Thirteenth Lady's Comback: Her Everyday Life as a Bystander-Chapter 246 - 21: Welcome to Hami (Part 1)

Traveling westward from Jiayuguan, through Yangguan, you enter the territory of the Ancient Western Regions, hence the famous line: "I urge you to have one more cup of wine, for once you leave Yangguan, there will be no old friends."

However, in Great Chu, due to the golden leg of those who traversed before, the countries of the Western Regions recognize the status of Great Chu as the "Sovereign State," implementing a "one country, two systems" policy and enjoying preferential policies for "ethnic minorities." Han people, along with military households, have migrated here in large numbers, creating a "Great Fusion of Hundred Tribes."

Inside the border, apart from enjoying the conveniences brought by those who traversed before, Susu did not directly feel the strength of Great Chu. After all, even though she was poor in her previous life, she had witnessed prosperous eras.

But in the territory of the Ancient Western Regions, at the junction of today’s Xinjiang Province and Gansu Province in Great Chu, what she saw and felt made Susu, as a Han and a descendant of Great China, spontaneously feel a sense of pride.

Because of the strength, prosperity, and wealth of her motherland, she also felt quite proud as a bystander, while simultaneously feeling a bit disdain for herself.

Look at others, then look at herself; both have traversed, so why can others achieve such great things, and she can only be a landlady?

Why is that?

Susu conducted a deep self-examination. Finally, she discovered...

Damn it, her golden finger isn’t as big as others’! Who the hell spends all day studying cement, glass, gunpowder, and cowpox, all those protagonist essentials that immediately shine upon crossing over?

Not to mention that the predecessors who traversed could match a thousand people alone, and are as comprehensive as "Encyclopedia," "Five Thousand Years of Civilization," "Heavenly Creations," and "One Hundred Thousand Whys," simply "walking my own path, leaving others with no path to follow," disdainful!

After comforting herself, Susu’s mood improved significantly. It turns out that one must take things lightly and have fewer demands. Who needs a bicycle?

Since there was still a lot of time before they rejoined, Hong Sheng was not in a hurry to travel. Parting ways with the Yangwei Escort Agency, who were anxious to deliver goods, Hong Sheng and his group slowed down the travel pace, making time to take Susu to towns for sightseeing and, incidentally, a lot of shopping.

If they didn’t take this time for a honeymoon trip, once Hong Sheng returned to Hami and took over the position of Commander of the Guard, as a new official, he would be too busy to accompany Susu for leisurely outings.

Even though there is currently a truce with the Tartars, besides the Tartars, there are also the Wala eyeing them. And even during a truce, one cannot relax vigilance; who knows if the Tartar authorities might abandon the Sixth Prince and seize the opportunity to raid?

The more this is the case, the more prepared you must be. Hong Sheng’s current high position wasn’t earned just by talking.

The saber of the Chi Jin Guard Mongolian, the furs operated by the Hui people, the barley wine and sausages of the Yugur people, etc., while Susu seemed to be buying things, she was actually... just buying things. Ethnic culture is too advanced; accidentally touching others’ taboos might provoke ethnic conflicts, so Susu felt it was better to just be a bystander.

So under Susu’s leadership and Hong Sheng’s support, the group ate their way to Hami, and even Susu, who was normally hard to fatten, visibly grew a few centimeters taller, reaching approximately one meter sixty in height.

It is estimated that Hong Sheng is now just under one meter eighty-five, and Susu one meter sixty, which could be described as the "cutest height difference," but it should be noted that she is only fifteen years old now. If the saying holds that she can still grow until twenty-eight, reaching one meter seventy is no problem.

Hami is a critical passage connecting Xinjiang to the inland of China, known as the throat of the Silk Road, with titles such as "throat of the Western Regions, guardian of China," and "gateway of Xinjiang" (source: Baidu).

The political and military aspects of Hami are separately managed: politically, local leaders are conferred as governors, often held by local noble families; militarily, the Hami Guard is established, reporting to the Northwest Governor, where the Fourth Rank or above military officers are mostly appointed by the Ministry of War. (This is purely fictional, do not delve deeply!)

Being a military stronghold, Hami’s ordinary residents initially numbered only three or four thousand, mainly consisting of those like the Uighurs, Hui Hui, and Hala Hui.

Later, with the establishment of the Hami Guard, more soldiers and exiled criminals were summoned, gradually increasing the population. After over a hundred years of development, it now consists of three subordinate counties—Hami, Yiwu, Puli—with three military strongholds, six ordinary towns, and over a dozen villages, totaling fifty thousand people (all fictional!).

Speaking of Hami, it was anciently called the Western Desert, Ancient Rong Land, and Kunmo, and was known as Yiwu in Han. When Great Chu was founded, it became known as Hami, probably because the Saint Martial Emperor casually mentioned "Hami melon."

The Tianshan Mountains stretch from east to west, spanning 400 kilometers across Hami, separating the Hami Guard into the north and south of the mountains.

To the north of the mountains is an integration of forests, grasslands, snow-capped peaks, and glaciers, with the counties of Puli and Yiwu. The grasslands are vast, cool and pleasant in summer, and covered in ice and snow in winter;

To the south, the Hami Basin is an oasis on an alluvial plain, surrounded by imposing Gobi Desert, dry, with little rain, large temperature differences between day and night, and long sunlight durations.

The garrison system stipulates that approximately 5,600 soldiers make up one Guard, 1,120 make up one households, and generally each Guard has Left, Right, Center, Front, and Rear Thousand Households.

Hong Sheng was previously the Standard Thousand Households of the Left Thousand Households, stationed at the northernmost point of the Hami Guard, at the foot of Mount Dahafutik in Puli County. Now that he has become the Commander of the Guard, his station has changed to the capital of Hami Guard—Hami County.

The five-yard mansion Hong Sheng bought is located in Hami County.

The Northwest Region is vast and sparsely populated, making houses and fields very cheap.

A five-yard mansion in the Capital, even if located in the Fourth Ring, would cost nearly two thousand taels of silver.

However, the same house in Hami costs less than eight hundred taels. The first thing Hong Sheng did after joining the army was to buy a house, even if he didn’t live there, it was real estate, and selling it later would mean instant cash.

As they got closer to Hami, Hong Sheng was telling Susu about the situation at home.

"Besides the big house in Hami, there are two shops in the county city, one rented out and the other employing a shopkeeper and clerks to sell some small items from the Capital or the South, thanks to the convenience of the Yangwei Escort Agency running everywhere, I gave them a thirty percent dry stock. I’ll have someone send you the account books later."

What Hong Sheng meant was that the shop would be Susu’s responsibility from now on. Susu didn’t care much about those few taels of silver, but she appreciated Hong Sheng’s act of surrendering his private money.

Seeing the appreciative look in his wife’s eyes, Hong Sheng became even more motivated, "Besides the big house in Hami, I bought a three-yard small house in Puli County, which was where I usually stayed if resting from the barracks. Under my name, there’s also five hundred mu of fertile fields allocated from the households, and I paid for an additional five hundred mu and two villages, all managed by stewards, bringing in an annual income of eighteen to twenty thousand taels of silver, making it the most profitable part of the household."

Susu was quite shocked to hear this, not that she hadn’t seen account books, as it was Susu who organized the account books of the Old Madam’s lands and villages.

But what does it mean for ten jo and two villages to bring in annual revenue of eighteen to twenty thousand taels?