Cutting over the end of the Ming Dynasty: a dog-leg knife at the beginning

Chapter 586 The Wind Blows North China 5
After learning about the tricks of the Shanxi merchants, Lu Xiangsheng just smiled and said to the generals, "Just take whatever they give you. You don't have to refuse. You can even take the opportunity to make some requests. Don't be polite to them."

Lei Shisheng was a little worried: "In this way, the morale of the army will be messed up!"

Lu Xiangsheng said: "No, these things will be ours sooner or later, and now we just take some in advance...By the way, how is the cavalry of General Cao now?"

Zu Dabi curled his lips and said: "We asked for a thousand sets of armor and a thousand sabers, but they refused to ask for muskets. They said they would charge with guns like a hussars camp, break through the enemy camp, and insisted on changing into horses. !”

Lu Xiangsheng said: "Give it to him! Guan Ning's iron cavalry are fierce in combat, and they were born to fight in battle. It is too inferior to ask them to change to muskets and become cavalry infantry."

So, with an order, the quartermaster allocated a thousand horses and sent them to Cao Wenzhao's barracks.

The people of Xuanda don't know the turbulent undercurrent behind it, they are being excited and inspired by a great change.Lu Xiangsheng issued a decree announcing that all farmers in Xuanda, Shaanxi, and Ningxia would be exempted from tax for three years as compensation for the rogue rebellion. As soon as the news came out, the people of the three provinces cheered, sang and danced.Then, Lu Xiangsheng issued a second decree to re-measure the land.The rogue rebellion was so severe that the population of many states and counties was almost wiped out. They either died under the butcher's knife, or were carried away to the state and the government, and eventually filled up the hills and trenches. Especially in Shaanxi and Ningxia, it was even more tragic. Many landlords and vassals were exterminated, and large tracts of land became unowned. Many villages and towns only heard ghosts crying, but no human habitation.Lu Xiangsheng re-measured the land to distribute these ownerless lands to the people. At the same time, he organized everyone to dig wells and build canals, repair the irrigation system, and provide the people with cattle and seeds.Those who can't get the land will be recruited to work on the military farms. They don't need to be registered in the army, just help with the work, and they will have enough food and wages.These good governance undoubtedly made the people burst into tears of gratitude. In less than a month, he received more than 2 letters of thanks, many of which were written in blood.

While he was building military camps, Lu Xiangsheng did not let go of those pastures.After all, the Tianxiong Army now has [-] to [-] mules and horses. It would be difficult to maintain without a place to raise horses.From Datong to Yinchuan, the Tianxiong Army surrounded the pastures with barbed wire, laid water pipelines, and applied large amounts of bone meal and phosphate fertilizers to the pastures, making the pastures rich in water and grass.These guys were really rude in enclosing the land. All the pastures within [-] kilometers of the border wall were enclosed, and this was originally the territory of the Mongols!With so much pasture, the Tianxiong Army themselves would definitely not be able to use it all up. They were generous enough to allow local herders to graze on smaller pastures, on the condition that the rest of the milk produced, except for the portion they consume, must be Sold to Tianxiong Army.Such conditions were considered to be favorable, and the people at the border agreed with them with both feet, and even fought over renting better pasture.Even the Mongols couldn't stand the temptation and came over to rent the pasture outside the border wall... They were all relatively weak tribes. They would definitely not be able to defeat the Tianxiong Army, and the Tianxiong Army's pasture management skills were obviously better than those of the other tribes. They are much better and manage the pasture better than many pastures, so it would be great to rent them here.As for selling milk to Tianxiong Army... of course they are in favor of it. Selling cow's milk, goat's milk and mare's milk can be used to buy rice, noodles and tea. Do you think they like milk tea, milk, wine, milk, tofu and milk all day long?There is really no way, food is in short supply!Besides, when grazing in Tianxiongjun’s pasture, you don’t have to worry about livestock running around. It’s surrounded by barbed wire, so where can they go?It is much more comfortable than driving cattle and sheep to graze on the prairie in strong winds. Everyone knows what choice to make.

The Tianxiong Army also generously expressed their willingness to pay for the excrement of their herds.Of course, the Han herdsmen are fine, but the Mongolian herdsmen have a bit of a headache, saying: "We usually rely on cow dung and sheep dung for cooking and heating. What do we burn after selling it to you? We can't let us burn hay?"

Tianxiong Jun said: "We can sell you briquettes... coal briquettes, you know? The moon cake is so big, and only two of them can be burned for half a day. Cooking and boiling water are no problem at all." In order to prove the benefits of coal, they He also specially took the briquettes just produced in Datong to light two, and then cooked in front of the Mongols, fried a few dishes, and then boiled a large pot of hot water.Now the Mongols took it, saying that coal is indeed better than cow dung, it is easy to burn, and there is no smoke, and they are happy to do it like this—coal is used, and only fools burn cow dung!
As a result, every day you can see that the dung cakes that have been dried in the sun are sent to the side wall, and then fermented and applied to the farmland. The crops grow green and shiny, which is very gratifying.Of course, it is impossible to equate cow dung with coal, but it doesn't matter, coal is better than cow dung, and you don't need to store so much, which is easy to manage.

It’s just that drying cow dung cakes is a bit hard...

The Tianxiong army also purchased a large number of bone remains.In fact, Heluo New Army and Tianxiong Army have been doing this kind of business for several years, buying hundreds of tons of bone meal from the prairie every year, but now they are doing even bigger, expanding their business scope to Qinghai, bringing Qinghai and Mongolian nomads get their noses bubbling with joy.In the past, when a large number of livestock died of disease or freezing to death, they could only be left to rot on the grassland. Now that they are cured, they can take their bones and sell them, which can recover a little loss. It is really great!For convenience, the Tianxiong Army simply built a bone meal processing factory in a relatively distant place, purchased the bones nearby, burned them into ashes, and then transported them back by truck.After this series of actions, the Mongolian people feel that their lives are much better. At least they have money to buy goods from the Han people, and they no longer have to trade livestock for iron pots.

Zu Dabi was a little worried: "Sir, you are helping the Tatars!"

Lu Xiangsheng said: "I am helping them! I want to help them settle down, so that they have no worries about food and clothing! As long as they settle down, it will be easy to deal with!"

In fact, more than 2000 years ago, many nomadic peoples were originally farming people. For example, the Xiongnu settled in the Weihe Plain.Later, the Han people rose up strongly and turned them into a semi-agrarian and semi-herding nation. After the founding of the Qin Dynasty, they continued to be beaten and completely turned into a nomadic people.However, the Han people were still dissatisfied. In the Han Dynasty, they continued to fight, completely destroyed them, and finally stopped.For the Central Dynasty, settled ethnic groups have never been a problem. The most annoying thing is the nomads who come and go like the wind with their angry horses and strong bows on the prairie. When the country is strong, these fierce herdsmen will harass you from time to time. It's really annoying to wait until your national strength is no longer enough to launch a large-scale attack.As for the settled ethnic groups, they are much easier to deal with. Is Goguryeo strong enough?He occupied Liaodong and the Korean Peninsula, built countless fortified cities, supported hundreds of thousands of troops, and defeated the Sui army three times, which was truly unparalleled.However, in the Tang Dynasty, the Tang army gnawed away one city after another. It only took two generations to turn Goguryeo into a historical term. The nomadic empire of Tubo was entangled with the Tang Dynasty until the end, and it could not be completely destroyed until the Tang Dynasty was destroyed. Solve them.

As Lu Xiangsheng said, as long as they settle down, they will be easy to deal with.

The Tianxiong Army is making preparations in full swing.Lu Xiangsheng sent his favorite general Qian Yu to Ningxia to take over the military and political power of the Yinchuan Plain, focusing on restoring the irrigation system of the Yinchuan Plain and consolidating the military affairs there. They can't see it with a little color.Qian Yu led a thousand cavalrymen and three thousand cavalry hunters to settle the Mongolian tribes active on the Yinchuan Plain, and then recruited refugees to divide the fields, repair the canals and resume production.The land in the Yinchuan Plain is fertile and the water source is sufficient. As long as the irrigation system is done well, rice can be harvested well, so there is no need to specially grow potatoes, and it is enough to plant a few on those inferior lands.He brought a novel crop to Yinchuan, that is sunflower.Sunflower has long been introduced into China, and is widely cultivated in the north, but they are all for ornamental purposes, and few people regard it as a commercial crop.But the Tianxiong army realized that this is a good thing, it is resistant to drought and waterlogging, and can get a good harvest without much care. Moreover, sunflower seeds can be used as snacks and squeezed oil, and the oil residue can also be used to feed livestock, which is a good idea. thing.Qian Yu planted [-] mu of sunflowers at one go on the poorly drained land and saline-alkali land in Yinchuan. This North American crop, like potatoes, will bring a lot of wealth to the Tianxiong Army.

In addition to sending his favorite general to manage Yinchuan, Lu Xiangsheng also sent Zu Dabi to manage Yuxian, Laiyuan, and Lingqiu, reorganize the local army horse farms, and buy a large number of war horses from Mongolia and put them there for domestication.These three places are famous aerial grasslands, which are quite suitable for raising horses.The Tianxiong Army now has 3 horses. For an army of only [-] people, this number is too exaggerated. It is more than enough to guard Xuanda and even the entire borders of Shanxi, Shanxi, Gansu, and Ningxia. Yes, but the strategic goal of the Tianxiong Army was not to defend the land from the very beginning, but to do a major event that even the Han and Tang Dynasties could not accomplish: completely conquer the Hetao Plain, and turn that fertile land into a paradise for the Han people !The Hetao Great Plain is the heart and soul of the nomadic peoples on the Mongolian plateau. If they want to seize it, they must go through a series of tragic battles. In a real fight, the horses may not be enough to consume, and more reserves must be made.

As for Datong, whose strategic location is extremely important, it is the focus of operation.However, the Tianxiong Army disguised themselves very well. As soon as they came to Datong, they were busy farming and doing business.In Datong, the Tianxiong Army opened four large coal mines to provide high-quality briquettes for inside and outside the customs; opened two wineries, specializing in brewing milk wine; opened three canning factories to produce canned beef and mutton; opened several textile factories, The beautiful scarves, cashmere sweaters, and sweaters woven from wool bought from the Mongolians are very sought-after goods, and the supply is in short supply.Of course, things like renting out pastures to the Mongols, making windmills and setting up wind mills were even more enjoyable. For a time, a large number of people from inside and outside the customs came to hear the news, and business travelers from Zhangjiakou, Datong and other places were on the way. There are flocks of cattle and sheep inside and outside the side walls, and the rice paddies are connected, which is an idyllic scene.

It took only a few months for the Tianxiong Army to manage this situation.

While everyone marveled at Tianxiong Army's ability to make money, they couldn't help being a little confused. What is Lu Yanwang singing about?Could it be that he led the army to the border wholeheartedly just to make money?

They don't know that before pounced on the prey, the tiger will carefully put away its fangs and claws, lower its posture and hide itself in the grass without making a sound.

Those Mongols who made huge profits in the transactions with the Tianxiong Army did not know that their lifelines had been pinched by the Tianxiong Army, and their happiness would depend on their lives. On the Mongolian plateau, the entire nomads pay the bill.Of course, even if they knew, they wouldn't care. If the Tianxiong Army was willing to give something more, they wouldn't even mind riding a horse and carrying a bow as the pioneer of the Tianxiong Army, using the blood of their own people in exchange for a better future. Do you really think nomads are united like a pack of wolves as in "Dog Totem"?joke!The history of the prairie wolf clan can actually be divided into two parts, half is the history of internal hacking, and the other half is the history of kneeling and licking!Needless to say, the history of internal hacking, just look at the civil war of the Huns, and how the father of Genghis Khan died. Kneeling and licking history... It seems that it started from the Warring States Period. A large number of Zhao Guofei’s cavalry came from Donghu, Linhu, Loufan, Xiongnu and other wolf knights, in the Han Dynasty, among the iron cavalry under Huo Qubing, there were almost more Xiongnu knights than Han knights!Even in the Three Kingdoms, Liang Yi, the prefect of Bingzhou in the state of Wei, overwhelmed the Huns in Bingzhou with a single brigade.

The answer is the Hun cavalry... How about vomiting blood?
For these wolves, as long as they can get more supplies and more pastures, it is not a big deal to draw their swords to kill their own people!In fact, less than three months after Lu Xiangsheng came to Datong, a large number of Mongolian youths came to him to join the army and wanted to serve him...

Of course, not everyone has such wisdom and can see through the terrible lethality behind Lu Xiangsheng's Huairou policy. In the eyes of some fools, he is supporting the enemy.However, unexpectedly, the official censor did not bury him with a memorial.

That's because there was a guy who did a better job than him and attracted the firepower.

(End of this chapter)