Chapter 888 Chapter 888, Improvement
As soon as the document from the Commandery Commanding General ordered Ganzhou Guard to recruit soldiers on its own, Xiao Yeyang sent people to post recruitment notices at the gate of the guard post and outside the city gate.
After receiving the news, Fan Tong and Xia Jianren both gathered in front of the notice outside the gate of the garrison and looked at the contents on the notice. One of them frowned with a look of disapproval, while the other remained silent, not knowing what he was thinking.
Fan Tong shook his head. "Why are you thinking of recruiting soldiers when everything is fine? The garrison is so poor that it can't even afford to pay for the border troops. How can we get the money to recruit soldiers?"
For a long time, the food for the border troops was provided by the garrisons, but the military pay was allocated by the imperial court to the Military Commandery and distributed by the Military Commandery.
Now the Commandery has asked Ganzhou Guard to recruit soldiers and provide their own food and wages. Doesn't that mean Ganzhou Guard has to pay for both food and wages?
Xia Jianren glanced at Fan Tong, who looked worried, and sneered, "Why are you worrying so much? The Ganzhou Guard is not under the control of you and me now. It's the newly arrived fifth-rank Zhenfu Xiao who is in charge. Even if the guard is short of money, the Xiao Mansion has it. Zhenfu Xiao wants to recruit soldiers, so he will naturally take care of the financial issues."
The disapproval on Fan Tong's face became more and more obvious: "I know the Xiao family is rich, but the army's daily expenditure is very high. How long can the Xiao family hold on?"
Xia Jianren smiled and shook his head: "Who cares? This has nothing to do with you and me."
Hearing this, Fan Tong was a little dissatisfied: "You and I are the commander of Ganzhou Guard. How come such a big thing as recruiting soldiers has nothing to do with us? No, Xiao Yeyang may not understand the consumption of the army. I have to go and persuade him."
Seeing this, Xia Jianren quickly grabbed Fan Tong and said, "Xiao Yeyang must be recruiting soldiers to gather 50,000 border troops. What's the point of you talking about this?"
Fan Tong frowned immediately. He knew that the number of border troops stationed in Ganzhouwei was not enough. He had urged Lord Wei for this, but Lord Wei always rejected him.
Now that the Military Command has issued an order to recruit soldiers on our own, isn't this just throwing away the burden?
Xia Jianren saw Fan Tong's expression change, and a hint of sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth.
He really couldn't understand why Lord Wei valued Fan Tong more than him. Was it because he was dumber?
Xia Jianren ignored Fan Tong and returned his gaze to the notice.
Lord Wei knew the deeper reason why he asked Xiao Yeyang to recruit soldiers. He understood that recruiting soldiers would cost a lot of money. When Xiao Yeyang could no longer afford it, perhaps this pampered prince of the royal palace would feel frustrated and would take the initiative to leave Ganzhou Guard.
Lord Wei still wanted to squeeze Xiao Yeyang out.
Xia Jianren sneered inwardly when he saw a lot of people gathered around the notice shortly before.
Life in Ganzhouwei is poor. In order to save food, some families will still let their family members join the army even if they know that they may lose their lives.
Not to mention that the garrison is now recruiting soldiers. In addition to providing food, they also pay salaries. There will definitely be a lot of people joining the army.
I hope that Xiao Yeyang can recruit more soldiers, so that he can leave Ganzhou Wei and Xiliang earlier.
Xia Jianren no longer thought about recruiting soldiers, and walked towards the garrison. As soon as he entered the gate, he saw Captain Chen of the Ganxi garrison walking out with a happy face.
"Captain Chen, why are you in Ganzhou City?"
Captain Chen saw Xia Jianren's expression and paused for a moment before stepping forward with a smile and greeting him: "Master Xia."
Xia Jianren glanced at the place where Captain Chen had just come out and asked with a smile, "Did Governor Xiao come to see you?"
Captain Chen nodded and said nothing more.
When Xia Jianren saw this, his expression changed slightly, and he sighed in his heart: Xiao Yeyang's methods are really powerful. He gathered all the thousand households in the Qianhu Division so quickly.
"I see you look very happy, is there something good?"
Captain Chen hesitated for a moment, knowing that Xia Jianren was the commander-in-chief. After thinking for a moment, he said vaguely, "I just came here to report the planting situation to Lord Xiao."
Ganzhou Guard was the poorest of the nine guards in Xiliang, and Ganxi Qianhu Suo was the poorest of the five Qianhu Suo in Ganzhou Guard.
In previous years, even if the military households of Ganxi Qianhu Suo risked their lives and handed over the military rations, the remaining food could at most keep them alive, but not starve to death.
But this year is different. The grain seeds that Lord Xiao distributed during the spring plowing are really drought-resistant and high-yielding. When he thought of the crops growing well in the fields, Captain Chen smiled again.
Captain Chen was happy, but Xia Jianren frowned quickly and turned to look at the notice board outside the gate of the guard post.
He had forgotten that because of the high-yield grain seeds brought by Xiao Yeyang, the harvest of the garrison this year would probably not be too bad.
With food, we can support the soldiers. No wonder Xiao Yeyang dared to recruit soldiers.
Was it wrong for Lord Wei to let Xiao Yeyang recruit soldiers on his own?
As soon as this thought came to his mind, Xia Jianren shook his head. Even if there was a good harvest this year, given the situation in Ganzhou Wei, how much more grain could be harvested? Xiao Yeyang definitely could not afford to support the army.
Yes, definitely.
In the garrison, all the officials felt that it was not a wise move for Xiao Yeyang to recruit soldiers. There was no other way, as the army would consume too much energy. Even if he was the prince of a royal palace, his money would eventually run out.
However, half a month later, the officials of the garrison gradually realized that something was wrong.
The cause was that a honeycomb coal factory was built outside the city gate of Ganzhou.
People in Xiliang need coal to make fire, cook and keep out the cold. When honeycomb coal came out, there was no need for any promotion. People could tell at a glance that honeycomb coal was much better than the coal balls they usually used, and they rushed to buy it.
Officials also used it at home. After asking around, they found out that the honeycomb coal factory was actually run by the military garrison, and they were all surprised.
In just half a day, the news spread throughout the entire Wei Command Headquarters.
After hearing this, Xia Jianren was stunned for a while: "Did Xiao Yeyang find a coal mine?"
coal mines
Xia Jianren was shocked. If Xiao Yeyang really had a coal mine, then feeding tens of thousands of soldiers would not be a problem!
No, this matter must be reported to Lord Wei immediately.
Unfortunately, the servant sent by Xia Jianren was captured by two secret guards not long after he left Ganzhou City.
Xia Jianren and Fan Tong were both Wei Hongcai's men. Xiao Yeyang found out about this after he came to Ganzhou Wei.
He didn't want the people from the Commandery to interfere with what he was going to do, so he would naturally be on guard against these two people.
Shiqukou.
Wang Wu saw another long transport team passing by at the foot of the mountain, and hurriedly ran to find Wang Qi.
At this moment, Wang Qi was standing in front of the wasteland reclaimed by the Wang family, looking at the green crops in the field, with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.
It is only June now and there is still some time before the autumn harvest, but looking at the growth of crops in the fields, he can already imagine the scene of a bumper harvest this year.
"gentlemen!"
Wang Qi heard Wang Wu's cry, turned his eyes away from the crops, and walked towards him: "What's going on?"
Wang Wu panted heavily, "Sir, please come with me to the top of the mountain. Another convoy of supplies is passing by the foot of our mountain! I saw it, and the person leading the convoy is the same person who delivered food to the Xiao Mansion before."
Hearing this, Wang Qi smiled and said as he walked, "What's the big deal?"
Wang Wu wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked, "Don't you want to know what was sent this time?"
Wang Qi paused and said, "No matter what the gift is, the Xiao Mansion will benefit the people of Ganzhouwei in the end."
At this time, the two passed by the house of a tribe member and saw that the tribe member was using honeycomb coal to boil water. The honeycomb coal caught fire in a short while, and both of them smiled immediately.
Wang Wu: "This honeycomb coal is much better than coal briquettes, and it's cheaper. I should have bought more when I went to Ganzhou City last time."
Wang Qi said "hmm", and the coal balls were transformed into honeycomb coal. It seemed simple, but it was improving the lives of the people in Xiliang little by little.
(End of this chapter)
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