Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 82 Divide Money
Beiji Wu led his men to inventory the supplies in the warehouse. When they carried two boxes of silver out into the sun, they were immediately stumped.

The box contained silver, and even gleaming silver ingots, which thrilled the nearby soldiers.

But that's where the trouble lies.

"These are all ten taels of official silver, and they need to be cut open."

After thinking for a moment, Beijiwu said directly, "There are more than a thousand people here. Ten taels per person would amount to ten thousand taels. We definitely don't have that much money. If we fail, the money will probably be taken back, but we can't just not pay it."

"Here's what we'll do. There are many casualties in military campaigns. If you have family members, take the silver in advance and give it to them. You also have family members in this city. If you have family members, take ten taels of silver."

"The rest of you, continue to work with me. If your family is in Beiyuanwei, I will help you rescue your family and reunite with them. We will then distribute the silver and resettlement allowance together."

“If your family members are outside, consider them as dead, but I promise you, I will find a way to send the money to your family members.”

"Now the people here at Hukoubao are starting to receive money, ten taels each. Take the money back to put their families at ease. I won't harm the families of the military households here. If they can't take it anymore, I'll just run away. It would be troublesome to carry silver with me then."

"Tea bricks and silk fabrics are all good items that can be exchanged for silver. Everyone, please choose what you like."

"Anyone who dares to fraudulently claim military pay, who wants to collect this life-risking money even though their family isn't in Hukoubao, then don't blame me for being impolite. I don't know you, but do you have family? Who can you hide that from?"

The garrison at Hukoubao numbered nearly a thousand, but few of them had family members, and most were Yang Xiangyun's personal guards, who were still with the Beiyuan Guard at the time.

Under the watchful eyes of the others, more than three hundred people came out and took the silver.

A thousand-household garrison not only has a thousand households, but also artisans and military families; otherwise, it would not be able to sustain itself with just soldiers.

Beijiwu didn't stop him, saying, "Just go back and talk to your family properly, and live a peaceful life."

Upon receiving the money, Wang Qing exclaimed excitedly, "Thank you, sir!"

Beijiwu said, "Call me 'Sir' or 'General,' it's up to you. Those who want to join the Mountain Farmers can call me Chief, and those who don't will not be forced. Everyone, guard the garrison well."

At this moment, Meng Hetong stepped forward, knelt on one knee, clasped his hands together, and said, "Clan leader, now that Gaoliuwei has been defeated and Beiyuanwei dares not leave the city, Tongzhouwei will surely send people to support us."

"Our entry into Hukou Fort should not have leaked out yet. Judging from the current situation, the Tongzhou Guard will be passing through here today. Why don't we have the people from Hukou Fort guard the pass and then lead those people into Hukou Fort?"

Beiji Wu nodded and said, "Okay, you guys take charge. I'll rest in the city for a while and get ready to fight. Don't worry about the rest of you, Beiyuan Guard definitely has much more money than the Thousand Household Office, so you won't have to worry about not getting any silver!"

Woko immediately said, "Chieftain! Now that the chieftain's reputation is widespread, as long as you raise your arm and call, heroes from all walks of life will surely come to join you! Whether you are a soldier or a refugee, you can join us, and in less than three days you can have more than ten thousand soldiers!"

Beijiwu shook his head. "Not for now. If there are too many people, they'll just be ragtag soldiers if they don't follow the rules. Besides, if there are too many people, thugs, robbers, and bandits will infiltrate and rob and kill people everywhere, ruining my reputation."

"There's bound to be another big battle today. Hurry up and cook and feed the horses. Hey you... what's your name again?"

Arctic Martial looked at Meng Hetong.

Meng Hetong shouted loudly, "I am Meng Hetong!"

Beijiwu judged this person to be only in his early twenties, but he was eloquent and had some ideas.

"Now that you're the banner chief, lead your men to patrol the city walls. If you encounter Tongzhou Guard troops, bring them over. If you encounter merchants or spies, just say a few words and leave them alone. The rest of you should listen to Meng Hetong."

Meng Hetong respectfully replied, "Yes, sir!"

Once Arctic Martial saw that everything was alright, he had the remaining supplies carried back in.

Tea bricks were used for trade with nomadic tribes, while silk fabrics were used as rewards for subordinates or for repairing flags.

There were also salt tokens for exchanging salt blocks, damaged cotton-padded coats and boots that needed replacing, double blankets and felt tents for keeping warm, various tools for repairing the city walls, farm implements and cattle for farming, ropes, charcoal, chevaux-de-frise, rolling logs and barbed wire—in short, all sorts of things for defending the city.

After spending more than an hour counting the supplies, warehouse manager Wang Qing came in.

"Clan leader!"

When Beijiwu saw that the original person in charge here had returned, he nodded and said, "You continue to guard and record the status of the supplies here."

"Yes, clan leader!" Wang Qing, being a scholar, had already served too many masters and wouldn't mind changing masters again.

Beijiwu didn't sleep well last night and is still a little worried.

His subordinates were almost all surrendered men, and there was little trust between them.

At this point, he couldn't waste his energy on women, so Beijiwu simply took a nap near the warehouse's cotton-padded clothes area. The doors were wide open, and there was a spacious courtyard outside, perfect for facing the enemy.

At the same time, Meng Hetong led his men to the top of the Hukoubao city wall to begin setting up defenses.

Standing on the city wall, you can see the high mountains in front and the great river in the distance.

Tiger Mouth Fort was built on the only passage between two mountains and a valley, with the city wall spanning the entire road, making it impossible for caravans to bypass it.

Forcing a detour would require traversing hundreds of miles of treacherous mountains, which people could climb, but carts and horses could not. If carts and horses could not pass, it would be impossible to carry large quantities of supplies.

Merchants had to queue up a kilometer away to enter, and could only enter the city after their numbers were counted and it was confirmed that no one was disguised.

Only after confirming that everything was alright could the caravan enter through the south gate and exit through the north gate, under constant surveillance by soldiers.

After entering the city, one first goes into the barbican, where one undergoes a formal inspection, registration, and tax collection before being allowed to leave the barbican and enter the main road.

Merchant caravans entering the city were only allowed to use the main street and were strictly prohibited from approaching military camps or granaries; violators would be shot.

As a military defense facility, Hukoubao locked the pass, requiring all personnel and goods to be inspected at the city gate to prevent the inflow of spies and weapons.

This is the outermost area of ​​Kitahara Prefecture, and it also bears the heavy responsibility of preventing the people of Kitahara Prefecture from escaping. The city gate is narrow, only wide enough for two horses to pass side by side.

The streets are steep, making them vulnerable to cavalry charges.

Now that the Thousand Households Garrison has been occupied by the Arctic Army, the rest of them either have to take a detour or forcefully capture this Tiger Mouth Fortress.

These fortresses are usually attacked by people disguised as merchant caravans, or by those who climb over the walls at night when everyone is off guard, or by those who besiege them until they surrender.

In the era before artillery, it was rare for a frontal assault to succeed; usually, it was either a surrender by one's own people or a surprise attack.

The difficulty of breaking through from the front is too great, which makes the interior appear very vulnerable. It is always breached from the inside and dies from various unexpected events.

The autumn wind was bleak, and the scouts from the south quickly arrived at the city gate.

The scout stopped by the city wall and moat and shouted upwards, "Is the garrison commander in this city here?!"

Meng Hetong shouted loudly, "Who are you?"

The scout shouted, "I am a scout from Tongzhou Guard. Two commanders and two thousand elite soldiers have come here. Have you encountered any bandits here?"

The soldiers on the city wall looked down nervously, and some were also looking at Meng Hetong.

Since they were all surrendered soldiers, some of them were still unsure whether to join the rebellion.

Surrendering was merely a means to save one's life, not an act of fighting for anyone.

Meng Hetong calmly called out, "The commander of the thousand has gone to Beiyuan Guard. Yesterday, some stragglers from Gaoliu Guard fled here after their defeat. The scouts from Beiyuan Guard said that the Shan Nong tribe has returned to their mountain villages. The commander of the hundred has led a hundred elite soldiers to support Beiyuan Guard and join them. The people in the city are all defending the north. You... cough cough! Come in and talk, my throat hurts."

The scouts quickly came in to check the situation and only dared to return to report after confirming that everything was alright.

After entering the barbican through the south gate, they met Meng Hetong and others.

"Did the thief really go back to the mountain?" the scout asked for details.

Meng Hetong nodded quickly, "That's right! That's what the Beiyuan Guard said. Our centurions and chiliarchs are all with the Beiyuan Guard to protect the General."

The scout was relieved. "Quickly open the city gates and go cook. My master will be here soon!"

Meng Hetong looked at a soldier and said, "Go quickly!"

"Yes!" The soldier quickly ran out.

The scout looked around and quickly headed out of the barbican.

Meng Hetong asked, "What are you looking at? Are you really a member of the Tongzhou Guard reinforcements?"

The scout smiled and picked up the badge from his waist. "Of course! I passed by here yesterday, but the person I saw wasn't you. You were the flag chief here?"

Meng Hetong nodded and said, "Yes, we've been working here for three or four years. Right now, we're guarding the north, and the city gates are closed until the army arrives. There's nothing going on in the south; we're just waiting for the brothers from Gaoliuwei and Tongzhouwei to come over soon."

The scout was relieved after hearing this and found no signs of a battle, so he turned his horse around.

"I will go back and inform the master that you should send someone to inform the Beiyuan Guard immediately that they will arrive at the Beiyuan Guard before sunset."

“Okay!” Meng Hetong quickly agreed.

After the cavalry turned and left, Meng and the others breathed a sigh of relief.

If the cavalryman had come in from the north, the bloodstains would have been visible and not yet cleaned up.

Not only were there large bloodstains inside the northern barbican, but there were also some bloodstains on the main road that had not been cleaned up.

"Quickly inform the clan chief that the Tongzhou army is on their way!"

"Yes!"

Meng Hetong then said to his nephew Lang Wubing, "Have someone prepare bows and arrows, and place arrows and rolling logs on the wall!"

"Yes!"

Lang Wubing quickly went down to inform the people.

The more than 1,000 surrendered soldiers were equipped with bows and arrows and leather armor. Apart from a portion of the soldiers from Hukoubao who came down to greet them, the rest of the surrendered troops from Beiyuanwei and Gaoliuwei were ambushed on the wall.

There is only one person in Beijiwu, and the Shannong tribe has less than a hundred people.

But those who surrendered didn't know who had truly surrendered and who didn't want to surrender.

When you can't tell who's on your side, the only way to survive is to go with the flow.

If the imperial court does not demonstrate decisive measures to thwart the rebel forces, the snowball will only grow larger and larger.

At this time, the impression that Tongzhou Guard and Beiyuan Guard had of Beiji Wu was that he was extremely brave, but he was only one person and a little over a hundred surrendered soldiers.

No one expected that Arctic Martial Arts' intention was not to plunder villagers, but to directly capture a base and occupy Tiger Mouth Fortress.

Because of his extraordinary bravery, he killed far fewer people. He single-handedly defeated an army, causing many to lose their will to fight and surrender to join him.

With exceptional skill and daring, he used surrendered soldiers to fight, quickly stabilizing the situation.

(End of this chapter)