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Chapter 174 [Old Man]

"Headquarters, someone who calls himself Qianshan Zhao Han is asking to see him."

"Ok?"

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

Fei Yu works outside, and 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.

Without squinting, Fei Ying was led into the house, and said with cupped hands, "Qianshan Zhao Han, meet Zhao Zongzhen!"

Zhao Han was a little surprised that the father-in-law came, and he 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 mocking, but also seeming to complain, 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 deceived people too much. Its privately established 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 smiled and said, "If it wasn't for consolidating the territory, I would be able to occupy half of Jiangxi this year."

Fei Yinghuan stopped asking questions, and said, "I want to go south to Funing to be the magistrate, 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: "If Master Taishan is 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 to rebel, 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 pretty good idea. After Pian'an, how can anyone be willing to go north? Is this the idea of ​​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 countrymen are, 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 said that he would leave without seeing his son and daughter, and he had to rush to Fujian to take up his post.

Fei Yinghuan quickly came to 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 was not stopped for inspection and arrived in Huichang County without incident.

After inquiring at the pier, it turned out that the Ruijin rebels had already been wiped out, and only a few hundred remnants fled into the mountains.

Fei Yinghuan was a little worried about his son-in-law, so he 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!

Let him 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!

Among the governors of Guangdong and Guangxi, the governors of Jiangxi, and the governors of Fujian, 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 to garrison Ruijin and Huichang, and then led a large force to Ganzhou.

"kill!"

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

The soldiers are awe-inspiring, and the generals are resentful.

In order to prevent guest soldiers from plundering his hometown, Zou Weilian had to pay the full amount.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?

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

Zou Weilian picked up the greeting card and looked at it, and immediately said joyfully, "It's Dazhao who has come, 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 was only four years older than Fei Yinghuan. He lost his father when he was young, so he 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, but no classics teacher. He relied on self-study for the Four Books and Five Classics. He was admitted as a scholar at the age of 19.

After entering the county school, he finally worshiped the teacher of Confucian classics and studied Confucian classics seriously.Then, at the age of 21, he won the Juren, and at the age of 25, he won the 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. 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 that 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 "heart" that Fei Yinghuan refers to 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 bandits Zhao indiscriminately kill landlords and gentry?"

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

"Are there exploiters?" Zou Weilian asked again.

Fei Yinghuan said: "Businessmen and merchants are all happy with Zhao's regime. On the contrary, the Jiangxi governor and chief envoy, because of the 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 through Linjiang Mansion and Ji'an Mansion will be forcibly sold a book of rebellion. 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 rebels actually contained many of the same thoughts 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 the Zhao bandit defeated two governors successively, and now he must be stronger. Although I have more than 1 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 situation in 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 written clearly in the letter, not to mention how many firecrackers and artillery there were.

Chapter 175 [Looting]

General military mansion.

Zhao Han, Pang Chunlai, and Li Banghua held a three-person meeting.

Zhao Han sent the secret letter sent by Fei Yinghuan, Li Banghua said: "The Ruijin volunteer army is gone, only a few hundred people are left, and they fled into the mountains at the junction of Fujian and Jiangxi. Shen Youlong, the governor of Fujian, led more than [-] people , has moved to Ganzhou."

Pang Chunlai's eyes were not good, and Li Banghua read the contents of the secret letter directly.

As he read it, Li Banghua was startled, because the letter was written in too much detail.Not only the number of firearms of the officers and soldiers, but also some generals who harbor resentment and have been punished by the governor themselves or their cronies.

The letter also stated that Zou Weilian was raising food and grass, and after the spring of next year, he would definitely attack the three counties of Wan'an, Longquan, and Taihe.After capturing these three counties, they will confront Zhao Han again and join forces with the governor of Jiangxi to attack from north to south.

The letter also said that Guangdong and Guangxi were fighting everywhere, and the governors of Guangdong and Guangxi were temporarily unable to enter Jiangxi, so they should take the opportunity to defeat the officers and soldiers along the way.Otherwise, the combined strength of officers and soldiers from the three provinces will reach 5.

Li Banghua was surprised and said: "Zongzhen, who wrote this?"

Zhao Han smiled mysteriously: "Among the enemy army, there is a senior official who is my internal response. At this time, don't spread it to the outside world, so as not to leak the information of the internal response."

"It's natural." Li Banghua didn't ask further.

Pang Chunlai said: "It's time to make a decision, whether to send troops next year or send troops now. Should we go north first or go south first. No matter what we choose, our army must go first, otherwise we will be in danger of being attacked by the north and the south. "

Zhao Han said: "It's not just a pincer between the north and the south, Zhang Yinggao, the magistrate of Guangxin, has already trained five thousand heroes. As long as Li Maofang is not stupid, he will send Guangxin soldiers across the government to conquer the Fuzhou bandits and destroy the secret sect bandits in Nanfeng County. This The time should also be in the spring of next year. Once the Fuzhou religious bandits are wiped out, Zhang Yinggao can come from Fuzhou and go straight to Jishui County from the east."

"Well, by that time, there will be three sides attacking from the south, the north, and the east, and the total strength of the official army will be around [-]." Li Banghua sighed.

Pang Chunlai suggested: "I think we should advance both land and water, and attack the Fujian guest soldiers in Ganzhou first."

Li Banghua agreed and said: "Yes, first fight the Fujian guest soldiers. The secret letter that should be sent here says that the Fujian generals have no intention of fighting. Let's spread rumors first, saying that Zou Weilian plans to withdraw in order to protect the people of Jiangxi and is afraid that the army's morale will be unstable. All the military officers from Fujian. And..." Li Banghua suddenly had a darkened expression, "invited Zou Weilian's mother and clansmen to Ji'an, and sent fake letters to Ganzhou, saying that the Zou clan was against each other. Chen Ting, the general soldier of Fujian Yes, we must be divorced from General Zou Weilian!"

Fujian General Soldier Chen Tingdui, who was born as a champion of martial arts, was granted the title of Guangdong Deputy General Soldier by Chongzhen, and then promoted to Fujian General Soldier.

This person is a diehard loyalist of Chongzhen. If he heard that the Zou clan was a traitor and that Zou Weilian was suppressing the generals in Fujian, he might do something outrageous.

"Okay, let's invite Zou Weilian's people first!" Zhao Han expressed his satisfaction with this plan.

Chongzhen eight years, November.

Jiang Liang led five hundred soldiers, set off from Xinyu County swaggeringly, and arrived in Shanggao County in three days.

Shang Gaozhi County was shocked, he had already recruited more than a thousand soldiers, he did not dare to go out to kill the enemy at this time, he only dared to lead troops to defend the city, and sent people to Nanchang to report.

Jiang Liang grabbed a boat at the county pier, crossed the river by boat, and went straight to Xinchang County (Yifeng).

Going to Kochi County was confused, thinking that the rebels were pretending to leave, but in fact they wanted to kill the carbine, so they simply blocked all the gates of the city.