Ten miles south of Baode County, Taiping Mountain.

A group of people are blowing a cool autumn breeze, using thatch to make squares on the desertified northern slope, digging a small hole in the square, scattering a few seeds of sand penny, and carefully pouring a ladle of water.

This method was taught by General Qin, and the square grass grid can trap the sand in it, so you don't have to worry about the grass seeds being blown away.

The water is drawn from the ravines, and as early as the rainy season, officials from the Environmental Protection Section of the Department of Household Affairs led a group of people to dig dozens of pits in the surrounding ravines, large and small, like terraces, from high to low, down the ravines.

After several days of rain, the pits were filled with water and turned into pools, like mirrors embedded in the ravines.

"Why did General Qin bother so much to come to this bald mountain to plant grass." A tall man wiped his sweat and muttered.

A thin man next to him glanced at him: "It's not that General Qin didn't pay you, just take the money to work, what so much nonsense." ”

"I'm not curious."

"General, this is for the benefit of our little people."

A dark-skinned old man straightened up, looked at the bare Taiping Mountain in front of him, and said with emotion: "I grew up at the foot of Taiping Mountain, in the past, this mountain was green, and the grass was very tender, but later the sheep in several villages within a radius increased, and the grass roots on the mountain were gnawed, and the trees were cut down for firewood, and the mountain was bald." ”

"The villagers had nowhere to graze their sheep, so they drove the sheep to other places, and within a few years, the mountains within a radius of ten miles were bald."

"Over the years, except for dozens of sheep in our village, except for Zhang Dahu's family, no one else can put a single sheep."

"Now, General Qin asked us to plant grass on this bald mountain, so that we have a place to graze sheep, and when the bald mountains within a radius of ten miles grow grass, I have to put ten sheep."

"Don't let it go any further."

It just so happened that an official from the Environmental Protection Section of the Department of Household Affairs passed by and interjected with a smile.

"I've seen adults." The old man hurriedly laughed and bowed.

"Don't worry, my lord, I have heard from our village chief that there are not too many sheep on a mountain, and several hills must be put in turn, and the sheep have to plant the grass back when they gnaw bald hills, leaving a place for our children and grandchildren to graze sheep."

"That's right, the old man is sensible."

The officer smiled and arched his hand at him, then headed somewhere else.

"The officials under General Qin are polite, and they can do practical things, much better than those dog officials in the imperial court."

The old man looked at the other party's distant back and sighed with emotion.

Suddenly, he found a fiery red cavalry at the foot of the mountain, about a hundred people, like a fiery dragon, rushing towards the mountain beam. 、

"That's General Qin's red-clothed attendant, General Qin is here."

I don't know who shouted, and hundreds of people who were working stood up hula and craned their necks to look down the mountain.

The cavalry was all tall and tall, with red armor and red cloaks, and they looked mighty.

The leading general is burly and dignified, and you can feel a battle-hardened momentum and an invisible majesty from a distance.

"It's General Qin, it's really him."

Someone in the crowd had seen Qin Chuan and shouted excitedly.

When the others heard this, they knelt down one after another and shouted respectfully, "I've seen the general!" ”

Qin Chuan was accustomed to these kneeling salutes, so he only smiled and waved his hand, said "no courtesy", then turned over and dismounted, and cheered with a few people nearby, asking about planting grass.

Because the amount of cultivated land in the administration exceeds the scope of labor that can be cultivated, the Department of Household Affairs has suspended the cultivation of farmland and instead vigorously built water conservancy projects and renovated some areas with serious soil erosion.

Taipingshan is one of the very few desertified areas in Qinchuan's territory, and it is also one of the key treatment areas, because the desertification land can easily spread to the surrounding areas.

The main way of treatment is to fix the sand in the grass squares, which not only prevents the flow of sand, but also helps to store water in the thatch.

The management of undesertified loess is simply to dig pits and plant grass, and reasonably control the number and scope of grazing.

Of course, the premise is that there is enough water to store.

Therefore, Qinchuan listed water conservancy projects as the first priority.

At present, most of the labor force in the administration is dredging rivers and digging reservoirs and reservoirs in various places, while the labor force involved in soil and water management is building dikes and digging deep pools in ravines at different levels.

Especially in the areas along the Yellow River, severe soil erosion leads to the flooding of the Yellow River during the rainy season every year, and the floods in the middle and lower reaches are raging, and a large amount of sediment enters the Yellow River, and the river water is turbid for many years.

To control the Yellow River, we must first control soil erosion in the upper reaches.

Taiping Mountain is located on the east bank of the Yellow River, south of Baodezhou City, and Fugu County on the west bank.

After greeting the people present for a while, Qin Chuan took the red-clothed attendant up to the top of Taiping Mountain, and then took out his binoculars and looked at Fugu County opposite.

The main purpose of his visit to Baode was not to inspect water and soil management, but to inspect the defense of Baode Prefecture.

Because, a few days ago, news suddenly came from the other side of the river that the Ming army in Shaanxi Province had increased its troops in Fugu County, and there were signs of crossing the river to attack Baode Prefecture.

Moreover, there are several places suitable for crossing the river along the coast of Xingxian County, and there are also many Ming troops.

In addition, the Ming army also gathered in Yongning Prefecture, Linxian, Jiaocheng, Wenshui, Taiyuan, Shuozhou and other places, and could launch an attack at any time.

For this reason, Qin Chuan deliberately transferred the Tiger Guard Battalion of the Lynx back from the Qingshui River to strengthen the defense along the Yellow River.

Baodezhou City and other places suitable for building pontoon bridges to cross the river, there are a large number of turret piers, and there are a number of Guan Di troops stationed, equipped with tiger squat cannons and small Franco machine guns, in case the Ming army on the opposite bank suddenly crosses the river with a bridge.

As for the Ming army by land...... Qin Chuan is not worried, Gujiao Town in the east, Fangshan Fort in the south, and Ningwuguan in the north are all places with dangerous terrain, and there are military forts and Guancheng, so it is not so easy for the Ming army to attack them.

……

Not long after staying in Taiping Mountain, Qin Chuan returned to Baodezhou City on horseback.

Back in the state city, as soon as he sat down in the Zhizhou Yamen, several Guan Emperor soldiers came in carrying a few boxes, knelt down on one knee and said: "General Qiqi, Ningwu Pass and Gujiao Town have just captured a group of eunuchs from the Ming Court, and dozens of holy decrees and edict documents have also been seized. ”

"Oh?" Qin Chuan suddenly became interested.

"Take a look."

"Yes."

Guan Dijun opened the boxes and presented them to Qin Chuan.

Qin Chuan took out a bright yellow scroll from it, unfolded it, and couldn't help but smile.

This is Zhu Youzhen's holy decree to reward himself, and the content is nothing more than to make persistent efforts to serve the imperial court and do your best for Zhu Ming.

There are also several edict documents below, which named him the captain of Shangqingche, added the title of general Zhaoyong, promoted him to the commander-in-chief of the border army, and ordered him to go north to defeat the Mongol tribes of Houjin after returning to Shun.

Lieutenant and General Zhaoyong are easy to understand, they are the rank and rank of the third rank, and they are basically useless except for their names.

But the commander of the border ...... The general officer of the aid and suppression has heard of it, but this is the first time that the general army of the aid to the border has heard of it.

It is estimated that Zhu Youzhen made it out casually in order to fool himself.

In addition, there are also Luo Daniu, Li Dingliang, Liu Youzhu, Luo Ba, Huang Liuxi, Bobcat, Ren Liang, Zhao Wu, Liao Sangun, Feng Yilong and other people's commendation decrees and edict documents in the box, several of which were appointed as deputy commanders-in-chief and were named as military generals of the fourth rank or from the fourth grade.

The more Qin Chuan looked at it, the more funny he felt, in order to win over and divide his generals, Zhu Youzhen's blood was really big enough.

"Bring these back to Fort Montenegro for storage, and inform all the generals who have been entitled, so that they can go to Fort Montenegro to get their own edicts." With a few words, Qin Chuan threw the scroll in his hand back into the box.

"Yes."

Several Guan Emperor soldiers hurriedly closed the box and moved out.

Not long after these people left, there was a sudden sound of hurried footsteps outside the door.

"Big boss, something happened." The bobcat ran in, sweating profusely.

Qin Chuan frowned: "What's wrong?" ”

"Yang Yexing was robbed, and the 100,000 taels of silver, iron materials, iron pots, etc., that accompanied him were robbed."

"Huh?" Qin Chuan paused for a moment, "Who the hell dares to rob Lao Tzu's silver taels?" ”

"Ming Army."

"Ming Army?"

"Well, the Ming army of Shouyang City, Lao Huang and his people have already entered the city in disguise, and they are staring at that batch of silver taels, and they will report back as soon as there is any movement."

Hearing this, Qin Chuan couldn't help twitching the corners of his mouth.

As a professional robber, I didn't expect to be robbed by others one day.

One catastrophe is still 100,000 silver.

"The big boss, in addition to this matter, Wang Helun also sent news from Siyancheng, saying that the transfer envoys there have been replaced, and the local officers and soldiers will not let him enter the city, let alone give him salt, and all the salt merchants who have business dealings with us will not be able to get salt from Siyancheng."

"Also, there is news from Dingxiang, Jiangzhou, Hongdong, Qinzhou, Lu'an, Zezhou and other places that the merchants who have business dealings with us have been confiscated by the local government, and there are still several Jin merchants in Zhangjiakou Fort who are playing ghosts."

"These bitches raised them!"

Qin Chuan laughed angrily and couldn't help but scold.

"Big boss, hurry up and send troops, we have to get the field back."

"I've got to get the field back."

Qin Chuan narrowed his eyes and said, "Not only do you have to get back to the field, but you also have to get some interest." ”

"Otherwise, those hangers really think that I have changed my ways and stopped robbing my house."