Chapter 294
Regarding Song Xiance's naming of the rebel army as the Dashun Army, Cheng Shijie guessed that this should be the wheel of history, or perhaps the inertia of history. Although Song Xiance did not seek refuge with Li Zicheng, but with Cheng Shijie, he still established Dashun just like in history.
As of the sixth day of June in the eighth year of Chongzhen, which was the twentieth day after Song Xiance's uprising, the number of troops under his command had swelled to more than 8,000. This was the result of Song Xiance's repeated careful selection of soldiers. If Song Xiance lowered the threshold a little, there would be more than 80,000 people.
It was also on this day that Liu Chao, the right deputy of Qianhu of Guide Guard, led more than 1,500 people under his command to defect to Song Xiance. Although Liu Chao was an official of Baihu, he was also a general with considerable combat experience. In the second year of Chongzhen, Following the command of the Guide Guards, he went north to King Qin and was promoted from a hundred households to a deputy of a thousand households.
In the first month of the eighth year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng led tens of thousands of troops to attack Guide Mansion. After the attack failed, he turned to Yongcheng, the hometown of Song Xiance. It was Liu Chao who led the Yongcheng Minzhuang to fight in bloody battles for three days and nights, and even the four passes were destroyed. Despite the loss, Yongcheng was still defended.
Ordinarily, people like Liu Chao should be reused, but it is a pity that Liu Chao is not good at flattering horses, and he does not have the money to spend money. He has no money to be promoted. Originally, Dong Xi of Youqianhu looked at Liu Chao as being able to fight better than him, and he had higher prestige. , Dong Xi put on Liu Chao's shoes.
Liu Lei, the son of Liu Chao, was often bullied by Dong Tuo, the son of Dong Xi. When Liu Lei couldn't bear it anymore, he injured Dong Tuo in a rage. As a result, Dong Xi sent someone to capture Liu Lei and put him on a tree to expose him to the sun. Seeing that Liu Lei was about to die. After his death, Liu Chao was furious and led his cronies to snatch his son Liu Lei back from Dong Xi.
However, Dong Xi sued Liu Chao of Guide Prefecture for rebelling. Liu Chao was furious and killed Dong Xi's family. After hearing that Song Xiance had launched an army to rebel and claimed to be the general of Shuntian rebellion, Liu Chao led a thousand and five men. More than a hundred people took refuge in Song Xiance.
These more than 1,500 Yongcheng people are not only Song Xiance's township party, but also the soldiers of the Guard Guard. Yongcheng is the junction of the four provinces of Shandong, Shandong, Henan and Anhui. The folk customs are strong and fierce, and more importantly Liu Chao himself was an officer who was good at using firearms. With Liu Chao joining the Dashun Army, the Dashun Army became more powerful.
Originally, Yanzhou was the place where the Four Wars were fought. It was the gateway to the Central Plains and the junction of the four provinces. Since ancient times, the folk customs were fierce and bandits were everywhere. In order to protect themselves, the local big families would build Wubao. Even in later generations, many villages and towns The place name is either a certain camp, a certain building, or a certain village.
Song Xiance originally had no way to deal with those well-defended and strong strongholds, but it changed with the addition of Liu Chao. Liu Chao was a professional with a background in firearms, especially among the miners, many of whom knew how to play with explosives. Facing the well-defended stockade, Song Xiance's Dashun Army arrived in cave houses, dug in and blasted.
It is very simple to say. The cave house car is an ancient siege vehicle. It has four to twelve wheels and has no power. It needs to be pulled by people or oxen. The car is made of thick wood and built into the shape of a house, especially The roof was covered with wet mud to prevent fire. As long as the cart was pushed to the bottom of the city, people could dig the foundation of the city wall in the cart.
After taking this move, Song Xiance's Dashun Army's ability to attack fortresses was greatly improved. Even the strongest Wubao would be difficult to survive for a day under their attack.
Chenjiapu in Shancheng Town is the second largest fortress in Shancheng County. It is the ancestral home of Chen Xu, a Jinshi during the Chenghua period. After more than a hundred years of development, the Chen family has become the richest gentry in Shanxian County. This occupies The fortress complex covering an area of more than 100 acres has just been built. The most troublesome thing is that Chen used reinforced concrete.
The Chen family has a large number of people, with more than 300 servants alone, plus a thousand small and medium-sized landowners and farmers recruited temporarily. They repelled several attacks by the Dashun Army.
However, Liu Chao had someone use a cave car to plant more than 600 kilograms of explosives at the gate of Chen's old house. Seeing this situation, the Chen family members were so frightened that they all opened the door and surrendered.
Wubao continued to be captured, and they continued to seize large amounts of money and food. More and more people joined the rebel army. In some places, the people did not even wait for the rebels to attack the landlords who had oppressed them for many years, breaking the Wubao division. He obtained grain and livestock, and then joined the Dashun Army. The roar of "fighting the local tyrants and dividing the fields" resounded throughout the land of Yanzhou.
As the Dashun Army grew stronger, Luo Ruwen, the prefect of Yanzhou in Yanzhou Prefecture, could no longer hold on. According to incomplete statistics, in less than a month, Song Xiance captured dozens or hundreds of forts in Yanzhou. , causing hundreds of gentry and wealthy families to be destroyed.
Every time Song Xiance captured a town, he led a public trial of the captured gentry. Once the trial was over, the big family's house would definitely be ransacked, and all IOUs, IOUs, properties, and land deeds would be burned. As long as the young men who joined Dashun's army could be divided into If you get ten or thirty acres of land, you can also get some food for the people who are unwilling to join the Dashun Army.
At this time, Song Xiance was like a snowball. The fight became stronger and stronger, and the more people and horses fought, the more families were unable to defend their ancestral homes. The gentry in Yanzhou were frightened, and they all came forward to let Luo Ruwen, the prefect. Suppress rebellion.
Luo Ruwen had no choice. Now Song Xiance was getting more and more violent, and his influence was getting bigger and bigger. It disturbed the governor and heard the news. If he didn't deal with it, the governor would not be able to get around him. Luo Ruwen had no choice but to use the excuse of suppressing bandits. A conference of Yanzhou gentry was held.
This time, the gentry in Yanzhou did not act like iron roosters, but for a rare moment they came together. The rich contributed money and the powerful contributed. After some discussion, you three thousand taels and I five thousand taels. The entire Yanzhou gentry actually raised funds. With nearly 400,000 taels of silver, each family had young men and women, a total of more than 10,000 people. Together with the Yanzhou Guard soldiers, government officials and servants of various families, there were a total of more than 20,000 troops. After half a month of preparation, the army was known to the outside world. An army of 50,000 troops directly attacked Huanggang, Shanxian County.
Luo Ruwen was not too sinister. Of the more than 378,000 taels of silver he raised, he kept 350,000 taels and instead gave the more than 28,000 taels to the Yanzhou Guard Commander.
Just as the upper beam was crooked, the lower beam was crooked. Luo Ruwen withheld 350,000 taels of silver. The commander of the Yanzhou Guard was better and directly withheld 24,000 taels of silver. Instead, he rewarded the remaining 4,000 taels of silver to the guards. , In fact, what came into the hands of the guards was less than one tael of silver.
Fortunately, these guards soldiers often went hungry. Although they did not receive much money, there was no shortage of food to reward the army. Although it would not be good if they did not eat, they had a few full meals. The morale of the Yanzhou Guard soldiers was low. On the contrary, it’s not bad.
Although the morale of Yanzhou Guard's soldiers is good, just good. There are more than 200,000 troops in Shandong's books, but in fact, this is just an army on paper. The Ming Dynasty has more than 3 million troops in its books. Not even an army of 300,000 people could be drawn out.
As for Shandong, the effect was slightly better than that of the entire imperial court, because Shandong was also a major economic province in the Ming Dynasty. It was located at the core throat of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and coupled with maritime trade, it was relatively wealthy. What's more, the development of Liaodong has attracted a large number of refugees from Shandong, which has greatly reduced Shandong's burden. The enrollment rate of Shandong Guardsmen is higher than that of Gyeonggi.
For example, if the Dengzhou Guards really had money and food, it would not be a problem to recruit more than 10,000 people. The Yanzhou Guards had the same problem. Fifty-six thousand people, of course, these people's equipment is very poor, only slightly better than the rogue bandits.
As an army of 15,000 to 15,000 men, there are only 83 cavalry, among which there are more than a dozen horses that serve as the mounts of Si Yamen, the commander of the Yanzhou Guard Capital. There are more than a dozen artillery pieces, but more than 80,000 cannons are used in Chengdu. The cannon was cast more than a hundred years ago and is stained with rust. Only God knows whether it can be fired.
There are only more than a hundred guns in the entire army, and the total number of bows and crossbows is less than 200. Chang Sheng knows whether such equipment can fight in battle. The most important thing is that Song Xiance, the Dashun Army propaganda The slogan: "Fight the local tyrants and divide the land!"
This slogan has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Since the rebels only attack local tyrants and do not harm civilians, and they also allocate fields to ordinary people, why should we attack them? We don’t have any land either!
Of course, Chang Fu knew what these mud-legged people were thinking, but he had no choice but to ask his servants to suppress them and kill several people in a row to establish their authority.
However, what made Luo Ruwen want to vomit blood was that his troops to suppress the Dashun Army had not yet set off. Fifteen to six thousand soldiers actually ran away overnight after receiving equipment and food, and not two or three, but There are more than a thousand people, and the battle has not started yet, without firing an arrow, without even seeing the enemy's face, without even leaving Yanzhou City, and losing nearly one-tenth of the troops. How can we fight this battle?
But the problem was that Luo Ruwen had no better way, so he had to force a smile, pretend that it had never happened, and vowed to go out to fight, but the troops did not want to move, so Chang Fu directly sent his servants to come forward. Driven by the fierce servants, this A large army slowly left Yanzhou City.
However, this unit moved too slowly. It took a whole day to travel twenty or thirty miles.
Jinxiang County borders Shan County. In later generations, this was the hometown of garlic in Shandong and the hinterland of the Luxi Plain. The land here is fertile and the rain is abundant. In later generations, it can be regarded as a land of plenty.
However, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, it was a very poor place. Although Song Xiance's Dashun army had not yet reached Jinxiang County, the poor people in Jinxiang County had long been looking forward to Song Xiance's Dashun army.
When Chang Fu's army arrived in Jinxiang County, countless people in Jinxiang County ran to report to Song Xiance, including more than a thousand Yanzhou guards who escaped. They reported to Song Xiance that Chang Fu led his army In fact, Song Xiance received no less than 40 pieces of information about the attack on Shanxian County, and he was well prepared.
In the bitter wind and rain, more than 15,000 ragged troops carrying various weapons, driven by Chang Fu's servants, marched along the bumpy official road. Anyone who walked a little slower would be immediately beaten. whipped.
Regardless of whether these soldiers are young or strong, their lives are cheaper than ants. They don't care about their life and death at all. Even if they are all dead, they can easily recruit a group of them. It's hard to find three-legged toads these days. , but there are many people with two legs.
When they were in Yanzhou, they still had some morale, but now their morale has been wiped out. Although Chang Fu is the hereditary Yanzhou Guard commander, he also has combat experience. He followed the Shandong capital commander Zhang Keda to participate in the battle against the rogue bandits. , also performed well.
Looking at these zombie-like "soldiers" around him, he had no hope of defeating the Dashun Army. But the problem was that as a general of the Ming Dynasty, he had to put down the rebellion. Because he also knew that although he was not a gentry, once Song Xiance came to fight, Song Xiance would not let him go.
Chang Fu was very displeased and said to his commanding officer: "Li Qianshi, tell them to speed up a little bit. How long will it take them to reach Shan County?"
Li Qianshi looked at Chang Fu with some confusion. Is it necessary to go to Shan County so quickly? Are you going to reincarnate immediately?
In fact, Li Qianshi never understood the thoughts of Chang Fu, the commander. He knew that he could not win, but the problem was that he had to send troops. If he did not send troops, Luo Ruwen, the prefect, would not let him go. Don't look at Luo Ruwen, the prefect. Rank, and he is the commander of the third rank, but Luo Ruwen holds Chang Fu's lifeline.
It can be said that Chang Fu had no choice. If he didn't put down the rebellion, he would definitely die and even bring harm to his family. When he got to Shan County, he would be dead at most. If he couldn't be defeated, he could still surrender.
With this mentality, Chang Fu was very dissatisfied with the slow speed of his soldiers.
Li Qianshi received the order and led the Chinese soldiers to whip him with whips and sticks. The horrifying sound of the whip falling on the flesh and the screams of the soldiers echoed one after another in the official road, making people's hair stand on end. Of course.
A man who had been whipped to a bloody pulp lost consciousness and fell to the ground. A small flag waved a whip and whipped him fiercely. When the whip went down, a piece of flesh rolled up. While whipping, he cursed: "I told you to pretend." Die, I told you to pretend to be dead!"
After whipping a few times, he saw that the soldier was motionless. He tried to breathe and found that he had stopped breathing. Xiao Qi cursed, drew his knife and stabbed the dead soldier twice in the heart to prevent him from pretending to be dead. Then he pointed at the bloody The corpse said loudly: "Have you seen it? Pretending to be dead is what you will end up with! Go away quickly, defeat the rebels, and you can enjoy the food and drink!"
Under the whipping of the whip, Yanzhou Guard's rebel army finally became a little faster. Of course, it was just a little faster. In fact, let alone this army with low morale, even if Ning Haijun came, in Jinxiang County Don't tell me to get up quickly.
Although it is said that the northern part of Jinxiang County belongs to Shandong Province, the environment of this place is somewhat like a water town in the south of the Yangtze River. Fresh water resources are relatively abundant. The water resources on the surface alone are equivalent to more than 20 West Lakes.
However, there are no large-scale lakes in Jinxiang County. The water is stored in dense rivers or small lakes, which means that if you can't walk more than ten miles, you will encounter crisscrossing ditches or rivers, which are completely bypassed. not open.
Not long after the army moved forward, they encountered a small river. The river was not very wide, only about sixty or seventy paces long. However, the water was three or four meters deep. There was no way to swim across it, so they had to build a pontoon bridge. .
By the time the pontoon bridge was set up, it was already dark.
"Master Commander, the pontoon bridge is ready!"
"Quick, let everyone pass quickly and camp on the other side of the river!"
"yes!"
Just after crossing the river, Chang Fu discovered that there were hundreds more soldiers under his command.
Looking at the livid face of Chang Fu, a member of the household said: "Master Commander, I humbly lead my troops to capture the deserters!"
"Even good!"
After receiving the order, Baihu led more than a hundred people and chased into the distance.
Chang Fu waited for half the night, but the deserters were not captured, and Li Baihu and his soldiers disappeared.
At this time, the generals who commanded Yanzhou no longer had the energy to complain, and they didn't know what to do.
Chang Fu slept until midnight when he was suddenly awakened by a loud noise. When he got up, he saw thousands of torches densely packed outside the temporary camp. The torches were like stars, filling the entire night sky.
"It's over!"
Chang Fu did not resist and surrendered directly. He looked at Song Xiance who was surrounded by all the troops and said: "Your Majesty, I surrender!"
As the Yanzhou Guards surrendered collectively under the leadership of Chang Fu, Song Xiance asked the Dashun Army officers to change into the uniforms of the Yanzhou Guards and pretend to be defeated to seize the city. With almost no effort, Song Xiance occupied Yanzhou City.
As the Dashun Army occupied Yanzhou, the Dashun Army took advantage of the situation to attack Jining Prefecture and Jinxiang, causing a huge earthquake in Shandong.
Looking at the map of Shandong, it is not difficult to find that Shandong is a very unique province. It is surrounded by the sea on three sides, guarding the capital, connecting Jianghuai to the south, and controlling the Central Plains to the west. Strategically speaking, it is a place of four wars. The south will be attacked by the Jianghuai, and the west will be attacked. Henan was attacked, and the north was attacked by Gyeonggi.
Although Shandong cannot succeed, it can affect the footsteps of the entire dynasty. In history, Kong Youde's rebellion corrupted Shandong and dealt a fatal blow to the Ming Dynasty.
Now, with the Dashun Army revolting in Yanzhou, more than half of the more than 30 prefectures and counties in Yanzhou have fallen in just one month. This is a huge shock to Shandong.
The Ning navy was mobilized to enter Shandong to quell the rebellion. However, this proposal was rejected by the Shandong ministers on the spot.
Let Cheng Shijie fight with Zheng Zhizhou. Cheng Shijie occupied Chongming, Wusongkou, Dayuan, and Penghu, and even set up strongholds in Quanzhou and Xiamen. Let Cheng Shijie pacify Zhang Xianzhong. He went to Huangzhou Prefecture and established Chibi City. It seems that he also Not ready to let it go.
Let Cheng Shijie put down the rebellion again, whose Shandong will be Shandong in the future?
Who doesn’t know where Ning Haijun attacked and occupied, and also captured the hearts of the people. More importantly, Ning Haijun collected taxes differently from others. They had cannons in one hand and taxation in the other. They dared not to pay taxes. Directly bombarded with artillery, suffering enough from Ning Haijun, no matter what, the court dared not hand over the counter-insurgency in Shandong to Ning Haijun. If Cheng Shijie blocked the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, they would all be pinched to death by Cheng Shijie.
When the butt replaces the head, no matter how absurd things are, they no longer seem absurd.
News of the Yanzhou rebellion reached Beijing, and Emperor Chongzhen was furious. This year was originally full of events. At the beginning of the year, Zhang Xianzhong invaded Fengyang. The bandits were so powerful that they finally mobilized Cheng Shijie to kill Zhang Xianzhong. Li Zicheng and Gao Yingxiang also returned to Shaanxi. Thirteen bands of bandits also suffered heavy losses.
At that time, Emperor Chongzhen was very happy. After the money obtained by Gao Qiqian and Cheng Shijie, and after half a year of recuperation, everything in the Ming Dynasty was showing signs of improvement.
At the critical moment, Shandong was in chaos. Although Shandong is not the foundation of the Ming Dynasty, it guards the Grand Canal. Without Shandong, the connection between the north and the south will be interrupted, and the rule of the Ming Dynasty will also be shaken!
Emperor Chongzhen was furious and ordered the governor of Shandong to destroy the rebels within a month. He also proposed to mobilize the Ning navy to enter Shandong to quell the rebellion. Emperor Chongzhen was still very relieved about Ning Haijun.
He had great trust in Queen Zhou and Queen Zhang. During their stay in Liaodong, these two queens often said good things to Cheng Shijie and praised Cheng Shijie for his ability to do things. Now Liaodong has completely recovered from the massacre, with a prosperous population and rich products. , Don’t close your door at night, don’t pick up things on the road.
What's more important is that Ning Haijun's army is not only powerful in combat, but also highly disciplined and does no harm to the common people. It is much stronger than Guan Ning's army.
However, this proposal was opposed by many cabinet ministers. They all believed that the Ming Dynasty was currently facing many crises, especially since Jiannu had recovered from the defeat of Haizhou. The elite Ning Haijun should be kept in Liaodong to stop Jiannu. Attacking the Guanning Defense Line should not invest such precious power into Shandong for a small rebellion.
Some ministers even suggested that Huang Taiji had conquered various Mongolian tribes, and the important towns of Xuanfu and Datong might be attacked. Should a part of the Ning navy be transferred to Datong to strengthen the border forces, just in case?
Emperor Chongzhen was in a dilemma. The defenses of Xuanfu and Datong have become ineffective. Although it is difficult for Jiannu to break through the Guanning defense line, if they break through from there, it will be a matter of minutes. However, Ning Haijun has only so many troops, and he still counts on this The elite troops can devote themselves to the war to put down the rogue bandits, and help him sweep away the rogue bandits like the autumn wind sweeps away fallen leaves!
If some of the troops are transferred, the strength will not be enough. What if the bandits wreak havoc in the Central Plains?
It’s embarrassing, it’s really embarrassing.
Cheng Shijie didn't know that someone was thinking about him and his army. He was admiring a steel beast with great interest.
Compared with the steam locomotives I have seen before, this steam locomotive is more consistent with the appearance of the steam engine in Cheng Shijie's memory. Of course, it is different from the steam engines of later generations. It can be said that this is a platform transplanted from a four-wheeled carriage, which is a bit It looks like a large tractor from later generations.
It has four very simple wheels, the front two are responsible for steering, and the steam engine boiler is located at the front end. You can even see the shadow of a four-wheel carriage from the two rows of seats in the driver's seat.
Although it was transplanted from a four-wheel carriage, the frame was made of steel and used a lot of rubber materials.
To be fair, the thermal efficiency of the steam engine invented by Wang Zheng was not high and the air leakage was serious. However, after the improvement of Mo Hua, also known as Guo Xin, rubber was used not only for the wheels, but also for the seals of each pipe, which greatly increased the air leakage. tightness, thereby improving thermal efficiency.
Even the rear compartment was wrapped in cowhide by Guo Xin. Although this increased the cost, it had a better visual effect and now looked more technological and practical.
The only thing that made Cheng Shijie feel a little inconsistent was that in addition to the cab, this steam engine car was actually designed with three rows of seats in the back compartment, with four people in each row, for a total of twelve people.
Guo Xin looked at Cheng Shijie's confusion and explained: "Commander, the design of this post is because each team of Ning Haijun has a total of twelve people. When marching by carriage, a carriage can pull twelve people. Now it can also pull Twelve people, we did a test some time ago, and it only takes more than half the time for such a hot ox cart to go from Lushun to Jinzhou, which is an hour and two quarters, and it can make a round trip!"
Cheng Shijie silently calculated in his mind that the distance from Lushun to Jinzhou was 120 miles, and the round trip was 120 kilometers, which was equivalent to 48 kilometers per hour. Although the speed was not fast, it was already very ideal.
Different from ordinary carriages, this kind of steam locomotive can stay awake and has very good endurance. If it does not break down, the cavalry cannot catch up with the speed of the steam engine.
Cheng Shijie originally wanted to guide Liaodong to make a steam engine, but what he didn't expect was that Liaodong had already produced steam engines, and they were quickly used in various industries, some for pumping water, some for road construction, and some for As a mixer, some are used as a crusher.
Even steam engines and automobiles were built without Cheng Shijie's intervention. In this case, Cheng Shijie decided to let them develop on their own, and he only provided promotion.
Cheng Shijie looked at Guo Xin and said: "I am going to establish Ninghai Institute of Technology in Liaodong and appoint you as a professor. I will provide you with R&D expenses of 500,000 taels and help you set up a fire ox car factory. The first batch of orders will come first. Three hundred vehicles!”
Even though Guo Xin, a giant of the Mohist family, had a strong mental capacity, he was so excited that he tore off a few strands of his beard at this moment. The first agricultural college in Liaodong was established in Zhenhai City, which has now become a holy land for farmers.
Then the second one is Xinghai Medical College. Xinghai City is also a holy place for doctors. Now it is Ninghai Institute of Technology, which will also be a holy place for Mohists.
"Very good!"
Mo Hua's fourth disciple Wu Mingzhi shouted excitedly.
Although half a million taels of silver is a lot, what Wu Mingzhi is happy about is not the money, but his status. Ever since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty only respected Confucianism and dismissed hundreds of schools of thought, the Mohist family has become a street rat. For more than a thousand years, their life has been miserable. .
Finally, Cheng Shijie gave them the same treatment as farmers, doctors, and Confucians.
Wu Mingzhi choked with excitement.
Cheng Shijie thought he was Guo Xin's disciple who was rewarded with a heavy reward of 500,000 taels of silver. He was so excited that he warned: "Don't be proud. Although the hot ox cart has entered the stage of mass production, this is just the beginning. Next, you will We must continue to research and develop bigger steam engines. The goal is to make the steam engines bigger, stronger, or smaller, stronger, and more reliable. You must also find ways to increase productivity, ensure production quality, and reduce production costs. In short, you must There’s still a lot of work to be done.”
"Don't worry, Commander!"
Mo Hua said calmly: "We will not slack off, and we will never let down the commander-in-chief's trust!"
Cheng Shijie is in a good mood. The term steam engine will no longer exist because both Wang Zheng and Guo Xin, as well as Liaodong, call steam engines fire ox. Even the Venetians, Dutch, and Spanish in Liaodong , they also followed Liaodong’s saying and called the steam engine Fire Ox.
This is a very vivid title, driven by fire and as strong as an ox.
Of course, Liaodong invented the steam engine-type car, which is considered a real car. In the future, Ning Haijun's marching speed will be greatly improved. More importantly, the big guy weighing several tons, the god of war, has the ability to move. It can also be greatly improved.
(End of chapter)
