Chapter 2153 Gui Zi Juan sorts out the situation and responds to the crisis
Feng Ziying has just arrived in Yanzhou.
Further south from Yanzhou, the situation becomes less stable.
Although Qiu Zixiong is still dealing with Wang Zuogui and Miao Renmei in Yanchuan, no news has been transmitted yet, but the city-destroying camp that followed has taken control of Qingjian, and the situation is quietly changing.
To the southwest of Yanzhou is the central county, which is later known as Huangling County. The place where the five waters of Luoshui, Huachishui, Ziwushui, Guhe and Ciwushui converge is the county seat, which is an important place for military strategists.
The central counties were still under the control of the official army, but apart from the county towns, the rebels were very active. The countryside was basically controlled by the rebels. Except for some wealthy gentry's forts, they could hardly leave the county.
Thirty miles southeast of Yanzhou is Luochuan, eighty miles due east of Yanzhou is Yijun, plus Yijun forty miles southwest in the middle, these counties are the areas with the strongest rebel forces in the entire Yan'an Prefecture. .
As long as these counties can be solved, Yan'an Prefecture will be considered recovered. Once the situation in Yan'an is stabilized, the problems in the eastern prefectures and counties of Xi'an Prefecture will be much easier to solve.
Wen Tingshou, the magistrate of Yanzhou, is a useful talent. Although Feng Ziying has only been here for two days, he can feel it after several contacts with him.
The people are well-trained, equipped with armor and weapons, and the city defenses are fully repaired. It can be said that he has contributed a lot to Yanzhou's current good situation.
However, this guy was too strong. He severely suppressed the powerful local gentry and had a bad relationship with his boss Pan Ruzhen. Therefore, he had been working as a magistrate in Yanzhou for five years and still had no hope of promotion. It was not until the chaos in northern Shaanxi that he It was a glimmer of hope for Wen Tingshou.
Seeing that Feng Ziying's face was slightly ugly after reading the letter, Wen Tingshou stood up and left knowingly, but Feng Ziying still suppressed the irritability and worry in her heart and motioned to the other party to calm down.
"No rush, Tingshou, we haven't finished talking about Yanzhou yet, let's continue." Feng Ziying smiled lightly, put the letter into her sleeve, and said slowly: "There are not many potatoes, sweet potatoes and corn seeds left, but we can still We provide one or two hundred acres of land, so Tingshou, you have to arrange for the planting and cultivation of good people. The drought situation in Yanzhou is the best in Yan'an Prefecture. The five rivers are flowing into it. Choose some good people in the mountains around the county to take care of it this season. , I want to come and check the situation myself."
"Don't worry, sir. I dare not say anything else, but Yanzhou can still find a group of people who are good at farm work. I just don't know if the seeds you brought are of any use." Wen Tingshou said with a smile: " One or two hundred acres of land is nothing, but I have spent so much effort but failed to achieve a decent result, which is detrimental to your prestige, sir."
"Hmph, stop talking glibly to me. Master Xu has been carefully cultivating it for so many years. How can it be any worse?" Feng Ziying waved her hand, "Just do your best and don't worry about anything else. By the way, you Yanzhou Minzhuang also has three There are more than a thousand people, and I think they are well-trained, so the cost is probably not small, right?"
"Who wouldn't say it?" When he mentioned this, Wen Tingshou became more excited, "You are exempted from labor and have enough food to eat, but you still don't train well, how can you make sense?"
“But the forced distribution of donations aroused strong reactions among the gentry.” Feng Ziying asked with a smile.
"Haha, how can there be such a good thing in the world? I don't have to pay for food, but I also want to be safe. Sir, tell me where to find such a good method, and I will learn from it." Wen Tingshou curled his lips and said: "Look for it." No, in Yanzhou, you have to follow my method. No one can do it. According to the number of fields, houses and shops, you have to give me money and food. Otherwise, I can only take you. Treat it as colluding with the rebels."
Wen Tingshou said nonchalantly, but Feng Ziying knew that this guy really dared to do this. The Chen family and the Tan family in Yanzhou were imprisoned by him for colluding with the White Lotus cult bandits and intending to commit rebellion, and finally dispersed. The family fortune was finally freed. After this incident, everyone in Yanzhou remained silent, and no one dared to challenge his authority.
However, the backlash of this will not be bad. Once the situation stabilizes, these gentry will definitely retaliate wildly. However, now that the rebellion is strong, these gentry can only endure it.
“Tingshou, have you considered the consequences?” Feng Ziying asked. He did not believe that Wen Tingshou could not consider these issues.
"Haha, sir, you should be aware of the situation in Yanzhou. The central county is in danger. If the central region is lost, then Yanzhou will bear the brunt. Instead of waiting for the swords and axes of the chaos to be added to the neck, it is better to strike first. I will follow my own path. Come and leave, I really have to settle the score after the fall, the worst case is that I resign and leave. I am a civil servant, and my hometown is in Jiangxi. It is okay to spend all my wealth and hire a group of bodyguards to **** me back to Jiangxi. It is better than dying here, right? "
Wen Tingshou is telling the truth.
The guards in the entire Yan'an Prefecture are very weak. There is one battalion in Yan'an Prefecture, which is Fushi City. The rest of the guards only exist in name. For example, the Security Office, the Semen Office, and the Anding Office are all hundreds of households. The garrison at Baihu Station is one unit with more than 600 people, but in fact there are less than 600 people.
There are also Jingbian Station, Suide Guard, Zhenqiang Station and Yulin Guard. But in fact, except for Suide Guard, which still has an incomplete battalion of soldiers, the other guard stations are directly under the control of Yulin Town. It is a supplementary guard post for the Yulin border army. It has nothing to do with the local area, and the Shaanxi Dusi has no control over it.
"Could it be that the rebel army came to besiege the city, can I still count on the Yan'an Guards or the Xi'an guards in the south to rescue me?" Wen Tingshou said with a slightly self-deprecating smile: "Of course, if you and I are surrounded, In this city of Yanzhou, I estimate that Mr. Du Sixie and the border troops from Yulin Town will still spare no effort to rescue you, but I don’t dare to bet that you didn’t come at that time. Even if you did come, what if tomorrow? Did you go to Xi'an or Fengxiang? I still have the responsibility to protect my land here. I'm afraid of death. I have a lovely wife and concubine at home, so I can't bear it. I would rather not be an official, but I have to save my life first, so I have no choice but to let him go. The gentry endured the pain and cut off their flesh to build the people."
"In fact, the effect is really good. As long as the money and food are in place, hunters, mud-legged men, and servants can be trained in a decent manner very quickly under whips and sticks." Wen Tingshou smiled. He became more and more mad, "Even when I invite these gentlemen to review the training results, their smiles are as if their flesh has been really cut. I can't help but laugh."
He is a character, and he dares to be so wild in front of himself. Either that is his personality, or he is just ignoring it. There is no hope that he can keep wearing this black gauze hat.
Feng Ziying probably had both. For offending the gentry of a state so severely, he must have been infamy. Moreover, he was at odds with his immediate boss, Pan Ruzhen, so he would definitely not be well regarded by the officials. If there were no accidents, , I can only go home and wait for the opportunity.
"Well, I know the whole story. I still need to comfort the local gentry. Don't be too harsh..." Feng Ziying's words also seemed very casual, and she didn't feel at all how rebellious Wen Tingshou's actions were. Wen Tingshou Of course I can hear it, and my heart is a little lively. It seems that the governor is quite approving of his actions?
But he didn't know that Feng Ziying's approach might be ten times worse and harsher than his own. Money and food were not enough, and he even wanted all his family and property, including his life.
"Sir, I also want to be a good person, and I also want to treat the gentry with respect as guests, but the rebel army is so powerful that they don't give me such an opportunity." Wen Tingshou spread his hands, "And it can be said that I have done a lot. It has softened, and there are many people starving to death outside the city, and mobs continue to join the rebellion. These situations can be completely avoided as long as the Jin gentry takes out food and money, but I didn't break my promise and asked them to take out extra money, right? I only want to fulfill what I promised, but if they can't do it, then don't blame me for being rude."
Feng Ziying nodded silently and said no more.
It wasn’t until Wen Tingshou left that Feng Ziying savored it carefully.
This guy came to ask for help, but he did it very tactfully and reservedly.
Maybe I didn’t have this idea originally, but I saw that I seemed to approve of his performance, so I came up with the idea.
However, Feng Ziying did not hesitate to support the other party.
Why don’t you support people who can do things?
With Yanzhou stabilized, even if the central part is lost, Yanzhou can withstand the spread of the rebel army. Of course, this depends on Qiu Zixiong's strategy in Yanchuan Yanchang.
During this trip, I also came into contact with many officials. It should be said that the officials in Yan'an Prefecture and County are not as bad as I first imagined. The reason why the situation is so dangerous is certainly the main reason for the accumulated corruption of officials, but to a large extent it is also the main reason. The consequences of years of drought, as well as the court's harsh treatment of the border troops in the three sides and four towns, resulted in a large number of deserters infiltrating into the local area.
Pan Ruzhen, Xia Zhiling, Xu Junyang and Wen Tingshou just now all performed well. Even people like Wu Degui were not satisfactory. They were not mediocre officials waiting for a meal. Of course, this does not mean that they are not good at their respective positions. It was done to perfection.
In other words, no matter how well they do, some things will still happen, and individual actions cannot change the overall situation.
Wang Wenyan came in, and Feng Ziying breathed a sigh of relief: "Wenyan, something happened."
After listening to Feng Ziying’s introduction and reading Duan Xipeng’s letter, Wang Wenyan calculated the time and knew he was in trouble. What an unlucky thing?
"I'm afraid there are no available troops in Shanxi that can withstand the rebel army's offensive. Si Yancheng in Anyi and Cangcheng in Puzhou are both places that the rebel army will definitely want to capture." Wang Wenyan looked serious and said, "According to The progress of several aunts is just about to catch up."
Feng Ziying sighed, then leaned back on the chair and put his hand on his forehead, "But now that the matter has come to this, what can be done?"
(End of this chapter)