Section 41 Out of Control (II)
Zhao Guozuo only felt ridiculous when he approved the dispatch of the Huzhou Green Battalion, and he felt a deep hatred for 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 Governor Zhao Guozuo and Song Kui, the general of the Eight Banners garrison in Hangzhou, the feeling of these two people was not just 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. The Zhuang family compound now gathers more than 600 Zhuang and Zhu Zhuang Ding, and more than 400 captive death squads that can be used as cannon fodder, among which Zhuang Ding also popularized armor and military weapons, and the defensive position and high walls offset the lack of qualified officers and non-commissioned officers in the Zhuang family to a certain extent.
If the strength of the dealer is correctly understood, the general in charge of suppression may choose to besiege, and the confidence of the dealer to take the initiative is still relatively lacking, 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 purpose of saving money from the prefect's yamen required the general to return to the barracks within three days, after spending a day to drive to the banker's house, the general even omitted the reconnaissance work and launched a direct attack, planning to spend a quarter of an hour fighting, two hours of looting, and then return home.
So the Qing army crashed headlong into the banker's "three-dimensional defense", taking advantage of the ten days of rest, the trench was greatly widened, and a half-man-high breastwall was erected behind. 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 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 after the green battalion was killed and wounded in front of the trench, he 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, neither the general commanding the Green Battalion nor the prisoner death squad belonging to the Zhuang and Zhu coalition forces had any doubts about the victory, and the casualties of the Qing army had exceeded 100 at this time, and most of the losses were the senior officers and brave soldiers in 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 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 cross 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 great achievements for Zhuang Yuncheng in the counterattack, and many people were promoted to overseers because of this, 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 of the three battalions wore armor at the time of the expedition, and only more than 300 defeated soldiers who lost their armor and abandoned their armor were left. In the next two days, there were sporadic defeated soldiers who returned to An'an angrily and reported 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 an army of 100,000 troops, and he wanted to go to Hangzhou to seek justice for himself; Some people even said that Zhuang Yuncheng had waved the banner of the Qing monarch and wanted to go straight to Beijing and the imperial court to discuss right and wrong -- the scholars in Zhejiang were very sympathetic to Zhuang Yuncheng, and the wronged people were not willing to wait for death, but fought back, and also defeated the powerful government that the scholars hated and feared.
Under the impetus of the scholars, the local bandits in Huzhou also 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. 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 exhaustion 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 martial law to prevent any mistakes.
Without the interference of officers and soldiers, after the heroes from all walks of life were connected in series, many people swelled their confidence and planned to unite to 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 a large 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?" Why did they start to clear the king'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 are dispatched to a bandit, the general will carefully reconnoiter the terrain, carefully weigh the pros and cons of a strong attack and a long siege, and carry out many tentative attacks to observe the opponent's firepower and support points, and the prefect will 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 had been reported to Zhuang Yuncheng from the beginning that he was intent on rebelling, 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, but it was a pity that Hangzhou had never warned Beijing so much, but talked about the wealth of the banker, so that the banker would not be a thief with ill intentions, but a powerful man who was forced to rebel by the local officials who coveted his family property -- Hangzhou and Huzhou could not run away from a crime of provoking a popular uprising, and Ao Bai, who presided over the matter, would never be held responsible, and he would only think that he had been cheated by Hangzhou. Hangzhou wanted to use the auxiliary minister as a gunman, so it deceived the court in the strength of the Zhuang family and the Zhu family, and insisted on saying that the two wolves were 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?" ”
"It will take at least six months to ......" Tan Ximin lay motionless on the ground, after learning of the loss of the three green camps, Tan Ximin knew that the Huzhou Mansion had gone bankrupt, and it was already a bodhisattva manifestation to rebuild the green camp in six months, and the priority to exterminate at that time was also the road tyrants and smuggled salt dealers who had become the climate, as for Zhuang Yuncheng and Zhu Youming on the side of the Qing monarch, it would be good if they did not 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, even if it is three months, can the imperial court spare you?" ”
"Dispatch the town army of the provincial capital to exterminate the two owners? You keep saying that they are just rich people who write anti-books," Zhao Guozuo is facing a similar problem now as Tan Ximin faced before he sent out the army. 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 be done, 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 wait 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 is still almost over - Hangzhou can't beat the Sichuan army, that's because the Sichuan army is more powerful than the central army, and Zhang Huangyan can't beat Zhang Huangyan because there is a 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 also been working hard to restore the vitality of Zhejiang's green camp, and also to compensate Fujian Li Shutai for the loss of his loans, Zhejiang's financial pressure is extremely great, and the sea ban has also caused Zhejiang to lose a large area of coastal land, huge fishing, 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 shortfall, and he was still counting on this Ming history case: "I was a dignified feudal official, but I was forced to hang myself by two rich people!" ”
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