"Henan Ming is the land of the imperial court, in fact, it is a nest of thieves, the people of Henan, the pro-thief is not pro-official, and the co-ordination does not help the army. When the officers and soldiers marched to Henan, there was no communication, and it was difficult to collect grain and grass, while the thieves were deaf and clear-sighted, and the grain and grass were abundant. The source of this is not the reason for the implementation of the New Deal. Therefore, it is advisable to follow the example of Shandong, first investigate the official gentry of the thief, and then reduce the rent and interest to pay the grain with the official gentry. ”

Similar words appeared in the inscription given to Chongzhen by Luo Tan and the two general soldiers, and in the report written by Li Huayu to the Ministry of War and the Cabinet on the evacuation of Kaifeng.

What does that mean? That is to say, Henan no longer has the basis for the existence of officials and soldiers. The common people don't regard the official army as the army of the imperial court, let alone eat pot pulp to welcome the king. If you don't go to the peasant army to report the news, you will be worthy of you! In the final analysis, it is because Henan still has not implemented the new policy.

After these questions are up, it would be nonsense to say that the court did not respond. The Emperor's decree soon came down. He ordered local officials in Henan to implement new policies in Henan Prefecture, Guide Prefecture, Kaifeng Prefecture and other places, and implemented the system of paying grain as one errand and one person, but this group of court officials simply talked nonsense with their eyes open.

At this time, the above-mentioned areas are all controlled by Li Zicheng, yes, the new policies of the imperial court are being implemented slowly, but it is not the Ming officials who implement these systems, but Li Zicheng's subordinates! We will leave these things at that.

As for the neighboring province of Shandong and the more distant Denglai, what is the picture?

After landing from Laizhou Bay, Li Shouhan saw patches of golden wheat fields, shaking waves of wheat under the gust of hot south wind, which was pleasing to the eye.

Looking at both sides along the official road of Laizhou, as far as the eye can see, there are patches of wheat fields within a radius of dozens of miles. From time to time, there are farmers working in the fields.

A carefully selected wheat seed. After sowing, seedling, tillering, wintering, regreening, getting up, jointing, picking flags, heading, flowering, filling, maturity, and many other links, it grew in the fertile soil for 240 days, and finally came to the harvest season.

Judging from the looks on the faces of those dark-faced and rough-footed peasants, Li Shouhan knew without asking. This year's harvest should be good, even a good harvest that these people who have worked with the crops of the land all their lives have never encountered.

In fact, the entire Denglai Sanfu, that is, the Jiaodong area that we are familiar with, along the Jiaoji Railway all the way to Jinan, and then from south to north, the whole Shandong is a domestic cotton production area. Especially in the high-density area of Jiaodong, there is not only red sorghum here, but also the quality of high-density wheat is better. It is recognized as the "golden wheat area", and is known as "Northeast rice, high dense wheat (noodles)" in the folk.

However, this large area of wheat fields, the yield per mu is a bit frustrating.

Several officials who accompanied Li Shouhan to the south found the officials of Gaomi County, of course, they were definitely not the magistrates in the county seat now. Rather, he was the leader of the task force in the Qingjikou area.

"How much wheat can be harvested in an acre of land?"

Although the captain didn't know the Li family's father and son. But from the many guards and other signs like the stars holding the moon, it is clear at a glance that this is definitely a big man: "One acre of Shangtian can reach about 200 catties." Shimoda is around a hundred pounds! ”

As soon as these words came out, Li Shouhan was a little dumbfounded. He has paid a lot of hard work and price for the granges all over Shandong. From various agricultural tools made of wrought iron to encouraging farmers to accumulate fertilizer, in order to turn Rizhao into a major cotton producing area for their own families, they even spared no expense to transport guano from the Ryukyus.

Outcome. Is this the yield per acre? What about a few hundred catties per mu? How many stones of wheat per mu is said? How did something come to me like this?

(Actually, this is also the sequelae of Yan zhòng who has seen too much on the Internet.) Before liberation, the average yield of wheat per mu was less than 100 catties, according to an article in the People's Daily in 1951. It is said that Hebei has a bumper harvest, and the yield of wheat per mu is 150 catties. Therefore, the notes of the Ming people say that the wheat can be harvested a few stones per acre, and there are various travel novels that say that the wheat can be harvested a few stones in a season, which can be regarded as putting satellites. The maximum yield and the average yield per mu are two different things. ）

"We don't go to Jinan, we stop in Laizhou Mansion. When the wheat harvest in Laizhou Mansion is finished, let's set off for the south! ”

According to the Chair, there was no voice without research. Li Shouhan plans to do a survey in Laizhou Mansion and dissect sparrows. Let's see how the system I implemented in Shandong Province in the Denglai area is.

"The south wind rises at night, and the wheat is covered with yellow. The woman and aunt are eating lotus, and the child is carrying the pot pulp, and goes with the field, and Ding Zhuang is in Nangang. Enough to steam the summer and rustic, the back burns the sky, and I don't know the heat, but I regret the long summer. ”

Bai Juyi's poem "Watching the Wheat" is a very appropriate description of the scene in the northern countryside during the wheat harvest season.

The fifth month of the lunar calendar is one of the hottest months in Shandong, and if it were now, few people would have harvested summer grain by hand. Because I feel that the weather is too hot, the people are too hard, and there is a combine harvester that is not needed, isn't it brain-dead? It is a pity that there were no combine harvesters at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and no one in the farmers felt that it was hard to harvest summer grain.

In these days of famine where people are dying of hunger, it would be nice to have a good harvest! People waved their sickles and harvested the wheat with great effort.

In the fields, the landlords and the heads of the Zhuangzi also did not hesitate to put mung bean soup in a large clay pot under the shade of the tree, and the landlords who were more generous and had many fields even put some white sugar in the mung bean soup. In order to enable the men to harvest the wheat as much as possible in this day of grabbing grain, so that they can thresh, dry, and raise the field below.

In previous years, the peasants may have been a little tired, because anyway, the crops in this field are either from the imperial court or from the landlords, and they don't have their own anyway. However, this year, most areas of Shandong, especially in the east, have strictly implemented Li Shouhan's new policy.

If the peasants are still vague about the other meanings of the New Deal, the economic benefits are clear. Wherever they walked between towns and villages, they would be surrounded by people in the middle of each village, crowded through the wind and rain. People know from them how much rent and money they have to pay for the fields they cultivate, whether they own them or those who rent them. Through the reduction of rents and interest rates and the integration of the gentry into the grain, the burden on the peasants was greatly reduced, especially because of the intervention of merchants in Nanzhong. It is no longer difficult to sell grain, and there is no commercial exploitation by the grain industry, so almost all farmers are full of energy.

For the purchase of wheat and cotton, it is not only the businessmen with the background of Nanzhong who are staring at it, but also the grain merchants and cotton merchants from all over the country are eyeing the fields in Shandong and Denglai. Those big farms and big farms in the Southern Yue Army system. Whether it is a Jin merchant or a Jiangnan merchant, they naturally dare not make up their minds, but the large and small landlords in various prefectures and counties are something they can influence.

As a result, for the cotton and wheat still in the fields, a battle that could not be seen was quietly fought as early as March and April. The targets of the battle were grain and cotton.

Everyone knows that having wheat is mastering the key to open the silver box, and having cotton. And there was cloth. No matter who it is, they will not be merciful in the face of huge interests.

However, after several battles, whether it was the Jin merchants or the Jiangnan Hui merchants, they all sadly found that their financial resources seemed to be far from being opponents. In the face of the abundant cash and the attractive industrial vouchers of the merchants of Nanzhong, the farmers and landowners everywhere made a wise choice.

Why! Very simple. There's more to it than just those cute little silver-white discs and the farm tools that shimmer with a blue-blue metallic glow.

From last winter to this year, Shandong spring can be said to be particularly lively. First Abatai entered the army, then there was a hard war against Abatai, and then Jingying was ordered to do the right thing for heaven, which had already stunned the peasants of Shandong. As a result, what happened later made them feel that what happened before was nothing at all.

After driving out Abatai, the Nanyue army took power and went to the countryside and even the villages, while unceremoniously throwing the witches and gods entrenched in the countryside to do hard labor. Snatch the market share of the treatment of people's bodies and souls that they originally controlled a large part of, and let the accompanying Langzhong popularize all kinds of medical and health knowledge in various places. At the same time as the medical treatment and medicine, the merchants of Nanzhong also went around selling new agricultural tools and improved seeds, as well as a fertilizer that is said to be bird poop overseas. It's a pity that these fertilizers have to be given priority to the cotton fields of large farms in Shandong, and it is not the turn of ordinary farmers. But even so. With sharp and sturdy steel farming tools and improved seeds, people can plough the land more deeply, avoid pests and diseases, and this year's year is not bad, and the wheat yield in many places has reached an astonishing 200 catties per mu.

Not to mention that the ordinary peasants were happy, even the landlords and gentry who gritted their teeth and scolded the new policy were quite surprised, and on the whole, although their field rent income decreased, other income increased a lot. It's a very simple truth, the poor ghosts have food in their hands and a little money, so they have to buy some things. In this way, this year's income is far more than I expected.

If this development continues and the grain continues to increase, doesn't it mean that the income may even be greater than before? What kind of demon method did these southern barbarians use, and they could actually increase production like magic? Due to the authorization of Li Shouhan and his previous business experience, Nanzhong businessmen launched a small loan business in a timely manner. Farmers can use these loans to buy farm tools, clothing, food, and medicines in the hands of Nanzhong merchants, and these loans are almost interest-free, as long as you sell the grain to Nanzhong merchants after harvesting the grain, you can repay it by the way. This form of loan is very vividly called buying seedlings.

For a time, not only the poor middle peasants, but also the small landlords and rich peasants rejoiced, because in previous years this kind of loan had always been an important means of exploitation by the big landlords. Now not only has the rent been reduced, but even this situation that is most likely to produce Hades debts is to find a way to solve it, so what else is there to say, do it desperately!

As a result, all villages in Shandong are in full swing to harvest summer grain, which is really earlier than the chickens, and the end of work is later than the miss, and some people even mention yì to have a night battle to harvest the summer grain as quickly as possible. Of course, in the farms of the landlords in various places and the Nanyue Army, they had to steam a few more pots of rice and prepare more oily and watery dishes to reward the men who sweated profusely. Although this kind of thing is still a minority, but it greatly stimulates the enthusiasm of tenants and farmers, eating a rich meal in the field twice a day, which is a huge consumption of harvest and seed grabbing activities, and has never crushed these simple crop men, many people have gained weight, and their faces also appear with a longing for a better life.

And this look has indeed not appeared on their faces for a long time.

After the summer grain harvest was completed, it was the turn of the local government in Shandong to be surprised. They saw a scene they couldn't imagine. After the summer grain harvest was completed, the grassroots cadres of the Nanyue Army scattered all over Denglai called on them to hand over the tax and silver of the imperial court. Therefore, after selling the grain, each village spontaneously organized personnel to hand over the silver dollars, and for a time the county yamen was like a city.

Although there are people from the Nanyue Army Task Force to lead the team. The household secretaries of the county offices in various places, referred to as the household secretaries, no longer dare to make things difficult for these peasant households who come to pay money and grain, and collect all kinds of fees, but they are also a little at a loss.

Many people first check to see if the sun rises in the west, and then bite their tongues to see if they are dreaming. In the past, the tax bank was eager to go to war. This year, I actually took the initiative to send it to the door, and I sent it with a smile on my mother's face, isn't this world a little too crazy?

However, if you think about it for a while, have there been fewer crazy things in the past six months? The household secretaries from all over the country just sighed that they had encountered this year, and began to collect grain.

In fact, if they are willing to go out of the county to look at the countryside, they will find out. There is more than one crazy thing.

One of the things that made people almost bite off their tongues was that during the summer harvest, the garrisons, strong teams, and watch teams in Denglai and all over Shandong were also actively involved.

At present, although there are still many places where troops are used everywhere, as early as when Li Huayu went to Henan with his main force, he gave orders to the garrisons everywhere, asking them to participate in the summer grain harvest and seed grabbing. There are also tens of thousands of troops of the Nanyue Army system and militias of various paramilitary forces who stayed behind in Shandong, Denglai and other places. These people are strong laborers!

Although it is said that the army's participation in production and disaster relief is outside the routine practice of the Nanyue army. But in the interior, it was unprecedented, and many soldiers enlisted in the Central Plains. Even rank and file officers don't understand. When do you have to help the people harvest the crops when they are soldiers and eat food? In view of this situation, Li Huayu particularly stressed that the current summer harvest is also an assessment of the practice of combining two participations, one reform, and three reforms, and all the troops remaining in Shandong must take an active part in it. Otherwise, if you fall behind in the assessment, you know the consequences!

For a time, the Nanyue Army, from the garrison brigades in various places to the watchmen and the Zhuangding team, and other militia organizations moved when they heard the news, and used various practical actions to support the summer harvest. Generally, most of them are directly engaged in the front line of the summer harvest and directly work as laborers for the common people for free. There are also people with active heads, making carts and other tools to indirectly support the summer harvest. Others helped to restore some farmland water conservancy. It can be regarded as paving the way for future production. However, the most outrageous thing is that some people want to dig deep wells and build water diversion projects to expand the cotton planting area, but because the project is huge, it requires strict approval, and the construction cannot be started immediately. Faced with this situation, the common people were first frightened, and then shocked. The reason for the fear is that, according to past experience, soldiers are disasters, so many soldiers and horses go to the countryside, can there still be a good life for the common people?

But the facts overturned the speculation of the common people, and when the army militia began to help production in various ways, it was replaced by shock. Is there any mistake, your army goes to the people, you don't grab food and don't catch flower girls, this is still called the army? Not to mention helping with work, making tools and even repairing water conservancy, don't make a mistake, this should be something that only a certain good person can do when he is old. You've done all these things, so what do you let the great good people do? If the army doesn't rob and do good deeds, where will the Holy Lord Mingjun's face go? But it's great, it would be nice to have days like this all the time.

At first, in order to avoid misunderstanding among the common people, the army was stationed outside the village to build a temporary shack, and now the villages have begun to send representatives to invite the army to come into the village to borrow it. In addition, the food of the army was also taken care of by the villages, and in order to show their gratitude, the villagers even borrowed money from the merchants of Nanzhong to buy meat, porcelain jars, chicken, salted meat, and other foods that they thought were the best for the army to eat. However, this kind of behavior was sternly rejected by the army, in addition to discipline, the army is also complaining in their hearts, don't joke, the barracks eat this every once in a while, how can you change places and do this? Why can't you get some fresh meat and vegetables?!

In addition to production, the army also consciously undertook the work of maintaining law and order. First of all, we must know that this is not the 21st century, but the end of the Ming Dynasty, so the public security is poor. If it weren't for the operation of the Nanyue Army, Shandong would have been a den of bandits long ago. Although it is said that after the war, the suppression of bandits, and the construction of base areas, a large number of bandits have either been eliminated or run away, there are still quite a few small bandits in the province. As for the large poles and horse thieves circulating on the borders of Shandong, there are also quite a few. There are also all kinds of officers and soldiers whose eyes are blue with hunger!

In this situation of famine, Shandong has obtained an unprecedented harvest, so in the eyes of everyone, it is all fat in front of them, so why not eat it?

Therefore, defending the summer harvest by force is also the heaviest and most urgent task of the army. Fortunately, due to the foundation laid in the previous deal with Abatai, the common people were extremely supportive of the army's suppression of bandits. Therefore, the whole of Shandong is the soft ground of the Southern Guangdong Army, and it is the hard ground of all kinds of horse poles. There are bandits who have just robbed a village, happily driving the carriages and horses to transport the looted grain, without waiting for the army to move, ten miles and eight villages sound gongs accordingly, shouting and killing from all directions resounded in the sky. Many bandits scattered in all directions without fighting at all, but often they will be very sad to find that the usual tricks against various officials, soldiers and civilian groups are useless here in the Nanyue Army. Speaking of running, the Nanyue Army ran faster than them, and could run better than them!

So after a few battles, basically no one dares to think about the wheat in Shandong, although the meat is quite fat, but the small life is more important.

In the wheat harvest and the war against bandits, the cadres of Nanzhong also withstood the test, and most of them were freshmen who graduated from various schools in Nanzhong, and although they had received some training, they lacked experience in governing after all, and they did not experience the test of blood and fire. However, most of the cadres proved that they could stand the test, and during the summer harvest they got up early and worked hard in the evening, and once they found bandits, they immediately led the masses to charge into battle. There was once a cadre in Nanzhong, after discovering that the bandits had entered the village, he cut down five bandits with just a shovel in Nanzhong. It's just that what made him cry and laugh afterwards was that Nanzhong's shovel was a big hit, but he, an advertising actor, didn't get the performance fee. Of course, it was a joke, and he didn't expect this either. In short, the results of the new policy in Shandong have been consolidated, the grassroots political power has been strengthened, and the army has established a good relationship with the people. It can be said that Shandong has a strong barrier at this time, and any casual attack is tantamount to death.

This information was sent to Li Shouhan and Li Huayu through various channels, and the father and son were equally proud and grateful. If you want to say different, Li Shouhan thinks, hum, Grandpa Tai's trick is also something you can fight against? Li Huayu thought, Shandong has been consolidated, so in the future, we will compete for the world, try to see who can be our opponent? (To be continued......)