Three Kingdoms: A Million Soldiers Grown from the Fields

Chapter 216 Hunting
Jinyang City.

Main Street.

The storefronts facing the street, regardless of size, had all their doors removed, revealing piles of various goods inside.

Rough linen, thick leather goods, newly woven straw mats, heavy earthenware jars... a dazzling array of miscellaneous goods.

The men's cheeks were red from the cold, but they strained their throats at the top of their lungs, their saliva condensing into white mist in the chill.

"Newly produced, top-quality charcoal! Burns brightly with minimal smoke! Now available for sale!"

"Iron pots, stew pots, earthenware pots, and clay pots—we have them all!"

"Fine salt! Green salt! Snowflake salt! The best salt from the former general's mansion's directly affiliated workshops! Affordable and guaranteed authentic!"

Shouts, haggling, the creaking of wheelbarrows, the occasional snorting of mules and horses... all sorts of sounds surged and roared through the streets and alleys.

The air was filled with the faint smell of burning honeycomb briquettes, the sweet aroma of freshly steamed wheat cakes, and the scent of livestock.

The crowds thronged shoulder to shoulder, and on their faces, some rosy and some slightly yellow, the numbness and sorrow of hunger and cold that were common in previous December months were gone, replaced by a sense of busyness.

People clutched yellow or white slips of paper printed with different amounts; these were the grain coupons that circulated in Taiyuan County today, and they circulated rapidly among stalls and ordinary people.

A man wearing a worn-out jacket with slightly chapped cheeks pulled out a crumpled ten-pound yellow coin from his pocket and handed it to the grain vendor, receiving a heavy little bag of millet in return.

He weighed it in his hand, grinned, and revealed his yellowed teeth.

"Brother! Look!" A seven or eight-year-old boy slipped out from the crowd like an eel, excitedly tugging at a man squatting in front of a pottery stall who was picking out bowls and plates.

The boy clutched several rough sheets of hemp paper tightly in his hand, on which a few characters were written crookedly.

The man looked up, patted his younger brother's head, and chuckled, "Brother Zhao, you've learned a new character again today?"

"Yes! The teacher taught me the characters for 'field' and 'home'!" The boy proudly held up the hemp paper high and presented it to his older brother.

The man's rough fingers traced the ink on the paper. He chuckled and patted his younger brother on the back of the head: "Not bad, not bad, but the handwriting is too ugly. I'll go buy you a calligraphy practice book later, so you can practice it properly."

As he spoke, he took his younger brother's hand, picked up the bowls and plates, and walked onto the street.

"Hey, Hao Yicheng, are you off today?"

A familiar face dressed as a yamen runner greeted Hao Tong.

Hao Tong smiled and nodded: "Yes, I went back to the mountains to bring my family out. This is my younger brother, Hao Zhao."

"Brother Zhao, call Uncle Gu."

He patted Hao Zhao on the head, and the latter smiled broadly and called out sensibly.

"Haha, good lad, you're really strong. Then I won't bother Hao Yicheng any longer. Let's have a drink sometime."

"sure."

They bowed to each other and then parted ways.

Not far away, in front of a row of low but exceptionally neat brick houses, came the sounds of children, some loud and some soft.

The clear voice of "At the beginning of life, people are inherently good" echoed in the cold air.

That was the county school, which enrolled students of different ages and divided them into three classes: large, medium, and small. His younger brother, Hao Zhao, had also enrolled in the school a month ago.

Deep within the former general's mansion, the temperature inside and outside the warm pavilion was drastically different.

The underground heating system was burning extremely brightly, and the heat rose silently, dispelling all the chill.

A faint, calming fragrance floated in the air, and the silence was so profound that one could hear the subtle dripping of a water clock.

Zou Wan leaned against the soft couch by the window, a thick silver fox fur rug draped over her body.

Her lower abdomen was already slightly protruding, showing signs of new life.

An exquisite wooden chessboard sits on a small table beside the couch, with nineteen lines in each direction. Black and white jade chess pieces are scattered throughout, and the game is in a stalemate.

She placed a white piece, her fingertip rounded.

"Husband." Zou Wan looked at Zhang Xian, who was deep in thought with his black pen in hand, and spoke in a very soft voice.

"Are the Hu people really going to move south again?"

Zhang Xian, holding a black chess piece, paused slightly upon hearing this.

He looked up at his wife, his gaze gentle. He knew that her worry was not for herself, nor for the child in her womb, but for him.

He gently pressed the black piece onto a corner of the chessboard, making a soft click.

"Yes, the military reports from the Qiangyin side are becoming more and more frequent. This year is bitterly cold. Every year when it is cold, the Hu people will definitely come south to plunder in order to save their people."

Zhang Xian's voice was calm and even, without any discernible emotion: "However, my lady, there is no need to worry. Bingzhou is no longer the Bingzhou of the past. I will not let them make the first move!"

Zou Wan's eyelashes trembled slightly as she looked up at him, her eyes questioning.

"Does my husband intend to go to the battlefield himself?"

Zhang Xian paused, picked up the warm herbal tea beside him, took a sip, and the bitter taste spread on his tongue: "Judging from the situation, the line from Qiangyin to Xihe is indeed very long. If the Hu people disperse and move south, I may have to make a trip myself."

Zou Wan listened silently, her worry deepening: "I understand, it is just my woman's perspective, but I really can't help but worry. My husband is now in charge of military affairs in three prefectures, but the border areas of these three prefectures are already in ruins, every year..."

She didn't finish her sentence, but Zhang Xian could hear the worry in her tone.

He smiled and said, "My lady, please rest assured. In this world, to put it arrogantly, no one can stop your husband."

Zhang Xian's gaze fell on his wife's hand stroking her lower abdomen, and a hint of warmth flashed across his eyes.
-
The Jin Yang Restaurant was filled with warmth and coziness.

Inside the private room.

In the corner, a huge gilded bronze animal-shaped charcoal brazier was burning brightly, radiating heat from the finest fruitwood charcoal.

A large sandalwood round table was set up in the center of the hall, with a huge brass hot pot bubbling and boiling with a milky white broth. Steam rose from the pot, and the rich aroma of mutton mixed with the spiciness of ginger slices and Sichuan peppercorns filled the entire hall.

Thinly sliced ​​mutton, washed cabbage, tofu, dried mushrooms found in the mountains, and a few slices of fresh fish were laid out on the table in a dazzling array.

Xun Yu, Guo Jia, Han Ji, and Chen Ji sat around a table, all of them having removed their heavy official robes and cloaks, wearing only ordinary clothes, their cheeks slightly flushed from the charcoal fire and the smell of wine.

The cup contains warm yellow wine, the liquid of which is clear and refreshing.

"Brother Wenruo, please!" Guo Jia raised the white porcelain wine cup in his hand, a lazy smile playing on his lips.

"This toast is to you! If it weren't for your divine command, the hundreds of thousands of hungry mouths, even if the granaries of Taiyuan were mountains of gold and silver, would probably have been devoured long ago."

He tilted his head back and drank it all.

Xun Yu also raised his cup and drank it all.

He put down his wine cup and shook his head: "Brother Jia, you flatter me. I am merely following the rules and acting in accordance with the lord's strategy."

Pointing his finger towards the lights outside the window, he saw the direction of the Zhaoyuze New Reclamation Area.

"On the frozen ground, ditches crisscrossed and shacks stood neatly. Although there was hardship, there was also hope. The lord's methods could not be summarized by the words 'governing the people,' they were almost like creating destiny!"

"Creating destiny?"

Guo Jia chuckled, picked up a slice of mutton as thin as a cicada's wing, dipped it lightly in the boiling soup, and it was cooked in an instant. He then dipped it in some sauce and put it in his mouth.

“Brother Wenruo’s words are not wrong, but it is difficult to create one’s destiny, and it is even more difficult to guard it. I have just returned from Xihe, and those people in the northern grasslands are all watching us.”

Bo Ping poured his heart and soul into training the troops, and the 10,000-strong Anbei New Army was beginning to take shape, but time... was ultimately too tight.

He changed the subject and looked at Han Ji, who was engrossed in dealing with a piece of tofu: "Brother Gongzhi, I heard that the lord has recently started to stay in the workshop and tinker with the fire chamber again. Is the fire chamber usable now?" Han Ji was sucking in air from being burned by the hot tofu. Hearing this, he swallowed and wiped the fine sweat from his forehead.

"It's almost ready to use! That fire chamber forging hammer is much more powerful than water forging! Ordinary water forging requires a large hammer to repeatedly strike the pig iron blank ten or more times, but it can forge it into a dense and even state in just four or five strikes!"
Armor plates, spearheads, plowshares… anything requiring vigorous forging becomes significantly more effective after being forged using a fire-chamber hammer!

He became more and more excited as he talked, so he simply put down his chopsticks, dipped his finger in the remaining wine in the glass, and started drawing on the smooth tabletop.

"These past few days, our lord has been personally supervising the work every day, guiding the craftsmen to overcome the difficulties of the 'reciprocating saw'! If it's completed, we can use steam to drive the saw teeth to cut large timbers back and forth... I wonder how much manpower and time it will save!"

"There's also water pumping and ventilation," Han Ji said, listing them off as if they were his own family.

"Good!" Xun Yu clapped his hands in approval.

"Alas, I am speaking arrogantly to you all. Before coming to Bingzhou, I always thought that the talents of the world were nothing special. But after arriving in Bingzhou and meeting my lord, I have come to know what true talents who can govern the world are."

"We are, after all, just mortals."

He shook his head, raised his glass, and it was clear that he was a little tipsy.

Everyone raised their glasses and drank together.

After the cup is placed down.

Chen Ji felt even more deeply: "It's not just about using powerful weapons to ensure the well-being of the people; the rules and regulations were also established by our lord."

Grain coupons set market prices, work points were used to calculate performance, military merits were used to clarify rewards and punishments, supplemented by literacy education to eliminate violence—every single one of these things had its framework set by the lord.

"Brother Wenruo is right. We are, after all, just mortals."

Guo Jia also sighed, "Without rules, there can be no order. The rules established by our lord may seem trivial and complicated, but they have firmly bound millions of people to the land of Bingzhou."

"Bingzhou's climate is now comparable to that of the Central Plains, but it faces wolves from the north, tigers from the south, and open and covert attacks from the imperial court..."

"Gentlemen, it's not time for us to wallow in self-pity yet. Come, let's drink again!"

"Hahaha, Fengxiao is right, drink!"

Everyone raised their glasses again.

Outside the window, the lights of thousands of homes in Jinyang City shone brightly in the cold December night.
-
Time flies, and the first month of the lunar calendar has passed.

The March wind still carries the biting chill of the north.

It swept across the newly thawed waters of Zhaoyuze, across the vast wilderness beyond Yanmen Pass, and finally landed on the beacon towers and fortresses in northern Bingzhou.

The training ground of the Anbei Army camp.

More than 9,600 men stood silently in the slightly chilly morning light of early spring.

Uniform tan leather armor covered their muscular bodies, simple yet practical leather-covered wooden shields were tightly bound to their left arms, and their right hands gripped the wooden hilts of spears and longswords.

Three months of grueling training, like a furnace, melted away their bewilderment and numbness in Guangzong City, along with the loose flesh on their bodies.

Gao Shun's cold, hard face was slowly scanning over the new army he had personally trained.

In three months, only 9,600 of the more than 10,000 new recruits remained, and many of them collapsed due to the rigorous training.

For these people, the Jinyang Prefecture government provided them with pensions as if they had died in battle, their remains were placed in a cemetery, and their relatives who joined the army enjoyed the same preferential treatment as martyrs who died in battle.

And today, after three months, the Anbei Army will be officially formed!
"Today! The weapons you wield are no longer those of your former comrades, but those of the wolves of the grasslands! Guarding the border, protecting your families! You are shields, but also blades! From this day forward, whether you are insects or dragons, whether you live or die, it all depends on the swords and spears in your hands!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

His response was a roar erupting from nine thousand eight hundred throats.

Zhang Xian, dressed in a black casual robe, stood to the side of the command platform, calmly watching everything unfold.

Behind him, key figures such as Xun Yu, Guo Jia, and Zhao Yun stood solemnly to witness the first ceremony of the new army's formation.

Guo Jia rubbed his fingers, which were slightly red from the cold, but his gaze went beyond the bustling training ground and landed on the vast northern horizon.

"My lord, the stench of the mutton in the wind is getting stronger and stronger. The beacon fires are sending messages, and the number of scouts by the barbarian cavalry is several times higher than it was a month ago."

"Hmm." Zhang Xian nodded slightly, his voice calm and even.

"When wolves are starving, they will always pounce. All units should take their positions as ordered. Soon, the main forces of the Youyi and Jiaqi units will be able to be mobilized."

The first ceremony continued in the training ground.

After a brief and clear speech, Zhang Xian personally presented the Anbei Army with its banner, and from then on, the Anbei Army officially became the third formal army in Bingzhou.

"Give me the order!"

On the platform, Zhang Xian spoke slowly.

A series of neat footsteps echoed from below the stage as people stood at attention.

"Order the Anbei Army to set out immediately and garrison troops along the northern border for defense!"

"promise!"

The shouts of nearly ten thousand people were deafening.

That day, Gao Shun organized his troops and set off. The troops traveled lightly, followed by thousands of supply wagons equipped with the latest rubber tires.

The long northern route was bound to be busy, but fortunately, Gao Shun was quite adept at dealing with the grassland people.

Besides
Who says they can only move after the grassland people have made a move?!
-
The county hall of the Zi clan.

"Where is Fengxian?!"

"The general is here!"

Lu Bu's voice was strong and clear. He strode forward and clasped his hands in a salute.

Are your wolf riders any good?

"I will certainly not disappoint the general!"

Zhang Xian nodded slightly: "Very well! The area north of Xihe County, extending east to Qiangyin and Shanwu, is entirely your wolf cavalry hunting grounds!"

"Gouge out the eyes of those scoundrels! Pull out their claws! I need to know where their main force is!"

"The last general takes command!"

"Xuande, Yunchang, Yide!"

"The general is here!"

"You will all be incorporated into Lü Bu's army and placed under his command!"

"The last general takes command!"

The three brothers responded in unison.

After receiving their orders, the four men left the Zishi County Hall. Outside the county, 1,600 wolf riders were like a pack of wolves lying in wait. Both men and horses were covered in gray-white leather armor that was good for camouflage on the snowy plains. Composite hard bows and quivers were hanging beside their saddles, and long-handled horse-slaying swords with a cold glint were placed behind their saddles.

Even more striking was the fact that Song Xian and Wei Xu both had monocular telescopes made of brass tubes and transparent crystals hanging around their necks.

The four men rode back to the front of the army. Lu Bu's lips curled into a cruel smile, and his eyes revealed a fierce glint.

"My lads! Let's hunt!"

"here we go!"

(End of this chapter)