With the arrival of his son, Qin Mu became much busier. Although he had maids and a wet nurse, he still preferred to hold his son himself. Even though his son mostly slept, he still liked to watch him for a while. At night, with the wet nurse taking care of him, the couple could finally rest peacefully, and Qin Mu would settle down to study the sacred texts.
He devoted himself to cultivation, cared for his wife during her postpartum period, and handled official duties, leading a fulfilling and busy life. With the threat of war gone, the people settled down, and more people came and went in the city. Most noticeably, there were more people from the mountain strongholds coming down to exchange for refined salt. The mountain people were curious and envious of the changes in Panyu, and many paid closer attention to them.
Qin Mu preferred simplicity in everything, but given their social standing, he and his wife still had to invite guests, no matter how simple the celebration. After all, this was his first son, and his legitimate son at that. While not every place held a full-moon celebration, a 100-day banquet was indispensable. Even commoners would invite relatives and friends to celebrate a baby's 100th day. A 100-day banquet is a celebration held when a baby is 100 days old. On this day, the family hosts relatives and friends to pray for the child to live a long and healthy life, hence the name "100-day celebration." This embodies the parents' and family's best wishes and expectations for the baby.
Those who lived nearby all came, including those from the capital, who sent gifts according to the baby's birth date. The reason they knew this was because Qin Mu and his wife had announced the good news to the capital.
The good news didn't stop there. Li Shimin issued another decree: with Feng Ang's recommendation, he appointed Qin Mu as the Commander-in-Chief of the Lingnan Army, stationed in Luofu Prefecture. He was also given 50,000 troops from Tang Prefecture and concurrently appointed as the Prefect of Tang Prefecture. Li Shenfu was the Grand Commander of the Southern Expedition, Qin Mu's direct superior. For some reason, Li Shimin did not dismiss him from his position as Governor of the Annam Prefecture.
After several days of celebration and seeing off relatives and friends, Qin Mu and his wife, along with their son and servants, packed up and slowly made their way to Luofu Prefecture. The couple chose to bring their son with them because the early spring weather in Lingnan was already warm. Traveling by carriage wouldn't be a problem, especially with the renowned physician Han Chen by their side.
Luofu Prefecture has been cleared out. Although it is still dilapidated, at least the city is clean. Lingnan is a large area, but it doesn't have many cities. The entire Luofu Prefecture only has one large city. The rest are just large towns, even if they are called county towns.
When I left last time, there were only a little over two thousand people in Luofu City. This time when I returned, it was much more lively, especially outside the city, where a large group of people were tilling the fields.
"Are those the Black Apes? They are indeed very dark." Princess Changning asked as she lifted the carriage curtain.
“Yes, those are all chimpanzees. Don’t be fooled by their tall stature; they’re not very brave and are quite honest.” Qin Mu nodded slightly as he spoke, then explained to Princess Changning that when they were in Southeast Asia, a dozen or so skinny monkeys actually guarded these dozens of chimpanzees to do their work, and they didn’t even use any torture devices.
"What a waste of such a tall and imposing figure," Princess Changning exclaimed.
"That's good too, we can gain a good group of people," Qin Mu said with a smile.
“That’s true. Being honest and dutiful is the best approach,” Princess Changning agreed.
“However, Madam, you are right. It’s a bit of a waste to have such big guys. I will select a group of them and train them properly. They may become an important force under our command in the future,” Qin Mu said, stroking his chin.
Not long after the group entered the city, Cheng Huailiang and his men arrived upon hearing the news.
"Haha, Brother Qin, you're finally back! I've been so busy!" The Cheng family's signature loud laugh rang out as he ran over with a wide grin.
"Aren't you quite happy?" Qin Mu said with a smile.
"Hehehe! He has too many relatives, he can't take care of them all," Yuchi Baoqing interjected.
"Pah! You want to fight again?"
"Come on then! I'm not afraid of you!"
"Is this how you manage things when I'm not around?" Qin Mu asked, glaring at the two men who were about to start a fight again.
He couldn't understand it either. The two had worked well together in Chang'an, rarely resorting to physical violence; it was always their older brothers who did the fighting. Their constant bickering had almost become a tradition between the Cheng and Yuchi families. If the two families were incompatible, they were now brothers-in-law. In the end, Qin Mu could only explain it away with the proverb "two tigers cannot share one mountain." Fortunately, despite the bickering, there was no real conflict in their relationship.
"Hehe! Just kidding! I'm just relieved to see you back!" Seeing Qin Mu glare at him, Cheng Huailiang immediately lowered his head and said meekly.
“Yes, yes, we’ve been holding back for so long. You have no idea how difficult it is to teach these black chimpanzee idiots,” Yuchi Baoqing hurriedly nodded in agreement.
"Thank you for your hard work. Tell me about the situation here," Qin Mu asked. He knew the two guys' character, so he gave them a brief warning and then stopped, changing the subject.
"I never imagined there would be so many chimpanzees. The Sun family helped us four times, and the navy helped us three times, bringing over 50,000 people. I heard there are many more who are willing to come. Another batch should be coming back in a few days," Cheng Huailiang said in surprise.
“We are now teaching them how to farm, but we lack farming tools. The past few months have been for logging, with over 100,000 trees of different sizes piled up in the logging camp outside the city,” Yuchi Baoqing added.
"So many people! That's great!" Qin Mu said happily.
“Indeed, there are many. I’ve heard that on the islands in Southeast Asia, there are anywhere from a few hundred to tens of thousands. However, their living conditions are extremely difficult, which explains why they are all willing to go with us,” Cheng Huailiang sighed.
"Well, after all, they're the same race, so it's no wonder there are hundreds of thousands of them. By the way, what about the navy? They've been helping with the transport for months; they haven't complained, have they?" Qin Mu asked.
"Hmph! What complaints? Don't underestimate the Black Ape tribe just because they're poor. They have their treasures too. These guys spend their days fishing in the sea for food. There's a kind of shellfish that contains pearls. They eat the meat, and they wear the pearls as ornaments. Everyone has quite a few, some even have several strings! I promised them that I'd allow them to trade with the Black Ape tribe whenever they go on transport missions. Now they practically run there every three days. They only cause trouble if I don't let them go," Cheng Huailiang said with some dissatisfaction.
"Yes! These chimpanzees have no idea how valuable pearls are. They can get several pearls for a dried fish, or a string of pearls for a bag of grain. They're really getting a good deal!" Yu Chi Baoqing said with some envy.
Qin Mu then noticed that, good heavens, almost everyone had several pearls strung on their clothes.
"It doesn't matter, we only need people. As long as they're willing to run errands, that's fine. But we must warn everyone going out to sea: no force is allowed! Otherwise, they will be killed without mercy!" Qin Mu instructed.
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