（o424）

"How many acres of rice are sown in total?" Zhang Zhun asked.

"A total of 3.36 million acres." Monday replied.

Zhang Zhun silently calculated, according to the calculation of 40 catties of rice per mu, the tax income in October will be about 1300 million catties and 34.4 billion catties), which is about 710,000 stones. That would be a remarkable number.

"Excellent! Continue to increase everyone's enthusiasm for reclamation! Zhang Zhun said encouragingly.

With further chaos in the world, the price of grain will skyrocket. At present, the price of grain is close to one stone of grain and two taels of silver. In two years, it will be possible to reach three taels of silver. In two years, prices will rise even more. In some areas, even money cannot buy food. When the time comes, it is more reassuring to have enough food in your hands than to have enough silver in your hands. The grain production of Laizhou Mansion cannot be relaxed at any time!

From the perspective of strategic position, the Laizhou Mansion controlled by Zhang Zhun is unfavorable. From the perspective of grain production, the arable land in Laizhou is not the most fertile, and it is not comparable with Jiangnan at all. Over the years, the cultivated land area of Laizhou Prefecture has hovered around three to four million mu, and Zhang Zhun wants to continue to increase this number. Lu Jun was able to make such a big move in Nanniwan, couldn't he do it in Shandong? He wants to change his territory from a grain import area to a grain export area.

According to Zhang Zhun's strategy, it should rely on the Shandong Peninsula and then radiate to the surrounding areas. This means that in the future, Laizhou will become the main base area, not only to pay soldiers, to export materials, but also to export a large amount of food. Liaodong to the north of the Shandong Peninsula, Korea to the east, and Japan to the southeast have no grain exports. As for Jiangnan, the water there is too deep, and it is very difficult to completely control Jiangnan. The best way is to build the Laizhou Mansion.

"What about the rest?" Zhang Zhun asked again.

"Good, a derivation!" Zhou Zhou Hang said happily.

With the influx of a large amount of funds and materials, all walks of life in Laizhou Prefecture are thriving. It turned out that the big families who fled left a large number of vacancies in the market, and foreign merchants could just make up for it. Due to the existence of a large number of business opportunities, many foreign businessmen poured in, many of whom were businessmen from Jiangnan.

The trade show in Gangnam is very mature, with a variety of business associations. The existence of these business associations greatly restricts the participation of latecomers, especially the exhibition of merchants. Under the devouring of large merchants, the living space of merchants is very narrow. However, Laizhou is different. The market in Wanxing, Laizhou Prefecture, is a blank. As long as you have the courage and are not afraid of being accused of being a thief, you can find a space to survive here.

There is a role model of Shen Lingfei, these businessmen first opened a shop near Fushan City, and then gradually spread to the mainland of Laizhou Mansion. Among these businesses, the fastest development is naturally textile, grain, wood, porcelain, iron-making and other industries. In addition, traditional industries such as tea and silk also have a market here.

In Pingzhou, wine was also produced. In the past, wine was the drink of the wealthy, and only large families could afford to consume it. Now, Pingzhou's wine industry is trying to lower prices and move closer to the common people. Because of the development of the wine industry, the enthusiasm of the people of Pingzhou to plant grapes has also been greatly improved. The Daze Mountain area, which was originally a breeding ground for bandits, has now been replanted with grapes, and the bandits have no room to survive, so they have slowly disappeared.

After the efforts in March, it can basically be said that Zhang Zhun's heel in Laizhou Mansion is really firm. In this regard, Gao Hongtu is also very pleased. At the beginning, what he was most worried about was that Zhang Zhun couldn't withstand the counterattack of the Ming army. If this can't be done, then Zhang Zhun will not be able to gain a firm foothold in Laizhou Mansion.

At that time, the situation was indeed very critical. The infantry of the Tiger Ben Army had to assist in the land reform work, and they also had to exterminate the scattered bandits, and they could not spare their hands at all. In Zhang Zhun's hands, there were only less than 1,000 cavalry, which had just been formed and had not yet completed training. How easy is it to rely on these cavalry to resist tens of thousands of Ming troops?

Fortunately, Zhang Zhun persevered in the end. Zhu Dadian, who was in the limelight in Fengyang Mansion, was stunned by Zhang Zhun with a small number of soldiers and horses, and firmly tied his hands and feet, and finally had to negotiate with Zhang Zhun secretly. With the military victory, it will be much easier to carry out other tasks in the Laizhou Prefecture. For following this cheap disciple to rebel, Gao Hongtu is more and more at ease, and feels more and more hopeful.

Of course, the garrison force of Laizhou Mansion is still far from sufficient. Such a large land, if there is no army of more than 10,000 people, it is simply unusable. So, on March 20, using the nearly 1,000 war horses captured, Zhang Zhun expanded the cavalry of the Huben Army again.

The original cavalry of the Tiger Army was a total of three battalions, each with five teams, about three hundred people. After the expansion, each battalion has jurisdiction over two associations, a total of 10 teams, and a total of about 600 people. Three battalions, that is, close to two thousand people.

In order to better distinguish the numbers of each battalion and facilitate the writing of documents, Zhang Zhun decided to rename the numbers of the three battalions as "Dragoon Battalion", "Tiger Cavalry Battalion" and "Leopard Cavalry Battalion" respectively. The warriors are colloquially called dragoons, tiger cavalry, and leopard cavalry.

At the same time, in order to better distinguish the number of the troops, Zhang Zhun decided to use one character as the code name for each of the ten battalions of the infantry of the Tiger Ben Army, referred to as "a certain word battalion". From the first battalion to the tenth battalion, they are: Biaozi Battalion, Chuangzi Battalion, Dingzi Battalion, Gangzi Battalion, Jie Zi Battalion, Keng Character Battalion, Liezi Battalion, Minzi Battalion, Ningzi Battalion, and Pinzi Battalion.

The personnel and establishment of each battalion remain unchanged, and for the time being, there are still two associations, with a total of about 600 people. Ten battalions, that's six thousand. In terms of numbers, this is quite a strong force. However, due to the large number of recruits, the overall combat effectiveness still needs to be trained for a period of time before it can really improve.

Due to the desperate expansion of the army some time ago, Zhang Zhun's current number of troops, including infantry, cavalry, artillery, navy, and marines, has exceeded 10,000. Coupled with the wear and tear and maintenance of various equipment, military spending has reached a peak. If we want to expand the army again, we must carefully consider the daily expenses of military spending.

Zhang Zhun currently has a stable source of income, mainly refined salt and glass. The monthly income is about 200,000 taels of silver. Such profits, of course, are very considerable. However, if it is divided among the huge army, there is not much. The soldier's salary alone required close to 20,000 taels of silver a month. The cost of repairing and maintaining naval warships and forage for war horses adds up to more than 10,000 taels of silver per month. Therefore, it is necessary to think about making money.

It seems that the robbery of Qingzhou City is a one-time operation, and after the robbery is completed this time, there will be no more next time. The robbery of the Jiangnan area is also a one-time thing, and after the robbery of one place, you can't go next time. In this era, the most profitable thing is, of course, maritime trade. Naturally, his location was the most conducive to maritime trade. The problem is that he does not have the strength to vigorously engage in maritime trade for the time being.

"Money, money, ......"

When I was pondering, someone suddenly came to report, saying that it was Dong Shuyan of the Wenxiang Sect who asked to see her.

"Dong Shuyan?"

"What did she come to see herself?"

Zhang Zhun frowned quietly.

The last time he received a big gift from the Wenxiang Sect, Zhang Zhun knew that the Wenxiang Sect would definitely come to him. It's the rule to give gifts first and then do things. It seems that Dong Shuyan's arrival this time is ready to solve the mystery. I don't know what the Smelling Fragrance Sect wants to do for themselves? If you ask for your help in dealing with Wang Yilun, you should consider it carefully.

It is necessary to deal with Wang Yilun. This son plotted against himself, even if he chased him to the ends of the earth, he would be arrested and broken into thousands of pieces. The problem is that killing Wang Yilun now will not do the Tiger Army any good. A unified smelling incense sect, a united smelling incense sect, is not what Zhang Zhun needs. Shandong's territory can't be touched by others!

"Please let her in."

Zhang Zhun said slowly.

Dong Shuyan soon appeared in Zhang Zhun's field of vision.

She is still dressed in men's clothes, and she looks exceptionally handsome, quite a bit of Song Yu Pan'an. The two eyes, in particular, are like the deep stars in the night sky, which is unforgettable. If you want to talk about posture, Xue Zhidie and others around Zhang Zhun are all stunners in the world, but when it comes to the brightness of their eyes, no one is as good as this witch eldest sister of the Smelling Fragrance Sect.

After Dong Shuyan came in, she bowed slightly to Zhang Zhun respectfully, the dimples on the corners of her mouth loomed, and she said gracefully: "Woman Dong Shuyan, I have seen Lord Dudu." ”

Zhang Zhun didn't speak, his eyes were on her body, constantly examining back and forth, as if he was thinking about something. In addition to Dong Shuyan's bright and deep eyes, the biggest feature is two looming dimples. If people who don't know the details see the two sweet dimples, they will definitely relax their vigilance, thinking that she is just a girl who has not been deeply involved in the world, how can they know how terrible she is? The pear vortex smiled lightly, as if inviting the king, the dream was light and the tide was over, and the soul was ethereal...... Sure enough, she is a girl with a great city!

Dong Shuyan felt Zhang Zhun's unusual gaze, slowly put away her gentle smile, frowned and said, "Lord Dudu, don't you think it's very rude for you to look at a woman like this?" ”

Zhang Zhun shook his head and said casually: "I will study you as a man." ”

Dong Shuyan frowned, her deep eyes carried a hint of imperceptible coldness, and she said slowly: "The meaning of Lord Du Du is quite unfathomable!" ”