On the fifth day of the fifth month of the 14th year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, raindrops fell one after another. As the southeast wind, which is the most common in summer, spread between the sky and the earth, it was dense and dense like a big net, covering the open sky and earth in a blanket of rain and mist. Pangezhuang, fifty miles south of Beijing, has changed from what it was ten days ago. Two shallow trenches have been dug outside Zhuangzi, and the rammed earth walls have been reinforced with sandbags and straw bags. Yongzhuang to the west of Zhuangzi has A pontoon bridge was also erected on the Xinghe River, and a bridgehead was built on the west side of the Yongxing River using wooden fences and sandbags and straw bags. On the north and south sides of Pangezhuang, two spacious cavalry camps were built. The camps were full of tents, and large groups of Mongolian cavalry came in and out from time to time.
The official road from the city of Beijing winds through the Yongxing River west and leads to Tianjin Wei. The plains around the official road are dark green, with continuous wheat fields, dense woods and strong fortresses. dock.
These forts were all newly built in the past few years, and most of their owners were non-staff slaves and small group training leaders from the Gyeonggi area. Most of them had backgrounds in Luo Jiao and the Water Transport Gang. This group of people all rose up after the Manchus suffered successive defeats, the Eight Banners' content became increasingly low, and at the same time the slave gates were opened in order to replenish the population. After the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, most of the land in the Gyeonggi area was forcibly occupied by the eight banners' yamen and princes and nobles. However, the Manchus and their servants did not cultivate the land themselves, and did not even bother to manage it. They usually collected some fists to compare. The big and tough households (with many people) were used as supernumerary slaves, allowing them to oppress the tenant farmers below.
If the power of the Manchus and their Baoyi slaves did not decline so quickly, those non-staff slaves would have no choice but to work as dogs for the Baoyi master and the Su La family slaves. However, as the content of the Eight Banners became lower and lower, many coated slaves also became regular servants. They were either incorporated into the banner army to fight everywhere, or followed Kangxi to the northwest, followed Chang Ning to the northeast, and around the capital. The strength of the bannermen declined rapidly, and the Han Nationality Tuanlian Armed Forces headed by Yang Qilong took advantage of the opportunity to rise again. The non-staff slaves who originally served as slaves to the coated family relied on their numerous family members to gain direct control over the land and population, and they all moved closer to the big tree of Marshal Wei Yang of Tianjin. Each and every one of them was given the title of military attache of General Qian and General, and they also conveniently occupied the land that belonged to the Eight Banners Dutong Yamen and the princes and nobles of the Qing Dynasty, as well as Zhuangzi. With the help of Marshal Yang, they organized young men from their own families or tenant households. He trained his troops and built forts, and suddenly he became a small powerful man.
As a result, a large number of "villages" sprung up in the countryside around Beijing, Tianjin, and Baoding, and Pangezhuang was one of the big ones, belonging to Pang Qinglong, the leader of the regiment with the title of guerrilla.
This thirty-forty-year-old, stocky, stocky, and piercing-eyed leader of the regiment was originally not a non-staff slave, but a head laborer. He made a living on the canal between Tianjin and Beijing. He had a group of strong men under his command. Extremely fierce. One of his uncles from the same family worked as the head of the village for the Eight Banners men, and was in charge of tens of thousands of acres of land and two to three thousand tenants around Pangezhuang.
After Yang Qilong became the Minister of Tuanlian of Zhili, Pang Qinglong took refuge with Marshal Yang, and was then sent back to Pangezhuang to seize power - seizing the power of his uncle, and taking into his hands all the land and population under his uncle's control. , became the cost of running a team training.
After more than a year of operation, Pangezhuang has been managed by Pang Qinglong to an impregnable level, and his "Longzi Camp" has become the leading force among the "rural soldiers" trained by the Zhili regiment.
This Zhili regiment trains the rural army, which is actually a bit like the Guangdong rural army in the countryside. The strongest among them also have to take turns to serve in the Beiyang New Army. The proportion of transfers to higher levels is approximately one-tenth.
In other words, there are a total of 2,000 people in Pang Qinglong's Longzi Camp. Among them, 1,800 people have followed him in his hometown to work as farmers and soldiers, and 200 people have served in the Beiyang New Army. These two hundred people have not always been in Beiyang New Army. For the military, it is rotated every six months. When they were serving in the Beiyang New Army, Marshal Yang would give each of them a military salary of one month and two taels of silver, plus five buckets of rice and noodles, as well as extra fish, meat, salt and vegetables. The treatment was quite good. After returning home, there is usually no money left.
However, this time Pang Qinglong's Pangezhuang was selected as the location of the "Regent Army" camp. The entire Longziying army also received General Yang's order to assist the Regent in the campaign, so everyone from top to bottom received a sum of money. Money, and also got the commander's words. Let everyone fight hard. After fighting, Marshal Yang will be able to move up a level, and the team training in Zhili will all rise together!
The benefits are huge!
Pang Qinglong was even more energetic. Not only did he immediately build a pontoon bridge on the Yongxing River west of Zhuangzi after receiving Yang Qilong's general order, he also built a bridgehead on the other side of the river. He also sent spies to the west of the Yongding River and contacted them. Several small regiment leaders on the west side of the Yongding River found out the true and false status of Kangxi's army through them.
At this moment, he was explaining the situation between Yongding River and Yongxing River to the regent Fuquan who had just arrived in a large house in Pangezhuang!
"The Yongxing River is a tributary of the Yongding River. The river is narrow and the water flow is not much. It is easy to cross in the dry season. However, it is rainy in summer. It is difficult for the infantry to cross, but it is not impossible. The cavalry can. It is easy to cross by flowing water. As for the Yongding River, which is sixteen or seventy miles away to the west of the Yongxing River, it is impossible to cross it on foot during the flood season.
There is a large piece of flat land between Yongding River and Yongxing River. There are several forests in the middle of the flat land, as well as several small villages such as Wangcun, Xiaolizhuang and Gaojiazhuang. These small villages are all under the jurisdiction of Pangezhuang. The minister has ordered the walls to be fortified and the country to be cleared, and several Zhuangzi women and children have been moved to Pangezhuang. The king may be able to rely on these small Zhuangzi and Linzi to confront the Supreme Emperor.
In this way, although Your Majesty's soldiers and horses have their backs to the water, there is not only a bridge on the Yongxing River behind them, but they can also be forded, so they can advance and retreat freely. The cavalry can also move north and south under the cover of the Yongxing River, which is both concealed and safe.
The Emperor's side was also facing a backwater, but the Yongding River was no better than the Yongxing River. It was a real backwater. Once the battle was unfavorable, there were only two wooden bridges to retreat to. "
When Fuquan heard what Pang Qinglong said so eloquently, he nodded slightly in approval, and then looked to the left and right - on both sides stood many generals wearing linen coats with swords on their waists, including Prince Gong Chang Ning, Prince Jian Labu, and Prince Xin. Eza, Bahai, Suo'etu, Mingzhu, Mu Zhan, Yang Qilong, Guanyinbao, Qi Zheng'e, Li Sixing, Zhang Yunyi, Zhao Liangdong, Wang Jinbao and others all looked eager to try.
"Second brother, I think Pang Qinglong's method is good. Let's cross the river to find a fight!" Prince Gong Chang Ning said with a smile, "Third brother colluded with Wu Sangui to rebel and was just dismissed by the meeting of kings and ministers. We have righteousness in hand and our morale is high. , now that we have the advantage of standing, we will definitely win!”
Eza, the king of Xin County, also nodded and said: "Prince Regent, since we have such a huge advantage, we should give it a go. Don't hold anything back, just go all in and decide the outcome!"
This Eza is the one who played a lot of stud games in Huguang last time and became the "Xiong Zhenzhongyuan"!
After the "Xiong Zhenzhen", he was replaced by Yue Le and lost his title as Prince Xin. Later, he went to Jiangnan with Yue Le, but he did not stay in Jiangnan for long before he was transferred back to Beijing by Fuquan and joined the army. Idle and dispersed. But he was not done with it. When Fuquan held a meeting to depose Kangxi, he "borrowed money" to come to Studha again - his family's foundation was inherited from Dorgon and Duduo. Although it is now dilapidated, However, there are still many relatives and old friends who were ministers of political affairs, and Ezha himself also discussed political affairs. So he helped Fu Quan canvass people everywhere, and became Uncle Fu's confidant. The prince of the county also came back, and he also obtained military power. He gathered a group of Duduo's old disciples and the servants and slaves of Prince Xinjun's palace to spell out After riding thousands of steps, you can go to the battlefield again!
Prince Jian Labu is also a young man who likes "stud". He has a good relationship with Eza on weekdays. They often "compare" gambling skills and visit the eight alleys together. Now that he heard that Eza wanted to go all-in, he immediately expressed his approval: " Yes! Let's go all-in. We don't want to play with the Emperor every game. Although he keeps losing, he is a veteran. We may not win every game. We just go all out to win the big one and force him to gamble with us! "
Well, two gamblers!
When it came to gambling his wealth, Fuquan turned to look at Yang Qilong.
Yang Qilong nodded repeatedly and said: "If you're rich, Prince Rich, we can bet as much as you want! As long as you have money, you can invite the military training camp leaders from Shuntian Mansion and Tianjin Guard to help in the battle! Our chances of winning are quite good, bets Bar!"
Okay, three gamblers!
Fuquan felt relieved now and nodded heavily: "Bet if you feel like it. Who is afraid of whom? Zhang Yunyi and Zhao Liangdong, you are familiar with wars. Hurry up and find a way to arrange your troops."
He looked outside the door again and found that the rain had stopped, and said with a smile: "Okay, the drizzle has finally stopped! Early tomorrow morning, I will lead my troops across the river to make a big bet with the Supreme Emperor!
Here comes someone, write a letter of war to this king and send it to the Supreme Emperor’s camp! "
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty has an urgent report from Tong Fengcai, the governor of Henan Province. Li Zhongshan's tens of thousands of troops have captured Kaifeng City! In addition, Wu Shifan, the grandson of the Great Zhou Dynasty and the general manager of Henan Province, also sent troops to Luoyang, and declared that he would aid the Qing Dynasty to fight against the Ming Dynasty!"
In Yongding Hexi, in the Kangxi Army Camp in Baijiazhuang, an urgent military report from Henan had just been delivered to the hands of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty by Li Guangdi.
"Aiding the Qing Dynasty to fight against the Ming Dynasty? Li Zhongshan and Wu Shifan are going to face each other?"
Kangxi was stunned, and turned back to look at the imperial guard Cao Yin standing next to him: "Xiao Yinzi, aren't Wang Datou and Wu Shifan as close as brothers?"
Cao Yin said: "Your Majesty, not only are they as close as brothers, but Wang Datou is also Wu Shifan's brother-in-law. Wu Shifan's sister, Princess Wu Xiaoxuan of Jiading of the Great Zhou Dynasty, is Wang Datou's concubine."
Kangxi was stunned, "The princess is a concubine? Who did this ridiculous thing?"
"It seems to be you, the emperor!"
"Me?" Kangxi remembered: "Ah, yes, I seem to have given a daughter of Wu Yingxiong to Wang Datou as a concubine."
Cao Yin nodded: "That's Princess Jiading."
Kangxi frowned and asked: "Then they have such a good relationship. Will they collude to divide my Henan?"
There are not many provinces left in the Qing Dynasty!
If Henan is lost again, it will not be far from withdrawing from the Central Plains.
"Your Majesty," Li Guangdi reminded in a low voice, "the fact that Wu Shifan and Li Datou colluded to divide the Qing Dynasty is not the most troublesome thing. The most troublesome thing is that they really fight! Li Zhongshan is as fierce as Lu Bu and as deceitful as Cao Cao. Wu Shifan probably can't beat him. .By then Wu Shijue’s 20,000 troops will be heading south!”
"Yes!" Kangxi thought, the problem was serious!
At this moment, Gao Shiqi, who was already on duty at Kangxi's side of the Nan Study, suddenly walked in hurriedly with an unknown letter, "Your Majesty, the regent sent a letter to make an appointment with you in Yongding tomorrow. A showdown on the plain between the Yongxing River and the Yongxing River!"
"War table?" Kangxi was almost not amused when he heard this, "This Fuquan really doesn't know how to fight. How old is he and he is still asking for a fight? Does he think he is looking for a fight with someone in Beijing?"
"Your Majesty," Gao Shiqi said, "then I will reject the envoy."
"No," Kangxi waved his hand, "Bring me the letter of challenge."
Gao Shiqi quickly took the letter of challenge. Kangxi took it and spread it on the table. Then he picked up his brush and wrote four big words: "We will fight in the future!"
Then he handed the letter of challenge to Gao Shiqi: "Take it to the envoy!"
Gao Shiqi was stunned: "Your Majesty, if you really want to fight Fuquan on the east bank of the Yongding River, it will be a last-ditch battle!"
Kangxi smiled and said: "We just have to fight! Henan and Mingzhou are about to confront each other. I can't delay in Zhili for too long. If Wu Shijue retreats, I will be in trouble. And I am short of money! The soldiers below only get eight or nine coins a month. , I am afraid that morale will be low if I delay for a long time! In addition, those who want to take refuge in me will think that I am not confident enough if they see that I do not dare to challenge, and their hearts will probably be shaken anyway."
Kangxi's biggest problem was actually lack of money!
Without money, he couldn't afford to drag his 100,000-strong army on the front line. The soldiers below couldn't even get a tael of silver a month, which was lower than the income of the Green Camp soldiers back then!
Even Kangxi found it difficult to pay such a military salary.
After all, he only has Shanxi at hand, and he still lacks Datong.
Although there are many Shanxi merchants in Shanxi, their business is in various places. Their local business in Shanxi is not large, and they cannot pay much tax.
Now, in order to support Kangxi, Moro had to collect 200,000 taels of silver from Shanxi every month for military expenses (officers' salaries were high, and they had to spend money on weapons and horses) and a large amount of grain and grass, which had to be transported thousands of miles. This kind of search obviously could not last long. Kangxi originally thought that it would be easier to raise money and collect grain after entering Zhili. But who knew that Zhili is now full of forts and regiments!
It was not easy for Kangxi to defeat the enemy with food!
Seeing that Gao Shiqi, Cao Yin, and Li Guangdi all looked worried, Kangxi smiled and said: "Don't worry, I have the advantage! I also have righteousness! And compared to fighting with soldiers, Fuquan is much worse than me. After tomorrow, I will be great If you clear up, you will be able to overcome the tribulation successfully!"
As he spoke, Kangxi said confidently: "Go, summon the generals, I want a military meeting!"
"General Shuangyu, what do you think of this number?"
"Fifty thousand taels?"
"No, it's five hundred thousand taels!"
"so many?"
"Hey, General Shuangyu, do you agree?"
"Promise? It's just empty words, how can I agree?"
"Empty talk? The banknotes from Ruiyintang, Zhongshan Hall, and Nanyang Hall are redeemable on demand. They will be delivered on time tomorrow!"
"tomorrow?"
"Yes, we will fight General Shuangyu tomorrow, please do everything!"
Just when Kangxi was gathering the generals for discussion, Duolong, who had rebelled from the Fuquan camp, was fishing with Wu Shijue by the Yongding River while discussing the price of betraying Kangxi.
Unlike Kangxi's appointment of officials and wishes, Duolong's conditions are much more affordable!
It’s just silver!
Of course it's not cash, but banknotes from UBS, Zhongshan Hall, and Nanyang Hall!
And the asking price was extremely high. Among them, Wu Shijue was the one who got the most money. Yang Qilong’s asking price was 500,000 taels!
When Wu Shijue heard the price, his eyes became round - Wu Sangui was as poor as Kangxi! Although Wu Sangui's territory is quite large, it is mainly in the southwest and northwest. There is plenty of land, but there is no money!
And land is not worth much when there are no people to cultivate it. A soldier was given hundreds of acres of fertile land in Sichuan. He was very happy at first and became a big landowner! But there is always no money! Without money, even the wasteland cannot be opened!
As for military pay, Wu Sangui was given even less than Kangxi! Even at the level of Wu Guogui and Wu Shijue, they can't get much money.
And these five hundred thousand taels were enough for Wu Guogui and Wu Shifan's troops to live comfortably for a while.
And after taking the money and selling Kangxi, the Zhou Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty can still form an alliance. Kangxi is no longer the emperor of the Qing Dynasty. He has been dismissed by the Qing Dynasty Council of Ministers.
The Zhou Kingdom should completely form an alliance with the Qing Dynasty Council of Kings and Ministers. That is the legitimate ruler of the Qing Dynasty!
Thinking of this, Wu Shijue nodded heavily: "Okay, it's a deal! I will find an opportunity to defect when I see the banknote tomorrow!"
(End of chapter)
