After Li Zheng led his troops to capture Raozhou City, the counties in Raozhou Prefecture had their troops dispatched in order. First, they went to Fuliang County to capture Jingdezhen; second, they went to Dexing County to capture Yinshan Town.
Silver production in Yinshan originated from the Northern and Southern Dynasties and flourished in the Tang and Song Dynasties.
In the Tang and Song dynasties alone, more than 100 million taels of silver were mined, and it is known as the "No. 1 Silver Smelting Mountain in the Tang Dynasty".
Mining continued in the Ming Dynasty, but by the middle of the Ming Dynasty, it was reported that the silver mines had been exhausted. Damn it, the Qing Dynasty was still mining silver here!
"Hush!"
Suddenly a copper whistle sounded in the mountains, which was a warning from the mountain search team.
Moreover, the first whistle stopped suddenly, obviously a soldier of the mountain search team was killed.
"Uu! Uu! Uu!"
The rest of the Soushan team followed suit and blew the whistle. Li Zheng immediately asked someone to blow the bugle and quickly stopped the troops in the valley to form a formation.
"kill!"
Seeing that his whereabouts were exposed, the ambush soldiers in the mountains immediately rushed out.
These ambush troops were all local warriors and miners recruited by the powerful gentry in Dexing County. There were not only silver miners, but also copper, tin, and iron miners. In addition to the silver mines in Dexing County, there were also
There is the largest open-pit copper mine in Asia!
Under Li Zheng's command, there were only 1,000 regular soldiers, 2,000 peasant soldiers, and 4,000 baggage transport teams.
And those gentry were powerfully armed, with more than 20,000 people!
There is absolutely no possibility of compromise between the two sides, especially the powerful ones who have occupied the silver and copper mines. They colluded with eunuchs and civil servants, and even the court dared to deceive them. They knew well that the copper and silver mines were precious, and Zhao Han would definitely confiscate them. This was a
A life-or-death situation.
More than 20,000 ambushes rushed down from the mountains on both sides.
Because he was discovered by the mountain search team in advance and did not enter the planned ambush point, it took a lot of time to rush over. Li Zheng had already formed his formation and was waiting for the enemy to come and die.
"Raise the bow!"
"Raise the gun!"
These ambush troops were completely disorganized and dispersed halfway through the charge. In addition, the terrain was rugged and they came in groups from east to west.
In the early stage, there were missionaries and farmers' associations who planned to go to Dexing County to promote Datong Thought. Things went smoothly near the county seat, but after entering the mining area, most of them were driven away and a few were killed.
The powerful gentry spread rumors everywhere, saying that the Luling Zhao thieves wanted to kill all the Dexing people, and then forcibly recruited farmers and miners to fight.
"Boohoo!"
"Bang bang bang!"
Bows, arrows and firecrackers were fired one after another, and the ambush soldiers running at the front were immediately frightened and fled in all directions.
After another round of firing, more than 20,000 enemies were all routed.
They were forcibly recruited and were not willing to fight for the gentry. If the ambush was successful, they might still be motivated. If the ambush failed, then they would run away. Only fools would risk their lives for a few dollars.
The mountains and plains were full of broken troops. Li Zheng only captured a few hundred and ordered the pursuit to stop.
After the interrogation, the troops immediately divided into three groups and went to find trouble for those powerful gentry.
Li Zheng personally led his troops to a place. This powerful man actually built an earth building. However, all the slaves went to set up an ambush, and there were not many people defending the earth building.
Li Zheng asked people to come forward and shout: "If you surrender, only the first culprit will be killed. If you resist, all of them will be killed! Brothers and sisters inside, after you surrender, you can get the land!"
"Don't believe the lies of the rebels. The rebels will kill us all!" the strong men in the tulou shouted quickly.
"Brothers of domestic slaves, come out and divide the fields! Mr. Zhao's rule is that each person can be divided into four acres of paddy fields. If the paddy fields are not enough, two acres of dry fields will be counted as one mu of paddy fields, and each person can be assigned eight acres of dry fields! Around Raozhou Fucheng
Domestic slaves and farmers have already been allocated their fields. The poor brothers in Fuliang County are also being allocated their fields. We passed by Leping County, which is also dividing their fields. Mr. Zhao was born as a domestic slave and will not treat you badly!"
"You're not allowed to go out, let's see who dares!"
"..."
The people here may not know that there is land distribution in Raozhou.
However, Leping County is right next door, and the news of the land allocation in Leping has more or less spread.
The house slaves guarding the earth building were hesitant, mainly because they did not dare to imagine such a good thing.
But it was enough to be suspicious. When Li Zheng ordered the attack on Tulou, most of the slaves were unwilling to resist.
"The trespasser, kill him!"
But it was the sons of this powerful family who led people to defend various parts of the Tulou.
In one of them, a slave opened the door secretly, and the powerful son immediately ordered the killing. However, only a few of his confidants took action, and the other slaves were so frightened that they backed away.
The Datong rattan players climbed up the ladder, and there were only a few confidant slaves still there who seemed to be resisting. The rest were all useless at work.
Outside the earth building, people kept shouting: "Brothers, slaves, we are all poor people. Don't work for the powerful landlords. Isn't it good to save your life and divide the fields for farming? If the poor people don't fight the poor people, kill the landlords.
, Kill the evil gentry, kill the powerful! Kill, the poor people will rise up in rebellion! The land is ours, and the world is also ours! Kill me!"
"kill!"
When the soldiers of Datong stormed the earth building, the slaves immediately rebelled and aimed their weapons at the powerful and weaklings.
More and more domestic slaves rebelled, and fighting quickly broke out inside the Tulou. In cooperation with the Datong soldiers who had ascended first, they opened the two gates of the Tulou.
Once the gate is opened, the battle is basically over, and all that's left is pursuit and capture.
Anyone who resisted was immediately killed on the spot, and those who did not resist were all tied up. This family belonged to a stubborn group of people who resisted. All the men were captured and sent to mines, the women were assigned to unmarried soldiers, and the children were sent to almshouses. At the same time,
We also need to reform our thinking.
After the Tulou was occupied, it served as Li Zheng's temporary command post, leaving the supply troops to garrison the Tulou.
After a brief rest, Li Zheng immediately led his troops to the next house, this time with many surrendered slaves as guides.
Li Zheng had already been driven out of his temper. He occupied Raozhou Prefecture, Fuliang County, and Leping County without much resistance. The gentry in Dexing County was powerful and bold. They had killed several missionary officers and members of the peasant association before. Today,
He also killed three of his soldiers who were searching mountains, and one of them was killed in the attack on Tulou, and several others were injured.
The second target has no earthen buildings, just an ordinary mansion compound.
This time, a surrendered house slave shouted, which was more convincing. The house slaves in the house quickly rebelled, killed their master and came to open the door. After Li Zheng finished dealing with it, he immediately ran to the third house of powerful men.
As long as they send troops in series to set up an ambush, no one can escape. Even if they surrender and offer land, Li Zheng wants to completely wipe out the evil gentry and powerful forces in Dexing County!
Because this place is so important, there are silver mines, copper mines, iron mines, and tin mines. This place will serve as Zhao Han's coin casting center.
…
When Fei Yinghuan returned to Qianshan, it was snowing heavily and it was already the twelfth lunar month of winter.
The prefect of Guangxin was called Xie Lijing, a native of Guizhou and a disciple of Wangmen Xinxue in central Guizhou. Historically, he was a righteous man who resisted the Qing Dynasty. He was appointed governor of Sichuan by Sun Kewang. After being defeated and captured, he refused to surrender and died on a hunger strike.
Guangxin Mansion is the furthest away from Zhao Han's territory and has little influence here.
Xie Lijing tried his best to help the hungry people in Zhejiang this year, but he only tried his best. Many hungry people died of starvation, and a lot of them froze to death when it snowed in winter.
Hearing that the Zhao thieves continued to expand their territory, Xie Lijing immediately persuaded the gentry to contribute money to recruit troops.
A few years ago, Zhang Yinggao recruited thousands of soldiers, and the gentry of Guangxin Prefecture provided money and people. As a result, there were thousands of soldiers, and there was no news of the expedition to Jishui. The few who returned, there were wild rumors that Fei Ruhe was a rebel.
Now that Jie Lijing is recruiting troops again, the gentry are unwilling to go through any trouble.
They will definitely not be able to defeat the Zhao thieves. They cannot escape due to the catastrophic disaster in Zhejiang, so they can only stay in their hometown and resign themselves to fate. Especially in Qianshan County, there are many gentry doing business and running factories, so they can still live even if their land is taken away.
Xie Lijing struggled for two months and only recruited more than a thousand Xiangyong.
When the news came that the Datong Army had occupied Anren, of the more than a thousand local warriors, only a few hundred of them quickly escaped.
When Fei Yinghuan returned home, Fei Yuanyi was shocked and said: "You are working as an official in Fujian. What are you going to do when you come back? The rebels are coming to kill you!"
"Father, I am here to deal with this matter." Fei Yinghuan said.
Fei Yuanyi urged: "Go back to Fujian quickly and buy more land in Fujian. Maybe the Fei family will have to move there in the future."
Fei Yinghuan said: "Father, Ruhe is the Second General Zhao."
"Ru..." Fei Yuanyi said in shock, "are the rumors true? Didn't you write a letter saying that Ruhe went to Fujian?"
"It's just a secret." Fei Yinghuan said.
Fei Yuanyi asked: "Who is Mr. Zhao of Luling?"
Fei Yinghuan replied: "Zhao Han."
"Zhao Han?" Fei Yuanyi trembled all over. He was really scared. He had framed Zhao Han before!
Fei Yinghuan said: "Immediately ask the clan leader to convene the entire Fei clan for discussion!"
"Okay, okay." Fei Yuanyi was surprised and happy. He was surprised that Zhao Han became the leader of the rebel bandits, and he was happy that his grandson became the number two rebel leader.
A few days later, the Datong Army had occupied Guixi, which was only one Yiyang County away from Qianshan.
At the ancestral home of the Fei family in Henglin, representatives from all branches of the Fei family came to hold a meeting.
Fei Yuanzhen, the head of the Fei clan, and Fei Yuanlu, the head of Hanzhu Academy, are both still alive and well. However, Fei Yuanzhen is so old that he has to be supported by his maid when he walks, and his ears are somewhat deaf.
After everyone arrived, Fei Yuanzhen lost all his teeth and said: "The Zhao thief is coming. This thief is so fierce that even the officers and soldiers can't beat him. I, Fei, don't have that ability. For the current plan, I can only If you can donate your land, you can keep other properties. If anyone refuses to donate their land, it may bring harm to the entire Fei family."
Some people agree, some people are unhappy.
Those who agreed to donate their land were those whose families had businesses and factories. Fei originally made his fortune through business. Generally speaking, commercial and industrial income far exceeded the output of the land.
Those who do not agree to donate land will mainly rely on land income.
"Let me say a few words." Fei Yinghuan stood up.
Those who disagreed with the land donation were overjoyed, because Fei Yinghuan was the most successful official in the entire Fe family. They wanted to rely on Fei Yinghuan to go to the county with their extravagant wealth, buy property and land, and become landlords again.
The land could no longer be sold, and no one would buy it no matter how low the price was, because everyone knew that Zhao Han was coming to divide the land.
Fei Yinghuan said: "My first suggestion is for Fei to change the clan leader."
what's the situation?
Everyone was a little confused, but the patriarch Fei Yuanzhen was still stroking his beard and smiling, because he was deaf and didn't know what Fei Yinghuan said.
Fei Yinghuan got closer and shouted: "The Zhao thief in Luling is Zhao Han!"
Others didn't know who Zhao Han was, but Fei Yuanlu was dumbfounded. He was so impressed by the "Hanzhu Debate".
Fei Yuanzhen finally heard the voice this time and continued stroking his beard and said: "Whether it's Zhao Han or Zhao Yan, they are all named Zhao. I'm afraid they are the survivors of the Zhao and Song Dynasties."
It was obvious that the clan leader had forgotten who Zhao Han was.
Fei Yinghuan could only shout again: "Zhao Han, Hanzhu Debate, remove student status!"
"Zhao Han...Zhao..." Fei Yuanzhen's eyes widened suddenly, and he suddenly remembered the good deed he had instigated Fei Yuanyi to do.
Without taking a breath, Fei Yuanzhen slumped on the chair.
