The city of Puzhou is now in a subtle tranquility, quiet on its surface, the streets are quiet, no one moves, no laughter is heard, no crying is heard, and the whole city has entered a kind of stillness.

After Zhu Yuanzhang's army opened a warehouse to release grain, the residents in the city were temporarily relieved, at least they didn't have to worry about being killed, because the act of opening a warehouse and releasing grain could show that they had no intention of killing. But they still did not dare to walk around the city, nor did they dare to gather, for fear of attracting the attention of the rogues. What if these rogues opened warehouses and released grain just to trick them into becoming strong men?

Unlike ordinary people, some wealthy people are secretly running around in contact, after all, this city is where they were born and raised, and it is not difficult to get past the patrols on the streets, and it is not difficult to penetrate from one street to another.

On the second night, a group of rich people ran into each other in a small courtyard without knowing it.

The owner of this courtyard is surnamed Liu, named Xiudao, who was originally a staff member of Lord Zhizhou, and he was the one who warned him on the city wall not to open the city and tear down any walls, and he was the one who could defend the city. This person is Chinese New Year's Eve two years old today, in the prime of life, and has no merit in his name, but he is a famous sage in Puzhou, knowledgeable, and very well learned, but he has no merit and fame.

Officials should know that the imperial examination system in the Ming Dynasty is very bad, and it is not that you will definitely be able to pass the exam if you are knowledgeable and well-educated...... The more imaginative the talent, the easier it is to fall off the list, and celebrities like Tang Bohu and Xu Wei have not been able to pass the fame. This does not mean that they are pigs, it is simply that they have deviated from the norm and have not learned the test-oriented education well. Later, Tang Bohu became a prodigal son, and Xu Wei made Hu Zhongxian's staff for life! In later generations, Tang Bohu must be an art master without a diploma, but excellent in song and painting, a painting sells for at least hundreds of thousands of yuan on the black market, and a songwriter has to let singers sell hundreds of thousands of records. As for Xu Wei, he may be an executive in a Fortune 50 company.

This Liu Xiudao, of course, is not as talented as Tang Bohu and Xu Wei, only a little talented, unambitious, not taken seriously, and a very ordinary staff. But he is a local, this is a natural advantage, since he became the staff of the Zhizhou Lord, the rich people of Puzhou often ask him for a drink in private, talk to their hearts, give him a few gold and silver ingots, a beautiful woman or something, and therefore, he is a leading guy among the local rich people.

At this time, a group of squires and wealthy families gathered in his yard, and a few unrestrained family members lay on the wall next to the door, looking at whether there was a patrol team of Zhu Yuanzhang's army passing by, and in the middle of the courtyard, a group of rich gentry wearing coarse cloth clothes and disguised like poor people stood in a group around Liu Xiudao.

"Mr. Liu, you are the most capable, what should you do in this situation in front of you?" A wealthy businessman pulled Liu Xiudao's sleeve and said.

"Yes, for the sake of how respectful we usually treat you, you can come up with an idea." Another squire also said: "At present, the four doors are closed, I can't leave, the thieves may enter the house at any time, I can only close my eyes and wait for death?" ”

Liu Xiudao was wearing a Taoist robe, standing in the middle of the squires, his face was pale. Those who wear Taoist robes are not necessarily Taoist priests, this is just a more popular regular dress. He closed his eyes and thought for a while, then shook his hand and said: "Everyone, don't panic, I don't think this Baishui Zhuba is not a person who loves to kill, he is a little different from the thirty-sixth battalion, and the situation is still going to turn around." ”

"Oh?" The rich gentry craned their necks and waited for him to continue.

"This man has no intention of killing! Otherwise, there would have been a river of blood in the city by now. Liu Xiudao said seriously: "I look at this person's army, and the military discipline alone is not idle. Let's take the opening of the warehouse to release the grain, the general thieves enter the city, and all the thieves will rob the grain, but Baishui Zhuba's army does not care about the grain, it can be said that there is no nostalgia, and it is distributed casually, but Yulin Xue Hongqi's subordinates are much worse, everyone is staring at the grain that is distributed red, and it seems that they are unwilling......"

"Mr. Liu, are you far away...... It doesn't matter who he is Zhu Ba, the key is what should we do now? A squire asked with a snarling voice.

"What to do now, you have to analyze what kind of person he is before you can make a decision." Liu Xiudao snorted coldly: "You know a fart." ”

"Uh......"

Liu Xiudao shook his head and said, "Anyway...... This man did not keep any food and distributed it, apparently to facilitate the march, otherwise each soldier would carry two rice sacks on his shoulders, and the speed of the march would be greatly reduced, and he would not be able to do what he wanted to do next...... Well...... Other words...... He won't stay here long, and he will soon abandon the city and leave. ”

"Oh, I see!" The squires showed a look of sudden realization: "Mr. Liu is clever. ”

"And the reason why he hasn't left yet, I think there are only two possible surnames......" Liu Xiudao said seriously: "The first is to let the injured thief recuperate, and the second is that there is something else that has not been obtained...... After conquering such a large city, but the food was distributed to the people, how could he do it without any benefit? Even if Zhu Ba didn't want benefits, his thieves would not be convinced, and in order to appease his subordinates, he had to distribute some physical ...... to the soldiers."

"Mr. means ......"

"Hurry home, prepare some silver taels, and get some medicine." Liu Xiudao said very seriously: "Give him the wound medicine and silver taels, say a few good words, and ask him to leave!" He's definitely going to go. Of course, even if you don't want to take the money and send it over, he will send someone to collect it, and it will be within two or three days. ”

When the wealthy businessmen heard this, they were relieved that the problems that could be solved with money would not be problems...... So what are you waiting for, go home and raise money!

However, after the rich businessmen took two steps, they suddenly collectively fell back: "Mr. Liu, let's ...... Don't dare to see that Zhu Ba...... Could you please come forward and help us get the money over? ”

"Okay, you prepare the money and medicine, give it to me, and I'll deliver it for you!" Liu Xiudao took over the job in one bite, and he didn't show any fear at all-

Zhizhou Yamen!

Zhu Yuanzhang sat in the lobby, looking through the books of counting acres of land, he spent a few days roughly flipping through the books that recorded the land, shops, and various industries in Puzhou, and had written down many names of people who he thought should be taxed, and marked the amount that should be collected behind the names, and at this time the final check was being carried out, and then he planned to send soldiers to ask for money from door to door.

This is a necessary preparation before collecting money, here is no more than white water, there is soft ground, most of his soldiers know white water well, they know how much land there is in the squire's house, how many shops there are, and how much tax and silver should be paid. But Puzhou is a completely unfamiliar hard place, and if you don't do your homework before collecting taxes, you risk doing something wrong.

For example, the rich are taxed very lightly, and the poor are mistakenly taxed heavily...... If such a thing is done, it will be no different from the current imperial court.

Therefore, he had to read all the information clearly, and he also sent soldiers to invite the local head snake to check.

Just looking at the information in his hand, a soldier ran in: "Brother Zhu, there is a scholar outside who asks to see him, and he said that he is here to speak for the big families in the city." "The illiterate people of these days generally admired the scholars, so the soldier was obviously on the winning side, but when it came to the scholars who came from outside the door to see, he still showed considerable respect.

"Call him in!" Zhu Yuanzhang smiled: "I was about to go to find these rich people, but they sent someone to find them first, which is very interesting." ”

After a while, a scholar wearing a Taoist robe walked in, made a gesture at Zhu Yuanzhang, and then said loudly: "Liu Xiudao, who was born in Puzhou, was born in the late years, and I have seen the eight kings of Baishui Zhu. ”

"Oh? Puzhou Liu Xiudao? When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this name, his brows moved slightly, something is wrong, why is this name a little familiar? It's not like the kind of big guy that I remember very well, but it's definitely not a nobody, where did I hear about this guy?

His memory bank is too big, hundreds of years of knowledge, he can't turn it through for a while, and after thinking for a long time, he turned out the name in an insignificant corner...... Puzhou, Liu Xiudao...... Hey? That's right, I remembered, Puzhou Mu of the Dashun regime! This guy ...... In the future, he will become Li Zicheng's subordinate and lead the post of Puzhou pastor!

On December 25 of the 16th year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng's Dashun army vanguard conquered Puzhou, and on the 16th day of the first month of the 17th year, Li Zicheng personally came to Puzhou and promoted a Puzhou pastor from the local celebrities to be the Dashun regime, and this Liu Xiudao was selected at that time.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang became interested in him, looked at him with interest and said, "Why did you come to see me?" ”

Liu Xiudao shook his hands: "The late born came on behalf of the gentry and lords in the city, the rich families in the city are all kind-hearted people, seeing that your army suffered heavy casualties because of the siege of the city, and the blood flowed like a river, he couldn't bear it, so he sent the late sheng to bring some wound medicine for the use of the strong men to heal their wounds...... In addition, there are 10,000 taels of silver to buy some wine for the heroes. ”

The words were very decent, the things were sent, and the squires were saved!

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled: "They sent money and medicine to send me to leave early, right?" ”

"King Zhu Ba is really joking, if you are also a plague god, then the thirty-sixth battalion is the plague god among the plague gods...... Liu Xiudao raised Zhu Yuanzhang with a comparative method, and said that he was better than the ordinary rebels, and then said: "Looking at your actions of opening a warehouse and releasing grain, you know that you are a true hero who cares about the people and does the way for heaven." I can't bear to see a hero like you die under the encirclement and suppression of officers and soldiers, so I can't help but remind you...... Leaving the city early will only do you good, not harm. ”

"Oh? What does this mean? ”

(To be continued)