Baichengzi is an ancient city with a long history!
During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, when swordsmen and soldiers were everywhere and the world was in chaos, the leader of the Huns, Helian Bobo, took the opportunity to establish a Daxia Kingdom in the northwest region. He then forcibly recruited hundreds of thousands of Hu and Han people to build a strong capital city for himself.
It is said that an extremely cruel method was used when building the city wall:
Every time a section of the wall was built, Helian Bobo ordered a strong man to tap it with a big iron awl. If the iron awl penetrated the wall an inch deep, all the civilians responsible for building that section of the wall would be killed and the bodies would be buried together. Build into the wall as a warning to others.
In order to survive, the civilians even used their strength to eat milk. The quality of the construction was naturally top-notch, and the city walls were so strong that they even reached the point where "fire can come out when struck, and it is strong enough to sharpen swords and axes"!
After the capital city was built, Helian Bobo, the king of Daxia, personally named it: Tongwancheng, indicating that he wanted to unify the world and rule over all nations.
It's a pity that Helian Bobo was full of ambition, but he didn't have enough talent, let alone the emperor's order. Not long after the Tongwan City was built, this cruel guy died. His son was incompetent and suffered repeated defeats, and the country perished. .
In the years that followed, Tongwan City experienced the ravages of war many times. The inner and outer cities were destroyed and completely turned into ruins. Even the name was forgotten by the world. Only the solid city walls still existed, because the walls were made of It was built of white clay, hence the name "Baichengzi".
After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, civilians were mobilized to carry out simple repairs to the inner city of Baichengzi, and a garrison officer was appointed to lead the troops to station for a long time, making it an important stronghold in the northwest defense line.
Because of its geographical location, close to the Hetao Prairie, when the Mongols went south to plunder, Baichengzi was always the first to suffer, so wars were extremely frequent.
Especially in the forty-seventh year of Wanli, after the Battle of Sarhu, seeing the heavy losses of the elite frontier troops of the Ming Dynasty and the extremely empty national power, the frequency of the Mongols going south to plunder was very high. The fighting in the Baichengzi area became more intense, and the garrison troops were killed and injured. heavy.
In just ten years, Baichengzi had a total of twelve garrison officers. Seven of them died in battle, four were seriously injured and disabled, and one was captured by the Mongols. His life and death are still unknown.
Ever since, the position of garrison officer in Baichengzi has become something that everyone is jealous of. No one dares to take up this position for fear of becoming the next one to be killed!
…
The sixth day of July in the second year of Chongzhen is an auspicious day, which is a good time to take office.
In the morning, Qin Feng, the 13th garrison officer of Baichengzi, came with a few good brothers and more than 400 soldiers adapted from sand bandits in a mighty manner.
When he arrived near Baichengzi, Qin Feng did not rush into the city. Instead, he walked around a few times, carefully inspecting the mountains and terrain here, and nodding with satisfaction from time to time.
"Brother Feng, this place is close to the prairie. The Mongols come here at any time. There are wars almost every year. The man named Jiang recommended you to be the garrison officer here. He obviously wants to kill people with a borrowed knife!"
"Brother Feng, it's too dangerous here. Why don't you tell the Governor to find a safer place to serve?"
…
"You don't understand. There is an old saying: Everything in the world is a matter of prosperity and adversity. This is indeed a dangerous place, but it is also a geomantic treasure. As long as we make good use of it, it will be our base for success in the future, haha!"
Qin Feng was so smart that he had long seen through the sinister intentions of the commander-in-chief Jiang Rang. The reason why he did not refuse to come to Baichengzi as a garrison officer was because of some considerations. Specifically, these were three major benefits:
Baichengzi is 280 miles away from Yulin City. In this place, he is the highest officer and can do whatever he wants without being constrained by the commander-in-chief Jiang Rang. This is the first advantage!
Baichengzi connects Yulin to the east, Ningxia to the west, Wuding River to the south, and Hetao Grassland to the north. It strangles the throat and controls all directions. The geographical location is extremely important. This is the second advantage!
Baichengzi was originally the capital of Daxia Kingdom. Although it is now dilapidated, the overall structure is still intact. As long as it is properly repaired, it can regain its former glory. This is the third benefit!
With these three benefits, it is enough to achieve great achievements!
"Brothers, follow me into the city, our good days start from here!"
"promise!"
Next, the group of people quickly arrived at the east gate of Baichengzi.
I saw that the gate was tightly closed, the suspension bridge was raised high, and several soldiers were patrolling the city wall. When they noticed that there were men and horses coming to the city, they immediately drew their bows and nocked arrows, making a defensive posture.
"Who is coming?"
"I am the new garrison officer - Qin Feng. I am here to take office today. Open the city gate quickly!"
"The general manager has an order: No matter who wants to enter Baichengzi, he must prove his identity. Please show your credentials, Mr. Qin, otherwise we will not dare to open the door!"
"Okay, here's the voucher, check it out!"
Unexpectedly, the defenders of Baichengzi were quite serious. Qin Feng was very satisfied with this. Soldiers should always be vigilant so that they can deal with various emergencies.
Immediately afterwards, a small basket fell from the city wall. Qin Feng put his official documents and garrison seal into it. The basket was pulled up again. After several soldiers checked it, they immediately ran to report the news...
"rumble!"
After a while, the suspension bridge was lowered, the city gate opened, and a group of soldiers in ragged clothes walked out. The leader was a middle-aged man, about thirty-five or six years old, with a short build, a big head and round eyes, and his face was all weathered. A person with a story.
"Commander Xiang Xuanwu, I sincerely welcome the garrison master to take up his post. I apologize for being late!"
"It doesn't matter!"
"Please come to the city, Lord Guard. I will immediately ask someone to prepare wine and food to help you clean up the dust!"
"There's no rush, take me to inspect the city first, and we'll talk about catching the wind later!"
"promise!"
When ordinary officials take office, they have to enjoy a welcome banquet, eat and drink enough, and rest for three to five days before getting down to business.
This was the first time Xiang Xuanwu had encountered this kind of thing in his 20 years of military service. He couldn't help but feel sorry for this young man. The new guarding master has a feeling of admiration!
Could it be said that I finally met a boss who does practical things?
Next, accompanied by the commander-in-chief Xiang Xuanwu, Qin Feng began his inspection.
Baichengzi is divided into two layers: inner and outer city areas. The outer city has long been destroyed in the war, with only some ruins remaining. The condition of the inner city is slightly better, but there are also many broken places, and traces of knife and axe are everywhere. This shows that fighting often occurs here.
Then he looked at the military camp, stables, weapons depot, gunpowder depot, grain and grass depot...all were clean and tidy. It can be seen that this commander-in-chief is quite good at running the army.
It's just that the soldiers here are too thin. They are all ragged and disheveled. They are not much better than beggars. Moreover, their weapons are old, their horses are weak, and their food reserves are even pitiful.
"Mr. Xiang, how many people are there in the city?"
"Back to the garrison master: Including low-ranking officers, there are a total of 543 officers and men, and 48 war horses. Only half of them can be used in combat. The rest are old and injured horses. They can only pull carts and push. It’s just grinding.”
"Well, how long has it been since you received military pay and food?"
"Replying to your lord, I have not received military pay for half a year. I am in arrears with food and grass for more than three months. Weapons, military uniforms, armor, and war horses... have not been replenished for four or five years. I have no choice but to be hungry. , the brothers can only catch wild mice and dig wild vegetables to satisfy their hunger. When their clothes and shoes are torn, they have to make do with mending them. Life is miserable!"
Xiang Ba always told the sufferings of his soldiers, and this situation had been going on for a long time.
In order to resist the Jurchens' attack, more than 70% of the national fiscal revenue is now invested in the Liaodong battlefield. The supply of food and salary in other military towns is constantly decreasing, and it cannot even reach one-third of the normal demand.
Coupled with the corruption of high-level officers, the deduction of food and salary, and theft of military supplies, the soldiers at the grassroots level were miserable. Situations like Baichengzi's situation of not receiving military pay for half a year and not receiving food and grass for three months were common among the frontier armies. yes.
The soldiers did not have enough to eat, did not wear warm clothes, and had no money to support their families. Naturally, they had no intention of fighting for the country, and many of them fled.
And among the fleeing soldiers, a considerable number of them joined the bandits, attacking cities, looting land, burning, killing and looting... Nowadays, there are more and more bandits in the northwest, and their combat effectiveness is getting stronger. This is also one of the important reasons. !
"Commander Xiang, let the soldiers come here in turn. I will make up for the six months' back pay at once. As for the food and baggage, I have already contacted the Suide-Xue family caravan. Half a month It will be sent here soon."
"ah?"
Mr. Xiang was shocked. He originally thought that after the reception banquet was over, he would say some flattering words to make the new garrison happy, and then he would bring up the matter of food and salary.
Unexpectedly, before I even said a word, the new garrison master took the initiative to replenish his food and salary, and it was a one-time payment. Is this true?
Not bragging, right?
Seeing that Mr. Xiang was not moving, Qin Feng knew that he was a little suspicious. Qin Feng did not explain, but asked his soldiers to bring some big boxes. After opening them, they were filled with white money, totaling sixty-four thousand three hundred and twenty. Seven taels.
Among them, 10,000 taels of silver were military pay that Qin Feng and Governor Yang He had withdrawn in advance before leaving Yulin City to form a new army.
And it was explained that in the future, all military pay will be sent directly to Baichengzi and will not go through Yulin City-General Military Mansion to avoid being deducted and cut.
The remaining fifty-four thousand three hundred and twenty-seven taels were obtained from 'dividing the spoils', and Qin Feng brought them with him.
"Silver, it's really silver. Thank you for your humble position, Lord Guard. You are a living Bodhisattva who saves the suffering and is a great benefactor to the brothers...Brothers, come here quickly. Lord Guard has given us military pay. We will make up for all the six months." ,Ha ha!"
Mr. Xiang rubbed his eyes, grabbed a few large silver ingots and weighed them. He was sure. He immediately knelt on the ground, kowtowed to Qin Feng repeatedly, and then called his soldiers to come and collect the silver.
In an instant, cheers erupted in Baichengzi. It was really more lively than the Chinese New Year and the festival, and it was ten times more joyful!
