The carp valley mouth presented in front of everyone's eyes is no longer the tattered wooden fence village, but a majestic blue brick square city.

The summer wind was blowing from east to west, and the dragon flag at the head of the city was waving in the wind, under which stood several soldiers in armor, and next to them were dark pipes.

"When did a brick city pop up here?"

The leaders who followed behind Tokutobao were also dumbfounded, and they were shocked when they saw the blue brick square city in front of them, and they asked suspiciously for a long time.

Things are so weird, this carp valley originally belonged to one of their territory, and it was even an important outpost of their Jianzhou Jurchen.

Although it is reasonable to be occupied by the Ming army, people can't understand why a city has been erected in just a few months.

It's just that there is no answer to this matter, after all, in terms of their architectural ability, this kind of thing is simply a miracle.

Tototobao reacted slowly, but shook his head bitterly and gently.

Although he accepted the strategic deployment of a detour to attack Liyu Valley, his father probably would never have imagined that a brick city would be built here, and it seemed that there was still a Ming army guarding it.

Fortunately, the number of people they led this time was as high as 10,000, but it may not be impossible to capture this blue brick square city.

The prosperity of the capital in August is still the same, but the weather has slowly cooled.

Due to the imminent autumn season, the capital's attention to the Jianzhou war has weakened significantly, and it has begun to speculate about who will win the title of Xie Yuan in this year's autumn season.

Preparing for the exam has become the most important thing for candidates nowadays.

Although the capital downplayed its attention to the Jianzhou war, many candidates did not dare to take it lightly.

With the frequent mention of the establishment of the state in the recent issues of the Ming magazine, as well as the project of building the state launched by the imperial court, everyone knows that the topic of this year's autumn is probably inseparable from the establishment of the state.

Like last year's Shuntian Autumn Festival, the chief examiner, Yin Songcheng of Shuntian Mansion, cleverly borrowed "Liu Chun's Tibetan Map, Stopping the Han from Committing Crimes", thus alluding to Liu Daxia's act of hiding Annan's archives.

It is precisely because of this that the candidates are struggling to find out the latest progress of the war in Jianzhou, but they want to carry out accurate escort. It's just that except for Wang Yue, who is still camping in Binjiang, there is no news of any war.

West Garden, the Palace of Nourishing the Heart.

Zhu Youji, who was wearing a dragon robe, sat upright in front of the desk, and the whole person looked more and more mature, and he was conscientiously handling the affairs of the two capitals and thirteen provinces.

Although the war in Jianzhou is very important, if you want to manage the country well, you must not only focus on Jianzhou, but also control the overall situation.

The most gratifying thing is that Liu Zhong, the governor of Huguang, is still conscientiously continuing to work in Qingzhang fields.

Although the progress of this hands-on Qingzhang model is slow, it can make all the hidden fields have nothing to hide, and it also exposes that many officials and gentry are still holding on to luck.

Perhaps, there really are no shortcuts in this world!

Liu Zhong's hands-on Qingzhang model can truly find out the real acres of land in the Ming Dynasty, which is the best way to solve the hidden fields, and it is also a weapon to crack down on the unjudicial gentry.

"I heard that Qing was suffering from heat stroke, and my heart was very uneasy, so I sent a doctor to treat it! Qing is my rib minister, and he should cherish his body even more to help me create a prosperous world! Zhu Youzhi would personally write a reply to his loyal courtiers and earnestly advise Liu Zhong.

Although I didn't see it with my own eyes, I didn't want to spend a quarter of an hour outdoors this summer, and this kind of stuffy weather was literally fatal.

It's just that Liu Zhong has been rain or shine, and has always implemented the criteria of personal measurement, and this summer's progress has not slowed down because of the scorching heat.

The information Zhu Youzhu obtained from Huguang also confirmed that Liu Zhong did not deceive, and always performed his duties in a down-to-earth manner, so he picked up a good minister.

Now I care about Liu Zhong's body, in addition to winning people's hearts, it also comes from the heart.

Thanks to Liu Zhong's exemplary role, many officials and gentry in various places now dare not hide the acres of land, and even many counties follow Liu Zhong's example and go down to the fields to measure in person.

It was the spontaneous registration of these local gentry, coupled with the spontaneous inspection of acres of land by local officials, that caused a large number of hidden fields to begin to be registered.

In the same way, this year's grain tax has exceeded 40 million stones, but it has more than doubled the original history.

There is nothing wrong with the idea of light taxation advocated by Confucianism, but if an agrarian society wants to successfully transform, it needs the guidance of state capital. Now Daming wants to take this step, but it is inseparable from the support of grain tax.

If the plan of the Ming and Qing dynasties goes well, the finances of the Ming Dynasty will surely become richer and richer, far more than the harvest of rectifying the salt administration.

In terms of merit alone, the current Liu Zhong is much worse than Wang Yue, but I am afraid that his future merits will be able to catch up.

"Your Majesty, the officials of the Ministry of Industry have arrived and are waiting in the imperial study!" Liu Jin walked in lightly from the outside, reporting respectfully.

After Zhu Youzhu finished handling the sparseness, he usually replied to the feudal officials, and just after the reply of Xu Shiying, the governor of the East China Sea, he put down the brush in his hand directly.

"Honorable Ann, Honorable Ann!" Jia Jun, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, led several core backbone officials of the Ministry of Industry to wait here, and immediately greeted Zhu Youzhi who came in.

Zhu Youzhu didn't pay attention to these false courtesies, so he said straight to the point: "How is the construction of Jianzhou progressing?" ”

After all, respect and humility are engraved in everyone's bones, and the officials of the Ministry of Industry present turned their heads to look at Jia Jun.

Jia Jun is a tall little old man, his beard has turned gray, but his eyes are bright, but they are full of wisdom.

Due to his outstanding talent and performance in engineering, Jia Jun became the first scholar since the Ming Dynasty.

In the face of Zhu Youji's inquiry, Jia Jun seriously pointed to the sand table and said: "Your Majesty, this is the latest construction progress of our Ministry of Industry, please take a look!" ”

The Ministry of Industry has jurisdiction over millions of craftsmen, many of whom are skilled craftsmen.

After the sand table of Jianzhou was reduced, they moved it directly here, and five cities had already risen to the east of the sand table, four of which had been completed.

Seeing that the progress was much faster than expected, Zhu Youzhu couldn't help but nod with satisfaction, and then pointed to a rift valley and asked seriously: "Is this the Carp Valley?" ”

"Your Majesty is wise, this time it is Carp Valley! According to His Majesty's instructions, 100,000 craftsmen have all entered Jianzhou to build the city, and now the city of Jianzhou covers an area of one square kilometer! Jia Jun's waist has been bent, but he is a little proud.

The war in Jianzhou is the business of the Ministry of War, and now the most important work of their Ministry of Industry is to build a city in Jianzhou, so that the new city built is scattered in Jianzhou like a spider web, forming a dog's tooth staggered trend.

This has been the case since ancient times, and if there is no city, it may be land that can be abandoned at any time. It's just that once a city is built, it's often the city that is in the people.

If the Eastern Expeditionary Army is recovering territory, then the Ministry of Industry is now incorporating the recovered Jianzhou territory into the territory of the Ming Dynasty by building cities.

Zhu Youzhu saw that the situation was developing in a good direction, so he reached out and picked up a square city mold from the sand table: "Do you use cement now?" ”

The glue of this era was mainly glutinous rice, and just by listening to the name, you can tell that the cost is very high, and it is very wasteful of food. It's just that similar to fishing line, the right material is always hard to find.

In view of this, Zhu Youzhu provided a cement formula.

After many attempts, the Ministry of Industry finally made a simple firing of limestone, and a rough version of the cement was obtained.

The performance of this rough version of cement naturally cannot be compared with the cement of later generations, and the effect is not even as good as the current glutinous rice method, but the cost of cement is very low.

Most importantly, as long as the limestone mine is found, it can be sourced locally, which greatly reduces the cost of transporting glutinous rice from Beijing to Jianzhou.

"There are a lot of limestone mines in Jianzhou, and the terrain has been figured out earlier, so the five cities built now are all made of cement to build new cities!" Jia Jun, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, had a bright light in his eyes and responded proudly.

Zhu Youzhu looked at the square city mold in his hand and found that this small mold was also made of cement, so he asked curiously: "What is the cost of a city now?" ”

"Back to Your Majesty, since we are building outside the fortress, and we are issuing food stamps and cloth stamps to craftsmen and workers, the cost of a city has reached 50,000 taels!" Jia Jun, the secretary of the Ministry of Works, swallowed and spit, looking cautious.

The Ming Dynasty had a perfect system of conscription, and if this kind of city building was placed in China, it was usually enough to build a brick city with 20,000 taels of silver.

However, the current situation is more special, even with cement as a cheap adhesive, craftsmen and displaced people have to pay wages.

It is precisely because of this that the cost of building a state and building a city is quite high, but it brings a certain burden to the Ming Dynasty's finances.

Zhu Youji's brows furrowed slightly, and he sighed helplessly.

He knew that if he didn't choose to squeeze his own people, it would be a normal cost, but he had to do it. In fact, repairing the city has a very important significance, but it is conducive to the Ming Dynasty to continue to control the state.

Like the Liaoxi Corridor, this is already a territory outside the Shanhai Pass, but because of the existence of Ningyuan City and Jinzhou City, the Ming Dynasty has continued to control.

As long as you can take root in Jianzhou now, with the powerful military power of the Ming Dynasty, it is a matter of course to drive away or annihilate the little Jianzhou Jurchen.

Zhu Youzhu knew that only by paying could there be a return, so he earnestly advised: "Jianzhou is the granary of the northeast of the Ming Dynasty, for the great cause of China, we must tighten our pants and complete the construction of the Jianzhou city network." After a pause, he emphasized seriously: "I will not be stingy with investment, but all your ministers must make a good budget and strive to spend both silver and silver!" If it is done, all of you will be rewarded, but if you want to make personal gain, then you will not blame me for not being emotional! ”

"Ministers obey His Majesty's teachings!" Jia Jun, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, and other officials knew that this was Zhu Youji's bottom line, and there was no longer any idea of greedy ink in their hearts, so they took it seriously.

If it was in the past dynasty, they might have the idea of seeking personal gain, but the current emperor is wise and powerful, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate is even more eyeing, so they are willing to contribute to the dynasty.

Inadvertently, although the number of Wenchen who died in the Hongzhi Dynasty was second only to that of the Hongwu Dynasty, more and more Wenchen were willing to obey Zhu Youji.

Due to the concentricity of the monarch and the ministers, and the financial wealth of the Ming Dynasty, cities have sprung up in Jianzhou like mushrooms after a rain.

Needless to say, Shanhaiguan naturally needs not say much, and the Guanningjin corridor has already taken shape, and on this basis, it is quietly extending to the entire Jianzhou.

In time, as long as it touches every corner of Jianzhou, then the fertile land of Jianzhou will be officially included in the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

As for the plan of the northeast granary, it is not a slogan, and more and more Henan disaster victims have arrived in Jianzhou one after another, and they have taken the initiative to participate in the work of repairing the city, so that this plan is also carried out in an orderly manner.

A lot of people actually misunderstand one thing! This Ming expedition was not just to defeat the Jianzhou Jurchens, but to seize the entire territory of Jianzhou.

In order to achieve this strategic goal, steady progress is the best approach.

Wang Yue was not in a hurry to clear the main force of the Jianzhou Jurchens, one was that there was no need to get into danger easily, and the other was that the Ming Dynasty had been silently "recovering Jianzhou".

Bang!

With the sound of a cannon, a lead bullet weighing as much as ten catties burst out of the muzzle, carrying a sharp sound of breaking the air.

After these years of secret development, the Ming Dynasty not only worked firearms, but also the artillery has also undergone continuous improvement, and now the range of heavy artillery has reached a mile.

Click!

A pine tree was hit by lead bullets and its trunk snapped before crashing to the ground.

Burst!

A Mongol cavalryman had a shocked expression on his face when faced with oncoming lead bullets, and then his entire body was hit by lead bullets, and the sound of bones shattering could be heard in his body.

Yes......

Although a Mongolian cavalryman escaped by chance, his mount was beaten to the ground, causing his entire body to fall to the ground and break his bones.

How so?

Tohara Bao was leading his subordinates to prepare to seize this Daming City, but in the face of the cannonballs flying from the head of Daming City, especially the chaos of his own military formation, he suddenly became confused.

Although the Ming Dynasty was extremely powerful, its own corruption was also obvious.

But I don't know when it began, the Ming Dynasty seems to have been reborn, not only the military discipline is more strict, but now the shocking things are endless.

"Kill!"

Just when the Jurchen army led by Toyuan Bao was in turmoil, the city gate was suddenly opened, and a well-trained heavy cavalry came out of the city.

"Heavy riding? How is this possible? ”

"It's over, this is Da Ming's Aegis Battalion!"

"How could S.H.I.E.L.D. be here, do they know that we can't sneak attack?"

……

Faced with the sudden killing of the Aegis Battalion, the leaders who followed the original protection were dumbfounded, and immediately smelled a smell of conspiracy.

Among the cavalry, the heavy cavalry was undoubtedly invincible.

It's just that the cost of heavy riding is too high, not only does it require a lot of resources to build, but it is also a very expensive thing to maintain at ordinary times.

In the information they originally collected, because the weather in Jianzhou is too hot now, the S.H.I.E.L.D. battalion did not follow the Eastern Expeditionary Army this time.

But I don't know if it was because of Wang Yue's delaying tactics until the end of summer, or if the S.H.I.E.L.D. camp had been hiding here waiting for them, but now it was giving them a head-on attack.

"Kill!"

Iron Elephant Mountain took the lead and led five thousand Aegis battalions to kill, stabbing like sharp arrows at the already chaotic Jianzhou Jurchen army.

(End of chapter)