After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times

Zhao Hanzhang got off work. As soon as she left the palace, she saw the large area of abandoned houses on the right. Unable to resist, she dismounted and went in to take a look.

Zhao Erlang was leading people rummaging through things. The huge rockery hidden among the grass and trees in the garden couldn’t be dug out all at once, so they fenced it off, planning to find a way later.

A few smaller strange stones were carried out by a few people, along with some intact wooden beams and bulky objects that hadn’t been taken before, which he also had people pull out to take away. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

The main idea was like locusts passing by, leaving nothing behind.

But...

Zhao Erlang squatted on half a wall watching the startled chickens flapping their wings and clucking, swallowed, and asked, "Are you sure these aren’t wild chickens?"

Lv Hu wanted to nod but thought of the strict military discipline and said, "These chickens are obviously domestic and fed by someone, likely nearby residents seeing this place uninhabited and secretly raising chickens here."

Just as he finished speaking, they heard the bleating of sheep.

Zhao Erlang immediately stood up, walked up the broken wall, and looked into the distance from the rooftop. He saw sheep being raised in the courtyard two houses away, startled by the soldiers plundering inside, bleating with their necks stretched.

Seeing the soldiers half-crouching to catch the sheep, Zhao Erlang also wanted to fly over and grab some. Just as he was about to move, he remembered his sister’s repeated reminders. He could only restrain himself and shouted to the soldiers in that courtyard, "Stop, don’t catch them!"

The soldiers, ready to move, hesitated, looked up following the voice, and, seeing Zhao Erlang on the rooftop, stopped their actions.

Zhao Erlang solemnly said, "Anyone who violates civilians’ property will be punished with a cane!"

The soldiers dared not move.

Standing in the shadow of the wall corner, Zhao Hanzhang was pleased, stepped out of the shadows, and shouted "Good," then turned to Ting He and said, "See, Erlang even memorized the military regulations, how is he foolish?"

Ting He: "Milady is right, our Erlang is very smart."

The commotion here finally alerted the residents nearby. They hurried over to catch chickens and herd sheep.

Oh, the people living nearby are all officials’ families. It’s just that even the landlords have no surplus grain. Zhao Hanzhang has become so poor, so they can’t be much richer.

After all, Zhao Hanzhang often delayed their salaries, so...

Not only did they raise chickens and sheep here, but they also occupied parts of the gardens, removed the weeds, and planted vegetables.

The further in, the more vegetable plots they saw.

So, when the soldiers searched for things, they had to avoid stepping on people’s vegetables.

But there was also an advantage, all the grass in those places was cleared, and the beautiful rockeries and stones were easy to spot.

The officials’ families who came to catch sheep and hold chickens couldn’t understand why these stones were worth the effort to dig out.

So, someone stood on the wall and spoke to Zhao Hanzhang, "Great General, the valuable things in this house were taken long ago. These stones left aren’t worth anything, are they?"

Zhao Hanzhang, sitting on the wall, smiled and said, "Whether they are valuable depends on if there’s someone who likes them."

Historically, there have been rich people who went bankrupt just to transport a stone. Although she couldn’t understand the magic of that stone after seeing it, she couldn’t help that some people just love them.

Even if she couldn’t understand, she respected their preferences and made money from them.

This area of abandoned houses had been visited by many. People had moved tables and chairs from here, dismantled wood, and even touched roof tiles, but no one had ever moved the rockeries.

These things weren’t afraid of fire or water damage and just stood there.

Zhao Hanzhang didn’t want to walk on the ground either, so she walked on the walls and rooftops, jumping and looking over each courtyard’s stone scenery with Zhao Erlang. Finally, she felt moving so many, such large stones out would consume too much manpower. She glanced around and pointed to a completely burned house near the moat, "Erlang, how about I seal that plot of land for you?"

Zhao Erlang shook his head without even looking, "Sister, I don’t want to split from the family. I still want to live in the Zhao Mansion."

"I didn’t say you can’t live there. It’s just that you’ll eventually settle down and start a family, and you’ll need your own small home. Do you like that place? It’s very close to the Imperial City. If you exit the gate and follow the river for five hundred meters, there’s a bridge. It’s convenient to attend court. If nothing goes wrong, the house next door is Seventh Ancestor’s residence."

As soon as Zhao Erlang heard it was beside Zhao Hu, he shook his head even more vigorously, "I don’t want to, I don’t want to be neighbors with Seventh Ancestor."

Zhao Hanzhang smiled and said, "In the future, if Fifth Uncle and Uncle Ming come to the Capital City, they’ll most likely want to lodge at Zhao Mansion. I’m planning to grant a house near Zhao Mansion to Uncle Ming and Cousin Shen if they make great achievements in the future."

Zhao Erlang looked conflicted, but finally slumped his shoulders and said, "Alright, then let my house be there."

Between Seventh Ancestor and Uncle Ming, he chose Seventh Ancestor.

Although he didn’t like Seventh Ancestor much either, Seventh Ancestor would at most make him drink and play things he didn’t like, but Uncle Ming would force him to study and then preach some complicated truths that made his head spin.

Seeing Uncle Ming felt like seeing his grandfather, making him feel very afraid.

Zhao Hanzhang vigorously rubbed his head, laughed heartily, and pointed to that house, "Alright, then let’s stack the things there first."

Zhao Hanzhang immediately ordered the entire house of that residence to be demolished, leaving only the half-collapsed courtyard.

Then they piled all the plundered items there, with only a few soldiers guarding it.

Of course, such a large area couldn’t be cleaned up in a short time, so Zhao Erlang decided to let them stay in the city, "It’s not cold now, we can find a house that hasn’t completely collapsed to stay in. Sister only needs to provide us with supplies."

Marching and fighting in conditions much harsher than this was commonplace, so the siblings didn’t see any problem.

Zhao Hanzhang also said, "I see these personal soldiers are very capable, why don’t you stay in the Capital City and have them help you manage Luoyang."

Zhao Erlang: "Besides looking for stones and wood, I have to manage Luoyang too?"

"Yes," Zhao Hanzhang laughed. "I’ve already appointed you as the County Magistrate of Luoyang County. The appointment should reach you tomorrow."

Zhao Erlang widened his eyes, "Why do I have to be a County Magistrate too? Aren’t I a General? A General ranks higher than a County Magistrate! Sister, did I make a mistake, so you’re removing my General title?"

"It’s a concurrent position, do you know what that means?"

Zhao Erlang felt he vaguely understood but wasn’t entirely clear, so he neither shook his head nor nodded, just quietly looked at her.

Zhao Hanzhang laughed as she explained, "For example, I am now not only the Great General but also the Commander of the Nine Provinces, the Prime Minister, and the Grand Commandant. Aren’t these all high positions?"

Zhao Erlang nodded vigorously like pounding garlic.