Frost for a Thousand Years

Chapter 125 Song Shi'an Returns from Freljord
The next day, thankfully, there was no snow.

Song Shi'an was also about to leave with Ran Jin and the others.

Before leaving, Zhu Qing and Qin Kuo, along with all their soldiers, went out of the city to see them off.

At the city gate, Song Shi'an, Zhu Qing, and Qin Kuo gathered together to give their final instructions.

"The powerful clans have been eliminated, and the traitors have all been wiped out," Song Shi'an said to Qin Kuo. "The land reclamation program after the start of spring must be fully implemented. If the land reclamation program in Shuo County is successful, it will be Your Highness's confidence in the court."

"Of course," Qin Kuo said with utmost seriousness. "Your Highness has promoted me from a mere military clerk to the governor of Shuojun. No matter how difficult or challenging it may be to cultivate the land, I will definitely use these hundreds of thousands of people to cultivate a million acres of fertile land."

Although half of Shuo County was lost, Nan Shuo County alone still had nearly 350,000 laborers and remained the largest county in Liangzhou. It could be said that half of the financial resources and manpower were invested in it. Once the military-agricultural settlement was successful, it would become a bridgehead for resisting Qi in the entire north.

"Well, it's up to you." Song Shi'an patted Qin Kuo's shoulder and apologized, "I'm sorry, brother. I had no choice but to fight you earlier."

In fact, Qin Kuo had always harbored a grudge in his heart.

He felt he had been good enough to Song Shi'an, but Song Shi'an did something so big without even consulting him.

To have three hundred cavalrymen draw their swords and scare him like that is just too damn humiliating.

But he already calls me brother, so what else is there to say...?

"Next time you want to do something, tell me first."

Qin Kuo punched Song Shi'an in the chest and said emotionally, "Even if I disagree in my heart, I will follow His Highness's decision."

Song Shi'an clenched his fists and bowed to him.

A jpg of all the hardships of yesterday.

“General Zhu, I’m returning to Sheng’an this time, and I don’t know how long it will be before I can go back,” Song Shi’an said. “But you’ve been in Shuofeng for at least five years.”

"Yes, I'll probably spend half my life here." Zhu Qing knew very well.

As long as Qi's influence remains, he will find it difficult to leave this place.

"Do you need any family members to accompany you?" Song Shi'an asked.

It's impossible for a general who guards a region to have his entire family on the border.

Firstly, cities are easily turned into the private property of generals.

Secondly, if the enemy attacks, they have no worries about their rear and can simply surrender with their entire family.

But since he was guarding the border and was a third-rank general, he still needed to be considerate of others. Therefore, he could send some of his family members to settle down there to ease their longing.

"The situation is still unstable," Zhu Qing said after thinking for a moment. "Once things settle down a bit here, if I need anything, I'll send a letter to Shi An and ask for your help."

"Yes, no problem." After finishing his private business, Song Shi'an lowered his voice and said, "Currently, there are about 10,000 soldiers capable of fighting in Shuofeng and the surrounding areas. Within three years, we must reorganize and expand them to 20,000 main force troops."

"It's possible, but the pretext needs to be convincing." Zhu Qing felt that it was time to stop treating the matter of nine generations of relatives as insignificant.

That's how military settlements were conducted—production was carried out while soldiers were recruited.

"Don't worry," Song Shi'an promised, "I will make sure to establish a good relationship with the court and send the 'permission to recruit soldiers' order as soon as possible. I won't make things difficult for you."

At present, it is necessary to build three camps on the south bank of the Chishui River as the first line of defense, fill Wulei as the second line of defense, and rebuild Shuofeng as the main base.

It is said that the main force should number 20,000, and the auxiliary troops should number at least 10,000.

With such an attractive policy as land reclamation, it wouldn't be a problem for the population here to grow from 350,000 to 400,000 within three years.

Only through land reclamation can 20,000 main force soldiers and 10,000 auxiliary soldiers be produced out of a total of 400,000 people, and be self-sufficient.

By not allowing any profit to the powerful families and avoiding all losses, the state can operate independently and protect the Great Yu.

Of course, if Ji Yuan were to lead 100,000 or even more than 100,000 men south again, the court would need to send generals to reinforce the troops and resist him.

Now, Nanshuo County has only one task—to maintain a balance of power with the State of Qi under normal circumstances.

"Okay, don't worry." Zhu Qing nodded.

Song Shi'an was about to leave, but after glancing at the Imperial Guards at the front of the army, he reminded them, "Don't mistreat the brothers of the Imperial Guards. Every one of them deserves to bask in glory."

"Okay, I understand."

“However,” Song Shi’an said solemnly, “we must not allow our children to become arrogant, bully the people, or dishonor our integrity. Even if they are brothers from Langya, they will not be exempt from death if they commit a capital crime. They will be killed if they deserve to be killed.”

It is not yet time for us to become corrupt and decadent.

Of course, Song Shi'an hoped they would never become corrupt.

Who wasn't an idealist when they were young?

The words "Kill if you should" made Xin Yue, who was standing to the side, realize that Song Shi'an was different from everyone else.

"clear."

Zhu Qing nodded again.

"I am leaving."

This time, Song Shi'an really said everything he wanted to say.

Then he turned around and mounted his horse.

The moment he looked back from his horse, thousands of soldiers below Shuofeng City, including Zhu Qing and Qin Kuo, all knelt on one knee, clenched their fists, and saluted him with solemn expressions.

A mighty and unyielding force, utterly loyal.

This scene made even Zhao Xiang, who was previously a high-ranking general, realize that the trend of the times was inevitable.

Even the supreme pride of nobles paled in comparison in this setting.

Thus, Song Shi'an and Xin Yue, along with Ran Jin, Zhao Xiang, Zheng Tong, some elite cavalry, and a dozen or so heads of powerful clans, all rode their horses toward Sheng'an.

There was no snow today, and everyone was a cavalryman, so they traveled a full hundred miles before finally arriving at an official post station at nightfall.

The officials at the post station personally received them and reserved the best room for Song Shi'an and Xin Yue.

Inside the room, Song Shi'an sat on the bed, and San Gou went to fetch hot water to bring him water to wash his feet.

He took off his socks and put his slightly cold feet into them, immediately showing a sense of comfort and ease.

This is what winter marches are all about; cracked skin on the feet without even realizing it is the norm.

Having gone through a major battle in the north, there is absolutely no coward among them.

This is why the northern nomadic peoples, despite having a much smaller population than the Central Plains dynasties, and despite their weaker economy, lower productivity, and inferior military, still threatened the Han dynasties for over a thousand years.

Because every Hu person grew up under such harsh conditions.

Every person is a wolf.

Ji Yuan may seem to wage war against the Great Yu, but in reality, for every attack on Great Yu, he also had to fight the Hu people three times over. In the north, his methods of slaughtering the Hu people were even more brutal.

At his most frustrating and annoying moment, he cooked three foreign kings in one year.

Song Shi'an was comfortably soaking his feet when Xin Yue walked in and handed him a hot steamed bun.

Song Shi'an opened his mouth and took a bite.

"..." Xin Yue, who was still holding the steamed bun in her hand and had turned to feeding Xiao Song, showed a complicated expression. "You hold it yourself."

"I'm soaking my feet, it's inconvenient."

"That's true... no, your hand isn't inconvenient."

"We've been found out, huh?"

Song Shi'an took the steamed bun and began to prepare the charcoal.

Three dogs, standing to the side, left the room with envy.

My dream is to live the life of my esteemed father!

“At this rate, the further south we go, the less snow there will be. Once there’s no more snow, I think we should be able to reach Sheng’an by the 25th,” Xin Yue said. “You said you wanted to take the imperial examination and become the top scholar, and you’re starting on March 20th. But by the time you get back, February will be over. Will you have enough time?”

"It's okay, it'll just be right when we register."

"Isn't this just registration? Don't you need to study for the imperial examination?" Most people Xin Yue had met had to study hard for years to prepare for the imperial examination.

But he didn't learn it at all.

Although there are two subjects: poetry and policy essays.

But shouldn't we all learn to quote classics and improve our writing skills?

In response, Song Shi'an said with great pride, "I'll show you how to be a top scorer in the exam without studying."

"You should take the exam with your clothes on."

After making a sarcastic remark, Xinyue prepared to leave.

Suddenly, San Gou came in and reported, "Zhao Xiang is here."

"Huh?" Song Shi'an knew he would come looking for him, but he didn't expect it to be so soon, so he said, "Then let him in."

Seeing this, Xin Yue was about to remind him that he was still soaking his feet. But the next moment, she understood: "And what about me? I'm right here?"

"It's okay, I'll stay here."

Song Shi'an said indifferently.

"Then, sir, I'll go and let him in."

San Gou immediately went to deliver the message.

After a while, Zhao Xiang came in.

The first thing I saw was him washing his feet.

I was about to show my displeasure, but I quickly held back.

There's nothing we can do... this guy has power and influence now.

"Oh, General Zhao has arrived. Please have a seat."

Song Shi'an quickly picked up a cloth, wiped his feet, put them in his shoes, and stood up to reach out.

"Young Master Song, you're too kind. I've been sitting on a horse for a while, so I'll stand for a bit," Zhao Xiang said with a smile, quite amiably.

"Alright." Song Shi'an didn't try to persuade him further and sat back down on the bed.

The two people were immediately distinguished as superior and subordinate.

In reality, the two are now in a superior-subordinate relationship.

County magistrate, common soldier.

"General Zhao, what brings you here?" Song Shi'an asked.

"I am no longer a general, Lord Song, you flatter me."

“This is only temporary. Your father, Lord Xun, is still in the court. With the backing of the Zhao family of Qinzhou, what does General Zhao have to worry about?” Song Shi’an flattered.

“But we really lost that battle too badly.” Zhao Xiang said with a heavy expression.

"Hiss...that's true."

Song Shi'an followed him, struggling with the same problem, as if he was also thinking hard.

"Lord Song, could His Highness plead with His Majesty on my behalf?" Zhao Xiang requested.

“But this has the suspicion of ‘winning over’ him, and His Highness’s position is hard to say,” Song Shi’an said hesitantly.

"Then, Lord Song, could you put in a good word for me?" Zhao Xiang asked again.

Song Shi'an was in a difficult position, but he gritted his teeth and said, "Then I'll think of a way."

"Xiang, thank you very much, Lord Song."

Zhao Xiang clenched her fists and spoke earnestly.

I'll do my best.

After saying that, Song Shi'an apologized, "When I asked His Highness to punish the general in front of the army earlier, it was only because I wanted to boost morale. I had no other intention. Please forgive me, General Zhao."

Upon hearing these words, Zhao Xiang's face froze.

But he still forced a polite smile and replied, "Lord Song, you needn't worry about it. It's all for the sake of defending the city, for the sake of the Great Yu."

"I am so grateful that the general thinks this way."

"Well then, Xiang will take her leave now."

Zhao Xiang turned and left.

With his back to Song Shi'an, he gritted his teeth and looked furious.

After he left, Xin Yue looked at Song Shi'an, whose face had also darkened, and asked, "Why did you deliberately humiliate him like that?"

"We fought tooth and nail to win this wealth, and he thinks he can just take it with a few words? If he wants to join, he has to be a dog."

Song Shi'an scorned Zhao, this good-for-nothing: "If you're not going to be a dog, then get lost."

(End of this chapter)