Traveling through troubled times to escape famine and cultivate crops as a grain merchant

Chapter 1293 Extra Xu Xiushan

Xu Xiushan took over the Xu Family Army from his father, which at that time consisted of only tens of thousands of people.

By the time he was in his fifties, he had expanded the Xu family army to more than 100,000 people.

Of course, as the army expanded, he also defended the north so firmly that the Hu people could not even step into the gate.

He originally thought that he would be like his father, living a peaceful life as a general for the rest of his life. When his children could take over his business, he would have a successor and would have no regrets.

When did he begin to change his mind?

Perhaps it was the constant wars, the constant flight of civilians to the north, the endless exorbitant taxes and levies imposed in various places...

The people are short of money and have no energy left, and their lives are in misery.

It may also have started when the superiors, in order to prevent him from becoming too powerful, disregarded the vast majority of the people in the world and secretly colluded with the Hu people to kill him.

He finally understood that the imperial court was a rotten, broken ship that could not carry the people.

The dynasty is doomed.

When this idea came out, Xu Xiushan just raised his eyebrows. Since the dynasty was doomed, it was time for a change of rulers to rule the world!

He began to recruit soldiers and wrote to his second son, asking him to prepare money.

In this chaotic world, the North is still a safe and peaceful place. As more and more people flee to the North, their army also grows in number.

At this time, let alone military pay, as long as everyone has clothes to wear and food to eat, they will follow.

His Xu family was not actually wealthy, and they certainly could not afford to pay the military salaries of hundreds of thousands of people, but fortunately, as long as they were given a meal, they could stabilize the morale of the army.

But although the North is stable, it is actually a poor place. It cannot collect all the taxes every year. This amount of food can barely feed tens of thousands of people, but it is simply a pipe dream to feed hundreds of thousands of people.

Just when he was hesitating whether to shamelessly take advantage of the rich and leave a handle in front of the people of the world, suddenly, the tax revenue in the north improved.

Xu Xiushan ordered an investigation, and the clue led to Zhou Guo. He listened to his military advisor's analysis, "Although this is the second year, many people in Yunzhou still don't trust her. Only about half of them buy her fat. If everyone sees the effect next year and everyone buys, the tax revenue will be even more substantial."

"General, if we take over the nearby prefectures, then the tax revenue..."

Several people's eyes lit up. Yes, there are four prefectures nearby. If their territory has five prefectures, plus the fertilizer from Zhouguo, then these hundreds of thousands of troops will still have to worry about food?

Xu Xiushan pondered for a moment and asked, "Is this Zhou Guo the niece of our rising star, General Zhou Dacang?"

His subordinates understood what he meant and confirmed, "Yes, General. I've checked them thoroughly. They've recently fled from the south and are living with the villagers. There's nothing wrong with their identities. It's Zhou Guo, the one everyone talks about, the mythical boy he was in the presence of the Buddha in his past life, the blessed one in this life, the incredibly intelligent and capable one, and he's bound to have a great future."

Everyone was very interested, "What does this say?"

"It is said that after the little girl was born, she did not cry or make a fuss. The doctor said that she was stupid. The old lady of the family did not believe it, so she took the little girl to their local temple and asked the old monk to see her. I don't know what the old monk said, but he said that the child's fate was extremely precious. Although she was stupid now, she would definitely get better in the future.

As expected, as their family was heading north, the young woman suddenly regained consciousness. It was also quite remarkable: once she woke up, she seemed to know everything, much more than a normal seven or eight-year-old. Everyone said she had a connection with the Buddha and that Heaven was helping her.

After hearing this, everyone frowned. This story was too strange.

How can someone who has been stupid for eight years suddenly wake up and know everything? Children start speaking by babbling.

"General, this is too bizarre. How about calling Zhou Dacang to ask him?"

Xu Xiushan waved his hand and said, "What's there to ask? She's his own niece. He knows what's going on better than anyone else. Since the Zhou family said so, then that's the truth. The young lady may have known it better than anyone else in the past eight years, but she just can't say it. Besides, since she has such great ability, other things are insignificant."

Since she can increase tax revenue in the North so much, why does her background matter?

Since this child has a compassionate heart and the ability to match it, she is more important to the people of the world than he, a great general.

If he doesn't fight for this world, someone else will always fight for it. But if he loses someone like Zhou Guo, he will have no more. The food supply for his Xu family army will be a big problem.

Xu Xiushan said to his men, "Give her whatever she wants. If anyone in the North embarrasses her, they will be killed without mercy."

"Yes!"

Everyone was cheered up. With this young lady, the Xu family army would be able to conquer the world and would not have to stay in this small northern land.

At that time, Zhou Guo felt that things were going surprisingly smoothly. The biggest difficulty she encountered in her first step of selling fertilizer was the distrust of the people. As for other difficulties, there really were none.

Xu Xiushan attached great importance to Zhou Guo and would hear news about her every once in a while. Later, he heard from his subordinates that everyone in the north thought she was his illegitimate daughter who was stranded outside, otherwise why would he attach so much importance to her.

Moreover, the young lady's abilities are really outstanding, and it doesn't seem like she can be raised in an ordinary family.

Xu Xiushan laughed heartily upon hearing this. "Let her hold my banner high. The little girl is quite clever! Even if I become her father, I'm taking advantage. Such a capable daughter is even more capable than her brothers!"

He said this casually, and the idea was planted in his mind.

Such an important and powerful person must never be used by outsiders. If they are grasshoppers in the same boat, they are a family, and recognizing the daughter is the best way.

Therefore, he turned a blind eye to Zhou Guo's behavior of making a big deal out of herself and even covered for her. When people came to his house to ask about it, he just acquiesced.

In this way, officials of all ranks in the north received accurate information and dared not embarrass her anymore.

When this news spread, the wealthy families in the north did not dare to oppose it. As a result, Zhou Guo's industries sprang up like mushrooms after a rain, without encountering any suppression.

Xu Xiushan had high hopes for Zhou Guo, and this kid really did not disappoint him. In just two or three years, the tax revenue in the north went up a level.

Once the other four prefectures are taken, the annual taxes will be enough to support his Xu family army of hundreds of thousands of people.

Xu Xiushan breathed a sigh of relief. With the silver and money he received from his second son every year, he had money and food. The time had come for the Xu family army to conquer the world.

As the saying goes, an army that has the support of the people will conquer any city it reaches with unstoppable force and without any effort.

But the battle line in the north was too long, and sometimes there would be a shortage of food and grass. Without food and grass, Xu Xiushan could only think of Zhou Guo. The food in that child's hands added up in the past two years was not cheap.

But he felt bad for taking so much food from other people's children for nothing.

Fortunately, the child was generous and said that food is to be eaten, otherwise it would just be a pile of waste if piled up in the granary.

This child has a temperament that suits him perfectly, as if he was born to be part of their family.

She gets along well with all the children in the family, and even her wife likes her.

When rewarding meritorious officials, the ministers all suggested that she be made the eldest princess and enjoy the same fiefdom as Xu Sibei and others, but he always felt that something was missing and guessed that the child would not like it.

It was the youngest son who reminded him, "Dad, Guoguo has always dressed as a man. She is not an ordinary woman. Many men cannot do what she does. She should be a prince like us. I believe that compared to the eldest princess, she must like this more."

Xu Xiushan suddenly understood, and he said that something was missing, and that was right, this child was not suitable to be the eldest princess.

Zhou Guo, who became a prince, seemed to be even busier than him. He only spent two or three months a year in the capital, and no one knew what he was busy with.

In the third year, she gave him a huge surprise, "What did you say?"

Zhou Guo said, "Father, I've made up my mind. Feizhuang, which is under the Zhou family's name, is no longer suitable for the Zhou family to hold. I want to take it back and put it in the hands of the royal family. However, it has nothing to do with the court. It just bears the royal name, and the court has no right to interfere. This grain is different from the national treasury. It is used to stabilize prices as a backing and to provide disaster relief to various places."

Xu Xiushan looked at her in shock. He knew the importance of Feizhuang. Although he had never calculated the amount of grain harvested every year, he knew it must be very valuable. So would the Zhou family give it up so willingly?

"Does your family know?"

Zhou Guo smiled, "I know. They all agreed. My original intention in building Feizhuang was to ensure that all the people in the world could have enough to eat. The Zhou family doesn't have the ability to take this thing anymore, so it's most appropriate for the royal family to hold it."

Xu Xiushan was very excited. This was a lot of grain. He readily agreed, "Okay, then you can keep this fat farm yourself. You are still the King of Yan, so it's yours. I won't ask about anything, and neither will the court. You can do whatever you want."

Zhou Guo smiled and said, "Yes!"

But the Zhou family gave such a big thing, so there must be some compensation.

This compensation will be left to the next generation of the Zhou family, as there are so many children in the Zhou family who are studying.

Under Xu Xiushan's rule, Dasheng's national strength gradually recovered. This wasteland changed with each passing year, exuding a vibrant vitality. By the time he handed the stall over to Xu Xiaobei, the people had already lived a good life of peace and prosperity, and the treasury was full every year. It was truly a peaceful and prosperous era!