Chapter 282: It’s not true but the root of the person

The salt fields and salt fields are all built from the sea. The salt goods produced are simply piled up with straw mats and tarpaulins not far from the salt fields. After all, the salt is a coarse material, and it takes no time to put it too far away.

There are many small hill-like salt piles around the salt fields in Haizhou. The reason why Haizhou has become a production base for Huai Yan is that in addition to the suitable salt production on the seaside, it is also where it is located. There is a large river - the Yanhe River. Through this river, the salt cargo produced is shipped to the salt ship, and the salt cargo enters the water system of Nanzhili, which is like a fishing net, and is distributed to various places through the canal transport and the Yangtze River.

Water transportation is the most economical and convenient mode of transportation in this era. The salt cargo produced in the salt field of Haizhou Salt Field is piled up on the river bank, and a large number of salt ships are waiting to be shipped.

But everyone knew that the Japanese pirates were coming. After the people on the sea landed and assembled, they could only see the backs of the people of Haizhou, and they were still watching from a distance.

The soldiers of the East China Sea Central Institute were busy rescued their Qianzong. Haizhou City was about fifteen miles away from the sea, and there must be officers and soldiers stationed in the state city, but compared with the East China Sea Central Institute, the performance was not vague. These "Japanese pirates" who came ashore were still digging a low dam to intercept the sea water, and the city gates were already closed.

No matter how the people under the city cried, the officers and soldiers at the city heads gritted their teeth and said that they were considering the overall situation, but they were unwilling to open the door.

There was already great chaos under the city because of the stampede. Fortunately, the "Japanese pirates" were slow to act and were delayed by the sea, so these people simply fled around the city.

The pirates monitored the soldiers on both sides on the sea boat and on the shore. Those on the boat staring at the movements in the East China Sea, and those guarding the shore were ready to fight against the officers and soldiers who appeared in Haizhou City at any time, but the officers and soldiers on both sides were very tacitly staying behind closed doors.

In theory, these pirates are robbed on the shore. Once they get ashore, they are more important than speed. It is justified to enter the city or catch people in a hurry. However, these pirates are different. They destroy the salt fields and salt fields in an orderly manner. Although the salt fields are vast, they intercept the sea water but are just a short dam. As long as they are dug up and the sea water continues to flow backwards, it is destruction.

After destroying the salt fields, I did not go to several nearby villages or cities, but went directly to the riverside near the salt field. Any Yantun near the river bank directly demolished the reed circumference of Yantun and let the salt pour into the river. Those ships that did not have time to run were directly burned.

The soldiers and officials watching on the head of Haizhou City all looked at each other, but the officers and soldiers also secretly breathed a sigh of relief, just don’t come to attack the city.

The areas of Nanzhili and Zhejiang were the most peaceful places since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. During the Longqing period, the Japanese pirates quelled the marquis and basically never suffered any disaster. Even the Eight Kings Zhang Xianzhong, who had been in the Fengyang Prefecture some time ago, only fought in the area of ​​Fengyang Prefecture, which was still far from Nanjing. Because of this, the troops in Nanzhili had been too peaceful for a long time and could not fight at all, nor dared to fight.

Suddenly, a large pirate came ashore. The officers and soldiers were not thinking about fighting, but running. They saw that the other party was just destroying the salt field at the beach, burning ships, and not sieging the city. They just felt that they were lucky, so they didn't care about anything else.

More than two hours passed, and the residents of Haizhou City realized something was wrong from fear and anxiety. Why didn’t the war start for a long time?

The first person to go up to the city wall to watch were the various salt merchants in Haizhou. These people were either the salt merchants themselves or the representatives stationed here. After all, outside the city was their source of money, and they also had enough identities to watch on the city wall. When they looked up to the city wall, they couldn't help but be stunned.

The Haizhou city gate was closed, and there was no enemy three miles away. However, on the salt field and the Yanyan River three miles away, black smoke rose, and the salt fields in the distance flashed.

At this time, it was the peak of demand for salt goods. A large number of salt waiting for distribution and transportation outside the city, as well as a large number of ships waiting for salt transport. These "Japanese pirates" outside were destroying them. The income of 100,000 taels was destroyed. In Haizhou City, the magistrate and the salt transport envoy were not as effective as these salt merchants.

Because all the civil servants and generals related to Huaiyan were almost fed by silver, someone immediately pointed at the nose of the Haizhou garrison and ordered him to go out of the city to fight and drive the pirates away.

Although the other party is likely to be just a shopkeeper or a master, a white civilian, the Haizhou garrison, as a military general, dare not refute or scold, knowing that if he offends the other party, his official position as a garrison will be immediately lost, and his life will be in danger.

"Get out of the city quickly and drive these Japanese pirates away. I will win, and you will be rich and prosperous. If you die in battle, you don't have to worry about your child. You will naturally be rich for a lifetime. If you don't leave the city, I will blame you. I'm afraid you will lose your son and your grandson!"

Someone unceremoniously listed several conditions with the garrison, and asked him to consider it himself. After a little thought, the Haizhou garrison, who was covered in cold sweat, knew that the other party had no false statements in threats, so he had to walk down the city to gather troops and prepare to drive away the "Japanese pirates" outside the city.

Burning ships and destroying Yantun is not easy to do. If you want to destroy them thoroughly, you must be more careful. To be honest, these "pirates" are all young and energetic men. Fighting and killing are OK. What should they do in detail is difficult? Otherwise, these people would not come to play with swords and guns.

So everyone stared at the Haizhou city gate, fearing that the officers and soldiers in Haizhou city would not leave the city to fight. It was already dusk. As the Haizhou city gate slowly opened, the soldiers inside slowly poured out.

It is indeed slowly, these soldiers are used to living a comfortable life, who would still want to go out to fight to the death? The garrisons of Haizhou City and their personal soldiers almost drove people out with whips. While driving their subordinates out of the city to meet the enemy, the garrisons of Haizhou City were looking at the opposite side and cursing, thinking that you are quiet in the East China Sea, let me go out of the city to die.

There are more than 2,000 soldiers in Haizhou City. In addition to those who are lucky enough to stay, more than 1,500 people also leave the city.

The busy "pirates" there watched the other soldiers leave the city. The people who were keeping watch could not help but cheer, and finally there was a battle to fight.

The people watching the battle on the city were clearly hearing this cheer. Seeing that the Haizhou garrison had already brought the soldiers out of the city, the representatives of the salt merchants on the city were not vague and immediately ordered the city gate to be closed so that the thieves would take advantage of the situation to enter the city.

Seeing the city gate behind him closed, the officers and soldiers of Haizhou City who were leaving the city were in panic. The soldiers on the edge immediately wanted to throw their weapons and escape. The Haizhou garrison hurriedly shouted:

"There are fewer thieves than us. If we drive them into the sea, the outsiders in the city will definitely have a large amount of silver rewards. If we don't fight today, can we still stay in Haizhou City in the future?"

The coercion and inducement finally stabilized the soldiers, formed a team of fear and slowly approached the pirates who were destroying the Yanhe River.

"No need to dig, gather together quickly and fight the officers and soldiers back, let's continue working!"

The leader among the pirates shouted and issued orders. The people who were impatient in their work immediately threw away the tools in their hands, picked up their weapons and began to gather.

There are coercion and inducement to gather together, while here they are rushing to fight. Compared with the two, the winner is almost the same.

I have been holding the aura during training for so long and I want to vent it on the battlefield. In the past, when I was a pirate, no one was in charge. A lot of my energy and energy were consumed on eating, drinking, whore and gambling. But now, daily training is restricted by discipline, and the only place where I can vent it is the battlefield.

The officers and soldiers who left Haizhou City were already flinched. After seeing the speed of the gathering of the other party, they felt heavy. After leaving the city, they had to take action even if they didn't want to fight. Such hesitation and doubtfulness might be defeated faster. He became angry and shouted with a knife:

"If anyone is so afraid of the enemy, I won't tell you about the past affection!"

After saying that, he ordered his personal soldiers to capture a complaining officer and cut off his head with one knife. This time, it always shocked the morale subordinates of the army. The officers and soldiers of Haizhou were finally able to advance towards the pirates at normal speed.

"Babys, let me walk slowly. Now, you still have the strength to fight when you are in front of you!"

A big man walking at the forefront of the pirates, carrying a knife on his shoulders, and after walking a few steps, he turned back and shouted at his subordinates. These pirates hadn't seen blood for a long time. The war was about to begin. Everyone was extremely excited and walked faster and faster, but they were about three miles away from the other party. Even if they were full of fighting charges, they would lose their combat effectiveness due to fatigue when they arrived.

The great man in the lead did not understand this truth before, but when he was training these young and strong people, someone told him that once he verified the actual situation, he immediately knew that this was a famous saying on the battlefield.

After walking a few hundred steps, the officers and soldiers of Haizhou finally calmed down slightly, and the pirates began to calm down and gradually became less excited. Apart from the sound of footsteps and the sound of waves, there was silence in front of Haizhou City.

"Go to a distance of 100 steps, rush again!"

The Haizhou garrison riding on the horse was dry, but his mind was still clear. At this time, he was concentrating on calculating the distance between the brigades of both sides, and there were less than two hundred steps. Unexpectedly, the other leader raised the Park Knife in his hand at this time, waved it towards the officers and soldiers, and roared loudly:

"Young people, kill me!"

The battle under the city of Haizhou was extremely casualties, with only three people staggering to the ground because of their steps, and were trampled to death by the people behind. The Haizhou officers and soldiers who had not fought for a long time saw the opponent shouting loudly, waving their weapons, and pirates like beasts rushed over. No one could rush towards him. In fact, the first person to run was the Haizhou garrison, because he had horses, so he ran faster.

The main general ran away first. Soldiers who had no courage or fighting spirit would not foolishly persevere on the battlefield. They all turned around and ran away. Fortunately, everyone hesitated and feared. Every soldier in Haizhou was prepared for the escape. Once someone took the lead, they immediately collapsed completely.

The pirates chased after Haizhou City. Naturally, Haizhou City did not open the city gate to welcome the defeated soldiers. The soldiers had expected this ending and fled around the city one after another.

If someone is interested, you can almost see that the purpose of these pirates is not to steal money or kill, but to destroy the salt field and salt warehouse in Haizhou. When these pirates rushed under the city wall, they had not reached the range of the soldiers' bows and arrows above, and the big and small leaders stopped their steps.

They drove them back to work. The salt merchants and their representatives on the top of the city looked at the murderous pirates below the city, and went back dejectedly to continue destroying the salt warehouse and burning the ships.

There are no more soldiers in the city to defend the city. There are nearly two thousand pirates outside the city. As long as they make simple siege tools, perhaps this extremely wealthy Haizhou City can be taken down. The wealthy families in the city have begun to gather the male soldiers in their families and prepare to defend themselves when the city is broken.

But it seems that these pirates are not very interested in Haizhou City, and they pay more attention to digging trenches and burning fires.

What made Haizhou breathe a sigh of relief was that when it was almost dark, these inexplicable pirates boarded the boat and left outside Haizhou City. The ship sailed and left the narrow strait between Haizhou City and the East China Sea, not knowing where they were going.

It was not until noon the next day that two troops from Shuyang and Ganyu came to rescue, and they carefully opened the city gate. The salt fields outside the city had been soaked in sea water for a whole day and needed to be renovated and repaired before they could be used. The ships preparing to transport salt by the Yanhe River were burned and sunk, and the salt warehouses leaning against the river were all stripped open, allowing salt to flow into the Yanhe River.

What is even more troublesome is that the large number of salt workers working in the salt field and around were attacked by the Japanese pirates yesterday, frightened and fled everywhere. It took several days to gather them together.

In fact, if calculated in the short term based on absolute numbers, the salt merchants will suffer little losses. Renovation of the salt fields is just a civil engineering project, and other things are very simple.

But in the long run, the peak season for salt sales was delayed and the loss was immeasurable. Many people who hid in the city yesterday ran out and cried loudly by the river and the beach today, afraid they would lose all their money.

The top figures in the city, such as the magistrate's yamen, the salt merchants and their representatives, after an emergency meeting, on the one hand, they arranged for people to go to the Yingtian Governor's yamen to report the bandits, saying that a large pirate invaded Haizhou, and asked Nanzhili to send troops to escort the thieves quickly, and on the other hand, they sent people to Yangzhou to report the news and explain the situation.

As for sending people to repair the salt fields and collecting salt workers, this is a normal thing to do.

Some of the officers and soldiers who had not run away came back, but they made it clear. Judging from the dress of those people yesterday, they were all Han clothes, and they were scolding and scolding, but the Japanese pirates may not be the case. The pirates are a foregone conclusion, but those who ran from Haizhou City to other places just said "Japanese pirates" to the outside world!

There have been no so-called Japanese pirates attacks on the beach in Nanzhili for many years, but the Japanese pirates' bloody and cruel image, like beasts, was deeply imprinted in people's minds. For a moment, the entire seaside in Nanzhili, wherever they knew the news, were afraid and panic. If there was any slightest movement, they were afraid, and the time when the city gate was closed was much earlier.

Five days later, two salt fields near Huize were also penetrated by "Japanese pirates". This time, compared to being in Haizhou, he was injured by one person while running away and did not die.

However, these two salt fields could not resume normal production within ten days. From early to mid-October of the 12th year of Chongzhen, fourteen salt fields were attacked and destroyed in Yancheng County from Huaibei to Huainan. All prefectures along the coast were full of plants and trees, which was extremely nervous.

In mid-October, even at Yuntiguan at the entrance of the Huaihai Sea, people saw this so-called "Japanese pirates" fleet.

The salt merchants in Yangzhou were surprised to find that if they continued to harass themselves like this, they might have no salt to sell by December.

The existence of salt merchants in Lianghuai has been for more than a hundred years and has a huge influence in the officialdom. This time, such urgent matters have occurred. These influences and the intertwined relationship have been quickly applied. The four government offices in Huai'an Prefecture, Yangzhou Prefecture, Xuzhou and Chuzhou jointly filed an emergency with Governor Yingtian. All relevant government offices in Nanjing City have received emergency documents asking the court to send troops to confiscate.

Some officials in Nanjing immediately submitted a memorial to the imperial court, explaining that there were policemen along the coast of Nanzhili. Nanzhili is a major country and the ancestral temple is located. It should not be ignored. Please send troops to support immediately.

Governor Yingtian had few soldiers in his hands, because Nanzhili was different from other places, including the eunuchs in charge of the troops, the garrison in Nanjing, and the Minister of War in Nanjing. The only one who could mobilize and support was more than 4,000 troops from Yangzhou Prefecture and Huai'an Prefecture. There were large troops stationed in Zhongdu, Fengyang.

But now there is chaos in Huguang and Henan. Zhang Xianzhong has burned the imperial tombs once in Fengyang. This time, it is impossible to make mistakes. Therefore, the army stationed in Fengyang Prefecture is on high alert and it is impossible to draw extra troops to support it.

According to the reports reported from layers, there are tens of thousands of Japanese pirates and more than a thousand ships. Although I know that the following text is too watery, I guess there are always thousands of Japanese pirates. Such pirates, with the old soldiers who are used to being peaceful in Yangzhou Prefecture, can only die if they go there.

Governor Yingtian negotiated with Governor Fengyang several times but there was no result. However, the influence of the salt merchants in Lianghuai was beyond ordinary people's imagination. Although the emperor's ancestral tomb was important, it would not be considered a very important matter if it was in front of a large sum of gold and silver.

I don’t know how these salt merchants persuaded them. In late October, five thousand soldiers stationed in Xuzhou supported the coastal areas of Nanzhili to defend against thieves.

Now that more than 10,000 troops have been raised, Governor Yingtian and Huai'an, the prefects of Yangzhou have finally breathed a sigh of relief. These troops and horses are combined together, and they should be able to deal with thousands of Japanese pirates, but the other party is on the ship, constantly harassed various salt fields along the coast, and their whereabouts are uncertain, so it is a problem to fight.

Originally, pirates were either rushing to the nest or pursuing the sea, but they didn't know where the nest was. It was even more joked that the pursuit at sea was not a navy for many years. The Zheng family in Fujian had some old acquaintances in Haizhou, but the Zheng family said that they only had merchant ships and could not fight.

I knew that this was the other party's excuse, but the salt merchants had no choice. The relationship between the two parties was not good. It was good that the Zheng family did not take advantage of the situation. It was just a chance to ask them for help.

The enemy cannot be found, but the salt production has been cut off for almost ten days. If this continues, many places will collapse. For example, in the Huguang area, Sichuan salt has always wanted to be sold in Huguang, and even sold to Jiangnan. However, it was blocked by Lianghuai salt merchants. There is also Changlu Salt Field near Tianjin, targeting Shanxi and Beizhili. If Huai salt is not produced, these markets will be at risk of overturning.

In desperation, putting the destruction of Japanese pirates aside first and ensuring the production of salt goods is the most priority. More than 10,000 soldiers and horses were divided into three places, stationed in Haizhou, Ganyu and Huize. Among them, there were 5,000 soldiers and horses in Haizhou, who refused to defend the city. If a pirate attacked, the three places would take care of each other. As long as any place could last for a day and a half, there would definitely be full support from the troops.

There were large troops stationed and the local salt fields were repaired almost the same. The salt workers finally felt at ease to work in the salt fields. Haizhou officially began to resume production on October 22nd.

These soldiers were not stationed in the city, but camped outside the city. This is quite surprising to the veterans of the officers and soldiers of this era, but if you think about the influence of the salt merchants, you can understand it.
Chapter completed!