Han officials

Chapter 33: Wife [4K]

"...the wicked people have no king or father, and are only interested in profit. They can indeed be driven out. However, the leaders of each tribe are cunning and must be killed. Therefore, if we want to pacify the wicked people, we may bribe them with money to make them fight among themselves, and then attack them. This will achieve twice the result with half the effort..."

The next day, after reading Yuan Jun's letter, Wei Zhe couldn't help laughing and said, "I have found another thousand-mile horse!"

Upon hearing this, Xi Zhicai shook his head and said, "Without a good horse trainer, even a thousand-mile horse cannot gallop! Have you not heard of the story of Baili Xi?"

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhe immediately waved his hands and said modestly, "Exaggerated! Exaggerated! How can I compare with Duke Mu of Qin?"

However, despite saying this, the smile on Wei Zhe's face became even more intense.

But he had to admit that Xi Zhicai's words really touched his heart.

Without his appreciation, Yuan Jun and Guan Xiu would have no chance to display their talents.

Of course, the same old saying applies: more haste, less speed.

If you want to be a good hunter, the most important thing is to have enough patience.

So Wei Zhe put the matter aside for the time being and turned his energy into the governance of Daifang County.

Even though the planting season has passed, there is still a lot to do.

For example, it is the time when silkworms are feeding, so we need to prepare enough mulberry leaves, otherwise there will not be enough silk.

After picking mulberry leaves every morning, you can also go to the wilderness to pick some wild vegetables for food.

After the timely rain falls, you can plant millet, beans, sesame and other crops.

If you live on the coast, you can also use sea fish to make sauce, so that you can eat it for a long time.

And during this period, you have to go to the fields frequently to serve and look after them.

It can be said that the common people cannot rest for a moment, and they rush around all day just to have enough food and clothing.

And once the cocoons have formed, the people have to get back to work, spinning and splitting the cotton, working on the looms, and tending to the meridians. The daily busyness is even comparable to that of sowing.

But there was no complaint from anyone in Daifang County.

Especially the refugees from Qingzhou who came across the sea, they enjoyed working all day long.

After all, they really like such a peaceful life.

If all places in the Han Dynasty were like Daifang County, they wouldn't have lost their families and become homeless!

……

In June, outside Daifang County.

Looking at the heavy ears of wheat in the field, Wei Zhe finally nodded with satisfaction.

When he looked around, all he saw were golden wheat fields.

Seeing this, Wei Zhe suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of pride in his heart.

This is a completely different kind of satisfaction from the pleasure of beheading generals and cutting flags on the battlefield.

Such a magnificent scene made all his hard work these days worthwhile.

However, Xi Zhicai was thinking about something else at the moment.

"Mingsong, the fleet will be back in a few days. What should we do with the cargo on board?"

It is said that with no shortage of manpower and timber, Wei Zhe managed to build thirty-six sea ships.

Even though these ships are small in size and almost disposable, the total amount is terrifying.
After all, each ship has a carrying capacity of only 3,000 hu, and the total capacity of the fleet is nearly 100,000 hu.

In order to fill the crew, Wei Zhe's father-in-law really spent all his family savings this time.

Guan Yue was both worried and happy about this.

What made him happy was naturally that he was happy that he had not misjudged the person.

However, seeing that Wei Zhe was so capable, Guan Yue was worried that the Guan family would not be able to afford to play next time.

Whenever he thought of this, Guan Yue couldn't help but sigh that his eyesight was really good, but a little too good, which made Guan Weng speechless.

Xi Zhicai also has similar concerns.

He smiled helplessly and said, "That's thirty-six ships full of various supplies. Have you decided what to do with them, my lord?"

You should know that when the fleet went out to sea, they took away hundreds of boxes of iron coins.

Adhering to the idea that he would give it away even if he had to, Wei Zhe was extremely generous.

From this we can see that there must be a lot of goods returning.

Thinking of this, Wei Zhe couldn't help but frown slightly. After all, happy troubles are also troubles.

After a moment's hesitation, Wei Zhe decisively said, "Don't touch the purchased grain for now. Store more grain in reserve for future military deployments."

Xi Zhicai nodded slightly when he heard this.

Using the Dongyi people's food to fight the Dongyi people is simply the best option.

"Specialty products like furs can be distributed by the Guan family in the Central Plains."

Wei Zhe is not just trying to take advantage of his father-in-law. He knows how to give appropriate rewards.

With this batch of Haidong specialties in hand, Guan will surely make a fortune.

"As for cattle, horses, and women... let them stay in Daifang for now."

After all, opening up new land is not an easy task.

With the help of these cattle and horses, the efficiency of land reclamation will surely be much higher.

Thinking of this, Wei Zhe's thoughts suddenly became clearer. He said methodically, "There are nearly 50,000 people in Daifang now, many of whom are young and strong widowers. This is a hidden danger. It would be better to marry them to barbarian women to reassure the people."

Meeting an official like Wei Zhe is a great honor for the people of Fang County.

After all, other county magistrates could only give out disaster relief grain, but he really gave out wives!

Once this move is made, I am afraid that the refugees in Daifang County will only know Wei Zhe and not the emperor.

"This idea is good, but there's something wrong with it!" Xi Zhicai thought for a moment and said, "Rewarding without merit is not polite! It would be better to supply the army with food first to reward the brave warriors."

As the number of refugees increased, the number of civilian settlements also increased, but there were only six military settlements.

After all, not all refugees had joined the Yellow Turban Army, and few dared to fight to the death if they could survive.

Xi Zhicai also wanted to encourage civilian settlements to be converted into military settlements by rewarding women as bait.

The border of Daifang County is so long that it cannot be filled with just six military camps.

After hearing what Xi Zhicai said, Wei Zhe also felt that it made sense and added:

"If there are not enough barbarian women, we will have the military settlements hold a competition, and the winner will marry."

After all, there are 1,000 people in one battalion of the military settlement, and 6 battalions means nearly 6,000 people.

With so many bachelors, the batch of barbarian women Wei Zhe bought might not be enough to share.

……

Fortunately, Wei Zhe had made preparations in advance.

The next morning, not long after the wheat was harvested in Daifang County, Wei's fleet finally returned to port.

Standing at the Haiming Port and looking out, Wei Zhe could even see Zhong Hu and others standing at the bow and waving at him.

There was no way. The only person Wei Zhe could trust for this matter was Zhong Hu.

However, as the ship gradually approached the shore, Wei Zhe's expression changed slightly.

After Zhong Hu disembarked, he said with a look of shame on his face, "Sir, it's my fault for not doing my job well. Three ships sank!"

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhe hurriedly asked, "How are the crew members? Have they been rescued?"

"Don't worry, my dear! We have rescued all the people, but the cargo has sunk!"

After Zhong Hu finished speaking, his face was full of self-blame. No one knew better than him how valuable those three ships were.

However, Wei Zhe smiled proudly upon hearing this and said, "As long as you are alright, my men, a few small fortunes are nothing!"

As he said that, Wei Zhe patted Zhong Hu on the shoulder, laughed and pulled him back.

Such a demeanor of valuing righteousness over money immediately moved the crew members.

Immediately afterwards, Wei Zhe held a grand banquet in Haiming Camp to reward all members of the fleet.

Especially the helmsmen of each ship, who were immediately given fine wine and treasures, making them bow down to the ground. After a while, these backbones of the Guan family were calling them "Lang Jun" all the time.

It can only be said that the longer Wei Zhe holds office, the more sophisticated his methods of winning people's hearts become.

While Wei Zhe was comforting everyone at the celebration banquet, Xi Zhicai was busy as a whirlwind.

"Here, all the grain is stored in the western warehouse. Don't put it into storage for now. Wait until it's dried."

"The cattle and horses have dispersed, and the stockades of all the camps have been cleared. Do not tarry here, but hurry on ahead."

"Women... forget it, let's just leave these barbarian women here!"

Looking at a group of Korean women wearing breast-revealing clothes, Xi Zhicai was speechless.

Even though I knew these barbarians were uncivilized, I didn't expect them to be so shameless.

So in order to avoid chaos, Xi Zhicai had to arrange another group of people to watch over this group of people.

After a long time, as the sky gradually darkened, all the supplies were finally placed.

"Master Xi, everything has been counted." Warehouse Clerk Zhongsong, his face covered in dust, ran over from outside the warehouse and excitedly announced the good news: "A total of 58,600 hu of grain, 39,000 furs, 530 horses, 825 cattle, and 1,300 barbarian women."

At this point, he added with a smile on his face, "Also, many of the gifts from the Dongyi tribes are unidentifiable, including gold and silver, so it's impossible to estimate for the time being."

To be honest, Zhongsong, the warehouse official, had never seen so much wealth and supplies in his life.

Even though he knew that he was just a warehouse manager, he was still very excited.

He even felt sorry for Wei Zhe: "It's a pity that three ships hit the reef and sank, otherwise... Alas~"

Seeing this, Xi Zhicai burst out laughing.

But he was much calmer than Zhong Song. After all, he had anticipated this.

This batch of supplies was even less than he expected.

But when I think about the fact that both the Three Han tribes and the various tribes of Xianbei are doing business with the fleet for the first time, it is only right to be cautious. Presumably, they will be able to purchase more goods next time.

Thinking of this, Xi Zhicai became calmer.

In the following days, Wei Zhe began to patrol non-stop.

There's no way, my wife's move is really too cruel.

After Wei Zhe said it at the celebration banquet that night, all the civilian and military settlements knew about it the next day.

Needless to say, the six military camps including Haiming were naturally cheering, but the civilians in the towns could not sit still.

So in just a few days, Daifang County had six more military camps.

That is to say, this time there were twelve battalions, with more than ten thousand men competing for the thirteen hundred barbarian women.

You can imagine how intense this is!
Wei Zhe originally just wanted to give the reward more fairly, but he didn't expect it to turn into a major military competition.

In the end, even the five hundred Liaodong volunteers under Wei Zhe could not help but join in.

Of course, they were not going after those smelly barbarian women, but were simply out of a desire to fight.

After all, Wei Zhe gave them a lot of rewards. Even if these people didn't have wives before, they have already started families now.

Fortunately, they stated in advance that they did not need to reward the barbarian women, otherwise the group of men who wanted to steal the women would probably prevent them from leaving the military settlement.

There is no other way. For the sake of my wife, what does it matter if I use my numbers to bully the few?

……

"Brother, let me go down and play!"

The next day, at the Changcen camp training ground.

Looking at the black-faced man roaring like a beast in the field, Taishi Ci couldn't help but feel itchy.

Even though Taishi Ci is now a county lieutenant, he is still a military general at heart and is still as combative as ever.

Of course, the main reason was that he didn't expect that there would be such a brave warrior among this group of refugees.

In fact, let alone him, even Wei Zhe didn't expect that there was such a talent in the settlement.

You have to know that ordinary people with this kind of military power would have become bandits long ago, and would not be able to farm peacefully.

Wei Zhe even suspected that if he had not used the trick of sending his wife away, this person would probably still not have joined the military settlement.

So Wei Zhe ignored Taishi Ci at all. When the black-faced man threw another strong man out, he called the man to the stage for questioning.

When the man came closer, Wei Zhe discovered that he had a dark face, a tall body, a flat nose, a thick mouth, and a slightly curled beard. He looked like a lion spirit.

"I am Jiaoshan, a humble man, and I am honored to meet the county lord."

After saying that, the black-faced man knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times to Wei Zhe.

The voice was so clear that Wei Zhe couldn't help but twitch his lips.

Seeing this, Wei Zhe quickly asked someone to help him up, but he didn't expect that his personal guards refused to pull him up.

As a result, the black-faced man kowtowed nine times before he stood up.

Seeing this, Wei Zhe immediately asked curiously, "Why are you showing me such great respect?"

Unexpectedly, the man said, "My aunt said that the county lady is our family's great benefactor, and that anyone who sees her must kowtow nine times. I just kowtowed to every one!"

Seeing the man being so straightforward, Wei Zhe couldn't help laughing.

After some inquiries, Wei Zhe learned that Jiao Shan was originally a woodcutter from Beihai. Although he was very brave, he never acted aggressively in order to support his mother, and he only made a living by chopping wood every day.

After the Yellow Turban Rebellion, his house was burned down and the mountains and forests were occupied by powerful people who took the opportunity to occupy them. They did not allow woodcutters like them to enter and collect firewood. So Jiaoshan took his mother on his back and joined the fleet.

After arriving in Daifang, the man followed his mother's instructions and farmed in the village.

It’s true, his strength is even greater than that of two cows.

If Wei Zhe hadn't wanted to marry this time, Jiao's mother might have let him continue farming.

There's no way. Even though Jiao's mother is worried about her son, she also wants a daughter-in-law!

Hearing this, Wei Zhe's heart moved, and he immediately pointed at the Yamen flag below the stage and asked, "Is it possible to raise this flag?"

Unexpectedly, Jiao Shan asked frankly, "If you lift it up, will you get a wife?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Taishi Ci on the side immediately laughed.

Wei Zhe laughed and nodded repeatedly, saying, "Well, just raise it and it will be sent!"

Upon hearing this, Jiao Shan immediately ran to the Yamen flag, stretched out his arms, and lifted up the Yamen flag lightly as if pulling out weeds. Then, no one knew what he was thinking, but he walked to the side with the big flag in his arms, and raised another Yamen flag with just his other hand.

Seeing this, Wei Zhe and Taishi Ci couldn't help but look surprised.

You should know that the Yamen flags in the training ground are very long and big, and even the brave soldiers often need two people to lift them.

But this black guy actually killed one with each hand. His brute force was outrageous!
"Hiss~ Today I finally understand what it means to have a thousand-pound arm strength!"

Seeing this, Wei Zhe immediately shook his head with emotion.

Then he became more and more pleased as he looked, and Jiao Shan's ugly face became particularly pleasing to Wei Zhe's eyes.

"Well, you don't need to hang around in the military settlement anymore. Come with me and become a personal soldier."

Wei Zhe was delighted to see the opportunity and immediately decided to promote Jiao Shan to his side.

But unexpectedly, Jiao Shan asked worriedly, "Then... is that woman still making money?"

After hearing these words, Wei Zhe was really at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

"Send~ I'll give you two, okay?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the black man grinned.

Taishi Ci, who was standing by, also found this funny. He finally understood what kind of person this guy was.

Taishi Ci immediately suggested with a smile, "Brother, I think we shouldn't equip him with swords or spears. Just give him a wrought iron rod. I guarantee it will be more useful than any other weapon!"

Wei Zhe thought about it and nodded: "Indeed, but it would be better to add a few hatchets."

At this point, Wei Zhe patted Jiao Shan's sturdy arm and laughed, "Killing people is like cutting down trees. In the future, you will cut down all the rotten trees in the world for me!"

Jiao Shan felt relieved upon hearing this, and immediately patted his chest and assured, "Don't worry, County Lord, I'm the best at this!"

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhe and Taishi Ci exchanged glances and couldn't help but burst into laughter...

(End of this chapter)