"What, Hou Xun caught him?"
Zhang Mingwei was a little surprised by this, so he confirmed and asked.
The messenger nodded quickly and reported in detail: "Those natives have long been resentful of them, bullying men and women, and doing all kinds of evil. Therefore, after hearing that they were defeated, when the imperial officers and soldiers passed by, they spontaneously stopped Hou Xun who wanted to escape. The whole family, including Zuo Liangyu’s son Zuo Mengeng. In addition to Hou Xun, Hou Fangyu, Hou Fangxia and Zuo Mengeng were all beaten to death by them, but only their heads were sacrificed.”
Hearing this, Zhang Mingwei felt a little emotional. This is a typical example of how those who do evil will inevitably die, and good and evil will be rewarded in the end!
This Hou Xun, if it were just him, would definitely not rebel. In the Ming Dynasty, there were no rebellious civil servants.
However, he was dragged down by his son and wanted to save his son, so he sent people to assassinate Liang Zhixian in order to cover up the truth about the fall of Shangqiu, and finally embarked on the road of rebellion.
Now caught, his son was beaten to death, and he himself was dedicated to the court. Even if you don't understand the details, you can't guess that it was his son who caused the most public outrage among the locals and caused him to be caught.
It can be seen from this that if a son fails to teach his father, he will inevitably cheat his father in the end. This is no exception at all times and in all countries.
Zhang Mingwei still likes this result. Hou Xun and Zuo Liangyu were captured alive, and the pair could be sent to the capital together.
Soon, this matter was forgotten by him. Everything he promised before must be realized.
Register the natives here? Measure the land? Distribute it as promised.
Another advantage of these chieftain territories is that if the chieftain is defeated, almost all the land will belong to the imperial court. Because basically all the land in the chieftain's territory belongs to the chieftain. Land reform here is simpler than in the Central Plains.
During this vigorous land reform, Zhang Mingwei also led the 20,000 horses he brought to Malasi, where Panzhihua was located in later generations.
Later, he sent people to inquire, inquire, and survey, and finally found the Panzhihua Iron Mine, one of the top ten iron mines in later generations. There are also refractory clay, coal and other minerals? They have also been discovered one after another through purposeful search.
During this period, due to the Earth Dragon turning over, Sichuan Governor Liu Zhibo and Commander-in-Chief Qin Liangyu, who were in Chengdu, opened the passage as quickly as possible and led the troops over.
When they discovered that everything here was under the control of the imperial court and even captured Hou Xun and Zuo Liangyu, they were naturally reassured and greatly admired.
It's like there is nothing that Xing Guogong can't do? As long as he takes action, the enemy will eventually be wiped out.
When Zhang Mingwei saw them arriving, he said they were just in time.
This is a local matter. He can't stay here forever. So he called Liu Zhibo and Qin Liangyu and told them the specific situation here. He asked them to focus on developing Panzhihua and, if necessary, relocate many people. come over.
Including the entire Sichuan War, some prisoners who need to undergo labor reform can be escorted here for development.
Then, Zhang Mingwei led the troops. On the day he left Xingdusi, Sichuan, natives from all over the country rushed to Jianchang to see him off.
They defeated the chieftain for no other reason than Duke Xingguo and Princess Kunxing, so that they could have their own fields, and their children could go to school and have the opportunity to go out of the mountains in the future! Just this was enough for them to bring their old and young to see him off.
Seeing the crowds of people who were seeing them off, Liu Zhibo couldn't help but sigh with envy, even if he couldn't understand the language, and he couldn't help but sigh with envy: "The princess and the Duke have brought blessings to the people here, and all the people are sending each other off. The grand occasion will be enough to be passed down through the ages!”
As civil servants, this is what many people have pursued. However, many people lose their true intentions in the process of pursuit, and eventually slip to the other side of this pursuit.
After hearing this, Zhang Mingwei immediately smiled and said: "As long as you can follow the plan and build this place into another Chengdu and make the people here rich, you will definitely be remembered by the people here!"
When Liu Zhibo heard this, he immediately said sternly: "The memorial has been sent to the capital. As long as the emperor approves it, I can be justified and use all the manpower and material resources of Shu to build this place. I will never let down the expectations of the prince!"
If this area becomes the Ming Dynasty's steel producing area in the southwest, and there is the second largest river valley and plain in Sichuan Province that can produce grain, and after stationing heavy troops from the imperial court, it will definitely be able to exert strong control over this area, at least neighboring Yunnan, and even Tibet. From then on, this place was no longer a foreign place where few people lived.
………………
When Zhang Mingwei led his troops back to Chengdu, it was already August of the 16th year of Chongzhen.
Time traveled back in time on the first day of March in the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, and with the full support of Emperor Chongzhen from the beginning, the road to reviving the Ming Dynasty began.
For Liaodong, the military strength was reduced, the area outside Shanhaiguan was abandoned, the soldiers and civilians of Liaodong were moved inward to the capital area to strengthen the strength of the Great Wall defense line, the eight major Shanxi merchants were eradicated, and Dongjiang Town was rebuilt.
Internally, the decisive battles between Kaifeng and Huguang, as well as the Sichuan War, drove the bandits to Yunnan and Guizhou, the southwest border areas of the Ming Dynasty, and restored peace to other places!
It took almost a year and a half to accomplish such a thing, which is actually a bit exaggerated. Of course, with the golden fingers of time-travelers and insights beyond this era, it can actually be understood like cheating.
In short, before March of the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, the Ming Dynasty was already on the verge of collapse, but after August of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, the Ming Dynasty showed signs of revival! Anyone who compares it will be filled with emotions.
Kunxing Princess Zhu Yuyao was one of them. After returning to Chengdu, she couldn't help but said gratefully to Zhang Mingwei: "Sir, for the Ming Dynasty, you really worked hard and worked hard to achieve such a change!"
Zhang Mingwei smiled after hearing this and said: "You have always been by my side. You have also fought in the north and south, and it has been a lot of hard work!"
After hearing this, Zhu Yuyao immediately smiled sweetly, with a little pride in her expression, and talked to Zhang Mingwei about all the things that had happened in the past year and a half, her feelings at the time, astonishment, thrills, pleasant surprises, etc.
However, before Zhu Yuyao finished speaking, she was interrupted by Sun Chuanting.
He came to report about the reorganization of bandits and the situation in Yunnan and Guizhou.
Overall, the reorganization of Rogue Thieves is almost complete. Including the official army similar to the field army, the local army stationed in the fields, and those who need to be reformed through labor service.
The various state capitals in southern Sichuan focused on restoring people's livelihood. Their troops were mainly transferred to the areas where the south meets Yunnan and Guizhou, and they were ready to pursue Li Zicheng's troops.
But there is a problem. He is the governor of the three sides. He is actually in charge of the Qin Dynasty. His main responsibility is to defend the grassland Tatars. The order I received before was also to rescue Sichuan.
Now that the war in Shu has ended, if he wants to lead troops into Yunnan and Guizhou, it is not within his scope of authority.
While they were talking about this, Emperor Chongzhen's decree arrived, which was a reply to the victory memorial of Li Zicheng's army that had greatly weakened Li Zicheng's troops by liberating Chongqing. Of course, rewards and the like are inevitable.
Not only those who had been arrested before were restored to the rank of general, but also the bandits who had been recruited and settled were all accepted by Duke Xingguo. Among them, Li Dingguo and Li Guo had the highest military positions and were deputy generals. Liu Wenxiu, Ai Nengqi and Tian Jianxiu were serving generals, and the others were guerrillas.
These are all good things and things that everyone is happy with. However, at the same time as the imperial edict, there was also a letter from the capital.
This letter was also sent to Zhang Mingwei from Emperor Chongzhen, but it could not be regarded as official business, and it was still bad news.
Zhang Mingwei's students, Fang Yizhi and Huang Zongxi, were experimenting with steam engines when an explosion occurred, killing one and injuring five.
The one who died was Fang Yizhi's servant, actually his assistant. Both Fang Yizhi and Huang Zongxi suffered varying degrees of explosion injuries. Fang Yizhi was the most seriously injured, with one hand disabled.
After this incident happened, many people had opinions on the steam engine, saying that it was too dangerous and it was better not to do it. Especially at the Imperial College, the momentum was even greater.
Fang Yizhi's father, Fang Kongzheng, heard the news and petitioned to ban such obscene techniques. He also strictly demanded that Fang Yizhi not touch the steam engine again. He also reprimanded Fang Yizhi that it was simply impossible for a steam engine to pull a carriage or ship!
Regarding this, Emperor Chongzhen also interceded with him in his letter, saying that Fang Kongzhen regretted that his son was not a good official and was disabled as a result of working on a steam engine. It was understandable that he would be so opposed.
However, Emperor Chongzhen said that the steam engine issue must be promoted, so Zhang Mingwei could rest assured.
After all, Emperor Chongzhen himself had watched the documentary, and of course he knew what the historical development would be like, and it was impossible for him to order a stop just because of this matter.
However, because of this incident, the public opinion in the capital was relatively unfavorable at this time.
Huang Zongxi's mother, Yao, the daughter of the famous bibliophile Yao Shunyu, also rushed to the capital. While taking care of Huang Zongxi, she also did not agree with Huang Zongxi touching the steam engine again.
As a result, Song Yingxing and the others, who originally only participated in the research and development of steam engines and assisted them, had nothing to do and waited for Duke Xingguo to return in the capital.
After Emperor Chongzhen explained the situation, because he knew that the rebels in Shu could definitely be quelled, Zhang Mingwei decided by himself whether he should continue to lead his troops to Yunnan-Guizhou to suppress the rebels, or return to the capital to take care of the steam engine. Push again.
Because he knew that what Zhang Mingwei cared about most was actually the promotion of technology. And this steam engine is the key to it.
After Zhang Mingwei read this letter, he decided without hesitation: return to Beijing!
So, he explained the situation, and regardless of Sun Chuanting's surprise and incomprehension, he recommended Sun Chuanting as the governor of Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Huguang, and Guangxi provinces to take charge of the suppression of bandits in Yunnan and Guizhou.
