Jingming

Chapter 260 The dead friend is not dead

The big boss just gave a light A, and Qi Yuanda, the Shandong elite monster, bottomed out.

The next move is especially critical, Qi Yuanda decided to go to the negative altitude.

After throwing his body to the ground, Qi Yuanda said in fear: "My minister...you must follow His Majesty's orders for everything..."

What else?He is now in front of the emperor, and there are several guards inside and outside the Confucian Temple.Since he can't go to the sky, and since he doesn't want to go to the west, he can only move in this way.

"I know the inside story of the grain transportation. I have said it, it has always been like this, and it is understandable." Zhu Houcong's tone softened a little, "After I succeeded to the throne, you did not miss the important matter of grain transportation, which shows that you still have talent."

"...I am loyal and loyal, and I dare not delay the important matter of food transportation." Qi Yuan's voice came from the floor nervously.

Still talented, the emperor's evaluation made him really relieved: it seems that he can not only save his life, but also continue to be an official?
"Get up first, I will give you a seat, and you will sit."

Only then did Qi Yuanda know that the emperor bestowed the seat just now, and he might have predicted all his subsequent reactions.Now after being beaten and expressing his opinion, and then sitting on the small bench given by the emperor, he really can only obey everything.

What does the emperor want him to do?

After listening to him thanking him, Zhu Houcong saw him put half of his buttocks on the small round stool, glanced at his trembling legs due to sitting empty and fear, and slightly raised the corners of his mouth: "Let's talk about it now, Shandong wants to try a new method. What are you going to do?"

"...The minister should set an example and assist Zhang Dutai with all his strength."

Zhu Houcong smiled first, and then nodded: "Just now, the three people in Linqing Chaoguan were here, and I compared the total amount and growth rate of other taxes in Linqing City and the income of the banknote customs over the years. Accounts, there is no need to check carefully .Jiang Guanqing said truthfully that most merchants entrust water ships to transport goods to avoid tax, so the deed tax collected by merchants and merchants in Linqing City grew much faster than that of Chaoguan. Judging from the population of Linqing and the total amount of goods to and from, Qi Yuanda , Do you estimate how much tax money is missed by the Bank of China each year?"

"...Chen...Chen..."

Qi Yuanda wanted to kneel again, but Zhu Houcong said: "I have already said it, it has always been like this, it is understandable, I am not going to punish you for your crimes. The Cao army has difficulties with the Cao army, but what is the actual situation now, I want to be clear .”

"My minister estimates... when Cao Jun's generals passed Linqing, the total taxable amount of the merchant's property and goods they brought each year... was about 15 taels?" Qi Yuanda gritted his teeth and said a number, and then sweated profusely.

He was talking about all the tank boats of the Cao army, not just his family in the capital of Shandong.

But this number is terrifying. If these are added, the annual income of Linqing Chaoguan can be tripled.

In his apprehensive eyes, the emperor was very pleased: "From this point of view, Cao Jun's transshipment capacity is actually quite impressive, and it is not limited to 400 million shi tax grains per year."

Driven by interests, how did Cao Jun and businessmen communicate and cooperate?

There is a limit of "private goods" that each ship is allowed to carry. After arriving at each bank, how did the officials of the bank check with the Cao Jun ship?

It is illegal on the surface, and businessmen cannot be completely cost-free, so who will collect the money they pay, and then manage the entire profit chain?

Seeing Qi Yuanda speak, Zhu Houcong began to ask him these questions seriously.

After learning more about the inside story, Zhu Houcong said abruptly: "Qi Yuanda, your Shandong boss, how many soldiers and boats do you really have now?"

Although Qi Yuanda had been nervous all the time, he was still tense at this time, and answered the number that was "determinable".

However, Zhu Houcong looked at him for a moment, and then slowly said: "The Cao army was allowed to carry some earthen instruments, but the profits from it every year are so huge. The court's favor was to help the Cao army maintain the water tanks, secure the Raising Cao Bing and employing Cao Ding and Cao Gong. However, the teaching of inaction is spreading more and more widely, and most of the believers are Cao Bing, Cao Ding, and Cao Gong. The reason is that their lives are difficult."

When the emperor suddenly said this, Qi Yuanda already understood the meaning, so his teeth began to chatter a little.

"Before I followed the old routine, I don't need to pursue it; you used the water boats, soldiers, men, and laborers to earn money but didn't give them much money. In the future, you should be more sympathetic to their difficulties." Zhu Houcong reminded him calmly. , "Now I'm asking, if you don't answer truthfully, then you will be deceiving the king face to face."

"...the minister...the minister is guilty."

Qi Yuanda wanted to kneel again, but Zhu Houcong didn't stop him.

In the case of the Shandong Metropolitan General, nearly [-]% of the tank boats used do not actually belong to the Cao army; on each boat, most of them are now just a flag armor, a master book, and a tank soldier accompanying the boat to lead the battle.

There are more than [-] Cao troops on the list, but there are actually only more than [-] people.

Zhu Houcong nodded: "Shandong bandits, the Cao Army and both sides of the canal have contributed a lot. Qi Yuanda, you did not suppress the bandits well, and you did not manage the Cao Army well. You have earned a lot of money after staying in Shandong for so long .”

"...Criminals can only be dealt with."

Mood fluctuates a lot, back and forth, still have to dig up old accounts.

"three things."

"I respectfully listen to the oracle!"

"First, from the day when the "Laws of the Ming Dynasty" was rebuilt, after you have paid the grain and salary owed by Cao Jun, the rest of the profit will be doubled and handed over to Gao Zhong."

Qi Yuanda was in great pain, but his heart began to relax again: "I obey the order!"

"Secondly, find out the entrances of the water workers in Linqing, who is the leader, and who is under their command. They rely on the canal for their livelihood. You will still use them to transport food this year."

"Yes!"

"Third." After a pause, Zhu Houcong said, "Shandong is trying out the new law, and the chief of the Shandong capital of the Cao Army will definitely attract attention. I want you to be in the Cao army and find out everything about each general, including cooperation with each general. A close family of big businessmen, officials and gentry."

Qi Yuan was frightened, he wanted him to take advantage of the fact that he was still the chief of Cao Jun, and other generals would come to ask him about the situation, so as to get a full understanding of the current situation of Cao Jun.

Including the crimes, including everyone related to the interests of water transportation.

Looking at the fierce eyes of the emperor, Qi Yuanda knocked his head heavily: "I obey the order! After I go back, I will do it one by one, and focus on suppressing the bandits!"

A dead fellow Taoist will never die a poor Taoist.His Majesty didn't do this until Linqing, and it was his own opportunity.

When he has a job, Cao Jun is bound to change drastically.

Now that he has paid the "atonement silver" and has not been demoted, he has a chance.If you grasp it well, you may have a bright future.

Is it possible to bet on the success of those rebellious thieves at this moment?

After Qi Yuan walked out sweating profusely, Li Na and Yang Tingyi came out from the next room.

When he came out, he pleaded guilty: "The shortage of tank ships is so far apart, and the officials are not effective. The Yangzhou, Qingjiangpu, Linqing, Jining, Xuzhou, Xiazhen, and Nanwang branches of the Ministry of Industry are probably all deceived by one mind. "

"It's normal, you know what you're doing, and you should check what needs to be checked."

"The Ministry of War..." Yang Tingyi, who is still serving as the left servant of the Ministry of War to avoid suspicion, is very entangled. "There are already a lot of vacancies in the guard, and the soldiers are registered in the original guard, which is even more involved."

"This matter is not urgent." Zhu Houcong said lightly, "When Huguang drives the rebels to the border of Fujian and Jiangxi, and orders the guards to mobilize elite troops to suppress them, the problems of the guards will naturally no longer be covered up. At that time, the rebellion The general trend is certain, and there is no need to worry about another chaos among the guards."

……

As soon as the Emperor Yujia arrived in Shandong, it caused a huge shock, but for the time being, the shock was only transmitted north and south along the canal, affecting new interests.

On the other side of Hengyang City, the army has completely formed a three-sided siege.

Except for Huiyan Peak in the south of the city and the camp on the Leishui River in the southeast of the city, Hengyang City already faces the army of the Northern and Eastern courts across the river.

In the west of the city, Zhu Qi piled up earth as a mountain.

Seeing the rising and approaching earth mountain day by day, this is obviously a posture to transfer big guns and build weapons to attack the city.

For Pu Zitong, the good news is mainly three points: no shortage of water, no shortage of food for the time being, and safety on the road ahead.

"Gu Shilong can't afford to be defeated!" Pu Zitong firmly believed in this, boosting his morale every day, "It's been so long since the city has been besieged, but he still doesn't dare to cross the river to attack. Why should we be afraid if we only hold on to the west side of the city? We also expect us to abandon the city and flee to the south, but we Not Tang Peiyu!"

Zhan Huabi remained silent.

The original Chang Dewei brought by him was in charge of guarding the west of the city. If the enemy's attack was only focused on the west of the city, then Zhan Huabi's men would be the most exhausted.

He didn't want to argue with Pu Zitong, but he didn't understand why Gu Shilong had to be so conservative.

Crossing the river and attacking the city will indeed cause heavy damage, but without cutting off the retreat of the Hengyang defenders in the south, and without putting more pressure on them, is it necessary to hand over the credit to Zhu Qi like this?

The problem is that Zhu Qi in the west has only [-] troops.

The Hengyang garrison still owns the land several counties south of Leishui leading to Chenzhou Prefecture, so it is not a problem to defend the entire winter.

Should the autumn grain be harvested now?In Nanzhili, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Huguang and other places affected by the disaster, problems should be brewing and erupting, and the pressure from the imperial court should be great.

"Captain Zhan, I'm counting on you for the western city wall. The enemy army has not yet attacked, and the trenches outside the city wall need to be built urgently. General Yan!"

"The end is here!"

Yan Chun, whose pseudonym is Yan Daniu, has healed from his injuries, and he appeared to be full of energy when he heard the words and clasped his fists.

"You are good at convincing the crowd, and the brave men recruited in the city will be commanded by you, and you will go out of the city every day to build trenches and fortresses!"

"The last general takes orders!"

This is a desperate job. Under the watchful eyes of the enemy troops in the west of the city, they have to dig trenches and arrange fortifications outside the west city wall.

There are mounds of earth on the other side, and trenches are being dug on this side.One for easier offense and one for better defense.

Yan Daniu's original subordinates have been dispersed, and they are temporarily assigned to the guards of each gate, and they are deployed outside the city wall.If the enemy couldn't break through this line of defense next to the city wall, they couldn't enter the city either.

For one thing, the places in the city are limited after all, and it will be too crowded after entering.Secondly, it will also drastically increase the consumption and instability of materials in the city-now at least they can fetch water outside the city.

After Yan Daniu recovered from his injury, he was assigned the most difficult job until today.

How many people are willing to apply to become brave, and they want to go out of the city to do hard work under the eyes of the enemy?
The prefect of Nabu is responsible for this matter.

At the moment when the army was besieging the city, the prefect Bu could not control so much.In the city or outside the city, it doesn't matter whether they are sent as servants, or they are given food and salaries while limiting supplies. Anyway, more than [-] people were recruited.

Yan Daniu once again had a team that was sparse, listless, and terrified.

"You, what's your name? What did you do before?"

After inspecting the team, Yan Daniu pointed to a strong man and asked.

"...Marshal, my name is Cai Jia, I used to butcher pigs and sell meat."

"Look, you have a lot of strength! The commander-in-chief sounds strange, you come to be the banner chief of the first battalion."

Yan Daniu patrolled the team and ordered some people, and said: "What are you afraid of? You just go out of the city to do masonry and carpentry. You have never seen a war, and it is not so easy to fight! There are too many sentries. Move over there, here You know it. Follow me, and I will take you back to the city first for safekeeping. You don’t know how to fight, and it takes a lot of hard work to defend the city!"

He pointed out many people in his special way, arranged for them one by one the next person, and also learned about the situation in their families as usual.

"I killed Tang Peiyu, the former commander of the Changsha Guards, in the camp of Chaoyang. He was the first and most important person of the governor! Except for your life, the promised rations and wages, I will come back for you. But , you have to listen to Lao Tzu and sell your strength outside the city!"

"The commander-in-chief said so, so I don't worry!" Cai Jia, who had just become the banner chief, seemed to have become a loyal subordinate.

In this way, after a little training, Yan Daniu took the two thousand or so scattered men Zhuang Yong out of the city, and started to work a hundred steps away from the west of the city.

Here, it is less than two miles away from the enemy.

Outside the city wall, there were already temporary camps within a hundred paces.

The defenders in the camp can consume them for one round before the enemy army approaches.After withdrawing into the city, the destroyed camps will become obstacles again.If the enemy army does not clean up, there is no way to easily attack the city.If you want to clean up, you have to face the massacre of the defenders on the city wall.

Zhan Huabi and Pu Zitong stood on the city wall and looked at the peasants who had started to work in the distance, and they felt a lot more relaxed.

"If you want to attack from the west of the city, at least tens of thousands of lives must be filled here!" Pu Zitong patted him on the shoulder with certainty, "If you can dig a trench several feet wide outside the camp, if you are, you will Won't you be intimidated?"

Zhan Huabi nodded, squinting his eyes to see the shadow in armor patrolling in the distance: "He is dressed so brightly, I'm not afraid that Zhu Qi will send someone to capture him."

Pu Zitong laughed: "With the arrow in his hand, I hope Zhu Qi will personally lead someone to capture him. There is a camp behind him. It is safe for him to escape by himself. He just left some civilians behind."

Zhan Huabi looked back to the east, then frowned again and said, "What are they waiting for? That's it, how do you break through Hengyang City?"

Pu Zitong was full of confidence: "If you want to cross the river, you must first prepare for tens of thousands of casualties. When you attack the west of the city, you only need to defend one side. If you attack the Leishui camp, [-] strong soldiers there can hold out for several days. Go back to Yanfeng Peak Above, there is also one of your most elite thousand households. We don’t care what they are waiting for. All I know is that Daming has no way to break through hundreds of feet. It is to attack by water. This year’s drought, and soon It's going to be winter!"

Zhan Huabi didn't say anything, but still squinted his eyes, looking at Yan Daniu's figure.

Generally speaking, this is the case.

It is indeed too difficult to attack such a Hengyang city from the outside.

But what if it was breached from the inside?

For some reason, Zhan Huabi was always wary of Yan Chunsheng.

Even if he is now taking the risk to strengthen the defense capability of Hengyang City.

In the distance, Yan Chunsheng turned his head and looked at Hengyang City.

I don't know where Commander Luo and the second brother are now.

(End of this chapter)