Chapter 32
It can only be said that no matter how careful the plan is, it cannot keep up with the development of things. Yao Wenjun had no choice but to deal with it himself first, and at the same time inform the messenger soldiers of the situation here and make preparations in advance.
The soldiers under his command were naturally insufficient, so Yao Wenjun considered recruiting some temporary personnel. The training wouldn't be as good as before, but the vigilance would still be maintained. Wen Yi had been somewhat troubled when she received the news, but Song Jin's joining brought a temporary relief to Pingyi. She packed her things and prepared to follow the transporters to Shangyong.
Before leaving, He Xuan nodded and said that if anything happened here, he would handle it appropriately.
"Although I am not young anymore, I have watched over this matter for a long time. If I can't take care of this matter, I will send Sang Yu and the others to apologize."
Sang Yu hesitantly raised his head, then saw that it was his teacher who had said this, and shook his head. His teacher had been increasingly absent-minded recently, but he seemed to be in better shape. Perhaps it had something to do with that mumbling from the front hall about balanced nutrition.
At this time, the vast majority of people suffered from malnutrition. Even those of high status were prone to developing ailments like night blindness due to insufficient intake of certain substances. The later advice to eat more eggs or sugary drinks was due to limited resources, as these were the only things available to the weak. In reality, as long as there was enough meat protein, most cold-deficiency symptoms could resolve on their own.
Of course, you still need to see a doctor for some special diseases.
Those who live in this area naturally understand this, but in the past, when even food was scarce, there was no time or money to consider such matters. Currently, livestock farming has taken off in the East District. Although cattle and sheep grow slowly, the supply of poultry and eggs can meet some of the demand, with hunting making up the rest.
Restaurants, tea workshops, and some households also replaced their kitchenware with iron, and cooking methods saw significant advancements thanks to the changes in tools and seasonings. Furthermore, the water mills were able to process grain quickly and efficiently, and the city saw a surge in vendors selling novelty snacks. Wen Yi hadn't bothered with them for the time being, as most of them still worked in the workshops or under Yao Wenjun's supervision, so they didn't represent a significant portion of the population.
When these things affect the order in the city, it will be time to open a "market".
*
He didn't encounter any refugees or bandits on the way. I don't know if they had been cleared out by the people led by Yao Wenjun before. In short, Wen Yi arrived at Shangyong smoothly.
Shangyong City lacked a water source; all drinking water and irrigation came from the nearby river. While artisans quickly built waterwheels, the ditches still needed to be dug or widened manually. Nearly half the city's inhabitants were drawn to the work, and Yao Wenjun rolled up her clothes and went to work. She and her fellow soldiers were strong, making them particularly useful during the digging and transporting of water.
Hearing the vibration sound of the vehicle rolling over the ground, Yao Wenjun, who had been lowering his head, stood up and looked at the team that was vaguely visible in the distance for a while, and confirmed that this group of people were not guys who came to rob, but a caravan from Pingyi.
The soldier who was originally on guard walked forward and seemed to be talking to those people and checking the relevant documents.
This was a custom brought over from Pingyi. In addition to the required paper documents, the caravan also carried special metal parts. Because they were cast, each one had a unique pattern. Even molded parts would have variations in detail, and the pattern would be very different when pressed onto paper. Only after verifying the details could they proceed to the next checkpoint.
However, Yao Wenjun felt relieved because he saw a familiar figure.
Yao Wenjun wanted to go up to greet them, but she was working and was covered in dirt. The people in the caravan waved their hands and signaled them to continue with their work and not to bother her.
"I can go in by myself, you go ahead and do your thing." Although this was her first time to this place, the caravan had been there many times. Once she entered the city, she would know people there. If she had any questions, she could just ask the accountants.
Yao Wenjun also knew this and was not worried.
With the previous experience in Pingyi, even though everyone in the city was still there this time, Wen Yi quickly arranged the craftsmen who came with him to the appropriate positions, and then accelerated the original construction process a bit.
Yao Wenjun had been a bit anxious earlier; not many people had come, and setting up the workshop was a bit of a stretch. Many of the newcomers were apprentices, but their skills had been recognized by their masters. In the past, they might have been able to start their own business. The workshop couldn't do without the old masters for now; they were here to gain experience. After all, many problems wouldn't surface until they were on their own. Once construction was nearly complete, they could return to address any issues they encountered.
The residential buildings in the city were still under construction and could not be rebuilt for the time being, so Wen Yi did not bother with them. After building the infrastructure in the vacant land and the previous workshop site, he first repaired the main road in the city, then re-registered and repaired the treasury, and all the antiques in the secret compartments in the mezzanine were also recorded for easy future retrieval.
Some chores can be done by hiring people in the city using soap and other daily necessities or food. However, compared with Pingyi, Shangyong has to spend a lot of effort to maintain stability in the surrounding area.
Even so, there are still cases of things being lost or corners being cut from time to time.
A few people immediately made a decisive move, sending those who refused to change their ways to Yao Wenjun's place to work. They were fed, but the daily workload increased until they could recoup the losses they had incurred. Repeat offenses would be doubled in severity. As for those Yao Wenjun had committed, he simply escorted them out and dealt with them, and Wen Yi didn't return to question them.
Shangyong and several other places were not considered fortresses, but the fact that they were taken over in a short period of time was beyond the expectations of several small forces in the surrounding areas.
The guys who were already somewhat alienated heard that several lowlands were all occupied in a short period of time, and even the place in the north that they had been unable to take was swallowed up in one go. They wrote letters to each other anxiously and agreed to meet at a certain place.
Some time ago, several of them had a conflict over interests. When they met now, they were followed by their armed subordinates and confronted each other around the pavilion.
They were naturally wary of each other, but after a period of stalemate, they finally stopped fighting. If Yao Wenjun learned of their actions, even if they didn't resist, it would not end well. Finally, a man dressed as a scholar offered some words of advice, then waved his hand and dismissed the men, allowing them to sit down and talk calmly.
"In your opinion, what should we do?" The man dressed as a scholar was a little anxious. In fact, he had heard that Shangyong had begun to recruit soldiers. The subordinates who escaped from Shangyong also said that this group of people had a lot of weapons they had never seen before. The original Shangyong was easily breached at almost no cost.
The minimal casualties seemed negligible to them.
In nearly every force, if casualties were too heavy, no matter how great the victory or the benefits gained, punishment would be inevitable, and at most the merits and demerits would be offset. This concept was deeply ingrained in every general's mind, so in many cases, they would avoid actual siege warfare.
But according to Yao Wenjun's current situation, she didn't need to avoid anything at all.
Several leaders looked at each other in bewilderment. They had originally thought that whoever stepped forward first would be in trouble. Now it seemed that if no one took the lead to unite, there was no telling when that group of people would swallow up their territory.
"The only solution now is to lure the snake out of its hole."
The man with the scar on his face sneered and made a cutting motion with his hand. "If this isn't resolved soon, it could become a serious problem."
His territory was closest to Shangyong, so if a conflict arose, he would be the first to suffer, so his ideas were naturally more radical. Although a united force would be somewhat inconvenient at home and would consume a lot of food and fodder, he didn't care too much.
The man with an inconvenient arm was a little hesitant, as if he felt that it was too dangerous to do so directly. But after looking around, he realized that if he directly objected, it might bring disaster, so he shut his mouth and silently thought in his mind.
Their previous plans had been successful largely due to the right timing and location. The Yu region was inherently unstable, and with the infiltration of surrounding forces, this had led to the disintegration of such a large area. Those of them who had some ideas in mind had taken advantage of the opportunity to occupy their own territory, but now...
It wasn't that he wanted to throw cold water on the situation; it was simply that everyone had become so accustomed to making their own decisions that it was impossible to pull them together. If they underestimated the enemy again, they might end up being surrounded and annihilated instead of being trapped.
It’s better to make other plans as soon as possible.
The others were used to this guy's silence, so they lowered their voices and began to discuss the details and timing of each family's military deployment, as well as how to divide the spoils.
"That's right, that's right. With our strength, we can overthrow Yudi, so we can certainly eliminate the small Shangyong City."
No matter how treacherous they were, their subordinates wouldn't be a threat once they were dealt with. Furthermore, they had already met Yao Wenjun before, so they didn't have to worry about mistaking her for the right person. They could also exploit her behavior and lay traps, waiting for her to step into them. While they couldn't defeat her individually, their combined strength would definitely crush Shangyong, which hadn't yet recovered.
The people who were previously sent there disguised as a merchant caravan did not enter the city but only stayed at the gate. However, they were as familiar with Shangyong as they were with their own territory. They had been there several times before because of the division of interests. They thought that if they joined forces, they could at least cut it off from the outside world and plunder it at the same time.
Yao Wenjun and Wen Yi, who were far away in Shangyong, were now marveling at the little gadgets on the table.
"This is the first time I've seen something so exquisite." Wen Yi carefully picked up the ornament covered with delicate patterns, looked at it for a while, then carefully wrapped it with silk and put it back into its original box.
This technique, known as inlaid gold and silver, involves inserting gold and silver into pre-determined grooves on the surface of a copper vessel. After careful polishing, the resulting pattern is extremely rare, even among aristocratic utensils. Yao Wenjun had seen copper hilts inlaid with gold and silver before, but the patterns were crude, and such a fine finish as this was indeed rare.
"I didn't expect these things to be buried here. I don't know who left them here." Yao Wenjun put the other bags of gold, silver and copper coins back into the pottery jar.
This was dug out today when the ditch was being repaired. It was wrapped in gold and silk and had words written on it, but unfortunately it was blurred by the rain. The soldiers under her saw it and presented it to her.
Yao Wenjun could only decipher a few words and carefully opened the seal. There was no identifying item inside, only money and this strange ornament. Besides this, a few days ago, she had also discovered a number of pottery jars containing food or other items. She simply brought the items over to discuss with Wen Yi what to do with them.
"Put it away for now, and let's talk about it if anyone comes looking for it in the future." Wen Yi sighed.
The ornaments and gold and silver were fine, but the grain was empty, some were moldy, and some were mildewed. They were not left behind recently. Even if someone really went to search, they would find nothing.
In this world, you never know when disaster will strike, and no one will look for things that have been forgotten in the corners.
Sighing, Wen Yi stretched his legs which were stiff and numb after kneeling for a long time, and decided to move the work of making tables and chairs forward. If things continued like this, people who worked here for long hours would not be able to bear it.
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