A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 207 Wushiwu Castle
On the second day after arriving at Longqiao Fort, Huaiyu finally saw the second and third sisters. They had received the letter early and brought their families and children here. Even Lao Wu's two parents also came.

The two older sisters were also married to Yuan Cong's family of the forbidden army, they both settled in the Baiqu area of ​​Weibei, and they were even the sons of veteran officers like Zheng Zheng of the brigade commander.

The two families arrived almost one after the other. The female relatives rode donkeys, the males rode horses, and even drove a carriage, bringing children and a lot of gifts. It can be seen that the conditions of the two sisters' families are not good, and they both belong to the imperial army. The small landlords used to own two or three hundred acres of land.

This time the Turks were raging in Guanzhong. Fortunately, Huaiyu had warned in advance and made some arrangements. Although the two sisters did not go to Chang'an, they also went to the county to take refuge in advance. It was also preserved.

The eldest sister took the two younger sisters to talk endlessly to Wu Liushi, and Huaiyu was by her side. The two elder sisters looked a lot like the eldest sister, and they spoke very quickly. Their husbands were also very young. A stout man like Yiyi is a soldier of the imperial army.

Because of their schedule, after Huaiyu came, they hadn't had their turn in Chang'an, so they hadn't seen each other. The strange brother-in-law, Huaiyu, has now become Lord Hou and Baiqi Zuoying envoy. He was just the brother-in-law of an ordinary soldier of the Forbidden Army, and he was still somewhat restrained.

Even Huaiyi, who was familiar with him before, is now a baron and a commander in chief.

Fan Xuanfu, the future brother-in-law, is not born at all, she is very kind to her two aunts, and she also fetches the gifts prepared for them earlier, silk, satin, damask, flower cloth and several kinds of jewelry, both sisters think this gift is too heavy up.

"Thanks to listening to your in-laws earlier, we didn't sell any of the grain and rent we collected in the fields this summer. They were all stored in the county early, and some of them were stored in Chang'an. This Turkic wolf cub Come on, let's take our mules, horses, cattle and sheep and run to the county seat, although the crops in this field have been destroyed, and some of the family's shabby belongings have also been smashed..."

The old man of the two imperial guards sat together with Lao Wu, talking about these things with great emotion, this time their respective villages were destroyed, but they had almost no big losses, but many of the same villages suffered big losses. Some people refused to leave because they were worried about food and livestock, so they disappeared.

And their food for humans and animals was preserved, and others suffered from cold and hunger. They not only had food and clothing, but also took the opportunity to borrow a lot of food.

This time, like Lao Wu, he even bought a lot of land after the war, and now all of them are landlords with more than [-] acres of land.

It is not surprising for them to rebuild two cave dwellings when Lao Wu returned home with a thousand shi of grain, although they thought it would be more cost-effective to sell the grain or borrow it out while the grain price was still high. It is necessary to repair the cave, after all, this is Lao Wu's home.

But it’s the same when you cultivate.

"My brother is not the same as before. Now that he enters the officialdom, the two sons are more promising. They are both knighted. A good reputation is more important." The second sister's father-in-law said.

"I'm envious of my elder brother, this Wu family's great luck is coming, I really can't stop it, Feng Hou Feng Nan, Zi Qi is coming from the east." The third sister and father-in-law envied.

noon.

People from Lijiazhuang next door also came, and it was actually Li Sanniang who came here in person and brought a few cages of chickens and ducks.

"Erlang sent a letter in time before, asking us to withdraw into Sanyuan County, so that we would not be destroyed,"

I haven't seen Li Sanniang for a long time, but Li Sanniang hasn't changed much. The two had just chatted a few words, and Fan Xuanfu hurried over. She knew Li Sanniang, but they weren't familiar. Fan Xuanfu was very wary of this young Li Sanniang, and didn't want to Let Wu Huaiyu have too much contact with her.

Although as Li Sanniang, it is impossible to have any chance with Wu Huaiyu, who is engaged, but women are always very vigilant. She will not feel any sense of crisis towards orchids like Irina, nor will she feel that the palace The Gao sisters who were given were a threat to her, and even Run Niang was worried about her.

But towards Li Sanniang, she was very defensive, even a little hostile.

Li Sanniang felt it, smiled and went to chat with Runniang.

Huaiyu also felt it, but he just smiled.

"Erlang, your three-hole cave dwelling is too small. I heard that half of it collapsed before. It was a place where donkeys were kept and pigs were kept?"

"Ah."

Fan Xuanfu was a bit disgusted. Although she had suffered a lot, her family was convicted and her family was reduced to slaves, but now it is no different than before.

"When we come to Longqiao in the future, we can't live there, and we can't live there."

Wu Huaiyu looked at the three younger sisters who came with Fan Xuanfu. They were sister-in-laws, but now they are about to become their concubine. It turns out that they are all tall and slender, but they always take the lead to cut horses, which always makes Wu Huaiyu a little headache.

"Erlang, why don't we just build a courtyard? When you were in Zhang County, didn't you draw a courtyard for me? It looks better than the Kuoyuan. Anyway, when you come back to repair the cave this time, you also want to use your work for relief. , to help the villagers tide over the difficulties,

Why don't we just build a quadrangle courtyard, we have a lot of family members, so let's build a three-entry quadrangle courtyard. By then, Aye, my brother, and us will be exactly three courtyards.

Don't worry about the money and food, I will pay for it. "

Fan Xuanfu had a lot of money in his private house, and Fan Xing also prepared a large sum of money for his daughter as a dowry. The farm alone was three thousand acres, and Huaiyu gave him a gift, and Fan Xing even doubled it as a dowry for his daughter. It was given to Fan Xuanfu.

After Wu Huaiyu gave the betrothal gift, she is really penniless now and even borrowed a lot of money from Qin Qiong, a warrior, and the others, which is really not comparable to Fan Fupo.

People are rich and powerful.

Fan Xuanfu walked around the banks of Longqiao Fort a few times, liked this place very much, and went to Lijiazhuang in the north to have a look, and when he came back, he became more and more determined to build a house, but it was just an upgrade.

Not satisfied with building a simple three-entry courtyard, he wanted to build a stronger and bigger one.

"You want to build a dock?"

"Well, if the Turkic people come again in the future, I won't be afraid." Fan Xuanfu said.

Wubao is built on flat ground, surrounded by walls, with doors open front and back, watchtowers built in the dock, and turrets built in the four corners, which is slightly like a city system.

There are many Wubao in the north. Most of these Wubao originated from the period of Wang Mang at the end of the Han Dynasty. The Wei and Jin Dynasties were the most prosperous. Also known as dock wall.

A dock can often accommodate many members of a family.

When encountering rebellious soldiers and bandits, once the gate of the fort is closed, the strong men will go upstairs with bows and arrows.

The center of Lijiazhuang is a Wubao, and the periphery is populated by clansmen and Zhuang Ding.

Huaiyu has been to Lijiazhuang several times. The Wubao in Lijiazhuang is actually quite simple. It is equivalent to an earth building with high earth walls on all sides, turrets at the four corners, and tall watchtowers in the dock.

Compared with a real military fort, this kind of dock is not as good as the post station beacon fort in the Western Regions, but it is still good for self-defense of villagers.

Later generations of Huaiyu have seen many Hakka earthen buildings, some of which are very well built, and the large ones can accommodate hundreds of families. Although it is not very comfortable to live in, it is really good for its defensive function.

Fan Xuanfu wanted to upgrade the courtyard into Wu's Wubao, not to build a city.

It is just equivalent to a fortress-style courtyard house, with four wall foundations built of stone and rammed earth, and the walls must be at least ten meters high.

Inside this circle of walls, a circle of three-story houses can be built, similar to the inverted houses in the courtyard.

Wu Huaiyu doesn't like this kind of dock. Its defensive performance is indeed good, but it is not suitable for living.

It's the same as being in prison, with poor lighting, poor ventilation, and cramped space.

But Fan Xuanfu felt that there was a Wubao in Lijiazhuang, and they should also build one.She even plans to take advantage of this opportunity to find a way to buy more land around here.

Huaiyu felt that Fan Xuanfu had the intention of turning Longqiao Castle into Wujiabao.

Women's comparisons are terrible.

"Why don't we just build an ordinary courtyard with three entrances? We can make the courtyard walls a little higher."

"It's better to build a Wubao. If you think Lijiazhuang is not good-looking, you can draw a good-looking one for the craftsmen to build. I will pay for the money and food. It needs to be taller and have more houses. In the future, it must be able to accommodate everyone. If you live in a house, you have to be able to guard against rebels and bandits."

"This is Gyeonggi, there won't be any rioting soldiers and bandits."

But Fan Xuanfu said, "Didn't the Longqiao Fort just be breached by the Turkic people? Didn't the Lijiazhuang was also ransacked by Jieli's troops last time, let alone the capital, and the capital may not always be peaceful."

"The ancestors of our Fan family were Wuling barbarians. They used to live in the stockade. There was never real peace. They often fought with each other. It would be impossible if the stockade was not built firmly."

Wu Huaiyu thought for a while, "Then let me make a good design and build a fort that is both defensive and livable?"

Since you can't stop Fan Xuanfu, let's build a good-looking place to live in. It can't be too big, otherwise the impact will be bad. Let's build an upgraded version of the compound, or build a simpler earthen building.

There are thousands of kinds of Hakka earth buildings, and there is always a suitable one.

Fan Xuanfu was very happy to see that Huaiyu agreed to come down, and while there was no one around, he leaned up and kissed him, then ran away laughing happily.

Fan Xuanfu is an activist. When she returned home, she proposed to Lao Wu that she wanted to buy some land here. She offered the villagers a land price that was much higher than the market price, and the seller could even freely choose to trade with grain, money, and silk.

And she also made a very good condition, that is, after the land was sold to her, she promised to lease the land to the original owner, and even agreed on the land rent, and guaranteed that it would be affordable.

This condition is very attractive to many villagers at present. Although some villagers have borrowed money and food from the Wu family before, they will have to pay it back next spring. I can't afford it.

When farming starts in spring, it will cost money to buy seeds and farm tools. Many people even have no cattle and horses, so they have to rent cattle at that time, which is a huge expense.

At this time, it is also a good choice to consider selling part of the land. Although the income from self-cultivation is all for oneself, tenant farming has to pay a lot of rent. Isn't there no way?

For this Mrs. Fan, not only did no one hate her, but they had to be grateful to her for saving her life. Not only did she not take advantage of the fire, but she also gave such a good condition.

Fan Xuanfu wanted to build a dock, but Lao Wu was surprised and wanted to refuse. Huaiyu winked at him, and then explained the preliminary plan to everyone.

Lao Wu thought about it for a long time, and decided to let them go. Anyway, the daughter-in-law here is rich, so building a small fort, covering an area of ​​several acres, is not a big deal, after all, such forts are everywhere. It can be regarded as a relatively powerful manor.

"I just discussed with Erlang and decided to invite the two gentlemen to come to Longqiao and build a social school here. In the future, our children in Longqiaobao can start school in the village instead of going to Lijiazhuang to study.

Lijiazhuang's social school recruits fewer students every year, and many children in our castle can't get in. "Fan Xuanfu suddenly threw out another plan, without discussing this matter with Huaiyu in advance, she paid for the two gentlemen to come to the village to teach.

As soon as this remark came out, countless people praised it, even Lao Wu was very happy to praise it, and Ma Zhou repeatedly said it was a good thing.

Fan Xuanfu smiled proudly at Huaiyu.

This girl is getting more and more bold now, but the cost of running a village school is not too high, and the fame and reputation it may bring will indeed be very high, which is a very positive thing.

Borrowing grain here, retrieving land there, and running a school, Fan Xuanfu, the fiancée of Erlang of the Wu family, immediately won the favor of all the villagers of Longqiaobao, and everyone praised him.

"Erlang is lucky to marry such a virtuous wife."

"Erlang is still arrogant, these must be Erlang's idea."

"Old Wu is lucky!"

"Wu family is lucky!"

(End of this chapter)