At the end of March of the first year of Emperor Longwu, Zuo Liangyu and Zuo Mengeng were killed alive at the entrance of the vegetable market at the east gate of Wuchang.

In less than two months, the Central Army collapsed Zuo Liangyu's rebellion with a devastating force, and after defeating Wuchang, Wang Pu learned that Zuo Liangyu's rebels actually had less than 200,000 troops, except for more than 8,000 killed in battle and more than 20,000 missing, the rest of the 150,000 rebels all became prisoners.

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Wuchang, Wang Puxingdi.

Although Zuo Liangyu's father and son have died, and the rebellion has been suppressed, the matter of Huguang is not over, due to the burning and looting of the rebels, the agricultural production of Chengtian, Huangzhou, Jingzhou, and De'an provinces around Wuchang has been seriously damaged, the people have been displaced, and the casualties have been heavy, and a large amount of food and silver is needed to help the affected people rebuild their homes.

Fortunately, He Tengjiao, the new governor of Huguang, had already arrived in Wuchang, and as soon as He Tengjiao arrived in Wuchang, he came to meet Wang Pu to discuss the matter of appeasing the refugees and helping the people.

After the two exchanged pleasantries, He Tengjiao said in a respectful tone: "Master Hou, the lower officials have a preliminary understanding of several counties in Huangzhou and Wuchang, and found that the degree of military disaster is very serious, almost all the young and strong people in these counties were killed by the rebels, and the young women were all robbed by the rebels. ”

Wang Pu's mood also became heavy, and he asked, "Are there any dead people?" ”

"Yes." He Tengjiao sighed and said gloomily, "The lower officials don't dare to hide from the Hou Ye, just in the few counties that they visited secretly, there are more than 10,000 dead people!" If this is the case in dozens of counties in Wuchang, Jingzhou, Huangzhou, and De'an, the most conservative estimate is that the number of dead people is also more than one million! What's even worse is that it is only the beginning of spring, and it is the time for the spring famine, and it will take at least three months to lay the spring grain, and I don't know how many people will starve to death in these three months......"

In the end, He Tengjiao couldn't cry anymore.

"This is all the sin created by Zuo Liangyu, a chaotic minister and thief." Wang Pu clenched his fists and said hatefully, "If a person can die twice, Ben Hou really wants to kill him again!" ”

"Master Hou."

He Tengjiao suddenly knelt down in front of Wang Pu, and said with tears in his eyes, "Xia Guan has never begged anyone in his life, except for Cang Tian and his parents, he has never knelt down to anyone else, but today Xia Guan knelt down for you!" You must save the people of Huguang, and now you are the only one who can save the people of Huguang! ”

"Lord He, get up." Wang Pu hurriedly stepped forward to help He Tengjiao up, and said movingly, "Lord He's high style and bright festival are admirable, not to mention that I am still the governor of the five provinces of the Ming Dynasty, even if Benhou is just an Anle Marquis, he will never watch millions of people in Huguang starve to death!" ”

He Tengjiao was grateful and said: "Xia Guan would like to thank Master Hou on behalf of millions of living beings in Huguang. ”

He Tengjiao insisted on knocking his head three times before he was willing to get up.

Helping He Tengjiao to sit on the upper seat, Wang Pu said solemnly: "Lord He, there are about 30,000 stone of military rations left in the army, in addition to leaving 5,000 stone of return rations, the remaining 25,000 stone military rations will be allocated to adults, in addition, there are 120,000 stone of surplus military food in the treasury of Yanziji Battalion, after Benhou returns to Nanjing, he will send a fleet of sailors to Wuchang one after another, with this batch of military food, it is enough for Huguang refugees to survive for a month." ”

He Tengjiao choked up and said, "Master Hou, the lower official ......"

Wang Pu stretched out his hand to stop He Tengjiao, and then said: "But this little food alone is not enough for the Huguang refugees to get through this difficult time, and the rebels have burned a large number of villages, and the people need a lot of silver to rebuild their homes. ”

He Tengjiao said solemnly: "Xiaguan does have a belly case, but he still needs the help of Hou Ye." ”

Wang Pu said: "Lord He, please say, as long as Benhou can help, he will definitely help." ”

He Tengjiao said: "With the 150,000 stone military rations assisted by the Hou Ye, the rations of the affected people for a month will be settled, and with this month's time, the lower officials will be able to calmly raise and borrow food and silver, and the lower officials plan to sell all the imperial villages in the most affected prefectures, even if the price of the land in the disaster year is halved, more than 500,000 mu of imperial villages can be sold for more than 3 million taels of silver!" ”

"Huangzhuang?" Wang Pu said in a condensed voice, "Lord He is talking about the Zhuangtian of the King of Chu?" ”

"Exactly." He Tengjiao said solemnly, "The whole family of the King of Chu has been killed, and instead of letting it be abandoned, it is better to exchange it for some silver, which can at least save millions of refugees who have no food and clothing!" ”

Wang Pu said awe-inspiringly: "Didn't Lord He think about the consequences of doing this? ”

He Tengjiao dared to move his idea to the head of the Chu Wanghuangzhuang, and Wang Pu couldn't help but admire his determination and courage to ask for his life for the people.

He Tengjiao straightened his clothes and said solemnly: "There is no big difficulty except death, as long as millions of hungry people can survive, what does it matter if the lower officials give up their old bones?" It's just that there are few people in the lower officials, and even if there is good land, it can't be sold at a good price, so he also asked Hou Ye to maneuver around and persuade large households in Zhejiang to come to Huguang to buy and set up industries. ”

Wang Pu said movingly: "Okay, this busy Benhou will definitely help!" ”

In fact, at this moment, Wang Pu already had an excellent idea in his mind, one that could not only help the Huguang victims rebuild their homes, but also properly settle hundreds of thousands of prisoners, and even benefit the Wang family, which can be said to kill three birds with one stone!

The key to this plan is to let the Wang family prepare enough money to buy the 500,000 mu of farmland that He Tengjiao is about to sell, and then use more than 100,000 prisoners of war to do free labor to grow grain, mulberry and cotton for the Wang family.

However, because of the existence of hundreds of thousands of prisoners of war, Wang Pu must leave enough ammunition from the central army, and the concentration camp where the prisoners of war are held must also leave enough troops to garrison, and it is inevitable that there will be suspicions of fake public and private interests, but this is not a problem for Wang Pu at all, even if the imperial history of the court impeaches him because of this, he will not take it to heart.

Hearing Wang Pu's promise, He Tengjiao got up and gave Wang Pu a long look, and said movingly: "Hou Ye, if you thank you, Xia Guan will not say more, Xia Guan just wants to say a word to Hou Ye today!" There are so many royal relatives in the world, you are the first prince who really considers the people in the lower ranks! ”

Wang Pu returned the salute and said apologetically: "Lord He is too famous." ”

He Tengjiao said solemnly: "The disaster relief is a big matter, if the Hou Ye has no other instructions, the lower official will go to the camp to fetch food, and also ask the Hou Ye to allocate 2,000 soldiers to assist the lower official in setting up a porridge shed." ”

"As it should be." Wang Pu said this, turned his head and shouted, "Tang Sheng! ”

In the sound of heavy footsteps, Tang Sheng went straight into the signing room and saluted: "Yes." ”

Wang Pu said: "Take two thousand brothers and go to the treasury with Lord He to fetch grain, and then assist Lord He to set up a porridge shed." ”

"Yes!" Tang Sheng responded violently, and said to He Tengjiao with a solemn hand, "Lord He, please." ”

"Mr. Tang, please."

After He Tengjiao and Tang Sheng left, Wang Pu summoned Liu Qingyan into the signing room again, and instructed: "Sister Yan, please fly the pigeon to Chuzhou immediately, and let my eldest brother quickly prepare three million taels of silver!" ”

Liu Qingyan snorted and asked again, "Do you have any other orders?" ”

Wang Pu thought for a while, and then asked, "Have you found out about Zuo Liangyu's sudden rebellion?" ”

Liu Qingyan said: "Some eyebrows have been found, judging from the current situation, Zuo Liangyu should have been instigated by a mysterious person, and this person may have been sent by King Lu." ”

"King Lu?" Wang Pu's eyes were full of murderous intent, and he said, "It's him!" ”

Liu Qingyan said: "It's just possible, it can only be determined after catching this mysterious person." ”

Wang Pu nodded and said: "Then don't go back to Nanjing with me this time, stay in Wuchang first to find out about this matter, and then send capable personnel from all over the country to infiltrate Sichuan, Shaanxi, Yunnan, and Guizhou provinces, and improve our intelligence network as soon as possible." ”

"Hmm." Liu Qingyan said softly, "The slave family listens to you." ”

Wang Pu took Liu Qingyan's delicate body into his arms lightly, hugged her pink earlobes and said: "Scratch your hooves, when you return to Nanjing from Wuchang in a few months, my [***] scripture should also be practiced, hehe." ”

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Datong, blood flowing, corpses everywhere.

On the same day that Zuo Liangyu was executed by Ling Chi, Dolgon's Jiannu army also conquered Datong.

In order to vent the resentment in his heart, and at the same time to appease the uneasiness of the Mongolian tribes, Dolgon ordered the slaughter of the city, and allowed the Mongol cavalry to carry out inhumane burning and looting of the entire Datong Mansion, tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians in the Datong City were slaughtered, and nearly 300,000 people in the entire Datong Mansion finally fled to Shaanxi.

Datong City Effect, Dolgon Accounts.

The angry Duoduo walked in with Azig one after another, Azig looked unkind, and turned back and scolded as he walked: "What the hell? Dare to rob a woman with Lao Tzu! ”

"Shut up." Dolgon couldn't bear it anymore and said angrily, "Old Twelve, when will you be able to grow?" ”

"Old Fourteen?" Azig glared at Dorgon and said angrily, "Why are you elbowing out?" ”

"Brother Twelve." Dolgon's tone softened, and he smiled bitterly, "Do you know how sinister the situation we are facing right now? Do you think it's worth it to offend a Mongolian tribe for the sake of a Han woman? Isn't it just a woman, I'll ask Hong Chengchou to offer ten beautiful women to you, it's really ......"

"That's what you said." Azig immediately turned his anger into joy and said, "Old Fourteen, you have to talk and count. ”

Dolgon and Duoduo looked at each other and smiled bitterly, in the past, when only the children of the Eight Banners were needed to charge into battle, Azig was still somewhat useful in fighting bravely, but now he needs to use his brain, but Azig can't help at all, and he adds to the chaos, if it weren't for the fact that Azig is the brother of two people and one mother, he really wants to send this goods back to Liaodong, and the whole thing is not enough to do and more than to lose.

"Alright." Dolgon didn't have a good breath and said, "You go and rest first, I still have something to discuss with the old fifteen." ”

Azig answered and turned to go.

Dorgon sighed and smiled bitterly, "What a good brother to us. ”

Duoduo also smiled bitterly: "Fourteenth brother, don't worry about the twelfth brother, this time the Mongols sent more than 100,000 cavalry, but in the end they didn't leave much benefit, even the princes of Horqin are full of complaints, and what they say is very difficult to hear, if they can't be appeased well, I'm afraid there will be trouble in the end." ”

"Who's to say it's not." Dolgon rubbed his shame in pain, and lamented, "When I first entered the customs, everything went well, and I saw that I could capture half of the Ming Dynasty, but it turned out to be Wang Pu disrupting the situation, and the battle of Liaocheng seemed to be a draw on the surface, but in fact, our army was defeated." ”

Duoduo's eyes flashed a trace of hideousness, and he said in a deep voice: "Fourteenth brother, our Manchu population is too small, if we want to defeat the Han people without the help of the Mongols, it is not possible to defeat the Han people, in order to appease the dissatisfaction of the Mongols, I have no choice but to sacrifice the Han people, it is better to divide Shuntian, Baoding, Xuanfu, and Taiyuan into the hunting grounds of the Mongols, right?" ”

Dorgon's face changed slightly when he heard this, and he divided these provinces into the hunting grounds of the Mongols, which meant that the people of these provinces would become the prey of the Mongol cavalry, so that although the mood of the Mongol cavalry was appeased, these provinces would also become barren land.

"Okay."

Dolgon hesitated for a long time before bowing his head slightly, not because he was sympathetic to the millions of Han people in these prefectures, but because after the Mongol cavalry destroyed these state capitals, Jiannu lost several large prefectures that levied grain and taxes, and Jiannu's money and grain were already stretched, which made it even worse.

"Brother Fourteen." Duoduo said again, "Do you want to send a Eight Banners soldier to stay in Shanxi to monitor Wu Sangui?" ”

"I don't need to." Dolgon shook his head and said, "We are full of bannermen are less than 60,000, and we can't divide our troops in all directions, Shanxi will be handed over to Wu Sangui, Wu Sangui's situation is not as good as Jiang Ming's, Jiang Ming's back road to return to the Ming Dynasty has not been cut off, but Wu Sangui is the same as Hong Chengchou, it is impossible to return to the Ming Dynasty, if he betrays the Qing Dynasty, he will only die faster." ”

"That's right." Duoduo nodded and said, "This time to encircle and suppress Jiang Pin, Wu Sangui is out of the dead force, and almost all of Jiang Pin's 100,000 rebels were annihilated by his Guanning army. ”

Dolgon put his hands behind his back, looked at the bright starry sky outside the tent, and said in a quiet voice: "I don't know if the battle between Wang Pu and Zuo Liangyu has been decided?" ”

Duoduo said: "The junior brother has a hunch that Wang Pu may have won. ”

Dolgon nodded, and muttered: "I think so too, if Wang Pu can't even clean up Zuo Liangyu, he is not worthy of being my Dolgon's opponent, and it is impossible to force me into such an embarrassing situation today!" I really want to mention the southern expedition of the army again, and fight to the death with Wang Pu, but unfortunately the food and grass are not enough, and the horsepower of the Mongolian cavalry is also lacking, and only when the autumn is high and the horses are fat, can I go south again, alas......"

Duoduo said in a cruel voice: "Fourteenth brother, half a year is not a long time, and it will pass quickly. ”

The cold moonlight shone through the open curtain on the faces of the Dolgon and Duoduo brothers, and the brothers were like two lone wolves that had been badly injured, quietly licking their wounds under the moonlight. And Wang Pu's wounds are not necessarily lighter than those of the Dolgon and Duoduo brothers......

……

(To be continued)