"The last season of the autumn harvest has come to an end, according to the Bengang Agricultural Bureau, the Bureau of Commerce, the Keelung Town Agricultural Bureau, the Bureau of Commerce, and several other directors of the report summary, this year's Hongmen grain production broke through a new high, in addition to the private self-retained grain, my Hongmen own production of grain, the grain tax collected by the tax bureau, plus the grain purchased by the Food Department of the Commercial Bureau, the new grain income reached more than 2.42 million stones."

"According to the current consumption of my Hongmen, the grain stockpiled last year plus the grain of this year is enough to meet the needs of three years."

Li Tianyang, Wu Jie, and Dong Haoran sat together listening to the small report after the autumn harvest and learning about this year's grain and other harvests.

"Very good, so it seems that our next move can be bigger!"

Li Tianyang took a reassuring pill, showed a rare knowing smile, and said to the unfamiliar faces on the side: "Qi Feng, your action to recruit homeless people can be bigger and faster!" ”

"Yes!" The man named Qi Feng looks like he is only over forty years old, the same age as Li Tianyang, but he is the eldest son of Qi San, who originally recruited displaced people for Hongmen, and now the son inherits his father's business and continues to recruit displaced people for the Honghongs.

This year, there are all kinds of natural disasters in the north again, Henan, Anhui, Shandong and other places have been affected by disasters to varying degrees, plus the peasant rebel army of Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, compared with Qi San in previous years, they still have a variety of slogans and treatment temptation, only a small number of people are willing to leave their hometowns and come to the territory under the jurisdiction of Hongmen, and now the territories controlled by Hongmen such as Dayuan, Iriomote, and Luzon have already spread among the people.

To be a Shunmin of the Ming Dynasty, not only did you need to pay all kinds of taxes and bear all kinds of conscription, but also had to be afraid every day, for fear that one day the peasant army would kill your hometown.

And it is not so easy to follow Li Zicheng and others to make a revolution, unless it is a really desperate poor family, and the people who have a little property are more afraid that after joining the peasant army, they will still not be able to keep this little property at home, not to mention that they are likely to be cut off by the Ming Dynasty government.

Anyway, at this time, the northern provinces have long been purgatory on earth, and the people living in that land are all living in anxiety and worrying every day.

On the contrary, it was the recruitment of Hongmen that brought another bright road to these people.

With the maritime merchants from the north and south to Dayuan Island, the more they understand Dayuan Island, everyone is particularly impressed by the living environment on Dayuan Island, and under word of mouth, the living environment in the Red Gate territory is no longer a secret, and it has long been spread among the people.

It is said that there is a paradise in the south and other seas, as long as you can climb this land, you can get a piece of your own land, a ploughing cow of your own, where the climate is mild, the land is fertile, you can plant a land of grain at will, you don't have to work hard, and you can get a bumper harvest in autumn.

There are even people who spread the rumor that on Luzon Island, if you walk on the ground and kick out a stone, it may be gold, and if you dig the ground, you can dig up silver!

And the team that manages these lands is the Qixintang supported by Li Tianyang, the commander of the Fujian Navy of the Ming Dynasty.

With the official status of the Ming Dynasty as the background, various folk rumors and Qi Feng's eloquence and promise, etc., today's Hongmen recruits displaced people, and can even recruit more than 10,000 people at one time, and the time and energy required are much lower than when Qi San and them were in the past.

"In fact, it is not difficult to recruit displaced people now, since the beginning of this year, several provinces of the Ming Dynasty have suffered from severe drought, and there have been locust plagues, and there are not a few places where the autumn harvest is lost, and even Wujiang County, Jiangsu Province, which is located in the south of the Yangtze River, has also experienced drought, so there are countless displaced people."

"What is hindering our recruitment work is not the lack of displaced people, but the lack of transportation capacity, and the cargo ships of the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce basically have their goods and people transported, and they rarely can help us recruit the people transported south."

"The ships of Qixintang and Hongtang fleet, we can only use a few parts that have no tasks and are idle, and we also need to coordinate with the heads of Qixintang and Hongtang fleets to reach a consensus."

"Therefore, I would like my recruiting office to have its own fleet of ships so that our recruitment will be more efficient."

In the face of Li Tianyang's request, Qi Feng recounted their difficulties on the spot.

"Well, it depends on the production of new ships in our shipyard this year, as well as the expansion plans of the Hongtang fleet and the Qixintang caravan this year, I can't guarantee you now."

"However, how about I inform the Finance Bureau to allocate an additional amount of money to you for the purpose of hiring sea vessels to transport you there?"

As soon as he heard that Qi Feng began to ask for ships from himself again, Li Tianyang had a little headache, Hongmen now has several shipyards, but the output of sea ships every year can be said to be in short supply, on the one hand, it is to meet the procurement plans of some members of the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce, on the other hand, the expansion of the Hongtang fleet and the expansion and reorganization of the Qixintang fleet need to be supplemented by new ships, plus the last time they let Shang Kexi go north and take away some of the idle ships, Hongmen himself and other ships are actually not very empty, and they all have their own uses.

Therefore, it is a little unrealistic for Hongmen to reorganize a fleet dedicated to transporting population.

"Okay, but I can't guarantee how many more homeless people will be recruited in the next few days."

Qi Feng replied helplessly.

"I will also ask Qixintang and Hongtang's fleet to cooperate with you more, just do your best."

Li Tianyang nodded.

"There is also the Hongtang army, 30,000 troops were transferred to the north last time, and the losses from the previous expedition to Henan have been replenished?"

"We have already recruited 40,000 young people in Fujian Province, and we have lied to the governor's yamen that we have only recruited 20,000, and I believe that we will be able to recruit at least 30,000 more before the end of the year."

As the first person in the military department, Wu Jie was naturally happy to see the growth of the army, and reported to Li Tianyang with a satisfied expression: "At that time, I am afraid that the number of our Hongtang army will exceed 100,000!" ”

"It's not enough to recruit alone, strict training is indispensable, and the next task after recruiting soldiers is even more important, I don't want our team to have the same number as the peasant army, but in fact it is vulnerable!"

Li Tianyang Ma Shan interrupted Wu Jie's self-congratulatory and poured a basin of cold water on him.

"Don't worry, you will definitely see an iron army in half a year!!"

Wu Jie patted his chest and assured Li Tianyang.

(End of chapter)