Late Ming Dynasty: Special Forces in 1645

Tao Sanyong of Dahushan was said to have been a henchman of a local gentry, but after offending an official, he was forced to become an outlaw.

Tao Sanyong was a man of honor and courage. After joining the bandits, the Dahushan bandits initially numbered only about ten, but through Tao Sanyong's management, they quickly grew to over a hundred, becoming a local tyrant in Shishi Township. Tao Sanyong was ruthless, bold, and meticulous, and he led the Dahushan bandits to run rampant in the township, making people afraid to speak out against him.

At his most ruthless, Tao Sanyong even robbed the county seat of a neighboring county, returning laden with spoils. The neighboring county government tried to suppress him several times but failed, which made Tao Sanyong famous overnight.

Besides robbing and plundering, Tao Sanyong would occasionally take on jobs from local gentry and wealthy families, charging them money to handle dirty work. He would set clear prices and treat everyone fairly, and his reputation in this regard was surprisingly good!

So this time, the local gentry of Fenglingtou Town approached Tao Sanyong, wanting him to kill a few people. At first, Tao Sanyong refused without even thinking about it.

Killing the Xingfu Army, isn't that just asking for trouble?

Although Tao Sanyong was brave, he wasn't stupid. He wouldn't dare to mess with the warlords, but when he heard that the target this time wasn't actually the officers and soldiers of the Restoration Army, but only related to the Restoration Army, and driven by the lure of great profit, Tao Sanyong hesitated and agreed.

Tao Sanyong planned to hide in the ravine immediately after killing the people. With his familiarity with the terrain, he would be able to hide in Dahushan and the Xingfu Army would be unable to do anything to him for a while. After the storm had passed, he could live a carefree life for a period of time.

Moreover, after some disguise, the Xingfu Army might not even know that it was Tao Sanyong who killed him!

Therefore, this deal is still worth doing.

Inside the Xinzhou City government office, Chen Qiliang reported to Li Chengming: "Commander-in-Chief Li, our men report that Yang Xuedong's family has been brought to Xinzhou City!"

Li Chengming nodded. Yang Xuedong was an important figure in promoting the new policies. He absolutely could not be allowed to get into trouble at the moment. Not only could he not show up, but his family members also had to be safe!

Therefore, in order to be prepared, Li Chengming arranged for Yang Xuedong's family to be brought to Xinzhou Prefecture.

As for Fenglingtou Town, although Liang Zicheng is the main person in charge of this new policy, he is only responsible for grasping the direction, while the specific implementation is still up to Yang Xuedong.

Thinking of the strong reaction from the local gentry, Li Chengming called Liang Zicheng again and instructed him to send more people to ensure the safety of Yang Xuedong and the work team.

At the same time, the mining tax policy was also announced!

Liang Zicheng put down the walkie-talkie and gave a wry smile.

The requirement that scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants all pay taxes together prompted landlords and gentry to begin secretly resisting.

The land rent was limited to 30%, and the ownership and rental rights were separated, which made the landlords and gentry cry their eyes out.

Moreover, his subordinates reported that they discovered landlords and gentry were secretly colluding and seemingly plotting some conspiracy.

If the mining tax policy is announced, those mine owners will probably go completely on the verge of a major uproar!

At the same time, Liang Zicheng also knew that strong medicine was needed to cure the disease. Although the first two doses of medicine were strong, he could still bear it. The third dose of medicine should be used as soon as possible so that any drawbacks would be revealed as soon as possible.

If there are any petty thieves, let them come out as soon as possible so we can deal with them together.

Sure enough, the announcement of the mining tax policy caused another round of wailing from the mine owners.

After deducting 30% of the mining tax, and considering the manpower and material resources, there's hardly any money left after paying the tax.

Therefore, the mine owners' reaction this time was no less intense than when the previous two new policies were announced.

Moreover, mine owners are usually landlords. For example, Liu Yuanwai was not only the largest landlord in Fenglingtou Town, but also owned a coal mine and a limestone mine.

In the south, there are fewer people who burn coal, but there are many who need lime.

Over the years, they have made a lot of money by mining their own coal and producing their own lime.

In the past, the Ming Dynasty government also collected mining taxes, but through bribery at various levels, the amount of mining taxes that were ultimately handed over was at most less than 10%.

If the Restoration Army were to collect 30% of the mining tax, Liu Yuanwai's profits would be cut by 80%, how could he not be so angry that he would vomit blood?

At this moment, Master Liu hated the Restoration Army to the extreme!

After thinking for a long time, Master Liu gave Tao Sanyong an additional two hundred taels of silver, telling him to be ruthless when he made his move and not to leave anyone alive!

A tenant farmer happened to witness Liu Yuanwai's contact with Tao Sanyong's men, and secretly informed the Restoration Army of this news!

The previous incident of spies causing trouble in Xinzhou City taught Li Chengming a lesson, and since then he has attached great importance to intelligence work.

Although the intelligence agency has not been formally established, basic intelligence work will still be carried out.

Not only would they plant spies in the Xingfu Army and Xinzhou City, but they would also bribe some spies after arriving in Fenglingtou Town to help gather information.

For example, when the new policy was implemented, the farmers and tenants at the bottom of society who would benefit were also targets of Li Chengming and his associates for bribery and co-optation.

When Liang Zicheng learned that Liu Yuanwai and his fellow gentry had been in contact with bandits, he immediately guessed that they were up to no good.

If mountain bandits and thieves were to be of sound mind, they would not dare to lay a hand on the Restoration Army. Therefore, their target would be clear: Yang Xuedong and his team!

After thinking for a moment, Liang Zicheng said to one of the battalion commanders, "Go and select some more clever men to secretly follow and protect the work team, especially tonight; something might happen!"

After his men withdrew, Liang Zicheng took out a small reconnaissance self-destruct drone.

So-called reconnaissance self-destructing drones are drones that can self-destruct when loaded with explosives, or conduct reconnaissance without loading explosives.

Although its reconnaissance endurance is far inferior to that of observer drones and racing drones, it is still usable.

The bomb on the small reconnaissance suicide drone has already been removed; it is now a small reconnaissance drone.

The commandos couldn't bear to let something so precious self-destruct.

Liang Zicheng released a small reconnaissance drone, letting it fly high into the sky to check the location of Yang Xuedong and the work team, and then analyze the places where they might be attacked.

Liang Zicheng carefully wrote down all the things he needed to pay attention to.

Analysis showed that if the thieves were hired by landlords and gentry, they would definitely act at night.

Because if they did it during the day, they would definitely be discovered.

Only at night could they quietly eliminate Yang Xuedong and the work team without being caught or having any evidence.

Liang Zicheng shook his head, thinking that these landlords and gentry were too naive. As long as Yang Xuedong and the work team got into trouble, the Restoration Army would definitely suspect them.

Arrest them first, and we'll gather the evidence later!

Perhaps because they were used to using rules to suppress others, these landlords and gentry forgot a fact: some people can ignore the rules and take direct action against them.

Of course, it would be best to gather evidence, so that these landlords and gentry would be convinced.

Liang Zicheng made a series of arrangements...

Late at night, Yang Xuedong and his team members stayed in a row of temporary houses.

Opposite the row of houses was a row of tents, which were a place for the Restoration Army soldiers who were protecting Yang Xuedong and the work team to rest.

The Restoration Army soldiers seemed particularly tired today. The two soldiers on night duty had been inside their tents for a quarter of an hour, and the soldiers who were to relieve them had not yet come out.

The country dog ​​tied up outside the tent seemed to have noticed something and barked into the darkness.

Then someone threw out a large, fragrant piece of fatty meat from the darkness.

The country dog ​​went forward, grabbed the fatty meat, took a few bites, swallowed it, then returned to the tent and lay down. Then its eyes grew heavier and heavier, and finally the country dog ​​fainted.

Seeing that the country dog ​​had fainted, a masked man dressed in all black came over, carefully lifted a corner under the tent, inserted a small bamboo tube emitting white smoke, and then blew air into it.

After about fifteen minutes, seeing that there was still no movement inside the tent, the man in black waved his hand into the darkness.

At that moment, more than a dozen men in black, armed with knives, emerged from the darkness!