Cuiyuan under Guangcheng Palace for two years. Next year I'm going to plant it in the land of Chen Hou. Maybe in the cold winter, I'll have another vegetable."

Cabbage originates from the south and is similar to the green vegetables of later generations.

After a long period of natural hybridization, it was introduced to the north during the reign of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty and planted around Luoyang.

After moving from the south to the north, they adapted to the northern climate and further hybridized and mutated.

By the time of Emperor Xuanwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Luoyang's cabbage had changed beyond recognition, so they sent a shipload of Luoyang cabbage to the Southern Liang. After tasting it, the crown prince Xiao Tong of the Southern Liang Dynasty thought it was very delicious, so he wrote two poems of thanks and sent them to Luoyang.

Over the next few hundred years, cabbage continued to mutate wildly, and it became unstoppable.

Especially after hybridization with turnip, cabbage gradually began to be able to withstand wind, frost and severe cold.

Bai Juyi once wrote a poem: "Heavy frost hits the cabbage, the frost is severe in vain. The cabbage heart does not die, but instead makes it sweet."

In the end, it evolved into a non-heading cabbage, which is called "yellow sprouts" in some places.

Of course, the cabbage at this time cannot grow in winter. It is usually harvested in late autumn and stored as a kind of winter vegetable, namely "early spring leeks and late autumn cabbage".

This year, Cuiyuan also harvested a lot of late cabbages and stored them in the cellar.

Yang Xianrong had already sent people to deliver dozens of carts of food to the palace, along with turnips, as a reward before the New Year.

She knew that Shao Xun had returned, and that some gifts would be distributed to officials and generals before the New Year, such as salt, jerky, winter vegetables, etc., as part of their income - this was a tradition.

"Lord Chen's foundation has become increasingly solid." Yang Man said with emotion.

Most of the crops grown in Lutian were wheat. God was kind and heavy rains began in late August. Winter wheat was planted in early September and can be harvested in May next year.

The Lutian was cultivated by the fifth and sixth battalions of the Qingzhou Tuntian Army (now reduced to about 7,000 people).

The officials and generals were relieved that the harvest from the land was guaranteed.

Once their hearts were settled, Lord Chen's foundation was stable.

With Xiutian, Lutian, the two gardens in the north and south of Caiguanzhuang, as well as the newly opened fields in the Gongzhubi area, and a small amount of fields in Tangliyuan and Liuhuayuan, this place is indeed a hot land.

But, the future will have to develop eastward, right?
It is too difficult to reclaim the Guangchengze, and there are many mountains and swamps, which is not as good as the land with crisscrossing paths in Yuzhou.

If we can spend a few years to firmly take over the thirteen counties and kingdoms of Yuzhou, that would be considered a successful hegemony.

******
When the Yang brothers and sisters left Guangchengze, they saw a large group of horses being pulled into the wild, apparently being trained to pull carts.

Yes, there are a large number of Xianbei horses in Guangcheng Lake. In the past few years, Chen Hou has been selling horses, and the business is quite prosperous, and he has exchanged a lot of food.

We have sold less in the past two years, probably because everyone is short of food.

When Yang Man left Liang County for Shunyang, he heard that there were less than 5,000 horses in Guangchengze, but he didn't know how many there were now.

War consumption is the biggest expense, and even if we can seize some weapons, it cannot make up for the war losses.

In addition, these horses are several years old, and some of them die of old age or illness every year. If we wait a few more years, I am afraid they will not be able to run anymore, so using them to pull carts is really the best option.

When he returned to Guangcheng Palace, Yang Man sat down, organized his words, and said, "After I took office as the governor of Shunyang, something happened in Taishan. I received a letter from home last month, and a group of people will come here in a while."

After listening for a while, Yang Xianrong sneered and said, "Are you finally willing to spend a huge sum of money? When the news about Luoyang spreads back, they will probably regret not investing enough money."

Hearing this, Yang Man frowned and said, "You are also a member of the Yang clan, can't you speak more pleasantly? If the Yang clan becomes prosperous, it will be good for you in the future..."

After hearing this, Yang Xianrong finally calmed down, but then became angry again, and no one knew what she was angry about.

"The clan already knows about what happened in Luoyang." Yang Man said.

"So fast?" Yang Xianrong was a little surprised.

"It's been more than a month." Yang Man said helplessly, "Besides, even if it's impossible to send a 500-mile express to Mount Tai, we should at least send a trusted horse to deliver it back, right?"

"Are they finally moved?" Yang Xianrong said sarcastically.

Yang Man glanced at her and said, "The clan is planning to try to get Lord Chen to marry Xiao Lan from your second uncle's family."

"How dare she, little lazy girl!" Yang Xianrong's eyes widened with anger.

Yang Man chuckled and said, "I wrote a letter to dissuade him."

Yang Xianrong felt relieved and asked, "What are those old fools in the clan thinking about all day long?"

The "second uncle" mentioned by Yang Man is named Yang Jiongzhi, who is the younger brother of Yang Xianrong's father Yang Xuanzhi.

After Yang Xuanzhi's death, he resigned from his official position and returned to his hometown in Mount Tai to avoid the limelight.

"The clan is serious this time." Yang Man said, "The position of Prime Minister of Lu is a must. We also have some connections in Qiao State, and we will find a way to use them."

The State of Lu was located to the south of Taishan County. Many of the descendants, students and former officials of the Yang family's side branches worked in the State of Lu and had a great influence.

As for Qiao State, it is more complicated.

First of all, the Yang family had an allied marriage with the Xiahou family of Qiao State, and they had a close relationship.

Secondly, the Huan family of Longkang in Qiao State was on good terms with the Yang family of Taishan - it could even be said that they had been dependent on the Yang family.

Huan Bao, who came from the Huan family, once served as the chief clerk of Yang Xianrong's grandfather Yang Jin (then Shangshu You Pushe), and could be said to be his confidant.

Yang Xianrong listened silently, and suddenly asked a question: "Will Shao Xun accept it?"

Yang Man was not surprised when she heard this.

He knew that his sister was quite insightful and could figure out many things. The problem lay with Shao Xun.

Yang Man once had a deep discussion with Shao Xun about the issue of palace soldiers, and believed that this matter would shake the status of the aristocratic families.

Shao Xun did not deny it.

Judging from the contact over the past few years, Shao Xun is not a stubborn person. Moreover, unlike Zhang Fang and Gou Xi who came from humble backgrounds, he has the means and ability to gain recognition from the gentry.

Will he accept Yang's "good intentions"?

If the Taiyang family helped you manage the states of Lu and Qiao, would you be able to accept this?
Yang Man felt that she had to try it again.

Perhaps, after the news of Lu Zhi's appointment as the governor of Yuzhou spread, too many nobles in the Central Plains wanted to get to know and test Shao Xun.

If they had a choice, these nobles would probably want to replace the power of Yuzhou with someone with a better background, but don’t they have no choice now?
Liu Qiao, Pei Xian, Wang Shiwen...

The former was beaten to a pulp by Shao Xun.

Pei Xian abandoned his army and fled.

Wang Shiwen was defeated and died.

Replacing scholars one after another is useless, as the medicine remains the same.

Two months ago, there were rumors that Shi Le was going to cross the river and head south, causing panic in Yuzhou.

After these years, the scholars in Yuzhou probably had no choice but to be less resistant to Shao Xun, who came from a military family, taking charge of Yuzhou.

Whoever can protect their interests will get their support.

Yang Man once thought that if Shao Xun was willing to delegate local power, he would be able to gain a firm foothold in Yuzhou within a year or two.

Is he willing to do that?
There have been rumors in recent days that Shao Xun will go to his fiefdom in Chen County after the New Year.

For the scholars of Yuzhou, this was a remarkable trip that might determine the future of the Central Plains.

Shao Xun's every word and action determined the support of many people.

(End of this chapter)