General Sun Long came in and reported, "He sent 20,000 taels of silver, saying that 10,000 taels of silver were to honor the prince, and he also sent a hundred horses."
Kong Youde snorted coldly, "What I want now is food, not silver and horses. Can I buy food now if I have money?"
Ding Wensheng was the governor of Shandong. He was originally a scholar from Liaodong in the Ming Dynasty. In the first year of Tianqi, he surrendered to the Hou Jin Dynasty and joined the army. He was first granted military training in Denglai, Shandong and participated in politics. Then he became the censor of Youqiandu and patrolled Shandong.
Kong Youde was also very familiar with Ding Wensheng. When he crossed the sea from Denglai to invest money, it was Ding Wensheng and Zhao Fuxing who came to contact him first.
After that, he advocated letting the newly attached Kong Youde and others send troops to attack Lushun.
"I helped him wipe out thousands of bandits from Zhang Guang in Weixian County, and he just gave me this little money, what the hell is he doing?" Kong Youde was very dissatisfied.
Shandong has been devastated by war for many years, especially in the autumn and winter when the Ming army penetrated deeply, which made Shandong even worse. Ding Wensheng's report to the court stated that six to seven out of ten people in Shandong were in exile. There were only one or two people in each household, and the area was ten acres.
Only one or two acres of land are cultivated.
He requested the imperial court to cancel the three rates in Shandong, recruit refugees, and restore Mingtian, etc., in order to restore his vitality.
The total farmland in Shandong used to be more than 74 million acres, and there were more than 10 million people in the Wanli period. But now the population is more than one million, and most of them are wandering around.
There are abandoned villages and desolate fields everywhere, and no one has buried the corpses and bones on the roadside. Originally, Shandong was expected to recover after the Qing army invaded Hangzhou last year, but with the rise of Zhu Yihai and the Northern Expedition, the army continued to attack Shandong.
, blocked the canal, attacked both sides of the bank, and Shandong's vitality was seriously damaged again.
The price of grain in Shandong reaches three taels and nine silver per stone, which is still difficult to buy.
After the year, Zhang Guang, a native of Weixian County, revolted and soon gathered thousands of hungry people. They attacked Laizhou. Ding Wensheng sent Biaoying guerrillas to Feng Wuxiang and others to fight against it. They fought in Sanbu and Hongshan Pass again, but they lost one after another.
, Zhang Guang lured the enemy into an ambush and was defeated.
Feng Wuxiang died in an ambush, Biao camp was defeated, Laizhou was besieged again, Ding Wensheng urgently asked the court for help, and then Dorgon urgently ordered Kong Youde to garrison Yanxu area, and Geng Zhongming immediately returned to Denglai to aid
, and ordered them to station themselves in Denglai.
The two kings of Kong Youde led their troops to return for reinforcements and attacked for hundreds of miles. In one battle, they killed Zhang Guang's generals Ni Siqi and Zhao Mingchun, breaking the siege of Laizhou. Zhang Guang was defeated and fled to Pingdu. Kong Youde pursued them one after another, and Xu Limeng shot with a bow.
Kill Zhang Guang and annihilate his tribe.
So a great chaos was settled.
Although Zhang Guang and others were quickly put down, their uprising also swept across Denglai in a short period of time, and countless hungry people followed, destroying the last bit of vitality in Shandong.
Kong Youde was stationed in Dengzhou and Geng Zhongming was stationed in Laizhou, but Ding Wensheng, the governor of Shandong who was also in charge of food and salary and military affairs, could not provide food and salary.
Even the Shandong Station was seriously short of horses and food and grass, and could not be maintained.
Ding Wensheng had no choice but to tear down the east wall and make up for the west wall. On the one hand, he relied on recovering the old taxes from ten years ago, and on the other hand, he imitated the work in the south of setting up stalls and arrears, and abolished the guardhouse.
The guards in Linqing, Dongchang, and Pingshan have a quota of five thousand, more than half of which is empty, because these guards have to bear the water transportation task, which is very important. But now even the canal is not accessible, these guards who are severely underpaid are just wasting money and food.
Shangshu please reduce the number and leave only two thousand. The money and food saved will be used to restore Fubiao Camp and strengthen training to catch thieves.
But Shandong suddenly stationed two princes, Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming, with a total of 10,000 troops. It was difficult for Ding Wensheng to bear such a large number of troops, and his own standard camp has not yet been rebuilt.
But the imperial court placed a heavy burden on him, and Kong and Geng were not ordinary generals. He could not afford to offend him, so he had to turn around and exploit the gentry and people of Shandong.
I just ransacked some gentry's houses and dug out some hidden silver from the ground, but the problem is that now I can't buy food even if I have money in Shandong.
Zhao Fuxing, the neighboring governor of Fengyang, was an old partner with him in the past. He was in charge of the four prefectures of Lu, Feng, Huaiyang, and the three prefectures of Chu and Xu. However, he now has more troops stationed under his command. Last year, the forced demolition and eviction by Zhu Yihai became more serious.
Too busy to take care of yourself.
Although Shandong used to be a province with a large population and food supply, it suffered from severe droughts and floods, with eight droughts in ten years and seven floods in ten years. Droughts and floods alternated between droughts and floods. Severe droughts and floods often occurred. Whenever a disaster occurred, the food supply would rise sharply.
After the New Year, hunger became severe in various places, and rebellions were made everywhere. It was impossible to survive.
The price of millet in Huang County is 26 yuan, and one stone of millet costs sixteen taels of silver. The price of millet in Shouguang is one thousand yuan, and one stone costs ten thousand yuan. The price of rice in Fushan, Boxing and other places has exceeded ten taels of silver and one stone.
Famine spread throughout Shandong, and the imperial court also snatched grain from Shandong to supply the army and officials.
Ordinary people have long been out of food, and most of them are in exile. The land is even more uncultivated, which aggravates hunger. The landlords and gentry still have some food in their hands, so they are targeted by the government and try to steal food.
The government is shameless and rogue in order to recover the food owed by the previous dynasty. The landlords and gentry not only have to make up for their own arrears, but even have to pay them together. For example, according to the law of Baojia, several households in a jiajia have to pay their own.
After that, you have to make sure that all the taxes of the same person are paid. If someone escapes and owes the tax, the person of the same person has to make up the amount for him.
After A has made up for it, he still has to make up for the co-insurance, and then he goes up to the towns and counties.
Anyway, the government is pushing down the tax amount, regardless of the population reduction, and the tax remains unchanged.
In addition, they also forcibly ordered the gentry and landlords to sell grain at a flat price. Now the lowest price of grain was four to five taels of silver per shi, but he asked them to sell grain at a price of 2, 3 liang and one shi.
Gu Zang
But no matter how hard you try, you can't produce food in the wasteland, especially in this time of drought.
The gentry could only send money in lieu of grain. Ding Wensheng robbed a lot of silver and returned. The problem was that there was nowhere to exchange the money for grain. Faced with the constant urging of Kong Youde and others, he could only send money.
"In Gaotang of Dongchang Prefecture, bandits broke out again in Chiping. He, Ding Wensheng, had no soldiers to use. Seeing that the thieves were about to surround Dongchang Prefecture, he thought of us and wanted us to go there as he gave us 20,000 taels of silver.
Wipe his butt, hum."
Sun Long also laughed and said, "Ding Wensheng was very ruthless when he abolished the guardsmen in Dongchang and other places. As a result, the people who are rebelling in Gaotang and other places are all the former officers and soldiers of the guards who were dismissed under his order.
Those people had been officers and soldiers of the guard station for generations, and they were responsible for water transport tasks. They were quite powerful, so Ding Wensheng immediately laid them off. After the layoffs were completed, he demanded payment of debts from them, and asked them to sell rice and wheat. One after another, it all fell on these people. What do you think?
Can you resist?"
Now in Shandong, those who still stay in their hometowns and even have money and food in their hands are generally the big landowners and gentry, such as the Yanshenggong Confucius family, because they surrendered very early, and because of their special family
status, so they were not touched much, and Ding Wensheng did not dare to touch their family.
But for the other landowners and gentry, even if some were officials, gentry, military generals, etc. who also attached themselves to the imperial court, he still urged them to pay their dues, but it might be better for those with official positions.
But those officers of the guard station who were abolished, these people are all very fat local snakes. They have been military attachés of the guard station for generations, and they are also in charge of water transportation. They are really fat.
Ding Wensheng reduced the number of soldiers in the guards, purged the landowners and gentry of unpaid taxes, and forced the large grain households to sell grain. It happened that all the swords fell on these people's heads.
In the past, these people might not have dared to do anything, but the situation has changed now. The Qing government's rule in Shandong is now weak, but the Ming army in the south is gaining momentum.
"Your Majesty, I think we are just sitting here guarding Dengzhou and blowing the sea breeze. We are idle now. We might as well collect the 20,000 taels of silver so that we can send troops to suppress the thieves..." Kong Long chuckled.
Kong Youde immediately understood what he was thinking. He was stationed in Dengzhou and should not act recklessly. After all, the battle was not fought well last year. Now he had to keep his tail between his legs.
But if the governor of Shandong comes to borrow troops to suppress thieves and dispatch troops according to the situation, then there will be a lot of room for maneuver. When it comes to Gaotang and other places, who is the bandit and who is the good citizen, will it not be entirely up to them?
"If you move a tree to death, if you move a person to death, it makes sense."
Denglai has now been pacified, and Kong Youde is waiting here to wait for the North Korean grain ship. He doesn't know when it will arrive. Even if it does arrive, it is estimated that there will not be much food and it will be difficult to sustain it for a long time. There is no hope for the local officials and the court.
We can't let our brothers hang around hungry and full every day.
"You bring three thousand cavalry and some cannons over there,"
Sun Long immediately patted his chest and said, "Please rest assured, my lord, after the general passes, we will definitely be able to get money and food. Not only will the brothers who go to war be able to eat well, but they will also make a lot of money. The general will definitely send food and grass as soon as possible."
Came back."
Kong Youde was very satisfied with Sun Long, an old subordinate who had followed him since his days in Pi Island.
"Old Sun, my daughter, the fourth aunt, is the apple of my eye. Although she is still young, she has been adopted as an adopted daughter by the Queen Mother and has been granted the title of Heshuogege. I plan to give her to your son when he grows up. What do you think?
"
This kind of marriage between sons and daughters was certainly what Sun Long wanted.
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your love."
"Why are my brothers talking about this? The imperial court has changed the title of King of Hunan to me, and promised that as long as I can regain Hunan in the future, Hunan will be handed over to me as the hereditary town of Yiyong.
This time you go to Gaotang to quell the chaos. Remember to get more money and food, and recruit more young people into the camp. We have to take Hunan by ourselves. We must recruit more soldiers and horses, and save more money and food.
When I conquer Hunan in the future and I become the King of Hunan, I will also grant you the title of Duke and Marquis and guard Hunan together. We are all old brothers who were shot and killed. If the court grants me a province, I will make plans then.
A county is given to you, and we share the blessings and hardships, and share weal and woe."
After hearing this, Sun Long wanted to recognize Kong Youde as his godfather. He excitedly clapped his chest and said, "Please rest assured, Your Majesty."
The next day, Sun Long took three thousand cavalry and headed west to Dongchang Mansion to quell the chaos.
Kong Youde led two thousand troops to stay at Dengzhou Prefecture.
Idle was idle, while Kong Youde was looking forward to the arrival of the North Korean grain ship, he simply sent out his troops to go to the counties of Dengzhou Prefecture to 'suppress the bandits and put down the chaos', which was actually to collect grain and capture the strong men.
The imperial court granted him the kingship and fiefdom of Hunan, but he still had to fight the battle himself. He had to recruit more troops before he could conquer Hunan.
The promise of Shifengyong Town is still very tempting. Although Huang Taiji also allocated a fief for him when he invested in Houjin, and also allocated him a population and household registration and other jurisdictions, but these are not the province of Hunan.
What about the king's temptation?
As for whether Shandong is in chaos and Dengzhou is in ruins, what does Kong Youde care about?
In a few days, the family will report.
"Your Majesty, the North Korean grain ship has arrived."
Kong Youde heard this, stood up and said with a smile, "Damn it, we are finally here. If we don't come, I will have no choice but to go to the sea with my brothers to pick up millstones and dig wild vegetables to satisfy our hunger."