Chapter 802: You are a big country, and China is not small. [Please give me a monthly vote!]

(0802)

【Today's third update is delivered!】

Lu Xiangsheng and Yang Tinglin were about to leave when they suddenly saw Zhang Zhun's warship docking. They felt touched and stopped at the same time. After a while, Zhang Zhun's warship slowly docked at the dock, and Zhang Zhun came down from the ship steadily. Lu Xiangsheng immediately walked up quickly.

When Zhang Zhun saw Lu Xiangsheng coming, he smiled slightly, took the lead in politeness and said, "Mr. Jiutai, I am polite."

Lu Xiangsheng bowed slightly, and said in a stiff tone: "I dare not, Taiwan Jiu is grateful to the Governor for saving his life."

Zhang Zhun smiled slightly, shook his head slightly and said, "That's their business. I'm just paying some money."

Lu Xiangsheng said slowly, "I don't thank you for your kindness, Jiutai remembers it."

Zhang Zhun nodded and said in a staggered topic: "Mr. Jiutai is going to go to North Korea to take office. Do you need any help before leaving?"

Lu Xiangsheng said expectantly: "I have listened to Mo Yu's explanation of the plan to recover Chenyang within two years. However, some details are unclear, and I want to ask the governor to teach you in person."

Zhang Zhun nodded and said calmly: "Since that's the case, come with me and let's talk to the command center."

Immediately led the two of them to the command center.

Dengzhou City has always been a bridgehead for the Ming Dynasty to use troops against Liaodong. Before Dorgon occupied Dengzhou City, the Ming Dynasty had multiple military affairs agencies here. After Dengzhou City was razed to the ground, all of these military affairs agencies disappeared. After Dengzhou City was rebuilt, the Hu Ben Army also set up a general command center here, and Zhang Zhun could command military and political affairs at any time.

The location of the command center is in the area closest to the north, only a few dozen feet away from the seaside, and the sound of the waves can be heard clearly. Standing at a higher place, you can even clearly see the Cangshan ship of the Hu Ben Army Navy being repaired in the military port. After arriving at the command center, it was quiet inside, as if there was no one.

"Yang Qiufeng!"

"Ye Longxin!"

Zhang Zhun shouted loudly.

"exist!"

"Sir, what are your instructions?"

Two staff officers hurriedly came out of the war room next to them. They were building large sand tables in Liaodong, and they were concentrating on their work, but they didn't hear outsiders coming in. By the way, there were already primitive sand tables since the Ming Dynasty, and Qi Jiguang was a good player in making sand tables. However, the one who really played the role of the sand tables was Zhang Zhun, a time traveler. The sand tables made under his guidance were much more practical than before, and even Qi Jiguang was beyond the reach of them.

As a result, Lu Xiangsheng and Yang Tinglin were attracted by the sand table. Although the sand table had not been completed yet and the place north of Shenyang was basically blank, the mountains, rivers, and terrain in the area south of Shenyang were already vivid. Even the terrain and landform of the Korean Peninsula had been marked. Just take a look and you can have a very deep understanding of the entire Korean Peninsula.

Almost subconsciously, Lu Xiangsheng and Yang Tinglin couldn't help but look at Zhang Zhun. Of course, they probably realized that this sand table should be Zhang Zhun's masterpiece. There were very few people in this era who valued sand table production. They were surprised that Zhang Zhun attached so much importance to sand tables? How did he map the terrain of Liaodong and do so comprehensively?

In fact, in the Ming Dynasty, it was very difficult to make a sand table. Because at that time, there was no scientific surveying and mapping method, and even maps could not be drawn accurately, let alone sand tables. If you fight purely against the map, you would definitely suffer a great loss. Sun Tzu's Art of War emphasized that you should observe the terrain yourself and never talk about war on paper.

Zhang Zhun found the surprised expressions of the two, and pretended that they had not seen anything. Of course, he could not explain that he was four hundred years later and knew very well about the terrain and landforms of coastal provinces. The sand table in Liaoning Province could be made with his eyes closed. Four hundred years ago, things changed, but there was no big change in the terrain and landforms. He outlined a detailed map based on his memory, and then the two staff took action, and this advanced sand table was created.

"This is Lu Xiangsheng, whose courtesy name is Jiutai. You all call him Mr. Jiutai. From now on, he is the commander-in-chief of the Sino-Korean coalition. All troops on the Korean Peninsula are under his command. Any actions of our army in North Korea need to be informed of Mr. Jiutai."

Zhang Zhun ordered the two staff officers.

"Commander Lu."

"Commander Lu."

The two staff officers greeted Lu Xiangsheng one after another.

Lu Xiangsheng said tactfully: "You two are young talents, and you will rely more on your two of you in the future. Jiutai will be here to win the first place."

He suddenly remembered that he seemed to have no chance to lead troops when they were so young. Even if he wanted to do something, others would think that he was not doing things well. Perhaps only people like Zhang Zhun would use them as counselors. There are too many things like Zhang Zhun unlike ordinary people.

After Ye Longxin gave in moderation, he asked cautiously: "Sir, does Commander Lu's authority include Pidao and Simiji Island?"

Zhang Zhun shook his head and said clearly: "Excluding. Pi Island has been assigned to the Marine Corps, with Fang He and Liu Dong being in charge. Simi Island is in charge of the Navy."

Ye Longxin nodded and replied, "I understand."

Zhang Zhun glanced at Lu Xiangsheng and said slowly: "Mr. Jiutai, you are not very familiar with the combat methods of the Marine Corps. The Marine Corps cannot be under your command for the time being. However, if you need the Marine Corps or the Navy to assist in the operation, you can formulate a plan in advance and propose it to the Ministry of Military Affairs, and the Ministry of Military Affairs will consider it carefully."

Lu Xiangsheng naturally had no objection to this. The number of troops he led and the level of authority were not the most critical to him. The most critical thing was what he could do. It would take him some time to adapt to the life of the Hu Ben Army. After thinking about it, Lu Xiangsheng said calmly: "What troops do I have in North Korea?"

Zhang Zhun nodded to Ye Longxin and asked him to give a detailed introduction.

Ye Longxin took out a piece of information and handed it to Lu Xiangsheng, saying in a whisper: "Commander Lu, the troops you can command at present, including the Pinzi Camp of the Tiger Army Army. The battalion commander is Zhang Lingyun. There are about 1,500 officers and soldiers in the Pinzi Camp, currently stationed in Tieshan. For specific situations, you can go to Pinzi Camp in person to learn about it. Zhang Lingyun has received the corresponding notice and will cooperate with your command."

"Also, the army of the North Korean royal family Fengpingjun Lee Jue will also accept your leadership. The number of troops under his command needs to be coordinated with the North Korean king Lee Jung. In addition, if the North Korean rebels accept your leadership anyway, the allocation of these rebels only needs to notify the North Korean royal family, and do not need their approval."

Lu Xiangsheng thought for a moment and said cautiously: "What are the basic principles for handling these North Korean rebels?"

Zhang Zhun said casually: "Catch the big and let go of the small."

Lu Xiangsheng was slightly confused.

Zhang Zhun changed the statement: "The evil will be punished, and the cooperation will never do it."

Only then did Lu Xiangsheng understand.

Zhang Zhun nodded to Yang Qiufeng again and asked him to introduce more situations.

Yang Qiufeng took out more information and sent it to Lu Xiangsheng, saying to Lu Xiangsheng: "Commander Lu, your logistics liaison office is set up in Dengzhou City. If you have any logistics needs, you can contact the logistics liaison office. This information is the list of personnel of the liaison office. They have received notifications and will actively cooperate with your request."

Zhang Zhun said to Yang Tinglin: "Mr. Jiutai is focused on military affairs. Please give me more attention to this logistics matter."

Yang Tinglin hurriedly said, "Bo Fu dares not do his best if he can get the love of the governor."

After reading the relevant information, Lu Xiangsheng was silent for a moment and said in surprise: "Don't our army need to raise food locally in North Korea?"

Zhang Zhun shook his head and said clearly: "No need."

Lu Xiangsheng wanted to speak but stopped. After all, he was a civil servant. After reading too many books from sages, the concept of the Celestial Kingdom was still very heavy. In his opinion, it was natural to raise food locally in North Korea. My army fought for you to protect your safety and you were responsible for paying money and food. That was very normal. As long as North Korea had food, there was no need to transport food from the rear. It could not only save its own food, but also reduce the logistics burden. When the Ming army fought with the *** army in North Korea, the North Koreans also had some of the money and food.

Yang Tinglin was also a little puzzled. He thought Zhang Zhun was embarrassed to speak to the Korean royal family, so he took the initiative to say: "Governor, our army is willing to bleed and sacrifice for the Korean royal family to fight against the Tartars, and they should help them to help the food and grass. After the officials arrived in North Korea, they would definitely talk to the Korean royal family and let them take the initiative to take the initiative to take the responsibility for the food and grass of our army."

Zhang Zhun smiled slightly and said disapprovingly: "The two misunderstood. Our army really does not need to obtain food from North Korea. In fact, our army needs to obtain a lot of things from North Korea. However, these things do not include food, but wood, iron ore, sulfur, saltpeter, horse, cattle, sheepskin, animal ashes, etc.."

Yang Tinglin said in surprise: "Can our food be self-sufficient?"

Zhang Zhun nodded to Yang Qiufeng and asked him to introduce more information.

Yang Qiufeng dug out another piece of information and said in a leisurely manner: "In June, the winter wheat in our jurisdiction achieved a good harvest. According to incomplete statistics, in four prefectures including Dengzhou, Laizhou, Qingzhou, and Jinan, a total of more than 23 million mu of winter wheat were sown, with an average yield of about 250 kilograms per mu, and a total yield of about 5.7 billion kilograms. Converted into stone, it is about 30 million kilograms. Our army can obtain about 3.8 million kilograms through taxes."

Yang Tinglin said in surprise: "Is this number reliable?"

Yang Qiufeng said affirmatively: "Of course reliable."

Yang Tinglin was silent for a while before muttering to himself: "The situation in the court is gone."

Lu Xiangsheng sighed slightly and nodded with regret. In such a chaotic world, whether there is enough food is basically a measure of the strength of a force. What the court lacks the most is food, and what the Hu Ben Army does not lack the least is food. This obvious difference is enough to push the court into a place of doom.

It is indeed surprising that the Hu Ben Army produced so much food in Shandong! In such a situation, food itself is a very powerful weapon. The Tartars plundered everywhere, and the most looted one was food? Once there was no food, gold, silver, treasure, etc. were all waste. Can gold, silver, treasures be eaten as food?

Half a year ago, in Northern Zhili, both of them racked their brains because of the issue of raising grain, which eventually led to plundering of subordinates and caused a lot of storms. If they had enough food in hand, how could they be so difficult? In fact, if the court had enough food to help the victims in various places, how could there be so many thieves? After all, food is the most important thing for the people. Without food, everything will happen. With sufficient food, there is a foundation for fighting for dominance in the world.

The tax of 3.8 million shi, plus the food stored in various places, is enough to feed a million people. A person consumes up to four stones of food every year. In fact, the total strength of the Hu Ben Army has not exceeded 50,000 so far. In addition to other officials, it is up to 60,000 to 70,000. In other words, the Hu Ben Army can accumulate more food, or use food to help more victims, greatly increasing the population in its jurisdiction.

No wonder Zhang Zhun didn't need to raise grain from North Korea. It was because of the Hu Ben Army itself, so there was enough food. The grain was generally very sensitive, and the North Korean Kingdom's own grain output would not be much. If they asked for food, it might cause some resistance. However, if they wanted iron ore, saltpeter, wood, etc., the Koreans would be much more generous. Alas, Zhang Zhun was still very cunning.

Zhang Zhun said calmly: "With the land reform in Dongchang Prefecture and Yanzhou Prefecture, it is estimated that the entire Shandong's arable land can exceed 50 million mu. At that time, grain output will further increase. In the future, with the increase of population, it will continue to open up wasteland, and the arable land area exceeds 60 million mu is not impossible."

Lu Xiangsheng's mood suddenly became eager. Although he had been leading troops to fight and did not have much time to deal with civil affairs, as a civil servant, he felt that developing production, improving people's living standards, and accumulating more money and food for the country was his real purpose. When he was the prefect of Daming Prefecture, his most active thing was to promote production and ensure tax revenue. In fact, he did a good job.

Yang Tinglin is the same. He is a typical civil servant, and he is concerned about internal affairs. What is the most important thing in internal affairs? Of course, it is grain production. Grain production and tax revenue have always been important indicators for evaluating local officials. As long as the grain in the jurisdiction often has a bumper harvest, it is impossible for you to not be promoted.

Yang Tinglin knew a lot about the grain production of the Hu Ben Army. He was not like Lu Xiangsheng, who was placed on the Shamen Island as soon as he got off the boat and was stimulated by Dorgon. After Yang Tinglin came over, Zhang Zhun gave him the task to walk around and understand the actual situation in various places. Therefore, there were quite a few places where Yang Tinglin had been to. He had been to the large farm in Lingshanwei, and Yang Tinglin had also been to the houses of ordinary farmers.

Yang Tinglin admired Lingshanwei's idea of ​​a large farm. This seems to be a bit of a rush to squeeze the Tun Ding, which leads to the income of Tun Ding as high as that of other farmers. However, from the perspective of the senior management, it is indeed the best way to accumulate food as soon as possible. Yang Tinglin prepared that after arriving in Liaodong, he also actively opened such a farm if conditions permit.

After being appointed as the prefect of Liaoyang Prefecture by Zhang Zhun, the first thing Yang Tinglin considered was how to resume production and how to accumulate more food. This is the duty of local officials and to overwhelm all other matters. Now, stimulated by this data, Yang Tinglin couldn't help but say: "I wonder how much arable land there is in Liaoyang Prefecture?"

Zhang Zhun said slowly: "The area of ​​arable land in Liaodong is not much smaller than that in Shandong Province. If you work hard to reclaim, 30 to 40 million mu of arable land can definitely be reclaimed. If you continue to work hard, it is possible to exceed 50 million mu. Besides, Liaodong can continue to expand northward, and Kaiyuan is not the northernmost boundary. We can continue to expand northward and open up Tahaqi, Tumuhewei and other places. These places can actually be opened as arable land."

Yang Tinglin said in surprise: "It is the area controlled by the Beishan Jurchen."

Zhang Zhun said calmly: "Aren't the Beishan Jurchens a part of our Ming Kingdom?"

Yang Tinglin didn't know how to answer. The North Mountain Jurchens were too far from the Central Plains dynasty (north of today's Heilongjiang, Russia's Siberian region). He really didn't know much about the situation there. The actual control line of Ming Dynasty was at its farthest, in fact, near Qingyang Fort in Kaiyuan Wei (now Changtu County, Liaoning Province). To the north, they were nominally ruled.

Zhang Zhun stood up with a serious expression and said slowly: "In fact, I need to tell you a message. Our steps must not stop in Kaiyuanwei. Because, in our northwest, there is a large country called Russia. Their emperor, called Tsar, had a very strong expansion ambition. He was trying to expand his power to the North Mountain Jurchen area."

Yang Tinglin thought for a moment, pondered and said, "Governor, is the Russia you mentioned Russia the country?"

Zhang Zhun asked strangely: "Do you know Russians?"

Yang Tinglin nodded and said, "When Emperor Shenzong was reigned, Russians had visited China, and the Honglu Temple was recorded in classics."

Zhang Zhun suddenly became interested and asked curiously: "Tell me, what's going on?"

He thought that Russia and China had dealt with each other since the Qing Dynasty. Unexpectedly, some people in the Ming Dynasty knew about Russia, and some people in Russia had visited China. This was indeed a bit surprising. Obviously, this fact was two hundred years ahead of his understanding.

Yang Tinglin hurriedly sorted out his thoughts and told them in a casual manner.

It turned out that in the 44th year of Wanli (1616 AD), the Russian Tuminets had visited China. After visiting all over China, he returned to Russia and wrote in his report that the scale of the city was "so magnificent that it would take ten days to ride a horse around the city." He also said that China is rich in gold, silver, raw silk, satin, velvet, wheat, barley, oats, millet, etc. As long as the supplies he wanted, the Ming Dynasty had everything. Obviously, the wealth of the Ming Dynasty at that time surprised the Russians.

In the 46th year of Wanli (1618 AD), Russian Tsar Mikhail Feodorovitch sent an expedition team of Russian missions with Ivan Petrine as the main envoy and Andrei Madov as the deputy envoy. The delegation had a total of twelve people. They set off from Tomsk on the Nikolai Day (May 9) and arrived in September of the same year. The cities that the Russians passed through in the Ming Dynasty were Zhangjiakou, Xuanhua, Huailai, Nankou and Changping. They and their group arrived at what they called the Great China City - *** on the Saint Ximen Day (September 1, 1618 AD).

Because Tsarist Russia had been active in Mongolia and northwest China, the local Tatar tribes and the Russians had some unclear relationships, the Ming government was wary of Petrin and his party. Despite this, they were treated appropriately in the *** and were placed in a grand state hotel by Ming officials. Later, they embarked on the journey of return with a letter from Emperor Wanli to the Russian Tsar.

Yang Tinglin could no longer remember what specific content was found in Emperor Wanli’s letter, but one of the sentences was very impressive, that is: “You are a great country, and China is not small.”

Zhang Zhun subconsciously touched his chin. He was a big country, and China was not small. Emperor Wanli still had the courage. Unfortunately, after he died, the Ming Dynasty began to go downhill in a hurry. Later, the Qing Dynasty... Forget it, there was no future.

Lu Xiangsheng frowned and said, "What the Governor mean is that our army may have to fight with this Russian...Russia in the future?"

Zhang Zhun thoughtfully said, "It is impossible to judge for the time being. However, the Russians' ambition to expand eastward has never stopped. There is still a large area in the north of Liaodong. If we don't occupy it first, we will definitely be occupied by the Russians in the future. If they control the north, they will definitely have the ambition to go south and will sooner or later conflict with us. Instead of being passively beaten, it is better to control the north as soon as possible."

Yang Tinglin agreed deeply and said excitedly: "After destroying the Tartars, the army must move north quickly. If possible, they should also send troops to set out west to find the capital of this Russian country and defeat it in one fell swoop."

Zhang Zhun smiled and said, "That's all for the future, it's too early to say it. Now, let's do our best to do what we have to do."

Lu Xiangsheng and Yang Tinglin stood up and said goodbye. Before leaving, they took away the sand table on the Korean Peninsula. The two agreed that this sand table was very helpful for them to study major strategic policies. Zhang Zhun naturally agreed.

Brigadier Zhang sent them outside the door, waved his goodbye, and then turned back. At this moment, Wang Shide hurriedly sent a piece of information: Zheng Zhilong's fleet headed north!
Chapter completed!