stubborn thief

Chapter 687 Great Scientist Bai Guangen

Ningxia town.

A long-planned mutiny has just begun.

The mutineers only rushed into the governor's office, scaring the governor Wang Ji so much that he jumped over the wall and fled, and then attacked the governor's office, causing the governor to flee out of the city.

Before they had time to recruit more guards to join the mutiny, they were swiftly suppressed with lightning speed by a large number of foreign troops entrenched near the town.

The rebellion lasted only two days. The foreign troops killed each other in the streets of the town and blood flowed like a river. Hundreds of rebel soldiers became headless corpses thrown outside the city. Hong Chengchou returned to his governor's office again.

Except for some officers running away, Ningxia acted as if nothing had happened.

But many things that seemed to have far-reaching impacts were done secretly by Hong Chengchou without anyone noticing.

Zuo Liangyu was busy hunting down and arresting generals suspected of inciting rebellion, while Cao Wenzhao was busy ransacking the homes of those who had escaped.

Cao Bianjiao, as a humanoid weapon, held a long sword and protected Hong Chengchou on both sides, making the guards who stayed in the town tremble with fear.

Zhang Yingchang counted the land properties of each household, and directly took them back to the Dusi if the owners were not there. If the owners were still there, he would intimidate them and then take them back to the Dusi.

The plain was irrigated by canals from the Qin, Han and Tang dynasties, and there were more than 800,000 mu of fertile farmland with sufficient grain production and no fear of severe drought. It was thus registered in the Governor-General's Office.

The Governor's Office immediately distributed the official document to the entire territory.

First, the military households were exempted from corvée labor such as serving as guards, and orders were issued to prohibit military officers from being sent on private missions.

Secondly, in the future, we will adopt the taxation method of based on the land area, and divide the land into five grades. One acre of first-grade land will be counted as three acres, and three acres of fifth-grade land will be counted as one acre.

On this basis, regardless of whether it was military or civilian land, one dou and two liters of grain, three jin of horse grass, and six cents of silver were collected per acre.

Although this caused a huge shock to the upper class in Ningxia, the turmoil of the change of land owners did not have any significant impact on the military families and tenants who actually farmed the land.

The mu in the Ming Dynasty, like the shi, is a complex unit of measurement.

Sometimes it can be simplified, and in other places and times, it can become very complicated.

  For example, the local policy of reducing the amount of land by the acreage has long existed in many areas.

The policy of reducing the land area by acreage was a local policy and method of calculating land that had existed in some areas as early as the Ming Dynasty.

In some places, such policies were implemented in order to collect more taxes. For example, during the Zhengde period, the eunuch Liu Jin carried out reforms and sent Zhou Dong, the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple, and others to Ningxia to measure the land. In order to please Liu Jin, these people simply and crudely counted one acre of land in Ningxia as two acres.

In some places, such policies were implemented for the sake of fairness. For example, in the early Ming Dynasty, when measuring land in Qingzhou, Shandong, one mu of fertile land was converted into three mu of tax and labor land, one mu of inferior land was converted into two mu, and one mu of inferior land was converted into one and a half mu. The principle of converting land into mu and collecting grain according to mu was used.

In some places, such policies are implemented in order to reduce taxation.

Just like in Yuzhou, Henan during the Jiajing period, fertile fields were worth one; flat rocky hilly fields were worth two; rocky mountain fields were worth three; rocky hillsides were worth five; and rocky steep slopes were worth ten.

Even for a piece of land in one place, the calculation method of reducing acreage will be different in different years, different fertility conditions and different officials in charge.

In comparison, Hong Chengchou's land-based tax was not surprising. In fact, because of the additional collection of horse fodder and silver, the amount of grain collected was relatively low.

Most importantly, his orders were confusing.

Since you are going to introduce such a policy, why bother to reclaim land and force people to revolt?

This is because if Hong Chengchou did not hold on to the fertile land, he would encounter great resistance if he calculated the equivalent of three acres of first-class land.

Instead, he mobilized the troops first and seized most of the first- and second-class land. The land in the hands of the Ningxia military and civilians was counted as one acre, or even two acres as one acre, so the amount of land he levied did not seem high.

With this, Hong Chengchou immediately set about reorganizing the army, establishing three towns and thirteen battalions. Even the three civil servants were incorporated into the army as lieutenant generals.

Cao Wenzhao was the commander-in-chief of Zhongzhen, in charge of the four camps of Ningxia Hexi military preparations led by Ding Qirui, Cao Bianjiao, Bai Guangen and Feng Ju.

Zhang Yingchang was the commander-in-chief of the Right Town, and he was in charge of four battalions: Zhou Yijing, Liu Shaozong, Xiang Xiyin, and Zheng Jiadong, the Ningxia inspector.

Zuo Liangyu was the commander-in-chief of the Zuo Zhen Army, and was in charge of four battalions of the Ningxia Hedong military preparations, namely Ge Rulin, Xu Yong, Wang Yuncheng, and Zhou Shifeng.

In addition to Ding Zizhen, the governor's battalion commander, a total of three towns and thirteen battalions were formed.

This large corps of 33,000 men has 13 battalions, but not a single one is fully staffed.

However, this was not a problem for Hong Chengchou. He asked his generals to recruit soldiers from the banner troops of the various guards in Ningxia to fill up the camp's troop quota.

These decrees were issued smoothly and in a series within two days, which made it hard not to wonder whether Hong Chengchou had been planning this for a long time.

All twelve battalions were busy recruiting soldiers, except Xu Yong, who failed to catch up with Liu Fangming and ran to the south to compete with Yang Yanchang across the border wall.

When Hong Chengchou received the news, he was furious in the Governor's Office.

  I fucking asked you to chase the rebellious general. If you fail to catch him, won’t the news leak out?

It would be fine if the news leaked, but why did you go and provoke Liu Chengzong's people for no reason?

Liu Chengzong was born in the year of the dog. Even if you don't provoke him, he will turn hostile to you. And you still go and hit his wall!

But Hong Chengchou didn't dare to scold Zuo Liangyu.

There are few people in the world who dare to control Zuo Liangyu.

This lawless guy went to Liaodong to serve as a soldier when he was young. If he had gone to Shaanxi to serve as a soldier, he would have been worse than Zhang Xianzhong.

Because of Zuo Liangyu's brain problem, he disdains to communicate.

In the year of the Ningyuan Rebellion, Zuo Liangyu was also in Liaodong.

Normally, when foreign troops are owed wages, they will first report the problem to their superiors. After the report, some people will stop making trouble, while others who are more aggressive will choose to go over the heads of higher authorities and ask for an explanation.

That is to say, looking for the governor.

These impatient soldiers gathered together. The governor had no money, so the brave ones started to beat him up.

At that time, the matter could be big or small. At the very least, if the governor was injured, it would be considered a mutiny; if the governor was accidentally killed, it would be considered a rebellion.

This is a normal process, and it is also the way normal people solve problems when they have demands and grievances.

There is a gradual escalation process from pent-up resentment to communication and venting, and finally to violence.

Although Zuo Liangyu had poor communication skills, he was extremely proactive. He had his own way of thinking about and solving problems, and he often came up with his own solutions.

When others were making trouble with the governor, Zuo Liangyu thought for a moment and took Qiu Lei to rob military supply vehicles.

Hong Chengchou didn't dare to scold someone who had a good brain but only used it to think about how to solve problems with his hands.

No one knows what will happen if he holds a grudge against you.

In Hong Chengchou's mind, the best general in Ningxia right now is Cao Wenzhao, who is extremely good at fighting and extremely obedient and easy to command.

The second best general was Zhang Yingchang. Although he was not as good at fighting or as obedient, he was from a family of generals for three generations and was easy to communicate with.

The worst general was Zuo Liangyu, who was completely superficial.

On the surface, he seems to be very good at fighting, and in fact he is very good at fighting, but he doesn't fight. If he meets someone he can't beat, he will just run away.

He appears to be very obedient, and he is actually very obedient, but he always has his own ideas in his heart, and he never says them.

It's very difficult.

Hong Chengchou didn't dare to scold him, so he could only smash the bottles and jars all over the floor in anger.

Only then did he calm down and, while having someone clean up the debris on the ground, he picked up a pen and wrote a letter of apology to Liu Chengzong, expressing his hope for a ceasefire and a peace agreement between the two families.

Liu Shizi's judgment on this matter was correct. It was indeed a test by Hong Chengchou.

However, the main purpose of the temptation was not him.

But it was Zuo Liangyu, Zhang Yingchang, Cao Wenzhao and others.

Although the defeated soldiers under Hong Chengchou who retreated from Shaanxi and Gansu could be said to be the most die-hard elements of the Ming Dynasty in the northwest, Hong Chengchou did not know how die-hard they were.

Because Liu Chengzong never killed all the Ming generals and troops, in Hong Chengchou's eyes, many of them were let escape.

Zuo Liangyu was able to run away, and he really did run back on his own. Hong Chengchou knew that he was trustworthy, but this jerk was out of control.

It is believable that Cao Wenzhao was defeated and his brother and nephew were killed, but he did not have many soldiers left.

Zhang Yingchang is not trustworthy, he is like a transport captain.

He led five battalions to fight, but he managed to win the battle cleanly without losing any soldiers in one battalion. However, of the remaining four battalions, only Cao Bianjiao was left as the commander-in-chief.

There were also Liu Shaozong, Xiang Xiyin and others who came from Gansu. They were all released by Liu Chengzong.

  Hong Chengchou looked at those who were the most angry and said, "I don't want the people that Liu Chengzong doesn't want either!"

It’s hard to say what the result of the test will be.

Zhang Yingchang looked like a plate for Liu Chengzong. He was not interested in testing Liu Chengzong's position. Instead, he smiled at the peace talks, supported them with both hands, and even wanted to lift his feet up.

Cao Wenzhao was quite nice and heaved a sigh of relief, saying that if they could temporarily stop fighting, they would have a chance to reorganize their forces.

Zuo Liangyu was not so good. When Hong Chengchou asked him what he thought, this guy shook his head and said nothing, but his meaningful eyes always made Hong Chengchou feel a chill on his neck.

As for Bai Guangen...he is a scientist.

He has no interest in negotiating peace or testing the waters.

He was fidgeting in the hall, anxious to return to the military camp to receive the guests.

This concerns Bai Guangen's rocket.

Among all the generals in the world, Bai Guangen has the most say in how powerful the rockets of the Marshal's Office are.

Bai Guangen was quickly defeated twice by Zhang Tianlin's simple tactics of rocket bombing and cavalry charge.

Therefore, Hong Chengchou's major policies and military strategies were completely meaningless to Bai Guangen.

Even if you provide me with enough food, money, armor and weapons, I will still run away when I see Zhang Tianlin's rocket take off.

Unless... I have a rocket too.

He really wanted to have this kind of magical weapon himself.

But he had been thinking about it for almost half a year and still couldn't figure it out.

Bai Guangen's soldiers also picked up a dud rocket launcher.

I opened it and took a look, but there was nothing special about it, so I didn't keep the tube.

As a result, because there was no blueprint, Bai Guangen tried more than a dozen times but still couldn't achieve the desired effect. Either it couldn't fly out, or it couldn't keep balance after flying out, and even killed several craftsmen.

Because all the technical content of the Marshal's Office rocket is in the shape of the solid black gunpowder column inside the tube, that thing will burn out as soon as it flies out and lands on the ground.

Without this, the rocket's burning rate and thrust will be uneven when it flies out, so it will naturally fly crookedly.

Just one day before the Ningxia mutiny, a craftsman in Bai Guangen's army reported that he had finally made a usable rocket.

This is a small rocket with a charge of three and a half pounds, thirty iron seeds, a range of forty-five steps, and a coverage area of ​​eighty steps.

The workmanship is very good. It is used by cavalry and looks a bit like the Thunder Gun. It also comes with a shield, but the main body in the middle is a three-barreled gun with an extended tube and larger caliber.

The method of use was to shoot arrows on horseback, run to the front of the enemy's formation twenty or thirty steps, release the triple rocket into the enemy's formation, and quickly run away.

After testing, it was found that the best warhorse could not escape the range of the rocket before it exploded.

It's more like suicide.

Fellow generals were full of ridicule for the weapons developed by the white scientists.

This thing is not even as good as the Flying Cannon in terms of range and power.

But Bai Guangen said, "You have never been bombed by a rocket, so you know nothing."

  Who doesn't know the success rate of a rocket? That thing fires once every two shots. Rockets are different. There is no vibration from a cannonball being fired. The success rate is close to 90%. Do you know the fear of seeing a rocket take off?

As for the shooter not being able to escape the range, is that a problem?

Bai Guangen paid a large sum of money to invite the most famous fortune teller in Ningxia, and when he returned, he would select the 100 best fighters with the strongest horoscopes in the camp to serve as rocket cavalry.

Plus it has a built-in shield, making it very difficult to kill.

He planned to wait until the soldiers were selected, then go to the west of the Helan Mountains and randomly pick a lucky taiji who was stationed in the Alashan Desert to conduct an experiment.

In fact, there is nothing to choose from. There are not many nobles living in places like Changliushui and Pucaoquan behind the Helan Mountains.

One was led by Zhuli Taiji's second son Chaotu Huang Taiji and fourth son Duoerji Daicheng, who together had less than two thousand men and horses. The other was Gulu Taiji, who also had more than a thousand men and horses and usually went to Zhongwei for trade.

Both groups belonged to the Ordos tribe, but they did not follow Ligdan Khan when he moved westward and instead took refuge in the Ming border, so they had a good relationship with Ningxia.

However, after Yang Qi ruled the south of the desert, they wanted to submit, but they were not granted the title of ten thousand households. Recently, they chose to go to the Huangyangchuan area to trade with the Marshal's Mansion in Liangzhou.

Just as Bai Guangen was about to report to Hong Chengchou that he was going to the Helan Mountains to test his new weapons, before he arrived at the Governor's Mansion, he received a summons from Hong Chengchou, asking all senior generals to come to the Governor's Mansion in Zhencheng to discuss matters.

After entering the Governor's Office, Bai Guangen found that the atmosphere was extremely solemn. The joy of obtaining military land earlier was wiped out from the faces of the visiting generals, and each of them was covered with a layer of gray.

"Liu Chengzong's reply was sent from half of the city last night. He was furious about Xu Yong's attack on the border wall and planned to send troops to attack Ningxia."

Hong Chengchou said this with a relaxed expression on his face. He glanced at Zuo Liangyu and said, "But this is also to be expected. The so-called expedition is just an excuse."

"Liu Fangming leaked the news of the Ningxia mutiny. Whether General Xu attacks the border wall or not, I think he will not miss this opportunity and will definitely send troops. Therefore, this reply letter is a good thing for you all."

"At least we are sure that Liu is still in Xi'an Prefecture. He is gathering troops to march north. Even if the vanguard troops go out, it will take three days, and the follow-up support will take ten days."

"Therefore, I estimate that in six days, his vanguard troops will reach the Yellow River, and in half a month, most of his support will also enter Ningxia."

Hong Chengchou estimated that Liu Chengzong's army was gathering very quickly.

Zuo Liangyu shook his head after hearing this, clenched his teeth and clasped his fists, saying, "General, Liu is a cunning villain who is very good at using the strength of his people. His use of troops is unpredictable, so we should resist him strictly. It's time to deploy our defenses now."

Upon hearing this, Hong Chengchou nodded and followed suit.

This is the experience Zuo Liangyu gained from being beaten, and we must listen to it.

He said: "In this case, we will follow the advice of General Zuo. We will enter Ningxia in three days, and the reinforcements will arrive in five days."

"The morale of our army is low, and most of the military academies are afraid of fighting. Do you think that within the next two days, we can take the lead in fighting south of the Yellow River, gather a large number of troops, and quickly annihilate their vanguard to boost the morale of our army?"

Just as Cao Wenzhao was about to ask for a fight, he felt someone pulling his clothes from behind. When he turned around, it was Bai Guangen, staring at him and shaking his head vigorously.

And mouthed: Zhang Tianlin.

Hearing this name, Cao Wenzhao widened his eyes. His elite cavalry and his brother Cao Wenyao were not in Zhang Tianlin's hands. That vanguard appointed by Liu Chengzong was the person he hated the most.

But the name also makes it calm down quickly.

Zhang Tianlin's three tricks are cavalry charge, rocket bombardment, and cavalry charge again. This unsustainable tactic is extremely powerful. Whoever is hit by his first wave is bound to be in big trouble.

The air in the main hall of the Governor's Office almost froze for a moment.

Hong Chengchou was very embarrassed.

Finally, Zhang Yingchang, who was well-versed in worldly affairs, stood up and clasped his fists and said, "In that case, then I ask for a fight. Our army will gather together to annihilate the enemy's vanguard first, and then retreat to the north of the Yellow River for the long-term plan!"

good afternoon!