44. The Hundred-Household Garrison at Broken-Stone Shoal, Part Two

"Captain Yang, there are a total of ten villages and one small town under our jurisdiction," said Captain Hu.

"The total number of households is three hundred, with a total population of one thousand eight hundred and forty-three. There are three hundred and twenty-one able-bodied adult men. Currently, we actually have forty-three soldiers in active service."

Yang Fan's expression darkened. A troop shortage of sixty to seventy percent was quite absurd, and this place was truly bizarre.

Seeing Yang Fan's displeasure, Captain Hu carefully added, "The situation here is indeed a bit excessive, with rather too many deserters. However, most other garrisons usually have a vacancy rate of no more than fifty percent."

"Won't the higher-ups come down to inspect with such a massive shortage of men?" Yang Fan asked uneasily.

"Logically, an audit is supposed to be conducted at the end of every year, but you understand how these things work, haha," Captain Hu laughed awkwardly.

"How are vacancies typically filled?" Yang Fan remained uneasy and pressed further.

"Generally, there are two methods. One is called 'root replenishment,' which means rounding up the fled soldiers and forcibly re-enlisting them."

Yang Fan thought to himself that this method was as good as useless. Heaven knows where those people had fled to, or where one was supposed to look for them. They hadn't all run away on the same day—some might have been gone for a decade. Whether they were dead or alive was entirely unknown. Catching them was out of the question.

"And the other method?" Yang Fan asked.

"The other is called 'hook replenishment,' which means forcing a household member of the deserter to serve as a replacement. If there are no able-bodied men in that family, a replacement is taken from another military-register family that hasn't performed service yet," Captain Hu continued.

Yang Fan pondered. Anyone with half a brain could figure out that nobody would willingly volunteer to be drafted. It was probably exceptionally difficult to execute, which explained why garrisons all across Zunhua had maintained a fifty percent vacancy rate for all these years.

"What is the condition of the military agricultural lands? How much grain tribute is required to be paid annually? Are there any deficits?" Yang Fan pursued relentlessly. He needed to get this clear to avoid stepping on a massive landmine.

"Ah, you've hit the nail on the head regarding this! Our garrison has plenty of land—with just over three hundred households, we have a full one hundred and thirty thousand mu of land. There's simply more land than we can possibly farm," Captain Hu said excitedly.

Yang Fan curled his lip. He had seen it all upon arrival: entirely dry fields without a drop of water, relying solely on rainfall.

Furthermore, the ground was choked with rocks—quite literally more stones than soil.

It was also saline-alkali land, where even weeds grew half-dead.

"Actually, there are still three thousand mu of good land. Your humble subordinate has one thousand mu of paddy fields, and another two thousand mu of irrigated fields belong to the other officers. However, according to custom, these can be transferred to you, provided that—hehe—"

Yang Fan understood immediately: the fertile lands had all been usurped by the military officers. He could inherit his predecessor's land, but he would have to pay compensation.

Yet he had no idea what the going rate for such things was.

The young lady glanced sideways at Captain Hu and said, "Do me a favor and make it five hundred taels."

Captain Hu wore an expression as if he were parting with a piece of his own flesh.

"Before the handover, have you cleared the deficit?" the young lady asked. "Once Captain Yang takes over the deficit, you can rest assured and head off to Huai'an to assume your new post."

Captain Hu rolled his eyes and finally nodded in agreement.

If he handled the deficit himself, he wouldn't suffer a net loss; otherwise, even if he were reassigned to Huai'an, it would remain a lingering trouble.

Captain Hu led Yang Fan on another tour of the small town, inspecting the granary, the armory, and other facilities. Both parties finally signed and pressed their fingerprints, completing the handover. Yang Fan paid out five hundred-tael silver notes and received the title deeds for the one thousand mu of paddy fields.

Captain Hu departed with his family, two personal guards, a coachman, and the financial secretary, riding in carriages. The fellow's belongings filled a full three carriages, showing just how much wealth he had amassed during his tenure.

After the various officers took their leave, Tu Shanyue said to Yang Fan, "To secure his transfer, this old Hu misappropriated and embezzled quite a bit. Combined with the accumulated deficits from the years before he took over, it amounts to roughly ten thousand dan of grain, valued at about five thousand taels of silver. Don't worry, I'll help you maintain the status quo here. As long as nobody presses for payment, you'll be fine. Just stall whenever you can. Who knows how long you'll even be stationed here? When the time comes, you can just dump the mess onto your successor."

Yang Fan smiled bitterly. So that was why Lord Tu had been so insistent on getting him registered as a military household.

He had found it strange at the time, and looking back, it had seemed illogical and unnecessary.

So the trap had been waiting for him right here.

Lord Tu and the young lady had taken Fat Hu's silver and pulled strings to get him promoted and transferred to the south.

And where else could Fat Hu have gotten that money if not by embezzling public accounts?

In this wretched place, apart from wringing money out of those unlucky military households and material reserves, where else could anyone possibly get funds?

Of that five thousand taels, at least four thousand must have gone into the pockets of the young lady and her father.

For a captain, having a deficit of several hundred taels was already considered substantial.

Fat Hu knew the score: once he transferred out, someone else would take over the deficit, and the paddy fields were practically half-sold, half-given away.

This way, the young lady and Lord Tu were satisfied.

He himself was satisfied.

With his accounts cleared and no lingering worries, he could head off to Huai'an to enjoy life in peace.

Besides, for such a massive deficit, the successor had to be one of their own people in order to keep the matter under wraps.

If the successor weren't their man—or worse, an adversary—they would investigate him thoroughly. Could he possibly withstand such scrutiny?

Lord Tu's plans were truly foolproof, looking three steps ahead for every one he took. What a brilliant maneuver.

Did he even have a choice?

Putting everything else aside, considering he had seen the young lady completely naked just yesterday, how could he possibly have the face to undermine her?

Having figured out the cause and effect, Yang Fan didn't hesitate and said directly, "I'll shoulder this burden!"

The young lady gave him a sultry, meaningful glance.

This fellow was always so perceptive, sensible, and quick on the uptake.

"Rest assured, I won't let you suffer a loss," the young lady said, winking. "I've got your back. Anyone who dares cause you trouble, I'll deal with them."

That night, Yang Fan and Tu Shanyue did not return. They summoned all the military households, bought ten sheep to boil into mutton soup, and fetched flour from the granary to make flatbreads, treating all the soldiers and their families to a hearty meal.

This too was custom.

The arrival of a new commander always called for a gesture of goodwill. As for how they would be exploited thereafter, that was naturally custom as well.

The village elders from the ten villages and the military officers all kept Yang Fan and Tu Shanyue company, drinking wine.

Tu Shanyue clearly looked down her nose at the wine—having undoubtedly developed a taste for top-tier Maotai, no wine of this era could catch her fancy.

"Village elders, I noticed that along the Luan River within our garrison, there is a vast expanse of flat land. Why has it never been developed?"

"Ah, Your Honor, our Stone Beach has the most land among the ten garrisons, but it's all saline-alkali soil, and choked with rocks."

"Indeed. Although it borders the Luan River, the river is notoriously prone to massive floods, making it impossible to harness."

"When the flood season arrives, the Luan River swells wildly and submerges the entire area. Planting anything there is a complete waste of effort."

"Once the flood season passes, the water level drops too low for irrigation, and with all the rocks, it's even worse than the poorest dry land—you can't even recover the cost of the seeds."

Yang Fan finally understood. So that was why such a massive stretch of flat land was left unutilized.

Wouldn't seasonal flooding inevitably lead to soil salinization? And no wonder there were so many river pebbles—they had been washed down by mountain torrents.

If that land were successfully developed, it would easily amount to forty or fifty thousand mu. Leaving it abandoned like this was an absolute waste.

"Bring me the map," Yang Fan said.

The two battalion commanders, Wang Dali and Zhang Wuge, immediately spread the map out on the ground.

Holding up lanterns to illuminate it for him, the more Yang Fan looked at the map, the more a profound sense of familiarity washed over him.

This place clearly corresponded to a massive reservoir in future generations—seemingly called the Yuqiao Reservoir, which served as the primary water source for the city of Tianjin.