Three Kingdoms: A Million Soldiers Grown from the Fields

Chapter 91 The Wind That Misses You Blows Northward Again (An extra 4k words because I'll open my eyes when I wake up)

"In reply to your question, sir, the porcelain bottle contains the recently popular Cold Pool Incense. This is only one bottle; we have prepared a whole cartload outside the county office."

"As for what's inside this treasure chest... hehe, please open it and take a look, I guarantee you won't be disappointed!"

"Oh—." The eunuch's fingers lightly traced the gilded treasure chest: "The chest is not bad, but you are being a bit too arrogant. I live under the emperor's nose, and I have seen all kinds of rare treasures. If the contents of this chest do not satisfy me, then you can wait and see."

As he spoke the last few sentences, the eunuch's tone became extremely sinister.

Han Ji, undeterred, bowed and stepped forward to open the box for the eunuch. The box was filled with white sugar granules, like crushed diamonds and gems, which glittered in the sunlight streaming through the window.

Han Ji smiled and picked up some with his fingers, putting it into his mouth: "Shangguan, you might as well try it. This is rare in the Han Dynasty. If you bring it back to Luoyang and give it to me, hehe, it will be extremely useful."

He didn't say it outright, but the eunuch instantly understood what he meant. Seeing that Han Ji had tasted it first and indicated that it was not poisonous, he picked up some and put it in his mouth.

The moment his tongue touched the sugar granules, the eunuch's eyes lit up, and then he slammed the lid shut on the treasure chest.

"This is quite good, I am very pleased with it. Alright, let's talk about it. Which official position do you want? But let me make this clear from the start: forget about the prosperous Central Plains. Those positions are already full."

The white sugar was indeed effective; after tasting it, the eunuch's tone became much gentler, and he even began to offer reminders.

Zhang Xian bowed respectfully and said, "We understand and will certainly not make things difficult for our superior."

As he spoke, he took out two gold ingots from his sleeve and stepped forward to hand them over: "May I ask, sir, are there any vacancies in Luqi and Yangqu counties of Bingzhou?"

"Bingzhou?" The eunuch paused for a moment, then pondered for a while.

"There are no vacancies, but if you two are interested in this place, there might be some available."

"However," he said, seemingly casually patting the gilded treasure chest.

Zhang Xian understood in his heart; these eunuchs were just like that, greedy and insatiable, demanding endless benefits.

Fortunately, Han Ji had given them a heads-up, and the two had already rehearsed their responses, so they were well-prepared to respond at this moment.

"Haha, since you like this item, I have some left. I'll give them all to you later."

"Hehehe, very well, you are indeed sensible. You seek official positions in Yangqu and Lüsi counties, right? The exact official positions?"

The eunuch asked.

Han Ji cupped his hands in reply: "It would be best if the county magistrate, the county assistant magistrate, and the county commandant all came together."

"Hmm, that's fine, but the prices in these two counties are different. In Lüqi, there's an ironworks office where the three ironworks together cost a thousand gold pieces. In Yangqu, it's cheaper, costing a total of eight hundred gold pieces. How do you think of these prices?"

The eunuch asked.

Zhang Xianhan and the other two exchanged a glance and bowed in unison: "We are at your service, sir. We request the assistance of Magistrate Lüqi!"

It must be said that the eunuchs who sold official positions were highly skilled. Many officials in the court might not even remember the local specialties of each place, but those who sold official positions remembered them perfectly. They even knew by heart how much each county's official position cost.

"Alright, once you've paid the money, just wait. At the latest, within two months, the appointment documents and official seal will be delivered to your residence."

Zhang Xian replied, "Shangguan can simply send someone to deliver it to the Guo family residence in Zhengding."

"Oh." The eunuch's eyes lit up: "Since it is the Guo family of Zhending, then leave this matter to us."

"Thank you, sir!"

The two of them bowed to each other again.

Zhang Xian was surprised that the Guo family's reputation could still be used here. He couldn't help but sigh that this era belonged to the powerful families. With the help of powerful families, everything went smoothly; without their help, nothing would go right.

"Okay, then. Here's the money."

Zhang Xian clapped his hands, and several strong men from Taoyuan carried in a box. The box weighed about 500 jin, and it was impossible to lift without the combined efforts of several people.

After setting the box down, the burly men from Taoyuan bowed and left.

Han Ji stepped forward and opened the wooden box. Inside, the gold was neatly stacked. The eunuch glanced at it and waved his hand, saying, "Close it. The amount is correct."

Wow! Their business acumen is truly impressive; they can tell the numbers match just by looking at them.

In fact, what Zhang Xian and his group wanted from the beginning was Lüqi County. The reason, of course, was that ironworks there, because Lüqi produced iron!

After closing the money box, Zhang Xian and his companion handed over three more documents detailing the recipient's place of origin and their respective official titles.

The county magistrate was Zhang Xian, the county assistant was Han Ji, and the county commandant was Huang Zhong.

Having received the money and the register of origin, the eunuch nodded slightly: "Understood, you may all leave."

"Then we won't disturb your rest any longer. The wine and sugar are in the carriage next to the county office. Please help yourself."

"Know."

The two men clasped their hands in a gesture of respect and bowed as they withdrew, displaying utmost hum

Once outside the elegant room, their bent backs straightened immediately. The two exchanged a smile, found the magistrate of Puwu County to chat for a bit to establish an acquaintance, and then headed back to Taoyuan.

On the road.

Han Ji and Zhang Xian rode side by side on two horses, followed by ten riders from Taoyuan.

“Mr. Han, after today we will all be your parents.”

“Magistrate Zhang is absolutely right. We two should work together with one heart and one mind.”

"Ha ha ha ha."

The two men burst into laughter on horseback, then shook their heads in regret.

"It's a pity that the Han Dynasty, which lasted for four hundred years, has become like this," Han Ji sighed.

“Who can argue with that? Official positions are like commodities, sold by the very emperor himself. How absurd!” Zhang Xian shook his head as well.

"Fortunately, Gongzhi did not agree to Hansheng going. If he had seen the two of us in that state, who knows what would have happened."

"That's Hansheng's temperament, which is why Ji didn't agree to let him come. Since it's about buying an official position, we should set our positions properly. Rather than letting him come and suffer, it's better to let him wait."

"Our lord is indeed flexible and can tolerate the arrogance of that eunuch."

"Sigh, it's only once. I'll never see him again after this. What's wrong with tolerating him for a while?"

“However, the official appointments will take some time. Should we make arrangements in advance for Lüqi?” Zhang Xian asked.

Han Ji pondered, his body rising and falling with the horse's movements.

"When we arrive in Luqi early next year, we will inevitably have to deal with the local powerful clans. How does my lord plan to deal with them?"

Zhang Xian, on horseback, gazed ahead: "Those who obey, stay; those who disobey,..."

Before he finished speaking, Han Ji already understood.

“I understand. If you trust me, my lord, then let Hansheng accompany me to Luqi tomorrow. We will first investigate the character of each family in Luqi, so that everything will go smoothly when you take command.”

"Do you wish to go first?"

Zhang Xian was taken aback.

Han Ji nodded: "Our lord does not have a reputation in Changshan in Lüqi, so we need to build up our influence first. Otherwise, when our lord arrives in Lüqi and the powerful clans are wiped out one after another, our lord will have a lot of trouble in his actions. It would be better to let me get rid of these troubles for our lord first!"

Zhang Xian lowered his eyes and pondered for a moment.

"Very well, that's how it is. When we get back to the manor, I'll tell Hansheng, 'You all take fifty soldiers and go. But you must prioritize your own safety. If you encounter any danger, don't hesitate to turn back immediately. As for the infamy, I can bear it!'"

"My lord!" Han Ji was deeply moved.

Zhang Xian waved his hand and said, "Remember this, I mean it."

"Remember this well!"

The scenery along the way was bleak, and there were far fewer shacks on both sides of the road than at the beginning of the year. Some of these refugees were taken in by Taoyuan, some gathered outside Taoyuan, but most were swallowed up by powerful families.

Although Taoyuan has enough wealth to protect several times more people than he does now, due to his status, he can only stop there to avoid arousing the taboo of the government.

However, things will be different next year. With a county under his control, he will have much more room to maneuver. He kept thinking about Bingzhou along the way. When discussing famous generals of Bingzhou, Lü Bu is always mentioned. How old is Lü Bu now?
After thinking about it all the way, he deduced an accurate number: he should be between 21 and 23 years old. At that age, he should already be serving as a cavalryman under Ding Yuan or have been recruited as a clerk.

Lu Bu looks so young, almost the same age as me. Wait a minute, the same age as me?!

Zhang Xian smiled and said, "Alright."

The scene of the vigorous Huang Zhong fighting the young Lü Bu is a must-see; once we arrive in Bingzhou, we absolutely must pay him a visit.

Lu Bu's eight generals... well, the others aren't anything to worry about, but we need to be careful with Gao Shun and Zhang Liao.

This time of year
Zhang Liao was only 13 years old!
His hand trembled as he looked at Han Ji: "Gongzhi!"

Han Ji shuddered. He knew that tone all too well; it was exactly how his lord spoke when he was carrying loads for others.

"Sigh, my lord, please speak frankly. If it's within my power, I'll do it for you."

"Your Excellency has arrived; you are truly my Zhang Liang."

Zhang Xian smiled broadly, which made Han Ji feel helpless.

"After you leave for Luqi tomorrow, take some time to visit Mayi. There should be a Zhang family there, but they must be quite desolate now. Go and check on them for me."

"Zhang family?"

Han Ji was startled. Could it be that it was from the lord's family? If so, this matter really needed to be taken seriously.

"My lord, the Zhang family..."

He chose his words carefully, and Zhang Xian was taken aback for a moment before laughing, "It has nothing to do with me, but there is someone there who I care about very much."

Zhang Liao, also known as Zhang Wenyuan, defeated 100,000 with only 800 men, showcasing his brilliance and earning the reputation of Sun Quan.

Such a talented leader is still young; if he doesn't act now, when will he?

"He should be called Zhang Liao, and he's about thirteen or fourteen years old. Please keep an eye out for him for me then."

They even said it had nothing to do with the lord, but the name and age are clear enough, how could it be unrelated!

Han Ji noted this down and bowed respectfully, saying, "I will certainly not fail my lord's trust!"

We returned to Taoyuan.

At this time, everyone in Taoyuan was harvesting in the fields.

The 700 mu of pumpkin fields and the more than 2,000 mu of bean fields have all grown.

A joyous atmosphere filled the village once again.

Zhang Xian and the others dismounted, changed their clothes, and joined in the harvest.

With several thousand households, the more than two thousand acres of land were all harvested in just one day.

The next few days will be spent drying and storing the produce.

However, sunny days are rare in late autumn, and drying these harvests takes a lot of effort.

You have to keep an eye on the rain and the weather; if it looks bad, you'll be busy for a while.

Fortunately, the warehousing was completed without any major incidents.

Pumpkins are performing consistently well, with each of the 700 mu of land yielding over 4,000 jin, filling the Taoyuan granary to capacity and necessitating the construction of dozens of new granaries.

After being sun-dried for several days, the pumpkin flesh became firmer and the moisture content decreased significantly, resulting in a substantial reduction in weight. Even so, the sun-dried pumpkin still yielded 3,400 jin per mu.

Two million three hundred thousand catties of pumpkins were stored in the 700 mu of fields.

If we disregard everything else, these 2.3 million catties of pumpkins alone would be enough to feed 2,000 able-bodied men for a year—note that they are able-bodied men, not the elderly or weak.

Of course, this is just a wild opinion; people can't stand eating only pumpkin.

However, this only involves 700 acres of land. If the proportion were larger, taking the entire county as an example, it would be no problem at all to support a population of tens or hundreds of thousands.

Looking at the bountiful harvest, which wasn't enough to warrant further expansion, Zhang Xian felt satisfied.

The remaining 2,000 mu of soybeans were also successively put into the granary. With meticulous cultivation and sufficient water and fertilizer, these 2,000 mu of land also performed well. The yield of soybeans per mu of ordinary farmers was about 2 shi (180 jin), but in Taoyuan, it reached more than 260 jin per mu.

More than 2,000 mu of land yielded 600,000 jin of soybeans, which, although not as good as pumpkins, is still a bumper harvest.

Moreover, thanks to the nitrogen-fixing effect of soybeans, the crops in these two thousand mu of fields will grow even stronger next year. With the use of water and fertilizer, it is not impossible to increase the millet yield to three or four hundred jin per mu.

With this late harvest over, Taoyuan has officially entered the off-season for farming.

The off-season inevitably leads to problems for farmers. What can idle farmers do? They can't do much, so they just become idle vagrants all day long.

For the sake of Taoyuan's security, Zhang Xian got these idle men busy again.

They repaired irrigation ditches, paved roads, dug fishponds—they did whatever they could find to do. When they couldn't find anything else to do, Zhang Xian had the people of Taoyuan organize them for drills.

Militiamen are soldiers too; you never know when they might come in handy.

In mid-November, snowflakes began to fall from the sky.

Zhang Xian stood by the window in the main hall, gazing into the distance.

Han Ji and Huang Zhong have been in Bingzhou for more than half a month, and they have not yet received a single letter.

I don't know if things are going well for them or not.

Before Huang Zhong left, Zhang Xian provided him with the best weapons and armor from Taoyuan, as well as fifty soldiers who had fought alongside him and shed blood when they broke through the Li family's defenses.

He provided ample money and provisions; he even had Han Ji take over a hundred gold ingots, and each person received four or five strings of copper coins.

With Huang Zhong by their side, they're sure to be able to fight off bandits and thieves. Even against big thieves, this amount of money would be enough to ensure the safety of dozens of them.

So why haven't we received a letter?

Zhang Xian sighed.

In winter, everyone in Taoyuan is idle, but he remains as busy as ever.

Although the timing of the harvest has doubled due to the wrong season, he still has to take care of it.

The study of skills can be done at any time of year, so one should forge iron when it is time to forge iron and make armor when it is time to make armor.

Since Huang Zhong was missing, the Peach Blossom Clan also had to carry the flag, but fortunately, Zhao Yun and Xiahou Lan were there to assist them.

What gave him the biggest headache was the young students in the school.

"Gongzhi, I miss you so much. Please come back soon. I'll take the blame." Zhang Xian sighed softly as he looked out at the snowy scenery.

And what are Han Ji and Huang Zhong, whom he is so concerned about, doing now?

Two fine horses rode side by side, their hooves clattering crisply on the frost-covered official road.

"Gongzhi, didn't our lord tell us to go to Luchi to scout ahead? Where are you leading us so early in the morning?"

Huang Zhong, wrapped in a fur coat, looked like a strong bear. Han Ji was not far behind; although he was still wearing a blue robe underneath, he was also wrapped in a fur coat.

Not only him, but also the dozens of soldiers behind him were in the same situation, and the sky over Bingzhou was even colder.

"My lord, before you left, you specifically instructed me to go to Mayi, saying that there is a Zhang family there and I need to keep an eye on them."

The cold wind made him shiver involuntarily.

"Hansheng, what do you think? Should I go to Mayi first?"

You should savor it, savor it carefully.

Huang Zhong smacked his lips. The Zhang family of Mayi. The Zhang family?!
"Hurry up!"

"Everyone, quick! Giddy up!"

(End of this chapter)