The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 346: The Village Head and the Head Wrap

Yongping Prefecture, Beizhi, the prefectural capital.

Carriages loaded with food and fodder creaked through the North-South Streets, followed by a group of Yongping soldiers wearing red mandarin duck-patterned battle jackets.

Most of these combatants were local soldiers recruited from the nine counties and one state under Yongping Prefecture, including some local militia and able-bodied men who were temporarily captured.

Three days ago, they were urgently recruited to the provincial capital, and together with fifty carts loaded with food and fodder, they set out westward overnight, heading for the starting point of this western expedition - the capital of the Ming Dynasty.

They will rest for a while outside the capital, and then go to Shaanxi as reinforcements to quell the rebellion.

This army consisted of about two thousand men. Except for the general and the fifty retainers around him, the other soldiers were all wearing worn-out armor, and some were even naked. The weapons in their hands were of various lengths. No one carried a musket, and there were very few bows and arrows.

It took them three days to finally arrive in Fengrun after setting out from Yongping Prefecture. They stopped and walked along the way, occasionally robbing remote villages. It was estimated that it would take some time to reach the capital.

Under the 17-foot tall general's flag, Yongping General Zhang Chun looked forward with a serious look.

Several servants escorted an old man who looked like a legal advisor to his mount.

"I'm a Juren (academic scholar) and my writing is better than that of a Jinshi (a scholar). I don't need any staff. Get lost!"

Zhang Chun was about to send the man away when he suddenly felt that the old man looked familiar, so he waved his hand and asked the servant to leave.

The master was carried by the servants for a long way and was panting with exhaustion. When the servants walked a little further away, he said to Zhang Chun:
"General Zhang is so powerful, you don't even recognize me now."

Zhang Chun rode on his horse and looked at the old man carefully. In the distance, soldiers were passing by the roadside.

He suddenly slapped his thigh, quickly jumped off the horse, and hugged his master.

"Xue Lao San! Why did you come back?"

The lawyer surnamed Xue quickly signaled Zhang Chun to lower his voice.

"General Zhang, Master Wu asked me to tell you something. He and the young master are doing well in their hometown in Jiangyou. Don't worry."

Zhang Chun curled his lips.

"Damn it! Wu Xiang left without even saying goodbye. I thought he was killed by Liu Zhaosun. He went to Shandong and did so many big things. He almost got me killed!"

This General Zhang was Zhang Chun, who rescued Zu Dashou in the Battle of Daling River in history.

He was a successful candidate in the imperial examinations in the 28th year of the Wanli reign. In the original history, in the 2nd year of the Tianqi reign, the Liaodong region was completely lost. The court discussed the urgent need for border defense talents and promoted Zhang Chun to be the assistant governor of Shandong and the military governor of Yongping and Yanjian.

At that time, refugees gathered outside the Great Wall. Zhang Chun made good plans and attracted the attention of the emperor. During the Ji Si Rebellion (Note 1), Zhang Chun led his troops to participate in the battle to recapture the four cities.

The following year, he took up the post of military inspector and led 40,000 troops to Liaoxi with generals Wu Xiang and Song Wei to rescue Jinzhou.

As a result, he was defeated and captured, along with Lieutenant General Zhang Hongmo, Yang Huazheng, guerrilla Xue Dahu and 33 others.

When the others saw Huang Taiji, they all performed the homage, but Zhang Chun stood upright without kneeling, and said:
A loyal minister does not serve two masters; this is the proper etiquette. If I were to cling to life, what use would I have? He was ordered to shave his head, but he refused and was subsequently placed under house arrest by the Later Jin.

After that, he was imprisoned in the Sanguan Temple in Shenyang for more than ten years. During his imprisonment, he always "wore Hanfu" and "refused to shave his head". He insisted on the clothing of the Ming Dynasty and upheld the integrity of a Ming official.

Finally, he died of starvation.

Liu Zhaosun admired this Su Wu-like general of the late Ming Dynasty very much.

Therefore, after learning that Zhang Chun worked under Zu Dashou and destroyed the Zu family in Liaoxi, he still did not kill him.

Instead, he petitioned the court to transfer this person to Yongping and promote him to the position of military supervisor.

This time the army entered Shaanxi to quell the rebellion, and all the prefectures and counties in the capital had to dispatch troops to reinforce. Yongping Prefecture also dispatched 2,000 people to the capital to await deployment.

Zhang Chun was not loyal to the Duke of Huguo.

Half a year ago, Li Mingrui, a scholar-official, and several nobles "put an end to the rebellion and eliminate the bandits" in the capital.

They called on heroes all over the world to eliminate Liu Zhaosun. Li Mingrui sent people to Yongping Prefecture many times to lobby Zhang Chun, hoping that General Zhang would lead the army to cleanse the world and achieve great things together.

However, until the very end, Zhang Chun, who commanded 5,000 soldiers and horses and was stationed in Yongping, did not assist Zhu Youjian with a single soldier.

It is not to repay the Duke of Protector of the Country for his kindness.

It was only because when he was in Jinzhou, he had witnessed the combat effectiveness of the Kaiyuan Army with his own eyes and knew Liu Zhaosun's true strength.

When the frontier troops from Xuanfu, Datong, and Yulin confidently arrived to support the emperor, the Yongping Military Governor, who was at the foot of the emperor and only a hundred miles from Beijing, remained silent, choosing to watch from the sidelines as Zhu Youjian was once again pinned down by Liu Zhaosun. It was precisely because of this cautious attitude that he later avoided retaliation from Kaiyuan.

After the Jingnan Campaign, the Duke of Huguo became more fond of Zhang Chun.

This time, Zhang Chun was given a quota of 2,000 troops to fight in Qin, so that he could make achievements in Shaanxi and make further progress.

However, Zhang Chun would not appreciate the Duke of Huguo's kindness.

When he was in western Liaoning, he had a close relationship with Wu Xiang. The two often smuggled together and made money together.

After the Wu family was destroyed, Zhang Chun took over many of the Wu family's businesses by relying on the trust of the Duke of Huguo.

Wu Xiang, who fled to the south of the Yangtze River with his wife and son, was still waiting in the south, waiting for his good friend to avenge him.

After waiting for a long time but seeing no movement, he sent his servant to sneak into northern Zhili to deliver a message to Zhang Chun.

Of course, it was not just Wu Xiang from Liaoxi who wanted to take revenge and kill Liu Zhaosun.

Because Liu Zhaosun launched a large-scale purge of the Donglin Party, the Chu Party, and the Zhejiang Party, and recently took action against the censor, the southern officials had long regarded him as a thorn in their side.

Since July, the gentry of Huguang have been preparing to nominate the seventh son of Emperor Shenzong, Prince of Gui, as emperor. Thanks to Emperor Wanli, Prince of Gui's palace has more than 3,000 guards, making him the most powerful among the many princes in the south.

They planned to follow the example of Prince of Yan Zhu Di and start an army from Huguang (the Prince of Gui's fiefdom was Chenzhou, Hunan) to launch a real Jingnan Campaign to eliminate the traitor Liu Zhaosun.

On the eve of the Jingnan Rebellion, everyone naturally thought of Zhang Chun who was in enemy territory.

They hoped that this "Junior General Zhang, born into a successful career, with a high moral character," could act as an internal supporter, take the lead in raising the banner of the Jingnan Rebellion in the north, and draw Liu Bei's firepower...

"This is a secret letter written by General Wu. The master has repeatedly instructed that it can only be opened when we arrive in Yongping Prefecture."

Inside the big tent, Xue Lao San tremblingly cut off the lining of his robe and pulled out a small piece of paper.

Because it was properly hidden, the secret letter was never discovered by the Kaiyuan pacification soldiers.

Zhang Chun used an iron stick to lighten the candle flame and glanced at the note.

He was a juren, so he could read and write without any problem. After reading it, he rolled up the paper and burned it in front of the candle.

"Go back and tell General Wu to stay calm. Right now, the Kaiyuan army is still fighting the Shaanxi rebels, and there's no clear outcome. When the time comes, I'll naturally act. Also, tell Prince Gui and the others that many people have wanted to become emperor in the past two years, but they all died at the hands of Liu Zhaosun. So, if you don't have real skills, don't rush to reincarnate and die!"

~~~~~~
In the north of Shenyang, thirteen-year-old Jiang Liuer looked at the vehicles heading north on the post road and tightened the belt around his waist.

"Captain, all the soldiers have gone to Shaanxi to fight. Why do we have to go north and fight the Jiannu?"

The burly captain Shi Jin put a cotton armor on the auxiliary soldier and stuffed two handfuls of Ula grass into the armor.

"I heard it started snowing in the north!"

"The Tartars have already been defeated. Why fight again? We should go north and deal with the Rakshasas! The spearmen won't go; you'll go with the musketeers. Take care of yourself!"

Jiang Liuer just turned thirteen this year.

Four years have passed since the bloody battle of Hunhe River. He has grown from a thin little boy into a nine-foot-tall, strong young man.

All his family members died in the Battle of Hunhe River. At the beginning of the year, General Qi sent people to Shenyang to recruit soldiers, and Jiang Liuer also ran to sign up.

He lied to the recruiting officer and said he was fifteen.

According to Kaiyuan conscription regulations, those over fifteen years old can serve as auxiliary soldiers, and those over sixteen years old can serve as combat soldiers.

Jiang Liuer was recruited into the army as an auxiliary soldier. After three months of physical and drill training, he officially became an auxiliary soldier of the 1st Battalion of the 11th Guards Army.

The northern expedition team clashed with the Cossacks, and Li Sanguang almost lost his life. Ma Shiying rushed north and drew troops from all over Liaodong to reinforce Sakhalin Island.

Jiang Liuer was selected by Ma Shiying as an auxiliary soldier and marched north with 300 soldiers to eliminate the enemies from the Rakshasa Kingdom who were blocking Kaiyuan.

Only Captain Shi Jin knew that the child had just turned thirteen.

He carefully put the helmet on Jiang Liuer and repeatedly reminded the thirteen-year-old auxiliary soldier that when he arrived on the battlefield and cut off the enemy's heads, he should not rush too far forward and should save his life.

Note:
1. The Ji Si Incident: The Ji Si Incident, also known as the Later Jin's Attack on the Capital of Ming Dynasty, was a historical event from October 1629 (the second year of Chongzhen in Ming Dynasty and the third year of Tiancong in Later Jin Dynasty) to January 1630 (the third year of Chongzhen in Ming Dynasty and the fourth year of Tiancong in Later Jin Dynasty) during the war between Ming Dynasty and Later Jin Dynasty. The event was that Huang Taiji, the Khan of Later Jin Dynasty, led his army to raid Beijing and the Ming army blocked the Later Jin army.

(End of this chapter)