After the celebration banquet, Deputy Dong Qianhu took the head of Hou Wanjin, the bandit leader, and several boxes of seized gold and silver jewelry to the General Military Mansion in Yulin Town to offer his services.
Human heads are used to offer merit, while gold, silver and jewelry are used to honor superior officials and smooth relationships!
There is no way, the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty is now three points darker than the ashes at the bottom of a pot. If there is no gold, silver and jewelry to smooth the relationship, even if you have made unparalleled achievements, you will not get any reward.
Qin Feng stayed and was specifically responsible for the gold placer mine!
…
It's cloudless and the sun is scorching hot!
Hundreds of military households gathered along the Qinglong River, divided into groups and busy:
The first group of people used shovels, baskets and other tools to dig out the sediment on the river bed in places where the water flow was slow and the water level was shallow.
The second group of people placed the excavated sand in a stepped elm wood trough and continuously washed it with river water to wash away the impurities and leave the gold sand.
The third group of people put the gold sand into the crucible, calcined, melted, refined... and poured it into gold ingots. According to the weight, they were divided into three types: one tael, two taels, and five taels.
Then he packed the gold ingots into boxes and carried them into a newly built cabin!
The fourth group of people are all strong men, armed with swords, guns and sticks. They are responsible for protecting the safety of the cabin. They do not leave the cabin for twelve hours a day and strictly prohibit any unrelated people from approaching. Even a fly flying over has to spread its legs. Look at the male and female.
"Folks, if you work harder, our good days are finally here!"
"Roar!"
Qianhusuo in the north of Zhenbei has been poor for hundreds of years. Now God has opened his eyes and granted a gold placer mine. The military households are not only very excited, but also need no supervision at all. They work hard one by one, really using up all their energy.
For such hard work, the reward will be generous!
All military households who came to gold mining were paid four taels of silver every month, which was much better than farming, and the food was excellent.
There are several large shacks built on the river bank, and there are more than 20 women with good cooking skills in them, who are responsible for cooking: pot helmets, flatbreads, fried noodles, stews, pig head meat, mutton soup... There are rich varieties and fragrant smells. It’s tangy and filling!
For ordinary military households, it is difficult to eat such good food even during the holidays!
Qin Feng was sitting not far away, gnawing on a sheep stick bone in one hand and flipping through the account books with the other hand, calculating the profits.
The military households worked hard, and now they can refine fifteen taels of gold a day, which is 450 taels of gold in a month. After deducting various expenses, there are still 350 taels of gold, which is discounted to 3,500 taels of silver, which is used to Build cities, pave roads, build houses, build schools... improve the lives of military households.
If this continues, within a few years, Qianhusuo in the north of the town will become a prosperous place. By then, everyone will have enough to eat, young men can marry wives, and children can study!
Thinking of this, Qin Feng closed the account book with satisfaction, took over a jar of wedding wine and drank it happily.
That's right, it's the wedding wine, the wedding wine of the third master-Han Shanjun and Ye Waner!
After Zheng Qianhu's death, none of the seventeen concubines were sad and immediately went their separate ways. Qin Feng took the opportunity to find Ye Wan'er and sent her to Han Shanjun as promised.
Just three days ago, the star-crossed couple, who had been in love for many years, officially held their wedding ceremony on an oasis and became husband and wife.
Qin Feng ran over to congratulate them, drank their wedding wine, and brought back several jars. While drinking the wedding wine, Qin and Han had a long, heart-to-heart talk, during which the latter revealed what he wanted to do. The idea of reforming one's evil ways.
This is not surprising!
Unlike evil people like Hou Wanjin, Han Shanjun was originally a son of a good family. His parents were killed, his fiancée was robbed, and he had nowhere to redress his grievances, so he became a bandit out of anger!
But everyone knows that being a bandit is not a long-term solution. In the future, he will either be killed by officers and soldiers, beheaded in public, or die under the sword of other bandits, and it will be difficult to have a happy ending.
To take a step back, even if you are lucky enough to survive, will your descendants continue to be bandits?
As a result, Han Shanjun, who had avenged his great revenge and reunited with his lover, had the idea of correcting his evil ways and returning to the right path.
Qin Feng naturally supported this idea with both hands. Unfortunately, this matter was not easy to handle and needed to be planned slowly.
After gnawing a sheep stick bone, when he was about to grab another one, Mouse appeared on a yellow gelding: "Brother Feng, Deputy Dong Qianhu is back, please go to Zhenbeicheng!"
"Oh, you're back so soon?"
"Yes, he came back wearing the new official uniform of the fifth grade. He looks old and stylish. He must have received the reward for wiping out the bandits. Congratulations to Brother Feng, you are about to be promoted too!"
"Haha, let's go back!"
Qin Feng jumped up, rode his green-maned horse, and returned to Qisha Castle with Moazi first, and then to Zhenbeicheng.
…
The next day, the two came to the Yamen of Qianhu Office in the north of the town, and saw the returning deputy Dong Qianhu... No, it was Dong Qianhu. Because of his meritorious service in suppressing bandits, he was promoted to one level and was officially admitted to Yulin Youwei-Zhen. Beiqianhusuo—the position of Qianhu is hereditary for descendants!
The rest of the meritorious people also received rewards. Even Mouse was promoted from an ordinary military household to a small flag officer, starting from the seventh rank.
But when it was Qin Feng's turn, Dong Qianhu looked guilty. He wanted to say something, but he didn't know how to say it. He just pushed a box over and opened it. There were five hundred taels of silver in it, and they were all of a dull color. Black, extremely poor quality miscellaneous silver, and the market price of this miscellaneous silver is at least 30% lower than snowflake silver!
In other words, five hundred taels of silver can only be used as three hundred and fifty taels, or even less.
There is also a set of official sixth-grade official attire for a hundred households, and an official document: Qin Feng is allowed to officially inherit the position of a hundred households in the Seven Kills Fort!
The signature is: Yulin Town - General Military Mansion, and it is also stamped with the General's seal!
Sand bandits are extremely harmful, so a few years ago, the Governor-General's Office on the three sides issued a decree: Any officers and soldiers in the border army who can capture alive or kill the bandit leader Hou Wanjin will be promoted to two ranks and rewarded with five thousand taels of silver!
Now, Qin Feng planned hard and risked huge risks to take the head of the bandit leader Hou Wanjin. What is the reward?
The position of Hundred Households in Seven Kills Fort is hereditary to the Qin family, but now the next appointment document is equivalent to not being promoted to the first level!
The reward was only one-tenth of the silver, which was extremely low-value miscellaneous silver. The reward was so unfair, no wonder Dong Qianhu was so ashamed.
"Brother Qin, I'm really sorry. Regarding your killing of the bandit leader, I clearly reported it truthfully. I never wanted to end up like this. It's really... ugh!"
"Sir Qianhu, there is no need to be like this, this matter has nothing to do with you!"
Qin Feng was so smart that he immediately understood that his achievements must have been taken away from others. The officialdom of the Ming Dynasty was extremely corrupt, and this kind of thing was not uncommon at all!
As for who took the credit, there is no need to ask. It will become clear in a few days.
Whoever is the beneficiary of this matter is the mastermind behind it!
…
Sure enough, within a few days, news came: Jiang Rang, the commander-in-chief of Yulin Town, personally took command and dispatched troops to wipe out a large number of sand bandits. His son, General Qian-Jiang Shenxu, took the lead and personally killed the most vicious bandit leader-Hou Wanjin. , a big disaster was eliminated for Yulin Town.
After the incident was reported, Wu Zhiwang, the governor of the three sides, was overjoyed. He praised the commander-in-chief, Jiang Rang, and promoted his son, Jiang Shenxu, to two levels in a row, named him a guerrilla general, and rewarded him with five thousand taels of silver.
When the news spread to Zhenbeicheng, many people were angry about it. This was obviously the work of Qin Feng, so why did it become the work of the Jiang family and his son?
Is there any justice in this world?
Regarding this matter, Qin Feng was extremely calm. He did not make a fuss or scold him, but carefully collected information about the Jiang family and his son...
The Jiang family is a famous family in the northwest. Their descendants have been officials for generations. They are deeply rooted and powerful. They have always been hereditary as commanders of the Qingyang Guards. Nowadays, the Jiang family is even more powerful. They have three important figures, and they are brothers:
The boss, Jiang Rang, is currently the chief military officer of Yulin Town. He is cunning and cunning, and has tricked countless people. He is nicknamed: Nine-tailed Fox!
The second eldest brother, Jiang Quan, is currently the chief military officer of Shanxi-Datong Town. He is as cunning as his brother, good at maneuvering according to the prevailing circumstances and playing both sides. He is nicknamed: Wallflower!
The third youngest - Jiang Xuan, is currently the deputy chief military officer of Yanghe Town, Shanxi. He is cruel, cruel, greedy for money and lustful, and is nicknamed: King Jiang of Hell!
One branch and three generals were unique among the generals of the Ming Dynasty!
In addition, people often say that Yulin Town has three evils: the first is the desert, the second is the bandits, and the third is the Jiang family.
In Yulin Town, the Jiang family was unscrupulous, corrupt, robbed men, dominated women, took human lives lightly, and did countless bad things... Compared with the Jiang family, the former Zheng Qianhu was considered a good person.
After figuring it out, Qin Feng continued to remain silent and did what he should do, as if nothing happened.
Cowarded?
No!
Qin Feng understood that now that he was alone and weak, he could not go head-to-head with the Jiang family and his son. There would be no good results in that case.
But, sooner or later, I will become famous. When the time comes, whoever eats mine will spit it out for me, and whoever takes mine will bring it back to me!
The Jiang family and his son are waiting!
…
In the days that followed, the Qianhusuo area in the north of the town was peaceful, but the northwest region was anything but peaceful. Under the double oppression of natural and man-made disasters, the unbearable people finally rebelled.
On November 20, the first year of Chongzhen, Wang Jiayin and Wang Ziyong from Fugu, Shaanxi Province led thousands of hungry people into Fugu City, killed the county magistrate, opened warehouses to release grain, and took the lead in raising the banner of rebellion!
On December 18, Wang Daliang, a Hannan native, led the hungry people to rebel and besiege the city.
On the seventh day of the first lunar month in the second year of Chongzhen, the swordsman Monk Wang led the hungry people to rebel and captured Yanchang County.
On the twenty-eighth day of the first lunar month, Gao Yingxiang, a Mizhi native, led the hungry people to rebel and conquer Ansai County. Then they swept through Ganquan, Luochuan, Baishui all the way south... and rushed to Guanzhong.
…
Suddenly, the urgent report of the hungry people's rebellion flew into Guyuan City and the Trilateral Governor's Mansion like snow flakes.
The Governor of the Three Sides - Wu Zhiwang, courtesy name Shuqing, was smart since childhood, good at reading, and good at talking. He passed the Zhongxiang Examination in the 16th year of Wanli and became a Jinshi in high school the following year... and then joined the Donglin Party.
Faced with urgent documents sent from various places, after thinking for days and nights, Governor Wu finally came up with a shocking and perfect countermeasure:
The first step is to find a white lingzi and tie it to the beam, with a bench underneath.
In the second step, step on the bench and put your head through Bai Lingzi.
The third step is to kick down the bench!
That's right, in the face of the civil uprising, Governor Wu, who had no choice but to hang himself from a rafter, was in line with the style of the Donglin Party members: they usually sit back and talk about their feelings, but when in danger, they die to repay the king!
Usually he does not do practical things, he only knows how to talk and pretend to be noble. Once danger comes, he has no way to deal with it. He can only die to escape and give himself a good reputation as a die-hard loyalist... As for what to do about the country, the country and the people, then It is simply not within the scope of these people’s consideration!
The Trilateral Governor-General was established in the 10th year of Hongzhi. It has the four governors of Yansui, Ningxia, Gansu, and Shaanxi, as well as the nine generals of Yulin, Ningxia, Gansu, Guyuan, Liangzhou, Xizhou, Suzhou, Xing'an, and Shendaoling. His military and political power can be called the pillar of the northwest region!
Naturally, such a high-ranking official cannot be left vacant, but who will replace him?
In normal times, the ministers would have fought hard for this position, but now the northwest region is a mess, and no one is willing to take over this mess!
There was no other way. Emperor Chongzhen convened the cabinet ministers, discussed for several days, and finally made a decision: Yang He, the censor of Zuoqiandu, would take over the post of governor of the three sides and be fully responsible for putting down the civil uprising in the northwest!
Yang He is a responsible and upright minister. After receiving the imperial edict, he immediately set off from the capital, traveling in a light vehicle and traveling directly to Shaanxi as quickly as possible...
