Liu Chengzong did not plan to stay in Suzhou City for too long.
Originally, according to his idea, the troops coming from the expedition needed a few days to rest, and Suzhou was a good place to rest. At the same time, he could also get familiar with the land by reading the official documents of Suzhou Wei.
The latter was the most important to Liu Chengzong, because all he needed to fight the war was soldiers, horses, money and food. The expeditionary force of the Marshal's Mansion had soldiers and horses, but the money, food, weapons and equipment were all consumables that were eaten less and damaged each time.
The Jiuquan Oasis where Suzhou is located has both military productivity and a large amount of irrigation and agriculture, making it a rare and important stronghold.
However, Liu Chengzong only spent two days in the city. He took out the old documents from the Weisuo Yamen and dried them. After a few cursory glances, he gave up the plan of reading the official documents.
Not reliable.
None of the data on population and land is reliable.
This was also expected by Liu Chengzong. It is said that there are policies and countermeasures, and the government and the people are always in a dynamic game. In the early Ming Dynasty, the population was valued, and the people worked hard to hide the population. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, taxes were shifted to the fields, and the people worked hard to hide the acres.
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This change led Liu Chengzong to want to know the accurate population number, but in the past hundred years, neither the court nor the government wanted to know the accurate population number; he wanted to know the accurate number of acres, but in the past hundred years, the common people did not want the court or the government to know the accurate number.
The number of acres of land.
Therefore, Liu Chengzong simply summoned Song Xian, the current commander of the Suzhou Guard, and asked straight to the point: "How many people and households are there in the Suzhou Guard?"
Song Xian lowered his head and said: "Come back to the Commander-in-Chief, I am also sorting out the population and farmland matters in the past few days."
Liu Chengzong nodded: "How about it, are you having trouble doing things? You've almost lost all your money."
Suzhou Wei does not have prefectures and counties, and the military and political affairs are jointly managed. Therefore, the same official positions are somewhat different from those in the mainland, which is mainly reflected in the greater power to supervise civil affairs.
Therefore, it is his job to be in charge of government affairs. However, Song Xian was not an experienced subordinate as he was a merchant, so Liu Chengzong was worried that it would be more difficult for him to do his job.
Liu Chengzong's worries were not groundless. He selected several officers from the Huben camp who were skilled in baggage to check Song Xian's accounts.
This guy is indeed good at making money. In two years, his property has increased from more than a thousand taels of cash to more than ten thousand taels. However, this is reflected in the accounts. Liu Chengzong feels that the money he earns has little to do with ability, but has a lot to do with luck.<
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In the past year, he has dealt with all walks of life. In the wine and hemp ropes, he can maintain a break-even profit, but in lending, housing, and pawns, he has suffered losses. Especially the pawn shop, the accounts have been falsified, and many things in the warehouse have been destroyed by the Three Tribulations.
The shopkeeper took out the money, and the account book was a big hole that couldn't be filled up at all.
After the burning of the IOUs and the uprising, his property had shrunk severely. Even including shops, fields, carriages, horses and ships, it was only three thousand taels of silver... This coincided with the Marshal's national policy of equalizing land, and Song Xian acted as
The governor of Suzhou set an example and confiscated all the fields.
His property will be discounted again.
When Liu Chengzong met him, he originally intended to give him a high official position because Song Xian abided by the law and was very humane as a businessman; but then again, in business, if he was too humane, he would not be a good businessman.
To measure a person's ability, it depends on what industry the person is engaged in. Different industries have different values, and in a business, it depends on how much money they can earn.
Therefore, in Liu Shizi's view, the money of this good man in Suzhou is more like he worked hard through luck and is slowly losing money based on his ability.
When Liu Chengzong raised such concerns, Song Xian smiled sheepishly, clasped his fists and expressed his different views on wealth. He said: "Back to the Marshal, I don't have much ability in my humble position. I rely on studying for a few years to tinker with some Western stuff."
Smuggling to the southeast, I traveled thousands of miles and experienced many lives and deaths. My hometown was full of yellow sand, and the southeast was full of gold."
"There was a drought in Shaanxi on the way home. Thirty copper coins meant a life." Song Xian shook his head: "The world is in chaos, and money is nothing more than what is outside the body."
"But in Suzhou Guard, I have some popularity, so I won't delay the commander-in-chief's affairs."
Liu Chengzong nodded, and then Song Xian got to the point: "Suzhou Wei household registration is required to be registered once every ten years, but it can be traced back to the Jiajing period when there were 8,762 Suzhou Wei households, 10,000
Eight hundred and thirty, and it has not changed since then."
"I estimate that there are more people in Suzhou than this. Although the guard station has been short of soldiers over the years, the deserted soldiers have not left the oasis and the local population is still growing."
"Now that the commander-in-chief has taken control of Suzhou, it has suffered some wars, but some people have fled the oasis. In addition, the commander-in-chief also wants to incorporate military registration into the civilian registration. Due to a large number of household registration changes, past documents cannot be referenced."
"The fields need to be re-measured and the household registration needs to be re-registered. These are not things that can be done in a short time." After Song Xian said this, he handed over his hands and said, "I hope the commander will give me two months to complete this matter." Two months.
Liu Chengzong pondered this time in his heart, and said without comment: "In two months, the land will be divided into acres of land, registered in the household registration, and divided into fields. How much land can be divided into one person in Suzhou?"
Most local officials in the Ming Dynasty did not pay attention to the accurate number of people, but the number of fields. Liu Chengzong was the same. After all, he did not collect a poll tax.
Statistics are just a means for Liu Chengzong to grasp local conditions. All means point to one goal, summer grain in Jiuquan Oasis.
The reform of the land system has occurred in almost every dynasty change and internal reform in ancient China. The concept of land allocation has never been a new concept. Song Xian, as an official in charge of political affairs in Suzhou, immediately understood that the land equalization system was the basic policy of the Marshal's Office. This question made him confident: "Back to the Marshal, Suzhou Wei's land should be between 20 and 40 acres per farm."
The huge number shocked Liu Chengzong, and he blurted out: "So many?"
In fact, the number itself is not large, but the place Liu Chengzong is most familiar with is Hehuang, where the land is narrow and densely populated. Each family has six or seven acres of land, and each family only has 20 acres of land.
If the wine spring is well poured, one person can grant twenty acres of land.
He asked: "After all, Jiuquan has two to three hundred thousand acres of land?"
"More than that."
Song Xian explained: "The Heihe River Basin has always been a dynasty..."
Halfway through his words, he looked at Liu Chengzong with wide eyes and fear, but Liu Chengzong smiled indifferently and waved his hand: "Go on."
"Fields have been cultivated in Heishui since the early Ming Dynasty. The earliest planned farmland in Jiuquan Oasis was nearly 300,000 acres, which did not include the pastureland of Jinta Temple outside the pass."
When Song Xian talked about this, he said clearly: "However, the changes in the fields are mainly in two aspects. The first is easy to deal with, which is the case of the guards and internal police encroaching on the fertile fields. The humble officials have arrested more than a dozen families of old officials who occupied the fields.
Just wait for the commander-in-chief to make his decision."
Liu Chengzong nodded slightly, indicating for him to continue.
"The second is the weather changes throughout Hexi. Jiuquan has been cultivating fields. The land that can be used for farming should be no less than 500,000 acres. However, in the early decades, there was a lack of water and sand, and fertile land was occupied. Water conservancy was not good, and disasters were frequent.
It happens frequently, and military households are helpless when faced with famine, so they can only sow extensively and reap little."
Song Xian spread his hands and said: "After decades of extensive farming, the fields in Jiuquan Oasis have become increasingly barren. Even if some areas have been reclaimed, they have now become sandy land. Therefore, the fields that can be used for farming now are
It’s only 200,000 acres.”
After explaining the difficulties of farming in Hexi, Song Xian took a careful look at Liu Chengzong and said: "I know that Hehuang can produce more than a hundred kilograms of grain per mu. Jiuquan Ji dictates that although the fields are many acres, the harvest of the people must be difficult to compare with Hehuang's neck."
”
Liu Chengzong shook his head, looking a little disappointed.
Different places face different environments. Hehuang has fertile soil. As long as there are people and people have land, equalizing the land can solve all the problems of the Marshal's Mansion.
But Hexi is different from Hehuang. The biggest problem here is that the poor have no place to stand. It is that the environment has been destroyed by decades of extensive farming, and the lack of fertility has led to a decrease in yield per mu and even soil desertification.
This problem cannot be solved by the Marshal's Office's land equalization and tax payment. The land equalization and tax payment must be based on the people being able to be self-sufficient with half of the grain production. Twenty acres of extensive farming in Jiuquan may not be as good as five acres in Hehuang. Improved land
It is also wishful thinking for the poor people.
After all, in a vast area with few people, every acre of land is cultivated intensively, far beyond the capabilities of ordinary people.
The problem before Song Xian was that the Sixth Battalion of soldiers and horses from the Marshal's Mansion had entered Hexi and were waiting for summer grain supplies from Jiuquan. These six battalions of soldiers and horses also carried horses and mules. In fact, the baggage officer of Huben Camp had already told him the number needed.
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To maintain combat effectiveness, an army of more than 20,000 people, not counting horses and grass, needs 19,583 dan of wheat and beans every month.
The summer grain harvest in the entire Jiuquan Oasis is only enough to feed the Sixth Camp of the Marshal's Mansion for three months without starving the locals.
Liu Chengzong's disappointment did not come from the low yield of Jiuquan Oasis, but mainly because of the situation in Hexi. Jiuquan was like this, Liangzhou didn't know what to do, but Ganzhou must have the same behavior.
He still has two months of grain, which means that Jiuquan must collect summer grain before May, and the front line needs to advance to between Ganzhou and Liangzhou before June.
Because of conservative estimates, it will take two months to equalize the land in the larger Ganzhou Zhangye oasis, otherwise he will not be able to survive this winter.
This means that there is only three months left for him.
Liu Chengzong tapped his fingers lightly on the tea eucalyptus, looking blankly at the ceiling and thinking about the problem.
During this period of time, Song Xian stood in front of him in fear. The so-called companionship of the king is like a tiger because he didn't know what the tiger in front of him would say in the next moment.
Until the sound of Liu Chengzong tapping the tea eucalyptus with his fingers stopped, he raised his eyes to look at Song Xian and said seriously: "As long as you do three things well, other things will have nothing to do with you. There is no need to be anxious, first."
Liu Chengzong raised his hand and said to Song Xian: "Those officials who were arrested for occupying military fields do not need to be detained or selected. After their property is confiscated, they will all be sent to the Haixi County quarry, where their true talents and learning will be tested." p>
"Second, it is land equalization and summer grain expropriation. The Suzhou Guard confiscated a lot of money and grain. The expropriation of wheat and beans can solve one-third of the problem. The rest will be bought with the confiscated money. In short, 60,000 shi of army grain will be fixed before May.
Dead."
Song Xian responded solemnly. He knew very well what would happen to him if this matter was not handled well.
Fortunately, he is involved in the shochu business in Jiuquan, and mobilizing confiscated money to buy grain is his job. However, after this incident, I am afraid that the shochu business will also have to close down... It is a foregone conclusion that the assets will shrink again.
"As for the third thing, it's a good thing that we can't just let you do sinful things."
When Liu Chengzong said this, he finally smiled and said: "When I was in Shaanxi, Zhou Zhizhou of Ningzhou gave me a book called "Tumai Mintian". It was written by Geng Yinlou, a Jinshi during the Tianqi period, with a value of three thousand
With many words, this person is a county magistrate in Shandong."
The magistrate of Ningzhou is Zhou Zhouqiang, who served as a county magistrate in Lijin, Shandong, and Geng Yinlou, who wrote "Tumai Mintian", was a county magistrate in Linzi.
"The situation under the rule of Gengzhi County is slightly similar to that of Jiuquan. There are many people but little land, and the people are planting extensively and harvesting little. Under such conditions, it is impossible to implement intensive farming and farming extensively, and planting extensively and harvesting little will make the land deteriorate, so he invented the land-loving method.
, write it down in the book."
"The book says that the reason why this method is called Qintian is to favor the land more than others. Everything is biased, just like people are selfish and are more affectionate than others."
Liu Chengzong spread his hands and said: "To be specific, a family of five divides a hundred acres of farmland into five districts. Eighty acres are still widely cultivated and the harvest is poor, but only one district of twenty acres is selected to plow, sow, rake, and add manure.
Several times. If there is a drought, it will be irrigated with water. Even if there is no water, it will be better than taking care of other fields."
"In this way, in a good year, the harvest can be many times that of the other eighty acres; even in droughts and floods, the other eighty acres can be harvested; if there is a locust plague, the whole family can guard these twenty acres, and both
It can catch and save locusts, but it can also avoid locusts."
"In the second year, choose another area and continue to cultivate the fields according to the previous method. Then, if you cultivate a hundred acres of land in five years, you can cultivate a fertile land. This matter is not limited to the number of acres. If there are twenty acres of land, every land will be cultivated.
Each district has five acres; if there are two hundred acres of land, each district has forty acres."
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After Liu Chengzong finished speaking, he asked Song Xian: "Do I understand this land-related method?"
songs
After that, Suzhou Guards spread all over the land!"
The method of the pro-field method is very simple, but the most difficult part of this type of agricultural method is not innovation, but promotion. Without the promotion of those in power, there is no possibility of large-scale implementation. If it is used by each household, it will not make much sense.<
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Liu Chengzong was not as optimistic as Song Xian. He just said: "Given the situation in Jiuquan Oasis, with decades of extensive planting and poor harvest, it may not be possible to reverse the soil fertility in five years. However, if we follow the land-loving method, the soil fertility will definitely be better than before every round.
If one round doesn't work, just do two rounds. If two rounds don't work, just do three rounds. It will always make the place full of wine."
As Liu Chengzong finished speaking, guards outside the hall came into the hall holding letters.
Liu Chengzong opened the letter and saw that it was Gao Yingdeng's handwriting. The letter stated that a Ming army of more than 2,000 men was stationed at the edge of the high platform. He had set up pocket formations in the desert, but he failed to wait until the enemy took the bait.<
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At this time, this army had set up a stronghold and dug trenches to establish a defense line on the high platform. Later, two Ming armies of more than 2,000 people also joined the defense line. Gao Yingdeng speculated that the Ming army's strategy was to defend to the death.
Therefore, he sent Tangqi to fight, and both sides won and lost. From the prisoners' mouths, he learned that the leader of the troops was Li Hongsi, the deputy general of Suzhou, and the two reinforcements were General Ganzhou Road, a martial arts man from Xianning, Xi'an Prefecture.
Lin Chengdong, a Liangzhou guard who was born in a hundred households and was a Zhenyi guerrilla in the Tang and Ming Dynasties.
Liu Chengzong looked extremely happy after reading the letter. He stood up and patted Song Xian on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Okay, you go and do your business. They are always like this. When they see me, they pretend to be beaten."
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"I will give you one year to implement the Qintian Law in Jiuquan Oasis. If the war goes well and you do these three things well, in the next two years, it may be the whole of Hexi that needs you to promote the Qintian Law."<