bookrandom Chapter 111: Stabilizing Bashan with Both Suppression and Support
Chapter 111: Stabilizing Bashan with Both Suppression and Support
"Manager Shen is coordinating matters concerning the match factory, and Manager Hu is coordinating matters concerning the Zhou family's business. Now that we have some channels with the Zhou family, our sales of goods are even more prosperous, and the textile factories are beginning to be in short supply. It's just that there is a shortage of raw materials. Fortunately, our coal ships can go downstream to pull coal, and we can come back upstream to bring back some light raw materials such as raw silk and cotton. I only do some daily chores at the base, and I don't understand many things yet," Wang Shouyi said modestly.
"Last time I heard that you found a few old craftsmen and were preparing to make gunpowder cannons," Du Chenyu asked. Last month they sent a request for funding, asking Du Chenyu to approve a sum of money to build a factory. He directly allocated 3000 oceans as start-up capital.
"These masters were half-kidnapped by General Manager Hu. They heard that there was an old man named Zheng near Guangyuan City who used to make homemade cannons in Xi'an, so they disguised themselves as bandits and attacked. The family had to escape, and were finally rescued by General Manager Hu. Finally, with the help of General Manager Hu, they moved to Baizhang and settled down. We have recruited 8 people and are casting the cannon barrels. However, according to his speculation, the pig iron from our iron smelting plant is not tough enough, so it is estimated that it will be difficult to succeed." Wang Shouyi gave a brief introduction.
"It's okay. This matter is too technically difficult. We will just try our best to accumulate experience. I will not waste a penny on the funding needed. Even if nothing is produced in the end, there is no need to worry. At least we have trained talents. What's more, we still have several mortars that need maintenance and repair," said Du Chenyu.
Du Chenyu currently has no hope of making homemade cannons, as he has almost no funds, technology, or talent. They can currently make shotguns, including double-barreled shotguns. Shotguns can only be used for hunting and training, and for partial market sales. With hundreds of units sold each month, it is also a considerable income.
"Mr. Chenyu, there is one more thing I need to report to you. Since President Yuan appointed Peng Guanglie of the Third Division as the garrison commander of Guangyuan in July last year, taxes have been raised three times in a row. Yesterday, the slaughter tax was changed to taxes on cattle, pigs, sheep, chickens and ducks, and they are collected separately. As long as you raise livestock, you have to pay taxes separately. As a result, a large number of livestock and poultry have been raised in our jurisdiction in recent years, and the tax burden is very heavy," Wang Shouyi reported the matter solemnly.
Currently, the tax burden has reached the output limit of ordinary people. If the tax continues to increase, people can only give up farming and go to the mountains to become bandits. "Well, the additional tax should be delayed as much as possible. The tax inspection team sent by the county should be perfunctory as much as possible. If it is really impossible to cope with it, then just pay a small amount. Other normal taxes should also be delayed as much as possible. It is best to delay payment until next year. The pressure is too great after the expansion of the army this year," said Du Chenyu.
Wang Shouyi nodded. He believed very much that what I said was true because we made money quickly but spent even more. “Mr. Chenyu, I will try my best to delay it. If I can’t resist the urging, I will hand over some of it,” Wang replied.
Du Chenyu remembered that this year President Yuan would sign the infamous "Twenty-One Demands" with Japan, start large-scale post-war loans, expand the army unscrupulously, make various preparations for ascending the throne of the emperor of the Chinese Empire, and send garrison troops across the country not only to suppress the local areas, but most importantly to collect taxes.
Therefore, at present Du Chenyu can only keep a low profile and dare not confront the garrison head-on. He can only pay taxes and fees. As long as he can drag it out through this year, things will definitely change.
At the beginning of June, they paid 6 oceans in taxes to Guangyuan County, which was basically the tax collection work for the first half of the year. It did not attract the attention of the garrison and the county and provincial governments at all levels to their occupation of Gaocheng and expansion of armaments. They only issued a letter of reprimand, saying that they had privately launched armed action within their jurisdiction and caused unrest, and gave a warning, and then the matter was left unresolved.
The Beiyang garrison and the garrison regiments in various counties have strengthened their control over the local area. They originally planned to attack the Qinglongchang area in July, but for the time being, it is better not to act rashly. Currently, an independent regiment of the Second Division of the Sichuan Army is stationed in the Bazhong area. The regiment commander is Chen Limen, who is a relatively upright person. Therefore, the Bazhong area is generally stable. If Du Chenyu were to suddenly attack Qinglongchang in Jizhou, it would easily lead to the garrison's suppression.
As it is the slack season in farming, previous years were spent in continuous fighting and expanding territory. There are no major operations this year, and he feels not used to it yet. He can only stay in Baizhang Base. Unable to break through the middle area, he sent the reconnaissance team and the newly formed 8th and 9th squadrons to Maoheba area to assist Peng Huiyu in eliminating bandits and incorporating the ungoverned areas south of Ningqiang, so that they can also increase the population by tens of thousands.
It is temporarily impossible to launch new operations. All teams are carrying out large-scale training and learning during the slack season, training during the day and studying at night. This is a rare window period in history.
Due to the absence of war, Du Chenyu also extinguished his restless heart. When the dog days of summer came, he returned to Wuying to escape the heat and could only spend this hot summer quietly. The only thing that could arouse his mortal heart was the battle reports from Peng Huiyu from time to time. Today he eliminated a bandit, and tomorrow he took over a hill. In June alone, he led about 6 people and had taken over the Chanjiayan area to the north. Then he would march into the Bashan Gorge area, completely opening up the road to Ningqiang and Qipanguan on Jinniu Road, and eliminating the bandits entrenched in this generation. They had already fought with the giant bandit Wang Sanchun, but the other party did not resist to the death and retreated.
After occupying the Daba Mountains, the biggest enemy was not the garrison or the joint defense brigade, but the endless stream of bandits. People in the mountains were called farmers when they picked up hoes, and were called "Bang Lao Er" (a common name for bandits) when they picked up knives and sticks. Therefore, the focus of the work of suppressing bandits was not on "suppression" but on "support". Therefore, Du Chenyu sent his most capable military and civil affairs generals, Huang Kunyang and Peng Huiyu, to garrison in the area from Yanjing River to Maoheba, one in charge of military affairs and the other in charge of civil affairs. In the past month, they have incorporated nearly 5000 people and let them settle down.
As long as the pace of expansion does not stop, their power will slowly increase. Although it has not developed by leaps and bounds, it is finally developing. At present, it is still very weak in the eyes of outsiders, but he believes that it is just a dormant dragon in the abyss, and the situation can change suddenly.
There were no major military actions overall. Du Chenyu sent the 1st Squadron and the Special Service Team to the Kowloon Field area. There was a larger bandit group in the Kowloon Walled City of Kowloon Field named He Laojiu. He had nine brothers, commonly known as the "Nine Dragons". Each of them had about 50 men under his command, and the total number of people exceeded 500. They had about 300 guns. This group of bandits was relatively loyal and rarely bullied the common people. They mostly went down the mountain to attack landlords and wealthy families. They also attacked the Qinglong Field Joint Defense Brigade several times. Therefore, Hu Laosi and He Chaowu were sent to Kowloon Field as bandits to open up a stronghold.
At the end of July, this year's rainstorms were more frequent than in previous years, so Du Chenyu was hiding by the river to fish. During this free time, Du Chenyu also exercised in the early morning, and then read books, studying ancient Chinese classics such as Records of the Grand Historian and Zizhi Tongjian. However, his "Bajin Gong" still had no obvious breakthrough. His Qi sense was indeed obvious, and his strength was also great, but the rest did not have much effect. It was probably because he had practiced an incomplete version in his previous life, so the later he practiced, the less effect he felt.
"Mr. Chenyu, there is good news," guard Tang Zhiyun trotted over.