In Bi Ziyan's Shaanxi Governor's Yamen, several cups of tea are emitting a fresh and fragrant aroma. Bi Ziyan had changed into a loose Taoist attire and was not wearing an official hat. He was shaking his fan while talking to the visiting new champion Niu Jinxing and the Emperor's confidant Li Zicheng. Although Bi Ziyan was a dignified governor of a province, he was still very polite to these two people.
Niu Jinxing was able to take second place in the examination and be the first in the palace examination. Moreover, the article was so well written that Long Live Lord applauded him when he saw it. Although he didn't point to the Hanlin, but now this emperor is not taking the usual path... He is an emperor who wears armor and fights in battle. What he values is not Hanlin talents, but scholars who can lead troops to kill the enemy. Except for the old master Kong Yunzhen, all of his officials were "bandit scholars" who led troops to fight. And all the officials were promoted very quickly!
Chen Qiyu, Hong Chengchou, and Lu Xiangsheng have all become governors, and Sun Chuanting has also been promoted recently, from the deputy general of the Zhangqian Army to the commander-in-chief of the Dianqian Army and the admiral of the Nine Gates - although this is a military position, it is the best in the world. An important military position!
Although Niu Jinxing's initial official position was just the chief clerk of the right division of the infantry in front of the account, anyone with a discerning eye knows that this is a very important position. Because the Right Division of the Zhangqian Infantry Army stationed in Shaanxi (the main force is stationed at Tongguanwei Camp, and some are stationed at Ba Shang) and the Zhangqian Youth Army (stationed at Ba Shang Camp in Xi'an), among these two Zhangqian soldiers, there are currently no A civil servant of sufficient weight.
The tradition of the Zhangqian Army has always been "co-governance by both civil and military forces." Therefore, as long as this Niu Jinxing can make some achievements, he will definitely become another important minister who has risen from the army in front of the tent! Not surprisingly, within a few years, the territory will be closed!
As for Li Zicheng, although he was a warrior with a military background, he was also trusted by Zhu Youjian. This time he came to Xi'an to serve as the deputy general of the Youth Army (the chief soldier of the Youth Army is Sun Zushou) - the official position of a deputy general is not low. This Li Zicheng was a postman four years ago, but now he was promoted to such a high position by the emperor. There is no doubt that he is a favored minister.
Moreover, this guy's contribution is not small. Starting from the Battle of Datong, he has been doing almost everything, and he will probably be knighted in the future!
Li Zicheng and Niu Jinxing also respected Bi Ziyan. Although they were officials in Shaanxi, they were not subordinates to the governor of Shaanxi - both the Zhangqian Army and the Dianqian Army were directly under Zhu Youjian. Unless there was a special purpose, they would not say anything. Local governors and even the Minister of War have no control over them.
However, after Li Zicheng and Niu Jinxing settled down in Bashang Camp, they still took the initiative to go into the city to pay Bi Ziyan a courtesy visit as a subordinate. This courtesy was very thoughtful.
After chatting and laughing for a while, Li Zicheng and Niu Jinxing looked at each other, and finally got to the point and started talking about business.
"Bi Futai," Li Zicheng said, "Long live the Lord. By the way, how many hungry people have gathered in Xi'an now?" How many young men are there among them? How much food is left in Xi'an? "
Zhu Youjian still had great trust in Bi Ziyan, a financial expert who was "good at making food without rice". He not only appointed him as the very important governor of Shaanxi, but also asked him to take over the grain that Widow Xu had obtained from the King of Qin's Village in Shaanxi. . The rent Wangzhuang had received in the three years of Chongzhen was also handed over to Bi Ziyan.
He also put Bi Ziyan in charge of pacifying the hungry people in various parts of Shaanxi and arranging for them to gather in Xi'an Prefecture for food.
"More than 100,000 people have gathered in Xi'an Prefecture," Bi Ziyan frowned, "They are all arranged in several large temples outside Xi'an Prefecture...there are quite a few strong men among them. Above. Now in Xi'an Prefecture, there are still more than 1 million shi of grain controlled by the governor's Yamen.
The Chief Envoy still has a lot of grain on hand, and each prefecture, state, and county also has some grain... In fact, they can open warehouses to store grain. "
Bi Ziyan, a "clever woman", could not have imagined how severe the natural disasters that Ming Dynasty would experience in the next ten years!
So I felt that I had quite a lot of food on hand, enough to help the victims. If the victims can be saved, there is no need to go out of the province to eat - it will be fatal for the victims to travel far away from the province to eat! The level of medical care these days is very poor, and people can die just because they are not acclimatized.
Moreover, most of the victims were weak and had no means of transportation. They had to walk thousands of miles to get food. It was very normal for them to die 20 to 30 percent of the time!
"You can't open a position!" Li Zicheng said categorically. "Long live the sky at night and know that the famine in Shaanxi is not over yet... The disaster will be even greater in the next few years, so we must move people out of Shaanxi as much as possible ! In addition, Long Live Master also wants to take advantage of the fact that the victims have no way to survive and recruit a group of military households from Shaanxi to farm outside the country."
Li Zicheng smiled and asked: "Bi Futai, do you think this matter can be handled more quickly?"
In fact, Zhu Youjian had already issued an order to Bi Ziyan, asking him to recruit as many military households as possible from the hungry people in Shaanxi and send them to Yanshan and Daning to farm.
However, not many people were sent away from Bi Ziyan... because the civilian households in Shaanxi generally looked down upon the military households - the military households were poor!
Civilian households pay several liters of imperial grain for each acre of land cultivated, but military households pay one dou or two liters. Moreover, the areas where military households are concentrated are remote and barren. How can they not be poor?
Moreover, military households have long been placed on the front line of resistance against the Northern invaders, and they have to pay more or less military service... Except for those military households who are officials, the rest do not have a good life.
Zhu Youjian had previously asked people to recruit military households in Yulin and Ningxia to farm in Yanning, but many people responded. But now most of the people living in Xi'an Prefecture are civilian households. They have no choice but to go to Yanning to farm.
Even if the Shaanxi government told them that they could farm in Yanning without paying grain, few would be willing to go - because they didn't believe it!
Bi Ziyan said seriously: Is the purpose of moving people out of the country to work in the fields? Just by looking at the sky at night, you know that the famine in Shaanxi is not over yet... Could it be that the little emperor has become an immortal? If you really have this ability, why don't you call the wind and rain?
He thought so in his heart, but he didn't dare to speak nonsense in front of Zhu Youjian's two confidants!
"Okay..." Bi Ziyan nodded, "I'll do it as soon as possible!"
He thought for a while and then said: "By the way, I just received a report from Luochuan County, saying that 100,000 hungry people from northern Shaanxi have arrived in Luochuan, and there are quite a few strong men among them, who happened to be taken to Yanning, but..."
Seeing Bi Ziyan hesitate to speak, Li Zicheng knew that this group of hungry people might be a little unusual, so he asked: "Futai, are you worried that these hungry people are difficult to deal with?"
Bi Ziyan nodded: "Luochuan County reported that those hungry people may rebel!"
"Rebellion?" Li Zicheng burst into laughter, "Now that all the good men in Shaanxi have followed the emperor, why are there still a few small fish and shrimps left to rebel? Moreover, Tongguan Guards has more than 10,000 soldiers in front of the tent, dominating the big army. There are more than 10,000 young soldiers in the camp... If they really want to rebel, they won't be able to do anything."
Bi Ziyan nodded and said: "I think so too... So I have sent two thousand pacesetters to Luochuan. It would be best if they can be suppressed, otherwise we will have to worry about the soldiers in front of the tent!"
Bi Ziyan could not mobilize the troops in front of the tent. What he, the governor, could mobilize was a few thousand pacesetters and the troops under the general troops of Guyuan and Lintao. Near Xi'an, he only has his own patrol.
So after receiving Zhang Cai's report, he immediately sent two thousand pacesetters to control the situation. After talking to Li Zicheng and Niu Jinxing today, Zhang Cai and his model general He Renlong were ordered to select thousands of brave men from among the victims to serve as military households in Yanning.
According to his idea, as long as the brave and healthy people among the victims are selected and taken away, the rest will be of little use.
…
"Haha, God help me to succeed!"
Outside Luochuan City, in a ravine where hungry people gathered, Gao Yingxiang, who learned that Bi Ziyan wanted to select brave men to farm in Yanning, immediately realized that the opportunity had come.
He said to several refugee leaders who came down from Baiyu Mountain: "There are only a few pacesetters in Xi'an Fucheng. Now that two thousand are sent to Luochuan, Xi'an Fucheng must be empty. We just take advantage of the opportunity to be recruited as military households and go to Xi'an Fucheng." The last time I try... maybe I can find a good way out!"
(End of chapter)
