Yue Hailou had been rectifying military discipline in Chen, Xu and other prefectures for a long time, and actively restored agricultural production. He also begged thousands of craftsmen from Zhennan Zongwang's Palace to build water conservancy and open workshops and shipyards north of Yingshui River.
After Cao Shixiong surrendered to the south of Shuozhou, and then defected to Chihu from Xianlanzhou, he was accompanied by Han scholars headed by Meng Jian and others, and he always had a relatively complete team of civil servants.
Although Xu Huai successfully raided Lanzhou City before heading south from Shuozhou, he unfortunately failed to severely damage the civil servants led by Meng Jian who had surrendered from Shuozhou.
After Cao Shixiong and Yue Hailou occupied Heluo and Jingxi, a group of boneless gentry from Bianliang, Xu Luoying and Chen also surrendered. Heluo and Jingxi surrendered their auxiliary troops to organize military households and allocate fields quickly.
It's not expected to be too slow.
Therefore, even if it is expected that the enemies of western Beijing and Heluo will not exert too much military pressure on Huaishang this winter, after Xu Wujiang and Su Di embarked on a trip to Hanchuan to propose marriage, Xu Huai did not
Dare to relax even a little bit.
The autumn harvest is the most important part of the year.
In order to prevent the enemy from taking advantage of the drop in the water level in Yingru and other places to send a small group of elite troops to penetrate into the water and harass them, General Xu Huai sent all his troops to Dengtaijia Mountain, north of Dafu Mountain and other places to conduct counter-infiltration operations to ensure the safety of the enemy.
The autumn harvest work of various townships and divisions is proceeding smoothly.
In late September, after the autumn harvest work in various townships has come to an end, the next step is to take advantage of the lack of rain in the dry season and seize the time to cultivate more slope terraces.
It is more difficult to cultivate sloping terraced fields among the mountains than to cultivate fields in the Qianchapu enclosure.
In addition to clearing away shrubs and trees and leveling the terrain, the reclamation of sloping terraces also requires the construction of mountain ponds and ponds to ensure irrigation water——
Even though the reclamation of Qianchapu was expected to yield hundreds of thousands of acres of richer and more fertile grain fields, Xu Huai would never dare to slow down his management of Huaishang.
At present, the reclamation of slope terraces is mainly concentrated in places such as Dengtaijia Mountain and the northern foot of Dafu Mountain. Valleys with relatively gentle and open terrain are selected, and young and strong men and women are organized to level the terrain, reclaim terraces one by one, build ponds, and then use the slopes to
The canal connects the large and small ponds in this area.
This system of using canals to connect ponds, mountains and lakes is more complicated than simple terrace reclamation, and the amount of work is much larger.
Because overflow weirs, water-reducing stone gates, etc. need to be built between the canals to control the water level and flow, the weirs also need to be built strong enough to withstand the impact of flash floods.
However, the reclamation of terraced fields, the construction of canals and mountain ponds, combined with the construction of villages and inspection villages, will not only make the defense system of Dengtaijia Mountain and the northern foot of Dafu Mountain more complete and thorough, but also effectively reduce your
Flood disasters in various branch streams and rivers on the south bank of the water.
Just like the initial reclamation of the valley between Yuhuangling and Shituoling, although the amount of work and the money invested were extremely huge, in addition to the more systematic defense of Yuhuangling and Shituoling, the downstream Baijian River also benefited greatly.
shallow.
After the construction of weirs and embankments in the upper reaches of Mingxi River to encircle Huangyang Lake, in addition to greatly reducing the flood disaster on both sides of the Mingxi River, more than 30 Pitang mountain lakes of various sizes were built in the mountains upstream of Huangyang Lake.
More than 20,000 to 30,000 acres of grain fields were reclaimed at the eastern foot of Qingyi Ridge.
It was precisely through these years of unremitting efforts that Chushan was able to grit its teeth and sustain itself even when the money and food provided by the imperial court were so scarce, and it was not crushed by the food shortage problem.
In addition to filling the food gap, the non-stop organization of young men and women to carry out many crafts that are extremely complex in the world not only makes the cohesion within Chushan higher and higher, but also the degree of organization of young men and women.
Train a large number of hard-working grassroots officials.
Because of this, Chushan was able to directly dispatch more than a hundred officials and lead tens of thousands of young men to Nancai, Qiao County. Before the water thieves and lake bandits had been driven out, they directly carried out an attack south of Xiaohe Ridge and north of Suolong Lake.
The construction of Nancai County and the sixteen surrounding villages.
Lifengtang could not provide enough collateral, so it wanted to borrow money and food from the pledge warehouses in Ezhou and other places. At first, there were only a few people who responded.
However, the Wang family sold their fields and houses on a large scale in Hanchuan, Huangpi, Jiangxia and other places, and invested all the money raised in Lifengtang, and there was indeed a lot of activity in Chushan building a village in Qianchapu Enclosure, which made
Many mortgage banks engaged in the loan business have given up their concerns.
In mid-October, the total amount of money and food borrowed by Lifengtang in Ezhou exceeded 300,000 yuan.
Under the recommendation of Wang Wenchong, Wang Mingqi and his son, a group of young Wang family members also entered the Nancai County government and various township bureaus to serve.
Of course, Xu Huai was already a feudal official in the true sense at this time, and he had never been married. No one would think that his marriage had nothing to do with the court. The Chushan and Wang families could just decide on it themselves.
Xu Huai could not leave Huaishang at will. After the two parties had almost communicated about his marriage to Wang Xuan, he drafted a memorial letter and arranged for Su Laochang to bring a batch of Chushan specialty porcelain, fried tea, etc. as tribute to Jianye.
, please ask Emperor Jianji to issue an edict to grant marriage.
Of course, Emperor Jianji did not allow anything and even gave many rewards.
By mid-December, seeing that there were no major movements by the enemy troops in Xusu, western Beijing, Heluo and other places, Xu Huai followed the old custom and, as the groom's official, personally led the wedding team and embarked on the road to Hanchuan.
…………
…………
It is winter, and the rivers and rivers in Hehuai and other places have been frozen, but the Jingjiang River and the Han River are still rippling with blue waves; the reeds and grass along the coast have withered, the branches and leaves in the bushes have withered, and there are many people standing on the branches who are not afraid of the severe cold, looking for food in the wild.
of birds.
Xu Huai had conquered the south and the north in these years and made many outstanding achievements. He was also in a high position at this time. However, since he took office as the general manager of the Chushan camp and military force and knew the military affairs of Cai and Ru states, Xu Huai had never built a formal Jingsheng Marquis Mansion.
In recent years, as the situation continues to change, the Chushan camp's garrison was first moved from Huaiyuan to Zhouqiao. After the Chushan New City was built, it was stationed in Chushan. After taking over the entire Huaishang defense line, the garrison was moved again.
Going to Wuyang - Xu Huai also followed the camp and camp.
However, when Emperor Jianji issued a decree to grant the marriage, he also gave an additional reward of 10,000 yuan, so that when Chushan was building Nancai City, he used the reward money to build the Jingsheng Hou Mansion in the city.
Although Nancai City had just built a city wall at this time, there were few decent houses in the city, and thousands of young and strong laborers could only live in simple shacks. The official Jingsheng Hou Mansion
The foundation had just been laid, but Xu Huai still decided to hold the wedding in Nancai City, and then return to Wuyang with Wang Xuan after the wedding.
According to custom, Wang Xuan was not allowed to meet Xu Huai before the wedding, but besides being full of expectations, she was not panicked; even on the day of the wedding, she put on her rosy veil and phoenix crown and sat calmly in her boudoir waiting.
But after covering the red scarf, he walked out of the boudoir and was led into the sedan chair by his clan brothers. Listening to the loud drum music outside, but not knowing where Xu Huai was, he became inexplicably flustered. He could only think about it carefully.
When Xu Huai arrived in Huaiyuan that year, he felt a little at ease when he leaned out of Yingzui Cliff.
After feeling the sedan lift up and trembling, she heard the clatter of horses' hooves approaching and the horses snoring. Wang Xuan vaguely felt Xu Huai's huge figure sitting on the saddle.
She wanted to talk to Xu Huai, but she was inexplicably shy and couldn't open her mouth.
"You have to cover your head and face with a red scarf, but you're so embarrassed?" Xu Huai opened the curtain of the car and saw Wang Xuan sitting in the car with a red scarf covering her face, and asked.
"Don't reach out and take off the headscarf. Last night, more than a dozen aunts in the clan told me a lot of rules. I don't want them to have the opportunity to gossip behind my back."
In the headscarf, he mentioned that Shuangliuzhuang had been busy with the wedding for the past two days, and asked worriedly, "Are there many guests in Nancai City? Will you and I be teased if we come out to reward you?"
"Except for Zhu Zhi and Zhu Tong who came with congratulatory gifts, everyone in the court had important matters and had no way to escape. Now the Jingjiang waterway has not yet calmed down, and the road supervisor and officials from Ezhou Prefecture only sent Yin Yaozhi, the magistrate of Hanchuan County, to attend the banquet.
——Except for Uncle Seventeen and Aunt Seventeen, they came to Nancai with me. There is no one in Nancai City. Why do you feel guilty? When I enter the city, I may not be able to escape for a while. Seventeen
Auntie and Xiaohuan will accompany you!"
"Xu Xiaohuan also came to Nancai?" Wang Xuan asked in surprise.
Xu Xiaohuan is the daughter of Xu Wuliang, who is similar in age to Wang Xuan. She married Wang Ju's second son Wang Jun two years ago.
Although Wang Xuan was young and aloof in Tongbai Mountain and was not very willing to talk to Xu Xiaohuan, she was very excited when she thought that Xu Xiaohuan was one of the few old friends who would go to live in Wuyang after marrying Xu Huai.
A newly built post road along the east bank of the Han River connects Shuangliuzhuang and Nancai City, which is under construction. The distance is only seven or eight miles away. After entering the city, Wang Xuan also covered her head and face with a red scarf to give a grand ceremony first, and then went to the bridal chamber to rest.
Wang Xuan covered her head and face with a red scarf from beginning to end. She was either supported by a maid, or by Xu Huai, Su Di, or Xu Xiaohuan, who led her to the door.
She didn't even have a chance to take a look at the house where the temporary wedding was held in Nancai City.
Compared with the bustle of Shuangliuzhuang with lights and colorful decorations today, Nancai City is much deserted.
Not to mention how many guests there were, Wang Xuan was sitting in the bridal chamber with a brazier burning, and she didn't even hear any voices outside, let alone the hustle and bustle of the guests and friends.
When I felt that the sky was getting dark outside, I couldn't hold my temper any longer. I opened the red scarf and saw that there were only two maids accompanying me in the room. The wedding candle was half burnt, but I couldn't hear anything outside.
movement.
Wang Xuan was hesitating whether to go out to see what was going on, when she saw Su Di and Xu Xiaohuan pushed the door open and walked in with a smile: "I guessed that you couldn't bear your temper - Xu Huai was afraid that you couldn't bear your temper, so he asked us to come and take you to the study.
, so that you don’t have to be alone here on your wedding night and get frustrated!”
"Why can't you hear any movement outside?" Wang Xuan asked.
"You'll find out when you get to the study..." Su Di said.
Following Su Di and Xu Xiaohuan, they walked to the study room in the wing, but they saw that unlike other places where there were lights and colorful decorations, there were many soldiers and soldiers here, and it was solemn. The father who had "cryed goodbye" in front of Shuangliuzhuang before noon was actually here——
In addition to her father and son Wang Fan, Zheng Shou, Wang Kong, and generals such as Fan Zongqi, Xu Ling, Shi Hu, and Wang Jun who were supposed to be at the banquet at this time were all wearing armor.
Seeing this scene, Wang Xuan was surprised and said: "Dad, Xu Huai, are you trying to use today's wedding to sneak up on Panlong Village and raid Panlong Village?"
