After Zhou Sui and the other two left, Jiang Jin continued handling official business. With three counties now under her control, her workload had increased significantly, and she realized she was still short-handed.
Finding suitable county magistrates for Shanguan County and Chunrong County was proving difficult.
Just as she was thinking about this, she saw Luo Qingci enter, her face flushed red from the sun. "Lord."
He Qiuchi quickly poured her a cup of warm water. "Magistrate Luo, please have some water."
Luo Qingci nodded her thanks, took the cup, and drank it down in large gulps, clearly very thirsty.
"How did it go?" Jiang Jin asked with a smile.
Luo Qingci wiped the sweat from her brow. "The additional wells in the city have all been dug, and the people we brought back from outside have all been settled."
"But their families have lived in their original villages for generations. If possible, they’d still like to return to those villages."
Jiang Jin wasn’t surprised by this. When conditions allowed, Han Chinese always wished to return to their roots—this was the hardship of leaving one’s homeland.
She thought for a moment and said, "It’s not impossible, but first we must finish building the county town, the roads, and the watchtowers."
Only after the watchtowers and roads were built, and guard posts and soldiers were stationed, could the villagers return to their settlements with safety guaranteed.
Luo Qingci immediately understood Jiang Jin’s intent. "You’re planning to help the people rebuild their villages?"
Having known Jiang Jin for some time, she was aware that Jiang Jin placed great importance on the lives of the common people.
Given the current state of the villages, with their dilapidated houses, even if there was food, many of the elderly and weak would surely freeze to death this winter.
If the villages didn’t have heated kang walls, Jiang Jin wouldn’t allow the people to return.
Jiang Jin nodded with a smile, pointing to the area between the three counties on the map. "This region is relatively flat, with about two to three hundred thousand mu of arable land."
"So I’m planning to build two or three villages here to facilitate management and farming."
In the past, the villages were too scattered, which made governance difficult for Jiang Jin.
Especially since some villages lay outside her protective reach. Under these circumstances, she couldn’t let the people return, so she decided to build new villages instead.
Luo Qingci looked at the area Jiang Jin had indicated on the map and felt a surge of emotion. This arrangement would indeed make management much easier, and farmers wouldn’t have to travel so far to work their fields.
Most importantly, once the roads and watchtowers were built, this region would become very safe, and transportation would be highly convenient.
A question occurred to Luo Qingci. "After the houses are built, Lord, are you planning to rent them out to the farming households?"
Jiang Jin hadn’t fully decided on that point yet. "No rush; we’ll discuss that later. For now, all the farmland will belong to me."
Luo Qingci was puzzled. "Are you going to have them pay rent?"
Jiang Jin shook her head. "Of course not. I’ll pay them wages, just like Gefeng."
Land distribution to individual households would be implemented eventually, but not now. For her, the land was too scarce at present, and grain was the lifeline. She had to keep it under her own control.
At Zhe’a Commandery, in the camp of Qu Shilang’s army.
The troops were making preparations to withdraw. Since they weren’t planning to attack Zhe’a Commandery or the Jinyang Army anytime soon, they naturally had to pull back.
But Qu Shilang received a letter from Donghu Commandery. As he read its contents, his expression became solemn yet also somewhat strange.
Yu Cheng’s heart skipped a beat, and he quickly asked, "Grand General, what has happened?"
Qu Shilang continued to stare at the letter, his face heavy after a long silence.
"Wenzhou is still alive. Most of the officials from Shanguan County and Chunrong County are alive, along with about a thousand of our soldiers and civilians."
Yu Cheng was stunned for a moment before he understood the words, and his expression also turned odd.
Qu Wenzhou was Qu Shilang’s nephew, and someone highly favored in their clan. This was one of the reasons why Qu Shilang had so readily sent Qu Bai to reinforce Shanguan County in the first place.
Back when Shanguan County fell to the Jinyang Army, except for the messenger who escaped, no one got out alive. Naturally, they assumed that all the Qu Zhao people in the two counties had been killed.
After learning of Qu Wenzhou’s supposed death, the clan had even held a grand and solemn funeral ceremony for him, following Han customs by erecting a cenotaph in his honor.
The Grand Chanyu had greatly praised Qu Wenzhou’s bravery and honored their family as a clan of heroes, declaring that Qu Zhao would forever remember their sacrifice and contributions.
And now you’re telling me that Qu Wenzhou is still alive?
How could the Grand Chanyu reconcile this? How could the family, who had wept so bitterly over his loss, face themselves? The cenotaph was still being tended to daily.
Even Yu Cheng felt a pang in his chest. They couldn’t very well not rescue him.
Otherwise, how would others judge the Grand General in the future?
How would his family view him?
Qu Shilang rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. "Write to Donghu Commandery. Tell them they must do everything possible to rescue all our Qu Zhao clansmen."
Yu Cheng frowned. "How can we save them? The Jinyang Army is no pushover."
If it came to a real fight, even with Donghu Commandery’s forces plus the tens of thousands of troops they had now, they might not be able to take Shanguan County.
Moreover, the prisoners were in the hands of the Jinyang Army. That gave their enemies full power over life and death—they could kill them at any time, or even use them as leverage.
Qu Shilang handed him the letter. "Since the Jinyang Army sent us a message, it means they’re open to negotiation. Have Donghu Commandery send someone to talk things over. As long as the Jinyang Army’s terms aren’t too extreme, agree to them."
There were three sheets of paper in the letter. One was from Han Ning, one from the magistrate of Shanguan County, and one from Qu Wenzhou.
The ones from Han Ning and the magistrate were relatively normal.
But what Qu Wenzhou wrote was exaggerated and absurd. It read:
"The Han people forced me to drink urine and eat excrement. I remained defiant, but now they threaten to crush both my balls and sever my python. This concerns manly dignity—you must save me."
Even more absurd was the writing on the back of this paper:
"Wrong, wrong, wrong—these are all slanders. The Jinyang Army is a righteous force and has never committed any abuses. You must trust this."
Yu Cheng: "..."
Seriously, just how poor was the Jinyang Army?
Couldn’t they even spare a single sheet of paper that they had to write on both sides?
Although the paper was quite thick—the ink hadn’t bled through—it was still possible to write on both sides.
Tang Tishou soon received Qu Shilang’s message by carrier pigeon.
Rong Liang sighed. "Has the Grand General ordered us to rescue the prisoners?"
When Han Ning had sent a letter to the Grand General, he had also written separately to Tang Tishou, explaining the situation. So, upon seeing the Grand General’s message, Rong Liang guessed it was about Qu Wenzhou.
Tang Tishou nodded. "Indeed, the Grand General wants us to do everything possible to rescue all Qu Zhao officials, soldiers, and civilians."
That sounded noble, but Tang Tishou knew well that the Grand General truly cared about was only Qu Wenzhou and his family, along with a few relatively important officials.
As for the ordinary soldiers and common people—if they could be saved, fine; if not, let fate decide.
Rong Liang sighed helplessly. "I’m afraid the Jinyang Army will make exorbitant demands."
Since the Jinyang Army had allowed Qu Wenzhou to send a letter out, their stance was clear—they were willing to negotiate—but they hadn’t yet stated their specific terms.
Tang Tishou said, "We have to at least feel them out first. If the Jinyang Army’s demands are too outrageous, we’ll have to report back to the Grand General and let him decide."
Rong Liang shook his head. "I’m afraid the Jinyang Army already knows who Qu Wenzhou is. That will make negotiations difficult."
Tang Tishou lowered his eyes. "We still have to try. Who do you think we should send?"
