Deng Ming wanted to rest for half a day and leave, but stayed in Longquan longer than he expected. After more than ten days of running, Deng Ming and the guards were already very tired, and they didn't feel that once they had a place to rest, the fatigue of this body would come up. The soldiers of the beacon tower boiled water for them, and after taking a bath and resting for a while, everyone didn't want to leave immediately, and the same was true for Deng Ming.

In the end, Deng Ming decided to stay here in Longquan for a day, and washed all his clothes by the way: there was not much time to do cleaning work along the way, and everyone's clothes smelled of pungent yīn grooves, and after finally washing them, Deng Ming did not have the courage to drill into his own clothes again.

After sleeping in a place with a roof, Deng Ming felt that his waist and legs began to ache after getting up the next day, and at this time the beacon tower had reported to Chengdu, and Liu Yao, Yang Youcai and Liu Jinge had already received the news that Deng Ming and his party had come. Chengdu sent a team of people to greet him, and when he saw Deng Ming, the envoy led by him reported to him: "Commander, Liu Shuai has sent someone to inquire in the direction of the Sword Pavilion, although the Sword Pavilion does not dare to say, but yesterday there was a messenger from Jiangyou who came back to report safety." ”

"Well, that's fine." When Deng Ming heard the envoy say this, his heart was also a lot more steady, and he and the guards put on the clothes that had been dried, and went to Chengdu with the envoy sent by Liu Yao.

The last time I came to Chengdu, there was no one in the suburbs, but this time the weather was very different, and after arriving near Chengdu, Deng Ming saw large areas of reclaimed fields, and he could also see some simple farmhouses that had obviously just been built.

"Has the capital cultivated a lot of fields?" Seeing this, Deng Ming inquired about the envoy.

"Exactly!" The envoy looked excited, and praised: "It is precisely because of the good governance of the admiral that everyone has diligently cultivated the land, and now 300,000 or 400,000 acres of land have been opened around the capital. ”

"So much?" Deng Ming was surprised and delighted when he heard this, the military tuns in Fengjie, Wanxian, and Yunyang added up, about 50,000 mu, and could provide less than 80,000 stone of military food per year, but he didn't expect Chengdu to open up so many fields in just one year.

"Yes, the Admiral sees thousands of miles." The people who came to greet Deng Ming complimented one after another, and there was a large plain near Chengdu, and almost all of the 20,000 auxiliary soldiers that Deng Ming asked for from Feng Shuangli chose to travel long distances to western Sichuan to cultivate. When they arrived near Chengdu, they set fire to the weeds and vegetation on the land, borrowed seeds from Liu Yao and began sowing seeds.

In addition to these auxiliary soldiers, some Yunnan people also came to Chengdu with them, and these people were all people brought from Yunnan by Xiying. Most of the people brought from Yunnan were organized into auxiliary soldiers by the generals of the Xiying to help them reclaim the military camps, but there were always some who were relatively wealthy, and they used their savings to redeem themselves and were exempted from the status of military households. After hearing that there was a large area of ownerless fertile land in Chengdu, these people took their families over the snow-capped mountains and came to the vicinity of Chengdu.

"Admiral," said the messenger, pointing to a relatively large farmhouse, "these must be the homes of the Dian people, and they have families, so it is better to build houses." After passing through this farmhouse, and walking for a while, the messenger pointed to an unusually simple thatched hut in the distance and said: "At a glance, you can see that the owner of this house must be the auxiliary soldier of the original Jianchang, a bachelor, who is reluctant to spend effort to build a house for himself, and it is enough to have a place to shelter from the wind and rain, and all the strength of the whole body is used to reclaim the wasteland." ”

These newcomers near Chengdu did not form a village, and their houses were scattered around large tracts of land, each surrounded by a ring of fields. These new fields are like islands in the wasteland ocean, one here and one there, and Deng Ming's guards feel a little strange when they see it.

"It's not surprising at all, at first there were people who wanted to build a village, but then they all scattered themselves." The envoy explained with a smile that the people who rushed here from Jianchang were thinking about Deng Ming's promise, everyone wanted to reclaim dozens of acres of land, and some particularly ambitious people even pondered to draw hundreds of acres of land.

This is just the first year, and there is a delay at the beginning of the year, and a man will definitely not be able to realize his wish in such a short time, so he can only cultivate a limited number of fields. But in their hearts, the wasteland outside the fields that had been cultivated was also their territory, and they did not want to be occupied by others.

If someone who has already settled in sees someone trying to reclaim the wasteland around their land, they will rush to persuade the newcomer to move to another place, the most common thing to say is: "There is wasteland everywhere here, you don't have to be next to my house, right?" ”

This is true, and the newcomers are first reluctant to start disputes, and second have similar ambitions, so they all choose a place where no one is left behind, and while cultivating the fields around their homes, they also hope to add more land to their names next year.

When Deng Ming arrived in Chengdu, Liu Yao, Yang Youcai and Liu Jinge had already led people to greet him at the city gate. When he came to Chengdu, Liu Jinge was still alone, and now he has a small team of followers behind him, which looks quite official.

The scene in Chengdu City is also completely different from the last time, Deng Ming did not see the soldiers who farmed, the city gate was also opened, and there were soldiers standing guard and patrolling up and down the city gate tower.

"Thanks to the 20,000 men sent by the Admiral." After seeing Deng Ming, Liu Yao also praised him repeatedly, and he told Deng Ming that because of the tax of 20,000 people, the defenders of Chengdu no longer needed to engage in all production activities by themselves.

"Is that enough?" Deng Ming was a little curious when he heard this: "I just heard that about 300,000 or 400,000 mu of land has been cultivated, even if 300,000 mu is good, this is only a tax of 30,000 stone of grain, is this enough for the defenders of the capital to eat?" ”

"Of course not enough, not enough." Yang Youcai hurriedly explained: "So we still have a military canton, and we have also relieved more than 6,000 people from the status of military households, let them go out to open up the wasteland by themselves, and now the defenders still have 6,000 people, and they have collected 30,000 stone of grain, plus the output of the military cantonment, which is enough for the officers and soldiers to eat." ”

"Have you received 30,000 stone of grain?" Deng Ming was a little worried about the livelihood of the immigrants, and asked: "They have just arrived, and this year they have to open up wasteland, plant again, and delay some agricultural time, how is the yield?" ”

"Admiral, we are the country of abundance here, although it has been delayed for some time, but the yield per mu is more than one stone." Yang Youcai said that each man has cultivated at least 12 acres of land, and even if he excludes one stone of taxes, he can leave more than ten stones: "There is one stone of grain a month, and there is still a surplus of food every day." Now everyone says that there is too much food to eat, so I have to find a mother-in-law to help eat it. ”

"Haha," Li Xinghan laughed when he heard this: "One stone of grain a month, don't say that you can raise a mother-in-law, even two or three can afford it." ”

"Yes, this is the first year, the yield is relatively poor, this year's field, next year's output will definitely be no problem, next year can open a few more plots. The Admiral can rest assured that no one around the capital will go hungry. ”

"Hmm." Deng Ming nodded again and again, and reminded again: "But even if the output is doubled, we still have to collect a protection fee of ten acres and one stone, not more, so as to encourage everyone to open up the wasteland." ”

"What the Admiral said is that we know what we know." Liu Yao and Liu Jinge agreed together.

When they came to the yamen in Chengdu, Deng Ming and the others were surrounded by hundreds of people, who cheered at Deng Ming: "Ten acres and one stone, the admiral loves the people." ”

At first, Deng Ming was still smiling, but after listening to it for a while, his brows furrowed slightly, and after entering the yamen, he said to Liu Yao and the others: "Why do you shout so neatly? You taught it, right? ”

Liu Jinge was the youngest, and when he heard this, he suddenly turned red.

"The Admiral sees a thousand miles." It was still Yang Youcai who jumped out and explained: "I heard that after the admiral came to the capital, these people poured into the capital to see the admiral, and wanted to express their gratitude to the admiral in person. ”

"Really?" Deng Ming still had some doubts on his face: "You didn't force it, right?" ”

Shut down

"How so?" Liu Yao said with a smile: "Of course, the good governance of the Admiral is voluntary. ”

Deng Ming looked at Liu Jinge again, and the latter also nodded again and again: "It is true that they all came voluntarily." ”

"Hmm." Deng Ming no longer continued this topic, he was used to seeing formalism on TV in his previous life, and the mass performance was much more realistic than the gang in front of the yamen today, but Deng Ming originally had the idea of stopping at the point, and he didn't plan to expose it thoroughly. After all, now is not the time for farming, and even if it is formalism, it probably will not affect the lives of the people. Deng Ming felt that it would be enough to let the guards in Chengdu know that they were not particularly easy to fool, and they probably wouldn't engage in this kind of way in the future.

The meal that Chengdu entertained Deng Ming was very good, as well as tender and delicious pork, Yang Youcai pointed to the little pig and said: "We started raising pigs this year, but most of them haven't grown up yet, and when these pigs grow up next year, the soldiers will have enough meat to eat." ”

……

After arranging for Deng Ming to rest, Liu Jinge invited Zhao Tianba, Zhou Kaihuang and several others to his house as guests, and after coming to Liu Ti's mansion, the master asked his personal soldiers to take out a jar of wine and personally fill them with Zhou Kaihuang: "I know that the admiral doesn't like to drink, so I didn't take it out at night, come and come, let's have a drink tonight." ”

Zhao Tianba and Zhou Kaihuang came with Ren Tang and Mu Tan, both of whom were also good at wine, Liu Jinge persuaded him to drink, and took out his treasured fruits to entertain the guests.

"The rì here in the capital is good." Zhou Kaihuang praised that although the wine that Liu Jinge brought to entertain them was just brewed, he knew that it was grain wine when he tasted it, and when he came last time, he remembered that there were chickens planted in the city and chickens raised in the yamen, but the food was very poor, and there was no wine to drink; Now the city and the yamen are much cleaner, but there is wine and meat. Several people talked about their experiences since they separated, and kept talking about that in the middle of the night, Liu Jinge killed a chicken to make supper for everyone.

"Here in the capital, the rain is abundant, the land is fertile, everything is planted, it is cultivated, and you can get grain in the first year, it is indeed a good place, I don't know how strong it is compared to the Three Gorges. In the past, the capital was like that, mainly because there were too few people before, and Liu Shuai, Yang Shuai, and their subordinates were already desperate and had no intention of producing at all. Liu Jinge sighed, hesitated for a moment, and suddenly said: "Don't hide it from a few brothers, in fact, I still have a bit of a secret, but you have to keep it secret from the admiral for me." ”

"What's the matter? Have you married a wife? Zhou Kaihuang asked with a smile.

Liu Jinge laughed twice and didn't answer immediately.

"Even though we say so, we'll keep it a secret for you." Several guests drank a lot and said loudly.

"This year, 380,000 acres of land have been opened around the capital, but we have actually collected more than 38,000 stones." Liu Jinge said softly.

"Oh? How much did you charge? Zhou Kaihuang asked casually.

"About 100,000 stones." Liu Jinge replied calmly.

"What?" Zhou Kaihuang shouted: "You collected 100,000 stones? Didn't the Admiral say that it was possible to collect one stone for ten acres? ”

"The Admiral asked me to collect a protection fee, which is 38,000 stones, but these people are new here, most of them are seeds borrowed from Liu Shuai and Yang Shuai, as well as farm tools, these things must be counted as money, right?" Liu Jinge replied unhurriedly: "It's natural to repay debts, right?" ”

"But, then you can't collect more than 60,000 stones of grain, right?" Ren Tang couldn't help but interject and asked.

"The city defense of the capital should also be prepared, Liu Shuai plans to let these people serve as conscription, but in order to take care of their reclamation of new fields, most of them have been exempted, Liu Shuai discussed with me, since these people are exempted from conscription, then let them pay more food, right?" Liu Jinge spread his hands: "If the capital is not well prepared, where will the people hide if the Tartars call?" Moreover, the construction of beacon towers in other places, the provision of sentinels, and the raising of horses all require food. You see, isn't this coming the Tartars? ”

"Uh-huh." Zhou Kaihuang snorted twice, bowed his head and said nothing, he wanted to say: The capital not only uses grain to do this, but also makes wine. But Zhou Kaihuang himself drank a lot today, and he didn't say this reproach.

"This matter, supposedly, should be told to the Admiral." Zhao Tianba also felt that Liu Jinge and them were a little self-assertive, but they had a short mouth, and today Liu Jinge was hospitable, and Zhao Tianba's tone was not stern.

"Actually, it's just this year, and when they have their own seeds next year, they don't have to borrow seeds from the capital." After learning of Deng Ming's sudden arrival yesterday, Liu Jinge, Liu Yao and Yang Youcai were all startled: after Deng Ming's good news in Huguang and Nanjing, the capital also drank here to celebrate Deng Ming's victory, and at that time they all thought that Deng Ming would go straight to the south of the Yangtze River and then go on a northern expedition, and I am afraid that they would not have time to come to Chengdu to take a look here.

"We are indeed making our own decisions, but it is also for the sake of the great cause of the Admiral," Liu Jinge sighed, and then began to fill the wine glasses of several guests: "No matter how much grain is grown, if our army cannot benefit from it, then what good will it do to our army?" If we can't keep Chengdu, then is this field for Tartars? ”

No one can refute Liu Jinge's words, Zhou Kaihuang and others here in Chengdu are obvious to all, and he has told Zhao Tianba and others who have never been to Chengdu more than once about the dilapidated image here.

Regardless of whether Liu Jinge violated Deng Ming's intentions, Chengdu began to rebuild the beacon fire and post station system, began to raise horses, produced weapons, and there were soldiers patrolling the city gates.

"Well, we won't mention this to the Admiral." Zhou Kaihuang and they all agreed to come down.

"What if the Admiral hears anything?" Liu Jinge said again: "The four elder brothers also want to help the younger brother cover up, there will definitely be no such thing in the future." ”

In addition to eating and drinking, Liu Jinge also prepared some gifts for several guests, and when he left, he couldn't help but say that they must accept it, although it was not much, but each of them also had two taels of gold: "A few brothers, this is a little bit of a brother's heart." ”

Except for Zhou Kaihuang, the other three people met for the first time, but Liu Jinge said that he and Zhao Tianba were both familiar at first sight, so this gift must be given: "Several brothers followed the admiral to fight in the south and the north, and there must be a lot of places to spend money." ”

……

When Zhao Tianba went to Liu Jinge's mansion as a guest, a large number of guards from the Sichuan army were also pulled by Liu Yao to gamble money, Liu Yao and Yang Youcai personally went down the field to accompany Li Xinghan to play mahjong, and the other accompanied by a general with guerrilla rank.

Li Xinghan felt very lucky tonight, Li Xinghan, who has always lost every gamble, won ten taels of silver in one night. In Huguang, Nanjing and other places, although Deng Ming had millions of silver flowing through his hands, he did not give much pocket money to the guards, from one tael a month to two taels, and the poor guards were quite satisfied.

Seeing that he had won a few months' pocket money in one night, Li Xinghan couldn't close his mouth with a smile, happy and a little embarrassed. When I went to the convenience halfway, I saw Wu Baoping with the same smile on his face. They also said that they had a lot of luck tonight, whether they played dice or pai gow, they won one after another, and the more won more than a dozen taels of silver, and the few won seven or eight taels.

After talking about his deeds in Huguang, Nanjing and other places, Li Xinghan casually asked about the situation here in Chengdu, and after listening to Liu Yao confide that he had collected more grain, Li Xinghan was also a little surprised at first.

"Although there are no ten stones, each man has at least five stones of grain left." While playing cards, Liu Yao said seemingly casually: "The capital is in ruins, and I have to charge a little more, as long as the capital is safe, the people are also willing." ”

"Oh." Although Li Xinghan felt that something was wrong, but looking at the silver taels in front of him, he had won so much money from them, and it seemed that it was not easy to speak with a straight face: "It is very hard to reclaim Xintian, and it will be too hard if you can't eat enough." ”

"One stone of grain for two months, it's no problem to eat dry rice. Admiral, how can we not remember this? Besides, it's just a year of the year, and the beacon tower or something, that is, the cost of building it is larger, and it won't cost too much when we repair it. Yang Youcai said: "Now there are more than 40,000 stones of grain in the treasury of the capital, and when the admiral packs up Gao Mingzhan, this batch of grain just comes in handy." ”

"That's the same." There is so much grain in the warehouse, of course it will be more certain to deal with Gao Mingzhan, thinking of this, Li Xinghan also feels that it is indeed necessary to collect more.

"When the thieves come, of course, these grains will be taken out to support the soldiers and used to reward the recruitment of strong men, but if the admiral is so strange, he will have to bother Li Qian to help cover up one or two, and when the thieves are repulsed, we will go to the admiral to ask for guilt." Yang Youcai said.

"Well, Yang Shuai rest assured, he naturally knows the severity of the matter."