Ming Zuo

Chapter 784 Population
Whether it is from the perspective of geography or resources, Fengyang is a city that should not exist.

This is completely the product of Zhu Yuanzhang's willfulness.

The several emperors during the founding period took good care of it, so Fengyang is very prosperous and is a famous big city in the world.

But later, Zhu Yuanzhang's descendants lost patience and turned a blind eye to Fengyang.

As a result, this man-made city quickly collapsed and became a backwater.

As the central capital, how poor is Fengyang?

After occupying this place, the new army made their own statistics, and it turned out that the entire population of Fengyang was only in the early [-]s.

The decline is evident.

So when deciding to return Fengyang to the court, Zuo Menggeng thought of an idea.

That is to take away the population of Fengyang.

There is no hope for these people to stay here, and they will definitely starve to death, die of poverty, or be killed by continuous bandits.

And there is an extreme shortage of labor in various industries in Shandong, and the heads of various departments are going crazy for labor.

With the propaganda of the new army and the real feelings of ordinary people, it is not surprising how to choose.

In the next few days, under the organization of the new army, the people of Fengyang packed up their meager belongings and went all the way east.

Some of these people were sent to Shandong, some were sent to Songjiang Mansion, and some young and strong people signed up for the new army.

This was also one of the moves Zuo Menggeng thought of.

Lianghuai has a vast area and a large population, but most of the people live below the poverty line and suffer from hunger.

If you want to control the Huaihe River, you must first control the Yellow River.

It can be said that the management of the Yellow River is not to say that it is a huge project, but the premise is to control the canal and the salt industry.

The relationship among them is intricate and far from being straightened out in a short time.

But the problem of food and clothing for the common people is imminent, and we cannot wait.

After comprehensive consideration, Zuo Menggeng thought of a way.

That is conscription.

A similar method was used in the Northern Song Dynasty.The result was a large and useless Xiang army that became a heavy burden.

Shandong has no such concerns.

After occupying the two Huaihe Rivers, there was a shortage of troops.Even if troops are not recruited from the Huaihe River, new troops must be established from other places.

The combination of the two serves multiple purposes.

The people of the Lianghuai River and Huaihe River, who were suffering from poverty, heard about the generous treatment of the new army, and they signed up very enthusiastically.

In the end, the best was selected, and after repeated checks, [-] recruits were recruited.

These recruits will serve as local defense forces, known as militias, while training.

When their training is completed, they will be transferred to various units and become qualified soldiers.

Zuo Menggeng already intends to form the Fifth Army.

These people are the source of most of the soldiers.

The Fifth Army will be based on the First Division of the First Army, plus two-thirds of the recruits, and the old will still lead the new.

However, there is still quite a long time to plan for this matter, so there is no rush.

Ten days later, accompanied by Hong Chengchou, Qian Shisheng came to meet Zuo Menggeng in person.

"Commander Zuo, we fully accept your request. It's just that the matter is too big to write in black and white. Please forgive me."

What Qian Shisheng meant was obvious.

It acquiesces to the established fact that Shandong occupies the two Huaihe Rivers, as long as Shandong returns Fengyang.

However, this matter cannot form a paper agreement.

Because these court officials would definitely not dare to report the matter to Chongzhen, otherwise their heads would be lost.

To put it bluntly, the court officials reached an agreement with Shandong behind Chongzhen's back.

Everyone up and down knew what was going on, but Chongzhen was kept in the dark.

This emperor is really very pitiful.

Zuo Menggeng scoffed at the small thoughts of these court officials, but he did not expose them.

"I still believe in your determination to abide by the agreement."

Hearing Zuo Menggeng's answer, Qian Shisheng couldn't help but blush.

Because the subtext of this sentence is that Shandong is not afraid of the court breaking the agreement at all.

why?

Strength dictates.

As long as the imperial court dares to violate the agreement, it is not up to them to decide how it will end.

Fortunately, Qian Shi has been promoted to an official for many years, and he has long trained his face to be invulnerable.

"One more thing, I hope Commander Zuo can agree."

When Zuo Menggeng looked over, Qian Shisheng spoke eloquently.

"From now on, the canal will be under your rule, but the canal is related to the safety of the court. I hope you will ensure that everything is safe, so that nothing will happen."

It was this.

Zuo Menggeng didn't think much of himself, and gave a solemn answer.

"Please rest assured, Lord Qian. The canal is also very important to our side. Ensuring the smooth flow of the canal is a major event that benefits the country and the people."

Even though Zuo Menggeng paid more attention to shipping, he did not dare to say that the canal could be abandoned.

Even four hundred years later, with the development of sea transportation, the Grand Canal is still playing its role.

This is an important channel connecting the north and the south in the Huaihe River and Huaihe region, and it has been prosperous for thousands of years.In the future, if we want to manage the two Huaihe Rivers, we still have to rely on the Grand Canal.

Two conditions were raised in succession, and Shandong readily agreed to both, and Qian Shisheng had nothing to say.

So far, the agreement between the two parties has been reached.

The next day, the Shandong New Army began to retreat from the Fengyang area.

They went straight away and retreated all the way to Wuhe, west of Hongze Lake, before the new army re-established a line of defense.

So far, starting from Xuzhou, along Suzhou, Wuhe, Chuzhou, and Luzhou, a new dividing line has been formed.

The east side of this line is already owned by Shandong, and Fengyang is half surrounded.

From the map, Fengyang looks like a salient part between the imperial court and Shandong.

Although it has returned to the imperial court, if there is a conflict between the two sides, Shandong only needs a package from the north to the south, and the fall of Fengyang is inevitable.

Fengyang was taken back without bloodshed, and all the court officials were elated.

After returning, Qian Shisheng and others quickly sent the victory memorial to Chongzhen, and then led the troops south into Fengyang.

"Where... is this person?"

But when they walked into Fengyang, they were all dumbfounded.

The land is still the same land, and the city is still the same city.But inside and outside the city, in the streets and alleys, there was not a single person to be seen.

It was as if everyone here had disappeared out of thin air.

Hong Chengchou only felt a trace of coldness, and hurriedly said: "Hurry up! Go to Huangjue Temple."

When they arrived at this royal temple, they wanted to cry even more.

I saw a hundred or so monks, all wounded and disabled, none of them looked like human beings, as if they had been subjected to some inhuman abuse.

Huangjue Temple is intact from the outside, but only when you get inside do you know what kind of catastrophe it has experienced.

Everything of value was gone, even the bronze-plated statues were taken.

It can be said that apart from the fact that the land cannot be taken away, there is only a shell left in Huangjue Temple.

The monks cried out about the atrocities in Shandong, but what can Qian Shisheng and others do?

I can only swallow this bitter fruit, and I have to thank Shandong Renyi.

As for these monks who are clamoring to go to the capital to sue the Imperial Court...

Hong Chengchou frowned, and winked at his lieutenant general.

The deputy general agreed, and with his cronies drew out his swords and guns, he surrounded him from all directions.

(End of this chapter)