Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 59

"It's easy to talk about rewards." County Magistrate Wu smiled wryly. Compared with the 50 taels of silver he sent, the thirty stone rice is really nothing. "Zanfu has worked hard."

"It's about the safety of the whole city. An dares to say it's hard work. It's just that Li Qianhu was very careful, and he was willing to call 30 people after he said all the good things. Those gunpowder lead, it's fine if you don't use it. If you use it, you have to pay attention." Pay him back twice." Wu Yanian was nearly forty, a fat man, well maintained, and looked much younger than the county magistrate.He came from a miscellaneous background, and he was not as thoughtful as a regular person in Kejia, so he lived a carefree life.

"It's no wonder he," Wu Ling lowered his head, sighed, "everyone in the imperial court knows about the guards. Does he have any soldiers available? Even if there are, they are only old, weak, sick and disabled people who can't escape. That's all."

"What the Ming government said is true." Wu Ya nodded and said, just as he was talking, the sect came to report, and the county's master book and disciplines all came. up.In the Ming Dynasty, the power of the gentry was very heavy, and the local gentry could often interfere with local administration, so whenever there was a major event in the county, it was always good to invite the gentry to discuss it.

The so-called gentry is a complex class, ranging from court ministers, feudal officials, family members of officials, powerful landlords, and officials who have returned to their original places due to various reasons such as Dingyou, dismissal, and resignation; Promote a scholar.can be included.Due to various relationships, they have very close ties with the provincial officials and the imperial court, and even have direct access to the inner court of the imperial palace.The seventh-rank, eighth-rank and ninth-rank officials in the prefectural and county yamen can pretend to be lords in front of the common people, but they will be greatly discounted in front of these squires.

Because Lingao is a small county on the border, there are not many gentry in total, and some places are remote, and those who cannot be affected by pirates will not come.Some set up their own villages to recruit village braves. At this time, they have to sit in defense, so it is naturally inconvenient to come.That is to say, a few gentlemen who are in the county and the surrounding area, they have related interests, so they will naturally come.

Seeing that everyone was almost here, Wu Mingjin asked the master next to him in a low voice: "Has Mr. Liu not arrived yet?"

"Go back to the master, Feng Jiaoyu will pick it up in person, and he will be there in a while."

He nodded and looked at all the gentlemen in the flower hall.Although there were already more than ten people sitting in the flower hall, some were arrogant, some were submissive, and some were pretending to be deep and kept silent.

"Fathers and elders," Wu Mingjin said without politeness, and directly turned the conversation to the main topic, "The current situation: the pirates are powerful and entrenched in Bopu. The huge ships and fast boats are full of harbors, and tomorrow they will go up the river and plunder all the way. It's in danger! Wu Zan's mansion risked his life and went out of the city today to ask for help, and tomorrow he can go to the guard station with thirty soldiers, but the soldiers in the guard station are only for strength and cannot be relied on!"

These words were spoken so harshly that everyone who heard them couldn't help being agitated.Wu Ya knew that this was just a common knock on the mountain and the tiger, and the danger of exaggerating the situation to 12 was nothing more than to force these gentry to donate food and money.As the old county magistrate in this county, he knows very well that the current financial situation of the imperial court is extremely corrupt.Lingao was hit by a typhoon and flood last year, and more than half of the autumn grain was lost, but the three salaries collected by the imperial court were unavoidable. The county was already in dire straits, and even Minzhuang and Archer owed the grain and salaries for several months.Now it is necessary to prevent pirates from attacking the city, so it costs money to ask for reinforcements and recruit strong people.

Seeing that this group of people were all anxious, Wu Daling said slowly: "I am here because of poverty, and I have the responsibility to guard the land. The city survives and survives, and the city dies and perishes. You are either receiving the state's favor for the world, or you are the gentry of this city. , or for the right path of Kejia, the duty of defending the city is unshirkable. Please work together with the officials to defend the city, repel the pirate attack, and keep the officials, gentry and people in the city safe and sound. I wonder if you have any suggestions?"

Everyone hurriedly stood up and said, "Your Majesty is the first!"

Seeing that the atmosphere was good, Wu Mingjin explained his plan: "Although this county is a small town, its circumference is more than 200 zhang. Now there are only more than [-] soldiers and civilians in the city. They have to guard three gates. A lot of people have flooded in, and there is no guarantee that there will be no internal response from the pirates. I am afraid that Zaoli will not be able to suppress it. I want to recruit [-] people from the people to defend the city together."

(Note: There were originally four gates in Lingao County in the Ming Dynasty, but the north gate was blocked for a long time and could not be opened. This is a characteristic of the Ming Dynasty city in Hainan. There is a saying of defense against pirates here, and it also has the meaning of geomantic omen.)

A gentleman said: "The Ming government is so loyal, it is really a blessing for the officials, gentlemen and people in the city. But now the pirates are only in Bopu, and they have not gone deep into the county. Is it shocking to recruit more people?"

The other also hurriedly said: "It is a good strategy to recruit more people to defend the defense. However, after the typhoon and flood last year, people's livelihood was dying. If it is not a critical moment, this strategy should not be used to disturb the people!"

All of these slick gentry had embarrassing faces.One after another complained about their hardships, it was nothing more than the fact that the imperial court had added a heavy burden, and last year there was a disaster again, and most of the tenants fled to death from starvation...

Some also said that General Qiongya's patrol boat would arrive at Bopu within three days. Once the officers and troops arrived, even if the pirates did not flee, General Tang was responsible for guarding the land, and he would definitely send troops from Baisha Shuizhai to attack.

Wu Mingjin's face became more and more ugly, and suddenly he heard someone outside the door saying: "The city is at stake, and you are still stingy with some money!" As he spoke, Feng Jiaoyu brought two entourages, and used a wicker chair to hold a middle-aged man. The young man carried it in.Everyone hurriedly stood up to salute, very respectful.Even Wu Ling stepped forward, calling him "Old Mister".

This middle-aged man who has been paralyzed for many years is the well-known Liu Dalin in Lingao history, whose name is Meng Liang.In the 47th year of Wanli, it was the first Jinshi in Lingao since it was established as a county in the Tang Dynasty.However, after he was admitted to the imperial examination, he was paralyzed and could not afford it, so he did not become an official.

He is only in his early forties at this time, and he is in his prime. Although his body is paralyzed and it is difficult to walk, he is still quite enthusiastic about the local area.His home was just inside the west gate of the county seat, and upon hearing Wu Ling's invitation, he came without hesitation.

Wu Mingjin said: "What good strategy does the old man have for this?"

Liu Dalin said: "Min Zhuang needs to be recruited. The thief is not moving now, is it possible that he will not move tomorrow? How can the thief's large stock be sent out just to occupy a blog shop? The blog shop is only [-] miles away from here, and the thief will leave at noon. Now, when the soldiers come to the city and all the jade and stones are burned, will your wealth be saved?"

He tilted his body, and the servants beside him helped him move a bit: "Now that the military equipment is in decline, how can you still count on General Tang's men?! You didn't hear the report from the spies, and the pirates all took big iron boats and didn't use sails. Is it free to come and go? Baisha Water Village is coming in full force, so what?"

When everyone heard this, their faces turned gray again.A gentry whispered: "Officers and soldiers are useless, so what if we recruit some strong people?"

"Since ancient times, officers and soldiers have been inferior to the courage of the village and the strength of the people! The former is just asking for food and wages to make a living, while the latter is defending the hometown. Are you on the same level?" Liu Jinshi talked eloquently, "Today's plan, it is better to ask for others than to ask for yourself. He clasped his hands to Wu Mingjin, "Ming Mansion, Da Lin thought that recruiting courage and defending the country is just one thing." He said a few countermeasures that he had thought hard during the day:

[-]. Send people to each village, map, and capital to tell the local gentry to recruit village braves and build soil enclosures for self-defense.

[-]. Fortify the walls and clear the wilds. Where the villages and markets are small and defenseless, or where large pirate stocks may pass by, the population, property, grain, rice, chickens, ducks and livestock will all be moved into the county seat.

[-]. Check the household registration and strictly enforce the curfew to prevent thieves and spies from mixing into the city.

[-]. Send spies to monitor the movement of Bopu pirates day and night.

[-]. Send a warrior who dares to fight and lead dozens of township braves to the main roads outside the city. If there are thieves who copy and loot, they can capture and kill them as much as possible.The thieves had no food for a long time, so they retreated naturally.

Sixth, recruit more people and strong people, and don't abandon the defense outside the city. It is advisable to set up a village outside each of the three city gates to facilitate defense.

After finishing speaking, he said again: "Da Lin is willing to donate thirty stones of food!"

The only Jinshi in the county made such a statement, and everyone else had to express their opinion, so they all offered ten stones for this one and five taels for that one.After a while, three hundred shi of grain and 100 taels of silver were collected.Wu Mingjin saw that Liu Jinshi was so eager for justice, offering advice and donating food, he hurriedly said countless compliments, and asked him to stay in the yamen as a counselor, Liu Dalin did not refuse, and stayed in the yamen.Here, the gentlemen go to raise silver and rice without mentioning it.

Wu Ya organized the men from the villagers who entered the city from sixteen to sixty, one for every ten, assigned four gates, repaired the city wall, and transported bricks, stones and wood.The students of the county school are in charge of guarding the city wall section by section. The students are all young and strong. Their youthful temper has not faded. They are still loyal to the emperor and patriotic, and have great ambitions to defend their hometown. The situation is critical now. , all wearing old armor taken out of the county arsenal, embroidered iron helmets on top, holding rusty swords and shouting orders in the city, all of them are majestic.It's just that the swords, guns and spears taken out of the county arsenal are all rotten, and blacksmiths and carpenters are called to rush to repair them.

There are two tiger cannons on each of the four gates in the city, both of which were built in the Zhengde period. Fortunately, they were fired in the Wanli period to show that the cannons can still ring.Even a civil official like Wu Mingjin knew that this thing was just a matter of courage, and he couldn't count on it.

The officials discussed that there were many refugees in the city at this time, and a little carelessness would trigger a civil uprising.He ordered Bohe County School's instructions and instructions to set up a porridge shed in front of the Confucian Temple, and boiled withered grass tea for drinking. Dian Shi took Zaoli, the servant of the yamen, to patrol the streets to suppress the people.Originally, Wu Daling wanted to kill someone to gain power, but was dissuaded by Liu Jinshi, saying that it is not appropriate to kill people at this time, lest the failure of the power will stir up civil uprisings, but the bamboo boards were beaten more frequently, and the crackling of bamboo boards hitting meat could be heard all over the street. The sound and the wretched man's screams begging for mercy.The common people were silent in the cold autumn night.

At this time, on the north side of the city, in a narrow alley behind the county government office, there was a house with dim lights on.The yard was silent.There is a lantern at the mouth of the well, and there are several iron boxes beside the lantern.A man and a woman sat on the bluestone slabs of the well platform, staring blankly at a tall kapok plant beside the well platform, without making a sound for a long time.The autumn night is already freezing cold, and they are all wearing felts.

The man fastened the boxes with a rope, and lowered them one by one into the well. After the boxes entered the water, he shook the rope buckles away, only to hear a rumble in the well, and then disappeared.

The woman stood aside, shook her long skirt, and finally said: "Is it safe here? I feel scared when I think about it—this is the accumulation of generations of our family..."

The middle-aged man sneered, bent down and moved the lantern, and said in a low voice: "The thieves are breaking the city, and it will not be a matter of time to clean up this well. The bottom is very deep, there is no such catch, unless it is a fairy to be picked up."

He thought for a while, removed the iron part of the catch and hid it under the kapok tree, and rolled up the rope as before.He said to the woman: "You will take the head of the family back to your mother's house early tomorrow morning, and Chengxuan and I will stay in the city."

"then you?"

"What are you afraid of? With the protection of my brothers, even if the city breaks down, it is not difficult to escape. Chengxuan is a student of the county school and cannot leave. Mr. Wu has long thought that our family is not pleasing to the eye. If Chengxuan runs away, I will definitely find this excuse to get rid of his reputation."

He stood up and clapped his hands: "Just now I asked Lai's brothers to send money to Wu Ling. I also donated 20 taels, and I personally donated another [-] taels..."

"30 taels?!" The woman exclaimed, her distress was beyond words.

"Hehe, don't worry, ma'am." The man looked determined, "If the city doesn't break, look at the 30 taels of face, this year's county Guodu's autumn grain can fall into my hands again, and the future will be great. If the city It's broken..." He chuckled, "I have dozens of brothers in my hand, and it's not difficult to get out with one ticket."

He looked at the starless night sky: "Hmph, I, Gou Dahu, am I that ordinary person who panicked?"

(End of this chapter)