Chapter 53: Focus on poverty alleviation first, then on military training Chapter 53: Focus on poverty alleviation first, then on military training Upon receiving Yang Zhenshan’s orders, Yang Chengze and others immediately began selecting people.
“Stand in line!”
“Don’t move!”
The scene was chaotic for a moment.
These new recruits were both scared and panicked, having no idea what to do.
Fortunately, Yang Chengze and the others had been trained by Yang Zhenshan and were not daunted by the situation.
Another two hours passed before a hundred soldiers were arranged into a ragged formation in front of Yang Zhenshan.
“My name is Yang Zhenshan, starting from today, I am your Hundred Households!”
“Take a good look at my face, and don’t get the wrong person in the future!”
Yang Zhenshan, with his hands behind his back, walked among the ranks, his eyes sweeping over pale, waxen faces.
“I’m giving you three tasks now!”
“First, eat until you’re full!”
“Second, clean yourselves up a bit!”
“Third, clean every corner inside and outside Linguan Castle; I don’t want to stay in a pigsty, nor do you make this place dirtier than a pigsty!”
“Understood?”
“Understood!” Yang Chengze and others shouted in unison.
However, the others all hung their heads, and not a single one spoke up.
“Are you all mute?”
Before Yang Zhenshan could speak, Yang Mingzhi took the lead in scolding.
“Understood?”
“Understood!”
“Louder! Understood?”
“Understood!”
As Yang Mingzhi kept questioning them, the voices gradually grew louder, but still, they were not uniform and lacked any imposing presence.
Yang Zhenshan didn’t mind and simply waved his hand, saying, “Distribute the provisions, three dou per person!”
These soldiers were previously refugees, with not a single penny saved.
Although Linguan Castle had been deserted for many years and had been rebuilt, there was no surplus food inside the castle.
According to Zhao Yuan, when this group of refugees arrived, he had Old Li distribute a batch of grain, but Yang Zhenshan guessed that the grain they previously received was almost consumed by now, otherwise, they would not all look so skinny and haggard.
Hearing that Yang Zhenshan was going to distribute grain, the originally listless troop suddenly became noisy.
Everyone stared with wide eyes, both surprised and overjoyed at Yang Zhenshan.
Meanwhile, Yang Mingwu had already taken people to fetch the grain.
“Many thanks for Mr. Xie’s generous reward!” Old Li was the first to react, promptly shouting out loud.
With him leading, the soldiers began kneeling down to thank Yang Zhenshan.
Yang Zhenshan looked at Old Li with approval.
Old Li was also a man of Linguan Castle, but he was not an ordinary military household; he was an old soldier from the Camp, who, due to a disability in his left leg, followed Zhao Yuan doing miscellaneous chores.
He was in charge of the reconstruction of Linguan Castle and the settlement of the refugees.
“Distribute the grain!” Yang Zhenshan called out.
Yang Mingzhi and Yang Mingwu immediately beckoned the soldiers to come forward to receive their grain.
After the grain was distributed and the crowd dispersed, Yang Zhenshan walked into the garrison commander’s office.
The office was simply made up of four mud-brick rooms, with a small courtyard at the back, and seven or eight mud-brick cottages.
The front was where the garrison commandant worked, and the back was where he lived.
“Do we have a Fish Scale Book?” Yang Zhenshan asked Old Li.
“Follow me, sir!”
Old Li said and led Yang Zhenshan into a study.
The study was simply furnished with a desk, two chairs, a bookcase, and a warm kang bed-stove.
Old Li took out two volumes from the bookcase and handed them to Yang Zhenshan, saying, “Sir, these are the Yellow Register and the Fish Scale Book.”
The Fish Scale Book focuses on land, while the Yellow Register focuses on households.
Yang Zhenshan opened the Yellow Register and began to read.
There were one hundred households in the garrison, but only four hundred and thirty-two people.
This was obviously not normal; Yang Family Village had more than eighty households, but the total population was over seven hundred, averaging eight or nine people per household.
However, considering these people had experienced fleeing, losing family members, or becoming separated from them, Yang Zhenshan no longer found it strange.
Yang Zhenshan quickly browsed through the Yellow Register and then called Yang Mingzhi, Yang Mingwu, and others over.
“Tomorrow, you all will gather detailed information about each household—how many people there are, their ages, whether they’ve had education, martial training, or other skills such as sewing, cooking, weaving, etc.”
“The more detailed, the better!”
“Understood!” Yang Mingzhi and Yang Mingwu, along with the others, responded in unison.
Arriving at Linguan Castle, Yang Zhenshan realized that his job was not military training, but poverty relief.
He initially thought the ten carts of grain given by Zhou Lan would be enough, but now it seemed his previous thoughts were too simple.
The group given to him by Zhou Lan were refugees, not recruited soldiers.
Recruited soldiers, even if they might be a ragtag bunch, were at least a group of able-bodied young adults.
But refugees are just refugees; for them, the priority is to ensure they and their families are well-fed and clothed.
This is not just about providing them with enough food and clothing but also about finding a sustainable livelihood for them.
They need a foundation to live on steadily, a life where they no longer have to worry about their family’s food and clothing, freeing them from distractions.
Only then can they undergo training and go to battle.
If they were military households from other places, perhaps they could sustain themselves through farming, but the land here is too barren.
Yang Zhenshan was certain that, relying solely on agriculture, Linguan Castle would not be able to be self-sufficient.
The night passed without further discussion.
The next morning, Yang Mingzhi and Yang Mingwu began to conduct household surveys.
Meanwhile, Yang Zhenshan, accompanied by Old Li and Yang Minghao, circled inside and outside Linguan Castle several times.
After the tour, Yang Zhenshan stayed in the study and began to draft and sketch.
The first thing he sketched was a planning map for Linguan Castle.
The outer walls of Linguan Castle were built very solidly, but the houses inside had been repaired by the refugees themselves.
They were crude, dilapidated, and in complete disarray, utterly worthless.
Yang Zhenshan felt that aside from the government offices, warehouses, granaries, and horse stables, everything else within the castle should be demolished and rebuilt.
Of course, the structures he intended to build were not brick houses with tiled roofs but simple earthen ones.
The foundations could be constructed from stone, the walls from mud, and the roofs from wood and thatch.
He had already seen that these common materials could be readily sourced from around Linguan Castle without the need to spend silver.
Yang Zhenshan spent two hours drawing up the planning map for Linguan Castle.
According to his idea, the open space in front of the government office should be enlarged as a training ground for the soldiers. The living quarters for the military households should be built behind the government office, three main rooms and four wing rooms each, forming a small courtyard.
In front of the government office, aside from the training ground, it would also be possible to build some functional buildings, such as a kitchen, dining hall, workshop, blacksmith shop, etc.
First, get the houses built, and what to do with them later, plan for that when the time comes.
On the third day, Yang Zhenshan handed his planning map over to Yang Mingzhi and Yang Mingwu, instructing them to lead others in building the houses.
Building earthen houses was not difficult; he had seen people in Yang Family Village building houses before.
No need to hire skilled masons; just find some strong laborers from the village, and in two or three days, they could complete three rooms.
Yang Zhenshan estimated that it would take about ten days to rebuild Linguan Castle entirely.
Ten days were worth the wait.