The guess made by Pan Ruzhen's staff was not very accurate.
When the rebel army entered Jin, Feng Ziying did not feel much pressure because this was basically a foregone conclusion before he entered Shaanxi. If the court wanted to blame him, he could not be blamed.
The counties in the eastern part of Xi'an Prefecture, including Hancheng, Chengcheng, Pangyang and Baishui, have long been invaded by rebellious armies, and the situation has long been out of control. Whether the county town will fall or not will purely depend on the offensive of the rebellious armies.
The only thing the Xi'an government can do is to suppress the rebels as far as possible to the east of the Tongguan, Pucheng, and Huazhou lines to avoid crisis in Xi'an City. In addition, Tongguan must be defended, which is the key pass for Qin to enter the Central Plains.
There can be no mistakes.
Even the imperial court did not send a letter to Feng Ziying, or Feng Ziying had not had time to receive the letter from the imperial court.
But after learning about this situation, Feng Ziying still realized that the situation was getting out of control.
In his impression, it was northern Shaanxi that was the first to ignite the uprising in the late Ming Dynasty. However, when the uprising in northern Shaanxi quickly spread to Shanxi, the situation in Shanxi changed completely, and almost all the famous rebel leaders in the late Ming Dynasty were
From the Thirty-sixth Battalion of Shanxi, although almost all of them were from Shaanxi, such as Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai, etc., the rebels in Shaanxi were gradually declining.
The location of Pingyang Prefecture is very important. It straddles the key passes of three provinces. Once it falls, it will affect Luze Prefecture and Huaiqing Prefecture, causing turmoil in the Central Plains.
The problem is that he has too much time to take care of himself now, and there is no other better way except to write to the court asking Shanxi Town and Taiyuan Town to quickly send troops south to suppress and suppress.
Not only did he have too much time to take care of himself, he was even sitting on the flames of the fire.
Although the situation around Wubao, including Suide, Mizhi and Jiazhou, has basically stabilized, this does not mean that there are no problems in these prefectures and counties. If the food problem of the hungry people is not solved, the hungry people will turn into mobs, and then
Became a rogue bandit who robbed homes and homes.
Although the large groups of rebels were basically wiped out and mobilized during the Battle of Wubao, the scattered deserters and some small groups of rebels who didn't have time to come still existed in these places.
Feng Ziying received the news that these small groups of rebels and deserters were fleeing south and west. To the south was Qingjian and Yanchuan, where the rebel forces were strong, and to the west they were intending to pass through Anding and go to Bao'an.
They even joined the Qingyang rebel army at Qingyang Mansion.
He doesn't have the energy to chase down these fleeing rebels now. There are still many things that need to be done before him. The most important thing is to find a way to settle and digest these rebel soldiers, or in other words, the hungry mob.
If you don't give them a way to eat, you will either have to trap and kill them all, or you will have to let them regroup and become a rebel army.
Part of it can be absorbed by forming a guard army, but this is tens of thousands of people. Although thousands were wiped out in the siege battle, there are still more than 12,000 border troops and rebel troops that need to be digested and reorganized.
"It's not just a problem of more than 10,000 people. According to the information obtained by Mr. Xia's investigation, more than 600 people have starved to death in Wubao this month alone, and as time goes by, this tragic situation will become even worse.
Seriously, that is to say, if there is no solution, by this winter or next spring, more than 70% of the people in Wubao County may become rioters, which is more than 20,000 people..."
Wang Wenyan's somewhat hoarse voice echoed in the hall, "This is just Wubao, the smallest county in Yan'an Prefecture, and the county with the worst drought. Jiazhou has more than 30,000 people, Suide has more than 60,000 people, and Mi
There are more than 50,000 people in Zhi, more than 20,000 people in Anding in the west, and more than 40,000 people in Qingjian in the south. I dare not say that these people will turn into mobs and rebels, but even if half of them cannot survive, this is still 100,000
crowd,"
Feng Ziyu half-squinted, "Wen Yan, this is only less than half of Yan'an Prefecture. Maybe the situation in Ansai and Ganquan is slightly better, but what about these states and counties in the south? The drought is better than in the north, but why are there more rioters? The situation
What's worse? They even crossed the river and disrupted Pingyang Mansion."
"Sir, this is complicated. Every place has different situations. In short, there are both objective and subjective." Wang Wenyan did not answer this question directly.
I can't finish it all in one day. What I want to talk about now is to solve these problems in the north first. Only by stabilizing the northern part of Yan'an Prefecture can we say that we have a stable rear. Once something happens, the Yulin Army can also move smoothly.
go south, otherwise, we really have to encounter it every time
Gui Zi Juan? Chapter 166? If you can’t cook without rice, you still need to light a fire
This kind of siege by the insurrectionary army must be over at some point.
Regarding Wang Wenyan's cunning, Feng Ziying snorted lightly and said nothing more. With Pan Ruzhen here, she made it clear that it was embarrassing.
To solve the problem of disorderly and hungry people, there is nothing more than relief, suppression, and appeasement. However, the former is to treat the root cause, while the latter two are to treat the symptoms. No matter how well we do the latter two, we have to fall back to the first one in the end.
The key point is that no one knows how long God will continue to torment this northern land. The drought continues and the relief cannot continue forever. Then we really have no choice but to run south in one breath, to a place where we can survive and have food to eat.
"Zhen Pu, you are the prefect of Yan'an, and you are most familiar with the situation in this prefecture. How do you think we should deal with the current situation?" After a few days of contact, Feng Ziying and Pan Ruzhen also quickly became familiar with each other.
Although Aunt Mizhi, who was specially selected by Pan Ruzhen, is still under my care and has not had time to be sent to Feng Ziying's inner house. Pan Ruzhen himself feels that he still lacks a good relationship with the governor, but Feng Ziying feels that this person is well-behaved and organized. Maybe
In terms of moral integrity, he is a little lacking, and he is too enthusiastic about his official career, but this is not a bad thing. For himself, it is even a good thing. As long as he is willing to do things for himself, he will not hesitate to give the other person a better future.
"Your Excellency, Xiaguan has been in Yan'an Prefecture for four years and has visited most of the prefectures and counties in this prefecture. If three years ago, the conditions in the prefecture and counties in our prefecture were dilapidated and the people were extremely poor and could only make a living, I would have thought
How to solve the livelihood problem of the rural people, but the government's financial resources are limited, and annual taxes are indispensable. Most of them have to be transferred to Yulin Town, which is indispensable, otherwise..."
Otherwise, the responsibility for the mutiny of the Yulin Army would be pinned on him. He would never dare to bear this responsibility. Once he was pinned, his official career would almost be cut off.
"The imperial court should have exempted Yan'an Prefecture from taxes since last year, right?" Feng Ziying frowned.
"Yes, the imperial court exempted it from the ban last year, but in the past few years, various disasters have continued in northern Shaanxi, and the people have long been in dire straits. Their families have no overnight food, and if they are slightly sick, they can only sell their sons and daughters..." Pan Ruzhen said to himself.
He said mockingly, "To put it bluntly in front of the governor, once a disaster hits northern Shaanxi, even boys and girls will not be able to sell for a high price. If their parents want to sell them for more money, they would rather cross the Yellow River."
In Hedong’s Baode, Xizhou, Jizhou, and Yongning, my servants told me that the most affordable places are Datong and Taiyuan, but they are too far away, so I settled for Puzhou and Linfen, which are not bad...
"
"But many people want to take their children to the east of Hedong and sell them, but they can't do it. How many people have died of starvation on the way..." Pan Ruzhen looked sad, "You said that in this situation, the people either starve to death or break the law."
How to choose between committing a rebellion and dying?"
Could it be that the gentry in this mansion have some benevolence and good intentions but have no obligation to help the people? Otherwise, why are gentry gentry, and where does the preferential treatment given by the court come from?" Feng Ziying's tone remained unchanged, "According to me,
As far as I know, there are quite a lot of big gentry families in this province. There are four big families in Fushi alone. Qingjian is also supported by the Xiaojiu prominent family, and Suide and Mizhi merchants gather there. I don’t think I need to talk about the situation in the south.
Well, the grain households and grain merchants are one body, which is the security guard. To stabilize such a desolate place, the luxurious family celebrated their birthday. It is said that they held a banquet for eighty tables and spent tens of thousands of taels of silver. According to the current price, it would be enough to buy ten thousand shi of grain.
More or less, right?”
The question left Pan Ruzhen speechless. He knew that Feng Ziying was talking about the Gu family, the head of the security gentry. The head of the Gu family, Gu Yansheng, was the in-law of Lin Jin, the chief envoy to the government, and his son was also a juren. He is now in Baoning, Sichuan.
As the county magistrate of Bazhou, it was Gu Yan's eightieth birthday. Although he didn't go, he sent someone to give him generous gifts.
The Gu family is the largest family in Bao'an, owning hundreds of hectares of fertile land, and is also the largest grain merchant in the local area. Even the magistrate of Bao'an has to look up to him. Although he is not afraid of the other party as the magistrate of Yan'an, he can't easily do it in many cases.
After breaking up with each other, the local government still relied on these gentry for many matters.
Seeing Pan Ruzhen lowering his head and not daring to speak anymore, Feng Ziying calmed down slightly and said, "Zhenpu, among all the prefectures and counties in Yan'an Prefecture, which prefecture or county does not have ten or eight powerful gentry families? There are many tyrannical people, among them the right-wing and evil gentry.
There are countless ways to plunder and plunder, and I believe you know it better than me."
Feng Ziying paused again, "I also know that relying on relief alone will only treat the symptoms but not the root cause. You and I both know the current financial resources of the imperial court. When chaos breaks out in various places, the imperial court is overwhelmed. What about Shaanxi?"
Gui Zi Juan? Chapter 166? If you can’t cook without rice, you still need to light a fire
What should I do in the west? I expect too much from the imperial court. The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. Let me tell you the truth here. The imperial court gave me 300,000 taels of silver. Haha, according to the current grain price in Shaanxi, 300,000 taels of silver.
How much corn can I buy?”
Pan Ruzhen's bitterness is unspeakable. It is difficult to deal with Yan'an Prefecture with 300,000 taels of silver. If the price of food was based on the previous years of good harvests, 300,000 taels of silver can still do something, but now there has been a drought for three consecutive years.
, the price of food has already skyrocketed, and three hundred thousand taels of silver is no longer enough.
But he also knew that Feng Ziying should be telling the truth. The extent of the imperial court's financial difficulties could not be hidden from the officials. Anyone with some connections in the imperial court would know that if he could give Feng Ziying 300,000 yuan, that was because the situation in Shaanxi was so bad.
, and also has high hopes for Feng Ziying, hoping that he can skillfully make a meal without rice.
This chapter has been completed!