"Hermes-Epitek can think of so much, it means that the knowledge is good," Li Huai looked at Li Yu with appreciation, and said softly to everyone, "There are drawbacks in the Eight Banners system of Jianzhou, and the Wei system of the Ming Dynasty is full of holes, and it has three major drawbacks, one of which is that the soldiers and the people are not divided, and the armament is slack, according to the Ming Taizu's customization, each military household can be divided into fifty acres of land, but it must be handed over eighteen stones of the tuntianzi, the burden of the military household is too heavy, and the imperial court has to change to six stones during the orthodox period, but it is still much higher than the civilian household, the military household has a difficult livelihood, hard work, and the training and drills are almost deserted, At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, it was still possible to achieve seventy percent of the military households' cultivation and three percent of the city's defense, and then it would not work, the military households had to farm to make a living in order to support their families, and the soldiers became farmers, and the consequence of the soldiers and the people was that there were no soldiers to fight; Second, the officers are powerful and lawless, and the officers of the Daming Guard are in charge of both military affairs and civil affairs in the guard, and their power is too great, not only to drive the military households as slaves arbitrarily, but also to occupy the land of the military households as private property, and the military households have no choice but to flee in large numbers, and now the Daming Guard has actually become an empty shelf; The three military households are hereditary, rewards and punishments are improper, and the Ming Dynasty will use the official position of the guard as a hereditary official position for a large number of rewards, resulting in the officials who are officials for generations, and the officers of the guard who do not learn to bow and horse abound, and the incompetent people are full of the army, and the soldiers are oppressed by the military households for generations, and there will be no future, how can this group of farmers who have no morale fight? It is not difficult to understand the decline of the Ming Dynasty's armed forces, it can be said that the Ming Dynasty's guard has now become a burden that the Ming Dynasty cannot shake off, everyone knows that the guard is useless, but no one dares to touch it. Brother Du Xing, you want to borrow the Ming Dynasty's guard system to get out of the current predicament, I am very much in favor, but its disadvantages are so obvious, we must plan before acting! ”

Li Huai's words frightened Ortai, looking at Ortai's dumbfounded appearance, Li Fugui laughed: "Brother Duxing, don't be scared back by Li Yushan, in fact, your method can indeed integrate the Barbarian Mountain, I agree with you, the Wei system was thought up by the ancestor of the old Zhu family with a pat on his head, he is confused, we are not confused, we don't need your military household to hand over the grains in the field, we are the grain that grows in the field, and the cattle and sheep are all handed over, and then distributed uniformly, anyway, everyone is starving, There is a big pot of rice to eat, no one cares, the hereditary official position is far away from us, we can fight here is either a horse thief or a big soldier, they can't think of it that far, in the future, our hundred households, thousands of households will not only set up a commander but also a civil officer, each in charge of its own affairs, no one is dominant, we also have to give Yuzi a decent cavalry, this is our standing force. ”

Ortai breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this, yes, now it's a matter of eating and survival, what do you want to do so far, but he said: "Don't dare to be sloppy, this is a state affair!" ”

"In fact, in the final analysis, it's money, if the ancestor of the old Zhu family hadn't picked the door, he wouldn't have come up with such a bad idea, this idea was used in the Tang Dynasty, now it's better to find a way to make money," Li Fugui shook his head and said again, "If you want to make money, you have to do business, I have found the people who have worked in blacksmiths, carpenters, papermakers, leathermas, and tailors in Fengzhou Beach, I plan to set up a craftsman camp to gather these people to work, and I am not afraid of bad craftsmanship, let's do it first, and then say, the horse market is in the hands of the Ming Kingdom, But out of the horse market is our territory, in the future, those Ming merchants want to make money here, they have to partner with me, I don't believe that these guys don't go into the water, with these guys in the gang, money and craftsmanship are easy to do. ”

"Nian Feng is a good idea, this place in Fengzhou is still too poor, and if you don't do business, you can't afford to raise soldiers, we will gather people who have done business in Manhan Mountain, let them come forward to make money, and we will support them in the back." Li Huai also said with great interest.

"I'll go back and find Bi Lige, this guy has experience in managing business, let him do this," Li Fugui said and threw a small cloth bag in front of Li Huai, "I still plan to do this business, don't say that I sell illicit salt." ”

Li Huai took it and looked at it, dipped it with his finger and tasted it, and said seriously: "Fengzhou only has official salt and no private salt, anyone who wants to buy it can buy it, and it is not our business to buy it for anything." ”

The four of them all laughed, Li Yu laughed for a while, and suddenly said with a sad face: "Your idea is not bad, but we can count the people who can read and settle accounts here, we have such a big shelf, where can we find someone who can be an official!" ”

Li Yu's words were like pouring a bucket of cold water on everyone, and everyone immediately fell silent, there are farmers and herdsmen who are honest and illiterate in Barbarian Mountain, and there are many people who have been soldiers and horse thieves, but there are few who have been officials.

"We still have to do it, we will find out a good way to get to the bottom of it in the next few days." It took a while for Li Huai to say a word, and the other three had no choice but to nod their heads in frustration.

The weather is getting hotter, it has entered the summer, the days of the Barbarian Mountain are quite calm, the Chahar rangers have harassed a few times, and they were unsurprisingly beaten by Li Yu and Zhao Ji and fled in embarrassment, the Chahar people quickly realized that this group of poor bastards hiding in the mountains was stinky and hard to provoke, and when they saw them, they immediately avoided away, and the captured captives confessed enviously: You still have porridge to drink here, we are all eating bran vegetables there, the Great Khan won a great victory, and the territory and population were robbed a lot, but they also took Karaqin, The Tumut grassland was a piece of erosion, and the former ally Ming Guo not only ignored them, but also blocked them, and now they have no food to eat or drink, the people and horses are extremely tired, and the sweat is red-eyed, and he is busy asking for market rewards from Ming Guo all day long, and he has not paid attention to the poor bones of the Barbarian Mountain.

Chahar Khan can't take care of the Barbarian Mountain, Li Yu can't ask for it, his life is not much better than Chahar Khan, the heavy rain in summer is coming soon, the number of their tents and boards is far from enough, each house, each tent is crowded with a few families, Li Yu understands a little bit why the old Khan ** Hachi wants to live together, eat together, and cultivate together when he enters Liaodong, these tens of thousands of people suddenly arrived in a place, it is indeed too difficult to solve their livelihood problems, and Li Yu is poorer than the old Khan at the beginning, So he did more thorough work than Lao Khan, not only had to work and sleep together, but also had to eat a big pot of rice together, the only difference was that the people here were willing to live like this in order to live, and there was no need to force Nikan to accept Zhushen with a knife like Old Khan.

Everything in Manhan Mountain is in full swing, building a house is a big deal, in addition to the necessary personnel on duty, the other men have work to do, even Ulan is busy boiling water and cooking with women and children - Ulan is a good girl, although her identity is noble, but as long as Li Yu wants to do something, she will definitely follow, Li Yu sometimes even thinks, if this is replaced by a second girl, I am afraid that it will be a long time ago.

Li Yu and the old man Dabu of Baita Village were sawing a piece of wood, Li Yu looked at the old man a little struggling, and said with concern: "Uncle, this work is too tiring, you better rest!" ”

"People are old, it's just a little useless, and you're tired for most of the day, so take a break and talk to your uncle." Dabu saw his two sons, Su He and Jida, coming over with a piece of wood, beckoned to them, and pulled Li Yu to sit down beside him.

"Yuzi, this time has been hard for you, uncle knows that if you want to say who is the hardest in this barbarian mountain, it must be you, the burden of these tens of thousands of lives is all on you, and if you change to others, you may have run away early," Dabu sat down and said, Li Yu didn't speak, called the two children of Su He next to him over, and teased them with one hand, Zabu sighed and continued: "But no one here can afford this burden except you, we have Mongolian people, Han people, farming, herding, Only you can bring everyone together and twist them together. ”

"Uncle, I don't have that much ability, this burden is too heavy, a mistake will hurt the villagers, I pick it on my body and am shocked, I will let him do it if there is a suitable person in the future." Li Yu shook his head and replied.

"That's not good, we can all trust you," said the old man Dabu hurriedly, and he said angrily, "Those Taiji old men all say that they have the ability, but as soon as the Chahar people come, they want to flee for their lives, and they don't care about the life or death of the people, we don't want such people." ”

"Yuzi, just do it, we will do whatever you say, it doesn't matter if something goes wrong, everyone knows that you have a good heart." Su He also interjected, and he beckoned his daughter, "Qiqige, don't sit on your Uncle Yuzi all the time, quickly pour a bowl of water for Grandpa and Uncle Yuzi to drink." ”

Li Yu took a sip of water and asked softly, "Uncle, how is the work in the field?" ”

"What else, the place here is small, and you have to graze cattle and sheep, how much land is planted to grow crops, more than four or five thousand acres have been planted before and after this year, wheat, millet, sorghum and maize, all the seeds that can be obtained have been planted, but this is definitely not enough to eat, and we have to think of other ways, Li Fugui's potato harvest this year does not know what will happen, if there are five hundred catties of one mu like he blows, then it will solve a big problem."

"In a few days, the summer grain in the customs will be harvested, maybe the grain will be cheaper, we will try to exchange the livestock for some grain, and everyone's life will be better."

"You can't just eat it in exchange for food, we still have to prepare for the winter, look at it, this winter will definitely be difficult, Yuzi, you have to be careful."

Li Yu and the old man Dabu were chatting, Liu Shishi ran to ask Li Yu to return to the Chinese army tent quickly, Mr. Li had something to look for him, Li Yu had to get up and say goodbye, Dabu suddenly remembered something and stopped him.

"Yuzi, there is one more thing you have to be careful, every time there is a big battle or a ****** on the grassland, there is a possibility of a plague outbreak, this year we may have avoided it, but it will be difficult to say at the beginning of spring next year," Dabu said with palpitations, "I have experienced three or four times in my life, and every time I have watched the people around me continue to die, my previous tribe was destroyed by the plague, and the people died and scattered, and I took my living family to Bansheng, so I changed my career and learned to farm." ”

Li Yu was terrified when he heard this, he had also experienced a plague in the Ula Mountain, and saw with his own eyes that dozens of lives had disappeared within a month, and Hadari's parents had also died of the plague, and the Kulu tribe had to migrate south after this catastrophe.

Li Yu returned to the big tent of the Chinese army with a heavy heart, Li Huai, Li Fugui, Ortai, and Namur were waiting for him, and they were also working hard during this time, not only to deal with daily chores, but also to prepare for the planning and preparation of the household and the formulation of the military system, and there were not enough manpower to pull Namur in.

"Hermes-Epitek, you come with me to Datong, the prefect of Datong has something important to discuss with us." Li Huai greeted Li Yu as soon as he saw him come in.

"What is the prefect of Datong looking for us?" Li Yu was a little puzzled, and his eyes involuntarily glanced at Li Fugui.

"Look at what I'm doing, the little salt I cook is not enough for myself, and I can't get it if others want to buy it." Li Fugui was a little annoyed, his plan to sell illicit salt was seriously frustrated, and his few mouthfuls of salt boiled in a broken pot were snatched up by his own guy here before he could put it away, Li Fugui was very discouraged, this bit of salt was not enough for himself, and he also sold a fart of private salt.

"Maybe it's the business of those people we entered," Li Huai thought for a while and said, he waved his hand, "Regardless of him, it's always good for the prefect of Datong to see us, just to talk to him about the mutual market, call Bi Lige too, by the way, I am familiar." ”

Li Huai, Li Yu with Bi Lige and a few personal soldiers immediately set off, the Barbarian Mountain and Datong are not far away, they entered the customs from the mouth of the tiger, and arrived at Datong when the sun set.

Ma Shiying, the prefect of Datong, is not tall, and looks a little thin, but he is full of energy, and he heard that the people from Barbarian Mountain have arrived, and he summoned him without eating. When Ma Shiying saw Li Yu, she praised Li Yu and Li Dusi with a smile on her face, exchanged a few words with Li Huai, and immediately asked Li Yu and Li Huai to sit down - Li Yu is too tall, Ma Shiying always has a feeling of looking up, or let this big guy sit down and look at it more pleasantly.

"What did the prefect tell me to wait for?" Li Huai asked as soon as he sat down.

"Yushan, don't worry, it's been hard all the way, take a sip of tea first, I've already arranged the meal, and I'll talk about it after eating," Ma Shiying had already inquired about Li Huai's origin, he was a person who smiled all the way, and heard that Li Huai had a good relationship with the governor and the deputy envoy, so he was even more affectionate.

"The prefect is too polite, I'll wait to come here to listen to the instructions of the adults, and the adults don't say that we can't eat well." Li Huai said with a smile.

"Actually, it's not a big deal, it's not the Tatar thing that is stranded in the pass." Ma Shiying had no choice but to say, most of the Fengzhou people who entered the customs were driven out of the customs, but there were still more than 2,000 people who listened to Li Fugui's words and stayed in the customs and did not leave, these people have money and roads, eat and drink, and naturally abide by the rules, Ma Shiying is not difficult for them, but the vast majority of people have no food, clothing, and no fixed residence, which will inevitably harass the place, and Ma Shiying intends to arrest everyone and hand them over.

Li Yu and Li Huai have no opinion when they hear it, this matter has been said a long time ago, the people who escaped into the customs are handed over to the Manhan Mountain to take in, Datong provides some food aid, the horse market is also open to the Manhan Mountain, the two sides have been executing very well, the people who were driven out of the customs did not go back, and the Datong side did give food, but for this matter, the Datong prefect called them a little fuss.

Ma Shiying saw that they agreed, praised the two again, and immediately pulled them to eat, Li Huai and Li Yu glanced at each other, this prefect is afraid that he will tell the truth at the dinner table, but it is difficult for him, it is reasonable to eat him as Li Huai's person, and Li Yu is just a small military attaché, and it is too exaggerated for the prefect to invite him to dinner.

Ma Shiying took them out of the prefect's yamen, and turned around to a restaurant, Li Yu was strange that there were guards with swords at the door of the restaurant, Li Yu didn't think about it, they were taken upstairs by Ma Shiying to a richly decorated seat, Li Yu was looking at the strange objects in the seat and was dazzled, and he heard someone greeting him.

"Li Dusi, do you remember this town?" There was already a man waiting inside, a burly man in a green cloth casual dress, sitting upright on a chair and smiling at him.

Li Yu was stunned for a moment, but as soon as the man opened his mouth, he reminded him, and he hurriedly bowed down and saluted: "Lord Commander, the last general doesn't know that the Lord is here, please forgive your sins." ”

"Where is it, although you are from the superintendent, but you are also my own family in Datong Town, this town remembers you for your hard work outside the Saiwai, I will invite you to have a good meal today," Qu Jiazhen waved his hand to signal Li Yu to sit next to him, and then said bitterly, "This town regrets, why didn't I leave you behind during the last Datong outside the city review, if you go to the town's side, what is a capital division, within three years, the town will promote you to be a guerrilla, blame that Lao Bai for not making your affairs clear, and the town reprimanded you." ”

Qu Jiazhen chattered endlessly, and kept praising Li Yu for his young and promising, Li Yu was inexplicable when he heard it, and last time he shouted that he was going to drive himself to the gate to be the general soldier of Datong, who was a Tatar, why did he suddenly change his sex, and his own little Dusi could use him to say good things?

The meal was on the table, Ma Shiying and Qu Jiazhen couldn't stop beckoning Li Yu and Li Huai to eat more, and introduced them to a few dishes of the same name, Li Yu looked at the exquisite dishes on this table and didn't know how to put down the chopsticks, he had never seen so many delicious ones, and it was the New Year for him to have a few white flour steamed buns plus a few pieces of meat, and the chicken, duck and fish meat on the table made him feel a little dizzy.

"Hermes-Epitek has suffered, Lao Qu, you will often call Hermes-Epitek to Datong to play for two days in the future, and you will never find a second one in Datong Town if you are honest and hard-working like Hermes-Epitek." Ma Shiying looked at Li Yu stupidly at the banquet with sympathy, sighed and put a piece of fish meat in Li Yu's bowl, Qu Jiazhen immediately patted his chest and said that he would never let his love suffer in the future.

"If the adults tell you to eat, you can eat, and if you eat a lot, you can eat more." Li Huai also quietly stabbed Li Yu, and Li Yu let go of his courage to eat.

Seeing Li Yu gobbling up, Ma Shiying and Qu Jiazhen looked at each other and smiled, simply put down their chopsticks, and admired Li Yu's eating appearance with relish, Li Huai couldn't help it, and quietly stabbed Li Yu several times, but Li Yu couldn't care about anything, and he couldn't wait to swallow the plate now.

Li Yu ate the dishes almost, and began to eat them with white flour steamed buns dipped in the oil sauce on the plate, Ma Shiying was impatient, and suddenly asked Li Yu about the military situation reported to Xiangyang and the Governor's Mansion intentionally or unintentionally, Li Yu honestly said that he passed the news to Xiangyang every few days, Ma Shiying nodded and said: "The military situation outside the Saiwai is changing rapidly, with Li Dusi exploring outside the Saiwai, the Governor is naturally well aware of the border situation, and the imperial court has benefited a lot, but Li Dusi is now taking grain from my Datong, and he is benefiting from my Datong horse market." , Naturally, it is closely related to my Datong Town, and my Datong Town also needs to know the situation outside the Saiwai as soon as possible, and Li Dusi's report to the Governor's Mansion should also be reported to Datong Town in a timely manner, Li Dusi said yes? ”