Begging in late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 527: The Edge of Collapse
On weekdays, the Yangzhou Salt Merchant Association, which is full of singing and dancing, laughs and laughs, seems to be dead today. The dead silence is terrible. Dozens of salt merchants are fat or thin, young or old. , with a rigid face like a stone, the whole room only echoed a voice trembling with excitement.

"It's all rice!"

"September 27, the big ship called Haidayu No. 29 by the Song thief company was at Songjiang port. The unloaded goods were all rice, about 60 catties in a bag. Jiaduobao company loaded two thousand cars back and forth, and the goods arrived The shops in Songjiang, Jiangyin, and Nanzhili were distributed as salaries. According to estimates, there were no less than 39 dan. On September 12, another [-] large and small grain ships docked in Songjiang, unloading [-] tan. To supply Yiwu and Lishui workshops. On the sixth day of October, there was another huge ship. Fifteen ships with a height of [-] meters docked and unloaded [-] loads of grain. On October [-]th, [-] ships came. Tiao Hai Dayu No. [-] has also returned, and this time it unloaded a full [-] dan of food."

"The salaries of the employees directly under Song Thief's shop and the food supplied by the cafeteria are enough for this month."

Jiaduobao’s tea workshop, textile workshop, and various steel and heavy industry workshops employ about 300 million employees. If family members are included, there are almost 200 million people, not counting the West India Company in Taiwan. However, the food supply in the Anqing area is mainly from the farmland in the Fengyang area of ​​the Dabie Mountains. The annual grain output here has reached more than [-] million tons.

This time, the salt merchants and the Donglin Party mainly attacked Song Qingshu's various workshops in Nanzhili, especially Su Songhu Chang Yingtian, the shipyard, and Suzhou's Jinxiu Workshop had almost 100 million employees, supporting the huge shipbuilding industry. , The silk weaving industry has brought huge benefits to the firm.

It is precisely because of this that Jiaduobao Company spends a huge amount of money to buy food every year, and also subsidizes the lives of these workers. As long as these people’s food mouths are cut off, Jiaduobao Company will be on the verge of collapse, and the salt merchants can seize Song Qingshu’s industry With the market, Donglin Fushe can regain the most precious things they lost, and the hearts of Jiangnan people are against each other!
At least in theory, if the workers are driven back to the fields and still serve as tenants like slaves, then the Donglin Party, which is mainly from landlord background, can still have a huge say. People thought about it.

However, storing the grain of the entire Jiangnan, whether it is a salt merchant or Donglin Fushe, is also under tremendous pressure. It is like dancing on the tip of a knife. If one is not good, it may cause an unimaginable famine. Although the people in Jiangnan are weak , but it is not easy to bully, otherwise, how could the rebel army bee pupae at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, and the Jiangnan infantry defeated the huge northern cavalry group? Can't stop.

Originally, Zhang Pu planned very well. Song Qingshu's food was cut off for a month, and there was no food, and everything was empty. Naturally, Jiaduobao's business was in chaos. Without this huge supporter, he colluded with Zhou Yanru to disrupt Jiangnan's charges fell back to Song Qingshu, and Zhang Pu was also determined to get rid of Song Qingshu in one fell swoop, so even if Huizhou merchants mortgaged Chashan and Qian Qianyi's concubine, he would take the last bit of commodity grain on the market into his pocket.

But now, in September and October, people don’t have to worry about food. Such a grandiose plan has more than half failed. Salt merchants also have commercial spies. Listening to Baolu’s trembling voice, whether it is a literati leader or a big salt merchant, Everyone's face is extremely ugly.

"How about we start selling now!"

Grain can be corrupted. Now salt merchants store at least 2000 million tons of grain in various places, and countless rotten every day. They have to be prepared for possible riots at any time. The psychological pressure of everyone is amazing. Bao Lu couldn't help asking about Song Qingshu's port spying information.

Everyone's faces showed emotion, even Qian Qianyi was like this. If one is not good, his life collection, as well as his concubine, will be wiped out, and he can't even keep his own woman. What face does he have to hang around in Jiangnan anymore.

But before everyone could speak, Zhang Pu roared like a beast.

"No, absolutely not!"

Just like a gambler who lost his eyes, Zhang Pu stared fiercely at the princes of Donglin and those salt merchants, the corners of his mouth quivered like a wolf about to bite, which made people tremble with fear.

"It's been up to now, as long as he works harder, he will definitely collapse! I don't believe how much food he can produce in the barren and wild land overseas? Maybe the 20 tons is already the limit. Now Spit out, but all previous efforts will be wasted!"

"But, what if he still has 20 dans of grain next month?" Wang Zhenmeng couldn't help but said from the side: "Everyone is fighting with Song Qingshu with all their belongings. If they make a wrong bet, they will lose money." It's all a family!"

These words were said to Qian Qianyi's heart, and he wanted to persuade him, who knew that Zhang Pu folded his arms, and Zhang Pu snorted coldly with red eyes.

"Do you think that if you give up now, you can get away with it? To tell you the truth, there is news from my teacher, Master Zhou, that we are hoarding food like this, and someone in the court is already eyeing us. If we don't hold food in our hands , A Shangguan has come to investigate a long time ago, if you are soft at this time, Wang Zongshang, you just wait for Jin Yiwei to come to the door!"

Everyone's back felt chills from being stimulated by Zhang Pu's words. A [-]% profit is enough to make people take risks. When they do it, they will do it as soon as their heads get hot, but when it comes time to bear the consequences, everyone becomes heavy again. Woke up, after a long silence, Wang Mengzhen finally showed a smile uglier than crying.

"Then, as Mr. Renxue said, let's delay for another two months! Anyway, those poor ghosts can't afford too good food. What if the Song thieves run out of food next month?"

Under the threat of Zhang Pu, a group of people with difficulty exited the room and walked in the front with their arms folded. Zhang Pu proudly seemed to be the same as the Shoufu University scholar sitting in Wenyuan Pavilion. He noticed that when Wu Changshi was behind him, Chen Zilong and the others stared at him more complicatedly than before, especially when Wu Changshi was behind him, the taste of jealousy seemed to drip out at any time.

…………

The battlefield in the Central Plains was turbulent. In October, the Li-Luo coalition forces that joined Luo Rucai became even more swift and fierce. They successively conquered Shangshui, Xuzhou, Changge, Ruzhou, Wuyang, and finally attacked Nanyang. The general army was as fierce as a tiger. He was killed successively in the fierce siege battle of Nanyang. After the city of Nanyang was broken, Zhu Yumo, king of Tang Dynasty, was also executed.

After a year of hard work, Yang Sichang stayed in Huguang to destroy Zhang Xianzhong and was almost wiped out. Most of the court's strongholds in Henan were wiped out. At the end of October, millions of troops surrounded Kaifeng for the second time.

"Kill!"

Shouting to the sky, wearing various patches of earthen clothes, the densely packed peasant army is as invisible as a colony of moving ants, the long knife held high reflects the penetrating cold light in the dim sunlight, countless ladders Charged forward.

The momentum of the black cloud pressing down on the city has already made the officers and soldiers at the top of the city feel turbulent. Just as the officer and army raised their guns and aimed to shoot, they suddenly heard bursts of whistling in their ears, and a rain of arrows like a cloud covered the sky. It seemed to cover it again, followed by a big iron ball dragging black smoke in midair.

Boom~ A parapet wall was directly hit by artillery and collapsed. Several officers and soldiers were beaten alive by the huge impact and flew down the city wall. Immediately after that, the dense rain of arrows shot the unshielded officers and soldiers with their bodies into pieces. After picking up the hedgehog, the ladder used to climb the city was erected like a bamboo shoot, and the Chuangjun with a knife and the one with a spear stabbed each other against the city wall.

Blood flowed down the cracks in the bricks of the city wall, corpses fell one by one, and the roaring cannons kept spraying, with only nine thousand Yu soldiers in hand, seeing the city stretched to the left and right, they were killed Chen Yongfu was in a state of anxiety as he was on the verge of tottering as he ascended the city and entered the army one after another.

But at this time, the cannon beside him stopped firing again. Chen Yongfu was so angry that he ran over with a knife in his hand, bearded and scolded, "Why don't you continue to fire the cannon?"

"General, general, the cannon is too hot, and the gunpowder will be sprayed out immediately! General, if you shoot again, it will explode."

There is no good heat dissipation system these days. Every hour of shooting, you have to stop to cool down. Otherwise, the spraying is a small matter, and the explosion is a big problem. But today, from the morning to the afternoon, even Chen Yongfu can feel it. The overwhelming heat emanating from the general's cannon, listening to a gunner who was disfigured by the gunpowder crying and saying, the Henan general was silent for a while, and then stretched out his hand.

"Bring the medicine!"

"Big guy!"

"Listen to me, bring the medicine! Don't listen to the military law!"

No matter how vulgar and greedy, at critical moments, a general must be responsible. Amidst Chen Yongfu's roar, the soldiers carefully wrapped the gunpowder in three layers of kraft paper, and then handed the gunpowder to Chen Yongfu.

Holding the gunpowder high, Chen Yongfu turned his head and shouted to the Yu soldiers who were watching: "Everyone, look out! I will ride the cannon and release the gunpowder himself. If this cannon is released, God will bless us in Kaifeng. Don't let the thieves wishful thinking." If you want to attack us, watch it!"

Amidst the shouting, Chen Yongfu really split his legs and sat on the cannon of the general. Regardless of his hot crotch, he reached out and stuffed the medicine bag into the muzzle of the cannon. The sub-cannonball was stuffed in, and there was no intention of coming down a little bit, and he turned back and yelled at the gunner.

"put!"

"Master, this..."

"put!"

Gritting his teeth, the artilleryman finally calmed down, inserted the cannon twister hard, and moved the torch closer, the sparks burned down in panic, and the whole cannon trembled with a bang.

This shot went out!
Not caring about shaking the egg, he raised the knife suddenly, and Chen Yongfu shouted loudly: "God bless me in Kaifeng!"

These days, feudal superstition and the theory of destiny are still deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Looking at the cannon piercing into the crowd of invading troops, a large circle of peasant soldiers jumped up, and a large group of officers and soldiers couldn't help cheering.

This time, just in time for the city, thousands of people, yamen servants are also carrying sticks, kitchen knives came up, the King of Zhou is definitely generous enough, asking for silver for silver, for grain for grain, Kaifeng is also more united than Luoyang. A fresh force joined in, and Chen Yongfu just got a "Xiangrui" out, and the Kaifeng defenders who had given a shot in the arm shouted loudly, and abruptly beat back the Chuangjun who had never said anything.

As the sun set, thousands of corpses were left on the battlefield. Looking at the retreating army, the officers and soldiers cheered feebly. At this end, holding a telescope, Chen Yongfu watched while ordering his son Chen De to lead the cavalry. After a wave of chasing, but before the word chasing could be uttered, Chen Yongfu's face suddenly twitched.

A large group of Chuangjun indeed retreated backwards, but about two miles away, a larger group of Chuangjun formed a long formation and came to meet the defeated army. The overwhelming force is no longer enough to describe Li Zicheng's army.

"Boss, go back to the yamen right away, and urge Mr. Gao Mingheng to write to the imperial court. Kaifeng is urgent!"

Glancing into the distance, and clasping his fist at his father, Chen De also hastily retreated down the city wall.

A few carrier pigeons flew out with fluttering wings in the evening. There were no less than dozens of such pigeons in Kaifeng. However, Hu Dawei was destroyed in Ruzhou, Fu Zonglong died in Xiangcheng, Yang Wenyue After being defeated back to Baoding, He Renlong and Li Guoqi were defeated back to Shaanxi, Zuo Liangyu almost didn't fight, and then fled to Huguang. The Central Plains battlefield has completely fallen into corruption.

When the Northland was in a bloodbath, Jiangnan was not out of his own trouble this time, and the same brewing cloud shrouded the entire Nanzhili.

"Open the warehouse and put in the grain!"

Shocking shouts rang out at the gate of Yingtian Rulin Lianghao. Tens of thousands of furious citizens raised their pockets and dustpans and roared to the sky around the confinement Lianghao. It is ironic that this time they took the lead in making trouble Yes, it's actually a scholar, a literati in the lead.

Even if you are full of economics, you can't eat it. In the fierce urbanization of the south of the Yangtze River, many people still leave the land for farming and devote themselves to business. There are also gentry who have moved to the cities and towns. Students who are studying in county schools, government schools, and Nanjing Imperial College. The first wave of Fushe hoarding food did not hit Song Qingshu, but hit the entire town class in the south of the Yangtze River.

Even the prostitutes on the Qinhuai River gathered around the door and cursed angrily, as if they were about to rush in at any moment.

Staying in the grain store, listening to the slamming sound of the door, Zhang Pu's brother Zhang Cai's Yingguo Langyi scholar's face turned pale with fright, leaning against the door desperately while shouting desperately.

"Everyone, don't rush! This is a bureau set up by Zhang Pu, Mr. Renxue, to eliminate traitors for the big guys! As long as we survive for another two months, we will definitely release food!"

"Pooh!"

These words not only did not appease the excited crowd outside the door, but a leading scholar spit on the door panel full of anger.

"Mr. Renxue, fart, driving up prices, making a lot of black-hearted money, and now he is hoarding and not even giving him a way to survive, hypocrite, forget about it, everyone, don't listen to this bastard's nonsense, let's smash them open and grab the food!"

"Axe! Here comes the axe!"

This time, amidst the more furious roar, what kind of ax and sickle were hit together, and the sawdust from the smashed door splashed.

Seeing that the gate was about to be smashed open, and a bloodbath was about to unfold, at this time, someone from behind the crowd suddenly yelled.

"Grain is sold! Marshal Song is selling grain at the port!"

The family hadn't opened the pot for several days, and these words were like cold water being poured into boiling oil. With a huh-lah, the citizens of Yingtian, who were surrounded by scolding angrily, turned their heads and ran towards the port again with their baskets in their hands.

After a long time, the outside calmed down. With courage, Zhang Cai ordered someone to open the gate. In the whole street, there was no one else except for the dropped shoes, thrown away sticks, and rotten vegetable leaves.

But Zhang Cai couldn't be happy, looking in the direction of the crowd, he couldn't help turning paler.

"Song thief wants to release food, how much food does he have?"

(End of this chapter)