The Soul of the Han Dynasty in the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 512 Breaking into the Rogue Core Layer

During the few days on the road, a strange phenomenon occurred. The 3 people were grouped and managed in an orderly manner. Even the reform-through-labour prisoners happily followed them. There was not a single case of escape with their families.

Zhang Yang learned from talking with several town governors and propaganda team members that these people were frightened by hunger, and even more disgusted that they had to beat and kill people in order to grab a bite of food. To this day, there are people who rob and kill without conscience and are stimulated Every time I was awakened by the nightmare, I was so frightened that I howled.

Refugees who are close to nothing can now eat food that is not mixed with wild vegetables and bark.

Listening to the propaganda team and the town governor talking about the labor and treatment they will face, most people have a vision for the future, and they are not opposed to being escorted to sea if they can fill their stomachs.

When Zhang Yang led the cavalry back, hundreds of carriages would be loaded with grain and sent to the fortress of Houjiazhuang for hoarding.

In the past few days, a small group of refugees with their families in the vicinity were brought into Xiaohouzhuang for resettlement, and more than 2000 people were sent to send a "Red Banner Army" to divert them.

The fathers and villagers of Houjiazhuang lived and died together with the white pole soldiers and were rewarded by Dongping Hou. Not only did the emperor ask for a reward from the old patriarch, but one of them was rewarded with three buckets of polished rice and three taels of silver.

The people of Houjiazhuang who died in the battle were not forgotten either. They all received six buckets of milled rice and six taels of silver as pensions, which were received by their immediate relatives.

Hou Dongping's boldness, grandeur, and fair, just, and open handling of the matter made everyone in the Hou family village grateful, which directly caused too many young and middle-aged men to join the "Red Banner Army" with one voice, and they couldn't be persuaded.

There are less than 400 young and middle-aged people in Houjiazhuang. How could Huang Han take all these people under his command? Moreover, the head of the Hou family and the elders had no intention of relocating the entire clan to the west of Liaoning for reclamation.

It can't be blamed for their ignorance of current affairs. After all, they are one of the largest landlords with a radius of more than twenty miles. A place of danger?

In the end, it wasn't just confiscation. Zhang Yang selected nine strong men who were proficient in bows and horses, headed by Hou Benzhai and Hou Benlin, to join the ranks of cold-armed cavalry trainees.

The neighborhood was swept by bandits, too many ordinary people lost their homes and loved ones, many men who passed the screening were full of hatred and vowed to avenge their parents, wives and children, too many young and middle-aged men knelt down and begged the "Red Banner Army" to accept them into the army, most of them People are satisfied, starting with military service.

After further understanding by the propaganda team and the town governor, hundreds of young and middle-aged men with riding skills had the opportunity to participate in the election to show their skills. Finally, 360 people were selected to take care of the horses and participate in military training. They were the backup for the expansion of the cavalry. select.

There are less than [-] white soldiers under Zhang Fengyi's command who survived. Each of them received a reward of [-] taels of silver from Huang Han, and there are about [-] wounded patients who must stay in the camp to recuperate. It is estimated that half of them will be recovered within a month or two. People recover, and the rest will definitely remain disabled, and it is impossible to continue to serve in the army.

Suppressing the rogue bandits is not just a matter of time, but a long process, Huang Han is not in a hurry at all.

After the army was stationed in Houjiazhuang, it took this place as the center to sweep away the dogs and dogs within a range of [-] miles.

Because they don't have to worry about being harmed by bandits and refugees, the people in Houjiazhuang and many nearby villagers went to the fields to work in order to reduce losses, and many people who fled to escape the disaster returned home one after another.

The engineer battalion is busy every day. Their task is to irrigate as many wells as possible for the fathers and villagers of Houjiazhuang. Of course, the newly recruited soldiers will undertake most of the heavy physical work.

Houjiazhuang was really a blessing in disguise. If their wheat fields had not suffered from this military disaster, they might have lost their crops due to the drought.

When the wheat seedlings were about to dry out, the laborers of the "Red Banner Army" pushed a wheelbarrow to transport water and protect the seedlings to the Zhanghe River, which had not stopped flowing more than ten miles away, and dug irrigation wells on a standard of [-] to [-] mu of land.

The ancients have known for a long time that digging wells to combat drought, but the labor and material costs required to fill a well are simply not affordable for farmers who are starved of food.

What's more, in the troubled times at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the society was extremely unstable, who would be foolish to increase investment in fixed assets, and spend money and effort to build irrigation wells, which may be cheaper for others.

Huang Han took a fancy to the pride of the villagers in Houjiazhuang and the white-armed soldiers. With such a mass base, he decided to make it a fortress that would never give up.

Not only will they harvest the unowned land within a radius of [-] miles for their own use, but they will also take in some Henan people who are unwilling to go to sea to Liaodong to farm here to burn cement and bricks.

From now on, only the people of Houjiazhuang have private land belonging to several big landlords of Houjiazhuang within [-] miles from the center of Houjiazhuang. The rest of the land is owned by the "Red Banner Army" except for those who are insisting on cultivating it.

Landlords who fled to seek refuge will definitely come back to claim the land occupied by the "Red Banner Army" when they find the place is stable, there is no way.

The left-behind propaganda team members and town governors will lead the army to negotiate friendly negotiations with the landlords and riches, and will recognize those who can provide legal certificates such as land skins and land deeds.

However, in principle, negotiating with the stipulation of not returning one mu of land, you can sign with the landlord Lao Cai that the rent of one mu of good land shall not exceed one bucket of wheat per year, and the "Red Banner Army" will take the lead in renting and planting.

The "Red Banner Army" doesn't mind letting the landlord Lao Cai, who is shameless and thinks he has a backer in the court, lose his life if they are ransacked by rogues.

It's easy to fish in muddy waters, tens of thousands of rogues have already fought here, there must be remnants hiding in the remaining veins of the Taihang Mountains to the west, waiting for an opportunity, and the murderous case of rogues looting, the government can only do nothing!

After on-the-spot investigation and confirmation by the clan elders of Houjiazhuang, the biggest landlord here should be a big man who no one can afford to offend.

This is King Lu, Zhu Changhao, the grandson of Emperor Longqing, and the uncle of the current emperor. Of course, Huang Han could not offend the entire royal family in order to compete with this master for land.

In order to be able to achieve black and white, the flag guard has been actively planning during this period.

In addition to dispatching flag guards to follow the merchants into the big cities in the mainland to open duck blood vermicelli shops, open cart shops, set up stalls to sell roasted sweet potatoes, etc., to lurk.

He also dispatched two officers, Pei Daneng and Zhao Shisan, who were transferred to the banner guard due to injuries, to follow the main force of the bandit suppression into Henan to wait for an opportunity.

Pei and Zhao are now the big bosses under Huang Sifang's command, and they are preparing to implement a big plan to break into the core of the rogue bandits.

(End of this chapter)