Under his uncle's "teaching", Yang Erche was very honest as an official and never deducted the food and salary of his subordinates - not only did he not deduct it, but sometimes he would help out of his own pocket when his subordinates were in urgent need. Not only were his dozens of soldiers grateful to him, but he also made many "brothers" in the camp. He was quite willing to sacrifice his life for him when he went into battle. On weekdays, he was willing to spend money to flatter his superiors. After a few years, he became a capable person who was praised by everyone in the camp. If the Australians hadn't attacked him, he would have been promoted to the post of commander-in-chief.
With affection, everything is easy to handle. The artillery, blunderbuss, gunpowder and other weapons in the Zhaoqing camp were taken back home one after another by him like ants moving. Later, he became bolder, and even the armor that the imperial court strictly prohibited private ownership was taken away by him. Go back together.
Mr. Yang is not idle here either, repairing the stockade, engaging in joint security, and forging weapons. Sihui was not a peaceful place in the first place, and there was a strong custom of setting up strongholds to practice bravery. Because Mr. Yang was well-equipped for the village warriors and had a nephew who was a military attaché, the big families in the neighboring villages all fawned over him and promoted him to the top of the surrounding villages. The leader of the village joint protection committee has become the leader of the four associations.
During the battle of Zhu Mingxia's attack on Zhaoqing, Yang Erche's men and horses had not yet fought against the Kun bandits when the mortars on the artillery boat fired at them, and they retreated in confusion, killing dozens of people and running away. Yang Erche saw how powerful Kun Thief was and no longer dared to fight with his old capital. Knowing that Zhaoqing was in danger, he took advantage of the chaos of the war and led his troops to contain many defeated soldiers, robbed several large shops in the city, and fled back to Sihui with his belongings and weapons.
Although he was embarrassed to have to leave his helmet and armor when he came back, he brought back more than 200 elite soldiers, dozens of sets of armor and many weapons, and the Yang family's local bravery suddenly gained momentum.
It is true that the momentum has been great, but the more than two hundred "elite soldiers" who have been added for nothing can not be passed off by giving them a bowl of rice. Although the Qiu Ba people are currently "grateful" to Yang Erche, they have not received military pay for several months. It would not be unusual for him to fall out and massacre this Yangjiazhuang.
Yang Erche was quite nervous and quickly consulted his uncle.
Yang Juren is a scholar who has read a lot of poetry and books, and he knows very well that in these troubled times, there is a soldier who is the Caotou King. He scattered invitations all over the place and held a gathering of gentry, wealthy households, and clan elders from all villages and towns in his village to discuss "countermeasures."
In troubled times, people are in panic, so if someone is willing to come forward, naturally everyone wants it, not to mention that Yang Jinghui also has the reputation of being a civil servant. As soon as the invitation was sent out, people from more than a dozen indigenous villages in the hometown came.
Yang Jinghui asked Yang Erche to lead the local warriors to "be equipped with armor" and lined up in front of the village. He also displayed the cannons that his nephew had brought from Zhaoqing one by one. After a show of force, Yang Jinghui became the leader without any suspense. The leader of the township's league training bureau. Money and food were distributed among each village. After all, not only was it more than enough to raise troops, but it also made a lot of money.
"Uncle is really a master!" Yang Erche was convinced.
"Haha," Yang Jinghui twirled his beard and smiled, "Since ancient times, where there is food, there are soldiers, and where there are soldiers, there is food. If there was peace, these soldiers would be a scourge, but now they are capital. As long as we make good use of this capital, not only can we protect If we gain peace in this area, we can double the profit! As long as we adapt to the current situation and earn more property to protect this three-acre land, no matter who becomes the emperor in the future, this good property will never be able to escape. "
Yang Jinghui's calculation is not bad, and he has figured out the basic rules of dynasty changes. Soon, with the collapse of Ming Dynasty rule, the social order in the county began to be chaotic: bandits were rampant, Yao people caused chaos, and natives and guests fought with each other. It was a chaotic situation for a while. Yang Jinghui took advantage of this chaotic situation to "create heroes". Yang Erche, the nephew, "conquered the east and west" according to his wishes. First, he destroyed the village that had competed with Yangjiazhuang for water, killed No. 100 villagers, and pocketed all the property, houses, and property; Several neighboring villages that "disobeyed orders" forced them to pay money and grain. As for the several villages that originally competed with Yangjiazhuang for land and mountain fields, they are now very "aware" and obediently handed over the land deeds.
Although the local villages of any size have trained Xiangyong, the number is small, and the weapons cannot be compared with the Yangjiazhuang Xiangyong, not to mention that they still have a core of more than 200 soldiers and various firearms. Every battle is won, and every village is invincible.
In this series of "conquests from the east to the west", Yangjiazhuang Xiangyong also eliminated a number of small groups of local bandits who were causing trouble, annexed and expanded their power, and even captured a mountain stronghold. Yang Jinghui felt that his village on the plain was not safe, so he planned to build a new village using it as his nest.
Within a month, Yangjiazhuang became "famous", especially when Yang Erche and his group of yong arrived in Shijian Town and forced the merchants in the town to give out hundreds of taels of silver, hundreds of bolts of cloth, and hundreds of shi of grain. After coming to "reward" many young people, many "heroes" in the county came to vote, and Yangjiazhai Village Yong expanded to more than 800 people, becoming a big force in the county.
However, the good times did not last long. Not long after, the county magistrate appointed by the thief led the national army to the county seat and set up the banner of "Great Song Dynasty". The county's official roads and waterways leading to the capital were restored to traffic, and the Senate's patrols and gunboats patrolled around, and social order improved. The county director of the Kun thieves also sent old government officials to the countryside to inform the villages, asking them to "organize and train militia, each guarding his own village, and not crossing the border to cause trouble."
Villages and towns that suffered from Yangjiazhuang sent people to the Australian Yamen to complain. Not long after, the Australian county government sent someone to send an invitation, asking Yang Jinghui to "come to the county to talk."
Yang Jinghui knew that in the current situation, it was impossible to "go to the Yamen to talk". It was impossible in this life. He could only rely on strength to establish himself and force the thief to admit the fait accompli.
Although the Kun bandits have powerful firearms and the strongest ships and cannons in the world, the place is not close to the sea and is mountainous, so the cannons that can be transported here will not be much bigger. What's more, the number of thieves who came with the county magistrate to take office was only a hundred or so - no matter how powerful they were, they couldn't be divided into two and form an army by spreading the beans. These 100 people are very tight just to protect the county and keep the roads open. Therefore, he was not afraid of the "suppression" of the Kun thieves, so he followed Master Bi's idea and wrote a letter of apology in a humble and sincere way. The content was nothing more than that he had always been a "good citizen" and now, Although I have practiced some group bravery, it is not to protect myself in troubled times. He has absolutely no doubts about the Song Dynasty. As for the villages coming to sue themselves, it is pure slander - the matter of Chen Guzi and rotten sesame seeds has been entangled for generations, and they will take revenge for personal gain. The specific reasons cannot be explained for a while. In the end, he said that he was not in good health and could not walk long distances. He could only ask the county magistrate to be generous and spare him from having to go to the government office. If he had any orders, he could just send a letter and he would definitely do it.
After finishing writing, he asked Master Bi's son Bi Xuansheng to send it to him. Although Bi Xuansheng is as incompetent in reading as his father, he is more talkative than his father. He is naughty by nature and can listen to the situation and speak. He is also young, so he will not be embarrassed if he wants to be a thief.
In addition to the invitation, two more gifts were prepared. One was pigs, sheep, wine, cloth, etc., to "reward the brothers." The other was three hundred taels of silver and a set of gold-headed noodles - this was for the county director. of.
Bi Xuansheng went to the county, but when he came back he didn't bring back a letter, only gifts, and with him an old government official retained by the county. He bowed again and said "I have no choice but to send him to the peak." He said that the Australian's county magistrate had already said: Not only did he have to come to the Yamen within a time limit, he was also required to hand over his armor and all firearms immediately, and he was only allowed to keep the basics. The number of swords, guns, bows and arrows in the village should not exceed 200. Otherwise, it is "illegal armed force."
Yang Jinghui naturally refused to hand over the money. Furthermore, the Australians are weak in the Four Conferences, and they are unable to attack them even if they want to, so they simply ignore them and wait and see what happens.
Sure enough, the arrival of the county director failed to immediately reverse the chaotic situation in the county. Although the melee between the native guest villages was temporarily subsided, the defeated rebels combined with the bandits to continue causing chaos. While the "director" of Sihui County was busy rebuilding institutions, establishing militia, contacting four townships, and trying to restore social order, envoys carrying Xiong Wencan's handwriting sneaked in from Guangxi. Most of these envoys were locals and relied on local He carried out social relations activities and visited various wealthy gentry households to encourage them to "serve the imperial court" and promised that the imperial court would come back and give them various benefits in the future.
Yang Jinghui, a "powerful person" in the county, naturally received the courtesy of a visit from the envoy. Yang Juren didn't believe too much in this promise - after all, his nephew had seen how Mr. Xiong escaped from Zhaoqing with oil on his feet, and he had also seen the power of Kun's bombardment. If the Ming Dynasty wants to fight back, it will have to accumulate at least three to five years of troops - it may not be possible to win.
However, even if the Ming Dynasty cannot be defeated, it does not mean that the Kun thief will be able to secure his position. Even if he can finally secure his position, it will probably take several years of chaos. Yang Juren got a lot of information from relatives and friends who fled and knew that Xijiang There are bandits on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, and the Yao people in the mountains are also causing trouble. Even the situation in this county is not necessarily much better.
Taking advantage of this mess and the capital in hand, I can still make a good profit! Yang Juren made up his mind and told the envoy that he was willing to "serve the imperial court with all his heart and soul" and only asked Mr. Xiong to give him a name. The messenger immediately said: Mr. Xiong doesn't have much else here, but there are a lot of arrows. At the same time, he also hinted that if he could kill a few prominent fake Kuns in the county or even regain the county seat - even if it was only for one day, Mr. Xiong would ask for credit for him. With his reputation for raising people, he would definitely be directly awarded an official position. .
After all, it was the Ming Dynasty’s three hundred years of accumulated prestige. Yang Jinghui couldn’t help but be confused after hearing this prospect. Especially the four words “granting official positions” were particularly touching. He immediately promised that he would do a great job and “live up to his expectations.” Lord Xiong’s Hope”.
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Next update: Volume 7 - Guangzhou Governance Chapter 379
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