The Soldier of the Red Mansion

Chapter 173 Idea
The morning mist had not yet dissipated, but dots of purple alfalfa were already floating on the plain outside Guangwu City.

The horses are scattered with spots of varying shades, which gives the impression of seeing cattle and sheep on the grass in the wind. The difference is that there are more mountains and rivers here, and there are also horses grazing on the hillsides that are not so steep.

"Bahhhhh."

A group of riders came here, carrying a flag different from that of other places. When the soldiers of Guangwu City saw it, they hurried to tell the garrison commander.

When Wang Xin saw horses eating grass along the way, he couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth.

This place is located less than ten miles away from Yanmen Pass. It is a rare piece of flat land in the mountainous and hilly area. Therefore, the military significance of this place was discovered very early. During the Han Dynasty, counties and prefectures were established here, and troops were stationed to guard it.

During the pre-Ming Dynasty, the Hongwu Dynasty built a new Guangwu City and established Guangwu Camp, which became the frontier of Yanmen Pass. The two cities depended on each other and supported each other, and also opened up strategic depth for Yanmen Pass.

Guangwu City was built along the mountain, half on the plain and half on the hillside. A section of the Guangwu Great Wall was also built along Guangwu City. Due to the importance of this place and Yanmen Pass, the old Great Wall at both locations has been preserved.

Because of the protection of these two sections of the Great Wall, the 600 war horses captured and collected from outside the Great Wall were used to supplement more than a dozen cavalrymen, and one horse was allocated to each outpost to facilitate daily communication and messaging. About 500 horses remained in Guangwu City.

Although the grass growing in the plains around Guangwu City is not enough for 500 horses to eat, there are other horse grasses and fodders available. Combined with this green grass, and occasionally added with concentrated feed such as soybeans, it has only been a few days and the horses have maintained good spirits.

"Are these people still obedient?"

Zhuo Zhi arrived with his men. Upon hearing the general's question, he smiled and said, "Most people are quite obedient. A few troublemakers are not a problem."

Wang Xin nodded.

How to accommodate two or three hundred cavalry captives and nearly three hundred grassland slaves was a big problem.

In addition to hundreds of sets of iron armor, the most valuable spoils of war on this trip were six hundred horses. Each of these horses could be sold for more than ten taels of silver, worth several thousand taels of silver, and they were in high demand. It was not easy to get so many good grassland horses at once.

It takes time to breed a horse. The trade outside the Great Wall is stable but fragile. If someone buys 600 horses in a short period of time, at least at the Datong checkpoint, the price of horses outside the Great Wall will be driven up to the sky.

The Hexi Camp has limited manpower, and taking care of so many horses will delay the army's combat effectiveness in a short period of time. Therefore, these hundreds of grassland slaves exist, not only to teach the Chanyu tribe a lesson.

Most of the grassland slaves provided by the Chanyu tribe were old and young who were paid as tribute.

Wang Xin did not care about this matter. He had his own considerations. These grassland slaves, most of whom were old or young, were actually not a big problem. They were slaves anywhere. Moreover, after they arrived inside the Great Wall, they were unfamiliar with the place and could not speak the language, so they could not run away.

Let them herd the horses and have food to eat every day. It is their forte and they work honestly.

One hundred Hu people were selected and assigned to Zhuo Zhi. They cleaned the stables, harvested horse grass, and did some other odd jobs every day. With Zhuo Zhi in charge of the rear camp, Guangwu City became the city with the largest number of troops in the area.

"Tell them." Wang Xin pointed to the grassland slaves sitting on the hilltop, staring at their horses, and said with a smile, "Work them for five years, and then you'll give them freedom. If they perform well, they can even join the army."

Zhuo Zhi shook his head. "If they leave us, I'm afraid they won't even have a place to eat. Why bother with this, General?"

There are many cheap laborers in the Great Zhou, and they all lack work, not to mention these Hu people who can't even understand what they are saying.

"You can't keep it forever."

"what?"

Zhuo Zhi didn't react and his face was stunned for a moment.

The use of slaves in the military is like a stimulant with poison. The advantages and disadvantages are obvious. However, in the economy, the use of slaves is undoubtedly inefficient and cannot complete a virtuous economic cycle.

Using slaves for production will only lead to a vicious cycle of the economy, which will eventually shrink to self-collapse.

Therefore, Wang Xin did not plan to use slaves, but he was short of money. He had a few hundred more horses and planned to expand the army. In fact, he was already spending more than he earned. Playing with firearms and cavalry was really expensive, so he took emergency measures.

In the short term, captives will be used to maintain the situation. Once things stabilize, these slaves will of course be eliminated.

Soldiers get paid, grooms get wages, and when they have money they buy a house, and when they buy a house they start a family, and when they start a family they buy furniture and clothes, and then they have children, and when they have children they buy toys.
As a result, more and more minerals, wood and other energy and materials were needed, so more and more small workshops were built, but they still could not meet the demand, so factories were born.
This is the virtuous cycle of the economy, and society will continue to progress.

on the contrary.

Even with external blood transfusions, the internal organs will become increasingly withered.

However, just like myself, there will always be difficulties.

Therefore, using slaves for emergency situations is the norm. Wang Xin believes that he can control his desires, and after getting through the difficult period, he will definitely stop using slaves.

Only by doing the right thing can you avoid being eliminated.

How could Zhuo Zhi understand all this? Although he guessed the general's thoughts, he found it difficult to understand. However, Zhuo Zhi was too lazy to think about it. Everyone knew that the general's thoughts were wild and unconventional, and no one could keep up with them.

As they spoke, everyone entered the city.

Guangwu City has three gates on the east, south and west sides, with round arch doorways. The east gate is the largest, the west gate is the second largest, and the south gate is the smallest.

There is an East-West Street in the city, running through the east and west gates. To the northwest is a small T-shaped street. There are four streets and eight alleys in the city, making it a typical military city.

"You are the captain now. I will find an opportunity to recommend you to the court as a garrison commander, and you will be stationed in this city." Wang Xin walked into the hall, sat at the upper seat, and spoke directly.

Zhuo Zhi quickly asked, "General, do you no longer need me to manage the rear camp?"

"The army may change but the camp remains the same. If you old guys don't go out, how are you going to promote the people below you?" Wang Xin disagreed and was not worried that Zhuo Zhi would misunderstand him.

Zhuo Zhi's face was indeed calm, though he was a little reluctant to leave. He complained, "I've only been here for less than two years."

"Long enough."

There are many things that need to be done after returning, in addition to food and fodder, there is also the actual control of Yanmen Pass. One must replace his own people in various places to create the most stable territory.

Sending out the old soldiers in the army and training new ones at the same time is the long-term solution.

There are two thousand soldiers in the Hexi Camp, and the local garrison of Yanmen Pass now has more than five hundred people. Several hundred people have been recruited from Daizhou. The population of Daizhou is limited and cannot satisfy the appetite of Yanmen Pass.

There are 3,000 people in the Hexi Camp and 1,000 local garrisons in Yanmen Pass, so there is still a shortage of 1,500 people. Where can we recruit them?

The main purpose was to expand the Hexi Camp by one thousand soldiers, and Wang Xin planned to mainly supplement the cavalry.

If there were enough cavalry going out of the pass this time, it would not just be a battle of defeat. Instead, they would be very passive all the way, relying entirely on the crushing of weapons and equipment. Cavalry is the key in the north, and Wang Xin would rather fight a battle of annihilation.

"The horses will be left with you and trained as soon as possible." After Wang Xin finished inspecting Guangwu City, he was about to return to Guancheng.

Zhuo Zhi was very good at logistics and said with a smile, "The slaves are very familiar with the horses. The general's request shouldn't be a problem for us here. We should arrange for riders as soon as possible. Riders need to be familiar with their horses to achieve the best results."

"Well, you're right."

Wang Xin nodded and left with his personal guards.

I also want riders, but riders are easy to find. It takes time to train them. The better the rider, the longer it takes. They are technically skilled. Taiyuan City.

The Office of the Governor-General of Shanxi.

Initially, the governor was not in charge of military power. His main responsibility was to inspect and rectify the administration of officials and investigate and punish corrupt officials.

During the reign of the retired emperor, he used civil power to control the military, elevated the status of the governor to a level higher than the highest local official, and participated in military affairs. Although he did not directly control military power, he had a great influence on the army. He also controlled local militia and local soldiers on the grounds of suppressing bandits and maintaining local stability.

A dozen local soldiers dressed in cloth clothes and holding swords were guarding the gate of the yamen in a majestic manner. There was no one idle at the gate.

The two officials hurried in and arrived at a side room next to the main hall. Behind the desk sat an old man in his early fifties with a stern face. Before the two of them sat down, he asked, "How is it?"

A senior official spoke first, "Your Excellency, I have found out that it was the Zheng family of Daizhou who was the one who was collecting food and fodder for General Wang at Yanmen Pass."

The shorter official was a step slower and could only watch helplessly as his colleagues performed.

"Does he want to fight Fatty Feng again?" The old man looked surprised.

The food and wages for Yanmen Pass are supplied by Shanxi, and the military pay is supplied by the Ministry of War. The old man does not intend to withhold the food and wages for Yanmen Pass, but he does not intend to give it all. There are rules for how much to give, and he will do things according to the rules.

However, the summer harvest has not yet begun, so it is not time to supply food and money to Yanmen Pass.

As for Daizhou, the old man had heard about some of the things happening between Daizhou and Yanmen Pass, but he didn't try to stop them. But now that he has taken action and doesn't allow Daizhou to save itself, his temperament has changed, and public affairs have turned into personal vendettas.

"We, the subordinates, do not know what this person's next plan is. However, he is acting arbitrarily in Yanmen Pass, promoting his cronies and suppressing dissidents. He is not a good person."

The short official finally got the chance and spoke his mind first.

The tall man, unwilling to be outdone, also said, "This man is much younger than Feng Jiedu. If this man replaces Feng Jiedu, I'm afraid Datong will not only be in turmoil, but will also be ruled by the Wang family for decades to come."

You can’t control what happens decades later.

The old man thought about it and came up with an idea, "We won't stop Daizhou from collecting grain from all over, but we'll limit it to the Wutai Mountain area and not go beyond Xinzhou."

The counties and prefectures in the Wutai Mountain area are enough to supply Yanmen Pass, but they cannot be allowed to purchase it at will, which will threaten the grain reserves on the market in Shanxi. If there is too little, the grain price will rise. If some merchants have ulterior motives and deliberately speculate on grain prices for profit, causing panic in Shanxi, they will have to take the blame.

He would not interfere in the affairs between Wang Xin and Feng Yong, but no one could affect his future.

But if Wang Xin really tripped Feng Yong, how should he face him?

The governor of Shanxi frowned and had to ask his colleagues in the capital for help to find out about this person's relationships. He only knew that his surname was Wang and that he had some relationship with Wang Ziteng, but that was too little to know.

Beijing.

Rongguo Mansion.

"Snapped."

Jia She slapped Jia Lian in the face, and he took two steps back, covering his face and not daring to say a word.

Jia She angrily accused Jia Lian: "I asked you to be in charge, but you are so good. You move the money from the mansion to your own home. It would be fine if you did that on normal days, but now you even dare to delay the affairs of Ping'an Prefecture. You are a sinner."

Unable to vent his anger, Jia She cursed: "If you are an evil creature, you should tell me as soon as possible so that I can beat you to death, so that you won't ruin this family and be ashamed to face our ancestors in the future."

How could Jia Lian dare to refute?

Because the promotion of several military officers in Ping'an Town required money to arrange, it was originally none of the Jia family's business, but who asked the Jia family to win over Ping'an Town?

The big talk was said, but the relationship was not strong enough and money was needed to make up for it.

Wang Ziteng is no match for him. Jia She is the eldest son of the Rongguo Mansion and has inherited the title of first-class general, so he must come out to support him. Moreover, Jia She has long disliked Wang Ziteng and has treated him coldly over the years.

Not only do you win over people, but you also have to give money to those below you to help them get promoted. What kind of logic is this?

It’s all Wang Ziteng’s fault.

He was a complete villain. Not only did he harm himself, but he also defeated the governor of the Jia family, so that today he had to pay for others. Thinking of this, Jia She became even angrier.

"You can't even take care of your wife, what else can I expect from you! If I were you, I would find a place to drown myself to avoid being embarrassed."

Jia Lian was scolded so harshly that he could no longer hold back his tears and said, "It was the master who told me not to offend my wife before, and now the master is blaming me for not being able to control my wife."

"How dare you quibble!"

Jia She was so angry that he stepped forward and attacked, cursing: "I told you, you messed up other things, and I let you go. Who made me give birth to you? But I didn't handle the Ping'an Town thing well, so you try it now."

The affairs of Ping'an Town do not necessarily have to be handled by Jia Lian.

Jia She didn't want to make a fuss, not to mention paying for it himself, which was really embarrassing, so he didn't want to go even if Jia Lian was asked to go.

Jia Lian had no money. Last year, the tributes sent from all over the country decreased and were not enough to cover expenses. This year was even less of a problem. Since the beginning of the year, he had only spent money and not earned anything.

Lin Ruhai left the salt road again. When Lin Ruhai was in the salt road before, not only the Xue family benefited from it, but the Jia family also received a lot of supplies. Now all that is gone.

Jia Lian had no choice. If he didn't go, his father would really beat him to death. So he asked tentatively, "I'm afraid if I do something too harsh at home, my wife will go and complain about me."

Jia She gave him a disdainful look and asked, "Who are you suing? Who are you going to sue again?"

Jia Lian had an idea in his mind. The only rich person in the mansion now was Wang Xifeng. As for the old lady, she had many rare treasures but not much silver, and he couldn't pawn them.

I have to support someone outside and I am short of money. Although that woman is usually delicate, she is very serious when it comes to asking for things. She lets me do whatever I want in other aspects, just like water, but she must be willing to pay me when it comes to money.

I have no face for it. How can a man survive without money?

Her money, whether it was her own or not, was all from the mansion. Not only could she do the things the master asked her to do, but she could also make a fortune by getting involved.

Although he resented his father, he also knew that the matter of Ping'an Town concerned the mansion. He was the eldest grandson of the Rongguo Mansion, so he had to get things done even for his own sake. Moreover, if he messed up, the master would never forgive him.

After thinking all this through, he felt secretly happy. Wang Xifeng usually looked down on him, but now he wanted to let her see who was the master of the family.

Why should I hide outside and support others?
Seeing that his son had made up his mind, Jia She no longer forced him and threw everything to his son, including how to get money and how to go to Ping'an Town. He only looked at the results.

After going out, he felt relaxed and had nothing important to do. Jia She thought of the maid Yuanyang who was by the old lady's side.

This girl is pretty and has grown up now. Thinking about it, Jia She couldn't help but go to the old lady.

(End of this chapter)