“When people see no hope, they usually have two choices.”
Standing on the foothills of Pingling Mountain, Fu Xiaoguan looked at the bustling scene below and said slowly to Bai Yulian beside him, "The first option is to give up, just muddle through and sink into despair until death. The second option is to fight hard, like becoming a bandit. It's all going to end in death anyway, so why not just give up?"
Bai Yulian took out the wine gourd and took a sip. "So you're giving them hope?"
"You see, a few days ago, many people were just watching and waiting. But when they saw the people working here actually receiving money, their hope was piqued, and the next day, the number of participants increased by 20%. By today, their doubts have completely dissipated, and they're even showing long-lost smiles on their faces."
The craftsmen from Xishan arrived in Pingling and Quyi counties on October 15th.
The next day, tens of thousands of villagers from the two counties flocked to the county government office from all directions. Most of them came to collect the ten kilograms of grain - that was ten kilograms of rice!
They were reluctant to eat it, as it could be exchanged for two or three hundred coins at the market!
The craftsmen in Xishan took two days to select the locations for the cement workshop and brick and tile workshop, and on October 18, construction officially started at these sites.
On the first day, there were only over 10,000 villagers participating, while the rest were just watching.
After the first day's salary was paid out without a penny owed according to the posted recruitment notice, the doubts of the onlookers were greatly reduced, and on the second day only 20% of them were still waiting and watching.
By the third day, all the villagers had joined in.
Among them are teenagers who have just turned twelve or even under twelve pretending to be twelve, and there are also elderly people over sixty years old. Of course, this part is a minority, and the vast majority are middle-aged people, among whom the largest number are villagers who once went into the mountains to be bandits.
"Actually, those children at this age should be in school, and those elderly people should be enjoying their retirement at home... Xiaobai, it's not that I don't abide by the labor law, but they really need money right now!"
Bai Yulian squinted at Fu Xiaoguan. He didn't know anything about labor laws. He only knew that the villagers were really working hard.
The soil was too heavy, so two young children carried it out, and the old people carried half of it in a backpack and walked out shakily with the help of crutches.
Fu Xiaoguan commissioned two county governments to open a canteen at the construction site, and the food there was as good as that at Xishan.
I still remember that on the first day of dinner, the makeshift dining tent was crushed by the crowded villagers, and even the county constable's sword was pulled out, but it was of no use.
The situation did not return to normal until three days later - perhaps the villagers knew that such meals would be available every day and for everyone.
Later they began to line up patiently, and order was restored.
At least 40,000 villagers in one county participated in the construction, and the mere matter of cooking was enough to give the two county magistrates a headache.
This requires a large amount of food and a large number of people, so Fu Xiaoguan asked Xishan Express to transport food to these two places early on, which ensured the supply of food and prevented major chaos.
"Things here seem to be going as you wish. What's next?"
"Next we are going to take a trip to the deserted country."
"Chen Po and his men have stirred up trouble in the Wild Country, seizing a pasture of the Wild People. The problem of war horses has been solved, and they are currently training in riding techniques on the grassland."
"Well, let them use guerrilla tactics, mainly plundering the wild people's ranches, and occasionally attacking small border towns, so as to lure out the elite troops of the Wild Kingdom's Shangdu."
Bai Yulian suddenly asked, "If there's a chance to take over the Platinum Khan Palace of the Desolate Country...would you like to do something big?"
Fu Xiaoguan was silent for a few breaths, ready to make a move, but then he dismissed the idea. "You're getting cocky! That's the enemy's home turf. The Savages now have hundreds of thousands of cavalry. That place isn't like Pingling Mountain. We're only 3,600 or so men left on this endless grassland. What are we going to do if the enemy charges?"
"It would be great if we had a hundred red cannons..." Bai Yulian added with regret, "After we return from this battle, we'll have to continue recruiting troops. When will you show up? A regiment is limited to 2,000 men, and we have double that. If we expand the army further... I'm afraid His Majesty will think I'm plotting a rebellion!"
Show up...
Fu Xiaoguan looked at the vast snow and wondered whether Wu Linger's body had recovered by now.
He didn't know much about the political situation in the Wu Dynasty. He only knew that with the Empress Dowager Xi and the two loyal ministers to assist him, Wu Linger's throne should be stable.
On the contrary, it was his own appearance that brought trouble to Wu Linger's throne.
After all, the people of Wu Dynasty accepted Wu Linger's ascension to the throne because of Emperor Wen's bloodline, and now only Wu Linger is left.
"Let's talk about it later, after the trip to the deserted country is over."
"When will Her Royal Highness the Third Princess arrive here?"
"According to the time, it's almost time."
…
…
October 25, the ninth year of the Xuanli reign.
The third princess's wedding procession arrived in Pingling County at noon.
Pingling County Magistrate Zhang Wenhan was naturally very busy, and Quyi County Magistrate Yan Linqiu also came here - Yan Linqiu knew the Third Princess Yu Qinglan, so he wanted to come and see Her Royal Highness the Third Princess again, because now that Her Royal Highness the Third Princess had gone to the frontier, he might not be able to see her again for the rest of his life.
The envoys escorting the bride were led by the Minister of Rites Xu Huaishu, and the security was handled by Xue Pinggui, a captain under Huo Huaijin - both of them had experience in serving as envoys to the Wu Dynasty.
The envoy who went to Jinling to welcome the bride was none other than Huang Kingdom's Imperial Master Tuoba Qiu, who brought along his grandson Tuoba Yuan.
The Huang Kingdom also has 500 guards, which means the team is extremely large, which immediately made Zhang Wenhan dumbfounded - what the hell, almost all the chefs in Pingling County were invited to the construction site at the foot of Pingling Mountain, how to solve the problem of feeding these thousands of people?
According to Xu Huaishu and Tuoba Qiu, the ceremonial procession did not need to stay in Pingling County, but should go to Xincheng.
As an important city in the northern part of the Yu Dynasty, Xincheng is many times larger than Pingling. In addition, Xincheng has the official post station of the Yu Dynasty, so at least the problem of food and accommodation is easier to solve.
But the third princess said she wanted to stay in Pingling for a day to miss her hometown.
The ceremonial procession stopped on the street of Pingling County, and all the people in the entourage of the third princess got off the carriage.
She thought there would be many people watching, but when Yu Qinglan got off the carriage, she found that the place was deserted, with only a few officials to greet her.
"Why is this place... so desolate?" Yu Qinglan asked. She knew that Pingling Quyi was a desolate land, but she never thought it would be so desolate.
"Your Highness, Xishan has established businesses in Pingling and Quyi, and this man... went to their construction sites."
Yu Qinglan was startled, "Oh... take me to have a look."
"this……"
"What's the inconvenience?"
"It's not that it's inconvenient, but the princess is a precious treasure, and the mess she's in is likely to offend His Highness."
"No problem, lead the way!"
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