Li Hua returned to his hometown in fine clothes and as the chief soldier of the Shandong regiment. He was dressed in fine clothes and angry with his horse. He brought back more than a hundred servants with cotton armor and shotguns. The local heroes came to pay their respects one after another.
There is a constant flow of traffic.
Not only local officials came, but also local gentry, big businessmen, and many heroes from the rivers and lakes, leaders of local villages, etc. They all rushed to pay homage to Li Huajing when he returned home.
"Big brother is so majestic!" Li Huajing's nephew sighed.
One of his brothers said, "Yeah, I don't think any of these gentry officials would take us seriously back then."
Li Huajing stroked his beard and sighed as he looked at the greeting notes and gift list sent by his servants.
"The visitor is a guest, open the door to welcome him!"
In the flower hall, Li Huajing came out specially dressed in a second-grade military uniform.
"Hello, Mr. Li!"
Huang Dengxiao, the magistrate of Caozhou Prefecture in the east of Qing Dynasty, took the lead to say hello. As a civil servant and the chief official of a government, if it were a peaceful time, he would not pay attention to the general soldier, at least there would be no reason to take the initiative to pay a visit. But nowadays, in troubled times, there are soldiers
The army was very strong, and Huang Dengxiao had just taken office. The Caozhou Prefecture under his rule was basically to the west of the canal and east of the Yellow River. The local strongholds in this area were extremely powerful, and it was located on the border of Shandong and Henan provinces, making it extremely difficult to control.
Since the Ming army invaded Shandong last year, Caozhou has become more and more chaotic. This year, the Ming Dynasty invaded again. The Qing Dynasty even emptied all the green camps in Shandong, and Caozhou Prefecture became even more chaotic.
Naturally, Huang Dengxiao had to fawn over the newly arrived admiral Liu Zeqing and the commander-in-chief Li Huajing. Whether he could secure his position as prefect or even save his fortune and life, he had to rely on him.
Li Huajing glanced at the chubby magistrate. In addition to the fine silks and satins, his gift list just now also included two fine horses and eight hundred taels of silver. It can be said that this gift is rich enough.
"Huangfutai is so polite. The town even said that he would pay a visit."
"Don't dare, don't dare," Huang Dengxiao said politely quickly.
While they were talking, a servant reported loudly, "Sir, Yanxi troops are prepared at the Taotai, Caozhou Yellow River Department Gao Tongzhi has arrived!"
These two are also important officials stationed in Caozhou. One is a military officer, and the other is a co-president of the Yellow River Department. One is in charge of soldiers and the other is in charge of rivers. They can both manage soldiers.
Even according to the usual practice, the Yanxi Army Preparation Road is the direct superior of Li Huajing, the commander-in-chief of Caozhou Regiment Training, but now the two of them have come to visit him, but they know that their positions are not stable and they urgently need Li Huajing.
A martial artist.
The servant handed over the gift list. In addition to several gifts, there were also eight hundred taels of silver each. This amount of courtesy was equivalent to the prefect's meeting gift when he went to see the governor.
Li Huajing looked very proud.
Speaking of which, Li Huajing is also a very legendary figure. His ancestral home is Caozhou, but his family later moved to Zhili. When he was young, he lived in Chengwu in Caozhou, Shandong. Because he practiced martial arts well, he was recruited to work in the county government.
He became a detective, hunting down thieves and thieves. Later, he captured a big thief by himself and was promoted to chief drill officer and leader of the local warriors.
If it hadn't coincided with the troubled times of the late Ming Dynasty, maybe he would have been a head hunter for the rest of his life. However, in the last years of Chongzhen, the Central Plains was in turmoil, with bandits running rampant, many strongholds, and even the Tatars repeatedly entering the customs and plundering Shandong. At this time, it was difficult to distinguish between the soldiers and the bandits.
The powerful gentry formed strongholds to protect themselves, the common people were forced to become thieves, and the heroes took over the mountains and became kings.
Li Huajing is already well-known in the local area. Although he is just a head catcher, he still has a lot of real power in the county, especially in this troubled time. He also commands a strong team, but his brain
He is very lively, not rigid, and he is versatile in the face of complex forces from all sides.
Even if they are ordered to suppress thieves and attack the stronghold, they will often leave a trace behind. Even if they capture the thieves, they will usually let them go. Even when they encounter hungry people who are thieves, they will occasionally offer mercy and help. Over time, they will have a
Even the green forest rivers and lakes admire him for his good reputation of being generous and generous, and ordinary bandits will not mess around in his territory.
Later, his name spread to the ears of Commander-in-Chief Liu Zeqing, who specially invited him to meet him and deliberately win over him. He was recruited under his command and given an official position. From then on, he was promoted along the way with Liu Zeqing.
This time, he was given the post of commander-in-chief of regiment training.
Huang Dengxiao, Zhang Yutian, Gao Yuanmei and several other fourth-grade civil servants didn't know that Li Huajing was well-known in the local area, so they naturally came to show their kindness, hoping that he could stabilize Caozhou.
Li Huajing accepted the gift unceremoniously, exchanged a few words, and then saw the guests off without even leaving a meal.
The three fourth-grade officials had no choice but to stand up and say goodbye and leave. The other junior officials, such as magistrates, magistrates, and county magistrates, could only stand by and hand over their hands without even having a chance to speak. They gave them gifts and then left.
When these officials, big and small, walked out of the door and saw the long queue waiting outside, they couldn't help but sigh, the world is in turmoil, otherwise, why would they, as dignified fourth-grade civil servants, bow to the warriors?
"Deputy Ambassador Zhang, look at these people, they seem to be Yuyuan thieves."
The Yuyuan thieves call themselves the Yuyuan Army.
As early as the Tianqi period, there were so-called Yuyuan thieves in Puzhou and Fan County in Caozhou.
It is said that due to the continuous natural and man-made disasters in Shandong in the late Wanli period, large areas of cultivated land were abandoned, and elm coins fell to the ground and grew into big trees. During the Chongzhen period of Tianqi, many hungry people from Shandong gathered there.
At this time, the Yuyuan thieves, led by Liang Min, Ren Qi, and Zhang Qi, were numbered one million. They used the dense elm forest as cover, and even used the pit and cave dwelling technology in western Henan to dig criss-cross underground caves.
The passage is hundreds of miles long, and it is impossible for the officers and soldiers to encircle and suppress it.
By this time, under the rule of the Qing army, not only had the Yuyuan army not weakened, but more people had defected due to turmoil and oppression. It had spread to Chaocheng, Guanchao, Yuncheng, Chengwu and other counties, and became so powerful that it became Caozhou
The largest resistance force in the government has far surpassed the ordinary villagers.
Zhang Yutian was the military officer of several prefectures in Yanxi Province, with the title of assistant envoy to the inspection and deputy envoy. He supervised the troops, horses, money and grain, and military affairs in the fields. The Yuyuan thieves were his biggest enemies.
Zhang Yutian had also organized several battles to encircle and suppress the Yuyuan bandits before. It could be said that they were sieges, but in the end, they turned into an attack by the Yuyuan bandits against the official army. Repeated battles were defeated, which allowed the Yuyuan bandits to spread to more places.
, even the county seat has become unsafe.
And when the Green Camp was transferred, Zhang Yutian became like an ant on a hot pot. Now he only had a few local warriors left, not even a general who knew how to fight. So as soon as Li Huajing came back, he immediately rushed to the army regardless of his status.
Come to see me, the situation is too urgent.
Zhang Yutian had actually noticed that among the people in front of Li's house, some of them were obviously not right, and they had something hidden in their bodies, but he did not dare to say anything about it.
"We'll talk about it later, let's go!"
······
"Brother Li!"
"Brother Whale!"
"Brother!"
"brother!"
In the flower hall, a group of heroes from all walks of life came up to pay their respects. Facing the second-grade regimental training officer, these heroes were basically defined by the government as bandits, bandits, etc., but they looked like brothers reunited after a long absence.
.
It's like a mouse giving New Year greetings to a cat.
Of course, these heroes are not stupid and bold, but before Commander-in-Chief Li returned to Caozhou, he had secretly sent his nephew and Liu Zeqing's nephew back to serve as a front station, and took the initiative to visit the leaders one by one to discuss the plans for the uprising.
It was precisely because of the initiative of Liu Zeqing and Li Huajing that these leaders dared to come to meet them in person. Otherwise, even if Li Huajing had had contacts with these leaders before, who would dare to take risks easily.
Among the leaders were Liang Min, Yang Sanwu, Zhang Qi, and Ren Fuxing, leaders of Yuyuan Army, Pei Youzheng, Liu Sitong, leaders of Datu Village in Guanxian County, Wang Kuiguang, Ding Mingwu, Zhou Kuixuan,
Cai Naihan, Zhou Guixuan and Cui Sanling of Gaotang Prefecture, Song Yadan of Xiajin County, Chen Guozao, Sanmaozi.
Ding Weiyue of Chenjialou in Dongchang Prefecture, Yang Yunshan of Tangyi County, Zhang Yaozhong.
They are all powerful.
For example, Ding Weiqiu was originally the training general manager of Shouzhang County. Like Li Huajing in his early years, he was a county head catcher. He managed local team training and had contacts. Later he returned home, recruited troops, and established Chenjialou for self-defense.
Later, he organized a cavalry team of thousands of people, sold salt, smuggled goods, and robbed homes, becoming a local overlord.
Li Huajing came forward to hug everyone, very enthusiastically.
Since I have already sent my nephew to pay homage to Shantou and discuss important matters, this meeting is also a formal alliance.
Those who can come are those who have reached an agreement and are willing to take action.
The reason why the powerful people in these places are willing is also because the Qing government's attack on them is getting stronger and stronger. Although the Tatars are currently busy intercepting the Ming army's Northern Expedition, sooner or later they will still have to turn around and encircle them.
Liu Zeqing used to be the commander-in-chief of Shandong and had a complicated relationship with the Yuyuan Army and other local forces. He had tried to recruit them. Now, under the banner of the Ming Dynasty, he also arranged for himself the title of Governor of Shandong and sent people to recruit these people.
, and even granted an official position and made a wish. Anyway, all kinds of official hats were flying around, and promises were made with open mouths.
For example, several of the big leaders of the Yuyuan thieves all had the rank of General Xu, who was actually awarded the title of deputy general of Xiezhen. Ding Weiqiu was appointed a deputy general, and the other generals were not paid as much for guerrilla warfare, not to mention even the prefect and county magistrate.
.
Anyway, just open your mouth and don't need any formal decree or seal. Just write a letter of appointment, sign Liu Zeqing's name, and stamp it with his private seal of Shandong Governor.
The tycoons in these places also know that Emperor Shaotian of the Ming Dynasty is now powerful, and ZTE has hope, and they secretly do private salt business with the Ming army in Huaiyang.
This time the emperor gathered Deng, the Qing army abandoned Huainan, and the Shandong green camp was also transferred. This was a great opportunity.
Liu Zeqing wanted to call on everyone to act righteously, respond to the Northern Expedition, join forces with Wang Shi, and gain wealth and honor together. These powerful people who were former bandits, hungry people, gangsters, landlords, and scholars, there were really not many people who could refuse.
You know, there are some people here who had already defected to Dashun and accepted fake jobs when Li Zicheng came over. Some people are actually willing to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, but the Tatars don't mean what they say, and they even turn their backs and refuse to recognize them.
"Get the wine!"
"Today I will form a sworn alliance with all my brothers and make a bloody alliance!"
Li Huajing shouted loudly, and Liang Min, Ding Weiqiu and others happily agreed.