Chapter 121

Chapter 121

Returning to the southern camp, it was mealtime, and Tong Sui accompanied the old master for lunch.

After the meal, the two of them moved to the council hall, where the old master had someone bring over the household registers of Wei County and the records of currently unowned land.

Tong Sui stood behind the old master, as was fitting.

Xiao Mu explained to his granddaughter-in-law, "The poor families in the five counties will all receive land. There are actually many impoverished farmers in Ding and Wei Counties. With the second son in charge in Ding County, we need to carefully manage the situation in Wei County."

Most of the clerks trained in this county have been dispatched to assist with recruitment and pacification in the other five counties. They can only return once they recruit reliable clerks locally.

"War can be fought with soldiers, but governing a county requires a large number of clerks. Only when the people live in peace and prosperity can the government collect taxes to support officials and the army."

"We have too much unowned land here. Instead of letting it lie idle and fallow, it would be better to distribute it to the poor. This way, the production of grain benefits both the people and the state."

Tong Sui: "Grandfather has even thought about next year's spring plowing and autumn harvest. I'm afraid peace won't last that long here."

Xiao Mu: "Indeed, but since we have this responsibility, we must do what needs to be done now, ensuring the people can live in peace for as long as possible."

Tong Sui's admiration for the old master deepened.

---

At dusk, Tong Sui rode her donkey back to the Xiao residence, escorted by eight guards.

She held several small bags, all filled with silver ingots.

Greeted by the women and children of the household, Tong Sui began distributing the bags.

"Auntie, this is Uncle Second's double military pay and the reward for his second-class merit, totaling nine taels. Uncle Second has led his troops to Yun County and asked me to bring the money back to you."

He Shi felt both happy and sad: "He's only been back in the city for two days, and Yun County is so far away. How long will it take before he can return?"

Tong Sui: "It's all for the stability of the seven counties. Grandfather said that Yun County is closest to Da Tong. If there's any military action from that side, Uncle Second, being modest and loyal, can explain our reasons for occupying the county to the generals of Da Tong, striving to avoid conflict. The other uncles are too young to handle such a significant task."

Praising her husband, He Shi felt honored, and her mood improved. Her eyes kept glancing at the four differently sized money bags on the table.

Tong Sui picked up one bag and handed it to Lin Ningfang: "This is Third Master's. He went to Cheng County and asked me to pass it on to his sister-in-law."

Lin Ningfang accepted it.

He Shi's face turned pale, but since her son specified it was for his wife, she couldn't snatch it in front of everyone.

He Shi forced a smile: "Is Third Master also getting nine taels?"

Tong Sui nodded and then handed another bag to Liu Chu: "Fourth Younger Brother also received nine taels. He said four taels are enough for him, and these five taels are for you to buy New Year's goods."

Liu Chu almost cried, wanting to refuse, but Aunt Xiao took charge, pushing the money bag into her hands and teasing, "Fourth Younger Brother is thinking of Mianmian. You're too frugal; keep this for Mianmian. Girls grow more vain as they get older. Buy her nice clothes and jewelry if you can."

Liu Chu, with red-rimmed eyes, said, "Alright, I'll keep it for Mianmian."

Xiao Yuchan watched from the side, feeling a bit jealous, but who could blame her? Fourth Younger Brother was her cousin, and she had full-blooded brothers and a brother.

Seeing that He Shi and her daughter were staring at the two largest bags on the table, Tong Sui couldn't pretend to be humble and had to explain: "These are mine and Second Uncle's, one each."

He Shi: "..."

Xiao Yuchan: "...What about Fifth Younger Brother's share?"

Her brother has a family now, but her younger brother isn't married yet and is most likely to think of his sister.

Tong Sui: "Fifth Younger Brother said he wants to save his for buying wine. As for the two cousins, I don't know if they kept theirs or gave them to their uncle."

Aunt Xiao laughed: "Those two rascals, they definitely kept it for themselves. They wouldn't think of showing respect to me."

She didn't mind; the two brothers now had positions and managed a group of people. When they were happy, they would arrange a banquet, and the money would be spent on food and drink.

"Alright, those of you who got silver, go hide it in your rooms quickly. Dinner is about to start."

With Aunt Xiao's distraction, He Shi didn't have time to inquire how much silver Tong Sui and her husband received.

Tong Sui took the two money bags back to the East Wing Courtyard.

Thirty taels in total!

Tong Sui took out five taels and hid them in her wardrobe, then put the rest in the couple's small treasury. After washing her hands and face, she returned to the main courtyard.

After dinner, Tong Sui took the five taels of silver to the eastern courtyard.

"Mother, this is what I earned, to show my filial piety to you and Father."

The mother and daughter closed the door and sat down to talk privately.

Zhou Qing's smile made the wrinkles around her eyes more pronounced. She pushed the silver back into her daughter's hands and said, "Your father and Second Brother have already given me their shares. Our money jar is already full, so we don't need yours. Just take care of your own little family."

Tong Sui: "You and Father worked hard to raise me. I can't earn money myself and don't want to use my husband's silver to support my parents, but this is what I earned myself, and I will continue to earn more. If you don't accept it, Mother, you're deliberately making me feel bad."

Zhou Qing: "Wait, what do you mean by 'continue to earn'? Is there going to be another war?"

Only then did Tong Sui tell her about her new assignment.

Zhou Qing hugged her daughter and rubbed her cheeks affectionately: "Good for you, earning more than your Second Brother!"

After rubbing her enough, Tong Sui didn't want to get up and found a comfortable position lying on her mother's lap, holding her mother's hand and playing with it: "Not sure, but now the western five counties are establishing twenty-five new thousand-household offices. The old thousand-householders like Second Uncle in our county will all be promoted to commanders. The cavalry camp is not included for now. There are thirty vacant thousand-householder positions across six counties, and the hundred-householder positions will be filled from the able-bodied men in each county. The thousand-householders will likely be selected from the Acropolis Army. If Second Brother is chosen, our military pay will be the same."

Zhou Qing listened with excitement: "Once the new army is formed, the old master will have over forty thousand soldiers under his command, right?"

Tong Sui smiled: "Forty thousand infantry and three thousand five hundred cavalry, all able-bodied men, not like the rebel king's army, which is filled with the elderly and the weak."

Zhou Qing: "He's really getting more and more impressive. When he came to propose in February, I never expected this day to come."

Tong Sui thought, who could have predicted it?

—

Mother and daughter chatted for a long time. Tong Sui, holding a lantern, returned to the West Court and found everyone had gone back to their rooms.

Tong Sui walked to the gate of the West Wing Courtyard and, seeing a light through the door crack, called out, "Third Younger Sister-in-law, are you asleep?"

Soon, Ah Zhen ran out to open the door.

Whenever Xiao Yan was away and Lin Ningfang didn't go to Tong Sui's place, she would call Ah Zhen over to keep her company.

This meant that Lin Ningfang didn't plan to go to the East Wing Courtyard tonight.

Tong Sui felt a bit disappointed; she still had many things to talk about with Lin Ningfang.

But when she entered the room with Ah Zhen, she saw Lin Ningfang putting on her shoes, with a neatly rolled bedding bundle on the kang bed.

Tong Sui's eyes lit up.

Lin Ningfang smiled, "Second Sister-in-law took so long to come back, I thought you were going to stay with Mother tonight."

Tong Sui hurriedly said, "I'm sorry for keeping you waiting. I stayed too long."

After saying that, she picked up the heavy bedding bundle and walked out first, with Lin Ningfang immediately following with the lantern.

If they were still unmarried girls, they wouldn't mind sharing a quilt at night given their close relationship. But now that they were married, each shared a quilt with their husbands. So, whether Lin Ningfang slept in Tong Sui's marital bed or Tong Sui in Lin Ningfang's, it would be awkward. They decided to go through the trouble of carrying the bedding bundle.

Inside the room, Tong Sui asked Lin Ningfang, "Did you order the leather case? How much will it cost?"

Lin Ningfang: "The leather case is small, so it won't cost much. It just takes some effort to turn raw leather into finished leather, so it will take a few days to get it."

Tong Sui: "Even a little money is money, I should pay you."

Lin Ningfang: "I told the master to make it beautiful because I want to give it to Second Sister-in-law as a gift. Does Second Sister-in-law really need to be so precise with me?"

Tong Sui understood, "Alright, I'll prepare a gift for you later."

Lin Ningfang teased, "Sure, since you just earned a big bag of silver."

Tong Sui went to fetch water for washing her feet. While soaking her feet on a small stool, she said to Lin Ningfang, who was sitting on the kang bed, "Those fifteen taels were earned with my life. If you want to earn money, you can easily make a hundred or even a thousand taels by painting a few pictures, especially in prosperous times."

Lin Ningfang: "We each have our strengths. No one should belittle themselves. Without you and the Acropolis Army soldiers fighting bravely to defend the city, if the enemy broke through, who would treat me with respect because of my talent?"

If the enemy breached the city, it would be a nightmare for all the women in the city.

At that moment, Tong Sui's mind flashed with images of blood-stained enemy faces, climbing the ladders like wild beasts until they died.

Looking at Lin Ningfang, delicate and beautiful like a magnolia flower under the lamplight, Tong Sui thought that as long as she had any strength left, she would use it to protect the women in these two courtyards.

After pouring out the water and washing her hands, Tong Sui blew out the candle. The sisters-in-law climbed into their warm quilts and chatted.

Tong Sui recounted the old man's words on the city wall that morning, how he combined kindness and authority, how benevolent and loving he was to the people.

Lin Ningfang: "When the rebel king started his uprising, he claimed to overthrow the court to distribute land to the people. At first, he might have truly believed it, but as his power grew and he plundered more wealth, he began to see himself as above others, treating the people like ants. If he had even half the benevolence of your grandfather, the people of the five counties would genuinely support him, and the fifty-thousand-strong army would unite, making it difficult for the alliance of Ding and Wei to stand against him."

Tong Sui: "Li Gang is cruel. I wonder what the Prince of Dai and the Prince of Shun are like in the south. Grandfather has also sent messages to them, hoping for mutual non-aggression."

Lin Ningfang: "With Li Gang as a warning, those two princes probably won't dare to covet the seven northern counties anytime soon."

Tong Sui felt a warm sensation in her chest, "With a forty-thousand-strong army, Grandfather is now a powerful figure, isn't he?"

Lin Ningfang laughed, "The seven counties belong to Jinzhou. Do you know how many counties Jinzhou has in total?"

Tong Sui shook her head, "How many?"

Lin Ningfang: "Five prefectures, three states, and seventy-eight counties. If the seven counties here can raise a forty-thousand-strong elite army, the entire Jinzhou could muster at least a four-hundred-thousand-strong army. If anyone could command this four-hundred-thousand-strong army and become the ruler of the entire Jinzhou, that would be true dominance."

Tong Sui felt ashamed, realizing that she had been carried away by the status of the seven-county commander. Fortunately, Lin Ningfang brought her back down to earth.

"Jinzhou is already so large, how vast must the north be?"

Lin Ningfang: "The north currently includes the capital and the five states of Liang, Jin, Ji, Liao, and Qing. Jinzhou is the smallest among them."

Tong Sui: "…"

No wonder Grandfather always emphasized that the Xiao family was only temporarily in charge of Wei County and the seven counties. The Xiao family's troops don't even rank in Jinzhou, let alone the entire north.

Li Gang and other rebel leaders truly have big ambitions!