Volume 4 is in the ascendant Chapter 450: The Land Reclamation Corps
Recently, because Lu Ji stood out in the first imperial examination and became the youngest top-ranked person in the State of Chu, Lu Kang was in a very good mood and was obviously much happier than before.
If the medical school hadn't given these old officials regular physical examinations, Bai Tu would have worried that this was a last gasp of his...
“I have also considered this matter. Firstly, we still need the great families to carry forward their spirits. Secondly… I want to form a special pioneering corps in Chu State and select soldiers from the second-line corps.
The generals are mainly voluntary, and the soldiers focus on training in farming and other skills. The families of the generals can migrate with the army, and they will be given sufficient compensation and rewards. When there are pioneering tasks, the pioneering corps will be given priority to serve as a stabilizing force and pioneer after immigration. "
Bai Tu proposed to set up a special corps for the "reclamation" after the expansion...
In addition , we must actively promote it among the people. Bai Tu plans to have a detailed discussion with Xiahou Juan in the evening about which opera repertoires to encourage development.
However, it is true that the population is not overloaded now, and with productivity increasing significantly, the desire for private immigration is definitely a shortcoming in the Chu State's propaganda and education.
"Absolutely! The soldiers of Chu are enough to carry their glory." Lu Bu did not speak before, but when Bai Tu mentioned the new legion , the Privy Council was naturally the first to express its opinion.
The Chu army has emphasized the sense of honor and mission since the Yangzhou Prefecture and the General's Mansion period. This made Lu Bu very confident in their ideological qualities. From the King of Chu to the people of Chu, everyone was also very "confident" in them.
Ordinary people may not be aware enough, but the Chu army cannot be.
From "Killing one man is like killing my father" to the "Protecting People's Temple" outside the city of Jinling, the relationship between the military and the people of Chu State has transcended the times.
If we really compare them with other princes, the gap is even greater than the gap in armaments!
Of course, compensation and rewards will definitely follow, and Bai Tu also emphasized that issues such as the support of the elderly should also be considered, and priority should be given to selecting warriors with low migration costs and who voluntarily join.
In addition, in the world of City Princess, the "Pioneering Army" is actually a clever way to use the rules of City Princess...
Because although ordinary Ji-made soldiers have problems with their sense of belonging, military discipline, and morale decline after leaving their place of origin, these problems can be fully compensated through sufficient training.
However, mobilizing Ji-zao soldiers is much easier than mobilizing real generals to migrate voluntarily. In other words, as long as there are enough generals who are willing to migrate!
At the same time, although Ji Zao's soldiers need to be replenished every year, they can also use the branches of the aristocratic families that have migrated there, as well as the naturalized manpower of the local indigenous people - it's just that because the sources of soldiers are mixed, the level of training will continue to decline.
However, the main focus is on land reclamation, so the impact is completely acceptable.
However, in this case, the extent of exemption from corvée service for the pioneers needs to be considered...
Huang Chengyan also said at this time: "If it is a pioneering army, I think there should be many people in the original Jingzhou army who are capable and willing to try."
Not everyone’s army is so valuable!
In the long-standing war areas in the Central Plains and the north, many generals were forcibly recruited or even treated as consumables. Even in Yizhou and the previous Jingzhou, the treatment of grassroots generals was not good.
Although most of the original Jingzhou army became second-line legions, they were already flattered by both the actual treatment and the military service and retirement system that encouraged them to start a family.
More importantly, the generals of the Jingzhou Army have not been allocated enough land in Jingzhou, and many of them have not started a family. This is especially serious among the grassroots generals. This is caused by the historical problems left over in Jingzhou, which makes them not very attached to Jingzhou!
Huang Chengyan also understood that in the short term, it would be impossible for the Jingzhou gentry to suppress the Yangzhou gentry in the political situation of the Chu State, and it would be good enough if they were not suppressed too badly by the other side.
In matters like dividing the cake, if the Jingzhou gentry wanted to have the same share, they had to put in more effort - after all, Yangzhou, especially Jiangdong, contributed the most to the establishment of the Chu State.
"Train a special pioneering army...I second the proposal." Lu Kang also agreed.
Will the pioneering army seize the shares of the aristocratic families?
There is indeed such a tendency, but as mentioned before, under the combined force, the aristocratic families of Chu were suppressed from developing into powerful families, and instead chose to develop together with Chu in another form.
As human beings, the desire to compete for fame and fortune will not disappear, but the form of competition can be controlled - provided that it develops fast enough.
Moreover, it should be noted that the gentry and the "Pioneering Corps" are not mutually exclusive. It is entirely possible to encourage the children of the gentry to actively participate in the Pioneering Corps, thereby indirectly increasing their influence on the Pioneering Corps.
Of course, since the new land is being opened up in the form of a legion, the influence of a general’s origin will be much weaker - if he doesn’t even realize that he is “first a general of the Chu army, and secondly a member of a noble family”, then his awareness of Chu studies is obviously inadequate!
The pioneering army must also focus on grasping Chu Xue’s awareness…
"The navy will probably discover more undeveloped lands in the future, so we should make preparations early. The pioneering corps is not only for Tanzhou, but also exists as a long-term national policy." Bai Tu emphasized.
When Yizhou was first opened up, there were still many refugees and victims available. Now that Danzhou is being opened up, the problems are still not acute.
But in the future, when Gan Ning really sets foot on the "Golden State", there will be a real shortage of people - Bai Tu is not going to plunder and leave, and it is even more impossible for him to capture Kunlun slaves as labor.
Fortunately, the Chu State still has time to prepare...
In Bai Tu's mind, Danzhou is far from comparable to the "legendary" fertile Golden State.
However, to go to the Golden State, we must at least wait until the large-scale Qi machine technology matures, that is, after the "Pan-Qi Plan" has achieved initial results, we can directly go on the ironclad ship to explore...
Although in history Columbus's Santa Maria was just a wooden sailing ship and was not more technologically advanced than that of the Chu State, the Chu Navy's ships had a fatal weakness - insufficient oil soaking time.
If a ship is to be sailed on the sea for a long time, a ship made of new wood will rot easily. Only by soaking it in tung oil for several years can the life of the ship be extended.
The Chu State’s oil pressing technology was quite advanced, but it had only been a few years since it started shipbuilding?
The time for soaking in tung oil is seriously insufficient, and the first batch of sea-going ships have basically been retired. Now Gan Ning’s fleet has three generations of sea-going ships, but the soaking time is only two years. For safety reasons, the remaining service life will not exceed five years.
It’s just that Baitu is eager to develop, so it has luxuriously built short-term ships as consumables.
Even if the first batch of wood is soaked in oil, there is not enough time to soak it in oil if we start building ships now...
Therefore, current navigation technology may be sufficient to attempt a round-the-world voyage, but there is a risk of the ship breaking down midway!
Moreover, the first batch of wood that Gan Ning had soaked in oil had almost been used up. The second batch of wood was more sufficient, but it was only for two years...
Bai Tu has basically placed his hopes for the long voyage on the ironclad ship. At least he needs an ironclad ship as his flagship to feel safe!
Matters including the "Pioneering Corps" were easily reached in the palace discussions. As for the next specific development plan, we still need to wait for the results of the geological survey.
As for the candidate for the governor, the palace and cabinet ministers have nominated many, but Bai Tu still needs to make a decision at the court meeting of the six ministries and one court as to who to use...
