The fiasco of the reinforcement army in Zhuxian Town affected not only one city and one place.

Like the epicenter of an earthquake, it spreads the waves of death outward in circles and circles. First Kaifeng City, then the whole of Henan, then Hehuai and Huguang and even Jingshi and Sichuan.

Wherever the seismic waves went, they resonated everywhere.

Officialdom was in an uproar; Public opinion has turned around. The political ecology and economic ecology have changed almost overnight.

And it's no wonder.

The backer stone fell, there was no cover, and suddenly I found that I had been running naked on the street, and it was strange if I didn't desperately find something to cover my shame!

The base camp of the Left Army, the supply base of soldiers and food sources - Huguang, the summer of the fifteenth year of Chongzhen is a particularly sad season.

The Chu army was defeated and returned, Zuo Liangyu retreated to Xiangyang, and Fang Guoan retreated to De'an. Fang Guoan's troop losses were slight, but in fact they increased slightly, so they wanted not people but food; Zuo Liangyu suffered heavy losses in troops, weapons, and food, and he wanted everything.

People are easy to do, but it is difficult to pay. There is a steady stream of displaced people from western Henan and southern Henan; But food, military salaries, clothing and armor can rely on the lake under your feet.

Where can Xiangyang, which has suffered from plunder, satisfy Zuo Liangyu's appetite? So Zuo Liangyu stretched out his hand to Chengtian Mansion and extended it to Song Yihe, the governor of Huguang who was stationed in Chengtian Mansion.

Song Yihe, who has been allowed to dismiss the official Hou for a long time by the holy decree, is not willing to lose Xiangyang, the north gate of Huguang, but also hopes that Zuo Liangyu will share a little bit and cooperate with him to smoothly pass the transition period, so he will no longer fight with Zuo Liangyu in pen and ink lawsuits, and uncharacteristically arrange food, clothing, housing and transportation for the left army.

Chengtianfu is the land of Longxing, with the Xingdu Left-behind Division, which leads directly to the Great Interior, of course, it can't be grabbed;

De'an Mansion is stationed in Fang Guoan, which is the territory of the Fang army;

The governors of Hunan are subordinate to the governor of Biyuan and have no jurisdiction over them;

Jingzhou, Huangzhou, Wuchang and other state capitals are the feudal feuds of the kings, and it is not the turn of Song Yihe, the governor, to rob them.

In the end, Song Yihe, who was cornered by Zuo Liangyu's words asking for silver and food socks, finally accepted the suggestion of his subordinate staff and put his idea on the head of Huitong Qianzhuang, which has been in the limelight recently.

Soon, the governor of the Yamen Xingwen Lake spread widely to the political secretary Yamen, saying that the army of the Ping thieves was out of food, and the military situation was urgent, and it was necessary to raise 500,000 taels of military salaries for the Zuo Ping thieves by mid-June at the latest, so as to solve the "urgent need". The Futai document also allowed the political secretary of Huguangbu to "borrow silver to buy grain" from the provincial money bank with the August autumn grain as collateral, and agreed that the loan would be deducted from this year's autumn grain tax.

The political secretary of Huguang has always been at odds with the governor of Huguang, and he has always been "Song Yiniao" when he opens his mouth and closes his mouth to the honorific title of the governor, but he has a rare understanding and action on the issue of refusing to pay the left army.

At this time, seeing the words of Governor Song, he burst into tears, and knew that it was not the time to bargain, so he hurriedly threw away the usual style of the government to prevaricate, and invited the lord Yang Ji, who was in charge of the affairs of the clan and the king of Wuchang Branch, to ask for the door of Wu Qianyi, the general manager of Huitong Qianzhuang Huguang.

Huitong Qianzhuang is really wealthy, and the shopkeeper Wu is really bold and decisive, and immediately agreed to borrow 500,000 taels "to deal with the crisis". The loan period is three months, and the monthly interest is two cents. If it's not enough, you can "refinance three times that"!

However, with such a large amount of money, Shopkeeper Wu also gave Lord Wang several harsh conditions:

First, this year, Huguang's summer and autumn tax payments will continue to be handed over to Huitong Qianzhuang as the exclusive agent.

You've always been my father! If you don't say this, I ask for it! Lord Wang didn't think about it, and immediately agreed.

Second, instead of using the discounted color of the autumn grain in Huguang Province as collateral for the loan, it is better to use the actual rice collected in Jingzhou, Yuezhou, Changsha, Hanyang, and Wuchang as collateral for the loan.

Wu Qianyi's request is a bit special.

As we all know, autumn grain is not grain, but silver converted according to the coefficient of each locality.

Why is this condition proposed? Shopkeeper Wu explained that everyone eats official meals, and everyone knows the reputation of officialdom.

A common trick in officialdom is that superiors and subordinates pull each other's skins, and the latter officials do not recognize the accounts of the former officials, and find tens of thousands of excuses to drag out the things that should be done.

The Huguang Domain Division promised to use the discounted color of the autumn grain in Huguang Province as collateral for the loan, which sounds good. However, if this promise cannot be approved by the governor's yamen, the governor's yamen, the governor's office, the capital division, Jingzhou, Yuezhou, Changsha, Hanyang, Wuchang, and the yamen of the prefectures and counties under their control, then under the strict order of the imperial court to urge taxation, some officials will immediately turn their faces and turn this promise into waste paper.

Moreover, Jingzhou, Yuezhou, Changsha, Hanyang, and Wuchang are all on the banks of the Yangtze River, which is a major passage for displaced people to enter Sichuan. The homeless people want to eat and drink, and if they don't have food, they will bring disaster. In the event of an accident, it is the local government and the local gentry who are responsible. Huitong Qianzhuang raised its true colors and appeased the homeless, which was to reduce the pressure on the gentry of the local government......

Wait, Lord Wang, who was full of impatience, heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he hurriedly asked:

Could it be that the shopkeeper Wu intended to take care of the food and drink of the first-line refugees from Wuchang to Guizhou?

Wu shopkeeper Zhengse said: Exactly! My lord of Shu is benevolent and righteous, and he is famous all over the world......

Syllable! Lord Wang slammed the table and made a deal!

The collection and payment of the national tax on imperial grain will be done by my Huguang official government! No matter who his surname is, how high his rank is, how thick his background is, whether he is a relative of that family, whose protégé is it, and which state or county can't do it, he will be removed from office on the spot first, and then impeached! If you dare to incite resistance, please ask Song Fuyuan to ask for the king's order banner and kill on the spot! In times of national calamity, the usage should be strict......

Facing the impassioned Lord Wang, Shopkeeper Wu reminded softly: Song Fuyuan has been dismissed from the official waiting for the throne, I'm afraid that the royal flag is not easy to use!

was pierced in front of someone, and Lord Wang was immediately heartbroken:

Song Fuyuan is the southeast pillar of my Ming Dynasty! Since Lord Song entered Fuhuguang, it has been a crusade to the east and west, and there is no peace. I didn't expect those traitorous ministers in the court to be mad, and they only attacked and attacked...... Oops, without the royal flag of Song Fuyuan, it would be a big deal for us!

Fu Yuan was dismissed, but Master Li was a messenger, and he also had a royal flag...... Shopkeeper Wu reminded again.

That's right! The thief is still in the same clan and clan (Note 1), what is the fear of the feudal division?

Suddenly finding a solution, Lord Wang excitedly waved his big hand and drew a shock wave in the air:

Those who instigated the resistance first stripped the official skin, and then hanged and beaten for three days, not afraid that he would not comply! In the past, the government was too soft, which made the provincial government accumulate many evils! If you learn from the bloody methods of Liao Fu in Sichuan, why would you be in a declining situation today...... Huh! Shopkeeper Wu, how much silver money can a stone of rice be worth?

Shopkeeper Wu pinched his fingers, gritted his teeth and said: One stone, one or two! Adults who participate in politics, you must know that every year the autumn grain is on the market, and the three major rice markets of Hankou, Changsha and Shashi only sell one, two, three or four for one stone! The old rule of the pawnshop is that the mortgage of cash goods is discounted by 7%. You still have a three-month futures, and you can get a 5% discount at most! I can get one stone or two, looking at Huguang, there is no money village willing to do it!

Lord Wang: One, two, two!

Shopkeeper Wu: One, two, one!

Lord Wang: One two and one money and five cents!

Shopkeeper Wu slammed the table hard, louder than the voice of Lord Wang: Deal! According to the old rules of the money village, this extra one and five cents will be used as a rebate, and the profits will be shared among the people of the Yamen of the Domain!

Ok, good, good! Shopkeeper Wu is really the reincarnation of Tao Zhugong!

Wait, Shopkeeper Wu calmed down the overexcited Lord Wang, I still have two conditions that I haven't said!

Then the shopkeeper Wu is not going to say it quickly! Lord Wang probably thinks it's not good.

In addition to the above two conditions, thirdly, the banknotes lent are handed over to the merchants designated by Huitong Bank to purchase the goods on their behalf......

No way! This time, Lord Wang refused to be categorical: The army of thieves is an army controlled by the imperial court, and the required ordnance and food are not justified by merchants?

How can I not buy on behalf of me? Shopkeeper Wu retorted that in the past, there were many merchants in Hankou, such as ......

That's different! Lord Wang's eyes squinted to the sky, and he no longer looked at Wu Qianyi:

Those merchants are all government-designated purchasing agents!

Oh, I see!

Shopkeeper Wu suddenly realized. No wonder Lord Wang would rather talk about it than let go. It turns out that he and officials at all levels have a part in it!

Shopkeeper Wu had to give in: Okay, it's okay if I don't do this business? However, there is one more condition, the political suffeur must agree to me, otherwise......

Lord Wang, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, became nervous again, and he didn't know what problems this shrewd shopkeeper Wu was going to give to his official!

This...... Shopkeeper Wu hesitated for a moment, and finally squeezed out a sentence from between his teeth:

"The homeless, the landless and the unemployed! There are a lot of ruffians in the old land! I think that when Xiaomin first arrived in Jingzhou last year, he was besieged by tens of thousands of homeless people that night, and the palace of the king of the dignified county was surrounded by three layers inside and three layers outside......

Adult, you don't know what it's like to have tens of thousands of hands and tens of thousands of legs around you! There is no way to go to heaven and no way to go down to the earth, and you are in a desperate situation and you have escaped death!

Our son, who was born in a nest of gold and silver, only knows how to accumulate virtue and do good, scattering silver everywhere, where does he know that everything in the world is sinister......

It's hard for me to wait for these people who are doing things next! ”

The shopkeeper Wu seems to be dissatisfied with Shu Shizi. Lord Wang's eyes rolled, and he cautiously showed an expression of understanding.

"So, these homeless people have to keep an eye on them. Don't let it go! Shopkeeper Wu finally got to the point: "Jingzhou, Yuezhou, Changsha, Hanyang, Wuchang five prefectures, each prefecture and county must set up a security team to ensure that the displaced people do not cross the border!" No provocation! ”

Flutter! Lord Wang couldn't help but laugh.

Aren't you talking about the local self-raising group training?

Which city doesn't want to build its own team training now?

If you want to set up your own group training, you should ask the local government for permission, what does it have to do with my domain? Do you want me to write all the way down to the county level?

Besides, can a provincial feudal division manage the affairs of group training?

Lord Wang, you know the rules of officialdom, Shopkeeper Wu smiled and said, without the writing of the feudal department, those mediocre officials and lazy officials in the yamen are naturally better than one thing less! Of course, this matter is just for you to pass a message to the yamen in the name of the feudal department, anyway, the two Taiwan and the three divisions must be used in each prefecture and county, and then they will be approved together, okay?

This is obviously because he is afraid that the state and county will backlash in the future, and the money village will not be able to receive rice, so it is necessary to use local regimental training to forcibly bundle loans!

When Lord Wang thought of this, his head suddenly became as big as a fight.

"There is another thing, Xiaomin doesn't know whether to talk about it?" Wu Qianyi asked humbly.

"What else?"

When the king has a big head, he is not happy; If you are not happy, you will not speak so gently.

Wu Qianyi leaned his head over with interest: "A chance to make a fortune!" Adults are in charge of the finances of a province, when they know what Huguang lacks most? ”

The most lacking? Could it be......

Lord Wang's breathing suddenly became short. A grand and spectacular scene popped up in front of Lord Wang's eyes.

A large pile of white flowers, as high as a mountain......

"Exactly! Salt! ”

Oh?

Lord Wang's eyes lit up, and the hats and wings on the back of his head quickly stirred:

"How? Mr. Wu might as well talk about it carefully! ”

……

One morning at the end of June, in the center of Wuchang Mansion City, in the square in front of Chumen in the main gate town of Chu Wangfu, an unprecedented signing ceremony was held here.

Zhu Zhihan, the chief treasurer of the Shu clan and the Huguang general account of Huitong Qianzhuang, represented Huitong Qianzhuang, Li Zhensheng, the governor of Huguang, and Wang Yangji, the political counselor of the domain, represented the Huguang government, Zhang Dazhong, the new prefect of Jingzhou, and Li Yuying, the judge of Wuchangtong, represented the local governments of Huguang, and Deng Fengji, the county governor of Jiangxia, and Wang Liangjian of Jiayu County, and more than ten counties represented the relevant states and counties with seals and pictures on the loan agreement.

In addition to the current officials, He Fengsheng, a scholar from a registered university, Zhu Shengmiao, the eldest grandson of the Xuanhua King of the Chu Domain, Zhu Shugui, the second brother of the Changyang King of the Liao Domain, Zhu Shugui, the general of the Fengguo Dynasty, Zhu Shupei, the commander of the Huitong Qianzhuang Jingzhou Branch, Xu Xueyan, the head of the Chu Domain, Lu Ding, the deputy general of the Ping Thief General Zuo Liangyu, and other guests and celebrities from all walks of life witnessed this grand and extraordinary ceremony, and drew a pledge for this huge agreement.

After the seal is used, the ceremony reaches its climax.

Zhu Zhihan showed the guests a huge and friendless silver check in public, on which was written an astonishing amount of two million taels of silver!

In front of the guests, Zhu Zhihan held up the check, exhibited it on all sides, and then handed it over to Li Zhensheng, the Huguang Inspector, to symbolize that the lender had fulfilled the contract in full and on schedule.

And Li Zhensheng, the Huguang Patrolman, also held this heavy wooden-framed check for guests from all walks of life to watch, and accepted the loan on behalf of the borrower, the Huguang official government.

The big check was handed over, but how much of the two million could be obtained actually depends on whether the seals of the state and county officials can be stamped.

According to the agreement, there are a total of 45 states and counties in the five prefectures, and the seal of the main hall of one state and county will be less than 50,000 taels! After three months, Huguang must repay 1,730,000 stone of grain, and if it is less than one stone in the next month, it will be fined one tael of silver!

In addition to the black and white words on the agreement, of course, there is also the name below:

First, on the grounds that there were many thieves among the displaced people and the people and that the territory and the people were safeguarded, the Futai No. 2 and the Huguang No. 3 Divisions applied for the training of various prefectures and regiments in the five prefectures along the Yangtze River. One government is one thousand, one county is hundreds, and it is stationed in the county and county, and is under the command of each prefecture and county.

Since it is a regimental training, all the supplies of this security regiment (battalion) are naturally raised by the gentry of each prefecture and county. All the officers of the security regiment were recruited by the gentry of the provinces themselves, and the soldiers were of course recruited by officers. The government is only responsible for commanding and using.

Second, Zuo Liangyu played the emperor and asked Zhun Sichuan to enter Huguang to "relieve the army's difficulties".

In the written recital, Zuo Liangyu fully demonstrated the recklessness and straightforwardness that a martial artist should have.

He told the emperor conclusively that in this battle to aid Bian, Henan was extremely hot, and the officers and soldiers were sweating. Because of the lack of salt and water, the soldiers were dizzy, weak in their hands and feet, unable to hold knives and guns, and unable to see the scenery clearly, so they would face the enemy and be defeated and returned.

Sichuan salt is close and Huai salt is far away, Sichuan salt is of high quality and low price, while Huai salt is inferior and high in price. If His Majesty allows the salt of Sichuan to enter Huguang, he will definitely be "happy in the hearts of the soldiers", and it is expected that the army will be reorganized; If it is not allowed, it will definitely be "angry in the war......

Please ask the emperor to weigh it and take care of it himself, "Don't be confused by the group!" ”

Of course, Zuo Liangyu's recklessness and straightforwardness have a consideration, and the Huguang Domain, who is responsible for contacting Zuo Liangyu, will not be in vain. Each of them took 10,000 catties of high-quality Sichuan salt as fine as white sand, and paid only a symbolic penny per catty according to the "special price". What's more, if the emperor is not "confused by the small group" and gives the order, they will have the benefit of this amount every month!

As the manager of the government, Lord Wang Yangji got 2 million silver from Huitong Qianzhuang as soon as he came out, and his political and business energy impressed Huguang officialdom. How could the eight-faced and delicate Lord Wang miss such a great opportunity to show his face, he jumped up and down at the signing scene, left and right. Shangguan, clans, gentry, and people from all walks of life are full of praise for Lord Wang.

The agreement was signed, the check was taken, the table was opened, and the host Li Zhensheng announced the end.

But at this moment, a person who looked like a master suddenly appeared quietly next to the adults participating in politics. He said something in his ear, and suddenly Lord Wang asked in a trembling voice:

How so?!

Note 1: Huguang Patrol press Li Zhensheng is a native of Mizhi, Shaanxi.

After Li Zhensheng was captured by Chengtian, Li Zicheng gave him gold and silver, respecting him as "big brother". However, Li Zhensheng still kept his integrity.