The pork butcher is smoother than a pig butcher!

Chapter 334 Arrangements (Part 1)

Gan Minglan was unaware of this.

While many patients' relatives sang her praises, one cousin-in-law hated her to the core.

It's better for people to hate heaven, earth, and others than to hate themselves.

Of course, even if she knew, she wouldn't care at all.

The resentment from the border town won't reach the Western Regions anytime soon.

She and Tian Jiu and the others who had returned from the border town arrived back in Hami City one after the other.

Both groups of people were returning from epidemic areas.

Following the epidemic prevention guidelines she personally wrote down, she went directly to the quarantine area before even entering her home.

Being restricted in one's area of ​​operation does not impede the transmission of messages.

So, that night.

Gan Minglan knew she had been promoted.

Without the approval of the imperial court, he was directly promoted by the Northwest King from a fifth-rank guerrilla general to a fourth-rank mighty general.

She achieved a level that other military generals could not reach in three to five years, or even eight to ten years, in just half a year!

If I told you this, a bunch of border soldiers would be incredibly envious.

However, there are currently two groups of people in the quarantine area: one group consists of Gan Minglan's personal guards and family members, and the other group consists of Gan Minglan's die-hard fans, such as Tian Jiu.

They would only be happy for General Gan's promotion.

One by one, people next to the garrison were clamoring for her to host a banquet.

Please do so.

The general's mansion also has nine oxen.

She generously promised, "I'll slaughter two cattle tomorrow and treat everyone to beef. Everyone will get a share! We can eat our fill all day long."

Lamb is a common food.

Beef is something many people have never tasted in their lives.

The more than 1,000 people in quarantine were cheering.

The hundred bodyguards were almost overjoyed.

Unexpectedly, their joy soon turned to sorrow.

Commander Gu came to deliver a message on behalf of Gan Minglan:

"Kids, don't waste your seven-day quarantine period. Your first task is to learn to read and write two hundred words."

a bolt from the blue!

The guards were completely bewildered.

How can they, who are completely illiterate, be expected to read and write two hundred characters in such a short period of time?

impossible.

A completely impossible task.

Commander Gu simply said, "General Gan will bestow a name upon the one who completes the mission!"

Give a name?

This temptation is simply too alluring.

There is an unwritten rule within the border town's military camp.

That means becoming the generals' personal guards; only those bestowed a name by the patriarch can be considered true members of the direct line.

Otherwise, if you still use your real name, who will treat you as a true personal guard?

Once they understood this, they kept their mouths shut and couldn't wait to start learning.

They had only been bodyguards for a little over ten days when their family head was promoted two ranks!
He became a powerful general of the fourth rank at a young age. How far is he from becoming a general of the first rank?

A soldier who doesn't want to be the general's personal guard is not a good personal guard!
Done, done!
You must learn to read, and you must eat several bowls of beef tomorrow.

It was just a matter of a few bowls of meat; Gan Minglan didn't need to think about it too much.

But she had to make arrangements for all the families of her personal guards. In addition to the dozen or so families transferred from Guazhou Guard, she also transferred dozens more families from several other places along the way, plus the twenty or so families from Hami Guard, which involved the fate of one hundred military families and eight hundred people.

She had been studying the personnel structure of these 100 households for the past few days.

Only one-third, or seventy, of those had a grandfather or grandmother.

The fathers and mothers of the guards were relatively young, most of them under thirty-five years old.

He's definitely a strong and capable laborer.

The eldest sons in the family had all joined the army, leaving behind about thirty young wives.

There are over eighty children under the age of six.

There were about 93 girls aged 7 to 15, and the most boys were between 7 and 13 years old, totaling over 220.

There are already available job positions: one outer steward, one inner steward, several old women, and several maids and servants are needed in the General's Mansion.

Gan Minglan had originally intended to buy people from among those immigrants.

Looking back, choosing from among the personal guards and their families ensured their loyalty, and more importantly, it would create more job opportunities for these families.

Don't underestimate these servants just because they are all people who serve others. As servants of a powerful fourth-rank general, they are definitely respectable people when they go out!

In addition, the task of these 800 or so people to cultivate land was, according to custom, to cultivate more than 8,000 mu.

Distribute them to individual households for planting?

It won't kill you!

She plans to replicate a western foothill ranch.

The area doesn't need to be too large, about 5,000 mu is enough.

We'll plant another 2,000 mu of grapes, and in the autumn we'll brew grape snow lotus health wine.

Finally, only the 1,000 mu (approximately 67 hectares) that were easiest to cultivate were selected to plant wheat.

Then use mulberry trees to fence off the pastures, vineyards, and wheat fields.

Land reclamation, mulberry planting, grape cultivation, and wheat planting can all be done by hiring surplus labor from the immigrants; the fathers and grandfathers of the guards can serve as overseers.
Gan Minglan went over the plan in her mind several times, and took advantage of the time of isolation to have the heads of the hundred households of the personal guards summoned together for a meeting.

She only briefly explained the arrangements for the appeal, and the women were so excited that they became incoherent, immediately setting their sights on the work at the General Weiwu's mansion.

“Master, Ang’s cooking skills are really good. Could I become your kitchen helper? If you don’t believe me, Ang will show you his skills with beef tomorrow.”

"That's right!"

"Master, the eldest daughter of the Ang family is the best at coaxing children. She raised several of her younger siblings. Would it be appropriate to have her serve as a maid for the young lady?"

"Okay, let her give it a try."

"Master."

They all wished they could bring their daughters and sons to their side and let the head of the family choose them.

The competition is too fierce!

When the men heard that even their own fathers could help manage the military fields, Hei Liangtang became so excited that his face turned red, and he kept rubbing his hands together.

Some men skilled in farming also offered their own insights:
“Master, wouldn’t using 5,000 mu of military farmland as pasture cause controversy? We’ve never heard of this health-preserving wine before, and we’ll have to worry about sales. Also, the newly reclaimed wasteland in Angmen Border City can only yield a maximum of one shi of grain per mu, so planting more than 1,000 mu of wheat is really too little.”

The advice they gave was truly heartfelt.

Their patriarch, however, said:
"Don't worry, everyone. I will definitely discuss these arrangements with General Xiong. To be honest, I still think 5,000 mu of pasture is not big enough."

The beef and lamb here are of very good quality.

Aside from the cattle and sheep we eat and the ones we breed, I'll have them sent to Ganweixian in the border town. Including the shipping costs, we can get at least three times the price they would here.

The higher the ranch's profits, the more generous the rewards for the shepherds and managers who run the ranch!

This grape health wine has beauty and longevity benefits, and I have the recipe! Anyway, as long as the wine is sealed properly, it won't spoil for ten or eight years, so there's no need to worry about sales for now.

Don't think that planting more than a thousand acres of wheat is too little. As long as you choose the right wheat variety, you won't have to worry about not having enough grain to eat.

There are many countries west of the Kashgar Khanate, and I will find a way to buy high-yield wheat seeds from merchants then.”

Everyone knows that General Gan is not one to lie.

Therefore, what she said is very likely true.

In this way, they may have an endless supply of naan bread, mutton, and fine wine in the future, and even be able to wear silk.
I dare not even think about it, I absolutely dare not even think about it.
(End of this chapter)