Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 43: Complex Affairs
"Wow—"

On the ninth day of July, at the time set by Zhang Yichao, thousands of Tibetan soldiers and civilians appeared on the official road outside Shandan City.

They brought their families with them, and the horse-drawn carriage behind them was filled with pots, pans, food and money.

On both sides of them, Shazhou soldiers wearing simple breastplates glanced at them sharply. Anyone who made an unfriendly move would be suppressed.

The civilian laborers who had previously followed Zhang Yichao from Zhangye now wore simple breastplates and carried long spears, acting as temporary "garrison troops" on the march, responsible for protecting the baggage.

"Uncle, we will say goodbye today. I'm afraid the next time we meet will be when we recover Liangzhou."

Standing in front of the team, Zhang Huairong was filled with mixed emotions. He looked at his uncle who was over 50 years old in front of him, not knowing what to say.

In response, Zhang Yichao, who was wearing military uniform, patted his arm and said, "Guard Shandan well. It won't be long before we meet again."

After he finished speaking, Zhang Yichao did not delay any further. Instead, he turned around and walked a few steps, took the reins from the soldier, and skillfully mounted the horse.

He turned his horse's head, glanced at Suo Zhongyi, Li En and others beside him, then shook the reins and rode away.

"Woooo..."

The horn sounded, and the army that had set out on the Eastern Expedition after the New Year finally ended the expedition and embarked on the journey home.

However, compared to before the departure, many people in the Eastern Expedition were unable to return home alive.

Watching them leave, Liu Jilong thought of Zhao Qian, Jiao Da and others. Although they had not been together for a long time, their faces were still clearly visible in his memory.

"Let's go!"

Zhang Huairong turned and left, leaving some instructions to Liu Jilong.

Liu Jilian nodded and followed. The two of them took the reins from the soldiers, mounted their horses, and walked along the official road towards the west gate of Shandan.

On both sides of the official road are tall corn crops, and soybeans and other crops can be seen from time to time.

"Shandan has more than 24,000 mu of arable land, 70% of which is corn, and the rest is beans, hemp and other crops for making oil and clothes."

"After measuring the land, you will distribute the farmland to the soldiers according to their ranks and positions as permanent farmland and official farmland, and give the rest to the people in the city to cultivate."

Zhang Huairong gave instructions to Liu Jilong, and he still governed Shandan in the same way as before.

In response, Liu Jilong directly proposed: "Sima, I think this is inappropriate."

"Hmm?" Zhang Huairong glanced at him sideways, hoping that he would tell him something.

Facing his doubts, Liu Jilong also explained: "Shandan is a military city after all, and it is also the gateway for our army to go east, so storing grain is something our army must do."

"Most of our soldiers are from Gua, Sha, and Su. If we give them the land in Shandan, they will bring their families to Shandan, which will only increase the burden on Shandan."

"Therefore, I think that the soldiers' permanent farmland and official farmland should be divided according to the proportion of those who have families in their hometowns to the farmland in their hometowns, and those who have no families to the farmland in Shandan."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Huairong frowned and said, "If we don't divide up the farmland in Shandan and bring the families of the soldiers over, it will be difficult to recruit civilians when the army marches eastward in the future."

"As long as there is enough food, laborers can be transferred from other places!" Liu Jilong and Zhang Huairong argued.

Of course, the most important thing is that he knows that with Shazhou’s current strength, it will not launch an eastern expedition within a few years unless Shandan can store enough food in advance.

"It seems that you are very confident in your method of reclamation."

When Zhang Huairong faced Liu Jilong, he couldn't help but think of the "Chapter on Treating Shandan" that Liu Jilong presented to him.

He was not a stubborn person, so he made a promise: "Before the beginning of winter next year, if you can increase Shandan's tax revenue by 20%, I will remember your great achievement."

"If I can't do that, or even regress, then I'll have to start all over again with all your suggestions."

"Please rest assured, Sima!" Liu Jilong responded with a bow and followed Zhang Huairong into Shandan City.

At this time, the people in Shandan were farming outside the city, and Liu Jilong was still busy with the distribution of land for the people. Before the distribution of land, the farmland in Shandan needed to be remeasured, so Liu Jilong got busy after returning to the city.

He asked people to make a cloth ruler using the linen stored in the treasury, and he brought more than 30 people with him to use wooden rulers to record the distances as the cloth rulers.

At the same time, he also had to personally take care of many matters such as digging canals, repairing rivers, and managing livestock.

Suo Xun led dozens of cavalry to the north to inquire about the situation in Qilian City, and the task of training troops was left to Zhang Huairong.

During the years that Tubo had been managing Hexi, it had basically not developed any new water conservancy facilities, so Liu Jilong often had to take people outside the city to see where dams could be built and where the river channels needed to be repaired and reinforced.

After being busy from the ninth to the fifteenth day of July, when the ruler was completed, Liu Jilong asked Zhang Huairong to lead the troops and start measuring the farmland in Shandan City.

At the same time, he led the people to widen the gullies of cultivated land, deepen them, and chose a place five miles south of Shandan to build a dam.

Some small streams flowing in all directions were also organized by Liu Jilong into the Danshui River, while some small rivers were abandoned because of the large amount of work.

After a busy day until the 20th, Suo Xun, who had been away from Shandan City for 12 days, also led his men back to Shandan.

They returned exhausted, luckily no one was injured, but the horses had lost a lot of weight and needed to be fed well for some time.

"Gulu...Ha!"

After taking a big gulp of water, Suo Xun, who had returned to Shandan, turned his gaze to Liu Jilong and Zhang Huairong.

He saw the changes in Shandan, although it was only the first time he saw the changes, but he could imagine the changes that Shandan would undergo in the future.

"The Qilian City is 120 miles away from here. There are gaps in the city walls on all four sides, and the houses in the city have been destroyed by the bandits."

"If we want to repair the city, we need to dispatch at least 500 people to repair two walls before winter. The other two walls and houses will probably have to wait until the beginning of spring next year, which will take another four months."

Suo Xun sat back in his seat and looked at Zhang Huairong.

At this time, Zhang Huairong frowned slightly, because dispatching so many men would obviously slow down the progress on the Shandan side, so he still rejected Suo Xun's suggestion.

"The dikes and gullies outside the city can wait, but the autumn harvest is coming soon, so I'm afraid it won't be possible to transfer 500 people to you."

"How about waiting until the autumn harvest is over, and then I can send more troops to you, how about that?"

"That won't work!" Suo Xun frowned and said, "The bandits love to rob in early spring and late autumn. If I follow Sima's advice, who will bear the blame if the bandits invade?"

Suo Xun didn't care about spring plowing. He only knew that building Qilian City was Shandan's top priority.

If Shandan were to be invaded by foreign bandits from the direction of Qilian City, he would have to take the blame for Zhang Huairong.

"you……"

Zhang Huairong wanted to say something when he saw Liu Jilong suddenly stand up:
"Qi Lian City is indeed important. Since the cultivated land is still being measured, why not stop working on the dam and the gully? Transfer three regiments and five hundred civilians to follow Suo Guoyi to Qi Lian City."

As soon as these words were spoken, Suo Xun and Zhang Huairong looked at Liu Jilong with surprise on their faces.

Suo Xun didn't believe that Liu Jilong chose to help him, while Zhang Huairong didn't believe that Liu Jilong didn't stand on his side.

Just out of trust in Liu Jilong, Zhang Huairong nodded with difficulty.

"In that case, the team will set out in three days without any delay..."

"Okay!" Upon hearing this, Suo Xun stood up, bowed, and then walked out.

He had been sleeping in the open air these days and finally came back after three days, so naturally he needed to have a good rest.

Watching him leave, Zhang Huairong looked at Liu Jilong with a grim expression.

"General Liu, I'm afraid you have to give me an explanation for this matter..."

(End of this chapter)