Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 216 Dongjiang Riots
"I heard that you gave Huanglong a cannon?" Shen Zhixiang, the right lieutenant general of the Dongjiang Town, put down the teacup in his hand, looked up at Zhong Minghui, and finally couldn't bear the anger in his heart, and asked with a slightly gloomy face.

"That's right," Zhong Minghui admitted frankly. "Huang Long and his men, over 5,000 strong, were trying to storm the rebel-held fortress of Lushun. They didn't have many useful weapons, so I gave them one."

"You're really generous!" Shen Zhixiang said sarcastically, "We on Pi Island need to be on guard against possible attacks by the Jiannu. Why don't you give us a few artillery pieces for free?"

"Haha..." Zhong Minghui laughed, "General Shen, the Jiannu have no boats, how can they attack your Pi Island?"

"The Jiannu have no ships, but North Korea has many naval warships."

"Oh? A year ago, the Koreans were making every effort to refuse and refused to lend the ships to the Qing army. Why are they so proactive now?"

"..." A hint of anger appeared on Shen Zhixiang's face.

Why are you acting stupid in front of me?
Am I talking to you about whether North Korea will lend ships to the Jiannu?

"General Shen, I know your commander-in-chief has a rift with Huang Longsheng, and he's taking advantage of the Dongjiang rebels' uprising to force him off Pi Island." Zhong Minghui sighed softly and said, "But right now, the world is in turmoil, and the Liaohai Sea is also in turmoil. Shouldn't you all work together, unite all the forces you can, and face the enemy with a united front?"

"Mr. Zhong is teaching us how to do things?" Shen Zhixiang asked coldly.

"General Shen, our ancestors left us a saying: 'Brothers fight within the walls, but we must defend ourselves against external aggression.'" Zhong Minghui ignored the other party's attitude and continued, "Since the establishment of your Dongjiang Town, the greatest enemy has always been the Jiannu. The greatest value of your existence is to contain and harass the Jiannu's rear, and support the Liaodong front."

"But over the years, your Dongjiang Town has suffered a series of setbacks, weakening its strength time and time again. Your offensive against the Jiannu is no longer as vigorous as it once was. And now, Chen Shiyou, Mao Chenglu, Gao Chengyou, and others have been deceived by the Dengzhou rebels and have risen up in response. All the islands have been captured, putting your Dongjiang Town in great danger of disintegration."

"Let me ask you, if you and Huang Long's troops continue to clash, and the internal fighting continues to consume each other, won't it eventually deplete Dongjiang Town's already limited vitality? In that case, will your Dongjiang Town still have any meaning? If you perish due to internal fighting, it will only be a waste of money for the Jiannu. General Shen, why do you want to do this?"

"Hmph, do you think we have to do this?" Shen Zhixiang felt ashamed and angry after hearing such a blunt accusation, his face changing from gloomy to bright. "If Dongjiang Town lets Huang Long gain power, will we be better off? I can assure you that we will all die without a burial place. Even you will be devoured by him without a trace of skin or bones left. ... Hmph, do you really think Huang Long is a kind and honest person?"

“…” After hearing this, Zhong Minghui didn’t know what to say for a moment.

Alas, these Liaodong military leaders will continue to fight among themselves as long as they live, and regard the calculations between each other and the struggles between forces as their top priorities.

These things also consumed too much of their energy, causing the situation in Dongjiang Town and even the entire Liaodong area to become increasingly decadent and corrupt, making it impossible to curb the development and growth of the Jiannu.

Everyone thought that in this huge house of the Ming Dynasty, even if they removed a beam or took away a cornerstone, it would not affect its integrity and solidity at all, and it would still be able to shelter them from wind and rain.

However, as the foundation stones were removed and the supports were dismantled, it began to become dilapidated and leaked everywhere.

When the most critical supporting beams are destroyed, this once magnificent and majestic house will collapse immediately, burying everyone inside.

This is probably how the Ming Dynasty fell.

"Dudu..."

Just when the atmosphere in the hall was awkward and depressing, a warning horn suddenly sounded from the village.

Zhong Minghui was startled and left Shen Zhixiang and hurried outside.

As the guards on the watchtower continued to blow the horns in their hands, the armed guards and civilians in the east and west villages of Ku Niang Island immediately all moved.

Teams of guards ran to the parapet with muskets in hand and began to check the muskets and ammunition.

Rows of spearmen quickly lined up behind the musketeers to guard and protect them, and were ready to rush towards the wall at any time to prevent the enemy from breaking in.

Groups of teachers squatted outside the barracks with nervous expressions. They would assemble here and wait for orders. After receiving the corresponding instructions, they would make timely arrangements according to the escort team to either fill the gaps in spearmen or transport and carry combat supplies.

After several months of training and personal experience in a battle to defend the island, the defense and mobilization system of Ku Niang Island has gradually taken shape and is no longer as panicked and helpless as before.

"What's going on?" Zhong Minghui asked as he climbed up the watchtower and looked around, "Are there any more enemy ships attacking?"

"Reporting to the commander, a fleet is approaching from the northeastern part of the bay." The guard in the watchtower pointed out to the sea. "We counted three ships in total. ... All of them are large!"

"Oh?..." Zhong Minghui was moved when he heard this and looked in the direction he pointed.

I saw three sailboats sailing into the horseshoe-shaped harbor ahead one after another, with their sails half-hanging. With the help of the weak wind, they came slowly and steadily.

Although the distance was still far, it was obvious with the naked eye that these ships had a slender body that other ships did not have, and the entire hull presented a beautiful streamlined shape, like three huge ocean white sharks.

"Our Xinhua ship has arrived!" Zhong Minghui breathed a sigh of relief and then said to the guards who were still on guard, "Relieve the alert, these are our people."

After saying that, he turned around and went down the ladder to the watchtower.
-
Life on Pi Island is actually very hard.

Of course, this hardship refers to ordinary people.

Well, to be precise, it was the military families and the numerous Liaodong refugees.

As early as when Dongjiang was established, in order to prevent Mao Wenlong from drawing a salary without working, the officials in the court sent people to the island to conduct on-site verification of the military strength under his command.

Moreover, it has been verified three times.

The first time, it was verified to be 150,000.

The second time, it was 60,000.

The third time, it was 30,000.

Why are the three verifications different?

The reason is very simple. The number of people verified three times was not close to the "price" in the court's mind.

Over the past decade, Pi Island has been sheltering Han people who fled from the Jiannu territory.

At its peak, the number of "army" under Mao Wenlong's command reached 200,000!

The imperial court naturally did not recognize this terrifying number of troops.

If this were used to pay salaries, the imperial treasury of the Ministry of Revenue would be emptied.

Therefore, the imperial court had to repeatedly verify the actual number of troops in Dongjiang Town to prevent these soldiers from drawing too much empty pay.

Mao Wenlong insisted on paying the army's salary based on a force of 200,000, but the imperial court was only willing to pay the army's salary based on a force of 30,000.

It can be said that the two sides have been almost at odds with each other on this issue from the very beginning.

In the first five years, the imperial court allocated a total of about 1.05 million taels of silver and only 1.02 million shi of grain.

However, according to the unspoken rules of the Ming Dynasty officialdom, Mao Wenlong only received 550,000 taels of silver and more than 700,000 shi of grain.

To be honest, this little bit of change is not enough for Pidao's daily expenses.

Therefore, in order to feed the hundreds of thousands of "armies" in Dongjiang Town, Mao Wenlong had to establish a "free trade zone" in Pi Island, open up international trade, and use the collected "taxes" to feed these "armies".

If the silver and grain allocated by the court were combined with the income from "international trade", the lives of hundreds of thousands of people should not be too difficult.

Even if not everyone is well-off, it is still possible to fill their stomachs.

Moreover, in order to reduce the number of "surplus men", Dongjiang Town would often send Liaodong refugees from the Liaohai Islands to Denglai to ease the consumption of supplies. However, in this world, there will always be unfair distribution.

Whether it was the money and grain allocated by the imperial court or the huge profits earned from smuggling trade, the people in Dongjiang Town could not receive any of them.

Because most of them were eaten by the big and small military leaders in Dongjiang Town, so they have round faces and fat bellies.

What’s worse, some of the “surplus” materials were resold to North Korea and Later Jin.

Since Mao Wenlong established the Dongjiang town, Pi Island has been the largest smuggling trade transit point in the north.

It can be said that this group of soldiers, in addition to being the regular army of the Ming Dynasty, are also a pirate group composed entirely of smugglers.

Originally, everyone's smuggling business was going well, and the whole community was stable and prosperous, with harmony among the people.

From time to time, he could poke the Jiannu in the ass and report some military achievements.

But the appearance of one person destroyed this good situation.

In June of the second year of Chongzhen, Yuan Chonghuan, the governor of Ji and Liao, took out the imperial sword and beheaded Mao Wenlong, the commander of Dongjiang Town.

As a result, Dongjiang Town began to split, started internal strife, and began to decline.

First, Liu Xingzhi launched a mutiny, killed Chen Jisheng, the deputy general who was temporarily in charge of Dongjiang affairs, took control of Pi Island, and triggered the source of the rebellion in Dongjiang Town.

The Liu brothers were not from the original Dongjiang system. They defected from the Later Jin Dynasty, and most of their direct forces were "barbarians" in the former Jiannu territory.

Therefore, when these people intervened in the smuggling trade, they naturally would not take into account the feelings of the former Dongjiang system generals.

Most of the profits were taken away by Liu Xingzhi, which made the old Dongjiang people jealous.

The versatile Shen Shikui was afraid of the ruthlessness of the Liu brothers. He didn't want to make things worse, so he acted as a peacemaker and took the Dongjiang generals to meet Liu Xingzhi. He promised to give him an additional 30% profit in the smuggling trade, so that they would not cut the flesh of the Dongjiang people anymore and everyone could make money happily together.

However, they never expected that Liu Xingzhi was greedy - of course, more because his direct forces were unwilling to give up the profits they had seized - and still occupied most of the profits from the smuggling trade, which made the old Dongjiang people want to kill him.

Last March, Shen Shikui joined forces with other Dongjiang generals to launch a surprise attack at night, killing Liu Xingzhi with a single blow and slaughtering all of his followers.

After killing the Liu brothers and clearing out all outsiders, the people of Dongjiang thought they could be in charge and continue to develop their money-making business.

However, the imperial court lacked everything except talented people, and immediately sent a new general, Huang Long, to Dongjiang Town.

Shen Shikui was stunned.

The big cake that we have finally snatched has to be shared with Huang Long?
Absolutely not!

However, although Huang Long has just arrived, he is definitely not someone to be trifled with.

He has a trump card in his hand.

That is the distribution of money, food and military salaries by the court!

Because, since the second year of Chongzhen, when Yuan Chonghuan sent people to Pi Island to verify the number of troops, the military pay for Dongjiang Town was no longer shipped directly from Denglai, but was first transported to Ningyuan and distributed by the Liaodong New Military Pay Office.

The smuggling trade controlled by Dongjiang generals such as Shen Shikui was very profitable, but that was all unplanned income and the money they earned was their own pocket money.

As for paying the salaries of the officers and soldiers of Dongjiang Town, they still had to rely on the imperial court and the new general Huang Long.

Huang Long was previously a subordinate of Sun Chengzong, the governor of Ji and Liao. He had a closer relationship with Ningyuan and did not embezzle too much money and grain.

The rich are naturally the boss, and who among the military leaders would complain about having too much money?
Therefore, in a very short period of time, Huang Long relied on the imperial food and salary he controlled to build up his own private power in Dongjiang, and even some old Dongjiang people turned to Huang Long.

If this situation is allowed to continue, the old Dongjiang people will probably be squeezed out of the core circle by this "strong dragon", and even their control over the smuggling trade will be taken away.

So, last October, another mutiny broke out in Pi Island.

The reason is that they owe wages.

In fact, in the Ming Dynasty army, it is normal for wages to be paid late or in full. It is a rare thing to receive money and food on time.

Not surprisingly, this mutiny made General Huang Long extremely embarrassed. His legs were broken and his ears and nose were cut off by the rebels. The general's image and status plummeted.

Just when the farce reached its climax, Shen Shikui made a timely appearance, sent people to disperse the rebels, rescued Huang Long, and took him to the home of guerrilla Wang Liangchen for temporary rest (house arrest).

After this operation, Huang Long's prestige naturally plummeted, and after being harmed by the rebel soldiers, he might not even be able to lead the troops.

Well, if nothing unexpected happens, the person in charge of Dongjiang Town will eventually fall on Shen Shikui's head.

No one expected that this painstakingly planned plan would be ruined by a small captain.

After Shang Kexi, who was stationed on Guanglu Island, heard about the mutiny on Pi Island, he immediately led his troops back to Pi Island overnight. He killed several leaders of the rebellion in a swift manner and "picked up" Huang Long from Wang Liangchen's house.

Seeing that the mutiny started well but ended badly, Shen Shikui was angry and annoyed, but he did not dare to take things too far. He maintained superficial unity and friendship with Huang Long, looking for another opportunity to plot against him.

Unexpectedly, the opportunity came so soon.

Last November, Li Jiuchen and Kong Youde launched a mutiny in Wuqiao, which caused chaos in Shandong. With the cooperation of Geng Zhongming and others, they seized Dengzhou, which shocked the world for a while.

Subsequently, Dongjiang Town's Lushun deputy general Chen Shiyou and Guanglu Island deputy general Mao Chenglu also rose up in response. In a very short period of time, the rebel army gathered seven to eight thousand people and at one point controlled most of Dongjiang Town.

Several months ago, the imperial court issued several edicts, instructing General Huang Long to immediately send troops to quell the rebellion and provide timely assistance to Denglai.

So Huang Long was ordered to go on an expedition and left Pi Island to Shen Shikui.

Now that he had obtained the most practical benefits, Shen Shikui was no longer so concerned about whether he had the title of the top leader.

Who knew that after the rebellion was quelled, Dongjiang Town would be severely punished by the court?

Huanglong is on top, so at least there is someone to take the blame.

When Shen Shikui thought of this, he couldn't help but smile triumphantly. He put his right hand into the underwear of the beautiful girl in his arms and rubbed it vigorously a few times, feeling a refreshing and smooth feeling.

The beautiful girl hummed softly a few times, which was gentle and charming, and immediately aroused his interest.

"Father..." The voice of his uncle Shen Zhixiang suddenly came from outside the door.

"Hmm?" Shen Shikui suddenly felt disappointed. He patted the beautiful girl's butt in annoyance, asking her to step away. He said in a cold voice: "...Come in!"

"Father!" Shen Zhixiang bowed after entering the house, then reported anxiously, "The gunboats of the Xinzhou foreign merchants have arrived. They... they want to help Huang Long cross the sea to attack the Dengzhou rebels!"

"..." Upon hearing this, Shen Shikui immediately sat up from the couch, his face filled with astonishment. "...Is that Xinzhou foreign merchant crazy?"

(End of this chapter)