If you spread out a map of Jingzhou Prefecture, it is not difficult to find that Huya Mountain is really a good place to cause trouble. This is a "three no matter" place. Although it belongs to Yiling Prefecture in terms of administrative divisions, it is actually located at the junction of three prefectures and counties, including Yiling Prefecture, Yidu County, and Changyang County. Moreover, this place is also the intersection of Jianghan Plain and the mountainous area of western Hubei. It is also next to the Yangtze River waterway, and across the Yangtze River is the endless Jingshan Mountain. Near Huya Mountain, there is also a Qingjiang River leading to Shizhouwei.
Huya Town is at the foot of Huya Mountain, close to the Yangtze River pier, and the transportation is very convenient, so it is inevitable that there will be a mixture of good and bad.
However, such a place with a mixture of fish and dragons traveling from south to north has not been strictly controlled by the Yiling Prefecture Government for a long time - like most of the county-level prefectures in the Ming Dynasty today, Yiling Prefecture has a high degree of autonomy. Prefecture officials were recommended by large local taxpayers, reviewed by Hubei Province and Jingzhou Prefecture, and finally reported to the court for appointment by the court.
As long as Yiling Prefecture can complete the tax amount, the imperial court will not have much control over administration. As for local public security, it is directly managed by the police patrol yamen, law division yamen, judge yamen and garrison yamen of Jingzhou Prefecture. However, Jingzhou Prefecture's financial resources are limited, and it is also responsible for the security of Badong, Changning, Guizhou, Xingshan and other places on the front line of the Yangtze River to the west, so it does not have much spare power to manage Huya Mountain in Yiling Prefecture. ....As long as the local gangsters (a group of farmers headed by Ding Papi) can maintain a semblance of stability, the gentlemen of Jingzhou Prefecture will be too lazy to meddle in their own business.
However, in recent times, Jingzhou Prefecture has indeed been very negligent. Huya Town has become a rebel stronghold. At night, there are countless fast boats and horses traveling on the plains, hills and rivers around Huya Town, delivering all kinds of news. The Fourth Public Security Office of Jingzhou Prefecture actually knows nothing... At least in the eyes of the heroes in Huya Town, the government knows nothing!
The clipper Li Gongzi was riding on also mysteriously docked at the pier when night fell on the tenth day of February.
As soon as the boat docked, a group of men with waist knives, bulging clothes, and mostly wearing chain armor and cotton armor surrounded them.
The chubby businessman-looking man under Niu Jie of this group got off the boat, bowed his hands respectfully, and then stepped aside. One of them came close to the fat man, whispered to him for a few words, and then ran into the town.
Ushisuke also got off the boat. He looked around and found several open and hidden sentries, including several carrying matchlock guns.
"Fat Liu," Niu Jie asked the fat man in a low voice, "are all your people here?"
"Everyone is here!" Fatty Liu said, "A total of 1,014 people are here!"
These 1,014 people are the real backbone of this "Huya Mountain Uprising"! And it is also the result of many years of layout by the Trade Department of Dashunhu Government - don't think that the Ministry of Justice, Jinyiwei, and Dongchang of the Ming Dynasty are all blind and deaf people who have done nothing... The fine work of Dashun has been ruined in their hands over the years. Thousands too!
Behind these 1,014 people, there were at least two or three times as many heroes as Dashun.
However, as long as there can be a vigorous commotion in Jingzhou, the blood of the heroes will not be in vain.
On the way to Huya Mountain, Niu Jie's men had informed him of the bad news that the Ming army had invaded Hanzhong - of course his men did not know that Shang Kexi and Shang Zhixin were killed in Hanzhong. This is confidential... Now that the Ming court has disclosed the gossip, the situation is still very good!
It’s a big good, not a small good!
Wu Sangui, who escaped from the pass and headed south, has already reached Lueyang! Shi Dewei, who attacked along the Qishan Road, also captured Qiuchishan, Xuanshui Town, and Zhifangtoupu—these three places together may not be enough to make up a county, but Niu Jie knows how important they are!
The Qishan Road has been halfway completed. Once Chengxian and Xiaochuanzipu fall (in fact, Xiaochuanzipu has already fallen, and Chengxian County is under fierce attack by Liu Sheng and is almost over), the entire Qishan Road will be finished... .
Once Qishan Road and Sanguan Road are lost, Hanzhong will inevitably be unprotected, Hanzhong will not be protected...can Sichuan be protected?
Thinking of this, Ushisuke took a breath and whispered: "Let's go! Let's go into the town!"
...
The big house of Ding Papi's family has been requisitioned by the head of the Trade Department of the Dashunhu Government who arrived in Huya Town in advance, and has become the general headquarters of the Huya Mountain Armed Uprising!
The day after Mr. Li arrived in Huya Town, the spacious courtyard of the Ding family's mansion was already crowded with heroes from all over the town and the nearby Huya Mountain.
Zhang Xiucai and Wang Sihu were considered the hosts of Huya Town. They both put on the narrow-sleeved arrow jackets only worn by heroes, both in blue, and welcomed guests at the gate of the courtyard.
No matter how much Wang Sihu traveled around the world, he could still return the favor to the working people. When he saw so many "heroes" at once, his head was dizzy and he didn't know how to speak for a long time - who among these gang leaders, hall leaders, and leaders were not The number one figure in the world of Huguang? Wang Sihu was not even qualified to see them in normal times, but now he was able to be on an equal footing with them!
What a proud life!
And Zhang Xiucai is a figure. His family has been scholar-bureaucrats for generations! Those figures in the Ming Dynasty, unless they reached the level of Zheng Zhilong and Shen Tingyang, would still be shorter than the scholar-bureaucrats. Therefore, Zhang Xiucai was not afraid of these people. He held hands and exchanged greetings regardless of whether they looked familiar, and he did not forget to admire the generosity and benevolence of "Master Li".
"Brother, don't worry. Mr. Li didn't come empty-handed. He came on a river boat traveling with the wind. In addition to the weapons on the boat, there are gold and silver... I'm afraid it's no less than one hundred thousand taels! Your share is indispensable. !”
"Don't worry, brother. Mr. Li is the nephew of King Li Chuang. He is also the king of a county in Sichuan. If we follow him, are we afraid that we won't get the spicy food?"
"Yes, yes, there is gold and silver! When the time comes, we will count the heads and divide the gold and silver..."
Hearing Zhang Xiucai's assurance, all the heroes in the arena were delighted - not because of the one hundred thousand taels of gold and silver, but because of Mr. Li's identity!
This is a big fish!
If he was tied up and presented to Zhu Weishuai and Du Gong Pan, it must be done by a high-ranking official and the horse must be ridden!
What? Do these heroes really think so?
of course!
Nowadays, there are indeed evil forces on the ground in Jingchu... Such is the world at the end of the Ming Dynasty, organizations such as the Yiguan Party and the Shachuan Gang will have to be wiped out in future generations! But how could the Zhu family emperor have such strength? Since we can't sweep them away, we can only collect some.
Of course, we still need to sweep them away... Mainly to let those who have been recruited as officials go and sweep away those who are still running around in the world! It’s impossible to sweep them all, but it’s better than not sweeping them at all.
In the Jingchu area, because there is still a great cause of preventing thieves and rebels, and there are too many landless peasants entering the city, there is no way out at once, so the Jianghu forces have a greater living space, and the court treats them, It is to collect and control as much as possible.
As for the heroes in the Jianghu of Jingchu, all those who could achieve greatness secretly took refuge in the government and were willing to act as lackeys.
Even the few village owners who came from the valleys in Badong and Guizhou were all people with one foot in two boats - otherwise they would have been out of work!
However, this kind of secret surrender to the imperial court must be kept secret. It is not that it is not honorable to be a lackey, but it is a good thing for the country and the people! It's just that these heroes have to serve as the eyes and ears of the court, monitoring the remnants of the rebels in Jingchu, so their identities must be kept secret.
Of course, there are also many people in Jingchu who have not found a way to join the imperial court... Some of them have also received invitations from "Master Li"!
It's just that these people either have no talent and dare not come to Huya Mountain to seek refuge with King Chuang. Either he has no character and reports the traitor to the court. Either he encountered officers and soldiers cracking down on gangsters on the way to Huya Mountain, and now he is on his way to Tianshan Mountain!
Zhang Xiucai invited all the heroes into the courtyard and arranged food and drink for them. Then he led the dizzy Wang Sihu to report to Niu Jie: "Master Li! The heroes are all here, waiting for you to lecture them." It’s time to reward...”
"Okay!" Niu Jie shouted, "It's time to do something big!"
He had been so excited that he couldn't sleep for several nights, and he was also a little nervous - he knew that the factory guards in the Ming Dynasty were not that useless, and they would definitely detect the thousands of people gathering at Huya Mountain.
The encirclement and suppression army must be on their way over, and now I am competing with them for time!
