"The reward is easy to talk about." Magistrate Wu said with a wry smile. Compared with the fifty taels of silver sent, these thirty kilograms of rice are really nothing. "Thank you for your hard work."
"It's a matter of safety for the whole city, and An dares to say it's hard work. It's just that Li Qianhu was very careful, and he only said good things about his humble position before he was willing to allocate thirty people. It's okay not to use those gunpowder lead. If you use it, you'll have to
Pay him back double." Wu Yan is nearly forty years old, a fat man, well-maintained, and looks much younger than the county magistrate. He is from a miscellaneous background, and does not have as many ideas as those who are on the right track in science, so he lives a leisurely life.
.
"It's no wonder he is," Wu Ling lowered his head and sighed. "Everyone in the imperial court knows about the guard station. Does he have any available soldiers? Even if he does, they are just old, weak, sick and disabled people who cannot escape.
That’s all.”
"That's what the Ming Dynasty said." Wu Ya nodded. As he was talking, the disciples came to report. The county's chief registrar and instructors all came. Dian Shi was leading a patrol and was unable to come for a while. The instructors went to invite the gentry.
In the Ming Dynasty, the power of the gentry was very strong, and local gentry could often interfere in local administration. Therefore, whenever there was a major issue in the county, it was always a good idea to invite the gentry to discuss it.
The so-called gentry is a complex class, ranging from court ministers and feudal officials to family members of officials, powerful landowners, and even officials who have returned to their place of origin due to various reasons such as Ding You, dismissal, or retirement.
They can all be included in the list of candidates for promotion and promotion. Due to various relationships, they have very close ties with provincial feudal officials and the imperial court. They even have hands and eyes that reach directly into the inner court of the palace. Officials of the seventh, eighth and ninth grades of prefecture and county yamen
, you can act like a gentleman in front of the common people, but you have to give it a big discount in front of these squires.
Because Lingao is a small border county, there are not many gentry in total. Some places are remote and pirates cannot reach them, so they will not come. Some people set up their own villages to recruit local warriors. At this time, they have to sit in and defend themselves. Naturally,
It's not convenient to come. In other words, there are several wealthy gentlemen in and around the county. They have related interests, so they naturally want to come.
Seeing that everyone had almost arrived, Wu Mingjin asked the master next to him in a low voice: "Isn't Mr. Liu here yet?"
"Go back to me, sir. Feng Jiaoyu went to pick him up in person. He will be there in a moment."
He nodded and looked at all the gentry in the flower hall. Although there were already more than ten people sitting in the flower hall, some were arrogant, some were submissive, and some were pretending to be deep and silent.
"Dear elders," Wu Mingjin directly turned the conversation to the main topic without being polite, "the current situation: the pirates are entrenched in Bopu and cannot be removed. Huge ships and fast ships are full of the harbor, and tomorrow they will surely go up the river to plunder all the way. The situation
It’s dangerous! Wu Zan Mansion risked his life to go out of the city today to ask for help. Tomorrow they can go to the guard station with thirty soldiers. However, the soldiers at the guard station are just to build strength and cannot be relied on!"
These words were spoken in such a stern voice that everyone who heard them couldn't help but get excited. Wu Ya knew that this was just a common way of knocking on the mountain to shock the tiger. He exaggerated the situation to a point of danger, and his purpose was nothing more than to force these gentry to donate food and money. He
As an old county magistrate in this county, I know that the finances of the imperial court are extremely corrupt. Lingao was hit by a typhoon and flood last year, and most of the autumn grain was lost. However, the three salaries collected by the imperial court were not spared. The county was already in a dilemma.
The miners and archers have been in arrears with food and salary for several months. Now they have to prevent pirates from attacking the city. They need to spend money to recruit reinforcements and recruit miners.
Seeing that this group of people were all uneasy, Wu Daling said slowly: "I am here because I have no responsibility, and I have the responsibility to protect the land. The city survives and survives, and the city falls and falls. You may have been favored by the country in this life, or you may be the gentry of this city.
, or to be on the right track, it is our duty to defend the city. Please work together with me to defend the city, repel the pirate attacks, and keep the city's officials, gentry and people safe and sound. I wonder if you have any ideas?"
Everyone hurriedly stood up and said: "I am the master of the horse!"
Wu Mingjin saw that the atmosphere was good, so he revealed his plan: "Although this county is a small city, the perimeter is more than 600 feet. Now there are only more than a hundred soldiers and civilians in the city. We have to guard three gates, and there are many people in the city.
Many people have flooded in, and there is no guarantee that there will be no internal support from the pirates. I am afraid that relying solely on Zaoli to suppress them will not be enough. I would like to recruit 200 more people to help defend the city."
A gentleman said: "The Ming government is so loyal, which is really a blessing to the officials, gentlemen and people of the whole city. But now the pirates are only in Bopu and have not gone deep into the county. Is it shocking to recruit more people?"
Another one also hurriedly said: "It is a good strategy to recruit more people to strengthen the defense. However, after the typhoon and floods last year, people's livelihood was in decline. Unless it is a critical moment, this strategy should not be used to disturb the soldiers and the people!"
These sly gentry all had expressions of embarrassment on their faces. They complained one after another. It was just because the imperial government had increased its workload, and last year there was another disaster. Many of the tenant farmers had starved to death and fled...
Some people also say that General Qiongya's patrol boat will arrive at Bopu in three days. Once the officers and soldiers arrive, even if the pirates do not escape, General Tang has the responsibility to defend the land and will definitely raise troops from Baisha Water Village to attack them.
Wu Mingjin's face became more and more ugly, and suddenly he heard someone outside the door saying: "The city is in danger, and you are still stingy with your money!" As he spoke, Feng Jiaoyu brought two of his followers and used a wicker chair to hold one of them.
The young man was carried in. Everyone hurriedly stood up to greet him and were very respectful. Even Wu Ling stepped forward and called him "Mr."
This middle-aged man who has been paralyzed for many years is the famous Liu Dalin in the history of Lingao, named Meng Liang. He was a Jinshi in the 47th year of Wanli. This was the first Jinshi in Lingao since the county was established in the Tang Dynasty. However, after he passed the imperial examination, he
I couldn't afford to be paralyzed, so I didn't go to work.
He was only in his early forties and in his prime. Although he was paralyzed and unable to walk, he was still quite enthusiastic about the local area. His home was just inside the west gate of the county. As soon as he heard Wu Ling's invitation, he came without hesitation.
Wu Mingjin said: "What good advice does the old man have for this?"
Liu Dalin said: "Minzhuang must be recruited. If the thieves are not moving now, will they not move tomorrow? How can the thieves move out in large numbers just to occupy a shop? The shop is only thirty miles away from here, and the thieves will leave at noon.
So, when the army comes to the city and everything is destroyed, will your wealth be saved?"
He tilted his body, and the servant beside him helped him move: "Now that the military equipment is decadent, how can we still count on General Tang Shen's troops?! Didn't you hear the spies' report? Pirates all ride in big iron boats and don't use sails or oars.
Can you come and go freely? Baisha Water Village is full of people, so what?"
When everyone heard this, their faces turned gray again. A gentleman whispered: "The officers and soldiers are useless, what can we do if we recruit some strong people?"
"Since ancient times, officers and soldiers have not been as brave as the villagers, and there are many things to do to strengthen the people! The former only seek food and salary to make a living, but the latter seek to protect the hometown. How can they be compared?" Liu Jinshi said eloquently, "In today's plan, it is better to seek help from others than from yourself.
He cupped his hands to Wu Mingjin and said, "In the Ming Dynasty, Dalin thought that it was just a matter of recruiting the villagers to defend the country bravely." As he said this, he listed out several countermeasures that he had thought hard about during the day:
First, send people to every village, map, and capital to tell the local gentry to recruit local braves and build earthen fences for self-defense.
Second, the walls are strong and the country is clear. If the rural market is small and cannot be defended, or where a large number of pirates may pass by, all the people, property, rice, chickens, ducks and livestock will be moved into the county.
Third, check household registrations and impose strict curfews to prevent thieves and spies from sneaking into the city.
Fourth, send spies to monitor the movements of the Bopu pirates day and night.
Fifth, send a man who dares to fight and lead dozens of village warriors to the main road outside the city. If there are thieves who loot and are alone, they can be captured and killed. The thieves will naturally retreat if they have no food for a long time.
6. Recruit more people to strengthen the defense, and do not abandon the defense outside the city. It is advisable to set up a stronghold outside the three city gates to facilitate defense.
After that, he added: "Da Lin is willing to donate thirty dan of grain!"
The only Jinshi in the county expressed his position like this, and the others had to express their opinions, so they all raised ten shi for this one and five taels for that one. After a while, they raised three hundred shi of grain and one hundred taels of silver. When Wu Mingjin saw Liu Jinshi like this
Liu Dalin, who was anxious for public good, gave advice and donated food, hurriedly said countless compliments and asked him to stay in the Yamen as a staff officer. Liu Dalin did not refuse and stayed in the Yamen. Here, the gentlemen went to raise money.
Not to mention rice.
Wu Ya arranged all the men from the villagers who came to the city from sixteen to sixty, and assigned each ten men to four gates to repair the city walls and transport bricks, stones and wood. The students of the county school were responsible for
The city wall is guarded in sections. The soldiers are all young and strong. Their youthful temperament has not faded. They are still loyal and patriotic, and have great ambitions to defend their hometown. The situation is critical at this moment. All of them are wearing the clothes from the county arsenal.
They took out the old armor, embroidered iron helmets, carrying rusty swords and shouting orders on the city, all of them were majestic. However, the swords, spears and spears taken out from the county arsenal were all rotten, so they temporarily called the blacksmith and carpenter
Rushing to repair.
Each of the four Shangyuan cannons in the city has two Tiger Cannons. They were all built during the Zhengde period. Fortunately, they were all fired during the Wanli period to show that the cannons can still fire. Even civil servants like Wu Mingjin knew that this thing was just for courage and could not be counted on.
The officials discussed that there were many people taking refuge in the city at this time, and a civil uprising would be triggered if they were not careful. They ordered Bohe County School to set up a porridge shed in front of the Confucian Temple, and boil dry grass tea for drinking.
Zaoli, the servants of various government offices, patrolled the streets and suppressed the people. Originally, Wu Daling wanted to kill someone to establish his authority, but Liu Jinshi dissuaded him, saying that it was not appropriate to kill people at this time, lest the failure to establish authority would trigger a civil uprising, but he struck harder.
The crackling of bamboo boards and the screams of poor people begging for mercy could be heard all over the street. The people remained silent in the cold wind of autumn night.
At this time, in a narrow alley behind the county government office in the north of the city, a house was dimly lit. The yard was quiet. There was a lantern placed at the mouth of the well, and there were several iron boxes next to the lantern. The bluestone strips on the well platform
There was a man and a woman sitting on it, staring blankly at a tall kapok plant beside the well platform, silent for a long time. It was already very cold in the autumn night, and they were all wearing felts.
The man fastened the boxes with a rope and lowered them into the well one by one. When the boxes were submerged in the water, he shook the rope fasteners away and heard a rumble in the well before disappearing.
The woman stood aside, shook her long skirt, and finally spoke: "Is it safe here? I feel scared when I think about it - this is the accumulation of generations of our family..."
The middle-aged man sneered, bent down and moved the lantern, and said in a low voice: "The thieves are destroying the city, and it won't be a matter of time to drain this well. It's very deep down there, and there is no such thing as a catch, unless you are a god."
Only then can we fish it out.”
He thought for a while, removed the iron parts of the catch and hid it under the kapok tree, and rolled up the rope. He said to the woman: "You will take your family back to your parents' house early tomorrow morning. Chengxuan and I will
Stay in the city."
"and you?"
"What are you afraid of? With brothers protecting us, it will not be difficult to escape even if the city is destroyed. Chengxuan is a student at the county school and cannot leave. Mr. Wu has long disliked our family. If Chengxuan ran away,
I will definitely find this reason to deprive him of his fame."
He stood up and clapped his hands: "Just now I asked the Lai brothers to send money to Wu Ling. I also donated twenty taels, and personally donated another ten taels..."
"Thirty taels?!" the woman screamed, her heartache clearly visible.
"Haha, Madam, don't worry." The man said with a look of determination on his face, "If the city is not destroyed, looking at the face of these thirty taels, this year's county Guodu's autumn grain can fall into my hands again, and the future will be great. If so.
The city is broken..." He chuckled, "I have dozens of brothers in my hands, so it's not difficult to get out after just one vote."
He looked at the starless night sky: "Hmph, how can I, a wealthy man, be that ordinary person who is panicking?"