Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 231 Harsh Environment in the Northwest

"Additional grants to Sun Chuanting to manage Hetao and Ningxia, to control the Northern Army's Governor's Mansion, and to prepare for sweeping matters."

On the thirteenth day of the first lunar month in the fourth year of the Apocalypse, when the Tianxia Guards were undergoing renovations, Sun Chuanting and Sun Chuanting also received their new official positions in the Sanbian Governor's Mansion in Xi'an.

The strategy of Hetao and the control of the northern army's governor's mansion, obviously, this will be the afterglow of civil officials' control of military generals.

"Sun Chuanting, accept the order..."

Sun Chuanting stretched out his hands to receive the imperial decree, looking at the will in the imperial decree, his heart was full of pride.

Fuhetao...

The simple three words will represent Daming's determination to completely regain Hetao.

Once the Hetao is recovered, Ningxia, Yansui, Guyuan, and the entire Guanzhong Plain will be far away from the iron hooves of the northern captives, and they can engage in production with peace of mind.

Thinking of this, Sun Chuanting also walked back and forth in the study room in the mansion for a few steps, and then asked the Jin Yiwei who delivered the letter:
"Where is Mandudu at the moment?"

"Returning to Jinglue, the governor of Mandu just brought the three guards of Daning to Yanshan yesterday. His Highness is going to let the governor lead the three guards of Daning to Shaanxi, and start the dismantling of the Shaanxi guards and the reorganization of the four northwest towns."

Xi'an Qianhu, the Beizhen Fusi who sent the letter, replied, and at the same time said:

"His Royal Highness has also explained this decree. Although it is a repetition, it is not in a hurry. What needs to be done strategically is to cooperate with the Mandu Governor to rectify military affairs and military settlements in Shaanxi and Hexi."

"After next year's autumn harvest, if there are enough supplies to be raised, wait for His Highness's military order to launch the sweep immediately. If not, the Imperial Horse Supervisor will reissue them."

Qianhu brought Zhu Youjian's words to Sun Chuanting, and Sun Chuanting heard the words, and nodded slightly:
"Right now, to rectify the four towns in the northwest, Yansui is the first to bear the brunt. Li Zongbing of Guyuan and the other two towns did not make any big reactions."

"Please send someone to tell Your Highness that only the three guards of Daning, the [-] soldiers in the hands of the lower officials may not be enough. Please transfer the three guards to be fully sure."

"Your officer will remember it." Qianhu responded, and seeing that Sun Chuanting had nothing to say, he took the initiative to say:

"Jinglue, Your Highness even sent an official to ask Jinglue, if you dare to ask if the land in Hexi can be cultivated?"

Whether Hexi can be cultivated represents whether Daming can send troops to the Western Regions. Zhu Youjian is very concerned about this, and Sun Chuanting also knows it.

Therefore, as soon as he arrived in Shaanxi, he asked soldiers and horses to renovate the guards, and at the same time he sent people to Hexi to take a look. However, the situation in Hexi is complicated, and it will be unclear for a while, so Sun Chuanting can only open his mouth and say:

"The situation in Hexi, I will write to His Highness later."

"If that's the case, then I'll take my leave." Hearing what Sun Chuanting said, Qianhu left the three-sided governor's mansion after bowing.

But after he quit, Sun Chuanting walked to the desk, picked up a document and read it.

This is the situation of the reform of the Shaanxi Guards. The [-] soldiers under Sun Chuanting did not contact the four towns in the northwest for the first time, but carried out reforms in the southern Shaanxi area.

Shaanxi and the Shaanxi Xingdu Division have a total of [-] guards, involving nearly [-] households, millions of people, and nearly [-] million acres of land.

This is still the guard house, and there are tens of millions of acres of pastoral land on the side of the Taipu Temple.

If the more than [-] million mu of land can be recovered and distributed, at least one person and three mu of land can support six million people.

"Shaanxi is suffering. If we can rely on these acres to support millions of small families, the merit will be immeasurable..."

With a word of exclamation, Sun Chuanting put down the paperwork, put the letter paper on the table after tidying up the table, and began to write with a pen.

He first started to focus on the description of Hexi's military geography, because it was not an easy task for Daming to guard Hexi.

First of all, the geographical location of Hexi is not conducive to Ming's defense. The north of Hexi is the Ordos Department of Ningxia, which has long been hostile to Ming, and is also the focus of Ming's defense.

In the west of Hexi are the two remaining divisions of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, namely the Yarkand and Turpan Khanates, and in the southwestern part of the Hexi is the Duogandu Division.

Although the religious leaders in the snow area in the Ming Dynasty had already belonged to the Ming Dynasty, after all, this was not an area under the direct jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty. In addition, the late Ming's control over the local area became weaker. Therefore, in the southern Qinghai area, a large number of people from Moxi, Mobei, and Mobei gathered. The southern Mongolian tribes.

The complexity of this place is much more complicated than Zhu Youjian imagined.

Therefore, the Hexi of Daming can be said to be uneven in the north, west, and south directions, and the natural environment of Hexi is also very unfavorable for Daming's defense.

Most of Hexi is plateau and mountainous, with very little precipitation, so most of Hexi is not conducive to agricultural production.

Some people sent by Sun Chuanting to investigate also told him that in the land of Hexi, only the narrow corridor relying on the Qilian Mountains and the Longyou area can be used for farming.

Therefore, not only for now, but even in the future, the troops deployed by Daming in Hexi must also be deployed in the Hexi Corridor area in the form of a long snake formation.

This kind of formation is extremely easy to be intercepted by the mobile and flexible cavalry in wartime, causing the entire Hexi defense line to collapse.

This is only from a military point of view. If it is from the perspective of economy and population, it is even less optimistic.

Since the late Tang Dynasty, most of Hexi has been ruled by Tubo and Dangxiang successively. Before the large-scale population migration in the Central Plains began, these few people occupied Hexi.

Population distribution in Hexi After years of rule by ethnic minorities, Hexi presents a culture different from that of the Central Plains.

These cultures have led to the fact that a large number of local minorities in Hexi actually tend to be outside the customs, and they are not a little wary of Ming Dynasty, and the Han people in Hexi also have a lot of discrimination against the Han people east of Longshan.

If the people were to be relocated to Hexi, and a large amount of land would be reclaimed, Sun Chuanting’s suggestion was that with the power of the imperial court, one million people could be relocated, tens of millions of grain and fodder, and three years of labor would be spent, and one million acres of paddy fields might be reclaimed.

But if you transport grain by land, from Shandong, Nanzhili, Henan to Hexi, [-] million shi may only reach [-] million shi...

"The situation in Hexi is so complicated, it's beyond my expectation."

When Sun Chuanting's letter was sent to the Yanshan camp, Zhu Youjian only read the military notes in it, and then he knew how difficult it was for Ming to govern Hexi.

If in Sun Chuanting's view, the predicament in Hexi is only to solve local conflicts, to solve the problems of food transportation and relocation of people, then in Zhu Youjian's view, these are actually not problems.

The local conflicts can be deterred by the army, and the relocated people do not need to use violence during the severe drought. The food can also be transported by railroad carriages. During the severe drought, there is plenty of labor.

These three points are not a problem in Zhu Youjian's view. His only difficulty after reading this letter lies in Sun Chuanting's description of the climate in the Hexi Corridor.

Although Zhu Youjian doesn’t remember the [-]mm and [-]mm precipitation lines of later generations clearly, he also knows that the former can reach Lanzhou in Hexi, and the latter can even reach the vicinity of Jiayuguan.

But in Sun Chuanting's description, this precipitation line has moved eastward by at least [-] kilometers.

Because there is a sentence in his letter, "At the beginning of the country, there were more than ten times of rain in Jiayuguan a year, and then gradually decreased, but it increased slightly during the Zhengde and Jiajing years, and then remained the same."

In Sun Chuanting's words, from Zhengde to Jiajing, if Zhu Youjian remembers correctly, it was the only small warm period in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, but it was far inferior to later generations.

The temperature of the whole world is dropping sharply, and Daming is more serious than other countries in the world because of geo-monsoon and other climate problems.

If Zhu Youjian remembers correctly, during the period from 1627 to 1680, the temperature in the two capitals and fifteen provinces was three degrees lower than that in later generations.

A deviation of two or three degrees doesn't seem very cold, but the average temperature is a very important data, and a deviation of one or two degrees has a huge impact.

The deviation of these two or three degrees means that the rainfall belt moves southward, the rainfall in the north drops sharply, and the winter snow is insufficient in winter, which leads to the winter wheat without snow cover, freezing to death and unable to survive the winter.

The dry climate in summer has led to a sharp increase in the hatching success rate of locust eggs, and locust plagues are raging.

Therefore, if the rainfall belt in Hexi moves eastward for hundreds of kilometers, it means that it is absolutely impossible for Hexi in this period to reclaim [-] million mu of paddy fields like later generations.

The eastward movement of hundreds of kilometers may mean that tens of millions of acres of land are not suitable for cultivation.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian's face was a bit unsightly. After all, the gap between [-] million mu and [-] million mu represents the ability to support [-] cavalry and [-] civilians to go out of the fortress for six months, and run wild in the Western Regions for [-] years. There are nearly ten million stones of grain in a hundred miles.

Even if the food is not used to support the expedition, it is enough to feed millions of people locally.

"It is necessary to find out how many people are there in Hexi..."

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian in the study of the Imperial Horse Supervisor in Yanshan Daying put down Sun Chuanting's handwriting, and greeted the Jin Yiwei at the door:

"Chuan Mangui, come here!"

"Yes..." Hearing Zhu Youjian's words, Jin Yiwei at the door immediately sent someone to notify Man Gui who was still resting in the Yanshan Camp.

A quarter of an hour later, Man Gui rode his horse to the backyard gate of the Yumajian Yamen, then got off his horse, and walked into the courtyard in a round collar robe. Before he got to the door, he heard Zhu Youjian's voice calling him in.

"Your Highness..."

The first thing Man Gui did when he entered the door was to salute, and Zhu Youjian said to him through the screen:
"Come in and sit down in the study, there are some things I need to tell you."

"The last general takes orders." Man Gui responded and walked into the study, then sat down on the chair that had been placed.

Counting from the time of defeating the Bayo tribe, Man Gui has not returned to North Zhili for two and a half years. Although the last time we met was a few months ago, it is not difficult to see from his appearance that he has been very tired during this time.

"You have been back to Yanshan Camp for four days. I heard from the commander of the Three Guards in Daning that you did not have a good rest a while ago, so I did not summon you."

"Looking at it now, it seems that you should take a rest for a while, otherwise you may be tired and collapse on the way before you go to Shaanxi."

Zhu Youjian's ridicule was full of concern, and Man Gui also smiled when he heard the words:
"After all, the defense of the three guards in Daning will be handed over. Now that the three guards are transferred away, there are only [-] battalions in Liaodong. Three battalions in Zhejiang and Shandong cannot be transferred. Iron riding."

"Why not enough?" Zhu Youjian is not worried about Liaodong. The thirty-four battalions are enough to attack Liaodong, the temporary capital of Jianlu, not to mention defending it.

"Of course it's enough." Man Gui smiled heartily, and talked about the military exploits of the Eastern Army's Governor's Mansion:

"The ten battalions of iron cavalry in Liaodong have harassed the Jian captives for five months since the end of the restoration of the Liao Dynasty. They harvested more than [-] real captives and more than [-] false captives."

"Facing the iron cavalry offensive of our Eastern Army's Governor's Mansion, Jianlu had no choice but to keep shrinking northward. If it weren't for the fact that the internal refugees and settlements in Liaodong hadn't ended, I'm afraid as long as His Royal Highness allocates money and food, he can plow the court and sweep the caves again with an order. .”

The situation in Liaodong is very good. Nurhachi's nearly [-] cavalry and infantry were killed in the first battle of Liaodong, which almost cut the mobility of the Jin army.

Even though the ten battalions of cavalry in Liaodong all have one man and one horse, they can still go out for more than three hundred miles to harass the Jian captives after they cooperate with the poor horses.

According to the information Zhu Youjian received from Beizhen Fusi, Jianlu has now shrunk north to four hundred miles north of the Great Wall of the Ming Army.

As far as the front line is concerned, the Ming army can completely guarantee peace four hundred miles away from the Great Wall of Liaodong.

Not only that, Jianlu, who was in urgent need of supplies, also increased the treatment of North Korean merchants, so that the peripheral members of Beizhen Fusi obtained more information.

"I have already shared this information with Ying Yuan, but not with you. Now it can be used as a chat after dinner."

Zhu Youjian smiled and leaned on the chair, and said to Man Gui:
"Jianlu was severely injured in the First Battle of the Liao Dynasty, and the internal army is currently in turmoil. Amin has been ordered to lead two blue flags to Beishan to continue to harass the Beishan Jurchens in order to obtain acres of land, food, and supplies."

"The old slave was seriously injured and was paralyzed on the bed, while Daishan and Mangurtai in Ula City were fighting for power."

"In order to avoid the vortex of power, Huang Taiji had no choice but to take Jierhalang and the remnants of the two white flags to Ciluwei to reclaim the fields, and took the surviving craftsmen of Hetuala to build in the area of ​​Ciluwei. Ironworks."

"Some Han soldiers were dismissed, and the northern captives were sent to Ciluwei."

"Judging from the method used by the old slave to disband the Han soldiers, the Jianlu should not be able to maintain the current size of the army."

Zhu Youjian served tea unhurriedly to moisten his throat, and Man Gui also said with a smile:

"The old slave only disbanded the Han camp. It seems that he is still holding on."

"Only abolishing the Han camp, there should still be [-] male prisoners and [-] northern captives."

"However, relying on one or two million acres of arable land to support an army of [-] is simply impossible."

"Your Highness, according to the general's opinion, if the old slave really wants to forcibly maintain the size of the [-] army, he can only use troops against Hutudun and Mobei Beilu."

"As long as Horqin supports, Jianlu can also roam the grasslands, and then go on an expedition to Hutudun and Mobei."

"We can take a look first. If this method of using troops can be used, we can also use the strength of Harqin and Tuman to carry out nomadic expeditions."

"The last general's idea is to recruit [-] soldiers from Tuman and Karaqin, and set up three battalions of northern captive cavalry who are familiar with Monan, Mobei, and Modong."

"They can be nomadic for the army, they can also lead the way, and they can also fight. They can be used whether they are sweeping traps, entering Dogan, or sweeping north."

Man Gui's suggestion is very good. Zhu Youjian thought about it a long time ago, but Nai was still at a stalemate between the Ming and Jin forces before. Once he recruited troops from Tuman and Harqin, it would make them feel that Ming's troops were insufficient.

But now he doesn't have this worry, because Jianlu's spine has been broken, and Daming's military might has been fully displayed.

Now recruiting troops from these two departments, these two departments should not dare to have any other ideas.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian nodded slightly and said:

"It just so happens that you will be staying in Yanshan for a while. You can send people to these two departments to recruit soldiers. The recruited soldiers and their families can move to the pastures in Daning Mansion to graze."

"Yes!" Man Gui happily agreed, and then cautiously probed:
"Your Highness, the three battalions..."

"Give it to your Northern Army Governor's Mansion." Zhu Youjian glanced at Man Gui, and said helplessly:
"Now Shanxi has been transferred several times, and there are only [-] battalions. Although Shaanxi has [-] battalions, ten battalions were transferred from Shanxi, and the other ten battalions are Sun Chuanting's old team."

"There are already forty-one battalions in total, and there are tens of thousands of soldiers in the four towns in the northwest."

Speaking of this, Zhu Youjian also talked about the business:
"I have already ordered Qin Bangping to suspend the recruitment in Sichuan. I want you to organize the soldiers from the four towns in the northwest into fifteen battalions, and then transfer them to Sichuan."

"Your Highness, the soldiers and horses in the Northwest are probably in Sichuan..." Man Gui said with a headache:

"I'm afraid I won't be able to run..."

"The battalions in each Dudu's mansion are rationed. Your current battalion is overstaffed because there will be wars in the next few years. After the wars, there will be no more troops." Zhu Youjian is very disciplined.

"Your Highness, to be honest, I still think that the Northern Army should have more troops than the other four armies. After all, they will deal with a large number of northern captives..."

As soon as Man Gui heard Zhu Youjian's words, he began to feel wronged, and Zhu Youjian simply glared at him:
"The northern captives were all dealt with by your northern army, so why go straight?"

"After all, Shangzhi is the country's most important weapon, and it cannot be dispatched easily. Let us do these dirty jobs for the Northern Army..." Man Gui's voice dropped a lot.

"Okay, don't cry about the lack of soldiers. The reason for the lack of soldiers is that the court's money and food are not enough. When the money and food go up in the future, the number of troops in the Fifth Army will naturally increase."

Zhu Youjian stopped the topic, and then continued to talk about business:
"This time, after you took the three guards of Daning and the third battalion of Monan to Shaanxi, the troops directly under the imperial court in Shaanxi reached the forty-fourth battalion of the three guards, with a total of [-] troops."

"Afterwards, I will keep Li Rubai, Li Rumei, Wang Chengen (Yan Sui general), Zhang Jixian, Yang Zhaoji and others in your Northern Army Commander's Mansion."

"As for Sun Chuanting, I have already asked Brother Huang for instructions to make him the master planner. In name, you still need to follow his command."

"However, after all, Sun Chuanting did not fight as many battles in the north as you did. I have written a letter back to Sun Chuanting, so there is no need to worry about repeating it."

"What you need to do right now is to renovate the shepherd's office in Taipusi, as well as the guards in Shaanxi and Hexi."

"Especially the population of Hexi. Let me find out all of them. Afterwards, I will ask the emperor to set up a province in Hexi, and I will be appointed as a political envoy."

"After Hexi is established as a province, you plan to move the people of Longyou to Hexi, and the people of southern Shaanxi to Longyou."

"At most next year's autumn harvest, I will personally command the resumption of the First World War, and then the people in northern Shaanxi will need to be relocated to the Hetao area."

"It takes a lot of money and food to move Hetao, so you need to build more granaries in northern Shaanxi. I will ask Yumajian to transport the land tax from Sichuan, Huguang, Henan, and Shanxi to northern Shaanxi after the autumn harvest next year."

"The battle of re-tao will not last long. As long as Hetao is regained, Guanzhong will be safe."

At the last sentence, Zhu Youjian seemed to be sighing something, but Man Gui didn't think so much, just nodded in response.

But after answering, Man Gui asked Zhu Youjian his puzzlement again:
"Your Highness, the general has known about Shaanxi. Right now, Hanzhong Prefecture should be a densely populated place. Why don't you relocate the people of Hanzhong Prefecture?"

"The people of Hanzhong Mansion will move to the south in the future." Zhu Youjian replied without thinking, because he had thought about the plan of relocation very early.

People from Hanzhong moved to Sichuan in the south, Fujian and Huguang moved to Guangdong in the south, Guangdong moved to Guangxi in the east, and Guizhou and Sichuan moved to Yunnan in the south.

In this way, the southwest is completely consolidated, and there is even room to move south to Annan.

However, in order to organize the southward migration, it is necessary to solve all the southwestern chieftains.

Dealing with the southwestern chieftain will inevitably consume a lot of energy for Daming, and Zhu Youjian must solve the Hetao matter before solving this matter.

Once the Hetao Department and the Ningxia Department are resolved, the threat to the north of the Hexi Corridor and the Guanzhong Plain will be completely eliminated.

The dense population of Shaanxi can migrate to Hexi and Hetao. Although Zhu Youjian dare not say that he can guarantee that Shaanxi can survive the severe drought of the Little Ice River, at least the people can resist it for a few more years, and they will not be swept away by the big one like in history. Drought away.

As long as Hetao and Ningxia are destroyed next year, the migration of Shaanxi people can start next year and end in the seventh year of the Apocalypse at most, and the population density in Shaanxi will be reduced to at least two-thirds of the current level.

Once the livelihood of the people in northern Shaanxi is guaranteed, it will not be a problem for Shaanxi to rely on the "transferred grain" from Shanxi, Beizhili, and Henan for two years.

In these two years plus the six and seven years of Apocalypse, Zhu Youjian has four years to solve the Southwest Chieftain, Annan, and Nanyang.

As long as Southwest Chieftain, Annan, and Nanyang are resolved, especially Annan is resolved, then Annan's nearly [-] million mu of land can fully support millions of families to gain a firm foothold.

As for the people of Annan...

"Why do you think so much..." Zhu Youjian chuckled and shook his head, and at this moment Lu Wenzhao came in from outside the house, holding a file in his hand.

"Your Highness, there is some news about the cities in Nanyang."

Lu Wenzhao presented the file with both hands, and when Zhu Youjian heard it, he immediately got up, took the file from him, and opened it for a look.

On the dossier, the military strength of the Nanyang countries and their attitudes towards Ming Dynasty were clearly recorded, and there was also a not-so-clearly drawn city mark.

"Give it to the craftsmen, and let them imitate a sufficient number of sand tables and send them to the capital and Ryukyu."

Zhu Youjian narrowed his eyes, put the file on the table, and at the same time turned around to look behind him, the East Asian layout map hung high in the study, and said in a brisk tone:
"Tell Huang Long that his recruiting speed has to be accelerated..."

　I just finished the operation last night, and I wanted to inhale the anesthetic, but I didn't expect it to go away in three seconds.

　　After waking up, the wound hurts, and I wanted to be lazy and ask for a day off, but I couldn't lie down anymore, so I picked up the phone and started typing.

　　But there is good news, I should be released from isolation on the [-]th, and I can be discharged from the hospital and go home by the way.

　　If you arrive home on the [-]th, the two shifts should resume on the [-]th.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)