Chapter 1 Hirano Bo Returns

Earl Hirano returned to his Snow Sea Pass, back to his people, who cheered.

The princess, who had returned with him, though she remained hidden in her carriage upon entering the city, her description had already spread widely among the soldiers and civilians of Snow Sea Pass.

A princess, such a noble existence, and different from the princesses of the Yu clan of Jin; the Jin imperial line was declining, causing the women of the imperial family to long since have lost their value. The princesses were still somewhat desirable; back then, the princesses of the Yu clan could still marry sons of the three great families, though not the direct descendants.

As for the princesses’ relatives, such as the county mistresses, their lives were often very difficult. The difficulty lay in maintaining the dignity of the imperial family while facing the hardships of life, which was quite embarrassing.

This directly led to many collateral branches of the Yu imperial family, from princes' residences to dukes' residences and marquis' residences, openly marking the prices of their eligible women and "selling" them off for betrothal gifts.

At that time, even the wealthy gentry and merchants of Jin, as long as they had enough money, could marry an imperial daughter from the "noble families" in the capital area to elevate their own status and bask in the aura of nobility.

Anything that can be bought with money has a price, and once the price is set, the halo around it fades. This directly led to the people of Jin becoming indifferent to the so-called noble women after more than sixty years.

But on this day, when their own Earl brought back a Chu princess, the soldiers and civilians of Snow Sea Pass beamed with pride.

"So, even if a woman marries, she still needs the support of her family to live a decent life."

Zuo Jiqian sat by the window of the tavern, watching the crowd below, and sighed with emotion.

He was clearly a traitor, but because Great Chu was still Great Chu, her status was still maintained.

In this sigh, Zuo Jiqian also lamented his own situation. Back then, the Zuo family was also a prominent family, and he himself knelt before Marquis Jingnan alongside Zheng Boye.

At that time, he and Zheng Boye were equal, and even slightly above him; both were garrison commanders, but he was obviously more promising.

But fate is fickle.

A "horse trampled on the gentry."

Zuo Jiqian was directly reduced to a prisoner, reassigned from a garrison commander to a convict soldier, locked in a cage and put up for sale like livestock.

Even then, he wasn't sold easily, because no other garrison commander wanted him, fearing he would be a troublemaker, and he was surrounded by Zuo family members, whoever took him in would become a small faction.

In the end, Zheng Boye had a good appetite and took him in.

Over the past few years,

From several trips south to the Qian Kingdom, to the capital of Jin, then to Shengle, and now to Snow Sea Pass, Zuo Jiqian had witnessed the rise of Zheng Boye.

Jealousy had long since disappeared.

When someone is only slightly better off than you, you will be jealous of him, but when that person is already in the sky while you are still on the ground, you can only look up to him.

Today, drinking wine amidst the continuous rain of the past few days, Zuo Jiqian couldn't help but feel sentimental.

Jin Shuke narrowed his eyes and said, "Old Zuo, we are martial men, why do you need to be so sentimental? Today's excitement is simply because our Earl brought back a princess, and all the shops in Snow Sea Pass are temporarily lowering prices to celebrate with the people."

Zuo Jiqian smiled and stopped being melancholic.

At the table, besides Jin Shuke and Zuo Jiqian, there were four other people.

One was Gao Yi, a lieutenant of a thousand cavalrymen, who was given as a gift by Marquis Jingnan in Shengle.

One was Ding Hao, who had followed Zheng Boye from the very beginning. The remaining two were Ke Yan Dongge and Xu Youcheng.

During the months Zheng Fan was in Chu, the Blind Man and Liang Cheng redistributed and adjusted the military and civilian system of Snow Sea Pass, aiming to adapt to the future development needs of Snow Sea Pass.

Five men formed a squad, ten men formed a platoon, one hundred men were led by a centurion, and above that, three hundred-man teams formed a standard.

Five standards formed a battalion, and above that was a town.

Jin Shuke was a Lieutenant General, leading the Second Town, commanding three battalions of soldiers.

Ke Yan Dongge was a Lieutenant General, leading the Third Town, commanding three battalions of soldiers.

Jin Shuke and Ke Yan Dongge were both barbarians, and the Ke Yan tribe was the largest force recently received by Snow Sea Pass. In addition to the barbarian soldiers originally under Zheng Fan, most of them were divided between these two men.

Jin Shuke was one of their own, and his status as a barbarian was needed to suppress Ke Yan Dongge's influence in the Ke Yan tribe.

Ding Hao was a Colonel, leading the Fourth Town, commanding two battalions, responsible for the defense of Snow Sea Pass. Ding Hao had been Zheng Boye's mentor and was one of the earliest veterans, so it was reassuring to have him in charge of the city's defense.

Zuo Jiqian was a Lieutenant General, leading the Fifth Town, commanding two battalions, mainly composed of early Yan convict soldiers and later absorbed Yan people.

Xu Youcheng was a Colonel, leading the Sixth Town, commanding three battalions, mainly composed of Jin soldiers.

Gao Yi was a Lieutenant General, leading the Seventh Town, commanding one battalion, which was an elite force, the Earl of Hirano's personal guard.

The First Town was vacant and had not yet been established. The generals guessed that it was reserved for the Earl.

However, Snow Sea Pass currently has only so many combat soldiers. If a separate, most elite First Town were to be established, and elite soldiers were drawn from the other six towns to fill it, then the structure of the other six towns would collapse. Therefore, the First Town was left blank for the time being.

The Second Town had three battalions, the Third Town had three battalions, the Fourth Town had two battalions, the Fifth Town had two battalions, the Sixth Town had three battalions, and the Seventh Town had one battalion, totaling fourteen battalions, or 21,000 combat soldiers.

At the same time, each standard (300 men) was a gathering unit, not only on the battlefield, but also in life. This group of 300 soldiers was also a local-level unit, and their wives, children, and parents were all registered under a certain standard, equivalent to the groups of later generations, or the teams and small teams of earlier times.

When war broke out, the Earl of Hirano would order the gathering of troops, and then the standard leader would be responsible for integrating the 300 soldiers within his standard, putting on armor, preparing horses, and gathering in response to the call.

After the war, except for the Seventh Town led by Gao Yi as Zheng Boye's personal guard and the Fourth Town led by Ding Hao, which needed to take on city defense duties, the remaining troops of each town, except for gathering for training, could return to their respective standards for production activities at other times.

In this way, the burden on the Earl's Mansion could be greatly reduced, and labor could be freed up for production.

Of course, there was also a side effect to this: this military system could easily degenerate over time, as seen in the military households of the Ming Dynasty and the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty in another time and space. But for now, there was no need to worry about this problem, because there were wild men to the north and Chu people to the south, and there would be no shortage of battles for the next several decades. As long as there was constant warfare, it would not degenerate.

Due to Zheng Fan's strong authority and personal cult of personality in the army, coupled with the Blind Man's methods and Liang Cheng's suppression, the military reform proceeded very smoothly.

The Earl of Hirano's Mansion provided a certain amount of money and grain subsidies to the households within each standard every month, and there were also benefits during festivals, which were not available to the people outside the standard. This unequal treatment made the people extremely eager to join the standard.

Joining the standard was equivalent to registering a household, and the unequal treatment caused outsiders to be extremely envious and eager to join, just like the household registration in big cities in later generations.

After this system was established, many single men in the army were immediately matched up and quickly married, somewhat like getting a green card through marriage.

Those who did not have eligible women at home or were unwilling to use this method to join the standard could join the militia camp and auxiliary camp in the next conscription and earn the qualification to join the standard through military merit.

The income of the standard households came partly from the money and grain issued by the Earl's Mansion every month, and partly from their own labor and production. For example, the standard households under Jin Shuke and Ke Yan Dongge, the barbarians could graze their livestock near the snowy plains of Snow Sea Pass when they were not fighting.

But the biggest income still came from the profit sharing brought by war. To make a good life for the whole family, the men had to fight desperately on the battlefield.

In short,

The Blind Man was very satisfied with his military reform.

In his opinion,

He had turned Snow Sea Pass into a rudimentary war machine.

Now, it

Was eager for war and eager to plunder, just like a ravenous cub.

Every Demon King has his own preferences.

Liang Cheng likes to lead troops, Si Niang likes to train princesses, county mistresses, and unique women like Liu Ruqing, San'er likes crafts, A Ming likes to taste all kinds of fresh blood in the ice cellar,

And Fan Li likes to walk with the sword servant on his shoulder after dinner.

Even the Demon Pill,

Had a child to take care of.

As for the Blind Man,

What he liked was this kind of change and reform. It could be said that in his bones, there was a gene that disliked stability. He was also recognized by all the Demon Kings as the most persistent rebel.

Everyone was an adult,

They all knew that sometimes life required them to bow their heads, such as in flattering their lord.

But they also knew how to find and reap their own happiness and quality of life under the premise of consistent overall direction, which could not be lost.

"Alright, don't drink too much." Ding Hao said, "It's not good to meet the Earl with a body full of alcohol later."

Hearing this, everyone silently put down their wine glasses.

Jin Shuke looked at the time and said, "It's about time, let's go to the mansion."

Everyone got up,

Then, almost habitually, they began to check the armor on their bodies,

Zheng Boye liked to pay attention to details and the beauty of neatness, and everyone knew this.

After all,

Unless you are a fool or someone who is truly selfless,

You won't really be indifferent to the preferences of your superior.

Ding Hao looked around,

"Is everything in order?"

Everyone nodded.

"Okay, when you report your new official positions and duties later, pay attention to the rhythm, don't rush. The final unison, the beat must be at one point, including the action of drawing your swords and inserting them into the ground to swear allegiance, which must also be uniform."

Jin Shuke said with some worry:

"Why don't we not rush down yet, but practice here a few times first?"

No one objected,

Everyone felt it was necessary.

Ding Hao was the earliest member of the family, Zuo Jiqian could only rely on Zheng Fan because the Zuo family was gone, Jin Shuke was an absolute die-hard, Ke Yan Dongge was very docile because Marquis Jingnan had removed his thorns in advance, Gao Yi was from the Jingnan Army but had developed after following Zheng Fan, and Xu Youcheng was originally from the surrendered Jin soldiers.

Therefore, everyone was particularly attentive in how to make "Zheng Boye" happy and satisfied.

So,

When the waiter came up to ask if the adults wanted to add more wine, he saw the following scene:

A group of generals knelt down to an empty chair, reported their families one by one, and then solemnly drew their swords and stabbed them into the floor!

……

"Sister, it's so difficult."

Xiong Liqing looked at the thick ledger in front of her, her face full of sorrow, and said coquettishly to Si Niang:

"Sister, can't I just be a vase?"

Yue Xin, who was sitting next to her, covered her mouth and smiled.

Xiong Liqing knew that she was the Blind Man's wife, so she said to her, "Sister Yue Xin, don't you think this kind of thing is hard and trivial?"

Yue Xin shook her head and said, "If we can share a little of the burden for the men, they will be more relaxed. Moreover, managing the accounts is something we do in our family, so it will be more convenient if we do it ourselves."

The princess pouted and looked at the abacus in front of her, full of sadness.

Yue Xin said, "The city is very lively today."

To celebrate the return of Earl of Hirano with the princess, all the shops in the city began to offer limited-time discounts.

This was all arranged by Si Niang.

The princess said to Si Niang, "Sister, thank you, you are so good to me."

Si Niang shook her head and said, "There is still profit to be made from discounts. It's almost getting hot, the foreign merchants will be coming soon, the cattle and sheep on the snowy plains will be getting fat, the workshops will be starting work, and a new batch of goods will be coming up soon. Naturally, we have to take this opportunity to clear the inventory."

"………" Princess.

"This activity can be done every year from now on." Si Niang said.

Xiong Liqing bit her lip and said, "Can't he just go out and snatch another princess back next year?"

"Anniversary, isn't it? The first anniversary of snatching back the princess, the second anniversary, the third anniversary, as long as there are discount promotions, isn't it easy to find a reason?"

Si Niang put down her pen and said to Yue Xin, "Teach her again."

"Yes, Sister Feng."

Si Niang looked at Xiong Liqing again and said, "You have to learn to manage some things. Moreover, you are very smart. These few years, you can rely on a single sentence of 'This Palace' to make his blood boil. What about a few years from now?

What if Chu is gone someday in the future?

Men are like this, they get tired of the old and love the new."

"Yes, Sister, I know."

"Well, you guys continue to go over the accounts again, I'm going to rest."

Yue Xin said, "Sister Feng seems to be very sleepy this time she came back."

"Sleeping is always the best way to heal."

After Si Niang left, the princess looked at Yue Xin and said:

"Sister Yue Xin, can you tell me how you and Mr. Bei met?"

Yue Xin said while looking down and recording the accounts:

"Just like you."

"Just like me?"

"Yes, I was snatched back."

Back then, when Zheng Fan's troops invaded Chuzhou City, Wen Sutong was forcibly put on a Great Yan official hat by the Blind Man, which forced Wen Sutong to completely lean towards the Yan people and betroth his granddaughter.

Strictly speaking, Yue Xin was indeed "snatched" back.

The princess tapped her chin with her finger and said:

"Do they have a tradition of snatching people?"

Yue Xin nodded

and said:

"If there's not enough food in your own bowl, you have to snatch it."

"That sounds very reasonable."

Yue Xin smiled and said, "My husband said that."

"Show off."

"Huh?"

"My husband said that."

……

And at this time,

Zheng Boye was listening to music in Liu Ruqing's small courtyard.

The music was local Chu music, with heavy Chu accents and long notes, which Zheng Boye didn't really understand.

But it didn't matter,

It was enough that the person singing was beautiful.

In addition to the long notes, in Zheng Boye's ears, they were almost all transformed into "Uncle~~"

After a song was finished,

Zheng Boye lowered his head and took a sip of tea.

Liu Ruqing said somewhat uneasily, "Uncle, please forgive me, I don't sing well."

Zheng Boye pointed to the bottom,

and said:

"Look, you sing very well."

Liu Ruqing immediately blushed, turned her face away, and shouted:

"Uncle~~~"

Zheng Fan didn't know if this woman was used to this title or if she thought he liked this title, so she continued to use it after entering the mansion.

But it was undeniable that every time she called out this tone, Zheng Boye felt like ice cubes were running all over his body in the middle of summer, numb and exciting.

Therefore, sometimes Zheng Boye couldn't help but tease her intentionally, just to see her shout that shyly.

However, for now, it was limited to this.

Si Niang's injuries had not yet healed, and she still needed some time, but since Si Niang said she wanted a child, he would naturally have to wait. He didn't think he was a stud horse, nor did he ever think of having three thousand concubines in the harem, but at home, to taste and play this tune was also quite interesting.

Counting the days, Xiao Liuzi's butcher's wife should be about to give birth, right?

Xiao Yibo came at this time and reported at the entrance of the small courtyard:

"Earl, the generals have arrived."

Zheng Boye nodded

and said:

"I know."

He got up, bid farewell to Liu Ruqing, and Zheng Boye walked to the middle house, which was the place for meeting guests and discussing matters.

During his time in Chu, the military system of Snow Sea Pass had been changed. Generally speaking, if someone else were the master, it would be the greatest act of rebellion if the people below dared to do this while he was away, but there was no contradiction between Zheng Boye and the Demon Kings.

The most comfortable thing in the world is that you have a group of capable subordinates, and even more comfortable is that you don't have to worry about them rebelling.

Calling them here

was just his routine appearance, a mascot brushing up on his presence, and at the same time, ordering the preparations for the military parade in three days.

Liang Cheng was already waiting, as the deputy commander, he had to be present at this time. Fan Li stood behind Liang Cheng, waiting together.

"Isn't the Lord going to put on armor?" Liang Cheng asked.

"It's too much trouble, I won't put it on. I'm at home, so let's just be casual. Anyway, I don't plan to go out."

However,

Just as Zheng Boye walked to the hall of the middle house, before Jin Shuke and the other generals could salute Zheng Fan, before the rehearsal could be used,

A messenger ran in through the gate of the Earl's Mansion

and shouted:

"Imperial Envoy Arrives!"

Although everyone's rehearsal hadn't been used yet, Jin Shuke and the others all had smiles on their faces, because everyone understood that this imperial decree must be an award.

Snatching back the princess in Chu, although they didn't attack cities and plunder land, it was definitely a great achievement, which could boost morale. It was impossible for His Majesty not to give a reward.

Zheng Boye wasn't so happy, he frowned, he vaguely had a very bad feeling, because the Imperial Envoy didn't send anyone to say hello in advance, but only when he arrived in the Snow Sea Pass territory did they know about it, which meant that this Imperial Envoy team must have rushed here without any delay.

If it was just a simple reward, would they be so anxious?

Seeing Zheng Fan frown, Liang Cheng said, "Lord, don't worry, it must be a good thing."

Zheng Boye sighed

and said:

"The more you say that, the more panicked I get."

Liang Cheng didn't know what to say for a moment.

Zheng Boye then said, "A Cheng, do you think we can learn from Marquis Jingnan, close the gate, and let the Imperial Envoy give our Earl's Mansion's stone lions a layer of patina?"

"I'll go."

Fan Li picked up his axe and turned to leave.

Zheng Boye supported his forehead

and said:

"Pull that idiot back."

Immediately,

Zheng Boye waved his hand again

and said:

"Give the order to welcome the Imperial Envoy."

Xiao Yibo on the side asked, "Earl, are we going out of the city to welcome him? Then we have to arrange for the soldiers and civilians to wait outside the city now."

Xiao Yibo remembered that the last time the Imperial Envoy came to confer the title of "Earl of Hirano" on his master, his master personally went out of the city to receive the decree and gave the Imperial Envoy a very grand reception.

Zheng Boye glared at Xiao Yibo unhappily.

This look made Xiao Yibo feel very flustered, because it meant that he had guessed the master's intentions wrong, which meant that he, the chief steward, had failed to keep up with the master's rhythm.

Zheng Boye sighed

and said:

"Don't mobilize people so easily, and besides, why make it so troublesome?

It's just receiving an imperial decree,

This Earl

Will just wait at home."

——————

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