Chapter 107
On this day, the private school in Yichun Juntun was established, and it was also the day for students to register.
The top brass of the military settlements have all arrived. After all, education is the foundation of a long-term plan. Educating children and nurturing the next generation of talent is better done sooner rather than later. Now, the military settlements have the necessary conditions, don't they?
The private school was as big as a primary school in later generations. In fact, it was still a bit small compared to a military settlement of 100,000 people, but open space had been reserved and it could be expanded at any time later.
The private school had ten classrooms, teaching only literacy and some mathematics. There were no senior students, so they only invited ten scholars of some reputation in Yichun to teach the students in turns.
It's called a private school, but in reality, it's little more than a literacy class. Nearly 90% of the people in the military settlement are illiterate, and with such a strong parenting culture, even fewer children are literate. So, after discussing it with others, Yao Chunnuan and Yu Chen decided to offer only two subjects for now, expanding them over time depending on the situation. Everything is difficult at the beginning, but we have to tackle it step by step.
The general came on stage, spoke a few words, and then left. As he left, the higher-ups in the military settlement also left one after another. After all, everyone was busy with work. Yao Chunnuan stayed because she had to register her two nephews.
Villagers who wanted to send their children to school came one after another, holding their children's hands. People who knew each other greeted each other and then gathered together to chat.
"You also send your children to private school?"
"Well, it's good to learn some words instead of being blind."
"Yes, it's good to know a little bit of writing. Anyway, only work points will be deducted, and no money will be charged."
"I never thought that after we came to the military settlement, our children would be able to go to school."
Everyone who was talking smiled.
"Yeah, it's just that the work points deducted are a bit too much." Five hundred work points were deducted at once, which was heartbreaking. It would take a couple of able-bodied people two or three months of work to accumulate that many work points.
"It's just work points anyway. Just earn more. Be diligent and you'll eventually earn more. But in the past, the maintenance fee for the beam would cost several taels of silver a year. Farmers couldn't save much money throughout the year, so how could they afford it?"
"Yes, yes, we never dared to think about letting our children go to school before. That was a privilege only given to the children of the village chief."
During the time they were paying their tuition, they all sighed with admiration. They truly felt that the military settlements were great, because after arriving there, many of them had found a better life.
Yao Chunnuan and Qi Yingshan were queuing one after the other. They both brought their nephews and nieces to register, and they were talking in low voices.
Qi Shijia was being led by his uncle, feeling a little shy. He would look up at Yao Chunnuan with curiosity from time to time. He had heard that Yao Zhubo would be his aunt in the future. His friends were all envious of him because his aunt was Yao Zhubo, and he was proud of it. But he wondered when Yao Zhubo would marry his uncle.
At this moment, Gui Qi rushed in, "Master Yao, horse! Horse! Horse!"
Yao Chunnuan was confused by his words, "What horse?"
Gui Qida took a deep breath before he could speak smoothly. "So many horses! The Gaoshan people sent us a lot of foals! They're over there in the stable, you should go and take a look."
Upon hearing this, Yao Chunnuan looked at Qi Yingshan.
He took her two nephews and niece over and said, "Go and take a look. Leave the children's registration to me." He knew she would definitely want to go and take a look.
Yao Chunnuan didn't hesitate, "Okay, thank you for your help."
"Go quickly."
*******
"Good horses, all good horses." Zhou Yushu touched this one and then that one, and couldn't let go of each one.
The general was also among them, and his performance was similar to Zhou Yushu, but he was more tolerant.
"This time, Uncle Pan went back and told us that your Yichun military settlement was of great help to our Gaoshan people. I heard that your military settlement was extremely short of horses, so we sent you three hundred foals. We Gaoshan people never let our friends suffer. These foals were carefully raised by our people. When they grow up, they will be very good war horses." The girl next to Brother Pan said proudly, holding a whip in her hand.
This was the scene Yao Chunnuan saw when she arrived at the stable.
"Thank you, these foals are exactly what we need." Butler Wu smiled kindly at the little girl.
Even if these handsome little creatures were offered a hundred taels each, there would be plenty of buyers in the Central Plains. Just ask Marshal Zhu if you don't believe me. War horses are very expensive these days, and the northern tribes have a tight blockade on Central Plains war horses, leaving them with no access to large-scale purchases. Even if someone were willing to sell, the horses they gave them would have been tampered with, making breeding a purebred pony extremely difficult.
Pan Xiaodi said, "Master Wu, you're welcome. Our tribe leader is very grateful for your hospitality and help last time. If possible, our Gaoshan tribe is willing to establish friendly relations with your military settlement and help each other in the future."
“We’d love to.”
Brother Pan was very happy to get this answer.
They sold the stolen goods from the Black Dragon Village on their way back, while buying food and some daily necessities along the way.
In order to sell the stolen goods quickly, they lowered the price by 10% to 20%. When they returned, they had sold all the stolen goods worth 140,000 to 150,000 yuan. Even so, they earned 110,000 to 120,000 yuan and bought a lot of supplies to take back to their tribe.
When they returned, the tribesmen were excited to see their harvest. Later, the tribe leader and elders learned that when they went out, they had attacked several strongholds along the way, suffered heavy losses, and had gained very little.
If they had not met the kind Yichun military settlement, which took them in for a day, provided them with food and drink, allowed them to have enough rest, and also gave them advice and took them out to play, they might have returned empty-handed.
After hearing this, the patriarch felt that this was not a good idea. How could he just accept gifts and help from others?
They brought back not only precious food and supplies, but also seeds and related planting techniques. They truly considered the Gaoshan people their friends, and as friends, they couldn't just take without giving back; that wasn't the long-term solution. So, the tribe unanimously decided to send 300 foals to the Yichun military settlement.
Yao Chunnuan arrived, and Pan Xiaodi introduced her to the girl next to her.
Only then did Yao Chunnuan realize that the arrogant little girl holding the horsewhip was the daughter of the Gaoshan tribe leader.
Pan Na looked at Yao Chunnuan with eyes full of admiration. "I've heard about your previous schemes of robbing each other of their own. I heard that most of them were your ideas. You're amazing."
Yao Chunnuan blinked and said mischievously, "It's just so-so, Juntun is third."
"Then who are the first and second?" Panna asked curiously.
Yao Chunnuan: ... "Guess?"
The Gaoshan people sent three hundred foals to the Yichun military settlement. The news was so loud that it could not be concealed. At least Marshal Zhu and Prefect Lei knew about it when the foals arrived in Yichun.
When Marshal Zhu heard about this, he was so envious that his eyes turned green. You know, he had 70,000 soldiers and horses, but the cavalry battalion only had more than 6,000 war horses. After deducting the old, weak, sick and disabled, he could only mobilize a cavalry battalion of 4,000 to 5,000.
As for the Yichun camp, when the Xing family army first came from the northern border, they brought more than 2,000 cavalrymen with them. Later, they seized nearly 3,000 horses from the northern Di. After they were trained, their cavalrymen suddenly rushed towards him.
Now the Gaoshan people have sent them another three hundred foals, and it is said that each one is very handsome.
Perhaps three hundred horses may not be a large number for either the Yichun camp or the Yichun military settlement, but the meaning is different. This represents the beginning of the transaction between them. This time it is only three hundred, but next time it may be five hundred, seven hundred, or one thousand!
Marshal Zhu walked back and forth, thinking about it, and finally decided to ask his trusted advisers. He would not be willing to give up if he didn't ask.
"Do you think the Gaoshan people would be willing to trade horses with us if we were willing to pay?"
Tong Zhen said tactfully, "This depends on whether the Yichun Military Village agrees or not?" It is obvious that the Yichun Military Village is ambitious. Maybe the horses that the Gaoshan people can provide are not enough for them to consume themselves, so how could they let you have a share?
Marshal Zhu asked again, "If we send someone to speak up, do you think the Yichun military settlement will agree to allow us and the Gaoshan people to purchase some horses?"
Shi Mei: Isn't this like snatching food from a tiger's mouth? I think you're just dreaming.
"General, we just brought back 440,000 dan of grain from the Yichun military camp." This time it was Shi Mei who spoke, and he gently reminded him. You just offended them severely, do you think they will let you go?
Marshal Zhu's breath was caught.
Tong Zhen glanced at his partner and thought that it was rare that he did not take the opportunity to add fuel to the fire.
It's not surprising that Shi Mei has the attitude he has now. Previously, for the sake of the Yichun camp and to suppress the rise of the Yichun military settlement, Shi Mei had gone through a lot of trouble. For the sake of Wei Qiuyu, he even sacrificed Zhou Yushu. Later, he ambushed the Xing family army returning from Beidi halfway, which made him look disgraced and depressed for a while.
Later, he stopped struggling, but Wang Lang did. His stamina was no less than his earlier struggles. But what was the outcome? Seeing Wang Lang's fate, he felt a pang of sympathy. With the Crown Prince as his backer and Prefect Lei as his father-in-law, even in Yichun, Wang Lang's home turf, Yao Chunnuan had taken them all away. Wouldn't it be easy for them to deal with him?
The rise of the Yichun military settlements was unstoppable. Even if he wanted to suppress them, what could he do? A coffin lid? Even his presence alone couldn't suppress them. The Marshal himself didn't want to fight. So he just let it go. Anyway, he'd be fine no matter what, so why bother working so hard only to end up with nothing?
Here, Yao Chunnuan and his group discussed with Pan's younger brother Pan Na and others and decided to make a unanimous statement to the outside world that these 300 foals were a transaction between the two parties, and not a gift from the Gaoshan people to the Yichun military settlement.
If the latter theory was true, it would be extremely irritating to Prefect Lei. He'd be puzzled. Why would the Gaoshan tribe just give away three hundred ponies worth tens of thousands of taels of silver? Could these three hundred ponies be a thank-you gift, a token of gratitude for the Yichun military settlement? What had the Yichun military settlement done to merit such a large reward? It would easily remind him of his previously stolen treasury and Wang Lang's earlier speculation.
Even so, Taishou Ren Lei was still half-believing and half-doubting.
Pan Xiaodi and Pan Na had absolutely no objections. Before they left, the clan leader and the others had already told them that as long as they got the foal safely to the Yichun military settlement, they didn't need to worry about how they handled it or what the public opinion was.
By describing these 300 foals as a trade, rather than a gift, the Gaoshan people appeared to be at a disadvantage. However, the Yichun military settlement had done so much preliminary work, and with the harvest approaching, they offered to let them pick the fruits without further comment. Furthermore, the narrative of a trade effectively concealed the fact that the Gaoshan people had become wealthy through robbery.
This statement is beneficial to both parties. Anyway, their friendship has been established and the flesh is no longer in the folds.
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