Chapter 40

Sugar made from sugarcane was still a rarity in the north, but various types of maltose and hawthorn candies were available, even in the summer. Wang Ju had the Zhu family bring many pieces of maltose.

However, even when he melted the maltose and mixed it with sheep's milk, the second daughter and third son still found it hard to drink. Wang Ju had to learn to make butter tea from Hu Heizi. But the second daughter and third son still found it hard to drink, even though Wang Ju changed the butter tea from salt to sugar.

"Drink it, little sister, little brother. You see, I don't like it either, but we have to drink it to stay healthy. Without good health, we'll get sick."

Not long ago, a spring rain had left the third son with a cold, which scared Wang Ju quite a bit.

Medical care in this era was very expensive, and the medical technology was extremely backward. Even if you spent money, who knew what strange prescriptions the doctors would write?

Most importantly, it was about health.

If you were healthy and had a strong immune system, even if you got sick, it wouldn't be so dangerous.

This was why every time Zhu Qing saw Wang Ju and his siblings, they were always dressed neatly and cleanly. They were so poor that it was best not to get sick.

After much persuasion, the younger brother and sister finally finished their butter tea, and a new day began. Wang Ju opened the sheep pen and drove the sheep to the riverbank. The village had too many sheep, so the grass was often eaten down to the ground before it could grow.

Some sheep, greedy for food, rushed through the fence to nibble on the newly sprouted reeds.

The village was very quiet.

The government had suddenly taken away fifty laborers, including Uncle Er, to build roads, causing the village to halt its sword-making.

The remaining people were all working.

Wang Ju, like last year, relied on the weather for his crops. He planted grass seeds and occasionally led water for irrigation, or planted beans and sorghum seeds and occasionally weeded. Even though his body was starting to develop, he was still a small fourteen-year-old boy.

Lacking strength and not fully focused, he couldn't farm as meticulously as the other villagers.

The weather at the end of February was incredibly pleasant, with low-hanging spring clouds and neither too cold nor too hot.

Wang Ju sat on a rock and read a book.

Suddenly, Zhu Qing, riding a donkey, arrived at the Hunszhou River, out of breath. Before the donkey had even stopped, he dismounted and rushed to Wang Ju.

Wang Ju was startled. "Mr. Zhu, what happened?"

"Little Master, things are not good. The master heard from the soldiers at Luping Fort in Xixia that the Xixia army on the Changcheng Ridge side wants to attack your village."

"How is that possible?"

The hardest times for Yan Prefecture and Baoan Army were after the Jinming Fort was breached, leaving the area defenseless. Even after Zhong Shiheng built Qingjian City, they still relied on the Qiang tribes for information and defense.

However, with a series of forts and outposts built, regardless of whether this fort strategy was good or bad, the situation in Yan Prefecture began to improve. For example, Wang Family Village had Wulin Fort to the east and northeast, An塞 Fort and Longan Fort, Zha'an Fort to the southeast, Baoan Army City to the southwest, and Shunning Fort to the west, forming an effective defense.

Moreover, although Wang Family Village was on the front line, it was not the true front line. There were still Qiang tribes like the Guiniang tribe in front of it, which belonged to the Song Dynasty. Although the court did not dare to tax them, they nominally submitted to the Song Dynasty. The large-scale private trade on the border was all done with the cooperation of the soldiers.

To attack Wang Family Village, it would be no easy task, at least not now. At least a few hundred soldiers would be needed, but how could a few hundred enemies cross the Qiang tribes and the patrolling soldiers?

And there was no reason for it.

True, Wang Family Village's situation had improved, but it was just a trend.

Selling swords three times, they had made some money, but this money was used to buy weapons for defense. The remaining money was spent on household items, buying lambs, or other uses, all of which were spent.

Without wealth, what was the point of attacking a civilian village like Wang Family Village?

"Apparently, they heard that your village made a lot of money from sword-making," Zhu Qing explained the reason.

"Money? We don't have that much."

"But they won't think that way."

If that was the case, this message might be true.

Although there were soldiers stationed in the forts, would they really be effective? They weren't attacking the soldiers. It was possible that even if Wang Family Village was wiped out by the Xixia, no one would report it to the court.

"And there's the labor force..." Wang Ju's eyes finally showed worry.

The Xixia might not know about the village's simple defense system, the many bows and arrows it had bought, or the large number of weapons it had forged and the training it had undergone. With a large number of able-bodied men away building roads, it would be a good time to attack.

But there was a lot more to this message, and Wang Ju looked at Zhu Qing intently.

"It might be related to the Zhu family," Zhu Qing didn't hide it. This boy was a genius, and being honest could win his favor.

"Have they found the family?"

"Not yet, but it's almost there. Everyone has their own private business, and some grudges are inevitable, but not to the point of death. There are only a few families with deep enmity. The Zhu family has one, and the Zhao family has one. The suspects are these two families. But this time, the senior Zhu suspects that the target might be you."

"Me?"

"Little Master, you're not the same as last year, and because of you, someone's plan to break the alliance between the Zhao and Zhu families failed, and he must be furious."

"So they want to attack the whole village..." Wang Ju stopped, thinking. If it weren't for him, the Zhu family might not have been so kind. A poor village like this was nothing. Besides, where was the evidence?

"How many enemy soldiers will come?"

"Probably not many. It seems a group of Zhaoling Lang will come."

Zhaoling Lang were Han Chinese soldiers in the Xixia army, usually working with the Qingsheng Army to raid and plunder in Song territory or serving as cannon fodder. But don't blame the Han Chinese; the Song Dynasty had lost the northwest, including Lingzhou, Yanzhou, and the Nan Heng Mountains, Doul Ridge, Shal Ridge, Quwu Mountains, and Tiandu Mountains...

Thus, the Zhaoling Lang were even more ruthless than the Tangut army.

Or like the future Liang family!

"What if we report it to the government?"

"It's just a rumor. How can we report it to the government? Even if we do, what will the government do when the Xixia army comes?"

The nearest fort to Wang Family Village was Wulin Fort, a relatively small fort in Yan Prefecture and Baoan Army, with only one battalion of soldiers, less than five hundred. If you exclude the phantom soldiers (a term for soldiers reported but not actually present, a common practice in the late Northern Song Dynasty, where a battalion might have four or five hundred soldiers on the payroll but only two hundred in reality), the actual number would be even fewer.

Even if they saw the Xixia army coming, they would likely retreat to Wulin Fort and report to Baoan Army City and Yan Prefecture. By the time the officials made their decision, the Xixia would have already plundered and retreated.

"Damn..." Wang Ju couldn't help but smile bitterly.

Why was it always the same? Clearly a great country, yet it was repeatedly bullied by small countries and even barbarian tribes.

"What does the master mean?"

"The master means it's best to prepare for defense early."

"How can we defend?" Wang Ju asked.

Don't be fooled by the village walls; they were only about six feet high and could be climbed without a ladder.

Although the Zhaoling Lang were not as strong as the Black Bee Bandits, they would be fully armed to achieve a quick victory.

The village had already lost fifty laborers.

"The senior Zhu said he would send twenty men to help you, provide a batch of bows and arrows, and spend some money to have people on the other side of the mountain listen for news..."

This was an advantage, but the rest would depend on how Wang Family Village and Wang Ju handled it.