Divorced woman with child travels through time

Wang Erniu nodded. He had never cared much about money, but he listened to his wife very much. Moreover, he knew that often, shared interests were the key to a lasting relationship.

Chen Wenfang roughly counted the supplies again. She didn't know why, maybe it was because she came from another world and lacked a sense of security. In her previous life, she was always buying and hoarding food, clothing and drink, no matter when. She also liked to take advantage of deals and often spent money online to buy a few cents' worth of tissues and hoarded a lot of them.

Getting off topic, Chen Wenfang counted the bags one by one. There were seventy-two bags of rice, each weighing fifty-one sacks, and eighty-three bags of brown rice. The flour was stored in ten large vats, each containing about one hundred jin (50 kg). There were also two huge straw-woven granaries next to it, filled with wheat. When the flour was almost used up, they would have to go and get it to grind. All of these were kept on the first floor for easy access.

Going down to the basement, the layout was the same. Apart from the load-bearing walls and pillars, there was no furniture at all, just food. There were eighteen haystacks, all filled to the brim with rice and wheat, each the same size as the first floor. There were also thirty large jars of syrup, each jar holding fifty kilograms of liquor. The entire warehouse of supplies was arranged very neatly, giving off a very happy feeling.

The couple visited the basements of several houses. The entrances to the basements were all in the kitchens on the first floor, making it convenient to retrieve items. Some houses contained meat, such as dried wild boar, dried beef, preserved duck, and preserved fish. Other houses were specifically stocked with coal, quilts, cotton, cloth, shoes, cotton-padded coats, and farm tools. There weren't many iron pots or kitchen knives, but apart from weapons, the village basically had everything. In conclusion, as the manpower increased, more houses needed to be built, more land needed to be bought, and more people needed to be trained.

That's how it was arranged. Before going to bed, Chen Xuanyu came over with his pillow, dawdling and unwilling to leave. Chen Wenfang couldn't bear it, so Wang Erniu simply pulled off the blanket.

"Come on, come and sleep here!"

"Alright!" Chen Xuanyu quickly climbed onto the kang (a heated brick bed), happily lying between the two of them, extremely excited. He kept looking at this one, then that one.

"Alright, go to sleep now." Chen Wenfang smiled indulgently. Wang Erniu was just about to lie down.

"Knock knock knock!" Another small knocking sounded on the door.

As soon as Wang Erniu opened the door, Shiwu and Xiaohao were standing at the door.

Fifteen said timidly, "Uncle, I want to sleep with Xuanzai."

Wang Erniu looked at Xiao Hao, who said matter-of-factly, "The three of us sleep together. I can't sleep alone."

"Alas!" Wang Erniu sighed; his love affair was worth a fortune.

Chen Wenfang covered her mouth and laughed, "Never mind, never mind, let's all come up and sleep together."

The three little ones huddled together to sleep again, and Chen Xuanyu didn't mind, leaning against his mother.

Chen Wenfang had to force out a few stories to lull the children to sleep before she herself could finally fall asleep, exhausted.

In the following days, Wang Erniu's appointment letter, which he had obtained by spending money, came through. He was appointed as a seventh-rank deputy lieutenant, which cost him nearly 30,000 taels of silver. But it was good, as he could be stationed in Lijia Town and recruit soldiers openly.

After seeing off Yang Shouzhen and Qian Zheng, a group of troublemakers who had been promoted after looting, the newly appointed magistrate, Li Chengli, was also someone who had passed the imperial examination in Lijia Town. With Ouyang Junyan as his guarantor, he should be an honest official. Things will be better after he takes office.

After discussing it with Chen Wenfang, Wang Erniu took advantage of the Qingming Festival to distribute silver and new armor to all the new recruits, along with a large gift package of six catties of pastries from Chen's shop. He also gave all the soldiers under his command a perk: they could get a 20% discount on anything they bought from Chen's shop. In addition, he gave each soldier who went to suppress bandits an extra five taels of silver as a reward, which was essentially a bounty for suppressing bandits.

The notice had only been posted for two days when it quickly spread throughout the entire Lijia Town. On the third day, Wang Erniu distributed military pay and supplies as promised, causing an instant uproar throughout the camp.

You know, the imperial court has always been notorious for withholding military pay. Although they knew about it when Wang Erniu led the bandits to suppress the bandits, and heard that everyone he led, regardless of whether they contributed or not, received a share of the silver, he had only been in office for a few days and he was already paying the soldiers' pay. Even if it was only for this month, it was still good, and there were even seasonal snacks. Hey, when had they ever heard of such rare things before?

The barracks were bustling with activity, as festive as the New Year. Thanks to Yang Shouzhen, his promotion took away his men and some sycophants, leaving behind mostly veterans. Although they had their flaws and weren't well-liked, they were all young men who had joined the army with a burning passion for serving their country. Those who hadn't deserted even after being withheld from pay for half a year were already considered very good.

Wang Erniu felt the same way. In the Song Dynasty, the regular soldiers were mostly old, weak, sick, and disabled, those who had no other way to survive. Unless they were private soldiers raised by their superiors, they couldn't be properly supported. If it weren't for his wife's generosity, he would have calculated that, aside from the seventy or eighty thousand taels of silver, it would have been impossible to properly support the soldiers. For example, a good spearhead would cost seven or eight taels of silver. So, he had to take it slow. First, he had to ensure that the soldiers' salaries were paid monthly. He had to guarantee them at least a year's worth of monthly pay. Thinking about this, he felt a lot of pressure. Hmm, it seems that he still had to suppress the bandits.

Li Daquan was a veteran, though not really that old, thirty-seven this year. He had a slight limp. He had just received his military pay, a string of cash, and a gift package. When he was receiving the gift package, Deputy Lieutenant Wang noticed his limping gait and beckoned him over. Li Daquan went over with some apprehension. He had almost been discharged last year, and he hoped the lieutenant wouldn't look down on him.

"Brother, when did you injure your foot?" Wang Erniu asked with a gentle smile.

The veteran was flattered and immediately saluted in reply, "Thank you for your concern, Captain. I accidentally hit my foot with a stone when I was repairing the irrigation canal with the people a couple of years ago. I didn't recover properly, so I walk a little crookedly. It's nothing serious. I'm just as brave as ever when I'm on the battlefield." As he spoke, he immediately raised his arm and bent it, his bulging muscles showing his strength.

Wang Erniu immediately nodded with an appreciative and encouraging smile, thinking that he had guessed his intentions wrong, and said in a low voice, "It's nothing, it's nothing. Here, take this extra. The five hundred coins should be the compensation. Thank you for your hard work!"

Li Daquan almost burst into tears. He was very surprised. Over the years, he had met many superiors, but this was the first time he had seen a superior who cared so much about his soldiers. This was not just five hundred coins; it was his acknowledgment of his honor.

"Thank you, Commandant!" Li Daquan accepted the gifts with both hands, bowed respectfully, and then left with the items.