Desert Eagle Suletan Khan

When the tiger was away, wolves, foxes, monkeys and so on all came out. In front of Baoyin, Wang Guotai dared not breathe, but as soon as His Royal Highness the King of Chu left, he immediately put on the majesty of the general commander and ordered his subordinates to summon Luo Wenliang, the governor of Liaonan, and the governors and garrisons of Gaizhou, Haizhou, Fuzhou and Jinzhou to the general's office for discussion. The officials did not dare to neglect it and arrived quickly, sitting on the left and right of the civil and military officials with the general commander as the center.

"The prince led the army to attack Xiuyan, Fenghuang City and Kuandian forts, and our town was ordered to stay behind. Today I want to discuss the military affairs of southern Liaoning with you all." Wang Guotai glanced at the crowd and was very satisfied to see that they were listening attentively. As an official, one must have authority, and even if you say something trivial, the subordinates must take it as a command.

He said with a smile to Liaonan prefect Luo Wenliang, Gaizhou prefect Liu Jiaji, Haizhou prefect Wei Zhifan, Fuzhou prefect Pan Zonghan, and Jinzhou prefect Chen Zhanyuan: "Fighting war is originally the job of military generals, but raising money and food and conscripting civilians to repair the city still depends on you."

Luo Wenliang, the prefect of Liaonan, had the highest rank among the civil servants. He said, "Years of war have brought hardship to Liaonan. His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu went to war a while ago, and I was barely able to raise enough money and food. Now the money and food in the treasury is only enough to maintain the military expenses. If we conscript more civilians, it will be difficult to force them to work without money and food, which will easily cause resentment among the people."

Humph! The prince has money and food when he wants it, but not when we want it. It's obvious that he doesn't take us seriously! Hearing this, Wang Guotai was very unhappy and spoke in an official tone, "Before the prince left, he repeatedly reminded our town to be careful and alert and guard against the invasion of the Qing and puppet forces. Our town is thinking that the prince has already led his troops to pacify the Qing troops on the Yalu River. There is no worry on land, but we must guard against the Qing navy carrying cavalry and infantry to cross the sea from the ports of Zhili and Shandong to invade. The cities in southern Liaoning are in ruins, and it is necessary to repair the cities. I'm afraid that Prefect Luo cannot afford to miss important events."

Luo Wenliang had a bitter look on his face. "The autumn taxes have been collected long ago. The people have opened up a lot of wasteland and plowed the fields. We are just waiting for the spring to sow seeds, and then life will be better next year. If we forcibly levy taxes and grain, the people will have no grain to grow, and there will probably be a famine next year. I really can't bear it and I dare not do this."

"Hmph! Don't try to scare our town with famine. Since the people have already plowed the fields, they have nothing to do at home. Let them bring their own food to repair the city. If the city is strong, it will also guarantee the safety of the people." Wang Guotai was jealous that he didn't give him money and food, and he refused to give in, and insisted on forcibly conscripting the people of southern Liaoning to repair the city.

"General, you don't know, our Liao people are suffering!" Wei Zhifan, the governor of Haizhou, interrupted, "Liaodong has been at war for years, and every war requires money and grain. The Liao people are extremely poor. After paying taxes, the grain in the household is only enough for two meals a day. They drink porridge in the morning and eat something dry at night. During the slack season, every household stays at home and dares not exercise, for fear of over-consumption and hunger in the stomach, so as to survive the slack season. If we force them to repair the city without giving them money and grain, I am afraid that before the city is built, most of the Liao people will have died of exhaustion and starvation!"

Wang Guotai respected this Wei Zhizhou. It was because he heard that he was promoted from the post of professor in Liaoyang, and was from the same hometown as the newly appointed Liaodong governor Yin Sanpin, and he also explained Confucian classics to the new governor Salaletu. In fact, it was true that Wei Zhifan and Fang Bo were from the same hometown, but they were not close friends, and it was completely fictitious that he explained Confucian classics to the governor. Because Liaodong was short of officials, the court had to make an exception and promote some minor officials in Fengtian, Liaoyang and other places to solve the shortage of officials. For example, Chen Zhanyuan was promoted from Liaoyang County Magistrate to Jinzhou Magistrate, Wei Zhifan was promoted from Liaoyang Professor to Haizhou Magistrate, Liu Jiaji was promoted from Fengtian Prefecture Experience to Gaizhou Magistrate, and Pan Zonghan was promoted from Liaoyang Dianshi to Fuzhou Magistrate.

"What Zhizhou Wei said makes sense. Our town is indeed unaware of the suffering of the Liao people. But the Qing navy may attack at any time. Without money and food, and without military preparations, how can we resist the enemy?" Wang Guotai was polite to Wei Zhifan because he thought he had a backer. However, the words "how can we resist the enemy without money and food" caught him off guard.

"This~" Wei Zhifan was speechless and blushed due to the pressure of money and grain.

"I do have a plan," Jinzhou magistrate Chen Zhanyuan suddenly spoke up. This man was originally a wealthy family in a coastal fishing village in Zhejiang. According to the "Liaodong Recruitment and Appointment of Officials" that encouraged immigration by the Qing Dynasty, his father Chen Dade came to Liaodong with 140 people and was appointed as the magistrate of Liaoyang. Unexpectedly, things happened unexpectedly. Chen Dade died of acclimatization after only one month in office. People from the same hometown all requested that Chen Zhanyuan take over his father's position, and they were approved. Because he was an official who came from immigration and had no merit, although he was a magistrate, he was not taken seriously by everyone. In fact, this man had some talents. In another time and space, he was promoted to Songjiang Water Conservancy Tongpan, and his political achievements were quite good. However, in this time and space, the Wei army captured Liaodong, and he surrendered to the Wei army instead of going to Songjiang.

"Oh, what do you think, Governor Chen?" Wang Guotai was not as polite to Chen Zhanyuan as he was to Wei Zhifan, and asked in a sarcastic tone.

"When I was in Zhejiang, I saw how fishermen made dried fish. There are a lot of mudflats and salt flats along the coast of Liaodong Bay, Jinzhou, Fuzhou, Gaizhou, and Haizhou. Soldiers can be organized to catch fish and shrimp under the guidance of local fishermen, and then use the nearby salt flats to extract salt on the spot, process and pickle them. In this way, the catch is not only abundant but also can be preserved for a long time, which should be able to support the civilians to repair the city." Chen Zhanyuan is worthy of being a coastal native of Zhejiang. He is very knowledgeable about the methods of catching fish and shrimp and pickling them. The people present were not surprised, because the Liaodong Bay area is an ancient fishing ground, and fishermen have the tradition of "fishing geese". With the change of seasons, they migrate north and south in Liaodong Bay to fish. Those who travel by land are called "land geese", and those who take boats are called "water geese". Fishing and shrimping are common.

Seeing his subordinate giving him a way out, Luo Wenliang wiped his sweat and quickly took advantage of the situation, saying with a smile: "Chen Zhizhou is right. Our Liaodong is rich in fish, shrimp and pearls. These catches can save lives in years of disaster. The local fishermen's song goes: 'Liaodong Bay is a good place. When the tide is high, the water flows north, and when the tide is low, the water flows south. Go out early to ride the current, and return late to follow the rising tide...' Hahaha".

"Humph! Soldiers have to guard and train day and night to keep Liaonan safe. You guys are so smart to let them catch fish and shrimp as food for the people!" Wang Guotai was so angry that he threw up the sleeves of his official robe and said coldly: "Since you like fishing and catching shrimp so much, I order you to lead the government officials of the prefecture and state to organize fishermen to promote this. In addition, you can allocate more land near the customs to sell to businesses. No matter what, raise the money and food needed to repair the city for this town as soon as possible!"

With this order, the military preparations were finally settled. Wang Guotai was angry that these civil officials were against him, so he coldly ordered them to leave, "This town needs to arrange military affairs, you civil officials please leave."

"I'm leaving now~" Liaonan prefect Luo Wenliang left the general's office with four prefects as if he had been pardoned. (End of this chapter)