However, it is said that as the autumn harvest progresses, the Ming Dynasty in the north and south mostly ends with a bumper harvest, no matter how bad it is, it is an ordinary year, which makes the people who have suffered for decades burst into tears.
Even to the point of being unbelievable.
In a region like Guizhou with many mountains and little land, Guiyang Prefecture is located in a basin. Although it is mostly hills with an average altitude of about 1,100 meters, there is still a lot of arable land.
The joy of the autumn harvest filled the faces of passers-by. Men, women, old and young were wearing short clothes. From time to time, you could see some strange clothes. There were even many women with their navels exposed, walking around without feeling ashamed.
Li Dingguo was accustomed to this. In the past, he even saw women wearing underwear in some mountains, and their breasts moved violently when they jumped.
"Guiyang has a good harvest."
The guard on the side looked at the crowd like going to a market, cooked food, raw food, and a wide variety of clothes, and couldn't help but sigh.
"It's a good harvest——"
When Li Dingguo heard this, joy flowed in his eyes.
When Shaowu came to Guizhou in the second year, the first thing he did was to restore various military posts, reclaim wasteland, and implement military settlements.
The arrival of the imperial court's 20,000 troops put great pressure on this barren province. If Ding Kuichu, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, had not come all the way to deliver 100,000 shi of food (the common people ate 70,000 shi in one trip, and actually received 30,000 shi), they would have
starving.
Guangdong's grain has survived the summer, and the army has survived the autumn and winter, and by this summer, it can be considered self-sufficient.
Now that the autumn harvest is here, can't we save military rations?
When Li Dingguo thought of this, his heart immediately became excited, and he couldn't wait to ride his horse to the Yungui Tongzhi Yamen.
When Gao Yigong went to Gansu, Li Dingguo was granted the title of Commander-in-Chief of the Guizhou Army, while the Yunnan-Guizhou governor was Zhu Mou, Duke of Xuan State, who took full charge of the attack on Yunnan.
"Dingguo? Why are you here?"
Zhu Meng ate the freshly roasted wild boar leg and looked at the impatient Li Dingguo, and couldn't help but wonder.
"control!"
Li Dingguo's resolute face showed a trace of embarrassment. It was never a good thing to disturb others while they were eating.
"Sit down!"
Zhu Meng didn't take it seriously and asked someone to bring him a bench and invite him to sit down together.
Regarding Li Dingguo, after getting to know him well for a year, Zhu Meng no longer had any prejudice against him. Instead, he had a great impression of his boldness, bravery, and unyielding character.
The Ming Dynasty lacks generals who are not afraid of death.
Li Dingguo was not polite and directly picked up a pig leg and chewed it with big mouthfuls, making his cheeks bulge.
After a while, the two of them finished eating, then rubbed their bellies and looked at each other with a smile.
"Why didn't you go to patrol the guard station? Why did you come to my place?"
Zhu Meng patted his big belly and asked with a smile.
"Tongzhi, last year we reorganized the garrison and established military camps. As far as I know, there are tens of thousands of hectares. Now I am afraid that the treasury is full and we will be able to fight a war."
Li Dingguo's voice was clear and loud, as if he didn't know what a turn was, and he didn't know what it meant to go straight.
"This year we have some surplus food."
Zhu Meng showed a satisfied smile: "To tell you the truth, the military camp alone can save 50,000 shi of food this autumn, and Guizhou can also spend 70,000 to 80,000 shi."
"But this is far from enough!"
At the end of the sentence, Zhu Meng sighed.
Today, there are a total of 50,000 soldiers and horses in Guizhou, including the guard station that was renovated last year. The only real elites are the 10,000 people left by He Tengjiao and the 20,000 people they brought with them.
For the conquest of Yunnan, if I want to conquer hundreds of thousands of dan of grain, I am afraid that it will be gone as soon as I reach the border between the two provinces.
Li Dingguo was dissatisfied, stood up and said bluntly: "It all depends on manpower. Last year Guangdong sent 100,000 shi of grain. If the weather is good this year, it can send 200,000 or 300,000 shi."
"Hunan Province is newly established, but it has not suffered many disasters. It can also send some military rations."
"If we wait any longer, we may not be able to conquer Yunnan in time."
"I have been waiting in Guizhou for a year. I heard that the Northern Loop has been conquered, but Yunnan is still unknown. Is your Majesty forgetting us in Guizhou?"
"shut up!"
Zhu Meng's expression changed and he scolded: "How can your Majesty's thoughts be arbitrarily discussed?"
"The general will finally realize his mistake!"
Li Dingguo was heartbroken and hurriedly bowed his hands.
"Let's go back!"
Zhu Meng lost interest and looked at his leaving figure and couldn't help but shake his head: "After all, he is from a rough background and needs more training."
However, Li Dingguo's words spoke to his heart. He stayed in Guizhou for more than a year in vain, and then immediately organized military households and wiped out the rebels, but in the end he could not get into the eyes of the emperor and the court.
Just by slowly farming, Guizhou at this time had only one million people, not even comparable to Yunnan, and could only wait to die.
It is urgent to recover Yunnan.
That's all, he took out the secret box, wrote down the thoughts of the soldiers, mentioned the shortage of food, and revealed his own thoughts in a few words, before he was sent to Beijing.
The smooth flow of shipping made it easier for letters to come and go. The clipper left for northern Guangdong. In just one month, the secret box was in the hands of the emperor.
"Yunnan--"
The secret box letters do not need to go through the General Affairs Department and go directly to the emperor.
This is the secret folding system.
Later, Kangxi founded it and taught it to only 180 people, while Yongzheng carried it forward and expanded it to hundreds or thousands of people.
This is why Yongzheng was so exhausted that he couldn't breathe. Just these secret folds were enough to torture him to death.
Unfortunately, the contents of the secret cannot be read by others, and most of them are nonsense words to greet you. You can only bear it by yourself, and you can only bear the pain you have sown.
For Zhu Yixi, he would not do such a painful job.
The secret box has been taught to only a few dozen people now, all over the government offices, and they are all confidants.
The courtiers and bureaucrats also know this, and the tendency to form cliques has been greatly reduced. If you don't say anything, they will report it to the emperor and use your official hat to promote yourself and make a fortune.
"Yunnan?"
Zhu Yixi was startled and came to her senses.
During this time, I was busy moving the capital and preparing the frontier army, and I forgot all about Yunnan.
In this way, Sun Kewang has been farming in Yunnan for three or four years, and it is time to make a move.
The intruders were able to escape, and the western thieves were not far behind.
"Order the Chief of Staff to formulate marching regulations."
As soon as the emperor gave the order, the staff, which had not been moved for a long time, immediately became so busy that everyone was on their backs.
War is all about planning and logistics.
For example, how much military rations should be spent, where to raise them, whether there are enough equipment, what kind of firearms are available, and how many civilian workers, mules and horses should be used to transport the troops, all these need to be worked out by the staff department.
Of course, before thinking about victory, you must first consider defeat, and the corresponding logistics materials, troops, and horses must also be prepared in advance to prepare for the response.
After a rough plan was drawn up, the emperor asked the cabinet to draft an imperial edict, and the edict for the campaign had to be rigorous.
Even the six departments and local government offices cannot take a break.
The Ministry of War has to consider how many additional troops, horses and equipment will be sent to support the subsequent development; the Ministry of Revenue will consider the grain storage in each province; the Ministry of Rites will prepare to appease the Xuanwei Department of Yunnan; the Ministry of Industry will prepare for road repair projects in Yunnan and Guizhou; and the Ministry of Personnel will start planning to appoint and remove officials.
In order to stabilize Yunnan in the shortest possible time...
The Governor's Office of the Fifth Army has no time to spare. There are still military households in the Yunnan-Guizhou region, which they should be in charge of.
After a lot of busy work, I finally realized that the money had exceeded the budget.