Chapter 706: Why bother turning millet into the sky?
Three days later, Alinbao and more than 20 strong men galloped on the post road leading to Qitai with two horses. After leaving Gongning City, they slept in the open air and only changed horses without stopping when crossing the post station. It only took two days
Just passed Fukang County.
"Xu~~~"
As Alinbao reined in the horses, others also slowed down in unison, and more than forty well-trained horses stopped neighing wildly. A strong man with a beard like a black tower said in a deep voice: "What's wrong?
?”
Alingbao explained: "Mr. Ba, we will reach the North Pirates checkpoint in thirty miles. We have to go south from the fork in the road and walk close to Bogda Mountain. You and I will take a few brothers to Shichengzi."
Meet us."
After the Northern Navy captured Kai'an City west of Qitai, Liu Sheng ordered the troops to continue advancing westward, and finally temporarily set the dividing line at Ziniquan Station, 90 miles away from Fukang County. Because it was already October
In the winter, the defenders of Fukang County did not realize that something was wrong until early November when they sent supplies to the post station.
The strong man nodded after hearing this, looked up and saw that it was still early, and said, "Let's go! Find a place to rest after entering the mountain!"
Everyone around them said "嗻" in unison, and then let go of the reins. Hundreds of horses' hooves clacked and disappeared in the smoke and snow in the blink of an eye.
It is said that after careful consideration, Shang'an, the commander-in-chief of Urumqi, finally decided to take a gamble. If there are jujubes but no jujubes, try it first. If it succeeds, wouldn't it be a great achievement? When the Beihai Navy comes over, I will give up.
He escaped from the city, and even with General Yili Mingliang and the imperial court, they were able to escape death.
In his early years, this person joined the Ministry of War as a soldier and worked as a post officer. Later, he participated in the Battle of Jinchuan and Jinchuan and put down the rebellion in Shaanxi and Gansu. He also served as the chief envoy of Shaanxi and the governor of Guangdong. He was considered to be a member of Agui's party. But unfortunately,
Nine years ago, he was involved in the case of "salt merchants from eastern Guangdong donating public funds", so he was sent to Turpan by Emperor Qianlong as the leading minister. After several years, he was promoted to the governor of Urumqi.
Because of the relationship between General Yili Mingliang and his backer Agui, Shang An was well aware of the terrifying strength of the Northern Navy. Even Mingliang's strong troops in Ninggu Pagoda were beaten to the point of vomiting three liters of blood, and the thousands of troops in Gongning City and Dihua City were even worse.
Don't mention it, the general mobilization of the whole city is useless, it must be something evil and crooked.
So Shang'an selected more than 20 elites from the Eight Banners garrisoned in Gongning City. They were all veterans who had experienced hundreds of battles and had strong individual combat capabilities. As mentioned before, the Qing army had paid more attention to it since the "Battle of Jinchuan".
Battle formation training has shifted to emphasize personal bravery, thus placing higher demands on individual soldiers' combat capabilities.
The person in charge of leading the team was a Manchurian Zhengbai Banner Co-Leader named Bacina. In addition, there were two leaders, forward commanders, and twenty forward soldiers - the Bajala front sentinels originating from the post-Jin Dynasty.
The Eight Banners stationed in Urumqi are all Zhuanglang Man soldiers from Liangzhou, Gansu Province. To be honest, Liangzhou Mancheng is located in a military hub, and coupled with its remoteness, it is less affected by the corrupt customs of the banner people in the interior.
In all the wars of the Qianlong Dynasty, they were the main force among the main forces, and their combat effectiveness was very high, second only to Sauron's soldiers.
In addition to the short knives, tiger stabbing spears and 132-pound heavy bows each of Bachina and his team carried this time, they also had ten high-quality Mongolian flower guns. The length of these guns was three feet and seven inches.
It weighs eight kilograms, has a charge of two cents, and an iron weight of 4.7 cents. Although the two men can carry it with a longer range and greater lethality, its length is more than two meters, making it inconvenient to carry.
In winter, the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains is covered with snow. The mountains are undulating, snow-capped mountains, forests, and rivers and canyons are intertwined. It is inaccessible and extremely difficult to travel. Although led by Alinbao, who is familiar with the terrain, and the soldiers of the forward battalion are also used to walking on mountain roads, two hundred
The multi-mile journey still slipped away for five days, and it was not until noon on the sixth day that we arrived at the frozen Biliu River. As long as we crossed this river and entered the valley to the east, we could reach Shicheng by walking another forty miles.
Son.
At the same time, on the northern slope of Tianshan Mountain forty miles away, Zhao Xin, Fan Tong, and Jiang Fan rode horses and slowly walked up a high hill. Looking around, they could see the vast and vast mountains and rivers.
Looking around, in the distance is a mirror-frozen river, and at your feet is a deep ravine covered with white snow.
Zhao Xin jumped off the horse, threw the reins to the accompanying guards, and strolled into the ruins with only broken walls. Fan Tong and Jiang Fan didn't know what they meant, so they had to dismount and follow, and saw Zhao Xin lowering his head.
After pulling on the snow in the ruins for a while, Fan Tong leaned over and picked up something. Fan Tong stepped forward and looked at it, and found that it was a broken clay tile; in the middle were two double cross lines, dividing the round surface into four equal parts.
Inside each piece is a pattern with inward curling edges, and the texture is clearly discernible.
"Wardang?"
"Yes. A moire tile from the Han Dynasty." Zhao Xin said and handed it to Fan Tong.
Jiang Fan on the side looked at it for a moment, weighed it in his hand, and agreed: "It is indeed a Han tile. Take this thing back and find someone to carve an inkstone, which is also a wonderful thing for the study."
Fan Tong knew nothing about literary works and said in surprise: "This thing can also be used as an inkstone? I have only heard of using Qin bricks to make inkstones."
Jiang Fan explained: "The tiles of the Qin and Han dynasties are made of fine materials, and the materials used are exquisite, almost pure mud. When used to make inkstones, they are strong and lustrous, and they can store water for several days without drying up. They are rare and top-quality inkstones. In the early years,
In the home of an official in the capital, I once saw an inkstone carved from Changle Weiyang tiles, which was truly exquisite."
Fan Tong suddenly understood and said with a smile: "I have to learn more from Mr. Ziping in the future. I really don't know anything about this."
Jiang Fan subconsciously stretched out his hand to stroke his beard, and only after stroking it for a while did he remember that he had shaved off his beard after joining the army. Alas! This is the bad thing about the Bei Navy, even officers are not allowed to grow beards.
"Xiao Fan," Zhao Xin raised his hand and swept it with his riding crop and said, "Do you know where this place is?"
"Where?" Fan Tongyi looked confused and looked around, thinking, "How the hell do I know about the barren mountains and wild mountains?"
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Zhao Xin has been busy dealing with the farming affairs left over from the Qing Dynasty these days. He is not reviewing files, or asking the personnel of the logistics department to go to investigate the farmland situation, and he will have a meeting to discuss when he comes back in the evening.
.Finally everything was settled and ready to leave, but early this morning I didn't know what evil possessed me, so I had to drag myself and Jiang Fan to the hills sixty miles away, saying they wanted to relax together.
Originally, he called Liu Sheng, but Liu Sheng didn't come because he had something to do.
Since the Northern Navy captured the ancient city, Zhenxifu and Hami, all the military, prison and household camps in the three places will naturally be taken over. The area of more than 60,000 acres of cultivated land is not a small amount. How to manage these cultivated lands and labor force will matter.
The rations for the Western Front troops in the coming year, as well as the land system in the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains in the future; Furthermore, since the Northern Navy has taken over tens of thousands of acres of farmland, it will have to take care of the seeds after spring, the repair and replacement of damaged farm tools; in addition, the new land
Rental standards also need to be set.
Liu Sheng and Fan Tong had been busy with military deployment, troop training and prisoner of war management for more than two months, and had not paid attention to the field affairs at all. However, when Zhao Xin learned about the situation, he believed that the matter was of great importance and could not be delayed. They took advantage of the fact that there was still plenty of time.
, he directed the logistics people, spent a few days to sort out the matter, and formulate a plan after the spring, so that even if he left, he could still stay on track.
As the name suggests, the so-called "Bing Tuen" refers to the land cultivated by the green camp soldiers. The Manchu Qing Dynasty divided the green camp soldiers from Zhuti Town, Shaanxi and Gansu who were good at farming into a camp according to one hundred people. Each family was allocated 21 acres of land, and there was a
Camp. Then there is the "criminal settlement", which is a form of settlement composed of exiled prisoners, and it is also included in the green camp settlement.
The above two kinds of land belong to the government, with only the right to use, no property rights, and all the annual output must be turned over. Because the standards set by the Manchu Qing Dynasty in the past were too high, whether they were stationing troops or deporting prisoners, life was very poor, and
The latter is even worse.
For example, for garrison soldiers, those who pay more than fifteen dan for fine grain will be rewarded with one month of salt and vegetable silver (one tael); those who pay more than 25 shi for fine grain will be rewarded with two months of salt and vegetable silver. But if the fine grain is paid for more than 12 dan,
If the amount of fine grain is less than 12 shi, not only the garrison troops will be punished, but the commanding garrison officers and battalion officers will also be punished.
The standards for deporting prisoners are: six shi and six buckets of fine grain, plus half a kilogram of white flour per day; ten shi of fine grain, plus one kilogram of white flour per day; no reward if the fine grain exceeds four shi and six shi per ration.
Those who paid less than four dan of fine grain would be punished severely. The reason why the standard for sending convicts to farm was lower than that for soldiers was mainly because there were insufficient livestock and farm tools, and there was also an insufficient number of laborers.
Despite the high-sounding claims of the Manchu and Qing dynasties, it was salt, vegetables, silver and flour, but when Zhao Xin took several staff officers to review and tally the account books of farmland in Qitai County, he found that under normal circumstances, the difference between stationing troops and sending troops
It is already very difficult for criminals to meet the standard of paying food without reward or punishment, and it is even more difficult to meet the standard of receiving reward.
In the 32 years from the 25th year of Qianlong's reign to the 57th year of Qianlong's reign, there were only eight years when the amount of grain paid for troops and fields was more than fifteen dan, accounting for 25%; there were ten years when the amount of grain paid for more than twelve dan was not rewarded or punished.
, accounting for about 37.5%; the passing standard for paying less than twelve dan is fourteen years, accounting for 43.75%.
The data on deportation of prisoners is even worse. The history of deportation of prisoners to farmland on Xinjiang East Road is thirty years. In only five of these years, the food payment standard exceeded six stones and six, and they were rewarded with half a catty of white flour every day.
16.7%; those who paid more than four dan without reward or punishment for 21 years, accounting for 70%; those who paid less than four dan and were severely punished, accounted for four years, accounting for 13.3%; as for those who paid ten dan,
Not even in a year.
Because the grain payment standards for the military and prison camps were not met, both the commanding battalion officers and the camp officials were punished. Therefore, in order to avoid being punished, the field officers at all levels had to force their subordinates to cultivate more land, and it could not be included in the land account books.
, the hardship of farming is indescribable. Of course, if there is a famine year, even if you risk your life to cultivate more land, you will still not be able to complete it.
Speaking of hard life, because the troops in the garrison still have more than one tael of salary every month, and the price of food on Xinjiang East Road is extremely low - Shihuo only charges three yuan for one stone, so although they live in poverty, they can still have enough to eat.
. But the situation was different for those deported prisoners. Although they stationed soldiers to work together in farming, they could not get a single rich man's money. The government did not care about food rations, so they could only survive on the leftovers of the soldiers. Their lives were extremely miserable, and escapes occurred from time to time.
People from the Western Front Command once rescued a half-crazy guy. Later they learned that this guy was an exile who was sent here three years ago for selling illegal salt. First, his wife died of illness, leaving behind a five-year-old daughter.
Later, in order to complete the farming task, he couldn't take care of the child at all. He could only put it in the nearby forest while farming and let it moan. Within a few days, the child was snatched away by a wolf, and the man went crazy.
.
After completing these statistics, Zhao Xin roughly understood how miserable the situation of ordinary people exiled in Xinjiang during the Qing Dynasty was. In his intuitive impression, he originally thought that the exiled prisoners came here to serve as soldiers, guard the border or herd sheep.
After getting the survey data, Zhao Xin felt that the land ownership system should be as it is. The key is to give villagers a reasonable amount of rent so that they can farm their land with peace of mind. Furthermore, the situation of deporting prisoners needs to be re-screened.
Those who are disobedient, robbed, gangsters, abducted, stole graves, murdered, escaped from prison, and even corrupted, criminals must continue to undergo labor reform, and those who have been wronged must be treated the same as those in the military camp.
In addition to the above-mentioned problems, there is another farming group that gives Zhao Xin a headache - "hutun". This form of farming was established in the 27th year of Qianlong's reign. The sources of labor are diverse and the situation is complicated. Among them are refugees from all over Gansu.
, tenant farmers, there are "people in the craft industry" and small traders who come here to find a living, there are also the children of the Green Camp Soldiers, and there are also some powerful families in the mainland, as well as those implicated in the local crimes, enclosed
Border residents, etc.
The cultivated land in Hutun was also government-owned at the beginning, and each household was given thirty acres of official land. However, as long as they cultivated it for five years, they could be "promoted" - that is, they had to pay taxes to the government, and at the same time, the official land was converted into private land.
In addition, the agricultural tools and livestock of this group of people are not allocated by the government, but are loaned for use. They must return them when their livelihood is sufficient, and they must bear the losses themselves.
Although the amount of this part of cultivated land is not large, it should not be underestimated. Zhao Xin is still undecided on how to collect the ownership and how to collect it. The key is that Xinjiang in these days is vast and sparsely populated, and there is really a lot of uncultivated wasteland. If for
If the ownership of this piece of land is taken back before the whole of Xinjiang is taken over, it will bring a bad reputation to the Bei Navy; but if it is not taken back, leaving such a tail will be troublesome in the future.
After Zhao Xin held many meetings and discussions with Fan Tong, Jiang Fan and the logistics staff, the final plan was as follows:
1. The Western Front Command has established an Agricultural Reclamation Department, with Chief of Staff Changjiang Fan as the general manager. Relevant personnel can be transferred from the Logistics Department or recruited from the private sector. The Agricultural Reclamation Department will coordinate all farmland and water conservancy affairs along the entire Xinjiang East Road, including seeds,
The issuance and maintenance of new farm tools and livestock are also the responsibility of the Department of Reclamation. The redemption of private land is also temporarily assigned to the Department of Reclamation.
Second, starting from 1794, the fine grain payment standard for military camps was reduced to ten shi - that is, 1,200 jins, and the excess went to the village households. Those who reached this standard were given a subsidy of fifty North Sea dollars per household. In addition, the soldiers' payment
The annual salary is adjusted from the original 30 taels and 8 cents, equivalent to 154 Beihai dollars, to 200 Beihai dollars; the horse raising households are adjusted from the original 41 taels and 5 cents per year, which is equivalent to 207.5 yuan, to 260 yuan. Part of the increase
The main purpose is to improve their lives so that they no longer have to worry about the expense of salt and vegetables.
Third, the fine grain payment standard for deported prisoners is reduced to 3.5 kilograms - that is, 420 kilograms. Those who complete the task will receive a subsidy of 30 yuan per household, and the excess is the same as above. In addition, deported prisoners must also be given a certain living subsidy to improve their lives. Each year
The standard is one hundred North Sea dollars, but this part of the money must be managed by a separate account set up by the Ministry of Agriculture and Reclamation. When deporting prisoners to use it, they must fill out a form and apply for approval (otherwise, if you take the money on the front foot, it will run back to the customs.)
Fourth, regarding the issue of "hutuns", the Ministry of Agricultural Reclamation will repurchase the ownership through agreement, but no compulsory redemption is allowed. The land price will be increased by 20% based on the local farmland transaction market price. In terms of grain payment standards for Hutuns, the standards of the Manchu era will continue to be implemented.
That is eight liters of grain per mu, and 30 acres of land is 2.4 kilograms. In addition, if the full payment is made within August every year, a subsidy of 10 Beihai yuan will be issued; if the full payment is made within September, a subsidy of 5 yuan will be given; if the full payment is made within October, a subsidy of 5 yuan will be given.
Those who pay will receive a two-yuan subsidy; those who complete the payment in full within November and December will receive no subsidy.
When the news of the plan came out, the first people to learn about it were the soldiers and prisoners in the Qitai area. The hearts of each family that had been hanging around finally fell. Many people simply kowtowed in the direction of Jingyuan City.
Said that the days to come will be better!
Zhao Xin believes that as long as this plan is implemented unremittingly, the troops on the Western Front will no longer have to worry about the food problem in the future. Moreover, with the increase in grain production on the East Route of Xinjiang, the food supply in the Khovd region will also be sufficient.
After finishing the farm affairs, Zhao Xin, who was already dizzy, remembered that there was another scenic spot in the south of Qitai - Jiangbulake, and there was an ancient city ruins nearby. It was rare for me to visit Tianshan, so I had to take a look before leaving.
This trip is worthwhile.
He definitely didn't have time to see the beautiful scenery in autumn, but he had heard people say that the scenery there was not bad in winter, so he called Fan Tong and Jiang Fan, and ran over early in the morning with a platoon of guards.