In the late first month of the fourth year of Chongzhen, the ice and snow in the Juerwan Valley began to disappear.
Baiyan Taiji picked up the armor at Riyue Mountain, and with satisfaction, escorted by Dai Daozi, set off back to Bajiao City in Xiaohetao.
This year has passed so happily for him.
Liu Chengzong brought a lot of firecrackers, and he showed off enough. He also gave five sets of purple cloth armor and fifty official-made wild goose feather waist knives.
This batch of three-handed waist sword armor is of great value, and they are all good things. They were all made by Shanxi Pingyang Guard Arms Bureau in the 25th year of Wanli. They are worth at least twenty-six taels of silver in Han Dynasty.
In Qinghai, they are worth 700 sheep, which is approximately equal to the entire property of three middle-class herdsmen families.
And it’s still very affordable.
The number of waist knives controlled by Baiyan Taiji increased by 30%.
To put it bluntly, Taiji is not poor, on the contrary, he is very rich.
In the tribe of Baiyan, there are five large clans and more than thirty small clans. Each head has more than 300 livestock and can assemble more than 3,000 cavalry and herdsmen.
But their main weapons are light bows, hooks and sickles, bones and dog-beating sticks.
The dog-beating stick is not a stick, but a homemade tool used by people in the pastoral areas of Amdo to prevent wild beasts. It is tied with an iron block with a rope, similar to a meteor dart, and is called Goerkaer.
Here, only the hook-and-scythe gun is the standard weapon of Tumote, and it is also the main culprit of the nine-border Ming army's beheadings.
Historically, when Mongolia attacked the Han region, they were recruited by the largest tribal leader before the war. They agreed to gather somewhere on a certain day, and all tribes would nomadicly go there to discuss the direction of the invasion and complete pre-war reorganization.
In a group of three, there will be a rider with a hook and sickle, who is responsible for charging and hooking up fallen people or corpses. Generally, they hook one person and throw them on the spare horse, and then they can run away.
This is an artifact for entrepreneurship outside the Great Wall. According to their tradition, those who are lured back must repay their kindness.
What was hooked back was the body, which was handed over to the widow, and the things on her body and the horse belonged to the person who carried the body.
If the rescued person is an ordinary person, then the family property will be divided equally with the benefactor.
If it is Taiji who is rescued, then he will be rewarded. According to tradition, the nobles will take out their armor, horses, and money and let the benefactor choose.
It is said that Ji's ancestors were also rich, and his grandfather was the brother of Ada Khan.
When his father was young, Tumut's Anda Khan completely bankrupted the Ming Dynasty's economic sanctions with the help of the White Lotus Cult.
Han'er built Bansheng in Tumochuan, manufactured daily necessities, forged sharp soldiers and armor, ladders and poles, and siege equipment, so that 30,000 households on the right flank had more than 40,000 armored cavalry.
Even when it comes to dividing the accounts, his tribe has thousands of armors and collars, more than 4,000 sabers, and relatively few weapons such as hooks, sickles, and spears.
At that time, the Tumut tribe was the undisputed overlord of the grasslands, and the war horses of 30,000 households on the right wing were heading towards it, bringing nightmares to everyone.
The Shan Ordos tribe was completely cut off from Huangtaiji. Under the order of Ananda Khan, in the 41st year of Jiajing, he conquered Oara and conquered Torghut; in the 45th year of Jiajing, he conquered Uzang; in the first year of Wanli, he penetrated the Oirat pastureland.
The troops reached Suiye City, defeated the Kazakh Khan Aksar, and took his wife back.
Such a ferocious spirit, but the greatest achievement during the Wanli period was the compilation of a Buddhist classic, and his official position was promoted from commander of Qianshi to general of dragon and tiger.
Because Zhao Quan, the leader of the White Lotus Sect, died, he was escorted to Beijing by Anda Khan who established the Ming Dynasty and was killed.
Since then, Tumut and even the entire Monan have once again lost the ability to make their own armor.
Up to now, the number of soldiers and armors maintained by various Mongolian tribes varies.
Generally speaking, they occupy trade routes. Those who are farther away from the Ming Dynasty have more soldiers and armor, and those who are closer to the Ming Dynasty or in remote places have fewer soldiers and armor.
Among those who fought a big battle with the Ming Dynasty and lost, he had the least armor - this almost made him the Huoluo Chibabu of Qinghai.
Their sabers and armor were mostly lost.
Because of its entrepreneurial characteristics, the anti-barb sickle gun has become the most widely kept weapon in the tribe.
And he only has one hundred and thirty-seven decent sabers, including the one on Weiyan's waist.
Most of the remaining knives here are hidden knives, all of which were stolen earlier.
Many times, people know clearly that what they put into their mouths is poison, and they have to take it when they should.
It is said that Taiji is not stupid, and he knows very well what Liu Chengzong's intention is in giving him the armor and waist knife.
I only gave him things, and Lazun got nothing. It was clear that I was trying to sow discord between brothers.
But can he not want these things? No.
In the words of Liu Chengzong, where are you now? There will be countless things for you to buy in the future.
There are indeed countless things.
After the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the weather near Xining is still freezing at night, but it is getting warmer during the day.
The Lion Army also got busy, taking advantage of the daytime to push the clay dug out of the nests last autumn to the riverside, and built several brick kilns, which they would start firing when the weather warmed up.
On the other side, Liu Chengzong took Lin Wei around the valley and began to measure the abandoned land suitable for farming.
The geographical location of Juerwan is similar to a T-junction. From west to east is the Huangshui River Basin, and from north to south is the Yaoshui River. It is very conducive to building canals for irrigation, but there is not much flat farmland.
Because he didn't understand the agricultural situation here, Liu Chengzong sent someone to call Gonpo Dorje from Riyue Mountain.
After some inquiry, based on his current manpower situation, the situation is relatively optimistic.
The fields here are divided into three types: Sichuan water land, shallow mountain land, and mountainous land. Sichuan water land is naturally the best, with low altitude, high temperature, sufficient irrigation, and naturally large yields.
Naoshandi is just the opposite.
After measurement, the surrounding fields suitable for canal irrigation can be divided into three triangular areas, two in the northwest and one in the south. They are all flat land between rivers. Three large canals and twelve branch canals need to be built, which can irrigate the surrounding fields for 20,000 yuan.
More than seven thousand acres.
In the mountains, there are more than 60,000 acres of shallow mountain land and more than 80,000 acres of mountainous land. The yield per mu of grain grown in these places is not as good as that of northern Shaanxi.
After Lin Wei's calculations, he recruited refugees and mountain people to cultivate the land and leave enough for the people's living needs. The grain handed over in the first year would be enough for the army to provide one-twenty-fifth of the grain.
The follow-up depends on the development of trading towns. If all the fields can be reclaimed and utilized, one-twentieth to one-tenth of the problem can be solved.
In other words, at most, they can receive less than 20,000 stone grains here.
At this moment, Liu Chengzong suddenly realized.
Why Lazun's Timba is one-tenth? Because there are many mountain fields, and after leaving the necessary rations for the people to live, what can be collected is only a little more than one-tenth.
And it’s already heavily taxed.
However, Liu Shizi is very optimistic about the future development of Juerwan. It is impossible for one Juerwan to support nearly 20,000 troops.
Xining can't help much. Although there is a large enough market there, with 10,000 shi of grain available for sale every year, there is still surplus agricultural power.
This year the people in the Hehuang Valley are diversifying their food supply, and the food that finally appeared on the market can almost supply the three thousand people of my eldest brother.
His soldiers need 700 kilograms of food a year, and this place can feed 2,000 people.
But there are more than a thousand craftsmen alone. If only the craftsmen are left here, they will be robbed sooner or later, so at least one thousand more troops must be stationed in Cowan.
So he planned a defense system of one city, three forts and twelve piers, made building equipment, and prepared to ram earth to build the fort.
Although there is a city in the plan, the need for the city is not urgent. It is mainly a fortress south of the Yaoshui River.
The illegal construction that Liu Chengzong had been preparing for a long time finally came into use.
He planned to let Lin Weixian build a fort in the valley that strangles the Yaoshui River fifteen miles to the south. It was a geomantic treasure, and the valley was only two hundred paces wide.
As long as a fort is built there, all the people coming from Xiaohetao and passing through the river valley will be within the range of guns and artillery.
With a few lion cannons, twenty muskets, and a garrison of two to three hundred men, we can guard the southern gate of the Cowan.
As for Juerwan, it is mainly planned as a logistics base, with three areas: market, factory and camp. The camp is located in the city, and the factory and market are located outside the city.
This is a huge project that cannot be completed in two years.
Nowadays, the camp is not a problem. The underground nests in the Chinese military camp are just about the same. Even if there is a need in the future, they can be expanded.
The need for a city wall is not urgent. Now we can just make a rough plan.
In Liu Chengzong's plan, Ju'erwan will be the center of the entire Qinghai in the next few years or even more than ten years. The road facilities further to the west cannot keep up, and it is far away from Han Dynasty, making it unfavorable for the Eastern Expedition.
His capital can only be here.
Therefore, if the city wall is really built in the future, it may occupy farmland, and if it is further expanded, it can be left to Lin Wei to slowly build it. He is only responsible for building a university in the city as his highest university.
"This school will occupy fifty acres of land and have three departments: elementary, middle and large, and nine departments: economics, arithmetic, law, liberal arts, agriculture, industry, commerce, medicine, and military. I want my husband to be the headmaster."<
/p>
Yang Dingrui sighed when he heard Liu Chengzong's request.
Being the president of the academy is a very comfortable job, but now that the academy doesn't even have bricks, Liu Shizi can only make demands. This is not a mountain president, but a foreman.
I have never heard of any mountain chief building a school on his own first.
But Liu Shishi had already spoken, so what could Yang Dingrui do? He asked, "Are you planning to march westward?"
Liu Chengzong nodded: "As for food issues, we must be self-sufficient as soon as possible. Xining and Juerwan can support an army of six thousand, leaving just over ten thousand to go to Qinghai Lake."
After saying that, Liu Chengzong smiled and said: "Dai Qing has been waiting for me and the five hundred people for such a long time, so we should finally meet him."
"You used to scare Dai Qing to death."
Yang Dingrui laughed, and the news that Chen Qindai was in Dai Qing's place had spread.
They all know that Dai Qing came from Mobei and has 800 soldiers. The equipment in Mobei may be better than that of Huoluo Chibei, which was severely weakened by the Ming Dynasty, but no matter how good it is, how much better can it be? In the Ming Dynasty, there were several generals, generals, and the Lion Army raised by guerrillas. There were no well-equipped troops in the northwest.
Which army in this land can provide everyone with weapons, armor, horses, and mules?
Yang Dingrui sat on the fire bed and said with a smile: "Go ahead and leave it to me to build the school. It's better to build the school early and recruit some students to make up for the losses in the battle in the future."
"But I don't think it's necessary to cram it all into one government school. Why not just build a military school?"
Liu Chengzong shook his head and said: "I don't know, and I have never tried to separate subjects like this. Let's try them all. The small courtyard is in charge of Kaimen's accounting and recruiting children."
"The Intermediate Court is in charge of law, literature, agriculture, industry, commerce, medicine, the military, and recruiting young people. Like the small courts, it is all about popularizing education; the large courts are responsible for bringing together the most knowledgeable people in various fields for intensive study." Liu Chengzong painted a beautiful picture to Yang Dingrui. He opened his hands and said: "In the future, our territory will be wider and we will establish small social schools in every place. Those who are willing to continue learning can go to the middle school in Juerwan."
Come."
"Those who study law can join the government as low-level assistant officers, those who study literature can teach in small courtyards or join the army as teachers, those who study engineering can enter our third engineering bureau, and those who study business can work in Juerwan or enter the Qinghai government-run trade
, those who study medicine can also join the army at home."
Liu Chengzong said, raising a smile: "Not to mention those who studied the army, these people can accumulate greater strength for our Eastern Expedition in the future."
"Eastern March..."
Yang Dingrui sighed: "Lion, have you thought carefully about the Eastern Expedition?"
"Sir, I don't have time to think about it. We can't support ourselves with food. We are almost surrounded by the Mongols. We are short of people and food. We can only do it step by step."
Yang Dingrui smiled happily, raised his hand and said: "I know you haven't thought about it carefully, so I thought about it... Guanqiao is in Lanzhou and Anduo."
Liu Chengzong of Lanzhou knew that he was not familiar with Amdo. This was a general geographical location, a large area between Uzang and Xining, from northwest to southeast.
He asked: "Anduo?"
"What do you think of the Eastern March? Fighting back the same way?"
Yang Dingrui smiled and said: "Our problem is not fighting, but food. If we want to march eastward, we must first eliminate our worries. Our worries are with Zhang Guo. To solve the problem of the Hexi Corridor, we must let Lanzhou have problems."
”
Lanzhou is the main grain storage camp of Gansu Town. Taking Lanzhou will cut off the supply and connection of grain and grass to Gansu Town.
The Huoluo Chibu thought the same way in the past, so the Ming Dynasty launched the seven-month Battle of Songshan to build a new frontier of Songshan and completely defeated it.
Liu Chengzong nodded and asked, "What about Anduo?"
"There are mountains and seas in the east, and Songpan in the west. We enter Sichuan from Songpan Wei. Songpan was the headquarters of the general military officer during the Wanli period. Later, Yang Yinglong in Bozhou rebelled and the Sichuan general military headquarters was moved to Chongqing. Songpan only had the deputy general military officer, which could not stop us.
”
"When Gansu's worries are eliminated, we can hold Qinghai-Tibet in hand, march directly to Longxi and capture Hanzhong, send partial troops into Sichuan, and attack from both inside and outside, we can seize the gateway to Sichuan."
Liu Chengzong rubbed his chin and thought to himself, the road there was quite dangerous in his memory.
However, if we can really hold Qinghai-Tibet in hand, it may not be impossible with local help.
It is a good way to seize Sichuan through internal and external attacks, but this road is too difficult.
But if it succeeds, we can directly attack Huguang from Sichuan... Liu Chengzong shook his head: "Sir, this is far beyond our current strength. We don't have the ability to think about such a thing at the moment."
He couldn't even think of anyone around him who could serve as the leader of the Sichuan Division.
Yang Dingrui nodded to express his understanding and said: "It doesn't matter, I will continue to think in this direction. Anyway, if you leave me in Juerwan, I can send people to the east to find out the news, but you want me to build a university and become a university."
Handsome guys have to write something for me, right?"
"What to write?"
"Write a couplet and let the craftsmen carve it on the gate when the academy is completed."
"You said this, it's easy to handle!"
Liu Chengzong suddenly realized it, got up, found paper and pen in Yang Dingrui's cave, waved his hand and wrote down twenty words.
"Go to the hospital to study and read thousands of years of classics; go out to join the army and travel thousands of miles across the country."
