Haisheng Mingdi

Chapter 501: Big Brother Mighty

"107 villages in Changyuan County were washed away overnight, and 195 villages in Lanyang County were washed away."

"There is a copper tile chamber near the breach. The imperial court set up a river management hall here, and the Tartars also set up a river channel branch here. It is still a very prosperous Yellow River ferry and market town, but now it has been directly destroyed by the flood. The whole Even if the water recedes in the market town, it is estimated that it will be completely buried under the sand!"

"It is estimated that this big decision will affect more than [-] counties in three provinces, ten prefectures, tens of millions of people will be affected, tens of millions of acres of land will be flooded, and the canal will also be affected..."

At the urgently held imperial meeting, Chen Qianfu made a report.

Everyone's heart is heavy.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Yellow River had become a dangerous river, breaking its embankment almost every year, drowning and starving many people every time, causing famine.

Some are natural disasters, some are man-made disasters.

For example, when Li Zicheng flooded Kaifeng, tens of 10 people were drowned, and countless people were affected.

"One more thing, Liu Zeqing was arrested!"

"what happened?"

Liu Zeqing had secretly contacted Daming before, and if he wanted to revolt anyway, Zhu Yihai would naturally welcome him.

"Because of this flood."

Chen Qianfu told the emperor that Liu Zeqing was appointed as the admiral of Shandong by the Tartars, and he sent his cronies to various places to recruit soldiers, serve as regiment training commanders or deputy generals of Xiezhen, etc., contact the old ministry, recruit heroes, and prepare for righteousness in various places.

The plan was not bad. Li Huajing's army in Caozhou Mansion went smoothly at first, but when it was gaining momentum, it was hit by this sudden flood, and Li Huajing's troops suffered heavy losses.

Then Zhang Yutian and others from Caozhou urgently reported to Jinan, saying that Li Huajing had rebelled, and Liu Zeqing was instigating behind the scenes. It happened that after Boluo was defeated, he went north to Jinan. After hearing the report, he immediately sent troops to take Liu Zeqing down.

The mutiny was quickly seized.

Liu Zeqing, his brothers, nephews, and a group of confidantes, more than three hundred people, were all killed by Boluo. Liu Zeqing was even found by an old craftsman by Boluo, who peeled off his skin completely, and then filled the last straw and put it on the table. In the city gate tower of Jinan.

After the remaining [-] people were beheaded, their heads hung all over the walls on both sides of the city gate.

Tulai in Xuzhou also sent troops to arrest Liu Zeqing's confidant Yao Wenchang, Zheng Longfang, etc. after receiving Boluo's urgent order.

Liu Zeqing's plan failed completely.

Generals Boluo, Tulai, and Tan Tai all began to hunt down Liu Zeqing's remnants in various places.

"Do they still have the energy to do this?" Zheng Zhilong shook his head. The Yellow River burst, and more than forty counties in three provinces, ten prefectures, and more than forty counties were affected. They were not busy blocking the disaster relief, but they were still busy suppressing the rebellion?

"The Tatars are so heartless, nothing unusual." Zhu Yihai didn't take it seriously, expecting the Tatars to take responsibility at this time, it would be better to expect the sow to climb the tree.

He tapped on the table.

Liu Zeqing's failure was not worth mentioning to Zhu Yihai. It was a good thing for him to surrender anyway, but Zhu Yihai didn't lose much if he failed.

Zheng Zhilong said, "I think the Yellow River breach may be a good thing for us. From Kaifeng to Jinan, it is 20 miles away. When the Yellow River breaks, it overflows and is out of control. It is estimated that it may not be able to deal with it in [-] years. Well, the flooding in the future is uncertain, and a huge yellow flooding area will surely be formed.

Now that we occupy Denglai, Henan, Beizhi, and Shandong occupied by the Tartars are united as one, but once the water comes out, Shandong and Hebei will be separated, and even the canal will be blocked.

For the Tartars who just abandoned Huainan, this will definitely make things worse, but for us, it will be more helpful for us to hold on to Denglei. "

As soon as Zheng Zhilong's words came out, he got a lot of approval.

From a purely military point of view, this is true.

After the Yellow River broke its embankment, it took several months for the water to recede. In the end, it did not disappear all at once. It was impossible for the Yellow River to be obedient and honest if it was not re-drained. into the sea.

Or we can only rebuild one of the old northern Yellow River courses. This is a huge project, and we have to build embankments to confine the Yellow River in a new embankment, which is [-] miles long to the sea in Shandong.

Where did the current Tartars get this ability?

Then we can only let it flood. In the dry season, it may be divided into several streams. In the rainy season, it may flood again.

This large yellow flood area will become a disaster area, and even barren land will become a natural buffer area. Roads, bridges, and canals will be greatly affected, and many cities will even be relocated.

Such a yellow flood zone will pose great obstacles to the use of troops.

More importantly, with such a large disaster, coupled with the two policies of abandoning the Huaihe River and moving to the sea, as well as the military threat of Denglai, the Tartars could not get supplies in this disaster area, and it was difficult to persist in this battle.

"We can take this opportunity to wipe out the Qing troops in Shandong one by one!"

Zhu Yihai looked at the map and drew a yellow flooded area on it. It was a very wide yellow flooded belt. There were ten prefectures and forty prefectures and counties in this area, all of which had become disaster areas. Countless people were now displaced.

The flood had no effect on the Ming army, because the flooded areas were all within the control of the Qing army, and Zhu Yihai only lost Liu Zeqing, a surrendered general.

This flood, on the contrary, will reduce the pressure on Denglai.

But he couldn't be happy either.

This flood will directly drown tens of thousands of people, but what is even more terrifying is the subsequent epidemic and famine. If it fails, millions of people may die, and the Central Plains may really become a ghost land.

The north of the Yellow River is broken, but the pressure on the south bank and downstream has been relieved, and the river embankments in Xuyanyi, Taiguide and several prefectures will not be in danger.

But even if they were not affected by the floods, the people in so many states and counties in the north will definitely come to the south, and they will have to face a large number of hungry people.

When there are too many hungry people, they will inevitably become thieves. This is inevitable. People don't want to die.

There are native villages everywhere in Shandong, Henan, and this may be even more serious.

Such a situation is beneficial to the Ming Dynasty. If they can take advantage of this opportunity to gather hungry people from all over the country to revolt, it will be very difficult for the Tartars to live in western Henan and Shandong.

But such a serious disaster, even if the Ming army can take it down, it will be difficult to defend.

·······
Guide Mansion, Yongcheng, Mangdang Mountain, Heilou Village.

Xu Zhongyi's attack on Heilouzhai went smoothly, even more smoothly than expected, Zhao Heihu was killed by the gate of the village, and the village immediately collapsed.

The Red Gun Club moved the supplies in the village, and it took three days to finish the move.

The people didn't waste anything, even took away the chairs.

Grain, cattle, seeds, agricultural tools, and furniture and kitchen utensils are not kept.

Finally, the captives were taken away.

The people who were attached to Heilouzhai were now summoned to the front of the village. Xu Zhongyi announced to them that there will be no Heilouzhai in the future, and there will be no head of Zhao.

From now on, the Red Gun Club will have the final say.

Xu Zhongyi opened a new altar in the original Heilou stockade, appointed several senior brothers and instructors, and stationed a battalion of Red Spearmen.

The people nearby were originally tenants of Heilouzhai, but now they are members of the Red Spear Society.

Xu Zhongyi handed over those lands directly to the common people to continue farming, and they had to pay rent, but [-]% was split, the common people were [-]%, the Red Gun Club was [-]%, and the Red Gun Club charged them [-]% of the rent. Looted by other soil fortresses, thieves and thieves, and even exempted from government taxes and labor.

He even held an altar opening meeting directly in the stockade, directly selected a thousand young and strong people from among the people to join the meeting, awarded them the status of Red Spear members, and organized two battalions for them, and handed them over to the left-behind brothers to lead. Farming in busy time, practicing guns in leisure time, recruiting in case of war.

Fatty Wang is indifferent to these things, or he can't care if he wants to. Although he is also promoted to the general, he is not only his adopted brother, but also the newly adopted son of Admiral Xu. The meeting is still so fierce, how dare he care too much.

Wouldn't it be nice to set up a stove under a big tree, roast a sheep, and have a pot of wine?

What are you doing?
Heilouzhai was conquered, and those who added his name to the victory report, it is enough to share the credit. As for the others, it is better to leave it alone.

Brother Xu Zhongyi did not treat him badly.

for this operation.

The members of Yongcheng Red Gun were very happy, everyone got some things, and those who came to move things with them were also very happy, and they also got some things.

After all, Heilouzhai is a large village. In the past, tens of thousands of refugees were recruited to farm and farm for them. While collecting rent, they also looted houses everywhere, and even sold salt, grain and cloth. There are indeed a lot of good things in the village. .

Those who come have a share and can share a little.

Anyway, this time basically did not make any effort, let alone casualties.

And the people under the stockade are quite satisfied. The Heilou Village is gone, so they are not affected. They should continue to farm, and even the rent has been reduced. It used to be [-]% to [-]%, but [-]% of the rent was paid and [-]% was kept. You have to do some hard work for free.

But the Red Gun Club is much more generous.

After beating Heilouzhai, everyone's morale was high.

And some people in Heilou Village were even willing to provide some information about other villages, so after a short rest, Xu Zhongyi led his troops to take advantage of the victory to attack the other villages in Mangdang Mountain.

These villages are much smaller than Heilouzhai, the big one has two or three thousand people, and the small one has only one or two hundred people, and these two 3000 people are actually similar to Heilouzhai, and the brothers in the real villages are actually only a few dozen or so. One or two hundred, and the rest are refugees who are dependent on farming at the foot of the mountain.

After taking several villages in a row, other small villages in the mountains either fled upon hearing the news, or surrendered on the wind.

Anyway, no one dared to stand up to Senior Brother Xu from the Red Spear Society anymore.

Every time Xu Zhongyi takes down a stockade, he must first kill a few recalcitrant leaders, then copy the stockade to share the spoils, open a sub-altar, re-locate the tenants, recruit some young and strong to join the association, and keep some brothers to garrison.

Come down in a circle.

Mangdang Mountain in Yongcheng has changed from dozens of villages to a site full of Red Spear Clubs.

The displaced people attached to each village have also become members and tenants of the Red Spear Society, and the surrounding lands are naturally all under the name of the Red Spear Society.

The Red Gun Society suddenly increased its dependent population by nearly [-], and recruited six battalion members.

(End of this chapter)