"Pinghuan, Gongxuan, eldest, second, and third eldest, what do you think? What do you think of this plan of living Lu Bu and young living Lu Bu? Does it count as a rebellion?"
Shang Kexi has a pair of blind eyes with cataracts that seem to be closed. His fat body is leaning on a soft couch. There is a bowl of sour plum soup with ice residue on a small table next to it. There is also a handsome face. The little nun knelt beside the small table and used a small spoon to feed "Blind Shang" with ice-cold pickled plum juice.
There was silence in the room. After a while, the pleasant military advisor Jin Guang and Jin Gongxuan broke the silence: "Your Majesty, it depends on when this matter is shelved. If it is shelved a few months ago, of course it is considered a rebellion!"
"A few months ago," Zhu Guozhi (also known as Pinghuan) interjected, "Doesn't it mean that now he is rebelling?"
"Futai, don't worry," Shang Kexi's Grand Military Advisor Jin Guang is a "middle-aged" man in his forties or fifties. He is a bit skinny and has a goatee. He is a "Yiwu Master". He only saw him unfolding his fan. While shaking, he said with a smile: "Listen to me!
First of all, Xiangshan, Xinhui, and Xinning are all coastal counties that implement border relocation and sea bans. Boundary walls and wooden fences were erected fifty to one hundred miles away from the coast. The land outside the boundary was to be abandoned and the people were not allowed to live and cultivate it. Although the maritime ban has been relaxed, after all, there is no clear edict to cancel it. How dare Wang Shikai, a fourth-level Taotai, bulldoze the boundary wall of three counties without authorization, and also order people to measure the land outside the boundary and privately distribute it to the poor households within the boundary? , to win people's hearts, how is this not a rebellion? "
Shang Kexi nodded while stroking his beard and frowning.
Seeing his expression, Shang Zhixiao, who knew best that this old man was loyal to the Qing Dynasty, immediately snorted and said angrily: "This is rebellion!"
Shang Zhidian, the youngest member of the Shang Kexi family, also echoed: "Yes, this is rebellion!"
But Shang Zhixin just snorted, noncommittal.
Military Advisor Jin Guangjin took in the reactions of the three Shang family members, and then went on to analyze: "Secondly, Xiangshan, Xinhui, and Xinning counties all follow the Qingtian system. The land is privately owned, and annexation is not prohibited, let alone The principle of equalizing the land of rich households to supplement the poor peasants. However, Wang Shikai relied on military power to implement the "Celestial Land Acquisition System" without authorization. He devised some plan to allocate land orally in the three counties, and even used the Hao'ao commercial port land to exchange twenty for one. They replaced the land of wealthy households in three counties. They also confiscated the residence of the Huang family in Xinhui without authorization. The Huang family was an official household! How could this not be a rebellion?
Furthermore, the tax system of Xiangshan, Xinhui, and Xinning counties was also established by the Qing court. Counties can add some fire costs to determine how much they should charge, but they cannot completely change the tax system! Now Wang Shikai is implementing a "five-peck rice tax package" in the three counties. There is no fire consumption, no labor, and no small tax. According to the quality of the land, a maximum of five pecks of rice can be collected from one acre, and nothing else!
Moreover, he also set up private customs offices in Xiangshan, Xinhui and Xinning counties to collect taxes. It is said that they are also planning to set up a private salt farm on Sanzao Island outside Modaomen to produce private salt for sale!
In addition, he has issued a notice to the three counties of Xiangshan, Xinhui, and Xinning. All land taxes and over-taxes collected by the three counties will be transferred to the Guangdong Customs Road Bank in Hao'ao, and not a penny will be sent to the vassal office of the Guangdong vassal. Warehouse delivery! Isn't this a rebellion? "
Zhu Guozhi gritted his teeth and said: "If everyone wants to be like these two father and son, the Guangdong vassal treasury must not be empty? How can we pay the money and food to the court?"
Now the four members of the Shang family were silent.
Jin Guang smiled and said: "Fourth, the imperial court is also very strict about the establishment of local regiments, training and establishment of rural soldiers. However, while Wang Shikai was implementing the new land system in Xiangshan, Xinhui and Xinning counties, he also implemented the so-called " "Township Art of War", all farmers with more than fifteen acres of land were included in the township military registration!
All rural military households listed on the military register must go out to participate in training during the off-season, and must take turns to serve in the township military service in the county or Guangdong Customs Road. There are no less than 20,000 rural households in the three counties registered as rural soldiers. According to Counting one person per household, that’s 20,000 rural soldiers! Privately setting up 20,000 rural soldiers, isn't this a rebellion?
Fifth, the imperial court customized the local official system, official administration, and military system of the green camp, as well as the equipment that can be used. But now the official system and official administration implemented in the one state and eleven counties of Zhaoqing Prefecture and the three counties of Xiangshan, Xinhui, and Xinning are completely different from those customized by the imperial court!
Now, the masters and squad leaders of Zhaoqing Prefecture and the eleven prefectures and counties under its jurisdiction are all appointed by the corresponding departments of the governor's office. The prefect and county magistrate only have the right to make personnel recommendations. The salaries of these masters and squad leaders are all paid by the Sixth Section of the Governor's Yamen. The masters and squad leaders in Xiangshan, Xinhui and Xinning counties under Guangfu are all appointed, dismissed and paid by Guangdong Customs Road.
The military systems of the Sanxie New Army under Wang Zhijun and the Sanxian Township Army under Wang Shikai are completely different from those of other Green Camps! In addition, Wang Shikai also cast a large number of artillery pieces at the Hao'ao Artillery Factory, and ordered a large number of shotguns from Foshan. He even gave a large number of orders for shotguns and other weapons to induce Foshan blacksmiths to open workshops in Hao'ao. If all these orders are in place, the Wang family's new army will The Hexiang soldiers probably have more firearms than the same number of Eight Banners new troops, right?
Isn’t this a rebellion? "
"The living Lu Bu already has 15,000 soldiers, and Kong Sizhen has several thousand more. Now the young Lu Bu has raised another 20,000 rural soldiers. This is indeed a rebellion!" This time, it was Shang Zhixin, the prince of Pingnan, who identified the Wang family and his son.
Privately opening maritime bans, dividing fields and land, privately reforming the tax system, withholding taxes, and even privately reforming the official system are not a big deal in Shang Zhixin's eyes - he wants to do it himself!
But Wang Zhongxiao mobilized 20,000 rural troops in the three counties of Xiangshan, Xinning, and Xinhui, which made Shang Zhixin feel dangerous!
The army controlled by Wang Fuchen, Kong Sizhen, and Wang Zhongxiao will soon reach 40,000!
Although half of them are rural soldiers, it is an army of 40,000 after all!
How many soldiers does the Shang family have? Fifteen assistant leaders, three thousand on the books, including Ding Yu, the maximum is six or seven thousand. Coupled with several Green Camp Town and Xie forces that have long been under the control of Pingnan Prince's Palace, the total military strength is nearly 20,000. A considerable part of them are also restrained by "Shenzhen Aobai" and "Xin'an Wu Sanwei"
"Gong Xuan," Shang Kexi did not rush to "characterize" Wang Fuchen and Wang Zhongxiao, "You just said that what they did was considered a rebellion a few months ago, but does it still count as a rebellion now?"
"Now?" Jin Guang smiled bitterly, "It is indeed the opposite! But we don't have to admit it!"
"Don't admit it?" Shang Kexi was stunned, "What don't you admit?"
"Don't admit that they have done these rebellious things!" Jin Guang said with a smile, "Your Majesty, Zhu Futai, we don't have to admit that they have rebelled. If we don't admit it, then don't they count as rebels?"
"What? Is this possible?" Zhu Guozhi couldn't believe his ears, "Jin Gongxuan, aren't you deceiving yourself?"
"How can this be self-deception?" Jin Guang waved his fan and said, "Zhu Futai, if we admit that the Wang family and his son have rebelled, then there will be nothing wrong with us in Guangdong!"
"How could it be? We also have many soldiers!"
Jin Guang shook his head and counted on his fingers: "Why is it so many? The Wang family plus Kong Sizhen have 40,000, Wu Sanwei plus Aobai has 10,000, and Zu Zeqing, Ma Xiong, and Guo Yi together should have more than 10,000 Now! Sun Yanling’s troops will be easily absorbed by Kong Sizhen. That’s more than 80,000!"
Hearing his calculation, Zhu Guozhi's face suddenly turned a little pale, "This, this is too much, right? What should I do?"
"That's why we can't admit that Lu Bu and his son rebelled!"
Shang Kexi interjected: "If we don't admit it, they won't take advantage of it? Military advisor, do you have any tricks to deal with them?"
"Two tricks," Jin Guang said, "One is two tigers competing for food; the other is a mantis stalking a cicada, with the oriole behind!"
"Two tigers competing for food?" Shang Ke smiled happily, "Who is that foodie? Is it Kong Sizhen?"
"Your Majesty is wise!" Jin Guang said with a smile, "The emperor's imperial edict to confer Sun Jiqing as King of Dingnan has arrived in Guangdong soon, right? I have seen that Sun Jiqing in my humble position. This son looks exactly like that living Lu Bu. I guess he is the descendant of living Lu Bu! He must be Dingnan." Being the King of the South is equivalent to living Lu Bu as the king of the South! Shouldn't we help add fuel to the fire? As long as living Lu Bu's army marches westward, we can give him a mantis to catch the cicada, and the oriole will follow later!"
"Gong Xuan, you want me to send troops to attack Zhaoqing?" Shang Kexi frowned, "Isn't Zhaoqing difficult to fight?"
Shang Zhixiao also said: "Father is right, the terrain in Zhaoqing is dangerous, and there is Antelope Gorge in the east, which is dangerous and can guard the water and land channels. After Lu Bu arrived in Zhaoqing, he took over the fort at Antelope Gorge. Recently, he also moved a group of red clothes from Haao'ao Fortress. Cannon over!"
Zhaoqing is a land surrounded by mountains and rivers. To the north of the city are Jiangjun Mountain and Beiling Mountain—a large area of mountains. To the west of the city, to the south and to the southeast of the city are the Xijiang River, and the Xijiang waterways in the east and west of the city both pass through the mountains. Pass. Among them, the Xijiang Waterway in the east of the city passes through the mountains of Antelope Ridge. As long as forts are deployed on the mountains, enemies coming from the east along the Xijiang River will be blocked.
As for the gap in the northeast corner of Zhaoqing, it is between Antelope Ridge and Beiling Mountain. The narrowest part is less than two miles, making it very easy to block.
Jin Guang nodded and said: "Second Master is right! It is precisely because Zhaoqing Fucheng has natural dangers to rely on that Lu Bu can confidently and boldly lead the army to march westward. However, what we want to capture is not Zhaoqing Fucheng, but Hao'ao Shang city!"
"Capture Hao'ao?" Shang Zhixin frowned, "Hao'ao is a commercial market under the jurisdiction of Guangdong Customs Road. If we capture Hao'ao, does it count as a rebellion?"
"It doesn't count, of course it doesn't count!" Jin Guang said with a smile, "The prince did not proclaim himself emperor, nor did he fall to Prince Wu Sangui or Prince Zhu. He just took over a territory that was originally under the jurisdiction of Pingnan Prince's Palace. How can it be called a rebellion?"
Zhu Guozhi also nodded: "Yes! Prince, let's do it. Our loyalty to the Qing Dynasty is known to the Emperor and the Queen Mother! If we don't do it, Lu Bu and his son will bulldoze the three mansions of Gao, Lei, Lian and Sun Yanling, I’m afraid he will come back and plot against Guangzhou, right? Guangzhou is the number one capital in southern China!”
Jin Guang saw Shang Kexi frowning and seemed to be "fighting" in his heart, so he said to him calmly: "My lord, you and Lu Bu and his son are different from what they were a few months ago. They have become just like the feudal towns of the Tang Dynasty." The role of the government! Sometimes the court is beyond the reach of feudal lords and towns!"
"Yes, yes, yes!" Zhu Guozhi nodded repeatedly, "The first move is to strengthen the prince. The hearts of the people in Guangdong are not in your family! If Lu Bu and his family become bigger, it will be easy to take over Guangzhou! Then I, Zhu Guozhi, will Maybe you can escape unscathed, and you"
Hearing Zhu Guozhi's words, Shang Kexi trembled.
The biggest advantage Wang Fuchen, Wang Zhongxiao and his son had over Guangzhou was not that they had more troops, but that they did not have the surname Shang!
Shang Kexi was killed so badly in Guangdong. But at the same time, he was not really afraid of being killed in Guangdong! So there are too many people in Guangdong who hate the Shang family. To be conservative, at least half of the people in Guangdong regard the Shang family as enemy bandits!
If Wang Fuchen and his son were to launch an army to attack the Shang family, everyone in Guangdong would be happy!
Shang Ke sighed happily: "Rather than fall into the hands of the Wang family, Guangdong should fall into the hands of my Shang family. Zhu Futai, boss, you two go to Zhaoqing, bring a generous gift, and then replace my My beloved daughter Wanciao and Sun Jiqing are a great matchmaker!"
"Principal, this is the flintlock gun you want. The students have led the craftsmen from Foshan to build it together."
Inside the Haoao Castle, in a large room with the sign "Principal's Office", Dai Zi, who had just been appointed by Wang Zhongxiao as the director of the Ordnance Engineering Department, placed a newly imitated flintlock musket in Principal Wang's office. On the desk.
Flintlock guns have actually appeared in China for a long time, but because of their relatively high cost and low reliability, they were not very popular with shotgun soldiers and Emperor Kang Mazi who valued the accuracy of shooting but ignored the density of firepower, so they did not become mainstream.
However, Wang Zhongxiao still attaches great importance to this kind of easy training, and through intensive shooting in teams, rural soldiers with lower training levels can also obtain new weapons with stronger combat effectiveness.
Therefore, after capturing Haao, orders were immediately placed for the Dutch East India Company, the English East India Company, and the Spanish Governor-General of the Philippines. Not long ago, the Netherlands had shipped 500 flintlock muskets from Batavia. Wang Zhongxiao used them to equip the "study barracks" of Jingwu Academy. At the same time, he asked Dai Zi to take the lead in organizing a group of Foshan blacksmiths to trial-produce flintlock muskets.
"It looks good!" Wang Zhongxiao stroked the black barrel. It was a bit rough and full of hammer marks, which was incomparable with the industrial products of later generations. But what he cared about was not this, but the specially polished muzzle. The muzzle was very slippery and rounded.
"Principal, this is the collared bayonet you want!" Dai Zi knew what Wang Zhongxiao was looking for, and quickly handed over a sharp-angled triangular spear bayonet, and also moved the sleeve at the back of the bayonet to the muzzle, just right. good!
Then he picked up the gun and weighed it. It was quite heavy!
Finally, Principal Wang opened the gun with a small piece of flint installed on it, and then pulled the trigger. With a snap, the flint hit the steel and fired out a few sparks.
"Not bad!" Wang Zhongxiao asked, "Can it be mass-produced? How many can be made per month?"
Dai Zi replied: "Principal, the production difficulty of this kind of flintlock gun is about the same as that of a shotgun, but don't expect too much production. A master craftsman and a few apprentices can only make a few guns a month. Now from Foshan There are only twenty or thirty masters here, and including the Portuguese masters, the monthly output is between 180 and 200."
This is not an era of industrialization, but an era of handicrafts!
The monthly output of 200 flintlock muskets and the annual output of 2,400 are actually not too small. If you want more production, I'm afraid you have to capture Foshan Town!
Because Foshan now has the largest number of blacksmiths in China!
However, Foshan Town is close to Guangzhou and is under the jurisdiction of Nanhai County. Wang Zhongxiao cannot obtain the magistrate of Nanhai County through peaceful means.
He was just thinking about how to capture Guangzhou when Wang Jizhen's voice suddenly came from outside the door: "Second brother, are you there?"
"Brother, come in quickly!"
Wang Zhongxiao quickly put down the flintlock gun in his hand, and then greeted his shameless big brother with a smile on his face - he was supposed to go to Shaanxi to be the prefect, but he decided not to go, so he stayed in Guangdong to "grow old". Kangxi had previously asked him to send the Western beauties captured in Hao'ao to Beijing, but he refused to go. Wang Fuchen had no choice but to ask Zhang Xiaobao to go instead of him.
"Second Master Dai, you are here too!" Wang Jizhen walked in in a hurry, almost bumping into Dai Zi.
"Brother, what's wrong with you?" Wang Zhongxiao looked at his brother's appearance, a little strange.
"Second brother, something big happened!" Wang Jizhen stamped her feet, "The emperor just sent Xiao Guizi to Zhaoqing!"
"Xiao Guizi?" Wang Zhongxiao frowned, "What is he here for?"
"He's here to make that boy Sun Jiqing king!"
"Sun Jiqing made him the king?" Wang Zhongxiao was stunned, "He made him the king of Nan?"
"Yes!" Wang Jizhen nodded.
"Is this a good thing?" Wang Zhongxiao asked, "Isn't he our, our biological brother?"
Wang Zhongxiao now knows that Sun Jiqing looks very much like himself! When he first met Sun Jiqing, he didn't notice this because he didn't look in the mirror often (there aren't many good mirrors these days), but later after he married Wu Xiaotuo and Yang Xiaohuan, there were mirrors in the house, so he I became more familiar with my appearance, and found that I was very similar to Kong Sizhen's son. Considering the relationship between Wang Fuchen and Kong Sizhen, I could certainly guess something.
"Then you're not in a hurry?" Wang Jizhen said, "Aren't you afraid that boy will recognize his ancestor and return to the clan and steal our seats?"
(End of chapter)
