The sound of discussion came from outside the door, which sounded like Wu Baoping and Wu Yuewang. But behind the bed, behind the table, behind the box, under the window, and in the corner of the wall... the several hiding places proposed by the guard were rejected by Deng Ming, and there was no time to argue. In desperation, the guard had to jump onto the table in the direction pointed by Deng Ming's right hand, leaping onto the table, eased his arms and touching the beam of the room, and hung himself neatly.

...

The next day, Liu Yao and Yang Youcai left the barracks with thousands of soldiers and lined up on the school ground to wait for the instructors. According to Deng Ming's arrangement, the guards were divided into two teams and took turns to teach the soldiers of the capital's mansion's battlefield experience. The list of personnel of both teams was handed over to Liu Yao in advance.

The team led Zhou Kaihuang, followed by Ren Tang, Mu Tan and others. Liu Yao invited these instructors to the high platform. According to the prior arrangement, when the instructor met thousands of soldiers in the audience for the first time, he first told some past achievements. This arrangement not only boosted the morale of the soldiers, but also made Zhou Kaihuang and others satisfied the vanity of them. Originally, the soldiers in Chengdu had heard of the legends of these people. When they saw these big figures appearing one after another, the atmosphere on the school field was very warm. The names, voices, smiles and appearances of these people were deeply engraved in the minds of Chengdu officers and soldiers, and could no longer be erased.

After the heroic deeds was reported, everyone should have been in the army for guidance. But Liu Yao never saw Zhao Tianba. He clearly remembered that Qianhu, the Jinyiwei, should belong to the first team. Yang Youcai counted the number of people, yes, only nine people came, one less. He took out the list and verified it again, and Zhao Tianba's name was clearly visible. Despite this, Yang Youcai was still afraid of making a mistake, so he took out the list of personnel from another team and verified it again: "Li Xinghan, Wu Baoping, Wu Yuewang... Eight, Nine, Ten, Zhao Qianhu is indeed not in this team."

After Zhou Kaihuang and others got off the platform, Liu Yao stopped Zhou Kaihuang and asked politely: "Where is Zhao Qianhu?"

Zhou Kaihuang coughed, with a embarrassed expression on his face: "He feels a little uncomfortable."

"What's wrong? Are you not adapting to the local environment?" Yang Youcai asked with concern, wondering in his heart. If Zhao Tianba was uncomfortable, why didn't he say it earlier? They should have told us when they came, right?"

"Well, yes, let him say it." Zhou Kaihuang grunted twice, turned around and pointed, and handed over the task of explaining to Ren Tang.

"Why me?" Nin Tang protested.

"Because you were closest to you when something happened!" Zhou Kaihuang shouted.

"Well, this is how things look like." Seeing that they could not refuse, Ren Tang cleared his throat and said slowly: "Zhao Qianhu fell off the beam of the house last night, hit the table, and twisted his waist."

"What, fell off the beam?" Liu Yao and Yang Youcai shouted at the same time: "Is Zhao Qianhu?"

"Well, yes, Zhao Qianhu went up easily, but he didn't expect that the beam of the house was so narrow and fell down without being stabilized." Ren Tang shook his head and sighed: "Zhao Qianhu had never been to the beam of the house before and had no experience."

"What are Zhao Qianhu doing when he goes to the house?" Liu Yao and Yang Youcai asked in unison. Zhao Tianba had no experience of being a gentleman on the beam, so it was not surprising that he fell down at all. What was strange was why he wanted to go to the house.

Ren Tang pondered and looked around, including Zhou Kaihuang. After seeing his gaze, all the guards took a step back or half a step, making Ren Tang look even more prominent.

"Well, this is the thing. We discussed matters in Mr.'s room last night. Zhao Qianhu came a little late. Mr. had already had seven or eight people in his room..." Ren Tang began to explain again.

"This is indeed wrong with Zhao Qianhu. How could he be late for a meeting?" Liu Yao commented with some dissatisfaction.

"This is not, it's actually first and later." Ren Tang also wanted to defend Zhao Tianba.

But Liu Yao still felt that Zhao Tianba was a little misleading: "Mr. Ren must have arrived long ago, right?"

"Well, I was the second yesterday," Ren Tang's face showed a little complacent look, but the joy flashed away: "I didn't know the day before yesterday. Well, where did I say it? Oh, yes, there is no place around Mr. Deng, Zhao Qianhu has no place... Well, there is no place to talk, so I went to the room."

"Just go to the room?" Liu Yao was stunned and couldn't say a word.

"Because I couldn't find a place to talk to Mr. Deng, or could not see the things on the table, Zhao Qianhu went to the room beam?" Yang Youcai asked in disbelief.

Although Liu Yao and Yang Youcai both knew that Deng Ming had no airs, they never expected that he would be so unruly. No matter how easy-going Deng Ming was, he was also the commander of the guards, or even the future king and father. He would go to the house every time, was he holding a military meeting or was he watching juggling on the roadside, and would climb trees if he couldn't squeeze into the circle of people?

"Well, yes, then it fell down, smashed it on the table, and almost hit me." Ren Tang stammered and could only stick to the end. Fortunately, Liu Yao and Yang Youcai did not continue asking, so the instructors went to the army to lead the troops for training.

Three days later, news came. When the envoys from Chengdu arrived at Jiange, Jiange was still in the hands of the Ming army. However, when the Ming army received the alarm, they immediately went to the nearby Jialing River bank to investigate and found that a large number of Qing troops were gathering, and the attack on Jiange was imminent. After confirming that the enemy was about to launch an attack, the Ming army near Jiange immediately gave up the pass and retreated to Jiangyou as quickly as possible.

"How many people are we in Jiange?" Deng Ming asked. He had asked Liu Yao this question, but the Chengdu defenders had no idea.

"The males are only one thousand, and there are hundreds of women and children." The envoy who returned from Jiange reported to Deng Ming about the various situations he saw. It sounds like Jiangge is similar to Chengdu a year ago. The Ming army is basically desperate about the war. They usually farm and hunt, and do not consider defense or reconnaissance issues at all, because they know that as long as the Qing army launches an attack, there is absolutely no possibility of defending it.

If Deng Ming had not sent anyone to Jiange to call the police, I am afraid that when the Qing army launched an attack, the Jiange defenders would be easily destroyed by Gao Mingzhan, and the greater possibility was to surrender directly. But after seeing people from Chengdu, these Ming troops raised some hope, because Chengdu's actions showed that the strength of the Ming army in western Sichuan was recovering, and Liu Yao began to have the strength and was willing to inquire about the safety of Jiange. Although the Jiange defenders were desperate before, since they had been holding the Ming army's flag for so many years, it means that they were still unwilling to surrender to the Qing Dynasty. After finding that they were not fighting alone, these defenders immediately reached an agreement to retreat to Jiangyou, and defended with Jiangyou's defenders depending on the situation, waiting for the reinforcements from Chengdu or continuing to retreat to Chengdu.

"How is Jiangyou?" Deng Ming asked again.

"It's a little more than Jiange people. Some people lived near the city, but when they heard that the Tartars were coming, they fled up the mountain. Now there are about two thousand males left behind." The envoy replied. When he brought the alarm to Jiangyou, most of the local males immediately dispersed and went to the mountains to hide from the war.

"Where are the weapons and equipment?"

"Not at all." The messenger shook his head.

Like Jiangyou, Jiangyou, they did not have much contact with Chengdu, that is, they occasionally reported peace to each other, and their relationship was more like an allies than a superior and subordinate. In fact, Liu Yao and Yang Youcai did not have the ability to turn Jiangyou and other Ming army strongholds into subordinates in Chengdu, because subordinates would ask for materials and military strength to their superiors. Before, Chengdu did not have the ability to provide food or weapons and equipment. Since this is the case, Jiangyou and other places could not obey Chengdu's orders.

"If we hadn't sent people there, then Jiangge, Jiangyou, Mianzhu and other places would probably surrender when they saw the Tartars coming. At most, they would give us a report that they would surrender." Liu Yao said to Deng Ming.

"No wonder, they have no weapons, no troops, no food, what can they do if they don't surrender? Will they die in vain?" To Liu Yao's surprise, Deng Ming did not seem to hate this kind of corrupt body at all, and asked back: "If Liu Shuai and Yang Shuai are in their position, what do you plan to do?"

"I will go into the mountains at the end and I will never surrender to the Tartars when I die!" Yang Youcai said loudly. In the history of Deng Ming's previous life, after the guards from Jiange, Jiangyou, and Mianzhu surrendered one after another, he and Liu Yao did this.

"Yes, the last general will do the same." Liu Yao thought for a moment, nodded in recognition of his deputy's opinion.

"I remember you said that there are still 40,000 stones of grain in the warehouse?" After Deng Ming received a positive reply, he asked Liu Yao to immediately send someone to escort several thousand stones of grain to Jiangyou, Mianzhu and other places: "Tell them that we have food here and ask them to retreat to the capital immediately. The food is for them to eat on the road, and bring as many people as possible back."

"As for the order, admiral." Liu Yao answered the order loudly: "I will go to Jiangyou in person."

"It's time for Liu Shuai. After evacuating Jiangyou and Mianzhu, the city will be fine, but all the houses along the way will be burned, leaving no houses for the Tartars to escape the cold." Deng Ming issued an order to fight the scorched earth. Anyway, there is no more people on this road, and it can be destroyed without any scruples.

"Abide by the order. What else do the admiral have to do?"

"Not for the time being." No matter how poor Jiange and other places are, the garrison will always have some savings. If Gao Mingzhan obtains these savings, it will reduce the logistical pressure of the Qing army. Although the Ming army from Jiange to Mianzhu is unable to resist, it is better for them to retreat than surrender. In this way, Gao Mingzhan cannot use the manpower of the surrendered army, and all the supplies need to be transported from Guangyuan to the front line.

Liu Yao and Yang Youcai took action separately, one went to Jiangyou and the other went to Mianzhu. The two of them had higher official positions and brought food and soldiers, which would have led to the retreat of the defenders in the two places in a timely manner. They left as soon as they could, and in the afternoon of the same day, they ordered all the troops and escorted the grain cart to leave Chengdu.

"There are also the people outside the capital city." After Liu Yao and Yang Youcai left, Liu Jinge raised another question: "They have hundreds of thousands of stones of food in their hands, and the brilliant army is rich for a year. They must be moved into the city."

Deng Ming nodded and said yes. However, he did not discuss this issue with Liu Jinge in public, but instead called him to the yamen, accompanied by a relatively economical Ren Tang.

"Actually, they probably don't have hundreds of thousands of stones of food in their hands, and there are only about a dozen or twenty-hundreds of stones. The rest has been transported into the capital city by you. But that's enough to support Gao Mingzhan's army for a year or two." Deng Ming said lightly.

Liu Jinge suddenly blushed and his neck was thick. He stood up suddenly, and then knelt on the ground: "I am guilty of a low-ranking position!"

"Get up, get up, do I mean to blame you?" Deng Ming hurriedly pulled Liu Jinge, who was full of shame, and sat down on the chair again: "It has been almost a year since your father handed you over to me. You went from Badong to Kunming, and then came to Du Mansion again. You haven't even been back at home. How could I blame you?"

After comforting Liu Jinge for a few words, Deng Ming continued, "But I doubt whether the farmers outside the city would be willing to enter the city. Especially if they were asked to bring their grain to the city together, they would think that this was a coincidence to collect their grain and take them all out at once. If I were a farmer, I would probably escape with the grain, or dig a hole at home to hide some. No matter what they did, when Gao Mingzhan arrived, he would find these farmers or the grain they hid. Even if they didn't find them all, it should not be difficult for him to eat for a few months."

"What should I do?" Liu Jinge was anxious when he heard this: "If Gao Mingzhan gets the food from the people of the capital, then Jiangyou and Mianzhu will be useless to strengthen the walls and clear the fields."

"I have my own opinions on this. But I must say first, you have too much food for the people."

As soon as Deng Ming said this, Liu Jinge and Ren Tang were both stunned. It sounded like they blamed Liu Jinge for levying too little taxes.

"But Mr. said that we must implement the benevolent government of ten acres per stone." Liu Jinge asked tentatively: "We dare not collect too much. Those who are beyond this range have also found other names."

"You are too tax-collecting. It was not urgent. I wanted to tell you until I got rid of Gao Mingzhan, but since you have already mentioned it, I will tell you now. I set a low tax to encourage the people to work hard to open up land. Only by collecting less taxes can they be willing to reclaim new fields." Deng Ming took out a piece of paper, raised a charcoal pen, and while saying that, he settled the accounts for Liu Jinge: "In the past, Liu and Yang Ershuai's auxiliary soldiers were in charge of three acres of land alone, and the average annual output was about a few stones of grain, six or seven stones or seven stones per year.

?Even if the seven stones are ready, how much can they eat in a year be left? Even if they drink porridge for half a year, can they have two stones or three stones left? Now let them open the land by themselves. As long as they work hard and have a handy farm tool, they can manage twenty acres of land, so that we can pay two stones of grain for us. If they save about forty stones of surplus grain at home, even if they eat it open every day, they will only eat ten stones a year? The remaining thirty stones of grain is more than ten times that of their auxiliary soldiers."

"But, but..." Liu Jinge felt completely confused: "But the gentleman said just now that the humble position left too much food for the people."

Ren Tang didn't understand at all and interrupted: "Mr. I can't understand what I said, sir. No matter how much food is, what does it have to do with us? How can it be more than ten times?"

Deng Ming sighed lightly.

After learning about Deng Ming's approach, many Fengjie officers did not say it to each other in person, but privately believed that Deng Ming would not succeed. Deng Ming also heard this news. The officers believed that although the output of military camps was low, it was easy to control; if the Chengdu model was adopted, it would eventually be cheaper to officials at all levels below. The various losses imposed during the taxation were likely to exceed several times the positive tax, and the enthusiasm of farmers would also be reduced to the same level as that of auxiliary soldiers. Moreover, the Ming army had not yet obtained the output, which was worse than the effect of the military camp system.

"Okay, let's start from the beginning. What is the final work that the government, that is, the government, needs to do?" Deng Ming asked.

Liu Jinge turned his head and thought for a long time, and felt that many things were very important and all kinds of work complement each other.

Ren Tang tentatively replied: "Is the prison lawsuit fair and so that the people will not suffer injustice?"

"Of course not." Deng Ming shook his head and said, "The most important job of the government is to make money and collect grain."

"Ah!" Liu Jinge and Ren Tang screamed at the same time, especially Ren Tang, who felt that Deng Ming's words were extremely rebellious.

"Without money and food, the government cannot raise soldiers, cannot make weapons, cannot support the army, cannot resist foreign enemies, cannot suppress bandits, the government will collapse and the people will suffer a catastrophe. Therefore, the government will have to make money, collect grain, and other things, from war to fighting wolves, nothing can be done without money and food."

Deng Ming's words made Liu Jinge nodded repeatedly. Ren Tang opened his mouth wide, and although he wanted to refute a few words, he didn't know where to start.

Deng Ming continued: "But the government makes money different from ordinary businesses. The government makes money by encouraging the people to work hard, so we must reward hard-working people. The more hard-working people, the easier it is for the government to make money and collect grain. The government collects heavy taxes not a reward for hard-working people, but will dampen their enthusiasm for working. Especially for farmers, only when the agricultural tax is light can we produce more food and feed more craftsmen and soldiers, so that we have the army and weapons."

Liu Jinge listened carefully and thought Deng Ming's words were very reasonable, but Ren Tang felt that he had discovered the problem and said, "But the agricultural tax is light, how can we collect money and grain? Light tax encourages farmers to produce, heavy tax increases the government's income. This is a fish and bear's paw, right?"

"In fact, you can get both, because there are many ways to get the food, and it doesn't necessarily have to rely on tax collection." Deng Ming laughed: "The tax collection is the ultimate, that is, the military garrison method. However, even if you treat auxiliary soldiers who farm, you have to give food or pay military salary monthly. Even if you give it less, you have to have a fixed quota. If you want to get a higher income, you can only use intimidation or deception to make people work regardless of remuneration, and at the same time lower the consumables such as clothes, food, etc. to the minimum standards, and the government will allocate them according to needs. It is said that you don't eat without hunger, and you don't have to wear clothes without cold or clothes."

"I know this humble position." Liu Jinge continued, and Ren Tang nodded heavily.

"Do you know?" Deng Mingben thought that on-demand distribution was a very advanced distribution model, and he also had a high philosophical status, which was definitely not something that people of this era could understand or imagine. He just mentioned it casually, but he didn't expect that Liu Jinge and Ren Tang both showed a very familiar appearance: "How do you know?"

Are these two also time travelers? Deng Ming suddenly thought of it, and then smiled at himself with this ridiculous idea.

"Of course I know," Liu Jinge and Ren Tang replied in a natural tone: "Isn't this the Tartars' clothing and food? The only thing a slave has to do is to work and work constantly. If the Tartars think that the slave needs clothes and rations, give it a little; if the slave doesn't need it, give it no."

"Well, yes, it's the coating system." Deng Ming was silent for a long time, and finally nodded in agreement with difficulty: "In addition to collecting heavy taxes, I have another way to take the food into the hands of the government while implementing low taxes."
Chapter completed!