Chinese New Year

Chapter 483: Dispatching (Additional chapter to explain why the leader cannot change his name)
According to farming habits, there will be spring ploughing in the eighth year of Yongjia.

Those who are more diligent will start working at the end of the month.

Those who enjoy life a little more have started to get busy after the Spring Festival.

In early February, Shao Xun came to Xuchang Palace again.

If Jingfu Hall has become a mulberry forest and Jushi has become a vegetable garden, then Chengguang Hall where the Emperor of Wei held court is a farmland.

Shao Xun brought shogunate officials and generals to demonstrate spring plowing here.

Almost at the same time, various troops gathered in Xuchang and Xiangcheng one after another.

There were still more than 10,000 soldiers in Xuchang, and 5,000 of them were dispatched this time.

Compared with previous expeditions, this time is obviously much more positive.

Outside the city of Xuchang, there were crowds of people and a constant stream of carriages and horses.

The last group of people heading to Puyang are about to set off and are saying goodbye to their fellow villagers.

"Zhou Lu, your son - your son has become a soldier in the palace. You will live a good life in the future." An old man, leaning on a cane, looked at the middle-aged man who was about forty years old, and said with emotion.

"It's just like that, actually." The middle-aged man couldn't help but smile. He waved his hand and said modestly, "Isn't it the same as farming?"

"That's different." An old woman said, "Someone will help you plant the crops. They will only go to the fields during the busy farming season."

The middle-aged man smiled from ear to ear and said, "We are all common people, just common people."

"I heard you can become an official." The old man added, "If you become an official, you will be different from us."

"Zhou Lu, your son used to like my granddaughter very much and even watched her bathing. Why not let them get married? It will be a good thing."

"Zhou Lu, you and I have fought together, and we have a deep bond. How about my daughter becoming your son's bride?"

"Zhou Lu, do you want to buy a donkey? I have an extra one at home, and it's only five years old. When we go to war, we always need a pack animal to carry our armor and weapons."

"The Zhou family is going to be prosperous..."

The villagers were envious and jealous, which greatly satisfied the vanity of the families of the soldiers.

After arriving in Puyang, the family had 150 acres of land and someone helped to farm it. If they took good care of it, they could harvest at least 500 hu of grain in the autumn.

Well, although those lands were fertile fields before, they had been left fallow for several years, so the yield might not be that high, but three or four hundred hu of millet could still be harvested. A family of five would only eat sixty hu a year - well, now that I'm a soldier in the palace, I naturally can't eat sparingly like before, so one hundred hu will be fine, and the remaining grain will be enough to feed the three households with some left over.

In their spare time, they would ask their soldiers to cut grass on the public land and feed a few cows and sheep. During normal times, they would have milk, and during the New Year, they would slaughter one or two sheep so that they would have meat to eat.

There is some harvest from the vegetable plots and orchard in the garden, and some chickens and ducks are raised. This is truly the life of a "superior person".

For the sake of this family business, it is really worth risking one's life.

After the last group of soldiers' families left, the others also gradually dispersed, but the impact had just begun.

The 5,000 soldiers from Xuchang who followed Shao Xun south were in high spirits and their blood was boiling.

Although there may not be a war, it is outrageous that they actually look forward to it.

It seems that in this era of severe class stratification, when the opportunity for class advancement is presented, too many people are scrambling to get it.

According to gossip, in order to get the opportunity to go south with the army, the officers of the Xuchang hereditary soldiers competed openly and secretly, and even had private fights. Those who won the competition were very proud, and those who failed were not upset because they had already started to calculate when they could go to Heyang for a rotation, perhaps in March.

Upon hearing that the construction of Fangtou South City had been completed, the men in Sizhou were exhausted from both building and defending the city, and had begun to retreat back home for spring ploughing. They were replaced by 3,000 men recruited from Chenliu and 5,000 beggars.

The Heiliang Army was transferred out of the three cities of Heyang. The government soldiers who had been stationed there for more than half a year also had to withdraw. This was a perfect opportunity for the Xuchang hereditary soldiers to take over. This was their chance.

In order to make progress, you really have to seize every opportunity.

******
After the confinement period, Shao Xun was able to see his wife.

However, as we are heading south soon, there is not much time for tenderness.

After having breakfast together in the morning, we started to pack up.

Yu Wenjun's body had not yet recovered. After holding her daughter and kissing her again and again, she handed her to the wet nurse, and then directed the four concubines to help organize her clothes and daily necessities.

She was somewhat disappointed with these four people.

I have been pregnant for so long and my husband has been home for almost three months, but I have stayed in Le and Lu's rooms every night and have never touched any of the four people.

Yesterday, Mrs. Lu came to visit her, and they chatted about some gossip. At the end, Mrs. Lu vaguely mentioned that perhaps she could let the four concubines serve her husband.

Yu Wenjun was a little surprised and a little angry, as if Xunniang thought it was her who didn't allow it.

Well, she was really reluctant, but after suppressing the bitterness in her heart, she could still reluctantly accept the four sisters serving their husband, because this was destined when she got married.

Xun Niang actually had no choice.

Her husband stayed in her room and she got pregnant.

She had been the noble Princess of Fanyang in her first half of her life, and was now Madam Lu of the Shao family. If anything went wrong because of giving birth at an advanced age, she would be so miserable that she could not even cry, so she gave her advice in a tactful way.

Oh, it's really——

There were slow footsteps in the yard, and occasional conversations.

"Yuan Gui, the hotel is extremely important and cannot be neglected. It was not until last year that the iron armor of the Silver Spear Right Camp was fully equipped. The Black Spear Army has only two or three hundred leaders so far, and the six battalions of the Central Camp have less than a hundred sets of armor. The gap is huge, you have to pay more attention."

"As ordered."

"Forget it, just pretend I didn't say that."

"Ming Gong, what are you doing..."

"Don't rush things. Try your best to recruit craftsmen first, and then let them take in apprentices. You can take out some money and set a reward for taking in an apprentice, and a reward for taking in an apprentice early."

"Where will the money and food come from? The shogunate is really tight on funds..."

"Let me ask you, is the rebellion of Zhang Xiaoer and Li Mazi really as simple as it seems? The tribes of Runan were conscripted so many people and money and food, will they feel resentful? Think about it carefully, this is all your fault."

There was a long silence.

Yu Wenjun subconsciously tightened the hem of her skirt, her eyelashes trembled slightly, and she looked a little sad.

"The traitorous commander has a list. Burn it after you read it. Just keep it in mind. Some people may treat you as a brother on the surface, but how do they think of you behind your back? Do you really know? Some people laugh at you and call you a fool!" The tone of disappointment sounded again. There was another unspeakable silence.

Yu Wenjun felt sorry for her brother.

It turned out that the "good friends" who played and drank with him looked down on him behind his back. This would be unpleasant for anyone.

But Yu Wenjun was still a little angry.

My brother doesn't know how to judge people, he doesn't employ people well, and he has an impatient temper. He has caused such a big disaster for my husband. When will he change?

"I'll ask Wen Taizhen to come back and help me." Yu Liang's voice rang out.

"Okay, you have your friends, I don't care." Shao Xun said, "But Wen Qiao is in Jinyang, how can he come to Henan?"

"Liu Kun and Wang Jun have a grudge, but the Wen family of Taiyuan has no grudge against Wang Jun. We can borrow the floating sea to sail southwards."

"He is passionate and may not be willing to go south. You can decide. Let's talk about what happened just now. The remnants of Zhang and Li have all been demoted to miners. These people have fought in battles, seen blood, and killed people. How to control them is quite difficult. You - take care of yourself."

"Yes."

The two stopped talking and footsteps came towards the door.

Yu Wenjun quickly stood up to greet him.

After the door opened, only Shao Xun was seen, and Yu Liang had already left.

"Husband." Yu Wenjun reminded herself to be more dignified, but she couldn't help herself. She hugged Shao Xun's waist and put her face in his arms.

"You're already a mother, but you're still so childish." Shao Xun laughed.

In fact, he also benefited a lot from it.

Among so many women, is there any one who can't wait to throw himself into his arms as soon as he sees him?

Cherish this time. In a few years, Yu Wenjun may not do this again. This is a passionate emotion unique to young girls, not the carnal desire between him and mature women.

Yu Wenjun slowly loosened her grip on his waist, took his hand and sat down.

"You prepared so many clothes?" Shao Xun glanced at the purple, red, and blue robes and said in surprise, "You won't be gone for long."

Yu Wenjun tried to speak in a calm and generous tone, "Just bring a few more sets of clothes so you can change them. Your personal soldiers are all strong and powerful, but they don't know how to wash their clothes. Every time they go out to fight, their clothes are covered with stains. They don't look like a county duke or a governor."

"I just like the serious look you pretend to be." Shao Xun pinched her nose and said with a smile.

Yu Wenjun immediately broke down and leaned into his arms again. After giggling for a while, she said softly, "My husband, just go and take care of the important things. Next month, I will gather all the women from the families for an outing. Do we need to transplant the mulberry seedlings this year? Last year, we planted a lot of mulberry seeds in Jingfu Garden. This year, they have sprouted, so it's a good time to transplant them."

"You are such a good wife." Shao Xun said with a smile, "Alright, if there are 200,000 mu of mulberry forest in the four counties this year, I will be satisfied."

"Two hundred thousand mu of mulberry forest can produce more than one hundred thousand rolls of silk, right?" Yu Wenjun asked, blinking her eyes.

"I asked Yuan Gui about this question, but he didn't know." Shao Xun said with emotion: "Two hundred thousand mu of mulberry forest can produce at least 100,000 pieces of silk. If it is good, it can produce 130,000 pieces of silk. But the newly planted mulberry forest may not produce so many pieces."

Silk is money, and mulberry forest is the money printing machine.

With silk, one can not only use it to give rewards, but also to trade with other places.

For example, the Hu people who sold horses liked to receive silk, even more than gold and silver, because they might not be able to sell the latter, but silk could be resold to merchants farther away, which meant making a profit twice.

Last year, he bought horses. The cost of a Liangzhou horse, converted into silk, was no less than thirty horses, while the cost of a Qinzhou horse was less than twenty horses.

If the two thousand Liangzhou horses were all purchased with silk, it would require 60,000 to 70,000 pieces of silk. If the tax was collected normally, it would require the support of 40,000 households.

This does not take into account the loss and expenses along the way. In fact, the cost is very high. A conservative estimate is that 100,000 pieces of silk were spent.

Gold and silver utensils are inventory and disposable items. They cannot be replenished in a short period of time after being used up. However, silk and silk are available every year and are in endless supply.

Ironware, grain, silk, and horses are the most important strategic materials in troubled times. It cannot be overemphasized.

"I understand. What else do you want to plant?" Yu Wenjun asked, looking up.

"There are so many things to plant." Shao Xun said, "But there is no rush, take your time. After you give birth to the baby, it is important to take care of your health. We still have a lifetime to live."

"Yeah." Yu Wenjun lowered her head, her heart filled with joy. She even began to count on her fingers when her husband would come back so that she could give him another child.

On February 15th, Shao Xun bid farewell to his family and led his army to Nanyang.

At the beginning of the new year, various departments began to mobilize.

He Lun's 5,000 troops were stationed in the north city of Fangtou, and they remained there permanently.

The 7,000 Dingzhuang troops from Sizhou in the southern city of Fangtou were withdrawn one after another, and they were replaced by Dingzhuang troops from Chenliu and the Qihuo Army.

The construction of South City is in the final stage, and the 8,000 people transferred there later are not only responsible for building the city, but also for defense.

One thousand five hundred cavalrymen from Yicong's army were stationed in the northern city of Fangtou, and another unit of the army for capturing people was stationed there.

In the direction of Heyang North City, the Heiliang Army has reached Xiangcheng.

Five thousand hereditary soldiers from Xuchang were mobilized to the northern city of Heyang, and six thousand government soldiers and their followers were disbanded and returned.

Buildings 21-26 of the Silver Spear Army continued to head to Zhongyu City for training.

Three thousand able-bodied men from Heyang were recruited to garrison the southern city.

He dispatched 1,500 cavalrymen from Yicong's army to station in the northern city of Heyang, and increased his efforts to capture the living troops and harass Henei.

In spring, not only the people in the Central Plains suffered from a shortage of food, but the herdsmen did as well.

After a whole cold winter, the livestock lost a lot of weight and the hay was almost consumed, which was very difficult. In addition, the livestock went into estrus in the spring, and there were newborn lambs, calves, and foals to take care of, which was a lot of things.

I told you to be busy! I will send people to harass you now to make you even busier!

On the 15th day, more than 400 personal soldiers escorted Shao Xun and Le Lanji south, accompanied by 5,000 Xuchang hereditary soldiers and 2,000 Yicong soldiers.

After arriving at Xiangcheng, they joined forces with 3,000 Black Lancers, 6,000 Silver Spear Left Camp, and 5,000 Xiangcheng men, and marched straight down to Nanyang.

After they left, there were only less than two thousand hereditary soldiers and one thousand Yicong light cavalry left in Xuchang.

Liu Shan has begun recruiting a new batch of 5,000 soldiers. No one was willing to serve before, but now the situation has changed a lot.

(End of this chapter)