I

  Chapter 118 116【Farming and eating】

   "Fu Shuai, demolish the house." Li Zongxue persuaded.

  Xie Xuelong's face was full of distress: "The rebels didn't demolish the house, but the governor actually demolished the house. What kind of official am I?"

  Generally speaking, the city defenders will take the initiative to demolish the houses outside the city, and even burn the woods near the city wall. This is to make it more difficult for the siege party to obtain materials for making siege equipment, and it also makes it more difficult for the siege party to set up ambushes.

   But Zhao Han defended the city, but he didn't demolish the house, so he wanted to leave it to Xie Xuelong!

   Ji'an has not had a war for many years, and even at the base of the city wall, there are many illegally built dwellings.

   If Xie Xuelong wants to attack the city, he must demolish these houses. Otherwise, if Zhao Han threw the torches down, it would burn a large area, and the offensive and defensive battle would inevitably turn into a barbecue meeting.

  And after the house is demolished, the wood can be used to make siege equipment.

  But does Xie Xuelong really dare to demolish residential houses?

Li Zongxue said: "Fu Shuai, the magistrate and county magistrate are dead. They died for the city and the country. The Fucheng fell and the court questioned the crime. , must blame Fu Shuai for all the faults. If you don’t recover Fucheng quickly, dismissal from office and imprisonment will be light!”

   There are several staff members of the governor, but now they have all run away, leaving only one Li Zongxue.

  Including Zuo Xiaocheng who defected a few days ago, when he learned that Fucheng had fallen, he immediately disappeared without a trace.

   "Wait a little longer, wait a little longer." Xie Xuelong was in a dilemma, he really didn't dare to demolish the houses.

  Inside and outside the city, they fell into a state of confrontation.

  When Zhao Han was defending the city, he still had time to train recruits in rotation. Every morning and afternoon, 500 soldiers were dispatched for drills.

   On Xie Xuelong's side, if it weren't for the Bailuzhou, surrounded by the Ganjiang River, it is estimated that Xiangyong has already run away.

  This time is a decisive battle, not an encounter.

   There is no rush for a decisive battle, and both sides are preparing patiently.

  Zhao Han is busy training recruits, and Xie Xuelong is also training soldiers. The governor, while sending people to the neighboring state capital to collect food, also asked the gentry to recruit local bravery, because it was impossible for him to break through the city with the little soldiers in his hand.

   Another two days passed in a blink of an eye.

  Hundreds of township braves who had just been recruited mutinied before reaching the river, knocked the officer unconscious in the middle of the night and ran away.

   Immediately afterwards, two of Xie Xuelong's warships also ran away, and Xiangyong from Bailuzhou began to jump into the river to escape. They knew that there was no hope of attacking the city, and they were unwilling to follow the governor to die, so they reduced their staff by one-eighth in two or three days.

  Faced with such a predicament, Xie Xuelong was able to hold his breath and dispatched his henchmen to prevent the soldiers from fleeing. At the same time, additional meals were given to the soldiers, and soldiers who performed well were rewarded.

  Deserters still exist, but the momentum is finally contained.

  Xie Xuelong still had fantasies at this time, he had a good relationship with Zuo Buzheng He Yingrui. It was He Yingrui who was able to successfully recruit troops to Ruijin before, and hoped that this time, he would also be able to increase his troops and food.

  However, as soon as he wrote the letter and sent it out, he suddenly received a secret letter from He Yingrui.

  There are only ten words in the letter: castration, slander, slander, hope you can do it yourself.

  Xie Xuelong put down the secret letter, his face was ashen, everything was over.

   This letter clearly stated that the **** was going to file a lawsuit, so that Xie Xuelong could prepare early. The subtext is, you are dead this time, and I can't help you.

  During the reign of Chongzhen, the emperor kept urging taxes, but Jiangxi Province was the only province that dared to defy the emperor's order to impose taxes every year.

  What is pressure levy?

  It means that there are various disasters in the local area, and this year's tax will be suppressed to be collected next year.

  Shaanxi and Shanxi are making such a mess, the chief envoys dare not impose levy every year, but the wealthy Jiangxi dare!

  As Jiangxi Zuo Buzheng, He Yingrui has been criticized several times by Chongzhen Dianping. It's not how courageous he is, or how greedy he is, but that Jiangxi's taxes are not collected at all.

  The land is occupied by the gentry, and there are very few small landlords and self-cultivating farmers. How can the government collect land taxes?

   Only this family, no other semicolons, Jiangxi at the end of the Ming Dynasty, there was no year when all taxes were collected.

  Until now, Chongzhen thought that Jiangxi had been plagued by disasters year after year...

  He Yingrui couldn't add troops to Xie Xuelong, he had to dig out every penny of money and food and obediently send it to the emperor. As much as you can send, anyway, if the payment is not complete, Emperor Chongzhen has long been used to it.

   "Oh, let's withdraw our troops." Li Zongxue said.

  Xie Xuelong said with a bitter face: "The rebels are in Fucheng, how can I withdraw my troops? Once I withdraw my troops, I'm afraid I will be executed!"

   Li Zongxue asked back: "Just look at it like this?"

   "It can only be like this," Xie Xuelong sighed, "Even if there is only one soldier left, he must stay in Bailuzhou. If he leaves, he will flee for abandoning the city."

  Zhao Han did nothing but defend the city, Xie Xuelong was at the end of his rope.

  Who asked him to send troops to suppress the thieves?

  If Xie Xuelong didn't do business and stayed in Nanchang honestly, he wouldn't have to bear the blame for the fall of Ji'an.

   Do more and make more mistakes, do less and make fewer mistakes, it’s good not to do.

  Whoever does something is unlucky!

  Standing on the shore of Bailuzhou, Xie Xuelong looked at the opposite Fucheng, his whole heart was ashamed.

  He couldn't attack, and he couldn't walk, so he could only watch stupidly.

  In Jiangxi, no one is willing to help him. He is fighting against the rebels alone.

   The rebel Zhao Han was supposed to be encircled and suppressed, but the world is strange, but it seems that the governor was encircled and suppressed, and Xie Xuelong was already overwhelmed.

   Li Zongxue came to Xie Xuelong's side: "Fu Shuai, we can't procrastinate any longer. Even if we are sure to lose, we must find an opportunity to attack the city, otherwise our Xiangyong will run away quietly by himself."

   "Mu Zong, what do you think happened to Ming Dynasty?" Xie Xuelong looked up at the sky.

   Li Zongxue was silent.

Xie Xuelong pointed to the south of the city wharf: "Because the rebels stopped looting, the gentry and merchants outside the city are doing nothing. Instead of helping me suppress the thieves, they blamed me for instigating the war. After all, the old man is a thief. Or is it that Zhao Yan who took the capital city is a thief?"

   Li Zongxue said: "They actually know it in their hearts, they are just waiting and watching."

   "Wait and see?" Xie Xuelong sneered.

"Yeah, they are watching," Li Zongxue said. "The Zhao bandits are powerful now, and they can go out of the city to kill people at any time. They are precarious, so they naturally complain that the commander-in-chief is troublesome. If the soldiers in the commander-in-chief's hands are not just a few thousand mobs, but The elite of the Wan court. Then if Fu Shuai is powerful and Fu Shuai holds the power of life and death, they will help Fu Shuai kill the thief."

  Xie Xuelong shook his head and smiled wryly, and said in a waned way: "Mu Zong, you still see it clearly, the human heart is like this. The court is like this, and the place is like this."

  Li Zongxue said in a low voice: "It's also because the imperial court has lost its majesty. Jiangxi is so big that it can't even gather hundreds of soldiers. Otherwise, how can we allow that little rebel to make a fuss?"

  Xie Xuelong suddenly pressed down on the hilt of his sword, and said seriously: "Mu Zong, if I die, you go and surrender to the thief."

   "Why did Fushuai say that?" Li Zongxue didn't understand.

Xie Xuelong said: "Daming is hopeless. I eat the king's salary, and I can only repay the king with my death. But the thieves in the northwest and the Tartars in the northeast have no ability to recreate the universe. Rebels everywhere are also short-sighted. Only the traitor Zhao in front of me, after occupying the capital, can restrain his subordinates and keep the prosperity outside the city of Ji'an. If the Great Ming Dynasty is overthrown, the one who will make it happen must be this person!"

  Li Zongxue shook his head again and again: "How can I be a thief?"

   "It's up to you," Xie Xuelong didn't bother to talk about it any more, he just said, "Tomorrow, the houses outside the city will be demolished, and the building of siege equipment will be stepped up. The city must be forcibly attacked within ten days."

  Xie Xuelong already has the will to die. He is not attacking the city, but hitting the city wall to die!

  The tax is collected every year, and the tax is not paid according to the amount. Jiangxi is the only one in the country.

  The governor cannot openly open the government and build teeth, and cannot legally recruit pacesetters. Jiangxi is the only one in the country.

  How could Xie Xuelong be so aggrieved if he were to be the governor of another province? He can train at least 2,000 governor pacesetters, the kind with a formal army establishment, and the local government must honestly give money and food!

  The next day, Xie Xuelong sent his brave men to demolish the houses outside the city on a large scale.

  The gentry and the people were shocked and angry. When the rebels came, they had houses to live in. The governor actually demolished their houses?

   "Bold and corrupt officials, dare to harass my people!"

  Zhao Han stood on the tower and shouted angrily: "Ruhe, quickly lead the troops out of the city to protect the houses and property of the people!"

"okay!"

   Fei Ruhe was overjoyed, and immediately led five hundred soldiers out of the city to attack the officers and soldiers who demolished the houses.

  The officers and soldiers turned and ran away in fright, Fei Ruhe chased after him.

  Zhao Han ordered again: "Dashan, get out of the city and help the people repair their houses!"

  Jiang Dashan set off cheerfully, actually took soldiers and some carpenters with him, and ran to help the people repair their houses.

   "Master Qingtian!"

   Countless people at the bottom knelt and shouted in unison, and kowtowed to Zhao Han on the tower.

  Seeing this, Xiao Huan couldn't laugh or cry.

   After all, who is the official and who is the thief?

  Ouyang Zheng is also in the city, and he is no longer tied up. Of course, he is not a thief either. The guy was dumbfounded, and then he turned towards Bailuzhou and cursed: "Jie Zei, you are in vain as an official of the imperial court, and you are not as good as a rebel!"

  Xie Xuelong was also furious, feeling like a clown.

   "Follow me ashore to kill the thief!"

  Zhao Han sent a thousand soldiers out of the city one after another, Xie Xuelong immediately seized the opportunity, he was afraid that Zhao Han would not come out after hiding in the city.

   "Blow the horn!"

  Zhao Han ordered the trumpeter to sound the rallying horn with suona.

  He himself led more than a thousand soldiers to guard the city, and the rest were all released from the city to fight a decisive battle with the officers and soldiers.

  Xie Xuelong was afraid that Zhao Han was hiding in the city, and Zhao Han was also afraid that Xie Xuelong was hiding in Bailuzhou.

  The two sides seem to have reached a tacit agreement, and collectively gathered troops towards the north of the city, unwilling to start a war in the prosperous place in the south of the city.

  Xie Xuelong's strength... Uh, it's hard to calculate.

  Because the boat came from Bailuzhou, another boat ran away in a short distance in the blink of an eye.

  Especially the recruited civilian husbands, seeing that a war was really going to happen, regardless of the cold water in the river, jumped into the river to escape.

   There are still many Chinese military officials who do not want to go ashore with the governor, and hide in Bailuzhou Academy and refuse to show their faces.

   Both sides array.

  The rebel army consisted of 3,000 people, led by Fei Ruhe.

   There are nearly three thousand officers and soldiers, led by Xie Xuelong.

  Both sides have no long-range troops, and they fight purely with infantry, and both adopt a simplified version of the mandarin duck formation.

The battle is about to begin, and the missionary officers mixed in the army are constantly doing pre-war mobilization: "Kill the dog officer, everyone will have land to plow, everyone will have clothes to wear, and everyone will have food to eat. If we lose, our fields will be destroyed." They are about to be snatched away by the government! Brother recruits, if you win this battle, Mr. Zhao will take everyone to divide the land!"

  Xie Xuelong also shouted: "Boys, be loyal to the king and serve the country, defend the hometown, and follow me to kill these rebels!"

   "Boom boom boom boom boom!"

  The drums of war are beating, and the soldiers are slowly advancing.

  The Chinese troops on both sides did not move, and sent three outposts to fight, and the left and right outposts advanced to stand by.

   What's more nonsense is that neither side dared to go too fast. Once they accelerated, the formation would be chaotic, full of **** mobs.

   Before the battle, each soldier fled.

  Xie Xuelong immediately dispatched a supervising team to kill Xiangyong who fled.

   On the side of the rebel army, the law enforcement team stopped them with sticks, and the missionary group yelled frantically: "Old cousin, if you escape, you will have no farmland, and if you escape, you will have a hard life! We need to farm for food!"

  The mission officers kept shouting, chasing after the deserters.

   Shouting and yelling, the fleeing soldiers returned one after another, yelling and charging again: "Farm and eat! Farm and eat!"

   "Farm and eat!"

   "Farm and eat!"

  The rebel army chanted collectively, as if possessed by a god, rushing forward completely regardless of life and death.

   Except for the 800 veterans in Wuxing Town, the formation of the other recruits was all chaotic. No matter what weapon you hold in your hand, you just charge forward anyway, and you have already forgotten the skills you mastered during training.

  Wu Yong, who was a soldier in the guard, has been found out, but Zhao Han did not expel him.

  Because of his many meritorious services, Wu Yong has already been promoted to the rank of superintendent at this moment.

  The old lady in the family can let the brother take care of it first. He wants to follow Mr. Zhao to the countryside to divide the land. If he meets a widow, he might be able to find a wife.

  Wu Yong dreamed of owning his own land, and dreamed of getting a wife.

   "Farm to eat, farm to eat!"

  Wu Yong charged forward with his gun in hand. He forgot to command his ten-man team, and his team members would not listen to the commander's command.

  Anyway, it’s over by rushing!

  Wu Yong even rushed out of the army formation, ran to the front of the wolf soldiers, desperately broke into the enemy formation, and only repeatedly shouted: "Farm and eat, farm and eat!"

  The battle was quickly won and lost. The rebel army was not afraid of death, but Xiangyong was hesitant to die.

  Most of these village braves are from good families. They have fields in their families and don’t worry about food and clothing.

  Xie Xuelong's supervisory team couldn't stop him, so the governor could only lead the formation in person, leading the Chinese soldiers to charge: "Kill the thieves and serve the country, defend the homeland!"

   "Farm and eat!"

   "Farm and eat!"

  The rebel army shouted even louder, and even the veterans lost their minds and gradually lost their proper formation.

   Of course, there is no need to maintain formation anymore.

   "Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo~~~~~~"

   "Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo~~~~~~"

  The sound of suona resounded on the battlefield, and the rebel army became completely fanatical, and even Fei Ruhe's Chinese army also charged.

  Xie Xuelong's Xiangyong has collapsed across the board.

  Xie Xuelong originally wanted to lead the Chinese army to hold down the ground, but at this moment he was scattered by the rout. His eyes were red, he suddenly drew his sword across his neck, turned to look at the north and said to himself: "Your Majesty, a minister is not responsible for the king, can the king be responsible for the minister?"

  Xie Xuelong, who was supposed to jump into the river in Nanjing to die for his country, killed himself outside Ji'an more than ten years in advance.

   Learning that Xie Xuelong was defeated and committed suicide, Li Zongxue, an aide far away in Bailuzhou, also resolutely jumped into the Ganjiang River to commit suicide. He did not die for the country, but followed his benefactor, and the court had no affection for him.

  (end of this chapter)