If my bad work has been returned to the eyes of book friends, please join the bookshelf collection to support it, thank you. ）

Smoke billowed and wailed outside Mizhi City, and in the county seat, the streets and alleys were also chaotic like tumbling porridge pots, but although the county government hall was full of gentry and businessmen in the county, it was still dead and could be heard.

Zhang Xianling sat on the high lobby, the main book of the county, the three masters were separated, and a fat man wearing the Ming Dynasty Zhengwupin armor also stood beside the county in a proper manner, not daring to make a little mistake.

It is said that this county order is just a positive seven-grade order, and the thousands of households are a serious five-grade martial arts general riding captain, which is 108,000 miles higher than the class of this county order, but such a military attache does not even have a seat in this seven-grade hall, and can only stand with the county staff and subordinates honestly.

Speaking of which, this is also a stubborn disease of the Ming Dynasty, the emperors of all Chinese dynasties have relied on military generals to lay down the country, but once they sit on the country, each of them is strictly guarded against the military ministers, so that it has reached the point of suppressing and preventing the military ministers from doing everything possible, in the late Ming Dynasty, the civil ministers are regarded as pigs and dogs to the military ministers, and the civil ministers of the same level shout to kill and shout to the military ministers, which is commonplace, even the low-level civil ministers are also called to the senior military ministers to be regarded as slaves.

These thousand households are also considered to be five grades, which is a few levels higher than the seven-grade county order, but in the eyes of this county order, he is just the head of a nursing home for himself, and he doesn't take him seriously at all.

Early in the morning, Zhang County ordered the distribution of manpower, beating gongs and drums everywhere to prepare the city defense, and at the same time sent officials and officials to invite all the gentry and rich families in the county town.

At the same time, the soldiers of these thousand households have not been paid for a year or two, and more than 1,000 soldiers of a thousand households have run away from hunger, and the rest of these are just some old, weak, sick and disabled, and can no longer go. These gentry also knew that they had been called this time, so everyone was bored there and did not speak.

At the beginning, Zhang Guang also put on a posture of one of his parents in danger, but as time went by, the atmosphere in the lobby became even more silent, and the hot sweat was already gushing involuntarily.

Time waits for no one, the pole is thirty miles away to reorganize the army, maybe the next moment to attack the city, and if you don't get some fund-raising to support the sign, then everything will be over.

Hand a look to the money and grain master beside him, the master saw this, coughed hurriedly, stepped forward and said: "Fellow villagers, I think you already know that the poles of the alliance outside the city are not stained with mud, and they want to wash the county town with blood, seize the materials, money and grain for the winter, and have gathered forty or fifty thousand thieves for a while, and the momentum is very huge. And exercised the power of signing Ding, organized men and horses to guard Mizhi, and fought with the thieves to the end, in order to appease the place, defend the township, and repay the emperor's grace. ”

As soon as the master said this, the squire and rich family sitting at the bottom immediately flattered and flattered him, and the county respected the county that it was difficult to find good parents in heaven and earth.

Seeing that everyone's praise was really unbounded, the master of Qian Liang hurriedly pressed down with both hands, stopped everyone from continuing to tout, and said solemnly: "Lord Shicai County has been discussing with me and the Lord of Qianhu for a long time, since the thieves are coming, of course, the soldiers will block the water and cover the earth, but now the soldiers of our guard have not fought for a long time, most of them have been abandoned and practiced, and they have been in arrears for a long time, and they have no fighting spirit, and now there are tens of thousands of thieves, and there are only nearly a thousand soldiers in the guard, how can they be the enemy?" Saying this, he glanced at the Lord Qianhu with his eyes, and the old face of the Qianhu was red, and he bowed his head and said nothing.

The master didn't pay attention to it, and continued; "Besides, the county has sent a fast horse to Yan'an Mansion to ask for troops, but everyone also knows that the north is being invaded by Tatars, and I am afraid that there are no soldiers to come, and I have to borrow troops from neighboring counties, but everyone knows the things in this officialdom, and those things in neighboring counties are beggar-thy-neighbor is what they can't ask for, and they already love the dirty deeds that fall into the well, where will they help? So we can't count on the foreign aid. ”

In fact, no one said, everyone also knows that this time the thieves are overwhelming, and the county is not guaranteed, when they come, everyone has begun to play a little soft, and they are thinking of taking refuge with their families, so everyone is just anxiously looking forward to the end of the party, and everyone is good to take his family to avoid trouble as soon as possible.

The master didn't care about everyone's performance, he just talked to himself; "And in our county, the battle readiness of the city wall has collapsed, and it must be greatly rectified, and the moat must be excavated and dredged in order to have the strength of a war, everyone ------" deliberately dragged out the voice. Everyone stood up and fell to their knees again; "Please have mercy on the county lord and the old and young of the city, and think of a way."

"Wan Wang's Lord and the county's old and young—" Wait, do that pleading.

Let's see if it's almost hot. Master Qian Liang stood up with a dry cough; "Ladies and gentlemen, please listen to me."

Everyone hurriedly pricked up their ears and waited for the following arrangement.

The master of Qian Liang glanced at the eager people below, so he told the plan in the back hall.

When everyone heard this, they immediately cheered up, originally thinking that the county would be broken, but after some analysis and arrangement by the master, it is indeed possible to ensure the safety of the county.

Of course, it is a good thing that the county is not broken, after all, the gold and silver are soft and can be taken away, but the mansion is built for generations, and when the thieves come, it will definitely become a blank land, and if you really want to keep the county unbroken, of course, everyone is not willing to give up the house He left.

It is not difficult to collect the courtyard Gongzhuang, which big family does not have it? Less than a dozen and more hundreds. It doesn't matter if you die, if you lack anything at this time, there will be no shortage of people, as long as you promise a full meal, then you won't sell yourself to you without breaking the door? To contribute to the county, one is to protect the family, and the other is to save a month's food. So you ten of you and his thirty of you have made up one thousand and two. But the next thing is a little harder.

"Ladies and gentlemen, since the signatories and their families are ready, but these men and horses must be eaten, drunk and properly rewarded, and the soldiers of the guard have not been paid for many years, that is our main force, since we need people to save their lives, we must make up for it at this time, and we must pay it twice as much as in wartime. Then there is a large number of laborers to be levied, the city wall must be heightened, the moat must be dredged and drained, and the equipment for defending the city must be purchased and replenished, which all require silver, and the peak allocates that the water is far away to quench the thirst of the near, but the county does not have this money and grain, so this is to raise one or two from everyone here, and when the war is over, it will be reported to the peak to make up for everyone. ”

As soon as these words came out of the lobby, the chaotic situation changed, and immediately became silent again.

To say that the gentry and merchants of the Ming Dynasty were quite wealthy, first of all, the gentry had a lot of land, or rented to tenants or raised long-term workers to farm, and collected eighty percent to all of the harvest, but these did not pay grain and taxes, so which generation accumulated which is not a pile of silver? Even the rich businessman is even more remarkable, although the businessman has a low status and suffers from the eyes of the gentry officials, but which of the rich businessmen does not buy low and sell high to the best of their own franchise? Moreover, the rich merchants here are mostly connected with Outer Mongolia, and the more they fight, the easier it is to do business, and the sale of grain, cloth, especially iron tools, is several times more than ten times the huge profit, and then the booty captured by the Tatars and their war horses, cattle and sheep are sold back, or sold in the market or sold to poles, then it is several times dozens of times the income.

In this way, whether it is a gentry or a businessman, he is mostly a lord worth a lot of money.

However, this person can be out, because the life is someone else's, but the money is his own, and the money is very painful, of course, usually giving gifts to the county is a matter of coming and going, and the peach is reciprocated, and it has nothing to do with this fundraising, saying that it is a war and the summit will be returned, who doesn't know that it is just a beautiful word, and the meat in the mouth is still spit out?

But looking at this posture is indeed going to bleed, and it is indeed impossible to say that it is not reasonable to say something, but it is a study to produce more and less, so no one wants to be the bird that flies first. So everyone said that you look at me, I see you have no words.

As soon as Master Qian Liang saw that everyone was cold, he was also anxious, and time waited for no one, so he kept looking at the grain merchant Boss Wang, who was the richest man among the businessmen in Fu County, and his family was quite wealthy, and he had a lot of collusion with the county, hoping that he could take the lead to pledge first.

Who would have thought that when the master's eyes looked over, the rich merchant Wang looked away.

After waiting for a while, the county lord looked impatient, and he had already drunk a few bowls of tea, but no one spoke, how could this be good? I had no choice but to name names.

The master stepped forward to give Wang Fushang a deep salute; "Boss Wang has always been generous and bold, deeply expected, and good friends with the county, when the county is in trouble, for the county, for the life and death of the old and young in Hecheng, please ask Boss Wang to take the lead in donating some money and food."

This boss Wang sighed in his heart and was unlucky. But since he had already asked himself, he couldn't push it, so he had to stand up and return the courtesy; "It is our duty to help the poor and solve problems for the county, and it is our duty to shirk it, not to mention that it is when the people of Hecheng are in trouble. But although my family is big and big, after all, it is glamorous outside, and my family and children have to take care of food and drink, and my relatives and neighbors have to take care of food and drink, and I really don't have enough money. ”

As soon as he said this, the other people also poured bitter water, saying that one was more difficult and difficult than the other, and some people actually lived on loans, and some families had no overnight food, and the family was about to beg, which was really miserable.

Boss Wang was overjoyed when he saw this, pretending to endure pain and bleeding, gritted his teeth and stomped his feet and said ruthlessly: "Although it is a difficult situation at home, how dare you not go all out when the county lord tells you?" I donated twenty taels of silver, and ten stones of rice. ”

As soon as everyone heard that someone had drawn the next line, they had to follow closely, you were ten taels, and he was unwilling to be five taels, who had ever wanted to have a tea bowl and shout; "Let's live, Boss Wang and everyone are kind to the county, since everyone is in trouble, I think this fundraising will be exempted."

When the gentry and wealthy businessmen saw the county lord's face, they stood there embarrassed at the moment, at a loss.