A small soldier of the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 20
Leaving Yang Tong and the two women guarding the pier, Wang Dou and the others rode to the Dongfang River.

Turning around along the river, the Dongfang River meanders to the northwest. Along the two banks of the river, some military households or civilian households recently sowed fields of wheat are emerging.It can be seen that there are still too few cultivated fields on both sides of the river, and not far from the river, there are large expanses of dry land that are exposed.

Everyone rode their horses across the shallow river and came to the opposite side of the river, and the situation was the same on the opposite side.

Wang Dou made a rough estimate that along the river from Zhouzhuang to Dongjiazhuang, there are thousands of acres of wasteland on both sides of the bank that can be reclaimed.

In fact, the soil quality of these lands is considered good, but it is a pity that the water conservancy is in disrepair and irrigation is inconvenient. These originally good fields have been barren.This is the case in the northern land of the Ming Dynasty. It is dry and rainless, and farming depends entirely on irrigation. Where there is water, it is fertile soil, and where there is no water, it is desert. It is extremely dependent on the irrigation system.

Riding horses along the river, you can see some traces of the original canals and ponds beside the river bank. However, these canals have not been dredged for many years, and the water cannot flow. Most of them have been silted up and abandoned.This made the fields a little farther away from the river helplessly deserted. After all, the kind of deep masonry wells that can be used to irrigate the fields cannot be dug by random people.

If the government guards dredged and repaired these canals, it would be possible to make this area a fertile land.

But this can only be imagined. Water conservancy in various places is seriously in disrepair, which is a common situation in the entire Ming Dynasty. The imperial court does not have the financial resources to take care of water conservancy maintenance, and some of the limited funds are embezzled by officials. The security guards also do not have the financial resources Mind, I can only think of a way by myself.

I rode my horse and looked around, and the terrain in front of me was open. What a wonderful piece of land it was.Looking up, to the northeast, to the south is Luanzhuang belonging to the Wubao, and to the east is the Wubao of Qianhusuo behind the security guard. The land there is better than Shunxiangbao, and rice can even be grown there.

Wang Dou thought about it. Among them, Qi Tianliang was the best farmer, but of course he was also the worst equestrian. He tried his best to steer the horses to Wang Dou's side, and shouted, "Wang Tou, this piece of land is good. Dig some ponds and repair some canals, and then recruit some soldiers and civilians to cultivate, and in the future this area can become a fertile field."

Wang Dou nodded. In fact, the Ming Dynasty had preferential policies for soldiers and civilians to reclaim wasteland. Not to mention that all the reclaimed land should be returned to the soldiers and civilians. After three years of maturity, a small amount of cattle and silver will be expropriated for each hectare of land. In many places, taxable grain will be exempted for ten years. above.

It's a pity that there are policies on the top and countermeasures on the bottom. The treasury is empty and a large amount of taxes and grains need to be collected. The officials and gentry transfer their taxable grains to the common people. Can't wait to hand over to urge dispatch, causing farmers to make ends meet.If the pursuit of money and food continues, the farmers will have to flee, and the fields will be barren. This vicious circle will lead to more and more severe famines in various places, and it will also cause the people to be unwilling to reclaim wasteland.

In fact, there is always no shortage of land at the end of a dynasty. After disasters and wars, entire villages and cities in some places were deserted, and even thousands of miles were uninhabited. In fact, there were a lot of barren land in various places in Ming Dynasty, but there was no stable environment for the people to live and cultivate.撘!

People in the world often say that you don't worry about scarcity, but you worry about inequality. In fact, there is a more important sentence behind it, don't worry about poverty, but worry about anxiety!War and chaos are more terrible than poverty!
Wang Dou is thinking about how to recruit soldiers and civilians to farm. If these soldiers and civilians can feel at ease, there is still a lot of hope for Tunbao. In history, when Lu Xiang was promoted to the Governor of Xuanda, he was very active in Tunzheng, accumulating 20 shi, and Emperor Chongzhen ordered nine It is regarded as a model, and there are many successful examples in addition.

From Qi Tianliang and his mother, Wang Dou also saw the desire of ancient Chinese farmers for land. A stable environment, plus each person being granted cattle and dozens of acres of land, which can be passed on from generation to generation, is enough to make many poor people The bankrupt people were shocked.

Let these people all join the military households to ensure the source of food and soldiers. At the same time, it is still a strong and cohesive group. Ming Taizu's experience.

Wang Dou rides his horse and sits on the horse, looking around at the land on both sides of the river, his heart is full of pride, and his tomorrow starts here.

……

After looking at the land, several people excitedly returned to Jingbiandun to discuss the affairs of the fort. After mentioning it briefly, they felt that there were many things. Farming requires cattle and farm tools, building forts requires wood and bluestone, and rations for the settlers.

If some water canals can be dredged and built this year, we will rush to sow seeds next spring, and we need seeds again.It is definitely too late to plant winter wheat this year, so we have to plant some sorghum, millet, beans, etc. in the spring of next year.Wheat will be planted again in the summer and autumn of next year.

There are so many things to know, first of all, the population is needed, which is also the most difficult thing at the beginning of Tunpu.

Baoanzhouwei is a huge place. Historically, since the establishment of Baoanzhou, there have been no more than 8000 households in Baoanzhou, and the population has been around five or six thousand.As for military households, since Jianwei, there were more than 3000 military households in history, with a population of tens of thousands.By the Wanli year, it had dropped to more than [-] households, and it is not known how many households there are now.At present, the military households and common people of Baoan Prefecture are fleeing one after another, and because of the military disaster not long ago, the population is getting smaller, especially the young and middle-aged population.

The recruitment of refugees depends on luck. The flow of refugees is uncertain. Sometimes a large number of refugees flood into a certain place, and sometimes no one can be seen for a hundred miles.For the time being, I don't have the financial resources to go to various places to promote it on a large scale.

However, since the gold invaded last month, disasters have hit various places, and many refugees have appeared in various places in Bao'an Prefecture, and they may be able to recruit from them.The local people can also think of a way. After all, each person is awarded tens of acres of land. Even if some local military and civilian households have a large family, they can definitely send some males to come to grant land. The key is to convince them that The prospect of the future Tunpu.

……

Wang Dou and the others finished their discussions, and it was still Yang Tong who guarded the pier. Wang Dou prepared a gift, and brought the Han and Chao people to Dongjiazhuang first, and asked to see the team officer Zhang Gui, hoping that he would support some of the population, cattle, farm tools, etc.

Hearing that Wang Dou asked for thirty households and ten cows, as well as other materials such as bluestone and wood, Zhang Gui was troubled. The shortage of guards is getting worse and worse. Dongjiazhuang's villages are underpopulated. difficult.

He patted Wang Dou's shoulder and sighed, "Brother, brother also has difficulties, and I have to figure out a way for him."

In the end, he called his confidant, Hongqiu, who was in charge of the general banner of grain, grass and supplies in Dongjiazhuang Castle, and asked him to allocate ten military households, five cows, one stone of rice, fifteen hoes, and other supplies to Wang Dou. , Wang Dou had to figure out a solution by himself.

However, he can issue a notice to help Wang Dou promote it in Dongjiazhuang Castle to see who is willing to go to the Jingbian Fort that does not exist yet.

Wang Dou saw that Zhang Gui had indeed done his best, so he left and followed Hong Qiu to collect the population supplies.

But then Wang Dou was disappointed again, the ten households were all old and weak, and what he wanted was a young and strong population, and the five cows were also emaciated, far from his expectations.But Wang Dou accepted it anyway, the mosquito legs were small, but they were still meat, there was no reason to let them go if they entered his mouth.

(End of this chapter)