The sky is getting darker and darker, and the sky has turned into a color of gray and black. Thick clouds are pressing over Dengzhou Mansion, covering the sun, moon and stars. The flying snowflakes are falling down like goose feathers. A slight pause.
This is a freezing winter day!
On the tower of Dadongmen in the outer city of Dengzhou, a thick layer of snow had already accumulated. However, there was no accumulation of snowflakes on the road leading in and out of the city gate. Instead, it was trampled like a muddy pond by the influx of refugees.
Such heavy snow, such cold weather, and such bad roads could not stop the influx of people from the three counties and one prefecture of Penglai, Fushan, Ninghai, Rongcheng, and even the "Qing Dynasty Dengzhou" under the Dengzhou Prefecture of the Ming Dynasty. The pace of the outer city of Dengzhou... Because the people here in Dengzhou all know that the demon is cruel and the king is benevolent and righteous!
Zhu Heji's "father" Zhu Tianwang was obviously a rare benevolent king in the world. The land tax in the three counties and one state of Dengzhou was set extremely low, much lower than the six southeastern provinces under Zhu Heji's rule. One mu A few kilograms of wheat are required to grow a field in a year, but there is almost none!
In addition, King Zhu Tian did not send corvees to his subordinates, nor did he ask for free money. It is equivalent to exempting the people of three counties and one state from corvee!
In addition to low taxes and exemptions from military service, local officials in the three counties and one state of Dengzhou did not dare to allocate additional taxes... Under the eyes of King Zhu Tian, who would dare to do this? Moreover, their official salary is not low, enough to maintain a decent life.
Of course, there are still a lot of big projects in Dengzhou, including building city walls, building houses, paving roads, and building ports. A large number of strong men were still needed to do the work, so King Zhu Tian instituted the "Servant Law" in Dengzhou, paying people to hire people to work, and the wages were quite high.
Therefore, every young man from the three counties and one prefecture of Dengzhou would go to the capital of Dengzhou to make money during the slack season. After making money, he could buy back many cheap and high-quality Songjiang cloth, Jingde porcelain, Nanjing iron... In short , since King Zhu Tian came, the people of Dengzhou have lived a good life in peace and contentment. Compared with the days when they were ruled by the two "sage kings" of the Qing Dynasty, Shunzhi and Kangxi, it was like heaven and earth!
Moreover, the people of the three counties and one state of Dengzhou now also know what the six counties of Dengzhou, which are still ruled by the Qing Dynasty, are like. Since Kangxi established the rural meritocracy system, the six counties of Dengzhou under the Qing Dynasty quickly became a paradise for local powerful people. .
The local tyrants in Dengzhou are more vicious than those elsewhere. They don't think about the long term at all and just kill the goose to get the eggs. They wish they could break the bones and suck out the marrow of the people below!
However, these powerful people in Dengzhou have one thing in common with the ordinary people of Dengzhou. They also yearn for the place "at the feet of the king" within the outer city of Dengzhou, and they also feel that the Qing Dynasty's plan must come to an end.
So after they scraped the money, except for a share given to the Qing court, the rest was basically "transferred" to Dengzhou City to store bank accounts or buy bonds. Moreover, this group of Dengzhou tycoons are still buying houses in Dengzhou City, and many of them have sent their families to Dengzhou... Some tycoons even live in Dengzhou City themselves, but let their lackeys exploit the people for them.
Therefore, when the news came that the Qing army was about to attack Dengzhou Prefecture of the Ming Dynasty, not only the people of the three counties and one state of Dengzhou under the Ming Dynasty ran to Dengzhou Prefecture, but also many people from the six counties of Dengzhou under the Qing Dynasty. Run to the capital of Dengzhou—perhaps in the minds of Dengzhou people, the tall outer city of Dengzhou, the powerful Heavenly Soldiers, and King Zhu Tian, a rare benevolent king in the world, can give them the greatest sense of security!
And everyone believes that the benevolent and righteous King Zhu Tian will not ignore the people!
Although it was not easy to walk to Dengzhou City for refuge in such a cold and snowy day, when these people from all over Dengzhou City saw the tall and majestic red city walls of Dengzhou City, they were all in high spirits. Carrying large and small bags of luggage, supporting the elderly and the young, they walked towards the city gate.
Inside the four wide open gates of the outer city of Dengzhou Prefecture, a long row of sheds and fences were erected to protect them from the wind and snow.
Inside the shed and fence, there is a special place to cook steaming and fragrant rice porridge... fish, shrimp and salt are also added, it is so delicious!
This is not someone setting up a stall to do business, but someone from the Dengzhou Prefectural Government making a drink for free for refugees entering the city.
Everyone who enters the city can drink a large bowl for free to warm themselves up first!
After drinking, there will be people who will register and issue household registers to those people who have not registered in the state. They will also distribute cotton-padded clothes, quilts, and rations to homeless refugees, and arrange temporary accommodation.
If some people catch cold on the road, the Dengzhou government office will arrange for them to go to the hospital for treatment.
In short, these people who braved the wind and snow to seek refuge with King Zhu Tian were all moved after entering the gate of Dengzhou outer city.
Many people cried loudly and shouted "Long live the mountain!"
A thousand New Eight Banner Mongolian soldiers disguised as refugees led by Cao Yin and Shuo Dai were also mixed in with the bustling crowd and were heading towards the Dadong Gate of Dengzhou City together.
He once helped Emperor Shunzhi catch an assassin, and because of this he became the assistant of Jia La Zhangjing in Baya La Camp. He was also one of the few senior generals in the Qing army who had defeated Li Dingguo. In this round of chaos during the "Yuan, Ming, Qing and Zhou Dynasties", he also followed Zhuo Butai and Yue Le to participate in many battles. Although he is also the master of "running the war in the north", he is still very experienced... and has accumulated many valuable experiences in winning battles!
Because he suffered successive defeats at the hands of Wu Sangui, Wu Yingqi, Zhu Heji, Zhuge Sanhe and others, he was a little timid looking at the extremely powerful Batulu Shuokai (Kangxi also gave him a Batulu).
He shuddered when he heard someone in the city shouting "Long Live the Mountain". He moved closer to Cao Yin, lowered his voice, and asked nervously: "Someone shouted Long Live... couldn't it be Zhu Heji who came to Dengzhou?"
Zhu Heji cannot be defeated!
"No," Cao Yin glanced at Batulu, who didn't look very brave, and said helplessly, "It should be King Zhu who comes to appease the refugees... He has been fond of hypocrisy in the past two years. His tricks have deceived many people."
"Prince Zhu Third?" Shuodai's face still looked unhappy, "Back then, he single-handedly blocked Shang Zhixiao's tens of thousands of elite soldiers, and captured Wu Sanwei, the top martial arts champion... It is said that he was the reincarnation of Second Master Guan. , His martial arts skills are unparalleled!"
Of course, "Sai Guan Gong" Zhu Tianwang can't beat him!
"This..." Cao Yin didn't know what to say to this Batulu, and thought to himself: "This Baturu doesn't want to run away, does he?"
However, Shuodai is Batulu after all, and he has not fallen to the point of "fleeing after hearing the wrong news". Even if he wants to escape, he has to "flee only when he sees a thief."
So he didn't leave immediately, but he still walked towards the east gate of Dengzhou. After walking for a while, when I was approaching the Dadong Gate, I suddenly heard a very familiar voice: "Walk faster, don't block the door..."
Shuodai was startled. Isn't this the voice of Li Sixing, the gatekeeper of the Forbidden City? Even the words he said were the same - every time I met him at the Meridian Gate, he used the same words!
Isn't this guy "missing"? Did you come to Dengzhou to see the gate like this? By the way, his father is Li Dingguo, this is his return!
Li Sixing, who was standing outside the Dadong Gate "directing traffic," also saw Shuodai and the others. However, he did not recognize Shuodai, but he was still attracted by Shuodai and a group of Mongolian men, and he came up to him with a smile: "Which mountain did you people come from? Why are you so strong? You are all here to join the army, right? You have come to the right place. Now the pay of the soldiers of the Great Tomorrow is very high! The smallest soldier can earn three silver coins per month. Salary, a silver dollar of salt and vegetable money..."
Hearing Li Sixing talk about military pay, Cao Yin knew that he could not wait any longer. If he continued talking, those miserable Mongolians would go back to join the Ming army, and they would even sneak attack!
So he quickly pulled out a flintlock pistol made in Foshan, and fired a "bang" shot at Li Sixing, and then roared like thunder: "The Qing heavenly soldiers are coming! Zhu Heji has been defeated in Liaodong, and the Qing heavenly soldiers have already At the foot of the city, whoever surrenders will avoid death!"
