Three Kingdoms: A Million Soldiers Grown from the Fields

Chapter 19 Brother Xian, I want to follow you! (Please continue reading)
The man blushed and tried to explain, and Zhang Xian stepped in to smooth things over: "Alright, I'm not scolding you for bringing this up again, I'm just reminding you that you also need firewood to cook at home."

"That's settled, let's go in and eat!"

"Okay, Brother Xian."

"Thank you, Brother Xian!"

The group entered the courtyard. Xiahou Lan, who was a little later, glanced at Zhang Xian and then at the others, his eyes thoughtful. He squeezed forward and moved to the front of the line.

"Yes, Brother Xian." After saying this, Xiahou Lan walked straight in, which earned him a glare from Zhang Xian.

Seeing this, a young man behind him scratched his head, feeling that Xiahou Lan's mannerisms resembled those of a soldier, and that Brother Xian looked like a general. So he followed suit, clasped his hands in greeting, and said, "Yes, Brother Xian!"

Before Zhang Xian could even get a thud on the head, he laughed and ran into the courtyard.

Their playful antics inspired a group of young men to imitate them, and so, amidst shouts of "Yes!", the large dining hall in the Zhao family courtyard officially opened for meals.

The rich aroma of wheat blends together with the unique fragrance of pumpkin.

As the earthenware steamer was opened, the aroma became even stronger, and the young men in the courtyard kept swallowing their saliva.

"It smells so good! It seems like not all the pancakes are wheat cakes today."

One person stood on tiptoe to look towards the kitchen. Although they could only see a blurry shadow, it still made many others stand on tiptoe.

"Don't rush, Mother will have the food ready soon. If you're free, help me lift this bamboo sieve; there's still some bran that hasn't been blown out yet."

"The head of the family is really something. Some bran is edible, so why pick it all out?"

Seeing pairs of eyes staring towards the kitchen, little girl Li Zhen struggled to sift wheat and chaff using a winnowing basket bigger than herself.

The young men who were near her smiled when they heard this, and instead of looking at the kitchen, they stepped forward and started sifting quickly.

Sifting wheat grains and bran is quite novel; at home, they usually use a mixture of bran and wheat, and if the year is unlucky, bran will make up the majority of the contents of the earthenware steamer.

The young men finished the job that would have taken Li Zhen ten or twenty minutes in no time.

The timing was perfect; just as they put down their winnowing baskets, Zhou Cui came out carrying several stacked wooden food platters.

As soon as she came out, several young men ran up to help her.

This person helps carry a plate, that person helps carry a dish.

Without exception, not a single person reached for the food.

"Slow down, don't fall."

Early in the morning, Zhao's mother, who was already sitting on the threshold of the house mending clothes with her needle and thread, called out to the group of young men with a smile.

"I know, Auntie. Don't worry, I won't fall. Even if I fall, I won't fall while eating."

The young men who were helping to move the food said happily.

In no time, thirty wheat cakes and thirty pieces of pumpkin with skin on, evenly cut into pieces, were placed on the stone table in the courtyard.

However, despite being called a stone table, it's really just a slightly more regular-shaped piece of stone.

The food was laid out, but no one touched it. Instead, they all looked at Zhang Xian, who was standing with his arms crossed, leaning against a thatched shed post.

Seeing everyone's gaze turn to him, Zhang Xian laughed and said, "Haha, why are you all looking at me? Brother Lan, you and Brother Yun divide the food between yourselves."

"Understood!" Xiahou Lan put on his usual mischievous expression.

Zhao Yun, on the other hand, was much more composed. He nodded, picked up a plate, and began distributing food to the group of young men.

Each person received a wheat cake and a piece of steamed pumpkin. The wheat cakes this morning were not as big as those last night, only about half the size of a palm, but they looked sturdy and weighed more than three ounces.

(In the Han Dynasty, 16 liang equaled 1 jin, which was approximately 220 grams. For ease of writing, this book uses a system of 10 liang equaling 1 jin, which is 500 grams.)
The pumpkin, on the other hand, was much heavier, almost twice the weight of the wheat cake, and weighed about six ounces when picked up.

The young men who received their food cheerfully called out "Thank you, Brother Xian" and then began to eat heartily. Some of them put the wheat cakes into their pockets and ate pumpkins that they had never seen before. The soft, sweet and fragrant taste almost instantly overwhelmed their bland taste buds.

They kept exclaiming, "Delicious! Delicious!"

The food was distributed along the way, and finally Xiahou Lan came to Zhang Xian's side with a food tray and handed him a wheat cake and a pumpkin.

"Brother Xian."

Zhang Xian glanced at him, smiled, and took the money, saying softly, "You don't seem like the type to cause trouble. What's wrong with you today?"

Xiahou Lan put down her food plate, and Zhao Yun also came over. The other young men squatted, stood, or sat on the ground in the courtyard, eating their food heartily.

Taking a bite of the soft, glutinous pumpkin, Xiahou Lan answered Zhang Xian's question: "Brother Xian, can you guess why most of the households in the village are single mothers with several children? And the few households with fathers are mostly infirm or injured?"

Xiahou Lan was slightly surprised by the texture and sweetness of the pumpkin. He swallowed a bite and then whispered.

"Most of the men in our village have joined the army, leaving only some children and women behind. If it weren't for the prestige of the village elders and our master among the wandering knights, our village wouldn't have this peaceful and harmonious appearance."

“I think you’re a good person, Brother Xian, so I want everyone to get used to working under you. That would be a good thing for the villagers.”

"Is that so?" Zhang Xian also took a bite of pumpkin, glancing at Xiahou Lan with a meaningful look.

Zhao Yun chimed in, "Brother Xian, I think Alan did the right thing. Don't be fooled by how well our village is doing now; it's still before spring. Once spring arrives and we start planting, the neighboring villages won't hold back when they start competing with us for irrigation canals. If you can gather everyone together, even if they have to compete for the canals, they'll feel much more confident."

His voice was quite loud, and all the young men in the courtyard heard it and looked over.

Before Zhang Xian could speak, one of the young men shouted, "Yeah, Brother Xian, when we're seizing the canal, you should lead us all up there. With you there, we feel safe."

"That's right, Brother Xian."

"That's right, Brother Xian, you lead us!"

"Brother Xian, I want to work for you!"

"Me too, Brother Xian!"

Zhao Yun's words immediately caused an uproar, and the young men in the courtyard began to clamor to follow Zhang Xiangan.

Zhang Xian glanced helplessly at Zhao Yun, then waved to the group of young men and said, "Let's not talk about whether we'll do it or not. After we finish eating, let's get on with our work. We'll talk as usual this afternoon!"

"Understood, Brother Xian!"

One of them quickly responded, and the person next to him slapped him and said, "You have to say 'yes,' don't you understand! We're following Brother Xian from now on!"

"Oh, hehe, here you go! Brother Xian!"

"Yes, Brother Xian!"

"Hahaha"

The joyful shouts of "Yes!" from the young men echoed through the courtyard.

Zhang Xian shook his head: "No problem." But a smile appeared on his lips. The young men loved to joke around, so he wouldn't take their joking around too seriously.

But now that we've started, let's continue down this path.

"Exactly. We can feed over twenty mouths and still have the energy left over. If we really go ahead and do this, we'll need to find new sources of income, otherwise we can't afford to support this bunch of teenagers who are going to bankrupt us."

(End of this chapter)