Cutting over the end of the Ming Dynasty: a dog-leg knife at the beginning

Chapter 209 Tianxiong Army 1
In June, the sun was scorching like fire, and even the weeping willows by the river were languid and crooked, unable to lift their spirits.The earth was scorched and cracked, the heat was steaming, hot, it was so hot!
And in this scorching hot weather, countless farmers and military households were bare-chested in the fields, wielding sickles, harvesting wheat quickly, or wielding hoes, digging potatoes in the field.The sun made their skin red and even burst. Their work must be very hard, but everyone is full of energy, especially those military households who dig potatoes. Their thin bodies seem to have endless energy. Furrow after furrow was dug fiercely, and the potato pickers behind quickly picked up the fat potatoes into the basket, and the smaller ones were put into another basket, which was reserved for planting in August.The output of this thing is beyond their imagination, a dozen stones can be harvested per acre of land, and their hard work has been rewarded several times. Is there anything more gratifying than this?

A small group of knights came galloping, and the military households who were working in the fields shouted: "Master Lu is here!" Everyone stopped their work and looked towards the road. They saw a general in Tsing Yi riding a tall horse with a A group of fierce soldiers galloped straight to the potato field.When he came to the edge of the field, he jumped off his horse and jumped into the field. The corporal chief who was supervising the work of the military household was taken aback, and went up to him and shouted, "My lord can't do it! The field is dirty, don't stain your boots!"

Lu Xiangsheng smiled slightly and said: "The boots are dirty, just go back and wash them... I'm here to see the potato harvest. How is the harvest? Is the harvest okay?"

The hundred households in charge of the field ran over excitedly, held up two potatoes the size of oranges and said excitedly: "My lord, the harvest of this thing is really scary! One mu of field has harvested more than a dozen stones!"

Lu Xiangsheng walked towards a basket full of potatoes: "A dozen stones? How many stones is it?"

Baihu said: "Less talk, there are fourteen or five stones! My God, the villain has dealt with crops all his life, and he has never seen such a good harvest!"

Lu Xiangsheng frowned, and squatted down to pick up the potatoes in the basket, not minding that they were covered with dirt.He picked up the biggest one, weighed it in his hand, put it down, and walked to the other basket.The military households looked at him, and their immediate superior, the right political and deputy envoy of the daimyo, guangping, and shunde prefectures, and the supreme commander of the tianxiong army, watched him pick and choose from a pile of potatoes like buying vegetables With muddy hands, they all felt that this lord was very kind. If it was someone else, let alone the highest official of the three prefectures, even a small county magistrate might not be willing to go to the field and say a word to them!

The trip to Wuyang gave Lu Xiangsheng a lot of inspiration, especially Yang Menglong's way of letting the guards specialize in production and using the output of the military field to support the army left a deep impression on him.After returning, after some careful consideration, he wrote a memorial to the imperial court, requesting that the military households and military fields of the Sanfu Guards be transferred to his own jurisdiction.At this time, the guards in the interior were already in bad shape. With the intensification of land annexation, a large number of military households went bankrupt. Not only were they unable to pay food to the court, but the court had to allocate a large amount of food to support them. Some people were willing to take over this mess. Just wish for it.Not long after, the imperial court replied and proposed a condition: If Lu Xiangsheng is willing to bear the military salary of the eighteen thousand households in Guangping, Daming, and Shunde, the imperial court can transfer all the military households and military fields under the jurisdiction of the three guards to He, the output of these military fields is at his free disposal.For the imperial court.This is very cost-effective. First, it gets rid of a burden. Second, it can also be used as an excuse to reduce part of the Tianxiong Army’s military pay——————— You have given you so much military land, and you are ashamed to ask us for it money?It really kills two birds with one stone.Lu Xiangsheng agreed without thinking.This major event was completed in just one month, which was the speed of light for bureaucrats in the late Ming Dynasty.

After obtaining these military fields at the speed of light, Lu Xiangsheng also rectified the mess at the speed of light, took down all the hundreds and thousands of households who oppressed the military households, and threw them into prison. Tian is back.He is the highest official of the three prefectures, and he is also a civil servant with an official reputation. It is not worthwhile to refute his face for that little land. After some bargaining, most of the occupied military land was taken back.Next, Lu Xiangsheng strongly encouraged bankrupt peasants to join the army. Those who joined the army could get [-] acres of military land for free. They didn't have to go to the battlefield to fight, and just planted the land well.For those bankrupt farmers, this is an irresistible temptation: military households do not have to pay taxes.In just a few months, nearly [-] bankrupt peasants joined the military, replenishing the Tianxiong Sanwei that had existed in name only.Later, Lu Xiangsheng borrowed a large number of craftsmen from Wuyangwei to make farm tools, build waterwheels, dig irrigation wells, lay bamboo canals, and lead the military households to reclaim wasteland. They did a great job.After all, it was finally the harvest season, so of course he wanted to come and have a look.

The harvest of wheat is quite normal. A large number of waterwheels, bamboo canals and irrigation wells provide sufficient water for the wheat fields. The harvest of many wheat fields has reached more than two stones, and some fertile fields have even reached three stones, which is quite rare.But the harvest of potatoes made him not very satisfied. He found that the size of the potatoes was much smaller than that in Wuyang County, and the number of potatoes produced by each potato seedling was not as many as that in Wuyang County. That's it, he couldn't help frowning, and said: "The yield is much worse than I expected. The yield in Wuyang is generally more than [-] shi. With the same seeds and the same technology, why is the yield so much worse? Woolen cloth?"

The hundred households smiled and said, "We don't have enough fertilizer, so the output is of course not as good as that over there." These hundred households were all sent to Wuyang by Lu Xiangsheng to see how crazy the potato production is there. They are also very envious of the fertilizer supply nearby. With so much fertilizer, it is difficult to think of a good harvest.

Lu Xiangsheng sighed: "Oh, fertilizer!" He knew that the military households could not be blamed for this. In order to increase production, the military households used all available methods, such as accumulating manure, retting manure, picking up manure, and even the soil in the pond. All the silt was dug up and applied to the fields, but the fertility still couldn't keep up.There are [-] mu of potatoes, as well as a large amount of vegetables and fruits, all of which require fertilizers. Even if they cut back all the vegetation on the mountain and burned them into plant ash, it would not be enough.He clapped his hands and said, "It seems that if you want to have a good harvest, you need to raise more chickens, ducks, cattle and sheep!"

The military households raised their feet in agreement: "That's right! Especially cattle, we must raise more. With so many fields, we can't be busy without cattle!"

Lu Xiangsheng said: "Let's work harder, harvest the potatoes as soon as possible, and then process them into potato noodles. We keep [-]% for our own food, and sell the remaining [-]%. We buy cattle, pigs and sheep for the money. After the farm is set up, everyone will not only have enough fertilizer, but also occasionally have a meal of meat!"

The military households cheered loudly and their motivation doubled.After Lu Xiangsheng took over the three guards, their life was much easier, and they were naturally willing to work for Lu Xiangsheng.What's more, Lu Xiangsheng doesn't need them to work hard, as long as they farm well!
After Lu Xiangsheng encouraged everyone, he got on his horse and galloped back to the barracks.

The military camp was his favorite place.

The barracks of the Tianxiong Army were built outside the city of Damingfu, ten miles to the east, where the earthen walls and fences stretched for more than ten miles, and the guard posts were tight.Nearly ten thousand soldiers are stationed here, practicing day and night, and they are not allowed to leave the camp unless it is a holiday. The people of the three prefectures say that they have never seen such a worry-free army.

Qi Hu and dozens of instructors were holding a bamboo whip as thick as a thumb, and were wandering around in the phalanx that was being practiced under the scorching sun with malicious intentions. If they saw any movement that was not standardized, they would be whipped, and they would be punished. If the beating is unbearable and the pain is unbearable, if you snort or rub it with your hands, you will immediately receive a heavier whip.In front of Qi Hu, more than 700 soldiers were like more than [-] wooden stakes, holding shields in one hand and spears in the other.For the pikemen, the shields weighing more than ten kilograms are purely redundant, but the world is not as big as this old man. He told everyone to hold it, and everyone had to hold it, and the movements had to be standard enough, otherwise you would just wait. Let's clean up.Let this old man train for more than a few months, and everyone knows his urination all too well!

Beside this phalanx, a phalanx also composed of pikemen was holding long spears. Following the command of the officer, they stabbed the sandbags swinging around again and again. They had already repeated this set of actions. Two hundred times, I was so tired that I could barely lift my arms, but the damn instructor still didn't have the slightest intention to stop everyone. They had to treat themselves as an unconscious robot. When the password sounded, even if they fell asleep , will also stab out with a single shot like a conditional test!Presumably those guys who are exhausted are very envious of the group of wooden people who can stand there motionless?Of course, the wooden man envied them very much, it was too uncomfortable to be so motionless!

Not far away, a group of recruits was squatting on the ground with their hands behind their backs, legs apart, and walked forward like a bunch of ducks. The scene was as funny as it could be.But this group of recruits didn't think it was funny at all. Their facial muscles were twitching, their eyes were tearful, and their teeth were clenching loudly... They felt that these two legs were so sore as if they were pulled apart, and the pain was so painful They wanted to cry!But they couldn't make a sound, because the superiors made it clear that if one person makes a sound, the whole group of ten soldiers will be punished!This damn duck step, they really don’t want to do it again!But the instructor who is even more damning than the duck walk likes to let them practice the duck walk. He is so angry that the recruits want to kill them!
Dust is rolling in the distance, and a group of cavalry is galloping on horseback, or stabbing at the tiny scarecrow with lances, or wielding sabers to chop the berries hanging in front, or bending bows and arrows to shoot at the trees dozens of steps away. target.The Tianxiong Army obtained hundreds of excellent Liaodong war horses in the Battle of Dingxing. After returning to Daming Mansion, Lu Xiangsheng racked his brains and tried every means to buy war horses. Sun Chengzong even used his relationship to allocate hundreds of horses for him. They also transferred a lot of elite cavalry from the frontier army to the Tianxiong Army. After more than a year, the Tianxiong Army finally gathered more than 300 horses and formed a cavalry force of about [-] men. , Barely achieved one person and two horses.The treatment of these cavalry is much better than that of the infantry, and the infantry often laments: "We don't eat as well as their horses!" , Forget about the food, but also mix eggs, salt, sugar, and if possible, let the horse drink a little wine, how can ordinary infantry have such treatment, it is not bad if they can eat enough.And these fierce cavalry also used their outstanding performance to tell everyone that they deserve this treatment!

The gate of the camp opened, and Lu Xiangsheng walked in. Qi Hu said to the group of wooden men whose faces were almost turning purple, "Take a quarter of an hour rest." He handed the bamboo whip to the assistant, and walked up to him quickly.Behind him, hundreds of soldiers lay down on the ground like empty sacks... Don't blame them, put on your helmet and armor, and hold a shield and spear weighing more than ten kilograms under the scorching sun. If you stand still for more than half an hour, you will also stagger!

Lu Xiangsheng could see clearly, and said with a smile, "Old man, you have taken care of these boys very hard!"

Qi Hu also laughed: "You have to beat the drums with heavy hammers. They are in good physical condition, but they have lived in the interior for a long time and are used to the stability and peace in the interior. They don't have the inherent viciousness and sharpness of the frontier army, so they have to Only by beating them harder can we turn them into real soldiers."

Lu Xiangsheng said: "Wuyang Guard was able to train two thousand elite soldiers in just one year, all thanks to the old man!"

(End of this chapter)