Chapter 1 Lu Sixiang
Deng Changjiang was originally a small commander under Lu Yong, a guerrilla in Xuanfu.
Guan Shengyun is from Yan'an Prefecture, Shaanxi Province. His father is a poor scholar who has failed many times and works as a teacher to make a living. It is said to be teaching, but in fact it means that the richer families in each village collect a few coins for 800 yuan and ask someone to teach their children to read a few words during the off-season. Yes, it is just literacy. The scientific examination is beyond dreams. I dare not think about it.
At that time, education was a very luxurious thing: children at the age of five or six could start cutting pig grass and collecting firewood, and could help adults with many things; by the age of ten, they could go to the fields and work as half of the labor force. In the years when the harvest is good, a well-off family can be considered a well-off family by eating every meal. Being a farmer in the morning and ascending to the emperor's palace in the evening is just a beautiful myth - a hungry farmer can only think about eating, and will never think about it. Daydreaming about the Emperor’s Hall.
If the weather is good and several generations have been diligent and thrifty in managing the household without producing a prodigal son or getting into any legal troubles, a normal family will need three or four generations to change its family: the first generation will squeeze out a few dollars from their teeth to let their children know each other. With these words, the second generation will live frugally and save dozens of acres of land. The third generation will continue to work hard, and the entire family can own hundreds of acres of property. Then the family will work together to hire some good gentlemen to teach the children of the whole family. , strive to allow one or two of them to pass the exam, and finally, let the smartest child in the fourth generation of the family quit his job, and the entire family will allow him to study wholeheartedly. If he can pass the provincial examination and win the imperial examination - from now on, This family then jumped over the dragon gate and entered the gentry class.
Rich families would not hire failed scholars as teachers. There has been a severe drought for years and there is not enough food to eat. Who in the ordinary family has spare money to hire a husband to teach their children how to read? So Guan Xiucai died soon after being hungry and sick. When Guan Shengyun was in his teens, he fled a disaster after burying his father. He begged and wandered all the way. When he arrived at Xuan Mansion, he was so hungry that he had no choice but to put up a straw to sell himself. I met Lu Yong by chance and saw that this little beggar could actually read. He was amazed and made him a servant.
The guerrilla official position is not big, and there is not much money to be greedy. It is very good to be able to support three or four servants. The servant wanted to change his surname, but Lu Yong was a rough man, so he asked his master to give him a name. The master arranged it according to Tai Chi, Liang Yi, Four Symbols and Bagua, so Guan Shengyun became Lu Si Xiang.
Most people today have misunderstandings about the word "housekeeper". They either think that the so-called "housekeeper" is a crooked loser, or a servant who works for the master's family - this is misunderstood by silly movies and TV dramas. .
In fact, none of them are right.
At that time, there was a big difference between the so-called "servant" and the "servant". There are servants who are servants, some are long-term workers and some are part-time workers. Of course, there are also those who develop feelings for a long time and stay together for a lifetime. However, servants do not need to change their surnames and are always considered "outsiders", while servants have to change their surnames and are considered "ones" - you can Understood as "one's own people who have a lower status in this 'family'". Not only do you not have to worry about eating, drinking, drinking, and spending money, but the head of the family is responsible for everything, including marrying a wife, providing for the elderly, and even being buried after death. Under such circumstances, the servants will naturally have a high degree of loyalty to the master's family, even if it means working hard for their lives: the master's family will remember this friendship, and from now on, the family will take care of them. Needless to say, the children may even follow the family. The young master here studied and grew up together.
The family can have enough to eat. Lu Sixiang grew taller and stronger. In just a few years, he became a strong young man who was half a head taller than ordinary people (the average height of people in the Ming Dynasty was about 1.6 meters). Apart from the master, he was the most literate person in the Lu family, so Lu Yong was particularly fond of him and taught him martial arts step by step. Later, he simply enrolled him in the military and became his personal guard. Later, he even adopted him as his adopted son. If there had been no subsequent tragedy, Guan Shengyun would have probably ended up working as a Qianzong, or as a guerrilla, and ended up living on the border.
Although the horse market was opened secretly in those years, and the Mongolian compatriots could exchange mules, horses, cattle and sheep for some cloth, food, salt, ironware, etc., the border has never been said to be peaceful: there was no major war, and there were occasional harassments from both sides in small groups. Every time. However, both the court here and the tribal Khan over there turned a blind eye: with the communication and transportation conditions at the time, it was impossible to deal with these trivial matters.
Xuanfu Town has several outposts a hundred miles outside the main defense line, with a dozen to dozens of troops stationed there. Their duty is to provide early warning. Don't pay attention to the small group of Beibei, they can't attack the stronghold - then again, the semi-permanent stronghold with a few stones of grains and cereals is not very profitable. When they see the large group of people coming from the clan, they light the beacon fire and run away. Just come back.
The soldiers at the beacon tower are all carefully selected. The selection criterion is not that you have strong ideas and strong martial arts, but that you have a small family. If the Beibei soldiers on the opposite side invade in large numbers, what should you do if you are so frightened that you surrender or forget to call the police and run away? If you have a small family, things will be easier: just kill your whole family.
Lu Sixiang and his companion Lu Bagua once went to several close outposts for Lu Yong to convey the order to "grab some refugees to supplement the auxiliary troops when they have time." On their way back, they met a dozen Mongolian compatriots. Seeing two lonely knights in bright armor from a distance, the Mongolian compatriots gathered around them enthusiastically: The armor is a treasure! Lu Bagua did not escape, and Lu Sixiang's horse also lost its strength. Seeing that it was inevitable to escape, at this moment, there was a whistle and reinforcements arrived - dozens of beggars appeared in front of them like magic soldiers descending from heaven!
The Mongolian compatriots abandoned seven or eight corpses and ran away. In this way, Lu Sixiang met Deng Changjiang.
The latter is the little leader who leads this group of beggars, oh, that's right, the mighty Ming Dynasty border army - the life of an ordinary soldier is too hard, no different than a beggar. Deng Changjiang was the commander of another outpost. He was afraid of eating multigrain cakes soaked in salt water, so he secretly led his brothers out. He wanted to get lucky and see if he could encounter someone who was unlucky enough to wander away from herds. We had a cordial and friendly exchange with our Mongolian friends and drove some cattle and sheep back to offer sacrifices to the five internal organs temple. It would be even better if we could meet three or five gods of wealth who came to the horse market to trade in excitement. Unexpectedly, we accidentally saved Lu Si. elephant.
Although he didn't get rich, he definitely won the jackpot with his seven or eight head skills! Although the military merit system of the Ming Dynasty is not static, generally speaking, if the number of beheadings accounts for 1% of the number of reported soldiers, it is a proper first-level meritorious service!
What is reporting the number of soldiers? It is the number of soldiers recognized by the Ministry of War of the imperial court as being under a certain general and whose names are recorded in the Ministry of War.
At that time, no one could tell clearly how many troops the Ming Dynasty had. The generals approached the court for food and pay, so they exaggerated the number of their men to death. A military town (general military officer) reported that it was normal to have "a hundred thousand tigers and wolves" under his command. This was called sky-high asking prices. The imperial court is not stupid. If they really pay this amount, it won’t be enough even if they sell all the ladies in the palace. They will definitely go bankrupt! Therefore, it was necessary to "explore and merge", that is, the Ministry of War sent people to count the heads, which was to pay back the money on the spot.
The uncle of the Ministry of War (please read it twice) came down and asked the military leader to call everyone together and began to write down the numbers: the old, the weak, the sick, the disabled and pregnant are not counted, they all get out, those without weapons are not counted, they all get out, and there are no weapons. Those with iron heads (such as wooden sticks) are not counted, they are all rolled, and those with iron heads but are agricultural tools (such as hoes, dung forks) are not counted, they are all rolled... Cut down at least half of them every time, so a hundred thousand troops become There were three or four thousand beggars. The next step is the regular process of eating cards and getting orders. The military leader feels comfortable with the uncle, and may give you another five hundred people. The uncle is not happy, and says that he was dazzled just now, please try it again, and I will count carefully and be sure. It was your lack of appreciation that made the uncle angry... In the end, the court paid you according to the number he reported.
Generals need to make a fortune, support their families, and provide equipment and training for their soldiers. These all cost money. Of course the court knows it, but it can't pay for you! What to do? Just figure it out yourself. So the general drank the soldiers' blood and deducted food and pay. The general will deduct the deputy general, the deputy general will deduct the staff general, the deputy general will deduct the guerrillas, and the guerrillas will deduct a thousand generals... Finally, when they get to the big-headed soldiers, they will only be left in a situation where they can barely survive starvation.
Do you think you can get money and food after counting and reporting? What are you dreaming about? There is also "drift"! This is the rule.
To put it simply, drifting means that the boat sank and the car overturned, and suddenly an old monster popped out and ate all the money and food in one gulp, which means you don’t need to worry about it anymore. The proportion of floating and submerging is generally about 30%. The better ones (like the Sun family), 20%, have no backers and have a bad temper. The escort officer insists that you have no place to reason with half of the losses on the road.
What's even more amazing is that the imperial court will send official documents on paper figures for allocating food and salary to the army to officers at all levels! The subtext is - Did you see that the Bodhisattvas are good, but the monks are all crooked and reciting the sutras crookedly? As for money and food, the court has given out everything it should give out. Don't ask me how much you got, go to your superiors!
This magic weapon is called "big and small phase control".
For military towns, the chief military officer is "big" and the deputy general is "small": how much the court gives to the military town is up to you, the deputy general. How much you actually get is up to you, the deputy general! Well, the court treats you well, right? Do you know who the bad guy is? If this guy wants to rebel in the future and get you to join the gang, you know what to do... As far as the "Xie" is concerned, the deputy general is the big one, and the general is the junior... The purpose is to make you have conflicts so that you don't get involved. Gangs are working together to deal with the imperial court!
Can such an army have combat effectiveness? Who cares about this! Anyway, there are many refugees and criminals, and the generals can arrest them at any time and deliver them to the government every day. Are they still worried about not having enough cannon fodder?
The imperial court fully understood that if they reported four thousand troops, they would be sure to dig out the troops and there would definitely be some moisture - not to mention that the director of the Ministry of War of Kanhe took a concubine when he came back. Don't think that the Jinyi Guards are all blind! In a military town, those who can really fight in battle are the two to three hundred (soft-hearted) and three to four hundred (this guy is more ruthless) personal servants raised by the general himself. Regardless of whether a general wins or loses a battle, his or her own report will not count, and the head level submitted shall prevail. You said it was a great victory, but you didn’t hand over your head? Well, give me some verbal praise. Want a promotion and a bonus? Give me your head!
The first-level inspection of the head is also very strict: whether the hair is hinged (the hairstyles of ethnic minority compatriots and Han people are different), whether there is a beard (don’t use children as an excuse), and there must be an Adam’s apple (don’t use women’s heads to cover up). If it is really difficult to tell, The one who is thrown into the water and looks up at the sky is a man, and the one with the back of his head turned up is a woman (this belongs to the high-tech system of Qiankun Yin and Yang)... The heads that can pass the inspection will definitely be far less than the actual results. With these two points in mind, a reward system of one percent decapitation was established.
In Master's wonderful writing, the imperial court saw the guerrilla general Lu Yong. When he heard that the Northern invaders were invading the border, he rose up against the case. He resolutely led his men out of the border to attack the enemy. Facing the menacing invaders, he took the lead without hesitation and trusted the soldiers The Holy Lord Hongfu added to the might of the frontier troops. Four hundred tigers and wolves chased and killed more than ten thousand bandits for more than twenty miles, killing the enemy without any hope. However, most of the heads were trampled until they were unrecognizable... Handing over these genuine heads is a mountain of ironclad evidence!
Two levels of skill!
Guerrilla Lu Yong therefore became the senior general Lu Yong who was promoted to the rank of deputy general first. The brave and invincible Lu Sixiang and Deng Baizong who led the charge also became Lu Qianzong and Deng Qianzong; Deng Changjiang, who left his post without authorization, was not in Lu Yong's eyes (otherwise he would not have been so hungry that he went out to look for food). He suddenly became Lu Yong's confidant, and everyone was happy.
