Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 173 Absorbing the Khitans

As the year drew to a close, a wealthy merchant named Qin Guozhong from Wuzhou arrived in front of the Wuzhou government office.

"My lord, I have received news from the Liao people that the Khitans in the northeast are preparing to march south and attack Wuzhou!"

Qin Guozhong knelt carefully on the ground and reported the latest intelligence he had obtained to the head of the mountain farmers.

Bei Gong Dingbian immediately asked, "Is the news true?"

Qin Guozhong quickly raised his head and replied, "It's absolutely true! It was all said by the Liao people who came to do business. This year, the spring cold in the Khitan region lasted until May, and the autumn cold came early, freezing the crops that had been salvaged."

"This year there is a food shortage, and many people have fled to Wuzhou or taken rafts to Jiaodong. The Khitans can't even muster 50,000 troops, let alone 100,000!"

Qin Guozhong said excitedly, "My lord, you must believe me! I am an old man from Beiyuan County, a true mountain farmer!"

Bei Gong Dingbian looked at the old man with a complicated expression. He knew very well what a mountain farmer was.

But he was just like everyone else in the village, and none of them dared to say anything.

To say it out loud is to be disloyal.

Anyone who dares to slander King Wu must be a fake mountain farmer.

Beigong Dingbian and the people in the original village tacitly avoided mentioning this matter. Anyone who dared to gossip about the mountain farmers would be beaten, even if they were one of their own.

Besides, nowadays everyone is a "genuine mountain farmer," and no one dares to say that they are not a mountain farmer, but a Han or a Hu person.

"What kind of bullshit mountain farmer are you?" Bei Gongding cursed, but didn't bother to argue. "I will report to the clan chief. If the news is true, you will be rewarded. Report to me immediately if you have any news!"

"Yes! Your servant obeys!" Qin Guozhong immediately bowed and fawned.

As a former traitor to the Han people and a spy for the Khitans, he has now become a merchant of the Shan Nong people, receiving land, houses, and business licenses from them. Naturally, he is now a spy for the Shan Nong people.

With the Khitans cutting off their dog food supply, Qin Guozhong naturally wouldn't continue to risk his life for them.

He had no loyalty to the mountain farmers, nor to the Han people. Qin Guozhong only gained some benefits for himself by relying on his connections with the Khitans.

The Khitans were doomed. Whether they were Mongols, Han Chinese, or traitors, they all believed that the Shannong people would surely destroy the Khitans!
The Khitans themselves thought so too, and many Khitans voluntarily came to join the Shannong Kingdom as Liao people.

Arctic martial arts are not xenophobic.

After killing Han Chinese, they took in Han Chinese.

After killing the Mongols, they took in the Mongols.

The Khitans were killed and their property temporarily confiscated.

They killed the Western Xia people and took them over.

Although the Khitans were not directly recruited, there were indeed many Khitans in the Shan Nong Kingdom. For example, many locals in Tuoba Niu and Wuzhou were actually Khitans disguised as Han Chinese.

These Khitans who pretended to be Han Chinese are now pretending to be mountain farmers.

The people of the mountains have a very simple understanding of themselves: they speak the same language and wear the same clothes.

You don't need to know the local language, as most people in the mountain village are illiterate and have little knowledge of their own history.

This provides an excellent breeding ground for spies.

People from Liaoning felt no pressure posing as mountain farmers.

Since none of them were from the mountain farm, they didn't use their social status to argue with each other. Apart from those with household registration who were a bit arrogant, most of them lived together peacefully.

They had different hair color and appearance, but could speak the local dialect and did not identify themselves as Khitan, Xianbei, Jurchen, Tatar, or Turk. Basically, no one paid them any attention, and no one bothered to laugh at them.

The Khitan territory was incredibly harsh, so the surrendered Han Chinese came here to work and earn a living, so naturally they never went back.

As long as you report the Liao people to the officers and soldiers, you can be rescued and taken to work in the territories of various lords.

The common people who were living a good life did not want to go to the lord, so the Northern Army tacitly accepted the integration of the Liao and Xianbei people.

The northeastern region of Mongolia has never been a good place; its harsh environment has long since sifted out a group of skilled fighters.

Once they start living a good life, their fighting spirit will decline sharply.

The Khitans had enjoyed good times for too long, and in recent years, natural disasters had caused the wild grass on the grasslands to either wither or freeze to death.

Both people and livestock lived in misery, with most people going hungry, and the imperial court was rife with infighting over the throne, just like the Han people.

While Beijiwu was working, a eunuch came in to report on the situation.

"Your Majesty, we have just received a message from Wuzhou via carrier pigeon."

Beiji Wu remained silent, and a child standing guard nearby walked over and took a small scroll of letters. Previously, during the Wen Dynasty, the Prince of Jin had castrated a group of children for amusement and sent them to their parents to see their reactions.

After taking over Jinzhou, Beijiwu raised these children together. When he brought his family over last time, he also took these children raised in the Jinwang Mansion to the Luoyang Palace for training.

Not only that, after the relationship with the Southern Dynasty was improved, the Southern Dynasty also sent some experienced palace maids, eunuchs and dancers, which can be regarded as supplementing some of the shortcomings of the Luoyang Imperial Palace.

After all, few people know about the management system inside the palace, and having some knowledgeable people can save you a lot of trouble.

Some rules may seem immoral to modern people, but they were appropriate in ancient times and are very much in line with people's thoughts today.

Ten-year-old Teng He already knew many characters. After reading the letter, which was less than the size of a palm, for a while, he turned and walked towards King Wu.

King Wu would sit on his high throne and spend three or four hours each day handling official business. The rest of the time he would read, stroll in the garden, or ride horses for exercise, and the day would pass by in no time.

"Your Majesty, the Khitans are preparing to attack Wuzhou, and Beigong Dingbian, the commander of Wuzhou, requests assistance."

Beijiwu raised his head to look at Tenghe and reached out his hand.

The child bowed his head respectfully and handed over the letter.

Beijiwu glanced at the writing on it; it wasn't the expected worm-like script, but rather neatly written simplified Chinese characters.

"I knew that bastard couldn't write."

Even after several years, Arctic Martial Arts still has a very bad impression on many people.

“Send someone to tell the generals in Youzhou the news and order them to perform their duties. If Wuzhou can be taken by tens of thousands of men, they do not deserve their current status.”

"Have all regions check the household registrations of people from Northeast China, especially those who have come in the last three years. Those without household registration should be converted to local military household registrations and treated the same as ordinary people. Do not treat them harshly and allow them to go home and bring their families over."

"Close trade with the Khitans and Liaodong. Prohibit trade between Youzhou, Wuzhou, Tiezhou and other places and the Khitans. Trade in Liaodong is temporarily closed. It is not allowed to be opened without my permission. Notify all the thousand-household teams. Anyone who disobeys will be executed!"

The eunuch Tong Xi did not understand the intention behind this, but he did as he was told.

"According to the order!"

Arctic Wu continued to be busy with transportation and finance, never taking the threat from the north to heart.

Wuzhou, as the initial location and the first region to implement the feudal lord system, contained hundreds of households.

They were fed and clothed well, and were given plenty of weapons, iron tools, bows and crossbows. They were always supported in building fortifications and stockpiling food and weapons.

If it can't even stop tens of thousands of Khitans, then it really has no reason to exist.

Everyone must be responsible for their own choices, whether it's living in the Shan Nong Kingdom or living with the Khitans. If you can't make your own choice and insist on following others' choices, then being oppressed, humiliated, and abused is your own problem.

Arctic Martial Arts has no grand ambition to save the world, nor will it help those good-for-nothings who only know how to wait for handouts.

How the Khitans treated the Han people in their territory, and how the Wen Dynasty treated the Wen Dynasty people, were their own business. If they didn't overthrow their oppressors, the Shan Nong Kingdom wouldn't bother to help anyone else overthrow them and let a bunch of cowards live a good life.

If it weren't for the fact that the Khitans attacked Tiezhou and killed many people, Beiji Wuzhen wouldn't have bothered with that rotten land in the north.

Now, we are giving the Khitans a chance to surrender. If they are willing to surrender, we can live in peace with the south and trade with each other.

***
Three days before the New Year, the Wang family finally arrived in Luoyang by carriage.

Wang Daoji led his family of more than 30 people to the post station, only to find it crowded with carriages coming and going, making it impossible to get in.

Fortunately, Luoyang has always controlled population inflow, and there are very few resident officials. In addition, the city has recently started building three- or four-story cement brick houses, which can accommodate more people.

Wang Daoji successfully rented an empty government-owned house nearby and paid a month's rent.

"This is troublesome. I never expected that Miss Mei would be sold to a brothel. After His Majesty learned that many people were selling their daughters, he canceled this year's imperial concubine selection."

After Wang Daoji returned, he told everyone the news he had found out, and then rented the newspapers from the embassy for the past six months.

Fang Huairui asked anxiously, "What should we do?"

Wang Daoji sighed and said, "Let's stay here and inquire about when the imperial selection will be held next year. I'll also find an opportunity to meet the Emperor, and you can also make connections."

"I don't know anyone anymore..." Fang Huairui said awkwardly, "Most of the ladies and young ladies I knew before were from the city of Luoyang. Now those people are useless and they are all hundreds of miles away. I don't know anyone in Luoyang anymore."

Standing to the side, Tong Bao'er said, "I do know the newspaper seller, Si Jiuba. I've even visited her house before. She's a public household, a servant of the king. If I go over there, I might be able to ask her some questions."

Fang Huairui also remembered the newspaper seller, 498. "You want to go out and have fun, right? Well, it's good to go out for a walk. I'll invite her over to my house later. I quite like that girl. I'll arrange a marriage for her later."

Wang Daoji did not object to this matter. Although Si Jiuba was a newspaper seller, he was well-informed and had known the Wang family for several years.

(End of this chapter)