Chapter 17: The Court Finding Out Would Mean Execution

Jia Sixie has finally arrived!

He brought the villagers of Taiping Village and the tribal people of Qifu Moyu southward, arriving at Li Shuang's estate.

"Old Jia, you've finally come!"

To Jia Sixie's surprise, the first to welcome him was not Li Shuang, but that roughneck Hou Jing.

"What's the matter with you?"

At this moment, Hou Jing looked a complete mess—his clothing and his spirits both carried an indescribable air of dishevelment.

"Pests! These freaking pests!"

Hou Jing poured out his grievances.

Hou Jing could fight battles, but production and management—that was not his strong suit.

These past days, a great number of Han refugee vagrants had gathered outside the estate.

Hou Jing wanted to keep them in line, but not a one of them would submit to discipline.

Jia Sixie laughed when he heard this.

"That's because you used the wrong method."

"Wrong method?"

"You forgot—these people are vagrants, not soldiers. If you try to manage them the way you manage an army, how could things not go wrong?"

"As they say, it has to be you, Old Jia!"

Hou Jing clapped his hands, weeping with joy.

"Enough said—I'll leave all these pests to you!"

With that, Hou Jing fled as if escaping for his life.

Hou Jing only wanted to train troops; he had no desire whatsoever to manage production or business.

……

After meeting Li Shuang, Jia Sixie quickly began, according to his own methods, to govern the people under Li Shuang's command.

After Er Zhu Rong moved south, he occupied the entire Si Province and granted Li Shuang a vast stretch of land north of the Hutuo River.

Jia Sixie brought people to take stock of the acreage within Li Shuang's territory, settled the homeless vagrants as tenant farmers, and assigned them land.

The surplus vagrant population was settled near the estate to plant orchards, keep bees and grow mulberry, fire clay and make pottery, smelt iron and weave…

Under Northern Wei's governance, the Si Province region had always practiced both farming and herding side by side.

Those Hu Ren herdsmen were settled on the outer perimeter of the estate, to guard the livestock pens and raise animals.

By winter, order both inside and outside the entire estate had become neat and proper.

Inside the newly repaired estate, Jia Sixie handed the account book to Li Shuang.

Li Shuang flipped through it. The account book recorded that at this moment, the estate held over thirty thousand tenant farmers, more than ten thousand herders, and over five thousand artisans.

Beyond that, in the livestock pens there were over seventy thousand head of cattle and sheep, more than six thousand camels and horses, and several hundred hawks and hounds.

In the storehouses: over two hundred thousand shi of accumulated grain, ten thousand bolts of cloth and silk, a thousand barrels of wine, several hundred curiosities, five thousand suits of armor, over a thousand sets of horse gear, and more than thirty thousand weapons of various kinds.

"My lord, the land of Si Province is not truly prime fertile ground, and the Hutuo River's flow is not abundant either—droughts come easily. To ensure a stable grain output, I suggest we promote deep-plowing and moisture-retention methods throughout the territory, and at the same time build several small reservoirs and canals connecting the fields, to prepare against unforeseen needs."

The so-called deep-plowing and moisture-retention method is to break through the "plow pan" formed by shallow plowing, deepen the tillage layer to twenty to thirty centimeters, loosen the soil, increase water-storage capacity, and at the same time reduce soil-moisture evaporation to preserve soil moisture (soil humidity), ensuring the crops' water supply during dry seasons.

"To reduce the need for manpower, I suggest we take the oxen from the livestock pens and distribute them among the tenant farmers for use in plowing."

Li Shuang naturally had no doubts about Jia Sixie's expertise.

"To carry out the deep-plowing and moisture-retention method, and to build canals and reservoirs—even with plow oxen, I'm afraid manpower will still be insufficient."

Jia Sixie thought it over, but for the moment had no other solution. The problem of insufficient manpower could not be resolved in a short time.

"Even if manpower is short, the work must still be done. I will find a way!"

"Jin territory is already in turmoil. Liang Jungong (Er Zhu Rong) will sooner or later march out again, and when he does our army will follow. All agricultural matters should be properly arranged as quickly as possible."

Saying so, Li Shuang picked up a blueprint from his desk and placed it in Jia Sixie's hands.

"I have nothing else to help you with—take this blueprint out and have a look!"

Jia Sixie glanced at the blueprint Li Shuang handed him, his brows knitting slightly as he softly murmured the three large characters written on it.

"Curved-shaft plow!"

From autumn to winter, Yang Kan and Gao Ang never once left.

After winter came, seeing that order around the estate had become neat and proper, the two of them took the initiative to come before Li Shuang, wanting him to take them both in as household retainers.

"You two are both sons of great families—entering court to take up an official post would be no difficult matter for you, with bright futures ahead. Why become my household retainers?"

Though the Taishan Yang clan and the Bohai Gao clan could not compare with the four great surnames of Cui, Lu, Zheng, and Wang, they were still prominent great clans renowned across the commanderies and provinces, producing one able man after another.

Li Shuang was nothing but a man of bandit origins—at the very bottom of the contempt chain in the eyes of these great clans.

Yang Kan cupped his hands and said:

"Before I came here, I had intended to go to Luoyang and join the banner of General of Chariots and Cavalry Xiao Baoyin. But after arriving and witnessing my lord's deeds, I resolved to pledge myself to him."

"My deeds?"

If the one speaking these words were not Yang Kan, Li Shuang would have assumed the man was mocking him.

"My lord, from the humblest of origins, not yet of age to wear the cap, has already built what he has today—truly a man of civil and martial brilliance. His talent for employing and reading men is likewise unmatched in this age. Most importantly…"

Yang Kan drew a deep breath, cupped his hands, and said:

"In my lord, I see the hope of our Han house's revival."

That's right—Yang Kan was a die-hard member of the pro-Han revival faction!

Li Shuang listened and felt somewhat ill at ease.

Even though he knew Yang Kan was an honest man who did not easily lie, this flattery of his was still over the top.

"I am not flattering you; these are words from the bottom of my heart. Since the Disaster of Yongjia and the Five Hu's invasion of China, our Han house has long been sunk in decline. The Han people's fear of the Hu has become an incurable sickness. Yet my lord, with poor and weak vagrants, has put to death the brutal Hu jackals. I admire you beyond words."

Li Shuang scratched his head and looked at Gao Ang.

"What about you? Do you think the same as Yang Kan?"

"It's true that I can't stand the ways of those Hu Ren, but the big reason I stayed here is because I've gotten myself into trouble."

Gao Ang recounted the whole story of being hunted by the Bo Ling Cui clan.

"The Bo Ling Cui clan may not match the Qinghe Cui clan in pedigree, but they're still one of the great surnames of Hebei. For now I can't return to Xiao County, and I don't want to go to Luoyang either. Of course, after meeting the lord, I still feel staying here with the lord is more interesting."

"What's so interesting about being here with me?"

"For example, seizing the livestock from the court's beast pens, driving refugees to attack the manors of the gentry, tearing down the materials from the court's garrison towns and hauling them home to build manors and walls… these treasonous acts are all things I've wanted to do but haven't done yet!"

Li Shuang hurriedly clamped a hand over his mouth, terrified someone else might overhear.

"Don't go spouting such big truths— if the court finds out, that's a beheading offense!"

"Then will the lord take me in as a retainer?"

"Recently the military households under me have grown to six thousand. Apart from the main force of three thousand armored troops and five hundred iron cavalry, I'll drill another two thousand stout-hearted men. Each of you will lead a unit of a thousand!"

The so-called military households, unlike the tenant farmers and herders in the manors, had their entire families serving military purposes— mainly the villagers of Taiping Village, a few surrendered elite Hu Ren, and some bandits from Jin territory who had surrendered and were acquainted with Li Shuang.

"This retainer thanks the lord greatly!"