Section 172: Preparation of Sanliang City

The stewards were dumbfounded one by one, the Luo family probably thought that the relationship between the clay sticks was born, even if they became gentlemen, most of the family owners acted ruthlessly, Luo Tianqiu did not let Naizu, when he was fighting for land with others, he secretly instructed people to kill his opponent more than once, as for sī setting up a public court, sī torture and detaining a few mud tuǐzi is really nothing. Dozens of miles away, who doesn't know that the Luo family's urging office is a "Hades Palace" and "Erya Mén".

"Master, isn't it too cheap for them" Fan Kou, the steward of the West Side Courtyard, ate it, "This, will it damage the prestige of our Luo family......"

"If you are told to release people, you will release people, are you a master or am I a master."

"xiǎo's don't dare, xiǎo's don't dare," Luo Jin saw Luo Tianqiu's expressionless face, knowing that the more he spoke, the more tender he could attack at any time. Hurriedly crawled to release the people.

After a while, a hundred or so people were released from the urging office-the number of people was really a little more, Luo Tianqiu was silent, he knew that many of them were captured by his subordinates. The entourage of competent stewards under his command are all lawless in this area, some of them are money-lenders, some are gambling, and some are involved in lawsuits...... None of them are good stubble. Luo Tianqiu has always adhered to the idea of eating ròu by himself and drinking soup with people, as long as they don't make trouble, he will go with them, and sometimes when things get to the government, he will personally hand over the post and send a bail to protect the slaves. In the past, he didn't think there was anything about it: a few mud tuǐzi were still afraid that they would make a fuss? He is the one who is an official, he has no money and no power, and he can't win a lawsuit for a hundred years. Even if he encounters a famine year, he is not afraid, there are more than 100 people in the family alone, and there are also the township warriors of Sanliang City, and he can calm the town by himself with a large-scale violence, and he will not be able to attack the town at all, and it will not take long for the officers and soldiers to be destroyed.

But now here comes this group of Australians. He heard a lot about the Australians from the county, and knew that they were not too late to be soft and hard, and they were not slow to enter the oil and salt, and it was easy to attack the city and pull out the village, and he was especially good at "attracting the people of Jiān". The Luo family has formed a lot of grudges around them over the years, and it will be troublesome if a few Jiān people who don't know whether they are alive or dead go to incite the Australians to attack Sanliang City.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but look unhappy. He even had the feeling that the foundations under his feet were shaking. However, at this time, he could neither have seizures nor seizures. After all, his family has been doing this for more than 100 years, and if there is a master, there must be a servant. Luo Tianqiu is still very clear about this.

Thinking of this, he hated the thief even more, and the thief was like a violent hurricane, blowing the high-rise building built by his family for generations to the ground. And the people in this building are afraid that they will also have different intentions, and they will flee one by one at the slightest bō.

Seeing that everyone was almost gone, several families were cleaning up. Suddenly, there was a noisy shouting and shouting outside, and everyone was puzzled. I only heard the roar of Luo Baiwei, the head of the family, mixed with the voice of NV:

“…… Why are you arresting people......

Luo Tianqiu was about to call someone to ask, when suddenly the big mén of the west courtyard opened, and a large group of people poured in. More than 20 family members are brave, all armed with knives, guns and sticks, eyeing each other. There are also men who lead horses and carry burdens. The four or five people who were escorted in the middle had their clothes torn one by one, and some of them had blood stains on their faces.

The leader of these people is an old man in his fifties, not tall or strong, but he looks fierce, although he is driven and pushed, he is extremely stable in the next game, and he looks like a person who practices martial arts. It's just that his face is sallow, panting, and he seems to be sick.

Supporting him is a young NV, born handsome. A narrow skirt that is usually not worn tight. The clothes have been torn off a few pieces, and the close-fitting xiǎo jacket inside is densely packed with stitches. Luo Tianqiu knew that whenever he walked outside for a long time, the close-fitting xiǎo jacket was sewn with needles and threads to prevent being ** on the road. The other male NVs are also all dressed short, and they look jīng. Looking at them with horses and a lot of knives and guns, Luo Tianqiu already understood that this was a group of people who were running horses and selling money.

Luo Baiwei probably didn't expect to see the master in the west side courtyard, and couldn't help but be stunned. Hurry up and kneel down and say goodbye.

"These people, what's going on?"

"Back to the master," Luo Baiwei stood up and said, "This gang came to the town to run horses and sell them to live in the inn, and they contracted the disease two months ago, and when they ran out of money, they mortgaged their horse luggage, and borrowed four taels of silver from the money shop, saying that they paid it off in two months, and they haven't paid ......it back until now."

"You are talking nonsense" the young NV said angrily, "The capital has already been paid off, you have an abacus today and an abacus tomorrow, we have given you the money for performing every day, you always say that it is not enough, but it is more and more ......"

"You still dare to have a hard mouth" Luo Baiwei shouted angrily, his forehead was black, probably a loss, "Look at Lao Tzu will strip you naked for a while, ask carefully"

was frightened by the words "stripped naked and asked", and the NV's tone softened, but he was still unconvinced: "The blue sky and the white sun, Lang Lang Qiankun, you insult people and innocent officials, and the government can tolerate you, and God can't tolerate you"

Luo Baiwei was inconvenient to scold and reprimand because the master was present, but he said to Luo Tianqiu that since they couldn't pay back the profits, they had to detain the horse's luggage as a head. I didn't expect this gang of performers to resolutely refuse, and they actually wanted to sneak away early this morning. was discovered by the village guards Mén, and the two sides won it all after a fight.

“…… If you owe money, you can't still flee secretly, and if you can't escape, you have to beat people, so I will take them all down and take them here, and teach them to understand some rules."

Luo Tianqiu knew that the truth in this was nothing more than money shops engaging in huā and extra exploitation and bullying outsiders. Don't say it, just this méng ancient horse, although it is not a divine horse, can be worth sixty or seventy taels of silver in this land of Guangdong. This kind of heavy profit exploitation is not surprising, and he never asks. However, today is already a great deal of mercy, and there is no harm in showing mercy again.

"Let the people go." Luo Tianqiu said expressionlessly.

"Master-" Luo Baiwei glanced at Luo Tianqiu, knowing that the master didn't want to say it a second time, so he quickly made a gesture and asked someone to untie the person who was arrested.

Luo Baiwei was unwilling to end up like this: "Ma has to stay." ”

"Horses are the rice bowl for people to eat, and it's good to give them back." Luo Tianqiu said, "Since the principal has been paid off, the interest will be counted."

The subordinates were stunned for a moment, wondering if this old man had eaten something wrong, and today he was so merciful - you must know that he personally went to Chōu to seal the mén, arrested the whole family of several tenants who resisted and refused to pay the rent, and put all kinds of torture and torture, killing and maiming several of them. Why did you suddenly turn around today?

When he was startled, he suddenly let out a scream. It turned out that the old man who had been tied up all along, and after loosening the tie, he was alive and bloody, and he actually fainted.

"Daddy-", "Master-"

Several male NVs rushed to the fainted old man, crying and shouting.

"Hún egg" Luo Baiwei was furious and wanted to hit someone again.

"Slow" Luo Tianqiu stopped him, and he looked at these people thoughtfully.

After Luo Tianqiu came out of the west courtyard, he went to the regimental training office in the city to check on Xiang Yong's weapons and training. If Daming has a "special activity for the evaluation of grassroots group training construction", Sanliang City will definitely be able to win the title of the first in Dongguan County.

In accordance with the instructions of the "Notice on Strengthening the Construction of League Training in the Whole Province" issued by the Governor of Zhaoqing, the "Several Guiding Opinions on the Construction of League Training in the Province" issued by the Governor of the Provincial City, and the "Outline of the Construction of League Training in Our County" issued by the county government, Sanliang City's group training construction can be said to be in the forefront of the county.

Of course, there are no documents with these three names on this plane, but there are proclamations and journals with similar contents. The note sent by the governor of the Ya Mén elaborated in detail how each village should organize group exercises: men aged 16~60 in each household must be registered, three cho chōu one ding participate in standing military training, and families with few men can nominate one ding. The first commander should play the role of "vanguard and model", that is, each first commander should act as a "training leader" and personally lead the brave soldiers to fight. Each village or town should set up a public office, and the local gentry should serve as the head of the public office. The villagers had to practice every day, patrolling during the day and standing guard at night, strictly monitoring the surrounding rivers and roads. At the same time, the communication signals between the villages are stipulated, one trumpet is to remind the villages that there is a suspicious pretense, two is the arrival of the thief, and three is the arrival of the enemy.

All villages along the coast and rivers were to build fortifications, and the drawings and standards of the fortifications were also distributed to the public offices. It is generally required that the deep ditch must be 12 feet deep and 20 feet wide. The embankment is 30 feet high, and wherever possible, a bamboo fence must be installed on the embankment, which must be at least 6 feet high and the top must be sharpened. Wherever a wall is to be built, the height of the wall shall not be less than 12 feet, and the thickness shall not be less than 12 inches. Drawbridges should be erected over the ditches to facilitate the entry and exit of the people. If you build a fence or fence, you need to build a large mén that can be guarded for entry and exit, and other details are readily available.

There are 300 people in the hands of the Tuan Lian Gong of Sanliang City. Together with the servants of the big families in the town, there were more than 500 people who could fight at any time. These people practice cào every day, and they also have a settling-in allowance of one tael of silver a month, and although they have not seen a battle, their morale is very high.

In addition to this part of the people, if necessary, all the 16~60-year-old men in the people of the city will be armed, and there will be hundreds of people who can defend the village. As for weapons such as knives, guns, bows and arrows, the public office has a lot of reserves, and the blacksmith shop can continue to build them.

Sanliang City bought a few mén cannons from the county, and later Luo Tianqiu thought that the quality of the cannons in the county was too poor and expensive, so he simply bought iron materials and let the town's blacksmiths cast their own cannons. Seventy-seven eighty-eight also built forty or fifty large xiǎoxiǎo cannons. Put it on the walls everywhere. And he made many one-eyed guns and three-eyed guns. It was close to Australia, and Luo Tianqiu also got a few Portuguese arquebuses from Guangzhou.

It's just that there is no armor - this thing is a forbidden item, and even the Luo family doesn't have the courage to hide it. If you sew cotton nails, you can't wear them in Guangdong most of the time. However, Luo Tianqiu didn't care if there was armor or not. The terrain here is complex and watery, and it is inconvenient to fight in armor.

As for the ditches, fences, fences, and walls, Sanliang City has long been prepared, and it has been repaired and strengthened from time to time, and it has collected silver from the whole town to build four strong watchtowers. The base of this watchtower is made of stone blocks to prevent it from being excavated, and the upper floor is made of green bricks, except for a little wood at the top, all of which are made of stone masonry. The watchtower has a well, stocked with food, weapons and fire, which can not only be condescending to look out and shell the attacking pirates and bandits, but also allow people to go in and hide and continue to hold out in case the town is breached.

Luo Tianqiu came forward to form a joint guarantee with several neighboring villages, saying that there was an early warning, and reinforcements would come from everywhere. Because of the strength of the soldiers and horses in Sanliang City, the nearby villages are willing to make friends with him. Therefore, more than a dozen surrounding villages are "joint insurance" with Sanliang City. In the event of an event, each village can gather a few thousand people.

Although this arrangement is not impregnable, it is one of the best in Dongguan County. He talked with the gentry who were members of the council in the public office, and met with the leaders of the townspeople and the sons and nephews of each family, and said some words of encouragement. zuihou met with Luo Heying alone and told him to go to the county tomorrow to lead Xiangyong. When Luo Heying heard that there was such a good thing, he repeatedly thanked the clan uncle and said a basket of flattering words.

Although it seems that there is nothing in the whole of Sanliang City that worries him. The only thing that worries Luo Tianqiu is that there are not many people who can lead Xiang Yong to fight. The public office hired a figure such as the head of the Xiangyong sect, but the head of the sect suddenly fell ill and died last month. No one has come to replace him yet. There were also a few of the sons and daughters of the gentry who could dance the spear and dare to fight, but they did not go through any real battles - just being able to fight was not enough to lead the villagers to fight. As for the leaders of Xiang Yong, most of them are characters such as family members of various families, and they don't necessarily have much real ability. Without an experienced martial artist with actual combat experience to take the lead, he really couldn't rest assured.

"The price of eighteen taels of silver a month was offered, but a lot of people came," Yuan Kaibang, a member of the regimental training committee of the public office and a squire in this town, sighed, "I can't try the kung fu of shè arrows." All of them are the waste of hún rice. ”

Yuan Kaibang was also a martial artist - but the martial arts in the late Ming Dynasty were mere formalities, and the element of vain fame was very large, and even the martial arts people did not pay much attention to it. Generally, it is not difficult for the children of the squires of large families who are powerful and powerful, and it is not difficult to make a name for themselves such as Wu Xiucai and Wu Juren.

He is not in vain, at least his broadsword kung fu has been instructed by a famous teacher from xiǎo, and he wields it quite meritoriously. And there is quite a lot of courage and not afraid of death. A few years ago, he made a name for himself after stabbing three people in a conflict with the Xiǎo Water Bandits. Therefore, Yuan Kaibang is quite complacent and boasts of being the "Great Wall" of Sanliang City. is rampant and domineering in the town, and even the people of the Luo family have to be polite to him.

Luo Heying often had friction with these two in the regimental training bureau, and Luo Tianqiu recommended him to the county regimental training bureau, even if he promoted him, he also included separating these two opponents. lest the friction grow.

When the head of the township Yong sect must not only be able to fight with the township brave, but also have high martial arts, a few hands on various instruments, and the first weight is waist knife kung fu and step shè ability. Xiang Yong generally does not need to arrange troops to fight, the heaviest is to fight and defend the imperial village. Among them, the defense of the village is the most important, and the bow and arrow are the primary weapons of the villagers.

But the average Jianghu martial artist, playing with a knife and a gun, can still be used, and the skills of step shè are not good. Even if the actual combat martial arts jīng xian's dart masters, because of the xìng nature of the bodyguards, mostly use the less lethal xiǎo bow xiǎo arrows and slingshots, few people have attainments in infantry strong bows. I was recruiting in the public office for several months, but I still didn't find a suitable one.

"Are the people still there?"

"Stay at the inn and wait for your old man to decide." Yuan Kaibang blinked a pair of xiǎo eyes, "Shibo, you said that now is the time to employ people, even if it is not suitable, you can leave it for use." ”

Luo Tianqiu said: "As long as you have real skills, keep a few." Each person has eight taels per month, and the food and lodging are all in the public office. ”

"Okay, that's going to happen."

"Okay, okay." Other members of the regimental training bureau also chimed in. The members of the regimental training bureau are all big squires in their town, and they have long been looking forward to the Luo family, and Luo Tianqiu is whatever he says, especially now that the invasion of thieves is imminent, everyone expects Luo Tianqiu to be the "mainstay", so they all agree to his request.

Luo Tianqiu then discussed the cost of the office with several committee members, and now he has many village warriors, and he has to manufacture and purchase weapons and fires, and build various fortifications, which is extremely expensive. The regimental training silver collected by the county is not much left in this village and town. To this end, Luo Tianqiu proposed to levy an additional group training fee.

The committee members looked at each other, and the burden of levying three cents of silver per mu in the county was already very large, and everyone was very distressed to collect money and grain. However, no one dared to come out to refute Luo Tianqiu's meaning.

Looking at everyone's faces with Coptis chinensis and not daring to say bitterness, Luo Tianqiu sneered and said, "Who do you think this money is for?" Who gets these three good cities? If you want the villagers to work hard and fight, how can you do it without silver to feed them? ”

"One or two a month, it's not too little."

"One or two a month asks you to carry a knife into battle, are you willing?" Luo Tianqiu said, "It's too peaceful, one tael a month, and when the thief really comes, no one who pays ten taels of silver may be willing to fight." The mud tuǐzi are a cheap life, you are all people with families and businesses, and the stockade will all turn into ashes as soon as it is broken. Which accounting exactly? ”

The crowd did not dare to speak. That's right, of course. However, since last year, the big families have been "solicited" again and again, and several big families feel sorry for the money, and their hands are getting tighter and tighter. This is also the fact that Luo Tianqiu simply did not mention any "solicitation", and straightforwardly demanded that money and grain be directly levied on each acre of land.

In the end, the big households still agreed: in the entire Sanliang City, every mu of land, according to the standard of 80 Wen for the upper grade, 40 Wen for the middle grade, and 20 Wen for the lower grade.