At night, in the camp and in the tent, Li Li was listening to Zu Yi’s “work report”.

Zu Yi was ordered to "invested" the military camp in Xuzhou. When the army returned to Hanshan, he went back and reported his "exploration results" to Li Li.

The military farming in the garrison has been implemented. Zu Yi knew that he was going to "inspection" because Li Li was testing his abilities, rather than asking him whether the military farm was feasible.

So we are straightforward and raise several questions about military garrisons that are now implemented.

First, sooner or later, the garrison of troops and people will become servants who do miscellaneous tasks for officials at all levels, which is nothing more than fast or slow. As a result, problems such as flight and internal strife may arise.

Second, the chief officials of the military farms are all from the army, and many people have poor civil affairs capabilities, such as managing people or in charge of affairs.

Although he is equipped with assistant officials, he is only good at cutting down people, he may easily be fooled by cunning officials, and the results of military farming may not be ideal.

Third, large-scale military farming expenses are extremely large and require several consecutive years of investment. If an accident occurs during the period, all previous efforts will inevitably be wasted.

Zu Yi believes that following the current military farming method with the main purpose of "occupying land" means that many military farming areas have poor irrigation conditions, less harvest in the early stage of military farming, but a large investment.

The construction of fortresses at all levels of military farming settlements requires a lot of money, grain, manpower and material resources. The result of the large investment is that each settlement only has the basic self-protection ability to defend against robbers.

Once the Qi army launches a large-scale attack, the settlements of military farms will not be protected by themselves, so field troops are needed to rescue them. So, in order to protect the military farms in various places, how much money does the military mansion have to spend to recruit troops and expand the army?

Li Li was not surprised that Zu Yi asked these three questions at all, because these were indeed three mountains that could not be avoided.

There is no system that can "treat all diseases", and after implementation for a period of time, problems will inevitably arise.

This is true whether it is the system of the government and military forces in the Sui and Tang Dynasties or the system of the Wei and Instruments in the Ming Dynasty.

In the Ming Dynasty, because the military soldiers were hereditary, they gradually became public-private slavery, and from soldiers that combine farming and warfare to slave-like serf soldiers, and their combat effectiveness dropped rapidly.

Zu Yi asked a question and Li Li answered it, not to get the other party’s approval, but to understand the purpose of his doing so.

"Let's talk about the issue of garrisoning troops. The garrisoning people are very easy to be slaves to the chief officials. You are right, but so what?"

"Even if it is not a military camp, any military garrison, aren't the soldiers being treated as chores by the fortress lords and called to do chores?"

"As long as this fortress lord can make the fortress play its due role, the generals above, no matter how he drives the soldiers in the fort?"

"Even a clan that lives in a group, there are internal divisions of high and low, side branches, and the status and treatment of children born in the vassal, aren't it like a farmer or even a slave?"

"A tram, forty households, the taxes that should be paid and labor that should be served have been completed, and there are no dens of thieves in the tram. So, is it important to me whether the small flag is a mighty and blessed in the tram?"

"Besides, the military soldiers who have military farming will eventually become households, not hereditary soldiers. The military farming settlements will become villages."

"At that time, for local governments, if there is land and households, if taxes and labor cannot be saved, it will be a problem for the court, not a problem for the garrison."

Li Li pointed out the purpose of implementing the ward system (improved version). Regarding the personnel quality questions raised by Zu Yi, he answered:

"If you don't know how to manage people or business, then learn. If you really can't learn, just replace people to become the chief officer. After a few years of training, will the talents you have trained be just right for me?"

"As for the problem of large amounts of money and food expenditure, it is really a headache. I will find a way, you don't have to worry."

Zu Qi really wanted to know how Li Li wanted to solve this problem, but he was not easy to ask, so he could only listen.

"There are good lands that are easy to irrigate, but they are basically the main ones. However, if you want to collect taxes on these people, it involves a lot and is more troublesome. It is not impossible to move, but it is not now."

"Military garrisons are mainly about land reclamation, which means cooking and eating by themselves and not robbing food from other people's bowls, so they will not attract fierce resistance, but the investment in advance is large and the profit is small, so there is nothing to do about it."

"However, you forget about another seemingly illusory gain? That is the impact on military morale and people's hearts."

Zu Qi asked: "What Junhou means is that as long as you insist on promoting military farming, even if it is just a wasteland, it will soon be rewarded for the soldiers who have made meritorious people and even the people, and have hope?"

"Yes, I just want everyone to know that joining the Xuzhou Army will definitely win a battle and have a great chance to make a contribution. If you make a contribution, you will have a place to make a contribution, even if it is just a wasteland at the beginning."

"Having a piece of land of your own, and a family stays on the land and lives a stable life and is self-sufficient. How many people without lands are dreaming?"

"When I come to Xuzhou to serve as a soldier, I will first become a war soldier, and I will divide more land based on military merits. After a few years of cultivation, I will turn it into a household registration, rather than being a military soldier for generations, or serving as a soldier until I grow old. Isn't this a good choice?"

"Even if you are just a garrison, you will have a few more years and less land than a garrison, but you can always have land and become a household registration."

"Xuzhou has a war-going army to ensure safety and insist on farming. The wastelands that are reclaimed will definitely become mature land and their own fields."

"In a safe Xuzhou, large-scale military farming will be transformed into households after several years. Once this impression is formed, the landless people who flock to Xuzhou with hope will only be more or less."

"To build the momentum of large-scale farming, you must be willing to invest money. Only in this way can you attract the people to gather in Xuzhou by yourself. Just think that it is spending money to invite people to shout and attract customers. Whether it is worth it or not is clear at a glance."

Zu Yi heard Li Li's meaning out of his words and volunteered: "The military farming affairs are trivial, complicated, but also important. If you are not talented, you are willing to share your worries for the king."

Zu Yu has many years of experience in handling practical things. Li Li originally planned to take the appointment and nodded: "You can't escape. You must share my worries and make specific arrangements. Let's talk about it when I return to Hanshan."

Zhang Ying is his shogunate chief (chief of staff) and needs coordination. He handles too many things. In his specific affairs, other capable people must take responsibility.

Zu Yi defected to Li Li, but his relatives were still in Qi. For the sake of relatives' safety, Zu Yi changed his name and surname, and it was not easy to show up in public, so Li Li had to think carefully about how to apply for it.

After talking for a while, Zu Yi saw Li Li's enthusiasm, and asked, "Junhou, I am still curious. I don't know how Junhou plans to raise money and grain to promote military farming in the garrison? The court is probably powerless to do anything about this."

"If there is not enough money and food to spend, you either borrow or grab it." Li Li said slowly, and he was going to say 'or cheat', but considering the other party's face, he didn't say it.

"You have to pay back the money by borrowing it, and the principal plus interest is not paid back when it is due, so it will be troublesome; if you grab it, you will have to pay it back a lot of money, but it is not that easy to grab it. You have to pay back the pros and cons, you still have to borrow it."

"There are many merchants in Xuzhou, and the government has not borrowed money from merchants..."

Speaking of this, Li Li asked back: "In your opinion, how can we borrow so much money and grain, promote military farming in the garrison, and then repay it after it expires?"

"I can't think of it later."

"Actually, you are struggling with how to repay the principal and interest within the period, right?"

Li Li said and laughed: "The harvest of military farms will definitely not be high in the early stage, so the hope of repaying debts is placed on the newly reclaimed wasteland, and people will only feel as if they are on pins and needles."

Zu Yi heard what Li Li meant, that he wanted to make money elsewhere to pay off his debts.

But since you can make money from other places, why not just invest in the garrison farming, but have to pay more money and pay more interest?

Unless this "make money from elsewhere", it also takes time.

"It's useless to say more about how to do it, and wait and see." Li Li left a suspense, "It's going to be the New Year, let's talk about it after the New Year."

After being busy for more than half a year, he finally got it clear that the main force of the Qi army was destroyed, and his deal with the King of Poyang should be completed.
Chapter completed!