The morning sun was not dazzling at all, it was warm and comfortable on my body.
A military camp without a swearing-in ceremony or farewell party set off from Lingqiu.
The cuirassiers under Lao Wu served as the sentinels of the army and left Lingqiu first.
On the official road in Lingqiu, war troops marched in neat formations. There were cuirassiers on both sides of the team, and the artillery teams of the war barracks followed in the middle of the army.
Each artillery cart pulled a four-pounder cannon and a six-pounder cannon. The gunners followed the artillery cart. In addition, there was a group of soldiers guarding the surroundings.
The baggage train at the end of the procession, and the four-wheeled cart carried by the baggage train.
A flag with the word "tiger" written on it was stuck in one corner of the four-wheeled cart, fluttering in the wind and making a hunting sound.
Pedestrians on the official road saw the extra army on the road and gave way one after another. They either avoided it early or retreated to both sides of the road. Except for the army with the tiger flag, it was rare to see a pedestrian walking on the road.
The army set out from Xujiazhuang and walked for more than ten miles without any dispersion, let alone any desertion that stopped midway.
Pedestrians standing on the roadside looked at the tiger-shaped flag army gradually walking away in front of them, and sighed: "Only such elite border troops can protect the safety of border towns like Datong."
A person standing next to him looked him over and said, "Isn't this guy from Lingqiu?"
The pedestrian looked at the people around him, shook his head and said, "I'm from Xi'an."
"No wonder, if you are from Lingqiu, it is impossible that you don't recognize the army just now." The speaker was an old man, knocking the pipe pot in his hand on the sole of his shoe.
Since the beginning of tobacco cultivation under the Tiger Character Flag, smoking was no longer the exclusive preserve of officials and gentry. Ordinary people in Lingqiu also started smoking dry tobacco. Moreover, because of the Tiger Character Flag, the people of Lingqiu lived a more relaxed life, and they had With spare money, many people picked up pipes and pots.
"Old man, from what you said, could it be that the army that just passed by was not the frontier army of Datong Prefecture?" the pedestrian asked curiously.
The old man pinched some tobacco with his fingers and put it into the pipe pot. The passers-by on the side quickly took out the huozhuzi and lit it.
Bah, bah, bah... The old man took a few sips, and when he saw sparks coming out of the shredded tobacco in the pipe pot, he spit out the smoke in his mouth, and then said: "You are a young man who is quite discerning. You know how to give me the pipe pot to this old man?" The tobacco inside was lit."
"Old man, you haven't said what happened to the army that just passed by?" a pedestrian asked.
The old man took a sip from his cigarette holder, blew out a puff of smoke, and said, "You mean that army that just passed by?"
The pedestrian nodded.
"Those are the soldiers raised by the Tiger Flag, and they are also the guards of the Tiger Flag. Everyone in Lingqiu knows that." The old man took another puff of his pipe pot.
"Tiger-Character Banner?" The pedestrian frowned and said, "Isn't Tiger-Character Banner a business name here in Lingqiu? But I saw that the army that just passed by had at least four to five thousand people, and there were twenty cannons alone. Duomen, no company will have so many guards and thugs."
The old man spat on the ground, and then said: "We have a big business, so we don't want to raise more guards. Anyway, we don't lack money. If we raise more guards, we can also put more food in the homes of the people. This It’s also about doing good deeds.”
The passerby looked back at the army that was gradually walking away, and then said: "Old man, listen to my advice, it is better to stay away from this tiger flag. If you are involved with such a business, you will not end well."
"Why? It's not like you don't get paid for working for Tiger Flag, so why should you stay away?" The old man had an unhappy look on his face.
Most of the people in Lingqiu are working for Huzi Banner, and the same goes for the old man, who works as tenants for Huzi Banner and farms for Huzi Banner in Lizhuang.
The passerby hesitated for a moment and said, "The Tiger Character Banner has raised so many private soldiers, as well as those iron cannons, which are taboo things. If the government finds out, the people of the Tiger Character Banner will be labeled as rebels. The imperial court will definitely send a large army to suppress it."
"That's nonsense." The old man retorted, "The tiger-character flag raises so many soldiers to provide food for the common people. If the tiger-character flag hadn't raised so many soldiers, Lingqiu doesn't know how many people would be hungry. Even the county magistrate doesn’t care about the matter, but you, a foreigner, know nothing about it.”
The old man had an unhappy look on his face.
When the pedestrians saw the old man saying this, they immediately shut up and stopped talking.
"You kid doesn't think of anything good." The old man cursed and walked up the official road carrying the pipe and pot.
The pedestrian turned his head and said to some men wearing shorts beside him: "If you don't want to go forward, let's go back along the same path."
"Boss, didn't you say you were going to Xujiazhuang to buy iron goods and sorghum wine to take back to Xi'an? Why did you suddenly change your mind?" A man dressed as a clerk asked in confusion.
The passerby grinned and said, "I won't buy it, and I can't stay in Lingqiu anymore. If I stay here any longer, I might lose my life here."
There was a large army crossing the border, and there were dozens of iron cannons. No matter which one of them was enough to confiscate his family and destroy his ancestors, he was just a businessman and didn't want to provoke such beings.
The waiters around didn't quite understand what their boss meant, but when the boss told him to leave, they naturally didn't stay and turned around with him and returned along the original road.
From Xujiazhuang to Xinpingbao, you have to pass through the official road outside Lingqiu County.
An army of several thousand people appeared on the official road. When the soldiers guarding the city gate saw it, they hurriedly closed the city gate. The people with the tiger flag came to attack the county seat.
Some soldiers went to the county government and the garrison to spread the news.
After a short time, the Lingqiu County Magistrate came to the city with the policemen from the Yamen.
"I've seen you, sir." Wang Tong, the guard at Lingqiu on the city wall, first came to the city wall and saluted Guo Binchang.
Guo Binchang ignored him, walked a few steps quickly and stood behind the parapet, looking at the army passing by outside Lingqiu City, his face turned pale and bloodless.
"This, this, this..." He pointed at the army on the official road outside the city and stammered, "Are they really the soldiers and horses of the Tiger Flag?"
Wang Tong nodded and said: "It is indeed the soldiers and horses of the Tiger Flag. Sir, look at those four-wheeled carts, and there are also the command flags of the Tiger Flag."
Guo Binchang stretched his neck and looked at the carts behind the army outside the city.
He recognized the four-wheeled cart, and he could also see the flag hanging on it, but the words on the flag were unclear.
However, these two things were enough for him to recognize that the army outside the city was the soldiers and horses of the Tiger Flag.
"Wang Shoubei, you, do you think once the soldiers and horses of the Tiger Character Flag attack the city, can you and the soldiers and horses of the garrison mansion be able to defend it?" Guo Binchang asked with a stutter.
Wang Tong hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and said: "The total number of soldiers and horses in the garrison camp is less than a thousand, and the army outside the city has at least three to four thousand men, and it also carries dozens of iron cannons. It is difficult to defend this city with only the soldiers and horses guarding the camp."
