Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 113 Zhechuan Aid Liaoning
"Call..."

When the curtain fell in Huaibei, Zhu Youjian also took more than [-] Jinyiwei and Wang Chengen to the Yanshan camp when the Anding Gate of the capital opened.

After galloping for an hour, they arrived at the Red Bridge, and the horses under their legs reached their limit.

"Get off your horse! Get your horse back up."

Zhu Youjian gave instructions to the left and right, then got off the horse, placed the horse stool beside the thin withered grass emerging from the snow by the river, and sat down on it to rest.

The other Jinyi guards were on guard, and only five or six people unsaddled all the horses and grazed them by the river, allowing them to drink water or eat dry grass.

After sitting for half an hour, seeing that the horses had stopped grazing, Zhu Youjian got up and said, "Let's go."

As soon as he opened his mouth, someone immediately began to saddle the horse, and then led the horse to him.

When he got on his horse, the others also got on their horses one after another. With a sound of "drive", the group continued on their way to the north.

Horseshoes were slow in the cold winter, but fortunately the weather was good today without heavy snow, so after half an hour of hurrying, they finally saw the outer checkpoint of Yanshan Daying Camp.

Although the soldier in charge of setting up the card knew that it was Zhu Youjian who came, he still had no choice but to stop him bravely, and then bowed and said, "Your Highness..."

"Look." Zhu Youjian was not angry, and took the initiative to hand over his token from his waist to the chief banner officer in charge of setting up the card, and after the other party let him go, the people on behalf of Jinyiwei rushed all the way to Yanshan Camp .

I haven't come back for [-] days. I have to say that Yanshan Daying has changed a lot.

First of all, the flat land around the barracks was turned over and low field ridges were set up.

In the distance, some people wearing winter clothes could be vaguely seen working. After they got their own cultivated land, even in the cold winter in the north, they couldn't hold back and came to work.

This is the portrayal of the people at the bottom. Even if there is only a few acres of land, the men who are the pillars still work hard to cultivate their own land.

One person, one mu of land, divided according to the head, regardless of men and women, adults and children.

Therefore, some families have only two or three men, but five or six families with women and children. Basically, they are allocated seven or eight acres of land. It is quite hard for two men and adult women to farm together.

Zhu Youjian looked at them and heaved a long sigh in his heart.

If you want to change the lives of the people in the late Ming Dynasty, the easiest way is to make land.

But dividing land is not that easy. Although Daming has [-] million mu of arable land on paper, its population does not exceed [-] million at most, with an average per capita of [-] mu.

But in fact, the two capitals and the thirteen provinces have been quite introverted. Most of the bottom-level people have no land and can only be tenants of squires and landlords.

To move the squires and landlords, Zhu Youjian would have to spend his whole life fighting against them, because they could never be killed.

Compared with this, it is easier and easier to develop south and northeast.

Although the Northeast Plain is currently covered with swamps, pools, and dense forests, as long as the imperial court provides a large amount of food for the people to reclaim, with the number of low-level people, it can definitely open up more than half of the Northeast Plain within ten or twenty years.

Not to mention the Northeast Plain, but the front and back at the foot of the Yin Mountains, Annan, the Great Liuqiu, and the Western Regions.

These places are enough to allocate a large amount of land to the people, and the only problem is the cultivated food.

This way is easier for Zhu Youjian who has soldiers, but it can only slow down the speed of Ming's demise.

If he wants to make a thorough reform, it will be possible only if he and his good brother can easily deal with all interest groups.

"Your Highness!"

Just when Zhu Youjian thought so, Cao Huachun rode his horse out of the barracks to meet him.

However, when Cao Huachun saw Wang Chengen, he was obviously taken aback.

Generally speaking, it is enough for the Imperial Horse Supervisor to stay with only one person, so if His Royal Highness brought Wang Chengen here, could it be that he wants to transfer himself back to the capital?
Cao Huachun was taken aback for a moment, and Zhu Youjian also stepped forward immediately. After meeting Cao Huachun face to face, he directly told him about Wang An.

Wang An is Cao Huachun's adoptive father, so when he learned that he was transferred to Nanchang because of his adoptive father, Cao Huachun didn't have any resentment in his heart, but nodded and said:
"His Royal Highness has arranged that the slaves will leave tomorrow, but before departure, they need to tell His Highness the good news about the Imperial Horse Supervisor."

"Then tell me." Zhu Youjian smiled, and rode his horse and Cao Huachun to the Yumajian command post.

Wang Chengen also joined in. After all, if he wants to manage the North Field, he needs to know everything.

In this regard, Cao Huachun also bluntly explained the changes in the north field of Yumajian in the past [-] days:

"Your Highness, the thirty official sites have been set up, and the one hundred thousand taels of silver have been spent."

"Together, Miyun and Huairou allocated a total of [-] mu of land and set aside [-] short hills for poultry farms."

"Officials bought [-] breeding pigs, [-] taels a head, cost [-] taels, [-] sows, [-] taels a head, cost [-] taels of silver, [-] piglets, [-] kuai a head, It costs [-] taels."

"A water chicken cost fifteen yuan, and I bought [-] pieces. A live duck cost [-] yuan, and I bought more than [-] pieces. That's all I spent for one hundred thousand taels of silver."

"The other official buildings, as well as the fences around the mountains, were built by the people who came to reclaim new fields. The wood was taken from Yanshan Mountain, and local materials were used."

"Currently, the Seven Guards and the One Battalion are fully staffed. Including the Zhejiang soldiers and Sichuan soldiers, there are a total of 52200 people. In the past month, more than [-] taels of silver have been consumed."

"However, Zongbing Qi and Zongbing Qin will leave tomorrow. After they leave, the food expenses of the Seven Guards and the First Battalion will fluctuate around [-] to [-] taels."

"About [-] catties of pork, [-] catties of water chicken, and [-] catties of duck are consumed every month."

"[-] shi of rice, [-] shi of flour, [-] eggs, [-] catties of soybean oil, [-] million catties of vegetables, [-] catties of salt, and various other things. Six thousand catties of ginger and garlic."

"That vegetable is too expensive. Right now in Changping, some dried vegetables cost four Wen a catty, which is almost equivalent to the price of an egg."

"The price of oil is also expensive. Right now, it's [-] cents a catty of oil, and salt is not bad, but it's too much to eat like this."

"So the slaves made their own decisions and left [-] places in Huairou area, with a total of [-] mu of military farmland, [-] mu dedicated to planting beans, and [-] mu to grow vegetables in spring."

"The fields are handed over to the tenants to take care of them. After spring, they can produce [-] million catties of vegetables every month, and the bean field can harvest more than [-] stone beans a year, and can produce [-] catties of soybean oil every year. to feed the livestock."

Cao Huachun's eloquent introduction made it too late for Wang Chengen to record, but Zhu Youjian was very satisfied with what he heard, and he confessed:

"The pork, buy it from outside first, wait for the piglets behind the officialdom to grow up, and then expand the officialdom. At that time, there will be land for us to expand."

Speaking of raising pigs, Zhu Youjian became interested, and remembered a friend who went to join the army with him in his previous life.

Zhu Youjian was an ordinary infantryman, and because that guy had a chef certificate, he was directly assigned to the cooking class, where he studied how to raise pigs and how to cook vegetables every day.

Right now, the pigs in Daming are all local pigs, and there are few breeds that can grow to [-] catties. Huanghaihuai pigs are currently the easiest breed to fatten, and they are at most about [-] catties to [-] catties.

Therefore, raising pigs is not an easy task, and raising them to death is an unbearable business.

Zhu Youjian specifically explained to Wang Cheng'en: "The matter of raising pigs and poultry, you leave it to the group of people who raised pigs and chickens before the Yumajian. You don't need to intervene too much, as long as no one secretly sells them."

"Your servant knows." Wang Chengen felt a little absurd, he didn't expect that he would have to take care of pigs one day.

Only after he nodded, Cao Huachun continued:

"In addition, more than [-] students from Yanshan Institute have enrolled, and the Imperial College has only sent [-] students as instructors, and they are still teaching students how to read and write."

"There are so many..." Hearing this, Zhu Youjian felt pressured. After all, he needed to produce teaching materials for the students to learn.

There is only one year left now, and it is estimated that he will be busy in this year, especially in mathematics.

"Anything else? How about the briquettes?"

When saying this, Zhu Youjian and the others came to the back door of the Yumajian Yamen, Zhu Youjian got off his horse, and Cao Huachun also said:

"I was going to tell His Highness about this."

As he spoke, he sorted out his thoughts, then took out the document in his arms, handed it to Zhu Youjian with both hands and said:
"As of yesterday, 4821 million jin of briquettes have been sold."

"The livestock exchanged are 1252 medium-grade horses, 6004 low-grade horses, 7615 cattle, and 67660 sheep..."

"Among them, there are 4340 low-grade horses that can be kept and bred into medium-grade horses, and the remaining 1664 low-grade horses can be sold in Jiangnan."

"Currently, most of the grass in Caoshucang has been eaten. We are waiting for your highness to come back, and then decide how many sheep and horses to send to the south for sale."

Cao Huachun gave a very detailed account, more than [-] million catties of briquettes, involving at least nearly [-] Mongolian households.

This is a long-term transaction. Even in spring, the Mongolians are probably willing to exchange cattle and sheep for a small amount of briquettes.

However, if you want to sell more than [-] horses and more than [-] sheep, you can't sell them all at once, you have to sell them slowly.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian confessed to Cao Huachun:

"Right now, Lu Wenzhao and the others are already measuring the fields in Nanchang. There are too many fields. When you arrive in Nanchang, you can recruit people from Jiangnan and Shandong who have no land to come and cultivate them."

"After farming, the harvest is divided into seven and three points, and the south farm receives three points. In addition, it is responsible for handing over the land tax and additional distribution, and then leaving enough land for the Yumajian himself to open up cattle and sheep farms in the future."

"The boat assigned to the Yumajian by the emperor will be used to sell livestock and go south. Half of the silver sold will be transported north, and the other half will be left in the Nanchang bank to buy the grain from the tenants in the Nanchang."

"Receive as much as you have, and only leave the money for the normal expenses of the South Field."

"You are in charge of the livestock fleet, and you, Chengen, are in charge of ordering people to drive the livestock to Tianjinwei to board the ship." Zhu Youjian looked at Wang Chengen, and the other side bowed in response.

They walked into the main hall in the backyard, Zhu Youjian sat in the main seat, and continued to talk:

"Right now, the price of mutton in Nanjing and Susong is soaring, and all the sheep are sold directly southward. When the mutton is stable, you can put all the sheep to graze on the cattle and sheep farm in the south farm of Yumajian."

It can be said that Zhu Youjian has calculated to the bone, and he has figured out how to make money.

After all, he has Jinyiwei in his hands, and let's not mention anything else, it is still very simple for Jinyiwei to figure out the prices in the north and south.

The so-called business, in addition to relying on luck and means, is more important to fight intelligence.

The ancient news is not well-informed by later generations. Now that the price of goods in the Jiangdong area is soaring, it is estimated that many northern livestock dealers are not aware of it.

More than a thousand horses and more than [-] sheep are enough to sell for three hundred thousand taels of silver, and this is just a winter harvest...

Going on like this, Zhu Youjian estimates that the foreign trade of briquettes alone can become an important income for the Yumajian.

However, the more important thing right now is...

"Your Highness!"

Suddenly, a familiar voice called Zhu Youjian back to reality. He looked outside the door, and he saw Man Gui wearing a mountain armor and holding a helmet in his arms.

"come in."

Seeing Man Gui, a simple man, Zhu Youjian also greeted with a smile: "Why, why come to me when you have time."

"Hey, Your Highness..." Man Gui has a deep affection for Zhu Youjian, especially the other party's kindness to him, which made him, a stupid man, very moved.

He walked into the main hall, bowed, and then said to Zhu Youjian with a smile:
"Sun Yingyuan is helping Zongbing Qi and Zongbing Qin to prepare the military supplies for the departure. I would like to ask His Highness if he can send a thousand horses to help Zongbing Qi and the others transport the military supplies to Liaoshen."

"Tune!" Zhu Youjian stood up and said, "Come on, let's go over and see if they have enough military supplies."

After that, Zhu Youjian walked to the back door, and Man Gui followed, and then gave Zhu Youjian a hand when he got on his horse.

He didn't get on the horse until Zhu Youjian sat down firmly, and Zhu Youjian also looked at him and said:

"What happened to the three thousand cavalry in the Warrior Battalion?"

"Your Highness, it's still the same problem, not enough troops and horses." When Man Gui heard that it was the problem, he immediately vomited bitterly:
"According to the elite cavalry, at least one person must have four horses, one horse will carry the armor, and three horses will be replaced by three horses to guarantee a daily journey of [-] miles. That's how the northern captives used this configuration to fight against Dashi."

"To be able to be a military horse, at least one must have the level of a middle-level horse, but right now the middle-level horses in the army are less than [-], and even one man with two horses can't meet the standard."

Man Gui's words offend people, but Zhu Youjian just likes his eloquent character.

If Mangui was so exquisite, he would feel a little worried, so he smiled and comforted him:
"It's okay, didn't you get more than [-] low-grade horses from trade recently? Feed them well, and your warrior battalion can also be expanded by then."

Speaking of this, Zhu Youjian looked at Cao Huachun next to him and said, "How many high-grade horses, medium-grade horses, and low-grade horses are there in Beichang right now?"

"Return to Your Highness." Cao Huachun bowed on horseback and said:
"At present, there are 1680 high-grade horses in the army, 12352 medium-grade horses, and 28160 low-grade horses, for a total of 40592 horses."

"The best horses are all stallions, and 7400 of the middle horses are mares."

"Among the low-grade horses, 4600 can be trained as middle-grade horses to serve as army horses, and the remaining [-] are mostly low-grade horses, either draft horses or poor horses."

"Drawing horses are mostly used for transporting luggage, pulling carts, and plowing land, while rough horses are for elite infantry to march."

The number of horses in the Yumajian has expanded from the early [-] horses and horses when Zhu Youjian took over to more than [-].

This is only the result of two months. By this time next year, perhaps [-] of the medium-sized horses in the Yumajian can be drawn as army horses.

Thinking of this, he confessed to Wang Chengen: "The tenants who cultivate horse breeds can ask the chef to send some meat to them from time to time."

"The servants take orders." Wang Chengen nodded in response, and Zhu Youjian also smiled at Man Gui:

"You also heard that there are [-] low-grade horses that can be bred into military horses. Counting the original [-] horses, you can already guarantee that your warrior battalion can have three horses per person."

"Well, it will be clear at the end." Man Gui also cracked his mouth and said with a big smile:
"Those horses are currently being ordered by the soldiers to follow the tenants to feed them. It is estimated that after the spring of the next year, they will be able to grow fat and become qualified army horses."

"By the way, Your Highness." Cao Huachun suddenly opened his mouth and added to Zhu Youjian:
"After the beginning of spring, the horses have to graze, and they can't continue to eat beans, otherwise, with the size of the North Field, they will be eaten to pieces."

"If a military horse does not want to lose weight, it must be allocated at least [-] acres of grassland, and at least [-] acres of grassland must be added."

"Currently there are [-] horses in the North Farm, more than [-] cattle, and [-] sheep."

"There are also three hundred and seventy camels, thirty-four elephants from Siam, and six hundred and forty donkeys."

"Among them, [-] mu of sheep are left to supply the imperial palace, at least [-] mu of pasture and [-] mu of peas are needed for farming cattle, and [-] mu of sheep are needed. Therefore, the pasture that can supply horses in Beichang is only [-] mu."

"Inferior horses have at least ten acres, high-grade horses have at least fifty acres, and medium horses have at least thirty acres. If the selected military horses are ridden every day, they will also need fifty acres."

"Therefore, war horses alone require at least [-] mu of grassland every year, and right now there is only [-] mu of grassland for war horses in the north farm of the Yumajian..."

Obviously, the Yumajian did not have so many pastures, so how to raise horses became a problem.

Of course, after the spring of next year, Zhu Youjian can directly ban the Ji Towns in Shuntian Prefecture and Yongping Prefecture, and use the horse farms in Ji Town to raise horses.

But compared to this, he has a more direct method, which is to feed directly with hay and concentrate.

"Let's feed the military horses and high-grade horses with hay and concentrate. As for the draft horses among the low-grade horses, they are leased to the tenants who opened up wasteland for cultivation. Jiangnan."

Zhu Youjian said this, and the number of poor horses in the Yumajian decreased by five thousand. These are all horses that can be used by pawns for transportation.

However, he was not worried that there would not be enough rough horses when he needed it. To put it bluntly, he had mastered the honeycomb coal, so he didn't have to worry about the grassland not trading with him at all.

As long as the trade continues, there will be a steady stream of poor horses pouring into his hands.

Moreover, he has no intention of going to war within two years, unless the situation is urgent.

Therefore, after understanding what he said, Cao Huachun nodded to show that he understood.

At this time, they also rode to the northeast corner of the barracks.

This is the armory and granary, and now there are thousands of white soldiers and Zhejiang soldiers gathered here.

They are constantly loading armor, military rations, soy sauce and other things into the car.

Not far from where the truck was loaded, Qi Jin, Qin Bangping, Qin Minping, and Sun Yingyuan were chatting and laughing.

But when they saw Zhu Youjian coming, they stepped forward one after another, bowed to Zhu Youjian and said, "Your Highness."

"Okay, don't be rude." Zhu Youjian looked at the soldiers and horses who were loading the general's grain, frowned and turned to Cao Huachun:

"How much food does the Yu Ma Jian have right now?"

"Back to Your Highness, there are still [-] shi of grain." Cao Huachun responded calmly, while Zhu Youjian waved his hand and said directly:

"Adjust three thousand horses, and then load [-] shi of grain. Shenyang and Liaoyang will each send [-] shi."

"Your Highness, this..." Hearing this, Qi Jin, Qin Bangping and others hesitated to speak.

However, Zhu Youjian said with a smile: "Sixteen thousand shi is enough to feed two parts for one and a half months."

"If it takes a month and a half for Houjin to besiege the city next year, many things can be saved."

Zhu Youjian is very meaningful. After all, in his opinion, Nurhachi has figured out the foundation of Liaodong at present, and it is very likely that he will launch another attack.

Even if Zhejiang soldiers and Sichuan soldiers go to Liaodong, they may not be able to stop Nurhachi.

If he didn't occupy Liaodong by hand, then only a few fields in Hetuala, Tieling, Kaiyuan, Fushun and Northeast Guards would not be able to support more than [-] post-Jin soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Han people.

Nurhachi must get southern Liaoning in order to have a chance to breathe.

"If that's the case, then it's better to be respectful than obedient." Hearing what Zhu Youjian said, Qi Jin could only cup his fists in return, and so did Qin Bangping and others.

Instead, Zhu Youjian looked at Qin Bangping and said, "Ma Qin's old lady, did you say anything before you left?"

"She said that Long Live and His Highness gave her so much money, she will definitely train [-] soldiers and horses before the end of next year, and then bring [-] soldiers and horses north to aid Liao."

Qin Liangyu's words made Zhu Youjian nod secretly, which means that after the end of next year, he will have at least [-] people in his hands.

At that time, if Liao Town can't solve the problem, [-] people will be transferred to Liaodong.

Kaiyuan, Tieling, and Fushun were recovered again, and Nurhachi was directly dragged to death in the drought of the Little Glacier.

Thinking of this, he bowed deeply to Qi Jin, Qin Bangping and others:

"The generals are leaving tomorrow, so they won't drink alcohol tonight."

"I brought a lot of bear paws and tribute tea from the palace, and I will invite you to the backyard of the Yamen later, and I will practice it for you."

"Thank you, Your Highness!" Qi Jin and the others raised their hands in a bow, and Zhu Youjian glanced at the Zhejiang soldiers and Sichuan soldiers who were still busy, and couldn't help sighing inwardly:
"I don't know how many of these people will survive a year later..."

After sighing, he and Qi Jin and others went to the Yamen of the Yumajian. Everyone ate tea instead of wine, and ate the food cooked by the chef of the East Palace. They didn't say goodbye until it was completely dark.

Early the next morning, Zhu Youjian also got up early, took Sun Yingyuan, Man Gui, and soldiers from the Seven Guards and the First Battalion, and stood on both sides of the east gate of the Yanshan Daying Camp, watching Qi Jin and others drag the long The team marched towards Liaodong.

Just when the Zhejiang soldiers and the Sichuan soldiers were marching towards Liaodong, the layout of the southwest also began to take effect...

(End of this chapter)