The area of the Shizhou Guard Military and Civilian Command and Envoy Division extends 500 miles to the boundary of Badong County, Jingzhou Prefecture in the east, 900 miles to the Xuanfu Division of Youyang in the west, more than 600 miles to Anding Cave in the south, and 700 miles to the Shizhu Xuanfu Division in the north.
Fifty miles. The place is vast, and the situation in the chieftain's office is particularly complicated. After Guo Junzhen left Miao Lichen to lead 3,000 miners and stationed them in the Rongmei Xuanfu Division that supported the Chuang army, he led Chu Chuang's main force eastward.
Jiujiang.
This fashion is in winter. Although the climate in Sanchu is much warmer than that of Yanzhao, it is still too humid and the cold is just as unbearable. The sound of wind on the Yangtze River is like a sharp knife cutting the skin of the soldiers.
Many people were blown away by the Jiang wind, and their hands and feet were so chapped that they could hardly hold their weapons.
After the ship arrived at Yuezhou, Gao Yigong personally led the officials from the Wuyue Jiedu Envoy to the vicinity of Chenglingji to meet the fleet led by Guo Junzhen. Considering that the army would move eastward and then attack Jiujiang, he would inevitably have a large number of battles with Gan Yong.
Therefore, Liu Xiyao and Lin Chengcheng, who were responsible for commanding the Yangtze River Navy of the Chuang Army, also led the Chuang Army Navy, which had been trained and strengthened for a long time, to join forces at Yueyangkou and Guojun Town.
At this time, the navy of the Chuang Army had been divided into two powerful fleets, one was the Yangtze River Navy commanded by Liu Xiyao, and the other was the Dongting Lake Navy commanded by Lin Chengcheng.
Yueyangkou is covered with clouds and sails, and warships are lined up. About half of the sailors are old soldiers from Chu Chuang. Most of them are not familiar with the water, but during this period, after Liu Xiyao and Lin Nuo's targeted and intensive training, they are no longer able to control the ships.
become a problem.
Among the remaining half of the sailors, one-third are veterans of the Fifth Battalion of the Gezuo under Liu Xiyao and Lin Chengcheng. These veterans of the Gezuo have been active in the Qihuang Yinghuo area for a long time, and are more familiar with the southern climate and the hydrology of the Yangtze River.
In this situation, he could be regarded as an old sailor on the Yangtze River.
The remaining two-thirds are local Huguang soldiers recruited from Xiangyang, Jingzhou, Wuchang and Yuezhou. Of course, the locals are familiar with the hydrological and geographical conditions of the Yangtze River and Han River, and most of them have better water quality, and many of them
He is originally a fisherman and boatman, and with a little training, he can be called a sailor with excellent quality.
The river breeze blows on Chenglingji, the spring rain is coming, and the cold winter will probably not last much longer. The river bank has revealed a vibrant scene, with green trees and grass growing on both sides of the river. Guojun Town is Shaanxi
I have rarely seen such a warm and genial Yangtze River scenery in my hometown in northern Shaanxi, and I can't help but feel relaxed and happy about it.
However, more soldiers still had their skin blown by the river wind. The sailors who had been living on the ship for a long time had to sort out the canvas and hemp ropes every day, leaving many chapped wounds on their hands. As a result, the morale of the soldiers was not very high.
"Gao Shijun!"
Gao Yigong led a large group of envoy officials to welcome Guo Junzhen's arrival on the shore of Chenglingji. Liu Xiyao and Lin Chengcheng, two senior commanders in the rebel army, had also been waiting for him for a long time.
Such grand welcome treatment made Guo Junzhen, who hurriedly returned eastward after failing to quell Shizhou Wei in one fell swoop, feel embarrassed. He was originally a person with a high-spirited temperament, but at this time he actually felt that Gao Yigong did this on purpose and wanted to use
He was embarrassed.
Fortunately, Gao Yigong's personality was similar to Li Guo's, sincere and simple. When he saw Guo Junzhen's hesitant expression, he immediately laughed and said:
"Shizhou has high mountains and dense forests, and the chieftains are tough and difficult to tame. Lao Guo, you are able to semi-contain Shizhou so quickly and free up your hands to go east to capture Jiujiang. You are worthy of the reputation of a famous general mentioned by Laiheng! Hey, don't suffer for a long time.
Show your face, come and see what we have prepared for you... Mr. Geng."
Gao Yigong called Geng Yingqu's name. Geng Yingqu was a jute gentry. As early as when Li Laiheng first ordered jute, Geng Yingqu, Yi Daoxian and others had become one of the first batch of Hubei local gentry to join the Chuang Army.
.
Li Laiheng implemented the farming system on a large scale in Hubei and seized the management rights of the land from the gentry landlords. In order to prevent these wealthy and powerful gentry from sitting at home with nothing to do and causing all kinds of troubles, Li Laiheng had previously encouraged them and the gentry to
Deji is doing business as a joint stock company.
In fact, most of the gentry lacked the ability to run businesses, and many of them could barely maintain their expenses. However, there were also some people who originally performed mediocrely in terms of fame and official career, but now they have performed well after running a public-private partnership of shops and workshops with Kendeji.
Showed extraordinary talent.
Geng Yingqu is one of such people. When he studied in the first class of reading, it cannot be said that he has no talent, but compared with his old friends Yi Daosan, Yi Daoxian and others, he is really far behind. It seems that
A grain of rice is brighter than the moon.
Perhaps even Geng Yingqu himself had not thought that an honest and humble man like him, who could hardly splash a stone if he dropped it, would have a more powerful business career than many of the old shopkeepers of Kendeji.
Excellent abilities.
After Li Laiheng implemented the camp system, Geng Yingqu responded positively and handed over all the land in his family to the village envoys appointed by the Chuang Army for management. Because of Geng Yingqu's positive attitude, Li Laiheng specifically asked Li Laiheng to be responsible for it a long time ago.
Bai Wang, who was responsible for the camp reform, said that more revenue from the camp should be allocated to Geng Yingqu.
Later, due to the tight income and expenditure of the army, the stingy Li Laiheng was not even willing to distribute the original 10% of the camp revenue to the gentry. He first proposed a public-private partnership, and later simply gave 10% of the camp revenue to the gentry.
From the physical food income, it turned into the currency income of the shop run by Chuangjun, and later, it directly changed from the currency to the equity of the shop without even seeing the money.
I don't know how many gentry in Chu complained bitterly because of this. They felt that they had been deceived by "Benevolent and Righteous Mr. Li". Not only did they lose the right to manage their own fields, but they also couldn't even get a share of the profits they had promised.
These shares seem to be of high value, but most of the gentry lack business skills. If they really want to continue doing it, is it still a loss-making business? In the end, they will have to buy back the shares at a low price!
But among these people, people like Geng Yingqu were given the opportunity to flex their muscles.
Geng Yingqu had long ago learned from Yi Daoxian, who held an important position in Baiwang De'an Jiedu Envoy's House, that the Northern Expedition of the Chuang Army was imminent. He had studied in Beijing in his early years and knew that the climate in North China was cold and not as warm as the Chu land, so the Chuang Army launched a large-scale campaign.
The Northern Expedition coincides with the approaching winter, and cotton cloth will definitely become a commodity in short supply.
Therefore, Geng Yingqu seized the opportunity and risked being killed by the Ming army. He personally went to Anqing, Wuhu and Zhenjiang in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and other places. He found some old friends he had met in the south of the Yangtze River and used their
The channel purchases large quantities of cotton cloth from Changzhou Prefecture, Suzhou Prefecture, Huzhou Prefecture, Songjiang Prefecture and other places.
Geng Yingqu purchased cotton cloth from the south of the Yangtze River and returned to Chu to sell it. He was even able to do business directly with the Central Plains army. His capital increased rapidly and his career prospered. He spread the word to others and caused a sensation throughout Chu. It was because of Li Laiheng that the gentry were promoted.
The "tyranny" couldn't wait for one moment. After hearing about Geng Yingqu's situation, he immediately came to his door and wanted to join forces with him to start this business.
But later Yuan Jixian organized Gan Yong to cut off Jiujiang and the Yangtze River navigation was blocked. Geng Yingqu's business suffered a heavy blow. But since Li Laiheng forcibly promoted the camp system, the gentry could no longer make profits from the land that had guaranteed harvests due to droughts and floods. There was no alternative.
As a result, they had no choice but to take risks and continue to operate trade through smuggling and other methods.
Geng Yingqu was smarter than the general Chuzhong gentry involved in the cotton business. He thought that since it was difficult to purchase cotton from Jiangnan, it would be better to weave cotton directly in Chuzhong. There was Jianghua kapok in Chuzhong, although it was not as widely grown as Jiangnan.
You can get seven cloths from twenty cottons like Yuyao cotton, but you can still get five cloths from twenty cottons. Moreover, Jianghua cotton has strong properties and is much lighter than Yuyao cotton, so it is also suitable for weavers to use.
At this time, Chu Chuang's farming policy had been further tightened, and the 10% of the grain income that was originally promised to be distributed to the gentry had turned into the so-called "equity capital" that was invisible and intangible.
The life of the gentry in Chu was greatly affected. Even some noble families with abundant wealth for generations could not afford to live in such a situation because of their large number of people. Even daily food gradually became a problem.
Under such tense and difficult circumstances, they were unable to raise troops to invade Hubei, which had a strong foundation. Geng Yingqu seized the opportunity and persuaded many gentry families who were living in difficulty to cooperate with him in running cotton spinning workshops.
In Suizhou and Wuchang, Chuangjun already had dozens of dyeing workshops for producing Yangwu blue dye. Geng Yingqu chose a location near these workshops to build new cotton and silk weaving workshops.
Technicians trained by using Chuangjun's production of Yangwu blue can immediately cooperate with Chuangjun's pulp and dyeing workshop for dyeing.
The preparation cost of Yangwu blue was extremely low, far better than the dyes popular in Jiangbei, Central Plains and even Fujian and Guangdong at that time. After Geng Yingqu dyed cotton, although it could not completely compete with the powerful Songjiang cotton, the transportation cost was compared with Songjiang.
In the Fujian-Guangzhou area, where cotton prices are lower, the market is already somewhat thin.