In the late first month of the fourth year of Chongzhen's reign, the ice and snow in the Juerwan Valley began to disappear.
Baiyan Taiji picked up the armor at Riyue Mountain, and with satisfaction, escorted by Dai Daozi, set off back to Bajiao City in Xiaohetao.
This year has passed so happily for him.
Liu Chengzong brought a lot of firecrackers and made enough pretense. He also presented five sets of purple cloth armor and fifty official-made wild goose feather waist knives.
This batch of three-handed waist sword armor is of great value, and they are all good things. They were all made by Shanxi Pingyang Guard Arms Bureau in the 25th year of Wanli. They are worth at least twenty-six taels of silver in Han Dynasty.
In Qinghai, they are worth 700 sheep, which is approximately equal to the entire wealth of three middle-class herdsmen families.
And it’s still priceless.
The number of waist knives controlled by Baiyan Taiji increased by 30%.
To put it bluntly, Taiji is not poor, on the contrary, he is very rich.
In the tribe of Baiyan, there are five large clans and more than 30 small clans. Each head has more than 300 livestock and can assemble more than 3,000 cavalry and herdsmen.
But their main weapons are light bows, hooks and sickles, bones and dog-beating sticks.
The dog-beating stick is not a stick, but a homemade tool used by the people in the pastoral areas of Amdo to prevent wild beasts. It is tied with an iron block with a rope, similar to a meteor dart, and is called Goerkaer.
Here, only the hook and sickle gun is Tumut's standard weapon, and it is also the main culprit of the Nine-Border Ming Army's beheadings.
Historically, when Mongolia attacked the Han region, they were recruited by the largest tribal leader before the war. They agreed to gather somewhere on a certain day, and all tribes would nomadicly go there to discuss the direction of the invasion and complete pre-war reorganization.
In a group of three horses, there will be a rider with a hook and sickle, who is responsible for charging and hooking up fallen people or corpses. Usually, they hook one person and throw them on the spare horse, and then they can run away.
This is an artifact for entrepreneurship outside the Great Wall. According to their tradition, those who are lured back must repay their kindness.
What was hooked back was the body, which was given to the widow, and the things on her body and the horse belonged to the person who carried the body.
If the person rescued is an ordinary person, then the family property will be divided equally with the benefactor.
If it is Taiji who is rescued, it will be rewarded. According to tradition, the nobles will take out their armor, horses, and money and let the benefactor choose.
Ji's ancestors were also rich, and his grandfather was the brother of Ada Khan.
When his father was young, Tumut's Anda Khan completely bankrupted the Ming Dynasty's economic sanctions with the help of the White Lotus Cult.
Han'er built a bansheng in Tumochuan, manufactured daily necessities, built sharp soldiers and armor, ladders and poles, and siege equipment, so that 30,000 households on the right flank had more than 40,000 armored cavalry.
Even when it comes to dividing the accounts, his tribe has thousands of armors and collars, more than 4,000 sabers, and relatively few weapons such as hooks, sickles, and spears.
At that time, the Tumut tribe was the undisputed overlord of the grassland, and the war horses of 30,000 households on the right wing brought nightmares to everyone.
The Shan Ordos tribe was completely cut off from Huangtaiji. Under the order of Ananda Khan, in the 41st year of Jiajing, he conquered Oara and conquered Torgut; in the 45th year of Jiajing, he conquered Uzang; in the first year of Wanli, he penetrated the Oirat pasture. The troops reached Suiye City, defeated the Kazakh Khan Aksar, and took his wife back.
Such a ferocious spirit, but his greatest achievement during the Wanli period was the compilation of a Buddhist classic, and his official position was promoted from commander of Qianshi to general of dragon and tiger.
Because Zhao Quan, the leader of the White Lotus Sect, died, he was escorted to Beijing by Anda Khan who established the Ming Dynasty and was killed.
Since then, Tumut and even the entire Monan have once again lost the ability to create their own armor.
So far, the number of soldiers and armor maintained by various Mongolian tribes varies.
Those who generally occupied trade routes and were further away from the Ming Dynasty had more soldiers and armor. Those who were closer to the Ming Dynasty or were in remote areas had fewer soldiers and armor.
Among those who had fought a big battle with the Ming Dynasty and lost, they had the least armor - this almost made them the Huoluo Chibabu of Qinghai.
Their sabers and armor were mostly lost.
Because of its entrepreneurial characteristics, the anti-barb sickle gun has become the most widely kept weapon in the tribe.
And he only has one hundred and thirty-seven decent sabers, including the one on Weiyan's waist.
There are more than half of them hidden knives, all of which were stolen earlier.
Many times, people know that what is being put into their mouths is poison, and they have to take it when they should.
It was said that Taiji was not stupid, and he knew very well what Liu Chengzong's intention was in giving him the armor and waist knife.
He only gave him things, and Lazun had nothing in return, which was a clear attempt to sow discord between the brothers.
But can he not want these things? cannot.
In the words of Liu Chengzong, where are you now? There will be countless things for you to buy in the future.
There are literally countless things.
After the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the weather near Xining was still freezing at night, but it was getting warmer during the day.
The Lion Army also got busy, taking advantage of the daytime to push the clay dug out of the nests last autumn to the riverside, and built several brick kilns, which they would start firing when the weather warmed up.
On the other side, Liu Chengzong took Lin Wei around the valley and began to measure the abandoned land suitable for farming.
The geographical location of Juerwan is similar to a T-junction. From west to east is the Huangshui River Basin, and from north to south is the Yaoshui River. It is very conducive to building canals for irrigation, but there is not much flat farmland.
Because he didn't understand the agricultural situation here, Liu Chengzong sent someone to call Gonpo Dorje from Riyue Mountain.
After some inquiry, based on his current manpower situation, the situation is relatively optimistic.
The fields here are divided into three types: Sichuan water land, shallow mountain land, and Naoshan land. Sichuan water land is naturally the best, with low altitude, high temperature, sufficient irrigation, and naturally high yields.
Naoshandi is just the opposite.
After measurement, the surrounding fields suitable for canal irrigation can be divided into three triangular areas. Two in the northwest and one in the south are flat land between rivers. Three large canals and twelve branch canals need to be built, which can irrigate the surrounding fields for 20,000 yuan. More than seven thousand acres.
In the mountains, there are more than 60,000 acres of shallow mountain land and more than 80,000 acres of mountainous land. The yield per mu of grain grown in these places is not as good as that of northern Shaanxi.
After Lin Wei's calculations, he recruited refugees and mountain people to cultivate the land and leave enough for the people's living needs. The grain handed over in the first year would be enough for the army to provide one-twenty-fifth of the grain.
The follow-up will depend on the development of trading towns. If all the fields can be reclaimed and utilized, one-twentieth to one-tenth can be solved.
In other words, at most, they can receive less than 20,000 stone grains here.
At this moment, Liu Chengzong suddenly realized.
Why Lazun's Timba is one-tenth? Because there are many mountain fields. After leaving the necessary rations for the people to live, what can be collected is only a little more than one-tenth.
And it’s already heavily taxed.
However, Liu Shizi is very optimistic about the future development of Juerwan. It is impossible to expect one Juerwan to support nearly 20,000 troops.
Xining can't help much. Although there is a large enough market there, with 10,000 shi of grain available for sale every year, there is still surplus agricultural power.
This year the people in the Hehuang Valley diversified their food supply, and the food that finally appeared on the market could almost supply the three thousand people of the eldest brother.
His soldiers need 700 kilograms of food a year, and this place can feed 2,000 people.
But there are more than a thousand craftsmen alone. If only the craftsmen are left here, they will be robbed sooner or later, so at least a thousand more troops must be stationed in Cuerwan.
So he planned a defense system of one city, three forts and twelve piers, made building equipment, and prepared to ram earth to build the fort.
Although there was a city in the plan, the need for the city was not urgent and it was mainly a fortress south of the Yaoshui River.
The illegal construction that Liu Chengzong had been preparing for a long time finally came into use.
He planned to let Lin Weixian build a fort in the valley that strangled the Yaoshui River fifteen miles to the south. It was a geomantic treasure, and the valley was only two hundred steps wide.
As long as a fort is built there, all people coming from Xiaohetao and passing through the river valley will be within the range of guns and artillery.
With a few lion cannons, twenty muskets, and a garrison of two to three hundred men, we can guard the southern gate of Curwan.
As for Juerwan, it is mainly planned as a logistics base, with three areas: market, factory and camp. The camp is located in the city, and the factory and market are located outside the city.
This is a huge project that cannot be completed within two years.
Nowadays, the camp is not a problem. The underground nests in the Chinese military camp are just about the same. Even if there is a need in the future, they can be expanded.
The need for a city wall is not urgent, so we can just make a rough plan now.
In Liu Chengzong's plan, Ju'erwan would be the center of the entire Qinghai in the next few years or even more than ten years. The road facilities further west could not keep up, and it was far away from the Han Dynasty, making it unfavorable for the Eastern Expedition.
His capital can only be here.
Therefore, if the city wall is really built in the future, it may occupy farmland and further expand it. It can be left to Lin Wei to slowly build it. He is only responsible for building a university in the city as his highest university.
"This school will occupy fifty acres of land, with three departments: elementary school, middle school and college, and nine subjects: economics, arithmetic, law, liberal arts, agriculture, industry, commerce, medicine and military. I want my husband to be the headmaster."
Yang Dingrui sighed when he heard Liu Chengzong's request.
Being the captain of the academy is a very comfortable job, but now that the academy doesn't even have a brick, Liu Shishi can only make demands. This is not a mountain captain, but a foreman.
I have never heard of any mountain chief building a school on his own first.
But Liu Shishi had already spoken, so what could Yang Dingrui do? He asked, "Are you planning to march westward?"
Liu Chengzong nodded: "As for food issues, we must be self-sufficient as soon as possible. Xining and Juerwan can support an army of six thousand, leaving just over ten thousand to go to Qinghai Lake."
After saying that, Liu Chengzong smiled and said: "Dai Qing has been waiting for me and the five hundred people for such a long time. We should finally meet him."
"You could scare Dai Qing to death in the past."
Yang Dingrui laughed, and the news that Chen Qindai was at Dai Qing's place had spread.
They all know that Dai Qing came from Mobei and has 800 soldiers. The equipment in Mobei may be better than that of Huoluo Chibei, which was severely weakened by the Ming Dynasty, but how can it be better no matter how good it is?
In front of the Lion Army raised by several generals, generals, and guerrillas in the Ming Dynasty, there were no well-equipped troops in the northwest.
Which army in this land can provide everyone with weapons, armor, horses, and mules?
Yang Dingrui sat on the fire bed and said with a smile: "Go ahead and leave it to me to build the school. It's better to build the school early and recruit some students to make up for the battle losses in the future."
"But I don't think it's necessary to cram it all into one government school. Why not just build a military school?"
Liu Chengzong shook his head and said: "I don't know, and I have never tried dividing subjects like this. Let's try them all. The small courtyard is in charge of Kaimeng's accounting and recruiting children."
"The Intermediate Court is in charge of law, literature, agriculture, industry, commerce, medicine, and the military, and recruits young people. Like the small courtyard, it is a popular education; the large courtyard is responsible for bringing together the most knowledgeable people in various sciences for intensive study."
Liu Chengzong painted a beautiful picture to Yang Dingrui. He opened his hand and said: "In the future, our territory will be wider and we will establish small social studies schools in every place. Those who are willing to continue learning can go to the middle school in Juerwan." Come."
"Those who study law can join the government as low-level assistant officers, those who study literature can teach in small courtyards or join the army as teachers, those who study engineering can enter our third engineering bureau, and those who study business can work in Juerwan or enter the Qinghai government-run trade , those who study medicine can also join the army locally.”
Liu Chengzong said, raising a smile: "Not to mention those who study the army, these people can accumulate greater strength for our Eastern Expedition in the future."
"Eastern March..."
Yang Dingrui sighed: "Lion, have you thought about the Eastern Expedition carefully?"
"Sir, I don't care. We can't support ourselves with food. We are almost surrounded by the Mongols. We are short of people and food. We can only do it step by step."
Yang Dingrui smiled happily, raised his hand and said, "I know you haven't thought about it carefully, so I thought about it... Guan Qiao is in Lanzhou and Anduo."
Liu Chengzong of Lanzhou knew that he was not familiar with Amdo. This was a general geographical location, a large area between Uzang and Xining, from northwest to southeast.
He asked: "Andor?"
"What do you think of the Eastern March? Fighting back the same way?"
Yang Dingrui smiled and said: "Our problem is not fighting, but food. If we want to march eastward, we must first eliminate our worries. Our worries are with Zhang Guo. To solve the problem of the Hexi Corridor, we must let Lanzhou have problems." "
Lanzhou is the main grain storage camp of Gansu Town. Taking Lanzhou will cut off the supply and connection of grain and grass to Gansu Town.
The Huoluo Chibu thought the same way in the past, so the Ming court launched the seven-month Battle of Songshan to build a new frontier of Songshan and defeated it.
Liu Chengzong nodded and asked, "What about Anduo?"
"There are mountains and seas in the east, and Songpan in the west. We enter Sichuan from Songpan Wei. Songpan was the headquarters of the general military officer during the Wanli period. Later, Yang Yinglong in Bozhou rebelled and the Sichuan general military headquarters was moved to Chongqing. Songpan only had the deputy general military officer, which could not stop us. "
"When we get rid of Gansu's worries, we can hold Qinghai-Tibet in hand, march directly to Longxi and capture Hanzhong, send partial troops into Sichuan, and attack from both inside and outside, we can seize the gateway to Sichuan."
Liu Chengzong rubbed his chin and thought secretly. The road there was quite dangerous in his memory.
However, if we can really hold Qinghai-Tibet in hand, it may not be impossible with local help.
It is a good way to seize Sichuan through internal and external attacks, but this road is too difficult.
But if it succeeds, they can attack Huguang directly from Sichuan... Liu Chengzong shook his head: "Sir, this is far beyond our current strength. We don't have the ability to think about such a thing at the moment."
He couldn't even think of anyone around him who could serve as the commander of the Iri Sichuan branch.
Yang Dingrui nodded to express his understanding and said: "It doesn't matter, I will continue to think in this direction. Anyway, if you leave me in Juerwan, I can send people to the east to find out the news, but you want me to build a university and become a university." Handsome guys have to write something for me, right?"
"What to write?"
"Write a couplet and let the craftsmen carve it on the gate after the academy is repaired."
"You said this, it's easy to handle!"
Liu Chengzong suddenly understood. He got up, found paper and pen in Yang Dingrui's cave, waved his hand and wrote down twenty words.
"Go to the hospital to study and read thousands of years of classics; go out to join the army and travel thousands of miles across the country."
