I have to say that the Ming Dynasty was indeed quite unlucky at this time. To describe it in one word, it was bad luck.
So Hong Chengchou was forced to personally lead the army to Xining to quell the rebellion. The peasant rebel army took the opportunity to "separately fall into Guanlong." When Hong Chengchou put down the mutiny and was free to suppress the peasant rebel army, the peasant rebel army gradually withdrew from Shaanxi, respectively.
Bound to Shanxi, Huguang and Henan.
Not to mention the hide-and-seek between Hong Chengchou and the peasant rebels. It should be said that Xuanmo, the governor of Henan, performed admirably when encircling and suppressing the peasant rebels.
When Xuanmo paid attention to the peasant rebel army and re-entered Henan, he moved his army from Ruzhou to Lushi and ordered Zuo Liangyu, Tang Jiuzhou and other troops to guard key points, which effectively blocked the peasant rebel army.
Entered Henan on a large scale.
Henan's local Luoyang deputy general Wang Shaoyu, Kaifeng guerrilla Chen Yongfu and other generals also repeatedly attacked and defeated several groups of local Henan bandits who were making a lot of noise. Although the countryside of Henan was still in a state of rampant bandits, they were finally curbed.
The situation further deteriorated. Therefore, from August to the end of October in the seventh year of Chongzhen, Henan had to have a few months of peace.
Wu Shigong also took advantage of this rare rest period to do several major things in Runing. The first was that the whole area of Runing and the tuntianzhuangzi of Guide Prefecture received a bumper harvest. This rare bumper harvest in recent years made Runing
The army's granary was full. And the hearts of those who took refuge with the refugees quickly settled down.
Because some Runing and German officials in the court received letters from home, they knew that there was such a paradise in the chaotic Henan, so they greatly praised the Runing local officials, and this praise was quickly passed on to Emperor Chongzhen.
And in the ears of all the great bachelors.
At this time, Emperor Chongzhen recalled the three decrees proposed in the memorial submitted by Guan Kesong, the prefect of Runing at that time, so he immediately praised them. Guan Kesong was immediately praised as a "capable minister" by Longkou
.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs was also preparing to promote Guan Kesong in an unusual way. But when the news reached Runing, Guan Kesong felt mixed. On the one hand, he was happy that he was about to be promoted; on the other hand, he was worried. Because he knew that Runing Mansion
This situation was all caused by Wu Shigong's Runing Army, and he only issued a decree, and later received some more routines from the Runing Army, but did nothing about other specific matters.
Guan Kesong also knew that without the deterrent force of the powerful Runing Army, the bandits roaming all over Henan would have wreaked havoc in Runing Mansion. Where would there be such a good harvest? If the imperial court had simply promoted him.
But he did not give himself a strong army, and even put himself in areas such as Shaanxi and Huguang where peasant rebel armies were active. Then Guan Kesong would have three heads and six arms. Even if he issued thirty decrees, the situation there would still be different.
It might get better.
But he can confess to the court: The tranquility of Runing Mansion is actually the result of the dismissed Wu Dusi? Guan Kesong must have been reluctant to give up the opportunity for promotion. Then the next promotion will not be in the Year of the Monkey and the Horse.
Okay. This is really a happy trouble!
There is another person who also has the troubles of happiness, and that is the "famous general" Li Lu who was promoted to the third level. The lame man's bragging words not only reached the ears of Wu Shigong, but also spread throughout the entire Henan officialdom.
And how could Xuanmo, the governor of Henan, who was short of major generals, waste Li Lu's strong army? He issued orders every three days to mobilize Li Lu's strong army to the front line of suppressing bandits.
But how could Li Lu create an army? He could only delay the transfer of orders with many reasons such as "the troops need to rest after the war!" "the weather is bad and it is difficult to march!"
Now Li Lu has lived in the Runing Army camp for a long time. He begs Wu Shigong every day to send some troops to fool him through this level. But how could Wu Shigong casually waste the strength of his Runing Army? So Li Lu
Sadly being left aside by Wu Shigong, he now even considered hanging himself.
People are really afraid of being famous as pigs are afraid of being strong! Li Lu did not learn from Zhao Ming. Although he could not be promoted, at least he was not in danger. At this time, Li Lu must have understood the true meaning of disaster coming from his mouth!
The bumper harvest in Runing Mansion also made the gentry in Guide Mansion jealous. Jimin Reclamation Company took the opportunity to extend its tentacles to Guide Mansion. After getting Wu Shigong's approval, Chang Meng immediately established a branch in Guide Mansion.
No. 1. The majority shareholder held 40% of the shares of the Jimin Reclamation Business Bank, and united with local officials and gentry in Guide Prefecture. They imitated the "Forbidden Wasteland" implemented by Runing Prefecture and concentrated all the abandoned land in Guide Prefecture.
, gathering the refugees to prepare for a big fight in the coming year.
This grand alliance also fully demonstrated Chang Meng's slick methods. Local officials and respectable gentry in Guide Prefecture benefited to some extent. What's even more valuable is that the Guide Prefecture branch also promised to sell the excess grain at a fair price.
It was given to the Runing Army, and the management of the villages and the command of the village protection teams also belonged to the Runing Army. This also made Wu Shigong look at Chang Meng with admiration.
Chang Meng, who was constantly praised by Wu Shigong, was very motivated, and then he wanted to expand his farming villages in Kaifeng Prefecture, Ruzhou and Nanyang Prefecture, which were close to the areas controlled by the Runing Army.
But a problem arose at this time. The other shareholders of Jimin Reclamation Company were not very interested in developing those areas. The reason is simple. After all, those areas are outside the control area of the Runing Army. Only relying on a small number of village protection teams,
Maybe even the young crops in the fields will be eaten by the hungry refugees.
Besides, wherever there is farming now, it will become fragrant buns. Those bandits will swarm in like a swarm of flies. And the Runing Army cannot take care of such a large place in time. So those major shareholders think
It is too risky to go to those places to cultivate wasteland.
In this regard, Wu Shigong could not force those major shareholders, and the business development of Jimin Reclamation Company had temporarily reached a deadlock. However, an unexpected visitor broke the deadlock. That was a senior man Wu Shigong had met several times in Nanjing.
Male publicist - Ma Shouxin and Ma Ergongzi.
As a man, he wants to make a career, and Ma Shouxin is no exception. Although in the eyes of outsiders, Ma Shouxin seems to be very cool accompanying the young men in Nanjing to eat, drink and have fun, but Ma Shouxin knows that those young men despise him, and he also knows
His status in the Ma family was not high. So when he said goodbye to Wu Shigong and heard Wu Shigong's words, Ma Shouxin's heart was immediately moved.
But after all, Ma Shouxin was also a young man, and it would be impossible to let him make his own decision. So when he returned to Songjiang Mansion, Ma Shouxin told the head of the Ma family, his father Ma Yong, about his meeting with Wu Shigong.
After hearing this, Ma Yong of course disagreed. A noble son who married into the family, a military attache who was dismissed from his post, and a warrior who went to Nanjing to borrow money, what should we pay attention to?
However, when he heard that his second son's voice was always inclined to cooperate with Wu Shigong, Ma Yong did not want to dampen Ma Shouxin's enthusiasm, so he reluctantly agreed to let Ma Shouxin go to Runing, Henan to have a look.
But this rare trip shocked Ma Shouxin. Ma Shouxin had been living in the most prosperous city of the Ming Dynasty. Even if he rarely heard about the situation in the world, he would always give some dry introductions, which were not intuitive at all.
understanding.
But along the way, although we passed through the most affluent areas of the Ming Dynasty, we saw that poor people were displaced and people died on the roadside.
So when Ma Shouxin arrived in Jining and heard from the innkeeper about the rampant bandits in Henan, Ma Shouxin wanted to go home. It was the shopkeeper of the Jining Branch of Sihai Trading Company who repeatedly guaranteed the safety of the journey that made Ma Shouxin doubtful.
Went to Runing Fucheng.
Ma Shouxin went with the caravan of Sihai Trading Company. As soon as he entered Guide Mansion in Henan Province, Ma Shouxin discovered a strange phenomenon. Although there were many refugees beside the avenue, as long as they saw the flag of Sihai Trading Company, they all
Stay away from him and don't dare to get close at all.
So Ma Shouxin asked with great interest the shopkeeper who led the caravan, and the shopkeeper told Ma Shouxin: No one in Henan dared to offend Runing Army's Sihai Trading Company. The group of gangsters who offended Sihai Trading Company last time,
More than 10,000 heads have been chopped off by the Runing Army.
After all, Ma Shouxin was used to dealing with young men, so his observation skills were quite strong. Therefore, he felt that there was some pride in the shopkeeper's understatement.
He heard that more than 10,000 people had been beheaded again. If the shopkeeper hadn't been bragging, then the military attache he was going to meet this time who came to Nanjing to borrow money must be a crazy butcher. At this time, Ma Shouxin felt a little bit
Interested.
But Ma Shouxin's surprising journey has just begun. When he entered Runing Mansion, Ma Shouxin felt as if he had entered two worlds. There were no refugees on the road here, and there were no beggars or dead people on the roadside.
Corpses. Farmers were cultivating their fields, but they often encountered groups of soldiers patrolling the roads.
Although these soldiers were not as brightly armored as the soldiers guarding Nanjing that Ma Shouxin saw in Nanjing City, they were dressed in civilian clothes and showed their ability in their actions. They just saw the flag of Sihai Trading Company and after a brief interrogation, they
Just let it go.
But when Ma Shouxin complimented Wu Shigong on the good soldiers he trained, the shopkeeper burst out laughing. Then he introduced to Ma Shouxin: These are not actually Wu Shigong's soldiers. Some are militia groups, and some are escorts organized by the Department of Internal Affairs.
Zhuang team, road protection team. And the soldiers of Runing Army are much more capable than these people!
Ma Shouxin couldn't help but feel dumbfounded by the shopkeeper's words. He couldn't imagine what soldiers who were more capable than these people would look like, and this question was brought up to meet Wu Shigong. (To be continued.)