This time the White Lotus Sect uprising caused considerable damage to local society in Shandong.
Especially at the grassroots level in rural areas, they are basically no longer what they were before.
In the Ming Dynasty, the imperial power did not go to the countryside. After the small and medium-sized landowners were wiped out in large numbers, the vast rural areas became ownerless blank areas.
Zuo Mengeng keenly seized this opportunity.
The recovered county town would also be handed over to the imperial court for management, and almost all of the rural areas outside the county town were his territory.
Ironically, even if the county was returned to the imperial court, it would be difficult for the imperial court to dispatch officials.
So far, the New Army has recaptured 13 county towns, but the imperial court has sent county magistrates, county magistrates, chief registrars, etc. to manage only seven.
The remaining six buildings are still in charge of the new army's recruiting officers.
From the second year of Chongzhen to the present, the imperial court has lost too many cities.
This also brings great difficulty to the recruitment of officials.
Nowadays, not to mention being a Jinshi, even a candidate can directly serve as a county magistrate.
It won't be long before the imperial court will definitely sell its officials and get titles.
In fact, this was what was done in the middle and late periods of the Chongzhen Dynasty.
This is also the reason why Zuo Mengeng dared to develop them after discovering that there were coal mines and iron mines within his sphere of influence.
Anyway, the imperial court can no longer take care of it, and it is not afraid of being snatched away by his force.
"Young Master, the mine here is easy to dig. If it is done well, it will definitely produce 10,000 kilograms of iron every month."
Fang Zongyi was invited to investigate and gave surprising data.
Although Pengji Iron Mine is not a large mine, with the current production capacity of the New Army, it can definitely meet the needs.
Moreover, the iron ore here is buried very shallowly and is not very difficult to excavate.
This is not only true for iron ore, but also for coal mines.
You only need to dig a dozen meters to see the coal seam.
However, after looking at the location of the coal mine, Zuo Mengeng had to remind: "If you want to dig underground, you must do a good job in supporting the tunnel. You must also be careful of water leakage and collapse. If this is not possible, you would rather dig horizontally to mine coal.
You can’t give in either.”
One of the difficulties faced by the coal mine is that there is Anshan Lake next to it. The nearest place is only two or three hundred meters away.
Zuo Mengeng is not sure whether the water from Anshan Lake will seep in, but safety issues must be considered.
Anyway, with this coal producing area, even if the surface deposits are excavated first, it can still be used by the new army.
The discovery of minerals became a top priority, and not only Zuo Menggeng, Li Banghua, Hou Xun, Geng Ruxi and others were personally involved.
With everyone's concerted efforts, the mining company was established very quickly.
After a unanimous decision, Fang Zongyi became the general manager of the mining company.
This incident shocked Fang Zongyi.
He originally thought that as a craftsman from Yanshen Town, after coming to Linqing, he could make more money with his craftsmanship and have no worries about food and drink.
But I didn't expect that I would receive unconditional trust here.
The general manager of a mining company has the same status as Chen Zhi, Jiang Wei, Wang Yun, Li Banghua, Geng Ruqi and others.
The fact that Fang Zongyi was reused also stimulated other people who came to Yanshen Town and made them work more diligently.
After all, Fang Zongyi can be a senior executive, so why can’t they?
Zuo Mengeng was busy until March, having to deal with his marriage to Xu Ruolin, and then he hurried back to Linqing.
During this period of time, Linqing was quite lively.
Zuo Menggeng's marriage made the entire camp happy.
The leader's marriage and the reproduction of offspring will bring a huge sense of security to the camp, so it is not his own private matter.
Moreover, a married person means an adult, which will enhance the trust of others.
Huang and Zuo Yan have been taking care of Zuo Menggeng's marriage, and the preparations are very thorough.
Originally, the Huang family planned to make grand arrangements in accordance with Zuo Liangyu's request, but the Xu family was striving to be frugal, so they had to give up.
Even so, the gifts prepared are very thoughtful.
Following Zuo Menggeng's instructions, he abandoned traditional items such as luxurious gold, silver and silk and replaced them with practical and novel gifts such as chiming bells, astronomical telescopes, gift swords, and mature seeds of Western crops.
The Xu family looked at the gift list and were all very satisfied.
Just when everything was ready and ready to set off, several young scholars came to visit, all of whom were acquaintances of the Xu family.
"Students Songjiang Chen Zilong, Wan Shouqi, Song Zhengyu, Li Wen, Yang Tingshu, and Xia Yunyi paid homage to General Zuo."
Zuo Mengeng was shocked when he heard these names.
Especially when looking at Song Zhengyu and Chen Zilong, I thought...
Aren’t these Liu Rushi’s men?
If we add Zhou Daodeng, Li Daiwen, Qian Qianyi...
Full life.
But he didn't understand why these great talents came to him?
It was Chen Zilong who told the reason.
"When I was a student in the capital, I received the teachings of Duke Xuanhu and had the opportunity to read the works of Duke Xuanhu. I learned that the books on farming were in General Zuo's house, so I came here specially to ask for a look."
It turned out that this was the case, and Zuo Mengeng was quite happy.
"There is nothing you can't do."
But he didn't know that the reason why Xu Guangqi's "Agricultural Policy Complete Book" could be passed down was that Chen Zilong compiled it.
Originally, Zuo Mengeng didn't think much of these talented people from the south of the Yangtze River. Seeing that Chen Zilong was actually focused on practical matters, he said: "If you like farming, after reading the manuscripts, you can go to Dongchang Mansion to see Wang Kangyu Gong. He is a great farmer in the world, maybe you can Let me clarify your doubts."
Chen Zilong was overjoyed and quickly wrote it down.
Zuo Mengeng asked and found out that it turned out that Chen Zilong and the other six went to the capital to take the exam.
Not only the six of them, but also Zhang Pu, Wu Weiye, Du Linzheng, Yang Tinglin, etc. were traveling with them.
As a result, the others were all high school Jinshi, and six of them failed the exam one after another. They stayed in the capital with nothing to do. It happened that Chen Zilong learned that the manuscript of "The Complete Book of Agricultural Affairs" was at Zuo Menggeng's place, so he came to take a look.
Others happened to be heading south to go home, so they came along the way.
It is worth mentioning that Yang Tingshu and Yang Tinglin are not brothers, and they have no blood relationship at all.
Yang Tingshu was from Nanzhili, and Yang Tinglin was from Jiangxi.
"The imperial court is really not a place to serve. It's a good thing that you didn't go to high school. Since you are here, you can also visit famous people and sharpen your knowledge."
Chen Zilong and the others looked at each other in disbelief, saying nothing on the surface, but actually they were slandering in their hearts.
How many famous people can there be in a place like Linqing?
Zuo Mengeng didn't say it clearly. He was very busy and left soon.
However, Xu Erjue liked the arrival of his friends very much and was responsible for receiving them personally.
"Come on, I'll take you to see your grandfather's manuscript."
Everyone had known Xu Erjue for a long time, and it was much easier without Zuo Mengeng around.
"Zigui, why are you here?"
Xu Erjue smiled and said: "Zhongheng is about to marry his sister-in-law. Naturally, I came here to discuss the marriage."
Several scholars were quite surprised to hear that a woman from the Xu family was actually going to marry Zuo Mengeng.
Song Zhengyu even saw Xu Ruolin and couldn't help but feel sorry for her.
"My sister is so beautiful and charming. Marry me... marry me..."
He wanted to say that marrying a martial artist would be a waste of money. But when he thought that a wedding was about to take place, he thought it would offend others, so he was temporarily stuck.
In the past, Xu Erjue also felt that Wu Fu was not good. But now, he is Zuo Menggeng's biggest fan.
"Oh, what's wrong with being a soldier? Without soldiers to defend our country, how could we be so carefree and happy? Under the iron hooves of the foreign race, our families have been destroyed long ago."
Several people thought about it carefully, especially with the current situation as evidence, but they couldn't say anything to refute it.
Chen Zilong asked curiously: "When I was waiting in the capital, I heard someone say that this Zuo General had killed more than 5,000 Eastern captives at Qingshui Pass in one battle, and also beheaded Amin and other slave chiefs. Is this true? "
Xu Erjue was extremely proud of his brother-in-law's great achievements.
"Of course we take it seriously. Otherwise, how could Zhongheng be able to become a general at such a young age?"
Xia Yunyi was fascinated.
"I just met General Zuo. He is young and has a peaceful demeanor. Although he has the appearance of a warrior, I never expected that he has the courage of a champion."
Xu Erjue said with a smile: "When you have been in contact with him for a long time, you will know that Zhongheng is just rough and arrogant on the outside, but in fact he is beautiful on the inside. He is a poetic genius and a leader in the world."
Chen Zilong and others did not believe it when they heard that Zuo Menggeng could actually compose poetry. It was only because of the face of his friend that they did not refute him face to face.
Xu Erjue was anxious.
"Huh, there are two ways to achieve peace in this world. I can't live up to the Tathagata and I can't live up to you. Who of you can write such a poem?"
They were met with a violent blow, which knocked Chen Zilong and others to pieces.
After several people tasted it carefully, there was only room for admiration.
"This...is this really the work of General Zuo?"
Xu Erjue was arrogant.
"Is there still a lie? This is what Zhong Heng made as a gift to my sister-in-law."
Chen Zilong's eyes all turned red.
Poems like this are almost always harmful when used to pick up girls.
Damn it, a warrior actually robbed our scholars of their literary talent and grace?
Song Zhengyu was very anxious and asked: "I wonder what the overall picture of this poem is?"
Xu Erjue shook his head.
"On these two sentences, I also asked Zhongheng, but he said that poetry is a small way, but it is written based on feelings."
Not being able to see the whole picture made Chen Zilong and others really suffer.
We are all good at literary talents. It is really a great pity to hear a good poem but it is so poor.