Ming Dynasty man

Chapter 170 Copper Mine
The rogues rely on war to support war, and they will rob wherever they go. As long as they can grab it, they can keep up with supplies, but the Jishi army relies entirely on Hongshanling for support.This is not even comparable to that of the officers and soldiers. The supplies of the officers and soldiers depend on the locality. If the locality does not provide them, they dare to grab it by themselves.

Li Jing thought for a while, then sighed and said: "It seems that a quick battle is needed! I can't delay with them, sir, I decided to send troops myself, and leave Lingchuan to you."

Yuan Keli shook his head and said: "I agree with you sending troops yourself, because if the county is captured over there, you will have to deal with it yourself. But I suggest that you best contact Cao Wenzhao and tell him that we are responsible for breaking the thieves." Come deal with it, let him deal with the rogues in Pingyang Mansion, as long as he leaves, it will be easy for us here."

Li Jing asked suspiciously: "Cao Wenzhao is a loyal and courageous man, can he cooperate with us?"

Yuan Keli smiled and said: "Whether we can cooperate depends on whether we can grasp his weakness. Cao Wenzhao is indeed loyal and courageous as you said, but don't forget that he only has three thousand soldiers in his hand, and They are often in arrears.”

"Sir, you mean..." Li Jing pondered.

Yuan Keli patted Li Jing's shoulder lightly and said, "Jimin, you will have more and more opponents in the future. You not only need to understand your opponent's ability and character, but sometimes you also have to look at their position."

Seeing Li Jing nodding repeatedly, Yuan Keli continued: "Cao Wenzhao is the general soldier of Lintao. The imperial court asked him to suppress the bandits, but only gave him [-] soldiers and horses. Sometimes the military pay was often in arrears. Cao Wenzhao led his troops to fight the bandits. It has been so long, it is really not easy to be able to persist until now, the most troubled thing for him now must be the lack of troops and the difficulty of solving the military salary, this is his weakness, as long as we help him solve this problem, he will definitely agree to cooperate with us."

Li Jingjing nodded, and immediately discussed with Yuan Keli how to deal with Cao Wenzhao's weakness.

……

Several counties in Pingyang Mansion and Jiangzhou were once attacked by the rebel army, and some were even breached. Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng still had nearly [-] troops after throwing away the old, weak, women and children. Xiajiang County, then turned to the southeast, and went straight to Yuanqu County.

Seeing that Gao Yingxiang was going in the opposite direction to his goal, Cao Wenzhao hesitated again, what should we do?Should we attack Gao Yingxiang first, or solve the crisis in Pingyang Mansion first?
Cao Wenzhao was thinking about the movement of the Chuang army in the tent, when he heard a report from his own soldiers, the county magistrate of Lingchuan Zhou sent a letter.

Cao Wenzhao was amazed and wondered what Zhou Hengchen was writing to him for.

After thinking about it, Cao Wenzhao immediately ordered his soldiers to bring the sender with him.

The messenger was taken to the camp, and Cao Wenzhao looked him up and down. He was about [-] years old. Although he was dressed in the clothes of a government servant, he had a vigorous look on his face, which was very different from ordinary government servants. same.

Cao Wenzhao beckoned, the yamen servant hurriedly presented the letter, Cao Wenzhao took it and opened it casually, read the letter briefly, after reading it, Cao Wenzhao's expression suddenly became strange.

Seeing that Cao Wenzhao's expression was wrong, Cao Bianjiao beside him hurriedly asked, "Uncle, what did you say in the letter?"

Cao Wenzhao smiled wryly, handed the letter to Cao Bianjiao and said, "Look for yourself!"

Cao Bianjiao took the letter in doubt, read it quickly, and then showed a strange expression on his face.

Seeing the curious look on Ma Ke's face, Cao Bianjiao handed him the letter casually, and then couldn't help but cursed: "Fuck, what the hell is Zhou Hengchen doing? He even said that he will deal with the intruders, so let's rest assured and be bold." Annihilate the bandits in Pingyang Mansion? If this bastard has this ability, Lingchuan will not be lost!"

Ma Ke quickly read the letter, and then cursed: "This dog officer thought he had abandoned the city and we didn't know. Damn it, the commander just didn't want to care about him, and he even kicked his nose Now, are you brazenly saying that you want to help us fight bandits?"

Seeing that Cao Bianjiao and Ma Ke were red-faced and thick-necked, angrily threatening to return to Lingchuan and punish Zhou Hengchen on the spot, Cao Wenzhao waved his hands and said, "I'm afraid the letter was not written by the county magistrate surnamed Zhou." For us."

After all, Cao Wenzhao had been through the officialdom for a long time, so he understood the meaning contained in the letter after a little thought.

Lingchuan has been lost and recovered, none of us are fools, everyone knows what's going on here, there is still an army occupying Lingchuan city, and the county magistrate of Zhou has to listen to others now.

This letter was actually written to him by the leader of the unidentified army, and it was written in the name of Zhou Hengchen, so it would be justifiable for them to help the army suppress bandits, and at the same time convey to Cao Wenzhao that they do not want to follow The meaning of the official and the army fighting against each other.

Otherwise, even if Zhou Hengchen didn't lose Lingchuan, he would never find trouble for himself.

The county magistrate is responsible for guarding the soil, but as long as he guards his own jurisdiction, help other counties fight bandits?If the officials of Ming Dynasty had this awareness, they would not be attacked by bandits one after another.

Cao Bianjiao and Ma Ke were taken aback when they heard the words, thought about it carefully, and finally understood why Cao Wenzhao said that.

It's just that this unidentified army took the initiative to help them fight the bandits?The two still couldn't accept it for a while.

Cao Wenzhao ignored the two, turned to look at the messenger and said, "What's the name of your leader?"

The sender seemed to have known that Cao Wenzhao would ask this question, so he replied calmly, "General Cao, my commander-in-chief's name is Li Jing, and his name is Jimin."

Cao Wenzhao smiled slightly: "Commander? Are you looking at yourself as a serious army?"

The messenger nodded and said: "Yes, our army is called the Jishi Army, and the commander said that we will help the world and serve the people."

Cao Wenzhao said with a smile: "To help the world and serve the people, it is not a small tone! Tell me, your general will help me fight bandits, what benefits does he want? Do you want me to give him credit in front of the emperor?"

The messenger shook his head and said with a smile: "My commander-in-chief said that no one will take credit for General Cao's own merits, and he will be exempted from asking for credit for Ji Shijun."

"Bastard, how dare you talk to my boss like that!" Ma Ke shouted beside him.

The messenger said without fear: "My commander respects General Cao and that's why he said that. If other officers and troops are here, I'm afraid they won't even bother."

"You..." Ma Ke was furious, and even wanted to draw his knife.

Cao Wenzhao waved his hand to stop Ma Ke's actions, then turned to the messenger and said, "You said that your commander respects me, and your commander knows what I have done?"

The messenger nodded and said: "General Cao, my commander-in-chief said that since General Cao entered Shaanxi, he has not lost a single defeat in dozens of battles in a year, and wiped out countless rebellious troops. In terms of credit, all armies are second to none, but But he was only promoted to the general of Lintao, so what is it if no one honors the general? But the general fought bravely regardless of his merits, so my family's commander respects the general's character."

Cao Wenzhao sighed and said, "I don't think your commander-in-chief will complain about me, but your commander-in-chief may not know me."

Shaking his head, Cao Wenzhao continued: "Forget it, it's useless to tell you this. Can you tell me what benefits your commander wants? I don't think he will give up any benefits, so come and help me wipe out the bandits. of."

The messenger nodded and said: "My commander-in-chief said that after driving away the bandits from Pingyang Mansion, he wants several counties here."

"How many counties do you want? Which counties?" Cao Wenzhao couldn't help frowning.

The messenger hurriedly answered: "Hengqu, Quwo, Wenxi, and Yicheng counties. In addition, my marshal said that the officials in these counties are still appointed by the court, and they have to pay a lot of taxes. As for Cao If the general personally or the troops have any needs, we can try our best to meet them."

Cao Wenzhao shook his head slightly. He could not and did not dare to agree to this condition, because if Ji Shijun rebelled in the future and this place became a rebellion base, he would be the first to cut off his head.

Seeing Cao Wenzhao shaking his head, the messenger said humanely: "My commander-in-chief also knows that this condition will embarrass the general, but my commander-in-chief specifically asked me to explain to the general that it is impossible to wipe out the bandits with the general's strength, because the general's There are too few troops, and I want to recruit soldiers but have no money to pay them. If the general agrees to this condition, the Jishi Army can help the general provide [-] soldiers, and the general can also recruit [-] soldiers, and the military salary will be borne by my marshal."

"Hiss!" Hearing this condition, Cao Wenzhao gasped.

This Ji Shijun is so rich?The military salary of three thousand soldiers is not a small amount of money, at least 5000 taels per month. This Li Jing actually said it out, how could he be so arrogant?

However, this temptation is too great. The shortage of troops has always been the most troublesome problem for Cao Wenzhao. It's not that he doesn't want to recruit more, but he really can't afford it. It's hard for him to raise the 3000 people now.

Seeing that Cao Wenzhao was a little moved, the messenger continued: "To show my sincerity, my marshal said that he can pay the general 6 taels of silver in advance for the general's conscription."

Now not only Cao Wenzhao was tempted, but even Cao Bianjiao and Ma Ke were also tempted.

6 taels of silver. When Yang He was sent to Shaanxi to suppress bandits, Emperor Chongzhen only gave 10 taels of silver.

"Marshal, the brothers' rewards have not yet been distributed, and the 6 taels of silver can solve our urgent need!" Ma Ke said.

Cao Wenzhao glared at Ma Ke, and shook his head slightly. If he took other people's money and didn't recruit soldiers but used it to reward his soldiers, wouldn't Li Jing laugh at him if he found out?
This is not the most important thing, the most important thing is that he is afraid of Li Jing's rebellion.

Cao Wenzhao knows exactly what these four counties produce, copper!

What is copper, copper is money!

If Li Jing is allowed to occupy these copper mines, the strength of the Ji Shi Army will increase greatly in a few years. Who can guarantee that he will not rebel?

To be honest, Cao Wenzhao himself wanted to get a finger on these copper mines, but he didn't have the guts, because copper can not only make money, but also make cannons. Many of them are made of copper (copper dissipates heat faster than iron, and can be used for a longer period of time in wars). If there is no copper mine, where will the copper-cast cannon come from?
　Today's Mid-Autumn Festival, I wish everyone a happy and happy family!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)