Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 398 Chaos ([-])

When Mo Ming and others were pointing out the country in the Dabo Port area, a fishing boat on the east coast, which was going to Rishiri Island to deliver supplies and returned, brought a letter from Li Wenchang, the acting Yantai Garrison Commander.

"What? Guo Sheng sent someone to contact us and want to buy weapons?" After reading the letter Mo Ming forwarded to him, Liu Haiyang said in surprise: "This is too unbelievable. It's really poisonous! How to deal with this matter?"

"How to deal with it? Just sell him!" Mo Ming said indifferently, "Guo Sheng is also a righteous man. According to historical records, he has been fighting against the Manchu Qing until the third year of Kangxi (1664), and finally fought with Li Laiheng and others. To die in a heroic battle together is countless times stronger than those traitors in Nanming who surrendered to the Manchus one after another. I like these warriors the most. Let's go. The affairs here are almost handled. Come back to Yantai with me. "

On June 6th, Mo Ming returned to Yantai Port on a naval ship, accompanied by two boats full of crabs, sea cucumbers, squid and other seafood. These are naval officers and soldiers who have recently become fishermen. The fish caught off the coast of Sakhalin Island can more or less provide some nutritional supplements for the residents of Yantai.

As soon as Mo Ming got off the ship and returned to the headquarters in Yantai Fort, Li Zhengang, who was the county magistrate of Yantai but hadn't arrived yet, immediately appeared in front of Mo Ming.

"The general is finally back." Li Zhengang seemed to have been waiting in Yantai for several days. At this time, he finally ran into Mo Ming, and immediately said eagerly, "Does the general know that the situation in Shandong has changed recently?"

Mo Ming laughed unkindly. How could he not know the current situation in Shandong? When he got off the ship, the intelligence staff had already sent him some news that he had inquired recently. Recent events are listed.Mo Ming took a closer look and found that Guo Sheng had a very difficult life recently, feeling a little exhausted.

Historical records: On April [-], Guo Sheng led more than [-] troops to quell the Gaogui rebellion in Tai'an; Linyi Jinshen captured the magistrate of Dashun County, and Guo Sheng sent troops to quell it; Suppression"; on the tenth day of May, Ling Jiong, the head of the Ministry of War of the Ming Dynasty, rebelled in Linqing, and captured Dashun Linqing's defense envoy Wang Huangji, Fu Yin Liu Shizeng and others, and escorted them to Jinan, where they were rescued by Guo Sheng's troops on the way; May [-] Pan Shiliang, the former minister of the Ming Dynasty, and Zhang Wenchang, the commander-in-chief, led the township soldiers to break through the east city of Jining, captured and killed Dashun Jining defense envoy Zhang Wenxing, governor Ren Chongzhi, commander Fu Long and others, and burned and killed the defenders of Dashun...

In a word, when the news of the Dezhou rebellion came, there were flames of war everywhere in Shandong, and the landlords and gentry raised their troops one after another, attacking and killing the officials appointed by Dashun.However, Guo Sheng's more than [-] soldiers went around suppressing the rebellion, but they always pressed the gourd and picked up the ladle, exhausted.

"Where is Guo Jieshuai stationed now?" Mo Ming asked casually after taking a sip of tea.

"Guo Shuai is currently leading a large army to station in You Fang, 3000 miles outside Linqing City. The officials and gentry of the former Ming Dynasty were stubborn and dared to resist the heavenly soldiers. Guo Shuai is currently preparing his troops, and Linqing Prefecture will be destroyed sooner or later." Li Zhengang said without blushing.In fact, the [-] soldiers that Guo Sheng originally brought to Shandong were divided into Dezhou, Qingzhou, Jinan, Jining, Linqing and other places. Currently, he has only a few hundred troops in his direct line. The so-called [-]-odd troops are still in Its scale only came after the Ming armies in Jinan and Jining were incorporated.It's a pity that the so-called "scholar riots" launched by local students as the main force came too fast, and many officials and soldiers scattered in Dashun were massacred before they could react.Many of these troops are old soldiers who have fought in battles. It is a pity that they were lost in the hands of these rural soldiers for nothing.At present, while Guo Sheng is gathering these old subordinates, he is preparing to attack Linqingzhou City, which has been occupied by the armed forces of the gentry; while Zhang Ruxing, another general of the Shun Army in Shandong, and the former commander-in-chief of the Ming Dynasty, is leading his troops to the vicinity of Jining, preparing to attack This city was also occupied by the gentry armed forces.

"Since Guo Shuai has gone, it's okay. Forget it, County Magistrate Li, I won't hang out with you anymore. I know your reason for coming, don't you just want some weapons? I do have a lot of weapons, of course. I am willing to give some support to Guo Shuai, but I can't give it in vain, I think you should understand this." Mo Ming said bluntly.

"It's natural." Li Zhengang also said with a face of course, "Before I came down as an official, I had Guo Shuai's order. We will accept whatever General Mo needs. Money, food, or people? Money has Jining, Linqing The silver and grain in the treasury also include a large amount of wheat and corn taken from the former Ming clan. As for the people, there are even more people. There are more than a million people in the three prefectures of Jinan, Dongchang, and Yanzhou, and there are as many generals as there are.”

"Hmm." Mo Ming nodded slightly, and then said: "In this case, I have nothing to say. Please tell Guo Shuai, the county magistrate Li, that I need a lot of food first, and the second is to be strong." Men and strong women. Besides, gold and silver are generally not accepted. Of course, if Guo Shuai is really in trouble, it is not impossible to exchange for silver..."

"General Mo is benevolent." Li Zhengang praised, and said: "Then it's settled, Guo Shuai will pay the general for the purchase of guns with food and Dingkou. Well, Guo Shuai has heard that General Mo's guns are sharp, Therefore, I want to buy some strong voices, and I need five hundred guns, ten cannons, one hundred pairs of armor, two hundred strong bows, three hundred leather armors, five hundred long knives, and one thousand spears. .In addition, it is necessary to purchase some trivial items such as cannon lead medicine, luggage and equipment, and General Wanwang will allow it."

Mo Ming was surprised when he heard the numbers and types reported by Li Zhengang. Guo Sheng has a lot of appetite, and he has such a clear understanding of the military equipment of the people on the east coast. It seems that he is really a caring person.The people from the east coast have not fought a few battles outside, except for the defeat of Zhai Taishan's thieves, they were armed with some gentry.Well, I heard that Zhai Taishan's clan uncle is Monk Zhai Wu, a drama bandit in Qingzhou—now he has become a local official in Dashun, so the news should have spread from Monk Zhai Wu.

During the two or three months since Guo Sheng came to Shandong, he recruited many Ming troops, the number of which was about 2000. In addition, he also recruited hundreds of young men.The equipment of these people is definitely not good, and the combat effectiveness is naturally that way. At present, Guo Sheng is mixing these people with his less than one thousand old troops, and then going around in Shandong to counter the rebellion.He should buy these weapons for his old battalion. After the weapons are in place, he will probably transfer the equipment of the current old battalion to these newly recruited sergeants, so as to bring the equipment level and combat effectiveness of his troops to a new level. .

In fact, Mo Ming is more envious of Guo Sheng's soldiers who have been fighting for many years. Some of these soldiers have been in battle several times, and some of them have seen hundreds of battles. They all climbed out of the dead.Not to mention the combat effectiveness compared with the Qing army, at least it is at the same level as Wu Sangui's army, and may even be more daring to fight. It is no problem to wipe out the Ming army and the local gentry's armed forces.If some such armed forces can be incorporated, the strength of the people on the east coast will be greatly increased here.

Therefore, Mo Ming quickly and inadvertently mentioned another sentence, saying: "When the magistrate Li goes back, he should tell Guo Shuai and his colleagues that if there is any disagreement, he can lead the army and the people to Dengzhou. I dare not say anything else. Fushan, Wendeng, and Ninghai Prefecture can still protect your safety. At that time, we will join forces and advance together, and we will be strong and strong, right?"

Mo Ming understood that Guo Sheng was more loyal to Li Zicheng, and he and his headquarters probably would not come to Dengzhou.According to historical records, he took treasury silver from Jining and Linqing and a large amount of grain and fodder to Shaanxi. Later, he fought in many places with Li Zicheng, Li Guo, Li Laiheng and others. It lasted 20 years and finally died in Xingshan. of loyalty.However, the nearly 37 defense envoys, governors, Tongzhi, and [-] county magistrates appointed by Guo Sheng in Shandong may not all follow him back to Shaanxi via Henan; Landlords seized stolen goods and tortured them, and distributed their fields to poor people, which was considered a death feud in the local area.

Once Guo Sheng's main force left, the fate of these people is self-evident. Historically, most of them were killed, and a few escaped without a trace.At this time, if they can be gathered together, it will be a point of strength.Some of these people are from the peasant army, some are down-and-out literati who have defected to the new dynasty, and some are local tyrants. They also have some armed forces at hand, ranging from dozens of people to hundreds of people. It cannot be compared with those local strength derivatives.At present, Guo Sheng's main force is still there, and it is already a little bit unstoppable. When Guo Sheng leads his army to retreat westward to follow Li Zicheng, what awaits these people will be a catastrophe.

Li Zhengang was born in the peasant army, and he followed Guo Sheng to fight in many provinces. How could he not know the tragic end of the local officials appointed by Dashun!It can be said that as long as the main force of the peasant army retreats, the armed gentry will come back to liquidate them, and the methods are bloody and cruel, without showing any compassion for the scholars.Now the news of Shunjun's defeat in Shanhaiguan has just reached Shandong, but the news that Li Zicheng withdrew from Beijing after ascending the throne is not known to many people.Of course, these people do not include Guo Sheng, Li Zhengang and others. Currently, Guo Sheng has begun to collect treasury silver and grain, and is actively contacting Li Zicheng's brigade, ready to withdraw westward into Henan at any time.

Therefore, after Mo Ming uttered these words, he was silent for a while, then sighed, and said: "General Mo is really a man of benevolence and righteousness. That being the case, I am not hypocritical anymore. Many people are now dragging their families However, if they follow Guo Shuai to retreat to the west, there will be a lot of inconvenience. After I go back, I will immediately write a book to the states and counties to let them do things cheaply. If the situation is urgent, I will immediately withdraw to Qingzhou. If Qingzhou is not safe, I will continue Then retreat to General Mo in Dengzhou, and General Wanwang will take care of him."

(End of this chapter)