Taking advantage of the opportunity of greedy friendly troops to contain the surrounding Qing army for themselves intentionally or unintentionally, the fat army in the rich and noble hometown of Jiangnan finally lived a rare period of peace, the sergeants continued to train strictly, there are beautiful and prosperous scenery in the south of the Yangtze River to visit, there are rich military salaries and rewards to squander, there are fat soldiers from the Han Dynasty, mite city looted military records can be enjoyed, and there are a lot of recruits to bully, basically as long as they do not violate the stricter military discipline than before, they just do what they want, everyone is promoted- With the expansion of the army, the veterans will naturally rise and become rich one by one -- of course, compared to the previous border of Yunnan and Guizhou. 【】

The soldiers were happy, and the fat man Lu was also smiling so that the fat on his face bloomed, and the army was expanded to 70,000 in less than a month and a half, not to mention, relying on the solid material foundation laid before the good pockmarked chaff, the Nanjing Ordnance Bureau has also begun to produce a large number of three-good explosives and three-good rockets; After receiving the iron mold casting cannon method taught by Lu Fatzi, the hard-working and intelligent Jiangnan craftsmen have also begun to cast a large number of various artillery pieces for the Fat Army; In addition, there is the problem of the accuracy of the shells, after getting the help of the genius craftsman Huang Luzhuang, the Fat Army finally overcame the technical difficulties of high-precision flowering shells, although the output is not large because of the high process requirements, but fortunately, the manpower and material resources in the south of the Yangtze River are sufficient in the world, as long as they are willing to invest and have patience to wait, the supply of high-precision flowering shells should still be able to meet the needs of the Fat Army.

In order to quickly improve the vital supply capacity of firearms, Lu Fatzi also no longer retained the application of assembly line production technology, and handed over the production process to a special person to complete, smelting coke with a group of craftsmen, refining sulfuric acid with a group of craftsmen, refining glycerin also with a group of people, and finally unified by the Xuanwu Lake Ordnance Bureau to make nitroglycerin, and then prepared into three good explosives. At the same time, the most important group of craftsmen was allowed to live in the imperial city of Nanjing, which represented their status and status, and not only was they far superior to ordinary craftsmen, but they were also given certain special rights - such as special care in criminal, tax and labor services, which were used to increase the loyalty of these craftsmen and reduce the possibility of leakage. And Lu Fatzi's hand did mobilize the active surnames of the craftsmen, and the craftsmen under the original status naturally redoubled their lives for the Fat Army in order not to return to the previous bitter words, and sincerely supported the new regime of the Fat Army.

When dealing with the largest number of landlords and gentry in Jiangnan, in addition to redressing the grievances of the landlords and gentry in the Jiangnan Case, the Weeping Temple Case, the Ming History Case, the Kechang Case, and the Tonghai Case, Lu Fatzi also took the initiative to continue to implement the privilege of the gentry not to be poor and not to pay grain, and also promised to continue to implement the existing tax system, and never arbitrarily confiscate the family property and land of any gentry and wealthy merchants, but he must donate military salaries and military rations according to the number of acres of land and family property -- that is, tax in disguise, until the Great Zhou army settled in the Central Plains and completely overthrew the Qing court. Then he stopped donating, and promised to reuse the children of the Jiangnan gentry after winning the world, in exchange for the support of the landlords and gentry in Jiangnan.

And before that, because the Qing court needed a large amount of military rations, the landlords and gentry in the south of the Yangtze River had already been looted and extorted by the Qing court and the officials of the Qing Dynasty, and now although Lu Fatzi also looted and blackmailed, but fortunately, he promised not to use words to kill his head and copy his home, and the landlords and gentry in Jiangnan who had been killed by the Qing court also expressed their resolute support for the fat army, and agreed to Lu Fatzi's request for donating military food and military salaries -- anyway, they were all looted, the lesser of two evils, and Lu Fatzi, who was also Han and relatively mild, Naturally, it had a considerable advantage in winning the support of the Han landlords and gentry.

After coaxing the gentry and landlords, Lu Fatzi's incorruptible tongue aimed at the merchants in the south of the Yangtze River, and put forward the two theories of attaching equal importance to agriculture and commerce and the sanctity and inviolability of personal property; while improving the social status of the merchants and currying favor with them, they severely cracked down on the behavior of local officials who wantonly looted merchants, encouraged merchants to become bigger and stronger, vigorously carried out overseas trade, and taught them the advanced technology and advanced management theories they had mastered; at the same time, he promised the Yangzhou salt merchants that they would continue to guarantee their monopoly privileges after winning the world, and intensify the crackdown on salt smuggling.

Businessmen have always been the most realistic people in the world, although they are still skeptical of Lu Fatzi's promises, but for the sake of Lu Fatzi's protection of their property, and in view of Lu Fatzi's military power and knife handle, people have to bow their heads under the eaves, or obediently agree to pay taxes and donations, help the Fat Army expand its military strength, and accept the most stringent tax supervision of the Fat Army officials. Moreover, because Kang Mazi had only allowed private merchants in Guangzhou to trade with overseas merchants before, now Lu Fatzi has vigorously encouraged overseas trade, and many merchants have quickly tasted the sweetness of overseas trade, which has led the entire Jiangnan business community to vigorously carry out overseas trade, and has also supported and supported the Fat Boy Army more -- these people do not want the Qing army to fight back to the forbidden sea and wantonly loot.

The gentry and merchants were coaxed, it was the turn of the ordinary people, Lu Fatzi, who knew very well what the people of this era needed most, first confiscated a large amount of land from the Jiangnan Banner people and the Han Dynasty, and then sold it to the ordinary people at a low price or distributed it to the poor people for cultivation free of charge, and announced that he would recognize the land deeds issued by the Qing Dynasty to protect the legitimate land and property of the people. Finally, it was announced that the newly occupied land of the Great Zhou army in the future, and the Zhuangtian land confiscated from the four surnamed bannermen and the hardcore Han Annihilators, would be sold to the people at low prices and distributed to meritorious soldiers and meritorious officials, in exchange for the support of the people and officials, and encouraged the soldiers to kill the enemy and make meritorious contributions.

With a clear political program, the radish and stick were hit so many times, and the Fat Army quickly gained a firm foothold in half of the south of the Yangtze River, and the state capital and county town annexed by the Fat Army also began to stabilize rapidly, and the people's livelihood economy, which had been not greatly damaged, not only recovered as before, but also became more prosperous. At the same time, Lu Fatzi also encouraged Yangzhou salt merchants to actively smuggle abroad, and even more shamelessly sent troops to protect Yangzhou salt merchants from smuggling abroad, and actively contacted the surrounding county capitals and counties controlled by the Qing army, or bribed or threatened, or forced or soft begging, openly helped Yangzhou salt merchants to smuggle abroad, indirectly protected the Jiangnan salt industry and salt stove households, so that the Jiangnan salt industry would not be completely destroyed in the war, bribed and encircled the Jiangnan salt industry practitioners and people, and made huge profits from it.

Under the so-called benevolent rule of Lu Fatzi, the people of Jiangnan were happy, but Lu Fatzi himself was tired, not only to manage the people's livelihood and economy, build high walls and accumulate grain, recruit troops and horses to accumulate strength, but also have to deal with the co-optation and bribery from various forces, Geng Jingzhong and the monk all sent letters asking Lu Fatzi's main force to go south, and attack the Qing army in Zhejiang and southern Jiangxi in the north and south; Wu Yingqi, Xia Guoxiang and Ma Bao sent a letter asking Lu Fatzi to return to the west, attack Jieshu and Niyahan to open the way, and the good brothers get rich together; Zheng Jing praised Lu Fatzi in his letter as rare in the sky and unparalleled in the ground, and at the same time instigated Lu Fatzi to send a naval division to the south, join forces with the Taiwanese naval division to flank the naval division of the Qing army in Zhejiang, and open up a sea road, so that the two most resolute rebel armies in the world against the Qing Dynasty could realize the Jiangnan division - and then make a fortune together.

These people are all easy to send away, anyway, they themselves can't come to Nanjing, Lu Fatzi casually took some wine, food and silver to send the messenger, and then he could take their letters to wipe his ass and blow his nose, but the new ambassador Huang Ji Huang sent by Kang Mazi was not so easy to send. Relying on the fact that he was twice as old as Lu Fatzi, and also relying on the kindness of arranging a good position for Lu Fatzi at the opening ceremony, Huang Ji Huang Lao Shangshu pestered Lu Fatzi enough, and led a large group of officials and lobbyists to surround Lu Fatzi every day, only to say that it was a mess, and the cuckoo cried blood, what he wanted was that Lu Fatzi would raise troops as soon as possible Anyway, accept the canonization of Kang Mazi, and reopen the Beijing-Hangzhou artery, Lu Fatzi refused to agree under the pretext that Jieshu did not withdraw the army.

At the end of June, the news of Jieshu and Niyahan's collection of troops was transmitted back to Nanjing, in view of Wu Yingqi and Xia Guoxiang joining forces to advance eastward, Ma Bao turned southeast, Jieshu and Niyahan had to collect troops to defend Luzhou and Anqing, and the Taiping Mansion War, which had been hard to attack and defend for nearly two months, finally ended with the fat army Wang Xubu finally succeeded in keeping the west gate of Nanjing City after paying a lot of price, and won crucial precious time for the fat army to gain a foothold in the south of the Yangtze River. After receiving this news, Lu Fatzi was overjoyed and had just ordered to reward the meritorious soldiers of the Taiping Mansion War, and Huang Ji Huang Laoshangshu came to visit in person, and now he still needs to continue to deal with the Qing Dynasty Lu Fatzi was helpless, so he had to agree to meet Huang Laoshangshu in the back hall.

After a while, Huang Laoshangshu was politely invited into the back hall by Xiao Erlang, and as soon as he sat down, Huang Laoshangshu didn't even have time to take a sip of tea, and immediately smiled and said: "Nephew Lu Xian, now you can always believe in the sincerity of the emperor's surrender, right?" According to your request, Prince Kang has withdrawn his troops from Taiping Mansion and returned to Luzhou, and you don't have any worries anymore, right? ”

"Uncle Huang, did Prince Kang really withdraw his troops from Taiping Mansion in order to agree to his little nephew's request?" For the sake of Lin Tianqing's good treatment and friendship with Huang Ji, Lu Fatzi has always called Huang Laoshangshu a nephew, and asked very respectfully: "But the accurate news that the little nephew received, why is it because Ma Bao's army returned to the southeast and attacked Luzhou through Guangzhou, so he collected troops from Taiping Mansion?" And when Prince Kang collected his troops, why did he kill dozens of unfortunate captured officers and soldiers of our army and dissect their bodies with knives? ”

"And this? Don't blame the virtuous nephew, the old man really doesn't know about this. Huang Laoshangshu, who really didn't hear the news, blushed, and hurriedly said: "Please rest assured, the old man will immediately send someone back to Beijing to write to Long Live to impeach Prince Kang's unrighteous actions, and he must give an explanation to the virtuous nephew." ”

"Then there's Uncle Lao Huang." Fat Lu thanked him and asked, "Uncle, are you still used to living in the Nanjing Post House?" If there are any requirements for food and daily life, please uncle must not be polite, even if he speaks, the little nephew will try his best to arrange it to show respect. ”

"Thank you nephew, the old man lives well in the Jiangning Post House, everything is fine." Huang Laoshangshu thanked him, and said very kindly: "Virtuous nephew, no matter what Prince Kang is withdrawing the army for, the three requirements put forward by the virtuous nephew have been fulfilled by the Qing Imperial Court. The virtuous nephew wants the emperor's pardon decree, the old man has already brought it to you, the virtuous nephew wants the court to send another big man to appease him, and the old man, the official of the ministry, has also come to Jiangning, I believe the virtuous nephew should also be satisfied, right? The agreement between the virtuous nephew and Lord Wang before should also be ....... ”

"Uncle Huang, please forgive the little nephew for being rude." Lu Fatzi first interrupted the yellow machine, and then suddenly raised his voice, and said neither humbly nor arrogantly: "But the little nephew still thinks that Emperor Kangxi is still fooling the little nephew, and the Zhejiang army came and went back before because Shang Zhixin rebels launched a mutiny, and Zhejiang was in an emergency again." Now that Prince Kang is collecting troops, it is also because Ma Bao killed Luzhou and had to collect troops to protect himself. If there was no Shang Zhixin's rebel mutiny and Ma Bao's change of direction of attack, I am afraid that Emperor Kangxi's two-way army would have come to Nanjing City to ask for the life of his little nephew, what kind of sincerity can this be? ”

"This ......." Huang Lao Shangshu's old face was even more embarrassed.

"Uncle, the little nephew also knows that you are sincere and kind, but the little nephew really doesn't dare to risk the precious lives of tens of thousands of soldiers and his own head." Lu Fatzi said in a deep voice: "Please return to Emperor Kangxi, he succeeded in the strategy of delaying the army with a strategy of appeasement, and the little nephew really missed the best opportunity to go south to meet the prince of Jingnan and the main force of the prince of Dazhou to the west." However, if Emperor Kangxi still wants to use a strategy to trick the little nephew into putting down his weapon, escorting him to the capital with a thousand knives, and Ling Chi to death, then the little nephew will never be fooled again! ”

"Nephew misunderstood, no one lied to you!" Huang Laoshangshu shouted injustice, "The old man has always treated his virtuous nephew well, and he and his uncle Lin Tianqing Lin are friends of life and death, will he still come to deceive you?" ”

"Of course my uncle won't deceive the little nephew, but Emperor Kangxi is obviously deceiving and fooling the little nephew!" Lu Fatzi said angrily: "Two months ago, when the little nephew just entered Jiangnan, he could go all out to attack Zhejiang, pick up the prince of Jingnan to go north, or return to Anqing, join forces with the second prince to attack Niyahan, and completely capture northern Jiangxi!" ”

"But just because the little nephew believed in Emperor Kangxi's appeasement, he missed this good opportunity! Jie Shu took the opportunity to go south from Luzhou, and Lai Ta and Li Zhifang also took the opportunity to send troops from the south to the north to consolidate the defense of northern Zhejiang, fill the gap in the defense line, and in turn surround the little nephew! Emperor Kangxi's clever plan succeeded, and the little nephew was fooled! But the little nephew said that he would not be fooled again! The little nephew is unwilling to die under the butcher's knife of Emperor Kangxi like the prisoners of war of our army who were slaughtered by Prince Kang! ”

In front of Lu Fatzi's righteous words, Huang Laoshangshu was dumbfounded, only then did he realize that the fat man Lu who had helped him back then could be so shameless, and he could still speak so justifiably and magnificently. Fat Lu said loudly again: "Please Uncle Huang return to Emperor Kangxi, if he still wants to deceive and fool his little nephew, then don't dream about it!" If he wants to take back Jiangnan by force, then come, Taiping Mansion is only more than 800 miles to Anqing, and Suzhou is only more than 1,000 miles to Jinhua, and the great nephew burned down the city of Nanjing, burned Jiangnan into a scorched earth, and killed back to the southwest or to the southeast! ”

Lu Fatzi even said the words of burning Jiangnan into a scorched earth, and Huang Laoshangshu, who was quite kind, was completely speechless, and after repeated calculations, Huang Laoshangshu said to Lu Fatzi helplessly: "Since the virtuous nephew has spoken to this point, the old man has no face to disturb in Jiangning City, the old man will ...... tomorrow, no, the old man will leave for Beijing today, and show the reply of the virtuous nephew to the master in person." ”

"Uncle, there's no need to be in such a hurry, right?" Lu Fatzi, who urgently needed time to gain a foothold in Jiangnan, hurriedly retained it, and said with a smile: "If the little nephew is not mistaken, my uncle seems to be from Qiantang, Zhejiang, right?" The uncle rarely went south, so he didn't want to go back to his hometown, so the little nephew should do his best to assist and send an army to escort the uncle south. ”

"Thank you for your kindness, but the emperor is here, don't dare to delay, let's talk about it later." Huang Laoshangshu shook his head, and said sincerely: "Virtuous nephew, don't misunderstand that the old man is threatening you - it's not a secret, just when the old man went south from the capital, Yue Le, the former Prince of An, who had been abolished and relieved of all powers, wrote a book of ten thousand words to Long live, pointing out that Jiangnan is the first place in my Qing Dynasty, and you have to be trapped in Jiangnan into the sea, if you let the virtuous nephew you gain a firm foothold in Jiangnan, then I will be in danger!" ”

"Damn, Yue Le, this bastard is really powerful." Fat Lu scolded secretly, and said with a smile: "Prince An has won the award, and the little nephew really doesn't dare to be it, so what will he say next?" ”

"Prince An thinks that our Qing court would rather give up the entire Shaanxi and Gansu than let you sit big." Huang Laoshangshu said solemnly: "Therefore, Prince An suggested that Long Live and Geng Jingzhong make peace with Geng Jingzhong, and then give up Shaanxi and Gansu to stick to Tongguan, transfer the main force of Shaanxi and Gansu to the battlefield in the south of the Yangtze River, gather the strength of the whole country, join forces with the Zhejiang army, and kill you with all your might!" And don't hope to appease and surrender and delay the fighter! ”

"Prince An really looks down on his little nephew, and he really doesn't dare to be a little nephew." Fat Lu laughed, "It seems that Emperor Kangxi must not have listened to him, otherwise, Uncle Huang would not have given his little nephew this opportunity to pay homage." ”

"Of course the emperor didn't listen to him, and most of the people in the court also thought that Prince An had his brain shut up and said these stupid words." Huang Ji nodded, and suddenly lowered his voice and said, "But virtuous nephew, if the emperor knows about these movements in Jiangnan, I'm afraid he will carefully consider this proposal, right?" ”

"What's going on in Jiangnan? Why didn't the little nephew understand what the uncle was talking about? Fat Lu asked stupidly.

"Virtuous nephew, don't hide it from the old man." Huang Ji's expression was even more serious, and he said in a low voice: "Although the old man has always been known for liking and mud in the court, he is also a fool who has lived for more than sixty years, and the ambition of the virtuous nephew, the old man can still see it." What the virtuous nephew did in Jiangnan during this time, was it really just for Wu Sangui, just to sell himself at a good price? Not to mention anything else, just the land decree of the virtuous nephew, the opening of the sea ban, and the recruitment of troops and horses to build firearms are just to prepare for the world! ”

Fat Lu finally put away his smirk, looked Huang Ji up and down, and suddenly lowered his voice and asked, "Then Uncle Huang, do you plan to report to Kang Mazi truthfully?" ”

"As a courtier, what you see and hear, you should tell the emperor long live." Huang Laoshangshu spread his hands, and said with a smile: "But before leaving, the emperor has another explanation, in order to avoid irritating and angering the virtuous nephew, the old man must not spy on the virtuous nephew's military aircraft without authorization, let alone buy the virtuous nephew's henchmen like Xiong Cixu - the emperor has an order, and of course his subordinates dare not disobey." ”

"Thank you, uncle." Lu Fatzi hurriedly thanked him, and said in a deep voice: "Please rest assured, he said that if the little nephew can really get what he wants, the uncle and his family will definitely be rich for life." The uncle left for Beijing this time, and the little nephew naturally presented a thin gift, and hoped that the uncle would say a few good words for the little nephew in front of Kang Mazi. ”

"In that case, the old man will be ashamed." Huang Laoshangshu nodded, and said with a smile: "Virtuous nephew, I heard that you only have two wives now, and there is a long-cherished woman who cannot officially visit the church for the time being because of her filial piety. The eldest husband still has three wives and four concubines, and the virtuous nephew now holds half of the south of the Yangtze River, young and promising, is the number of wives and concubines too small? ”

"Yes, my little nephew thinks so too." Fat Lu nodded hurriedly, thought so, and asked with a smile: "Uncle Huang said this, does he want to be a matchmaker for his little nephew and take another wife and concubine?" ”

"The old man has a granddaughter in his hometown in Hangzhou, who is thirteen this year and has not yet been married." Huang Laoshangshu replied with a smile.

"Grandfather, please be worshiped by your grandson-in-law." Fat Lu hurriedly got up and knelt down on Huang Ji's knees.

"Son-in-law, please get up quickly." Huang Laoshangshu hurriedly picked up the fat man Lu and said with a smile: "Xifeng is still a little younger, and it is not suitable to get married immediately, can the virtuous grandson-in-law ......." ”

"It's all up to my grandfather to arrange, and I ask my grandfather to approve the specific wedding date." Fat Lu replied respectfully, and at the same time wondered a little in his heart, Xifeng? Huang Xifeng? How does it sound familiar?

"I remembered!" Fat Lu jumped up all of a sudden, mung bean's small eyes were bigger than a bull's eye, and he almost didn't shout, "The East China Sea lacks a white jade bed, and the Dragon King has come to invite King Jinling!" Isn't the prototype of the Hangzhou Wang family in the Dream of Red Mansions the Huangji family? In this way, Huang Ji's granddaughter is called Huang Xifeng, isn't it ......? ”

"Son-in-law, what's wrong?" Huang Ji was taken aback by Fat Lu's fierce actions.

"No ......, nothing." Lu Fatzi hurriedly shook his head, took Huang Ji's thin old hand again, and said very sincerely: "Grandfather, the matter of the grandson-in-law, please ask grandfather, be sure to ask Kang Mazi to send another envoy to surrender!" ”

"It's all a family, what's polite." Huang Ji said with a smile: "But it's inconvenient for grandfather to come again, virtuous grandson-in-law, I don't want to see grandfather carry the black pot for you, right?" ”

"Of course, that's of course." Lu Fatzi nodded again and again, and hurriedly asked Xiao Erlang to take the letters from Geng Jingzhong and Zheng Jing to him, held them in front of Huang Ji with both hands, and said with a smile: "Please also ask grandfather to present these two letters to Kang Mazi together, so that he knows that whether it is to negotiate a truce with Geng Jingzhong or with Zheng Jing, it is unreliable, and they are all peeking at the rich hometown in the south of the Yangtze River." Only the grandson-in-law, the conscience is still good, and there is still the possibility of saving, and the reason why he did not raise troops is ...... anyway. ”

"It's all because Prince Kang has gone against the grain, lost his conscience and killed prisoners of war indiscriminately, which chilled the hearts of the virtuous grandson-in-law and the virtuous grandson-in-law - this does not need to be taught by the virtuous grandson-in-law, and the old man also understands it."

(To be continued)