I am one year older than Chongzhen

The foundation of the Houjiazhuang Farm Walled Fort built less than ten miles away from Nao County is a concrete structure, and the outer walls are made of cement and stone. Its defense is stronger than the city of Nao County.

This is Huang Yi's layout. This is the boundary. The rogue bandits will never be allowed to go north to harm Xuanda's territory.

The farm fort is not only stationing troops, but also storing grain. Eight concrete silos have been built to store grain.

As the technology of using bamboo-reinforced concrete gradually matured, the silos built became larger and larger, and the largest one was able to store 20,000 stones of wheat.

According to the measurement units of later generations, it should be the volume of two thousand tons of grain.

If the imperial court mobilized the He army to defeat rogue bandits, this fortress would be the most important supply station.

The historical experience is there!

When fighting against bandits, if there is no food, they must rob it. Once the army opens the door to plunder, the military's sense of responsibility and honor will be gone.

In the future, the Xinghe Army will inevitably become worse than before, and the Xinghe Army will degenerate and become inseparable from the troops of "Thief General" Zuo Liangyu.

How can a decentralized military be supported? How is it possible to build a strong country?

The Xinghe Army must ensure that the troops and horses are not moved and the food and grass are sent first.

If there isn’t enough food to eat, it will definitely be like a mountain!

Without occupying the seaport and unable to import rice from Luzon, Japan, and Annan, large-scale sowing and grain production were the only way to solve the food crisis.

Huang Yi already has cold-resistant and drought-resistant high-yielding wheat seeds, fertile field flour, and dozens of millions of hardworking farmers. Of course, he must enclose land for farming.

Shanxi and Xuanda are my father-in-law's territory, so setting up a farm and fort here will definitely get twice the result with half the effort.

Because the Xinghe army stabilized the place, the people who had fled from the three counties returned one after another, and the current household registration has returned to 70% of what it was before the rebellion.

Chen Mengji, the magistrate of Guoxian County, got all excellent grades in the examination and was judged to have the courage to serve. He was promoted to one level and became the official of the prefecture and city.

Of course he knew that everything he had now was because of Huang Yi's promotion, so he made it as convenient as possible for the Xinghe Army.

Not only the third class of government officials, but also the nine-level inspections, militia, and township warriors in the three counties were all controlled by the Xinghe Army.

The new magistrate of Guo County and the magistrates of the other two counties were not willing to serve as officials in such a dangerous place.

It's a pity that they don't come from a wealthy family, they don't have the connections, and they don't have the money to smooth the relationship, so they end up in trouble.

However, there is no perfect path.

Xinghejun is here to help with things, stabilize the place, and achieve political achievements with ease.

The county magistrate, who was originally timid, was overjoyed.

They only need to cooperate for three years to get promoted and leave here. Why not?

As a result, the three magistrates and counties were governed by an arch, the bandits in their jurisdiction disappeared, and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment.

With the existence of the fortress at Houjiazhuang Farm in Nao County, Geng Zhanghua led his troops to guard the 800-mile border wall of Datong, and Youxinghe's army guarded the 200-mile outside Zhangjiakou.

It would be difficult for rogue bandits, Tatars, and slaves to harm Xuanda's territory.

The small people of Shengdou in Xuanda can get a stable environment to farm, and farming a little is not a problem.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, when wars were raging and bandits were plundering, grid management was the most scientific method.

Bu rashly led his troops into northern Shaanxi, where natural disasters and bandit destruction led to cannibalism.

Instead, we enclose a place to ensure that the people in this place can produce with peace of mind, and strive to ensure that the people can not only feed themselves, but also sell surplus grain.

Then, using the food in hand, he planned to encircle an area to accommodate the refugees and cultivate it...

Only in this way can the rogue bandits be eliminated and future troubles eliminated.

As for the places where the bandits are most violent, without enough food, the only option is to blockade the areas and let the bandits and refugees fend for themselves.

This is a bit cruel, but it is effective, and it is much more merciful than killing people who have no grain.

All in all, rogue bandits cannot be allowed to roam around. Once the fragile balance is broken, the bandits will grow like a snowball, causing millions of refugees to turn into mobs and develop into bandits.

As a last resort, massacre is an option.

In the final analysis, there must be food, otherwise the only way is to kill all the bandits.

……

Huang Yi led a general cavalry team to gallop with two horses. Not only could they provide food along the way, they could also change horses once or even twice a day.

So this small force ran at a speed of more than 300 miles a day, and arrived at Zhangjiakou on the seventh day.

Now this important pass has been actually controlled by the Xinghe Army.

Because the Xinghe Army never exploited merchants and hawkers who came and went to do business, and because Huang Yi insisted on strengthening public security and cracking down on gangsters and bullies around the clock.

Therefore, Zhangjiakou City is more prosperous than before.

Huang Yi still came and went alone in the rainy weather, and the troops in and out of Zhangjiakou opened the door to let him go, without disturbing any Ming Dynasty civilians and military generals.

He stopped briefly and convened a meeting with the generals of the Xinghe Army stationed in Zhangjiakou. The spy chief Wang Jinbao was present.

The purpose of allowing Shanxi merchants who smuggled grain and ironware freely to and from Zhangjiakou and passed through the base area was to paralyze them and make it easier to catch them all.

Catching profiteers is the same as catching corrupt officials. You have to live rather than die.

Another important point is that profiteers and corrupt officials must not be allowed to collude.

There are many benefits to keeping such a person alive, why can't I ask for it?

Torture to extract confessions, mental torture, and threatening me with the life of my son. Anyway, the sin of traitorous Shanxi merchants is heinous. No matter how cruel the methods are, they are not excessive.

Anyway, no one in the Ming Dynasty had the ability to complain about human rights violations.

In order to completely wipe out the wealth of the traitorous Shanxi merchants, these people must be kept alive.

Huang Yi assigned the task of building a large prison outside the border wall of Zhangjiakou that could accommodate 3,000 people.

The prison must have no less than five hundred solitary cells.

After capturing the eight major imperial merchants of the Qing Dynasty and all merchants involved in smuggling and suspected of treason.

Anyone who comes into contact with the boss, shopkeeper, or accountant who comes into contact with the core power of each family must be detained in isolation and interrogated separately.

The nephews, wives, concubines, housekeepers, and shopkeepers of Fan Yongdou, Wang Dengku, etc....

Which family is not allowed to reserve fifty cells for solitary confinement?

Businessmen have money and can penetrate everything.

The traitorous Shanxi merchants are full of energy!

The network of relationships in the imperial court was intricate.

The former Chief Assistant Han Xu and the current Chief Eunuch Wang Dehua were both from Shanxi and were patrons of Shanxi merchants.

The captured Shanxi merchants must be detained outside the mouth, and those officials must be interrogated for colluding with the Shanxi merchants.

Having obtained evidence of officials accepting bribes and using them for extortion, this wealth will definitely be indispensable.

These criminal evidences can also be used to blackmail officials into doing things in the base area.

Raising troops is the most expensive. Huang Yi calculated that the Denglai rebels made a fortune, which was able to ensure a good economic situation in the base area in the past two years.

Next, he plotted against the traitorous Shanxi merchants and the officials who colluded with the Shanxi merchants.

With careful planning and on the premise that everything can be returned to the warehouse, it is possible to obtain wealth of up to 30 million taels in silver. (End of chapter)