Chapter 18: Trade Routes (Part 1)

  Yang Yingqi set up a classroom in Hanbu Village, and A'guoda was very happy to see it. He selected dozens of people from his tribe to study there.

  The Hanlin Academy had no books, but there were still a few Jurchen people who knew some characters. In the Wanyan tribe, there was a wise man named Wanyan Guxin, who had more than 100 volumes of Chinese books and more than 200 volumes of Khitan books at home. Yang Kaiyuan borrowed the Chinese books, but saw that there were not many good ones, so he only took seven or eight kinds, including "Analects", "Mencius", "Book of Rites", "The Art of War" and "Laozi". The Song people had already re-edited "Mencius", and "Analects" was a must-read book. Therefore, Yang Kaiyuan was very familiar with the two books. He was also quite familiar with "Book of Rites", "The Art of War" and "Laozi". With these foundations, he could collate these books. In terms of time arrangement, he would proofread in the morning and lecture in the afternoon. Wanyan Guxin and several other Jurchen people who had some knowledge also helped to teach.

  Wanyan Aguda wanted to teach them "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu and "Tao of Deception" by Jiang Ziya, but Yang Yingqi said: "Military strategy is a natural talent, reading books is useless. Those who are good at using troops don't need to read military books to use troops well. Those who are not good at using troops won't be able to use them even if they read many books!"

  Zhe Yan Chong retorted, "What's the use of reading books? The incompetent can only become bookworms after reading, while geniuses can take it to a higher level!" At this point, Abaoji decided that Di Yu and Zhe Yan Chong would explain Han Chinese military tactics to him and other Jurchen leaders.

  Yang Yingqi privately puffed out his chest and said to Zhe Yan Chong: "How can you teach them military tactics?"

  Zhe Yan Chong said, "You yourself also understand that 'the art of war is a genius's study'. We don't teach them the 'Art of War' and 'Six Secret Teachings', do you think they really won't understand? Moreover, we have reservations about them only for self-protection, not because we harbor evil intentions! I think these people are quite straightforward, should be easy to get along with."

  Yang Yingqi remained silent.

  Two months passed in a flash, and the number of Jurchen people who knew how to read and write gradually increased. Their interactions with the Han department also became more harmonious. Wang Dahui, who had worked as a papermaker, produced the first batch of paper, but its quality was average. However, the Jurchen people were already very happy about it. Before this, they could only obtain paper through trade. The Yang family members who had attended classes, including Yang Yingqi, all received a batch, and everyone cherished them dearly. Yang Yingqi thought to himself, "Perhaps my brother is right, the civilization of different ethnic groups may have its own sequence, but in daily life, we are all human beings who love and admire civilization, there's nothing different about that."

  In July, Yang Kaiyuan did something that was not allowed for the Wanyan clan! That is to help them take Han names! According to each person's wishes and the suggestions of Wan Yan Gushe and others, Aguda took the name "Min", his younger brother Wuqibu took the name "Cheng", Zheyanchong and others saw the first leader of the Wanyan clan, Xianghan, taking the name "Zonghan", the eldest son of Wuyashu took the name "Zongxiong", Aguda's several sons took the names Zonggan, Zongjun, Zongwang, Zongbi and so on, all with the character "Zong". Wan Yan Gushe himself took the name Wan Yan Xiyin.

  Aguo Da let Zheyanchong Yiren call "Mouke", which translates to Han as the head of a hundred households. Cao Guangyi and other leaders were called "Puliyan", meaning the head of ten or fifty households. According to the agreement, three hundred Han tribes would be under Jurchen jurisdiction from then on, but Aguo Da did not interfere with the internal operations of the Han tribes.

  At the time when the relationship between the Han and Wanyan tribes was at its best, several Han slaves were sold to this place. Zhao Yan-chong sympathized with his compatriots, took out his property to redeem them, and restored their freedom. These people did not want to leave and were willing to join the Han tribe together.

  The Jurchen people's society was in the late stage of tribal disintegration, and the concept of slaves already existed. Aguda heard that Zheyanchong spent money to buy slaves but set them free, and couldn't help but feel a little strange, so he asked about it. Zheyanchong said: "We are all from the same clan, connected by blood, how could I bear for them to become slaves? My ability is limited, I don't dare say that I can let my clansmen live a good life, I only wish that they all have the freedom to strive for wealth and status."

  Aguo Da listened and praised: "Well said. From now on, all Han people will be under your jurisdiction." This place is in the far north, and there are very few Han people. Aguoda didn't think much of this sentence, but Yang Yingqi secretly took note of it and recorded it.

  In early August, Wang Dahui produced the first batch of glass beads, and Zhang Laoyu's forging room also started work. Although they did not produce water wheels, after burning into coke, the knives and swords they produced were more than half better than the Wokou people's self-proclaimed Wu Chunliang soldiers. The good iron was limited in quantity and was used to make weapons, while the second-class iron was made into farm tools and exchanged with the Jurchen people for horses, cattle and sheep.

  Zhou Sheng looked at the batch of farm tools being sold and felt a pang in his heart: what good farm tools! But they could only be exchanged for cattle and horses. The Mongolian who followed Xiao Tienu to become the leader of the herding team had more than 50 people under him, and every day there were new cattle, sheep, and pigs coming into his hands, making Zhou Sheng drool with envy. However, he himself only had a few Han people who had been redeemed a few days ago, not even a small piece of land, although he also held the title of "team leader", but every day was spent wandering around, except for participating in some martial arts training, there was nothing to do. He went to ask Yang Yingqi to fight for a piece of land to be used for farming, but Yang Yingqi said: "The Jurchen people have agreed to share the benefits of the mountains and grasslands with us, our cattle and sheep need to eat a lot of fodder every day, which has already occupied a lot of their living space. Although they haven't complained yet, if we continue to open up wasteland and build fields on a large scale, it will make them uneasy."

  Zhou Shengdao said: "I just want a thin piece of land - this small piece is fine, let me indulge in it."

  "Alright, the dozens of acres of wasteland surrounding our village are useless anyway, I can go talk about it. However, the soil on those wastelands is too thin, I'm afraid nothing will grow."

  "Very useful! I once heard a serf from Jiangnan say that there's a way to turn barren land into good fields. Digging the earth and piling up mud, using waste mud and human and animal dung as fertilizer can change thin soil into fertile land. And the big holes formed by digging mud can also be used to raise fish!"

  Yang Yingqi smiled and said: "To turn barren land into good fields, how much fertilizer would that take?"

  Zhou Shengdao said, "Anyway, now the Jurchen people are used to coming here to use our toilets, and there's a lot of feces. That fish pond can't be used that much, it's just right to use it as fertilizer."

  Yang Yingqi immediately went to tell Aguda: "The wasteland around the village, one of my subordinates wants to take it to grow something."

  "This is just a small matter, why bother mentioning it."

  Yang Yingqi said: "Every inch of land here belongs to Boluo Yile, we are just temporarily borrowing it, and we cannot allow anyone to come recklessly."

  Agu Da listened and was quite satisfied, saying: "The Han people indeed abide by the rules. However, there is no need to be so rigid in the future. As long as you do not offend the livelihood of my people, go ahead and do it."

  Yang Yingqi brought up the matter of land rent again, and Abaoji asked in surprise: "What land rent?"

  Yang Yingqi said: "That is, if there is a harvest, how much of it should be paid per mu as tax would be appropriate."

  "A few mu of poor land, what kind of land rent is this!"

  Yang Yingqi returned and told Zhou Sheng, who went happily. Just about to go see if Zhang Lao Yu had made a strong crossbow suitable for himself, he suddenly saw Cao Guangyi running over and saying: "Yingqi, guess who's here?"

  "Who is it? Could it be an old friend coming?"

  Cao Guangyi smiled and said: "That's right, but he is an old acquaintance of mine, you don't know him."

  Yang Yingqi said: "Then you ran away and told me what?"

  "You'll know when you get here."