The pork butcher is smoother than a pig butcher!

Chapter 336 People and Events

That night.

Inside the quarantine station, the military dependents were so excited that they couldn't sleep until midnight.

The couple exchanged opinions in hushed tones.

"Honey, I still think I'm dreaming. Tell me, what kind of life did we live in the past, working ourselves to the bone? Now, not to mention growing wheat and raising cattle and sheep, there are egg-sized colorful wild silkworms, expensive-sounding beauty wines, and snow boots that can be made right away! Tell me, which of these things have we ever even heard of before?"

"No wonder everyone praises the patriarch as a living bodhisattva who brings good fortune. Don't you even know what kind of life those five thousand vanguard battalion boys are living in now?"

"Hehe, I'm envious too! No matter how good the Vanguard Battalion is, it's not as good as being the Patriarch's personal guard! The Patriarch wouldn't arrange for those families in the Vanguard Battalion to do the business we're in."

"Honey, I really need to give you a few words of advice. It's one thing for you old women to gossip and chatter all the time!"
You can't tell anyone about anything the head of the family arranges. Especially the snow boot business—not a single word can be revealed!

"Master! Don't worry! Ang isn't stupid! The head of the family said that the silk woven from wild silkworms can only be made into 500 bolts a year. If other people find out, and more people raise silkworms, how will we sell them for 1,000 gold coins a bolt? The business of snow boots is all about novelty. If it's available this year, it won't be available next year. Who would tell others about a one-off business?"

"Hmph! I'm afraid you'll get cocky and forget your own limitations! Our family's status is different now! Our youngest son has become a personal guard of a fourth-rank general. If he doesn't make any mistakes, our family's good days for three generations are guaranteed."

"No way! We won't hold our son back! He's such an honest man, what mistakes could he possibly make? You, as his father, are always running around like a boss, and you don't even know how to give him a little pointers."

"."

There are many such conversations between husband and wife, and these military dependents keep their mouths shut tighter than anyone else.

That is, the day afterward when we would eat beef in a lively and festive manner.

When Tian Jiu and the others asked the people they knew about their future plans, the people they knew simply waved their hands and shook their heads.

He added, "What else can we, with no skills, do besides farming? We'll just have to settle down and cultivate the land!"

Yes!

The most important task for the Nine Guards of Kansai next year is to cultivate land.

On days when there's not enough staple food, I end up eating too much meat!
Isn't that a waste of meat?

Not only do the border troops in the garrisons need to eat meat, but their families also cannot live without it.

Currently, 120,000 young and middle-aged laborers are working in Hami New City.

General Xiong allocated all the tax grain he had painstakingly collected from Huozhou directly to the new city of Hami.

Nevertheless, sheep are consumed very quickly.

The ox is still waiting to be used for land reclamation next year, but no one dares to slaughter and eat it like Gan Minglan.

Therefore, General Xiong was particularly looking forward to the ransom and double the amount of grain that the Kashgar Khanate was about to send.

Not only did he have the garrison in Huozhou set up a lookout point at Weilumu, but he also went to the dungeon every two or three days to "visit" King Zhongshun and his son, the old general Hasibaren.

The old general and his son were certain that their youngest son would raise the ransom to rescue them.

She has a great attitude.

They can also enjoy a meal of tandoor-roasted meat every day.

King Chungsun and his family were in a very bad mood.

They were all locked up for several months.

Although they didn't suffer much, they became increasingly uneasy as their detention lasted longer.

Will Wang Ting abandon them?
Are the families of the several principal wives willing to pay exorbitant ransoms?
King Chungshun had reason to believe that if the other party did not receive the promised money within the stipulated period, his family would never see the sun again.

Time flies. In the blink of an eye, Gan Minglan and the others' quarantine period ended.

The families of the soldiers have been busy these days because they have important things to do.

After observing for several days, Gan Minglan selected an external steward from among the family members of the soldiers.

The outer officer's real name was Zhu Xin. He was thirty-six years old this year. He used to be a junior officer in the Right Guard Battalion of the Night Scouts. During his service, he injured one of his eyes.

He was originally in charge of reconnaissance work, but after injuring his eye, he was transferred from the Right Guard Battalion. Three years before his eldest son, Cheng Ding, retired from the military.

His father died early, leaving behind a widowed mother who married a woman surnamed Jiang. Within twenty years, they had three sons and three daughters.

Jiang was a woman who could bear sons.

His eldest son, Zhu Tong, is nineteen years old this year. He married a cousin of the Jiang family, a few generations removed from the main branch. They have a son nicknamed "Little Pig Liver," who just turned three this year.

Zhu Tong has many younger siblings, which has made him particularly considerate of others' feelings. The brothers in the Vanguard Battalion call him "Pig Head," but he never gets angry.

Yes, he was one of the kids who discovered the open-pit coal, and now he's a junior flag bearer in the vanguard battalion.

Of course, Zhu Xiaoqi had already accumulated a considerable fortune in the vanguard battalion.

Before his parents came to Hamiwei, he had bought a large courtyard house in the south of Hami City, where the whole family lived.

It takes less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea to walk from his home to the south gate of Hami City.

Zhu Xin was nominated as the external steward of the Mighty General's Mansion not because of his eldest son, but because of his second son.

The second son, Zhu Pi, will only turn fourteen at the end of the year. His friends call him "Pigskin".

The boy, though still a teenager, has a different temperament from his older brother. He is very hot-blooded and resilient, and is now one of Gan Minglan's hundred personal guards.

The eldest daughter, the youngest son, and two youngest daughters are sixteen (already married), twelve, ten, and eight years old, respectively.

During the years when Zhu Xin and his son were enlisted and did not receive military pay, they relied entirely on the Marquis's year-end bonus to support their large family.

Not a single child starved to death during that time, which already made them the most capable people in the military households.

But even with such ability, his family had less than ten taels of silver in savings before they came to Hamiwei.

Logically speaking, Zhu Xin's family is now considered moderately wealthy, and he could be settling down and enjoying life.

In the past few days, however, he has been very proactive in front of Gan Minglan, demonstrating his ability to coordinate, organize, and communicate with multiple people.

Is always shining gold.

He's a talented person; he can find a stage to shine anywhere.

And so, the position of steward outside the mansion of the Martial General, a fourth-rank official with an annual salary of fifty taels of silver, fell to him.

Manager Zhu took office with great enthusiasm.

The plan was meticulously arranged, specifying who would go to the Flaming Mountains to find mulberry branches, where to dig dug pits to prepare for planting, and how to mobilize local ethnic minorities to help with logging.

He is extremely intelligent.

He and his two sons were already bound to the General's Mansion, so he no longer allowed the women in the family to compete for the jobs of the old women and maids in the backyard.

Even if they don't enter the mansion, they won't be idle.

Snow boots are enough to keep my mother, wife, and daughter-in-law busy at home.
(End of this chapter)