I studied in modern times

Chapter 1041 Guo Gui's Day

While the Emperor Zhao of Bianjing was recklessly lavishly spending money...

Xihe Road in the northwest has entered its busiest time of the year.

Guo Guiyi was woken up by his wife early in the morning.

"My lord... my lord... wake up..."

Guo Gui groggily opened his eyes and saw faint tear stains on his wife's round face.

He got married last year.

Because of his military achievements, his father-in-law's family not only sent over the dowry they had originally promised, but also delivered it to him.

They also added more than a dozen cows and about a hundred sheep as part of the dowry.

Furthermore, with Wang Dafu's patronage, he was appointed as a bailiff in the patrol army of Nanguanbao.

This is the lowest rank of a military officer in the Song Dynasty's military system.

Above are the officials in charge, the generals and the ten generals.

All could be recommended by the commander of the capital/army from among the meritorious soldiers, and after approval by the relevant authorities, they would be granted the title of Jieji (节级).

In the Song Dynasty, the field cavalry and infantry commanders/generals were all internally organized into numerous sub-divisions.

A typical commander (500 men) consists of ten generals, ten assistant generals, ten clerks, ten assistant officers, and ten guards.

Guo Gui's position as a bailiff was filled at the beginning of last year by Wang Dafu's recommendation.

Although the bailiff was not a formal military officer, he was still a figure of some importance within the jurisdiction of Nanguanbao in Didao.

Guo Gui rubbed his temples to shake off the hangover and asked, "What's wrong, my dear wife?"

"My father just sent someone to inform us that someone else has died at the cotton plantation where my brother works..."

Guo Gui's face darkened, somewhat displeased: "What's this about extortion?"

“I just told him last time that we should treat our employees better, better…don’t force them to work in the fields when the sun is too strong…to prevent any deaths…what’s wrong with him?”

"If the teachers at the state school find out about this... I'm afraid it will cause another uproar!"

The reclaimed area of ​​Mianzhuang on Xihe Road is increasing every year.

However, the number of employees that can be recruited is decreasing.

The Qiang tribes on the Hengshan side have almost all been captured by the Western bandits—those who weren't captured have already fled into Xihe territory.

As a result, the mountainous areas on the border between Song and Xia, which used to be barren, have now turned green this spring.

In fact, in the markets around Lanzhou, Tangut merchants often brought tiger skins, leopard skins, tiger bones, and leopard bones to sell.

They were all hunted by the knights of the Western Bandits during their patrols.

This was unimaginable in the past, which shows that there are indeed not many people left in the mountainous area of ​​Hengshan, at least in the border area between Song and Xiaxihe!
With a severe labor shortage, cotton mills throughout Xihe had no choice but to treat their employees better.

To avoid exhausting people prematurely, leaving no one to earn money for them.

Of course, the teachers at the Xizhou State School may have also played a role.

Hearing Guo Gui's complaints, the woman immediately began to sob: "My lord... my younger brother is always kind-hearted. He never misses a day to burn incense and pray to Buddha, and he even gives the hired workers the best food..."

"Where would it harm people?"

"It must be that those hired laborers are too weak to withstand the labor..."

Guo Gui glared at her, about to scold her, but when he saw his wife's slightly protruding belly, his anger dissipated.

Left with no other choice, he could only say, "I'll go check out the cotton field you've been swindling later..."

"If it is indeed unrelated to false accusations, I will personally submit a written report to Supervisor Wang of Nanguanbao!"

As he spoke, he sat up, and his wife immediately wiped away her tears and eagerly helped him get dressed.

Guo Gui sighed when he saw this. His wife was good in every way, but she doted on her younger brother too much.

Thinking of his good-for-nothing brother-in-law, Guo Gui felt a surge of anger.

This is the fourth employee to die this year from his brother-in-law's extortion, isn't it?
If it were last year, there probably wouldn't have been any problems.

Hired workers have cheap lives; they can die easily!

Over the course of a summer, at least several thousand workers in the dozens of cotton mills near Didao died from exhaustion, heatstroke, or disease.

Not only did the cotton plantation owners not take it seriously, but even the hired workers didn't take it seriously.

People are generally accepting of such things.

Even the families of the deceased employees had no complaints.

If the host family could bestow a few hundred copper coins and a bolt of coarse cloth as compensation, they would be extremely grateful—the lives of the Qiang and Tubo people in the snowy plateau and Hengshan Mountains are worthless!

In particular, the Tibetan serfs on the plateau lived a life worse than livestock in the past.

At the very least, the livestock will be well cared for and will not easily go hungry.

But it was different for serfs.

They usually use it to the extreme!
In particular, when the population on the plateau grows too large, the serf owners will consciously increase their exploitation in order to kill off the excess population.

Now that they've arrived at the cotton fields in Xihe, they have to work day and night, and they don't get many days of rest all year round.

It's so much better than the old days.

At least, in cotton mills, there are only two ways to die: from overwork or from illness.

But times have changed!
With the booming development of the cotton plantation economy, cotton plantation owners have begun to cherish their labor more and more.

They actually started to feel reluctant to let their employees die so easily.

Meanwhile, the teachers at the Xizhou State School were also taking the opportunity to promote 'benevolence' and 'righteousness'.

The cotton plantation owners were stunned.

Under these circumstances, the Xihe government also began to pay attention to the treatment of its employees.

If too many people die, the authorities will indeed investigate.

If it involves execution or murder, the Song Dynasty's criminal law may be applied to punish the offender.

His wife served him, and he put on his robes and boots.

Guo Gui stood up, looked at his still somewhat uneasy wife, and reassured her, "Don't worry, my dear wife, I won't ignore this fabricated story!"

"If I have really committed a crime and the authorities want to investigate, I will find a way to pull strings!"

"At worst, I'll go to Warden Wang and beg him to intervene and settle the score with the victim's family!"

In Xihe, the Tanguts, Qiang, and Tibetans all have their own prices.

This is their long-standing tradition.

As long as enough money is paid to feed the tribal chiefs and shamans, they will agree to hold a severance ceremony.

Let alone killing someone, even if you kill someone's entire family in broad daylight and in front of everyone, you can still get away with it.

According to Xihe's rules, as long as the tribe is appeased and the tribe's inspector and chief agree not to pursue the matter, the Xihe government will not be bored enough to investigate.

To avoid provoking dissatisfaction among the tribes.

Hearing this, Guo Gui's wife wiped away her tears and smiled, saying, "Thank you for your trouble, sir!"

Guo Gui hummed in agreement, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

But looking at his wife's slightly protruding belly, he could only lower his head.

This is because his wife was kind, loyal, and grateful to him.

Back then, what was Guo Gui anyway?
He was just a poor man who owed the government a huge debt and had no choice but to work in Xihe to pay it off.

But his wife was the wife of Yi Mai, a member of the powerful Qiang clan in Didao, Xizhou.

Although she was a widow, and had two children to support.

But she's rich!
After her ex-husband died, he left her five horses, dozens of sheep, several dozen acres of irrigated land, and half a hillside pasture.

With such conditions, there would be many men vying to marry her in Xizhou.

But his wife fell for this poor man.

Despite the pressure from her father and brothers, she became close to him and even used her own money to subsidize him.

Later, when he went to war with Wang Dafu, his wife killed the family's sheep, smoked it into jerky, and gave it to him as dry rations. Fearing that he would get cold, she also wove him a sheepskin coat and a sheepskin hat, and secretly gave him a broadsword and a bow.

It was thanks to his wife's financial support that he was able to survive the battlefield and even achieve military merit.

People should never forget kindness!

Besides, his wife is now pregnant with his child.

So Guo Gui reached out and touched his wife's face, and said with a smile, "My dear wife, just stay home and wait for the good news!"

"I'll be right back!"

"Hey!"

Guo Gui fastened his belt, tightened his boots, and then opened the door.

Before me was a small courtyard with several bamboo strips laid out, on which were strips of dried cheese.

In a corner of the yard, there was a pile of about a hundred dried charcoal balls.

Upon seeing this, Guo Gui's lips curled into a smile.

"I wonder how Brother Big Gun is doing in Jiaozhou?"

"Does he still remember what we talked about back in Yexian...? Does he still want to marry the county princess...?"

Muttering to himself, Guo Gui strode forward.

It was at this moment that the courtyard gate was pushed open by two small children.

"Father..." The two children ran up to Guo Gui as he came out, calling out to him affectionately.

Guo Gui smiled and squatted down, hugging one in each arm.

These two children are the son and daughter his wife brought with her.

Naturally, they all took Guo Gui's surname, and Guo Gui also gave them Han names.

The older boy was named Guo Hu'er, and the younger girl was named Guo Xiaoniang.

Guo Gui did not look down on them and treated them as his own children. In the lower classes of the Song Dynasty, there were no doubts about marrying a widow and taking over the child she brought with her. In fact, they were quite happy about it.

Because this means the family will grow stronger.

"Tiger Cub, Little Mother..." Guo Gui picked up the two little ones, kissed them on the cheek, and then asked, "What are you doing out so early?"

"My mother told us to go out and keep an eye on the livestock on the mountain, so that no one else would collect the livestock's droppings!" said Guo Hu'er, who was almost five years old.

"Good, good, good!" Guo Gui laughed heartily, "With you two good children, your father can rest assured!"

He put the two children down on the ground and said gently, "Go and play! Father will go out first to see your uncle!"

"Alright!" Guo Hu'er grabbed Guo Xiao Niang's hand and skipped and hopped towards his mother's room.

Guo Gui watched all this, straightened his clothes, and walked out the door.

In front of the gate, there was a nice stable.

Speaking of which, this stable was built when my ex-husband was still around.

The materials used are high-quality, and the craftsmanship is excellent.

There are eight horses of different sizes in the stable.

They are all her ex-husband's legacy.

Guo Gui stepped forward, led out a five-foot-tall warhorse, checked its horseshoes, and put the saddle back on before mounting it. He rode off at the gate, heading straight for the cotton plantation where his brother-in-law was making a living.

Along the way, Guo Gui saw endless, man-made pits resembling fish scales on the undulating mountains on both sides.

This was unearthed last winter by the newly appointed Prime Minister, who mobilized all able-bodied men in Xihe after taking office.

It is said to conserve water and soil, ensuring abundant pasture in the following spring.

This strategist not only dug many fish-scale pits, but also ordered people to plant many saplings in these pits.

In retrospect, that strategist, Lord Lü, truly lived up to his reputation as a celestial being descended from the God of Literature, having served as an official in the government!

After the start of spring, the ice and snow melt and rains arrive.

The pasture grass in mountainous areas with fish-scale-shaped pits grows exceptionally lush.

The saplings in the pits have a high survival rate. In a few years, these mountains will surely be covered with shady trees and lush pastures.

Even now, its legacy remains immense.

With more grass on the mountain, there will be more livestock grazing.

Along the way, Guo Gui saw nothing but cattle and sheep covering the mountains and plains.

The herdsmen on horseback waved slings, with several sheepdogs running alongside them.

Behind each herd of livestock, dozens of boys, around ten years old and wearing padded jackets, dangled.

These boys were either carrying winnowing baskets or carrying baskets on their backs.

Wherever the herd went, they followed.

They would happily pick up the cow and sheep droppings and put them in a winnowing basket or a carrying basket.

These are all great things!

In the cotton village at the foot of the mountain, a high price was set at ten refined iron coins for a stone of cow and sheep dung.

Therefore, all departments are now paying close attention to the manure of livestock.

Only children from one's own tribe are allowed to collect the tribe's excrement.

Some tribes even treat this as a perk—only the tribe's soldiers or children working as laborers on their own cotton farms are allowed to collect excrement.

No one else can.

Xihe Road is considered relatively good.

Because at least the cotton mills are willing to pay.

Guo Gui had heard that the chieftains of Xige City and Miaochuan City even ordered the children of their tribes to work for them for free.

Some desperately poor tribes even set limits on the amount of excrement children had to collect each day.

If they don't meet the standards, they will be beaten and scolded.

As for the purpose of collecting the feces?
Compost, of course!
This is the advanced experience that Guo Gui and his ilk brought from Hebei. Back then, Guo Gui and his ilk indulged in prostitution and gambling on construction sites in Hebei, and ended up with a mountain of debt. They couldn't escape, so they had no choice but to bite the bullet and choose to either guard the border in Xihe or reclaim wasteland in Jiaozhou.

Before this, Guo Gui and his ilk, in addition to their rampant gambling and whoring, also followed the imperial guards led by Song Yongchen to clear the silt from the Yellow River and repair roads in Hebei and Jingdong.

Guo Gui, for example, personally participated in how the dredging army transformed the silt dredged from the Yellow River into fertile soil for farmland.

Among the others, there were many who had followed the Imperial Guards led by Song Yongchen, and had worked on river embankments, roads, waterwheels, gantry cranes, and wells.

As a result, after arriving in Xihe, these people became honored guests at cotton mills in various places.

Because there are many things that only they understand!
For example, how to build a waterwheel, how to install a waterwheel?
How can the channels be repaired better?
How to build a reservoir on a hillside?

How do you choose a location with water to dig a well? How deep do you need to dig to find water?

How should this compost be done? How does it ferment after composting? How can I tell if the composting was successful?
Etc., etc……

These are all technologies, advanced experiences unknown to the Han and non-Han people of Xihe.

With the help of these people in spreading the word and teaching, the Han and vassal people of Xihe quickly entered the advanced feudal agricultural society of the Song Dynasty.

Cotton Manor, in particular, is wealthy and powerful, and it is backed by the government or a large local tribe.

There is no shortage of human and animal excrement, nor of all kinds of household garbage and swill.

Therefore, in almost every cotton field, there is a huge composting area every hundred steps.

The piles of manure reached several meters high.

After fermenting for a month or forty days, the composted manure can be used as fertilizer.

Thanks to composting and fallowing, cotton farms along Xihe Road are thriving and there is no concern about reduced yields due to decreased soil fertility.

This is also why Guo Gui was recommended by Wang Dafu from a local militia household to become the official officer of the Didao Patrol Inspector of the Xizhou Field Army—he was a well-known composting expert in Nanguanbao.

In cotton mills of all sizes, if people wanted to compost, they would ask him to come and give them some pointers.

Within the jurisdiction of Nanguanbao, there are no more than ten people who possess similar 'advanced technology'.

For example, Zhang Zhong from the northern part of Nanguanbao—this guy used to be a bandit leader in the Shangluo Mountains.

In the eighth year of the Yuanfeng era, upon hearing that the Dengzhou-Laizhou gold mines had become incredibly wealthy, he led several brothers from the mountains to Dengzhou-Laizhou to pan for gold.

Instead of finding gold, they went to Hebei to repair dikes, and later followed them south to Huainan for disaster relief.

Like Guo Gui, he couldn't control either his crotch or his hands.

In Hebei and Huainan, he indulged in debauchery and gambling day and night, eventually not only losing all his wages but also owing the government hundreds of strings of cash!

Since he was unwilling to go south to Jiaozhou, he could only go north to Xihe.

But after arriving in Xihe, the skills he learned from the Imperial Guards while repairing dikes in Hebei and providing disaster relief in Huainan suddenly became very useful.

Because he can do carpentry, build waterwheels, and knows a little about gantry cranes, and even knows how to repair tracks!
Last year, when they arrived in Xizhou, they were assigned to Nanguanbao with their sworn brothers. After showing off their skills, they quickly subdued the various Qiang chieftains in Nanguanbao.

After witnessing his carpentry skills, Bao Wu of the Bao family was so amazed that he insisted on marrying a young woman surnamed Bao to him.

When Judge Bao of Xizhou heard about this, he was greatly impressed and recommended him for the post of "Supervisor of Waterwheel Construction at Nanguan Fort".

Ming told him that as long as he trained fifty apprentices who knew carpentry and how to build/repair waterwheels, he could succeed.

He then submitted a memorial to the imperial court, requesting that the emperor reward him and grant him an official position.

So, this guy suddenly started trembling.

In the northern countryside, he established businesses, hired dozens of laborers, and also took in over a hundred apprentices sent by various departments and government officials.

I heard that the government's debts will be paid off this year.

Thinking about this, Guo Gui sighed: "I still owe the Emperor fifty strings of cash!"

He was actually able to pay it off.

However, since last year, he has gotten married, started a business, and even asked someone to bring back several dozen strings of cash to the capital for his family to use.

So, they could only continue to owe the government money.

He had a vague feeling that it would be better for him not to pay off the government's debts.

Thinking about these things, Guo Gui arrived at his brother-in-law's cotton village in Xiahewan.

This place is the property of the Zhao family in Xizhou, which is located in Qinzhou.

The Zhao family of Qinzhou is a noble family of Tibet, said to be descendants of the Zanpu (Tibetan king). Their royal surname was bestowed by the previous emperor, and the current emperor has promised to take a woman from the Zhao family as his concubine in the future.

They were not only a prominent clan in Qin Prefecture.

It has a tremendous appeal throughout Xihe Road and even the snowy plateau.

Guo Gui's brother-in-law, Xia E, lived in the Yi family, which had served him as their master for generations.

Upon seeing that the Zhao family had acquired property in Xizhou, they immediately rushed over to pledge their loyalty.

They put in an exceptionally hard work when they got to work.

To be honest, Guo Gui found this hard to understand—he was from Bianjing and was used to buying and selling/trading.

Simply put, it means you get what you pay for.

If you want to talk about feelings, that's not impossible—the key is how much you've done for me and how much you've helped me in the past.
Otherwise, it's better to follow the contract.

After all, in Bianjing, it was common for fathers and sons to turn against each other, for husbands and wives to quarrel, and for brothers to fight over money.

Guo Gui's neighbor, three brothers, had been fighting for a well left by their parents for more than ten years. Even when Guo Gui left Beijing, they were still fighting over it.

The three brothers not only ceased all contact with each other from then on.

Even during the Qingming Festival, ancestor worship is done separately.

Even strangers have a better relationship than these three brothers.

After witnessing so many of these things, the people of Bianjing all realized that all kindness and righteousness were fake.

Only copper coins are real!

……

Guo Gui was an acquaintance of the cotton village in Xiahewan.

So, as soon as he dismounted, the village soldiers immediately came forward and took his horse away for him.

Guo Gui swaggered into the cotton plantation.

After greeting the familiar manager of the cotton plantation, he was led to meet his brother-in-law, who was extorting money.

Upon seeing Guo Gui, Xia E quickly stood up and called him "brother-in-law".

Guo Gui glared at him and shook his head, saying, "Tell me, what happened?"

Xia E lowered his head and said, "I didn't know that person was sick..."

"So they urged him to work, and seeing that he was being lazy, they whipped him a few times..."

"Who would have thought he'd be so easily defeated..."

Guo Gui sighed and shook his head: "You, you..."

However, it was not appropriate to say anything more.

After all, this is still Zhao's territory, so you can't say anything to your brother-in-law like, "The Zhao family only gives you a few hundred coins a month, why are you taking it so seriously?"
He had no choice but to say, "Let's wait here for now!"

"I'm going to meet with the victim's family and see how much money they want to settle the score..."

If the worker died from overwork or illness.

Then this matter can be settled now.

However, the other party was whipped to death by Xia Li—regardless of whether Xia Li was intentional or unintentional.

According to the tradition of the tribes, a ceremony to sever grudges must be held to resolve the enmity.

Otherwise, the other party's nephews, nieces, and brothers could all seek revenge in a reasonable and legal manner.

This has been a tradition of the Tanguts, Tibetans, and various Qiang tribes for thousands of years.

They have an extreme form of revanchism.

Between them, feuds and grudges continued unabated.

That's why there's a 'severing of grudges' ceremony.

Through the guidance of shamans and tribal leaders, the two parties involved in the feud swear an oath never to retaliate, thus resolving their enmity and extinguishing their desire for revenge.

This was also the premise for the tribes to unite and cause trouble—whenever they invaded, they would first hold an alliance meeting, and then the tribes would settle their feuds.

As a Tibetan, Xia'e was naturally aware of this tradition, and upon hearing this, he was overjoyed: "Thank you, brother-in-law... thank you, brother-in-law..."

Guo Gui glared at him: "I'll teach you a lesson later!"

This Xiahewan Cotton Farm belongs to the Zhao family, not yours, Yimai. Why are you working so hard?
The meaning is clear: I'm doing right by the salary the Zhao family provides, and that's enough.

Besides, even the Zhao family is now consciously protecting and cherishing their employees.

The fear is that too many will die, affecting future land reclamation, composting, harvesting, and farming.

You, on the other hand, are diligently helping the Zhao family to motivate their hired workers.

The results of it?
Guo Gui only had to think about it for a moment before he realized that the soldiers and stewards he had met along the way were probably too serious about extorting his brother-in-law and had offended them.

The death of a worker means one less laborer, and one less laborer means one less tool for the cotton plantation to make money.

Guo Gui asked himself honestly, if he were the cotton plantation owner, he would also feel the pain.

He was just making up a story about having a brother-in-law, and he also had some influence with Wang Dafu, the prison guard in Nanguanbao.

otherwise……

Guo Gui shook his head and went to see the family of the hired worker who had been beaten to death by extortion.

After promising three strings of cash plus a bolt of silk as a settlement, the other party agreed.

Then, Guo Gui immediately left the village, mounted his horse, and headed towards Nanguanbao.

The victim's family agreed.

However, the ritual to resolve the feud is still missing a shaman or monk to preside over it.

At the same time, a respected person from the victim's tribe must be invited to act as a representative and witness.

Only in this way can it have binding force!
Therefore, Guo Gui had no choice but to ask Wang Dafu, his benefactor, to intervene in order to secure the assistance of the monks and the nobles from the other tribe.

(End of this chapter)