Chapter 128 Cheng Shijie, don’t be deceived

Chapter 127

Since ancient times, farmers have been a vulnerable group. Because of poverty, even if new types of plows, harrows and other agricultural tools are invented, they have neither the money nor the ability to replace them. Even though everyone knows that cotton can keep out the cold, everyone knows that good quality cotton

Cotton sells more expensively than silk.

But the problem is that without money, there is no cost to invest. Planting cash crops is not like ordinary grains. Crops such as wheat, soybeans and sorghum. After thousands of years of replanting, the planting area of ​​cotton and flax is not large.

The intensive farming technology of harrow-harrow system became more and more mature. Throughout the Ming and Qing dynasties for more than 600 years, there was almost no development in agricultural tools and agriculture.

Just like sweet potatoes, in the eighth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1580), Chen Yi obtained the seedlings from the Spaniards in Luzon and later introduced them to the Ming Dynasty. However, more than fifty years and half a century have passed, and sweet potatoes are only sporadic in Shandong.

Planting is not because farmers are conservative, nor is it because they are lazy and unwilling to plant.

But the heavy taxes and miscellaneous taxes make the farmers breathless. Any mistake will destroy their families. Unless you see the high yield of sweet potatoes and the high yield of corn with your own eyes, you can learn from other people's experience and use other people's experience.

Learning, naturally, is a slow learning process.

There is another reason, that is because farmers no longer have land, and there is no way to plant it if they want to. Landowners who own a large amount of land are naturally unwilling to plant such high-yielding crops, because this will destroy the high-yield grain market.

If there are not a large number of hungry people, how can food be sold at a high price?

For ordinary farmers, a bumper harvest is not necessarily a good thing. In a good year, food may not be sold and the price may not be high.

The development of anything should actually be viewed from a long-term perspective. Just like in later generations, from the household contract system to today, private contracting of large amounts of farmland has formed a comprehensive trend. This is because this is very dangerous. Once oligarchs and capital monopolize real estate

, food prices will rise like a rocket.

Although there is no guaranteed output to each household, the current military households are also very enthusiastic about work. As the saying goes, there is no harm if there is no comparison. The land rent of the landowners in the Ming Dynasty was at least 40 to 50%, and in many cases it even reached 100%.

Seventy or eighty years ago, it was impossible for farmers in the Ming Dynasty to accumulate continuously, and therefore it was impossible to get rich. The gap between the rich and the poor in the Ming Dynasty became wider and wider.

Cheng Shijie stipulated that Ning Haijun's military households in the military fields would receive no remuneration except for labor reform prisoners who could only receive rations. However, ordinary military households or military households adapted from refugees would only receive three dou per mu of military land. The tax rate was almost 100%.

At about 10 to 15 percent, even the most conscientious landowner's land rent is more than double that of Ning Haijun.

The land tax in southern Liaoning is not only much lower than the land tax of landlords, but also much lower than the tax of the court, because in addition to paying taxes, farmers also have to perform corvee, but there is no corvee in Liaonan. Any project construction is

Gainful work.

Nowadays, military households in Ningjun Army are very enthusiastic about their work. They have been given homesteads of one or three acres. Generally speaking, even if there are nine people in a family, a house of 300 square meters on half an acre of land is enough for the whole family.

The reason why many homestead sites were distributed was to allow military households in southern Liaoning to grow vegetables in these places.

No matter where you go, you can see cucumbers, beans, winter melons, pumpkins, radishes, cabbage, eggplants, zucchini and other vegetables in front and behind newly built houses.

In the end, Cheng Shijie will not equally distribute the land in southern Liaoning to ordinary people. Instead, he plans to reward the fields and form farms one by one through military exploits, military exploits, reform, innovation, technological inventions, technology transfer, and great achievements.

The peasants were liberated from the land and provided sufficient manpower for the industrial revolution.

A farmer cultivates sixty acres of land and works hard all year round, barely making ends meet, but a worker can earn at least ten taels of silver after working in a factory with food and accommodation for a year. This is the difference. If a farmer wants to

To earn more than ten taels of silver requires not only land, but also a large number of livestock, which can produce manure and provide sufficient fertilizer for the land.

But now, how can the people in southern Liaoning have the capital to raise horses and cattle?

Fu Zonglong and Sun Yuanhua followed Cheng Shijie to the horse farm in Jinzhou. There are currently only more than 400 stallions in the horse farm. Although the number of stallions is smaller, each one is tall and strong, with a strong backbone and full of energy.

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Some of these war horses were captured by Cheng Shijie in Shandong, some were captured from Jiannu in southern Liaoning, and some were purchased from Jiannu.

Nowadays, Hu Erqi, after the mutiny of Haizhou Dongjiang Army, led more than 4,000 men under his command to defect to Cheng Shijie. Cheng Shijie gave limited trust to this Haixi slave. He was appointed as the garrison of Haizhou Wangtai Town. This watchtower

The town is the bulge of Haizhou. To the right of Wangtai Town is Xinhe Town, to the left is Sangang Town, and to the south is Qiantai Town.

From a geographical point of view, this Wangwang Town is like Chu Yunfei's Dagu Town in "Bright Sword", surrounded on three sides. Even if Hu Erqi rebels again, it will have little impact on the overall defense of southern Liaoning.

Cheng Shijie asked Hu Erqi to trade with Jiannu in Wangtai Town. The cattle, sheep, horses and even people in the hands of Jiannu could be traded in Wangtai Town. The more than 140 excellent stallions in this horse farm were all bought by Hu Erqi from Jiannu.

It was bought back from the slave at an extremely low price.

Now almost many Jiannu tribes know that there is a bold Hu Guard under the Ning Navy in Liaonan. He dares to sell anything from refined salt, grain, cloth, tea, and even weapons as long as the money is in place.

It’s just that Hu Erqi is very greedy. Even though he can sell grain for one or two taels of silver per stone in Dengzhou, Shandong, he sells grain for 5 taels or eight dollars per stone. Rice from Jiangnan to Jinzhou costs eight dollars per stone.

, but he actually doubled it ten times, and dared to sell it for eight taels of silver per stone. Do you want to buy it?

Compared with ordinary grains, rice was undoubtedly more popular among the slave nobles. However, the price of eight taels of silver was already the price of a small horse or a calf.

Hu Erqi's defensive energy seems to be very powerful. Not only can he get a lot of rice, but he can also get pure spirits and crystals that make beauties go crazy.

Of course, Hu Erqi's smuggling channels and smuggling behavior were tacitly approved by Cheng Shijie. The purpose was to confuse Jiannu and make Jiannu think that Ning Haijun was actually no different from Guan Ningjun. They could be bribed, drawn together, or divided.

At the same time, it is also to increase the cavalry strength of Ning Haijun. If a country has one million strong infantry, then no one may dare to bully it. If a country has 500,000 cavalry, it can definitely sweep across the world.

During this period of time, these war horses lived well. They had endless fodder every day in the stable, and there were dedicated people to fumigate mosquitoes and clean horse manure for them. They could also eat a meal of refined food every few days.

Well, even the hard-working soldiers in the military camp had to swallow their saliva when they saw it.

These stallions are Cheng Shijie's treasures, so of course they must be taken good care of.

Fu Zonglong praised Cheng Shijie for raising the horse well, but Cheng Shijie just smiled and said nothing.

In fact, the Ming Dynasty did not lack experience in horse breeding. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, Henan and Shandong have been one of the important horse breeding bases. Horse farmers have to provide a large number of horses to the army every year. If the quality of the horses is not up to standard, it is

There will be a fine.

This horse policy ensured the supply of horses for the Ming army, allowing the Ming army to maintain a strong cavalry for more than two hundred years. However, it also made the people of Shandong and Henan suffer. In order to complete the task of raising horses, they had to

There are not a few people who don’t spend all they have and will go bankrupt because of it.

Nowadays, people's livelihood is declining, and even the common people can no longer live, so the horse administration will naturally be unsustainable. However, a large number of horse breeders are still there. Cheng Shijie just recruited some at will, and these four hundred war horses are well served.

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After seeing the horse farms, pig farms, and sheep all over the mountains and plains, I realized that most of the sheep in southern Liaoning are actually raised in captivity, not free-range. The alfalfa grass is cut and sent to the sheepfold to feed the sheep. After the corn is harvested,

, soybean straw and corn straw can also be used as silage feed for raising cattle, horses or feeding.

There are actually not many places to see in Jinzhou, such as the steel factory, the work of the Ordnance Bureau, and the factory of the Gun Bureau. It is absolutely impossible for Fu Zonglong and others to see it. It is not that Cheng Shijie is hiding something. If Fu Zonglong knows, Liaonan only needs

He could easily produce five thousand firegun tubes in a month, and he would definitely go crazy.

What's more, Cheng Shijie has already hoarded a large amount of food, grass and equipment, which is a taboo thing in itself. Why would you take him to see it if you are confused?

Aren't you afraid of being slapped with a big label by him?

The issue that Fu Zonglong is most concerned about is actually the combat effectiveness of Ning Haijun. As the governor of Jimen, Liaodong, and Baoding Military Affairs, he knows very well that there are not many armies capable of fighting in the Ming Dynasty, and the one who plays the leading role is Ning Haijun, a rising star.

"Cheng Jinglue, let's take a look at the military camp!"

"yes!"

Ning Haijun's strategic defense center is in the northeastern part of Haizhou and Fuzhou. As for Jinzhou, Ning Haijun's military headquarters and a garrison were originally there. In order to deal with Fu Zonglong and his party, 6,000 navy, cavalry and infantry were temporarily mobilized.

Troops, come here to participate in the enthronement ceremony.

The group of people soon arrived at the temporary military camp of Ning Haijun. Fu Zonglong looked at the towering fences of the Ning Haijun camp, the thick deer villages, the deep and wide trenches, and the meticulous layout. It was like an iron castle in a soup pool. He wanted to gnaw at it.

A big camp is a big headache.

Next to the main camp is a more heavily guarded camp, with five posts, one sentry, and ten posts. All fences are covered with thick soil to prevent fire. In order to prevent theft, all the grass within hundreds of steps is even shoveled away. In order to prevent thieves

The bandits used the cover of vegetation to sneak up on them and sneak into the camp.

"Meet the Marshal!"

In the school grounds, more than 6,000 Ning Navy officers saluted Cheng Shijie in unison.

"All officers and soldiers are exempt from courtesy, take a rest!"

Fu Zonglong looked at Ning's navy officers and soldiers arrayed in a fierce manner, filled with murderous intent, surprisingly consistent equipment, surprisingly consistent mental outlook, the entire army was integrated, giving people an indescribable pressure.

At the beginning, the equipment of Ning Haijun's officers could be said to come from various sources. Some were allocated by Si Yamen, commander of the Dengzhou Guards, some were allocated by Sun Yuanhua from the Denglai New Army, and some were seized from bandits.

Generally speaking, they don't have armor. The bandits who can possess armor have actually been surrounded and suppressed by the army, and they successfully defeated the army. Only then can they have armor.

Of course, it is also possible that like Zhensanshan Zhang Huairen, he relied on the Zhang family in Laiyang and used Zhang's craftsmen to build it privately. When Cheng Shijie had no choice, he could only use this kind of armor of varying quality, but as time went by

Ning Haijun's Armor Bureau successfully produced plate armor.

Cheng Shijie changed the armor of Ning Haijun to a unified standard. As for Ning Haijun's equipment, he gave it to the Dongjiang Army officers on a half-buy, half-free basis. The current equipment of Ning Haijun is steel armor, which is made of molten steel.

In an arc-shaped mold, the steel plate is then forged by a forging press while it is not completely cooled to form the arc of the human body. This kind of plate armor only consists of six parts, but it can cover the entire chest and abdomen from the shoulders to the abdomen.

Strictly.

All the plate armor was painted dark black. What surprised Fu Zonglong even more was that Ning Haijun's soldiers, whether they were spearmen, fire gunmen, or sword and shield soldiers, all had a dog-legged knife hanging on their waists. Whether they were spearmen or sword and shield soldiers,

Soldiers, everyone carries a crossbow.

Fu Zonglong looked at Ning Haijun's equipment and immediately understood why Ning Haijun could behead tens of thousands of slaves. This kind of armor was much stronger than the tatters produced by the Imperial Staff Bureau.

Especially the sword and shield soldiers. Not only do they wear heavy armor, they also hold a heavy shield one meter high and sixty centimeters wide. This heavy shield is covered with a layer of steel plate and weighs more than forty kilograms. In battle

It is a heavy burden for soldiers during military operations or on the march.

But the problem is that Ning Haijun is marching like a mule and horse. This heavy shield is directly inserted into the wall of the carriage during the march, forming a shield for the carriage. When necessary, the heavy shield and the support frame can be used.

Can we form a shield wall, use the sword and shield soldiers to cooperate with the spear soldiers, and let Jian Nu attack again?

"Master Fu, Master Sun, do you want the soldiers to practice for the elder's assessment?"
To be continued...