Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 415 The Canal Is Broken
But he said, in such a short period of time, where did the one hundred thousand troops come from?
It turned out that Chu Yu hadn't improved in Yanzhou Mansion, and soon came to wander around Jining, and heard that there was a group of Yuyuan thieves near Caozhou (Heze).

Due to continuous natural and man-made disasters in the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, large areas of land in southwestern Shandong, such as Caozhou, were barren and uncultivated, and became wasteland.

Here is on the verge of the old course of the Yellow River, the water source is abundant, and the land is relatively fertile. Over time, a dense elm forest has formed here.

The bandit army led by Zhang Qi and Ren Qi used the dense elm garden as a cover, and digging criss-cross passages underground, constantly attacking the government, barely surviving.

With the entry of the Qing Dynasty, the Yuyuan Army attacked the Qing Army on a large scale, spreading to Chaocheng, Guancheng, Yuncheng and other areas in southwestern Shandong.

Until now in the fourth year of Shunzhi, the scale has reached [-], and the local government cannot control it.

The Eight Banners across the world, and even the Guanning Iron Cavalry, are completely helpless when fighting on muddy river beaches and hidden underground tunnels.

Therefore, we can only indulge him to sit up.

After Chu Yu learned of his name, he was very pleasantly surprised, and hurriedly went to connect with each other, and with the radish seal, canonized Zhang Qi as the commander of the Yanzhou Guard, and Ren Qi as the commander of the Jining Guard.

Of course, this can only fool these Yuyuan troops. Daming's guards basically span several prefectures, and Shandong is where the coastal defenses are located. Yanzhou Guards and Jining Guards don't exist at all.

However, in this troubled world, the increase or decrease of official positions is also normal.

But Zhang Qi and Ren Qi were local ordinary people, how could they know this, when they heard that they were hereditary commanders, they immediately beamed with joy, and surrendered to Daming sincerely.

Therefore, when the recovery operations carried out in various parts of Yanzhou Prefecture were in full swing, the Yuyuan Army, a bandit army that had been active since the 13th year of Chongzhen, sneaked to Jining.

"Jining is located at the key point of the canal. There are countless tank boats passing by every day, and most of them carry military rations. For your army, it is really a rare and good place."

Chu Yu turned his head to the side, looked at the two big men in military robes, and couldn't help laughing.

Zhang Qi and Ren Qi are two people, one is fat and the other is thin, but their faces are also withered and black, their hands are full of calluses, they are no different from ordinary old farmers.

But at this time, they were wearing general robes. Although it was a little funny, they had a certain momentum after leading soldiers in battle for many years.

"I was waiting in Yuyuan to eat chaff and skins, but this group of tartars are still searching for money and food everywhere, forcing many people to death. This time is the time for retribution!"

Zhang Qi gritted his teeth and said angrily.

The same is true for Ren Qi, but he fawns over Chu Yu a lot:
"Chu Baihu has made a lot of contributions. This time, Jining was broken again. The most beautiful girl will be dedicated to you."

"Nonsense!" Although she was happy in her heart, Chu Yu knew the emperor's obsession with cleanliness, and if she was criticized in the future, this would be her excuse!

"Now we are the regular army of the imperial court, how can we still behave like bandits?"

Chu Yu scolded: "There is more than one Jining in Shandong, and the Yanzhou government is big..."

Zhang Qi and Ren Qi were noncommittal.

Although they said they hated the Manchus, they didn't have much affection for Daming either.

Before the Qing Dynasty raided Shandong so hard that the Yuyuan army had to go hungry and could only live on elm bark.

But as soon as Daming came, they hit it off.

One needs a flag, the other needs a broken canal, each takes what it needs.

This time the Yuyuan Army attacked Jining and intercepted the canal.

An army of [-] surrounded Jining, intercepted hundreds of tank ships in an instant, and obtained tens of thousands of stone supplies.

At this time, Jining City panicked, and under the attack of the well-fed Yuyuan Army, it took only two or three days to win.

The Manchu Qing lost the city of Jining.

In an instant, Jinan was shocked.

Shandong governor Ding Wensheng panicked instantly.

A few days ago, Zhang Guang's anti-Qing riot broke out in Weixian County, and thousands of people besieged Laizhou, which was finally put down.

Who would have thought that such turmoil would break out again now.

It's okay to lose Yanzhou Mansion. No one in Qufu's Yan Shenggong dares to mess around, but Jining can't have any accidents.

"How's the loss?"

Ding Wensheng gritted his teeth and asked.

Chief Minister Shao Mingshi said with a wry smile: "The money and food are about ten thousand stones. The key is that hundreds of tank boats have been lost. Where can I find them in a short time?"

"Wanshi? Isn't it thirty thousand stone?"

Ding Wensheng suddenly rolled his eyes and said.

"Yes, fifty thousand stones, fifty thousand stones!"

Shao Mingshi suddenly realized, he quickly changed his words, his eyes lit up: "It's the lower officials who were negligent."

Ding Wensheng glanced at him with deep meaning, and a smile appeared on his mouth.

Now that Jining is lost, it can only try to protect itself.

What's more affordable than silver?
And Shao Mingshi naturally knew what he was thinking, but he just added [-] shi to his empty teeth. This was to remind Ding Wensheng that some people in Shandong should be fed well to prevent the news from leaking.

Of course, including him.

Although Shandong is now in the aftermath of the autumn harvest, due to the imperial court's plundering, there is almost no food stock in the folk, and the price of food is high, exceeding three taels of silver per stone.

In other words, the extra 120,000 shi of grain is [-] taels of silver.

"The thieves are rampant. They are called the Yuyuan Army, but they are actually the Puppet Ming Army. They use their banner to confuse people. It is really hateful."

Shao Mingshi also began to use his brains in order to wash away his responsibility: "Perhaps it is the Ming army who came from Henan to gather bandits and try to block the canal."

"That's right, it's from Henan."

Now, as far as possible to wash away the guilt.

Ding Wensheng nodded quickly and smiled: "The most important thing now is to let Beijing dispatch the Eight Banners Army to wipe out the Ming Army."

However, the Eight Banners garrisons in Dezhou or Qingzhou are not under the command of Ding Wensheng. He is a Han Army Banner, and he has no qualifications or authority to dispatch an Eight Banners soldier.

"Let Feng Wuxiang, Yang Yuming and others send troops to Yanzhou Prefecture to restore water transportation as much as possible!"

Ding Wensheng opened his mouth and said: "Commissioner, the most important thing now is to raise money and food to support the army."

"Yes!" Shao Mingshi hurriedly responded.

When the news of Jining came, the Eight Banners army was besieging the last fortress before Shanyang City: Caowan.

And at this critical moment, Jierhalang was furious when he heard the news about Jining:
"What does Ding Wensheng do to eat? It's not as good as a dog when I was hunting. Why did the [-] troops appear out of nowhere?"

Haug, Luck Dehun and others on the side were also shocked, with ugly expressions on their faces.

Ninety percent of the army's food and grass came from the canal, and the canal was cut off, and the day of the army's defeat was not far away.

Wu Sangui at the side found an opportunity, and hurriedly asked for orders: "General, Wu Sangui is willing to return to Jining to wipe out these Yuyuan thieves!"

"Oh? You know them?"

"General, the last general once sent troops to clean up the river, but there were many tunnels on the river beach, and the mud was so muddy that it was not conducive to riding, so he had no choice but to return!"

(End of this chapter)