"My lord, this time I am afraid that those thieves who have already surrendered will make trouble again. The adults also knew that the last general had some properties in Tongzhou and Dunzhou, and the dependents of the sergeants and soldiers were also placed there, and if the thieves hit there, they were afraid that the army's morale would be unstable. ”

"And what do you want?"

"The last general wants to recruit another battalion of soldiers to protect the two states of Tongzhou and Yanzhou, and I also ask for your permission."

Hong Chengchou didn't speak, Liu Cheng's request was big and big, small and small, and said that this battalion was a division of the national economic system, and it was to be filed in the Ministry of War, the household department would pay the salary, and the saint would approve it, don't say that Liu Cheng is just a general, even Hong Chengchou himself has no right to add troops, otherwise the officials in various places will recruit troops by themselves, wouldn't it be a big mess in the world? But to put it mildly, in a place like Shaanxi, where there are many chaotic soldiers, even if a man will unite several neighboring villages to defend himself, he can't let people watch the thieves kill and wait for death with their eyes open, it depends on how to say it.

"I don't know how many troops General Liu is going to add?" Hong Chengchou asked in a low voice.

"Four teams, each with four hundred people, plus one hundred auxiliaries, a total of two thousand."

"I see!" Hong Chengchou nodded, but he breathed a sigh of relief in his heart: "In this way, you let a document come over on the military preparation road in the same state, and you don't have to pay the taxes owed by several nearby states and counties in recent years in the past two years, and the two thousand soldiers you recruit can be regarded as the start of the local squire's self-protection." “

Liu Cheng was overjoyed when he heard this, and hurriedly owed a debt and said, "Thank you, my lord!" "Hong Chengchou's meaning is very clear, the 2,000 soldiers you recruited will be reported in the name of the local regimental training, and they will be disbanded after the war in the future, and the tax arrears of several surrounding states and counties will not be collected for a while anyway, and you Liu Cheng is also very good at dealing with those gentry and gentlemen who owe taxes, so they will simply pay you for military salaries. During the war, it was not without precedent for the government to subsidize these tax arrears that could not be collected anyway, and it was not without precedent for the local gentry to train and suppress thieves. This official is oily and slippery. didn't have the slightest involvement in it, but he got things done, so that Liu Cheng couldn't help but admire it secretly.

"That's it, it's not too early, General Liu, you should go back first and prepare for tomorrow's troops!"

"Yes, Overseer!"

When he returned to his residence, Liu Cheng happened to see Min Min and Lama Chesang gossiping, he said hello to Lama Chesang, and told Min Min all the things that Hong Chengchou had there, and called the documents of the army to repair two letters. One to Lu Boqi and the other to Du Ruhu, who stayed in the court, asked the two to hurry up the recruitment of troops, and wrote a secret letter to Yu He. Min Min on the side saw Liu Cheng dictating the letterhead while humming a little song and drinking, looking carried away, so he asked with a smile: "Why are you so happy today, just because that Hong Daguan'er allowed you to recruit another 2,000 soldiers?" I think he just drew a big pie on paper, and he didn't give you a penny, and if the taxes were collected, they would have been collected long ago. And where is your turn to take advantage of this? ”

"Huh!" Liu Cheng smiled and said nothing, read the letter recorded in the paperwork, and after confirming that it was correct, he pressed the seal on the ring with the seal, and said with a smile after he stepped back: "Minmin, what you said is good." Inspector Hong has no food left at home, so of course he can only give me an empty cake, but I am not only happy for this. ”

"And for what?"

"Huh!" Liu Cheng smiled, but did not speak. Chesan on the side hurriedly got up and retired. Liu Cheng didn't send it off, just lowered his head and drank, and waited until Min Min sent Chesang back and said coquettishly: "What's wrong with Liu Cheng today." It's only half the story. ”

Liu Cheng smiled: "Minmin, don't be angry, some things are not easy to say and listen to others!" ”

"Guru, he's not a stranger!" Min Min sat next to Liu Cheng with a butt: "My father Khan doesn't hide anything from him when he discusses big and small things." ”

"The king does not lose his country, the doctor does not lose his family, some things are better to be careful!" Liu Cheng smiled, but his attitude was very resolute: "If you think you can say it, it's okay to tell him." ”

"Hmm!" Min Min felt the weight of Liu Cheng's words, nodded, she habitually leaned her body on Liu Cheng's thigh, Liu Cheng stroked the girl's forehead and whispered: "Minmin, what do you say I lack the most now?" ”

"What's missing?" Min Min was stunned: "Lack of troops? There is no shortage of population in your Central Plains, as long as you are willing to pay military salaries, you can have as many people as you want, that is a shortage of silver? But your factory produces goods every day, and merchants line up to buy them, and you can collect money; Then what are you missing, right? It's a lack of food! Min Min sat up excitedly: "There is no way to produce grain in the factory, the harvest in Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Henan is not good, and you all collect gold, only the businessmen who transport the grain over do not collect a copper plate of gold, and you also guarantee to collect as much as you want, what you lack most is food!" ”

"Yes, what I lack most is food!" Liu Cheng smiled: "Minmin, you are really smart. As Min Min said, Liu Chengguang has four or five thousand workers working in the workshop, plus more than 10,000 captured thieves from the army, temporary recruits, and civil engineering projects, and so many young and strong laborers consume a lot of food every day. And Liu Cheng's only relatively stable source of food is only a state of Dunzhou, through the construction of local water conservancy infrastructure, the local grain production has been greatly improved, on the one hand, the Pitang Bureau's fees, on the other hand, it is to use cash to buy from the gentry who have surplus grain, so that he can get about 3,000 stone of coarse grain, out of the imperial court's supply, calculated that there is a gap of 4,000 stone of grain every year, all of which have to be purchased in cash, which is a considerable expenditure, fortunately Chaoyi faces the Yellow River, and water transportation is more convenient, Otherwise, the freight along the way alone can crush Liu Cheng.

"And what do these tax arrears have to do with food?"

"Tax arrears naturally have nothing to do with food, but it is an introduction, a grasp, with which I can find ways to get food." Speaking of this, Liu Cheng explained to Min Min in a low voice: Liu Cheng's lack of grain is actually two problems: 1. To increase grain production. 2. It is also necessary to let this grain increment flow into the market at an acceptable price, and not hoard it in the warehouses of the squires and peasants, in other words, in the form of commercial grain. Through trade with the Mongol tribes and the opening of blast furnaces, Liu Cheng was able to provide the peasants with the heavy ploughs and low-cost large livestock necessary for deep ploughing. But the problem is that under the land system of the Ming Dynasty, the land area of small farmers is too small. inability to invest; The gentry had no will, because he could obtain wealth by squeezing small peasants, and even if some of the more enlightened gentry used advanced production techniques, the surplus grain they produced was not willing to be sold at a price that Liu Cheng was satisfied with, because the arable land owned by these gentry was too large and had enough capital to play games with the grain merchants. Therefore, for Liu Cheng, it was not enough to increase grain production, but it was also necessary to carry out social and economic reforms in the rural areas under his control, to smash the original self-sufficient small-scale peasant economy, to drive labor into the factories, and to hand over the land to the rich peasants who knew how to manage and master the necessary agricultural production techniques. Only in this way can he spread his existing advanced agricultural technology as soon as possible and obtain a stable and cheap food supply. And this is not an easy task, the land issue in China is extremely sensitive at any time, and the gentry class is also the most powerful class in the Ming Dynasty, if you do not choose the right strategy and timing, touching the land issue will only cause death.

And Hong Chengchou's collection of arrears of taxes from Liu Cheng is undoubtedly a good entry point, and the local officials of the imperial court collect arrears of taxes from the gentry, which is also an old script over the years. The gentry's counterattack can only be the deliberate behavior of specific officials concerned, recklessness, collusion with wrongdoers, and delaying time. It is impossible to openly refuse to pay the taxes owed. And Liu Chengcheng can use this Shang Fang sword to intervene in it, one hand is hard and the other is soft, opening a way.

"Liu Cheng, you really have a way!" Listening to Liu Cheng's plan, Minmin's eyes sparkled. Full of admiration: "I also know that the most difficult thing to deal with is not the enemy outside, but the house thief." My father Khan has never met an opponent on the battlefield, but there is no way to take those guys in this tribe who are pulling back their legs, when you will also think for my father Khan. Packed them up too. “

"That's a good idea!" Liu Cheng smiled: "I just don't know if I have done such a big thing for your father Khan, what will your father Khan give me in return." ”

"Phew!" Min Min took a sip at Liu Cheng: "Obviously a general, but he is like a businessman." That's what I don't like the most about you. ”

"And what do you like about me?" Liu Cheng was shy and kissed Min Min on the cheek, Min Min took a sip, but did not let go, the two hugged each other, and the warmth in the house was infinite for a while.

In the evening, Liu Cheng finished packing his things, and since he was going to Ningxia Mansion early tomorrow morning, he was going to go to bed early, when Du Gu came in from outside and said in a low voice: "Master Chesang is outside, he said that he has something important to see you!" ”

"Chesan?" Liu Cheng frowned, to be honest, although he was very close to this lama on the surface, he had always maintained a wary mentality in his heart, a person who had been educated in atheism since childhood would always be a little instinctively wary of religious professionals. However, Chesan is very aware of the importance of the matter, and always appears as a strategist, guide, and messenger on weekdays, and never reveals a trace of the arrogance that priests often have in front of Liu Cheng, and Liu Cheng is embarrassed to show too much after a long time. There must be something important for him to come to him suddenly at this time.

"You tell him to wait in the study, and I'll go over right away!" Liu Cheng gave an order, took a civilian robe and put it on, and went to the study. When I entered the study, I saw Chisan standing up and saluted: "Lord Liu, please forgive me for coming to disturb me at this time!" ”

"It's okay!" Liu Cheng smiled: "Master, you are not a person who does not know the importance of the matter, it must be something important, please speak up!" ”

"Thank you, sir!" Chesan owed: "I'm here to resign!" ”

"Resignation?" Liu Cheng's brows suddenly furrowed, the army will send him but he wants to resign, isn't he going to report to that sweaty ventilation? But should he sneak away instead of running over to him? Liu Cheng doesn't think that this Chesang Lama is a righteous gentleman like Guan Yunchang who plays the trick of sealing gold and hanging seals with himself, and he must have a deep meaning in doing so.

"Master, isn't it me, Liu Cheng, who here treats you slowly?" Liu Cheng asked in a deep voice.

"It's not!" Chesan replied very clearly: "The general treats me very well, and the poor monk has learned a lot here, and he is not the kind of stingy person who will be angry for a little thing, but there is an urgent matter at the moment, which is related to the rise and fall of my Gelug sect, and also about you, my lord, so the poor monk resigned to the general!" ”

"About the rise and fall of the Gelug sect? It's about me, too? Liu Cheng showed a puzzled look on his face, what can he have to do with the rise and fall of a certain sect of Tibetan Buddhism?

Seeing that Liu Cheng was puzzled, Chesang explained carefully. It turned out that the Chahar tribe Lin Dan Khan, who had just broken through the border and entered the prison, originally believed in the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism, like most Mongolian tribes, and when he first succeeded to the throne, he accepted the Gelug ordination from the Yellow Lama such as Maidali Hutuktu and Choni Urji, who were stationed in Mongolia by the Fourth Dalai Lama to take charge of the teachings, but in 1617, the Tibetan Sakya monk Shahrhutuktu arrived in Mongolia to find his supporters. This person is not only familiar with the sutras of Buddhism, but also has a profound attainment in tantric techniques. He showed various spells in front of Lin Dan Khan, and took the Maha Kala Golden Buddha (also known as the Great Black Heaven, the protector god of Mengyuan) cast by the Sakya Patriarch of the Sakya Sect of the Yuan Dynasty from Wutai Mountain, and completely subdued Lin Dan Khan. Lin Dan Khan made him a national teacher, received the empowerment of the esoteric tantrics, converted to the Sakya school, and built a golden-roofed white temple in Chahanhot, where the golden Buddha was offered. Lin Dan Khan's intention was apparently to emulate the story of Kublai Khan and Phags-pa, and to use his relationship with Sharkhutuktu to establish his authority among the Mongol tribes. However, what Lin Dan Khan did not expect was that his conversion not only did not establish authority, but instead exacerbated the centrifugation of the Mongol tribes that generally believed in the Gelug sect and weakened his own appeal. After the Sakya Mongol Khan moved westward, he formed an "anti-Gelug alliance" with the Tibetan Zangba Khan, the Kham Baili Tusi Yuedun Dorjee, and the Khalkha Choktu Taiji (Chotu Khan), who also did not believe in the Gelug sect, in an attempt to make a comeback on this basis, and as a senior monk of the Gelug sect, Lama Chesang naturally did not want to see Lin Dan Khan rise again.

"So, Master, your resignation this time is for the sake of Lin Dan Khan's entry into the Kou?" Liu Cheng gently tapped the coffee table on the side with his knuckles, and the amount of information that he said was a little too much, which made him unable to digest it all for a while, and he didn't expect that a seemingly simple invasion incident would involve an internal struggle between the two major sects of Tibetan Buddhism. (To be continued.) )

PS: It's almost the end of the month, and the extra monthly pass will be given to Webb!