(I couldn’t sleep, so I coded another 6,000-word chapter)

Lin Fu only planned to stay in Longzui Mountain for one night, and the people's livelihood in Suizhou could not be postponed until the battle of Jingxiang was completely over before rectifying it, so he summoned Song Fu, Hu Wenmu, Wang Xiang, etc. to discuss it all night.

Luo Xiancheng took control of Suizhou, and once claimed to have 200,000 troops, and a family of more than 400,000 people. Later, under the rule of the king, Luo Xiancheng retained 80,000 soldiers, and about 300,000 people were resettled in Suizhou and Xiaochang.

Zaoyang, Lishan counties.

Luo Xiancheng surrendered to Yanhu and transferred troops to supplement the camp. The number of soldiers and horses increased to 130,000 at one time. At this time, the 130,000 Suizhou army was either killed, defeated, surrendered or attached, but Suizhou was still flooded with the original Suizhou army and troops.

The family has a population of nearly 300,000.

"Except for the 300,000 people living in the Suizhou garrison and their families, there are still more than 400,000 Dingkou people living there. In addition to the refugees in Qichun, Hanjin, Huangpi, Shicheng and other places, as well as the refugees in the Huaiyou Mountains, the war strategy can

There are eight hundred thousand people in Dingkou!" Wang Xiang said to the people of Suizhou.

Before the war, the total population of Dingkou in the eastern Hubei and northern Hubei areas of the Jianghan Plain was more than three million. At this time, the population was reduced to less than one-third of what it was before the war. Lin Fu sighed lightly and said nothing, and he could not even complain.

Luo Xiancheng slaughtered the place.

"In Nanyang, Henan and other places, there is not even one household in ten, and the situation is many times worse than in Suizhou," Lin Fu said. "It seems that Luo Xiancheng did some things to settle the place in the later period of his rule in Suizhou; of course, there are

A lot of it is due to you, Wang Xiang..."

"If it is not for the livelihood of the people, I will not be willing to become a thief." Wang Xiang said.

Wang Xiang said this because he wanted to distance himself, but Lin Fu didn't mind. He knew that he was still very capable, and being a thief in troubled times was not a stain. He should not be too harsh on people. After all, people often have no choice.

Even in the Suizhou Army, Prime Minister Wang still has a clear reputation. Compared with Zhong Rong, Wei Zhang and others, he can still keep himself clean and take care of the people's livelihood. Being able to do this is enough.

Including Nanyang, Xiangyang, Suizhou, Shicheng, Huangzhou, Jingzhou and Jiangbei counties in Jiangxia Prefecture, Suizhou Prefecture, the core area controlled by the original Suizhou Army, can quickly restore people's livelihood.

The situation in the counties south of Xiangyang and Jingzhou Prefecture may be slightly better. After all, the time for Yanhu's invasion was very short, and a large number of people could hide in the Jingshan Mountains in the west to avoid the war, and the most harmful and murderous large-scale famine

It has not yet been formed. As long as Jingzhou, Yiling, Changlin, and Jingzhou are recovered, the refugees are promptly organized to return home and relief is distributed, the situation will be improved for a long time.

Even if the three prefectures of Jiangxia, Ezhou, and Xianning on the south bank of the Yangtze River are included, the once prosperous Jianghan Plain could not have more than 4 million people in the war-torn Dingkou, which was reduced by half compared to before the war.

"The fields in Suizhou were privately owned by the generals, and they were all confiscated as public property at this time. Those who were cultivating in the old settlements were allowed to register as civilians, and the rent of the public land for tenant farming was reduced to 30% according to Huaidong regulations. No additional allocations were allowed, and the income was supplemented.

"The land is being used up," Lin Fu said. "The cultivated land that was left empty due to the September raids by the Suizhou army will be rewarded or sold to the civilians who went to war with the army in response to the land reward order. Before spring, the land will be used up."

They all need to settle down, and the dry fields cannot miss the spring harvest! In addition, if there are any deficiencies, we will make up for them by reclaiming wasteland in Huangqi, Shicheng, Jinpi and other places - this time there are 100,000 civilians accompanying the army to fight, and the family is small, so there are plans

With more than 400,000 people, the situation in Jingxiang and other places should be slightly better."

"If we can immediately move 400,000 people into Jingxiang, it will naturally help Jingxiang's people's livelihood to be restored faster after the war, but financial resources are difficult," Wang Xiang said, "For the poor people, dragging their families with their families

Going north, without support and relief for their early reclamation, they would have no way to survive in the remaining land in Jingxiang. Except for the counties in southern Xiangyang, Jingzhou and Suizhou Prefecture, it is still possible to wipe out the local areas; in Huangqi,

The two new mansions in Shicheng and the Nanyang mansion that is about to be recovered can only be consumed by the central government. Each mansion needs at least 100,000 stone grains every year, and it will take three years in a row..."

The price of silver was still fluctuating in Jingxiang, and the prime minister was still accustomed to calculating his income and expenditure in terms of grain.

"Huangzhou, Shicheng's newly resettled Dingkou, Xiang, and Jingzhou, although there are Dingkou where taxes can be levied, they should not be taxed too heavily within three years. I estimate that an additional 150,000 taels of silver will be required every year, and Nanyang will

Immediately move people to the important areas for military preparation, which will be beneficial to military preparations, and for people's livelihood, another 200,000 taels will be added every year..." Lin Fu said.

"The Jingxiang land is short of 800,000 taels of silver every year," Wang Xiang said.

"Fortunately, the entire Jinghu Prefecture, Edong, Xianning and Jiangnan counties in Jiangxia Prefecture were not greatly affected by the war. People's livelihood is generally good and this gap can be filled." Hu Wenmu said.

When Hu Wenmu was in charge of the Jinghu Army, he could get almost 1.2 million taels of silver every year from Ezhou, Xianning, Jiangxia and Jingzhou to support the army. Jingzhou was crippled, Jiangxia and Hanjin, Huangpi and Huangzhou in the north of Ezhou were all crippled, and Jingzhou was crippled.

The two and a half mansions on the south bank of the lake can still pay almost 800,000 taels of silver to the central government every year.

Of course, Jinghu's two and a half prefectures on the south bank of the Yangtze River have more than two and a half Dingkou, and the total financial and tax scale is two million taels, but a considerable part of it still has to be consumed by the local government. It is already quite a lot to pay 40% to the central government.

Not bad.

Lin Fu shook his head and said: "The three prefectures of Jiangxia, Ezhou and Xianning have also suffered from wars in recent years. The central government has also halved the levy from these three prefectures within three years, but the three prefectures also need to halve the local levy within three years."

The endowment is used to support the people's livelihood; in this way, it is enough to provide an additional 400,000 taels of silver to Jingxiang every year, and there should not be much objection from the Ministry of Revenue..."

Lin Xuwen is in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, which is almost the purse string of the Privy Council. Lin Fu said that an additional 400,000 taels of silver will be added to Jinghu every year, which will naturally be done.

Although Hu Wenmu will follow Lin Fu to the center this time, he is happy to see that Jinghu can gain more benefits at this time.

After generally discussing the framework for restoring people's livelihood after the war in Jingxiang, Lin Fu could not lie down to hear the news, and had to attend the military meeting on military affairs. Zuo Chengmu, Wang Xiang and Hu Wenmu wanted to leave.

*************

Everyone stayed in the camp at the northern foot of Longzui Mountain, living in simple, damp and cold shacks.

Hu Wenmu will stay in Jingxiang for a while, and Zuo Chengmu will return to Jiangning in two days.

Although the night was late, there was no sleepiness, so Zuo Chengmu invited Hu Wenmu to his place for a night talk. He and Hu Wenmu had been officials in Jinghu in their early years. They were both colleagues and mentors, so they were transferred to the center under Zuo Chengmu.

Only after that did he support Hu Wenmu to take charge of Jinghu. Now it has been several years since he got together and had a good chat.

The cold wind howled and the weather had been gloomy for two or three days, but the snow did not fall; a metal charcoal stove was burned in the house, and the air leakage gaps everywhere were blocked.

It's much warmer outside.

Zuo Lian, the son of Zuo Chengmu, kept waiting around and picked up the kettle to make tea for Hu Wenmu and his father.

Hu Wenmu looked at the iron stove reflected in the firelight and said: "In early spring, you can also see this kind of stove in my house. It seems to be called a briquette stove..."

"When you arrive in Jiangning, you can see more new things," Zuo Chengmu said with a smile, "The Privy Council highly values ​​craftsmanship, and a few days ago it was announced that there would be a master craftsman under the Privy Council, imitating the Hanlin Academy.

In order to completely change the status quo of the low status of craftsmen, the great master craftsmen who are living in the academy with a salary and the same title are more respected than the Hanlin scholars. With the great victory of Jing and Xiang in front, the parliament to propose this matter is smaller, but

It won't be much smaller. However, the new things created by the craftsmen used to be regarded as strange and ingenious by others. In just a few years, they have indeed shone brightly. The strength of Huaidong is probably due to this.

, you and I really can’t see through it…”

Even Zuo Chengmu said he couldn't see through it. Hu Wenmu had been in Jinghu all these years, so how could he know more?

Hu Wenmu said: "As discussed just now, it seems that the Ministry of Revenue only needs to pay an additional 400,000 taels of silver to Jingxiang every year, but this is only for people's livelihood expenditures - the Jingxiang battle should be called the Huaidong Army's military expenditures. In the short term,

It has surged to an unimaginable level in time, and it is somewhat unimaginable to say, how can the central finance continue to support it after the Battle of Jingxiang?"

Zuo Chengmu smiled wryly and said, "There are different levels of competition, and you and I are destined to be eliminated!" He then pointed at his youngest son Zuo Lian, who had just reached the crown, and said to Hu Wenmu, "Zuo Lian."

He is old enough to become an official, and with my grace, he can be a member of the eighth-grade staff; but the Privy Council has set up a school in Jiangning, and I want to send him to study for two years, so that he may be able to keep up with the new structure..."

Hu Wenmu was thoughtful, what exactly was the new pattern created by Huaidong? There seemed to be a layer of fog in front of his eyes that he couldn't see through.

Hu Wenmu also knew the specific situation of the Huaishan Plank Road at this time.

It is a public fact that Lin Fu is interested in running Luzhou. Last year, when Lin Fu issued public bonds in the name of the Ministry of Household Affairs in the Seven Prefectures of Jiangnan, one million taels of silver he raised was specially allocated to Luzhou for war preparations.

Everyone thinks that this is Lin Fu's military deployment for Huaixi. Cao Zi'ang and Chen Huawen were in Luzhou, and indeed they moved villages and villages in Luzhou, camped fields and cultivated land, and also renovated and expanded the military bases, roads, and rivers.

Military preparation.

As the saying goes, one million taels of silver may seem like a lot, but the things it can do are actually much more limited. It is definitely not enough to build a highway across Huaishan Mountain from the old town in the northwest of Luzhou to Lishan Mountain.

It takes a lot of effort to build this plank road. Two million taels of silver are missing and cannot be spared.

This is probably an important reason why Yan Hu never expected that there would be an ambush in Huaidong coming out of Chaishan!

Hu Wenmu and others also knew that Lin Fu had been running Huaidong for ten years. Duke Feng Chong also set aside the five counties of Chongzhou and other core areas of Huaidong and Yizhou as private towns, so that Lin Fu actually controlled Huaidong outside the household department.

A great source of wealth.

However, for more than a year from the end of last autumn to now, the Huaidong Army has launched the Shangrao and Jingxiang battles non-stop. Its huge military expenditures, except for the obvious annual income of the Ministry of Household Affairs, have other shortcomings.

How huge are the financial resources from the Chongguo private town controlled by Lin Fu, so that the Huaidong Army can continuously support a war of this scale and achieve great victory in just over a year?

Zuo Chengmu said that there are differences in the structure, but Hu Wenmu couldn't figure out how high the structure of the five counties of Chongzhou and Yizhou, a barbaric island, could be, so that the scale of annual revenue could reach the same level as the central finance that controls half of the country.

Level up?

After the Battle of Jingxiang, almost all the counties south of the Huai River, except for the two Sichuan provinces, had emerged from the shadow of the war.

Jingxiang may be a little dilapidated, and it will take three to five years to recuperate, but Zhejiang and Zhejiang, Fujian and Jiangxi, Jianghuai, Guangnan, and Xiangtan have all recovered quickly, and the Privy Council has been asked to centralize control. Maybe in two or three years, the Northern Expedition can be carried out.

Already...

When Yan Ji collapsed, Bei Di fell, and She rebelled out of the north, the world was in disarray, and the mountains and rivers were broken. At that time, Jiang Ning actually controlled only one county, while Huaidong was still nestled in a corner, asking everyone to prepare

Well, who would have thought that in just four or five years, there would be such a situation?

****************

Lin Fu opened the curtain and walked into the combat staff room of the Military Intelligence Department. The cold wind blew with him, making the candles flicker.

Lin Fu looked at the light in the glass cover that was flickering and thought that there would always be no electric light...

Lin Fu actually didn't understand the difference between colored glaze and glass. In the past, Jiangning's craftsmen were not unable to make transparent colored glaze, but the cost was extremely high and it could only be used as decoration, which was far less attractive than the colorful colored glaze.

People like it - the low-cost mass production of transparent glass also benefited from the technological development of iron smelting furnace temperatures.

The development of technology is always by analogy, and the development of technology means that only a very small amount of manpower is needed to complete work that used to require a large number of manpower.

Nowadays, a glass lampstand and a transparent glass kerosene lamp in Jiangning only cost two silver coins.

A kerosene lamp worth two silver dollars was not considered cheap in this world, but compared to the early days when such a glazed lampstand cost hundreds of taels of silver, it was already much cheaper.

What is the new pattern?

The progress of traditional farming civilization to industrial civilization will naturally lead to new situations that the world cannot foresee. Even if everything in Huaidong at this time can only be said to be seeing the dawn of industrial civilization, it is no longer comparable to the traditional production model.

At this time, Huaidong's textile machinery still relied on animal power and water power, but the new cloth produced in Huaidong had completely occupied the market in the seven prefectures of Jiangnan and Zhejiang and Gansu. As long as it was shipped by ship, the local homespun cloth was not competitive at all.
To be continued...