The sound of the north wind whistling, pushing countless wooden boats to the southwest, stirring up white waves on the waterway of the Xiangjiang River from the Yangtze River to Changsha, the flag of "the reincarnation of Emperor Taizu Gao" was hunting and fluttering on one of the huge painted official boats.

On both sides of the Xiangjiang River, there are countless able-bodied refugees from the North, moving south on foot. If you look down from above, you will be shocked by the size and momentum of this army of refugees who are heading south along the Xiang River.

This army of refugees always numbered hundreds of thousands, and advanced by waterway, led by Zhu Cihong, the prince of the Ming Dynasty's Fujun, and marched southward.

They...... It's to beg for food!

It's really awesome, hundreds of thousands of people, a considerable number of them are fully armed, come to Hunan landlords and old money to ask for food. Not only is it violent, but it is also justifiably magnificent!

Because they are begging for food!

If the landlords and old fortunes on this side of Hunan don't give them food, they will resist the decree, and the protest will kill their heads, and ask both sides of the Xiangjiang River, who dares to try the blade?

Moreover, Zhu Cihong not only had a knife, but also a whole division of new officers and soldiers, right in front of the refugees who were advancing on foot. Whenever they went to a prosperous town, they would follow the governor He Tengjiao into the city for martial law, and then detain the local rich merchants and gentry to wait on the dock for the begging army led by Prince Zhu himself.

Qiaokou, a big town at the confluence of the Xiangjiang River and the Qiaojiang River, is the third prosperous place in Changsha Prefecture after Changsha and Xiangyin - the Qiaojiang River is inconspicuous, but it connects the two major water systems of Zishui and Xiangjiang. Therefore, this Qiaokou has become a necessary port for merchant ships from Zishui to enter the Xiangjiang River, and it has naturally become more and more prosperous.

In addition, the land around Qiaokou is also very fertile. It is part of the Dongting Lake Plain, with a dense water network and paddy fields that stretch as far as the eye can see. It's autumn when the rice is ripe, so from the top of the sky, you can see the golden waves of rice and the occasional village with smoke curling from there.

It is really a field scenery that can be entered into the picture scroll, but on the edge of this scene, there is a very incongruous scene.

Countless ragged refugees, armed with spears, bows and arrows, swords, and some wearing a little tattered armor, poured like a tide to the outskirts of Qiaokou Town, which was protected by high walls.

The legendary Northland refugees have arrived!

Zhang Tingsu and Zhang Xiaolian, the richest man in Qiaokou Town and the largest rice merchant in Hunan, were standing on the city wall at this time, looking at more and more refugees, and his face was like ashes......

The regiments in the town had already been mobilized, and one of them took a reward of one or two silver from Master Zhang, and now they are all on the city wall.

But no one dared to rise up to the idea of rebellion—these regiments were not honest peasants who had never seen fighting, killing, and killing. The banks of the Xiangjiang River have not been peaceful in recent years, Zhang Xianzhong came once earlier, and Li Zicheng's soldiers (some stragglers) also came not long ago, as for the kind of grass cowards who are not on the stage, let alone mention.

However, Qiaokou Town relied on the tall and sturdy city wall and the group training that Master Zhang took the lead in setting up at the expense of the company, and carried it hard - oh, it was not as hard as a steel plate, but after giving a lot of money and food, the city gate was closed and escaped the catastrophe.

But this time...... He Tengjiao, the governor of Hunan, had already arrived outside Qiaokou City with the cavalry of the new army of Kenan, who had fought in front of the station.

"Hurry up, ...... Kaecheng" Zhang Xiaolian sighed, and looked back at the group of trembling gentry and wealthy businessmen behind him, all of whom were the leaders of the town, "Let's go and listen to what Governor He has to say, shall we?" ”

What can He Tengjiao say?

He now believes that Zhu Cihong is the reincarnation of Zhu Yuanzhang - he even has a meeting to ask for food, what else is there to say?

Now there are only a part of those who followed Zhu Cihong to Hunan to ask for food! Many others remained in Wuchang, and Zhu Cihong mobilized some food from all over Huguang to relieve them, and at the same time let them build a new city in the three towns of Wuhan under the command of Fang Yuegong and Qiu Yu—these people would be settled in Wuhan in the future, and Zhu Cihong would select the best and strongest from them to form a new army, and he would also distribute the military cantonments and official lands of Hanyang and Wuchang to them.

There were also some who followed Wu Sanfu, Jing Muqing (Xiangyang prefect), and Yuan Jixian (governor of Henan and Shaanxi, stationed in Xiangyang) to Xiangyang Mansion to ask for food - Xiangyang Mansion City and Nanyang Mansion City were all defeated by Wu Sanfu in late July. Liu Zongmin retreated to Guanghua and Gucheng and continued to resist.

Others followed Li Yan and Hao Shaoqi to Jingzhou Mansion to ask for food - Jingzhou Mansion was still like that, Huya Mountain and Yidu were controlled by Tian Jianxiu to the west, and to the east belonged to the Ming Dynasty.

These two roads are also begging for food and settling, and after solving the problem of eating, all the refugees will settle in Jingzhou or Xiangyang. The best of them will be recruited into the army, and the rest will try to allocate a little land close to the city.

It is not difficult to divide the land in Xiangyang Prefecture, because it is necessary to calculate the land there, but it is only to add 20,000 or 30,000 northerner refugees.

It is a bit difficult to get land in Jingzhou Mansion, because Li Zicheng has all the land in Jingzhou Mansion, and most of the land has owners, and it is not easy to recover it. However, Jiangling City was washed because of the fire in the Zuo family, and the city and nearby Shaguan City were empty. Li Yan simply picked a group of refugees who were engaged in trading or had some skills and brought them to Jiangling Mansion, and settled them in the city and Shaguan City.

And most of the refugees from the north who gathered in Huguang are now following Zhu Cihong to Hunan...... Hunan has not been captured by Li Zicheng, there are many big households!

If you want to eat big, you should naturally come to Hunan!

"Fu, Futai...... There are too many people, right, they all came to Hunan to beg for food? ”

After welcoming He Tengjiao into Qiaokou Town and inviting him into his mansion, Zhang Daxiaolian said some words, and then tentatively asked the question of "begging".

He Tengjiao frowned and glared at Zhang Tingsu: "Zijia, what nonsense are you talking about?" That's called eating! ”

Although he and this Zhang Tingsu are a lot of age differences, they are old friends. Qiaokou Zhang's family is a wealthy family in Hunan, and He Tengjiao received a lot of help from him when he recruited and trained in Hunan.

So the two talk more casually in private.

After a lecture, He Tengjiao lowered his voice and said, "There's no way...... Half a million people followed! The entire gentry of Hunan did not run away. ”

"Ahh Zhang Daxiaolian's white face was twisted into a ball, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince means ......"

"These 500,000 people have to rely on you Hunan people to feed!" He Tengjiao said, "And you have to go out to get food to feed the refugees who stay in the southeast...... But the prince will not take you in vain, these grains can be worth the future land. Take out one stone now, and you can pay one stone and five buckets in the future. ”

"So...... Can't lift people tax-exempt anymore? ”

"Also lift people to tax exemption......" He Tengjiao shook his head, "The lifting people are gone!" ”

"Gone?" Zhang Xiaolian was stunned, "How could it be ......?"

He bought it for three thousand taels of silver! Not long after I bought it, why is it gone......

"No more! Huguang's fame and fame will be cancelled," He Tengjiao said, "Since Hunan started three years later (Prince Zhu gave Hunan people a three-year exemption from taxation), the officials and gentry paid grain and taxes in one piece!" The average amount of land tax is two buckets per mu, and the tax will be determined according to the quality of the land. ”

"One acre and two buckets......" Zhang Daxiaolian, no, it's Zhang Da Xiucai (Xiucai still has it) who is distressed, and his face begins to cramp, "Then I have to pay 20,000 stone a year!" ”

20,000 stone white rice! How can you give ......

"No, you don't have to pay that much." He Tengjiao shook his head again and again.

OK...... Zhang Daxiu had just breathed a sigh of relief, and the real death story came.

He Tengjiao said: "Many of your family's lands are official fields, military tuns, and hidden fields...... All of them have to be recovered, and only private land needs to be taxed. ”

"What? Yes, you want to ......" Zhang Tingsu couldn't believe his ears.

He Tengjiao smiled bitterly: "Yuezhou, Changsha, Changde, Baoqing, Hengzhou, Yongzhou and other seven prefectures plus one Chenzhou are all this rule!" The land must be cleared, and the gentry's family will take out the grain and lend it to His Royal Highness the Prince. ”

"I don't promise...... My family has no food! Zhang Tingsu gritted his teeth and spoke!

It's not how much he hates the prince, it's that his heart is twitching...... It's distressing!

He Tengjiao sighed: "If you don't agree, 100,000 people will come to your house for dinner tomorrow...... You know the big eaters, right? Whether there is food or not, you don't count! ”

"100,000 people eat big households...... Zhang Tingsu rolled his eyelids, and he fainted on the spot.