The sky was just getting slightly brighter when Pang Gang, Da Zhuang, Gou Sheng and Li Xian and his son rode the five horses that Pang Gang bought at a high price from Lingshan Guards and galloped towards the southeast.
Riding his horse along the river, Pang Gang took a look at the condition of the land from Wanghai Fort to Lingshan Guard. In fact, the soil quality of these lands was pretty good, but it was just due to the disrepair of water conservancy and inconvenient irrigation, and the fact that the officers of the guard station were killing goose to obtain eggs.
The exploitation method has caused most of these originally good fields to be laid waste. This was the case in the north of the Ming Dynasty. There was drought and little rain, and farming relied entirely on irrigation. Where there is water, it is fertile soil, and where there is no water, it is desert. The dependence on the irrigation system
great.
But in fact, it is not that there are no rivers around Wanghai Fort. There is a river that goes straight into the sea ten miles away from Wanghai Fort and next to Lingshan Guards. It is just because the water conservancy here has been in disrepair for a long time, leaving dozens of miles of land around without water for irrigation, so that
Turning the original fertile farmland into wasteland.
Slowly walking along the road, you can still see traces of ditches that were originally built to irrigate farmland, but now these ditches have been abandoned, and only faintly visible lines remain.
Looking at these abandoned lands, Li Xian said distressedly: "Sir, it's a pity that these lands are so abandoned. If river water can be introduced here, these thousands of acres of abandoned land can be turned into fertile farmland!"
Looking at the distressed Li Xian beside him, Pang Gang sighed softly. The deep masonry wells for irrigation and the water conservancy for irrigation are not something that just anyone can dig. The manpower and material resources must be invested in them.
But it's grown up.
Of course, if the government and the guards can dredge and repair these canals, this area can become fertile farmland. Unfortunately, it is the late Ming Dynasty, and the Ming government has completely collapsed. The government and the gentry colluded to destroy what should have been
The grain taxes paid by oneself were transferred to military households and civilians, which made farmers and military households overwhelmed and fled, resulting in a large number of farmland being abandoned and uncultivated.
This is also the result of the excessive exploitation of the people at the bottom by the ruling class. On the one hand, a large amount of farmland has been abandoned and no one is cultivating it. On the other hand, the price of food has been rising year after year, which has led to people who have no means of livelihood and have revolted.
After the Chongzhen period, the country's fiscal revenue has dropped to less than four million taels per year. However, in the Jiangnan region alone, there are more than a hundred wealthy salt merchants with millions of assets. The country's annual fiscal revenue is even less than
Just a businessman, from this you can see how tight the finances of such a court were.
Pang Gang pondered for a long time before asking Li Xiandao: "How long will it take to dredge these water conservancy projects all the way to Wanghai Fort, and how much silver will it cost?"
Li Xian made an estimate and answered, "To tell you what, if you want to divert water from the river to Wanghai Castle, you will need at least 500 manpower and at least 8,000 taels of silver, otherwise it will be impossible."
"Hiss..." Pang Gang took a breath. Five thousand taels of silver was not a small amount for him now. His entire net worth now totaled only more than two thousand taels. How could he even cultivate a man?
There are not enough canals.
After thinking for a while, Pang Gang asked: "If we don't finish the canal at once, but plant it wherever it is planted, how much money will we need in advance?"
Li Xian thought for a while, "Now we have only 300 households in Wanghai Fort. We can first cultivate about a thousand acres of land and build canals. In this case, we will need about 1,000 taels of silver."
"Okay!" Pang Gang is still optimistic about this plan! "As long as part of the canal can be repaired before May and some land is plowed again, we will be basically self-sufficient in food next year."
Pang Gang does not expect to become a fat man in one bite. He knows that with the current manpower and material resources, he can only do it step by step, but he is confident that he can turn this barren place into a fertile land within two years.
As long as you make your reputation known, nearby refugees will come one after another, and the increased population will increase your strength. Not to mention a small Wanghai Fort, not even the entire Lingshan Guard can stop it.
own pace.
After inspecting the land, Pang Gang took his people back to Wanghai Fort and gathered more than sixty households. Looking at the dense military households around him, he saw that each of them had disheveled hair, sallow complexion, and clothes as torn as sacks. Suddenly,
Pang Gang couldn't help but feel a heavy sense of responsibility. The future of these poor military households had fallen into his own hands. Can he really lead them to live a good life?
Li Yuan, wearing a small flag, was actively maintaining order on the side. Ever since he decided to follow Pang Gang, he had been actively expressing himself. Although Li Yuan's temper was a bit irritable, he was not stupid. He knew it in his heart.
He understood that his future was closely linked to this Master of Hundred Households. At this moment, he stood beside the people and shouted loudly: "Everyone, please be quiet. Master Hundred Households is going to lecture you and you are not allowed to speak anymore!"
Looking at the numb and longing eyes around him, Pang Gang felt an indescribable feeling in his heart. Perhaps this was the helplessness of the Chinese people in ancient times? Their destiny has always been controlled by the ruling class one after another.
In the hands of the emperor, even if a dynasty is overthrown, another emerging dynasty will emerge with new ruling classes, large and small, and the cycle will never end.
"Folks, after getting along with you these days, I believe you all know me. I am the new Baihu of Wanghai Fort. To put it bluntly, I am your parent official. From now on, we will live together in this place!
Maybe you all have doubts and things you don’t understand. It doesn’t matter. If you don’t understand something, you can ask it now and I will answer it for you one by one!”
After Pang Gang finished speaking, there was silence all around. The military households just looked at Pang Gang quietly without saying a word. There was a silence, and Pang Gang's face gradually began to change color.
Seeing that Pang Gang was about to get angry, Li Xian looked at him secretly and said something bad. Just as he was about to say something to break the deadlock, a young man standing in the back row asked softly: "Sir, if you have any arrangements, just tell us.
Just do it. But I want to know how you asked us to do it, and what’s the point here!"
As soon as he heard the sound, Li Xian, who was about to speak out, couldn't help but look at the guy with admiration, and secretly praised this guy for his discernment.
Sure enough, Pang Gang's face immediately turned cloudy when he heard someone speaking. He smiled and said loudly: "Of course I have arrangements. Today I have already inspected the ten miles of wasteland outside, which was originally a fertile farmland.
, it was only because the canal was damaged that water could not be diverted from the nearby river for irrigation, so it was abandoned. As long as everyone digs the canal again and brings water in, in June everyone can start plowing the land to grow food. And this time
The cost of digging the ditch will be paid by me, and the grain seeds and farm tools for everyone will also be paid by me, so you don’t have to worry at all!”
After hearing this, the military households looked at each other for a while. Is there really such a thing as pie in the sky?
At this time, the young man standing behind started to speak again, and asked in a suspicious voice: "Sir, do you really want to give us those seed farming tools for free?"
Pang Gang's eyes widened and he said angrily: "You think I am running a porridge shop, and I gave it to you for free. You can just go and dream. I am here to tell you clearly that the fertile fields you have cultivated will naturally
It belongs to you. I promise that you will not be harassed by others. In the first year, I will only charge you half a bucket of grain per mu. In the second year, I will collect one bucket of grain from you to repay my seeds and farm tools. In the third year, I will collect you.
Then we will start harvesting two bushels per acre, and in the future we will be limited to two bushels, and we will never collect more! Do you understand?"
When everyone heard this, they couldn't help but say that this is right. How can such a good thing happen in the world? Although the conditions offered by this huge man are quite harsh on the surface, it is clear that the carriage and horses must be paid in food in the first year.
.
But if you think about it carefully, it's not too heavy. As long as the harvest is not too bad, you can still afford to pay two buckets of fire, and it is very likely that there will be surplus food in the future. According to this statement, this reclaimed wasteland can still be done.
Yes, although this huge man looks like a very villain, in the eyes of the military households, he is much more credible than those officials and superiors who make lofty claims, which in turn gives him
They feel authentic and trustworthy.
After the lecture, Pang Gang took out an empty book, sat on a stone bench and started to register. However, our Comrade Pang Gang did not know how to use a writing brush, so he took out an unknown book from his arms.
I dipped the quill made of goose feathers from where I got it and started writing with ink. I registered these sixty households one by one according to each military household post, each household's year of registration, military role, address, family name, male
The wife, adult, etc. made notes one by one, and issued two original and duplicate books.
Seeing Pang Gang writing rapidly there, all the military households had a look of awe on their faces. They didn't expect that this man of hundreds of households could not only kill the enemy on the battlefield, but also write and write when off the battlefield. Could it be that
Is this the legendary civil and military perfection?
In ancient times, limited by the channels of communication, people who could write and write were always respected by people. Pang Gang's move also invisibly increased the image of Pang Gang in the minds of military households. This was at this time.