Blinking his eyes, Zhang Xianzhong asked Xu Yixian puzzled: "Military advisor, I also feel that since a few days ago, there have been more displaced people who have come to us, almost all of them are in the thousands, and they are dragging their families with them, what's going on?" ”

Xu Yixian smiled and said: "Dashuai, I sent someone to understand yesterday that the government has started to raise taxes again, and the name of these additional taxes is called "Suppression", and the name is to deal with our rebels. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info"

"Okay, Chongzhen's salary is good, this is to help Lao Tzu send soldiers, pass the order, come to our homeless people, come and collect as much as you want, the strong ones are soldiers, and the old and weak ones are kept for filling the trenches when attacking the city in the future." Zhang Xianzhong said with a cold smile.

Glancing at him, Sun Kewang bowed down and said, "Obey!" So saying, he turned and went out.

The same thing happened in other places, the strength of Li Zicheng, Lao Hui Hui Ma Shouying, Cao Cao Luo Rucai and others has been greatly improved, the size of the army has been expanded again, the ten sides of the imperial court have not yet been opened, and the action to suppress bandits has not yet begun to be truly launched, but the strength of the rogues has been strengthened first.

On this day, Liu Guangzu was settling accounts with some farmers who sent forage in the forage field, and since the Zhongyong Corps had more than 5,000 war horses, buying forage had become a big deal. According to the standards of the official army, a war horse costs five yuan a month, and he has always bought forage and beans from the peasants at such a price.

Liu Guangzu collected horse fodder according to the quality of the price and never defaulted, so the peasants were willing to sell him forage. After settling accounts today, the peasants did not look as happy as before, but had a bitter face, and a few people even wanted to stop talking.

"Folks, what's the difficulty?" Liu Guangzu asked.

An old man knelt on the ground with a grunt, kowtowed, and said, "Little Lao'er begs this adult to add one penny per pound of forage." ”

"Uncle, I buy forage based on quality. Your fodder is good, but the price I pay is not low. Liu Guangzu said with a smile.

A middle-aged farmer knelt down and said: "This lord, what you said is good, but recently the imperial court has raised taxes, in the past, we bought these forages, and we still have a little money to buy a few catties of mixed noodles, but now it is not good, selling these forages, not to mention that there is no money left to buy noodles and even have to post dozens of dollars upside down." ”

"Is there such a thing? When did this start? Liu Guangzu asked in surprise.

"That's true. I don't dare to deceive adults. The peasants said babblingly.

After thinking about it carefully, Liu Guangzu said: "Fellow villagers, I can't be the master of this matter, so let's wait for General Zhao to come back and I will reflect your requirements to him, how about it?" ”

"Will the general agree?" The old man asked a little worriedly.

Liu Guangzu couldn't answer this question, so he could only comfort the old man: "Uncle, don't worry, I think General Zhao has a good heart and will consider your request." ”

"What are the requirements?" Zhao Guohua's voice came from afar

The peasants who sold forage looked back when they heard the sound and cheered: "Ah! The general is back. As he spoke, he greeted him warmly.

Greeting the farmers, Zhao Guohua, Niu Huan and a few commandos walked in quickly. Liu Guangzu greeted the mountain, and after saluting, he told the peasants what they wanted.

"I agree to everyone's request, from now on, add two cents per catty of forage." Zhao Guohua said without hesitation.

Hearing this, the peasants were overjoyed, and hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed in thanks: "The general is really a living bodhisattva." I wish the general, the prince and the marquis."

After sending the peasants away, Liu Guangzu bowed down and said excitedly: "My subordinates thank the general for his kindness on behalf of the people." ”

Glancing at him, Zhao Guohua said: "Guangzu, you and I are already a family, there is no need to say this kind of kind words in the future." To tell the truth, even if these people who sell drills don't ask for a price increase, I will take the initiative to increase them. That's why I'm here today."

"Why is that?" Liu Guangzu asked puzzled.

Looking at the north, Zhao Guohua sighed heavily and said: "Today, I went to Ji'an Mansion to pay the entrance fee, and the prefect Meng said that the imperial court would increase the salary, so I thought of adding money to the forage of the people." ”

"Salary? Listening to this name, it seems that it was added for the purpose of encircling and suppressing the rogues. Liu Guangzu pondered and said.

Nodding, Zhao Guohua said, "What you said is good." This was proposed by Yang Sichang, the new secretary of the Ministry of War, and Yang Sichang had a bad idea for Emperor Chongzhen. ”

"That's a good idea. If the imperial court wants to encircle and suppress the rogue, it has to ask for silver. How can there be a war without silver? Liu Guangzu said.

Looking at him, Zhao Guohua asked Niu Huan: "There is a house on fire, what should you do if you want to put out the fire?" ”

"Splash water." Niu Huan said, and at the same time, he was still wondering how General Zhao could ask such a simple question

"Bang" slapped the table, Zhao Guohua said angrily: "Yes." You see, even Niu Huan, a person who has never read a book, knows the truth, but Emperor Chongzhen is pouring oil on the fire, which is really speechless. As he spoke, his face was helpless and painful.

At this time, he had a feeling of lamenting his misfortune and being angry with Emperor Zhu Youzhen of Chongzhen. attack

"You mean that Da Ming is now ......," Liu Guangzu said tentatively.

He nodded heavily. Zhao Guohua said: "The Ming Dynasty is now full of displaced people, there are chaotic people everywhere, the people's lives are hard enough, this expropriation, more people will flee everywhere and become refugees, these refugees can only participate in the Liukou in order to survive, this is like adding fuel to the fire, if you want to exterminate the Liukou, it is even more difficult." ”

Liu Guangzu was shocked when he heard this, and hurriedly said: "Since the general can see this consequence, why don't you let the prefect write to the court to point out this danger?" ”

Shaking his head, Zhao Guohua said: "It's useless, those high-ranking officials in the court, it's not that they can't see this harm, but they are unwilling to change." ”

"Why are they reluctant to change? Aren't they afraid that the ship of Daming will capsize! Liu Guangzu asked suspiciously,

Sitting in the same boat, seeing that the boat was in danger, he didn't help him, he couldn't figure it out, and Niu Huan and the others were confused.

With a cold smile, Zhao Guohua said mockingly: "For these people, the Ming Dynasty has collapsed, just a change of emperor, and if you can be an official, you will continue to be an official, and if you can't be an official, you will be a rich man at home, and you will still eat and drink spicy food." Therefore, they don't care about whether the Ming Dynasty is down. ”

"I see." Only then did Liu Guangzu understand, with a look of frustration and disappointment.

It turned out that he also thought of those high-ranking officials in the DPRK and China as characters who worked hard for the country, and he thought that the affairs of the Ming Dynasty were bad for the officials of the prefectures and counties below, and Zhao Guohua's words made him know his naivety and ignorance.

After being silent for a while, Niu Huan asked, "General, what should we do then?" ”

"Intensify training, strengthen our loyal team, and use the swords and guns in our hands to save the sinking Ming when the time comes. Da Ming's illness is too serious, and he can't be saved without knives and guns. Zhao Guohua's face was resolute, and he said in a firm tone. After speaking, he instructed Liu Guangzu to increase the price of forage, and went to check the guards in the forage field.

The forage field is for Zhao Guohua's more than 5,000 cavalry, so he attaches great importance to it, more than ten acres of wasteland has a three-meter-high earthen wall, there are four high watchtowers on all sides, each building has six volunteers on duty in two shifts, two dogs at the door and eight team members are also standing guard in two shifts, each pile of forage is stacked separately, and there are more than 20 large tanks filled with water. A gong for the alarm hangs in the guardhouse at the gate.

"The forage field is the guarantee of our cavalry brigade, everyone must guard it carefully, and there must be no mistake." After inspecting the security work of the forage field, Zhao Guohua instructed Yang Gang, the captain of the guard team.

Yang Gang is also a veteran member of the Volunteer Team, and he is honest, so Zhao Guohua made him the captain of the forage field guard team, with a salary of four taels of silver per month.

"Please rest assured, General. I'll take care of the hay yard for you. Yang Gang stood up and saluted.

Nodding with satisfaction, he patted Yang Gang's shoulder with a smile, and Zhao Guohua left with Niu Huan and the others.

In Liu Wanshi's mansion in Ji'an City, Yang Degui, Liu Wanshi, Huang Kui, and Chen Bing were discussing the matter of dealing with Zhao Guohua.

Because Zhao Guohua collected their entrance fees and security fees, the four of them had formed an alliance to deal with Zhao Guohua, and the two fees that the four families handed over to the loyal team every year had exceeded 15,000 taels.

Yang Degui even hopes to complete the task assigned by Sheng Jing's master.

More than 20 years ago, Yang Degui was a petty official in Liaoyang City, and after Liaoyang was captured by the Tatars, in order to survive, he surrendered to the Tatars, and wrote a document of allegiance to the Tatars, which was released by the Tatars.

For more than 20 years, the Tartar did not send anyone to look for him, he thought that the Tartar had forgotten about it, and did not want to be half a month before the return of the Loyal Warriors, the Tartars came to the door and asked him to provide him with information about the Loyal Warriors, especially the firearms of the Loyal Warriors, and instructed him to sabotage the Loyal Warriors.

Yang Degui has a handle in the hands of the Tartars, and he hates the loyal warriors, so he accepts the task of the Tartars.

Seeing that the loyal team had many horses, Yang Degui had a bad idea of the forage field

A few days ago, they planned a conspiracy to burn the forage field, so Liu Wanshi bought off a farmer who delivered forage and sent a family member to follow him to the forage field to observe the terrain.

After coming back today, this family member said that the forage field was tightly guarded, and Liu Wanshi knew that this thing could not be done.

He knew that once the people sent were caught, it would be troublesome, and it was possible that Zhao Guohua colluded with the bandits in Jinggangshan to destroy his family, because he vaguely heard that someone had seen the people of the loyal team appear in Qinglong Village.

"Brother Yang, it seems that if you want to mix in and burn the forage field, I'm afraid it's difficult." Liu Wanshi lamented.

asked in detail about the garrison of the forage field, Yang Degui did not dare to act rashly, he knew that the strength of the loyal team was now greatly increased, and this matter was sabotage, once the person who implemented it was caught, then Zhao Manzi would not let him go.