Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 138 Children
"Madam, we've finally arrived."

Tong Bao'er smiled and looked at the noblewoman in the carriage.

The noblewoman, who had been squinting to pass the time, opened her eyes and looked at the young girl by the car door with a puzzled expression.

"Really?"

This statement clearly indicates a lack of belief.

Tong Bao'er laughed and said, "We came out after the first month of the lunar calendar. It's already the third month of the lunar calendar. Spring plowing is almost over. It should be time. It's only about six or seven hundred miles away. We've already left the territory of Huanghuai Province and are south of Handan."

"Ahead lies Tianzhou, a land of two million mu. The master has already enclosed the land, with the four families standing side by side in the middle of the square grid, to build a Tiancheng."

Fang Huairui sat up and said uncomfortably, "The journey here has been exhausting. The car is moving very slowly. We were told it would take half a month to arrive, but it has been delayed for more than a month."

Tong Bao'er smiled, without mentioning that it was because they had stayed at an inn along the way for a few more days.

Fang Huairui lifted the car curtain and looked outside. The March sun was very warm, and it was already spring outside.

The road is lined with lush green grass, and the barking of stray dogs can be heard from time to time.

"We're not here yet!" Fang Huairui said, somewhat annoyed.

Tong Bao'er hurriedly explained, "Master just sent someone to tell us that the Zhang River is ten miles ahead, and our family's Zhao State Duke's Mansion is located there. It will be easier to get water for farming when we are closer to the river."

Fang Huairui asked curiously, "Isn't it said that the four families are divided into four sections according to the Chinese character '田' (field)? The river has to be straight so that all four families can get a little bit, otherwise it's hard to tell if they get more or less."

This question stumped Tong Bao'er, who immediately replied, "What difference does a little more or less make? We can have any of those 500,000 mu of land."

Fang Huairui nodded, agreeing with the logic.

Tong Bao'er added, "This place is neither too close nor too far from Luoyang, nor too close nor too far from Youzhou to the north. It's also a fertile plain, making it a wonderful place!"

Fang Huairui laughed, "Shut up, let me have some peace and quiet."

Tong Bao'er then stopped talking, went outside for some fresh air with a grin, and looked around, hoping to get to their destination as soon as possible.

The grand convoy finally arrived at Tianzhou, which covers an area of ​​two million acres.

After Fang Huairui got off the car, she saw Wang Daoji standing at the door to greet her.

Wang Daoji, full of vigor, walked over and smiled, "Madam, it's good to see you here. You must be tired from your journey."

Fang Huairui said politely, "Sir, you've worked hard. I saw hundreds of people farming on the way here. Have they all been settled in?"

Wang Daoji smiled and said, "Those are all tenant farmers we captured. There are quite a few unruly Wenchao people around here who are not on the register. Once we capture them, they become ours. We happen to be short of people right now, so we'll let them grow beans here."

"These lowly people are grateful as long as they have food to eat. Let's go inside the mansion and take a look. Time was short, and the mansion was not even finished in three months. We'll make do with it for now and repair it slowly later."

"Yes." Fang Huairui, as the Duchess of the State, entered this grand mansion that could be passed down to future generations.

Although time was short, the main gate was built in a magnificent manner, especially the four characters "[Duke of Zhao's Mansion]" on the plaque, which were majestic and awe-inspiring.

The Zhao State Duke's mansion has indeed not yet been furnished and cannot be compared with the Wei State Duke's mansion in Luoyang.

But this is my future home, unlike Tongzhou where it was just a temporary place to stay.

Even though everything is very basic now, the Wang family is full of confidence in building this place up.

Shortly after millet was planted in Luoyang, in order to cope with possible famine, buckwheat and soybeans for oil extraction, soy sauce making, and soy milk were also planted as an emergency measure.

Arctic warriors abandoned the cumbersome ceremonial guards and escorts, and led a thousand cavalrymen northward.

He first inspected the southern and central Shanxi regions where millet and beans were being planted. After confirming that salt production in Yanchi had recovered, Bei Jiwu continued north and returned to Tongzhou.

In the Tongzhou government office, several garrison commanders and civil officials knelt before Beiji Wu.

"This servant greets his master! Long live His Majesty King Wu!"

Beijiwu smiled and said, "Get up. How has the city been lately?"

The garrison commander, Qin Hefu, clasped his hands and said, "Reporting to the master, everything in Tongzhou is fine. After many people were transferred out, the vacant houses and positions were quickly filled, and the Hu people outside are also doing business with us honestly."

Arctic Wu laid the foundation for this place, and when they were clearly no match for the enemy, the Borjigin clan chose to submit.

Having food to eat was a difficult thing for these Hu people.

They would only eat sheep as a last resort, and vegetables were extremely rare. Apart from sheep milk and mare milk, they ate whatever they could find.

From newborn foals that couldn't survive, to various prairie mice, or even various edible tree leaves.

Robbery will inevitably lead to death, as evidenced by the more than 10,000 Mongol cavalrymen and 50,000 Khitan cavalrymen killed by the Arctic Warriors.

These are not legends, but things that the members of the naturalized tribes, mainly the Borjigin clan, personally experienced and witnessed.

Those who survived were the ones who knelt down quickly back then.

Everyone knew they were no match for Arctic Martial Arts; a hundred Arctic Martial Arts members could kill ten thousand of them.

The disparity in strength between the two sides was extremely large, and the notion that they were no match for each other was deeply ingrained in people's minds.

Arctic Wu was willing to do business with the people of the Naturalization Department, exchanging grain for wool and wool products, and even exchanging wool socks, trousers and coats made by grassland women for tea and salt.

Beijiwu casually said, "Continue to maintain trade relations, do not discriminate, and do not be polite. Just treat them as friends of the Han people."

Everyone hesitated.

Arctic Martial asked, "What's the problem?"

The advisor Gao Laishun cautiously inquired, "The servants don't quite understand what this standard is. Nowadays, mountain farmers, Han Chinese, Mongols, and some other mixed Hu people are all mixed together, so it's really hard to tell who the mountain farmers are."

Several military officers were also confused about this standard.

"Yes, you can't assume that everyone with short hair is from the mountain farm."

"Please enlighten us, Master. Now that you have obtained the throne and occupied Luoyang, and the mountain farmers are all in Beiyuanwei, the people of the mountain village speak in a hesitant manner, and we really can't figure it out."

Beijiwu laughed and said, "So what if you know? No matter how many Shan Nong people there are, you only have one master. You're not going to be slaves to the Shan Nong people. You can be Han people if you want, or Shan Nong people if you want. It doesn't stop you from doing things for me."

"I told you not to treat outsiders like animals or aliens. The Naturalization Department and the Agricultural Department are half my subordinates. Just follow my rules. Don't provoke or extort me. When problems arise, just reason with them."

“Gao Laishun, you should take charge of the political and trade arrangements here. I think these military men are used to being arrogant and domineering towards their subordinates and they can’t get anything done.”

Gao Laishun was not a commander of a thousand households; he was a scholar who surrendered.

"Yes, I obey your order!"

The rest of the men were all surrendered commanders and dared not disrespect Beijiwu.

Beijiwu casually said, "I know you also want to go to Luoyang, but you should also see your own abilities. When you fought me, you surrendered immediately. When I sent you to fight the Turks, you were all cowardly and afraid of death, which delayed things. But when the Mongols attacked, you managed to defend against them."

"But as far as I know, the ones who performed well before were Cen Tianrui, Niu Zhifu, and Ma Weiming."

"If you want to prove yourself, you can. After the wheat harvest, I will give you a chance. If you want to prove yourself, you can fight the Turks or the Khitans, or even the Xianbei who are heading north."

"Xue Chonghu captured Luoyang and held out until I arrived. Meng He and a few others followed me and wiped out 50,000 Khitans. We also defended Feihu Pass and Shishan Pass and killed many people."

"Now I control half the world, but I conquered it all myself. None of you, including myself, have ever helped me expand my territory or take over any cities."

"Last time we attacked Juyong Pass and Zijing Pass, I took Zijing Pass, and the men who went to attack Juyong Pass suffered heavy losses. If any of you had any strength or ability, I would never have been stingy with rewards." "Every time I let you do something on your own, whether it's to rob or to attack a city, you always manage to damage the dignity of the mountain farmers that I have worked so hard to maintain."

"If you feel that life in Tongzhou is too comfortable and lacks challenge, or if you feel that you have the brains and strength to become a higher official, then go out and find a rival to prove yourself."

A group of shameless military officers, after being reprimanded, did not stand up to volunteer.

Before the Arctic Wars against the Mongols, these people were already commanders of a thousand men here, and they had all fought against the Mongols from outside.

The Mongols always had the upper hand when fighting them, otherwise they wouldn't have come to plunder them every now and then.

Beijiwu was too lazy to talk to them. "Alright, just be good commanders."

"Yes, Master! Your servant obeys!" The commanders all knew their own abilities and chose to live a peaceful life.

Bei Jiwu looked at Gao Laishun and asked, "How is the farming going?"

"Everything is going well." Gao Laishun said respectfully, "There are many more people this year, all of whom have migrated from the east and west. Now the population of Jinzhou exceeds 1.7 million, and some people have also accepted the rules of the mountain farmers and are working and farming."

Of the 500,000 mountain farmers, more than half went to Luoyang. Now, the people north and south of Jinzhou are mostly from Qin in the west and from Jizhou and Laizhou in the east.

Spurred by the disaster and spurred on by the calls of their fellow villagers, millions of people quickly gathered toward the legendary paradise of Kyushu beyond the mountains.

Arctic Martial asked, "How much land did you plant this year?"

Gao Laishun replied, "The master ordered four million mu of land, but because there were many more people coming to work, I also added 500,000 mu of wheat fields and 500,000 mu of millet fields, which have all been planted."

"As instructed by the master, we built reservoirs, constructed drainage canals, trained blacksmiths and agricultural workers, and carried out work relief."

"I'm not sure about central and southern Shanxi."

Gao Laishun was mainly in charge of the nine provinces behind the mountains. Jinzhong and Jinnan were originally under the jurisdiction of Beiji Wu, but he went to Luoyang before the new year and handed it over to Wen Zhaohu.

Since there was really no one else available, and Wen Zhaohu had done a good job helping disaster victims grow wild vegetables and relief grains after the floods last year, they asked him to bring people over to build up Jinzhong and Jinnan.

The territory is too large, and the talent pool is simply not enough.

Arctic Martial is generally satisfied with the situation here, as long as nothing major goes wrong.

After resolving his official business, Bei Jiwu returned to his home, which he hadn't visited for three or four months.

On a March afternoon, Jiang Cao was sweeping chicken droppings in the large yard with brooms in both hands.

The others are making toothbrushes, using pig bristles and wood chips, and using a mixture of salt, mint, and poria cocos powder as toothpaste.

Suddenly, the gate a few meters away was pushed open.

Jiang Cao looked over curiously, thinking it was the aunt who regularly came to collect goods and then resell various grains, meats, and fabrics.

Upon seeing the man who had entered, Jiang Cao quickly revealed a look of surprise and delight.

"Mother! Father is back! Father!"

Jiang Cao happily greeted the man who hadn't returned for over four months.

Bei Jiwu closed the door, walked in, and said with a smile, "Jiang Cao has grown taller!"

"Mmm!" Jiang Cao looked at Bei Jiwu happily.

The women in the room quickly abandoned their never-ending work, hurriedly got up to fix their hair and clothes, and were all in a flurry of activity.

When Beijiwu went inside, he saw women who had already given birth. The women were carrying their babies, accompanied by a one-and-a-half-year-old child who could already walk on his own, and happy young girls.

"Owner!"

A group of women watched Arctic Martial Arts with delight.

Li Hong walked over carrying the child and said tenderly, "It's good that Master is alright. Is the battle with the north going well?"

Beijiwu laughed and said, "We're fighting with the south right now, so things aren't stable yet. In two years, once I've settled things over there, I'll bring you over!"

The women replied joyfully, "Yes, Master!"

Beijiwu led his family into the house. "How have you been lately?"

Li Hong immediately replied, "That's all good!"

Xi Dan said with a smile, "I just had stir-fried chicken for lunch today! It was so delicious!"

Arctic Martial Arts: "Kill five chickens and cook. Li Bing and Xiang Lan, come and chat with me. The rest of you, cook and boil water. I'm in the Nine Provinces behind the mountains for a few days to handle some matters before leaving. Take this opportunity to spend some time with you all."

Everyone smiled as they watched Li Bing and Xiang Lan, then quickly reached out and pushed them forward before laughing as they went to cook.

Xi Dan and Jiang Cao were in charge of taking care of the children, looking after five toddlers who could walk and looking after several toddlers who had just learned to crawl, who were crawling around in the innermost room.

Beijiwu's son and daughter were not given vulgar names like "Dog" or "Egg," but they were not spoiled and both grew up to be quite good-looking.

After spending a few days with his family, Beijiwu decided to leave.

Just as she was about to leave, Jiang Rong asked Bei Jiwu, who was about to go out, "Master, I haven't seen Mu Lin for over a year. Is he alright?"

Beijiwu stopped and looked back at the mother who still cared about her son.

“He is in Shuozhou. Mu Chuanliang went to Qingzhou to handle some matters and couldn’t take him with him. Xiulan and Xianglan’s brothers are also in Shuozhou. There is no war there, and it’s crowded and lively. They are all getting married and working in the production team now.”

"Mu Chuanliang and Ai Dake are both married. I heard that their stepmother is not good to the children, so last year I let them live with Aunt Zhang. There are many children there, and they can take care of each other if anything happens."

Jiang Rong and Gao Conglian were both relieved.

Li Hong asked, "How are my parents?"

Beijiwu laughed and said, "They all farm in the village. There's a village near Beitian Village that's deserted. I gave it to your parents and your brother, and even found him two Mongolian wives to carry on the family line. I'll make him the village chief in the future."

Li Hong and Li Bing felt much more at ease. The Zhang sisters beside them were quite satisfied with Beijiwu's arrangements and weren't in a hurry about their family's affairs.

Ma Tuchai asked, "Master, how is my younger brother?"

Beijiwu said, "I think he is honest and law-abiding, so I'll let him be an official in charge of grain in the city. You can take care of the children. There's still a plague going on outside, so you two should take good care of the children and not go out."

Ma Tuchai was relieved, as she remembered that there was indeed a plague in the central and southern parts of Jinzhou.

Seeing that everyone else had asked, Gao Qiuyue also inquired, "Master, how is my father?"

“Not bad.” Beijiwu smiled. “He’s been focusing on studying medicine lately, and I gave him a few very valuable medical books.”

Gao Qiuyue nodded while holding the child, "Thank you, Master!"

Everyone was quite satisfied, including Arctic Martial Arts.

Under the watchful eyes of his wife and children, Beijiwu walked out.

A group of people walked out the door and looked at the desolate and quiet streets nearby. Soon, Li Hong said, "Let's go inside. There's still a plague going on outside. The master is strong and will definitely be fine. Let's not ruin the child's plans."

Several women led their children into the yard, closed the gate, and locked it.

(End of this chapter)