Chapter Thirty-Eight: Convincing the Left Army to Prepare for the Establishment of the Party

The geographical location of Jiujiang cannot be overstated. He is located in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, there are nine rivers of Ganjiang water, Po water, Yushui, Xiushui, Ganshui, Xushui, Shushui, Nanshui and Pengshui, and the riverside is close to the lake and backed by Lushan. It has always been a gathering of businessmen, and it is also an important military town for soldiers. In this historic city, countless stories of the rise and fall of the Golden Iron Horse have been interpreted since ancient times.

Zuo Liangyu occupies Jiujiang, there are reasons why he is defeated by Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, and there are also reasons why he is optimistic that this rich land can raise troops, and it can be attacked and retreated. However, Zuo Liangyu's corrupt military discipline has made the people's livelihood wither, and the ten rooms and nine empty rooms in this former rich land of fish and rice have withered.

Li Mao was escorted by Zuo Liangyu's soldiers on the way to see Zuo Liangyu, and when he saw that there were few pedestrians on the bustling streets outside the car, there were dead silences, and his heart was very heavy.

Li Mao's arrival was quickly reported to Zuo Liangyu's camp. Zuo Liangyu didn't expect Li Mao to really dare to come. He ordered people to form a sword formation to meet Li Mao.

Seeing the front, Zuo Liangyu's soldiers stood in two teams on the left and right, using knives to form a knife formation. Li Mao smiled in his heart and thought: "This Zuo Liangyu is a little weak-hearted, it seems that there is a way for today's affairs." ”

Li Mao took two entourages and calmly walked under the knife.

Zuo Liangyu, who was sitting in the chair, couldn't help but nodded.

Seeing the person sitting on the chair in the middle, Li Mao knew that it must be Zuo Liangyu. This man was as legend has it to be, with a burly figure and a red complexion. Li Mao said: "Li Mao of Xiurong Kiln Gang has seen the general. Because Zuo Liangyu used to be a general soldier, and later was named a "flat thief" general, Li Mao saw Zuo Liangyu and called him a general.

Zuo Liangyu snorted with his nose and asked, "You are Li Mao who has always been against me?" ”

"My lord, it's Li Mao down there. But I don't dare to go against the general. Li Mao replied.

"Bold Li Mao, you sank so many of our warships and killed so many of us. Aren't you afraid that I will kill you? Zuo Liangyu asked.

"I'm also afraid of death, but in order to clear up the misunderstanding between us, Lord Zuo invited me to come, and we can't help but come." Li Mao replied.

"Misunderstanding, can you make a misunderstanding worthy of the lives of my brothers? Believe it or not, I can break you to death. Zuo Liangyu said angrily.

"With the general's tiger might, of course I believe. I don't think you do, though. Li Mao did not show weakness.

"Oh? Do you think I don't dare? Zuo Liangyu patted the armrest of the seat and drank.

"My lord, the ants are still surviving, let alone me? I came with a magic weapon to protect me, and I promised that the general would not kill me. Li Mao replied calmly.

"Magic weapon! What's the magic weapon? Zuo Liangyu was a little curious.

Li Mao smiled faintly and asked, "My lord, can I sit down and talk?" ”

"Look."

Someone brought a chair to Li Mao, and Li Mao sat down generously and said, "My magic weapon is, first, you can't kill me; Second, you dare not kill me; Third, you don't want to kill me. ”

"Humph! Can't kill you, don't dare to kill you, don't want to kill you? Zuo Liangyu was a little puzzled.

Li Mao said: "The first is that you can't kill me, because I was invited by you to talk about things, so you won't kill me just to scare me with a knife array." Even if we are two countries fighting each other, we will not kill the envoys, not to mention that I am your invited guest. The second is that if you don't dare to kill me, if you kill me, the matter between us will not be a misunderstanding, that is, we will be completely enemies of the Yaogang people. We Yaogang people don't want to be enemies with anyone, especially if you are an official army, we are the people of the Ming Dynasty, we have no reason to be an enemy, but we don't shoot anyone as an enemy, do you know why Li Zicheng can't enter Tongguan? Just because we have a strong naval army, the naval army is now equipped with heavy artillery, this kind of heavy artillery can be fought across Tongguan City, directly and accurately hit Li Zicheng's siege army, this kind of heavy artillery shells around the landing point around a few battles There will be no living people in the distance, if our naval army is driven to Jiujiang City, we can bombard Jiujiang City, this is definitely not a scary lie. Thirdly, I have good advice for the General, or rather, I will bring you great benefits, and I don't think you will want to kill me. ”

Although Zuo Liangyu is uneducated and illiterate, his eloquence is also good, he said: "First, I can kill you as a thief against the official army, and I don't treat you as some bullshit; Second, I have been fighting for decades, and I will not be afraid of your bullshit army, so I can kill you; But I'd like to see what you can do me, and maybe it will save you your life. ”

Li Mao knew in his heart that it was impossible for Zuo Liangyu not to be completely afraid of the strength of the kiln gang people, but at this time, he could not be completely afraid of the kiln gang people, because it was far away after all. Li Mao's important point is the third point. Li Mao said: "Your Excellency, the vendetta between us is a bit strange and unreasonable. The reason is that the last time we passed through Jiujiang, we were intercepted by your boats, and we showed the bronze medal given by the emperor, but they still did not let us go, so they had to confiscate our boats. According to the law of the Ming Dynasty, this is regarded as complicity. Do you know about this? ”

In fact, how could Zuo Liangyu not know it, but in this public, he would not admit it, because it was tantamount to saying that he had rebelled, he hesitated and said: "Ou! Is there such a thing? Whoever dares to be so bold, I will find out and will not forgive. ”

Zuo Liangyu said what he promised, but it startled the generals of the navy, if it was really investigated, it was they who were really unlucky.

How could Li Mao let go of such an opportunity, and said, "My lord, if that's the case." It was really a misunderstanding between us. You see that you are the officials and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, and we are the people of the Ming Dynasty. We are all contributing to the imperial court, and we are fighting each other, and there is no reason. Our host told us that there are two people who can be the mainstay of the imperial court in the future, one is Sun Chuanting, and the other is General Zuo Liangyu of Jiujiang. Now that the strength of Governor Sun Chuanting has been greatly injured, the only one who can solve the problems for the imperial court is you, General Zuo. Our proprietor told me that it would be best to contact the general if we had the opportunity to see if we could join forces. It's also because I'm incompetent, I didn't see the general, and I had such a deep misunderstanding with you, which made the relatives and enemies happy. Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong knew that we were fighting like this, and they weren't happy to jump high. ”

Zuo Liangyu is also a winner who eats soft and does not eat hard, he heard Li Mao say such things, and asked: "Is that really what you Zhang Dongjia said?" ”

Li Mao saw that the atmosphere was relaxed and said, "That's true. Our Zhang Dongjia said that we can be good friends with Zhou Yuji, the general soldier of Shaanxi, the general soldier of Datong, and Sun Chuanting, the governor of the three sides, so why can't we be friends with General Zuo? ”

Zuo Liangyu was indeed moved by Li Mao's words, but in fact, after calming down, he didn't want to have too deep a grudge with the kiln people, just like Li Mao's letter said. There is no reason for the two families to have such a deep grudge. Especially he was also full of curiosity about the kiln people, and besides, it was indeed his own people who were too arrogant last time, so he made things bigger and bigger. Zuo Liangyu said: "You still tell me, what good advice do you bring me?" ”

Li Mao waited for such an opportunity, he said: "My lord, can we talk about some things alone. Our hosts have something to say to you. Because Zhang Zhimu said something in the letter inside, it means that it is best to contact Zuo Liangyu and ask him to contain Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong here.

Zuo Liangyu said: "Okay, Neitang speaks." ”

Zuo Liangyu's group of civil and military forces, but he didn't expect Li Mao's few words, so he moved Zuo Liangyu. I really admire Li Mao.

After sitting down in the back hall, Zuo Liangyu asked people to serve tea and then retreated.

Li Mao took a sip of tea, put down the teacup, and said: "General Zuo, Governor Sun Chuanting was defeated very badly this time, he lost all the last mobile troops of the imperial court, if we didn't provide him with food and salary, he might not be able to return to Shaanxi." Even so, our proprietor judged that Governor Sun Chuanting would not survive until the end of the year, and that Li Zicheng would definitely attack Shanxi next year, and even that they would act when the Yellow River and the Fen River were not civilized. Our host has already contacted General Zhou Yuji and General Jiang Zhu to study ways to deal with the enemy. We are confident that we will beat them out of Shanxi. Our owner said that Li Zicheng will definitely hurt his vitality this time. It is also General Zuo's opportunity for you to send troops to clean up the lost territory. We'd better work with each other. ”

Zuo Liangyu said: "We have heard a lot about your kiln people. I don't understand, why do you dare to fight the Mongol cavalry, the Manchu army, and come back to deal with Li Zicheng? ”

Li Mao said: "We were also forced out. From the beginning, we knew that if the trade routes were not accessible, the common people would not be able to make a living. We organized people to use force to open up the trade routes. No matter who stands in our way, we will fight whomever we want, and slowly we will have a little strength. My lord, now that the Ming Dynasty is left with the power of our north and south, we can no longer be presumptuous for a little thing. Together, we have strength. Sir, don't you say? ”

"Haha! You're a clever guy, why didn't you come sooner. We let us die so many people before you came, and for that reason I should have killed you. But I'll give you a chance to give me some advice. Zuo Liangyu is very optimistic about Li Mao.

Li Mao said: "My lord, my first suggestion is that we turn hostility into jade silk, and we will trade with Jiujiang here. You are here to encourage farmers and businessmen, so that the people can recuperate and live, so that you will not hold a golden rice bowl and ask for food. ”

"Holding a golden rice bowl and asking for food?" Zuo Liangyu didn't understand.

Li Mao said: "Don't be angry, I know that adults have more than 100,000 soldiers, but the court has no food and salary, and the adults' soldiers are looting everywhere, and everyone in the world has heard of it." But if you want to develop in Jiujiang for a long time, you can't do this thing of fishing with all your might. I had just returned from Huguang, and I heard that Zhang Xianzhong had been exempted from taxes there for three years. You also know that Zhang Xianzhong is more capable of collecting money, why did he do this. It is that he understands the truth of raising fish in living water. Our Jiujiang is also the land of fish and rice, and the income of mulberry tea is not expensive. If adults can strictly enforce military discipline and implement the policy of supporting the people, it will not be long before they can do so. We are opening the trade routes between the north and the south, and the people will soon come back to life, and your taxes will come up. ”

Zuo Liangyu nodded and said, "That makes sense." ”

Li Mao continued: "I'm talking about one thing. Also, I suggest that General Zuo open up the Yangtze River waterway. Stop intercepting ships passing on the river. In this way, you will provide protection for all the ships that go to Jiujiang, and collect a little bit of silver that everyone can bear, and there will be more and more ships in Jiujiang, and you will collect more and more silver. At the same time, it will also bring opportunities to various industries in Jiujiang. If the adults can listen to my advice on these things, a rich Jiujiang will soon return. Sir, don't you say? ”

"Yes, good advice! However, the matter of the Yangtze River is not up to me. There is Zhang Xianzhong upstream, and Li Zicheng upstream, our family can't do this. Zuo Liangyu said.

Li Mao said: "As long as you want to do this, we will solve other things." Our warships will cruise on the Yangtze River, and we will not be polite if anyone does not obey the rules. After we sank Zhang Xianzhong's two warships last time, he had already passed on the word through others, saying that he would not be our enemy. In this case, if we decide, we will send a letter to Zhang Xianzhong. I think it's good for all of us, and he won't say no. ”

Zuo Liangyu suddenly sighed with emotion, and said almost the same words as Zhang Xianzhong: "It's a pity, I have a group of strategists, and there is no one like you." Your suggestion is very much in line with the old man's appetite, I won't kill you today. Ha ha! ”

Li Mao said: "Our matter today is decided? ”

"It's decided, you go back and tell your Zhang Dongjia that I want to meet him when I have time. We worked together to deal with Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong. We Jiujiang, you can come whenever you want. I also want to encourage agribusiness. In this way, you can not only win the hearts of the people, but also get real profits. Good idea! Zuo Liangyu said.

Li Mao saw that it was okay and said, "General Zuo, I will bring a few things that our kiln gang people produce themselves, please take a look." ”

Li Mao asked the entourage outside to bring in a box he brought. Of course, there are all kinds of things produced in the kiln. These things dazzled Zuo Liangyu. However, Li Mao took out a box of matches and said to Zuo Liangyu: "General Zuo, there is something here, you can be interested!" ”

As he spoke, Li Mao took out a match, and with a slight stroke, the match was lit.

Zuo Liangyu was really interested, and he also took the match, and according to what Li Mao said, he also struck the match. This made Zuo Liangyu overjoyed, and said: "It's much more convenient to have such matches for marching and fighting. Next time you come, you'll be sure to bring more of these matches. ”

Li Mao said: "We have a lot of things in the kiln, next time I will bring a few jars of good wine from our kiln to General Zuo." That Zhou Yuji, the general soldier, after drinking our good wine, stopped drinking wine from other places. ”

Zuo Liangyu is a clear-headed person, he knows that the muskets of the kiln gang people are too powerful, he said: "We are good friends now, we also want to buy some of your muskets, do you think it's okay?" We are not short of silver. He didn't know if the Kiln Man would sell him a musket.

Li Mao said: "Of course. Zhou Yuji, Sun Chuanting, and Jiang Jian all bought muskets in our kiln. Our owner said that it could be sold to you, and it should be sold to you according to the same preferential terms. However, if you want a musket, you will have to wait until the beginning of spring next year. At that time, the Yellow River was civilized, and we also beat Li Zicheng. ”

Zuo Liangyu was overjoyed and said, "Great." Tell us about the price of muskets? ”

"A thousand taels of silver for a musket. Bullets are ten rounds of silver and taels. There are two kinds of shotguns and bullets, and generally ** is equipped with 100 shots and bullets for each musket. Li Mao replied.

Zuo Liangyu did the math and said, "Then you get 500 muskets for the old man, and each gun will be equipped with 100 rounds of ammunition according to what you said." ”

Li Mao calculated and said, "Oh my God, five hundred and ten thousand taels." How much silver did this Zuo Liangyu rob? ”

Li Mao said: "My lord, you don't know that this musket is very powerful, but it is not an easy task to produce this gun. We supply you 100 pieces at a time. We will send you the 500 muskets you want in five installments. ”

"Well, the sooner you guys, the better. The old man had a musket and went to Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong to take revenge. Zuo Liangyu said.

Li Mao and Zuo Liangyu had a very good conversation, and Zuo Liangyu had to ask Li Mao to drink before letting him go back.

Mu Yi was waiting in Jingdezhen in a hurry, so he couldn't wait for Li Mao to come back, seeing that Li Mao was radiant, Mu Yi knew that Li Mao had finished talking.

Stepping forward, Mu Yi said, "Oh, why did you go for so long, I really thought you wouldn't be able to come back." It's killing us. ”

Li Mao said: "I also know that you will be in a hurry, but Zuo Liangyu invited me to dinner, I can't help but give him a little face?" It's not like you're just going to come back after drinking. ”

Li Mao told Zuo Liangyu what happened to him. Mu Yi and the others listened, sometimes worried, sometimes laughing, and they were all happy to solve the grievances with Zuo Liangyu.

Mu Yi said: "The tungsten ore has been loaded. The porcelain has just come out of the kiln, and it will be loaded on the ship as soon as it is cool. Those porcelain clay should be a little troublesome, and some people in the yamen are not allowed to transport porcelain clay to the outside world. In my opinion, it is better for Li Gongzi to go to the Yamen, and the magistrate will definitely give you face. ”

Li Mao went to the yamen to ask only to find out that because Jingdezhen was afraid of competitors elsewhere, he began to restrict the export of porcelain clay.

Li Mao explained: "We will buy the porcelain that can be made in Jingdezhen, and the things we go back to burn are not made in Jingdezhen." What we burn is used in industrial production, and there is no conflict with Jingdezhen. ”

Nazhi County also knew that the kiln people couldn't stop themselves if they had to transport it away, so they no longer insisted. Li Mao told the magistrate about what he had seen Zuo Liangyu again.

The magistrate asked: "Lord Zuo didn't embarrass you?" ”

Li Mao said: "No. I talked to Mr. Zuo about the matter, and after he invited me to drink, I came back. Not so much to do. ”

I learned that the county lord was skeptical, but no matter what he said, the people did come back from Zuo Liangyu, as long as they didn't fight.

After loading the porcelain clay and porcelain, the two warships set sail from Jingdezhen, entered Poyang Lake through the Changjiang River, and then entered the Yangtze River down the river, docked at Yingtianfu, loaded the set silk tea, and continued to set off eastward, until Zhenjiang joined the first fleet.

In Zhenjiang, he rented more than a dozen flat-bottomed boats, divided the cargo of the ten barges in half, and unloaded the goods on the two warships onto the flat-bottomed ships. Leaving two warships in Zhenjiang, barges and flat-bottomed boats, towed by two flat-bottomed steamers, entered the canal to Yangzhou and then to Huai'an, and then entered the Yellow River, and then entered the Fenhe River to Lingshui Wharf.

When Zhang Zhimu returned to Yaogang, it was already mid-October. It was very coincidental that Li Mao also arrived, and it was half a day before and after. At this time, Sun Chuanting, who fled back to Shaanxi, did not hold Xi'an, but fled to where he did not know where to flee with the defeated soldiers. However, Tongguan has not yet been lost. Yaogang only left two warships and four Haicang ships on the Yellow River to escort Tongguan, but it seems that Li Zicheng's army had no intention of attacking Tongguan. Everyone understands that Li Zicheng's army is waiting for the Yellow River to freeze. The warships of Yaogang retreated.

After understanding the situation, Zhang Zhimu thought in his heart that history had changed here, and Tongguan did not fall as quickly as the previous history. Sun Chuanting did not die here, but withdrew to Shaanxi. I don't know what impact such a small change will have on the future development of history. Will it correct back in its original direction?

After Li Mao returned to Yaogang with the fleet, after listening to his introduction to the situation in the south, Zhang Zhimu, Chen Yufeng, Ouyang He and others were all overjoyed. Ouyang He couldn't help but say: "Li Gongzi is the number one lobbyist in Yaogang. What a genius! ”

Zhang Zhimu also said: "Brother Li will settle half of the world when he goes out, which is the first achievement." In this way, our external environment is too favorable for us. We just need to concentrate on dealing with Li Zicheng. ”

Li Mao said: "Now our trade routes can really extend to most of the banks of the Yangtze River. It's all land of some rich fish and rice. We can get food there too. To tell the truth, the cargo of the ten barges we brought out arrived over there, and when they were taken out, there was no shadow. If there was no war, it would be even worse. ”

Chen Yufeng said: "I don't have a good impression of Zuo Liangyu, will we make trouble for ourselves in the future if we sell him muskets?" ”

Ouyang He said: "It's okay, let's give them the best muskets and give them the bullets to fire the primer." We'll be able to control their ammunition. Without our ammunition, their muskets would not work as well as sticks. ”

Li Mao said: "Their little son bullet, let them go and consume it with Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng." ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "Originally, I wanted to equip Wuluo Island with a flat-bottomed steamship, but there are too few flat-bottomed steamboats, and there are not enough at present. We decided to equip it with two Haicang steamboats and two speedboats. In this way, it will be much easier for you to connect in the south. This time, when you go back, bring more muskets, and you also have to recruit some soldiers who can swim and adapt to the southern climate and send them to Wuluo Island for training. ”

This time, Zhang Zhimu specially asked Li Mao and his two entourages to learn how to shoot a rifle with Li Jing. Then let them take three rifles with them when they returned to the south. Tell Li Mao that when you are in danger, there are three rifles that may save your life.

After Li Mao learned to shoot a rifle, he said to Zhang Zhimu: "Hurry up and produce this rifle in large quantities." With this rifle, the world is ours. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "Without this kind of gun, the world is ours." The biggest obstacle to our success is that we are not ready to sit in the world. When you come back this time, I wonder if we should make preparations for the specific work of party building. ”

Li Mao said: "I also think that the conditions are slowly maturing, even if there are immature places, they can also be slowly improved in the future." We're about to start a big war. We should build our core. ”

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Mechanics of Materials, Theoretical Mechanics, Elastic Mechanics, Fluid Mechanics. --Progress of "Memories of the Southern Song Dynasty".