Dominate the Country

"Your Highness, this is the list of casualties and merits of all soldiers in the expeditionary army, except for Nanjing, Anqing and Jiujiang."

"This is the record of military merits that has been fed back to the Grand Commandery, totaling 2,093,700 acres of military merit land and 735,100 silver dollars." The feedback from Nanjing, Anqing and Jiujiang has not yet reached Lushan. The Yangtze River is flooding, and shipping will be slightly affected.

When it comes to the time to really get the land, the soldiers who have been counted all look at the land with shining eyes, and only a very few people choose silver dollars. Many people look at their military merit records and the amount of military merits they have spent on women in the past, and their faces show expressions of regret, which makes the instructors, clerks and other civilian personnel in the army laugh at the soldiers.

Two million acres of land, a very large piece of land. But it is not difficult for the Fu Han Army, because there are at least 60 million mu of arable land in the whole Hubei Province. The Fu Han Army has now occupied more than half of Hubei Province, leaving only Yichang and Shinan and Qing soldiers to persist. Judging from the statistics of official land collected from various places, it is also very easy to allocate more than 2 million mu of land, and the Fu Han Army has also confiscated a lot of land during its sweep. After the gentry and gentry who were officials in their families, as well as the local officials who organized militias, were liquidated, they also collected a lot of land. More than 700,000 silver dollars are a piece of cake.

Chen Ming took a pen and drew it lightly. It was easy and simple, but how to distribute the military merit land to the soldiers was a big problem. Military merit land is the military spirit, and this military spirit must be implemented, not just empty pie in the sky.

Take the veterans from Hubei and Henan as an example. As long as these people don't waste their military merit points in a drunken and dreamy way, each of them can get at least 40 to 50 mu of military merit land. According to the regulations of the Fu Han Army, military merit land is tax-free, and each of them is issued land when they join the army. If they are combined, it is really a huge number, which cannot be given in southwest Henan alone. So what about moving to a new place? Are these soldiers willing? After all, this is not the 21st century. No one in this era is willing to leave their comfortable and familiar hometown for no reason.

But if they don't move, how can Ruzhou and Nanyang Prefecture give them so many acres of land? And if they don't move, how can the Fu Han Army let the people of Huguang know the benefits of being a soldier?

A few dozen acres of land is definitely a rich family in the countryside, and most farmers work hard all their lives and work hard to make a living. This attraction to poor farmers cannot be underestimated. Especially now that farmers' families have more than one or two sons.

Didn't you see that those new recruits from northern Jiangsu were shaking after being granted land. Especially those soldiers whose families followed them back to Hubei, their vigorous fighting spirit was like a burning torch!

Chen Ming was originally worried about the expeditionary army returning to Huguang. In addition to the veterans in Hubei and Henan, what about the morale of the new soldiers? As a result, he was relieved when he saw this scene. The motivation of land to people in this era is beyond words. The military merit fields of these new soldiers can be arranged in Hubei. So what about the veterans? Of course, the military merit fields of the veterans can be distributed to other places in Hubei, but how can they manage them?

How can ordinary peasant families manage land hundreds of miles away?

"The Grand Commander can integrate and divide these military merit fields. A row can be put together. One or two thousand acres of land is a big farm. Since ancient times, it is common for wealthy officials to buy properties in other places. As long as the village head is arranged, the village head will send the output to the house every season. If you don't want the grain, you can exchange it for silver on the spot, and it is more convenient to go back and forth." If it is really combined into a farm, the annual output will not only be grain, but also livestock such as chickens, ducks, geese, and firewood. If the distance is close, there must be filial respect at the farm every New Year and festival. If the distance is far, there will only be a settlement of money and grain and annual gifts during the New Year.

Wang Huizu thinks that the military merit fields of the veterans of the Fu Han Army can be merged into one place. Only one platoon, with dozens of acres of land per person, can form a large farm. The annual output is converted into silver and sent to Ruzhou and Nanyang, which does not delay things at all-Hubei is the granary of the world, and the Nanyang Basin itself is also a grain-producing area. Wang Huizu does not think that there will be a day when the base will be short of food. Those military families will have people transport a pile of food from thousands of miles away to their homes.

"And if you set up a farm like this, the influence will be greater. Only three or five are needed in each county, and with the government's propaganda, it can be passed on to the ears of the people day and night."

After Wang Huizu joined the Fu Han Army, he soon learned about the policy of military merit fields. He thought this policy was really good. As long as the soldiers fight hard, even guard duty, train, and patrol hard, they can get military merit points, and they can also get corresponding points for each injury and meritorious service. These points can be exchanged for wine, meat, women, silver, and land, which can stabilize the morale of the army to a great extent. Unfortunately, this policy has not been implemented in Jiangnan. Many new recruits in northern Jiangsu and Jiangnan only receive simple silver money, which is a bit like castles in the air, making the soldiers pay less and less attention to the points. Looking at the statistics of military merit points, those veterans from Hubei and Henan treasured their military merit points in the first few months, but the more time passed, the more military merit points they spent on women.

This time, after the Fu Han Army returned to Huguang, Chen Ming opened up the connection with southwestern Henan and began to implement the military merit land. Wang Huizu made great efforts during this statistical strategy. "This is the foundation of the emperor!" He said to Chen Ming about the military merit land.

"Hubei's wealth lies in the Yangtze and Han rivers. Strong soldiers can only be found in poor and mountainous areas, such as the northern part of Huangzhou Prefecture, Yunyang and Shinan Prefectures, where there are many mountains and little land, and the people are tough. If the military merit fields can be widely spread among the people, it will surely attract some local people to join the army."

"In the future, the stronger the Fu Han Army is, the more powerful this policy will be. There are tens of thousands of people who have no place to stand in the world. As long as eleven of them are driven by Your Highness, with the sharp weapons and guns of the Fu Han Army and Your Highness's heroic talents, they will sweep the world. Who can resist!"

"Your Highness also needs to greet the work team and let the work team hurry up to arrange relevant dramas and take this opportunity to go to the countryside to spread the word."

The attendant room under Chen Ming was disbanded. There is no such organization in the Fu Han Army system. Wang Huizu is now the recorder of Chen Ming's Lugong Mansion, Xiong Bingzhang is the chief clerk, and Liu Wu is the chief historian. The Right Camp of the Imperial Guard was changed to the Guard Brigade, and the Tank Battalion was incorporated into it, with Shi Mengti as the Brigade Commander. Chen Qifang went out to lead the troops. Soon after, he had a place as the chief officer in the first-level organization of the Fu Han Army Division.

The position of Recorder is to be in charge of the general record of the Cao Wenbo, and to report good and evil. Wang Huizu is very careful and talented, but he is not a straightforward minister of remonstrance. He can use his own words and deeds to make his host [Chen Ming] and his colleagues believe in his character, just as Wang Huizu himself said, "establishing character" - if you want the master to use my words, you must first make the master not doubt my actions, be loyal to the master, and take the name rather than profit. But he is not a person who speaks out and offends his superiors, he is not Wei Zheng. After half a year of companionship, Chen Ming clearly knows his character. This character may be related to his experience as a staff and advisor for more than ten years. He believes and then remonstrates, and leaves if he doesn't agree.

In the current situation, he can't leave, and he will keep silent at that time.

After working all afternoon until late at night, Chen Ming returned to his residence and rested in Li Xiaomei's room. After washing up and lying on the bed, he was thinking about the military merit farm. He had already decided to do so, but Chen Ming felt that he could still maximize the benefits. For example, he established a "military cooperative" to unify the military merit farms in various places, and sell all the farm products to related industries, or start related industries by himself.

Then wheat and rice can be used as grain stores, soybeans and peanuts can be used to press oil, cotton can be used to weave cloth in the future, and raw silk can be used to spin silk.

The Chamber of Commerce in Lushan will be held soon. Whether it is the merchants who have received orders for military grain or military uniforms and beddings, they all need grain, oil, cotton, and cloth..., those merchants buy grain from someone else? Buy cloth from someone else? Buying the output of the military cooperative can also curry favor with himself and the army. Moreover, Chen Ming also thought of the banks established in various places. The Huaxia Bank in the Fu Han Army City copied the business classification of the later banks to a considerable extent. It has much more complete business than the current money houses and silver shops in China. The silver and money to be distributed to each military family - the cross-regional remittance business, can't it match it? There is also the additional postal business - remittance slips.

When Chen Ming thought about it, he suddenly felt that this military cooperative would affect and drive all aspects.

"Ming brother, this idea is really good. Let me tell you, making cloth is more profitable than grain. Here in Lushan, the price of grain has never been seen to rise, but this cloth has been out of stock several times."

The Fu Han Army occupied Hubei, and the cloth and cotton from Sichuan and Jiangnan could not come. Li Xiaomei didn't know if it would be out of stock again, but her intuition told her that cotton and cloth were more profitable than grain. When has Hubei ever lacked grain?

Let me explain here that cotton should be planted in spring. In Hubei, for example, cotton is generally planted before the Qingming Festival. It competes with wheat and rice for land, and the growing period overlaps.

Chen Ming hugged Li Xiaomei tightly. There were several basins of ice in the room, and she had to cover herself with a sheet when she slept. Li Xiaomei had no enthusiasm for politics, and soon she fell asleep in Chen Ming's arms. Chen Ming's eyes were still blinking.

Hubei is a place where rice is mainly planted, supplemented by a small area of ​​wheat and cotton. At this time in the Qing Dynasty, Huguang could be the granary of the world, so planting was inevitable. So it is the opposite of the situation in Jiangnan. There are more grain fields in Hubei than cotton fields and mulberry fields, while Jiangnan is just the opposite.

Now that the Fu Han Army has seized Huguang, cloth and cotton from other provinces will never come in. It is said that this year in Jiangnan, many fields that used to grow cotton and hemp have been converted into rice fields. The Qing Dynasty must have suffered enough losses in grain and had to learn its lesson.

The Eight Banners in Beijing need millions of dan of grain every year. Without Huguang, the big granary, if Jiangnan still grows more cash crops such as cotton and linen than rice, Jiangnan can't produce so much grain even if it is squeezed dry.

Guangdong did buy a lot of grain from the Indochina Peninsula, but it is good for ships to transport it from Guangdong to Beijing twice a year. It can only account for a small part, and the bulk will come from Jiangnan.

In the future, there will definitely be enough grain in the jurisdiction of the Fu Han Army. As for medicinal materials, the Fu Han Army will soon sweep Yuzhou, and then take Hanzhong, and these medicinal materials will be enough. Hanzhong is a treasure house of medicinal herbs comparable to Yuzhou. Besides, Hanzhong is also rich in saltpeter, and taking Hanzhong is also related to Chen Ming's strategic plan-he wants to cut off China!

Hanzhong is blocked in the west, with Huguang, Anqing, Jiangxi in the middle, and Yangzhou, Zhenjiang, and Nanjing in the south of the Yangtze River. When the newly built shipyards in Yueyang, Jiujiang, and Wuchang are fully equipped to launch warships, Chen Ming will have enough naval power. Then he will go down the river to Chongming Island and fight with the Qing Dynasty's foreign navy at the mouth of the Yangtze River. In the future, he will meet with Chen Jigong who has settled in Zhoushan and respond to the two water forces of Zhang and Zheng in the southeast. China will be completely divided into two along the Yangtze River, so that the Qing Dynasty in the north will not get a penny or a grain of food in the south of the Yangtze River. Then we will see what Qianlong can do! But this is a later story...

Salt needs to be focused on the south of the Yangtze River. Under Chen Ming's big plan, the Huai salt in northern Jiangsu is closer to the Fu Han Army than the well salt in Sichuan.

The rest is cloth, food, clothing, housing and transportation. The importance of cloth is self-evident. If those military merit farms can work together and transfer the more than 2 million mu of land from grain planting to cash crop planting...

"What do you think, gentlemen?"

The next morning, Chen Ming pulled Wang Huizu, Xiong Bingzhang and others to discuss this matter. After the dissolution of the attendant room, many people were transferred to local officials, and most of the civilians of the expeditionary army remained in the army. Liu Dezhao served as the prefect in Wuchang, and only these few people were left around Chen Ming. In addition, there are relatives such as Huang Song, Gao Yanming, and Chen Jiqing, who are considered Chen Ming's attendants.

"This is a great benefit." Xiong Bingzhang nodded first, blinking his eyes, but he suppressed the waves in his heart, and compared the economies of the two places with his experience as a legal advisor in Wuhu and Xuzhou prefectures and counties: "The benefits of cotton and linen are twice as much as agricultural grain, but the people are not stable without food. If we want to keep people safe, food is the first priority. Hubei is the granary of the world, with grain fields everywhere. Since we don't have to worry about grain, it is natural to convert mulberry, hemp and cotton fields." It's too late this year. By the time the military merit fields are divided and demarcated, the rice will be harvested. And the more important thing about this matter is...

"Your Highness said that the military cooperative is indeed feasible. But it should be slow rather than hasty. This matter is of great benefit to the soldiers, and Your Highness is also out of good intentions. In this case, the military merit fields and farms should be allowed to actively participate, rather than forcibly combined by government orders."

PS: There is no third chapter today. I have something to do in the afternoon and I can't come back until dark.