Guangxi is mountainous and watery, the main stream of the Xijiang River runs east-west, and the tributaries converge from north to south to the Xijiang River. The watershed and river channel divide Guangxi into a large east-west river valley and more than a dozen north-south middle river valleys, and the distribution of small river valleys formed by the tributaries of the remaining Pearl River tributaries is chaotic.

The main state capitals are located along river valleys, and the river valley area can be regarded as a relatively independent economic zone, and the prefecture and state city are usually located at the confluence of the water system in the economic zone.

In this valley terrain, there are two areas worth playing.

One is Huaiji County, an enclave of Wuzhou Prefecture, where there is a waterway, but this waterway leads to the Beijiang River, not the Xijiang River at all. In ancient times, waterways were equivalent to railways and highways, and the land transportation in the mountainous areas of Lingnan was backward, and the cost of transporting bulk materials was very high, and the economic and trade links between areas like Huaiji and Guangzhou along the Beijiang River were much more convenient than Guilin, which was closer to the ground. Shou Xuan didn't quite understand why Huaiji County belonged to Guangxi, and from an economic point of view, it was more reasonable for Huaiji to belong to Guangdong.

The second is Hexian and Bucheon. The Hejiang River flows through the two counties and flows into the Xijiang River through Kaijian County and Fengchuan County of Zhaoqing Prefecture in Guangdong Province. The economy is actually more affected by Guangdong.

Shou ordered the selection of He County.

The location of He County is just right. Although the Hejiang Estuary is in Guangdong, it is less than 10 kilometers away from the border between the two provinces, and it enters the Xijiang River at the Hejiang Estuary, and it is relatively free to go east and west.

Hefu County is located at the intersection of the two provinces, just like the cecum of Guangxi, which has never been taken seriously. The Hexian Water Wharf is located next to the city wall and has a complete infrastructure.

In the Wanli accounting record, He County is giving 3,178 taels of silver, and Buchuan County is giving 1,028 taels of silver, totaling 4,200 taels. Converted into grain, it is about 15,000 stones, counting the three salaries and miscellaneous commercial taxes, doubling the tax amount of 30,000 stones.

In the Ming Dynasty, the cost of collecting taxes was about 25%, and a quarter of the general tax amount was used for various local administrative expenses. Taking into account the losses caused by the war, the looting of the mountain bandits and other omissions, the two counties could collect about 20,000 stones.

This is enough for Zhang Shijie to raise soldiers, and if he uses means such as persuasion and donation, he can collect more money and food. The families of the expeditionary force were all in Qiongzhou, and the soldiers were alone, so they did not need to support the families who were close to the number of soldiers like other Ming troops. If he gets He and Fu two counties, Zhang Shijie even has the spare strength to expand his troops.

Xie Yuanbian listened to Shou Xian's words, and immediately said: "Don't worry, the lord of the country, this matter is on me, and even I can do better." ”

"What did Brother Liang say?"

"The three counties of Hexian, Fuchuan and Huaiji are remote, and the imperial court has long had the intention of adjusting the zoning. In my opinion, Shenghe County can be regarded as a state, and it has jurisdiction over two counties, Fuchuan and Huaiji. General Zhang's garrison was in Hezhou, and the imperial court also had an additional northern Ping Domain. ”

He County is in the upper reaches, and it will soon be able to hit the line in Zhaoqing from the He River downstream. It is located at the junction of the two provinces and is under the control of Guangxi, but most of the logistics supply axis is in Guangdong, and the defense force is very weak.

Zhang Shijie has no black history, Wu Song was born in a hereditary military household, and for Yongli, this is an official army with red seedlings. He guarded in Hexian just to fill the gap in the defensive line.

"Will the Huaiji Imperial Court also agree?"

"It's better than being separated from He County but belonging to Wuzhou Mansion. Huaiqingzhi County is called Xu Dingguo, he was born in Wuju, and he is a native of Nanling County. Huaiji once fell, but it was recovered by Xu Dingguo alone, and he was originally very independent. I dragged him with him to the book, and it was safer to do so. ”

"Then who is more suitable to serve in Zhizhou?"

Xie Yuanbian stood up and arched his hand: "I went back to Pingyuan to recruit troops last year, but it didn't work out. With General Zhang's help this time, I want to try again. Hezhou Zhizhou, I'll do it. ”

The military department is given to the seven-rank officials in the matter, the position is humble and powerful, and no one wants to be a governor of Xiazhou in peacetime. Xie Yuanbian was tired of the party struggle in the imperial court, and wanted to change to a place to show his skills. Huaiji County is the Beijiang River water system, separated from He County by a mountain, Xie Yuanbian plans to control He and Fu two counties, and form an alliance with Huaiji Xu Dingguo.

Shou Xuan hesitated, "You go to Zhizhou, and the Zeng Pavilion Department will have one less help in the imperial court." ”

Xie Yuanbian looked resentful, "Teacher, I will write to explain." The court can't do anything, and if it's just to find out the news, it won't make a difference if I leave. ”

It is true that there are no secrets at all in the Yongli Imperial Court, and officials at all levels of the central government are making friends with powerful foreign ministers.

This has little to do with order, Xie Yuanbian pleaded as much as he could, but he had no position to refuse.

"Okay, as long as you're sure."

……

The fighting subsided, which meant that the time had come for the expeditionary force to return to the road.

Liang Shiyi sent Huang Heming to Huang Heming, who had taken thousands of men and women captive in Xunzhou Mansion. There were also many people in Nanning and Yulin who were frightened by the war, packed their bags and fled south, with a total number of tens of thousands.

The expeditionary force sent 300 people to escort these migrants along the Nanliu River back to Hepu, and went downstream, and the voyage was much more comfortable than the upstream.

Leave 200 people in Yulin and ration the soldiers to prepare Dao Dao Daoguang as his pacesetter. Wang Daoguang set up the Yamen of the Military Preparation Road in Bobai County, keeping a certain distance from Yulin Prefecture. Wang Daoguang and Zhou Tengfeng, Yulin Zhizhou, have been up and down for nearly 20 years, have been officials in many places in the Central Plains, and have rich experience in dealing with warlords. The civil and military forces were able to get along in harmony for the time being, and the expeditionary force of Shou Xu and Zhang Shijie left Yulin and went north to cross the Tianmen Pass.

He Huchen used various means to obtain more than 70 boats in Beiliu County, most of which were sampan fishing boats, and only 14 flat-bottomed, single-sloop, merchant ships with cabins. This is only the extent that a small county in the middle of nowhere can be done.

The expeditionary force now has a total of nearly 1,800 people, and Cenxi County, which is next door to Beiliu County, is an important place to defend Yao, and there are many stragglers after the war. He Huchen has been in Beiliu County for nearly a month, recruiting more than 400 soldiers from various sources. The discipline of these newly arrived soldiers was a bit poor, and He Huchen had a very good reason for recruiting them, because he had been suppressing bandits in the mountains for a long time, and the Cen Xi soldiers had rich combat experience and were skilled.

The expeditionary force was about to fight independently, and the order respected the opinion of the commander-in-chief, and no longer cared so much.

The navigation conditions of the Beiliu River are slightly better than those of the Nanliu River, and the speed is relatively fast when it goes down the river.

The boat he was on was much worse than the one he was on, and his guard was only 20 local and Chezhitan soldiers led by Lin Izuyong, crammed into one boat.

There are many abandoned castle ruins on both sides of the Beiliu River, and some of the ruins look very old when you open the binoculars to look at it.

Xie Yuanbian took the same boat as Shou Xuan and introduced: "The Great Unification System, those are the post stations of the previous generation, and the earliest ones are from the Han Dynasty. ”

A remnant sun spreads in the water, half of the river is sorrowful and half of the river is red. The splendid country can arouse people's feelings the most.

Shou put down the binoculars and was silent for a long time.

The fleet stayed overnight in Rong County.

Xie Yuanbian said: "Please send me 100 soldiers under the Great Command." ”

"What does Liang want to do with soldiers?"

Xie Yuanbian smiled, "Get a boat." ”

Fighting in the Pearl River system, there are never too many boats. Most of the Han soldiers of the expeditionary force were born by the sea, and they would sail boats in the breeze.

Shou Xiang was a little curious, and ordered 100 soldiers to disembark with Xie Yuanbian.

Rong County is a small city, and the distance from the water wharf into the city to the county government is very close. Xie Yuanbian knocked on the door of the county ya, took out the military department to send the head of the court officials in the matter, and arrogantly asked the magistrate to seal the ship and send out the grain.

The magistrate complained bitterly, "This county is narrow and the people are poor, and they are really unable to support the army." ”

Xie Yuanbian sneered and said, "Your county only knows that there are people, don't you know that there are Shangguan?" ”

The magistrate was about to cry, and he was in distress, "The lower officials don't dare, the autumn grain of this county has just been handed over to the city, and the lower officials have the heart and are powerless." ”

"The autumn grain has been resolved, won't your county persuade donations and assessments? This is the army of King Qin, the war in Huguang is urgent, and the line is in danger. Instead of crying in one province and one government, it is better than crying in one county. ”

He watched from the sidelines and did not speak, with some emotion. Rong County is giving 1637 taels of silver a year, which is indeed poor.

As a comparison, Changzhou County, Suzhou Prefecture, is giving 212,934.76 taels of silver a year. Excludes commercial tax, miscellaneous items, and excludes additional payments. Including commercial taxes, Suzhou is even more. In the same county, the difference is worlds apart.

Of course, there is a huge gap between the economic development of Guangxi and Jiangnan, but it is not so bad. The Ming Dynasty's exploitation of Jiangnan was too much, and the taxes of Liangguang were much lighter. The Guangzhou Mansion of Nantian No. 1 Xiong County is only 103,431.5 taels of silver a year, which is less than half of Changzhou County, which is quite outrageous. In the late Ming Dynasty, the 16 prefectures and counties under Guangzhou were not as economically as good as half of Suzhou County, can this be believed?

Many people say that Jiangnan has serious tax evasion, but the whip of the Ming Dynasty can only be levied to seven or eight points in the whole country, and Jiangnan is no different from other places. Most of the tax arrears are due to the large total tax revenue in Jiangnan, and the same proportion is very eye-catching. The so-called non-payment of taxes by the Jiangnan gentry led to the financial collapse of the Ming Dynasty.

Xie Yuanbian gave three days and forced the magistrate of Rong County to seal 36 ships and send 200 husbands into service. More than 600 stones of grain were looted in the county.

The Beiliu River is remote, and Xie Yuanbian relied on his official rank and soldier's knife to loot all the way to Teng County. Before the fleet entered the Xijiang River, it was slightly trimmed.

Tengxian is on the left bank of the estuary where the Beiliu River flows into the Xijiang River, and the width of the estuary is only 150 meters. Artillery was erected on the eastern city wall of Tengxian County, and the river was even within the effective range of the Franc machine.

Zhang Shijie said: "Build a fort on the east bank of the river mouth and pull up the iron lock of the Hengjiang River, and the enemy's ships will not be able to enter the Beiliu River." ”

Shou Xuan put down the binoculars, "Yes, that will force the enemy army to attack the city." ”

In fact, the siege is also possible, the enemy army can transport artillery behind the county seat, and also block the Beiliu River. Tengxian can drag on for a long time, and it will be difficult to hold on for a long time, but even if the defenders are defeated, they have a chance to withdraw from the Xijiang River in the north of the city.

Zhang Shijie had a thoughtful expression, and he didn't care about the order.

Leaving Teng County, the fleet entered the main stream of the Pearl River, and there were more sail shadows on the river.

At this time, the fleet had 2,200 officers and men, 500 husbands, 1,300 stone grain, and more than 160 large and small sampans.

The Yongli Imperial Court actually controlled only two provinces, and the Xijiang River was the main artery connecting the two provinces, and the war caused the decline of commerce, but the war itself also required the transportation of large quantities of materials. Most of the ships sailing on the Xijiang River today have the background of military generals. Xie Yuanbian scraped the ground in the Beiliu River, also because he knew that the brand given by the military department was not good on the Xijiang River.

The fleet was quietly parked at the Wuzhou Water Pier.

Wuzhou is an important town, where the Guijiang River flows into the Xijiang River, the core crossroads of Guangzhou.

The expeditionary force waited here for the order of Qu Shiyun to stay in Guilin. The military discipline of the Ming army in Qiongzhou was much better than that of other Ming troops, and the officers and soldiers were stationed outside Wuzhou City, and there were few fights and robberies. Zhang Shijie corrected the law on the spot at the water wharf, attracting the applause of the people.

Zhang Shijie now has nearly 30,000 taels of silver in his hands, of which 20,000 yuan comes from the income from selling salt, and most of the rest of the money is the opening fee given by Qiongzhou, and a small part is looted.

After the building was completed, the price of grain in Guangzhou dropped from 5 taels to 3 taels and 1 stones, and there were many cash crops in Guangzhou, and grain needed help from Guangxi, and Wuzhou was the crossroads of selling grain to Guangzhou. Huguang fought inextricably, and Qu Shiyun was on the front line of grain collection and transportation in various places. Although the autumn grain is on the market, the grain price has not fallen, and the grain price in Wuzhou City is still hovering at nearly 2 taels of silver and 1 stone.

Shou Xiang asked Zhang Shijie to take money to buy grain in Wuzhou. In troubled times, food is more important than money, and there is no panic when you have food in your hands. 10,000 stone of grain is normally only 2,500 soldiers to eat for 1 year, after buying food, Zhang Shijie only has 10,000 taels of silver left, that is his last reserve, and he does not plan to use it easily.

Qu Shiyun sent his third son, Qu Xuanjing, to bring orders, and basically agreed to the request of order. Lao Qu's entire family is under federal control, and this little thing is just a matter of convenience. He just changed Qu Xuanjing from a military attache to a civilian officer, and appointed his son as Zhang Shijie's supervisor and discipline officer.