Chapter 411 I met Geng Jingzhong's mother
After the establishment of village offices in the newly occupied eight counties and one scattered prefectures, village offices, like Xiangshan County, in addition to implementing the collection of taxes and taxes for the county, young and strong people should also organize some military training during the slack farming period. During the training, young and strong people can get some subsidies for money and grain, or reduce some taxes from their families, so as to drive their enthusiasm to join the security team.
Zhou Shixiang clearly required that the security teams in each township should be maintained at about 100 people, and the security teams in each village should be maintained at about 30 people. The officers and backbones must be injured soldiers of the Taiping Army, or males with family members serving in the army. They are over 14 years old and under 50 years old.
The security forces in each village must accept the direct command of the township and village offices. In addition to preparing troops, they must also be responsible for maintaining public security within the territory. If they find that the bandits can be wiped out, they will be wiped out. If they cannot be wiped out, they will be reported to the county for garrisons to come and suppress them.
In view of the fact that the Taiping Army will still make combat against the Qing army the top priority in the future, Zhou Shixiang specially allocated a batch of weapons from the Pingnan Fanku and the Jingnan Fanku to distribute them to the security teams of each county to strengthen their own strength.
Based on the count of one county, ten townships and several villages, the number of security teams in each county should be about 2,000. The Taiping Army actually controls nine counties and one scattered prefecture, so that more than 20,000 armed security teams can be obtained. Although this force is half-army and half-civilian, it can play a huge role in stabilizing the rear. When the main force of the Taiping Army is in crisis, this force can also quickly support the front line when it is integrated.
"Our weapons are not stronger than Qing Yao, our numbers are not more than Qing Yao, and our territory is not greater than Qing Yao, but as long as our mobilization strength is stronger than them and our mobilization speed is faster than them, we can win!"
"Don't be afraid that the people are unwilling to support us. As long as we let them feel that the benefits we can bring them are more, then there is no reluctance to support them! This benefit must be visible and touched!"
"All land in each county must be rebuilt and replaced with contracts. For some places where cultivated land is tight, the original land deeds exceeding 100 acres must be remeasured and reviewed. For those landlords who support us, we can give them a certain ransom to redeem the extra land. Distribute it to farmers who do not have land to farm. The personal tenancy relationships that were previously vassal on the land will be terminated. For those who refuse to support us, they will be physically eliminated. Don't be afraid of killing people. If killing some people can quickly gain a foothold in these places and gain the support of most people, then you must kill and kill hard!"
"You must be clear that the official you are now is what I give to you. It is the official you are the Taiping Army who is the one you are. If we cannot defeat Qing Yao, then you officials will not be able to do it. Not only will they not be able to do it, but they will also be beheaded!"
"The security teams of each county must be firmly grasped in the hands of the county government. No clan forces are allowed to interfere in the security team. If one is found, they must kill the other one, and they must not tolerate it!"
"I haven't eaten pork, I've always seen pigs run away? You county magistrates don't need to go to Feiduo to do something. The governor will send people from Xiangshan to help you. All you have to do is to urge and then supervise!"
Zhou Shixiang emphasized this to the county chief officials at the meeting of the Military Commander's Office on the third day of the October 20th. Zhou Shixiang didn't care whether those demoted officials really listened to his words and were really willing to do the Taiping Army like this. Zhou Shixiang didn't care at all. He didn't care, but someone else was in charge. The governor of Song Xianggong was not a good meal.
When the Qing army marched into Xiangshan a few days ago, although the security teams in each township did not directly fight the Qing army, they played a huge role in relocating the people. When Duke Xiang of Song opened a public treasury to reward the entire army, they not only rewarded the Taiping Army who fought directly, but also rewarded the security teams and reserve troops who had transferred their merits in the rear.
The security team of Longyan Township cooperated with the reserve troops of the former Shanzhai to effectively block the invading green camp by the Tanjiang River. The reserve troops commander who was directly commanded in this battle, Qianhu Yu Shizhong, was valued by Zhou Shixiang and transferred him to the second town to serve as a voyage school. He Bao, the township head of the security team of Longyan Township, was also transferred to Lianzhou to serve as the governor.
The rewards and punishments are clearly distinguished, and treating them equally is Zhou Shi’s most basic requirement for his subordinates. As long as he makes contributions, no matter whether you are a warrior or an auxiliary soldier, an officer or a leader, a Han or a Manchu, you will be rewarded with great rewards.
Whether it is the Taiping Army or the security team, Zhou Shixiang must firmly hold it in his own hands and power comes out of power. What he is doing in Guangzhou now is to break the original feudal order. He uses the two conditions of war, large-scale population loss and land abandonment to implement military reform, land reform, and political reform, and establish an interest group that is firmly tied to the interests of the Taiping Army from bottom to top.
The core of this interest group is the common people who account for 95% of the total population. In other words, gaining the support of these people means winning the support of the people.
According to statistics from counties, the current population is 580,000, and land is the best tool for the support of these 580,000 people!
This year, the autumn grain harvests of various counties are both good and bad, and the one with the best harvest is Xiangshan. Even though several townships in the northern part of Xiangshan were destroyed by the Qing army, the autumn grain output of the southern part of the township still reached a historical harvest high, with more harvests than in previous years. This is thanks to the Taiping Army's work on whole villages and land mergers in Xiangshan and the large-scale military camps in the former mountain villages. Facts have proved that collective farming is more efficient and rewarding than retail farming.
The towns also cleared a large amount of grain in the fight against bandits within their jurisdiction. These grains were transported into Guangzhou in truckloads, quickly stabilizing the market grain prices and calming down the people in Guangzhou. For the newly controlled counties, if there was a shortage of grain in the county, Zhou Shixiang asked the sent officials to organize the people to save themselves, and at the same time transferred military rations to provide assistance. He also spent a lot of money to buy a batch of grain from Tang Sanshui in Shaozhou.
The suppression and crackdown on landlords and gentry in various counties also cleared a large amount of food hidden by them. Half of this food was sent to the local people who supported the Taiping Army, and half of it was sent to the garrison for military rations.
The Taiping Army's vigorous and decisive campaign to suppress bandits and clear grain, effectively built villages and settled villages, and made the maximum use of manpower and material resources, resulting in an uncertain grain shortage in Guangdong Province, but Guangzhou not only has no grain shortage but a surplus.
With food, officials have confidence in doing things, and soldiers don’t have to worry about fighting to death on the front line, but their families are hungry. With food, it also means that the Taiping Army can have further combat capabilities. In this era, war is actually food.
In the city of Guangzhou, the Han army's family, except for some people from the Jingnan Prince's Mansion, were left in the city, and the rest were all allocated to various counties to resettle. The arrangements of the other tens of thousands of people in the city were also led by Wang Zhangjun, Zuo Qing and other demoted officials. They were originally all parents and knew what to do. Zhou Shixiang as long as they did not starve to death, restore the market, so that the people could have a stable source of income, and there was a market to buy and sell.
Large merchants associated with the Qing army in Guangzhou were also targeted by the Taiping Army. Zhou Shixiang even asked Duke Xiang of Song to set the official grain price. The market grain price was not allowed to exceed 20% of the official grain price.
At the same time, in addition to handing over 40% of the grain harvested by the people of each township and village to the public treasury set up by the Taiping Army in various places, the remaining surplus must be sold to the Taiping Army first. The purchase price of grain Zhou Shixiang gave to the people was 80% of the market price.
All strategic materials such as salt and iron are also subject to government pricing and supervision. In short, Zhou Shixiang implemented a planned economic system similar to later generations in Guangzhou. Everything revolved around the development and growth of the Taiping Army. Do whatever is beneficial to the Taiping Army. Then, the benefits obtained through the Taiping Army's growth were lost to the people who supported them. Even Zhou Shixiang was considering whether to give some military rewards to those farmers who worked hard to farm and fight well, and craftsmen who were able to work hard to serve the Taiping Army, so as to feed more grain in multiple fields, and to weave more money and more cloth.
As long as it is beneficial, no matter whether this system is poisonous or not, Zhou Shixiang is willing to do it and try it. In his previous life, he was just an ordinary soldier with limited knowledge and it was impossible for him to be able to do everything in one step, so he was also touching stones to cross the river. No one was born to be a genius, and if he did something bad, he would improve it. But the premise is that the Taiping Army must be strong enough to not be defeated.
In view of the years of war in Guangdong and the death of both parents, Zhou Shixiang ordered all counties to send all these orphans to Guangzhou and be raised by the Taiping Army. There were more than a thousand orphans reported to each county. The oldest was 13 years old, and the youngest was only a few months old.
Other orphans in the Ming Dynasty were usually in temples, and occasionally wealthy families donated their houses to the orphans for their lives, whether in temples or other places. Local governments will specially hire teachers to teach these orphans to read and read. If anyone among the orphans can pass the exam for scholars, it is a sign of the local officials' meritorious education. If they can pass the imperial examination for the imperial examination or even the Jinshi or younger brother, then the reputation of this local official will be famous all over the world. Not only will the career of the officialdom be smooth, but they will also leave a rich mark in history. At the worst, they will leave a strong mark on the local chronicles.
Therefore, according to the convention, Duke Xiang of Song also planned to invite people to teach these orphans. This is of course a good thing. It was also Zhou Shixiang's original intention to ask counties to send orphans to Guangzhou. However, he did not set up a nursery or charity hall, but asked Guangzhou Prefecture to select a place in the city to establish a Taiping Junior Soldier Camp.
The young army camp made Duke Xiang of Song think that Zhou Shixiang wanted to train these orphans into his personal soldiers, similar to Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo and others in the Daxi Army of Zhang Xianzhong, so they had no objection. These days, the generals of the Ming Dynasty did not raise a group of trusted family soldiers who dared to fight, but no matter how kind he raised, he was not as good as teaching and training since childhood.
In fact, Zhou Shixiang’s purpose of establishing the Young Soldier Camp was to imitate Zhang Xianzhong and his children’s camp. However, the difference was that the Young Soldier Camp did not simply cultivate these orphans to grow up and think they would become members of the Taiping Army, but to train them to become various people.
Zhou Shixiang asked the young soldiers to not only teach the skills of killing the battlefield, but also teach them to read and read. After they are over 16, they should consider whether they are transferred to the Taiping Army or to the military preparation institute, or arranged to work in rural offices and county governments at all levels.
The Young Soldier Camp is a talent training base officially established by Zhou Shixiang for the Taiping Army. Not only are orphans who enter the camp, but the children of Taiping Army soldiers must also enter, and the descendants of the dead martyrs must also enter the Young Soldier Camp to study.
As for what to do, Zhou Shixiang asked Duke Xiang of Song to discuss it, and then he would take a look at it after he came out.
The envoy sent to Kunming to the prehistoric army had already gone to Qinzhou with Chen Qice and Zhu Tong's people. Now Guangxi is blocked by land, so the contact with Kunming can only be carried by sea. Time, the Qinzhou Governor's Office should have received the news of Guangzhou's recovery, fearing that the envoy of the Governor Lianchengbi was on the way to come. Chen Qice and others told Zhou Shixiang that the head of the Ministry of War sent by the imperial court, Cheng Bangjun, went to Gaozhou. Gaozhou was the residence of Zhang Xiaoqi, the governor of the four prefectures. Zhou Shi did not catch a cold compared to this person, and even felt disgusted because he sent someone to force the Luodingzhou City that day.
After a day of busy affairs, Zhou Shixiang felt very tired. He casually called Xu Yingyuan, but Li Rutai's master Gui Yongzhi came. He said that Xu Yingyuan had gone to Taishan.
Zhou Shixiang slapped his forehead and then remembered that he asked Xu Yingyuan to go to Taishan to invite the King of Tang to Guangzhou.
I don’t know if the King of Tang is willing to come to Guangzhou. If Yongli knew that I would bring the King of Tang to Guangzhou, I don’t know what to think.
Gui Yongzhi looked at the young new owner in front of him, and thought of what he ordered in Guangzhou, and felt quite nervous and stood there and dared not speak.
Zhou Shixiang let go of the matter of King Tang and asked him casually: "Is Li Lutai dead?"
"Governor General" Gui Yongzhi habitually used his old name. When he found something wrong, he hurriedly changed his words: "Li Lutai is not dead."
"Let him stay if you are not dead."
Zhou Shixiang waved his hand and signaled Gui Yongzhi to go down. He originally wanted to send Li Lutai to Kunming, but this guy tried to die after hearing about his wife, but he couldn't succeed in committing suicide. He was so anxious that he couldn't get sick and couldn't walk at all. Now he was fed medicine to him every day, and he lay on the bed motionless like a living dead man.
Gui Yongzhi did not retreat, but reported: "Master, Xiang Rong said Geng Jimao wanted to see the Master."
"I don't see you, ask Xiang Rong to tell Geng Jimao, be careful and stay in the Jingnan Prince's Mansion, don't think about it all day long, I won't kill him." Zhou Shixiang calculated that this was probably the fifth time Geng Jimao wanted to see him through Xiang Rong's message.
"Yes, Grandmaster, I'll go to Xiang Rong now." Gui Yongzhi hesitated and said something again. He said, "Xiang Rong led Geng Jingzhong to meet that person."
"Who? Shi Yuanling?" Zhou Shixiang was stunned and did not react to what Gui Yongzhi was talking about. He understood after a few seconds.
Gui Yongzhi nodded, but saw Zhou Shixiang walking out of the hall and asked, "Where are the Grand Marshal?"
Chapter completed!