Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 992 Beets
The grass is growing and the warbler is flying, and the sun is shining brightly.

With the arrival of April, the whole of the north will be in spring at once, and the cold of winter will be gone in an instant.

At Gubeikou, more than a thousand cavalry galloped forward, carrying waves of dust, and the entire official road was unimpeded and unimpeded.

"Stop, stop-"

The horse stretched out, and when the cavalry was running, there was a sudden pause.

The leading guerrilla general couldn't help turning his head, and walked slowly to a young man.

I saw that he was wearing a strong suit, the materials on his body were all exquisite, the patterns were extremely exquisite, his facial features were three-dimensional, and his face was handsome, but a tired look appeared on his cynical face.

"Fourth Master, what's the matter with you?"

the man asked with a wry smile.

"I'm tired." King Liao said weakly, "The inner thighs are rubbing so hard, it feels like the skin is almost torn, why are you walking so fast?"

"Take a break, find a station to rest."

"But it's only thirty miles away from Gubeikou..."

"We have to rest for thirty miles. We can't bear it, let alone the horse under the crotch? Why don't you have any compassion at all?"

Hearing this, King Liao was quite indignant: "Training on weekdays, and occasional breeding, such vigorous riding, how cruel is it to the horse?"

"Yes! Yes!" The guerrilla general was embarrassed and could only obey.

He had long heard that the Prince of Liao was in charge of the breeding, but he did not expect that His Royal Highness would show affection for horses.

In the Beijing camp, although the number of cavalry is small, its status has always been higher than that of infantry, and it is almost the same as artillery.

Therefore, in terms of organization, the cavalry did not follow a battalion of 500 men, but a battalion of a thousand men and a team of a hundred men.

In this way, it can be played better on the battlefield.

Therefore, leading thousands of people naturally cannot be a battalion commander, but only a guerrilla general.

To protect King Liao, a group of people came to a post station.

Since this official road leads to Gubeikou, there are a lot of caravans passing by, so the post station is also very large.

There are no less than [-] tables for eating alone, and the stables are even more exaggerated, which can accommodate two to three hundred livestock at a time to rest and eat.

Facing such a large army, Yi Cheng frowned, and he lowered his head slightly: "The county government and the Ministry of War have not issued an order, I wonder which one is your army?"

Hearing this, the guerrilla general was embarrassed.

Their soldiers and horses originally thought that they would arrive in one day, and they had no plans to rest at all. Where did the order come from for inspection.

At this time, King Liao got off his horse, his legs twitched, and he couldn't help breathing in the air: "Stop talking nonsense, I just rested my feet today, and I will leave in half an hour."

"You prepare food and horse fodder first."

Yicheng was taken aback for a moment, with a big tone.

Without the order, the money he spent could not be reimbursed at all, which is equivalent to paying out of his own pocket, how could he be happy?

He held his head up, and said righteously: "If this general wants to rest his feet, it's fine, but please leave a pen and ink, so that it will be easier to investigate in the future."

"As for the food, your army has nearly a thousand soldiers, and there are so many horses. It must not be ready for a while, and I'm afraid we will wait until dusk."

"If you don't care, I will prepare it for you."

"Evening? The daylilies are getting cold."

The king of Liao didn't like it, so he immediately ordered: "Wei Wu, there is no order, let the brothers rest on the spot, and eat some cold food to make do with it."

"Should there be some hot water?"

"Of course there are." Yi Cheng was stunned for a moment, shocked by his demeanor, and responded hastily.

King Liao nodded slightly, and then went upstairs to rest.

Half an hour passed in a blink of an eye, and King Liao went downstairs, hired a carriage, and continued northward with his cavalry.

At dusk, the group finally arrived at Gubeikou.

King Liao took a breath and finally arrived at Gubeikou before dark.

Gubeikou is an important pass of the Great Wall in northern Beijing. With the trade between Chahar and Chahar, this pass has become increasingly prosperous, and there are countless caravans traveling from south to north.

Naturally, there is no shortage of money, food and supplies, and it is natural to wait for this cavalry to be supplied.

The next day, the sky was slightly bright, and King Liao, who was soundly asleep, was woken up by Wei Wu: "Your Majesty, the outpost is here to report that Governor Sun has set off from Luanping City, and will arrive at Gubeikou in two hours."

"Really?" King Liao said with sleepy eyes, "Call me in half an hour. I was too tired after running all day yesterday."

At this time, Sun Changzhou, Governor of Chahar, led a team and moved slowly.

This time he left Chahar to return to Beijing to report on his work.

After staying here for several years, he has already completed his merits and virtues, and it is time to enjoy his blessings.

Accompanying him were soldiers from the Beijing camp who returned to Beijing after changing shifts.

There is joy and encouragement along the way, and everyone is happy.

Although the rotation system of Beijing camp and frontier defense has only been implemented for a few years, it has been fully implemented in the frontier under the vigorous promotion of the emperor.

The Beijing battalion entered the frontier, and the frontier army entered Beijing.

In just a few years, hundreds of thousands of frontier troops were half-integrated into the Beijing camp system, and the emperor and the imperial court had even stronger control over them.

Sun Changzhou sat on the carriage, looked back at Luanping City, closed his eyes slightly, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

He has governed Chahar for nearly ten years, and his greatest contribution is to appease the tribes of Chahar, and to reclaim arable land, build cities and store grain.

By the 19th year of Shaowu, the entire Governor-General of Chahar already had six cities: Luanping, Chengde, Chifeng, Heicheng, Jianchang, and Pingquan.

Han people reached nearly 40 people.

The area of ​​cultivated land has reached [-] hectares, which is enough to feed the Mongolian and Han people in Chahar.

And with his efforts, the scale of the Khan Tent has continued to expand, and it has occupied nearly [-]% of the grassland in the Chahar Grassland.

And more than [-]% of the nobles who received iron sheep money, handed over the tribe to the governor's mansion, and enjoyed themselves in the city.

In other words, almost [-]% to [-]% of the tribes are already completely in the hands of the Governor's Mansion. Hundreds of households and thousands of officials are countless, acting as the tentacles of the Governor's Mansion, ruling the Mongolian people.

It can be said that due to its proximity to the city of Beijing, Chahar's centralized power is even greater than that of Yunnan, Guizhou and other places. Except for the king of Beihai County and the king of Chahar County, they also keep their own place.

Sun Changzhou can say without shame that he has laid a good foundation for the court to rule Chahar, which is no different from the mainland in just three to fifty years.

As for Luanping City, because it is close to Gubeikou, it is the first stop after using the Great Wall, and its prosperity is no less than that of some big cities in the inland.

At least in Sun Changzhou's opinion, it is even stronger than his previous Xuanfu.

At noon, the group arrived at Gubeikou.

On the official road, hundreds of people have been waiting for a long time.

Looking around, a young man in the lead, wearing a strong suit, is full of lazy and leisurely temperament, which is extremely prominent among the soldiers.

"The old man—"

King Liao hurried up to greet him, and personally helped Sun Changzhou get off the car, his every move was full of kindness.

"Why are you here to welcome me?"

Sun Changzhou smiled all over his face: "Dignified Prince, why do you have to do this?"

"As a junior, grandson is perfect." King Liao said softly, "You have made great contributions, so I should come."

"Mother and concubine has been thinking about this matter for a long time. Her old man is concerned about it. My son is naturally worried."

Sun Changzhou shook his head and was helped into the city by him.

For the officials at Gubeikou, he just nodded slightly, and didn't say much.

As an important minister of the imperial court, a great official of the frontiers, and more than [-]% of the people in the entire Ming Dynasty, he didn't need to show good looks.

Once you enter the fortress, you are truly entering the pass.

In such an instant, Sun Changzhou felt different.

The wind seems to have softened a lot.

"You worked hard this time."

Sun Changzhou smiled, the wrinkles on his face stretched a lot.

"Grandson is happy." King Liao hurriedly said, "When I return to Beijing this time, my old man will definitely be used again!"

"I'm getting old." Who knows, Sun Changzhou shook his head, and said without hesitation: "I'm approaching sixty, and the cold wind of the grassland has been blowing for many years, and my bones seem to be much lighter."

"When a person is old, he has no ambition."

In this regard, King Liao wanted to say something more, but he shut up wisely.

For Sun Changzhou to serve in the imperial court and the local government, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages for him, a feudal lord.

If there is no accident, next year he will go to Fan, a desolate place like the Western Regions, he really has no confidence in his heart.

He looked at Sun Changzhou with gray temples and wrinkled face, but he was considerate of his body.

After staying on the grassland for such a long time, although the power is in his hands, who can understand the hard work?

Because of an old man like Sun Changzhou, it took the group two days to go back.

At this time, in Beijing, the imperial court announced that Fu Zhiyuan, the Imperial Academy's sacrificial wine, would be the chief examiner, and a group of doctors, Siye, Jiancheng, and idle veterans such as Guanglu Temple would serve as fellow examiners.

Still implementing the policy of restricting the teacher system.

And according to the usual practice, after this group of people served as chief examiners and fellow examiners, they would be promoted to a higher level after the end of the year, and they would go directly to retirement.

The cabinet and the eight departments are once again regretful.

Sun Changzhou wanted to have an audience with the emperor, but was told that the emperor was patrolling the area, and he was still in Changping.

This happened to be the place he passed by on his way back, and he simply missed it.

Changping, in an imperial village.

After staying in Beijing for a long time, Zhu Yixi thought of civil affairs again. If he wanted to understand the people deeply, he had to investigate.

Wechat private visits are undesirable and unnecessary.

He still wandered around Gyeonggi during his tour this time, and the civil servants got used to it, and just asked for his safety and ignored it.

After leaving the city of Beijing, Zhu Yixi felt as if she had untied layers of heavy shackles, and she felt much more relaxed.

Outside, he can do whatever he wants, horse battles, field battles, and chariot battles. No one dares to criticize him, and no one dares to object.

The vast flat land allows him to run around.

After being absurd for a while, he was tired and started to do things in earnest.

The village in front of me has only about a hundred households, living by a small river, with about a hundred mu of irrigated land and about [-] mu of dry land, which is considered quite satisfactory in the entire north.

However, due to its proximity to Huangzhuang, it is easier to accept some new things than other villages.

As the emperor's tentacles, Huangzhuang naturally had to carry out his will and has always been a pioneer in agriculture.

For example, corn, sweet potatoes, etc. are basically promoted by Huangzhuang first, and the people nearby follow suit after seeing the benefits.

It’s like a windmill, which has been implemented in the entire Shuntian Prefecture for many years. Basically, as long as there are rich gentry, they will build a windmill, which leads to the beginning of flowering in the whole north, spreading like grass seeds to popularization.

Water resources in the north are very scarce, which makes it difficult to popularize the use of water power. Even the time-saving and labor-saving water mill is a scarce resource in the entire Shuntian Prefecture.

In the past, human shelling was the mainstream.

Therefore, in the north, it is difficult to eat fine grains every now and then like the people in the south. Coarse grains are the mainstream.

Even the landowners could not compare to the good diet of ordinary people in the south.

The windmill mill adapts to the water-scarce environment in the north, and the cold wind on the grassland is its biggest boost.

"Old man, do you grow a lot of sweet potatoes in the village?"

When I came to the land in the village, during the spring plowing time, no one was free. Even a toddler was wearing crotch pants to pull weeds and stones.

The village chief is 47 and [-] years old, and he is very old, with white hair and beard, and the wrinkles on his face are drooping, showing his old age.

The emperor was only a few years younger than him, standing together like two generations.

Years of pampering and working in the fields are obviously two different things.

"There are hundreds of acres of sweet potatoes. If you don't pick the land, it just tastes heartburning."

The old man laughed along with him. Although he didn't know who the person in front of him was, he must be a big shot and he couldn't be offended.

"I heard it can be made into powder!"

"It would cost money to grind it, but it's not worth it." The old man hurriedly said, "You can't even use the wheat!"

Zhu Yixi sighed.

Whether it is a stone mill or a windmill mill, the cost is relatively high.

After harvesting hard, ordinary people are exploited for paying taxes, exploited for selling grain, and even if grain wants to get into their mouths, they have to be exploited by mills.

Apart from the land, the most valuable thing in a village is probably the millstone.

Many gentry control the countryside, not only relying on land, but also many means of production.

Such as mills, waterwheels, oxen, iron plows and so on.

Even if all the land is divided equally, the gentry who own the means of production will quickly control the civil order and annex the land again.

Just like those agricultural books and equipment books in ancient times, how can ordinary farmers understand them?Even if you understand it, how can you have the financial resources to do it?
Even the most common stone mill costs three to five silver dollars for a common piece, and ordinary people simply can't do it.

Therefore, these agricultural books basically serve the landlords.

Only landlords can read books and have the money to do it, and then use advanced means of production to control the countryside.

Then it spread to the countryside through the landlords.

Zhu Yixi walked around again and found that there were a lot of beets planted in the village, which made him very happy.

The village head said that they were planted because someone wanted to collect them, and they could get three pennies a catty, so everyone planted some, after all, even if they didn't collect them, they could still cook and eat.

"Children like to eat this best, it's so sweet, it's called a beet."

The village chief sighed with emotion, took out the tobacco rod from his pocket, and looked at the dry tobacco: "This year is much stronger than before, and life will be easier when the tax is lower. This spring, the village has added several youngsters..."

Listening to the old man's nagging, Zhu Yixi gradually calmed down.

Low field taxes that need to be maintained long term.

(End of this chapter)