In the end, Zhang Rui followed his promise and did not kill the bandits.
The two bosses and sixteen old bandits were all chopped off by Zhang Rui, with their right thumbs and left toes chopped off. At the same time, Zhang Rui had no intention of letting them go, but wanted to use them to disgust the Manchu government.
The ten newly recruited bandits were proven to have done nothing serious. Although their fingers and toes were not chopped off, Zhang Rui ordered them to work as coolies in the village for three years before they could leave the mountain.
For this, the ten new gangsters were very grateful to Zhang Rui.
Of course, when they learned that Zhang Rui wanted them to go to the toilet to collect saltpeter, they scolded Zhang Rui in their hearts.
Fortunately, the food every day is pretty good, and the mask given by Zhang Rui doesn't smell too bad. The most important thing is that Zhang Rui promised them that as long as they work hard, they will have a chance to reduce their sentence and get wages. Taking care of them with so many benefits has given them a lot of psychological balance, and they no longer feel like they are doing hard work.
In fact, Zhang Rui did not need to collect saltpeter. Liu Muxiu told him that Zhilian Mountain belongs to the junction of Wuzhou and Hezhou in Guangxi, and at the same time it is not far from Hunan and Guangdong. There is abundant sulfur and saltpeter around here. If Zhang Rui wants gunpowder, just buy it directly. If you know how to fry gunpowder, you can also buy the materials and make them yourself. There are plenty of materials.
Liu Muchiu's words made Zhang Rui very happy. He never thought about the benefits of Guangxi. The sky is high and the emperor is far away, but the control is so lax. So Zhang asked Liu Musiu to purchase large quantities of saltpeter, sulfur and other minerals. As much as you need, get more gunpowder before the Manchus react.
Zhang Rui thought it would be a waste of food to keep these ten new bandits, but if he just released them and shot them, they would continue to cause trouble to his neighbors. So let them work hard to collect nitrate! How much can you collect?
…
Ten days have passed since we laid down Zhilian Mountain, and the little half of the month has been busy.
The Green Camp soldiers who could sell weapons nearby sold all the weapons they could to Zhang Rui. Zhang Rui couldn't buy the armor he wanted to buy because none of the green soldiers had it. The blacksmiths in the blacksmith shop are also working hard to build weapons, and everything is being done as secretly as possible.
Tens of thousands of kilograms of sulfur and saltpeter were purchased in the name of making firecrackers, and were transported to Zhilian Mountain one after another.
Li Si's family and Wu Lei's family had already gone up Zhilian Mountain, and Li Niushi followed suit. During this period, Zhang Rui also took turns letting the bandit suppression team members go home to rest for three days.
Although Zhang Rui asked them to keep it secret, with the villagers' attention to Zhang Rui, the news that Zhilianshan was taken down by Zhang Rui probably could no longer be sealed.
Naturally, Zhang Rui no longer dared to dream of ambushing their boss Zhou Tongtie. As long as he was not a pig, he would not run in headfirst.
Since we can't ambush, let's fight openly and openly! So Zhang Rui decided to recruit people again. But before that, Zhang Rui decided to take the bandits to the Manchu government office to disgust them and see if they could get another official position.
…
It was early morning, the fog in the mountains had not dissipated, and the sun had just revealed half of its face.
Zhang Rui led 20 sword and shield soldiers to suppress the 18 bandits who were lined up with ropes and went to Wuzhou Mansion. Among them were the seven women rescued from the dungeon.
There are green mountains and green waters along the way. Even if there are several villages, they are only about a dozen families.
There are not many fields around the village, and there are fewer cultivated fields.
After the great turmoil in the late Ming Dynasty and the massacre in the early Qing Dynasty. After three generations of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong, the population has returned to the level of the late Ming Dynasty and early Chongzhen Dynasty.
At present, in the 20th year of Qianlong's reign, there are still large and small battles, and there are also frequent massacres of poor people because they cannot pay taxes and resist the government.
Were taxes heavy in the Qing Dynasty? Very light according to some people. However, in the late Ming Dynasty, the population and cultivated land were the same as now, and the country's tax revenue was 4 million taels of silver. In the 20th year of Qianlong's reign, the annual tax revenue was more than 40 million taels of silver.
Divide into acres. Bannermen were exempted from taxes and each had 8 taels of silver. Other ethnic groups collected taxes, and sometimes in order to avoid trouble, Qianlong also announced that Miao border taxes would be permanently exempted. So who is at the forefront of taxation?
If it is as good as some people say that no one should be taxed if he or she works hard, then where can the hole of 80 million taels of silver be paid back to Jinchuan and Da Jinchuan by Qianlong and 30 million taels of silver from Zheng Zhunping be filled? And every year its treasury money only increases but never decreases.
The Qing court's grain tax was paid every year. Anyone who disobeyed orders and resisted grain would be severely punished. One or two ding of silver is levied on each land. This is still a land tax. If it is the "grain" in Hunan, one shi of rice is levied, and three shi of rice are required including other miscellaneous taxes.
So eventually Qianlong will find out that he has been exempting millions and tens of millions of taels of tax.
Anyway, it's inevitable that you can't take it in. Those poor people have sold their sons, daughters, and wives, but they still can't pay it. If you want a cheap life, you can take it at any time. In this case, it is better to avoid having a good reputation.
More than 80% of the poor people in the country have to support his major battles that are so successful, they have to support his huge expenses in going to the south of the Yangtze River, they have to support his large-scale construction projects such as the construction of the Old Summer Palace, and most importantly, they have to support a group of "iron crops" "Banner people.
If the entire Qing Dynasty was really so good, would anyone keep resisting? Have you been shouting against the Qing Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty? Resistance is death, writing a poem to complain is also death. If you can't explode in silence, then you will die in silence.
This is why opium smoking has gradually become popular since Qianlong. Maybe they can get a moment of spiritual satisfaction in their hearts and die for it!
"This year is so dry and the harvest is so low. As soon as the summer harvest is over, the summer tax will come. I don't know how many people will have to sell their sons, daughters and wives to survive this year. But I can save a few "Wu Lei" Woolen cloth?"
Looking at the fields passing by and the villagers busy farming, Zhang Rui couldn't help but sigh.
There were dozens of people, some of whom were tied up with ropes. Naturally, it attracted the attention of the villagers, but he looked at the steel knives and shields in their hands. They only dared to watch from a distance, not daring to crowd around, and some were even timid and ran away directly.
Water and food were prepared along the way, and Zhang Rui never thought of entering other people's villages and causing harassment.
…
After walking and stopping along the way for three hours, Zhang Rui and others finally arrived at Wuzhou Fuyamen.
Wuzhou Mansion: Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty established the first Governor-General's Mansion in Chinese history in Wuzhou, which governed Guangdong and Guangxi. During the Ming Dynasty, Wuzhou became the political, economic, cultural and military center of Guangdong and Guangxi. In the early years of the Qing Dynasty, Wuzhou belonged to Wuzhou Prefecture, Guiping Wuyu Road, Guangxi Chengxuan Government Envoy, and Wuzhou Prefecture, Guangxi Province. It was the prefecture and county government. Wuzhou governed Cangwu, Tengxian, Cenxi, Rongxian, Huaiji, Beiliu, and Bobai. , Xingye, Luchuan nine counties, Yulin one state. In the third year of Yongzheng reign of the Qing Dynasty, Wuzhou was reorganized into five counties: Cangwu, Tengxian, Cenxi, Rongxian and Huaiji.
When Zhang Rui and others entered the city, they were almost frightened to death by the soldiers guarding the city gate. He quickly ran away, thinking that the bandits were going to attack the county town, but later he discovered that they had tied up a group of people. He did not harm the people who were traveling with him, so he dared to come back and continue to defend the city. However, out of fear of Zhang Rui and others, they did not dare to collect the entry money from Zhang Rui and others.
When Zhang Rui arrived at the government office, he was followed by a group of people watching the excitement. One by one, they shook their money braids, as if they were waiting to see something worthy of bragging.
"Boom, boom, boom"
The big drum at the entrance of the government office was beaten vigorously by Zhang Rui.
Originally, the big drum in front of the government office was not allowed to be beaten casually. If the government officials at the door did not stop it, they would be scolded. If not, I would have to strip off my pants along with the drummer and get slapped.
However, the two officers at the door were just government servants holding two sticks. Looking at this group of strongmen, how could they dare to stop them. Especially when I saw the cold steel knives in their hands flashing in the sun, I couldn't help but tremble in my feet. If you offend them and give yourself a knife, that would be an injustice.
So, they murmured and hurriedly went back to the yamen alone to find the master in charge.
