Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 318 Lingxi is sick
"Boom——"

In the twelfth lunar month, when the noble and commoner families were preparing New Year's goods to celebrate the New Year, thunder rumbled among the snow-capped mountains in Longyou.

Dust, which was very different from the white snow, rose up and soon fell down again...

"Cough cough!"

A coughing sounded in the valley. Cui Shu reached out his hand to pat the dust that could not be dispersed, and said to Liu Jilong in front of him:

"General Jie, it's so cold, there's no need for you to come here in person."

Liu Jilong, who was standing in front of him, chuckled when he heard this, then turned around and said jokingly, "If I don't know anything, what's the point of being a general?"

At this moment, the two of them were on the newly built official road from Minzhou to Chengzhou.

Minzhou and Chengzhou are very close, but due to the separation of mountains and rivers, one must go south through Hanxia to Dangzhou, and then take a detour to Minzhou.

The round trip distance was nearly 500 miles, and many places were narrow and rugged, making it inconvenient for the transportation of goods and materials.

For this reason, when gunpowder was used to expand and repair official roads, Liu Jilian ordered the construction of three important official roads.

The first was to expand and repair the Sanxie Road from Shanzhou to Ganzhou, and the second was to repair the Weizhou-Chengzhou official road that was abandoned halfway through construction by the Tubo in the past.

The third official road, which is the one where Liu Jilong and his party were, is the Minzhou-Chengzhou official road with a total length of less than 300 miles.

After five years of construction, the Mincheng official road was finally opened today. It is 284 miles long and three meters wide. The road was compacted with stone rollers and is very solid.

With this official road, Chengzhou could receive support from Weizhou, Minzhou and Chengzhou, and could attack or defend.

"General Jie! The dangerous cliff ahead has collapsed!"

Suddenly, an excited and respectful voice came from the front.

When Liu Jilong heard this, he looked and saw that the dangerous cliff above the dirt road in front of him had collapsed, and now it was just rubble on the dirt road.

Now all we need to do is push the gravel to the side of the dirt road and compact the dirt road, then the official road will be passable.

Although it was built very simply and not as strict as the straight road built by the imperial court, it was sufficient for internal transportation in Longyou.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong asked the official in front of him who was wearing a wooden rattan helmet, "No one was injured, right?"

"No!" the official responded quickly. Liu Jilong walked forward and saw hundreds of workers had already started clearing the rubble.

They were wearing winter clothes made of two pieces of thick cloth stuffed with willow catkins to keep out the cold.

Whenever Liu Jilong saw these willow catkin winter clothes, he missed cotton very much, so he couldn't help but look at Cui Shu:
"Did the people Wang Tao and his team sent to Yazhou bring back any news?"

"No." Cui Shu shook his head without thinking, which made Liu Jilong sigh.

After Zhang Huaishen took over Xizhou, Liu Jilian obtained cotton from him, but the cotton in the Western Regions was obviously very different from the cotton in later generations.

The cotton of later generations was very fluffy, producing 200 or even 500 kilograms per acre, and high-quality land could provide even higher yields.

However, the cotton Liu Jilian obtained from the depths of Zhanghuai was different from that in later generations. First of all, the cotton bolls were very small, only the size of a thumb nail, and there were many seeds inside the bolls, which there was no technology in this era to handle.

In addition, the yield is very low, only about 20 kilograms per mu, and this is the yield in the suitable area of Gaochang, Xizhou. If it is introduced to other places, the yield will be lower than the arable land, or even impossible to grow.

There is only so little fiber, and it is very picky about the land, and there is no technology that can solve the problem...

It is no wonder that although the Han and Tang dynasties discovered the benefits of cotton, they did not plant it on a large scale.

It was for this reason that Liu Jilong completely gave up on introducing cotton from the Western Regions and turned his attention to Hainan's Li cotton.

There are two routes for the introduction of cotton, one from the northwest and the other from the southwest.

After cotton was introduced to the Central Plains, almost no one cultivated it and everyone treated it as an ornamental plant.

The only people who cultivated cotton were the Li people on Hainan Island, who lacked textiles.

Due to the lack of textiles, they began to cultivate cotton and adapt it to Hainan's climate.

It happened that at this time Huang Dao Po learned the cotton spinning technology of the Li people, which brought about technological innovation, while the coastal land in the south was salinized and other crops could not be grown.

At this time, the Li ethnic group's bred cotton brought by Huang Dao Po came into everyone's attention because of its salt tolerance. Finally, with the vigorous promotion of Zhu Yuanzhang in the early Ming Dynasty, Hainan cotton began to take root and sprout in various places.

Relying on the characteristics of Hainan cotton, the Ming army became one of the few dynasties in the Central Plains that penetrated deep into the Northeast.

Not only did he build the Jilin Shipyard at the location of Jilin in later generations, he also sent people north along the Heilongjiang River to the estuary and land on Sakhalin Island.

It is a pity that the subsequent rulers were incompetent. Not only did they abandon the shipyard, they also focused on appeasement in the Northeast and never thought of actively developing it.

Liu Jilong doesn’t know whether the Li people have now cultivated Hainan cotton that is salt-tolerant and drought-tolerant and has a yield far exceeding that of Western Region cotton, but even if they have not succeeded, it seems that they have been working on it for a long time.

It is much faster and more convenient to obtain cotton cultivation from Hainan than from the Western Regions.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong reminded Cui Shu: "If you have any news about Hainan cotton, tell me immediately."

"Yes..." Cui Shu agreed quickly, and at this time the gravel on the dirt road had been cleared up.

There are still a few stones as tall as a person left to be cleaned up, but there are already workers nearby with wooden hammers and iron chisels ready, so it shouldn't be a difficult task.

"Let's go and take a look at Minzhou."

"Yes!"

Liu Jilian took Cui Shu to Minzhou. Minzhou was under the jurisdiction of Li Ji, and Liu Jilian was very curious about how Li Ji managed Minzhou.

The terrain of Minzhou is naturally inferior to that of the six states of Longxi.

But if it is placed among the seven states in Longnan, its terrain is undoubtedly the best among the seven states.

Because of this, Minzhou was undoubtedly the leader among the seven states in Liu Jilian's migration plan.

Today, Minzhou has a population of more than 83,000, with three counties, twelve townships and forty-eight villages within its boundaries.

Therefore, on the way from Linzhou to Minzhou in the south, you can see smoke rising from villages every twenty miles, and you can also see people working in the wasteland around the villages.

Winter is very cold and the land is harder than in spring and autumn, but because the crops have died, it is easier to level the land, so people will not miss the opportunity to reclaim land in winter.

The saying "winter idleness turns into winter busyness, and the land is leveled" applies to most areas except in extremely cold weather.

Seeing that most of the immigrants were young and strong men and healthy women, Liu Jilong couldn't help but sigh.

"Jie Shuai?"

Cui Shu watched Liu Jilong rein in his horse and stop, and couldn't help but ask tentatively.

Liu Jilong pointed his whip at the people not far away and said with a sigh, "These are the people from Jiannan Road, right?"

"It should be both. After all, there weren't many people in Minzhou originally." Cui Shu nodded.

Today, Longyou has a population of over 800,000, of which one percent are Han people in Longyou, two percent are aboriginal people, and of the remaining 70%, 50% are immigrants from Jiannan Road, and the remaining 20% are immigrants from Shannan West Road and Guannei Road.

"As we travel south, we only see young and strong people in these villages, and rarely see the elderly and weak. I think those elderly and weak people died on the way of migration..."

Liu Jilong explained the reason for his sigh, and Cui Shu nodded in agreement after realizing what he said.

It was not easy to relocate people in this era. There was nothing wrong with relocating people from Xichuan to Longnan and Longxi. After all, the greening rate of Longxi and Longnan was very high at that time, and the climate was relatively pleasant.

But places like Shankuo and Liangzhou are more difficult to migrate to.

During the migration, many people died due to acclimatization. Most of them were the elderly and the weak, while the young and strong often survived to the end.

Of course, even if the young and strong can survive, if the environment is too different, they will suffer a serious illness later.

This is because the environment in Longyou during this era was relatively good. If it were the environment in Longyou in later generations, there would probably be more deaths.

Even so, many people fled to Longyou...

Liu Jilong shook the reins and continued to move southward, asking Cui Shu, "Are there any more refugees in the past few months?"

"Yes, but most of them are from Guannei Road and Shannan West Road. There are more than a thousand people every month."

As soon as Cui Shu finished speaking, there was a commotion behind the more than one hundred elite cavalrymen who were responsible for protecting Liu Jilong.

Liu Jilong and Cui Shu reined in their horses and looked back, only to see a brigade commander riding towards them with a letter in his hand.

"General, Ganzhou is urgent!"

Although the mountains were blocked by heavy snow, Ganzhou could go through the Hexi grassland, and Liangzhou could bypass Hongchiling, but the journey was longer and would take more time.

Liu Jilong took the letter, opened it and read it, then closed it.

"Envoy Zhang agreed to exchange horses for people. After the beginning of next spring, Ganzhou will drive 6,000 draft horses into Liangzhou."

"Send someone to tell Gao Jinda to build a horse ranch in advance and pick some strong men from the migrating population. He has no shortage of women."

Since we want to maintain the smooth flow of the Silk Road, then helping Zhang Huaishen to gain a foothold in Xizhou is a must.

Six thousand draft horses must be a considerable fortune for Hexi. It seems that Zhang Huaishen’s situation in Xizhou is not good, otherwise he would not be so anxious.

Since he had already made a profit from the price difference from him, he naturally had to ensure that the immigrants could travel to Xizhou safely.

Women are a resource in troubled times. Even if Zhang Huaishen killed all the Uighur men in Xizhou, he would not attack young women.

As long as there were enough men, Zhang Huaishen would go and plunder the Uighurs himself and help these immigrants settle down.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong shook the reins and continued to march south, followed closely by Cui Shu and his elite cavalry...

"open!!"

"Hahaha, give me money, give me money!" It was also the twelfth lunar month, when Longyou was covered in snow, Lingxi, thousands of miles away from Longyou, was extremely lively.

The temperature in the Tang Dynasty was much higher than in later generations. Even in the late Tang Dynasty, the temperature remained high.

Because of this, dozens of soldiers gathered in the military camp of Xuanhua County, the capital of Yongzhou in Lingxi, playing with dominoes in their hands.

Perhaps because they were too excited about playing cards, or because they were so angry after losing so much, they all bared their breasts and looked at the card table with ferocious faces.

Wang Xianzhi, the former lieutenant of the Tianping Army, sat in the main seat, with one foot on a stool, one hand holding dominoes, and a string of copper coins in front of him.

Wang Xianzhi's face was filled with smiles as he looked at the strings of copper coins, while the man who lost money in the bet said with envy:
"How about you lend me 500 coins to make up for the loss?"

"If you don't have the capital, get out!" Wang Xianzhi immediately put away his smile and waved his hand unhappily.

He has been on duty in Lingxi for two years. Now he is no longer the small colonel he used to be, but has become a general of the Tianping Army's garrison troops and one of the eight generals of Lingxi.

When he first went south, he was reluctant to go because he couldn't adapt to the climate and soil in Guizhou.

However, after suffering from acclimatization, he moved south again with great vigor and vitality, and came to Lingxi with the garrison troops from the other seven towns, and took orders from the governor Li Hongyuan.

He had good luck on his way south. When he arrived in Yongzhou, the governor Li Hongyuan had already led the Xuanwu Army, Yicheng Army and other garrison troops to recapture Yongzhou and Tianzhou.

Not only that, he also received a military order to guard the border in Yongzhou, so he didn't have to go to the dangerous Tianzhou to face the southern barbarian army.

Shortly after arriving in Yongzhou, the governor Li Hongyuan promoted him to the commander of the Tianping Army garrison.

After being promoted, Wang Xianzhi initially trained the troops diligently, but after a year, he began to miss home.

It was not just him, the garrison soldiers from the other seven towns were also like this, so military discipline was inevitably somewhat lax.

Although they don't rob houses, playing cards and cockfighting are normal on weekdays.

The original practice of training once every five days and drill once every fifteen days was changed by him to training once every ten days and drill once every month, following the lead of the other seven towns.

Anyway, there is no war, so there is no point in training so frequently...

"June 4th!"

Seeing that he had got 64, Wang Xianzhi immediately threw the cards on the table, signaling everyone to choose whether to follow or not.

When these dominoes are used as gambling tools, the gameplay is not complicated. Each person is dealt a card first, and then continues to deal cards.

The second round of betting begins, and the betting is based on the rules between the players.

For example, the rules of the dominoes game played by Wang Xianzhi and his friends were that the first bet was fifty cents, and each subsequent bet would double the amount.

Fifty coins are almost equivalent to their daily military pay, so those who can play such a big game are definitely not ordinary soldiers.

Now, those who are talking in this room are basically the captains and above.

Sitting opposite Wang Xianzhi was Song Wei, the commander of the Pinglu Army.

Song Wei was a dozen years older than Wang Xianzhi. Both of them were generals guarding Yongzhou. They saw each other all the time and often played cards together.

Wang Xianzhi looked at Song Wei's slightly raised mouth corner and thought to himself that something was wrong.

Seeing that Song Wei seemed to be confident, Wang Xianzhi hurriedly prepared to stop, but at this moment someone opened the door and walked in, saying anxiously:

"The Wang brothers are almost dying!"

"What did you say?" Wang Xianzhi, who was originally immersed in playing cards, turned back in surprise, only to see the man anxiously saying, "Among the four brothers, only Wang Silang is feeling better after taking the medicine soup, but the other three are almost dying."

"Damn it!" Wang Xianzhi stood up upon hearing this and immediately urged Song Wei, "Song Dalang, hurry up!"

"June 4th!" Seeing that something was wrong, Song Wei immediately showed his cards decisively, and they turned out to be the same cards as Wang Xianzhi's.

Seeing this, Wang Xianzhi was too lazy to continue and said directly: "This sentence is a tie. Sanlang, take the money and come back after I see my brothers in the army!"

Wang Xianzhi hurried out of the house and then walked towards the rows of houses not far away.

Soon he came to a room surrounded by many soldiers and pushed everyone away: "Get out of the way!"

"Everyone is here, get out of the way!"

As the shouting sounded, the soldiers watching from all sides left one after another, and Wang Xianzhi also walked into the house.

At this time, the house was not only filled with a strong smell of medicine, but also the stench of vomit, which made people frown.

Three men in their twenties were lying on the beds, and the fourth bed was empty.

"What's going on? Didn't you take the medicine?"

Wang Xianzhi was puzzled and questioned the doctor who was boiling the medicine. The doctor shook his head and said, "I don't know either. I'm afraid your three brothers... Alas!"

Seeing the doctor sigh, Wang Xianzhi's heart sank.

These are all his nephews, and now four of them are sick at once. Although one can be saved, what about the other three?
"Brother..."

Suddenly, the oldest man shouted, and Wang Xianzhi hurried over.

"Da Lang, I'm here!"

He grabbed the man's hand, but Wang Dalang shook his head and said, "Remember to take us home..."

His voice was weak and he spoke with great difficulty.

"Why is it like this? Didn't he just go on patrol?!"

Wang Xianzhi found it a little hard to accept, but Wang Dalang was speechless.

Seeing the three people in pain, Wang Xianzhi could only walk out of the house.

As soon as he walked out of the house, the three people started vomiting one after another.

"There are bugs!"

"Damn it, this is a witchcraft!"

The people outside the house saw Wang Erlang spitting out a lot of insects and they screamed and retreated.

Even Wang Xianzhi felt his scalp tingling when he saw this scene.

After the three of them vomited, they suddenly lost their strength and lay on the couch motionless.

The brave doctor stepped forward to feel the pulse, and finally shook his head and said: "All three, all of you..."

He didn't continue speaking, but Wang Xianzhi understood everything.

When he led 1,200 Tianping brothers south, more than 60 of them died of acclimatization when they entered Jiangnan West Road. Later, when they entered Lingnan Road, more than a dozen of them died.

After being stationed in Yongzhou, it seemed that one or two people would fall ill every time they went on a tour. Those who were lucky would be fine after taking some medicine, but those who were unlucky could only hold out for half a month.

Of the original 1,200 brothers in the Libra sect, there are now less than 1,000 left.

Thinking of this, Wang Xianzhi frowned, and at this time the Tianping soldiers around him looked at each other, and two young men with similar looks walked out from among them.

"I can't stay in this damn place any longer!"

"Yes!"

The two were Shang Junchang, the Du Yu Hou, and Shang Rang, the Lie Xiao. The former was the elder brother and the latter was the younger brother.

The reason why the two of them stood up was probably because they were frightened by the sick environment in Lingxi.

The fact that they can stand up means that many people think the same way.

Thinking of this, Wang Xianzhi frowned and said, "Damn it, this damn place is definitely not a place for human beings to stay!"

For Wang Xianzhi and others living in the Central Plains, the humid and hot Lingxi was indeed uncomfortable, making even breathing difficult.

Even though they have lived there for two years, they still can't get used to it.

But they are garrison soldiers after all, and they still have a one-year garrison period.

While thinking, Wang Xianzhi looked up and said, "We originally agreed to a three-year garrison period, so we can't leave even if we want to."

"But we can't continue this patrol mission!"

"Tomorrow I will go to the governor and ask him to recruit some local soldiers and send them out on patrol!"

Wang Xianzhi's words disappointed many people, but they were relieved when they heard that they didn't have to go on patrol.

They themselves don't know why people died during the patrol.

Even though you didn't encounter anything strange on the way, you would have diarrhea, or even fall into a coma, vomit, etc. soon after returning.

In the eyes of the soldiers of the Tianping Army, this might be the witchcraft of those barbarians.

Although they had no way to defend themselves, they could hide in the city and survive the remaining year of garrison...

There are many people who think so, even Wang Xianzhi thinks so.

So when everyone calmed down, Wang Xianzhi started to think about what to do.

After a while, his eyes flickered, as if he had thought of a good idea.

"We need to get Song Wei involved in this matter..."

(End of this chapter)