Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 738 The Roar of the Combine Harvester
When Jinxi City was defeated by the 23th and [-]rd Regiments, Shengjing City had been besieged for almost a month.Although it took so long, the city did not worry about food at all, except that there was a slight shortage of coal and firewood.Fortunately, it is summer now, there is no need to burn fire for heating, and the consumption of firewood is relatively small.

As the accompanying capital of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, Shengjing was the foundation of the Qing court outside the customs.There are not only Shengjing generals like the "Emperor of Earth", but also five departments of household, rites, labor, punishment, and military affairs, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which govern the entire Northeast. There are sufficient food, money, and soldiers.In recent years, the Qing army gathered a large army in Jilin to deal with Beihai Town, and almost half of the money, food and soldiers were supplemented from the Shengjing area.

Before Beihai Town built the Xingkai Lake and Shuangchengzi areas into farming areas, the Shengjing area was still the largest and most important grain-producing area outside the customs.When natural disasters occurred in the capital, Zhili, Shandong and other provinces in the Guan, grain was often shipped from the Shengjing area to provide relief; and Chahar Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Jilin and other places had poor harvests, and they also relied on their donations.

The Qing Dynasty’s grain storage system in Shengjing was divided into Qicang and Mincang. Qicang was exclusive to the Eight Banners garrison and bannermen, and Mincang was Changpingcang.For example, Mincang in Chengde County, which belongs to Fengtian Prefecture, has 16 shi of rice, and Qicang has as much as 10,000 shi.With the combined storage of grain in the two granaries, [-]+ people can save some food. In addition to the private grain storage, there is no problem in persisting for three to four months.

After talking about food, let's talk about money.Whenever there is a war, the expenses of customs rates and rewards are like running water.However, Shengjing is the least short of money. In the bank of the household department in the city, there are still more than 300 million taels of silver.

In the 42nd year of Qianlong, because the household department in Shengjing was unable to make ends meet, Qianlong specially sent an order to allocate 1000 million taels from the household department in Beijing for permanent storage to improve its finances.Later, the military pay for the Qing government's military use in Jilin was also allocated from it. After a few years, there is still so much left.

Finally, there are soldiers, not to mention this.There were originally as many as 5000 Eight Banners soldiers in the city, including their family members, the total number was no less than 15.In the past, it was suspected that the number of soldiers was too high to consume money and food, and the number of errands was limited. Now it is not enough to have as many soldiers as possible. All bannerman men over the age of 50 and under the age of [-] in the city are recruited.

Ancient China was an agricultural society. Under this economic system, as long as the army can pay the army and the officers and soldiers have enough to eat, the morale will not collapse completely, and they will still maintain their combat effectiveness.Therefore, although the Qing army in the city could not defeat the Beihai Navy in field battles, they still had the courage to stick to the city.

At the beginning of August in the lunar calendar—that is, at the end of August in the Western calendar, the sorghum outside the city was ripe, so the Beihai Navy began to harvest sorghum under the noses of the Qing army.When Zhao Xin came with supplies before, he had already calculated the time for the harvest of the crops, and his idea was to "benefit to the enemy because of the food".

Although the taste of sorghum is worse than that of white flour, its calorific value is higher than that of rice and white flour. It has 350 calories per [-] grams and is rich in crude fiber.For those Beihai soldiers with northern origin, sorghum has been their staple food since they were young, and eating wheat is only a matter of the past few years.

"Dajunmen, the North Sea pirates are harvesting sorghum outside the city!" The person who came was Shengjing's household servant Bolin, who also served as the governor of Fengtian.I saw that besides anxiety, there was also a bit of confusion in his expression.

"Yuting, I already knew about this move, so let them go. How many people can the North Sea Pirates accept!" Shu Liang showed a look of indifference when he heard the words.

He had calculated a few days ago that the Beihai Navy would definitely seize the hundreds of thousands of acres of sorghum outside the city.The other party collects during the day, and he organizes people to go out from Xiaonanmen to collect at night.In addition to sorghum, straw is also a good thing.Right now there is not much firewood and coal in the city, just what is needed.

After so many days of besieging the city, he can also estimate the number of troops in the Beihai Navy. Twenty to thirty thousand people were killed, so everyone can't come out to collect sorghum, right?Can't beat you in war, can't beat you in harvesting food?There are tens of thousands of people in Shengjing City, no matter what they can get back half of them.

"No, Dajunmen, go and have a look! They don't use people to cut the sorghum, they use it, they use it. I can't tell what that thing is. They don't use cows and horses and they don't see people driving them. It's too evil!"

"Oh?" Shu Liang's complexion became serious.

Half an hour later, under the guard of a troop of cavalry, Shu Liang rode his horse to the outer gate of the outer city. Before he went to the city, he saw people standing on the city wall from a distance. is annoyed.Those who knew it was a war, but those who didn't know it thought it was a big fair!

Seeing that the general's face was not right, the personal soldier Geshha hurried to find the gate guard.Not long after, a burst of drums sounded from under the city tower, and then a soldier shouted loudly: "The army is here!"

The people on the city wall who were stretching their necks looking out looked back in amazement, and saw two eagle feathers rising from the edge of the stepped wall leading down to the city, and then a section of black sable tail was exposed, followed by a golden leaf cover with carved patterns The plate seat, golden flower cloud dragon decoration, ear protection and neck guard are all wrapped in blue satin with python pattern, and the helmet also appears.The face under the helmet looked to be in his early fifties, his complexion was black and red, his nose was hanging, his eyebrows and eyes seemed to be open or closed, and a beard was connected to a long beard under his jaw.

Shu Liang walked up the city wall slowly. He was wearing cotton armor with a stone blue satin bottom, iron leaves in the middle, and silver nails on the outside.On the left and right shoulder pads, the front chest and the left and right crotch of the armor are embroidered python garments. The shoulder pads are connected with iron leaves and decorated with golden dragons.The shoulder pads, the left and right arm armors, and the silk ribbons at the joints of the body armor are also all stone blue.I really want to be as majestic and majestic as I want, but I am a little panicked.
"See Dajun Gate! Greetings to Dajun Gate!" Everyone on the city wall fell to their knees. Among them were armored soldiers and gunners holding shotguns, and flag Ding Zhuangyong holding bows, spears, and knives.

Shu Liang's face was ashen, he stroked his beard with one hand, and let out a "hum" from his nose, thinking that he would deal with you later, and he had to find some unlucky guys to beat him with army sticks.He walked to the city wall, took a two-foot-long binoculars that was as thick as a forearm from the soldiers, pulled it away, and looked in the direction of Bolin's finger, and was shocked immediately!
In the endless fields to the west of Shengjing City, several large harvesters were roaring, which could be clearly heard several miles away.At the position below the front of these harvesters, there is a six-tooth drum header with a width of five meters; as the harvester continues to advance at a speed of five kilometers per hour, there are only half a foot high in the past. straw.

Suddenly, Shu Liang noticed that a harvester stopped moving after harvesting a ridge of sorghum, and then the cutting platform in front slowly rose. At this time, he saw the "giant shovel" painted red from the field of vision of the binoculars. White and white.When the header was raised to a position of about one meter, the harvester drove straight onto the dirt road next to the field and stopped beside several large carriages.Those carriages were drawn by four horses, and the carriage was surrounded by a four-five-foot-high wall board, just like a square barrel.

At this time, the harvester threw out a thick and long white pipe from the top, with the opening facing downwards, facing the first carriage.Just when Shu Liang didn't know why, he saw reddish-brown unhulled sorghum gushing down like a waterfall.After a while, the carriage seemed to be full, and the white pipe stopped spouting, and then turned to a carriage behind.After the three carriages were all filled with sorghum, the harvester turned around and returned to the head of the field, put down the header, and continued the previous operation.

"This!" Shu Liang's eyes widened, his mouth opened wide, and he was in a bad mood.

Bolin behind him said, "Dajunmen, that thing only needs a cup of tea to harvest ten acres of sorghum."

The city gate guard on the other side also feared that the world would not be chaotic and said: "People stared at the mark for a long time, and those monsters came out for more than an hour, and hundreds of acres of sorghum were taken away."

Ten acres! !Hundreds of acres! ! !
Shu Liang has long heard that Beihai Town is good at using organs and equipment.Aside from other things, just a Thor is well known, and countless people are amazed.However, it is rumored that Beihai Town uses a large number of machines in farming, and few have actually seen it.When I saw it today, it was simply shocking!
Bo Lin behind him said softly: "Dajun Gate is not only here, but also outside the North Gate and East Gate!"

"Let's go! Go and have a look!" Shu Liang turned around and left with his subordinates. At this moment, he couldn't care less about punishing those watching.

After going to the north and east of the city, it was as Bo Lin said, and the efficiency was exactly the same as what I saw before.During this period, he received a report from the guard of the south gate, saying that there were also several huge harvesting machines on the south bank of the Hun River.After Shu Liang heard the words, he felt dizzy for a while, and was immediately supported by the soldiers on the horse, his face was extremely ugly.

Not to mention sorghum, now there is no need to grab the stalks, leaving half a foot high!The North Sea Pirate is really ruthless!
Since there were only six regiments of the Beihai Navy involved in the siege of Shengjing, the number of troops was only 5000 at full strength. It is impossible for hundreds of thousands of mu of sorghum to be harvested and put into storage. Besides, there are not so many sickles in the logistics.

In order to frighten the 10,000+ Manchu and Han people in Shengjing, and to vigorously develop agriculture after winning Liaodong, Zhao Xin transferred more than 200 drivers and maintenance workers from Fuerdan City to Weiyuan Fort before opening the original.After the troops captured Tieling, he made a special trip back to Fuldan City and brought over 30 harvesters newly bought at the beginning of the year.At the same time, the logistics department recruited a large number of carpenters and blacksmiths in Kaiyuan and Tieling, and asked them to build hundreds of four-wheeled carriages in an assembly line according to the drawings.

Although the process took a lot of trouble, he was still very satisfied with the final scene and result.

In the future, sorghum and soybeans will be the main crops in the Liaodong area. Zhao Xin will not be so hotheaded that he would shovel the sorghum fields and replant them with wheat.

Even if the world is unified, what he has to do is to ensure that the common people have enough to eat.China, an agricultural society, has always been a country prone to natural disasters, and needs to allocate food relief every year.Another thing is that Beihai Town will recruit at least 10 people to control Huang Zhihuai in the future. The rations of so many people cannot be supplied inside the customs, so they can only be transported from outside the customs.

Bei Haijun used the harvester to shake up and down the city of Shengjing.At night, the harvesters outside the city were still busy, and countless piles of bonfires were lit on the ridges to illuminate the fields. The Beihai Navy on duty even fired a few flares from time to time, which disturbed 10,000+ people all night.

As the panic intensified, the price of food in Shengjing City suddenly rose in the morning of the next day.Seeing that the autumn grains were hopeless, the various grain stores began to sell them reluctantly, and sold them out little by little.

The largest grain shops in the city, such as Taihe and Tianhe, are either backed by the Manchu clan, or officials from the Fifth Department of Shengjing or the Eight Banners garrisoned in the shares.This group of people invited to form a gang, and they would meet every night to set the food price for the next day.In this way, the rich and powerful and the Eight Banners soldiers are not worried, but those "banner follower" families who escaped from outside the city can't bear it.

It is well known that there are a large number of Han people in the Eight Banners, and these people are collectively referred to as the "Han Army" in later generations.The Han Army of the Eight Banners is generally divided into two groups, the Jiabing of the Han Army and the Qigu Zuoling of the Three Banners of the House of Internal Affairs.However, in Liaodong area and Gyeonggi area, besides the above two kinds of Han people in the banner, there is another unknown group; recorded in official documents.

These people claimed to be "the people under the leadership of the Sanzuo of the Shengjing Ministry of Internal Affairs", but they did not belong to the bannermen of any manor in Shengjing.The Qing court managed the genealogy and Ding Chuan of this group separately, and they were not included in the Eight Banners Han Army.

To put it bluntly, the "followers of the flag" are the tenants of Huangzhuang and Qizhuang. Some of them brought land to invest and became the head of the village, just like Wu Jinxiao of Heishan Village in "A Dream of Red Mansions"; more of them lacked clothes. Those who eat less, suffer from hunger and cold, most of these people are desperate to invest in their farms.

Knowing that a large number of "flag followers" could not afford to eat, the Shengjing General's Yamen, the Ministry of Criminal Affairs, the Ministry of Household Affairs and Fengtian Mansion issued notices, requiring all food stores in the city not to increase their prices and to sell them at the usual price. Violators will be severely punished. deal with.However, this move was not only unstoppable, but the price of food rose even more.

The "flag follower" was poor and couldn't afford food, so he went to the Chengde county government to beat drums and sue, demanding that the profiteers be punished.Shu Liang was worried that the people's hearts would be unstable, so he handed over the major matter of handling grain prices to Chuansen, the Minister of Criminal Affairs.Chuansen went back and discussed with his subordinates, and finally decided to take a single-surnamed grain merchant from Huang County, Shandong Province.This person deserves to be unlucky, who let Huang County be now occupied by Beihai Town!

The grain market in Shengjing City is located in the Dizai Gate in the northwest, and it is also the place where grain merchants gather to set market prices every day.Chuansen reported to Ming Shengjing General Shu Liang and Household Minister Bolin that they led fifty armored soldiers and officials from the Ministry of Punishments to the "Hengsheng" suddenly, and locked up the single grain merchant without any explanation. An open space was circled at the crossroads south of Zaimen, and he set up a public case in front of the crowd of onlookers and interrogated himself.

Shan Grain Merchant had actually known Chuansen for a long time, and when he came to work, he sent gifts with other merchants, and he showed filial piety every year and festival.He knew that it would be even more troublesome if he dared to make friends with Chuansen in this situation, so he had to kowtow and beg, expressing his willingness to donate five hundred shi of sorghum, just begging him not to die.

Chuansen's purpose today is to make an example to others, and it is absolutely impossible to spare him.He picked up the gavel and slapped it hard on the public case, and said with a sneer, "Hehe, I'm only thinking of donating food now, it's too late! You and other profiteers even hoarded food privately during the war, imagining the value, and turning around to attract money." , hoping to make a lot of money. As a result, the price of food will rise, and the food for the people will become more difficult! Today, I have issued an order from the army, and the people are angry, and the price of food is suppressed. Come! Let this man be punished!"

The more the grain merchant heard, the more startled he became, knowing that something was wrong, he couldn't stop writhing and struggling, shouting his injustice.Why!It's not my idea to increase the price of food in the city, we'll follow the crowd at best!

At this time, an official of the Criminal Ministry standing behind him was already prepared. As soon as he shouted for injustice, the man reached out and pinched the single grain merchant's jaw, lifted and pulled it, and dislocated his jaw joint, and immediately became dumb. up.Then an executioner with a sharp blade stepped forward, waited for the guard to grab the opponent's whip, aimed at the neck joint, raised the knife and dropped it.

Amidst the exclamation of the crowd, Shan Grain Merchant rolled his head on the ground, closed his eyes unwillingly, and a bloody arrow shot out from his neck.Due to the suddenness of the incident, some people in the crowd sighed unceasingly, saying that they would have brought a steamed bun if they knew about it earlier, and that everything was ruined.

On the second day after the death of the head, all food companies did not dare to raise the price.But not much grain was sold, and the store closed after selling a hundred shi.On the third day, people who bought grain ran to Dizaimen to line up before dawn, and long queues formed outside every grain store.As soon as the shop was undone, it immediately became overcrowded, with people pushing and shoving.Bickering and fighting over the purchase of food is really nothing, there are people who get red-eyed and copy people to death.

In the blink of an eye, it was the fifth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, and 2000 political workers and security police teams transferred from Beihai Town were in place one after another. The mobilization meeting before entering the city was also held, and the general attack on Shengjing City was about to begin.

(End of this chapter)