On the 23rd, a large number of pirate ships took advantage of the east wind that picked up at night, crossed the river mouth, entered the shallow waters of Dongtan, and went to aid the remaining bandits at the Hecheng Military Fortress. The Jinghaihai Battalion stationed in Jiangmen was unable to intercept them, and the troops gathered at the Hecheng Military Fortress were unable to intercept them.
The number of bandits increased to four to five thousand - the situation in Chonghuai suddenly became tense again.
By the end of September, the grains of rice will be falling, and the harvest will be ready in ten days and a half. The banks of the Yanyan River are covered with golden autumn colors, and the main road is sandwiched between the rice fields, winding southward.
The several riders split up and headed south, Lin Fu held the bridle and walked slowly, looking at the scenery of the coastal grassland, which was also golden under the setting sun.
Lin Mengde, who was coming from Jiuhua, saw Lin Fu standing on the north embankment. He galloped towards the dam and asked, "How do people from eastern Zhejiang view the Chongzhou War?"
"The person who came here is a prudent person, and he did not look down on the enemy soldiers because of the victory of Chongzhou," Cao Zi'ang said, "but the east Zhejiang side will still make some moves. It's just a matter of the size of the move. Maybe the east Zhejiang messenger can solve this..."
"Ming, Jia, Hui, and Husi Prefectures are the richest places of Zhejiang and Zhejiang, but they have been ruined. Taxes in Zhejiang and Zhejiang have been reduced by 78% from 10%, and the pressure of using troops in eastern Zhejiang is extremely heavy..." Lin Mengde took charge of all financial and public affairs.
He especially understands the pressure caused by a sudden decrease in wealth, and sighed slightly.
Lin Fu looked into the distance, watching the horses retreating, without saying anything.
The few cavalry who left were officials sent to Chongzhou by the admirals of the two Zhejiang provinces through military liaison to observe the movements of the bandits on the northern front in the East China Sea. The leader was Tian Chang, Mingzhou Military Preparation Officer and a member of the admiral's office.
Although in the past few days, the Japanese troops often left the fortress and marched northward, attacking the Huainan Saltworks and even Yanpu, Qingjiangpu and Tinghu (under Huai'an Prefecture) and other counties, the defense line in the north of Chongzhou was as solid as a rock and as stable as Mount Tai. Zhejiang
The attitude of the people from the east was serious and not frivolous, which made Lin Fu feel a little more at ease. He looked at the Hecheng military fortress in the distance under the setting sun, thinking that it had been eight days since Shefeihu left Jiangning. He didn't know if he had infiltrated the Hecheng army.
Sai secretly presided over the affairs of the East China Sea and Kou's northern line.
Lin Fu was not worried about the situation in Chongzhou. There was a great victory ahead, and the morale of the army and the people was high. The military and political orders he passed in Chongzhou were all-inclusive, and the number of troops and ships conscripted far exceeded the original plan. As long as Chongzhou's war resources can
After being mobilized more thoroughly, even if the Donghai bandits gathered twice as many troops in Hecheng, Lin Fu would be sure to defend Chongzhou as solidly as an iron barrel.
Lin Fu was worried about the She family's conspiracy in eastern Zhejiang, Huaishang where hundreds of thousands of rogue bandits gathered, the Yellow River embankment in Jinan Prefecture where 300,000 civilians gathered as hard labor, and the Donglu who were about to be imprisoned again and invaded... The invasion of Chongzhou was nothing but a luxury.
The She family is plotting to seize the East from both Zhejiang and Zhejiang. As long as Quan Ciqing and the soldiers from the two Zhejiang counties gathered in eastern Zhejiang suffer heavy losses, the She family is likely to raise the flag of rebellion again.
Among the five tigers of East Fujian, Zang Mingxin died of a sudden illness just after his forties, Lu Jingyan died in the battle of Jinan, Chen Zhihu became the admiral of Datong Town, Dong Yuan came to know Weiyang, and only Yu Wangao stayed in East Fujian and served as the admiral to take charge of East Fujian.
Military affairs, however, of the 100,000 elites left in Eastern Fujian when the war first ceased, less than 20,000 were left in Eastern Fujian. As long as the Donghai bandits can control the prosperous eastern Zhejiang, and the Taiwen prefectures in southern Zhejiang are sandwiched between eastern Zhejiang and northern Fujian, it is known that
It's difficult to do anything, so the She family won't have much to worry about raising the flag of rebellion again.
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Several horses came galloping along the road on the south bank of the river. The first one was closely followed by Wu Meijiu, the magistrate of the county. He dismounted and saluted, saying: "Master Wu, let me tell Master Lin that Liu Fuzun and Zhang Yan have arrived at Changsangli.
Take a rest, and you will be here in a few moments to inspect the military situation..." He did not explicitly ask Lin Fu to rush to greet him.
Lin Mengde arrived only a moment earlier than Liu Shidu and Zhang Yan, and they met on the way; Wu Meijiu sent someone to inform them again, with the clear intention of hoping that Lin Fu could greet them from afar and give Liu Shidu and Zhang Yan some face.
Liu Shidu was the magistrate of Hailing Prefecture who only took office in the early spring of this year. However, he was not involved in military preparation and military affairs. He could only control local military preparations through the army's participation in the army, but he had no jurisdiction over the garrison, so he could not be regarded as Lin Fu's superior.
Before Zhang Yan was appointed as the salt and iron envoy, he was an internal minister and a provincial minister--the internal ministers who were able to let foreign officials take charge of power were almost all the emperor's confidants--anyway, these two figures, Liu Shidu, Zhang Yan, and Lin Fu
Not to be neglected.
Lin Fu hesitated for a blink of an eye, and then said to Cao Ziang and Lin Mengde: "Let's go and greet him!" Ao Canghai ordered more than a hundred cavalry to escort him.
Although the seat of the Weiyang Salt and Iron Division is also in the city of Weiyang Prefecture, they are two yamen that have nothing to do with Weiyang Prefecture. The salt and iron envoy Zhang Yan was ranked fourth rank, even higher than Dong Yuan, the prefect of Weiyang who also supervises military preparations.
Be a higher level.
The Weiyang Salt and Iron Department was originally under the jurisdiction of the Shaofu Supervisor, one of the Nine Qings, and was later merged into the Ministry of Household Affairs. During the restructuring of Qingyu, the Weiyang Salt and Iron Department and the Changlu Salt and Iron Department were independent from the Ministry of Household Affairs.
Let the salt and iron envoys be indulged, and from then on, the huge profits from salt and iron will be exclusively enjoyed by the inner court.
According to the salt and iron monopoly system, the sea-cooked salt from the villages under the jurisdiction of the Lianghuai Salt Factory was transported to Weiyang at a price of ten yen per dou and paid in full to the Salt and Iron Department. The Salt and Iron Department increased the price to 200 yen and sold it to the salt merchants.
They were sold wherever they came, and all prefectures and counties were prohibited from imposing any more salt taxes to ensure the smooth flow of official salt. With this system, the salt produced by the Lianghuai Salt and Iron Company made an annual profit of two million taels of silver.
In order to protect the salt and profit, the Weiyang Salt and Iron Division set up four salt farms in Lianghuai. The grass storage, salt storage, transshipment, and salt sales were divided into ten supervisory departments. Another Thirteenth Inspection Institute was set up to take charge of salt affairs and prohibit illegal salt. There were left and right departments.
The salt-protecting school captain was in charge of the salt soldiers. It was an extremely large yamen. The authority Liu Yan held was not weaker than that of the county magistrate, and was incomparable to Dong Yuan.
*************
Lin Fu led Cao Zi'ang, Lin Mengde, Ao Canghai and others, surrounded by guards, and galloped to Changsangli to meet Liu Shidu and Zhang Yan.
The Yanyan River dammed on both sides has dried up and there is no water. There is a bamboo pavilion near the river embankment on the south bank. Zhang Yan and Liu Shidu's carriages and horses are parked around the bamboo pavilion. Zhang Yan, Liu Shidu, Wu Meijiu, Song Xiaobo and others are standing on the river embankment.
Pointing at the dry water of the salt canal.
Zhang Yan is about forty years old. He has a white face and no beard. Except for the fact that he has no beard, he is no different from a normal man. He is wearing a crimson official robe and has an extraordinary bearing. Liu Shidu is in his sixties, and his beard is three to four inches long and neatly trimmed.
They are all neat and tidy, already frosty white, their face is quite thin, and they look very capable.
"Jinghai Governor Lin Fu has met Mr. Zhang and Mr. Liu..." Lin Fu, wearing armor, walked to the bamboo pavilion and gave Zhang Yan and Liu Shidu the courtesy of a civil servant.
"You're welcome, Mr. Lin." Zhang Yan narrowed his eyes at Lin Fu and reached out to talk to him in the bamboo pavilion. Lin Fu's official position was only at the sixth level, but he had enough rank to wear Fei. He also had a title, so he could not be treated lightly.
, Besides, he came here to ask for something, and he pointed to a general beside him and introduced him to Lin Fu, "Captain Mao is the captain of the Salt Guard of our division. I heard that you have exchanged letters before, but we haven't met in person yet."
?”
Mao Wenjing's military rank was from the fourth rank of Cavalry Commander, but military attachés were always lower than civilian officials. Lin Fu's rank from the fifth rank to Chaosan Dafu was comparable to Mao Wenjing's Cavalry Commander.
Lin Fu cupped his hands towards Mao Wenjing and called out: "It turns out to be General Mao, whom I have admired for a long time." However, he glanced at Song Xiaobo and saw that his expression was normal, so he knew that Wang Chengfu's strategy had ended at this point.
Haven't gone astray yet.
Mao Wenjing's attitude towards Lin Fu was even colder. He cupped his hand and said stiffly: "It turns out to be Mr. Lin, whom I have admired for a long time."
Although the tax revenue of Jiangdong is the highest in the world, it is less than half of the salt profit of Jianghuai. The Salt and Iron Department is its own system and has nothing to do with the local area. It is inevitable that officials and generals will develop an arrogant style.
After the fall of the Hecheng military fortress, Song Xiaobo sought refuge in Chongzhou, and Lin Fu was able to gather the defeated troops in Hecheng. Lin Fu intended to join forces with the Salt and Iron Division to recapture the Hecheng military fortress, and sent a messenger to contact the Zuohu Salt School in charge of the Huainan salt area.
Wei Mao Wenjing, but did not receive a positive response.
Although the sudden attack by the Japanese soldiers destroyed the Huainan Salt Farm's defense zone from Qingjiangpu to the south almost day and night, the victory of Chongzhou came too quickly, and the Japanese soldiers attacking Sheyang from the north were forced to attack before they had time to deploy.
The enemy retreated to the south and stood firm at Hecheng, waiting for reinforcements. Mao Wenjing was able to lead his troops to easily restore the defense line. Maybe it was because it was too easy, or maybe Song Xiaobo asked Lin Fu for shelter and passed the blame for the loss of the city on to Mao Wenjing and others.
Resented by his confidants, Mao Wenjing dismissed Lin Fu's proposal to join forces, and even transferred nearly all the Qianhe City troops who had finally assembled in Chongzhou on the 22nd without any courtesy.
Jiangdong Zuojun was prohibited from entering the Hecheng defense area to fight.
On the 23rd, after receiving reinforcements, the remnants of the Hecheng bandits did not dare to invade Chongzhou from the west, but they were able to march north to collect food supplies.
On the 25th, Mao Wenjing led his troops in a field battle with the bandits in Dafeng and was forced to retreat. He was defeated and fled back to Sheyang. This was how Zhang Yan made his eastward journey.
Liu Shidu came to Chongzhou at the invitation of Zhang Yan. After all, Liu Shidu was nominally Lin Fu's superior. If Zhang Yan came to discuss the alliance, he might be rejected.
Seeing that the encounter between Lin Fu and Mao Wenjing was not amicable, Zhang Yan laughed and said: "I returned to Beijing in the spring to report on my work, and held a candlelight night talk with Mr. Hao. Mr. Hao praised Lin Du as the pillar of the country. After returning to the south, he served as a minister to the common people.
I was so entangled in business that I just met Inspector Lin Du today, and it turned out that I really got to know a real person, and then I got to know his style better..."
Lin Fu did not have the common understanding of mediocre generals like Mao Wenjing, and laughed with Zhang Yan: "Master Zhang is overly praised. Lin is just loyal to the court. By chance, he accomplished some achievements by chance——Master Zhang served the court."
Although the ability to control salt is not obvious, it is really a great contribution to the country."
Liu Shidu laughed at the side and said: "You two flatter me, it will embarrass the old man who has grown old and useless!" Liu Shidu had a good relationship with Zhang Yan when he was in Beijing. He was old and Lin Fu's boss. He said this
It was a joke and it didn't feel out of place.
After the greetings, Lin Fu invited Zhang Yan and Liu Shidu to continue on the road eastward to the garrison to inspect the defense.
The garrison in the west of Hecheng is mainly composed of Fengli Infantry Camp, Chongcheng Infantry Camp and Cavalry Camp, supplemented by civilian brave soldiers, with a strength of up to 5,000. The forts are built along both sides of the Yunyan River, with the garrison in the middle, with a large
The dam is connected, and the army looks fierce. Zhang Yan inspected the defense of the left army in Jiangdong, looked at Lin Fu's profile, and thought to himself: Maybe after the battles in Yannan, some people thought that this boy was just more lucky than others, but he couldn't always