Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 87 Women
The convoy of the Shan Nong ethnic group traveled on the official road.

For Li Hong and Li Bing, the feeling of rebellion was too exciting.

Looking at the unfamiliar roads and unfamiliar officers and soldiers outside, Li Bing, who was secretly observing the world from inside the carriage, felt completely alienated.

"Sister, are we really alright? Look, there are government officials protecting us all around here."

Li Hong was also a village girl, so how could she possibly understand what was happening?

"How should I know! I've been running around in a muddle, from one village to another town, then from the town to Hukoubao, and now they say they're going to the county."

Li Hong was extremely nervous. In the past, she would be so scared by soldiers that she wouldn't know what to do. But in the past few days, she had met all the soldiers she was destined to meet in her lifetime.

It wasn't until noon that the long convoy finally arrived at Beiyuanwei.

Li Bing and Xiang Lan squeezed together by the window, curiously looking at the city outside.

Through the carriage window, the two saw a majestic city wall more than ten meters high, a wide river, and high mountains on both sides.

As the group stared in disbelief, the carriage entered the tall and majestic fortress without any inspection.

After passing through the walled enclosure, the cart entered the market.

The cross-shaped street divides the area into four densely populated residential areas.

The stone pavement was dented by horseshoes, and the shop signs on both sides were secured with iron chains to protect them from the north wind.

The fluttering wine flag bears the emblem of the character "卫" (Wei).

Every hundred steps you can see a brick watchtower, a square fort with a brick and stone base and a rain eave on the top, covering an area of ​​about 10 square meters, which can only accommodate 3-5 people on duty.

The exterior walls were plastered with mud to disguise it as a residential house, but arrow holes were left. Inside the door was a "dragon-slaying stone" mechanism that could instantly block the entrance in case of an attack.

As the carriage passed by, Li Bing inadvertently made eye contact with two eyes inside a dark hole, and was instantly frightened into closing the window.

"What's wrong?" Xianglan wanted to keep lifting the window curtains and take another look at the outside world.

Li Bing pressed down on her hand, "Stop fooling around, it won't be good if the master sees you."

Xianglan didn't understand why it was bad, but she didn't dare to ask.

Time flies by as you think about what's wrong with something.

Before long, the convoy stopped at the General's Mansion.

The group at the front of the vehicle saw the warriors who had conquered the chest-shaped fortress, who were also the current owners of the fortress.

"Clan leader!"

The villagers of the mountain tribe took off their hats and knelt down to pay their respects to Beijiwu.

Beijiwu nodded. "It's safe here now. Everyone, get off and go back to your new homes."

The General's Mansion only had a high walled backyard for female relatives; the rest of the area was for the guards and soldiers.

As a defensive fortress, men and women are generally not allowed to mix here.

However, there was no rule against officials keeping a few maids or bringing their families along.

When there was no war, the regulations were not strict. On the one hand, the court restricted officials from bringing their families with them, and on the other hand, it sent the families of soldiers to the front lines to garrison the border.

Compared to officers, those at the lower ranks were indeed more likely to surrender.

After Li Hong and the others got off the car, they entered the General's Mansion and, under guidance, entered the large backyard house where the General's women used to live.

Even dogs don't live in the mud and thatched huts here. When Beijiwu led his people into the backyard, a large dog that was tied up barked fiercely at them, as if it wanted to bite.

Upon seeing this, Beijiwu went up and kicked the large dog, which was loyal to others, to death.

After a dog was kicked to death on the roadside, Bei Jiwu smiled at Li Bing and the others. "We'll have an extra meal tonight," Bei Jiwu asked. "What about the two dogs at home? We can keep them in this doghouse from now on. The dog bowls and leashes are all here, so we don't need to buy new ones."

The women in the house all smiled.

Jiang Rong said, "I left it in a hurry, so I left it at Tiger Head Fort."

Gao Conglian added, "We've been so nervous these past few days, constantly worried about you, sir. We haven't had time to care about the two puppies."

Beijiwu laughed and said, "Don't call me 'sir' anymore. From now on, call me 'master.' You can just refer to yourselves as 'servants' or 'lowly servants.'"

Today, Arctic military forces remain steadfastly committed to the slave-owning path.

"Yes, Master!" Li Hong and the others obediently called out to their master, their faces beaming with happy smiles.

It doesn't matter what they shout, the point is that they've now entered a luxurious compound and become big shots in the county!
Beijiwu led the group inside. "Come on, from now on, adults will share a room and children will share a room. Li Hong, Xiulan, Conglian, Jiangrong, the four of you will share a room. The beds here are a bit small, so I've already asked the craftsmen to make them bigger. It will be warmer in winter with the kang (heated brick bed)."

"You guys can stay here for now. You can clean the house, do laundry, and cook. Don't go out in the yard. If you're bored, make some ordinary clothes for backup."

Upon seeing this, Ma Tuchai immediately said in a coquettish voice, "Master, I can't possibly sleep with a child, can I?"

Beijiwu saw Ma Tuchai standing behind him and said directly, "I forgot about you. Go stay in the study for a few days and check the account books here to see if there are any problems. Also, write down the names of anyone else in the city who is a loan shark!"

Arctic Wu wants to settle old scores and should kill all the unscrupulous merchants in the city.

The merchants were reassured that continuing as usual was to maintain order, punish evil and promote good, and that settling old scores was also part of maintaining order.

Seeing that she was still useful, Ma Tuchai breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Beijiwu with a charming gaze.

"Yes! Master!"

Beijiwu wasn't in the mood to mingle with the women for the time being. After the Shannong people arrived, they started sorting through the discarded clothes and silks in the courtyard, searching for various treasures.

The courtyard became noisy as a group of women carried all sorts of country things into the mansion of the city official, taking in all sorts of luxurious furnishings, completely unaware of the purpose of some of them.

From village girls to the wives of generals, these women have not yet adapted to this drastic change and still retain the rustic views of country girls.

Fortunately, Beijiwu had given away all the maids, and there were no worldly maids here to guide these simple village girls on what to do.

The lively Xianglan and her little sister Jiangcao Xidan entered a room together. Their eyes were glued to the square chairs and tables with carved patterns, as well as the colorful screen with people painted on it. They quickly went up and reached out to touch them.

Not only were the children inexperienced, but even Ma Tuchai, who had seen the world, couldn't take her eyes off a simple, exquisite piece of furniture that could be a dowry for an ordinary family.

Li Hong, Jiang Rong, and Gao Conglian went to the kitchen to cook, and Aunt Song from next door came over to help.

"You lot are living a good life now!" Aunt Song said with a smile. "I heard from my husband that the clan chief found 100,000 taels of silver in the treasury!"

The three of them were stunned when they heard that!
Jiang Rong said, "One hundred thousand taels? That could buy so many women..."

In Jiang Rong's memory, women were worthless and a money-losing commodity. They were lucky to get a little rice or grain in exchange, and even when there was no war, they were only worth three to five taels of silver each.

One hundred thousand taels... Jiang Rong wasn't good at math, but she knew that could buy a lot of women.

Aunt Song laughed and said, "Why would the clan chief need to spend money to buy women? If he takes a fancy to one, he can just snatch her!"

In the simple and honest mindset of the Northern Plains people, the Northern Army no longer needs to spend money to buy women; directly kidnapping women is the traditional way that aligns with the local understanding.

They robbed brides, stole money and land; with enough strength, everything fell into place. The entire Beiyuan Guard was eager to get rich with Beijiwu.

It was noisy outside, but Beijiwu was sleeping in his bedroom, enjoying a long-awaited good night's sleep.

High-ranking officials such as generals, commanders, governors, and censors who did not surrender had their wives distributed to unmarried soldiers.

The original residence and official robes were also handed over to Beijiwu's own people.

They distributed money, land, and women, but they also had to fight and risk their lives.

(End of this chapter)