The hereditary commander Hu Zhishen stood at the top of the city and looked towards the west with a worried look on his face.
The soldiers of Suzhou Guard had never seen a war in their lives, and they were all eager to hear about the war, but Hu Zhishen did not have this kind of enthusiasm.
Since he inherited the official position of hereditary commander at the age of eighteen, he has not been able to fulfill his duties in the past twelve years. Wen cannot settle the world, and force cannot determine the world, but he has developed a pair of eyes that can discover beauty. To put it simply - he is better than anyone else.
I am awesome.
He believed that in Suzhouwei, where there are thousands of households, there must be a few great heroes like Zhao Zhirui and Ding Guodong, and there must also be a few useless snacks.
But what’s puzzling is that after so many years, he has never found a useless snack in Suzhou Wei, so it is very possible that... this little useless snack is himself.
After all, the last battle of Suzhou City was in the fourth year of Longqing. As a hereditary commander, Hu Zhishen had never fought in a war when his father was in office. When it comes to him, the name is wrong. Let alone Zhishen, it is completely unambitious.
Obsessed with life, watching flowers, planting trees, feeding cats and raising rabbits every day, knowing nothing about useful things.
It has been five days since the first beacon smoke rose from Jiayuguan Pass.
During these five days, the army of General Zhao Zhirui, the number one figure in Suzhou, was defeated by the rebel general Zhang Tianlin; the commander of the Suzhou Guard's palm print was lost in the formation, and it is said that he was kicked to death by a war horse; most importantly,
The capable Mr. Qian, Hei Chengyin and Mi Laoyin, one is helping to defend the city at Jiayuguan, and the other is surrounded by Zhang Tianlin in Linshuiyi City.
The lucky numbers of the Ming Dynasty are three and seven. The horse-mounted equipment of the Ming army in the north is three horses and seven steps; the guard's turn-based plowing battle is also three-guard and seven-plow.
The wildest group of people in Suzhou Guard followed Hei Chengyin and Mi Laoyin out of the city, and those who stayed in the city were all honest, responsible, and well-behaved good people.
But when fighting in the Ming Dynasty, Hu Zhishen felt that bad people had to come to do this, and good people were not enough. If the success was insufficient, the failure would be more than failure.
For example, there are three good people around him who are very active. They all ran to the city to help defend the city when the rebels besieged the city. They are all Suzhou celebrities.
Among them, the person he is most familiar with is called Dong Ju, who is the instructor of Taoliman Guards in Suzhou. He is very knowledgeable and knows Sun Tzu's Art of War by heart. He has been teaching for thirty-eight years and not a single student has passed the exam. He is now fifty-nine years old.
When he goes to a national calamity at an advanced age, he hangs a wild goose feather sword on his waist and carries a three-eyed blunderbuss on his shoulder.
The second one is younger, named Yan Zhi, a handsome old man of forty-six years old. This is a prestigious Suzhou squire. He wants money but no money, no one, no land, and he wants to become a squire.
Auntie, you have to rely on yourself.
Sixteen years ago, my mother-in-law died of illness. Mr. Yan vowed never to marry again and to raise his children alone. Although the court did not build a memorial arch to express his gratitude, people from all over the country respected him deeply and called him a righteous husband.
I invite you here whenever there is any important matter. Unfortunately, in the past sixteen years, I have never made any useful suggestions on major matters.
Both of these two men are impeccable in terms of character and morality, but they are really not of much help in defending the city.
Fortunately, there is still one last person, Wang Yanming, a hereditary commander who has no actual training like Hu Zhishen. This man has twelve servants and is a polished general who is familiar with military drills.
…
Coupled with the incompetent Hu Zhishen, the four ruthless people in Suzhou are complete.
In fact, Hu Zhishen is not without merit. He has the self-knowledge to recognize his own shortcomings and the wisdom to see the strengths of others. Therefore, in his opinion, it is difficult to repel the invading enemy with these few pieces of information, but he can hold on firmly.
It takes a few days, but it is not impossible.
The commander Wang Yanming is familiar with the drill and can arrange troops in formation; the old teacher told Dong Ju that he knew the art of war and could serve as a military advisor; the righteous husband Yan Zhi had a great reputation and could recruit local warriors.
Suzhou is also a defensive city, so it is difficult to recruit field troops, but men, women, old and young can take on the role of defending the city, which is easy.
Now there is only one difficulty left...the four of them are paupers. Although they all have a far superior status in Suzhou, they have neither money, food nor power. Recruiting troops requires money, and defending the city requires food. Without these two things, I'm afraid,
People are unwilling to go to the city to fight.
"Go door to door and ask people to donate!" Commander Wang Yanming said angrily: "The city is gone, they still need money and food?"
"Absolutely not."
The righteous husband Yan Zhi seemed unwilling to speak at first, but when he heard that Wang Yanming planned to ask people to donate money and food, he hurriedly said: "Commander Wang doesn't know something. Marshal Liu can succeed, firstly by his good fighting skills, and secondly by his popular support.
The rebels won't even ask the people to donate money and food. If we ask the people to donate money and food, I'm afraid we won't have to defend this city."
"What kind of words did Husband Yan say?"
Wang Yanming protested, but did not insist. He just walked aside angrily: "Then what do you think we should do?"
Several people looked at the old teacher, and Dong Ju pondered for a moment and said: "Husband Yan has said a lot. In my opinion, we still need to find wealthy households to donate money and food."
"Old sir, this is not easy to handle."
Hu Zhishen shook his head, looked at the few people, sighed, and said: "There are only a few people in Suzhou City who have money and food. The family who is most likely to donate money and food is General Zhao's family. Now that the general has been newly defeated, he has not returned yet.
Can we come to your door again to force donations?"
General Zhao is talking about General Zhao Zhirui of Suzhou. This is definitely inappropriate.
But Dong Ju said: "General Zhao is not the only one who has money and food in Suzhou City. The heroic man in our city can also provide money and food. I have taught him and know that he is not bad, sincere and magnanimous, so he should be willing to contribute."
When the three people heard the word "hero", their expressions were a little strange.
Because this word has mostly derogatory connotations in Suzhou, there is only one person in the city with this title, named Song Xian, whose nickname is Xiaoli.
This man came from a poor farmer's family. He lost his father at the age of fourteen and his mother was seriously ill. He served his mother wholeheartedly and was famous for his filial piety. However, he could not maintain his studies and the fields at home were neglected and neglected. After his mother died of illness, he sold them all.
I exchanged my capital for my neighbors, my family fell into decline, and I became a businessman. I didn't make much money, but I was still a decent person who made a living.
Five years ago, Song Xian got a big job. He sold all his belongings and exchanged a batch of things bought from the Western Regions and went to the south of the Yangtze River. There was no news from him for three years. People thought that this orphan died in a foreign country, but he took it with him.
Returning home with a thousand taels of wealth and servants in fine clothes.
The servants were fierce and strong. I heard that they were all rebels and hungry thieves who were taken in during the drought. They were all ruthless characters. Song Xian's temperament also changed drastically. He opened a rice pawn shop in the city and a gambling brothel outside the city to resell bad goods.
Liquor, making a living by lending money.
…
People call him a hero because of his hypocrisy.
The so-called scholars, farmers, industry and commerce, merchants have the lowest status, because scholars are officials, and small farmers may not be rich, but if they can afford to study, they will eventually become rich in the imperial examination; craftsmen with exquisite skills can still become officials; merchants are different
, I will only have two filthy rich people in my life, and no one will look down on me.
Of course, workers among scholars, farmers, industry and commerce do not refer to labor, but to craftsmen with skills. Lu Xiang, a stonemason from Wuxi who had small skills in the Xuande year, and Kuai Xiang, a carpenter from Wuxian County who designed Chengtian Gate in the Yongle year, later became famous.
, all relied on technical officers to worship the Minister of Works and preside over large-scale projects; Xu Gao, a Yangzhou carpenter who built three major halls in the Jiajing period, even became the Minister of the Ministry of Works, which was unprecedented.
The word "peasant" in the scholar-peasant, industry, and commerce circles does not refer to tenant servants, but to land-owning farmers and landlords.
The Four People's System is the backbone of the country. In the Ming Dynasty, there was no head tax at the court level. Tenant servants did not pay taxes to the country, and they did not serve the country. Therefore, they were not farmers, and they did not even belong to the people. They had jobs and were still tenants when they had land.
Barely considered a citizen.
When you have no job and no land, you are looked down upon. If you stand still, you are called a hooligan. If you move, you are called a hooligan.
The social status is only higher than that of being a slave, a prostitute, a slave, a fisherman, a bastard, and a slave for generations.
Among the four people, the one with the lowest social status is the merchant, and the merchant who makes money by lending money is the most shameless among all walks of life. Of course, this is the world view of the official standard.
In fact, officials are not treating one favorably and looking down on merchants only; officials are very simple and open-minded, looking down on everyone except themselves.
In the eyes of the commander Hu Zhishen, Song Xian is a smart man who is not a thing.
He sells bad wine to make the dissatisfied people drunk until they are too drunk to do business. If they don't do business and have no income, they have to pawn things into his pawn shop. After taking the money, they go to his rice store to buy food.<
/p>
After eating, I was so poor that I had to ask him to borrow money. After borrowing the money, I was even more worried about how to get the money. I even went to his liquor store to drink until I was dizzy. After drinking too much, I tried to rely on luck to get over and entered the gambling stall. I lost.
He was so naked that he had no choice but to go to his brothel to sell his sons and daughters.
If you have the ability and luck to get money, you might want to go to his brothel to have fun... In short, this bastard wants to take all the money into his own hands.
Hu Zhishen thought about the name Song Xian and nodded secretly.
If Song Xian could be persuaded to contribute money and effort, maybe the defense of the city would be more effective, but Hu Zhishen was not sure whether he was willing to contribute money and effort.
People with status in Suzhou look down on Song Xian, but among ordinary people from poor families, this guy is quite popular.
Because on the third day of every lunar month, Song Xian would stand under the Bell and Drum Tower at the crossroads of Jiuquan City in Suzhou and ask the servants to move a box of IOUs. The little kid in Wei would take out one and burn it in public, no matter how much was owed.
, full news.
No one needs luck in this world, except desperate people.
Suzhou Wei borrowed money from many wealthy families, but this group of military households, farmers, and small traders liked to borrow money from Song Xian. In addition to often instructing those whose debts had been canceled to organize gambling gatherings outside the city, he also
He can be called a good businessman who abides by laws and regulations.
…
But Hu Zhishen only thought this person was strange.
Many provisions of the Ming Dynasty Law have lost their validity during this period. For example, when selling land and houses, according to the law, the buyer must complete the inspection, pay the deed tax, and stamp the official seal. The deed tax is three-thirds of the total price.
The circulation of private land and house pawn sales is very complicated, and the delivery is usually not immediately after the contract is signed. The way to take advantage of the loopholes is to sign the contract at a low price and pay a lower deed tax, and then the original owner of the land will ask the buyer for the price by "finding the price."
The remaining money is in line with the market price.
This kind of behavior mostly occurred during the Wanli period when housing and land prices were rising. It was essentially a bully and rogue behavior. However, in the trial, government officials often used Confucianism to show off their official skills. They tried to be compassionate to the poor and tended to follow the secular customs. They sold their land and sold their land.
The disadvantaged party of the house will ask for money to express sympathy. After the sale is over, the price will be raised within three times, and support will usually be provided. Even if the price is more than a dozen times, there will be no punishment.
As for the deed tax for finding the price, the government generally exempts it.
Nowadays, the market price of real estate and farmhouses has not gone up. Generally, there are no sellers seeking rogue prices. However, it is a common practice among the people to use lower prices to avoid deed taxes. Usually it is not an extremely luxurious courtyard, and the government does not take any action. However, all the land and houses that Song Xian handled in the past two years were priced according to the law and the deed tax was paid in full.
The same is true for lending. The Ming Law stipulates that the maximum monthly interest is three cents. Even if it goes back a long time, the law only protects the income from lending to one interest per loan. The law supports the borrower from not paying back the excess.
But the legal provisions are one thing, and the implementation by the people is another. No decent people can stand up to the troubles caused by debt collection every day. Ordinary and simple farmers do not have the time and energy to learn Ming law and litigate with others. This
Most of the time, the legal code is just a piece of paper.
However, Song Xian took this as the basis. The interest rate on the loan was three cents per month. It was never compounded and never exceeded one interest per loan. In fact, in the past two years, he had never rolled over so much that the principal and interest were equal. He often
When the interest reaches 60-70% of the principal, it depends on how much people can afford to pay it back. If you can, you can reduce it a little and buy the mother-in-law's child, or you can simply burn the IOU in public to show favor.
Because of this, Hu Zhishen thought Song Xian was weird, saying that he fell in love with money, and he was quite worldly; but if he didn't want to make money, this bastard had closed the business loop in Suzhou, and it took so much effort.
But he can’t make a lot of money, what does this person want?
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Hu Zhishen asked Wang Yanming to leave a few servants to keep an eye on the city. The four of them immediately went to Song Xian's Sanjin house to ask for donations. They all knew that it was not easy to persuade Song Xian, but they never expected that Song Xian's attitude was particularly tough.
.
Mr. Song, who was wearing a cotton green robe, invited them into the hall. After hearing their purpose, he saluted the four of them: "Teacher, two generals, and your righteous husband, don't be angry. The villain is not right for the situation but for the person."
, just asking for some truth."
The guy frowned unhurriedly and said: "Song Xian acted in an honest and abiding manner and abided by the laws. He paid taxes to the court quite well. He contacted several highly respected gentlemen and asked me, a small businessman, to donate food and money. There should be someone there."
If there is no Wei Suo Da Seal, how can there be such a provision in the Ming Dynasty Law?"
Dong Ju said: "Brother Li, you can't say that. I've taught you to put justice first since you were a child. Now that thieves and bandits are coming to the city every day, isn't it the time for scholars to fight for justice?"
…
"Teacher, that's not the case. It's okay to kill someone, but it's not okay to provide money and food."
Song Xian raised his hands and showed some embarrassment. He rolled his eyes and said: "The rebels from the Marshal's Mansion have invaded the city, so they asked me to donate food and money. If the city can be defended together, Song Xian will provide money and food; if it can't be defended, Song Xian will provide money and food."
, Song Xian still has to pay for food... I am not the county magistrate of Suzhou."
Hu Zhishen didn't say anything, but Wang Yanming, who had a hot temper, couldn't stand Song Xian's attitude of not having anything to do with him, and said angrily: "You are a sealer, don't show me any shame. If the city is destroyed, your grandfather Wang will definitely die on the city walls."
, do you really think I can let you live to see the rebels?"
When the good old Yan Zhi heard this, he hurriedly stopped the fight, but unexpectedly Song Xian suddenly laughed, stood up and saluted respectfully: "General Wang's words make sense. I have already understood the current situation if I said this earlier. In this case, these two brothers
A box of IOUs. One person with one note can produce a thousand soldiers. Let’s go to the Drum Tower to burn the IOUs and recruit soldiers!”
Several people were shocked, but Wang Yanming smiled angrily and said: "You know the current situation, let's go, this is called the flag army to release weapons."
At one time, more than a dozen of Song Xian's companions drove the grain carts and surrounded the four of them towards the Drum Tower. On the road, they beat gongs and drums to invite their friends. When crowds of people heard that they were going to burn IOUs to recruit troops, they all followed in a mighty manner.
.
The crowds were gathering more and more, including those who owed money, those who watched the excitement, those who borrowed grain to eat, and those whose flag troops came to transport weapons. People became more and more excited and happy.
Song Xian was drawing out IOUs under the Drum Tower, shouting his name and throwing it into the fire in front of his face. The poor people shouted his name, held weapons, and watched the shackles of imprisoned life jumping.
Turned into ashes in the firelight.
More and more people got weapons, and the Suzhou Flag Guard organized them into teams and formed small square formations on the cross streets.
When the IOU was about to be burned, a beacon warning sounded from the city wall. Four blasts were fired in succession, and beacon fire shot up into the sky. The bells and drums of the cross-piercing tower rang incessantly, and the hairs on Song Xian's face grew one by one.
He stood up, and the companions behind him took advantage of the crowd's panic and split into two groups. One group walked into the crowd, and the other group protected him.
At this moment, Song Xian grabbed the last handful of IOUs and threw them into the fire, opened his arms and shouted: "Maitreya was born, and the King of Han was born. We will survive three calamities together, and we will go to wealth and honor together. Rebel! Rebel!"
