But that's just theory. [Ran^Text^Library] []ｗＷｗ．ωχＳ520．ｃｏＭ

Linqing is a canal city, in the Ming Dynasty claimed to be comparable to Yangzhou, Suzhou and Hangzhou, although there is an exaggeration but the vitality is absolutely not lost to any city, according to statistics is one of the 30 big cities in the Ming Dynasty.

But if you are unlucky, you are unlucky, he is a prosperous commercial city by the canal, and if you are unlucky, you are unlucky, he is located in Shandong.

In the fifteenth and sixteenth years of Chongzhen's Manchu Qing Dynasty, Shandong, which suffered the most from the disaster, and Linqing was also captured by the Qing army because of its wealth.

According to the report of the "Military Department" at that time, after the war, there were 38 survivors in Linqing, and there were seven survivors of the three merchants, Xi Mingyuan, Tang Yin, and Wang Youquan. Its official offices and private houses were all burned down, and the embers have not been extinguished to this day. The two rivers are parallel to the streets, and the corpses are like mountains, how can they be counted. The battlements were all torn down."

Less than 1 in 10 people escaped.

The original Linqing was densely populated and prosperous in commerce, and it was said in the "Inscription Book of the Eunuchs of the Director's Roads": "There are more than 30 miles around the city in total, and in a city, regardless of the goods and wealth of the north and south, that is, gentlemen and merchants, nearly one million people."

It can be said that due to the entry of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the number of people who were killed and taken away was **100,000. Even if there is an exaggeration in it, hundreds of thousands will definitely not be able to escape.

The Manchu Qing Dynasty almost completely destroyed the commercial metropolis of Linqing, and only a year after the Manchu Qing left, Li Zicheng began his crusade to the east, and Linqing did not recover at all.

When Yang Chao entered the city, he actually saw that the city was very dilapidated, and he had neither time nor strength to repair it.

Last year, Liu Youlantang, the official of Dongchang Mansion in Shandong, said: "The humble position can be seen in the Qing Dynasty, and the original system is the throat of Caoyun, and the rebellious ...... Entrenched on the 16th. I have slaughtered and taken the people captive, so that I have no one to defend them; Tear down the battlements, so that I have no danger......"

Manchuria's approach to the Daming city has always been. As long as it is breached, there will inevitably be some destruction. This is a habit they have developed in Liaodong, Jinzhou, Liaoyang and other cities are like this, because they didn't think about occupying the Ming Dynasty city at all, they just looted for the sake of looting, and after pushing to the city, it will be easier to attack the city and rob it next time.

Therefore, the Linqing Yamen did their best, but only found more than 100 craftsmen for Yang Chao. are the lucky ones who escaped the captives,

And there is an extreme lack of blacksmiths that Yang Chao needs, there are more than 40 carpenters, more than 40 masons, and the remaining ten or so are relatively rare, such as three coopers, two brick-burners, and the most special is two coin-minting.

After inquiring about the Linqing officials, I learned that the brick-burning and coin-minting ones are not simple. The bricks of Linqing are very famous.

Linqing brick "hit it with copper sound, broken without holes", is the best brick. The Ming Dynasty set the tribute bricks, built the palace, the imperial mausoleum, the city wall all used the bricks of Linqing, the Ming Dynasty set up the 'Ministry of Industry and Renovation Division' in Linqing, and built two hundred brick kilns.

Yang Chao guessed that the reason why Linqing's bricks were not only because of the superior skills of Linqing's brickmakers, but probably related to the local soil, just like the porcelain in Jingdezhen. However, this resource endowment has allowed the development of special local skills, which have been accumulated over hundreds of years. The bricklayer skills of Linqing must be as unique as the porcelain craftsmen of Jingdezhen.

The craftsman who minted the money was related to the fact that Emperor Chongzhen opened the coinage bureau in Linqing, and the geographical location of Linqing communication between the north and the south was important. And it is also an important commercial town, so Chongzhen, who is short of money, tries his best to make money, the ancient Chinese court economic concept is often very poor, does not know how to use economic means, when there is a shortage of money, it is often quick to achieve quick success, what is faster than casting money, so Chongzhen opened a coinage bureau in Linqing, and there are these money-casting craftsmen.

It's just that Yang Chao can't use burning bricks and casting money for a while, he doesn't plan to stay in Linqing for long, Linqing's status in the past is really important, but now it's different from the past, after the Manchu Qing Dynasty looted, the city was almost destroyed, and the people in the city are now only twenty or thirty thousand, plus Li Zicheng will definitely send people to attack Shandong soon, relying on this city has no defense ability.

Jining in the south and Xuzhou in the south have more advantages than Linqing, Yang Chao is more inclined to Xuzhou, because the main purpose of his stay in Linqing is to wait and see, the most important thing for him now is to rush back to the south to stabilize the situation, of course, if Huai'an can master, it is better than Jining, in short, the current Linqing is really weightless.

Therefore, Yang Chao did not plan to reopen the brick kiln, and he did not have time to repair the city of Linqing.

Then Yang Chao recruited more than 300 craftsmen among the refugees, and there were more than 30 blacksmiths who were urgently needed.

Immediately organize people to build weapons, the bird gun can't be made for the time being, but there is no problem in building a batch of spears.

There was a constant exchange with the fast horses from the south, and ten days had passed since Jinbao went south, and Yang Chao was very satisfied with this person's ability.

It is better to say that Jin Bao is capable than to say that he has strong combat effectiveness.

Yang Chao found that this person was very bold, and he was very unkind to the prefect Lu Zhenfei in Huai'an, angrily reprimanding Lu Zhenfei for not having the courtesy of a monarch and a minister, knowing that the prince was in Linqing, he didn't go to greet him in person, pulling the tiger skin of the crown prince, he had enough moral advantage, and he almost scolded the officials of Huai'an Mansion.

Before Huai'an, the officials of Jining, Xuzhou and other prefectures had already been taught, and both places were forced by Jinbao to send representatives to Linqing to meet the prince, Yang Chao was waiting for the results of Huai'an, if Huai'an still waited and saw in a short time, Yang Chao would take the prince to Xuzhou.

Huai'an officials are also very troubled, legally speaking, since the crown prince is alive, of course the crown prince should be in charge of the country, and even ascend the throne, but before everyone thought that the crown prince was dead, just Fu Wang was in charge of the country, the edict has just been promulgated, and many places have not yet arrived.

Moreover, the civil officials in Huai'an still want to be consistent with the civil officials in Nanjing, hoping that after Nanjing discusses the results first, they are making a decision.

At the same time, with the help of Wang Xiao and Du Shouchang, Jinbao's activities in Huai'an were very vigorous, and he publicized the crown prince with various forces, personally guaranteed that the crown prince was undoubtedly the real prince, and took out a copy of the copied Chongzhen's secret decree for everyone to see.

Although the officialdom led by Lu Zhenfei did not express his position, other figures have stood in line, and quite a few businessmen have begun to take action. Of course, they didn't make it public, they just secretly supported some supplies, and it was obvious that these people still didn't dare to get involved in the power struggle. They just want one more way, in other words. At this time, they secretly supported the prince to leave a way for the future, and I am afraid that on the other hand, they are also showing favor to King Fu.

Yang Chao understands the actions of these businessmen very well, he does not ask these people to break with King Fu immediately, as long as these people are neutral, he is now trying to reduce hostile forces as much as possible, as long as King Fu honestly hands over power to the prince, Yang Chao believes that the justifiable Prince Chongzhen is pressed in Nanjing. It is enough to prevent the Donglin Party from fighting too much with other parties.

In addition to contacting Huai'an, Nanjing is also exchanging news with Yang Chao.

Zhao Kang continued to sit in Nanjing, organized 20,000 people who had been to Zhejiang, and began to let Lao Jin train.

Although there is no combat effectiveness, this number is still very bluffing, coupled with Yang Chao's name, as long as those civil officials in Nanjing think that there are still 20,000 troops of Yang Chao in Xinjiangkou, they will probably weigh the victory or defeat of the final struggle and make a decision as soon as possible.

Zhao Kang is indeed a celebrity, and people from all walks of life contact him openly and secretly.

"Is the prince's matter serious?"

Shi Kefa repeatedly confirmed to Zhao Kang.

Zhao Kang said: "My family said it. That must be true. ”

Although Zhao Kang's attitude was conclusive, after not making a clear determination, Shi Kefa still couldn't make up his mind. The shortcomings of insufficient severance hurt him this time, but he still did not learn his lesson, and he was still an indecisive person.

"If the crown prince really goes south, then he should naturally welcome the crown prince!"

Shi Kefa is very resolute on this point, he is worried that Yang Chao will find someone to pretend to be the prince, he has always been a little vigilant about Yang Chao's last time trying his best to go north, after all, Yang Chao is a military general, he dare not guarantee that Yang Chao will not have two hearts at this time.

"Mr. Zhao Qian, can you please ask Lord Yang to send the secret decree back to Nanjing. Let the cabinet confirm it? ”

Shi Kefa asked, he felt that this was the most straightforward way. If the cabinet confirms that it is correct, it is natural that it should go to the crown prince.

But he kept things simple.

Zhao Kang said with a smile: "The secret decree is very important. Relates to the identity of the prince, if there is a mistake on the road, I am afraid that no one will be able to bear the responsibility. ”

In fact, it was given to the cabinet, and Zhao Kang didn't think it was appropriate, the current cabinet was pulled up by King Fu, who knows their position, the secret decree was given to them, what would happen if they destroyed it?

Shi Kefa sighed, if he couldn't see the secret decree, he couldn't be sure, and if he couldn't be convinced, he couldn't make a decision.

In addition to Shi Kefa, the Donglin Party also secretly contacted Zhao Kang, hoping to let Yang Chao return to Beijing as soon as possible through Zhao Kang, and Qian Qianyi even privately said that the Donglin Party fully supported the prince's accession to the throne.

In addition, there are also eunuchs Han Zanzhou, Jinyi Wei commanded Feng Kezong and other powerful figures to support the prince.

It's just that at this time, the general army of the four towns, Ma Shiying, the secretary of the military department, has an ambiguous attitude, and it is their strong support for King Fu to ascend the throne, if there is a change of emperor, once a son of heaven and a courtier, they may not be suppressed, and they will not be reused.

In short, among the civil officials, the Donglin Party, which has a new grudge against King Fu, supports the prince, or supports Yang Chao, but other civil officials who are more stable are still waiting and seeing, and most of them hope to make a decision after seeing the secret decree.

The real obstacle is Ma Shiying, who has heavy troops, and the general soldiers of the four towns.

Of course, these opposition forces also sent people to contact Zhao Kang, but they did not express their position, which can be regarded as leaving them a way back.

Ma Shiying secretly contacted Zhao Kang once through her brother-in-law, Yang Wencong, who had a close relationship with Yang Chao, and did not express her position, but only inquired about the truth of the prince.

Liu Zeqing, the general soldier of Shandong, who initially supported the Donglin Party and finally supported King Fu, also sent a representative, saying that he had always admired a fierce general like Yang Chao.

The other three towns have not been in contact with Zhao Kang at all, no matter how you look at them, they are all bound to the Fuwang family.

In addition to the Donglin Party, there were also people who asked Zhao Kang to find a way to inform Yang Chao to come back quickly, and this force was the most difficult to offend, because this force was Yang Chao's parents, and his mother shouted for Yang Chao to hurry back to Nanjing, don't stay in the north, and also said that Yang Chao would get married immediately when he came back. (To be continued)