"Sixteen and a half million catties!"

"More than eighty-seven thousand three hundred stones!"

"The average yield per mu is more than one stone!"

Wang Mingyu particularly emphasized these three figures.

"More or less?"

Zhang Zhun asked slowly.

"Of course it's a lot! In the past, the grain output of Fushan was less than 40,000 stone at its peak! This year's harvest is twice as much! In the past, the highest average yield per mu was less than one stone three! We've improved our four buckets! ”

Wang Mingyu replied excitedly.

"Not bad!"

"We must make persistent efforts to increase the sown area and yield per mu!"

"I hope to increase the planting area next year to about 200,000 mu."

"Next year's average yield per mu will strive to break through two stones."

Zhang Zhun nodded with satisfaction, and then put forward higher requirements for everyone.

In the past, these fields were cultivated by tenants, and most of the harvest had to be handed over to officers at all levels, and what they kept could not even guarantee food and clothing. In addition, there were not so many water train facilities in the past, and it was impossible to ensure the water source needed for the growth and development of rice. There is no water in rice, so it is no wonder that the yield can go up. After investing a lot of money on his own, it is not surprising that he has such a result.

Among these data, the most critical is the increase in yield per mu. The cultivation of the fields is relatively easy. The increase of yield per mu involves a series of problems such as seeds, fertilizers, and cultivation techniques, which are relatively more difficult. However, it is precisely because of the great difficulty that we must concentrate our efforts to break through the difficulties and strive for progress.

The average yield per mu is one stone seven, only more than 300 catties, of course Zhang Zhun is not very satisfied. In later generations, the yield of rice per mu was often thousands of catties, and in some places, it was even close to 2,000 catties. This distance is too far. Even if Yuan Longping's hybrid rice factor is deducted, it is still feasible to increase the average yield per mu to about 500 catties. Each mu of land is increased by one hundred and fifty catties, hundreds of thousands of acres, millions of acres, or even tens of millions of acres of fields, calculated together, the number is absolutely amazing.

For ordinary farmers, it is also of great benefit to them to strive to increase the yield per mu. After all, the amount of grain is fixed, 40 catties of dry rice per mu. According to the calculation of the yield of 330 catties per mu, after deducting the 40 catties of taxes, there are about 290 catties. Five acres of land is 1,450 catties. That's enough food for three people for a year. However, if the yield per mu continues to increase, it may even be able to provide rations for four people. The higher the yield per mu, the more grain can be sold for money, which is the most obvious truth.

As for Zhang Zhun here, the income is also good. A tax of 40 catties is charged per mu of land, and 50,000 mu of land is a total of 2 million catties. Now there are not many people who need to consume public food, mainly the soldiers of the Tiger Army. About two thousand people. On average, there are more than 1,000 catties per person. In fact, only 700 catties per person is enough. A considerable part of the rest can be used for other things.

Compared with the large amount of grain stored in the hands of farmers, the taxes collected by Zhang Zhun are indeed not much, but Wang Mingyu, Liu Hang and others are already very happy in their hearts. I have food in my hand, and I don't panic! If the imperial court in the capital is a large imperial court, then in Fushan City, there is a small imperial court. No matter which court you are, what you are most afraid of is that you have no money or food. If you have no money or food, who wants to work with you? If that big court had money and food in its hands, there would be no civil unrest in Shaanxi at all, and Zhang Zhun and others would not need to rise up to rebel!

As the pressure on food decreases, the silver in Zhang Zhun's hands can also be used to do more things. The price of buying grain is getting more and more expensive, and if you still rely solely on buying grain, you have to spend a lot of silver taels. At present, Fushan City, Aoshan City, Lingshan City, Xiongyasuo, Xiahezhai and other places, as well as the construction of various ports, all require a large amount of silver. It can be said that even if Zhang Zhun obtains millions of taels of silver out of thin air, it is not enough to see at all. What's more, Zhang Zhun didn't have so many silver taels at all. Therefore, if you can save, you will save.

The bumper harvest of Fushan is also a great stimulus to the people of Aoshan City. Because there was not enough people to harvest rice, those who had relatives in Aoshan City or other cities all invited to help. These peasant households from other cities witnessed the bumper rice harvest in Fushansuo, and the granaries at home were full of joy, and of course their eyes turned green with envy.

For example, the Huang family invited more than a dozen distant relatives from Aoshan City to help them harvest rice. When they come back from work every day, the first thing they do when they sit down is to sigh constantly. Fushan is a good fate, Zhang Zhun was born here. It was the first to rebel here, and the first to promulgate the Junda Decree here. Now, everyone has reaped the tangible benefits and no longer has to go hungry. Thankfully, it's not too late in the other cities. By June next year, there should be such a bumper harvest in my family's fields.

Even the Lingshan Guards next to them were a little moved. Who doesn't want their granaries to be piled up to the brim? However, they are only tempted. They still didn't have the courage to stand up actively and take the initiative to divide the land into their own hands. Zhang Zhun and the others are also willing to develop a large farm in Lingshanwei, and they are not ready to divide the fields and land so quickly. As a result, the status quo was maintained.

Compared with the division of land and land, the income of large farms is the bulk of Zhang Zhun. The total rice harvest of Fushan Institute was more than 16 million catties, and Zhang Zhun only got 2 million catties, only less than one and a half catties. The rest of the eighty and a half percent, the main ones, are in the hands of the farmers. But Lingshanwei's big farm is different. The harvest of the big farm, the big head is here in Zhang Zhun, and the small head is each tunding.

Compared with the bumper harvest in Fushan, the rice harvest in Shandong is not very good. The areas where rice is grown in Shandong are mainly on both sides of the canal, including Yanzhou, Dongchang, Jinan and other places. Due to the continuous drought, the landlords were reluctant to invest a lot of money in building water conservancy projects to improve the conditions for rice cultivation. As a result, the output of grain is decreasing year by year. The consequence of insufficient food production is inevitably the emergence of a large number of hungry people.

The most immediate consequences have already been reflected in food prices. Since October, the price of grain per stone that Zhang Zhun has purchased from Jiangnan has increased to one or two or six yuan of silver, an increase of two yuan of silver from before. Jiangnan is the main rice producing area, and there has always been a saying that Suhu is ripe and the world is full, which seriously affects the price of rice in the world. If there is a change in the price of grain over there, the price of grain in various parts of Shandong will inevitably be higher. In the foreseeable future, it is entirely possible that the price of grain will soar to two taels of silver per stone.

One or two or six dollars of silver per stone of grain, it really feels like cutting meat. The consumption of food is too large, and each person has to consume at least about two stones of grain every year. The area under Zhang's control is currently about 100,000 people. 100,000 people, two stone grain per person, is 200,000 stone grain per year, if you buy all of them, it will be more than 300,000 taels of silver. If it weren't for Zhang Zhun being a traverser, he would have some special ways to make money, and he might have filed for bankruptcy by now.

In addition, with the continuous expansion of the war, the erosion of the whole province of Henan, the northern part of Nanzhili, and the Huguang region, and the grain producing areas will be seriously affected. In Henan and other Central Plains regions, the output of grain is quite large. Once Henan does not produce grain, the whole world will be affected. As far as the course of history is concerned, Fengyang Mansion, Luzhou Mansion, Anqing Mansion and other places in Nanzhili will soon be interfered by the Shaanxi rebel army. Zhang Xianzhong would also go into Huguang and plunder the local grain. At that time, the grain output in the south of the Yangtze River will be seriously reduced. Even if you have money, you can't necessarily buy food.

In fact, in Jiangnan, some big grain merchants have begun to hoard grain in a planned way. These big grain merchants are all very well-funded, and many of them are side businesses of salt merchants, and if you don't have a net worth of one million taels of silver, you are embarrassed to enter this market. They would put hundreds of thousands of taels of silver at every turn, and hoarded hundreds of thousands of stones or even millions of stones of grain at a time, greatly raising the price of grain.

In the last years of Chongzhen, a stone of grain was sold for four taels of silver, and it was still priceless, and these big grain merchants made great contributions. The black money they earn is indeed rich. However, the money they earn, they themselves do not have a chance to spend. With the entry of the Qing army, they were killed and their property was confiscated, which can be described as a great tragedy. It is worth mentioning that the backgrounds of these big grain merchants are almost all Donglin Party members. Chongzhen is counting on such a group of people to save the country, but he really doesn't know what to do.

Fortunately, as long as Zhang Zhun continues to hold out until June next year, when the winter wheat is harvested, there is basically no need to import grain. The twenty large farms in Lingshanwei, according to the most conservative estimates, can also produce 500,000 stone of grain. Aoshan City, Xiahe Village and Xiongya are basically self-sufficient. Let the price of his food fly to the sky, it has nothing to do with him Zhang Zhun.

With enough money to eat, what is the first thing to do?

Of course, it is an expansion of armaments.

Power comes out of the barrel of a gun, except for the army, all other gods and horses are floating clouds.

On October 29, Zhang Zhun officially announced the expansion of the army.

The convoy, well, now renamed the Tiger Army, turned out to be an association of four dissatisfied members, and now, of course, all of them must be full. At the same time, the Fifth Association was newly compiled. There were five squads in each squad, and each squad consisted of 50 soldiers, and 250 soldiers in each squad, not counting the officers. Plus officers, more than 300 people. The total strength of the five associations is more than 1,600 people. The artillery association is still two detachments, not counting officers, a total of 100 soldiers, 10 franc machine guns.

The First Association continued to be stationed at the Xiongya Station, and the commander was Yang Zhiyuan.

Their main task is to keep an eye on the movement in the direction of Laiyang. In this direction, both the officers and soldiers of Dengzhou Mansion and the Wenxiang Sect around Laiyang have recently made frequent moves, and they must be vigilant. At the same time, this is also the first pass to screen the Tartar annihilation. All refugees from the direction of Laiyang must undergo the most basic inquiries here before they can be assigned to Aoshan City and Fushan City.

The Second Association was stationed in Lingshan City, and the commander was Hao Linyong.

Their main task is to protect the safety of Lingshan City. The farms in Lingshan City will have a bumper harvest by June next year. Due to the stimulation of the rice harvest in Fushan City, the government may also fight the idea of Lingshan City. If they can successfully take Lingshan City before the winter wheat harvest in June next year, the more than 200,000 mu of winter wheat that will be sown will become a gift from the officers and men.

In "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", there are many battles, all of which are launched because of food. Grabbing food is often one of the main purposes of waging war. For example, Zhuge Liang went out of Qishan and repeatedly chose to launch an attack before the grain near Tianshui was ripe, that is, to grab grain on the spot, so as not to transport it from the rear for a long time. The grain that he had worked so hard to grow was snatched away by the enemy in the end, and Zhang Zhun definitely couldn't stand this feeling. Therefore, it is necessary to deploy a contingent of troops in Lingshan City.

The Third Association was stationed in Aoshan City, and the commander was Yang Zixuan.

Their main task is to prevent the attack of horse thieves, and at the same time, to be ready to attack actively. Aoshan City is mainly facing various forces in Laizhou Prefecture. Compared with Dengzhou Mansion, the strength of the officers and soldiers of Laizhou Mansion is not very strong. However, in the direction of Pingdu State, there are a lot of horse thieves. Horse thieves and horse thieves, since they are called horse thieves, it means that they have war horses. Aoshan City is surrounded by plain areas, and horse thieves come and go like the wind. If they suddenly attacked Zhang Zhun during the winter wheat harvest, Zhang Zhun would still be very injured.

The Fourth Association was stationed in Fushan City as the general reserve for the campaign, and the commander was Wu Qingliang.

Their main task is to launch an active attack at any time, or to support the attacked area. In order to meet the needs of multifaceted operations, the officers and men of the Fourth Association also had to spare a certain amount of time to train together with the navy. So that when necessary, they can cooperate with the naval army.

The Fifth Association was stationed in Aoshan City, and the commander was Yang Hongwen.

Their main task, the same as that of the Third Association, is to prepare for the attack of horse thieves while preparing for the initiative to attack. The newly established Fifth Association is equipped with the best quality, the most powerful, and the most durable. At the same time, they are also the association with the most veterans. Zhang Zhun's establishment principle is that as long as it is a new unit, there are the most veterans.

The artillery association is stationed in Aoshan City, which also belongs to the sequence of the campaign reserve, and the commander is Xu Ziwen. Their main task is to cooperate with the main forces in combat. However, due to the lack of sufficient horses, the Franco's artillery was not convenient for rapid maneuvering, so there were only two main ways for them to fight: siege or defense.

In addition, Zhang Zhun also set up a recruit training camp, which was supervised by Lin Bin, to gather most of the wounded of the Tiger Ben Army. The main task of the boot camp is to recruit some young adults on a regular basis every year for basic training. This includes familiarizing them with the various weapons, platoons, housekeeping, and discipline of the Tiger Army, and improving their physical fitness. Each person trains for at least three months. When there is a shortage in the regular army, they can make up for it at any time. In this way, the regular army does not need to train recruits specifically. As long as the veteran brings a belt, he can go to the battlefield.

After the adjustment, each soldier of the Tiger Ben Army was equipped with a Tiger Ben gun, a bayonet, a dagger, two hundred and fifty rounds (five bases) of Mini bullets, and the corresponding black powder. Each officer above the deputy level is also equipped with an eagle-eyed gun for self-defense. The fighters of the artillery association, each equipped with an eagle-eyed gun, were used for self-defense.

Generally speaking, Zhang Zhun's troop deployment is very targeted. Among them, the strength of Aoshan City was the strongest, with two infantry associations and one artillery association stationed, with a total strength of more than 700 people. If Zhang Zhun didn't have anything special, he would basically be stationed in Aoshan City. The recruit training camp of the Tiger Ben Army is also deployed in Aoshan City.

The reason why Aoshan City is equipped with such a strong army is because its location is the most important.

According to Ma Yi's information, the government is still very wary of Zhang Zhun. If you believe in the previous appeasement and let your guard down, you may have to capsize in the gutter at any time. In fact, both the government and Zhang Zhun himself are strongly wary of each other. Just because the two sides are at peace for the time being does not mean that there will be peace in the future.

This vigilance psychology also needs to involve a fraudulent surrender of the Shaanxi rebel army. In June this year, Chen Qiyu, the governor of the five provinces, and Lu Xiangsheng, the governor of Yunyang, joined forces in Shangjin. At that time, most of the peasant army units entered Hannan, and Chen Qiyu led the army to the west, and at the same time ordered the four governors of Shaanxi, Yunyang, Huguang, and Henan to encircle and suppress the Hannan peasant army. When the peasant army Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai, Li Zicheng and other troops saw the four episodes of the Ming army, they panicked for a moment and mistakenly took the Chezhou Gorge in Xing'an (now the Han River valley east of Shiquan in Shaanxi Province).

In the canyon is an ancient plank road, and the mountains on all sides are steep, easy to enter and difficult to exit. Officers and soldiers arrived from all sides and surrounded the peasant regiments. At that time, it had been raining for more than 20 days, and the trapped peasant army horses were exhausted and were about to die. Li Zicheng had a strategist named Gu Junen, who suggested that Li Zicheng surrender by fraud, saying that he was willing to accept the appeasement. At the same time, he used a large amount of gold and silver treasures to buy Chen Qiyu and the generals.

Chen Qiyu may have been dizzy, but actually agreed. He sent envoys to appease Li Zicheng and others. Li Zicheng and the others naturally agreed to any request, just to leave the Carriage Gorge as soon as possible. Chen Qiyu thought that Li Zicheng and others were cornered, so he surrendered willingly. As a result, in July, the rebel army successfully broke out of the Chezhou Gorge, with a total strength of about 36,000 men. As soon as they broke out of the siege, they rebelled and once again wreaked havoc on all sides. Chen Qiyu was so angry that he vomited blood, but he was helpless.

The encircled enemy escaped alive and continued to wreak havoc in all directions, which was the most basic reason for Chen Qiyu's imprisonment. At the same time, this matter also involves another celebrity in the late Ming Dynasty, that is, Xiong Wencan. Because the idea of appeasement is what he supports. Xiong Wencan has a precedent of successfully appeasing Zheng Zhilong, so he thinks that it is feasible to appease Li Zicheng and others. Unexpectedly, he was ruthlessly put on a show by Li Zicheng and others. It's too late to regret it.

(To be continued)