I am one year older than Chongzhen

Chapter 285 Chapter 280: Population Explosion

In mid-February of the fifth year of Chongzhen, Huang Yi finally returned to the more prosperous Xinghe City.

The Han population in the base area has doubled and now exceeds 30. Including the affiliated Mongolian tribes, the total population is no less than 42.

If the base area is attacked, Huang Yi can organize and mobilize 20 to [-] men and women to take up arms to defend their homeland.

This is all soldiers!
Jiannu really dared to come head-to-head. To defeat the Xinghe army and occupy the base area, the Jin army suffered at least [-] casualties.

This kind of attrition war is simply unbearable for Huang Taiji!

The population increased, and more basins with guaranteed water sources were needed for settlement and reclamation, so Huang Yi chose to build another city between Xinghe City and Dongshan Fort—Xinghe Second City.

With cement concrete, the cost of building a city is only [-]% compared with the traditional plank building, but the speed is seven or eight times faster.

The new city to be built is about eighty miles away from Dongshan Fort and one hundred miles away from Xinghe City.

The Xinghe Army must have a strong city to rely on, have powerful cavalry to attack, and be able to attack and defend freely.

In addition, fixed telescopes were set up on the fortresses built between the cities to observe day and night, which could ensure that the enemy cavalry group could be found twenty miles away.

Sun Chengzong used bunker tower attack tactics in Liaodong in an attempt to trap Jiannu to death, but the result was that the Ming army was trapped to death, and Jiannu came and left whenever he wanted.

If Huang Yi led the Xinghe Army to Liaodong to implement this tactic, he would really be able to suppress Jiannu.

Because the cavalry of the Xinghe Army dared to fight and had superb riding skills, they could win the battle when they were equipped with better equipment than Jiannu.

All in all, if the fortress is not garrisoned by strong troops who dare to fight, it is tantamount to digging its own grave.

Throughout the winter, there was no one in the base area, except tens of thousands of young and middle-aged laborers and artisans working in steel factories, cement factories, brick and tile factories, flour factories, arsenal factories, quilt factories and other factories.

There are 10,000+ men and women digging coal, mining ore, mining stone, leveling land, digging irrigation canals, digging wells, digging reservoirs...

The stone and sand for building the second city of Xinghe have been prepared, and the newly built cement factory at the foot of the mountain near the city is starting to produce at full capacity.

After the spring plowing was completed, civil officials such as Wang Baishan and Ye Huiling immediately organized [-] young and middle-aged men and women to work together, and the plan was to complete the city building in half a year.

The tiller has his land, and the homeowner has his own house, so that the laborers will have a better tomorrow. The Xinghe Army system can definitely do it.

Lazy?

There is no such species in the base area!
Consciously or unconsciously, both have to work, and the lazy will be expelled or reformed through labor.

Since last fall, the export of iron and steel agricultural tools in Xinghe City has been increasing every month. Not only Li's business is selling, but Shanxi merchants such as Fan's and Wang's are also buying in large quantities.

It is estimated that a lot of ironware should have been sold to Liaodong.

Great development is inseparable from large-scale steelmaking. Only when there is a market can there be profits, and only with profits can we better expand production capacity.

Therefore, Huang Yi did not strictly control the trade of steel. As long as he was willing to give a good price, he knew that the eight imperial merchants had bad records, and he would still sell them.

Not only is the steel market getting bigger and bigger, but the sales of the latest glassware, mirrors, soaps, etc. are also rising month by month.

In December last year, the profit exceeded 2 taels of silver.

The two sisters, Geng Yueru and Geng Yueling, returned to Xinghe City in early February. They have been running around for half a year and have achieved remarkable results. They have sold 25 "big cars" and made a profit of more than 4 taels of silver.

Due to the technical content of the "big car", it cannot be imitated without all-steel bearings, qualified steel, large pieces of transparent glass and other raw materials.

In addition, each car is carefully crafted by master craftsmen and apprentices, so it is an exclusive product and exclusive sale.

Geng Yueru and Geng Yueling took the route of luxury accessories as soon as they came up. The price of a "big car" in the capital was 500 taels of silver.

The master craftsmen in the car factory are all highly paid. There are already three senior skilled workers whose monthly salary has reached nine taels of silver, and ordinary apprentices can also earn two taels of silver a month.

The selection of materials for large cars is very strict, and wood, steel, copper, and glass are all selected from the best.

Even so, considering the cost, the cost of a large car is only 400 taels of silver.

It is expected that the sales volume of "big cars" in the capital will exceed one hundred this year, and the profit will not be less than 20 taels of silver, which can greatly alleviate the economic pressure brought about by the population explosion.

As long as it lasts until the autumn harvest, the power of "soil chemical fertilizers" and high-yield crops such as sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn will be reflected, and it is estimated that it can be done completely.

As long as there is enough surplus food, Huang Yi will spare no effort to absorb the population, and strive to increase by 20 million in autumn.

On the thirteenth day of the first lunar month, the eunuchs of the Xuanda Supervisory Army escorted four bandit leaders, and more than two dozen bandit leaders returned to the capital. They met the irritable Emperor Chongzhen that afternoon.

Chongzhen is a temperamental person and is easy to be fooled.

Wang Kun is indeed climbing ice and lying on snow these days, and the cracks and chilblains on his face and hands are real.

So Emperor Chongzhen was moved, and was happy to find a eunuch who was upright, clean and tireless like Haigangfeng.

Wang Kun became a model eunuch and was promoted to be one of the eunuchs who supervised the ceremonies and took care of teaching in the inner school.

Xuan Da civil officials and military generals who have done meritorious service are all rewarded, Geng Ruqi is an exception!
Because Emperor Chongzhen intends to transfer Geng Ruqi back to Beijing to serve as Minister of the Ministry of War, he only has to wait for the three-year term of Governor Xuanda to expire.

Of course Huang Yi was the No. 1 military meritorious service against bandits, so he was changed from a general to a deputy general, and his military rank was from the second rank. His wife, Geng Yueru, was ordered.

Huang Yi doesn't care about personal grades, but the number of troops most.

However, there is no corresponding change in the number of troops to be promoted to lieutenant general, and it all varies from person to person according to local conditions.

Therefore, Huang Yi could only rely on his father-in-law to operate, and won the [-] soldiers of the Zhangjiakou garrison camp.

The head of the battalion directly under the commander is the main battalion, the head of the deputy general's battalion is the surprise battalion, and the general is the reinforcement battalion...

In peacetime, they are not subordinate to each other, and in wartime it is the commander-in-chief who issues orders.

The Xinghe Battalion has been upgraded to become a Raider Battalion, and it is still stationed in Xinghe City. There is no regular military battalion stationed together.

Presumably, Geng Ruqi did this on purpose, planning to support Huang Yi as the chief military officer before he leaves office.

Huang Dapeng was in charge of guarding Zhangjiakou, and it would be easier for the Xinghe Army to enter and exit the customs later.

This alone is not enough, Huang Yi is also planning to replace all the four or five thousand defenders in Zhangjiakou with well-trained Xinghe Army through the method of slowly eating away.

The first target is Li Sien's men.

Huang Yi has a close relationship with Li Weida, and used to rely on the Li family's business network to buy goods and grain.

It's completely different now. The Li family sells ironware, salt, glassware, soap, etc. produced in the base area, and makes a huge profit.

Huang Yi asked Li Weida to come forward and persuade Li Sien to be a capital officer who only pays money and doesn't care about things, and Li Weida agreed without hesitation.

(End of this chapter)