Chastity Layman 2

Chapter 213 Feeding Pigs and Raising Soldiers
In the morning, as soon as he stepped into the Fusi yamen of Pingkangfang Town, Wu Heita came in with a jar of wine.

"What's the matter, do you want to drink two cups early in the morning?" Qin Lang asked with a smile.

"Don't dare to drink when you are on business. This is a bottle of Gaochang wine that I treasure, an absolute treasure, and I will give it to Saburo." Wu Heikai received the imperial decree yesterday and was named General Zuo Jinwuwei, which was a surprise.He was promoted again, besides thanking the emperor, he knew that Qin Lang was the one he should thank the most.

"This matter? You don't need to thank me. It's His Majesty's intention to promote you. I don't have much ability."

"I understand, I understand." Wu Heita put down his drink anyway.

Qin Lang looked helplessly at the wine, "You know that my family has a Guogong Winery, and there are two famous wines under the name, Guogong Wine and Weigong Wine, and you still give me wine?"

"That's different. This is the wine of the Gaochang people. Pour it in a glass cup. The scarlet wine looks good and tastes good."

Qin Lang drank this Gaochang wine, and felt that the taste could only be described as mediocre, not so magical.However, wine was indeed very famous in Chang'an at this time, and it was a popular product of Gaochang people. Besides wine, another popular product of Gaochang people was their white folded cloth.

It's actually cotton.

But in Chang'an, the top-grade white cloth is much more valuable than silk.

Cotton cloth is more expensive than silk, which made Qin Lang feel wrong, but after a closer look, he realized that there is no cotton cloth production in the Central Plains today, and no cotton is grown. Only Gaochang State owns cotton, which produces white folded cloth, which is rare For the least, although this cotton cloth is not as smooth as silk, it also has the advantages of being soft and sweat-absorbing, so it is highly sought after by the nobles in Chang'an, and the price is extremely high, and it is still difficult to buy.

This is the same as Gaochang wine, only unique to their family.

Qin Lang picked up a pen and paper from the table, and wrote the words Gaochang Ma's Milk Grape and Cotton on it. This was his memo, and it was written down to remind him that these two things were worth a try.

There are many public wine-making methods in later generations. Gaochang wine uses their unique mare's milk grapes, but as far as Qin Lang knows, it seems that the mare's milk grapes have been introduced since the middle Tang Dynasty, and then the people of Tang Dynasty also began to brew by themselves. wine too.

Cotton was also introduced into the palace as an ornamental flower in the Tang Dynasty, and then gradually the Central Plains began to grow weaving cloth. However, it seemed that the Central Plains did not grow a large amount of cotton until the Ming Dynasty, but it is said that it is another type of cotton.

But in any case, since Gaochang cotton can weave cotton cloth, it is worth a try. In any case, it is also a benefit to the people to make cotton jackets, cotton shoes and quilts.

After Wu Heita left, Liu Shili came again.

This big man, who ranks second only to Qin Lang among the real meritorious officials, is the emperor's confidant guard because he guarded Li Shimin several times into the palace on the fourth day of June. Xiaowei was transferred to serve as General You Jinwu.

This time, Li Shimin perfected the Beiya Forbidden Army, and it was his confidantes who reused them.

Wu Heita and Liu Shili are both former generals of the Qin Palace.

The same guards Gongsun Wuda and Du Junchuo who followed Li Shimin into Xuanwu Gate that day were awarded the left and right generals of Qianniuwei yesterday.

Zhang Shigui and Zhai Changsun, the former commanders of Xuanjiaqi, were awarded the positions of generals of left and right Habayashi.

Chang He was transferred to be the general of the Zuo Jianmen, Li Mengchang was appointed as the general of the Right Jianmen, and Li Junxian was appointed as the commander of the Baiqi Division.

All of them are the guard officers of Prince Qin's Mansion.

This time, they were all promoted to generals and became generals from the third rank.

The Sixth Army of Beiya was newly established, and the general has not been conferred yet. This general is actually the chief general of the Sixth Army. excited.

Wu Heikai and Liu Shili served as generals of Jinwuwei on the left and right respectively. Wu Heitai was in charge of the Nine Gates of Chang'an, and Liu Shili was in charge of the Sixth Street of Chang'an.

The original 3 horses will now be cut and merged into 5000 battalions with [-] people.

"According to His Majesty, it is to be changed from government soldiers to recruited soldiers. From now on, they will be standing soldiers. Soldiers can bring their families to Beijing and settle in the capital. The recruited soldiers will be paid monthly..."

Conditions are still very good.

The biggest difference from Fubing is standing soldiers, which are professional soldiers who are completely divorced from agricultural production.

"The recruitment criteria promulgated by His Majesty are for households of the second class or above, those who are six feet long and strong, who try the bow and horse more than four times, pass the pass five times, and walk thirty steps with five stones on a meter."

This selection standard is much stronger than that of Fubing.

First of all, if the household is above the second class, it means that it is quite strict. Tang households are divided into nine classes, and the upper, middle and lower classes are divided into three classes.

The division of households in the Tang Dynasty was mainly based on financial resources and their assets were measured. This means that households above the second class were either officials or landlords, or they were awarded honors. Generally, self-cultivating farmers are basically not qualified.

The assets of fixed households include slaves, servants, houses, vegetable gardens, docks, cattle, carts, grain, and fields, and the households are compared every three years, which means that they must be updated frequently. Adjustment.

Children from rich families must be more than 1.8 meters tall, not to mention able to draw a bow and shoot an arrow.

Even more strength is needed. To lift the gate means to lift the city gate bolt horizontally with one hand, which requires great strength and skill, let alone walking [-] steps with five stone meters on your back.

It can be said that those who can meet these standards are all rich and handsome.

This was actually Yang Guang's condition for recruiting the Xiaoguo Army back then, and it was directly used by Li Shimin.

"For the original [-] soldiers in our town's Fusi, those who voluntarily apply for recruitment can be selected first. If the height is less than six feet, His Majesty's special permission is to relax it to five feet nine, which can be regarded as taking care of them. But the household and other conditions cannot be relaxed. The three assessments of bowing horse, passing the test and carrying weight must also pass the test!"

Wu Heikai asked, "I don't know what is the set food and payment standard?"

Since it is a full-time standing soldier, it is naturally different from the government soldiers. They can't farm, but they have to support their families. They have to have income. Even if they are from rich families above the second-class household, they can't let others pay to serve as soldiers, right?

"The provisional standard is 36 shi, [-] bolts of silk, and [-] bolts of cloth a year for sergeants."

Wu Heikai was a little surprised. This treatment can't be said to be bad, it can even be said to be better. One person gets 36 shi of food a year, and three shi of food a month.And now the left and right Jinwu guards are paid 54, doesn't it mean that they get 27 stone grains, 27 silks, and [-] cloths a year?
This cost is huge. You must know that Habayashi and Qianniu each have 6000 people, so there is still [-] in total.

"How does the imperial court solve these military expenditures, and is the supply affordable?"

In the past, it was the government military system, and the government soldiers in Fanshang prepared their own dry food on the road. When they arrived at the place, the imperial court was only responsible for rations, and the other things were not taken care of, and the expenditure was not large.

"Your Majesty said that some fields will be set aside in Guanlong as the grain fields of the forbidden army, or cultivated by the children of the forbidden army, or leased to private households for rent, so as to fill the food for the forbidden army."

But one million stone grains a year, I am afraid that this method is not enough, the imperial court is impossible to provide a million mu of land, after all, it is still in the Guanzhong area, and if it is to rent and collect rent, it will need more than 100 million mu of land. The annual rent is one million shi.

The imperial army is the army guarding the capital, and it is impossible to farm the fields like the frontier army.

"As for the issue of military expenses, we don't need to consider this for the time being. What we need to consider now is how to recruit and select about [-] Jinwu Guard soldiers, and other issues such as sub-battalion garrison."

In fact, the military expenditure of the Jinwu Guard under the Zhenfu Division is definitely more than that for a year, and those are just the military salary paid to the soldiers, which is their salary.They usually have food and accommodation covered by the Jinwu Guard, not to mention equipment, training, and horses. Horses are expensive. Buying horses requires raising horses. One horse can support five infantrymen.

Therefore, Li Shimin wants a forbidden army of the emperor who can completely obey his orders and has a strong combat effectiveness. The biggest problem is not the problem of soldiers, but the problem of military expenses, equipment, food and daily expenses. This is definitely not the current imperial court. Wealth can support us.

Although the government soldiers have many shortcomings, the biggest advantage of them is that they serve as farmers and soldiers in their spare time. When fighting, they prepare their own food and clothing, and do not need to pay. Even the general equipment is prepared by the government soldiers.

And if it is changed to a standing army, even if it is only more than 2 people, the court must be responsible for all expenses.

The only solution Li Shimin gave now was to draw some fields, but this was far from enough.Qin Lang was thinking there, Zhenfusi still has a small treasury now, but it can't afford the [-] standing army. What's more, besides the [-] Jinwuwei, the Zhenfusi also has five In the school office, there are many people below who need food, drink and support.

Why don't the Zhenfu Division start some industries?
Earn some extra money to support Jin Wuwei?

But do some industry?
After thinking about it, farming is definitely not enough. The input is large and the output is small. First, there must be land. But now that there are many people in Guanzhong and little land, the most lacking thing is land.

Engage in farming?
Now that the people in Guanzhong raise a large number of poultry, there is no need for the Zhenfu Division to intervene. How about raising cattle and horses?It doesn't seem to work either. There are many herdsmen in the imperial court who raise a large number of horses. It is said that the herdsmen all over the country have more than 80 military horses, which is quite a lot, which is amazing.

Raising cattle doesn't seem to work either, because the places in Guanzhong that are suitable for raising a large number of cattle and horses are now herdsmen set up by the imperial court, and they are all in the hands of Zhang Wansui and his father.

If it doesn't work, why not just raise pigs.

The last time he investigated, the number of pigs raised in common people's family farming is not large, mainly because the war has just passed, and people's lives are more difficult. Pigs actually cost a lot of money. After all, one piglet is not cheap, even if it is raised It is also mainly based on free-range breeding, resulting in less breeding.

Guanzhong aristocratic officials ate more sheep, and sheep were delicious at the top, and sheep were also expensive.The upper class don't eat pigs very much, and the common people can't afford them. It's an embarrassing existence.

Why don't Jin Wuwei build some pig farms after getting the land, and find a way to promote pork?

Why is the idea of ​​building a pig farm and selling pork to make money to raise Jinwuwei so strange?

But Qin Lang felt that this was indeed a feasible solution. Would you like to report it to Li Shimin?

(End of this chapter)