Chapter 150
Since Xing Changfeng, Yao Chunnuan, and the others had decided to meet with Marshal Zhu to discuss dealing with the Diluo tribe, they departed once the main lines of communication in Huining were straightened out. Xu Chong and several former shogunate members brought by Yao Chunnuan remained, forming the new leadership team of Huining with Xu Chong.
When the general and his men left, they also took with them the 6,000 soldiers originally intended for Huining's defense, and left 6,000 Xing family soldiers with Xu Chong, effectively replacing them. This way, both sides' forces remained intact, while ensuring Huining would be safe from any accidents, giving Xing Changfeng, Yao Chunnuan, and the others greater peace of mind.
Now was the beginning of the battle, the Yichun camp and Di Luo were fighting fiercely, and Marshal Zhu was guarding the city gate, so it was impossible for him to leave Jiayin County at this time. Therefore, they needed to go to see Marshal Zhu in person.
The situation was such that they needed to go, so they went. There was nothing to say. But a gentleman should not build a dangerous wall; he should always be on guard against others. So they decided to split up. Yao Chunnuan led 5,000 troops to meet Marshal Zhu, while Xing Changfeng led 30,000 troops to station in the Red Star District. And how could they advance deep into the Yichun camp without some additional preparations?
Marshal Zhu received the message from Yao Chunnuan saying that she was coming to discuss with him how to jointly resist the Northern Di tribe. He snorted and agreed.
Yao Chunnuan and the others arrived very quickly. They arrived just after the Yichun camp had once again withstood the enemy's siege.
When Yao Chunnuan heard that the offensive and defensive battle between the two sides had just ended, she insisted on going to meet Marshal Zhu. The people who received them had no choice but to take them to the city gate.
As soon as Marshal Zhu came down from the city wall, he discovered that Yao Chunnuan had brought Meng Yi, Zhou Yushu, and five thousand soldiers with him this time.
Marshal Zhu looked at the woman in front of him steadily and said, "You are so brave." Aren't you afraid that he might become malicious and leave her and her five thousand soldiers here?
Yao Chunnuan smiled but said nothing. Even though she only had five thousand soldiers and horses with her this time—two thousand cavalry and three thousand infantry—these five thousand men were all skilled warriors, working in perfect harmony. They could be considered the elite of the Xing family's army. If a fight truly broke out between the two armies, these five thousand would be more than enough to protect them until they could rejoin Hou Ming's thirty thousand troops.
At this time, the soldiers were cleaning up the battlefield. Some Diluo soldiers rushed to the top of the city wall and were killed immediately. However, the soldiers were all defending at that time, and the bodies were only moved to the side. There was no time to deal with them. There might still be Diluo people who were not dead yet and needed to be killed.
At the foot of the city wall, some men would also go down to deal with the bodies of both sides. The first step was to separate the Diluo from their own people. Their soldiers would also check for survivors. If any were still alive and only seriously injured, they would be quickly transported back to the city for treatment. As for the Diluo bodies, they would be gathered together and burned. They knew that if so much blood and corpses were not handled, the decay would attract flies and mosquitoes, and could even cause plague.
Yao Chunnuan watched how they handled the situation and nodded.
As the soldiers were about to finish off the surviving Beidi soldiers, Yao Chunnuan quickly said, "Wait, Marshal Zhu, can you please not kill those injured Beidi soldiers yet?"
"how?"
"These Beidi soldiers are still alive. It would be a shame to kill them. Why don't you give them to us?"
"What do you want these Northern Di people for?" To be honest, Marshal Zhu had no good feelings towards the Northern Di people who went south to invade Yichun every year.
"Be a slave!" Yao Chunnuan said righteously.
Marshal Zhu: "No, you in Xinyichun are so stingy with manpower?" He didn't know the exact number of settlers in the Yichun military settlement, but it was definitely tens of thousands. With so many people working, you still need slaves?
At this time, Shi Mei also interjected, "Yes, Yao Gongcao, I heard that your Yichun military camp already has more than 10,000 Northern Di slaves. Isn't that enough?"
Yao Chunnuan sighed, "How can that be enough? Even another ten thousand or twenty thousand wouldn't be enough. As for slaves, the more the better. For example, it would be great to let these captives do heavy work like clearing land, digging rivers, clearing silt, and mining. Once those jobs are done, we can even have them go up the mountain to quarry stones and build roads."
Hearing this, Marshal Zhu and Shi Mei looked at each other, and the same thought emerged in their minds, that is, these Northern Di captives were too miserable.
Seeing the two men's expressions were not right, Yao Chunnuan hurriedly said, "Marshal, don't pity these invaders! I am also giving them a chance to atone for the evil deeds they have committed. After atonement, they will be able to be reborn as good people in their next lives and avoid the animal realm. They will be grateful to me."
Marshal Zhu: ...Just keep trying to deceive me. You're such a liar.
However, after listening to Yao Chunnuan's words, Marshal Zhu fell silent. These works of digging canals and building roads were all corvee labor for the common people. Lei Peng had been the prefect of Yichun for seven or eight years, and he never spared the people's labor.
Before he could sigh, he heard Yao Chunnuan speaking again.
She said, "Besides, we have a large family and a large business in Xinyichun. Whether it's planting or breeding, we need a lot of manpower. Oh, and the various workshops also need a lot of manpower. Of course, we dare not give these delicate work to these Beidi slaves, but they can do the dirty and tiring work, freeing up our settlers and ordinary people to do the delicate work."
Marshal Zhu's face darkened. Are you here to covet him? Get lost! "Alright, stop nagging me. If you want those living Beidi people, take them! Consider it a favor for the craftsmen you sent to help us earlier."
"Thank you very much, Marshal Zhu."
The generals led by Yao Chunnuan came forward to check and said, "Master Gongcao, these Diluo people are injured, some of them are seriously injured, and it is not certain whether they can survive."
"Don't think too much about this. Imprison them first. Don't waste doctors and medicine treating their wounds. Give them clean food and water every day. As many as survive, as many as you can." Yao Chunnuan's words were cold, but they were indeed her thoughts. Treating these invaders was impossible. Giving them clean food and water was the limit she could give them. If they survived, they would become slaves. If they couldn't, they would die.
Yao Chunnuan thought for a moment and then instructed, "Also, if any of the surviving Diluo people are too ferocious, tell the guards to be free and whip or beat them if necessary. If they are truly vicious, it's okay to kill them."
The general nodded, indicating that he understood. It didn't matter if Master Cao didn't explain. Those of them who were originally from the military settlement knew her attitude towards the Northern Di captives. In a word, your Northern Di captives are not as valuable as our settlers!
Hiss, so cruel!
Marshal Zhu and Shi Mei, listening nearby, had only one thought in mind. Furthermore, Yao Chunnuan's instructions clearly showed that he valued the lives of the guards far more than those of the Di Luo people. They didn't know what others thought, but if they were the guards, their first thought would be heartbreaking. Tsk, what a powerful way to win people over.
At this time, it was already dinner time, and the soldiers in the Yichun camp, including Marshal Zhu, were tired after a day of work.
Now was not the right time to discuss matters, so Marshal Zhu waved his hand and said, "It's rare for you to come to our Yichun camp as guests. Come on, I'll treat you to a meal!"
As they spoke, they headed towards the Marshal's tent. By this time, some of the soldiers had already had dinner.
They happened to pass by a place where food was being distributed. Yao Chunnuan couldn't help but stop and watch, but the more she looked, the more her brows furrowed. Each soldier was holding two fist-sized steamed buns, a bowl of thin multi-grain porridge and a spoonful of vegetables boiled in water without a single greasy smell!
"Marshal Zhu, is this what you feed your soldiers?"
Marshal Zhu also stopped and asked, "What's the matter? Haven't we always eaten like this?" These are enough to fill you up.
He knew that the food was a bit poor during the war. But he had no choice. The court did not provide any food and the original military settlements were robbed by them. What else could he do if he didn't save money?
Yao Chunnuan was so angry that he almost laughed. Even though they'd robbed the military settlement, they'd also given him a one-third share of the highest harvest in previous years. It was as if he could take the entire harvest every year! After deducting the expenses of the settlers, he'd only taken about a third of the harvest in previous years, right? After all, the ratio of soldiers to settlers was three to seven, and the expenses of the settlers were a significant expense. Later, he'd picked out half of the best soldiers from the settlers, and since he had more people to support, wouldn't he have to work harder?
"No, Marshal Zhu, didn't you just take away 440,000 dan of grain from the Yichun military settlement? Can you at least give the soldiers something good to eat?"
Marshal Zhu's face changed, thinking she was deliberately saying this to sow discord. Marshal Zhu got angry and said, "Then tell me, what do you feed your soldiers?"
The two men spoke loudly, causing the soldiers who were eating near the Yichun camp to look at them.
Yao Chunnuan was not afraid of his anger, and a thought flashed through her mind, and she decided to talk to Marshal Zhu about the food in their army, "Then listen carefully, the soldiers on our side eat mainly brown rice, coarse flour steamed buns, and multi-grain cakes every day. They are fed as long as they are full, and if they don't have enough, they can eat as much as they can, but no waste is allowed! Every day, the Yichun military station must slaughter eight pigs and sheep, and a number of chickens and ducks! There is soup at every meal, sometimes it is seaweed egg drop soup, and sometimes it is other vegetable soup. It depends on the mood of the kitchen chef. He can make whatever he wants." Although these soups are a bit fake and certainly not as solid as those made at home, the soldiers' response is still very enthusiastic.
The Yichun military settlement, with over 100,000 soldiers, actually slaughtered eight pigs and sheep every day, three of which were reserved for the settlers, and five were distributed to the soldiers' mess. These pigs, sheep, chickens, and ducks might seem like a lot, but when divided among each soldier, they only managed to get a small amount of oil and meat.
This is still the result of living within one's means. There is no other way. The current productivity is still not enough. Producing this number of pigs and sheep every day is already the limit of military settlements.
Previously, Yichun's military settlements encouraged planting, and as for livestock, each household was also encouraged to raise its own livestock. Today, the settlements boast several pig farms, cattle farms, sheep farms, and even chicken farms! Zhou Yushu's favorite is the latter. However, he prefers to keep a private hilltop and raise some of his own livestock.
Yichun is rich in wetland resources and has many lakes and water bodies. The military settlements are close to rivers and lakes, making duck farming very affordable. Therefore, the Yichun military settlements often produce a large number of ducks and duck eggs.
The key point is that the pigs raised in the military settlements are all fanned, so they grow fast. In addition, there is a lot of green fodder in the military settlements in spring and summer, and they are willing to feed them. Every pig grows very fat and strong. After raising them for half a year, they weigh more than 100 kilograms, and the meat is of good quality.
When the pigs from their military settlement were sold, they immediately surpassed beef and mutton to become the most popular meat in the settlement.
Ahem, Yao Chunnuan herself has a strong palate, so she eats pig offal. Stir-fried pork liver and kidney, pig lung soup with green olives, braised pork intestines with soy sauce, lean pork and rice noodle soup, and pig stomach and chicken—these dishes, after being recreated by Luo Suyi through her own words, have become beloved by everyone who's tried them, just like she has. Thanks to her influence, the price of pig offal in their military settlement has never dropped.
The young soldiers looked at Zhu Dashuai and Yao Chunnuan eagerly, wondering, "Are the soldiers' meals in the Yichun military settlement really that good? When will their meals ever be this good?"
Marshal Zhu felt bitter and angry at the same time. The soldiers of the Xing family army could eat so well because he and Lei Peng had contributed a treasure trove of their own! Now she was showing off in front of him?
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