Chapter 172 Preparations for Sanliang City
The stewards were all dumbfounded. The Luo family probably thought that because of their humble background, even if they became gentlemen, the heads of the family would often act ruthlessly. Luo Tianqiu even refused to let Naizu secretly instigate people to fight when they were fighting for land. He has done things to his rivals more than once. As for setting up a court, torture and detaining a few idiots is really nothing. [No pop-up novel website] Dozens of miles away, who doesn’t know that the Luo family’s interrogation office is the “Hall of Hell” and the “Second Yamen”.
"Sir, are you giving them too much advantage?" Fan Guiguo, the steward of the West Branch Hospital, ate, "Will this damage the prestige of our Luo family..."
"Let him go if I ask you to, whether you are the master or I am the master."
"I don't dare, I don't dare, I don't dare," Luo Jin saw Luo Tianqiu's expressionless face and knew that the calmer he spoke, the more likely he would be able to act at any time. He quickly rolled and crawled to release the person.
After a while, about a hundred people were released from the interrogation center - there were too many people. Luo Tianqiu remained silent. He knew that many of them were captured by his subordinates. All of the capable stewards and followers in this area are lawless, some are lending money to their subordinates, some are engaging in gambling, and some are taking charge of lawsuits... none of them are good deeds. Luo Tianqiu always adheres to the idea of eating meat for himself and serving soup for others. As long as they don't cause trouble, he will let them go. Sometimes when things get into trouble with the government, he will personally hand over letters and letters of guarantee to protect his slaves. In the past, he didn't think it was anything: a few scumbags were afraid that they would cause trouble? He has settled everything for being an official. Tutu has no money and power, and he can't win a lawsuit even if he fights for a hundred years. He is not afraid of trouble even if there is trouble in a famine year. He has more than a hundred servants, as well as Xiangyong from Sanliang City. He can suppress small-scale violence by himself, and he can shut down the town gates when large-scale. The mud warriors couldn't attack at all, and they were destroyed by the officers and soldiers in a short time.
But now here comes this group of Australians. He had heard a lot about the Australians from the county, and knew that they were neither soft nor hard, and that without oil and salt, it was easy to attack a city and take out a stronghold, and they were particularly good at "attracting soldiers". Over the years, the Luo family has built up countless grievances in the surrounding area. It would be troublesome if a few reckless soldiers appeared to incite the Australians to attack Sanliang City.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but look unhappy. He even felt as if the foundation beneath his feet was shaking. However, at this time, he was not able to do it even if it was inconvenient. After all, his family has been doing this for a hundred years, and like every master, like his servant. Luo Tianqiu is still very clear about this.
Thinking of this, he hated the thief even more. The thief was like a fierce hurricane, blowing the high-rise building built by his family for generations into crumbling. And the people in this building may have other ideas, and they will run away one by one at the slightest movement.
Everyone had almost left, and a few servants were cleaning up. Suddenly there was a loud shouting and shouting outside, and everyone was puzzled. Among them was the roar of the servant leader Luo Baiwei, which was also mixed with the voice of the daughter-in-law:
"...Why do you arrest people..."
Luo Tianqiu was about to ask someone to ask, when suddenly the gate of the west courtyard opened and a large group of people poured in. There were more than twenty servants, Xiangyong, all armed with swords, guns and sticks, watching eagerly. There were also people leading horses and carrying burdens. The four or five people who were escorted in had their clothes torn, and some had blood on their faces.
The man in charge of these men was an old man in his fifties, neither tall nor strong, but with a strong appearance. Although he was pushed around by others, his legs were extremely stable. At first glance, he looked like a martial arts practitioner. But his complexion was sallow and he was panting, as if he was ill.
Supporting him was a young woman with a pretty face. She was wearing a tight-fitting jacket and narrow skirt that ordinary women would not wear. Several pieces of clothing had been torn off, and a close-fitting jacket was revealed. The jacket was densely covered with stitches. Luo Tianqiu knew that for women who walked long distances, their close-fitting coats and jackets were sewn shut with needlework to prevent someone from raping them on the road. The other men and women are all dressed in shorts and look tough. Seeing that they had horses and many men with swords and guns, Luo Tianqiu already understood that this was a group of people who were racing horses and selling their solutions.
Luo Baiwei probably didn't expect to see the master in the west courtyard, so he couldn't help but be stunned. Kneel down quickly to say hello.
"What's going on with these people?"
"Reply to the master," Luo Baiwei stood up and said, "This group came to the town to race horses and sell their horses, so they lived in an inn. They got sick two months ago and spent all their money on them, so they used their horses and luggage. For mortgage, I borrowed four taels of silver from a money shop and promised to pay it back in two months, but so far I haven’t paid back a penny..."
"You're talking nonsense," the young woman said angrily, "The capital has been paid off long ago. You have to calculate the interest today and the next. We give you the money from performing arts every day, but you always say it's not enough, but it keeps getting more and more... "
"How dare you speak so harshly?" Luo Baiwei shouted angrily. His forehead was bruised, probably because he had suffered a loss. "Watch me strip you naked and ask you carefully."
She was probably frightened by the words "stripped naked and asked". The wife's tone softened, but she was still dissatisfied: "The sky is clear and the sun is bright, the universe is bright, you insult people's innocence, the government can tolerate you, but God cannot tolerate you."
Luo Baiwei couldn't scold Luo Tianqiu because his master was present. He just told Luo Tianqiu that since they couldn't pay back the interest, they would take the horses and luggage as pledges. Unexpectedly, this group of buskers refused and actually tried to sneak away early this morning. Xiang Yong, who was guarding the village gate, appeared, and only after a fight did the two sides capture them all.
"... He ran away secretly if he didn't pay back the money he owed, and even beat someone up if he couldn't escape. That's why he took them all and took them here and taught them some rules." Luo Baiwei expressed his merit.
Luo Tianqiu knew that the truth behind this was nothing more than the money shop engaging in extra exploitation to bully outsiders. Not to mention, even though this ancient Mongolian horse is not a sacred horse, it is still worth sixty or seventy taels of silver in this land of Guangdong. This kind of usury, exploitation, and plunder was not surprising, and he never questioned it. However, today is already a great mercy, so there is no harm in showing mercy again.
"Let him go." Luo Tianqiu said expressionlessly.
"Master -" Luo Baiwei glanced at Luo Tianqiu and knew that the master did not want to say it a second time, so he quickly made a gesture and asked someone to loosen the captors.
Luo Baiwei was unwilling to let it end like this: "Ma must stay."
"Horses are people's bread and butter, so give them back." Luo Tianqiu said, "Since the principal has been paid off, the interest will be forgotten."
All the servants were dumbfounded for a moment, wondering if the master had taken some wrong medicine, and he was so compassionate today - you must know that he went there in person, and arrested the entire families of several tenants who refused to pay rent and took them to the interrogation center. , subjected them to all kinds of torture, and killed and maimed several of them. Why did you suddenly change your mind today?
At the moment of surprise, the woman suddenly screamed. It turned out that the old man who had been tied up suddenly fainted after being loosened.
"Dad——", "Master——"
Several men and women swarmed on the fainted old man, crying and shouting.
"Hún egg" Luo Baiwei was furious and wanted to beat people again.
"Slowly" Luo Tianqiu stopped him, and he looked at these people thoughtfully.
After Luo Tianqiu came out of the west side courtyard, he went to the city's regiment training office to check Xiang Yong's weapons and training. If Daming had a "Special Competition for Grassroots Team Training Construction", Sanliang City would definitely win the title of No. 1 in Dongguan County.
In accordance with the "Notice on Strengthening Team Training Construction in the Province" issued by the Zhaoqing Governor's Office, the "Several Guidance Opinions on the Construction of Team Training in the Province" issued by the provincial governor's office and the "Our County Team Training" issued by the county government In accordance with the guiding spirit of the three documents "Construction Outline", Sanliang City's team training construction can be said to be at the forefront of the county.
Of course, there are no documents with these three names in this time and space, but there are still proclamations and notes with similar contents. Zhazi from the governor's office explained in detail how each village should organize team training: all males aged 16 to 60 in each household must be registered, and three young men and one young man must participate in standing military training. Families with fewer boys can Several people recommended Yiding. The armor commander must play the role of "vanguard model", that is to say, each armor commander must act as a "trainer" and personally lead the brave men to fight. Every village and town must set up a public office, with the local gentry serving as the head of the public office. The village warriors have to practice every day, patrol during the day, stand guard at night, and strictly monitor the surrounding rivers and roads. At the same time, communication signals between villages were stipulated. One blast was to alert each village of suspicious weapons, two blasts meant that the thieves were coming, and three blasts meant that the enemy had arrived.
All villages along the coast and rivers must build fortifications, and the drawings and standards of the fortifications have also been sent to each government office. Generally speaking, it requires a deep ditch and a high embankment. The ditch must be 12 feet deep and 20 feet wide. The embankments are 30 feet high. Wherever possible, bamboo fences must be installed on the embankments. The bamboo fences must be at least 6 feet high and must be sharpened at the top. Whenever a wall is to be built, the height of the wall must not be less than 12 feet and the thickness must not be less than 12 inches. A suspension bridge should be erected over the ditch to facilitate people's access. When building a fence or wall, you need to build a gate that can be guarded for access and other details.
There are 300 Cao Lian Xiang Yong under the control of Tuan Lian Gong in Sanliang City. Including the servants of various large families in the town, there are more than 500 people who can fight at any time. These people train every day and receive one tael of silver per month as settlement allowance. Although they have never seen battle, their morale is very high.
In addition to this group of people, if necessary, if all the male males aged 16 to 60 years old in the city are armed, there will be hundreds of people who can defend the stronghold. As for weapons such as swords, guns, bows and arrows, the office has a lot of them in stock, and the blacksmith shop can continue to build them.
Sanliang City bought a few cannons from the county. Later, Luo Tianqiu felt that the cannons in the county were of poor quality and expensive, so he simply bought iron materials and asked the town's blacksmith to cast the cannons himself. Seventy-seven or eighty-eight people also built forty or fifty large and small cannons. Put them on the walls everywhere. He also made many one-eyed blunderbuss and three-eyed blunderbuss. This place is close to Macao, and Luo Tianqiu also obtained several Portuguese matchlock guns from Guangzhou.
It's just that there is no armor - this thing is prohibited, and even the Luo family doesn't have the guts to hide it. If you want to sew cotton armor, it is really not possible to wear it in Guangdong most of the time. But Luo Tianqiu didn't care whether he had armor or not. The terrain here is complex and full of water, making it inconvenient to fight wearing armor.
As for trenches, fences, and walls, Sanliang City had already prepared them and repaired and reinforced them from time to time. They also collected money from the whole town and built four strong watchtowers. The base of this watchtower is entirely made of stones to prevent digging. The upper floor is made of blue bricks. Except for a little wood on the top, it is all made of stone masonry. The watchtower has a well and is stocked with food, weapons and ammunition. Not only can it be used to watch and bombard the attacking pirates and bandits from a high position, but if the town is breached, it can also allow people to escape and continue to hold on.
Luo Tianqiu came forward to form a joint guarantee with several nearby villages, saying that if one place was warned, reinforcements would come from everywhere. Because Sanliang City has strong soldiers and horses, the nearby villages are willing to be friendly with him. Therefore, more than a dozen surrounding villages have entered into a "joint guarantee" with Sanliang City. Once something happens, thousands of people can gather in each village.
Although this arrangement is not impregnable, it is still considered one of the best in Dongguan County. He talked with the gentry who served as committee members in the office. He also met with the leaders of the village warriors and the nephews of each family, and said some words of encouragement. Finally, he met Luo Heying alone and told him to go to the county tomorrow to lead the Xiangyong. When Luo Heying heard about such a good thing, he thanked the clan leader repeatedly and said a basket of flattery.
Although it seemed that there was nothing in Sanliang City that worried him. The only thing that worries Luo Tianqiu is that there are not many people who can lead Xiangyong to fight. The government hired coaches such as Xiang Yong, but the coach suddenly died of a sudden illness last month. There is no one to take over yet. There are a few sons of various wealthy gentry families who are brave enough to dance with spears, nongbang and fight, but they have not experienced any real battles - just being able to fight is not enough to lead the country warriors in battle. As for the leaders of Xiangyong, most of them are servants of various families, and they may not have much real ability. Without an experienced martial artist with actual combat experience in the lead, he really couldn't rest assured.
"We offered eighteen taels of silver a month, but a lot of people came here," Yuan Kaibang, a squire from this town who is a member of the team training committee of the office, sighed, "I can't even try my shooting and archery skills. Everyone is stupid. Food waste."
Yuan Kaibang was also a martial arts scholar - but the martial arts examination in the late Ming Dynasty was just a formality and had a lot of false reputation. Even the martial arts examination people did not take it seriously. Generally speaking, it is not difficult for a powerful and powerful country squire's son to earn a few dollars to become a martial arts scholar or a martial arts scholar.
His reputation is not in vain, at least he has been taught by a famous master since he was a child, and he is quite skillful in wielding it. And he is quite brave and not afraid of death. A few years ago, he became famous after killing three people in a conflict with small water bandits. Therefore, Yuan Kaibang was quite proud of himself and called himself the "Great Wall" of Sanliang City. He was so domineering in the town that even the people of the Luo family had to be a little polite to him.
Luo Heying often had conflicts with these two men in the league training bureau. Luo Tianqiu recommended him to the county league training bureau. Even if he promoted him, it also meant separating the two enemies. To prevent friction from getting bigger and bigger.
To be a Xiangyong coach, one must not only be able to lead Xiangyong to fight, but also must have high martial arts skills, be good at various instruments, and must have strong sword skills and footwork skills. Xiangyong generally does not need to fight in formations. The most important thing is to fight in small groups and defend the stockade. Among them, the most important thing is to defend the stronghold, and bows and arrows are the important weapons of the village warriors.
However, ordinary martial arts masters are good at wielding swords and guns, but their skills in rifle shooting are not good enough. Even if the bodyguards are skilled in actual combat skills, due to the nature of the bodyguards, they mostly use small bows, small arrows and slingshots with little lethality. Few of them are accomplished in infantry's strong bows. The office has been recruiting for several months, but still hasn't found the right person.
"Is anyone still there?"
"I'll stay in the inn and wait for you to make a decision." Yuan Kaibang blinked his little eyes, "Shibo, you said that now is the time to employ people, so even if it's not suitable, you can keep him for a while."
Luo Tianqiu said: "As long as there are real talents, we will keep a few. Each person will pay eight taels per month, and the food and accommodation will be provided by the public company."
"Okay, that's what we'll do."
"Well, the members of the League Training Bureau also echoed. The members of the League Training Bureau are all wealthy squires in this town. They have always been dissatisfied with the Luo family. Luo Tianqiu will do whatever he says, especially now that the invasion of the Kun thieves is imminent. Everyone They all expected Luo Tianqiu to be the "mainstay", so they all agreed to his requests.
Luo Tianqiu then discussed the expenses of the office with several committee members. Nowadays, there are many village warriors, they have to make and buy weapons and ammunition, and they have to build various fortifications, which is very expensive. The village and town could not keep much of the league training money collected by the county. For this reason, Luo Tianqiu proposed to charge an additional group training fee.
All the committee members looked at each other. The county's levy of three cents per acre was already a heavy burden. If they had to levy money and food again, everyone was very distressed. However, no one dared to refute Luo Tianqiu's meaning.
Seeing the faces of everyone with coptis in their mouths but not daring to express their sorrow, Luo Tianqiu sneered and said: "Who do you think this money is for? Who gets this Sanliang City? We have to sacrifice our lives for the village heroes. , we have to go to war, how can we do it if we don’t have money to feed ourselves?”
"One tael a month is not too little."
"One tael a month requires you to carry a sword and go into battle, are you willing?" Luo Tianqiu said, "If there is peace and quiet, one tael a month. When the Kun thief comes, no one may be willing to fight if you pay ten taels of silver. The mud villagers have a low life, but you are all people with families and businesses. Once the village is destroyed, you will all be reduced to ashes. Which calculation is it?"
No one dared to speak. This is of course true. However, since last year, various large households have been "persuaded" again and again. Several large households are distressed about their money and their funds are getting tighter and tighter. That's why Luo Tianqiu simply didn't mention "encouraging donations" and directly asked for more money and grain to be collected from each acre of land.
In the end, the big households agreed: for every acre of land in Sanliang City, the regiment money would be levied according to the standard of 80 cash for the upper-class land, 40 cash for the middle-class land, and 20 cash for the lower-class land.
