Chinese New Year

Chapter 1416 Experience
On March 25th, Crown Prince Shao Jin left Jinyang and split his troops into two groups.

Led by Lu Shang, the Crown Prince's Junior Attendant, and Yu Ze, the Household Steward (formerly a Junior Attendant, who later resigned due to mourning), they traveled west to Kelan and then north to Mayi.

Along this route, there are many Xiongnu people, and the main focus is on investigating matters related to changing customs and traditions. You can focus on asking Xiu Rong Ling Shao Du (the eldest son of Shao Shen).

The prince left Shiling Pass and headed north, entering Xinxing.

Sun Jue, the governor of Xinxing, has been transferred to the position of deputy governor of Yanzhou, and the current governor is Shao Qiu, the former advisor.

On the first day of the fourth month, he led more than ten people, including the prefectural magistrate Sun Bi, out of the city for three miles and met them on the left side of the road.

However, Shao Jin did not enter the city. After exchanging brief pleasantries, he went directly to the Hutuo River in the northern part of Xinding County (formerly Dingxiang).

The Hutuo River swelled in the warm April breeze, turning a muddy yellow, like a reckless earthen dragon, carrying the vitality of the upper reaches as it rushed eastward.

On the riverbank, clumps of newly sprouted aquatic plants peek out, reflecting in the water and displaying a tenacious vitality. Occasionally, cattle, sheep, horses, and donkeys come to graze, wagging their tails and swaying freely.

The villages scattered along the higher banks of the river are located within the territory of Xinding County.

Low, rammed earth walls surround each household.

The withered grass and new shoots on the top of the wall trembled slightly in the wind.

Several old willows stand at the entrance of the village, their branches gnarled and twisted, their newly sprouted twigs swaying in the wind.

The village road, paved with dust and animal hoofprints, meanders into the depths of the gray houses, uneven and full of potholes.

A few wisps of smoke rose straight up from the thatched roof, only to be blown away by the wind and scattered into the vast sky.

In several fenced yards, farmers were dismantling haystacks that they had carefully piled up last autumn. The withered grass fell down in rustling sounds, ready to be used as lining for livestock pens or mixed into the stove.

This is the reality of the countryside in Xinxing County, a northern border county with four counties, more than 21200 households, and more than 75600 people.

It has some local flavor, some rustic charm, some liveliness, and also some poverty.

Well, perhaps the more than 70,000 soldiers and civilians of Xinxing County don't feel that they are poor, because they lack nothing, it's just that everything they have seems to be a step below.

Yes, but not good enough.

"Such a small county as Xinxing is crammed with seventy or eighty thousand people, and each household has less than four people..." Shao Jin looked on with great emotion and asked, "Could it be due to the war?"

Prefect Shao Qiu had only been here for a few months. Upon hearing this, he replied, "Xinxing originally had very few households, but now most of them are military households. The three major Longxiang Prefectures of Xinkou, Shahe, and Wufeng alone have more than 14,000 households. The remaining several thousand households are people who have been taken in over the years. Each household often has only two or three people, and some even have only one person, who has become an old widower. The land in this prefecture is also not very plentiful. The Hutuo River is quite temperamental and often breaches the banks, unlike the Fen River."

“During the last inspection of Bingzhou, someone mentioned that the Hutuo River frequently changes course, and its riverbed is unstable with a lot of silt, making it difficult to use,” Shao Jin said. “After all these years, hasn’t there been any improvement?”

"I've heard that the prefecture tried to address this issue, but it wasn't very effective," Shao Qiu replied.

“That’s because the management methods are ineffective,” Shao Jin said. “It’s one thing to have no water, but it’s hard to believe that the water is so powerful and difficult to manage.”

At this point, he seemed to have made a decision, and said in an unquestionable tone: "After I return to the capital, I will definitely petition His Majesty to ask the Directorate of Water Conservancy to send personnel here to investigate. No matter what the cost, the Hutuo River within the territory of Yanmen and Xinxing must be properly managed. If the riverbed is too high and it is difficult to draw water, then we will set up more waterwheels and windmills to lift water."

Upon hearing this, Shao Qiu asked in a low voice, "Your Highness, the river management work is still underway in Xuzhou."

"At the latest, the reorganization should be completed by the end of this year. At that time, we should think of ways to send more people north to manage the Hutuo River," Shao Jin said. "How is the grain stored in the county's mansions?"

“There are still 310,000 bushels left,” Shao Qiu replied. “Yanmen County has about 260,000 to 270,000 bushels, and Taiyuan County has no less than a million.”

"That's enough," Shao Jin said. "With the northern border at peace and the flames of war temporarily extinguished, the military rations stored in the granaries can be used for river management. We can replenish them gradually over the next few years."

Since the Crown Prince had said so, Shao Qiu had no further objections.

This is a great boon for the people of Xinxing and Yanmen prefectures. After the Hutuo River is dredged up, regardless of the future, agricultural conditions will be greatly improved in a short period of time, which is equivalent to the imperial court giving them a reward.

If the Daibei Water Transport Institute, which was once mentioned, could be restarted, the business environment would improve, and the lives of more than 110,000 people in the two prefectures and seven counties would be brought to a new level.

Of course, this is also a great thing for Shao Qiu's personal development; he even wants to make preparations in advance.

******
On the tenth day of the fourth lunar month, long queues appeared in Guangwu County, Yanmen Prefecture.

There is no doubt that this place is further north and colder than Xinxing County.

The pasture had only recently turned green again, and the wilderness was filled with a unique aroma that blended the smell of earth, rotting roots, and new grass.

Spring plowing begins in Luoyang in early February, and in some places it starts as late as the end of February, but it's different in Yanmen.

It was already April, and the farmers were only just beginning to wield their heavy shovels to turn over the hardened soil.

Where the blade passed, dark brown clods of earth, moistened by the warmth of spring blossoms, were pried up, turned over, and broken apart, revealing the deeper, more fertile soil beneath. A strong ox pulled the straight-shafted plow, laboring forward to the low shouts of the farmer.

The iron plow cleaved the earth, leaving deep furrows.

Someone followed behind the plow, carefully planting the glossy black millet seeds deep into the moist, warm furrows.

In the low-lying area outside the village, a simple tippler was creaking and groaning.

The sturdy wooden wheel was propelled by the water flow, and the bamboo tubes tied diagonally around its circumference were submerged one after another, filled to the brim, and then flipped at a height, pouring the turbid river water into the wooden trough. The water flowed along the dredged ditches beside the fields, gurgling into the newly sown fields.

Several shirtless men stood guard at the canal entrance, their dark backs gleaming in the sunlight, carefully using wooden shovels to guide the water flow, ensuring that this hard-won source of life evenly irrigated the parched land.

On the riverbank not far away, several village women squatted by the bluestone, beating clothes. The muffled sound of wooden pestles hitting wet cloth, mixed with the sounds of water, wind, cowbells, and distant, indistinct barking of dogs, constituted the most authentic sounds on the riverbank in April.

“Actually, in previous years, spring plowing usually started in late March. This year, it was too cold after the beginning of spring, and there was almost no rain, so it was delayed by more than ten days. It only started after a rain.” On the rural dirt road, Prefect Yuan Heng (son of Yuan Neng) followed behind Shao Jin and said cautiously.

Shao Jin gave a casual reply, then pointed to the scene of spring plowing in the distance and asked, "I heard that the soldiers of Yanmen Prefecture have to personally go to the fields to plow, is that true?"

“It’s true.” Yuan Heng nodded and said, “Yanmen County has two Longxiang Prefectures, Dabao and Hengshan. Although the land is plentiful, it is not as prosperous as Taiyuan. The local soldiers are also quite simple and honest, and many of them personally work in the fields. Your Highness, please look, that man is tall and strong, with muscles all over his body, and he has scars on his body. He is definitely a soldier. Your Highness, look over there, those men are much thinner and weaker, obviously they are retainers.”

Yuan Heng pointed as he spoke.

Shao Jin looked over and nodded slightly.

Indeed, the status of the local soldiers cannot be generalized. In some places, the people are wealthy, and the soldiers are even wealthier. In other places, the people are poor, and the soldiers, as wealthy local residents, are not actually much better off. It can only be said that in poor places, prices are very low, and if the local soldiers do not buy goods from other places and only spend money locally, they can live quite well.

Furthermore, if they were to win a campaign and seize a large amount of spoils, they could return to their impoverished hometowns and live a life of luxury for a long time.

The fact that Bingzhou troops were mobilized in large numbers during the previous campaign against Li Cheng, and captured a great deal of spoils, causing local prices to soar, is clear evidence of this.

Based on this understanding, Shao Jin began to seriously consider some of her father's actions.

After the previous campaign against Liaodong, he bestowed a horse upon all the soldiers of the Left and Right Valiant Cavalry Guards and the Left and Right Flying Dragon Guards, and this was not without reason. It was because the soldiers of these four guards needed horses for their campaigns, whether as warhorses, riding horses, or pack horses; in short, they needed them.

After the war ended, there would certainly be losses, so he took out a considerable portion of the captured horses and gave away nearly 30,000 of them as rewards.

If your horse was lost, that's a good replacement. If there was no loss, consider it an extra reward.

This was actually a careful way to maintain the fighting strength of the four guards and prevent them from complaining because of poverty.

However, the Left and Right Imperial Guards and the Left and Right Golden Guards did not receive such good fortune; they were only rewarded with money and food.

This is what it means to tailor solutions to individual circumstances and local conditions.

It is wrong to assume that all soldiers are the same. In fact, they are quite different in terms of combat strength, wealth, lifestyle, and loyalty.

This point should be taken into consideration when formulating future national policies concerning the military.

"The soldiers of the Right Dragon Tiger Guard have it tough," Shao Jin sighed after figuring it out.

After thinking for a moment, he immediately summoned Yuan Dan, a court attendant.

"Your Highness." Yuan Dan stood tall and elegant, with a dignified and imposing presence. His voice was moderate and calm, impeccable from any angle, truly embodying the demeanor of a scholar.

Shao Jin used to admire this kind of demeanor, believing that ministers should be like this. He still admires it now, but he is not as enthusiastic as before. At this moment, he simply beckoned him to come closer and whispered, "You should immediately draft a memorial stating that Bingzhou is suffering from a spring drought and requesting that the soldiers of the Right Jinwu Guard and the Right Longhu Guard be granted two bolts of silk each."

“Yes.” Yuan Dan didn’t ask why and immediately went to write it down.

It was only 38,000 bolts of silk, a considerable amount, but the imperial court could afford it.

His Majesty must have anticipated these events when he sent the Crown Prince here; this is an opportunity to bestow favors upon the Crown Prince.

While writing the memorial, he felt a sense of relief for some reason.

The repeated tug-of-war between the Former Jin, Liu Han, Daliang, and even the Tuoba Xianbei in Bingzhou led to the decline of the gentry. Even the once-famous Guo family of Taiyuan had few members and little wealth left, and the Wang family of Taiyuan had been reduced to insignificant local tyrants. As a result, there were few respectable scholars in Bingzhou to compete with them.

Otherwise, given how much importance the Shao family father and son placed on the eleven commanderies and kingdoms of Bingzhou (including Liangcheng, Mayi, Yunzhong, and Dai), they would be in considerable trouble.

The memorial was completed in one stroke, its writing elegant and its handwriting dignified. After it was sent to the emperor, Shao Jin was full of praise for it and quickly dispatched someone to take it back to Luoyang by fast horse.

On April 16, the team left Yanmen Pass in batches and entered Mayi County.

(End of this chapter)