In the Southern Song Dynasty, I competed with Mongolia for the world

Chapter 552 Labor Army
Accompanied by the guards of Yidu and a local garrison team, Zhao Fu arrived on the other side of the continent and saw only cut down forests.

Song Jun has been operating here for more than ten years. Large areas of nearby forest have been cut down, but the scene is still quite spectacular.

"Chopped so much?" Zhao Fu asked in surprise. Didn't his father say that he wanted to protect the green forest?

Ma Jian, the local general who accompanied him, immediately said: "In the past, a lot of wood was cut down in several Far Eastern cities such as Jianhai Sancheng, etc., but now we no longer cut it. We mainly cut it on Kuye Island."

Then he added: "King Yan will know when he comes to the front that the forest area here is larger than that of the entire Song Dynasty before us. It is inexhaustible and inexhaustible."

"Bigger than the entire Song Dynasty before us?" Zhao Yu didn't believe it.

When he was born, Da Song was already older than before, so he didn't understand how old he was before.

But after his carriage traveled more than ten miles, he finally saw the endless forest.

This was considered the Anuzinsky District in later generations. Ninety-nine percent of the entire area was forest. Even in later generations, there was not much population here.

However, now that the Song army has immigrated in large numbers, even in winter, you can still see Song soldiers or people hunting in the forest.

The Song army not only hunted by themselves, but also allowed the common people to hunt, but the common people had to pay taxes after returning to the city.

Zhao Fu saw several groups of people along the way and asked strangely: "Is there hunting here in winter?"

"Many wild animals come out to look for food in winter. Not all animals can store food for the winter, so they can also hunt in winter." Ma Jian explained to him.

Many large animals, such as bears, wolves, tigers, etc., need to store food for the winter. Small animals are used as food. However, many small animals will be killed by humans. Their food is not enough, so they naturally have to come out in winter.

Zhao Fu was a little unbelieving and wanted to see how many forests there were. He asked Xie Fei to drive the carriage and lead the team forward for more than 20 miles.

As a result, there were continuous forests along the way. Except for the road cut down by the Song Army, there were endless forests for more than 20 miles. Now he really knew what it meant to be rich in resources.

"Such a good place must be occupied forever." Young Zhao Fu said excitedly.

Although it was cold and cold here, Zhao Fu really saw the value in it.

Ma Jian also nodded heavily: "The imperial court immigrated here every year, but the living conditions are not good, so not many are willing to come."

Zhao Yu remained calm, thinking that once Goryeo and Japan were defeated, they could move a large number of their people over.

But this cannot be said yet, until all preparations by the court are completed.

"How many troops do we have stationed here?" Zhao Fu asked again.

"Hai Sanwei has one army, two generals, and six thousand people, but they are stationed in various places." Ma Jian explained to him.

One general of Haisanwei Army is near Haisan City and Kuye Island, and another general is in Kuye City.

The construction of Kuye City began in the third year of Yuanzhen, and it took Zhao and Rui eight years to build it. More than 10,000 households from Korea were immigrated to it, and more than 10,000 households from Song Dynasty were built.

There is also a naval garrison of 1,500 people on Kuye Island.

Plus Hai Sanwei's navy of one thousand.

In the entire Far East, the Song army probably had more than 6,000 infantry and cavalry, 2,500 naval troops, and less than 10,000 troops.

"It takes eight years to build a city, what about Far East City?" Zhao Fu knew that his father Zhao Yurui was already mobilizing resources to build Far East City for him, where Prince Yan's palace is located.

It is nearly two thousand miles east of Lake Belga and basically belongs to the center of the Far East. It can control the entire Far East region from north to south and east.

Of course, Ma Jian also knew about the construction of Far East City.

"Don't worry, King Yan. The imperial court has experience in building cities, and our Haisanwei City will also have about a thousand civilians."

"Are you afraid that it will take ten years for Far East City to be built?" Zhao Fu asked in horror.

"It won't take that long. Now that we have experience and population, it will take up to five years." Ma Jian means that in the past, the population here was not large and the labor force was not enough, so the construction was slow. Now there is a population here.

The Song army built many cities here, including Changchun City, Shenzhou (Shenyang), etc.

Civil servants can be mobilized from everywhere to help.

Zhao Yu said with a serious face at this time: "Father is right. To truly rule a place is not as easy as simply conquering it. It takes ten, twenty, or even decades of hard work."

"The King of Yan is wise."

There are no enemies in the Far East, except for the wild Jurchens, who are now being captured and exterminated by the Song army. The old slave's hometown has also been occupied by the Song army. It is basically impossible for the rise of Hou Jin to happen again.

In this way, if the Song Army wanted to completely occupy this place, they had to keep building cities and immigrating the population.

This kind of thing would not be possible or possible in any other dynasty.

Only Zhao Yurui's Song Dynasty had the ability to persevere. Through constant foreign conquests and plunder, he used the plundered wealth to support his various constructions.

Coupled with his stable domestic tax revenue, rapid accumulation of national wealth, and rapid population growth, he has the economic and population capacity to do this.

Hearing this, Zhao Yu's heart moved slightly: "I have always listened to my father's teachings since I was a child. In all the major dynasties in the past, the people worked hard in the land. How did my dynasty conquer the people?"

Ma Jiandao: "Your Majesty is considerate of the people and pays them all with salary."

To put it simply, the policies for recruiting civilian husbands are different in different places. Domestic Zhao Yurui must maintain food production and stability. Unless there is a large-scale river project, civilian husbands will be officially recruited. Generally, one will be drawn from more than 50 households, and they will be provided with food every day. , and paid thirty wages.

This kind of recruitment cannot be refused. One person will be selected from every fifty households, and those selected will not be selected again in the next twenty years.

During conscription, one person from every fifty households would be drawn, and the same family would not be drawn again for the next fifty years.

Overseas, in places like Hehaisanwei, because the population is small, but the amount of construction work is large, and most of them are not from the Song Dynasty, they are mainly concentrated among foreigners.

Generally, for foreigners, one person was drawn from ten households, while for Song people, one person was drawn from thirty households. They were given a daily meal and paid thirty wages.

This is close to consistent for a month, which is not low.

Moreover, the court also stipulated that each household would not be recruited for more than half a year, and they would be rotated after half a year.

You can't take away the young men from a family all year round, you have to let them go home to rest.

Under such a policy, the people's corvee in the Song Dynasty was the lightest in history.

Of course, before Zhao Yurui, the Song Dynasty also paid people to recruit civilian husbands to work, unlike other dynasties such as the Ming Dynasty, which did not pay any money.

Although the Song Dynasty was a weaker Song Dynasty, it was far better than other dynasties in this regard.

That day, Zhao Fu walked more than 20 miles northeast of Haisanwei City. He was quite shocked by the endless forests he saw along the way. He was still recalling this feeling after returning.

This feeling is indeed quite good. As you keep walking, there are forests all along the way. How can you not be happy when you think that these forests belong to your own family?
It was approaching the Chinese New Year, and the time soon entered the fifteenth year of Yuanzhen (1247).

Zhao Yu followed Zhao Yurui's wishes and began to work for the army during the New Year. The local magistrate's office purchased a large amount of supplies and went to various places to work for the army in person to represent the imperial court's wishes. On the ninth day of the Lunar New Year, Zhao Fu braved the cold wind and came to Kuye City, two thousand miles away.

He came here by boat. In order to prevent freezing, Kuye Island sent people to patrol the sea around the clock.

Zhao Yu was shocked again when he learned that it was two thousand miles long from Haisanwei City to Kuye City, and there was forest all along the way.

The straight-line distance from Lin'an in the Song Dynasty to Guangzhou is only two thousand miles, so Ma Jian said that this place is bigger than the previous Song Dynasty. It is not an exaggeration.

This kind of forest group can really be described as inexhaustible.

On the eleventh day of the lunar month, Zhao Fu came to Kuye Port again despite the cold wind.

The local garrison commander Zheng Youcai led his men to greet them.

But he came at the wrong time. If it were spring, summer and autumn, you could see how the Song army transported the cut trees to the country.

Standing at Kuye Port, thinking that this place was five or six thousand miles away from Lin'an and that Song Dynasty's control was so far away, even the young Zhao Hu felt very excited.

"Is this the extreme area controlled by our Song Dynasty?" Zhao Fu asked Zheng Youcai after delivering military supplies.

"Not yet, back to King Yan, we have built a fortress near the Bering Strait." Zheng Youcai said: "Across the Bering Strait is the so-called Beibaozhou (North America)"

At that time, Zheng Youcai received an order to call the Sea of ​​Okhotsk the Yuanzhen Sea. Then he set off from Kuye Island and arrived at the Chukotka District on the opposite side, which is west of the Bering Strait and opposite Alaska, and found a place to build a stronghold.

Every year when the ice melts, the navy of the Song Army goes there and stays there until the ice period before returning to Kuye Island.

It started as a few small wooden huts. After several years of ant-moving construction, there is now a group of bastions in the local area, which can garrison more than 200 troops.

But currently there are only a hundred troops stationed, and they are rotated every two years.

Zhao Yu heard this in disbelief. Isn't this the limit of Song Dynasty's control?

"How far is the bastion you mentioned from here?" Zhao Yu couldn't help but ask.

He didn't feel the vastness of the sky and the earth in Lin'an before, but now that he's outside, he realizes that the world is so big, and it can often be described as a thousand miles away.

"Probably more than three thousand miles."

"What?" Even Xie Fei next to Zhao Yu was shocked.

What shocked Xie Fei? Not only was it far away, but according to the emperor's request, Zhao Fu was going to work in the army.

They walked more than 2,000 miles by land and water from Haisanwei to Kuye City, then walked more than 200 miles to Kuye Island, and now they have to walk more than 3,000 miles to a group of bastions?

Zhao Fu really didn't want to go, but thinking of his father's instructions to prove that the Emperor of the Song Dynasty had not forgotten the soldiers who were enduring hardship outside, he asked, "How long will it take for the navy to get there?"

Zheng Youcai said: "The Navy Clipper used to take only eight to nine days, but King Yan, now in winter, a lot of the sea there is frozen, so we should wait until spring begins."

Zhao Fu was stunned for a moment, and then said: "My father asked me to work in the army, can't I go now?"

"I would like to thank you on behalf of the brothers for your kindness, King Yan. For the sake of King Yan's safety, please ask King Yan to go there later." Zheng Youcai quickly refused.

If we hit an iceberg on the road, wouldn't it be the end? If something happens to King Yan, he can't afford it.

Navy ships leave around the clock, and they also leave at night, so for the sake of safety, we definitely can’t go there at this time.

But Zhao Yu didn't think so. This was his chance to show off in front of Zhao Yurui.

Can spring be the same in the past as it is now?
He knew his father and brother too well.

Father Zhao Yurui liked taking risks back then, and seizing power in the palace was also a huge risk. However, his brother Zhao Qi was kind-hearted, but also a little timid. If it were Zhao Qi, this matter would definitely have to wait until next spring.

"General Zheng." Zhao Fu called again.

"The general is here." Zheng Youcai said quickly.

"I would like to ask, can't we go now?" Zhao Fu originally wanted to sound more serious, but after thinking about it, he slowed down a lot: "My warship of the Song Dynasty is now invincible in the world, can't it pass through this small ice layer?"

"Also, is General Zheng sure that it will be frozen? How many miles will the ice be?"

Zhao Yu kept asking questions, asking Zheng Youcai until it was so cold that his head was sweating.

"This?" Zheng Youcai thought for a moment and said, "Go back to King Yan."

Zheng Youcai meant that they had tested it in the past few years and found that it would probably be frozen for several miles (mainly the distance close to the shore). Of course, these miles could also be disembarked and walked or rode horses.

But there will be a piece of fragmented ice in the middle, and I am afraid that the warship will hit this ice at night.

Now that Zhao Fu insists on going at this time, Zheng Youcai has no choice but to let the icebreaker clear the way in front and prepare three ships. Once one of the ships crashes, they can be replaced in time.

Seeing that he finally agreed, Zhao Yu said in a good voice: "As the saying goes, hearing is false and seeing is believing. I also want to see what the winter in the Bering Strait will be like. If I don't see it with my own eyes, how can I know it in the future? Explain to my father.”

"Yes, King Yan." Zheng Youcai had no choice. In fact, he was not under Zhao Yu's control, but he didn't want to offend Zhao Yu, so he could only agree.

Moreover, after this winter, they also have experience. Even if they hit the ice, as long as the ship is not broken, they are not afraid.

Zheng Youcai immediately began to prepare.

The next day, Zhao Fu took a few followers and twenty guards and boarded four boats.

The front one is called an icebreaker. It has a sharp front and a thick iron sheet wrapped around the hull. In order to maintain the stability of the hull, artillery is installed at the back.

This should be the first iron-clad ship in the world. Zhao Fu even got on the ship to have a look, which was very strange.

The three boats at the back were all made by the local navy and cost about a thousand materials. They were not too big or too small, but the fronts had also been modified and installed with a thin layer of iron, mainly to prevent the hulls from being damaged by the ice.

These three ships were only in the nearby waters and never returned to the mainland of the Song Dynasty.

After the fleet set off, the three navy ships followed the icebreaker in a "pin" shape, mainly to prevent the ice on the two wings from hitting Zhao Fu's ship.

Zhao Yu was placed on the middle ship, so that the front and both wings were protected by ships.

After boarding the ship, Zheng Youcai was also arranged to accompany Zhao Fu.

Facing the cold wind, the fleet set off from a port in the northwest of Kuye Island and entered the Yuanzhen Sea directly.

The Yuanzhen Sea was called the Sea of ​​Okhotsk in later generations. In January, the temperature in the north was around minus 24 degrees.

It happened to be January when Zhao Fu entered the Yuanzhen Sea. Fortunately, he entered the sea from the south, and the temperature in the south was not so low, about ten degrees below zero.

(End of this chapter)