Chapter 308: Guangnan Expedition: Part 12

Chapter 308: Guangnan Expedition: Part 12

Upon waking up, Xu Zeping excitedly jumped out of bed. He had thought of the Banquet at Hongmen!

Haha, he had a plan to handle these pesky pirates!

In the past, Mr. Zhuge used the Empty Fort Strategy to outsmart Sima Yi. Today, he would also use psychological tactics, employing the Banquet at Hongmen to outwit these pirates.

Chief Constable Chang saw Xu Zeping rush out of the main room and wanted to stop him, but Xu Zeping ignored him and drove the carriage out.

"Minister Xu, where are you off to?" Chief Constable Chang shouted, chasing after him.

"I'm off to see General Hong!" Xu Zeping raised his hand and waved it behind him.

When Xu Zeping arrived at the military camp, Hong Yanchen was drilling the troops.

Even in winter, he led the soldiers in diving exercises in the South Sea.

Li Shu shouted from the shore, "General, keep going! Wu Meng is right behind you!"

"Minister Xu, what brings you here?"

As soon as he got off the carriage, the patrolling soldiers noticed Xu Zeping and quickly approached him.

They still remembered the delicious braised pork from yesterday. It had been nearly three months since their last taste of pork, and the three live pigs had truly satisfied them.

Seeing Magistrate Xu, they were eager.

"Where's your general?"

Xu Zeping handed the carriage over to the patrolling soldiers and casually asked.

"Our general is in training."

Led by the soldiers, Xu Zeping reached the South Sea dock, where he saw thousands of soldiers diving in the sea, led by Hong Yanchen...

"Minister Xu, what brings you here?" Li Shu greeted Xu Zeping immediately and then shouted loudly, "General, Minister Xu is here!"

His booming voice echoed loudly!

After about the time it takes to sip a cup of tea, Hong Yanchen emerged from the water, his wet black clothes clinging to his body, hinting at his muscular build.

Hong Yanchen took the towel handed by Li Shu and roughly wiped the water off his face, saying to Li Shu, "Take it from here."

"Yes!"

On the way back to the military tent, Hong Yanchen casually remarked, "Covered in scars, I don't want to scare the new recruits."

Xu Zeping didn't think much of it and responded, "I understand."

Back in the tent, Hong Yanchen started taking off his clothes with his back to Xu Zeping.

Seeing the numerous knife scars on his back, Xu Zeping felt a bit embarrassed and turned his head away.

Hong Yanchen seemed to notice Xu Zeping's action and laughed heartily, "We're all men here, you scholars are so particular!"

After changing his clothes, Hong Yanchen finally said, "Yuanzhi, didn't you say you were going to build shelters for the onlookers today? Why are you here?"

"Yanchen, I've got a plan to handle the pirates. Care to give it a shot?"

Hong Yanchen had already seen Xu Zeping's cleverness yesterday, and he was naturally very curious about his strategy. He said with surprise, "Tell me about it."

"First, we'll set up a trap..."

The first step of Xu Zeping's plan: measure the damaged section of the southern city wall and have carpenters make two wooden boards of equal height, width, and length.

Xu Zeping's second step: pull back the troops. "This withdrawal is not a real withdrawal, but to have the soldiers hide around the area," and then they would erect the two wooden boards along the outer city wall.

Aren't the pirates known for causing trouble during wall constructions?

So, seeing them building the wall, they would naturally come to launch a sneak attack.

Once the pirates come to attack, they would use crossbows to shoot down the pirates attempting to land.

The third step is to take down the two empty wooden boards in front of the fleeing pirates, letting them know they have been tricked by this trap.

After these three steps, Xu Zeping can proceed to the fourth step.

When his building material is ready, they will use the trap again.

Because Xu Zeping's fourth step is to directly pour the material between the two wooden boards, using them to cast a new city wall.

The fourth step is based on the success of the first three steps. As the saying goes, once bitten, twice shy. With the previous lesson, when they conduct the trap again, the pirates will surely think they are being lured ashore.

Although Hong Yanchen didn't understand what Xu Zeping meant by 'cement,' he was thoroughly impressed with this strategy!

Yes, after all these years of leading troops in battle, how come he never thought of luring the enemy ashore?

Although their warships at sea are no match for the pirates, their land combat is overwhelming!

Looking at Xu Zeping's upright appearance, Hong Yanchen touched his chin, indeed, like minds think alike!

Xu Zeli's mind is as sharp as a seasoned official; his younger brother, upon first impression, is also quite astute, his upright appearance cannot hide his cunning mind.

Xu Zeping looked at Hong Yanchen for a long time without speaking, and said suspiciously, "Is it not possible?"

"It is!" Hong Yanchen clapped, "Let's proceed with this plan!"

After finalizing the trap, Xu Zeping hurried back to the county yamen, while Hong Yanchen began to count their crossbows and think about how to dig secret passages.

Returning to the county yamen, Xu Zeping didn't bother to have breakfast and directly called together the deputy magistrate and the chief clerk of Lingnan County to discuss the county's settlement issues...

Lingnan County is actually a very special county, because geographically, the county is located in the extreme south, with towns to the north.

This is a key reason the walls of Lingnan County were destroyed, because once the pirates land from the South Sea Pier, they face the walls of Lingnan County. If they don't break the walls, how can they enter the city to plunder food?

Xu Zeping traveled all the way south from the Prefecture City, actually driving from the towns south of Lingnan to the county seat.

Therefore, purchasing three live pigs was also convenient.

Why was Lingnan County established in this manner?

Primarily to collect market and maritime taxes!

In the Great Xi Dynasty, this region was known as Lingnan Town, under the jurisdiction of Lingzhong County, not Lingnan.

At that time, Lingzhong County would trade with Japan, but it was more about Japan stealing agricultural techniques from Great Xi, and Japan was very cunning, often not paying customs and maritime taxes.

Following the founding of the Great Jing Dynasty, taking lessons from the previous dynasty, Lingnan Town was detached and established as a county, with several adjacent towns placed under its administration.

The losses in Lingnan this time were devastating, as the county town was looted. Not only was the county government's treasury completely ransacked, but the treasuries of various merchants were also thoroughly robbed.

With no money or grain in the county town, what choice did they have but to flee?

Nowadays, the houses in the city are also severely damaged, and some shops and residences want to sell at low prices, but no one dares to take over...

After all, the pirates outside are still eyeing covetously!

"How many residents are still in the county town now?"

Dong, the County Magistrate of Lingnan, forced a smile: "Less than eight thousand."

"And before?"

"Nearly twenty thousand."

Lingnan County is rich in seafood, and with well-developed water transport, as long as the pirates do not invade, they actually live quite comfortably.

Because many merchants like to come south to buy seafood here, thus, the economic trade allows them to make a good living in the county town.

Most people, after finishing their farming work, also like to come to the county town to take on odd jobs and earn a bit of extra cash.

If the county town can sustain nearly twenty thousand people, how could it be at the bottom economically in the Great Jing Dynasty?

Was it really all stolen by the pirates?

Seeing the grave expression on the Governor of Changnan Prefecture's face, Dong, the County Magistrate, dared not interrupt.

"I heard from the previous governor that your tax situation here is less than thirty thousand stones of grain a year. Logically, shouldn't you be focusing more on agriculture? Why is everyone crowding into the county town? Based on the population you mentioned, I am puzzled," Xu Zeping did not directly address the topic but tactfully said: "Is it because grain is difficult to grow, so everyone turns to commerce? If it's commerce, then why is your commercial tax so low? Only a little over ten thousand silver coins a year?"

"Sir, didn't Governor Huang inform you?" Dong, the County Magistrate, licked his lips nervously, he said: "Our three prefectures and one state in Guangnan Province impose an additional tax."

"What?" Xu Zeping was suddenly confused, is there something else he didn't know about?

"We also levy a military tax."

Fifty percent of the total tax collected must first be allocated as military tax to the Western River Navy.

The remaining tax constitutes their net revenue, thirty percent of this net revenue is used for the county government, and the other seventy percent is handed over to the Prefecture City.

Using local finances to support the military, this is something Xu Zeping truly did not know.

It seems no one has told him....

In his concept, the Great Jing Dynasty has military farms... the soldiers of the garrisons can be self-sufficient.

So Guangnan is not really poor, but poor because of supporting the military?

This issue really differs greatly from what he thought!

On this issue, Xu Zeping seemed to have opened a new line of thought, "Before the pirates had that telescope, were they not so closely watching our Lingnan?"

Dong, the County Magistrate, has been an official in Lingnan for twenty years, to be honest, if it weren't for this year's accident, he should have resigned and returned to his hometown.

"Sir, you are not wrong," Dong, the County Magistrate, revealed all he knew, "This treasure seems to have been obtained by them this year, before the pirate raids were regular, about every three to five years, after all, separated by eight hundred miles of the South Sea."

The Western River Navy enjoys the financial supply of Guangnan Province, naturally they do not eat dry rice, in order to better protect the people,

They have set up county garrisons in every county of Guangnan Province, stationed with five hundred to a thousand troops.

The South China Sea is vast, with numerous landing points.

This sets it apart from other provinces, as only the prefectures in other provinces have garrison posts.

In the past, the pirates did not have telescopes and were unaware of the situation in Lingnan, so every time they launched a surprise attack, the garrison soldiers managed to fend them off, and they couldn't seize much.

Moreover, the soldiers could hold their ground until reinforcements arrived.

Once the reinforcements arrived, these cunning pirates would escape by ship.

This year was different; they used telescopes to observe the movements of the garrison soldiers... and succeeded in their surprise attack.

The five hundred garrison soldiers were completely annihilated, with no survivors.

By the time reinforcements arrived, Lingnan City had already fallen.

Xu Zeping looked at the tearful Lingnan officials, his heart deeply shaken. In fact, they still didn't know the underlying schemes behind Lingnan's fall...

Xu Zeping was furious for the five hundred soldiers and saddened for the people of Lingnan.

He finally grasped how the Western River Admiral managed to downplay the entire incident.

Because of the telescope, it truly was "there was a reason behind it"!!

Xu Zeping closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and changed the subject: "How many residents in the county town currently have no place to live?"