Royal Road

Wu Ling usually stored a portion of it in Gaodu City.
Usually, though, it went into the granary next to the armory.
This was the first time it’d been stuffed directly into the county bureau’s coffers.

Seemed like Wu Ling was making good on his word.
Guo Jiao nodded in satisfaction, “The reward is probably not stale grain this time.
May as well start putting it to use.
Make sure the porridge isn’t too thin.
People need to eat more in the winter to keep up their endurance.
We can give the laborers repairing the wall some dry rice and pickled vegetables.”

The petty official nodded, unsurprised; Gaodu had already taken in nearly two hundred refugees as of late.
He dithered, then said, “The Liang Estate sent meat porridge over again.
Isn’t that going to keep stirring up the refugees?”

Guo Jiao knew, of course, that he was buying the people’s hearts.
But he was in no position to question the Liang Estate – simply because Liang Zixi’s “work relief” policy was too ingenious! The laborers repairing the wall were easier to use than the people reporting for corvée.
They clearly ate the same amount, yet they worked twice as hard and thanked him for his generosity.
Fixing walls in winter wasn’t an easy job, yet their expenses were only half of what they’d been expecting.
With the newly cultivated fields on top of that, Gaodu’s tax revenue next year was going to be tremendous. 

“Haha, don’t worry about it.
Zixi’s just showing his goodwill,” Guo Jiao chuckled.
The Liang Estate had captured so many horses they’d given him nearly twenty-five kilos of horsemeat.
He could save a lot of foodstuff with the meat the Liang Estate sent, wasn’t that great?

The petty official dared not say more and took his leave.

Guo Jiao picked up his brush again and continued examining the document on his desk.
This was another favor Liang Feng had entrusted to him: sifting through the refugees that came to Gaodu.
If there were any craftsmen, or people with particular skills, he’d send them to the estate.
Guo Jiao didn’t mind, though.
The more they relied on him, the more it demonstrated their closeness with him.

Liang Feng wasn’t one of those rich wastrels; he was someone capable of governance and rule.
When his meteoric rise came around, he might very well quit being a magistrate and become his subordinate official instead.
Suppressing his little ambitions, Guo Jiao continued poring over documents. 

※

“Master, we brought thirty people back this time.
There’s two woodworkers, one stonemason, and the rest are healthy laborers as well as their families.
I think we can take in another one or two hundred before it starts to snow,” ah-Liang reported excitedly.

Now that the Liang Estate was accepting serf households and sharecroppers, they were finally shaping up into proper nobility.
They weren’t just taking whoever came to their door now; rather, the refugees first went to Gaodu, then the capable or strong were picked out and sent to the estate.
Ah-Liang was overjoyed at the change.
The estate of a fifth-order marquess wasn’t a place that refugees could simply come to as they pleased.

Liang Feng could tell what his steward was thinking.
There hadn’t been any choice before, but now with an entire county acting as a buffer, the refugee problem wasn’t so urgent anymore.
That they had higher quality entrants was secondary to the fact that this kind of arrangement would induce gratitude and loyalty in those who met the requirements to be taken in by the Liang Estate.
Having a sense of belonging would naturally improve their cohesion.
This was two birds with one stone. 

“Are there many refugees entering from Taihang Pass at the moment?” Liang Feng asked.

“Not that many.
It’s too cold.
No one’s fleeing unless they’ve got absolutely no other choice,” ah-Liang answered.

“Hmm, arrange for a group of people to scout out the situation in Luoyang.
Have them infiltrate the city and save Doctor Jiang the moment the battle ends.
If he tells his superiors about the news of his grandfather’s passing, he should be able to resign and return.” That was the best method Liang Feng could come up with.
Luoyang wasn’t a good place to be; it was best to bring Jiang Da back.

“Understood!” 

Orders received, ah-Liang departed as Yiyan strode in.

“My lord, the sentries outside the gatehouse have reported seeing a group of people pass by on horseback.
They didn’t approach.
I sent a few scouts to tail them and found out that they wandered about the nearby villages for about half a day before returning west.
Their motive is unclear…”

“On horseback? How many were there?” Liang Feng was instantly on alert.
The Liang Estate hadn’t recovered its losses from the recent battle.
He didn’t want any mountain bandits to set their sights on him.

“Four people.
They didn’t have any luggage on them.
Plus, their horsemanship was extremely experienced and their horses were fine steeds.
They seem more like Xiongnu than mountain bandits,” Yiyan replied. 

“The Xiongnu are spying on the Liang Estate?” Liang Feng frowned.
What did this mean? Had one of the Xiongnu detected that the Liang Estate was hiding its strength?

He gave it a moment of thought, then said, “Keep a close guard on the gatehouse.
Don’t let any unknown persons in or out.
It doesn’t matter who they are, they’ll have a hard time finding any concrete information about the estate.
Make sure the villages nearby mind their words and be wary of any strangers.”

Wu Ling could take all the credit, he really didn’t want to stand out.
But he had to prepare for the possibility that someone might covertly take action against him.
Sima Teng was still in Luoyang, but his return to Bing Province would surely cause a considerable ruckus.
Oh, how long would it be until the battle of Luoyang came to a close….