Although today is the last day of Fan Yao's service, he didn't have to listen to the military horn to get up, but the habit engraved in his body for five years still made him turn over and sit up as soon as he heard the military horn, and began to reach out to grab the clothes beside the bed.

Fan Yao, who had adapted to the dim light in the room, realized that his roommates in the dormitory, like him, had turned over after hearing the military horn. Everyone sitting on the bed looked at their companions and smiled wordlessly, some people either fell asleep again, and some continued to dress and prepare to get up.

Fan Yao didn't plan to lie down again, but just slowed down the speed of dressing. In the process of dressing, he remembered many past events. In fact, he came to serve for a stone of wheat.

He originally thought that there was no difference between serving in the barracks and working as a long-term worker for the landlord, after all, they had also seen how the soldiers in the guard house worked for the military attachés.

But he really didn't expect that he would be able to live a completely different life in the barracks than he had been in the previous 17 years. Here for the first time, he had his own name, the first time he could eat with a free stomach, the first time he tasted the taste of braised pork and sea fish, the first time he knew how to write his name, the first time he felt at home, and of course the first time he knew that he could run so well.

When he received the notice of discharge, he realized that he was reluctant to leave the barracks. If possible, he would prefer to stay. However, under the persuasion of the chief, Fan Yao finally obeyed the order. And the soldiers who retired at the same time as him were also reluctant to cling to the barracks like him.

Most of the recruits in the first batch of recruits were not from good families, they belonged to the oppressed lowest families in the village, so they enjoyed human treatment for the first time in the barracks. Compared with the old official army, the relationship between officers and soldiers in the new army is extremely strict, so as to prevent soldiers from becoming domestic slaves and thugs of officers, and to a certain extent, it gives these soldiers some equal education.

Just by feeding these soldiers and giving them some cultural education and respect, there is a world of difference between the new army and the old officer army. Ordinary people like Fan Yao, after more than four years of training, their combat ability is already on a par with those veterans in the old official army.

And the obedience and discipline of these soldiers are incomparable to those veterans, and the new army of a company can often easily defeat more than three times the old official army, which is why the border army of the nine sides is now more and more obedient to the orders of the imperial court. The new army supplemented by the staff system has truly become the core of the Ming Dynasty's armed forces, just like the status of the Eight Banners Army in the Houjin Army.

When it was dark, Fan Yao and the other retired officers and soldiers who had eaten a hearty breakfast gathered on the playground for the last time, ready to listen to Shangguan's last speech, and then they were about to go their separate ways.

However, just as everyone was sad to part, a group of men and horses ran from the camp gate, and soon everyone saw the banner representing the emperor. The retired soldiers, who had been depressed because of the parting, finally lifted their spirits and prepared for the emperor's last review.

Zhu Youzhen, who was standing on the command platform, expressed his gratitude to the retired officers and soldiers for their hard work and sacrifice for the country in the past five years, but before the end of the speech, he changed the topic and said: "... You have fought for the country for five years, and you will continue to fight for your future, for the happiness of your family, and for the transformation of this society into a more suitable life for our children and grandchildren.

When you are in the army, I ask you to defend your country. On the occasion of your departure from the army and your return to the lives of ordinary people, I once again send a message to you as Emperor Daming, I hope that even if you leave the army, you will not forget to be loyal to the people and the mission of the motherland..."

Human beings are really strange creatures, obviously the same thing, but when you look at them with different attitudes, you will come to different conclusions.

Before the emperor's speech, the retired officers and soldiers were immersed in a kind of parting mood that was reluctant to leave, and they were actually a little dazed and afraid of their future. Because they know that from the moment they leave the army, they will no longer be protected by the organization and group, and naturally they will no longer have to accept the strict precepts of the army, which will make it difficult for them to adapt to such a life.

However, under the emperor's description and encouragement, these retired officers and soldiers realized that although they had left the army, they had not been completely cut off from the army, and Chongzhen promised that they could also ask the army and the emperor for help through the local retired military associations when they encountered difficulties. And Chongzhen also claimed that their retirement from the army was not an evacuation of the battlefield, but a new battlefield to fight.

Under the encouragement of the emperor's speech, the retired officers and soldiers, including Fan Yao, were full of fighting spirit when they left the barracks, and they were no longer as at a loss about their future as before.

After sending off these retired soldiers of the new army, on the way back to the capital, Zhu Youzhen received news from Yuan Chonghuan and Jinyiwei that the Battle of Kulun and the disappearance of Lin Dan Khan were returned.

Yuan Chonghuan, in the name of the governor of Fengda, also secretly reported to the imperial court about interfering in the affairs of the possible transfer of the Khan throne of the Chahar Ministry. Regarding Yuan Chonghuan's so-called meddling, Zhu Youzhen was really a little relieved. And he was also very surprised by Lin Dan Khan's disappearance.

As a grassland people, the Chahar people were actually attacked by Houjin's army on the grassland, which made Zhu Youzhen feel very puzzled. What surprised him even more was that Lin Dan Khan actually disappeared in the vast Mobei grassland, which made the situation between Mongolia, Houjin, and Ming Dynasty change greatly.

For Chongzhen, the current Ming Dynasty does not need major changes in the situation on the grassland, as long as the situation of the Ming Dynasty and Mongolia joining forces to fight against the Houjin can be maintained, and the social and economic stability of the northern Ming Dynasty can be restored, it is the best situation.

However, with the disappearance of Lin Dan Khan, it is clear that the situation on the steppe is about to change unpredictably. As Yuan Chonghuan said, if Lin Dan Khan really can't come back, the Chahar Department will either split or elect an anti-Ming Great Khan, which is not a good thing for the Ming Dynasty, and it is better to prepare early.

On the way back to the capital, Zhu Youzhen rethought the layout on the grassland. As soon as he returned to the palace, he ordered Liu Jingting to go to Wutai Mountain immediately, go to the naturalization city with Zhangjia Living Buddha to preach Buddhism, and understand the thoughts of the Taiji and Nayan people who stayed behind in the Chahar Department to naturalize.

He himself discussed with the summoned staff of the General Staff the situation in Mongolia after the disappearance of Lower Lindan Khan, and demanded that the General Staff draw up a plan for the use of troops to control the Chahar Division, and if necessary, to use force to suppress the rebellion in the Chahar Division.

Although he was prepared for both, Zhu Youzhen still hoped to personally witness the transfer of power from the Chahar Ministry. After all, this is related to the ownership of the largest force between the Later Jin and the Ming Dynasty, and whoever controls this power will have the power to conquer the Monan steppe and the Mongol tribes.

However, if you want to go to Datong and Fengzhen, the current controversy in the capital and the implementation of land reform in Hebei must have a conclusion.

On May 8, the fifth year of Chongzhen, Chongzhen convened a state meeting, first, to discuss the implementation of land reform in Hebei; The second is to make a final decision on the various indemnities to be paid by Japan in the Tianjin Treaty.

After Hebei's nobles, eunuchs, and guards were cleaned up several times, most of the Hebei gentry had been brought into the reformers by leaders of the Hebei gentry such as Cui Chengxiu, Feng Quan, and Huang Liji, so there was not much opposition to the implementation of this land reform.

What's more, in order to enable the local gentry and common people to support this land reform, Zhu Youzhen said at the meeting, "... After Hebei's comprehensive land reform and communalization campaign, state servitude in Hebei will be frozen from now on. In addition to the water conservancy, flood control, and road projects built by local county officials and communes for the benefit of the local people, they may mobilize the people who benefit from them to provide voluntary labor, and no one may forcibly levy the people of Hebei to perform labor in the name of the state, except for foreign invasions and sudden natural disasters..."

As the foot of the Son of Heaven, the taxes in Hebei have always been exempted, but as the rear of the capital and Jiliaobian Town, the most painful thing for the people here is the heavy forced labor. These forced laborers often take up more than half a year of a strong labor force, making it difficult for farmers to produce.

Although the people of Hebei have been mourning for many years, and the officials of the DPRK and China also know that the forced labor of the people of Hebei is too heavy, everyone has always been able to complain for the people of Hebei, and no one dares to really solve this problem. Compared with the suffering of the people of Hebei, the stability of the capital and the stability of the border army are the main points that the imperial court is most concerned about.

However, with the restructuring of the armed forces and the institutionalization of the army's logistics, the number of labor used by the armed forces has dropped by a large margin. In addition, since Chongzhen ascended the throne, the railway and highway facilities built vigorously on the North China Plain, the cleaning of the Haihe River waterway, and the construction of northern seaports such as Tianjin and Qinhuangdao have greatly reduced the cost of transportation in the north, which also provides the basis for the removal of Hebei conscription.

When land reform and the abolition of forced labor were tied together, even those Qingliu officials who were not in favor of land reform could not easily oppose it, after all, it was a task to offend the local people. Compared with the people in other places, the voices of the people of Hebei can be more easily transmitted to the ears of the people of Gyeonggi, and the voices of the people of Gyeonggi basically represent the mouthpiece of the people of the Ming Dynasty. These Qingliu officials all rely on their fame to eat, and naturally they are unwilling to become traitors in the eyes of the people in the unclear situation.

As soon as the ministers from Hebei chose to support the implementation of Hebei's land reform, those officials from other places did not want to wade into this troubled water. After a small debate, the Cabinet of State approved the plan by a majority.

As for the attribution of the reparations in the back, it made everyone quarrel, and no one was willing to interfere with such a large amount of money. In the end, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Prime Minister's Yamen, and the Navy's Command Department, which were in a weak position at the State Council, received only 40% of these indemnities, while the Imperial Court Ministries, headed by the Household Department, received 60%.

Zhu Youzhen's action was only to protect her own recovery fund for the Queen of Portugal, and to deduct from the indemnity the combat expenses of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Prime Minister's Yamen, and the Naval Command Department, as well as the principal and interest of the war debt. Guo Yunhou, who was still the secretary of the household department, was still not satisfied, and finally demanded at the meeting that the war bonds issued in China in the future must be examined and approved by the household department, and the interest rate of the public bonds should not be raised without authorization.

The imperial court obtained such a windfall, which made the officials of the various ministries much more harmonious, and they were not so unaccustomed to these things that the emperor had recently tossed.