Traveling back to the Northern Song Dynasty: Picking up a princess as my wife

In the winter of 1127 AD, the Southern Song army, led by Han Shizhong, marched northward along Xuzhou, and most of the Jin army retreated to the north bank of the Yellow River.

Qi County and Jun County, south of Hebi, also became battlefields for the two sides. As the situation at the front became increasingly tense, the grain orders from the Prince of Zhennan increased. However, the Prince of Zhennan was a decent person and always sent gold as funds to purchase grain. Most importantly, they were afraid that Li Zhen would cut off their supply, because even if they had a lot of gold, they wouldn't be able to buy so much grain.

At this moment, Tangyin County was welcoming its first heavy snowfall. Li Zhen looked out the window at the heavy snow and said to Yue Peng behind him.

"Go and distribute the coal stoves prepared in the warehouse to the people in the county town. In addition, give each household three chimneys and one hundred honeycomb briquettes."

These honeycomb briquettes are a new invention that Li Zhen recently came up with. He purchased a large quantity of stock from a factory that had long since ceased production through his company in the future, and bought them for five yuan each.

Li Zhen originally intended to make a fortune during this winter, but considering the current survival issues of the people, he decided to distribute the produce for free.

As for the coal briquettes, that was even easier to solve. There was an open-pit coal mine north of Tangyin City. Li Zhen ordered his men to extract them and mix them with yellow clay to make honeycomb briquettes. This not only greatly reduced the cost but also made them very convenient to use.

In addition, Li Zhen ordered people to investigate the poor households in Tangyin City and delivered winter food and cotton clothes to them. He believed that with the help of coal stoves for heating, they should be able to get through the winter.

Old Wan's son was captured by the Jurchens and forced into military service; his fate is now unknown. Only he and his wife remain in the family, relying on each other for survival. Their food supplies have long since run out, and they have been living off the charity of their neighbors.

When the yamen runners brought him food, cotton clothes, and a coal stove for heating, Li Laowan was so moved that he wept bitterly.

"Waaah... Thank you for the magistrate's kindness. I, Li Laowan, will repay his kindness even if I have to be a cow or a horse in my next life."

Yue Peng helped Li Laowan, who was kneeling on the ground, up: "Old man, the ground is cold, get up quickly. It's not just your family that has one, every household in the whole of Tangyin City has received one. With this coal stove, we won't be afraid of winter."

Besides Tangyin City, Lijiazhai also ceased all activities at this time. People squatted in their homes, eating potatoes and sweet potatoes in small groups around the stove.

Li Zhen rode his horse, admiring the snow scenery along the way, as he headed towards the mountain village.

"The chief is back!"

Soon everyone from Li Family Village came out. They hadn't seen Li Zhen for a long time. Although they knew that Li Zhen was now the magistrate of Tangyin County, they still warmly called him their leader.

Zhao Yingluo, wearing a cotton-padded coat and heavily pregnant, was also standing at the entrance of the village waiting. Upon seeing Zhao Yingluo, Li Zhen immediately jumped off his horse and ran quickly to her side.

"It's so cold outside, what are you doing out here? Go back inside quickly, you're not feeling well."

Zhao Yingluo gently stroked Li Zhen's face with her warm hands: "It's alright, I'll be careful."

Li Zhen scolded the two maids beside him, "Don't you have any sense? Hurry up and help the lady back to her room."

"Alright, they wouldn't let me out, but I insisted on coming out myself, so don't blame them."

Seeing Li Zhen and his wife being so affectionate, the crowd decided not to disturb them any further and dispersed.

When Wang Dasao (formerly Zhang Guafu), who was in charge of managing the canteen, saw Li Zhen return, she hurriedly ordered people to slaughter pigs and sheep so that the canteen would have extra food that evening.

Today, Lijiazhai is completely self-sufficient in meat, raising various livestock such as pigs, cattle, and sheep. They have even built three chicken farms, which can fully meet the needs of the entire village.

The mountain stronghold now has a population of fifty to sixty thousand, but most of them live in the outer stronghold, while the inner stronghold still only has about a thousand people. These thousand people are the original core members.

The canteen was only set up in the inner village. In the outer village, apart from the military camp, the people cooked for themselves. They relied on a points system that was settled every month to exchange for grain and various living supplies at the cooperative.

After Li Zhen'an calmed Zhao Yingluo down, he walked straight towards the cafeteria, where everyone was waiting for his arrival.

The snow has fallen heavily, reaching knee-deep for adults. There are people in the village who are dedicated to clearing the snow, so there's no need to worry about walking.

Upon seeing Li Zhen arrive, Wang Changdao quickly poured him a cup of hot liquor: "Chief, have a sip while it's hot to warm yourself up."

Li Zhen downed the scalding hot wine in one gulp and immediately felt a sense of comfort.

At this time, all the leaders of Lijiazhai, big and small, had arrived. Even Qian Dazhuang, who was in charge of Yijiangnan, rushed back. Today can be considered a big gathering of Lijiazhai.

Li Zhenqing cleared his throat: "Everyone has worked hard this past year! It is thanks to your hard work that our Li Family Village has reached its current size. Now we have enough to eat and clothes to wear when it's cold, and we are living a prosperous and peaceful life. But today I have some bad news to tell you. The war between the Song and Jin dynasties has reached our southern border. At this rate, it is very likely that our area will also be affected by the war. That is why I have gathered you all here. We must prepare for defense, not only against the Song army, but also against the Jin army. These people are bloodthirsty. Once they find out about the situation in our village, I'm afraid our good days will be over."

Yue Ying said somewhat unconvinced, "We're not afraid of the big boss. We'll just fight them if necessary."

Li Zhen smiled at Yue Ying and continued, "Currently, our Li Family Village and Tangyin County together only have eight thousand people, and most of them are still new recruits who have never been on the battlefield. If we confront them head-on, we will probably suffer losses. Therefore, we should focus on defense."

Yue Peng: "The chief is right. Starting tomorrow, we must strengthen the defenses of the stronghold and cut off all contact with the outside world to prevent our stronghold's information from being leaked."

Li Zhen raised his wine glass and said loudly to everyone, "There's a saying: 'When soldiers come, generals will block them; when water comes, earth will dam it.' Don't be afraid, everyone. I believe that with our current weapons and equipment, we can protect our stronghold without any problem. Starting tomorrow, Yue Peng and Yue Ying will be in charge of the affairs of the stronghold, while Wang Changdao and Qian Dazhuang will come with me to Tangyin County. I believe we will definitely overcome this difficulty."

After saying that, he took the lead in drinking and eating meat, and everyone started to get lively, but very few people got drunk tonight.

After nightfall, Li Zhen led Zhao Yingluo to a secluded room next door and pointed to several boxes on the ground, saying to her...

“Yingluo, since you’re not feeling well, you should stay at the stronghold for now. I’ve found some midwives to take care of you. Don’t tell anyone about these boxes yet. If the stronghold is ever in danger, just give these boxes to Yue Peng, and he’ll know what to do.”

Li Zhen held Zhao Yingluo in his arms: "Actually, I don't want to leave the stronghold either, but now the entire Tangyin City is under my control. This is also the most important part of me to build my own power, so I have to be there to command. I can only leave you alone in this empty room."

Zhao Yingluo buried her head deeply in Li Zhen's arms and said softly, "A real man should stand tall and upright, how can he be immersed in the sentiments of his children?"