Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 122

"Have you heard? Kaiyuan, Tieling, and Fushun posted the news that "there are houses to live together, food to eat together, and fields to cultivate together."

"Of course I heard about it, alas... I don't know if we have this luck."

"It's lucky, I just hope that group of Qiuba don't buy the price of food high."

The spring breeze that melted winter snow and brought countless gossips blew into Qin Bangping's ears.

At this moment, he was walking along the streets and alleys with a few white soldiers in plain clothes.

While walking here, it is inevitable to hear the dissatisfaction of the Liao people with the Ming Dynasty.

Those who didn't know these words thought it was Daming who seized Houjin's city, and the city was full of Houjin's people.

"Gao Huai, that picky person, really deserves to die..."

Listening to the words in his ear, Qin Bangping cursed secretly in his heart, and even thought of Qiu Chengyun, the mine supervisor who forced his brother-in-law to death.

mine tax...

These two words were the two most hated words in the late Ming Dynasty, from scholar-bureaucrats to traffickers and pawns, especially in Jiangnan and Liaodong.

Under the banner of collecting mine taxes for the emperor, a group of eunuchs exploited the people, withheld military pay and rations, framed the ministers at will, and beat to death the people who did not pay taxes.

Perhaps people of later generations would never have imagined that a mining tax could trigger so many things only from the literal meaning of "mine tax".

Even Emperor Wanli himself never imagined that he just wanted to collect a mining tax, but it would make Ming Dynasty go from revival to decline.

As a person who was deeply affected by the mining tax, Qin Bangping took people back home after hearing what some people in Shenyang had said.

When he returned to the backyard of the General Military Mansion, he saw He Shixian who was drinking, and Qin Minping who was drinking tea next to him.

"Big brother (Qin Zongbing)" saw Qin Bangping came back, Qin Minping and He Shixian got up one after another, and Qin Bangping glanced at the flagon in He Shixian's hand, and could only say helplessly:

"Brother He, there is only half a catty of it a day. I don't care if I drink too little. If I drink too much, I can only tell you what Xiang Wansui told you."

"Half a catty... half a catty... I know, President Qin doesn't need to supervise, and I, Lao He, will never steal it."

It is hard to imagine that He Shixian, who dared to talk hard to Qin Bangping a month ago, would be so easy to talk to now.

As for the reason, it is naturally because of seeing the combat power of the Sichuan soldiers, and because Qin Bangping is a popular person in front of His Highness the Fifth Highness.

As people from Yulin who worked hard in Liaodong, He Shixian and You Shigong were very embarrassed.

They couldn't get into the Liao general's circle, and they had no backer except Xiong Tingbi, so they were assigned to guard the front line of Shenyang City, and their hearts were under great pressure.

Over time, He Shixian developed the habit of drinking heavily.

But now it's different. After He Shixian and You Shigong knew about Qin Bangping's background, they wanted to cling to him.

Even in private, He Shixian and You Shigong had already discussed that after the destruction of Houjin, they spent some money and asked to be transferred back to the northwest.

It was also with this kind of thinking that he was more able to listen to Qin Bangping's words.

In addition, Qin Bangping raised the salary of his men and horses to fifteen taels, so he was quite grateful to the other party.

"By the way, how is the recruitment of soldiers and horses?"

Sitting on the main seat, Qin Bangping remembered this incident, and when He Shixian heard this, he quickly said with a bitter face:

"Qin Zongbing, stop talking, these Liao people are really not good at it."

"I just recruited [-] people yesterday, but [-] of them ran away early in the morning."

"In my opinion, it's better to have troops from Diaoji Town, Xuanfu, or Datong, even recruits."

He Shixian's heart is bitter, although the number of men under his command has changed from three thousand to six thousand and seven hundred, and they are also equipped with the armor brought by Qin Bangping and the others, they can be regarded as elite soldiers.

But Shenyang City is too big, and it is still difficult to defend Shenyang with the current force.

He could only hope that Qin Bangping could use his connections to bring in some troops from other places.

As for his words, after listening to Qin Bangping, he recalled the undisguised words of distaste for the Ming court that he heard from the Liao people while walking in Shenyang city this month.

"It seems that the imperial court really has no popular support in Liaodong..."

With a long sigh in his heart, Qin Bangping opened his mouth and said:

"I will ask His Highness the Fifth Highness about this matter, and there should be no problem."

Qin Bangping knew that Zhu Youjian would soon replace Jizhen soldiers and horses, and the replaced Jizhen soldiers and horses could be put into Shenyang.

"That would be great!" He Shixian also became happy when he heard this, thinking that he really leaned against the big tree to enjoy the shade.

Xiong Jinglue has applied to the court so many times but has not been approved, but Qin Bangping can be so confident.

"My old He hugged a thigh..."

He Shixian was thinking happily, and Qin Bangping also returned to his study after a short reminiscence, and wrote a general outline of the situation in Shenyang. After walking out of the study, he handed the letter to an attendant:

"You take a team to deliver the letter yourself. If possible, you'd better bring the troops from Ji Town along with you."

"Take the order!" I responded with a bow, and then took the letter, ordered a group of troops, and rode out of the General Military Mansion, and ran to the south.

After they left, Qin Bangping went out of the General Military Mansion again, inspected the city wall, and finally checked the Guancang and Changping Cang. After confirming that there was nothing wrong with it, he returned to the General Military Mansion to rest.

As for the people who delivered the letter, they galloped all the way. When they delivered the letter to Zhu Youjian, it was already the fourth day of February in the first year of Tianqi.

And Zhu Youjian, who got the letter, was riding on horseback at the moment, riding the horse and following a huge convoy.

The length of the convoy was tens of thousands, and the distance was more than two miles.

There are more than [-] civil officials and more than [-] nobles in this team.

The cavalry of the Fifth Army Battalion of the Beijing Camp cleared the way ahead, the Banner Guards of the [-]th Guards, Jinwu Zuowei, and Huben Left Guards served as the central army, and the rear army was the Shenji Battalion and Shenshu Battalion of the Jingying Camp.

In the escort team, the imperial brother's big car was pulled by four elephants, and the big car was changed to a length and width of three feet, and a height of one foot, just like a huge thirty-six-wheeled chariot walking in the palace. .

In front of Da Ren, dressed in armor, with pale faces, seemed to be a group of nobles on horseback who were about to be crushed to death by the armor.

Behind Da Ren, there are dozens of wooden carriages, and many civil servants are sitting there.

After that, thousands of vehicles were used for sacrifices, or some ingredients needed for the emperor to go out of the city.

Since it was Zhu Youxiao's first trip out of the capital in history and in reality, Zhu Youjian, who was worried, specially transferred three thousand cavalry from Mangui and the Warrior Camp to participate in the protection.

It turns out that he was right to be worried.

At this moment, he was sitting on horseback, the war horse was standing by the side of the road, and beside him were protected by more than ten riders from Jin Yiwei.

He didn't open the letter, but looked at the team, at the sparsely positioned and even pale-faced rear soldiers of the Beijing camp, his brows were so tightly frowned that they could pinch mosquitoes to death.

"drive……"

At this time, a series of horseshoes sounded, and Zhu Youjian turned his head to look. It turned out that Man Gui in fish scale armor came with dozens of cavalry from the Warrior Battalion on horseback.

"Your Highness, this Beijing camp and the other twenty-six guards are too..."

Man Gui rode his horse to Zhu Youjian's side, holding back his mouthful of complaints but couldn't say anything.

"It's too wasteful, right?" Zhu Youjian said with a smile, not worried that someone would dare to impeach him.

Because in his opinion, these guys are trash.

The army had already left the city at Mao o'clock this morning, but they had walked for four hours now, and they had only traveled thirty miles!
This translates to an average of less than [-] kilometers per hour.

Using Zhu Youjian's idea is that even if you climb, it will take more than [-] kilometers in an hour.

It is better to count on Jin Yiwei than to count on these guys to protect the emperor.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian looked at Man Gui and said:
"I'm sure we won't be able to reach Gonghua City today. According to the route, let's camp and rest at Qinghedian in front."

"Don't worry, Your Highness, the last general has already discussed with the British government." Man Gui replied, and Zhu Youjian listened to his answer, and looked at the three horsemen in front of Xungui.

In the middle of the three horses is the British Duke Zhang Weixian in the military uniform.

As for the fat man next to him, the panting fat man was Cheng Guogong Zhu Chunchen, the guy who sold Chongzhen in exchange for glory and wealth in history.

Apart from Zhu Chunchen, there is Xu Xigao, the Duke of Dingguo.

But Xu Xigao is not in a good state right now, or not only him, but all the nobles are not in a good state.

Their faces were all pale, and they looked as if they would fly west at any time in the next second.

Looking at them, it is not difficult for Zhu Youjian to understand why Chenghua, Zhengde, Jiajing, Wanli and others have repeatedly rectified the Beijing camp, but each time the rectification took less than three years, and the Beijing camp continued to change back to its original state.

One raging soldier, one raging raging nest, the things can't be blamed on the soldiers of the Beijing camp, but on the group of blood-sucking insects.

"Humph!"

Zhu Youjian snorted coldly, then turned the horse's head, steered the horse to trot to the side of the big horse, and then jumped directly from the horse's back to the big horse without stopping the horse.

At this scene, some of the nobles clicked their tongues, and they started to mutter in their hearts.

Cheng Guogong Zhu Chunchen, who has been paying attention to Zhu Youjian, said with sweat on his forehead:
"Old Duke, it seems that His Royal Highness the Fifth Prince really knows how to train soldiers..."

"Not only good at training soldiers, but also good at bowing horses..." Zhang Weixian glanced at Zhu Chunchen, thinking that this group of people is really just looking for trouble.

As for Xu Xigao who was on the sidelines, he was already remorseful.

Xu Xigao knew one thing from the time when the warrior camp appeared at Maoshi, that is, Zhu Youjian really knows how to train soldiers!
Of the [-] cavalry in the Warriors Battalion, almost one has three horses, and everyone wears armor.

And because of the waste of the Jingying and Shangzhi twenty-six guards, they are not only responsible for guarding the big body, but also responsible for the horse detection work of the Tangqi.

It can be said that the Warriors Battalion is not here to assist, but more like to protect everyone.

It's hard to believe that this army has only been trained for less than four months.

Almost all of them can skillfully beat and suppress waves on horseback, and have a more comprehensive idea of ​​how to defend the big body.

If it weren't for them not being able to shoot left and right on horseback, Xu Xigao would have thought that this was the [-] Battalion under the command of Emperor Cheng Zuwen back then.

Now he can only hope that Zhu Youjian has only trained such a team, instead of training such tens of thousands of soldiers and horses as Zhang Weixian said.

If there were really so many soldiers and horses, then it was almost a certainty that the emperor would abolish the guards of Shuntian Mansion and Yongping Mansion.

All the nobles were pale. Apart from wanting to die because of being tortured by horses, the news that the Shuntian Mansion and Yongping Mansion Guards would be abolished was almost certain to make them feel even more pained.

Compared with the pained nobles, the civil servants frowned even tighter.

Due to the need to maintain the operation of the imperial court, none of the cabinet scholars and six ministers accompanied the army, and even the military department left many people behind.

Most of the ministers accompanying the army were ministers from Honglu Temple, Taipu Temple, Metropolitan Procuratorate and a small number of six departments.

Among them, Qi, Chu, Zhejiang, Xuan, Kun, Donglin and other middle and high-level civil officials from all parties gathered.

Yao Zongwen from the Zhejiang Party, Qi Shijiao from the Qi Party, Ying Zhen from the Chu Party, Tang Binyin from the Xuan Party, Gu Tianjun from the Kundang Party, and Han Yu, Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou and Gao Panlong from Donglin all came.

Zhu Youxiao did not miss this opportunity to frighten all officials, and such a move made almost all civil servants frown.

"Sure enough, His Highness the Fifth Highness shouldn't be in charge of the Seven Guards and One Battalion at the beginning..."

In a relatively large carriage, when a person looked away from the cavalry of the Warrior Battalion, he also closed the window.

In the car, Yao Zongwen, Tang Binyin, Gu Tianjun and others sat together in the car, forming a small gathering of Jiangnan civil servants such as Zhejiang Xuankun.

The person who spoke was Yao Zongwen in Hu Ke's affairs.

"It's too late to say these things now. Long live has opened the south field of the Yumajian, and also mastered the seven guards and one battalion." Tang Binyin frowned and said, while Gu Tianjun next to him said:

"With millions of acres of arable land in the south field, the soldiers and horses in the north field can be easily maintained."

"The most important thing to do right now is to be careful not to allow Long Live to set up troops in the South Field."

Jiangnan must not have the emperor's military power. On this point, the three parties reached a consensus.

Qi Yuanfu's [-] Zhe soldiers had suffocated them before. If there was another army stationed permanently, the three parties could only be easily manipulated by the emperor.

"I got the news from Xungui. Long live seems to be planning to use this time to offer sacrifices to the late emperor. By the way, he will frighten Xungui, so that the Xungui will hand over the guards in Suncheon and Yongping, and then abolish them."

Gu Tianjun told the information he had obtained, but Yao Zongwen said:

"The abolition of the guards is a good thing for us. If the northern guards can be abolished, the imperial court will have more food for the army, and we will have a reason to reduce land taxes and miscellaneous items."

"Miscellaneous..." Hearing these two words, Tang Binyin clenched his teeth and said:
"The day before yesterday, Liu Yixiu sent a report to Wansui, planning to distribute the land tax of the extra silver to miscellaneous items."

"Don't worry about this matter, it won't have much impact." Yao Zongwen explained and comforted:
"Old Fang Ge and Sun Gechen have asked Liu Yixiu to restrict the original land tax of [-] million taels and miscellaneous items of [-] million taels to [-] million taels of land tax, [-] taels of miscellaneous items, and [-] taels of salt. Two, the tariff is [-] taels."

"Even so, it's too much." Gu Tianjun looked dissatisfied.

Suzhou, as a tax-heavy place in Southern Zhili, is burdened with taxes every year, so that the gentry can't breathe, so they can only choose to delay or pay less.

Originally, it could be delayed for half a year by virtue of last year's autumn tax and additional payment of money, but now because of the Donglin Party's Beijing inspection, this process can no longer continue.

With the original land tax plus the current increase, Suzhou's tax can reach about 16%, which is really too much.

Such an ending told the gentry in Suzhou that they might only suspect that the officials of the Kun Party had surrendered to the emperor.

"At that time, just pay less. Wansui doesn't have so many people to check." Tang Binyin still chose to use the old method to fool.

Hearing this, Gu Tianjun had no better way in his mind, so he could only sigh and nod his head.

Just as they were sighing, the other carriage was also full of quarrels.

"The prince leads the army, this is a rebellion!"

"Isn't this why the king has not been married yet..."

"He dared to command more than [-] soldiers and horses without being crowned king. Wouldn't it mean to imitate Tang Taizong if he was crowned king?!"

"OK OK……"

On the carriage, the thin old man whose beard was shaking with anger angrily reprimanded Zhu Youjian for his behavior, while Zuo Guangdou beside him kept comforting him.

As for this old man, he is Gao Panlong, the first gunman of the Donglin Party.

This old boy is different from Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou, Han Yu and others. He has been an official for [-] years, only six years as a county magistrate, and the rest of the time he is in charge of etiquette and censors. Position.

During his tenure as a pawn, the old boy did not make any achievements. He thought it was a disgrace to be demoted as a pawn. Cannon trip.

Compared with him, Yang Lian started as a county magistrate at the grass-roots level. In order to truly understand the local people's conditions, he often went deep into the fields and houses and inspected them in modest clothing. "Put honest officials first".

Zuo Guangdou got the official position of Zhongshu Sheren as soon as he entered the officialdom.

But he didn't think it was a good thing. Instead, he ran for the censor, and then inspected the capital, arrested and punished the officials who had committed many crimes, and caught more than a hundred villains pretending to be officials, which shocked the whole capital.

As for Han Yu, who was assigned to copy books, he didn't do badly like Gao Panlong, but worked hard, and finally got Zhu Changluo's attention, and he was on the rise.

From this point, it can be seen that Gao Panlong is a guy with high self-esteem but no ability.

The only ability, perhaps, is that he is slightly better at literature.

Because of this, most of the talkative members of the Donglin Party gathered around him. They only knew about impeachment, but they didn't know what to say.

Compared with Yang Lian and others, even if someone like him was thrown in front of Zhu Youjian, Zhu Youjian probably wouldn't look at him directly.

He, Zhu Youjian, no matter in his previous life or in this life, the keyboard man he hates the most...

"Such a person should be crowned king early, and then immediately get married and become a feudal vassal!"

Gao Panlong didn't feel relieved, and began to scold Zhu Youjian for what he did.

Yang Lian, who was sitting across from him, watched his nose with his eyes and his heart. Because of Gao Panlong's status as one of the founders of Donglin Academy, he could not argue with the other party.

Whenever this happened, he recalled what Zhu Youjian said that most of the Qingliu were mediocre people.

Isn't Gao Panlong in front of you the representative of Qingliu's mediocrity?
Yang Lian sighed in his heart, but Han Yu saw that he was silent, so he asked:

"Wen Ru, you were by His Royal Highness the Fifth Prince's side at the time, so you should supervise him well. Now that he has tens of thousands of troops under his command, it is inevitable that he will not develop ambitions in the future."

"How should I supervise?" Yang Lian smiled wryly.

His wry smile was a wry smile that everyone didn't understand Zhu Youjian, but Han Yu and the others thought Yang Lian couldn't stop it.

Only Zuo Guangdou understood that his close friend and Han Yu and Gao Panlong had different thoughts.

During those days in Huaibei, Zuo Guangdou probably knew about Zhu Youjian from Yang Lian.

Although he is still a little worried, he will not slander Zhu Youjian like Gao Panlong.

"No, after returning to Beijing, the old man must go to the prison, please Long live to transfer the soldiers and horses of the Imperial Horse Supervisor to Liaodong, so as to avoid the capital from being in danger!"

Gao Panlong spoke righteously, and those who didn't know thought that Zhu Youjian was really an ambitious man.

Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou looked at him, shook their heads in their hearts, and then ignored him.

Han Yu also closed his eyes and meditated, without any response.

Seeing this, Gao Panlong despised them a little in his heart, so he stopped talking.

But when they were fighting coldly, Zhu Youjian walked into Daren and saw the emperor's brother who was playing wrestling (wrestling) with Wei Zhongxian in the car.

"Brother is here?"

Seeing Zhu Youjian coming, Zhu Youxiao also let go of Wei Zhongxian who was thrown to the ground by him, got up and walked towards Zhu Youjian.

The little eunuch next to him wiped his sweat, while Zhu Youjian took out Qin Bangping's letter and handed it to Brother Huang, saying:

"This is a letter from Qin Bangping in Shenyang. I haven't read it yet. Brother, please decide."

"Hehe, my brother looks the same as me." Zhu Youxiao said, and tore off the seal on the letter in Zhu Youjian's hand: "My brother, let's read it first. I'll drink tea first."

After all, Zhu Youxiao turned around and picked up the cold tea, and took a refreshing sip.

As for Zhu Youjian, out of desperation, he could only pull out the letter paper, quickly read the contents of the letter, and handed it to the other party, saying:

"It seems that my thinking is right. The old slave should be about to invade Shenyang, and he has already started to plot."

When Zhu Youxiao heard that the battle was about to start again, he also frowned and put down the tea, took a look at the letter paper, and then said:

"This old slave is really hateful, and the same is true for the people of Liaodong, who actually choose to be a thief!"

Zhu Youxiao's words sound harsh, but Zhu Youjian has nothing to do.

After all, this era is still home to the world. In Zhu Youxiao's view, the people should trust him instead of blindly choosing Nurhachi.

For this kind of thought, Zhu Youjian had no way to correct it for Brother Huang, so he could only change the topic by saying:
"After reviewing the army this time, I asked the emperor to allow the Imperial Horse Supervisor to recruit [-] soldiers in the Yongping area, and then let them go to Shenyang."

"Well, anyway, the guards will be abolished at that time, and the battalion will be left to the younger brother. It would be good for the new recruits to be transferred to Shenyang." Zhu Youxiao nodded, then looked at Zhu Youjian and said:
"In two days, I will be able to see the soldiers and horses trained by my brother. I don't know if my brother has confidence?"

"Brother, just wait and see." Zhu Youjian bowed back, looking confident.

For a while, Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but wonder how his younger brother trained the soldiers and horses of the Seven Guards and the First Battalion.

But in the end, he hid this thought in his heart, and gradually looked forward to the two-day military review...

　one more chapter

　　
　
(End of this chapter)