Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 52 Land Division
"It's been less than a month since we recaptured Ganzhou, and the bandits in Liangzhou and Hehuang haven't even figured out our strengths and weaknesses. Suo Guoyi's words are a bit alarmist."

"In my opinion, Qilian City needs to be repaired, but the beacon tower on Yanzhi Mountain should be put on hold for the time being and wait until the beginning of next spring to be built."

In the hall, Zhang Huairong, who was sitting high in the main seat, frowned in response, and as soon as he opened his mouth, Liu Jilong knew that he needed help.

In front of everyone, Liu Jilong slowly stood up and bowed to Suo Xun in a calm tone.

"Suo Guoyi, now that Shandan has been initially settled, we should resume reclamation according to the original plan."

"The Qilian Mountain City must be built, but the beacon tower on Yanzhi Mountain can be built later."

"Now that the autumn harvest is approaching, we have done our best to free up manpower to build Qilian City."

"If I have to focus on repairing the beacon tower, it will be difficult for Shandan to take care of both. Please understand, Suo Guoyi."

After Liu Jilong finished speaking, Zhang Huaijian and two other Zhang family captains spoke one after another.

"Yes! If the grain rots in the fields, what will we eat next year?"

"Qi Lian City was assigned by the governor, but the beacon tower on Yanzhi Mountain was not assigned by the governor."

"Let's wait for a while before setting up the beacon tower on Yanzhi Mountain..."

Suo Xun frowned upon hearing this, and finally snorted coldly: "If so, when the enemy attacks Yanzhi Mountain, I hope General Liu Bie can lead the troops to resist."

"As for me...without the order from Sima Zhang, I will not provide any assistance to anyone!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he bowed to Zhang Huairong and said, "Sir Zhang, I will lead the army and the people to Qilian City the day after tomorrow. Please prepare the food, supplies, and laborers before tomorrow night. I will take my leave now!"

Without waiting for Zhang Huairong's response, Suo Xun turned away, and the two captains of the Suo family also bowed to Zhang Huairong upon seeing this.

"Sima Zhang, I will take my leave..."

In a blink of an eye, three people left the hall, leaving only Zhang Huairong and the military officers belonging to the Zhang family.

"This Suo Xun!"

Zhang Huairong gritted his teeth, and Zhang Huaijian also bowed and said, "He is too arrogant and doesn't take you, Sima, seriously at all."

"Yes, Sima..."

"We should find a chance to deal with him. If you don't know him, you might think he is the Sima of Ganzhou and the Lord of Shandan!"

The two captains chimed in, but Liu Jilong remained silent.

Zhang Huairong cast his gaze towards Liu Jilong. Seeing that he could not remain silent, Liu Jilong could only bow helplessly and say:

"Suo Guoyi is only responsible for fighting. What he proposed is also what I proposed to do. However, Shandan is not strong enough to take care of both at the same time."

"Liangzhou Tubo cannot form a force, so there is no need to worry for the time being."

"But we can't let up on the beacon tower on Longshou Mountain and the repair of Qilian City. We have to hurry up."

"The corn outside the city will be ripe in mid-September, and the beacon tower on Longshou Mountain must be built before the tenth day of September."

"This matter can be handed over to Zheng Chu and Zhang Chang from the Fourth Regiment of the palace. They will lead the soldiers of their brigade and bring two hundred men with them."

Liu Jilong did not avoid suspicion and directly recommended Zheng Chu and Zhang Chang.

Zheng Chu was the only one who survived among the first few people from the 12th Regiment in the Battle of Zhangye.

He was the first to be promoted to the captain, and later on was promoted to the third level. He should have become a colonel like Liu Jilong, but he thought he was not capable enough, and was finally assigned to the first brigade of the fourth regiment of Shandan as the brigade commander.

As for Zhang Chang and the other three, they were still holding honorary positions and learning how to lead troops from Jiu Juyan, Chen Jingchong and Zheng Chu.

"Just do as you say."

Seeing that Liu Jilian supported him, Zhang Huairong stood up and walked towards the inner hall.

Liu Jilong and three captains bowed to him and then turned their attention to a short and strong captain.

"Captain Zhang, I will have people recruit the civilians. You will be the one reporting on the First Brigade. We will set out to Longshou Mountain in three days."

"I obey your command!" Captain Zhang bowed in response. Seeing this, Liu Jilian bowed to everyone and then left the hall.

Watching him leave, Captain Zhang of the Fifth Regiment couldn't help but sigh, "This General Liu is stuck between our Zhang family and the Suo family. Things are really difficult to deal with."

"Hmph! If it weren't for Suo's obstruction, many things would have been done long ago!" Captain Zhang of the Fourth Regiment, who had just been given orders, snorted coldly.

In response, Zhang Huaijian looked at the two of them and said, "Okay, go and do your work." "Yes, I'll take my leave..." The two Zhang captains bowed and left, while Zhang Huaijian shook his head and walked towards the military camp.

Less than an hour after the Shandan soldiers returned to the city, every household in the city knew the news of the recruitment of 700 laborers.

However, although they were worried about their men, they were also relieved.

Recruiting requires money and food, but for corvée labor, this does not require money and food.

Such actions also made the people in the city praise the government office, and they also showed some respect to Zhang Huairong and Liu Jilian.

Such respect was not only received by the common people, but also by many honest people in the city who had high praise for Liu Jilian.

As soon as he returned to the yard, several straightforward people came to look for him, bringing with them several books.

Liu Jilian took off his armor with the help of Cao Mao. Several straightforward men bowed and saluted, then stood in the main hall and bowed to Liu Jilian.

"General, the farmland outside the city has been measured, and the total area is 25,434 mu and 3 fen."

"Seventy percent of it is planted with corn, the remaining 20 percent is planted with hemp, and 10 percent is planted with beans... Please check it out."

The leader of the group was named Cui Shu, one of the group sent by Zhangye.

He and Zhibai behind him were mostly sons of powerful families in Zhangye City, but they were not taken seriously, otherwise they would not have been sent to Shandan to serve as Zhibai.

For Liu Jilong, he had no choice.

Although he has always wanted to cultivate his own scholars, Shandan is now vulnerable on all sides and he simply does not have the money, food or manpower to do what he wants.

Besides, even if he wrote books and preached, he was only training talents for others.

He must have a city of his own, even if it is smaller than Shandan...

With the help of Cao Mao, he took off all his armor.

Without even taking a sip of water, he took the document, sat in the main seat, and began to read it silently.

“Can we harvest in mid-September?”

Liu Jilong asked questions while flipping through the documents.

"General, as long as there is no rain in September, we should be able to start harvesting in mid-September."

Cui Shu answered the question, Liu Jilong nodded, and then closed the book:
"According to the land distribution plan previously formulated by the government, how much land can the people get?"

Upon hearing this, Cui Shu bowed and said:
"General, according to the rules of the army, we must first ask the soldiers whether they are willing to move their families to Shandan. If they are willing, the land will be divided according to the rules, and each person will be given 50 mu of government land."

"Only after the soldiers have been selected can the government know how much land can be distributed."

After hearing this, Liu Jilong looked at Cao Mao and said:

"Go and get the document on my desk."

"Yes," Cao Mao bowed and responded, then turned around and walked into the study and took out a book.

At Liu Jilong's signal, Cao Mao handed the document to Cui Shu, and Liu Jilong also said:

"Sixty percent of the brothers in Shandan Zhechong Prefecture are from Gua and Sha, and they are unwilling to move their families to Shandan."

"There are still 40% of the brothers, most of whom are enlisted in the army in Gansu and Suzhou, and have already been allocated government land."

"Except for a small number of people who have been promoted and need to increase the amount of land in their prefectures, there are only eighty-six people, or eighty-six households, willing to migrate here."

"I have already written down their official positions and the amount of land they need. Please calculate it first."

When he finished speaking, Cui Shu quickly finished reading the contents of the document and took out the abacus he carried with him.

Liu Jilong motioned for them to sit down, and after sitting down, they began to count on the abacus, counting and recording.

About half an hour later, Cui Shu and his team finished the registration. When they handed the document back to Cao Mao with both hands, they also bowed and said:
"Replying to the other general, the government needs 8,400 acres of land, and there are more than 17,340 acres and three fen of land left."

"According to the number of households in Shandan, each household will get about 46.66 mu..."

Cui Shu reported the data, and Liu Jilong said without thinking: "In this case, we will start distributing the land after the men and middle-aged men follow the army out of the city to repair Qilian City and the beacon tower."

"Tell the people in the city about this and add fuel to the recruitment of civilians..."

(End of this chapter)