Courtyard House: I Rely on Time-Space Trade to Build a Nation

The train was heading west. Zhao Ping'an leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes to rest.

There was a knock on the door, and a guard came in and handed over a telegram.

"Chief, they're from Khmer."

Zhao Ping'an opened his eyes and took it.

The telegram contained only a few lines of text. He glanced at it, and a smile immediately appeared on his lips.

Hotel seat:

I'm just letting you know. I've been in Cambodia for a year now, and I'm doing alright here, learning from Commander Wang and Brother Bao Guo's methods.

Agriculture flourished, connections were established with Chinese merchants, and even Lou Bancheng's ships could cross the border. Medical care and education were improved, ensuring that ordinary people had food, clothing, and access to healthcare.

Prince Siha saw that I was doing a good job and gave me the rank of major general. Now I command an army of more than 20,000 men.

As the year draws to a close, I'd like to wish you a happy Chinese New Year and good health!

Liu Dazhu

After reading the telegram, Zhao Pingan folded it up and chuckled softly, muttering a curse.

"This kid has really made something of himself."

Let's go back a year to when Liu Dazhu led his men into Cambodia. The scene he saw was even worse than he had imagined.

The common people were so poor that they had no food to eat and no clothes to wear.

The children on the roadside were running around naked, so thin that you could count their ribs one by one.

Years of war had left the land barren and uncultivated. The Red Cotton Clan clamored for war against the local tyrants.

In the end, they got nothing, so they could only rob money and food, and then run away.

Liu Dazhu squatted by the roadside and looked around for a long time. He said to the battalion commander next to him, "This is even worse than when we were first liberated."

The battalion commander asked, "Regimental commander, what should we do?"

Liu Dazhu thought for a moment and said, "According to the leader's plan, we should get the grain first."

He went to Prince Siha to ask for land.

Prince Siha was worried about how to promote high-yield seeds; it wasn't that he didn't want to promote them, but that he couldn't.

A number of local officials were killed by the Red Cotton Movement, and the rest couldn't control their areas. They wanted to promote the seeds, but nobody believed them, and nobody planted them.

Having figured out the details, Liu Dazhu spoke frankly.

"Your Highness, if you can't promote the seeds, I'll help you. Give me a piece of land and I'll plant a batch first, then let the people see the results. Once they have tangible evidence, they'll naturally believe it, and with a higher harvest, they'll be begging us to sell them the seeds in the future..."

Xihaqin thought it was a good idea, so he designated several villages and tens of thousands of acres of land near the camp for Liu Dazhu.

The land and seeds were available, but the manpower was insufficient. After all, although most of the three thousand warriors were from peasant backgrounds, they also had to protect the prince and conduct daily training, so they couldn't spare many people. Therefore, Liu Dazhu began to hire people.

He first sent a telegram to Lou Bancheng, requesting that a batch of grain, salt, and cloth be shipped over first.

The unloading of the goods at the port caused quite a commotion.

Liu Dazhu arranged for the instructor to accompany the translator and carry these items to hire local people to plant potatoes.

For a day's work, not only are meals provided, but also grain. If you don't want grain but ask for salt and cloth, you'll be given those too.

The common people had never seen such a generous person before, so they tentatively tried to do it.

The job was done, and they actually gave me the goods; they didn't cheat or rip me off.

After a while, some people started to believe it.

At the port, members of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce watch the goods come and go every day.

Some people couldn't sit still any longer and sent representatives to ask questions.

"Where did you get all this stuff from? Can we take some to resell?"

Liu Dazhu looked at the person who came in, who spoke Chinese, and after clarifying his background, he naturally agreed.

After all, this was part of Zhao Ping'an's original plan: to unite more Chinese people, which would naturally make things much easier.

"Sure. I can give you some of the goods, and I can also help you contact the supplier. You can discuss it directly."

"But there are two."

First, if you buy goods from me, you have to leave me some profit. What I mean is, you are strictly prohibited from engaging in the practice of selling at a lower price than mine, which is detrimental to your business. Otherwise, I will cancel your share.

Second, there are some things you can't touch. I'll make agreements with you in advance. For example, if I designate a certain area for potatoes to be harvested, you must abide by that.

The Chinese representative nodded. Then he asked another question.

"We have no security in doing business. Your soldiers helped us when they saw us being bullied last time. Can you continue to help us in the future?"

Liu Dazhu's interest was piqued. "What happened?"

"Those Red Cotton gang rob us whenever they see us. The police are useless; we're completely helpless."

Liu Dazhu was just looking for an excuse, "You're doing legitimate business in my jurisdiction, and I'll definitely protect you. If the police don't work, come to me. In fact, if you've identified the other party's hideout, just let us know, and we can come and raid it."

The Chinese representatives left in high spirits.

Three months later, the first batch of potatoes was harvested.

Because the care was poor, the yield per mu was barely three thousand jin.

The people hired to farm the land watched as basket after basket of potatoes were dug out of the ground and piled up into small mountains.

Liu Dazhu distributed 20% to them according to the rules. This was agreed upon from the beginning; 30% was to be handed over to Prince Xiha as land tax.

Liu Dazhu provided the remaining seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and even soldiers driving tractors to help, and also taught them planting methods, so Liu Dazhu took 50%.

Someone did the math: if one person plants ten mu (approximately 0.67 hectares), they can get six thousand jin (approximately 3,000 kg) of potatoes. A family simply can't finish them all.

These people took their allotted potatoes home, and the whole village came to see them. They had never seen so much grain, nor such honest and kind people.

The news spread.

The villagers came to us on their own initiative: "Sir, can you sell us the seeds? We want to grow them ourselves!"

The high-yield seeds were thus promoted.

In the past few months, the businesses of Chinese business owners have also been doing much better.

Some of the goods come from Lou Bancheng, so there's no worry about the supply. Domestic light industrial consumer goods are simply outmatched here.

At the same time, Liu Dazhu's men were truly capable and helpful when trouble arose. No one dared to bully them anymore.

The Chinese businessmen felt that following Commander Liu meant a promising future.

However, Liu Dazhu only had three thousand men, and he was also responsible for Prince Siha's security, daily training, and guarding the fields. He couldn't manage all the areas.

There are tens of thousands of people in Hongmian, so three thousand is simply not enough.

After discussing it, the Chinese merchants took the initiative to approach him, hoping to send their sons to join the army, which was exactly what Liu Dazhu wanted.

He reported this to Prince Siha.

Prince Siha now has grain in his hands and tax revenue from Chinese merchants, and he's planning to expand his army and reclaim the Khmer Rouge region.

The initial formation consisted of a division of nearly 10,000 men. There were two local brigades and one Chinese brigade, with the ratio of Chinese to locals in the Chinese brigade being roughly 1:1.

But the Chinese were educated and quick learners, and soon they stood out from the crowd and became grassroots cadres such as squad leaders and platoon leaders.

After three months of training, these militiamen went out for a drill and wiped out the surrounding small groups of people.

Especially the Chinese brigade, although they only used the same Type 38 rifles and other equipment captured domestically as Wang Yaowu's group,

Their combat strength was actually overwhelming, even with the artillery support of Liu Dazhu's volunteer army.

They could hear and execute instructions correctly, though they barely managed to achieve artillery coordination.

Because the new recruits didn't quite trust the artillery, they were often a step behind.

However, everything depended on the contrast with their counterparts. The reaction time of the opposing forces was far greater than that of the volunteer army. Often, after a barrage of artillery fire, only the elite troops could recover within 5 minutes and launch a counterattack, while the scattered and disorganized soldiers simply collapsed.

So, they still achieved a crushing victory, which made Liu Dazhu and other veterans who had been on the northern battlefield complain non-stop—in 5 minutes, the volunteer army had already reached the enemy's second line of defense.

But all of this was observed by Prince Siha's observers, who reported back that "their combat strength is extremely strong, even overwhelming the regular army."

After cleaning up the surrounding area and ensuring basic safety,

The medical staff and teachers sent by Zhao Dongliang have also arrived.

Goods from Loubancheng are being shipped here boatload after boatload. Salt, cloth, matches, soap, fertilizer, pesticides, cement, sugar...

Clinics were opened, and schools were established.

The lives of ordinary people began to change.

First, there was food to eat—the potatoes were harvested, and we had our fill.

Then there was salt available—salt was cheap in Loubancheng, and every household could afford it.

Then you can eat meat—from pigs raised on farms, because a batch is slaughtered six months later.

Then you can see a doctor—medical staff opened clinics, and someone takes care of headaches and fevers.

Even children can go to school—public schools, where anyone who wants to learn can attend.

Under Liu Dazhu's sharp combination of punches

People started running towards Hongmian from there.

At first, it was just a few here and there, out of curiosity. I'd heard there were high-yield grain varieties, and I wanted to see if I could get some to take back with me.

After learning the facts here...

Later, they came in droves. More than a thousand soldiers surrendered, and countless civilians did as well.

When asked why they ran over, the person gave a very direct answer.

"They're just shouting slogans over there, but we have real stuff here. We have food, meat, salt, medical care, and our children can go to school. Only a fool wouldn't run away."

The cotton trees suffered repeated defeats, and their territory shrank more and more.

Prince Siha's regime gradually became more stable.

So Prince Siha summoned Liu Dazhu and awarded him a medal.

"General Liu, I have seen everything you have done this year."

He counts them one by one.

"The north is stable now, and the kapok trees have been driven away."

"A bumper harvest ensures stability for the people."

"Although the tax is only 30%, the total amount is more than double what it used to be."

"Chinese businessmen return home with their hearts, and their commercial success becomes evident."

"They trained nearly 10,000 militiamen with outstanding combat capabilities."

"Based on your merits, you should be promoted to lieutenant general. But some people object, feeling that you are an outsider and have been promoted too quickly."

"Therefore, I will temporarily trouble you to be promoted to Major General. You will still be fully responsible for matters in the north."

Especially after the bumper harvest, I hope you will form another division and use it to basically wipe out the domestic opposition within two years.

After Liu Dazhu returned, the battalion commander asked him, "Sir, what does this mean?"

Liu Dazhu replied with a smile, "It means we've completely secured this position. I need to report this to the commander!"

When the news spread, Chinese businessmen and local residents were even happier.

Commander Liu has become a general, so I don't need to worry about my good days disappearing.