Early the next morning, Yang Fan took Tu Shanyue and Lin Yueru on the boat and left Zunhua.
After the ship passed Zunhua, the situation was obviously much better. This is Yang Fan's own territory, a peaceful and tranquil scene.
In villages and towns along the river, old people are basking in the sun and lying on bamboo rocking chairs. The children were playing crazily in groups. Even the watchdog was breathing heavily and basking in his belly lazily.
The entrances to Yang Fan's territory are guarded by militiamen to keep the refugees out of the territory.
Once a large number of refugees enter, nothing good will happen.
There is everyone here, it is difficult to manage, and the crime rate will definitely increase.
Not only is the security situation bad, but it may also spread diseases.
Song Yingsheng made a prompt decision and asked the village chiefs on the edge of the territory to organize militia to close the roads and prohibit these disaster victims and refugees from entering the territory.
Yang Fan's territory has already been surrounded by a three-meter-high barbed wire wall and trenches. There is no way to get in without going through the door with the militia handle.
He is the administrative person in charge appointed by the master before the expedition, and he must be responsible to the master. The master is on an expedition and must not allow the base area to be in chaos.
Yang Fan saw tens of thousands of victims gathered on the road entering the territory, all squatting outside the barbed wire fence. These people all knew that Yang Fan's territory was wealthy, and they all wanted to enter to survive.
Although Yang Fan sympathized with these victims, he understood Song Yingsheng's handling methods very well. It was right not to let them in.
After crossing the border, the farmland along the coast has been harvested. A large number of farmers are driving cattle to plow the fields. The summer grain rice has been harvested, and now the water has been drained from the fields. After the land is plowed, winter wheat is waiting to be planted.
This year's harvest was good. Starting from the second half of the year, Jeju Island organized a fleet of lucky boats to transport a large amount of bird droppings as fertilizer. It is estimated that there will also be a good wheat harvest next year.
The ship did not stop, but arranged for a messenger to deliver the message and asked Song Yingsheng to provide some gruel to the victims to help them settle down first. Then he continued towards Jizhou.
It was already noon when the boat arrived in Jizhou. At noon, Yang Fan sent someone down to buy pots and put them on the boat. I, Xiao Niangpi and Lin Yueru fried pot stickers in a pan and had lunch.
While eating, Yang Fan felt that Xiao Niangpi had something to say. Turned to look at her.
"Master, this battle outside the Great Wall has exposed our strength. Do you think it will attract the emperor's attention?" Xiao Niangpi said with a frown.
"It is inevitable to attract His Majesty's attention. In fact, I was well prepared before fighting this battle. If we want to develop, sooner or later, His Majesty will be uneasy. However, we cannot do it if we are afraid of wolves in the front and tigers in the back. Listen to the cry of the cricket No more farming.”
Lin Yueru was amused and said: "Master, you have thought about how to compete with His Majesty in a battle of wits and courage. This time the benefits are too great. I guess Your Majesty has already made arrangements for it. He summoned you ostensibly to listen to you. My opinion is actually just going through the motions, please don’t take it seriously.”
Yang Fan smiled bitterly and said: "Since the last time I came to Beijing to serve the King, I have understood everything. It is necessary to work for His Majesty and do it well. If you do not do it well, you will be punished. If you do more, you will make more mistakes, if you do less, you will make fewer mistakes. It’s not bad if you don’t do it. Therefore, being an official requires laziness, and there is nothing wrong with being lazy.”
Tu Shanyue and Lin Yueru clapped their hands and praised: "This sentence is well said and captures the essence of officialdom."
"I went there with the mentality of watching a joke. I didn't say anything, just watched them come on stage one by one and let them perform to their heart's content. Let's see what tricks they can do." Yang Fan said nonchalantly while eating fried dumplings.
"There is information that Donglin is planning to abolish all the important towns on the nine sides and establish Suiyuan Province in Monan. He will mobilize the border troops to build a city to the north of Jinzhou in Liaodong, connect it to the territory of the Chahar tribe, and seal the slaves here. Liaodong." Lin Yueru said.
Yang Fan praised: "Tsk, tsk, what a generous move. I don't know who planned it. Tumut and Guihua City are still there, and the Ordos Department is still there, so they started planning to abolish Jiubian."
Tu Shanyue snorted coldly and said: "I guess we have to hope that I will go to the west to conquer the Tumut and Ordos people. After the border troubles in Shaanxi and Gansu provinces are relieved, they can take the opportunity to abolish the important towns on the nine sides and achieve their ulterior motives. .
Yang Fan asked: "What is the situation on the nine sides now? Yueru, do you have any information?"
Lin Yueru ate the pot stickers in her mouth. Wiped his hands with a handkerchief, put the document bag
Bring it. Take out a dossier. After opening it, I started reading.
Yang Fan gradually had a clear understanding of the team's situation at this time. Lin Yueru's work is still very meticulous.
During the Chongzhen Dynasty at the end of the Ming Dynasty, except for Liaodong Town, which was a major nine-border town, the other eight towns basically maintained their original scale.
At this time, there were a total of 590,000 registered border troops on the nine sides. This number is the total number of camp and garrison soldiers. The actual number of people is unclear. Because no one knows the real number of people below who are living on empty wages.
Moreover, the guard base has basically collapsed. This number of people seems to be a bluff. In fact, the main ones who can fight are the camp soldiers.
Among them, Liaodong Town has the strongest strength. There were actually 80,000 soldiers. Most of these people are camp soldiers and are very capable of fighting.
Now after a great defeat, Liaodong Town has ceased to exist in name only. Only a small area like the Liaoxi Corridor is left.
The troops in Liaodong Town are mainly concentrated on the Guanningjin Defense Line. In addition, Santun camp has an army of 10,000 people, which also belongs to the Liaodong sequence. There are also some naval forces on Juehua Island who are responsible for transporting supplies.
Jizhou Town is the largest military town in Jiubian, stretching from Shanhaiguan in the east to Mutianyu in the west, with a total length of more than 880 kilometers. During the Yongle period, the garrison strength was set at 85,000, and by the Chongzhen period, the garrison strength was nearly 130,000.
Yingtian Mansion alone has a total of 24 guards. But the vast majority of them have no effect, and they are basically useless in battle.
Xuanfu Town starts from Mutian Valley in the east and ends at Xiyang River (now in Huai'an County, Hebei Province) in the west, with a total length of more than 510 kilometers. During the Yongle period, the garrison strength was about 126,000, and during the Chongzhen period, the garrison strength was more than 80,000.
Datong Town starts from Zhenkootai (now northeast of Tianzhen County, Shanxi) in the east and ends at Yajiao Mountain (east of today's Qingshuihe County, the provincial boundary between Shanxi and Inner Mongolia) in the west, with a total length of more than 330 kilometers.
During the Yongle period, the garrison strength was 135,000, and during the Chongzhen period, the garrison strength was more than 76,000.
Shanxi Town (Taiyuan Town) starts from the Great Wall of Zhenbao Town in the east and ends at Piantou Pass on the bank of the Yellow River in the west. Shanxi Town is located on the inner side (south) of the Great Wall in Datong and Xuanfu towns, so it is also called the Inner Great Wall.
The main function is to prevent enemy troops from advancing straight in after the outer Great Wall defense line is breached. As the second line of defense, Shanxi Town had relatively few troops, with 53,000 troops stationed during the Chongzhen period.
Yansui Town (Yulin Town) starts from Huangfuchuan Fort (now Huangfu Township, Fugu County, Shaanxi Province) in the east and ends at Huamachi (now Yanchi County, Ningxia) in the west, with a total length of more than 880 kilometers. During the Yongle period, the garrison strength was 25,000, and during the Chongzhen period, the garrison strength was approximately 45,000.
Guyuan Town (Shaanxi Town) starts from the west boundary of Raoyang Water Fort in Yansui Town in the east and reaches Lanzhou and Lintao in the west, with a total length of about 500 kilometers.
In the early Ming Dynasty, only three towns, Yansui, Ningxia, and Gansu, were established in the northwest region. However, because the battle lines were too long, the distance was far away. In the event of war, the three towns could not communicate with each other, so Guyuan Town was added during the Hongzhi period of the Ming Dynasty. During the Chongzhen period, the garrison strength in Guyuan Town was nearly 60,000.
Ningxia Town starts from Huamachi in the east and ends at the north bank of the Yellow River in Xiquegou, Zhongwei, Ningxia (now southwest of Zhongwei City, Ningxia) in the west, with a total length of about 1,000 kilometers. During the Yongle period, the garrison strength was about 70,000, and during the Chongzhen period, the garrison strength was about 25,000.
The southeastern part of Gansu Town starts from the north bank of the Yellow River in present-day Lanzhou, and reaches the northwest to Jiayuguan Tuolai River, with a total length of about 800 kilometers. During the Yongle period, the garrison strength was about 96,000, and during the Chongzhen period, the garrison strength was about 40,000.
Yang Fan tapped the table with his fingers, wondering whether it was true or not that the elders in the court wanted to abolish Jiubian. If all the camps and guards on the nine sides were really moved to Monan for reclamation, the troops would garrison the borders. This is a big project.
No matter how hard we eat, no matter how much the guards flee, there are still 200,000 out of 500,000 people. Including their family members, there are probably two to three million people.
Because the guard station has a large population due to more than two hundred years of reproduction, there may be hundreds of military households under a small banner. Those actually deployed as soldiers are only the tip of the iceberg of the total number of military households.
Yang Fan frowned and wondered whether they were serious or had other purposes.
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569. The strength of the nine-border town (complementing yesterday’s two chapters)
