December 30, Chinese New Year's Eve.

Early in the morning, Zhang Zhun rode back to Aoshan City. The main internal affairs personnel of the Shengxia Sect are all working here. Although it is Chinese New Year's Eve today, they still have to work during the day. Each of them has a myriad of affairs, and if they don't hurry up, they will never be able to deal with it.

"Your Excellency!"

"Your Excellency!"

"Your Excellency!"

After receiving the news of Zhang Zhun's arrival, Wang Mingyu, Liu Hang, Yang Liren, Liu Baoyu, Hou Shanping and others all came out to greet him. They were all happy, with smiles on their faces, and even the skinny Hou Shanping smiled as if he was Maitreya Buddha.

Their faces are full of joy, of course, for a reason. Zhang Zhun's trip to Jiangnan this time was so rich in harvest that it was really unexpected! In half a month, 300,000 taels of silver were recovered, as well as a large number of other materials. Even they felt that in the future, should they often instigate Zhang Zhun to go to Jiangnan to rob - the money is really fast!

"Everyone's worked hard."

Zhang Zhun greeted concisely.

After that, he took everyone into the chamber of the White House and got busy.

In addition to wishing everyone a happy New Year in advance, Zhang Zhun's first task is naturally to review the statistical reports of the past year, and to arrange the work plan for the coming year. Originally, these things should have been carried out immediately after returning from Jiangnan, but they were suddenly disturbed by Sun Ronglu, and the result was delayed until Chinese New Year's Eve.

In the past year, the actual population of Aoshanwei has increased to more than 70,000. The actual population of Lingshanwei has increased to more than 50,000 people. Combined, the total population of the two bathrooms exceeded 120,000. These are all registered figures, and some floating populations, such as foreign merchants, are not registered. The total population should be more than 130,000.

At present, the area of land that has been reclaimed by Aoshanwei is more than 600,000 mu. The area of land that has been reclaimed by Lingshanwei is more than 500,000 acres. Combined, the two bathrooms have a total of 1.1 million acres of cultivated land. In the last year, the two guards totaled less than half a million acres of land. That's more than doubled. At present, they are still organizing manpower to continuously cultivate new farmland.

As of late December, Wang Mingyu and the others had received more than 1,300 taels of silver in commercial taxes. This silver, compared with Zhang Zhun's extra money, is certainly not worth mentioning. However, they all felt that it was a good start. As more and more shops bloom under the control of the Tiger Army, the commercial tax they receive will continue to rise. The most optimistic estimate is that next year's business tax may exceed 10,000 taels.

In terms of agricultural tax, for the time being, there is only a rice tax in Fushan City in October, which is about 2 million catties in total. More agricultural taxes will have to wait until next June's winter wheat harvest. In terms of agriculture, the most noteworthy is that foreign crops such as corn, sweet potatoes, potatoes, peppers, and tomatoes are gradually being promoted. Corn, sweet potatoes, and potatoes are indeed very adaptable to the soil, and farmers everywhere have planted these crops on the side of the mountain, and they actually grow well.

With labor, arable land, grain, and silver, next year's development should be quite smooth. Therefore, the internal policy formulated by Zhang Zhun is actually very simple. Next year's development will mainly revolve around the three major areas of population, land, and finance.

At present, the population of 120,000 is obviously not enough, and we must find ways to attract more people. Aoshanwei and Lingshanwei have no problem accommodating hundreds of thousands of people, and they are far from being saturated. As for land, the combined land area of Aoshanwei and Lingshanwei is more than 4,000 square kilometers, which is more than 6 million mu. The 1.1 million mu of cultivated land has obviously not yet reached the upper limit.

In terms of business, it is necessary to continue to encourage and attract more businesses to settle down in Liangwei and open shops. At the same time, in terms of industry, we are also preparing to implement some special policies to encourage businessmen to actively develop textile, porcelain, civil shipbuilding, timber, construction, and other industries in Liangwei, so as to speed up the development of Liangwei. In particular, timber and civilian shipbuilding, which are closely related to military development. It is impossible for Zhang Zhun to rely on military shipyards to build all civilian ships. Military is military, civilian is civilian, and it is better to separate.

After setting the main direction of development for next year, Zhang Zhun discussed some specific things with them, mainly the distribution of extra money for this trip to Jiangnan.

During this trip to Jiangnan, Zhang Zhun caught a large number of materials, including silver, medicinal materials, cotton cloth, tea, silk and other goods, as well as some rare materials, such as ivory, agate, pearls, jadeite, etc. Of course, all the medicinal materials such as notoginseng were sent to Shuiyue Nunnery to continue refining Yunnan Baiyao. Of course, some of these precious medicinal materials such as ginseng, Zhang Zhun stayed. The rest of the materials are stored in the warehouse of the Shengxia Sect and can be used when needed.

As for the silver, it is naturally to be used.

300,000 taels of silver, Zhang Zhun didn't think of how much he had to leave to press the warehouse. The silver was earned, and it was put in a storehouse, and it had no use. The most favorite thing of the magnates of the Ming Dynasty was to store the silver in the cellar. When Emperor Chongzhen shouted that he had no money, the magnates in Yanjing City hid a lot of silver and did not pull out a dime. As a result, when Li Zicheng's army came, these people were all finished.

In later generations, some historians even said that Li Zicheng raided his house in Yanjing City, and the silver he copied was 70 million taels, not counting gold and other jewelry. Such a huge amount is indeed exaggerated, and the words of experts cannot be believed too much. However, even if you get a discount, there are seven million taels, which is basically equivalent to two years of Tai Warehouse income. If they take it out and equip Chongzhen with an army, they will not fall with it.

The rich people of Jiangnan are too. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the southeast half of the Ming Dynasty concentrated most of the wealth of the Ming Dynasty, and the total assets were hundreds of millions of taels of silver. They are also stingy to death, and they are not willing to help the country share their worries at all. As a result, when the Qing army went south, all their belongings finally fell into the hands of the Qing army, and their heads were naturally gone. If they had turned this silver into weapons and armies in advance, they might have been able to struggle for a longer time. It is not impossible to divide the river and rule the country.

After such a lesson, Zhang Zhun would never be a rich man. In the refined salt and glass business, he had a steady income to maintain his regular military expenditures. Therefore, the 300,000 taels of silver that were salvaged from Jiangnan this time were all scattered in one go.

The first sum of silver, totaling 100,000 taels, was first allocated to Xue Zhidie's shipyard.

The money involved had already been allocated when the ship was being renovated. However, it was an additional expense, which was specifically used to renovate the two floating batteries. The 100,000 taels of silver were mainly used for shipbuilding. To be precise, it is the construction of Cangshan ships and saber tooth ships.

From a strategic point of view, Zhang Zhun's territory is relatively special, with a relatively small land area and a very large ocean area. In fact, the total area of Shandong Province in the Ming Dynasty was only 160,000 square kilometers, which is actually very small from the national map. Of the thirteen provinces, it is basically the smallest. The land area of the Shandong Peninsula, including Laizhou and Dengzhou, is only 50,000 square kilometers.

The land area is small, so there is only room for development to the sea. The Shandong Peninsula is surrounded by the sea on three sides, and some of it is a marine space. Therefore, ships, fleets, sailors, seafarers, these are the focus of Zhang Zhun's future development. Among them, the most critical point at present is to increase the number of ships. The cultivation of talents needs to be carried out step by step. However, ships, as long as there are sufficient manpower, material and financial resources, can be mass-produced. When the Yuan Dynasty was founded, thousands of large ships were produced in just one year, which shows that China's shipbuilding industry is definitely at the forefront of the world.

In this era, in the East Asian continent, no one has yet snatched ocean space with you. Like Jeju Island, there is no fixed population at all, only exiled North Korean prisoners. In the Ryukyus and other places, there are only sporadic indigenous names. Even, no one in Taiwan has made up their minds. Even Zheng Zhilong's pirate group is far less profound than Zhang Zhun's understanding of maritime interests. Zheng Zhilong is actually still living in Fujian at present, and has not yet attacked Taiwan on a large scale.

Although the land area of the Shandong Peninsula is small, the area of the sea that can be controlled is large. From the Liaodong Peninsula in the north, to the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and Yuben in the east, and to the island of Taiwan in the south, they are all seas that can be controlled. If the navy becomes stronger in the future, the Honkai, the Ryukyu Islands, and the Pacific Ocean will all be areas under the control of the navy. To go south to the Indian Ocean, across the Atlantic, to Europe, without a strong fleet, that is absolutely not possible.

From a tactical point of view, enhancing the combat effectiveness of the navy as much as possible is also to meet the needs of survival and development. This time, Zhang Zhun went to Jiangnan, turned Jiangnan upside down, and bombarded the city of Nanjing, although in the end Zhang Zhun patted his ass and left, the officers and soldiers did not even catch his tail. However, the sequelae of this incident are very serious. This is an open challenge to the authority of the imperial court and the emperor, and the surname is similar to that of Li Zicheng and others. When Emperor Chongzhen learned of this, he must have been furious, and the civilian group of the Ming Empire could not tolerate Zhang Zhun being so lawless. Therefore, the counterattack of the imperial army is imperative.

Zheng Zhilong's fleet was only the first wave of the imperial court's counterattack. In the future, the imperial court will definitely send more military forces to put him Zhang Zhun to death. Shandong is too close to the position of Beizhili, and if Jinan Mansion is occupied, it can directly threaten the Jingshi. Why is the Wenxiang Sect so nervous every time it makes trouble in Shandong? It is because of the special geographical location of Shandong. How can you allow others to snore on the side of the couch!

Moreover, there is a very deadly place in Shandong, that is, the canal. The canal was the lifeline connecting the north and south of the Ming Empire. At present, most of the supplies of the Jingshi and the army of the nine sides have to be transported by the canal. If the canal is cut off...... In three months at most, the entire northern part of the Ming Empire will be paralyzed.

The canal starts from Weishan Lake in the south to the Yellow River in the north, and has to pass through the territory of Shandong, stretching for thousands of miles. Since the rebel army in Shaanxi had entered Henan, most of the road transportation was cut off. Therefore, if Zhang Zhun cuts off the canal, it is basically equivalent to dividing the Ming Empire into two. Such terrible consequences, of course, could not be accepted by the emperor and the imperial court. Therefore, they will do everything they can to strangle Zhang Zhun as much as possible.

The Ming Empire is now full of fire, the Ming army in the Central Plains, and the Ming army in the nine sides have their own strategic tasks, and their main forces cannot be deployed to deal with Zhang Zhun. However, on Zhang Zhun's side, there is a Dongjiang town. The Ming army in Dongjiang Town had tens of thousands of men and horses. They are the most likely to be drawn to attack Zhang Zhun. And Zhang Zhun is also quite interested in the site of Dongjiang Town. This is doomed, and the clash between the two armies will soon occur.

The geographical location of Dongjiang Town mainly includes the mouth of the Bohai Sea today, as well as the southeast of Liaoning Province. From the map, here is the lower abdomen of the tartar, the fragile lower abdomen. The main forces of the Tartars were all in the area of western Liaoning and Shenyang, and there were not too many troops in Jinzhouwei (now Jinxian County, Liaoning), Fuzhou Wei (now Fuxian County, Liaoning), Gaizhouwei (now Gaixian, Liaoning) and Dingliao Youwei (also known as Phoenix City, now Fengcheng, Liaoning).

If Zhang Zhun had taken control of Dongjiang Town, gathered strength here, and then punched it out with a ferocious uppercut, the Tartar would have been beaten to the point of vomiting blood. If the Tartar fights back fiercely, Zhang Zhun can quickly withdraw his fist. The Tartars do not have a navy and cannot reach them. Waiting for the Tartar to come up, Zhang Zhun found the opportunity again and punched the Tartar fiercely. In such a repetition, the Tartars will definitely not be able to bear it, so they can only retreat.

However, it is not easy to do this. At present, Dongjiang Town controls some remaining islands, including Dachangshan Island, Xiaochangshan Island, Guanglu Island, Wangjiashan Island, Ocean Island, etc. It turned out that Mao Wenlong was guarding Phi Island, because North Korea had attached itself to the Tartars, asked the Ming army to evacuate Phi Island through diplomatic channels, but the Ming army obediently withdrew. While the Ming army gave up Phi Dao, it also gave up Zhangzi Island at the mouth of the Yalu River.

From the perspective of military geography, Zhang Zhun had to cross the Bohai Sea if he wanted to set foot on the land of Liaodong. All personnel and supplies need to be transported by sea. In view of the strength of the Tartar cavalry, the landing Tiger Army, if there were no three or four thousand people, would not be able to withstand the counterattack of the Tartars. Tartar will definitely not sit idly by and watch Zhang Zhun appear. Three or four thousand people went ashore to fight, and the logistical requirements were very high. Therefore, without a powerful naval fleet, without a powerful fleet of logistical transports, it is simply impossible.

At the same time, to completely control Donggang Town, there is also a strategic issue involved, that is, North Korea. The Tartars had garrisons in Korea. If Zhang Zhun wants to attack Liaodong, he must first control Korea. The Tartars had about 10,000 elite cavalry and tens of thousands of servant troops in Korea. In addition, the main force of the Tartars in the Shenyang area can also reinforce the DPRK at any time. From Shenyang to Korea, the cavalry of the Tartars could arrive in two days.

(To be continued)