The implementation of Li Jinglong's Jinghai strategy was not going well. Local officials, gentry in villages and towns, and even neighborhood Baojia officials were a bit overt and covert. However, the training of soldiers in the guards was relatively smooth. After all, the army was more disciplined than the locals.
It is stricter and easier to manage. [] However, if the various local arrangements cannot be carried out as soon as possible, it will be impossible to cut off the connection between the civilians and the pirates. Only relying on the officers and soldiers of the guard station to go to sea to suppress the pirates, there is little hope of successfully suppressing the pirates at sea.
, but it is a hundred times more difficult than dealing with the grassland tribes on the prairie. Cannons can't be used to fight mosquitoes.
Fortunately, Li Jinglong continued to put pressure on officials at all levels, punished several squire Baojia for incompetence, and informed the entire Hangzhou Prefecture. The people below suddenly changed a lot. Officials and gentry at all levels became active and confiscated
There are more and more ships violating regulations, and the ports and docks are almost overcrowded. The local Baojia system and even the sitting system allow the people in the countryside to monitor each other and control them tightly. It is rare to hear of anyone colluding with pirates.
News.
After hearing the good news that was constantly being reported, Li Jinglong began to feel smug.
Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. Within half a month, the guard station began to report that the soldiers were not interested in training and were making friends in private, showing signs of unstable military morale. Upon further inquiry, it turned out that it was because these guards officers and soldiers had no livelihood, and they began to
After receiving the news from their families, they all asked for military pay to be released in advance to support their families. Some even took a leave of absence and secretly went back to help their families farm and fish.
You must know that the officers and soldiers recruited by the Coastal Guard are the sons of local fishermen, the young men of coastal families, and the main labor force of the family. Now that their parents, wives and children have no livelihood, of course they cannot be soldiers with peace of mind. The Hangzhou Guard Commander and other officials are very worried.
He kept coming to complain to Li Jinglong. In response to this situation, Tiexuan made a decisive judgment: someone was up to something.
Someone must have wanted to use this method to undermine the implementation of the Jinghai strategy, and the soldiers led by the guards were probably those who had close contact with the pirates and even served as their eyes and ears. He told Li Jinglong his analysis and then rushed there.
Hangzhou Wei wanted to follow the clues and use this incident to uncover those secret criminals.
If the army is in chaos, how can we go to sea to suppress bandits?
Not to mention the suppression of bandits at sea, just suppressing and appeasing the army to prevent mutiny was enough to give Li Jinglong a headache. If he failed to suppress the bandits and forced his own soldiers to rebel first, how could Zhu Yuanzhang give him a good harvest?
Li Jinglong thought about it over and over, feeling a little uneasy, and wanted to rush to see the situation at the guard station. However, before he could reach the gate, he was blocked by the Zhejiang Chief Envoy and a large number of officials from the Hangzhou government. These people came to complain.
There were a lot of people talking about the complaint and asking for advice for a long time, and Li Jinglong, one of them two heads tall, finally understood a little bit.
The issues mentioned by these officials were many and complex. The Chief Envoy pointed out: The market in Zhejiang Province is in depression. There is nothing to sell and nothing to buy. A large number of merchants are protesting and putting pressure on the government. There are difficulties in tax collection.
The people mainly rely on business and fishing to pay taxes. The land is poor and scarce, and it is not the main source of taxes in coastal areas. In this situation, it may be very problematic to collect taxes this autumn. Due to the economic depression, poor people in various places need government relief.
The number of households continued to increase, and it was necessary to apply for money and food from the court. Now Li Jinglong is the governor-general of the coastal provinces of Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangxi, and Guangxi. This matter needs his signature and nod to be reported to the Ministry of Revenue, otherwise people will starve to death or the people will be stirred up.
Change, with disastrous consequences.
The Inspector General reported that there were constant reports from boat owners and fishermen that their boats had been confiscated, but the government did not pay enough money. As a result, conflicts between the government and the people continued to occur, and various lawsuits emerged in an endless stream.
And that's enough; some retired officials and famous gentry were entrusted by the local government, adhering to public opinion, and were ready to impeach Duke Cao Guo and Hangzhou officials to the court. They abused their power, disturbed the local area, and harmed the people; at the same time, they robbed, stole, and deceived the people.
The crime rate of various cases of abduction has begun to rise sharply.
Li Jinglong was very upset after hearing this. He repeatedly promised to find ways to solve these problems as soon as possible. He finally calmed down these grumbling officials, and then forced them to send them out with a smile on his face. However, as soon as he arrived at the gate, he discovered that
, these officials couldn't get out either. I don't know how the people of Hangzhou Prefecture knew that officials from various prefectures and departments had come to Cao Guogong today. They gathered spontaneously and surrounded Cao Guogong's place.
, the crowd was furious and came to ask for help for the people.
Li Jinglong hurriedly went back, climbed to the highest rockery in the courtyard, and stepped out with his feet raised. He saw a sea of people outside the courtyard, and the commotion was boundless at a glance. He couldn't help but feel a little scared, and quickly called for troops to protect the people.
In order to prevent the people from storming the mansion on impulse, who in the mansion can still get out now?
Li Jinglong had no choice but to force the officials of Hangzhou Prefecture to come forward to appease the people. The officials of Hangzhou Prefecture had no choice but to come forward. After more than two hours of hard work, the people were finally dispersed. Only then did the frightened Li Jinglong
After sending the grumbling officials away, they returned to the backyard and sat down on the recliner.
For more than two hours, he stood on the rockery and waited to see what was going on, but the always pampered Young Master Li was so tired that he feebly called to the little girl sent by the Hangzhou government to wait on him: "Hold the piano, play chess, and give it to the master."
I beat my legs and got a basin of hot water first. Oops, there are blisters on my feet."
After waiting for a while, there was no movement. Li Jinglong opened his voice and shouted again: "Serve the book, go to the painting, make a cup of tea for the master, and get some snacks."
There was still no movement. Li Jinglong was annoyed. He picked up his shoes and ran to the first room of the maid's room. The four little girls were there, mourning and talking. They didn't know what to say. The four of them were not waiting outside at all. No wonder they didn't hear his orders.
.
Li Jinglong felt pity for the flowers and the jade, and he quickly softened his voice and asked the four girls why they were sad. As soon as he heard this, Li Jinglong's face darkened immediately, and he wiped himself away without even farting.
Why was her brother's big two-masted boat confiscated by the inspection department, so she was given five guan of money? The boat was built on credit from Mr. Zhou in the village, and the debt has not been paid off yet, including the principal and interest.
The debts alone amounted to eight thousand and four hundred and twenty-eight. Her father imported a batch of lychees from southern Fujian. Because the market was depressed and the gentry family was a little tight, no one bought them. They were seeing them rot and deteriorate, so they had to pay for it.
Go bankrupt. What...
Isn't this adding to the congestion?
Li Jinglong didn't drink tea, eat snacks, or soak his feet. He returned to the bedroom and lay down on the bed. He was wondering whether these signs were a counterattack and resistance by the officials and gentry along the coast who joined forces to fight against him.
What method can be used to solve these current difficulties? Someone came to his own home again, and the message was still urgent.
This time it was not the trouble that Xia Xun and Su Ying caused for him, but a coincidence. It was not a coincidence at all, because Xia Xun told Su Ying that Li Jinglong did not have the time or patience to spend several years in Hangzhou Prefecture.
When Gong Lai carried out the Jinghai Campaign, he had already considered that Zhu Yuanzhang was old and would probably die this year. However, he did not expect that although Li Jinglong would go down in history as a result of the Jingnan battle and become a famous idiot in the Ming Dynasty, he was not actually a good person.
Although he is so incompetent, his political sense is also very sensitive, and he is always paying attention to changes in the overall situation.
The family members of Cao Guogong's Mansion brought Li Jinglong very disturbing news: The emperor's condition worsened and he had fainted twice this month. After hearing the news, Li Jinglong wished he could fly back to Jinling City: whether it was the late emperor Tuogu or
When a new emperor ascends the throne, a minister who appears at the emperor's side in time will always have more political capital than a minister who was nowhere to be seen at the time. However, the Hangzhou Prefecture is plagued by lawsuits. The so-called bandit suppression has not achieved any results, and there is no emperor's edict. How can he
Just leave?
Just when I was scratching my head, the guards came to report that General Yang Xu and Yang Qi were here.
Li Jinglong did not find fault with Xia Xun this time. He looked at Xia Xun for a long time and said: "Last time, you told the public that the Shuangyu Islands group wanted to join forces with us on the condition of opening up the sea for trade.
To deal with the Chumi Gang and Chen Zuyi, is this the intention of Shuangyu Island's thieves?"
How could Xia Xun be so stupid as to keep something against him? He leaned forward and said: "Gui Guoguo, my humble job is as a guard in royal robes. I hunt for traces and find out the news. I am a director of this humble job, so I can learn from the mouths of the sea people who are closely related to Shuangyu Island."
After finding out their intentions, I found that I had never dealt with the Shuangyu pirates directly. It is still difficult to judge whether what these seafarers and fishermen said was true or false. I mentioned it to the Duke that day, and it was only for the Duke's reference.
.”
Li Jinglong let out a disappointed sigh, stood up and paced slowly in the hall, pondered for a while and then said: "What information have you been searching for these days? How is the situation on Shuangyu Island now?"
Xia Xun cupped his fists and said: "The Chumi Gang has been loyal to Chen Zuyi and wants to unify the East China Sea, laying the foundation for Chen Zuyi to set foot on land and fight for hegemony. These twin islands are the closest to Hangzhou, only more than a hundred miles apart. They are a natural harbor, which is most appropriate.
bridgehead, so Chen Zuyi is determined to win. However, Dongyu Islands and Chen Zuyi and his like are not the same thing. The Dongyu Islands bandits mainly focus on smuggling and have close relations with the coastal people. Many of the bandits are coastal fishermen from poor families, so they are unwilling to engage in burning, killing, and looting.
Chen Zuyi, who does all kinds of evil, is a member of the Chumi Gang.
However, the strength of the Chumi Gang is not inferior to that of the Shuangyu Gang, and now they have the help of Chen Zuyi. It is difficult for the Shuangyu Gang to compete with them. I heard about the news that the Shuangyu Gang is negotiating with Chen Zuyi, and seems to agree to join the gang.
, but now Shuangyu Gang does not want to give up Shuangyu Island, and Chen Zuyi is determined to win Shuangyu Island. He seems to know that Shuangyu Gang’s agreement to join the gang is very perfunctory, so he still refuses to give up Shuangyu Island, because both sides still have
There is a stalemate. However, with Chen Zuyi's humble position, Shuangyu Gang will not be able to hold on for long. Perhaps, they will compromise soon."
This sentence prompted Li Jinglong to make up his mind. He stood up, pointed at Xia Xun and said: "My Lord, I have accepted the emperor's order and are eager to suppress the bandits. Since the Shuangyu Gang has done no serious evil, it may be possible to make atonement for its crimes. You and me immediately
The Shuangyu Gang and other thieves contacted each other and worked out a way to jointly eradicate the Chumi Gang. Chen Zuyi, what's the condition? I promise them that I will not investigate their illegal behavior of stealing the island, smuggling and selling goods!"