Lihua Station by the Lihua River.
The town with this poetic and picturesque name is actually an extremely dilapidated border town with no pear blossoms, no inns, and no poets.
The word "Lihua" in Lihuayi comes from the Lihua River, which is the Red River leading from Yunnan to Annan. The word "驿" comes from a long-abandoned inn and the Battle of Annan that ended sadly.
During the years when Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty conquered Annan, Lihuayi was really a post station. It is also an important post station for communication between Yunnan and Annan.
However, after Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty dismissed his conquest of Annan, there was no need for Lihua Station to exist. However, the people who relied on the station soon found a new way to survive. Just by carrying out some cross-border trade through the Lihua River, which can only be barely navigated, I can't make a lot of money, but I can still support my family and maintain the small town of Lihuayi for more than 200 years. It also gave the fleeing Yunnan King Zhu Cizhao of the Ming Dynasty a temporary place to stay before entering the territory of Annan Dutongsi.
It is now the second day of April in the second year of Hongxing reign of the Ming Dynasty. King Yunnan of the Ming Dynasty, who abandoned Kunming at the end of February and embarked on the road to escape again, has lived a homeless life for more than a month. However, Zhu Cizhao, who turned 18 this year, also has a strong physique inherited from Emperor Chongzhen, and he has not been very stable since five years, and has long been accustomed to constantly running away.
So when he ran to Lihua Station, the prince was still in high spirits.
And those who ran with him were also owners of the habit of running. Zhang Yong couldn't defeat the Donglu and the rogue bandits, so he still couldn't run away?
And Qiu Lei is also good at running. When Beijing fell five years ago, he was leading troops in Shandong, and now they are all in Yunnan. What a good runner!
Following Zhu Cizhao's concubine Zuo Mengmei, now called Qiu Mengmei, she was also used to traveling around. She had traveled to many places all over the world in the past few years!
As for the troops who followed the King of Yunnan into Yunnan, they were all good at walking - not only did they have foot strength that they had trained over many years, but they also did not bring their families with them when they entered Yunnan (their family members all stayed in Guizhou, and they planned to completely conquer Yunnan again). to a reunion), so I can leave as soon as I can.
An army of nearly 30,000 people, plus more than 10,000 civilians pulling horse-drawn carts, left Kunming and headed south.
Because they had been fighting with Sha Dingzhou and his wife in Lin'an Prefecture for more than a year, they were familiar with each other and knew where to go to collect food and grass.
Therefore, more than a month's march did not bring down this army mainly composed of Bei and Jing people.
Even when they arrived at Lihuayi, they did not show the desolation that a defeated fleeing army should have. Not only did they bring their weapons and armor, but they also had sufficient supplies. Because along the Kuilong River, more than a hundred miles south of Lihuayi, is where Mu's Xunzhuang is located (this area belonged to Vietnam in later generations), and there are large areas of fertile farmland in the valley of the Kuilong River. Zhang Yong and Qiu Lei knew about this Xunzhuang when they last attacked Shadingzhou. So when we ran away this time, we sent elite soldiers to take the lead and occupied Xunzhuang first. Then we mobilized civilians from several nearby chieftains to transport the grain to Lihuayi.
So when Zheng He, the governor of Annan's Guihua Prefecture, and his people rushed to Lihuayi to pick him up according to the decree of the King of Yunnan (now Annan Kingdom is still nominally the Annan Capital Commander of the Ming Dynasty), the old man's heart was lifted.
Although this old man looks dry, shriveled and black, he looks like an old farmer. But in fact, he can be regarded as a member of the Zheng family! Six years ago, he followed Zheng Zheng to attack Changyu Base. He took the lead and made great achievements, and then he became the naturalized magistrate.
As a veteran of the Zheng family's imperial army, Zheng He has a poisonous eye! Whether this army can fight or not, he can tell at a glance.
And the so-called "fleeing army" in front of us clearly has the momentum of a heroic army that has fought hundreds of battles! Where does he look like he is running away?
Zheng He was a veteran general who had joined the army with his hair tied and had fought hard for more than 20 years with Zheng Jie and the Ruan family in Guangnan. And he is particularly good at defeating battles. Except for following Zheng Zheng to conquer the Changyu Barrier six years ago, he has lost every battle in his life (Zheng's army has been fighting the Ruan family since more than 20 years ago, and they have basically lost every battle). I have seen too many defeated soldiers.
The defeated soldiers should have lost their armor, were dejected, and were in panic all day long.
How can there be such a thing as the so-called "fugitive soldiers" here in Lihuayi? Almost all soldiers wear armor - when you lose a battle, you run away with your armor? Not too heavy?
In addition, many soldiers are carrying long spears that are more than ten feet long... Who would be carrying this thing when running away?
Oh, and there are cannons and muskets!
The fire gun, the turtle dove foot gun...at first glance, you can tell that it is a good thing bought from the Dutch (actually it is purchased from Foshan). The artillery is a 3-pound bronze field gun! It is exactly the same as the one used by the Nguyen family (both are products of the Macau Bogarao Factory), and it is very powerful when used well!
What makes Zheng He most suspicious is that the arrival time of this Ming army is so strange... The King of Qingdu (Zheng Zheng Jie) had just suffered a tragic defeat at Changde Base - a very tragic defeat. ah! Although Zheng's army has long been accustomed to defeats, this time it was defeated to a new level.
The 100,000-strong imperial army was defeated by the 20,000 Ruan family members (the Ruan Lord’s army was semi-Westernized, and relied on the dangerous Chang De base to defend and counterattack). The half-Western-style troops that had been worked so hard to save were completely wiped out. ! Moreover, even Li Emperor Li Weiyou, who was personally conquering the imperial army, died in the battle without any explanation...
Therefore, when the children of the Annan Zheng family learned about the tragic defeat, they all burst into tears!
And Zheng He was also in tears... Before his tears were wiped away, he got the news that the King of Yunnan in the Ming Dynasty was coming to seek refuge.
If the Zheng family's imperial army had not suffered a disastrous defeat, given the strength of Lord Zheng of Annan, he would not have been afraid of the Ming Dynasty's attack - Lord Zheng had an army of 100,000, several Western-style warships, Dutch military advisors, and more than 10,000 semi-Western-style elite soldiers. Although this army could not defeat the Nguyen family's Quang Nam army who was defending the Chang Duc base, it was not afraid of the Ming army who had to go on an expedition.
But the problem is...Zheng Zheng's 100,000 Royal Forest Army were defeated. Before they had time to recover their blood and lick their wounds, your Ming army came at the last moment. Isn't this too small?
Who would believe that there is no conspiracy?
Although Dai Viet will not be destroyed, the Zheng family is definitely hopeless and will be exterminated...
At the thought of genocide, old man Zheng He couldn't help it and burst into tears... right in front of Zhu Cizhao, Qiu Lei, Zhang Yong and others!
"Old man, old man, why are you crying? Are you being bullied by someone?" Zhu Cizhao's reaction was still very quick. While others were still dumbfounded, he already asked sympathetically.
Of course he spoke in Chinese, which ordinary Annan people could not understand, but Zheng He was educated. He had also participated in the imperial examination and passed the Annan Jinshi, so he understood Chinese.
After listening to Zhu Cizhao's question, Zheng He shed tears and did not kneel to Zhu Cizhao. He stood there and said righteously: "King of Yunnan, you took advantage of the new mourning of our king and the disastrous defeat of King Qingdu's troops to attract tens of thousands of tigers and wolves. You are invading, and you ask me who was bullied?"
He spoke in Cantonese Mandarin. Zhu Cizhao had a little difficulty listening, but he still roughly understood the meaning.
It seems that Annan Kingdom just lost a battle, and the leader of the country died... I don't know if he was killed? Anyway, the country was leaderless and people were in panic, so when they saw that they were fleeing with their troops, they became suspicious...
"Old man, you misunderstood..." Zhu Cizhao sighed, "The solitary king also lost the battle and had no choice but to come to the Annan Governor's Office. He was definitely not seeking the position of Annan's Governor... ..The solitary king is the vassal king, how can he still like a governor?"
Still want to cheat...
How could Zheng He be fooled? Is this what a desperate army looks like? You guys are obviously here for a sneak attack!
"Hmph!" Zheng He snorted, "Why do you, your Majesty, need to joke and deceive each other? Zheng is an Annan man in life and an Annan ghost in death. He will never surrender. If you want to kill him, just kill him!"
Just kill everything...Zhu Cizhao didn't even know what to say! He looked around: "This old man seems to be crazy. How about we go to the territory of the Annan Dutong Division? Anyway, it is the land of the Ming Dynasty. Where can the lonely king go? Wait until we get to Shenglong and meet their Dutong Division. Bar."
