Chapter 275: Chaos starts again, salary training, coal cutting

In June of the 12th year of Chongzhen, because the threat of the East Seal of Jurchens became increasingly greater, the court's military budget also increased. Despite the great disasters in the world, the court began to increase the levy and purchase military supplies, which were used to train troops and horses and purchase military weapons.

No one can tell the actual effect of this salary training, but this salary training completely crushed the slightly calming situation. Increasing the salary training is a small disaster, but the local officials below took advantage of the opportunity to collect salary training to collect money and seek personal gain. This is the real disaster.

In the year of great disasters, the extremely difficult life was put on a heavier burden. Chaos in various places gradually arose, and a large number of people were involved in the teams of Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai and Li Zicheng. This is what is called the so-called officials forcing the people to rebel.

In July of the 12th year of Chongzhen, Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai set up an ambush on Luohu Mountain. The general Zuo Liangyu, who would attack in the future, was defeated by Luo Dai's official army. Luo Dai was captured on the spot. Zuo Liangyu's seal and flags were lost on the battlefield and fled back to the camp in the rear in a hurry.

After the news spread, the world was shocked. Except for the one battalion, all the other troops recruited were rebelled again. The so-called peace-making policy of Yang Sichang, the Minister of War, failed.

On Shandong, the armed salt dynasty were carried out to clear out prefectures and counties. Those so-called people in the martial arts world could not walk alone in the wilderness. They also needed to supplement their food and equipment and sell stolen goods. The local people who could do these things and dared to do these things were those big families and wealthy families.

These people have a close relationship with the armed salt dick. Unless the so-called gangsters completely stop or escape from the Shandong territory, they will have to be arrested and killed.

Originally, there were more than a thousand soldiers of Shandong General Qiu Lei in Dengzhou Prefecture City, led by a deputy general. These soldiers were not the direct troops of Shandong General Qiu Lei. They were all old, weak, sick and disabled, and they dared not act rashly. Originally, Li Meng didn't want to touch them, and intended to retain several places not controlled by Jiaozhou Camp in Shandong, so that one or two windows can be retained, and intelligence and some intimidating commodities can be obtained at this window.

But once the matter of inquiring about the news for the Tartars was found out, and the actions of these so-called heroes in the martial arts world before and after the Tartars invaded Shandong, the Jiaozhou Camp felt that a major investigation operation must be conducted, and all the key barriers in Shandong must be controlled in the hands of the Jiaozhou Camp.

Therefore, armed Yanding and regular troops arrested and killed each other, Dengzhou Prefecture City, and key road checkpoints connected to Shandong and various provinces were set up with dedicated personnel to guard and inspect.

That day, Li Meng took his confidants to the beach for an outing. The last person who came in to ask for a meeting was unexpectedly Yan Ruoran, the wife of Li Meng. What he said was even more surprising. He actually asked Li Meng to Namu Yunyao as his concubine. God knows what these women had discussed together.

For Li Meng, this request really made him feel a little amused, but his heart was different from before and a little relaxed. Being together as a brother and sister and being together as a couple is a completely different concept after all.

In early July, the court's additional salary and responsible officials were in place for the court to send additional salary in Shandong, but Li Meng had no objection to this matter and did not make a clear statement.

Because the target of salary training is the common people, according to the provisions of the Ming Dynasty, scholars and people with fame and fortune do not have to pay such taxes, that is, Li Meng's military farmland and most of the landlords and gentry do not have to bear the new taxes.

Li Meng and Confucius' Mansion, these two families already occupy more than half of Shandong's land, and then some big landlords account for more than a quarter. In other words, the richest landlords and gentry did not have to pay, and the salary increase fell on the poor people.

These ordinary people were unable to sustain their lives because of the severe droughts that followed year by year, and their lives were almost impossible to support themselves. There were additional entrants, and the speed of bankruptcy was even worse.

It's ridiculous. The common people in Shandong are different from Henan and Shaanxi. If this is the case in Shaanxi, they can only rebel. If this is the case in Henan, they can only wait to starve to death. In Shandong, you can sell the land to the garrison for money and pay taxes, and then sell yourself to the garrison for the garrison. This way, there is no need to pay taxes or worry about starving to death. Jiaozhou Camp has become increasingly stronger because of the policy of additional taxes.

Among the big landlords in Shandong, from the Kong family of Yanshenggong to the powerful people in prefectures, although the common people went bankrupt and a large number of land and population appeared in the market, they did not benefit much. This is because there is a strong Jiaozhou camp. If you do not inform Jiaozhou camp in advance, it will be considered as ill-intentioned and will cause trouble for yourself. Only after the Jiaozhou camp is selected can others buy and sell it.

Of course, if they are the military farming partners who cooperate with Jiaozhouying, there is no such problem. Even if they buy land and population, they will hand it over to the military farming villages in Jiaozhouying. However, this is unacceptable to the Confucius Mansion and other big landlords, because they have already reached such a large scale and have to hand it over to the military farms in Jiaozhouying. That is equivalent to completely giving up the foundation that they have worked hard to build in the past.

In fact, whether it is the collection of salary training or the cleaning and hunting of people from the martial arts world, the most important thing for the Jiaozhou camp is to obtain the underwriting power of Laiwu iron ore production. Large troops must have a stable and continuous weapon supply channel and base. For example, the weapons of Li Zicheng, the King of Chuang, relying on most of the weapons, is extremely unwise and unreliable. After the Shanxi merchants collected weapons to supply the Qing army outside the pass, the Chuang army immediately could not keep up with the supply of weapons and its combat effectiveness was greatly reduced.

But the Laiwu Iron and Metallurgical Institute is an official camp and a mining supervisor sent by the imperial court, so it is not realistic to seize it. The iron ore itself is a strategic resource. If Jiaozhou camp takes action, it will directly alarm the imperial court. If someone is interested, then consider why the general of a province is interested in this iron ore. Yang Sichang, the cabinet scholar of the central government of the capital and the Minister of War, had already had a grudge against Li Meng. If you take advantage of the issue, it would be a disaster.

To be honest, the current large-scale purchases are being made through the channels of the eunuch of Nanjing Arsenal Xu Xiaochu, and the current production capacity of Fengmeng Town Weapon Manufacturing Bureau can also meet the expansion of the army of Jiaozhou, but this is not a long-term solution.

Moreover, what Li Meng coveted was not only the iron ore in Laiwu, but also the experienced craftsmen of the Laiwu Iron Smelting Institute. These people were priceless wealth for the weapons manufacturing of Jiaozhou Camp. Li Meng had already seen how much labor and creativity would those semi-slave-like craftsmen feel after becoming like employed workers.

Li Meng, the Jiaozhou Camp, was also reasonable. If Ding Xu, the mining supervisor, treated Laiwu's iron smelting station as the official's property, everything would be easier.

High bribes, high proportion of kickbacks, and the face of the Shandong general are all reasons for concessions in price. But the key to the problem is that Ding Xu, the mining supervisor, regards the iron ore and iron smelting in Laiwu as his own private property, and he is unwilling to sell it for a penny less.

In fact, the negotiations between the two sides began to go on intermittently in the eleventh year of Chongzhen, but they were always quarreling about this price.

Although Ding Xu, the mining supervisor, looked down on local civil and military officials, it does not mean that he didn't know anything. Li Meng was promoted from a general to a general, and the cruel things he had back then. Ding Xu, the mining supervisor, knew very well. There were many people in the world. Li Meng started as a destitute military household in Lingshan Guard and was the most humble sold private salt. In a blink of an eye, it reached this point, so naturally many people came to study it.

From the beginning to the present, every person who has hindered, the person who hindered often ended in a violent death. No one would believe that there was nothing strange about it.

Therefore, the mine supervisor Ding Xu was also careful. Not only did he spend money to win over the more than a thousand officers and soldiers stationed in Laiwu, but these officers and soldiers were all the soldiers of the former general Qiu Lei. When Qiu Lei was still in power, he had no choice but to obey the mine supervisor Ding Xu wholeheartedly.

In addition to winning over these troops, Ding Xu, the mining supervisor, also vigorously recruited desperate bandits. The Jianghu Zhuang was in the Jiaozhou Camp and was bound by military laws and went to fight on the battlefield. Therefore, there were really many people who came to Laiwu to surrender to this eunuch.

Therefore, Zhang Chengye also suggested that Zhou Baxi go to Laiwu to join Ding Xu, the mining supervisor. These gangsters came to Laiwu, which also added some help to the eunuch. However, the civilians in Laiwu, even the first-class landlords and gentry, were killed very miserably. These desperate bandits did not know what kind of king's laws and acted recklessly to harm the local area. As a result, although there were iron smelting stations and various related industries in Laiwu, they also had good income during the disaster year, the people still fled one after another.

To make this eunuch give in, for Li Meng, he cannot use knives, guns and firearms for the time being. See if other ways can be solved.
Chapter completed!