The first ten days of April on the lunar calendar, which is equivalent to the beginning of May in later generations, is the most comfortable season in Liaodong.
At dusk, the garnet-red sunset glows across the entire sky, and the evening breeze in late spring gently touches people's cheeks without a hint of chill.
Outside the Magendan Fortress, a fortress in the southeast of Fushun in the Ming Dynasty, there is a branch of the Majun River with a not narrow river bed, hidden in the forest shrouded in twilight.
Zheng Haizhu stood in front of the dam in Xinlei. The sight of the river filled her eyes, which made her feel elated.
Wu Bondang took Kong Youde and a few miners back to the river from a farther hillside.
Zheng Haizhu turned around and said to them: "The explosion of rocks today made a lot of noise. How did the nearby villagers react?"
Kong Youde said: "The common people are most afraid of our anti-army flags, and the guards of Ma County have scared them, so they dare not approach easily. Only a few strong men from Tongjiazhuang went up the mountain to watch the excitement. We said that the imperial court was mining, and we were all the way away." Blow them away."
Wu Bondang added on the side: "The owner of this Tong Family Village is indeed named Tong Yangxing."
Zheng Haizhu nodded.
Tong Yangxing was a wealthy border merchant who brought his people to Nurhaci after the Battle of Fushun. He later built a very useful Hongyi cannon for Huang Taiji. When Zheng Haizhu found out the location of the Tong family from Tong Yangding in Hetuala, he began to think about how to deal with Tong Yangxing.
But certainly not now.
From the Minister of War Zhang Quan to the Liaodong Commander-in-Chief Zhang Chengyin and the Deputy Commander-in-Chief Po Yanxiang, from the new guerrilla Mao Wenlong to the commander-in-chief of the two guest armies in Zhejiang and Sichuan, from the temporarily reinstated general heir Li Rubai to Qinghe Guards Zou Chuxian, Zheng Haizhu and These people are like chess pieces that move carefully on a chessboard. They perform their own duties and complete their steps according to the plan set at the end of the first month.
The premise of action is to try not to alert the enemy.
Nurhachi, his sons, and the soldiers of the Eight Banners were all hunters. They were cunninger than foxes and had a keener sense of smell than wild dogs.
All actions taken by the Ming army for this battle must be disguised at the same time.
It is really impossible to do it secretly, just like Li Rubai, stuck in time and blocked at Xin'an Pass.
Therefore, after Zheng Haizhu and the others arrived at the upper reaches of the tributary of the Majun River, Kong Youde and more than ten elite servants blocked off a certain area, allowing the strong miners originally transferred to build the dam secretly, and announced to the outside world that the iron ore was mined by the imperial court.
Today, Wu Bangdang and Kong Youde tried to blow up the simulated dam several times in the lee of the hillside using gunpowder packets matched by Sun Yuanhua and Frankie. Zheng Haizhu became more determined.
When she and Wu Bond were investigating Fushun years ago, they proposed to Zhang Quan a combat plan related to breaking the water.
In April and May, there is abundant rainfall in Fushun, and there are many tributaries of the Majun River, all coming from nearby mountains and rivers. Zheng Haizhu chose a road with complex terrain and asked Kong Youde to recruit more than 20 young miners from Kaiyuan, his hometown, to build the dam step by step and finish it in early April. Sure enough, on April 10th three days ago, it started to rain heavily. It didn’t stop until the end of today.
The miners resting by the dam looked at the bright fish-scale clouds in the sky and said to Zheng Haizhu and others: "My boss, there must be a heavy rain ahead."
Zheng Haizhu thought to himself, the bigger the better.
Then he smiled kindly at the miners: "Brothers, thank you for your hard work. In three days, we will give you a reward of silver and let Youde ride a horse to take it back to your family. Then we will go to Shandong and make a lot of money. If I work for the big boss, Well done, my wife and children will be here next year too! Let’s go eat some meat now, sleep peacefully for a night, and gather enough strength. There will be big work tomorrow.”
The miners cheered and rushed to the cook.
Zheng Haizhu called Kong Youde aside: "There are twenty-three in total. Watch them all night. You are not allowed to leave your sight even if you untie your big hands. Don't fall short. Even if each of them is a fellow countryman you recognize when you wear crotchless pants, at this time You can’t believe it all.”
Kong Youde whispered: "I understand. If anyone among them leaks the news, even if the girl spares me, General Mao will chop off my head without hesitation."
At night, the insects chirped low, the fourteenth moon was almost full, and the silver light shone on the river.
The music and pictures at this time should be moving, but the snoring all around was like thunder.
Wu Bondang walked to the stone dam and sat down next to Zheng Haizhu: "Not to mention you, I was too disturbed to sleep."
Zheng Haizhu stared at the water: "There must be too many people who can't sleep tonight. Just for a moment, I wanted to get on my horse and rush back to Fushun City overnight, so that I can see with my own eyes the power of the artillery we got tomorrow. "
Wu Bond said: "Listen to Minister Zhang and General Mao, it is safer for you to stay here."
Zheng Haizhu smiled: "Back then I met General Ma in the bandit camp, and he was about to fight the bandits. He told me that no battle can be won or lost before it starts. This time we We have done our best, and we will leave it to fate tomorrow. If there is a fight here, Jiannu will not necessarily lose. By the way, Mu Zaohua said that you taught them to use daggers in close combat, and what they practiced was to pierce the heart with one knife. How accurate are you? ?”
Wu Bang Bang stared at her sideways: "What do you want to say?"
Zheng Haizhu said: "Although General Mao kept saying that Nurhaci had divided his troops outside the pass, if the number of Jurchens coming to attack Magendan tomorrow doubled and General Zou did not arrive in time, this place would be worse than Fushun City." It's still dangerous. If we don't run away, you can stab me with a knife and give me pleasure."
She was answered with silence.
After a long time, Wu Bangdang finally said: "You are a very smart person. Don't mess up on this matter. You are not a leader or a soldier. You shouldn't feel ashamed to kneel down and beg for mercy. Tatars treat women, Robbery is more common than killing. If, if you fall into the enemy's hands, don't resist, just pretend to be a commoner, obey them obediently, and survive first."
After a pause, he rubbed his cheeks with both hands several times, and his voice became deeper and deeper: "When I arrived in Fushun in the twelfth lunar month, I looked at the river beach outside the city and couldn't help but think over and over again, if it weren't for losing one's virginity, Amei is haunted by the thought of whether she will survive if she doesn’t hit the sword of Li Yongfang’s soldier. I know, I know I can’t blame her, but every time I dream about her, I chase after her. She told her that surviving is the most important thing. No matter what she has experienced, I still regard her as the best woman."
Zheng Haizhu listened quietly to his partner's confession.
People are just so different. In the historical records seen by later generations, when the Qing army went south, many Han wives who were wives in the Yangzhou Tenth and Jiading Three Massacres left writings, clearly describing that they told their wives and concubines that if the city was destroyed, they must commit suicide and never do so. If the wives and concubines showed signs of fear and hesitation after being humiliated by foreigners, they would kill them before the enemy did, and then try to escape from the city with their sons.
It's really touching to read Wu Bondang's words carefully at this moment.
Zheng Haizhu sighed softly, patted him on the shoulder and said: "I understand. Go and rest."
As soon as she stood up, she suddenly froze.
Outside the dense forest, there was the sound of a sword being unsheathed.
Wu Bondang also jumped up suddenly, faced the direction of the movement, and listened.
Not far away from them, Kong Youde and several Mao soldiers drew their swords at the same time and walked away quickly.
Just when Zheng Haizhu felt that his heart was about to jump into his throat, an uninvited guest from outside the forest had already rushed in on horseback.
A female voice with a Mandarin accent from the capital sounded: "One of our own, one of our own! Under Qin Liangyu's tent."
…
Zhang Fengyi got off her horse and strode to Zheng Haizhu and others.
The torch held up by Kong Youde shone on her face, and the flickering light reflected her square forehead, thick eyebrows and phoenix eyes.
A heroic spirit of killing and decisiveness flows on this face.
Zhang Fengyi looked directly at Zheng Haizhu: "Are you Miss Zheng? I am the daughter of Minister Zhang, well, now I am Qin Liangyu's daughter-in-law."
Zheng Haizhu was shocked when she heard this. She originally thought that the other party was just a female general under General Qin.
"Then you are General Ma's..."
Zhang Fengyi smiled heartily: "I'm happy to say she's Qin Liangyu's daughter-in-law. I don't like to hear it said she's Ma Xianglin's daughter-in-law. His marksmanship is mediocre, but his archery accuracy is really not as good as mine. Why does he have a name? I am What the Ma family’s wife, the Ma family’s young mistress, General Ma’s wife.”
Wu Bond and Kong Youde stared at the aunt who fell from the sky in front of them, and then glanced at Zheng Haizhu. Obviously, Zheng Haizhu didn't know that Zhang Shilang's daughter and General Qin's beloved daughter-in-law would also appear in Liaodong.
Zhang Fengyi noticed everyone's thoughts and stopped chatting. She turned around and grabbed a man whose mouth was gagged and his hands were tied.
"Three days ago, I left Xianglin with a sentry and came south to patrol here for reconnaissance. I was lucky tonight and I really caught a spy."
With that said, she pulled out the strip of cloth from the prisoner's mouth and put him under Kong Youde's torch.
The prisoner languished on the ground and said in a loud voice: "Generals, spare your life. My whole family's life is in the hands of the village owner, so I have to do some reporting."
Zheng Haizhu stared at him: "Are you from Tongjiazhuang?"
The prisoner nodded.
Zhang Fengyi glanced at the miners who came out of their tents to watch the excitement, then looked at the stone dam on the river, and said to Zheng Haizhu, "Miss Zheng, let me take a step to speak."
After walking further, Zhang Fengyi explained the reason in detail: "We saw the smoke of a fire in a small mountain col about ten miles away. We sneaked over to take a look and found three Tatars, and this one who had not shaved his head. After they finished eating, the three A Tatar got on his horse and walked east. We captured the Han man and interrogated him on the way. He said that he went to meet with the Tatar sentry this morning to report that everything was normal in Magendan. Miss Zheng took a look, but Is there any flaw?"
Zheng Haizhu stared at Zhang Fengyi: "What is embroidered on the forehead?"
Zhang Fengyi was stunned for a moment, then understood and smiled, with admiration in her smile: "Miss Zheng, you even doubt whether I am Zhang Quan's daughter and Qin Liangyu's daughter-in-law? No wonder they all say you are smart. Wipe the embroidery on your forehead The begonia is embroidered, the cloud shoulders are embroidered with pomegranates, the forehead is azure, the cloud shoulders are aqua, the embroidery work of the Han family in Jiangnan is as good as heavenly craftsmanship, thank you Miss Han and Miss Zheng for the wedding gift."
OK, passed the test.
After verifying his identity, the other party directly found the tributary in the forest and called out his last name. He must have come from Fushun.
Zheng Haizhu also smiled: "The enemy is facing us now, so we have to be suspicious and accuse Miss Fengyi. Miss Fengyi also came to help in the battle. He really did not inform Zhang Shilang when we parted ways in Shenyang a month ago."
"My father doesn't know now," Zhang Fengyi said with a proud tone, "Xianglin refused to follow me at first. It was my mother-in-law who nodded so that I could come with him."
Zheng Haizhu roughly understood the reason and continued: "You were right not to kill those three Tatars. If you had killed them, the Jianzhou army would have become suspicious if they did not see them return. The spy in Tongjiazhuang probably did not inform They have something different here, otherwise, the three sentinels would not have the energy to make a fire and eat, and then go on the road after eating."
Zhang Fengyi pursed her lips knowingly.
She and Miss Zheng thought of going together.
She looked back at the prisoners under the torch not far away, and said coldly: "Jiannu's sentry is not that good, he even roasted rabbits. We have only eaten dry food during the three days of wandering, so how dare we light a fire."
Zheng Haizhu said: "The hardship was not in vain, we found out the traitorous village owner Tong."
Zhang Fengyi smiled and said: "Okay, after watching your play tomorrow, I will lead people to surround the village."
…
On the same night, the city of Fushun was not as cool as the forest outside Magendan.
The originally spacious city wing was crowded with merchants from all over the world.
The entire city was filled to the brim with noisy human voices, the neighing of animals, and the stench of sweat, urine, and feces emanating from humans and animals. The irritating and sultry heat seemed to have doubled.
Fan Wencheng frowned and sat by the oil lamp under the window.
It’s uncomfortable if you don’t open the window, and it’s even worse if you open the window. How can you study well? !
In a few months, he will go to Shenyang to participate in the "Autumn Festival".
As a descendant of Fan Zhongyan, a famous minister of the Song Dynasty who is well-known throughout the city, if Fan Xiucai does not improve his fame, won't he be a joke to those who were born in the same year in Fushun City?
More importantly, he really couldn't bear to stay in this poor place in Fushun.
More and more Tatars came to do business, and guard Li Yongfang welcomed them all into the city.
During this year's horse market, the Confucian Temple and Academy were actually set aside for these barbarians to live in.
If you don't succeed, you must quickly win the imperial examination, then win the Jinshi, and leave Liaodong. Considering his family background as a famous minister of the Song Dynasty, how could the imperial court give him a position to "watch government" in a certain yamen in the capital?
Fan Wencheng thought about this and tried to adapt himself to the noise of Fushun City tonight, so that he could not hear anything outside the window and only read the books of sages.
He finished an article on craftsmanship, and when he heard louder drums outside, he realized that it was too late.
The city finally became quiet. The businessmen have probably fallen asleep, replenishing their spirits and waiting for the opening of the horse market tomorrow.
Fan Wencheng walked out of the shabby room.
His home was not far from the east city wall. Late at night when he was tired from studying, he went outside and looked up at the silhouette of the city wall under the bright moon in the sky. This made him, a self-proclaimed nostalgic scholar, feel relieved.
However, soon, he saw more guards on the city wall than usual, and they seemed to be transporting things.
It seems to be Sagi?
While Fan Wencheng was wondering, he suddenly heard louder noise coming from the direction of the Confucian Temple.
At first he thought it was a mistake, but when he listened more carefully, he realized something was wrong.
It was the heart-wrenching clash of weapons and the screams one after another.
