stubborn thief

Yulin City.

Although the idle old generals are not as healthy as each other, their prestige and execution ability are still comparable to each other.

On the evening of July 17, Yu Chongxiao, You Shiwei and others left the city. Within an hour, the news of the opening of the city spread throughout the north and south.

Early the next morning, the Zhenyuan Gate in the south of the city was opened, and 840 soldiers, women and children were released first. Led by the garrison commander You Mian, they brought horses, money and fodder to wait for the marshal's army outside the south gate.

Liu Chengzong's letter had been delivered the day before, and Ren Quaner summoned the generals at all levels of the siege to Zhenbeitai to discuss the matter that evening.

Although, many people could not understand why the Grand Marshal allowed the officers, soldiers, women, children and civilians in Yulin City to leave the city and enter Jin when the war had reached this point.

Especially when Liu Chengzong won a great victory outside the border, the Mongolian nobles from the north and south of the desert who arrived in Guihua City and Ordos area first brought a large amount of spoils of war and traded luxuriously, and the remaining generals were jealous of each other.

Many people had already decided during the siege that once they captured Yulin, they would raid the homes of those "hereditary" generals.

But now the Marshal allows them to take their servants, families and relatives away. Wouldn't that mean they can take their wealth away as well?

Then this battle will end in Yulin City, which is quite boring. The Marshal's Office is not the Ming Dynasty that needs to maintain a border wall. Even if ten generals from the Marshal's Office are summoned, seven of them don't know where their border is.

Of the remaining three, one would say it is Guihua City, another would say it is Mobei, and the last one would firmly believe that Taimengwei is not only the western border, but also the northern border.

They had no decent opponents in the north, so naturally there was no such thing as a border line. Wherever the Red Armored Cavalry's horses' hooves could step on, that was their frontier.

On this basis, the city of Yulin alone does not have much significance.

But Ren Quaner didn't need them to understand. He had a bunch of surrendered generals who were eager to get rich. What was there to understand?
The Grand Marshal wanted them to go to Shanxi and the capital, and there must be a reason for that.

There are orders, just execute them.

Therefore, Ren Quaner's order to all the generals was to strictly guard all sides during this process, and only open a passage in the border wall. Zhou Qing and Hui Dengxiang, who were familiar with the area, would organize troops, villages, and forts along the way to ensure that those who left Yulin could leave Shaanxi as soon as possible at a fixed speed and with reliable supplies every day.

This road really depends on Zhou Qing and Hui Dengxiang, the two Hengshan bandits.

The two of them used to be Wang Jiayin's men. Wang Jiayin's range of activities was the border wall along the line of Yulin, Jiazhou, Shenmu, and Fugu. At most, he would cross the Yellow River and enter Baode Prefecture in Shanxi.

It was because of this that the two of them were able to complete the mission of transferring Chen Qiuyu's family from Baode Prefecture so smoothly.

Their familiarity with this land far exceeds that of Zhang Zhen, the general of the Yanqing Brigade of the Marshal's Office.

Now, it's time for both of them to show their talents again.

You Mian is the youngest of the You family. He was chosen to be the first to leave the city. He felt sad, angry and uneasy.

The old guys in the city, whose hands and feet were shaking and whose bodies were in pain from battle wounds when they coughed, shouted that the veterans of Yulin City would die in a heroic manner.

Instead, they let these strong and healthy young people act like cowards, running out of the city with women and children and asking the enemy army to escort them out of the country. How ridiculous!

Shame on you.

According to You Mian's idea, if you want to die, you should die here. Why should you talk about qualifications when going to die?
But those old guys, You Shiwei, You Shilu, Hou Shilu, and Wang Shiqin, really wanted to talk to him about their qualifications.

People always mention Ningyuan, and they keep saying that they have dedicated their lives to the country. You young people have done nothing for the country and are not worthy of the credit for dying in an isolated city.

Finally, in a rage, You Shiwei kicked You Mian and made him fall to the ground, cursing: "My family of generals has been enjoying the emperor's salary for generations. If we can achieve great success tomorrow and defeat the Eastern Tartars and Western Bandits, how can we not have someone to help? If the world turns upside down, how can there not be a descendant of the You family in the capital? Get out, get out, go to the capital and die!"

There were more than a dozen teams like You Mian's organized in Yulin City, each led by a young officer, with their own family members, women, children, and servants, to ensure that every team could still rebuild their family, recruit family soldiers, and continue to serve the court when they arrived in the capital or elsewhere.

Liu Chengzong wanted to reduce the resistance to the siege, and the veterans in Yulin City also took this opportunity to strengthen the army's garrison.

The young men and non-combatants were sent out of the city, and the generals in the city spent all their wealth to buy bean cakes, so that the smaller number of defenders had more food.

At the same time, dividing them into various teams can also ensure that if the Marshal's army has bad intentions, they will not catch all the young people leaving the city in one fell swoop.

But this was completely unnecessary worry. Ren Quaner carried out Liu Chengzong's orders without any compromise. Zhou Qing and Hui Dengxiang, as the defected militia generals, were also eager to show their abilities in the Marshal's Mansion.

A very demanding marching route was devised on the spot.

More than 800 people were divided into three groups, with an interval of one hour between them, and they marched more than 60 miles every day. Three watchtowers along the way served as military stations where meals were prepared for them. They arrived at Shenmu on the third night, and after another two days of walking, they reached the Yellow River ferry.

In fact, the marching speed was not very fast. The problem was that not all of You Mian's people were soldiers. Half of them were women and children. Even if there were mules for the women and children to ride, the high-intensity march would still make people miserable.

Especially the gang under Zhou Qing and Hui Dengxiang, all of them were former militiamen, bandits and gangsters, and they looked ferocious. Even if no one paid attention to them, they tried their best to suppress the desire to rob... Who dared to tell them that they couldn't go on like this!
Obviously, except for those people who suffered on the road, no one else, whether You Mian, the marshal's army outside the city, or You Shilu and others inside the city, cared how hard it was for them on the road.

Everyone only cares about whether they can get into Baodezhou alive.

When You Mian's team successfully crossed the Yellow River and sent someone on horseback to return the token, You Shilu and others in Yulin City were relieved.

Liu Chengzong...really keeps his word.

Subsequently, groups of migrating people, led by Hui Jian, You Yangkun, Bai Shenheng and other young officers from Yulin, set out on the road to the border wall in Shanxi.

In fact, everyone in Shanxi is dumbfounded.

The prefect of Baode was named Dai Yuan. He was a juren from Guangshan, Henan. He became the prefect of Baode during the Tianqi period and served in Baode for more than ten years.

Originally, his term of office was to end in the third year of Chongzhen, but before he left, the new prefect Wang Guogui had already taken office.

As soon as Wang Guogui took office, he encountered Wang Jiayin, Gao Yingxiang, Bu Zhanni and Liu Chengzong entering Jin and causing a big commotion. The city of Baodezhou was besieged.

Dai Yuan failed to leave.

Wang Guogui swore before the gods: "I have left my parents thousands of miles away and my wife to die on the sharp blades. I would rather die with the city than live with the enemy."

He led the people to defend the city, slept and ate on the city wall, and managed to hold Baodezhou City. However, he became ill from overwork, and when Wang Jiayin returned to Shaanxi, Wang Guogui also passed away. He had served in Baodezhou for a total of half a year, and his wife and children carried his coffin back home.

Other officials did not dare to come to such a place. Dai Yuan happened to have not left yet, so the officials and people in the city petitioned the court to allow Dai Yuan to serve as the prefect again.

Dai Yuan, a foreigner, became a local tyrant in Baode.

But Dai Yuan was not the kind of official that everyone could praise. He was very mean and harsh in his punishments. Neither the common people nor the gentry liked him. However, he was a capable official who was smart and decisive in litigation and other aspects. He was able to get things done, but too arbitrary.

People tend to like officials who preach benevolence, but Dai Yuan is just the opposite. Baode Prefecture originally had a monument to reform corruption, which was erected by Hu Nan, the prefect in his early years.

The above measures will eliminate the long-standing malpractices in the collection of taxes by peasants, landlords, village landlords, military landlords, vegetable farmers, charcoal farmers, porcelain farmers, local firewood and charcoal, displaying colorful flags to welcome the New Year, laying out bedding, felt strips for the village elders, and providing grain and banquets.

Convert corvée labor into silver for the price of horses, reduce salt tax, exempt grain from consumption and grain for disaster relief.

The tax on wheat was changed to rice, and it was agreed that beans would be sold out of the granaries. There were community granaries in urban and rural areas, and the profit from the community granaries was cleared to increase the capital of the grain in the rural granaries.

Recruit volunteers, build nine fortresses, establish food registers, issue permits, build schools, set up school fields, make sacrificial utensils, and invite community teachers.

He gave lectures on classics, encouraged students to study, set up a salary system for tribute students, selected famous officials, local celebrities, and virtuous women, arranged for ferries, sorted out military equipment, provided food and clothing to prisoners, granary workers, warehouse workers, and various workers; discussed the expenses of village books, red calendar paper, etc., and ordered the collection of fees from mule drivers to share the hardship.

A total of forty-six articles of virtue and good governance were established as the village covenant, submitted to the imperial court, and became a permanent system to preserve virtue.

Dai Yuan smashed the stele as soon as he took office. What a system!

They dealt with corvée labor as they should, collected taxes as they should, followed local customs as they should, and subjected all classes of people in Baode Prefecture to equal treatment.

The key point is that after this person's trouble, everyone feels uncomfortable and no one can do anything about it.

After all, times have changed, the external environment is changing, and Shaanxi is full of bandits. Baode Prefecture does not have a strong government, so what can it use to resist?
That's why he was able to stay in Baodezhou for a long time.

This kind of life continued until last year, when Liu Chengzong sent Zhou Qing, leading 800 people, to relocate Chen Qiuyu's entire family in full view of everyone.

Dai Yuan had to put in a lot of effort to curb the local trend, but as a result, officers and soldiers from Yulin Town poured into Baode Prefecture.

This group of people did not stay in Baode Prefecture at all, but everyone there was already in danger. People thought that since the Marshal's Office had captured Yulin Town, how long could the Yellow River hold out?

Once the Qin army invaded eastward, Baodezhou on the bank of the Yellow River would be the first to be hit. However, the experience of Chen Qiuyu's entire family earlier had already proved that the Marshal's Army had the ability to cross the Yellow River and launch a surprise attack on Baodezhou.

As a result, several gangs of bandits rose up in rebellion at one time, and looted everywhere under the pretext of responding to the name of the Grand Marshal.

This was a small matter in itself, but it caused a huge stir in Shanxi because Shanxi really had a marshal's army.

Wang Ziyi and Liu Shiliu of the Three Tribulations Society, who had been lurking for a long time, traveled around Pingyang, Lu'an, Zezhou and other places to preach, and placed local officials and langtou in various places. When they heard that the marshal's army had caused trouble in the north, they were more surprised than Dai Yuan, the governor of Baode.

Wang Ziyong wondered: Besides me, the Grand Marshal also has troops stationed in Shanxi?

Immediately send someone to Xi'an to inquire.

Xi'an knows nothing about Shanxi.

By the time the news had made a circle, from Baode Prefecture in Shanxi Province, which was adjacent to the border wall, through Pingyang Prefecture, into Hancheng, to Xi'an Prefecture, and then all the way north to Yulin, across the Yellow River from Baode Prefecture, and then north to Liu Chengzong who was marching to Guihua City, almost all the people in Yulin City had left.

Liu Shizi's head almost exploded when he saw this confusing information.

At this time, Liu Shizi deeply realized that there were indeed big problems with the framework of the Marshal's Office.

It was Wang Ziyi who said too much and went to Xi'an Prefecture to ask. If it were other powerful generals in the Marshal's Army, they would probably rise up and respond to the rebellious bandits as soon as they received the news.

This is a very dangerous signal. The Marshal's Army once benefited from a loose framework and a high degree of autonomy among officers, but now that it has expanded, this characteristic can easily cause them to suffer unnecessary losses.

Liu Chengzong really hated those who did things under his name.

His first reaction was to write a letter to the prefect of Baode, telling Dai Yuan that those rebels had nothing to do with the Marshal's army.

He also appointed Zhang Zhen of the Yanqing Brigade to send a thousand soldiers across the Yellow River into Baode Prefecture to help suppress the bandits - of course, it would be even better if they could capture Baode Prefecture at the same time.

Liu Shizi had no other intentions. It didn't matter to him whether those who attacked him were doing good or bad things. He had to send troops.

Because their heart was not sincere. If they really wanted to surrender, they could contact the Yanqing Brigade by sending people across the Yellow River to any village.

But they didn't, so they were just using his name, and they would definitely be punished.

Secondly, Liu Chengzong proposed to surrender Baode Prefecture.

The turmoil in Baode Prefecture by local bandits gave Liu Shizi an opportunity. Anyway, at this moment, Shanxi's field troops went to support the capital in pursuing Ajige, so it was a good opportunity to expand the territory eastward across the Yellow River.

Baodezhou is very good.

It is Chen Qiuyu's hometown and is relatively isolated in terms of terrain and environment. It is relatively easy to recruit, rule and defend, making it the best choice.

At the same time in Guihua City, Liu Chengzong was reading one letter after another that Ren Quaner sent him from Yulin.

In a short period of time, Yulin City has sent more than 10,000 people to Shanxi. The defensive forces in the city are getting smaller and smaller, and the defensive will is getting more and more determined.

To be honest, as a frontier soldier who was born and raised in Yansui Town, Liu Chengzong, like most low-ranking officers and elite soldiers who could not get close to the generals, had a deep dislike for those generals who occupied high positions.

But at this point, the choices made by You Shiwei and others undoubtedly made Liu Chengzong look at them with a higher regard.

Subadi, Gunbu, Babu and others who went to the south of the desert to sell their spoils were surprised by the news.

They couldn't even admire the courage of You Shiwei and others, and they simply couldn't understand why none of the veteran soldiers and generals in Yulin City had surrendered yet when the situation was clearly desperate.

Especially since the three of them had witnessed the powerful fighting capabilities of the Marshal's Army in Lingdong, they simply could not understand why no one would say a word against those people if Yulin, an isolated city, surrendered at this time.

On the contrary, Zhang Xianzhong, the Minister of Rites, who was shaking his head, was very impressed with their choice and explained with emotion: "It is easy for them to surrender. One reason is enough to make them lose this battle."

"It's just that they have more reasons to fight to the death. Their country and homeland are enough."

Zhang Xianzhong's face was filled with emotion, but his smile was somewhat cruel: "Marshal, they are seeking death."

"Hahaha, what's wrong with seeking death? They are all heroes, the old soldiers of Lonely City."

Liu Chengzong whipped his horse whip: "If he wants to go, let him go. If he wants to stay, let him stay. We are heroes too."

"Then let's have a good fight and send them off!" (End of this chapter)