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The city of Nanjing in the Ming Dynasty was very large, and the outer city wall framed the entire Purple Mountain. Guanyin Gate, Qilin Gate, Shangfang Gate... these are all gates of the outer city, leaving only one place name in later generations.

If we look at the outer city walls, there are large areas of farmland and mountains within Nanjing.

So, should these cultivated lands in the city be retained, or should they be distributed to nearby farmers? In other words, are these people included in the outer cities considered urban residents or farmers?

During the flood fighting and disaster relief in various places, the magistrates of Shangyuan County and Jiangning County in Nanjing came to find Zhao Han with many doubts.

Zhao Han convened the officials of the Dudu Mansion for repeated discussions and decided to count the farmers first, and those whose fields should be divided would still be divided - in fact, they had already been divided.

As the urban population continues to expand, land will inevitably be gradually occupied. At that time, the population on the land will be moved to the north to divide the fields, and those who are willing to stay will be directly converted into citizens.

"There are still some homeless people in the city who lack a stable livelihood," Zhao Han ordered. "Post a notice to recruit a thousand people to work. Those who are willing to come, pay the wages, and clean up the ruins of the Imperial City of Nanjing first. When the flood recedes, Then recruit craftsmen and handymen to slowly restore the Imperial City of Nanjing."

The two county magistrates took their orders and left.

Pang Chunlai asked: "The governor plans to make Nanjing the capital?"

"That's true. Let Beijing take its time." Zhao Han sighed.

The population of Beijing is also in the millions.

In the mid-Ming Dynasty, the surrounding vegetation had long been cut down. During the Hongzhi and Zhengde dynasties, residents had to rely on Xishan coal for firewood. The emperor had to turn a blind eye while digging up ancestral graves (imperial tombs and dragon veins) all day long.

The ecological environment there is extremely fragile, with sandstorms blowing several times every year.

Not to mention water transportation, it is a waste of manpower and material resources.

Don't talk about transporting grain by sea. Zhu Yuanzhang also used sea ships to transport troops and grain at first, and Zhu Di also used sea ships to transport horses from North Korea. Encountered several shipwrecks, capsized the entire fleet, and never mentioned such things again.

Zhao Han himself may be able to insist on shipping, but who knows what future generations will be like? After being deceived by ministers with related interests, he may have to go to the Grand Canal again.

Zhu Di established his capital in Beijing to deal with Mongolia.

With the continuous development of guns and the possibility of building railways in the future, the Mongolian grasslands no longer pose much of a threat. Then why go to Beijing to eat sandstorms?

Leave two hundred years to restore the ecology around Beijing and make the people there live a better life.

There is another most important reason. After Beijing has gone through war and famine, there may not be much left in the population. If Zhao Han decided to make Beijing his capital, he would have to follow Zhu Di's example and forcibly relocate wealthy households and ordinary people to enrich the city.

What a mess!

"It's okay to make Nanjing the capital," Li Banghua said after thinking carefully, "but we have to go to the grasslands and take root firmly in Hetao."

In addition to the Hetao, there is also the Songliao Basin. Both areas can be farmed. In the Ming Dynasty, they were already half-cultivated and half-pastoral. As long as we control these two places, the grasslands and the Northeast are no problem. However, before the advent of the railway, the cost of transporting food in was relatively high, and it would take at least thirty years of hard work to achieve stability.

Zhao Han looked at the map repeatedly: "The floods are preventing us from crossing the river. We will send troops to Jianghuai, at least in June. By then, Zhang Xianzhong may have captured Yunyang. Our army went north to Jianghuai, and Li Zicheng went north to Shanxi. Zhang Xianzhong has no other choice. , is expected to go west to Sichuan. It is said that there are uprisings all over Sichuan, and Zhang Xianzhong will probably be able to defeat them easily."

"The Eight Thieves are not bad. They have been promoting good governance in Hubei for the past year. It is not a bad thing for him to take over Sichuan." Li Banghua said.

If Zhang Xianzhong stopped trying to get involved in Tongcheng, the chief military advisor would not be Wang Zhaoling, and no one would fool Zhang Xianzhong into killing indiscriminately in Sichuan.

Today, Zhang Xianzhong calls himself "General Dingguo", and his military advisors rank in order: Liao Zhifang, Xu Yixian, and Pan Du'ao.

Especially Liao Zhifang and Xu Yixian, one carries "Datong Collection" with him and the other always boasts of Zhuge Liang. They are both admonishing Zhang Xianzhong to implement good governance.

So Zhang Xianzhong began to do what Zhu Yuanzhang did, throwing a large number of soldiers without combat effectiveness into "military camps". They also recruited refugees everywhere and established "minist settlements" in various places. At the same time, they began to train soldiers and restrain the military discipline of the troops. Although military discipline was still very bad, it was much better than that of the Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers.

These policies can be regarded as good governance in the chaotic north.

Although the people in the military and civilian villages had a status similar to that of serfs, they still regarded Zhang Xianzhong as a living Bodhisattva.

Really, killing a few fewer people and allowing the people to farm their land safely would be considered good governance in the north!

In comparison, Li Zicheng was much worse.

This is not Li Zicheng's personal reason, but Henan's drought has been severe for many years, and even if he sets up farmland, he can't grow much food. Li Zicheng also went to Shanxi to attack Shanxi. The drought in Shanxi was even more serious. He could not be self-sufficient, so he could only grab food and money along the way, and then lead his troops straight to Beijing!

In early June, floods receded in the south, affecting millions of people.

Zhao Han suspended his Northern Expedition plan and decided to wait until after the autumn harvest. He sent food to various places for disaster relief and urged local officials to carry out post-disaster reconstruction.

It was not that there was no fighting at all. Fei Ruhe led the Dongyuan Army across the Yangtze River from Zhenjiang to Yangzhou.

The prefect of Yangzhou is called Han Wenjing, a native of Shaanxi.

Due to the fall of the south, Chongzhen appointed a large number of northern Jinshi, and southwest Jinshi also emerged one after another.

Seeing Zhao Han's navy approaching, Han Wenjing was shocked and quickly ordered to defend the city. He also ordered his colleagues, judges, and county magistrates to prepare things to defend the city.

"Open the door quickly!"

Fei Ruhe stood on the bow of the boat and sent a loud voice to call the city.

"kill!"

There were cries of killing in the city, and the defenders were already fighting on their own.

The three major business gangs in Yangzhou, Ganzhou merchants and Huizhou merchants, all secretly collaborated with the traitors. Only the Western merchants stood firmly on the side of the Ming Dynasty.

Han Wenjing knew this situation.

Therefore, he forced merchants from Ganxi and Huizhou to provide money, and even engaged in extortion. After obtaining the money, he recruited soldiers for training. The officers he appointed were all big landowners and hereditary generals. It was impossible for these people to seek refuge with Zhao Han.

It seemed foolproof, but he didn't know the power of publicity.

How could those generals seriously train the army?

The trained soldiers spend most of their time idle. Even if he cannot receive full military pay, he has to find a job by himself and earn living expenses by working part-time jobs.

Datong scholars took the opportunity to approach these soldiers and said that as long as King Zhao Tian came, they could return to the countryside to divide the fields and cultivate the land, and there would be no corvee and no exorbitant taxes. After saying this, he told them the story in "The Great Journey".

After half a year, the Yangzhou defenders were looking forward to it day and night, hoping that King Zhao would come to divide the fields soon.

Han Wenjing looked at everything in front of him blankly. He saw a large number of low-level officers and their soldiers surrounding and killing senior generals. Moreover, more and more low-level officers took action and gradually came towards him.

The low-level military attachés of the Ming Dynasty were also targeted for exploitation!

"How dare you collude with bandits!"

Han Wenjing was shocked and angry. He drew his sword and shouted: "Soldiers, follow me to kill the thieves and serve the country!"

No one cares.

The civil servants on the city tower immediately fled when they saw this situation.

Wang Changyin, the magistrate of Jiangdu, was blocked by a group of officers and soldiers while escaping down the city wall. This guy had an idea, suddenly raised his arms and shouted: "The world is unified, long live King Zhao Tian!"

"The world is united, long live King Zhao Tian!"

The officers and soldiers who intercepted him immediately shouted, and then surrounded Wang Changyin to seize the gate and present the city.

Wang Changyin had trouble saying that he was from Shandong and really didn't want to be a thief. But when things came to a close, it was still important to survive. As he led his troops to the city gate, he kept shouting: "The world is united, long live King Zhao Tian!"

He Cai, the general judge of Yangzhou Prefecture, had already fled to the streets. Seeing this situation, he immediately said to the officials around him: "Wang Zhixian has joined the thieves...ah, he has taken refuge with King Zhao Tian. Let's go there together. Otherwise, this army will be in chaos, and I'm afraid we will die a violent death."

"Let's go together!"

"Your Majesty Wang, wait a moment, we are coming too!"

"The world is united, long live King Zhao Tian!"

A bunch of Yangzhou officials rushed to the city gate, and Wang Changyin became the leader of the surrender.

"Soldiers, kill the thieves and serve the country!"

The prefect Han Wenjing was still resisting. He wielded his iron sword and killed several people one after another.

A spear came and pierced Han Wenjing's abdomen.

Another spear pierced Han Wenjing's chest.

"Kill...kill the thief..."

Han Wenjing's arm dropped, his iron sword clanked to the ground, and he smiled sadly toward the north.

On the same day, his brother Han Wenquan came to the city and took refuge with Li Zicheng.

Wang Changyin didn't have so much psychological burden. Historically, he was a man who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. He was eventually involved in the political struggle between the Manchus and the Qing Dynasty and was executed. He shouted the slogan of Datong and led the defenders straight to the city gate. He approached the city gate and then backed away, not wanting to get blood on himself.

Suddenly, the city gate opened wide.

Fei Ruhe led Datong soldiers into the city. Wang Changyin knelt down and said, "Wang Changyin, the guilty minister of the Ming Dynasty, led the entire city's soldiers and civilians to kneel down to greet the general!"

Another group of scholars came over. Because Han Wenjing ordered the arrest, these Datong scholars did not dare to carry their swords.

"General, please come to the city to appease us. We have contacted everyone." The leader of the scholars stepped forward and handed over his hand.

Fei Ruhe cupped his hands and returned the greeting: "Thank you, everyone."

As for Wang Changyin who was kneeling on the ground, Fei Ruhe didn't even bother to take a look.

Xu Ying has already made contact. Once the army arrives, Yangzhou will definitely be captured. Wang Changyin's prostrate and useless look is not like the internal intelligence developed by Xu Ying? He must have come out halfway to take credit!

After experiencing a military disaster, there was no chaos in Yangzhou city.

Ganzhou merchants and Huizhou merchants took the initiative to maintain order, and their common enemy was the Western merchants (Shanxi and Shaanxi). As long as Zhao Han takes Yangzhou, they can drive the Western merchants out of Yangzhou even without relying on political power!

If Zhao Han were to visit Yangzhou City in person at this moment, he would definitely be filled with emotion.

What a prosperous and beautiful city, 800,000 people were killed in history. The massacre lasted for ten days, and the entire city of Yangzhou was almost completely wiped out.

In this time and space, there will definitely not be another "Ten Days in Yangzhou".

The news of the easy capture of Yangzhou did not cause any disturbance in Zhao Han's heart. After all, he had been planning for several years and now it was just a matter of time.

Another military news coming from the north made Zhao Han sigh.

Wu Sangui surrendered, and the Manchus occupied Songshan Fort, completely turning Jinzhou into an isolated city.

The outer city of Jinzhou has been lost and the satellite city has surrendered, but Zu Dashou still holds on to the inner city of Jinzhou.

Zu Dashou was a little scared. He had pretended to surrender once. He killed the general who advocated holding on, surrendered with his son, and kept his son as a hostage, claiming that he was going to deceive the city. Then he left and never came back. He didn't even want his son anymore, which made Huang Taiji miserable.

How can a person who pretended to surrender once dare to surrender easily again?

(Just two updates today.)