He who has not been to the Great Wall is not a true man.

Zhu Yihai, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, boarded the Great Wall for the first time to inspect.

The Great Wall beneath your feet is like a giant dragon winding its way through the mountains of Yanshan. The huge stones and city bricks bring a heavy sense of history to your face.

The top of the city wall is paved with square bricks, which can accommodate five or six horses running abreast. On the outer edge of the city wall are stacks more than two meters high, with a square viewing port above. At the viewing port, there is an enemy tower about a hundred feet away.

"This piece of stone weighs three thousand kilograms!"

Zhu Yihai listened to the introduction by the accompanying minister and secretly marveled. In such high mountains and lofty mountains, these stones and city bricks must be transported up and then built up to build this majestic Great Wall, even connecting the east and west for thirteen thousand miles. Do you know?

How remarkable.

Even if the Great Wall dragon cannot be recognized at a glance from space, it does not prevent it from being a glorious witness to the Han civilization.

The Great Wall was overhauled eighteen times in the Ming Dynasty. How much manpower and material resources were spent.

The first stop of the emperor's western tour was the Badaling Great Wall at Juyongguan.

The most dangerous part of Juyongguan is Badaling Pass in the north of Guan. The Great Wall is divided into two peaks, the north and the south. The pass is close to the mountains and is built on the ridge. Although it is limited by the terrain, it only has less than ten acres of land and no land.

Wells and water sources are scarce, and not many troops can be stationed in peacetime.

The imperial troops stationed in Badaling Guancheng are mainly stationed in Chadao City, three miles northwest.

"The 'Inspector's Mansion' has been cleaned up in Guancheng as the emperor's residence."

"Badaling Guancheng is not only a military fortress in Juyongwai Town, but also an important transportation thoroughfare. From here, it leads to Changping and Beijing in the south, to Yanqing in the north, and to Xuanhua and Zhangjiakou in the northwest. The roads are divided from here and extend in all directions, which is why Badaling got its name."

After the Shao Dynasty restored Beijing, it naturally attached great importance to the west gate of Beijing. Among the eight towns of the Nanya Forbidden Army, one was stationed in Juyongguan and Badaling. Provincial battalions were also used to assist in guarding Yandun and patrolling the roads.

Many cannons were added to the cities of Juyongguan and Badalingguan.

"The cannons on the Guancheng fort are all fortress city defense guns, 24-pounder cannons and 18-pounder cannons. They have a long range and are powerful."

Zhu Yihai stood on the Great Wall and looked at the inside and outside of the city. The defensive performance of Juyong Pass and Badaling Pass was indeed far superior to before. There was a town of 8,000 elite Imperial Guards stationed here alone, not counting provincial camps and so on.

With just these giant cannons and the natural danger, basically no Mongolian or Jurchen can even get close.

It can even be said that the defense of the Great Wall outside Beijing is now somewhat overflowing, because now the Ming army has begun to set up provinces outside the Yanshan and Yinshan mountains, and has brought large areas outside the pass under control, conducting a special process of half garrison, half Zhili, and half Jisu.

Governance.

Passive defense has been replaced by active offense.

In the Ming Dynasty, the defense points in the north of Yanshan Mountain have moved northward. They are no longer the front line of the Great Wall, but are located in Daning, Chengde, Jining, Zhangbei, Liangcheng, and Guihua.

However, Juyong Pass is the west gate of Beijing after all, so like Shanhaiguan Pass, it is still required to be heavily guarded by the Forbidden Army. Even the important passes of the Yanshan Great Wall such as Gubeikou, Xifengkou, and Dushikou in the north also need to be defended.

It's just that these are defense areas belonging to the capital's garrison, and now the real border defense is outside the Great Wall.

The soldiers stationed at Juyong Pass and Badaling Pass were all soldiers from one of the eight towns of the Nanya Forbidden Army. They were very elite. Not only were they all selected young elites in their twenties and thirties, they were all strong and brave, and they were all veterans.

They have all completed the replacement of new equipment. The infantry is equipped with Type 3 Bird Guns, plus Type 4 Nine-Headed Birds, Type 5 Tiger Crouching, Type 5 Franchise, and for heavy fire support, there are three-pound battalion guns.

.The artillery standard is mainly twelve-pound field guns. Because it is a defensive defense, they have many heavy city defense fortress guns.

Majestic.

Not only were the guns and cannons brand-new, but the soldiers' uniforms were also very neat and new. They were all Shaotian's three-style uniforms, bright red, and new cotton armor that was both lightweight and had good defensive properties. They specially prepared it to welcome the emperor's review.

Wearing a duffle army coat.

Many soldiers even wore medals on their chests.

There are purple and gold medals, platinum medals, and gold medals, and some people even wear several of them.

Zhu Yihai even saw a lot of familiar faces. They were disciples of the emperor, including the Yuan Cong guards who were the first to come out of eastern Zhejiang, officers who had been taught by the emperor in the Jiangwu Hall, and those who had served as close guards in the Qinxun Yiwu Siwei.

Officer of the Guard.

They specially put the officer's sword given by the emperor on their waists, and each of them held up their chests and raised their heads, like a big cock with high morale.

When the emperor patted them on the shoulders and said their names, some young officers even choked with excitement. Unexpectedly, as low-level officers of the seventh or eighth grade, the emperor could still remember their names.

Zhu Yihai asked about their situation in the new army and learned about the real situation at the bottom. The officers were quite satisfied with the current situation. The military pay was good, there would be no arbitrary deductions, and there would be no arrears. In addition, they are now stationed here.

, and also divided the land among his wives.

"How much land was divided?"

"Your Majesty, I am only in the ninth rank, so I was allocated fifty acres of land in Yanqing, and my wife has also signed up to join the army."

"Well, are there any difficulties?"

"Reply to Your Majesty, no, I am doing well at home now. Your Majesty gave us an annual reward in the new year. After the new year, the prince got married, and His Highness gave us another reward. I used this reward and my savings to buy a few

I am a slave and work as a serf to help cultivate the fifty acres of land given by His Majesty."

Zhu Yihai asked the price of the slaves he bought. They were all prisoners of war captured in Liaodong and other places. The ones he bought were Horqin Mongolians captured by the Sunit people and Yuding from the Eight Banners of Manchuria.

Sunit was originally a Monan Mongolian, and even once belonged to Chahar. However, although their leader Tengjisi became the son-in-law of the Qing Dynasty and married a clan princess, due to his grievances with Dorgon, he eventually died.

However, he rebelled against the Qing Dynasty and took his tribesmen to Mobei to join Khalkha. He also submitted his allegiance to the Ming Dynasty early.

Because of this, after Zhu Yihai returned to Beijing, Tengjisi naturally received special treatment. Zhu Yihai sealed the pasture north of Xuanhua to Sunit, divided it into eight groups on the left and right wings, and set up two capitals to protect the palace.

Governor's Mansion.

In fact, this land is roughly the place where Chahar Eight Banners was established outside Zhangjiakou by the Qing government after Chahar was defeated in the Western Liaoning Rebellion in history. It stretches from Keshiketeng boundary in the east to Tumo, Guihua City in the west.

The special boundary extends to the border of Taipusi Ranch and Shanxi in the south, and to the border of Sizi Tribe in the north.

Originally, in history, Sunit was conquered again after the failure of its resistance to the Qing Dynasty, and was placed further north.

Now it is close to the Zhangbei Bashang grassland area, which is an excellent location, because it is close to the area directly controlled by the Ming Dynasty, which facilitates trade and is extremely conducive to development.

The one near the water should get the moon first.

The brothers Sunit Tengjisi received this reward, and each of their sons had one governor. Their sons each had four as governors, and one became two governors and eight governors. They didn't care about that and happily accepted it. Anyway

Even if it's divided into two or two and eight, if the meat is rotten, it's still in the pot. Otherwise, it belongs to their family. Anyway, the family will be separated sooner or later.

After the Sunit Tengjisi brothers led their troops to move south, they delimited the pastures according to the emperor's decree. At the same time, they also worked very hard to attack the Mongolian tribes that had not yet surrendered to the Ming Dynasty. This was not only a sign of loyalty, but also an act of robbery.

The fox pretends to be the tiger's power.

The robbed cattle, sheep, livestock and human beings were brought to Zhangjiakou and traded in exchange for silk, tea, salt, wine, tobacco, and even gunpowder from the Ming Dynasty.

Because they have captured a lot of people, they sell them relatively cheaply.

Many Ming soldiers who were now stationed in the Datong area of ​​Xuanhua took the opportunity to buy these Jurchen and Mongolian slaves.

We are not afraid that these people are disobedient. They are chained to plow the land and graze livestock. If they dare not work hard, they are trying to escape. That is not polite. It is difficult to escape even if you want to. On the pass roads in various places, these slaves with slave marks all belong to the people of the Ming Dynasty.

Private property is subject to the same laws as livestock, and all soldiers, officials, and people of the Ming Dynasty are obliged to capture or report them. After capture, they are not allowed to privately occupy it, but must be handed over to the original owner. The original owner must pay the person who captured the slave a certain reward based on the value of the slave.

At the end of Chongzhen, the Xuanfu Datong area had long been corrupted. After the Jianlu invaders entered the customs, they went to great lengths to seize the land, forcing the landlords to work as slaves, and then fled north, taking away everything and everyone they could.

After leaving, the capital was deserted for thousands of miles, and Datong in Xuanfu became a wasteland.

The imperial camp and other soldiers were the first batch to return, and the emperor and the court also gave priority to many mature fields and good land near the garrison.

Naturally, if there is land, there will be a shortage of labor. Now many places are short of people. The imperial court allocates land to the poor people, or sells the land at a low price, or even pays it in installments, or directly relocates the poor people from some provinces with less land and more people.

Go to Taiwan or even the southwest and other places.

This has enabled many poor people to get their own land, but it has also resulted in landlords in many places now lacking tenants to farm their land.

However, the land cannot be left uncultivated, otherwise they will be heavily fined. They can only raise wages and hire part-time workers, or lower the rent, but there is still a huge labor gap. They are forced to buy large quantities of cattle, horses and other large animals for farming to make up for the shortfall.

If there is not enough, we can only buy slaves to fill it.

Now these officers and newly rich people in Gyeonggi, Xuanhua and Datong are also facing the problem of acquiring a lot of land, but they cannot farm it, or even rent it out, so they can only buy cattle, horses, and slaves to farm it.

.

Zhu Yihai walked around Juyongguan and Badaling Pass, and walked around the Great Wall. Then he ignored the established arrangements and went directly to Yandun, Stations and Tunbu inside and outside the Great Wall to randomly visit.

At Koubeibao, Zhu Yihai even had a roasted deer feast with the Dun troops there. The venison cooked by the Tun chief's wife lacked seasonings, including onions, no ginger, and no pepper, but it tasted pretty good.

The seven pier soldiers were even more excited to see the emperor eating venison in the same pot with them. After the meal, Zhu Yihai rewarded the deputy pier leader with a royal horse and a fox fur, and gave the black dog a big fat

A piece of deer steak, and other Dunjun troops also each received a large piece of woolen hair.

The emperor also greatly appreciated their efforts in reclaiming the wasteland next to the pier, carrying water and collecting manure to grow vegetables, etc. For the six pier soldiers who were willing to stay and serve for a long time, the emperor directly converted them into professional recruits.

Each of them was given thirty acres of land on the side.

"The construction of the Zhangku Post Road has begun. It will build a post road from Zhangjiakou to Kulun in Mobei Mongolia. This post road will communicate with the three tribes of Khalkha in Mobei, as well as Sunit and other tribes in Mongolia. At the same time,

This will also be a trade route. The Ming Dynasty's silk, tea, bricks, porcelain, iron pots, cloth, grain, salt, wine, tobacco, etc. will go north and deep into the grassland, while the livestock fur and other things from the grassland will go south along the way. When this post road is built, Zhangjiakou will be connected to Kulun.

, one end is connected to Beijing, and to the west it can also connect to Datong, Taiyuan, Guihua, and Suiyuan. This will become an important commercial port in the west of Beijing."

This plan was originally mentioned by Zhu Yihai. He knew the significance of this matter very well, to influence and even control the Mongolian tribes through the economy, so that they would be closely attached to the Ming Dynasty and unable to break away. Zhangku Avenue is an important part of the Ming Dynasty's One Belt and One Road.

"The lack of people is because the population is too small. A large area of ​​land is deserted at the foot of Badaling, not to mention Zhangjiakou and Koubei. We still need to increase the intensity of migration. In addition, using slaves to fill the labor shortage is also very good and deserves encouragement.

But there is one rule: the Mongolian and Jurchen tribes that have surrendered to our Ming Dynasty are not allowed to plunder their human beings and sell them into slavery. All tribes must abide by this.

Not to mention selling Han people into slavery. The population is now in short supply. Even if there are those who were plundered as slaves due to early wars, natural disasters, etc., or sold themselves into slavery, the imperial court must try its best to pay for their freedom, and then resettle them, or Xuanhua in the capital.

Granted land to settle down, or moved to Taiwan, Hainan or Yunnan and Guangxi."
To be continued...