Pang Gang was surprised and surprised. What surprised him was that the huge Laizhou City had its four gates wide open. There was no officer or soldier guarding the city gates. Pang Gang really didn't know what those rebel soldiers were thinking. They just opened the four gates like this. Is it just to allow the counter-insurgency army to march in and wipe them out?
Although Pang Gang didn't know much about Xiao Jiujiu, who Zhou Hao was worried about immediately surrendering when the counter-rebellion officers and soldiers arrived, he had no intention of guessing at this time. As more than a thousand officers and soldiers entered the city one after another, he immediately mobilized Four hundred soldiers rushed to and occupied the four city gates, and no rebels could be allowed to escape.
Pang Gang led dozens of soldiers to walk along the streets of Laizhou with the brigade of officers and soldiers. From time to time, he could see dead bodies lying on the roadside. Most of these dead bodies were innocent people in Laizhou City. Compared to men The death conditions of the dead women and children were even more horrific. Many of them were naked and their lower bodies were thrown on the roadside in a mess.
"What a crime!" Bin Shiqian, who was following Pang Gang, couldn't stand it anymore. He shook his head and sighed: "These rebels have gone too far. They are just making money. What do they do to these common people? What do they do to their own brothers?" Even sisters are capable of such cruelty!"
"These bastards!" The anger in Pang Gang's eyes grew stronger as he walked on. He held the scimitar at his waist tightly and said to Bin Shiqian who was following him: "Bin Baihu, please get your troops to restrain themselves immediately. If you don't have enough manpower to collect these corpses on the road, I will allow you to recruit some people to help you collect them, and you cannot let them die in the wilderness."
"Yes! I obey my orders!" Bin Shiqian raised his hand and led his troops away.
Pang Gangyou turned to the hundreds and thousands of households and said: "Everyone, listen to me. If you encounter any rebels who do not abandon their weapons and surrender, they will be killed without mercy. Anyone who obstructs them will be guilty of the same crime as the rebels!"
"Yes!" All the officers shouted in unison and began to spread out to clear out the rioters who were already herding sheep in groups. After a while, intensive gunshots rang out again.
Inside the commander's office, Wei Jiang and the prefect Shu Feisong were speechless behind the gate. After a night of desperate efforts to guard the commander's office, the commander and the prefect finally managed to hold on. However, Wei Jiang's more than 200 servants also died, and more than 60 of them died. , if the rebels outside come again like this, all the servants here will be killed or injured.
Shu Feisong showed his belly, and the fat on his face was fighting, and said in a trembling voice: "Master Wei... Mr. Wei, when will General Dingyuan's counter-rebellion army arrive? If we don't come, we will all die. The leader of that group of rebels is in trouble."
Wei Jiang, who had been leading his servants to fight all night, had not slept all night, so his thin face became more and more livid, and the armor on his body that was originally shiny became filthy because it was stained with blood and dirt.
He turned his head and grinned at Shu Feisong, showing his white teeth, and said in a hoarse voice: "Life and death are determined by fate and wealth. If I really want to let you die here, what can you do? But what have you done these years, Lord Magistrate?" Now that you have enjoyed all the blessings, you shouldn’t be afraid anymore, right?”
"You're talking nonsense!" Shu Feisong shouted loudly in excitement: "I have only reached the age of 40, and there are still many things I have not done. How can I live enough? Mr. Wei, my wealth and life depend on your thoughts. It’s in between, you must hold on!”
In a panic, Shu Feisong almost shouted out the famous words "Brother, hold on!".
Wei Jiang snorted softly and said, "On weekdays, I ask you for salary, but you always resist and refuse to pay it in full. That's why today's disaster happened! If I had known it would happen, why would Master Shu do what he did that day?
"
"Isn't it because the money turnover of the Yamen is not working well? I didn't say that I wouldn't give it. I just said that I would postpone it for a few days. Who would have thought that something would happen now? If I had known that, no matter how hard it was, I would never give it to others.
All the money was transferred out of the funds." Shu Feisong now regrets withholding the pay of the Laizhou garrison, but he always refuses to admit his mistakes. Perhaps this "habitual tough talk" is the reason for the officialdom in ancient and modern times.
The characteristics of it.
Wei Jiang was not interested in Shu Feisong's indirect apology. He just sighed and said nothing. He knew very well the virtues of these men who controlled their food, salary and lifeline. It was a common problem for these people to forget their scars when their wounds healed. If
If he was lucky enough to survive this mutiny, I hope he can learn from this lesson.
Originally, the food and salary needed by the Laizhou garrison led by Wei Jiang all depended on the salary and silver allocated by the Ministry of War. However, these days, the military salary for the frontier troops guarding Jiubian cannot be guaranteed. Therefore, in recent years, Chongzhen had no choice but to issue an imperial edict asking for
Some of the defenders in the interior were fed and paid by the local government.
The consequence of this is that the garrison is under the dual leadership of the local government and the superior Shangguan. The latter is in charge of their official hats, and the former is in charge of their money and food bags. Especially the former, it is almost like pinching the testicles of these garrison troops.
, if you are unhappy, I can pinch you at any time. As long as I don’t pay you for two months, I can make you want to die. But this time, it was Governor Shu who went too far, which led to
led to the mutiny.
At this moment, bursts of sounds like fried beans came from the front, and the sounds became more and more intense. "It's the sound of bird cannons, our reinforcements are coming!"
Wei Jiang was as shocked as Shu Feisong at first, but then he suddenly became ecstatic, "Sir Shu, our reinforcements have arrived. The reinforcements sent by Pangda people have arrived. Order the sergeant to open the door immediately!"
"Master Wei, you must not do this!" Shu Feisong, who was startled, quickly pulled out the hem of Wei Jiang's armor skirt, "Sir, how could you be able to conclude that reinforcements were coming as soon as you heard the sound of gunshots? If you were on a business trip as expected, the rebels rushed in.
Aren’t we going to die without a burial place?”
Wei Jiang pushed away Shu Feisong's hand angrily and amusedly, "Do you think I have been frightened and confused? The sound of this bird gun is very unique, and there is no doubt that I despise the Lumi Gun. And the Lumi Gun is only under the command of General Dingyuan.
We will equip them on a large scale, and you don’t even think about when our soldiers and horses in Laizhou will have the money to equip those expensive Rumi guns."
"Oh, that's right." Shu Feisong finally came to his senses. When had Laizhou City ever been equipped with muskets? Such high-end items, let alone them, were rare even in the border army and the Shenji Battalion in the capital, and because
The reason why it is easy to explode is that many troops are unwilling to equip it. Now it is estimated that only the legendary and wealthy General Dingyuan and General Liu Zeqing in Qingzhou are equipped with it!
"Hurry up...open the gate to welcome General Dingyuan's army!" Shu Feisong, who came to his senses, immediately became more active than Wei Jiang and started gesticulating to the servants in front of him.
These servants turned to look at Wei Jiang. After seeing him nodding slightly, the two of them ran to the door and worked together to lift the three heavy door bolts. As the door wrapped in iron sheets creaked,
With a creaking sound, the gate of the command and prefecture office, which had been closed for two days, finally opened.
After the door was opened, Wei Jiang and Shu Feisong, supported by dozens of servants, walked out of the government office and came to the street. What they saw was a messy scene. Dead bodies were abandoned on the roadside, and weapons and debris were everywhere.
Yes, from time to time I saw the figures of several rebel soldiers disappearing and appearing nearby.
The sound of bird gunfire in the distance gradually became quieter, and soon a sound of neat footsteps came from the front, and a few more sounds came from time to time.
"According to the order of General Dingyuan to quell the chaos, all the people should go home immediately. Anyone lingering on the street will be regarded as a rebel and killed on the spot."
"General Dingyuan has an order. Our Qingzhou Army has strict military discipline. There is no need to panic!"
"All rebels come out and surrender immediately, otherwise they will be killed without mercy!"
Following the shouting, a group of Ming soldiers in chainmail, holding blunderbuss and spears, formed a square formation and marched towards the commanding officer and the prefect's office in neat steps. Their feet were covered with iron nets.
The combat boots made a neat snapping sound when they stepped on the bluestone on the street. The whole army was filled with a frightening aura of murder. Although this army only had about a hundred people, it exuded an aura of only a few hundred people.
The majesty that can only be achieved by thousands of troops.
Seeing such a unit coming towards him neatly, Wei Jiang couldn't help but take a breath and murmured: "It's no wonder that the commander has gained such a great reputation in the capital. He is indeed well-deserved. Just by looking at the sergeant in front of him."
He is worthy of his reputation as a soldier who has fought hundreds of battles!”
This group of officers and soldiers soon arrived in front of the commanding and prefecture office. A middle-aged man who looked like an officer came out and asked in a deep voice: "Who knows the commander and prefect of Laizhou?"
Seeing the person asking, Wei Jiang stood up and said, "That's exactly what I am!"
Seeing Wei Jiang standing up, the officer slapped him with a military salute and said loudly: "General Dingyuan has an order. Wei Jiang, the commander of Laizhou, will immediately accompany the army to wipe out the rebels. After completing the errand, he will immediately go to the south gate outside the city."
Assemble!"
"Yes, I humbly accept the order!" Although the officer in front of him was only a hundred people at best, Wei Jiang did not dare to be careless at all, because the officer he represented at this time was General Dingyuan.
"Rebels?" Shu Feisong on the side was a little stunned and asked: "Aren't they officers and soldiers who want to pay, how come they became rebels?"
"Officers and soldiers?" The officer looked at Shu Feisong with contempt for a while, then pointed at several corpses of civilians on the street and asked coldly: "Are there any officers and soldiers who want to kill innocent people indiscriminately without being paid so much?"
"This..." Shu Feisong couldn't help but was speechless. What this group of rebels did was indeed not human affairs. They had committed rape, robbery, burning, killing, and looting. Although he didn't know how much damage Laizhou City would suffer.
, but even a fool like Shu Feisong, who only sees money and women, knows that it must be a big deal. It is conservatively estimated that at least one to two thousand people will die in this riot.
The officer ignored Shu Feisong and said to Wei Jiang: "I have sent the military order to you, now I am going to exterminate the rebels!"
After the officer finished speaking, he didn't bother to look at Shu Feisong and led the team to continue walking forward...