On the wide official road, twenty strange carriages rushed past, and the dust was everywhere, attracting countless people to look at each other. These carriages only had carriages on one side, with a height of more than two meters, just like a moving small city wall. There were still many small holes on the carriages, and I don’t know what they were doing.

However, when they noticed that there were five soldiers in each car, the people's thoughts suddenly rose, afraid it was some amazing mysterious weapon.

"I have heard of Zhuge Liang's wooden ox and horses. I'm afraid that our Duke Ji also has the ability of the Marquis of Wuxiang and has created something amazing!"

"The wooden ox and horse can walk by themselves, why are you still pulling it with a horse?"

"You don't understand this. Good things need to be used on the battlefield, and they usually use horses to pull them. After meeting the Tartars, they rushed out, thunder and fire cannons, and the Tartars looked at them and fled in the wind!"

The people were not clear and talked a lot. In fact, this thing is not a special thing, but it is rarely seen in the Central Plains. In the Jiubian area, the Ming army once equipped a large amount of equipment, which was the so-called side van.

The convoy stopped until it reached the entrance of the government office. After Gu Zhenhua received the report, he hurried out.

"Mr. Li, I haven't seen you for a few days. You are giving me a gift!"

Li Jibo suddenly laughed: "It's both giving gifts and asking for accounts. Duke, let's see how this side van is made of. If it is used together, it's equipped on a large scale, which can be used to fight and transport. Back then, Qi Jiguang relied on the side van to shock Ji Town, killing the grasslands and blood flowed into a river!"

Of course, Gu Zhenhua knew the name of the side van, and immediately became interested. He hurried to the front of the car and carefully became a large number of them. This side van is a little larger than an ordinary carriage, with a shaft of more than three meters long and more than two meters wide. It is all made of good hardwood and is very strong.

After jumping into the car, the two-meter-long car can provide soldiers with good cover, and the reserved shooting holes just fire projectiles outwards.

Li Jibo also smiled and said, "Mr., this side van has made some improvements. For example, the van board is divided into two pieces, which can be removed and installed on both sides. This way, when walking on a rugged road, one side can be avoided to be too heavy and overturned, and when transporting simply, you can also hold more things. It is also comfortable for soldiers to sit."

Li Jibo said as he asked the soldiers to remove the wing board. The other half of the carriage also had notches, which were easily installed in, and suddenly changed from fighting to an ordinary carriage.

However, looking at the details, there are still many unique aspects, such as the wing board is wrapped in iron sheets, and there is also a layer of animal skin and cotton cloth nailed inside the wing board, which can enhance the defense ability of bows and arrows and firearms.

Gu Zhenhua looked at it and was very satisfied. He asked with a smile: "Mr. Li, this side van can hold a few hundred kilograms, right?"

"That's right. An ordinary side van can hold five hundred kilograms. Now the manufacturing process has been strengthened to hold at least seven hundred kilograms. It is equipped with a tiger squat cannon, six muskets, plus long spears, waist knives, food and water. A side van can be enough to supply the demand for twenty people to fight. If hundreds of side vans are connected together, they can form a car array to form an indestructible ring defense. In field battles, there is no need to be afraid of the Tartars."

Gu Zhenhua nodded repeatedly when he heard this, looked at it and couldn't help but nod and said, "Mr. Li, since this side van is so powerful, the border troops of the Ming Dynasty also have a lot of equipment, why can't they defeat the Tartars in the field?"

Li Jibo shook his head in pain: "Oh, after all, there is still a lack of training. It would be good if the Ming Dynasty muskets could hit thirty or forty steps. If the side van encounters the Tartars, they can often only shoot for one round. The Tartars surge up and no one dares to fight, so they will naturally retreat. No matter how good the weapons are, they are useless. Qi Jiguang was able to gallop on the side van because the Qi family's army was strict in military discipline. Even if the enemy came in front of him, they could still shoot calmly, so that they could play the role of the side van. I saw that the Lord's training and Qi Jiguang had many similarities, so he dared to take the initiative and built twenty side vans!"

"Okay, well made!" Gu Zhenhua also said: "Mr. Li, An** can guarantee that he can exert the power of the van and let the Tartars break their souls. I think the van should be built and the big ones should be built. I will mobilize the craftsmen in Guide to create one hundred and fifty vans first."

When Li Jibo heard this, he immediately smiled bitterly and said, "Dude, why are you more impatient than me? You always have to explore the tactics of this side van. It's not too late to adapt to it if you make a big move!"

"Mr. Li, I want to explore, but time doesn't wait for anyone!" Gu Zhenhua said: "This time the Tartars came to rob grain, and we killed more than 3,000 people. I have always been worried that they will not be willing to fail and will go south to take revenge. Henan and Shandong are mostly flat land, and the side vans can play a role."

Li Jibo shook his head as soon as he heard this: "Dude, if you want to be on guard against the Tartars, I don't think you have to be so anxious. Haoge suffered a great loss, but he did not move south. Instead, he removed the main force from Jinan Prefecture. It seems that he wants to give up Shandong and withdraw back to the capital!"

"If you take your fist back and swing it out, it will hurt even more. Are the Tartars willing to suffer losses? If they retreat, they can only prove that they have to deal with Li Zicheng with all their might. If the Dashun army cannot hold on, we will face the Qing army next, which will be tens of thousands or even tens of thousands."

Li Jibo also understood Gu Zhenhua's thoughts at this time and couldn't help but say: "That's true. It seems that An**'s full expansion is inevitable. But does the Duke have a detailed case?"

Gu Zhenhua laughed: "I came to the sir to discuss this matter."

Gu Zhenhua waved his hand and asked someone to pull the 20th side van to the military camp, and then went directly to the government yamen courtyard with Li Jibo.

After the two of them were done, Gu Zhenhua first said: "Mr. Li, enriching his strength is the most urgent thing at present. People are the foundation of everything. Henan is in war and population losses are heavy. The Jiangnan area has become more peaceful and has not felt the pressure yet, so it is difficult to find a suitable soldier."

"Dude, you are recruiting Shandong soldiers. Shandong people are tough and have a good idea."

"Mr. Li is indeed keen. I want to immigrate from Shandong for 500,000 to 1 million, and fill Kaifeng Prefecture, Nanyang Prefecture, and even Huguang area. A million people can pick at least 30,000 elite soldiers and 70,000 militias. After training, An**'s combat effectiveness can be doubled."

"Mr., this idea is very good. At least our staff has reached the limit. Not to mention anything else, the military farms in Guide alone have almost occupied An**'s literacy. They have to immigrate, recruit soldiers, train, and expand territory. Even if we are split into eight petals, it is not enough!"

"Yes, if you give An** ten years of preparation, you naturally don't have to be afraid of the Tartars, but now time doesn't wait for anyone. Can we still wait for death?"

"Mr. What do you want to do?"

When Li Jibo heard Gu Zhenhua's words, he guessed what earth-shaking things this prince was going to do, killing Xu Dingguo, killing Lu Kun, and doing military farming. He didn't discuss so many big things with him, so he did it himself. But now he invited him here, and this matter is definitely a small matter.

"Mr. Just say it, I can hold on!"

"Hahaha. There is nothing extraordinary. I just want to cooperate with merchants to contract the farmland business to them, let them help organize immigration, manage the farmland, and collect land rent!"

After hearing these words, Li Jibo was so scared that his hands and feet were sweating.

"Gu Zhenhua, Gu Zhenhua, are you going to hand over the world of the Ming Dynasty to merchants?" Li Jibo widened his eyes, suddenly rose from the Grand Master's chair, shaking his head like a rattle.

"If you do military farming and clean it, you can also make excuses for the front line. You have to do it. But if you leave military farming to merchants, isn't this equivalent to letting merchants do the work of the court? The world is upside down, let alone outsiders, even I don't agree!"

Gu Zhenhua also nodded. He had expected this result. After all, his predecessors had done farming, but contracting it to merchants was unprecedented, and the resistance and criticism he received would inevitably be astonishingly great.

"Mr. Li, I am forced to do this. Without the help of the businessmen, I can't develop with us. Without three to five years, I can't think of developing. The Tartars can't leave us so much time. Only when merchants value profits, as long as they give them enough benefits, these people can work hard, attract their enthusiasm, and develop quickly."

Li Jibo still shook his head: "Dude, you also say that merchants value profit. If merchants use any means and exploit them, aren't you afraid that merchants will force the people to rebel? Maybe they will repeat the same mistakes!"

"Mr. Li, listen to my plan first. If I ask the merchants to organize the farmland, I will definitely not be the boss. First of all, the more people they recruit and the more land they develop, the more rewards they receive. We collect 70% of the land rent for each acre of land in the first three years, of which only 10% of the merchants were given, and we will not move the part of the people. In addition, the militia in the farm are not under the control of the merchants, so they want to do whatever they want, but they must also care about the opinions of the people."

When Li Jibo heard this, he frowned and couldn't help but say, "If you do this, it's not impossible to just rely on the management and organizational capabilities of merchants. It's just that acre of land harvests only 100 kilograms, 100 kilograms, and a thousand acres of land is only 100 kilograms. It's not worth a few dollars, and so much energy is required, the merchant may not be willing to."

Gu Zhenhua smiled slightly: "Mr. Li's knowledge is here. I can allow merchants to use the labor force of the farm. As long as the farming task is completed normally, merchants can organize the people to work in the rest of the time."

"Work? What kind of work?" Li Jibo asked in surprise.

"Any job is fine, weaving cloth, making clothes, making irons, buying and selling, burning bricks, building houses, and in short, you can do whatever you can make money. The profits earned belong to the merchant!"

After hearing Gu Zhenhua's words, Li Jibo was stunned and sat on the chair, his mind quickly turned. After a while, he murmured to himself: "In this way, the merchants are profitable, but isn't this selling the common people to merchants and using their blood and sweat to make money for merchants?"

Gu Zhenhua also spread his hands and couldn't help but say, "Mr. Li, is there any other way besides this?"

Li Jibo also thought hard for a while and couldn't help saying, "Dude, I really have no choice, but you must be prepared to bear the infamy. Scholars, farmers, industry and commerce have all brought merchants to farmers. Wouldn't it be that they seize power from scholars? Can they agree?"

"Scholars, farmers, industry and commerce, those scholars turn farmers into tenants, probably not much better than mine, right?"

"Some things can be said but not done, and some things can be done but not said. The scholars of the Ming Dynasty have always been lenient to themselves and strict with others. If there is a mistake in such a big thing, they will definitely hold on to it."

"That's why I invited Mr. Li to come over. Let's discuss a suitable method and try to make the plan perfect. When the military farm was built as scheduled, I had 30,000 or 50,000 soldiers on my hands. I see who dares to point fingers!"

Li Jibo also knew Gu Zhenhua's temper. Once this person made up his mind, he would never look back. The old man repeatedly thought about Gu Zhenhua's method in his heart, and couldn't help but secretly praise him. He seemed to be imaginative, but it had a very strong feasibility.

It is inevitable that the subordinates can make profits, and businessmen can also make profits. As for the common people, although they have to sell their labor and may even not have to rest all year round, at least they have a place to eat, which is a way out.

All the people involved are good, even if there are a bunch of crows outside, it will not cause any storm.

Gu Zhenhua found Xu Fang again, and the three of them discussed for more than two days before coming up with the final plan. Immediately, Gu Zhenhua, in the name of Duke Ji, sent invitations to merchants of all sizes in Guide, invited them to the banquet and discuss the plan of selling people. (To be continued...)
Chapter completed!