Xu Ruyu decided to build a dock fort at the edge of the low mausoleum area of Taishan, at the confluence of Lishui and Gaotang Creek, in order to form a new settlement there, first, to make up for the defensive weakness on the south bank of Lishui, and secondly, to promote the villagers on Taishan to settle down the mountain as soon as possible.

Xu Boying has another concern: "Although the camp has an establishment of 500 people, it will still take more than three months to form an effective combat force, and it will take nearly a month to build a dock fort. ”

The Lishui River Valley has been uncultivated for more than a decade and is overgrown with dense shrubs, which required considerable manpower to be reclaimed in the early days. Taishan Sizhai, which has 40,000 civilians, has not yet made up its mind to go down the mountain.

Xu Ruyu looked at Zhang Xu and said slowly: "Brother Zixu, is Sizhai going to divert the mountain people down the mountain this year?" ”

Zhang Xu thought to himself: You might as well ask us to join you directly. Xu Ruyu had been setting up a village on the south bank of the Lishui River for nearly a month, and because of the prestige of General Qingfeng, all the rogues only carried out tentative attacks on the edge of the river valley, and had no intention of attacking on a large scale. This made the mountain people who had been tormented in the mountains for so many years have infinite hope, and they have come down to join the Qingyan Army.

In order to resist the invasion of the rogues, the proportion of soldiers and civilians in the village is quite high, often in a small village of 1,000 people, and the number of villagers is as high as more than 200. So far, among the more than 6,000 people who have joined Xu Ruyu, there are 1,300 Zhaiding, and Xu Ruyu has selected 500 people from them to form the three outposts of the guard camp. But these five hundred people had no combat effectiveness in the eyes of everyone in the Blue Flame Army.

Zhang Xu has seen the invincible combat power of the Qingjiang Cavalry Battalion. Xu Ruyu organized several military exercises, and the garrison camp often lost its fighting spirit when the Qingjiang cavalry battalion charged in a cluster, and it was unable to organize an effective defense at all. Each time, it was rushed by more than 100 cavalry. Those village owners who had joined Xu Ruyu originally wanted to seize the military power in their own hands, but after watching several military exercises, their confidence was lost, and they had no objections to Xu Ruyu's arrangement.

Xu Ruyu had the intention to recruit Zhang Xu and let him know more about the important things of the Qingyan Army. Although the number of the Blue Flame Army exceeded 1,000 in a short period of time, the core combat strength remained at about 500 people, and there was no substantial increase. Zhang Xu thought to himself: At this time, Sizhai will be attached to Xu Ruyu, and he will definitely be able to gain an extremely important position in the Qingyan Army. If Xu Ruyu grows in the Lishui River Valley, and Sizhai is attached to it, it will not be taken seriously, and it may be even worse than the thousand-person village that is attached to it now. However, let the four villages, which have 40,000 villagers and 6,000 villagers, go to the forces that only had 500 people and 500 elite soldiers a month ago, I am afraid that many people will not be able to figure it out. Zhang Xu was already aware of the delicate relationship between Xiangfan and the Qingyan Army.

Zhang Xu hinted at the alliance between the two families several times, and Xu Ruyu always said: "Alliance? Aren't we in an alliance? ”

After surviving so many years in the mountains, now that you have the opportunity to descend, you should not miss it. With the help of the warships of the Qingjiang Water Battalion and the dotted water network, it is not difficult to achieve in-depth defense in the Lishui River Valley. If it can form an alliance with the Qingyan Army to jointly manage the Lishui River Valley, it will naturally be the result that Sizhai is most happy to see.

Sizhai has been defending the danger all the year round, and can still resist the invasion of the rogues, but thousands of villagers can still maintain some combat effectiveness when they come to the flat land, which is really worrying. Xu Ruyu naturally did not want to share the land on the south bank of the Lishui River Valley with others, and if Sizhai went down the mountain on his own, it was certain that Xu Ruyu would withdraw the Qingjiang water camp from the Lishui River and stop supplying grain and grass to Sizhai.

Without Xu Ruyu's support, no force would be able to gain a foothold on the banks of the Lishui River, except for Xu Ruyu himself.

Zhang Xu avoided Xu Ruyu's eyes and sighed lightly: "The four villages of Taishan have always advanced and retreated together, and Shengyun Village cannot ignore public opinion. ”

Xu Ruyu wiped his nose and looked at the military topographic map spread on the carpet, and the six-foot square topographic map clearly marked the large and small rivers and hills of Xuancheng.

Xu Ruyu said: "The camp training, fort building, and land reclamation are carried out at the same time, and we can't wait for the people and horses of Sizhai to go down the mountain before opening up the wasteland." During this period, if we find that the Liukou intend to enter the south bank of the Lishui River, we must strike first and defeat them before they enter the south bank at any cost. In addition, the Yanwu Hall was immediately established, which was headed by 12 instructors to teach military and martial arts, etc., and to teach the cavalry battalion and other military positions above the minor order level in addition to training, those who did not attend the school had to enter the Yanwu Hall to practice. Those who want to enter the Yanwu Hall only need to go through the confirmation of the twelve teachings. ”

Zhang Xu said: "General Qingfeng is saying that civilians also have the opportunity to enter the Yanwu Hall to practice? In order to effectively control the people and strictly control the ways for civilians to contact the military and martial arts, how would Xu Ruyu easily abolish this practice.

"What's wrong? The house on the west side of the camp is prepared for the martial arts hall, which can accommodate more than 300 people in the initial stage, and there are about 220 military cadets, and there are only 80 places left for civilians, and some will be increased in the future. ”

Since Xu Ruyu sold grain at a low price, Zhang Xu knew that no one could stop Xu Ruyu's rise in the Lishui River Valley, but he didn't expect Xu Ruyu to do it so thoroughly. Zhang Xu was born in a humble background, and his father and brothers Zhang Yu and Zhang Ji formed a village in Taishan to recruit the people, resist the invasion of the rogues, and gradually became a tyrant. Zhang Xu knew the wishes of the lower-class commoners better than those of the clans, who not only wanted to get the land they relied on for their survival, but also wanted to get the opportunity to invest in the land.

Zhang Xu returned to Shengyun Village that night. Zhang Yu's six sons only Zhang Ji and Zhang Xu lived to adulthood, when Zhang Yu died, Zhang Xu was only eighteen years old, although his talent was prominent, Baili Taishan was unmatched, Zhang Yu still handed over the village to Zhang Ji, who was old and respectful.

Zhang Ji's dark face, his forehead was deeply wrinkled, his eyes were squeezed into a slit, and his deep voice seemed to roar out of his throat: "Father handed over the village to me, and let me protect more than 10,000 mountain people from thieves." Now can General Qingfeng gain a foothold in the Lishui River Valley, or do you say that you let me raise the village to be like-minded, don't you put the villagers in danger? ”

"Xu Ruyu's guard camp, the commander of the rank is vacant, which is reserved for my four villages. If Sizhai is undecided, his position in his mind will become extremely light. Xu Ruyu once told me that he set up a light armor infantry camp outside the camp of the guards. His meaning is already obvious, before the establishment of the light armor infantry battalion, Sizhai still has no substantive surname, and there will be no status of my Sizhai in the Qingyan Army in the future. ”

"But ......"

"What's the matter, when my father established Shengyun Village, it was to protect the people from attack, but for decades, what is the situation of the village, in the forty-second year of the new dynasty, the people of Shengyun Village were 18,000 people, how many are now, 11,628 people, and the other 7,000 people, have they left the village? Two thousand two hundred and sixty-one people were killed, and the rest died of starvation in the stockade. We can't wait and see if Xu Ruyu can gain a foothold in the Lishui River Valley, we should help him gain a foothold in the Lishui River Valley. If Xu Ruyu is expelled from the Lishui River Valley by the Liukou, then it will take more than ten years, or decades, to wait for another strong man to appear, and maybe there will never be another one. ”

"Are you sure Xu Ruyu will be such a person?"

"I let Zhang Biao go to Yongyang once, you can ask him." Zhang Xu walked to the door, called the shrewd-looking young man in, and said to him: "Zhang Biao, tell the big boss in detail about the situation you have been investigating in Yongyang Mansion these days. ”

After Zhang Ji heard this, he waved his hand to let Zhang Biao retreat. After thinking for a moment, he said, "So, although the rumors about General Qingfeng are false, they are basically credible?" ”

"Yes, to be able to do this, either he has strange ambitions in his heart, or he is compassionate to others, and his two strategies of Yongyang and homeless people are enough for us to follow him."

"However, his current power is too weak, in case he can't stand in the Lishui River Valley, how can we deal with ourselves at that time?"

"Hahaha......" Zhang Xulang laughed, pointed at Zhang Ji and said with a smile: "Big brother, do those old guys in Yunyi also think so, you have been discussing it for so many days, are you just worried about this, or are you unwilling to let Xu Ruyu eat us at once?" ”

Zhang Ji didn't think it was angry, and said: "Our Shengyunzhai is mainly worried about Xu Ruyu's lack of strength, after all, going down the mountain is our wish for many years, and I have no interest in being a hungry king in the mountains." ”

It was rare to hear the eldest brother's relaxed tone, Zhang Xu knew that he had already said that the eldest brother's mind was alive, "Eldest brother, if you think so, I am relieved." Others only saw Xu Ruyu in front of them, but I saw Xu Ruyu who was associated with Yongyang Mansion. Without the support of Yongyang Mansion, why did Xu Ruyu gain a foothold in the Lishui River Valley? ”

"General Qingfeng will go to Qingjiang with Yongyang, there must be strange ambitions, it is difficult to guarantee that we are not a chess piece in his hands."

Zhang Xu's face was solemn and said: "This is also the reason why I have not dared to express my mind for a long time, but after more than 20 days in the camp, such concerns have gradually dispelled. Xu Ruyu incorporated all the soldiers in the attached stockade into the camp and drew manpower from the cavalry camp to serve as military positions at all levels of the camp and undoubtedly strengthened his control over the camp at all levels. However, the combat power of the Su Guard Camp has improved in a very short period of time, and it can be seen that Xu Ruyu's move is not completely selfish, but the combat power of the cottage soldiers is too weak. In addition, Xu Ruyu did not avoid civilians when recommending military positions, and allowed civilians to enter the martial arts hall to practice military and martial arts, and later set up a county school to teach civilians more extensively. ”

"What you said is all the details, land, land, what does General Qingfeng say about land and taxes?"

"Land, taxes?"

Zhang Ji sighed: "You, the power is too heavy, don't ordinary people care about land and taxes?" Will Xu Ruyu continue to insist on implementing the "Resettlement Order for Displaced People" and the "Post-war Wasteland Disposal Order" in the Lishui River Valley? Ming said that I will go down the mountain in person, and I will meet this world-famous Qingfeng General for a while. ”

At noon the next day, Xu Ruyu and Xu Boying and others rode horses along the embankment of the Lishui River to the foot of Taishan. Xu Ruyu looked at the gray and yellow shrubs under the embankment and said: "The straight road is only more than fifty miles, but there are seventy miles along the embankment. ”

"It's not bad to come out in this mood to step into spring, you don't dare to relax a little in the camp for a month, and it will undoubtedly be very hard to be your subordinate." Xu Boying said with a smile, standing on a high place, looking around, relaxed and happy.

In the morning, news came from the mountain that Zhang Ji, the big boss of Shengyun Village, wanted to go down the mountain to meet, so Xu Ruyu hurriedly pulled Xu Boying to the bottom of the mountain seventy miles away to greet him.

Not far from the embankment is a ruin, a radius of a few miles, ruins and broken tiles, everywhere, and a few wisps of thatch rolling around. Xu Ruyu pointed to that town and said: "Eight years ago, my father and I came to Qingjiang, and there were still one or twenty families in that town, but now it is completely ruined, becoming a rabbit's nest, a crow's nest, a fox mound and an anthill. ”

"What I saw was smoke curling and a clear stream."

"Bo Ying is full of confidence, it seems that Bo Ying has the confidence to persuade Zhang Ji to come down the mountain."

Zhang Xu brought a message, saying that his brother Zhang Ji was most nervous about our land policy, and it seemed that this person was a sincere person who cared about the common people. If that's the case, I'm not going to convince him to be honest about your intentions. ”

"Qingjiang Mansion is a borderless land, the Zhu family and the Fan family don't fight with us, we can make our own decisions. However, no matter what policy orders we implement in the Lishui River Valley, we must gradually implement them in Yongyang Mansion in the future, so as to maintain the complete and effective surnames of the policy orders. Once the land policy is promulgated, it cannot be easily changed or abolished, otherwise the people's will will will be unpredictable. It is conceivable that effective and continuous land policies cannot be perfected overnight, and since Zhang Ji can see this, we might as well listen to his opinions before making sure. ”

In the vast forest sea, one or two figures appeared from time to time. Xu Ruyu pointed to the mountain and said, "They're here." ”

You Sentinel reported that Xu Ruyu and Xu Boying greeted each other at the bottom of the mountain, which made Zhang Ji and Zhang Xu brothers deeply grateful. When Zhang Xu sent someone down the mountain to report last night, he didn't expect Xu Ruyu to travel far away to meet him here, and he was deeply impressed by his bearing, and said: "Big brother, if such a person doesn't follow, what else do you want?" ”

Zhang Ji sighed lightly and thought: How can you let Gongliang Youqin return with a halberd, how can your temperament be weaker than others? He didn't speak, but deliberately slowed down his pace, and his suddenly messy mind was slightly rectified. But seeing Xu Ruyu's sincere and sincere eyes, Zhang Ji still couldn't settle down.

"Brother Zi, I should have personally gone up the mountain to meet him, but the camp was just a start-up, and you didn't dare to leave a little, and I hope that my stepbrother will forgive me."

"How dare you?" Zhang Ji stepped forward quickly, holding Xu Ruyu's shoulders that were about to bow down, Zhang Xu judged that Xu Ruyu needed the support of a big village like Shengyun Village to relieve the pressure of the Xiangfan Association on the north bank and gain a foothold on the south bank of the Lishui River as soon as possible.

In order to prevent the resentment of the clan and bring unpredictable troubles to the future expansion, Xu Ruyu did not take a clear stand to ration land in the Lishui River Valley, but adopted the form of reconciliation between military households and military tuns to protect the interests of civilians in the lower mountains.

The proportion of soldiers in the cottage is generally high, basically reaching the level of one household and one ding. Maintaining such a high military-civilian ratio would put great pressure on the finances and would not be in line with the path of elite soldiers. Xu Ruyu incorporated the villagers into military households, allocated enough fertile land and farm tools, and levied a very low field tax. One-third of the original huge village was selected to be incorporated into the regular battalion army, and the rest were all assigned to the reserve force, and military cantonment was implemented to make up for the shortage of land rent. The reservists are properly trained and serve as a source of strength for the regular battalion army.

Zhang Ji knew that this was a pragmatic order, and that 400,000 mu of fertile land could be expanded on the south bank of the Lishui River Valley, which could accommodate 20,000 peasant households and more than 20,000 soldiers according to the calculation of 20 mu per household.

When Xu Ruyu and Xu Boying discussed the realization of centralization, they found that land annexation and taxation and household registration hindered centralization and curbed excessive land annexation, which was a necessary policy. However, extremely low taxes make it impossible to improve the bureaucratic system, which will inevitably lead to a decline in administrative efficiency. Although the south bank of Lishui can accumulate 20,000 soldiers, it is already the limit of the financial budget to raise 2,000 soldiers with a land tax of 12 draws. If Yi Guanyuan or Shao Haitang helped, Xu Ruyu would be much easier in government affairs. However, Yiguan is far away in Jining, Fen County, and implements the county policy, while Shao Haitang has become confusing because of the factors of the Xiangfan Society.

Earlier, Mi Yusheng and Wei Yu sent news from Jiangjin that Shao Haitang changed his itinerary, and after meeting with Donghai County Shou Chen, he suddenly went to Wuzhou to meet Zhu Lianzhi, the contemporary head of the Zhu family, Yongyang gathered 2,000 elite combat forces of the Xiangfan Society, and 3,000 horse gang members also gathered in Jiangjin without warning.

Xu Ruyu speculated that Shao Haitang's continuous actions were all actions taken in response to the rapid development of the Qingyan Army in the Lishui River Valley. According to the previous migration plan of the Xiangfan Society, Xu Ruyu was fully confident that before the Xiangfan Society gained a foothold, Taishan and Wuling Mountain would be included in his sphere of influence.

Shao Haitang suddenly met Zhu Lianzhi, and Xu Ruyu was shocked when he saw the news. His rapid development in Xuancheng must not be hidden from the people of the Zhu and Fan families. Zhu Lianzhi and Shao Haitang met to undoubtedly see through the weaknesses of the Xiangfan Society that were subject to the Qingyan Army.

On 5 February, six warships of the Qingjiang Water Battalion returned to the mouth of the Lishui River, and dozens of boats of various types dragged behind them crowded the mouth of the Lishui River.

Shao Ruyan's petite body was crowded around Shao Haitang, Xu Ruyu didn't even bother to pretend to smile deliberately, and watched with a gloomy face as the eight large-wing warships and the sixteen thousand-stone transport ships sailed into the abandoned river port of Xuancheng.

"Although Xiangfan will have warships, it has no naval army, and above the Qingjiang River, it is still powerless to compete with my Qingjiang water battalion."

"Since Chen Yu can support the eight large-wing warships of the Xiangfan Society, how can he not train a naval army for him? I supported the Xiangfan Society to enter Qingjiang, and Chen Yu saw that I would not expel him from Qingjiang and let me swallow the bitter fruit. The Xiangfan Society not only had the support of the Chen clan in the East China Sea, but apparently also reached some kind of agreement with the Zhu family, which was also extremely unfavorable to us. ”

The Qingyan Army knew what agreement Shao Haitang had reached with the Zhu family the next day. Shao Haitang brought Xu Jingcheng as the secretary of the Xuancheng Metropolitan Government. Xu Jingcheng claimed the right to rule the Lishui River Valley in the name of the Xuancheng Metropolitan Government, and asked the people of Taishan to live around Xuancheng.

At the same time, Shao Haitang asked the 300 children of Xiangfan Society, who were temporarily incorporated into the Qingjiang Water Camp Guard, to return to the Xuancheng Water Camp.

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