Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 1170 Kang Fu
Fresh turnips were pulled out one after another and piled up on the ridge of the field.

Tuoba Yichang stood aside, watching silently.

The busy peasants saluted him respectfully when they saw him in the bright military uniform of the guards.

They are the Dangxiang people recruited by the Tuoba clan from Hengshan, three or four families, about 20 men and women, and they are all picking up the turnips in the field.

As a rare vegetable in winter, turnips have been a favorite food of Guanbei officials and people since the Lingxia era.After the Guanbei military and political group entered Luoyang, they brought this eating habit over.Therefore, there is a great demand for turnips in the market, which has stimulated the people in Luoyang and Henan counties to plant them in large quantities.

This is the business model of farmers on the outskirts of big cities.For them, growing food is not very profitable. Growing vegetables and fruits and selling them in cities often earn more than growing grains.

In these farmlands, it has basically become a custom to plant vegetables or pastures in summer and autumn, turnips and carrots that have just begun to be promoted in winter and spring.

This is all the fields of the Tuoba family, with a total of more than one hundred acres.For the small basin of Luoyang, it is actually quite good, let alone the fields close to the capital.

Yes, the land resources around Luoyang are not very plentiful, and they have already been allocated to the immigrants who came earlier - through the method of installment payment.

If the family members of the soldiers who moved here later wanted to buy land, they could only go to farther counties such as Yanshi, Gongxian, and Goushi. They may not be able to buy land, and it is very inconvenient-the family lives more than a hundred miles away. , You are in the barracks, and you have a total of several days of vacation. Isn't it troublesome to come and go?
What's more, many sergeants don't buy land at all.Planting woolland is a way of working hard. I can only kill people, but I don't know how to farm land, and I don't want to farm land.

"Okay, let's wash and load the car." Tuoba Yichang said.

The dealers responded one after another.

On the post road not far away, there was a carriage waiting.The leader was a tall man of eighteen or nineteen years old named Kang Fu, who was also the farmer of the Tuoba family.

Kang Fu was a native of Shatuo. He was captured in the Battle of Daibei, and then repaired Miyagi in Luoyang.In July of the first year of Jianji, today Shanghua turned Tang into summer, amnesty for the whole world, Kang Fu was pardoned, and settled down in Henan County.But he was poor and had nothing, so he went to Tuoba's farm to make a living as a farmer.

"Kang Fu, are you really leaving?" Tuoba Yichang walked a few steps, looked at the young man standing in front of him, and asked.

"Yes." Kang Fu didn't say much, and said directly: "I have already made an appointment with someone to go to Anton Mansion together."

"Have you recruited government soldiers?" Tuoba Yichang asked with his eyes fixed.

Kang Fu is from the Weizhou Military Academy. He is skilled in bow and horse, and his martial arts are quite good. He also has an aura of daring to fight.Therefore, after arriving at Tuoba's house, he didn't farm at all, and he didn't know how to farm. He mainly cared for livestock and looked after the house.

Such a person is actually quite easy to use.If he left, where would the Tuoba clan recruit another former military academy to look after their home?Impossible thing.

"It's been recruited. Some people have passed the school test. They will shoot the deer, march towards the grass shooter, and immediately shoot left and right. There are also horse lance, step lance, and horizontal knife skills. I have all been top-notch." When talking about this, Kang Fulue A little bit of arrogance was revealed.

Tuoba Yichang was also a young man, and he felt very uncomfortable when he heard it, so he sneered: "You are so powerful, why are you still a prisoner?"

Kang Fu blushed and said: "Xia Bing...there are too many officers and troops, and they are everywhere. I waited for hundreds of people to set up a small village on the mountain, and fought hard for many days, but there was no reinforcements, so I had to surrender. It wasn't me. Waiting for bravery, 500 people guarded the village, only 200 surrendered in the end, and the corpses of party soldiers outside the village were stacked one after another.”

Tuoba Yichang felt even more uncomfortable.

But after all, he had experienced both in Yanbei and the palace, he quickly suppressed some dissatisfaction in his heart, found a servant, and whispered a few words.After a while, the servant brought two woolen cloths, and Tuoba Yichang asked them to hand them over to Kang Fu.

"It's also an acquaintance." Tuoba Yichang said: "I won't leave until March or April next year, right? Then I've been working in my house for almost two years. Take these two woolen cloths, it's a gift."

Kang Fu was taken aback, reached out to take it, and thanked him.

Woolen cloth is not as valuable as silk, but its value has increased day by day in the past year. The better wool cloth has reached [-] yuan a piece, which is not much cheaper than some cheap miscellaneous silk.Moreover, looking at the current trend, the price of a single piece of woolen cloth can increase by another ten or twenty yuan, because people are more and more accepting of this new thing, and the demand is increasing.

It's all a wave of sages!
At first it was worn by him and his women, and then the personal soldiers began to wear it, and then the big soldiers.Although the sweaters at that time were warm, they were not very popular because they were piercing.The sage rewarded it, and everyone followed suit, whether to wear it or not.However, last year, the quality of woolen cloth has improved, it has become softer and softer, and the output has also increased greatly. Winter and spring official uniforms have also begun to distribute sweaters, which has raised the status of woolen cloth at once, and the price of a single piece has skyrocketed. Thirty dollars.

Of course, what underpins the price of felt cloth is that it can be used to deduct taxes.This makes common people feel safe and bold to raise sheep for wool, no longer worrying that it is useless.

In Henan Province today, houses are built to grow mulberries in the gardens, and wheat, beans, and pastures are grown in the fields. Farmers are basically used to this farming mode, and the social landscape is quite different.

Kang Fu's winter coat is made of woolen cloth.There is no other reason, it is cheap.Before that, not everyone of the common people had warm clothes.Take these two bolts of wool cloth back, and you can make some clothes, which is a great reward.

"Let's go." After the turnips were cleaned and loaded into the car, Tuoba Yichang waved his hand and set off with the horses and chariots.

His vacation is over, and he happened to return to the palace together for duty.These cartloads of turnips were also purchased in the palace, and they were escorted along the way—as a nursing home, Kang Fu naturally followed.

"Who are you dating?" Tuoba Yichang asked as he had nothing to do on the road.

"The two veterans of the imperial army, who retired as they got older, are both from the volunteer army." Kang Fu replied.

"How do you know them?" Tuoba Yichang looked at him suspiciously.

"They were all captive soldiers from the east of the river. They were lucky enough to be picked out and joined the Forbidden Army as supplementary soldiers." Kang Fu replied, "I was already old when I entered. After hanging around for a few years, I retired. Not yet. If you have time to buy family property, now that you think about it, you might as well not buy anything, buy some things, and settle down in Andong Mansion."

"Yi Congjun..." Tuoba Yichang pondered for a while, and said: "After the Weibo, Yi Congjun returned to Henan Mansion to rest and recuperate. I heard that the battle damage has not been repaired for a long time, which is a bit interesting."

"I won't add it anymore." Kang Fu said: "Or even if it is added, there will be more people leaving and fewer people entering. The imperial court is using this method to reduce the number of volunteers."

War damage and retirement will cause vacancies, but if it has not been replenished for a long time, everyone knows what the court is up to.However, this is indeed a relatively soft way of disarmament, which is much lighter than the shock caused by the dismissal of the establishment.

"The world is not peaceful yet, so there is no need to raise so many soldiers?" Tuoba Yichang sighed.

The carriage was driving on the first-class national road, and it was extremely brisk.

There are stretches of farmland on both sides of the road.There are also various winter vegetables grown in the fields, such as turnips and cabbage.Several fields of turnips and cabbage were planted together, which was done by farmers who had received money from the Henan government for agricultural education.It is said that cabbage and turnip will "give birth" to many strange "children", just like a Han Chinese married a Sogdian and the child born has the characteristics of both parties.

Tuoba Yichang believed in this, because horses and donkeys can give birth to mules, and turnips and cabbage are also possible.Maybe one day, there will be a few more winter vegetables on the table of ordinary people, which is very good.

"There are too many soldiers. King Jin's soldiers don't have as much money as here, and they are just as exhausted," Kang Fu said.

Martial artisans in different feudal towns all over the world have different incomes.For example, Zhu Xuan and Zhu Jin’s soldiers were not treated as well as Zhu Quanzhong’s Xuanwu Army, while Shi Pu’s Xuzhou soldiers earned more than Xuanwu Army, and Yang Xingmi’s Huainan soldiers earned more than them, it all depends on the economic situation of each town.

"There are quite a few generals in the Anton Mansion. If you go there, you have to risk your life to be able to stand out." After walking this way, Tuoba Yichang no longer has any grudges against this proud young man.Thinking about it, they are all people who are going to the frontier to fight for wealth, so why bother with him?

"I know. The Longwu army envoy Liu Wei is the most famous in Anton Mansion. He marched hundreds of miles into Liaoyang, and people in Luoyang praised him. In addition, there are fierce generals like Wang Yanzhang. It is heard that they don't ride alone once or twice. The Khitan people fear them like tigers," Kang Fu said.

"It's more than that." Tuoba Yichang said: "Dong Zhang, general of Yanzhou, and Zhang Wen, general of Qingzhou, were born in Yinanzhi, and they are His Majesty's personal soldiers. Excellent skill in killing the enemy, outstanding meritorious service. Along the way, there are a lot of talents, and Fu Cunshen is also a handsome talent. What is lacking now is nothing more than household registration, money, food, and supplies. If this is solved, the northward movement will be like a broken bamboo, and it will be easy to drive the Khitan people out of western Liaoning."

"Then we have to go to the meeting." Kang Fu laughed.

As a young man, he always feels that his martial arts are the best in the world, and killing enemies and doing meritorious service on the battlefield is nothing to worry about.Afterwards, the sage looked at him with admiration, and promoted him again and again, all of which came naturally.

"Henan government recruits government soldiers, most of them are veterans of the forbidden army?" Tuoba Yichang asked again.

"Most of them are. Rural youths can also apply, but the number of places is limited." Kang Fu said.

"Do you know where you are going?"

"I don't know."

Tuoba Yichang was stunned.

He actually knew a little bit of the inside story, because once the sage had a discussion with the ministers of the Privy Council, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Household Affairs, and he was on duty and heard it.

Of course, it's one thing to hear it, but to say it is courting death, Tuoba Yichang is not so stupid.

If there is no accident, the Henan government will provide more than a thousand veterans of the forbidden army, 500 brave men recruited by the people, plus a thousand Wei Bo masters, to build a military camp near the mouth of the Daliao River. Many people imagine going to Lushun County to live a good life.

After the military stronghold is built, people, equipment, food, and livestock will be slowly transported there to reclaim the fields and graze livestock.When the time is right, they will build cities and set up counties, which will become another solid stronghold for attacking Khitan.

At noon time, the carriage of Tuoba Yichang's family entered Dongdu Garden through Xing'an Gate, and handed the winter vegetables to the middle official of the farm supervisor.

(End of this chapter)