Go back to the Ming Dynasty to be a thousand households

Chapter 139

In the few days since Huang Laifu returned to Wuzhai Fort, the news that he defeated 200 horse thieves with [-] people spread rapidly to the surrounding area. After hearing this, many people were extremely shocked.

Some military generals who were close to Huang Laifu sent congratulatory envoys, such as Huang Laifu's brother-in-law Xu Xueshi.Liu Jingchun, Huang Laifu's adoptive father, and the magistrate of Kelan Prefecture sent people to congratulate Huang Laifu.And some people who were jealous of Huang Laifu and harbored malice towards him felt complicated after hearing about this incident.

Of course, after this big victory, there was also an upsurge of joining the army in Wuzhai Fort. Huang Laifu had already said that he would be rewarded with 40 taels of silver for beheading one level. reward.This kind of treatment is much better than farming and working.Therefore, during these days, young and middle-aged people continued to come to the Wuzhai Fort barracks, wanting to sign up for the Wuzhai Fort army.

However, Huang Laifu has a rule that in the selection of sergeants, priority is given to selection from various farms, and this selection is still very strict, not just anyone can be selected by the way, it is truly one in a million.

Nowadays, many people sigh with emotion: "The military households in other places have fled one after another, but only the Wuzhaibao army can't do what they want."

However, although the news of Wuzhaibao's defeat of the horse thieves spread, and Huang Laifu and Ma Gonggong also wrote the victory report, the confirmation and rewards from the Ministry of War will not be available in a short while, Huang Laifu and others are waiting with peace of mind.

March 1591, 7 AD.

Wuguan, Zhenning, Shanxi Province, the residence of the general soldier.

In the hall, Liu Shi, the concubine of General Liu Mingan, was crying again, begging the master to make decisions for her.She has been confirmed that her second and third brothers were both killed in the battle with the officers and soldiers of Wuzhai Fort. Why doesn't she cry?
Liu Ming'an walked back and forth in the hall, but he had something else in his heart, thinking about other things.

"The Wuzhaibao army is so powerful?"

As for the horse thieves of Liu Shao'an's group in Ke Lanshan, Liu Ming'an certainly knew the origins of these people. This group of people is extremely vicious and has always been active in Ningwu Pass and Jingle area. They are a group of characters who kill people without blinking an eye.

When the officers and soldiers in my hands were under local pressure, they had symbolically encircled and suppressed them several times, but each time they were beaten to pieces with superior forces. Unexpectedly, it was this group of people who were defeated by just two people in Wuzhaibao. Hundreds of households were wiped out in Shenchi Fort. When did Wuzhai Fort become so strong?
Liu Zongbing was thinking in a daze.

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March 1591, 8 AD.

Huang Laifu led a group of people to inspect various places in Wuzhai Fort.

The Wuzhai Fort right now presents a charming idyllic scenery, surrounding the Qinglian River and the central area of ​​Wuzhai Fort, are patches of fields and farms, growing various crops.At the foot of Qinglian Mountain, there are patches of vegetable fields and orchards.There are also sheds and livestock pens for raising livestock in Qinglian Mountain.

Looking from the sky, at this time, the farms are full of people who are busy like ants, and the fields are full of endless waves of golden wheat ears, which is pleasing to the eye and extremely beautiful.Compared with last year, these ears of wheat are fuller and more beautiful in color. It must be another bumper harvest year this year.

According to estimates by Huang Laifu and others, among the original 10 old farms in Wuzhaibao, the grain yield per mu can reach as much as three stones.Even the new 20 farms can produce up to two stones of grain per mu, so after the harvest in autumn, the grain production of Wuzhaibao this year will be a sensation in the Ming Dynasty again.

These crops grow so well, which is inseparable from the extensive use of various fertilizers by the farms in Wuzhaibao.Among these fertilizers, there are traditional human and animal manure, stinky mud and fallen leaves and rotted grasses, various cake residues and hemp residues produced by various workshops in Wuzhaibao, and newly developed earth-made nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers, etc.
With the use of a large amount of fertilizers, effective insecticide, and large-scale and good irrigation and water conservancy, even if the year is not good this year, the crops in Wuzhaibao are still growing very well, forming a pattern with the agricultural depression in surrounding areas. sharp contrast.This also attracted countless people from other places to visit Wuzhai Fort. In the farthest place, officials from Henan even came to Wuzhai Fort to learn Buddhist scriptures.

At present, Wuzhai Fort has opened several workshops, specializing in the production of various field fertilizers, as well as pesticides and insecticides made of lime and sulfur. In addition to meeting Wuzhai Fort's own needs, it is also very popular in various places. , Many landowners, farmers, and officials from other counties and counties came to buy one after another.

Fertilizers and pesticides have become another agricultural export weapon of Wuzhaibao besides waterwheels.

Of course, the changes that Wuzhai Fort brought to other places are not only the same. Last year, after the various waterwheels in Wuzhai Fort were vigorously promoted by the Ministry of Industry of the Ming Dynasty, there were also big landlords in some northern states, and some The self-cultivators gritted their teeth and used some Wuzhai Fort waterwheels, which somewhat increased food production and reduced the scale of exodus from various places. This also made the reputation of Wuzhai Fort and Huang Laifu spread throughout Daming.

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Surrounding the banks of the Qinglian River and the field scenery in the central area of ​​Wuzhaibao, the endless golden ears of wheat are pleasing to the eye. It makes people feel happy when they see it.

The vegetable garden in Wuzhaibao is full of various vegetables in the vegetable fields surrounded by fences. The gardeners with their sleeves and trousers rolled up are busy carrying water and watering vegetables. Under their pressure, Huang Laifu pressed the machine well with his hand, and clear water flowed out "squeaky", watering the vegetable fields.

Around the large vegetable garden, there are some thatched cottages built along the mountains and ponds.These thatched cottages, apart from some resting places for the gardeners who belonged to the vegetable garden, there are also some thatched cottages, which were built by some literati with Fengya.

Wuzhai Fort has developed to the present, not necessarily the surrounding households and merchants, but also some literati, who are also attracted here.Now the farms and workshops in Wuzhaibao are developing very fast, requiring a large number of accountants and the like. These positions require literate people, and the salary is good. Naturally, it has a great impact on some poor literati around Appeal.

The turning point was at the beginning of the fifth year of this year. With the increasing popularity of Wuzhai Fort, some literati would come to Wuzhai Fort from time to time every month to make a living. Opened on a hill not far from the big vegetable garden, it attracted many scholars to apply for the job.

These literati, after eating, the sourness also came up, and they wanted to pursue some spiritual enjoyment.And the idyllic scenery, singing the wind and enjoying the moon, is naturally their favorite mood.

The Wuzhaibao Vegetable Garden area is an ideal place for many literati. There are many ponds here, and some elms, mulberry trees, and willows are planted beside the ponds.Beside the various ponds, there are vegetable fields surrounded by fences and creepers. Various vegetables are grown in the vegetable fields, plus some busy vegetable farmers with their trousers rolled up, the idyllic scenery often makes people These literati are very poetic, and often invite their friends to come here to recite poems.

Finally, there are even some literati who built some thatched cottages in this area, and come here for gatherings every few days.

"This is a shabby room, but my virtue is sweet. The moss marks are green on the steps, and the grass is green in the curtain. There are great scholars in talking and laughing, and there are no white people in communication. You can tune the plain qin and read the golden scriptures. There are no messy ears of silk and bamboo, and no hard work of copybooks. ..."

"Okay, Liu Binke's article should make a lot of sense."

A thatched hut, in front of the house is a big locust tree, under the tree there is a small table, several people are drinking at the table, making a lot of noise.The location of this thatched cottage is very good. In front of the house is a large pond with lush trees beside it. Looking ahead, there are patches of vegetable fields not far away. The vegetable fields are full of busy water-carrying vegetable farmers in twos and threes.Looking to the left, there is an orchard not far away. If you need to eat fresh fruit, you can go to the orchard to buy it within a short walk.

Looking to the right, there is a large farm field not far away, and the field is full of golden yellow wheat waves.Looking further back, you can see the clear mountain shadow of Qinglian Mountain, red and green, very beautiful.

"The land of Taoyuan is nothing more than this. It's beautiful, I wish the elders are here!" A middle-aged man in his 40s, wearing a square scarf, wearing a cloth shirt, and wrinkled face, after drinking a glass of wine, looked Looking at the scenery ahead, he shook his head and sighed in satisfaction.

Another literati in his thirties said with a smile: "It is true that the agriculture in various parts of the Ming Dynasty is in depression. I did not expect that the bitter cold military fortress in northern Shanxi is such a rich and elegant place. I will keep accounts and write poems in my spare time." , life is worry-free, wife and children are safe and secure. Thinking about how depressed I was when I came here a few months ago, thinking about it now makes me laugh."

The literati in his 40s is called Zhang Chengde, and the literati in his thirties is called Yang Dongping. They are good friends.

Yang Dongping was originally from Kelan Prefecture. After being a scholar at the age of 22, he felt that the imperial examination was hopeless, so he started to make a living. But these scholars, who are not diligent in four bodies and can't distinguish five grains, how can they find a good job?In the end, when he was 25 years old, a friend asked him to work as a tutor for schoolchildren, three buckets of rice per month, plus three qians for vegetables, for a meager salary.

There are several people in his family, and they usually rely on his wife and mother to make some female celebrities. After Yang Dongping found a job, he remembered that his family was often hungry, so he tried to save as much as possible. One penny for firewood and one penny for vegetable money for three days. In addition to teaching, he also copied for others day and night.

But even so, not long after, even the job of tutoring schoolchildren was lost. Seeing the child crying from hunger, Yang Dongping was at a loss when he heard about Wuzhai Fort, so he made an appointment with the same class as him. The down-and-out friend Zhang Chengde came to Wuzhai Fort together to make a living.

Wuzhai Fort was in a prosperous period and needed a lot of talents. Both of them easily got the post of accountant in Wuzhai Fort, and they were highly valued.For him, the current life is very satisfying.Seeing that Wuzhai Fort is becoming more and more prosperous, Yang Dongping has a plan in mind, and wants to bring his parents, wife and children to Wuzhai Fort.

After hearing what the two said, the rest of the literati also nodded one after another. They are all literati from the surrounding Kelan Prefecture, Baode Prefecture, and Ningwuguan.Many of these people had no hope of taking the imperial examination and had no means of making a living in the local area. They heard that Wuzhaibao needed a lot of scholars, so they came here with the mood of giving it a try.

When they came to Wuzhaibao, they generally still had a feeling of exile, but now, everyone is in a happy mood.They fell in love with Wuzhai Fort.The same interest also brought these people together and jointly invested in the construction of this thatched cottage.When I am free, I call friends here to chat.

But another person said: "It's just that I will be a scholar and keep accounts all day long. I always fail the teachings of the sages. I heard that in a few days, Wuzhaibao University will be established. Teaching and educating people and enlightening the people are the ones we are waiting for." Righteous work..."

(End of this chapter)