In Majiapu, Shan County, Yanzhou, the Majia courtyard is decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations.
As the youngest son of Ma Yuanwai, the largest wealthy man in Majiapu, got married, most of the prominent figures in Shan County came to attend Ma Baolin's wedding. Even Shan County Magistrate Liu Wenqing and Lord Bo Shi Liangcai also attended Ma Baolin's wedding.
This made Ma Yuanwai feel very dignified. Although Ma Yuanwai had no fame, when he reached fifty, he could be regarded as a scholar. As for his eldest son Ma Baoshan, he was also not a scholar. But the key is that Ma Yuanwai had helped him by chance. Wu Chongli, the former Minister of the Ministry of War and the Minister of Punishment, was in trouble. The Wu family was a well-known family in Yanzhou. Even after Wu Chongli died, his son Wu Yiwen had to call him Shibo when he met Ma Yuanwai.
It was precisely because of this romantic relationship that Ma Yuanwai was doing well in Shan County. At least the gentry or the county magistrate did not dare to mess with Ma Yuanwai.
Of course, Ma Yuanwai was also a well-rounded person who would be called a She Niu in future generations. Even people like Song Xiance, who were in the world, he treated with courtesy.
In Ma Yuanwai's house, there are "good people" who were sent to him by four counties after studying. To be fair, Ma Yuanwai, a rich man, is different from most local tyrants and evil gentry who suck out the bones and marrow of the people. At least he will not do so cruelly.
Just at the entrance of Ma's courtyard, Ma Baoshan, the eldest son of the concierge and horseman, saw a huge motorcade coming down the street. Dozens of strong men, hanging swords, guarded seven or eight carts, heading towards the Ma's courtyard. Come from the hospital.
Ma Baolin saw Song Xiance coming on horseback and hurriedly stepped forward to salute and said, "Mr. Song is coming to my humble home in great numbers. It's rude that you can't greet him from a distance. It's rude. It's really rude!"
Song Xiance turned over and said with a faint smile: "My dear nephew, you are so polite. Your brother is getting married. As an uncle, you should come to congratulate me?"
With that said, Song Xiance signaled Jiang Wubing to present the gift list.
Ma Baolin was not a money-grubbing person, even so, he was shocked when he saw the gift list.
What Song Xiance gave as a gift was a standard Liaodong Bank silver coin. This kind of silver coin has been accepted by most people in Shandong, Henan, and Northern Zhili, because this kind of silver coin is of sufficient quality and accurate weight. It does not need to be weighed. It can be seen at a glance that it is How much silver, even if a thousand pieces of silver are put together, the error is within five coins.
Therefore, after the silver coin was launched, it was very popular.
Song Xiance was also generous, each one was worth ten taels of silver, one tray was sixty pieces, two trays was one thousand two hundred pieces, in addition there were cloth, salt and other materials, this generous gift was worth two thousand taels of silver. Outside.
Ma Baolin is not a person who is blind to what is happening outside the window. He has also heard about Zhu Yihai's interest in Song Xiance's Huanggang Coal Mine. But the problem is that although Ma Yuanwai has some face in Shan County, Ma Yuanwai's face is with Zhu Yihai. What can I count in front of me?
Ma Baolin said: "Mr. Song is really too polite. How can Mr. Ma dare to accept such a generous gift?"
At this time, Ma Yuanwai came out. He smiled and said: "Mr. Song, such a generous gift. If Ma doesn't accept it, it will look like he looks down on Mr. Song. Baolin Baoshan, I haven't thanked Mr. Song for my father!"
Ma Yuanwai and Ma Baolin had different considerations. Although Ma Yuanwai had no way to get back the coal mine that Prince Lu had taken away from Song Xiance, he knew that Song Xiance, a Jianghu man, had a large number of talents under his command, who were proficient in the art of public opinion. Huanggang Coal Mine was discovered by them.
If Song Xiance was a smart man, he would not try to get back the coal mine that Prince Lu had taken away, and would have to suffer the loss of being dumb. However, he could cooperate with Song Xiance and at worst open another coal mine.
Song Xiance entered the Ma family compound with his entourage. As with almost all big family weddings, ordinary guests sat outside in the courtyard, and ordinary neighbors and tenants sat outside the compound. As for people with status entering the inner courtyard, those with the most distinguished status in the main banquet hall, occupying a high position.
Song Xiance came to the inner courtyard and sat in the atrium hall. There were four tables in total, and all of them had people with status. Of course, there were many people who knew Song Xiance, and everyone greeted Song Xiance one after another.
Of course, after the wedding was over and the groom and his servants were toasting the guests, Song Xiance winked at Jiang Wubing, and Jiang Wubing quietly left. Not long after, the sound of neat footsteps came from outside.
The horsemen heard the movement and felt a little strange. At this moment, dozens of followers followed Song Xiance to the Ma family compound to attend the wedding, and they showed off their weapons.
The horseman looked at Song Xiance outside and stammered: "Mr. Song...Song...what...are you...going to...do...?"
Song Xiance ignored Ma Yuanwai, but looked at Shanxian County Magistrate Liu Wenqing who was in charge and said: "Master Liu, come with us!"
A guest who was stunned for a long time was frightened and screamed loudly: "There are bandits, there are bandits..."
The big shots were so frightened that they wanted to run away, but their legs were weak. How could they escape? The hall suddenly became chaotic.
Song Xiance looked at the crowd and said: "Everyone, don't be afraid. We are not bandits. We are miners from Huanggangzhai. It's just that our mines have been robbed by the Lu Prince's Palace. The government does nothing and helps the tyrants. Why don't they kill us?" Young man! Every wrongdoer has his own owner, and what we are looking for is the government minions who help the tyranny, not you. As long as everyone just sits here and doesn't move, everything will be fine. Once we deal with them, we will release them. You go!”
Liu Wenqing was stunned, looked at Song Xiance and said: "You are so brave, you dare to rebel, aren't you afraid of being punished by the nine tribes?" "
One of the miners snorted contemptuously: "Are you going to kill the nine tribes for rebelling? We haven't rebelled yet, and many people have died or only one of them has died. What does this mean? You beasts are more ruthless than rogue bandits." , I have done all the bad things to you, and today I want you to know what retribution is."
Just when Song Xiance and his men captured the leaders of Shan County in the Majia Courtyard, Lin Xuzong also led the main force of miners to approach Shan County. Shan County, like most counties in the Ming Dynasty, did not have a garrison. This was why the rogue bandits could The root cause of the conflict between the state and the government.
The Ming Dynasty's guards and local counties were two independent units, and only the guards such as Tianjin Guard, Weihai Guard, and Dengzhou Guard had garrisons. Kong Youde could rely on more than 800 Dongjiang Army cavalry to destroy most of Shandong. , it is because of the institutional problems of the Ming Dynasty.
Dozens of government officials saw thousands of miners appearing outside the city. They ran away in fear without firing a shot or an arrow.
Qiao Zhuang said in disbelief: "Why did they run away?"
The miners thought that the rebellion would lead to a narrow escape, but the problem was that before they fought, the gates of the county town were wide open, and not even a soul could be seen.
"Attack and capture the county seat!"
Following Lin Xuzong's order, the miners cautiously approached Shanxian County. The ones in front were holding shields. From a professional point of view, these miners looked very amateur.
The sword and shield soldiers composed of these miners are not resolute in attacking, and their momentum can only be described as average. If they are blocked, they are likely to retreat immediately... In a word, their combat effectiveness is scum.
But that's not how the government officials see it. Although they are government officials, they are different from the various executive departments of later generations. They serve as slaves. They have not been trained, and they just rely on their official skin to scare people. If they really fight one-on-one, they may not be able to beat many ordinary people.
When the government officials saw so many soldiers with swords and shields charging down the mountain like tigers, they were so frightened that their legs weakened. Some ran desperately, while others fell down and crawled forward using their hands and feet. They were extremely embarrassed.
Since there was no resistance from the government officials, Lin Xuzong and his miners quickly occupied the entire Shanxian county. While occupying the county, the only bloodshed was that local gangsters took advantage of the chaos and looted, and were stabbed to death by the miners with knives and guns. On the street, if it weren't for these dozen or so local gangsters, Lin Xuzong would probably have captured the county seat of Shanxian County without a single blow.
The captured government equipment was also shocking. Spears with rat teeth marks all over the shafts, rusty knives, firecrackers that exploded with one strike, soft bows, fluttering arrows...these The stuff is really eye-opening.
In the Ma family compound, all the people with heads and faces were caught by Song Xiance. Song Xiance escorted a fat-headed rich man to the street outside the compound and pointed at the fat-headed and big-eared man. The rich man asked: "How is he?"
"Character?"
A man who looked like a farmer gritted his teeth and said: "Han Laocai still has character, this bastard has already done bad things!"
"What bad things has he done?"
"There are so many bad things, too many to describe!"
"Tell me the important things!"
"Han Laocai likes women who have just given birth the most. Last month, Deng Maocai's daughter-in-law in our village returned to her parents' home with her baby, who was less than one year old. Han Caicai bumped into her on the way. He ordered Deng Maocai's daughter-in-law to be taken away. When they were arrested, the Deng family's daughter-in-law had a fierce temper and would rather die than obey. Han Laocai threatened to use Deng Maocai's son. If he didn't comply, he would throw Deng Maocai's son to the vicious dogs. The Deng family's daughter-in-law had no choice but to obey Han Laocai. Unwilling to be humiliated, the Deng family’s wife sent her son home and hanged herself on a big willow tree in the village!”
"Does the government not care?"
"Government, you have to ask Mr. Liu County. Han Laocai's son is the master of Mr. Liu County. Who dares to take care of it?"
"I'll take care of it!"
Song Xiance said: "Qu Bing, take Han Laocai's family and arrest them for a public trial!"
After Jiang Qubing received the order, he led a team of miners to attack the Han family's old house. He never thought that Han Laocai was an old man and only had a dozen servants. Seeing hundreds of miners approaching, these servants were too frightened to hide. Escape from the road.
The miners stormed Hanjiapu, and soon the battle was over. Those servants either surrendered or died in the battle, and all the Han family members who dared to resist stubbornly died.
Along with Han Laocai's three sons and seven grandsons, who were covered in blood, were dragged out. They were soon baptized with stones, saliva and rotten vegetable leaves. What awaited him would be a very tragic fate.
Jiang Wubing ransacked Han Laocai's house at an astonishing speed. Boxes of silver, copper coins, bags of grain, livestock and poultry, silk and satin were all shipped out at a running price. The onlookers' curses became louder and louder, and the more they watched, the angrier they became. We have worked so hard all year round and can't even eat enough bran, but you are lying on us to suck blood. It's simply unreasonable!
Song Xiance counted and confiscated a total of more than 6,000 taels of silver, more than 1,000 taels of copper coins, more than 800 shi of rice, 25 cattle, more than 30 mules, and a batch of silks and antiques. He accepted them all with a smile. .
Song Xiance looked at a large basket of documents being brought over, which looked like a ledger. He picked up one and flipped through it casually. These were either rent owed by Han Caicai's tenants or debts borrowed.
Song Xiance made a gesture, and Jiang Wubing brought a bucket of oil, poured it on the large basket of ledgers, and handed over the fire certificate.
Song Xiance blew on the Huozhezi, blowing on it, and then threw it into the basket. With a fierce blow, the flames rose up and engulfed the account books, which either exuded the fragrance of ink or were yellow and moldy.
Suddenly, the whole place was silent. Everyone looked at the fire that was rising higher and higher as if under a immobilizing spell. Their mouths were slightly open and they couldn't close their eyes. They couldn't believe their eyes.
Song Xiance said: "Han Laocai was unjust and issued usury loans at usury, so we don't have to repay them. I also burned these deeds of sale. From now on, you are no longer Han's serfs, you are free!" "
As Han Laocai's family was executed one by one according to the charges found out during the interrogation, all seven of the Han family's grandfather and grandson, except for the youngest grandson who had not had time to commit evil, were all hung on the tree.
Song Xiance also kept the cattle, mules and horses captured by the Han family, and distributed part of the food to the people who could not survive. Just one Han family gave Song Xiance more than 600 supporters.
The public trial in the Ma Family Courtyard is still going on. The local tyrants and evil gentry first ask questions. As long as the character is bad and full of evil, then the house will be ransacked. The most important part of the house raid is the IOUs, IOUs and the like, all of which are burned.
The rebellion went very smoothly, so smoothly that Song Xiance could not believe it. He was prepared to suffer thousands of casualties, but he did not expect that Lin Xunzong also captured the county seat without bloodshed.
Lin Xuzong and Song Xiance adopted the same method. They first dealt with the large gentry households in the county and held a public trial on the large gentry households. Some wealthy people who were conscientious and relied on hard work were not liquidated. Even Ma Yuanwai did not have a bad reputation. His biggest bad reputation was He spent fifteen taels of silver to get a concubine for Ma Yuanwai's eldest son. Both parties agreed. Although it was suspected of being forced, the concubine was not abused. She did not report it, and Song Xiance did not deal with Ma Yuanwai.
Lin Xuzong looked at the four to five thousand newly recruited rebels behind him, looked at Song Xiance and said, "What should we do now?"
"Our foundation is too weak!"
Song Xiance said: "We only have such a small number of people, and the weapons are not enough. The people don't know whether we are good or bad. If we rush to attack Yanzhou City, it is easy for the people to regard us as bandits and rogues. In order to save their own wealth and lives, they will defend the city desperately." , when the time comes we can neither defeat nor retreat, and the losses will be too great!"
"Then what do you think we should do?"
Song Xiance said: "Brother Lin, you first manage the single county. Our commander-in-chief said that when the strength is not enough, we will fight guerrilla warfare and surround the city from the countryside. Huanggang is our foundation and there is no room for loss. Let's do this. On a voluntary basis, select those young men who are willing to dig coal, and we will pay them wages. If they are willing to join us in the great cause, then we will start with the gentry in Yanzhou!"
As Song Xiance formulated the strategy of encircling the city from the countryside, the gentry in Shan County suffered a terrible fate.
Although Song Xiance had never managed or commanded an army in the Ning Haijun Army, he was no stranger to troop training. After following Cheng Shijie for nearly four years, Song Xiance learned a lot. In fact, Song Xiance at this time was comparable to history Song Xiance is much more powerful.
First of all, he did not blindly expand the army. Faced with the many refugees who were willing to join the rebel army, he organized the young and strong. The older and weak went to Huanggang to dig coal. At the same time, the troops were divided into two groups. The young and strong under the age of 18 stayed behind. In Huanggang Village, officers from Ning Haijun served as instructors to train them.
Many people don't understand Song Xiance's approach, including Qiao Zhuang.
Song Xiance explained to Qiao Zhuang: "A very great general once said that fighting a war means fighting without money. This battle is bound to be lost. We have no source of income, where does the money come from? It can only come from this coal mine. . Only by digging out more coal can we exchange it for more weapons and destroy more enemies! When the war is over, we will build several phosphate fertilizer plants like the ones in Liaodong in Yanzhou to produce phosphate fertilizer and ensure a bumper harvest for crops. , so that everyone doesn’t have to go hungry anymore!”
No need to go hungry anymore!
These seven simple words had an irresistible appeal to these honest miners. They happily accepted the order, entered the mining area with tools, and began mining against the clock.
As for the rebel army with more than 4,000 people, Song Xiancai divided his troops into three groups. More than 1,000 young and middle-aged troops were trained in Huangzhou Village and did not need to participate in the current battle. At the same time, Lin Xunzong, Qiao Zhuang and Jiang Wubing each led an army. Thousands of troops swept through the villages and towns around Shan County.
In the words of Cheng Shijie, this is called gaining experience in Novice Village.
Lin Xuzong looked at the troops lined up neatly and said, "Director Song, you are the leader of our army. Please give our army a name!"
"Back then, Liu Bowen divined the national destiny of the Ming Dynasty for Emperor Hongwu. After Liu Bowen's divination, he only said one sentence: "Stop when things go well." Stop when things go well... let's call them Dashun Army!"
Lin Xuzong laughed: "Okay, let's call it Dashun Army. I didn't expect that we could command such a large army across the battlefield..."
"What does this mean? It won't take long before our troops will swell to tens of thousands, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, until we can no longer command them!"
Jiang Wubing said with some emotion: "Uncle, do you think we can succeed?"
"If you don't succeed, you will succeed!"
Jiang Wubing asked: "Uncle, I can't figure it out!"
"Can't figure out what?"
"It is understandable that those who are willing to join our Dashun Army should be given food and money to them, but for the common people, why should they... Why should they be given money and food when they have no contribution?"
"No disease, just look further ahead!"
Song Xiance said: "The commander-in-chief once said that the power of the common people is unlimited. If we can get their support, let alone Yanzhou, it is not impossible to conquer the entire Shandong and the entire Central Plains. A little land, money and food are nothing. ?”
Jiang Wubing didn't understand, but he didn't ask.
Song Xiance said: "We all perform our duties. Take down the local tyrants and evil gentry around us. The public trial is almost over!"
Song Xiance rebelled in Shan County and successfully captured the county town and captured dozens of houses owned by local tyrants and young gentry. However, Luo Ruwen, the prefect of Yanzhou Prefecture, still had no idea. Luo Ruwen, a good-for-nothing prefect, when he was the prefect, he only had Three things, make money, make money, make money.
There were countless officials like this in Ming Dynasty.
If the current prefect was Deng Fanxi, Song Xiance probably would not have had time to put the gentry to trial in public.
This was Song Xiance's great fortune, but it was Ming Dynasty's misfortune.
With the convening of the public trial, the people of Shan County were crazy with joy. Now is the period of drought, and every household has long been out of food. Just when they didn't know what to do, Song Xiance tried the local tyrants and evil gentry in public, and the people were extremely angry. The local tyrants and evil gentry were all hung on trees to dry.
The common people were also given the food they needed to survive, and they no longer had to repay their debts to the local tyrants and evil gentry. The most important thing was that as long as they joined the Dashun Army, they could be given fields ranging from ten acres to twenty or thirty acres. wait.
At this moment, the people around Shan County were shocked.
"Fight the local tyrants and divide the land!"
"Da Shun Army, justice is served!"
"Heaven is unfair, Dashun is fair!"
"Stop when things go smoothly, and great fortunes will come!"
Song Xiance issued many slogans. As the scale of the Dashun Army grew larger, these slogans spread more and more widely. It was not until Cheng Shijie, who was in Liaodong, heard the name Dashun that he suddenly realized it.
"It turns out that Li Zicheng's national title was created by this bastard Song Xiance!" (End of Chapter)
