Haisheng Mingdi

Chapter 623
Jinan City is rapidly recovering to liveliness.

Thanks to the emperor's strategy, they went down without a fight, and the imperial camp recovered the provincial capital without hurting a single soldier.The soldiers had less sacrifices, and the imperial court had less casualty compensation. If there is a strong attack, the casualties may exceed the battle of Zhangqiu.

The people who returned to Jinan realized that the emperor did not send anyone to dam the river upstream. On the contrary, after the emperor besieged Jinan, he began to use work as relief to receive the hungry people in the surrounding area. The embankment of the Qinghe River was heightened and reinforced to prevent the embankment of the Yellow River from overflowing or breaking.

After the heavy rain, the sky cleared again.

Work continues on the embankment.

As the provincial capital of Shandong, once the political center, the population of Zengji Nancheng and the population of Chengguan are about [-].In terms of population, it is actually not the largest among the cities in Shandong.

If Shandong is counted by population, Linqing is actually the city with the largest population. Linhe on the canal is the commercial center of Shandong. Thanks to the canal and Linqingguan, the city's population exceeded 10 before Chongzhen.The second is Jining City, which is also a large city with over [-] people. It also relies on the canal, and its business is prosperous.

At the end of Wanli, the three major cities of Linqing, Jining, and Jinan had an urban population of nearly 50. Although they were far inferior to Suzhou, Hangzhou, Huaiyang and other places in the south of the Yangtze River, they were also large cities in the north.

Other cities with relatively large populations are prefectural cities, such as Tai'an and Liaocheng, each with four to five thousand households and a population of two to thirty thousand.

Yanzhou, Dengzhou, Laizhou, Qingzhou and other cities, if the personnel of the palace are excluded, the urban population is actually more than 1.

A large county like Dong’e has a population of about 8000 to [-], Shanghe County has a population of [-] to [-], and Dezhou, Jimo, Huangxian, Jiaozhou, and Weixian are similar in size.

The population of an ordinary county is about 5000 people.

There are also some large towns in Shandong, such as Anping Town in the east of Yanzhou, which is a commodity distribution center at the junction of the three counties, with a population of [-] to [-] at the end of Wanli.

Jingzhi Town in Qingzhou Prefecture also has a population of [-] to [-]. In addition, Zhoucun Town, Guting Town, Yanshen Town, and Luqiao Town are all large towns with a population of more than [-].

These towns are all water and land hubs, where goods gather, residents are prosperous, and merchants converge. They are all commercial market towns.

The population of a large town is equivalent to that of Dafu City, and there are eight or nine medium-sized towns, which is equivalent to the population of an average county.

And there are hundreds of small towns, probably one in each county, with at least [-] households and a population of more than [-].

Shandong used to be a prosperous place in the Central Plains.

It's a pity that since the beginning of Chongzhen, Kong Youde and other Denglai rebellion disrupted most of Shandong, and then in the 11th year of Chongzhen, and in the 15th year of Chongzhen, the Tartars went to Shandong twice, abducting tens of thousands of people, and massacring several cities in Yanzhou, Jinan. hundreds of thousands of people.

After that, the army came along, the Tatars came again, and then Zhu Yihai raised his troops to the north, Shandong became the front line of confrontation, and met the Tatar dog officials who dug river embankments and diverted the road, so that [-] counties out of [-] counties in Shandong were affected.

The garrison of the Qing army slapped horses and encroached on land, extortionate extortion, coupled with floods, droughts and locust plagues, the population of Shandong continued to flee.

Fortunately, Jinan went down without a fight. Although Xuan Dabing slaughtered the entire city, he also released the people from the outer city to leave the city after all, so he saved seven or eight points of his vitality.

In the past in Shandong, there were small towns with about 2000 people, ordinary counties and medium-sized towns with about 1 people, small prefectures and large counties with more than 2 people, big cities and upper-middle-class towns with more than 5 people, and 10 people. There are also national commercial towns with a population of more than [-].

But now some county towns are flooded and destroyed, and the towns are gone.

Some towns, counties, and even prefectures have become empty cities and dead cities due to military disasters and wars.

Fortunately, Daming recovered Jinan.

Now in the whole of Shandong, only Yanzhou, the emperor's hometown, is still guarded by more than [-] Tartars including Tan Tai.

The emperor had already decreed that he still planned to deal with Tan Tai in Yanzhou according to Jinan's tactics in order to minimize casualties.

The reorganization of the Imperial Battalion is also continuing.

The reorganization of the first, second and third towns has been completed. The first town, Shence, is currently stationed in Jinan and Zhangqiu, and the second town, Yongwei Town, is stationed in Dezhou and Linqing.

The third town is stationed in Tai'an and Dongping.

The troops currently encircling Yanzhou will be reorganized into the fourth and fifth towns.

The Jinwu cavalry and the Shenji artillery were split up in each town, and the insufficient ones were transferred from other towns.

······
South of the city.

Xuanda Army Camp.

After the battle, not only were there not few of the three thousand Xuan soldiers, but there were as many as five thousand. It was not unusual for the emperor to report to the imperial court.Xuan Dabing slaughtered the whole city, looted everywhere, and surrendered after dawn.

In fact, hundreds of people were still lost, but it was dark and chaotic, and many green battalion, Xiangyong, etc. also took advantage of the chaos to join them. Afterwards, Yang Jie and others also unceremoniously recruited these people as subordinates. The bidding is still from Fubiao, Daobiao, or Xiangyong.

They all want to have more swordsmen and horses under their hands, as well as more bargaining chips.

Who knew that the emperor's treatment of Xuan Dabing was to retain the officers and send them to Tokyo for study and training, while the soldiers were split up and dismissed.The imperial court didn't care that they had two or 3000 more people, and they were all treated as Xuan Dabing. Anyway, they all participated in the battle, and they were considered meritorious.

They killed thousands of people, robbed a lot of property, and even captured a city. The emperor did not punish them for the crime of indiscriminate killing, but also rewarded them, but the property and weapons they robbed were all confiscated.

For this treatment, Xuan Dabing was actually very dissatisfied, and some people wanted to make trouble.

But the emperor sent an imperial battalion to surround them, and then transferred all the officers away.

Those who do not obey the edict must consider the consequences. Not only will they not keep their official titles, but they may even be regarded as rebellious, so Yang Jie and Yao Qisheng personally persuaded them, and finally all the officers above the post station left.

The remaining [-] soldiers were divided into several battalions.

Then Yang Jie also led his own soldiers to personally capture a dozen or so troublemakers and cut off their heads, and passed them on to the battalions. He also inserted arrows into the ears of more than 100 troublemakers who were more troublesome.

The 20 silver dollars that should have been paid was not missing, and the other two yuan of severance pay was also given. All that was left was a pair of shorts. He was kicked out of the barracks and left to fend for himself.

The rest were intimidated, no one took the lead, and they didn't dare to make trouble.

The emperor sent people to reward meat and wine, and officially distributed reward silver.

Regardless of who stole a few heads, who claimed to have killed a few enemies, anyway, each person will be given 20 silver dollars, plus two severance pay.

One catty of wine per person, one catty of cooked meat, and white flour steamed buns are enough.

This group of Han soldiers devoured and devoured big pieces.

"What are you going to do?"

Liu Si asked his companion while biting the big meat.

Stomachs were almost filled, but everyone didn't stop, still eating meat and buns. It's a rare reward from the emperor, and it's a pity to eat for nothing.

Liu Qiang touched the money bag in his arms, and there were 22 silver dollars jingling inside. With these silver dollars, he always felt that his heart was solid and his back was hard.

He glanced at the heads hanging on the flagpoles in the camp.

Those unlucky ghosts caused trouble and were beheaded by Yang Zongbing himself. The people who had gathered together were scared in an instant.

Originally, everyone wanted to make a fuss, keep the looted property, and even exchange the heads of those who were beheaded from the massacre, and then exchange them for pens and rewards. There are thousands of heads. If one is exchanged for 30 taels of silver, it will be exchanged for 10,000 +Silver, at that time, one person can divide dozens of taels.

And some people have several heads in their hands, even a dozen or so, which is a few hundred taels.

People's hearts are dissatisfied with snakes swallowing elephants, and Xuan Dabing, who has just slaughtered the city, is still a little dry, and even very self-conscious.

Soldiers always make trouble like this, making troubles about food, wages and rewards, who knows that something happened this time.

After Yang Jie beheaded the people, they became pessimistic, thinking that the emperor was going to kill the donkey, and even thought that they would all be murdered, but who knew that the emperor was rewarding both silver and wine.

The money was really in his bosom, and he got a few catties of wine and meat white buns. Only then did he feel that this emperor is really extraordinary. Everyone's resentment and hostility have come down, and even a faint fear, but they are full of gratitude.

Now calm down and have to think about the way to go.

"Our hometown in Datong, Xuanhua, is still occupied by Tartars. We slaughtered the whole city of Jinan here, and killed thousands of Tartars. Even if we can go all the way through this prefecture and county and return to Xuanda, it is estimated that the Tartars will not Be polite to us, even our hometown will be liquidated by the Tartars soon."

Liu Si bites a steamed bun. He is a bachelor, and Datong has long since lost his family.So he didn't think about going back at all. Liu Qiang is from his hometown and there are still people in his family, but he can't go back now.

"I heard that the royal camp's salary is really high. The clothes, food, and food are all provided by the imperial court. There is no need to deduct money. There are several taels of silver in a month, and a few buckets of grain. I heard that nine months of salary are paid in a year. , keep the remaining three months, and the emperor will keep it for another three months. If you retire from the army or die in battle, etc., the money will be given together.

Let me forget it, even if it is only paid for nine months, there is no such thing as saving three to three, and the salary is generous. The cavalry is an upper class soldier, and the monthly salary is four or two five. There are also cavalry allowances, how much silver is left for food when you are out fighting, and how many buckets of rations are left in a month, do you dare to believe it?

But it's true.

People still don't owe wages, and usually pay half wages every month, three festivals a year, plus the emperor's birthday, and then pay for another three months. "

Liu Si also inquired about some news. He used to be poor and a bachelor, so he did everything. He did all kinds of hard work when he was young, but he still couldn't survive, so he went out to the Mongolian grassland with a caravan Trade with the Horde.Later, he simply joined the horse bandit and lived a free, happy and unrestrained career as a horse bandit.

But later, he was captured by the officers and soldiers and turned into a soldier in livery. From the Ming army to the Qing army, he was considered a veteran soldier. He was very slippery in battle and would not easily fight for his life, so now he is only a post officer. But also live up to now.

He is the deputy officer, so this time he is not counted among the officers.

This is a bit regrettable, but with the heads of those troublemakers hanging over there to remind him, he didn't dare to make trouble.

"The advantages of the imperial camp are not limited to these. As a soldier of the imperial camp, as long as you are promoted to a first-class soldier, you can get a daughter-in-law for free, and you can also buy land. A soldier of the imperial camp has [-] acres of land. It is said to be for sale, but the price is extremely high." Low, and can be divided into many years to pay back, a little bit a year, the interest is extremely low, the same as gift."

He took out the cigarette and beat everyone around. After all, Liu Si has been around for many years, so he is very good at doing things, so now here, there are still a group of people around him, mainly him.

Cigarettes are not cheap, but he is willing to pay for this amount of money.

"I thought about it, we people, even if His Majesty let us go now, but we have a home and can't go back, where can we go? We don't have any earning skills, so it's better to still eat the emperor's rations as soldiers, and we are all cavalry. The ability to ride and shoot is still good. Now the imperial camp is short of cavalry. As long as we are willing, we can sign up together tomorrow.

It is said that there is an examination, but with our brothers' abilities, as long as we are honest, are we afraid that we will fail the examination?
Go through the motions, enter the imperial camp, don't say that you can get four or five taels of salary this month, but that you can marry a wife and buy land in the future, and we can also start a family and start a business, isn't it better than in the past? "

"The fourth brother is right. Where can I go with these 22 silver dollars now? The soldiers are in a panic and they can't be snatched away, and even lost their lives. Even if we let us make a living, what can we do? Buy a few acres of land? But we have nothing, only a few acres of land, and we can't do well. We should serve as soldiers. The imperial cavalry is treated so well, how many times can we meet?

Veterans like our fourth brother are very good at riding and shooting. They are experienced and tough. Just an officer. "

This small circle is all from the same country, and many of Xuanhua's soldiers are cavalry, not to mention that they all have good riding and shooting skills, but they are not bad.

Everyone is confident that they can enter the imperial camp.

"Then let's put it this way, let's sign up tomorrow."

"What if I fail the exam?"

A young man named Fuzi asked, he had not been in the army for a long time, and his riding and shooting skills were not as good as Liu Si, Qiangzi and others.

"Let the fourth brother show you the way."

Liu Si smiled, "It's really not possible, you can go to the postman."

"Ah, the postman is so miserable, he might as well find his own way out."

"You don't understand, postmen are bitter, that's about the subordinates of Chongzhen and Tartars, now the emperor rebuilds the post, it is said that the treatment is quite good, two taels of silver a month, and a ration, and then you can rent ten acres of post Tian, ​​only [-]% of the autumn grain is rented, and you can usually live in the post station, and even the pawns have additional subsidies.

Even two taels of silver per month, but if there is really no deductions, it will be the same as the military pay of the Tartars. What's more, if there is a benefit of renting ten acres of post fields, it is indeed very good.

"Go to the cavalry test first. If you can't pass the cavalry test, you can also take the infantry test. If the infantry is not good, we can also test the auxiliary soldiers. If it doesn't work, then you can take the post soldier. If you still can't, I will show you the way. Jinan has just recovered. , All the yamen in this provincial capital will also be restored, the governor's yamen, the vassal office, the yamen, and even the sub-inspectors, magistrates, and county magistrates, as well as various food supervision halls, Tixue halls, water conservancy halls, etc., there is a shortage of people everywhere. The servants, at least temporarily, have a way out.

You have money on hand, take advantage of this opportunity, you can buy some land, and then rent it out first, or hire disaster relief workers. You work in the yamen on one side, and there is still a piece of land cultivated at home on the other side, it will not be bad. Three to five years later, as long as there is still peace, this day will rise.

Don't wander around, let alone go home, at least don't go back now, and don't think about doing business or anything, and don't just think about squandering. If you can't stand it for a long time, you will have nothing by then. "

Hearing Liu Si's words, Xiao Fuzi felt quite reasonable. He actually wanted to sneak back to his hometown in Xuanhua, but after hearing what they said, he gave up the idea of ​​going home and decided to apply first. If he failed the exam, Go to be a postman again, or if you can't, sign up to be a yamen servant, and buy a few acres of land with the money in your hand.

"Everyone, hurry up and eat it, damn it, this meat is really delicious, it's been a long time since I tasted so good."

(End of this chapter)