The Humble Family's Daughter Has A Spatial Pocket!-Chapter 1065 - 888, Improvement

The Commander’s Office had issued an order for the Ganzhou Guard to recruit troops independently, and Xiao Yeyang immediately had people post recruitment notices at both the gates of the guard station and the city gates.

Upon receiving the news, Fan Tong and Xia Jianren gathered at the notice posted outside the gates and looked at its contents—one furrowed his brows disapprovingly, while the other remained silent, seemingly deep in thought.

Fan Tong shook his head, "Why suddenly start recruiting? The guard station is so poor they can’t even supply the border army’s grain, where would they get the money to recruit?"

Traditionally, the Ganzhou Guard supplied the food for the border army, whereas the military pay was allocated by the Imperial Court to the Commander’s Office and then distributed by them.

Now that the Commander’s Office had allowed the Ganzhou Guard to recruit troops and provide for themselves, did that mean both the food and the salaries had to be covered by Ganzhou Guard?

Seeing the worried look on Fan Tong’s face, Xia Jianren scoffed, "Why worry over nothing? Nowadays, Ganzhou Guard isn’t managed by us but by the new Fifth-rank Officer Xiao commanding it. Even if the guard station has no money, Xiao Residence does. If Xiao wishes to recruit, the matter of money is naturally for him to resolve."

Fan Tong’s face grew increasingly disapproving, "I know Xiao Residence has money, but the daily expenses of the troops are enormous. How long can Xiao Residence keep up?"

Xia Jianren smiled and shook his head, "Who cares, it has nothing to do with you or me."

Upon hearing this, Fan Tong felt dissatisfied, "We are both commanders of the Ganzhou Guard; how can such a major matter as recruiting troops be none of our business? No, Xiao Yeyang might not understand the expenses of the army; I have to go and advise him."

Xia Jianren quickly grabbed Fan Tong, "Xiao Yeyang is recruiting to gather a force of fifty thousand border troops. What use is there in you saying anything?"

Fan Tong frowned instantly, aware that the border army stationed in Ganzhou was insufficient. He had even urged Mr. Wei about it, but Mr. Wei had only deflected his requests each time.

With this independent recruitment edict from the Commander’s Office, weren’t they just passing the buck?

Xia Jianren saw the change in Fan Tong’s expression and a hint of mockery appeared at the corners of his mouth.

He truly couldn’t fathom why Mr. Wei favored Fan Tong more. Was it because he was a bit more foolish?

Xia Jianren didn’t bother with Fan Tong’s concerns, returning his gaze to the notice. freeweɓnovel.cøm

He understood the deeper reasons Mr. Wei had for letting Xiao Yeyang recruit troops. Recruiting was costly, and once Xiao Yeyang couldn’t bear the expenses, he would naturally leave.

Mr. Wei still wanted to push Xiao Yeyang out.

Seeing that quite a few people had gathered around the notice in no time, Xia Jianren sneered internally.

Life in Ganzhou Guard was impoverished; some families, to save food, would still send members to join the army despite knowing the risks of not returning.

Not to mention that the guard station was now recruiting by providing food and issuing silver as pay. Undoubtedly, many would come to enlist.

He hoped that Xiao Yeyang recruited more troops so that he could leave Ganzhou Guard and Xiliang sooner.

No longer pondering recruitment, Xia Jianren stepped toward the guard station. Just as he entered the main gate, he saw the cheerful-looking Chen from the Ganxi Battalion exiting.

"Chen from the Battalion, what brings you to Ganzhou City?"

On seeing Xia Jianren, Chen hesitated slightly but then approached him with a smile, "Sir Xia."

Glancing at where Chen had just exited, Xia asked with a smile, "Did Officer Xiao summon you here?"

Chen nodded and did not elaborate further.

A nervous twitch passed over Xia Jianren’s face as he inwardly sighed; Xiao Yeyang was indeed skillful, having quickly won over the battalion leader.

"I see you look quite happy; is there good news?"

Chen hesitated a moment, knowing Xia Jianren’s ties to the Commander, and vaguely responded, "I just came to report the agricultural status to Officer Xiao."

The Ganzhou Guard was the poorest among the nine guards of Xiliang, and the Ganxi Battalion the poorest among its five battalions.

In the past, even as military households of the Ganxi Battalion struggled fiercely, after turning in their military grain, the remnants barely kept their families alive and not starving.

But this year was different. The drought-resistant and high-yielding seeds issued by Officer Xiao during the spring planting had resulted in promising growth in the fields. Thinking of this, a smile returned to Chen’s face.

While Chen felt cheerful, Xia Jianren’s brow furrowed rapidly, and he turned to look back again at the notice outside the guard station.

He had forgotten that because of the high-yield grain Xiao Yeyang brought, this year’s harvest at the Gan State Guard wouldn’t be poor at all.

With grain, one could keep an army, no wonder Xiao Yeyang dared to recruit soldiers.

Did Lord Wei make a mistake letting Xiao Yeyang recruit soldiers on his own?

That thought crossed his mind, and Xia Jianren shook his head. Even if there was a bountiful harvest this year, considering the situation at the Gan State Guard, how much more grain could they really gather? Xiao Yeyang definitely wouldn’t be able to support the army.

Yes, definitely.

...

Inside the Gan State Guard, all the officials thought that Xiao Yeyang’s recruitment was unwise, since an army cost too much to maintain. Even if he were the Crown Prince, he would run out of silver eventually, right?

However, half a month later, the officials began to sense something was amiss.

The cause was the new honeycomb briquette factory outside the Ganzhou City gates.

The Xiliang people used coal for cooking and keeping warm, and as soon as the honeycomb briquettes appeared, which were clearly superior to the usual coal briquettes, people rushed to buy them without needing any promotion.

The officials’ families also used them, and upon inquiring, they were shocked to find out that the factory was operated by the Gan State Guard.

In just half a day, the news spread throughout the entire Commandant Office.

After hearing the news, Xia Jianren was stunned for a long time, "Xiao Yeyang found a coal mine?"

Coal mine...

A shock went through Xia Jianren’s heart—if Xiao Yeyang truly had a coal mine, then supporting tens of thousands of soldiers wouldn’t be a problem at all!

No, he must report this to Lord Wei immediately.

Unfortunately, right after the servants Xia Jianren sent left Ganzhou City, they were captured by two Hidden Guards.

Xia Jianren and Fan Tong were Wei Hong’s people; Xiao Yeyang had made this clear upon his arrival at the Gan State Guard.

He didn’t want anyone from the Commander’s Office interfering with his plans, so naturally, he would be cautious of these two.

...

Shiqukou.

Wang Wu saw another long line of supply convoys passing by below the mountain and hurried to find Wang Qi.

At that moment, Wang Qi was standing in front of the barren land reclaimed by the Wang Clan, looking at the lush crops in the field, his eyes gleaming with hope.

It was only June, and there was still some time until the autumn harvest, but looking at the growth of the crops, he could already envision this year’s bountiful harvest.

"Sir!"

Wang Qi heard Wang Wu’s shout, took his eyes off the crops, and walked toward him, "What’s the matter?"

Wang Wu panted, "Sir, come quickly with me to the mountain top, another supply convoy just passed by the foot of our mountain! I saw them, it was the same people who delivered grain to the Xiao Residence before."

Hearing this, Wang Qi smiled and spoke as they walked, "What’s so surprising about that?"

Wang Wu wiped the sweat from his forehead, "Don’t you want to know what they brought this time?"

Wang Qi paused momentarily, "No matter what it is, the Xiao Residence will eventually bring benefits to the people of Ganzhou Guard."

At that moment, as they passed by the house of their clan members, they saw the clan members using honeycomb briquettes to boil water. The briquettes caught fire quickly, and both of them smiled.

Wang Wu said, "These honeycomb briquettes really are much better than the coal briquettes, and they’re cheaper too. I should have bought more when I was in Ganzhou City last time."

Wang Qi gave a grunt of agreement. The change from coal briquettes to honeycomb briquettes seemed simple, yet it was gradually improving the lives of the Xiliang people.