Han’s Son is Not a Slave

Chapter 30: D

With the money, Zhou Shixiang temporarily calmed down, not afraid of Ge Wu and the others arguing about washing the city again, and thinking about recruiting young men to join the army, he took Song Xianggong, a fake Zhizhou adult, to listen to the small officials report the statistics in the city.

The person in charge of the population count was Lu Yuanyuan, a former scholar from Dong’an County.

In the fifth year of Shunzhi, after Xu Anguo, the general of Nanming who was stationed in Luoding, surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, because the Nanming officials of Dong’an and Xining counties were unwilling to surrender with him, Xu Anguo slaughtered the city with troops, causing the two counties to be devastated. Among the residents, those who were overhanging beams, those who threw themselves into wells, those who threw themselves into rivers, those with **** faces, those with amputated limbs, those whose limbs were still in motion after being chopped to death, were left with their bones and flesh and bones.

Lu Changchang visited friends in Zhoucheng for a long time, so he survived the disaster. Witnessing the tragic situation in his hometown, he was horrified and frightened by the slaughter knife. Luo Ding, who knew the state as a trusted confidant, ran in the state government from then on. The person who is in charge is the magistrate’s second official, who is in charge of the county’s money, grain, and household registration.

Luoding Zhizhou Yamen was built in Luoding City, and there was no Fukuo County in the city. It was turbulent year after year. The Yamen changed hands many times. Xiucai’s qualifications to become the head of a cadre of small officials, still in charge of the city’s population, money and grain, everyone is only his leader. Regardless of whether the Ming army came or the Qing army came, Lu Changyuan came forward to negotiate, negotiate and handle matters large and small.

In the morning, he led a group of clerks to ask the newly-appointed Zhizhou adults for his orders. Lu Changyuan obediently led people to the matters required by Luo Xin’s government. He was familiar with these matters. So there is nothing wrong with doing it, and there is nothing wrong with it.

When leading people to investigate, Lu Changyuan and the officials found that there seemed to be no Ming army in the city, only a group of men with knives and guns. Listening to the words of those men, they were clearly bandits.

Some officials were discussing in private that if it was true that the bandits had seized the city, then should they immediately send someone to the Qing army in Deqing for help. Another said that it is better to unite with the big households, and each family can drive these bandits out together, and another said that they should go to Gaozhou and invite the real Ming army to take them in, lest Luo Ding cause these bandits to harm them.

Lu Yuanyuan is disdainful of the thoughts of these people. Whether it’s bandits or soldiers, it’s a fact that the city’s whereabouts are now in the hands of others. Just because you guys want to resist? If you really don’t care about your weight, can those gang of long workers be the opponents of this gang of men with knives? If this group of people is easy to fight, then Kong Qian will not die!

Don’t care who it is, they say it’s the Ming army, let’s just treat them as the Ming army, and we will try our best to cooperate with whatever we want. Can’t kill.

As for the matter of going to Deqing to rescue soldiers, let’s not mention it. Deqing is a hundred miles away. When Deqing’s soldiers arrive, the bandits will run away early, who will be arrested!

The Ming army, let alone provoke it. If this is really going to provoke the Ming army, can the Qing army not come over? If this is really going to come, you have to slaughter the city in order to show off your force. At that time, you will not be your own relatives or friends who will die. You can’t even save your own head. Can you do such a stupid thing to shoot yourself in the foot!

If you want to survive, just be honest and obedient, and don’t think about any ideas! In this chaotic world, it is not something that can be done with an active mind!

Lu Changchang set the tone. Few of the people below really wanted to have a hard time with those with knives.

After everyone was gone, Lu Changyuan called the guy from his pharmacy and whispered a few words to him. The guy was stunned and left quietly.

Hearing Mr. Song from Zhizhou calling, Lu Changyuan hurriedly put down what he was doing and rushed to the prefecture with several main responsible persons.

………

“I have seen Master Song!”

Lu Changyuan led several people to bow to Duke Xiang of Song, but did not kneel. Song Xianggong didn’t care either. These people were all talented and famous, so they didn’t need to kneel as an official. He was a fake Zhizhou, so he didn’t care what to do with them.

“Everyone is free.”

After signaling that everyone should not be too polite, Song Xianggong glanced at Zhou Shixiang, and then asked Lu Changchang: “How many people are there in the city, can you count them?”

“Reporting to your lord, the population in the city has been counted in the book, please take a look at it.” Lu Changyuan said, holding two yellow albums and walked in front of Song Xianggong, “The following is last year’s yellow album, please also take a look at it.”

The Yellow Book is the household registration of the Ming Dynasty. It is based on households, and details the township, name, age, dingkou, fields and properties, and assets, and the household registration is demarcated according to the occupation. The rule of the Manchus in Luoding was not stable, so the Yellow Book of the Ming Dynasty was still used to count the population in these years.

Song Xianggong took two yellow albums, looked at the upper one, but handed the lower one to Zhou Shixiang.

After reading the number of people counted in the yellow book, Song Xianggong was very surprised and said, “There are only 3,000 people left in the city?”

“More than three thousand people?”

Zhou Shixiang was also surprised when he heard this number. UU was busy reading the book www.uukanshu.com and then looked at the yellow book in his hand, and asked Lu Yuanyuan with a look of surprise: “It also says that there were more than 8,000 small mouths in the city last year, why? There are only 3,000 people left now?”

The Yellow Book was the system of the Ming Dynasty, but the Dingkou was the system of the Qing Dynasty. The so-called Ding refers to men between the ages of 16 and 60, and the mouth is a woman, and the rest are not counted.

According to the more than 8,000 mouths recorded in the Yellow Book last year, there should be a total population of no less than 10,000 in Luoding City, but now there are only more than 3,000 people left, a difference of more than three times. Zhou Shixiang and Duke Xiang of Song had to be surprised.

Lu Changyuan sighed and said: “Returning to the words of the two adults, Luo Ding has been in wars for years, and many people died in the wars, the fields in the territory are mostly deserted, and no one is cultivating, and the army is recruited according to the rules, so the people are seeking to survive. Then flee to other places, and there are only so many people left.”

A small official next to him said, “If you talk about small mouths, I’m afraid it’s less than two thousand.”

Dingkou is less than 2,000?

Zhou Shixiang’s heart froze when he heard this. If this is the case, Luo Ding’s available manpower is too small. I’m afraid that even five hundred young men cannot be recruited, and he can’t recruit all the men in the city. Can’t live anymore.

“Where’s the food?”

“The prefectural government has not had a chief officer for a few months. When the Qing army was there, I was waiting for all the apportionments. However, the people were suffering, and there were not many conscriptions. Fortunately, the king of Daming recovered Luo Ding, otherwise my Luoding people would not know that they would be punished. How long did the Qing army calamity?”