Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 317 Newborn Calf
"The first batch of students going to the countryside has ended. I hope to see results..."

In mid-October, Liu Jilong stood in the National Cemetery on Phoenix Mountain, muttering as he poured the wine in his hand onto the tombstone and wiped it with his hands.

Standing behind him were Chen Ying, Cao Mao and Zhang Chang, and the tombstone he was wiping was the tombstone of his former comrades Zhao Qian and others.

After he finished wiping Zhao Qian's tombstone, he stood up, stepped back, and looked up at the entire National Cemetery.

There were thousands of tombstones in front of him. These were the brothers who came with him from Hexi and sacrificed their lives for him.

In recent years, Longyou has been peaceful and no wars have occurred, so the number of tombstones in the National Cemetery has not increased.

But troubled times are coming soon, and there will be more and more tombstones on Phoenix Mountain.

Although the troubled times had not yet begun, Liu Jilong seemed to have already seen that scene in his mind.

He was very conflicted in his heart. Sometimes he longed for the chaotic times to come soon so that he could dominate the world. After ending the chaotic times as soon as possible, he could lead the people of the world into a prosperous era.

But sometimes, especially when facing the tombstones in Phoenix Mountain, he was a little afraid of the coming of troubled times.

He knew that when the troubled times came, Longyou would inevitably move eastward under his leadership, and moving eastward and fighting for hegemony would inevitably result in casualties.

With so many young men from Longyou, it is not a question of how many he can take out, but it is a question of how many he can bring back.

"Chen Ying..."

"The general is here!"

Liu Jilong spoke, and Chen Ying, who had returned from Liangzhou, quickly agreed.

"How did you feel after you led the troops back home after the expedition to Juyanhai?"

"Feelings?" Liu Jilong's question made Chen Ying stunned for a moment, and then her face showed a complicated expression:

"Some of them were afraid to come back at first, especially in Lanzhou and Linzhou...so most of the brothers who died in the battle were from these two states."

"Cao Mao, what about you?" Liu Jilong continued to ask. Cao Mao opened his mouth and finally nodded and said, "I feel the same as Chen Ying."

Liu Jilong did not ask Zhang Chang, but took a deep breath and then said, "Yes!"

"We took them out and failed to bring them back. How can we face them?"

Zhang Chang and the other two knew exactly who he was referring to. They were the relatives of the martyrs who were wiping the tombstones for their loved ones in the cemetery at that moment.

The three of them were in low spirits, but at this time Liu Jilong said:
"I often tell myself... we are sorry for them, but we are worthy of the people of Longyou."

"They sacrificed their lives to bring peace to Longyou, so we should not forget them."

"The era of great strife is coming, and the move eastward is imperative. In this battle, the number of brothers we will lose is several times or even dozens of times more than before."

"Pass on my military order..." Liu Jilong took a deep breath, closed his eyes and thought, then said:

"The number of soldiers in the four towns of Minzhou, Lanzhou, Kuozhou, and Hezhou has increased to 4,500!"

"The last general takes command!"

The three men bowed in response upon hearing this, and they also knew what would happen to Longyou after the increase in the number of troops in the four towns.

Previously, among the fourteen towns in Longyou, only six were fully staffed. Now, four more towns have been added, which means that the number of soldiers in the Longyou army has reached more than 53,000.

Of course, the increase in troops also brought new problems, namely the increase in military expenditure.

Therefore, when Liu Jilian ordered to return to the Protectorate, Gao Jinda and Cui Shu had been waiting in the main hall for a long time.

"General Jie, do you want to expand the army?"

"General Jie, is it possible that the imperial court is planning to take action against us?"

Gao Jinda and Cui Shu asked, but Liu Jilong did not respond immediately. Instead, he walked to the main seat and sat down.

"There are fourteen garrisons in Longyou, each with 4,500 soldiers. This was decided after we recovered Liangzhou."

"The most ideal situation is that all fourteen regiments are fully staffed, with 63,000 soldiers under their command."

"Before this, the Protectorate had no Silk Road income, so I only granted full staffing to the six towns."

"Now that we have the Silk Road to provide our army with a steady stream of wealth, it is not a bad idea to fully staff the General's Town to become ten towns."

After Liu Jilong finished speaking, Gao Jinda and Cui Shu looked at each other, then nodded and said, "Your subordinate obeys your order..."

Now that they knew the whole story, they no longer had any other questions.

After all, after the opening of the Silk Road, Longyou's wealth accumulated rapidly, not to mention that Liu Jilian now allowed Longyou's surplus grain to be sold outside.

As the two of them were thinking this, Liu Jilong also asked, "How is the autumn tax statistics going?"

"We haven't calculated it yet, but we can at least collect 4 million shi of autumn tax this year."

Gao Jinda responded to the question and then said, "In the trade with Xichuan, more than 37,000 goods have flowed in in the past month."

"Among them, only the first batch of more than 8,000 people went north, and the rest of the people are in Songzhou."

"There is enough coal and food in the warehouse of Songzhou Yamen, and these people can basically survive the cold winter."

"However, Xichuan is still constantly migrating refugees. After the spring comes, the more than 200,000 dan of grain stored in Songzhou will probably be consumed."

"At that time, we will need to transport grain from Minzhou to Songzhou, and then from Linzhou to Minzhou."

“In addition, the influx of civilians next year will also determine how much grain the government can sell after the spring.”

"I have calculated that for every civilian that comes in, the Protectorate needs to spend six stones of grain to accommodate them."

"Most of the food for resettlement is purchased from the market, but the food on the market is limited."

"By then, more food will be used, and there will be less food to buy and sell to Jiannan Province and Gyeonggi Province."

What Gao Jinda was talking about was the current problem of grain transportation in Longyou.

Assuming that Longyou produces 10 million shi of grain this year, then the tax will be 4 million shi, and the people will be left with 6 million shi.

But the problem was that many people in Longyou had stored grain during the peaceful years. So after they exchanged the new grain for the old grain and kept their own rations, the remaining grain would be purchased by the local county government.

The amount of this excess old grain can basically be calculated through arithmetic.

The minimum intake for adults is six shi per year, while for children who have not yet reached adulthood, it is four and a half shi.

Through this formula, the Protectorate could basically know in advance how many shi of grain it could sell each year.

The purchase of these grains will help stabilize grain prices in Longyou.

However, if too many people flock in, and the local government purchases grain and there is not enough grain on the market, the price of grain will be raised.

Gao Jinda was worried that after the Protectorate sold the grain, too many people would pour in, causing a shortage of food in the local area.

He naturally had a solution, but he still had to ask Liu Jilong about this matter.

Liu Jilong did not keep him waiting for long, but said directly: "Just reserve 500,000 shi, and sell the rest to Xichuan, Guannei Road, and Gyeonggi Road as usual."

Taking advantage of the soaring food prices in foreign countries, they took the opportunity to plunder wealth and accumulate military expenses for the future.

Anyway, as long as we have the basic base of Longyou, and as long as we don't try to swallow up more of it, it will be difficult for us to run out of food and grass.

As the imperial court increased taxes three times, production in various regions was basically destroyed. Only the financially independent vassal states such as Longyou and Heshuo were not affected.

Stable production is the basis for competing for the world, and Longyou already has this foundation. What needs to be done next is to wait for the right time.

However, waiting for the right time is not a good idea, so Liu Jilong prefers to take the initiative.

Thinking of this, he looked at Cui Shu, and after sorting out his thoughts, he took the initiative to say:

"Keep a close eye on Wang Shi, and send someone to find out about the refugees in Henan, Huainan, and Jiangnan."

"Yes!" Cui Shu bowed and responded. Liu Jilong waved his hand and said, "Everyone, leave!"

The two men bowed and left, and Liu Jilong also stood up and walked towards the inner courtyard.

Half a month later, Baohan County in Hezhou, 200 miles away from Linzhou, was covered inside and out by the first snow.

"Finally home……"

On horseback, a young man in a cloak exhaled a puff of white mist, then shook the reins and entered Baohan City.

As the seat of Hezhou, Baohan County is undoubtedly one of the most prosperous cities in Longyou.

However, faced with the bustling streets, the young man did not linger, but shook the reins of his horse and went to the back door of the Hezhou government office, dismounted and knocked on the back door.

With the creaking sound of the wooden door, two soldiers pushed open the back door and looked the young man up and down.

"I'm back!"

The young man took off his cloak, revealing his original face and figure.

The two soldiers kept looking at him, some of them not daring to confirm the identity of the person in front of them.

"Zhang Quan, Liu Mao... do you recognize me now?"

The young man sighed helplessly. The two soldiers' eyes lit up when they heard his words and they bowed and saluted: "Young envoy, you are back!"

In Hezhou, the only person who can be called the Little Envoy is Ma Yi, who has just returned home from his trip to the countryside.

Ma Yi sighed and said helplessly: "How come you two have learned to judge people by their appearance?"

"Hehe... you've changed so much that we two brothers really can't recognize you..."

Zhang Quan and Liu Mao laughed dryly in reply. Ma Yi was not angry either. He just walked inside and said without looking back, "From now on, just call me by my courtesy name or Da Lang. Don't call me Little Envoy!"

Seeing him walking towards the inner courtyard, Zhang Quan and Liu Mao looked at each other in surprise.

After Ma Yi walked away, Liu Mao stroked his beard and said, "Young envoy, you have changed a lot..."

"Not only are they big, if you hadn't called us by our names, I would have thought we were country bumpkins from the city!" "But the young envoy was much nicer to us this time. How hard must it be to go to the countryside to end up like this..."

"Don't worry about it. Just keep calling me Little Envoy next time. When you ask us to change the name, it won't be too late to do so then."

While the two were talking, Ma Yi had already pushed open the inner door. He then bowed to the two maids guarding the inner door in the inner courtyard, and only then did the two maids recognize him.

"The little envoy is back!"

"Xijun, the little envoy is back!"

Soon, the voices of the two maids rang out in the inner courtyard, and the sound of something falling down was also heard in the inner courtyard's side rooms.

A forty-year-old woman walked out of the wing room with two girls aged twelve or thirteen and a boy aged five or six, and their eyes met with Ma Yi who walked into the inner courtyard.

"Dalang!"

The woman came forward and hugged Ma Yi excitedly, while the two women also came forward and shouted with a smile: "Brother."

The boy, who was about five or six years old, hid behind the two women and was a little at a loss when faced with Ma Yi's sudden appearance.

"Mother, eldest sister, second sister, Silang... I'm back."

Ma Yi smiled and responded to the four people. Dou Shi also slowly let go of Ma Yi, looked at him with satisfaction and said:
"Yes, he has grown darker, but he is much stronger and more polite."

Dou was Ma Cheng's first wife. She followed Ma Cheng from Jiuquan to Shandan, and from Shandan to Wuquan, and finally settled in Baohan County, Hezhou.

Although she was born into a peasant family, she knew that she should not spoil her children. She hoped that her children could have a skill and live a safe and peaceful life.

Although Ma Cheng always said that she was petty, he never left her side.

Even after becoming a governor, Ma Cheng only took two concubines and placed them in the West Flower Hall. He still respected and relied on Dou.

"Mother, where is Aye?"

Ma Yi looked around, and Dou smiled and said, "He went to the south of the city. Today, a group of immigrants arrived at Pingyi Township, 20 miles south of the city. I guess they will not come back until dark."

"Tell me what you want to eat and I'll cook it for you!"

"I don't want to eat anything." Ma Yi shook his head. Seeing this, Dou frowned as she touched his rough cloth clothes.
"Why are you back wearing coarse cloth? Go to the bathhouse and wash yourself, then change into a brocade robe before coming out again."

"It's okay, mother. I'm used to wearing it." Ma Yi was reluctant to change his coarse cloth clothes now because they were sewn for him by Ma's mother stitch by stitch.

Even if I want to change it, it's not now, especially since this set of cloth is still new.

"Well, if you don't want to change it, then don't change it."

No one knows a son better than his mother. Dou could feel the changes in Ma Yi, and he was happy to see these changes.

She pulled Ma Yi to the main hall of the inner courtyard and sat down, and her two sisters and the boy followed them into the inner hall.

When Ma Yi saw the boy, he immediately hugged him in his arms and said, "Silang, why don't you recognize me as your brother?"

"Ah! Mother..."

Silang was frightened and cried by Ma Yi's sudden action, which made Ma Yi very embarrassed. He had no choice but to let go of this brother who once loved to pester him the most.

Silang ran to Dou and was held in her arms and coaxed.

After Silang stopped crying, Dou explained, "You've been away for almost two years. He has long forgotten you."

"Children are like this, they can't remember things. If you play with them for a few months, you will become familiar with them."

After she finished speaking, Dou began to ask about Ma Yi's life in the countryside over the past two years.

Ma Yi also told the truth about this.

Life in the countryside was indeed very hard in the early days, and Ma Yi was unfamiliar with the place. He wanted to give up several times and even thought that his own general and former instructor were deliberately making things difficult for these children of officials.

But as time went by, when Ma Yi got used to life in Yongchang Village, he felt that going to the countryside was not so boring, and even found it very interesting.

Of course, clearing the land is still as hard as before, but since my palms are already calloused, it’s not as painful anymore.

As they became more familiar with each other, Ma Yi remembered many things, but he kept them all in his heart and did not talk to Li Yangchun and the others.

Now that he had returned home, Ma Yi smiled and said to his mother:
"When good times last for too long, we forget about them."

"This time when I went to the countryside, I thought of you many times. I thought of how you took me to farm the land, and how I carried Sanlang on my back, held Erlang's hand, and went herding with you."

"You still remember?" Dou was also very surprised. She thought that her son Dalang had forgotten the hard days they had experienced.

"I forgot about it before, but I remembered it again when I went to the countryside this time."

Ma Yi did not shy away from this, with a hint of nostalgia in his eyes: "It was very hard back then. You, Aye and Yeye took turns herding and farming, but the herds and food were basically given to the nobles in Jiuquan. We could not even get enough to eat."

"It got better later. Zhang Hexi led his troops from Shazhou and Aye also followed the general to join the army."

"Later, our family moved to Shandan, and we haven't had any hardship since then."

Seeing that Ma Yi explained it so clearly, Dou couldn't help but smile and said, "Life was hard before, but it was also very fulfilling."

"I'm idle at home now. I feel a little unwell. I have nothing to do every day..."

Although Dou said so, she would never want to go back to the hard days she had in the past.

While I was thinking, footsteps were heard outside the hall.

"I heard Dalang is back?!"

Before the person arrived, the voice had already reached the hall.

Without waiting for everyone to react, Ma Cheng stepped into the hall and set his eyes on Ma Yi.

"Okay, I've become darker, but I've also become more of a man!"

"Aye..."

Ma Cheng praised his own Dalang, and Ma Yi, who was also Dalang, also stood up and bowed respectfully.

Ma Cheng nodded, then looked at Dou: "Take Silang and the others to the side room to play, and have someone prepare wine and food. I have something to tell Dalang."

"Okay," Dou agreed, then stood up and walked out with her two daughters and youngest son.

Seeing them walk into the wing room, Ma Cheng walked to the main seat and sat down, saying arbitrarily:
"When you come back this time, I will find a way to get your uncle Cui to keep you in Hezhou as a soldier."

"You will be a soldier of the Protectorate, and you will just have to guard the government office every day..."

"Aye!" Ma Yi interrupted his own Aye and said stubbornly:

"If we do this, then what is the meaning of us going to the countryside to serve as soldiers and officials?"

Ma Cheng obviously did not expect that Ma Yi, who was always obedient, would refute him. He was somewhat relieved, but also a little angry.

He poured himself a cup of tea, and then continued: "I have been to the countryside and served as a soldier."

"I can't control your going to the countryside. It was Marshal Jie who designated you to go to Liangzhou. I can't interfere. But I can interfere with your military service."

"I left you in Hezhou to serve in the army so that your mother could see you at any time, but you still have to follow the daily training in the barracks."

"I won't deliberately protect you just because you are my son, and..."

"Aren't you shielding someone?" Ma Yi couldn't help but question, which made Ma Cheng angry.

"boom--"

He slammed the table and stood up, frowning and scolding: "Do you think I'm the only one who does this?"

"You go to a military camp in another state. Do you think no one will help you?"

"With me here, no matter where you go to serve in the army, someone will know you."

"When you are not in front of me, there will be more people protecting you, and they will be more powerful!"

Ma Cheng’s idea was very simple. Since there would be people who would take care of Ma Yi wherever he went for his sake, it would be better to let Ma Yi stay by his side.

However, Ma Yi was dissatisfied and said, "Then I will go to Didao and the Protectorate!"

"You little bastard!" Ma Cheng glared at him, then grabbed the fu hat off his head.

Ma Yi was stunned, not because Ma Cheng was angry, but because most of Ma Cheng's hair had turned gray.

Before I knew it, my father, who used to be so strong and capable, had actually grown so old...

Noticing Ma Yi's gaze, Ma Cheng also reacted, and calmly put his fu head back on, then snorted coldly:
"I'm sincerely helping you, but you don't appreciate it. When you go to the military camp and get ridiculed by others, don't blame me for not reminding you!"

"I've heard enough of these sarcastic remarks!" Ma Yi shouted. After all, the officials in Liang Province already knew about this little envoy Ma before he even went there.

From the officials of Fanhe County to Wang Zhao, the inspector of Dadou Township, and the rumors in the village...

He thought he had accepted everything, so he had the courage to go out.

Looking at Ma Yi, who was fearless like a newborn calf, Ma Cheng shook his head, and finally sat back in his seat and hummed, "Let's wait and see!"

As a person who had experienced it, Ma Cheng knew very well that compared with the rumors in the countryside, the weird atmosphere in the military camp was more uncomfortable.

Since this kid wants to try, I hope he can grit his teeth and get through the two years of military service.

Thinking of this, Ma Cheng looked outside and said, "Lady, your husband and daughter are starving to death, where is the food?!"

Not even half a breath had passed since the words were spoken, when Dou's fierce voice was heard:

"You peasant, if you keep yelling, I'll chop you up with that broken knife of yours tonight!!"

Ma Cheng was dissatisfied when he heard this and tried to shout something, but in the end he just shrank his neck and admitted his defeat...

(End of this chapter)