Xiang Nan is organizing everyone to resume farming and work, trying his best to bring the order of Luoyang City onto the right track.
As a result, many refugees were naturally attracted to join, gradually restoring some vitality to Luoyang City.
However, when other rebels saw this piece of fat in Luoyang City, they were not willing to let Xiang Nan take it all by themselves, so they came to harass it several times.
Either plundering people, robbing property, or destroying farmland... For them, harming others is self-interest.
When Xiang Nan saw this, he naturally refused and immediately organized soldiers to protect him.
In fact, there are still many young people in Luoyang City.
Liu Jin's self-proclaimed army of 100,000 men included many civilians, all young and middle-aged. Of the 200,000 residents in the city, 30% are young and strong.
What's more, more than 3,000 people in Liu Jin's army were captured and are now being imprisoned, so a team can be drawn from them.
It can be said that Xiang Nan just doesn't want to rebel. Otherwise, he can pull out a huge army of 100,000 people at any time. And with his reputation, it’s not surprising that he exceeded one million.
So seeing that these rebels dared to tease him, he immediately launched a counterattack.
The rebel bandits entrenched in Yanshi, Yiyang, Yichuan, and Xin'an were wiped out one by one.
The method he used was also simple.
He and Junbao first climbed the wall and opened the door. Once the city gate was opened, these rebels had no chance of defending, so they naturally surrendered.
After defeating these rebels, Xiang Nan did not continue to expand, but chose to protect the territory and the people and resume farming.
However, the surrounding rebels also saw Xiang Nan's power, and even if they robbed again, they did not dare to go near Luoyang to cause trouble. Therefore, the area within fifty miles of Luoyang has become a rare pure land in troubled times.
Although we are still facing a food shortage, the sage has said that we should worry not about scarcity but about inequality, not about poverty but about insecurity. Although life is sad, there is no war, so everyone is still very content.
…
The days passed.
The vitality of Luoyang City is gradually recovering, especially after autumn planting and a good harvest in winter.
For some reason, the land that had been watered by blood seemed to be particularly fertile.
After the harvest, every household received grain and vegetables, and hunger was no longer a big problem. As for winter heating, there is coal produced in Mengjin and Xin'an. These two places have produced coal since ancient times.
Xiang Nan also passed on the methods of making stoves and briquettes, so that the people would not suffer from cold and exhaustion. The people were naturally grateful, and every household set up a longevity tablet for Xiang Nan.
In comparison, the life of rebels is much more difficult.
They only know how to destroy, not build. After taking the city, you know how to open warehouses to store grain and recruit soldiers and horses. However, they did not immediately restore order and organize the people to resume farming, work and business.
This made the social order in chaos. Farmers could not farm, workers could not work, and merchants could not do business.
Therefore, as time went by, they ran out of food and money, and they had no food, no water, no money, and they inevitably fell into recession.
In addition, these rebels rebelled and became masters. After enjoying the pleasures of power, popularity and money, they quickly became corrupted.
From a heroic man who used to eliminate violence and act chivalrously, he became a tyrant like Liu Jin who was cruel, cruel and exacting, and lost the support of the people.
Therefore, their strength is declining. Although it will not collapse in one blow, the day of destruction is not far away.
…
As winter turned to spring, Xiang Nan continued to organize the people to resume farming, work and commerce, trying to restore order in Luoyang City.
The people also supported him more and more, and he had become the de facto Lord of Luoyang.
Not only did the rebels nearby admit this, but even the imperial court secretly sent people to hope that Xiang Nan could surrender to the imperial court.
Xiang Nan naturally agreed. After all, he had no intention of rebelling.
However, Xiang Nan flatly refused the imperial court's request for him to submit openly and lead an army to put down the rebellion.
Isn't this treating him like Song Jiang?
Now in the Heluo area, the anti-thief forces are shrinking. However, a general estimate is that there are 200,000 to 300,000 troops. Coupled with the threatened refugees, there may not be millions of them. Attacking them will definitely cause huge losses.
And even if you don't lose anything by beating them, you won't gain anything. On the contrary, the more capable he appears, the more likely he will be feared by the court in the future.
After Song Jiang conquered Daliao, Fang La, Tian Hu, and Wang Qing, he was killed by the imperial court with poison and wine. Therefore, he would have to be crazy to accept such a will.
Xiang Nan humbly said to the angel sent by the court, "Pindao is an outsider. He went down the mountain just because he couldn't bear the suffering of the people. Now the situation in Luoyang has been determined. As long as the emperor sends someone to take over, Pindao will return to the mountains." , so there is no need for a reward from the court.
As for the crusade against other rebels, it is said that God has the virtue of good life. Such beatings and killings are really not in line with poverty, so please forgive me. "
…
Seeing this, the court couldn't do anything to him.
However, a decree was still issued, conferring Xiang Nan the title of "Fengtian Zhongyi Zhenren" with a rank of 1,800 shi and 500 hectares of land, which was equivalent to the reward of a marquis.
However, despite these rewards, they are nothing more than the moon in the mirror and the flowers in the water. Because whether it is eighteen hundred shi of grain or five hundred hectares of farmland, it is all lip service but no real reward. Xiang Nan said he would be rewarded, but he didn't see any of it.
All he can get is the false name of the so-called "Fengtian Zhongyi Zhenren", which is meaningless.
However, the imperial court's reward also recognized Xiang Nan's identity. Before the imperial court sent people to take over Luoyang City, he was the officially designated Lord of Luoyang.
Of course, if the imperial army cannot defeat it and only sends a few officials to take over, Xiang Nan will definitely not hand over Luoyang City.
Anyway, the war is now in chaos, and there are bandits, refugees, and rebels everywhere. Without a large army to protect them, it is not surprising that the imperial envoys died on the way.
Therefore, Xiang Nan managed Luoyang City while watching the imperial court suppress the rebellion.
…
However, in the Heluo area, although the imperial army gradually advanced and gradually tightened the encirclement, the rebel forces here gradually shrank.
However, the Liu Liu Liu Qi uprising soon broke out in Gyeonggi Province.
Liu Liu and Liu Qi were originally horse farmers. It turns out that in order to ensure the supply of military horses at the border, the Ming Dynasty forced people in Yanzhao, Qilu and other places to raise horses.
And raising horses is not an easy task. Horses don't get enough grass at night, which not only consumes fodder but also delays farming time. Once a military horse dies or fails to give birth on time, the horse breeder will have to compensate for the loss.
Therefore, over time, the people of both provinces have suffered greatly. In order to deal with Ma Zheng, poor families were even forced to sell their sons and daughters and their fields, and conflicts increased day by day.
After the anti-eunuch rebels rose up in the Heluo area, horse farmers in the Gyeonggi area also responded positively and raised the banner of rebellion. Liu Liu and Liu Qi were originally thieves and were good at riding and shooting, so they quickly gathered their troops.
They had many cavalry and were good at riding and shooting, and they soon threatened the capital. The imperial court was so frightened that they immediately recalled the capital camp to defend themselves. This also gave the Heluo rebels a chance to breathe.
