"Second Brother Zhang, have you heard, Mrs. Yao's family in Yao's family was beheaded by officers and soldiers. I heard that the mountain bandits on Mulan Mountain were dressed up by Mrs. Yao's family. After this incident was discovered by the officers and soldiers, Mrs. Yao's family was full of beheadings. Even the Wang family in Gaoqiao was implicated, because the Wang family was the in-laws of the Yao family, and as a result, the family was also raided in one piece. ”

"What's more, I heard that the bandits on this Mulan Mountain are not a family. The Tu family, the Zheng family, and the Bao family on the side of Mulan Mountain are all involved in this group of mountain bandits. These few seem to be all in the end. Haven't you seen that the compounds in the town have changed? ”

In Gaoqiao Town, about 200 miles away from Wuchang Mansion, two vendors are exchanging the latest news on the side of the street.

"Fourth Brother Li, I heard that the officers and soldiers this time are amazing. It is said to be the pro-military camp of the new Huguang General Army. Good fellow, I saw a squad of soldiers the morning before yesterday. Each of them is dressed in a neat and clean manner. The spears are so long, and there are more than a dozen cannons. My God, it's no wonder that the black-hearted tiger, the king of Mulan Mountain, was killed. I saw hundreds of bandits, all of whom were escorted by the group of officers and soldiers, and roamed the streets of the town for a long time. ”

"The second brother is right. The black-hearted tiger, the dog thief, has scooped the people of our ten miles and eight towns. Two years ago, when I went to Wuchang to pick up goods, I was intercepted by several bandits in Zhoujiawan. I knelt on the ground and begged for an hour to pick up my life, but the goods were robbed by the bunch of things. ”

"It's nice to be able to pick up a life. Didn't you listen to the public trial? The officers and soldiers of the people said that the bandits themselves confessed more than 30 lives. Who knows how many didn't recruit. ”

"Hey, second brother, look, I'm afraid this team of mud legs is here to apply again."

After hearing Li Si say this, Zhang Er quickly turned his head to look at the situation on the street. Sure enough, a dozen seventeen or eighteen-year-old lads were asking around where the conscripts were.

Zhang Er smacked his lips and said in a sour tone: "This world is really not good. When Lord Wanli was there, who would be rare in this soldier's business. It's those poor sticks in the countryside who would rather die poor in the countryside than be soldiers. In today's world, as long as it is a business for food, everyone is rushing to do it! ”

Zhang Er is in his early forties. Indeed, starting from his personal experience, during the reign of Emperor Wanli, the people's livelihood in the Ming Dynasty was indeed better than now.

Li Si is only in his early twenties this year, and he has no practical experience of the good days of the calloused master who has already heard the calluses. He said to Zhang Er: "Second Brother Zhang's words are also not right. Now the way of the world is indeed getting worse and worse. Natural disasters continue and taxes are increasing. But the treatment of the recruits is really eye-catching. ”

Li Si thought for a while before saying, "I listened to what the recruiter said. Well, as long as you are a soldier, you will be given a settling-in allowance of ten silver dollars on the spot. I've seen that silver dollar in Wuchang Mansion. A silver dollar, that is, it can be directly used as a tael of silver. Ten taels of silver, all you earn by selling your life! It's getting harder and harder to do these days. If one day I can't get along with my little brother, I am also ready to serve as a soldier. If I hand over ten taels of silver to my mother, my life can be regarded as fulfilling my filial piety as a son. ”

When Zhang Er heard this, he said to Li Si in a serious tone: "Fourth brother, don't be so discouraged. It's been a hard time in the past few years. But now there is some hope. Isn't there a new place called the Supply and Marketing Cooperative? I went to the supply and marketing cooperatives yesterday. As soon as I entered the door, I was startled. The two-story shop is full of hundreds of things. The store didn't know what was going on, and the price of the shipment was scary, and the price was the same as that of the big supply and marketing cooperatives in Wuchang Mansion. It's just like Wuchang Mansion, you can only use that steel plate (steel plate, as opposed to copper plate) to buy things. ”

Looking around cautiously, Zhang Er said to Li Si mysteriously: "The traders in our town don't know about the supply and marketing cooperative. I and a few people know about it. I inquired with people, and the savings bank that changed the steel plate will open the day after tomorrow. At that time, the two brothers borrowed some capital to go to the savings bank to replace the steel plates, and then went to the supply and marketing cooperatives to buy goods. Our brother took the goods and went to the countryside to sell them. We're sure we'll be able to make a lot of money this time! ”

Beginning in March 1626, the Reconstruction Society began to purge and unify the surrounding areas of Muchang Province.

The area around Wuchang is rich in water resources, and it is one of the most important grain-producing areas in China, both in the Ming Dynasty and in modern times. In later generations, the Hanjiang Plain was one of China's top ten commercial grain production bases.

As usual, the Renaissance Army, in coordination with the various working groups, marched into the areas around Wuchang that were suitable for farm construction, and began to carry out the work of clearing public order, converting landlords, and carrying out land reform.

Huang'an County, which was part of Wuchang Province, was the first target of the expansion of the Fuxing Society's power. In less than half a month, the large landlords in Huang'an County were hit by a large-scale attack by the Fuxing Association. Because all the local landlords refused to accept the Renaissance Society's conversion plan, and the Renaissance Army intelligence agency found out that most of them had colluded with bandits, all their land was confiscated by the Renaissance Society.

Because of the needs of farm construction and the maintenance of local public order, the working groups in various localities began to train production and construction troops on the spot after confiscating and counting the landlords' land and property and handing them over to the general headquarters.

However, the same problems are faced by working groups everywhere. Even if all the hired farmers and tenant farmers under the names of local landlords are integrated, the Revival Society still has to solve a huge manpower gap in the face of the upcoming large-scale agricultural infrastructure construction work.

Since the human resources brought in from other places still require a period of training and education, the various working groups in the vicinity of Wuchang Province are currently having to solve the shortage of human resources on their own. Therefore, recruiting people in the surrounding areas where there is a relative surplus of human resources and where land reform work has not been carried out has become a temporary measure for the working groups at this stage.

As a result of the cost accounting (mainly in the area of freight) carried out by the Census and Statistics Department of the human resources brought in by the IRC, the IRC provided the working groups with an "outrageous" guide price of 10 silver dollars for settling-in expenses.

Although this price is a bit outrageous, because the people in the surrounding areas of Wuchang have a better understanding of the purchasing power of the Fuxing Society's silver dollars, the work of absorbing manpower in various regions of the working groups has been carried out very smoothly. Space-Time Gate 1619

———————————————————————————————

Chapter 248 of the main text, base expansion and construction 2