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On the second day of February of the new year, the dragon raises its head.

The dragon raises its head on the second day of the second lunar month, commonly known as the Green Dragon Festival, the legend is the day when the dragon raises its head, and it has always been a traditional festival in China's rural areas, called "Dragon Head Festival". As the saying goes: "On the second day of February, the dragon raises its head, and everyone ploughs the cattle in small households." At this time, the yang energy is rising, the earth is thawing, and spring plowing is about to begin, which is the time to transport manure and prepare for farming.

At this time, most of the northern part of the country was still farming as usual, but the southern half of the wall was caught in many places. The best situation is, of course, Fujian and Yunnan. Yunnan has been Wu Sangui's exclusive territory many years ago, and the common people almost have no concept of emperor in their hearts, and all they know is the prince of Pingxi. Fujian is similar, Geng Jingzhong has completely won the hearts of the people in Fujian over the years, after the Mawei Army officially took control of the prefectures and counties, the hundreds of people in Fujian are still living as before, and they do not feel any difference.

During the period when the Mawei Army went to Guangdong, the vast majority of the people in Fujian did not know about this until the Mawei Army returned triumphantly. In a month's time, all parts of Guangdong were also completely classified under Geng Jingzhong's name, and it took a total of eight days from the oath to the surrender of Shang Kexi, and then things became simpler. Shang Kexi personally sent orders to all the prefectures and counties of Guangdong in the four directions, and the remaining troops of the king of Pingnan were all surrendered.

In this way, in the prefectures and counties further south of Guangzhou, the Mawei Army was bloodless, and it was easy to control the whole city. Moreover, after the subsequent battalions of the Mawei Army New Army arrived all over Guangdong. The headquarters of the 1st Division, the 2nd Division, and the Artillery Division were also preparing to follow the Mawei Navy back to Fujian. They're about to make the next big move. The neighboring province of Jiangxi must be taken. In this way, the territory of the five and Geng families can be connected, and the imperial court will not be given a chance to break them one by one.

The whole territory of Guangdong was drummed down by the Mawei Army, which also frightened Sun Yanling in Guangxi. In fact, when Sun Yanling learned that Shang Kexi refused to accept Wu Sangui's edict, he had already quickly reported it to Wu Sangui, and he himself was ready to attack Guangdong in Guangxi. Guangdong and Guangxi have a large area bordering on him, and even if he doesn't go to fight Shang Kexi, he will send troops to fight him when he turns around, just like that. It's better to take the initiative. It's a pity that as soon as he was ready, he heard the news that Guangdong already belonged to Geng Jingzhong, and Shang Kexi's family was captured and sent to Fujian.

Fortunately, Sun Yanling knew that Geng Jingzhong had accepted Wu Sangui's edict like her, and he was considered "his own person", but he was a relative, and hurriedly arranged heavy troops in Wuzhou and other places on the border between Guangxi and Guangdong, in order to prevent the Mawei Army from continuing to invade the west and annex him Guangxi. However, he did worry too much. Geng Jingzhong didn't look at him at all at the moment. Guangxi is next to Yungui, and Geng Jingzhong does not want to have a direct conflict with Wu Sangui now. If he really takes Guangxi, Wu Sangui will definitely feel that he has become a threat, although he may not necessarily turn his face, but it is better to have more than one thing.

Now that Guangdong has been completely controlled by the Mawei Army, the next thing is to clean up the prefectures and counties in Guangdong, and there are many troops in the formation, and the newly dispatched government workers do not have to worry about not being able to work in the local area and start a war. Since it was wartime, and the Guangdong side had completely surrendered, the officials of the prefectures and counties did not make major changes. However, the main chief officials of the prefectures and counties must be screened, and those with bad reputations and poor political performance are either demoted or directly dismissed, and as for corrupt officials and corrupt officials, they are directly shot, and now there is no time to waste time by arguing with these useless people.

Facts have proved that the Mawei Army's approach was completely correct, and after the Mawei Army took over the entire territory of Guangdong, every locality carried out rectification and criticism activities, and a large number of officials, landlords, and gentry who had caused or were still causing trouble in the localities were all punished, and were punished differently depending on the severity of their criminal responsibility. Of course, he was shot directly, and of course, before he was shot, he had to go through a public trial and declare his guilt. In this way, the work in various places has become very easy to carry out.

"Oh, this Shang family has also accumulated a lot of wealth over the years, and so is Uncle Zeng, I'm afraid they didn't dismantle the entire Pingnan Mansion and transport it back." In front of the big silver cellar of the Mawei military camp, Geng Jingzhong looked at the large boxes that were connected together and laughed heartily. These are all trophies from the capture of Guangzhou this time, and they have been cleaned up by the Mawei Army in Guangzhou, and it took 20 days to transport them back. As for the property of the bully squires whose property has been confiscated in various provinces and counties in Guangdong, it is still being cleaned up one by one, and when the time comes, all of them will be transported back, presumably more than in front of them.

"In Guangzhou, sea trade is prevalent, and rich businessmen are far better than our Fujian. It's that the Shang family doesn't know how to operate, otherwise with the conditions of Guangdong, it is much better than our Fujian, and these are not all in front of us, and there are still a few estimates that it will take a few days to arrive. Li Guangdi also nodded and agreed, Guangzhou is indeed rich, only a small part of it is the property of the Pingnan Palace, and the rest is obtained by cleaning up the "unfriendly" families in the city. The total amount of silver is more than 10 million taels, not counting those antique calligraphy and paintings and other valuables.

Geng Jingzhong's clean-up campaign in Guangdong is not to wipe out all the rich households in Guangdong, so that he will not do the matter of killing chickens and taking eggs, even if he wants to do this, Li Guangdi and Yao Qisheng will not watch him make mistakes. Without those big families as leaders, it will be difficult to develop Guangdong's economy in the future, and what Geng Jingzhong wants is a stable and wealthy Guangdong, not a Guangdong that has become a primitive society.

"Anyway, we've made a lot of money this time. Originally, the imperial court in the capital always said that there was a lack of money and a lack of money, but they didn't know that the money was all in the people, and in the hands of these big businessmen, and they didn't pay any taxes, how could the court be rich. Speaking of this, I remembered that when Guangdong is completely stabilized, we must also develop Guangdong like Fujian, and then we must promulgate the commercial tax. Land tax can be exempted, but commercial tax must be collected. Geng Jingzhong put away his smile and said with a slight frown.

Li Guangdi was accustomed to Geng Jingzhong's leap of thought, and he was still talking about these spoils, and he immediately turned to commercial taxes. "Yes, the Grand Duke. Mr. Yao is more anxious about these things than you. His big butler isn't very easy to be now! ”

"That's right. Don't you say that I almost forgot about it, he was still asking me for money the day before yesterday. Hey, now all the officials have become our people, and the salaries are paid by us. I have seen Mr. Yao's plan for a high salary and integrity, and I fully agree with this, and we also fully guarantee the income of local officials, and we are also motivated to do so. However, the criminal penalties for corruption and bribery need to be strengthened again. This best condition has been given to them. If you are still greedy enough, I will chop off which hand I stretch out, and if I can't do it, I will be killed and pulled directly. I hate those moths anyway. Geng Jingzhong said with a sneer.

"Well, Mr. Yao has also told me about this matter, and he is still negotiating with me on how to deal with it in Guangdong. The Metropolitan Governor, you have agreed to give the officials a raise, and this increase will cost nearly three million taels a year, which is more than three times the original amount. Governor, don't you think about it again? Li Guangdi asked.

"Hehe, that's it. Don't look at the amount given to them, if the officials at this level come to be motivated. Soon it will help us earn back these and more. The most important thing is that they are the most direct hand for us to win the hearts and minds of the people, as long as we have the hearts of the people, it is nothing to pay more money. Geng Jingzhong waved his hand and replied. I was about to use the silver cellar to give him the million silver dollars that Mr. Yao asked for, but now I don't have to worry about it, just move it to him directly! As he spoke, Geng Jingzhong pointed to the boxes of silver dollars in front of him and said.

In recent years, the whole territory of Fujian, as well as Guangdong, Jiangxi, Zhejiang and many places circulating coins are marked with the words of Jingnan Wangfu silver dollars, Fujian here to cast silver dollar technology is also more and more mature, the minted silver coins not only have high silver content, but also wear and tear resistance, one is one or two silver, easy to carry and more convenient to use, the major families have also exchanged the silver in their own silver cellars into such silver dollars. The reason why these shrewd families do this is mainly because they take a fancy to several advantages of the silver dollar. They specifically compared silver dollars with their silver ingots, and silver coins of the same weight were slightly superior in purity. When trading a large number of silver coins, there is no need to carefully identify the purity of the silver ingots, and directly use these silver coins sealed in red paper, which is convenient and fast.

"This subordinate will do it in the next moment!" Li Guangdi immediately said. "Governor, there's one more thing to report to you!"

"Say!" Geng Jingzhong raised his head and said.

"Although the Shang family has been fully settled, the subordinates feel that their original family property will not be returned to them. After all, Shang Kexi's final voluntary surrender saved us a lot of effort, which was of great help to us in receiving Guangdong. From another point of view, the Metropolitan Governor's kindness to the Shang family's father and son will also be of great help to our subduing of other leaders in the future. Saying this, Li Guangdi was silent, he knew that Geng Jingzhong knew very well what he meant.

"What you said is right, Shang Kexi has been relatively popular in Guangdong for so many years, but his son is not good. It is definitely not possible to return all the money and property of the original Pingnan Palace, so send over 500,000 taels, and give him a quarter of it, he should have no complaints! Geng Jingzhong said with a smile, it is still okay for him to be generous, but this was originally the property of the Shang family, and this is a little generous

"It's very good, 500,000 is enough for them to become rich, and a rich life is absolutely enough, in fact, even if the Metropolitan Governor only sends them 100,000 taels, they will not be too little." As the two spoke, Geng Jingzhong waved his hand and asked the soldiers on the side to start dividing the silver and all kinds of treasures into the silver cellar, and then the two slowly walked towards the barracks meeting hall.

At this time, the council hall was very different from the original, all the tables and chairs in this council hall had been removed, and a huge sand table was placed in the center. The Guangdong mountains and rivers of Shapan Mountain are mainly centered on Fujian and diverge outward from the three provinces, Guangdong, Jiangxi and Zhejiang. Now that Guangdong has been taken, their next move should be Jiangxi. But it is not to take down the entire territory of Jiangxi. The northern part of Jiangxi is Nanchang Mansion, which borders Hubei, and the imperial court has gathered heavy troops in Wuhan to prepare for a big battle with Wu Sangui.

However, Zhenzhou and Fuzhou in the southwest of Jiangxi should be taken, and the exchanges between these two places and Fujian over the years have been more frequent than their own provincial capital, Nanchang, up to the noble families. Down to the common people, they are more yearning for Fujian. The businessmen of these two prefectures have basically put the focus of business on Fujian. And many ordinary people in these two provinces still go to Fujian to beg for a living.

"Governor, please see. This Zhenzhou can be said to be the southern gate of Jiangxi, the largest and most populous state in Jiangxi Province, and nearly half of the territory of Zhenzhou is surrounded by Guangdong and Fujian. The benefits of this are also obvious, first of all, the territory we control is connected into a whole piece instead of just Fujian and Guangdong. The depth is greatly increased. In addition, after all, the imperial court is still powerful, and the emergency dispatch of soldiers and horses in the past few months alone has exceeded 600,000, which is more than the sum of Wu Sangui and us. In order to prevent them from adopting the strategy of breaking down one by one, we must also take these states, so that they will be connected with Wu Sangui's territory, if the imperial court marches into attack us on a large scale, Wu Sangui can also immediately respond. ”

"You think more than me, my previous idea was to just take Zhenzhou. After all, it will take two to three months for us to digest Guangdong alone. And taking Zhenzhou can achieve the effects you mentioned earlier, and it can also not expose our specific strength. Feel at ease to digest the province of Guangdong and the upcoming Zhenzhou. Geng Jingzhong said.

"No, please look at it again, if we take Ji'an Mansion and Fuzhou Mansion by chance, then geographically we will be connected with Hunan as a whole, then we don't have to worry about the imperial court taking multiple attacks. If the imperial court really sends a large army to come, then they can only attack us from Xinzhou, Jiangxi or Quzhou, Zhejiang, then our defense will be simpler. If only Zhenzhou is taken, the imperial army can drive straight into Jiangxi, and directly attack Fujian from Fuzhou Prefecture Ji'an Mansion and other places, and then we will be passive. Although, since Wu Sangui is confronting the imperial court, the imperial court will not allocate too many troops to attack us. But even if the imperial court only divides 100,000 troops, we will not be at peace! Li Guangdi analyzed carefully, and Geng Jingzhong listened very carefully.

"The Metropolitan Governor looks at the border between Ji'an Mansion and Fuzhou and my Fujian, basically it can be said that there is no danger to defend, and the army can drive straight into the depths of our Fujian base camp as soon as it arrives. And if we take these places, and then lock the passages in the two directions of Xinzhou, Jiangxi and Quzhou, Zhejiang, and set up artillery to hold them, even if there are 100,000 imperial army troops, it will not have any impact on us. When we completely digest the territory we have dropped, we can free up our hands to deal with the imperial court and continue to expand northward! ”

Geng Jingzhong carefully looked at the sand table in the center according to what Li Guangdi said, the northern part of Fujian is full of mountains and mountains, and the only roads that can be the same as the north are those two roads, one leads to Xinzhou, Jiangxi, and the other is in the direction of Quzhou, Zhejiang, and it is almost impossible for the armies in other places to walk.

"Sure enough, I actually ignored the role of the terrain, thinking about it this way, the governor of Pontus is no better than continuing to hide his strength, as long as these two places are guarded, Jiangxi and Guangdong are our territory. In the short term, at least it is a situation where the Three Kingdoms are in power, and at least Wu Sangui will not take the initiative to fight me, and the pressure on him from the imperial court is big enough. If the imperial court divides troops to fight us, then let them have a good taste of the power of our general's artillery. "Geng Jingzhong has figured this out, it is not easy to hold the two communication arteries, set up a large number of artillery in two places, as long as the ammunition is sufficient, the imperial court will not be able to break through the two places even if 200,000 soldiers come,

"Continue to attack, we have such strength, but we have won too much territory, and it is useless to not be able to digest and absorb it as our own territory, which in itself is inconsistent with our purpose. Zhenzhou, Fuzhou, and Ji'an Prefecture border our Fujian, and it is completely possible to send troops from several ways to drum them down. At that time, we won't have to look at anyone's face again. In the end, when Wu Sangui and the imperial court are both defeated, we will continue to send troops to take more territory! ”

"Good! That's it! All the troops in Guangdong have been withdrawn back, and the cavalry troops on the Luzon side will arrive in another month, haha, there is no need to worry about our insufficient troops at that time! Geng Jingzhong smiled happily.

"Ahem, Metropolitan Governor, in fact, we are still quite short of soldiers and horses, and the number is too small. Although our soldiers are all elite, but Wu Sangui and the imperial court are 100,000 troops at every turn, we are much worse than one, if we also have 300,000 soldiers, now we don't need to think about others, we can immediately sweep the whole country and dominate the world. Li Guangdi coughed lightly twice and said. The strength of the Fujian side is indeed small, more than 70,000 troops, which is a lot in number, but 40,000 of them are the Mawei Navy, and the total number of the Marine Army is a little more than 30,000. When going out to fight, if there is a division of troops, it is a battalion of units, and it will easily be buried by the imperial army. (To be continued......)