Upon hearing the news that Master Yang was coming, the whole castle suddenly became excited.
Yang Fan would bring a lot of supplies every time he came.
A total of 20,000 people lived in this earthen castle. In addition to the transferred officers and their families, they were all refugees and disaster victims who supplemented the military households.
This year is the first year of Chongzhen. As soon as spring begins, a severe drought begins and food prices skyrocket.
Spring plowing is about to begin, but the moisture content of the soil is extremely poor, with almost no water. When I grab it with my hands, the thin soil surface slips from my fingertips.
There was hardly any snow last winter, and now that the ground is so dry, how dare farmers plant precious seeds?
Even if you plant it, it will not sprout. Might as well leave the precious seed grain behind.
At the beginning of spring, farmers began to flee from famine.
Because under the influence of Yang Fan in Zunhua in recent years, especially because of the start of the open-hearth furnace, the demand for iron ore has increased several times, and all mines are desperately recruiting workers to expand production.
This solves the problem of eating for many people. So all the victims in Beizhili were running to Zunhua. I don’t ask for wages, as long as I can put food on the table for my family.
It’s not just farmers who are fleeing famine. After the Spring Festival, grain dealers in various cities collectively increase their prices, more than doubling the price of miscellaneous grains. Rice has risen from five cents of silver per load to one, two or three cents of silver per load.
A large number of handicraftsmen went bankrupt, and the poor in the cities could not afford to buy food with the wages they earned, and they began to flee in large numbers.
This gave Yang Fan the greatest convenience in recruiting troops.
At this time, the entire north was in an atmosphere of panic. As long as they could survive, no one cared whether they were military households or not.
Especially when they heard that when they became military households, their families were given ten acres of paddy fields, people went crazy.
Paddy fields, nothing can compare to paddy fields in this era. Due to severe drought, the yield of crops in dry land is so low that it makes people cry.
However, paddy fields are not afraid of drought. Rice yields are high. There are two crops of wheat and rice in a year, and two loads of rice and one load of wheat can be harvested. According to the current market price, this is twenty taels of silver.
Ten acres of land is worth twenty taels of silver.
Mr. Yang has said that all grain harvesting in the fields will be exempted, and all excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes will be exempted. It’s just that surplus grain must be purchased and sold under the unified control. It must be sold to the grain depot, but the materials will be discounted according to the market price.
Therefore, Yang Fan quickly recruited enough military households and selected the best among the best.
Although, Yang Fan had to raise them before the rice harvest in the first year. But Yang Fan could not afford this money.
Yang Fan established the first financial institution of Yang Fan's system - Xinghe Bank in Tulou.
Responsible for lending to military households, Yang Fan provided low-interest loans to these military households in the form of houses, farm tools, tools, cloth, general merchandise, bedding, grain, iron stoves, and briquettes.
They were allowed to become military households in one fell swoop, providing everything they needed for their families, and then also owed Yang Fan a huge debt.
Once there is a harvest, it will be paid off slowly over ten or fifteen years.
The steel is produced in our own factory, and these things are not worth much. It’s affordable to give away for free. But in order to strengthen control, Yang Fan decided to add a debt chain.
At the same time, it prevents them from having extra food and property in their hands, and prevents officers from exploiting them. Once the officers start to exploit military households, it will be the beginning of the collapse of the garrison.
Each family can receive thirty kilograms of cornmeal or corn stubble per person every month according to their population. Even breastfed children have it. Enough to feed a family.
As for vegetables, they can only solve the problem by letting the children go out to dig wild vegetables. Yang Fan has no place to get them. As for fats and meat, Yang Fan would bring some every time he came.
With meat and fat, these victims soon began to look rosy and their bodies began to gain flesh. In the grocery store in the earth building, you can buy salt on credit and pay it back with grain after autumn. With salt to eat, their strength also recovered.
Otherwise, these hungry people will not be able to fight or train. They will be so hungry that they can't even stand. They must first take good care of their bodies.
This requires a lot of fat and meat. In order to treat night blindness, a large amount of animal offal must be provided to supplement vitamin A.
Now by purchasing grain from grain depots and dumping old grain from storage, Yang Fan has basically solved the problem of buying grain in bulk at low prices. But fat and meat are too expensive after all.
However, Yang Fan soon came up with a way.
A large number of pigs are raised in North America and Australia, but they only eat lean meat.
They don't like fat pork, pig trotters, pig tails, offal, pig heads, and even pork ribs. They throw them away and have to pay for the garbage disposal.
The ribs can still be sold for some money, but the other prices are staggeringly cheap.
It doesn't even cost you money to get into the water, it's just garbage, you just take it away from the slaughterhouse.
Yang Fan asked the scammers to set up companies in Canada, the United States, and Australia to purchase these things. After they were cleaned, they were sent to the refrigerated warehouse, and then Yaoguang was transported back to Zunhua in the Ming Dynasty.
Pigs from the United States and Australia are not castrated and have a strong smell of mutton, which must be masked by adding more spices. However, the price of these things is the same as those picked up for free. They are cheap.
Spices are not a problem. There are plenty of them in the Nanyang Islands, and now there are clipper ships that can transport them back in large quantities.
The price of these meats is so cheap that Yang Fan can hardly believe his eyes. Especially in recent years, due to the epidemic, a large amount of pork cannot be sold. If the pigs are not slaughtered, they will consume feed. If they are slaughtered and cannot be sold, the farmers are going crazy. .
Almost sold it for money.
Yang Fan was going crazy with joy.
There are more than 80 million pigs in the beautiful country. There is absolutely enough to supply yourself here.
Yang Fan even considered opening braised pork restaurants in all counties in the Ming Dynasty. The braised pork is well prepared, sealed and packaged using preservatives and high-temperature sterilization in cans. It will not go bad for two or three years.
Canning can be made in jars produced in Damingdu.
Chinese people love pig heads, pig tails, pig meat, pig hooves, etc. As long as there are enough spices and the taste is delicious, there is no need to worry about selling it.
And canned goods couldn't be better as munitions.
Seeing Mr. Yang coming, Zhou Yuji quickly went out of the city with five other chiefs and deputy Qianhu to greet Yang Fan. Looking at more than a hundred four-horse carriages behind Yang Fan's three hundred cavalry. The officers swallowed their saliva as they looked at the cargo.
These horse-drawn carriages are imitations of the caravans used in China's western development, and they carry very high loads.
This kind of car is called Conestoga wagon. It is a heavy-duty wide-wheeled caravan widely used in the United States and Canada from the late 18th to the 19th century. It is pulled by horses, mules or oxen and has a load capacity of up to 7 tons.
This caravan has a boat-like shape, allowing it to cross rivers and streams.
The driving speed is 25 kilometers per day. Until the development of railroad transportation, Conestoga wagon trains were the primary means of transportation in the Appalachian Mountains.
The caravan could be pulled by up to 8 horses or 12 oxen, often by specialized Conestoga horses.
Now Yang Fan's military operations and logistical supplies all rely on these heavy-duty carriages that can go off-road.
After the officers and their families came here, they found that the training here was hard and there was no gray income. Everyone was disappointed.
However, there are enough rice tubes here, one bolt of cloth is distributed every month, and the officers and their families have meat to eat. There is a school in the earth building, and all children go to school for free. The teacher is more than thirty talents invited from Beizhili. There is also a medical clinic with more than a dozen doctors, and you don’t have to spend money to see a doctor or take medicine.
Such a good benefit is not unacceptable even if you think about it.
Now everyone knows that those huge four-wheeled carriages are covered with tarpaulins and are frozen pork.
Although there is no lean meat, it is full of good things like pig heads, hooves, and ribs.
As long as it's cooked well, it's good food and very delicious.
There was white mist rising from the tarpaulin. Everyone knew that the meat was frozen, and they didn't know how Mr. Yang froze it. They all guessed that it was killed last year and taken out from the underground ice cellar.
Yang Fan was surrounded by everyone and entered the earth building. The soldiers were very excited when they saw the master coming. They all knelt down on both sides of the road and kowtowed to Yang Fan.
When the master comes, he will give everyone fat.
In this era, no one likes lean pork, but everyone likes fat pork. The fatter the pork, the more popular it is. The more expensive ones you buy at the meat stalls.
The pork sent by Mr. Yang is pure fat meat and can be directly used for oil refining.
In beautiful countries, fat pork is garbage, usually just like throwing it away, and the price is extremely low.
During the recent period, Yang Fan leveled the land outside the castle and built a formal 400-meter obstacle course. These officers and soldiers were so miserable that they staggered home every day.
Basically, I opened my eyes, was so busy that I turned off the lights, my whole body was cramped, and my limbs were limp. The general bannermen truly implemented Yang Fan's cross policy.
"As long as you can't practice to death, practice to death."
After Yang Fan arrived, he first stood on the general stage. He glanced around majestically.
Under the power of Yang Fan's military stick, the audience suddenly became silent and silent.
Zhou Yuji quickly sent up the training situation of the last ten days. Appointed by Yang Fan as training director. These are all his duties. His hands and feet are very numb now, because he has also been beaten with a military stick three times. As long as the training fails to meet the requirements, Yang Fan will be the first to hit him.
Zhou Yuji didn't dare to take a breath, and looked at Yang Fan's expression carefully. However, he soon breathed a sigh of relief, and a smile appeared on Yang Fan's face.
Yang Fan was very satisfied after reading this report.
The training target was basically achieved, and only a dozen people did not complete the training. There is nothing to say about this, so they just took off their pants and hit the boards.
Yang Fan's military principles are very simple.
Those who obey and complete my instructions will be rewarded. Penalty for failure to complete. Those who violate military discipline will go to jail. Those who disobey orders will be killed.
Suddenly, the audience was filled with white buttocks, and the executioner, Si Lishi, picked up the board and started beating. The beatings made these people cry for their fathers and mothers, and their skins and flesh were bruised.
One by one, they assured Mr. Yang that they would complete the training next time.
Then, for those who exceeded their training quota, the officers were given silver, and the soldiers were given fattened pork, worth ten kilograms each.
Officers and soldiers who completed their training tasks were given fattened pork, five pounds each.
In addition, all officers and soldiers were issued with water, one set for each person. Pigs have their heart, liver, spleen, stomach, kidneys, large intestine, and small intestine. Go back and ask your wife to clean up and cook and eat by yourself.
Each officer is given an extra fan of ribs.
Suddenly there was a boiling sound below.
Everyone was very excited. Only five kilograms of fat meat were given out ten days ago. Today, another fifteen kilograms of meat and a set of semen were given out. Now the whole family can eat well again.
The children are as excited as the Chinese New Year.
Yang Fan's next words brought the atmosphere to a climax.
"You are all very good. You have successfully completed the first training mission. Now every officer and soldier can meet the requirements of the training syllabus. Everyone can shoot a hundred arrows in a row, shake a gun for an hour, and be fully armed and carry three loads. Ten kilograms, a quick march of fifty miles. Each wooden sword fight will result in more than fifty points. I declare that from now on, I will take a ten-day holiday and start the second phase of training ten days later."
When they heard that there were still ten days of vacation, everyone almost went crazy with joy.
During this time, they were forced by military law to train during the day and learn to read at night. There was no free time and I was very nervous.
Now I heard that I was actually given a ten-day holiday, and I was very excited.
Yang Fan pressed his hands down, signaling that no one should make any noise. He continued: "This time I brought 3,700 pig heads, all of which were braised into pig head meat. Each household was given a pig head to the officers and soldiers. There was also a jar of ten kilograms of Shaodaozi liquor for each household. Everyone told me Okay, as long as you can fulfill my requirements, the benefits will be yours. I hope you can continue your efforts in the second training period. I will not hesitate to reward you. We are disbanded now."
Immediately, the officers and soldiers dispersed in a hurry and lined up to receive their rewards. The entire earth building was filled with joy, just like the Chinese New Year.
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