Chen Wei was very satisfied with the huge profit that Zhao Mengqi threw out.
It's not that Chen Wei himself is greedy for money, but that he must fight for the interests of the gentry he represents.
The Chen family is a local aristocratic family. Chen Wei's great-grandfather and grandfather both gave gifts to the Taifu, and his father gave them to the Grandmaster. Although they were not actually taught during his lifetime, they can be said to be "four generations and three masters".
Therefore, the Chen family has many disciples and former officials, and its influence among the Fujian gentry is very important. Especially the Fuzhou gentry, most of them look up to the Chen family.
Since he has become the "boss", protecting his younger brother has become the natural responsibility of the Chen family, not to mention that Chen Wei's nature is to protect his shortcomings.
Zhao Mengqi didn't have any ill feelings towards Chen Wei because of this. After all, economics is the fundamental basis of politics, and only with common interests can a solid alliance or group be formed.
If you want others to listen to your orders and serve you with just empty words and righteous ideals, you are either a madman or a liar.
"The bachelor must have a plan to defeat the thieves." Zhao Mengqi looked at Chen Wei with a smile.
Once the price is agreed upon, it’s natural to start work.
Chen Wei took out the silk map from his sleeve pocket, opened it and spread it on the table, "I have some humble opinions for your Highness's reference."
Zhao Mengqi looked at the map. It was a map of Fujian as a whole, and also included parts of the neighboring Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Guangdong. It was drawn in quite detail, with clearly defined mountains, rivers, cities and roads.
It was also marked with various line symbols, which even Zhao Mengqi couldn't understand. It must be Chen Wei's unique technique.
Chen Wei said slowly, "Although this bandit rebellion was deliberately triggered, most people in central Fujian already have a difficult life. Although there have been no major disturbances in recent years, small groups of bandits are scattered everywhere."
"Actually, these bandits don't really make a living by robbing. Most of them find nooks and crannies in the mountains to cultivate and cultivate in order to avoid taxes. There are also some people who live in Shanyao to make a living."
"As far as I know, the source of this chaos is Ninghua County, because its magistrate Zou Jin strictly urged farmers to pay this year's summer taxes and previous years' arrears, and used extremely cruel methods, resulting in more than 20 people being shackles. He died in front of the Yamen, causing public outrage."
In fact, the tax rate set by the imperial court is not heavy. Even if some miscellaneous names are added, ordinary people with land can barely bear it.
The terrible thing is that many people's fields have been annexed, but they still have to bear the original taxes. However, they have no ability to pay, so they can only owe it on the tax roll.
The imperial court was well aware of the truth. Apart from reluctantly accepting the situation and having no solution, most local officials would not seriously urge payment. Anyway, they could explain it to the imperial court if they had outstanding debts.
For this kind of accumulated debt, the court does not expect to really collect it. It usually finds an excuse to waive it after a period of time as a show of grace.
The extremely poor people don't pay much attention to these debts hanging on their heads, and they can live day by day in a haze.
But the magistrate of Ninghua's head was suddenly caught in the door. He insisted on taking these owed debts seriously, and even forced people to die. Doesn't this mean that people have no way to survive?
"There are still people spreading rumors among the people, saying that the Jingjie that Your Highness wants to implement is actually to increase taxes, and to include the land cultivated by the people in the mountains and all Yao villages in the tax book. And Ruijin is indeed We sent government officials and tax collectors to various Yao villages to demand tribute, which seemed to confirm these rumors."
"Panjia, the leader of Shanyao's large liao, has his own village in Ninghua County. I don't know if he was instigated by other people. Anyway, he raised the flag of rebellion and united with the Han people who were forced into a desperate situation and more than a dozen bandit villages. Ninghua County was captured in one fell swoop."
"Shan Yao?" Zhao Mengqi was a little confused. .z.br>
Then Chen Wei gave a brief explanation.
Shanyao are non-Han mountain people who live in the Wuyi Mountains that stretch for nearly a thousand miles. They make a living by hunting and farming.
Their agricultural level is relatively backward, they are still in the slash-and-burn stage, and they do not know how to maintain the fertility of the fields. Therefore, they usually have to move to another place after cultivating one area for a few years.
This makes them only choose to live in small groups, scattered in the vast mountains, and are usually hundreds of miles away.
Everyone in the area worships the leader of the Lao.
The Song Dynasty generally adopted a restrictive policy towards ethnic minorities, neither directly managing nor collecting taxes. As the saying goes, "the Yao people do not serve, and the She fields do not tax."
The Shanyao and the Han people get along quite harmoniously, and they often exchange wild products for salt and iron cloth. If the production level is ignored, the Shanyao people who do not have to pay taxes have a slightly easier life than many Han people.
As a production tool, basically every Shan Yao wears a knife with them. In addition to hunting frequently, it still has considerable combat effectiveness.
In addition, Shanyao also has a spirit of resistance. They are present in every resistance struggle in the Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi regions, and they are even the main force.
Coupled with the fact that all Shanyao are connected with each other, it became one of the main reasons why this chaos spread rapidly.
After learning this, Zhao Mengqi thought of the anti-Yuan She army that fought in three directions in history and persisted for more than ten years, and felt a little tricky.
"This Shanyao is a bit difficult to deal with as he climbs mountains and ridges as if he were walking on flat ground."
Chen Wei nodded and shook his head, "Although the chaos was sparked by Shan Yao, Shan Yao is not the core. Moreover, Shan Yao is relatively simple in nature and does not have too many ambitions or extravagant desires. With appropriate care, they will settle down." .”
After hearing this, Zhao Mengqi relaxed a little. After all, Chen Wei had rich experience and results in this area.
Chen Wei continued, "The root cause of the chaos is that the landless people accumulated too much dissatisfaction, and then they were systematically fanned and deliberately indulged, so they formed a prairie fire."
"It is not difficult to simply extinguish the bandit force. All it takes is five thousand elite soldiers to crush them one by one. After all, most of the bandits are common people who are forced to follow them and are unable to fight against the official army."
"However, there are many mountains in central Fujian, so it is difficult to carry out a complete encirclement and suppression. The backbone of bandits can easily escape into the mountains and forests, avoid the pursuit of the army, hide and recuperate with the support of some powerful people, and wait for the officers and soldiers to leave, then come out to cause trouble again. A poisonous place."
"Therefore, my suggestion is to adopt a policy of both suppression and appeasement. First, control key areas to contain their power and prevent them from spreading to the two Zhejiang provinces. Then gradually advance forward, forcing them to gather sand into piles, and finally catch them all in one fell swoop!"
Zhao Mengqi's eyes lit up when he heard this, "What does the bachelor mean, hunting?"
His understanding surprised Chen Wei, and he couldn't help but said with appreciation, "That's right. The mountains in Fujian are not conducive to raids, but it is also because of the mountains that the direction in which a large-scale bandit army can move is limited."
"The veteran's preliminary idea is that of the 10,000 troops and horses that His Highness arrived in advance, 2,000 will be left in Fuzhou for emergencies, 8,000 will go up the Min River, and 3,000 will be separated on the way to deal with the Gutian bandit army, and 5,000 will be sent to Fuzhou for emergencies. Qian continued to advance to Nanjianzhou, leaving two thousand to control the local situation. Three thousand went north to Jianning Mansion to clean up and drive away the rebels. After the situation in Gutian was calm, these three thousand troops reinforced Nanjianzhou and took control of Shunchang and Shaxian. .”
"At the same time, please send an order to the troops on standby in Lin'an, Your Highness, to send 10,000 troops to Raozhou, and then proceed to the Jiangxi Road Jianchang Army to set up defenses on the Ganzhou front line to block the bandits' path to the west."
"Then the remaining troops from Lin'an rushed directly to Quanzhou by sea, clearing out the rebel forces in Quanzhou and Zhangzhou. At this time, the Zhaowu Army from the north of Fujian began to press all the way, and the south of Fujian began to press into Tingzhou. If nothing happens, they can be defeated within the year. Put an end to the chaos!"
This is only a rough outline, and the specific deployment is naturally much more complicated and detailed.
There is no doubt about Chen Wei's general ability. Zhao Mengqi nodded frequently after hearing this, "The bachelor's strategy is very good. I would like to ask the bachelor to serve as the chief of staff of Jiedu Mansion and be responsible for the overall commander of this war. Even if it is I also obey the maester's command."
The word "staff officer" has been around for a long time, so the word "chief of general staff" is not difficult to understand.
Chen Wei couldn't help but be stunned. Although the words of commanding King Yan could be regarded as a joke, the meaning of completely entrusting the power was very serious and obvious.
"Your Highness, do you trust me so much?"
Zhao Mengqi smiled candidly, "If we can't trust veterans like you, what hope does the Song Dynasty have?"
In fact, this is not just trusting Chen Wei, but also trusting the army he created.
"This time to quell the chaos, we don't pursue timeliness. What's more important is to completely resolve the source of the chaos! Also, if possible,
Just try to let my Dongwei experience more actual combat. "
"I will try my best to live up to His Highness's great trust!"
As the saying goes, a scholar dies for his confidant. Although Chen Wei has already seen through the world at this age, he is still a little moved in his heart.
Later, Old Man Chen was unequivocal and did not even return home. He immediately adjusted and enriched the command center based on the command structure that Zhao Mengqi had already established.
Under his instructions, the Chen family also ran around to mobilize the Fuzhou gentry.
After these gentry learned about the profit promise made by King Yan, they became enthusiastic. They not only provided a large amount of money, food and manpower, but also inquired about the enemy's situation through their own channels, and then gathered them in the southeast Jiedufu.
At this time, Chen Wei discovered the uniqueness of King Yan's shogunate, or the staff group.
In addition to the young and middle-aged generals with rich practical experience, there are actually more than 30 Jinshi, including the number one scholar in new subjects, and the civil servants are also capable veterans, who are simply unreasonably extravagant.
They perform their respective duties and work efficiently and accurately. The situation of the entire army has been compiled in detail. Any details needed can be provided in a short time.
They can also quickly complete the details of any order issued, refine the steps, send it to the corresponding unit for implementation, and regularly monitor and provide feedback on progress.
They will conduct cross-comparisons and rigorous analysis of the various intelligence gathered, and then perform relevant calculations and present them on a map or sand table.
In just three days, a large sandbox made up of four five-foot-square sandboxes showed the general appearance of Fujian Road in front of Chen Wei, and the various small flags and intuitive representative objects on it were even more impressive. It feels like you have everything in Fujian under your control.
Chen Wei looked at it with interest for a long time, then picked up a slender pole and clicked on a black puppet outside the city of Nanjian Prefecture, "What does this little figure mean?"
Lu Xiufu, a member of the war team, glanced at the numbers marked on the doll, thought for a moment, and then opened his mouth to report.
"The enemy's 307th Division, the bandit leader Zheng Huasi, is from Shaxian County. He established a stronghold in Luocao Mountain in Laibao Mountain about seven years ago. He has about 300 veteran bandits under his command. A few months ago, he merged with a group of private salt traders of more than 80 people. First, they plundered the Longquan Silver Market and coerced more than 400 miners into their gang. Then they looted all the way from Shaxian County to Nanjianzhou. They once approached the city, but were shot back by the defenders. Then they wandered around the fields outside the city, and their troops swelled to about 23,000. Thousands of people, possibly equipped with weapons...The information will be updated on August 20th."
Lu Xiufu finished memorizing it quickly, and then checked his notes again.
Chen Wei clicked on a few more random places, and Lu Xiufu was able to quickly write out the corresponding information, and all of them were memorized. If not for the sake of caution, he could have thrown away his notepad.
"A talented person has an unlimited future!" Chen Wei couldn't help but praise loudly.
Zhao Mengqi on the side smiled and said, "They definitely deserve the praise of the bachelor. Those who can win the title of Chan Palace are the best among people. After training in the military academy, although they may not be able to lead troops in war, they have a certain understanding of military affairs. I can still do the job on paper."
Chen Wei laughed happily, "Hahaha, I have been involved in the military for fifty years. This is the first time I feel that strategizing can be so easy and comfortable. I don't need to worry about trivial matters at all. I can only concentrate on thinking about strategies and tactics..."
"p. Thanks to "Midway Island" for the update reminder. I also saw the "a little sweet" reminder suggestion. I will try my best and may not necessarily update more chapters, but I will try to write more in each chapter. Thank you. Support from all book lovers. "
