Wei Liangqing's ancestors were poor farmers for eight generations, and their lives were very difficult. He never thought that he could do anything else besides farming.
But since Wei Zhongxian came to power, his life began to change completely.
Although Eunuch Wei was married before entering the palace and gave birth to a daughter, he had no heirs after all.
Wei Liangqing's nephew became a popular figure.
After all, the "Nine Thousand Years Old" is now in full power, and there are so many people vying to be Wei Zhongxian's sons and grandsons.
So many people found another way and began to fawn over Wei Liangqing, the nephew of Eunuch Wei.
For example, Zhou Yingqiu, the leader of the "Ten Dogs", came to power entirely by fawning over Wei Liangqing; even Wei Zhongxian's cronies Cui Chengxiu, Xu Xianchun and others continued to flatter him.
Wei Liangqing, who was originally an honest and honest farmer, soon became evil-doing and became a tyrant who brought disaster to the place.
Even after entering the capital, Wei Liangqing did not restrain himself at all.
Wei Zhongxian also knew what kind of character his nephew was. This time it was clear that Li Xianzhong intended to give Wei Liangqing his military merits so that he could be rewarded with a title.
Although there was not much risk in escorting the grain and grass, in order to ensure that nothing went wrong, Eunuch Wei still sent his capable general, Jin Yiweidu, to command Qianshi Xu Xianchun to accompany him during the transportation.
In fact, their journey was relatively easy, and they did not completely go by land. The grain transport ship departed from Tianjin Port and arrived directly at Yingkou Port.
Then the copper-carrying ship was refitted and sailed upstream from the Liao River to the vicinity of Kaiyuan, and then followed the copper-carrying route built with cement roads to Fushun Pass.
Even the civilian men who accompanied him to transport grain were arranged by the Liaodong Governor's Yamen, and they were responsible for guarding the transportation road.
Wei Liangqing said: "I originally thought that disaster victims are everywhere now, and we would be prone to trouble when transporting grain and grass over long distances. Look at Liaodong. There are not even any victims on the road. It doesn't look like it was under the rule of the Ming Dynasty?"
Xu Xianchun said: "We are taking the route from Liaodong Copper Mine to Beijing. This is the route for transporting tributes. Ordinary people naturally cannot take this route. It really saves us a lot of effort!"
"It would have taken at least nearly a month to travel by land. Nowadays, the main route is by water. The road is specially paved and the road is smooth. It only took 12 days to reach Fushun. It is really unimaginable!"
Wei Liangqing said: "Why is this road so smooth? It's not paved with bluestones. It's actually better than the roads in the capital. When I go back, I must tell my uncle to build a road like this from the capital to our hometown in Suning, so that I can return to my hometown in Suning in the future." It’s much more convenient in the countryside!
Xu Xianchun said: "This time, I am a thousand years old and have overseen the army in Liaodong. I have also contributed to transporting grain. After returning to Beijing, I will definitely be promoted to a higher position, repair roads, and it is appropriate to return home in glory!"
Then he pointed to a temple-like building on the side of the road and said, "What kind of temple is this? I can see several of them along the way!"
Xu Xianchun said: "This is not a temple. This is a living temple built by Yan Mingtai, the governor of Jiliao, for the 'Nine Thousand Years Old'. It is said that as many as 18 have been built in Jiliao!"
While the two were chatting, a group of cavalry suddenly came towards them.
The leading guard said: "We from Uncle Ningyuan's Mansion are preparing to return to Kaiyuan. Could you please clear a little of the road we occupy so that we can pass through alone."
There is a line in the middle of the road, one side is going forward and the other is going backwards.
Wei Liangqing's grain transport team directly occupied the entire road.
Ordinary caravans could only drag their vehicles to the side of the road when they saw them, and wait for them to pass before passing through.
But this is the territory of Liaodong after all, and the guards of Uncle Ning Yuan's Mansion naturally don't buy it if someone is so unruly.
Seeing someone blocking the road ahead, Wei Liangqing and Xu Xianchun hurried forward to check the situation!
This matter was originally due to them taking advantage of the situation. Xu Xianchun said: "After all, they are from Uncle Ningyuan's mansion. Let's just make way for them."
Wei Liangqing was obviously not happy and said: "The temples built in Liaodong are all my uncle's birthplaces. I don't have the habit of giving way to others and letting them wait aside!"
The helpless Xu Xianchun had no choice but to step forward in person and said politely: "We have been ordered by the emperor to deliver military rations to the front line without delay. It is inconvenient to move the vehicles. Please wait at the roadside!"
Just as the guard was about to argue, he saw a beautiful girl wearing Mongolian clothing and said, "Forget it Li Bin, let them pass, we will take another path."
Hai Lanzhu is already 13 years old this year. She originally had fair skin and delicate face, but now her figure has become curvy, revealing the charm of a mature woman.
But any man can't help but look at it a few more times!
Especially when she was riding on a maroon horse, she had a more dashing and heroic appearance, which made Wei Liangqing fascinated!
After swallowing his saliva, he said with a lewd smile: "Girl, I am Wei Liangqing, the nephew of Wei Zhongxian, the current Chief of Ceremonies. As long as you obey me, you will enjoy endless glory and wealth!"
At this age, Hai Lanzhu would have been able to get married long ago in the Ming Dynasty. Originally, she approached Li Xianzhong this time to ask him to formally marry her.
As a result, Li Xianzhong asked her to wait another year because of her young age.
She was already in a bad mood, how could she bear it when Wei Liangqing teased her like this?
So the two sides immediately started taking action.
Xu Xianchun knew something was wrong at the first glance!
Wei Liangqing, the second generation ancestor, really didn't know where to look when he was causing trouble. This woman was guarded by people from Ning Yuanbo's Mansion, and she had an alluring appearance, so she might be Li Xianzhong's woman.
When you flirted with Li Xianzhong's woman in Liaodong territory, wasn't that like lighting a lamp in a manhole and looking for death?
But at this time, the men and horses on both sides were already fighting together, and he couldn't stop him even if he wanted to!
His group of uniformed guards usually only scare ordinary people and the Donglin Party. Who are the opponents of these border troops?
Although they had the advantage in numbers, dozens of them were beaten down within a short time.
I guess that's why the other party showed mercy. Knowing that they were officers and soldiers responsible for transporting food, they didn't kill them!
This place is not far from Fushun Pass. Such a big noise from both sides quickly alerted the defenders at the pass.
At first they thought someone was robbing the food, but later they found out that someone was teasing their uncle's unmarried young lady.
So the angry Liaodong sergeant beat up the officers and soldiers responsible for the escort and the Jin Yiwei.
Finally, the matter came to Li Xianzhong.
Hai Lanzhu cried like a pear blossom in the rain directly in front of Li Xianzhong, and kept acting coquettishly, which made the generals present feel a little embarrassed.
Li Xianzhong is also very angry!
Although he knew that Hai Lanzhu did not suffer at all, but instead beat up Wei Liangqing's men.
However, spreading this matter would really damage his reputation.
In his own territory, if Li Xianzhong didn't react to the woman who teased him, how could he still be considered a man?
Especially those who were "persecuted" by the eunuchs and fled to Liaodong, such as Sun Chuanting.
If they were to be lenient towards Wei Liangqing, how should they view themselves?
Of course, it was impossible for Li Xianzhong to punish Wei Liangqing for molesting his own woman.
In the end, Li Xianzhong sentenced Wei Liangqing to 20 military sticks for illegally occupying the road and obstructing traffic.
When Xu Xianchun saw this, he quickly begged for mercy and said: "These are all the faults of humble officials and have nothing to do with the Wei Supervisor Army. I beg Uncle Ning Yuan to allow humble officials to accept the military stick on their behalf!"
Xu Xianchun knew that Li Xianzhong must be angry now, so he gave him a step down.
In this way, Ning Yuanbo's anger was dissipated, and he could show off in front of his master. He could still withstand a mere 20 military sticks.
But Li Xianzhong only replied with two words: "No!"
So Xu Xianchun quickly grabbed Wei Liangqing, who was swearing, for fear that Li Xianzhong would slap him with 20 military sticks when he was angry!
Li Xianzhong was not used to Wei Liangqing, so he had Wei Liangqing's mouth blocked, and then he was executed in public and his butt was beaten until the flesh was raw and bloody!
Li Xianzhong beat Wei Liangqing in public, which still won him a lot of praise.
Everyone said one after another: "In the whole world, I am afraid that only Uncle Ning Yuan dares to punish these eunuchs."
Later, Wei Liangqing requested to return to Kaiyuan for treatment, but Li Xianzhong refused again!
Li Xianzhong thought to himself that Wei Liangqing was really a helpless man. He asked you to come here just to give you credit. If he doesn't serve in the army, how will he share the credit with you in the future?
Since Fan Wencai launched a three-point Jianzhou last year, Jianzhou has been divided into three parts.
That is, the Hetuala area controlled by Huang Taiji, Kuandian Liubao controlled by Azig, and North Korea's Hamjing Road and Ping'an Road controlled by Daishan.
The Hetuala area originally controlled by Huang Taiji was actually quite large, although the Ming Dynasty army reached Mardun Village, which was only thirty miles northwest of Hetuala.
But there are still many territories to the east of Hetuala, such as the original territories of the Wanyan Department and the Huifa Department.
However, at this time, Ye He's tribe had expanded considerably with the support of Li Xianzhong.
These territories were all occupied by Ye He.
Today, Ye He has occupied most of the original Haixi Jurchen territory, and is no longer limited to Ye He.
However, since the population of these tribes has been almost exhausted by Nurhachi, although Ye He's territory has become much larger, the number of tribes has not increased much, and they have only taken in some old, weak, sick and disabled people.
Therefore, the current number of Ye He's cavalry has only increased to 12,000.
This is also a situation Li Xianzhong wants to see. Although Jianzhou has weakened, an overly powerful Ye He is also not in his interest.
In this way, it is not bad to only expand the territory without expanding the army, so as to avoid repeating the mistakes of the Jianzhou Jurchen in the future!
In fact, Hetuala was not the first capital city built by Nurhaci.
In the fifteenth year of Wanli, Nurhachi built a city called Foala to the east of Hetuala.
Foala was the first capital of the state.
"Buddha" means ancient in Manchu, and "Ala" means a low or flat-topped hill.
This Foala city is divided into three floors: the inner city, the outer city and the inner city. There is also a wooden fence in the inner city.
This is also known as "Jianzhou Old Camp".
Soon Li Xianzhong asked Ye He's tribe to send troops to capture Foala City.
And he led the main cavalry to ambush in the surrounding area so that he could surround the area and call for reinforcements!
Although Ye He's military strength was not as good as that of Huang Taiji, he remained unmoved.
Perhaps in Huang Taiji's eyes, those desolate mountainous areas and the old, weak, sick and disabled were no longer worth the expenditure of his troops.
Since Huang Taiji could not be lured out, Li Xianzhong could only continue to take the initiative.
The Ming army sent troops from Crow Falcon Pass, went north along the "Crow Crow Road", and directly occupied Wuji Pass with mortars.
Wujiguan is located southwest of Hetuala, only 20 miles away. Li Xianzhong did not believe that Huang Taiji was still indifferent.
This time Huang Taiji finally responded. He sent an envoy to invite Azig to attack the Ming army from both sides to regain Wuji Pass.
Faced with Huang Taiji's request to send troops, Azig was also in a dilemma. If he didn't send troops, the Ming army would completely cut off the connection between Hetuala and Kuandian.
But send troops. Among the three forces, Azige has the smallest strength. If he is ambushed by the Ming army, he will easily be annexed by Daishan even if he is not eliminated by the Ming army.
In the end, Fan Wencai asked Azig to kick the ball to Daishan. After all, Daishan was the nominal Khan. At this time, the Khan must send troops.
Daishan's meaning was very clear. Hetuala was already semi-surrounded by the Ming army and could not hold on at all. He asked Azig to cover Huang Taiji's withdrawal to North Korea.
Huang Taiji hesitated and decided to stick to Hetuala.
At this time, he only had the men and horses of the two banners, Zhenghuang Banner and Zhengbai Banner, in his hands.
In fact, since Li Xianzhong fought with Jianzhou, these two banners have not been completely crippled by the Ming army, and the other six banners have basically been crippled several times.
Therefore, the combat capabilities of these two flags are relatively complete.
Today, there are 15,000 troops in the two banners, half of which are Jianzhou Niulu and Jurchen Niulu.
It's not that Huang Taiji doesn't want to expand his army, but that his food can only sustain these troops.
Amfeyangu said: "Da Beile, now that the family members of the Yellow and White Flags in the city have retreated to North Korea, have you really decided to stick to the dead city of Hetuala?"
At this time, Huang Taiji looked at the Jianzhou family members who were gradually moving away in the south of the city, and said: "This is a dead place, so why not North Korea?"
"Don't forget, North Korea also has Ming troops stationed in North Korea. Just two places can't support so many people!"
"If we hold on here for a while longer, we can buy some time for Daishan."
"If we give up on Hetuala, we still won't be able to return to North Korea!"
"At that time, the Ming army only needs to use water to block us in the Yalu River, and then we lose the strong city of Hetuala. What will happen?"
Anfeiyanggu understood what Huang Taiji meant. After leaving Hetuala, they would be besieged by the Ming army in Kuandian Liubao. The city there was not big, and it was far more capable of killing the Ming army than holding on to Hetuala.
He said: "Don't worry, Big Baylor, I will stick to this place with you."
It has to be said that Huang Taiji has made sufficient preparations in terms of food.
There are no extra family members in the city of Hetuala, there are only 15,000 soldiers and 3,000 auxiliary soldiers.
In addition to the remaining 70,000 to 80,000 shi of food, they also made dried meat from fish caught in the river and prey.
Of course, the biggest killer weapon was actually those sweet potatoes that Li Xianzhong gave to Huang Taiji.
Although Li Xianzhong chose the cold autumn and winter to sell sweet potatoes to Jianzhou, Huang Taiji's initial planting failed.
But he still retained some of them as seeds, and now sweet potatoes have been planted in the city of Hetuala, although they cannot fully meet the demand for food rations.
But combined with the stored grain and dried meat, it is enough to last for a year.
The Ming army has been besieging Hetuala for five months since January this year.
During this period, the Ming army also built a bastion outside Hetuala City to completely block Huang Taiji's southward passage.
Li Xianzhong's meaning is also very clear. If you don't want to leave, then don't leave.
Huang Taiji is the one he wants to get rid of most, and the main forces of Zhenghuang Banner and Zhengbai Banner must also be eliminated.
Since he couldn't trap them to death, he had no choice but to attack by force.
At this time, he mobilized a total of 20,000 Ming troops outside the city of Hetuala.
The three thousand men of the Liaodong Iron Cavalry remained unchanged.
However, the assault battalion was expanded to 5,000 men, and the civilian guards were expanded to 8,000 men.
There are another 4,000 people who are outstanding grassroots generals selected from all walks of life, ranging from corps commanders, chiefs to hundreds of households, generals, thousand generals, guerrilla generals, and staff generals. They are mainly here to observe and learn. The latest combat methods, so that new combat methods can be brought back to each battalion.
Among them was Lu Xiangsheng, a new scholar who was transferred to Liaodong by the Ministry of War to observe the government.
Sun Chuanting came to watch the battle as a reserve general.
Nowadays, the level of firearms used by Pinglu Guards has been very high.
There are 2,000 people in the artillery battalion alone. In addition to professional artillerymen, these people are mostly troops responsible for guarding artillery positions.
At this time, 40 12-pound red cannons outside the city were ready.
Although gunpowder mixed with sugar can already increase the shooting range to 2,000 meters, the white sugar in Ryukyu is not mass-produced yet, so ordinary granulated black powder is still used for the time being.
Facing the generals selected from all walks of life, Mangui said: "First we attack with solid bullets."
Following the order, solid bullets quickly hit the top of the city of Hetuala.
At this time, the Eight Banners soldiers on the city were still very confident, because they had successfully withstood the Ming army's artillery and muskets with their thick iron shields.
However, at that time, the Ming army only used 6-pound Franco machine artillery dragged by war horses, not the 12-pound red cannon.
The first round is a test shot, and usually the hit rate is not too high.
In the end, only a few shells hit the city wall, smashing several deep depressions into the wall.
Two more artillery shells fell on the city. The huge solid shells passed directly through the Iron Shield of the Eight Banners, smashing several soldiers behind the shield to a bloody pulp.
Under Li Xianzhong's guidance, Song Yingxing and others improved the temperature of the blast furnace, causing the furnace temperature to exceed 1,600 degrees. Now they are able to produce glass.
Although they were 3 miles away, the generals of the Ming army could still see the situation in the city relatively clearly through these special "lenses".
After adjustments, the Ming army's second round of shelling soon began again.
With the data from the first time as a reference, the hit rate this time was much higher. A full 21 of the 40 shells hit the city wall.
The high-density hits caused considerable casualties to the Eight Banners soldiers on the city.
They even destroyed three of the Franco machine guns they captured from the Ming army.
Huang Taiji was very depressed. The artillery he had high hopes for had no effect at all.
The range of the Folangji artillery was only 1 and a half miles, but the Ming army's artillery was 3 miles away, and they could not reach the Ming army at all.
And the iron shield could not stop the Ming army's large-caliber artillery at all.
Obviously, as long as the Ming army continues to attack, the outer city of Hetuala will definitely be destroyed by them.
As the Ming army shelled more and more times, there were fewer and fewer Franco artillery pieces on the city.
After five rounds of shelling, the city was in a mess.
Mangui said: "Traditional solid bomb siege is roughly the result of these. Under the current situation, it may take a whole day to destroy the city wall."
"Next we use blooming bombs!"
The shells roared and fell on the city wall, like violent beasts, tearing the air suddenly and raising a cloud of dust and smoke.
The city wall seemed to be shaking, the broken bricks and rubble on the city were blown away, and the smoke instantly enveloped the entire city wall.
Immediately afterwards, a powerful impact shook the city wall, and the screams of the Eight Banners soldiers echoed in the air and lingered for a long time.
After the shelling, many corpses of Eight Banners soldiers and broken limbs were scattered on the city. The air was filled with the smell of sulfur mixed with the smell of blood.
This scene not only confused the Eight Banners soldiers on the city, but also shocked the Ming army soldiers watching the battle from behind.
The casualties caused by this round of shelling alone exceeded the sum of the previous shellings. This round of artillery also killed at least one or two hundred people on the city.
Man Gui said proudly: "Sugar is added to these blooming bombs, so the power of the explosion is more powerful than before."
Sun Chuanting was also shocked by the artillery of the Ming army. Even the heavily armored troops could not withstand such powerful explosive shells.
As long as this bombardment lasts for a long time, even if the city wall is not blown down, thousands of Tatars can be wiped out.
He asked: "Our artillery is so powerful, doesn't it have weaknesses?"
Mangui said: "The Hongyi cannon fires slowly, and the enemy can use the cavalry to quickly attack our artillery position."
As soon as Mangui finished speaking, the city gate of Hetuala was opened.
Huang Taiji did not expect that the Ming army's explosive shells were so sharp. He certainly could not sit still and wait for death, so the cavalry of Zhenghuang Banner began to walk out of the city gate and assemble outside the city.
The red cannon cannot fire continuously like the Franco cannon.
Although the interval was only a few minutes, it was enough for these Eight Banners soldiers to organize a charge.
After seeing the Tatar cavalry leaving the city, the Ming army on the artillery position seemed very nervous. They knew very well that the rate of fire of the Ming army's muskets was almost a one-shot deal in the wild.
There was no way to stop the enemy's cavalry charge.
Soon after, two thousand Zhenghuang Banner cavalry were assembled. Soon they mobilized their horses and launched a charge towards the Ming army.
Although the artillery position is three miles away from the city wall.
But if the cavalry charges, they will arrive in an instant.
At this time, countless Tatar cavalry attacked the Ming army accompanied by dust in the sky.
Man Gui said: "Prepare the Fran machine artillery!"
As the gunner lit the fuse, the shells of dozens of Franco machine guns soon roared towards the Tatars.
The range of the Franco machine gun is exactly half the distance to the city wall.
As the shells fell one after another, huge clouds of dust were kicked up.
The huge impact produced by the artillery directly knocked the Eight Banners soldiers off their backs.
In just one round of shelling, four to five hundred Tatars were killed, and the city was filled with the neighing of the war horses.
However, these Eight Banners soldiers were very well-trained. Although the Ming army's artillery caused a lot of chaos to them, the subsequent cavalry once again gathered to attack the Ming army's artillery position.
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