In Jinan Fuzhong, staff who had retreated from Shandong were nervously carrying various materials and documents.
Han Jinxin was very well informed. The court meeting on the morning of July 25th decided to mobilize Guan Ning's army to attack Li Zhi. Han Jinxin's people got the news in the afternoon and reported to Tianjin immediately. Li Zhi therefore took action before Guan Ning's army was mobilized.
Get up and start preparing countermeasures.
Guan Ning's army is known as the strongest army in the world. When Li Zhi saw Zu Dashou's troops, he knew that this army was not weak. When 70,000 people attacked, Li Zhi did not dare to underestimate it. Although Li Zhi estimated that 25,000 Hu Ben troops would basically be enough.
Shang was able to defeat Guan Ning's army, but the military situation was too dangerous, so Li Zhi finally decided to gather all his strength to fight.
He recruited all the soldiers and horses stationed in Shandong and Osaka to Tianjin, preparing to gather 30,000 Tiger and Guard troops to fight. Therefore, all the 10,000 soldiers and horses stationed in Shandong were withdrawn, and there was no longer Li Zhi's armed force in Shandong.
The gentry in Shandong have great influence on the 30,000 local troops, and Shandong is adjacent to Nanzhili, which is the base camp of the gentry. The situation of the Ming army there is unknown. After the Huben army withdraws, the gentry may be able to mobilize neighboring troops
The soldiers and horses from the province attacked Li Zhi's personnel. In order to prevent the gentry in Shandong from taking the opportunity to cause chaos, Li Zhi withdrew all the troops from all lines.
The tax collectors, judges and police all temporarily returned to Tianjin. Tens of thousands of people moved at the same time, and the workload was quite heavy.
The most troublesome thing is those documents. In the past few years since Li Zhi entered Shandong, various departments have accumulated a large number of documents and archives. These things are not usually used, but none of them can be lost. Li Zhi recruited horse-drawn carriages and ox-carts from all over the country.
They were transporting truckloads of documents to Tianjin.
Fortunately, Guan Ning's army did not move quickly. Ten days after the order arrived outside the Pass, Guan Ning's army had not yet set off. It would take at least more than twenty days to march from the Pass to Tianjin. Li Zhi had enough time to organize a retreat. He left and came to Shandong
, check the situation of large-scale relocation of Shandong institutions.
Li Zhi was at the city gate of Jinan Prefecture, watching the ox-carts and horse-drawn carriages driving out of the city gate one after another, and was silent.
The people in Jinan Prefecture were a little reluctant to see Li Zhi retreat. Although newspapers repeatedly advertised that the retreat was a temporary move, the citizens in Jinan Prefecture all suspected that Li Zhi would never come back after leaving. The people in the neighborhood
When they heard that Guan Ning's army was going to attack Huben's army, they all thought that the imperial court was going to attack Li Zhi, and that Li Zhi was more likely to be in trouble than in danger.
Since Li Zhi took control of Shandong, he has levied commercial taxes on Shandong vendors, and the citizens' income has been lost. But on the other hand, Li Zhi spent the entire last year providing disaster relief to the citizens and saving the lives of the people in Shandong.
, this also includes the citizens of Shandong. So these citizens are still grateful to Li Zhi.
Some moving carts and horses got stuck on the bumpy stone slabs on the road. Citizens on both sides of the street came out to help push the carts. The citizens shouted slogans and worked hard with the drivers to push the carts and horses one after another.
Pushed out of the pothole.
Li Zhi was looking at the citizens helping him at the city gate, when he saw thousands of farmers suddenly walking on the road outside the city.
The group of farmers walked outside the city gate, stopped, and stood together. The farmers seemed to consciously want to show some discipline. When standing together, they all held their heads high. They held sickles and hoes in their hands.
, some people got daggers from nowhere and held them in their hands.
Three older village elders walked out of the crowd, walked into the city gate, climbed up the Jinan City Tower, and bowed to Li Zhi in salute.
Li Zhi helped three village elders and asked curiously: "Three village elders, what are you doing here in Fucheng?"
A gray-haired village elder in the middle took a step forward and said loudly: "Your Excellency, the Duke of Jin, how can we, the common people, not repay the great kindness and kindness shown to us by the Duke of Jin?"
The old man looked to be fifty or sixty years old, but his voice was like a bell. He said loudly: "If it weren't for the Duke of Jin who provided disaster relief in Shandong last year, would we have survived to have a good harvest this year? If it hadn't been for the Duke of Jin who had equalized Shandong's
With the land tax, can we have enough to eat? The Duke of Jin has shown great kindness to us small people, and we cannot but repay it."
"We have listened to the newspapers and know that the gentry mobilized the Guan Ning Army to attack the Duke of Jin. We know that this war was not the emperor's original intention. The emperor is now bedridden, and the people commanding the Guan Ning Army are all gentry masters from the court!"
"The gentry ate our flesh, sucked our blood, and tortured us until we had enough to eat. Tianjin opened courts to protect the property of the common people, established a tax bureau to equalize land taxes, so that we can eat white rice.
Don’t worry about your family fields being targeted. Now that the Duke of Jin is being attacked by the gentry, we must stand up and help the Duke of Jin!”
"If a person knows how to repay kindness but does not repay it, what is the difference between him and an animal?"
"Don't worry, Duke Jin. More than a thousand peasant men from Xiaobeizhuang will go to the city to defend the city for Duke Jin. No matter how many soldiers and horses the gentry mobilizes, we will defend Jinan City for Duke Jin."
Li Zhi's eyes lit up when he heard the old man's words.
Li Zhi took charge of Shandong for one year and did countless good things. Now these people are grateful for Li Zhi's kindness and the people's support can be used!
The old man said loudly: "Dong Jin, I'm not boasting, old man. Which farmer around Jinan Prefecture today doesn't appreciate Duke Jin's kindness? Duke Jin's Shandong belongs not only to Duke Jin, but also to all of us."
Peasants! As long as the Duke of Jin gives the order, not to mention 10,000 people, even 50,000 farmers in Jinan Prefecture can immediately gather together. As long as the Duke of Jin equips us with some spears and swords, we will fight against the rebellious gentry.
Got it!"
Li Zhi looked at Li Laosi next to him and smiled.
Li Laosi cupped his hands and said: "My boss, I think what this old man said is very advisable. Now that our army has withdrawn from Shandong, if the gentry comes from Nanzhili to counterattack, the peasants who have equalized their land tax will be bullied by the gentry.
Risk. Especially those tenant farmers who donated their fields to the gentry. These days, in order to bargain with the gentry for lower land rents, it can be said that they have had great conflicts with the gentry. If the leaders of these people do not go to the city to escape, they may be counterattacked.
The gentry killed.”
"Now that the farmers support the Duke of Tianjin so much, we can organize militiamen to defend six prefectures. The local armies in Shandong and South Zhili have chaotic and lax military disciplines and have no combat effectiveness at all. As long as the militiamen are united, they can withstand these local armies for several months.
No problem."
"We have seized countless swords and spears over the years, and we will distribute them to the militiamen at this time."
When the three village elders heard what Li Laosi said, they knelt down in front of Li Zhi and said loudly: "How can the people of Shandong not repay the great kindness of the Duke of Jin? We will definitely defend the city for the Duke of Jin.
Ensure that Shandong is always in the hands of the Duke of Tianjin."
