Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 235 Harvest
Zhao Zhen stayed in Heihu Temple Town for only one day. He transferred Xiao Rang and left Sun An and his men behind before returning to Baishi Valley.

After the soldiers were rewarded according to their merits, they all returned to their respective camps, and the new heroes were also arranged. Zhao Zhen held banquets for three consecutive days, on the one hand to celebrate the victorious return, and on the other hand to welcome the new heroes.

Although Zou Yuan and Zou Run arrived earlier than Shi Jin and his four companions from Shaohua Mountain, and although they were assigned duties, they never talked to the other two.

Zhao Zhen called the two of them over and asked, "Brothers, you have been in Liangshan for more than half a month. How do you feel?"

Zou Yuan said: "Sir, here we have plenty of food and clothing, no shortage of wine and meat, and many brothers compete with each other in martial arts every day. This is exactly the life my uncle and nephew want."

Zou Run also said: "That's right, it's a pity that there is no gambling house here, sir."

Zhao Zhen smiled and said, "I have also discovered this. There are indeed fewer places for entertainment in Liangshan County. The brothers Deng Fei and Shi Yong, who are familiar to you two, and the Ruan brothers have also said that although there are singers in the restaurant, most brothers are not interested in them. Wu Yong, Xiao Rang and I have also talked about this, and no one objects."

"But you should also know that small gambling is good for your mood, but big gambling is harmful to your health. After a while, when Dulonggang is sorted out, we will set up a gambling house in the restaurant managed by Zhu Gui and Du Xing in front of the hill. There are many caravans there, so you can go and have fun when you are not on duty."

The two of them were delighted when they heard this. Zou Run said, "That's good. Brother Shi Yong is also there."

world log
Name: Zou Yuan (Hero, Short Star)

Nickname: Out of the Forest Dragon
Race: Terran

Reputation: 50 (Bandit Leader of Dengyun Mountain in Dengzhou)

Occupation: Idle man

Sub-professional: Mountain King

Level: Level 2 and Level 9 (Strength 36, Commander 10)

Attributes: Strength 33, Constitution 20, Agility 26, Spirit 15
Skills: Run around level 2 (walking in the rivers and lakes, physique +2), Insider level 2 (changing appearance, spirit +2), Guanpu level 3 (quick eyes and hands, spirit +3)

Commander Skill: Bravery Level 1 (Leading the troops, morale +1)

Martial arts: Axe (proficient, using a large axe force +4, six-force wind-splashing axe) Stick (proficient, using a stick weapon force +4, three-way bending waist flying tiger stick)

Equipment: Jujube wood flying tiger stick, axe

Monthly salary: 8 dollars

Zou Yuan is on par with Zou Run, but his fighting power is slightly higher. He also knows the Wind-Pouring Axe Technique and the Flying Tiger Stick Technique, but he has an additional hard Qigong skill called Iron Head Technique.

Zhao Zhen asked, "Brother, do you two have any ideas about your soldiers?"

Zou Yuan touched his head and said, "Sir, we two are not good at training soldiers. Among those who came with us, only about twenty people learned the axe techniques from us. The rest are weak and cannot use the big axe."

"Most soldiers in the army use long sticks and spears, and most of them use broadswords and heavy swords. These weapons are not what we are good at. During the fight with Zhujiazhuang this time, I saw that the Xue Yong brothers had just trained their long spears. With the advantage of the spear length, they had a great advantage on the battlefield. I was thinking, can we also train some soldiers to use big axes?"

After listening, Zhao Zhen said, "Since you two brothers have an idea, you can implement it now. There are nearly a thousand soldiers stationed in the Wanzi City camp. You two can select two more soldiers and teach them axe skills. I will also equip them with heavy armor, and in the future they will be no weaker than the [Heavy Front] trained by Bao Xu." After listening, Zou Run and Zou Yuan were very excited. Regardless of meal time, they asked Zhao Zhen to write the first order, and the two hurried to Wanzi City to select soldiers.

Zhao Zhen was very happy to see the two of them so enthusiastic.

After having lunch with Cheng Wan'er, Zhao Zhen saw that Cheng Wan'er was in a good mood and said, "My wife, although everything went smoothly during the attack on Dulonggang this time, it was because we fought so well that Lijiazhuang and Hujiazhuang surrendered early. It is not easy to raise troops to attack again."

"That's why, under the instigation of Wu Xuejiu, I married Sanniang from Hujiazhuang as my concubine. This way, Dulonggang will be safe."

Cheng Wan'er asked, "I wonder what kind of personality the woman my husband is going to marry has."

Zhao Zhen said, "Madam, I have never seen her either, but I heard that she is a female cavalry general with excellent martial arts skills."

The two discussed the matter of taking a concubine and rested for a while. Then Zhao Zhen went to the hall where Wu Yong, Xiao Rang and Pei Xuan were all there.

After greeting each other, the four of them sat down. Wu Yong said, "Sir, the spoils have been counted. Zhujiazhuang has 200,000 dan of grain, more than 400 war horses, more than 1,000 pack horses, oxen and mules, a thousand sets of leather armor, 300 sets of iron armor, and countless weapons. There is less gold and silver, only more than 20,000 taels were found in the secret vault, three boxes of jade, porcelain, antiques, calligraphy and paintings, jewelry, etc., and more than 3,000 bolts of silk and satin."

"The treasures for entering the rank are four sets of weapons and armor, five fine horses, a white jade court scepter, a mandarin duck poison pot, and a hundred-year-old ginseng."

After Wu Yong finished speaking, he looked at Xiao Rang.

Xiao Rang said, "There are 8,000 households in the three villages of Dulonggang, and 200,000 mu of farmland. Excluding private land, the county has added 100,000 mu of farmland, including Lijiazhuang and Hujiazhuang, and it is still rented to the households in the three villages for cultivation. It's a pity that in such a large place like Dulonggang, there is only one spiritual farm in Zhujiazhuang, which is five mu in size, not as good as Heihu Temple Town, where the spiritual farm is divided into two, each with four mu in size."

"I am thinking about moving hundreds of households to the coal mine in Heihu Temple Town so that they can specialize in coal mining. I am thinking about relocating the households brought by brothers Shi Jin and Zou Run to Dulonggang and building a new village."

"The population of Dulonggang is larger than that of Liangshan County. Although they all live on Dulonggang, farmers far from the fields have built shacks in the fields and live in the shacks during the busy farming season, which is very inconvenient. Brother Pei Xuan and I have discussed whether we should split the three villages of Dulonggang into five or seven hundred households each and disperse them to different places. In this way, each village will be close to the fields, which will be much more convenient in the future."

Wu Yong said: "That's right. With the population of each village dispersed, they will naturally not dare to rebel in the future. The three old villages will be stationed with soldiers, and the remaining villages will each form a team of militiamen, who will only need to train during the slack season. This way, a lot of expenses can be saved."

Zhao Zhen listened, nodded, and said: "It is a good opportunity to take advantage of the land to select a good village site, so that Tao Zongwang and his men can select a site and start construction, and complete it as soon as possible."

Seeing that Zhao Zhen agreed to his plan, Xiao Rang continued, "My Lord, Zhujiazhuang is easy to handle, but Lijiazhuang and Hujiazhuang may not be easy to split up rashly."

Zhao Zhen frowned and said nothing, but Wu Yong said, "Brother Xiao Rang, there is no need to rush. Just split up Zhujiazhuang first. There are also many landless farmers in Lijiazhuang and Hujiazhuang. When they see the benefits, they will naturally go to the villages and rent the fields in the county."

Zhao Zhen said, "We have no choice but to do this for now."

"Scholar, has Zhu Yongqing found out his whereabouts?"

Wu Yong said: "Brothers Shi Qian and Bai Sheng have been sent out to look for him, but they haven't returned yet."

Zhao Zhen was also scratching his head after hearing this. After all, there was fog around, so there must be many villages and towns, and it was only two days' journey from Yanggu County.

We can only wait for Shi Qian and Bai Sheng to return and see if there is any news.

(End of this chapter)