The cold wind is blowing, the snowflakes are gradually falling, and the entire land is dyed white, covering up the disgusting yellow color before.
More than three thousand cavalrymen lined up in square columns, with white snow falling on their robes, like a piece of white tofu, blending into the sky and the earth.
The conspicuous armor antenna can't be seen clearly at this time, but the red color is still eye-catching.
Lu Daqi was not ambiguous. Wearing woolen underwear and a cotton robe, he rode arrogantly to the camp to review the army that was about to travel thousands of miles.
"Where's the war horse?"
Looking at the group of motionless soldiers in front of him, Lu Daqi was filled with emotion, but then he felt something was wrong and couldn't help but be surprised.
"Um, the war horses are fine, and the snowy weather is hard to bear, so I just need people to come."
Zhu Jing was wrapped in a cotton robe and followed step by step. When she saw Lu Daqi's face became solemn, she was afraid that she had misunderstood something, so she immediately explained.
"Horses are more valuable than people!" he emphasized.
"Then let's get out of here quickly, we won't be able to freeze everyone."
Lu Daqi came to his senses and hurriedly waved his hands.
"It's okay."
Zhu Jing whispered: "They are lined with wool, the soles of their feet are wool boots, and their hands are wool gloves. They are very warm!"
"Good guy!"
Lu Daqi was shocked: "How much does this cost?"
"Hey, this outfit costs about ten yuan per person. If you add the equipment of the war horse, it will be even more..."
"Don't worry, these three thousand people are all elites drawn from the Beijing camp. They are all heroes as good as five, one person and three horses..."
"Okay!" Lu Daqi stroked his beard and said cheerfully: "With your protection, where can we go in these nine directions and thousands of miles?"
Zhu Jing was also excited.
After this trip, although the time was tight and the task was heavy, it was extraordinary, and promotion to official rank was no longer a problem.
In early November, when heavy snow filled the Shuntian Prefecture, Lu Daqi led dozens of accountants, more than a hundred subordinate officials, and three thousand cavalry, and rushed to Shanhaiguan in a mighty manner.
Jiubian's first target is Ji Town and Shanhaiguan, the gateway to Beijing.
Ji Town is extraordinary. Among the Nine Borders, it is second only to Xuanfu and Datong. During the Wanli Period, it had nearly 100,000 troops. Qi Jiguang guarded Ji Town back then.
The garrison range starts from Shanhaiguan in the east, goes west through Yongping (Lulong), Qian'an, Zunhua, Jizhou, Pinggu, Shunyi, Changping and the passes in Pingzhou County, and reaches the border town south of Juyong Pass, stretching for two thousand miles.
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Famous fortresses such as Badaling, Juyongguan, Shanhaiguan, etc. are all under his command.
In Shanhaiguan, after Wu Sangui moved Ningyuan and other guard posts inland, the Shanhaiguan area became the place where the remaining Liaodong people lived.
At the same time, although Guan Ning's army has been repeatedly weakened, it still has a deep foundation, and the heavy responsibilities of Shanhaiguan can be carefully inspected.
Both of these places are in Gyeonggi, so they are top priority.
"Budang, it's not too late to go after the snow melts, why bother today?"
Three thousand cavalry braved the wind and snow, and their horses stepped on the muddy ground. From time to time, they sprained their feet and maybe hurt their horses' hooves. This made many cavalry dissatisfied.
Zhu Jing obeyed the military spirit and couldn't help but ask.
Lu Daqi had a good temper, and said in a deep voice: "It is precisely because of the winter that the soldiers cannot move, so we can move easily!"
These words made Zhu Jing suddenly wake up.
Waiting in front of the emperor for a long time made him extremely politically sensitive, and he immediately realized the beauty of this opportunity.
Their actions are bound to offend others, and whether it is Jizhen or Shanhaiguan, they will definitely not let them be manipulated.
If something goes wrong in summer and autumn, the possibility of mutiny is extremely high. Even if they are slaves, they will not rush to send troops in this cold winter. How can these Qiu Ba people make trouble in this winter?
Wandering out is tantamount to courting death.
In just a few days, the group arrived at Jizhou, Qianxi County, and Sanlitun Camp.
Lu Daqi immediately went to check the military register, but was immediately disappointed.
Waiting at the side is Xin Wencheng, the commander-in-chief of Jizhen.
He was stationed at Xianren Pass for several years. Although he missed the battles of Wuchang and Nanjing, he recovered Gongchang Prefecture and Minzhou Prefecture during the Shaanxi War, so he was awarded the title of Qinzhou Bo.
In recognition of his hard work and perseverance, the emperor appointed him as the commander-in-chief of Jizhen to guard the gates of Beijing.
"There are only 50,000 people in Ji Town?"
It was especially hard for Lu Daqi to believe that this was all that was left of Jizhen, which used to be a hundred thousand people strong.
"Inspection, in the Battle of Jinzhou, the soldiers and horses of Ji Town suffered heavy losses. In the 17th year of Chongzhen, Tang Tong surrendered to Chuangni, and in the Battle of Qian Shi, the last 8,000 cavalry were gone, and there was really no one in Jizhou.
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Xin Wencheng smiled bitterly and said: "These fifteen thousand people were sent by me after repeatedly urging the Ministry of War. Otherwise, there would only be five thousand old and weak people here, and there would be no one guarding Juyong Pass."
"Ruins are easy to play with."
Lu Daqi didn't expect that Ji Town would be so easy. The Ministry of War's files were not so familiar, so he was right to choose this place as his first stop.
"All military villages will be re-measured. For those households that occupy military villages, they must either spend money to redeem them or surrender their fields. Otherwise, we will never give up."
"Yes!" Since Xin Wencheng had no interests involved, he agreed simply.
"You just paint here first, it will be easier later."
Lu Daqi said to his staff and the subordinate officials who came with him.
In a few days, the old military registers, fielding, etc. were sorted out. The oldest one was in the early years of Wanli, when Qi Jiguang served as the commander-in-chief.
The number of military fields is only 100,000 acres.
"One hundred thousand troops, each person only has one acre?"
Lu Daqi laughed in anger. This data was even more unbelievable than the data from the Ministry of War.
In the early Ming Dynasty, military households were granted 100 acres, 70 acres, or 50 acres according to their fatness. But in Jizhou's situation, 50 acres per capita was certainly not bad.
A rough estimate shows that the entire Ji Town has at least five million acres of military land, or 50,000 hectares, distributed in a dozen states and counties.
Jizhen was all on his own, and Lu Daqi did not hesitate and rushed directly to Shanhaiguan.
"try to find--"
Lu Daqi gritted his teeth and said to the group of subordinate officials: "There must be some remnants in the county annals, Qianhu Office, and Hundred Household Offices, and we must find them one by one."
"The military fields occupied before the Wanli Dynasty are all required to be redeemed and taxed, and they can be directly recaptured after the Wanli Dynasty."
After occupying military villages, those lands will no longer be included in the yellow list, so there is no need to pay taxes. If they are taken away from military villages, they will inevitably be converted into civilian land and taxes will be paid.
Needless to say, eight of them were military generals, so the data was severely damaged.
These people died well!
For the first time, Lu Daqi felt that these officers and soldiers died well, especially the generals. How much land could be regained?
By the time he arrived at Shanhaiguan, the Chinese New Year was not far away.
After more than a month of investigation, the powerless generals had to reveal 70% of the land, 30,000 hectares of military land, and the redemption amount reached 270,000 taels.
The gentry were no exception. They gave up 8,000 hectares and bought 80,000 taels of silver.
There was such a big commotion that when Lu Daqi arrived at Shanhaiguan, the commander-in-chief Zeng Ying came out of the city to greet him and was extremely polite.