lcionline Chapter 528 Wishing the General a Prompt Wedding
Chapter 528 Wishing the General a Prompt Wedding
The next day, Liu Ye convened a meeting to discuss the progress of various events in Lingao during this period.
His primary concern remains the issue of immigration. The immigration movement from Shandong has ceased, with approximately 50,000 people having arrived in Qiongzhou in total. Now, nearly 30,000 more have been obtained from Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong, exceeding the combined population of the original inhabitants of the neighboring counties of Lingao, Chengmai, and Danzhou.
Li Ergou stepped forward to report: "The famine victims in Shandong have been properly settled, and the scope of the military farms and land reclamation has included Chengmai and Danzhou. Once the refugees from Shaanxi and Gansu arrive, the original land will not be enough. In addition to expanding to Changhua County and Qiongshan County, we did not consult the general in advance, but followed the old practice to sweep south to the Li villages in Wuzhishan in order to obtain more land for reclamation."
Liu Ye waved his hand: "There's no need to ask me for instructions on such a small matter. Just do it. The Li people are both a source of labor and a source of soldiers. It would be a waste to let them waste their strength in the mountains and forests. Take advantage of the opportunity to reclaim wasteland and clear out as many villages as possible, register them as households, and turn them all into Li people."
Li Ergou continued, "There's still some room for expansion to the south, but there's not much room to go east or west: according to reports from our subordinates, the land in Changhua is barren, with not much land available for reclamation; Qiongshan is where the prefectural city is located, densely populated, with little unclaimed wasteland, and the locals have quite a few complaints about our immigration, but they dare not openly oppose it..."
That's a problem, Liu Ye thought to himself. Liang Xiaoming had also mentioned that Changhua County's land was severely desertified, making it unsuitable for large-scale farmland cultivation, while Qiongshan County had the highest population density in the entire Qiongzhou Prefecture, leaving very little room for maneuver. If there were to be more immigrants in the future, where would they expand to?
Taiwan?
He shook his head inwardly. Although it was a good alternative, the timing wasn't quite right yet.
Taiwan is sparsely populated, even more so than Qiongzhou, and it lacks even government institutions, making it theoretically a more suitable place for immigration. However, if immigrants were to develop Taiwan now, it would be necessary to establish two separate systems—military and civilian—for effective management, such as collecting taxes and training able-bodied men. Otherwise, they would not be able to enjoy the benefits of immigration and land reclamation. The Qiongzhou Navy currently suffers from a severe shortage of management talent, making it unable to meet this requirement.
Although the Tainan Customs has stationed tax officials, their numbers are woefully inadequate for managing the massive influx of immigrants. Moreover, the Tainan Customs is located within the former Fort Zeelandia, and like the Dutch, its safe zone is limited to a radius of ten miles. Venturing further afield not only exposes them to miasma, venomous snakes and insects, but also risks conflict with the numerous indigenous inhabitants.
The westward expansion of the United States, which began in the 18th century, can be seen as a model for the development of Taiwan. While this wave of immigration eased internal contradictions within the bourgeoisie, expanded the domestic market, and acquired vast tracts of land in the West, it lasted for a century, involved the massacre of large numbers of Native Americans, and came at a great cost before complete control of the West was achieved. The development of Taiwan is similar; in the long run, it will benefit the country and its people, but in the short term, it will be difficult to see results. Liu Ye (the founder of the Ming Dynasty) urgently needs agricultural population and military manpower to accumulate strength to deal with the Later Jin (a powerful foreign military force), and cannot afford to spend too much time, manpower, and resources in Taiwan.
After weighing the options, he said to Li Ergou, "Changhua County and Qiongshan County are not suitable for large-scale land reclamation and farming. Let's continue south to Wuzhishan to expand our territory. We should also tap into the land potential of Danzhou and Chengmai as much as possible. For landlords whose land consolidation is serious, we should 'persuade' them to sell their surplus land to us at market price. If they disagree, we should find a reason to kill them and redistribute the land to the immigrants for cultivation." He had done something similar in Lingao before, and now he could consider extending his reach a bit further. There were also local tyrants and bullies like Gou Dafu in Chengmai and Danzhou who had seized large amounts of fertile land through trickery and coercion. As long as they squeezed a little from these landlords, large tracts of fertile land would be freed up, saving them the trouble of land reclamation.
Li Ergou understood the general's meaning: since land reclamation had reached a bottleneck, they should target familiar territory—the so-called "persuasion" was essentially forced buying and selling; otherwise, only a fool would sell a fertile hen for cabbage price when buying fertile land at market value. These days, there were plenty of heartless landlords, and seizing land wasn't a new thing; practice made perfect. Compared to before, when they had to cover it up and use Lin San's bandit identity as a cover, now the entire Qiongzhou Prefecture was practically the exclusive domain of the Qionghai Army; they could simply pave the way with bayonets, those who obeyed prospered, and those who defied perished.
He nodded repeatedly: "Your subordinate understands."
After Li Ergou withdrew, Shi Ying stepped forward. Seeing him, Liu Ye recalled the scene at the Su family's house that day, and looked at him with a smile. This guy would now be considered his godbrother-in-law, taking their relationship a step further. Acknowledging a god-sister solidified the relationship between the two generals, Shi Ying and Su Hongtu—a very worthwhile move.
Seeing the general's amused look, Shi Ying lowered his head in embarrassment and reported, "General, the number of immigrants from Shandong, Shaanxi, and Gansu has reached nearly 80,000. Among them, more than 46,000 young men meet the enlistment requirements. After deducting those who were previously assigned to the First and Second Regiments, there are still more than 30,000 who have been assigned to the militia for land reclamation. However, there are far more monks than porridge, and there is a serious shortage of instructors. I request that all the students from the Ma'ao Army Branch School be sent to the various militia companies to make up for the shortage of instructors."
"More than 30,000 able-bodied men?" Liu Ye was also somewhat surprised. Shandong had relocated famine-stricken people several times, and with the prisoners of war from the Battle of Qiuyu Mountain, how could they have accumulated such a large population without realizing it? It was a set plan to organize the able-bodied men into the garrison, but without instructors to train them and teach these future soldiers basic military skills, it would be impossible to confidently formally incorporate these people into the Qionghai Army and waste the efforts of the immigration operation.
The military academy currently has many excellent soldier cadets, all drawn from various companies for full-time training. They are reserve officers, and their training should not be interrupted in principle. However, Liu Ye decided to adopt Shi Ying's suggestion—at this stage, the most important thing is to transform these young immigrants into actual combat power for the Qionghai Navy. The training period for officers can be appropriately extended and combined with practical experience.
"What you learn from books is never enough; you must put it into practice to truly understand. Military academy cadets are reserve officers, so assigning them to train the local militia is a form of practical training—experience you can't learn in the classroom. Let's do as you say!"
After handling some military, political, and civil affairs, Yan Guang slowly stepped out of the ranks, coughed a few times, and said, "On behalf of all my colleagues, I earnestly request that the General hold his wedding as soon as possible to stabilize the morale of the army!"
Liu Ye, his throat dry from talking, was drinking water when he was caught off guard and almost choked. Was this a forced marriage proposal? He'd heard of parents pressuring their children to marry, but never of subordinates pressuring their boss to marry. He asked in bewilderment, "How does my marriage affect morale? Besides, I don't lack wives and concubines."
Yan Guang answered without room for doubt: "There are many women in the general's mansion, but they are all concubines, not wives. Not to mention that they have not yet given birth to any children for the general, even if they had offspring, they would only be considered illegitimate."
Liu Ye understood what the ancients meant by "illegitimate birth." Children born to concubines who were not the principal wife were called "illegitimate births," and they could not inherit property or titles, even with a legitimate son. Although he didn't have children yet, being labeled with this unequal status before birth still bothered him. So, he said somewhat helplessly, "Whether they're legitimate or illegitimate, we don't have a son yet. Isn't it a bit premature to talk about this?"
Sun Yuanhua said seriously, "General, whether or not to get married, and who to marry, is no longer just a private matter for you; it has become a matter for everyone in the Qionghai Army."
Yan Guang looked at Liu Ye, thought for a moment, and then changed his perspective, saying, "General, the Qionghai Army has now established itself as one of the most powerful forces in the land, one that even the imperial court cannot easily shake. The fate of the entire army rests on your shoulders. Without you, the Qionghai Army will crumble in the blink of an eye. Therefore, you should find a woman of equal social standing to bear you a son or daughter. As long as you have a legitimate heir, even if you were to fall ill, the morale of the army would not waver..."
Liu Ye understood what Yan Guang and Sun Yuanhua meant. The Qionghai Navy system was now a unified entity, its fate intertwined with the fate of the entire force. Its safety rested on his shoulders; no one, including Liang Xiaoming, could replace him. If anything happened to him, the Qionghai Navy would lose its cohesion and fall apart. Therefore, a pure-blooded heir could stabilize morale and become the new master of the Qionghai Navy when necessary, even if that person was just an infant. This principle was the same as an emperor choosing a crown prince.
Liu Ye sighed. Although his marriage partner had already been chosen and it was only a matter of time, this made the marriage even more politically charged. Originally, he only wanted to consolidate his alliance with Lin Tianming, Mu Tianyan, and others through Lin Shiyue. Now, it concerned the choice of an heir. As Sun Yuanhua said, whether to get married and who to marry was no longer his private matter, but had become the concern of everyone in the Qionghai Army.
He hesitated for a moment before saying, "Mr. Sun, Mr. Yan, I've already chosen a suitable candidate: Lin Shiyue, the daughter of Lin Tianming, the governor of Dengzhou and Laizhou, and the niece of Mu Tianyan, the governor of Guangdong. Governor Xie has already given his approval, and Governor Mu also strongly agrees..."
Yan Guang had accompanied Liu Ye on his expedition to Shandong and Southern Zhili, had met Lin Shiyue, and knew a little about their story. He was not surprised to hear about this candidate and nodded, saying, "This woman comes from a scholarly family and has a clean background. She is an excellent candidate."
Sun Yuanhua stroked his beard and praised, "General, you have excellent judgment. The governor's daughter is the perfect match. Now that she has agreed to the marriage, we should not delay and quickly prepare the formalities and propose marriage!"
"So soon?" Liu Ye asked tentatively. "There's a ton of stuff waiting for me to arrange. Anyway, the candidates have already been chosen, can't we take our time?"
"No!" Yan Guang and Sun Yuanhua said in unison, "This is the most important thing right now. Everything else can be postponed, but the wedding should be done as soon as possible."
Liu Ye looked at the two men with some surprise. Due to their different backgrounds and the power structure, they usually showed signs of subtle rivalry, making it difficult for them to reach a consensus on any issue. He hadn't expected them to be so united on this matter. He glanced around at the others; almost everyone wore an expression of "it should have been done sooner," indicating their agreement without needing to ask. It seemed that everyone was of one mind on the issue of the matriarch and the heir.
"So you're saying there's no room for negotiation?" Liu Ye said helplessly, giving up on the futile struggle. "Then I'll do as you say."
Sun Yuanhua smiled and said, "Please rest assured, General. We will prepare the three documents, including the betrothal letter and the gift letter. We will also handle the trivial matters such as asking the bride's name and the auspicious date selection. You just need to wait for the wedding."
Yan Guang added, "Mr. Chuyang and I will help the General with the military arrangements and civil affairs. Please cultivate your character and temperament before the wedding, and don't bother with worldly matters. Also, do not be intimate with your concubines before the wedding, and preserve your vitality..."
Liu Ye was dumbfounded. Discussing his bedroom affairs in public was one thing, but judging from his tone, did he expect him to abstain from sex before marriage? He couldn't help but ask, "Can't I even touch my concubines? What kind of rule is this?" He could accept the previous requirements, but he had never heard of this rule before. Could he not be intimate with his concubines before marrying his wife?
Sun Yuanhua coughed twice, “We know this is against human ethics, but the general has many concubines, and there has been no news of a child for several years… Moreover, the eldest son should be chosen as heir, not the most virtuous, and the son should be chosen based on his status, not his age. For the future of the Qionghai Army, the general should bear with it…”
In plain terms, this means: You have several fields, but after years of hard work, you haven't reaped a harvest. It's unclear whether the land is infertile or the oxen are incompetent. Perhaps you should save your essence for your wife to bear you a son. Besides, it's better if the concubines don't have children yet. The wife's offspring will be the eldest son, both legitimate and the eldest, an undisputed heir, saving everyone a lot of trouble.