The Soul of the Han Dynasty in the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 508
It can be seen from this that if the bandits can't find a place to rob food, they may starve to death without beating them. No wonder they attacked Houjiazhuang like crazy.

Wang Ziyong and Wang Jiayun, the bandit soldiers, took down many small towns and Zhuangzi in the past half a year, and even broke up two or three county towns. It seems that they have gained a lot.

It is possible that the bandits have gold and silver treasures and have no place to trade them, and they are reluctant to throw them away.

And because the cavalry of the "Red Banner Army" suddenly rushed too fast and too fiercely, the bandit soldiers collapsed in an instant, and it was too late to get their money and flee.

As a result, the value of the precious metals and jewelry seized by the "Red Banner Army" is quite high, probably reaching 10,000+ taels in terms of silver.

This is entirely the disadvantage of using precious metals as currency. After the rogues take down a county and loot the big households, they will get gold and silver treasures worth more than 10 taels of silver. It is very possible to make millions of taels in richer counties and state capitals. .

Most of the common people in the last Ming Dynasty were poor, but this does not mean that the total amount of gold and silver treasures was reduced.

On the contrary, since a large amount of gold and silver produced every year will enter the circulation link, and foreign trade has a surplus and a large amount of foreign gold and silver inflows, the total amount of gold and silver in the last Ming Dynasty may reach multiples or even several times compared with the total amount in the heyday. times.

The direct consequence is that silver is cheap and food is expensive. When grain was the cheapest in the Ming Dynasty, one tael of silver could buy four shi of polished rice. At this time, one shi of polished rice in the capital cost two taels of silver, and the price will rise in a straight line in the future.

Due to the widening gap between the rich and the poor, wealth was concentrated in the hands of a few people, which directly led to a lot of gold and silver treasures in the homes of high-ranking officials, nobles, and landlords, and also made it possible for rogues to snatch a lot of precious metals when they robbed houses.

No wonder sometimes the rogue bandits sent people to carry several large boxes of gold, silver, treasures, pearls and agates to bribe the generals of the Ming army who were chasing and intercepting them, with the purpose of buying a way to escape.

In history, Zuo Liangyu, He Renlong, etc. often did nasty things like confiscating property and letting thieves go on purpose. In fact, those who persisted until the end and needed to spend money to buy escape routes were old bandits who let them go. It will directly lead to the destruction of the achievements of suppressing bandits.

Later, Zuo Liangyu developed to have 80 troops, known as an army of one million. It is estimated that he made too much gold and silver treasures and accumulated capital while fighting bandits. Otherwise, he would not carry out production, how could he have money to support soldiers?
On the contrary, the Guan Ning Army who entered the customs to suppress the bandits did not do business with the bandits. They beat them to death when they met them. In the hands of the rogues, including the fierce general Cao Wenzhao.

Zhang Xianzhong was once beaten by Zuo Liangyu to the point of desperation and spent money to buy a living. Zuo Liangyu laughed at the money and let the tiger go back to the mountain.

When Li Zicheng's subordinates were beaten to pieces, they sent the huge amount of looted wealth to beg for return, but the short-sighted Zuo Liangyu was willing to accept them as officials.

However, within a few years, the thieves who had slowed down defeated Zuo Liangyu thousands of miles away, and Li Zicheng, who had risen again, was in full swing. Zuo Liangyu's lair, Xuchang, launched a mutiny.

The consequences are very serious, and it can also be said to be karma.

Xuzhou City in Kaifeng Prefecture is a strategic location. Zuo Liangyu has stationed troops here for four years. His official residence, wife and children are all here except for the eldest son Zuo Menggeng who has followed his father to fight.

Ma Shixiu and Du Yingjin took advantage of Zuo Liangyu's status as a general under Zuo Liangyu's command to trick open the gate of Xuchang, a fortified city, and kill Zuo Liangyu's family.

Huang Han didn't expect that he could get so much hard currency by encircling and suppressing a group of rogues who looked like beggars, which was a surprise.

In fact, only the "Red Banner Army" was able to count the seizures. It is estimated that it was other Ming troops. These gold and silver treasures must have been carried in the arms of the soldiers or secretly buried.

Zhang Fengyi rushed out of Houjiazhuang with three or four hundred white soldiers who were still able to run. When they reached the outskirts of the bandit camp, they were stopped by a dozen cavalrymen. Zhang Fengyi realized that the front was cleaning the battlefield.

She smiled knowingly, and then ordered the white soldiers to go back and collect the harvest, clean up the battlefield, and let the subordinates try their best to return the particles to the warehouse.

The white-armed soldiers were all infantry, so there was no need to start chasing and killing the bandits at this time. Besides, they had fought for five days and five nights in a row during the three days they held on to Houjiazhuang, and it was already the end of their strength.

The camp of the rogue bandits is where the wealth is concentrated. How much gold and silver and treasure can the bandit soldiers take with them when they drive off the cannon fodder to attack Houjiazhuang?Zhang Fengyi's harvest is very little.

The relationship between the white-armed soldiers and the "Red Banner Army" was harmonious, and Zhang Fengyi was not worried about safety issues at this time, but she would not have thought that it was Huang Han who came with the troops himself.

Zhang Yang and Sang Yu, who had completed the hunting mission not long after, found Zhang Fengyi and saw the surviving white soldiers. They took Zhang Fengyi into the clean camp to meet Huang Han.

Xiaohouzhuang was not burned down. It should be that Wang Ziyong, Wang Jiayun and other thieves kept their bones as a temporary base camp. The scale of this village is small, with only a few dozen households. The vast majority of services are thatched cottages with adobe walls.

Now this large courtyard that originally belonged to the Bandit Command Post is of course Huang Han's temporary residence, and there are all kinds of furniture here. In the living room that has been cleaned by the women, Huang Han saw a weather-stained face and a bloodstained body. Zhang Fengyi.

Seeing her relatives, the stubborn female general finally couldn't hold back and cried like a child. She had never suffered such a loss, and the casualties in this battle had exceeded the Hunhe bloody battle against Jiannu.

Seeing Zhang Fengyi, who was not serious but could run and jump, despite being injured, Huang Han was extremely happy. It was obvious that this action of the "Red Banner Army" had rewritten history.

Huang Han pretended to be surprised and said: "I didn't expect, I really didn't expect that I could meet a white soldier in Henan by chance, and I could also meet my sister-in-law."

Zhang Fengyi gradually suppressed her tears, and said with lingering fear: "Fortunately, Lord Hou led the 'Red Banner Army' to arrive. If it was half a day later, Lord Hou would have to collect the corpse for the general. The life-saving grace of Master Hou will never be forgotten by the general." !"

Huang Han didn't take credit for it, he smiled lightly and said: "Sister-in-law doesn't have to be like this, the 'Red Banner Army' white-armed soldiers are connected with each other with both family and comrade-in-arms, so they should help each other.

What's more, with my sister-in-law's bravery and the fighting power of the white-armed soldiers, where a mere bandit can be defeated, there may be other Ming soldiers nearby who will come to rescue. "

Zhang Fengyi was a little disheartened, she sighed and said: "Even General Deng Qi of the Sichuan Army has disappeared, who else can I count on? Lord Hou is the savior of the last general and the seven hundred white soldiers. Find an opportunity to repay."

(End of this chapter)