Chapter 149
If it were just a competition of numbers, Ming's would have an absolute advantage. The population of the Ming Dynasty was a hundred times greater than that of the slaves.
But the problem is that the combat effectiveness of the Jiannu army is actually quite terrifying.
The nature of Jiannu's army is very similar to that of the Ming Dynasty's Tianxiong Army. The most basic unit of its army was Niulu. At that time, Niulu was a group composed of blood relatives, families, and villages. Each Niulu was The people in the list are all related by blood and family to the people around them. Therefore, as a grassroots combat unit, Niulu's strong cohesion is conceivable.
Since everyone has a relationship of "everyone is prosperous and everyone suffers", they tend to work harder on the battlefield, and there will not be the situation of "you go first, you go first". In addition, in terms of logistics, each Niulu is responsible for the supplies of his own Niulu. Since everyone in the same Niulu is a relative and friend, they will naturally spare no effort to provide the best material support to their relatives fighting on the front line. In this way, a very close connection between the front line and the rear was formed, thereby greatly improving the efficiency of war.
From the Battle of Sarhu, 60,000 Jiannu fought against 110,000 Ming troops. The combat effectiveness of the Ming army during this period was actually not weak. What was weak was only the chaos in logistics and command, so it suffered a big loss.
Before the Battle of Hunhe River, the Zhejiang Army and the Sichuan Army of the Ming Dynasty had a fierce battle in Tongzhou. Guns and artillery were exchanged in the city. Both sides were killed and injured everywhere and countless houses were blown up. This directly alarmed the Ming court. The Zhejiang Army also fought with the local garrison. Jiliao soldiers fought fiercely. At that time, the three most effective armies of the Ming Dynasty were the Shizhu Sichuan Army, the Zhejiang Army (Qi Jia Army) left behind by Qi Jiguang, and the Jizhen Frontier Army (also considered the army led by Qi Jiguang). Due to internal discord, they fought independently. , so they were defeated by Jiannu one by one.
From then on, the Ming Dynasty basically had no battles to fight. It was just Guan Ningjun, who was just a tall boy among the dwarfs. It was like a student with very average grades who transferred to an ordinary school, even in the original school. , he could only get 70% in the test, and even in the new ordinary school, he could enter the top ten in the school.
Qin Buhui, the Jin Yiwei, is hereditary. His father Qin You became seriously ill in the third year of Tianqi. At that time, Qin Buhui took over the mantle from his father Qin You and officially became the Jin Yiwei.
From the third year of Tianqi to the fifth year of Chongzhen, in the ten years, what Qin Buhui saw and heard was the defeat of the Ming army, and all the slaves were riding horses to show their power.
Originally, Jiannu was used to bragging. In Shenyang, the capital of the Later Jin Dynasty, Jiannu said that the Ming army was vulnerable...
This made Qin Buhui feel a little incredible. Why was it completely different when he arrived in Fuzhou?
Ning's navy officers were not afraid of Jiu Nu at all. Almost all the troops asked for war and asked to be transferred to the front line to fight Jiu Nu. Is Jiu Nu so easy to fight?
…
Cheng Shijie is very concerned about the research and development of the Gunpowder Bureau. After more than a year of research and development, the gunpowder in Cheng Shijie's hands has been completely granulated and standardized. The former makes black powder burn more efficiently, and the latter allows it to be used as a Weapons can be used more quantitatively.
Hand grenades usually separate the gunpowder and the shell. This black powder specially used to assemble grenades is processed into packs of black powder paper packs. Each pack is 300 grams. When using, just pick up a piece and load it. Put it in the shell of the grenade, then install the fuze device and activate it directly.
Not only efficient, but also very safe.
As for the shells of the flying thunder cannon, the gunpowder is processed into two specifications of black powder cakes. Each piece of this medicine cake weighs about five kilograms. There is no need for temporary packaging or dispensing. In the flying thunder cannon, When launching, you only need to put a small piece of black powder cake into the launch barrel, and then put a larger piece, that is, a thirty-pound large cake.
In this way, the calculation work of Ning Haijun's thunder and artillery shells has become more concise and efficient, and it has also made the transportation and inventory work easier.
This standardization was quickly implemented in the entire army. There were custom-made Thunder blunderbuss and gunpowder bags, fire blunderbuss and gunpowder bags, and Folang machine gun powder bags.
Customized and standardized equipment makes Ning Haijun's use of gunpowder safer and more efficient.
But the problem is that Cheng Shijie does not have the Midas touch, nor does he know the Midas touch. The preparation of concentrated sulfuric acid has not yet made breakthrough progress. Without sulfuric acid, there is no nitric acid. Explosives in the modern sense still belong to the realm of gods.
It's just that this issue completely changed on the third day of September in the fifth year of Chongzhen.
Cheng Shijie rode his four-wheeled carriage back from the industrial area. It was almost time to turn on the lights. When the carriage arrived at the Ning Haijun General Military Mansion, he suddenly noticed a figure suddenly appearing on the roadside.
When this figure rushed towards Cheng Shijie's carriage, several Cheng Shijie's soldiers were not polite and very skillfully stepped forward and pushed the dark figure to the ground.
"The ordinary people want to see the commander-in-chief, the ordinary people want to see the commander-in-chief!"
It was only now that Wu Sheng discovered that this dark figure was not actually an assassin, because there was a foul smell coming from the "assassin"'s body, which actually scared him to the point of peeing.
"Who are you?"
"Wu Daqiang, a common man, please see the commander-in-chief!"
Wu Sheng pointed to a few soldiers and said, "Take care of him and then ask what's going on?"
"yes!"
Cheng Shijie has always loved to be clean. If Cheng Shijie saw this scene, wouldn't it make Cheng Shijie sick?
Naturally, Cheng Shijie did not meet this person of unknown origin directly. Even if he had a serious grievance, Cheng Shijie would not be able to meet him directly.
Cheng Shijie returned to his mansion, had a simple meal, and then received a report from Chen Guodong: "Commander, the matter has been investigated clearly!"
"Say it!"
"yes!"
"This man's name is Zhang Daqiang. He is forty-one years old. He is the eldest son of Zhang Bingsheng, a military household in the former Dengzhou Weizuo Qianhu Station. He behaved inappropriately and secretly. Later, Zhang Bingsheng's military household inherited the post of Xiaoqi. Let the second son Zhang Erqiang take over, and after Zhang Erqiang dies, let his son Zhang Dongfang take over!"
When Cheng Shijie heard the name, he asked: "I remember that we have a martyr in Ning Haijun. Could it be..."
"It's this Zhang Dongfang!"
Chen Guodong smiled bitterly and said: "After Zhang Dongfang died, his wife Zhang Chen was bold and careful, and she dared to think and do things. She soon became a well-known rich woman in southern Liaoning. Due to her good food and adequate nutrition, the originally sallow and skinny Zhang Chen Becoming more mature and charming..."
Of course, this is not the most important thing. The most important thing is that the Zhang Chen family is very rich. Along with Zhang Chen's late husband, Zhang Dongliang, Zhang Dongming's cousins, Zhang Dongming, and Zhang Daqiang, Zhang Dongfang's uncle, fifteen relatives, I heard that Zhang Dongfang's widow had become a famous and wealthy person in southern Liaoning.
As a result, these fifteen relatives of the Zhang family came to join the Zhang Chen family. After the Zhang family came to southern Liaoning, they were actually allocated a farmland of 100 households in Zhangmiao Town, southeast of Gaizhou Acropolis.
However, there are regulations for immigration in southern Liaoning. As long as the immigrants have relatives in southern Liaoning, they can be given priority and let them defect to their relatives. In this way, Zhang Daqiang brought a fifteen-year-old Zhang clan member to join the Zhang Chen clan.
The Zhang Chen family did not treat the Zhang family members harshly, and arranged relatively easy jobs for Zhang Daqiang and others. They served as stewards in the warehouse of Dongfang Trading Company. You don’t have to work hard, you still get money every month, you can eat well and wear well.
But the human heart is the most complicated thing.
Zhang Daqiang coveted the Zhang Chen family's vast wealth. According to their understanding, all this wealth should belong to the Zhang family. Although Zhang Daqiang was too poor to live in Dengzhou Weizuo Qianhu, he took his son and Zhang Dongfang's His younger brother, Zhang Dongyuan, who is now 21 years old, went to Jinan Prefecture to seek a living.
Zhang Daqiang has some skills. He can play the suona, and together with his son and nephew, he formed a suona team of the Zhang family class, which specializes in playing the suona for certain families who have weddings and weddings, and the life is still okay.
At least much better than the original Zhang Dongfang.
Therefore, Zhang Daqiang paid attention to his nephew. He came up with the most ingenious plan to let Zhang Dongyuan's brother Zhang Dongyuan marry his sister-in-law Zhang Chen. Zhang Chen would never be able to marry her again. Wan Guan's wealth has been accepted.
This suggestion was approved by Zhang Dongyuan. Although Zhang Chen is seven years older than Zhang Dongyuan, the problem is that Zhang Chen is rich, let alone seven years older. Even if he is seventeen years older, he is twenty-seven years old. no comment.
Zhang Daqiang raised this matter with Zhang Chen, but the problem was that Zhang Chen didn't agree.
Mrs. Zhang Chen did not agree, so Zhang Daqiang took the Zhang family to Dongfang Commercial House and tried to persuade her. But the problem was that Mrs. Zhang Chen was determined and absolutely did not agree to the marriage.
Zhang Dongyuan has been fascinated by the wealth of Dongfang Company. He is no longer satisfied with the three melons and two dates given to him by Zhang Chen. He decides to use raw rice to make cooked rice.
But the problem is that Zhang Chen is no longer a pretty widow who can be bullied. She is surrounded by guards and a large number of servants. Zhang Dongyuan has no chance to get close to Zhang Chen.
Especially in Zhang's new house, there are more than a dozen servants and more than a dozen maids. The key is that Zhang Chen's son brought a Shandong fine dog with him when he arrived in southern Liaoning. Now there is a The number of thin dogs became five, and these five thin dogs were very powerful. More than a dozen of the Zhang family, including Zhang Daqiang, were driven to the sky by these five thin dogs and had no way to go to the sky or the earth.
If Zhang Chen hadn't drunk these five dogs, it would have been questionable whether they could have escaped from Zhang's new house.
Seeing that it was not convenient to do anything in the Zhang family's house, Zhang Dongyuan decided to block the way. Zhang Chen now has a four-wheeled carriage, a driver, and two maids who look like women.
Among the four people, three were women, and the driver was an old man in his fifties, who was very easy to deal with.
So, seven or eight people, Zhang Dongyuan, Zhang Dongliang, and Zhang Dongming, decided to block the road and rob Chen Zhang. Although the two women beside Zhang Chen were of lower background, they looked pretty good and reluctantly took them as concubines.
Zhang Dongyuan promised several cousins that as long as he successfully married Zhang Chen, each cousin would be rewarded with a thousand taels of silver...
On August 27th of last month, Zhang Dongyuan and others saw Zhang Chen's carriage coming back from the farm outside the city after entering the dark. The potatoes and sweet potatoes in the farm also had a good harvest.
Zhang Chen was a little tired after a busy day. She sat in the carriage and took a nap, while her personal bodyguard Hao Wuniang sat at the door, and another servant named Feng Huijun.
This is a very silent woman who was separated from her husband when she fled. She has a twelve-year-old son with her. Because she can read and do math, she is a part-time teacher to Zhang Chen's accountant.
Both Hao Wuniang and Feng Huijun have a transcendent status in the Zhang family, and are even better treated than the young master Zhang Saihu. Zhang Saihu usually goes to school and lives by himself when he returns home. Zhang Chen takes care of the food and daily life. Zhang Chen is very busy, so naturally Zhang Saihu does his own thing.
Hao Wuniang's child is still young and needs the help of a nanny. Although Feng Huijun's son is older, she is even busier and sometimes doesn't even have time to eat, so Zhang Chen, the boss, provides food for the two of them respectively. A rough nanny is responsible for taking care of the daily life of the two of them.
There were four lanterns in the carriage, and Feng Huiyun was holding an abacus and looking at the account book.
Less than ten miles away from Jinzhou City, the carriage suddenly stopped.
Hao Wuniang asked: "Uncle Zhou, what's going on?"
“I don’t know which bastard blocked the road with a branch!”
Hao Wuniang immediately pulled out her Zimu Knife and blocked the road with branches. This routine was too familiar. It was a standard routine for beating sap and robbing people.
Before Hao Wuniang could take action, the coachman Uncle Zhou's scream came from outside: "Hero, spare your life!"
"Shut up, or I'll kill you!"
Mrs. Zhang Chen also woke up, and she heard that the person outside was his brother-in-law Zhang Dongyuan. Before he could respond, the car door was violently opened from the outside, and a dark figure jumped onto the carriage and rushed towards Mrs. Zhang Chen.
Hao Wuniang almost didn't hesitate and took action instinctively.
"Pu Chi Pu Chi..."
She swung three swords and killed the dark figure directly, and the dark figure fell in a pool of blood. After seeing the person who was killed clearly, Hao Wuniang felt like she was in an ice cellar. This was Zhang Dongyuan's younger brother Zhang Dongyuan.
"Vicious woman, how dare you murder your uncle!"
After Zhang Dongliang saw Hao Wuniang killing Zhang Dongyuan, he immediately pointed at Zhang Chen and cursed: "I'm going to sue the official..."
"don't want!"
Although Hao Wuniang killed Zhang Dongyuan, Zhang Dongliang and others were not afraid. People who run in the world are very courageous. Besides, it doesn't matter if Zhang Dongyuan is dead. It is a good thing for them to seize Zhang Chen's weakness.
Zhang Dongliang stared at the mature and charming Zhang Chen and said: "As long as you obey me, I will do whatever it takes..."
As he spoke, Zhang Dongliang reached out to touch Zhang Chen's face without knowing whether to live or die.
As Zhang Chen's bodyguard, Hao Wuniang was so anxious that she didn't have time to listen to Zhang Chen's order. She swung her knife directly and cut off Zhang Dongliang's arm with one knife, and with the second knife, she cut off Zhang Dongliang's head. Several other people wanted to run away at this time, but Hao Wuniang kept on killing Zhang Dongliang and others with a knife. After a fight, the two were captured alive. Six people, including Zhang Dongyuan and Zhang Dongliang, were killed on the spot.
"What should we do now?"
No matter how strong Zhang Chen is, she is still a woman. At this time, everything is in chaos.
Feng Huiyun, who had been silent all this time, said: "Death has no evidence!"
Hao Wuniang listened to Zhang Chen's order.
Zhang Chen naturally knew who these people were who were fleeing the family, so she hesitated and said, "Isn't this bad?"
Feng Huiyun said: "What will happen if they sue the officials?"
Daming Law, to be fair, Daming Law has very double standards. It is very tolerant to the powerful, but not very friendly to women. Moreover, these eight people did not carry weapons. The only murder weapon was in Zhang Dongming's hand, but he only used it to chop down trees.
In this case, once the lawsuit is filed, no matter whether the lawsuit is won or lost, it will affect Zhang Chen's son Zhang Saihu.
For the sake of her son, she could only take this measure.
Eight people were killed by Hao Wuniang three times. Facing the eight corpses, Zhang Chen said, "What should we do now?"
"Go back to my house. There is a jar of green vitriol oil under the bed. Bring it here!"
Green vitriol oil is actually ancient sulfuric acid. From 650 to 683 AD (during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty), the alchemist Gu Gangzi recorded the "method of refining stone gallbladder to extract the essence" in Volume 9 of his book "Yellow Emperor Jiuding Shendan Jingjue", that is, dry distillation of stone gallbladder (gall alum). ) to obtain sulfuric acid.
However, this kind of green vitriol oil has very few uses except for being able to apply a small amount on the weapon blade to remove the rust on the weapon blade. Another important function is actually in a special field, that is, it is used to destroy corpses and eliminate traces.
When Hao Wuniang returned to Zhang's house, she got what Feng Huijun called green vitriol oil. After taking it, she took off the lid of the ceramic and sprinkled the green vitriol oil on the eight corpses, followed by a burning smell. , these eight corpses decomposed rapidly, not even the bones and dregs were left...
But the problem is that this case was eventually reported, because at that time nine people from Zhang Dongyuan and the others were present, including Zhang Daqiang’s youngest son Zhang Donglin.
When Zhang Dongliang was cutting down the tree, the flying sawdust hit Zhang Donglin's eyes. Zhang Donglin's eyes shed a lot of tears at that time, so he did not get close.
After several people were killed one after another, he was so frightened that he covered his mouth and lay in the ditch on the roadside, not daring to move. Hao Wuniang and the others left immediately, and then he dragged his legs full of shit home. .
When Zhang Daqiang learned that eight of his sons and nephews had been killed, but the bodies were missing, he looked around the scene and found only clusters of black stains, but no corpses or new bodies burying them. pit……
As for the reporter, when the court under the administrative committee accepted the case, the plaintiff, Zhang Donglin, the only survivor, actually told all the plans and implemented the use of tree branches to block the road. Zhang Dongliang and Zhang Dongming Responsible for uniforming the coachman Lao Zhou.
This was a case of rape by a strong woman with a bad nature and extremely bad influence. As for Hao Wuniang killing eight people in a row, in Zhang Ruyi's eyes, even if he killed 80 people, it would be in vain. Zhang Ruyi gave a positive attitude.
If you dare not fight back, or cannot fight back, when facing a robber who blocks the road, then what’s the point of the law?
Could it be said that the law should protect the murderer?
As the bodyguard of the Zhang Chen family, Hao Wuniang had unlimited power to defend herself and counterattack. It would not be an exaggeration to kill eight people, even if she killed eighty people.
You can imagine how terrible the consequences would have been if there had been no counterattack between three women and nine men.
The focus of the commander Cheng Shijie was obviously different from that of Zhang Ruyi. He discovered the so-called traces of the destruction of corpses, leaving only a stain and a faint smell of burnt...
This seems to be...
Cheng Shijie asked someone to find Zhang Ruyi: "Has the crime scene been investigated?"
"Report to the Commander-in-Chief!"
"No body found"
"No!"
"In Zhang Donglin's confession, he said that the body disappeared after a cloud of thick smoke. Has this matter been investigated clearly?"
"The disciples thought..."
"Why?"
Zhang Ruyi said: "Commander, isn't this a bit much..."
"pass?"
Cheng Shijie sneered: "Don't sit crooked with your butt. Then I ask you, put yourself in my shoes and replace Zhang Chen with your wife. What would you do if Mrs. Sun was riding in a carriage and was intercepted by nine thugs?"
"No, Marshal, what I mean is that this matter will not be made public easily..."
"No, on the contrary, this matter should be brought to a public trial!"
According to Cheng Shijie, there were three big mountains above the common people in the late Ming Dynasty: the government, the gentry, and the clan.
What Zhang Ruyi means is that the reputation of the martyred family of Zhang Chen needs to be protected.
However, Cheng Shijie believes that this is a good opportunity.
In the past, families were very large, with tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people. They were completely a country within a country. In order to restrain the behavior of family members and protect the family's reputation and culture, each family would establish its own rules. It used to be called "family law". In the past, people's behavior must be restricted by family laws, and they could not violate family laws. Otherwise, they would be judged by the most respected members of the family and served by family laws.
If an ancestral hall does not allow someone to participate in family sacrifices, it means that this person has violated the family law and will never be able to stay in the family in this life. This is family culture. Violating family law is equivalent to excommunicating yourself from the world.
This culture and customs have good and bad sides. When family interests conflict with national interests, many people choose to put family before country.
There are many widows like Zhang Chen in southern Liaoning, and there are also many rich ones. Why does Zhang Daqiang dare to take action against Zhang Chen, but not others? Of course, this is because they have their own family methods as a basis.
The real purpose of Cheng Shijie's decision to publicize the case was to amend the Ming Law. As mentioned earlier, the Ming Law was very unfair. The law established in a patriarchal society gave priority to protecting the imperial power, then the gentry, and finally the gentry. As for men, as for women, even their basic interests are not protected.
Why does Zhang Daqiang dare to be so unscrupulous?
It is because, in their eyes, the Zhang family is respected, and Zhang Chen is just the daughter-in-law of the Zhang family. She, including everything about her, belongs to the Zhang family.
Because Zhang Daqiang had the confidence of his family law, he dared to block roads and rob, openly rape women, and cook raw rice into cooked rice. This is a serious illegal act.
As a descendant, Cheng Shijie would never agree to the existence of such evil. He should resolutely crack down on it and never condone it.
At the same time, there is another important reason. In this case, traces of sulfuric acid appeared, because sulfuric acid can be used to make fertilizers, drugs, explosives, pigments, detergents, batteries, etc., and is also widely used to purify petroleum, metal smelting, and dyes. etc. in industry. Sulfuric acid is the basis of the chemical industry, and it is not an exaggeration to call it industrial blood.
Cheng Shijie needs such talents.
(End of chapter)
