Chapter 337 335 [Yangzhou no longer has ten days]

  The city of Nanjing in the Ming Dynasty was very large, and the outer city wall framed the entire Zijin Mountain. Guanyin Gate, Qilin Gate, Shangfang Gate...these are all gates of the outer city, leaving only one place name in later generations.

  If you look at the outer city walls, there are large areas of farmland and mountains in Nanjing.

  So, should we keep the cultivated land in the city, and should we distribute the cultivated land to nearby farmers? In other words, are these people who are included in the outer city considered urban residents or farmers?

   During the flood relief period in various places, the magistrates of Shangyuan County and Jiangning County in Nanjing came to find Zhao Han with many doubts.

  Zhao Han convened the officials of the Governor's Mansion to discuss repeatedly, and decided to count the farmers first, and the land that should be divided is still divided—in fact, it has already been divided.

   When the urban population continues to expand, land will inevitably be gradually encroached upon. At that time, the population on the land will be relocated to the north to divide the land, and those who are willing to stay will be directly converted into citizens.

"There are still some vagrants in the city who lack a stable livelihood," Zhao Han ordered, "post notices to recruit 1,000 people to work. Volunteers will come and pay the wages. First, clean up the ruins of the Nanjing Imperial City. When the flood subsides, Then recruit craftsmen and handymen to slowly restore the Nanjing Imperial City."

  The two county magistrates took orders to leave.

  Pang Chunlai asked: "The governor plans to make Nanjing the capital?"

   "I do have that intention, let Beijing take it easy." Zhao Han sighed.

  Beijing's population is also in the millions.

  In the mid-Ming Dynasty, the surrounding vegetation had long been cut down. During the Hongzhi and Zhengde dynasties, residents had to rely on Xishan coal for their living firewood, and the emperor could only turn a blind eye when his ancestral graves (dragon veins of the imperial mausoleum) were dug up all day long.

  The ecological environment over there is extremely fragile, and there are several sandstorms every year.

  Not to mention water transportation, it is a waste of manpower and material resources.

  Don’t talk about the food being transported by sea. Zhu Yuanzhang also used sea ships to transport troops and food at first, and Zhu Di also used sea ships to transport horses from North Korea. There were several shipwrecks, the entire fleet capsized, and such things were never mentioned again.

  Zhao Han himself may be able to insist on shipping, but who knows what future generations are? Being fooled by ministers with relevant interests, it is estimated that he will have to take the Grand Canal again.

   Zhu Di set his capital in Beijing to deal with Mongolia.

  With the continuous development of guns, railways may be built in the future, and the Mongolian grasslands no longer pose much threat. Then why go to Beijing to eat sandstorms?

  Take two hundred years to restore the ecology around Beijing, so that the people there can live a better life.

   There is another most important reason. After the war and famine in Beijing, the population may not be much left. If Zhao Han decides to set his capital in Beijing, he will have to forcibly relocate rich households and common people to enrich the city of Beijing, just like Zhu Di.

   Blind toss!

   "It's fine to set the capital in Nanjing," Li Banghua said after careful consideration, "but we have to go on an expedition to the grasslands and take root firmly in Hetao."

  In addition to Hetao, there is also the Songliao Basin. Both areas can be farmed, and they have been in the state of half-cultivation and half-grazing in the Ming Dynasty. As long as these two places are under control, the grasslands and the Northeast are no problem, but before the advent of the railway, the cost of transporting food in was relatively high, and it took at least 30 years of painstaking efforts to stabilize it.

Zhao Han looked at the map repeatedly: "The flood prevents them from crossing the river. Let us send troops to Jianghuai, at least in June. By that time, Zhang Xianzhong may have captured Yunyang. Our army went north to Jianghuai, and Li Zicheng went north to Shanxi. Zhang Xianzhong had no other choice." , it is estimated that he will go west to Sichuan. According to reports, there are uprisings everywhere in Sichuan, and Zhang Xianzhong will probably be able to get in easily."

   "The eight thieves are not bad. They have been promoting good governance in Hubei for the past year. It is not a bad thing for him to take down Sichuan." Li Banghua said.

   Zhang Xianzhong no longer ran to get involved in Tongcheng, the chief military adviser would not be Wang Zhaoling, and no one would fool Zhang Xianzhong into killing indiscriminately in Sichuan.

  Now, Zhang Xianzhong proclaims himself the "Great General of Dingguo", and his military advisers are ranked in order: Liao Zhifang, Xu Yixian, and Pan Duao.

  Especially Liao Zhifang and Xu Yixian, one who carried "Da Tong Ji" with him, and the other who claimed to be Zhuge Liang all the year round, they were all admonishing Zhang Xianzhong to implement good governance.

  So Zhang Xianzhong started to do what Zhu Yuanzhang did, throwing a large number of soldiers who had no combat effectiveness into "military settlements". He also recruited refugees everywhere and carried out "civil settlements" in various places. At the same time, he began to train soldiers and restrain the military discipline of the troops. Although the military discipline is still bad, it is much better than that of the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty.

  These policies are considered good governance in the chaotic north.

  The people in Juntun and Mintun, although their status is similar to that of serfs, still regard Zhang Xianzhong as a living Bodhisattva.

  Really, killing a few people less so that the common people can farm safely is already called good governance in the north!

  In comparison, Li Zicheng is much worse.

   This is not Li Zicheng's personal reason, but the continuous drought in Henan, even if he farms, he can't grow any food. Li Zicheng also went to fight Shanxi, where the drought was even more serious. He couldn't be self-sufficient, so he could only grab food and money all the way, and then lead his troops straight to Beijing!

  In early June, the floods in the south receded, and millions of people were affected.

  Zhao Han suspended the Northern Expedition plan, decided to talk about it after the autumn harvest, took out food to go to various places for disaster relief, and urged local officials to carry out post-disaster reconstruction.

   It's not that they didn't fight at all. Fei Ruhe led the Eastern Academy Army across the Yangtze River from Zhenjiang to Yangzhou.

  The magistrate of Yangzhou is called Han Wenjing, a native of Shaanxi.

  Due to the fall of the south, Chongzhen appointed a large number of northern Jinshi, and the Southwest Jinshi also emerged one after another.

  Seeing Zhao Han's navy approaching, Han Wenjing turned pale with fright, and quickly ordered to defend the city, and ordered the Tongzhi, Tongju, and county magistrates to prepare for the defense.

   "Hurry up and open the door!"

  Fei Ruhe stood at the bow of the boat and sent a loud voice to call the city.

"kill!"

   There was a lot of shouting and killing in the city, and the defenders had already started fighting themselves.

  The three major merchant gangs in Yangzhou, the Jiangxi merchants and the Anhui merchants all secretly collude with thieves, and only the Western merchants firmly stand on the side of Daming.

   Han Wenjing knew about this situation.

   Therefore, he forced Jiangxi and Huizhou merchants to pay money, and even carried out extortion and extortion. After getting the money, he recruited soldiers for training. The officers he appointed were all big landlords and hereditary generals, and it was impossible for these people to take refuge in Zhao Han.

   It seems foolproof, but he doesn't know the power of propaganda.

  How could those generals seriously train the army?

  The trained soldiers are idle most of the time. Even if they don't receive full military pay, they have to find a job by themselves and earn living expenses by doing part-time jobs.

  The scholars of Datong took the opportunity to approach these soldiers, saying that as long as Zhao Tianwang came, they could return to the countryside to divide the fields and cultivate the land, and there would be no corvee and no excessive taxes. After talking about this, I told them the story in "The Great Fellowship".

   After half a year, the Yangzhou defenders were looking forward to it day and night, hoping that King Zhao would come to divide the fields soon.

  Han Wenjing looked blankly at everything in front of him, only to see a large number of low-level officers leading soldiers to besiege and kill high-ranking generals. Moreover, more and more low-level officers started to fight, and gradually came to kill him.

  The low-level military officer of the Ming Dynasty is also a target of exploitation!

   "How dare you collude with bandits!"

  Han Wenjing was shocked and angry, drew his sword and shouted: "Soldiers, follow me to kill thieves and serve the country!"

  Nobody cares.

   Those civil servants on the city tower immediately fled when they saw this situation.

  Wang Changyin, magistrate of Jiangdu County, was blocked by a group of officers and soldiers on his way to escape down the city wall. This guy had an idea, and he raised his arms and shouted: "The world is one, long live Zhao Tianwang!"

   "The world is united, long live Zhao Tianwang!"

  The officers and soldiers who blocked him immediately shouted, and then surrounded Wang Changyin to seize the gate and sacrifice the city.

  Wang Changyin has a lot of troubles. He is from Shandong, so he really doesn't want to be a thief. But when things came to an end, survival was the most important thing. As he led his troops to the city gate, he kept shouting: "The world is united, long live Zhao Tianwang!"

  Yangzhou government sentenced He Cai, who had already fled to the street. Seeing this situation, he immediately said to the officials around him: "The magistrate Wang has already surrendered from the bandit... ah bah, he has already surrendered to Zhao Tianwang, let's join him too. Otherwise, this army is in chaos, and I'm afraid it will die unexpectedly."

   "Let's go together!"

   "Wang Xianzun wait a moment, we are coming too!"

   "The world is united, long live Zhao Tianwang!"

   A bunch of Yangzhou officials rushed to the city gate like this, and Wang Changyin became the leader of the surrender.

   "Soldiers, kill thieves and serve the country!"

  The magistrate Han Wenjing was still resisting. The gentleman swung his iron sword and beheaded several people one after another.

  A spear pierced Han Wenjing's abdomen.

   Another spear pierced Han Wenjing's chest.

   "Kill...kill the thief..."

  Han Wenjing's arm hangs down, the iron sword clangs to the ground, and he smiles sadly towards the north.

   And on the same day, his brother Han Wenquan, Xiancheng defected to Li Zicheng.

  Wang Changyin did not have so much psychological burden. This product was also surrendered to the Qing Dynasty in history, and was finally involved in the political struggle of the Manchu Qing Dynasty and asked to be executed. He chanted the slogan of Datong, led the defenders straight to the city gate, approached the city gate and then retreated, not wanting to get blood on his body.

  Russia, the gates of the city are wide open.

  Fei Ruhe led the Datong soldiers into the city, and Wang Changyin knelt down: "The sinful minister of the Ming Dynasty, Wang Changyin, leads the army and people in the city, and kneels to welcome the general!"

  Another group of scholars came over. Since Han Wenjing ordered the arrest, these Datong scholars did not dare to carry their swords.

   "General, please go to the city to appease, we have already contacted all places." The scholar leader stepped forward and cupped his hands.

  Fei Ruhe cupped his hands in return: "Thank you, everyone."

  As for Wang Changyin who was kneeling on the ground, Fei Ruhe didn't even bother to take a look.

  Xu Ying has already contacted her. Once the army arrives, Yangzhou will definitely be taken. Just like Wang Changyin's cowardly prostration and kneeling, how can it be like the internal response developed by Xu Ying? He must have run out halfway to claim credit!

  After a military disaster, there was no chaos in Yangzhou city.

  Ganxi merchants and Huizhou merchants took the initiative to maintain order, and their common enemy was Western merchants (Shanxi, Shaanxi). As long as Zhao Han wins Yangzhou, they can drive the Western Merchants out of Yangzhou even if they don't rely on political power!

  If Zhao Han came to Yangzhou City in person at this moment, he would definitely feel emotional.

  What a rich and beautiful city, 800,000 people were killed in history. The massacre lasted for ten days, and the entire city of Yangzhou was almost wiped out.

   In this time and space, there will definitely be no "Yangzhou Ten Days" again.

  The news of taking Yangzhou lightly did not cause waves in Zhao Han's heart. After all, it had been planned for several years, and now it is just ripe.

   Another military situation from the north made Zhao Han sigh.

  Wu Sangui surrendered, and the Manchu Qing occupied Songshan Fort, completely turning Jinzhou into an isolated city.

  The outer city of Jinzhou has been lost, and the satellite cities have also surrendered. Zu Dashou is still holding on to the inner city of Jinzhou.

  Zu Dashou was a little scared, he had feigned surrender once. He killed the general who advocated standing firm, surrendered with his son, and left his son as a hostage, claiming that he was going to cheat the city. Then he was gone forever, and his son was gone, which made Huang Taiji feel bad.

  A person who has surrendered once, how dare he surrender easily again?

   (Two updates today.)

  (end of this chapter)