In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, April 23. () Yangzhou Prefecture, Jingjiang County

。

The rolling crowd kept coming, crowding an official road to the brim. There are mostly paddy fields in the south of the Yangtze River, and at this moment, when the seedlings are growing, the ground is already green.

The water town is a country, and the road is narrow. Even the official road is narrower than in the north.

So many people were running frantically on the road, people were constantly being squeezed out of the fields, muddy water was splashing, and there were sounds of grabbing the sky everywhere.

Mao Xiang sat in the car with a pale face, pinching his fingers tightly, the noise outside, the crying and shouting were endless, it was almost an hour, and the carriage had only gone out for two miles, depending on the situation, there was no way to leave Yangzhou Mansion today.

Moreover, there are so many refugees, everyone wants to escape the river, even if they enter Jingjiang City smoothly, it is not so easy to find a big boat.

If you don't leave Yangzhou as soon as possible and delay it for a few days, things will be in trouble.

An uneasiness rose in his heart, and he was so happy that he couldn't sit still anymore.

He couldn't help but poke his head out of the car and asked Mao Tinggui, the butler standing outside the car; "Housekeeper, is Madame good, Xiaowan is good?"

There was an obvious big scar on Mao Tinggui's forehead, the weather was too hot, and it was hot, and the big centipede-like scar turned blood-red, which looked very terrifying.

"If you go back to Gongzi, Gongzi can rest assured, our Mao family is a famous family and has a lot of prestige in Yangzhou Mansion. Although there was chaos here, the people didn't dare to offend when they heard that it was our reckless convoy. Besides, I have ordered the family to carefully protect the carriage of the eldest lady and the eldest lady, and I will not be able to go out late. ”

The eldest lady and Mrs. Ru in his mouth are the wife Su Yuanfang and the concubine Dong Xiaowan who are Mao Bijiang.

Hearing that the housekeeper had already escorted the car, Mao Xiang secretly breathed a sigh of relief. However, when he saw the endless refugee team on the road and the impostor's convoy, his brow furrowed again.

The impostor is the richest man in Rugao, and he is also a big family in Yangzhou Mansion. This time, the family fled, and more than a dozen cars were loaded in the cage alone, and there were more than 100 relatives and subordinates, and the momentum was not small.

But there are many people, but they go slowly.

He said anxiously: "Butler, this road is blocked like this, we have a lot of cars and horses, and when we get to Jingjiang, I don't know how late it is, I'm afraid that it will be troublesome if we can't enter the city by then."

。 Besides, with so many people, can you hire a big ship? ”

Mao Tinggui: "Don't worry, even if we arrive at the ground in the middle of the night, we can enter the city, even if the fleeing people say it, the villain can find the boat." ”

"Say it, say it quickly."

Mao Tinggui said with a smile: "The eldest prince has been devoted to the imperial examination in the past few years, but he is a little unclear about the things in the world. But I don't know that now the county lord of Jingjiang County has an old relationship with the eldest lord and son. When I get to the ground, I hand over the name of the eldest prince, and the county will definitely open the city gate to greet him, and the county yamen will also prepare the boat I need. ”

Mao Xiang was stunned: "Who is Jingjiang Zhixian?" ”

Mao Tinggui said with a smile: "The surname of Jingjiang Zhixian is Zhou Xiangchun, and he happened to be our Rugao's parent official before. ”

"Ah, it's him." Mao Bijiang was dumbfounded: "It turned out to be Zhou Zhi County, no, he had been promoted to the same governor of Huai'an Mansion many years ago, why did the official become smaller and smaller, and now he is the magistrate of Jingjiang, a small county?" ”

Hearing the eldest prince ask about this, Mao Tinggui's face was hateful: "Why else, I offended the traitorous villain." ”

Mao Xiang suddenly realized: "What the housekeeper said turned out to be Sun Yuan!" ”

The hatred and unwillingness on Mao Tinggui's face were even stronger: "The eldest prince is right, who is the thief if he is not Sun Yuan?" It is said that Sun Thief and Ma Shiying, the governor of Lufeng, the squire of the Nanjing Military Department, were embarrassed and got Sun Yuan's instructions. At the end of last year, he even instigated Caoyun people to make trouble, and was accused of arousing the people's rebellion by Zhou Daren, and was demoted to Jingjiang to be the magistrate of the county. ”

"It turns out that this is the case, Ma Yaocao used to be the governor of Hecao, and she was deeply rooted in Huai'an, so it is not difficult to do something about this. Lord Zhou Xiangchun is a straightforward person, so he is naturally not the opponent of such a villain. "Brave the frontier suddenly realized.

After the Fengyang Incident in the seventh year of Chongzhen, the officials of the entire Fengyang Mansion and Huai'an Mansion were held accountable by the imperial court, and they were almost replaced, and the former governor of Hecao was also taken down.

The governor of Caoyun was responsible for the safety of navigation on the Grand Canal, and it was of the utmost importance that he must be led by a powerful member of the imperial court. Therefore, later the imperial court made an exception to use Zhu Dadian, the former governor of Shandong, who was idle at home after the Denglai Incident.

Zhu Dadian is a person with outstanding ability and good feelings, and he is indeed a rare talent. Unfortunately, this man has a trait, he is very greedy. As soon as Governor Zhu took office, he made a lot of money, which made the people angry

。 After working for a few years, he was impeached by the Yanguan and went back to his hometown in Zhejiang to recuperate.

In this way, the post of governor of Hecao was vacant. At this time, the Henan and Huguang thieves were very strong, and there was a tendency for the eastern invasion to threaten the Grand Canal, the lifeline of the Ming Empire. Therefore, the imperial court let Ma Shiying, who was more capable than Zhu Dadian, go up.

Ma Shiying did a very good job in office, and later, the imperial court simply made him the governor of Lufeng and became the military and political leader in Anhui. It can be said that the reason why Ma Shiying started his career was from being the governor of Hecao.

Cao Yun is where Ma Shiying's power lies, and it is easy for him to do something in Huai'an to engage Zhou Xiangchun.

Mao Tinggui said angrily: "Ma Shilang doesn't know how much silver he got from Sun Thief, so he dared to open his eyes for such a thief, and dare to frame Zhongliang against the world's disapproval?" ”

"Yinzi, you also underestimate him Ma Yaocao." Mao Bijiang sneered: "Yes, Ma Shiying is actually as greedy as Zhu Dadian, and he is even more ruthless than Governor Zhu when he is in charge of Hecao." When he was in Fengyang, he was not soft when he put away his money. However, he holds the power of the army, and there is no way for the court to use him when he is employing people. Ma Shiying is now able to gain a firm foothold in Nanjing, not because he has the merit of quelling Liu Chao's rebellion in Yongcheng, what is more outstanding than military merit in this world? The battle of Yongcheng was fought by his Sun Yuan for Ma Yaocao, and the two of them have been completely united. Sun Yuan asked Ma Shiying to help him get paid, and Ma Shilang reciprocated, would he not agree? ”

The housekeeper Mao Tinggui stomped his feet: "Is there nothing Nanjing can do with them?" ”

"What else?" Mao Bijiang's face was depressed, and he sighed: "The country is ruined, and now as long as there are soldiers at hand, he is the king of grass." For example, a general like Sun Thief who leads troops, even the imperial court has to look at his face. Sun Thief and Ma Shiying are perverse, and honest and loyal people are also helpless. Butler, isn't it just to avoid Gao Jie's chaotic army this time? ”

"yes." The housekeeper also shook his head: "The officers and soldiers of this court are more powerful than the thief army, I heard that Gao Jie fled from Henan, and the place he passed through was simply not a single grass." According to the villain, even if the thief army arrives in our Yangzhou, it will ask for money and food at most, and our officers and soldiers not only want money, but also death. Could it be that there is no royal law in this world? ”

When it was mentioned that the Mao family had moved south to avoid trouble this time, not only did they venture out of the territory, but even the coachman who drove the car and the servants who waited around the cart were depressed and frightened.

The news of the fall of Beijing had already reached Nanjing a month ago, and Mao Bijiang's father had participated in politics in Huguang and Guangzhou, and the Mao family was a big family in Yangzhou, so he naturally knew all about the officialdom and national affairs

。

The reason why state affairs have come to this point today stems from the Battle of Tongguan more than two months ago.

After the defeat of the superintendent Sun Chuanting, he could only retreat to Tongguan with the remnants of Gao Jie and Bai Guangen.

If Li Zicheng wanted to seize the world, he couldn't help but take Guanzhong as his base, so he sent his main force to attack Tongguan.

Unfortunately, there were almost no usable soldiers in Tongguan at that time, and the outcome can be imagined: Sun Chuanting was martyred, while Gao Jie fled to Shanxi with more than 1,000 elites and a rabble of troops from Shanxi across the frozen Yellow River.

After Li Zicheng took Guanzhong, he attacked Beijing along Shanxi, and finally destroyed the Ming Dynasty.

Gao Jie was frightened by Li Zicheng, and after Li Zicheng entered Shanxi, he immediately rushed east with his troops.

The troops under him are either from the thief army or the nine-sided soldiers, and their combat effectiveness may be quite good among the officers and soldiers, but the military discipline is extremely corrupt. This way to the east, Kou plundered the place, coerced Dingkou, and the cruelty was even worse than that of Li Chuang.

Gao Jie was probably really scared by Li Zicheng, but this run was overrun, and he went all the way into the Jianghuai area. Today, the forward troops have entered the territory of Yangzhou Prefecture.

The death of the Beijing government of the Ming Dynasty was due to the bankruptcy of the state's finances. Especially during the Xiaoice River period, the annual natural disasters in the north, coupled with the smoke, have been completely destroyed.

Gao Jie's troops marched on the road for a day, and few people could hardly be seen. Especially in Henan, he is hungry and hungry, and he is very poor.

When they entered Yangzhou, the prosperity of the south of the Yangtze River simply dazzled the eyes of those northwest men. They never expected that there would be such a place in the world where the grass grows and the warbler flies, the traffic is strange, and the mountains and rivers are beautiful. Water, water everywhere, rivers, lakes, almost no worries about irrigation. And the dirt under your feet, grab a handful, you can almost pull out the oil.

Eat as much snow-white rice as you want.

This is not paradise, but what is it?

Therefore, as soon as they arrived in Yangzhou, the officers and men of Gao Jie's department reached a consensus: we will settle down here in the future and not leave.

It's not easy to settle down

。

According to the system of the Ming Dynasty, all the needs of the army were financed by the imperial court, and there was a fixed amount every year. The military salary is firmly controlled in the hands of the civilian officials, and the neck of the army is stuck by someone's hand, which is the so-called civil control of force.

But the problem is that Gao Jie has not received much support from the imperial court in the past two years. Moreover, according to the establishment of the high department, he only set up one battalion of soldiers according to the military system, that is, even if the imperial court was generous, he could only get a salary of about 4,500 people. But now Gao Jie's department has 30,000 soldiers, who have been transferred thousands of miles from Shanxi to Yangzhou, all the way to Dingkou, and now he has a population of 100,000 under his command. With so many people's food and clothing, the imperial court will definitely not admit it. So, you have to figure it out yourself.

What's more, Gao Jie in this world has already seen clearly: the court is unreliable, and if you want to survive, you have to do it alone.

Therefore, as soon as he entered Yangzhou, Gao Jie couldn't manage so much, and directly sent a large army to occupy the county seat, drive out the magistrates, and let his subordinates directly become the magistrate and the governor, splitting the land and feudalism. And Zhang Bang said that from now on, the summer grain and autumn taxes that the people need to pay only need to be handed over to him.

Gao Jie was indeed very poor, and he also knew that his subordinates had suffered huge losses in many bloody battles with Li Zicheng. Li Chuang has already ascended the throne in Beijing and called the emperor to change the Yuan Yi to the emperor, and the ghost knows when he will lead the army south to unify the world.

When the time comes, I'm afraid that I won't be able to withstand it.

Others may be able to surrender to the Dashun Dynasty, but he Gaojie has cuckolded Li Zicheng, but he can't surrender. Therefore, it is necessary to restore strength in a short period of time.

To regain strength as quickly as possible, nothing comes faster than a robbery.

The wealth of the world is gathered in Yangzhou, and Gao Jie will naturally not let it go. At that moment, troops were immediately sent to plunder in all directions. Others rob the place and pick on the rich to attack, Gao Jie is also fair, I don't care if you are a salt merchant, a gentry or a bitter common man, I don't let go of any of them, and I will burn a world of flowers alive. He was originally a thief, and he was familiar with this kind of thing, and he had no psychological burden, and he did not regard himself as a general of the imperial court at all.

Similarly, if it weren't for the fact that Beijing was taken by Li Zicheng without much effort, Liu Zeqing, the general soldier of Shandong, would not have fled to the south.

Liu Zeqing is cunning and timid. When Li Zicheng entered the Gyeonggi region, Emperor Chongzhen ordered him to lead troops into Beijing. How dare Lao Liu go to Beijing to die, he pretended to fall off the horse and broke his leg and refused to send troops. That's it, Lao Liu shamelessly folded his son to the emperor, saying that he was seriously injured and asked the court to pay for compensation. Emperor Chongzhen was so disgusted by Liu Zongbing that he had no choice, but the country was employing people, so in order to appease Liu Zeqing, he could only issue an order to appease him

。

But the emperor really couldn't come up with the money, so he had to piece together forty taels of silver and send it to Shandong. The dignified Ninety-Five Honor, now he can only come up with such a small amount of money, which is really sighing.

After the fall of Beijing, Liu Zeqing was also frightened enough that he did not dare to stay in Shandong anymore, and led the whole army south to eat the Israeli army. Like Gao Jie, Liu Zongbing was also very poor, and although Shandong had not suffered natural disasters, he was robbed twice by the Qing army like a comb. As soon as he arrived in Nanzhili, the prosperity here also made Liu Zongbing overjoyed.

He immediately followed Gao Jie's example, drove all the officials away, installed his own people, and became a great prince.

Liu Zeqing's troops were very inferior in combat effectiveness, but they had many men. This time, the entire family was moved to the Jianghuai area, and there were more than 100,000 together, which was more than Gao Jie.

Now, Liu Zeqing's troops are hovering in the Tianchang and Six-in-One Belt, and no one knows where he wants to settle down, perhaps, he is choosing a feng shui treasure to be his own feudal domain, right?

Unlike Liu Zeqing's difficult choice, Gao Jie fell in love with Yangzhou and never planned to leave.

Yangzhou is the most prosperous place in the world, since ancient times, it is necessary to wrap 100,000 yuan around the waist, and ride the crane under Yangzhou. Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Yangzhou has not experienced war for 260 years. And the southerners have a docile character, when have they ever seen such a fierce army. As soon as Gao Jie came, they abandoned their homes and fled south, and it was under this circumstance that the Mao family moved.

As early as four days ago, Mao Xiang's father, Mao Qizong, went to Nanjing with his wife, and asked his son to take his family and assets to go over one step later.

This is an easy thing to do, but I don't want this road to be full of people fleeing, crowded so much, but walking so slowly.

"Wang Fa? After the Son of Heaven made a big trip, the new monarch was not strong, the dynasty was chaotic, what else could the butchers have under the knife? Sun Yuan's thief was able to commit an atrocity back then, what law and discipline did he have in his eyes? Now, with the support of Ma Shiying, a traitor, who can help him? Ma Shiying even did the thing of ruining the marriage, and her morality was exhausted, so what else could she take into account when she started to do things, but it was a pity that Zhou Xianzun was honored. Mao Pijiang shook his head: "But that's okay, if Zhou Zhixian is not relegated to Jingjiang, we are afraid that we will not be able to cross the Yangtze River." ”

Hearing the eldest prince say this, Mao Tinggui became happy: "What the eldest son said is true, according to the villain, Zhou Zhixian is unlucky!" His frustration is the luck of our waiting. ”

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