Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 118 The situation is good

"Left~~~turn!"

The heavy snow stopped, half a month passed slowly...

It has been half a month since Zhu Youjian explained the inspection of soldiers and horses, and in half a month, Man Gui honestly trained the army according to Zhu Youjian's training method.

In the document, Zhu Youjian predicted everything that could be expected.

Whether it's wearing ribbons regardless of left and right, or leggings with the same hands and feet, etc., he has thought of it all.

Therefore, Man Gui and Sun Yingyuan's military training went smoothly beyond expectations.

Perhaps it was because the existence of going forward was too simple for soldiers who needed to be proficient in battle formations, so when half a month passed and Zhu Youjian came to inspect, the Seven Guards and the First Battalion were almost completely new.

It's not that the soldiers have become stronger, it's just that their spirits have changed a bit, they are a little more energetic, and they are very focused.

Although such a change is not very effective after going to the battlefield, it can relieve the troubles of the leaders in the daily discipline and on the march.

However, looking at it, Zhu Youjian found something was wrong, and asked Man Gui and Sun Yingyuan:

"How many soldiers and horses are there now?"

"Returning to Your Highness, there are currently 67432 people in the Yanshan Camp, and 25232 more people have been recruited, and 167 more people will be recruited, which will meet the number of people in the new Four Guards and One Battalion."

When Man Gui opened his mouth, Zhu Youjian's heart sank.

Although he recruited more soldiers and horses according to the wishes of the good emperor brother, but with so many soldiers and horses, it will definitely be revealed by then, and the daily barracks expenses will also increase.

"Chengen, how much is the cost of the barracks right now?" Zhu Youjian looked at Wang Chengen, and Wang Chengen replied with all the delicacies:
"At present, the monthly expenses of the military camp are around 75 taels, and there was still 4200 taels of silver in the previous Yumajian."

"During the entire month of the twelfth lunar month, the cost of repairing the Qingling Mausoleum was 36 taels, the cost of the military camp was 4350 taels, the cost of the Yanshan Institute was 38201 taels, the briquette kiln was 15452 taels, the ordnance office was 13000 taels, and the artillery office was 2000 taels. The balance was 800 taels."

"However, Nanchang sold all the poor horses and sheep transported to the south, transported 26 taels to the north, and there are still 4300 taels of silver in the Yumajian treasury."

Speaking of this, Wang Chengen explained again:

"Several places in the exchange market have opened imperial stores, selling briquettes exclusively to northern captives."

"In the past month, more than 222 million catties were sold, and the livestock in exchange were 1012 medium-grade horses, 915 low-grade horses, 16500 cows, and [-] sheep..."

"The servants selected those who are qualified to become military horses from among the inferior horses, and there are 822 inferior horses left. As for the cattle, they are leased to tenants who open up wasteland according to what His Highness said."

"If these sheep and horses are transported south, it is estimated that they can be sold for [-] to [-] taels of silver."

Wang Chengen's words made Zhu Youjian nodded and said:
"It seems that this briquette is saturated for the northern captives of Karaqin and Tumet. It is estimated that in the future, before other tribes know about briquette, the monthly income will be around several million catties."

A few million catties a month, can be exchanged for more than ten times the value of cattle and horses, and can sell [-] to [-] taels of horses and sheep, which is considered a lot of income.

Leaving aside other things, the briquette trade alone can allow Zhu Youjian to support more than half of the Imperial Horse Supervisor's army.

As for the remaining half, we can only see when there is progress on the South Field.

"Isn't the field survey in the south field over yet?" Zhu Youjian asked.

"Not yet, it is said that we have just finished measuring the fields of the gentry, grain merchants, and corrupt officials, and have not yet measured the fields of the four guards and the three guards." Wang Chengen reported the good news:
"But the good news is that Tongzhi Lu and Admiral Cao have already earned [-] tenants."

"Most of these people are hidden households, and they have all come out now. Including the people on the Huai'an Mansion and the Xuzhou Yellow Book, there are currently 50 households in Huai'an Mansion, with a population of 880."

"This population is nearly twice that of the yellow book, and nearly one-third of them are males."

All men...

Hearing this, Zhu Youjian's heart sank, because this meant that most of the people who starved to death were women and children, even the elderly and weak.

Recalling the follow-up of the Huaibei Great Hunger case, Zhu Youjian asked in a low voice:
"How about Huaibei's follow-up?"

Wang Chengen knew that His Royal Highness was talking about the follow-up of the case, so he replied:
"In addition to the officials, gentry, and grain merchants in Huai'an and Xuzhou who were beheaded or exiled, Shandong and Huguang also involved [-] officials, big and small."

"Thirty-four people were involved in Nanzhili, and seventeen people were involved in Zhejiang, but none of them surpassed the fourth rank..."

No more than the fourth grade, that is to say, stop above the magistrate.

Hearing this treatment, Zhu Youjian scoffed slightly, very disdainful.

Although he knew that he had benefited from the compromise of Huaibei Great Hunger, but this did not make him less contemptuous of these corrupt officials.

When the students of Yanshan Institute and the troops of the battalion take shape, one day he will kill all these corrupt officials.

"When will Yang Duge come?" Zhu Youjian said softly. After all, although Donglin is in charge of Jingcha, Yang Lian probably has had enough trouble in Shandong right now.

Corruption in Shandong is not serious, mainly in military farms and Taipu Temple. In addition, the biggest problem is the annexation of land by the vassal king and the Confucian government.

None of these problems can be solved by Yang Lian. After all the calculations, Yang Lian will be back in a few days.

"It is said that they will return on the eve of the Zhengdan Festival, that is, three days later, and then participate in the Great Court Meeting."

"By the way..." At this point, Wang Chengen also edited Zhu Youjian:
"Your Highness, you also need to attend the Great Court Meeting in three days..."

"Great Court Meeting..." Hearing these three words, Zhu Youjian felt a little headache.

There are two kinds of ancient dynasties, one is the big dynasty, and the other is the regular dynasty.

Changchao means that the emperor usually summons civil and military officials to deal with government affairs, which belongs to the nature of daily public affairs.

However, there are generally only three court meetings a year, most of which are held during the three days of Zhengdan, Winter Solstice, and the emperor's birthday, which are of the nature of ritual celebrations.

On the day of the Great Court Meeting, all officials need to wear court clothes, and Zhu Youjian doesn't like this alone very much.

Court clothes are too restrictive, Zhu Youjian still likes to wear ordinary clothes.

Not only that, the etiquette of the Great Court Meeting is too complicated, a hundred times more complicated than that of the Chang Dynasty.

Zhu Youjian reckoned that even if he returned to the capital, he would not go to the Great Court Meeting. He would rather sleep late in his Xuqin Palace than go.

"Let's talk about the Dachaohui. We will start again at Maoshi tomorrow. Right now, we should pay more attention to the South Field."

Zhu Youjian said, and then walked back and forth on the stage of the martial arts school, looking at the soldiers practicing under the stage.

I have to say, perhaps because of the exercise and nutrition, Zhu Youjian grew very fast.

Just a few days after his eleventh birthday, he is already over [-] meters tall.

This height, apart from being a little short in the army, is not considered short in daily life.

Zhu Youjian estimated that when he was sixteen or seventeen years old, he should be able to grow to a height of about [-] meters, which might be a little taller than Chongzhen in history.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian continued to explain to Wang Chengen next to him:

"By the way, I asked Ordnance to make a set of my armor. It is estimated that I will use it in two months. There is no need to restrain the weight."

"The servants take orders..." Wang Chengen didn't feel anything wrong with Zhu Youjian's words.

Zhu Youjian's strength increased rapidly. Two months ago, he could only lift a few dozen catties of exercise stones, but now he can lift more than twenty catties.

Lifting here refers to lifting the exercise stone above the head for five seconds.

Not only that, but in terms of simply holding a practice stone, Zhu Youjian can hold a practice stone of more than sixty kilograms with his hands and the strength of his waist and abdomen.

This kind of power is already greater than some fourteen or fifteen-year-old people.

If things go on like this, although after he reaches the crown, he will not be as brave as Xiang Yu and Guan Yu in the history books, but at least a few people will not be able to get close to him.

However, all of this requires him to persist in exercising.

Right now, he is practicing horns, weapons and archery in the backyard every day.

As for the firecracker, he would not try it lightly until the ordnance of the Yanshan camp could make a self-produced blunderbuss.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian asked Wang Chengen again: "By the way, haven't you researched the self-generated firecrackers in the Ordnance Institute?"

"Returning to Your Highness, three hundred gun barrels have been drilled according to His Highness's instructions, but the part of firing the gunpowder with the flint has not yet been solved." Wang Chengen explained:
"The craftsmen at the Ordnance Institute have tried it, and the current firing rate is less than [-]%, and some even need to be fired four or five times before they can be successfully ignited."

"Therefore, the craftsmen are going to increase the firing level to [-]%, and then come to His Highness to report the good news."

"As for the cannon, since the clay mold needs to be dried in the shade for a year before it can be used, it will take at least October of the next year to start casting the cannon."

"During the time when there was no cannon casting, the craftsmen were wondering if it was possible to transfer the flint structure to the cannon."

"Can they still come up with this kind of thing?" Zhu Youjian was a little surprised. He thought that the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty were very rigid.

But now it seems that what restricts them is money, not ideas.

But it's a pity that Zhu Youjian didn't understand how the flintlock cannons were fired, and he didn't even know when the flintlock artillery appeared in history.

If the craftsmen can really fix the structure of the flint, then the stability of the artillery can be improved a lot.

For the battle situation, this is a small change. Although it is not enough to dominate the world, it is enough to give the Ming army an advantage in defending the city.

It's just a pity that this road is destined to be difficult, and it is estimated that it will be difficult to research it with the current technology.

So Zhu Youjian sighed and said: "Forget about flintlock artillery, just study a simple rifled gun with seven or eight rifling lines. If the cost is too high, just build a medicine room."

"In addition, what happened to the guards in Shuntian Mansion and Yongping Mansion, how did Jin Yiwei check?"

Zhu Youjian gave instructions to Wang Chengen, and Wang Chengen also nodded and said:

"At present, apart from Ji Town, which still has four battalions in Shanhaiguan, Yongping, Shixiaying and other places, the guards in other places are basically empty, and all of them have become tenants."

Four battalions, that is, [-] people.

There are only [-] people in the defense line of nearly [-] miles. If Nurhachi instigates Neikalkha to attack the Great Wall, it is estimated that the changes that have already happened will be staged in advance.

However, this is not to say that Jizhen has eaten too much money, but that Jizhen has supported Liaodong too much.

From the Battle of Sarhu to the present, Liaodong has killed more than [-] people in Ji Town, which means that Ji Town originally had more than [-] soldiers and horses.

From more than [-] to more than [-], such a change made it easier for Zhu Youjian to do it.

He turned his head to look at Man Gui, and asked him:
"In your opinion, if you were asked to sit in Ji Town, how many soldiers and horses would you need to defend the area around Ji Town?"

"Back to Your Highness!" Hearing Zhu Youjian asking himself, Man Gui said without thinking:

"If it's the soldiers and horses of the Imperial Horse Supervisor right now, then only [-] people can guard Ji as solid as gold."

"Fifty thousand..." Hearing the number of soldiers and horses, Zhu Youjian frowned slightly.

He wasn't complaining about Man Gui, nor was he questioning his ability, but he was speechless.

If he has [-] people, he can directly learn from his ancestor Zhu Di and start a "sweeping north".

As far as the strength of the Yumajian is concerned, if the horses are added later, then one can be used as three.

Chahar, Horqin, Harqin, Neikalkha, Tumed, Ordos...

Whether these six Monan Mongols can pull out 30 men is a problem. It is estimated that the armored rate is less than 100%. How can they fight against the [-]% armored Seven Guards and One Battalion?

He would rather send [-] troops to sweep the North, and then station [-] troops in Monan and [-] troops in Ji Town, than send [-] troops to defend the Great Wall.

As long as the sea transportation can pass through, when the time comes to buy grain from the Indochina Peninsula and sell it northward to Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian and Zhejiang, and then transport grain northward from these four provinces, then supporting hundreds of thousands of people to open up wasteland outside the Great Wall will not be a problem at all.

The current situation is different from Zhu Di's period. During Zhu Di's period, there were not [-] million people in the whole north, and the land inside the pass could not be planted, and no one went outside the pass.

But right now, Zhu Youjian estimates that the population of the entire north has increased by at least three times, and most of the people who have no arable land, as long as the government provides food and farm tools, it will be theirs if they go out to open up wasteland.

It is estimated that without Zhu Youjian's encouragement, millions of people consciously followed the army to the north.

"Man Gui, help me to think about how to manage after Neikalkha is conquered..."

Zhu Youjian stroked his chin and asked Man Gui. Although Man Gui was a Mongolian who had been Sinicized for more than two hundred years, he was surrounded by many Mongolians, so he was very familiar with the various habits of Mongolians on the grassland.

As soon as this question was asked, he simply answered:

"Your Highness, this question is actually very simple. As long as Your Highness conquers Nekhalka, builds a city there, and manages the government city, and does not favor our Ming people, the ordinary northern captives in Nekhalka will not be willing to leave His Highness." .”

"Even some small tribes will come to seek refuge in an endless stream. As long as His Highness gives them official salaries, that's enough."

"It's that simple?" Zhu Youjian frowned and asked back, while Man Gui nodded and said:

"Your Highness, think about it, if the official market is opened and the prices of the iron pots, weapons, salt, tea and other things needed by the northern captives are reduced to the same as those in the pass, then they will definitely be grateful to you."

"What you said is..." Zhu Youjian nodded, thinking that what Man Gui said was very reasonable.

But the question is, can Chaohua and others be honestly surrendered after eliminating Engedel, who has only one-fifth of Neikalkha's troops?

Zhu Youjian is not worried about the problem of salt, tea and iron. He is more worried about the internal problems of the Mongolians.

From the map, as long as Neikalkha is conquered, according to the current situation that Horqin has not formed an alliance with Houjin, Nurhachi's westward road will be cut off again.

From a political point of view, the vast grassland west of the Liaohe River could become the frontier of the Ming army's eastward advance, directly sending troops to attack Kaiyuan or Tieling.

By that time, Nurhachi will have to deploy heavy troops in Kaiyuan and Tieling.

Right now, although Nurhachi occupies more than half of the Nurgan area, it is basically swamps, muddy land, forests, and mountains.

Without Kaiyuan and Tieling, Houjin's food supply would only last for a year or two at most before a food shortage broke out.

At that time, they would either go out to the alpine woodlands of the Changbai Mountain branch in the east to fight the Ming army, or they would have to send troops to attack North Korea, or go north to continue to conquer the wild Jurchens in Beishan.

These two, Zhu Youjian is not at a loss.

First of all, the current king of North Korea, Li Hun, is a young man, and the wild Jurchen in Beishan did not respond to Ming's crusade against Nurhachi.

At that time, if Nurhachi advances eastward, Zhu Youjian can let Qi Jin lead troops into North Korea and station troops along the Yalu River in the name of helping to expel Nurhachi.

If Nurhachi goes north, then he can set up a guard in Beishan in the name of helping Beishan Jurchen, and reorganize Beishan.

Therefore, defeating and deterring Neikarka will be Zhu Youjian's top priority in the next three years.

"Sun Yingyuan!" Zhu Youjian said, and Sun Yingyuan also stepped forward to make a reply.

"Among the new recruits, [-] people will be allocated to Mangui. In addition, the left and right guards of Tengxiang and the left and right guards of Wuxiang will each have [-] cavalry. The same is true for the three guards of Habayashi!"

"Don't worry about the war horses. Let them ride the waiting horses for practice. When there are enough war horses, they will distribute them one by one."

"Your Highness..." Hearing this, Sun Yingyuan said worriedly:
"If this is the case, then the Horse Guard has nearly [-] cavalry, and at least [-] medium-sized horses are needed. This..."

His meaning is very simple, so many medium-sized horses, can the Yu Ma Jian feed them?Where else can I get it?
"You don't have to worry about the specific things, just the division is enough." Zhu Youjian confessed:
"You should also learn from Man Gui the tactics of my Ming cavalry."

"The last general takes orders!" Sun Yingyuan responded with a salute, and Zhu Youjian turned to Wang Chengen and said:
"Now that there is money, the horses that can be bred should be fed with beans."

"If it doesn't work, replace the eggs every morning with soy milk like Yanshan's, and feed the bean dregs to the horses."

"In short, as many horses as you can produce, you can produce as many horses as you can."

"Your maid takes orders." Wang Chengen no longer had to worry about money, so he agreed much more readily.

As for Zhu Youjian, after finishing speaking, he glanced at the army, and then left the barracks.

However, when he returned to the courtyard, he asked Wang Chengen as soon as he sat down:
"How about Sun Chuanting, Wu Aheng, Yang Wenyue, Hong Chengchou, and Lu Jianxing?"

Zhu Youjian attaches great importance to the southwest layout.

In three days, it will officially enter the first year of Tianqi from the first year of Taichang. He needs to guard against Nurhachi in Liaodong's invasion of Liaoshen, and at the same time prevent Shechongming's rebellion from affecting the grain supply in Sichuan and Yunnan and Guizhou.

If these two places can be suppressed, it will ensure the peace of Daming for the next two years.

Two years is enough for him to do a lot of things, and to his inquiry, Wang Chengen also replied:
"Hong Chengchou has rectified the military preparations in Chongqing. Under the favor of Xu Keqiu, the governor of Sichuan, he has recruited [-] new soldiers and is still building ordnance."

"In his reply to Xuqin Palace, he said that it only takes one year to train an elite team, and it doesn't matter whether it goes north or continues to guard the southwest."

"Well..." Zhu Youjian nodded slightly, he did not doubt Hong Chengchou's ability.

In addition to his poor character, this kid's ability can be said to be impeccable in the late Ming Dynasty. Only Xiong Tingbi can securely surpass him, even Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Chuanting are halfway behind him.

Hong Chengchou is eager to ask for credit, which is also in line with his character, which is not worthy of Zhu Youjian's disgust.

As for Wang Chengen seeing that Zhu Youjian had nothing to explain, he continued:

"Yang Wenyue and Wu Aheng also received Xu Keqiu's military salary allocation, and each trained three thousand soldiers and horses. It is estimated that they will stop at this number. Xuzhou and Luzhou are incomparable with Chongqing."

"Where's Sun Chuanting?" Zhu Youjian asked the person he cared about most, and Wang Chengen said with a smile:

"After Sun Chuanting received His Royal Highness's handwriting, he continued to recruit soldiers and horses, and soon recruited [-] soldiers, and successively abolished the Guihua Post, Laoyaguan and other guards in Bijiewei. Now he has controlled the entire Bijiewei. .”

"However, when Laoya Pass and Guihua Station were abolished..." At this point, Wang Chengen paused, and then said cautiously:
"He used the occupation of the farmland, ransacked and beheaded a thousand households of Guihuayi, a thousand households of Laoyaguan, and a group of hundreds of households, and used the property to enter the official treasury."

"However, after confiscating the house, according to what he said, the amount of land farmed by the army has reached [-] mu, and the number of civilian farms has reached more than [-] million mu. They can receive about [-] shi of land tax and additional distribution every year."

"There are also three military horse farms, more than [-] military horses, [-] taels of official money, and [-] shi of military rations."

"A count of [-] households with a population of [-] people."

"Good job..." Zhu Youjian praised without hesitation, as if he had expected that Sun Chuanting would raid the guards' homes after he was strong and strong.

Nothing more than other, he wants to train soldiers and horses in a short period of time, and he has not asked himself for help. This is the only way.

Zhu Youjian also liked his ruthlessness, so he sent him to abolish the guard.

Now that Bijie has been cleaned up, Tian Fu and Jia Pai should be enough for Sun Chuanting to train troops.

But he is still short of some money, and for this money, Zhu Youjian has also arranged someone, and he asked:
"Where's Lu Jianxing?"

"Lu Jianxing was collecting grain in Sichuan, so as soon as His Highness's handwriting arrived, he asked someone to bring one hundred thousand taels of silver to Bijie to buy grain in advance." Wang Chengen explained:
"In his reply letter, he planned to give the money to Sun Chuanting first, and then take the grain when the harvest came."

"Well, you did a good job." Zhu Youjian was very satisfied with Lu Jianxing.

Right now, his arrangement is proceeding in an orderly manner, even if the civil servants prevent Sun Chuanting from going north, it will be fine.

Lu Jianxing and Sun Chuanting, one with money and the other with grain, will be able to turn Guizhou and Sichuan into tax-heavy places by then.

Using the food from these two places is enough to solve the problem in Liaodong...

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian suddenly thought of Qi Jin and Qin Bangping who had left for nearly a month, so he asked Wang Chengen:
"Qi Zongbing and Qin Zongbing, where are they now?"

Hearing this question, Wang Chengen was stunned for a second, and then edited:
"According to the time, I have probably entered Guangning, and talked about Liao affairs with Xiong Jinglue..."

"Guangning..."

Zhu Youjian narrowed his eyes slightly, and the howling north wind also brought his thoughts to Guangning City, which was [-] miles away...

(End of this chapter)