Lu Xiangsheng and Yang Tinglin were about to leave, when they suddenly saw Zhang Zhun's warship docking, the two of them were touched and stopped in unison. After a while, Zhang Zhun's warship slowly docked at the dock, and Zhang Zhun disembarked from the ship with steady movements. Lu Xiangsheng immediately walked up quickly, Zhang Zhun saw Lu Xiangsheng coming, smiled slightly, took the lead in saluting, and said, "Mr. Jiutai, the junior is polite." ”

Lu Xiangsheng bowed slightly, and said in a somewhat stiff tone: "Don't dare, Jiutai is grateful to Lord Governor for saving his life." ”

Zhang Zhun smiled slightly, shook his head lightly and said, "That's a matter of a few of them, I'm just going to get some money." ”

Lu Xiangsheng said slowly: "Don't thank you for your kindness, Jiutai remembers." ”

Zhang Zhun nodded, staggered the topic and said, "Mr. Jiutai is going to North Korea to take up his post, do you still need any help before leaving?" ”

Lu Xiangsheng said expectantly: "Lord Dudu's plan to recover Shenyang within two years, I have already listened to Mo Yu's explanation. However, some details are unclear, and I would like to ask the Governor to teach him in person. ”

Zhang Zhun nodded and said indifferently: "In that case, you come with me, and we will talk to the headquarters." ”

Immediately led the two of them to the headquarters.

Dengzhou City, has always been the Ming State to Liaodong military bridgehead, before Dolgon did not occupy Dengzhou City, the Ming State set up a number of military affairs offices here. After the city of Dengzhou was razed to the ground, all these military affairs offices disappeared. After the reconstruction of Dengzhou City, the Huben Army also set up a general headquarters here, and Zhang Zhun could command military and political affairs here at any time.

The location of the headquarters, in the area closest to the north, is only a few tens of feet away from the sea" The sound of the waves can be heard clearly. Standing at a higher place, you can even clearly see the Cangshan ship of the Tiger Army Navy being overhauled in the military port. When I arrived at the headquarters, it was quiet, as if there was no one inside.

"Yang Qiufeng!"

"Ye Longxin!"

Zhang Zhun shouted.

"In!"

"My lord, what do you command?"

The two staff officers hurriedly came out of the adjacent war room. The two of them were building a large sand table in Liaodong, and they were so engrossed that they didn't hear outsiders coming in. said, "Since the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, there has been a primitive sand table, and Qi Jiguang is a good hand at making sand tables." However, it is Zhang Zhun who really wields the role of the sand table and is the traverser. The sand table made under his guidance is "much more practical than the previous ones", and even Qi Jiguang is beyond his reach.

As a result, Lu Xiangsheng and Yang Tinglin were immediately attracted by the sand table. Although this sand table has not yet been completed, and the place north of Shenyang is still blank, the topography of the mountains and rivers in the south of Shenyang is already vivid. Even the topography of the Korean Peninsula has been marked. Just by looking at it, you can have a very deep understanding of the entire Korean Peninsula.

Almost subconsciously, Lu Xiangsheng and Yang Tinglin couldn't help but glance at Zhang Zhun. Of course, they estimated that "this sand table should be Zhang Zhun's masterpiece." In this era, there are very few people who attach importance to the production of sand tables. They were surprised, how could Zhang Zhun attach so much importance to the sand table? How did he map the terrain of Liaodong, "and do it so comprehensively?"

In fact, in the Ming Dynasty, it was very difficult to make a sand table. Because at that time, there was no scientific surveying and mapping method at all, and even the map could not be drawn accurately, let alone the sand table. If you fight purely against the map, you will definitely suffer a big loss. Sun Tzu's Art of War particularly emphasized that it is necessary to personally inspect the terrain and absolutely not talk about war on paper.

Zhang Zhun Xian's surprised expressions were as if they hadn't seen anything. Of course, he couldn't explain that he was 400 years later, and he knew the topography of the coastal provinces very well, and the sand table of Liaoning Province could be made with his eyes closed. Four hundred years ago, things were not people, but in terms of topography and landform, there was not much change. He sketched out a detailed map from memory, and then the two staff officers started to do it, and this advanced sand table was born.

"This is Lu Xiangsheng, the word Jiutai, you all call him Mr. Jiutai. From now on, he will be the commander-in-chief of the Sino-Korean coalition forces, and all the armies on the Korean Peninsula will be under his command. Any actions of our army in the territory of the DPRK need to be reported to Mr. Jiutai. ”

Zhang Zhun instructed the two staff officers.

"Commander Lu."

"Lou Finger Tenon"

The two staff officers greeted Lu Xiangsheng one after another.

Lu Xiangsheng said euphemistically: "You two are young talents, and you will have to rely on the assistance of the two of you in the future. ”

He suddenly remembered that he seemed to have the opportunity to lead troops when they were so young. Even if you want to do something, others feel that you have no hair on your mouth and can't do things well. Probably only people like Zhang Zhun. will use them as staff officers. This Zhang Zhun is different from ordinary people.

After Ye Long Xinqian gave in, he asked cautiously: "My lord, does the authority of Commander Lu include Phi Island and Shenmi Island?" ”

Zhang Zhun shook his head and said clearly: "Not included." Phi Dao has been assigned to the 6th Naval Squadron, which is under the command of Fang He and Liu Dong. Minmi Island is under the responsibility of the Navy. ”

Ye Longxin nodded and replied, "Understood." ”

Zhang Zhun glanced at Lu Xiangsheng and said slowly: "Mr. Jiutai, you are not very familiar with the combat methods of the Navy 6 Squadron, and the Navy 6 Squadron cannot be under your command for the time being. However, if you need the assistance of the Navy 6 Squad or the Navy, you can draw up a plan in advance and submit it to the Ministry of Military Affairs, which will consider it carefully. ”

Lu Xiangsheng naturally has no objection to this. The number of troops he leads and the level of authority are not the most important things to him. The most important thing is what he can do. It will take him a while to adjust to the life of the Tiger Army. After thinking about it, Lu Xiangsheng said calmly: "What troops do I have in North Korea?" ”

Zhang Zhun nodded at Ye Longxin and asked him to give a detailed introduction.

Ye Longxin took out a piece of information, handed it to Lu Xiangsheng, and said eloquently: "Commander Lu, the troops you can command at present, including the 6th Military Product Battalion of the Huben Army, the battalion commander is Zhang Lingyun. The Pinzi Battalion has a total of about 1,500 officers and men, and is currently stationed in Tieshan. For the specific well conditions, you can go to the Pinzi camp to understand it in person. Zhang Lingyun has received the corresponding notice and will cooperate with your command. ”

"Also, the army of the Korean royal family Fengpyeongjun Li Jue will also accept your leadership. The number of troops under his command needs to be coordinated with the Korean king Yi Zong. In addition, if the rebels of the DPRK group "they also accept your leadership" of the deployment of these rebels, they only need to notify the Joseon royal family and do not need to obtain their approval. ”

Lu Xiangsheng pondered for a moment and said cautiously: "What is the basic principle for dealing with these North Korean rebels"? ”

Zhang Zhun said casually: "Catch it and let it go"

Lu Xiangsheng was slightly dazed.

Zhang Zhun changed his statement: "Evil must be investigated, and the association will never do it." ”

Only then did Lu Xiangsheng understand.

Zhang Zhun nodded at Yang Qiufeng again, asking him to introduce more information.

Yang Qiufeng took out more information, sent it to Lu Xiangsheng, and said to Lu Xiangsheng: "Commander Lu, your logistics liaison office is set up in Dengzhou City. If you have any logistical needs, you can contact the Logistics Liaison Office. This information is a list of the staff of the Liaison Unit, who will actively cooperate with your request at short notice. ”

Zhang Zhun said to Yang Tinglin: "Mr. Jiutai is concentrating on military affairs, and Mr. Bo Fu is asked to worry more about this logistical matter." ”

Yang Tinglin hurriedly said: "To be able to win the love of Lord Dudu, Bo Fu does not dare not do his best. ，”

After reading the relevant information, Lu Xiangsheng was silent for a moment, and said with some surprise: "Doesn't our army need to raise food on the spot in North Korea?" ”

Zhang Zhun shook his head and said clearly: "Not necessary." ”

Lu Xiangsheng wanted to speak and stopped. After all, he is a civil official, and he has read a lot of sage books, and the concept of the heavenly kingdom is still very important. In his opinion, raising food on the spot in North Korea "is a matter of course." My army fights for you, protects your safety, and you are responsible for paying for and providing food." As long as there is grain in the DPRK, there is no need to transport grain from the rear. both to save their own food" and to reduce the burden of logistics. At that time, the Ming army fought against the Japanese army in Korea, and the Koreans also paid part of the money and food.

Yang Tinglin was also a little puzzled, thinking that Zhang Zhun was thin-skinned, and he was embarrassed to open his mouth to the Korean royal family, so he took the initiative to say: "Lord Governor, our army fought against the Tartars for the Korean royal family, shed blood and sacrificed, and they should spare no money." After the lower officials arrive in North Korea, they will definitely have a good talk with the Korean royal family, and let them take the initiative to take charge of the grain and grass of our army. ”

Zhang Zhun smiled slightly, and said disapprerovitically: "The two of you have misunderstood. There is really no need for our army to get food from the DPRK. Actually, our army needs a lot from the DPRK. However, these things do not include grain, but wood, iron ore, sulfur, saltpeter, horses, cattle and sheepskins, animal ashes, and so on. ”

Yang Tinglin said in surprise: "Can we be self-sufficient in our food?" ”

Zhang Zhun nodded at Yang Qiufeng and asked him to introduce more information.

Yang Qiufeng turned out another piece of information and said eloquently: "In June, the winter wheat in our jurisdiction has obtained a good harvest. According to incomplete statistics, in the four prefectures of Dengzhou, Laizhou, Qingzhou, and Jinan, a total of more than 23 million mu of winter wheat was sown, with an average yield of about 250 jin per mu and a total output of about 5.7 billion jin. Converted into stone, it is about 30 million stones. Our army can get about 3,000,000 stone through taxes. ”

Yang Tinglin said in astonishment: "Is this number reliable? ”

Yang Qiufeng said affirmatively: "Of course it is reliable." ”

Yang Tinglin was silent for a while, and then muttered to himself: "The general trend of the imperial court has gone. ”

Lu Xiangsheng sighed slightly, and nodded with a little regret. In such troubled times, whether there is enough food is basically a criterion for measuring the strength of a force. What the imperial court lacks the most is food, and the last thing that the tiger army lacks is food, and the obvious difference in remote planting is enough to push the imperial court to a place of no return.

It is indeed surprising that the Tiger Ben Army produced so much grain in Shandong alone! In such a situation, food itself is a very powerful weapon. The Tartars plundered everywhere, and the most plundered was not food? Once there is no food, gold, silver, treasure, and so on, all it is waste. Can gold and silver be eaten for dinner?

Half a year ago, in Beizhili, both of them racked their brains because of the problem of raising food, and finally led to the looting of their subordinates, causing a lot of turmoil. If they had enough food in hand, how could they be so difficult? In fact, if the imperial court had enough food to help the victims in various places, how could there be so many thieves? Speaking of which, the people live on food, and if there is no food, anything will happen. And with sufficient food, there is a foundation for hegemony in the world. Bin tax of 3,000,000 stones. Plus the grain stocks in various places. Enough to feed a million people. A person can consume up to four stone of grain per year. In fact, the Tiger Ben army so far. The total number of troops has not yet exceeded 50,000. Plus other officials. Up to sixty or seventy thousand people. In other words, the Tiger Army can accumulate more food" or use food to relieve more disaster victims, greatly increasing the population in the area.

No wonder Zhang Zhun didn't need to raise food from North Korea, it was really the Tiger Army itself, and there was enough food. Grain is generally very sensitive, and the Kingdom of Korea itself will not produce much grain. If you ask them for food, it can cause some resistance. But "if you want iron ore, saltpeter, timber and the like, the North Koreans are much more generous." Alas, this Zhang Zhun is still full of cunning.

Zhang Zhun said quietly: "With the land conversion of Dongchang Mansion and Yanzhou Mansion to grassland, it is estimated that the cultivated land in the entire Shandong can exceed 50 million mu. At that time, grain production will further increase, and in the future, "with the increase of population, it is not impossible to continue to open up wasteland, and the cultivated land area will exceed 60 million mu." ”

Lu Xiangsheng's mood suddenly became eager. Although he has always led troops to fight wars and "does not have much time to deal with civil affairs, as a civilian official, "he feels that it is his real purpose to expand production and improve people's living standards" and accumulate more money and food for the country. At the beginning, when he was the prefect of the Daimyo, the most positive thing he did was to promote production and ensure tax revenues, and in fact, he did a good job.

The same is true for Yang Tinglin. He was a typical civil servant, concerned with internal affairs. What is the most important thing in home affairs? Grain production, of course. Grain production and tax revenues" have always been important criteria for evaluating local officials. As long as there is a bumper harvest of grain in the jurisdiction, it is impossible for you not to be promoted.

Yang Tinglin knew quite a lot about the food production of the Tiger Army. He was not like Lu Xiangsheng, who got off the boat and was put on Salmon Island to be stimulated by Dolgon. Yang Tinglin came over to start, and Zhang Zhun gave him the task, so he walked around to understand the actual situation in various places. Therefore, there are really a lot of places that Yang Tinglin has been to. He has been to ordinary peasant homes. Lingshanwei's big farm, Yang Tinglin has also been there.

For the concept of Lingshanwei's big farm, Yang Tinglin admires it very much. This seems to be a bit of a squeeze for Tunding, resulting in the income of Tunding not being as high as that of other peasant households, but from the perspective of the top, it is indeed the best way to accumulate grain as soon as possible. Yang Tinglin prepared that after arriving in Liaodong, he would also actively open such a farm if conditions permitted.

After being appointed as the prefect of Liaoyang Prefecture by Zhang Zhun, Yang Tinglin's first thing to consider was how to resume production and how to accumulate more grain. It is the duty of the local officials to override all other matters. Now, stimulated by this data, Yang Tinglin couldn't help but say: "I don't know how much arable land there is in Liaoyang Mansion?" ”

Zhang Zhun said slowly: "The cultivated land area of Liaodong is not much less than that of Shandong Province. If we work hard to reclaim it, we will definitely be able to reclaim 30 to 40 million mu of cultivated land. If we continue to work hard, it is possible to exceed 50 million mu. Besides, Liaodong can continue to expand northward, and Kaiyuan is not the northernmost boundary. We can continue to expand northward, and open up Taha'a, Demuhewei and other places. In fact, these places can be cultivated land. ”

Yang Tinglin was stunned and said, "That is the area controlled by the Beishan Jurchen. ”

Zhang Zhun said indifferently: "Aren't the Beishan Jurchens a part of our Ming Kingdom? ”

Yang Tinglin didn't know how to answer. The Beishan Jurchen was too far away from the Central Plains Dynasty (north of today's Heilongjiang River, in the Siberian region of Russia), and he really didn't know much about the situation there.

The actual line of control of the Ming Kingdom, at its farthest point, was actually near Kaiyuan Wei Qingyang Fort (now Changtu County, Liaoning Province), and the places to the north were all nominally ruled.

Zhang Zhun stood up, looked serious, and said slowly: "In fact, it is necessary for me to tell you a message. Our footsteps must not stop at Kaiyuanwei. Because, to the northwest of us, there is a very large country called Russia. Their emperor, called the Tsar, "had very strong ambitions for expansion", and he was trying to expand his influence into the territory of the Northern Mountain Jurchens. ”

Yang Tinglin pondered for a moment, and said in a deep voice: "Lord Governor, is the Russia you mentioned a Russian state?" ”

Zhang Zhun had some strange colleagues: "Do you know the Russians? ”

Yang Tinglin nodded and said: "When Emperor Shenzong was in power, there were Russians who came to China, and Honglu Temple is recorded in classics. ”

Zhang Zhun suddenly became interested, and asked curiously: "Tell me" What is the situation. ”

He also thought that "Russia and China began to deal with China from the Qing Dynasty, but he didn't expect that there were people in the Ming Kingdom who knew about Russia" Moreover, there were still people in Russia who had been to China. This is indeed a bit of a surprise. Obviously, this fact is better than he realizes, "for two hundred years."

Yang Tinglin hurriedly sorted out his thoughts and told it eloquently. It turned out that in the forty-fourth year of Wanli {A.D.} the Russian Tuminets had come to China. He toured around Secondary 4. Later, when he returned to Russia, he wrote in his report that the scale of the city of Beijing was "so grand that it would take ten days to walk around the city on horseback." He also said that China was rich in gold, silver, raw silk, silk, velvet, wheat, barley, oats, rice, etc., as long as the materials imaginable, the Ming Kingdom had everything. Obviously, the richness of the Ming Dynasty at that time surprised the Russians.

In the forty-sixth year of Wanli (8 A.D.), the Russian Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich sent an expedition of the Russian mission with Ivan Petrin as the chief envoy and Andrei Madov as the deputy envoy to Beijing. This delegation consisted of 12 people. They set out from Tomsk on the day of the Nikolai Festival (May 9) and arrived in Beijing in September of the same year. The cities that the Russians passed through in the Ming Dynasty were Zhangjiakou, Xuanhua, Huailai, Nankou, and Changping. On the day of the sacrifice of St. Simon (1st day of the 8th year of the old year), they arrived at what they called Beijing, the city of Great China.

Because Tsarist Russia had been active in Mongolia and northwest China, the local Tatar tribes had some unclear relations with the Russians, and the Ming Dynasty government could not but be wary of Petrin and his party. Despite this, they were properly treated in Beijing and placed in a grand state guesthouse by Ming officials. Later, "they set out on their return journey with a letter from the Wanli Emperor to the Russian Tsar."

Yang Tinglin can't remember the specific content of Emperor Wanli's national letter, but he was very impressed by one sentence, that is: "You are a big country, and China is not." ”

Zhang Zhun subconsciously touched his chin, he is a big country, and China does not have the courage of an emperor, it still has it. It's a pity that after his death, the Ming Dynasty began to go downhill in a hurry. to the later Manchu Qing Dynasty...... Forget it, there is no later.

Lu Jisheng frowned and said: "What Lord Governor means is that our army may have to ...... with this Russia in the future The Russian state is at war? ”

Zhang Zhun thought about it and said, "I can't judge for the time being. However, the Russians' ambitions to expand eastward have never stopped. In the north of Liaodong, there is still a large area, and if we do not occupy it first, it will definitely be occupied by the Russians in the future. If they take control of the north, "they will definitely have the ambition to go south, and sooner or later they will have to come into conflict with us." Rather than being beaten passively, it is better to control the north earlier. ”

Yang Tinglin thought so, and said excitedly: "After destroying the Tartars, the army must go north quickly. If possible, troops should be sent westward to find the capital of the Russian state and defeat it in one fell swoop. ”

Zhang Zhun said with a smile: "That's all for later." For now, let's do what we have at hand. ”

Lu Xiangsheng and Yang Tinglin got up to say goodbye. Before leaving, they took the sand table of the Korean Peninsula with them. The two agreed that this sand table was very conducive to their study of major strategic principles. Zhang Zhun naturally agreed.

Brigadier Zhang sent them outside the door, waved goodbye, and then turned back. At this time, Wang Shide hurriedly sent a piece of information: Zheng Zhilong's fleet went north!

It's the last two days, and if you want a little more monthly pass, it can't be too ugly.