Ili City is so small that the commander of the reclamation division was a little embarrassed.

"The Mongols don't know how to build a city, and this place is not suitable for building a city. This Tuweizi subordinate has long wanted to demolish it!" The commander of the colonization division has a suspicious surname - Mao.

Ever since what happened to Mao Wenlong, Li Xiao has become suspicious of anyone with the surname Mao.

Although it has a rather questionable surname, the name is pretty good.

Mao Dashun!

This is not bad, it is a good thing if it goes smoothly.

When the Mongols were there, Ili was still mainly nomadic.

In fact, the entire Ili River Valley is a place with abundant water and grass, which is very suitable for nomadic herding.

As the Mongols were expelled from the Ili grassland, the arrival of the Han people completely changed the appearance of Ili.

The habit of the Han people is to plant something on the ground wherever they go. This is a nation that relies on the land. As long as they don't plant something in the soil, they will feel uncomfortable.

Nowadays, the autumn harvest is in progress in Ili. What was originally green grassland has now been transformed into fertile farmland after several days of cultivation.

There are rolling waves of golden wheat everywhere, with black spots standing against the autumn sunshine, waving sickles to start the crazy harvesting mode.

"The harvest is good. Can we be self-sufficient in food this year?" No one was more excited than Li Xiao when he saw the golden waves of wheat.

The cost of transporting grain from the mainland to Ili is more than ten times higher than what Ili needs.

If every settler in the Western Regions could be self-sufficient without spending money and food from the imperial court, it would be a huge burden lifted off the imperial court.

"If you go back to the commander-in-chief, you will be able to be self-sufficient last year. This year, in addition to being self-sufficient, you can also provide some support to other farmers." Mao Dashun bared his big white teeth.

This guy's teeth are extremely white, and they look even whiter under the sun. The army was the first to use toothpaste, and it was also the first place to popularize toothbrushing. It was obvious that Mao Dashun brought this habit to the farmers.

Because the people Li Xiao saw had pretty good teeth. They were not like those in the rural areas of the mainland, where almost everywhere he went there were rhubarb teeth.

"I think we should sell some!" Li Xiaotai knew the temper of these old Liao soldiers and would not do anything to suffer losses.

"Haha! Marshal, you are wise." Mao Dashun had a sly smile on his face.

"Selling some is just selling some, it's not a big deal. However, the price of food should be lower.

The Western Region is so big, but many places are Gobi Desert. There are not many places with rich water and grass. Your Ili River Valley is pretty good.

You are eating meat here, but you also have to let others have soup in their bowls."

"Commander, you don't know that most of the farmers in the Western Regions are growing cotton. Only here, they are all growing grain.

These guys make a lot of money by transporting cotton to cotton spinning mills in the mainland.

Those of us who work hard in farming can earn less than 30% of what others do.

You should say, let them pay more money and let us drink some soup." People who came out of the Liao army felt close to Li Xiao when they saw him.

This was not the first time for a junior officer like Mao Dashun to meet Li Xiao. Naturally, he had to be more casual when talking.

"Oh! Is there such a thing?" Li Xiao seemed to remember that land reclamation divisions were tax-free.

In other words, the cotton grown is basically a profit. This is a lot of money!

"The wheat harvest in Guanzhong has already been harvested this season. Why has the wheat harvest here just begun? Is it because there are not enough manpower?" Stewie suddenly opened his mouth and asked.

"Reporting to the Chief of Staff, the climate in the Ili Valley is different from that in Guanzhong. The time for wheat to mature is also longer than that in Guanzhong.

However, the wheat grown here is extremely delicious. The steamed white flour buns can be made without using anything, and they are delicious when eaten dry.

For dinner, my subordinate will ask someone to steam a pot of steamed buns for you to try." Mao Dashun was a little confused as to what this chief of staff was doing.

He just knew that this was a big official, a very big official.

"Well! I want to try how delicious your Yili steamed buns are. You go and prepare them, and Mr. Shi and I will take a stroll." Li Xiao knew that Shi Dewei would not interrupt his question at will.

He casually pushed Mao Dashun away and took Shi Dewei to the bottom of the city wall.

"Tell me, what's going on?" Li Xiao looked at Shi Dewei.

"The cotton business is indeed profitable, but firstly, cotton farmers have to work hard. Secondly, there are few people willing to immigrate to the Western Regions from the mainland, so these farmers use exotic slaves bought from Quanzhou.

As you know, the person who controlled the exotic slave trade in these years was the Jiaofang Division.

The money used to buy slaves in the past few years was actually paid by the cultivators. After these farmers made money, they had to repay not only the principal but also the interest every year.

What the official knows is that it will take almost fifteen years to pay off the money.

In other words, don’t look at how much money these places make. Most of the money they can earn is used to pay off debts. These farmers are not actually rich.”

Li Xiao glanced at Shi Dewei. Shi Dewei and Li Xiao looked at each other and quickly lowered their heads.

After waiting for a long time without seeing Li Xiao speak, when he raised his head, he still saw Li Xiao looking at him.

"Uh...! Many of the sons of the historian family are hardworking as farmers." Under the intimidation of Li Xiao's gaze, Old Shi Dewei blushed and could only tell the truth.

That’s right!

It turns out that there are children of the Shi family here, no wonder Shi Dewei wants to stand out. Even if he tries his best to offend the Zheng family, he still wants to defend these senior colonists. It turns out that he is standing up for his own children.

The Zheng family is making money, and Li Xiao knows this.

As long as they were not fished out of the trap, Li Xiao still allowed it. After all, the surrender of the Zheng family allowed Guangdong and Fujian to join Li Xiao's command without bloodshed.

But the problem now is that the Zheng family is out of the loop.

For so many years, Jiaofangsi has been almost controlled by the Zheng family. How dare they even make such money!

The empire manages the Western Region, and every year it is filled with gold and silver. I don’t know how to think about the imperial court!

Li Xiu led the Ming army to plunder wealth and even people from the entire continent of Asia, Africa and Latin America and transport them back to the Ming Dynasty. He wanted to rely on external nourishment to make the Ming Dynasty stronger and stronger, and the people more and more prosperous.

But now it's better, these have actually become tools used by the Zheng family to make profits. This is something Li Xiao can't stand!

The big shots in the court obviously knew these things in their hearts.

I have always been unwilling to break up with the Zheng family. Although Zheng Zhilong fell. But Zheng Sen of the Zheng family is in charge of Honglu Temple and controls the Ming Dynasty's diplomacy. In addition, he is the only student of the Marshal.

What's more important is that these big guys are actually the same as the Zheng family.

It was during Li Xiao's war to unify the Ming Dynasty that he made great contributions to Li Xiao, which led to his current status.

If the Zheng family collapses, will my own family suffer the same fate as the Zheng family in the future?

"So that's it. Go back and inform the Jiaofang Secretary. Slaves in the Western Region can be used as appropriate. If necessary...!"

"Commander, I'm afraid the General Staff Department won't listen to what the General Staff has to say about this matter.

After all, they are not affiliated with our yamen and are not our subordinates. You'd better say hello to Minister Ai Husheng Ai, and let him speak more legitimately!"

It was obvious that Shi Dewei was unwilling to have a head-on conflict with the Zheng family.

"Haha! You're a naughty old guy, but it's commendable that you historians can send your nephew to such a difficult place!

Nowadays, the imperial court very much hopes that young people can go to difficult places and make contributions. Those who have merit will definitely be rewarded, and those who have made mistakes will definitely be punished.

As long as we make achievements, we can't predict whether we will be granted the title of marquis or prime minister in the future."

The Zheng family worked hard to make money, but the dandies only knew the absurdity of flying eagles and lackeys.

The historians, on the other hand, tried their best to place the family's children in these remote places so that the family's children could have a chance to make contributions.

It has to be said that whether a family can prosper depends on its foundation.

In the foreseeable future, the Shi family will become an important political family in the Ming Empire. The Zheng family will definitely decline.

In the end, he was eliminated by the Ming Dynasty’s political circle!

Dinner was hand-made mutton and the legendary steamed buns!

I have to say that the flour ground from the wheat produced in Ili is really good. The steamed buns are so chewy that they even feel elastic when biting into your mouth.

When eaten with the plump mutton, it feels good on the tongue and teeth.

Mao Dashun kept urging him to drink wine. This wine was made by Yili himself. Mao Dashun gave it a name, called Yili Laojiao.

It is said that this brewery was just established last year. Li Xiao didn't understand how this guy had the courage to call himself Laojiao.

Drinking the wine into your mouth was like drinking a mouthful of burning charcoal. After one sip of wine, Stewie's face became like Guan Gong.

Li Xiao tried his best several times to prevent the wine from squirting out of his stomach. He vomited after just one sip of wine. This was too damn embarrassing.

This thing is definitely the product of a failure in refining alcohol. I estimate that I will have a headache and be unable to get out of bed tomorrow.

I really want to criticize this serious waste of wine making.

But seeing Mao Dashun drinking this low-quality liquor as if he were drinking nectar, Li Xiao swallowed the words back in his stomach.

The border is bitterly cold, and although Yili is considered a good place with abundant water and grass, it is affected by the climate of the Western Regions after all!

During the day, people would feel uncomfortable wearing thin shirts. But it was only nine o'clock in the evening, and the night watchers had to put on old sheep's coats.

It is only September now, and it is said that it will snow in October. Then until April next year, heavy snow will close all the roads.

A large group of people guarded such a dilapidated Ili City, watching the vast snowfield go through the monotonous winter.

Ordinary people will feel numb just thinking about such days. These people have been here for seven years!

During this period, they also suffered a major counterattack by the Mongols. At the hoarding point where the battle failed, not a single body could be found.
To be continued...