Chapter 452: Catching Life

Chapter 452: Catching Life

Chapter 452: Catching Life
After entering May, the counties and states in Yuzhou gradually ushered in the wheat harvest season.

Unfortunately, Sizhou and Yanzhou did not have such a good thing. They were either harassed by enemy cavalry, or were conservative, or for other reasons, they still sowed millet in the spring and waited for the harvest in autumn.

The same is true in Heyang County.

When Shao Xun arrived at the southern city of Heyang, it was already the sixth day of May.

His departure brought great relief to the people of Luoyang, while the people of Heyang warmly cheered his arrival.

Heyang Magistrate Cheng Yuantan, Heiliang Commander Hou Feihu, Tuntian Army Captain Hao Chang, and Duzhi Captain Yang Bao surrounded him and climbed up to the top of the city wall.

"How many people are there in Heyang?" Shao Xun was very happy when he saw the millet seedlings growing well, so he asked.

"There are no civilians in the North City, there are more than 1,700 households in the Central City, and no less than 6,000 households in the South City." Cheng Yuantan replied.

“Not much less than last year.”

"Some more people came this spring."

"From where?"

"Ji County, Hanoi."

Shao Xun understood.

Hebei is indeed the most densely populated region in the Jin Dynasty.

It seems to have been like this since the Later Han Dynasty. By the Tang Dynasty, it accounted for one-third of the world's population at its peak. Even though other places developed later, Hebei still accounted for more than 20% of the world's population.

Hebei's economic strength exceeds its population ratio and is far superior to Henan and Guanzhong.

This is the foundation of hegemony.

We cannot let Shi Le comfortably occupy the entire Hebei Province. Otherwise, even if he does not farm, his strength will easily catch up with yours who have been farming for a few years.

"Gather all the refugees and resettle them. If there is not enough land, collect wasteland from both sides. If it is still not enough, go to the southern foot of Mangshan Mountain to cultivate it." Shao Xun ordered.

Cheng Yuantan nodded repeatedly and said, "It is better to drive the Xiongnu northward. The north bank of the river is fertile land and can support tens of thousands of people."

Shao Xun looked at the vast river again.

Nagisa Kawanaka seemed to have completely stabilized her position.

Not only on Gaozhu, Mazhu and Taozhu are there people growing crops, raising livestock and tending fruits and vegetables, but even on some unknown small islands there are a few to dozens of households.

These people have very little arable land, and the food is not enough for their families. Apart from raising yellow croaker (carp), they can only use some of the marginal land to grow grains such as soybeans and mung beans.

Fortunately, the men in the family took turns to guard the three cities, and the court would allocate some food as military pay, so they could barely survive.

Is this kind of life good? Of course it is not very good. But compared with the precarious life of refugees, it is much better.

Young men fought in the war, strong women worked in the fields, children helped raise fish, plant beans, cut grass and raise livestock, and the elderly could even sell their labor to build warehouses. Although life was hard, they were very grateful. The quality of life was indeed determined by comparison - compared with others and with their past selves.

The northern city of Heyang on the north bank of the river looks like a major military town.

The county government was set up there, but there were not many civilians to command. There were soldiers everywhere, and the sound of drums, gongs and flags was everywhere.

"It seems that some fields have been opened up in the north city?" Shao Xun said, pointing to the north bank.

There were a few people there herding horses and sheep, and there were cavalry on guard in the distance. It seemed that if anything happened, they would immediately give an alarm and have people retreat with their livestock.

Beicheng is a big city, about one mile away from the Yellow River.

This area is relatively safe and can theoretically be used for farming, but it is currently mainly used for grazing.

"Mingsir, I invited some farmers from Guangchengze to come here, and they sowed alfalfa seeds last year." Cheng Yuantan said, "The people and seeds were sent by Queen Hui."

Shao Xun nodded.

Yang Xianrong has two major businesses in Guangchengze. One is the continuous development of terraced fields and planting rice, and the other is planting various types of forage grass (mainly alfalfa) and raising livestock.

To be honest, it's a bit of a hobby.

The rice was usually delivered to Xuchang at the end of the year, and Shao Xun used it to reward officials, generals, and personal soldiers.

The livestock were sent to Xuchang regularly to provide food for Shao's family and hundreds of personal soldiers.

Shao Xun has always been generous to his personal soldiers. Not only do they provide them with rice and flour, but they also eat meat regularly. The consumption of several hundred personal soldiers is actually quite high.

When it comes to eating, he is completely taken care of by Yang Xianrong.

Sometimes I sigh and wonder why I can't be tough for once and refuse the rice and livestock given by others?

Come to think of it, I'm probably used to it.

As long as there are no problems with a program, just keep running it and don't make any changes. Yang Xianrong is so useful, so I use it to death.

The same seems to be true for the aristocratic families. It is so easy to take care of the rear that it gradually paralyzes you, and then blends together and becomes difficult to separate.

However, after Shao Xun and Yu Wenjun got married at the beginning of last year, Yang Xianrong seemed to gradually move away from the nature of a hobby.

She began to sell rice by transporting it through the well-connected water systems in Liangxian, Xuchang, Xiangcheng and other places, making a lot of profit.

Princess Xiangcheng Sima Xiuwei sometimes bought livestock from Yang Xianrong and sold them through the donkey business.

This business model is good, but what puzzles Shao Xun is why the two sisters-in-law didn't fall out? It's strange, when did Yangyang become so easy to talk to?
"Perhaps we can cultivate some fields near the city." Shao Xun said, "It's close to the city, so we can take care of it. If the Xiongnu dare to trample on the crops, we can send cavalry to kill them and let them lose some lives here. After a while, they will not dare to come."

"My Lord, your advice is excellent." Cheng Yuantan said, "I will arrange for people to plant beans this month."

"If we build a city in Hebei in the future, we must follow this system forever." Shao Xun looked at several generals and said.

"As ordered."

"I have brought all the cavalry with me this time." Shao Xun added, "The Yicong Army will head to the North City tomorrow. You can discuss and give the Xiongnu a warning first."

After the 500 cavalrymen from Kaocheng (who came from a noble family in Yanzhou) were transferred away, the Yicong Army now had 3,700 soldiers and nearly 8,000 horses. They had been trained for many years and were a relatively elite force.

But no matter how elite they are, their number is still too small.

If they are transferred here, there will be no cavalry there, which is very annoying.

Up to now, the number of horses managed has only reached 5,000, all of which were bred and raised in Guangchengze.

The speed was so slow that he wanted to ask ordinary people to help raise horses to expand the population. At a time when there are few people and much land, it is worth a try.

The mixed farming and animal husbandry model can make use of more land - human energy is limited, and a family of five can only cultivate more than 100 acres at most. If farming and animal husbandry are combined, the grass on the wasteland can be converted into harvest.

This is exactly the opposite of the Huns' production model.

Their main occupation is herding, and their side job is farming, and the harvest depends on the weather.

I can do farming as my main job and herding as my side job, and the harvest of livestock depends on the weather.

Thinking of this, Shao Xun felt that the Huns’ agricultural production model might not be that backward.

At the very least, they can convert large tracts of mountainous and hilly grasslands that are unsuitable for farming into profit.

The Han people did not start to make large-scale use of these mountainous areas and hills until the introduction of sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes did not occupy large amounts of farmland. They simply made use of hills and slopes that were previously unusable, and the yield was quite high.

Before the introduction of sweet potatoes, grazing was a good way to utilize land.

Contrary to what most people imagine, the Hu people actually pay special attention to moist mountains, because they are very good pastures, better than dry grasslands - of course, moist grasslands are best, but these are not common.

Historically, the most important pastures of Western Xia were in the Helan Mountains, Tiandu Mountains, Hengshan Mountains, and Yinshan Mountains, rather than the endless Hetao grassland.

"Shunling." Shao Xun waved his hand.

Cai Cheng stepped forward quickly.

"Please ask Queen Hui to send someone to Luoyang. I have an important matter to assign." Shao Xun said in a low voice.

"Yes." Cai Cheng turned around and left without changing his expression.

The population of the Luoyang Basin is decreasing year by year, and countless farmlands are left uncultivated. Now you can even build large-scale ranches as long as you are not afraid of being robbed.

In addition, a group of people could be resettled and given land for free, but there was a hard requirement: raising horses.

I just don't believe it. As long as the base number increases and it grows exponentially, can my horses be less than your grassland tribe's?

******
On the sixth day of May, Shao Xun watched the military drill of 2,400 Black Lantern Army soldiers.

This unit was mainly composed of young men from Heyang, some officers came from the Tuntian Army, and later a group of military students were added.

In the previous Heyang battle, the Heilongjiang Army performed mediocrely and suffered heavy losses.

After more than a year of reorganization and training, the situation has improved greatly.

"Originally, I only wanted to use the people of Heyang to guard Heyang, but now I have changed my mind. In the future, a group of martial arts students will be diverted to the Heilongjiang Army to lead the troops. Train them well and don't slack off." Shao Xun pointed at the more than 2,000 soldiers standing in the wilderness and ordered.

"Yes." Hou Feihu was overjoyed.

As a veteran when the Black Legion Army was established, Hou Feihu felt that his status among Master Shao's disciples had risen sharply.

This is luck.

People need both ability and luck.

"The Huns in Hanoi have gathered a lot of soldiers. What do you think they want to do?" Shao Xun asked.

"I don't think the Huns will attack the three cities of Heyang by force. Those soldiers are just here for surveillance." Hou Feihu replied.

"What's the basis?"

"The commander of the army in Yewang is the Xiongnu Anxi General Liu Ya." Hou Feihu said, "This man is very law-abiding in his use of troops. He does whatever his superiors tell him to do and rarely goes beyond his duty. Since they stationed their troops in Yewang, they have only harassed the outer perimeter of the northern city and have not launched a strong attack. Therefore, I boldly speculate that the Xiongnu have no intention of attacking the three cities of Heyang."

"Oh?" Shao Xun looked at Hou Feihu with interest and said with a smile, "Are you still trying to figure out the enemy general's temperament?"

Hou Feihu smiled shyly and said, "Know yourself and know your enemy."

"After Wang Que'er leaves, I'll hand over the three cities of Heyang to you. Can you keep them stable?"

"Although my abilities are limited, I will never allow the Xiongnu to advance further south."

"Once the army is gathered, how should we fight?"

"Master Shao might try to attack the Wild King."

"How to try?"

"First, we will send troops to Chenguan Pass to attack the Xiongnu's rescue point, draw the Xiongnu troops from Henei over, and then avoid the strong and attack the weak, and go straight to Yewang."

Shao Xun patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile: "You are willing to use your brain, which is good. But this plan is too risky. If it fails, it will easily endanger the three cities of Heyang. Besides, what will happen if I take down Yewang? Can I farm or graze? Don't always focus on famous cities and towns. Some unknown small cities are even more critical."

Hou Feihu nodded in agreement.

"However, your plan is not entirely useless." Shao Xun said again.

Hou Feihu was puzzled.

"As far as mobilizing the enemy is concerned, it is quite advisable." Shao Xun said, "Since Liu Ya behaves in a law-abiding manner, let him behave in a law-abiding manner until his death."

"Master Shao wants to..." Hou Feihu asked.

"Let me ask you, how long does it take to build a crude earth city?" Shao Xun asked.

"It'll take a few months, right?"

"No, six thousand people and twenty days will be enough." Shao Xun laughed and left.

"City of Yanzhou, City of Yanzhou, the city is on top of Wuyuan Plain..." When no one was around, Shao Xun hummed softly: "Grazing cattle and sheep during the day and catching fish at night, it's a hundred miles away from Xincheng..."

"Someone come here!" Shao Xun stopped walking and shouted.

Cai Cheng came over in a hurry: "Mingsir."

"In the name of the Xuchang shogunate, send an order that the sons of the noble families in the two states of Si and Yu who are skilled in archery and horse riding can go to Heyang. In addition, select those who are skilled in riding, shooting and fighting from the soldiers of the shogunate and their sons and nephews and send them to Heyang." Shao Xun said, "I want to recruit a new army."

"What is the name of the army?" Cai Cheng asked.

"Catch the living."

(End of this chapter)