The city of Nanjing in the Ming Dynasty was very large, and the outer city wall framed the entire Purple Mountain. Guanyin Gate, Qilin Gate, Shangfang Gate... these were all gates of the outer city, and only one place name was left in later generations.
If we look at the outer city walls, there are large areas of farmland and mountainous areas in Nanjing.
So, should the cultivated land in the city be retained, or should the cultivated land be distributed to nearby farmers? Or, in other words, are these people included in the outer city considered urban residents or farmers?
During the flood fighting and disaster relief in various places, the magistrates of Shangyuan County and Jiangning County in Nanjing came to find Zhao Han with many doubts.
Zhao Han convened the officials of the Dudu Mansion for repeated discussions and decided to calculate the land according to farmers first. The land that should be divided was still divided. In fact, the land had already been divided.
When the urban population continues to expand, the land will inevitably be gradually occupied. At that time, the population on the land will be moved to the north to divide the fields, and those who are willing to stay will be directly converted into citizens.
"There are still some homeless people in the city who lack a stable livelihood," Zhao Han ordered. "Post a notice to recruit a thousand people to work. Those who are willing to come, pay the wages, and first clean up the ruins of the Imperial City of Nanjing. When the flood recedes,
Then recruit craftsmen and handymen to slowly restore the Imperial City of Nanjing."
The two county magistrates took their orders and left.
Pang Chunlai asked: "The governor plans to make Nanjing the capital?"
"That's true. Let Beijing slow down first." Zhao Han sighed.
Beijing has a population of over one million.
In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the surrounding vegetation had been cut down. During the Hongzhi and Zhengde dynasties, residents had to rely on Xishan coal for daily firewood. The emperor could only turn a blind eye while digging his ancestral tombs (dragon veins of imperial mausoleums) all day long.
One eye.
The ecological environment there is extremely fragile, with sandstorms blowing several times every year.
Not to mention water transportation, it is a waste of manpower and material resources.
Don't talk about transporting grain by sea. Zhu Yuanzhang also used sea ships to transport troops and grain at first, and Zhu Di also used sea ships to transport horses from Korea. They encountered several shipwrecks and the entire fleet capsized. Such things were never mentioned again.
Zhao Han himself may be able to insist on shipping by sea, but who knows what future generations will do? After being fooled by ministers with relevant interests, he may have to use the Grand Canal again.
Zhu Di established his capital in Beijing to deal with Mongolia.
As guns and artillery continue to develop, and railways may be built in the future, the Mongolian grasslands no longer pose much of a threat. So why go to Beijing to suffer from sandstorms?
Leave two hundred years to restore the ecology around Beijing and make the people there live a better life.
There is another most important reason. After the war and famine, Beijing may not have much population left. If Zhao Han decides to make Beijing the capital, he will have to do the same as Zhu Di and forcibly relocate rich households and ordinary people to enrich the city.
What a mess!
"It's okay to make Nanjing the capital," Li Banghua said after thinking carefully, "but we have to go to the grasslands and take root firmly in Hetao."
In addition to the Hetao, there is also the Songliao Basin. Both areas can be farmed. In the Ming Dynasty, they were already half-cultivated and half-pastoral. As long as you control these two areas, the grasslands and the Northeast are not a problem. However, before the advent of the railway, grain production was
The cost of transporting it in is relatively high, and it will take at least thirty years of hard work to achieve stability.
Zhao Han repeatedly looked at the map: "The floods are preventing us from crossing the river. We will send troops to Jianghuai at least in June. By then, Zhang Xianzhong may have captured Yunyang. Our army will go north to Jianghuai, and Li Zicheng will go north to Shanxi. Zhang Xianzhong has no other choice.
, I guess I want to go west to Sichuan. It is said that there are uprisings all over Sichuan, so Zhang Xianzhong will probably be able to invade easily."
"The Eight Thieves are not bad. They have been promoting good governance in Hubei over the past year. It is not a bad thing for him to take over Sichuan." Li Banghua said.
If Zhang Xianzhong stopped trying to get involved in Tongcheng, the chief military advisor would not be Wang Zhaoling, and no one would deceive Zhang Xianzhong into killing people indiscriminately in Sichuan.
Today, Zhang Xianzhong calls himself "General Dingguo", and his military advisors are ranked as follows: Liao Zhifang, Xu Yixian, and Pan Duao.
Especially Liao Zhifang and Xu Yixian, one carries "Datong Collection" with him and the other always calls himself Zhuge Liang. They are both admonishing Zhang Xianzhong to implement good governance.
So Zhang Xianzhong began to do what Zhu Yuanzhang did, throwing a large number of soldiers without combat effectiveness into "military villages". He also recruited refugees everywhere and established "minor villages" in various places. At the same time, he began to train soldiers and restrain the military discipline of the troops, although military discipline was still very poor.
It sucks, but it's much better than the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty.
These policies can be considered good governance in the chaotic north.
Although the people in the military and civilian villages had a status similar to that of serfs, they still regarded Zhang Xianzhong as a living Bodhisattva.
Really, killing a few fewer people so that the people can farm their land safely can be called good governance in the north!
In comparison, Li Zicheng was much worse.
This is not Li Zicheng’s personal fault, but Henan has suffered from drought for many years, and even if he cultivated fields, he could not grow much food. Li Zicheng also went to Shanxi, where the drought was even worse. He could not be self-sufficient, so he could only grab food along the way.
money, and then lead troops directly to Beijing!
In early June, the floods in the south receded, affecting millions of people.
Zhao Han suspended the Northern Expedition plan and decided to wait until after the autumn harvest. He sent food to various places for disaster relief and urged local officials to carry out post-disaster reconstruction.
Not without fighting at all, Fei Ruhe led the Dongyuan Army across the Yangtze River from Zhenjiang to Yangzhou.
The prefect of Yangzhou is called Han Wenjing, a native of Shaanxi.
Due to the fall of the south, Chongzhen appointed a large number of northern Jinshi, and southwestern Jinshi also emerged one after another.
Seeing Zhao Han's navy approaching, Han Wenjing was shocked and quickly ordered to defend the city. He also ordered his colleagues, judges, and county magistrates to prepare things to defend the city.
"Open the door quickly!"
Fei Ruhe stood on the bow of the boat and sent a loud voice to call the city.
"kill!"
There were cries of killing in the city, and the defenders were already fighting on their own.
The three major merchant gangs in Yangzhou, Ganzhou merchants and Hui merchants, all secretly colluded with the traitors, and only the Western merchants stood firmly on the side of the Ming Dynasty.
Han Wenjing knew this situation.
Therefore, he forced merchants from Ganxi and Huizhou to provide money, and even carried out extortion. After obtaining the money, he recruited soldiers for training. The officers he appointed were all big landowners and hereditary generals. It was impossible for these people to join Zhao Han.
It seemed foolproof, but he didn't know the power of publicity.
How could those generals seriously train the army?
The trained soldiers spend most of their time idle. They even do not receive full military pay, so they have to find jobs by themselves and earn living expenses by working part-time jobs.
The scholars of Datong took the opportunity to approach these soldiers and said that as long as King Zhao Tian came, they could return to the countryside to divide the fields and cultivate the land, and there would be no corvee or excessive taxes. After saying this, he told them the story in "The Great Journey".
After half a year, the Yangzhou garrison was looking forward to it day and night, hoping that King Zhao Tian would come to divide the fields soon.
Han Wenjing looked at everything in front of him blankly. He saw a large number of low-level officers and their soldiers surrounding and killing senior generals. Moreover, more and more low-level officers took action and gradually came towards him.
The low-level military attachés of the Ming Dynasty were also targeted for exploitation!
"How dare you collude with bandits!"
Han Wenjing was shocked and angry. He drew his sword and shouted: "Soldiers, follow me to kill the thieves and serve the country!"
No one paid attention.
The civil servants on the city tower immediately fled when they saw this situation.
Wang Changyin, the magistrate of Jiangdu, was blocked by a group of officers and soldiers while escaping down the city wall. The guy suddenly had an idea and suddenly raised his arms and shouted: "The world is unified, long live King Zhao Tian!"
"The world is unified, long live King Zhao Tian!"
The officers and soldiers who intercepted him immediately followed him and shouted, then surrounded Wang Changyin and went to seize the gate and present the city.
Wang Changyin had trouble saying that he was from Shandong and really didn't want to be a thief. But when things came to a head, survival was still important. As he led his troops to the city gate, he kept shouting: "The world is unified, long live King Zhao Tian!"
He Cai, the general magistrate of Yangzhou Prefecture, had already fled to the streets. Seeing this, he immediately said to the officials around him: "Wang Zhixian has become a thief...ah, he has taken refuge with King Zhao Tian, let's go and do the same. Otherwise,
I'm afraid I'll die in this chaos."
"Let's go together!"
"Your Excellency, please wait a moment, we are here too!"
"The world is unified, long live King Zhao Tian!"
A bunch of Yangzhou officials rushed to the city gate, and Wang Changyin became the leader of the surrender.
"Soldiers, kill the thieves and serve the country!"
The prefect Han Wenjing was still resisting. He wielded his iron sword and killed several people one after another.
A spear came and pierced Han Wenjing's abdomen.
Another spear pierced Han Wenjing's chest.
"Kill...kill the thief..."
Han Wenjing's arm dropped, his iron sword clanked to the ground, and he smiled miserably toward the north.
On the same day, his brother Han Wenquan came to the city and took refuge with Li Zicheng.
Wang Changyin did not have so much psychological burden. Historically, this guy also surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. In the end, he was involved in the political struggle of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties and was executed. He shouted the slogan of Datong, led the troops and defenders straight to the city gate, and approached the city gate again.
He shrank back, not wanting to get blood on himself.
Er, the city gate is wide open.
Fei Ruhe led Datong soldiers into the city. Wang Changyin knelt down and said, "Wang Changyin, the guilty minister of the Ming Dynasty, led the entire city's soldiers and civilians to kneel down to greet the general!"
Another group of scholars came over. Because Han Wenjing ordered the arrest, these Datong scholars did not dare to carry their swords.
"General, please come to the city to appease us. We have already contacted everyone." The leader of the scholars stepped forward and offered his hand.
Fei Ruhe cupped his hands and returned the greeting: "Thank you, everyone."
As for Wang Changyin who was kneeling on the ground, Fei Ruhe didn't even bother to take a look.
Xu Ying has already made contact. As soon as the army arrives, Yangzhou will definitely be captured. Wang Changyin's kneeling and useless look is not like the internal response Xu Ying developed? He must have run out halfway to claim credit!
After experiencing a military disaster, there was no major chaos in Yangzhou city.
Ganzhou merchants and Huizhou merchants took the initiative to maintain order. Their common enemy was the Western merchants (Shanxi, Shanxi). As long as Zhao Han captured Yangzhou, they could drive the Western merchants out of Yangzhou even without relying on political power!
If Zhao Han were to visit Yangzhou City in person at this moment, he would definitely be filled with emotion.
Such a prosperous and beautiful city, 800,000 people were killed in history. The massacre lasted for ten days, and the entire city of Yangzhou was almost completely wiped out.
In this time and space, there will definitely not be another "Ten Days in Yangzhou".
The news of the easy capture of Yangzhou did not cause any disturbance in Zhao Han's heart. After all, he had been planning for several years and now it was just a matter of time.
Another military news came from the north, which made Zhao Han sigh.
Wu Sangui surrendered, and the Qing Dynasty occupied Songshan Fort, completely turning Jinzhou into an isolated city.
The outer city of Jinzhou has been lost and the satellite city has surrendered, but Zu Dashou still holds on to the inner city of Jinzhou.
Zu Dashou was a little scared. He had once faked a surrender. He killed the general who advocated holding on, took his son to surrender, and kept his son as a hostage, claiming that he was going to fake the city. Then he left and never returned. He didn't even want his son.
Huang Taiji was thoroughly rinsed.
How can a person who pretended to surrender once dare to surrender easily again?