Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 136 Preparing for the Frontier

With only half of the first month of the lunar calendar gone, Shan Nongguo, like a student with an alarm clock set, woke up, washed his face, and invigorated himself to prepare for the college entrance examination!
Such a good place as the Central Plains is simply not suitable for growing rotten spring wheat.

Spring wheat and winter wheat are two different varieties that can only be grown in the northwest border regions and the northeast.

If we can't grow wheat, then we'll grow millet and beans.

In the Central Plains region, millet is planted in spring and ripens in July.

In the nine provinces behind the mountains, wheat is planted first, followed by millet, which ripens in September.

The environment in Yuzhou is more complex. After harvesting millet in July, one has to deal with the torrential rains in June, July and August. After the autumn floods, one can prepare to plant high-yield winter wheat.

At the morning court session, Bei Jiwu began to oversee preparations for spring plowing.

"It snowed this winter, and after the snow melted in the warm spring, the land was moist and suitable for growing millet."

"The artisans and blacksmiths in Luoyang are working hard to produce farm tools. The Ministry of Works is also assigning people from among the disaster victims to mine and forge iron to increase the production of farm tools."

Minister of Works Lin Xiying replied, "This servant obeys the decree!"

Arctic Martial stopped him, saying, "Just address each other by your titles. You are working for the people of the world, not just for me. When it comes to governance, you should think more about whether it benefits the country and the people, rather than whether I like it or not."

Lin Xi quickly replied, "Your Majesty is wise! I am deeply grateful!"

Beijiwu had no interest in wasting time arguing with him and continued to arrange spring planting.

"The climate in the Northwest is still unpredictable and as harsh as ever this year. Fortunately, Jinzhou has built a reservoir to store water and has also resettled many refugees from Qin to receive agricultural training."

"Jinzhou will still focus on the nine provinces behind the mountains this year, but some people will be sent to cultivate the Fenhe Basin and Jinzhong Basin. In the future, the focus will shift from the north to the south."

"Like the northwest, many places in Youzhou and Jizhou have not seen snow. Last year's floods also caused locusts to lay eggs. Today, the land is dry and prone to locust infestations. We should not blindly cultivate the land."

“The people of the North China Plain were divided into two groups. 500,000 people were relocated to the eastern part of Youzhou. Tiezhou was set up 300 li southwest of Shanhaiguan to smelt ironware to support Shanhaiguan. Some people smelted iron, some farmed, and some built houses.”

"There's no need to build city walls. Just train the troops regularly, and when the Khitans come, they'll know to take up arms and fight back."

“We will send another 500,000 people to Pingyuan County in Qingzhou Prefecture, and bring together 4 million mu of nearby farmland.”

"The remaining people will be assigned to various post stations, mining areas, tea-producing areas, and salt-producing areas, or they will be resettled in Kyushu, beyond the mountains. Now that many people have come to Kyushu, we also need to resettle some of them."

Inside the hall, more than a dozen people listened quietly to Beiji Wu's instructions.

Most of the time, Arctic military personnel are only responsible for issuing orders, and others just need to listen and carry them out.

Most of the others offered supplementary opinions, raised some difficulties, or inquired about specific procedures.

The court appeared to be in harmony between the emperor and his ministers, but in reality, it was a one-man show run by the Northern Military Commissioner, with military affairs taking precedence.

The mountain farmers not only seized all military power, but also quickly gained control over political affairs.

The powerful families have no bargaining power. Beijiwu doesn't need their talent, funds, food, or land; he can seize them without caring about his reputation.

Young masters from powerful families need Arctic Martial Arts because its existence allows many to rise in society without relying on their families.

Although their families nurtured them, their success was due to their own abilities.

More and more people will disobey their family's arrangements and join the Arctic Army. The larger the family, the more it needs official positions to make money.

Some people wait for Arctic Martial Arts to actively recruit them, while others come to them on their own.

The mountain farmers have their own system for cultivating talent. The heads of noble families who can see this clearly take the initiative to come, instead of foolishly waiting for others to beg them.

In particular, several military families that neither went south nor surrendered knew very well that the Arctic was not short of warriors.

Beijiwu made arrangements for Duan Lingdong, the Minister of War.

“The Khitans in the north need to be defended. I hereby order the Duke of Yan and the Duke of Wei to go and guard them. I hereby order the Duke of Zhao and the Duke of Qi to take their families to their fiefdoms to oversee the spring plowing work. I will give each of them 10,000 taels of silver to set off and to use it to recruit refugees to cultivate the land for two days as soon as possible. We must not let the land go to waste.”

"The two ducal mansions in Luoyang will be kept for them, so that people can be left to look after them. They will also have a place to stay when they return to Luoyang. However, recently there is not enough land near Luoyang. I will buy all the land they have in Luoyang. The 500,000 mu of land is already a fixed amount to be granted. No more can be given, lest we compete with the people for profit."

The four dukes could not all stay in Luoyang. The two older ones went north to defend against the Khitans, and the two younger ones went to develop their fiefdoms, farm the land, and pay taxes.

Inside the study, a dozen or so people quickly settled various matters.

Extending through more than a dozen departments, it spreads like a neural network to the minds of millions of people.

[Shan Nong Daily! Agricultural News! For the sake of agricultural development, the Yellow River-Huaihai region has been directly administered by the central government, under the jurisdiction of Luoyang, and collectively known as the Huanghuai Province, with 200 million mu of arable land!]

[Shannong Daily! Military News! Troop Deployment to Defend Against the Khitan!]

[Mountain Farmers' Daily! Local News! Five coins a copy, includes a complete list of everyday phrases used by the mountain farmers.]

Tong Bao'er was out shopping with her maid when she heard the shouts from inside the carriage. She quickly said to the driver, "Stop! Isn't there a girl with two braids selling newspapers nearby? She's about ten years old!"

The driver looked around and saw a young girl selling newspapers standing on the side of the street.

"Yes, there is one, but he's wearing a hat and we can't tell what his hair looks like."

Tong Bao'er lifted the curtain and looked around for a moment, then quickly said with a smile, "Go buy a newspaper."

The driver drove over and stopped next to the newspaper girl.

Tong Bao'er looked out of the side window of the carriage and laughed, "498, what brings you to Luoyang? We all thought you were still selling newspapers in Tongzhou."

Back in Tongzhou, a group of maids, bored, would often get to know Si Jiuba, who came to deliver newspapers, and over time they all became familiar with each other.

Upon seeing an acquaintance, Si Jiuba proudly declared, "Our team is a public unit, and we're the propaganda team designated by our master. Wherever our master goes, we'll be there."

Tong Bao'er used to only know that public household registration had good benefits, with no worries about food and drink, and the ability to work and earn money.

Hearing what 498 said now, I realized that the benefits of a public household registration are far more than that. "Oh, I see. So it's a government-funded job."

Tong Bao'er chuckled and made a joke.

498 became even more smug and corrected him, saying, "We eat public food! Are you buying things here?"

Tong Bao'er thought she wanted to sell newspapers, and said with a smile, "Give me all your newspapers. My family is going to our fiefdom. The ladies and young ladies asked me to buy some things to take with me before we leave. Come visit the Duke of Yan's mansion whenever you have time. We're not leaving until after the first month of the lunar calendar. I'll treat you to something delicious."

"Yeah, I'll go play when I have time." 498 quickly counted out twenty newspapers. "I can only sell you twenty at most. Last time, someone in the team was lazy and sold all the newspapers to one person. The captain criticized him."

Tong Bao'er didn't understand, "Why would I be scolded? Isn't it good that I've already sold them all?"

498 handed over the newspaper and explained, "We sell newspapers so that more people can see them, especially city dwellers and locals. If we sell to just one person, we'll be fined, and in serious cases, we'll have our public household registration revoked and be expelled from the group. This is a new regulation this year; previous regulations don't count. Since you have a large family, I can only give you a maximum of twenty copies."

A fine is considered lenient, a reprimand is moderate, but expulsion from the team is the most severe punishment.

It's not a direct killing, but it's tantamount to cutting off one's path to survival. People with weak mental fortitude would generally choose suicide.

"Okay." Tong Bao'er took the newspaper and added, "I don't have any change on me. I'll give it to you when you come to our house."

“Okay!” Si Jiu Ba readily agreed. The Duke’s mansion was in a big city and easy to find. One hundred coins was only one or two days’ wages for Si Jiu Ba.

Tong Bao'er asked, "You can sell all the newspapers in the morning, what do you do in the afternoon?"

498 replied, “After we arrived in Luoyang, our host arranged accommodation for us reporters in the southern district where printing factories and bookstores were concentrated. Each household had a small, 20-square-meter apartment. My younger brother and sister and I lived there together. We would go back to study and eat lunch, and in the afternoon we would go to help others build houses.”

"The houses our team stayed in were built for us by other teams a few days ago. Now we have to dig sand to build houses for them. We've been busy all afternoon. I'll come to your house to play on Sunday."

"Okay, I won't disturb your work anymore." Tong Bao'er smiled and lowered the curtain, somewhat envious of these public households with fixed days off.

As preparations for spring plowing began, large numbers of mountain farmers came from the remote mountains to the Central Plains to dig sand to build houses and use river soil and sand to construct cattle and horse sheds.

Large tracts of land lacking manpower for cultivation have become high-quality pastures, supporting a large number of cattle and horses and solving the problem of livestock feed.

The Huanghuai Province has at least 200 million mu of plains and basins, with vast, flat, and expansive areas that are ideal for horse racing.

The phrase "flat as a pancake" is very fitting here.

The mountain farmers brought a large amount of luggage using cattle, sheep, camels, horses, donkeys, and mules, as well as a large amount of unused horse, cattle, and sheep bone powder.

The entire northern region has a population of over ten million. Not counting those from Sichuan and those who fled, Beijiwu effectively controls 8.8 million people within its own territory, covering multiple regions.

In the second year of the Wu Dynasty, a large-scale spring plowing campaign, which concerned the livelihoods of nearly ten million people, officially began.

The area behind the mountain has four million acres, cultivated by two hundred thousand people, with two million tons of wheat and two million tons of millet grown in two rounds. The nobles and their servants from Luoyang will be relocated there in succession.

The six million mu of land in southern Shanxi was cultivated by Qin people and people from Jizhou and Qingzhou who went west. The number of people was several million. First, six million mu of millet were planted collectively, and then another six million mu of wheat were planted in the autumn. They were only given farm tools and a small number of cattle and horses.

Plain County has four million acres, with 500,000 people in charge, providing farm tools and some livestock.

The 200 million mu of arable land in the Huanghuai Province is too large for Beijiwu. It's like a three-year-old child facing a thirty-three-year-old mature woman. He is no match for him at all.

Sang Yang'an led five production teams of 10,000 households each to cultivate six million mu of land, with a population of about 200,000. They were equipped with sufficient machinery and livestock. If there was not enough machinery, they used manpower. They recruited a large number of refugees to harvest wheat with sickles, sowing millet first and then wheat, thus staggering the time of sowing and harvesting.

The total population is approximately one million locals and a large number of temporary immigrant workers, with each person cultivating an average of twenty acres.

The remaining one or two million people were responsible for maintaining the city's operation, guarding the border, and producing tools, while five or six million farmers were busy with their own farmland.

Luoyang City has 50,000 artisan households, many of whom are blacksmiths who can directly produce various agricultural tools. The government-run workshops and royal official fields and gardens in various regions are also well preserved, most of which were built or repaired in the last two years.

If three-quarters of the 20 million mu of land can yield a good harvest this year, the grain output will be enough to feed and drink everyone.

The purpose of acquiring land in the Arctic is for centralized management, not to be jealous of others who have more money and land.

He was never stingy with rewards for his subordinates: money, grain, land, women, houses, and hereditary positions.

If any of the thousands of households under his command had any ability, they could have been laid down long ago.

Those who don't want to give up now are people who are willing to go further and want to continue doing things.

A hundred households aspire to be a thousand households, a thousand households aspire to be ten thousand households, and even a ten thousand households cannot achieve this if they wish to remain idle. The Arctic Army needs people to do things, and these people themselves say they are dedicated to their duties.

If you want to relax and do nothing, being a thousand-household commander is the most suitable option. Just go to your territory, become a town mayor, farm the land, pay taxes on time, and you won't need to pay attention to any other instructions.

However, in reality, most of the thousand households still want to squeeze into the center of power rather than go to the countryside to farm.

The feudal system was not suitable for this dynasty and people. Most people had a strong desire for advancement and preferred a centralized system.

Once the feudal system hinders the interests of courtiers and the majority of those in power, someone will step forward to propose taking back power, governing the local areas, and making the local lords listen to "themselves".

During the spring planting season, a massive earthquake struck the Longxi region, radiating throughout the entire Northwest region. It was felt in the eastern Qin and Jin provinces and even further afield in the Ji and Yu provinces.

However, there was practically no one outside, and it wasn't under the actual control of the Arctic Army, so disaster relief and rescue were not needed.

In deserted areas, they don't care about snowstorms, droughts, earthquakes, or tsunamis; they just ignore them.

If the area under their actual control wasn't located on the banks of the Yellow River, and if so many things in Luoyang couldn't be moved, Beijiwu would be exactly the same as before he came to Luoyang, completely disregarding the lives of the people of Luoyang.

The area where surrendered soldiers were looted by officials and bandits, leaving nine out of ten houses empty, was not only not pitied by the Arctic Army, but they also buried the dead people one meter below the ground as fertilizer, and planned to develop the area again in four or five years.

The tax exemption only applies to disaster victims and residents of Luoyang, and at most to a few nearby large cities that chose to defend themselves because of the inhumane actions of the officials and soldiers, or to areas that are redeeming themselves through meritorious service.

In areas where people are robbed as soon as they open their doors and become unlucky, even after escaping, they don't receive the benefits of farmland and grain distribution; they have to dig holes and sand to earn their own food.

All the land in the surrendered areas was confiscated, and the survivors were incorporated into the military households and given as rewards to their subordinates.

(End of this chapter)