"How many people have been sent away?" Ye Yuncheng came to the intersection at the foot of the mountain and asked his subordinates who were registering here.
The staff officer stopped writing and said: "The first batch has been sent away. Now this is the second batch. In half an hour, we will be ready to go when everyone is almost there."
There are more than 10,000 miners in Dongshan, including family members, even more.
It is impossible for so many people to hit the road at the same time. They need to be divided into several groups and leave one by one.
"Hurry up and don't bring some sundries with you. When you get to the grassland, you will have everything." Ye Yuncheng said to the staff officer in front of him.
They have to race against time against the decree sent by the imperial court.
"Chief of Staff, don't worry. There will be someone watching at the intersection going down the mountain to ensure that everyone travels lightly. Carrying too many things will never slow down the team's progress," the staff officer assured.
Ye Yuncheng nodded.
It's not that he wants these miners to throw away the pots and pans at home, but time does not allow it, and it would be too dangerous to leave these miners in Lingqiu.
Moreover, these miners brought to the grassland, whether they will become soldiers of the Tiger Flag in the future or continue to work as miners, are what the Tiger Flag needs.
tread! tread! tread!
Suddenly the sound of horse hooves came from the chaotic crowd.
Ye Yuncheng turned his head and looked over.
A dozen steps away from him, a rider jumped off his horse and ran over quickly.
"Chief of Staff, the latest news from the city." The rider took out a letter from his arms and handed it over with both hands.
There was no seal on the envelope. Ye Yuncheng took the envelope and pulled out the letter paper inside with two fingers.
After opening it, he read it quickly at a glance.
"You keep watching here while I look for Deputy Du Yingzheng." Ye Yuncheng told his subordinate staff officer and ran quickly up the mountain.
Du Yan mainly integrated some miners and formed a temporary military camp, so he did not go down the mountain, but was in the iron field on the mountain.
Ye Yuncheng clung to the roadside and ran up the mountain quickly amid the flow of people going down the mountain.
The largest iron yard in Dongshan was built after Huzi Banner established the Dongshan Chamber of Commerce. A large area of the surrounding ground was leveled out and was used for military training of miners.
And Du Yan is here to integrate the miners.
"Lao Du, Lao Du!" Ye Yuncheng, who was far away, saw Du Yan and shouted to him.
After Du Yan heard about it and saw that it was Ye Yuncheng, he told his subordinates: "Hurry up and send out all the remaining soldiers. Those who have not received the soldiers will serve as a reserve team."
There are some soldiers' armor on Dongshan Mountain, and some soldiers' armor sent from Hutou Village, all of which are used to equip this temporary camp formed by miners.
After explaining, Du Yan greeted Ye Yuncheng.
"Something happened." As soon as he arrived, Ye Yuncheng hurriedly handed the letter he had just received to Du Yan, and said at the same time, "I just received the news that Zheng Shuqi from Lingqiu led two soldiers and horses guarding the camp. , is coming towards us."
Du Yan frowned after reading the letter and said, "This is for us."
"I'm worried that Datong already knows the news that the court is going to take action?" Ye Yuncheng said worriedly.
Once the imperial decree is sent to Datong, it will not be so easy for them, Tiger Character Banner, to take away the miners. The soldiers and horses of the Ming Dynasty will definitely intercept them on the road.
Du Yan thought for a while and asked, "Is there any news from Yingzheng?"
"Not yet, but I guess it will be soon." Ye Yuncheng said.
Dongshan Iron Station is closer to the county seat than Hutou Village.
Du Yan asked: "Do you want to continue sending away the miners and their families here in Dongshan?"
"The first group of miners and their families have already set out on the road. It's too late to stop at this time. I came here to find you to know how your camp is prepared? Can it be fought?" Ye Yuncheng asked.
Du Yan frowned and said, "Do you want my miners camp to fight with the garrison camp?"
"Yes, I want you to take some people to the front to stop the soldiers and horses guarding the camp, so that the impact cannot hit the evacuating miners and their families." Ye Yuncheng said.
Du Yan thought for a while and said: "The miners who stayed here to form the camp all have relatively good training results. Their level is definitely fine, but they have never participated in a battle. It's hard to say how they are."
"How many people are there now?" Ye Yuncheng glanced at the dense crowd not far away.
Du Yan said: "There are almost more than three thousand people, but there are not that many soldiers and armors. At most, there are about two thousand people equipped."
"That's enough. The garrison camp doesn't even have a thousand men. The only ones who can really fight are the cavalry around a few generals. As for the other camp commanders, they usually don't even have enough to eat. At most, they can only wave flags and shout to build momentum. ." Ye Yuncheng said, "If more than two thousand soldiers and horses with fully equipped soldiers and horses can't defeat the shrimp soldiers and crab generals guarding the camp, we should disband as soon as possible."
Du Yan said: "This camp formed by the miners has many veterans in it. The most basic corps commanders are all veterans. I will arrange another group of veterans to serve as supervisors. It should be no problem to defeat the garrison camp. It just so happens that These miners have seen blood."
"You hurry up and start here. You don't need to bring the cannon. It will slow down the march too much. Bring some light tiger squatting cannons!" Ye Yuncheng said to Du Yan.
And there are not many cannons on the mountain.
"Okay, I'll lead the team and set off right away." Du Yan agreed, turned around and ran towards the team at the miners' camp in front.
Ye Yuncheng did not follow him, but stayed where he was and watched.
Du Yan stood in front of the team and said to his subordinates: "How many soldiers have been sent out?"
"Less than a third is left, and it will all be distributed soon." The other party said.
Du Yan said: "No more waiting. Inform all the miners who have received the armor to assemble according to their respective teams. The remaining armor will be distributed to others."
"Yes." The other party agreed and ran to notify the team to assemble.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The war drum on the high ground was beaten, and two drumsticks were in the hands of the drummer, hitting the drum head very rhythmically.
The miners below had participated in military training more than once, so they naturally understood what the sounding war drums meant, and they all began to gather their teams in one place.
When the soldiers and armors are distributed, they are distributed according to the teams.
So many people in the yamen knew that Wang San was a member of the Tiger Flag.
Later, Wang San simply made friends with people in the yamen and worked as a broker.
And with Tiger Character Banner as his backer, even if everyone in the yamen knew his identity, no one would dare to provoke him. Even if the court later started to target Tiger Character Banner, Wang San did not face any difficulties from the yamen in Lingqiu. .
Almost all the petty officials in the county government are human beings.
Regardless of the outcome between the imperial court and the Tiger Flag, they all knew that it would be difficult to hold Lingqiu County.
For the sake of their own safety after the fall of Lingqiu, some petty officials in Liufang went to people in the city who were familiar with them and sold them in advance.
