Chapter 2: Eight Seaside Rooms

  Maojiatun's Xiao Qi Han was distributing military households to gather firewood, when he saw a horse-drawn carriage stopped by the side of the road, and several people got out.

  Han Xiao'er subconsciously stood up, wiping his black hands on his buttocks. As those people approached, Han Xiao'er finally saw clearly that it was the newly appointed Bai Hu Da Ren who had arrived.

  The Shi Tong Squad is roughly divided into four major surnames: Han, Yao, Hu, and Liu. The original hereditary hundred-household leader, Hu Qian Shun, passed away half a month ago. His wealthy son-in-law refused to take over the position, but unexpectedly, this young man benefited from it. The position of the hundred-household leader, which had been the subject of much discussion, finally has an outcome, bringing new topics for the Shi Tong Squad's hereditary soldiers who are used to seeing no changes in their leadership.

  Han Kou'er didn't have much resentment, anyway this position wouldn't fall to him, he was just afraid that it would make the noses of a few other people crooked. Thinking about the furious appearance of Hu Da Hu, Han Kou'er's heart felt a wave of comfort.

  The adult Han Ya'er respectfully saluted this hundred households officer with a bow.

  "It doesn't matter," Yang Bo said, unfamiliar with official etiquette, and randomly waved his hand.

  Is this the kind of person under my rule? Yang Bo took a look at this Han Kou'er, about fifty years old, with a dark face, and could hardly see the original color of his clothes. The bright red wooden plaque on his waist was very eye-catching.

  "Hmm, who was that?" Yang Bo hummed and hawed for a long time, unsure of how to continue.

  "The little man is Maojiatun's hereditary Xiaogui Han Chaoer, willing to listen to the adult's dispatch." Han Chaoer took a step forward, clasped his hands and saluted his superior. In Maojiatun, the hundred households were actually local emperors, and Han Chaoer did not dare to be careless. Previously, he had gotten along with Hundred Households Hu, but he didn't know what kind of person this new adult was.

  "Ah, you're Han, Han bites a goose? This official, no, this official has just arrived, you first tell me about the situation here?" Yang Bo knew that Xiao Qi was one of his subordinates and didn't bother to be polite with him. Unfortunately, he had only recently taken office and hadn't yet found the right tone, so his words came out stuttering. Yang Bo was very dissatisfied with his own performance.

  The name of this little flag is really interesting, Bite Goose? Why don't you go bite a chicken? Hmm, maybe this little flag has a brother called Bite Chicken who knows, if this little flag's brothers are numerous? Maybe it'll be Bite Dog, Bite Pig and so on.

  Han Ye'er couldn't help but glance enviously at the several family servants following behind Yang Bo, each of them spirited and neat in their attire. It seemed that this hundred-household leader was also a man with connections.

  "I don't know what you want to hear, sir?" Han Xiaoer was somewhat perplexed, still unable to grasp the thoughts of Xin Baihu.

  "Hmm..." Yang Bo pointed at a group of shabbily dressed military dependents and asked, "What are they all doing?"

  "Oh, they're all boiling salt" Han Yuer said: "Maojia Village has little arable land, and it's not just Maojia Village, the entire Shicheng is like this too. The local military households mostly make a living by boiling salt... Twenty miles away from here, there's a salt field, and even the big shots of Qianhu So are relying on that bit of salt to make a living."

  "Boiling salt, for life?" Yang Bo was somewhat perplexed. He hadn't even heard of Shandong coastal areas producing salt in the future? On the other hand, he knew about the legend of Sichuan's salt wells, but here, the summer temperature wasn't high, and the salinity of seawater was unknown. These military households were cutting wood to boil seawater, with such a low efficiency, how much salt could they produce?

  All the way, those scattered military dependents saw the two of them and stood aside to bow and salute. Yang waved his hand at them with a gentle smile, silently saying in his heart: "Comrades, you've worked hard!"

  "I remember when Antong Weili first built the city, according to the Tuntian system, each household was allocated 25 mu of land and had to pay an annual tax of three shi of grain, which was used for military purposes. Where did all that land go?" Yang Bo still remembered what Li Dexing said on the road

  Han Yuer shook his head, hesitated for a moment before answering: "The original quota of Weisuo's garrison land was 1,665 hectares, located in Zhucheng and Rizhao counties, each with its own garrison name. Among them, the original quota land within Zhucheng County is 1,337 hectares and 51 mu, with garrison names such as Dabu Garrison, Zhangjia Garrison, Maohua Garrison, Mengjia Garrison, Jianjia Garrison, Shaopo Garrison, Fusheng Garrison, Caohua Garrison, Liangshan Garrison, Wujia Garrison, Caijia Garrison, and Yujia Garrison; the original quota land within Rizhao County is 327 hectares and 48 mu, including Dugou Garrison, Baishi Garrison, Zhaojia Garrison, Zhujia Garrison, Shuqi Garrison, etc. My Maohua Garrison has a total of 2,800 mu of land, but..."

  Yang Bo furrowed his brow and didn't speak, presumably those fields had all fallen into someone else's hands. Of the three thousand households under Andongwei, only Shimo Village was far from Weicheng, and compared to Qiansuo and Zuosuo, it was much worse off.

  Rely on the mountain and eat the mountain; rely on the water and eat the water.

  Is it that the people of Shizong have no other way out except for boiling salt?

  Han Biao saw Yang Bo didn't speak, so he said with a smile: "Sir has come from afar and must be tired, why not go to my humble abode to rest for a while before we talk?"

  Yang Bo exclaimed, "I'm at least a sixth-grade official, but the court doesn't even provide me with a house to live in. It's simply... unreasonable!"

  Han Xiao'er stumbled, steadied herself and returned: "After the original hundred Hu adults passed away, due to no children under their knees, they only had a daughter who married far away. The Hu adults also left behind a house, but..."

  "Who's taken it again?" Yang Bo hummed.

  "General Hu Datou..." Han Ya'er said, looking up at Yang Bo with full expectation, but what greeted him was a cold gaze.

  "Cough, cough!" Han Chouer hastily rubbed his eyes: "Your Excellency please forgive me, this humble one has been blown by the sea wind too much and has contracted a case of tears in the wind..."

  Seeing Yang Bo still silent, Han Xiaoer felt a bit guilty and disappointed, saying: "However, there are also several empty rooms in Nan Shi Tuan, which is under the jurisdiction of my Maojia Village, and the place is spacious. Why don't you go take a look first, sir? If it's not satisfactory, we can make other arrangements?"

  "What's Nan Shi Tuan? What is it for?" Yang Bo was completely unaware of this.

  "Nan Shitou Dun is a military platform, equipped with flags, gongs and smoke tubes. Whenever there's an emergency, it can be known instantly from thousands of miles away. Nan Shitou Dun is close to the seaside, with eight large rooms originally used as a resting place for soldiers on patrol duty guarding the platform. Usually, an old soldier would go to sweep and clean the area every few days."

  "Oh" Yang Bo nodded, it turned out that it was just a beacon tower often mentioned in books, standing by the sea.

  "Are there Japanese pirates coming to harass this place frequently?"

  "In the 31st and 34th years of Jiajing, the Japanese pirates invaded our Shandong coastal areas on a large scale. Fortunately, my Dunchen was brave and the Japanese pirates were all repelled. After that, I haven't heard anything about it, only..."

  "What is it? What exactly is it?"

  Yang Bo was furious. This sloppy guy always came up with a "just" for no reason. I asked clearly and he still rushed to book an ocean-view room, which cost tens of thousands per square meter, and that's just the starting price.

  "It's just that the Japanese pirates have disappeared, but these years the sea bandits have become more and more numerous, from time to time they still come ashore to harass... " Han Xiaoer said with a swallow.

  "Pirate?"

  Yang Bo's scalp felt a chill, and in his mind appeared a black flag with a skull painted on it, as well as the scene of someone blindfolded walking the plank.

  "This child is doomed...". With a heart full of confidence and a broad chest, Yang Da Guan Ren sighed.