Lord of the House

Lin Fu came to Xuzhou to inspect the defense. The main purpose was to adjust the deployment of troops and defense ideas in the Xuzhou area.

In the north of Xuzhou, the terrain of Luxiping is open, and there are Bian and Sishui connections. However, in the current situation, Beiyan gave up its efforts to attack Xuzhou from here, and Huaidong did not fail to gather superior forces to counterattack the north in a short period of time. Jining, Dongping, Tai'an and other places.

Then, Huaidong should strengthen the competition and control of the mountains and Jiaolai River in the central and eastern parts of Shandong, such as Mengshan, Yishan, Kunyushan and other mountains.

Lin Fu's adjustment to Xuzhou's camps, the division of labor in which Liu Miaozhen was in charge of defense and Li Wei was in charge of political affairs remained unchanged.

The North Division of the Military Intelligence Division was moved to Xuzhou, so that the military intelligence in the North could be collected and analyzed nearby, so that Xuzhou soldiers and horses could respond to changes in the situation in a more timely and accurate manner; Wu Qi was transferred to Xuzhou to be the deputy chief of the Xuzhou battalion and lead the North Division of the Military Intelligence Division. .

Sun Zhuang was transferred to be the deputy commander of the Horse Army of the Forbidden Camp. He would return to Jiangning with Lin Fu to expand the cavalry battalion in Jiangning. The cavalry in Xuzhou was reorganized into the third cavalry brigade, with Li Liang as the brigade commander and Zhao Bao to join the army as commander. As a deputy general, stationed in Xuzhou and other places.

Ma Lantou, as the deputy general manager of the battalion and the knowledge of Yizhou, controlled Chu Zheng, Liu Xilin and other troops, and was responsible for the penetration and control of the eastern troops and horses in the mountainous area between Yizhou and Qingzhou.

Yang Shi was changed to be the deputy commander of the second water battalion, and he and Ge Cunxin divided the waters outside Huaikou and the waters of Huaisi on the inner line, and together with the Fengli Army guarding Shanyang and other places, accepted the control of the battalion in Xuzhou.

In addition, Sun Jingtang resigned from the post of commander of the factory and battalion, and became the deputy general manager of Xuzhou battalion, specializing in the recruitment, training and training of reserve soldiers in Xuzhou, as well as the affairs of military engineering, mining and ordnance, and workshops in shipyards.

Lin Fu initially set up a labor camp to accommodate the tens of thousands of refugee troops who had surrendered from the Huaisi War. In addition to undertaking the work of construction and farming, the more important purpose was to provide qualified personnel for the Huaidong Army. reservists.

In the past two years, the scale of Huaidong's troops and horses has expanded dramatically, and all the reserve soldiers have been transferred from the workers' battalion. At the same time, the area under Huaidong's control continued to expand, and the management of the recruitment and training of military personnel must also be distributed to various battalions.

Xuzhou will be a key area for the victory between the north and the south in the future. If Huaidong wants to go on the eastern line and the northern expedition, it must use the Xusi area as a bridgehead. The recruitment and training of reservists in Xuzhou Xingying is actually far more important than other areas. Nearly half of the budget of the labor camp is also invested in Xuzhou.

In addition, the people of Huaisi and the north who went south through Xusi are in trouble, and the people are sturdy.

Lin Fu specially asked Sun Jingtang to stay in Xuzhou, and recruited Jianyong from Huaisi and the northern refugees to prepare for the future northern expedition.

The Xuzhou battalion has been adjusted. Below Liu Miaozhen, Wu Qi, Sun Jingtang, Ma Lantou, Li Wei, Ge Cunxin, the commander of the Second Water Battalion, and Ning Zechen, the commander of the Fengli Army, are all core figures in Huaidong, including Li Liang, Geng Quanshan, Chu Zheng, Liu Xilin, Yang Shi, Zhao Bao and other good generals have initially formed the framework of a heavy army group with both land, water and horses.

More than one-third of Huaidong's troops are deployed here. In addition to preventing the Yan army from going south and preparing for the future Northern Expedition, it also forms a strong restraint on Huaixi in the west...

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Since the beginning of summer, the water potential of the Huaihe River has continued to rise, and the embankments on both sides have been in disrepair for many years. Everyone in Shouzhou has tightened their minds, worried that the fragile embankment will not be able to withstand the impact of the flood peak. In late June, seeing the signs of the south bank embankment loosening, Dong Yuan was forced to order Tao Chun to dig a levee on the north bank to release the flood.

Guoyang on the north bank was a buffer zone for the war. Except for the cultivation near the fortress, most of the areas were abandoned. As long as the floods could not break the fortress, the losses would be much less than that on the south bank.

Standing on the top of Kip Stone Mountain, you can watch the vast flood water flowing from the excavated **** to the low-lying place on the north side, forming a large lake, expanding the lake area at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Liu Tingzhou came over, pulled out a bench, and sat down on his butt. The boots were soaked in water, and they took them off.

"Master Liu, has the water level really receded?" Yuan Hancheng turned around and asked Liu Tingzhou.

Huaixi couldn't stand the big toss, and the north bank released the flood. Yuan Hancheng also came to Kipishi Mountain from Shouzhou City to watch it. Standing on the top of the mountain, they could see that the opening on the north bank after the embankment was dug overflowed into a lake, but they could not see the rise and fall of the Huai River at the foot of the mountain. Naturally, they had to ask Liu Tingzhou, who had just climbed up from the foot of the mountain.

"It's three feet down. As long as there is no heavy rain in Xinyang for the past two days, the embankment on the south bank should be able to keep it!" Liu Tingzhou said.

Although the loss of the flood discharge on the north bank is small, the roads that cross the Huai River to connect with the military fortresses such as Guoyang have to be rebuilt, so it is impossible to have no loss at all; the key is to protect the south bank.

Yuan Hancheng was relieved when he heard that the embankment on the south bank could be saved, and said, "Thank goodness, I can breathe a sigh of relief, and my heart is all in my throat—hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland are under the embankment. , once the levee collapses, a year of hard work will go to waste!"

Liu Tingzhou pretended to be relaxed and smiled, and said, "Prince Chu is really working hard. After the autumn, he has to work hard to repair the embankment, and he can't be so worried next year..."

"That's right," Yuan Hancheng said, "Huaidong employs civilian laborers. Since it has helped the floods, built water conservancy, and opened up tax sources for the future, it's a lot of benefits. What you should learn is to learn!"

Huaidong only gave this side a two-year buffer period. After two years, the money for Huaixi's troops and horses will mainly be raised from the three prefectures of Haozhou, Shouzhou and Xinyang on the south bank.

In fact, even if Huaidong promised the Huaixi Army's money and food, it would be supplied by Jiangning in the future. Under the circumstance that Jiangning's military, political and financial affairs were all in the hands of Huaidong, they and Dong Yuan had to really believe in Huaidong's promise. It's stupid - if you want to not give Huaidong control and lead by the nose, you have to have capital and confidence.

Even Yue Lengqiu was forced to occupy only two counties in Chizhou on the west bank of the Qiupu River. These days, they have also cleared the land on a large scale, suppressed the wealthy households, and forcibly confiscated nearly 100,000 mu of official land on the west bank of the Qiupu River and turned it into farming.

If Huaidong controls all the food and food for the soldiers and horses, will Huaidong be squeezed flat and round as he pleases in the future?

Yue Lengqiu has a total of 50,000 soldiers and horses in his hands, and controls the territory of the two counties. There is no need to compromise with the local forces. But for Yue Lengqiu, the two counties west of the Qiupu River are too narrow. The combined population of Qiupu and Shicheng counties is not as large as that of Yue Lengqiu. More and less.

Yue Lengqiu couldn't rely on local food, so he could only bite the bullet and drive Huaidong to go west to Jiangzhou - the situation in Huaixi is better, except for Guoyang Town on the north bank, in Huaihe River. The south, the west of Hongzepu, and the northeast of Huaishan also control the land of the three prefectures. After the Huaisi War, the refugees from Haoshou gradually returned to their hometowns. In addition, a large number of refugees from Henan and other places crossed Huainan and stayed in Huaixi. Today, the population of the three prefectures in Huaixi is 1.23 million.

Under normal circumstances, the tax that can be provided by a population of 12.3 million people is far from being able to support a huge armament of more than 100,000 people, because the resources produced by these populations will have a large amount of land rent for local governments. Occupied by gentry officials.

Taking the cultivation of tenant farmers under the conditions of large-scale land acquisition as an example, 50 to 60% of the harvest of one mu of land is rented to the landowner, and 1 to 20% is collected by the government as taxes, and the tenant farmers have only 30% to 40% to feed themselves.

The situation in Huaixi is good. In the war that lasted for many years, the local forces have been devastated, and there is no large-scale middle rentier. As long as Huaixi can resume production, 50 to 60 percent of the farmers' farming income can be directly used to support the army, which can barely support 100,000 army horses.

The extravagant family occupies a corner of eastern Fujian, and can support more than 200,000 soldiers and horses at most. This is the reason - the court wants to have sufficient financial resources, restraining the middle rentier, restraining wealthy households, restraining land mergers, and often the core of the New Deal Thought.

In the eyes of Yuan Hancheng, Liu Tingzhou, Ding Zhiru and others, Lin Funeng's rise from Huaidong was nothing but these means, and Dong Yuan was also famous for his political affairs.

After Dong Yuan entered Huaixi, the most urgent thing to do was to reclaim the land.

When Dong Yuanhuai was in Huaixi, there were deserted and unowned land everywhere.

The field can be used to support the soldiers, and the field can be used enough.

In Huaixi, the farms were settled, and the soldiers received money and grain, and all the income from the crops belonged to the officials.

After Emperor Yongxing returned to Jiangning, Jianghuai, Fujian and Jiangxi were relatively silent. To put it bluntly, all forces were fighting for time.

Huaidong fought for time to completely control Jiangning, while Huaixi, Chizhou, Jinghu, Xiangtan and other vassal towns fought for time to increase the cost of self-protection.

Huaixi's time is still too tight. After the Xuzhou war, Huaixi began to large-scale planting, and it only took a year.

Moreover, Huaixi had to provide necessary seeds, farm implements and cattle to the village households and colonists. The shortage of these resources limited the expansion of the village farms.

Before the middle of last year, with the support of salt merchants, Dong Yuan had relatively sufficient capital, and was able to purchase a large number of agricultural tools, cattle, and grain from Weiyang, Jiangning and other places. Annual expansion of 400,000 acres.

The scale of 400,000 mu of farmland is far from enough. In order to support the army of 110,000 people, there must be a reserve for one or two large-scale wars, and at least 2 million mu of farmland must be directly controlled. Only in this way can the tax and silver be saved to do things such as armour, warship building, and support for officials.

Lin Fu began to rectify the salt issue in Jiangning in late February, causing a large number of salt merchants' children to flee to Huaixi with their family wealth.

In the short term, the children of salt merchants brought a large amount of gold and silver, which was extremely beneficial to Huaixi. The children of salt merchants should be resettled in Huaixi, buy houses, and buy wasteland to raise people for cultivation, which is conducive to the further restoration of production in Huaixi. Huaixi Xingying can directly obtain a large amount of gold and silver to make up for the lack of financial resources by selling unowned wasteland and recommending the children of salt merchants to serve as local officials.

However, it is not without dire consequences.

After the salt merchants were suppressed, the Weiyang Mansion became mediocre. Even if the next prefect was recommended by Shen Rong, the lonely tree was difficult to support. In addition to providing taxes to Jiangning, Weiyang House can hardly do anything else.

The establishment of the Jiangning Lijin Bureau merged both Weiyang Mansion and Dongyang Mansion into it, which actually brought the water and land passages from Weiyang Mansion to Huaixi under the control of Huaidong.

Nowadays, the material and commercial flow between Huaidong and the seven prefectures in Jiangnan, Zhejiang and Fujian, and other places, has been reduced to a low level of "Thirty Taxes and One". This is a substantial benefit from Lin Fu to the seven prefectures in Jiangnan. Grain and iron prices fell quickly, people benefited, and the situation became much more stable.

However, under the control of the Jiangning Lijin Bureau, the tax rate was immediately increased to the high level of "five taxes and one" when transported to Huaixi, Chizhou and other places, and the over-tax lichen for iron tools, mules, horses and cattle was even higher.

To expand the scale of the farmland, a large number of farm tools, cattle and grains must be needed. Compared with the Weiyang Mansion under the control of the salt merchants, Huaixi has to pay at least 40% to 50% more to purchase these materials at this time. Silver - The gold and silver that the salt merchant's children fled to Huaixi with will probably be exhausted in a short time. Huaidong's ruthlessness made life feel a lot of powerlessness.

Huaixi also has iron and coal, which can also be excavated in the mountains, but first of all, the remnants of the Huaishan must be cleaned up. In addition, the initial investment in the excavation of the mountains is also huge.

In addition to the farmland, Huaixi soldiers and horses, armour, armor and warships, will have to raise their own in the future.

Even if the workshop under the Ministry of Industry had not been destroyed during the war, it would have been impossible for Huaidong to send the best soldiers to Huaixi.

Huaixi's troops and horses are now fully equipped, but they have no reserves. Once a large-scale war occurs, the armor and bows will be greatly consumed. Huaixi has to build its own armor to supplement it. One lacks iron materials and the other lacks craftsmen.

Yuan Hancheng and Liu Tingzhou sat under the eaves of the corridor and talked about the military and politics of Huaixi. time? Will Yanlu give them ten or eight years?

If ten years from now, Huaixi, Chizhou, Xiangtan, and Jinghu are still like this, I am afraid that no one can stop the Emperor Lin Fu from standing on his own...

Dong Yuan went to Xinyang to inspect the water conditions and could not return today, so Liu Tingzhou and Yuan Hancheng also left the Kipishi Mountain camp and went back to Shouzhou City.

On the side of Shouzhou City, the heavy rain had long since stopped. Liu Tingzhou and Yuan Han entered the city in chariots and horses, and it happened that a post and horse came from the southeast.

Liu Tingzhou intercepted the post cavalry, and the post cavalry reported: "The Duke of Chongguo and the privy envoy went to Luzhou via Hongzepu before the date, and ordered Huaixi to send people over to discuss important military and political affairs..."

Dong Yuan was not in Shouzhou, so Liu Tingzhou came to receive Lin Fu's order. He opened it and looked at it, and then handed it to Yuan Hancheng, saying, "The privy envoy stayed in Xuzhou for a month, and only went to Luzhou. Thinking of sending people from our side to participate in the military and political affairs, is it possible that Xuzhou can afford to defend against Yanlu?"

Beiyan is now focusing on attacking Guanshan, which greatly reduces the pressure on the Huaihe River and Nanyang. Chen Zhihu has 50,000 to 60,000 troops in Henan, and it is not enough to fight Nanyang or Hezhongfu alone. Naturally, it is difficult to pose any threat to Nanyang, Hezhongfu and Huaixi. .

"Xu is to deal with the Xiangfan Changle bandits?" Yuan Hancheng asked.

Taking advantage of the Donglu's inability to look south, Huaixi, Nanyang and Jinghu attacked Luo Xiancheng with all their strength and eliminated the hidden dangers in the Xiangfan area.

Liu Tingzhou, who is much more familiar with the military than Yuan Hancheng, shook his head and said, "It's difficult, how can the army be deployed without money and food?"

When the army is launched, don't wait for a big fight, it will involve many issues such as garrisoning, logistics and supplies, and the consumption will far exceed the date of the permanent garrison - what Emperor Yongxing negotiated with Huaidong when he returned to Jiangning was the garrison zone. Money and food, if the soldiers and horses leave the defense zone to fight, Jiangning will need another money and food. It is also true that another branch is needed. Huaixi's current reserves of money, grain and military resources simply cannot withstand the consumption of war.

The Ministry of Household's finances are so tight, how can they spend several million extra money to fight Luo Xiancheng in a short period of time? Even if he is a little wealthy, Lin Fu must first restrict the luxury family from establishing a foothold in Jiangxi.

After the pacification of Fujian and Jiangxi, even if the Yanluo occupied Xiangfan, they could still be ruled by the river; Fujian and Jiangxi were still the confidants of Huaidong after they occupied Jiangning.

After the chariot sent a letter, Liu Tingzhou and Yuan Hancheng went directly to see Ding Zhiru at the Yaya, and asked Ding Zhiru to send someone to chase after Dong Yuan and inform Lin Bie of the summons in Luzhou.

After all, Lin Fu was a privy envoy, and he had to send someone to deal with the letter from Huaixi.

Ding Zhiru wanted to talk to Liu Tingzhou for business: "Huaidong is difficult to recruit in Xuzhou, and I don't know how the news got here. In the past two days in Shouzhou, dozens of households have abandoned their land and fled east. This matter Can't help but notice..."

"Oh!" Liu Tingzhou frowned. He also felt that this matter was no trivial matter. He sat down with Yuan Hancheng and asked in detail.

Lin Fu expanded the new policy of reducing rent and bursary on a large scale in Huaidong very early. The family members of the soldiers have more privileged servants, and the military merits and disability pensions are very generous. This is also the core guarantee of the Huaidong Army's combat strength - Huaixi does not have it. This condition is to learn Huaidong.

However, the news in the world is blocked, Huaidong and Huaixi are separate systems, and the spread of news between each other is more sluggish. If the people here abandon their land and flee east under normal circumstances, it is very likely that Huaidong is playing tricks inside and deliberately sending people. Sneak in to spread the news and deceive the people.

"It's better to go to Xuzhou. After all, Hongzepu and Huaihe are blocked. If Huaidong also recruits refugees on a large scale in Luzhou, the conditions are much better than Huaixi, and it will be a headache." Ding Zhiru said.

Going up the Dongfei River is Luzhou. Lushou is only more than a hundred miles apart, and there are no other natural obstacles in the middle except the low hills and mountains.

At present, Henan is completely disabled. Huaixi has finally gathered a population of 1.23 million people, which is also the foundation of Huaixi's future foothold. If these people are not comfortable with Huaixi and continue to flow south, Huaixi will be even weaker.

Ding Zhiru threw out a very difficult question, and asked Liu Tingzhou and Yuan Hancheng to sit there with a big headache.

Send soldiers to seal the border? Then Huaidong also happened to build fortresses on the north side of Luzhou and Dongyang at the same time. How could Huaixi have the resources to engage in military confrontation with Huaidong now?

"Huaidong can't deceive people too much, it really can't, I'll go to Luzhou." Liu Tingzhou said.

Dong Yuan was afraid that it would be difficult to return to Luzhou, but Liu Tingzhou had no such worries.

"Let's see what the deputy envoy has to say..." Ding Zhiru didn't know what role Liu Tingzhou could play in going to Luzhou. It is the responsibility of the local officials to appease Liuzhou. You can't accuse Luzhou of giving you too good conditions to appease Liuzhou. The people of Shouzhou are all attracted, right?

"I really shouldn't have given up Luzhou in the first place." Yuan Hancheng said.

Ding Zhiru smiled bitterly: Everyone knows the importance of Luzhou, but at that time, Huaixi insisted on occupying Luzhou, and the consequences were probably much lighter than directly leaving Emperor Yongxing in Juchao.

At that time, Huaidong didn't want to create a split situation where the two emperors stood side by side, but it didn't mean that when the split was real, Huaidong didn't have the ability to grit his teeth and fight another battle - at that time, Huaidong already had 50,000 water infantry troops parked in Luzhou. The Yijiang River on the south bank.

Huaixi did not have the confidence and capital to take Luzhou down from the beginning to the end.

On the contrary, in order to welcome Emperor Yongxing back to Jiangning, Huaidong also made a lot of concessions. For example, the Ministry of Household, Ministry of Industry and the Bank of the Inner Government were all divided between Huaixi and Chizhou, and Huaidong also pretended to be I don't know, things got messed up. But Huaidong is not easy to be bullied after all. Last year, the salt merchants supported Huaixi. Lin Fu first started with the salt issue, and then blocked the business road connecting Huaixi. Next, there will inevitably be actions against Huaixi in Luzhou. .

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Yinping Mountain, located in the south of Chaocheng City, is located between the Zhanghu Lake and the Yangtze River. Climbing the mountain can see the scenery on both sides.

After entering July, the Yangtze River is also the time when it is full of water.

The embankments on both sides of the Yangtze River in the Luzhou section have not been repaired over the years, and they have been washed away by the river, and only a section of the dikes stand in the river. When the water is dry, the Yangtze River in the Luzhou section is narrow and only two or three miles wide. At this time, it swells up, and the north and south shores are so vast that it is impossible to see the near end, and I am afraid it is nearly a hundred miles away.

In order to manage Luzhou, Lin Fu transferred Chen Huawen to be the prefect of Luzhou, merged Luzhou with the newly established Yijiang Prefecture, and transferred Zhang Gou to lead the town to guard Luzhou and control the key places such as Juchao and Qianshan on both sides. .

"Not only is the Yangtze River flooded on both sides of the river~www.wuxiaspot.com~ There are also many floods along the Luohu Lake after summer. It is necessary to control the embankment and divert water to facilitate farming," Chen Huawen stood beside Lin Bie and accompanied him to the Yinping Mountain to watch. Looking at the water situation of the Yangtze River, he said, "Everything is ready now, and Mr. Zhu is indeed a competent official. Right now, I will wait for the water to recede after the autumn and start to repair the dyke!"

Lin Fu listened to Chen Huawen's praise of Zhu Ai, looked sideways at Zhu Ai, and said with a smile: "It's only one thing to manage the dykes and the fields, whether you can save 300,000 to 50,000 soldiers together will depend on Zhu Ai and yours. means!"

"Zhu Ai should live up to the expectations of the lord." Zhu Ai responded to Lin Fu with a sonorous force.

Lin Fu smiled, and chatted about some trivial matters in managing the embankment.

Luzhou is the key point where Lin Fu wants to contain Huaixi, Jinghu and Chizhou. If Luzhou is not controlled, Lin Fu will inevitably station a large number of troops and horses in Jiangning, making Jiangning lack of necessity. strategic buffer. Just as the Huaidong Expedition will use Xuzhou as the bridgehead, Lin Fu will clean up Huaixi, Chizhou, and Jinghu in the future, so the most important thing now is to manage Luzhou into a core place that Huaidong fully controls.

Lin Fu's promotion of the New Deal on a small scale does not want to cause major turmoil, but if anyone in the Luzhou prefecture does not like it, he will destroy it like a palm - restraining local forces, reducing rents and taxes, and difficult resettlement , with Tian Anmin, this is what Chen Huawen has been doing since he became the prefect of Luzhou.

In addition, Lin Bie didn't want to use too many troops to restrain him from moving in Luzhou. A certain number of elite troops and a large number of reserve soldiers were the reasonable garrison deployment to form the barrier of Jiangning West Line.

In addition to Xuzhou, Luzhou will be the second area in Huaidong to focus on expanding and reserving reserve soldiers. Lin Fucai selected Zhu Ai, Tang Xitai, Hu Qiaoyi and other capable officials to strengthen his control over Luzhou. My QT room is open! More vulgar official QT room number [9167] Click to enter