After clearing the walls on both sides of the gap, Yu Shenhe's covering sappers blasted the newly built wall in front of them again. After the soldiers of the Guards Battalion entered the city, the Ming army's will to resist also collapsed, and the regimental soldiers fled back to their respective homes, put the incense case prepared in advance out of the door, and then closed the gate and hid behind the door to listen to the sound outside the door.

The heavily guarded south gate opened in front of Xu Ping, and the Ming soldiers who ran down the city wall knelt in two lines in front of the door, and a leader-like person ran quickly towards Xu Ping's banner. After being brought to Xu Ping, the leader claimed to be a local, saying that the Ming army officers who were defending the city had abandoned their subordinates and fled after hearing that the city had been broken, and that the remaining people were no longer willing to continue to resist, so they moved away the stones blocking the gate and begged Xu Ping to have mercy on them and their families.

Xu Ping nodded, took the banner he had written in advance from the soldiers behind him, held it in both hands and handed it to the Xuzhou Tuanding who was kneeling on the ground and kowtowing repeatedly: "This is my lord's military order, strong man, go and hang it on the flagpole of the Xuzhou Yamen." ”

didn't wait long, and several soldiers of the Guards Battalion walked towards Xu Ping with a person with a big tie.

"The official will not fall, the official will not fall!"

That person had been shouting loudly when he was dragged all the way to Xu Ping. Xu Ping saw that the official uniform of the person who came had been torn, and the official hat on his head didn't know where it had flown to, his hair bun was torn, and his messy hair covered half of his face.

A soldier from the Guards Battalion stepped forward and reported: "My lord, this dog officer is trying to set fire to the grain depot. ”

In desperation, Fang Wei not only did not escape, but organized the officials to set fire to the Xuzhou treasury. However, the officials feared that this would anger the intruders, so they refused to obey the order. As a result, Fang Wei wanted to set the fire himself, but the officials did not stop doing anything, so they simply took him down and tied him up and handed him over to the intruders who rushed into the city.

The soldiers of the guards battalion behind pushed Fang Wei towards Xu Ping hard, he staggered two steps forward, straightened his waist and stood proudly: "Xu Ping, you traitor, this official will not surrender." ”

The arrogance on Fang Wei's face made Xu Ping feel respectful, and he simply ordered: "Take Lord Fang down to take care of him, and then dispose of him when I come back." ”

……

At this time, it was reported that two of the guns captured in Xuzhou were in good condition, and the artillery team of Gu Liumeng and the Guards Battalion finally got the first piece of equipment they coveted. After Gu Liumeng's inspection, both of these were very good quality six-pounder guns, almost certainly made according to the standards of the New Army. Xu Ping was surprised and carefully questioned the captured Fang Wei, found a few insiders and dealers, and carefully inquired about the source of this elite firearm.

It turned out that these cannons were all purchased by Fang Wei from Guangzhou. Fang Wei had already found out the details of the businessman in advance, which saved Xu Ping a lot of trouble. Cannons, like other equipment, are usually purchased from arms dealers, and there are several businesses in Fujian and Guangdong that can produce cannons. Many merchants from Nanyang and Furang also went to Fujian or Guangdong to buy artillery, and Fujian and Guangdong merchants who traveled to and from the ocean even bought a large number of artillery.

After the new army tendered for the production of firearms, the Guangdong arms dealer also participated in the bidding, but in the end it was defeated. The ones Xu Ping saw were the samples they participated in, and they were basically the same as the specifications of the guns of the New Army. After losing the election, the Guangdong arms dealers sold the samples of this cannon at a low price, and finally bought them back by the people sent by Fang Wei.

"What a talent." Xu Ping's intention to solicit was even heavier, and he thought about it in his heart and went straight to the county government to accept the treasury.

But before he walked to the county office, Xu Ping felt that the atmosphere was a little wrong, and when he arrived at the open space in front of the county office, Xu Ping was stunned by the scene in front of him.

I saw a deep pit dug in front of the Xuzhou Yamen, which was full of scrawny corpses, and around the pit, in addition to the soldiers of the Guards Battalion, there were also a large number of hungry people with green faces and bones.

"What's going on?"

Several officials told Xu Ping that there were already some begging refugees and refugees in the city, and the number was still very large, and Fang Wei never refused to use the treasury grain to help the people. When the army arrived, the inhabitants of the city feared a prolonged siege and saved their food. The homeless people had no food to eat in the city, and Fang Wei was afraid that they would be very hungry, so he surrounded them in the square in front of the county government and left them to fend for themselves. This large pit was dug by Fang Wei to pile up the dead to prevent the plague from spreading. If the outcasts die of hunger, they are thrown into them, and the living jump into the pit and cut the flesh of the dead to eat.

"I'm not besieging the city, so why don't you let them out of the city?"

Several officials glanced at each other and replied cautiously: "Fang Wei is afraid that if the stones blocking the door are removed, the general will take the opportunity to grab the door, and he is also afraid that after these people go out, they will leak the truth in the city." ”

At this time, the soldiers of the Guards Battalion reported to Xu Ping that they had found 30,000 stone of grain in the storehouse. Xu Ping gritted his teeth and shouted, "Bring me that dog officer." ”

Fang Wei was still disdainful when he was brought to Xu Ping again. Xu Ping pointed to the corpses that were full of pits and asked: "Since ancient times, there have been cannibalism in the city, and it was when the food ran out, and it was a last resort. You have tens of thousands of stones of grain here, why are you so vicious? ”

Fang Wei looked up at the sky and ignored Xu Ping. Xu Ping shouted angrily again: "I know that you claim to be the guardian of the Son of Heaven, and I don't blame you for sticking to Xuzhou, but you let the people starve to death, is it not worthy of your heart?" ”

Fang Wei burst into laughter when he heard this: "This is the country's grain. ”

"Pull it down, behead it for public display." Xu Ping ordered with a calm face.

"Die well, quickly, quickly!" Fang Wei still laughed when he was taken down.

As soon as Hei Bao saw that Xu Ping was silent in thought, he stepped forward and persuaded: "Brother Xu, who would have thought that this dog official would be so frustrated, we will do the right thing for heaven, it's not your fault." ”

Xu Ping shook his head and said: "According to his thoughts, he didn't do anything wrong, even if he starved the people to death, the land of Henan still belongs to the imperial court." But if there was no food, it would not be possible to supply the Ming army to fight the war, and it would not be possible to keep the city of the imperial court. In the hearts of these faint officials, the lives of the people are like grass mustard and ants, and it is not a pity to die, so he would rather die hundreds of people than keep the grain in the treasury. ”

Hei Baoyi exhaled deeply angrily, and said, "Brother Xu, then you don't speak for a while, what are you thinking?" ”

Xu Ping sighed: "It seems that the Ming Dynasty is certainly a poor livelihood under the rule of incompetent corrupt officials, but a capable minister like Fang Wei makes it impossible for the people to live." ”

"What Brother Xu said is extremely true, so we have to subvert the world." Hei Bao smiled and said: "It's just that if you talk about ability and means, is there anyone who can compare to Zhendonghou?" ”

According to the policy promulgated by Li Zicheng, the army confiscated all the family wealth of the eunuchs and those who had meritorious service in the city.

Fang Wei Xianchen's name spread far and wide, so there were many refuge lifters and eunuchs in Xuzhou City, and the guard battalion seized a large amount of gold and silver from them, and the local rich people even hid a large amount of grain. For example, a strong man named Li Daxiong, a fourth-generation eunuch, has a large number of fields nearby, and there is also a rice shop in the county seat, and the grain found in his treasury is as much as 10,000 stones. The more Xu Ping read the report, the more angry he became, and he was even more furious when he thought of the scene of the homeless people starving to death on the streets: "Tie up all these people who are rich and unkind, and bury them!" ”

Left and right applauded. After receiving the order, the Guards Battalion immediately began to arrest all the famous people in the city, and began to dig pits outside the city, preparing to bury them alive.

After ordering the opening of a porridge factory to help the homeless, Xu Ping immersed himself in studying the next step.

So far, the southern boundary of Kaifeng Mansion has been pacified, and the guard battalion has no worries. Obviously, the battle of Luoyang greatly damaged the vitality of the Bianjun army in Kaifeng Mansion, and Xu Ping saw that the other party really had no strength left, so he planned to attack Fucheng. It's just that although the strength of the Bianjun army has been greatly damaged, there are still tens of thousands of people, and Xu Ping's soldiers who can fight are only thousands, and he doesn't want to use the homeless people as an army, so it is also quite difficult to think about it.

At this time, the guards outside the gate reported that someone asked to see him, claiming to be Xu Ping's deceased.

"The deceased?" Xu Ping frowned and said to himself: "Where did I come from so many old people? ”

The person who came was the Qingzhi Taoist who had told Xu Ping's fate, and after entering the door, he claimed to have come to thank him for saving his life twice. It turned out that he was one of the exiles in Xuzhou, and he was almost starving to death, after Xu Ping entered the city, he stood in the crowd and recognized Xu Ping,

"Master, please be seated." Xu Ping politely asked him to sit down, and for some reason, Xu Ping had a faint sense of trust in this Taoist priest.

Qingzhi took off his robe, sat on the chair, and said leisurely: "General Xu opened a warehouse to help the victims, which is really in line with the way of heaven and the people's will." ”

If the other party just came to flatter, Xu Ping didn't mind being beaten away a little bit of autumn wind, he smiled and said: "The master has won the award, and I just talk about personnel." ”

But the Qingzhi Taoist priest didn't be more polite, and immediately turned to a topic that he knew Xu Ping must be concerned about: "Your ministry is chasing stolen money for military use, but does the general know that the wealth around these eunuchs is only a millimeter, and the bulk of wealth is still in other places?" ”

"Oh?" Xu Ping was also interested when he heard this, and hurriedly asked, "Please teach the master." ”

"I have decreed to the Taizu that scholars can be exempted from taxation and military service, so most of the eunuchs have a large amount of fertile land in their hands. Now the poor people have no place to stand, and the general can only save them for a while, but he can't save them for a lifetime. In the opinion of the poor, the general still had to divide the land to these displaced people. After a pause, Qingzhi said: "These homeless people are probably useless in the battle array, if the general uses them to fight, it will not be of much benefit to consume food in vain, if they have land, not only can they support themselves, but it is also very beneficial to the general's hegemony." ”

"What the master said is extremely true, I didn't want them to join the army in the first place." Every time Xu Ping thinks of this matter, it is also a headache, King Chuang always puts grain in waves, because of this reputation, Xu Ping always has a large number of displaced people around him every day when he enters Henan, and the grain is not given, and it is not given: "Because the scholars can be free of grain, many people bring their own land to the name of the scholars." A lot of the land is nominally owned by scholars, but in fact it has another owner, and if I give the land of the scholars to the displaced people, I will take away many people's land. ”

"Does the general know that although much of the nominal land is not theirs, at least more than thirty percent of it is their own land? Large numbers of displaced people have fled, and they have annexed more land. Since King Chuang pursued the stolen goods, these borderless lands have been privately divided by evil servants, so the number of displaced people cannot be reduced much. ”

"For a long time, I have been trying to appease the displaced people to return to their hometowns and relieve some economic pressure, but the effect is not significant. The peasants who returned to their hometowns had no land and had to take refuge with other landlords, who had always supported the imperial court. Xu Ping spread his hands: "Which is the owner's land and which is the ownerless land, it takes a lot of time to investigate, and it will also make the township unstable, which is contrary to our army's strategy of 'begging for soldiers and reassuring the people'." ”

"Actually, it's not difficult to really want to know," Kiyoji said slowly, "Those scholars know in their own hearts, if they are allowed to confront their stewards, then it will not be difficult to clear the land." ”

Xu Ping no longer spoke, but stared at Qingzhi for a long time, and asked, "What is the reason why the master came here today?" ”

Seeing that Xu Ping guessed what was on his mind, Qingzhi did not panic, and said calmly: "God has the virtue of a good life." ”

"It's their own fault."

"General, preferential treatment of scholars is a rule set by Emperor Gao, and it has been the same for three hundred years. Since the officials treat the people like mustard, why is it surprising that the scholars do not have mercy on the small people? The general was too harsh on the scholars. ”

"The master doesn't have to say any more!" Xu Ping snorted: "When Emperor Gao opened the country, he was greedy for ten taels of ink and peeled off the skin and filled the grass, if Emperor Gao was here, I really didn't know how many people in the world's official eunuchs could survive." ”

Seeing this, Kiyoji kept silent.

Xu Ping sat angrily for a while and shouted, "Someone." ”

The guards at the gate heard the sound and entered, and Xu Ping said loudly: "Pass my order, go and ask those guys, if they are willing to exchange their wealth for their lives." If they are willing to hand over the land, I will spare them their lives and never break their word. ”

"Yes."

After the guards were ordered to withdraw, Qingzhi smiled and said, "The general's benevolence will definitely be able to feel the heart of heaven." ”

"The jackal is in charge, why bother asking the fox. I still understand this truth. Xu Ping said angrily. After a while, Xu Ping looked at Qingzhi again: "Master, what I see is mostly injustice in the world, and sometimes it is inevitable to have murderous intentions. ”

Qingzhi nodded: "The general is in a high position and is not an ordinary person, and it is good and good to be able to reflect on himself from time to time." ”

Xu Ping pondered for a moment, and then asked, "I don't know where the master is going?" I'd like to help the master with some entanglements. ”

Qingzhi smiled slightly: "The poor road is an idle cloud and wild crane, and there is no definite plan. ”

"In that case, would the Master be willing to stay in my camp for a while? If the Master of the Other Sun wants to leave, I will never dare to force him to stay. ”

Qingzhi smiled slightly: "Dare to disobey your fate?" ”

There is one more shift this weekend.

[Remember the URL . 三五Chinese网]