Chapter 32: Marriage Craze

  When Li Qing made the arrangement, Lu Yi let out a quiet sigh on one side, knowing that he had lost this contest with Shang Haibo. On the surface, Shang Haibo was just the chief historian of Changsheng Camp, but in reality, he was Li Qing's chief military strategist and was already second to none in Changsheng Camp.

  "Starting from tomorrow, the expansion of our army will officially begin," Li Qing said seriously. "Now that we've discussed military matters, let's talk about civil administration. This is the foundation for our future survival and cannot be taken lightly. Everyone knows that not every time can we seize things, nor is there always someone to support us." He was hinting at the Li family. "Therefore, everything must rely on ourselves - food, clothing, utensils, all must be self-sufficient, only then will we not be controlled by others."

  "Up till now, Chong County has a population of over 700,000, right?" Li Qing looked at Xu Yunfeng.

  Xu Yunfeng nodded and said: "Not bad, originally there were more than 50,000 mouths, General, this battle brought back more than 10,000, totaling more than 70,000."

  "How many fields does Chong County have now?"

  Xu Yunfeng is very familiar with these folk customs. "Chong County has many mountains, but the arable land is not much. The whole Chong County has more than 1 million mu of good fields, which are distributed in the county seat, Shunxiang, Meipin and other towns. Chong County was looted, with heavy casualties. Except for some wealthy households that fled abroad and may return, most of the others have become ownerless land."

  Li Qing laughed and said, "Very good. All the land in Chong County that still has an owner, we will not touch, but return it to them. The rest will all be made into public fields. These public fields will be granted to the original landless tenants and long-term workers, with each person receiving 10 mu of land."

  Xu Yunfeng was startled and said, "General, among these fields are many that belong to some wealthy families. These people will definitely return after the war is over. At that time, if you give their fields to others, won't there be trouble?"

  Li Qing sneered, "Back? Back is good, anyway, Chong County has a small population. If they want land, I'll just give them some more." Xu Yunfeng detected a malicious tone in his voice and didn't say anything else.

  "This time the bandits came to raid, our county suffered heavy losses among young and strong men, with many elderly, women and children remaining. This time we also rescued slaves from the An Gu bone tribe, mostly women. Tell all soldiers that if they can find wives, they will also be granted land." Li Qing said.

  "General, if all the soldiers go find their wives, what about our combat effectiveness? And will they still be dedicated to training?" Lu Yiming was somewhat surprised.

  Li Qing waved his hand, "Mr. Lu doesn't have to worry, these soldiers will still have to bear the task of fighting in the future, their land grants are twice that of ordinary civilians, which is 20 mu per person. Moreover, these soldiers' lands will not have to pay taxes in the future. Hmm, all kinds of taxes that our Chong County will collect in the future, as long as there is a soldier in the family, they will all be exempt."

  Xu Yunfeng heard this and thought, if it's like that, wouldn't everyone go to fight as soldiers?

  Shang Haibo smiled and said, "General, this move is good. The soldiers have their own property here and don't have to pay taxes. Later, whoever wants to take away their property will certainly be met with resistance from these soldiers. Several dozen acres of land can be exchanged for the loyalty of thousands of soldiers, which is indeed a bargain."

  Li Qing laughed: "Mr. Shang knows my heart deeply. I reckon that after this strategy is announced, many will come to sign up as soldiers, but for now our army can't afford the extra burden of more troops, three thousand is enough. So when recruiting soldiers, we can be a bit stricter."

  "In addition, all able-bodied men in Chong County must undergo military training during the agricultural off-season. The Changsheng Camp will dispatch special officers to take charge of this matter, and the village elders will be responsible for organizing it. I want the able-bodied men in Chong County to be able to form an army at any time."

  "Magistrate Xu, as the county magistrate of this county, it's up to you to take care of these matters now," said Li Qing.

  "I will definitely give it my all!" Xu Yunfeng clenched his fist.

  "Mr. Lu!" Li Qing turned to Lu Yiming again, "General?" Lu Yiming said.

  "Sir, you are familiar with civil administration. I would like to ask you to temporarily serve as the chief administrator of our county and assist County Magistrate Xu in managing the people's livelihoods in Chong County. Additionally, coordinate the relationship between Chong County and Changsheng Camp, and also handle some external affairs for Changsheng Camp. I don't know if you find these tasks too complicated?"

  Lu Yi Ming laughed and said: "No problem, I will definitely not disappoint General."

  Li Qing smiled and said, "That's good. Since everyone already knows their own responsibilities, tomorrow we'll each know what to do. Every three days, we'll meet once to coordinate and discuss things, solve problems. Does anyone have any doubts?"

  Everyone responded in unison. Li Qingxi said: "Alright, now that the serious matters have been discussed, let's continue drinking. Today we must get drunk."

  As expected, when the land allocation policy of Chong County was announced on the second day, it immediately caused a stir in the old camp. The original villagers who had land saw that their interests would not be harmed and did not have much to gain from it. However, seeing that as long as there were soldiers in the family, they could be exempt from taxes, they were quite moved in their hearts. Those who were originally poor tenants and long-term workers were overjoyed when they heard that they would receive land allocations, and they were extremely enthusiastic in their support.

  Soldiers get married and can be allocated land, the thousands of old soldiers in the Victorious Army have also blown up their nests. What's abundant in Chong County now? Women are abundant! If it weren't for the officers' strict control, these soldiers would probably have run out of the camp to find wives long ago.

  Very few women rescued from the An bone tribe left, these people either because of family breakdown and homelessness, or were kidnapped and lost their chastity, even if they returned home, they might not have a good ending. Seeing that there is work to be done here, and food to eat, they also settled down with peace of mind. When they saw this announcement from Chong County, they were also moved, for these women who had suffered greatly, as long as they could find an honest and capable husband who truly cared about them, it was enough, let alone the division of land? These women had been traveling with the soldiers of Changsheng Camp for over a dozen days, and many of them had become familiar with each other. When these soldiers came to ask, these women naturally agreed without hesitation.

  Chong County's Laoying has started a marriage craze.

  "With perseverance, there is boundless strength!" Li Qing said proudly to Shang Haibo after the event, "These women can't do much work, and it takes a lot of food to support them. By marrying them off, their husbands should take care of them. Men with wives will also become more settled and shouldn't worry that having a family will reduce the army's combat effectiveness. On the contrary, an army with families will be even more effective, because taking care of their wives and children is their responsibility. Moreover, this is our old nest. Think about it, if someone wants to come and plot against our old nest in the future, won't these people stand up and defend their home?"

  Even if Shi Haibo thought he was superior, Li Qing's move still caught him off guard. The argument that the army with a home had higher combat effectiveness was something he had never heard of before.

  Of course, Li Qing, who caused all this chain reaction, is still sleeping soundly in the house. The impending crisis in Chong County has been safely passed, and for several days, the old camp has been celebrating. As the head officer, he doesn't need to be personally involved in everything, but rather drinks too much wine every day. Although he can hold a lot of liquor, he can't withstand the many people who offer him toasts.

  Li Qing's house was built on a sunny slope on the east side of the old camp, with large logs driven into the ground as the foundation. On top of that, skilled craftsmen had built a two-story building, covering an area of about half an acre. Although it wasn't decorated, it was grand and majestic in its natural state, and the green leaves growing on top made him especially happy. There were several bedrooms, a meeting hall, and a kitchen. Although Li Qing was still living in the old camp, this place had already been prepared in advance. Tang Hu and Yang Yidao, two of his personal bodyguards, lived with Li Qing, while the rest of the bodyguards lived in a row of wooden houses about ten meters away from this house.

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