One of his subordinates said: "This man surnamed Xiong is greedy for money and lustful, I really don't know how he subdued the Fifth Battalion of Gezuo." The pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info "This person's name is Chen Hong, and he is also Luo Rucai's henchman.

After glancing at him, Luo Rucai said disdainfully: "Through this observation of the month, except for Zuo Liangyu's ability to fight, I don't see any capable generals under Xiong Wencan, I think the key reason is probably the person named Zhao Guohua, but unfortunately he didn't come this time." ”

"I heard from an officer under Xiong Wencan that this person was appointed by Chongzhen Xiao'er as the four-rank governor of the Loyal and Righteous Protector Army, and he is now training the team in Macheng County." Yan Youde said.

Hearing this, Luo Rucai frowned and thought for a while, and then said: "Youde, in a few days, you will take someone to Macheng County to take a look and touch the reality of Zhao Guohua's kid." ”

"Yes." Yan Youde hugged his fists and bowed.

After reorganizing the Loyal and Righteous Protector Army, Zhao Guohua asked everyone to pay close attention to training, and on the other hand, he began to think about economic development. No work, no wealth, no farming, no stability. Without food and money, it is difficult for any army or country to sustain itself. There are many people in the Dabie Mountains and little land, and there is not much land suitable for growing grain, so it is necessary to find a high-yield crop that does not choose the soil to grow.

After thinking about it, he suddenly remembered the crops of sweet potatoes, corn and potatoes, which had been brought from the Americas at the end of the Ming Dynasty.

Thinking of this, he decided to go to Wuchang Mansion to ask Xiong Wencan and think of a way, after all, he had been the governor of Fujian for many years. There are many ports in Fujian, especially Quanzhou, which is famous, and there are many overseas businessmen who have been coming and going for many years.

Considering that it would take some time to leave Macheng, he summoned the officers to the governor's palace for a meeting.

"Generals, I have something to go to Wuchang Mansion for a period of time, during the period when I am away, Cheng Chong will temporarily lead the Protector Army instead of me, Cheng Chong will be responsible for the training of the army and the defense of the county, Cheng Chong, Lu Qing and Ma Shouying will be jointly responsible for the expenditure of military expenses and the allocation of materials, and the responsibilities of the others will remain unchanged. Before I leave, if you have any problems that I need to solve, please say them as soon as possible. Zhao Guohua said.

At this time, Chief of Staff Ma Shouying spoke: "Governor, Captain Cheng, it is the end of the year, the temperature in the Dabie Mountain area has become low, the soldiers are busy with training, and they can't take care of their families. ”

Hearing this, Zhao Guohua said happily: "Chief of Staff Ma, you go back and write an application, I will grant you 15,000 taels of silver here, if it is not enough, you can apply again." Don't know if it's possible? ”

"Okay! Yes! Yes! Ma Shouying said excitedly.

Originally, he thought that the Fifth Battalion of the Revolution had surrendered to the people, and the family members were sick, and the people would give them a maximum of two or three thousand taels of silver, which would be good, after all, the funds in the Protector Army were not abundant, but he couldn't imagine that the people would give them 150 million taels.

Looking at Ma Shouying's excited expression, and then at He Yilong and Liu Xiyao, Zhao Guohua said with a smile: "Chief of Staff Ma, I said that the National Protector Army is a collective, in this collective, every soldier is equal, the soldiers contribute to the country, and their families should be taken care of, as long as there is the National Protector Army, the families of the soldiers will not suffer." ”

Hearing these words, not only Ma Shouying, He Yilong, Liu Xiyao and others were moved, but also other officers were excited.

"Thank you, Governor! We swear here that we will always be loyal to the Governor of Zhao, loyal to the Protector Army, and never rebel. Ma Shouying, He Yilong and Liu Xiyao raised their right hands together and saluted the military salute and said solemnly.

After allocating the money and visiting some sick family members and children of the soldiers of the 5th Battalion of the original Revolution, Zhao Guohua bid farewell to the generals and took Niu Huan and six or seven guards to Wuchang Mansion to find Xiong Wencan to inquire about sweet potatoes, corn and potatoes.

Sweet potato, also known as sweet potato, sweet potato, sweet potato, yam, red vetch, etc., was introduced to China in the 16th century, and has been cultivated for less than 500 years. Sweet potatoes are sweet, nutritious, easy to digest, and provide a lot of heat, so some regions use them as a staple food. Sweet potatoes are annual herbaceous plants with round, oval or spindle-shaped roots in the underground, and the shape, skin and flesh color of the tubers vary depending on the variety or soil. Native to South America and the Greater and Lesser Antilles, sweet potatoes are now widely cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions around the world, but have also been successfully cultivated in some northerner regions such as Heilongjiang Province. It is commonly cultivated in most parts of China.

Sweet potato is a high-yield and adaptable food crop, which is closely related to industrial and agricultural production and people's lives. In addition to being used as a staple food, tubers are also an important raw material for food processing, starch and alcohol manufacturing industries, and roots, stems and leaves are excellent feed

Potato is an edible perennial herb of the Solanaceae family and is the fourth most important food crop in the world, after wheat, rice and maize. Potatoes are also known as ground eggs, potatoes, potato, etc., and are the tubers of Solanaceae plants. Together with wheat, rice, corn and sorghum, it has become the world's top five crops. Potatoes are native to the Andes Mountains of South America and have been cultivated in southern Peru from about 8000 to 5000 BC.

According to the records of Xingping County, Shaanxi Province, potatoes were introduced to China in the 16th century.

Potatoes are very suitable for growing in the alpine areas where the grain yield was very low and only wheat (naked oats) could be grown, and it was soon popularized in Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Shanxi, and northern Shaanxi.

Corn originated on the American continent and is native to Mexico or Central America. After Columbus discovered the New World, he brought corn to Spain, and with the development of the world's seafaring industry, corn gradually spread to all parts of the world and became one of the most important food crops. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the cultivation of corn has reached more than ten provinces, such as Jilin, Zhejiang, Fujian, Yunnan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Gansu, Shandong, Henan, Hebei, Anhui and other places. It has a history of about 460 years. Up to now, China's corn planting area and total output are second only to the United States, ranking second in the world.

Corn is one of the most widely distributed crops in the world, and is cultivated in large quantities from 58 degrees north latitude to 35-40 degrees south latitude.

Corn is widely distributed in China, from Hainan Island at 18 degrees north latitude in the south, north to the north of Heihe in Heilongjiang Province at 53 degrees north latitude, from Taiwan and coastal provinces in the east, to Xinjiang and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in the west, all have a certain area.

Potatoes, corn, sweet potatoes and other high-yielding crops introduced from the Americas became the main food of the poor class, which played an important role in maintaining the rapid growth of the Chinese population.

"Guohua, you are here, go and sit in the house ......" Seeing Zhao Guohua, Xiong Wencan took his hand affectionately and said with a smile, hearing that Zhao Guohua was coming, Xiong Wencan laughed and greeted his staff Liu Wencai.

For Zhao Guohua, Xiong Wencan's heart is full of gratitude, without his design to capture Lao Huihui and others, he could not surrender the entire army of the Fifth Battalion of the Left Battalion, and without the deterrence of the surrender of the entire army of the Fifth Battalion of the Left Battalion, there would be no surrender of Zhang Xianzhong, Liu Guoneng and Luo Rucai. Today, he can sit in Wuchang Mansion safely, and he has a great relationship with Zhao Guohua.

"The marshal treats the lowly position like this, which really makes the lowly duty grateful." Zhao Guohua hurriedly bowed with a smile on his face.

After entering the room and sitting down, Xiong Wencan asked with a smile: "Guohua, how is the reorganization of your loyal and righteous national protection army?" ”

"Your Excellency, the Loyal and Righteous Protector Army has been reorganized, with a total of more than 40,000 people, and it has been reorganized into four combat corps and one directly subordinate corps. There are 15,000 people in the direct corps, 7,000 in the other corps, and 4,000 in the cavalry corps. ”

Hearing that there were 40,000 combat troops in the Loyal Protector Army, Xiong Wencan was a little surprised, and he asked: "Guohua, the number of your Loyal Protector Army has exceeded the total number of soldiers in a town, I don't know where these horses of yours came from?" ”

Liu Wencai was also looking at Zhao Guohua and listening to how he explained the matter.

Looking at the two, Zhao Guohua said: "In addition to the women and children in the fifth battalion of the Revolution, there are tens of thousands of horses, these people can't be killed, after all, they have laid down their weapons and surrendered, but they can't let go, let them go, if they have no life, they will still surrender and rebel or run to other rogues, which is equivalent to increasing the strength of the rogues." At this point he paused.

"Not bad. Indeed it is. Xiong Wencan twisted his beard and said in a deep voice.

Liu Wencai also said appreciatively: "Captain Zhao is thinking about it. ”

"These people can neither be killed nor released, so what to do. At this time, I thought of a way, many of these people have been in the war for many years, have fought battles, have seen blood, much stronger than the new soldiers, is a good source of soldiers, I simply recruited the best of these people into the loyal and righteous national protection army, in this way, not only to solve their living problems, but also to expand our strength, "weaken the rogue, this is a good thing to kill three birds with one stone." I wonder what Dashuai and Mr. Liu think? ”

"Kill three birds with one stone? Not bad, not bad. Xiong Wencan couldn't help but praise loudly after hearing this.

After listening to Zhao Guohua's method of placing the Fifth Battalion of the Revolutionary Left, Liu Wencai also felt that it was very appropriate, and he said in his heart: "This Zhao Guohua does things differently, but the method is so appropriate, this person is indeed worthy of my Liu's relationship." ”

At this time, he thought of one more thing, and he said: "Brother Guohua, how did you settle the leaders of the Fifth Battalion of the Revolution?" ”

Looking at him, and then at Xiong Wencan, Zhao Guohua said: "I appointed Lao Huihui's son Ma Bo as the chief of the cavalry, Ma Shouying as the chief of staff of the Loyal and Righteous Protector Army, He Yilong as the captain of the Third Corps, Liu Xiyao, the deputy captain, He Jin was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Dabie Mountain Production and Construction Corps of the Loyal and Righteous Protector Army, and the commander-in-chief of the teaching team of the Lin Chengcheng Loyal and Righteous Protector Army. ”

"Brother Guohua, don't you be afraid that Ma Bo and He Yilong will be arranged like this?" Liu Wencai asked. Hearing that the leaders of the Liukou Ma Bo and He Yilong were entrusted with important positions, Liu Wencai couldn't help but worry about Zhao Guohua, so he reminded him.

"Thank you Mr. Liu for the reminder." Zhao Guohua said with a smile,