Chapter 071
Laiyang City is more than 250 miles away from Dengzhou. If Ning Haijun's marching speed is followed, it will take three days to arrive.
But the problem is, Chen Guodong can't wait any longer.
He actually took the sea route, because now Penglai Water City and Dengzhou City are all controlled by Ning Haijun. Arriving at the Penglai Shuicheng Pier, Li Zhixiang learned that Chen Guodong was going to Laiyang City to capture the Zhang family as hostages. Without saying a word, he directly hired Chen Shiyou, an old acquaintance of the Dongjiang Army Navy and former Lushun deputy general.
In fact, Li Zhixiang couldn't trust Chen Tie, but he, Li Zhixiang, was a junior in front of the deputy general Chen Tie, and a general manager was not enough in front of the deputy general.
Of course, Chen Youyou was unhappy and Li Zhixiang sent troops to arrest him from the bed. At that critical moment, Chen Youyou and his concubine Shen were fighting, and he was so frightened that he almost lost his footing.
Li Zhixiang used the captured silver from the Shandong Beidu Si Yamen, totaling 4,600 taels of silver, to hire Chen Shi and his forty-seven chariot boats to transport Chen Guodong and others to Laiyang.
The wheel boat is a kind of close combat of the Dongjiang Army. Because the Dongjiang Army is poor, even the gunboats with 400 materials are actually not many in number. The ship with the most water in the Dongjiang Army is actually this wheel boat. This is based on the wheel ship technology invented by Zu Chongzhi in the Northern and Southern Dynasties. The captain is only 4 feet long and 1 feet wide.
Wheel boats are also called Qianli boats, which means they can travel thousands of miles in a day. Of course, this is just a theoretical figure. People are not machines and will get tired. However, when a wheeled ship is traveling with the wind, it is completely possible to travel more than two hundred miles a day. Especially for short-distance charges, it is very fast.
It takes one day to arrive at Laiyang Ting Bay from Penglai Navy.
Li Zhixiang killed two birds with one stone. He not only transferred Chen Shiyou, a general of the Dongjiang Army, but after the deaths of Mao Wenlong, Zhang Pan, and Chen Jisheng, Chen Shikui's seniority was second only to Shen Shikui's. For this former Shangguan, Li Zhixiang couldn't kill him, beat him, scold him, or mess with him.
When the motorcade was about to arrive at Laiyang City, listening to Chen Guodong's accent, Chen You stepped forward and said, "Brother, are you from Liaodong too?"
"Liaonan Haizhou Guard!"
"Fellow!"
Chen Guodong gave a cold hum as a response.
"Brother, why are you going to Laiyang?"
"kill!"
"Your guard Cheng has a big appetite!"
Chen Shi smiled and said: "We have occupied Penglai Water City and Dengzhou City, and you are still not satisfied? What are you doing?"
"No comment!"
"This is a job to make money, can you let the brothers take advantage of it?"
"Okay, Laiyang City belongs to you, and Laiyang Zhang family belongs to me!"
"good!"
On October 27, the fourth year of Chongzhen, which was the third day of the Dengzhou Ning Navy Mutiny, Chen Guodong led more than 1,000 Ning Navy soldiers and more than 600 Dongjiang Navy troops under Chen Shi's command and successfully arrived Laiyang City.
Chen Guodong still adopted the original method. They squatted outside the city for half a day and plundered three large and small caravans. They originally planned to sneak into Laiyang City in the form of caravans.
But the problem is, Ning Haijun, who came directly to conduct reconnaissance, reported the news. Only then did he know that Laiyang City had no preparations.
When it comes to Dengzhou City's armaments, they are somewhat decent. After all, this is Dengzhou, the headquarters of Shandong Beiwadu Commandery Office, and the headquarters of Denglai Governor Office. But the problem is that Laiyang County is just a county, and there are no guards.
Their defense work is undertaken by the commander of the Dengzhou Guard. Once there is an enemy situation, the Dengzhou Guard will be dispatched. However, now that the Dengzhou Guards are all prisoners of Ning Haijun, it is strange that they can be prepared.
Although Dengzhou has been controlled by Ning Haijun for three days, entry and exit are not allowed in Dengzhou, and the news that Ning Haijun occupied Dengzhou City has never been spread.
More than 1,600 soldiers pushed less than 1,000 cartloads of goods to Laiyang City. This is a problem that even a fool can see. But the problem is that Chen Guodong only spent one, two or four coins to succeed. Enter Laiyang City.
For the few soldiers in the garrison, even if Chen Guodong and others were bandits, they were only robbing and killing rich people, and they had no head to them.
After inquiring, Chen Guodong quickly arrived at Zhang's residence in Laiyang.
The ancestral home of the Zhang family in Laiyang is not in Laiyang City at all, but in Shuangshan. This is a village in the west of Laiyang City, about forty miles away from the county seat.
After missing the target, Chen Guodong led Ning Haijun directly to Zhangjiacun, Shuangshan.
Towards evening, Chen Guodong finally arrived at Zhangjiacun, Shuangshan.
Shuangshan Zhangjia Village is said to be a village, and its scale is actually larger than Laiyang City. Looking from a distance, you can see an adobe wall surrounding the village in a circle, and the road at the entrance of the village is paved with stone slabs. Stone road, a stone road leading directly from north to south. On both sides of the road, there is a row of shops with blue bricks and black tiles. The shop street is five or six hundred steps long. Behind the shops are rows of roof ridges. I don’t know how many are hidden in the courtyard.
You must know that Shuangshan is called Shuangshan. In fact, there are no mountains, but hilly areas, and the area near Zhangjiacun is a plain. It is a great luxury to be able to pave the road with stone slabs.
A rammed earth avenue extends from the end of the stone street, which is the direction of Dengzhou City. It can be said that the Zhang family of Laiyang built Zhangjiazhuang into a transportation hub connecting Laiyang and Dengzhou.
The scale of this village not only far exceeds Laiyang County, but also far exceeds Ninghai City.
"Laiyang County is not so prosperous!"
At this moment, a woodcutter carrying dry firewood did not know whether he had bad eyesight or did not see the Ning Haijun soldier behind Chen Guodong. He actually took over the conversation and said: "There is a reason why Zhangjiacun is so prosperous. That’s because the Zhang family has talented people..."
Regardless of whether Chen Guodong liked it or not, the woodcutter talked about the glorious history of Zhangjiacun.
It turns out that as early as when Zhang Mengli was serving as the Shaoqing of Dali Temple, Li Shilin, then minister of the Ministry of Works, was his good friend. On one occasion, he planned to dredge the Qingshui River and turn it into a ditch connecting the Dagu River system. Originally, the Daqing River did not pass through Zhangjiazhuang, but because of Zhang Mengli, he privately changed the flow direction of the Qingshui River.
This Qingshui River not only facilitates the irrigation of the fields in Zhangjiacun, but also because the Qingshui River can transport materials, it has gradually become the only way from Laiyang to Dengzhou. Zhang took the opportunity to build a grass market. After many years of operation, Zhangjiacun became far more prosperous than Laiyang County.
Cheng Shi was a little puzzled: "Is this person sick?"
"No, he is not sick, but he definitely has a grudge against the Zhang family. He is not blind and can see that we are an army. What can a murderous army do outside the Zhang family village in Shuangshan?"
"He's quite smart!"
"Yes, he told us that the wealth Zhang has accumulated over the years can last us ten lifetimes!"
Chen Guodong looked behind him: "Did you hear that? The Zhang family's money is enough for you to spend ten lifetimes."
"heard it!"
"kill!"
Chen Guodong held a knife in each hand and rushed towards Zhangjiacun.
"Dangdang..."
When Chen Guodong rushed towards Zhangjiacun, a group of rural warriors also discovered Chen Guodong and others. They sounded the gong and shouted: "The enemy is attacking. The bandits are coming. The bandits are coming."
Team after team of rural warriors were unhurried. They were holding bows and arrows, swords and guns. The equipment in their hands was much better than that of Dengzhou Guard Zuo Qianhu Station. In addition to not wearing armor, they only needed a shield and a hand. More than two hundred hands.
If ordinary bandits came to Zhangjiacun, they really wouldn't be able to take advantage. Their village warriors numbered four to five hundred people and were well-equipped, including twenty or thirty heavy armored soldiers.
In this era, heavy armored soldiers are simply like tanks. They stand there motionless and cannot be cut by you.
Ning Haijun soldiers moved forward while organizing their formation.
Ning Haijun is not an ordinary bandit. This is an army built by Cheng Shijie with a lot of money. According to the value of equipment on the market, each Ning Haijun soldier has a crossbow, except for the thunder gunner.
Five taels of silver.
Each person has a dog-leg knife. According to the broken iron knife, which is worth eight or nine taels of silver, this dog-leg knife is worth at least ten taels of silver. Of course, the actual cost is less than two taels of silver.
In addition to their helmets, armor, cotton clothes, and cotton shoes on their feet, from head to toe, the equipment alone costs thirty or forty taels of silver. Putting aside the entire Ming Dynasty at this time, I am afraid that it is three times richer than Guan Ningjun. point.
"Line up and shoot!"
As the formation of Ning's navy soldiers was completed, the crossbow shooters who were on the march began to pedal and wind up.
"shoot!"
"Thump thump thump thump thump..."
As the metallic trill fired by the crossbow machine shook everyone's heartstrings, more than two hundred one-foot-eight-inch-long crossbow arrows shot out. The arrowheads of these crossbow arrows were all triangular.
In the past, the three-edged arrowheads required craftsmen to hammer them out with hammer after hammer, but now there is no need. One version of the mold, a total of one hundred and twenty-eight pieces, is poured with molten steel, and after a simple heat treatment, they are directly assembled. As for the crossbow arrowheads, they fly up. edges and burrs, which can increase the lethality.
Since the shield bearers of these local heroes were held in front, like a violent storm of crossbow arrows, the shooting effect was not very good. At least the more than 100 shields of the local heroes were like overgrown weeds.
However, the Xiangyong who were not protected by shields were in dire straits. They were shot to the ground, like wheat cut down by a sickle.
The blood of those brave warriors who had been hit by arrows was flying everywhere, and they were screaming in agony.
The Ning Haijun crossbowmen in the first row didn't care about the shooting effect at all. After shooting an arrow, they immediately got out of the way and started to load their equipment again.
Almost at the same time, Ning Navy soldiers in the second row stepped forward, holding a crossbow and shooting.
"Duoduo..."
Those country warriors holding shields were in the small boat in the storm.
"Where did this bandit come from, so powerful?"
The leader of Xiangyong should also be capable. He immediately realized that he could not be beaten like this, but Ning Haijun's arrows continued in a continuous stream. The second row was shot empty, followed by the third row. After the third platoon finished firing, the first platoon reloaded their crossbows.
More than 200 birds shot in one round, one after another.
The Xiangyong archers wanted to fight back. Firstly, the range of bows and arrows was not as good as that of crossbows. Secondly, they had no chance. They didn't even have time to shoot an arrow, let alone use their extraordinary martial arts skills, so they were shot into hedgehogs!
"Charge up and fight them in close combat, otherwise, we will all be doomed!"
The leader of the rural warriors, the warriors who went to the countryside issued orders.
It's just a pity that the Xiangyong in Zhangjiazhuang are all tenants of the Zhang family. Although they can also get salary, it is not low. They earn one or two and a half yuan of silver a month, which is higher than that of Ning Haijun.
However, the problem is that Ning Haijun knew why they were fighting. They knew that Cheng Shijie had said exactly what he said, and that the standard of pension for them would be one hundred acres of land, and the pension would be twenty taels of silver, which was quite a lot. A penny.
It's okay for Xiang Yong to fight a smooth battle, but it's not even fun to fight a tough battle like this.
Finally, under the circumstances of being whipped, yelled at, punched and kicked, these village heroes came forward timidly.
After the crossbowman of the Ning Navy soldiers finished shooting the third crossbow arrow in his hand, the Thunderbolt gun supporting the support post completely transitioned from marching state to combat state.
The recoil of the Thunder Gun is huge. When shooting, you don't fire while holding it up. Instead, like an artillery piece, you use a hoe to fix the Thunder Gun to the ground so that you can shoot normally.
"Report, the Thunder Gun is ready!"
"Fire"
"Bang bang bang..."
As the thunderbolt fired, it was not only noisy, but because it was not smokeless gunpowder, when it was fired, it should have been like setting off firecrackers. A large cloud of smoke immediately rose in front of Ning Haijun's formation.
Although you can't see the situation clearly, it doesn't matter. In fact, there is nothing good to see. Now the Thunder Gun shooters know that in front of their Thunder Guns, they are all scum.
Seeing that Xiang Yong was about to rush to the front of Ning Haijun's formation, at this time, the shield hand holding the shield in front was in a terrible situation. The shield that could not be penetrated by the crossbow would create a big hole in one hit, and some shields would even be smashed directly.
The Thunder Cannon can ignore the shields of these local warriors. It is as short as a large disk, with twenty-four Thunder Cannons, and fires 720 rounds. The local warriors in front of their formation were completely destroyed, and no one was spared.
This battle started suddenly and ended hastily.
Ning Haijun's swordsmen and shieldmen now looked at a loss. Their enemies had been shot dead by thunderbolts, so what else did they need to do?
"What the hell are you doing in a daze? Charge into the Zhang family's old house. If you don't surrender, you'll die!"
Who would have thought?
The most brutal battle of Ning Haijun's mutiny actually took place in Zhangjiacun, west of Laiyang County. In less than a quarter of an hour of fighting between the two sides, more than 500 local warriors from the Zhang family were actually private soldiers of the Zhang family. The entire army was wiped out and no one was spared.
As for Ning Haijun, six soldiers were injured and one soldier was killed. The dead soldier was a recruit of Ning Haijun. The gunfire stopped and he rushed forward without orders.
In order to chop off a few more heads so that he could earn dozens of acres of land, he would pick up his mother and father from Shuanglu Island. As a result, the soldier was hit in the back of the heart by a thunderbolt that was being fired, and his whole chest was beaten. pulpy.
Ning Haijun's only death was due to a mistake.
There is no one else.
Of course, they didn't know that in the hundreds of years of fighting in later generations, various oolong incidents occurred one after another. For example, during World War II, Italy's top military commander in Libya, Marshal Balbo, took the opportunity to inspect the battlefield. Unexpectedly, he was shot down by an anti-aircraft gun on his own warship halfway. This also became the highest-ranking military officer killed by the Italian army during World War II. Unfortunately, he is the marshal of his own family. There was also an incident in the beautiful country where the navy attacked the president, but unfortunately it was not successful.
After a moment of delay, Chen Guodong finally came to the gate of the Zhang family's old house. When he saw the Zhang family's old house, Chen Guodong was stunned. This fortress was bigger than Penglai Water City.
You must know that Penglai Water City is very small, covering an area of only 325 acres, but the Zhang family's big house covers 400 to 500 acres. If such an area is placed in Laiyang City, it is estimated that nearly half of Laiyang City will be demolished. , a veritable Zhang Bancheng.
This is a complex of buildings made of blue bricks and gray tiles. The courtyard wall is more than four meters long and is covered with arrow towers and watchtowers. At this time, the Zhang family's gate is tightly closed, and hundreds of archers are trembling on the walls and roof ridges.
"Come out and surrender, or die!"
Persuading surrender is actually just a routine formula.
Just like saying hello, Chen Guodong said: "I'm only looking for people with the surname Zhang from Laiyang. Anyone who doesn't have the surname should go away..."
However, what Chen Guodong didn't expect was that those Zhang family servants and private soldiers actually opened the door.
"This is……"
Chen Guodong swaggered into the Zhang family's old house, and the Zhang family trembled.
Just as Chen Guodong rushed to the Zhang family's old house, Cheng Shijie was also rescued from the vault by Ning Haijun soldiers.
"Greetings to the Lord Guard!"
Shen Mingyu and hundreds of Ning Haijun soldiers looked at Cheng Shijie with excitement.
Of course, due to the rush this time, Cheng Shijie was still wearing casual clothes from later generations. However, no one cared about this issue at this time. Seeing that Cheng Shijie was wearing thin clothes, he immediately found a black bearskin coat.
Not to mention, the bearskin robe is indeed very warm. This leather robe has been smoked with spices and has a faint smell of spices.
However, it was warm above, but still cold below.
"Master Guard, are you okay?"
"It's okay, it's just a little cold!"
Cheng Shijie felt a little hungry. This time it was not because of the hunger caused by carrying heavy objects, but because in his later life, he drank with his grandfather Jiang Feng and drank without eating much. Feeling hungrier now.
"Come here, prepare the food!"
Soon, Cheng Shijie ate hot pot in a large room in the yard. There was no way, hot pot was relatively fast. Bring the hot water to a boil directly, then cut the frozen mutton into thin slices.
This is pure mutton, not the artificial technology of hot pot restaurants in later generations. Generally, it is difficult to eat pure mutton or beef in hot pot restaurants or barbecue restaurants because it is too expensive.
Watching Cheng Shijie devouring the hot-boiled mutton.
Shen Mingyu's expression changed drastically. He strode around and walked to the door. He ordered to the soldiers beside him: "Come here, hang that guy, Zhang Shigang, on the tree for me!"
Zhang Shigang, who had been beaten to a bruised and swollen face by Captain Ning Haijun, was hanging from a tree by the roadside while screaming.
After a while, his screams became lower and lower.
"Keep him warm on the fire, don't freeze to death. Damn it, you dare to torture our guard, you are so tired of living!"
There is a saying that goes well, if the upper beam is not straight and the lower beam is crooked, Cheng Shijie locked Zhang Huairen in the woodshed in the garrison yamen, beating him three times a day, and treating him when he was injured, just to avoid his death.
Rumor has it that this is the consequence of offending Cheng Shijie.
Then, they must be on par with Cheng Shijie, otherwise they are not worthy of being Cheng Shijie's soldiers.
Finally full, Cheng Shijie felt very comfortable and warmed up.
"Ming Yu, how did you find this place?"
Cheng Shijie didn't know at this time that General Ning Haijun had already caused trouble in Dengzhou City.
Fortunately, Cheng Shijie enacted relatively strict military discipline for Ning Haijun, so ordinary people were not disturbed. However, the gangsters in Dengzhou City and the shops and disciples of the Zhang family in Laiyang were in trouble for eight lifetimes. Especially the gangsters in Dengzhou City, more than 500 people were killed and more than 1,000 people were executed.
Of course, there must be injustice here. However, there are absolutely no innocent people. Just like the thugs from the Xingping pawnshop, when they came to a household to force them to pay off their debts, they happened to encounter Ning Haijun officers on patrol. There was no news from Cheng Shijie for three days in a row, and these Ninghai soldiers severely punished the local ruffians.
Not to mention, the current Dengzhou City has become a place where people don’t pick up things on the streets and don’t close their homes at night. The public security is definitely the most exemplary city in the world.
"What did you say, you launched a mutiny?"
Cheng Shijie didn't react for a long time.
God, is this a dream?
There are only 2,500 veterans in the Ning Navy. The oldest ones who are said to be veterans have only been in the army for only three months. In the army of later generations, this period of time can barely lead to a company.
What's more, nearly half of Ning Haijun's troops are new recruits, recruits who can't even tell the difference between left and right.
You idiots, who gave you the courage to attack Dengzhou City?
Liang Jingru?
What's even more outrageous is that it actually happened.
This is not fucking reality, this is definitely a dream.
Just like in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Changshan Zhao Zilong entered and exited Cao's army seven times. Not to mention the wolf-like Cao Army, they were just a group of wild boars. Let Changshan Zhao Zilong try to enter and exit seven times?
If he can come out completely, he has the ability.
Cheng Shijie came to the governor's office of Dengzhou and saw how Song Xiance sent troops, how they captured the city, how they attacked by surprise, how they captured Dengzhou City, and so on.
Song Xiance, Shen Mingyu, Zhang Yu and other generals knelt on one knee in front of Cheng Shijie and explained the entire mutiny process, pretending to be sorry but actually showing merit.
Cheng Shijie's eyes slowly swept across the faces of the generals.
Both Song Xiance and Zhou Yandong, the most mature one, also had the expression "Sir, please praise me quickly".
Looking at Cheng Shijie's gloomy expression, these generals finally slowly realized that something was wrong.
Soldiers serve as generals, this is the logic of life for all generals in the Ming Dynasty.
Song Xiance realized that he had exceeded his authority. Although his original intention was to rescue Cheng Shijie, the problem was that they had other thoughts that they shouldn't have.
The cold wind howled outside, and thin beads of sweat appeared on Song Xiance's forehead.
Zhou Yandong was the second to react. Shen Mingyu didn't react until Zhang Yu reminded him. They quickly knelt down in front of Cheng Shijie.
Making decisions without permission in a hurry and overstepping one's authority are the biggest taboos of a master.
Secondly, they did not understand the situation at all. It was not Sun Yuanhua who wanted to arrest Cheng Shijie in order to seize the command of Ning Haijun.
The real reason for this incident was the revenge of the Laiyang Zhang family. Since then, they have become passive and have made bigger mistakes...
"Lord..."
"shut up!"
Cheng Shijie was really heartbroken at this time, and he felt dizzy. What kind of group of living treasures had he trained...
What does this mean now? Kong Youde did not rebel, but he rebelled...
Kong Youde rebelled, and the most fatal thing to the Ming Dynasty was not the firearms that Kong Youde brought, but that Kong Youde went on a rampage in Shandong, attacking the state and the government, directly turning Shandong, the land of Ming Dynasty, into ashes.
This is greater than the losses caused by Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong.
You know, Shandong was the hub of water transportation in the Ming Dynasty. If water transportation was cut off for more than a year, how many people would starve to death in Beijing?
Although there is no record of history, it is definitely not less.
Throughout the Ming Dynasty, the north could not be self-sufficient in food at all. Water transportation was cut off, and the maximum storage period of food was only three months. So the question became, how could three months of food last for a year?
The answer is very cruel. Starve the people to death. If people die, food will naturally not be consumed.
When looking at history, don't be easily deceived by superficial words. The truth of the issue is actually found in the subtleties.
Just like the Battle of Daling River, when Zu Dashou was besieged, Wu Xiang and Song Wei supported Daling River three times, once with 2,000 reinforcements, the second time with 6,000 reinforcements, and the third time with the same 6,000 reinforcements.
Can six thousand men and horses break the encirclement of more than 50,000 slaves?
It's simply impossible. If Guan Ning's army has the ability to kill 6,000 Jian Nu and 50,000 Jian Nu, then what's the point of Jian Nu?
Let’s look at the outcome of the problem: Dalinghe was demolished, Zu Dashouchu was demoted to the throne, and Sun Chengzong was impeached and removed from office...
Sun Chengzong stepped down.
Sun Chengzong stepped down.
Sun Chengzong stepped down.
This is the real purpose.
On the Internet in later generations, many people complained that Sun Chengzong was the sinner of the Ming Dynasty's subjugation, and that the national strength was not good enough.
Please remember that in the eleventh year of Chongzhen, Jiannu launched a large-scale attack on Gaoyang. At that time, Jiannu had no intention of entering the country and taking over the world. He just grabbed a few and left.
But the problem is that Gaoyang County is neither a strategic location nor a wealthy place. Even if Gaoyang County is conquered, what can they gain?
There is only one answer, and that is that Sun Chengzong died heroically.
This is the truth. Why did the Qing army want to kill Sun Chengzong?
Because of Sun Chengzong's strategy, Jiannu was in a situation where there was no food to eat. A dou in Liaodong was sold for eighty taels of silver, and one stone was more than eighty taels, which was more than 160 times the price of grain in the pass.
Who can afford to eat when food prices are so high?
Jiannu...haha.
Cheng Shijie learned of Sun Yuanhua's whereabouts and found that Sun Yuanhua was still locked in the utility room. He said to the generals: "You didn't kill the governor. You finally did the right thing!"
If Sun Yuanhua is killed, Cheng Shijie will only have one way to go.
"Now... how does it end?"
Fortunately, Song Xiance still had some conscience. He was also afraid that Sun Yuanhua's body would not be able to hold on. Although it was a utility room, food and drink were provided as usual, and two braziers were placed and bedding was provided.
At this time, Sun Yuanhua was lying on the bed, his face unwashed, his teeth unbrushed, and he was extremely embarrassed.
The dignified minister of the Ministry of War of the Ming Dynasty, the censor of Youqiandu, and the governor of Denglai fell into this situation.
Cheng Shijie hurriedly pretended to be frightened and said: "I am humble enough to see you, the governor. The soldiers are rude and have disturbed Lord Futai. I really deserve death... Sir Futai, I am helpless because I am humble. I don't even know about this..." "
PS: This chapter has been updated for the Dharma Protector, with 7,000 words. A total of 16,000 words were updated today. Continue tomorrow! Please subscribe and help promote this book.
(End of chapter)
