With 100,000 elite soldiers at the start, what should you call me?

……

The new army returned victorious from the Battle of Xiaosongxi, and all the soldiers had smiles on their faces.

Li Tian also felt as if a weight had been lifted from his heart.

The casualties exceeded 4,000, of which more than 1,400 died directly, with the First Army of Longxiang accounting for more than 90%.

This battle is historically significant and worthy of being recorded in history.

More than 3,000 Hanyang rifles were damaged, and these damaged firearms will be recycled and dismantled.

News of the new army's great victory had already reached Jianning Prefecture.

All the people who heard this lined the streets outside the city to welcome him.

"The royal army has returned! Long live the king! Long live the king!"

"Congratulations to General Li on your great victory! This battle is unprecedented and has shattered the myth of the Qing army's invincibility. After this battle, the Qing army will never dare to set foot in Jianning Prefecture."

In front of the city gate, Zhu Xingqiu and his group were the leaders, with crowds of people standing on both sides, a sea of ​​people.

The people of Jianning Prefecture were besieged by the Qing army for several months, and everyone hated the Qing army to the core.

Li Tian's ability to defeat the Qing army undoubtedly plunged the people of Jianning Prefecture into a frenzied worship of him.

As soon as he got home, visiting cards kept coming in, but Li Tian declined them all.

With the enemy gone, the next step is to clean up the internal situation, and these local powerful families will become his biggest obstacle.

Moreover, although this battle was a great victory, the problem of food supply still weighed on Li Tian's shoulders.

The amount of grain captured from the Qing army camp was not much, only about 10,000 shi (a unit of dry measure), and with the livestock that died in battle, it was barely enough to feed the entire city for ten to fifteen days.

However, this time is enough for Li Tianteng to take action to manage the rear.

Organize the prisoners, plan the spoils of war, and distribute rewards.

A whole host of things came crashing down like a tsunami, and managing the rear was also something that couldn't be neglected.

The reason they wanted to seize a piece of land was to cultivate it and achieve food self-sufficiency, so they wouldn't have to risk their lives to passively wage war.

If they suffer a single setback in their attack and are bogged down by the enemy, they will be doomed.

"Yong-ho, how are the statistics bureau and the Ministry of Agriculture doing?"

He is very concerned about agriculture.

He assigned hundreds of people to Fang Youming of the Statistics Bureau and Jiang Yebai of the Ministry of Agriculture, so that they could complete the local information statistics in a short period of time.

"Commander, the local population statistics are in. The total population of Jianning Prefecture, including both urban and rural areas, is 52,120, of which 15,600 are men aged 15 to 50..."

The population structure around Jianning Prefecture is relatively healthy, with men who are able to work accounting for about 30%.

If young women are included, the working population will be even larger.

Of course, this was a time of food shortages and war.

To survive, seven- or eight-year-old children have to work in the fields, and seventy- or eighty-year-old elderly people have to pick up sickles and continue to bend over.

All of this is for survival.

Regarding land... there are large tracts of land that are not yet convenient to count. Currently, the land suitable for reclamation is about 300,000 mu, and the cultivated land is about 100,000 mu.

"It's been three or four days, and they still can't count the land in this small area with only a few hundred people? Is someone obstructing things, or is someone slacking off?" Li Tian frowned, already guessing what was going on.

"Local powerful families are hindering us from measuring the fields. As soon as our people start measuring, some locals pick up hoes and fight back against us."

Zhang Yonghao sighed.

"Go and investigate which powerful families are behind those people causing trouble. Take stock of the land and distribute it equally without any obstacles."

Just as Li Tian had guessed, all the fertile land in Jianning Prefecture must be in the hands of powerful families.

"In this way, assign 800 people to the Ministry of Agriculture and the Bureau of Statistics. These 800 people will be a mix of outstanding prisoners of war and our own people. If anyone obstructs us from measuring the land again, treat them as reactionary forces and kill them on the spot."

Li Tian didn't have that much time to get entangled with those powerful families.

He doesn't need the support of powerful families, so he doesn't have to be subservient to them.

The powerful families offered him no support whatsoever, and he didn't need to consider their feelings.

In this respect, he is far more conscientious than the Qing Dynasty in the north.

The Qing Dynasty in the north not only gained the support of the aristocratic families, but also plundered them, turning the obedient into slaves and killing the disobedient.

Logically, these aristocratic families should have fought back and united to overthrow the rule of the Qing Dynasty.

Throughout history, during the Qing Dynasty, many people did stand up in resistance, including members of prominent families, noble clans, and impoverished commoners.

But without exception, they all failed.

Li Tian summarized all these failed uprisings.

The Qing Dynasty learned from the Yuan Dynasty's lax management of the Han people and established Manchu cities in various places specifically to prevent Han people from rebelling.

If war breaks out, the Manchu bannermen in the city will massacre the city's inhabitants before engaging in battle.

Such a brutal and ruthless rule allowed the Qing Dynasty to enslave larger clans from among smaller ones.

At the same time, cultural and educational practices were altered, turning all those under rule into bondservants who knew nothing of their ancestors or themselves, only of the officials and the Manchu lords, bowing their heads and tilling the land.

There are many reasons for the failure of the uprising, but the most important ones are internal strife, lack of unity, short-sightedness, and a lack of firm resolve to oppose the Qing dynasty.

Without the right ideas, the idea of ​​resistance did not spread widely and failed to mobilize the majority of the people in this land.

As the successor, Li Tian naturally cannot make those mistakes. He will unite all forces that can be united, and he will also be able to distinguish between enemies and friends.

Li Tian also created the position of Commander specifically for this purpose, with the important tasks of spreading the new army's ideology and managing military discipline, while also serving as Li Tian's informant.

Of course, the commander will mainly arrange the troops that will be reorganized and incorporated later.

Distributing land was only the first step; the second step was to establish a sense of belonging among the people.

Let them know who owns this land.

"Isn't the commander being too violent towards them...?" Zhang Yonghao was somewhat worried about Li Tian's tough approach.

After all, those powerful families held considerable influence and prestige in the area.

"Violence? Smash his head!"

"Don't you know how they got all this land? They study legal loopholes, change laws when they're in office, buy land at low prices during famine years, and use every trick in the book to exploit the poor. You're not just pitying them, are you?" Li Tian looked at Zhang Yonghao with suspicion.

The assassins were loyal to him, but their thoughts might not have been aligned.

The vast majority of scions of prominent families obtained the titles of Xiucai, Juren, and Jinshi through the imperial examinations, and these titles granted them tax exemptions on land.

The taxes that cannot be collected will naturally be levied on ordinary farmers. In years of disaster, those who cannot pay their taxes will suffer the loss of their families.

In order to survive, the people would give their land to these scholars and become their tenant farmers.

Then these scholars in the imperial court would constantly talk about increasing taxes, and when war broke out, the tax increases became even more outrageous.

During the Chongzhen era, heavy taxes were increased several times, including additional taxes for suppressing rebellions and training troops. Coupled with natural disasters and man-made calamities, countless people were forced to sell their land and become dependent on bureaucratic families.

In a sense, this has created a hidden closed loop of land annexation, and the national treasury has gradually declined.

The imperial court has no money, the people have no money, where has the money gone?

Where has the land that can be taxed gone?

In the hands of bureaucratic families!

When ordinary people can't pay their taxes and have nowhere to turn, they have no choice but to rise up in rebellion.

Therefore, land must never be bought or sold privately, and ownership cannot belong to individuals.

Zhang Yonghao was startled and immediately replied, "No! I absolutely agree with the Commander's orders."

Li Tian said coldly, "That's good. Measure all the land thoroughly!"