Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Liaonan, Fuzhou Guard.

This was a garrison between Jinzhouwei and Gaizhouwei, which had long been recovered by the Ming army.

It was not developed because of its previous instability and the possibility of being attacked by Jurchen cavalry.

However, after the land was allocated south of Niuzhuang, Fuzhouwei quickly became busy—

If even Niuzhuang could be allocated land, then Liaonan would certainly be able to too.

Although the land here is not particularly good, the officers and soldiers in southern Liaoning are still very enthusiastic.

As a result, Fuzhouwei was developed, and many people came to visit.

Yuan Shizhong, who stood out at this year's martial arts tournament, is one of them.

He was from Hua County, Daming Prefecture, which is located at the junction of North Zhili, Henan and Shandong, and the local people are known for their fierce and tough nature.

Lu Xiang-sheng's Tianxiong Army was trained in this area and wiped out many bandits.

Yuan Shizhong was a well-known hero in the countryside. When Lu Xiangsheng was suppressing bandits, he keenly realized that he could no longer have contact with those people. As a result, he escaped being killed as a bandit.

Upon learning that the imperial court was holding a martial arts tournament to recruit martial artists, he practiced martial arts diligently at home and won a place among the top four in horse combat this year, and was awarded the title of Guerrilla General.

Looking up to Gao Yingxiang as a role model, he was naturally unwilling to waste his time in the Warriors' Camp. He quickly requested to be transferred to another post to lead his brothers in their endeavors.

Zhu Youjian also paid close attention to these restless military men, and assigned Yuan Shizhong, Tian Jianxiu, and others to the Liaonan Garrison.

This is a newly established military town, officially separated from Dongjiang Town.

Apart from the elite First Brigade being assigned to Mao Wenlong, the Second, Third, and Fourth Brigades, stationed in Lushun and the surrounding islands, were all left to Liaonan Town.

The new First Brigade of Liaonan Garrison, with Huang Long, the garrison commander of Gaizhou, as its commander, supplemented the other three brigades with some elite troops.

Yuan Shih-chung was transferred to reinforce the Fourth Brigade, whose commander was Yang Yu-fan, one of the top four teams in the previous cavalry competition.

He previously distinguished himself in the Korean War and has now been officially promoted to brigade general, acting as the commander-in-chief of Liaonan Town.

He was responsible for clearing the Liaonan area and assisting Sun Guozhen in allocating land to the soldiers.

Looking at the soldiers Yuan Shizhong brought, Yang Yufan frowned and said:
"Are you really from the Warriors' Camp?"

"Aren't they bandits from somewhere?"

These words were quite impolite, but Yuan Shizhong could only force a smile and say:

"The general is right, some people really were bandits!"

"Later, when Governor Lu was suppressing bandits, some people laid down their weapons and joined the army."

"They were impatient with the constant preparation for war, so they came with me to gain fame and fortune."

They vaguely claimed that these people came from the Tianxiong Army, concealing the fact that some of them had been bandits in the countryside all along.

Seeing Yang Yufan's displeasure, he pointed to his subordinate generals and said:
"These officers all came from the Warriors Battalion and have trained for at least a year."

“Every single one of them is a brave warrior who can fight on the battlefield. Those little brats are convinced.”

"The general gives orders when he has a mission, and he will never make a mistake."

Looking at these people, Yang Yufan was quite skeptical of Yuan Shizhong's words.

However, upon seeing that these people could ride horses and wield weapons while on horseback, he nodded and gave the order:

"You shall patrol the area south of Gaizhou to guard against attacks from the Jurchens."

"If the Jurchens break through Gaizhou and you fail to notice, do not blame me for punishing you according to military law."

Yuan Shih-chung shouted "Yes!" and was quite pleased with the order.

Although the southern part of Gaizhou cannot be called the first line, it can be said to be the forefront of the second line.

There's a chance of encountering the Jurchens here, but the pressure isn't too great, which would be a good opportunity for him to train his troops.

Yang Yufan thought the same way, using this pressure to hone Yuan Shizhong and see if he could handle the job.

But he didn't use it that way for another person.

Although Tian Jianxiu also came from the martial arts tournament, he was strong, brave, and quite similar to Liu Zongmin.

The two men had completely different personalities. The report from the Imperial Guard stated that he was kind and generous, and more suitable to serve as a guard in the army. However, because he was not very literate, he was still currently a military officer.

Yang Yufan gave the following instructions to this person:
“You are from Shaanxi, and you were born in Suide, Yan’an Prefecture.”

"It just so happens that you have quite a few disaster victims in the Cangzhou immigrant camp. I hereby order you to go and recruit them."

"If you can rebuild Fuzhou Guard, I will recommend you for a hereditary official position."

Tian Jianxiu smiled憨厚ly and asked him carefully:
"What constitutes the reconstruction of Fuzhou Garrison?"

How many people do we need to recruit?

Yang Yufan said:

"If they are military households, five thousand six hundred households will suffice."

"However, military and civilian households only serve for three years after reaching adulthood, so ten times that is required." "If you can relocate 50,000 households and settle them properly, I will appoint you as a hereditary official in a thousand-household garrison."

Such clear standards ignited a flame in Tian Jianxiu's heart.

Although he knew it would be difficult to relocate 50,000 households, he was still willing to give it a try, tempted by the prospect of inheriting a thousand households.

Soon, he led his fellow villagers to Cangzhou to recruit disaster victims.
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Cangzhou, a large immigrant camp.

At this time, the Governor-General of Immigration was Zhu Tongmeng.

Upon arriving at this place, Zhu Tongmeng finally understood why the emperor had repeatedly instructed him to be compassionate towards the disaster victims.

He had seen disaster victims in Shaanxi before; he had been mainly busy with disaster relief in recent years.

But he simply couldn't imagine a place like Cangzhou camp, where there were disaster victims everywhere, and the influx was endless.

Until you come to this place, you would never know that the Ming Dynasty had so many people:
"Three hundred thousand, five hundred thousand, six hundred thousand..."

"In just three years, 1.4 million people were relocated, and more than 100,000 died on the way, which is more than one-third of the registered population in Shaanxi."

"Why are there still so many disaster victims coming here? Where are they all from?"

This is also something that puzzles many immigration officials, who also don't know where the disaster victims came from.

Sometimes, while walking along the road, a group of people suddenly appears in the procession.

If it weren't for the emperor's repeated demands to act with benevolence and to assess the number of people sent to the immigration camps, they really wouldn't want to accept these people, and would even want to question the local officials about how they governed the area.

However, under the emperor's orders, they were unable to investigate these matters in detail. The ultimate consequence was that the immigrant camp in Cangzhou never shrank; in fact, it grew larger and larger, almost equivalent to a city.

The city has a high population mobility, but even if it is only a temporary stay, the number of people can still reach 100,000 at peak times.

Zhu Tongmeng was responsible for these people's food, drink, and daily needs, and also had to prevent them from causing trouble.

Furthermore, it is necessary to promptly arrange for ships to transport the disaster victims who have completed quarantine out of the area.

Sometimes, if there is a storm at sea and the ships arrive ten or fifteen days late, the number of people in the Cangzhou immigrant camp will surge, and the possibility of unrest will be extremely high.

Zhu Tongmeng's hair turned several strands white within a month of taking office. Only then did he realize how dedicated Zhang Mengjing had been, earning him the emperor's praise as a capable official.

"This year's immigration target is 600,000."

"But considering that 300,000 people have moved in the past five months, it is clear that the number may be more than that."

Where should we relocate them?

Most of the immigrants from the first three years were resettled in Dongning.

Especially after Dongning Island was designated as part of the Prince's Territory, many disaster victims were willing to go there.

However, their willingness to go does not mean that Dongning Island is willing to accept them.

After resettling 200,000 households and more than one million people, the four garrisons on Dongning Island are already full, and adding more would exceed the current carrying capacity.

Xiwei on Penghu Island doesn't need many people, but it does need a navy, mainly recruiting immigrants from the Tanka people in Fujian and Guangdong.

After years of dedicated efforts to relocate people to Dongning, they now have to find new places to settle.

When Tian Jianxiu arrived, Zhu Tongmeng discussed immigration matters with the officials of the immigration camp.

Upon learning that they were looking for an immigration destination, Tian Jianxiu immediately volunteered:
“Southern Liaoning is sparsely populated and is a suitable place to accept immigrants.”

"Now that the imperial court is rebuilding the four guards in southern Liaoning, each guard can accommodate 50,000 immigrant households, just like the four guards in Dongning."

This is tantamount to calling it the new Dongning Island. Upon hearing this, Zhu Tongmeng exclaimed with delight:
How large is the Liaonan region, and how much arable land can be cultivated?

Tian Jianxiu boasted to him:
"From Lushun to Lianshan Pass, the area is at least 100,000 square li."

"If arable land accounts for 40%, that's 40,000 square li."

"This is 15 million mu (approximately 1 hectare). If each household gets 50 mu (approximately 3.3 hectares), it can resettle 300,000 households."

They exaggerated the vastness of southern Liaoning and presented the estimated figures from the Southern Liaoning Military and Civilian Government.

Zhu Tongmeng, who had also served as a governor, naturally did not believe this.

Assessing the situation in southern Liaoning, he said:
“Your harvest in southern Liaoning is only once a year, so the conditions are not as good as in Dongning.”

"I can only give you a maximum of 150,000 households; you'll still need to recruit people yourself."

"After all, there's a war going on there, so it's not certain that anyone would want to go."

He waved his hand and gave out the quota of 150,000, instructing Tian Jianxiu and the officials of the immigration camp to make the arrangements.

Although this did not meet Tian Jianxiu's requirements, it actually exceeded his expectations.

Before coming here, he had set his sights on 50,000 households. It was only when the overall situation in southern Liaoning was mentioned earlier that the four garrisons of southern Liaoning were included in the calculation.

In reality, Haizhou Guard had not yet recovered, and Gaizhou Guard was also on the front lines. Even if 150,000 households were relocated, it was not certain that they could be fully settled.

However, that will have to wait until later. For now, Tian Jianxiu only wants to take it one step at a time and focus on rebuilding Fuzhou Guard first. (End of Chapter)