Three thousand miles in exile

Jinyang City.

The sky was bright and Zhao Liangchen's family got up early, his wife was busy with breakfast in the kitchen, and his son put on the clothes of a yamen servant and came to the yard for morning boxing training.

"Madam, give me two biscuits to eat as you walk along the road, I'll hurry to the Secretariat." Zhao Liangchen put on the dark gray official uniform of the eighth-rank official, with the official hat in his hand, and was about to go out.

"No matter how urgent you are, you have to eat something." Mrs. Zhao hurriedly packed pancakes and sent them out of the kitchen.

There are two secretaries in the secretariat, four secretaries, and four non-reputable writers. Zhao Liangchen is the secretary.

This year, the wasteland around Jinyang City is being reclaimed, and all kinds of affairs in the new village are gathered in the secretariat like snowflakes. If Zhao Liangchen doesn't go to the yamen to work earlier, it will be too late to deliver the documents that arrived last night before noon.

The small courtyard where their family lives now, and the [-] mu of private land that are tenanted to farmers, all of which are rewarded by General Liu and Mr. Song, Zhao Liangchen's family cherishes them very much, and they dare not slack off in their work.

Zhao Liangchen was born in a humble family, he thought that a good day to be admitted to Juren was coming soon.

That year the local tyrant invaded the Zhao family's property, and when Zhao Liangchen had just been elected, he filed a pleading letter to the state government. How could he think that the tyrant was the son-in-law of the prefect, and their family was exiled on random charges? Northern Xinjiang.

If General Qi Yun hadn't gone to the prison to select candidates, Zhao Liangchen's family of three would never see the light of day.

Everything in front of them is not easy to come by. Both father and son work in the Yamen, and they dare not slack off in their daily work.

"Father, I'll go out with you too." Zhao Liangchen's son was a yamen servant in the Jinyang city yamen. He originally wanted to join the army, but the recruitment office didn't accept him because he was the only son.

Liu Zhan has stipulated that the only son in the family must be married and have children before he can join the army. This is also to prevent the situation of large families becoming extinct after the war. People's livelihood is still put first.

At the hour of Chen, there was the sound of horseshoes trampling from the long street outside the yamen, and a group of cavalry followed the carriage in front and stopped outside the gate of the county yamen.

The weather was hot, Song Fenglin only wore a fluffy frost-colored Confucian shirt, a sapphire crown to tie his hair, and a maroon belt. He came to the county office in simple clothes.

"Good morning, Mr. Song." The yamen servants saluted one after another.

Not long after, officials such as Tong San Pei Wanshan, Liang Dao Wen Qingshan, and Zhang Shuling also came to the Yamen to start working.

Song Fenglin was sitting in front of the desk, just about to pick up a pen and think of something. "Where is Governor Yan?"

If there is a post, I will reply immediately. "Yesterday, County Governor Yan took another concubine's house. I heard from the night watchman that the banquet is not over yet, and it must be still in Wenrou Township."

The Yan family fell apart after experiencing the disaster of exterminating their families.

The Yan family members who were lucky enough to escape the catastrophe took the opportunity to take the family wealth and separate their families. Some simply sold the properties they controlled and moved their families south. The Yan family business that was controlled by the old lady Yan fell apart.

Now Yan Qixiu's family business is not one-fifth of what it was when the Yan family was in its heyday. Yan Qixiu is still the governor of Jinyang after all, if he can stand up, he may not be able to revive his family.

However, Yan Qixiu is an unscrupulous person, it is impossible for him to work diligently every day.

Liu Zhan didn't care if Liu Zhan accepted his seal of the county magistrate. From Yan Qixiu's point of view, now that he has no elders to control him and has a lot of wealth in his hands, what's the point if he doesn't enjoy himself now?He even threatened that he could not spend his good time in the dull yamen.

Song Fenglin mentioned Yan Qixiu because Yan's army was causing trouble outside the city because no one was paying their rations.

There are still about 1 people in Yan's army, and it is not a small sum to have so many mouths to eat.

In the past, the Yan family relied on Baoshan's income to barely maintain their power, but now that the Yan family is falling apart, then 1% of Baoshan's income must not be able to maintain, what Yan Qixiu can do to support these [-] people.

"Where is the general?" Song Fenglin thought over and over again, and had to discuss this matter with Liu Zhan face to face.

Write back. "At the No. [-] Battalion outside the city, a soldier just left a message."

Wherever Liu Zhan went, he would send someone to tell Song Fenglin, in case there was something wrong and he couldn't find him.

Qi Yunjun had three barracks in Jinyang, one was the garrison battalion in Jinyang city, the other was the No. [-] battalion on the top of Furongping, and the third was the No. [-] battalion on the top of Dazhuping.

These three barracks are in the shape of horns, and if there are enemy soldiers coming, they will help each other.

In just half a year, Qi Yun's army has increased by 6 soldiers. At present, there are more than [-] soldiers in total, and the number is still increasing.

Liu Zhan inspected the barracks every day to supervise the progress of the training.

The new villages in the area from Furongpingding to Bijialing are already full, and the refugees behind are all arranged in the new villages in the area from Dazhupingding to Fengweiling.

Houses under construction can be seen everywhere on the way to the No. [-] Camp.

The houses of the villagers are the simplest straw mud houses, which are simple and quick to build, and the elderly and children can help.

After the house is built, the next step is to open up wasteland and farmland. Each household of the refugees can receive five buckets of coarse grain, which is enough for a season of rice seeds.

Naturally, five buckets of coarse grains would not last for a year, and Song Fenglin introduced a policy to encourage refugees to go to the mountains to collect mountain delicacies and sell them. Liuji Trading Company has purchase points in every township, and the price of grain can be exchanged for wild delicacies at a fair price.

In addition, there are hard work such as building barracks, repairing roads, digging canals, etc. The yamen calculate wages on a daily basis, so that most of the refugees who settle down can be self-sufficient.

When Song Fenglin arrived, Liu Zhan was inspecting the training results of recruits on the school grounds.

"The sun is too poisonous, let's go into the house and say it." Liu Zhan was reluctant to drag someone into the house while he was in the sun.

Hearing Song Fenglin's intentions, Liu Zhan also frowned.

Song Fenglin asked: "Can you incorporate Yan's army?"

Liu Zhan shook his head. "The composition of Yan's army is complex. I would rather spend time training new recruits than taming these old fritters."

Qi Yunjun recruits were divided into battalions according to each person's specialty from the day they entered the camp.

Now Liu Zhan's soldiers include heavy armored cavalry, light armored Modao cavalry, light armored Modao infantry, heavy armored infantry, heavy armored shield infantry, light armored mixed infantry and other arms for targeted training.

Drawing on a piece of white paper is much easier than repainting a painting.

Song Fenglin understood this truth. "According to Yan Qixiu's current situation, it is impossible to support Yan's army."

Speaking of Yan Qixiu and Liu Zhan, he was furious. "Did that idiot die on the whore?"

"It is said that he took another concubine yesterday." Song Fenglin said helplessly.

Liu Zhan raised Erlang's legs and leaned against the back of the chair. "Our own money is almost bottomed out, and it is absolutely impossible to support him. If we let it go, it will cause trouble sooner or later. It's better to disband."

Disbandment is naturally good, Song Fenglin said: "The current Yan family may not be able to get such a large sum of money."

"Sell the house if you can't get it out." Liu Zhan already had an idea.

"Yan Qixiu, this idiot, I can take care of him, he can play as much as he likes, it's only about a thousand taels of silver a month, but Yan's needs to be settled."

The money raised by Yan Qixiu was purely the rent of the seal of the governor of Jinyang. Now the two of them can't do without the seal of the governor in order to grasp the affairs inside and outside of Jinyang city.

These days, the money in Song Fenglin's account is flowing out like running water. The refugees have to give food and rice seeds, lend farm tools, arrange young and strong people to help the refugees build temporary housing, and recruits have to pay for pensions when they enlist in the army.

Thinking that Song Fenglin had to support so many things, Liu Zhan lowered his voice. "You will have to work hard for the next two years."

It will be easier to survive until these new fields can collect taxes.

At present, the income of Liuji Commercial Bank and the six counties of Cenzhou can barely maintain the expenditure. No matter how large the expenditure for resettling refugees is, it is not as large as the expenditure of the barracks.

More than 6 mouths need to be fed, and more than 3 recruits need to be equipped with weapons and armor. With such a huge expenditure, it is already very impressive for Song Fenglin to be able to cover everything.

These days Liu Zhan has become more gentle and considerate to Song Fenglin, he, a prodigal, dares to say a harsh word.

That afternoon Liu Zhan went to Yan's mansion to pick up the man in person, but in broad daylight Yan Qixiu would bring three maids to the bed.

Without looking sideways, Liu Zhan arrested him and dragged him out of the room, slapping him in anger. "You're not afraid of being sucked dry and dying young!"

In his previous life, Liu Zhan was also a fool, but he was not as foolish as Yan Qixiu who dared to play three games in one go, and he was not afraid that he would get out of bed if he didn't.

"I couldn't hold back for a while." Yan Qixiu put on his pants with a smile on his face.

"Come here, drive those rascals out of the mansion." Liu Zhan's face was as dark as a ghost, and the soldiers rushed forward and arrested the three maids and escorted them out of Yan's mansion.

The maids were still naked, crying and begging for mercy, Yan Qixiu put on his clothes indiscriminately and hurriedly invited Liu Zhan to serve tea in the main hall without even looking at the corner of his eyes.

"Brother, did you come to see me for something?" Yan Qixiu laughed heartlessly.

Zhang Xiaoman immediately stepped forward and told about Yan's army.

Yan Qixiu waved his hand. "I don't care about the affairs of the barracks. Yan Qiliang and the others take care of them. Besides, I didn't want to take care of them before. I don't know how to raise these people."

This is true, Yan Qixiu has never been to the Yan's barracks, and he doesn't bother to care about it.

Liu Zhan was straightforward. "Let's dismiss him, you can't afford to support him in your current situation."

"I'll listen to you." Yan Qixiu didn't care.

In the past, the Yan family relied on the Yan family's army to gain a foothold in northern Xinjiang and laid a century-old foundation, but now they are gone without saying a word, and Yan Qixiu is not the slightest bit nostalgic.

Disbanded soldiers also have to pay food and pension money, Liu Zhan asked him again. "What's the situation in your house now, and how much property do you have?"

Yan Qixiu didn't shy away either, and called the housekeeper to report to Liu Zhan.

"That's all. Those bastards earlier took advantage of the chaos and sold a lot of properties to escape. The rest are properties that are too big to sell."

After all, a skinny camel is bigger than a horse, even so Yan Qixiu has a lot of property in his hands.

There are several front shops in Jinyang City under the name of Yan's, as well as Prince Rui's temporary residence and the General's residence, both of which are owned by Yan's.

Liu Zhan made up his mind for him. "You sell the house of the General's Mansion for cash and dismiss the Yan's army, and keep the rest of the property for rent. If those shops can't be operated, they can be rented out. Don't let the stewards below eat it and don't know."

Yan Qixiu nodded repeatedly.

Before leaving, Liu Zhan said to him: "I will pay you 1000 taels of silver every month. You can use it however you like. Let me know that you have more than two women in bed, and you will get out of Jinyang."

"I promise!" Yan Qixiu was overjoyed. "Thank you brother, I knew you understood me, brother."

The downfall of the Yan family, the excessive lewdness of the governor of Yan County has become the talk of the people of Jinyang City after dinner, Yan Qixiu knows that he has a bad reputation and doesn't care about it, he still spends money like water in different brothels every day.

Yan Qixiu was not stingy in defeating the Yan family in such a state of desperation.

However, he is not stupid.

"My lord, did you just send Yan's army away like this?" The housekeeper showed his heartache.

Liu Zhan had been away for a long time, Yan Qixiu was sitting and drinking tea, relaxed.

"So what if I don't do this? General Qi Yun, which general of the Northern Army is easy to mess with? Which one can I mess with?" Yan Qixiu sneered.

The butler sighed.

Yan Qixiu looked pale. "It's fine now, I'm living my rich life, and they're taking their power."

In the end, the century-old Yan's army was disbanded, and there was no Yan's army in northern Xinjiang.

This matter raged for several days, and finally returned to calm.

In the afternoon at the General's Mansion, Song Fenglin had a meeting with the big shopkeepers of Liu Ji Trading Company in the study.

After a hectic midsummer, several new villages in the Qiyun Mountain area are gradually on the track. It should have been a regular meeting with the big shopkeeper of Liu's business, but it has been delayed until now because Song Fenglin is too busy.

Liu Cheng, as the head of the head office, made a summary after reporting the work. "Mr. Song, the situation in the past six months has been roughly the same."

Song Fenglin nodded with satisfaction in his eyes.

Liu Cheng said again: "The fur business in our hands has the highest profit. The rabbit skin collected for two hundred yuan can be sold for three hundred yuan in the Central Plains. If it is a pure color rabbit skin, such as black and white, it can be sold for six hundred yuan a piece. .”

When it comes to the fur business, everyone is very excited.

"Most of the furs on the market in the Central Plains are hunted by herders outside the Great Wall, and the surface of the furs is inevitably damaged. Only the furs from our breeding are complete and clean, and they are sold out every time they arrive." A big shopkeeper said happily.

Another big shopkeeper said: "Our fur is covered with a thick layer of fleece, and the fur from the Central Plains is sparse and thin. Even if the price is half the price, it is not as good as ours."

This year Song Fenglin also intends to encourage more farmers to breed rabbits in their spare time.

During the conversation, some attendants came in to refill tea and served some iced melons and fruits.

Everyone was talking about fur, when Liu Zhan came back, and the shopkeepers hurriedly got up to salute.

"Go ahead." Liu Zhan waved his hands and sat next to Song Fenglin to drink tea and eat fruit.

Song Fenglin closed the account book. "The new village in Bijialing, which was the first to settle down, has completed land reclamation, allowing them to learn farming."

Rabbits are easy to feed, and they can be fed by cutting some weeds.

Liu Chengdao: "It's easy to handle. I can invite some veteran breeders to pass on their experience, but the number of rabbits and minks is probably not enough."

"Don't worry about teaching them how to raise minks, let's talk about raising rabbits," Song Fenglin thought for a while, as for the issue of raising rabbits.

Liu Zhan took his words: "I asked the soldiers to go up the mountain to catch them. There are a lot of wild rabbits around Niuji Peak."

"On behalf of the common people, I thank the general." Liu Cheng got up immediately.

"That's right." A big shopkeeper remembered something. "Breeding rabbits also need to be sorted. The solid-colored rabbit fur is precious and can't be spoiled by novices."

Liu Zhan laughed. "What's so precious, black and black are mostly black, and if you mix them with natural colors, they will be mixed."

No matter what, everyone looked at Liu Zhan fixedly.

"What's the matter, isn't this common sense?" Liu Zhan didn't care.

Song Fenglin helped his forehead. "Liu Cheng, take the general's words into a note and let the breeding farm under the name of the firm try it out. By the way, don't lose the news."

Liu Cheng quickly agreed.

Liu Zhan ate the watermelon patter.

The shopkeepers talked about some trivial matters, and Liu Cheng took the initiative to leave when he saw that it was almost the same. Several big shopkeepers followed the farewell and filed out, and the study room fell silent for a while.

"Ma'am, it's hot, let's go to the mountains to escape the heat?" Liu Zhan picked up the second piece of watermelon and ate it.

Song Fenglin picked up a pen to approve the documents, absent-minded. "I'm busy."

Liu Zhan did not give up. "I asked someone to dig a soup pool. It's on Jianshi Peak. There are clear springs in summer and hot springs in winter. That's a villa I secretly built. You must like it when you go."

"It's not that I like it, it's that you like it." Song Fenglin hummed softly.

Liu Zhan laughed out loud. "Go ahead. It only takes more than an hour to ride a horse. It won't delay you if you go tomorrow and come back the day after tomorrow."

How could Song Fenglin win him over once, but Liu Zhan succeeded every time.

After this day, Liu Cheng immediately arranged for experienced farmers to teach farming experience in the new village.

How to keep wild rabbits in captivity, how to use the open space in front of and behind the house to grow some simple and easy-to-survive medicinal materials, a large number of people gather at the entrance of the village to attend lectures every day.

The benefits of breeding are numerous. Not only fur can be sold for money, but meat can also be made into bacon. Liuji Commercial Bank purchases at designated locations in every township, and the price is fair to ensure that every household is profitable.

At the same time, Song Fenglin decided to develop Chen Liuguo's fur market, and has already appointed the shopkeeper to lead a team to explore the road. There are huge business opportunities here, and the profit is higher than that of grain trading.

The wind blows the woods and makes a soft sound of Haloxylon, the afternoon sun falls through the leaves, and the sun reflects on the clear spring in spots.

Song Fenglin leaned against the round stone by the pool and closed his eyes to rest his mind. Thinking about the business, his thoughts drifted away.

"I can only think of me here." Liu Zhanyou came over and pulled him into his arms.

Liu Zhan didn't know when he quietly built a courtyard in the mountains.

The courtyard where the soup pool is located is separated from the outdoors by a wall. In the garden, there are stone paths winding through the woods along with the mountains, and there are streams winding among them. The clear streams finally converge into a pool.

□□, to be honest, it seems to be outdoors but not outdoors, this strange feeling is an experience that Song Fenglin could not imagine.

Liu Zhan tossed the person in his arms and squeezed his shoulders, and then he had another idea.

"Come on, my husband will take you swimming." Liu Zhan took the man on his body to swim deep into the water.

The pond got deeper and deeper, Song Fenglin didn't know how to swim and could only hug Liu Zhan tightly.

Coming out of Qingquan and turning along the stone path, there is a pavilion. The pavilion is not big, with two floors up and down.

There are earth dragons on the ground floor, so it is not afraid of the cold in winter, and the second floor is surrounded by windows, which are very cool in summer when they are opened to let the wind blow from all sides.

The two originally planned to stay for one night, but they stayed for two more days because of their comfort. The guards sent red-headed documents every day, and they would take them back after receiving instructions.

After staying for two days, Song Fenglin felt that he was a bit lazy.

On the second floor of the pavilion, in the breezy breeze, Song Fenglin was leaning on the Arhat's bed to read a book in his single clothes, with his skirts open and his trousers baggy.

Such Mr. Song is unimaginable in the eyes of outsiders, and only General Liu can appreciate it in this top-secret small world.

Liu Zhan came back at some point and suddenly took the book out of his hand.

"Scare me!"

The bad General Liu laughed happily.

"Childish!" Song Fenglin was annoyed.

Liu Zhan came down to kiss him. "Who made you so funny."

Song Fenglin turned his face away. "Snacks."

"How dare you disobey Mr. Song's orders." Liu Zhan stood up and put a plate of snacks on the side coffee table.

Song Fenglin picked up a piece of almond cake and took a bite, his expression was a little haughty, and Liu Zhan felt itchy.

"Does Mr. Song want another waiter?"

Song Fenglin picked up the book again and turned to the page just now. "No, you go down."

"The little one doesn't go anywhere." Liu Zhan leaned over and whispered into his ear. "The little one gave Mr. Song a tasting pot."

Song Fenglin still maintained a dignified posture on his face, but he could no longer read half a word of the book in his hand.

For four days, there were footprints of two people everywhere in the garden, on the rocks, in the woods, under the corridor...