Chapter 101: All For Stability
In November of the 33rd year, under Wu Fei’s leadership, the civilization border continued to advance southward. This time, in addition to fewer soldiers, the focus was mainly on “economy.”
On the north bank of the Ling River, near Lucky City corresponding to the four fortresses on the south bank, numerous villages and markets with a high proportion of Da Yao Kingdom clan occupants now dotted the landscape like a chessboard. Like a string of pearls strung around the large gemstone of Lucky City, but more like a chain locking down Lucky City.
In Lucky City, a newly renovated restaurant had now stopped construction and been converted into a teahouse, where merchants from inside the pass rested, munching on peanuts and salted fish, cautiously discussing how the weather in southern Ling River was going to change!?
However, these merchants’ discussions were useless. Their negotiations and predictions of economic development trends inside the pass were all overturned by the General’s Mansion. And they were all forcibly pushed by Wu Xiao Que onto another commercial path.
For example, the reason for opening the northern train line was that Wu Fei led large-scale reclamation on the north bank of the Ling River, waving a hand to migrate 30,000 households to fill the border. This shattered the plans of many merchants in Lucky City who thought they could do the same as in previous years, trading with a “large army backing them and scissoring the price difference with natives.”
After southern natives discovered that Yao Person villages bought draft oxen at prices far more affordable than those offered by southern merchants, they stopped selling to southern merchants.
These farmers wearing conical hats came here to work, and after reclaiming paddy fields, the north side of the Ling River created a huge contrast with the primeval jungle on the southern side just across the river.
Since the reclaimed villages could localize the production of local cloth and pottery, severely damaging the interests of hoarding merchants in Lucky City, these merchants were not without crooked ideas, trying to sabotage the reclamation.
But in these settlement areas, the reclaimers also underwent armed training.
Compared to the regular army of the four fortresses on the south bank, they had replaced iron helmets with bamboo conical hats, and their ranged weapons had largely shifted from crossbow bolts to firearms.
These firearms were produced by the water conservancy workshops in Fen Xing City. The gun barrels were forged from wrought iron, with reinforcing hoops like bamboo joints. This firearm had killing power against light armor at 120 paces. Of course, beyond 100 paces, it did not have stronger armor-piercing ability than wind-riding arrows.
The militia armed forces of these reclamation teams on the north bank had their command center in the city centered on the four-cornered fortress to the south.
Wu Fei divided the area around the Ling River into four parts according to the scale of inland commanderies of Da Yao. That is, the current Ling River Four Commanderies in everyone’s mouth: Cangwu, Hepu, Yulin, and Jiuzhen.
This greatly enhanced the personnel power of the four military command posts on the south bank of the Ling River.
At this critical moment before heading north, Wu Fei’s arrangements were naturally to suppress internal “radical military expansion” unstable elements and fully shift to the farming flow.
Within the Lingnan Group, there was much dissatisfaction with Wu Fei’s push for the “stable farming” decision.
Wu Fei confirmed: They had also been accumulating power and amassing discourse power.
At the place where Wu Fei was drinking tea, he questioned a certain shit-stirrer missing one door, confirming that the reason this group could conspire with so many people was that many of his old subordinates had “greedy” mindsets.
Xuan Chong flipped through history and found the historical figure Alexander, who was a standard case of conquest without building structure—after his death, the regime collapsed, and it even split into five parts.
…Xuan Chong: Cannot be Alexander…
Now the Lingnan Group that Wu Fei wanted to strike was the confluence of the military merit group and the plundering faction in commerce. This confluence was initially pushed by Wu Fei, and now Wu Fei wanted to dismantle it.
First, let’s talk about the commerce side.
Lucky City has now become an investment base for “commercial plunder.” These merchants who attended the gold brick banquet in the past invested so much money in Lucky City over the years; obviously, they were not betting on the beautiful mountains and rivers here to buy a feng shui treasure land for a grave to protect their descendants.
Wu Fei calculated an account: They spent a lot of money to hoard supplies here, while spreading a large amount of money to bribe radicals in the army, trying to make the Wu Family Army further invade southward and turn the south into a slave-hunting ground.
Wu Fei shook his head at this; they were accustomed to the old robbery model and now unwilling to follow his leadership for industrial transformation!
So how to deal with merchants wanting to cause trouble? Although Wu Fei respected Zhu Chongba’s wrist, he would not learn from him by confiscating Shen Wansan’s family.
To deal with ignorant capitalists, prepare one dead end and one live path, let the guys taking the dead end’s baggage be licked by those taking the live path, thus disintegrating their internal unity.
Wu Fei: I am very happy if you come to invest in the Ling River, but I do not allow using investment to cause trouble.
Out of morality and credibility, Wu Fei would not find excuses like “A San” to directly confiscate investors’ assets, but forcibly shift their investments from high-profit risk areas that easily create local landmines to places with low risk and low return rates.
The southern border slave-hunting industry is undoubtedly a high-risk industry with tenfold profits. Wu Fei calculated all the money the plundering faction threw into Lucky City, approximately 200,000 silver leaves.
With the institutionalization of the Ling River Four Commanderies, these southern advance faction merchants who threw big money into Lucky City, if they did not want to go bankrupt, had to cooperate with the General’s Mansion’s policies and convert southern advance supplies into materials that “reclamation” could digest.
Sure enough, in Lucky City, there were already many blacksmith shops making iron plows. These were transformations by those merchants forced to stop losses.
However, they sold goods to reclamation farmers, who only grew grain; for grain acquisition, the General’s Mansion set a basic purchase price, putting merchants in a difficult position. Even transporting back to the famine areas inside the pass yielded very low profits, down to one percent.
In other words, Wu Fei’s move had completely tied up the funds of the commercial plundering faction; trapped shareholders are the most obedient. Reclamation is something that takes three or four years to see returns; thus, this restless faction would not stir for three or four years and could only think about how after several rounds of planting, the reclamation border people would have purchasing power and annually exchange grain quantitatively for cloth, pottery jars, ropes, wooden barrels, and other workshop products.
Second is the military merit faction side.
For this faction, Wu Fei had deep experience: To make the army quietly wait for him, give them things to do, like building a bridge the first time crossing the Ling River.
In the 33rd year, Wu Fei issued fifteen documents to the army, mentioning the future ten-year plan for southern Ling River: seventeen fortresses and road construction plans between fortresses.
Last year, the reclamation faction’s power was still weak. Taking the four Ling River fortresses as an example, each had only 200 troops.
Currently in the southern border, the reclamation economy could not yet support a standing army of over 1,000. At that time, Wu Fei determined that after reclaiming paddy fields along the river in the fortress radiation areas, more troops could be stationed; this was not a one-year effort.
This year after the train opened, the military radicals inside the pass suddenly felt the timing was ripe and believed large-scale military action was about to begin.
But! Before the radicals could gain more support and cause big trouble, Wu Fei’s major construction plan dragged the neutrals they were trying to pull into southern border industry work; for example now, the train’s transport capacity was all pre-booked by the four fortresses’ reclamation tasks. The “high-profit” products other factions tried to insert for transport were deliberately blocked administratively, unable to find sales channels, with extremely high risk; these merchants’ fund chains were unstable and were reasonably rejected by the train freight department.
…As for the southern advance faction’s composition, Wu Fei also needed to replace it, letting wastes mix in among them…
In the Jiangnan training ground, the militia’s gunfire sprayed during training. Currently, one in ten hits the target. The Wu Family disciples who came to gild themselves could not hit inside the five-ring on their own.
Among these south bank militias, besides the Yao Person households filling the border, there were also naturalized native soldiers.
Nothing else, still economic issues. Locally conscripted soldiers did not need “outer duty subsidies,” and even their soldiers’ marriages did not need worrying.
In the mixed militia ranks, due to the “Holy Ash Pill” effect, naturalized native soldiers and local Da Yao people differed only in height—oh, of course also accents; those below muttering with thick accents reciting the Da Yao military drill manual were the natives.
Compared to Yao People, Horned People’s stature was still short; but compared to their original race, their heights were generally taller, barely able to wear the smallest Da Yao vine armor.
Of course, such short bodies could not draw Da Yao bows and crossbows, not even with foot stirrups, so ranged weapons could only fully shift to firearms.
Wu Fei commented: The biggest threshold for this world’s firearm technology is “pure steel seamless steel pipe” that can withstand chamber pressure, only then surpassing bows and arrows in power—um, the current enchanted bows and arrows.
Wu Fei’s personal heterodox path laboratory: Spent silver-equivalent price to forge pure steel bars, then built water conservancy machines, using days, even ten days to drill through; during steel drilling, no deviation allowed at all. Because even slight deviation made inner diameter wall thickness uneven; such defective gun barrels would burst at the thin wall. This process wasted over twenty more rejects.
After several technology attempts, Wu Fei finally gave up, believing that in this era, making “pure steel rifled gun barrels” was equivalent to “early 21st century pursuing electromagnetic cannon technology”—not impossible, but cost too high.
Now gun barrels ultimately used wrought iron and pig iron lap-winding technique, and this smoothbore mode greatly reduced gunpowder chamber pressure tolerance.
As the southern border vassal army began increasingly firearming, it was time to equip these vassal armies with generals.
For this, the “good-hearted” Wu Fei thought of his family’s eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling brothers.
…The army is a big furnace, a good place in peacetime to recast scrap copper and iron…
Wu Fei’s letter reached the family, undoubtedly met with pushback. Southern border was miasma-infested; station there for three or two years? The madams of various branches told their sons verbatim: “Mom can’t bear letting you suffer there!” Thus, they all pulled strings.
But the second letter explicitly named a large list of youths. And invoked family law: If they came and dared flee, directly expel from the clan registry!
The clan elders’ attitude toward Wu Fei turned very bad, but when Wu Fei brought out that he was going north for “marriage alliance” and the family duty of not leaving the rear unmanned, the Wu Family clan elders fell silent.
Wu Fei had now found a way to use his “going north” as a chip. What was originally a “dilemma” became easier after assigning responsibilities.
Wu Fei was very clear that some young people in the family were freeloading, just like himself ten years ago wanting to slack.
Now that he had gotten wet in the rain, he naturally would not let his family’s brothers shelter under the umbrella.
Moreover, Wu Fei calculated an account! In great chaos under heaven, if the Wu Family advances further in the future, in towering wealth and honor, the imperial clan must claim a considerable portion through blood rewards. So what to exchange for blood rewards?
Wu Fei: “In the future when Wu Family rises meteorically, participating in ‘Da Yao internal battle royale’ blood battles in the north, if they cannot participate without blood labor; then they must accumulate hard work here in the south garrisoning the border and fighting barbarians.”
However, stuffing such a group into the southern advance faction would also give the southern advance faction a good headache.
Thus, the “radicals” also fell into the trap; they had to first integrate this group Wu Fei stuffed in before continuing radical actions.
In August, on the Tianchi City side, Wu Fei wanted 56 people, but in reality, these people’s fathers, mothers, and wet nurses could all speak in the clan.
At the ancestral hall entrance, under these middle-aged women’s wailing, the few white-bearded clan elders’ blood pressure soared, immediately invoking clan rules to lock up this inner courtyard group, then the subsequent clan elders grabbed all the idlers wandering the streets to pair up. Suddenly sent 543 people.
After exiting Yongji Pass, the young masters accustomed to idling in the clan began cursing. Wu Zhantie: “Damn old Fei, if he’s not having a good time, he drags us down too!”
The lads nearby echoed: “Yes, at home we couldn’t outstubborn those old men; once we lords go over, we just won’t listen to him, see what he can do to us!” “Exactly!” “That’s how we’ll do it!”
This group of lads thus egged each other on, unaware that back home, the adults who forced them to obey were how Wu Fei had blocked with family law.
These days, the elders knew the harm of southern border plague, so they resisted Wu Fei’s suggestion, but even in resistance, ultimately no choice.
In this military family, as the new generation military master, only Wu Hanluan could veto Wu Fei’s personnel mobilization for the clan’s new generation. They had tried pulling strings with northern army brothers to make Wu Xiao Que retract the order, but northern Wu Hengyu was harsher, making them join the Northern Army to earn merits.
Military police rushed over, looking at this sparse team, then pulled out the special armed belts issued by Wu Fei.
…Dandies prepared to struggle, but the struggle was quickly beaten away by spirit injection sticks…
In November of the 33rd year, at the Ling River edge. Gong Qian, who had stayed for over half a year, now felt Wu Fei was really busy, stirring things up every month. Thus, he couldn’t help wanting to defend Wu Fei a few words: not unwilling to accept Da Yao’s conscription, but really busy.
Gong Qian was gazing from afar at this batch of Wu Family disciples migrated from the homeland; the ongoing soldier training made him nod silently. —A Da Yao internal military general family’s migrating clan disciples to a city just built on the border thousands of miles away showed real intent to garrison the border for Da Yao.
Ancient holy dynasty enfeoffed under heaven, creating eight hundred vassal lords; in the early land-gaining phase, which one was not “cutting through thorns” like now?
On the drill ground, Wu Fei grinned watching this batch said to be Wu Family main line disciples, these youths who clamored “obey calls but not proclamations” on the road, now very quiet and obedient.
Because behind the drill ground, eighteen so-called “captains” with mouths gagged by wooden strips were bare-assed, being whipped with salt-dipped bamboo strips. The reason for whipping: They were supposed to report on the morning of November 1st, but dragged to November 9th. If strictly by military law, one in three of this team would be beheaded.
Of course now not wartime, coinciding with new recruits plus distant garrison. Wu Fei: Could only raise high and drop lightly, 100 lashes per captain.
For clan disciples, these 100-plus bamboo floggings were already absolute horror; their parents’ family law beatings were not this bloody.
After the whipping, Wu Fei went one by one by roster calling names; this group of trembling disciples shrieked like electrocuted, then under Wu Fei’s killing-god gaze, came forward, put hand into a white ash jar, then slapped the bloodied buttocks of the whipped.
If no gray handprint left, they would be pantsed and beaten into matching buttocks.
These selected clan disciples now felt even mutual slapping faces better than mutual butt-slapping.
But under Wu Fei’s coercion, one after another hands full of ash, mutually slapping each unlucky buttocks.
Worth mentioning, the white ash in that jar was horsehoof fungus powder. The powder from this huge fungus like white steamed buns was the finest hemostatic wound medicine, not cheap.
…Wu Fei standing and talking not back-hurting: Not yet on battlefield, already wailing like ghosts; cry more and kneel ancestral hall…
After punishment, Wu Fei turned to the two squad leaders Yu Liangcai and Wu Xi whom he personally selected, instructing: “Take them to eat, wash! Prepare cool mats for those with wounded buttocks.”
Of the two, Wu Xi was a rough big fellow. The guy from the last exit closed-door cultivation arrival at Ling River whom Wu Fei named to give a “formal” speech. The “Xi” in his name was personally given by Wu Fei; as for his Wu surname being at least five generations from Wu Family main line, his ancestor was born to a little maidservant. Not even born to a concubine. Still Wu Fei personally entered him into the family registry. This layer of relation here.
Wu Xi’s loyalty was “Xu Chu” “Dian Wei” level; even if now returning to main clan, still looked to Wu Fei as lead horse. Although also part of southern advance faction, now facing the mess Wu Fei threw, he took it in hand. In this half month, he had not gathered with old army brothers, because too busy.
Wu Fei handed clan inner disciples to them two, and in front of that dandy group instructed Wu Xi: “In these two years, if no warfare, ten or so deaths and injuries is fine, I’ll cover it. But must make them know army rules.”
Wu Fei turned to that queuing Wu Family disciples saying: “In this place, natives not submitting to education and indoctrination, everything else is empty; only holding soldiers lets you live well! And to hold soldiers, you must first meet standards.”
Then Wu Fei tone turned intimidating: “Local natives killed into submission less than a year! If I now hand native soldiers to you, in not three months, you all will have necks slit by natives in sleep! Those natives will flee back to jungle, conveniently make your heads decorations hung on bodies!”
These Wu Family disciples drafted here stood on the muddy training ground, obediently lowering heads under big brother’s lecture.
Wu Fei again instructed these two squad leaders: “Be strict with them this half year is helping them; indulging them is harming them.”
…Progress bars flickered above everyone’s heads…
Here Wu Fei came to Gongshu Wang, in his face very familiarly pulled open his cabinet, opened his stack of invitations, and on some already handled names, drew a checkmark.
Wu Fei to awkwardly smiling Gongshu Wang said: “You prepare too, then go north with me.”
