On the second day after arriving at Longqiao Fort, Huaiyu finally met his second and third sisters. They had received the letter early and came with their families and children early in the morning, and even Lao Wu's two parents also came.
The two sisters were both married into Yuancong Imperial Army families, both settled in the Baiqu area of Weibei, and they were even the sons of veteran officers like Brigadier General Zheng Zheng.
The two families arrived almost one after the other. The female family members rode donkeys, and the men rode horses. They also drove carriages, pulling children and many gifts. It was obvious that the conditions of the two sisters' families were not good, and they both belonged to the Forbidden Army.
A small landowner's family originally owned two to three hundred acres of land.
This time the Turks were raging in Guanzhong. Fortunately, Huaiyu had warned in advance and made some arrangements. Although the two sisters' families did not go to Chang'an, they also went to the county town to take shelter in advance. Although the family property suffered some losses, the people were fine, and they had food, livestock, and money.
It was also preserved.
The eldest sister took the two younger sisters and talked endlessly to Mrs. Wu and Liu, while Huaiyu accompanied her. The two sisters looked very similar to the eldest sister, and they spoke very fluently. Their husbands were also young, and they were like Huaiyu.
Strong men like Yi are all soldiers of the Forbidden Army.
Because of their schedules, after Huaiyu arrived, they had not yet had their turn on the Chang'an schedule, so they had never seen each other. Huaiyu, a strange brother-in-law, has now become a Marquis and Baiqi Zuoying Envoy.
He is still the brother-in-law of an ordinary soldier of the Forbidden Army, and he is still a little restrained.
Even Huaiyi, whom he was familiar with before, is now a baron and the commander-in-chief of the army.
Fan Xuanfu, the future sister-in-law, did not have any special status at all. She was very cordial to her two aunts and brought them the gifts that she had prepared for them, including silks, silks, silks, flower cloths and several kinds of jewelry. Both sisters felt that this gift was too heavy.
Already.
"Thanks for listening to your words earlier, we didn't sell any of the grain we harvested in the fields this summer, as well as the rent we collected. They were all deposited in the county town early, and some were also saved in Chang'an. This Turkic wolf bastard
Come, let’s quickly take our mules, horses, cattle and sheep and run to the county town. Although the crops in the fields are ruined and some of the tattered belongings at home have also been smashed..."
The two old men of the Forbidden Army sat together with Lao Wu, and when they talked about these, they were extremely emotional. This time, their respective villages were destroyed, but they had almost no big losses. Many of the same villages suffered heavy losses. Some people's families lost all their food, and some people's livestock were destroyed.
There were some people who refused to leave because they were worried about their food and livestock, and as a result, everyone was gone.
However, food for their people and animals was saved, while others suffered from cold and hunger. Not only did they have food and clothing, they also took the opportunity to borrow a lot of food.
This time, just like Lao Wu, he even bought a lot of land after the war, and now each of them is a landowner with more than 500 acres of land.
They were not surprised that Lao Wu returned home this time and brought back a thousand stones of grain to rebuild two cave dwellings. Although they felt that it would be more cost-effective to sell or borrow the grain while the price of grain was still high. As for
Building a cave dwelling is something that needs to be done, after all, this is Lao Wu’s home.
But it’s the same no matter when you practice.
"My brother is no longer what he used to be. Now that he has entered the officialdom, his two sons are more promising and have been knighted. A good reputation is more important." said the second sister's father-in-law.
"I envy you, brother, the great fortune of the Wu family is here. It's really unstoppable. It's like being granted the title of Marquis or Male. Purple energy is coming from the east." The third sister's father-in-law said with envy.
noon.
People from Lijiazhuang next door also came, and it was Li Sanniang who came in person and delivered several cages of chickens and ducks.
"Earlier, Erlang brought a message in time, asking us to withdraw into Sanyuan County, so that we could avoid annihilation,"
After not seeing each other for a long time, Li Sanniang had not changed much. The two had just chatted for a few words when Fan Xuanfu hurried over. She knew Li Sanniang, but was not familiar with her. Fan Xuanfu was very wary of this young Li Sanniang and did not want to think about it.
Let Wu Huaiyu have too much contact with her.
Although as Li Sanniang, it is impossible for her to be engaged to Wu Huaiyu, but women are always wary. She will not feel any sense of crisis for Hu Ji like Irina, nor will she feel that the palace
The given Gao sisters were a threat to her, and even Runniang was worried about them.
But towards Li Sanniang, she was very guarded and even a little hostile.
Li Sanniang felt it, smiled and went to chat with Runniang.
Huaiyu also felt it, but he just smiled and passed it by.
"Erlang, your three-hole cave dwelling is too small. I heard that half of it collapsed before. It was used as a place to keep donkeys and raise pigs?"
"Um."
Fan Xuanfu was a little disgusted. Although she had suffered a lot. In the past, her family was convicted and her family was reduced to slavery, but now she is no better than before.
"When we come to Longqiao in the future, we can't stay there. We can't live there either."
Wu Huaiyu looked at the three sisters who came with Fan Xuanfu. They were originally sisters-in-law, but now they were about to become his sisters. They all wore dark fences and covered their entire bodies under the black gauze.
It turns out that they are all quite tall, but they are ready to kill horses at any time, which always gives Wu Huaiyu a headache.
"Erlang, why don't we just build a courtyard? When you were in Zhangxian County, didn't you draw a courtyard for me? It's prettier than a courtyard. Anyway, when you came back to build a cave house this time, you also wanted to use work for relief.
, to help the villagers tide over the difficulties,
Then why not just build a quadrangle courtyard? We have a large family, so we can build a quadrangle courtyard with three entrances. Then Aye, grandma, brother, and us will have exactly three courtyards.
Don't worry about the money and food, I will take care of it."
Fan Xuanfu had a lot of private money. Fan Xing also prepared a large dowry for his daughter. The farm alone was three thousand acres. As a gift from Huaiyu, Fan Xing also doubled the dowry for his daughter. These were all direct
Give it to Fan Xuanfu.
After giving the bride price, Wu Huaiyu was really penniless now and even lent Qin Qiong, Warrior Xun and the others a lot of money, which was really not comparable to Fan Fupo.
The people are very wealthy.
Fan Xuanfu walked around the two sides of Longqiao Fort several times and liked this place very much. He even went to Lijiazhuang in the north to have a look. When he came back, he became more determined to build a house, but it was upgraded.
Not satisfied with building a simple courtyard with three entrances, he wanted to build a stronger and larger one.
"You want to build a dock?"
"Well, if the Turks come again in the future, you won't be afraid." Fan Xuanfu said.
Wubao is a dock built on flat ground, surrounded by walls, with front and rear doors open, a watchtower built inside the dock, and turrets built at the four corners, which is slightly like a city system.
There are many Wubao in the north. Most of these Wubao originated from the period of Wang Mang in the late Han Dynasty. They were most prosperous during the Wei and Jin Dynasties. The world was in turmoil and wars continued. Therefore, powerful local nobles built Wubao with strong defensive properties one after another.
Also called dock wall.
A fort can often accommodate many people from a family.
When encountering rebels and bandits, once the fort gate is closed, the strong men will wait upstairs with bows and arrows. Generally, the rebels and bandits will not be able to capture it.
The center of Lijiazhuang is a Wubao, and the periphery is populated by tribesmen and villagers.
Huaiyu has been to Lijiazhuang several times. The Wubao in Lijiazhuang is actually quite simple. It is equivalent to an earthen building. It has high earthen walls on all sides, turrets at the four corners, and a very tall watchtower inside the dock.
Compared with a real military fortress, this kind of fort is not as good as the post and beacon fort in the Western Regions, but it is still good for the self-defense of the villagers.
Later generations of Huaiyu saw many Hakka earth buildings, and some of them were very well built. The large ones could accommodate hundreds of families. Although they would not be very comfortable, their defensive functions were indeed great.
Fan Xuanfu wanted to upgrade the courtyard to Wushi Wubao, not to build a city.
It is just equivalent to a fortress-like courtyard with four stone wall foundations and rammed earth walls. The walls must be high, at least more than ten meters.
Inside this circle of walls, a circle of three-story houses can be built, similar to the inverted houses in the courtyard.
Wu Huaiyu didn't like this kind of fort. Its defensive performance was indeed good, but it was not livable.
It's just like being in prison, with poor lighting, poor ventilation, and cramped space.
But Fan Xuanfu felt that since Lijiazhuang had a fort, they should build one. She even planned to take advantage of this opportunity to find ways to buy more land around here.
Huaiyu felt that Fan Xuanfu had great intentions to turn Longqiao Fort into Wujia Fort.
Women’s desire to compare is terrifying.
"Why don't we just build an ordinary courtyard with three entrances? We can make the courtyard walls slightly higher."
"It's better to build a Wubao. If you don't think the one in Lijiazhuang looks good, you can draw a good-looking one for the craftsmen to build. I will pay for the money and food. It just needs to be built taller and with more houses. It must be able to accommodate a large number of people in the future.
If you want to live there, you must be able to guard against rioters and bandits."
"This is Gyeonggi Province, there won't be any rebels or bandits."
Fan Xuanfu said, "Didn't the Longqiao Fort just be attacked by the Turks? Last time, Lijiazhuang was also looted by Jieli's men. Let alone the capital, the capital may not always be peaceful."
"Our ancestors of the Fan family were Wuling barbarians. We used to live in the stockade. There was never any real peace. We often fought with each other. If the stockade is not strong, it won't work."
Wu Huaiyu thought for a while, "Then let me design it carefully and build a fort that has both defensive properties and livability?"
Since Fan Xuanfu can't be stopped, then build something nice and nice to live in. It shouldn't be too big, otherwise it won't have a good impact. Let's build an upgraded version of the compound, or build a simpler earth building.
There are thousands of types of Hakka earth buildings, and there is always one that suits you.
Fan Xuanfu was very happy when he saw Huaiyu agreeing. When no one was around, he came up to him and kissed him, then ran away with a smile.
Fan Xuanfu was an activist. When she returned home, she proposed to Lao Wu and others that she wanted to buy some land here. She offered the villagers a land price that was much higher than the market price, and even allowed the seller to freely choose to trade with grain, money, or silk.
Moreover, she also offered a very good condition, that is, after the land was sold to her, she promised to rent the land to the original owner, and even agreed on a good rent and guaranteed it would be affordable.
This condition is very tempting for many villagers at the moment. Although some villagers have borrowed money and food from the Wu family before, they have to pay it back next spring. Although it is conscientious to borrow one and pay back two, many people will pay less interest than others next year.
It's unaffordable.
When spring farming begins, it will cost money to buy seeds and farm tools. Many people even have no cattle and horses, so they will have to rent cattle, which is a huge expense.
At this time, it is also a good choice to consider selling part of the land. Although the income from self-cultivation is all yours, tenant farming has to pay a lot of rent, but there is no other way.
Not only did no one hate Mrs. Fan, but they were grateful to her for rescuing her in distress. Not only did she not take advantage of her, but she also offered such good terms.
Fan Xuanfu wanted to build a fort, but Lao Wu was surprised and wanted to refuse. Huaiyu winked at him and then explained the preliminary plan to everyone.
Lao Wu thought about it for a long time and decided to let them go. Anyway, the daughter-in-law here is rich, so building a smaller fort covering a few acres would not be a big deal. After all, such forts are everywhere.
It is considered a relatively powerful manor.
"I just discussed it with Erlang and decided to invite two gentlemen to come to Longqiao to build a social school here. From now on, our children in Longqiaobao can go to school in the village instead of going to Lijiazhuang to study.
The social studies in Lijiazhuang recruit few students every year, and many children in our castle can't get in." Fan Xuanfu suddenly came up with another plan. She didn't discuss the matter with Huaiyu in advance. She paid for the two gentlemen to come.
Teaching in the village.
As soon as these words came out, they won praise from countless people. Even Lao Wu was very happy to praise him. Ma Zhou also repeatedly said that this was a good thing.
Fan Xuanfu smiled proudly at Huaiyu.
This girl is becoming more and more bold now, but the cost of setting up a village school is not high, and the fame and reputation it may bring will indeed be very high. This is a very positive and good thing.
Borrowing grain here, collecting land there, and running schools, Fan Xuanfu, the fiancée of the second son of the Wu family, suddenly gained the favor of all the Longqiaobao villagers and was praised by everyone.
"Erlang is so lucky to have such a virtuous wife."
"Erlang is still very grand. These must be Erlang's ideas."
