Chapter 8, Twenty-seven moments in the four years of Chongzhen (8)
PS: Several bugs in the ancient prose part of the previous chapter have been corrected. Thank you to the enthusiastic readers for their reminders and attention.
※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※
The Eighth Moment: Lurking Tentacles
December of the fourth year of Chongzhen, Lunan Plain
The goose-feather-like heavy snow in the North is rustling down, all the rivers, lakes and ponds are frozen, and the sky and the earth are silvery white. The terrible wind and snow once again swept across the land that had become increasingly desolate due to frequent natural disasters, and also swept away the hardworking people who were barely struggling to survive.
In the snowy and desolate wilderness, countless small and large teams are moving forward, including many people supporting the elderly and the young. Along the way, there are corpses that have died of freezing and starvation. Snowflakes and ice have piled up on them, turning them into corpses. Each white grave bag. But the people walking ignored them. Occasionally, some relatives and friends cried a little, but they had to stand up and continue on their way. The precarious and cheap life made the separation between life and death seem so deserted.
——When the Tunbao Farm in Dengzhou Town was in full swing, and the military farmers who had finished their hard work for the year were warming themselves by the fire in the warm house while planning how many New Year goods they should go to the sales department (supply and marketing cooperative) to buy, Shandong Province In most other places, mourning is everywhere and the people are in despair. The miserable scene of Liaosheng: the continuous natural disasters during the Little Ice Age and the long-standing disrepair of water conservancy projects have reduced the yield of crops to a miserable level, while the fierce landlord servants and official servants have harvested what little food they have. Take away everything, leaving no way for the farmers to survive.
In fact, the "Liao wages" allocated by the Ming Dynasty for the Liaodong War were not that much in terms of numbers. However, due to the increase of corrupt officials at all levels, they had already expanded to the point where the peasants could not bear it. To the extent that the grain to be collected in the end was actually more than the entire output of the fields! When the New Year's bell is about to ring, those farmers with empty houses and empty stomachs can only bid farewell to their homes with tears in order to still see the sun in the new year instead of starving at home. , braved the cold wind and embarked on a long escape road with an uncertain future.
In the cold weather, these hungry people fleeing famine in groups staggered forward on the road with no end in sight, leaving corpses along the way. They headed aimlessly towards the county seat, prefectural city or any city. ——Even the most ignorant disaster victims vaguely know that only in the city can they have a chance of survival. Otherwise, they will freeze to death even if they do not starve to death. If the local city cannot accommodate them, they will have no choice but to leave their homes and flee to more distant states and counties to try their luck... Countless people are driven by hunger and cold and forced to survive. Refugee flow, just like this in Shandong The various continents in the south are slowly squirming. People are dying every day, and people are joining in every day. Wherever they pass, it is like locusts passing through, everything is eaten up - from bark, grass roots to animals. Not even human corpses were spared.
The wealthy rural households in the villages and towns along the way had already fled after hearing the alarm - they either entered the relatively strong prefectures and provincial cities, or fled to the more distant and stable Jiangnan. After a lot of civil unrest such as the "White Lotus Sect" and "Wenxiang Sect", this place has become very dangerous. Many people with assets have fled to the provincial capital or Jiangnan to "escape".
Villagers in other villages and towns have built village walls and practiced village bravery... Those hands that once held the hoe handle are now holding whistle sticks and wooden guns tightly, and are vigilantly watching the refugees passing by the villages and towns. We, the hungry and red-eyed disaster victims generally have the consciousness of "eating before you die", and the little food accumulated in the villages and towns is not enough to feed their families! On the edge of the line between life and death, anyone's heart will become as cold and hard as steel.
Those landlords and tycoons who had not gone to other places to "escape" also stood on the wall of the village with their servants and long-term workers, holding bows, arrows and swords. The body that was originally dressed in silk and satin was now wrapped in hastily made cotton armor. On the one hand, he must supervise Xiang Yong not to slack off, on the other hand, he must also work hard to show that he "takes the lead" - after all, he is the person with the most wealth in the village. Once the stockade is broken down, those paupers who have been exploited until they have nothing to live on may not suffer much loss. At most, they will just flee with the refugees. But they, the wealthy landowners, let alone their family property, may not even be able to save their wives, children and lives! When life and death are at stake like this, how can you be allowed to be a softie?
In the howling wind and snow, what the village heroes saw were the darkness of the refugees outside, but what they thought of was the various horrific news that came in the past few days: Which village, town, which stockade was eaten up by the refugees, and who Everyone's belongings were robbed, and everyone's family was killed by the refugees - the richest person in the village A big landowner, a fat man over fifty years old turned his head around and looked at the villagers around him who were shrinking their necks and frowning. He could only grit his teeth and stamp his feet and roared: " ... Keep an eye on me! Let’s have a treat in the evening, a box of pork and white vegetables!”
After a moment of silence, there was a chaotic roar of "Thank you, Master!" from the wall of the village.
Then, under such a generous reward, the local heroes also gained a little energy, and they roared one by one as if they were singing:
"...Everyone, hold your swords and guns tightly!"
"...Hold it tight!"
"...The village is secure!"
"...Hold tight!"
……
Scenes like this are repeated almost every day in many villages in Lunan. On weekdays, not to mention giving food to the long-term workers and farmers, even the white flour and pork that the landlords themselves are reluctant to eat, in these days, they have to spend their money and use them as rewards to win people's hearts.
However, these big landlords, while feeling distressed, frightened and worried, were also secretly happy. As the refugees sweep away the land, many fertile fields are being turned into unclaimed land. For some ambitious people, it is a good opportunity to expand their industry - as for the farmers who farm the land, they will not die. After the storm and snow pass, those who have not starved to death will always come back in the next spring. Keep working for the old man.
Of course, the premise is that these big landlords can survive this test and have not been "eaten" by the refugees before and died in the riots.
——At this desperate moment when honest farmers have turned into man-eating monsters, no matter it is a state, county or city, those officials who usually show off their power are usually unwilling to interfere with the actions of the refugees, thereby causing trouble for themselves: as long as the refugees There was no rebellion, no siege of the county seat, even if a few large rural landowners were killed and a few villages were massacred, it would not be considered a big deal. Unless the victim has an unusual background, the government will simply make them consider themselves unlucky. If those big families who stayed in the countryside wanted to save their lives and property, they had no choice but to lead the way.
But even if every big family in the countryside understands this truth, when refugees cross the border every year, many villages will still be attacked - some villages are small and strong, but they cannot withstand the siege of a large number of hungry people, and some are stingy landlords. Excessive exploitation of wealth and goods made it difficult for the villagers to guard the village. Rebellious... When the hungry people swept away the fish, meat, rice, noodles, gold, silver, and soft goods in the stockade, leaving behind a ruin, the surrounding landlords would swoop up like vultures, and happily take the name of the original owner of the stockade. The land was divided up, and a family of Jin gentry disappeared.
In the desperate Central Plains at the end of the Ming Dynasty, such scenes continued to happen year after year. Whether they were landlords, tenants or farmers, they could only struggle between survival and death, constantly suffering in this purgatory, and at the same time devouring them with infinite greed. Looking at each other's corpses to gain some short-term satisfaction... The world seems to have turned into a huge voodoo barrel. No one knows what will crawl out of the barrel in the end...
※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※
The junction of Sulu and Shandong, Haizhou City
Although the vast Central Plains China from Shaanxi and Gansu to Qilu had been exploited by the conscientious officials and gentry of the Ming Dynasty, and thousands of villages and households had no smoke, they benefited from the nearby Huaibei Saltworks. In this cornucopia, the lives of the people in Haizhou seem to be barely tolerable.
Therefore, in the twelfth lunar month of this year, Haizhou City has not yet closed its city gates to prohibit refugees from the north from entering the city. However, just in case, the city has also set up a training camp to guard the young men in Guanxiang and nearby villages. Organized and ready to "suppress" hungry people from causing rebellion. Several human heads were hung at the city gate to serve as a warning to others - always fresh and bloody. Outside the city, there were a few more hastily built sheds, where pots of "gruel" with a musty smell and clearly visible bottoms were cooked. ". Just like this gruel, not all the refugees gathered nearby can eat it. There is a fixed number of "chips" that the government servants give to the hungry people every day. The hungry people who don't get their turn can only starve. I'll starve to death.
However, as hungry people gathered, another prosperous trade also emerged near the porridge shed. People from Xuzhou, Yangzhou and even farther south hid in sedan chairs and mule carts, carefully calculating how much "prey" they could get and how much benefit they would give to their local counterparts. Some people were wandering around the crowd, looking for someone to bribe. Young men and women are the first targets, followed by attractive young women. The people with grass tags were loaded onto mule carts one after another, and then transported one by one to the canal, loaded onto ships, and then transferred to various places for sale along the Grand Canal.
In this abnormally prosperous population trade, even some forces from the most peripheral areas of the Ming Empire quietly participated.
——Amidst the bustling noise, in view of the sharp deterioration of the situation in southern Shandong not long ago, Zhang Yingchen, the special commissioner who had just retreated from Yizhou, Shandong to Haizhou, crossed the Senate and headed north, claiming the Taoist name "Stealing Quanzi" , wearing a Taoist uniform, wrapped in a cotton robe and a short dog-skin jacket, riding a small donkey, followed by two newly adopted Taoist boys, walking through the crowd gathered near the Haizhou City Gate. From time to time he nods to the people around him - in recent days, he has been practicing medicine and helping people here in Haizhou, and has already gained the reputation of "living god". Not only the refugees, but also many of the government servants and village warriors who maintained order around the porridge were treated by him. Even if they did not treat him with respect like a god, they were at least polite to him.
"...Taoist Priest, I have let my child take the medicine you gave me last time, and it really stopped the diarrhea. You are really a living god -" A smiling government servant blocked his way, still holding his hand. A child, "...please check again to see if there are any other problems..."
"...Oh? Since the diarrhea has been stopped, life is not in the way." Zhang Yingchen said with a graceful smile, "...Pindao has something to do now. Come back and show it to your child. You first put this bag in Give him the medicine, it will be somewhat nourishing..."
In the yamen's endless gratitude, Zhang Yingchen walked over graciously. He was almost overwhelmed with such things along the way. Even Dian Shi, who came to inspect the porridge from time to time, and the head of the county brave, saw Zhang Yingchen often had to be polite.
——In fact, when Zhang Yingchen first came to Haizhou City, the officials and gentry here were very wary of him. In ancient Chinese society, after natural disasters, various cults often A great opportunity to carry out propaganda and deceive believers.
Based on the experience accumulated by China's feudal ruling class over thousands of years of history. Those monks and Taoists who appeared after the great disaster were for the purpose of practicing medicine and preaching, so almost seven or eight out of ten had "unruly" intentions. In recent years, in Shandong and Huaibei, there are also It is true that the White Lotus Sect and the Wenxiang Sect are rampant, and all kinds of "religious chaos" continue, which makes the government's vigilance never relax.
——There are many types of Huidao sects in Shandong. The big ones include Wenxiang Sect and Luo Sect. As for the various tribes and Huidao sects, there are even more names. The Wenxiang Sect is very famous and has the greatest power. Xu Hongru, the leader of the White Lotus Sect, is the disciple of Wang Sen, the leader of Wenxiang Sect in Jizhou, Hebei Province. The White Lotus Sect has been operating latently in Shandong for more than 20 years, with more than 2 million followers. Intertwined and powerful. After the failure of the uprising in the second year of Tianqi, the White Lotus Sect suffered a heavy blow in Shandong. However, the strength of the remaining party still existed and they continued to lurk. In the second year of Chongzhen, they besieged Laiyang. In the same year, the remaining party of Bailian, Zhu Bingnan, also attacked the government in Suizhou, Henan. As for Luo Jiao, he was born and raised: the founder was Luo Qing, a native of Shandong. He had strong strength among the canal transport soldiers and had many branches.
For these Shandong rebellious parties, Haizhou, which is rich in salt fields, is located next to Shandong. It is naturally a piece of fat that they covet in their eyes. Just in the past month, there have been several so-called "Taoist priests" or "monks", as well as so-called "divine witches" without any religious attire, who have caused trouble in Haizhou due to their strange behavior. Government note Yiyi, soon disappeared completely under the attack of the government and the gentry - you must know that the Ming government in this time and space has no concept of human rights at all. It is the common practice of the government everywhere to arrest suspicious people and torture them. Convention. What's more, these are extraordinary times. Many people have their heads chopped off or tortured to death in government offices simply because of their suspicious behavior. Some unlucky ones died in dark prisons or in cages at the entrance of government offices.
The reason why Zhang Yingchen, a time-traveling Taoist priest, was able to avoid the above-mentioned misfortune during the severe attack in Haizhou City was firstly due to his formal medical school education and rich medical experience in the 21st century. His medical skills are relatively advanced. Various medicines to carry Secondly, with the help of time-traveling groups, he has a formal official Taoist certificate, plus a name card that he obtained from a certain gentry's family through connections - these two things are protecting him. Plays a big role in safety. Moreover, he was always very careful when treating diseases. He usually only said words such as doing good deeds and accumulating virtue, and never engaged in any "subversive anti-government instigation"... So as time went by, the government and the gentry gradually began to treat him Reassured.
Then, Zhang Yingchen spent the whole day wandering around the "human market" outside the city gate, constantly buying "cute boys", which invisibly provided him with a good cover - which made many people with dirty thoughts The guy suddenly realized that this sanctimonious "stealing spring son" was actually just Just like those nunneries in the late Ming Dynasty that were actually "role-playing brothels", they were just human traffickers wearing the appearance of wandering Taoist priests, but they were actually willing to treat illnesses and save people, and seemed to have some compassion and conscience... In this kind of morality In these troubled times, it is really rare.
——As a time traveler who seems to be born to change the world, the reason why Zhang Yingchen behaved so low-key in Yizhou and Haizhou is because the job assigned to him by the Senate was not to start a cult in Shandong and incite the people. Changes and "religious chaos", and even population collection are just optional side tasks. His real goal in going north this time was to collect intelligence.
First of all, one of Zhang Yingchen’s main purposes for going deep into the North was to examine the activities and instigation capabilities of local organizations such as the White Lotus Sect, the Luo Sect, and the Wenxiang Sect. It now appears that these traditional anti-government organizations of the Ming Dynasty did have some activities, but even though the local government has no He was powerless to provide disaster relief, but he paid great attention to it - after all, it had been less than ten years since the White Lotus Rebellion that swept through Shandong during the Tianqi Years. The vitality of the sect organization had not yet been restored, and local vigilance was still there. It was necessary to use religion to It is not that easy to incite the people by means.
Generally speaking, Shandong will probably not be in chaos until the Jin army breaks through the border and penetrates deep into Shandong, or the Shanxi peasant army attacks across the Central Plains.
Secondly, it is natural to examine Dengzhou Town at the tip of the Shandong Peninsula. How much strength does this local group with obvious traces of time travelers have in Shandong? How many time travelers are there in the group? How much loyalty is there to the Ming Dynasty? What is the attitude of our own forces so that the Senate can have more information when formulating the next response strategy? More factual basis - this is the real core of Zhang Yingchen's work going north this time. He previously carried out intelligence collection work in the Linyi area further north. However, as the situation in southern Shandong becomes increasingly dilapidated, if Zhang Yingchen continues to stay in Yizhou , perhaps in danger of being besieged by refugees and being destroyed, so they retreated south to the relatively safer Haizhou City.
Then, Zhang Yingchen, who was leisurely staying at the Haizhou Intelligence Station, was attracted by the increasingly prosperous population trade outside the gate of Haizhou City. He continued to acquire boys and girls in the past few days, preparing to transport them back to Hainan Island through liaison ships. It is a supplement to some extent for the Chuan people who have long been hungry for labor. At the same time, it is also conducive to the diversity of the population under the Senate. It's a pity that the funds on hand are really limited. For example, today he met a few young people who were inserting bids for sale near the city gate. They were handsome and attracted Zhang Yingchen at first sight, but he had already collected ten of them. The remaining people would spend a lot of money on food and drink every day, and the price of food in Haizhou was still rising, so they really didn't dare to take in any more boys.
"...Sigh, when will the owner of the Deer Village send the money, otherwise all the good population resources will be taken away by these people." Zhang Yingchen sighed in a low mood, thinking secretly in his heart, riding a horse He took the donkey back to a Taoist temple in Chengguanxiang.
This place is said to be a Taoist temple, but in fact there are no serious Taoist priests. There is only a Taoist who lives in the fire (he can't help but marry and have children) living there, barely making ends meet. Zhang Yingchen only spent a few small sums of money to rent a Taoist house as his temporary base of activities in Haizhou City. As for the real Haizhou intelligence station organized by the Senate, it is set up outside Haizhou City - on the Huaguo Mountain where Sun Wukong and Monkey were hatched in "Journey to the West"!
At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Huaguo Mountain (the original official name was Yuntai Mountain or Cangwu Mountain) in Haizhou (later Lianyungang) had not gradually become connected to the land to the west due to sedimentation and expansion of the coastline like in modern times. , but still as described in "Journey to the West", it is an island standing in the sea, separated from Haizhou by a vast ocean. The terrain on the island is rugged, with many mountains and little flat land. Even the little flat land is mostly dominated by saline-alkali land and sandy land, which cannot be cultivated. Therefore, except for a few fishermen and one or two extremely dilapidated Taoist temples, there is almost no human habitation. Although this once unknown Huaguo Mountain has become somewhat famous in society due to the wide spread of "Journey to the West", the tourism industry in the Ming Dynasty cannot be compared with modern times, and it is even less suitable for the troubled times of the late Ming Dynasty. Traveling around the mountains and rivers, so Huaguo Mountain during the Chongzhen period was still desolate.
However, for the Hainan Island Lingao Senate, which uses the fleet as a mobile force, this island is an excellent base for advancement. First of all, it is relatively remote and unattractive. Secondly, in wartime, as long as a small number of naval ships and a small number of troops are used as the backbone, the security of the entire island can be ensured. Warning posts can be set up on the island's towering cliffs. Although the island itself is not rich in natural resources, fresh water, which is most critical for the navy, is quite abundant - Huaguo Mountain is full of gurgling streams and springs, as described in "Journey to the West" The "Water Curtain Cave" is not made up.
Therefore, Lu Wenyuan, who was ordered to go north to set up an intelligence station, built a manor on the island of Huaguo Mountain, called "Monkey King Village", which served as the tentacles of the Senate to advance into the north. In the early stage, it was used to collect information from the Sulu area. Information, mainly small-scale sales of goods and opening up contacts. When the time is right, it can be transformed into a relay station for the Senate to launch its offensive on the northern continent, similar to Hong Kong Island and Zhoushan during the Opium War.
However, although the manor on Huaguo Mountain is safe and concealed, easy to defend and difficult to attack, it is still a certain distance from Haizhou City, making it difficult to obtain first-hand dynamic information more effectively. So after Zhang Yingchen withdrew from Yizhou, he stayed at the Monkey King Village in Huaguo Mountain for a few days. He felt that he couldn't stay idle anymore, so he came to Haizhou City to find a temporary residence... In order to be thrifty, he settled in Dao It looked dilapidated and dilapidated. The first dilapidated house that they entered used to be inhabited by beggars, but now it was filled with boys and girls who Zhang Yingchen had purchased recently, and they were all so hungry that they were out of shape. Zhang Yingchen went in through the passage, and when he got to the back, he saw the Huoju Taoist and his wife chopping firewood. He gave a cursory hello to the landlord and went to the small yard where he lived.
At the gate of the courtyard, a Taoist boy heard the sound and immediately came over to greet him. But to Zhang Yingchen's surprise, he also saw the figure of the owner of the village, Lu Wenyuan, in the room.
"...Rare visitor, rare visitor! Lord of Luzhuang, if you don't serve as your Monkey King in Huaguo Mountain and play with your big girls from Shandong, why do you have the time to come to this broken Taoist temple in Pindao?" Zhang Yingchen While hurriedly greeting the Taoist boy to serve tea and serve the guests, he did not forget to say a few insulting words to him.
"...What's the matter? Of course it's a financial disaster! For the sake of the increasing number of refugees, Mr. Futai convened a meeting of the local gentry. He first cried out for poverty as usual, and then ordered everyone to 'donate enthusiastically'. Even I, a foreigner on the island, Everyone was forced to pay fifty taels of silver!”
The owner of the Deer Village took the tea bowl and said angrily, "...just now I went to the porridge place and saw that the porridge pot was so thin that people could be seen in the porridge pot, and there was also an unknown amount of mud, sand and grass mixed in. Ye, even the rice and wheat that were put in smelled like mold. Wei...tsk, if only five taels of the fifty taels of silver I donated to the Yamen were used to provide relief to the victims, I would be thankful! This doesn’t even count the relief silver they got from the court!”
——Since ancient times, relief after natural disasters will always turn into a feast for those in power at the grassroots level. This has become an open secret, and even the emperor has nothing to do about it. He knows that if the relief money and food are allocated, he will be exploited at all levels, and the victims will be exploited at all levels. Even if you don’t save even one out of ten, you still have to continue to allocate money, otherwise natural disasters will trigger civil unrest. In many cases, no matter how much money and food is allocated, it will still trigger civil unrest. An important difference between the so-called prosperous times and the apocalypse is that in the prosperous times, even if disaster relief supplies are withheld at all levels, the victims can still get some in the end. At the end of the day, the bureaucracy completely swallowed up all the funds and materials, squeezing the people to the point where they could no longer survive, and finally provoked a civil uprising and made the emperor hang himself.
"...This is the decline of administrative capabilities!" Zhang Yingchen commented, "...When a feudal dynasty was in its prime, the institutions could generally maintain normal operation, and the degree of corruption among officials had not affected the administrative execution capabilities. But now In the late dynasty, as corruption became more and more serious, the administrative system In the final stage, the entire country will enter a state of anarchy. Not to mention the victims, even the army will have to live by robbing families, even if the enemy soldiers surround the city and hold their swords to their necks. Civil servants still do not forget corruption and embezzlement..."
——Anyone who has read the story of Li Zicheng probably knows the cruel story of the "Fu Lu Banquet" in the late Ming Dynasty: At that time, Li Zicheng gathered a peasant army to besiege Luoyang, trying to seize the countless gold, silver, grain and rice hoarded by Prince Fu's Mansion in Luoyang City. Although Luoyang's city walls and fortresses were very strong, the defenders had already owed half a year's military pay before the war. Naturally, they complained against the Luoyang government and Prince Fu Zhu Changxun behind him, saying angrily: "The Luoyang palace is rich in the palace, and Shenzong consumes the world. It is so unfair to use our wealth to enrich the king, but let us go to war on an empty stomach and die at the hands of thieves!" The morale of the army was extremely unstable for a while.
Faced with this situation, just as the courtiers of the Ming Dynasty wanted the emperor to allocate their internal funds when they were short of money, the civil and military officials of Luoyang also spent their own money, hoping that King Fu would be loyal to the emperor, patriotic, and generous - First, the Luoyang magistrate and the commander-in-chief went to Prince Fu's Mansion to solicit donations. After no success, they invited Lu Weiqi, the former Minister of War who was living in seclusion in Luoyang, to visit Prince Fu's Mansion many times to persuade Zhu Changxun to open the palace treasury to help the hungry people and reward the soldiers. Unfortunately, it is said that King Fu was as greedy for money as life and did not listen at all. In the end, the defenders turned against each other out of resentment. After fighting for only one day, they rebelled and surrendered to Li Zicheng. Luoyang fell.
After Li Zicheng conquered Luoyang, he captured Prince Fu who failed to escape. He ordered his men to tie up the fat prince weighing 300 kilograms, strip him naked and wash him. He also got some sika deer from the garden of Prince Fu's mansion and slaughtered them. Zhu Changxun, the king of Fu, was thrown into a big cauldron together and cooked into minced meat, which was called "Fu Lu Banquet" for the soldiers to share. From then on, Fu Wang Zhu Changxun became the laughing stock of the literati, as if the fall of Luoyang was all his fault. .
But the actual situation was not like this at that time. On the eve of the Battle of Luoyang, although King Fu was indeed reluctant to pay at first, he finally donated 30,000 taels of silver under the repeated persuasion of Lu Weiqi, the former Minister of War. Coupled with the donations from other gentry in Luoyang City, we finally collected 50,000 taels of silver and 1,000 stones of grain and rice. When this batch of money and food was delivered, the officers and soldiers defending the city in Luoyang immediately burst into cheers and their morale was greatly boosted.
But the problem is that even at such a time when the soldiers were in danger and the war was fierce, the civil and military forces in Luoyang still did not forget to squander the money and food, and even deducted it even more fiercely than usual - 50,000 taels of silver had just been obtained, Luoyang branch patrol Wang Yinchang So he kept 10,000 taels, and Wang Shaoyu also withheld 10,000 taels. Feng Da, the prefect of Luoyang, The man swallowed 8,000 taels, and Lord Luoyang Tui Guanwei took 3,000 taels... He discounted it by 70% and distributed it to the more than 4,000 officers and soldiers guarding the city. Only 50,000 taels of silver were left in the account. After eight thousand taels, several petty officers conspired to steal another five thousand taels. In the end, each officer and soldier received only a few coins!
However, all the officers and soldiers had already known that the government had raised fifty thousand taels of silver, and they were all eagerly waiting for this unprecedented reward. At this time, I saw that even though it was the critical moment when the bandits were approaching the city, the superiors were still treating me so harshly. Therefore, under the huge gap, everyone was naturally angry and cursed, full of resentment. Then, due to the uneven distribution of silver among the various battalions, internal strife broke out on the city wall over the money, and even people were killed with knives. Li Zicheng took the opportunity to launch a fierce attack, and the defenders naturally surrendered and fled...
——Perhaps, the reason why Zhu Changxun, the lucky king, refused to pay at the beginning was because he knew that with the death-seeking nature of these faint-hearted officials in Luoyang, no matter how much money they were given, even if the knife was put to their necks, they would still be in trouble. They will only use it to line their own pockets, but they still won’t spend it on war!
However, during the Chongzhen period, the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty were indeed filled with countless masters of committing suicide, but the wealthy gentry below were also very good at committing suicide in various ways. For example, when rogue bandits were rampant in Henan, a certain county town was about to be besieged by the peasant army. A certain gentry in the city got wind of the news in advance and hoarded a lot of grain in the city. He planned to raise the price after the siege began and sell the grain at sky-high prices. Make a fortune... Unexpectedly, after the siege of the city began, the grain warehouse was sealed off by an official document from the county magistrate, and all his stored grain was transported to the Yamen.
After hearing the news, the Jin gentry was so angry that he took advantage of the peasant army to attack the city and the county magistrate was forced to bring all the soldiers to the city to deal with the war. He brazenly mobilized his servants to set fire to the county government office in an attempt to regain the grain. But at that time, the defenders were already under the strong attack of the peasant army. They were overwhelmed and crumbling. As soon as they saw the fire behind them, their morale immediately collapsed and the army collapsed... As a result, it took less than an hour for the Jin gentry to regain the food from the Yamen. , the county town fell into the hands of the peasant army. His whole family was killed by the peasant army, and the food was naturally accepted by the bandit leader...
It can be seen from this that how miserable the situation of Emperor Chongzhen must have been in the face of such a group of courtiers and gentry who were keen on seeking death from top to bottom. Even if he wants to change this situation, the courtiers may not cooperate - don't think that those civil servants with no bottom line will only commit suicide and will not kill the king!
Generally speaking, during the Chongzhen period, the ruling class of the Ming Empire, from the top cabinet ministers to the rural gentry, were mostly top-notch enthusiasts of the death-seeking movement, and they had mastered the art of seeking death. He has mastered tricks and has been playing to incredible and crazy extraordinary levels - otherwise, such a huge super empire with rich resources and prosperous industry and commerce would not have such a tragic fate.
Of course, this is the misfortune of the Ming Dynasty and the catastrophe of the Chinese people, but it is also an opportunity in the eyes of careerists of all walks of life - unfortunately, in this time and space that has been pierced by travelers from all walks of life, they are trying to compete for the legacy of the Ming Dynasty. There seem to be too many competitors...
"...Old deer! As for the intelligence on Dengzhou Town that I have collected sporadically in the past few months, I have preliminary sorted it out in the past two days and have written a summary. For the time being, only Dengzhou can be identified as a time-traveler there. It is very possible that Chen Xin, the commander-in-chief of Zhou Town, and Liu Minyou, his civil affairs supervisor, also traveled through time. As for whether there are other time-travelers in Dengzhou Town, there is really no way to find out. .
The sphere of influence of Dengzhou Town currently covers the tip of the Shandong Peninsula. Almost the entire Ninghai Prefecture is managed by Chen Xin as a private kingdom, and there are many sporadic enclaves scattered in Dengzhou and Qingzhou. In Wendeng County and Weihai, where Dengzhou Town is the most powerful, the local people only know that they belong to a certain camp in Dengzhou Town, and no longer care about the state or county government... Although the standing establishment of the Dengzhou Army is included There should be no more than 10,000 miscellaneous people, but the population completely controlled by Dengzhou Town is estimated to have reached more than 150,000, and is continuing to expand at a snowball speed.
In terms of equipment and tactics, although the Dengzhou Army was far superior to most Ming armies of this era, the weapons such as spears, muskets, and artillery used, as well as the methods of using these weapons, still did not surpass those in Europe for thirty years. The level of the Spanish Grand Square during the war. It looks similar to the 'fire-fighting battalion' that Huang Shi trained on Changsheng Island in Liaodong, but the number of artillery seems to be more sufficient. In my opinion, the real strength of the force in Dengzhou Town lies in its logistics mobilization system - it is a system similar to the Red Army base area during the Agrarian Revolutionary War in our country, which can ensure the basic life of the bottom population while ensuring , to squeeze out the war potential of a place to the greatest extent..."
While Zhang Yingchen was talking nonchalantly, he pulled out a few densely written pieces of white paper from a box and handed it to Lu Wenyuan, "...I ask you to bring this report back to Hainan Island next time by the liaison ship. Go! Having said that, you must have remembered what I told you last time, asking you to bring some money! Hand, I missed a lot of good seeds..."
"...I still have some money with me, but I'm afraid you don't have time to buy more people. You should hand this report to the Lingao headquarters yourself!" Lu Wenyuan shook his head and did not take it from Zhang Yingchen. The report paper handed over, "...according to the emergency instructions of the Senate, all senators in enemy-occupied areas We all need to withdraw to Lingao as soon as possible. The "Beginning of Spring" has secretly arrived in the waters near Huaguo Mountain. You quickly pack your luggage. While the city gate is still closed, we will try our best to take the people you bought back to Huaguo today. Mountain, and then take the "Lichun" early tomorrow morning to weigh anchor and head south! ”
"...What?" Zhang Yingchen's eyes widened in disbelief, "...Why did the Senate issue such an order?"
"...Of course it's because something big happened in our rear - the diplomatic fleets of the Australians, Chinese Americans, and East Coast countries are all crowded in Batavia, scaring the Dutch half to death, and they will soon be together. I'm here to visit you! Until the Senate straightens out the relationship with these fellow 'travelers' and works out a cooperation plan, at least a way of peaceful coexistence, we can only let things go in the north. ”
Lu Wenyuan sighed and said, "... Huangshi's previous plan to go to Liaodong to find people has also been urgently stopped. The Beginning of Spring went north this time as a single ship, specifically to pick us up, otherwise it might We can’t make it in time for the conference in Lingao...so we move faster.”
"...I actually have nothing to deal with here. I can just leave those worthless and cumbersome things to the landlord. I just need to bring those people in the outer courtyard with me..." Zhang Yingchen first looked around the temporary rental house. The dilapidated yard, and then said with a slight hesitation, "...but a Lichun ship only carries so many dozen people, and your village doesn't seem to have much cargo...Isn't it a bit too wasteful?"
< br>
"...It doesn't matter. In recent days, some Jiaozhou refugees happened to float to Huaguo Mountain in a few broken boats. They were cold, hungry, and half-dead. After being rescued from the sea by my people in Zhuangzi, those refugees expressed their willingness to sell themselves. , they have all been shaved and purified now..."
Lu Wenyuan replied casually, "... plus the dozen or so people on your side, we can almost make up a boat..."
"...Jiaozhou?" Zhang Yingchen frowned upon hearing this, "...I heard that a battle just broke out over there. Are these people fleeing rebels?"
"...Who knows? But even if it is, what does it matter? Have we recruited too few bandits and pirates over the years?"
Lu Wenyuan curled his lips disapprovingly, "...Anyway, as long as we get people to Lingao, there are many ways to make them obedient and work..."
※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※
Outside Haizhou City, there is the private port of "Monkey King Village" in Huaguoshan, and the steam-sail hybrid warship/armed merchant ship "Lichun" under the jurisdiction of the Lingao Senate of Hainan Island
In a dark cabin that undulated slightly with the waves, the salt lord Li Meng, who was reported in the Ming Dynasty palace newspaper as "bewitching the traitors and causing trouble in Jiaozhou", finally woke up in a daze, although he felt a few scars on his body and some vague pain. , but my life can be saved at least.
It’s just a pity for those good brothers who died in the battle! He sighed and wanted to reach out to comb his hair, but he only touched his bare scalp.
"...Brother Li, you're awake. Come on, have a drink of water! Eat a few more bites and I'll bring you your breakfast..."
A familiar voice rang in his ears. Li Meng struggled to sit up from the straw pile and saw his best friend Zhao Neng, who had also shaved his head and was wearing a blue cloth, smiling honestly. , while handing himself a bamboo tube and a piece of dark multi-grain pancake, he was still babbling. He muttered, "...Speaking of which, the employer we invested in this time was quite generous. He actually provided us with three meals a day! He even gave us new clothes! But why did he have to shave off all our hair? That's right. Just because the eldest master is a monk, you don’t want us all to be novice monks, right?”
"...Hey, people don't dare to bow their heads when we are under the eaves. Even our lives now belong to others, so what about our hair? Just be a novice novice! Just take care of our food, clothing, and shaving. What’s the point of having a bald head? Remember that Zhu Yuanzhang was also a monk, didn’t he? Although he said this, Li Meng's thoughts in his heart were far less calm than what he just said - recalling the iron chimney and drifting soot he had seen on the ship before, as well as the roar of the turbine he heard, Li Meng Meng's heart had already been alarmed, and he was shocked!
Everything I have seen and heard above is clearly not something that should have appeared in the late Ming Dynasty! What the hell is going on? ! What world have I come to? ! ! Li Meng fell into silent thinking while chewing multigrain cakes...