gnovel Chapter 51 Observations
Chapter 51 Observations
When it comes to Wangzhuang, the most famous one in the world is Fuwangzhuang in Henan.
When Emperor Wanli granted his beloved son, Prince Fu, 40,000 hectares of farmland as a reward, it shocked the court and the public. Prince Fu was thus known as the "richest man in the land".
However, compared to the King of Qin, the Prince of Fu's land holdings were still insignificant.
After all, the Prince of Fu was only enfeoffed for one generation, while the Prince of Qin was enfeoffed in Xi'an during the reign of Emperor Taizu, which lasted for more than two hundred years, and his land and estates were countless.
However, the lands of the King of Qin were not as concentrated as those of the King of Fu, but were scattered throughout Shaanxi. Moreover, the estates of the princes were always the most fertile lands in the region.
Therefore, it is said that in the Ming Dynasty, 30% of the land was held by the imperial family, and that was the best 30%.
Previously, Li Chengye had considered taking Wangzhuang, but the village was quite far from Huanglong Mountain, a poor and remote place, and even if he could capture it, transportation would be a major problem.
The journey was long, and if government troops came out to intercept us along the way, we would have to abandon the grain we had obtained, wasting our efforts and even losing lives.
At this point, he inquired in detail about the details of Wangzhuang that Luo Dai knew, and Luo Dai replied, "This Wangzhuang is not actually a proper estate."
Iron ore was discovered along the Ju River earlier, and the Qin Prince's Mansion bought and occupied that land. Although it was named Wangzhuang, it was mainly for mining, with only a few hundred acres of farmland interspersed.
Most of the excavated iron was transported to Xi'an Prefecture and Yansui Town. Because they were afraid of offending the imperial court, they often smelted the iron directly into iron blocks and ingots before shipping it.
Previously, when we were doing business in the mountains, we encountered a merchant caravan escorted by government troops. They were flying the banner of the Prince's Palace, but there weren't many people escorting them. We were curious, so we went to investigate and found out the reason.
After clarifying the situation, Li Chengye instructed Han Sanhu to take several capable men to scout out the true situation of Wangzhuang the next day.
Afterwards, everyone continued to drink and eat meat, enjoying themselves immensely, with Luo Dai getting quite drunk.
When Luo Dai woke up early the next morning, the sun was already high in the sky.
His house was built with timber from the mountains, about five feet underground. Although it was simple, it was fully equipped with pots, pans, bedding, and other necessities.
Upon leaving, he realized that this was the best house in the vicinity. Others told him that Li Chengye had given up his own house.
Upon hearing this, Luo Dai was deeply moved.
He asked a passerby where Li Chengye was, and the person replied, "The manager is leading people to clear land ahead."
The August sun gets scorching at midday, so we choose to work during the cooler hours of the morning and evening.
When Luo Dai went to look for him, he saw Li Chengye leading people to reclaim wasteland along the flat land in the mountains, cutting grass and felling trees. The felled firewood was piled up and carried away by the group in turns, obviously to be used as firewood.
Luo Dai stepped closer and asked curiously, "Brother, what are you doing?"
When Li Chengye saw Luo Dai approaching, he handed the sickle in his hand to someone nearby and went to greet him.
"I'm planning to clear this land and cultivate it. Relying solely on plunder is not a long-term solution; we need to establish ourselves here. However, before clearing the land, there are too many weeds and shrubs. I initially considered burning the land, but I'm worried about the dense forests in the mountains. I need to clear the branches and build firebreaks first, so that the fire won't spread into a wildfire," Li Chengye replied.
Although Luo Dai neither agreed nor disagreed with Li Chengye's idea of cultivating the land, he still praised it a few times.
As the sun grew increasingly scorching, Li Chengye exchanged a few words with Luo Dai and then called out to everyone, "That's all for today's work."
The group then packed up their tools, bundled up the firewood, and carried it back to camp.
Li Chengye also carried a bundle on his back and walked towards the camp.
Seeing this, Luo Dai felt that everyone around him was carrying firewood, and it would be too conspicuous for him to be empty-handed, so he also picked up a bundle of firewood and followed.
Seeing that he was unfamiliar with farm work and the firewood on his back was crooked, Li Chengye couldn't help but find it amusing.
So she stopped and waited for him to come over, helped him straighten the firewood on his back, and the two walked together.
Back at the camp, they saw Liu Ye training his troops, practicing the formations and discipline of the border army.
Under the sun, more than a hundred armored soldiers stood in formation, motionless, like wooden sculptures.
Liu Ye held a thin stick in his hand and patrolled back and forth in the queue to see if anyone had moved.
If anyone made the slightest movement, he would step forward and strike them with a stick, then expel that person from the line, and so on.
Luo Dai had spent a considerable amount of time in the border army, but he had never seen such a training method before. Curious, he asked Li Chengye, "Brother, what kind of method is this? I understand being punished for not practicing well, but why are people being driven out of the ranks?"
Li Chengye picked up the water bag, took a sip of water, and explained, "These people are making selections."
More and more people have been coming to join me lately, and although the food supplies in the mountains are still enough to last, we must use them sparingly. I have divided them into several classes according to their combat strength: the first class consists of elite soldiers who can don armor and fight on the battlefield; the second class consists of disciplined soldiers who are fit to be combat troops. Right now, they are being trained to wear armor and carry heavy loads, to test their resilience, and to select those who can last until the end. Those who remain will be incorporated into the combat troops.
"How many people are you selecting? How do you choose one person?" Luo Dai pressed.
"Ten out of a thousand people will be selected."
"Wow! That's truly one in a hundred!"
"Exactly. With limited supplies, we can only rely on elite troops. As long as we can outrun and outfight the government forces, we have nothing to fear from their large-scale encirclement and suppression," Li Chengye said. "Previously, Liu Yingyu, the military commissioner of Shaanxi, tried to ambush and suppress us while I was attacking a powerful household, but I led my troops directly to break through his ambush from his left flank."
"I've heard of Liu Yingyu too," Luo Dai chimed in. "He's a civil official by profession, but he's well-versed in military strategy. In the past two years, he's quelled several bandit gangs. He's not someone to be trifled with."
Li Chengye nodded: "He is indeed not someone to be trifled with. After that incident, he attempted to encircle and besiege our army several times, but I saw through his plans in advance and thwarted his efforts."
These days, the number of refugees seeking refuge with me is increasing daily. Liu Yingyu has therefore set up additional checkpoints at several key locations in the surrounding area to intercept the refugees and prevent them from coming to me, presumably because he fears my growing manpower.
"But he forgot that it was the government, which was incompetent in providing relief, that forced the people to come to me. With the main roads blocked, many refugees sneaked into the mountains along mountain paths, just to seek refuge, but many people often slipped and fell along the way."
Finally, Li Chengye said, "The hearts of the people are with me!"
Upon hearing this, Luo Dai nodded repeatedly in admiration.
Liu Ye was extremely strict in training his troops, and he did not slacken his efforts even when the sun was high in the sky.
He only ordered the crowd to disperse and rest after seeing that the vast majority of people had begun to sway and lose their balance.
He wiped the sweat from his brow, saw Li Chengye waving at him, and walked over. He first clasped his hands in a salute to Li Chengye, and then nodded to Luo Dai.
The three sat around a stone stool. In the morning, when they were clearing the land, they had picked a lot of Schisandra chinensis in the mountains. Now Chengen washed them and served them on a plate.
Li Chengye poured water for Luo Dai and Liu Ye and invited them to try the wild fruits from the mountains.
"These mountain fruits taste good, with a perfect balance of sweet and sour."
After thanking him, Liu Ye tried one and found it refreshing. He then unknowingly ate a small handful.
There were some matters to attend to at Master Qin's rear camp, so Master Qin summoned Li Chengye away.
Now only Luo Dai and Liu Ye remained. Seeing that everyone else was at a distance, Luo Dai asked, "Brother Liu Ye, do you think Brother Chengye can accomplish anything?"