In the second year of Chongzhen, the climate in northern Shaanxi was as dry as in previous years.

From March to June, there was not a single rain, and the yellow earth was dry and cracked.

However, the life of the people was different from the previous years. If it were in previous years, countless people would have joined the ranks of the homeless people with their families and mouths, selling their sons and daughters for the sake of stuttering. And this year, there are almost no displaced people in the whole of northern Shaanxi.

Last year, the emperor drove his own expedition to quell the rebellion of the displaced people in northern Shaanxi, punished all the bad gentry and evil officials, and established Yansui Town, and then, the lives of the people in northern Shaanxi underwent earth-shaking changes.

There are no more homeless people begging on the official road, and the people stay in their own villages, and under the leadership of the village chiefs, they have launched a vigorous anti-drought self-help.

When Zhu Youzhen was in northern Shaanxi, he mobilized hundreds of thousands of stone grain from Guanzhong in Henan, and confiscated a large amount of money and grain from the homes of the gentry in northern Shaanxi, which was enough for the people of northern Shaanxi to fill their stomachs and support the summer grain harvest.

Moreover, last year, the northern part of Shaanxi conscripted troops, and recruited a full 30,000 soldiers of the Praetorian Guard, these soldiers were well paid, and the food and salary were paid in full on time, and the soldiers all stayed in the camp all day long, and they did not have to pay for their own meals, and each soldier's food and salary was enough to feed a family, which is also the reason why there were not too many displaced people in northern Shaanxi this summer.

In winter, Lu Xiangsheng, the governor of Yansui, organized the whole army to dig ditches, and before the freeze, it took a month to dig many ditches in various counties of Yan'an Prefecture, and gathered carpenters from the entire northern Shaanxi to build hundreds of water drainage trucks to introduce water from the Yanhe, Beiluohe, and Qingjian rivers into the ditches for irrigation.

Of course, because the terrain in northern Shaanxi is rugged and full of plateau ditches, it is basically impossible to dig large ditches for irrigation like Guanzhong to irrigate tens of thousands of hectares of fields at once. In addition, the water level of the river is low, and it is very difficult to get the river to a high place. Therefore, it is almost impossible to irrigate all the fields in northern Shaanxi with river water.

The ditches dug here are only miles long, and it is remarkable that they can irrigate hundreds of acres or thousands of acres of fields. And there is no way to bring water to the fields in the fields at high places.

The fields that can be irrigated by the ditch are easy to manage, and if the ditch cannot be irrigated, they can only start to save themselves. The village chiefs carry water to water the fields, which is very inefficient, but if you can live some crops, you can harvest more.

As a result of the conscription of 30,000 young men and women into the Janissaries at once, the number of young men and women in each village was greatly reduced, and in order to produce more efficiently, each township organized a number of production mutual aid groups.

The wheat in the field has already been harvested, and now the second crop is being planted, according to the government's order, this year no longer planting sorghum, millet and other autumn crops, but what crops from Fanbang, corn and sweet potatoes, will be planted, which makes many people very worried.

Food is related to their rations, and this kind of crop, which they have never seen before, makes them a little unaccustomed and uneasy.

"What kind of sweet potato is this, just such a seedling, can it survive in the field?" In Yushu Township, Qingjian County, Li Ding, a common man, looked at the planted sweet potato seedlings and muttered.

"Who knows, the gentleman from Beijing said that this sweet potato yields two or three thousand catties per mu, how is it possible, how can there be such a high-yield crop in the world?" Wang Yi, a citizen of the same village, also followed.

"Say what? Mr. Zhao is a teacher of the Royal Academy of Sciences in Beijing, I heard that he is a disciple of the Ministry of Rites, and it was His Majesty who asked him to come to our Qingjian County to teach us to plant this state crop, don't you believe Your Majesty? Village Chief Li Lin scolded.

"Eh, just say it casually, how dare you not believe Your Majesty." Li Ding and Wang Yi hurriedly laughed.

The reason why they have their current life is all because of the emperor who brought them to them, if there was no emperor, they would still be exiles, and the whole family would have starved to death for a long time. In the entire northern Shaanxi, Zhu Youzhen's current prestige can be said to be in full swing, and no one dares to have any doubts.

"Remember, we will do whatever Your Majesty tells us to do, and we won't be wrong."

Li Lin, the village head, said a few words and walked towards the Qingjian River two miles away with a bucket. As the head of the village, while leading the military attache from the ninth grade, he has to take the lead and take the lead in the work.

On a mound on a hill, Zhao Wenmao, an agricultural science instructor of the Royal Academy of Sciences, is instructing the people to plant sweet potatoes.

"First break up the soil and loosen it, make a nest, plant the sweet potato vines, pour a ladle of water, and then seal the sweet potato vines into such a mound after a while, and seal the outside with dry soil." Zhao Wenmao personally demonstrated and planted sweet potato vines one by one.

"This sweet potato is very drought resistant, but it also needs to be properly irrigated, and when the vine grows, you need to turn the vine and loosen the soil, but remember not to hurt the rhizome."

"Mr. Zhao, can this sweet potato really yield two or three thousand catties per mu?" One of the people asked.

Zhao Wenmao smiled slightly: "Sweet potatoes have been cultivated in the Jingshi Royal Manor for several years, as long as the fertilizer is applied and irrigated in time when planting, the yield per mu can indeed reach two or three thousand catties." ”

"If there is such a high yield, we will no longer be afraid of starvation." The people who listened excitedly said.

"By the way, how does it taste, is it delicious?" One of the people asked.

Zhao Wenmao said: "Sweet and delicious, the taste is very good, but this sweet potato is most afraid of freezing, it will be bad when it freezes, and it needs to be dug in the cellar for storage in winter." You can also cut it into slices and dry dried sweet potatoes, so that it is easy to store and not afraid of freezing, but the taste is difficult to eat. ”

"As long as you can fill your stomach, I'm afraid that it won't be unpalatable." The people laughed.

Sweet potatoes are good and hardy, and they don't pick fields, so they are more in places where irrigation is not good. On the flat land on both sides of the Qingjian River, corn is planted, and the corn seedlings have been pumped three or four leaves, and the green oil looks particularly good.

A waterwheel more than a foot high is erected on the Qingjian River, pumping water out of the river and introducing it into a ditch with a cement bottom, and then flowing down the ditch into the corn field. There is one such waterwheel every few miles.

The rivers in northern Shaanxi are low-lying and the fields on both sides are well above the riverbed, requiring waterwheels to irrigate. In previous years, irrigation relied entirely on manpower to carry water, and an adult could not water half an acre of land in a day, while a waterwheel could irrigate twenty or thirty acres a day, without manpower, day and night.

"The fields on both sides of the river can be irrigated with water wheels, but there are only more than 10,000 acres, and there is still no way to do the fields on the plateau." On a mound by the river, Qingjian County Wei Lei sighed.

"It's already much better, and I've heard from the villagers that in previous years, the fields on both sides of the river were the fields, and most of the crops were drought." Xiangzheng He Zhu Road.

Lei Shisheng sighed: "I'm afraid that the grain in these fields is still not enough to eat." Your Majesty asked you and me to be county lieutenants and township leaders, we can't even fill the stomachs of the people, what face will we have to see Your Majesty in the future, we can't have to transfer food from other places in winter. ”

In the entire Qingjian County, after digging ditches, there are only 10,000 or 20,000 mu of watered fields, and the rest is dry land, but there are 50,000 or 60,000 people in the entire Qingjian County, and the grain grown from these 20,000 or 30,000 mu of fields alone cannot feed so many people.

"If only God could get out of the rain." Looking at the bright sun in the sky, He Zhu also sighed.

Lei Shisheng has been the county lieutenant of Qingjian for a year, because Yansui Town was established in northern Shaanxi, and the imperial court no longer sent liuguan, Qingjian has never had a county order, and he, the county lieutenant, has become the number one leader of the county, not only to manage the army, but also to manage the people. When the farming is not working, it is necessary to train the village soldiers, and when the farming is busy, it is necessary to inspect the cultivation and irrigation situation everywhere.

Her fair skin was tanned to wheat, but she was still very handsome. But what about no matter how handsome you are? I'm so busy all day that I don't even have time to find a woman.

"Alas, I knew that now, I should have stayed in the Praetorian Guard in the first place." Lei Shi sighed.

"County lieutenant, I heard that Li Chongzhen Li Guerrilla is going to be transferred to the Beijing Division?" He Zhu asked.

Lei Shisheng nodded, and said with envy: "Yes, Your Majesty has made an order to transfer 30,000 Praetorian Guards to Beijing, and Li Chongzhen's bastard sent a letter a few days ago, saying that his battalion was also recruited. Jingshi, how prosperous, there are so many beautiful girls, how like here, all of them are fucking yellow-faced women. ”

He Zhu said: "County lieutenant, in my opinion, it's better to stay here, although the Beijing division is prosperous, the constraints in the army are too strict, and maybe they will be transferred to fight, where is the freedom now." ”

"Free fart, tired to death every day, where is freedom?" Thunder whispered.

"County lieutenant, Mr. Zhao is here." He Zhu said suddenly.

Lei Shisheng hurriedly turned his head to look, and sure enough, he saw Zhao Wenmao coming from a distance, and hurriedly put away the appearance of hanging Erlang, and put his hands behind his back with a serious face.

......

More than 200 miles away from Lei Shisheng, 30,000 Praetorian Guards were lining up on the Yellow River, waiting to cross the river.

"Report, the pontoon bridge has been erected." A soldier Pegasus came to the Chinese army and reported loudly.

Cao Bianjiao ordered majestically: "Li Chongzhen, your unit is the vanguard and takes the lead in crossing the river, and the other battalions will cross the river one after another in accordance with the order. ”

"Yes, Dashuai!" Li Chongzhen clenched his fists and turned away. The Praetorian Guard recruit who was recruited with Lei Shisheng that day has now become a guerrilla general, with a thousand soldiers under his command, serving as the outpost of the army.

At the beginning of the month, Zhu Youzhen's holy decree was transmitted to Yan'an, and 30,000 Janissaries from Suizhen were transferred to Beijing.

In the entire town of Yansui, there are more than 45,000 Praetorian Guards, of which 30,000 are recruits recruited in northern Shaanxi last year.

However, the recruits and the original veterans have been reorganized, and after a year of training, sufficient food, strict training, and complete weapons and equipment, these recruits have a certain combat effectiveness, but there is still a lack of actual combat tests.

This time, the emperor dispatched the Yansui Janissary Guard, and Lu Xiangsheng sent the best and most elite 30,000 people, led by the chief soldier Cao Bianjiao, to Beijing.

Although the holy decree said that it was to replenish the strength of the Beijing camp, because Wang Zaijin took 30,000 Beijing camps to Guizhou to quell the rebellion of Hao'an. But only Lu Xiangsheng knew the true intention of Zhu Youzhen to transfer the Yansui Janissaries, and it would not be long before he would be transferred back to Beijing.

Longmen crossing, the Yellow River is surging, based on the ferry, wooden planks are erected on it, and a pontoon bridge several miles wide is erected on the wide river surface.

Li Chongzhen led more than 1,000 subordinates and took the lead in stepping on the pontoon bridge.

Li Hongji carried a firearm on his back, and walked silently on the pontoon bridge with the team, because of his hard training and extraordinary martial arts, he has now become the commander, and he is in charge of a hundred soldiers.

After a year of military career, the former post man and former leader of the Wandering People's Army has transformed into a qualified Praetorian Guard officer.

There are no displaced people in northern Shaanxi, and the gentry in Shanxi are also very kind, and they are much better to the people, without the troubled times that Li Hongji once thought were coming, Li Hongji has long lost the mind to take advantage of the troubled times to do a career, but is bent on seeking fame right away.

General general, thousand general, guerrilla, staff general, deputy general, general soldier, this is the life plan that Li Hongji made for himself.

Behind Li Hongji's side, Li Jin also walked silently, and now Li Jin is a small flag officer.

The outpost crossed the Yellow River, followed by other battalions. It took a whole morning for all 30,000 troops to cross the Yellow River. Half a month later, the army arrived in the city of Beijing.

"The last general will knock on Your Majesty." Cao Bianjiao said excitedly.

"It's been a hard journey." Zhu Youzhen smiled.

"Your Majesty, the last general heard that Li Yanzhi fought the red-haired ghost to destroy the pirates, and he did a vigorous job in Fujian, I don't know when the last general will be able to lead the army to the battlefield?" Cao Bianjiao asked expectantly.

Zhu Youzhen smiled slightly: "Don't be in a hurry, it should be soon." ”

Cao Bianjiao said: "Your Majesty, the last general wants to lead troops to Liaoxi." ”

Zhu Youzhen asked: "Go to Liaoxi, then you have to fight directly with Jiannu, Cao Bianjiao, are you sure that your subordinates can beat Jiannu?" ”

Cao Bianjiao hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, rest assured, the Erlang have been training for a whole year, and their morale is very high." ”

Zhu Youzhen said: "It's useless just to have high morale, you first rest in Beijing for a few days, and then go to Tianjin, the sea east of Tianjin, everywhere is wild saline-alkali land, and the desert is suitable for training." It just so happened that the Royal Arsenal had made a batch of firearms, including 5,000 Rumi guns and more than 100 artillery pieces of various kinds, and I have allocated them to you. Lu Xiangsheng will also be transferred back to Beijing soon, and you will be training in Tianjin, practicing how to face Jiannu and how to face the cavalry with infantry. ”

"Your Majesty, are you going to fight Jiannu?" Cao Bianjiao asked in surprise.

Zhu Youzhen shook his head: "The big war, maybe, maybe this winter, Jiannu will come to attack, and then it will be the time for the Praetorian Guards to fight, before that, you must practice the ability to kill the enemy." ”

"Your Majesty, aren't these 30,000 Praetorian Guards enriching Beijing's defense, how can they be transferred to Tianjin?" Li Banghua, the military department attendant in charge of the Jingying Rongzheng, asked.

After Li Banghua rectified the Beijing camp, there were only more than 50,000 people left, of which 30,000 were taken to Guizhou by Wang Zaijin, so they naturally needed to be replenished by troops.

"This Yansui army has just been established for a year, its combat effectiveness is weak and requires strict training, and there are people inside and outside the Beijing Division, which is not suitable for drills, and it is more suitable for Tianjin." Zhu Youzhen said perfunctorily. As for the specific reasons, naturally they cannot be disclosed.

Zhu Youzhen issued an order to move Lu Xiang, the governor of Sui, to the governor of Tianjin, and actually presided over the training of the Praetorian Guard. Cao changed Jiao to the general army of the Beijing camp, and promoted Zhang Shize to the general army of Yansui, responsible for sitting in northern Shaanxi.

At the same time, Zhu Youzhen issued a secret edict to Sun Chuanting, the governor of Liaodong, ordering Sun Chuanting to take action against Mao Wenlong, the commander of the Dongjiang River.

ps: There are still some Kavin these days, and I feel that the writing is not smooth, and I am trying to adjust my state.