A small soldier of the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 94
After Xie Youcheng's family had an accident, he wandered around in a daze, and finally settled down in Baoanzhou.

Over the years, he has relied on his own efforts to run a theater troupe, which is widely loved by villagers all over Baoan Prefecture, but his hatred for the Hou Jin Army has not changed.After Wang Dou learned about Xie Youcheng's situation through Ye Bushou, the leader of Han Dynasty, he decided to take him in for his own use.

In ancient times, opera troupes and teahouse storytellers were good tools for publicity, especially in this era when the illiteracy rate remained high.To implement one's own ideals, a powerful publicity tool is essential, so Wang Dou sent Han and North Korea to contact Xie Youcheng.

Hearing that Master Defender wants to promote the fight against Tartars by himself, Xie Youcheng agreed without hesitation. Through his own personal experience and his own troupe, he created a series of programs in a short period of time and achieved very good results. Effect.

Tears were still streaming down his face, after hearing Wang Dou's words, he knelt down with a thud, kowtowed and said: "As long as the adults can beat the Tartars, no matter whether the sword is on the neck or the ax is on the body, the little ones will only follow the adults. "

Wang Dou helped him up and said, "Thank you boss for getting up and talking."

Helping Xie Youcheng up, Wang Dou confessed: "Next, you will not only perform in Shun Township Fort, but also go to other forts under your jurisdiction to perform as much as possible to arouse the morale of the people. If you need any funds, just tell me."

……

While using theatrical troupe to publicize and arouse the morale of the people, Wang Dou also strengthened the control of the people entering and leaving Shun Township Fort.

Wang Dou set up checkpoints at every intersection leading to Shun Township Fort a few miles away, each with a number of sergeants, and strictly interrogated the passers-by on their road guides and household registration identities. Yes, they can be killed on the spot!

For refugees and beggars, they are also taken in forcibly. At the same time, Wang Dou also strengthened the management of merchants in the castle.

Wang Dou has always been wary of merchants in the late Ming Dynasty. These people can do all kinds of shameless things for money and their families. Who knows if there will be secret works of the Qing Dynasty in Shun Township Fort?At the most critical moment of the war, if there are merchants who carefully buy the scum and open the door to respond, Shunxiang Fort will experience the same tragedy as Tieling, Kaiyuan, Fushun, Liaoyang and other places.

From May [-]th in the ninth year of Chongzhen, like Wang Dou in Jingbian Fort before, Shunxiang Fort began to implement the city registration system for merchants. Lead some nights without closing, and conduct a strict and careful review of each merchant.Register the name of their head of household, who is in the store, where is their net worth, what is their business, etc., and they will be examined one by one.

Especially for some foreign merchants, the review of them is even stricter, and these people need a guarantor before they can continue to accumulate in the fort.

Wang Dou's actions naturally caused dissatisfaction among the merchants in the fort. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, a certain amount of head power was needed to open and set up shops in various military forts.There are more than 40 shops in the streets of Shunxiangbao. They are either the children of military officers or the children of the major gentry families in Baoan Prefecture. They are not simple businessmen without background.

They can say anything for a while, but these businessmen have nothing to do with Wang Dou for the time being. Usually, they use strikes to strike the market, causing prices to soar and the market to be unstable. However, this method does not work in Wang Dou's hands. .

The so-called don't panic when you have food in hand, Wang Dou's current system in the fort is a rationing system, even if he buys some supplies from merchants in the fort, it is optional.As long as the food is in hand, it doesn't matter whether the rest of the commodities are available or not.

Moreover, Wang Dou also sternly warned that anyone who dares to run amok, hoard goods, drive up prices, especially those who strike the market, will immediately confiscate all goods, expel them from the fort, and be forbidden to enter forever.

These businessmen had no choice but to mobilize the forces behind them to lobby. In their view, Wang Dou did this to extort some money and food.

At the same time, there were several merchants in Shunxiangbao that made Wang Dou more troublesome, such as Qingtianfu Commercial Firm on East Street. , mules, camels and other draft animals.

The owner of Qingtianfu is called Lai Mancheng. This person is not a simple person. His backing is very strong. He is the nephew of Xu Zucheng, the integrity officer of Baoanzhou City.

When Xu Zucheng was the defense officer of Shunxiang Fort, Lai Mancheng opened a shop in Shunxiang Fort. After several years of operation, the business was quite large.In the eighth year of Chongzhen, after the death of Du Gong and his brother-in-law Xie Cigao, the bull market shop that Xie Cigao originally operated in Shunxiangbao somehow fell into the hands of Lai Mancheng.

It was rumored that after Xie Cigao's death, his family sold Niu Shihang to Lai Mancheng at a low price. Lai Mancheng must have used some tricks behind the scenes.

Wang Dou encountered a nail in Lai Mancheng's city registration for Shun Xiangbao merchants.

Lai Mancheng said, "It is understandable for him to defend Lord Wang's registration of merchants to prevent lawbreakers in the castle. However, Lai Mancheng is the most loyal to the Ming Dynasty, and he hates the Tartars and bandits. At that time, Qingtianfu Commercial Bank also donated money and goods, and shared the same hatred. Mr. Defense compared him with other merchants, which is a bit too much! Anyway, I am the nephew of Mr. Xu Zucheng, the integrity officer. Isn't it face?"

Lin Daofu and Feng Dachang both hesitated when the nephew of the lord of integrity spoke, and came to ask Wang Dou what he meant.

Wang Dou had encountered this kind of thing before with Du Gong and his brother-in-law Xie Cigao. At that time, he insisted on the principle, and it was the same with Lai Mancheng. However, when it comes to the integrity officer Xu Zucheng, he should go there himself.

When he saw Lai Mancheng at Qingtianfu Commercial Company, Wang Dou was a little surprised. This Lai Mancheng was not very old, not yet 30 years old.

However, although his appearance was turbulent, the occasional gleam in his eyes let Wang Dou know that this person was not as simple as his appearance.

Seeing Wang Dou, Lai Mancheng was also a little surprised. It was also rare for Wang Dou to be the defense officer of a castle at such a young age.

Lai Mancheng was very experienced in dealing with people. On the surface, he couldn't tell at all that not long ago, he had complained to Wang Dou, but he just welcomed Wang Dou in with a smile.

But when it came to the registration of merchants in Shunxiang Fort, Lai Mancheng just smiled and waved his fan noncommittally, which was very slippery.

Wang Dou looked at him with a smile and said, "Brother Lai, when Emperor Xian was in power, I, Daming Tieling, Kaiyuan, Fushun, Liaoyang and other places fell, you must know the reason?"

Lai Mancheng shook his fan and said, "My uncle mentioned this to me. At that time, Dongnu's armored soldiers were sharp, and the officers and soldiers of the country were somewhat invincible. However, the cities of Liaoyang and other places are tall and thick. If it wasn't for the fine work, the door should be opened, and Dongnu wanted to seize it. The city is not so easy!"

He never left his uncle Xu Zucheng, Wang Dou just didn't know it, he smiled and said: "Yes, I am worried about this, if one day, Shun Township Fort is attacked by thieves and slaves, if there are some unpredictable people who open the door to respond, I will The army and civilians of the entire castle will not be protected! Under the nest, how can there be no eggs? Brother Lai will not be spared by then, right?"

Lai Mancheng shook his head and said: "Although I have never joined the army, I have been in business since I was a child, but I still understand the truth."

He glanced at Wang Dou, and said calmly: "It's just that Mr. Wang, as the nephew of a prefectural integrity officer, would Mr. Lai suspect Lai for doing such a thing as being a slave to a thief? Do I want to implicate me by doing this?" Can uncle be beheaded?"

Wang Dou smiled and said, "Of course I believe Brother Yi won't do that."

He said sternly: "The reason why the law is strict and clear, is that everyone is one and the same. If I give brother Lai a different treatment, then what should I do if others ask for it?"

Wang Doudao: "It is imperative for all merchants in Shunbao to register as city registrants, and no one can avoid it! If there is any offence, Mr. Wang will personally go and plead guilty to the Moral Lord!"

Lai Mancheng's expression turned ugly for a while.

……

On May 22, the ninth year of Chongzhen, the official residence of the security guard in Baoanzhou City.

"My nephew relied on my momentum and kept doing something wrong. I have already blamed him. You did the right thing, Wang Dou, to register merchants and prevent criminals from entering the castle. Right now, thieves and bandits are everywhere in Daming. Guard against thieves, this is necessary."

In front of Wang Dou, Xu Zucheng, the integrity officer of Baoanzhou City, was lying comfortably on a soft chair, and two girls gently rubbed his shoulders.

Because of Lai Mancheng's incident, Wang Dou came to the mansion of ethics in Zhoucheng.

At this time, in front of Wang Dou, Xu Zucheng said so, with no expression of joy or anger on his face.

Wang Dou saluted and thanked Xu Zucheng.

After a pause, Xu Zucheng said again: "Wang Dou, I am very optimistic about you, but you are still young, so be careful not to be too irritable in governing, and be gentle."

Some time ago, Wang Dou rescued thousands of disaster victims, which caused a sensation in the city. Many people knew that there was a young defense officer named Wang Dou in Shun Township Fort.Xu Zucheng was also a little surprised when he heard the news.

However, he held his breath and did not invite Wang Dou to ask him why he has such financial resources.Everyone has gray income, and Xu Zucheng is no exception. Relying on his salary, he can't support his servants, even if the military salary is deducted, it's useless. down.

Xu Zucheng only wanted Wang Dou to control Shun Township Castle, to maintain his loyalty to him, and to add strength to his future defense position.

What worried Xu Zucheng was the departure of Xu Lu and others a while ago, and Shun Xiangbao left four team officers in one go. , Liu Wei, and Yu Qingyuan were transferred to Acropolis, and then Xu Lu left.

However, if there was no reason for Wang Dou's persecution, they must have continued to stay in Shunxiang Castle.

In Xu Zucheng's mind, it should be Wen Fangliang who was forced to leave. How could it be Xu Lu and others?
Now there are rumors in Acropolis that the defense officer of Shun Township Castle, Wang Dou, is merciless and rejects the old master's confidants. Such remarks are not good for Xu Zucheng and Wang Dou, and Li Yi'an, who is on guard, has yet to send someone to ask Xu Zucheng what happened.

Xu Zucheng was a little surprised by Wang Dou's courage, and drove away the four team officers in one go, but it's not a good thing for young people to be too bold.

So Xu Zucheng said this.

For Xu Zucheng's teaching, Wang Dou could only salute deeply, and he couldn't tell anyone about Xu Lu's affairs.

……

Coming out of the mansion of ethics, Wang Dou thought about it, and when he came to Zhoucheng, he should visit Zhengfu Mingqi's house of Confucianism.

Since Wang Dou and Fu Mingqi got acquainted in March, the two have become close friends and communicate with each other from time to time.In fact, Wang Dou has almost no friends now. Others and subordinates either fear him, respect him, or hate him. There are very few people who interact with each other on an equal footing.

After getting in touch with Fu Mingqi deeply, I feel that this person speaks humorously, without the sourness of ordinary literati, nor does he have the airs and rigidity of learning to be upright.Wang Dou found it easy and pleasant to chat with Fu Mingqi, and Fu Mingqi also found Wang Dou's words very interesting.Sometimes watching Wang Dou speak, Fu Mingqi always wondered, is this person still from an ordinary Dunjun background?The facts are certain, so Fu Mingqi felt that Wang Dou was mysterious, and would go to Shun Township Castle to chat with Wang Dou from time to time.

Shun Xiangbao opened a children's school in April, and Fu Mingqi would often go to teach a few lessons.

Fu Mingqi's small courtyard is located in Xunyu City, a very elegant small courtyard.

Before arriving at the small courtyard, Wang Dou asked a few guards to wait outside the courtyard, and at the same time parked the horses outside.

He pushed the door open and entered the courtyard, shouting loudly: "Old Fu, old Fu."

But I heard a voice coming from inside, and then Fu Mingqi and two women came out of the house, a young woman in her twenties, elegant and luxurious.The other is a young girl in the blooming season, aged seventeen or eighteen, with a delicate face, flexible eyes, and a variety of amorous feelings.

Wang Dou was stunned for a moment, he had seen those two women before, but it was last year, the young lady of Zhizhou Prefecture, and the girl named Ji Xiaoniang.

When the two daughters came out, they all bowed to Fu Mingqi, and the young lady Ji said: "Mr. Lao, I am really grateful for your confusion..."

When she said this, Wang Dou's voice sounded.

Hearing Wang Dou carelessly calling the name of Fu "Old Talisman", both daughters looked at Wang Dou in surprise.

(End of this chapter)