Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 172 The Holy Hand of Infant Care
"Added two more thousand households..."

October arrived as scheduled, and when Zhu Yunwen in the Chunhe Hall learned that Jilin Guard had added two thousand-household offices, his first reaction was to frown.

From last year to this year, he has been busy dismantling Zhu Fan's power in both the government and the public, but he cannot stop Zhu Fan's restlessness.

For example, right now, on Zhu Yunwen's table, there is a rice seedling that is much larger than the normal Ming Dynasty rice seedling.

This is the rice that Zhu Fan sent quickly after the autumn harvest this year. This rice has nine ears, and each ear has more than a hundred grains of rice.

Such rice is called "Jiahe", which translates as rice that portends good fortune.

It deserves such praise. After all, if the rice in Shanxi can reach this level, it means that the rice yield in Shanxi has reached an average of two stones and three per mu.

This is still in Shanxi. If we move to the south of the Yangtze River where there are sufficient water conservancy facilities, it can reach at least four stones.

If rice could be like this all over the world, then the people of the Ming Dynasty would be living a comfortable life.

Lao Zhu pays attention to farming, and Zhu Fan's search for such rice is undoubtedly to bring himself back to Lao Zhu's eyes.

"Your Highness, this rice...is still being planted?"

Li Quan, the eunuch of the East Palace, asked Zhu Yunwen cautiously, but Zhu Yunwen picked up the rice and looked at it carefully, squinting: "Plant, of course you have to plant..."

While responding, Zhu Yunwen looked at another memorial on the table, which contained specific regulations on reducing the clan's salary.

It was originally planned that the annual salary of the prince would be [-] shi each, but after this reduction, the prince's annual salary was only [-] shi, while the prince only had [-] shi. The salaries of the other generals and lieutenants such as Zhenguo and Fengguo had all been reduced.

Although the Bohai County Prince and the Jingjiang County Prince were classified as princes in terms of salary, in any case, this salary reduction was a means to weaken the vassal prince.

Zhu Gaoxu's [-] lumis were cut in half, and the other princes were cut by [-]%.

Such a result made Zhu Yunwen very happy.

The reason for reducing the annual salary is to make it difficult for the vassal kings to raise soldiers and horses, so they can only rely on the court, thereby reducing their control over the soldiers and horses, but...

Zhu Yunwen lowered his head and looked at the rice ears in his hand. He knew very well that such methods would have no effect on powerful vassals such as Qin, Jin, Yan and Zhou, because their methods of amassing money were not limited to salaries.

They are like this, and so is Zhu Gaoxu.

"He's doing a prosperous business in Jiangnan's fur business."

Zhu Yunwen put down the rice ears and touched the fox fur around his neck. Hearing this, Li Quan also bowed and said: "I think it was through this method that the King of Bohai County was able to raise an army of six thousand."

"It will be eight thousand next year." Zhu Yunwen meant something, but he didn't take it seriously.

What can 8000 people do?
Compared with him, Zhu Fan, Zhu Di, and Zhu Tie are the ones that Zhu Yunwen needs to deal with.

Among them, Zhu Fan is still the first to bear the brunt.

"The war in the southwest is speeding up, otherwise the people below will be panicked and I will not be at ease."

"Send someone to tell Wei Guogong that you need money and food to immigrate to the southwest. However, the court has been unable to make ends meet these years, so it can only live on the previous food reserves."

"If he continues so slowly, I'm afraid the imperial court will be left with nothing..."

Zhu Yunwen said this, but the content of his words was too exaggerated.

Zhu Yuanzhang spent several years recuperating, and the amount of food he accumulated was not a small amount. As long as Zhu Yuanzhang was willing to use the Changping warehouse, Shuici warehouse, and reserve warehouses in various places, the food could last for more than ten years even if the court could not make ends meet every year.

But this is limited to the situation where the "tax offset with cash" is not carried out. Once the "tax offset with cash" is to continue, Zhu Yunwen must find ways to generate income for the Ming Dynasty.

The southwest gold, silver and copper mines were what he wanted, and the reality was that these things did meet his needs.

"How much is the gold, silver and copper mine that will be collected into the treasury this year?"

Zhu Yunwen sat back down, and Li Quan also cautiously reported back: "According to the official report from the Ministry of Household Affairs, the sum of gold, silver, and copper is about 92 yuan."

"Not bad..." Zhu Yunwen was very satisfied with the amount. After all, this was only the second year of the Southwest Mine.

If nothing else goes wrong, next year's southwest mines will be able to mine gold, silver and copper worth millions of dollars, and then next year's 'tax offset with banknotes' can continue in the autumn.

In three years, under the policy of using banknotes to offset taxes in the Su and Song Prefectures, the value of treasure banknotes in the six Jiangdong prefectures has stabilized at around [-] wen per pass, and the remaining provinces can also maintain between [-] and [-] wen. .

Under Zhu Yunwen's persuasion, the wealthy gentry in Susong's second house also understood what it means to "take a long time to catch the big fish".

Take this year's tax deduction with banknotes as an example. Su Song's Second Mansion only paid 380 million shi of land tax for 200 million shi with banknotes, and the remaining 180 million shi was still paid for land tax.

The wise advancement and retreat of the wealthy gentry households in the second government also prevented Zhu Yunwen from embarrassment for them, and at the same time, it also reduced the pressure on the household department.

An annual deficit of 200 million stone is much better than a deficit of nearly 400 million stone. Moreover, based on the price of recycled treasure notes, the real deficit is only 60 stone.

The Ministry of Household Affairs can still fill this hole.

As long as the gold and silver mines in the southwest are successfully mined, the second prefecture can be expanded into six prefectures, and even the second prefectures in western Zhejiang such as Huzhou and Hangzhou can be expanded.

By tying people from these eight houses to him, his third uncle will no longer be able to compete with him...

Turning his eyes to the memorial involving Zhu Gaoxu, Zhu Yunwen narrowed his eyes slightly: "You can only stop here."

"It's so warm!"

When Zhu Yunwen no longer paid attention to Zhu Gaoxu, Jilin City also entered the winter month (November) as time passed, and the whole city began to enjoy heating.

Each private boiler began to add firewood continuously, and there was something like a manual water press next to it, which continuously pumped water from the ground into a copper furnace that resembled a boiler.

The boiling water turned into vapor, floating in the dark fire tunnel.

They poured into the fire channels and fire walls in the houses, and after touching the top of the fire wall, they gathered into water and flowed eastward along the fire channels, passing through military camps and nursery fields, gradually cooling and flowing into the Songhua River.

It was the first time in their lives for many people to use luxury goods such as fire walls and fire tunnels, so it was very novel.

The cement walls are painted with white lime and special brush materials, which can effectively prevent water vapor from escaping. Therefore, the walls are warm and warm, and many people put their hands on the walls.

Different from the novelty of the common people, people like Guo Yan and Yi Shiha who had enjoyed the Fire Wall and Fire Road in the south were very calm, but they were still quite satisfied with being able to enjoy the Fire Wall and Fire Road in Jilin City.

Perhaps the only person who is dissatisfied with the Fire Wall and Fire Road is Zhu Gaoxu.

"It's still not warm enough..."

In the Cunxin Hall of the Bohai Palace, Zhu Gaoxu touched the floor tiles with his hands, his face slightly dissatisfied.

Although there is no thermometer, based on body temperature alone, the temperature in Cunxin Hall is estimated to be only [-] or [-] degrees Celsius, which is not considered warm.

"It's already very good, Your Highness."

Guo Yan was embroidering. When she heard Zhu Gaoxu's words, she smiled and comforted Zhu Gaoxu.

After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu could only nod helplessly. After all, the waterproof and thermal insulation methods of the Ming Dynasty were far behind those of later generations. It was indeed quite good to be able to do this.

"We need to increase coal mining. Otherwise, if this continues, we will have to cut down all the trees on many mountains in seven or eight years."

Zhu Gaoxu sat back down, with Yi Shiha standing next to him.

He actually asked Yishiha to sit down, but Yishiha insisted on standing, and he couldn't force him.

"Let's expand the coal mine after spring." Yi Shiha saw Zhu Gaoxu speak, and he also said: "Deploy another 2000 people to mine the coal mine, and we should be able to mine [-] kilograms per day."

"Okay, just remember to be prepared for safety." Zhu Gaoxu nodded in agreement, and at the same time asked Yishiha:

"By the way, is the equalization of land in the city over?"

"Last night just ended, 25 seven acres were divided equally among the pension and reward fields. Secondly, the fields were distributed according to the number of people who participated in land reclamation this year and last year. More than 960 people received the fields, and each person received four About two cents per acre.”

Yishi laughed and answered, and Zhu Gaoxu also showed a bit of a smile after hearing this:
"Four acres and two cents, even based on this year's millet and wheat production, we can grow two stones of grain. Although it is not enough to be self-sufficient, it can at least satisfy half of the food rations."

"In the coming year, food rations will be provided for at least 4000 people. The next step will be to see whether we can achieve self-sufficiency next year."

Self-sufficiency is a prerequisite that determines whether and how Zhu Gaoxu can participate in the Jingnan.

If he has enough food and grass, he can slowly mobilize his troops, attack Liaodong steadily and steadily with his father, and after taking Liaodong, he will gain a stable rear area, and then solve Daning.

As long as Daning and Liaodong are solved, Zhu Di will have more mobile troops than in the Battle of Jingnan.

In this way, at least before Li Jinglong takes command, Zhu Di does not need any help from himself, and he can concentrate on dealing with Yang Wen, Wu Gao and Ping An in Liaodong. After defeating them, he can capture the 25 Liaodong guards and use his troops to snowball training. , and at the same time built warships, crossed the sea to capture Dengzhou, and contained Li Jinglong from the rear.

"Soldiers are more important than finesse, but there must also be enough..."

Zhu Gaoxu's eyes flickered. Guo Yan and Yi Shiha on the side thought that he was happy for the people to divide their fields, but they didn't expect that Zhu Gaoxu had already thought of something further behind.

"Brothers in the military and their children must not relax in their studies."

Zhu Gaoxu looked up at Yishiha and explained to him, and Yishiha also kept this in mind: "Your Highness, rest assured, in the past two years, except for going to war, all the brothers in the army have been studying hard and learning Mandarin."

"Now that they have been studying for more than a year, many brothers can already read, write, and do arithmetic."

Reading and writing are difficult, but you can't stand studying every day. Among the soldiers in Jilin City today, the oldest ones can basically all read and write. Although they can't write articles, they can still do it with the basic multiplication tables. Can do some simple accounting.

This kind of learning is only the first step, and Zhu Gaoxu will ask them to continue to strengthen their learning.

When they have learned most of the basic knowledge, "Practical Military Training" compiled by them will become a must-have reading material for them.

The current "Practical Training of Troops" already exists after Zhu Gaoxu made many changes. He combined the experience of quelling Xiyang Ha and the invasion of Hu soldiers this time, and deleted some of the unused training methods, leaving enough Practical basic training and essentials for training and leading troops.

Such as teaching new recruits how to use various weapons, how to read pictures, read military documents, search for targets and transmit intelligence, as well as how to use the terrain to build fortifications and other basic knowledge, as well as military discipline, military ideology, military common sense, and command structure. and general health care and other simpler content.

Use "Practical Training" to train officers, which is broken down into 510 six-session courses, two to three sessions a day, lasting 170 two days.During these 170 days, nearly half of the training time was spent on field exercises, learning how to perform various tasks in the wild, including high-intensity marching training.

For example, after completing the basic training in the military camp, you must be able to walk thirty miles with armor and weapons on your back, deploy vanguards and rearguards at the same time, and conduct reconnaissance missions.

Zhu Gaoxu's set of officer training does not require officers to be physically better than ordinary soldiers, but that their minds must be very sharp.

If one-third of the soldiers of the Bohai Navy can pass this final training, then Zhu Gaoxu is sure that after defeating the Liaodong Dusi, he can use these officers to train troops ten times his own on the spot.

Today, the Bohai Navy only has 6000 people, but even so, ten times one-third can reach 2 people, not to mention 6000 people is just the beginning...

"Shortly after the spring plowing in April, I have to take the navy and troops to Hulawen City to attack Ataiwailan. You don't have to worry about me staying at my house."

Zhu Gaoxu explained to Guo Yan while playing with the hand-warming copper stove that no charcoal would fall out no matter how he turned it.

When Guo Yan heard this, he paused in his movements and looked slightly worried: "Are we going to fight again?"

"Don't worry..." Zhu Gaoxu comforted him: "Atai Wailan is much weaker than Hu Bing, and he is at the level of an average mountain bandit. I guess if he gets the news, he will either surrender or escape north."

"That's it..." Guo Yan muttered, but didn't know what to say.

Zhu Gaoxu didn't wait for his words, but he did wait for a Jingjun.

The sound of footsteps came, and a Jingjun walked into the palace from outside the palace, bowed and said: "Your Highness, Zhang Qian has asked Your Highness to discuss something, I don't know..."

Jing Jun looked at Zhu Gaoxu, as if he wanted to ask where Zhu Gaoxu was entertaining guests.

This is not because he is looking for a sense of presence, but because the outer palace of the palace has been demolished, and now it seems that the only one that can entertain guests is the inner palace.

"I'll go to the wing to do some embroidery, and you guys can talk about things."

At the critical moment, Guo Yan gave way to the Cunxin Palace. Upon seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu nodded and asked the Jing army to bring the people.

Not long after, Guo Yan left, and Zhang Chunye walked into the hall with a Jurchen wearing animal skins and a Mediterranean-style shaved head.

When the Jurchen saw Zhu Gaoxu, she knelt on the ground without thinking and muttered some words that Zhu Gaoxu couldn't understand.

Seeing this, Zhang Chun didn't even wait to translate, so he said, "Your Highness, this person is the envoy sent by the seven leaders on the ground in Azhemei in the north. He said he wants to surrender to us."

"Surrender?" Zhu Gaoxu looked at Yi Shiha, and when he saw him nodding, he said to the savage in a funny way:

"Didn't you guys rob Xiyang Ha before? How come you know you're surrendering now?"

Yishiha translated Zhu Gaoxu's words, and the savage also explained after hearing the words:
"Your Highness, we didn't mean to resist the Celestial Empire. We just went south to plunder because of the suffering in the mountains."

"Ha..." Listening to Yishiha's translation, Zhu Gaoxu sneered:
"If Gu had not destroyed Xiyang Ha and severely wounded Wu Liang Ha, would you have surrendered honestly?"

Zhu Gaoxu had a thorough understanding of the seven Jurchens in Azhemi Ground during the year and a half he came to Jilin City.

This group of people are, to put it mildly, just like the outsiders, and they will go to whatever side benefits from them.

When Xiyang Ha was destroyed before, they did not surrender immediately. Instead, they continued to lurk in the Azhemi Mountains, ready to send troops for sneak attacks at any time.

I am surrendering now. I guess I have just learned the news that Wu Liangha was severely damaged, and I am worried that I will be surrounded and suppressed in the coming spring, so I am surrendering honestly.

Without giving the savage a chance to speak, Zhu Gaoxu said impatiently: "Where is the sincerity in surrendering?"

"We are willing to return the cattle and sheep we plundered before, and we are also willing to serve as the vanguard for His Highness to attack Ataiwailan."

The savage hurriedly expressed his loyalty, and Yi Shiha also translated his words to Zhu Gaoxu.

However, Zhu Gaoxu didn't take it seriously. After all, by the time spring begins, he will have at least four to five thousand armored soldiers, and a mere Ataiwailan can be destroyed in a matter of seconds.

The people in Qibu want to use this small benefit to tie themselves up to prevent their whims.

"Ataiwailan doesn't need you to be the vanguard. After Gu Kaichun, you will naturally destroy Hula Wen City..." Zhu Gaoxu said contemptuously:
"What I really need is for you to apologize with real sincerity."

"Then...what does His Highness want?" The savage asked guiltily. Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu looked at Zhang Chun.

Zhang Chunxin understood. He had the deepest enmity with his soldiers and the seven tribes of Ami. If he asked the seven tribes to compensate, then the brothers below would also accept it.

Thinking of this, Zhang Chuncai said: "After the spring, we will hand over [-] cattle, [-] horses and [-] sheep. In addition, each group will immigrate [-] families to Andong City to serve as slaves."

Zhang Chun knew the family background of Qibu and knew that although they had many people, they were not wealthy, so what mattered to him was people.

There are two hundred households in each unit. Even if it is a small household, seven units can make up 3000 households, with no less than [-] people.

Nowadays, Anton City is short of people. If these human and animal power are obtained, Anton City's self-sufficiency will definitely speed up.

"This... is too much..."

The savage looked very embarrassed when he heard the conditions translated by Yishiha, but Zhu Gaoxu said:

"If you are willing to reconcile, we can open a mutual market in Anton City in the future and allow you to exchange furs, cattle and sheep for food."

"Xiaomin is willing to go back and convince the seven leaders!" The savage's eyes brightened a lot when he heard that Zhu Gaoxu was willing to open a mutual market.

Food is outside the customs. It is a kind of material that is more useful than gold and silver. If the food can be obtained through mutual trade, the Qibu will not need to be enemies of the Ming army. Raising cattle and sheep in the mountains and hunting some furs will be enough.

Although the requirements for [-] cattle and horses, [-] households of slaves, and [-] sheep were a bit harsh, they could still come up with it through gritting their teeth.

"Go down."

Zhu Gaoxu stopped looking at him, and the savage left happily under Yi Shiha's translation.

"Your Highness, why do you give them the grace to trade with each other?"

Zhang Chun was a little helpless and seemed to feel that the grace of opening a mutual market was too great.

However, Zhu Gaoxu did not care about this, and instead asked Zhang Chun: "During the Spring and Autumn Period, Guanzi used trade to make the four countries of Luliang and Laiju surrender without food. Why can't we do this now?"

"But..." Zhang Chun naturally had read "Spring and Autumn", so he was also worried: "But if they have food, then multiply the population, and finally plunder the frontier, what will we do?"

"Only they can reproduce, can't we?" Zhu Gaoxu was amused by Zhang Chun's question, and Zhang Chun's bronze face also turned red.

Looking at his appearance, Zhu Gaoxu turned to Yishiha and asked:
"How many babies are born in the city this year?"

"My slave saw it the day before yesterday. As of the day before yesterday, a total of 140 babies were born." Yi Shiha responded, and this matter was also what Zhu Gaoxu told him to pay attention to.

"How many babies died after the hospital's "Baby Care Manual" spread?"

Zhu Gaoxu continued to ask, and Yi Shiha smiled and bowed: "Since His Highness's "Baby Care Manual" was handed over to the hospital and the hospital set up a nursery hall, there have been only 24 babies who died due to congenital deficiencies."

Yishiha mentioned the "Baby Care Manual" in his words. This was Zhu Gaoxu's summary based on some of the baby care manuals he had read when helping his sister take care of her children in his previous life. He also added some baby care tips he remembered.

Infant mortality was an unavoidable problem in many countries and eras before the popularization of modern medicine.

"Less than half of every 100 babies born live to be 20 years old, and about one in five babies born will die before their first birthday."

This sentence is a record of the life span of Europeans in the late Middle Ages in modern European history. At the same time, in the Ming Dynasty, although there were many medical skills and children's songs for raising babies, infant mortality was still common.

The main reason why children in ancient times were prone to premature death was that the level of medical care at that time was very low and its popularity was limited.

Diseases that would appear to be minor in later generations, such as colds, typhoid, chickenpox, toothache and other diseases, were basically difficult to treat at this time.

In addition, the resistance of infants and children is very low, and the environment in some places is not up to standard, so it is very easy for infants to get sick.

Under the current medical conditions, once you fall ill, you basically have to resign yourself to fate and wait for the judgment of the King of Hell.

Zhu Gaoxu wanted to expand his territory, so the necessary population was indispensable. The book "Baby Care Manual" was written specifically because Zhu Gaoxu learned about the infant mortality rate in Jilin City last year.

Last year, 420 seven babies were born in Jilin City, and 47 died in just one year. The horrific death rate is still unforgettable for him.

For this reason, while printing the "Baby Care Manual", Zhu Gaoxu also added a baby care hall to the original hospital and selected some healthy women to let the doctors and craftsmen in Jilin City understand the manual first before teaching it.

These methods, coupled with the centralized treatment of feces and garbage in Jilin City, and the fact that most of the doctors in Jilin City are good doctors brought by Zhu Gaoxu from the south, the infant mortality rate in Jilin City began to decline, and it is now rare.

Zhu Gaoxu cannot save babies with congenital deficiencies like that.

But babies with normal physique can survive easily as long as they keep up with nutrition, pay attention to parenting methods and maintain hygiene.

Of course, the most important thing to pay attention to is to avoid contact with most relatives during the baby's fragile period.

After all, no one knows how many of these relatives are infected with viruses that are fatal to babies.

A simple cold can kill many babies.

Of course, doing so can easily make the people in the city dissatisfied. Therefore, although the nursery prevents too many people from entering, parents can still go in to see their children. However, they need to wear a mask before entering the nursery and cannot take it off until one month later. Only then can I take my children home.

A mask, a small thing, can prevent most infectious diseases in this era.

Zhu Gaoxu was not too familiar with wearing masks in his previous life. During those days when he was wearing masks, he never caught a cold.

The only bad thing is that it is a bit difficult to get masks in this era. Coarse cotton masks are a luxury product. Except for the hospitals in Sanchang and Jilin City, other places can’t afford them. And even if they have masks from these places, It must also be sterilized in boiling water for repeated use.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu could only lament the backward productivity, but at the same time he did not forget to explain to Yi Shuha:
"Some Jurchen people who have just migrated here will find it difficult to understand the affairs of the Nursery, so we must pay attention to publicity."

"Don't worry, Your Highness, I know this." Yi Shiha nodded in agreement.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu also played with the hand-warming copper stove in his hand. What he was thinking about was what else he could change for this era...

(End of this chapter)