Song Dynasty

Chapter 234 The Sea and the Sky ([-])

Before he knew it, Wang Shen had already occupied the greater Wuhan area of ​​later generations. This is the fertile land of Hubei, a mountain of gold and silver!

Wang Shen was extremely satisfied: "Brother Ziyu, please continue."

Facts have proved that this place is indeed a golden mountain!

Lu Can: "Military envoy, Zhang Yong is a man of talent, unlike other bandits who go from place to place and eat from place to place. He really had the intention of staying in Jianghan when he came to Jianghan. Since he occupied Jingchu, this man After receiving all the current household registration documents of each state in Anlu, let me first talk about the annual financial revenue of each state capital. According to the previous accounts, the annual taxes of Jingchu and Xiangzhou together amount to five Fifteen thousand guan; Huangzhou [-] guan, of course, the income of Huangzhou after the war is negligible; Hanyang Army [-] guan; Jiangling Mansion, [-] guan; Anzhou [-] guan Thousands of guan; Ezhou [-] guan."

"So much?" Wang Shen took a breath. The so-called fiscal revenue includes other items besides Xiafu and Qiuliang. Simply put, it is the GDP of these counties.Unexpectedly, Jiang Han's financial income is so high.You must know that during the Xuanhe period, the tax revenue of Suzhou Prefecture was only [-] guan, which was already ranked tenth among the state capitals in the world.

He asked again: "What about the population?" Talent is the foundation of everything, and Jianghan now has a lot of fertile land that needs to be cultivated.In the future, whether it is conscription or food collection, a lot of manpower will be needed.All material foundations are built on the population base.

Lu Can replied: "I will report to the military envoy that Anlu City has a population of [-], plus several counties recovered by our army, there are about [-]."

"That's all?" Wang Shen was greatly disappointed.

Lu Can: "Military envoys, don't be upset, I'm talking about urban residents. As far as Anlu County is concerned, it is true that there are only 40 residents in the city, but the local non-urban population is in the early [-]s. There should be more than [-] refugees who came here to survive."

"What!" Wang Shen was so startled that the donkey's tendons caught in the chopsticks fell to the table: "So much?"

"Yes, there are so many." Lu Can has a clear face, serious and serious, and said every word: "Generally speaking, the non-urban population is more than ten times, or even more than ten times, the permanent urban residents. According to my Based on the household registration information in hand and the calculation of the refugees, the population of the military envoy’s territory should be between 140 million and 160 million. This is just the beginning, and if Jianghan is taken as a whole, it is estimated that the population will be more than 300 million.”

"Pfft!" Hu Yantong was also startled, sprayed out a mouthful of rice wine, and coughed uncontrollably.

Everyone has awe-inspiring faces, and they also know what a population of 300 million means. With a population of 300 million and a household of 20 people, each household draws one dime, that is more than [-] human resources!
Wang Shen also suddenly realized that, yes, in an agricultural society with an underdeveloped commodity economy, cities simply cannot support so many people.As far as the affluent Song Dynasty is concerned, Kaifeng City has only 100 million residents if the whole country supports the central government.The second largest city, Hangzhou, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty, has 32 people; the third largest city, Chengdu, has 20 people, and more people are bound to the land.

He already knew that Jingchu was rich, but he didn't want to be so rich.In the future, the entire Jianghan region will be conquered, not to mention more than [-] human resources.The summer and autumn taxes paid by farmers alone are enough to feed a hundred thousand troops.

No wonder the Yue family army in real history was able to form an army of 10 horses to fight the Northern Expedition without taking a penny or a piece of cloth from the imperial court.It can be seen that I, Wang Shen, chose to come to Ezhou at the beginning, and I was on the right track to follow the path of Grandpa Yue.

I sighed in my heart: mobilizing all the forces on hand to march west on a hot day, and the available military rations on hand are only ten days, no matter how you look at it, it is a dangerous military adventure.So far, I've won the bet.

Wang Shen laughed: "Ziyu, you are so busy talking about local government affairs, why didn't you talk about the beheading and capture by our army in the battle yesterday?"

Lu Can: "Military envoy, I always report sorrows but not good news. Let's talk about our army's losses first! In the first battle yesterday, our army was killed 630 people and injured 430 people. Among them, 220 people were seriously injured and unable to serve. Among them, the Shengjie Army suffered the heaviest casualties. General Wu Xianxian had 2000 troops, and the casualties were 44, which can be described as severe injuries. In addition, each army lost one hundred and one horses.”

Wang Shen nodded: "Wu Xianxian has made great contributions and sacrificed a lot, so we have to make up for it first. Alright, let's report the good news!"

At this time, a smile finally appeared on Lu Can's face: "In yesterday's battle, more than [-] people were beheaded and [-] prisoners were captured. Zhang Yongzhong's army collapsed instantly after the military envoy led him to step into the battle. More than a thousand cronies escaped by chance, and the rest of the troops were scattered everywhere. No matter how you look at it, after this battle, Zhang Yong's entire army was wiped out."

"Come down and screen more than 1 captives. If there are honest and healthy ones, they can go through training and serve in the army. The rest of them will be resettled on the spot to enrich their household registration." Wang Shen: "How many were captured?"

Lu Can: "There are so many weapons captured in this battle that it is difficult to count for a while."

Wang Shen was displeased: "Why is it difficult to count, isn't this a disappointment/"

Lu Can glared at him: "Military envoy, what are you in a hurry for? Let me finish my sentence. You will be happy after hearing the good news. Our army copied Zhang Yong's Sanlonghe old camp in this battle and won a total of scalpers." Three hundred, six hundred buffaloes, four thousand sheep, two hundred donkeys, and three hundred and twenty mules."

"With so many animals, does Zhang Yong run a ranch?" Soon, Wang Shen understood again.Soldiers marching and fighting consume a lot of physical energy and need high-protein food supplements.Especially in the army of the Song Dynasty, almost everyone had an iron armor weighing more than [-] catties, and it was especially hard to fight after the battle.If the nutrition cannot keep up, the soldiers will be useless in a short time.And supplementing nutrition is not enough to feed a few bowls of rice, but also to make them sticky.

Therefore, when the army marched long distances in this era, they not only brought food and grass, but also had to catch up with large herds of livestock, graze while marching, and then beheaded and rewarded the soldiers. It was indeed no different from opening a pasture.Otherwise, in the era when there is no refrigerator to keep fresh, the meat will fall out within a few days.As for salty bacon, it can only be used as an emergency.

Wang Shen laughed loudly: "Well, well, very well. Cows are good things. It's a pity to kill them and eat them. They can be lent by the government to farmers to raise and use them. We raise sheep, donkeys, and mules, so we have a reliable meat source." Source. It’s a pity, it’s a pity, there are no war horses. By the way, let’s talk about food.”

"The grain in the Sanlonghe camp and the grain stored in the big warehouses in Anlu are piled up like a mountain, and it is difficult to count."

"You're here again..." Wang Shen was speechless for a while.

Lu Can: "My subordinates roughly estimated that it is enough to feed 6 to [-] people for a year."

Wang Shen finally sobered up. He jumped up against the table and let out a long cry: "The sky will not fail me, the sky will not fail me!"

The fertile land, the paradise on earth, probably refers to the Jianghan Plain!
The whole night, Wang Shen was so immersed in the excitement of biting off this big piece of fat that he lost sleep.

Although he didn't sleep well all night and woke up early again, he still felt that he had endless energy and he felt healthy.The physical and mental devastation of the war on him, the leader, has become a thing of the past. At this moment, nothing but joy is in his heart.

How can you taste the sweetness of victory if you have not experienced hardship, worry, depression, anger, disappointment and pain?

In the early morning, Wang Shen rode out of the city on horseback, with Qin Sizhao and twenty cavalry guards behind him.

Different from Qi and Huang prefectures, which are thousands of miles away, Anlu is a thriving scene.The densely packed paddy fields spread straight to the horizon in front of the eyes, and the fields were filled with water, reflecting the blue sky and white clouds.The seedlings have grown to a height of three feet, and half a month will pass before they will bloom and head, and in a little over a month there will be a bumper harvest.

Farmers are already plowing in the fields. Some people are carrying manure buckets and pouring ladles of manure into the fields, while others are leaning over to weed.

In the distance are patches of densely populated villages, and beside the small river, windmills are turning gently.

I stopped, got off the horse, and stood on the ridge of the field, only the slight sound of the breeze passing by, and the sound of grasshoppers fluttering in my ears.Everything is so quiet, it makes people feel peaceful.

"Si Zhao, Feng Changqing has already gone to pick up your mother, and she should be back in about ten days. Are you happy?"

Qin Sizhao said: "Mother is coming, so my son is naturally happy. Since my son went to war, he has missed his mother every day."

Wang Shen stretched out his hand to touch the child's head, but saw that he was wearing a felt hat with a red tassel on his head, looking majestic, and remembered that he was already an adult.She patted his shoulder and asked, "Si Zhao, what are you all doing?"

Qin Sizhao: "There are too many things to do. Screening and reorganizing prisoners, appeasing the people, calculating the capture, rewarding meritorious deeds, resting the barracks, and sending troops to fight for strategic locations. There are too many things to do. I can't rest for ten days and a half months."

"Wars are the business of other armies, and many of the big things about fighting belong to your rear army. If you don't go to the army, what are you doing here?"

Qin Sizhao: "I heard that my father was in poor health a while ago because he didn't eat much and had a lot of troubles. My son was worried and came to serve me. Please take care of your father. Your body is not only yours, but also your mother and child, and the 1 yuan. There are many soldiers. If you have something good or bad, so what the hell." Speaking of worry, the big boy's eyes were wet.

Wang Shen let out a sigh of relief: "It's over, I can eat and sleep now, don't worry...it's all over... You should also take a good rest, besides practicing martial arts, you have to continue studying. If you hire another teacher, you can’t leave the books behind.”

With Anlu in his hands, the weather is hot and there will be no major battles in a short period of time. Finally, he can get two or three months of rest.

But what about after two or three months?

Wang Shen couldn't help but looked up to the northwest.

Qin Sizhao was a clever ghost, so he couldn't help but ask, "Dad is thinking about taking Xiangyang?"

(End of this chapter)