kingnovel Chapter 921 The war breaks out 4 times
Chapter 921 The war breaks out 4 times
In March, the capital city of Kyoto still had a chilly spring weather. As we headed south, the weather became warmer and warmer.
Back then, when Lu Cheng and Daiyu went north to the capital, they came by boat. Now they went south to Jinan, and they still chose to go by boat. Lu Cheng brought Xiangling and Qingwen with him, and Daiyu also brought Zijuan and Xueyan with her.
The spring sun is shining, the sky is clear, the breeze is blowing, and the water is rippling.
On the sailboat, Qingwen and Zijuan, who were traveling far away by boat for the first time, were very excited and found everything they saw along the way new.
Lu Cheng still sat alone on the bow, fishing in the spring river, letting the fishing rod and line in his hand drift in the wind.
At this time, the southernmost naval and land forces had assembled and began to march towards the Qiongzhou Prefecture of the Ming Dynasty.
Qiongzhou Prefecture is located on Haizhou Island, which is rich in aquatic and mineral resources, as well as Chinese herbal medicine resources. During the Hongwu period, the Ming Dynasty established three prefectures, Yazhou, Danzhou, and Wanzhou, and 3 counties here, which were under the jurisdiction of the Guangdong Provincial Administration Commission.
Compared to Baodao Bay, which is often harassed by pirates and has indigenous residents, Haizhou Island is closer to the mainland and has always been garrisoned by imperial troops, so the security is more stable.
Moreover, because it was far away from the Central Plains, even if there was unrest in the Central Plains, it would be difficult to affect Qiongzhou Island. In addition, the Ming Dynasty established many garrisons in Qiongzhou Prefecture and camps in various places to resist Japanese pirates and pirates, which made Qiongzhou Prefecture win more battles than loses in its repeated foreign battles.
However, in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, due to corruption in the bureaucracy and official embezzlement, the Li and Han people on Haizhou Island could no longer bear the oppression and many uprisings broke out, all of which were suppressed by the government.
When the Suzaku Hall's navy and army landed on Haizhou Island, the Tingfeng Hall and An Hall troops who had been lurking on the island immediately took action, cooperating inside and outside to attack from both sides and break through the coastal camps.
After several years of development, the Flying Eagle Gang is no longer the original underworld gang, but a well-organized, top-down, and independent force with territories and an army.
Among the first group of people who followed Lu Cheng, there were many with outstanding talents. Some of them broke through the dark energy and became masters, some were able to run businesses, and some were able to lead an army and fight in all directions.
In terms of weapons and equipment, relying on more advanced smelting technology and firearms technology, Lu Cheng's army has been equipped with more advanced flintlock rifles, and even the cold weapons are very sophisticated.
Coupled with the disciplined and well-trained army, it was effortless to deal with the already corrupt Ming Dynasty garrison troops, as well as the support from within.
Because of this, Lu Cheng only determined the combat objectives and assigned combat tasks in advance, and let the generals at all levels below perform their tasks, without having to participate in person at all.
When Lu Cheng went down the waterway and arrived at Jinan Prefecture, the southern army had already captured the Qiongzhou government office in the shortest time possible and began to clear the entire Haizhou Island, post notices to reassure the people, and restore public order.
Haizhou Island is isolated in the South China Sea, more than 5,000 miles away from Kyoto. Even if information is delivered to Kyoto via an 800-mile express, it will take seven or eight days.
What's more, the actual 800 miles of expedited transportation can reach 600 miles per day, which is already very good.
When the news of the fall of Qiongzhou Prefecture reached the Guangdong Provincial Administration Commission, the Guangdong Governor immediately sent someone to quickly convey the news to the capital.
However, at this time, waves of uprisings began to appear in various parts of the Central Plains. Many refugees from the previous year gathered together to form an uprising army. They were led all the way south, attacking government offices along the way, looting granaries, and plundering wealthy households.
In recent years, natural disasters and man-made disasters have led to the rise of bandits everywhere. However, these bandits are too scattered and have no one to lead them, so they can only gather in the mountains and forests to cause trouble.
Now, as war breaks out across the Central Plains, those scattered bandits have seized the opportunity to either join the rebel army or form their own factions, hoping to become a hero in this chaotic world.
At that time, local governments all reported emergencies one after another, and letters were sent to the capital. The court was shocked, and the emperor was furious: "What is going on? Why did so many rebellions suddenly break out? Didn't I already allocate silver to allow various places to provide disaster relief as soon as possible?"
The Minister of Revenue stood up quickly and said, "Your Majesty, in recent years, Central Plains and Guanzhong have suffered from floods and droughts. The capital can barely supply food, and the price of food has risen sharply. Some merchants are hoarding food. The silver for disaster relief can't buy enough food to help the victims in various places."
"Is that really the case? I think someone took the opportunity to embezzle and make a lot of money, not caring about the lives of the people at all? Humph! The court doesn't support you officials to cry poor to me every day!"
"Your Majesty, please calm down. We are guilty."
"Your Majesty, the most urgent task right now is to send troops to quell the rebellion as soon as possible to prevent it from escalating and threatening the capital."
"What are the garrisons in various places doing? Where are the troops of our Ming Dynasty? Where have they gone? How come they can't even deal with a group of hungry and cold refugees?"
"Your Majesty, the garrisons below have long been rotten, less than 50% of the soldiers are usable, and there is a shortage of money for them..."
"Then why don't you come up with a plan for dealing with this? You guys usually talk a lot, but are you just talking on paper?"
"Your Majesty, I request your permission to lead the troops to suppress the rebellion."
"I beg your pardon..."
While the officials in the court were busy with disaster relief and rebellion suppression, Lu Cheng brought Daiyu and a few other girls to Jinan Prefecture and enjoyed a leisurely paid vacation.
However, after this period of disaster relief and rebellion suppression, the court's purse, which had just bulged a little, is probably going to deflate again.
By then, it might be a question whether the salaries of court officials can be paid on time.
Jinan Prefecture, Lin Ruhai's residence.
"Shou Xin, recently, a large number of refugees have appeared in Jinan Prefecture. The prefect is worried about how to settle these refugees. Do you have any good ideas?"
"Teacher, there have been floods and droughts in recent years, and refugees from all over the country have gathered more and more, and there will be more and more refugees in Jinan Prefecture. Even if Jinan Prefecture's treasury is full and there is a good harvest this year, it will be difficult to accommodate the increasing number of refugees.
In order to properly resettle these refugees, we must let them produce value themselves and gradually achieve self-reliance.
Now, wars are rising in various parts of the Central Plains, and Jinan Prefecture will soon be affected. As for the situation of the garrisons in various places, there is no need to say more. In my opinion, we can first report to the court and order the garrisons in various places to recruit young and strong soldiers from the refugees to supplement the garrison troops and prevent bandits.
Secondly, they could lead the refugees to reclaim land and grow food, or they could repair cities and build water conservancy projects to provide relief through work.
Besides, there are abundant resources in the mountains, forests, rivers, lakes and seas, and there are many things that can be used as food…"
Lu Cheng simply put forward a few suggestions and added some practical methods to form a complete set of practical solutions.
Lin Ruhai was delighted when he heard this: "Shou Xin's words are very good. I will go and discuss this with the prefect immediately. If this can be implemented, Shou Xin will also have done a great deed."
Seeing Lin Ruhai so happy, Lu Cheng didn't say much.
In fact, no matter how good the method is, it depends on who is doing it.
Among the officials of Jinan Prefecture, how many are like Lin Ruhai who are dedicated to serving the people and want to make achievements?
The vast majority are just mediocre people who are just sitting there doing nothing and drifting with the crowd. There are also some corrupt officials who are selfish, embezzling and breaking the law.
Even if there are a few people who want to do practical things, they will either end up being in the dust or be frustrated.
There is no way, the Ming Dynasty is already corrupt and turbid. If it is too clean, it will be difficult to survive.