Chapter 995 Old Man

Chapter 995 Old Man

Chapter 995 Old Man
There are still some old people in Jinmenwu, west of Yunzhongwu.

Jinmen Wei Zhong Qiu, with several people from the fortress and disabled warriors from more than 20 years ago, sat on the drying yard and chatted with the emperor.

The old people were very reserved at first, but after drinking two bowls of wine and chatting about the past, they gradually relaxed.

Kinmen Lieutenant Zhong Qiu came to seek refuge seven years ago.

He was the nephew of Zhong Huan'er, a native of Donghai who died in the battle of Biyong. So he overcame all difficulties, borrowed money from others, and took his family on a grain transport ship to Luoyang. Then he entered the Bianliang Military Academy and served as the Jinmen Wei after he came out.

There are nearly 17,000 households in the eight forts of Yunzhong, Jinmen, Tanshan, Gancheng, Yushan, Baichao, Xishi and Taolin. Nominally, they have been assigned to the Shaofu, and all the people are "garden households", but the actual managers of the forts are military students, and the captains of the forts are all of the ninth rank.

Zhong Qiu's original name was Zhong Luqiu, which was extremely vulgar. After he went to school, he changed his name by removing the word "Lu" and just calling himself Qiu, which made him look tall and elegant.

He was also very smart and knew what the emperor wanted to see, hear, and talk about.
At this time, he said: "The composting method that Your Majesty invented in Sanwu, Kinmen, seems to have been learned by the whole Henan Province. One mu of land can yield several more bushels of grain."

Shao Xun looked at the farmland in the distance.

I have the impression that it was lower than the river bank back then, but now it is almost level.

After collecting the manure, they mixed it with river silt, stirred and piled it up, and then spread it on the fields after the grain was harvested. Day after day, year after year, such a huge change occurred.

However, just like the two-year three-cropping system, the composting method is not so easy to promote.

Farmers are eager to increase grain production, but they are also extremely conservative, so things are not that easy.

Fortunately, it has been basically promoted in Yuzhou, Yanzhou and the western half of Sizhou, and is slowly spreading to the east.

Because a large number of government soldiers went to Bingzhou, the promotion of new agricultural technologies was even faster than in some parts of Henan.

If you really count it, only Qingzhou, Xuzhou, Jizhou and Youzhou are relatively slow. The proportion of wheat planting is low, there are few people who know how to make compost, and agricultural production is relatively backward.

"How are you doing?" Shao Xun looked at the old men and asked.

After that, he added: "We fought together in the past. There is no need to hide it. Tell the truth."

"Your Majesty." After a long while, someone finally spoke, saying, "I followed Your Majesty to advance into Luoyang, and returned to Jinmenwu after being seriously injured. Thanks to Your Majesty, I now have a wife and children. My old wife died that year of the great plague, and my two sons went to Luoyang and both started families and careers. One daughter married in Tanshanwu, and only my youngest son and I are still in Jinmenwu."

"Kinmenwu has less land, but the harvest is good, and we can raise some cattle and sheep on the mountain, so life is not bad."

"On the day of the Human Day, my second son brought his family back from Luoyang, and the whole family gathered together. It is said that chickens should not be killed on the first day, dogs on the second day, pigs on the third day, and sheep on the fourth day... My family killed all of them. We had no choice but to borrow the houses of our neighbors and send them some wine and meat. The whole family stayed here for more than 40 days. When my grandchildren were around me, I remembered the comrades who fought together in the past and cried loudly."

"Your Majesty, it's not easy." The old man wiped his tears and said, "I am from Bingzhou. I plan to be buried in Jinmenwu in this life, with my old brothers. I will send off whoever leaves first, and let my children and grandchildren send off those who leave later. With us here, Yiyang is your majesty's Yiyang. I have always told my children and grandchildren that when we fled to Luojing, we had no food or clothes. If your majesty hadn't taken you in, you would be dead."

After saying this, everyone felt sad.

Shao Xun said with emotion: "With you here, what do I have to worry about?"

The areas around Luoyang are all basic settlements, so you can even sleep peacefully in this situation.

"Have you received the gifts given before the New Year?" Shao Xun asked.

"Received."

"how many?"

"Three hu of millet and wheat, two rolls of silk, and one string of money."

“Did anyone else receive this much?”

"Yes, they were distributed in public on the drying field. The young men in the fort were envious and said that it was worth fighting for His Majesty. We all laughed. Even if we were missing limbs, His Majesty still remembered us."

"How about Jinmen Wei?" Shao Xun pointed at Zhong Qiu and asked.

Zhong Qiu's face tightened.

The old soldier hesitated and said, "Mr. Zhong is very dedicated."

Shao Xun nodded, stopped asking about the matter, and casually asked, "What is your son doing?"

"I am mixing ink with others in the back mountain." The old soldier said, "This is something that His Majesty assigned me back then. After so many years, the people have changed several times, but I am still mixing ink."

For many years, people in the back mountain of Jinmenwu have been studying how to prepare ink suitable for woodblock printing, even earlier than the Shaofu.

By now, the product has been iterated many times. To be honest, there are still many shortcomings, but it is much better than the original product.

Shao Xun even thought about offering a nationwide reward to get more people involved. This is because this thing requires a little luck and a little new thinking. If more people participate, maybe someone will get lucky and figure it out.

Luoyang Imperial College reopened in February this year, and the demand for woodblock printing has become more urgent. Now we are stuck on the ink and have not been able to get it done.

Requires a bit of luck!
"I am relieved to see that you can spend your old age in peace." Shao Xun stood up and said, "You fought for me when you were young. If your old age is miserable, how can I enjoy the wine and beauties?"

After saying this, he clapped his hands and asked his personal guards to bring two pieces of silk to each person present as a gift.

Everyone is grateful.

"No need to thank me." Shao Xun personally helped the old soldier up and said, "Twenty years ago you were very brave, not avoiding the blade and charging in front. You deserve this."

After that, he asked again: "Compared to 20 years ago, have I changed?"

"It's changed a lot." The old soldier laughed, "He's surrounded by a group of concubines who look like gods. I almost thought I had mistaken him."

Shao Xun laughed and said, "When I was with you guys, I couldn't sleep because of the stinky feet."

Everyone laughed. "Today, I'll treat you to wine and meat." Shao Xun said, "There are two thousand households in the fort, and everyone will have a share."

Everyone was delighted after hearing this.

How much face would it be if the emperor invited people to dinner? So Zhong Qiu immediately sent someone to pass the order, asking the young men in the fort to go down the mountain, clean up the site, and prepare firewood.

After Shao Xun turned around and left, he looked at his sons who were following him not far behind and asked, "Did you gain anything from what happened just now? Hutou, you go first. Hutou? Where's Hutou?"

Hu Tou had already slid to the wall with a big stone lock in his hand, trying to climb over the wall. When he heard his father calling, he was so scared that he threw the stone lock away and ran over, saying, "Grandpa, I just listened carefully. We need to arrange more people like this around Luoyang. If there are thieves who rebel in the future, no one will respond. Instead, we will obey the order of the court and kill the thieves."

At the end, he lowered his voice and muttered, "Even if I go out hunting and the city gates are locked, I can run to Yiyang to gather loyal and brave men."

Shao Xun raised his right hand high, wanting to hit, but finally put it down and scolded with a smile: "The words are rough, but the truth is not rough."

"Chunlang, you say." Shao Xun looked at his son who had never had much presence and asked.

"It will make Grandpa famous." Chunlang said nervously.

"Not bad." He did not have high expectations for this son, so he was relatively tolerant and encouraged him. He continued, "Your brothers have all managed the Imperial Garden. In a few days, you can take the officials of the palace to Tanshanwu. There are 2,000 households of residents there. Manage them well. After the autumn harvest next year, I will send people to inspect. If you manage well, these 2,000 households will be your fiefdom in the future."

The fifth was named King of Han, with an estate of ten thousand households, and his fief was in Lushi County, Shangluo Commandery.

After the three families divided Jin, the area of ​​Lushi and Yiyang became within the territory of Han.

Since the end of the Jin Dynasty, Lu's County, because it is located in the mountains and has a not-too-small river valley plain, has attracted many refugees, about 3,000 households, all of whom were given to the fifth brother as his fief.

A large area of ​​surrounding mountains and forests was also designated, but there were actually not many people living there, only about a thousand households.

There are two thousand households in Tanshanwu, and in the future they will be allocated to him as a fief, so there will be more than six thousand households - in fact, the final number will be just this much, and if the household registration is checked further, there will be no potential, and the natural endowment is like this.

However, because the money and food were transported in the mountains, the loss was greater, so the fifth brother actually received less money and food. Compared with the other brothers, he was really poor.

"Liang Nu, it's your turn to speak." Shao Xun said again.

"Grandpa, I only saw the word 'convinced'." Liang Nu said.

"Why?" Shao Xun asked.

"My grandfather restored the old country and allowed them to live in peace and contentment, so they are willing to fight for me." Liang Nu said, "The more people like this there are, the more stable the foundation of Daliang will be."

"You are well-read." Shao Xun nodded and said, "When you govern an area in the future, you must remember what I said today."

Then he asked the seventh and eighth brothers, who were only twelve and eleven years old respectively. Their answers were similar to those of the sixth brother Liang Nu. They were all principles they had read in school. As for how much they themselves understood, that was hard to say.

The value of what you learn from reading and what you gain from doing things are completely different.

Wait until the three of them actually take up the job, and then observe again.

Anyway, a founding leader like Shao Xun never looks at how nice a person's words are, but rather looks at how he actually performs his duties.

Liang Nu and others still need to wait for an opportunity to prove their abilities in this area.

That night, Shao Xun stayed in Jinmenwu.

"It was in front of this window that you tricked me into losing my virginity." As he pushed open the window, Shao Xun looked at the noble lady Le and said with a smile.

Le Lanji patted him gently, with a look of nostalgia on her face.

Twenty years have passed, and I have raised a son and a daughter for this man. The past has long since disappeared in the evening breeze, just like all the things in troubled times.

"I was almost fooled by you at the beginning." Le Lanji said softly.

Shao Xun looked at her with a questioning look.

"You are the first man who is willing to coax me. I am so happy that I even have the extravagant hope that you might marry me."

"The moonlight is nice." Shao Xun said.

The woman chuckled, as if she really enjoyed seeing the man feeling awkward, because it proved that he still had a conscience and still cared about her.

"How about, let's try it tonight?" Shao Xun suddenly said.

Le Lanji was surprised at first, then her face turned red.

You are in your forties and you are still doing this?

"Forget it." Shao Xun smiled awkwardly, sat back at the desk, and started reading the military newspaper that had just been delivered.

Hou Feihu had put down the rebellions in Fengyi and Shangjun, beheaded more than 4,000 people and captured 10,000.

Shao Xun waved his hand and sent all the captives to Ruyin and handed them over to Zhang Shuo.

A large number of cannon fodder are needed there, both for combat and logistics, and they will be used soon.

On the eighth day of March, Shao Xun did not go to Tanshanwu again, but went directly north, then turned west, and arrived in Shan County on the seventeenth day of March.

After staying for two days, they continued westward to Tongguan.

At this time, Zu Yue received an order and officially took up the post of prefect of Huainan.

(End of this chapter)