Chapter 396 Returning to the old place

Chapter 396 Returning to the old place

Chapter 396 Returning to the old place
I don’t know if it’s an illusion, but the court’s attitude towards the barons has become much better recently.

All the district establishment, prince re-titles, and official appointments reported by Shao Xun in his own or other people's name were approved.

First of all, the matter of changing the title of King of Rencheng to King of Puyang and abolishing the states of Rencheng and Gaoping was approved the fastest.

The resettlement of 5,700 soldiers was also carried out smoothly, and some of them even started spring ploughing.

In this way, Gaoping State will become the second largest county in Yanzhou, second only to Mount Tai.

After Yu Hua took office as prefect, his first task was to get the county government, which had become somewhat paralyzed, running again, and then to exercise in-depth control over it.

"My dear son-in-law is worried about the court, and the court is also worried about you." Outside the city of Xuchang, Yu Chen, who was about to go to Liang State to take up his post, said: "Liang Fen is the governor of several counties in the north of Mianyang, and there are several counties in the south of Luo between him and the court. If you make things convenient for others, you will also make things convenient for yourself."

"Haha!" Shao Xun couldn't help laughing.

What my father-in-law says is also interesting.

Jingzhou as a whole is still the territory of the imperial court, and it is of a relatively high purity.

After Wang Ru's death, Liang Fen incorporated the vast number of refugees from Guanxi between Wancheng and Xiangyang, and became a powerful force.

Shan Jian (commander-in-chief of the military affairs of Jing, Ning and Yi states) and Wang Cheng also returned to Xiangyang from Xiakou to clean up the mess.

If the imperial court wanted to manage the south, it could not make the relationship with Shao Xun too strained.

Especially since this high-profile wedding in the first month of the year was known to everyone, even the Xiongnu people probably knew that Shao Xun had joined forces with the Yingchuan gentry. The Yingchuan gentry had always been on par with the Runan gentry, and the imperial court really didn't have much influence in the western half of Yuzhou.

"Also, the imperial court may want to attack Hongnong and push Wang Mi westward. Xin'an is very close to Luoyang and is really dangerous." Yu Chen said again.

"Does the court have food?" Shao Xun asked, "Although the imperial army has been reorganized many times, it is only more than 20,000 people. How can we fight?"

"I don't know either." Yu Chen sighed.

The manpower that the Luoyang court could directly utilize was becoming increasingly limited, basically limited to the three counties of Henan, Xingyang, and Shangluo.

They are now selecting the best and strongest men from among the refugees who have drifted to Henan to join the imperial army.

If this military selection standard had been used ten years ago, it would probably have shocked people for a long time.

But Shao Xun was too lazy to care. Let the imperial court do whatever it wants, as long as it doesn't get destroyed. He still needs to pretend to unite with everyone under the banner of the Jin Dynasty.

"Will there be any more grain transported to the capital this year?" Shao Xun asked.

"There should be." Yu Chen said: "I heard that the court tacitly allowed the Prince of Langya to interfere in the political affairs of Jiangzhou in exchange for money and grain to enter the capital."

Money and food are really the most important thing.

Although the population of Luoyang was decreasing year by year and the consumption of grain was not as great as before, the destruction by the Huns was becoming increasingly fierce, and the self-sustaining capacity of the surrounding areas of Luoyang was declining day by day.

Without external input of money and food, Luoyang could not last even half a year.

Just before the New Year, Wang Xuan even asked him privately how much grain had been withheld in recent years.

Shao Xun told him the truth, about 600,000 hu. He also borrowed about 400,000 hu, and the total cost of the imperial court was one million.

Wang Xuan asked if he could pay back some of the money first, but Shao Xun refused because he was also short of food.

After all, last year's war was fought in Henan. Even if we won militarily, we would have suffered huge losses economically and politically.

His Silver Spear and Yicong armies were all maintained by more than 30 counties in Luonan, Xiangcheng, Yingchuan and Runan, which provided more than one million hu of grain and 30,000 to 40,000 pieces of silk every year. He also had to make up for part of the gap by grazing livestock, raising fish, growing vegetables, and picking fruits himself. As for the consumption of equipment, half was produced by himself, and the other half was obtained by him by pestering the court.

Yuzhou's finances were also in a difficult and tight situation, and there was really no spare money. In the end, they could only promise Wang Xuan that if Chenjun, Nandun, and Xincai could harvest smoothly this year, they would return 200,000 to 300,000 hu of grain after the autumn harvest.

Speaking of Langya King Sima Rui, if you say he has no ambition, Shao Xun would dare to write his name backwards.

As one of the remnants of Sima Yue, Sima Rui's shogunate relied on the scholars who had moved south for political support, and on the wealthy families of Jiangdong for economic and military support.

Although he himself is also trying to establish a military system independent of the Jiangdong nobles, it seems far from enough at the moment.

To capture Shouchun and enter Pengcheng, they relied on the troops of the old clans and new nobles of Eastern Wu.

This separatist power is really strange. Shao Xun thinks that if Sima Rui and the scholars who migrated south had not insisted, would the Jiangdong nobles have any interest in expansion?

A convoy loaded with all kinds of things drove out of Xuchang City.

Yu Chen looked around and saw that they were all daily necessities and farm tools that he had bought in Xuchang City, so he bowed and said, "My dear son-in-law, there is no need to see me off. I will leave now."

After saying that, he looked to the other side.

Guanqiu and Yu Wenjun, mother and daughter, were also saying goodbye and crying.

This time he was appointed as the internal historian of Liang, which was in the heart of Yuzhou and not very dangerous, so he brought his family with him.

After bidding farewell to each other, the two groups set off separately: Shao Xun went west via Yingyin to Yangdi, and Yu Chen went east via Chenjun to Liangguo.

******
The number of Guangchengze garrison soldiers fluctuated, but recently remained at around 30,000 people in six camps (including a garrison in Yangcheng County). Among these 30,000 people, except for a few thousand unlucky ones, most of them had been replaced.

Those who performed well were transformed from slaves to farming soldiers or free citizens in the household registration.

Those who don't perform well can only continue to work here and wait for the next opportunity to strike it rich - such as moving out to serve as soldiers in the palace.

Relief land, salary land, military land, and official farms...

Extending from Guangchengze to Liang County, and even expanding southward to Luyang, thousands of hectares of fertile land were cultivated by these captives day after day, continuously producing grain and forage and raising a large number of livestock.

It can be said that it was precisely because of the existence of these fields and captives that Shao Xun had the confidence to bargain with the Yingchuan gentry - even if you don't support me, I can rely on the savings in this area to support the shogunate and the army for a year or two in the short term, and then smash you to pieces.

At the end of the month, Shao Xun had arrived at the South Garden of Caiguanzhuang in Guangchengze.

The eleventh to twentieth buildings of the Silver Spear Army that were guarding him, numbering six thousand soldiers, began training on the spot.

The Silver Spear Army now has twenty units, totaling twelve thousand men.

According to Shao Xun's latest plan, buildings one to ten will be organized into the left camp, led by Wang Que'er, with Hou Feihu and Sun He as deputies; buildings eleven to twentieth will be organized into the right camp, led by Jin Zheng, with Zhang Daniu and Xu Yu as deputies.

Lu Heigou fought too fiercely in the battle of Dongwuyang and was wounded by a stray arrow in the dark. He was bedridden for several months before he finally survived. However, he was left with a chronic illness and was no longer suitable for high-intensity warfare. Because he had been enrolled in the Imperial College, he was transferred to Ye County, Nanyang, and was called "Lu Rong" on the list.

Of the 6,000 men in the right camp, only the 11th and 12th battalions had participated in last year's battle to advance to Luoyang, and the rest had no combat experience at all.

The last four groups couldn't even get enough iron armor. Except for officers above the rank of sergeant, everyone else was only given leather armor.

This can only be raised slowly, and training is still important at this stage.

"The north and south gardens of Caiguanzhuang are both family properties." Shao Xun pointed to the half-frozen and half-thawed lake in the sun and said, "The north garden is cultivated by 5,000 garrison soldiers, and the Jing brothers and their vassal farmhands manage it. The south garden currently has nearly 3,800 farmhands, all of whom are elderly people who were evacuated from the three gardens in Luoyang a few years ago."

Yu Wenjun held his hand, like a little bird, and looked at the frozen lake and the vast farmland with curiosity.

She had already entered the role of a wife. Caiguanzhuang North and South Gardens and Green Willow Garden were all private properties of the Shaw family, and they needed her, the mistress, to take care of them.

As her dowry, there were a lot of land and troops in Yanling, Nandun and other places, which also required her to assign people to take care of them.

The sixteen-year-old girl took over the burden of the family.

Shao Xun tightened her fur coat for her and touched her head lovingly.

Yu Wenjun giggled and looked up.

Shao Xun kissed her, then held her in his arms and walked forward.

He felt a little uneasy, because the better Yu Wenjun treated him and the more attached she was to him, the more reluctant he felt and the more guilty he felt.

This little girl is so clingy, persistent and serious.

Before going to sleep at night, she always asked if she felt comfortable just now. Shao Xun could see that she was not particularly comfortable, but she always wanted to serve her husband comfortably.

"What's that land over there?" Yu Wenjun pointed with her little hand, looking at the land that looked like an island surrounded by lakes and rivers, and asked curiously.

Shao Xun remained calm and said, "That is the farmland of Guangcheng Palace, called 'Duotian'. It used to be over 300 hectares, but I don't know how many there are now. Do you see the houses over there? Most of the people who cultivate Duotian come from Henan and Hanoi counties. Before the third year of Yongjia, rice was planted here. Winter wheat was planted last autumn, and after the harvest in May, rice should continue to be planted."

So Luonan is his important base.

When Puyang, Dongping, Jibei, Xingyang and other places were unable to carry out normal agricultural production, and Chenliu, Gaoping, Jiyin, Taishan and even Chenjun and Liangguo could only plant in spring and harvest in autumn, the Luonan area including Guangchengze began to have three crops in two years.

From last year to the end of this year, people can harvest three crops of grain per acre of land, while Chenjun, Liangguo, Chenliu and other places can only harvest two crops. Those counties on the front line can barely harvest half a crop. The difference is too big.

What's more, the per-acre yield of rice-wheat rotation in Guangchengze is much higher than that of two seasons of millet, which makes it a very stable and high-yielding rear area.

"Is the rice harvested in the dutian the Guangcheng rice?" asked Yu Wenjun.

"You know this too?"

"Of course." Yu Wenjun chuckled and said, "Guangcheng rice is also very famous in Yingchuan. Among the rewards you gave out during the New Year, there was Guangcheng rice. My eldest brother once brought a batch home, and our whole family tasted it."

"Oh, I see." Shao Xun breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Guangcheng rice is indeed good."

"That mountain is Kongtong Mountain, right?"

"Yes."

"I heard there is Guangcheng Tang in the north of Kongtong Mountain. My husband, please take me there to have some fun."

"Don't make a fuss. Your husband is here for serious business." Shao Xun's heart skipped a beat and he said, "Last year, we only planted one season of spring wheat in the Xiutian and Lutian fields. This year, we will plant millet. There are only a few days left. Your husband has to go to the fields to till the fields."

"Oh." Yu Wenjun knew that she was being willful, so she said, "Then I will bring water and food to my husband."

"Yeah." Shao Xun responded absentmindedly.

(End of this chapter)