I

Although the expansion decision was made, Zhao Han did not immediately launch troops.

Because the autumn harvest is coming, we cannot miss the farming season.

Due to the influence of the Little Glacier climate, the rice harvesting time in Luling County is from the end of June to mid-to-late July of the lunar calendar.

During this period, the administrative divisions were readjusted and the two previous towns were merged into one town.

Zhao Han made a careful calculation and found that there were indeed too many grassroots officials, and the agricultural society simply could not afford them.

In the early stage, with the tax reduction on land allocation and a large number of promotion opportunities, grassroots officials were full of enthusiasm, and a very low salary could satisfy them. However, this development model is abnormal. Official salaries must be increased so that they can maintain a relatively good life without relying on land income.

And even if the two towns were merged into one, the number of officials would far exceed that of the Ming Dynasty. After all, the grassroots level of the Ming Dynasty was in the county seat, while Zhao Han's grassroots level went deep into the villages and towns.

At the end of July, the administrative division adjustment was completed, and half of the officials were transferred out and temporarily without any duties.

Not only did no one complain, but everyone was excited, and many people speculated that the territory would be expanded.

Thanks to the prosperity of Jiangxi's literary style, there are a large number of scholars, students and schoolchildren here. They had no hope of taking the imperial examination and were depressed, and many of them fell into poverty. Every month, there were scholars who "came out" to assist Mr. Zhao in creating a great cause.

Zhao Han, a rebel, has no shortage of talents, but time is short and there is no time to transform these talents in batches.

All officials who planned to be sent to new territories were called by Zhao Han for short-term training, mainly to let them deepen their understanding of Datong Thought.

Believe it or not, it actually doesn’t matter anymore, the important thing is to abide by the rules!

When Zhao Han graduated from the short-term training, he said to these officials: "You all know the rules by heart, and you know very well what the punishment will be if you break the rules. From next month, salaries at all levels will increase by 50%. I will not treat you harshly." , and don’t treat the people harshly!”

How to deal with corruption if caught?

Demotion is certain, and there will also be a land penalty. If you are caught for the second time, all the land will be confiscated and sent to the mountains to burn lime and charcoal!

In fact, there is really no room for corruption. If you are too greedy, it will not be worth it. If you are too greedy, it will be easy to be discovered. Those who dare to be corrupt now are all fools. Even if you want to commit corruption, you only have to do it when the territory is too big... What's more, there are still missionaries and farmers' associations watching.

In mid-August, the autumn harvest was completed, and the troops set off in two groups.

Zhao Han personally led his troops along the He River into the Gan River and took the city of Ji'an directly.

Fei Ruhe led the way along the Lushui River to Anfu County. Zuo Xiaoliang was appointed magistrate of Anfu County, and he brought many grassroots officials with him, as well as many missionary personnel.

Pang Chunlai stayed in Yongyang Town, Huang Shunfu assisted in literary affairs, and Jiang Dashan assisted in military affairs.

…

"Your Majesty, the Zhao thieves are here to kill!"

Wang Tiaoding is studying in the county government office. Now he can only study, and there is nothing else to do.

As soon as he heard that the rebels were coming, Wang Diaoding immediately stood up, raised his sword and came to the tower.

The magistrate, tongzhi, tongpan and other officials boarded the tower one after another and looked at the bandits and soldiers outside the city looking at each other. They are all unlucky people. They come to take office in the spring, and in the fall the bandits attack the city, but there are no available soldiers to defend them.

"Master Fu, open the treasury and recruit troops to defend the city." Wang Diaoding said.

Yang Zhaosheng showed no signs of nervousness at all, and only said in a strange tone: "The treasury? The treasury is full of rats. The entire Ji'an Prefecture is full of unscrupulous people, and only a few summer grains have been collected. They must be deported to Nanchang before August. I The summer grain has just been sent out, and the autumn grain has not yet started to be collected, and the rebels came to attack the city. It was a good time to choose!"

"Just waiting to die like this?" Wang Diaoding asked.

"Life is difficult, the only option is death," Yang Zhaosheng said extremely calmly, "Whenever the Zhao thieves break the city, I will die for the country."

This prefect is really awesome. If he doesn't have the ability to suppress thieves, he would have committed suicide a long time ago.

Wang Tiaoding was too lazy to talk to the prefect anymore. Together with the prefect and the prefect, he began to mobilize the government officials to defend the city. He also went to persuade the wealthy households in the city to contribute money and efforts to defend the city no matter what.

Those wealthy households are even more interesting. They all close their doors and never see visitors.

As we said before, most of the residents are outside the city, and there are very few residents in the city. Last winter, the wealthy households in the city had seen the rebel thieves and knew that the Zhao thieves would not steal food or money, but only force them to release their slaves.

Since you have no worries about money and food, why resist?

Wang Tiaoding, filled with resentment and helplessness, returned to the tower, only to see that the rebel ships had already headed north.

That was when Li Banghua led his troops to Jishui and returned to his hometown to divide the fields. It was also considered as a favor for Zhao Han to sell face to Comrade Lao Li.

Under the auspices of Li Banghua, the landowners in Jishui County will definitely not be killed if they can. The premise is that they cooperate honestly with the land distribution. At the same time, with Li Banghua's reputation inspiring him and Huang Yao leading his troops to suppress the landlords, many scholars would take the initiative to join him.

Of course, fearing that Li Banghua would be soft-hearted, Chen Maosheng and Xiao Huan also followed.

If Lao Li doesn't want to kill anyone, the two of them can help.

As for Zhao Han, he personally took charge of Bailuzhou and surrounded the academy tightly.

He also sent troops to maintain order outside the city, and then spent money to recruit homeless people to fill in the depressions in the west of the city.

The west part of the city was originally a large school ground for thousands of households in Ji'an to train troops, but gradually there were no soldiers left. Ordinary military households were all turned into serfs, and many residential buildings sprang up near the school grounds. The areas that could be farmed were used for farming, and the areas that could not be farmed were turned into depressions.

"What are the rebels doing?" Wang Diaoding asked.

The confidant civil servant said: "To maintain public order in the south of the city, demolish the residential buildings in the west of the city, fill in the lowlands and rebuild the school grounds. Many people also went further west, apparently to allocate fields to military households. Bailuzhou Academy was also besieged, and the rebels We don’t plan to attack the city immediately, but we certainly won’t leave any further.”

In fact, Wang Tiaoding also noticed it, but he was unwilling to admit it in his heart.

Wang Diaoding rushed to the south city tower and found that the dock outside the city was in good order. Not to mention ordinary people, even merchants are not afraid of rebels. They know that Zhao Han will not rob randomly.

Suddenly, cheers came from outside the city.

Wang Tiaoding sent people to investigate. The spies came back and reported: "Your Majesty, the traitor Zhao posted a notice to calm the people. And... and this year's business tax is completely exempted, and the door stall tax will be levied from New Year's Day next year, based on the tax amount in the first year of Chongzhen." levy and abolish the previous tax increases since Chongzhen, and all miscellaneous taxes levied by merchants are also abolished."

"What a Zhao thief, he really knows how to win people's hearts!" Wang Diaoding was helpless and looked at the cheering merchants outside the city.

Before, they divided their fields to please the farmers, and now they have lowered the stall tax to please the merchants. Who else but the big landowners would resist the Zhao thieves?

In fact, it doesn't matter to please, the gate tax is already heavy enough, and it is very reasonable to abolish the increase of Chongzhen Dynasty.

A few days later, the depression in the west of the city had been leveled.

Nearby residential buildings were also demolished. Zhao Han not only paid compensation according to the price, but also helped the demolished residents rebuild their houses further west.

Then, the whole family of Qianhu and Fuqianhu in Ji'an was sent to labor reform and thrown into the mountains to burn charcoal and lime. All the military fields they occupied were distributed to ordinary military households, and all military households were converted into civilian households.

In this way, Zhao Han was not in a hurry to attack the city, but instead trained his troops at the school field west of the city.

Cries of killing came from outside the city every day, shocking the officials in the city and unable to sleep.

The officials did not dare to surrender. Their wives, children, and children were all in other places. The local officials, without any psychological burden, began to secretly organize the city dedication.

Finally, one night.

A confidant, a civil servant, led a government servant and broke into the inner courtyard of the county government office in the middle of the night: "My lord, I'm sorry, our whole family has to survive."

Wang Diaoding seemed to have expected it, and said: "No need to tie me up, I won't escape. Is there anyone over there with the prefect?"

"The prefect, the co-prefect, the magistrate, and the magistrate all have people in their houses," said the civil servant.

"Wait while I put on my clothes." Wang Diaoding got up calmly.

Over at the government office, when he heard someone breaking in outside, the prefect Yang Zhaosheng was also calm and unhurried. This guy took out the rope he had prepared and hung himself with deft hands and feet. He was just dying to repay the king.

It's nonsense. I'm not afraid of death, but I don't want to do anything, let alone recruit troops to suppress thieves.

The next morning.

Ding Dechang, the governor of Ji'an Prefecture, and Yang Lu, the promotion official, led the officials at the prefecture and county levels to open the door and dedicate the city. The prefect committed suicide, the general judge committed suicide, and one of the officials was missing. The rest of the officials, including the minister, the director, the school inspector, and the prison chief, all surrendered.

Zhao Han led his troops to the west city gate. There were already a lot of people kneeling there. Only the county magistrate, Wang Tiaoding, was still standing.

"Greetings to Mr. Zhao, and welcome Mr. Zhao to the city!"

These guys not only surrendered, but also knew Zhao Han's self-proclaimed official position.

Zhao Han glanced at the kneeling officials, finally looked at Wang Diaoding, and asked with a smile: "You won't escape, you won't surrender, and you won't commit suicide. What do you think?"

"I don't know." Wang Diaoding said blankly.

Zhao Han said: "Mr. Li is dividing the fields in Jishui County. Why don't you go over and have a look, and then come see me when you have figured it out?"

Wang Tiaoding said: "Okay."

If Wang Tiaoding escapes, the county magistrate will lose his city and land. Even if he escapes successfully, the lightest punishment will be dismissal from office. If you don't spend money on it, there is a certain chance of being beheaded.

Zhao Han pointed to other officials: "As for you, all go and help divide the fields. If you do well, you can be promoted. As for the official positions in Fucheng, don't think about it for now. You can be promoted through meritorious service in the future."

This bunch of unlucky officials all took office this year. They have no chance of harming the people.

Huang Shunde followed Zhao Han and entered the city with dignity. He was the first child to become a thief. Although he was reluctant at the time, and although it was only for wages at first, he is now determined to do so.

The Ming court would definitely not be able to defeat Zhao Han, and Huang Shunde was very sure of this.

Nowadays, Zhao Han has three secretaries around him, and their specific position is called "Secretary in Charge". One is in charge of political affairs, one is in charge of military affairs, and the other is in charge of Datonghui (including missionary and peasant association affairs). Huang Shunde is Zhao Han's military secretary.

Walking through the group of kneeling officials, Huang Shunde glanced at the prefect, feeling indescribably happy.

He was a boy student who couldn't even pass the examination, but his fellow scholar of the fifth grade was kneeling in front of him. The feeling of trampling on power was so satisfying!

Given time, he would like to step into the Nanchang Mansion and have the chief envoy, inspector general, and general commander kneel down before him.

The world is unified?

Huang Shunde doesn't believe that stuff, but he can believe it. He is very smart, works very hard, is not greedy for a penny, and only dreams of becoming a high official in the future.