The young couple from the farm fights back

Chapter 147: Autumn Harvest Season: Conquering Jingzhou City

The autumn harvest arrived quickly, and under Jiang Li's guidance, Changsheng Island quickly returned to its former busy order. During the autumn harvest, in addition to the guards who took turns guarding the island, Mingye also brought a group of brothers to the fields to help the tribe with the autumn harvest.

The golden rice fields, blown by the autumn wind, are as beautiful as a sea of stars.

During the three busy farming days, Jiang Li gave the children from the two schools a holiday. Naturally, this was to let the children experience firsthand the difficulties of farmers in growing crops, and let the children go to the fields and learn about the autumn harvest together.

Que Ge'er and Heng Ge'er went back to the fields to work. Fortunately, the two children had strong learning abilities. Although they worked slowly, they were willing to work hard.

Jing'er, An'er and Dabao, the three younger brothers, went to the fields to help pick up rice ears on the ground. They should know that every grain of food they eat is hard-earned.

Jiang Li brought some tribesmen to plant seasonal medicinal herbs such as Atractylodes macrocephala, Psoralea corylifolia, Bupleurum chinense, and Aconiti Lateralis Preparata in the reclaimed land.

Many of the seeds were found in other places with the help of Deputy General Cheng.

Jiang Li heard that the late Prime Minister Xiao had many disciples all over the world, and now several capable disciples have come to Yanzhou City to help Deputy General Cheng build Yanzhou City Yixu. It is believed that it will not be long before Yanzhou City will be able to open for trade.

I don’t know how Zhou Chunfeng is doing now. Are the battles in Huizhou and Jingzhou going smoothly?

The island master of the Mingshi family came to the fields today. After finishing his work, he wiped the sweat off his face and said, "Madam, both plots of land have been sown with seeds today. It's getting late, so leave them to us."

Jiang Li came back to his senses after hearing the sound, still holding the small hoe in his hand. He looked at the ground behind him and saw that it was covered with soil. The Mingwu family and several daughters-in-law had already started to sprinkle water on the ground.

"Okay, by the way, just water it once a day. It's not easy to fertilize until the buds start to take root."

"Okay, my lady. I've got it all in mind."

Ming Wu's family came over with a bucket of water and said with a smile, "Madam, please wash your hands quickly."

Jiang Li smiled broadly and leaned over to wash the dirt off his hands in the bucket. He saw the tribesmen carrying the abundant rice harvest back to their own courtyards, either on ox carts or shoulder poles.

Everyone's face was filled with a satisfied smile. The war did not affect Changsheng Island, and this year the weather was good, and the crops grew very well, much better than the harvest in previous years.

I heard that although Uncle Zhou Er's family started sowing more than half a month late this year, they also had a good harvest. Now that they are on the island, they don't have to pay taxes to the court, and they can eat a bowl of rice every meal at home.

At this time, Yuan Niang walked over slowly, holding a rice ear in her hand and presented it with both hands.

In previous years, during the autumn harvest, the crops from the fields had to be delivered to the island owner, so that the owner could see the gift from heaven to the tribe and Changsheng Island that year.

Jiang Li took the rice ear, picked a well-wrapped grain with her fingertips, peeled off the shell and put it in her mouth to chew.

The fresh raw rice noodles are glutinous and fragrant, and each one is plump and full, which is the result of the unique crab field cultivation method of Changsheng Island.

Changsheng Island covers an area that is neither big nor small. In the past, the tribesmen cultivated the land themselves.

A few months ago, Jiang Li gathered the tribesmen to open up all the vacant arable land, leaving half for growing medicinal herbs and most of it for growing grain next year.

From ancient times to the present, along with wars of arms comes wars of food. Jiang Li's idea was simple: if the time was right, he would buy a shop in Yanzhou City and specialize in selling the island's authentic crab paddy.

"Very good!" Jiang Li placed the remaining rice ears in Yuan Niang's hands and said, "Pick a few good ones and harvest them. In half a month's Double Ninth Festival, during the Heavenly Worship Ceremony, the good ones should be presented to the Heavenly Ancestor to express gratitude."

"Yes, ma'am."

On the ninth day of the ninth lunar month every year, a grand ceremony to worship the heavens is held on Changsheng Island.

Since ancient times, in September, the head of the household was ordered to prepare for the harvest and to focus on the five key areas, with absolute respect and discipline.

In order to thank the Emperor of Heaven and the ancestors for their protection, all the people in the clan will come together to pay homage.

After returning to Jianglin Pavilion, Jiang Li first washed up, changed into clean clothes, and took Lan Jie'er from Fang's arms.

"Is my sister making any noise today?"

Fang smiled angrily and said, "My sister is very well-behaved, not as erratic as you say, madam."

Jiang Li smiled as she looked at the little girl in her arms, but unexpectedly, Sister Lan started playing with her saliva bubbles.

Jiang Li poked her daughter's face lightly in annoyance: "Don't spit. The autumn harvest isn't over yet, and we can't bring heavy rain."

Lan Jie'er's eyes sparkled, and she thought her mother was teasing her. She danced with joy and played with the saliva bubbles in her mouth even more enthusiastically.

This made Jiang Li and Fang's hearts soften and they couldn't stop smiling.

Outside the city of Jingzhou, Wang's army and Huai's army were exhausted after a long battle. Under the attack of the rebel army and reinforcements, their morale dropped sharply and they no longer had the momentum they once had.

Not wanting to fight for two more days, heavy rain suddenly began to fall from the sky near dusk.

Not to mention that the soldiers' vision was obstructed by the rain, bows and cannons were useless.

As a result, Wang's army and Huai's army had no choice but to retreat.

The Battle of Fancheng recorded in history books flashed through Zhou Chunfeng's mind. He immediately took advantage of the continuous autumn rain and the autumn flood of the Han River, led his troops to attack all the way, and forced the two armies to Honghe River.

Xiao Ce led his troops to help, and the two of them charged repeatedly, killing countless people, which greatly boosted the morale of the rebels. After more than a year of fighting, the rebels had never fought so happily.

Finally, when retreating to the mouth of the Hong River, the Huai Army faced the disadvantage of rising geological water levels, and many generals had to persuade King Huai to rest and fight again.

So, the King of Huai suppressed his resentment and ordered his men to prepare warships. However, the relentless pursuit of the rebels gave them no chance to escape.

In the end, most of the Huai Wang's soldiers were drowned, resulting in heavy casualties. The Huai Wang had no choice but to escape by boat under the protection of his remaining generals.

Wang's army was outnumbered and, under the encirclement of the rebels, they captured 7,000 prisoners, seized 100 dan of grain and 5 warehouses of military supplies, and took them back to Jingzhou City.

Amidst the torrential downpour, Xiao Ce, riding on his warhorse, excitedly roared to the heavens, "Great! God is truly on my side, Old Zhou. This battle was truly exhilarating."

Zhou Chunfeng glanced at the person next to him indifferently. He was so tired that he didn't want to talk.

If the rain had not come in time, the Prince of Huai would have suffered heavy losses and the battle would have had to continue for at least a few more days.

In a few days, Zhou Chunfeng was not sure he could hold Jingzhou. After all, the reinforcements from the Prince of Lu in Yingzhou would soon return to Jingzhou. If the four armies were to clash, the chances of victory for the rebels would be minimal.

The Huai Army was forced to retreat and Wang's army was captured. The morale of the rebels was boosted. Even if the reinforcements from Prince Lu attacked the city, the rebels were still able to hold the city gates.

After all, they have Prince Lu as a hostage, so Prince Lu's reinforcements still have to consider the safety of their master.

"Back to the city!"

Zhou Chunfeng shouted in the rain, and the generals responded loudly: "Yes!"

A group of troops escorted the remaining royal troops back to the gate of Jingzhou!

"You said that the Huai King's troops were marching south to Nanjing to rest and recuperate?"

The Prince of Lu's Mansion had become a temporary camp for the rebels. Xiao Ce, who had just changed out of his wet clothes, was in high spirits and didn't feel tired at all.

Zhou Chunfeng took the medicine handed to him by the military doctor, took a sip, and was silent for a long time: "I guess, it should be so."

When the Prince of Huai lost his fiefdom, he knew that the rebels would definitely leave soldiers to defend the city, and since his troops had suffered heavy losses, he would not rashly raise an army to retake the city.

The only place we could go was the area around Jinling City, which was captured years ago.