The overall shape of the national war is no longer something that one or two battles can determine the rise and fall, or fundamentally reverse.

Fight for internal affairs, fight for diplomacy, fight for population, fight for material production, fight for weapons and equipment, and fight for the people's back...... The Manchus were not only faced with a Zhu Yongxing, nor with a group headed by him, but with the awakening and outbreak of a nation.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey......, toe," the hoarse sound of the trumpet wafted through the canal, and groups of unkempt, ragged slender men bent over, stiff ropes on their backs, and strode forward with heavy steps, and a warship in the middle of the river was slowly sailing through the shallows.

In the age of sails, ships relied on manpower or wind power to move their boats. The inland river is narrow, and the wind power is limited, so there is a temporary pull of a sail, and more often it is a manpower to swing the oar or pull the fiber. And the boat is sometimes slower to propel by rocking than on foot, so there is a fiber pulling.

The big truck was loaded with four tons of cargo, and it was impossible for one person to pull it. And a ship loaded with four tons of cargo, one person can pull it away. In this way, the ancients usually set up fiber roads next to inland rivers, that is, small roads on the bank for slender men to walk.

"Half of the world's wealth, all from this road", the canal as a major transportation artery, although it plays a great role, but silting also occurs from time to time. Especially as inland water transportation, some sections of the water are shallow, and can only be dragged through guò flat-bottomed boats, such as the Ming warships, and can only be dragged through shallow water by guò slender men.

The long road, one step at a time, is like an old ox pulling a plow. In summer, with the scorching sun on his head and his feet on the hot road, beads of sweat drip down in strings; In winter, the cold wind blows the thin clothes, the snow falls on the shoulders, and the feet step on the cold and hard road, but the head is bubbling with hot air.

There is no romance of older siblings. Year after year, the slender men carried the heavy rope on their backs, measured the Grand Canal in the ups and downs, and tried to pull the rope step by step.

But unlike in the past, it is not only the canal that has been closed for a long time that is busy again, but also the slender men have a livelihood. I ate a hot meal, and the hope and longing for life that was rekindled. Every dozen miles, there are tents, hot porridge and hot rice, and red stamped front tickets. One acre, two acres, three acres...... The slender men are contributing to their families, sweating for their future, and moving forward so that they can no longer engage in this hard work in the future.

Only when there is income can there be motivation; Only by participating in it can we expect the victory of the Ming army. I hope to have a happy future. What's more, today's imperial court is indeed different from the past, not collecting taxes but first giving favors, the unemployed Cao Ding and their families along both sides of the canal, and even the vast number of hungry people in the newly recovered areas, have been able to survive because of the indefinite soup soup of the imperial court.

Once upon a time, the imperial court was so sympathetic to the suffering of the people? The so-called soup soup is just a window dressing in the short term. Indefinitely. What a boldness, what a merciful heart. How much money?

He Tiejiao's pace was even more powerful, and then forward, forward, and soon he was about to pass the shallow water area, and another red seal of the government was stamped, two acres of land. More than ten miles of towing and pulling fiber, it's worth it, it's worth it.

The tent not far away is getting clearer and clearer, and on the side of the river is the thick rice porridge for the slender men to rest and drink. It has dried fish and is served with cakes and pickles...... He seemed to smell the sweetness in his nose again.

The tent is even more crowded with people, whether it is men, women or children, as long as they come, there will be a porridge field that opens every two hours, mixed with sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn and other multigrain porridge, plus salt, it is also a rare delicacy for the hungry people. What's more, it is served three times during the day and once at night, as long as you line up in a regular manner, you can eat several times, not only will you not starve to death, but if you have less activity, you may not even have a hunger pang.

Yes, queue up! He Tiejiao grinned, reminding himself once again not to forget. The court officials from the south are good, but they have a lot of requirements, and if they don't follow the rules, they will suffer. Well, it's actually pretty good, wasn't that scoundrel and dog who was used to bullying the weak tied up and taken away, which was really a good thing for an honest man like him.

The new order is not only a constraint, but also a redistribution of wealth. When the founding of the country by successive dynasties, at least in China, basically meant the redivision of land, and the Ming Dynasty, which regained the initiative, was no exception. Rebellious officials, inferior gentry and bullies, and ownerless land, and in the future, large tracts of land enclosed by the Manchus will be measured and distributed by the imperial court as a benefit to the common people.

The reconstruction of Sichuan, the opening of factories in the south of the Yangtze River, and the occupation of overseas territories required a large number of people. Although it took a period of buffer and recuperation to transform the population of the newly recovered area into productive forces, the Ming court did not regard it as a tax-paying object like the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and regarded it as a burden because the people had to possess the necessary means of subsistence.

Because if you want to defeat foreign races, because you want to fight a national war, you have to sacrifice the common people at the expense, this is not Zhu Yongxing's style. Let others selflessly sacrifice for their own careers, except for saints, they are crazy, and Zhu Yongxing does not think he belongs to these two categories.

He Tiejiao finished this section of shallow water area of the fiber pulling work, sat in the shed and tasted porridge and rice, and was satisfied with a piece of paper stamped with a red seal, and finally got his own five acres of land, and began to look forward to the life prospect of building a house and farming. After more than ten years of hard work, in addition to the hard cocoon of his feet without shoes and not afraid of stones, he only has one shack to live in. Now--well, hurry up and eat, take advantage of this opportunity to make a few more trips, and earn a few more acres of land.

Not far away, the flat field where the soup was given to the common people was already full of people, some in groups of 351, and some alone, waiting for the soup kitchen to begin. Some strong men with red hoops on their arms, short sticks in their hands, are responsible for maintaining order.

Seeing that the crowd was a little restless and noisy, a red hoop was unhappy, and stepped forward and shouted: "The meal will start at noon, and there is still a quarter of an hour to go." The rules are repeated and must not be violated, otherwise they will ......"

"Mother, the man said, you don't need money to eat." A little yellow and thin girl seemed to have just finished washing her hands and face by the river, led by her mother, passing by the tent of the slender men, and said happily as she walked.

"Good girl, you can eat a full meal later. Let's hurry up, or we won't be able to grab it. The woman touched her daughter's head lovingly, and at the same time felt hungry, and looked forward to eating and drinking porridge at once, but in a hurry, she stumbled and fell.

He Tiejiao hurriedly stretched out his hand to help, and comforted him with kind words: "Don't grab it, you have to queue up." Well, it's one after another, and you have to be beaten with a stick if you grab it! ”

………… (To be continued......)