The charcoal is burning brightly, the charcoal basin is red, and there is heavy snow outside, but inside the house is as warm as spring, the hot pot soup is surging, the meat slices are floating up and down, and the fragrance is overflowing.
"It's really amazing." Zhu Zhanji's mouth was full of oil after eating. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked, "Uncle Qing, I heard that you went to see the people clearing wasteland some time ago. Are they okay?"
Li Qing took a sip of warm wine and sighed: "We still need to open up wasteland on a snowy day, what do you think?"
Zhu Zhanji smacked his lips, put back the extended chopsticks, and frowned, "I remember that the emperor issued an order not to force people to open up wasteland. Who is so bold, regardless of the lives of the people for the sake of political achievements?"
"No one forced them to open up wasteland on their own initiative." Li Qing shook his head and smiled bitterly, "The people are afraid of suffering. In order to prevent their children and grandchildren from suffering, they can only suffer more themselves."
"That's it!" Zhu Zhanji's appetite dropped a lot, "After this year, if we plant food in the spring after the new year, they will be better off in the second half of the year."
Li Qing nodded with a smile, picked up the pot and poured a glass of wine. Zhu Zhanji was about to take it, but the next moment it went into Li Qing's mouth.
"Tsk~Good wine." Li Qing put down the wine glass, "It's not far away anyway. You can go and see it when you have time. You can't just listen to what others say about the real life of the people after the migration. In the temple, the group of people always announce good news.
Reporting worries, you still have to see for yourself how the people are doing."
Zhu Zhanji nodded, "I'll go there when I have time."
After a pause, he said flatteringly: "Uncle Qing, after the New Year, Grandpa Huang is preparing to conquer the Tatars in the Northern Expedition and destroy Arutai. He will definitely take you with him then. Can you... tell him to take me with you?"
"
"Won't you tell him yourself?" Li Qing picked up vegetables and continued eating and drinking.
Zhu Zhanji said angrily, "I told you, but he didn't want to take me."
"Why?"
"It's not like the last time..." Zhu Zhanji said sarcastically, "Last time I fought against Wala, I went deep alone and provoked him."
"Then you deserve it!" Li Qing gloated.
Zhu Zhanji looked unhappy and continued to please: "Uncle Qing, look at you, we are all our own people, so just help me. I was ignorant at first and didn't know the pros and cons of the battlefield. This time I promise to fight steadily."
Barabara...
Li Qing had a headache from the noise, "Okay, but... you're too embarrassed to ask Qing Bobai to help, right?"
"..." Zhu Zhanji's face was covered with black lines, and he took out two ingots of gold ingots from his arms. It wasn't much, but there were twenty taels.
Li Qing accepted it with a smile, and got twenty taels of gold in one sentence. It was so easy to earn this money.
"Let's make an agreement first. If your grandfather doesn't agree, I won't refund the money." Li Qing added.
"You..." Zhu Zhanji was angry, "Give me the gold."
"Can you spit out the food you eat?" Li Qing rolled his eyes, "Then give me back the meat you ate."
"I just ate more. Is your pot made of gold, or is your meat made of gold?" Zhu Zhanji broke his guard and knew that the gold was probably wasted. After all, Qing Bo's character is obvious to all.
Li Qing sneered, "Who told you to eat?"
"Obviously you owed me something before." Zhu Zhanji yelled.
"Then do you still want to eat?"
Zhu Zhanji: "..."
~
"Your Majesty, I have something to say about the Northern Expedition."
In the imperial study room, Li Qing got straight to the point.
"Are you speaking for Zhanji?" Zhu Di asked.
Li Qing shook his head.
"That means...you don't want to go?"
"Can I not go?" Li Qing's eyes lit up.
Zhu Di had a straight face and hummed: "It's a good idea, you get your salary for free?"
"...Okay!" Li Qing sighed and said seriously: "I want to say that the time for the Northern Expedition is best after spring, preferably in late March."
"Why?"
"Save money." Li Qing said with a smile, "After spring is when the water and grass are abundant, sending out an army can save a lot of expenses. With the national policy of south-to-north migration continuing, it will also be a big expense, so you have to count your days.
Didn’t you pass?”
Zhu Di thought for a while and nodded in agreement.
"This time we must give the Tatars a head-on blow. Damn it, it has only been more than ten years, and they dare to take advantage of the Ming Dynasty again. We need to make them remember."
Li Qing curled his lips and said, "Actually, there is no need to dispatch so many troops."
"You know nothing, you are short-sighted, my troops are not just fighting." Zhu Di cursed.
However, despite the scolding, Zhu Di was not a brainless person. He calculated carefully and said: "I will bring two hundred thousand this time!"
Even though the Ming army's supply lines have been improved, they can only provide two logistics troops to support one combat soldier and an army of 200,000 people. There are only 60,000 people capable of fighting, which is really not that many.
If you want an army of 200,000 to fight at the same time, you have to use the trick of fishing in the sea and march with all the troops carrying supplies, but that is too slow and does not conform to Zhu Di's combat theory.
Zhu Di said, "If we want to send troops after spring, there is no rush. Let the soldiers have a good New Year first, and then we can start deploying troops after the New Year."
After a pause, he looked suspicious, "Isn't your kid here to celebrate the New Year at home?"
"Where?" Li Qing looked upright, "I am doing it for the Ming Dynasty, for the country, for the country, for..."
"Okay, okay, you can shut up." Zhu Di waved his hand angrily, "Do you think it is better to send troops with Zhanji or not?"
"There are advantages to bringing it, and there are advantages to not bringing it." Li Qing spread his hands, "Everything depends on the emperor."
"Farts don't even taste good, so what's the use of you?" Zhu Di scolded.
Li Qing was too lazy to follow this bad old man and asked, "Your Majesty, how about I take charge of the logistics and supplies?"
Zhu Di shouted: "We must go to the front line."
"I'm over sixty."
"I'm over sixty." Zhu Di snorted coldly, "I'm just annoying you for being lazy and bargaining, believe it or not, I'll deduct all your salary?"
"..." Li Qing was helpless, "Who is responsible for the logistics supplies?"
"Zhang Fu!" Zhu Di said.
Li Qing rubbed his nose and couldn't find any other excuse.
It was rare for Zhu Di to see this guy frustrated, so he couldn't help laughing, "Let Zhan Ji go, you are responsible for escorting him this time."
…
After chatting about the Northern Expedition for a while, Li Qing turned the topic to the migration of the people.
"People from the south cannot just move to Hebei when they move north. In comparison, the Liaodong area is more suitable for reclamation." Li Qing said, "There is vast and fertile black soil there. Both Yongle rice and Yongle beans can be grown.
And the yield per mu is definitely better than that of Jiangnan;
If the entire area is developed, the food output in the north will never be less than in the south."
Li Qingxin said, "If Suhu is cooked, it will be enough in the world. From now on, if it is cooked in Liaodong, it will be enough in the world!"
Zhu Di listened leisurely and fascinated, but he was still a little hesitant, "But... moving to Liaodong is not accessible by water, and it is too remote and difficult to handle!"
"There are troops stationed in Liaodong. You can let them build it first." Li Qing suggested, "For example, build some small villages first. They don't need to be too big. A village can only have dozens of households."
"Then what?"
"Then we'll advertise it!" Li Qing said with a smile, "The first wave of people coming to Liaodong will be allocated houses, but... they must be young people between the ages of sixteen and thirty;
As long as some people settle down and form a village, the rest will be easy to handle;
In just one year, when they have food, they will take the initiative to vigorously build and mobilize their relatives and friends to come over. Gradually, the desolate Liaodong will no longer be desolate."
Zhu Di frowned and said, "How much food will it cost to throw it in?"
Li Qing teased: "You are not afraid of spending money to fight a war, but you are afraid of spending money to build the Ming Dynasty?"
After a pause, "Besides, with the planting of Yongle rice and Yongle beans, there will be no shortage of food in the Ming Dynasty in the future. Moreover, with the reclamation of a large amount of wasteland, all the money spent can be recovered in a few years. In the future,
But it’s a net profit.”
Li Qing painted the cake and said: "Think about it, what will happen when the Ming Dynasty's population and taxes skyrocket? Doesn't the emperor want to leave a prosperous country to his children and grandchildren?
Once it is completed, thousands of years later, when your successors mention you, Your Majesty, who wouldn’t give you a thumbs up?”
Zhu Di was moved.
…
It’s Chinese New Year, and it’s snowing heavily on New Year’s Eve.
It snowed heavily and endlessly, from morning to late evening.
The yard is covered with a thick layer of snow, and the branches are like ice sculptures, their roots glistening and covered in silver.
The servants swept aside the snow in the yard and piled it into a big pile.
The three girls wore thick double-breasted cotton-padded jackets. Even though they were getting older, they still retained their girlish hearts. They relied on the energy given to them by their husband to keep out the cold. They didn't feel cold at all, and they happily built snowmen.
Their hands are very skillful and the snowman is lifelike.
The snowman has a tall figure, long hair, sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, and is as handsome as jade. He is so romantic...