Chapter 60 Advancing to Tianmu Mountain

Author: Scholar Wu

Chapter 60 Advancing to Tianmu Mountain

After receiving Qian Mo's order to establish a stronghold in Tianmu Mountain, Lu Shanhai and Hong Fugui took the soldiers of the Chongming Battalion and dressed up as miners.

Marlstone mining area.

In fact, several marl mines were discovered in the Tianmu Mountains. Considering the distance from Tianjiazhuang, transportation and other factors, we finally decided to mine a marl mine in Mogan Mountain.

Mogan Mountain is the remnant of Tianmu Mountain. The mountain runs northeast and is located in Deqing County under Huzhou, and is also close to Anji County.

Since the mining area had started recruiting miners a few days ago, some vehicles transporting ore from the mining area down the mountain could also be seen along the way.

As the vanguard of the Chongming Battalion, Hong Fugui and others were responsible for exploring the mining area first.

The main purpose of this trip is to take the craftsmen to build a workshop for firing "fairy lime" first, so as to realize on-site production.

Although the straight-line distance from Moganshan to Tianjiazhuang is not too far, it still takes nearly 2 days to transport it down the mountainous area and then transfer it by waterway.

The amount of work involved in transporting ore is indeed huge, and the corresponding cost of money is not small.

Just as Hong Fugui and others were about to arrive at the marl mining area, a group of people suddenly appeared on the mountain road.

There were more than thirty of them armed with swords and guns, and they looked like bandits who had robbed the road.

The leader of the thieves said: "We are the anti-Qing rebels in Moganshan, but you are the miners who want to make a living in the mines?"

At this time, Hong Fugui and others were dressed in miners' clothes, and the cart behind them was carrying weapons and some materials for building a workshop. They did not look like a group of miners.

Hong Fugui said: "We are the nearby villagers. We heard that the mines here are recruiting workers, so we came here to work on some errand to make a living."

The thief said: "You can do some errands in the mine, but you have to abide by the rules here."

Hong Fugui said: "Little people are here for the first time and don't know what the rules are here. Why do you ask this hero to teach you?"

The thief said: "If you want to make a living in the mine, each of you must first pay 50 cents to buy the way. After you go to the mine, you will have three meals a day, and the wages will be 10 cents per day."

Hong Fugui thought to himself: He remembered that the salary he had planned before was only 40 cents per day. If he exceeded the standard, he would get an extra reward, but here they actually cut off a large amount.

However, we are still not sure what the situation is. We can only find a way to sneak into the mine and check the situation first. Anyway, the Chongming Battalion's troops are at the bottom of the mountain, and there is nothing that this little thief can do.

So he returned: "Brother, we all come to the mines to make a living, and we don't have so much money with us. Do you think this will work?"

"We will work in the mine for five days first, and you will collect the wages for us. How about we get 10 cents a day as wages on the sixth day?"

The thieves were used to it, and the "tricksters" who came to work in the mine every day basically said this.

Anyway, if there is one more unscrupulous worker, they will get an extra penny of wages every day, so they will not suffer any loss.

So he pretended to say: "Since we are all fellow villagers, I won't embarrass you, but there is one thing you have to work hard for."

"If I find someone cheating and not working properly, I won't be able to spare you."

Seeing that there were dozens of people in Hong Fugui's group, and they were planning to earn a lot of money, the thief led them up the mountain in a hurry.

The thief on guard said: "Wang Ermazi, you have brought so many people to the mine. This time we are going to be prosperous."

This Wang Erpazi led the people to the steward with a smile and said: "Steward He, please register, I have brought fifty-six more miners here."

Manager He didn't pay attention to Wang Ermazi. After registering Hong Fugui and others, he led everyone to identify the marl and said: "You must identify it carefully. We only need this khaki ore, and the limestone on the side."

Don't sneak in with me."

Hong Fugui asked deliberately: "We usually dig iron mines, coal mines and stone mines. What kind of mine is this khaki stone? I have never heard of it?"

Manager He said: "Don't worry about what kind of mine this is. Anyway, someone paid us to dig it. Don't ask if you shouldn't ask."

At this time, I saw a "one-eyed dragon" who was drinking next to him and said: "What's the matter? I'm also curious about what kind of ore this yellow ore is?"

"I've been living in Moganshan for decades, and I've never heard of anyone asking for this kind of stone. Why are people suddenly paying high prices to dig it out these days? Could it be that they can make gold?"

Manager He said: "Master Ma, you are joking. If there is a gold mine in Mogan Mountain, would you guys still be guarding my small mine?"

“It’s not long before I can go away happily with my hands full of gold and silver!”

Second Master Ma said: "He, please don't be ignorant of good and evil."

"If we hadn't looked after the mine for you, how could your mine be transported down the mountain one by one in such a peaceful manner?"

"If you don't say it, don't say it. Anyway, I only guard this mine and contribute to the cause of anti-Qing Dynasty. Are you wronged?"

Manager He had no choice but to say reluctantly: "I really don't know what this ore is used for. Anyway, someone in Jiaxing offered to buy it at a high price. The demand is quite urgent, and there is no limit."

"The wages they pay are not low, and based on head count, there will be extra rewards for the excess. I made this clear to Uncle Ma, but I didn't take advantage of even a penny."

At this time, Mr. Ma laughed and said, "What are you talking about? We are all old acquaintances. I can't trust you."

"Don't worry, big brother will not forget your contribution. There will be a day when you will be rewarded according to your merits."

Hong Fugui finally figured it out. It seemed that it was not Manager He who was enriching himself and depriving the miners of their wages.

Instead, these thieves forcibly "contracted" the mine, and Manager He was forced to cooperate with them in mining.

What's even more disgusting is that this group of people is still using the slogan of "anti-Qing and restoration of Ming". Doesn't this bring discredit on the face of our rebels?

Hong Fugui observed that there were more than 200 miners responsible for excavating the mine. I am afraid that this group of thieves was no less than 50 people. Hong Fugui only brought 20 brothers here, and the remaining 36 people were responsible for building the baking workshop.

craftsmen, but it is more than enough to deal with these thieves.

It's just that Hong Fugui didn't want to make too much noise. It would be bad if the thieves jumped over the wall and affected innocent people.

He could see that this group of thieves actually listened to Mr. Ma. To capture the thief, capture the king first. As long as he was restrained first, the rest of the thieves would not be a concern.

Suddenly a miner shouted: "Oh no, come quickly, someone has been injured by a stone!"

I saw a miner lying on the ground, surrounded by many people.

Seeing everyone stop working, Mr. Ma had no choice but to put down his wine bottle and cursed, shouting: "Everyone, please get out of here and get to work!"

He leaned over to look at the injured miner and asked, "How is he?"

At this moment, Hong Fugui, who was lying on the ground, suddenly rose into the air and put a dagger directly on Mr. Ma's neck.

Mr. Ma immediately woke up and wanted to resist. Hong Fugui directly used three points of force, and saw blood flowing out of Mr. Ma's erection.

Several small buildings nearby were also controlled by several other people from the Chongming Camp.

Hong Fugui said: "The bold thieves dare to exploit the miners here in the name of resisting the Qing Dynasty. Why don't you tell them to put down their weapons?"

At this time, Mr. Ma was extremely sober and immediately called on his men to put down their weapons.

After a while, Wang Ermazi and others who were robbed at the foot of the mountain were also disarmed.

A soldier said: "Deputy General Qi Hong, there are 53 thieves in total, and they have all disarmed!"

Hong Fugui said to Mr. Ma: "Tell me, why are you exploiting here in the name of anti-Qing?"

At this time, Mr. Ma said: "It is true that we are exploiting the miners, but we are not under the pretense of resisting the Qing Dynasty. We are the anti-Qing rebels in Moganshan, and the money we earn is used to overthrow the Qing dogs and fight against the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty!"

The remaining "thieves" also shouted: "We all have a bloody feud with the Qing dogs. We are anti-Qing rebels, not bandits who rob the road. Last month we also attacked a group of Qing dogs and killed several of them."

At this time, Guanshi He also said: "This hero, although they look like bandits, they are indeed anti-Qing rebels on Mogan Mountain. They have been chased by the government for several years and have attacked the Qing Dynasty several times.

Army, their leader Uncle Ma is still wanted by the government with a reward of 500 taels of silver."

At this time, Hong Fugui also let go of Mr. Ma and said: "I am Hong Fugui, the deputy general of the Chongming Battalion of the Taihu Rebels under the command of Qian Mo, the governor of Su Song in the Ming Dynasty. These ores were mined by our Taihu Rebels."

Hearing the word "Da Ming", Mr. Ma said excitedly: "Brothers, the Ming Dynasty has not forgotten us, and Master Wang has finally come to help us!"

Hong Fugui asked: "What is the current situation of your Moganshan rebels?"

Second Master Ma said: "My eldest brother and I are both personal soldiers of Master Ma Shiying, and these Moganshan Rebels are all following Master Ma to fight against the Qing Dynasty."

"After Mr. Ma appointed Ruan Dacheng, he had many disputes with Donglin Party members and Gao Hongtu, a former Qi Party member who relied on Donglin. In the spring of the first year of Hongguang (1645), Prince Duduo of the puppet Qing Dynasty led his army southward. In early May, Nanjing fell

, the Hongguang court was destroyed."

"Master Ma went south to Hangzhou, Shaoxing and other places in Zhejiang, and led us to many bloody battles with the Qing army. However, King Lu's Ming army in eastern Zhejiang refused to accept us. Although Master Ma led us to cooperate with them to block the Qing army in the Qiantang River,

But they refused to save us."

"We were outnumbered, and finally Mr. Ma took us into Taihu Lake to join the army of Chang Xingbo and Wu Risheng to continue fighting against the Qing Dynasty. However, the Qing army was powerful, and Mr. Ma and Mr. Chang Xingbo were unfortunately arrested and killed by the Qing army."

"My eldest brother took us outside to find out the news, but he was not in Taihu. That's why we were not captured by the Qing army."

"Later I heard that Mr. Ma would rather die than surrender and was killed by the Qing army. The brothers all vowed to continue to resist the Qing and avenge Mr. Ma!"

"My eldest brother has led us to attack the Qing army in Mogan Mountain and Tianmu Mountain. In the past two years, we have also recruited some anti-Qing martyrs. We have our own villages in Mogan Mountain and Tianmu Mountain, and there are about two hundred people at the moment.

"

"It's just that the conditions in the mountains were difficult, and the brothers had to do some robbing in order to continue resisting the Qing Dynasty."

"This time we exploited the miners who came to mine. We had no choice but to do so. The brothers had insufficient supplies for the winter and were almost unable to hold on."

"Although we rob property, we never kill innocent people indiscriminately. This person in charge can testify for us!"

Manager He also said: "Vice General Hong, they have indeed never done anything to harm the people."

Several people in the Chongming Camp had been Taihu Rebels in their early years. Later, they were besieged by the Qing army and could no longer hold on. After Qian Mo expanded his recruitment, they returned to the Taihu Rebels. They also felt the same way as what Ma Erye said.

!
To be continued...