Three Kingdoms: A Million Soldiers Grown from the Fields

Chapter 76 Slot Allocation (Please read 4k words)

It was almost 11 a.m.

Taoyuan has finally regained its former liveliness.

In the courtyard, Han Ji shook his head and gave a wry smile as he advised his lord.

"What you did last month was truly unwise, my lord. If anything were to happen to you, what would we do?"

"My lord, you now bear the responsibility of over two thousand people in Peach Blossom Spring. You must not act recklessly again."

Compared to when he first arrived, Han Ji was much stronger. Faced with his earnest advice, what could Zhang Xian say but nod and agree, "Understood."

Actually, this wasn't the first time Han Ji had come to persuade him. Ever since Zhang Xian handed over the head to Han Ji at the thatched cottage, he had considered himself a retainer.

He would come over and speak frankly about behaviors that were bad for one's health, almost like a deathbed remonstrance, though it was just that kind of remonstrance, not that serious.

Seeing the lingering disbelief in Han Ji's eyes, Zhang Xian repeatedly raised his hands in apology: "Gongzhi! Gongzhi! I really won't do it again. Look, I'm still resting in the courtyard at this hour."

Only after hearing this did Han Ji finally let out a long breath.

"I only hope that my lord knows that you are the courage of everyone in this paradise. Once we lose our lord, this paradise will vanish like smoke."

"I understand, I understand." Zhang Xian nodded repeatedly.

He really wouldn't do that again. In fact, he could see that the people of Taoyuan had been working their lives away last month.

They were already displaced people with poor health, and after a few months of recovery, most of them suffered another loss of vitality in just August and January.

"Sigh, have all the livestock been slaughtered and distributed?"

Han Ji cupped his hands and said, "Since the slaughter has been completed, sixty large pigs weighing two hundred catties each were divided into five catties of meat for each person, and each person was also given an additional ten catties of pumpkin."

"This is what they deserve. Last month, the workshops produced amazing output, and the fields were also carefully tended. I expect the harvest in November will be a bumper crop."

Zhang Xian sighed, sat on the corner of the bed, took off his shoes and knocked out the fine sand.

"Is everything ready at the kiln?"

Han Ji nodded: "The connected kiln started burning charcoal at the end of last month, but the steel frying furnace will have to wait a few more days. If it is opened now before the adhesive has dried, it may crack."

"Well, you have experience in this area, so let's put you in charge. What does the government have to say about the camp households?"

"Progress is going well. Last month, I visited the prefectural government several times and had a very pleasant meeting with the prefect. My lord, since the prefect is from the Guo family, why don't we use the Guo family's connections?"

Han Ji was somewhat puzzled.

Zhang Xian sighed, "I don't know why, but I always feel that my brother has been subtly or overtly hinting at his desire to completely tie me to his family."

"For the past six months, I haven't dared to stay at the Guo family's house for long. I always just deliver some Taoyuan specialties and leave."

"Gongzhi, can you help me analyze this? I'm just a humble physician, so why does my brother Guo Huai value me so much?"

"These wealthy and powerful families probably aren't so easy to talk to."

"Oh—," Han Ji said with a hint of surprise, as this was the first time he had ever heard of such a secret.

He closed his eyes and pondered for a while before asking, "Is the only reason you, my lord, became acquainted with the Guo family simply because you cured Guo Tang?"

Zhang Xian nodded: "That's true."

"...Sending food and money...This is medical treatment, running around, this is the reputation of eradicating the epidemic, Taoyuan's rapid development...yet it can be used to support the actions of the wealthy. Hiss."

Suddenly, Han Ji opened his eyes and looked at Zhang Xian.

"Is he trying to imitate Guo Shengtong again?!"

"Guo Shengtong?" Zhang Xian asked, puzzled.

"Emperor Guangwu deposed the empress? What did he mean by that?"

Han Ji's eyes darted around rapidly, and he muttered to himself quickly.

Then he looked up and asked, "My lord, are there any major bandits around Changshan?"

"A great thief?" Zhang Xian was even more puzzled. He thought for a long time but couldn't come up with a suitable answer: "Zhen Ding is an important prefecture with five thousand soldiers. It is located in a strategic position, connecting all directions and controlling Bingzhou in the northwest and Youzhou in the northeast. How could such a place possibly be..."

His laughter abruptly stopped.

Really!
However, this notorious thief did not act openly.

Zhang Jiao of Julu! The Way of Peace!

"Has something come to mind, my lord?"

Han Ji asked curiously.

Zhang Xian nodded gravely, carefully choosing his words: "Sir, if I were to say that there are truly great bandits around Changshan, would you believe me?"

"letter."

"But what if I say that I greatly admire this great thief?"

"The person whom our lord admires is the person whom we also respect!"

Han Ji answered without the slightest hesitation.

Zhang Xian took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly.

Instead of continuing the previous topic, he took out his backpack from a hidden box inside the room.

Then she took out a carefully folded piece of cloth and spread it out on the bed.

"Your Excellency has come."

He waved to North and South Korea.

The latter stepped forward and knelt on the bed.

Can you tell what this is?

Zhang Xian pointed to the cloth and asked, where lines depicted mountains and rivers.

"A map?"

At a glance, Han Ji immediately recognized what the cloth was.

Zhang Xian nodded and pointed to one of the locations, saying, "This is Chang'an."

Han Ji nodded as he looked around, then pointed upwards and said, "This is Fufeng, this is Wudu, and this is Anding."

Now it was Zhang Xian's turn to be surprised: "You actually recognize him?"

Han Ji nodded: "Although this map is quite rudimentary, my family once had a map of the thirteen provinces of the Han Dynasty, and this one of yours will match."

"It's still better to be from a noble family. Taoyuan spent millions of coins for the map of just four counties. I never imagined that Gongzhi once had maps of thirteen prefectures in his family."

"Ha, they were all passed down from our ancestors, but unfortunately they were all taken away."

"What is the meaning of my lord showing me this map?"

He looked at it, puzzled.

Zhang Xian sighed: "This is the great thief I was about to tell you about."

"I have not yet spoken these words to anyone, but you have heard them and kept them to yourself."

Han Ji's face turned solemn as he solemnly declared, "If even a single word of what I said to my lord today is leaked, I shall not be a son!"

Zhang Xian waved his hand upon hearing this: "Alright, listen carefully, at the latest it will be the seventh year of Guanghe, the Great Han Dynasty..."
Chaos is inevitable!
"This is my lord's will."

Han Ji looked at Zhang Xian, seemingly wanting to say something but then stopping himself.

The latter nodded: "An uprising."

"Hiss!" Han Ji immediately straightened up, and suddenly he seemed to realize something and looked at his lord.

"That lord..."

Zhang Xian shook his head: "I wasn't involved."

Han Ji breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good, that's good. Two years is too short."

"So this is what you're actually relieved about?"

Zhang Xian laughed.

"Hahaha, after arriving in this paradise, I understood my lord's intentions. Although this matter is shocking, I will definitely follow my lord!"

"You are very thoughtful."

Zhang Xian patted him on the shoulder with satisfaction.

Han Ji knelt down again: "Then I understand. The Guo family has been trying to curry favor with our lord in every way, even going so far as to place heavy bets. It seems that this Guo family head is not one to maintain the status quo."

"The great thief you speak of, my lord, must have the support of the Guo family behind him!"

"How can you be so confident?"

Zhang Xian was starting to lose his composure.

Wasn't it said that the Yellow Turban Rebellion failed because it lacked the support of powerful and influential families?
How did the Guo family get dragged into this again?
"The characteristic of aristocratic families is that they hedge their bets, wanting to maintain the status quo while fearing falling behind others."

"Although the Guo family has the support for this great thief, the support is probably not very strong. At most, it would only be some food and supplies. My lord, think about it, doesn't this approach seem somewhat familiar?"

"The same goes for me."

"Indeed." Han Ji nodded: "Patriarch Guo must have seen the potential in our lord, and in addition to the grace of saving his son, he was quite generous with his previous assistance. But with the completion of Peach Blossom Manor, which has gathered thousands of people and hundreds of guards, Patriarch Guo probably remembered another person he had previously assisted."

"In that case, we should place another bet on our lord. Regardless of who wins or loses in the future, the Guo family will not suffer much loss. However, as long as one side gains something, the Guo family will benefit greatly!"

As Han Ji explained things step by step, breaking down the reasons behind them, Zhang Xian's previous confusion began to gradually become clear.

The two talked until noon.

They didn't end their conversation until Li Zhen came over to call them for dinner.

Han Ji is very talented, at least that's what Zhang Xian thinks.

He filled the void that Taoyuan lacked most: political means.

What can be made public and what cannot be made public can only be guessed by Han Jiqian and Zhang Xian. Therefore, there will be instances where rigor is not maintained where it should be maintained, and where rigor is not maintained where it should be maintained.

With Han Ji, many things become much easier to operate.

Just like the people of Peach Blossom Spring, just like armor and weapons.

Without Han Ji's efforts during this period, Zhang Xian would be accused of plotting a rebellion, and if the news were leaked, it would inevitably attract the attention and hostility of the government.

But things are different now; Taoyuan can openly express these things.

The armor and weapons were for the camp households, to ensure that the Zhen Ding government office had reliable military equipment.

Although the Peach Blossom Clan still doesn't have a public identity, who is Zhang Xian now?
What's wrong with the great philanthropist of Zhending, a newly wealthy family, having hundreds of servants?
It's like everyone has one.

At noon, Taoyuan was filled with the aroma of meat. Every household received more than ten kilograms of pork. Although sixty pigs had been slaughtered, Taoyuan still had enough pork reserves.

In the past, Jiayuan Farm would slaughter 18 pigs every month. After supplying the 400 people of Taoyuan, there would still be a few left over. These pigs were not slaughtered, but kept in pigsties outside Taoyuan to breed with pigs purchased from farmers.

By March and April, quite a few sows had become pregnant.

The same goes for chickens and ducks. Compared to livestock, poultry in the farm produce more quickly, three times a month.

Zhang Xian would also frequently replace the old chickens and ducks that had laid several rounds of eggs with the newly hatched chicks and ducklings. Apart from some of these replaced chickens and ducks being eaten as meat, the rest were also raised in the external poultry sheds. After all, they didn't only lay eggs in the farm and livestock area; they would also lay eggs outside.

Now his beast taming skill is at level three, and his animal husbandry skill has been upgraded to level four, giving him a more spacious twenty-four feeding slots.

Three more troughs were added for raising chickens and ducks. The 45 chickens and 45 ducks each laid 90 and 135 eggs per day, respectively. With the eggs from external breeding, there was still a surplus to supply the sword and shield battalion and the longbow battalion.

Of the remaining fourteen slots, the number of slots for pigs didn't increase much; it simply increased from two to four.

The monthly production of 36 pigs is sufficient to meet Taoyuan's demand for meat and oil.

The reason why not many more pig troughs were added is because Zhang Xianwu realized that he did not intend to make pigs his main source of meat.

Instead, he turned to look at the cow.

Although both are slaughtered in a month, the weight of the black pigs at slaughter is only about 200 jin (100 kg).

But the ox weighed 600 jin (based on the weight of ox bones unearthed from Eastern Han Dynasty burial sites).
Isn't there a big difference of 400 pounds between the inside and outside?

He initially didn't think about raising cattle for food, but he was misled by the mindset of the times. Cattle are important production tools, so he never thought about eating them.

But after killing a person once, he realized that others don't kill cattle easily because a cow takes at least two or three years, and sometimes as long as four or five years, to be put into production. The cycle is extremely long, and there is no substitute, so it cannot be killed.

But he's different. His cattle can produce fruit in just one month, whether for plowing or other purposes. His investment cycle is only one month.

Moreover, cattle used as practical tools don't decrease every month; as long as they aren't slaughtered by humans, they can serve for several years.

Taoyuan only needs to spend one or two months each year raising cattle, then the rest of the time they can be used for food, right?

More importantly, eating beef can also yield beef hides!

This is crucial for making armor; cowhide is the most suitable material for making armor, bar none.

Although pigskin can be used to make armor, it is far inferior to cowhide.

One type of leather has a high density of fibers, making it strong against tearing, while the other type has loose fibers that are prone to splitting. Moreover, nail making requires a hardening process, and cowhide is naturally hard, so it needs to be kneaded repeatedly several times to soften it.

Moreover, its thickness and corrosion resistance are unmatched.

Every part of a cow is valuable; its horns, hide, tendons, and bones are all excellent choices for making military equipment.

After comparing the many advantages, Zhang Xian naturally decided to make cattle the main source of meat.

Of course, this has to be done behind people's backs.

Of the ten remaining stalls, eight are occupied by cattle. Seventy-two beef cattle are slaughtered each month, which is roughly equivalent to two hundred sets of armor linings, countless bow materials, and rubber materials.

Zhang Xian used the remaining two stalls to raise horses; the several uncastrated stallions he acquired from the horse dealer now had a place to go.

He wants to use the [Superior Breed] skill to increase the probability of livestock inheriting superior traits and breed a revolutionary warhorse that can rival the sprinting ability of Liangzhou horses, the carrying capacity of Bingzhou horses, and the high endurance of Youzhou horses.

Once such warhorses are produced, paired with double saddles, heavy armor, and weapons, they would form a heavily armored cavalry force capable of instilling despair in the field.

Of course, the prerequisite for raising such warhorses is to ensure the smooth operation of Peach Blossom Spring, so he only allocated two slots for warhorses, totaling eighteen horses.

The main reason is that there aren't enough uncastrated horses.

One stallion had to be mated with several mares from Bingzhou or Liangzhou. After one round of mating, the stallion from Youzhou was almost exhausted.

However, this is part of a great undertaking, and the people of Taoyuan said they will always remember the contributions of the horse!
With three thousand beauties in the harem, what other horse has such good fortune!

(End of this chapter)