Yang Hao woke up when it was just getting light. The old man had not slept much. The sky in Qilu in February was clear and bright, and the last few dim stars on the sea could be seen.
The sea breeze poured into the bilge, and Yang Jinglue's old body made a rattling sound like the sunken blessing ship.
"Another narrow escape from death."
Wrapped in a wool blanket, he looked back at his military career in the bilge of the Weiyuan battleship and sighed.
He escaped death several times in Pyongyang and Sarhu, North Korea.
In the end, Yang Hao believed that this was because of the blessing of Marquis Pingliao, and his son-in-law was regarded as the chosen son, and he would ascend the throne and become emperor in the future.
Yang Hao secretly made up his mind that when he returned to Liaodong, he would assist Liu Zhaosun and drive away Kang Yingqian, Qiao Yiqi's group of cats and dogs.
On February 18th of the first year of Chongzhen, the subordinates of the Chosen Son suffered heavy casualties. They disembarked from Weihaiwei, bid farewell to the Weiyuan, and boarded the port of Yingzui Port.
The commander of the Weiyuan, whose surname was Meng, was originally a stacker on the Yalu River. In the second year of Taichang, he was selected by Pingliao Marquis and trained the navy with Wu Aheng in Pidao. Now he has become Wu Aheng's capable general.
General Meng sent everyone to Weihaiwei and sent six Korean soldiers on the battleship to escort Yang Hao to Wendeng County.
Most of the battleship Weiyuan was Korean soldiers. The sailors were surprised when they heard that the old man fished out of the sea was the famous Yang Hao.
Yang Hao is very famous in North Korea.
After Wanli came to Korea, Yang Hao and Liu Wei stayed in Korea to train troops to resist Japanese pirates, and they made great contributions to the small vassal country. Many Koreans enshrined Yang Jinglue as a god.
This time Jin Yinghe followed Wu Aheng to reinforce Liaonan. When he heard that Jin Yuji was still in Wendeng, the North Korean general also went ashore with the sailors.
Meng Jinbao, who was short in stature, stood on the observation pole and watched Yang Hao and his entourage disappear on the official road of the port before commanding the warship to leave Eagle Mouth Port.
Taking advantage of the good weather, Yang Hao and the others quickly headed towards Wendeng Camp.
There are eight of them left now, and the others have sunk to the bottom of the sea. Including Jin Yinghe and the Korean soldier, the team now has a total of fourteen people, including a crazy woman.
Three days ago, they encountered a Japanese pirate Zhuyin ship at sea, and a boarding battle broke out between the two sides.
In a fair and equitable duel, Miyamoto Musashi killed Shen Lian's woman and younger brother with a firecracker, and Miyamoto's father killed Shen Lian's wife with a cannon.
In addition to Shen Lian's family, others also suffered heavy losses in the boarding battle.
Only one of Yang Jinglue's servants survived, Wei Zhao, and only Wu Xiao was left among Pei Dahu's men.
Shen Lian, Wu Xiao, Pei Dahu, Wei Zhao, Zhao Yuanzhi, Han Chao, Yang Hao, Zuo Miaoqing.
When the lucky boat capsized, eight people were covered in the bilge and survived by relying on the remaining oxygen in the bilge.
When they were rescued by the Liaodong navy passing by here, the Japanese Zhuyin ship that caused the accident had already escaped.
From then on, the feud between Shen Lian and the Miyamoto family began.
There are no bones left of the dead, and the shock of the living has finally come to an end.
They were devastated.
Yang Hao's family wealth accumulated in three years was lost in the blue waves. He did not think about food and drinks, and stared at the sea in silence.
Shen Lian only wants revenge.
Wu Xiao climbed up the observation pole and looked at the vast sea for Big Man Lin, who had been missing for many days.
The leader of this group, Pei Dahu, insisted not to go to Liaodong and wanted to return to Dengzhou first.
"Four months ago, Marquis Ping Liao said that after the matter is completed, we will return to Dengzhou. These are Master Liu's exact words."
"But Marquis Ping Liao is now in western Liaoning, fighting a decisive battle with Zu Dashou, and the main force of Kaiyuan has already withdrawn to Liaodong. What are you doing in Shandong now?"
"I can't control this. Your Excellency's original order was for me to return to Dengzhou. There must be a reason for what he said."
Wu Aheng knew that Pei Dahu had a bad temper. Seeing this, he had no choice but to part ways with Pei Dahu and others.
The Weiyuan was responsible for escorting them back to Dengzhou.
When the Weiyuan ship and the fleet parted, Shen Lian ran to Wu Aheng again and begged the admiral to lead the fleet back to the Japanese country of Nagasaki.
He said that the old Japanese pirate who escaped was in Nagasaki, and he wanted to seek revenge on this man and peel off Miyamoto Tokunari's skin alive.
Wu Aheng is very willing to help Shen Baihu avenge his mother's murder, but now he has to lead his fleet to Liaonan.
Wu Aheng finally told Shen Lian that the battle in Liaonan was related to the lives and deaths of more people, and that dealing with the Japanese country was not something that happened overnight.
It was learned from Wu Aheng that Marquis Pingliao intended to conquer Japan.
Shen Lian immediately put aside all thoughts of returning to the world and decided to rush back to Liu Zhaosun's men.
"A boy can be taught, and a gentleman can take revenge. It is not too late in ten years. The old thief is in the Japanese country, and he cannot escape. From now on, you can kill your enemy with your own hands. When I return to Liaodong, I will let Marquis Pingliao promote you to the title of Duke of Dongchang." "
Yang Hao patted Shen Lian on the shoulder and added:
"It's Kaiyuan's Dongchang."
Yang Hao wanted to go back to Liaonan with Wu Aheng, but in the end he chose to go to Wendeng with Pei Dahu.
After these several trips back and forth, Yang Hao developed a life-long friendship with Pei Dahu and others, and it was difficult to break up for a while. He is the eldest among everyone, and he needs help in making decisions on many things.
Of course, the most important reason is that the old man wants to go to the county government office to meet with General Anyuan who plays drums in Hunhe River.
Yang Qing'er is now the main wife of Marquis Ping Liao and the heroine of Liaodong and Western Liao. If she can maintain her daughter's status as the main wife, she will not be able to escape when Kaiyuan's army enters the pass and wipes out the world.
This is what is said about fathers being more valuable than daughters.
In Yang Hao's view, the only person who can threaten his future status as father-in-law is this North Korean woman from Wendeng County.
Over the years, Yang Hao heard a lot about Jin Yuji's deeds in the Tianjin Canal, and he felt more and more that this Korean witch was extraordinary. If she was allowed to develop like this, it would not be impossible to replace Yang Qing'er's position as the main wife in the future. .
I heard that Yang Qing'er got along well with this North Korean concubine, and they were like sisters.
The Marquis of Ping Liao was very fond of this girl, and he wrote three books and six etiquettes, and the matchmaker was marrying her.
What frightened Yang Hao the most was that he heard that the witch was pregnant.
If Jin Yuji successfully gives birth to a son, she will definitely be favored by Marquis Pingliao. By then, her daughter will probably...
Although according to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, children of concubines did not have the right to inherit titles or clans. (Note 1) However, Ping Liaohou acted differently from ordinary people and never adhered to etiquette and customs.
It is still doubtful how long the Ming Dynasty can survive. It is ridiculous to use the laws of the Ming Dynasty to restrain a rebellious hero.
Yang Hao heard from Pei Dahu that this Korean woman admired the etiquette of the Celestial Dynasty. She followed Liu Zhaosun in the military camp on weekdays, and she kept reading books every day.
"Children can be taught."
Yang Hao stroked his beard and decided to take this opportunity to teach this woman about the three cardinal principles and five constant principles, gentleness and humility, so that this little Dongfan girl could understand the difference between good and common people and the difference between noble and humble. It's best to be more responsible in the future and not do things that overwhelm others.
Everyone no longer mentioned returning to Liaodong and headed straight towards Wendeng County.
The sharp sea breeze crossed the low and rolling hills, blowing on people's faces like knives.
They set out from Yingzui Port and headed south along the official road.
On the official road, sentry horses with small flags on their backs galloped past everyone from time to time, looking at Pei Dahu and others with malicious intent.
The cavalry soldiers galloped, and their horses' hooves almost stepped on Zuo Miaoqing several times, causing the mad woman to scream loudly.
Shen Lian slowly raised his bow, took out a big arrow and pointed it at a sentry horse that had just gone away. When the bowstring was about to loosen, he was stopped by Yang Hao:
"Brother Shen, wait a moment, we are going to be killed here and we can't escape."
Shen Lian put down his bow and looked coldly at the retreating backs of the Ming army's cavalry, as if he was looking at a dead person.
Without waiting for Jin Yinghe to ask, Pei Dahu explained to the North Korean general that these should be the Japanese troops preparing for the city of Denglai.
Unless there is a war, these Japanese troops will not be easily mobilized.
"I'm afraid that Wen Deng has changed and Ping Liaohou attacks Liaoxi. The imperial court will not sit back and watch Zu Dashou be destroyed. It should respond. However, the Kaiyuan army has unparalleled combat power and there is nothing the Shandong soldiers can do."
As soon as Yang Hao said this, everyone felt as if they were facing a formidable enemy. Everyone stopped resting and ate some steamed cakes and fried noodles in a hurry before continuing on the road.
After walking for another hour, we were still fifty miles away from Wendeng County, and it was getting late.
Yang Hao and Zuo Miaoqing had no strength in their legs and could no longer walk.
At this time, Pei Dahu discovered that Balipu was not far ahead. Balipu is a small inn in the south of Dengzhou.
Since the middle and late Wanli period, the Ming Dynasty began to deliberately reduce the supply of post stations. Prefects and county magistrates in various places were not willing to spend precious local resources to maintain the operation of this national service system, but allowed the post stations within their jurisdiction to wither.
As Gu Yanwu said, in the late Ming Dynasty, "everything was ruined". (Note 2) In the later period, as the finances of the Ming Dynasty worsened, more postmen were dismissed - like the later rebel leader Li Zicheng - countless dismissed postmen began to plunder the official roads where they had served. Travelers.
In the second year of Taichang, Deng, Lai, Qing and other places in Shandong were ravaged by Wenxiang Cult. The people fled into exile and people's livelihood was in ruins. Post stations everywhere were in dilapidated condition. Post workers' pay and silver were often in arrears, and Balipu was no exception.
Pei Dahu took Shen Lian and Wu Xiao into the inn.
A thin black soldier was basking in the sun in front of the door of the shop. Next to the door were a plywood, a bell and a tassel.
When Pu Bing (the delivery person of the Express Delivery Shop, called Pu Bing) heard the footsteps, he didn't open his eyes and shook his hand at Wu Xiao.
"The horses will not be idle today and no messages will be delivered."
Yang Jinglue's nearly one million taels of silver and southern goods were all sunk into the sea of joy, and Pei Dahu and the others didn't have a single tael of silver. When they got off the boat, Meng Jinbao gave them eighty taels of silver.
Hiring a carriage from Weihaiwei to Wendeng only costs one or two and a half taels of silver, and eighty taels is already a huge sum of money.
The three of them looked at each other, and Wu Xiao took a step forward, took out a black card from his waist and shook it. "We have a talisman! Prepare horses quickly! We need two horses!"
The thin black soldier opened his eyes, looked at the three of them, and said impatiently:
"So what if there is a post talisman? What are you yelling about! The horses were transferred away by Mr. Song a few days ago. Now there are no horses in the entire Dengzhou Mansion post station. Do you want a mule?"
Note:
1. The Law of the Ming Dynasty: For all male concubines, unless there is an official, the eldest descendants will be eliminated first. According to the analysis of family wealth and land, regardless of the birth of wives, concubines, and maids, they will be divided equally according to the number of children.
2. Gu Yanwu: "Rizhilu Collection", Volume 12, Page 18
