Chapter 335
Li Guanying did not come from a family of escort bureaus. In fact, he founded the Zhengxing Escort Agency when he was 28 years old, because that year was the first year of Tianqi. By chance, he was working as a laborer at the Tongzhou Pier, carrying sacks for a living. .
That year, there was a fierce battle between the Sichuan Army and the Zhejiang Army stationed in Tongzhou. Guns and artillery fire were exchanged in the city. Both sides were killed and injured everywhere and countless houses were blown up. This directly alarmed the Ming court...
Li Guanying had no idea why the Sichuan Army and the Zhejiang Army were fighting. However, that year, he received a job offer. Someone was willing to pay one hundred taels of silver to hire them to go to Sichuan and write a letter. The deposit is fifteen taels of silver. If you send the letter to Chengdu, you will get the remaining eighty-five taels of silver.
Based on Li Guanying's income from carrying sacks at the time, it would take him three years and eight months to earn this amount of money. However, Li Guanying decided to take a gamble and risk his life and fortune.
So, he carried this secret letter alone, and after nine lifetimes, he finally sent the letter to Chengdu. From then on, Li Guanying started a life of cheating. When he was preparing to return home in Chengdu, he was hired by someone else to escort a mother and son to Dengzhou. In this way, Li Guanying went from being a laborer to becoming a leader in the escort transportation industry.
At its peak, the Zhengxing Escort Bureau had more than 3,000 people, more than 1,000 carts, and 600 to 700 mules and horses. For Li Guanying's success, he knew that he had always relied on his courage to fight.
The life of the poor is cheap. If he hadn't worked hard at the beginning, he wouldn't be where he is today. Of course, he wants to fight even more now, and it won't work if he doesn't fight. As a person without a backing, there are many people in his hometown in Cangzhou who are eyeing Li Guanying's property. It has caused him a lot of trouble in the past two years.
Because he has no backing, the family fortune Li Zhengying earned over the past ten years has become his lifeline.
If it were not for Cheng Shijie to guard Pingding Prefecture, he would actually be planning to move his family to Liaodong to seek a living instead of just waiting to die. In this way, Li Zhengying took more than 300 people to Pingding Prefecture.
If he unfortunately dies, then he will die. If he can survive by chance, Cheng Shijie will never treat him badly. Even if Cheng Shijie says a word, those who peek into his property will shy away.
…
In Pingdingzhou City, Shanxi Governor Wu Di was imprisoned in a broken house. He was given two pieces of cake and a bowl of water every day. As for food, don't think about it. Pingdingzhou City was also short of food and the war was intense. At that time, no one even paid attention to Wu Yan.
How could Wu Di have ever suffered this crime? who is he? He is the governor of Shanxi, with a second-rank official residence. Every walk is preceded by the sound of gongs, and everyone is watching. All he has to do is give an order for what he wants to eat, and people will immediately come to him to select the best ingredients, use the best cooks, and cook as quickly as possible. Ready to deliver it to him?
Wu Di had never suffered such abuse! In his opinion, this thing is simply not suitable for human consumption. Even the servants in his house cannot eat this thing!
But the problem is that when Xie Zhiliang was guarding Dingzhou, things were better. The governor kept yelling and scolding the soldiers who came to deliver meals. These soldiers did not dare to offend the governor. Even if the governor is just a prisoner now, no one can I don't know when Wu Zong will be released and his official position will be restored. If he offends the governor, the consequences will be quite serious.
However, when Cheng Shijie was guarding Dingzhou, the situation naturally changed. The person responsible for guarding Wu Di became Ning Haijun. Officer Ning Haijun would not spoil Wu Di. After a good punch, Wu Di became honest. .
Wu Di could only curse Cheng Shijie when no one was around. As a result, Ning Haijun soldiers beat Wu Di, but the problem was that he accidentally beat Wu Di until he almost ran out of energy.
This matter is not a trivial matter. There is no problem in beating Wu Di. If Wu Di is killed, he must report it to Cheng Shijie no matter what. Only then did Cheng Shijie know that he still had a Shanxi governor in his hands.
Cheng Shijie actually didn't care about Wu Zong's life or death. He couldn't even care about himself. God knows whether he could hold on until reinforcements arrived.
However, the problem is that since Wu Di was beaten and turned around from the Palace of Hell, he has become more sophisticated. In fact, Wu Di knows that it is useless to beg for mercy, and he might as well have sex before he dies.
Just when Cheng Shijie was inspecting the city, he suddenly heard someone scolding him. Of course, Ning Haijun's soldiers hit him with their fists. Cheng Shijie came over and said, "What's going on?"
"Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief, this dog officer somehow took the wrong medicine and actually acted rudely with his subordinates. Not only..."
"Get down!"
Cheng Shijie looked at Wu Zong who was as embarrassed as a beggar and said, "Are you disappointed? I have defended Pingding Prefecture!"
Wu Yan was indeed very surprised. When he thought about it, the situation had deteriorated to this point. Even if Cheng Shijie had extraordinary abilities, there would be no way to recover. Even though Cheng Shijie's Ning Haijun was the best among the best and could block ten with one. However, in the face of the menacing attack, The cavalry outside the Great Wall may not be able to hold on for long. In the end, they will either choose to escape or die with the city. There is no third option.
However, Cheng Shijie actually won the battle, what a ghost!
Wu Di sneered and said: "Cheng, even if you can achieve a small victory, so what? Hundreds of thousands of Mongolian cavalry, plus 160,000 Junggar cavalry, swept across the Hexi Corridor, surrounded Lanzhou, and will soon reach Ningxia. You Even if you have extraordinary abilities, how much can you do in the face of this tidal wave of cavalry coming from outside the Great Wall?"
Cheng Shijie said calmly: "I don't have the power to reach heaven, but I can make those enemy troops who invaded the land of Ming Dynasty stop coming back... Speaking of which, I have to thank you for bringing together these nomadic peoples who were originally scattered. It saves me the time of finding them one by one!"
Wu Di's eyes widened: "You have to make it clear that these are hundreds of thousands of cavalry outside the Great Wall, not a mob of thirty or twenty thousand!"
Cheng Shijie didn't even raise his head: "There is no difference in my eyes. The thicker the grass, the easier it is to cut."
Wu Yan stared at him and gasped, speechless.
In Cheng Shijie's eyes, this is the biggest crisis in the Ming Dynasty. Is it not an important opportunity? Mobei Mongolia and Mobei Mongolia, at least in just a few years, Cheng Shijie did not have the time and energy to deal with them, not even the nine-border defense line. If the situation had not been rotten and difficult to reverse, the imperial court would not have handed over Jiubian to him.
This was an opportunity for Cheng Shijie. He mobilized more than 70,000 elite troops from the Ning Navy. As long as these troops could arrive at the battlefield smoothly as planned, not many of them, be it Mobei Mongolia or Mobei Mongolia, could run back. Even if some of them could escape, it would be difficult to cause any trouble.
Wu Yan looked at Cheng Shijie and said, "What do you want?"
The smile on Cheng Shijie's face disappeared suddenly: "I still want to ask you. You used any means to deliberately let go of the border defenses and let the enemy troops march straight in. The northwest is full of smoke and smoke. The Central Plains is in danger. What do you really want?"
Wu Di sneered and said: "It's you warriors who are as afraid of the enemy as tigers, but you are so happy with your achievements that you start rash provocations, which led to the current situation. What does it have to do with me?"
Cheng Shijie said: "Are you still telling lies? If you hadn't gone around and bribed the border generals, the border generals would have given up the defense line? In front of you was Qiao Zhaolin, and now it's He Sui. Qiao Zhaolin has recruited everything. If the surname is He Even if you don't die, he will expose everything you have done. Do you really think that everyone in the world is blind and can't even distinguish between black and white? If you do this, you won't be afraid of death. Can’t you even enter the ancestral grave?”
Wu Yan's face turned green and white, his facial muscles twisted, his eyes burst out with a light of hatred, and he roared with a ferocious look: "Do you think we like to betray our country for glory, and consider thieves as our fathers? Why don't we let you, a despicable warrior, You, a remnant of the Mo family, were forced to do this! If you hadn't gone against the grain and subverted the orthodoxy, why would I have taken such risks?"
Cheng Shijie pointed to his nose: "Me?"
"Yes, it's you! You, a monster who came out of nowhere, climbed all the way up with some military exploits, and finally became the governor of Liaodong. It should be noted that using culture to control military affairs is a thousand-year national policy, but you gave up this thousand-year national policy to Broken! Anyway, your ability to become the governor of Liaodong is considered your ability. As long as you seriously develop agriculture and mulberry trees and educate the people, we are also happy to see the results, but what have you done? "
Wu Di pointed at Cheng Shijie and said: "You are building a lot of flashy buildings for your enjoyment and despicable industry. You are encouraging the people to learn those strange and obscene techniques, you are implementing harsh torture laws, and you are allowing cruel officials to bully the gentry!" In just a few years, you have completely ruined the simple people of Liaodong! In today's Liaodong, the defense between men and women has disappeared, the ethos of learning is gone, and the ethos of courtesy and humility is gone! Today's Liaodong In Liaodong, everyone is chasing the bad guys, men are idyllic and women are playful, they are brave and fierce, disrespectful to the gentry, and their morals are corrupt. You ask me what on earth do I want to do? I also want to ask you what on earth do you want to do!"
Cheng Shijie was silent for a long time: "Just because of this? Just because of this, you are going to open the country and let those wolves in, even if the tragedy of Wu Huanhua is repeated again?"
Wu Di snorted coldly: "As long as I can overthrow the traitor like you, reverse the situation, and vigorously defend the Chinese orthodoxy, what's the point of us being shattered to pieces?"
"What's the point of having your mother's bones crushed to pieces? It's not you shameless scholar-bureaucrats who are crushed to pieces, but tens of thousands of ordinary people! You have never thought of the numerous corpses lying on the roadside along the way. Did you see it? How many people died tragically under the Tatar butcher's knife, and you pretended you didn't see it? You keep saying that you are defending the Chinese orthodoxy, but what you really want to defend is the lofty status of the scholar-bureaucrats, right? Bah!"
Cheng Shijie pointed at Wu Zong's nose and yelled: "Do you think that by singing a high-pitched song loud enough that I can't see your disgusting true face? You scholar-bureaucrats may seem sanctimonious, but in fact you are extremely selfish and greedy! "
"You would rather raise taxes repeatedly to drive all the people to death and rebel. You would rather watch the army starve to death due to lack of food and clothing. In the end, foreign invaders invaded and destroyed the Ming Dynasty. You are reluctant to pay a tax of one tael. Anyone who tries to take advantage of your class will Anyone who collects even a penny of tax will be regarded as your enemy!"
"Not only do you refuse to pay taxes, you also try every possible means to dig into the country's foundation. You have raised scholars for three hundred years in the Ming Dynasty, but you have raised them like dogs! Now the people have had enough of your selfishness and greed and want to find a new way. What are you talking about? Without telling you, a thief came and opened the door! I really want to cut open your hearts to see if your hearts are evil!"
Wu Yan's face turned pale, his lips were trembling, and he said: "You... you... don't spit blood! You... you talk nonsense!"
"I spit blood on others? Isn't this your patent?"
Cheng Shijie sneered: "I wanted to have a good chat with you, but your shamelessness has left me speechless..."
Wu Yan's expression changed drastically: "You...you dare to kill me? You can't do this! If you dare to kill me, no one in the world will let you go!"
"They won't let me go? You have to ask me first if I will let them go!"
Cheng Shijie said calmly: "If a tiger doesn't show its power, you really treat me as a sick cat. Do you really think that I don't dare to touch you?"
Although Cheng Shijie's tone was calm, the terrifying murderous aura in his body made Wu Zong's heart twitch, his spine tremble, and his legs trembled uncontrollably.
"You...you can't kill me! I'm not wrong. I want to defend the Chinese orthodoxy. I want to preserve righteousness for the world. I..."'
The more Wu Di spoke, the lower his voice became, and his proud head drooped unbearably. The coercion and oppression of military commanders accumulated by the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty for more than 200 years have been completely lost, leaving only the trembling in the face of death.
Cheng Shijie said nothing more, strode out quickly, and told the soldiers: "Watch carefully, don't let him get away, and don't let him escape."
The soldier said proudly: "Don't worry, Commander, he can't die or escape!"
Cheng Shijie inspected Pingdingzhou City and found that the situation was not bad. Ning Haijun suffered nearly 400 casualties, and now there were less than 2,400 men and horses capable of fighting. Plus Xie Zhiliang's old troops in Pingdingzhou City, there were not enough available troops. to four thousand people.
However, the number of bullets per capita is still two and a half, and the number of grenades per capita is less than four. However, more than 300 thunderbolts have been remade, and there are more than 2,000 throwing guns.
Cheng Shijie wanted to use fire, but the problem was that there was too little oil in Pingding Prefecture, so he asked people to collect the corpses of Mongolian Tatars who rushed up the city wall. Theoretically, the fat content of the human body is about 20%, and the fat content of fat cells Only 5%. For a 120-pound adult, the actual oil that can be squeezed out of his body is only about 5 pounds (the oil production rate is calculated as 40%).
But the problem is that with more than 3,000 corpses, 15,000 kilograms of corpse oil can theoretically be collected. However, the problem is that this is just a theory. This collection work was very unsatisfactory, and only less than 1,500 kilograms of corpses were collected. Oil.
The corpse oil was barely usable. He told Li Dingguo that if the Mongolian army attacks the city next time, remember to put the Mongols on the city wall. At least more corpses can be left behind to refine the corpse oil and put the corpse oil into it. Make incendiary bombs to better kill enemies.
Li Dingguo had seen Ning Haijun's incendiary bombs. When he was in Kyushu, he still had nightmares whenever he thought of that scene.
In the early morning of December 24, the eighth year of Chongzhen's reign, Cheng Shijie had a nightmare in his sleep. He dreamed that he came to Jingshan, also known as Meishan, in the capital, and saw a crooked-neck tree. Emperor Chongzhen was hanging on the crooked-neck tree. On the trees, they were floating in the wind.
Cheng Shijie woke up from his nightmare. He vaguely heard bursts of sobbing coming from the distance. There were cries from the elderly, children, and women of all ages.
Hearing this, Cheng Shijie couldn't sleep anymore. He came to the city wall and looked towards the west city. However, it was covered with white fog and he couldn't see anything.
"Commander!"
Li Dingguo came over in a hurry.
Cheng Shijie sighed and said, "Our trouble has really come!"
"The commander-in-chief means..."
"The Mongolian army captured the people nearby!"
Sure enough, just as Cheng Shijie had judged, as the sky grew brighter and the line of sight widened, it was clearly visible that the Mongolian army in the distance was driving countless ragged Ming people towards the city of Pingding.
Through the telescope, we can see that there are very few young people among these people. The elderly, women, and children make up the majority. Many of them have black hands and feet and stumble around. It's not that they are unhygienic and don't bother to wash their hands. Frozen.
It was freezing cold, and the Mongolian cavalry had snatched away all the cotton-padded clothes that could keep out the cold, leaving them with thin clothing. It was strange that they had come so far without getting frostbite!
A large number of civilians were herded into the Mongolian army camp like sheep, and then began to form into groups, one group for the elderly, one group for the children, and one group for the women.
Li Dingguo said with a murderous look on his face: "What do these unscrupulous Tatars want to do by seizing so many helpless people?"
Xie Shangkui said: "Yes, these people can't even walk steadily. It's absolutely impossible to let them fill trenches and attack the city with ants. What do the Tatars want to do?"
Cheng Shijie clenched his fists loudly: "These people can't fill the trenches and attack the city, but they can consume our arrows, bullets, cannonballs, and our morale!"
Xie Shangkui saw that the Pingding Prefecture defenders around him were beginning to be in confusion. Many soldiers were trying their best to look over there, and some shouted: "That one looks like my dad!"
"Mom! That's my mother!"
Some people put their heads in their hands and cried bitterly. It was obvious that they were sure that their relatives were in the hands of the Tatars, but they were powerless and could only watch their relatives die at the hands of the Tatars, and even had to kill them themselves!
More than 300 years ago, when the Mongols were attacking in all directions, they would drive foreign people out every time they attacked a city to withstand the fiercest firepower of the defenders, and send them batch by batch within the range of the defenders' bows and crossbows. If If the defenders become soft-hearted and can no longer take action, they will inevitably be overrun by these crazy people and the entire city will eventually fall.
Even if the defenders were as stone-hearted and unmoved, shooting all these civilians would probably not be a good idea. The arrows, cannons, rocks, and physical strength would be greatly consumed, but the most terrible thing was to see large numbers of their own soldiers. The people died in front of them, and some of them might be their own relatives. It was impossible for the soldiers not to have a trace of emotion in their hearts!
Their morale and will will be slowly exhausted in this one-sided massacre, and their resentment towards the general will gradually accumulate and eventually explode!
In this way, even if the city is defended, it will become an isolated city. Yes, for dozens or hundreds of miles outside the city, there are only corpses and no human habitation. The people's morale and morale have dropped to the bottom. The war potential has been exhausted. It will be difficult to withstand the next attack of the Mongols. .
This is the famous "Hashar" tactic, which can be called the most cruel and vicious tactic!
Cheng Shijie knew this tactic. In fact, this tactic was not created by the Mongols. It was just like the kite flying tactic, which was called the Mangu evil tactic by the Mongols.
In fact, this tactic was used by the Huns, the Xianbei people, the Jurchens, and the Mongols, but they all changed the soup without changing the medicine.
Once they are allowed to implement this tactic, no matter how the battle ends, they will be the losers in the end! However, Cheng Shijie just had no way to crack it. The only way to crack it was to burn the flames of war into the territory of the nomads so that they would not be able to implement this tactic.
The second step is to build a complete Great Wall defense line. However, the problem is that the Ming Dynasty's Great Wall defense line has been destroyed by those idiots. They put a group of hungry wolves into the sheepfold. The shepherds want to protect their sheep from harm, then It's impossible!
Cheng Shijie is now in a dilemma. He cannot give up Pingding Prefecture. Giving up Pingding Prefecture is equivalent to giving up Yangquan. Giving up Yangquan is equivalent to giving up Jingxing Pass. It is equivalent to giving up the opening and allowing the Mongolian army to rush into Zhending Prefecture and Baoding Prefecture. , the whole Gyeonggi Province is bustling.
If Cheng Shijie asked the soldiers to shoot at these civilians, Ning Haijun would definitely carry out Cheng Shijie's order resolutely. But the problem is that Ning Haijun in Pingding Prefecture only has more than 2,000 people, and Pingding Prefecture now has at least tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians, only a quarter of it. General Ning couldn't hold on even if he wanted to. He couldn't possibly kill all the other people and soldiers in the city.
"Commander, you have done a very good job!"
Li Dingguo looked at Cheng Shijie and said, "Commander, I have an idea that may solve this problem!"
"What?"
Cheng Shijie was delighted.
However, just when Cheng Shijie was approaching Li Dingguo, Li Dingguo suddenly attacked and struck Cheng Shijie hard on the neck with a knife.
Cheng Shijie's vision went dark and he threw himself on the ground.
A dozen soldiers beside Cheng Shijie took out their revolvers and pointed them at Li Dingguo.
Li Dingguo was unmoved and said calmly: "The commander is tired, take him down to rest!"
The soldiers seemed to understand Li Dingguo's intentions.
Just as two soldiers were holding Cheng Shijie up and about to go down, Li Dingguo grabbed one of the soldiers by the collar and pointed his mouth at the opponent's ear: "Monkey, listen to me, Pingding Prefecture can't be defended anymore, let Fang Quan Lead the Marshal to break out from the East City Gate. You bring all the grenades to Jingxing Pass and blow up the Jingxing Pass. Also, your figure is about the same as the Marshal. Put on the Marshal's armor and blow up the Marshal. The banner was left in Pingding Prefecture..."
After Li Dingguo finished explaining to the monkey, the monkey clasped his fist towards Li Dingguo and said, "Take care!"
"Remember, when you offer incense next year, offer one to my adoptive father (Zhang Xianzhong) for me!"
Li Dingguo made what he thought was the most correct decision in the shortest possible time. Whether it is said that Cheng Shijie is kind-hearted or that he loves the people like a son, Cheng Shijie is now in a dilemma.
But the problem is that no matter what Cheng Shijie decides, it will be a huge stain on Cheng Shijie's reputation, and he will never be able to wash it away in the future.
Li Dingguo decided to take the blame.
The world can be without Li Dingguo, but at most it will be one less general. Ning Haijun has no shortage of outstanding generals, such as Zhou Ning, Liu Qingsong, Shen Mingyu, Chang Yu, Li Zhixiang, Li Fang, etc.
However, it is impossible for the world to be without Cheng Shijie. As long as Cheng Shijie lives, he can make countless people live a good life and live like a human being.
Li Dingguo knelt down towards Cheng Shijie's back and "bang bang bang..."
Li Dingguo kowtowed three times to Cheng Shijie's back.
Li Dingguo stood up, wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, and said to the surrounding soldiers: "Brother, I know that many of these people are your relatives, your brothers and sisters of the same clan, and you also know what the Tatars want to do, so you are Your hands and feet will be messed up! You defeated soldiers who are about to retreat can not care about anything, but you cannot care about your own life and the life of your family! I can understand your mood, and I sympathize with your experience, but..."
Li Dingguo's voice suddenly raised an octave: "Two hundred miles to the east is Zhending Prefecture, three hundred miles away from Zhending Prefecture is Baoding, and six hundred miles away from Zhending Prefecture is the capital, where tens of millions of people live. People, they are all the same as you, with flesh and blood, relatives and friends, and your bounden duty is to sacrifice yourself, protect them, and defend this country!"
"Do you know why the commander dragged his sick body against the wind and snow for a thousand miles? It's because there is no way out! You, him, and the entire country have no way out!"
"If we take a step back, we will be in an abyss! If we take a step back, the tragedy of Wu Huan Hua will happen again! He was so tired that he vomited blood and rushed as hard as he could. In the end, he took great risks and led a group of you to defend Pingding Prefecture, just to collapse it. The sky is holding up, if you just step back a little, the sky pressing on his shoulders will collapse, crushing him to pieces!"
"You can't bear to see your fellow villagers or even your own relatives die, so should he die? Should the hundreds of millions of people behind you who have supported you with their blood and sweat die?"
Thousands of troops were silent, and the soldiers who had been crying in each other's arms clenched their weapons and stood up, biting their lips until they bled.
Li Dingguo almost roared: "Three hundred years ago, our ancestors, armed with swords, drove the Mongolian ancestors to Mobei to eat sand. Three hundred years later, we can also hold swords and drive the Mongolian Tatars away." Kill them all. Brothers of Ning Haijun, do you still remember the song that the commander taught us?"
"The clouds follow the dragon, the wind follows the tiger, fame and fortune come from dust and earth. Looking at the land of China, the people are suffering, and the fertile land for thousands of miles is barren. Looking at the world, there are all the barbarians, and only one man can make up for the incompleteness of the way of heaven. A good man, separate from his parents, only for the sake of the common people and not for the master. . Holding a ninety-nine steel sword, I will stop after killing all the men. I am a dignified man, why do the Tartars act like horses and oxen. A strong man drinks all the wine in the bowl and never looks back on a thousand-mile journey. The golden drums sound in unison and the crowd roars, and the Yellow Dragon Oath will not be broken. endlessly……"
At first, only a few people sang this song in a low voice, then dozens of people sang it, and then all the soldiers and civilians in Pingding Prefecture were shouting at the top of their lungs.
Li Dingguo looked at the soldiers around him and said: "When our cavalry attacks, we will save every one we can. If we can't, let's die together!"
Xie Shangkui held Li Dingguo's arm: "General Li, count me in!"
"you……"
Li Dingguo lowered his voice and said, "Brother Xie, don't make trouble. Take Xie Shuai and follow Cheng Shuai to retreat!"
Xie Shangkui smiled lightly and said: "I really regret it. I would have joined Ning Haijun if I had known earlier!"
"If we fight together, we are brothers!"
Li Dingguo shouted: "Fight to the death!"
(End of chapter)
