Chapter 34 Nails
Two days ago.
On the day when Guo Qinglin found out that some auxiliary soldiers had not returned, Zhao Ergou was training new recruits on the Yellow River beach on the outskirts of Yanchang County. From a distance, he saw a carriage coming from the north in the direction of Yanchuan, followed by several people on horseback. .
There were several government officials in Yanchang County who were close associates of the county magistrate Liao Xingxiang, and were sent here to "learn" combat skills. Due to human feelings, it was impossible for Zhao Ergou to organize them into the team. With fair excuses, either "borrowing" or robbing them, they all found mounts for themselves, and spent the whole day riding around and watching the fun, and occasionally whipping the cheap ones for fun. Over the past few days, everyone has become tired of watching the new recruits being whipped, and they were chatting under the shade of the trees. At this moment, when they saw a carriage approaching, they all became energetic. shouted:
"stop!"
"Who is it? How dare you spy on military affairs!"
In ancient times, being a government official was a despicable job, and one's descendants could not take the imperial examination for three generations. However, among ordinary people, there is a lot of money to be made in this industry. After wearing this outfit for a long time, it is easy to give rise to a sense of pride and the illusion of authority. At this moment, the psychological activities of all of them are exactly the same: first, they will be labeled as "spying on the military situation", and there is a high probability that they will squeeze out some benefits. If not, they will yell and curse a few words, open the car curtains and watch the women rummaging through the boxes and cages. It was also excellent - as was the custom at that time when traveling, women's families were often seated in carriages.
This line of work is definitely not official. Because there was no gong to clear the way, and there were no ceremonial guards such as top horses (carrying flags and leading the way), official title plaques, etc. If there were, these guys would have escaped into the woods!
In ancient times, officials had to "avoid roads" when traveling. When officials meet, the lower-ranking ones not only step out of the way, but also show respect in various ways. Different levels have different postures for giving way. One is to go in separate lanes, that is, those with the same rank and less power have to take another route. For example, if the Minister of Industry meets the Minister of Civil Affairs, stop talking nonsense and turn around and go another way. The other is to give way to the road. OK, that is to say, get out of the way of the main road and take the auxiliary road, rein in the horse and stand upright by the road, rein in the horse and stand sideways, dismount the horse and so on. If there is a big difference in rank, the one with junior high status will have to "evacuate", that is, find a nearby alley or something to dive in and wait for the adults to pass by before getting out. The so-called "majesty" and "dignity" are right! When facing each other, you must always show enthusiasm and a smile - even though both parties know that it is forced, this is the rule of this land. These are the most despicable government servants. If you encounter an official here and now, you have to stay far away in the woods to avoid them. Otherwise, you will definitely get beaten!
However, since he is not an official, how can he miss such a great opportunity to show his prestige in front of ordinary people? It is not a fine tradition of our Ming Dynasty to not get into trouble with those who are lower than ourselves, and not to do everything we can to embarrass the weak within even the temporary and small scope of our power!
Zhao Ergou felt moved and asked others to take over the training. He walked to the side and watched coldly from a distance.
I saw the government officials galloping past in a majestic manner. The person on the horse took out something and showed it to them, and then they came back listlessly. Immediately, the carriage stopped briefly, turned to the west, and disappeared among the trees.
After a few people came back, Zhao Ergou asked intentionally or unintentionally: "I was just thinking about having a glass of water and a drink, but I think I swallowed my saliva in vain. What is the origin of your master, who even the local policemen can't afford to offend?"
One of the government officials spat reluctantly: "It's bad luck! Who doesn't know? They are the guides from the Dusi Mansion in Xi'an, so they must not be provoked. I am sweating all over the place in the middle of the day for nothing, what a shame!"
Hearing this, Zhao Ergou looked up at the sky, wiped his forehead, and smiled: "It's really hot. Can you lend me your horse? I'll go find some water and wine to quench everyone's thirst."
He rode a horse and ran toward the county seat.
The carriage stopped in the woods some distance away from Yanchuan County. The curtains of the carriage had been raised, and several riders dressed as ordinary people were surrounding them. However, they all had swords hung on the saddles.
Zhao Ergou galloped forward and rolled his saddle and dismounted. He looked back and saw that no one was following him. He looked into the car and recognized the appearance of the person in the car. He knelt down on one knee and said, "See Zhao Ergou from one hundred households in Rong Qianhu Station, Guyuan Guard Town, Pingliang Prefecture." Your Majesty."
The person in the car said: "It's not good for others to see you. Let's get up."
Zhao Ergou stood up and lowered his hands and said, "Thank you, Sir."
The person in the car continued to ask: "Does Magistrate Yu know that you are from Dusi Prefecture?"
Zhao Ergou replied respectfully: "Your Excellency. You don't know. A few days ago, Li Shaobing took the villain with him to harass Yan'an Mansion. The villain guessed that if such a big thing happened, the Dusi Mansion would look for the villain. When asked, he said that he had Sha syndrome and was staying here to wait for the Lord."
The person in the car praised: "You are very smart. Tell me what happened these days."
Zhao Ergou then recounted the story from when Yu San, Li Shaobing and others put Yu Shengliang on board the ship, to how Yu Shengliang actively prepared for war, trained new soldiers, sent Li Shaobing to attack behind enemy lines, etc., and finally added: "Li Shaobing refused to go after hearing what the villain said, and he was secretly proud that no one would share the merit of his head."
The man in the car laughed and scolded: "You little monkey boy, you don't have to ask for credit in any other way. A few old and weak heads are nothing. When this matter is over, at least one Deputy Qianhu will always be yours. Maybe, the Chief Qianhu will be yours." Maybe!"
Zhao Ergou was overjoyed and thanked him: "Ergou thanks you for your support!"
The person in the car hummed and said, "Tell me about Yanchuan's city defense."
Zhao Ergou seemed a little hesitant when he heard the words. He hesitated for a moment and said evasively: "This... Sir, in your eyes, I am just a personal guard. After Li Shaobing left, I have been training the new recruits, fortified. The villain doesn’t know much about things.”
The people in the car were startled, then burst out laughing after a moment: "Hahaha, okay! No wonder the commander praised you for your cleverness! Don't worry, I will go to Yulin Mansion first, and then go south to find you. Don't you There are too many things you need to know, and I can only tell you: First, I am not a thief, so you don’t need to worry about leaking any military information - you can also see that the city has been lost, and there is a shortage of soldiers and generals. You idiots, can you defend this poor county? Even if I become a thief, why would I need to ask you for military intelligence? Secondly, I can tell you the truth: after a while, you should leave. You are so old."
Zhao Ergou became thoughtful.
The person in the car replied: "There are some things that you should know, and I will tell you. The rest, you have to think about it yourself and you will figure it out. Let's get down to business now."
Zhao Ergou made it clear: Mr. Qianshi is right. What kind of general can lead the army in Yanchang County? The so-called city defense plan was originally thought up by Yu Shengliang, Liao Xingxiang and a few of their guards who had seen the battlefield. So he didn't dare to prevaricate anymore and told Yu Shengliang's plan exactly...
After a long time, the man in the car whispered softly: "Oh, it is indeed unfair to blame the master for the loss of the house. It is difficult for the old man to work so hard in such a field. But, should he be blamed for this matter? Unfortunately, I can only wrong him..."
After finishing speaking, he lightly struck with his palms, and the driver stepped forward to lower the curtain. The driver shook the reins and said, "Drive." The carriage started slowly.
Zhao Ergoufu knelt down on one knee: "I'm sorry to see you off, sir. Could you please arrange for me to stay at an inn?"
"I won't enter the city anymore. Just take care of yourself."
The carriage left a stone's throw away. Zhao Ergou, who was standing on the spot, suddenly understood what he was doing. He galloped after him and threw himself down by the roadside: "Sir, stay here. I have guessed a little. I beg you to give me some more clear instructions." !”
The person in the car sighed: "Your guess is not bad. When the thief comes, you can try to return to Dusi Mansion."
The carriage did not stop any longer and rumbled toward the northwest against the east wall of Yanchang County.
Yanshui has a corner in the southwest of Yanchang County, turns to the southeast against the city wall, and finally merges into the Yellow River. Guan Shengyun's plan was to dispatch 1,000 combat troops and 500 auxiliary troops, and take the extension by water to solve his worries: let Gu Baihua's Gangfeng Battalion carry boats as the vanguard, rush over, and then land in the southeast of the county and launch an attack from behind. . After the threat was eliminated after the attack, the 500-man auxiliary battalion of Guoqinglin used rafts to carry supplies and established an advance base about five or six miles northeast of the landing site of Gangfeng Battalion. Behind them is Gong Derun's Zhenyong Battalion as the rear team, loaded with boats and rafts, taking over from Gu Baihua to eliminate the remaining enemies. After capturing Yanchang, the two battalions joined forces to advance northward and stormed Yanchuan County. The two rivers Qingjian River and Tuyanchuan block the east and north directions of Yanchuan. There are no regular troops in these two counties. If they are taken in one go, there will be no suspense about the outcome of the war.
The only problem is that the attacking troops will have to endure a certain amount of casualties: when they go down the river to the corner of the extended city wall, the entire vanguard fleet will be completely exposed to the firepower of the city defenders and can only be beaten without the ability to fight back. . The Gangfeng battalion on the boat had to cross this section of the river, which was more than 100 feet long, before they could land ashore and gather to launch an attack from east to west. By the time they captured Yanchang and attacked Yanchuan, Gangfeng Battalion had already lost a lot of blood, and it was time for Zhenyong Battalion to be the main force. No matter how broken the county town is, as long as there is a wall, even if it is only a few feet high, it will bring great advantages to the defenders, and Zhenyong Camp will also suffer a certain amount of damage. The people in these two places should have already entered the city, and there was no cannon fodder to fill the trenches. Guan Shengyun estimated that it would cost more than two to three hundred people to capture these two county towns, including dead and injured.
Gu Baihua thought for a while and said with emotion: "It's okay, this is the only way. Give me the big boats. Thick wooden boards are nailed on the outside, covered with straw mats and soaked with water. The boats are equipped with double armor, and each person is equipped with two shield soldiers to protect them. Here. Life and death are determined by destiny, let’s see how each person transforms.”
Gong Derun clasped his fists and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Lao Gu. I will drive up as soon as possible to help you."
Luo Yonghao had nothing to say in this military discussion: he knew Yu Shengliang's character, and persuading him to surrender would have no effect. It was very likely that Mr. Yu would chop off the envoy's head and hang it up to express his determination to resist to the death. The old man also knew his own disadvantages, and he must have just defended blindly. He could not use any "ingenious tricks" such as luring the enemy in-depth to encircle Wei and rescue Zhao, so he could only attack by force. The only difference lies in which battalion is the most powerful and can withstand huge casualties and launch attacks - everyone knows this, except Guan Shengyun's personal battalion, which is Gu Baihua's Gangfeng battalion.
Generals such as Takato Dou, Fukuda and Zhang Ding had no other choice: if they launched a frontal attack from land, the difficulty and losses would only be greater. I had to say that the losses in Lao Gu were shared by the brothers, and after the war, men were drawn from each battalion to replenish the Gangfeng Battalion to its full strength. Of course, the only things that can be supplemented are heads and equipment. The veterans' combat experience and battlefield coordination are incomparable to newcomers.
Finally, Master Xiao Luo made two suggestions: 1. The soldiers can hide in the cabin and use wooden boards to protect them. The boatmen are ordinary boatmen who were captured, and they are directly exposed. If they encounter the enemy, they may take the opportunity to dive and escape. Lose. As long as a few boats lose control and crowd the river, disaster is imminent. Therefore, the rowing boat must be tied to the boat with ropes. 2. The soldiers do not need to wear armor. The armor and clothes are piled in the cabin. When landing, each person carries a collar and wears it ashore. If he falls into the water, there is still hope of escape.
These two suggestions won the young master a lot of applause. While Luo Yonghao was proud, there was a hint of regret in his heart: What Ming Dynasty lacks is not talents, but the channels for talents to advance!
Guo Qinglin received a new task, which was a bit confusing. The boats on Yanshui are not big, and most of them can only accommodate five or six fully armed soldiers. A battalion requires more than a hundred boats. Now they have built a total of 1,560 small boats. If there are not enough rafts, they have to make wooden planks enough to cover these many boats, and organize people to tie up straw mats... The captain of the country simply moved into the auxiliary barracks, and has been working since early in the morning. His curses and the crack of his whip could be heard all night long.
On this day, Guan Shengyun suddenly received an urgent report from Ansai County: It was said that seven or eight people from the provincial capital Xi'an were coming to "defend" again. The group has arrived in Ansai County and will set off tomorrow to go straight to Yan'an Prefecture.
Knowledge points in this article:
1. Official sedan chair. The history of official sedan chairs is much shorter than we think: until the time of Wuzong in the middle of the Tang Dynasty, except for the prime ministers, three ministers, ministers and ministers of third rank or above, as well as those who became official (retired) and sick, the rest of the people "regardless of high or low, Don't take advantage of it." Even if an official of the imperial court goes out on official business and becomes ill and cannot ride a horse on the way, he must report to Zhongshu Menxiaminxia and Yushitai for approval before he can ride in a sedan chair, and he must bear his own expenses. The so-called sedan chair at that time was also very crude. At first, it was just two poles set up on a wooden board, and the person sitting cross-legged on the wooden board was carried by two people (think of a person sitting cross-legged on a stretcher, that's it). If you are interested, search Yan Liben's "Palm of the Chariot" - look at Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty sitting on a stretcher.
It was later improved and the wooden boards were replaced with bamboo chairs. Until the Northern Song Dynasty, the scholar-bureaucrats unanimously believed that riding in a sedan chair was "replacing humans with animals, which is offensive to morals" - Zhezong gave him permission to ride in a sedan chair to express his respect for Sima Guang, the patriarch of the Four Dynasties, but the old man "didn't dare to refuse". Wang Anshi also said that "since ancient times, although princes were immoral, they never dared to replace animals with humans."
In the Southern Song Dynasty, Emperor Gaozong Zhaogou did not allow courtiers to ride in sedan chairs because "the streets in Yangzhou were slippery."
In the Ming Dynasty, at the beginning, following the Tang Dynasty, "officials of the third rank and above were allowed to ride in sedan chairs." After the middle period, the regulations gradually relaxed, and all officials (including Jinshi) could ride in sedan chairs.
Then go to Manchu and Qing Dynasties, let alone talk about it, you can all sit on it, as long as the displacement (standard) does not exceed the standard.
2. Guard of ceremony. When officials travel, props include umbrellas, fans, flags, guns, knives, swords, halberds, sticks, sticks, silence cards, avoidance cards, trumpeters... In short, the higher the level, the greater the movement.
There are also things to pay attention to when opening a road. Taking the Qing Dynasty as an example, apart from the great emperor (who fortunately seldom came out), the most outstanding person was the governor-general, who required thirteen gongs to travel. It represents thirteen words: "Civil and military officials, big and small, soldiers and civilians, all get out of the way!"
The admiral and governor knocked eleven times, which meant "Civil and military officials, soldiers and civilians, all get out of the way."
Knock nine times at the Taoist and Government levels: "Officials (note, I dare not say officials anymore), soldiers and civilians, get out of the way."
The seventh magistrate said: "Soldiers and civilians, please get out of the way" - well, if you are an official, you are higher than the seventh rank. If you meet someone with a low-level position, "get out of the way", why don't you just show me?
