scourge the qing dynasty

303 Dirty Deals
Taking advantage of the opportunity of the greedy allies to contain the surrounding Qing army intentionally or unintentionally, the fat army in the prosperous Jiangnan finally lived a rare and peaceful life. Apart from the usual rigorous training, the sergeants can enjoy the beautiful and prosperous Jiangnan scenery. Touring, there are generous military rewards to squander, there are military prostitutes looted by the fat army from traitors and mite cities to enjoy, and there are a lot of recruits to bully, basically as long as it does not violate Strict military discipline means doing what you want, and everyone is promoted—if the army is expanded, the veterans will naturally rise, and everyone will get rich—of course, compared to the frontier in Yunnan and Guizhou.

The soldiers were happy, Fatty Lu also smiled so that the fat on his face bloomed, and the army expanded to [-] in less than a month and a half. Mass production of Sanhao explosives and Sanhao rockets has begun; after receiving the iron mold casting method taught by Fatty Lu, hard-working and clever Jiangnan craftsmen have also begun to cast a large number of various types of artillery for the Fatty Army; in addition, there is also the problem of the accuracy of shells. With the great help of the talented craftsman Huang Luzhuang, Fatty Army finally overcomes the technical difficulty of high-precision flowering shells. Although the output is not large because of the high process requirements, but fortunately, the manpower and material resources in the Jiangnan area are sufficient. If you are willing to invest and wait patiently, the supply of high-precision shells should still be able to meet the needs of the fat army.

In order to quickly improve the vital firearms supply capacity, Fatty Lu no longer reserved the application of the assembly line production technology, separated the production process and handed it over to special personnel. There is also a group of people who specialize in glycerin, and finally it is unified and formulated into nitroglycerin by the Xuanwu Lake Weapons Bureau, and then into Mihao explosives.At the same time, the most critical group of craftsmen was also allowed to live in the Imperial City of Nanjing, which represents identity and status. Not only the salary is much higher than that of ordinary craftsmen, but also given certain special rights—for example, in terms of criminal, taxation and labor. There are special cares to increase the loyalty of these craftsmen and reduce the possibility of leaks.And Fatty Lu's actions really mobilized the enthusiasm of the craftsmen. In order not to return to the previous hard life, the craftsmen in the original status naturally redoubled their lives for the Fatty Army, and sincerely supported the new regime of the Fatty Army.

When dealing with the most landlords and gentry in the south of the Yangtze River, Fatty Lu not only avenged the wronged landlords and gentry in the Jiangnan case, the crying temple case, the Ming history case, the imperial court case, and the Tonghai case, but also offered to continue to implement the gentry crime against his conscience. The privilege of not being a errand or not paying food, and also promised to continue to implement the existing tax system, and never randomly seize the property and fields of any gentry and wealthy businessman, but must donate military pay and food according to the amount of land and family property—that is, taxation in disguise. The Great Zhou army decided to overthrow the Qing court completely, and then stopped donations, and promised to reuse the children of Jiangnan gentry after winning the world, in exchange for the support of Jiangnan landlords and gentry.

Before that, because the Qing Dynasty court needed a large amount of military supplies and rations, the landlords and gentry in the south of the Yangtze River had been searched and extorted by the Qing Dynasty court and Qing officials, and they were full of resentment. The landlords and gentry in the south of the Yangtze River who had been killed by the Qing court also expressed their firm support for the Fatty Army, and agreed to Lu Fatty’s request to donate military food and military salaries—anyway, they were searched, and the two evils were taken away. Fatty Lu, who is both Han and relatively mild, naturally has a considerable advantage in winning the support of Han landlords and gentry.

After coaxing the gentry and landlords, Fatty Lu's three-inch tongue aimed at the Jiangnan businessmen again, and put forward two theories of equal emphasis on agriculture and business and the sanctity of personal property. The behavior of officials wantonly raiding merchants, encouraging merchants to become bigger and stronger, vigorously developing overseas trade, and imparting advanced technology and advanced management theories they have mastered, and at the same time promising to Yangzhou salt merchants that they will continue to guarantee their monopoly privileges after winning the world , Increase the crackdown on salt smuggling.

Businessmen have always been the most realistic people in the world. Although their promises to Fatty Lu are still dubious, but because Fatty Lu protects their property, and because Fatty Lu holds military power and swords, he has to bow his head under the eaves. Still obediently agreed to pay taxes and donations to help the Fat Army expand its military strength, and accept the most stringent tax supervision by the Fat Army officials.And because before Kang Mazi only allowed private merchants in Guangzhou to trade with overseas merchants, Fatty Lu is now vigorously encouraging overseas trade, and many merchants quickly tasted the sweetness of overseas trade, which led the entire Jiangnan business community to vigorously develop overseas. Trade, and more support for Fatty Army - these people don't want the Qing army to fight back to ban the sea and wantonly search.

The gentry and businessmen have been coaxed, and it is the turn of ordinary people. Fatty Lu, who knows what the people of this era need most, first confiscated a large amount of land from Jiangnan bannermen and traitors, and then sold it at a low price to ordinary people or It was distributed to poor people for cultivation without compensation, and it was announced that the land deed issued by the Qing court was recognized to protect the legal land property of the people.Finally, it was announced that the new land occupied by the Da Zhou army in the future would be sold to the common people at low prices and distributed to meritorious officers and officials in exchange for the support of the common people and officials. Soldiers kill the enemy and make meritorious deeds.

With a few strokes of carrots and sticks with a clear political program, the fat army quickly gained a foothold in half of the south of the Yangtze River, and the prefectures and counties annexed by the fat army also began to stabilize rapidly. , but also more prosperous.At the same time, Fatty Lu encouraged Yangzhou salt merchants to actively smuggle abroad, and even more shamelessly sent troops to protect Yangzhou salt merchants from smuggling abroad. Yangzhou salt merchants smuggled to the outside world, indirectly protecting the Jiangnan salt industry and salt cookers, so that the Jiangnan salt industry would not be completely destroyed in the war.

Under the so-called benevolent rule of Fatty Lu, the people in the south of the Yangtze River are happy, but Fatty Lu himself is exhausted. He not only has to manage the people's livelihood and economy, build high walls to store food, recruit soldiers and buy horses to accumulate strength, but also has to deal with bribes from various forces. Geng Jingzhong and Monk Zhixin all sent letters requesting that Fatty Lu’s main force go south and attack the Qing army in Zhejiang and Jiangnan from north to south; The good brothers made a fortune together; Zheng Jing praised Fatty Lu in his letters as rare in the sky and unparalleled in the earth, and at the same time instigated Fatty Lu to dispatch the navy to go south, and joined hands with the Taiwan navy to attack the Zhejiang Qing army navy and open up the sea road. The two most resolute anti-Qing rebel armies in the world can realize the joining forces in the south of the Yangtze River-and then make a fortune together.

These people are easy to get rid of, anyway, they can’t come to Nanjing in person, Fatty Lu can just send a messenger with some food and money, and then he can take their letters to wipe his buttocks and blow his nose, but the new recruiting ambassador sent by Kang Mazi, Huang Ji, Mr. Huang Not so easy to pass.Relying on being twice as old as Fatty Lu, and relying on the kindness of arranging a good position for Fatty Lu at the inauguration ceremony, Huang Ji and Huang Laoshangshu have entangled Fatty Lu enough to lead him every day. Helping the officials lobby to surround Fatty Lu heavily, all they said was hype, the cuckoo was crying blood, all they wanted was for Fatty Lu to rise up as soon as possible anyway, accept Kang Mazi's canonization, and reopen the Beijing-Hangzhou artery, but Fatty Lu used the excuse that Jieshu didn't withdraw his troops, and lived and died refused to agree.

At the end of June, the news of Jieshu and Niyahan's retreat came back to Nanjing. Since Wu Yingqi and Xia Guoxiang joined hands to advance eastward and Ma Bao turned southeast, Jieshu and Niyahan had to withdraw their troops to defend Luzhou and Anqing. The two-month Taiping Mansion battle finally came to an end. Fatty Army Wang Xubu finally managed to keep the west gate of Nanjing City after paying a lot of money, buying crucial and precious time for the Fatty Army to gain a foothold in the south of the Yangtze River.After receiving this news, Fatty Lu was overjoyed. He had just ordered to reward the meritorious soldiers in the Taiping Mansion War. Huang Ji and Huang Laoshangshu came to visit in person. Fatty Lu, who still needs to continue to make false claims with the Qing court, had no choice but to agree. Meet Huang Laoshangshu in the back hall.

In a short while, Huang Lao Shangshu was politely invited into the back hall by Xiao Erlang. As soon as he sat down, Huang Lao Shangshu didn't even have time to take a sip of tea, and immediately smiled and said: "Nephew Lu Xian, now you can always believe Long live the emperor's sincerity in recruiting? According to your request, Lord Kang has withdrawn his troops from Taiping Mansion and returned to Luzhou, nephew Lu Xian, you don't have any worries anymore, right?"

"Uncle Huang, did Prince Kang really withdraw his troops from Taiping Mansion just to agree to my nephew's request?" Seeing that Lin Tianqing was kind to him and had a good relationship with Huang Ji, Fatty Lu has always called himself his nephew to Huang Laoshangshu , asked very respectfully: "But the accurate news my nephew received, why did Ma Bao's army return to the southeast and attack Luzhou through Guangzhou, so they received soldiers from Taiping Mansion? And when Lord Kang withdrew his troops, Why did you kill dozens of soldiers of our army who were unfortunately captured, and cut them up?"

"There is still this matter? Nephew, don't blame me, I really don't know about it." Huang Laoshangshu, who really didn't hear the news, blushed, and hurriedly said: "Please don't worry, my nephew, I will send the next one right away." When I return to Beijing, I will write a letter to Long Live to impeach Lord Kang for his unrighteous actions, and I will definitely give my nephew an explanation."

"Then there's Uncle Huang." Fatty Lu thanked him, and asked again: "Uncle, are you still used to living in the Nanjing posthouse? If you have any requirements for food and daily life, uncle, please don't be polite, just open your mouth. My nephew must do his best to arrange it as a show of respect."

"Thank you, nephew, the old man lives very well in the Jiangning post house, and everything is fine." Old Shangshu Huang thanked him, and said kindly: "Nephew, no matter why Lord Kang is withdrawing troops, the three proposals proposed by my nephew The request, the Qing court has already fulfilled it. My nephew wants the emperor's pardon decree, I have already brought it to you, my nephew wants the court to send another high-ranking official to comfort me, the old man, the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, has also come to Jiangning in person, I believe my nephew will also Should you be satisfied? Shouldn’t the nephew’s previous agreement with Mr. Wang also be…”

"Uncle Huang, please forgive my nephew for being rude." Fatty Lu interrupted Huang Ji first, then suddenly raised his voice, and said neither humble nor overbearing: "But my nephew still thinks that Emperor Kangxi is still fooling my nephew, and the Zhejiang army came and returned before." It was because Shang Zhixin rebels launched a mutiny, and Zhejiang was in a hurry again. Now Lord Kang is withdrawing troops because Ma Bao went to Luzhou, so he had to withdraw troops to protect himself. I am afraid that the two armies of Emperor Kangxi will come to the city of Nanjing long ago to kill my nephew, what kind of sincerity is this?"

"This..." Huang Laoshangshu's old face was even more embarrassed.

"Uncle, my nephew also knows that you are sincere and kind, but my nephew really doesn't dare to risk the precious lives of tens of thousands of soldiers and his own head." Fatty Lu said in a deep voice, "Please report to Emperor Kangxi, uncle The plan to slow down the troops was successful, and my nephew really missed the best time to go south to meet the prince of Jingnan and go west to meet the main force of the prince of Zhou. However, if Emperor Kangxi still wants to use the strategy of recruiting to trick my nephew into putting down his arms, Take him to the capital and put him to death by a thousand knives, then my nephew will never be fooled again!"

"Nephew misunderstood, no one lied to you!" Huang Laoshangshu shouted injustice, "I ask myself that I have always treated my nephew well, and my nephew's uncle, Lin Tianqing, is a life-and-death friend, so why would I come to deceive you?" Nephew you?"

"Of course my uncle won't deceive my nephew, but Emperor Kangxi is obviously cheating my nephew!" Fatty Lu said angrily: "Two months ago, when my nephew just entered Jiangnan, he could have gone south to attack Zhejiang with all his strength." You can also go back to Anqing and join forces with the second prince to attack Niyahan and completely capture Northern Jiangxi!"

"But because my nephew believed in Emperor Kangxi's consolation, I missed this good opportunity! Jieshu took the opportunity to go south from Luzhou, and Laita and Li Zhifang also took the opportunity to send troops from the south line to the north to consolidate the defense of northern Zhejiang and fill the gap in the line of defense. In turn, the little nephew was surrounded! Emperor Kangxi's ingenious plan succeeded, and the little nephew was fooled! But the little nephew would never be fooled again! The little nephew didn't want to die like the prisoners of war of our army who were slaughtered by Lord Kang. Under the butcher knife of Emperor Kangxi!"

In front of Fatty Lu's upright words, Old Shangshu Huang was dumbfounded, and only then did he realize that Fatty Lu, whom he had helped back then, could be so shameless, and he could speak so righteously and grandly after being beaten up.Fatty Lu said loudly again: "Uncle Huang, please report to Emperor Kangxi. If he still wants to deceive and fool his nephew, then don't have this dream! If he wants to take back Jiangnan by force, then come, Taiping Mansion is only 800 years old from Anqing. It is only over 1000 miles from Suzhou to Jinhua, and my great nephew set fire to the city of Nanjing and burned the south of the Yangtze River into a piece of scorched earth, and returned to the southwest or went to the southeast!"

Fatty Lu even said the words of burning Jiangnan into scorched earth, and the kind-hearted Old Shangshu Huang was completely speechless. After repeated calculations, Old Shangshu Huang said helplessly to Fatty Lu: "Since my nephew has reached this point At this point, the old man is ashamed to continue disturbing Jiangning City, the old man tomorrow..., no, the old man will leave for Beijing today, and report to the master the reply of the nephew in person."

"Uncle, there's no need to be in such a hurry, right?" Fatty Lu, who urgently needed time to gain a foothold in the south of the Yangtze River, hurried to stay, and said with a smile: "If my nephew remembers correctly, uncle seems to be from Qiantang, Zhejiang, right? It's rare for uncle to go south, so he doesn't want to go back to his hometown Let's go, my nephew will do my best to assist and send an army to escort my uncle to the south."

"Thank you, nephew, for your kindness, but the emperor's life is in your body, so I dare not delay, let's talk about it later." Lao Shangshu shook his head, and said sincerely: "Nephew, don't misunderstand that this old man is threatening you—it is not true. To tell you the truth, just when the old man was going south from the capital, the former Prince of An, Yue Le, who had been abolished and relieved of all his powers, wrote a letter of ten thousand words to Wansui, pointing out that Jiangnan is the most important place in my Qing Dynasty. The dragon enters the sea, if my nephew is allowed to gain a firm foothold in the south of the Yangtze River, our Qing Dynasty will be in danger!"

"Damn, that bastard Yue Le is really good." Fatty Lu cursed secretly, and then said with a smile: "Prince An has won the prize, and I really don't dare to be my nephew, so what will he say next?"

"Prince An believes that our Qing court would rather give up the whole of Shaanxi and Gansu than let your nephew sit on the throne." Huang Lao Shangshu said solemnly: "That's why Prince An suggested that Long Live and Geng Jingzhong cease the war and make peace, and then abandon Shaanxi and Gansu and stick to Tongguan , mobilize the main forces from Shaanxi and Gansu to the Jiangnan battlefield, gather the strength of the whole country, join forces with the Zhejiang army, and kill your nephew with all your strength! And you must not place any hope of recruiting and surrendering, which will delay the opportunity of the war!"

"Prince An really thinks highly of my nephew, I really don't dare to be my nephew." Fatty Lu laughed loudly, "It seems that Emperor Kangxi must have not listened to him, otherwise, Uncle Huang would not have given my nephew such filial piety." chance."

"Of course the emperor didn't listen to him. Most people in the court also think that Lord An's mind has been shut down, and he said these stupid things." Huang Ji nodded, and suddenly said in a low voice: "But nephew, Jiangnan If you let the emperor know about these movements, I'm afraid he will seriously consider this proposal, right?"

"What's going on in Jiangnan? Why doesn't my nephew understand what uncle is talking about?" Fatty Lu asked stupidly.

"Nephew, don't lie to me." Huang Ji's expression became more serious, and he said in a low voice: "Although I have always been known for being fond of love and kindness in the imperial court, I have lived in my sixties anyway. My nephew's ambition , the old man can still see it. Is what my nephew did in Jiangnan during this period of time really just for Wu Sangui, just to sell himself for a good price? Not to mention, it’s just the land government decree of my nephew, open The sea ban, recruiting troops and buying horses to build firearms, is to prepare for plotting the world!"

Fatty Lu finally put away his smirk, looked Huang Ji up and down, and suddenly asked in a low voice: "Then Uncle Huang, are you going to report the truth to Kang Mazi?"

"As a subject, what you see and hear should be reported truthfully to the emperor long live." Huang Lao Shangshu spread his hands, and said with a smile: "But before leaving, the emperor has another explanation, in order to avoid provoking my nephew and provoking anger My nephew, I must not spy on my nephew's military aircraft without authorization, let alone buy my nephew's confidantes like Xiong Cilu—the emperor has an order, and of course my subordinates dare not disobey."

"Thank you, uncle." Fatty Lu quickly cupped his hands in thanks, and said in a deep voice: "Uncle, please rest assured, if my nephew can really get what he wants in the future, uncle and uncle's family will be rich and honored for life. My nephew naturally has a small gift to present, and I hope that my uncle can say a few good words for my little nephew in front of Kang Mazi."

"In that case, the old man is ashamed to accept it." Huang Laoshangshu nodded, and said with a smile: "Nephew, I heard that you only have two wives now, and there is a woman who has been in love for a long time. Formal worship and marriage. The husband still has three wives and four concubines, and the good nephew now holds half of the south of the Yangtze River. He is young and promising. Isn't the number of wives and concubines too small?"

"Yeah, my nephew thinks so too." Fatty Lu nodded quickly, deeply convinced, and asked with a smile: "Uncle Huang said so, does it mean that he wants to be a matchmaker for my nephew and take another wife and concubine?"

"I have a granddaughter in my hometown in Hangzhou. She is thirteen this year and has not been betrothed yet." Huang Lao Shangshu replied with a smile.

"Grandfather, please be respected by your grandson-in-law." Fatty Lu quickly got up and knelt down to Huang Ji.

"My virtuous grandson-in-law, please hurry up." Old Master Huang hurriedly picked up Fatty Lu, and said with a smile, "Xifeng is still a little young, and it is not appropriate to get married right away. Can my virtuous grandson-in-law..."

"It's all up to my grandfather's arrangement, and the exact date of the wedding, please give your grandfather's approval." Fatty Lu replied respectfully, while feeling a little puzzled, Xifeng?Huang Xifeng?Why do you sound familiar?

"I remembered!" Fatty Lu jumped up, his small mung bean eyes were bigger than bull's eyes, and he almost didn't cry out, "There is no white jade bed in the East China Sea, the Dragon King is here to invite the King of Jinling! Isn't the prototype the Huang Ji family? So, Huang Ji's granddaughter is called Huang Xifeng, isn't she...?"

"Grandson-in-law, what's the matter?" Huang Ji was taken aback by Fatty Lu's violent actions.

"No...it's nothing." Fatty Lu shook his head hurriedly, pulled Huang Ji's skinny veteran hand again, and said very sincerely: "Grandfather, I will leave the matter of the grandson-in-law to grandfather. Please ask Kang Mazi to send another envoy. Let’s surrender again!”

"We're all a family now, so why be polite." Huang Ji said with a smile: "But it's inconvenient for grandfather to come again. My good son-in-law, I don't want to see my grandfather take the blame for you, right?"

"Of course, that's of course." Fatty Lu nodded again and again, and quickly asked Xiao Erlang to fetch the letters from Geng Jingzhong and Zheng Jing, held them in front of Huang Ji with both hands, and said with a smile: "Please also send these two letters to my grandfather." The letter was also presented to Kang Mazi to let him know that whether it is negotiating a truce with Geng Jingzhong or Zheng Jing, it is unreliable. They are all spying on the prosperous Jiangnan. There is a possibility of saving, the reason why there is no army anyway..."

"It's all because Prince Kang went against the grain and killed the prisoners of war indiscriminately, chilling the hearts of the virtuous grandson-in-law and the officers and men of the virtuous grandson--the old man knows this without the need of the virtuous grandson-in-law."

(End of this chapter)