Lu Ye's voice instantly shattered the fantasies in the young men's minds, "We hold weapons, not to commit evil or kill indiscriminately, but to protect Hongshupo, to protect our home, to protect the good and the weak, to protect every tree, every crop! I hope everyone will keep this in mind. If anyone harms the innocent, they will be immediately expelled from Hongshupo and handed over to the authorities for punishment! Do you all understand?"
"Understood!" the guards shouted in unison, their voices ringing out.
Lu Ye looked at the dozen armed men before him and continued, "Train early every morning at Chen Shi! Train all day on rest days! Unless there are special circumstances, no absences!"
"Yes!" everyone responded in unison again.
The next day was the official patrol, so Lu Ye first taught everyone how to ride horses that evening.
Everyone in Hongshupo came out to watch, many even bringing small stools.
Not a single student remained in Lu Hua's literacy class; even her beloved assistant, Sun Gamei, had run out.
There was nothing Lu Hua, the teacher, could do but follow the crowd and stand among the onlookers.
Lu Ye first explained the key points of riding, then asked the guard captain, Ma San, to demonstrate.
Ma San was already tall, and though he had been too thin before, he had gained considerable weight in recent months, making him appear even more imposing. He should have had an advantage in riding.
He himself felt that since his surname was Ma, he was naturally related to horses and must possess a great talent for riding, so he was full of confidence.
However, when he mounted the horse and was ready, Lu Ye cracked a whip in the air, and the horse immediately galloped forward. Ma San lost his balance, swaying and falling onto the horse's belly.
He hooked his right foot around the horse's spine and desperately held the reins with both hands, even pulling the horse until its eyes rolled back, refusing to let go.
Could he let go? Absolutely not! He was the captain; no matter what, he couldn't fall off the horse, or where would his captain's dignity go?
The horse ran further and further away. From a distance, Ma San looked like a large tumor growing on the horse's belly.
Lu Ye had no choice but to ride Hei Feng to catch up. After the two horses were side by side, Lu Ye used his foot to push Ma San's shoulder, propping him back onto the horse's back.
After being jostled like this for a while, Ma San gradually regained his balance on the horse, and the captain's face was finally saved.
The second group to try riding, Yang Ming, Lu Xing, and Wang Zhugan, were quite capable. After a bit of bouncing, the three of them rode steadily.
When it was Deng Sanwa's turn and others, they fell in all sorts of ways.
Deng Sanwa fell face-first into the dirt, like a dog eating shit.
Xiao Goudan landed with a plop on his backside.
Qian Cheng Chuo was dragged by the horse for more than ten meters.
Wang Xiaoma wished he could pluck all the hair off the horse's neck.
Wang Gui'er slid from the horse's back onto its hind legs, nearly being castrated by the horse's hooves.
The crowd watched and laughed heartily.
Children like Lu Yun, sitting on the horse's back, couldn't even reach the stirrups, so they naturally couldn't practice riding. However, in future patrols, they could ride with those who were skilled.
After enduring various hardships, the members of the guard team had basically mastered the basic essentials of riding. With more practice in the future, their riding skills would have considerable room for improvement.
Other non-guard members also wanted to try the experience of riding, and Lu Ye satisfied them one by one.
It was now November, and the sun had lost its scorching summer heat.
The climate of Ta Sha County was very similar to that of Lingnan in modern times; winters were neither too cold nor too hot, making them very suitable for plant growth.
Bai Sheng instructed the planting department to hurry and plant what needed to be planted, as missing the good season would make it difficult for them to survive.
Yang Ming, leading the tree-planting team, had already planted maple trees on both sides of the short path leading to the latrine. Two new septic tanks had been dug, and osmanthus trees were planted around the latrine and septic tanks.
The fragrance of osmanthus was strong and should be able to mask the odor of the septic tanks.
Due to the cooler weather, the saplings were not shaded, and Bai Sheng secretly watered them with spiritual spring water every night. Almost all the saplings survived.
From a distance, the sparse pale green added a wispy vitality to Hongshupo.
The road construction workers were greatly surprised to see the surviving saplings. When they walked past the saplings, they were afraid their footsteps would be too loud and affect their growth, so they tiptoed everywhere.
No one did not feel respect for the small saplings surviving in the desert.
Lu Xing had joined the tree-planting team. The nine core members of the tree-planting team, after a period of training and practice, had basically mastered the essence of planting trees.
Next, they were to plant windbreak trees, so Yang Ming again asked Du Min to recruit more women to expand the tree-planting team.
Each of the nine people led a group, first providing tree-planting training, and only after they had fully mastered the techniques would they begin planting.
Planting poplar trees was relatively simple. Yang Ming assigned Deng Sanwa and four others to be responsible for the windbreak trees, while he led the other three to plant the fruit tree orchard.
Madam brought many fruit tree saplings from Qing Huang Country, and they needed to be planted quickly.
The orchard was located north of the septic tanks and was enclosed by tall bamboo fences.
Madam had found many kinds of fruit trees: durian, mango, chestnut, peach, pear, and so on. Yang Ming had never even heard of most of them, so he believed these fruit trees were very precious and handled them with particular care during planting.
The spacing between each fruit tree was five meters, and the row spacing was three meters. At such intervals, trees of the same species were planted together.
These fruit tree saplings had been successfully propagated by Bai Sheng in his space. The quantity was quite large, and in fact, the fruit trees in his space had already started bearing fruit. He and Lu Ye had secretly enjoyed quite a bit. Although they really wanted to share them with everyone, explaining their origin would be troublesome.
Zhou Donggua from Huang Sha Village also joined the tree-planting team. As for Madam Xu from the Lu family's eldest branch, Madam Yao from the third branch, and the women from the Li clan, they were all in the crop group.
Hu Da Niu had opened four experimental fields.
Each experimental field was enclosed with bamboo fences.
Since crop roots were not as long as tree roots and gripped the soil more shallowly, Bai Sheng's method was to first excavate the sand from the field, digging pits ten centimeters deep, and then covering the bottom with a layer of fermented dry straw to serve as the lowest water reservoir.
Then, a layer of sandy soil was spread over the straw, followed by another layer of straw, then sandy soil, and finally, the sandy soil was covered with specially formulated crop soil, which contained a higher proportion of soil than the tree-planting soil.
Hu Da Niu learned quickly. After learning, he selected seven or eight women who appeared quite intelligent, taught them the method, made them group leaders, and then had them teach their respective team members.
Soon, the outline of a crop team began to form.
The four experimental fields were planted with wheat, corn, soybeans, and barley, respectively. If these crops survived, the planting area would be rapidly expanded.
Planting crops was more meticulous and required more patience than planting trees. When watering, one could not pour as vigorously as with trees; it was best to water them as if it were drizzling rain.
Bai Sheng was considering whether to make a long, watering sprinkler. He would hollow out a several-meter-long bamboo, perforate it with many small holes, and hold one end, allowing for watering over a large area.
Bai Sheng shared this idea with Huang Gou Sheng. Gou Sheng, having studied for several months, had become much more mentally agile and, in a short time, created one.
Hu Da Niu, holding the bamboo watering device, was full of admiration for Madam.
Ji Cheng He participated in the entire planting process and tracked the records. Due to the good food at Hongshupo, he had gained some weight, and his once fair skin now looked no different from that of a true farmer.