First Minister of Ming Dynasty

"Hengjian Mountain should be resolved quickly, so as not to hurt too many people. Most of these people are from Dingyuan. Let them go home and settle down properly." Old Zhu said after consideration.

Zhang Ximeng nodded immediately, "My lord is wise, I wonder if I can think of a way to trick Lao Zhang out and give him a fatal blow?"

This idea was immediately discussed by the big guys. After discussing it for a long time, there was still no definite solution.After all, people still don't know much about Lao Zhang.

Who is familiar with Lao Zhang?

Jalu!

This former boss of Lao Zhang, when he was besieging Haozhou, Jia Lu planned to mobilize Lao Zhang's troops to help in the battle.

"My lord, you should come up with an idea!" Zhang Ximeng said with a smile, "Could it be that you, old man, still think that the lord can't do anything?"

Jia Lu glared at Zhang Ximeng angrily, "You're talking nonsense! This old man needs to think carefully, how can he be as casual as you are!"

Jia Lu scolded Zhang Ximeng, and immediately turned to Zhu Yuanzhang, "My lord, let me say that Lao Zhang is a timid person. If you want him to come out on his own initiative, he will definitely go to heaven. After all, I have given him three hand orders, and he has not The movements are just prevarication and perfunctory."

Hearing this, everyone was discouraged.

At that time when the army besieged Haozhou, Lao Zhang didn't dare to come. Now that the wind direction has completely changed, how could Lao Zhang dare to come out?

It doesn't work to lure the snake out of the hole, so go straight to the dragon!

Let those soldiers who surrendered be the forerunners, and go straight in!

Jia Lu pondered and said: "Old Zhang has tens of thousands of horses and has been in business for a long time. It can be said that it is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the lord is not willing to kill too much... After thinking about it, the old man has a ten thousand households under him, named Yang Zhen. Working under the old man, I can write a letter to persuade Yang Zhen, but..."

"Just what?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked, "Is there any inconvenience, my lord?"

"No!" Jia Lu hurriedly said, "Yang Zhen's hometown is in Chuzhou, and there are many adults in the family. The Lord's implementation of the land division order will definitely shake the Yang family. Even if I wrote him a letter, I'm afraid he would not be willing to abandon the dark and turn to the bright."

As soon as these words came out, everyone was speechless.

There are gains and losses. If you want to gain the support of the people, you will inevitably impact the interests of the rich and powerful.

Is there any way in this world to have the best of both worlds?

It seems to be non-existent.

The big family eats more, and the common people eat less, especially in an agricultural society, where extreme involution is such a helpless situation.

Zhu Yuanzhang pondered for a moment, then said coldly: "Since you don't want to abandon the darkness and turn to the light, then dispatch troops to besiege, cut off Hengjian Mountain and the roads outside, and force Lao Zhang to come out to die!"

This method is good, and the big guys can't help being excited.

But at this time, Zhang Ximeng suddenly said: "Master, it is good to besiege Hengjian Mountain. It is not impossible to lure Yang Zhen to surrender. Even if he is unwilling to surrender, what about his men? Hundreds of soldiers came here admiringly, and let them see the effect of dividing the land... Do you want to live a life like this? As long as they want to, they can persuade the soldiers in Hengjian Mountain to solve Lao Zhang and let tens of thousands of people come out , the land around Dingyuan, as well as the fields on both sides of the Baogong River and the Haoshui River, all belong to the big guys!"

After Zhang Ximeng finished speaking, Jia Lu was surprised by many people.

Can you still do that?

In the past, when persuading to surrender, it was always the leaders who persuaded them to surrender, and they were coerced and lured, and they were all beauties with money.

Zhang Ximeng opened up a new way of thinking, let's start with ordinary soldiers.

If you don't like to surrender, then let the low-level soldiers coerce you to surrender!

Zhang Ximeng's trick can no longer be described as bamboo shoots, it's like durian mixed with stinky tofu, it's over the top!

Lao Zhu hesitated a little, and immediately nodded, even showing appreciation.

Even with Jia Lu and Li Shanchang around, Zhang Ximeng still sits firmly in the position of the first confidant. This is not only because he followed Lao Zhu early, but also because Zhang Ximeng has a good vision and can always come up with unexpected solutions.

That's it!

There was nothing else to say, Lao Zhu arranged for the soldiers who surrendered to go to Lupai Village, along the Baogong River, and take a look around to see how the fields are divided, what do you guys think!

This group of soldiers only came here after hearing about the subdivision of land and felt that Lao Zhang had no future... But when they witnessed it with their own eyes, they were completely overwhelmed!

They noticed that one family had five people in total. The father and mother had raised three sons, all of whom were adults... In the past, they only rented the land and worked hard for a year, half of which had to pay the land rent. The landlord's family has a lot of money, and seeing that the son is getting bigger and bigger, he can't afford a wife at all, and the family is moaning all day long.

But the situation is completely different now. The family's ration field is [-] acres, which is enough to fill their stomachs.They also allocated about [-] acres of hillside land, which can be used to grow mulberry and fruit trees to fill their households.

These are all tax-free, and the family's basic food and clothing are no longer a problem.

Then there are 25 mu of land for circulation, which need to be taxed. According to the amount of tax paid to them, depending on the degree of harvest, it ranges from three to five shi a year.

"You do the math, 25 acres of land, in a good year, there will be [-] shi harvests, and in a bad year, there will be [-] shi. After paying the land tax, the rest will be ours. As long as there is no catastrophe, our family will be able to live in two years. If you build a big house, you can marry your eldest son a wife. In another three to five years, all three sons will be able to get married."

The old man rejoiced and calculated: "I can still work with this body for ten years, and my grandson will grow up by then. At that time, I will go under the grape trellis, let my grandson be by my side, and grandpa and grandpa will be screaming all day long. Don't be so beautiful." !"

A group of soldiers listened with relish and smiled, as if they were old enough to live such a rich and comfortable life.

While the old man was talking, his youngest son suddenly came over.

"Father, it won't take two years, and next year I will be able to marry my eldest brother a wife."

The old man was taken aback.

The youngest son said loudly: "I'm going to join the army... Serve as a soldier for General Zhu, and we can share an extra five acres of ration fields! There are still people working for our family! I heard that, didn't they raid the Mu family? There are a lot of cattle for farming! Whoever actively joins the army, whoever is willing to serve as a servant and work for General Zhu, will give a cow! Father, tell me, if we have a cow, it would be great!"

Hearing this, the old man suddenly stood up, staring at his son with his old eyes that had experienced many vicissitudes.

The mother came over with a water ladle, and when she heard this, she was so frightened that she threw the water ladle on the ground, and asked in panic, "Old man! What did San'er say?"

The son stepped over, picked up the ladle, and whispered to his mother, "Mother, my son wants to join the army!"

"no!"

The old lady hugged her son, beat her son hard, and burst into tears.

"Our family has just had a good time, and you are looking for death, what will your mother say!"

At this moment, the old man suddenly growled, "Shut up!"

He turned his head, grabbed the third son's arm, stared at his wife again, and angrily said: "Other soldiers are harmful to others, so you can't be a soldier! Serving as a soldier for General Zhu is a good thing for a long face! Third son, why don't you give it to your father?" Listen, when you're under General Zhu, you can't be afraid of death, and you can't run away. Let's, let's repay the favor!"

The son nodded, "Father, the son knows!"

The old man nodded, and suddenly said with a serious face: "Don't worry...Call your elder brother and second brother over, let's discuss and discuss, if you want to join the army, then you have to tell you about your wife first, they are old, and they also want to marry you." Wait later!"

……

The surrendering soldiers returned to Hengjian Mountain in batches with a full stomach, and a full five days passed.

In the dark, Zhu Yuanzhang led 2000 people to the vicinity of Hengjian Mountain. They didn't wait too long. About two o'clock, three Kongming lanterns rose in the sky, and the gate of Hengjian Village opened.

A group of soldiers came rushing over, holding their heads high, and said happily, "General Zhu, hurry in!"

Chapter 57 Bigger Stories

Yang Zhen of Wanhu was surrounded by a group of subordinates, and went to meet the man with the highest official position as the head of the nine husbands!

Yang Zhen is well aware of the cowardice and cowardice of Zhiyuan Lao Zhang.In order to bribe the people in Lvpaizhai, he sent precious grains, but all of them were swallowed by the red scarf.

None of the soldiers in charge of escorting came back, it was like a slap on Lao Zhang's mouth.

But even so, Lao Zhang didn't have the guts to send troops.

From this moment on, Yang Zhen knew it was over!

If you lose your temper, everything is over.

The next thing is to wait for when to die.

But Yang Zhen didn't want to die, he wanted to find a way out.

It's just that this road makes it very difficult for him to go up... He is from a rich family, and the other party is a beggar monk.

With such a disparity in status and status, how do you let him put down his face and go to Zhu Yuanzhang?

Yang Zhen pretended to be dead, but with the distribution of the land, news kept coming that some relatives who were near Lvpai Village secretly ran away, planning to take a piece of land and become a stable farmer.

Later, dozens, hundreds, or even hundreds of people fled... The order in Lvpai Village completely collapsed.

As a ten thousand household, he can't restrain the people below, starting from ordinary soldiers, there are people who are constantly joining forces everywhere, and in their hands, there are concise and concise methods of dividing the land.

Soldiers who were somewhat literate read aloud and explained to the others.

Every time these were mentioned, everyone danced and danced like drinking fine wine or hearing fairy music.

A few officers found out that the paper was confiscated and the soldiers were beaten... But soon the officers found that wherever they went, they were all staring at them, and the soldiers were staring at them angrily, pressing their hands on the handle of the knife, as if To draw a knife to kill.

Don't be afraid of one or two soldiers, but [-] to [-]% of them are like this, and it will kill them!

Therefore, when the officers saw the soldiers recite the method of dividing the land, they simply hid far away.For fear of punishing the soldiers again and stirring up mutiny.

Anyway, as long as I close my eyes, the world will have no light.

After a few days, hundreds of soldiers were ready, just waiting for General Zhu to arrive.

When Lao Zhu appeared, there was no need to attack at all. The gates were opened, the drawbridge was lowered, torches were lit, and soldiers even brought fine wine.

As long as General Zhu gives the big guy an order, we can tear down Hengjian Mountain!

In this warm atmosphere, Yang Zhen arrived in front of Zhu Yuanzhang's horse. He was very embarrassed, lowered his head, but secretly glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang.

I am Wanhu, a general of the Yuan army.

Giving Hengjian Mountain to you, such a great contribution, you should also show it!

Get off your horse quickly and act like a corporal!

It's a pity that Zhu Yuanzhang didn't move at all, not even smiling.

Helpless, Yang Zhen had no choice but to dismount by herself.

He took two steps, and wanted to bow and clasp his fists, but he was worried about blame, so he raised his hands halfway up, and then knelt down again.

"I welcome General Zhu!"

Lao Zhu looked at him, but still didn't smile at all.

"Your name is Yang Zhen?"

"Yes!"

Old Zhu paused, "If you come here like this, we can't count you as an uprising, but a surrender! How to deal with it will be discussed after the battle is over!"

After saying a word, Lao Zhu mobilized his war horse, passed by Yang Zhen, and rushed directly into the camp, leaving only Yang Zhen in a daze!

What number of ways is this?

I clearly have such a high status, and I have made great achievements, so why do I treat myself like this?

Isn't it too cold?

When Yang Zhen was furious, he found a young man riding on a horse with a smile, looking down at him.

"Yang Zhen, to see what you mean, do you think the lord is unfair? Treating the hero slowly?"

Yang Zhen's complexion was not good. He got up from the ground, lowered his head, and sighed for a long time: "How dare you! I am a defeated general, so I dare not speak bravely!"

Zhang Ximeng smiled faintly, "My lord is the most fair in doing things. You ask yourself, are you sincerely seeking refuge, or are you forced to? Are you held hostage by your subordinates?"

"This..." Yang Zhen's face turned ugly again, it was really uncomfortable for people to reveal their faults in person.

After a while, Yang Zhenyi was cold and disheartened, and sighed: "I have no courage or plan, I am a useless person, I just want to go back to my hometown, become a rich man, and hope to be successful."

Zhang Ximeng looked at him with a smile on the corner of his mouth, "Yes, I will naturally grant you this wish."

"Thank you very much!" Yang Zhen gritted his teeth and said this. If he knew this, he would not open the door even if he fought to the end!

Unexpectedly, Zhang Ximeng would not let him go, and added with a smile, "Yang Wanhu, you can go back now, but remember to tell the family in Chuzhou, remember to prepare to divide the land. I heard that your Yang family is also a big family. , it is inevitable that you made mistakes in the past. But as long as you sincerely correct your mistakes and are willing to cooperate with the division of land, you can still be a man again."

After saying this, Yang Zhen raised her brows and couldn't hold back any longer.

He was really mad.

What is this?

He just opened the door, no credit, but also hard work, but in the end, without credit, he still has to share their family's property?

Yang Zhen gritted his teeth, "Since ancient times, it has been heard that the virtuous men return to obedience, greet each other with respect, and treat each other generously. This is the demeanor to achieve great things. If you fail to live up to expectations and chill people's hearts, even if you gain power for a while, I'm afraid it will end in a miserable way." !"

Zhang Ximeng laughed, "Yang Wanhu is cursing us for not having a good end?"

"Don't dare! I'm just talking about my superficial views."

Zhang Ximeng said indifferently: "It's really not deep, it's very shallow! You regard yourself as a character, thinking that we will regard you as a treasure and praise you to the sky? I'm sorry, but you were just forced to this step. You really opened the camp and immediately It is thousands of ordinary soldiers who have made great contributions. They are the real heroes!"

Yang Zhen gritted her teeth again, and couldn't help snorting coldly, feeling extremely contemptuous in her heart.

What a group of superficial and ignorant thieves, you don't appease thousands of famous families, but treat some insignificant soldiers as guests?

Even if you are nice to these people, so what?