There is a space for passenger planes in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 269 Take full control of Luoyang (Part )

Luoyang City, Prince Fu's Mansion.

Prince Fu's Mansion was built by Shenzong with an allocation of 380,000 taels of silver. It covers an area of ​​nearly a hundred acres. It has many palaces, lush flowers and trees, and is extremely luxurious.

The outer palace has the Yimen, the Holy Archway, the Zhongzheng Hall, the Emperor's En Hall and nearly a hundred wing rooms. In front of the back door of the outer palace, there is a wall that is more than one foot high and three feet wide. Facing south, two dragons are playing with pearls. He went to the north and wrote "The Emperor's grace is great".

The inner palace has three gates and a pair of stone lions on the outside. In front of the gate is a large screen wall with a message of longevity to the emperor facing north, and two dragons playing with pearls facing south.

In the inner palace, there are private houses on the left and right, a living room and a study room in the middle, Wenchang Building is built at the back, and the martial arts training ground and Tutu Temple are in the east. To the west is the garden. An artificial lake is built in the garden, and the spring water from the Lotus Temple is introduced into the lake. Pavilions, terraces and pavilions are built on the shore of the lake. The rockeries and rocks are quite spectacular.

It is a pity that such a good palace is left in the hands of these stupid and fat princes. Taking advantage of this time to invade Luoyang, King Fu was killed and the prince fled. Lin Feng ordered the remaining concubines and eunuchs in King Fu's palace to be driven to a courtyard in the inner palace.

He did not hesitate to occupy this luxurious palace and use it as the temporary base of the Zhenming Army in Luoyang. Otherwise, it would be difficult to find a place for Lin Feng's personal guard brigade to be stationed in Luoyang City for a while.

In the main hall of the palace, Lin Feng was organizing and discussing matters related to the attack on Luoyang.

It turned out that the setting of the palace, with the prince's throne high up and the positions on both sides far apart, only reflected the majesty of the imperial power and was completely unsuitable for discussion.

So Lin Feng ordered the original furnishings to be removed, and a long table was set up in the middle of the hall. He sat at the top, and the others sat on both sides. Everyone was close together, which was more suitable for discussion.

"Thank you, Lord Marquis, for your magnanimity!" Li Xiongzhen and Lu Jun stood up and thanked them.

This is also the norm in government offices throughout the Ming Dynasty. Poor temples and rich monks have all their money with officials and wealthy households.

Seeing that everyone had already sat down, Lin Feng said: "Everyone, let's talk about the gains and losses of this attack on Luoyang, and what issues need attention in the next step of controlling Luoyang."

This was the largest amount of money that Lin Feng had seized since he came to Ming Dynasty, and it was also the most he had ever seen. With these three to four million taels of silver, no wonder Li Zicheng was able to expand his army by one million in history.

Li opened the booklet where the loot was registered and reported: "This time we seized more than 3.5 million taels of property in Prince Fu's Mansion alone, as well as many fields and real estate. The harvest was huge. The government in Henan does not have much silver. , there are only about 40,000 to 50,000 taels, which have been given to Li Zicheng and others."

After hearing this, Lin Feng pondered for a moment and said: "To defend Luoyang, we will definitely need to expand our army. Tiedan, you will screen the refugees you recruit and eliminate the old, weak and gangsters. Together with the backbone of Xiao Lin's Ax Gang, we will fight from Shanxi." The brigade transferred a battalion and merged to form the Luoyang combat brigade, with Panda as the brigade general and Fang Tiedan as the deputy brigade general."

In addition, Sitong Express was notified to hurry up and purchase grain and raw materials to transport back to Jiazhou, and the necessary funds will be spent from the seizure. Lin Feng ordered.

Fang Tiedan was almost stunned by the surprise. He came to Luoyang to serve as the guard's little leader. He didn't expect that he would have the opportunity to become the deputy brigade general. Only Fang Xiaolin showed a slightly disappointed look.

"Xiao Lin, where is your Ax Gang?"

Li Xiongzhen sat on Lin Feng's right hand side, and below him sat Li Fei, Tan Ze, Meng Xin, Fang Xiaolin, Fang Tiedan and other personnel from the Luoyang branch.

"Thank you, Lord Marquis!" Panda said happily after finally waiting for the opportunity to take charge of his own army.

"Our Ax Gang has about two hundred available backbones. This time there were fifty or sixty casualties, and there are probably about one hundred and fifty backbones left."

"Okay." Li Xiongzhen replied.

"Master Hou, we have recruited a total of more than 2,000 refugees outside Luoyang City. Four to five hundred of them are of good quality, but it's hard to say for the rest. Some of them are just make-up." Fang Tiedan responded.

"That's it for now. Xiongzhen can tell you about the gains from occupying Luoyang."

"It is not safe to transport Xiongzhen's money back to Jiazhou. It will be kept in Prince Fu's Mansion for the time being and must be strictly guarded. One hundred thousand taels will be allocated first to distribute siege rewards and recruit troops.

"This lesson must be learned, and any military operation must be carefully considered. It is the first time for Deputy Governor Li to lead a mission. It is normal for him to lack experience and be not thoughtful. This time, Li Zicheng's entry into the city did not cause any substantial consequences. It also provided a reason for us to occupy Luoyang, so we will not be held responsible this time, and everyone will learn a lesson." Lin Feng graciously pardoned several people's responsibilities.

"Master Marquis, Lu Jun and I were responsible for this attack on Luoyang. We were not vigilant enough. We only considered the officers and soldiers in Luoyang. We did not expect that Li Zicheng also came out to attack the city at this time. They took advantage of the loophole. The main responsibility lies with I, please punish me." Li Xiongzhen took the lead in reviewing.

"Tiedan, how is the situation of your refugee army?" Lin Feng then asked.

Sitting on Lin Feng's left hand are Deng Hao, Lu Jun, Panda and other Zhenming Army generals.

Lin Feng saw everyone's reaction in his eyes, paused for a moment and continued: "The First Shanxi Combat Brigade and the Luoyang Combat Brigade are equipped with an establishment of three thousand. The shortage of soldiers will be recruited as soon as possible. Fang Xiaolin was transferred to the Deputy Brigade General of the Guards Brigade. ."

"Yes!" Lu Jun and Panda said.

"Thank you, Lord Marquis!" Fang Xiaolin was instantly caught in a huge surprise. From the disappointment to the ecstasy, his life was really full of ups and downs. Lin Feng also considered that Fang Xiaoyu from the Guards Brigade had been released. Fang Xiaolin came from Fangjia Village. His loyalty was no problem. Although his ability was slightly weaker, his performance was still good after coming to Luoyang. His own people should always be placed in trusted positions. Get some exercise.

After the Luoyang combat brigade was established, the number of troops left in Luoyang increased to 6,000. If some civilians were recruited, the number of troops defending the city would reach more than 10,000, which should be relatively safe.

"Master Marquis, Luoyang is a big city, and there is so much wealth in it. Six thousand soldiers seems not enough." Lu Jun interjected.

"Then we will recruit another five thousand people in the name of the Luoyang government, and transfer some of the backbones from the Zhenming Army to train. On the one hand, they will serve as supplementary troops, and they can also be used to defend the city in case of emergency. These people will be directly controlled by Xiong Zhen." Lin Feng considered. After a while, I decided to expand more troops. Anyway, I have money now.

"Yes!" After Li Xiongzhen accepted the order, he then asked: "Master Hou, what about Luoyang's government affairs? Is the Henan government still responsible for it?"

"They are in charge nominally, but in reality it is of course led by our Zhenming Army. For the time being, Xiongzhen is in charge of Luoyang's government affairs. It is better to follow the practice of our Zhenming Army. We will first check the backlog of cases, find a few big households with heinous crimes, and seize their property. , respond to public anger and win public support.

The second step is to abolish the taxes and other miscellaneous taxes imposed by the imperial court, and only levy regular taxes and commercial taxes in summer and autumn to reduce the burden on the people.

The third is to clean up the farm occupied by King Fu, leaving a small part to house the people in King Fu's mansion, and taking the rest into public ownership, renting 30% of the land to the refugees for farming, and the first year's land rent can be reduced to 20%. . "Lin Feng clarified the strategy of Luoyang City's governance.

"I understand, it's just that we don't have enough manpower." Li Xiongzhen said.

"If you don't have enough manpower, hurry up and recruit. You can choose from the Zhenming Army, or you can recruit local officials to strengthen assessment and training." Lin Feng replied.

"Yes, I will restore order in Luoyang City as soon as possible." Li Xiongzhen finally got the opportunity to govern a big city and said with confidence.

"In addition, all Li's shops in Luoyang City were renamed Zhenming Shops, and Li Fei continued to be in charge of increasing product sales. After registering the various rare treasures confiscated from Prince Fu's Mansion, Zhenming also Let's auction the shop and try to raise more money." Lin Feng then arranged.

"Yes!" Li Fei accepted the order.

"Our Zhenming store only sells products produced by Zhenming Chemical and some luxury goods. We should not squeeze out the business of other small businessmen. Only when everyone makes money can the Luoyang market prosper." Lin Feng continued to explain.

"Understood! It's not worthwhile for us to get involved in these industries with small profits." Li Fei replied.

At this time, the bodyguard came in and reported that Kang Menghui, the prefect of Henan Province, had arrived.

"Let him come in." Lin Feng ordered.

Kang Mengqi came in and saluted respectfully and said: "Master Marquis, our memorial to the court has been reported, begging the Emperor to allow the Zhenming Army to stay in Luoyang. But this time King Fu is killed, I'm afraid we will all be held accountable."

"Prince Fu was killed by Li Zicheng. It has nothing to do with you. As long as you firmly support me, I will naturally make the decision for you." Lin Feng replied.

Kang Mengqi immediately showed a look of surprise when he heard this, and said quickly: "I will only follow the lead of the Marquis in everything I do."

The prefect of Kangda was a veteran bureaucrat of the Ming Dynasty. Naturally, he knew Chongzhen's character and the seriousness of the crime of trapping the vassal. At this time, he also had the idea of ​​changing his family.

"Prefect Kang, do you have anything else to do here?" Lin Feng asked.

"Master Marquis, Prince Fu's eldest son Zhu Yousong heard that Luoyang City was recaptured by you. He has returned to Luoyang and is outside the city asking you to greet him in person." Kang Mengqihui reported.

"Oh, Prince Fu has turned into a phoenix, and he is quite arrogant." Lin Feng said disdainfully.

"Master Hou, these vassal princes have always been domineering and arrogant because of the emperor's love for them. Why don't you condescend to go there?" Kang Mengqi persuaded them cautiously.

"I'm afraid that this little vassal prince can't bear it. Magistrate Kang, you want to get the protection of our Zhenming Army. It depends on your attitude at this time." Lin Feng looked at Kang Mengqi and said.

"I, I must listen to the Marquis." Kang Mengqi made up his mind. He had no future in the Ming Dynasty. He lost Luoyang City and caused King Fu to be killed. Even if he was not beheaded, he would definitely not be dismissed from office and imprisoned. It's better to give it a try.

"Panda, take Fang Tiedan's refugee army to greet Crown Prince Zhu. There is chaos outside the city, and it's easy for something to happen." Lin Feng said meaningfully.

"Understood!" Panda said immediately.

(End of this chapter)