During the Wanli period, Yulin Prefecture was given about 11,300 taels of silver every year, as Sanzhou and Liuzhou Mansion were at the same grade. As far as Guangxi is concerned, it is already a large state, and Chongzhen can collect 4 or 50,000 stone of tax grain after the three salaries are added, and the warlord scrapes the land and collects more, and it is estimated that Yulin can squeeze out 70,000 tax grain.

Located in the southeastern corner of Guangxi, deep in the mountains, the impact of the war on Yulin is not obvious on the surface.

When Cheng Dong pursued Ding Kuichu last year, Yulin briefly returned to Jianzhou, and was quickly recovered by the local Ming army and the rebel army in Guangxi.

The impact of the Xiaoice climate on the Lingnan region is not so drastic, and the precipitation here is slightly reduced, which is still sufficient for agricultural production. The water levels of the Nanliu River and the Beiliu River have not changed much compared to previous years. At least in this meeting, the people of Yulin Prefecture can maintain their peaceful and stable life. The famine in the Central Plains, the white bones are all over the field and eaten, it is like a story of another world for the people of Yulin.

The economy is acceptable, and the people have a certain purchasing power. The fleet brought 4 million catties of salt on this trip, which was sold on the spot in the town of Chuanbu.

In feudal society, salt was actually a poll tax, and it was much easier to collect than a real poll tax. The salt merchants were like the tax payers of the imperial court, and the cost of selling salt through the salt merchants was lower than the regular tax revenue that was exploited by officials and government agencies at all levels. All feudal dynasties, whether through money and grain or through commodity monopoly, eventually forced the lives of the small people to the brink of starvation, squeezed taxes from the small people, or supported the clan and nobles, or used for national defense and other purposes.

Nanming lost the authority of the central court, and this kind of poll tax naturally could not be collected. Warlords, big and small, everywhere have their own channels for smuggling. The price of official salt came entirely from the monopoly of the imperial court on the basis of force, and now this unified monopoly no longer exists, and salt tends to monopolize the competitive market.

Adhering to the consistent style of the Federation, try not to do things absolutely, and the profits in the business need to be shared. Earn more and earn less, and keeping an orderly order will not make business partners lose money. Therefore, Zhang Shijie's negotiations with the landlord were smooth, and he had a good time drinking with Liang Shiyi in Yulin Prefecture.

The matter was quickly negotiated, and the price of salt this time was set at 0.005 taels of silver for 1 catty, and 4 million catties of salt were worth 20,000 taels of silver. Liang Shiyi ate half of it alone, and handed over the rest to local merchants to sell to Nanning and other places.

There are many salt-deficient areas in Guangxi, especially the toast in the mountains. "The mountain is deep and the road is far from salt, and the banana leaves are burned to pickle the vegetables." This poem is about the left and right river roads, the local ethnic minority areas will often fall into the situation of no salt to eat, and the few people in the areas usually have silver, horses and other production, as long as there is the ability to transport salt into the Tusi area, will get rich rewards.

Zhang Shijie returned to Dingchuan Town, and he only brought back 250 people, half of the army.

Zhang Shijie reported: "Deputy Chief Soldier He Huchen took another 250 people to cross the Ghost Gate Pass first and go to Beiliu County to collect ships. ”

At the mention of He Huchen, Shou Xian smiled.

He Huchen was originally the personal general of Wu Zhikui, the general of Wusong. A few years ago, in the small courtyard of Huixiang, Nanjing, Shou Xian saw him clean up a few Liao soldiers under Gao Jinzhong, and he was very skilled.

In the first year of Hongguang, the Dengliao Naval Division and the Wusong Naval Division failed in a decisive battle with Wu Shengzhao and Li Chengdong at the Shengsheng Port on the Huangpu River, and almost the entire army was wiped out. Before the war, in addition to his wife, who had the heart of death, Wu Zhikui handed over his family to He Huchen. He Huchen got off the ship ahead of schedule, took his own soldiers to escort Wu Zhikui's concubine and young son, took the path to Jinshanwei, and then went to Taiwan via Daishan Island.

He Huchen was idle for a while, just as Taipei Prefecture was conscripted, and he returned to his old business, and took his soldiers to serve in the Taipei Guard Army.

Wu Zhikui and others' concubines, a group of women and children have no production capacity, and after eating the money they carry with them, they only rely on women to teach and weave, and their lives are very hard. He Huchen and others took out most of their military salaries to help them. After a long time, on the one hand, there are soldiers full of blood and blood, and on the other hand, there are widowed women, all of whom are duckweed wandering in troubled times, and it is natural for them to have feelings for each other.

This incident caused a lot of gossip in Taipei Prefecture at that time and attracted the attention of Taipei Prefecture. For the Federation, which is in dire need of population, women's observance and widowhood is an idle resource and a great waste.

Only officers with a family and a job in Taipei can be trusted, and He Huchen made meritorious contributions in the Battle of Fuzhou, and the Taipei Council was already considering solving his personal problems. Seeing that He Huchen and Mrs. Ding got along very well, Maiden waved his pen and matched Mrs. Ding to He Huchen.

The direct and rude approach has caused a lot of controversy in Shilin, Taipei, and the ghosts of the council don't care so much, it's okay for wives to keep festivals, but not for concubines. Starting with He Huchen, a group of concubines of the Ming army who died in battle remarried within a time limit in Taipei Mansion, and public opinion was in an uproar for a while.

The position of the Chinese staff employed by the Taipei government is completely on the side of the council, and there is a big quarrel with the people. Because of the loss of population in the war, the extreme practice of the state prohibiting women from keeping their chastity is actually common in Chinese history.

Shou Xiang waited for both sides to get tired of scolding before he came forward. Overall, the order supports the Taipei Prefecture's approach, with some minor modifications. The dependents of the fallen officers and soldiers are different from ordinary widowed women, and the Taipei government does not support them to observe festivals, but it does not force them. It is very difficult for a woman to support a family alone, and many of the Ming military dependents who withdrew to Taipei came with their husbands' subordinates, as long as conditions are created for them, most women, especially concubines, will choose to start a new life.

It's actually good for everyone. The Taipei Prefecture registered the orphans left behind by the fallen soldiers, and the condition for the officers and soldiers to marry wives was to support their children. The orphans grew up in the military village, they are the children of the military camp, and they are also the best source of soldiers in Taipei Prefecture in the future.

Guide, not force. Shou Zhi took a step back, which can be regarded as saving the precarious reputation of Taipei Prefecture. It's just that poor He Huchen, who was once on the cusp of the storm, was in the center of public opinion and was under a lot of pressure for a while. Shou ordered him to be transferred from Taipei to Hainan, which can be regarded as avoiding the limelight.

Huang Heming came back later than Zhang Shijie.

Zhang Shijie only cared about salt, and the 20,000 taels of silver obtained from the sale of salt this time would be filled into the treasury of the expeditionary force and taken away by them.

Huang Heming had more business to discuss, and he stayed in Yulinzhou City for a few more days.

Huang Heming reported: "Liang Shiyi promised to send Beiliu Zhixian to cooperate with us, and some civilian ships can be sealed without money." ”

"Oh, he's so generous?"

"Liang Shiyi's basic plate is in the Nanliu River, and the Beiliu River only has one county in the Beiliu River, and the boats over there are estimated to have little effect on him."

The ghost gate blocked the route, and it was impossible for the ship to cross the mountains and mountains. There are so many things that need to be prepared for the operation of the army that it is impossible for the order to agree to send an army without the means of mobility to the battlefield to die. Therefore, raising ships has become a priority at the moment.

Of course, the warlords of the Ming Dynasty would not have Lei Feng, and Shou Xu asked, "Did he mention other business?" ”

"Yes, he asked us for arms, and he needed both artillery and gunpowder."

The arms business is the most profitable.

"As long as General Liang pays for it, the Hongyi cannon and the Franc machine are fine, and I'm afraid he can only figure out a way by himself for gunpowder."

Qiongzhou was stockpiling gunpowder in preparation for the Pingli War and future wars, and it was impossible to sell valuable saltpeter to the interior of Guangxi at this time.

Huang Heming didn't know about the Pingli War, it had nothing to do with them, but they knew that Qiongzhou was now only partially supplying gunpowder to the forces along the coast of Guangdong.

Huang Heming said: "I explained to Liang Shiyi, and he said that what Yulin lacks the most is not saltpeter. Yulin also has a cave to boil nitrate, and if there is no finished gunpowder, he wants to buy sulfur from us. ”

"Sulfur is fine, but the price is definitely going to be a bit high."

Sulfur is not table salt, and no one in Guangxi's arms market can compete with the Federation for sulfur supplies. North China could obtain sulfur supplies from Japan through Korea. In the south, apart from the Dutch and Zheng Fan, who owned the Japanese route, the Federation was the only supplier of bulk sulphur. Sulfur is everywhere where there are volcanoes, and the East Indies are full of volcanoes, and sulfur is not worth much there, but in all-out war China, sulfur is extremely scarce.

"Liang Shiyi said that he could pay with a woman, and Heming dared to agree."

"This ...... All right. "It's a little helpless to keep order, the Federation is now famous, there are too many immigrants, the ratio of men and women is out of balance, and women in the Federation are as hard currency as silver and raw silk.

Huang Heming is the person in charge of trade with Guangxi, and this authority must be given, and then he has to go deep into the left and right rivers to buy war horses from the Tusi over there.

Guangxi is now full of warlords, and the military horse business will definitely attract the covetousness of people with intentions, and the seizure of Ma Gang is a trivial matter, and Huang Heming's own life may be in danger. Huang Heming knew the significance of the war horse to the Ming army in Qiongzhou, and he told Zeng Ying that for the great cause of resisting the Tartars, he had put life and death out of the way.

After Huang Heming finished his report, he went to his own business.

Shou Xuan looked at his back. Zhang Shijie is a field officer, and Huang Heming is a businessman of the Horse Racing Gang, and they have given everything for this war in their respective posts.

Officers are determined to sacrifice, and as leaders, order must minimize their danger.

The map of the Guangxi Chengxuan Political Envoy Department is hung on the wall.

Zhang Shijie brought 2,500 troops with him on this trip, and he didn't plan to send so many people, and some soldiers wanted to escort Baiyin back. The Order was only going to send 2,000 men.

The Huguang battlefield is like a huge meat grinder, and there is no difference between 2,500 people and 2,000 people smashed down, and it cannot have a big impact on the battle situation. 2,000 men are enough to deal with a general war, and a small number of people means less food supplies are needed and more flexible movements.

Once Zhang Shijie crosses the Ghost Gate, it will be difficult for Qiongzhou to continue to provide them with logistical support, and they will have to rely on themselves at that time.

In Qiongzhou, he did not say it explicitly, and he had to find a way to avoid irritating the fighting spirit of the officers and soldiers, and told them to come back alive as much as possible.

The logistical supply of the Guangming Army in Hu, Guangxi was extremely chaotic, and most of the troops were in a state of self-survival on the spot, and if they were in a state of swimming all the time, the combat effectiveness of the expeditionary force would soon weaken.

Orderly's fingers swiped across the map, and Zhang Shijie had to find a piece of territory.

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Note: In history, Zhang Shijie and He Huchen died on the battlefield of Susong, and Huang Heming eventually became a wandering soul on the sea.