The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 411 Ma Shiying goes south

In mid-June of the first year of Wuding, Ma Shiying, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War of the Great Qi Dynasty, and Hou Xun, the editor of the Hanlin Academy, were ordered to go south. Under the protection of guards Lin Yu and Wei Zhao, they left Shenyang and set off for Nanjing. They bribed the censors to impeach Liu Zongzhou in order to temporarily suspend the Ming army's northern expedition.

They first crossed the sea by boat from the Liaodong Peninsula and arrived in Dengzhou, Shandong.

The defenders from all over Dengzhou moved towards Linqing, banding together to survive, leaving behind only empty cities.

Without the Qi army's guard, bandits were rampant in the Denglai area. The Shaanxi bandits and local thieves colluded with each other and killed and robbed people indiscriminately.

On June 30th, Ma Shiying and his party left Dengzhou and rushed to Wendeng County.

Wendeng was one of the earliest strongholds of the Kaiyuan Army in Shandong, and Ma Shiying and Lin Yu had deep feelings for this city.

Feelings aside, Wendeng has become a hell on earth.

At noon, they hid in the grass outside the east gate and looked at Wendeng County two miles away.

Ma Shiying raised the telescope and looked for a while, his hands began to tremble uncontrollably.

Wei Zhao took the telescope and pointed it at the thick smoke rising from the city. He saw civilians running around in the streets below. Women were mixed in the crowd, crying and panicking, their clothes in disarray. A group of yamen runners were protecting a civil servant as they hacked and killed the thugs who rushed towards them...
Teams of bandits came north from Huaiyang, as fierce as the wind. They jumped over the floating bridge over the moat and rushed onto the north and south streets, looting and shouting loudly. From time to time, bandits with Shaanxi accents joined them.

"God damned bandits, after wreaking havoc on Tianjin, now they're wreaking havoc on Shandong."

Wei Zhao drew out his goose-feather knife. If Ma Shiying had not stopped him, the number one swordsman in Tianjin would have rushed in immediately.

"The enemy is numerous and we are few, so we will die."

Ma Shiying looked back at Hou Xun and asked the well-informed editor:
"Brother Ruogu (Hou Xun's courtesy name), who is the magistrate of Wendeng County?"

Hou Xun answered without hesitation, "He was the former Lieutenant General of Wendeng. He made great contributions in suppressing the Wenxiang Sect during the first year of Taichang, and has remained in Wendeng ever since. After the Emperor ascended the throne, he appointed him as the Magistrate of Wendeng County. He's only been in office for two months."

"Chen Xin?"

"Yes, it's this warrior."

Ma Shiying had some impression of Chen Xin, but he couldn't remember what he looked like.

He had been negotiating with the Rakshasa demons on Sakhalin Island for the past three months and nearly lost his life. He didn't even know that Kang Yingqian had become the Prime Minister of Da Qi, let alone the magistrate of Wendeng.

Ma Shiying looked up at the location of the Wendeng County Government Office, which was now covered by billowing black smoke. The scene of Emperor Wuding stationed at the Wendeng County Government Office, strategizing and suppressing the Wenxiang Sect rebellion emerged in front of his eyes.

He waved his hand and stopped thinking about the past. Ma Shiying and Kang Yingqian had similar personalities and were both fully qualified political animals. It was just that Minister Ma did not have the ancestral Vajra Powder and was not very interested in women.

"Then let Lord Chen wish for his own good fortune. I hope he can return to Lushun alive. I have said long ago that being an official in Shandong is not easy. It is not easy. This fellow gave up his job as an officer in Liaodong and insisted on coming to Wendeng County to farm..."

Ma Shiying sighed at the smoke all over the city and shed two crocodile tears.

He waved his hand and beckoned everyone to leave this dangerous place quickly. They only had five guards, and besides Lin Yu and Wei Chao, the remaining three were recruits. They were obviously no match for the thousands of bandits in the city, and they might even get themselves killed here.

Everyone knew this truth and left with tears in their eyes.

Only Lin Yu stood there like a statue, motionless. Wei Zhao knew that the big man wanted to rush in to save that County Magistrate Chen Xin, so he advised:

"Brother Lin, let's go. We have important things to do! If Shandong is lost, it's lost. We can take it back later. If we delay any longer, Liaodong will be lost too!"

Lin Yu remained silent, then nodded and followed the crowd, leaving the official road and continuing along the path.

They turned southwest from Wendeng, and the closer they got to Linqing, the more enemies appeared along the way. They were flying various flags, including the standard-bearing battalion under the command of Liu Bei, the Nanzhili soldiers commanded by Zuo Liangyu, the Henan soldiers under the command of the powerful Ma Hongqi, and the Liaoxi soldiers under Wu Sangui.

In addition, there were Shaanxi bandits and local thugs who fled into Shandong from all over northern Zhili.

The rebel soldiers combed through the countryside and towns like razors. They plundered the people again and again without getting tired of it. The looted things started with gold, silver, jewelry, grain, cloth, chicken, duck, fish and meat, and ended with rags, wood and rubble. When the rebel soldiers finally arrived, they saw only the bare foundation (the beams had been removed to make shield carts, and the bricks and stones had been removed to fill the trenches). They could no longer rob anything, so they had to kill the people one by one, who only had one pair of pants left.

Ma Shiying and others carefully avoided these chaotic soldiers. When they encountered small groups of three or five people, Lin Yu and Wei Zhao would kill them all without mercy, leaving no one alive.

Wei Zhao's boss, Yang Hao, the chief minister, was trapped and died in the capital by bandits. Several of Lin Yu's brothers also died at the hands of the bandits... Twelve days later, after experiencing all kinds of hardships, they finally arrived in Linqing. Linqing is now the last stronghold of the Qi army inside the pass. In the words of Emperor Wu Ding later, "Linqing is the only reserve of humanity inside the pass, shining with the brilliance of humanity."

However, this shining highland of humanity is now surrounded by the Northern Expedition Ming Army. The Henan tyrant Ma Hongqi also wants to get a piece of the pie. The tyrants around Linqing are eyeing it covetously, waiting for one side of the fight to fall down bleeding, and then they will immediately pounce on them and eat them up.

Ma Shiying and others tried several times to enter the city, but were blocked by Ma Hongqi's scout horses. Several small-scale battles broke out between the two sides. Da Qi lost a guard and Henan soldiers lost three scout horses.

Ma Shiying did not dare to stay, so he had to bypass Linqing and continue to Nanjing.

Passing through Huaiyang, everyone was shocked by the scene before them.

The canal has dried up, and the fields on both sides are all barren. Overhead, swarms of locusts are sweeping across the fields like dark clouds, eating up all the weeds in the fields...

The six people walked south along the canal for five full days, passing by hundreds of villages. Only ruins were left of the villages, and the villagers had disappeared. Occasionally, a vicious dog would hear the noise and stand at the village entrance barking at everyone.

Wei Zhao used a knife to drive away the vicious dogs with red eyes and prevented them from getting close.

"Minister Ma, the plague has broken out in the village. The dogs have eaten human flesh and have gone mad. Look at their eyes, they are all red. If they are bitten, we will go crazy too. Don't be afraid, I, the First Knife of Jinmen, am here..."

What I have seen along the way these days is enough to drive a normal person crazy.

When Wu Youke was in the capital, he told everyone about the tragic scene after a person was bitten madly. Unfortunately, Doctor Wu also died.

Everyone carefully avoided the mad dogs and continued their journey through hell along the dry canal.

~~~~
On the night when Ma Shiying and his entourage left Linqing, Linqing wealthy merchant Dongfang Zhu bribed a captain of the defending army, and under the cover of darkness, he lowered himself down from the west gate, crossed the moat and arrived at the opposite Ming army position.

He was soon discovered by a Ming army scout, who stuttered and blackmailed him.

"Silver...silver, bills...bills, women...women, give them all to me, give them all, don't, don't try to get away with it, if you're...a merchant, take out the silver!"

"Brother, don't miss the important matter. Take me to see Marshal Zuo quickly. I'll take you to visit the brothels in Linqing someday. Have you heard of the Qinhuai Skinny Horse?"

"Beat...beat your brother-in-law, and you dare to lie to me. Take the silver!"

Dongfang Zhu reached out and grabbed the stuttering scout's arm, flipped him sideways, and threw him to the ground. Seven or eight night patrol servants suddenly rushed over from the opposite side, with their shining knives pressed against Dongfang's neck.

"Don't kill me. If you kill me, you won't be able to capture Linqing City. If you want silver...men, women..., then listen to my advice!"

Dongfang Zhu also started stuttering, which made the stuttering scout so angry that he got up from the ground, drew his sword and was about to chop people.

A man who looked like a servant kicked the scout away, looked Dongfang Zhu up and down, and said coldly:
"Come on, I'll take you to see General Zuo!"

~~~~~
"Then we will set fire to the east gate, and the general will lead the army to attack the west gate. The Qi army will be distracted and the outcome will be decided in one battle."

Zuo Liangyu looked carefully at Dongfang Zhu who was standing in front of him. His sharp eyes were like a knife, as if he wanted to cut open the heart of the local tyrant in Linqing.

Dongfang Zhu met the sharp gaze with an unwavering expression, saying flatteringly, "General, I heard that Commander Liu has taken troops to the capital, along with many Liaoxi soldiers. I wonder if the army has enough troops to attack the west gate?"

Zuo Liangyu glared at him, his eyes rolling around, and it was obvious that Dongfang Zhu had become suspicious.

"Don't blame me, General. I'm not afraid of death. It's just that setting fire to the city has brought me great consequences. The life and death of my family depends on the Liaodong soldiers. If anything goes wrong..."

As Dongfang Zhu spoke, the image of his wife and six concubines appeared in his mind, as well as Sister Li Gui, with whom he had just been intimate in the sedan chair last night.

Zuo Liangyu glared at Dongfang Zhu fiercely and took a step forward with his strong body like a black tower. Although Dongfang Zhu was also strong, he still felt an unprecedented oppression in front of Zuo Liangyu, who was nine feet tall.

Just when he was at a loss, Zuo Liangyu stretched out his big hand, patted him on the shoulder, and said in a loud voice:

"You're a smart man. Liu Zongzhou's not here, and I have the final say over the 50,000 troops in the Jiangbei camp! Liu Zongzhou and Wu Sangui aren't even fit to carry my shoes. And that bastard Pu can't escape Linqing City. None of the defenders will survive. If we take over Linqing, I'll become the Minister of War, and you'll definitely benefit from it!"

Dongfang Zhu quickly bowed and thanked:
"On behalf of the 3,000 merchants in the 72nd Street of Linqing's Thirteen Factories, I would like to thank General Zuo. No, I would like to thank Minister Zuo!"

(End of this chapter)