Chapter 176
In Yichun, everyone from top to bottom had a good New Year.
In contrast, Gan Huacheng had a rather unhappy year. The reason for this unhappiness was not only because of his own bad year, but also because of the complaints from his soldiers.
During the Chinese New Year, the soldiers all look forward to having something good to eat.
However, the imperial court was also facing financial difficulties. This time, at the Crown Prince's instruction, they were given food and fodder, and as much charcoal and fire as possible. As for rewarding the troops, forget it.
The soldiers under him were still dissatisfied. People dread comparison the most. They couldn't even get a single serving of meat during the Lunar New Year. Meanwhile, in Yichun, several pigs were slaughtered daily. Early each morning, the soldiers could still vaguely hear the repeated squeals of the pigs being slaughtered.
Furthermore, they had heard that the soldiers in Yichun, from top to bottom, had all been issued winter coats. Every soldier had a sweater, and it was said that after putting it on and then wearing a military coat, they wouldn't feel cold even in the cold wind.
I heard that if you sell that sweater, you can get four or five taels of silver. Not to mention, they also give out other benefits during the New Year.
What about them? Not even a single hair on them, let alone a sweater.
Many of their soldiers had been drafted from other areas to suppress the rebellion and were not accustomed to the cold weather in Suihua. During this period, especially with heavy snow and extremely cold weather, many thinly dressed soldiers fell ill from the cold every day. During the coldest period, soldiers even froze to death every night, and the bodies were carried out and buried every morning.
The soldiers under him were complaining, and the morale of the entire military camp was very low.
Some of the soldiers under him even thought that it would be better to be defeated quickly, surrender, and serve as soldiers in Yichun!
Some people kept the words in their hearts, while others spoke out without hesitation. When Gan Huacheng found out, he killed several people on the spot, which shocked the army and stabilized the morale.
The soldiers who had such ideas dared only keep their thoughts in their stomachs and not express them.
Despite killing someone, Gan Huacheng still felt suffocated and hated Xing Changfeng and others so much that he wanted to rush in and kill them regardless of the consequences.
At this time, someone reported the situation in Hui'an Town to Gan Huacheng. In Hui'an Town, someone was repairing the kang.
He was furious after hearing this and ordered the men responsible for repairing the kang to be arrested and questioned. The men he sent came to Hui'an Town in a rage and immediately arrested the young men in charge of repairing the kang without any regard for their lives.
When Shi Guangzhu and the other three elders heard the news and rushed over, they only saw Ruan Shen, Hu Jun and others being dragged away.
Among them, Ruan Shen and Hu Jun were the two young men who were sent to Hui'an Town to learn the technology of making kangs from Yichun craftsmen.
Shi Guangzhu tapped the ground fiercely with his cane. "Who was that bastard who told General Gan about this? Isn't it true that everyone benefits from having a fire kang?"
You should know that during this period, they never refused anyone who needed help, either providing guidance or charging a basic fee to build a kang for them. The guidance was free, but if Ah Shen and his team needed help with the kang, they would charge a small fee. After all, building a kang is hard work, and the craftsmen who help need to eat, right?
The others were also very angry and echoed the sentiment.
"Yes, curse this man to have a son without an asshole!"
"I curse that all the elderly and children in his family will freeze to death in the future, and he himself will also freeze to death in the cold winter!"
What Shi Guangzhu didn't expect was that their misfortune in Hui'an Town was far more than that.
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In Yichun, Yao Chunnuan has begun work on the road. Construction is planned to begin after the spring, but preparations can begin now. Early preparations include surveying and repairing the road's geology, clearing brush, and more.
The geological survey masters she had recruited earlier came in handy now. The master in charge of the survey was named Fu Hongzhou.
The new cement road is built along the official road. Some sections will be designed more reasonably, and the width is expected to be three times the width of the official road.
This width was decided by Yao Chunnuan alone.
The master roadbuilder had previously suggested building a road twice as wide as the official road. Others suggested widening the existing road and then doubling its width. This would save costs and manpower. They felt that building another cement road this wide next to the official road was a waste.
But Yao Chunnuan refused to accept their advice, insisting on her own ideas. Roads are the arteries of the economy, and the old official road will serve as a backup. They think the cement road is wide enough now, but once development truly takes hold, they'll find that even two roads of this width might not be enough.
Three routes are currently planned.
A new line was built in Yichun, starting from Jiayin County in the north and extending southward to the main city of Yichun, and then to Tieli County in the southernmost part. This line will connect as many counties and towns in Yichun as possible.
Two cement roads were built to Songhuafu and Huining, extending from Yichun City as the central core. Furthermore, the cement roads must be located near garrisons in various locations so that troops can be dispatched quickly in the event of a war.
Under Yao Chunnuan's order, roads in Yichun were to be built first, followed by Huining, because to the south of Huining lay Houcheng, the area that would later become Liaoning. The imperial court had stationed a large number of troops there. Sooner or later, Yichun would have to resort to military action against Houcheng.
Once they had taken Suihua and Houcheng, plus the Jiachuan area taken with the help of the Gaoshan people, their Yichun power would have been equivalent to occupying the entire Youzhou and extending a little into Bingzhou. Adding the northern border garrisoned by the Huo family army in the Liangzhou area, they would have divided up one-seventh of the nine provinces in the world.
After the road construction task was assigned, the Yichun military settlements brought out the Northern Di captives to work. They also dispatched an army, outnumbering the captives one to one. This was primarily because the captives needed to be accompanied by soldiers to prevent riots. The army even included several skilled archers. Half of the troops typically guarded the captives, while the other half worked, taking turns.
With more than 30,000 people, they can work very quickly.
Later, local residents heard that they were preparing for road construction, so they volunteered to help, carrying hoes or sickles. This was the road Lord Yao was planning to build, and it was so wide! Although they didn't know what such a wide road would accomplish, they supported the City Lord's Mansion and Lord Yao's decision. Besides, once the road was built, they could still walk on it.
After Yao Chunnuan learned about the people's behavior from his subordinates' reports, he specially ordered a batch of meat buns to be made. When the people returned home after work, he asked them to take two. It wasn't a large quantity, and it wasn't worth much, but it was just a token of his appreciation.
On the other hand, after Ruan Shen, Hu Jun and others were arrested and tortured, the two of them confessed the situation truthfully. There was nothing they couldn't say anyway.
However, Gan Huacheng was not satisfied with what Ruan Shen and Hu Jun had said, nor did he believe it. Moreover, the people of Hui'an Town's implicit defense of Yichun also made him furious.
Gan Huacheng simply ordered an investigation into the use of kangs in Hui'an Town. The investigation revealed that numerous households in the town had kangs. Kangs were unique to Yichun, but now every household in Hui'an Town had one. What did this mean?
Thinking of the secret letter in his hand, Gan Huacheng decided to return to Anzhen! So he ordered his generals to select 5,000 soldiers and horses to follow him to Hui'anzhen!
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Ever since Ruan Shen, Hu Jun and several other young men were arrested, the three township elders and several respected elders in Hui'an Town gathered together to discuss the matter.
Shi Guangzhu blamed himself and said, "It's all my fault. If I hadn't suggested going to Yichun to ask someone to repair this kang, this disaster would not have happened."
"You also feel sorry for us old guys and children. How can we blame you?" The kang is indeed a good thing, but they didn't expect Gan Huacheng to be so angry about the kang.
"It's come to this. There's no point blaming ourselves. Besides, we're not in the wrong. The main thing now is to figure out how to get General Gan to release the men."
"Rather than releasing them, I'm more worried about whether the situation will get worse," the oldest man said worriedly.
"Mr. Jiang, are you saying that General Gan will be angry with us because of this?"
"It's not impossible." Old Jiang's wrinkled face was filled with sorrow and relief.
After these words were spoken, everyone felt even more depressed.
"Then what should we do?" someone asked softly.
"Be prepared for both situations. I hope I'm overthinking it." Old Jiang waved his hand and said.
"Mr. Jiang, you say it, and we'll do it."
"First, I'll go see General Gan and explain things to him. Second, if General Gan really takes his anger out on us and returns to Anzhen, we'll have no choice but to ask Yichun for help."
Just as Jiang Lao finished speaking, someone outside shouted, "Oh no! General Gan is coming with his army!"
The people in the room changed their expressions drastically.
"Make preparations for the second case." Old Jiang took a deep breath and said.
Shi Guangzhu immediately rushed to the next room and pulled his nephew up. "Dajun, go hide in Miling. If things don't go well, go to Yichun for help! Go quickly, or it will be too late!"
Ma Dajun didn't have time to say anything before his uncle pushed him out the back door. He wiped his face, figured out the direction, and ran in a certain direction.
Gan Huacheng sat on his horse and said condescendingly, "Come here, surround Hui'an Town. If anyone inside disobeys, kill them without mercy!"
"General Gan, why is this happening?" Shi Guangzhu supported Old Jiang as he walked forward, and the old man asked tremblingly.
"Why? You're colluding with the Yichun rebels in Hui'an Town, and you're still asking why?"
"It's unfair, General Gan..."
"When you go back to your town, every household has a kang. Am I wronging you?"
Gan Huacheng was seething with rage. He looked coldly at the people of Hui'an Town, as if they were traitors. Were they not traitors? He had led his troops to quell the rebellion, but these people not only refused to support his army, but were secretly colluding with the Yichun forces! This was intolerable.
Gan Huacheng wouldn't listen. He was determined to make an example of someone and put an end to this trend of surrendering the city. He refused to admit collusion with Yichun, right? So, kill him!
Gan Huacheng's gaze made Shi Guangzhu and others feel uneasy.
…
Ma Dajun ran and ran without stopping. He was afraid that if he stopped to catch his breath, he would miss something important.
He didn't know how long he ran, his face turned pale, and finally he saw the towering city gate of Yichun City.
"Sir, I'm from Hui'an Town. My name is Ma Dajun. Quick, take me to see your Lord Yao. I have something to report."
"Please, hurry up, it will be too late if you delay any longer."
Ma Dajun was in a dishevel and almost cried while speaking.
"What do you want? Lord Yao is not someone that anyone below you can see whenever they want."
Ma Dajun didn't waste any words and said directly, "Gan Huacheng led his troops to surround our Hui'an Town. I want to report to her and ask her to save the people in our town."
In the eyes of the people of Hui'an Town, Lord Yao was a good official. He didn't blame her for the town's misfortune, only Gan Huacheng's ruthlessness. It was Shi Guangzhu and the other village elders who had come to ask for help, and Lord Yao had shown them mercy, which was a good thing. But because of Gan Huacheng, a good thing turned into a bad thing. He hated him, hated him so much!
The soldiers guarding the gate looked at each other and quickly called out to their masters.
When the city guard heard this, he was shocked and quickly took Ma Dajun to the city lord's mansion.
As soon as Ma Dajun saw Yao Chunnuan, he knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly, saying, "Master Yao, Gan Huacheng has led his troops to surround our Hui'an Town. I beg you to save us and allow us to return to our town."
Hearing this, Yao Chunnuan stood up suddenly. What? Ganhua City surrounded Hui'an Town? Is he crazy? She immediately signaled her subordinates to go and fetch the general.
"You get up first. Don't worry, we will definitely find a way to rescue the people in Hui'an Town." Yao Chunnuan stepped forward to help Ma Dajun up, and then asked about the whole story.
After hearing what happened, Yao Chunnuan felt heavy in her heart. It was she who approved Hui'an Town to send people to learn how to make kangs. If something really happened to Hui'an Town because of this, she would feel very sad.
Just then, Xing Changfeng came striding over.
"General—"
"I know everything." Xing Changfeng signaled her not to say more, "I will lead the troops to attack Suihua immediately!"
Ma Dajun immediately said, "General Xing, Lord Yao, I know a small road that can go directly from Yichun to Hui'an Town without going through the Suihua city gate. Please, save the people first."
When everyone heard this, they were stunned at first. In this case, wouldn’t they be able to directly enter the heart of Suihua?
It was the general who reacted quickly. "You lead the way later! I will arrange for Zhu Junlan to send troops immediately." Zhu Junlan was the general of the 1st Cavalry Battalion and a veteran.
"Okay, okay." Ma Dajun nodded repeatedly.
They had no idea there would be such an unexpected reward. All we can say is that good is rewarded with good, and evil with evil.
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