Chapter 1127: Visiting Relatives

Chapter 1127: Visiting Relatives

Chapter 1127: Visiting Relatives (Part )

A row of ten ships stopped in Huihu Lake on the opposite side of Caizhou Island.

Huihu Lake was the land of the Yang family, a noble family in Jingzhou, and is divided into Shanghui and Xiahui.

His family business was severely damaged during the siege, the able-bodied men were either conscripted or fled, and his houses were even demolished to build military camps.

After the war, because of Yang Tan's contribution in persuading the enemy to surrender, Shao Xun allocated a piece of land in Shicheng County, Jingling. Although it was a bit barren and needed to be cleared, the conscripted men were returned, and Yang Tan was appointed as the prefect of Chen County and his brother Yang You as the chief clerk of the Jiangling Shogunate.

However, the fields and houses in Shanghui and Xiahui, along with the lakes and forests, were tacitly taken away.

This month, the court established Huihu Longxiang Prefecture here, which almost included all the land of the Yang family and the land and houses of two small local tyrants nearby. Only Huihu and a small piece of land nearby were given up to be used as Xiangyang Market because of its convenient transportation.

Huihu Longxiang Prefecture is the fourth military prefecture in Jingzhou. In addition to the Xianshan Longxiang Prefecture and Zhongwu Longxiang Prefecture (Yiyang County) which have been established for a long time, Lixiang Longxiang Prefecture was also established in Sui County last month.

The new 2,400 soldiers were mainly from the imperial guards and the children of Chenliu soldiers. In addition, a small number of tribal warriors skilled in archery and horse riding were recruited from Anding, Lueyang, Nangan and other counties in Guanzhong.

In the north, Hengshan Longxiang Prefecture was established in Yanmen County, Qiyi Longxiang Prefecture was established in Dai County, and Banquan Longxiang Prefecture was established in Guangning County.

The required 3,600 palace soldiers will come from the children of Zuo Feilong’s guards. This is to help them solve the long-standing problem of having more offspring and to extend the lifespan of the palace soldiers as much as possible.

Judging from the location, it is not a good place. If these sons of government soldiers are asked to work as farmers there, they probably will not be willing to do so. But if they are asked to work as government soldiers, it will become attractive immediately.

They all grew up in the families of the imperial soldiers, how could they not know the hardships of the troops? There was no need to urge them, they just went there directly. As for the environment, it was not insurmountable compared to the benefits of being an imperial soldier.

After the establishment of these five Longxiong Prefectures, this year's resettlement was over, because there was no money left, and only these 6,000 people could be resettled. If they wanted to set up new ones, they would have to ask the nobles for money, but considering that they would have to ask them for money to attack Chengguo, they decided to give up.

At this point, the total number of soldiers in the country had reached 90,000.

Of course, these 90,000 soldiers are divided into different levels in terms of financial resources and combat effectiveness. It is impossible for them to be all the same.

Among them were both heavy-armored infantry and light infantry who had no money to buy iron armor;
There are both infantry such as the Left and Right Flying Dragon Guards who rely on horses or even mules for mobility, and professional cavalry such as the Left and Right Cavalry Guards who mainly fight on horseback.

Even the left and right cavalry guards are different from each other.

Some people are wealthy and find ways to buy themselves iron armor and tall horses, and ask someone to make a thick and long lance. The amount of iron used in their lance blade alone is several times that of the iron used in your lance tip. How can you compare?
When people pick up your light lance, they sneer and say it's for my child to use. My lance is as thick as a small tree trunk. Can you lift it?
In addition, there are also people in the left and right cavalry guards who are accustomed to riding and shooting, and like to use bows and arrows to kill the enemies, or those who are of Jiehu origin who use swords and shields, and so on.

It looked very messy, but there was no way around it, this was the government soldiers. The training and equipment costs that should have been borne by the court were all transferred to the lower level, and they had to buy everything themselves, so it was impossible not to be messy, and they could only train separately during the collective drill every year.

The ten ships that Shao Xu saw at this time were coming from Nanyang. Most of them were loaded with various daily necessities, and a few were full of people.

There was nothing noteworthy about the supplies, but the people were more interesting, as they were almost all young.

Some are single, some are married, and some are families with children, but the children are not very old and are still in their mothers' arms.

Looking at the attire of those young palace soldiers, their carry-on luggage was very small, and they hardly brought any valuables, which showed that they were extremely poor. Or perhaps their brothers had already gotten married, and their parents did not want to give them too much money or valuables.

However, almost everyone has an instrument, which is a rare sight.

Most of them were armed with mulberry wood bows or swords and spears, and some were wearing deerskin armor. Last autumn and winter, the emperor took the government soldiers who had been on duty to hunt deer in the Western Garden, and gave away most of the fur, tendons, and meat to increase the income of the government soldiers. It seems that the money was spent here.

In fact, although Xiangyang, Jiangxia, and Nanjun are hot and humid, there are actually a large number of deer in the local area. Shao Xu did not know this until he arrived here. He had always thought that deer only grew in relatively cold places.

However, my father said that in the past, the Eastern Wu generals Wei Wen and Zhuge Zhi led 10,000 soldiers and naval officers to Yizhou (Taiwan), plundered thousands of people and returned. There were a large number of "water deer" on the island of Yizhou, that is, wild deer living on the waterside, which could be used to make boots, clothes and leather armor.

He was skeptical before, but now he is completely convinced, because he saw it with his own eyes - there were already wealthy families from the south hunting wild deer in Yunmengze.

"If there are not enough places to live, lend the newly built shops in the market town to the soldiers for temporary residence, especially those who have wives and children with them." Shao Xu called his servant Li Yong, and after giving the instructions, he boarded a boat, surrounded by guards, and went to Caizhou Island on the opposite bank.

******
"Sister, are you enjoying yourself on the island and don't want to leave?" Shao Xu was talking about a joke that happened not many years ago while looking around the Cai family's old house.

"I'll move out when the house in Xiangyang City is finished." Fu Bao leaned on the couch, flipping through the account book, and said casually, "After all, this is not my home."

Shao Xu nodded and asked, "When will my sister return to Xuchang?"

"I was going to leave, but now I'm delayed." Fu Bao put down the account book and asked with a smile, "Can my third brother introduce some skilled craftsmen to my sister?"

Shao Xu smiled bitterly and said, "Sister, the craftsmen I have are all from the Shaofu..."

"Sister, there are some smart young men in Tangmu County. How about letting them learn from the craftsmen of the Shaofu?" Fu Bao sat up straight suddenly and said.

"Sister, please be careful." Shao Xu said quickly.

Fu Bao was already pregnant, and the reason she didn't leave was because of this matter. Huan Wen was worried, and her father also told her to stop making trouble and spend the New Year in Xiangyang this year.

"If you don't agree, my sister will be unhappy." Fu Bao changed his expression and said, "The family is going to have a baby soon, and the expenses are very high. You, as an uncle, can't just sit there and watch." Shao Xu was a little overwhelmed. The eldest sister was begging him because she was sure that he would not refuse.

After a moment, he said helplessly: "Yes."

Fu Bao immediately smiled and said, "These apprentices can help out and don't ask for wages, so the Shaofu can make a profit. Don't worry, Sister will give some money to each of the craftsmen, and won't let them teach in vain."

"Could it be that you can't sell the goods and are therefore throwing them away?" Shao Xu asked.

Fu Bao covered his mouth and laughed.

Shao Xu knew this was the case, and thought to himself that he would have to pay extra money to help his sister take care of everything. He then asked, "What does the apprentice want to learn? Carpentry? Bricklaying? Making pens or ink?"

"Papermaking." Fu Bao said, "I have my eyes on a piece of land in Jingling County and plan to build a manor. I will make paper and weave cloth in the future."

"Where is Jingling?" Shao Xu asked curiously.

"It's near the ancient city of Yundu." Fu Bao said.

The ancient city of Yundu is the former county seat of Yundu County.

During the reign of Emperor Hui of Jin, Xinyang County was established in the northern part of Yundu County, and the county seat was located in the old city of Yundu. The southern part of Yundu County remained Yundu County, and the county seat was also moved there.

During the Liang Dynasty, Xinyang County, because of its small population, was merged with Yundu and governed by Yundu County.

Yundu County, together with Shicheng County and Jingling County, were the three counties under the jurisdiction of Jingling County in the Liang Dynasty.

"Why did you think of papermaking and weaving?" Shao Xu asked again.

"Too many people are needed to open up the wasteland." Fu Bao pointed to the account book and said, "It will take another three or four years before we can see any income. A flood will come and destroy all the work we have done over the years. I have a small family and cannot afford such a hardship."

It’s not that Fu Bao is crying poor. She has a lot of cash, but she only has 300 yuan as a farmer and they are far away in Xuchang. How many people can she mobilize?
When it comes to land reclamation, the more people the better, because it involves large projects such as building dams and cofferdams, and it cannot be done with fewer people. The three hundred farmers should rest as soon as possible.

But if you set up a workshop, you will need much fewer people, and you can see the return of money at the fastest speed. For a money-grubber like Fu Bao, it is really the best.

"Sister, you are really smart." Shao Xu said with emotion.

Fu Bao smiled like a fox and said, "Yuanzi wrote back half a month ago that he had captured and killed dozens of bandits in Yangkou, including a wanted thief from Xiangyang, Jingling, and Jiangxia counties. Isn't this helping you? With fewer bandits, merchants will dare to come and do business. Next year, the Xiangyang Market will be officially opened. You should reserve the most conspicuous shop for my sister."

"Sister, you..." Shao Xu was speechless when he heard it.

"When we went hunting in Shanglin Garden when we were young, I gave you two rabbits. Otherwise, you would have been scolded by grandpa..." Fu Bao said dissatisfiedly.

Shao Xu's face suddenly turned red, and he even wanted to say goodbye and leave.

"The young lady from the Shen family will be here in a few days, right? Sister will take her to Caizhou for a tour and tell her some interesting stories." Fu Bao threatened.

"I promise you." Shao Xu immediately stood up, thought for a moment, and said, "The city rent is three hundred coins a month, and it must not be less."

This was his last bit of stubbornness.

Fu Bao smiled wickedly and said, "Okay. How can Sister treat you badly?"

After that, he flipped through a pile of messy papers on the table, pulled out a piece of paper, and said, "I received a letter this morning. Yuanzi saw a merchant ship from the State of Jin coming from Baling in Huarong a few days ago. Among them were the children of the Shen family. They will return with the ship in a few days."

Shao Xu stopped walking after hearing this and asked, "Really?"

He is now responsible for pacifying the children of the Shen family. If there is any result, it will be a great achievement.

"Can my sister really lie to you?" Fu Bao rolled her eyes at him.

Shao Xu was relieved and his face looked much better. He smiled and said, "Huan Yuanzi is often away from home. Whenever he arrives at a place, someone will invite him to a banquet. Is my sister so relieved?"

Fu Bao chuckled, pointed to the sheathed dagger on the corner of the table, and said, "The Prince Consort is not interested in other women."

Shao Xu really didn't know what to say.

No wonder some people don't want to marry a princess. Of course, it depends on the person. Didn't Wang Dun have dozens of concubines in the Jin Dynasty?
With the Wang family of Langya, even the princess of the royal family could not say anything. As for the Huan family of Longkang, they probably wouldn't dare to do so, unless Huan Yuanzi could become an important official in the court or even a general in the government, then there might be some possibility, but Shao Xu doubted whether his elder sister would pick up a knife to chop him.

"As soon as the Shen family members arrived, my sister sent someone to tell me that I was in Huihu." Shao Xu bowed and said goodbye.

(End of this chapter)