Great Qing Dynasty talker

Chapter 368: There are starving people everywhere. If you want to stabilize Jiangxi, Your Majesty must either feed them with food or with bullets!
However, the fat and shrewd Mr. Lu would not release the grain.

Not only were they reluctant to bear the loss, but they also knew that if they released the grain at this time, it would be eaten up by the increasing number of hungry people.

To some extent, the current game is a dead end!

No solution!

Unless, we can hold on until the county government sends troops.

……

"Listen up, all the servants of the Lu family. If you fight off the hungry people, each of you will be rewarded 5 taels, no, 10 taels. If you see blood, I will promote you to be the housekeeper afterwards."

More than a dozen servants, as well as the helpers, tenant farmers, grooms and craftsmen all picked up their tools.

The young master of the Lu family led the group, holding a jade-inlaid sword.

The leading man outside shouted again:

"Master, please give us some food. This year, the grain collected from the rich households is higher than in previous years, and we have suffered a flood. We are really at a loss~"

"My dear cousins, my family is large and we don't have any surplus food."

As he spoke, a dozen silver ingots were thrown out.

Plop, plop, splashing water in the yellow mud soup.

The leading man bent down and fished out a silver ingot from the water, wiped off the mud, and held it high above his head.

in the sun,
The notched silver ingot shines brightly.

"Did you see it, cousins? It's a reward from Master Lu, five taels!"

Someone cursed:

"We need food, what's the use of silver?"

"Rob, rob the food."

……

Life will find a way.

When it comes to life and death, the Jiangxi people are always willing to fight to the death.

A large crowd of people rushed towards the Lu family compound through the mud and water.

The servants guarding the door swung their knives wildly, bringing out splashes of blood, turning the yellow mud water outside the mansion into red mud water.

however,
The bloody killing did not scare the hungry people who were grabbing food, but instead aroused their anger.

quickly,

The outnumbered servants were knocked over, trampled to death, and drowned.

The Lu family compound was breached~
The crowds of people moved like a swarm of ants, searching for food to fill their stomachs.

The kitchen, accounting office, woodshed, and storeroom were smashed open one by one.

The starving man grabbed a handful of hard, rough raw rice and stuffed it into his mouth. Even if his mouth was full of blood, he was unaware.

……

Mr. Lu died, his head was cut open and red and white were mixed together.

Young Master Lu was even worse, his face was smashed into a pulp by a hoe~
The boudoir in the back house,
The unmarried daughter of the Lu family hid in the corner and screamed.

however,
None of the hungry people who rushed in even looked at her, and they scrambled to clear away all the exquisite pastries on the table.

There was a person who was slow and didn't get it.

She actually mistook a box of rouge for food and stuffed it into her mouth.

It has a scent and a weird taste.

But it doesn't matter. A hungry stomach can digest anything.

The hungry people came and went,
No one had any evil thoughts about Miss Lu who was so close to them. This was the case with people who were really hungry. Their minds were full of desire for food! No matter how beautiful a woman was, she was not as delicious as a steamed bun!

……

The heavy rain has basically stopped.

The incremental era of floods has ended and entered the stock stage.

The Wu army navy sent small boats to land on Meiling Mountain.

Liu Wu came in person, perhaps because he had experienced the rebellion of the Qingshui Sect in Linqing. He was very sober, which was a necessary attitude.

"How's the situation outside?"

"Your Majesty, Jiujiang, Hukou, and Pengze were all hit by floods and suffered serious damage. Raozhou Prefecture was slightly affected."

"Where are the eight prefectures in Jiangnan?"

"This is a handwritten letter from Lord Fan. Your Majesty, please read it yourself."

A wrinkled letter sealed with wax.

The report is a full 5 pages long and contains very rich content.

Li Yu simply read it and felt relieved:

"Fan Jing said that the eight prefectures in Jiangnan are fine. There is slight waterlogging in the area around Taihu Lake. However, the drought this spring has had a greater impact on the grain harvest. In addition, Wusimai's light cavalry has arrived at the key areas in Jiangnan."

"Congratulations, Your Majesty. Once the flood recedes, our army can take Jiangxi in one fell swoop."

Li Yu drank a sip of tea.
Looking into the distance, it was a mess.

He uttered faintly:
"War and plague are originally twin brothers. Flood and plague are more like a pair of dew lovers. Liu Wu, do you understand what I mean?"

……

Liu Wu knelt on one knee with a serious expression:
"I ask your Majesty to issue an order. The navy is willing to be your unsheathed sword."

Li Yu had his back to him.
He said calmly:
"You have three things to do. First, send the news that I and the army are safe back to Wu. Second, gather enough ships. The main force will temporarily leave Jiangxi and will not return before autumn. Third, gather the main force of the navy and cooperate with the army to land in Jiangbei, destroy the Jiangbei camp and the Anqing camp."

"The minister obeys the order."

Liu Wu hurriedly left on a small boat.

time is tight,

Li Yu wrote five letters in a row and stamped each of them with his own gold seal.

……

The messenger carried the first letter and urgently requisitioned all transport ships in the nearest section of the Yangtze River in southern Anhui, which was expected to meet the crossing needs of 1 people.

This is the first wave of troops crossing the river - target, Anqing Prefecture.

The second letter was sent to inform the Minister of Industry Du Ren, who was asked to mobilize all ships under the Transportation Bureau and the industrial and mining departments to urgently transport the Second Corps and the First Corps stationed in Jiangning upstream.

This is the second wave of troops crossing the river - target, Jiangbei camp.

It is expected that the two waves will be about 20 days apart.

……

The third letter was to Fan Jing, asking him to coordinate merchants to produce and transport military supplies.

Once the army lands in Jiangbei, logistics will be the key.

The fourth letter is to Liu Qian!

He was praised for his excellent work and his counter-espionage strategy, which caused chaos in the rear of the Qing army.

The fifth letter is to Hu Xueyu.

Ask him to assist in collecting the spring grain and not be careless to ensure that every grain is stored in the warehouse.

The collection standards remain unchanged. Although the output is not high this year, the standards are not high either. I think the people can afford it.

Moreover, corvee labor was abolished in all eight prefectures in Jiangnan. Li Yu had no intention of continuing to be lenient, otherwise he would be pedantic.

The State of Wu is not yet that wealthy!
……

"Your Majesty, they are coming."

The 2nd Corps: Miao Youlin and Zheng Hean.

Huang Si and Li Xiaowu of the 4th Legion.

There was also Chief of Staff Tan Muguang and the 1st Expeditionary Army Gan Changsheng.

"Sit down, no need to be polite."

Li Yu whispered to a guard:
"No one is allowed within 10 feet of the central army tent."

"Yes."

Everyone was suddenly shocked and realized that a big action was about to take place.

Li Yu said seriously:
"With war and floods coming one after another, what will Jiangxi be like in the next few months? Have you ever thought about it?"

Zheng Hean immediately replied:
"Your Majesty, Jiangxi will be short of food and there will be civil unrest. I am very familiar with this."

No one laughed out loud because Lao Zheng was telling the truth.

Floods have always been the bell for Huaixi people to start their own businesses and go public.

……

Li Yu added:
"In addition to civil unrest, there is also plague."

Everyone's face immediately turned bad.

Tan Muguang twisted and turned in his chair uncomfortably, perhaps he had thought of something.

"Floods, corpses, and high temperatures, these three things together make me feel cold just thinking about them~ So I decided to move the army eastward and attack the Jiangbei camp and Anqing camp in a flash, to build a northern barrier for my Wu country."

Everyone stood up and knelt on one knee in awe.

"Long live your majesty, long live the Wu Kingdom."

"This news must be kept secret. Zheng Hean!"

"The minister is here."

"You will be the vanguard and lead the first wave of elite troops to cross the river and attack Anqing."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your trust."

Zheng Hean's face flushed with excitement. Finally, this opportunity had come.

We have already reached Anqing, is it still far from my hometown?
Huang Si asked:

"Your Majesty, what should we do about Jiangxi?"

"We will not give up the prefectures and counties east of Poyang Lake. We will give up all other cities west and north of Poyang Lake except Nanchang and Jiujiang."

Everyone looked regretful.

It's such a pity to give up the territory we fought so hard to conquer.

……

Li Yu had a weird smile on his face:
"Send an envoy to talk to Ma Zhongyi and ask him to redeem the city. The first deal is for the three counties of Dongxiang, Jinxian and Jinxi, with a package price of 3 taels. Let Sima Shang be in charge of this matter. I believe he will be able to control Ma Zhongyi." Everyone laughed.

Li Yu also laughed. Actually, there was a reason that he did not say because of his status.

The spring grain harvest in Jiangxi has failed. What should we do next?
People need to eat, and if they don’t have food, they will definitely rebel.

After the flood receded and the roads were restored,
With the Wu army's field combat strength, without saving gunpowder, they could have captured Linjiang, Ruizhou, Ji'an, and Fuzhou in one go in just a month or so.

By saving gunpowder and using the 1st Expeditionary Army as the vanguard, we can capture these territories before the end of the year.

……

and then,
Faced with the starving people everywhere in southern and central Jiangxi, if you want to maintain order, you either have to feed them with food or feed them with bullets.

The Jiangxi gentry hated him to the core.

How could they not take the opportunity to stir up trouble behind the scenes and incite the hungry people to revolt?

If he wanted to stabilize Jiangxi, he would need enough troops, enough food, and enough grassroots civil service teams.

Tell yourself rationally,

No!

Jiangbei is under great military pressure, and maritime trade has only opened up a small part of the market. It is not yet time for industry and commerce to give back.
I am not qualified to be a benevolent monarch.

……

There is no need to be a tyrant if you don't want to be a benevolent king.

It’s better to cheat an old acquaintance.

After all, Lao Ma took 500 taels from him, and the payment period is quite long, so the interest must be compounded. He is just a general and certainly can't pay it back, so he can only charge some interest first.

Big head, I’ll collect it later!
Sima Shang happily accepted the task. He laughed after hearing about the past between His Majesty and Ma Zhongyi.

He patted his chest and said to the guard who came to deliver the message:
"Leave it to me. Your Majesty is wise. Ma Zhongyi must redeem the city. This is the only choice before him."

Sima Shang is not stupid.
He picked up his pen and wrote a letter of several thousand words, and asked a soldier from the 4th Legion to deliver it.

The soldier's name was Fu Chao. He was from Changzhou Prefecture and was a street thug before joining Wu's army.

After joining, he is still a villain.

He likes to insult his teammates, charge into battle from the back, and grab the spoils from the front.

He was beaten with a military stick three times and publicly criticized twice.

……

Although he was so naughty, he did not die by military law because he was very sensible and only committed minor mistakes.

The real beheading clause,
He never commits it!
In short, he is a person from Diaozhou who is not afraid of anything but knows what he is doing and has some ambition but not much.

Be a messenger,
The rewards are great, and you may not be snapped up on the spot.

Sima Shang promised that if he could deal with Ma Zhongyi, he would give him a reward of 200 taels of silver and a promotion to the next level, which was a generous reward.

……

Luo Shan,

Ma Zhongyi put down the wine glass in his hand and asked doubtfully:

"What did you say? Say it again?"

"The fake King of Wu has sent an envoy, asking to see you."

"Cut it off~"

"..."

Zheyong persuaded:
"Old Ma, it's not too late to kill him after we meet."

Ma Zhongyi sighed:

"Hey, brother, you have lived in the grassland for a long time, you don't understand how bad people can be. People in Jiangnan are too cunning, especially this Li Yu, you will fall into the trap after meeting him once."

Zheyong was greatly surprised:

"I don't believe it. How about I see it first? You hide at the back and listen."

"to make."

Fu Chao, who looked ordinary, just poked his head in.

Zheyong drank too much, his face turned red, and he slammed the table:
"Hurry up and tell me. Give me one stick of incense to convince you. If you can't convince me, I will cut out your heart and stomach and make you a snack."

……

Fu Chao naturally saw that this was blackmail.

So let’s get straight to the point:
"Your Majesty asked me to tell Lao Ma that, for the sake of our old acquaintance, our army is willing to give up Dongxiang County, Jinxian County, and Jinxi County in exchange for your recovery of lost territory. I have said that, if you are not interested, just kill me."

After saying that, Fu Chao sat down at the table.

He grabbed a fat chicken, tore it in half, and took big bites.

He also poured himself a bowl of wine:

"The chicken is OK, but too salty. Is Jiangxi salt unsalable?"

Zheyong’s little eyes blinked repeatedly and he was unable to come back to his senses for a long time.

I couldn't help but turn my head and look behind the screen.

Ma Zhongyi sighed.

Walk out slowly:

"I am a second-rank official in the imperial court. It is impossible for me to make deals with bandits like you."

Fu Chao took a big gulp of wine:

"If you don't do it, someone else will. Guizhou Green Camp, Yunnan Green Camp, Guangxi Green Camp, as well as the prefects of Linjiang and Ruizhou, do you think they will be tempted? 10 taels for three counties, what a good deal."

……

Ma Zhongyi hesitated to speak.

Zheyong's little eyes looked around.

inside the hall,

It was very quiet for a moment, with only the sound of Fu Chao gnawing on the fat chicken.

He threw the chicken bones on the ground.
Said:

"Our terms are verbal, not written down~"

"..."

"Recovering lost territory means at least one level up, right? Or two?"

"..."

"Your Majesty, isn't Ma Zhongyi's job as a groom in Shengjing enough? If he insists on being stubborn, we will give three county towns to the Guizhou Green Camp. We will give them away for free, not even a penny. Then we will let Wang Shenglie impeach him and have him killed. Oh, and these three are just the beginning. There may be more cities later."

Ma Zhongyi touched the hilt of the knife angrily.

After a long time, it finally loosened.

"Brother, shall we sit down and talk?"

Fu Chao's heart trembled.
Trying to calm down, he smiled and said:
"Okay, can we change the table?"

"Hahahaha~ Tell the cook to put less chili and soy sauce and more sugar in the dish. Go get a fresh mandarin fish from the pond and steam it. Don't put anything else in it except scallion, ginger, salt and cooking wine."

Zheyong's eyes widened for the first time:

“Will the food taste good if cooked this way?”

Ma Zhongyi smiled and said:
"They like."

……

Zheyong held a bone in his mouth and looked at Ma Zhongyi with sympathy.

I thought,

Lao Ma, I believe you. As soon as we met, I was plotted against, and there was no way to avoid it.

They actually used "recovering the city" to make a move! !

No one in power can resist this kind of temptation.

In our Qing Dynasty, we are very sensitive about "losing cities" and likewise, we attach great importance to "recovering lost cities".

With this military achievement, both civil and military officials can be promoted one level immediately.

Today, if we two are loyal, others may not be loyal. There is a high probability that someone will seek the skin of the tiger!
No way, let's talk~
The two sides sat down and talked in secret for an hour, and finally reached an agreement, all verbally~
Lao Ma felt very disgusted, but his body was still honest.

After bargaining, he successfully reduced the price to 7 taels.

When the Wu army retreated, he paid half, and when his flag was planted on the city wall, he paid the other half.

……

When the messenger Fu Chao came down the mountain,
Ma Zhongyi asked casually:
"You guys, are you going to leave Jiangxi?"

Fu Chao was stunned. With his level, how could he know the next strategic direction?

So he made up a story:
"Yes, the Northern Expedition!"

Ma Zhongyi and Zheyong were shocked when they heard this, but they said nothing.

The two sides agreed,

Delivery in 5 days! No waiting after expiration.

……

Looking at the back of the person leaving on the sedan chair.

Zheyong lowered his voice and asked:

"Is the Wu army really going to march north?"

"Impossible, it must be the Western Expedition."

"What?"

"These bastards in Jiangnan are so scheming." Ma Zhongyi suddenly looked excited, "I guess why the fake King Wu gave up the territory that was in his hands."

"What?"

"People in Suzhou have a characteristic: they despise the poor and love the rich. Jiangxi suffered a flood this year and the grain harvest was poor. They thought it was chicken ribs with little meat and didn't want to eat it. But this year, the harvest in the two lakes happened to be great!"

Zheyong suddenly realized and felt that his brother’s analysis was really reasonable!

Blinking his eyes, he sighed:
"Real grandson~"

(End of this chapter)