The Military Governor in Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 108 Domination

Jia Chen is now a garrison commander, which is also a regional leader. He has a lot of people and land under his control.

This is completely different from what happened at Qianshanbao.

Qianshanbao is located outside the Great Wall, so it can only defend passively and can only manage the affairs of a single fort. It can't do anything else.

Unlike the fortified villages, the fortified villages had many subordinate forts and watchtowers, which could organize soldiers and civilians to farm and cultivate land.

Of course, given the current situation in the border town, the land reclamation has suffered enormous damage.

Because of the frequent raids by northern barbarians, people dared not cultivate the land anymore.

Even if the crops were cultivated, they could very well be ruined by the northern barbarians, resulting in a complete crop failure.

Another problem was the serious land annexation, with many fields being seized by high-ranking generals and local powerful families.

Now that Jia Chen is in charge of this garrison, the land reclamation must be restored, as this is an important foundation for ensuring the food supply.

Currently, much of the grain supply for the border town needs to be transported from other places or supplied by merchants through the China-France trade system.

This makes food security in border towns extremely vulnerable.

If things go wrong, there is a risk of running out of food.

Jia Chen dared not joke about the issue of food. This matter had to be taken seriously. He had to find a way to ensure that his men were self-sufficient in food so that they wouldn't have to depend on others.

He didn't trust the imperial court's provisions; not only were they always reduced, but they might also cut off your food supply at any time.

In addition to his emphasis on military personnel and food supplies, Jia Chen also paid great attention to the manufacture of weapons, especially firearms.

Materials are crucial for making good firearms.

Jia Chen's current order to Lu Dahai is to find a way to further improve refined iron and produce even better steel.

Refined iron can only be considered a basic form of steel. Its performance is a significant improvement over ordinary wrought iron, but it is still far from enough for Jia Chen.

After becoming the garrison commander of Juqiang Fort, Jia Chen gathered the firearms craftsmen under his command, and even brought over many firearms craftsmen from Zhenqiang Fort. All of these people were put under the management of Lu Dahai.

With more manpower, they began to upgrade the steelmaking process.

Using his knowledge, Jia Chen prepared the commonly used steel-casting method.

After the improvements, high-quality steel can be produced more quickly and efficiently.

However, even with his guidance, it will still take some time before a highly efficient steelmaking process can be successfully developed.

Lu Dahai still needs to lead his team to make breakthroughs in some technologies.

Jia Chen deployed a large number of troops to protect the steelmaking and firearms manufacturing departments.

Unauthorized persons are not allowed to approach.

These are all secrets; we must be mindful of keeping them confidential.

"We still don't have enough talent," Jia Chen sighed.

Although we found Lu Dahai a lot of subordinates this time, it still wasn't enough.

One problem is the lack of manpower, and the other is the even greater shortage of skilled personnel.

Besides steelmaking, Jia Chen also needs skilled personnel proficient in the manufacture of cannons and various other types of artillery, which are in extremely short supply.

The fortress has a heavy cannon weighing several thousand kilograms, which is so heavy that it can hardly be moved except by fixing it to the city wall.

Such an effect is limited.

Jia Chen preferred to develop lightweight cannons, which required better steel and cannon-making experts.

Judging from the current situation, it is extremely difficult, practically impossible, to find experts in Datong Town who can manufacture cannons and other weapons.

Once I've settled down, I might have to start thinking about things in the capital.

I wonder if my identity as a member of the Jia family will be of any use.

Another possibility is that I could try to contact my father-in-law, Qin Ye, and use his connections in the Ministry of Works to get in touch with these craftsmen.

The road isn't completely blocked; there's still a chance.

"Eat your food one bite at a time," Jia Chen sighed deeply.

He realized he had been too eager for quick success.

Even if Lu Dahai and his team had people, they wouldn't be able to produce results immediately, let alone now that they're short-handed.

Haste makes waste.

After becoming the garrison commander of the fortress, there was so much to do.

Jia Chen was so busy that he hardly had any free time.

He then realized that he lacked people to help him handle his affairs.

Wang Baisheng and his colleagues are fine with managing military affairs, but while they're not completely clueless about other matters, they're not far off either.

Juqiangbao has many fortified villages and watchtowers.

Wang Baisheng and his associates are unreliable when it comes to managing these affairs; they simply don't know how.

Now Jia Chen has to do everything himself, which must be exhausting.

However, Jia Chen did discover one person: Ma Du, the official in charge of the Juqiangbao Fortress.

Ye Fandong had specifically mentioned Ma Du to Jia Chen.

Generally speaking, after a fortress garrison is promoted or transferred, the officer in charge of conduct has a good chance of succeeding the garrison commander.

But Ma Du is different. He and Jia Chen are both commanders of a thousand households, and he is just over thirty years old.

Logically speaking, it would be quite difficult for a commander of a thousand households to become an official in charge of conduct.

Koma had some connections before.

One of his sisters was a concubine of the former garrison commander of Datong Town. Because of this relationship, he served as the guard officer of Juqiangbao with the rank of commander of a thousand households.

Who could have imagined that not long after taking office, the first invasion of the northern barbarians would occur, and the former commander-in-chief would be imprisoned.

He hadn't been dismissed from his post as an official yet, but life at Juqiangbao was still difficult.

After all, his backer had fallen, and he hadn't made any significant contributions. It wasn't appropriate for him, as a commander of a thousand, to serve as an official in charge of conduct. It was only a matter of time before he was reassigned.

When he was at Juqiangbao, Ye Fandong couldn't do anything to him and treated him like royalty.

Later, I stopped paying much attention to them.

During the time Jia Chen had been there, he had also been secretly observing Ma Du.

This person is fairly honest, but at this point, he has no choice but to be honest and discreet.

He diligently and conscientiously completed the tasks assigned to him by Jia Chen.

Of course, Jia Chen couldn't really entrust him with any important tasks.

In theory, he was his deputy, in charge of the military affairs and city defense of the fortress, but in reality, Jia Chen delegated these powers to Wang Baisheng and his associates.

The official in charge of conduct at Madu had very little power.

Judging from Ye Fandong's evaluation, Ma Du actually has some ability, unlike some people who rise to the top entirely through nepotism and have no real skills.

However, he wasn't one of Ye Fandong's men, and later he was practically marginalized with nothing to do.

Jia Chen spoke with Ma Du specifically and eventually put him in charge of the soldiers' land reclamation.

Jia Chen didn't want to care who Ma Du had worked for in the past.

Since Ma Du's brother-in-law has fallen from power, the only person he can rely on now is himself, the garrison commander.

Often, people like this are more reliable.

He was giving Ma Du a chance, hoping he could seize it. If he did well, he would naturally be able to use him.

If it's not handled well, I'll marginalize it in the future.

He doesn't want to support useless people.

"Sir, look, that area is where the ordinary soldiers are stationed." Ma Du led Jia Chen and pointed to a field in front of them.

Of course, now everything is covered in white snow.

Since receiving the assignment, Ma Du has devoted himself wholeheartedly to his work.

To be honest, he was prepared to be transferred from his post as the fortress's code of conduct officer.

However, the new garrison commander has given him a chance, and he must make the most of it.

"When spring comes, we need to organize manpower to cultivate and sow the land. We need to prepare the seeds, cattle, and farm tools as soon as possible," Jia Chen said.

"My lord, the manpower situation isn't too bad right now, but there's a huge shortage of oxen and farm tools," Ma Du said softly. "However, I... I will definitely find a way."

Jia Chen smiled; Ma Du probably couldn't have come up with this idea.

He was afraid that he would be criticized for not doing his job well.

He wasn't that heartless; he was aware of some of the practical difficulties.

Make bricks without straw.

Without oxen and farm tools, how will spring planting proceed?

"I'll apply to the higher-ups for some oxen and farm tools," Jia Chen said with a smile. "If we still don't have enough oxen, we'll try to buy some. As for farm tools, Master Lu should be able to have some made when he has some free time."

Jia Chen was certainly prepared for these things; he would try to get whatever he could from them.

It's probably difficult to count on Liu Tianwang's side.

However, there's still Hu Youcai; we can probably still get some through him.

If all else fails, we can try to find Ye Fandong, and the two of them can go to the General's Mansion together to ask for it.

If that's still not enough, you'll have to find a solution yourself.

The importance of oxen to farming is self-evident; even if you buy them, they are difficult to obtain and not cheap.

Fortunately, Jia Chen still has some funds available, which can help him weather the storm.

Making farm tools is not a difficult task for Lu Dahai and his colleagues; ordinary wrought iron will suffice.

However, this still consumes a lot of iron, which makes Jia Chen feel somewhat helpless.

He has already applied to the military governor's office for iron and gunpowder, but unfortunately there has been no response so far.

Fortunately, Ye Fandong provided a lot of support.

Juqiangbao already had some stock, and with Ye Fandong giving Jia Chen some of Zhenqiangbao's stock, it was barely enough for Jia Chen's needs.

"Any other questions?" Jia Chen asked again.

"Yes, there is..." Ma Du stammered.

"Say what you have to say."

"Sir, look at that land." Ma Du pointed in another direction. "The fields over there have a river running through them, making irrigation easy. But here, irrigation is a problem. We need to carry water from afar, which is very labor-intensive."

Jia Chen looked in the direction Ma Du was pointing, but because of the distance, he couldn't see the river over there.

Moreover, the river is now frozen over and covered with snow, creating a vast expanse of white that makes it impossible to distinguish between the fields and the river surface.

"Then let's organize people to dig an irrigation canal," Jia Chen said. "It should still be in time before spring arrives."

Winter is the off-season for farming, making it easier to mobilize people to participate in digging irrigation canals. If it were to wait until the busy spring season, it would be difficult to organize a large number of laborers to do these things.

"My lord, I'm afraid it's not possible," Ma Du said hesitantly, his brow furrowed.

Why?

"My lord, the area I just mentioned belongs to the Sun family," Ma Du replied. "They are too domineering and do not allow others to draw water from the river. People who tried to draw water from the river were beaten by their servants, let alone digging irrigation ditches."

Ma Du had stayed at Juqiangbao for several years and knew much more than Jia Chen.

How could a man of integrity like him not know what happened here?

"Sun Shaozu?" Jia Chen's face darkened. He's everywhere.

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