The most powerful patriarch in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 162
Chapter 160

The houses are tidy, the roads are clean,
No matter men, women, old or young, the clothes are not luxurious, but they are clean and tidy.

All the members of the Lu clan have ruddy complexions and seem to have no worries about food and clothing.
What moved Li Dingguo the most was the smiling faces from the heart,
The difference between this and those smiling faces with strong faces is too obvious.

The people living in Xingping Village are all Lu Changle's clan relatives,

Rabbits don’t eat grass by the side of their nests, and the ones in other places are definitely not so good.
Lu Changfu is currently working in Min County, Li Dingguo followed the escort to Min County,

On the way there, Li Dingguo was surprised to find that
Whether it is a business traveler on the official road, or a farmer plowing in the field,
Everyone has a smile on their face and a light in their eyes,
The longing for a better life made him unable to calm down for a long time.
When they arrived in Min County, Lu Changfu, who had received Lu Changle's request in advance, arranged for Li Dingguo to be in the team for measuring and dividing the land.
The main task is to measure official land, unowned land, and military farmland, and then distribute them to those people who have no land.

Li Dingguo has no objection to the work arrangement,
Let's take a look at how Lu Changle manages the place,
Second, it is also easy to get in touch with many big names here.

Min County is not only the seat of Fuzhou Prefecture, but also the capital of Fujian Prefecture in ancient times.
It was only when the Zheng family moved in strongly that they shifted their focus to Quanzhou.
It can be regarded as entering Lu Changle's heart position, Li Dingguo is very satisfied with this arrangement,
Pulling people is also much more convenient.

Li Dingguo has left, news related to Li Dingguo will be sent to Lu Changle in two to three days by way of flying pigeons:
On May [-]th, Li Dingguo took people to Wuhang Township, Min County, and measured it for a day. He complained about hard work, but there was no complaint;

On May [-]th, taking advantage of the lunch break, Li Dingguo paid for the members of the measurement team to eat, and offered to pour wine to them;

On May [-]th, when Li Dingguo was measuring the land, he slapped a local old man and asked him how much he had paid for the land;
On May 23, a farmer in Wuyu, Min County had a wedding and invited the measurement team to a banquet. Li Dingguo happily attended the appointment. After drinking a few glasses of wine, he wrestled with the locals and won easily;
On May 26, a farmer's cattle suddenly went crazy and injured two people. Seeing the critical situation, Li Dingguo acted resolutely and subdued the farmer's cattle by himself, winning applause;
Whether it is true or false, Li Dingguo is well integrated,

Lu Changle didn't restrict him either, as long as he didn't run away, he was allowed to torment.

In addition to paying attention to Li Dingguo, Lu Changle has also been paying attention to the situation in various parts of Fujian.
The intelligence team that invested heavily has also received rich returns.
Every day, homing pigeons circled back and forth over Xingping Village, bringing back various information to Lu Changle.

Lu Changle urged the development and production of new weapons,

While training the rural protection team, preparing for the fierce battle in the future,

In order to have no hindrance,

Lu Changle asked local militia groups to implement a patrol system,

Landlords, gentry, and clans conduct self-examinations, eliminate all kinds of eyeliners, monitor or place suspects under house arrest,

Lu Changhe and Yang Qijun each led a team of elite soldiers to launch a thunderous attack on the bandits in the territory.

Lest they stab in the back at a critical moment,

In terms of publicity, Lu Changle has not relaxed,
He also invited Fujian Confucian scholars, celebrities and representatives of major clans to contribute articles to Minnan Express, appealing to the Zheng family not to harm Fujian again,
However, two things suddenly made Lu Changle vigilant,

On June [-], Zheng Zhilong, with a large fleet of more than [-] ships, docked at Quanzhou Wharf.

On the same day, Zheng Hongkui led his troops into the territory of Shaowu Mansion from Jiangxi Xincheng.
The Zheng brothers showed with their actions that they returned to Fujian.

For a moment, many people's eyes were on this place that had just been ravaged by the plague.

Chongzhen also knows about Fujian, but now that he has internal and external troubles and disgraced face, he can't care so much.
Li Zicheng surrounded Kaifeng for the third time after killing Wang Qiao, governor of Shaanxi, and threatened to destroy the city.
The city of Jinzhou was broken, whether Hong Chengchou was "martyred" or not, Liaodong's "report" was different, and the truth was still unclear.
It was confirmed that the governor Qiumin was killed in Yangcheng, and the court believed that the "report" was true.
So Emperor Chongzhen set up altars and temples for Qiu Minyang and Hong Chengchou,
Also prepared to pay homage to Hong Chengchou in person,

Chongzhen asked the Ministry of Rites to set up sixteen altars according to the highest standards.

Every altar must be sacrificed. When the ninth altar was sacrificed, the court got reliable information,
Hong Chengchou did not die for his country, but surrendered to Jianlu, and Jianlu held a surrender ceremony for him.

When the news came, the memorial ceremony was immediately suspended.
After making such a big joke, Chongzhen was furious, not only ordered to investigate the negligence of the intelligence personnel,

He was also furious, and the candlelight in the imperial study room was not extinguished that night,

From time to time, there was the sound of breaking things.

As for the secret report about Fujian from Jinyiwei, Chongzhen picked it up and pondered for a long time.

In the end, I reluctantly let go.

At least the two are still loyal to the Ming Dynasty on the surface,

Let them fight, whoever wins will be conferred by the imperial court,
The focus is how to deal with the threat of Jianlu, as well as Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, who were exterminated and revived.

With Zheng Zhilong in charge, Zheng Zhibao immediately concentrated his troops and Zheng Hongkui to attack the twelve heavenly kings headed by the three-eyed king.

Yanping Mansion, Youxi County Government,
Lu Changle, Gan Hui, Lu Jinyuan, Yang Zhengbao, Yang Zhengpu, Lu Jinqing, Fei Bo, Yang Qijun, Lu Changgeng, Lu Changfu and others gathered together,
Discuss recent developments.

As Lu Changfu's deputy, Li Dingguo was also the confidant of the Three-Eyed King.
Lu Changle specially approved to allow him to attend.

Zheng's [-] troops are all in place, and it is inevitable that the township protection team will fight Zheng's.

Yanping Mansion, Fuzhou Mansion, Jianning Prefecture and Jianning Mansion are under the control of the Township Protection Team.
Both occupy half of the land in Fujian, and the Zheng family will definitely not give up easily.

"The Zheng family is very powerful. They say that others are not allowed to snore on the side of the couch. An enemy's enemy is a friend. I think we should form an alliance with the Three-Eyed King. Even if we don't, we should send troops to support the Three-Eyed King." Zheng Zhengpu spoke first.

As long as it is a business that does not lose money, it is worth doing.

Uncle Fat echoed, "Brother Yang's words are very reasonable, I agree."

Lu Jinqing shook his head and said, "It's not good. The villagers and elders all support us, because we are teachers of justice recognized by the emperor. If we collude with the bandits, the gains will outweigh the losses."

After a pause, Lu Jinqing added: "The Three-Eyed King and the others are doing the business of breaking people's backs and tearing down shrines and digging graves. If you get mixed up with them, I'm afraid it will chill the hearts of the folks."

"It's a knife to the left and a knife to the right, it's difficult," Yang Zhengbao sighed.

There was a lot of discussion among the people, and some advocated a short-term alliance with the Three-Eyed King,

Some suggested finding a middleman to make peace with Zheng Zhilong. It is also acceptable to keep the territory of one or two mansions.
Discussions came and went, and after half an hour of arguing, there was still no result.

Lu Changle said impatiently: "Okay, all be quiet."

As soon as the words fell, everyone immediately fell silent, and their eyes fell on Lu Changle.

I have been waiting for him to speak.

Lu Changle stood up, looked at the map and said, "Three-eyed King and Twelve-Road Heavenly King don't need to think about it. If I guess correctly, Zheng Zhibao and Zheng Hongkui will take Tingzhou Mansion and Shaowu Mansion in less than ten days."

"Ten days? Can't it?" Zheng Zhengpu said with some disbelief: "The Three-Eyed King has 1 subordinates, and the other eleven heavenly kings have more than 3000 men, and the least manpower has more than 10 people. Thousands of people just can't beat it, and it's no problem to support it for three to five months."

The people Zheng Zhilong brought back from Jilong Mountain are still standing still in Quanzhou.
Even with Zheng Zhibao and Zheng Hongkui's 4 people, they cannot easily win the Twelve Heavenly Kings.

Lu Changle said affirmatively: "The Zheng family has been entrenched in Fujian for a long time, relying on sea trade to earn a lot of money, and the equipment is good. The mob is no match for them. As far as I know, after Zheng Du's road was broken, Zheng Zhibao's offensive markedly slowed down”

"It's not that he can't fight, but that he doesn't want to lose too many troops with the Twelve Heavenly Kings."

"Think about it, Mrs. Zheng is from a pirate background, so in terms of conspiracy and tricks, she is no worse than others."

"Buy a few, force a few away, and then take it with a thunderbolt, it's too simple"

"Let's think about it, how to deal with the thieves who came to seek refuge"

"If my guess is correct, after winning the Twelve Heavenly Kings, the Zheng family will attack from Tingzhou Mansion, Shaowu Mansion and Hailu. Let's think about how to deal with it."

Zheng Zhibao's road has been stalemate, because he put his troops in the big towns,
Rarely take the initiative to attack the Twelve Heavenly Kings,
Large-scale battles between the two sides are rare,

Zheng Zhibao obviously had other plans.

The scene was silent, and it was difficult for everyone to digest Lu Changle's words.
After so much trouble with bandits, how many days can the Zheng family eliminate the Twelve Heavenly Kings?

It sounds unbelievable, but these words came from Lu Changle,
Everyone has to take it seriously.

Zheng Zhengbao said solemnly: "Should we still implement the strategy of fortifying the wall and clearing the field?"

When Zheng Du led his troops to march eastward, the water and land routes advanced at the same time, and Lu Changle adopted the tactics of fortifying the walls and clearing the fields.
Forcing Zheng Du to make a serious mistake, and finally took him down in one fell swoop,
He also avenged his ancestors.

"Is there any other way? It's not good to strengthen the wall and clear the field, but it's too much trouble. The folks and elders have complaints." Zheng Zhengpu said somewhat cautiously.

Transfer tens of thousands of people at once, men, women, children, soft goods, livestock, etc.
It was a real toss.

Uncle Fatty said, "It's better to make a fuss than lose your life."

Everyone discussed again,

Li Dingguo on the side was a little stunned, and turned a little envious,
The atmosphere is so good that everyone can express their opinions freely,

Unlike in the righteous father's army, everyone has to speak carefully,
You have to figure out what King Yi is thinking, so as not to be punished for saying something wrong.

Shaowu Mansion, in a mansion in Jianning County,

The Three-Eyed King is lying on a leisure chair,

With a pair of 16-year-old twin sisters in their arms,
Eyes fixed on the snatched maiko dancing, big hands wandering wantonly on the sisters,

Next to it were two maidservants feeding fruit and grilled meat into their mouths,
This is a day like a fairy, the three-eyed king who was born as a coachman,

I never dreamed that I would be able to enjoy it like this one day.

It's a pity that Lu Changle doesn't know how to flatter and refuses to form an alliance with him.
Brother Sha Potian was right, this trip was not in vain, not only did he find out a spy with bad intentions,

I also got Lu Changle's promise that the two sides will not violate the river water,

Will not follow Zheng to attack himself,

As for Zheng's aggressive approach to regain lost ground, the Three-Eyed King didn't care too much.

Assign those fools who are allied to each crossing fortress, let them go first if there is something to do,

If you have a chance, send someone to pick up the bargain. If you can't beat it,

Take your confidants and valuable gold and silver treasures and drill into the deep mountains and old forests,
It is difficult for heavenly soldiers and generals to find themselves,

People like Chuang Wang, Ba Da Wang, Ta Po Tian and others have used this method to live happily for many years.
Even if he was unlucky and died on the road, the Three-Eyed King would not blame anyone.

In these days of being the king of the mountain, there is good wine and good meat every day, accompanied by beauties who are so tender,
I haven't even touched a woman's hand before, but this month alone, I have opened buds for more than a dozen yellow-flowered girls.

This life is worth it.

"My lord, I'd like to offer you a toast." Sha Potian raised his glass to toast the Three-Eyed King.

The trip to Fuzhou Mansion was regarded as the completion of the mission.

The Three-Eyed King was overjoyed, and rewarded Sha Potian's two beauties,

Eating, drinking and having fun with the Three-Eyed King every day, Sha Potian is so satisfied,
I don't know when Mrs. Zheng will arrive.

If you can be happy for a day, you will be happy for a day, and let's talk about it after enjoying it.

"Good brother, drink." The Three-Eyed King raised his glass and drank happily.

Just when the two were drinking happily, his confidant Xu Xingfu hurried in and shouted in panic: "My lord, it's not good, it's not good."

With a "snap", the Three-Eyed King threw the wine glass in front of Xu Xingfu, and roared furiously: "How many times have I said, don't panic in everything, it depends on how decent you are in a panic."

I am the Three-Eyed King, the leader of the Twelve Heavenly Kings,

In the future, the big man who wants to crack the soil and become king has repeatedly asked his subordinates to do things more safely, so as not to lose his dignity,

These guys just didn't listen.

Xu Xingfu was startled, he couldn't care less, and shouted loudly: "My lord, run quickly, the dog officers and soldiers have arrived at Huangjia'ao, less than three miles away, if you don't run, you won't be able to run."

What, officers and soldiers are here?

Arrived at Huangjiaao?
Sha Potian was so frightened that he lost his drink, he quickly lay down on the ground and listened with his ears.

After a while, Sha Potian said with a pale face: "There are a lot of hoofbeats, it's cavalry, Your Majesty, there are indeed cavalry charging here."

The Three-Eyed King pushed the twin sisters in his arms to the ground, and shouted: "Why did you come so fast, what about the Big Stick Hammer, Fu Yan Wang, Da Jinya, the guys in their hands and their subordinates are all Is it a decoration?"

No one asks for help, no one lights a beacon, what are those people doing?

Xu Xingfu said with a mournful face, "Your Majesty, King Fuyan, Da Jinya and Dizhong Wang were bought by the dog officials. They used the excuse of friendship and plotted against them with big clubs, hammers and not bad money. They brought the dog officers and soldiers here."

"Quick, quick, set off the beacon fire, ask King Duojin and Potian to reinforce them, and fight them hard." The Three-Eyed King roared loudly.

Desperate is fake, let them drag people down so that they can run away by themselves.

As soon as the words fell, a soldier ran in and said loudly: "My lord, it's not good. King Duojin and Po Potian led people to sneak away. Now Zheng Hongkui led people to surround him from the north. Run quickly, don't let me go!" It’s too late to run.”

What, Duo Jin Wang, pierced the sky and ran away?

The Three-Eyed King suddenly collapsed on the ground, shouting: "It's over, it's over."

Zheng Zhibao secretly bought and instigated several bandit leaders, and launched a campaign with Zheng Hongkui at the same time.
With lightning speed, they raided Jianning County,
Killing the Three-Eyed King, the Big Cudgel, Not Bad Money, the King of Troubled Times and Shaking the Mountain in one day,
The severely injured Cao Lilong fled into the deep mountains and old forests, not knowing whether he was dead or alive,
Only King Duojin and Potian, who saw the opportunity early, escaped.
King Duojin abandoned his luggage and took a small road into Jiangxi.
There is no way out to pierce the sky, lead his men into the Yanping mansion, and surrender to Lu Changle, the general who suppressed the bandits.

Zheng Zhibao and Zheng Hongkui took advantage of the victory to pursue,
Fu Yan Wang, Da Jinya and Dizhong Wang who ordered the rebellion were the vanguard, followed by the Zheng family army.

To wipe out the remnants of bandits in Tingzhou Mansion and Shaowu Mansion with thunderous strikes,
Zheng Zhibao, who is fond of killing and violent, holds the principle that he would rather kill thousands of people by mistake, but let one go.

Carry out a big cleansing in Tingzhou Mansion and Shaowu Mansion,

All of a sudden resentment filled the sky, everyone was in danger,
Zheng Zhibao also got the nickname Four Hades,
Many people fled to Yanping and Jianning with their families.

It has long been heard that General Pingzei loves the people like his sons, and those who have no land will give them back.

The places under his rule are prosperous and stable, and the doors are not closed at night,
It's hard for anyone to leave their hometown, but it's better than living under Zheng's butcher's knife in fear.

In less than five days, the Zheng brothers completely recovered the two prefectures of Tingzhou and Shaowu.
After regaining the two mansions, the Zheng brothers did not sit idle.

Zheng Zhibao set out from Tingzhou Prefecture,

Zheng Hongkui dialed from Shaowu Mansion,
Zheng Zhilong set off from Quanzhou wharf with more than [-] ships.

The goal of all three is to attack Lu Changle.

(End of this chapter)