In terms of city area, Ganzhou City is only half the size of Nanchang City.
As for the city wall, the foundation stones of Ganzhou City were solidified with molten iron to prevent them from being destroyed by river flooding. The city has a drainage system in the Northern Song Dynasty, so it is not afraid of floods that occur once in a century.
It is surrounded by rivers on three sides and has a moat on one side.
Most of the cities in Jiangxi are like this. They face the river on two sides and the river on three sides, and they are all made of masonry. They are a nightmare for city attackers.
Zou Weilian sat on the eight-mirror platform, where Su Dongpo wrote eight poems, but he now has no interest in writing poetry.
More than 600 fire attack boats have been prepared long ago, just waiting for the enemy navy to fall into the trap.
The intersection of the three rivers is Ganzhou City. The river north of here is more than a mile wide. Unless the rebels are stupid and imitate Cao Cao's iron rope crossing, it will be difficult for more than 600 fire attack boats to be effective.
Only after passing the intersection of the three rivers, whether heading into Gongshui or Zhangshui, the river will become much narrower, and only then will it be conducive to a fire attack.
However, Gujian Mountain cannot be passed!
Because the navy of Gujian Mountain has only two tasks this time. One is to transport people and food, and the other is to block any ships going north. They can just stay in the north and cruise. Why risk sailing into Zhangshui or Gongshui?
"Commander Fu, there are scholars crossing the river from Gongshui."
"Bring him here."
Not long after, a scholar was brought to the eight-mirror stage. When they met, he said impatiently: "Commander Fu, please send troops quickly. If you wait any longer, it will be too late!"
The place where Zou Weilian stood was the best viewing spot. He could overlook the river and even vaguely see the rebel camp on the other side. He frowned and asked, "But what happened to the rebels?"
This scholar said: "The rebels are inciting the people to form some kind of farmers' association, forcing the landlords to reduce rents and interest rates. For loans with an interest rate of more than three-thirds of the interest, the farmers' associations will not accept the debt and force the landlords to hand over the loan deeds.
We have to remove the noodles from the barrels and waste the winter animals, it’s simply lawless!”
Bucket noodles are similar to the government's fire consumption.
The tenants paid the landlord one stone for rent, and the loss of barrel surface accounted for one bucket, and the actual rent was one stone for one bucket. And they still used special large buckets to collect rent!
Anyway, the landlords have countless ways to squeeze out the grain from the tenants and then force the tenants to borrow usurious loans.
Day after day, year after year, almost every family was in debt, and the tenants were essentially reduced to serfs.
After hearing what the scholar said, Zou Weilian felt completely finished.
Although he tried his best to restrain his soldiers and refrained from plundering surrounding villages and towns, he seemed to be very kind to the people. But compared with forming a peasant association with the rebels, reducing rent and interest, removing barrels of noodles, and scrapping winter livestock, Zou Weilian's good governance was nothing.
!
What's more, the Fujian soldiers have been disobedient and secretly went out to plunder twice this month.
If the rebels are allowed to do this, it is estimated that in just one or two months, the surrounding countryside will be occupied by the rebels. He leads the troops out of the city as if they have entered enemy-occupied territory.
Zou Weilian asked: "You will allow the rebels to form a peasant association?"
The scholar complained bitterly: "The rebel bandits formed a team of fifty soldiers to escort the civil servants (the backbone of the peasant association). They could confuse the common people with just a few words. If the landlord resisted, his house would be confiscated and put on trial. There was a landlord in the same village in Wansheng, who brought him
The tribesmen and domestic slaves suppressed the peasant association, but the thieves came and killed them immediately, and their house was ransacked that afternoon! And..."
"And what?" Zou Weilian asked.
The scholar said in horror: "Moreover, in the villages and towns where the Wannong Association was formed, the rebels also trained peasant soldiers. They used Qi Wuyi's Yuanyang Formation, with bamboo, sickles, kitchen knives, and pot lids as weapons. One day the rebels left.
, these unscrupulous people can also defeat the landlords, only officers and soldiers can come forward to conquer."
Zou Weilian was speechless. He didn't know how to deal with it. There was no old example in the history books.
This is sowing the seeds of rebellion. Even if the rebels are driven back now, as long as the officers and soldiers withdraw from Ganzhou, I am afraid that the local farmers will start revolts on their own.
Is it possible to kill all the common people?
Zou Weilian stood on the eight-mirror platform, looking at the rebel camp on the other side. He felt so depressed that he could not tell anyone.
He turned around and looked back at Yugu Terrace on Helan Mountain, murmuring Xin Qiji's words: "Under the clear river water of Yugu Terrace, there are many pedestrians crying in the middle... Who are these pedestrians?"
If Zhao Han were present, he would definitely say: "Of course they are the people who are suffering."
After a few days, all the officials, civilians, and soldiers in the city knew what the rebels had done.
Chen Tingdui, the commander-in-chief of the Fujian Army and the top military commander, came to pay his respects: "Commander Fu, you are afraid of the Zhao thieves, but I am not. Let's cross the river and kill those rebel thieves to pieces!"
"Don't act out of emotion," Zou Weilian said soothingly, "Inspector Zhu has already warned you not to send troops without permission before receiving his military orders. The most important task now is to defend Ganzhou City and waste the food and fodder of the rebels. Wait for the officers and soldiers in Jiangxi and Huguang
With adequate preparations, the three armies from the north, south and west will attack together, which will definitely make it difficult for the Zhao thieves to resist!"
"Tens of thousands of officers and soldiers are just watching in the city?" Chen Ting asked depressedly.
Zou Weilian said: "Be calm and don't be impatient."
"How can you not be bored?" Chen Ting became more and more angry and yelled, "I came all the way from Fujian, in western Fujian, and in southern Jiangxi, it was hard to suppress the bandits. If you say you restrain the soldiers, you restrain the soldiers. After moving to Ganzhou, it was so fast here.
Years have passed and they have been reluctant to go north to suppress the bandits. These Fujian sergeants also have wives, children and parents. It has been two years since they sent troops from Fujian. Did they leave their hometowns just to get promoted and make a fortune for you, Zou Fushuai? They want to be promoted and make a fortune, you Zou
Fushuai eats meat, we warriors should at least drink soup!"
Zou Weilian didn't have Shang Fang's sword, so he had no way to deal with these generals. He could only bite the bullet and said: "Within this year, we will definitely go north to suppress the bandits."
"The thieves are on the other side. You don't have to go north, just cross the river!" Chen Ting said, pointing to the river.
Chen Ting was the number one scholar in martial arts, the number one scholar in martial arts appointed by the emperor.
He was born into a wealthy family in Fujian, and his ancestors were hereditary generals. After passing the imperial examination, he was awarded the title of deputy commander-in-chief of Guangdong, and was quickly promoted to commander-in-chief of Fujian. He made meritorious service in suppressing pirates many times. When suppressing the peasant army in southern Fujian, he was invincible.
, killing the rebellious peasants is like slaughtering chickens and dogs.
The Zhao thief in Luling is nothing!
Chen Tingdui also sent spies across the river. He was very keenly aware that there were not many rebels on the other side of the river, and there could be five or six thousand of them.
Back in the army, Chen Ting summoned his generals and said, "Zou Weilian, all his clan members were captured by Zhao thieves. I'm afraid he has secretly joined the thieves a long time ago. Otherwise, why has he not gone north to use troops? Some thieves and bandits,
Even on the other side, he was guarding the city and not leaving."
"I have long disliked him. After two years of military service in Fujian, he was restrained and constrained at every turn."
"That is, we wiped out many bandits in western Fujian. He said he wanted to report his merits to the court, but what kind of merits are he reporting? He won't even get a reward of silver!"
"Most of the silver reward was stolen by this guy!"
"Last year, my nephew was beheaded by this bird officer just for leading troops to capture a village. I can't bear it anymore."
"It's better to kill this beast!"
"He is a civil servant and cannot be killed."
"Then tie him up and report to the court that the governor has become a thief."
"..."
The powder keg that has been planted since last year is finally about to explode in the face of rebels.
Chen Ting had given gifts to Wen Tiren's party members, and he also knew that Zou Weilian and Wen Tiren would not deal with each other. If it were another civil servant, he would not dare to do it, but he would not be afraid of putting Zou Weilian under house arrest.
He put Zou Weilian under house arrest. As long as he was impeached by Shangshu as a thief, Wen Tiren's party members would definitely be in trouble.
That night, a group of Fujian soldiers led their troops into Zou Weilian's temporary residence.
As the governor of Fujian, Zou Weilian had two thousand governor pacesetters who he personally trained. He also personally promoted the pacesetters, guerrillas and generals.
At this moment, there are only about a hundred pacesetters guarding the official residence, while the others have been sent out to take turns guarding the city.
These soldiers rushed too fast and made a surprise attack at night. Zou Weilian was caught before hundreds of governor's pacesetters could react at all.
"Are you planning to rebel?" Zou Weilian scolded angrily.
Chen Ting sneered at him: "You have been a thief for a long time. All military orders are for rebels. You are a civil servant. If I don't kill you, the court will deal with it yourself!"
In fact, everything is an excuse.
The real core contradiction is that Zou Weilian, as a Jiangxi native, is not allowed to allow Fujian soldiers to plunder Jiangxi.
They set out from Fujian, fought in western Fujian, and then fought at the border of Guangdong and Jiangxi, defeating a large number of peasant troops there. However, after their military exploits, the imperial court did not reward them on a large scale, which made these soldiers feel resentful and hold back their thoughts.
They were fished back in Jiangxi, but Zou Weilian was not allowed to plunder them in Jiangxi.
After being away from home for more than two years, the Fujian soldiers couldn't get any benefits, so why did they fight? They wanted to go home a long time ago!
Zou Weilian thought that by personally paying them, he could gain the military morale of the lower-level soldiers.
But the little salary he paid was not as much as robbery?
After Zou Weilian was placed under house arrest, Chen Tingdui announced that the governor had become a thief and was captured by him and handed over to the court. He promised to lead all the soldiers to make a fortune. Except for a few of the model soldiers trained by Zou Weilian, they all turned against Chen Tingdui.
!
In just two days, Chen Tingdui took control of Ganzhou City.
After all, he had read a book and knew that there were bandits outside. He could not mess around in the city at this time, so he set his sights on the other side of the river.
With a river bank that is more than ten miles long, there is always an opportunity to attack.
Moreover, the rebel navy did not dare to sail past the confluence of the three rivers. The upper reaches were all the territory of the navy.
Chen Ting set up an ambush upstream. As long as the rebel navy from Gujian Mountain dared to come and cruise the Gongshui River section, hundreds of fireboats would be launched immediately. The navy of the officers and soldiers could also block it from Zhangshui.
The anti-thief's retreat will make it impossible for the anti-thief navy to escape even if they want to!
Only 3,000 men were left to defend the city. Chen Tingdui first went upstream to smuggle 5,000 men, and the remaining troops crossed the river from the front in a swaggering manner.
He just wanted to lure the rebels over, and everyone, whether it was the navy or the army, would fall into his trap.
At night, 5,000 people smuggled across the river one after another. Due to the huge formation, they were discovered halfway across the river because there were sentries sent by the Peasant Association along the river.
It doesn't matter to the officers and soldiers. The stowaway location is far away from the rebel camp, and the main rebel force will not be able to stop it for a while.
As for the rebel navy, if you dare to cause trouble, don't even think about going back. More than 600 fire attack ships are waiting for you.
The farmers' association here beat gongs and drums and began to remind the people to move.
Unfortunately, the Peasants' Association has just been established and its appeal is insufficient. Many farmers are disobedient and hide at home and refuse to come out.
After the five thousand officers and soldiers successfully crossed the river, they immediately looted the villages and towns with torches. They looked down on the poor people and only killed a few when they passed by, and then went straight to the mansions of the wealthy families.
Visitor soldiers from other provinces are more ruthless than rebels!
Just how ruthless they were, you can refer to Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang. Not to mention robbing money, they also engaged in massacres. The killings were so excessive that even foreigners could not stand it.
If Chen Ting wants to gain a foothold in Jiangxi, he must let every Fujian soldier under his command earn enough money to go home and become a landlord!
