Chapter 8: Current Situation of Border County

Lu Hong's family was not very prosperous. Apart from the couple, there was only Lu Chao, and only four people were seated at the family banquet. It was the first time that Gao Yuan met Mrs. Lu. She was a kind-hearted woman, but Compared with Lu Hong's extra care for her, Mrs. Lu seemed a lot more indifferent.

There are not many dishes, only five or six bowls, but the level of the cook seems to be pretty good, the meat and vegetables are matched, the color and fragrance, the four people on the table, but Gao Yuan is the smallest. The guests took the lead to lift the wine jar on the table, opened the mud seal, and prepared to pour wine for the four of them.

Lu Hong smiled, as if all this was taken for granted.

"I'm happy today, so I have to drink a few glasses of wine. This jar of wine was a treasure that the magistrate Wu gave me in the early years. .

"My nephew has been lying down for nearly a month this time, but I really don't know what wine tastes like." Gao Yuan smiled and poured wine into the bowls for the four of them. As soon as the wine was poured out, Gao Yuan couldn't help but startled. The wine smelled pouring. It's quite fragrant, but the color is really not very good, and it's a little cloudy. It's a lot different from the pure and watery wine that I drank in my previous life. Could it be that it's been left for a long time, and it's broken? Gao Yuan thought to himself. , But looking at Lu Hong's expression, there was nothing unusual, and he couldn't help but wonder in his heart.

Holding the wine bowl, Gao Yuan did not sit down, Lang said: "This first cup of wine, nephew wants to honor uncle and aunt, thank uncle and aunt for their care for many years, Gao Yuan's parents died early, uncle and aunt are Gao Yuan's rebirth parents. . Nephew will do it first as a respect."

Gao Yuan respected Lu Hong and his wife, and Lu Chao also stood up and said with a smile, "Chao will accompany him!"

The two did it all.

Mrs. Lu picked up the wine bowl and said with a smile, "Gao Yuan has never been so good at talking before. I didn't expect that this time he has become a man in his second life, but he has become a lot more sensible. In this way, it is worth taking a knife this time."

Lu Honghao laughed and seemed extremely satisfied. He also drank the wine.

Putting down the wine bowl, Gao Yuan frowned unobtrusively. Just now, Lu Hong said that this was an old wine that he had kept for several years, but when he drank it in his mouth, it was really bland and tasteless. To be honest, it's not really a good wine, but looking at Lu Hong's precious appearance, it's hard to say anything.

"This second bowl, I wish the eldest brother a successful study tour here. Don't forget to help the younger brother when the eldest brother will make a great progress in the future." Gao Yuan smiled.

Lu Chao nodded, "That's natural." The two slammed and drank again.

Looking at Gao Yuan eating two bowls in a row, without blinking his eyebrows, Lu Hong was a little worried, "You are just injured, drink less and eat more vegetables, if you are drunk, it will be bad, and you will have a long time in Japan."

Gao Yuan chuckled in his heart, just this wine, that jar of wine alone, it doesn't necessarily make him drunk. In the previous life, the pure grain wine of fifty or sixty degrees above, he drank two kilograms in one go, and his expression was still the same.

A meal was enjoyable, Gao Yuan could see that this family really regarded themselves as family members, and couldn't help being moved. In the past life, I didn't know what warmth was, and what I faced every day was not a cold device. , is the killing of life and death, how has there ever been such a warm feeling.

After dinner, Mrs. Lu went to the backyard to say hello, Lu Chao also said goodbye and went back to study, but Gao Yuan was left behind by Lu Hong.

"Gao Yuan, I didn't want you to be a soldier again. I also asked you to study with Chao'er back then, but you can't stand your temper, and your temperament is out of touch. It's really not what you want to study, and it's my fault that your parents died early. , I will get used to you, otherwise, with your intelligence, if you study, your achievements today will definitely not be inferior to your eldest brother!" Lu Hong sighed.

"Uncle, in fact, my nephew prefers to lead troops, it's refreshing!" Gao Yuan laughed.

"When you are a soldier, you have to fight on the battlefield. Your father died in the battlefield, and your mother died in depression. I really don't want you to go to the battlefield again, but if you don't want to study, this road is blocked, and you can only go to the battlefield. Fight for the future, this time I have hired you as a soldier, there are two seats under your uncle, you can choose where you want to go." Lu Hong said.

Gao Yuanxin said that it would be nice to have an uncle who was an official, and he could choose his own work.

"Uncle is a county lieutenant. There are three hundred main soldiers under his command. There are four positions for soldiers. Now two are vacated. One is to assist with uncle's side to do some chores, and the other is to lead soldiers. You choose. That?" Lu Hong asked.

"My nephew is going to lead the troops." Gao Yuan said without hesitation, "My nephew really can't bear the trouble of doing some paperwork in the county office."

"It's also in line with your temperament, but in the military camp, it is different from other places. Uncle can arrange for you to go, but whether you can stand up is another matter. In the military camp, the stronger one wins, even if you have Uncle's backstage, you may not be able to convince you." Lu Hong said with a smile, "You can go to lead the troops if you want, I will give you three months, if you can't hold back, come back, and I will keep three of that seat for you. month, how?"

"No need uncle, since I chose to lead the troops, I definitely won't look back, so you can take a look." Gao Yuan said loudly.

"You have the same temperament as your father. Well, then let me introduce you to the situation in Fufeng County. We have a total of 300 soldiers in Fufeng County, of which 100 are stationed in Fufeng County, and the other 100 are stationed in the five cities far away from Fufeng City. At Curie Pass, which is more than ten miles away, there are still 100 people who are scattered throughout the county to maintain law and order. These are three soldiers, who usually change every year. The 100 people you brought this time happened to be stationed in the city. After the New Year, you have to go to Curie Pass." Lu Hongdao. "That's not a good place to go."

"My nephew can endure hardship!" Gao Yuan said earnestly.

"It's not a question of whether we can endure hardship, but our Liaoxi County is a border county, and our Fufeng County is the closest to the enemy in Liaoxi County, and the Curie Pass is the first. Lose some people."

During these days, Gao Yuan had nothing to do with Zhang Yi. Zhang Yi worked by Lu Hong's side, so he knew a lot about border affairs. Gao Yuan also knew that the biggest enemy of Liaoxi County was the Donghu people. Liaoxi County is basically on the defensive. To put it bluntly, it looks like it is passively beaten. If you want to deal with the Donghu people, unless Dayan mobilizes the whole country, you will have a chance of winning.

"Uncle, I have something puzzled. Our Fufeng County is the first county in front of Donghu, so how can we have three hundred soldiers!" Gao Yuan was a little puzzled. What's the matter?"

Lu Hong laughed, "As soon as I heard what you said, I knew that you are a little guy who doesn't understand anything, Gao Yuan, we have three hundred soldiers in Fufeng County, which is quite a lot. There are more than a dozen counties in Liaoxi County and Fufeng County. The number of soldiers in the army is three times that of other counties. Have you ever calculated how much it will cost to raise a soldier? Just one month's salary will be more than 3,000 yuan in a year. Other clothing, weapons, etc. For food, each soldier spends ten kuai a year. That is to say, for these three hundred soldiers, we will get more than 6,000 kuai in a year. This is not a small amount. The situation in Fufeng County is special. The prefect has allocated 60% of the budget, that is, 3,600 kuai, and I will dig another 20% from the county, which is 1,200 kan, and there is a gap of 1,200 kan, which I have to raise myself."

"Self-raised?" Gao Yuan sucked in a breath.

Lu Hong nodded, "Yes, self-funded, Gao Yuan, let me tell you the truth, I have three hundred soldiers, and the number is even, but every year I am full, and only the hundred who go to Curie Pass are all of them. Salary, after all, if stationed there, you may lose your life, and the other two are stationed in the county town and go to various villages to maintain law and order, and half of the annual salary is not bad."

Gao Yuan sucked in a breath of cold air and calculated in his heart that Lu Hong takes 4,800 kuai from the prefecture and county every year, and 100 people in Curie pass 2,000 kuai, which is indispensable. If the other two teams were to wait for a while, they would only have 2,000 guans, which would leave 800 guans of money. If they deducted from other places, such as food and weapons, the number would definitely exceed 1,000 guans. This money is gone. There, of course, he knew it well, and after working for a long time, the tall uncle in his heart was also a blood drinker.

"You are a smart person, and you naturally know where the rest of the money goes. I'm also in a dilemma. Not only do you have to support your family, but you also have to pay for your elder brother to study. It's a lot of money to hire Mr. This is also a large amount of money, if only relying on this amount of money, it really won’t even be enough to cover the bottom line, but fortunately there are other incomes, and my uncle can barely make ends meet.”

"But uncle, I don't understand a little bit. Since Fufeng County is a border county, what should we do if the Donghu people call? Just relying on these three hundred soldiers who can't even pay their wages?" Gao Yuan was a little helpless. Lu Hong is his uncle.

Lu Hong smiled and said, "You don't know that. In fact, the Donghu people come to fight the autumn breeze every year, but the scale is not large. When he comes, we will defend the city. In addition to the three hundred soldiers, we can also temporarily recruit and send the Qing Dynasty. Zhuang, the Donghu people can't attack the city, it's okay to rob, but if you really want to fight the county, the feud will end, and the court and the county will not sit idly by, that's a big battle, if you really want to fight, Donghu People don't have a clue. A few years ago, the prefect assembled tens of thousands of troops to fight a big battle with the Donghu people. He taught them a lesson, and they became much more honest. The soldiers who can really fight are all in the county. Here, we are just showing off. Donghu is not stable inside, they are a tribal alliance, and their minds are not aligned, now, do you understand?"

Gao Yuan nodded, and finally figured it out. The Donghu people came to snatch some villages outside the city. As long as they didn't attack the city and plunder the land, Dayan would be too lazy to pay attention, but in this way, the villages outside the city would collapse. Blood mold.

"If you don't pay, the soldiers won't make trouble?" Gao Yuan asked a key question.

"It depends on the tactics of the soldiers who lead the troops!" Lu Hong glanced at Gao Yuan meaningfully, "There are many ways to get money down, so it depends on whether you can get it."

"I understand!" Gao Yuan nodded.

"If you want to lead troops, you must first have to subdue you, and in order to convince you, you must not only be brave, but also have food for everyone." Lu Hongdao: "The team you are going to this time already owes money. It's half a year's salary, I have prepared a hundred bucks for you, that is, a month's salary, I can pay so much, and this is you, and it's not so cheap if you change it for someone else."

Gao Yuan stood up and bowed respectfully to Lu Hong. He knew in his heart that Lu Hong had specially given him this one hundred skills, so if he changed a soldier, he would definitely not even think about it. "Thank you uncle."

"Well, you'll understand."