Chapter 34: Chapter 33 The Northern barbarian retreated, tenants Chapter 34: Chapter 33 The Northern barbarian retreated, tenants Just as Yang Zhenshan had expected, three days later, Yang Family Village received news that the Hu riders within Anning County had all retreated.
The entire Yang Family Village was engulfed in cheers.
Tension and restlessness were swept away, replaced by a relaxed atmosphere.
Even in Yang Zhenshan’s heart, a sigh of relief was breathed.
To be honest, he had been under a lot of pressure during this period.
The lives of nearly a thousand villagers of Yang Family Village weighed on his shoulders, making it impossible for him to sleep soundly, for fear of Hu riders invading at night.
Fortunately, it all passed now.
“Finally, it’s over!”
Yang Zhengxiang arrived at the Yang family, visibly elated as he said.
“Yes, it’s finally over!” Yang Zhenshan said, deeply relieved, “But we still have a lot of work to do!”
Many of their preparations had not been needed, such as the supplies transported to the mountains ahead of time, which they now needed to retrieve.
Yang Zhenshan did not see this as a waste of time; in fact, he was now glad that Yang Family Village had not been forced to hide in the mountains.
Don’t assume that being in the mountains means being free of worries. Escaping into the mountains means abandoning Yang Family Village, and bringing families into the mountains entails great risks.
Therefore, Yang Zhenshan would rather have all the previous preparations go to waste than have the villagers of Yang Family Village hide in the mountains.
Apart from that, there was another matter that needed to be put on the agenda.
That was spring plowing.
It was now March, and according to the seasons in Anning County, spring plowing typically takes place between the end of March and April.
After the heavy snow, the weather warmed up, and it was time for the people to prepare for spring plowing.
Spring plowing here is not the same as it was in the past life; with large machinery available in the past life, dozens of acres could be plowed in an hour, while here, it would be quite an accomplishment to plow one acre a day.
Speaking of which, Yang Zhenshan had always been worried that the invasion of the Hu riders would delay the spring plowing. He had just bought a hundred acres of land before the new year, and during the Spring Festival, he had asked the Lu family to help him find a few tenant farmers. If the Hu riders could not retreat before the spring plowing, then the hundred acres of land he bought would likely be wasted for the year.
Thankfully, the Hu riders had retreated.
Yang Zhengxiang spoke with Yang Zhenshan for a while and then went to prepare the funerals for those who had died in battle.
Their bodies had already been lying there for more than ten days, and the funerals had to be arranged as soon as possible.
The members of the Yang family were all buried in the cemetery behind the mountains, and after learning that the Hu riders had retreated, it took the Yang Family Village two busy days to complete the burials.
Because the bodies had been kept for too long and the situation was still not very clear, the burial ceremony was very simple.
With each passing day, the frozen ground gradually thawed, the cold of the north receded, and Yang Family Village emerged from the sorrowful mood.
It was as if the whole world had come back to life from the silence.
The previously empty countryside saw villagers walking about, peddlers visiting the Yang Family Village, people who had hidden in the mountains returning home, and government officials from the county government stepping out of the county town to encourage farming.
It seemed that everything had returned to how it used to be, but Yang Zhenshan knew that this invasion by the Hu Clan was a significant disaster for the people of the north.
Anning County was more than three hundred miles from the border, and many villages had been raided by the Hu Clan, not to mention those living closer to the border.
Moreover, the trouble was not yet over. If the Hu Clan could invade once, they could do it again, and Da Rong, having suffered such a loss, would likely not let things rest.
It could be foreseen that the northeastern border, which had been peaceful for twenty years, would no longer be stable in the coming years.
This invasion by the Hu Clan was just a beginning, indicating the resurgence of the East Sea Hu Clan, and representing that the northeastern border of Da Rong would no longer be tranquil.
However, none of these matters had anything to do with Yang Zhenshan. He was now just a commoner and fundamentally incapable of changing anything; he could only go with the flow.
Today, Yang Zhenshan paid a visit to Jiang Family Village to check on Yang Yunyan.
After his makeshift eldest daughter returned from the mountains, her pregnancy seemed unstable. The Jiang family had sought a doctor for her, but Yang Zhenshan, not reassured, personally went to the county town to invite Doctor Song Yuanbo.
Doctor Song Yuanbo was the best physician in Anning County, and Yang Zhenshan had to spend a full two taels of silver for his consultation.
This was only because Doctor Song considered the favor owed for the wild ginseng Yang Zhenshan had previously sold him; otherwise, the old man would not have made the house call.
“The eldest girl has a good foundation. Although her fetus has been slightly disturbed, it is nothing serious. Two doses of fetus-preserving medicine should suffice!”
After examining Yang Yunyan’s pulse, Doctor Song Yuanbo stated in the Jiang family home.
The girls from the Yang family all practiced martial arts, with Yang Yunyan being no exception. Although her martial skills were mediocre, her physique was much stronger than the other girls.
Yang Zhenshan was finally at ease, “That’s a relief, Old Brother Jiang, in the afternoon, let Jiang He go to the county town to purchase the medicine.”
“Sure, sure!” Jiang Cheng naturally had no reason to refuse.
Jiang Cheng now held a certain reverence towards his in-law, Yang Zhenshan. Even though he was older than Yang Zhenshan, he didn’t have the standing to show off in front of him.
Not to mention that Yang Zhenshan had previously saved the Jiang family, this time their escape to the mountains had been facilitated by the opportunity provided by Yang Family Village.
The temporary shelter and provisions they had in the mountains were all prepared by Yang Family Village in advance.
“Take good care of yourself, there are things I need to handle at home, so I will go back first!” Yang Zhenshan spoke softly to Yang Yunyan.
Perhaps even Yang Zhenshan himself hadn’t realized how much kinder and more tender he had become towards his children from the Yang family.
He was increasingly resembling a doting father.
A person’s mindset will change with the environment.
In the beginning, looking at his children and grandchildren filled him with discomfort, but now he had truly integrated into the Yang family and regarded everyone as his own kin.
Concerned about his children, doting on his grandchildren.
A perfectly healthy young man had become a caring father and loving grandfather.
The key point was that Yang Zhenshan hadn’t realized the shift in his own mindset.
“Dad, I’m fine, you should head back!” Yang Yunyan said with a face full of happiness.
“Alright, rest well.”
After that, Yang Zhenshan left the Jiang family with Doctor Song Yuanbo, even refusing Jiang Cheng’s offer to stay for a meal.
He wasn’t lying; there really were matters at home waiting for him.
Back at the Yang family home, Yang Zhenshan first arranged for Yang Mingzhi to take Doctor Song Yuanbo back to the county town in a bullock cart, then took Yang Mingcheng to the west end of the village.
Yesterday, Lu Wenchun brought four families of tenants to him. These four tenant families were to live in Yang Family Village and farm for Yang Zhenshan.
Yang Family Village no longer had spare houses available for them, so Yang Zhenshan had Yang Zhengxiang allocate a parcel of wasteland for them to build their own houses.
Right now, their houses hadn’t been constructed yet, so they had to live in tents set up on the wasteland.
The tenants needed to build the houses themselves, but Yang Zhenshan would pay for the labor, and naturally, the houses built would belong to Yang Zhenshan.
Of course, they weren’t constructing anything lavish, just simple mud huts. Yang Zhenshan only allotted them a piece of land and did some basic planning; the rest was up to them to construct.
He came over today just to divide up the farmland among these few tenant families.
Four households, with a total of twenty-eight people; setting aside the old, weak, young, and infirm, there were sixteen able to work the fields.
The life of tenants was even harder. These four families originally farmed in Qinghe Town, and generally, they were unwilling to move to Yang Family Village. Only after Yang Zhenshan offered to reduce the tenancy rent by ten percent did they agree to come.