In the Xu family's mansion, everyone who had just returned from the governor's office sighed.
"How can such a thing happen in the world? This new dynasty wants to collect taxes from the previous dynasty?"
"Yes, this also adds three rates. Do they know what the three rates are? There is no war in Liaodong, so which category of Liao rates are collected?"
“Before, a certain person also added two cents of silver, why now it’s three cents?”
"We can't just let it be at its mercy. We should write to Beijing."
Xu Fanxue kept a sullen face and said nothing, "The collection of these three wages was originally the intention of the Regent of Beijing, and Governor Zhang had also ordered the collection before."
Everyone was silent.
Some people couldn't help but say, "When the Ming army entered Hangzhou and they did these things, we said they were out of their minds and crazy, but now these Tatars are even crazier than them."
"Don't talk nonsense. What kind of Tatars are Li Yuchun, Zheng Jiwu and Pan Yinglou? They are not even Han military flags, and they are not worthy of being called slaves to the Tatars."
"Then what should we do? It would be fine if we wanted some money, but where can we get food now?"
"Why don't you send someone to Yuhang to buy grain in Shaoxing, or go to Susong to buy grain, and deal with the current errand first?"
Someone retorted, "Not to mention that the current price of food is ridiculous, even if you have money, you may not be able to buy food now, and they still want so much, it is a bottomless pit."
"It won't work this way, that won't work either, we can't just sit back and wait for death, right?"
After all, Xu Fanxue was an outstanding man who gave birth to three Jinshis among his seven sons. After thinking about it, he said, "Looking at it now, Li Yuchun and others are worthy of the name of greed. Moreover, he was born in Qiuba during the troubled times and is very cruel. We can't fight against him, we can only follow his lead."
."
"This time it seems that they are indeed short of money and food, so they came to us. And this time they are not just targeting us. They deliberately used the food reminder orders issued by the Ming army to ask for food from us, and they also asked for food from all prefectures and counties in Zhejiang.
The people have to collect grain and pay taxes, so we can’t take the lead in confronting them, otherwise the rafters that are in the forefront will rot first.”
"Follow it first, find a way to pay a sum of money quickly, and then get some food as soon as possible. The amount is not important, the important thing is that we must show this attitude first."
"Where can I get food?"
"Where does the food your family eats come from?" Xu Fanxue asked angrily.
"Come from the black market."
"Where does the food on the black market come from?" he asked again.
"Most of the grain coming up from Yuhang and Qiantang Rivers is the grain that was transported from here before."
"That's right, there is still food, but the price is higher. But now it's not a question of money, but a question of our wealth and life. I can see that, Li Yuchun and Zheng Jiwu are basically scoundrels.
He is trying to mess with us on purpose. Our arms can't hold our thighs apart, so we can't fight him hard."
"After we get through this, we can go back and report to the management, or submit a letter to Beijing, and then we can find a way to get this situation back."
Someone jumped up and said, "Go to the black market to buy grain. Do you know the current price of grain on the black market? One stone of rice is ten taels of silver!"
"If you go to Yuhang or Qiantang River to buy it, it won't cost you that much, at most four or five taels of silver and one stone of rice."
"That's four to five times the price of food in normal years."
"If your life is gone, what's the use of keeping money? Last time the Ming army entered the city, we were lucky. After all, they were also the officers and soldiers of the previous dynasty. If this is like the early years of the Central Plains, the city was broken by thieves, you know those princes in the city
What happened to the gentry? They ransacked all their homes."
With 10,000 taels of silver, I can buy 2,000 shi of grain, which I can temporarily handle errands at the head office.
"Even if we are really willing to pay for it, we won't be able to buy so much grain. The black market smuggling of grain in Qiantang and Yuhang is not so large. After all, now that the two armies are fighting, will the south be willing to let so much grain flow out? There is also a grain shortage in eastern Zhejiang right now.
, it will take some time for the autumn grain to arrive."
"Find a way to spend more money."
Besides, what else can be done?
"If I had known this, I might as well have followed the Ming army to defend the city." Someone complained.
······
Yuhang, Tiaoxi.
Admiral Zheng Jiwu personally led the bid, and Zhejiang commander Zhu Gang came to attack. They launched a surprise attack at night, shouting for a kill, and fought all night.
At dawn, the green flag of the Qing army was once again raised on Yuhang City, and the Ming army had been defeated.
While Zheng Jiwu had people report the victory to the governor of Hangzhou, he began to compile a detailed battle report.
“How many beheadings are appropriate?”
"one thousand?"
"That's too much. Where can we get so many heads?"
"Eight hundred?"
"There are still many, so we will form a formation and kill 700, capture more than a thousand, then defeat more than 20,000 thieves and recapture Yuhang."
"How much did we lose in battle?"
"We can write more, just say 1,300 killed and 800 disabled, and then report more losses in weapons and armor."
Zheng Jiwu, Zhu Gang and several confidant generals sat together and studied how to compile a battle report. The battle last night was actually a night of shouting. The Ming army had already withdrawn from the city, and they bluffed and yelled at each other across the Tiao River all night.
Even now, several people around Zheng Jiwu who have joined the army are actually officers from the Flagship Battalion who stayed in Yuhang. They are sitting together to discuss how to make it more realistic.
"Others are easy to get, but how do you get this head?"
An officer from the Flag Bearer Battalion said, "We captured Yuhang and defeated Hangzhou before. We saved some heads and froze them in the ice cellar. We'll give them to you."
"Will you see any flaws?"
"Anyway, it's just a pile of flesh and blood that has been frozen into ice. If anyone really studies it carefully, it's almost enough to know how to do it."
"Is it enough?"
"That's about right. We still have some from when we suppressed the bandits before. They should be enough to behead a number of people."
······
Hangzhou.
Li Yuchun was shocked when he received the news of victory. He did not expect that this Zheng Jiwu was so fierce. He had repeatedly defeated the Ming army in Jiaxing before, and then took the lead in attacking Hangzhou. Now he insisted on sending troops to Yuhang despite his objections, and performed a triumphant song again.
Is this the god of war coming to the world?
But if he really had this ability, why did he surrender immediately when he arrived in Haiyan?
It can be said that Zheng Jiwu surrendered to him at the beginning, so the two of them are quite close.
It's just that when Zheng Jiwu and Zhu Gang surrendered, they still had the title of marquis and count conferred by the Ming Dynasty. Beijing retained the title as a rule, so these two people are still marquis and count, but he has not even held a worldly title.
Get it, let alone a title.
"Admiral Zheng captured Yuhang, how much food and military supplies did he seize?"
"After breaking the city, they gained nothing. The Ming army had already transferred the grain and grass away. There was no material storage in Yuhang. When they retreated, they even set fire to the empty warehouses."
Li Yuchun was stunned when he heard the result.
So after playing for a long time, did you feel lonely?
Now they are most short of food and grass. If they can't grab food, they still have to buy food and grass. The gain outweighs the loss.
"Admiral Zheng asked Governor Pan to transfer grain and grass there. He is going to take advantage of the victory to pursue and recover Lin'an and Fuyang counties together."
