Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 395: Conquer
In the back hall of Dalan Mountain, Wang Yi and Shi Lang sat on the upper left and right, and Feng Jingdi, Li Changxiang, Lin Xingzhu and others sat below.

At this time, half a month had passed since the meeting of all the villages. During this half month, the army of Dalan Village came out together and successively occupied many large villages in the mountains such as Taiping and Xuedou.
In addition, the Dongshan Village Li Changxiang's troops and the Pinggang Village Huang Zongxi's troops had already been incorporated before the alliance.

In just half a month, Dalan Village has become the leading overlord in Siming Mountain. No other village can challenge Dalan Village's position as the leader of the rebel army.

The reason why Dalanzhai was able to incorporate other villages so quickly this time was not only because of the surprise attack, but also because of the contributions of Shi Lang's soldiers.

The soldiers Shi Lang brought into the mountains were extremely elite. Not only were they fully armored and skilled in archery and horse riding, they were also able to march for 10 to 20 miles in full sets of armor weighing dozens of kilograms.

Although Shi Lang sent only a few soldiers to incorporate the various strongholds in Dalan Mountain, almost all the stubborn people in the strongholds were killed by these soldiers.
Most of the time, the soldiers under Wang Yi and others just followed behind and accepted the surrendered strongholds.
Huang Zongxi gave a brief report of the situation in the mountains and continued

"More than ten important strongholds in the Siming Mountain area are now under the control of the imperial court, but we acted too hastily this time. Now the various rebel armies in the mountains have received the news, and the people in the small strongholds are all in a panic."

Shi Lang heard this, but he didn't care. He waved his hand and said

"It's chaos, there will always be chaos in Siming Mountain. The key is to control the important strongholds in the mountains."

"These large strongholds are all in the mountains that are easy to defend but difficult to attack. As long as we occupy these places, no matter how much trouble the rest of the people make, they will not be able to gain any influence."

Although Shi Lang acted decisively and captured the leaders of each village, there were 32 villages participating in the meeting.

Although Wang Yi, Li Changxiang and others had made preparations in advance, it was impossible for them to take over 32 strongholds at the same time.
The Dalan Mountain Stronghold has limited military strength, so it can only capture the various strongholds in the mountains first.

It was difficult to conceal the movement of a large army. After the soldiers of Dalanzhai were dispatched, the small villages in the mountains soon discovered the shocking changes in Dalanzhai.

Now, the small villages in the mountains either closed their camps to defend themselves, or plundered the gold, silver, and food in the villages and fled before the Dalanshan rebels arrived.

A large number of small rebel forces fled into the mountains. Now the mountains are full of panic and people are in a state of panic.
Shi Lang thought for a moment and then spoke again

"This matter has been anticipated by the court. When I came here, the governor's office had already made a plan for the current situation."

"Now that Dalan Village has taken control of the key areas in the mountainous area, we can turn the village into a county, send civil and military officials to govern and garrison it, and start collecting taxes again."

Although the Siming Mountain area is full of mountains, it does not mean that there is no arable land in the mountains. There are large areas of flat land available for farming in Siming Lake, Chenxi, Xizhang Mountain and other places in the mountains.
Previously, there were many rebel armies in the mountains, fighting for territory. In the end, although all the villages in the mountains were short of food, the arable land was abandoned in the wilderness and no one was cultivating it.
Of course, these fields can be used to grow crops, but no matter who sends people to cultivate them, once the crops are grown, all parties will inevitably come to grab them.

After all the hard work of sending people to farm, they may end up growing crops for others. Naturally, no one would do such a loss-making business.

At this time, Dalan Village is the only one in power, and no one dares to provoke it easily, so these fields in the mountains can naturally be used again.
Lin Xingzhu and other military missionaries have already counted the conditions of the arable land in the mountains. As long as these fields can be recultivated, Dalan Village should have no problem supporting 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers with these fields.
Of course, it was just enough to support them. With these fields, it was no problem to feed the soldiers, but monthly salary, military uniforms and armors, that was out of the question.

Wang Yi and others nodded slightly when they heard this. The plan set by the court was actually to follow the example of the Guangdong court and separate the military from the government.

Treat each large fort as a county, send civil officials to collect refugees, restore farming, and collect taxes.

At the same time, they recruited various rebel forces in the mountains, reorganized them and sent them to various villages to guard them, and completely brought the Siming Mountain area under the rule of the governor's office.

Huang Zongxi frowned slightly and said

"The imperial court has already incorporated all the villages, and now it is time to bring all the places in the mountains under the rule of the imperial court."

"But if we want to rebuild the government in the mountains, we can afford civil officials, but we don't have enough military officials."

Zhejiang Province was a place where culture and education flourished, and many people valued integrity and righteousness. After the Qing Dynasty occupied Zhejiang Province, a large number of scholars fled to the mountains
Wang Yi and his men were all court officials of decent backgrounds, so most of the scholars who had fled into the mountains now joined the ranks of Wang Yi, Li Changxiang and others.
Wang Yi and his men had no shortage of civil officials, but they were seriously short of military officials who could take charge.
According to the plan of Wang Yi and others, after incorporating the mountain rebels, in addition to the main camp of Dalan Mountain, each of the newly acquired large camps such as Taiping and Xuedou would be stationed with 1,000 to 2,000 garrisons.

The soldiers were dispersed to various camps because Dalanshan alone could not provide food and wages for tens of thousands of troops.

On the other hand, they had to send soldiers to various large camps to suppress the rebellious troops in various places and restore order in the mountains as soon as possible.
Wang Yi, Li Changxiang and others frowned when they heard this. The local strongholds were independent and the leaders had to not only understand military affairs but also be loyal and reliable.
If the generals sent out are not familiar with military affairs, they may not be able to suppress the small rebel forces in various places. If they are not trustworthy, there will be endless troubles.
The terrain of the various strongholds was dangerous, and the rapid capture of Dalan Mountain this time was entirely due to the surprise attack.
If the generals sent out have reckless intentions, it won't be long before there will be a bunch of Shi Zhongfangs in the mountains who will obey orders but not decrees.
In just half a month, the power of Dalan Village expanded several times, and Wang Yi could not find so many loyal and useful warriors at once.

Upon hearing this, Shi Lang spoke up

"This is not difficult. You can count how many people are needed. I can transfer people directly from Zhejiang Province. A hundred soldiers can still be sent from Fujian and Zhejiang."

When Wang Yi and Huang Zongxi heard this, their expressions changed slightly.

They did not doubt what Shi Lang said. There were now 40,000 to 50,000 troops stationed on the border between Fujian and Zhejiang. It would not be a problem to transfer a hundred or so generals. These generals would be absolutely reliable and would not rebel. But how could this be feasible?

Wang Yi, Huang Zongxi and others were all silent. Shi Lang glanced at them and immediately understood what Wang Yi and others were thinking.

Shi Lang sneered and said

"Of course, this is just a suggestion. Whether or not to borrow soldiers from Zhejiang Province is up to you to decide."

"I know what you are thinking, but to be honest, these blacks in your mountains... well, these rebels in your mountains are not worthy of my attention."

Shi Lang's eyes flashed with contempt. These rebel forces in Siming Mountain were said to have tens of thousands of soldiers.
But in Shi Lang's eyes, apart from a small number of core members in each village, the rest of the so-called rebel army was not worth mentioning at all.

Not to mention the imperial court, just the hundreds of soldiers Shi Lang brought with him this time, as long as these soldiers were equipped with bows and horses, Shi Lang was confident that he could defeat these so-called tens of thousands of righteous troops in the mountains on flat ground.
People always say that strength comes from numbers, but this is not necessarily true. For untrained civilians, the more people there are, the weaker their fighting power will be.

Tens of thousands of people gathered in one place, let alone fighting the enemy, they would probably fall into chaos before the enemy showed up.
These so-called righteous troops in the mountains were inexperienced in battle formations, had neither armor nor guns or artillery, and when faced with an enemy, they would rush forward and flee at the slightest sign of trouble.

Not to mention the imperial guards, these people are not even as good as the Shi family army before they surrendered to the court.
After seeing several imperial guards in the court, Shi Lang found that these people were not worthy of his attention. Of course, if he wanted to improve their combat effectiveness, there were ways. As long as he equipped the army with grassroots generals, trained them strictly, paid them salaries, and won their hearts, and equipped them with armor, firearms and other weapons, these rebel armies would also be useful.

But if Shi Lang had this time, wouldn't it be better for him to use it to support his own soldiers? Wouldn't it be a waste of time to just give it to these people?
These righteous armies in various camps were more like common people armed with swords than soldiers. If they really encountered a slightly trained army, they would be immediately defeated.

Wang Yi and the others saw the contempt on Shi Lang's face. They were angry at first, but soon fell silent.
They knew Shi Lang's identity. The most famous person in Zhejiang Province was naturally Li Mingzhong, the Duke of Jingguo, who led the Wuxiang Imperial Army. The second most famous person was Shi Fu, the Duke of Guguo, who was in charge of the Fujian Camp.
These two men led the army to guard Fujian and Zhejiang for several years, and made the previously unstoppable Qing army unable to advance an inch in Fujian and Zhejiang. Shi Lang was Shi Fu's nephew.

Compared with the army deployed by the imperial court in Fujian and Zhejiang, these rebel forces in the mountains are probably not worthy of Shi Lang's attention.
Wang Yi, Li Changxiang and others looked at each other. They neither agreed nor disagreed with Shi Lang's words about dispatching the generals. Instead, they changed the subject.

Huang Zongxi spoke again at this time

"After the imperial court incorporated all the strongholds, Dalan Mountain now has nearly 40,000 soldiers under its control. The mountain simply cannot afford to support so many soldiers."

"After discussing with Lord Li, I think we should cut down the old and weak soldiers and reduce the number of the rebel army to 20,000. This will not only reduce the pressure on food and wages, but also free up manpower to cultivate the land."

As soon as Huang Zongxi finished speaking, Shi Lang frowned and immediately said

"No, we will need troops in the mountains soon, and we just don't have enough soldiers right now. How can we reduce the army? This is absolutely not feasible!"

Huang Zongxi and others naturally knew what Shi Lang was talking about, but Huang Zongxi frowned and thought for a moment, then he said

"The rebels recruited from various camps are of varying quality. If we send them out of the mountains like this, once they encounter the Qing army, I'm afraid they will suffer heavy casualties immediately."

"I think it would be better to leave only the elite troops behind and let the rest of us stay in the mountains to farm..."

Before Huang Zongxi finished speaking, Shi Lang interrupted him coldly.

"Since these people are under the banner of the imperial court, they are imperial soldiers. Now that the imperial court has issued an order, how can they be allowed to retreat?"

"Don't talk about cutting down the elite troops. I have been in the army for ten years, but I have never heard of cutting down the elite troops."

"On the battlefield, there is no such thing as young, strong, old or weak. Only those who survive are the elite!"

"All these recruited soldiers must follow us into battle. Those who come back alive will be given official positions. If they die, it is their duty to serve the court."

Shi Lang glanced at everyone in the room, a stern look flashed across his face, and he said in a cold voice: "It's nothing."
"Besides, you should all know that sending these people out at this time will also be beneficial to Dalan Village."

Wang Yi and the others fell silent after hearing this. Sending these people out would certainly be beneficial to Dalan Village.
Although Dalan Village has incorporated the various villages in the mountains, the rebels in the villages are not convinced. The people in the villages only surrendered temporarily because of the strength of Wang Yi and others.

If Dalan Village dismissed these people and released them back into the mountains, they would become the kings of the mountains and cause chaos.

Sending these recruited volunteers out of the mountain is the best way to ensure stability in the mountain. As long as these volunteers are taken out of the mountain, these people will have no choice but to follow the actions of Dalanzhai.

To put it bluntly, only when these people died outside the mountain, Dalanzhai's rule over Siming Mountain could be completely consolidated.
But Wang Yi and the others all frowned and did not respond. The Qing court had ruled the north for a long time, and the number of people who fled to the mountains had been decreasing over the years.
If one of these people in the mountains dies, one less will be lost. If Shi Lang continues to do this, most of these recruited rebels will probably be killed.
Wang Yi suddenly looked to the left at Feng Jingdi who had been silent all this time, and said

"What does Lord Feng think about this matter?"

Feng Jingdi saw everyone looking at him, and after a moment of silence, he spoke

"I am here only to announce the imperial decree on behalf of His Highness the Regent of Lu. I am not in a position to speak rashly about other matters. The matter of sending troops is of great importance, and we need to discuss it carefully between Governor Wang and General Shi."

After Feng Jingdi finished speaking, he sat on the chair again without saying a word. Shi Lang looked at Wang Yi and others who were frowning, but sneered.

"Why, you want to go back on your word?"

"Wang Futai, you must remember that you are the governor of northern Zhejiang and a minister of the imperial court, not the leader of Dalan Village or the leader of the Siming Mountain Volunteer Army!"

After Shi Lang led his troops into the mountains, why did he help Wang Yi to incorporate the various camps? It was because Wang Yi's strength was too weak.

If all the troops from Dalan Mountain and Huang Zongxi's camps were used to complete the task, by the time the task was completed, the pro-Ming camps such as Dalan and Dongshan would probably be wiped out in the mountains.

For Shi Lang, as long as he could complete the mission, he didn't care whether the people in Dalanzhai died or not.
But the imperial court had its own considerations. Since the imperial court decided to assist Wang Yi and others in unifying the Siming Mountain first, Shi Lang also took the trouble to help Wang Yi reorganize the rebel army in the mountains.

But Shi Lang didn't expect that he had just helped Wang Yi and others to control Siming Mountain, and Wang Yi and others were reluctant to part with their belongings.

These people don't even think about who helped them get these properties.
Wang Yi's expression changed slightly when he heard this, and he said in a deep voice:
"General Shi, that's not what I meant. These tens of thousands of volunteers are nearly half of the young and strong men in the mountains. If a large number of them are killed outside the mountains, the strength of the volunteers in the mountains will be weakened in the future. I..."

Before Wang Yi finished speaking, Shi Lang interrupted him with a wave of his hand and said:

"Okay, let's leave it at that. The dispatch of troops is an order from the imperial court. I cannot change this matter, and I'm afraid you will not be allowed to bargain."

"I will give you one month to integrate the mountains. It is up to you to decide who should stay to guard the mountains and who should go with the army to fight."

"In a month, we must send troops from the mountains. We can take advantage of the New Year to send a great gift to the Tartars!"

Shi Lang's eyes flashed with a fierce look. Of course, he knew what Wang Yi and the others were thinking, but what did it have to do with him?

Shi Lang took great risks to sneak across the front line and lead his troops into the mountains in order to complete the court's mission, not to help Wang Yi and others become mountain kings.
(End of this chapter)