Chapter 333: Getting Xuzhou, thinking about wealth

Wu Jiawei is known for his boldness in the officialdom in Nanjing. He rarely considers the rules in the officialdom when doing things. Although he speaks to the point every time, a whirlwind can always blew up in this confused officialdom, but what he said can be solved quite successfully, so he has an evaluation of a capable person.

But this recklessness always makes people feel worried. The Secretary of the Nanjing Ministry of War wanted to write a memo to recommend this colleague's promotion several times, but hesitated and still did not report the memorial. Other high-ranking officials and nobles also had similar opinions. Such rash people are worried about the facts. Now they are under their command and are pioneers for themselves. If things are inappropriate, they can also be used to help them get rid of their responsibilities. If they are promoted, they will take responsibility for their recommendations. Moreover, they cannot control their official position. If they have any trouble with everyone, it would be bad.

However, Wu Jiawei really had the intention of being a straightforward minister. Although he had never been promoted, he still spoke impartially and had no shyness.

This time, the private salt dealer of Dangshan, Xuzhou was reported by the Fang family. Nanjing's Minister of War, garrison and eunuchs, had been discussing for many days, but they could not provide a disposal charter and sent soldiers to suppress the situation. Now they are in a tight spot and are still suing Beijing and transferred their troops. However, a lot of money and grain will be reimbursed in Nanjing. Both sides are almost tearing their faces and cannot summon the new army. Now there is no force to be used. If civil officials are sent to question the crime, it is not the time for a civil official to scare the generals to lose their souls. Now these Qiu Ba are domineering and do not take the men seriously. Maybe they will cause a mutiny.

No matter who proposes this solution, if something goes wrong, it will be the responsibility of the person who proposes the plan. The situation in the world is related to military chaos. The sin is the greatest, and no one is willing to say a word of extra.

It was still Wu Jiawei who was honest and bold and said with a straightforward and generous statement:

"Since Shandong General Li Meng has already stationed troops in Yanzhou Prefecture and Huai'an Prefecture, and heard that he also stationed in Guide Prefecture, this place in Xuzhou is equivalent to holding objects in a bag. It would be better to let Li Meng send troops to replace him. These soldiers attach the most importance to the stationed area. We only need to give a document. Wait for the conflict between the Shandong army and the Dangshan Guard. Anyway, I will give the Fang family an explanation!"

Unlike the Confucius Mansion in Shandong and those in the capital who did not know Li Meng's background, these officials in Southern Zhili knew that Li Meng's army was domineering and domineering. They were originally stationed in Haizhou. But after a period of time, it was inexplicable that Shandong soldiers had garrisons in Lianghuai.

Such a military general is still so low-key. These senior officials in Nanjing think that Li Meng is really a problem and may cause trouble in the future.

Since it is such a dangerous character, it is better to have less to do with him, especially if he is allowed to enter Xuzhou. If there is any trouble in the future, it will definitely be involved.

Now the chief minister in the capital seems to be changing like a revolving lantern, and positions such as the Minister of the Shangshu are not safe. I can't tell you when you will be sent to the military supervisor, and then for some reason, you will lose your head inexplicably. It turns out that everyone thinks that being exiled in Nanjing is the right way to go to the capital. Now the capital is just a fire pit, so it's better to be less provoked. It's great to stay in the colorful world of Nanjing.

Everyone is not willing to be too busy. They will not lose their official position if they take responsibility. Although this matter has been thought about, Li Meng sent troops to change defenses, no one is willing to say it first. Now that Wu Jiawei, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War in Nanjing, said it foolishly, then the responsibility is his responsibility. Everyone will watch the fun, except for the difference in the future. His position as the minister is also worth a lot.

This is a satirical mockery. The senior officials in Nanjing knew that Li Meng was not relieved, but they were unwilling to let Li Meng come to Xuzhou to station. It was not how dangerous Li Meng was, but that he was afraid of taking responsibility and threw away his official position.

Since Wu Jiawei proposed that someone would take responsibility, everyone would be happy and had no objection. Finally, I would give the Fang family an explanation.

However, the senior officials in Nanjing City all looked at Wu Jiawei with a fool's attitude. They thought that this Nanjing Minister of War was accurate in seeing things, but how could he do things so frivolously? I wonder if the method of being invincible in the officialdom is to speak less and kowtow more. Wu Jiawei was trying hard to take the blame on him. He really thought his life was too long.

Of course, Wu Jiawei wanted to upgrade to a few more levels, but since the imperial examination, the Zheng family has invested a lot of money in him and has many shameless helps. Step by step, it has become firmly combined with the Zheng family and cannot disobey the other party's instructions. Every time when he dreams of midnight, Wu Jiawei often suddenly gets startled and sweats profusely. I don't know if this kind of life is what he wants.

Sometimes Wu Jiawei could only comfort himself with this saying, why is it an official? First, it is for fame, and second, it is for wealth. Now that the Zheng family has a large sum of money, he has a reputation for speaking out outside, so he is calm and passes. Why do you have to think so much?

Since someone has made the rules, then post a document to do it. Anyway, it is someone else who will do the local things.

No one had any questions about Wu Jiawei coming forward and saying frankly, because in their opinion, Wu Jiawei, the Minister of War in Nanjing, and Li Meng, the General of Shandong, were completely incompatible, and there would be no obstacles to profit. He probably just wanted to make some contributions. Everyone was carrying the flower sedan chair and he had not fallen yet, so he had no reason to block his way.

The procedures of various departments in Nanjing were also quickly left. Wu Jiawei quickly drafted the memorials and handed them over layer by layer, waiting for approval from the capital.

It was already mid-twelfth lunar month, and everyone was relieved. Finally, they could continue to have a peaceful New Year. There was no need to worry about the things in Xuzhou, so let Li Meng have a headache.

For this era, the larger the territory, the better, because there are only so many basic troops and you have the power to garrison in a certain place. Even if you do not maintain public order, do not garrison, and just burn, kill, loot, you must send troops to it.

Sending troops is equivalent to weakening one's own strength a little. Moreover, the general who led the troops often has the intention of being independent after going there. Anyway, the source of strength of each general comes from his own personal soldiers, and the superiors' advantage over subordinates is only because of the number of personal soldiers. The court issued an order saying that this place belongs to the guard of this general, who will care about who the superior is? It will easily divide the troops.

Not to mention these, Xuzhou is not a wealthy place, and the people in the country are fierce. The rural fighting is common, and the local forces are very strong, and they are purely just a mess. The government orders are not smooth, so most of the things are required to be handled by local elders. It is difficult to make money locally when going to the Xuzhou army, and it is a little more severe, which will arouse civil unrest. A group of people besieged the government and attacked the military camps. This is not uncommon. So everyone thinks that Li Meng may not be willing, and may even come back. Many officials are waiting to see Wu Jiawei's joke and see how heavy Li Meng's slap was.

But what these Nanjing officials did not expect was that after discussing the memorial of Wu Jiawei, the assistant minister of the Nanjing Ministry of War, had not yet left the Nanjing city gate. There were already envoys in Xuzhou City in Jiaozhou Camp.

The troops garrisoned in the west of Xuzhou in Dangshan, but the west of Xuzhou is Henan. The place is not peaceful, and it is not as comfortable as stationed in Xuzhou City.

The less than two thousand people of the Dangshan Guard stayed in Xuzhou City, and the leader was their guard commander, which is the usual name for everyone, because the guard station is all military households who farm. The organization to go out to fight is not based on the organization of the guard station. In the official documents, this unit is called Dangshan Camp.

However, everyone uses the familiar name for the soldiers and horses in the hometown. The commander of the Dangshan Guard's name is Shan Mingshan, and he is an old man in his fifties.

Although there are only one thousand six hundred and seven hundred people, in Xuzhou City, the Dangshan Guard is equivalent to the Supreme Emperor. The wealthy families outside the city can mobilize a large number of local tyrants and brave men. The residents in the city do not have the ability. The Dangshan Guard naturally speaks well, and even the governor of Xuzhou cannot be subdued.

But no matter how bad the local people in this hometown are, they cannot take ruthless measures. At best, they are bullying and dominating the market, and their lives are hard. However, some time ago, life was much better in Dangshan Weidi, and they were also a lot of money in their hands. According to the madam in the brothel, these soldiers suddenly became generous.

But after being generous for a few days, I don’t know what happened next. The soldiers of Dangshan Guards who had always been rampant on the streets suddenly became quiet and stayed obediently in the military camp day and night, which was really surprising.

According to some well-informed people in the city, the Dan Commander of Dangshan Guard has been discussing with the prefect in the past few days, saying that he would go to Xiaoshan County to station.

With these soldiers there, the magistrate had a headache, but without these soldiers, Xuzhou would be completely empty. A little chaos would turn into a disaster. The army could not be left. Both sides were a little entangled for a while. Today, the magistrate of Xuzhou would send someone to discuss, but was blocked by the personal soldiers of the commander, saying that the commander had a distinguished guest today.

This distinguished guest is Jiang Xianchuo, the deputy commander of the Shandong Salt Gang. As the Chinese New Year approaches, it is gathering in cold weather, and it is inconvenient to operate the canal. Moreover, there are less than two thousand soldiers and horses. It is really a big deal to send troops to wipe out. It is better to talk about it first and see if there is any possibility of a peaceful solution.

"Brother Jiang, my brother has been following me all the time in Dangshan. I have been with the villagers and have been with me for so many years. I can't bear to leave you!"

Jiang Xianchuo sat on the chair and watched Shanshan talk to him with passion. This was obviously about being moved. He even reached out to wipe his eyes, but he didn't know if he had shed tears. However, facing these people, Jiang Xianchuo was not as careful as in the Jiaozhou Camp, just sneered and watched how the other party performed.

Sure enough, after wiping away his tears, Shan Shan continued to sniff:

"There are too few fifteen taels per person. If you add some more, you are all good guys who can fight and farm. Moreover, I don't want their armored and weapons. If you count them, you will have to be fifty taels per person!"

Jiang Xianchuo came over to talk to him, and offered the conditions for Shandong, and dispersed the troops in his hands. Jiaozhou Camp could provide some financial compensation. Shanshan was a local snake who had been stationed in the Lianghuai area for many years. Naturally, he knew the power of Shandong's troops, and did not say anything false, so he directly talked about the conditions.

Fifty taels per person, almost 60,000 taels of silver were recorded, so there were not so many good things. Jiang Xianchuo was the deputy commander of the Shandong Salt Gang outside. The decisive decision was also the true nature of the great heroes in the martial arts world. After the lion of Shanshan spoke loudly, he immediately retorted with a sneer:

"Brother Shan, I have seen you soldiers, one of them is no different from a tuberculosis ghost. You also have weapons, armor, and those rags are so embarrassed to say. Besides, can you soldiers like Dangshan Guard fight? The dozens of soldiers are the strongest places to go to Jiningzhou. You were caught and chopped your head at night. Fifteen taels are already the grace of my commander."

The guard commander Shan Shan was exposed by the other party, and his face was not even red. He continued with a chuckle:

"Brother, I, like me, hand over the children in my hands. That would be a waste. If you don't need more money to support me, how can you be worthy of yourself? If you say that, we are also officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty. You can't be ambiguous."

Hearing this, Jiang Xianchu threw the tea bowl in his hand towards the table and shouted coldly:

"Don't be ignorant of it. You Dangshanwei sold private salt. It has violated Shandong's taboo. When you talk to you at this time, you will give you a chance. Don't make trouble in Shanshan, don't worry about it. Everyone will be ugly at that time."

When a Shandong official who was over 20 years younger than me and had no grade was shouting at him, Shanshan was always smiling and couldn't hold back his face. He jumped up from the chair suddenly, pointed at Jiang Xianchuo's nose and cursed:

"You little kid whose hair has not yet been worn out, dares to say this, and force me to be anxious. Then close the city gate, kill you first, and then go to Shandong to kill you..."

Originally, he was yelling and scolding, but Shanshan shouted a few words and found out. Jiang Xianchuo, who was sitting opposite him, looked motionless. But when he looked at his eyes, he became colder and colder. Shanshan shouted, "The more he shouted," Jiang Xianchuo said coldly. Wherever he sat upright, he said:

"Only command, don't think too high. If you really dare to act rashly, Shandong soldiers will enter Xuzhou within three hours."

This was said with ease, but it didn't look like a lie. Shan Shan jumped up, but he was froze there at this time, and cold sweat slowly rolled down from his forehead. After a while, under the cold gaze of Jiang Xianchuo on the opposite side, he barely showed a smile that was even worse than crying, and begged:

"Just now, my old man was fascinated by phlegm and qi, so let's talk about it..."

On the 25th day of the 14th year of Chongzhen, 1,600 Dangshan Guards laid down their arms and returned to Dangshan Guards, Guide Prefecture, Henan and Jiaozhou Ying Tuntianzhuangtou in Yanzhou Prefecture, Shandong. A military farm was set up in Dangshan Guards. The 1,670 officers and soldiers of Dangshan Guards became the military farmers in this farm.

The original garrison commanded Shanshan and became the deputy head of the military farmland area. In this military farmland in Xuzhou, it began to recruit refugees from northern Jiangsu and Henan to cultivate farmland.

According to Jiaozhou Camp's estimate, perhaps the officers and soldiers of the Dangshan Guard would rebound a little, but the feedback from the situation was reported, the officers and soldiers of the Dangshan Guard were very happy. The military households were originally a lack of freedom, and the identity of the military households in the fields of military farms was no different from them.

Moreover, after the farming, the fields in Henan and Shandong allocated grain relief, and they could actually have enough food, which was much better than before.

For them, the area around Dangshan County is originally the local area of ​​their hometown, and they can still have food and clothing in familiar places. They will not change the gods when they come.

Give Shanshan a position as the deputy headman, each person paid 18 taels of silver. The old man who made the biggest advantage in this matter was this. Shanshan was so happy to get the position as the deputy headman. He thought at least he would not have to worry about anything in his life, but he was also worried vaguely.

The worry in Shanshan is the same as the gloating of those people in Nanjing. Xuzhou is surrounded by wealthy families and has a strong sense of rurality. Foreign soldiers and horses rashly enter will definitely cause local rebounds, and it is not impossible to fight each other and conflict.

When the court blames the blame, no one has any responsibility. If you want to blame, you will blame Wu Jiawei, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War of Nanjing, and Li Meng, the general of Shandong who doesn't know what is right and just wants to expand his territory.

However, the Xuzhou rich people, who were considered troubles, were honest this time, and did not dare to object or resist to the arrival of the Jiaozhou camp and the establishment of the Dangshan Wei Tengtian Village. Anyone who could say a few words would sing praises, and anyone who was not qualified to speak would do his best to support food and fodder.

These big tribes in Xuzhou were completely beaten to death when Zhang Jiang was stationed in Haizhou.

Guide Prefecture, Xuzhou, Huai'an Prefecture, and Yangzhou Prefecture, these four places were connected together before the New Year of the 15th year of Chongzhen. It is different from the concept of controlling places in this era. For the Jiaozhou Camp system, as long as a certain place is established, this place will be firmly controlled by Li Meng.

Taking advantage of this time, Fang Yingzhong, the boss of the Fang family, had a different intention and the remaining soldiers in Xuzhou were selling private salt, Li Meng expanded the territory in his hand a little further, connecting Guide Prefecture and Huai'an Prefecture, so that the Huai Yang Army could support Guide through Xuzhou at any time.

In the eyes of outsiders, no matter how unauthentic Li Meng is, he is a general of the Ming Dynasty. The court does not give a penny, but he has to guard so much territory. He is at a disadvantage. Li Meng is really a fool, do you think it is majestic if you occupy a place?

Of course, Li Meng and Jiaozhouying System did not think so...

As Li Meng's territory expanded, the number of guards needed should also increase accordingly. In fact, for Shandong, relying on the guard team organized in the military farmlands is enough to calm the place. As long as these young and strong village heads are armed, it is very easy to deal with most of the bandits and the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty.

However, the village protection team is not officially recognized by the government. Li Meng also did not want to admit that this was an armed force, and the territory was increasing. Li Meng happened to use this reason to expand his local army.

The Yang army of Huai was preparing to expand to 20,000, the Dengzhou army and the Laizhou army were preparing to expand to 25,000 respectively. The total number of troops of Laoying and Yanzhou army was expanded to 40,000.

If it can really be expanded to this scale, plus the miscellaneous armed forces of Guide Mansion, Li Meng's hands would have almost more than 120,000 troops.

The army of more than 100,000 sounds shocking, but it is not a big army. The Northern Zhili court set up eight generals, and the army of various places also gathered nearly 100,000 out.

As for the coalition forces of Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai in Henan, it is said to have a million people, and as for the general Zuo Liangyu, who is now known as a large army of 300,000...

By comparison, it seems that Li Meng's more than 100,000 people are not very rare, and the court is not worried. Anyway, the Ministry of War of the Ministry of Revenue in the capital only admits that Shandong General Li Meng had 25,000 soldiers. And it has not been distributed for five years, and you can support yourself if you have money.

For Li Meng, the expansion of the army was nearly 30,000, and there are two problems. One is that there are not many suitable sources of troops. If the recruitment of military farms and farms is to affect the green and strong farmlands. The other is that the military spending and the proportion of troops sent in the farms is getting smaller and smaller. If the recruitment of civilians is drawn, the expenditure of military pay and weapons will increase sharply.

For Jiaozhouying, the current financial operation is on the tightrope. The Tuntianzhuang in Guidefu and Xuzhou are both start-ups, but they have no output.

In the 14th year of Chongzhen, the war with the Rebellion Army in Henan, and the later Li and Luo coalition forces all consumed a lot of military expenditure. Now Li Meng’s money bag has become weak again.

We have to find a charter to make money. The profit of private salt is actually a small change, and the sea trade is also cramped on the ships. The Zheng family has always been controlling the number of sea ships belonging to Shandong. The development of Jiaozhouying made the Zheng family unavoidable, for fear that Jiaozhouying would independently operate the sea trade to seize the market.

The profits of Lingshan Trading Company engaged in trade are really not worth mentioning than private salt and sea trade. It often costs money. Lingshan Trading Company is more of a Jiaozhou business.

The farms in the fields basically have no money and land income. In addition to being self-sufficient, most of the farms provided to the Jiaozhou camp army is food and fodder, and basically have no contribution to gold and silver currency.

The payment of military salaries and bulk purchases from other places require these gold and silver currencies, especially saltpeter. The large number of firearms in Jiaozhou camps have a great demand for gunpowder, and these gunpowders need to be purchased from overseas through the Zheng family, which is a business that requires real money and silver to be done.

Short of money!! This is why Li Meng is worried every day

During the Spring Festival of the 15th year of Chongzhen, Shandong was vaguely in the appearance of a peaceful and prosperous era. During this Spring Festival, the farmers in the village received the above instructions and loosened their fingers. The families of the villages could have a relatively comfortable New Year.

As for those families with children and relatives serving in the army, this New Year is filled with wine and meat. For many poor families, this year, they even have a better year than the best Spring Festival in the peaceful year.

The military and craftsmen in the Jiaozhou Camp system have already had a prosperous and happy New Year.

After so many years of development, the gap between Li Meng's system and those who do not belong to this system has emerged in all aspects, and those who are inside are much better than those who are outside.

For Li Meng, he still couldn't get idle this Spring Festival. On the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, he was still receiving envoys from Xuzhou. These people were almost servile and humble. He accepted all the needs of opening a farm in Jiaozhou Camp and reorganizing the young and strong, and obtained protons.

These Xuzhou nobles have no requirements, or everyone knows their requirements clearly, and there is no need to say it clearly, that is, to protect the safety of the great clans and treat these Xuzhou nobles like your subjects.

Similarly, Jia Dashan of Guide Prefecture and the landlords and gentry who were granted the title of other prefectures in Henan also sent people to send gifts to celebrate the New Year. Fang Yingren, the Fang family in Yangzhou, did not leave this time. Their business in Jining Prefecture also prepared generous gifts and sent them directly here, which was convenient. Although Kong Sande was already living at home, he also sent a big gift.
To be continued...