Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 52 Fully Loaded
Because of Bei Gong Dingbian's relationship with the leopard, Bei Jiwu estimated its value at around thirty taels of silver, but Lü Siming's offer far exceeded his expectations.

"Alright! We'll listen to you, sir! We're all on the same side, this price is much fairer than what those merchants offer!"

You can get about ninety taels of silver from a leopard you catch at random, and if it's a tiger, you might get two hundred taels.

Lu Siming smiled and said, "That's good. Which village are you from again?"

Beijiwu replied, "Kitada Village."

Lu Siming looked at his subordinates and asked, "Is there such a village in the county?"

The guard Geng Zhong nodded and said, "Sir, there is indeed such a village."

Lu Siming was relieved. "Take them to the warehouse and get the goods."

"Yes." Geng Zhong agreed, knowing where to get these items.

These people were all family members of military settlers, and Lü Siming was simply giving them what was due according to the regulations of the imperial court.

They gave us a lot of iron pots, but not enough cattle and farm tools.

When the imperial court relocated people, it provided them with cattle and farm tools free of charge so that they could quickly clear the land, settle down, and support their families.

It wasn't that the imperial court was benevolent, but rather that forcing people to migrate and guard the border without providing them with anything would surely cause these people to flee, and they might even seek refuge with the Hu people.

By bribing the officers, Beijiwu and his group obtained what was rightfully theirs.

Geng Zhong led Bei Jiwu and several others into the military settlement's warehouse compound.

The area is heavily guarded, with many men on guard duty.

Fortunately, Arctic Martial Arts School walked in, and entered in a proper and orderly manner.

Feeling that they were all on his side, Geng Zhong led Beijiwu into the warehouse.

Apart from the old buildings, most of the warehouse here is similar to a factory warehouse.

Geng Zhong looked at the nearly rusty iron pot on the ground and said, "You guys should find something better yourselves."

Beijiwu nodded and began searching through a pile of iron pots for a high-quality one.

At this moment, Bei Gong Dingbian quickly said to Bei Jiwu, "Chieftain, you should give the general some tribute. It wasn't easy for him to bring us in."

The warehouse was rather stuffy and hot. Geng Zhong, who was standing a few steps away, seemed not to have heard what was said and took a few more steps outside.

Although Arctic Wu is ruthless, he is not stupid.

Gold and silver jewelry were not that important to Beiji Wu, so he took out two gold leaves and handed them to Beigong Dingbian, then slightly raised his chin to indicate that Beigong Dingbian should handle them.

Bei Gong Dingbian carefully accepted the two gold leaves, then nervously and excitedly walked towards Geng Zhong.

"Sir."

Bei Gong Dingbian called out to Geng Zhong in a low voice.

Geng Zhong seemed not to have heard their conversation and looked at Bei Gong Dingbian, asking, "What is it?"

Bei Gong Dingbian took out the gold leaf given to him by Bei Ji Wu.

Geng Zhong's eyes narrowed immediately, and he quickly pulled him to a corner of the room.

"What does this mean?" Geng Zhong wanted to reach out, but seeing that Bei Gong Dingbian was a strong and healthy man, he didn't make a move.

Bei Gong Dingbian handed over two gold leaves, saying, "These are for the general and the commander. Please do me a favor."

Geng Zhong frowned. "What can I do for you?"

Geng Zhong thought it was because they were secretly colluding with the Hu people, otherwise why would they give them gold!

Bei Gong Dingbian was stunned, and really didn't know what to ask for.

After thinking hard for a moment, Bei Gong Dingbian quickly said, "We need some farm tools to clear land in our village, as long as... it's not too much trouble."

Bei Gong Dingbian couldn't think of anything he was lacking for the time being.

You can grab anything you need.

With the strength of Arctic Wu, robbing cattle and sheep from outside tribes, or livestock and women from nearby villages, is much faster than capturing a leopard.

There are many local hunting tribes, tigers are very rare, and even leopards are not common.

The high price is due to the scarcity of these animals; large animals are not common in grassland areas, and are only found in mountainous regions.

Geng Zhong took the gold leaf and glanced at it. Upon seeing the two characters "Imperial Gift" on it, he turned pale with fright. "Where did you get this gold leaf?"

Geng Zhong realized that the gold leaf was too hot to handle, so it must have been obtained from some important person.

He had heard about the Arctic Martial Arts, and that there were actually not many people in the military garrison, so much so that women and children were sent to the city walls to serve.

He had heard about Arctic Wu's killings and assaults, but since it had nothing to do with him, he ignored the trouble.

I never expected to run into the real person today, and I might even get caught up in trouble.

Bei Gong Dingbian laughed and said, "Last time we met a tough Turk who claimed to be from the Yunzhong tribe. He was holding a knife and wanted to kill Master Wu. After Master Wu knocked him off his horse with a stick, he was so scared that he knelt down and begged for mercy, shouting 'Hero, hero!'"

Bei Gong Dingbian chuckled as he recounted what had happened before, including the other party's invitation for Bei Ji Wu to escort him back to the Yunzhong tribe, but Bei Ji Wu declined, finding it too troublesome.

"So that's how it is." Geng Zhong breathed a sigh of relief. The Turks had already surrendered and become vassals, so there was no problem getting the money.

As for the relationship between the Arctic Warriors and the Turks, Geng Zhong didn't care.

However, Geng Zhong also realized that the Arctic Martial gang was truly lawless and had a bandit-like air about them.

Whether they are Han Chinese, non-Han Chinese, or even passing leopards and wild boars, anyone who provokes these people will suffer.

"This is only twenty taels. I see that you have more people than horses, and you have brought honor to the county by teaching the Northwest Turks a lesson, so I will give you two horses."

Bei Gong Dingbian said happily, "Thank you, sir!"

Beijiwu selected twenty iron pots and, together with his men, stacked them together on two oxcarts.

The plows for the two fields and the two sets of cotton clothes, quilts, and boots were covered with baskets and straw, and then the goods were escorted away on two horses.

Beijiwu was still short of hoes and farm tools, as well as some spices and seasonings for cooking, but seeing the four oxcarts, he realized he had too much stuff, so he went home first.

Just as I was about to leave, I heard a woman wailing loudly at the city gate.

Beijiwu looked at the ground and saw a woman crying miserably.

"Please, sir, have mercy and send this poor man back! Waaah..."

Beijiwu asked the person next to him curiously, "What's wrong? What happened?"

A person next to her said helplessly, "The imperial court sent her here to reunite with her husband, but he died of illness on the way. She originally wanted to go back after receiving the news, but she was forcibly escorted here by the soldiers, and now she can't go back."

Beijiwu was familiar with this matter. He looked at the woman sitting on the ground crying miserably, then turned around and went home without caring.

This is a benevolent policy of the imperial court, allowing the wives and family members of soldiers to come and serve alongside them, and even to guard the frontier for generations.

Although many people don't want to come, the border troops will definitely fill the positions, constantly finding people to fill the positions and maintain the normal operation of the border troops.

That woman who came here alone and helpless will definitely not have a good ending; she will most likely become a camp prostitute.

If the commander is kind-hearted, arranging a new marriage for her would be a good outcome, better than starving to death in this place or being captured and enslaved.

Men who guard the frontier generally don't want their families to come and reunite with them. Whether it's their parents, wives, or children, they never have a good ending if they come.

Beiji Wu had considered escaping last year, but later discovered that several checkpoints were heavily guarded, and the imperial court was very strict in preventing them from escaping; escaping would mean certain death.

The area was blocked in front and behind, and it was a terrible place. Although the imperial court seemed benevolent and offered a lot of appeasement, the border troops and the border people had a lot of complaints about the court.

However, this has nothing to do with Arctic Martial; Arctic Martial has returned to the team.

Bei Gong Dingbian asked, "Chieftain, what's going on in the city? I just heard a woman crying."

“What woman doesn’t cry?” Beijiwu said with a smile. “No woman cries forever. The women in my family used to cry a lot, but now they’re all silly and can laugh even when they’re looking at thin air.”

Arctic Wu's words made a group of people nearby laugh as well.

This time, only Beiji Wu bought something; the rest of the people went home empty-handed.

Twenty iron pots, two oxen, two oxcarts, two plows for tilling the land, two sets of cotton clothes, quilts, and boots, and two horses.

All of these belong to Beijiwu. In addition, Beijiwu owns a cow and a car that he directly confiscated from someone else's property. Now Beijiwu owns three cows and two horses, making him incredibly wealthy!
Ai Dake quickly caught up with several old men on horseback, looked up and asked, "Chieftain, we haven't bought any hoes for clearing land."

Beijiwu replied, "I have too much stuff this time. I'll buy the rest in a few days. This horse market lasts for several days. Next time I'll come and buy some sheep and farm tools."

The others were relieved to hear that.

A dozen or so people, looking at several truckloads of goods, happily returned home with their loads full.

(End of this chapter)