stubborn thief

Chapter 167 The money can make a ghost run the mill

It's May, and the weather is hot.

Liu Chengzong looked at the silent mountains in northern Shaanxi, and the whole northern Shaanxi was shrouded in a strange silence.

After Aimu's troops were wiped out, northern Shaanxi shouldn't be so peaceful.

No army in Guanzhong went north to suppress the bandits, and Yulin Town in the north did not respond at all.

Yulin fought a few battles with the Mongolians who suffered from the white disaster last year, and from time to time in Yanchuan, we could meet Mongolian people who went south to seek refuge.

Regardless of Hammong, it is a sad thing to leave one's homeland for refuge.

But from Mongolia, crossing the border wall and fleeing to northern Shaanxi to seek refuge, this behavior itself is very funny.

Last month, some people in the lion camp said that Liu Shizi would take them to go outside the Great Wall to compete with the Han Huduntu for territory.

But other than that, it's as if Lions Camp has suddenly been forgotten by the world.

Even the silver taels that the south said would be transported through Yan'an Mansion, there is no news.

Liu Chengzong had been preparing the army for war, and was always ready to deal with Du Wenhuan, but Du Zongbing stopped talking, which made him very angry.

I can't wait to write a letter to Du Wenhuan.

The six-sentry auxiliary soldiers stationed in Yanchuan continued to practice, and the transportation sentries went back and forth between Yanchuan and Xingzi River to transport supplies and pass on information.

Of course, Chengyun didn't follow suit, he was busy counting the people in Yanchuan, and ran to the ravines all day long.

Liu Chengzong was busy with the auxiliary armor.

In fact, not only the auxiliary soldiers, but also the armor of the soldiers is also a problem. Summer is here.

After discussions among the whole battalion, the auxiliary soldiers of the Lion Camp finally decided to send the padded jackets of the upper body of the soldiers to Xingzihe for modification in batches.

The issue of military uniforms is very troublesome. If in the ancient times when there were large-scale guards, summer also meant busy farming, and the official army probably would not send troops.

But at this time, summer means that the government army will launch a surprise attack on them.

The lion camp without the rear is easy to be attacked by the enemy at any time. They need horses and mules not to leave the armor, and people to stay with the horses and mules.

On the one hand, the environment does not allow them to put their winter clothes somewhere and wait until winter to get them; on the other hand, there is indeed not enough material to make two sets of summer and winter armor.

In fact, only after a year of winter and summer can the Lion Camp find out the suits that suit them.

So they have to remove the sleeves to make a sleeveless padded jacket, and then take cotton cotton cloth, and use the two sleeves to make a cotton shawl for the chest, shoulders, and upper back.

The armor of the auxiliary soldiers is to sew neat armor plates on both sides of the chest and back of the sleeveless padded jacket. It has both armor plates and inner lining. With a weight of fifteen catties, it achieves decent protection.

Soldiers can choose to wear iron armbands on their shoulders.

It took Liu Chengzong two days to find some soldiers and auxiliary soldiers to try, and finally found out that not only the frontier soldiers are strong in heat resistance, but many of the auxiliary soldiers are also very good.

It really varies from person to person.

For example, he himself was preparing for martial arts as a soldier, and he has been trained in this area, which is much better than ordinary soldiers.

Another example is Shangtian Monkey, who has been so poor for many years that he wears cotton-padded jackets all year round, and has a strong tolerance to cold and heat.

Poverty is also a kind of training. Those who are not resistant to heat and cold will either die of heat stroke or be frozen to death.

But summer is fair, they are hot, and so are the officers and soldiers.

But in northern Shaanxi, where there are thousands of ravines and ravines, the army can't spread out, and the barren mountains and ridges lack vegetation, which almost determines the focus of summer battles, which is to control the battlefield.

Liu Chengzong is thinking of a way to toss Du Wenhuan in summer.

Until the new issue of Tang Bao Di Bao was sent by He Yong.

The Tang newspaper said that the Ming army recovered the four cities of Yongping.

If Yang Yanchang hadn't been mentioned in the Dibao later, saying that he was rewarded with 20 taels of silver for his meritorious service in recruiting soldiers, Liu Chengzong would not have noticed the Battle of Luanzhou at all.

Because the introduction to that battle above is very simple, it only said that Ma Shilong, the general soldier of Shanxi, Zu Dashou, the general soldier of Jinzhou, and Yang Shaoji, the general soldier of Shandong, besieged Luanzhou.

The official army annihilated the reinforcements sent by Yongping Mansion, and bombarded Luanzhou City with Hongyi cannons, destroying all the towers.

The guard Namutai fought desperately, broke through overnight and fled back to Yongping, but was chased and intercepted by Ma Shilong on the way.

As for how the bombardment was done, Liu Chengzong didn't know.

For a short time, he also had no way of knowing that there was a Chinese ginseng general named Huang Long who was born in Shenyang, and under the city of Luanzhou, he fired a set of [-]th-century infantry coordination.

Yang Yanchang participated in the last battle to intercept Namutai and got two heads.

Liu Chengzong was very relieved, and felt that the commander was not in vain, and would beat the Donglu!

At the end of May, Chengyun finally visited the entire Yanchuan County and registered 33 villages.

The transportation office is a master at this matter. At the beginning, only three villages were registered, and then they got in touch with the book office of Yanchuan County, and directly got the yellow book registered in Yanchuan County last year to Liu Shizi's camp.

The yellow book is a magical thing. According to the law, a census should be done once a year, and an overhaul should be done every ten years.

But last year's situation, only Yanchuan County can still repair the yellow book.

In Fushi County, after the spring of last year, the yamen secretary office did not dare to leave the city gate.

In Ansai County, it is useless to go out of the city gate. There are no people in the four gates outside the city.

The job of Yanchang County officials every day is to go to the city to see which leader is passing through.

Further north, it is simply a paradise for thieves and horse thieves from all walks of life.

Also in Yanchuan, thanks to the blessing of God, it rained last year, and the wandering people went home to farm one after another, which gave the subordinates a chance to fix the yellow book.

In the big book ten years ago, there were 310 and 210 households in Yanchuan County, with [-] and [-] people, an average of [-] people per household.

As a result of last year's revision of the Yellow Book, there are 940 households left in Yanchuan County, with 81 people, an average of nine people per household.

Liu Chengzong thought this was too much, but he didn't expect the actual situation to be worse than this.

Because of the Frost in the beginning of spring, the defeat of Wang Zuojiahun Tianwang, and the large-scale invasion of Jin by thieves, many people had their livelihoods destroyed or fled in panic, so they had to start migrating again.

Finally, it was transported on the boundary of Yanchuan County, and the statistics showed that the people gathered in 33 places and seven groups of refugees, with a total of 670 five households and 530 seven people.

Chengyun said: "If you don't look at it, you don't know. After careful calculation, people's fathers and sons and brothers are separated, just to hope for more survival. There are only four and a half people in each household."

"Indeed, as my brother said, there is no account here."

The upper household mentioned by Chengyun refers to a very wealthy family.

Among the provinces in the world, northern Shaanxi may have the lowest requirements for household registration, and a family with a thousand taels in this land can be called a household registration.

Just looking at thousands of taels is not a lot, but in the case of northern Shaanxi, there are more than ten or even twenty people in each household in normal times.

More than 20 people have a wealth of 1000 taels. On average, each person actually has a cow, a few houses, and some fields.

Cheng Yun said with compassion on his face, but Liu Chengzong suddenly laughed.

He turned back and pointed to the mansion newspaper next to the bed, and asked, "Do you know why the money, the Heavenly Monkey didn't believe it? The government didn't make a move when we went back to Shaanxi and beat Ai Mu, because Shaanxi didn't want to transport the money." .”

"Governor Liu went up and wanted to leave money to northern Shaanxi for disaster relief. He said that famine was everywhere, and all counties were saving and merging. He dared not ask the emperor to waive Liao's salary. Guess what the emperor said?"

Liu Chengzong said this with a smile on his face, clapped his palms and waved his backs forward: "Guangsheng is a governor, and he should be diligent and considerate of the people, so as to benefit both public and private interests."

Chengyun blinked and asked: "The emperor's words are right, it can't be said to be bad, isn't it a good word to be diligent and sympathetic to the people?"

"Yeah, it's good to be obedient, but what Liu Guangsheng wrote was that the remnants of Shaanxi have already sucked their bones and sucked their marrow, and they can't collect it. Is it okay to pay Liao's salary a year later? What does the emperor mean by saying this?"

Liu Chengzong snorted with a smile: "That is to say, you are the governor. You can solve the local affairs by yourself. If you can't solve it, it's your problem. Liao pay will be collected immediately."

Chengyun's smile froze on his face, and he stood stiffly in the military tent for a while, then gritted his teeth and said, "You dog, if I were the governor, I wouldn't give him a bastard."

"He can't do what he wants to do. The emperor has already said this. Can he receive his salary?"

Liu Chengzong shook his head: "Just wait and see, I guess the governor of Shaanxi should be replaced."

A few days later.

He Yong ran over from the north to play, and told him exaggeratedly: "Lion, do you know that the governor Liu Guangsheng is sick, and I think the governor of Shaanxi will be replaced."

Liu Chengzong had expected this in his heart, but he just nodded and smiled to show that he knew it, and then asked, "Can you bring me some gunpowder?"

He Yong took a breath, shook his head and said, "Even if I get some gunpowder for you, you won't be able to make it through. You'd better find a way to prepare it yourself. Wang Zuohang was recruited, so he stayed in Suide."

"I'm still robbing here and there all day long. I can't get through anything. I have to sneak and run here."

When mentioning Wang Zuohang, He Yong got a headache, and said to Liu Chengzong: "His consolation is to treat the government as a fool."

"Why not?"

Liu Chengzong gave him a blank look.

The situation in Shaanxi is obviously a chain reaction. Natural disasters lead to civil uprisings, civil uprisings starve the soldiers, and hungry troops further strengthen the uprisings, leading to a vicious circle.

The imperial court was full of thoughts of suppressing appeasement, and the root cause was the drought.

He said: "Unless the imperial court transfers the recruited peasant army to places where they can recuperate in Huguang, Henan, and Beizhili, and gives them land, cattle and seeds, recruiting is a foolish thing."

He Yong didn't think about these things, so he smiled and let it go, but he was more concerned about another matter, and asked Liu Chengzong, "Are you out of gunpowder?"

Liu Chengzong looked at him and said with a smile: "Yes, but it will not be enough in the future. Who would think that there is less gunpowder?"

He Yong hurriedly said: "I'll just ask, don't worry, I won't tell the general about this."

What Liu Chengzong said was true. They did have more than 200 catties of gunpowder, but it was obviously not enough.

Because Shi Cheng in Shanxi sent him a letter, explaining his vision for the Tianzi and Dizi two types of artillery, and has made eight [-]-jin Tianzi lion cannons.

There should have been ten doors, but two of them were tested after they were cast and found to be leaking, so they had to be melted down and rebuilt.

These are eight copper cannons that fire three catties of ammunition, each time a catty and a half of medicine is used; not to mention the Dizi lion cannon that is still under manufacture, even if it is smaller, it still needs a catty of medicine.

Twenty cannons cost 25 catties for a salvo.

When the cannon arrives, it is inevitable that the gunpowder will not be enough.

Originally, there were more than 300 catties of gunpowder in Lion Camp.

But some time ago, Xingzihe sent fifty Franji handguns designed by Shicheng and me.

Now his servants are divided into left and right teams, the left team is led by the Han brothers, who are good at riding and shooting; the right team is led by Zhong Bao, who is good at using sabers and spears.

One hundred catties of gunpowder is just enough to fire the gun five thousand times.

These batches of Francine guns were allotted to Zhong Bao. These guys practiced shooting guns on horseback every day on the plateau. They fired five guns in the morning and five in the afternoon every day, and they could kill ten catties of gunpowder in a day.

However, the Lion Camp is not short of sulfur. Last year, Yan'an Prefecture stopped providing work relief, and as a result, my father and Yang Dingrui organized refugees to open a kiln factory in Yuanlong Temple.

Moreover, Xingzihe is also burning green vitriol. What they lack is nitrate, and there is no fixed place to cook nitrate, so it is difficult to supply it in a short time. They can only organize the village to sweep houses to get some nitrate after August [-]th.

But this is a drop in the bucket after all, the more nitrate the better, and when there are artillery with a fixed shape, Liu Chengzong still wants to practice artillery in large quantities.

Not without gunpowder.

Thinking of this matter, Liu Chengzong was overwhelmed. Since Yuhebao couldn't provide gunpowder, he could only send someone to Yanshuiguan to ask the loyal and good general manager Fu.

Fortunately, Mr. Fu was generous, and within two days after sending someone over, news came that Fu Renxi would come over in person in two days.

Not only Fu Renxi came, but also a donkey cart carrying four barrels of gunpowder.

"It's a total of two hundred catties. Anyway, Yanshuiguan won't be needed anytime soon. The general said he wants to train gunners, so I'll give it to you first."

Fu Renxi said: "But you have no medicine, it will be a big problem sooner or later, do you know what to do?"

"Come on, I can smelt sulfur, and charcoal is not a problem. The main problem is the lack of nitrate. There is really no way to do it. I can only find nitrate soil to boil."

Liu Chengzong shook his head and said: "In the early years, I had a firecracker in my hands. He said that there was a lot of nitrate in Anbian, the security guard. I was just thinking about whether to bring troops to move the camp there to see."

"do not!"

Fu Renxi opened his hand to stop him, and said eagerly: "You can't leave, if you leave, I should use gunpowder!"

Liu Chengzong was stunned for a moment before realizing the logic of Fu Renxi's speech.

For a long time he said that gunpowder was not needed, because Liu Chengzong's Lion Camp was stationed in Yanchuan, so that there were no other thieves here, and it could influence Gao Yingxiang who had already entered Shanxi, so gunpowder was not needed.

As soon as Liu Chengzong left, there must be other thieves coming here, and then Fu Renxi's subordinates would have to fight.

Liu Chengzong said: "Then how about you think of a way for me, and I can buy it."

"It's not what you want to say." Liu Shizi just said it casually, but he didn't expect Fu Renxi to be serious: "I probably can't buy it at the original price, but are you willing to pay a higher price?"

Gunpowder is cheap, according to the market price, 240 catties is only [-] taels.

There is no shortage of money in the Lion Camp, what is lacking is connections.

Liu Chengzong said happily: "Can you buy it for me?"

"I have to think about it." Fu Renxi put his head on his hips and bowed his head in thought for a moment, then raised his head and said, "But let's say it first, if you really plan to buy it, I guess at least double the price."

Liu Chengzong opened his hand: "Double, it is nearly five taels for a hundred catties, I will pay four times, no matter how much you buy it, and ship it to me, I will give you ten taels for a hundred catties, and the extra money will be counted." yours."

"That, General..."

Rubbing his hands together, Fu Renxi was overjoyed, patted his chest and said, "Actually, Yanshui Pass still has [-] catties of gunpowder. If there is more, I will go back and find a way. Don't worry about the gunpowder. I will wrap it in a box of gold!"

　good night!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)