That's right, it's just broken. If you don't believe it, look at the military camps, standing crookedly there. Lin Dong is really afraid that a strong wind will blow him.

Looking at the warehouse again, it looks transparent from a distance, but the lighting and ventilation conditions are good, but it seems a bit inappropriate as a warehouse, right?

The military facilities on the school ground have basically become food for borers. After years of encroachment, there is very little left. If you come later, these borers will probably have to consider moving. I don’t know how long it took for the garrison here to have not conducted military training.

Lin Dong could accept all these, and what made him speechless was that they walked in the military camp for a long time and did not meet a single soldier.

Could it be that what I came from is really the East China Sea?

Lin Dong asked this question several times before he confirmed that he did not make a mistake. He came from the Donghai Zhongshu where he was about to take office.

Manager Huang, tell me about the situation in Donghai Zhongshu!

"Yes, Master, the East China Sea Zhongsou is located in the eastern part of Huai'an Prefecture and is affiliated with the Central Military Governor's Office. There are 708 military households in the jurisdiction of Zhongsou Households in the East China Sea."

"So few?" According to the Ming Dynasty system, generally speaking, a thousand households command 1,120 soldiers. According to the calculation of one person per household, there should be more than 1,100 households, so why are there only more than 700 households here?

Lin Dong was a little surprised. This was a coastal area, but unfortunately there was no prosperity here in later generations, and even the population was much smaller than that of Andong County where he was before.

"Yes, there were more than 1,000 households in the East China Sea Central Institute. Over the years, the military troops fled in large numbers. Now there are only more than 700 families left, most of whom are old and weak, and most of them are young and strong, and most of them go out to do side jobs."

Speaking of this, Lin Dong frowned slightly. It seemed that this place in the East China Sea was not a good place, but it was also suitable for him to raise his troops.

"The area under the jurisdiction of the East China Sea is about one or two hundred miles north and south, and the range from east to west is a little smaller, probably around one hundred miles. Of course, not all of these are military households..."

"Such a wide place?" Lin Dong was a little surprised, but he realized after thinking about it. It turned out that during the Ming Dynasty, most of the coastal garrisons were real earth or semi-definite garrisons. These garrisons played the role of local administrative agencies. Obviously, the East China Sea Central Institute was such a semi-definite garrison.

"How much does the income from the East China Sea?" Lin Dong finally asked the most critical point.

"Master Qianhu, let me tell you this. Since the taxes have become heavier in the past two years, farmers often suffer losses in growing grain, and they can't even have enough food to eat, so they will go out to do some side jobs to make a living. As for military households, due to the barren land, the annual income is only enough for the master Qianhu to support dozens of servants. Since I arrived at Zhongwei in Donghai, I have rarely had any actual income. The former master Qianhu relied on the court's military pay!"

"This is too miserable!" Lin Dong sighed. He originally thought that in such a large area, his annual income would be at least a few thousand taels. How could he be so poor?

"Why didn't there be a soldier in Qianhu? Was it the same here when Qianhu was there before?" Lin Dong asked the question he was most concerned about.

"That's not the case. The former Qianhu master originally had more than 30 elite elites in the family, but he took them all away when he was transferred to other garrisons last time. The former Qianhu master also asked the villain if he was willing to leave with him, but the villain grew up here since he was a child. Now he is old this year and doesn't want to leave his hometown."

"Is there no other soldiers?"

"Master Qianhu may not know the situation here just now. The military households here do not need training at all. They only come to practice for a few days when their superiors come to inspect. They usually work at home, and they are no different from ordinary farmers."

"There is such a thing? It's not surprising to say that." Lin Dong nodded, understanding why the East China Sea is so desolate.

Next, Lin Dong asked about some local customs and living conditions of the people.

Manager Huang answered this one by one.

Soon, Lin Dong learned about the situation of the East China Sea Institute and nodded immediately and said, "The basic situation is about this, you can take me to the barracks and warehouses first."

Butler Huang immediately took Lin Dong toward the barracks.

As soon as the few people entered the barracks, a musty smell came to their faces, which made Lin Dong cough.

"Is this the barracks?" Although Lin Dong had prepared for a long time, he was still a little surprised when he saw the furnishings here. This was completely different from the barracks he imagined.

"Yes, since the last thousand households were transferred, there has been no one living here for more than half a year, so it looks a bit shabby."

Lin Dong nodded to express his understanding, which can be seen from the furnishings here.

Then Huang Ning took them to the warehouse and schoolyard, but there was no grain of rice in the warehouse except for mice. Not to mention the weapons, the broken knives in the corner that were so rusty that it was difficult to kill chickens, there were only some rotten wooden sticks, some even turned into powder after touching them. The schoolyard had been occupied by weeds and there was no specific situation at all.

"General, this place is a little too desolate." Shang Ba looked at the situation in front of him and his face became ugly.

As a businessman, he could naturally see the problem of the Thousand Households in the East China Sea, that is, the limited source of income is so shabby.

"It's okay!" Lin Dong waved his hand and said, "Go and gather the military households and tell them to report to the school grounds the morning after tomorrow."

"Master Qianhu, no!"

"What's wrong?" Lin Dong asked with an unexpected look on his face.

"It's the slack season now. Most young and strong people have gone to the next salt farm to do side jobs. There are not many people at home at all. Even if they call, there will be no one to come. If the general wants to find a few people to come to the schoolyard, they will do it." Huang Ning said with an embarrassment.

"Absurd, is this a pretentious thing?" Li Dawei said angrily.

Huang Ning's neck shrank and he couldn't speak.

"Can the Ming Dynasty's garrison have been abandoned to this point?" Lin Dong looked helpless.

In fact, he didn't know that the essence of the garrison system was "all the people were soldiers." In the early and mid-Ming Dynasty, due to Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di's battles everywhere, most of the troops came from the garrison system, and the army maintained a very strong combat power.

However, in peacetime, this "all people are soldiers" system is a bit out of place. Since there is no war, the army no longer practices and its combat effectiveness has greatly decreased.

Moreover, due to the unreasonable hereditary system, the iron law of "the strong are above and the weak are below" during the war was broken. It was more difficult for lower-class soldiers to be promoted to officers than to ascend to heaven. A strong barrier formed between officers and soldiers, and they divided into two opposing classes.

Just like the landlords exploited peasants, soldiers also became the targets of exploitation by officers. Since military status could not be converted into civilian status, soldiers became the targets of officers' free control and were even given to the aristocratic class as serfs.

It is precisely because of these reasons that a large number of escape incidents occurred in the late Ming Dynasty. According to historical records, some local garrisons even fled for only a few people.

"Let me do this, I'll give you three days, you must recall all the young and strong people. On the morning of the fourth day, I was at the school and I was engaged in military law without any less." Lin Dong said with a straight face.

"General, this..."
Chapter completed!