Contrary to everyone's expectations, after the general killed Ding Bi's servant, this old enemy seemed to have become calmer. He did not send anyone to retaliate for more than ten days.
When things happen for a reason, there must be monsters, and when people act abnormally, there must be swords.
Ding Bi's abnormal behavior made Kang Yingqian very uneasy.
He insisted on asking the General to send him two more guards to strengthen his protection as a think tank, for fear that one day he would be suddenly hacked to death while walking on the street.
Liu Zhaosun did not have such worries. It was not that easy to assassinate General Liu Shen. In addition to a dozen masters of the Chinese Army Guards and the personal protection of Jin Yuji, Liu Zhaosun himself was also a fierce general. Unless there was a sudden attack, the three The five fighting companies are no match for him.
When the enemy advances, we retreat; when the enemy retreats, we advance.
Liu Zhaosun took advantage of the situation to occupy 3,500 acres of farmland near Gaotaizi Village.
These fields were originally the military fields of adults such as Ma Lin and Yu Chengming. Under Kang Yingqian's operation, these military fields were quickly and smoothly transferred to Liu Zhaosun's name.
Since then, Liu Zhaosun has 13,500 acres of land.
This number is far from the 60,000 acres planned by Liu Zhaosun, but the plan cannot keep up with the rapid changes. Kaiyuan is now surrounded by enemies on all sides, and troops are needed everywhere. Moreover, there seem to be some signs of instability in the city. The external enemies have not yet been eliminated, and there are internal problems. also gradually surfaced.
Team members from the Intelligence Department discovered something strange in several shops run by Liao Town in the city. Several shops specializing in southern goods have recently been in close contact with silk and satin shops run by Mongolians, as if they were plotting something important.
Liu Zhaosun was worried about alerting others, and was even more afraid of arousing fear among other legitimate businessmen in Kaiyuan City, so he never took action against these people.
It should be noted that the foundation of Kaiyuan City is commerce. Several big businessmen in the city control the trade resources of Kaiyuan and even Liaodong with Mongolia, Haixi, North Korea and other places. If they are easily cut off, the consequences will be disastrous.
The business practices of this era are still relatively primitive acquaintance business. To put it simply, if Liu Zhaosun kills these businessmen today, robs them of all their money and goods, and kills the goose to get the eggs, then Mongolia and Haixi will never buy Liu Zhaosun again. Unless he can directly send troops thousands of miles away to put a sword on the heads of those Mongolian Haixi merchants, or give these people huge concessions and insist on doing business at a loss.
Therefore, before his own strength does not allow it, unless it is absolutely necessary, Liu Zhaosun will never kill the goose to obtain the eggs and destroy the mature business system around Kaiyuan.
The 10,000 acres of farmland south of Kaiyuan City are ownerless land.
After fierce competition between several forces, 5,000 acres were transferred to Liu Zhaosun's name and restored from village land to military land.
Thinking about the time when these 5,000 acres of military land were occupied by Li Chengliang and turned into farmland for his Li family to squander and enjoy, but now it has returned to the hands of military households, Liu Zhaosun couldn't help but lament the changes in the reincarnation of heaven.
Of course, in order to obtain these 5,000 acres of farmland, Liu Zhaosun also paid a price of more than 100 people.
The Liao people who followed Liu Zhaosun and the Liao town servants in Shenyang and Liaoyang fought for several battles in succession, with each side refusing to give in. In the end, more than 200 people died. It was not until Xiong Tingbi came forward that everyone finally gave up.
Master Jinglue turned a blind eye to the conflicts between the various forces. Unless the fight went too far, or his friend Liu Zhaosun was at a disadvantage, Master Xiong would come out, try to suppress the wolf-like tiger. The head of the army in Liao Town.
Fortunately, Liao Town's main income is not from land. They mainly rely on smuggling trade and Liao wages to make profits.
Xiong Tingbi is not as easy to deal with as Yang Hao. He holds Liao salary and military power, and has a hot temper, so everyone gives him face.
Although the Li family is dilapidated, there is still Li Ruzhen in Liaodong.
The main reason is that the Liao people under Liu Zhaosun really came to fight for their lives.
All these and many factors were added up, and the military leaders of Liaoyang and Shenyang finally gave up 5,000 acres of fertile land.
Kaiyuan is surrounded by enemies on three sides, and its military strength is extremely tight. Excluding the soldiers who guard, patrol, and scout, the number of troops that can be freely mobilized does not exceed 800.
Liu Zhaosun couldn't bear to let the Liao people who had followed him for so long continue to trade their lives for their lives to compete with Liao Town for the limited living space.
Liu Zhaosun has always believed that human life is the most precious and manpower is the most important resource.
So, in mid-April, he decided to stop as soon as possible and ordered all areas to stop enclosures.
The Kaiyuan land enclosure movement in the spring of the 47th year of Wanli came to an end for the time being.
Of course, in areas where Liu Zhaosun's forces cannot yet effectively control, there are still some disputed areas between two or more parties. Liu Zhaosun suggested that all parties should not fight, but sit down calmly:
Put aside disputes and develop together.
Liu Zhaosun predicts that by the end of this year, 2,000 new troops will be trained. Together with the existing 3,700 soldiers, the number of elite soldiers under his command will exceed 5,000.
When that time comes, he can personally lead thousands of new troops, ask Kang Yingqian to take the newly printed land deeds, and have a good chat with several neighbors, especially General Ding, about what has been since ancient times...
In mid-April, Xiong Tingbi sent people from Shenyang to deliver seeds, farm tools, and cattle.
There were about a thousand sets of farm tools, most of which were iron farm tools such as hoes and plows. None of the water-powered windmills that Liu Zhaosun wanted were available.
There were more than eight stones of various kinds of seeds in total. Kang Yingqian looked at them and shook his head and said that these seeds were probably only enough to sow seven or eight thousand acres of fields. If there were not enough, he would still have to buy them himself.
Thirty-five cattle were sent, which was probably not enough for farming at Dingguozhen Yang Qilong's guard station.
Liu Zhaosun immediately sent people to pull the oxen outside the city to plow the soil and start fertilizing and planting.
Even so, Master Jinglue's thoughts moved Liu Zhaosun, especially in the current situation where he was besieged on all sides.
It is estimated that Xiong Tingbi also had a hard time in Shenyang, otherwise with his heroic character, he would not be so stingy with himself.
In addition to these farm tools and cattle, Xiong Tingbi also wrote a letter to Liu Zhaosun.
Master Jinglue said in the letter that there were constant conflicts between Ji Town and Liao Town in Shenyang. Xiao Ruxun had led Chai Guozhu and others back to Jizhou. The military preparedness in Shenyang City was similar to what Liu Zhaosun said. Master Xiong was surprised to find that the Holy Spirit had given him this point. The food and salary were simply not enough to fill the holes in Liao Town, let alone clear the holes and plow the courtyards, so there was no money or food to support Kaiyuan.
In the letter, Mr. Xiong encouraged Liu Zhaosun and Xiaoyou to think of a solution on their own and use their brains. If it doesn't work, go out and grab the Mongolian Jurchen. These foreign troops are enough. (Liu Zhaosun disagreed with this)
Xiong Tingbi also said that after Li Rubai's death, Li Ruzhen only drank and had fun every day, and had no interest in Liao affairs. Xiong Tingbi prepared to go to Emperor Shu to transfer this dandy place back to the capital. Xiong Tingbi lamented that the Liao affairs were difficult, and the imperial court mobilized several guest soldiers to go to Liaodong. , and finally he told Liu Zhaosun that the imperial court's reward was coming soon. The emperor was so happy that he stayed awake for several nights, so he asked him to prepare for promotion.
Liu Zhaosun is not very interested in getting promoted to an official position. The land of Liaodong will soon be lost. If the emperor can reward him with tens of thousands more taels of silver or hundreds of cattle, Liu Zhaosun will be grateful.
For the next ten days or so, the general and several newly recruited civil officers were busy dividing the fields in the surrounding suburbs of Kaiyuan every day.
More than 9,300 acres of common people's land that died and were dispersed in Kaiyuan City were also gradually designated as military fields.
As a result, Liu Shen will receive a total of 27,500 acres of land this year, which is only half or even less than half of his original plan.
"This is the result of Sir General's pursuit of the great road, hahaha, Sir General is so noble and upright, Kang is not as good as him, not as good as him,"
When allocating fields to the Liao people, Kang Yingqian did not forget to use this as an argument to prove the correctness of his original suggestion to grab big households.
Liu Zhaosun had no time to deal with this old man. He gave all the newly occupied fields to the Liao people, and of course some of the original tenants of generals such as Ma Lin, although many of these people had been killed by slaves and defeated troops.
The general is not going to allocate farmland to the soldiers anymore. He plans to train these 3,700 soldiers into a professional army and let them completely get rid of agricultural production. Of course, in this way, his food supply will be even tighter.
Everything depends on human effort. Liu Zhaosun now feels like he has become a primary school mathematics teacher. He has to calculate various numerical problems every day when he opens his eyes, the daily consumption of food and grass for the army, the distribution of fields, and the purchase of seeds...
In any case, the Liaodong refugees who followed Liu Zhaosun all the way from the Hunjiang River and regarded Liu Shen as a god finally got their own land after experiencing the loss of their families and countless hardships.
Liu Zhaosun stipulated that each of the two thousand strong men would be allocated ten acres of farmland and pay 40% of the land rent each year for the first two years. After three years of farming, they would only pay 20% of the land each year.
Compared with the current rent of 60% to 70% for tenants in Liaodong, it is already very low.
The Liao people burst into tears with gratitude, and regarded Liu Zhaosun as the god who saved Liaodong. Some people set up a memorial tablet for the general at home.
In late March, Kang Yingqian, who had a sharp eye and ears, revealed to Liu Zhaosun the news sent to him by his friends in the capital.
After Kang Yingqian's victory report was submitted, Emperor Longyan Dayue had ordered Huang Jiashan, the Minister of the Ministry of War, to be in charge, and the Ministry of War, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the Shuntian Prefecture Department to jointly inspect the achievements of the Kaiyuan Battle. Wanli also planned to let Liu Zhaosun go to the capital. .
Zhenyi and Baoyi captured in the last bloody battle at Hunjiang are now imprisoned in the capital's Tianlao. In addition to the hundreds of captives captured this time, the captives are gathered together to hold a prisoner dedication ceremony, just like when Ren was pacified. It was the same as offering prisoners after the Japanese Rebellion.
Liu Zhaosun knew that what really pleased Emperor Long Yan was probably Xiong Tingbi's memorial.
However, he was quite surprised. He did not expect Wanli to launch such a large-scale battle, which gave him a new understanding of Wanli's stingy character.
A total of 132 Zhenyi prisoners were captured in the Battle of Kaiyuan. After the war, they were scattered and imprisoned in prisons in the city. More than 20 people died one after another in more than half a month, and now only 100 are still alive. Zero eight.
These prisoners consume dozens of kilograms of food every day, which is an unnecessary burden for Liu Zhaosun. It is of course best to send them to the capital to behead their heads and receive rewards. I don't know how much Wanli will reward this time.
However, compared to military morale and political prospects, Liu Zhaosun didn't care much if the reward was more or less.
Under Wanli's personal attention, the bureaucracy operated extremely efficiently. On the third day of April, sentries sent by various ministries arrived in Kaiyuan in advance. After confirming the safety of the surrounding area, they immediately sent civilian officials into Kaiyuan City to inspect military merit.
Although the last time Liu Zhaosun sent a cavalry battalion to attack, all the Jiannu sentry cavalry around Kaiyuan had disappeared. However, in order to guard against Ding Bi and others secretly causing trouble, Liu Zhaosun still sent a cavalry battalion to protect the civil servants from the capital.
Liu Zhaosun and the supervisor Kang Yingqian warmly received these officials. Qiao Yiqi was responsible for chatting with them. Of course, the most important part was giving gifts.
Qiao Yiqi made it clear that he would never lend Liu Zhaosun a penny again, because Liu Shen would still owe him eight thousand taels of silver...
Fortunately, Liu Zhaosun has a good reputation in Kaiyuan City. In this era, a good person is not a simple good person card, but has the function of credit value.
Kaiyuan is business-oriented. As long as you have money, there is no shortage of anything in the city. Liu Zhaosun asked Master Kang to come forward and get credit everywhere in his own name.
Mr. Kang gave Dongzhu and Korean ginseng on credit, and Nanhuo and jewelry on credit.
Finally, he asked his father-in-law, Yang Hao, to scrape together some money, and finally put together the gifts, including silver, Dongzhu, and Korean ginseng. It cost a total of more than two thousand taels of silver to feed these officials.
With the money to open the way, and the food and drinks, the relationship between the two parties quickly became closer. Several civil servants suddenly fell in love with this handsome general. One of the chief officials of the Ministry of Rites was ready to introduce another concubine to Liu Zhaosun... ···
Officials from the Ministry of War checked the piled-up heads and found that they were all genuine. Everyone was a little surprised, because since the attack on Li Chengliang, killing good people and claiming merit has become an unspoken rule in Liao Town. When they came to check the merits, they only needed the money. Just turn a blind eye,
Unexpectedly, General Liu Shen would be so down-to-earth. A thousand generals from the Five Cities Military and Horse Division couldn't help but persuade Liu Zhaosun to take some of the heads of the dead people with him. After they passed through their hands, no one would check them again when they arrived in the capital.
Liu Zhaosun just smiled stupidly, like a warrior who was concentrating on fighting but not having enough strategy. All the well-meaning officials in the capital couldn't help but shake their heads secretly.
After all, Kaiyuan is at the forefront of Mingjin's battle. Recently, there are rumors in the city that the slave chief suffered such a disastrous defeat and became angry and prepared to lead the Eight Banners Army to continue attacking Kaiyuan.
Liu Zhaosun didn't know the source of these rumors, but it was definitely not the work of Jiannu, because it would not be good for Hou Jin to say so.
After this battle, Xianglan Banner's vitality was severely damaged, and the upper echelons of Houjin inevitably fell into a struggle for power. It was impossible for Nurhachi to attack Kaiyuan City again in the short term.
However, several officials in the capital did not think so, especially the chief of the Ministry of War. When he was in the capital, he read the Liao Zhentang newspaper every day and knew how much Liao Zhen was worth. Liao Shen might not be safe, and Kaiyuan might fall at any time. So he hurriedly sent sentry horses back to deliver the message.
He only stayed in Kaiyuan for one day, and he immediately rushed back to the capital with several colleagues.
Before leaving, Kang Yingqian had another meal and dinner. The officials he entertained were very comfortable, and Liu Zhaosun took the opportunity to make some requests.
In this battle of Kaiyuan, many soldiers were owed pay by the court for three months and were unable to fight again. We hope that they will be reimbursed as soon as possible;
Kaiyuan soldiers and civilians were at the forefront of the Ming and Jin Dynasties, cultivating wasteland and lacking cattle seeds, hoping that the imperial court could provide assistance.
Several Beijing officials were short-tongued. After hearing these two words, they all said that there was no problem and they would definitely help.
Liu Zhaosun didn't know what this kind of help was, and he didn't have much hope. Kang Yingqian said that it was a blessing not to offend these civil servants.
At the same time, several civil servants expressed that they should give Yang Hao a good word when returning to Beijing this time and implement his strategic planning as soon as possible.
After seeing off several superiors, I can finally relax.
In the early morning of this day, Liu Zhaosun completed his usual tour of the camp and took Jin Yuji to the south gate tower. He saw the rising sun rising in the east, and the morning glow was thousands of miles away.
On both sides of the Qinghe River in the south of the city, people are working hard among the fields. The sound of chickens and dogs can be heard, and the air is filled with a faint scent of early summer.
Liu Zhaosun looked to the south and felt for the first time that he was so close to the world that existed more than four hundred years ago.
Jin Yuji saw Liu Zhaosun looking at the south in trance. She remembered that the official had said that he was from the south, so she thought that the official was homesick. She stepped forward, hugged Liu Zhaosun from behind, and said softly:
"Official, after Liaodong is pacified, the slave family will return to the south with the official, and we will also see the hometown that you have always dreamed of, okay?"
Liu Zhaosun closed his eyes, and the vegetation of his previous hometown appeared in front of his eyes, and a touch of nostalgia came to his heart.
When he turned around, the big clear eyes were looking at him. The two looked at each other. Liu Zhaosun couldn't help but caress Jin Yuji's beautiful cheek and recited a poem by Su Dongpo of the Song Dynasty:
"I wonder if Lingnan is not good, but he said: This place where I feel at ease is my hometown."
"Jin Yuji, although I was born in the southern country, with you by my side in this life, Liaodong can also be my hometown."
