Liu Chengzong knew many people who had predictions about the spread of bandits.
Earlier, his elder brothers Liu Chengzu and Cao Yao had predicted that Wang Zuogai would go to Yaozhou and Tongzhou in the south to attack Xi'an Prefecture. It was prosperous there, with mature handicrafts and iron smelting industries, and the looting value was very high.
But that was their view as veterans to save others by themselves. Now Liu Chengzong saw that his father had also predicted the direction of the bandits' activities, and he immediately showed great interest and asked: "Father, do you think the bandits will leave Shaanxi?"
"Rogue Thief, this is a good name!"
Liu Xiangyu nodded heavily: "Today in northern Shaanxi, poor people can only survive as thieves. My father thinks that these homeless thieves are not homeless thieves, but itinerant thieves."
"There is an endless stream of poor people in northern Shaanxi. According to what I saw and heard when my father was a tax collector, northern Shaanxi is a place where thieves can recruit soldiers but there is no food to support them. Within a thousand miles, the place with the most food but insufficient soldiers is Pingyang Prefecture in Shanxi Province.
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Pingyang Prefecture is located southeast of Yan'an Prefecture across the Yellow River. It was called Hedong in ancient times. Its topography is similar to the Guanzhong Basin. The soil is fertile and the rainfall is sufficient. You can enter Pingyang Prefecture by crossing the Yellow River east from Hancheng in Shaanxi.
"When the rebels become more powerful and northern Shaanxi has no troops to support, they will invade Shanxi in large numbers. This is the chance for northern Shaanxi to save itself."
Jiang is still old and spicy, and Liu Chengzong has never thought about saving himself. Now after listening to Liu Xiangyu's analysis, he has a clearer understanding of the next development of the Peasant Army.
The true invincibility of the peasant army does not mean that it can win every battle. They cannot win. They cannot win even a single battle against the organized official army.
But as long as the objective conditions for their survival do not change, there will always be a steady stream of fresh troops joining the peasant army.
Liu Xiangyu made the reason very clear: the peasants were starving to death and the officers and soldiers had no pay.
The former turns the people into bandits, and the latter turns the refugees into militarizers.
If this environment does not change, no matter how powerful the army is in combat and can wipe out the rebels a hundred times, the rebels will still rise one hundred and one times in this soil.
Corruption makes administration inefficient. The imperial court collects 200,000 yuan in taxes, but the money collected from local people has reached millions.
At this time, Liu Xiangyu was still thinking of saving himself.
"How can father save himself?"
"When the bandits entered the Jin Dynasty, the imperial court must have come to its senses. The emperor had made it clear that taxes in Qin would be exempted, and an edict was issued to provide disaster relief. We, the gentry, built trenches and forts, built water conservancy projects for irrigation, and all townships and counties took in the refugees.
Keep your body and armor together, and when the bandit comes back, you will have a place to live, and he will not cause trouble again."
Liu Xiangyu said it very simply, and the reason is also very simple: We farmers in Shaanxi have always been honest and honest, and as long as we can still have a mouthful of food to eat, we will never be proud of committing chaos.
At the same time, he also had great hopes for the imperial court, counting on the imperial court to provide disaster relief and tax exemptions.
But in Liu Chengzong's eyes, this was entirely an illusion caused by differences in received information.
What he saw was that it was not easy for the people in Heilongwangmiaoshan to make a living. However, some water conservancy projects were built last year, and the land could still be cultivated this year. Yan'an Prefecture was not in chaos. Some places were indeed in emergency situations, but he did not see it with his own eyes.
There is absolutely no concept in my mind.
The greatest damage was that the entire village fled into the mountains and disappeared.
Therefore, he believed that the imperial court had not provided disaster relief so far, but if it freed up its hands to provide disaster relief later, the matter could still be solved.
Liu Xiangyu single-handedly preserved this paradise-like Xingpingli, as if every village could be restored with a little more care.
But this was already the result of what he saw and heard as he had two sons serving as soldiers in the border fortress.
For other gentry, the high-walled compound where they live is just a side wall, blocking out all the barbarians outside the side wall. It is difficult for normal gentry and officials to know what the situation is in northern Shaanxi today - even if they
Just in northern Shaanxi.
"Father, if you want to build a fort, build it now; if you want to train troops, it is best for all the people in Xingpingli to be soldiers. My son has calculated that there are fifty people in each team, and the young and strong men from 20 to 50 can form five more teams."
"Similarly, four teams of strong women can be formed; and the remaining children from twelve and up can also form three teams."
"These twelve Minzhuang teams are combined into one team to form machine soldiers. The machine team drills every day, and the Minzhuang team trains in three groups every day. So each month, the machine soldiers train for 24 days, and the Minzhuang team trains for six days."
"Even if they build a fortress and defend themselves, they will be more likely to obey orders and not panic too much if they seek out their captain when trouble comes. Even if they are in trouble and cannot do anything about it, they won't be left behind too much if they run away for their lives."
In fact, the normal training of Minzhuang only has this effect. It is practiced six days a month so that Minzhuang understands the commands, is familiar with the camp formation, and can look for leaders and not panic when encountering difficulties. This means that the training is very effective.
And after years of accumulation, they will also have extraordinary military knowledge and be able to adapt to the needs of being incorporated into the regular army during wartime.
Liu Chengzong had a deeper plan when he made such a suggestion. He raised his finger and pointed at the military book he was reading, and said: "We can also select literate people from the villagers. We will teach others how to read in the afternoon of the regiment exercises, and we will teach them when the new book is compiled."
them."
"Father also said that there is no shortage of troops in northern Shaanxi. It is easy to recruit troops. As long as Minzhuang learns these things, if the situation gets worse in the future, we can also let them recruit troops on the spot and train them all to become captains."
This kind of goal was a bit ambitious, and it attracted Liu Xiangyu's attention.
Even if you don't count the Women's Team and the Boy's Team, there are only 300 people in the 6th Team of Single Machine Soldiers and Minzhuang. If one day the situation changes and the remaining half is damaged, there will still be more than 100 captains.
If we gather the refugees again, a team of fifty people will become a militia of 5,000 people, which is more than a full battalion.
A standard camp in the Ming Dynasty was usually three thousand in size.
Liu Xiangyu was a little moved. These were all things that had been prepared in advance. If the situation was really bad enough that they needed to form a battalion, then the situation would have been reduced to the point where the imperial court had no time to manage the place and organize soldiers.
From this point alone, he could feel that his son was far more pessimistic about the next development of the current situation than he was.
"If we really get to that point, I'm afraid it will be too late to prepare anymore..." Liu Xiangyu shook his head and came back to his senses: "I have to discuss this matter with the clan elders before making a decision. There are a few things you need to do later."
"Let the transportation company find the kiln factory for the earth, wood and stone needed to build the stronghold. You and Chengzu will look for a place suitable for building the stronghold in the past few days, measure the location and calculate the required materials and manpower."
"There are also weapons for the mechanized troops. The Yan'an Guards only sent four muskets. They could also ask for some three-eyed muskets, quick guns, etc., but there is not enough gunpowder, and they will miss important events."
As he spoke, Liu Xiangyu searched among the books piled up on the table. He took out a few pieces of paper sandwiched in the middle of the book and handed them over and said: "I thought about it, and I still have to use crossbows to deal with the bandits.
The crossbow is the best."
The drawing handed over by Liu Xiangyu showed the various structures of a repeating crossbow. He said, "Take it to a carpenter and make one first. If it is suitable for use, make more and teach the people how to strengthen."
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Note: For privately owned vests, side cards, fire tubes, artillery, flags, trumpets and other weapons that should be banned, the price of a staff is eighty, and each item will be added one level; private manufacturers will be charged one level for private crimes, each
The stick that stops sin travels three thousand miles for one hundred miles.
If it's not perfect, don't worry about it. You'll be ordered to accept the official post.
Bows, arrows, spears, knives, crossbows, harpoons and harpoons are not prohibited.
——"The Laws of the Ming Dynasty·The Rules of War·Military Administration·Privately Possessed Weapons That Should Be Prohibited"