I

  Chapter 220 218 [Southern Patrol]

  It was May, and there was still no rain.

  Even if people are superstitious, they will not think that Zhao Han lost his virtue, but that Emperor Chongzhen lost his destiny.

  Guangxin Prefecture has already seen starving people from Zhejiang, and they entered the three counties of Yushan, Guangfeng and Qianshan along the commercial road. They can't even wait for the harvest of summer grain, because there is no summer grain in Zhejiang, and they have already switched to various cash crops.

  Last year it was a natural disaster in Zhejiang, but this year most of it was a man-made disaster. The Chongzhen government pressed taxes too quickly, and local officials simply robbed them directly.

  The prefect of Guangxin was terrified, fearing that too many hungry people would lead to a civil uprising sooner or later. Therefore, the gentry was called on to contribute money and food, and at the same time recruited village braves to drive these hungry people back to Zhejiang by force!

   In addition, Guangdong fried.

  Shen Youlong has quelled civil unrest in Guangdong last year, and is continuing to suppress bandits in Guangxi. However, last year, most of Guangdong was hit by drought, and this year, most of Guangdong was hit by drought again.

  The peasant uprising in Guangdong revived in April and quickly swept across several provinces. These variables were all brought about by Zhao Han. Without him defeating the officers and soldiers several times, there would not be so many peasant uprisings in the surrounding areas, and even the uprisings would be quickly quelled by the governor.

   Ji'an Mansion.

   Zhao Han said goodbye to his wife and younger sister Yiyi, and then boarded the warship. He wanted to personally appease the Hakka people in the southern Jiangxi region.

  In the mountainous area around Ganzhou City, Chen Maosheng's missionary work has made great progress. Due to the economic blockade and internal divisions, more and more mountain people are willing to settle down and pay taxes, but farmers' associations are still unable to be established.

  These Hakka people are united in the first place, and help each other through geographical and blood ties, and the peasant association seems to have become a superfluous thing.

  However, their group and mutual assistance structure is too small, and even Hakkas from different regions will stage full martial arts because of their interests. This spring alone, due to the drought and competition for water, there were several conflicts between locals and locals, resulting in the death of more than 20 people.

   The most troublesome time, the two sides mobilized more than 3,000 people to fight!

  Zhao Han admired the magnificent scenery on both sides of the Strait all the way, and soon came to Ganzhou City by boat.

  Fei Ruhe, Chen Maosheng, Liu Anfeng and others led the generals and officials out of the city to greet them. Liu Huan, the former magistrate of Ganzhou in the Ming Dynasty, made meritorious service for cooperating with Chen Maosheng. In view of the complicated situation in the southern Jiangxi region, he was especially promoted to be the magistrate of Ganzhou prefecture.

   "Meet the general town!" Everyone bowed in unison.

  Zhao Han clasped his fists in return and said, "Everyone has worked hard, so there is no need to be polite."

   Walking in front of Fei Ruhe, Zhao Han smiled and said, "You've lost weight again, and you look more energetic."

   "War all the time, can you not lose weight?" Fei Ruhe laughed.

  Fei Ruhe has really been fighting all the time. One is to clear up the bandits in the mountains, and the other is to fight against the peasant army in the counties of Southern Jiangxi.

  The situation of these peasant armies is different.

  Some are willing to submit to Zhao Han, while some insist on self-government. And no matter what kind, they don't cooperate with the work very much, and they have to be convinced to become honest.

  So far, Fei Ruhe's army has occupied the seven cities of Ganzhou, Shangyou, Dayu, Nankang, Xingguo, Yudu, Ningdu, and Xinfeng, completely opening up the connecting route between Jiangxi and Guangdong. At the same time, 500 soldiers were stationed at Meiguan to contain the strategic point between the two provinces.

  But only the three counties of Ganxian, Xingguo, and Yudu have successfully completed the land division work, and other places have to continue to work hard.

  Zhao Han patted Chen Maosheng on the shoulder again and said, "You have worked hard too."

   "It's not hard." Chen Maosheng stood up straight.

  Chen Maosheng's wife, Yang Chun'e, was standing beside her at this time, with a big belly.

  Zhao Han smiled and said, "Congratulations, congratulations!"

  The couple also laughed. They planned to adopt a child, but they didn't expect Yang Chun'e to be able to conceive.

  Zhao Han went to talk to Liu Anfeng and Liu Huan again, and walked into the city gate while talking.

   As a Ming official who surrendered, Liu Huan was directly appointed as the prefect of Ganzhou through sheer luck. Surprised by Zhao Han's youth, he responded carefully all the way, and found that the lord was really unassuming, so he relaxed himself.

   Along the way, people came to watch, wanting to see what Zhao Tianwang looked like, but Zhao Han did not disappoint them.

   Temporarily moved into the government office, and all other officials dispersed, leaving only a few principal persons in charge.

Fei Ruhe first reported: "If Chongyi County is taken again, the whole territory of Nan'an Prefecture will be conquered. There will be no rebels there. Inside the city is the Ming government, and outside the city there will be Hakka people everywhere. The whole county is poor and surrounded by mountains. There are only a few valleys that are considered fertile. To tell the truth, that place is a burden to occupy, and it does not help the war."

   "No matter how poor you are, you have to take it," Zhao Han said. "When the other three counties in Nan'an Prefecture have completed the division of land and the peasant association has consolidated, they will go and occupy Chongyi County. What about Ganzhou Prefecture?"

Fei Ruhe said: "Xinfeng County was just captured last month. In Longnan and Dingnan counties, there is a field soldier leader named Guo Quan, and there are more than a dozen large and small field soldier leaders. They were originally willing to join, but I heard that we have to divide Fields, and the acres of fields cannot be sublet, so they occupy the corners of the two counties and resist stubbornly."

  Zhao Han said with a smile: "It's because I rebelled and became a landlord, so I don't want to spit out the land I grabbed."

"The counties of Ruijin, Huichang, Changning, Anyuan, and Shicheng are all in the same situation. The leaders of the field soldiers are unwilling to divide the land," Fei Ruhe continued. "These leaders of the field soldiers are all short-sighted. To attack and attack territory is to band together to resist the government, in the past it was against Ming Dynasty, but now it is against us."

  Zhao Han concluded: "They rebelled only to become big landlords."

   "Yes, that's it!" Fei Ruhe clapped his hands.

Chen Maosheng interjected: "These leaders of the field soldiers, what they did is actually beneficial to us. They used to resist the government and hate the landlords, but now they have become big landlords themselves. The fields are connected to each other, the slaves are in groups, and there are many concubines. The common people in the counties have long hated it. When our army arrives, the work of mission and peasant association will be very smooth!"

   "How is the drought relief?" Zhao Han asked again.

Liu Anfeng, the prefect of Ganzhou, said: "The drought is most severe in the deep mountains, but the farmers' associations cannot spread out in the mountains. Those Hakka people, because of water grabbing, have frequent situations. Sometimes they fight in neighboring villages and sometimes in neighboring counties. Hundreds of people, even thousands of people. It is useless for the government to persuasion. They always think that we are sided. They also invited some mountain people to negotiate, but they were not convinced. They also threatened that only Mr. Zhao would come to talk in person. Only then will you be convinced."

   "Aren't I here?" Zhao Han laughed.

Liu Anfeng said: "After the town decided to go south for inspection, I sent people to invite prominent people from all over the country. There were Hakka leaders and Jiangxi gentry, and I called them all together to talk. Those who are close have already come here for more than a dozen people. It should be ready by the end of this month."

"very good!"

  Zhao Han said to everyone: "The decision of the General Army Mansion is to occupy the entire southern Jiangxi within this year. The Nanchang Mansion, Fuzhou Mansion, and Ruizhou Mansion in the north, and the peasant association must also take them all this year."

  As soon as this remark came out, everyone was delighted.

  Nangan area is the collective name of Nan'an Prefecture and Ganzhou Prefecture.

  The combined area of ​​the two prefectures is very large, accounting for a quarter of the entire Jiangxi. But most of the places are very poor. During the two hundred years of the Ming Dynasty, there was no real stability here for a few years.

  Zhao Han couldn't wait any longer. Since ancient times, there hasn't been any rebels. They have rebelled for several years and still have so little territory.

   The ruling foundation is solid, but the expansion speed is too slow.

   It has been ten years since Chongzhen, the Ming Dynasty has entered the countdown, and there is not much time left for Zhao Han to dawdle.

  However, the development situation is very gratifying. Although the territory and the army have not increased much, the reserve staff, mission officers and the backbone of the peasant association have shown an exponential development trend.

   It can be said that officials and soldiers are a little impatient, and even want to tear themselves apart from the court. Because only by fighting can soldiers continue to make meritorious service. Because only by fighting can the territory be rapidly expanded, a large number of reserve officials can become regulars, and official officials can be continuously promoted.

  The Ming court was afraid of war, but Zhao Han was looking forward to war from top to bottom.

  Zhao Han said to Fei Ruhe: "The Military Academy has made adjustments again. The North Academy has jurisdiction over the three prefectures of Ji'an, Yuanzhou, and Linjiang, and the South Academy has jurisdiction over the two prefectures of Nan'an and Ganzhou."

   "Haha, no problem, I listen to the Commander's Office!"

  Fei Ruhe's real power seems to have become smaller, and the territory under his jurisdiction has also become poorer, but this is not a disguised suppression.

  Because there is no war in the north, the southern Jiangxi region has to continue to fight.

  The future development strategy is also to send troops from southern Jiangxi to capture Fujian and Guangdong. This is the real reuse!

  As for the North Military Academy under Huang Yao's charge, most of them will attack in the direction of Huguang from now on.

   Moreover, in order to balance the northern and southern theaters and prevent the soldiers from the Northern Academy from feeling left out, the time for dispatching troops to Huguang must also be advanced. In the past, these practical issues were not considered in formulating strategies, but now they must be put on the agenda.

  After discussing with Pang Chunlai and Li Banghua, Zhao Han has made a detailed plan—

  In the eleventh year of Chongzhen, the entire Jiangxi must be controlled, because the soldiers and officials can't wait.

   In the twelfth year of Chongzhen, he broke his face with the court. At that time, the troops of the North Academy will march west to the south of Huguang, and the troops of the South Academy will march south to Guangdong, connecting Jiangxi, Hunan, and Guangdong into one piece.

  Of course, these are rough plans, and the details have to be adjusted according to the current situation.

  After hearing Zhao Han's words, Fei Ruhe was full of fighting spirit, and after a few days, he went to fight Huichang, and he brought five hundred musketeers and twenty-one Franco cannons with him!

  Song Yingxing has built more than 700 firecrackers, of which 500 were allocated to Fei Ruhe, and the remaining 200 were left in the north.

  Although the Southern Jiangxi region is poor and has many mountains, most of the cities are built by the river, and as long as there is a navy, it can quickly move troops to attack.

  Follow the Gongshui River and go straight to Huichang County, which is another confluence of three rivers.

  After Fei Ruhe besieged the county seat, he waited to besiege the city and send reinforcements. It was almost impossible to attack by force, and even if he captured it, he would definitely suffer heavy losses.

  These southern Jiangxi peasant troops have become stupid and will not sneak into the mountains at will. Because the leaders of the field soldiers have now become big landlords, they are reluctant to part with their property.

  Still in the same old fashion, Fei Ruhe led troops to besiege the city, and the mission team and the backbone of the peasant association immediately developed the peasant association outside the city and organized the distribution of land.

  One trick, you can eat it all over the world.

   (At the end of the chapter, there is Chongzhen’s ten-year development plan. The picture shows the actual control sites within this year. Some only occupy the city, and some only occupy the countryside. Refresh if you can’t see it.)

  (end of this chapter)