Go to Beijing and capture Kang Mazi alive!
To the north of the Yellow River, large armies of troops were rolling forward. On the vast plains on both sides of the abandoned Grand Canal, seven armies gathered with baggage and civilian crews, and they were all marching rapidly, towards the established goals - Heze, Advance into Juye, Jining Prefecture, Ziyang, Qufu, Sishui and Beizhili Damingfu west of Heze.
What a big scene with a lot of momentum and people screaming and horses neighing.
The Ming Dynasty's Northern Expeditionary Army, which had previously gathered 400,000 regular troops and an equal number of armed civilians between Pizhou Camp and Xuzhou, finally began to march forward regardless of the flooded food roads in the rear.
This march was extraordinary, with a total of 800,000 armed forces, divided into eight groups, just to capture Kang Mazi and destroy the Qing Dynasty!
Among them, the first route consists of a corps division and four infantry divisions. It is deployed in Pizhou, Tancheng, Taierzhuang, Liguo Town, and Xuzhou City to guard the rear of the army and serve as a reserve force. The coach of this journey is Li Zhongshan himself, and the four divisions under him are all elites of the Ming Dynasty!
When Kang Mazi emerges from Dongping Prefecture, they will pounce on him and catch him alive!
Another six routes rushed towards the six large forts built by the Qing army in the frontier area of southwest Shandong. These six routes were composed of a legion composed of four divisions plus 50,000 armed civilians responsible for transporting grain and building fortresses to cover the back roads. , the total strength is about 100,000, and they all carry enough food and grass to support a legion of troops for 25 days. These six armies were led by Li Zhongxian, Wang An, Hu Yiqiang (Li Laishun's general), Liu Yihu (Li Laishun's general), Chang Wei (Chen Yonghua's brother-in-law), and Li Chenggong (Liu Jinzhong's general).
The tasks of these six armies were relatively simple. They were all feints, pretending to attack the fortresses held by the Qing army. Just waiting for Luo Dawei's roundabout troops to approach Beijing, Kang Mazi couldn't hold back his anger, and either came up to fight for his life, or returned to Beijing to save his life. In short, no matter what Emperor Ma chooses, this is the opportunity for their six-pronged army!
The last leg of the army was the Eighth Army composed of four "Huaixi Divisions" led by Luo Dawei and about 100,000 civilians who left Pizhou!
The reason why we have to bring so many people is because the efficiency of transporting food by land is very low these days. Because the people and mules who transport food also need to eat, not only when transporting food to the front line, they also need to eat. , we have to have a meal on the way back to the camp after delivering the food!
Under normal circumstances, taking into account the provisions carried by the army itself and the provisions transported by the civilian crews in a one-to-one ratio, the army can support about 20 ——25 days of march. If the ratio of civilians to soldiers reaches two to one, then it can last for a few more days, almost 30 days.
Of course, these civilians accompanying the army will not follow them all the way to Beijing. They will continue to return according to the food consumption plan. When Luo Dawei's regiment arrives in Daming Mansion, all the civilians have already left the team. The remaining nearly 1,000 miles of the journey had to be sustained by the rations carried by Luo Dawei's troops and the food obtained during the march.
Whether we can catch Kang Mazi and destroy the Qing Dynasty in this battle depends on how far Luo Dawei can go? Let’s see how long Kang Mazi’s anger can last. There are also powerful northerners. How much is the loyalty of the princes of the Qing Dynasty worth?
Under the starry sky of Shandong's autumn, Luo Dawei's Eighth Army Corps, which must reach Beijing within a month, was galloping forward. After the 50,000 Huaixi elites, they were followed by 100,000 Huaixi civilians! The troops led by Luo Dawei were all composed of Huaixi children, and the civil servants marching with them were also Huaixi children. Although their hometown may not be on the north bank of the Huaihe River, there are all Huai people who hate digging in the Yellow River.
Before the Yellow River took the Huai River and entered the sea, the places on both sides of the Huai River were extremely wealthy, even more so than those in the south of the Yangtze River. I think that in the past, large ships could sail along the Huaihe River all the way to Xuyi!
After the Yellow River captured the Huaihe River, the Huaihe River, which was not prone to floods, gradually became a suspended river due to the siltation of the Yellow River. The river course was raised, so that there was basically no fertile soil for floods and droughts on both sides of the Huaihe River. It is always under the threat of flooding of the Huaihe River. In the decades between the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Huaihe River flooded on average once every two years, which really caused hardship to the people along the Huaihe River.
Later, after Li Zhongshan led the Ming army to regain the Huaihe River, he treated the two Huaihe River basins as a basic unit and reused Jin Fu to control the water. At the expense of abandoning the canal north of Xuzhou, he spent huge sums of money and spent several years digging out the canal. A new channel for the Yellow River to enter the sea has relieved the pain of the Huaihe River bed being constantly raised by sedimentation.
But just when the people of Huaihe and Huaihe had just seen hope, Kang Mazi or his brother Chang Ning dug out the Taoyuan mouth of the Yellow River. The Yellow River, which had just changed its course from Haizhou to the sea, once again overflowed into a torrential yellow water and poured into the Huaihe River. How about this? Don't you make the two Huai warriors furious?
So when Lieutenant General Luo Dawei, the commander of the Eighth Army, who was also from Huaixi, announced to his Huaixi soldiers that he would "fight to Beijing and leave Kang Mazi alive", all the soldiers in the army still had those 100,000 Huaixi soldiers. The people were all boiling. It took only two days for the 150,000-strong corps to be prepared and assembled, and they set off in a hurry on the third day.
After a whole day's march, at night, the whole army was still very motivated. Surrounding Lieutenant General Luo Dawei's legion division column were all infantrymen marching in bulk, dragging 6-pound and 9-pound cannons, 36 The heavy cannons and cannons rattled past. In the night, in addition to the sound of marching, you can also hear the voices of officers mobilizing and cheering: "We are going to attack Beijing and catch Kang Mazi's pigtails! Everyone, work harder, we will walk another thirty miles tonight!"
"As long as we work harder and steal Kang Mazi's retreat, the Tatar court will be finished. We Huaixi men will overthrow another Tatar court!"
"Don't let the brothers from other legions scare Kang Mazi away first! Behind us there are 100,000 Huaixi fellows driving mules, horses and carts to transport us food and grass, watching us win the battle! We can Don’t disappoint fellow villagers!”
The people in the queue all spoke with Huaixi accents. Compared with the people in the wealthy Jiangnan and Huaiyang areas, the men in the poorer Huaixi area are more likely to be soldiers!
Therefore, almost all the Huaixi people were recruited as soldiers, while the Susong people were all bought with money. When the army was expanding before the Great Northern Expedition, Huaixi men who had not become Chinese soldiers before applied one after another!
Therefore, among the 800,000 Northern Expedition troops under Li Zhongshan, the proportion of Huaixi people was quite high. In addition to the Eighth Army, which was a pure Huaixi Army, there were also a large number of Huaixi warriors in the other armies.
On this night, all the Huaixi soldiers were full of energy and rolled forward in the dark night, just wanting to go into battle earlier and fight!
Luo Dawei sat on his horse and looked at his army with satisfaction. In the past two years, God knows how much effort he has spent on them! The training is of the highest standard, and the officers are selected as much as possible to be the most heroic and able to share the joys and sorrows with the soldiers. In addition, the fifth division, the eleventh division, the thirty-sixth division, the seventh division under the jurisdiction of his regiment The disciples of the Fourteenth Division were all old troops established during Li Zhongshan's Northern Expedition to Huaixi. They later showed their talents in the "Battle of Mingjing" and "Battle of Mingzhou" and were promoted to aces! So he really can't find any reason why he can't defeat Beijing!
The same night, Tianjin Prefecture, off the coast of Dagu Commercial Port.
More than 20 old lock boats had already furled their sails, and were dragged by more than 20 fast crab boats under the jurisdiction of Tianjin General Military Yamen. They rolled up white waves and slowly sailed in against the darkness of night. In the harbor.
These two dozen old lock boats were filled with strong men in linen coats and warm hats, standing on both sides and the bow. They are all the "Beiyang Army" (the main force is the Zhili Tuanlian) under the command of Yang Qilong, the Supervisor of the Qing Dynasty and North Korea, the Minister of Beiyang, and First-Class Duke Yang Qilong! After the collapse of Fuquan, he followed Yang Qilong to North Korea. He originally thought that he would never have the chance to return to the Central Plains. From now on, he would have to help Yang Qilong win the throne of North Korea and become the new yangban of North Korea for generations to come.
Unexpectedly, after their lord Yang Qilong heard that Prince Gong Chang Ning had breached the Yellow River Dam and that his sister Yang Xiaomi had followed Kangxi to conquer Shandong, he immediately mobilized his troops to wait for the old lock ship of the Beiyang Navy and left. He sailed to Jianghua Island, the old camp of North Korea, and then sailed all the way west to Tianjin Port.
Yang Qilong and Shi Lang are now standing on the bow of a large old lock ship with a displacement of nearly 1,000 tons, looking at the dimly lit Dagu Commercial City in Tianjin not far away.
This shopping mall was actually founded by Yang Qilong and Shi Lang, and it was once prosperous back then. Unfortunately, after Yang Qilong and Shi Langyuan fled to North Korea, the essence of the shopping mall, the Ruixintang headquarters, was taken away by them. After that, Beiyang's commercial center gradually shifted to Yang Qilong's new headquarters, Jianghua Island, and Tianjin's Dagu Commercial City has always been in a state of limbo.
But in Yang Qilong's heart, the best is always Tianjin. Jianghua Island is nothing compared to Tianjin! As for the Nagasaki commercial port located in Kyushu, Japan, it is a foreign land and not worth mentioning.
So at first glance, Yang Qilong has been preparing to become the king of Korea in the past two years, and even wants to explore Japan. This summer, he sent his confidant Zheng Desheng to lead several old lock ships from Ezo Island to inspect the New World. He also claimed to build a "New Tianjin" in the New World! But in his heart, he was always waiting for the opportunity to return to old Tianjin!
In order to allow him to land without any danger when he returned to old Tianjin, he also spent a lot of money and followed the path of his sister Yang Xiaomi and arranged for his brother Zhao Liangdong to be the Tianjin commander-in-chief. superior
Although Zhao Liangdong responded, Yang Qilong's heart was still in his throat!
Because Dagukou was an important coastal defense town in the Qing Dynasty, with two forts in the north and south of Dagukou.
These two dozen old lock boats owned by Yang Qilong are now passing under the muzzles of the north and south forts of Dagukou. If that boy Zhao Liangdong takes the money and the woman does not do anything, the 10,000 Beiyang troops brought by Yang Qilong and these old The lock boats are all hanging.
At this time, the old lock ship that Yang Qilong and Shi Lang were on had already approached the pier at Dagukou, and the people on the pier seemed to have seen a ship approaching soon. In order to illuminate the ship, they lit up ten lights at once. A few large lanterns made of white paper.
By the light emitted by the lantern, Shi Lang saw Zhao Liangdong's face with Chinese characters that looked very loyal from a distance!
"I saw Zhao Qingzhi!" Shi Lang breathed a sigh of relief and said to Yang Qilong with a smile, "Master, it seems that your money was not wasted!"
Yang Qilong laughed and said: "Zhao Qingzhi is our Brother Zhao. He will definitely be worthy of your honor. Hurry up and get the boat ashore. I have to reminisce about the past with Brother Zhao!"
"I'm so tired. I'll go steer the boat myself and make sure it's stable." Shi Lang also looked excited and ran towards the steering wheel at the stern of the ship.
It's not easy to dock in the dark, but fortunately, Shi Lang has this skill. And he couldn't wait to catch up with Zhao Liangdong. Due to limited transportation capacity, Yang Qilong brought 10,000 new troops this time, a mere two brigades.
It will not be easy to take Tianjin into Beijing with this small force, unless you get the support of Zhao Liangdong, the commander-in-chief of Tianjin, and Zhang Yong, the nine-door admiral!
"Brother Qingzhi, is there any news about the queen?"
Zhao Liangdong had already boarded Yang Qilong's ship, and got into the cabin with Yang Qilong and Shi Lang, and began to stay up late to talk.
Yang Qilong didn't show up, and straight to the point asked about Queen Yang Xiaomi's situation.
Zhao Liangdong shook his head: "There is no definite news. It is said that he went on the expedition with Kangxi. But he has not shown up for some days. I am afraid that Kangxi will trap him!"
Yang Qilong snorted: "Ungrateful Mazi!"
Shi Lang also echoed from the side: "That's right. If Xiaomi and third brother hadn't helped him, the Qing Dynasty would have collapsed during his Western expedition!"
Zhao Liangdong looked at Yang Qilong who looked indignant and said: "Third brother, the emperor already knows that you gave all the 10 million taels saved by King Yu to the French who came to withdraw the money on behalf of King Yu!"
Yang Qilong spread his hands: "Can I not give it? If I don't give it, Ruixintang won't be able to run on it?"
Shi Lang nodded: "That's right! This is what Ruixintang does!"
Zhao Liangdong smiled bitterly and said: "The emperor doesn't think so about his third brother. Now the emperor doesn't know that it was Prince Gong who broke the Taoyuankou Dam on the Yellow River. The food road of Li Zhongshan's army was flooded. He might have to retreat. If he retreats, the queen will probably It’s going to be destroyed!”
With a "pop" sound, Yang Qilong slapped the table, "How dare he! And Li Zhongshan is not that easy to deal with!"
Shi Lang frowned: "The grain road is flooded, what else can Li Zhongshan do?"
"What should I do?" Yang Qilong sneered, "Li Zhongshan not only has 800,000 troops because of the enemy's supply, but he also has 20 million military expenditures! And he also has me!"
"Third brother, what do you think?" Zhao Liangdong looked at Yang Qilong.
Yang Qilong said: "I want to go to Beijing. Lead troops to Beijing! Brother Qingzhi, will you come with me?"
Zhao Liangdong patted his chest and said, "Third brother, I'll take care of you!"
In Dongping Prefecture, the Qing Emperor is here.
Kangxi had just discussed life in simple terms with his queen Yang Xiaomi. At this time, he was admiring Yang Xiaomi's figure by the candlelight in the palace.
It is indeed a stunner!
Even if I am useless, I would not be willing to resign myself to the cold palace.
When Kangxi just learned that Yang Qilong had remitted 10 million taels of silver to Fuquan, he wanted to get rid of Yang Xiaomi, but now he is a little reluctant to do so!
"Xiaomi, what on earth do your brother Yang Qilong think?" Kangxi looked at Yang Xiaomi, who was looking at her with affection, and asked, "Why did he give Fuquan so much money?"
Yang Xiaomi sighed softly: "He is not willing to give it, but Ruixintang does this kind of business! Everyone deposits their money with him, hoping that one day they will lose their power, but they can still keep some savings, and they can also Is there a way out? If he hacks Fuquan's money, then who will deposit money with him in the future? Even I don't dare to deposit the money in Ruixin Hall!"
"Have you also deposited money in Ruixin Hall?" As soon as Kangxi heard that there was money, his interest immediately arose, "Where did you get the money?"
"It was given by someone else," Yang Xiaomi blinked and said with a smile, "When I was acting as regent, the officials below me and the royal merchants from Shanxi all gave me money. I was thin-skinned and was embarrassed to refuse, so I just gave it to me. My subordinates have collected a small amount of 10 million, and they have all been deposited in Ruixin Tang."
Taking a bribe of 10 million. Kangxi was also a little speechless!
He originally thought that Yang Xiaomi was doing a good job as regent, but he didn't expect that she was just making money there!
"Your Majesty, shouldn't I receive so much money?" Yang Xiaomi asked timidly, "Why don't you take out all the money and give it to the Ministry of Internal Affairs?"
In fact, Yang Xiaomi did not accept so many bribes. The reason why she exaggerated the data was to stabilize Kangxi and prevent him from destroying her so quickly.
As long as she is not eliminated, she has a way to save the situation.
"No, no, it can't be given to the Ministry of Internal Affairs." Kangxi immediately vetoed the proposal. With so much money given to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, those morons couldn't be happier!
Thinking of this, Kangxi said to Yang Xiaomi again: "Although this money should not be collected, since we have accepted it, we must spend it wisely and don't waste it. It's all people's wealth!"
"Then who will give the money to?" Yang Xiaomi asked again.
To whom?
When Kangxi thought about it, he wouldn't trust anyone else! The Ministry of Internal Affairs is corrupt, and so is the Ministry of Household Affairs. Once the money reaches the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, it is not that easy to take it out.
In contrast, it seems that Yang Qilong and Yang Xiaomi are more comfortable managing the situation.
It seems that this queen cannot be deposed for the time being.
"Xiao Mi," Kangxi said with a smile, "take this money first, and then I will get it from you when I need to spend money."
"Well, Your Majesty, don't worry, I will take good care of your money!" Yang Xiaomi finally breathed a sigh of relief. The queen's position was saved for the time being.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty" At this moment, the voice of Little Guizi's father-in-law suddenly came in, "There is an urgent military report from the front line. The Ming army has sent out troops in large numbers!"
Kangxi breathed out and smiled: "Okay, finally moved!"
(End of chapter)
