Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 129 A Model of the Harem
In Tongzhou, the Arctic Army holds its monthly court assembly.

Beiji Wu sat on the highest seat, while about a hundred people sat in the hall below.

Arrange ten rows of long tables and chairs, each with ten seats. One hundred people are enough for each meeting; too many are not very useful.

Beijiwu asked, "It's already October. According to the agreement with Wenchao, the people there should have all left after the autumn harvest. How many people are still there?"

There is a designated person in charge of each matter, and a designated person to answer questions.

Sang Yang'an replied, "Your Majesty, there are still more than two million people in the eastern region, mainly in Youzhou and Qingzhou."

Beijiwu nodded. The number was less than expected, probably because the Khitans withdrew and took a large number of people with them.

"The east will be divided into five states: Youzhou in the upper part, Jizhou in the middle, and Mingzhou Damingfu in the south. The area to the west of Qizhou will be under the jurisdiction of Qizhou. The area east of Qingzhou will be governed by a thousand households for salt, tea, gold and silver, but Qingzhou will still be the main governing body."

"Youzhou, Jizhou, Mingzhou, Qizhou, Qingzhou"

"Wang Daoji and Li Yuanrang, although you two did nothing after surrendering, we will definitely need your help in future battles. We hereby confer upon you the titles of Duke of Zhao and Duke of Qi, with your fiefdoms located between the southern part of Daming Prefecture in Wei Commandery and Qi Prefecture. Each of you will be granted 500,000 mu of land and 10,000 military households, and may establish residences, government offices, and castles for your own purposes."

The two exclaimed excitedly, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Everyone else looked at the two with envy. There weren't many households with ten thousand households in the Mountain Farming Kingdom; most were households with a thousand households.

However, these two were the eldest sons of the Dukes of Wen Dynasty, and since both Dukes surrendered together, it wouldn't be unreasonable to grant them the title of Duke.

Beijiwu continued, "The original Dukes of Yan and Wei can retain their titles and govern Anyang and Puyang, with a total of 500,000 mu of land in the county seat. The county seat and land can be self-governed, and they can set up their own government offices to handle the affairs of military households and farmers within their territory, but they cannot encroach on other people's land, otherwise the military households will be fined!"

The two hurriedly replied, "Yes, Your Majesty!"

One person owns 500,000 mu of land, and one family owns 1 million mu. Moreover, one can establish one's own county and become the county magistrate, or build one's own palace and government office.

Of course, taxes had to be paid, one-tenth of which was grain tax. They also contributed manpower during wartime, but the rest was ignored.

Beijiwu said to the two men, "You two can go and claim the land first. In order to prevent disturbing the people, the four plots should be connected into one piece. It should be a '田' shaped area with a side length of 36,500 meters and a length and width of 72 li. First, determine the location and make a map for me to see. Then we can start construction."

"Yes!" Neither of them expected the place to be so big.

Beijiwu then said to the others, "This year we fought a battle with the Khitans in the border region, and there haven't been any other difficult things. The soldiers who made contributions with me that time will be given an additional 200 households and 10,000 mu of additional land. Let's also include Yang Xiangyun, who guarded the city. They can enclose land in the northeast of Youzhou."

"Farmland should be the primary focus, and excessive occupation should be avoided."

Xue Chonghu, Meng He, and the others immediately replied, "Yes, Your Majesty!"

The Northern Army continued to bestow titles upon meritorious officials, sending those who fought to guard the frontier and providing them with land to support their own troops.

The civil officials were given only a small reward, as they were all surrendered people who had not made many contributions.

After looking around, Beiji Wu sighed and said, "I would like to reward more meritorious officials, but you are all just people who follow me around and get credit. When I send you out to fight, you all get beaten so badly that you run away in a panic."

Wokoji, Tuoba Niu, and the elders of Beitian Village, including Beigong Dingbian, were all embarrassed and ashamed.

Lü Siming also led his troops to plunder outside, but was also defeated by the Khitans and Mongols, losing over a hundred men.

People like Mu Chuanliang and Ai Dake are even less qualified to be appointed to high-ranking positions.

A thousand households is already an extraordinary blessing.

Beijiwu said directly, "To be granted the title of Ten Thousand Households, one must achieve military merit. There are still some Turks in Yunzhong County. Who will go and wipe them out?"

The crowd shouted in unison, "This humble general is willing to go!!"

Ashina, a Turk from Yunzhong County, and Beiji Wu knew each other, but Beiji Wu did not consider someone he had only met once as a friend.

The money the Turkic prince gave him was clearly gold leaves stolen by the Arctic warrior, not a gift from a true friend.

The reason we don't fight with the south is because we've had enough of the benefits and now we need to digest these territories.

The purpose of fighting the Turks was to stabilize the Hetao region. We didn't want to be constantly on guard against the northwestern grasslands, so we had to push outwards.

"Wokoji, Tuoba Niu, Beigong Dingbian, the three of you will lead three thousand men to attack the Xiongnu in Yunzhong. I will have the Borjigin clan attack from the flank."

"Wang Daoji, Li Yuanrang, you two, along with the Duke of Yan and the Duke of Wei, will lead 5,000 troops to attack the Khitan capital, Tokyo, from the west." "Meng Hetong, Lang Wubing, and Wang Xiang, you three will lead 3,000 men to attack the Khitan capital, Shangjing, from the northern mountains."

"Lu Siming, Niu Zhifu, Ma Weiming, and Yan Shuangli, the four of you will lead troops to the northeastern mountain pass of Youzhou, establish Shanhaiguan, and drive the Khitan army beyond Shanhaiguan."

"Nie Zhen, Yun Yong, Shi Wenyuan, and Sang Yang'an, the four of you will be in charge of Youzhou, Jizhou, Mingzhou, and Qizhou respectively, and will be responsible for agricultural production and the selection of virtuous people."

"Xue Chonghu's main task in Qingzhou is to oversee the safe production of the salt, tea and gold mines."

Those who are fighting should fight, and those who are governing should govern. In short, now is not the time to enjoy life.

The crowd replied in unison, "Yes, Your Majesty!"

The officials who had defected to the eastern part of the Arctic military were transferred to manage the central and southern parts of Jinzhou, while the wealthy families who had defected to Jinzhou were transferred to manage affairs in the four eastern provinces.

“From now on, those who surrender and submit in the south will no longer be given land. All soldiers, gentry, princes and nobles in Jinzhou and the five outer prefectures who own more than 100 mu of land will only retain 100 mu of land.”

“You didn’t do anything for me before, so don’t occupy so much fertile land now. Post notices in the city and report to the authorities, giving them a deadline to choose their own land before the end of the year. After the year, I will redistribute the land, giving each household thirty mu of land.”

Two million people, which is roughly eight or nine hundred thousand households, and each household has thirty mu (approximately 20 hectares) of land, which is less than thirty million mu (approximately 6.67 million hectares). The actual cultivated land must exceed one hundred million mu (approximately 6.67 million hectares).

Arctic warfare needs to leave some way for future generations.

To prevent problems arising from the separation, Arctic Weapon made preparations in advance.

"The land and military households granted to you are for my tax payment and service. Therefore, only by inheriting the title can you inherit the official position, land, and military households. Your own children who divide the family property shall not be allocated the land and military households I have bestowed upon them. The most outstanding among them shall inherit! There shall be no distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children!"

If the land cannot be divided, then the family will basically not separate. If the family does not separate, within a few decades, a family of over a thousand people will gather together.

Arctic Martial doesn't believe this group can unite; the closer they are to each other, the more likely they are to fight amongst themselves, even to the death.

After resolving his official duties, Beijiwu also had a rare opportunity to go home and relax.

The women in the house were still farming and weaving in the yard, knowing very little about the outside world. They didn't even know that Beiji Wu was already King Wu. Every day they farmed, worked, took care of the children, pickled vegetables, and cooked.

We get up in the morning to wash and dress, several people take turns cooking three meals a day, we eat and drink our fill, take a nap at noon, do some work in the afternoon, and then it's evening.

She did some odd jobs while also taking care of her pregnancy and childbirth. She ate white flour steamed buns with fried eggs every day, fried chicken once every three days, and a whole sheep every two weeks. All her vegetables were homegrown.

Arctic Martial would send people back rice, flour, cooking oil, and fruit each time, but these people were forbidden from speaking much.

They had plenty to eat and drink, and there was farm work to do. There were shuttlecocks, bamboo horses, swings, and ponds. They could stay there for one or two years.

Of course, Beijiwu will also come back often to play and give a few married women a good boost.

The ten-acre courtyard has become a great place for Beijiwu to relax and unwind.

At night, Beijiwu, with his two heavily pregnant wives on either side, pondered his wedding plans for next year.

"If they're pretty, they'll stay; if they're ugly, they'll be sent to a mountain village and locked up."

Beijiwu didn't have high expectations for the princess he was to marry. After eating and drinking his fill the next day, he said goodbye to the six pregnant women and four young girls and went out to work.

The pregnant women continued to care for the newborn boys and girls. Some of the little girls helped take care of the children, while others went out to play football in the yard.

Li Hong, Xiulan, Gao Conglian, Jiang Rong, Ma Tuchai, and Gao Qiuyue were unaware that their children, both born and unborn, were princes and princesses.

Everyone, including Ma Tuchai, thought that there was still a war going on outside, and that Beiji Wu was still the chieftain of the Shan Nong tribe with 100,000 men under his command.

That's pretty much true, except no one tells them what kind of status they should be given now.

Arctic Martial Arts University doesn't match them up, so naturally they don't have any.

Five taels of silver a month is enough to support six pregnant women, four young girls, and six princes and princesses.

For an ordinary person, this amount of money would definitely be excessive.

Since they weren't clear about their own family's actual situation, everyone was quite satisfied anyway. They could eat meat every now and then, and the housework wasn't too strenuous.

(End of this chapter)