Post by Gongsun Chao on Nov 7, 2009 3:06:54 GMT
Tags I'm going for with this post:
Patrolling
Rescue
Cultivation/Farming
On the morning after Chao's acceptance into the army of Shu, Chao decided that he should lead a small patrol around the city of Changsha, more to familiarize himself with the city than to actually improve safety. Calling his companions Zhang Ci and Zhou Xu, he led a score of his father's veteran warriors into the streets of Changsha, slowly walking around the various districts. As they passed the market district, Chao stopped frequently to introduce himself to vendors and use his usually charming demeanor to spread the word of his own arrival. Many of the less reputable vendors hid from his patrolling men, but he focused on those there, seeming to idly chat with them. Zhang Ci scolded him for caring more about improving the public image than actually improving safety, but Chao responded that it was the good public image of Lord Liu and his vassals that led to a safe city. Chao continued to buy trinkets and food from the various merchants.
After passing through one of Changsha's markets, Chao and his men made their way to the residential area. Quite a few peasants came forth from their homes to meet the new general that had joined their Lord's cause, and Chao was happy to smile and introduce himself to them. A few older officials looked on with a smirk, thinking Chao foolish for wasting his time meeting peasants that really didn't matter.
A couple of peasants asked Chao and his men to look into random things - a lost heirloom, an unpaid debt. Chao knew he didn't have the time to go on random errands for each of the peasants that approached him, but he bade two of his men to spend the day aiding the peasants in solving their disputes and problems.
As they neared the gates of the city, Chao saw a pretty girl down one of the backstreets, and bade his men follow him, as if he had seen some crime being committed. Alarmed, his men tensed and tightened their grips on their spears as they followed him to chase down the girl. When the reached the other side of the backstreet, the girl was no where in sight. What they heard however, were the noises of a fight that had broke out in an adjacent alleyway. Upon closer inspection, Chao saw three hooded brigands mugging an older farmer and beating him with clubs. Chao bade his men hide, as he wished to deal with this himself, though he whispered to a few men to go around the other side of the alleyway and ambush the assailants.
Chao approached the three brigands, great-spear of Legacy in his hands.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you three," Chao scolded as he approached.
The three men, previously obvious to his presence (he had just turned the corner), spun to face him. By this time, the peasant man seemed unconscious, if still breathing, and so he wasn't able to make a break for it as Chao had hoped. One of the men approached Chao menacingly, drawing a knife from his belt.
"Ye ain't gonna mess with us and get away with it, richie boy."
"Actually, I will stop you, and I will place each of you in your own cell of the Lord's prison, if you do not change your ways and follow the path of honest work," came the young noble's reply.
The brigands chuckled, drawing their swords and preparing to beatdown the armored Lord. Their odds were pretty good, three on one, even if he had the advantage of a longer weapon.
"Ye and wha' army?"
Chao chuckled. Such a cliche response from a brigand. He hit the butt of his spear on the ground before him, and his men entered the alleyway from both sides, trapping the three unarmored brigands with ease.
"The army of Chang Sha, actually," the youth couldn't help himself from joking.
The three brigands knew immediately that their position was quite the perilous one. They had no option but to submit to Chao's men and be jailed. They put down their weapons and cursed Chao.
"Now, now. I'm not here to apprehend everyone who does something bad. You are young men, do something good with your lives. What did you steal from this honest man?"
It was true, the brigands were only about Chao's age, nothing more. They were just teenagers, as Chao was, and they listened to him speak because they had no other choice. When he asked, they produced a small bag of coins. Chao just laughed.
"Is it worth a few years in Chang Sha's prison for twelve coins of copper? Come, young men of Chang Sha, do not give in to the evils of banditry, for you will not reap the rewards that honest men do. Go home, and tell all of your friends that if you join my army, your wages will exceed that which you previously stole. Do not waste your lives in prisons when you can fight to protect your homes from those that would hurt your family, and earn an honest living."
With that speech, the three men were let go, though their swords were confiscated. They were dumbfounded, but accepted their good luck and ran off. Whether they would choose to heed his words or not, Chao didn't know yet. His attention quickly turned to the injured man. Though Chao was no doctor, between the score of men still remaining (Zhou, Zhang and eighteen soldiers), they were able to bandage the farmer's wounds and a little water woke him up.
The farmer coughed a few times, before finally being able to speak.
"T-T-Thank y-you, m-my Lord. Y-you saved-d me!"
"It was nothing, good Sir. Perhaps my men can escort you back to your home, you can lean on them if you are too injured to walk."
The farmer thanked Chao a few more times before trying to stand. He was very surprised that he had been saved by such a young man, but he was glad for the aid in returning to his home. Some passerbys thought it strange that Chao's men were escorting a mere peasant to his home, but Chao's men helped the man home. Before reaching his small wooden house, quite a walk from the gates, the farmer asked to stop to check on his crops. Most of his crops were dead or dying, even though there was no drought this year. He began to weep.
"I--I once grew the best, the best fruit and grains in all of Changsha...now they are all dead. For almost twenty years I grew the best, my Lord, why have they all fallen dead while my friend's crops prosper?"
Chao really didn't know the answer to this, as he wasn't a farmer and had never lived on a farm. He thought about an answer that would make logical sense.
"Perhaps, good Sir, if you switched what you are growing on each plot?"
This was a guess from the young Chao. Zhou Xu looked at him surprised, the look telling Chao that his advice had actually been good. The farmer did not share this opinion, however.
"No, no, n-no. I used to grow the best, I watched over them everyday and gave them all the care in the world, they've grown for twenty years! Why would they stop now?"
Zhou Xu decided to interject here and better explain the situation to the ignorant farmer.
"It is precisely because you have grown the same plant in the same plot for so many years that your plants are failing. That depletes the Qi of the soil, how can you expect life-giving fruit to grow from soil where the Qi is depleted? My Lord's suggestion is quite the valid one."
"B-But...it won't be the same in another plot," the farmer responded.
Chao smiled widely and began to laugh a bit.
"Don't you see, good Sir, it is not the plot that produces the best fruit in Changsha, but the hard work and dedication that you have put into it that produces the best fruit."
"I...Your words make sense, my Lord...but I fear that it is too late to switch the crops for this harvest. It would take me two weeks, and unless it could be done in one day, the switched plants won't -"
Chao motioned for the farmer to stop talking.
"My men and I will aid you. It will be done in one day."
Sure enough, Chao's men removed their armor and aided the farmer in planting the correct plants on the different plots. They removed the dead plants first, and then planted fruit where there had previously been grain and grain where there had previously been fruit. Even the young Lord did some work, though not nearly as much as his soldiers did, if only to improve the morale of the soldiers that were doing such a menial task for Chao. Chao's soldiers found a way to make the task into a sporting competition, each of them shoveling as much as they could carry and lifting the packed soil like weights. Many of the soldiers were former farmers, and they easily did the job in one day's time.
And so it was that the farms of the fortunate farmer were replanted, and would have a plentiful harvest in the years to come.
Patrolling
Rescue
Cultivation/Farming
On the morning after Chao's acceptance into the army of Shu, Chao decided that he should lead a small patrol around the city of Changsha, more to familiarize himself with the city than to actually improve safety. Calling his companions Zhang Ci and Zhou Xu, he led a score of his father's veteran warriors into the streets of Changsha, slowly walking around the various districts. As they passed the market district, Chao stopped frequently to introduce himself to vendors and use his usually charming demeanor to spread the word of his own arrival. Many of the less reputable vendors hid from his patrolling men, but he focused on those there, seeming to idly chat with them. Zhang Ci scolded him for caring more about improving the public image than actually improving safety, but Chao responded that it was the good public image of Lord Liu and his vassals that led to a safe city. Chao continued to buy trinkets and food from the various merchants.
After passing through one of Changsha's markets, Chao and his men made their way to the residential area. Quite a few peasants came forth from their homes to meet the new general that had joined their Lord's cause, and Chao was happy to smile and introduce himself to them. A few older officials looked on with a smirk, thinking Chao foolish for wasting his time meeting peasants that really didn't matter.
A couple of peasants asked Chao and his men to look into random things - a lost heirloom, an unpaid debt. Chao knew he didn't have the time to go on random errands for each of the peasants that approached him, but he bade two of his men to spend the day aiding the peasants in solving their disputes and problems.
As they neared the gates of the city, Chao saw a pretty girl down one of the backstreets, and bade his men follow him, as if he had seen some crime being committed. Alarmed, his men tensed and tightened their grips on their spears as they followed him to chase down the girl. When the reached the other side of the backstreet, the girl was no where in sight. What they heard however, were the noises of a fight that had broke out in an adjacent alleyway. Upon closer inspection, Chao saw three hooded brigands mugging an older farmer and beating him with clubs. Chao bade his men hide, as he wished to deal with this himself, though he whispered to a few men to go around the other side of the alleyway and ambush the assailants.
Chao approached the three brigands, great-spear of Legacy in his hands.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you three," Chao scolded as he approached.
The three men, previously obvious to his presence (he had just turned the corner), spun to face him. By this time, the peasant man seemed unconscious, if still breathing, and so he wasn't able to make a break for it as Chao had hoped. One of the men approached Chao menacingly, drawing a knife from his belt.
"Ye ain't gonna mess with us and get away with it, richie boy."
"Actually, I will stop you, and I will place each of you in your own cell of the Lord's prison, if you do not change your ways and follow the path of honest work," came the young noble's reply.
The brigands chuckled, drawing their swords and preparing to beatdown the armored Lord. Their odds were pretty good, three on one, even if he had the advantage of a longer weapon.
"Ye and wha' army?"
Chao chuckled. Such a cliche response from a brigand. He hit the butt of his spear on the ground before him, and his men entered the alleyway from both sides, trapping the three unarmored brigands with ease.
"The army of Chang Sha, actually," the youth couldn't help himself from joking.
The three brigands knew immediately that their position was quite the perilous one. They had no option but to submit to Chao's men and be jailed. They put down their weapons and cursed Chao.
"Now, now. I'm not here to apprehend everyone who does something bad. You are young men, do something good with your lives. What did you steal from this honest man?"
It was true, the brigands were only about Chao's age, nothing more. They were just teenagers, as Chao was, and they listened to him speak because they had no other choice. When he asked, they produced a small bag of coins. Chao just laughed.
"Is it worth a few years in Chang Sha's prison for twelve coins of copper? Come, young men of Chang Sha, do not give in to the evils of banditry, for you will not reap the rewards that honest men do. Go home, and tell all of your friends that if you join my army, your wages will exceed that which you previously stole. Do not waste your lives in prisons when you can fight to protect your homes from those that would hurt your family, and earn an honest living."
With that speech, the three men were let go, though their swords were confiscated. They were dumbfounded, but accepted their good luck and ran off. Whether they would choose to heed his words or not, Chao didn't know yet. His attention quickly turned to the injured man. Though Chao was no doctor, between the score of men still remaining (Zhou, Zhang and eighteen soldiers), they were able to bandage the farmer's wounds and a little water woke him up.
The farmer coughed a few times, before finally being able to speak.
"T-T-Thank y-you, m-my Lord. Y-you saved-d me!"
"It was nothing, good Sir. Perhaps my men can escort you back to your home, you can lean on them if you are too injured to walk."
The farmer thanked Chao a few more times before trying to stand. He was very surprised that he had been saved by such a young man, but he was glad for the aid in returning to his home. Some passerbys thought it strange that Chao's men were escorting a mere peasant to his home, but Chao's men helped the man home. Before reaching his small wooden house, quite a walk from the gates, the farmer asked to stop to check on his crops. Most of his crops were dead or dying, even though there was no drought this year. He began to weep.
"I--I once grew the best, the best fruit and grains in all of Changsha...now they are all dead. For almost twenty years I grew the best, my Lord, why have they all fallen dead while my friend's crops prosper?"
Chao really didn't know the answer to this, as he wasn't a farmer and had never lived on a farm. He thought about an answer that would make logical sense.
"Perhaps, good Sir, if you switched what you are growing on each plot?"
This was a guess from the young Chao. Zhou Xu looked at him surprised, the look telling Chao that his advice had actually been good. The farmer did not share this opinion, however.
"No, no, n-no. I used to grow the best, I watched over them everyday and gave them all the care in the world, they've grown for twenty years! Why would they stop now?"
Zhou Xu decided to interject here and better explain the situation to the ignorant farmer.
"It is precisely because you have grown the same plant in the same plot for so many years that your plants are failing. That depletes the Qi of the soil, how can you expect life-giving fruit to grow from soil where the Qi is depleted? My Lord's suggestion is quite the valid one."
"B-But...it won't be the same in another plot," the farmer responded.
Chao smiled widely and began to laugh a bit.
"Don't you see, good Sir, it is not the plot that produces the best fruit in Changsha, but the hard work and dedication that you have put into it that produces the best fruit."
"I...Your words make sense, my Lord...but I fear that it is too late to switch the crops for this harvest. It would take me two weeks, and unless it could be done in one day, the switched plants won't -"
Chao motioned for the farmer to stop talking.
"My men and I will aid you. It will be done in one day."
Sure enough, Chao's men removed their armor and aided the farmer in planting the correct plants on the different plots. They removed the dead plants first, and then planted fruit where there had previously been grain and grain where there had previously been fruit. Even the young Lord did some work, though not nearly as much as his soldiers did, if only to improve the morale of the soldiers that were doing such a menial task for Chao. Chao's soldiers found a way to make the task into a sporting competition, each of them shoveling as much as they could carry and lifting the packed soil like weights. Many of the soldiers were former farmers, and they easily did the job in one day's time.
And so it was that the farms of the fortunate farmer were replanted, and would have a plentiful harvest in the years to come.
