The Prosperous Era of Longwan

A single spark can start a prairie fire.

At this time, Jiangnan was like a powder keg. The people at the bottom had been oppressed and exploited by the local gentry families and the government for a long time. After the Japanese pirate rebellion, the people were living a precarious life. Even in such an environment, they were forced to To pay the extra taxes and levies required by Hu Zongxian to suppress the Japanese, it is not an exaggeration to describe the current situation in Jiangnan that the people are in dire straits.

The impoverished people were forced to become refugees and live a homeless life, causing grief and complaints among the people.

There is no shortage of ambitious people in any era. The chaos in Jiangnan has long been seen by them, and they are just waiting to take action.

When the people of the entire coastal prefectures and counties were forced to rise up and become large or small volunteers because they could not afford to pay the heavy taxes and services, the government naturally would not just sit idly by and they decisively launched an encirclement and suppression campaign.

When a group of volunteers were suppressed by the government, the news spread, and the sadness of the rabbit's death and the fox's death affected the entire Fujian and Guangdong, large and small.

In the context of desperation, they were easily persuaded by the bandits led by Zhang Lian. Regardless of whether they were willing or not, in order to survive, they could only join Zhang Lian's group.

Whether it was to show their ambitions or just to stay together for warmth, when the number of rioters snowballed to 100,000, their courage gradually grew.

When they easily defeated the advancing army under Zhang Lian's command, their courage became even greater.

The official office in the center of Baisongguan City has been transformed into the Feilong Kingdom's temporary palace.

The reason why it is said to be a temporary palace is naturally affected by the size of Guancheng. The palace cannot be expanded, so this is not a place where Zhang Lian plans to stay for a long time.

He had already built an imperial city in nearby Wushipu as his base camp, and even found someone to build the "Zhucheng Yellow House" in Zhangxiangtian as a palace after studying Feng Shui.

There are so many people under his command now. If you don't find something for them to do, you won't tear down your own territory.

After that, hundreds of small villages were built around the mountains, and wasteland was opened up in the hills adjacent to the three counties of Raoping, Pinghe and Dabu, and potato grains were cultivated to pay for the army.

One hundred thousand people means one hundred thousand mouths, and the consumption of horse chews is not small. The looted goods alone can no longer meet such a huge demand.

After Zhang Lian commanded the Feilong Army to defeat the Ming Army, he did not pursue the victory and directly attack the mountainous areas of southern Fujian. Instead, he gave the entire army a holiday so that his men could have a happy New Year.

Today, Zhang Lian feels that the New Year has passed and it’s time to consider this year’s goals.

At this time, the hall of the official office was full of people, all the leaders of the rebel armies he had summoned.

Among these people, there are many people who are as ambitious as him. Because they were just recruited before, they did not have enough prestige. Even if they became emperor here, in the eyes of most people, it is not too big to play house with children. Big difference.

However, this view is quietly changing after they defeated the Ming Dynasty army.

Zhang Lian had a careful plan for this. Defeating the Ming army once was not enough. He needed more victories. After establishing a high enough prestige in Feilong Kingdom, he would start to organize and train the rebel army.

When the time comes, for those who are loyal to him, of course Dajiatibo, they will expand their strength as soon as possible, while for those who are ambitious, Zhang Lian plans to depend on their abilities.

These people are attached to themselves only to increase their own strength. Although there is some intention of seeking skin from the tiger, everyone is actually using each other.

Zhang Lian valued the strength they had accumulated, and they also hoped to develop under his wings before they were not strong enough.

Looking at the hall full of leaders, most of these people will definitely disappear in the future.

However, today is not the time to deal with these people, but a new action that he has been planning for a long time. In the first year of Feilong, he plans to do something big.

The current situation in Jiangnan is really very beneficial to him.

The people are being oppressed so miserably that the army of refugees from all over the country is an inexhaustible source of troops. As long as your army arrives and you give them a bite to eat, they will follow you.

"Hang out the map."

Zhang Lian, who was wearing a yellow dragon robe, was sitting in the middle of the room. He waved his hand and gave instructions to the people around him. Soon, two guards hung up a huge map of the southeast. It was not known where Zhang Lian got it.

Maps have always been an important military weapon. Even in the Ming Dynasty, ordinary officials could not see them at all, but it is strange that there is one here.

The southeast map was hung up and immediately attracted the attention of everyone in the lobby.

Although many people can't understand it, it doesn't affect their eyes from scanning back and forth on the map.

Perhaps searching for their current location, or searching for their hometown.

The entire map is actually not very large in scope. It only depicts the locations of most prefectures and counties in Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi, and outlines rivers and mountains. With these intuitive graphics, even though most of the people sitting in the room are Even a rough person can guess something.

Zhang Lian stood up and walked slowly to the map. After everyone turned their attention to him, he slowly said: "I have called you here today to discuss the next move of our Feilong Kingdom."

Although they have proclaimed an emperor and established a country, it is undeniable that their so-called Feilong Kingdom is just a corner of the country compared to the Ming Dynasty, and it only controls a few prefectures and counties in southwest Fujian. There is not a single prefecture or county seat in the mountains and wilderness.

Even in the Baisong Pass where they are now, the Ming army originally stationed here only had an inspection department and dozens of soldiers.

This is the reason why they were able to successfully occupy this place in the first place. The opponent was really too weak.

Of course, the Zhangzhou Prefecture in Fujian Province would not sit idly by. After they occupied this place, they sent out two troops to encircle and suppress them, but both failed. The Chaozhou Prefecture in Guangdong Province would also send spies to collect intelligence from time to time.

When the time entered September, the pressure from the Japanese pirates on the sea increased sharply, and the Ming army stopped attacking them. During this period, they also sent people to try to recruit people, but they were all rejected by Zhang Lian.

Are you kidding me? Through his own personal experience, Zhang Lian has already felt how difficult life is for ordinary people, and he has also seen that the Ming Dynasty is riddled with holes.

Although he had never thought about becoming a Japanese pirate, Zhang Lian still believed that the Japanese pirates were his natural allies, and they could often use each other.

Just like the Ming army's attack on Baisong Pass, as long as it withstands the pressure, once the northeast wind season enters and the Japanese pirate ships arrive with the wind, the Ming army's combat power can only turn to deal with the Japanese pirates and relax its own offensive. And this is what he The best time to seek development.

Before the large-scale Japanese pirates attacked, he also had information about the Ming army's elimination of many groups of volunteers. While feeling frightened and sad, he was also keenly aware that other volunteers should have the same mentality, and that's why he came to The act of posting hero posts widely to call on nearby volunteers to seek refuge.

The purpose of calling more volunteers together was to strengthen their strength at the beginning, hoping to stay together and make the government more fearful.

As for ascending the throne and proclaiming himself emperor later, he just followed the trend, because unknowingly, Zhang Lian discovered that he actually had a hundred thousand people under his command, and his ambition inevitably burst out.

In Zhang Lian's view, the Ming Dynasty seems to have reached the end of its rope. Perhaps God's will is to let him end it and create a new dynasty.

According to legend, Liu Bowen, who once assisted Zhu Yuanzhang in proclaiming himself emperor, once made a prophecy, "The emperor will be born in Fujian, and the three mountains will be the battlefield."

Although I was born in Raoping County, Chaozhou Prefecture, my ancestors also came from Fujian, but later moved to Guangdong.

Who is Liu Bowen?

That was the person who assisted Zhu Yuanzhang to achieve hegemony, and he was as good as Zhuge Liang in "Three Kingdoms".

Zhuge Liang made a clever plan and borrowed life from the sky with the Seven Star Lantern, while Liu Bowen even cut the dragon's veins with his sword in order to stabilize the Ming Dynasty. They are both "god"-like existences.

As the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang was known as the Hongwu Emperor in history. Among all the dynasties, Zhu Yuanzhang had the lowest origin. He transformed from a beggar to the ruler of a huge empire, overthrew the rule of the Yuan Dynasty, and counterattacked all the way. He lived a life of cheating. Even more powerful.

What about yourself?

It seems that compared with Zhu Yuanzhang, they are almost the same. He can succeed, there is no reason why he can't.

It is precisely because of this comparison that Zhang Lian believes even more that he has the possibility of success.

I didn't hear those scholars saying that the Ming Dynasty was in danger. The emperor only indulged in Taoist practice all day long. The government was controlled by traitors and the people could not survive.

Zhang Lian felt that if he became emperor, at least he would not hand over power to those treacherous ministers and would definitely manage the country well personally.

Now that we have ambitions, we naturally have to strive to further strengthen our own strength, and outward expansion has become inevitable. This is why we have summoned the heads of various ministries here for this purpose.

Standing in front of the map, Zhang Lian pointed at a place on the map that was crossed by a solid line, outlining the mountains and ravines, and said: "This is the Baisong Pass where we are now. Look at the mountains around here. Do you have any?" Have you had enough of being in the mountains?”

"I don't want to continue living in the mountains anymore."

When Zhang Lian finished speaking, someone in the hall yelled and cursed.

Indeed, although most of the people here are from Fujian, and some are from Guangdong, many people used to live near the coast and make a living, and are not used to the mountainous environment here.

Zhang Lian said this, and some people below also realized that the purpose of why they were recruited to the palace today was that the king wanted to take them out?

"It seems that many people have had enough of staying in the mountains and want to go out to the colorful world outside, haha."

Zhang Lian said, laughing himself.

He is different from most of the people below. He has only studied for a few days, so he was able to sneak into the yamen to do errands. Although he has never been there, he has heard people talk about it.

The beautiful scenery of the Ming Dynasty, as well as the red fat swallows and thin swallows, not to mention the distant Suzhou and Hangzhou, which are also praised by many people as magical, as well as Yangzhou Shou Ma and Qinhuai, which are ten miles away.

Lin Chaoxi, Luo Pao and others were the bandit leaders who had followed Zhang Lian earlier and were loyal to him. When they heard that Zhang Lian had the idea of ​​expanding outward to gain territory, their eyes showed eagerness.

In the past, they were all brave and ruthless people. They bullied the market and ran rampant in the countryside. Otherwise, they would not be able to gain a reputation.

It was also because they were forced hard by the government that they started to revolt. They really had no way to survive. People were willing to follow them because of their bad reputation and no way to survive.

In fact, few people who can be regarded as leaders of the righteous people are so-called heroes. Those who rely on their virtue to win over others are mostly able to gather their followers because of their previous reputation and their connections with neighbors.

This was at the very beginning of their uprising. As for the people who followed, most of them passed word of mouth and packaged the leader as someone who was oppressed by the government. Like them, they were all forced to embark on this road. The role of the victim.

They didn't realize it when they had few people at first, but as more and more people followed them, they felt that their level was no longer enough. At this time, they discovered Zhang Lian, a person who could control the big guys.

Zhang Lian's ability is naturally much greater than theirs, otherwise they would not be willing to hand over their strength to him.

With their rights handed over, they found that their lives seemed to be easier.

Let Zhang Lian take care of the big and small things, and they can happily do what bandits should do.

Now, there are all the fun things around here. Emperor Zhang wants to fight out and grab more territory. This will not only expand his strength, but also mean more gold and silver treasures, and charming beauties are waiting for them. Go and plunder.

At this time, Luo Pao said loudly: "Master of the country, you can just tell me what to do. Brothers are all rough people and don't understand this."

"Your Majesty, just give the order. Brothers will go through fire and water without hesitation."

Lin Chaoxi on the side also followed Luo Pao's words.

"The Lord."

"His Majesty."

Immediately, the leaders who were close to Zhang Lian below all spoke in agreement. Others had the same thoughts to some extent. After all, they were afraid of the Ming army earlier. This was a habit developed by the common people, and it did not change even after falling into the grass and becoming a bandit.

However, after defeating the Ming army under the leadership of Zhang Lian, many leaders discovered that the Ming army was actually nothing more than that, as if they could defeat them as long as Zhang Lian was around.

Zhang Lian looked at the atmosphere and pointed at the map and said: "To the east is the sea, so of course we can't go there."

"Haha." The whole hall burst into laughter.

Then he pointed to other directions and said: "To the north, if you penetrate Fujian, you can enter Zhejiang, to the west, you can reach Jiangxi, and to the south, you can reach Guangdong."

The day after the solar eclipse, Emperor Jiajing saw the Wu Mountain in Xiyuan. The Ministry of Yan and Rites immediately organized rescue operations when the solar eclipse occurred. However, after all, it was in a hurry. Fortunately, with the help of His Majesty's drumming and rescue, it was successfully completed. This rescue, and then the cliché, reminded Emperor Jiajing what the emperor should do after the solar eclipse.

First, he gave Emperor Jiajing a small compliment, and then seemed to teach him what to do. Seeing this, Emperor Jiajing frowned and was very unhappy.

When the solar eclipse occurred yesterday, he had doubts about whether it was some kind of hint from God. It was not until he saw the memorial from the Qintian Prison and what the alchemists said that he gave up his worries and became overjoyed.