Aoshan Wei borders the Yellow Sea to the east, Wangcun Peninsula to the north, Jiaowei Plain to the west, and Laoshan Mountain to the south. The entire Aoshanwei is surrounded by mountains on three sides, including Tianzhu Mountain and Sishe Mountain in the northwest, He and Maer Mountains in the southwest, Fenghuang Mountain, Gaoshan and Yingzui Mountain in the southeast. The terrain is very important and it is located in an important coastal defense area.
Liu Yan and Miao Shao led a banner of personal guards to the Aoshan Acropolis. It was already early August, and the weather was still very hot. Everyone was sweating profusely. They rode their horses on the official road and soon arrived outside the Aoshan Acropolis. .
The new Aoshan health officer Shen Tuo, Qianzong Guo Rong, Qianzong Teng Jianghe, and Qianhu picket officer Yu Qian waited outside the north gate for a long time. When they saw Liu Yan and others arriving, they all stepped forward to salute.
Liu Yan laughed and got off his horse. He looked at Shen Tuo and others and said, "You guys go to Aoshanwei first, which is a front station for me. Today I want to check your errands and see if the front station is paved."
Shen Tuo smiled and said: "Don't worry, sir. Although the situation of Aoshan Guard is not very good, the resistance is not great. The specific situation will be reported to the office one by one by my subordinates."
"good."
Then Miao Shao, Shen Tuo and others also greeted them warmly, while Liu Yan stared at Aoshan Acropolis. It was his first time here, so naturally he had to take a closer look.
Aoshan Guard has two thousand-household offices, Fushan Qianhu Station and Xiongya Qianhu Station, five hundred-household stations, and more than 20 Huolu Dun and Tunbao.
In the fifth year of Hongwu, the Right Prime Minister Wei Guogong Xu Da sent the commander Qian Shi to build a Tucheng here to prevent Japanese pirates. Aoshanwei was as famous as Tianjinwei and Weihaiwei in history, but later Tianjinwei and Weihaiwei gradually developed into big cities, while Aoshanwei gradually declined.
After the Aoshan Guard was completed, the city was three miles in circumference. The city wall was two feet five feet high and one foot two five feet thick. There were gates on the east, west, north and south sides. The moat was two feet five feet deep and two feet wide.
Then in the second year of Yongle, he commanded the minister Guo Chong to carry out extensive construction work, expanding the perimeter of Aoshanwei's city to five miles, covering it with green bricks, adding gate towers to the four gates, and adding more than ten pavilions.
In the first year of Hongzhi, the deputy patrol envoy Ling Xi commanded the envoy to rebuild the Aoshan Acropolis again, setting up gates on all four sides and adding towers to the four gates.
After three large-scale constructions, the Aoshan Acropolis is neat and large-scale. The entire city is square, with walls built on both sides and tamped with loess in the middle. The city has four gates, and there are gate towers above the door openings.
The cross streets in the city run through the east, west, north and south of the Acropolis. The streets are spacious, shaped like a chessboard, and have a symmetrical layout. Later, as the population continued to increase, there were East Street, West Street, and North Street residential areas outside the city. The city is divided into four streets: East, West, South and North Streets, with the Department of Health, Academy, Experience Department, Warehouses, etc. built there.
There is a martial arts arena in the east of the city, with a general platform and a hall. Outside the city there are the Sheji Altar, Wind Altar, Cloud Altar, Thunder Altar, Rain Altar, Xiannong Altar, Chenghuang Temple, Guandi Temple, Xuanwu Temple, Sanguan Temple, Sansi Temple, Horse Temple, Guanyin Pavilion, Fushou Temple, There are religious buildings such as Chaoyang Temple; superficial buildings such as Wenlin Square and Zhushi Square; and bridge buildings such as Tongji Bridge, Changping Bridge, Yinghe Bridge, and Xiaoshi Bridge.
Liu Yan, surrounded by Miao Shao, Shen Tuo and others, entered the city from the north gate and went straight to the Health Department via North Street.
The health department of Aoshan Guard is the residence of the conduct officer. Official affairs are still handled in the front yard, and the conduct officer lives in the back yard.
Liu Yan and others entered the Health Department. Liu Yan smiled and said to Shen Tuo: "You are also a general now. When will you have a family? Among our group of old brothers, only Chen Xun has a family. You all We are single, so we have to move faster."
Shen Tuo suddenly blushed and said with a smile: "Sir, we are joking. I would like to put business first and then private matters. We can talk about starting a family later."
Liu Yan shook his head and sighed. None of his subordinates were married. This was no small matter. Will he set up a sorority party in the future to lead them?
In the main hall of the front yard, Liu Yan asked everyone to sit down, and then went straight to the topic and asked Shen Tuo to report on the situation during this period.
Shen Tuo ordered people to bring in all the documents and documents of Aoshan Guard, and then said one by one: "Sir, Aoshan Guard has many mountains and few fields. It has two thousand-household offices, Fushan Qianhu Station and Xiongya Qianhu Station. But The cultivated land of these two thousand-house military camps is very small, only about 110,000 acres, which is far less than the cultivated area of Lingshan Guard. Therefore, the land tax and military ration collected by Aoshan Guard every year is also very small, and it has to increase almost every year. The officer applied for transfer.”
"Even so, after my subordinate's visits during this period, I found that most of the military camps in Aoshanwei have been invaded by officers at all levels and gentry from all over the country. The occupied cultivated land accounts for 70% of the total area!"
"In addition, there is a general shortage of military personnel in various places, and generals at all levels are eating empty pay and drinking the blood of soldiers. This has led to widespread flight of military forces in various places, and there is a serious shortage of military strength everywhere."
"In the Aoshan Guard City, the arsenal and treasury are empty, and officials at all levels have not received their salaries for two years... The craftsmen households in the city have fled seriously, and now there are only 13 craftsmen households. There is a war bureau in the city. But it’s basically paralyzed and there’s no output.”
Listening to Shen Tuo's report, Liu Yan frowned. He knew that Ao Shanwei's situation must be serious, but he didn't expect it to be so serious. It was almost to the point where he had to start over.
"Is this the same situation for the two thousand-household offices in Fushan and Xiongya?"
Shen Tuo said: "It's all the same. My subordinates also went to two Qianhusuo cities to inspect. The conditions of the military villages and the Dunjun were similar to those in the Acropolis. It can be said that the Aoshan Guards have been abolished. .”
On the side, Miao Shao asked in surprise: "If that's the case, then you just told me that the Aoshan Guards didn't offer much resistance?"
Liu Yan also looked at Shen Tuo with confusion. Shen Tuo took out a list, handed it to Liu Yan, and said, "There is indeed not much resistance. My lord, after my subordinates visited various places, they wanted to conduct an inventory first." The military garrison lands in various parts of Aoshanwei originally expected to encounter great resistance, but to their surprise, the gentry from all over the place, the general banners, small banners, and hundreds of households heard the news and came to express their gratitude to their subordinates. Show your loyalty below.”
Shen Tuo pointed to the list and said: "This list basically includes all the gentry and generals of Aoshanwei. All of them are willing to return the occupied land and return all the cultivated land of the generals to Aoshanwei within a month. Of course, They also have conditions and need the Aoshan Health Department to purchase the land at 80% of the land price in Fengnian."
"In addition, because your Excellency implemented the New Deal in Lingshan Guard, the military households in Aoshan Guard are looking forward to the distribution of land, and the generals at all levels also know that Your Excellency will definitely abolish the servants and the old and weak troops. So now there are many people in Aoshan Guard. The young man took the initiative to lay off his servants, and those military households also sent letters to their relatives and friends, and many military households who fled came back one after another, just waiting to be distributed land to live on."
Liu Yan was also surprised after hearing this, and then he felt relieved and said with a smile: "That's right. I have drastically reformed the bad government in Lingshan Guard. I have killed people and demoted officials, but it has brought a lot of benefits to the people. Now. When we arrived at Aoshan Guard, the officials and gentry naturally did not dare to confront them, but the people must have welcomed them with both hands. With the combination of positive and negative, the resistance to rectifying Aoshan Guard will definitely be much smaller."
Miao Shao smiled and said to Shen Tuo: "You have taken advantage of the Lord, otherwise Aoshanwei will definitely be in a lot of difficulties. Tonight you have to serve wine and invite the Lord to drink, and I will accompany you!"
Everyone laughed and Shen Tuo praised him repeatedly.
After laughing, Liu Yan asked: "Since Commander Shen has become the conduct officer of Aoshan Guard, what are you going to do next?"
Shen Tuo said: "My subordinates are prepared to follow the new policy implemented by your Excellency in Lingshan Guard and comprehensively rectify Aoshan Guard."
"First, inventory the land in military camps, purchase the occupied land at a low price, and then distribute it to the landless and landless military households to ensure planting this autumn."
"Second, abolish the Dun troops in various places, select young men from military households to supplement them, and then train them strictly according to the infantry drill code to serve as a reserve source of troops."
"Third, provide assistance to needy military households in various places and distribute cattle, seeds, farm tools, rations, etc. on credit to prevent military households from breaking up their homes and fleeing."
"Fourth, my subordinates are preparing to carry out city defenses and fortifications in various cities and forts in Aoshanwei..."
After Shen Tuo finished speaking, Liu Yan said approvingly: "Very good, Commander Shen did a good job. These things are what I want to do. I think we can just carry them out step by step according to the plan."
Shen Tuo was very happy after receiving Liu Yan's approval. He clasped his fists and said, "Thank you, sir. With your support, my subordinates can go about their work freely."
"Um."
During this rectification of Aoshan Guards, Liu Yan intended to test Shen Tuo's political ability. Now it seems that Shen Tuo has indeed not disappointed Liu Yan and is a good candidate.
So Liu Yan was ready to "retreat to the second line" and let Shen Tuo do it while he made suggestions from the side. After all, as the population and land under his control increase, he cannot do everything himself, he must cultivate some capable officers.
"I wonder how long you plan to stay in Aoshanwei?"
Liu Yan smiled and asked: "Why, you want to drive me away now?"
"My subordinates dare not."
Shen Tuo said: "I plan to start checking the farmland tomorrow. If you are not in a hurry, I would like to ask you to go with me."
Liu Yan nodded, it was good, he could meet the generals and gentry everywhere, and beat them face to face to prevent these people from causing trouble secretly in the future.
"Well, tomorrow, I will go with you to look around."
In the following ten days, Liu Yan, accompanied by Shen Tuo and Miao Shao, began to inspect various places in Aoshan Guard, focusing on checking the cultivated land of military camps everywhere.
During this period, Liu Yan summoned some gentry and local flag officials and small flag officials. These people were very enthusiastic about Liu Yan's arrival. When Liu Yan mentioned purchasing farmland at a low price, everyone agreed, and things went smoothly. Liu Yan was surprised.
Originally, Liu Yan was worried that Jimo camp general Zhang Youxun and others would secretly cause trouble. The gentry and local generals in Aoshan Guard had many connections with him, so there was no guarantee that they would not be instigated by Zhang Youxun.
But the actual situation surprised Liu Yandun.
"Next, I'm going to inspect the Qianhu Station in front of Xiahe Village. You should pay more attention to rectifying the affairs of Aoshan Guards here."
A few days later, Liu Yan and Miao Shao were preparing to leave the Aoshan Acropolis. Before leaving, Liu Yan told Shen Tuo: "In addition, more people should be sent to conduct secret investigations. Although the gentry and generals everywhere Cooperate, but I always feel something is wrong. This rectification of Aoshan Guard has hurt their interests, but these people still cooperate. I think they are either timid and frightened, or they are plotting something secretly. I hope I worry too much ”
Shen Tuo clasped his fists and said, "Don't worry, sir. I will act with caution."
Some people died, but not completely...
