Su He came to the Sichuan Dudu Mansion.

Su Xiong was discussing with Li Fengming the issue of troop mobilization.

"Mr. Li, Brother Su Xiong.

Have all the troops been mobilized?"

Li Fengming replied: "Commander Su, we are about to leave Sichuan.

According to your instructions, in addition to the First Army and the Second Division, all regiments will be stationed at important locations in Sichuan.

Other troops gathered at the assembly point by the river and were transported to Rongcheng by the Yangtze River Navy. They returned to Hanzhong with us."

Su He planned to return to Hanzhong and proclaim himself king after inspecting the salt industry company, completing the reform of the salt industry.

"The Sichuan Governor's Office must make arrangements for the wounded soldiers."

For soldiers who died in battle, the governor's office sent people to deliver death notices to their homes, and their ashes were placed in the Martyrs' Pavilion of the large local ancestral temple.

The local government offices under the Ministry of Household Affairs will guide township offices and other grassroots governments to distribute pensions to military dependents on time every year.

Military dependents in need will also be arranged to go to suitable factories or government offices.

Wounded soldiers can only recuperate locally, and specific work can be arranged after they recover.

When Su Xiong was talking to Li Fengming in Su He, he found a piece of information and handed it to Su He.

"Commander Su, our Sichuan Governor's Office has detailed arrangements for wounded soldiers.

He was slightly injured and was able to return to the army.

They are usually arranged to return to their original units.

Those who had lost limbs but recovered quickly were assigned to serve as instructors in the Reclamation Corps.

For soldiers who want to retire and are literate, arrange for them to become township chiefs or patrol captains.

Illiterate, so I can only work as an ordinary patrolman.

The local government gave us feedback that these people have been on the battlefield and have physical disabilities that deter thieves better than ordinary patrolmen.

Most of the injured soldiers from various armies changed their careers and established ancestral temples in various prefectures and counties to serve as Zhushi.

There are also some experienced wounded soldiers who enter the recruit camp and are responsible for training new recruits.

There are more than 600 wounded soldiers left who are being treated by military doctors, and most of them are out of danger."

Su He briefly looked through the information and found that most of the wounded soldiers had been arranged.

He looked at Su Xiong and asked: "We have adopted new military pay for recruiting new soldiers in Sichuan. How is the reaction of the soldiers?"

At the beginning of the uprising, Suhe did not have a large amount of silver and could only use land as military pay.

Each soldier is paid one acre of land per year.

The current size of the army is 80,000, and the annual expenditure is 80,000 acres of land.

These military salaries can be easily spent now. When the army becomes larger and the war is less intense, a large amount of land will be needed to pay military salaries.

Use silver coins to pay military pay, and the military pay can be quickly recovered.

Use the fields to pay military salaries, and the military salaries will be deposited in the hands of the soldiers.

Suhe took the capture of Sichuan as a node, and the soldiers who enlisted before were among the meritorious soldiers.

Ordinary soldiers continued to receive an annual pay of one acre of land.

All officers were changed to use silver coins as military pay.

Newly enlisted soldiers will receive a new military pay of two taels of silver coins per month.

Su Xiong recalled the rumors in the army. He organized his words and said: "There is indeed some turmoil in the army.

But an officer's salary is much more valuable than an acre of land. After Zhu Shi's guidance, the matter quickly dissipated.

It has no impact on ordinary soldiers, and they are all emotionally stable."

When Su He heard Su Xiong's answer, he felt relieved.

By issuing this order, Su He wanted to balance the interests of all parties as much as possible.

Meritorious soldiers have rich experience and stronger strength.

These people are the backbone of the army and cannot cause them to resist on a large scale.

As the army expands, these people will basically become officers, and then there will be no need to allocate land to them.

If they can become an officer and gain more benefits, they don't care about the income from that acre of land.

As time goes by, soldiers' pay gradually converges, and there will be no estrangement among lower-level soldiers.

"This is very good. We should keep track of the soldiers' thoughts at all times and try to comfort them if there are any problems."

Su He praised them and said goodbye to Su Xiong and Li Fengming.

Walking out of Rongcheng with the guards, we followed the newly built cement road to Tuojiang Wharf.

Su He led his army to capture the city and territory in the front, while he kept building roads in the rear.

After the capture of Sichuan, the engineering team summoned local youths to build cement roads along the original roads.

Sichuan has developed water transportation, and cement roads give priority to connecting major dock areas.

Su He and his party arrived at Tuojiang Pier, where the boat had already been parked.

They boarded the ship, surrounded by warships of the Yangtze River Navy, and headed south to Zigong Prefecture.

Suhe looked at the lush green scenery on both sides of the Tuojiang River, which filled people's hearts with joy.

His hometown, Sujia Village, Baoji, Shaanxi Province, has a cracked and khaki earth, which makes people despair just looking at it.

A breeze blew by, and the rice fields undulated like waves.

The rice is growing very well. Looking from a distance in Suhe, the rice has begun to ear.

There are two crops of rice here in Sichuan, and farmers spend most of their time busy in the fields.

This is also the reason why Su He dare not deploy more troops in Sichuan.

Su He went to Zigong Mansion this time mainly to check the situation of the salt well.

When Wu Cheng became the prefect of Zigong, Su He sent his secretary Jiang Zhiyu to Zigong to take over all the salt wells.

The produced salt is transported to various parts of Sichuan and Hanzhong County.

Now a salt company has been established to make and sell salt.

This is already on the right track, salt tax and benefit distribution need to be clarified.

Suhe's fleet docked in Fushun County.

Wu Cheng, the prefect of Zigong, and Jiang Zhiyu, his secretary, are both waiting here.

When I got off the boat in Suhe, I saw a newly built wharf, mainly for freight.

A mule cart came from afar, loaded with sacks.

Transport workers carry sacks and carry them to the transport ship.

From the occasional white particles falling from the gaps in the sack, it can be seen that the sack is filled with salt.

Wu Cheng quickly came over to greet him.

"Welcome Commander Su to Zigong Prefecture. Our entire Zigong Prefecture has completed the work of dividing the fields."

Wu Cheng rushed to claim credit and worked hard to express himself.

Su He praised: "Prefect Wu has done a great job. Zigong Prefecture is among the top three counties in Sichuan that has completed the work of allocating fields."

Jiang Zhiyu came over and said bitterly: "Prefect Wu moved too fast, which also affected the operation of our salt company."

Su He asked curiously: "What's going on?"

Wu Cheng invited Su He to board the donkey cart, and he explained the reason in the cart.

The processing of salt in artesian wells in the Ming Dynasty mainly relies on boiling in large pots.

These tasks are all handled by salt households, who belong to lowly status.

Each household has a quota that must be met. Failure to do so will result in penalties.

Boiling salt requires a large amount of firewood, and iron pots have become fast consumables due to corrosion by salt.

These need to be purchased by the salt households themselves.

The money given to them for boiling salt was not much, and their lives were very difficult.

After Wu Cheng arrived, he established an official government to attack the gentry and redress the grievances of the people.

Announced the abolition of all lowly status, and everyone could be divided into fields.

These salt households all rejoiced and celebrated their freedom.

They all went to the villages around Ziliujing and were allotted a field so that they could farm safely.

Jiang Zhiyu said helplessly: "I led people to take over artesian wells and other salt wells and turned them into salt factories.
To be continued...