"You must wear a mask when making cement. Don't think it's a embarrassment to you. This is all for your health. If you don't wear a mask, you can easily get sick and die!"
Time flies, but in the blink of an eye it’s the end of September.
Many craftsmen who went south led by Yi Shiha came from Jilin. Due to their limited number, they could only build factories in Shenyang, Guangning, and Liaoyang, the three prefectures with the most abundant resources.
Seeing that there was no movement from Li Jinglong in the south, Zhu Gaoxu also rushed to the outside of Shenyang at the end of the month.
It was already a bit cold in Shenyang City at the end of September, but fortunately, the factories were basically set up and on track...
"The copper and iron mines in Fushun, Tieling and other places in Shenyang, as well as the iron ore, copper mines, coal and other places in Anshan, Liaoyang, have all been found in the direction mentioned by Your Highness. The mining difficulty is similar to that of Sanchang in Jilin. .”
"The more than 60,000 people who migrated to Liaoyang, Shenyang, and Guangning from Daning were divided into workers, farmers, and minors according to their age and physical condition."
"Nearly 20,000 workers joined various fields, more than 37,600 farmers, and more than 12,400 minors under the age of 15."
"At this time, it is too late to build concrete bungalows, so we can only build wooden houses."
“The factories expected to be built are thirty-two iron mines, seventeen copper mines, six gold mines, twenty-five cement yards, thirty-five limestone yards, and in addition... "
Walking outside Shenyang City, Zhu Gaoxu was listening to Yi Shiha, whom he had not seen for four months, discussing the affairs of the whole Liao Dynasty.
If the Northeast wants to be taken seriously in this era, it must find another way to stabilize a large population with industry, and then develop the wasteland of the Northeast little by little, making it an indispensable existence where handicrafts and agriculture coexist until the Ming Dynasty.
Daning's population migration rate is slowing down. Although more than 300,000 people have migrated out of Daning, most of them are still in western Liaoning, and less than 90,000 people have migrated to the east of the Liaohe River.
Before winter, Zhu Gaoxu had to arrange the livelihood for them, so that the treasury could get a return on the food it took to feed them, and not empty the Bohai Sea.
"Have the situation of cultivated land in various places and the situation of government treasury been calculated? How long will we have enough food to survive?"
Zhu Gaoxu stood in an open space outside Shenyang City, looking at the harvested grain and the people who kept burning straw in the fields, and asked Yi Shiha.
Yi Shiha was already prepared for his inquiry, so he explained the situation in detail.
"Twenty-five guards and three, together with the four cities outside the pass, and Daning's twenty-two guards, the total cultivated land is 4,573,927 acres."
"Among them, 760,000 acres of land are freshly cultivated fields that can only be cultivated in the coming year. Therefore, the amount of land used to harvest grain is more than 3.81 million acres, and the output of grain is more than 2.717 thousand shi. , after processing, you should be able to get about 1.85 million stone of solid food."
"In addition, the food in the treasury is only more than 176,000 stone. Your Highness, don't worry. The four cities in Bohai will be able to harvest at least more than 1.07 million stone of solid food this year. Not only can they be self-sufficient, but they can also go to Liaodong. Transport 170,000 shi of grain.”
"These 170,000 shi of food have been transferred to Changchun, Hanzhou, Tieling, Puhe and other places. There is no need to worry about food in northern Liaoning."
"As for Liaodong, southern Liaoning, and western Liaoning, His Highness King Yan has sent 1.5 million shi of grain. Although the food delivery team is not fast, it is enough to supply the prefectures, counties and Daning before the heavy snow falls."
"The Bohai Sea has recruited some Jurchens, but the food for more than 180,000 soldiers and civilians is enough to last until next autumn harvest, but Liaodong..."
Yishu paused for a moment. Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu signaled to him that it was okay, and he said with difficulty:
"Although there is more cultivated land in Liaodong than in the Bohai Sea, the output is not high. Although the water conservancy projects in various prefectures and counties were built seven or eight years ago, there were not as many military households in Liaodong at that time as there are now, so the cultivated land that can be irrigated is very limited."
"If water conservancy is not good, grain output will not be good. The wheat and millet grown locally can only produce seven buckets of solid grain, which is about the same as the original yield per mu in Jilin City."
"However, I have sent people to explore the hydrological conditions in various places in Liaodong. The news will be sent back probably by the twelfth lunar month."
"Taking into account the time, we should be able to decide on various water conservancy projects across Liaoning before the spring of next March to solve the water conservancy problems in Liaodong."
"As for the current grain inventory in Liaodong, saving and saving should last until the beginning of February. Therefore, I want to transfer an additional 300,000 shi of grain from the Bohai Sea to the south, so that the overall situation can last until the beginning of March."
Yishiha explained to Zhu Gaoxu the agricultural conditions in Bohai and Liaodong, and Zhu Gaoxu naturally knew how complicated the situation in Liaodong was.
However, as long as water conservancy is developed, Liaodong's grain output will increase by at least 30 to 40%, and it should be on par with the Bohai Sea.
In the future, as long as the water conservancy is properly managed, the siltation problem will gradually be solved. By then, we cannot say that we will be able to produce a few buckets of grain per acre, but the basic one stone can still be guaranteed.
As long as we can achieve one stone of solid grain per mu, many things will be much easier.
"Early March..."
Zhu Gaoxu muttered for a while, and then spoke again: "There are many smuggling merchants over in Jinzhou. Although smuggling is hateful, they have indeed solved our army's urgent need."
"I have previously entrusted Cui Jun to purchase grain locally. He informed me yesterday that he had already bought three hundred thousand dan."
"With this batch in mind, we should be able to survive until early April."
"By then, Li Jinglong may be heading north."
He told Yi Shiha about the situation, but after hearing this, Yi Shiha said worriedly: "Then you want to lead troops into the pass to help His Highness King Yan?"
"No..." Zhu Gaoxu shook his head: "I have mobilized Wang Yi and 50,000 soldiers and horses to rush to his aid. I only left 6,000 cavalry, the Eight Jurchen Guards, the Third Battalion of Shenji, and the 17,000 soldiers who surrendered from Liaodong. More than a thousand soldiers."
Zhu Gaoxu transferred all the 20,000 Bohai Han troops and infantry to Zhu Di, and an additional 30,000 troops from Daning.
As for him, except for the 12,000 people retained on the Bohai side, he only has more than 56,000 people in his hands, of which 17,000 are the reorganized surrendered troops of the Liaodong Dusi. Now they belong to Chen Heng, Cui Jun ruled.
In other words, what he can actually bring to the south is the 6,000 cavalry and 33,000 Jurchens he has on hand.
Therefore, he handed over three thousand soldiers from Jinzhou to Cui Jun, hoping that he could train sailors who could fight on the water.
Zhu Gaoxu, a military householder in Jinzhou, learned that they were originally military households that migrated from Denglai and Laizhou. In addition, they were responsible for preparing for Japanese wars, so they also had certain naval warfare capabilities. However, compared with the Southern Army's Denglai, Yangtze River, and Pinghai For the three major Japanese naval forces, their numbers are too small, and the only thing they can rely on is the naval guns that Wang Yuan and others are currently forging.
Of course, the biggest flaw of this navy right now is the lack of a general with experience in large-scale water warfare.
Not only did he lack such generals, Zhu Di also lacked them, so he could not make up for them.
Zhu Gaoxu did not continue to think. He could only hope that the artillery could perform miracles, otherwise he would have to go south by land, which would inevitably collide with Li Jinglong's 300,000-strong army.
Thinking about this, Zhu Gaoxu took Yi Shiha into Shenyang City.
In the city, Zhu Gaoxu saw how Geng Gu and the others had spent the past few months through the construction work of houses in the city.
The air in the ancient city is filled with the smell of dust and sawdust, as if time has stopped flowing here.
The houses in the city are all in ruins. Occasionally some lucky walls have been preserved, but most of them are in dilapidated condition, with their incomplete bricks exposed.
The city gate tower, once majestic and majestic, is now a pile of dilapidated rubble.
The Shenyang Bell Tower and Drum Tower that Zhu Gaoxu saw had collapsed. The entire building fell to the ground, and everything that could burn no longer existed.
Even inside the yamen, there is no furniture at all, only the exposed mud brick floor.
"All dangerous walls have been knocked down. This time, as much as three thousand stones of cement were transported from the north, but they were all used to repair Shenyang City."
"According to the current speed, it is estimated that at most three residential buildings can be repaired before the snow falls in October, and each village has a thousand three-thirds secondary courtyards."
"My servant has done the math. There are five houses that can be lived in in the second courtyard. If we squeeze them together, each house should be able to accommodate one family. That means that before winter, we can create houses for 15,000 households. Abandon."
"This efficiency and quantity are far from the 20,000 houses needed by the people of Shenyang City."
Yishiha said worriedly, but Zhu Gaoxu frowned and climbed up the city wall. Walking on the horse road, he saw a huge palace being built in the distance.
"What's the situation over there?"
He pointed to the palace over there and asked. Yishiha lowered his head and said, "That's the temporary palace built for you and the princess."
"Stop, allocate manpower to finish the yard first." Zhu Gaoxu interrupted him and said at the same time:
"I am greedy for pleasure before the war is over. If I lose the war, no matter what kind of palace I build, it will only be built for Zhu Yunwen in the south."
"If I win, I will naturally have various mansions in Nanjing City for me to choose from. Why should I be greedy for this place?"
After saying that, he looked at Yi Shiha: "You have been with me for so long, how come you don't know my temper?"
"In the future, even if the princess speaks, as long as I don't nod, all kinds of things that consume people's energy will not be done."
"As for the palace where the princess rests, it is enough for you to build a courtyard of five minutes."
In the Ming Dynasty, an acre was about 614 square meters, and a fifth was 307 square meters. The area was already quite large.
For Zhu Gaoxu, who had already seen the Yingtian Forbidden City, he did not think that Yishiha could build a palace that surpassed that palace.
Besides, as long as the plan goes well, he can end the war in a year or two at most. By then, the palace in Shenyang may not be repaired yet, and he will be in charge of the Forbidden City.
"That slave has asked people to leave that place temporarily and allocate manpower to build houses."
Yi Shiha asked cautiously, and when Zhu Gaoxu didn't reply, he knew what to do.
Inspecting the city wall, Zhu Gaoxu looked at the situation in various places, and then led the way by Yi Shiha to a courtyard that had just been repaired.
This courtyard is not big, but it is still big. Therefore, before walking through the door, Zhu Gaoxu pointed at this courtyard and said: "This courtyard is good, why do we need to repair other courtyards?"
"Your Highness Chitose!"
After nodding in response to the singing salute of the troops on duty, Zhu Gaoxu walked into the courtyard with Yi Shiha, and happened to meet Guo Yan who was walking from the backyard into the front yard.
"Your Highness..."
Guo Yan hadn't seen Zhu Gaoxu for several months, but when he saw him, his eyes filled with mist.
"Meals have been prepared for His Highness in the backyard."
She saluted Zhu Gaoxu, who also looked at Yi Shiha: "Go and do your business, I will stay in Shenyang for three days."
"Slave, please leave..."
After he left, Zhu Gaoxu stepped forward and took Guo Yan's hand to the backyard.
After not seeing each other for several months, what Zhu Gaoxu wanted to do now was not to eat, but to vent the emotions that had been accumulated in his heart for several months.
Guo Yan and the two maids who followed her blushed, but Zhu Gaoxu took them away impatiently like hungry wolves.
But just when he was about to vent, Jinzhou City in the south welcomed the person Zhu Gaoxu had been waiting for for a long time.
"Yapai! What cargo is on the ship?"
In Jinzhou Port, when more than a dozen soldiers led a ship with more than 100 materials into the port smoothly, the soldiers who were ordered by Cui Jun to purchase grain immediately surrounded them.
They asked for tooth tags from the people on the ship, but this tooth tag was not the tooth tag representing an official's official position, but the animal bone tooth tag issued by Cui Jun to the smugglers.
The flag officer leading the team was not blind, and gradually put his hand on the handle of the knife. This was because the sailors on the ship were covered in tendons and flesh. At first glance, they were not ordinary sailors. Even the servants looked down on them too much, even in the ranks. Elite existence.
"No toothpai, I came to seek refuge with His Highness Bohai."
A man hidden under a cloak walked onto the deck and took out a letter from his arms.
"You can give this letter to His Highness Bohai. I believe His Highness will come to find me after reading it."
Hidden under the cloak, Yang Zhan tried his best not to reveal his face, because he was worried that the people with Jin Yiwei in the Bohai Navy would easily cause disaster to his father once he was exposed.
"I can give the letter to General Cui first, and wait for General Cui to read the rest."
The little flag officer saw that Yang Zhan's cloak was made of silk and satin, so he didn't dare to look down on him, but he still kept it.
Yang Zhan didn't say anything when he heard this, he just nodded and said: "Until His Highness nods, my people and I will not disembark, so please don't worry."
"Thank you for your understanding." The flag officer bowed in return, and then left with the letter, leaving only five or six soldiers to guard Yang Zhan's ship.
Time passed, and soon the flag officer handed the letter to Cui Jun, who was training sailors outside Jinzhou City. Cui Jun frowned and opened the letter after hearing this.
Almost instantly, Cui Jun closed the letter because he saw a familiar name.
He had never met Yang Zhan, but he had heard Lin Su and Fu Rang mention Yang Zhan.
Now Yang Zhan suddenly appeared in Jinzhou, and it seemed that he only brought a dozen people with him, and his clothes were a little sneaky. It shouldn't be like an assassination, but more like he was avoiding someone.
Thinking of this, Cui Jun specially ordered a Qianhu: "Liu Kui, take someone to pick them up in the city and find a yard closer to the Yamen for them to live in. The daily meal standard is the same as mine. Treat them well.”
"Yes!" Xiaoqi official bowed in agreement, and Cui Jun also found a confidant of his and asked him to rush 500 miles to spread the letter and his arrangements to the north.
Soon, Yang Zhan on the boat was picked up in a yard near the commander's office, and the letter was also rushed to the north.
When it was delivered to Shenyang, Zhu Gaoxu had already set off for Guangning. For this reason, the messenger changed horses and went to Guangning, and finally brought the news and letters to Zhu Gaoxu before he crossed the Liao River.
"My old friend?"
Beside the Liaohe Water Station, Zhu Gaoxu took the letter with confusion. After opening it, within a few breaths, the expression on his face completely changed.
"Let's go! I'm not going to Guangning, I'm going to Jinzhou!"
Zhu Gaoxu couldn't hide his excitement, got on his horse and wanted to lead people to Jinzhou.
More than a hundred cavalrymen around him didn't know why, so they all went to Jinzhou with him.
This trip lasted ten full days, and we did not arrive in Jinzhou until October 12th.
"Cui Jun, take me to see that person quickly."
Zhu Gaoxu came to Jinzhou after a long journey, and saw Cui Jun who had been waiting for him for a long time at the city gate.
Cui Jun did not dare to delay and immediately took Zhu Gaoxu to Yang Zhan's residence.
In just a quarter of an hour, they arrived at the yard.
As the door was pushed open, Zhu Gaoxu also saw Yang Zhan sitting in the courtyard of the courtyard chatting with a few strong soldiers.
When Yang Zhan heard the sound of the door opening, he thought it was a soldier delivering food, but he never expected to turn around and meet Zhu Gaoxu's eyes.
"Your Highness!"
"Okay, okay!!"
Yang Zhan stood up in surprise, and Zhu Gaoxu also walked quickly in excitement. When Yang Zhan walked out of the nave, he hugged Yang Zhan and patted Yang Zhan hard on the back.
"Okay! If you come, most of my problems will be solved!"
"Your Highness, it hurts, it hurts..."
Yang Zhan grimaced when he was slapped by Zhu Gaoxu. After reacting, Zhu Gaoxu quickly let go of his hand, grabbed his shoulders, and looked at him like an adult grabbing a child.
"You are hurt?"
Zhu Gaoxu was surprised and felt a little guilty for his recklessness just now.
"During a fight with a chieftain from Guangxi, I was accidentally hit by a knife. It was with this knife that I faked my death and fled north. Therefore, please don't call me by my name."
"Then you take my last name, Zhu...Success!"
Zhu Gaoxu's bad taste caused the name Zhu Chenggong to appear in the early Ming Dynasty more than 200 years in advance.
After giving the instructions, he turned back to Cui Jun, who had just walked into the yard, and said, "Cui Jun, you can come in alone, and the others will guard outside."
"Yes!" Cui Jun turned around and signaled to the soldiers, who also retreated and closed the courtyard door.
After they retreated, Cui Jun followed Zhu Gaoxu and the others into the central hall, and then sat down in his seat.
Zhu Gaoxu pulled Yang Zhan to sit on the left and right of the main seat, and then said to Cui Jun: "I will call him Zhu Chenggong in the future."
"Yes!" Although Cui Jun didn't know what happened, he also knew that Yang Zhan must have fled north, otherwise he would not have been able to escape from Guangxi Dusi.
After giving instructions to Cui Jun, Zhu Gaoxu also talked about the business impatiently: "Success, your coming this time has solved my urgent need."
"Right now I need a naval general to lead my three thousand sailors across the sea to attack Dengzhou."
"The general also thought about it, so he came." Yang Zhan said with a smile: "As soon as the war started, the general knew that he wanted to go south directly from Liaodong. The fastest and most labor-saving way was to take Jinzhou to Deng and Lai. Two states.”
"The soldiers in these places have been deployed. The only ones we need to worry about are the three naval divisions of Denglai, Yangtze, and Pingwo in Guangdong and Guangxi."
"I have already investigated when I went north. The three naval divisions have 26,000 sailors, 78 warships with 2,000 rations, 124 warships with 1,500 rations, and more than 300 warships with 1,000 rations or less. There are a total of more than 2,600 artillery pieces and 19,000 bronze blunderbuss."
"Right now, their main force is picking up Liu Zhen from Jiulian City. The speed is not very fast, but it is not slow either. Every half a month, they can take 3,000 people back to Liaodong. They have already picked up three batches. It is estimated that there are only less than 10,000 people left in Jiulian City. People."
"They are stationing troops in Dengzhou, and so are their warships. Therefore, I would like to ask Your Highness how many warships you can pull out?"
Yang Zhan brought important information, and Zhu Gaoxu was not surprised that the three naval forces were able to transport 3,000 people from Jiuliancheng across the sea to Shandong every half month.
After all, in the early Ming Dynasty, troops were often transported by sea, but in the late Ming Dynasty, they did not dare to try it.
Zhu Yuanzhang took Jinzhou and landed in Jinzhou within a month by transporting 10,000 troops. Zhu Yunwen also sent Ping An to lead four thousand cavalry from Liaodong to ferry from Jinzhou to Dengzhou in Shandong during the Jingnan Campaign.
The sea route to Imperial City Island had been thoroughly developed in the early Ming Dynasty. As long as there was no bad weather, the speed of transporting troops would only be faster, and the round trip would only take five days.
In addition, Jinzhou has hundreds of thousands of acres of arable land and is convenient for transporting grain. Therefore, whether it is using Jinzhou as a springboard to attack Liaodong or using Jinzhou as a springboard to attack Shandong, this is a crucial place.
"There are not many warships at the moment. Before spring, we should be able to get ten warships with three thousand materials and thirty warships with two thousand materials. However, each warship has at least thirty cannons, and the power of the cannons is Larger, one cannon is enough to penetrate the four-foot-thick hull timber at a distance of three miles.”
As soon as Zhu Gaoxu opened his mouth, Yang Zhan was surprised.
He participated in the war against Japan, so he naturally knew the power of the Ming army's warships and artillery.
Even the most powerful Hongwu Bronze Cannon can only penetrate a foot-thick hull at a distance of half a mile, but His Highness's cannons here are several times more powerful than those from the south.
"Your Highness, are you kidding?"
It's not that Yang Zhan doesn't believe Zhu Gaoxu, but Zhu Gaoxu's words are too surprising.
"Children are innocent. If you don't believe it, you can follow Cui Jun to the Jinzhou navy camp to have a look."
Zhu Gaoxu smiled heartily, and this completely convinced Yang Zhan.
"Although the general already knew that His Highness's artillery was sharp before heading north, he really didn't expect it to be so sharp."
Yang Zhan took a deep breath: "If there are really forty such warships, it will be enough to defeat the Southern Navy navy head-on."
"I have calculated that among the Confederate Navy, only Hongwu iron cannons and bronze cannons can penetrate the side of a 2,000-material warship within half a mile. If our army's artillery is so powerful, it can completely hit close range from a distance. And you can also build a boat with more than a hundred materials.”
"Each of these small boats needs to place one such artillery gun on the bow, and then take advantage of the southern navy to approach unprepared. Then only a few small boats can sink the southern army's two thousand warships."
"The only thing our army needs to worry about is that the ship will be attacked by the Confederate fire ships because it is too big..."
Yang Zhan, Zhu Gaoxu, and Cui Jun explained the tactics of the Southern Navy in detail. In fact, the commander of the Southern Navy, Chen Xuan, did not have high naval combat capabilities because he commanded the Yangtze River Navy for a short time, so if he really wanted to If the battle starts at sea, then Chen Xuan will inevitably entrust Yang Zhan's father Yang Qiu with the important task.
Although Yang Zhan did not say whether he had instigated his father's rebellion, Zhu Gaoxu knew very well that as long as the Denglai naval battle was unfavorable, Yang Qiu would never mind giving water to the Bohai Navy.
In this way, he will be absolutely sure to win the Bohai Strait.
Thinking of this, he looked at Yang Zhan and then Cui Jun: "In that case, Cui Jun, you are temporarily responsible for the land supply and naval construction in southern Liaoning. If successful, you will personally train the sailors. If there are not enough sailors, you can recruit them at will. , I will grant you the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Bohai Navy, and allow you to do things conveniently!"
"General, take your orders!" Yang Zhan and Cui Jun stood up to bow, and Zhu Gaoxu also stood up to lift them up.
Looking at them, Zhu Gaoxu seemed to have seen the scene where he had landed in Denglai and Zhu Yunwen was furious about the news.
"Good brother, don't worry, my brother will go to the south to see you soon..."
Halfway through the second update, the company had a power outage.
I am writing on my mobile phone now, so I estimate that the second update will come later.
(End of chapter)
