359 erosions

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The weather in April becomes very warm, and in this era of no industrial pollution, the sky is blue, the river is clear, and the birds are singing, which is a good time for spring outings.

And soon it will enter spring ploughing, and the people are getting busy one after another, but Li Zixiao is not in the mood to enjoy such a beautiful scenery.

Since entering Xuzhou, Li Zixiao has been caught in countless tedious trivial matters.

Li Zixiao also moved the battalion of the White Dragon Army to the north of Xuzhou, and only one battalion of troops was left in the White Snake Village in Yongcheng.

After all, in the White Snake Village and the White Tiger Village, there are a large number of craftsman workshops, which cannot be moved to Xuzhou in a short period of time, and can only be moved slowly, which needs to be protected by troops.

After arriving in Xuzhou, Li Zixiao and Qiu Guangming also reached a tacit understanding temporarily, and the two sides did not interfere with each other's duties.

Li Zixiao was relieved to rectify the defense of Xuzhou, while Qiu Guangming was also busy with Xuzhou's spring ploughing.

And according to Li Zixiao's investigation of Zhang Fugui and Qiu Guangming secretly, this person can be described as a bad person, accepting bribes, embezzling **, and making money.

But in the same way, this person's ability is indeed good, he has been in the position of the prefect of Xuzhou for nearly three years, and he has taken care of Xuzhou very well.

Before Li Zixiao fixes the mess under his hands, he will not have a showdown with Qiu Guangming.

The reorganization of the White Dragon Army, the defense of Xuzhou, the rearrangement and transfer of subordinate officials, etc., are all things that Li Zixiao needs to be busy with recently.

After being busy for nearly a week, fortunately, Li Zixiao had a Qian Guangyuan and another Li Yan to help him deal with these affairs, which made him easier.

However, compared to Li Yan's good strategy, and Qian Guangyuan is actually more suitable for being an internal affairs talent, but it is a pity that at this time, it is not Li Zixiao's turn to be entangled.

These cumbersome chores have finally come to an end, and today is the day when Li Zixiao summoned thousands of households in Xuzhou Zuowei and Xuzhou Wei.

After Huo Changzheng and Liu Guoping were summoned by Li Zixiao, they were a little apprehensive, sitting on a hardwood stool with half their buttocks, lowering their eyebrows, and not daring to look directly at Li Zixiao.

At this time, Li Zixiao's face was gloomy, and he was in a very bad mood.

Just yesterday, Li Zixiao personally inspected the situation of the two guards of Xuzhou Wei and Xuzhou Zuowei.

Although Li Zixiao had been mentally prepared in advance, he knew that at this time, it was inevitable that there would be empty salaries in the health centers of Daming.

On the one hand, it is because the military salary of the imperial court has never been paid on time, and the second is that it is also a way for officials in various health offices to make money.

On the one hand, if there are seven or eight hundred soldiers in a thousand-person guardhouse, it is already very good.

However, when Li Zixiao was in Xuzhou Wei and Xuzhou Zuowei, the real situation he saw surprised Li Zixiao.

The escape of these two guards is extremely alarming.

According to the guard system established in the Ming Dynasty, each thousand households commanded 1,200 troops, and Xuzhou Wei had 7,000 households, and the commander should reach more than 7,000 people.

There is also a guard in Xuzhou Zuowei, five thousand households. The number of more than 5,000 people, that is to say, the entire Xuzhou two guards should have 10,000 soldiers.

According to the system, the two Dawei Centers, which were supposed to have more than 5,000 military households, are now less than 2,000 households, and the combined population of the two Guards is less than 8,000 people.

Among them, this still includes the families of these military households, the elderly, the weak, women and children.

What does this mean, this shows that these two guards can be said to exist almost in name.

After Li Zixiao learned about such a situation, he was also greatly surprised.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, most of the health guards were not good, and Li Zixiao had known for a long time, but he still underestimated the degree of escape of the two guards of Xuzhou Wei and Xuzhou Zuowei.

Only then did Li Zixiao know that he was wrong, the situation of the Wei Institute at the end of the Ming Dynasty can be said to be not the worst, only worse.

When Li Zixiao quietly led people to Xuzhou Zuowei and Xuzhou Wei, the streets where the soldiers of the two guards lived, he was even more shocked to see the scene.

Many military households did not even have a decent piece of clothing, so they could only cover their lower bodies with a rag, and many military households were weak and lay under simple huts to bask in the sun.

Their faces were full of insensitive expressions, they were simply a group of walking dead, and there was no hope in their eyes.

Li Zixiao had a gloomy face and didn't say a word throughout the whole process, this was the first time he had seen the real life of the lowest military household in the Ming Dynasty.

Is this the army that fought bravely and defended the country during the founding period of the Ming Dynasty? Now it's even worse than the homeless, which is really sad.

Li Zixiao thought sadly in his heart.

Look at those military households who are staggering and weak even walking, and then look at the two brightly dressed Huo Changzheng and Liu Guoping.

Li Zixiao had the urge to immediately pull out his scimitar and hack them to death.

After inspecting the situation of the two Davids, the next day, Li Zixiao summoned Huo Changzheng and Liu Guoping, two thousand households, to the Yamen, the commander of the capital.

At the same time, ordering the White Dragon Army outside the city to be on standby at any time, Li Zixiao was already ready to solve the two biggest messes under his command.

"Huo Changzheng, Liu Guoping, are you guilty?"

As soon as Li Zixiao spoke, his cold tone made the two thousand households sitting under him tremble in their hearts.

They know better than anyone what the situation is in their own guard, and they also know at this time that most of them are Li Zixiao already knows the truth.

"Lord Commander, if you don't care about your humble duties, the guard is too poor, and the food and salary allocated by the imperial court have never been paid on time, and there is a lot of shortfall every time, and there is no way for the lowly people!"

Huo Changzheng, a thousand households of Xuzhou Wei, first called Qu Dao.

"My lord, you must also know that the situation of the head guard has already been rotten this year.

There are still hundreds of households in the guards under the command of the lowly people, but some of them don't even have a hundred households, it's really not my fault! ”

Liu Guoping also followed with a quibble.

"Fart!"

Hearing the quibbles of the two, Li Zixiao was furious, and vigorously slapped the hard hardwood desk, making a loud noise, which startled the two of them.

Li Zixiao stood up, pointed at the two and scolded: "You are really fools when you are the official, are you so easy to fool?"

This official has already checked the account books in the yamen, and just two months ago, the commander of the yamen distributed 600 stone of grain to each of your two guards.

Even if this food is not enough for your whole guard to eat, it will not make those military households so hungry that they can't even walk!

Look at the military households under your command, is that still called people? They are all about to become ghosts, they are all starving to death, can people not escape!

All of them are skinny and skinny, and they can't stand steadily, but you two thousand households, but you are still dressed in fine clothes and food, and the scenery is very beautiful! ”

Li Zixiao sent Li Yan to secretly check the account books, and knew that the grain allocated to them by the commander and the yamen was indeed not much.

But how can it be enough for those military households to deal with a month or two, and the actual number of military households in each of their guards has already decreased a lot, so it is right that they can last longer.

However, judging from Li Zixiao's personal inspection yesterday, there were not many grains of this grain that were distributed to those military households.

Needless to say, Li Zixiao also knew that most of the grain was privately swallowed by Huo Changzheng and Liu Guoliang.

"My lord, you have wronged your duties, we dare not touch that food.

Besides, after all, we are court officials, and we should dress decently, we can't be like those homeless people, isn't that a shame on the court and the saints! ”

Liu Guoping is at this time, and he is still defending himself.

"I still dare to quibble, I really think that this official is so foolish, it seems that you really think that this official will not dare to kill people."

Li Zixiao's gloomy words, with a hint of killing intent, stared at Huo Changzheng and Liu Guoping.

Seeing that Li Zixiao was really angry, with a "poof", Huo Changzheng and Liu Guoping were so frightened that they knelt on the ground together, and a trace of cold sweat broke out on their foreheads.

They have all heard of Li Zixiao's background and rumors, this is a ruthless master who has killed countless people, and Li Zixiao really dares to kill the two of them.

"My lord, I know that I am wrong, so you can spare it!"

was frightened by Li Zixiao like this, Huo Changzheng and Liu Guoping knelt on the ground and kept kowtowing, their heads hitting the hard bluestone ground, making a dull sound.

"Alas!"

Looking at the two people below who knocked their heads loudly, Li Zixiao also sighed helplessly.

Li Zixiao knew that a situation like their guard was not an isolated case in Daming at this time, and the vast majority of guards were like this.

At this time, Li Zixiao really wanted to slaughter these two wastes, but let alone kill them, even if these officers of more than 1,000 households were removed, it was the right of the Ministry of War and the emperor.

Li Zixiao just came to Xuzhou at this time, so he couldn't make such a big move, otherwise someone would inevitably impeach him in the imperial court, and everything would have to wait until he completely gained a foothold in Xuzhou.

However, the current situation of the two Davids cannot continue to continue, and a way must be found.

After all, Li Zixiao has more than 8,000 people in the White Dragon Army in his hand, which is actually far overstaffed, and he just needs a lot of soldiers vacated by the two Davids, so that he will not be caught.

Therefore, for those military households that were missing from the previous two Davids, Li Zixiao will let the White Dragon sergeant make up for them, and Li Dai will be stiff and fool the court.

As for the remaining half-dead military households, Li Zixiao can't sit idly by, and has to find a way to feed them.

According to Li Zixiao's plan, these guards will form his second-line troops in the future, and they are not expected to become the main force like the White Dragon Army.

But they are responsible for public security in Xuzhou, exterminating bandits, setting up checkpoints, collecting taxes, etc., they can always do these jobs!

Although Li Zixiao can't remove or kill the two of them, Li Zixiao can find a way to overthrow them.

Li Zixiao took a deep breath and shouted a little impatiently: "What do two big men cry like, the important thing is to find a way to solve the problem."

Next, the two of you are facing two major problems, one is the problem of eating, and the other is the problem of resuming training.

I'm going to send you two deputies to assist you, and in the future, the two of you will be in charge of the food and training of the guard. ”

"Master Xie, obey your orders."

The two glanced at each other, and they both knew that Li Zixiao was going to seize their power, but they didn't dare to refuse, so they could only accept it.

After all, they were caught by Li Zixiao, and Li Zixiao did not immediately hold them accountable, which made the two of them breathe a sigh of relief.

The two stood up tremblingly, but their faces showed bitterness, and they said in embarrassment: "My lord, how easy it is to let those military households have a full stomach, the imperial court will not give us any more food." ”

"When I went to your guard yesterday to inspect it, I found that most of the fields of your two Davids were deserted, and the only cultivated fields were only a few hundred acres.

The remaining tens of thousands of acres of fertile land have all turned into wasteland, and now we can't count on the imperial court, and the only way is to reclaim those wastelands.

Now the spring ploughing is coming soon, as long as these wastelands are reclaimed, after the summer harvest, you two Davids can get rid of the existing predicament and get rid of the dilemma of relying on the imperial court for relief.

In the future, the two of you will be mainly responsible for organizing military households to open up wasteland, which is related to your future food problems. ”

"Wasteland?"

After hearing Li Zixiao's words, Huo and Liu, who had just stood up, were also stunned.

The two of them looked even more embarrassed, if they could open up the wasteland, they would have opened it a long time ago, and this method is not so difficult to think, since they have not done this, it is enough to show that this trick will not work.

"What, what's the problem?"

"The adults don't know, and of course the lowly people also want to have a lot of land, and we also feel pity that those fertile fields are wasted.

However, on our side, except for those fields near the river, which can still be cultivated, the rest of the fields do not grow food at all, and the shortage of water is too great.

If we rely solely on manpower to carry water from the river, how much manpower is needed, and we are helpless! ”

Huo Changzheng said with a bitter face.

"Hmph, didn't Governor Qiu organize migrant workers to build a canal?" Li Zixiao snorted coldly and asked.

"My lord, our military households are different from those ordinary people, Lord Qiu is busy with other people's cultivation of land and building canals, and he is too busy, how can he take care of our side."

Li Zixiao was impatient, interrupted the two of them, and said coldly: "Okay, don't talk so much nonsense, in my opinion, these are all excuses."

Those wastelands in your guards must be reclaimed, otherwise who will feed you, and since there is a shortage of water, then find a way to solve it.

The best way is to build two canals from the river to the cultivated land of your guard, but the construction of the canals will not be done in a day, and it will not be possible to count on it in the short term.

The way to save the emergency now is to dig more wells in the fields, so that in the short term, we can solve the problem of water shortage in your cultivated land. ”

"But my lord, if you want to reclaim wasteland, you first need to feed those military households, so that they can have the strength to work.

In addition, whether it is to reclaim wasteland, build canals, or dig wells, we all need silver, but we really don't have any silver! ”

After hearing Li Zixiao's words, the two of them were even more disapproving.

After all, whether it is to feed those hungry nearly 10,000 military households first, or to reclaim tens of thousands of acres of wasteland.

Or from the surrounding Yellow River and canals, to build aqueducts to the two guards more than ten miles away from them, what a huge project!

Without more than half a year's work and spending tens of thousands of taels of silver, then don't even think about it, how could the imperial court allocate so much silver to them! Don't even think about it.

It can be said that in the eyes of Huo and Liu, Li Zixiao's method is the same as not saying it.

However, the two of them also knew that if they could really do what Li Zixiao said, they would really stop starving in the future.