The river is gentle and flows slowly towards the Yangtze River. Since autumn, there has been little rain, and the Sanjiang River, which had been turbulent in spring and summer, has now become gentler and gentler.
Ma Wanchun, who had just returned to his hometown in the name of Shizhu County Magistrate, was wearing a neat narrow-sleeved official uniform and leading a group of Ma family soldiers to patrol the south bank of Sanjiang River.
Perhaps God cannot bear to see the people of Sichuan, who have been made difficult by the Ming-Shun War for many years, suffer from natural disasters again. Since the beginning of summer this year, the weather here in Sichuan has been relatively smooth. There were not a few continuous heavy rains in the summer, and there were not many consecutive days of drought and rain in the autumn. Although the impact of the Little Ice Age has not passed, the rainfall throughout the year is still low. However, the impact on agricultural production was not great. Especially after the sweet potatoes and potatoes from the New World were introduced here, the terraces on the hillsides on both sides of the Sanjiang River supported tens of thousands of Shizhu farmers. Rice must be supplied to the Fubing master and the Dashun court. The farmers here in Shizhu have not eaten rice for several years! Their daily food, in addition to sweet potatoes and potatoes, is China's native taro.
Although Shizhu was swept by the flames of war not long ago, it is still not stable until now. There are still some remnants of Dashun soldiers entrenched in the nearby mountains - because Shizhu fell too quickly, the local government The soldiers had no time to retreat, so they had no choice but to drop weeds in the surrounding mountains!
In fact, when the enemy raids and captures the stone pillars, going up the mountain and falling grass has always been one of the contingency plans of the Shizhu Mansion!
Because the stone pillar is on the front line, sandwiched between Zunyi Prefecture and Shizhou Guards, and Ma Wannian, the Ming Xichuan Jiedu envoy who settled in Zunyi Prefecture, is still a stone pillar chieftain for hundreds of years, he can still walk around the stone pillar with his eyes closed. There were several trips back and forth through the mountains and rivers.
Therefore, Shizhu Zhechong Mansion in Dashun had to prepare for the worst - Shizhu City might be raided and captured by the Ma family's soldiers! In this case, the local soldiers in Shizhu should immediately move to the Dafeng Fort in the nearby mountains, guard the mountain dangers, resist Can Ming, and wait for the Dashun Tianbing to return for reinforcements...
But contrary to the expectations of the soldiers on Shizhu's side, the current situation is worse than the worst they expected!
However, when the Ming army came over, they moved to Dafeng Castle in Qiyao Mountain in time, and brought a large amount of food and supplies. Moreover, Dafeng Castle also had food and supplies accumulated over the years, which was enough for them to persist for a year. Half a year.
But the Da Shuntian soldiers will not come back... The whole of Sichuan is changing!
However, these soldiers who went to Dafeng Castle gave Ma Wanchun a headache. Dafeng Castle is located in the Qiyao Mountains. The mountains are high and the roads are dangerous. It is surrounded by mountains and forests. In the past, when the Ma family ruled Shizhu, there were bandits in that area. The Ma family didn't know how much effort they expended, but they couldn't completely wipe it out. Later, they were recruited by the Dashun court, and it seemed that they were all sent to the area bordering Sichuan and Uzang to serve as soldiers... And the vacant Dafeng Fort fell into the hands of Shizhu Zhechong Mansion, and then More and more buildings were built every year, and strongholds were built to station troops and store grain and to guard mountain passes.
Even Ma Wanchun, the county magistrate who knew the terrain around the stone pillars well, didn't know how to destroy them?
So what he can do now is to take a group of servants (actually soldiers from the Xichuan Army) to patrol around Shizhu City to calm people's hearts.
However, the Dashun soldiers on Dafeng Fort did not give Shizhu's parents any face. From time to time, they would send small groups down the mountain to burn, kill, and loot, creating panic. However, they did not fight Ma Wanchun's men, but ran away after the fight.
Ma Wanchun, who was helpless by the government soldiers and bandits on Dafeng Fort, had no choice but to seek help from the Xichuan Jiedushi Division and the newly formed Dongchuan Jiedushi Division.
But the emergency documents have been sent out for many days, and the reinforcements are nowhere to be seen?
He stopped on a high slope and looked thoughtfully at the busy scene of farmers harvesting rice, sweet potatoes, taro and potatoes up and down the mountain with his hands behind his back.
A middle-aged military attache of the Xichuan Army panted up the mountain, came close to him, and whispered: "Your Majesty, there is a young man who claims to be from Shizhu County and knows Zhu Yun from Fenghuang County, and brings hundreds of horsemen from Feng. Everyone is coming, we are almost reaching the county seat!"
"What?" Ma Wanchun was stunned, "Shizhu Tongzhi? Our Shizhu territory is as big as a palm, and we don't have many people in total, so we still need Tongzhi?" He thought for a while, then asked, "Real or fake? No Could it be that the bandit from Gale Castle is pretending to be one?"
The middle-aged military attache shook his head: "It doesn't look like it... Hundreds of soldiers in black came following the colleague, all riding buckle-eared horses and carrying flintlock rifles on their backs. It can't be..." High-ranking bandits from Gale Castle."
"Everyone is riding a broken-eared horse and carrying a flintlock gun on his back?" Ma Wanchun was stunned. "It is impossible for the bandits on Dafeng Castle to have such good horses and guns, but the bandits elsewhere also have flintlock guns and broken-eared horses. ...Didn't Shang Kexi and his son fall into the hands of bandits riding broken horses?"
"When the county magistrate told me, the official also remembered..." The middle-aged military attaché also became nervous, "The county magistrate, please hurry back to the city with the magistrate to prepare for war!"
Ma Wanchun nodded, then waved his hand, raised his voice and shouted: "Brothers, collect the team and return to Stone Pillar City!"
The person who arrived at Shizhu with the letter of Zhu Yun, the magistrate of Shizhu County, was of course the lucky prince Zhu Hexing. He could not take office in the name of the prince, firstly for his own safety; secondly, so as not to scare the local officials in Shizhu.
The prince's name is so big that it scares people, what should I do?
Of course, Emperor Zhu was still very concerned about the safety of the prince and princess. While preventing them from revealing their identities, he also dispatched a battalion of guards to escort him and Ding Yuying to take office.
They left Yiling Prefecture in mid-August and headed west. They crossed the Three Gorges by land, boarded a boat in Yunyang, traveled west to Fengdu, and then traveled east along the Sanjiang River to Shizhu.
Accompanying them was Xia Wanchun, the deputy commander of the Dongchuan Jiedushi Division - of course he knew Prince Zhu, and he was a bit dumbfounded by Emperor Zhu's arrangements, but he was a soldier and had to obey orders.
He also knew Ma Wanchun, because he had served as an instructor in the Xichuan Army and was responsible for training the new troops of the Xichuan Army, so he knew the Ma brothers. This is why Wang Zhou, the governor of Dongchuan, escorted Prince Zhu to his post.
However, in order to deceive others, Xia Wanchun did not reveal his identity to the Xichuan military sentry stationed at Shizhu, so he, Zhu Hexing and Ding Yuying were rejected outside Shizhu City!
Seeing that the gate of Shizhu City was closed, Xia Wanchun had no choice but to ride his horse forward. When he got under the city gate, he shouted at the top of his voice: "Ma Wanchun, magistrate of Magistrate County, I am Xia Wanchun, deputy commander of the Dongchuan Jiedushi Department... Hurry up and give me Open the door!"
What? Xia Wanchun, deputy commander of the Dongchuan Jiedu Envoy Department!
Ma Wanchun, who was leading a group of men with guns and live ammunition to observe the "enemy situation" on the top of Shizhu City, felt familiar when he saw Xia Wanchun in red robe. Now when he heard him shouting, he quickly picked up a telescope and took a closer look. After a look, it turned out to be Xia Wanchun!
Ma Wanchun was still a little doubtful, "Xia Canjun, why are you here? Did you bring those soldiers in black? Who are they from?"
Xia Wanchun said: "I came here to check the enemy's situation under the order of Wang Jieshuai. Didn't you report that there are rogue bandits in Dafeng Castle? Those soldiers in black are all guards and came with Zhu Tongzhi!"
A few hundred Guards? He must be here to suppress bandits! This time the bandits on Gale Castle are finally in trouble!
Ma Wanchun no longer had any doubts, and quickly ordered the city gate to be opened, and then led his men out of the city. Zhu Hexing and Ding Yuying also led hundreds of mounted guards to the city gate. They both mounted their horses and rode side by side to Xia Wanchun's side.
When Ma Wanchun saw the two of them, he felt a little stupid again. Who are these two children? Are they Xia Wanchun's son and daughter? Where is Zhu Tongzhi?
Xia Wanchun pointed at Zhu Hexing and said, "This is your Zhu Tongzhi from Shizhu County!"
Ma Wanchun looked at the young and somewhat shameless Zhu Hexing and was stunned again and again. What is going on? This kid is actually a fellow magistrate from Shizhu County... What a joke! What does a little kid know? How can we be colleagues?
