"How is Anton City doing now?"
In the Chengyun Hall, while Zhu Di was hurriedly chasing Haragu, Zhu Gaoxu had already relaxed and chatted with Fu Rang about the affairs of Anton City.
"A lot of cultivated land was opened before the winter last year and the spring this year. There are currently more than 13,000 acres of cultivated land inside and outside the city. Although we are not self-sufficient, we should be able to produce at least 6,000 shi of grain this year. Save yourself some trouble."
Fu Rang talked about the results he had achieved in Anton City with a slight smile. Although the results were not too great, they could at least reduce Zhu Gaoxu's pressure.
Zhu Gaoxu also knew about this. It wasn't that Fu Rang didn't want to go further, it was just that Anton City and Jilin City were in the same situation as before, with no one in them.
Without people, naturally we can’t do too many things.
Originally, Fu Rang was supposed to be preparing to train troops and open up wasteland at the same time, but now the war broke out just after spring, and he hurriedly led his troops south to help before he had time to use his fists.
Zhu Gaoxu does not have high expectations for Anton City, as long as it is self-sufficient.
Its greater role is to become a transfer station between Jilin City and Sanjiang Plain in the future.
Zhu Gaoxu learned about the current Sanjiang Plain through the Jurchen tribes. The Sanjiang Plain in this era is similar to its situation in the 19th century. It is still a vast wasteland with thorns and thorns everywhere, and there are Tatou fields and swamps everywhere.
The idea of building it is the same as the construction of Jilin City and Zhaozhou City, which is to build cement canals to end the siltation of the land.
This problem is not limited to these places, but is now a problem in the entire Northeast.
Water conservancy projects built with cement can greatly solve this problem.
In this era without mechanization, although the Sanjiang Plain is also very difficult to manage, compared to the Songnen Plain and the Liaohe Plain, the Sanjiang Plain is at least a place that can be managed into fertile farmland through existing means.
Although the Liaohe Plain is closer to the Central Plains, if you want to cultivate it, you have to solve the problems of seawater intrusion and Liaoze. The water conservancy projects that need to be sorted out and constructed are definitely not something that the millions of laborers in Liaodong and Peiping can solve.
The Liaohe River is not good, and the Songnen Plain, which was once the ancient Songliao Lake, is even more difficult to manage. It is covered with dense swamps for more than a thousand miles, and the distance is even further.
In comparison, although the Sanjiang Plain is a hilly plain area formed by the confluence of three rivers, it does not have the existence of ancient lakes, and the rapid flow of the Heilongjiang River formed after the confluence of the three rivers can also carry larger tonnage ships.
As long as Jilin City can become a handicraft city outside the Pass, it can support the Sanjiang Plain along the rivers and then slowly develop the Sanjiang Plain.
Of course, in the final analysis, no matter how it is developed, sufficient labor is needed.
This labor force can be human or animal power.
In comparison, what Zhu Gaoxu can obtain is animal power, just like Jilin City now.
"Counting these cattle and sheep, as well as the eighteen tribes of people joining Jilin City, can we cultivate 150,000 acres of cultivated land this year?"
Sitting in his seat, Zhu Gaoxu asked Yishiha. Yishiha pondered for a moment and said:
"If you include the population of the Eighteen Tribes, you can naturally cultivate 150,000 acres of cultivated land. But if they are absorbed, there will be some problems with food..."
He looked at Zhu Gaoxu, paused for a moment, and then continued: "Including Yang Shanren's food, your annual salary, and the money and food in Jilin City, the total money and food obtained by adding the three is 50,000 yuan, and 32 yuan in food. Ten Thousand Stones.”
"The population of the Eighteen Tribes, including slaves and maidservants, is calculated as 7,000 people. These 7,000 people plus the military households that have not all arrived, are almost 20,000 people. Adding the original population of Jilin City, it is close to 40,000 people."
"Opening up wasteland consumes a lot of food. If we follow the rules Your Highness mentioned before winter last year, these 40,000 people will receive more than 24,000 shi of food every month, not counting the soldiers' pay."
"Even if we maintain 3,000 soldiers and horses, it will only cost 5,000 dan per month. With the increase in army and horse supplies, we will need at least 400,000 dan in a year to maintain Jilin City..."
Yi Shiha looked at Zhu Gaoxu. He felt that His Highness should understand what a huge burden Jilin City is today.
Although Jilin City can produce 320,000 shi of food this year, 200,000 shi of it was made from business. If it is discovered at some point and this road is cut off, Jilin City will really be in trouble. A place to die.
The more than 30,000 acres of cultivated land in Jilin City can produce 25,000 shi of grain this year, which is considered highly incense.
If the food problem is not solved, even if 320,000 shi are transported to Jilin City, it will be enough for them to last until February next year after paying the pension.
There are still more than two months before spring starts in February, not to mention that this time when the Uliangha invaded, many tribes interrupted their spring hunting operations to avoid it.
It is still unknown whether there will be as much fur this year as last year.
In Yi Shiha's view, under such a situation, it is better to increase revenue and reduce expenditure.
He has his own opinion, but for Zhu Gaoxu, he has no time to waste on this kind of thing.
“How many cattle and sheep do we have?”
Zhu Gaoxu looked at Yishiha. Yishiha probably guessed what he was thinking, but he still said honestly: "Counting those brought by Commander Fu and the cattle and sheep in the hands of the Eighteen Divisions, there are about eight thousand cattle. Come, there should be tens of thousands of sheep including the ones seized."
There were not many cattle and sheep in Jilin City originally, but there were enough cattle, sheep and horses from the eighteen tribes who came to seek shelter in Jilin City.
Counting only the Eighteen Divisions, they have no less than 3,000 cattle, as many as 5,000 or 6,000 sheep, and more than 1,000 horses.
The tribes in the six cities in Haixi were all representatives of the wealth outside the pass before the Tumubao Incident. It is not surprising that the eighteen tribes could jointly produce so many cattle, sheep and horses.
However, Zhu Gaoxu could not use these cattle and sheep directly. He had to exchange them for cultivated land as agreed with the leaders of the Eighteen Divisions.
"Calculate the number of cattle, sheep and horses of the Eighteen Divisions, and exchange them for farmland according to the price discussed between me and the leaders of the Eighteen Divisions."
Zhu Gaoxu arranged things in Jilin City and continued: "The other six tribes who are unwilling to stay must also have a huge shortage of food in their tribes."
"Exchange grain with them for the cattle, sheep, and horses in their hands. If they don't want to, don't force it."
"After all the exchanges are completed, when Yang Bin comes to Jilin City, you sell some sheep to Yang Bin and let him herd the sheep south to Jinzhou, cross the sea by boat with the royal palace's seal, and sell these livestock to Shandong."
Zhu Gaoxu was also very reluctant to sell sheep, but he knew that Jilin City could not afford to raise too many livestock at the moment.
"Okay!" Yishiha agreed readily. He also knew that Jilin City could not afford to raise too many livestock now.
"By the way..." Seeing that Zhu Gaoxu and Yishiha had finished chatting, Fu Rang also opened his mouth to say something, but before he could say anything, footsteps came from outside Chengyun Hall.
In front of the three people, a soldier whose body was covered in blood and stains came to the door of the palace and stopped, bowing respectfully:
"Your Highness, His Highness King Yan sent a sentry back and asked us to prepare 800 shi of grain and 200 shi of beans for him, and hand them over to Commander Ping to take them to the north. In addition, he asked you to send people to the north to collect cattle, sheep and prisoners. "
This soldier brought good news, and when Zhu Gaoxu heard that Zhu Di had asked him to take in the cattle and sheep prisoners, he immediately took it into consideration.
"Tricking people doesn't mean cheating anyone, cheating grandpa and cheating father are both the same..."
Zhu Gaoxu had already planned how to cheat his father, so he told Yishiha: "Go and do it, and bring the cattle and sheep back to Jilin City, and the prisoners will be taken to Andong City."
"Shouldn't this...prisoner be left behind to be dealt with by His Highness King Yan?"
Yi Shiha was a little hesitant. After all, it was the tradition of the Ming Army to capture and dispose of prisoners.
But Zhu Gaoxu didn't take his question seriously and said, "He is my father, and his handling is the same as mine."
"That's true." Fu Rang also agreed. He would not miss this opportunity to enrich the population of Andong City. What's more, the Ming army in Jilin City had a grudge against these prisoners. Bringing them to Jilin City would easily cause conflicts.
"Then I'll do it now..." Seeing the two of them saying this, Yi Shiha could only chuckle and accepted the job.
He turned around and walked out of the palace to prepare food for Ping An and Zhu Di.
Seeing him leave, Fu Rang finally said what he wanted to say:
"On my way here, many cities in the Six Cities were attacked. This time, there were heavy casualties in the Six Cities. The grain fields were all eaten up by livestock. It is estimated that after the military disaster is over, the Six Cities will be very short of food. "
"It's not just them..." Zhu Gaoxu also smiled bitterly and said: "We are also very short of food now. I hope the Liaodong Dusi in the south will send food quickly, otherwise we will soon run out of food."
After Zhu Gaoxu finished speaking, the meals assigned to Guo Yan began to be served.
After the food was on the table, the two of them chatted while eating. Soon it became dark, and the bodies from Jixi Fort began to be transported back one by one on trucks.
For a time, the whole Jilin City could hear the sound of crying and howling, and the sound was depressing.
Zhu Gaoxu and Fu Rang had been waiting for news about Yi Shiha. It was not until Haishi that Yi Shiha rushed back to Jilin City with his people.
Returning with them were tens of thousands of cattle and sheep.
Fu Rang was exhausted because he had traveled more than fifty miles during the day and led his team to fight against Hu Bing, so he went to rest first. Zhu Gaoxu, on the other hand, was very energetic because he had slept well during the day.
The crying and howling in Jilin City made him suffer. He admitted that he could have fought better in this battle and killed fewer people, but there is no way to repeat time, and those who have died can never be resurrected.
Leaving the heavy Jilin City, Zhu Gaoxu returned to Jixi Fort on an ordinary draft horse.
Here, he saw the soldiers who kept counting at the city gate, and the cattle and sheep that kept pouring into Jilin City.
"Why are there only cattle and sheep?"
Zhu Gaoxu got down from the horse and talked with Yishiha who was holding a torch and counting.
"The horses were all taken away by His Highness King Yan. It is said that they have been chased north for more than a hundred miles."
When he found out that Zhu Gaoxu was coming, Yishiha bowed to the people around him in return, and at the same time talked about the news they had just learned.
"How many heads are there?"
Zhu Gaoxu was not at all curious about Zhu Di being able to chase Haragu for more than a hundred miles. He was more concerned about how much wool he could collect to subsidize the soldiers who died in the city.
"Most of them are outside the city. There are already more than 14,000 cattle and more than 53,000 sheep."
Yishiha turned sideways and brought the torch closer, allowing Zhu Gaoxu to see clearly the number of cattle and sheep being counted.
Looking at the amount of cattle and sheep, Zhu Gaoxu pulled Yishiha aside and whispered: "Did Pingbaoer's people also follow them to the north?"
"I'm going to the north." Yi Shiha didn't know why and answered honestly.
"Is that so..." After hearing that Jilin City was all his own, Zhu Gaoxu no longer hid it and coughed:
"You take four thousand cattle and twenty thousand sheep into our own barn, and build a new barn for the rest."
"Ah?" Hearing this, Yishiha still didn't understand what Zhu Gaoxu meant.
He looked around. Although they were all his own people, he began to feel guilty and said: "Your Highness, this is not good..."
"What's wrong?" Zhu Gaoxu responded subconsciously, and then made up for himself: "We didn't say anything, how could they know?"
"Besides, on my wedding day, my father didn't send anything, and we were the ones who killed the most armored soldiers in this battle. What happened to us taking one-third of the cattle and sheep?"
"Then..." Yishiha was also moved by what Zhu Gaoxu said, so he summoned an official and told the official about the matter in front of Zhu Gaoxu.
Li Mu was not as worried as Yi Shiha. When he heard about this, he immediately smiled and nodded in agreement.
With dozens of officials, they quickly tampered with the counting book. The livestock sheds in Jilin City were also expanded several times in a few hours, and many cattle and sheep were driven in.
By daybreak, all the captured cattle and sheep were counted. There were still more than 18,000 cattle and more than 79,000 sheep on the account, as well as more than 1,400 stones, millets and millet plundered from the corpses of Hu soldiers.
In addition to these, there are nearly two hundred sets of plain armor and more than five thousand sets of leather armor.
These are basically Zhu Di's gains yesterday. Counting the capture of Jilin City, this time the three Uliangha troops suffered nearly 13,000 casualties.
"Your Highness, if we do this, His Highness King Yan will not notice it, right?"
After accompanying Zhu Gaoxu all night to make false accounts, Yishiha felt a little guilty, but Zhu Gaoxu patted him on the shoulder:
"We are not eating it ourselves, but we are going to distribute it to the people in the city in the future. You have to be more liberal and don't think we are doing something bad. What we did today is a good thing."
Yi Shiha was persuaded by Zhu Gaoxu. After a busy night, he checked the booklet with the final statistics for the last time, and then went back to Jilin City to rest uneasily.
After he left, Zhu Gaoxu took the opportunity to go to Hadaling.
It has to be said that Zhang Chun and Wang Yi suffered heavy casualties in this battle. Hadal Ridge was filled with burned trees and scarlet soil, as well as forests that were destroyed beyond appearance.
There are traces of cuts and cuts on many trees, and pieces of meat wrapped in soil can be seen everywhere.
There were many Jurchens who were cleaning up the battlefield in the forest. When they saw Zhu Gaoxu, they bowed in return from a distance, and many of them felt uneasy.
Although they fled into Jilin City, they were much happier in Jilin City these days than when they were in the original village.
At the moment, they don't know that their leader is taking them to stay in Jilin City, so they are still worried about their future.
But when they know that they can stay in Jilin City, they may dance with joy.
Watching them carry the corpse, Zhu Gaoxu chose a clean wooden platform and sat here to rest for a while.
Two hours later, as the forest was cleared, he took one last look at the line of defense that almost cost him his life when he left the city.
"If there is no war, maybe in two or three years, this place will not look like what it looks like now."
With a sigh, Zhu Gaoxu turned around and went down the mountain, and many Jurchens at the foot of the mountain had also learned about his whereabouts.
The few leaders who were unwilling to stay and their followers had already started queuing up at the gate of Jixi Fort to leave. Many ordinary Jurchens in the crowd looked at Jixi Fort with reluctance, including the seven or eight-year-old The dolls also know that life in Jilin City is very good, and they are reluctant to leave.
Compared with them, the Jurchens who were admitted to Jilin City together with the leader were a different story.
There were smiles on their faces, and despite the language barrier, Zhu Gaoxu could tell from their words and deeds that they seemed to be talking about how they could have enough to eat if they stayed in Jilin City.
Shaking his head with a chuckle, Zhu Gaoxu mounted the draft horse and returned to Jilin City.
By the time he returned to the palace, it was already six quarters past noon.
Because he was tired, Yi Shiha was still resting, and Fu Rang got up. However, he did not come to the palace, but went with Lin Su to deal with the matter of pension for the fallen soldiers.
Zhu Gaoxu was not idle either. After a hasty lunch, he went to the hospital to see the soldiers who were slightly or seriously injured.
For the disabled, he promised that the city would support them and that all pension policies would be in place.
For those with minor injuries, Zhu Gaoxu can easily encourage them to recover from their injuries and wait for them to return to the army for training.
He stayed in the hospital for a long time and didn't get up and leave until the sunset.
Before leaving, he did not forget to tell the flag officer on duty at the entrance of the hospital: "For the wounded who enter the hospital, ask people to kill sheep and chickens to nourish their bodies. As long as there is no waste, you can kill as many as you want."
"Yes!!" Hearing Zhu Gaoxu's words, the soldiers at the hospital gate straightened their backs and felt warm in their hearts.
"Relax." After patting them, Zhu Gaoxu did not ride a horse, but walked back to the palace accompanied by two guards.
Along the way, he saw many people who had white coarse cloth wrapped around their foreheads and looked sad.
In his ears, the sound of crying and howling kept echoing, and almost half of the people in Jilin City were wearing sackcloth and mourning.
As Zhu Gaoxu said, he really shouldn't be stingy with his soldiers.
Without the soldiers who defended the city with their lives, he, the King of Bohai, would have been captured alive by Halagu and exchanged things with Lao Zhu.
Even though they were also trying to protect their families, what they saved was more of Zhu Gaoxu's property.
Not long after, Zhu Gaoxu returned to the palace. Although he pretended to be very calm, Yi Shiha and others who had been waiting at the palace for a long time could see that he was uncomfortable.
"Your Highness, the number of livestock in the city has increased, and the bean feed is insufficient..."
As if to cheer up Zhu Gaoxu, Yishiha took the initiative to bring up the topic.
"Have you sent a letter to the Liaodong capital?" After hearing Yi Shiha's words, Zhu Gaoxu mentioned the matter of sending a letter to the Liaodong capital.
"Sent it, but I'm afraid it will take half a month to receive the food."
Yi Shiha looked troubled. After all, Zhu Di was leading his troops north to chase Harawu. No one knew when he would come back, and the food in Jilin City was only enough to last half a month.
"Is there news from the north?"
Zhu Gaoxu and Yi Shiha had the same concerns, they were worried that Zhu Di would be too happy to play and increase the logistical burden for Jilin City.
"No……"
Lin Su, who was in charge of military intelligence, shook his head, and Fu Rang on the side also took the opportunity to say:
"When I went south, I saw the Hu soldiers running towards Azhemei. They must have been preparing to flee into the mountains. They took a path around the Zhenhe area in the northeastern part of the desert, and fled there to the northern captives back to the Harawen Mountains."
"The road to Azhimei is rugged and easy to set up an ambush. It is estimated that after His Majesty the King of Yan arrives there with his troops, he will stop the pursuit and return to Jilin City."
"It takes about five or six days to come and go."
Fu Rang's words made Zhu Gaoxu frown, and Yi Shiha also said: "The grain is so crowded that we can wait until the next batch of grain arrives, but the same cannot be said for the beans."
"Let's take it one step at a time. There is no other way now." Zhu Gaoxu was also very helpless. After all, outside this customs, even if he was willing to spend money, he couldn't buy extra bean material.
Of course, he was more worried about what would happen next than what was happening now.
They obtained so many horses from Hu Bing in this battle. Many of them can be trained as military horses as long as they are willing to spend the money to make up for the number of military horses lost in this battle and allow the Bohai Navy to have more cavalry.
But if they really want to breed these horses into military horses, the cost will be a big problem.
“Have all the bean fields been planted this year?”
Taking a deep breath, Zhu Gaoxu asked about the bean fields. After all, raising army horses requires sufficient bean feed, and the Bohai Navy had killed so many army horses in this battle. It would cost a lot to train a new group of army horses.
"It's all done. I went to check it out in the morning. Ten thousand acres of land have been planted with beans. By the time of harvest in early July, we will have received more than three thousand stones of bean material."
"Three thousand..." Hearing this pitiful output, Zhu Gaoxu had a headache.
He only knows part of the agricultural knowledge, which he got from chatting with the unit next door while working.
Building water conservancy can increase crop yields. This is the only way he knows and can achieve, and it is not much different from what the ancients knew.
As for other potassium fertilizers and phosphate fertilizers... He has heard of these things and has used them to grow flowers and plants, but just because he has heard of them and used them doesn't mean he knows how to use them.
Collecting the artificial fertilizers from the people of Jilin City and retting them for use, this is the only fertilizer he can currently control.
The output is not enough, so we have to use land to make up for it.
"You should carefully select and train the captured horses, and calculate how much of our bean material is lacking."
"This time I was blocked by Hu Bing at the door of my house, and so many brothers were killed and injured. After I deal with the hidden danger of Atai Wai Lan, my next step will be to seek revenge from Hu Bing!"
Zhu Gaoxu spoke calmly. The three people who heard the words did not dare to neglect and raised their hands to bow.
Looking at them, Zhu Gaoxu's eyes were calm, but he couldn't let go.
In this battle, he was really frustrated.
He didn't want to make any excuses about not having enough troops, horses or food. He only knew one thing.
Next year, he must get this thing back, in the same way...
(End of chapter)
