Griffin Commander in the Late Ming Dynasty

The other party is not on guard, so I have to take action. Bi Maokang plans to go back and chat with the people. It would be best if he could encourage them to return to the Ming Dynasty.

"We are all civilized people now, and I am confident that you can't escape from Yangzhou City, so just do as you please."

Jiang Han left in a hurry. Bi Maokang also couldn't stay in the room. He waited for a while, and after thinking for a while, he tentatively stepped out of the door.

Sister 45 directly tied the man up and took him to a gentry mansion that had just been confiscated. In the future, this place will be transformed into a residential area, but for now, it is more than enough to accommodate the prisoner.

There were quite a few guards guarding the door. Bi Maokang observed carefully for a while and found that the other party did not seem to be blocking him from entering or leaving. He straightened his sleeves and swaggered out.

It was very unexpected. Even though he had already anticipated Yangzhou's current situation in his mind and knew that the living conditions of Yangzhou's people had improved slightly, the scene before him still surprised Bi Maokang.

There is a constant stream of pedestrians on the streets and everyone has something to do. In addition to some large buildings on the streets of Yangzhou, a large number of buildings have been demolished and rebuilt, and there is a bustling scene everywhere.

Many large mansions of the gentry were demolished and replanned to become residential, industrial and commercial areas. The construction of these new buildings required a key material: cement.

Jiang Han led a large number of industrial personnel to experiment with cement buildings, but cement requires steel bars to be poured, and the conditions are not currently available, so they can only make do with wood and then improve these houses later.

With cement, Jiang Han can build buildings. Although the strength of wooden structures is not as good as that of steel bars, there is no problem building four- or five-story residential buildings. In this way, a large number of people can be accommodated and have a place to shelter from the wind and rain, instead of having to sleep in rag tents that leak air everywhere every day.

Cement has a fast molding speed and high structural strength. It can solidify quickly as long as water is poured on it. It is several times faster than the original construction speed. The only thing needed is workers, and what the Ming Dynasty lacks the least is workers. There are poor people and disaster victims everywhere, and many people are rushing to work. Just two days ago, the first batch of residential buildings were successfully completed, and many residents have moved into their new homes. The prototype of the city is slowly taking shape.

Today, Jiang Han is going to consider the issue of tap water. Since the building has been built, the safeguards must be followed up. What about tap water, heating, etc. must be arranged. The Little Ice Age will probably last until the 18th century. Before that, people can't live on righteousness, right? So heating must be built, but this thing is difficult. At present, there are no steel mines in Yangzhou. All steel comes from foreign trade, and it is still relying on small-scale transactions by individual merchants. Bulk trade will be discovered and intercepted by the Ming court.

The Ming Dynasty was still not as good as the United States in terms of economic trade, and had not learned the United States' economic sanctions. Smuggling business was easy as long as there were ways to do it. However, if the amount was too large, it would attract the attention of local officials, who would question them more, making it difficult to conceal it.

Due to the lack of steel and coal, heating is impossible. Even tap water is in short supply with Yangzhou's current steel reserves.

Jiang Han urgently needs to expand. He must take his industry out instead of hiding in one place. Facing the endless encirclement and suppression from the Ming Dynasty, there are only so many humanoid troops, and there is no way to cover everything. The Ming Dynasty is a big country that can build whatever it wants, but he cannot.

One punch is enough to prevent a hundred blows from coming. This defensive battle must be fought. Not only must it be fought, but the people of Yangzhou City must be shown that they have the ability to protect the fruits of their labor. Only in this way can they expand outward with confidence and their enthusiasm for production will be greatly improved. Otherwise, they will always be in a state of fear.

The Nanjing army's attack this time is a danger, but also an opportunity. However, in Jiang Han's eyes, it is just an opportunity.

Bi Maokang was walking casually on the street. He was surprised to find that the security situation in Yangzhou City was much better than that in Nanjing. There were many people wearing armbands patrolling the streets. These were the local gangsters in Yangzhou City whom Jiang Han had asked Shen Lian to recruit before. After some screening, except for some people with bad records who were sent to fight against corruption, the rest of these local tyrants were assigned to be urban management officers. These people used to be rats in the gutter, but now they are back in the sun and they cherish this opportunity very much.

"Have you heard that the school that Sir planned to build is almost finished, and he is now preparing to recruit students."

"Of course I've heard of it, but it's best to keep the boy at home and work. Besides, my daughter is a girl, what's the point of studying? She's just a money-loser."

"I advise you to be careful. The higher-ups have issued a strict order that all children, boys and girls, must go to school."

"What? There is such a thing? Isn't this gentleman making trouble for me? Why is a little girl reading books?"

"Excuse me, gentlemen. I just heard you talking about studying? What's going on?"

Bi Maokang stepped forward and couldn't help but strike up a conversation. The two men looked at Bi Maokang's appearance, and one of them spoke up: "You look a little unfamiliar. Did you just come to Yangzhou?"

"Oh, yes, yes, I have no choice but to come to Yangzhou to make a living."

Bi Maokang nodded in agreement.

"Hey, brother, you've come to the right place. I've traveled a lot, and have been to quite a few places. I'm not bragging about the people who occupy Yangzhou City, but the situation in Yangzhou City is really good. It's much better than Beijing. If nothing else, you can definitely find work and food here."

"Thank you, brother. Hey, I just heard you talking about studying."

"Oh, that, you're new here and don't know. I don't know what this gentleman has come up with. He has recruited a large number of workers to build schools, saying that they want to run public schools. They have built dozens of schools, big and small. Just after they were built for a few months, they started recruiting students. Moreover, they have issued a decree, saying that all children over the age of six in this city, regardless of gender, must go to school and receive education."

"Whether male or female, even girls have to study?"

Bi Maokang just felt it was unbelievable.

"You can't understand it, right? Brother, tell me, what can a girl do after she finishes her education? Isn't she supposed to get married? Sending them to school now will cost money, and the family will lose a laborer who only eats and does not work!"

"Indeed, since ancient times, there has never been a precedent for women to go to school. This move is truly heresy. This Yangzhou traitor is really despicable. He doesn't care about the people's situation and suffering at all. If he acts so rashly, he will definitely shoot himself in the foot!"

As soon as Bi Maokang finished speaking, he noticed that the two people beside him looked at each other with a strange look in their eyes: "What's wrong, you two?"

"Your Excellency"

The elder brother who spoke first even changed his address: "We can talk about business, but I can't pretend I didn't hear you insulting the gentleman. If you hadn't just arrived, I would have had to give you two a fight. Let's go our separate ways. You should settle down first."

"That's right, sir. Did you curse me? I didn't even dare to curse!"

The old brother who had just complained to him spat on the ground with a look of contempt on his face.

"Ah? What happened? All of a sudden?"

Bi Maokang was confused. We were all here cursing the traitors, why did you suddenly change your attitude?

It's numb. I uploaded a chapter at noon, but it's gone. I was wondering why there is no posting when I open the webpage. I finally sorted out my thoughts recently. I will start updating well today. I will finish 7 words today. This is the first update of words. qqun①barwife①

Volume 228: Chapter Chapter : Strange Phenomena of Heaven and Earth

Bi Maokang was a little surprised that the conversation broke down. In fact, he had expected the possibility of a conversation breaking down, but he had never thought it would happen in this way.

How come you guys don't have any pre-animation time when casting spells? You change your attitude so suddenly? I think this is not Shuzhong?

What he didn't expect was that Jiang Han, the rebel leader, actually had such high popularity in Yangzhou.

Popularity is something every scholar wants very much. In this era of information blockade, the only way to become famous is by word of mouth. Therefore, scholars in ancient times often performed some performance art, such as living in seclusion and farming, but after several years, the grass grew lushly but the bean sprouts were sparsely grown, or visiting immortals and gods, with disheveled hair, and spreading legs when meeting guests, looking like scheming people.

Generally speaking, it is difficult to gain popularity among the people in order to maintain their reputation, because people are not money, and if everyone likes them, then even if it is silver, there will still be people who regard money as dirt.

However, it is very easy to gain popularity, because the people of this land are so simple and easy to satisfy. All they need is food to eat, work to do and a way to make a living.

Generally speaking, as rebel leaders, such people are not well-known among the common people, but they are more or less hated by everyone. They are afraid and cannot resist, but if they are to be said to curse his mother in private, they must have cursed her a lot. It is impossible for them to defend him from the bottom of their hearts like before. Even if they are the local officials, only a very few can receive such love from the local people.

But Jiang Han, a traitor, did it. This made Bi Maokang feel a little complicated. Doesn't this show that the officials of their Ming Dynasty are incompetent?

It was uncomfortable.

But no matter how sad it is, we still have to collect intelligence. What is the other party thinking by doing so much education? Maybe after knowing the other party's series of actions, we can reversely deduce his purpose.

This time he learned his lesson and no longer expressed his opinions casually. He learned to shut up and listen. Local people were discussing the new education law, and Bi Maokang also took this opportunity to collect a lot of useful information.

This so-called new education law is actually mandatory. All children aged six to ten and above must go to school to receive six years of free compulsory education. If some parents do not listen and let their children continue to work at home, they are violating the law. The Yangzhou government will deal with it in accordance with the law. If there are tough attitudes, they will be taken away, their hair will be shaved and thrown into the construction site to be beaten.

The common people are in full support of studying. These days, being able to study is a very luxurious and high-end thing. Now that public schools are abandoned and ordinary people have no family schools to go to, if they want to study, they can only find private school teachers. The tuition fees of private school teachers are very expensive, and ordinary people cannot afford it. Although many literary works talk about poor families, in fact, compared with ordinary people, they are more or less well-off and have some family background.

Now, there are actually governments that build schools for their children to study for free. The people are in full support of this. Who doesn't want their children to be better than themselves? The only thing is, why do girls have to go too?

In today's era, due to the natural physical superiority of men, basically the heavy physical labor in the family depends heavily on the participation of men. Naturally, it has evolved into a convention that men are basically the pillars of the family. Girls are not thrown into the river and drowned after birth because of the strict control of the court.

Moreover, when a girl gets married, her family has to bring a dowry. Although a betrothal gift will be collected, the girl's family rarely sees this money. Generally speaking, for many people at the bottom of society and in rural areas, having a girl is a pure loss of money.

Originally, the idea was to cut losses. Before she got married, the girl could be allowed to do some sewing and labor work at home. Country girls are not like ladies from wealthy families who have to do everything from mowing grass to threshing wheat. Now an order has come down from above to send the girl to school. The original money-loser has lost even more money now. Who can accept this?

Jiang Han had anticipated the public opinion situation and knew that some people might not cooperate. In such a situation, he could not just use a hard approach but had to use a combination of hard and soft tactics. On the one hand, he had to strictly enforce the law and establish the government's credibility, and on the other hand, he had to send people to carry out public opinion propaganda among the people.

If you don't occupy the high ground of public opinion, the enemy will occupy it. Countless experiences of being in the enemy's propaganda department in his life have made Jiang Han attach great importance to public opinion propaganda. During the process of issuing this education decree, Jiang Han sent many people to the grassroots level to carry out subtle explanations.

Just like now, among the crowd of people surrounded by Bi Maokang, someone was telling the story in a vivid manner: "Why do you think the teacher collected a 10% business tax, making those scholars so anxious? Now look at that tall building, that university! These were all bought with these people's money. The teacher is using the money of these landlords and gentry to help the children of us ordinary people go to school and learn to read!"

"I see! I was wondering why these landlords and businessmen were making a fuss recently, and it turned out to be because of this! This tax is good!!"

"Yes! Great job!!"

Everyone present agreed.

"Studying is a good thing, but why do girls have to go to school? There has never been such a precedent before. I heard many old gentlemen scolding and saying that it was... something, it was insulting to society."

"You don't know this. The teacher said that now the country is in crisis and natural disasters are rife. We have to do our best just to survive. These terrible weather conditions will continue for quite some time in the future. Every person and every bit of strength is very important. Regardless of gender, everyone is part of our collective. We must play our part, participate in learning, and improve ourselves, so that we can better protect our families in future disasters."

"Ah? This natural disaster is going to continue? When will it end?"

"The world is ever-changing, who can predict it for sure? Well, just bear with it, there will always be a day when you will get through it."

"There are so many twists and turns here. It turns out that we are too narrow-minded. We are still doubting you, sir. We are really ashamed."

Did you find someone to spread the word among the people?... Yeah...

Bi Maokang was not surprised by this kind of method. In fact, many local officials would do this to gain a good reputation among the people.

What interested him was the brand new way of education under this new education law.

During the compulsory education period, children not only need to learn to read and write and read various enlightenment reading materials, but also learn science subjects such as mathematics, astronomy and geography to cultivate their logical thinking ability from an early age.

Children with excellent academic performance among these children can enter new middle schools for free to receive further education. Finally, they can choose to go directly to work, continue their studies, and try to enter public universities to study professional knowledge.

However, these things cannot be rushed. At present, the teaching staff that Jiang Han has can only maintain six years of compulsory education. These teachers are relatively easy to find. After the capture of Yangzhou and Zhenjiang, the courts in these two places were gone, so the rules of the Ming Dynasty naturally did not apply here. The benefits that the Ming Dynasty provided to scholars were naturally gone. If these scholars and students want to survive, they must go out to work. It is said that when Jiang Han was recruiting teachers, they signed up enthusiastically, for fear of being left behind.

Don't be fooled by this. In Yangzhou and Zhenjiang, there are not many scholars to be found even if you search everywhere. On the one hand, the proportion of scholars in the Ming Dynasty was indeed small. Boys in the Ming Dynasty started to learn at the age of seven or eight, and then took part in the imperial examinations after studying hard for more than ten years. They had to take the county examinations as tongsheng. This step alone had blocked many people. Above tongsheng was the scholar, and above the scholar was the juren. In a county, if there was a juren, it would be the pride of the entire region for decades to come. This shows the scarcity of scholars.

The more Bi Maokang listened, the more frightened he became. This rebel leader actually attached great importance to folk education. What did this mean? It simply gave him, a famous official, a chill.

Let’s put aside for now the news that Bi Maokang is gathering here. A rather big thing has happened in Liaodong.

Huang Taiji sat in the main hall, looking at the ministers with satisfaction. He was in a good mood. Last year, the Qing army had entered the pass and had run wild in the Ming territory, looting a large amount of food and treasures. After several battles, they even defeated the tough nut of Lu Xiangsheng. In Huang Taiji's view, the current Ming Dynasty was like a peach that he had slowly peeled off its skin, waiting for him to bite into the juicy flesh and taste the final sweetness.

Moreover, the double happiness was that not only did they win the war against the Ming Dynasty, but the key was that Dorgon was defeated!

Huang Taiji knew very well what kind of person his younger brother was. Ever since he came to power, he had been eyeing the throne. Huang Taiji had always been on guard against him, but he could not find a reason to make things difficult for him.

It's very uncomfortable when a person is a big threat to you but you can't catch his little braid. However, good news came from heaven. I asked him to go south to attack Jinan, but this little bastard actually suffered a defeat and came back! Huang Taiji's worry about his brother was almost beyond words. He laughed out loud in the imperial study at that time.

It is true that attacking such a large city would inevitably cause damage. Moreover, Dorgon was not defeated in the strict sense. He captured Jinan City and captured the prince. Later, on the way of evacuation, he also turned around and wiped out a Ming Dynasty army of 10,000 people. He just suffered a setback in Jinan City. In theory, it was not a big deal.

But in this world, you don’t have to be afraid of difficulties. As long as you are willing to climb, anyone who wants to find trouble with you only needs an excuse. Even if you win in the end, it cannot change the fact that you were beaten to pieces in Jinan City and even your Shenwei General Cannon was destroyed.

After a series of operations, Dorgon was given a good beating. Now Huang Taiji can be said to be in high spirits, but something went wrong during the court meeting today.

Originally, the ministers in the court were discussing important matters and pacifying the country. When everyone was busy spitting at each other, suddenly a strong red light band appeared in the sky, illuminating the entire earth.

The princes, ministers and Huang Taiji who was sitting on the dragon throne were stunned on the spot, then rushed out of the hall and looked at the red sky outside.

At this moment, a very strong and dazzling red halo band appeared in the sky, and the entire sky was illuminated by red light, like the end of the world.

In the face of such a strange celestial phenomenon, no matter who it is, it seems as if their throat is choked and they are unable to speak for a moment.

Ning Wan, the Grand Secretary of the Inner Court, suddenly shouted: "Thank God, this is God's blessing on our Qing Dynasty!!"

, looking at Huang Taiji's confused eyes, he knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Huang Taiji several times: "This strange phenomenon in the world is a sign of the change of dynasties. It means that the fortune of the Central Plains dynasty will change. It means that my Qing Dynasty will successfully rule the Central Plains. The fate of the Ming Dynasty! It's over!"

This really touched the heart of Huang Taiji. What he wanted most now was to rule the Central Plains and unify the world. Hearing this, he was overjoyed. He rewarded Ning Wan heavily on the spot and convened a court meeting again to discuss the matter of entering the pass this year.

All the princes and ministers were full of confidence in this, because this time the phenomenon did not last for a moment, but for a full nine days!

Nine days! The sky was illuminated by this strange red light. No matter who you are, you can see it even if you don't look up. This is simply the best evidence to prove that you have entered the customs again! What are you waiting for? Enter! Enter the Ming Dynasty fiercely!

The Qing Dynasty once again started the intensive pre-war mobilization. In the second half of this year, China and the United States jointly produced... ahem, in the second half of the year, when the weather gets colder, the Qing army cavalry will surely go south again! They are determined to bite off another piece of meat from the Ming Dynasty!

Volume 229: Chapter Chapter : The Nine Lotus Bodhisattva Appears

In fact, if Jiang Han was in Liaodong, he should be able to recognize this so-called strange phenomenon of heaven and earth. This is a kind of geomagnetic storm phenomenon. Due to solar activity, when the solar storm is particularly strong, the magnetic field in the non-polar region of the earth collides violently, which will cause this strange natural phenomenon, which is rarely seen in hundreds of years.

This happened during the Little Ice Age, when solar activity was abnormal. Normally, you wouldn't have the chance to see this kind of spectacle, so it would be amazing to see a Japanese lunar eclipse.

While Huang Taiji was in high spirits, Zhenzi's situation was not very good.

This strange phenomenon not only appeared in Liaodong and the capital of the Ming Dynasty, but could also be seen in Shaanxi. The entire northern country was shrouded in a red glow.

Ordinary people nowadays don’t understand anything about solar activities. When they see such phenomena, they will only think in a superstitious way. Moreover, this kind of argument has been common in the past. Strange phenomena in heaven and earth are all harbingers of dynasty change. Anyway, if something happens to God, something will definitely happen to the emperor’s family.

So, did Zhenzi have an accident? Yes, she did, but the story began a few days ago.

It was not an easy matter for Nanjing to send troops to attack Yangzhou. In the Ming Dynasty, imperial power was centralized, especially military power. Large-scale military operations had to be approved by the emperor. So, an application for an attack was placed on Zhenzi's desk.

Of course, the officials of Jiangnan Road still had high emotional intelligence. They did not directly say "Your Majesty, we are going to attack Yangzhou", but first reported several great victories against the bandits, which made Zhenzi very happy.

Chongzhen read these memorials praising the emperor's merits very carefully, and happily accepted the flattery from the ministers. Then, he read the next one and saw a memorial of attack against Yangzhou.

The smile on Zhenzi's face slowly disappeared. He felt it was outrageous. What on earth are you guys doing? When the enemy captured Nanjing at the beginning of the year, he sent troops to attack them. Why are they attacking again in May? You guys haven't taken down Yangzhou in the past six months? How come I didn't know that the city of Yangzhou was so strong?

Moreover, more importantly, war costs money! This petition was ostensibly a request for military action, but in reality, it was asking Chongzhen for money, and what Chongzhen lacked the most was money.

Zhenzi likes the good news and praise you sent, but she doesn't like your action of asking for money.

"Wang Chengen, notify all ministers to gather in Wenhua Hall to discuss the matter."

"According to the purpose"

A group of old guys gathered in the Wenhua Hall. After the manager gave a wave of flattery, Chongzhen slowly said, "I summoned you all this time because I just received a memorial that Nanjing intends to use troops against the rebels entrenched in Yangzhou, so I want to discuss the issue of food and fodder for the front line with you ministers."

"Ah this..."

Your Majesty, talking about money hurts feelings. If you don’t mention money, we can still be good friends.

Li Shiwen, the Minister of Revenue, came out of the class and said, "Your Majesty, this year, there have been continuous wars and droughts. The price of grain in various provinces has increased several times. There is not a penny left in the treasury. We really can't take out the money..."

No silver? How can we get food without silver? How can we fight without food? If we don't fight, will we let Jiangnan fall into the hands of the rebels? Let them plunder the wealth of Yangzhou? That's my money!

Zhenzi's face fell into an angry expression, and the entire Wenhua Hall fell into silence. The ministers who had just been enjoying the show of complimenting the emperor and his subjects now wished they could stuff their heads into their stomachs.

"We need to send troops to Nanjing. Where are their food and money?"