Chapter 431 Market

Chapter 431 Market

Chapter 431 Market
"…To defeat the bandits and suppress the rebellion, one must wait for extraordinary strategies; to be promoted to a higher position, one must be granted special merit. The old place of Heyang is the key point of the northern gate, but it was left unregistered and poorly defended…Shao Xun, the General of Pingdong, Duke of Chen, who was in charge of the military affairs of Yuzhou and stationed in Xuchang, was loyal and experienced, and had both civil and military talents. He made decisions in the midst of thousands of troops, stood up in the city, and carried out the punishment in the wilderness, and finally promoted the prestige of a great country…He can be made the General of the North and the General of the Central Army to station in Heyang, hoping that he can personally lead the righteous army and go straight to the enemy city…The remaining merits will remain the same, and the fief of 5,000 households will be granted."

Before leaving Luoyang, an angel came to the camp to convey an imperial edict, promoting Shao Xun to a higher position.

After sending the angel away, Shao Xun frowned, and then he breathed a sigh of relief after a while.

Fortunately, the emperor had some sense and did not let him command the military forces of several states.

I don't want to get promoted now, so I just mess around all day.

Only Sima Yue has held the position of commander-in-chief of all military affairs in Sizhou. You are treating me as Sima Yue.

After putting away the imperial edict, Shao Xun pondered for a while.

The court did not clearly order him to govern where, so he continued to govern in Xuchang.

Now, only three counties of Sizhou, namely Henan, Shangluo and Xingyang, were in the hands of the imperial court, and Hongnong only had one county, Yiyang.

Considering that we are bound to fight great battles with the Huns in Hongnong, Heyang and other places in the future, it is appropriate to use Xuchang in Yingchuan as the capital.

Now he is a legitimate Heluo warlord, with 18,000 regular troops, nearly 10,000 government soldiers, more than 30,000 military farms, and an additional 30,000 to 40,000 vassal soldiers.

The imperial court had probably given up on breaking the Huns' siege of Luoyang and left everything to him.

Anyway, Wang Mi probably didn't want to attack Luoyang. After the construction of the three cities of Heyang was completed, the situation in Henei was out of danger, and all the dignitaries could just lie back and let it go.

As for the emperor - this edict most likely has nothing to do with him. It must have come from the cabinet and just used the emperor's seal.

After the Battle of Xin'an, his current situation was almost the same as when Sima Yue imprisoned him. Although he seemed to be free, he actually lost many people's support.

But we still can't take it lightly.

Every once in a while, "loyal ministers" would grow like leeks, although the growth was getting worse and worse. But as long as officials were still flowing and scholars from other places came to Beijing to serve as officials, the emperor could always trick some people into working for him.

That’s it for now.

Shao Xun knew very well that his foundation was not the righteousness of the imperial court, but the soldiers who dared to follow him in rebellion and the Yingchuan gentry who were deeply bound to him.

On November 15th, he led his troops south through Yique Pass and arrived at Xiangcheng.

……

Amidst the white snow, the market opened again.

As the garrison of the Silver Spear Left Camp, Xiangcheng County had long since emerged from the rebellion of the Eight Kings and the abyss of Wang Mi's invasion.

The seven counties of Xiangcheng were also areas where Shao Xun had relatively deep control.

The existence of the 6,000 households in Yinqiang Zuoying greatly prospered the local economy. Together with the population that migrated south from Hebei and Luoyang, after a thorough investigation, it was found that there were nearly 17,000 households and more than 90,000 people.

If the hidden population of scholars and powerful people is included, the number will definitely exceed 100,000 - in fact, there are not many scholars and powerful people in Xiangcheng, and they have all been gradually rectified.

With such a large population and several years of peace, after two consecutive years of good weather and harvests, the market in Xiangcheng County has regained its vitality.

On this day, Zhou came to the market early in the morning.

The thirteen-year-old eldest son and the eleven-year-old second son held their heads high and followed their mother.

As the sons of Ji Shou, the sergeant of the Silver Spear Army, the two teenagers' status in the countryside rose rapidly. Children from ordinary farmers' families gathered around them all day long, taking them as their leader, and they were like the kings among the children.

It's not surprising that this happens.

The Silver Spear Army recruited soldiers, had a good income, and could receive spoils of war as rewards. The land allocated to their families was also the best, so wealth accumulated slowly.

Which half-grown child doesn’t feel hungry all the time? Following Daji and Xiaoji, he could share some food from time to time, so he naturally followed them.

This is the reality of the world.

The news of Chen Gong's return had long been spread to the counties of Xiangcheng. After much deliberation, Zhou decided to kill an old sheep at home to reward her husband. It was also the New Year, and the remaining mutton could be saved for the whole family to eat together in the first month of the lunar year. Well, in fact, the Silver Spear Left Camp had to stay in Heyang this year, so Zhou's news was obviously wrong.

After killing the sheep, they naturally need to be replenished, and Zhou came here to buy sheep today.

"Guangcheng is a colt that is 150 days old. He can take care of himself and no longer needs milk. Come and have a look." A big man with a full beard shouted in the market.

There were several people sitting idly behind the big man, and there were two large carts piled with hay.

The tip of a bow and the handle of a knife were faintly visible in the haystack. Passers-by turned a blind eye. In this day and age, is it possible to go out to do business without a bow and a knife? It's too normal.

Zhou stopped and looked at the livestock surrounded by the fence, and asked, "How much are the lambs?"

"Two hundred coins each." The big man was delighted to see that there was business coming to his door, and he kept saying.

"Can you survive?"

"Don't worry." The big man patted his chest and said loudly, "All foals and calves are 150 days old, and lambs are 60 days old. They don't need milk. You can buy them and raise them as you like."

"It's too expensive." Zhou shook her head.

"Is this expensive?" the big man said anxiously, "The foals and lambs on the farm of Princess Xiangcheng are all famous breeds in Runan. Look at this lamb, it is good to eat milk when it is born, and it grows big. You can even buy it and raise it as a breeding sheep."

"It's too expensive. One hundred and fifty coins for two. You can't sell them anywhere else. You can only sell them in Luonan and Xiangcheng." Zhou bargained.

The big man hesitated.

They came in the middle of the night, and they haven't sold a single animal yet. Many people just look at them but don't buy, which makes people feel irritated. But this woman wants to buy two, which shows that she has quite a lot of money. And what she said is not wrong.

If you go somewhere else, you may not be able to sell it.

First of all, they have no money. Secondly, most of the households are dependent on forts and manors. They don’t have much freedom and many things are not decided by them.

Larger manors often operate as "trades behind closed doors", with their own craftsmen of all kinds making all kinds of supplies, and most of the necessities of life can be traded within the manor.

If there is really nothing, the neighboring forts and manors can exchange what they have.

These manors are either in-laws or trustworthy allies that have been proven over the years, and they are accustomed to helping each other.

Although livestock are in short supply and every manor is short of them, they, as small-scale operators, may not be able to knock on the doors of those manors - perhaps Princess Xiangcheng can, but they really can't, and they are also afraid of being robbed.

The situation is different in the counties of Luonan and the seven counties of Xiangcheng.

There are a large number of people in these places who are not attached to any fortress or manor, especially the Silver Spear Army and the soldiers' families, who are relatively wealthy, thus giving them the opportunity to make profits through trafficking.

"One hundred and fifty coins is too little, at least one hundred and ninety," said the big man.

Zhou shook her head and said, "One hundred and fifty."

"One hundred and eighty-five. It can't be any less." The big man said again.

"One hundred and sixty, no more." Zhou bargained calmly.

At the same time, her eyes were still moving all over the large livestock.

The ox used for plowing the fields at home was bought from someone else. It was a bit old and had been injured. In the past two years, she had been thinking about buying a new ox.

But a good ox costs more than 3,000 yuan, which is too expensive. It is not necessary. It is better to buy a calf, go back and ask someone to help train it, and slowly replace the old ox.

"You want to buy another cow?" The big man had been staring at Zhou. When he saw her looking at the calf, he was surprised and said, "This cow was born in the first month of the year and is already three hundred days old. It can be used as a breeding cow, but it's not cheap."

Foals, calves and lambs born in the twelfth month and the first month of the lunar calendar have always been valued - whether there is a scientific reason for this or not is not known, but they are expensive anyway, and are often even raised as stallions, cattle and sheep.

A man passing by laughed when he heard what the big man said, "You fool, don't you know the lady of the Ji family? Last month, an auxiliary soldier returned from Heyang and brought back several pieces of silk. This is the reward for the beheading of Ji Shichang of the Silver Spear Army."

The big man was in awe when he heard this and said, "So you are the family members of Taibai's military school. I am sorry for your disrespect."

"Have you also heard of Taibai?" asked the passerby.

"How can you look down on others, old man?" The big man said angrily, "Back then I wanted to join the Silver Spear Army, but they thought I was too much of a bandit and refused to accept me. Otherwise, I would have been an official by now, why would I have worked so hard to buy sheep?"

There were a few other people nearby who burst into laughter after hearing this.

"If there were no Taibai, this market would probably not be built." Someone sighed.

"Over the past few years, how many people from Luoyang have fled to Xiangcheng for refuge? Without Taibai, not only would people from Luoyang come to seek refuge, but people from Xiangcheng would also have to flee south."

"Why did Taibai go to Chenjun? Why didn't he stay in Xiangcheng?"

"My son will be seventeen next year. Let's see if he can be sent to the Silver Spear Army. They don't want veterans, only newcomers. Maybe my son can be recruited."

"Give up. How can your kid who can be blown down by the wind join the Silver Spear Army?"

Everyone laughed again.

Seeing that more and more people were coming, Zhou became a little impatient and said, "One hundred and seventy coins for two pairs. I want to buy them sincerely. Just tell me if it's okay or not."

"One hundred and eighty." The big man said in embarrassment: "The livestock on Princess Xiangcheng's farm are not cheap to buy."

Zhou insisted on one hundred and seventy.

The two men argued for a while, and finally, amid the big man's sighs, they settled the deal for 177 coins.

Da Ji and Xiao Ji held the lamb and followed their mother happily.

All the acquaintances they met on the road looked at them with envy.

As a Silver Spear Army soldier, you will never have to worry about food and drink, and your family's life will get better and better every year, which is really enviable.

But, in the final analysis, Mr. Chen is still the most powerful.

In the early years, the Xuchang shogunate also came to Xiangcheng to recruit soldiers. At that time, Fanyang Wang Hu was still the governor, right? Unfortunately, few of them came back in the end, and most of them didn't even know where they died.

It's really annoying to compare people to each other.

Mr. Chen was a god who came to the world. He was gifted with military strategies and was an excellent commander of troops. If you follow him into battle, you will naturally be victorious in everything.

It's better to forget about the Sima clan prince. He leads people to desperate situations all day long. He is far inferior to Lord Chen.

Don't believe it? Lord Chen was able to get the princess of the Sima family to give birth to a son for him, but the King of Fanyang died without even a daughter. The winner is clear.

The cold wind blew and blew up the remaining snow on the ground.

On the northern horizon, the silhouette of an army is looming.

(End of this chapter)