I

  Chapter 176 174 [Old Zhangren]

   "Headquarters, there is someone who calls himself Qianshan Zhao Han and asks to see him."

"Ok?"

  Zhao Han raised his head with a strange expression, and then smiled again: "Please come in."

  Fei Yu works outside. He is one of the three secretaries. Not long after, seeing Fei Yinghuan and Wei Jianxiong being brought in, he almost cried out in surprise, but immediately buried himself in the official documents.

  Fei Ying didn't look sideways, was led into the house, and said with cupped hands: "Qianshan Zhao Han, meet Zhao Zongzhen!"

  The father-in-law came, Zhao Han was a little surprised, and quickly got up and said, "Uncle, please sit down."

  Wei Jianxiong retreated outside the house and closed the door to prevent anyone from eavesdropping.

   "Brother Han has done a great job." Fei Yinghuan teased with a smile, seeming to be sarcastic, but also seemed to be complaining, with a bit of admiration.

  Zhao Han had a thick skin, and said, "Master Taishan has praised you absurdly."

   "I've seen some of your policies, so I won't ask any more," Fei Yinghuan went straight to the point, "I just ask you, when can you take Jiangxi?"

  Zhao Han said: "Nanchang Mansion will be taken next year."

   "I heard that there are Fujian and Guangdong troops in the south. I thought you would go to Ganzhou first." Fei Yinghuan was a little disappointed. "If you take Nanchang first, I'm afraid the imperial court will send more troops to encircle and suppress."

Zhao Han explained: "I discussed with several gentlemen, and my original intention was to take Ganzhou first, but Nanchang was too deceptive. Its private Nanchang banknote customs taxed more than eunuchs, which greatly affected the people under my rule. Business and people's livelihood. If they kill themselves, let them be fulfilled!"

  Fei Yinghuan asked again: "How sure are you of winning Nanchang?"

   "Very sure." Zhao Han replied.

   "So confident?" Fei Yinghuan asked.

  Zhao Han said with a smile: "If it wasn't for consolidating the territory, I would be able to occupy half of Jiangxi this year."

  Fei Yinghuan stopped asking questions, he said: "I want to go south to Funing to be the prefect, how can I help you?"

   "Funing is in Fujian?" Zhao Han was not sure.

  Fei Yinghuan said: "On the coast of Fujian."

  Zhao Han said with a smile: "Master Taishan, if you are willing to help, you can make friends with Zheng Zhilong for me."

   "Okay, I understand." Fei Yinghuan nodded.

"Ugh!"

  Fei Yinghuan suddenly sighed with emotion: "When I brought your brother and sister back to Jiangxi, how did I expect this situation?"

   Zhao Han said: "Even if you don't come to Jiangxi, my son-in-law will find a place to rebel."

   "You like to rebel so much?" Fei Yinghuan asked.

  Zhao Han shook his head and said, "It's not that I like rebellion, but that Ming is hopelessly hopeless."

  Fei Yinghuan smiled and asked, "Do you know that many of the courtiers have the idea of ​​preferring the south?"

   "I don't know." Zhao Han said.

Fei Yinghuan explained: "This kind of idea was first proposed by the folk scholars, and gradually spread to the court. It is believed that the southern provinces are the land of wealth in the world. Instead of harvesting money and food, the northern provinces have to continue to pay for it. Fighting wars. Let’s just leave the north and move the capital to Nanjing to rectify the government, get rid of the evils, and then go north.”

   "It's a beautiful idea. After the partial peace, how can anyone be willing to go to the north? Is this the idea of ​​the southern scholars?" Zhao Han sneered.

"Indeed," Fei Yinghuan nodded and said, "Although it's widely circulated, it's all private discussions, and no one dares to say it openly. Now, you're starting an incident in Jiangxi, and there are fewer and fewer people who are afraid to be peaceful. gone."

  Suddenly, Zhao Han asked: "Master Taishan, why don't you go to the inner house to rest for a while and call Rulan and Ruhe to talk."

"No need," Fei Yinghuan raised his hand and said, "There are so many people, I don't see them as well. I'll leave when I finish talking with you. Zhang Yinggao, the prefect of Guangxin, is a man who knows how to govern the people and fight wars. He has trained five thousand Xiangyong, you'd better be careful."

   "Thank you, Lord Taishan, for reminding me," Zhao Han said with a smile, "No matter how elite the bravery is, their combat effectiveness will drop exponentially after leaving their hometown, because they don't know why they fight."

   "Okay, that's all for now, I'm leaving first." Fei Yinghuan got up and said.

   He really left without seeing his son and daughter, and he had to go to Fujian to take up his post.

  Fei Yinghuan quickly arrived in Ganzhou by boat, and went southeast along the Gongshui River, where Huichang County had been recovered by officers and soldiers.

   Halfway through the journey, I suddenly saw a large number of ships coming from the opposite side. It was the army of Zou Weilian, the governor of Fujian. The ships were used to transport the baggage, and about ten thousand soldiers (including civilian husbands) walked along the river bank.

  Fei Yinghuan arrived in Huichang County without being stopped for search.

   When I inquired at the pier, it turned out that the Ruijin rebels had been wiped out, and only a few hundred remnants fled into the mountains.

  Fei Yinghuan was a little worried about his son-in-law, and immediately returned by boat to meet Zou Weilian in Ganzhou Fucheng.

  In the barracks outside the city.

  Zou Weilian was on a killing spree, sixteen mid-level officers lined up waiting to be beheaded.

  The Fujian soldiers he brought, after entering Jiangxi, always ran to burn, kill and loot. There was even a general who killed a good man after massacring the village, and Zou Weilian was so angry that he beheaded him on the spot.

  Zou Weilian is from Jiangxi!

   Ask him to lead troops to Zhejiang to suppress bandits, maybe he will turn a blind eye and close his eyes. But lead troops back to Jiangxi to suppress the bandits, how can the troops be allowed to mess around? That's going to be poked in the back by the elders in my hometown!

  Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Governor of Jiangxi, Governor of Fujian, among the three governors, Zou Weilian is the most eager to suppress the bandits.

  Because his hometown Xinchang (Yifeng County) is just north of Fenyi and Xinyu counties. In a year or so at most, the Luling bandit Zhao will take over his hometown. Can Zou Weilian not be in a hurry?

  The backyard of the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi caught fire, and he withdrew his troops back to Guangdong to quell the chaos.

  Zou Weilian stayed alone in southern Jiangxi, but intensified his efforts to suppress bandits, and took back Ruijin County in just one month.

  He left five hundred soldiers each, stationed in Ruijin and Huichang, and then led a large force to Ganzhou.

"kill!"

  The knife flashed, and the head fell to the ground.

  Soldiers are awe-inspiring, generals are resentful.

  In order to prevent guest soldiers from plundering his hometown, Zou Weilian could only pay the full salary. And you have to bypass the generals, otherwise the generals will definitely be detained.

   Therefore, ordinary soldiers and grassroots officers all support Zou Weilian very much.

  But the middle and senior generals hated Zou Weilian to the core. If you don't give them the blood of soldiers, and don't let them loot, then they come to Jiangxi from Fujian to make trouble? Wouldn't it be nice to be honest and enjoy life at home?

   "Shuai, an old friend is visiting." The staff handed over a letter of greeting.

  Zou Weilian took a look at the greeting card, and immediately said joyfully, "It's actually Dazhao, please, please!"

  Fei Yinghuan came striding forward, cupped his hands and said, "Brother Dehui, long time no see."

   "Brother Dazhao," Zou Weilian saluted and smiled, "please sit in the tent and drink."

   These two people were candidates from the same hometown in the same year, and they went to Beijing together to fail the exam.

  Zou Weilian is only four years older than Fei Yinghuan. He lost his father when he was young and had to drop out of school. Before he was ten years old, he went to the mountains with his mother to cut firewood. Both mother and son lived as woodcutters.

  He didn’t have the money to buy books, so he borrowed them from neighbors’ children. Reading at home, reading on the road while chopping firewood, reading anytime, anywhere. Afraid of getting the book dirty, I wrapped the book with a piece of cloth when I was working.

  Zou Weilian only had a tutor, not a classics teacher. The Four Books and Five Classics were all self-study, and he was admitted as a scholar at the age of nineteen.

  After entering the county school, he finally paid homage to the Confucian classics teacher, and studied the Confucian classics seriously. Then, at the age of 21, he was selected as a candidate, and at the age of 25, he was selected as a Jinshi.

   "Why is Brother Dazhao here?" Zou Weilian asked.

  Fei Yinghuan replied: "Young brother was transferred to the prefecture of Funing. He heard that there was a Zhao bandit in Jiangxi making trouble, so he went to Ji'an Mansion to investigate in person."

   "Oh, what can I gain?" Zou Weilian paid more attention to it. He also had scholars from Ji'an who defected, but they all came from Taihe County and Wan'an County. The gentry in Jishui, Luling, and Anfu counties preferred to go to Nanchang and Jiujiang.

  Fei Yinghuan said: "This thief has three things, which are quite unpopular."

  Zou Weilian asked, "What three things do you dare to ask?"

Fei Yinghuan laughed and said, "The first is to divide the land. How cruel is it to divide the land of the big clan with the small people? The second is to release the slaves, to release all the slaves, military households, and Yue Ji. The third is to belittle the scholars. Regardless of whether you are a scholar or a scholar, anyone who becomes an official under Zhao Bandit has to start from a small official."

  Zou Weilian was stunned for a moment, and said in horror: "How can this be unpopular? This is an act of incitement and demagoguery!"

  The "people's heart" in Fei Yinghuan's mouth is the heart of a gentry.

  The "people's heart" in Zou Weilian's mouth is the heart of the head of Guizhou.

   Zou Weilian asked: "Did the Zhao bandits kill landlords and gentry indiscriminately?"

   "I don't want to kill indiscriminately," Fei Yinghuan said, "Every time we go to a village or town, we will kill the local heinous people to vent public anger. The rest of the landlords will be forcibly divided up their fields, but they will keep their money, food and houses."

   "Are there any exploiters?" Zou Weilian asked again.

  Fei Yinghuan said: "Businessmen and merchants are all happy with Zhao's thieves' administration. On the contrary, the Jiangxi governor and chief envoy, because of private banknote customs and heavy taxes, merchants from the north and the south have already complained."

  Zou Weilian sighed: "This thief is really extraordinary."

  Fei Yinghuan took out a copy of "The Collection of Great Harmony": "The ships passing by Linjiang Mansion and Ji'an Mansion will be forcibly sold as a book about anti-thieves. Brother Dehui, please read it."

  Zou Weilian opened the book and read it carefully. He was angry at first, and then terrified.

  The articles written by these anti-thieves actually contain many of the same ideas as Zou Weilian himself.

   Except for the rebellious remarks in it, Zou Weilian likes this book very much, and even feels a bit like seeing each other later.

  Fei Yinghuan suddenly asked: "How many soldiers does Brother Dehui have, are you confident in defeating that Luling Zhao bandit?"

"How can there be any confidence?" Zou Weilian sighed, "I heard that Zhao bandit defeated two governors successively, and now he must be stronger. Although I have more than 10,000 soldiers, there are only three or four thousand soldiers who can fight. The ones I rely on are only a thousand or so blunderbuss soldiers, and those ten or so Franc cannons."

  Fei Yinghuan asked again: "Brother Dehui, why didn't he march in quickly and kill that bandit Zhao by surprise?"

Zou Weilian shook his head again and again: "I suppressed the bandits in the south of Jiangxi, and won successive victories. My subordinates are all arrogant soldiers. I stopped them again and forbade them from looting in Jiangxi. The generals under my command have become disobedient. This move Ganzhou, firstly to raise money and food, secondly to recuperate the troops, and thirdly to enforce military discipline! If the military discipline is not strict, I will definitely not dare to go north to suppress the bandits."

   "Brother is a man who knows how to fight." Fei Yinghuan admired.

   For the next few days, Fei Yinghuan was not in a hurry to leave, so he went to Ganzhou to help Zou Weilian, and by the way, to investigate the reality of his army.

  Wei Jianxiong quietly went north and sent a letter to Zhao Han.

  Even the name of Lieutenant General Zou Weilian’s army was clearly written in the letter, not to mention how many firecrackers and artillery there were.

(About Yuan Chonghuan, the discussion was more intense. I can only say that the content of the previous chapter, except for the time of Wang Tingshi’s dismissal, which I got wrong by two months, is all recorded in history books. Yuan Chonghuan will definitely do it A lot of bullshit, but in the attitude towards Mao Wenlong, first help, then helpless, and finally angry. There are too many things, I will write in the author's words next.)

   In the situation at that time, Mao Wenlong reported 200,000 troops, and Chongzhen only paid the military salary according to the actual number of more than 20,000 troops.

   Both sides are outrageous.

   Yuan Chonghuan can only make peace with the mud, hoping to give Mao Wenlong the treatment of the Guanning iron cavalry, and all the more than 20,000 soldiers will get double pay.

   At this time, the relationship between Yuan Chonghuan and Mao Wenlong should be pretty good. Mao Wenlong agreed to take double the salary and promised not to make any looting, but Chongzhen firmly disagreed.

   Minister of the Household Department, Bi Ziyan, returned the official document to Yuan Chonghuan, expressing that he was helpless and could only obey the emperor's order, and could not give Mao Wenlong double salary.

   Civil officials, including Yuan Chonghuan, were angered by Mao Wenlong. It was at the beginning of the second year of Chongzhen that Mao Wenlong led troops to rob Dengzhou for the second time. Bi Ziyan, who wanted to help before, offered to cut off Mao Wenlong's military salary.

   From beginning to end, Yuan Chonghuan always wanted to get along with each other.

   Especially in August of the first year of Chongzhen, Mao Wenlong sent troops to Dengzhou, and the Tartars sent troops to Liaodong, which was equivalent to fighting and cooperating with each other to attack the Ming territory. While fighting the Tartars, Yuan Chonghuan asked for double salary for Mao Wenlong, which many civil servants couldn't do.

   I'm not trying to whitewash Yuan Chonghuan, he does have a lot of outrageous moves, but killing Mao Wenlong is really a helpless choice. Because Mao Wenlong has been forced by the court to have no way out, he must either rebel himself or seek refuge with the Tartars.

   It was not Yuan Chonghuan's order to stop paying Mao Wenlong, but the Ministry of Households did not allocate money.

  (end of this chapter)