Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3508: Happy or Not

Winter of the ninth year of Taixing.

December.

A bitter cold wind howled from the north, lifting up the remaining snow on the wasteland, making bursts of hideous laughter, and then pounced on a group of people who were still walking outside in this weather.

The sky was gray and black, with large clumps of clouds, like the sons of the aristocracy who just wanted to lie down and didn't want to change. They were forced to gather together under the constant whip of the north wind, and then faced with a tragic future. They were squeezed to tears, completely unaware that this tragedy was actually the norm for ordinary people before.

The suffering of ordinary people is so severe that they don’t even have time to cry as they have to work six hours a day and one day a week.

Six plus one, not a single day off.

Instead, if you work for six days, you can be rewarded with one more day.

You have to do it.

Tasting the taste of being forced by the north wind, the clouds cried.

An old pine tree stood crookedly halfway up the slope, bearing the sadness of the clouds. Perhaps it could not bear the weight, and when the group of people walked by, it trembled and shook off the snow and water, causing a burst of shouting and cursing.

Everywhere is white, yellow, gray, and black.

The occasional green is very dark, almost black.

Of course, most of it is white, and the other colors are just embellishments.

Nature will teach everyone who disrespects it a lesson, not just on white.

Zhang Sheng was on the horse's back, hunching his head, almost wanting to hide it in the fur on the horse's neck. Although the fur couldn't guarantee much warmth and was also covered with some frost, it was at least better than being exposed.

The others were not much different.

No one spoke along the way.

In such weather, walking outdoors, who the hell can give a long speech and let people around hear it clearly? It's like a god...

Zhang Sheng is a good name because many people use it.

The name is given by parents.

Zhang Sheng himself cannot make any comments, and from a certain perspective, Zhang Sheng's name also represents his parents' expectations for him.

Live longer.

That's it.

Unlike some children, who are born with jade in their mouths or have the word "玉" in their names, for fear that others will not know the child's nobility...

And what about Zhang Sheng?

It just has more strokes than the character "土".

It is so ordinary that it is almost equivalent to Zhang San and Li Si in later generations.

Therefore, he who has this name will often be asked, which Zhang Sheng are you?

Zhang Sheng was forced to tell his previous experience -

I'm the one who tells stories.

Then the others suddenly realized, "Hey! Why didn't you say so earlier! Did you write the poem "Don't Despise the Poor Youngsters"? It's really well written!"

Then Zhang Sheng could only smile awkwardly.

"Don't look down on the young because they are poor." The reason why this sentence seems good to some people does not mean that it is really good, but that too many young people are poor and have experienced the pain of poverty, so they remember this sentence particularly well.

How can you understand the importance of peace without experiencing the hardships of life?

Zhang Sheng was lucky because he was more knowledgeable and proficient in writing than ordinary people, but he was also unfortunate because even though he was knowledgeable and cultured, he still could not become an official before he arrived in Chang'an, even though he was more capable than others.

Because he has a scar on his face.

The scar is not big.

But such a small scar in Shandong was like an insurmountable barrier that cut off his path to promotion.

Confucian scholars and officials in Shandong shout every day that we should not judge people by their appearance, but what is the reality?

Zhang Sheng only remembered that he had this scar, which he got when he was a child, but he could no longer remember whether he got this scar by accident or...

After all, Shandong families are large and have many people with the same surname, but ordinary families can get very few positions, and each generation has several or even dozens of cousins ​​competing.

Zhang Sheng turned his head slightly and looked at the team.

Everyone in his team is a writer or a storyteller, and I have met some of them only once.

Why are they coming to the front line in Tongguan?

Could it be that they were asked to write and tell stories for the soldiers?

Isn't this a joke?

But that doesn't matter.

As long as it was really the General of Cavalry who summoned him, he would be willing to do so even if they didn't use their mouths or hands, but asked him to pull the vehicle, like a slow horse at the back of the team, pulling the vehicle in the wind and snow.

As long as the vehicle is a cavalry vehicle and not a baggage cart, it will be fine.

Zhang Sheng raised his head and looked into the distance.

In the wind and snow, it seemed that the Forbidden Ditch was ahead, and on the hilltop far away from the Forbidden Ditch, there seemed to be some shadowy figures.

……

……

Tongguan, forbidden ditch.

Fei Qian stood on the forbidden ditch and looked down at it.

In the forbidden ditch, many huts have been built in sheltered places.

These huts built before the snowstorm came would be more effective in avoiding the erosion of the cold wind than the camps on the plateau. The soldiers and horses originally in the barracks on the plateau were now basically moved to the forbidden ditch to avoid the snowstorm.

This heavy snow came quickly and violently.

But the snow in Guanzhong was not the heaviest. A few days ago, Fei Qian received a report of heavy snow in Yinshan Mountain.

That poor pigeon...

Maybe it's also a lucky pigeon.

Overnight, heavy snow blocked the door.

This "blocked door" is not an exaggeration, but a real snow-blocked one. The snow layer, nearly half a person's height, blocked the doors and windows, and even crushed some beams.

Fei Qian received the report on the disaster in Yinshan, but what can he do for Yinshan now?

Nothing can be done.

The heavy snow closed the roads. Whether going north or south, it was a disaster. We could only hope that Yinshan could survive. We hoped that Yinshan had made sufficient preparations before, otherwise, even the pigeons might be eaten...

On the edge of the plateau, there are some trees growing crookedly.

The location where these trees grow is relatively poor compared to their previous companions.

Perhaps the birds that ate the tree seeds happened to bring them to the slopes or into the barren crevices of the rocks, forcing them to bend their spines and lower their heads as they grew, forming a twisted posture.

But they are also lucky...

Many of the tall, straight trees have become beams of temporary sheds, and even those of average size have become firewood. However, these crooked trees that grew in the cracks of rocks and on the edges of cliffs and were difficult to cut down have escaped the disaster and can wait for next spring in the wind and snow.

In the face of such wind and snow, soil and water conservation becomes a joke.

Sometimes, it's impossible to have both.

There have to be trade-offs.

For example, now it is snowing and we cannot light a bonfire today. We may not see the sun tomorrow. How can we still think about projects that will last for thousands of years and benefit our descendants in the future?

Only when those at the bottom of society can feel that they have a future can the country last for thousands of years.

Fei Qian asked Guanzhong to send as much coal as possible, and at the same time took every possible measure to avoid the wind and snow.

In addition, regular military training and field operations were suspended to prevent more freezing injuries.

Lu Su left anyway.

Although he seemed to be pretending when he left, Fei Qian could see that not everyone in the world thought that the general public was important...

The high-ranking aristocratic children of the Han Dynasty played with all kinds of laws and manipulated all kinds of rules. They turned the leadership originally entrusted to them by ordinary people into a tool to seek personal power among the aristocratic children. They also colluded with each other, and it became a common pattern that was passed down from generation to generation.

Lu Su would be better than these children of the aristocratic families.

But deep down, he is still a descendant of a noble family. He doesn't care much about the great men, let alone the common people.

Lu Su will not stay with Fei Qian, nor will he stay with Emperor Liu Xie, but will return to Jiangdong.

This made Fei Qian more convinced that these Shandong celebrities were like the forbidden ditch in front of them, and they had a deep barrier with Guanzhong. Even if they saw the scenery of Guanzhong, they would not easily cross this forbidden ditch.

Shandong's economic system is a small peasant economy.

This kind of decentralized land management in a small area with families or clans as the main units, using the production method of men farming and women weaving to maintain rule, and forming a self-sufficient economic form and a specific production and living pattern, was a blessing for China in the process of feudal dynasty evolution, but also a misfortune.

Early Chinese society was based on the well-field system.

This early public land ownership system soon fell apart due to technological development and the expansion of human desires.

When working on public land, everyone wants to work less, but when working on their own private land, everyone is willing to work more.

Therefore, the initial transformation from the public well-field system to the small peasant economy system with household contract responsibility system did greatly stimulate the work enthusiasm of ordinary people.

However, the ministers were not happy.

The ministers wanted both.

So while they were claiming to be praising Zhou Gong, they were actually undermining his power.

They admire Duke Zhou because if they don't do so, they can't prove that their ancestors shed blood and lost their lives for Duke Zhou, so their current treatment is what they deserve.

As for stealing Zhou Gong's wall, there is no need to mention it...

Looking at the big man's current appearance, you can tell how well these guys are able to wield their small hoes and big rakes.

"My Lord!" a guard pointed to the distance and shouted, "Over there... it looks like the last group has arrived!"

……

……

The warm shed and the rustling sound of snow made Zhang Sheng and his companions, who had arrived at Tongguan Jingou in the severe cold, sleep soundly. It was not until the copper whistle at the early morning of the next day that he was awakened.

As Zhang Sheng woke up, all kinds of sounds from the camp sheds suddenly hit his ears.

Laughter, talking, snoring, mixed with the howling sound of the wind and snow, and the crackling of the burning campfire, combined into a vibrant and lively music, as if declaring war on the wind and snow outside and showing one's own tenacity.

"Are you awake?" a voice said, "Why don't you sleep a little longer? The general has ordered that you rest today and don't need to report for duty."

Zhang Sheng turned around and saw the shed chief's simple and honest smile.

"I don't want to sleep anymore," Zhang Sheng got up, "I'll be fine after I've had enough sleep."

"Yeah." The old man replied, and then poured a bowl of hot soup from the pot on the campfire, "Drink some soup first to warm your body. Are you hungry? It's going to be breakfast time in a while..."

Zhang Sheng thanked him and sat down by the campfire.

When we arrived yesterday, it was quite late and we were really exhausted, so we basically fell asleep immediately and had no intention of observing it carefully. Now, after looking at it this way, Zhang Sheng felt that there was something different about this bonfire.

The bonfire was not very strong, only a little flame was left. It was not even a bonfire in Zhang Sheng's mind, but more like a stove half buried in the ground.

"This..." Zhang Sheng couldn't help but stand up and carefully looked at the campfire in front of him, "It's a little different..."

"This is what the General of the Cavalry taught us..." The old fellow laughed, and seemed to be happy to see Zhang Sheng's expression. He gestured, "Burning fire here, the heat can flow over there... The bricks used here are all top-quality..."

Zhang Sheng was stunned for a moment, "You mean, bricks are used here... here? The kind of... square bricks?"

"Yeah." The old man said, "So, the General of the Cavalry is a good man!"

Unlike the cheap bricks in later generations, firing bricks was not an easy task in the Han Dynasty. Although the labor cost may be lower than in later generations, other costs were very high.

Perhaps they were woken up by the conversation between Zhang Sheng and the old man, or perhaps they were almost asleep, the other people in the shed also woke up one after another and joined the exploration of the new campfire tunnel.

"General, this is..." Zhang Sheng looked at their new discovery with some doubt, "This is not a temporary construction, but is it going to be preserved permanently?"

"How is that possible?" the old man laughed, "next summer, there will be water in this ditch, how can we keep it?"

"Then... why?" Zhang Sheng couldn't understand.

Why use more expensive bricks to build temporary huts for soldiers and people like Zhang Sheng to live in?

"That's not all..." The old man walked to the side of the shed and patted the "wall" of the shed, "Look what this is?"

"This is... a carpet?!"

"No wonder I didn't feel cold last night!"

"Oh my god! This... is this just us... or is it everywhere?"

The old man smiled proudly, "All of them, all of them!"

Zhang Sheng was stunned and did some quick calculations in his mind.

This is no small amount!

Who would spend so much money on these ordinary soldiers and low-level officials?

Even if we wait until spring to dismantle and recycle these things, there will inevitably be some losses, right?

Is it worth it?

But the comfortable sleep last night and the still warm hot soup in the morning seemed to tell him an answer...

Zhang Sheng felt as if something hit his heart, then he stood up and pushed open the heavy door of the shed.

The cold air hit his face, making him shiver. He quickly got out, closed the door of the shed again, and then looked around.

Because they had to choose a location that was both sheltered from the wind and facing the sun, the sheds in the forbidden ditch could not be as straight as a military camp, but were scattered, with one shed after another distributed in the forbidden ditch in an orderly manner, stretching for about five or six miles.

Because it was snowy and windy, not many people were outside the shed.

Zhang Sheng walked along the trampled path and came to the nearest shed.

Someone in the shed said something, and then there was laughter. Haha, haha, hehe, the different laughters overlapped together, making the people who heard it couldn't help but curl up their lips.

Zhang Sheng did not go in. He just stood outside the shed and looked at the other shed.

The same chimney, the same half-sunken structure, the same combination of wood and felt…

OMG, if these sheds were all the same, how much would this cost?!

Zhang Sheng originally thought that he was going to come here to work like an ox or a horse, and he was mentally prepared to do so. But when he saw what was happening before his eyes, he suddenly felt that he might have been wrong.

Unconsciously, perhaps influenced by the laughter in the shed, Zhang Sheng's mouth began to curl up, revealing a smile, hehehe, grinning foolishly...

……

……

There is a saying in later generations that if an employee quits his job, it is either because he is unhappy with his job or because he is not paid enough.

A place where you can have fun and get paid well, and you can't leave even if you chase you away.

Many people understand this principle, and even talk about it often, but few actually do it.

Pang Tong and others did not understand this principle, and perhaps had no experience in this area, but Fei Qian did.

And Fei Qian started to do this...

Happiness or unhappiness is often relative.

Others have to sell their children to survive, but my family still has a bowl of porridge, so I am happy. But when I turn around and see the rich people enjoying wine and meat, I will feel that I am really unfortunate...

Therefore, whether you feel happy or not depends on how you compare and with whom you compare.

It is basically impossible to march or train in the rain and snow in winter.

Small troops and elite soldiers may have no problem fighting in such weather, but large troops may have a hard time, especially since no one can guarantee that every soldier can remain alive and well in the cold conditions in the wild for a long time.

Frostbite of limbs was a common problem, and there was the potential for widespread epidemics due to the chill.

This is one of the reasons why Fei Qian spent a lot of money and effort to build a decent shed instead of just doing it casually.

Dealing with things now and saving some money will lead to higher risks and more trouble.

Soldiers' emotional instability is due to war syndrome on the one hand and uncertainty about the future on the other. People need to have a vision for the future, otherwise they will easily fall into a state of lying down and blindly pursuing immediate interests.

Especially in the military, if the soldiers lose hope for the future, it is undoubtedly a terrible thing. Such an army will often fall into endless killing and madness, and the consequences are often disastrous.

At that point, the army may become uncontrollable and indiscriminately attack civilians and prisoners of war, causing massive casualties and social destruction. At the same time, discipline and order within the army may also collapse, leading to mutual suspicion and conflict among soldiers, which could trigger a mutiny or rebellion at any time.

This kind of example is common in ancient and modern times. In the late Roman period, due to a long period of civil war, political corruption and economic recession, many Roman legion soldiers lost their loyalty to the empire and their faith in the future. Some of them began to become brutal and lawless, plundering and massacring civilians, exacerbating social unrest and chaos. In the end, these hopeless armies became one of the important factors in the demise of the Roman Empire.

The end of the Tang Dynasty was similar.

Fei Qian once wanted to establish a position similar to the political commissar in the army, but later found that it was not feasible. Not only because of the low level of soldier culture, but more importantly, the Han Dynasty did not have the soil for the survival of such a position.

So Fei Qian had to settle for the second best option and chose another model that was more in line with the current environment and current needs.

"Remember the bitterness and think of the sweetness."

Zhang Sheng and his men came and brought laughter, and the emotions in the soldiers' hearts were relieved by their laughter...