Volume 3: The Land of Jingchu Chapter 309: Topics Suitable for the New Year
"Hard Drive, you have to persuade Bofu. It's obvious that he and the girl from the Qiao family in Wan County get along very well, but she insists that there is no way to start a family because Chu is not yet at peace... He can wait, but can the girl from the Qiao family wait for him? Ahem..." Old Lady Sun said, still a little out of breath.
Last year, Mrs. Sun fell seriously ill. If she hadn’t been consulted by a doctor from the medical school, she would probably have passed away.
Historically, Madam Sun had indeed passed away before the fifth year of Jian'an. The "Taoist Lady Wu" who later advised Sun Ce and Sun Quan was not their biological mother, but Madam Sun Er.
Logically speaking, when Madam Sun died, Sun Jian had already passed away, so theoretically, Wu Guotai did not have the status of the legal wife, but... Wu Guotai and their biological mother were sisters, so the two of them served her like a mother.
"Yes, my sister's health... That kid is so ignorant! He even said that getting married before a battle is bad for the morale of the army... It's obvious that you encourage the soldiers in the army to get married as much as possible." Madam Sun Er also said to Sun Ce with some dissatisfaction.
That’s right, there are now more than 100,000 Jiangdong troops, and there are nearly 30,000 real human generals.
Bai Tu has always encouraged generals to get married. Now that the world is in chaos and the number of troops has greatly increased, the demand for generals has also greatly increased. Moreover, the treatment and safety of grassroots generals can no longer be guaranteed. For this reason, the princes from all over the country need to forcibly recruit a group of generals .
Many of these forcibly conscripted generals are still young - if they are too old or come from civilian families, they may not be able to awaken their military tokens due to manpower withdrawal.
Normally, one manpower is drawn per population and per quarter. This is just an average. In fact, more manpower is drawn from young and middle-aged people, while much less is drawn from children and the elderly.
According to the rules of the Han Dynasty, it started at the age of 23, which was considered the peak period of human resource extraction.
Most people of this age are married and have children, and have also been concentrating on farming for several years and have surplus food at home.
Withdrawing manpower will not affect the fertility rate or the most basic labor efficiency.
At the same time, in order to train generals from among the civilians, they only need to select those under the age of 23. However... because the princes in various places have overdrawn their manpower, the age of selection has been continuously lowered to 22, 21... This has caused many minors to lack vitality.
In the long run, it may even affect fertility rates.
Moreover, the age for compulsory conscription has been continuously lowered, which has led to the emergence of some unmarried generals - this is a common occurrence in troubled times.
These generals usually come from poor backgrounds, are treated as consumables at the bottom level, and usually have no chance to get married.
Yizhou should be the only vassal that still maintains the rule of "military service at the age of 23". As for Hanzhong... Zhang Lu is willing to cultivate the people's strength, but most of the people in Hanzhong are refugees from Guanxi and Guanzhong. Before settling in Hanzhong, their manpower has been overdrawn!
Bai Tu is facing the same dilemma. The manpower in Huainan and Danyang is still recovering, so Bai Tu also has a group of underage generals.
However, Bai Tu tried his best to raise the conscription age, and tried to promote the reserve and rotation military service systems to encourage generals to start families.
Not only for population growth...
This is also to enhance the generals' sense of belonging!
A general who has his family behind him will always be more likely to be loyal than a general .
The General's Mansion also has a plan to help orphans, but it never dares to select generals from the orphans, but instead lets them contribute in other ways.
If I really raise a group of orphans to be my warriors, I'm afraid they will lose their morale at the slightest setback, even if they are orphans I helped...
The only exception is the orphans of martyrs. For orphans whose father is a fallen general of the General's Mansion, and whose mother chooses to remarry due to an accident or other reasons and is unable to raise them, the General's Mansion not only provides full food and lodging, but also allows them to study in the school affiliated with the Privy Council since childhood.
Their fathers’ bodies were buried in Yangzhou, their spirit tablets were enshrined in the Jinling Humin Temple, and their names were engraved on the monument of loyalty and martyrs in their hometown…
If they are needed on the battlefield in the future, their loyalty will be unquestionable.
"Don't worry, two old ladies. The eldest brother is like a father... Not only Bofu, but also Gongjin's marriage is in my hands. After the troops are withdrawn in winter this year, I will let them come back to arrange the wedding." Bai Tu promised directly.
"Now that you have the hard drive, we two old ladies feel relieved. By the way... Taoist priest, we will need you to take a look at the horoscopes of Bofu, Gongjin, and the two daughters of the Qiao family." Old Lady Sun was also very warm to Yu Ji who was standing beside her.
When Yu Ji, the top student, heard about this, he naturally agreed immediately. One could tell without even looking at Yu Ji that their horoscopes were particularly compatible.
"This also solves Zhou Shang's headache. His nephew... Gongjin, that kid, has been making excuses before. Before his brother gets married, he will definitely not... ahem, it's nothing." Madam Sun Er said, and suddenly realized something.
When Zhou Yu mentioned "brother", did it only include Sun Ce, or did it also include Bai Tu?
seem……
Bai Tu never got married?
The marriage of Sun Ce and Zhou Yu was at most a matter of concern to both families, but Bai Tu’s marriage was a real hassle!
Bai Tu was also stunned when he heard this. Based on his understanding of Zhou Yu, when the other party thought of "brother", he most likely did not include him, Bai Tu.
only……
When this matter was suddenly mentioned, Bai Tu suddenly realized that... I have reached the right age to get married in every way, right?
Thinking of this, Bai Tu instinctively looked at Lu Lingqi.
However, as the head of the guards, Lu Lingqi just blushed, turned her head and looked around, as if trying to find the assassin.
"Neither Bofu nor Gongjin can find an excuse this time!" Bai Tu said seriously.
Lu Lingqi, who was standing by, humphed faintly.
…
Sun Ce and Zhou Yu, who did not yet know that they were being treated as "fathers by their elder brothers", were still fighting with the navy of Jingzhou on the river between Wuchang and Zhu County.
After conquering E County last year, Bai Tu followed the trend and, as in history, renamed E County to Wuchang, and renamed the then Wuchang to E County.
Zhu County is also a county in the northern part of Jiangxia and is considered the frontier station of Xiling.
At this time, Cai Mao lived in Xiling. He had moved the people of Zhu County to Xiling during the New Year. At this time, the population of Zhu County was less than 20% of what it was before, and the spring ploughing had basically been delayed...
It was precisely the strategy of using the county as a solid defense and clearing the fields. Although the battle took place in the waters near Zhu County, the gains and losses of Zhu County were not at all concerned. The only goal was to block the Yangzhou warships and compete for control of the waterway.
Given the abundance of water in the Xiling area at that time, it would be easy to be cut off if only infantry were advancing, so the navy had to be relied upon.
Moreover, Cai Mao was very "cowardly" in using his troops. No matter how many times Zhou Yu tried to use strategies, Cai Mao had no intention of expanding the victory and was only focused on defense.
They were clearly defending, but they showed no sympathy for their own side. It was as if they wanted to abandon Zhu County, relocate the people, and destroy the fields. This destructive defense gave Sun Ce's army a headache...
