The most reckless man in the Ming Dynasty.

Chapter 421 Rebuilding Border Defense
Xinguo Gongfu.

As arranged, the food and drinks were served quickly.

All the servants were driven out, and only the thirty-six generals who had originally followed Tang Hao, all of whom were his trusted aides, were left in the hall.

After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, Tang Hao finally started talking about business.

"The war has been fought so far, and it is unlikely that a large-scale war will occur in the short term."

"So, your current focus is to organize the army!"

Tang Hao looked at the thirty-six generals, the worst of whom was an earl.

The arrangements he made with His Majesty the Emperor were based on their personality traits: one marquis led two earls to command the nine border military garrisons, a hereditary marquis served as the commander-in-chief, two foreign earls served as deputy generals and lieutenant generals, and so on.

Of course, this is only a temporary arrangement, and their appointments and dismissals will be adjusted after the border defense is rebuilt.

"You thirty-six generals are extremely important!"

"In the past, military honors were in decline and border defenses were neglected, so the border troops' combat effectiveness was declining day by day, and corruption, bribery, and enslavement of soldiers were rampant!"

"I have led you to finish the battle. The entire Nine Borders will usher in a period of peace in a short period of time, or in ten or twenty years. This is your chance to rebuild the border defense!"

Tang Hao looked at his thirty-six trusted generals and his face turned cold, which was unusual for him.

"You deserve the promotion and honor, and it's also what you fought through."

"But let me be frank with you. If anyone dares to withhold military pay, enslave soldiers, oppress the people, or collude with the gentry, don't blame me for being ungrateful!"

After these words were spoken, all the generals looked solemn.

Most of them were actually illegitimate sons of meritorious generals. The reason they chose to follow Tang Hao was to gain promotion and honor.

Now that the war was finally over, the thirty-six generals had been promoted to new positions and had suffered enough, so naturally they did not want to make a fatal mistake that would bring eternal regret.

The one-eyed Lei Leixiong is undoubtedly the best example.

Seeing that the atmosphere was somewhat solemn, Tang Mu said with a smile: "Don't worry, Duke. We are all brothers."

"As long as you are still here, do these guys dare to rebel?"

This statement was inappropriate, but all the generals laughed at the same time.

A smile also appeared on Tang Hao's face.

"Don't forget who our biggest enemy is, so don't cross this red line. Do you understand?"

"General, rest assured. I will never let you down!"

All the generals stood up immediately and responded seriously.

Tang Hao waved his hand, signaling the generals to sit down.

The Beijing army has already established its combat rules and regulations, and military orders are ingrained into their bones. As long as they follow the rules and regulations, basically nothing will go wrong.

"You guys have the heaviest task right now. The Nine Border Military Towns are in need of reconstruction. In addition to reorganizing the army, you must also monitor the grasslands at all times. Once there is any unusual movement, you must report it to the court immediately."

"Another thing is to develop their own military towns. Back then, the late emperor supported Ye Qi's reforms and used the blood of the soldiers and civilians of the nine borders to support the court, which caused the nine border military towns to decline day by day and the economy could not develop."

“After you take up your posts, you must develop the economic industries of the Nine Border Military Towns according to local conditions, support merchants and encourage them to come to trade. Only in this way will your own lives be better, and the military and civilians of the Nine Borders will also benefit!” When it comes to the "economic" issue, except for a few generals with more flexible minds, most of them are completely confused and look bewildered.

After all, they come from the military. If you talk about fighting, they are definitely very knowledgeable, but if you talk about developing the economy, it is really difficult for them.

For example, Chang Kuohai was looking at Tang Hao with an embarrassed expression at this moment.

"Um... General, I am now the commander-in-chief of Liaodong. How should I develop the economy? I don't understand it!"

As soon as these words were spoken, all the generals burst into laughter.

Looking at Chang Kuohai who kept scratching his head, Tang Hao didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"Don't worry, Deputy General Han Fu will assist you. He will retire after developing the Liaodong Military Town for a period of time."

With the support of Tang Hao, Han Fu has been granted the title of marquis, which can be regarded as the fulfillment of his long-cherished wish.

Of course, in order to return the favor, Han Fu took the initiative to resign and gave up the position of commander-in-chief of Liaodong.

However, considering Han Fu's understanding of Liaodong, Tang Hao discussed with Zhu Houzhao and decided to keep him as deputy general to cooperate with the court in reforming and developing Liaodong. Han Fu himself attached great importance to it after learning the inside story and was ready to make use of his remaining energy for Liaodong.

After all, he was born and raised in Liaodong, so naturally he hoped that his hometown would become better and better.

"Liaodong is actually a good place for development."

"Nowadays, the foreign barbarians in the country have either fled or been massacred, so a large area is unowned."

"Next, the imperial court will relocate the people to Liaodong to open up wasteland and cultivate land. At the same time, Nurgandusi will become the second trading center. The Ming Dynasty, Korea, and all the barbarian tribes on the Korean Peninsula can come here to trade and exchange what they have!"

"Driven by trade, the lives of the people of Liaodong will improve a lot. Once I find those high-yield crops, the imperial court can thoroughly develop Liaodong. From then on, Liaodong will no longer be a bitter and cold place, but a fertile land for granaries!"

In fact, after the barbarians in Liaodong were slaughtered, there were no obstacles to the development of Liaodong.

The biggest problem is that Liaodong is a cold and harsh place, so the population is relatively sparse.

The Ming Dynasty is now in a period of rapid development, and there is a severe shortage of population in all regions.

This is also something that can't be helped.

The Han people were simple and hardworking, while those foreign barbarians were lazy and greedy and liked to plunder directly, so the Han people became scarce for a while.

But Liaodong has not been developed yet. When those court officials heard that they were exiled to this hellhole, they wanted to commit suicide.

But they could never have imagined that the place they thought was bitter and cold was actually a treasured and blessed land.

The Northeast Plain is the largest plain in China and a grain-producing area. It also has mountains and rivers such as the Songhua River, and is rich in resources and products.

After development, Liaodong, which is the three northeastern provinces, produces about 40 million tons of rice, one of China's three major staple foods.

When we say the Northeast is a bitter and cold place, we mean that it has not been developed for agriculture like the North China Plain and the Yangtze River Basin.

Liaodong has good ecological and natural resource conditions, but after more than two thousand years of history, agriculture has not yet been developed. There are only fishing, hunting and nomadic peoples. This is simply unbelievable.

However, it is also true that Liaodong has a cold climate. The bitter cold in the three northeastern provinces is reflected in the fact that the average city temperature is the lowest in the world at the same latitude, which is more than ten to twenty degrees colder than the average temperature of Chicago, London and other places at the same latitude, and even colder than the average temperature of the three Nordic countries of Finland, Sweden and Norway. The average temperature in Harbin is colder than Moscow, so it is no exaggeration to say that it is a bitterly cold area. These are all caused by the Siberian cold wind blowing from the Arctic Circle. In general, the living conditions in the Northeast are very poor. The only advantage is that rain and heat occur at the same time in summer, which is beneficial to agricultural development, and land is only planted once a year.

Ordinary food crops are difficult to survive, but it is not completely impossible.

Tang Hao has already decided to sail to the American continent. As long as he can find those high-yield crops that can be regarded as food artifacts, the problem in Liaodong can be completely solved!
(End of this chapter)