Chapter 19

Yueyang looked at his grandmother, who had a look of anger on her face, and felt a headache coming on. It seemed that if he couldn't persuade this old lady, his plans would be greatly compromised.

After thinking for a while, Yueyang waved his hand to signal the two maids who were massaging his back to leave. Only then did he pull out a letter from his sleeve and hand it to the old lady: "Grandma, please read this letter first, and then I'll talk to you about it."

The old lady took the letter and quickly read through it. After finishing, she said with disdain: "What's the big deal? It's just the Yellow River breaking its banks and the famine-stricken people rebelling. I believe the imperial army will quickly suppress these rebels. Such things are not uncommon in our Great Ming. I have never seen any rebellion succeed."

Yueyang smiled bitterly: "Grandma, what you said is true. This rebellion won't amount to much, and such things have happened before. But have you ever thought about why our Great Ming has seen frequent rebellions by famine-stricken people in recent years? And why, after one rebellion is suppressed, another one immediately arises, causing the court great headaches? Although the court is like a strong man, and these rebels are like weeds, at first, the strong man wouldn't take the weeds seriously because he could easily cut them down with a sickle. But don't forget, the strong man is just one person, while the weeds are like leeks; once you cut one, another sprouts immediately. No matter how hard the strong man tries, he will eventually be overwhelmed by the endless weeds. Think about it, this rebellion is happening in Mengjin by the Yellow River. What if the next one happens in Yingzhou? What will we do? Just wait to die?"

The old lady was not stupid; she just hadn't thought it through at first. Now, hearing Yueyang's words, she slowly understood: "Grandson, do you think such rebellions could happen here too?"

Yueyang nodded: "Grandma, it's not just possible, but very likely. Look at our land in Shanxi. The drought is so severe that many fields are cracking. It's easy to imagine how many farmers will have no harvest this autumn. What will those farmers without food and clothing do? Even if they don't want to rebel, if someone calls them to action and leads them to raid the granaries, what will the authorities do? They will naturally send troops to suppress them. This will lead to a situation like in Mengjin, where the famine-stricken people, with no other choice, will turn into a group of ferocious rebels. These rebels could number in the thousands, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands. In such a case, do you think our Yuejia Village, Wulizhai, or even Yingzhou Prefecture can remain unscathed? If we don't have a well-trained militia, can our small estate, located outside Yingzhou City and without a city wall for protection, withstand the rebels' assault with just Master Hu and the hundred or so servants? I fear that in less than a day, the entire Yuejia Village will be reduced to ashes!"

The old lady's expression grew increasingly serious. Having lived so long, she had extensive experience and could tell that Yueyang's words were not an exaggeration but a likely future scenario. The saying "think of danger in times of peace" was a profound truth for her.

"So, is that why you gave the Sanggan River to the Wang, Li, and Lin families in exchange for a position in the militia?" The old lady, being a shrewd old woman, saw through Yueyang's true intentions at once.

"Grandma, you have such keen insight!" Yueyang quickly praised her, giving her a thumbs up.

"Don't flatter me, grandson." The old lady wasn't buying it, glaring at him and scolding: "Not to mention the suspicion it will arouse from the court, do you know how much it costs to maintain such a large army? Even if we sold Yuejia Village ten times over, we couldn't afford it!"

Yueyang laughed at the old lady's words and said softly but firmly: "Grandma, you're wrong. I believe we can afford it!" Seeing that the old lady was about to get upset, he quickly added: "Grandma, don't worry, let me explain in detail."

Yueyang then said confidently: "Grandma, you should know that the rice and wheat seeds I mentioned last time have been brought back. These seeds can yield at least 600 pounds per acre. I also brought back two drilling machines from the Franks, which can drill two wells a day. In two months, we can drill over a hundred irrigation wells. This way, our good fields won't lack water. Once our Yuejia Village's 10,000 acres of land are bountiful, with each acre yielding 300 pounds of grain, we can harvest at least 3 million pounds of grain from over 12,000 acres. Think about it, 3 million pounds of grain can support 10,000 soldiers for half a year, with some left over. I can also bring in more military equipment, and our militia will be established. With this militia, not only will Yingzhou Prefecture not dare to underestimate us, but even if the entire Shanxi changes, who will dare to look down on our Yuejia Village!"

"Wow..."

Hearing this, the old lady's eyes widened as if she were seeing him for the first time. She examined him carefully from all angles for a long time before saying: "Grandson, if you weren't the one I've watched grow up, I wouldn't believe you are the same grandson who used to just read books all day. Your transformation is truly beyond my comprehension. Why have you changed so much?"

Hearing this question, Yueyang felt a slight headache. He smiled bitterly and said: "Grandma, perhaps it was Wang Chenglin and his gang who woke me up. Now I see clearly that the world is in chaos. Whoever has an army is the boss. Otherwise, in times of chaos, even if you have money and food, you will become the enemy's prey."

Hearing Yueyang's words, the old lady sighed lightly, "Sigh! Grandson, your transformation is too great, so great that even I can't understand it. I don't know if this is good or bad, but rest assured, no matter what you do, I will support you. After all, you are my precious grandson."

Hearing this, Yueyang's heart trembled. He could tell how much the old lady loved him. Even if he were to do something so dangerous, she would support him unconditionally. This was the unconditional love of an old woman for her grandson!

However, Yueyang was not a reckless brute. He knew that in this era, raising a large army of tens of thousands would be shocking. If he really did that, he would likely be crushed by the imperial troops before he could even gather his forces.

Yueyang smiled and sat behind the old lady, massaging her back and said: "Grandma, don't worry, I'm not that foolish. I won't make such a big move all at once. As the saying goes, you have to eat one bite at a time and do things step by step. You can't become a big fat man in one breath. I plan to recruit only a thousand men for the first batch. This way, it won't seem too sudden. Once these thousand men are trained, we will have the strength to protect ourselves. The Wang, Li, and Lin families won't dare to bully us excessively. Moreover, the high-yield seeds will eventually be leaked. With this strength, others won't dare to bully us like they did this time!"

As he said this, a cold light flashed in Yueyang's eyes. Although he had solved the water shortage problem with the drilling machines from the modern era, he was still seething with anger at the aggressive stance of the three families. However, since the Yue family was the weakest, he had to endure it for now.

However, the old lady thought about it carefully and slowly nodded. Although she was a woman, she knew that the Yue family's influence had long declined. The main reason was that the Yue family, in terms of wealth and manpower, could not match the other three families, which was why they were forced to give up the Sanggan River. If the Yuejia Village had a well-trained militia, it wouldn't have come to this.

Thinking about this, a look of satisfaction appeared in the old lady's eyes, and she finally nodded slowly: "Alright, grandson, you've convinced me. You see further than I do. I won't interfere with this matter anymore. However, I must remind you that although the militia is just a group of local soldiers, it still needs a true expert to train them. I don't have anyone to recommend, do you have someone in mind?"

Hearing this, Yueyang's face showed a hint of helpless bitterness: "Grandma, I don't really have a good candidate for this. If there's no one suitable, I'll have to do it myself."

Hearing this, the old lady's eyes showed surprise again...

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