Yansui Town, Yulin City, is as calm as before. [Full text reading]

It's also funny, up and down Yansui Town, there is no feeling at all about the sudden appearance of the white-clothed army. When Zhenqiang was conquered, there was no news from Yulin Town. Officials big and small here, military households and civilian households, do what they should do in peacetime. In all corners of the city, announcements were also posted to march to Ningxia Town to quell the rebellion. From time to time, there will be sporadic military households coming to take a look. It's a pity that I can't read, I can't read, and I walked away again.

Not being able to read and write is definitely the original sin of this era. If you know how to read, the military households in Yansui Town should have known the name of the white-clothed army for a long time. It's because they can't read and write, and the news they get comes from announcements or gossip from above. As a result, the news about the White Coats was blocked from above, and they didn't know anything. As for Xu Xingxia's name, it was still gossip. Now this name is also taboo and can no longer be mentioned.

The chief military officer of Yansui Town is called Cheng Guo, who was originally the deputy chief military officer stationed in Jizhen Town, and was transferred to Yansui Town as the chief military officer a few years ago. However, he himself was not in Yulin City at all, but in Xi'an Mansion. There is no way, the conditions in Yansui Town are indeed too bad. There is a severe drought, there is wind and sand everywhere, and the yield of crops is very low and low, and it is impossible to be self-sufficient. It is absolutely impossible to expect Yansui Town to support itself by itself. A lot of people have tried and failed.

However, most of the military households in Yansui Town are fierce people, and when they encounter something they are not satisfied with, they will rise up and make trouble. Compared with the turmoil in Yansui Town, the turmoil in Ningxia Town is really nothing. The turmoil in Ningxia was largely due to the ravages of the Tatars. When there are no tartars raging, it is basically calm. However, Yansui Town is not. The turmoil in Yansui Town came completely from within, and the successive chief military officers never had a complete solution.

Cheng Guo is a new chief military officer, and he can barely stand on his feet. Because of the mistakes in some links in the middle, it also led to a period of chaos in Yansui Town, and a large number of military households ran to Ningxia Town, and finally entered Xu Xingxia's territory. The bread does not fall from the sky, nor does it grow out of the ground. He had no choice but to ask his superiors for help. Cheng Guo is stationed in Xi'an Mansion every day, just "grinding" his boss, hoping to win more money and food. In these days, everything is fake, but money and food are real.

In the final analysis, the reason why the military households rose up to make trouble was because they couldn't eat enough, couldn't wear warm clothes, and couldn't feed their families. No matter who it is, when encountering such a situation, it is estimated that it will not be able to calm down, and it is absolutely impossible not to make trouble. In real history, after the death of Emperor Wanli, Emperor Taichang succeeded him, and the first thing he did was to distribute the food and salary of the important towns on the nine sides, and appease the hearts of the military households. Otherwise, I really don't know what kind of thing will happen. Emperor Chongzhen forgot this, and the result was tragic.

For the military households in Yansui Town, Huang Kezhang, the governor of the three sides, did not dare to be too lazy. In the face of Cheng Guo's pleading and crying, of course he hoped that he could do his best to help. After all, stabilizing the four towns in the northwest is within his duty as a trilateral governor. When problems arise in the four towns in the northwest, the first to bear responsibility is the trilateral governors. It's just that he is indeed a good woman, and it is difficult to cook without rice! He doesn't have any money or food in his hands, even if he wants to fund Cheng Guo, he is powerless.

Shaanxi is not a major grain-producing province in the first place. The rich Guanzhong Plain, which used to be rich, has declined since the Tang Dynasty. The fertility of the land here has been severely overdrawn, and various irrigation measures have also fallen into serious disrepair. Coupled with the gradual drought, the winters are getting colder and colder. All this has led to a great reduction in grain production. The rice yield of one acre of paddy field in the south of the Yangtze River may be 400 catties. Guanzhong is less than 200 catties at most. However, these are not the main ones.

The most important thing is that most of the fields in the Guanzhong Plain have been occupied by magnates at all levels. And the land of the magnates is not taxable. Shaanxi Province also has a large number of military households, and the fields of military households are not subject to taxes. In other words, in the whole of Shaanxi Province, there is not much land that can be taxed. It is roughly estimated that in a year, the land tax that Shaanxi Province itself can collect is at most tens of thousands of taels of silver.

What the? A huge province, a year's field endowment, only tens of thousands of taels of silver? It's not ridiculous, it's real data. More than ninety percent of the fields are not included in the scope of taxation, and the remaining one percent of the fields, even if you desperately search for them, how much tax can you scavenge? Conversely, the more you scavenge, the less land you have to pay taxes. One day, all the remaining fields will be attached to the name of the scholar, and they will also be exempt from tax.

His own income is insufficient, so he can only wait for the rescue of the imperial court. However, what the imperial court is like, Huang Kezhang is not unclear. It is too difficult to count on the rescue of the imperial court Taicang silver. Taicang Silver is also counting on Shaanxi to pay taxes and make up for the shortfall! As for Emperor Wanli's internal money, Huang Kezhang didn't dare to think about it at all. The surname of Emperor Wanli, he is not unclear. Counting on Emperor Wanli to dig out his pockets, you might as well find a way to hang yourself.

Fortunately, there is no endless road to heaven, and the living will not be suffocated to death by after all. In the end, Huang Kezhang thought of a way, that is, you Yansui Town should raise your own food, and I will give you certain permissions. Whether you do business on your own, farm the land, rob the house, or even secretly collect protection money, in short, as long as you can get your own money and food in Yansui Town, and bluff the military households below, I will turn a blind eye to many things, and I don't care. In this way, Cheng Guo and his family settled in Xi'an Mansion justifiably.

Since the chief military officer is in Xi'an Mansion and stationed in Yulin Town, there is only the deputy chief military officer. At that time, there were three deputy commanders in Yansui Town, which were stationed in Yulin Town, Fugu, and Baichengzi (Chahan City). Among them, the deputy chief military officer stationed in Yulin Town is the majority, and the other two deputy chief military officers must obey the command of Yulin City. The deputy chief military officer stationed in Yulin City is called Xu Wanda. This name may be unfamiliar to the average person, and they have basically never heard of it. However, he has a son named Xu Dingguo, who still has a certain reputation in the history of the late Ming Dynasty.

Cheng Guo was able to stay in Xi'an Mansion for a long time, and he was relieved to hand over the affairs of Yansui Town to Xu Wanda, which shows that he still trusts Xu Wanda very much. In fact, Xu Wanda is also a good general and has a certain military command ability. There is still no problem in managing one's own one-third of an acre of land. And his son Xu Dingguo, who has a good martial arts, usually shouts five and six, and also gathers ordinary military households, which can deter the military households in Yulin City.

The news of the white-clothed army's mighty southward march was naturally reported to Xu Wanda as soon as possible. At the beginning, many officials in Yansui Town had not yet understood what was going on. When they came to their senses, the northern part of Yansui Town suddenly jumped up. The white-clothed army came in from the direction of Zhenqiang, and this is still necessary? Therefore, as long as they could run, they hurriedly packed up the gold and silver and fled to Yulin City in a hurry.

When he received the news, Xu Wanda was inspecting Xiangshui Fort. In Yulin City, only his son Xu Dingguo was stationed. Xu Dingguo was only in his twenties at the time and had just gotten married. Don't look at his age, but his adaptability is very strong. After receiving the news, he immediately ordered the city gates to be closed and ordered the army to go up to the city to meet the battle. He also dispatched capable men to screen those who tried to enter Yulin City to flee and strictly prevent them from blending in. At the same time, he led a group of his fox friends and dogs, all with sharp weapons, to patrol the city to prevent changes.

Of course, in this process, Xu Dingguo is not without benefits at all. Almost as soon as he received the news, he sensed that the opportunity to make a fortune had come. Those who tried to enter Yulin City to flee were basically all looted of most of their belongings. They scolded and scolded, very unwilling, but helpless. In the entire Yansui Town, except for Yulin City, it was impossible to block the attack of the white-clothed army. As a result, after a while, Xu Dingguo amassed a lot of money until his father came back.

"What? The White Army? Rebels in Ningxia Town? When Xu Wanda heard the report, he was immediately shocked.

The rebels of Ningxia Town actually attacked Yansui Town from the north, which he could never have dreamed of. That's really damn bad! Now Yansui Town, the strength is unprecedentedly empty, and the main troops have been transferred to the direction of Ningxia's rearguard, ready to suppress the rebellion in Ningxia Town. Those who remained in the rear were all guards. Seriously, these guards are better than nothing. When the white-clothed army arrives, they will most likely follow the white-clothed army to make trouble.

"Damn!" Xu Wanda sighed helplessly. He really didn't expect that Xu Xingxia would turn his hands into clouds and rain all of a sudden, making a mess of Yansui Town. What's even worse is that the rebels actually conquered Zhenqiang, and marched to Yulin City, as if they were afraid that others would not know that they were making trouble in Yansui Town. It's the other way around! Whether public or private, Xu Wanda cannot tolerate such a situation. He can't control other places, but this Yulin City must be defended.

In anger, Xu Wanda hurriedly ordered to return to Yulin City and prepare for battle. This deputy chief military officer is still a little expected, and the five hundred guards around him are also combative. At the same time, the three hundred flying foxes led by his son are also combative. Hearing that the white-clothed army was heading south, some military households in Yulin City were also ready to make trouble and tried to make trouble, but they were soon brutally suppressed by Xu Dingguo. Bloody human heads hung on both sides of the city wall.

Yulin City is one of the important towns on the nine sides, and there will naturally be no shortage of artillery on the head of the city. Xu Wanda counted the number of artillery pieces and found that there were more than 100 guns, and his heart suddenly relaxed. At that time, artillery was definitely a weapon for defending the city. The city walls of Yulin City are also quite high, and the shortest places are more than five zhang. Under Xu Wanda's organization, a garrison of about 18,000 people was formed in Yulin City, and the main force was the personal family of officials at all levels.

As one of the nine important towns, Yansui Town still has a considerable number of officials, large and small. Ordinary high-ranking officials have their own personal families. These people are basically only responsible for their respective masters, and others are not in charge. However, Xu Wanda showed his hard-hitting tactics by sending his son Xu Dingguo to forcibly take in the family members and organize them to fight. He also ordered the gates of the city to be sealed and forbade any officials to abandon the city and flee.

Xu Wanda came to such a hand, and the officials of Yansui Town, even if they wanted to leave, they had no chance. They can only stay in Yulin City. If Yulin City is breached, they will all be finished. There was no way, so they had to unite temporarily and try their best to help Xu Wanda defend the city. When most of the officials had to fight hard, Yulin City still had considerable combat effectiveness. Originally, these people were the backbone of maintaining the rule of the Ming Dynasty! When the Leopard cavalry arrived, Xu Wanda immediately ordered an artillery attack.

"Tom tom!"

Bursts of artillery fire blocked the leopard cavalry who tried to rush up.

Constrained by the threat of artillery fire, the Leopard Cavalry did not attack brazenly. The number of leopard cavalry was too small to escape the heavy artillery bombardment of the officers and soldiers. Other soldiers tried to rush forward, but they were only fired back. There was no way, so the Leopard Cavalry had no choice but to temporarily adopt a siege posture on Yulin City, waiting for a better opportunity to attack.

During this period, Xu Dingguo also took hundreds of armed men and tried to rush out of the city to compete with the leopard cavalry, but encountered a strong counterattack from the leopard cavalry, and more than 100 people were killed on the spot, and retreated in disgrace. Xu Dingguo's own war horse was also killed. From then on, he never dared to go out of the city to fight, but only closed the city and defended it.

Yulin City has really become a dead city this time, and its connection with the outside world has been completely cut off. The area around Yulin City has become the scope of activity of the white-clothed army. Wang Xia and Mao Shisan, each leading part of the soldiers, watched Yulin City from afar, and at the same time sent troops to attack everywhere, spreading the news of the arrival of the white-clothed army, and inciting the local military households to rebel.

Originally, some military households in Yansui Town were forcibly requisitioned and transferred to attack the white-clothed army. They were quite reluctant. Everyone knows that there is no benefit in such an expedition. If you don't get it right, your little life will have to be buried in a corner. However, under the intimidation of officials at all levels, they did not dare to rise up and resist. Unexpectedly, now, the white-clothed army actually came to his backyard. With the help of the white-clothed army, they immediately surged and responded enthusiastically.

At any time, there is no shortage of people who take advantage of the opportunity to make trouble, and there is no shortage of people who fish in troubled waters. Whether it really wants to rebel or fake rebellion, anyway, the purpose of the white-clothed army is completely achieved. There are more than a dozen fortresses, large and small, around Yulin City. The military households of these fortresses, instigated by the Leopard Cavalry, killed their superiors one after another and took refuge in the white-clothed army.

(To be continued)