Chapter 60
Di Luo was in the midst of a transition between the old and the new, and had no time to travel south. The general had assembled four thousand elite troops and quietly infiltrated enemy territory, intending to exploit the situation. He was currently not in Yichun. Before departing, he had entrusted the Yichun camp to several capable subordinates, including Yao Chunnuan.
Xing Changfeng was well aware of the saying "every profession has its own specialty," so he was in charge of the campaigns, relying heavily on the shogunate for domestic affairs. Furthermore, the shogunate's handling of several major matters lived up to his trust. The military settlement's top brass unanimously agreed that Yao Chunnuan had a plan for building the settlement.
In fact, the construction of the military settlement was discussed between Yu Chen and her, while others checked for omissions and gave them some small suggestions.
Yao Chunnuan drew inspiration from later generations in the construction and institutionalization of military settlements. Laws and paths for advancement were essential. She invented the work point system, while merit points already existed within the military, serving as a means of recognizing merit; she simply quantified them. The connection between the two was one-way, a design she also devised.
Just because they were created didn't mean they were complete. She needed to make both valuable, at least within the military settlement, comparable to real gold and silver. Increasing the value of work points and merit points could only be achieved through the Exchange House. The Exchange House, in other words, was a shop. The items or merchandise in the Exchange House had to be diverse, with rare items or unique, one-of-a-kind pieces. To achieve this, she needed her own caravan, traveling extensively and reaching everywhere.
Building a good exchange building can enhance their sense of honor and belonging, which is beneficial to the construction of military settlements.
Some of the medicines in her old house, such as certain anti-inflammatory drugs and wound medicine, can be smuggled out as solitary items if necessary, such as when she needs to save someone. Unfortunately, there are not many medicines in it, so this matter needs to be carefully considered. Also, she doesn't know if the old house will change by then. Anyway, she has been taking calcium tablets these days. She always has cramps when she sleeps at night, and sometimes she can even feel her teeth loose. Occasionally, when she shakes them with her hands, she can feel them moving, which scares her. Anyway, for so long, she has used up her daily opportunity after taking folic acid and calcium tablets. She was also drunk and couldn't smuggle other things out of the old house.
So Yao Chunnuan was truly busy, with so much infrastructure to build. In fact, it wasn't just her; the entire shogunate was also kept busy. And so were the settlers. By the time the new barracks and the new military quarters were completed, it was almost the end of the Lunar New Year. At most, they could rest for a few days before the start of spring, which was when the military settlements became busy, as they had to start farming.
Spring is not far away now, and we have to discuss how to carry out spring plowing and what the regulations will be. These people must definitely be ahead of the people.
Yu Chen spoke first, "Our military settlement currently has approximately 1.1 million mu of farmland, and a total population of approximately 90,000. This includes 30,000 veterans eliminated from the Yichun camp, 20,000 former military dependents, 10,000 laborers from the northern region, and 30,000 new recruits."
Yao Chunnuan listened attentively. In other words, they had twelve mu of land per person. She had inspected the land, and it was quite fertile. She had also looked at data from previous years, and the yield per mu was very low, only two or three hundred kilograms. This refers to the harvest in a good year with good weather and good harvests. In the event of drought, flood, or natural disaster, the yield would be halved or even zero.
"I suggest that the land in our military settlements be divided into two parts: one part is public land, which accounts for about two-thirds of the total land, and the other part is private land, which can be rented out to the settlers for cultivation. In addition, we can stipulate that as settlers, we must provide 20 hours of labor per month. The rest of the time, we can work if we want to, and not if we don't."
"I think Mr. Yao's suggestion is very good. Because recently someone asked me if I could buy some land from the military farm." Guo Huai said.
"Do they still have money to buy land?" Zhu Yongnian asked with a strange look on his face.
"Don't underestimate people. Don't look at their rags; they might hold valuable treasures." Moreover, just because you don't have the money to buy land now doesn't mean you won't have it later. Buying land and property is a deep-seated passion of ordinary people, and now that many of them are about to receive their own houses, their eyes naturally turn to land.
"The land is the common property of the military settlements and will not be sold, but can be rented out for cultivation."
"That's why I think Yao Zhubo's suggestion is very good."
In Yao Chunnuan's mind, the ideal structure of the settlers' arable land is public fields, private fields, and newly reclaimed wasteland.
Countless experiences have proved that everyone has selfish desires, and eating from the same pot has no future and will reduce enthusiasm, so she created work points to restrain them and also built an exchange building to make them work more attentively on the public land.
But public land alone isn't enough. These military dependents, though settlers, aren't slaves. Forcing them to work every day will eventually lead to rebellion. So, shouldn't they be given regular vacations? But wouldn't that waste their time? So, give them some private land. With free time, they'll want to work for their own families. If they still have the energy, they can reclaim wasteland, which is encouraged in military settlements.
But Yao Chunnuan felt that this year's batch of military dependents wouldn't be very enthusiastic about reclaiming wasteland. With each person cultivating roughly 11 or 12 mu of land, whether public or private, they wouldn't have the energy to do much. Sure enough, they recruited fewer people.
Yu Chen came to his senses. Yao Chunnuan's actions were truly exploiting the villagers' labor to the maximum extent possible. If they wanted work points, they had to work hard. If they rented the land themselves and wanted food, what could they do? They could only squeeze in more work. She had a firm grasp on the villagers' psychology.
While they were discussing this, a soldier came to report, "Someone from the Yichun camp has arrived and wants to see the general."
Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. Why did he come to the door just like that? "What did you say?"
"He said he was here to clarify the matter regarding the general's promise to give 30% of the total output of the general's settlement to the Yichun camp."
"Is Marshal Zhu here?"
"Marshal Zhu didn't come, but his top confidant Shi Mei did."
Yao Chunnuan and Yu Chen exchanged a glance. This way, the general wouldn't have to show up. That was great. If Marshal Zhu arrived in person and their general didn't show up, it would seem like they were being disrespectful. Furthermore, the general's absence would be exposed.
There were four or five people from the other side, two of whom looked familiar. They had dealt with each other before. One was Zhou Yushu, a young chicken farmer, and the other was Shi Mei, a trusted adviser to Marshal Zhu.
As soon as they entered, one of the bearded men, upon seeing Yao Chunnuan among them, burst into laughter. "I've heard for a long time that women in your military settlements are half the boss of the household. Haha, it seems to be true. Are all the capable men in your military settlements dead? Let a woman, and a pregnant one at that, ride on your heads."
Guo Huai and others glared at him. This man's mouth was really stinky.
As he threw his head back and laughed, Axia, who was beside Yao Chunnuan, took a big step towards him, lifted him up, threw him to the ground, and then stepped on his chest.
The bearded man's laughter stopped abruptly, and a muffled groan followed.
Fortunately, there was a carpet on the ground, and Axia only used 20% of the force. Even so, the bearded man was thrown down and grimaced, gasping for breath.
Yao Chunnuan asked him indifferently, "Are all the capable men in your Yichun camp dead? How can a useless man like you who can't even withstand a woman's attack become a general?"
Chai Xiao said nothing.
The members of the Yichun camp twitched their lips. They wanted to retaliate in their own way, but they, the Yichun camp, could not blame the other side. It was Chai Xiao who offended them with words first, and now he was just slapped in the face.
The members of the shogunate looked at Chai Xiao who was being stepped on the ground with sympathy and called him a foul-mouthed person. Why did you do that? Your Marshal Zhu suffered a great loss at her hands, and you still dare to provoke her?
Then, they looked at Axia. No one in the shogunate had expected Yao Zhubo's new guard to be so strong. At first, they had simply assumed she was larger and a bit stronger than average. Now, seeing her subdue a general with a single blow, they all looked behind her with envy.
Shi Mei didn't even glance at Chai Xiao lying on the ground. She came out to smooth things over. "Yu Changshi, Yao Zhubo, General Zhu doesn't have any major problems except for his foul mouth. He's learned his lesson now. Please be magnanimous and let him get up first."
What he said was quite pleasing to the ear, so Yao Chunnuan nodded to Axia.
"Don't scold my master, or I will beat you." Before withdrawing his feet, Axia showed his fist as a threat.
Chai Xiao's face darkened instantly.
Shi Mei smiled and said, "Master Yao, your female guard is really big and strong. She lifted Chai Xiao up and threw him to the ground with just one move. She is really as capable as a man."
"Asha is indeed very strong. Come to think of it, Asha almost became your subordinate."
Shi Mei was stunned. "What do you mean?"
"Axia just came to me two days ago. Before that, she went to the recruitment office of the Yichun camp to apply for military service, but was rejected by your people."
Everyone in the Yichun camp: ..., this hurts! In their hearts, they were roaring, who on earth was so blind to reject this person? Was their eyes covered with shit?
Shi Mei couldn't help but twitch her lips. How could such a talent who could fight ten people alone be let go? What could she say at this moment? She could only laugh, "I didn't expect there was such a connection, haha. Maybe our Yichun Camp and Axia are not destined to be together enough."
Ah Xia nodded in agreement. She felt that she and her master had a perfect connection. As soon as they met, Master Yao invited her to dinner. He really touched her heart and was very straightforward. At that time, she thought, it would be great if she was her master.
Yao Chunnuan made a small jab at the people in the Yichun camp, but when she saw that Shi Mei, the person in charge, handled the matter appropriately, she let the matter go and looked at Yu Chen.
Yu Chen understood and invited the other party into the house to serve tea.
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