On the cement road leading from the capital to Huairou County, 20,000 soldiers were wearing uniform armor and helmets, carrying muskets and bows on their backs, and swords and arrows on their waists. They were riding horses and marching towards Huairou County in neat lines.
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If there is a large-scale march, it will immediately arouse the curiosity of the people around you, and they will watch on the roadside.
Since the Ming Dynasty implemented the military reform, the Ming army has changed from the decadence of the military household system and turned into a real iron army. At the same time, military discipline is very strict. No matter where it goes, it must do no harm to the common people.
, so now the common people are not afraid of these soldiers.
Furthermore, they are all compulsory soldiers now. The soldiers are recruited from good families from all over the Ming Dynasty. After serving for a few years, they have to retire. Many people's sons and husbands are serving in the army.
There are many benefits to serving in the military. Your family can enjoy the land tax exemption policy, and soldiers can also get a good job after retirement.
Either they become local police officers, government servants, etc., or they are recruited by large commercial banks or factories. The salary is very good and guaranteed, so the people's enthusiasm to become soldiers is also very high.
"Look~look!"
"This is our patron saint of Ming Dynasty!"
"My son is also a soldier, but he wrote back and said that he has been deployed to Hong Kong in Europe. I heard that it is a very far away place and it takes a year to go back and forth."
"The younger son of my uncle's second wife's family next door is also a soldier, but I heard that he seems to have gone to the South China Sea Fleet to serve as a soldier. He is in the navy."
"Did something happen?"
"What could happen? This is the foot of the emperor. These soldiers must be undergoing daily training. Several trainings also went through our Huairou County."
"When I grow up, I want to be a soldier. It's so cool!"
"..."
Everyone looked at the mighty advancing army and kept discussing.
The capital and Huairou County were already close to each other. Even if they were not cavalry, the Ming army all had horses. It didn't even take an hour to ride from the northern camp of the capital to Huairou County, and they arrived in Huairou County very quickly.
"Last General Yang Yu meets His Highness the Crown Prince!"
The general responsible for leading the 20,000-strong army was Yang Yu, a veteran who had participated in many foreign wars.
"How many troops did you bring here?"
Zhu Houzhao was riding on his horse, looking at the neat army in front of him, and he immediately became energetic.
Although I can't march, fight, or expand territory, I can still have a good time now and feel a little bit better.
"The last general has been ordered to lead an army of 20,000 to wait for His Highness to send you!"
Yang Yu quickly replied respectfully.
"Twenty thousand?"
When Zhu Houzhao heard this, he became even happier. He originally only wanted 10,000 people, but he didn't expect Emperor Hongzhi to dispatch 20,000 horses for him.
"Okay~"
"Yang Yu obeys the order!"
Zhu Houzhao was in high spirits and shouted loudly on his horse.
Zhu Houzhao spent more than a year in the Ming Dynasty Royal Military Academy and was interested in military matters since he was a child, so he commanded the army with style.
"The end is here!"
Yang Yu quickly stood up and gave a military salute.
"I order you to lead five thousand people to take over the defense of Huairou County, strictly prohibit anyone from entering or exiting, and blockade Huairou County!"
"The last general takes command!"
Yang Yu immediately accepted the order without thinking, even though he was a little surprised.
After all, since the reform of the military system, the Ming Dynasty's military has become stronger. Except for border areas, the Ming Dynasty's army does not participate in city garrison. The security of local cities is the responsibility of local governments. The troops stationed in various places are not responsible for local security and are not dispatched by local governments.
It is a rare thing for them to take over the city defense of a county and blockade the county.
But soldiers regard it as their bounden duty to obey orders. Once Zhu Houzhao's order is given, they must carry it out.
"Liu Jin listens to orders~"
"Liu Jin is here!"
Hearing Zhu Houzhao shouting his order, Liu Jin quickly stood up and shouted loudly, but his sharp voice made people know that he was the father-in-law in the palace.
"I order you to lead 10,000 people to the mining areas, forest farms, battlefields, factories, workshops, etc. throughout Huairou County. You must rescue all the people imprisoned by the Sun family. At the same time, you must arrest all the Sun family members and the local gangsters.
!”
"As you command!"
Liu Jin quickly replied.
"The remaining five thousand people will follow me to the Sun Mansion and surround the Sun Mansion. Don't let a single fly go."
After Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, he also rode towards Huairou County.
Yang Yu and Liu Jin each led their troops and began to act according to Zhu Houzhao's instructions.
Soon, with the arrival of five thousand troops in Huairou County, they immediately took over the defense of Huairou County. At the same time, they blocked all entrances and exits in the county and posted notices prohibiting entry and exit.
In the Sun Mansion, at this moment, the Sun family members have not yet realized that a disaster is approaching. The family is still gathering together to discuss setting up a textile factory in the Hezhong area.
"Uncle, this is all the cash our family has on hand now."
Sun Zixiang looked at the large boxes in front of him. Inside were neatly placed envelopes of sealed silver coins. There were also several boxes containing silver ingots, one ingot after another. They looked very dazzling.
.
"Ok, I know!"
"You can arrange some manpower here to follow us to the Hezhong area. Sometimes we can't be too weak. Being appropriately strong is also to avoid making others feel easy to bully."
Sun Qingjiang nodded slightly.
To be honest, it is now popular to invest, set up factories, workshops, invest in overseas plantations, pastures, etc. If in the past, every household had some money, they would have to bury it underground, store it in a cellar, or find a way to do it.
To annex the land and become parasites that suck the blood of Ming Dynasty.
Most of the money in front of me was obtained through various methods in the past few years. The money that was originally hidden underground was not much. After all, it cannot be increased if it is hidden underground. At least it can earn interest if it is placed in the bank.
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"Something happened~ Something happened!"
At this time, someone hurriedly walked in and said anxiously.
"What does it look like to be in a panic?"
Seeing the person coming, Sun Xuepeng scolded him because this person was his own son Sun Yewei.
"There are many troops coming to our Huairou County~"
Sun Yewei said anxiously: "I don't know what these troops are here for?"
"army?"
When Sun Qingjiang, Sun Xuepeng, Sun Zixiang and others heard this, they immediately felt very strange.
"What's there to be afraid of~"
"In the Ming Dynasty, local public security was under the control of local governments. The army was only responsible for major matters such as protecting the country, suppressing rebellions, and conducting emergency rescue and disaster relief."
"It's probably a normal transfer, nothing to make a fuss about."
Sun Qingjiang thought for a while and said nonchalantly, he is the general magistrate of Shuntian Mansion. Officials are not big or small, and they are in the capital, so they know all these things very well.
"No, these troops have blocked our Huairou County, preventing people from entering or exiting."
Sun Weiye continued.
“Lockdown the county?”
After hearing this, several people stood up immediately, feeling that something was wrong.
"Come on, let's go check out the situation and ask them what they are doing here."
Sun Qingjiang thought for a while and said to Sun Xuepeng that they were both considered local officials here. The troops were sent here and they were supposed to be notified of these local officials.
However, before the two of them walked out of the house, they heard the sound of neat horse hooves, followed by neat shouts, which quickly turned into sounds surrounding the Sun family.
"what happened?"
Sun Qingjiang was dumbfounded, and then hurriedly walked outside.
"It's not good, it's not good, our Sun Mansion is surrounded by these soldiers."
At this time, a servant from the Sun Mansion hurried over and said anxiously.
"Surrounded?"
When everyone heard this, they immediately felt that something bad was going on. They usually did all the bad things, and when they heard that they were surrounded, they immediately felt that a disaster was coming. The thing they had been worried about finally came.
"Hurry up and hide the money at home again."
Sun Qingjiang quickly said to the people around him.
"Let's go meet them, try to delay as much time as possible, and at the same time, let the important children in the family escape through the secret passage."
But before he finished speaking, accompanied by a burst of noise and the screams and scoldings of the female family members of the Sun Mansion, the army people had already rushed in, and not only from the front door, the back door, the side door and even
Yu also climbed over the wall and so on, directly entered the Sun Mansion from all directions, and then quickly began to take over every corner of the Sun Mansion.
They arrest anyone they see, regardless of whether they are a man or a woman, or a servant of the Sun Mansion. This caused panic in the Sun Mansion, and a large number of female relatives screamed because they were frightened.
At the same time, some ruffians and thugs kept in the Sun Mansion still wanted to resist, but in the end they were injured and became obedient. They honestly dropped their weapons and were tied up.
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As for the place where Sun Qingjiang, Sun Xuepeng, Sun Zixiang and others were, they were soon surrounded by a group of soldiers.
"Who are you?"
"How dare you break into a private house without permission? Don't you know that I am the general judge of Shuntian Mansion?"
Sun Qingjiang looked at everything that was happening in front of him, listened to the screams coming from the mansion, then looked at the soldiers who stood three steps to one post and five steps to one post, and looked at the men who were tied up and escorted out, as well as the Sun family.
He couldn't help shouting angrily at the soldiers in front of him.
"I know, of course I know~"
At this time, Zhu Houzhao's joking voice sounded, and Zhu Houzhao, who was wearing a seventh-grade county magistrate's uniform and an official hat, walked over in a swaggering manner, admiring the layout and scenery of the Sun Mansion from time to time.
"Tsk tsk, this mansion is quite big, and the decoration is quite good, but the taste is a bit off."
"Magistrate Zhu?"
Seeing Zhu Houzhao, Sun Xuepeng immediately opened his eyes slightly and shouted.