A small soldier of the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 345 They Think I Don't Dare to Do It?
Chongzhen 12th July [-]th.

From this day onwards, the land of the East Road was suddenly turbulent. Starting in the morning, the shops in the city of Yanqing Prefecture began to close, and all business was stopped.The people in the city were terrified and panicked, and there was a wave of panic buying. Before all the shops were closed in the afternoon, the price of rice had soared to four thousand coins a bucket.

Under the contagion of panic, the prices of various goods in Yanqing City, such as cloth salt and tea materials, also rose all the way, and finally there was no market for the price.

Soon, the strike spread to Huailai City, Yongning City, and Baoanwei City. Panic buying became popular everywhere. Only Baoanzhou City, although the price rose a lot, was still relatively calm.

The cities were in a state of depression, and the people were in panic, not knowing what had happened.Not only that, there were huge crowds of petitioners in the streets of various cities.He stopped and invited all the officials, and cried out to the governors, garrison, military equipment and others in each city, asking to stop the collection of commercial taxes by General Dingguo Wang Dou.

The streets and alleys of various places are full of howling crowds, and various anonymous posters are posted everywhere.If any officials passed through the streets, they were also attacked by the rubble thrown by the crowd.

On the same day, Yanqing Prefecture Guanshan Academy announced a strike. Hundreds of students marched to the prefecture to petition Wu Zhizhou of Yanqing Prefecture to oppose General Dingguo's excessive expropriation and competition for profits with the people.Zhizhou Wu Zhi came out to speak to the students, claiming that he strongly disagreed with Wang Dou's taxation proposal, and would definitely speak to the Military Constitution to persuade General Dingguo to give up such outrageous thoughts.

Chen Enchong, the defender of Yanqing Prefecture, also accompanied Wu Zhi, and told the crowd that General Dingguo's levy of commercial taxes was purely a rumor, and even if he had such thoughts, he must have been deceived by villains.As a subordinate, he will speak to the general as quickly as possible, and return the east road to a place of peace.

In the face of city strikes and school strikes in various cities, crowds of petitioners...

Xu Zucheng, the guard of the security guard city, condemned the disturbance of the city and acted without the government. After being thrown bricks and stones, his blood surged, and he ordered his servants to shoot arrows, and a bloody conflict broke out between the two sides.

Yongning City garrison Wang Yide tried to stop the crowd, but he was also treated by the crowd throwing bricks and stones randomly. His mouth and nose were bleeding.

In Baoanzhou City, some businessmen tried to close their shops and organized a parade, but were beaten by angry local military households from the street to the end of the street, and their shops were also destroyed.All the military households yelled at these businessmen: "The profiteers get out of Baoan Prefecture. If you dare to be an enemy of General Dingguo, you are an enemy of us."

"Your mother, if you want to do business in Baoanzhou in the future, I will take your surname!"

Wansheng and Zheng Jinglun, the shopkeepers of the rice shop in Baoanzhou City, and Lai Mancheng, the proprietor of the Qingtianfu Commercial Bank, which has already reached the state city, have said that they firmly support General Dingguo and will never do such things to disturb the market. The act of profiteers.

Their remarks were widely appreciated by the military households, and the turnover of their stores increased fivefold that day.

The merchants in Yongning City also went on strike, and the merchants and students organized a crowd parade, but they were too guarded and did not dare to gather crowds in front of the generals, not even spectators.After all, the prestige of Dingguo General Wang Dou is not trivial.In addition, the prestige of the Shun Township Army spread far and wide, who would dare to make trouble in front of the General's Mansion?

Moreover, the caliber of the people who petitioned everywhere is very clear. This move is not aimed at General Dingguo himself, but the "villain" behind him.As long as General Dingguo withdraws his order, they will definitely support Wang Dou's governance in the East Road.

Faced with this sudden wave of strikes and school strikes, Bingbei Dao Ma Guoxi was dumbfounded. Faced with the crying complaints of merchants and scholars in Huailai, he expressed that he would handle the matter with caution and asked General Dingguo to come to discuss the matter.However, considering that the strike will affect people's livelihood, businesses are invited to resume the market and students resume classes. Only in this way can we make a long-term plan.

After his speech was rejected, Ma Guoxi suddenly "got sick" and stayed in the Bingbei Mansion no longer to show his head.

Only Donglu Guanliangtong judge Guo Shitong was secretly happy. He said that it was because of Wang Dou's domineering and ignorant that today's disaster was caused.He suggested that Wang Dou should read more sage classics, so that he might not be so reckless in dealing with things in the future.

Every second day of the school strike and market strike, officers and soldiers gathered in various forts worried that they would not be able to buy food, oil and salt, and there was a commotion...

……

This kind of thing happened suddenly in various cities, and the military households and people everywhere panicked, and they all turned their eyes to the general's mansion, hoping that General Dingguo could find a way to deal with it.

Different from those merchants, people and warriors, these ordinary people have deep expectations for Wang Dou.I hope that under the governance of Wang Dou on the East Road, everyone will live a good life like the people in Baoan Prefecture.Moreover, Wang Dou suppressed bandits and garrisoned fields, and won the hearts of many people on the East Road in a short period of time.

Business people protest against commercial tax, what does it have to do with them?They didn't open a shop, and they didn't smuggle outside the Great Wall.But they still hope that this wave will pass quickly, after all, the strike of merchants has affected them too much.

The skyrocketing prices are unbearable for ordinary people. Everyone just wants to live in peace and security. When they run out of rice at home, there is a place to buy it, and it is not so expensive.

They were flustered by hearing about school strikes and market strikes everywhere. Why did so many things happen all of a sudden?

At this time, the General Guard's Mansion, which was in the center of the storm, was very calm.

"Students are on strike, businessmen are on strike, and soldiers are about to make trouble."

Wang Dou looked out the window for a long time, then turned around and said with a smile, "It's lively and interesting!"

The large hall of the general's mansion was full of members of Wang Dou's shogunate. General Dingguo still wanted to chat and laugh, but they didn't have Wang Dou's peaceful mood.

Zhang Gui, the ambassador of the Department of Civil Affairs, said worriedly: "General, the merchants suddenly went on strike, and the students suddenly went on strike. There must be a conspiracy. But the most urgent thing is to let the merchants open the market, otherwise the prices will skyrocket, and the common people will inevitably blame the general and damage the general. reputation."

Wang Dou nodded, noncommittal, Gao Shiyin was furious: "Grandma's Xiong, I said that these profiteers are not good products. Please pass the order to the general. If those profiteers dare to strike again, they will all be arrested and killed."

Wang Dou nodded again, and Wen Fangliang murmured, "It's strange, why is it rumored that the general is going to levy business taxes? It seems that our shogunate has no such plan, right?"

Wang Dou also pondered: "Indeed, although I have this intention, I haven't implemented it yet. Why is the banner raised outside to protest my business tax?"

"It's really weird."

Ye Xizhi and Qin Yi have performed outstandingly in the shogunate these days and were invited to sit there. Naturally, they are very excited. This crisis is an opportunity for them.

Qin Yi pondered for a while, then cupped his hands to Wang Dou and said, "General, the student thinks that there must be someone spreading rumors inside to confuse the public with evil words, and their intentions are extremely unpredictable."

He analyzed: "Government and business are integrated in all areas of the Ming Dynasty, especially the private trade of merchants in the border towns. The general intends to strictly investigate the border, and naturally cut off the livelihood of many bad merchants. They hate it deeply, but they have no excuse. Opposition to commercial taxes is justified. , Since the Wanli year, there has been a wave of anti-mine tax collection in various places in the Ming Dynasty, and many mine supervisors have lost their reputations, and even Emperor Xian had to abolish all taxes on commercial mines."

"If the general's attitude is tough, the plan will be successful. In the future, the general's reputation among merchants and scholars will be greatly reduced. If the general retreats, it will also damage his reputation. In the future, it will be difficult to implement various strategies on the east road! This plan is quite poisonous, but I don't know. Who spread this word."

Ye Xizhi said: "The top priority is to let the merchants open the market, and the people can't afford to wear and tear. As time goes on, there will be a lot of resentment towards the general. The general's efforts to suppress the bandits and calm the people are all in vain."

Wang Dou smiled slightly: "It's really a good plan!"

At this time, Wen Daxing, the ambassador of the intelligence department, and Liu Benshen, the head of the internal affairs department, hurried in.

As a hundred households of Jinyiwei in the original Zhending Mansion, after Liu Benshen made a statement to Wang Dou in March, considering his ability, Wang Dou appointed him as the head of the internal affairs department.Specially responsible for the anti-intelligence affairs of the East Road, strictly guarding against all kinds of spies, especially dealing with the spying of the Qing Dynasty.

Liu Benshen is an ambitious person who has lived in Jinyiwei for a long time, so he naturally has his means.However, since the establishment of the intelligence department, the relevant manpower training cannot be completed in a short time.It still takes time to lay out the control and defense of the entire East Road.

Two days ago, there was a wave of school strikes and market strikes in various cities on the East Road. Liu Benshen was ordered by Wang Dou to monitor and spy. At this time, he came in a hurry, presumably with his own intelligence.

For Liu Benshen, everyone in the shogunate actually didn't like him very much. He was usually taciturn, and his eyes were always gleaming with gloomy light.When I'm with people, I'm always used to standing in the dark of the room.Others can see everything at a glance, but he secretly observes something behind the scenes. In front of him, everyone seems to have no secrets to speak of. This feeling makes people uncomfortable.

Standing in front of Wang Dou at this time, he was also expressionless, and slowly reported what he had obtained from his spying: "...The strike was headed by Zhang Wanshan, who contacted merchants from various cities to discuss it together. As for Zhang Guowei, whether Zhang Guowei is behind the scenes or not, the officials are still investigating!"

"There are many people who plan to stop the market. The officials suspected that Donglu Guanliang was sentenced to Guo Shitong, Yanqing Prefecture Zhizhou Wu Zhi, Huailai guarded Huang Changyi, Yanqing guarded Chen Enchong, Jinghubao guarded Song Jiaxuan, Thursday Goubao guarded Chen Qinluan, black Fort Hanling defending Ding Fangming, and Fort Liu Bin defending Guo Cairong, everyone has a staff member, and they plan to attack east and west, defeating the general and strictly inspecting the border."

Everyone in the hall was moved, so many people conspired to participate.

"The class strike was led by Zeng Youxian, the schoolmaster of Yanqing Prefecture Guanshan Academy, and Wu Lue, the son of the magistrate of Yanqing Prefecture. After investigation by the subordinate officials, it was suspected that Wan Meier, Wu Lue's new concubine, was the spy of Dongnu. The relevant rumors, the subordinate officials thought that his daughter was spreading them! "

"Wan Meier, this daughter, once guarded the old acquaintances of Korea and North Korea for the current Laishui..."

Wang Dou's hands trembled, and Wen Fangliang murmured, "No way."

There was no sound in the hall, only Liu Benshen's emotionless voice continued to echo: "In the first month of the tenth year of Chongzhen, Han Shoubei married Wan Sheng and Miss Zheng of Midian, and Wan Meier disappeared in Baoan Prefecture. At the end of last year, she is now in Yanqing Prefecture. Because of her beauty, she was accepted by Wu Lue as a concubine. It is suspected that because of love and hatred, she was bought by Dongnu during the period."

Everyone in the hall breathed a sigh of relief, and Liu Benshen continued: "The lower official also suspects that Zeng Fuyang, the son of Zeng Youxian, was secretly working for Dong Nu. The lower official has already seen that Zeng Fuyang and Wan Meier have close contacts, and their deeds are suspicious. The arms of the East Road, Yanqing , the cities of Yongning, the officials and the generals, the merchants, and many suspected collaborators, the lower officials are investigating..."

Wen Fangliang took a breath and said, "No way, there are so many spies on the East Road? Then Zeng Youxian seems to be Xuezheng from Yanqing Prefecture. Although he is famous for being stingy, he is also regarded as highly respected. His son... Could it be that Mr. Liu made a mistake? ?”

Liu Benshen bowed to Wang Dou and said: "Dong Nu is very cunning and the best at meticulous work. When he was an old slave, he spared no expense to support spies, and he specialized in building the 'Barbarian City' for spies. At first, Li Yongfang was the leader. , and later his son-in-law Wu Changchun was appointed. His work was either a merchant, or a monk, or a beggar, or a hundred craftsmen.

"The Sarhu master period was first released, and the fall of Guangning and Liaoyang cities were all internal responses. In the year of Tianqi, the "Manzi City" bought Ming rebels Ji Yingcheng, Zeng Yougong, Liu Bao, and Liu Boqiang, and sent Zhang Pan General, Ma Shilong was defeated and died because he was a traitor and betrayed the general."

"Later Liu Bao, Wu Changchun and others were arrested by Dongchang and executed by Ling Chi, which can be regarded as revenge for General Zhang and others!"

Everyone in the hall was silent, Dong Nu's secret work was so rampant...

Wang Dou stood up and paced back and forth in the hall. He smiled and said, "Okay, it's another class strike and another market strike. The noise is earth-shattering, but it's just for their self-interest, so that they can benefit from the enemy and betray the country."

He smiled and said, "They thought I didn't dare to do it?"

He said lightly: "It's good for them to jump out, just kill them all at once!"

(End of this chapter)