Chapter 837 The first step to return to Liaodong

(0837)

【Today's first update is delivered】

Liaodong, Jinzhou Acropolis.

Standing on the head of the Jinzhou Acropolis and looking around, Zhang Zhun's eyes were a little dim. The surroundings of the Acropolis were originally full of farmland, and this August should be a good time for grain to grow. Even if there is no grain planting, there should be a large number of farmers busy in the fields. Southern Liao has always been a large granary outside the pass!

Unfortunately, all the fields are now deserted. There are no farmers around Jinzhouwei. The fields are full of weeds, some of which are even higher than people's heads. It takes a long time to clean these weeds. In the past, there was a saying that weeds were setting fires, but unfortunately it is August, and most of the weeds are still lush and full of vitality. Even if you light a few big fires, you may not be able to burn them.

"Sir, they're all here."

Liu Hang came to report.

"good!"

Zhang Zhun nodded and turned around and walked down the city wall.

After cleaning, the acropolis of Jinzhou Guards looked much clean. The debris on the streets had been cleaned up and the sewers had been cleared. Most of the gaps in the surrounding city walls had been filled. There were only some particularly large gaps, and time was being repaired.

Of course, if we want to rebuild the Jinzhou Acropolis, we still need to work hard. The biggest difficulty is that there are not enough manpower. The Hu Ben Army came to Liaodong to fight wars, not to do chores, and they could only undertake the most basic reconstruction matters. The people who do chores are still behind, and a large number of civilians gathered in Dengzhou City and have not yet crossed the sea.

Zhang Zhun entered the hall of the official residence of the Jinzhou Military Commander. The hall of the official residence of the Military Commander was in a state of lack of repair after the Tartars occupied it, and it looked like it was full of dilapidated everywhere. However, the entire Jinzhou Military Commander Acropolis was the best. Therefore, even if it was dilapidated, the meeting would still be held here.

There are already many people in the hall. Yang Kaide, Chen Guoxi, Mao Shunjiang, Huang Qingping, Meng Qinghao, Shi Zhenshan... All the elderly. They are basically the backbone of Sheng Xia Zong, and they are the most actively supporting Zhang Zhun's policy conditions. Zhang Zhun trusts the most and is also these elderly people. After entering Liaodong, the relocation work must be completed by these backbones. The people they led have always been very enthusiastic about their work.

In addition to basically all the elderly, they also have a common characteristic, they have all been to Liaodong before. They either served in Liaodong during the Wanli period, or were transferred from the mainland to Liaodong during the Tianqi period. It can be said that Liaodong is their second hometown, and many of their relatives, friends, and comrades-in-law stayed in Liaodong forever, and only they survived by chance.

After several years or decades away from Liaodong, they finally set foot on the land of Liaodong again. It is absolutely impossible to say that they are not excited. In the past, they never thought that they would have the opportunity to return to Liaodong safely. What they did not expect was that they might have seen the destruction of the Tartars with their own eyes in their lifetime.

"Governor!"

"Governor!"

"Governor!"

Seeing Zhang Zhun come in, all the old people hurriedly stood up to greet him.

"Hello uncles and uncles!"

"Sit, sit, sit, sit, please sit!"

Zhang Zhun smiled and clasped his fists, gestured to stop everyone from standing up.

Then, he walked into the crowd, shook hands with the elderly one by one, and said hello one by one.

Because of the busy military affairs, Zhang Zhun basically only had some major policy decisions about Shengxia Zong, and the specific matters had to be implemented by these old people. In fact, in the past, these old people did manage Shengxia Zong well.

In accordance with Zhang Zhun's instructions, they actively developed outstanding talents from all aspects into members of Shengxia Sect. So far, the members of Shengxia Sect have grown to more than 3,000, covering backbone of all walks of life.

"Thank you all from behind to Liaodong and cross the ocean, thank you for your hard work."

After Zhang Zhun sat down, he said sincerely.

"Yulin, you are polite again."

Mao Shunjiang and others all said happily.

Zhang Zhun waved his hand and asked everyone to sit down and talk.

Chen Guoxi looked around and said with emotion: "I really didn't expect that we would return to Liaodong in this way if we had one day to return to Liaodong. When I left Liaodong, I boarded the boat at this Lushunkou. I was almost desperate at that time. Our army of more than 300 people was all broken up and we couldn't find any familiar people. Alas, it's true that more than ten years have passed, and I still can't forget it! They are all those damn Tartars!"

Shi Zhenshan was also constantly sighing and said bitterly: "Yes! Back then, I also left Liaodong at Lushunkou. I also arrived in Liaodong at Lushunkou. At that time, there were thirty-seven other people who came ashore with me, from all over the country. Now, I am the only one left. I am the other thirty-six people, I only remember their names, and I don't even know where they were beaten to death and where they were buried."

Huang Qingping nodded and said bitterly: "Yes, I only remember their names. Where they died in battle, and then I don't know what to do. The superiors don't allow us to inquire. Alas, there are so many dead people. In the battle of Liaoyang, our entire team was almost dead, and only five or six people escaped."

Yang Kaide was so attracted by them that he remembered the past and said in a depressing manner: "I have more than you, all died. Except for me, all forty-nine people have died. Zhang Husband..."

He suddenly mentioned Zhang Zhun's father by accident. He hurriedly shut up with a sad look on his face. In fact, everyone here knew about Zhang Zhun's father. Zhang Laosi (Zhang Laoshi) also came ashore at Lushunkou and arrived in Liaodong. As a result, he arrived in Liaodong while standing, but when he returned, he was already in the urn.

However, relatively speaking, Zhang Zhun's father was lucky. I don't know how many people died, and they didn't even have the chance to put them in the urn. The Tartars never dealt with the Ming army that died in battle. They basically threw the corpses in the wild and let the wild wolves eat them. Therefore, after every war, the wild wolves in Liaodong were red in their eyes, which was because they ate too much human flesh.

Zhang Zhun forced a smile and said slowly: "There are many Han people who died in Liaodong, not just my father. My father at least has ashes to take back. I don't know how many people don't even have ashes, and some people may not even find their names. Let's discuss it, if possible, then set up a tomb for them."

Mao Shunjiang nodded and said, "You must! Being able to give them a tomb is also an explanation to them. What a pity, if they were still alive, they could still see today, I don't know how great it would be!"

Zhang Zhun pondered for a moment, and then said slowly: "In addition to the tomb of clothes, I am also preparing to erect a monument to engrave all the names of the sacrificed Han people on it, so that all the Liaodong people can see it and will never forget it."

Chen Guoxi subconsciously said, "What a big monument? I'm afraid that the names of so many people can't be written in ordinary monuments? In the past ten years, there are not 500,000 people who died in Liaodong, but 300,000. How can the names of so many people be written in the past ten years?"

Zhang Zhun said decisively: "It doesn't matter. The monument cannot be written. We will set up a few more memorial walls below to specifically engrave the names of the deceased. In short, we must engrave all the names of everyone. We must make generations in the future not forget what happened here."

Yang Kaide nodded and said, "I agree."

Meng Qinghao said excitedly: "Governor, I am a stonemason. I will be responsible for the monument and memorial wall!"

Zhang Zhun nodded and said readily: "Then I'll be fine, Mr. Meng."

Meng Qinghao said with emotion: "My two younger brothers were both killed in Liaoyang. I didn't even see their corpses, and I always felt uneasy. If I could leave a name on the monument, they could rest in peace under the fountain."

Speaking of their sad things, everyone couldn't help but sigh again. In the past ten years, there have been too many people in the Ming army who have left their lives on this hot land. This time they returned to Liaodong, there are many things they need to do, remembering their past comrades and comrades, which is just the first step they have to take.

Zhang Zhun said slowly: "The past has passed, and now I think about it, there is not much meaning. We should still focus on looking forward. How to build Liaodong after defeating the Tartars is the focus of our discussion today."

After saying that, he winked at Liu Hang.

Liu Hang stood up and said loudly: "Uncles and uncles, according to the proposal of the governor, the next focus of Shengxia Zong is to do his best to develop and build Liaodong. The focus is on two aspects. The first is to actively cultivate fields and plant grains. The second is to hoard wood as much as possible to ensure the needs of naval shipbuilding."

"Because the timber in Liaodong is in the Changbai Mountain area, our army has not yet controlled Changbai Mountain, so the matter of timber can be temporarily slowed down. The focus at the moment is to reclaim land and restore grain production. Do you have any good suggestions for this?"

Huang Qingping thought about it and said with a little concern: "Where do people come from?"

Liu Hang nodded and said slowly: "Uncle Huang asked well, people are the key to developing Liaodong. Without enough labor, nothing can be done. To develop Liaodong, there must be people. Everyone talks about where people come from?"

Dear old men, look at me, and I look at you, and finally my eyes are focused on Zhang Zhun. To be honest, they are all people who work and have brain-based skills. They are not very strong. When encountering problems that they cannot solve, their first reaction is to find Zhang Zhun to solve them.

Of course they understood that the primary condition for Liaodong to develop was to have enough labor. The question is, where should these labor come from? Recruitment from the mainland? When the Ming Dynasty was established, a large number of people were migrated from the mainland. At that time, it was a mandatory order, and the opportunity was moved from the entire village. It seems that Yangjiatun was said to have been moved from the distant Yunnan. Could it be that the Hu Ben Army also wanted to take this step?

Chen Guoxi said: "Yulin, let's transfer some people from Shandong?"

Zhang Zhun looked at everyone's faces and said slowly: "I'm not going to migrate."

Everyone's puzzled eyes fell on Zhang Zhun again. If it weren't forcibly migrating, I'm afraid no one would be willing to come. Compared with the mainland, Liaodong has certain risks. If the Tartars rekindled, wouldn't they even have their own lives?

Zhang Zhun said slowly: "I am going to make some changes to the Juntian Order. In Liaodong, the upper limit of each person's field can reach one hundred acres."

Chen Guoxi said with some concern: "Yulin, this is not very good, right? If Juntian Ling opens his mouth, everyone will follow suit, and in the future..."

Yang Kaide and the others nodded subconsciously. Obviously, they were all a little worried. What they feared the most was that Jun Tian Ling opened his mouth and gave others an opportunity to take advantage of it. In fact, many of the regulations in the Ming Dynasty were very strict. In history, there was no law that was more detailed than the "Ming Law".

However, what is damn is that while the Ming Dynasty's law is very meticulous and meticulous, there are many holes. Most of these holes are targeted at the gentry and the powerful. As a result, after a while, these special holes have become the foundation of the ***.

For example, **** is a serious crime, the red line of the law. As long as it is committed, it should be a heavy punishment, but the law just commits another crime of prostitution. This crime of prostitution is much less expensive than the crime of prostitution, which is equivalent to opening an opening and giving powerful and wealthy people the opportunity to escape the blame.

This is what they hate the most. They really don’t want to see any gaps in Juntianling. They all feel that once Juntianling opens the gap, they are afraid that the upper limit of the country’s land will be raised to 100 acres per person.

Zhang Zhun said confidently: "We can add some regulations, such as only five years. Only those who migrate in five years can enjoy such policies. If this period is past, we will not be able to enjoy the discount."

Chen Guoxi and others looked at each other and said nothing for a long time. Despite Zhang Zhun's guarantee, they still felt that this hole could not be opened. Once this hole was opened, the provision of a limit of 100 acres of per capita land would spread across the country and could not be limited to Liaodong. Facts have proved that the implementation of the regulations was difficult, but it was very easy to destroy it.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, there were actually very few fields that did not pay taxes. Later, in order to improve the status of scholars, it was stipulated that scholars' fields could not be paid taxes. Gradually, in order to avoid taxes, everyone began to associate the fields under their names with scholars or gentry. Over time, more and more fields that did not pay taxes became, and the tax revenue of the court became less and less. In the end, this led to today's situation.

Of course, they can also understand Zhang Zhun’s difficulties, and there is no way to do it. It is impossible to attract more people to Liaodong without any stimulating benefits. Liaodong is not very safe at present, and ordinary people will not easily migrate here.

The most cost-effective thing Zhang Zhun is now, the land is the land. In Liaodong, there are so many land that people need to cultivate. Not to mention a hundred acres per person, or two hundred acres per person, it is entirely possible. How much population in Liaodong is? In the later years, there were 400 million acres of arable land in Liaoning Province!

In this special area, it is indeed a temporary measure to make some changes to the Juntian Ling to attract more labor. Not to mention whether the land is enough in a hundred years. There is no policy that can be changed after a hundred years. It is already amazing that Zhang Zhun can see that it will be a great thing after twenty years. Twenty years later, it is already the next generation.

In fact, Zhang Zhun also knew that if Juntian Ling opened a hole, the consequences would indeed spread across the country as the old man was worried. It would be impossible that the upper limit of the land in Liaodong was 100 acres, and the other places were 50 acres. This imbalance would definitely be broken by smart people. There are too many smart people in the world.

However, for Zhang Zhun, this is not very important. The upper limit of fifty acres or one hundred acres is not the most important. The most important thing is that all fields must be taxed. Therefore, Zhang Zhun did not take preferential measures such as tax exemption. Because this hole is more likely to be drilled. Once it is not controlled well, a large number of fields that do not need to be taxed will appear.

On the contrary, if you can own hundreds of acres of land, which far exceeds the upper limit stipulated by law and will not be caught, as long as all your land must be paid taxes according to regulations, then the country's income can be guaranteed. No matter who the land is in, taxes must be paid according to law. This is the most basic core essence of the equal land, and the rest are all details.

For example, if all the land in the Ming Dynasty now had to be paid taxes, the annual tax revenue of the imperial court would definitely exceed 50 million taels of silver. Emperor Chongzhen did not have to worry about money and food at all. The more land he owned, the more taxes he paid, which was not a problem in itself.

Another important reason for the determination to adjust the upper limit of Liaodong's fields to 100 acres per person is that it is to retain more Liaodong troops. After all, in the original Liaodong troops, some people had more than 50 acres of land. If they were divided according to the equal-field order, it would have a certain impact on these people.

These fields were all made with their military achievements, blood and sweat, and were completely different from the clever and plunder of others. If they were to be firmly on the upper limit of 50 acres, they would probably suffer a huge blow to their passion.

The Tartars have not been completely defeated, and Zhang Zhun still needs this part of the Liaodong army to continue to work hard to defeat the Tartars. It is very important to protect the passion and fighting momentum of these Liaodong people. They are local snakes in Liaodong and the vanguards in defeating the Tartars. Therefore, it is completely necessary to make some necessary adjustments in the detailed regulations of the Juntian Order.

Moreover, as far as nationally speaking, Zhang Zhun believes that it is beneficial to adjust the upper limit of the equal-field order to 100 acres. Especially after entering Jiangnan, Zhang Zhun discovered that the equal-field order is not very suitable for agricultural production in Jiangnan. The large farms in Jiangnan have a considerable industrial scale and high efficiency. If they are split up strongly, it will inevitably lead to a decline in productivity.

The area of ​​these large farms is generally more than 10,000 mu. If they are subject to the original regulations of the Juntian Order, they must be divided into two hundred people. Obviously, even large families are difficult to have two hundred people, and it is difficult to meet the split requirements of the Juntian Order. However, if they are adjusted to one hundred mu, the number of owners will be reduced to only one hundred people.

The big families in Jiangnan generally have a population of nearly 100 people. In this way, the owners of the farm can make some adjustments and continue to maintain the existence of these farms. The farm's productivity will not be affected too much. This is still very beneficial to ensuring the productivity of Jiangnan. Of course, Zhang Zhun did not want to get a dilapidated Jiangnan. Jiangnan has always been the source of wealth and grain for the Ming Dynasty. If it is broken, it will be of no benefit to anyone.

The detailed adjustments to the Juntian Order were quickly approved unanimously. Then, everyone began to discuss other matters. The second thing that needed to be discussed was the reception and handling of Liaodong refugees.

In addition to using the Juntian Ling to attract more laborers to Liaodong, it is also an important means to absorb large numbers of local refugees from Liaodong. With the continuous development of the war, the Hu Ben Army will approach Liaoyang and Shenyang step by step. In this process, there will definitely be a large number of Liaodong slaves who will escape to the Hu Ben Army through various methods.

However, not all refugees can accept them without discernment after they come. The Tartars are not fools, they will definitely mix a lot of detailed works among these refugees. How to distinguish these detailed works is a very wise thing. Fortunately, the old people here still have some experience in this regard.

After the basic policy was determined, the rest were all in detail. At the end of the meeting, Zhang Zhun officially announced that he would make administrative division adjustments to Jinzhou Wei, and decided to change Jinzhou Wei to Jinzhou County, and at the same time appointed Xu Xinyu as the county magistrate of Jinzhou County.

Li Jicheng came in quietly and said to Zhang Zhun: "Sir, the ship is ready."

Zhang Zhun nodded, indicating that he knew.

Li Jicheng came to pick up Zhang Zhun to North Korea.

Five days ago, Zhang Yan had set off for North Korea and made an official visit to North Korea as the Ming royal family. Before that, Lu Xiangsheng had arrived in Seoul, paving the way for Zhang Yan's arrival.

However, the person who can make a decision is still Zhang Zhun. In the North Korean side, the only person who truly trusts is Zhang Zhun. Therefore, Zhang Zhun must go to North Korea to determine the most basic policies and policies.
Chapter completed!