"General Qin is here."
"Are you going to place us today?"
"From now on, we are the people of Qi."
"It's good to be a Qi countryman. At least I don't have to worry about food like I do in the tribe."
"That's right, what is more important than being alive?"
The surrendered barbarians all looked at Qin Fang and his men, their eyes full of hope. Since surrendering, although they were not displaced, they were also very worried along the way due to the outbreak of influenza. They were afraid that Qin Fang would abandon them when they got sick. They had been on the road for more than a month, and lived in tents here for so long, adding up to almost a month. Today, they finally became legitimate Qi people.
Qin Fang said: "Everyone, follow the soldier who registered you yesterday. Your identity documents have been processed. From today on, you are citizens of Qi State."
"Long live the Qi Kingdom."
"Long live the Qi Kingdom."
"Long live the Emperor of Qi."
Qin Fang watched them relax and feel relieved one by one, and he also breathed a sigh of relief: "Okay, let's go. If anything happens, you can go to the village head or your town head. If they don't care, you can come to the county town to find the county magistrate. You must remember that you are ordinary people of Qi State, and Qi State will definitely not let you down."
"Yes, thank you General Qin."
"General Qin, thank you for taking care of us along the way."
"General Qin, thank you."
The emotion came unexpectedly, looking at the barbarians who thanked him one by one with red eyes, Qin Fang felt a different kind of emotion in his heart. He suddenly felt that the burden on his shoulders was lifted, but he also felt that carrying the burden like this was much more meaningful.
Once, he was a person who worked hard to survive. Later, he was a person who worked hard to make money. And now, he has to continue working hard for the responsibility on his shoulders.
Qin Fang said: "Everyone, please don't be polite. Line up and go to the town to take away the new citizens of Qi State under your jurisdiction."
The eighteen soldiers said, "Yes." They immediately lined up, and the one standing at the front was the soldier named Bai. "My name is Bai Baisen. Which soldier will lead the new citizens of Qi Kingdom to my jurisdiction? Please follow me."
A soldier stepped out of the line and took him to register the thirty-six households: "Mr. Bai, it's me."
Bai Zhen said: "Then could you please come with us and settle them?"
The soldier said, "Yes. Everyone, pack your luggage and follow me."
The soldier was a squadron leader appointed by Qin Fang. Each soldier led a squad of ten people, so the soldier was also called a soldier. This soldier led his squad and escorted thirty-six new citizens of Qiguo to follow Bai Zhenzhang.
Then, his townsmen also left one after another, taking with them the new citizens of the Qi State under their rule.
After more than 3,000 new citizens of Qi State left, the county town was suddenly empty. Only Qin Fang, his spies, and the 100 soldiers Qin Fang brought with him were left.
Qin Fang said to County Magistrate Yang: "Sir Yang, I will set up a military camp in Yunxiang County and take over the city wall of Yunxiang County. Do you have any problems with him?"
County Magistrate Yang hurriedly said, "No, no, General Qin will arrange everything." The people in his county government were not originally used to guard the city walls, and he was more than happy to have Qin Fang take over.
Qin Fang nodded: "That's great."
County Magistrate Yang added: "General, if you need our help, please let us know."
Qin Fang was not polite either: "I do need your help, or rather, I need Lord Yang's help. We can recruit 1,000 soldiers to defend the city. I already have 500 soldiers, and I need to select another 500. So please ask Lord Yang to issue a recruitment notice in the name of the county government. All the selected soldiers will receive 100 wen per month, and the food will be provided by the barracks. They must be between 15 and 40 years old and in good health."
Men in Qi State tie their hair up at the age of fifteen and are considered as virgins. At the age of twenty, they have a ceremony of wearing a cap, which means they are virgins. Therefore, Qin Fang requires that the candidates must be over fifteen years old. Boys who have not tied their hair up yet will not be selected. Between the ages of fifteen and thirteen are the age of dancing with a spoon, which refers to boys.
County Magistrate Yang said, "Yes, I will issue the notice right away." A monthly salary of 100 wen, with food provided, was great news for the people of Yunxiang County. After all, recruiting soldiers in the county was not like marching to the border to fight. Except for the disasters that occurred every winter, there was no danger at all.
But this disaster would have happened even if we hadn't recruited soldiers. Moreover, this year we have a general guarding the city, so the situation is different.
Qin Fang calculated that he still had more than 10,000 silver coins in military pay, and the soldiers had 1,000 mu of land to provide food, so he didn't have to worry. 1,000 soldiers, each with 100 silver coins per month, conservatively 100 silver coins per month, that's 1,200 silver coins per year, and the military pay he had could cover the monthly pay for ten years. Moreover, the court would allocate military pay every year, so even if it was less, he wouldn't have to worry for ten or even fifteen years.
However, Qin Fang is not a fool.
He is a military commander, under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War, whose boss is Du Ke. If he wants military pay and wants the soldiers to live well, he has to flatter Du Ke. As for whether the Ministry of Revenue will provide money, Qin Fang is not worried at all. Isn't this something that Lord Du should be in charge of
Therefore, Qin Fang decided to write a letter to let Lord Du know about this matter in detail.
Du Ke didn't know that he had been entangled by someone.
In fact, Qin Fang was not pestering Du Ke. He knew himself well. He had no background, no connections, and no way out. In theory, he was the one who made the decision, but if something happened, he would also have to bear all the responsibilities. Qin Fang was a steady person, so he had to find a way out for himself, and that way out was Du Ke.
Tell Du Ke all the details. If anything happens, at least it is not his turn to decide. He has already reported it to the Vice Minister of the Ministry of War.
Qin Fang thought for a moment and said, "Recruiting soldiers is the first thing, and the second is to repair the county wall. Your county government should prepare the necessary materials for repairing the wall. By the way, we also need to build a military camp. As for the location of the military camp, does Lord Yang have any recommendations?"
"This..." County Magistrate Yang asked, "Does the general have any place for it?"
Qin Fang said, "Let's go to the eastern suburbs. I heard that there are many wild beasts on the Beast Mountain in the southeast. Every winter, because there is no food, they will come down the mountain to look for prey. As a general guarding the city, it is my responsibility to protect the people. Let's build the military camp in the eastern suburbs. If there is any movement of wild beasts, the military camp will be the first to know."
Upon hearing this, County Magistrate Yang was deeply moved: "On behalf of the people of Yunxiang County, I would like to thank the general."
Qin Fang said: "No need, it's just my duty."
Over the next few days, County Magistrate Yang, with his yamen runners, and Qin Fang, with his soldiers, were completely busy. Building city walls, constructing military camps, recruiting soldiers, nothing took up too much time and energy.
While Qin Fang was busy, Yang Haiyan finally came to Kunming University.
Kunshi Niu Da hired a team to transport the 10 mu of fruit trees. Of the 10 mu of fruit trees, only 80 survived, which means about 80 apple trees and 80 pear trees each. Based on the carrying capacity of 20 fruit trees per team, a total of 8 teams were hired.
Seeing eight carts carrying fruit trees coming back, the soldiers who were repairing the city wall were stunned for a moment. When they looked from a distance, they didn't know who they were, so they were very cautious. When they got closer, the soldiers recognized that the leader was Kunshi Niu Da, and they quickly waved to greet him.
Tao Shan was now Qin Fang's personal guard, and he was in charge of the repair of the city wall. When he saw Kun Shi and the others coming, he happily ran over and said, "Captain, you are finally back."
Kun Shi said, "Yes, I am finally back. How have you been these few days? Look at the situation here. Have those surrendered barbarians been settled?"
Tao Shan said: "They have been settled. The general said that from now on they are the new citizens of Qi State, just like us, they are all Qi people, not barbarians anymore."
Kun Shi said: "Yes, yes, we are all Qi people. Are you repairing the city wall?"
Tao Shan: "I am repairing the city wall with the yamen runners and private guards, and the general is building a military camp with the soldiers. We already have 700 soldiers. We brought 100 soldiers from the Yongzhou military camp, plus 300 soldiers from the new citizens. We have recruited 300 soldiers here in the past few days. If we recruit another 100, the total number of soldiers will be 1,000. By the way, captain, we now have 30 people in the general's mansion..."
Niu Da led his men to the general's mansion. Kun Shi talked with Tao Shan for a while. After learning about what had happened in the past few days, Kun Shi said, "I'll go to the military camp and report to the general."
Tao Shan: “Hey.”
Eastern Suburbs
It took less than a cup of tea to ride from the county town gate to the eastern suburbs. Looking at the military camp that had been built, Kun Shi was deeply moved.
"General." Seeing Qin Fang's figure, Kun Shi dismounted and shouted loudly.
Eight hundred soldiers were needed to build a military camp, which was of course a fast speed. Clay, stone, wood, whatever was needed, could be prepared in a day. When building a military camp, the first thing to build was the lookout tower, followed by the camp's soldiers' dormitories, mess halls, training grounds, and walls.
Kun Shi saw that the four watchtowers in the southeast and north had been completed, and there were already soldiers standing guard on them. Not only the watchtowers, but also the dormitory for the soldiers' camp had been built. It must be said that with the county government taking the lead and the soldiers contributing, things were indeed much more convenient.
"General." When facing Qin Fang, Kun Shi's tired and dusty face became energetic.
Qin Fang saw him and said: "You are finally back. From now on, all the private guards and guards in the mansion will be under your unified management."
Kun Shi stood up straight and said, "General, rest assured. I will not let you down."