Zhao Guozuo only felt ridiculous when he approved the dispatch of the Huzhou Green Battalion, and he felt deeply disgusted with the incompetence and corruption of Gui'an County, which strengthened his determination to clean up the officials involved in the case. And a month later, when Tan Ximin came to Hangzhou in person and knelt down in front of the governor Zhao Guozuo and Song Kui, the general of the Eight Banners stationed in Hangzhou, the feeling of these two people was more than ridiculous.

"Next...... The crime of the lower officials deserves death. Tan Ximin didn't dare to stand up after entering the door, and apologized vigorously.

When Huzhou Mansion sent troops, more than 600 Zhuang and Zhu's Zhuang Ding gathered in the Zhuang compound, and more than 400 captive death squads used as cannon fodder. Among them, Zhuang Ding also popularized armor and military weapons, and the defensive status and high walls offset the lack of qualified officers and non-commissioned officers of the Zhuang family to a certain extent.

If the strength of the Zhuang family is correctly understood, the general in charge of suppression may choose the strategy of siege, because the Zhuang family lacks the confidence to take the initiative to attack, and once it is out of the cover of the wall and trench, the command system of the Zhuang and Zhu coalition forces will also be tested, and those prisoners who have to honestly serve as cannon fodder on the fixed position may also take the opportunity to make trouble. However, because the prefect's yamen demanded that the generals must return to the barracks within three days for the purpose of saving money, after spending one day to drive to the banker's house, the generals even omitted the reconnaissance work, and directly launched an attack, planning to fight in a quarter of an hour, sack in two hours, and then return home.

So the Qing army crashed headlong into the banker's "three-dimensional defense".

Taking advantage of these ten days of rest, the trench was greatly widened, and a half-man-high breastwork wall was erected behind it. The riflemen behind the breastwork and on the high wall formed a high and low configuration, and the previous victory gave the dealer the courage to place the tiger squat cannon outside the courtyard wall, and when the Qing army group charged in front of the trench, the four tiger squat guns tore off their camouflage and fired a shotgun bombardment at the Qing army.

In the previous two fierce battles, the gunners of the Tiger Squat Cannon had no chance to play at all, and this salvo was over, and when the gunners of the Tiger Squat Cannon finished loading, the Qing army in front of the trench was close to rout. The general who commanded the army saw the guns of the bankers firing in unison, and the green battalion was killed and wounded in front of the trench, and exclaimed to the soldiers around him: "Is this the banker's compound or the Forbidden City?" How come there are even cannons? ”

After the second firing of the Tiger Squat Artillery, whether it was the general who commanded the Green Battalion or the prisoner death squad belonging to the Zhuang and Zhu coalition armies, they no longer had any doubts about the victory, and at this time the casualties of the Qing army had exceeded 100 people, and most of the losses were the senior officers and brave soldiers of the Green Battalion of the Third Battalion. And the rest of the army was completely blinded by the dealer's fire, some of whom had begun to retreat, and some of whom lay on the ground to avoid the fire.

At this time, Zhuang Tingyue and Zhu Youming's son Zhu Nianshao commanded Zhuang Ding in armor to charge, and the captive death squad, including Liang Zhi, was not far behind - just now Liang Zhi and others used bows and crossbows to fight with riflemen under the supervision of Zhuang Ding, and also formed the first line of defense in front of the trench, and used spears to poke the green camp that tried to climb over. The Green Battalion, which was dazed by rifles and tiger cannons, was easily crushed by hundreds of armored Zhuang Ding and captive death squads, and the three battalions of government soldiers were killed more than 270 people and more than 600 captured in the battle. Liang Zhi and others also made meritorious contributions to Zhuang Yuncheng in the counterattack, and many of them were successfully promoted to overseers, not only did they not have to continue to work as coolies, but they could also get more food rations.

When the general retreated into Gui'an County, more than 1,200 soldiers from the three battalions of the expedition wore armor, leaving only more than 300 defeated soldiers who had lost their armor and abandoned their armor. In the next two days, sporadic defeated troops entered Gui'an County to report to the generals, but some people fled directly back to Fucheng, and Huzhou was in an uproar.

After Tan Ximin ordered martial law in the capital city to prevent the dealer from counterattacking, he soon learned that there was instability in all counties. In many areas, it was rumored that Zhuang Yuncheng gathered 100,000 troops, and he wanted to go to Hangzhou to seek justice for himself; Some people even said that Zhuang Yuncheng had raised the banner of the Qing monarch and wanted to go straight to Beijing and discuss right and wrong with the imperial court -- the Zhejiang scholars were very sympathetic to Zhuang Yuncheng, and the wronged people were not willing to be tied up but fought back, and they also defeated the powerful government that the scholars hated and feared, which of course was also something that everyone liked to see.

Under the impetus of the scholars, the local bandits in Huzhou swarmed, and many mountain kings listened to the wind and rain, thinking that the sky in Zhejiang was going to change, and it was Zhuang Yuncheng's turn to be the dragon chair and Zhu Youming to be the prime minister. These people raised the banner of solidarity with King Zhuang, and set up cards on the side of the official road to collect the money for buying the road. In addition to these mountain kings, the heroes on the water were not willing to be lonely, they really raised the banner of "Qingjun side" and began to sell illegal salt, pig iron, and homespun cloth on a large scale.

However, now that the Huzhou Mansion is out of control, after losing the three green camps, Tan Ximin has also lost the ability to suppress the king who collects fees along the road and the people who sell salt. In the case of the loss of the elite of the capital city, when the situation in the territory changed abruptly, the counties did not dare to send the green camp out of the city, but went all out to impose martial law in case anything went wrong.

Without the interference of officers and soldiers, after the heroes from all walks of life were connected in series, many people swelled in confidence and planned to unite and open a county town as a meeting gift to King Zhuang. After these heroes surrounded the county seat, the county had no other good way except to close the city gate and ask for help from the prefecture. Tan Ximin found that if the situation was allowed to develop, sooner or later Fucheng would also fall under siege, so he had to rush to Hangzhou and ask the provincial capital to send an army to help Huzhou restore order.

"Tan Ximin, what are you doing?" Zhao Guozuo pointed to the nose of the Huzhou prefect and scolded: "Isn't Zhuang Yuncheng a rich man who writes anti-books?" How did you start to clear the Jun's side? ”

To deal with the rich man who writes the anti-letter and the careerist who supports the army and is self-respecting, the government's handling method will of course be completely different, even if Zhuang Yuncheng is a mountain king, the government will not take it lightly and try to arrest him quickly; Even if the government soldiers were dispatched to deal with a bandit, the general would carefully reconnoiter the terrain, carefully weigh the pros and cons of a strong attack and a long siege, and conduct several tentative attacks to observe the opponent's firepower and support points, and the prefect would not give any three-day time limit.

Now Zhao Guozuo hates this the most, the Huzhou government can even be wrong about what type of opponent the other party is, it is obviously a hard bone that needs to be tender, and it is actually regarded as a fat and juicy big meat - not only was Hangzhou deceived, but also reported this false information to the imperial court.

If it was reported that Zhuang Yuncheng was intent on rebelling at the beginning, then he would not be afraid to raise the banner on the side of the Qing monarch, because this showed that the magistrate's judgment of him was very correct. It is a pity that Hangzhou has never warned Beijing in this way, but has talked about the wealth of the bankers, so that the bankers are not thieves with ill intentions, but because the local officials coveted his family property, they were forced to rebel -- Hangzhou and Huzhou could not run away with a crime of provoking a popular uprising. Ao Bai, who presided over this matter, will definitely not take responsibility, he will only think that he was cheated by Hangzhou - Hangzhou wants to use the auxiliary minister as a gunman, so it conceals the strength of the Zhuang family and the Zhu family, blinds the imperial court, and insists on saying that the two evil wolves are fat pigs.

After thinking about it in his heart for a while, Zhao Guozuo asked in a deep voice: "How long will it take for Huzhou to send troops to exterminate Zhuang and Zhu again?" ”

"At least six months......" Tan Ximin lay motionless on the ground. After learning of the loss of the third battalion of the green camp, Tan Ximin knew that the Huzhou Mansion had gone bankrupt, and it was already a bodhisattva manifestation to rebuild the green camp six months later. As for Zhuang Yuncheng and Zhu Youming on the side of the Qing monarch, it would be good if they didn't bring their henchmen to exterminate the Huzhou prefect's yamen within six months. Therefore, it is necessary to ask for reinforcements from the provincial capital, otherwise Tan Ximin's rule in Huzhou will collapse.

"Six months!" Hangzhou General Song Kui jumped three feet high and scolded: "Don't say six months, it's three months, can the court spare you?" ”

"Dispatch the town army of the provincial capital to exterminate the two owners? You have repeatedly said that they are just rich people who write anti-books, "The problem that Zhao Guozuo is facing now is similar to the situation that Tan Ximin faced before he sent troops. If it is admitted to the imperial court that Zhuang Yuncheng and Zhu Youming have the strength to sweep Huzhou, then the governor of Zhao Guozuo will almost come to the end, and Ao Bai will definitely think that he has his part in blinding the imperial court, and the governor actually does not try to appease, and then waits for the opportunity to weaken such a powerful force in the province, and also does everything possible to force it to rebel; If you continue to insist that Zhuang Yuncheng and Zhu Youming are just rich people, then the governor will almost do it - Hangzhou can't defeat the Sichuan army because the Sichuan army is stronger than the central army, and Zhang Huangyan can't beat the sea in the middle. But now Zhao Guozuo's subordinates can't even beat the two owners, and the dignified governor has to send the town army to fight the two owners to the death! Does it even have to participate in the war of Zhejiang's supervision and promotion?

"One town or two? Zhuang Yuncheng defeated the government soldiers in one day, I'm afraid that the soldiers of a town are not safe, right? If there are two towns or three towns, what about the pulling, grain and rewards? This costs hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, right? Can the imperial court agree that I spend so much money to beat two owners? What to do with this shortfall? I just can't afford to pay out of my own pocket. Zhao Guozuo was thinking in his heart, and from time to time he threw a vicious glance at Tan Ximin, who was lying on the ground: "What if it happens, what if the town soldiers are also defeated?" Wouldn't it be that the whole province would be in chaos, and how would it end up when the time came, should it be supported by Liangjiang or Fujian, or should it ask the imperial court to send a forbidden brigade into Zhejiang--enter Zhejiang to suppress the two owners? ”

After being defeated by Li Xinghan and Ren Tang, Zhao Guozuo has been working hard to restore the vitality of Zhejiang's green camp, and also to compensate Fujian Li Shutai for the losses he lent his troops, and Zhejiang's financial pressure is extremely great. Moreover, the ban on the sea has also caused Zhejiang to lose a large area of coastal land, huge fishing and trade income, relying on agriculture alone, Zhejiang has no advantage over inland provinces.

"Or just recruit An." Zhao Guozuo suddenly felt that his life was gloomy, restored the trust of the imperial court, had a relationship with Deng Mingla, and made up for the deficit, and he was still counting on this Ming history case: "I was a dignified official of the frontier, but I was forced to hang myself by two rich landlords!" ”