In the twelfth lunar month, the Pingdong General Shogunate quietly turned into the Chariot General Shogunate.
The personnel have not changed, but the brand has changed.
Pei Kang, the chief historian of the shogunate, went out for inspection a year ago and suddenly fell ill.
Fortunately, the illness was not serious, and he refused to delegate power. He only handed over part of the official duties to Chen Yougen, the left-behind left Sima, and shared them with others such as Zhonglang Mao Bang and Yu Liang, who joined the army. He still made the final decision on major matters.
At the end of November, Le Kuan, a minister in the palace, and Wu Qian returned to recruit troops and asked for more money, food and equipment.
After Pei Kang reviewed it, he approved it and handed it over to the person in charge of joining the army.
More than 4,000 soldiers were recruited this time, all of whom were organized into the Silver Spear Central Camp.
The middle camp originally had six buildings, two of which were sent to the Heiji Army, and one each to the left and right battalions to replenish the battle damage. After recruiting new soldiers, they were reorganized into buildings 21-29 and stationed in Xiaochang'an, Nanyang for training.
After handling this matter, Pei Kang approved the distribution of a new batch of pensions.
Unknowingly, the number of war dead and disabled soldiers receiving pensions has exceeded 30,000, and the annual expenditure is about 800,000 grains and beans, which is very huge.
But it is impossible to reduce this cost, so I have to bite the bullet and pay.
If you want to destroy people on the battlefield, but you don't want to pay for it, how can there be such a good thing in the world?
Pei Kang actually didn't understand this, but he didn't intend to have trouble with his "son-in-law" on this matter.
Many people wonder why Chen Gong's army dared to fight so bravely. This is the reason. Let him go, it is better than losing nothing.
After lunch, Pei Kang reviewed the suppression of the Runan civil uprising. After giving instructions, he finally couldn't stand it any longer and lay down on the couch.
"Pei Gong, why do you think you are so troubled?" Zuo Sima Chen Yougen sat down in Changshi's office, stared at his eyes like bells, and deliberately said a few words of ridicule. Seeing Pei Kang's wretched look, he swallowed his words again.
.
Although this old guy is greedy for power, he still works hard and is much better than those people who travel around all day long and die carefree.
"Chen Sima, the wealthy people in Runan have never been convinced by Chen Gong. It is my fault that they have imposed too many gifts and provoked a civil uprising." Pei Kang closed his eyes and kept mumbling: "There is nothing Yu Yuangui can't do.
, but this time the response was swift, and the field army was dispatched on the same day to put down the Lu rebellion, which is commendable. But, alas, it was still too hasty and the killing was too heavy."
"Just kill them." Chen Yougen said disapprovingly: "These wealthy families have lived a good life for too long. They have never experienced real troubled times, so they always think that they are very powerful. If you kill the Lu family, it will be easier to live in the land."
"It's not that simple." Pei Kang said softly: "Mr. Chen is back, and he still needs to be comforted."
In Runan, there was fighting for a while during the Eight Kings Rebellion. Then the refugee commander Li Hong made a fuss, and the rebellious Wang Ru's troops harassed it for a while, so there was no major external invasion.
Later, during the Zhang Xiaoer and Li Mazi rebellions, the refugees in Guanxi were oppressed too much, coupled with Yu Liang's improper operations, it eventually led to chaos, with many people killed and injured.
This time, the gentry led by the Lu family launched a rebellion, and the reasons were complicated. Excessive taxation was only an inducement. The shogunate ordered the land survey in Runan, and asked the gentry to give up part of the land to the newly arrived Kansai refugees, who were among the native guests.
An alienated version of the struggle.
Fortunately, it was suppressed quickly.
The field armies in Xiping and Langling were dispatched urgently and wiped out several wealthy families including the Lu family. The land was measured and distributed.
The thirty-one counties of Xiangcheng, Runan, Xincai, Nanton, and Chen in western Henan have nearly 150,000 households and more than 700,000 people. They have been compiled into a book and can be directly called by Chen Gong.
Strength is not the same thing as other places attached to Wubao and the manor's household registration, so it cannot be ignored.
"Appease, appease, just know how to appease." Chen Yougen muttered a few words, too lazy to talk to Pei Kang.
In fact, the order to mobilize troops was issued by him.
The troops that participated in the massacre of the Lu family and other families were the field troops transferred from Duyang, and they were led by his confidants, so they would not indulge those local snakes.
If you don't accept it, I'll kill you. What can you do to me? Mr. Chen who is far away in Yecheng doesn't blame me, so why are you so confused?
"Chen Sima, you can't just rely on fighting and killing. If Mr. Chen can achieve his great ambitions, he still has to rely on the support of the scholars." Pei Kang sighed and said: "Otherwise, how can you withstand the words of Youyou?"
Chen Yougen was stunned.
"Forget it this time. Next time you take action, say hello to me first."
"I am Sima." Chen Yougen said unceremoniously: "The chief minister does not need to worry about military affairs. Furthermore, the counties and states in western Henan are the foundation of the Ming Dynasty and cannot be ignored. Do you think I have killed Chen Liu in Yingchuan?"
"Runan is a place where people gather together." Pei Kang reminded.
"Ming Gong needs a foundation, and he must have a territory that can be used as an arm." Chen Yougen stood up and said, "Since Mr. Pei is ill, he should take a good rest. I will handle some matters."
After saying that, he bowed and turned around and walked out the door.
Pei Kang opened his eyes and looked at the roof.
People like Chen Yougen, Jin Zheng, Wang Queer, and Hou Feihu have become popular.
They had their own ideas and their own rules of conduct. Perhaps because Shao Xun came from a military household, these warriors no longer felt inferior and were no longer submissive in front of the scholars. They gradually dared to talk back to them and confront them.
And these people are only on the surface.
The government soldiers who were rooted in the local area were even more silent, occupying the right to speak in the countryside.
After the Battle of Yecheng, Chen Gong collected hundreds of elite soldiers from Hu and Han in Hebei Province, organized them into government soldiers, and settled in Dongping.
As a result, Gaoping has 6,000 soldiers, Dongping and Puyang each have 3,000 soldiers, and the scattered soldiers in Luonan counties, Yingyin, Yangxia, Chen counties and other places add up to 4,200 people.
, which is more than sixteen thousand.
Judging from the military register of General Longxiang's mansion, there are more than two tribes of soldiers from these more than 10,000 households, which adds up to more than 50,000 households and a population of 200,000 to 300,000. It is already a considerable force.
.
The number of accounts that Mr. Chen can directly call has exceeded one million before he knew it.
His foundation is much more stable than Sima Rui of Jianye. The latter also has Zhongzhou gentry and refugees who went south, but there should not be millions of them.
Pei Kang, who was lying on the hospital bed, thought a lot. And people like him always like to talk about the past affairs, and he felt that something was wrong, and he was a little confused for a while.
I don’t know where this world will go.
****
After Chen Yougen left the shogunate, he wandered aimlessly in the countryside.
The soldiers followed on horseback, chatting and laughing.
They are all relatives of the four brothers Chen Yougen. They have always been more casual and courageous.
"When there was a locust plague that year, it was really overwhelming and scary." Someone said: "Mr. Chen was originally going to fight with the Huns, but in the end even the hair on the horses was eaten away, and both sides stopped fighting. Such strange things,
Old people who have lived their whole lives are unheard of."
"The locust plague was preceded by a drought. The old people also said that they had never seen such a severe drought in their lives. The Luo River had stopped flowing." Someone else said: "The alternation of drought and locusts is not giving people a way to survive. No wonder Chen Gong wants to go down to earth."
"
"Is Mr. Chen really a descendant of the Taibai Star?"
"Of course. Otherwise, do you think the princesses of the Sima family will commit themselves to him one by one?"
"Isn't that Mr. Chen's job..."
"Shut up!" You Shechang rode forward and said sternly: "It's just a trick for others. Even Mr. Chen dares to tease you. Don't you want to live?"
The voice fell silent for a moment.
Chen Yougen seemed unaware, only looking at the dense mulberry forest in the wild, a smile appeared on his face unconsciously, and said: "Okay, that's great."
After hearing this, the soldiers looked around one after another.
After the locust plague, most of the mulberry forests were destroyed. However, in the past few years, the mulberry forests have gradually improved, and the people's lives are getting better day by day.
In fact, if you think about it, you will know that with so much wasteland and only so many people, there is no need for intensive farming. No one can starve to death by doing anything, and the livestock at home can also have enough fodder to feed - the premise is to maintain a relatively stable world.
Chen Gong obtained two books, "Growing Pockmarks" and "Essential Techniques of Planting Mulberry". He also contributed the composting method practiced in Yunzhong Sanwu in the early years, and gradually taught the people how to improve planting methods.
There is no doubt that this change is very slow.
The reason is that there are not enough people to do this. Furthermore, the promotion people don’t seem to understand very well. For example, they only know that when manure is piled together, they must dig the river bottom to cover it with silt and stir it. As for why they do this,
No one knew, but they heard that anyone in Chen County would be whipped if they covered it with dry loess, so they all dug wet mud out of the Suiyang Canal - and for a while they actually dredged the river channel.
Over the years, no matter how slow the progress of promotion is, some results will eventually be seen.
Mulberry trees in Henan are planted in front of and behind houses, around ponds, and on both sides of roads.
Every night, the sound of women weaving can be heard throughout villages and Wubao, large and small.
Several times, everyone rushed back to Xuchang overnight. When they heard the cries of jealousy, they privately commented on which family's women were hardworking and which family's women were lazy.
Men farm and women weave, what a wonderful life.
In those years when locusts alternated between droughts, exchanged their offspring for food, and the Xiongnu looted and burned the countryside, who could have imagined that we would be here today?
After careful calculation, it turns out that not many years have passed since the Battle of Gaoping, but surrounded by a stable life, they always subconsciously feel that it is very far away.
After the battlefield moved to Hebei, the "illusion" that the war was far away became more and more obvious.
In fact, this is all the credit of Mr. Chen.
Chen Yougen suddenly stopped.
After all, Yingchuan is the Yingchuan of aristocratic families, with manors one after another. In recent years, some villages where farmers live together have appeared one after another, but they are very, very few.
He doesn't like it very much, he can even say he hates it.
"Do you want to be a soldier?" He turned his head and looked at the soldiers and asked.
The soldiers were stunned for a moment. After confirming that Chen Sima was not joking, they boldly said with a smile: "If uncle is willing to let us go, of course he is willing."
Chen Yougen smiled and said: "I won't tie you to me. When the young eagle grows up, it will spread its wings and fly high."
The soldiers looked at Chen Yougen who suddenly became formal and at a loss.
"The beggar army in Junyi area is going to Hebei." Chen Yougen said: "Chen Gong plans to place government soldiers in Chenliu, and you all have a chance."
"Why Junyi?" someone asked.
"Chen Gong plans to move the government to Junyi and take care of both Henan and Hebei." Chen Yougen said, "If the Bafu is opened in the future, it will probably be there as well."
Junyi belongs to Chenliu State, which is more than 200 miles northeast of Xuchang, not far from the river. It is also on the water transportation line, with easy access to all directions, and can fully utilize the manpower and material resources of Henan.
The only shortcoming is that Chenliu has been in war for a long time and is a bit dilapidated overall. Junyi, which was occupied by the beggar army, is even more dilapidated and requires a lot of effort to run it.
But this also brings a benefit: white paper is easy to draw on.
"If you become a soldier and live a good life, you should remember one thing." Chen Yougen looked at everyone and said seriously: "This life is not given to you by the imperial court, not by the Wang family of Langya, and not by the Pei family of Hedong.
What you have is not given to you by the Taiyang family, nor is it given to you by the Yingchuan Yu family, but is given to you by Chen Gong. Remember!"
Chapter completed!