I

After Li Zheng led troops to occupy Raozhou City, the counties of Raozhou Prefecture had an order of dispatching troops. First, go to Fuliang County first and occupy Jingdezhen; second, go to Dexing County and occupy Yinshan Town.

Yinshan produced silver, which originated in the Northern and Southern Dynasties and flourished in the Tang and Song Dynasties.

In the Tang and Song dynasties alone, more than 100 million taels of silver were mined, and it is known as "the first mountain of silver metallurgy in the Tang Dynasty".

Mining continued in the Ming Dynasty, but in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, it was reported that the silver mines had been exhausted. What a ghost, the Qing Dynasty was still mining silver here!

"Hoo!"

A copper whistle suddenly sounded in the mountains, it was the search team warning.

Moreover, the first whistle stopped abruptly, apparently a soldier of the search team was killed.

"Woo! Whoa! Whoa!"

The rest of the Soushan team blew their whistles, and Li Zheng immediately ordered the bugle to be blown, and quickly stopped the army in the valley.

"kill!"

Seeing that their whereabouts were exposed, the ambush soldiers in the mountains rushed out immediately.

These ambush soldiers were all village warriors and miners recruited by the powerful gentry in Dexing County. There are not only miners who mine silver, but also miners who mine copper, tin, and iron. In addition to silver mines, Dexing County also has the largest open-pit copper mine in Asia!

Under Li Zheng's command, there are only 1,000 regular soldiers, 2,000 peasant soldiers, and 4,000 transport teams.

And those gentry are powerful and armed, but there are more than 20,000 people!

There is absolutely no possibility of compromise between the two parties, especially the tyrants who occupy the silver and copper mines. They colluded with eunuchs and civil officials, and even dared to fool the court. They are well aware of the preciousness of copper and silver mines, and Zhao Han will definitely confiscate them. This is an endless situation.

More than 20,000 ambushes rushed down from the mountains on both sides.

Because it was discovered by the search mountain team in advance, it did not enter its scheduled ambush point, so it took a lot of time to rush over. Li Zheng had already formed his formation, and was waiting for the enemy to come and die.

"Raise the bow!"

"Raise the gun!"

These ambush soldiers were completely out of order, they ran away halfway through the charge, and coupled with the rugged terrain, they came running here and there in groups.

In the early stage, there were missionaries and peasant associations who planned to go to Dexing County to promote Datong thought. Things went smoothly near the county seat, but after entering the mining area, most of them were driven away, and a few were killed.

The powerful gentry spread rumors everywhere, saying that the Luling Zhao thieves wanted to kill all the people in Dexing, and then forcibly recruited farmers to fight against the miners.

"Shhhhhh!"

"Bang bang bang!"

Bows and arrows and firecrackers were fired one after another, and the ambush soldiers who ran at the front were immediately frightened and fled in all directions.

It was another round of firing, and the more than 20,000 enemies were all defeated.

They were forcibly recruited, and they were not willing to fight for the powerful gentry. If the ambush is successful, there may still be enthusiasm. If the ambush fails, then run away. Only fools are willing to work hard for the few money.

The mountains and plains were full of routs, and Li Zheng only captured a few hundred, so he ordered the pursuit to stop.

After the interrogation, the soldiers immediately divided into three groups, and went to find trouble with those powerful gentry.

Li Zheng personally led the troops to a place, and this powerful man actually built an earthen building. It's just that all the slaves ran to set up an ambush, and there were not many people in the tulou to defend.

Li Zheng asked people to come forward and shout: "If you surrender, only the head of the villain will be punished. If you resist, all will be killed! The slave brothers inside, after you surrender, you can share the property!"

"Don't believe the nonsense of the rebels, the rebels are going to kill us all!" the powerful man in the tulou shouted hastily.

"Brother slaves, come out and divide the fields! According to Mr. Zhao's rules, each person can divide four acres of paddy fields. If there is not enough paddy fields, two acres of dry fields count as one mu of paddy fields, and each person can get eight acres of dry fields! House slaves and peasants have already been allocated fields. The hard-working brothers in Fuliang County are already dividing fields. We passed by Leping County, and Leping County is also dividing fields. Mr. Zhao is a family slave, and he will not treat you badly!"

"Don't go out, let me see who dares!"

"..."

The people here may not know that Raozhou is dividing the land.

However, Leping County is next door, and the news of Leping's land division has more or less spread.

The domestic slaves guarding the tulou were skeptical, mainly because they did not dare to imagine such a good thing.

But it is enough to be dubious. When Li Zheng ordered to attack the Tulou, most of the domestic slaves were unwilling to resist.

"Mother thief, kill him!"

But it was the powerful sons of this family who led people to defend various parts of the Tulou.

In one of them, a house slave opened the door secretly, and the powerful son immediately ordered the murder. However, only a few confidantes took action, and the rest of the slaves backed away in fright.

Datong rattan players climbed up the ladder, and there were also only a few confidant domestic slaves who were still there to resist, and the rest were all working without any effort.

Outside the earth building, shouting has not stopped: "Brothers of domestic slaves, we are all hard-working people, don't sacrifice our lives for the powerful landlord. Isn't it good to save our lives and divide the fields? Hard-working people don't beat hard-working people, kill the landlords , Kill the evil gentry, kill the tyrants! Kill, the poor will rise up to rebel! The land is ours, and the world is ours too! Kill me!"

"kill!"

The moment Datong soldiers attacked the earth building, there were slaves rebelling immediately, aiming their weapons at the tyrants and dogs.

More and more slaves rebelled, and the inside of the tulou quickly started to fight. Cooperating with the first Datong soldiers, they opened the two gates of the tulou.

As soon as the gate is opened, the battle is basically over, and the rest is just hunting and capturing.

Anyone who resisted was immediately killed on the spot, and all those who did not resist were tied up. This family belongs to the recalcitrant generation, all the men are arrested and sent to mines, the women are assigned to unmarried soldiers, and the children are sent to nursing homes. At the same time, they have to reform their thinking.

After the tulou was occupied, it served as Li Zheng's temporary command post, leaving the supply troops to garrison the tulou.

After a brief rest, Li Zheng immediately led his troops to the next family. This time, there were many surrendered slaves as guides.

Li Zheng was already out of his temper. He occupied Raozhou Prefecture, Fuliang County, and Leping County without much resistance. This gentry from Dexing County was very powerful and bold. He had killed several missionary officers and members of the peasant association before, and today he killed three of his Sou-shan soldiers. One of them was killed and several others were injured when they attacked the Tulou.

The second target has no earthen buildings, just an ordinary mansion compound.

This time, a surrendered domestic slave spoke out, which was more convincing. The slaves in the house quickly rebelled, killed their master and came to open the door. After Li Zheng finished dealing with it, he immediately ran to the third house of powerful men.

As long as they send troops in series to set up an ambush, no one can escape. Even if they surrender and offer land, Li Zheng wants to completely wipe out the evil gentry and powerful forces in Dexing County!

Because this place is so important, with silver mines, copper mines, iron mines, and tin mines, this place will serve as Zhao Han's coin casting center.

…

When Fei Yinghuan returned to Qianshan Mountain, it was snowing heavily and it was already the twelfth lunar month of winter.

The prefect of Guangxin was called Xie Lijing, a native of Guizhou and a disciple of the King's School in central Guizhou. Historically, he was a righteous man who fought against the Qing Dynasty. He was appointed governor of Sichuan by Sun Kewang. After being defeated and captured, he refused to surrender and died on a hunger strike.

Guangxin Mansion is the furthest away from Zhao Han's territory and has little influence here.

Xie Lijing tried his best to help the hungry people in Zhejiang this year, but it was only his best. Many hungry people starved to death, and many of them froze to death when it snowed in winter.

Hearing that the Zhao thieves continued to expand their territory, Xie Lijing immediately persuaded the gentry to contribute money to recruit troops.

A few years ago, Zhang Yinggao recruited thousands of soldiers, and the gentry of Guangxin Prefecture provided money and people. As a result, there was no news of thousands of disciples' expedition to Jishui. The few who returned from the expedition spread wild rumors that Fei Ruhe was a rebel.

Now that Jie Lijing is recruiting troops again, the gentry are unwilling to go through any trouble.

They definitely can't defeat Zhao Thief. They can't run away before the big disaster in Zhejiang, so they can only stay in their hometown and resign themselves to fate. Especially in Qianshan County, there are many gentry doing business and running factories, so they can still live even if their land is taken away.

Xie Lijing struggled for two months and only recruited more than a thousand Xiangyong.

When the news came that the Datong Army had occupied Anren, of the more than a thousand local warriors, only a few hundred escaped quickly.

When Fei Yinghuan returned home, Fei Yuanyi was shocked and said, "You are working as an official in Fujian. What are you doing here? The rebels are coming to kill you!"

"Father, I am here to deal with this matter." Fei Yinghuan said.

Fei Yuanyi urged: "Go back to Fujian quickly and buy more land in Fujian. Maybe the Fei family will have to move there in the future."

Fei Yinghuan said: "Father, Ruhe is General Zhao Er."

"Ru..." Fei Yuanyi said in shock, "Is the rumor true? Didn't you write a letter saying that Ruhe went to Fujian?"

"It's just a secret." Fei Yinghuan said.

Fei Yuanyi asked: "Who is Mr. Zhao of Luling?"

Fei Yinghuan replied: "Zhao Han."

"Zhao Han?" Fei Yuanyi trembled all over. He was really scared. He had framed Zhao Han back then!

Fei Yinghuan said: "Immediately ask the clan leader to convene the entire Fei clan for discussion!"

"Okay, okay." Fei Yuanyi was surprised and happy. He was surprised that Zhao Han became the leader of the rebel bandits, and he was happy that his grandson became the number two rebel leader.

A few days later, the Datong Army had occupied Guixi, which was only one Yiyang County away from Qianshan.

At the Fei family's ancestral home in Henglin, representatives from all branches of the Fei family came to hold a meeting.

Fei Yuanzhen, the head of the Fei clan, and Fei Yuanlu, the head of Hanzhu Academy, are both still alive. It's just that Fei Yuanzhen is very old. He has to be supported by a maid when he walks, and his ears are somewhat deaf.

After everyone arrived, Fei Yuanzhen lost all his teeth and said: "The Zhao thief is coming. This thief is so fierce that even the officers and soldiers can't beat him. I, Fei, don't have that ability. For the current plan, I can only If you can donate your land, you can keep other properties. If anyone refuses to donate their land, it may bring disaster to the entire Fei family."

Some agreed, some were unhappy.

Those who agreed to donate their fields were those whose families had businesses or factories. Fei originally made his fortune through business. Generally speaking, commercial and industrial income far exceeded land output.

Those who do not agree to donate land mainly rely on land income.

"Let me say a few words." Fei Yinghuan stood up.

Those who disagreed with the land offering were overjoyed, because Fei Yinghuan was the most successful official in the entire Fe family. They wanted to rely on Fei Yinghuan to go to prefectures and counties with their wealth to buy property and land and become landlords again.

The land could no longer be sold, and no one would buy it no matter how low the price was, because everyone knew that Zhao Han was coming to divide the land.

Fei Yinghuan said: "My first suggestion is for Fei to change the clan leader."

what's the situation?

Everyone was a little confused, but the patriarch Fei Yuanzhen was still stroking his beard and smiling, because he was deaf and didn't know what Fei Yinghuan said.

Fei Yinghuan got closer and shouted: "The Zhao thief in Luling is Zhao Han!"

Others didn't know who Zhao Han was, but Fei Yuanlu was dumbfounded. He was so impressed by the "Hanzhu Debate".

Fei Yuanzhen finally heard the voice this time and continued stroking his beard and said: "Whether it's Zhao Han or Zhao Yan, they are all named Zhao. I'm afraid they are the survivors of the Zhao and Song Dynasties."

It was obvious that the clan leader had forgotten who Zhao Han was.

Fei Yinghuan could only shout again: "Zhao Han, Hanzhu Debate, remove student status!"

"Zhao Han... Zhao..." Fei Yuanzhen's eyes widened suddenly, and he suddenly remembered the good deed he had instigated Fei Yuanyi to do.

Without taking a breath, Fei Yuanzhen slumped on the chair.

"The patriarch fainted!"