The Military Governor in Dream of the Red Chamber

Because Liu Tianwang has a quota of one thousand people, even if you add the 35 people on his side, it's only about eight hundred now.

There is still a shortage of 200 people.

Jia Chen initially thought that the Beijing garrison was secretly sabotaging them by not providing so many soldiers.

Liu Tianwang later explained that he simply didn't want to choose anymore.

Too few people are willing to go to the border towns.

Of the 700 men Liu Tianwang selected, he could actually trust less than half of them. The others were willing to go to Datong because Liu Tianwang offered them better treatment than the Beijing garrison.

For example, in terms of provisions and pay, he would ensure that it was more and more timely than that of the Beijing garrison.

These hundreds of people believed it.

Liu Tianwang didn't think it would be a good thing to forcibly gather another thousand people.

Those who forcibly took him away might cause him some trouble later.

Liu Tianwang ultimately chose to prioritize quality over quantity.

Liu Tianwang was quite satisfied that Jia Chen was able to recruit 35 people.

Once the people are chosen, it doesn't mean we can set off immediately.

Liu Tianwang still had to go to the Ministry of War to hand over things, such as the rations and pay of these people.

The imperial court should give some rewards for a first visit to a border town.

Moreover, Liu Tianwang also wanted to gain more support from the imperial court, mainly in terms of provisions, supplies, and weapons.

Once he arrives in Datong, he will have to obtain these things through Datong Town.

After all, he was no longer part of the Beijing Garrison, but was now under the jurisdiction of the Datong Garrison.

Three days later, Jia Chen received orders from Liu Tianwang to return to Datong.

Originally, Liu Tianwang wanted to give Jia Chen more time in Beijing, because he knew that the Jia family had arranged a marriage for Jia Chen and had been busy with these matters recently.

Judging from the Jia family's attitude, they want to get the wedding done immediately.

However, time is no longer an option.

The imperial court received intelligence that the Chahar tribe might move south again at the end of the year.

The recent southward raids brought great gains to the Chahar tribe, especially in Datong Town, which had not experienced large-scale raids for many years.

Therefore, some members of the Chahar tribe who did not go south this time were jealous, because they did not receive as much as those who directly participated.

They strongly urged Ligdan Khan to take action again.

Regardless of whether the Chahar tribe would actually march south again, Liu Tianwang dared not delay.

He has no say in what happens to the other roads in Datong Town.

But he had to guard this North East Road.

This is the first time he has been in charge of a region on his own. This is an opportunity given to him by the Emperor, and he must perform well.

We must hurry back to reorganize our military preparations, and at the same time, we must build more defensive fortifications, repair the fortress, and construct beacon towers, etc.

Even if the Chahar tribe doesn't come by the end of the year, what about next year, or the year after?

Now that he's on Beidong Road, he needs to be prepared for a long-term commitment.

"Jia Chen, when you get married next year, I will definitely prepare a wedding gift for you," Liu Tianwang said.

He already knew that the marriage arranged by the Jia family for Jia Chen had been postponed to next year.

The original plan was to have Jia Chen get married in the next few months.

However, there was military intelligence coming from Datong, so Jia Chen had to return.

Therefore, the Jia family arranged for Jia Chen and Qin Keqing to get engaged first, and then to choose an auspicious day to get married next year.

Regarding the engagement and other pre-wedding procedures, these will have to continue after Jia Chen goes to Datong.

These matters are fine even if Jia Chen, the person involved, is not present, because it is mainly the male elders who are involved.

With Jia Zheng and Jia Zhen around, Jia Chen naturally didn't need to worry about these things.

Jia Chen felt a little regretful.

He was initially quite looking forward to this marriage.

It seems we'll have to wait until next year to see this beautiful woman.

Isn't this forcing myself to survive?

Then I need to work even harder; Qianshanbao must be managed well.

"Thank you, sir!" Jia Chen hurriedly shouted.

"No need to thank me, guarding Qianshan Fortress is the best thing we can do," Liu Tianwang said with a smile.

"Yes, sir. I will certainly not disappoint you."

Jia Chen and Liu Tianwang returned to Datong ahead of everyone else on horseback, while the others would have to walk for several more days.

"So many people?" Jia Mao was startled.

He saw that there were more than four hundred people at Qianshanbao.

Jia Chen was also very surprised. When they returned to Beijing, there were only a little over a hundred people in Qianshandun.

Jia Chen quickly figured it out.

During their return to Beijing, Wang Baisheng and his group went to various friends, especially those from their own village or neighboring villages with whom they had good relations, to recruit people.

The food and drink options in Qianshanbao are now guaranteed, making it quite attractive.

In addition, Wang Baisheng and others had made great contributions in the previous victory at Qianshandun, and some were promoted and others received rewards, which made many people tempted.

After being plundered by the Chahar tribe, many people were on the verge of starvation.

If there's food to eat at Qianshandun, we don't care about the danger.

On the expansion site, everyone was working enthusiastically.

Whether the Qianshandun can be completed quickly and whether it is sturdy are related to their future safety.

"Second Uncle, what's wrong? Is something on your mind?" Jia Mao asked when he saw Jia Chen's furrowed brows.

"It's nothing," Jia Chen smiled.

Sun Tiechong just came to see me and said that the grain stored here in Qianshanbao won't last for more than a few days.

The population surged so quickly that food supplies were being consumed too rapidly.

This left Jia Chen with mixed feelings of joy and worry.

The good news is that we now have enough manpower to expand the fortress; the bad news is that such a large workforce is a huge drain on resources.

Liu Tianwang did give him some silver, but that was allocated based on a scale of 300 people.

There are currently over 400 people, and the extra 100-plus people's food and pay is a shortfall.

Jia Chen had no intention of kicking the person out.

For him, the most important thing now is to establish a firm foothold in Qianshanbao and Beidonglu.

If you want to gain a foothold, you definitely need to have enough troops.

Fortunately, he still has a sum of gold and jade jewelry, which will allow him to make ends meet for a while.

As for the issue of provisions and pay, Jia Chen had some ideas in mind.

However, that's all for the future. We can only take the next step once Qianshanbao has stabilized.

On the third day after returning to Qianshan Fort, Jia Chen led a few men to Desheng Fort to ask Liu Tianwang for money and grain.

As for Zhenqiang Fort, Jia Chen had no plans and it was impossible for him to get this support.

When they asked for people before, He Liding only gave them so few. What else can they expect?

The only option left is to go find Liu Tianwang.

On the way back, Jia Chen mentioned to Liu Tianwang the issues of manpower and provisions for Qianshanbao, hoping to receive more support.

Liu Tianwang agreed.

Therefore, Jia Chen wondered if the quota for Qianshan Fort could be increased, for example, by allocating rations and pay to 400 people.

At the same time, Jia Chen also needed to see if he could buy some grain at the market.

Previously, Liu Tianwang had given Qianshanbao some grain, but in addition, he had given Jia Chen more in the form of silver in cash.

Jia Chen didn't really approve of this approach.

Because in this town, grain prices have remained high, especially after the looting, which caused prices to skyrocket.

Money doesn't last long.

But there's nothing we can do about it; giving us this much money is already quite generous.

Therefore, the main problem of food supply for Qianshanbao will be to purchase it with silver.

There isn't much grain in Zhenqiangbao, but Deshengbao, as a road town and the residence of the military commander, is larger and safer, and there are several grain shops inside.

Jia Chen originally intended to find Liu Tianwang first, but when he went to the military commander's residence, he was told that Liu Tianwang had gone to another fortified city and would probably not be back until later.

So Jia Chen decided to go buy grain first.

After asking at several grain shops in the city, Jia Chen found the prices too high and hesitated to buy.

"This is the last one," Sun Tiechong said. "It's not a local business; the owner is said to be from Suzhou in Jiangnan."

Sun Tiechong was quite familiar with this area, so Jia Chen let him come along.

Looking at the grain shop in front of him, named "Lin's Grain Shop," Jia Chen felt a sense of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a complex feeling of mixed emotions, including nostalgia and reflection).

Even if grain prices are low here, they probably won't be that low.

Money probably doesn't last long.

"Gentlemen, are you here to buy grain?" the shop assistant hurriedly greeted the two men as they entered.

"That's right, we need a lot. You should call your manager out; you can't make that decision yourself," Sun Tiechong said.

He had barely finished speaking when a voice came from the inner room: "How much do you need?"

The curtain was lifted, and a thin, middle-aged man of about fifty years old came out.

"I am the manager here. Didn't you just buy a lot of grain from Sun's Grain Shop a few days ago, General? Isn't it enough?" the manager asked again.

Although the imperial court sent a batch of grain for disaster relief, it was still not enough.

Liu Tianwang was new to the area and needed to stabilize his troops, so he naturally paid close attention to their food and pay.

Jia Chen was not surprised that the army would buy food from these grain shops when it was short of food.

"We're not from Deshengbao," Jia Chen said with a smile.

"Oh?" the shopkeeper said with a smile. "May I ask which fortress you two are from?"

It was common for people from other fortified towns along the North-East Road to come to Desheng Fort to buy grain.

"Qianshan Fortress," Jia Chen replied.

There's nothing to hide about this; after buying the grain, the grain store has to send someone to deliver it to our door.

"Qianshan Fortress?!" the shopkeeper exclaimed in surprise. "Is that the Qianshan Fortress that Commander Jia is building?"

"This is our centurion," Sun Tiechong said.

"Haha~~~" the shopkeeper laughed heartily, staring at Jia Chen and shouting, "We're family! We're family!"