Hainan, Qiongzhou Prefecture.

Xu Jinzhong and Li Kang stood in the cornfield, looking at the green corn buds, and their eyes exchanged frantically.

"Is it cooked?" Xu Jinzhong was puzzled.

Li Kang shook his head: "The official doesn't know either." ”

I haven't planted corn, so I can't tell when to pick it, and I looked at the old brother's letter, but I didn't say when to pick it, so I guess the old brother didn't know.

"Try one?" Xu Jinzhong suggested.

One is eighty taels of silver, which is wasted if it is not cooked, but there is no way to judge if you don't pick it, Li Kang broke one off in his heart.

Xu Jinzhong and Haihan came over.

Li Kang pulled out the white silk on the corn, peeled off the green bracts layer by layer, revealing small pieces of corn, the kernels were not as hard as when they were planted, and they were yellow and bright.

"Xiaguan try?"

He peeled off a grain, put it in his mouth and chewed it, and after biting it, the sweetness spread out in his mouth, tender and tender, and he couldn't say it.

Li Kang's face was pale: "It's delicious!" ”

The Tuntian battalion sergeant and the homeless people on the side swallowed.

Sweating and planting for nearly two months, carefully serving day and night, who doesn't want to taste this rumored golden fruit.

"My lord, can we taste it?" The pro-army salivated and asked.

Xu Jinzhong kicked over: "Taste a grandson!" At this point, it is not enough to transport it back to the imperial court, take the king's head! ”

The pro-army made a bitter face and went to pick coconuts.

Turning his face, Xu Jinzhong smiled and broke off a few grains and threw them into his mouth, "It's so sweet!" ”

Faint sweetness, indescribable taste.

It can't be harvested yet, Li Kang knows when he thinks about it, this corn is smaller than the ones planted.

"Wait!"

At this moment, a pro-soldier trotted over and said hurriedly: "My lord, the spies of the toast are here again." ”

This soldier went to pick coconuts, but there was a man on the coconut tree.

"Did anyone kill you?"

"Ran!"

Xu Jinzhong secretly said that it was broken, and ordered the pro-army to take turns guarding day and night, first, to prevent the homeless people from running into the field at night to steal corn, and second, to prevent the Tusi raid.

In winter, Tusi is not good at farming, and makes a living by fishing.

There is a vast staple food planted here, and it is normal for Toast to have thoughts.

There are ten counties in three states in Qiongzhou Prefecture, and the most is the Li Tusi.

Five miles away in Qiongshan, there is a huge Tusi village, which is governed by a head named Li Yin.

The Qiongzhou government implements the Lijia system, and taxes must be paid according to the population.

However, there are few fields that have been cultivated, and the Li people are not good at farming, so the taxes have become onerous, resulting in many black households.

Xu Jinzhong went to the yamen to check the household register, there are more than 3,000 people in this village, but the actual number is probably more than 10,000.

"Back to the camp!"

Three hundred households followed Xu Jinzhong and walked into the camp.

A simple tea table, with a map of Hainan hanging on the wall, the court did not give a will, the mountain was high and the emperor was far away, Xu Jinzhong simply became a general himself.

"Send a letter to the Tusi of the Miao people tomorrow and let them keep an eye on the Li people."

Hainan is inhabited by Li people, Miao people, Han people, etc., and the Li people are the largest Tusi force in Hainan.

The Miao people belong to the small Tusi in Hainan and often have disputes with the Li people.

Xu Jinzhong wanted to attack the Li people, but the troops were nameless, and when they reached the imperial court, they would be regarded as bullying the people.

He once asked Haihan to go to Qiongshan to make peace, but these toasts wanted the golden fruit and this land.

At night, there were torches around the cornfields, and there was a stir in the wind and grass, and the guards on the beacon platform could see it clearly.

Suddenly, a cold arrow shot at the high platform, and the soldier fell.

A group of toasters with wood knives and harpoons for chopping coconuts, bows and arrows on their backs, took advantage of the darkness of the night to slowly approach the camp.

Raised his bow and arrows, aimed at the Ming soldiers on the beacon, shot cold arrows, and planted another person.

Woo~

A low trumpet sounded through the barracks.

Xu Jinzhong slept in a daze, and immediately woke up when he heard the horn, put on a black iron uniform and ran out, and the people on the beacon in the distance were long gone.

"Tuntian camp, set up an army formation!"

After hearing the order, the sergeant took up the shield and formed a mandarin duck formation.

The lights were bright, and the toasts, armed with machetes and harpoons, rushed over the crosswoods.

Li Kang hurriedly shouted: "Don't fight in the cornfield!" ”

knew that this group of toasts had different intentions, so it was better to start first, and Xu Jinzhong also had a headache.

"Go and call the Miao people's toast!"

There were only 1,000 sergeants in the Tuntian camp, plus the 1,000 selected among the homeless, and only two of them had practiced, and the rest of the homeless people, who were all farming on weekdays, were afraid when they saw the bright machete.

Zhang Qing grabbed Haihan and got on the horse and ran towards the depths of the night.

"Take a knife, someone rushes here and kills him!" Xu Jinzhong put a knife on his back and drove his horse to the gate of the barracks.

He didn't know the strength yet, and he didn't dare to guarantee that no toast would rush in.

Li Kang took the sword and stood in front of the homeless, "I will return to Beijing in more than a month, lose the land, I can't explain to the court, I died in battle, the official begged the court for compensation, if he fled, the official will delete him from the household book, and punish him as a deserter." ”

The deserter was caught and exiled for thousands of miles.

The displaced people did not dare to be careless, and picked up their usual farm tools one after another.

At the gate of the camp, Xu Jinzhong rushed in front, and there were always people who put cold arrows, and there were more than a dozen arrows nailed to the wooden shield.

Roaring all day.

Xu Jinzhong found that the crops were badly ruined, and the corn was planted in the camp, so as long as the camp could be defended, he was not afraid.

The Li people have never seen a formation, especially such a strange formation, advancing and retreating together, in an orderly manner, and the spears that fly out take people's lives.

In an instant, more than 20 people were lost.

"Thousands of households, there are also Li people behind the camp!" The soldiers came up to report.

Xu Jinzhong scolded secretly, drove his horse back, and behind the camp was a small stone mountain, and the Li people climbed up around the cliff.

The timid homeless people retreated in fright, Li Kang drew his sword to meet him, and the bold homeless people hit with farm tools, but they couldn't stop the Li people from attacking.

At this time, Xu Jinzhong rode his horse back and led a team of more than a dozen people, and the battle situation improved.

"Ben Qianhu guesses that there are at least 3,000 Li people who attacked at night, and if you don't pick up arms, Ben Qianhu won't be able to save you!" Xu Jinzhong angrily rebuked the homeless people hiding in the cornfields.

An hour later, the Miao people arrived.

They were armed with harpoons and curved sickles, and they were more ferocious than the Leo people, and they beat the Leo people back.

In the second half of the night, the Tuntian camp gradually calmed down.

The displaced people and the soldiers of the Tuntian battalion, more than 100 people were killed and wounded, and the Li people took the initiative to attack, Xu Jinzhong decided to take people to slaughter the local official Li Yin tomorrow and take over his land.

Li Kang rode a fast horse to the Yamen of Qiongzhou Mansion.

"You said there was chaos in the Tuntian camp last night?" Li Tingyu was so shocked that his mouth opened slightly.

"My lord, quickly order someone to send Shu Yue to the Guangdong Political Envoy Division!" Li Kang said.

The conquest of the Tusi is a major event, and it is necessary to ask the imperial court for performance.

Hainan is under the jurisdiction of the Guangdong Political Envoy, riding a horse to the capital, along the way to the post station, faster than the sea ship.

Li Tingyu did not dare to slack off, and hurriedly arranged for someone to send the letter to Guangdong.

……

Beijing, it's the New Year.

Your Majesty is happy this year, and the government and the opposition are resting for five days.

The snow was blowing and the city was full of joy, Yan Chengjin ordered someone to slaughter a running sheep and roast the whole sheep around the stove.

In these years, there are no condiments, and the price of mutton is cheaper than pork.

"Why is this salt yellow?"

He Neng said cautiously: "Young master, I have tasted it, it is non-toxic." ”

Yan Chengjin was a little relieved, but he didn't spill it on the mutton.