In fact, Gui Chongchun is just a false alarm. Because, the reason why Yang Ming slapped the table angrily was not because Gui Chongchun was cheating again, but because the data recorded in the booklet presented by Gui Chongchun this time was too real, and the truth made Yang Ming have to believe that even in Xiaoxiao Dongxiang County, the phenomenon of land annexation is very serious.

Dongxiang County is located in the east of Sichuan, and it is mostly mountainous and hilly, and there are few fields.

But half of the more than 100,000 acres of paddy fields are concentrated in the hands of a few bureaucrats and gentry.

If Yang Ming wants to build an elite army in Dongxiang County, he must have a steady stream of money and grain support, and money and grain naturally have to rely on the collection of taxes as an important means.

And now, if according to the system of the Ming Dynasty's gentry not paying grain, and not collecting commercial taxes, I am afraid that I can only learn from Chongzhen to squeeze the already miserable homesteaders.

"Reform must be carried out! Especially fiscal tax reform! And this field must also be redivided, either redeemed or forcibly nationalized! ”

Yang Mingzheng was saying that he saw Gui Chongchun trembling and kneeling on the ground and shouting aggrieved, so he hurriedly helped him up: "Gui to the master, you misunderstood, the official didn't blame you, you did a good job this time, when you do these things in the future, be bolder, don't be afraid of those gentry, the official and the Han family camp are behind your back to support you, you go down." ”

Although Yang Ming now wants to reform to reconcile class contradictions, doing so is bound to cause a backlash from the gentry, after all, these people still have a large influence in Dongxiang County.

Before Yang Ming could do these things, he had to strengthen his military strength first, so Yang Ming could only ask Gui Chongchun to recount the fish scale book and the yellow book now, and at the same time make a false deal with these gentry and hurry up recruiting troops.

Before that, there was still one million taels of silver given to Yang Ming by Chen Gelao, so Yang Ming was not in a hurry to attack these gentry who deprived the people of fat and cream.

Before recruiting troops, in order to better prepare for military spending and control the finances of Dongxiang County, Yang Ming first embarked on currency reform.

First of all, the silver dollar engraved with lace and Zhu Yuanzhang's head and other anti-counterfeiting signs was forcibly implemented in the market, and it was stipulated that silver dollars would be used for tax collection and distribution of Yulu in the future, and gradually, people were also accustomed to using silver dollars as general equivalents.

After all, this is not a treasure banknote, just like the change of dynasty to remake copper coins, the people are more acceptable, plus Dongxiang County is only a small county, the commodity economy is not developed, so the difficulty of monetary and financial reform is not great.

The benefits of a unified currency and the right to make money were undeniable, and Yang Ming's newly established Dongxiang County Military Government made a lot of money as a result. At this time, the Hanjiaying had been renamed the Hanjia Army, and because everything was focused on the military, a military government was established.

In addition, Yang Ming also re-registered the displaced people outside the city, incorporated them into the new household registration, and encouraged them to reclaim wasteland and rebuild their homes. The junta provided free agricultural tools and food support, and promised no interference with any private land that it cultivated on its own, which could be used as its private land in perpetuity.

As a result, many displaced people naturally enthusiastically support the junta's policies.

Some people even forgot that Yang Ming and the others were just thieves in the eyes of the imperial court, and regarded Yang Ming as real court officials, and before leaving the county seat to reclaim wasteland, these homeless people were grateful and kowtowed in the direction of the county government.

After all, now, someone really took care of them, and finally settled them in a home, and some people who had been exiled for a long time shed tears: "Lord Qingtian, I finally met a good official who is willing to take us in, woo!" ”

Although Dongxiang County, like other counties in the late Ming Dynasty, after more than 200 years of land annexation, a large amount of land was concentrated in the hands of a small number of bureaucrats and gentry, but Dongxiang County also has a special place, that is, he has suffered a certain degree of military disaster, and many natural villages have become abandoned villages, so the effect of these displaced people to reclaim land is also obvious, and it didn't take long for many new villages like Hanjia Village to spring up.

After the initial reform, finally in the third month after the occupation of the county government, that is, in the first month of the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, Yang Ming began the spring recruitment work.

"Boom!"

"Recruited! Recruited! Dongxiang County Military Government Notice: All men over 18 years old and under 35 years old can go to the Han Army Office with a household registration certificate to register for the selection examination of the Han Army, once they are hired as soldiers of the Han Army, recruits can enjoy a minimum annual salary of 20 yuan and various benefits, please see the attached text for details; In addition, those who have meritorious service or are literate and those who have been in the military may be directly given priority in recruitment, and those who are outstanding may be directly trained as reserve officers."

Three days later, in every township of Dongxiang County, there were several changfu beating gongs and drums, reading the contents of the notice, and at the same time showing the wooden boards with the notice to the people in each township.

It is the common idea of the common people that a good man should not be a soldier, but he can't stand the preferential treatment of the Han army and the beautiful image of the Han army that has long been rooted in the hearts of the local people, so that many people are willing to let their sons or husbands sign up for the army.

In just half a month of recruitment, more than 13,000 people have signed up.

"Childe, there are more than 10,000 people, if all of them stay, our Han army can occupy Kuizhou Mansion!" Lan Guanwei took a list and said to Yang Ming.

Yang Mingxin set up a staff department, with Lan Guanwei as the chief of staff, and recruited a few honest and obedient students or children from poor backgrounds who knew some military books as staff officers to participate in the daily handling of military affairs.

The reason why Lan Guanwei was appointed as chief of staff is that Lan Guanwei has studied and served as the general flag in the border army, and second, since the establishment of the Han family battalion, he is also the person who has received modern military knowledge the fastest.

Although he is much better than others, Lan Guanwei still can't keep up with the rhythm in some aspects, such as this time, Yang Ming vetoed his suggestion: "You can't leave them all, most of these recruited children are malnourished, and their blood is insufficient, and their temperament is cowardly, and they need to be strictly selected to be strong-willed, well-established or well-educated talents can be forged into elite soldiers, and the soldiers are not fine, this is my new assessment plan, you immediately take it to the General Staff, and let them immediately copy dozens of copies and distribute them to officers at all levels." ”

"Yes!" Lan Guanwei immediately responded, picked up the "Recruit Assessment Plan" and read it a few times, then sighed: "It's hard for the son to think of it, if you choose according to this, it would be good to be able to leave half of the people." ”

The preliminary assessment of more than 10,000 conscripts is to conduct long-distance training along the official road from Hanjia Village to Dongxiang County, and there is only one condition, to finish the run within one day, either they will give up automatically if they can't finish the run, or they will be eliminated after spending more than a day, in short, as Lan Guanwei said, this time more than 6,000 people will be brushed down.

"Look at you useless things, it didn't take a day for Lao Tzu to run back and forth, and he occupied the county seat by the way, you are still tired like dogs, stand up for Lao Tzu all, don't fucking lie on the ground, tomorrow will have basic queue training, if you can't turn left and right or are too stupid, you should leave as soon as possible, so as not to be embarrassed tomorrow!"

Xu Yong, who is now the instructor of the fourth standard recruit assessment, stood on a boulder with his hands crossed and shouted.

"Who is that instructor, who still has the strength to yell there after running for so long?"

"You don't know him, he is Instructor Xu, I heard that he is the younger brother of Xu Shuixian, the governor of the secretariat, does Xu Shuixian know, the old villagers who followed Yang Gongzi to establish Hanjia Village, I heard that he is still the concubine of the official family?"

"Oh, according to you, then why does he still do this drudgery, running with us every day?"

"Who knows, maybe the official family is such a person who has a clear distinction between public and private, and he doesn't favor him because he is Governor Xu's younger brother", before this person finished speaking, Xu Yong threw a whip over: "If anyone chews his tongue again, Lao Tzu will let him be eliminated immediately!" ”

"Childe, the five-day assessment work is over, a total of 4,700 people remained, of which 176 are still hired due to special conditions, either they can read and write, or they can operate artillery guns and the like, or they have served as military attachés in the official army, etc.", soon, Lan Guanwei took a much shrunken list to Yang Ming.

"It seems that my assessment conditions are still too strict, I thought that there would be six thousand people left, or you should choose a few hundred more people, make up five thousand integers, and start training after the selection is over, it is estimated that the court will not have much time for us."

Yang Ming did not believe that the imperial court would not turn a blind eye to the loss of a county seat, especially in the Sichuan region, where the imperial court had strong control, so he had to hurry up and strive to train an elite army within three months.