I

Page 193

More than 300 guard soldiers, each received a bag of rice, kowtowed to Huang Yao in unison, and then went home happily.

Huang Yao continued to walk in, and Fei Chun followed behind with someone pushing a cart.

More than 600 Guizhou soldiers were already wearing rattan armor and holding weapons in formation when they were receiving rice from the guard.

These Guizhou soldiers were all slaves of the chieftain before, and it was Zhu Xieyuan who rescued them.They don't recognize the imperial court and only obey Zhu Xieyuan's orders.

They also didn't trust the Jiangxi rebels, thinking that Huang Yao was coming to kill them all.I'm not familiar with the place of life, this is Jiangxi, and no one escaped from more than 600 Guizhou soldiers. They all formed formations and planned to fight to the death.

Looking at the Guizhou soldiers who were obviously starved and skinny, but still dared to fight for their lives, Huang Yao's mood was extremely complicated.

He fought bloody battles in Lion Mountain for several days, and the biggest casualty he suffered was caused by the surprise attack by these Guizhou soldiers.He both hates and admires the other party, and his emotions are very tangled and complicated.

Fei Chun pointed to a few small carts and said, "Take the food to light the fire and cook. We will fill our stomachs first. Each person will receive five hundred copper coins. Those who are willing to continue serving as soldiers will come to receive them. From now on, you will be Mr. Zhao's soldiers."

The Guizhou soldiers looked at each other and began to relax their vigilance.

Huang Yao shouted: "The leader stands up!"

A Guizhou soldier stepped forward.

"What's your name?" Huang Yao asked.

The man replied in Guizhou Mandarin: "It used to be called Chihei, but Master Zhu gave him the name Chihuchen."

Chihei means "dog meat".

The slaves plundered or bought by Yi chieftains are collectively called Chihei.Gradually, Chihei even became a surname, and many descendants of slaves were named Chihei.

The Chi Huchen in front of him didn't even know which race he belonged to.They may be Han, Miao, Yi, or Zhong. Anyway, they were captured by chieftains when they were very young, and then recruited by Zhu Xieyuan as soldiers.

"Zhu Xieyuan has died of illness. Would you like to work for Mr. Zhao in the future?" Huang Yao said, "As long as you are obedient, you will have sufficient rations and military pay on time. If you want to settle down, you will be given the land. If you have the ability, you can do it yourself Go up and ask for a wife."

Chi Huchen ran back to discuss with the officers, and quickly made a decision.

In fact, they had no other choice. Once Zhu Xieyuan died, he would be like a child without father and mother.

"I am willing to serve as a soldier for Mr. Zhao!"

More than 1000 people all knelt down and spoke Guizhou official dialect, which is very close to Daming official dialect.

On the same day, they received money and food, had a good meal, and followed Fei Chun to Ji'an Mansion the next day.

This time the army was expanded to 6000 people, and the Military Academy made reforms again.

Fei Ruhe is in charge of the southern courtyard, with four thousand five hundred soldiers.

Huang Yao is in charge of the North Court, with four thousand five hundred soldiers.

Zhang Tieniu held the middle court, with four thousand soldiers.

Gu Jianshan is in charge of the water division, with three thousand soldiers.

The defense areas of the counties in Ji'an Prefecture were changed to Zhang Tieniu's middle court.This guy only knows how to fight, and the military affairs are actually handed over to his deputy Liu Zhu.Liu Zhu is working hard to read and read, and he has long since left the category of illiteracy, and is no longer the blind man he used to be.

More than 600 Guizhou Tengjia soldiers were all compiled as Zhao Han's personal soldiers, and they were classified as the regular soldiers of the Central Court.

Outside Ji'an City, the school grounds.

Some of Zhao Han's slave soldiers were sent out to serve as officers, and the rest were compiled with Guizhou soldiers, making up just two thousand.

Rattan armor, rattan plaques, after more than a year of brewing, Zhao Han also made some by himself.

The 2000 people in front of them wear rattan helmets, rattan armor, rattan plates, and steel knives as weapons.Their armor is very light, and at the same time, it is very defensive, and it is extremely useful when attacking cities and mountains.Moreover, it is suitable for long-distance raids, and it is very convenient to cross mountains and ridges and cross rivers.

Zhao Han said: "You all have no family members for the time being. Next year, you will go to Xiangnan, where bandits will ravage the area, and the number of young adults will drop sharply, but there will be a lot of women left. There are also bandits who have taken away many women. You can go to Hunan to start a family. There are also many unowned fields there, and the owners of the land have been killed by bandits. Get rid of the bandits, and I will divide the land for you, so that you will have wives, fields and children in the future!"

"Long live the town!"

"Long live the town!"

The two thousand rattan armor soldiers shouted with all their might, their faces full of excitement and longing.

They have no family members. After marrying wives and dividing the land, they can rent it out to other farmers for farming.Zhao Han did not prohibit tenants from renting land, but only prohibited tenants from subletting it again.

……

The state capital of Funing Prefecture is Xiapu, and Zheng Zhilong's mansion is in Jinjiang. It is quite difficult for Fei Yinghuan to see Zheng Zhilong.

The two met for the first time last year, and Fei Yinghuan only expressed their admiration without in-depth communication.

Jinjiang, Anhai Town.

The Zheng family mansion here took three years and two months to complete.Not only used for funding, but also a military and trade base, which can be directly converted into a castle in case of war.

"Master, there is a guest asking to see you!"

Zheng Zhilong took the greeting card and saw that it was the magistrate of Funing who had come.

He has a good impression of the prefect of Funing. Last year when he passed by by boat, the other party offered to provide some food and grass, and personally went to his boat to have a banquet and make friends.

Zheng Zhilong walked quickly to the courtyard, went to greet him in person, cupped his hands and said with a smile, "Master Fei Zhizhou is here, welcome if you are far away, welcome if you are far away!"

"Brother Yiguan, I came here without warning, so I took the liberty of disturbing you." Fei Yinghuan also laughed.

The title "Brother Yiguan" made Zheng Zhilong very happy. No civil servant called him like that before.Immediately laughed, dragged Fei Yinghuan inside, and ordered the servant: "Quickly serve the wine and the meat!"

Walking through the hall and the room, the two sat down.

Zheng Zhilong asked: "Brother Fei left Funing, but got promoted again?"

Fei Yinghuan looked behind Zheng Zhilong: "Please turn your back to the left and right, please."

Zheng Zhilong immediately waved his hands and said, "You all go down."

Wei Jianxiong left with the servants of the Zheng family, and after closing the door, he quietly guarded the door.

Fei Yinghuan said in a low voice: "To tell you the truth, Brother Wei left with a seal this time."

"But you offended the treacherous court officials?" Zheng Zhilong asked.

"No," Fei Yinghuan shook his head, "It's my son-in-law who wants to offend the emperor."

Offended?

Did you offend me?

Zheng Zhilong was confused and asked, "Which great sage is your brother's son-in-law?"

Fei Yinghuan asked back, "Have you ever heard of Jiangxi thief Zhao?"

Zheng Zhilong said: "Of course I know. The governor of Fujian and the commander-in-chief of Fujian were ordered to go to Jiangxi to suppress the bandits, but they were wiped out by the Zhao bandits in the first battle. The deputy commander-in-chief of Fujian was also transferred to be the commander-in-chief of Jiangxi. We bought twenty Franco cannons here."

"Jiangxi thief Zhao is my son-in-law." Fei Yinghuan smiled.

Zheng Zhilong thought there was something wrong with his ears, looked at Fei Yinghuan and blinked, and asked again: "The one from Jiangxi is my brother's son-in-law?"

Fei Yinghuan nodded and said, "This winter, my son-in-law will occupy the whole of Jiangxi, and send troops to southern Hunan and Guangdong next year. I can't hide my identity, so I just hang up my seal and leave. I came here to meet an official before leaving Fujian."

Zheng Zhilong's mind was turned back and forth, if the Jiangxi bandit Zhao really occupied Guangdong and southern Hunan, wouldn't he be sitting on two and a half provinces?

Fei Yinghuan added: "After my son-in-law captured Guangdong and southern Hunan, he will send troops to take Fujian."

Zheng Zhilong's expression became serious. The Guangdong sea area is his territory, and the Fujian sea area is his core.If the Jiangxi thief Zhao can really occupy Fujian and Guangdong, he will have to deal with them frequently in the future.

"What can I teach you, brother?" Zheng Zhilong asked.

Fei Yinghuan handed over a letter: "This is a handwritten letter from my son-in-law to Yiguan."

Zheng Zhilong is also literate, and couldn't help laughing when he saw the first sentence.He and Fei Yinghuan called him brother and brother, while Zhao Han called him "brother" in the letter, so I don't know what to say about this seniority.

In his letter, Zhao Han said that the ocean is very important, and after he became the ruler of the world, he planned to drive away the red barbarians in Luzon and Malacca (Malacca).We have to go to Tianzhu. Zheng Zhilong can be the commander of the navy, and he can also be a prince at sea.

Zhao Han directly asked Zheng Zhilong, Dinghaigong, Zhenhaigong, Jinghaigong, Kaihaigong... Which of these titles does my brother prefer?

This question made Zheng Zhilong's heart beat wildly, and suddenly his blood boiled.

Although Zheng Zhilong was recruited by the imperial court to dominate the South China Sea, his official position was only "Guerrilla Defense".

That night, Zheng Zhilong tossed and turned, got up in the middle of the night and wrote a letter, and asked Fei Yinghuan to pass it to Zhao Han the next day.

Chapter 233 [Lead Mountain Fei's]

After Li Zheng led troops to occupy Raozhou City, the counties of Raozhou Prefecture had an order of dispatching troops.First, go to Fuliang County first and occupy Jingdezhen; second, go to Dexing County and occupy Yinshan Town.

Silver production in Yinshan originated in the Northern and Southern Dynasties and flourished in the Tang and Song Dynasties.

In the Tang and Song dynasties alone, more than [-] million taels of silver were mined, and it is known as "the first mountain of silver metallurgy in the Tang Dynasty".

Mining continued in the Ming Dynasty, but in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, it was reported that the silver mines had been exhausted.What a ghost, the Qing Dynasty was still mining silver here!

"Shut up!"

A copper whistle suddenly sounded in the mountains, it was the search team warning.

Moreover, the first whistle stopped abruptly, apparently a soldier of the search team was killed.

"Woo! Whoa! Whoa!"

The rest of the Soushan team blew their whistles, and Li Zheng immediately ordered the bugle to be blown, and quickly stopped the army in the valley.

"kill!"

Seeing that their whereabouts were exposed, the ambush soldiers in the mountains rushed out immediately.

These ambush soldiers were all village warriors and miners recruited by the powerful gentry in Dexing County.There are not only miners who mine silver, but also miners who mine copper, tin, and iron. In addition to silver mines, Dexing County also has the largest open-pit copper mine in Asia!

Under Li Zheng's command, there are only [-] regular soldiers, [-] peasant soldiers, and [-] transport teams.

And those gentry are powerful and armed, but there are more than 2 people!

There is absolutely no possibility of compromise between the two parties, especially the tyrants who occupy the silver and copper mines.They colluded with eunuchs and civil officials, and even dared to fool the court.They are well aware of the preciousness of copper and silver mines, and Zhao Han will definitely confiscate them. This is an endless situation.

More than 2 ambushes rushed down from the mountains on both sides.

Because it was discovered by the search mountain team in advance, it did not enter its scheduled ambush point, so it took a lot of time to rush over.Li Zheng had already formed his formation, and was waiting for the enemy to come and die.

"Raise the bow!"

"Raise the gun!"

These ambush soldiers were completely out of order, they ran away halfway through the charge, and coupled with the rugged terrain, they came running here and there in groups.

In the early stage, there were missionaries and peasant associations who planned to go to Dexing County to promote Datong thought.Things went smoothly near the county seat, but after entering the mining area, most of them were driven away, and a few were killed.

The powerful gentry spread rumors everywhere, saying that the Luling Zhao thieves wanted to kill all the people in Dexing, and then forcibly recruited farmers to fight against the miners.

"Shhhhhh!"

"Bang bang bang!"

Bows and arrows and firecrackers were fired one after another, and the ambush soldiers who ran at the front were immediately frightened and fled in all directions.

It was another round of launching, and more than 2 enemies were all defeated.

They were forcibly recruited, and they were not willing to fight for the powerful gentry.If the ambush is successful, there may still be enthusiasm. If the ambush fails, then run away. Only fools are willing to work hard for the few money.

The mountains and plains were full of routs, and Li Zheng only captured a few hundred, so he ordered the pursuit to stop.

After the interrogation, the soldiers immediately divided into three groups, and went to find trouble with those powerful gentry.

Li Zheng personally led the troops to a place, and this powerful man actually built an earthen building.It's just that all the slaves ran to set up an ambush, and there were not many people in the tulou to defend.

Li Zheng asked people to come forward and shout: "If you surrender, only the head of the villain will be punished. If you resist, all will be killed! The slave brothers inside, after you surrender, you can share the property!"

"Don't believe the nonsense of the rebels, the rebels are going to kill us all!" the powerful man in the tulou shouted hastily.

"Brother slaves, come out and divide the fields! According to Mr. Zhao's rules, each person can be divided into four acres of paddy fields. If there is not enough paddy fields, two acres of dry fields count as one mu of paddy fields, and each person can get eight acres of dry fields! House slaves and peasants have already been allocated fields. The hard-working brothers in Fuliang County are already dividing fields. We passed by Leping County, and Leping County is also dividing fields. Mr. Zhao is a family slave, and he will not treat you badly!"

"Don't go out, let me see who dares!"

"..."

The people here may not know that Raozhou is dividing the land.

However, Leping County is next door, and the news of Leping's land division has more or less spread.

The domestic slaves guarding the tulou were skeptical, mainly because they did not dare to imagine such a good thing.

But it is enough to be dubious. When Li Zheng ordered to attack the Tulou, most of the domestic slaves were unwilling to resist.

"Mother thief, kill him!"

But it was the powerful sons of this family who led people to defend various parts of the Tulou.

In one of them, a house slave opened the door secretly, and the powerful son immediately ordered the murder.However, only a few confidantes took action, and the rest of the slaves backed away in fright.