Lu Qi took the Dongchang token delivered by Wang Chengen, walked out of the palace from the Donghua Gate, and walked into the inner Dongchang duty room in the east of the imperial city.

Wang Yihu, the 100 households on duty, was annoyed by his brother-in-law Jia Youcai, and he didn't dare to leave an inch in the East Factory these days, for fear that the factory would use the problem to find him trouble.

After Jia Youcai went back that day, he felt that he needed to let his brother-in-law know what happened, but he didn't dare to tell the truth.

Therefore, Wang Yihu only knew that Jia Youcai was forcibly sold to others when he was selling newspapers, and he happened to be met by the factory company who went out. Dongchang fanzi extorts, takes extra money when performing official duties, or simply performs official duties by the way when making extra money, this is not something to be seen at all, isn't Dongchang always doing this.

However, he didn't know that it was His Majesty who broke his brother-in-law Jia Youcai's blackmail, otherwise he would not have been so active in front of Wang Chengen every day, wanting to redeem Wang Chengen's bad impression of him.

However, every time Wang Chengen saw him, he remembered the good things his brother-in-law did that day, and he still had a good face for him.

Wang Yihu deeply felt the malicious gaze of his colleagues around him, and his position as a hundred households began to falter. A few deputies who had always revolved around him in the past and obeyed him. Now when I met him on the road, I just greeted him with a smile and avoided him, as if he was carrying something dirty.

When he was about to get off duty in the afternoon of this day, Wang Yihu made a small ** soju, and when he hid in his duty room with a sad face to quit drinking and dispel his sorrows, his door was knocked on by his cronies.

"Who? Knock what? It's all about to go down, what else is so urgent? Wang Yihu shouted, climbed off the kang and dragged his shoes to open his door.

Wang Yong, the personal soldier beside Wang Yihu, hugged his fists at Wang Yihu and bowed his head and said: "Lord Baihu, Lu Qi, the deputy manager of the Qianqing Palace, took the token of the factory and came to convey His Majesty's message. Please come to the lobby as soon as possible to greet you. ”

"You see clearly, is it Manager Lu and not the factory company?" Wang Yihu asked with some doubts.

Wang Yong was a little confused about Wang Yihu's question, but he was originally a servant of Wang Yihu's family, and the brocade clothes on his body were also given by Wang Yihu.

Therefore, although Wang Yihu asked inexplicably, he still replied respectfully: "It is Steward Lu of Qianqing Palace, and the villain sees that Steward Lu is in a hurry, and it seems that there is something urgent." ”

Wang Yihu just thought for a moment, and then instructed Wang Yong, who was standing outside the door: "Fetch me a basin of water, I want to wash my face." ”

After washing his face and sobering up, Wang Yihu tidied up the clothes on his body, and then rushed to the lobby of the East Factory to see Lu Qi.

Lu Qi, who had been waiting in the lobby of the East Factory for a quarter of an hour, was a little impatient, and when he saw Wang Yihu coming in from outside the hall for a long time, he said with a somewhat gloomy face: "The miscellaneous family is ordered to go out to do business, Wang Baihu will choose some clever people in the newspaper for the miscellaneous family." ”

After Wang Yihu bent down and made a big salute to Lu Qi, he said with a smile: "I just heard from my subordinates that Gonggong Lu was going out, and I have already ordered someone to prepare the carriage, and the manpower has been arranged." This Wang Yong is a capable man around him, and there are 9 people who are already waiting in the Waidong Factory, I don't know if it can be driven by my father-in-law? If it is insufficient, then the lowly position will go to gather the manpower. ”

Lu Qi was a little surprised, he had come to the East Factory more than once. Because of Wang Chengen's relationship, no one in this Dongchang wants to be close to him, this Wang Baihu, if he couldn't meet him before, he wouldn't meet him.

Today, the enthusiasm of Wang Baihu for him is like the sun coming out of the west. However, Lu Qi remembered the task assigned by Chongzhen, and didn't think much about it, and replied in a slightly gentler tone: "Since the manpower has been selected, then Wang Baihu will lead the way." ”

In the courtyard of the Outer Dongchang Factory in the Baoda Fang outside Dong'an Gate, Lu Qi looked at the 8 or 9 capable people standing on the side, and a clean carriage, and finally showed a little smile on his face, knowing that this Wang Baihu did not have any moths to fool him.

When Wang Yihu respectfully helped him into the carriage, he suddenly whispered to him: "I heard that Gonggong Lu will participate in the management of Dongchang affairs in the near future, and he is willing to serve his father-in-law." ”

Lu Qi's body stiffened slightly, but then returned to normal and walked into the carriage. Seeing that Lu Qi didn't respond to him, Wang Yihu couldn't help but feel half cold.

But soon Lu Qi lifted the curtain of the car, revealed half of his face, and said to Wang Yihu: "Wang Baihu's words, the miscellaneous family remembers them, and they will stay in the future." ”

Wang Yihu was immediately overjoyed, knowing that he had sold himself and taken refuge, he was accepted. He bent down and made a deep gesture to Lu Qi in the carriage.

Lu Qi nodded, put down the curtain, and ordered the coachman to set off towards Andingmen in the north of the capital.

The seat of Yingzhou Zuotunwei is in the city of Shunyi, which is 60 miles northeast of Beijing, and is the only way to Miyun.

The topography of Shunyi is like an arched millstone, surrounded by a flat plain, and the top surface of the millstone is also a flat plain. No matter from that direction, it looks very obedient, hence the name Shunyi.

Shunyi City is located on the west bank of the Chaobai River, with an average width of 6 to 700 meters, the widest water surface of 1,000 meters, and an average depth of 15 meters. The upper reaches of the Chaobai River are deep and narrow in the mountainous valley, and after passing the city of Shunyi, Suzhuang enters the plain, the riverbed is smaller than the drop, the river valley is open, and it often floods because of flash floods in spring and summer every year.

However, despite this, the Chaobai River has more advantages than disadvantages for Shunyi County. The abundant water volume of the Chaobai River and the flat topography of Shunyi County make Shunyi an area with a concentration of fertile land and pastures.

But this did not make the Shunyi people rich, because Shunyi was on the main road from Beijing to Miyun, and Miyun was a defensive point to protect Gyeonggi, and most of the military supplies had to be transferred from the capital.

However, the Ming Dynasty did not set up a logistics department specifically to serve the army, and most of the military transportation on the front line was to requisition civilian service in counties and cities along the line to serve the country for free, which was similar to the nature of grasping strong men in the later Republic of China era.

This kind of civil service with no fixed term and no fixed workload is quite heavy, so there are not a few people whose families are ruined and killed. Therefore, the attitude of the people of Shunyi towards the local army can be said to be hostile.

The excellent geographical environment of Shunyi also made the eunuchs, relatives, and gentry salivate, and a large area of fertile land between Niulanshan and Shunyi City was occupied by these powerful and wealthy families, including not only the fields of Zuotunwei in Yingzhou, but also many local fields.

The commander of Yingzhou Zuotunwei is surnamed Long, who knows nothing about military affairs, but he is a rare expert in agriculture and water conservancy.

Although he did not dare to resist the encroachment of the powerful and wealthy families on the fields of the guard, he was still sympathetic to his subordinates, organized military households to reclaim a lot of wasteland, and barely guaranteed 7% of the land quota of Zuotunwei, which was one of the reasons why there was no large-scale desertion in his guard.

As for the middle and right tunwei of Yingzhou, although there are not many fields occupied by the powerful and wealthy families, the land of these two guards is relatively barren, and because of its proximity to the Great Wall, the place is narrow, and there is almost no room for wasteland. The military households of these two guards could not bear the heavy task of paying military rations and the long-term border patrol tasks, and it became common for military households to abscond.

After Tian Ergeng was ordered to go out of Beijing, the first thing he sorted out was the three imperial villages in Shunyi County.

Under Chongzhen's order, although Pang Tianshou was unwilling, he did not dare to disobey, and removed the eunuchs and official schools of the three imperial villages. In charge of the Huangzhuang are the eunuchs in charge of the village, the official school, and the head of the village and the companions, who have always done evil on weekdays and enslaved the villagers.

Without the support of the eunuchs in charge of the village, those Zhuang heads and companions who usually show off their martial arts suddenly lost their former arrogance. Many clever Zhuang heads and companions packed up their packages and quietly left Huangzhuang. There are also some village leaders and companions who are greedy for the grain that is about to be harvested, and they still want to make a final profit, and they delay and refuse to leave.

Tian Ergeng took dozens of brocade guards and hundreds of soldiers from the Beijing camp. On the night he arrived at the Huangzhuang, which was closest to Shunyi City, he murderously arrested all the Zhuang heads and companions one by one and put them in the torture room in the Huangzhuang.

The villagers in the Huangzhuang closed the door tightly, and watched in horror through the crack in the door, these officers and soldiers holding torches to arrest people everywhere in the Huangzhuang.

After dawn, Tian Ergeng gathered the guests of the Huangzhuang on the drying field in the Huangzhuang. He stood on the hastily built wooden platform and shouted to the nearly 1,000 people below: "I am a hundred households in Jinyi, and I have inspected the Huangzhuang on the orders of Your Majesty, and I have heard that there are many illegal things in the Huangzhuang, and now I have arrested them in the name of Your Majesty." If you have any grievances, you can come to the stage and publicly complain, and I will give you justice on behalf of Your Majesty. ”

Tian Ergeng shouted hoarsely, and 10 loud Jinyi guards were also arranged in the audience to be responsible for passing the word, but Tian Ergeng did not have any bottom in his heart as to whether these Zhuang guests would come to the stage to testify against the head of the village and his companions.

According to Tian Ergeng's idea, the reform of the Huangzhuang system is not just to divide the fields, and then tell these villagers that since they have received the benefits given by His Majesty, they should obey His Majesty's orders and obediently become a military household from now on.

In fact, even if he doesn't give benefits, as long as he brings some brocade guards and soldiers, takes a turn in the imperial village, and lets the head of the village and his companions intimidate, do these honest bankers still dare to say a word?

But His Majesty, who seemed to act decisively before, has an indescribable caution and caution towards these farmers who are shaving in the fields all day long. Of course, Tian Ergeng is more willing to call it benevolent.

This village is only one of the larger of the six or seven villages in the Imperial Village, and the villagers are skinny and poorly clothed, and many children of 7 or 8 years old have no hair on them.

The eyes of these villagers on the stage were full of confusion and horror, and maybe one or two hateful glances, but none of them dared to walk to the stage after listening to Tian Ergeng's speech.