A small soldier of the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 364
With a sound of "嗖", a sharp arrow shot through the head of the man holding the stick in the head, and then Ye Bu took the bow left and right, and several men who were chasing were hit by the arrows and flew out.

There was a sound of "啪!", but another night did not stop aiming at the last man and fired a gun. As the smoke from his gun came out, a big hole was made in the man's chest. He stepped back several steps, and finally stood upright. fell to the ground.

Now that the rabbit was up and down, the women running to the side seemed to be shocked, and they all knelt on the ground and kowtowed. The woman who was running looked back, threw herself on the ground in horror, and screamed loudly: "Don't kill me!" Me, don't kill me..."

A horse came in front of her, and the third night didn't close its beard. He glanced at the woman and threw something in front of her. The woman picked it up hesitantly, and then shouted happily: "It's the big one." Cake, it's a big cake..."

She shut her mouth cautiously, and as soon as she put the cake into her arms, she wanted to find a safe place to enjoy it.However, her voice had already attracted the attention of the women beside her, and they screamed and were about to pounce on her to snatch her.

There was a sound of "啪!", and the sound of the pistol again. This night, he took out the pistol and fired it into the sky.

The women who rushed over screamed in panic, and hurried back again, ran a few steps, and then stopped hesitantly.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the woman hid behind a mound of dirt, took out the pancake from her bosom, and stuffed it into her mouth desperately. She ate so fast that she seemed to be choking, and coughed desperately.

A jug fell from the sky in front of her again, not caring where the jug came from, the woman hurriedly took out the cork and poured the water inside into her mouth.

"For you."

Ye Bushou, who shot and killed the man earlier, got off his horse, took out a few pancakes from his horse's bag, and signaled to the women.

Yebushou is very young, with a sunny smile on his face, although his accent is difficult for those women to understand, but everyone recognizes the pie in his hand.Those women came up hesitantly, quickly snatched the big cake in his hand, each found a safe place to eat, looking around while eating, maintaining the posture of running away at any time.

Seeing how these women gobbled it up, Ye Bufu shook his head with emotion.

A piece of cake seemed not enough for them to satisfy their hunger. Seeing the vicious looks of the two officers and soldiers, only this young officer had a gentle expression, so they all crowded in front of this night-buying man and begged: "Master, give me another piece of cake, let me We can do anything."

A woman even begged, while grabbing the hand that was not taken away at night and putting it into her chest, looking at him pitifully.

It was quite embarrassing not to accept it this night, so I looked back at the Shunxiang Army.

Wang Tianxue has followed Wang Dou for many years since he entered Jingbian Fort in the seventh year of Chongzhen, and is now the chief medical officer in the Shun Township Army. worry."

Wang Dou nodded and said, "Bring them here."

Those women were brought over, seeing the armored army here, all the tiger and wolf men, they were all extremely scared.

It seems that the young man just now didn't give them big cakes, and his expression was gentle.So they subconsciously thought that Yebushou was a "good guy", and they all crowded behind him timidly, pulling on his sleeve while walking.

There were six women in this group, all of them were unkempt, shabby, and precariously standing.I can't see their faces clearly, but I guess they should be young, otherwise they will be old and weak, and they will not be able to survive in this famine year.

I heard that Wang Dou was the leader of these officers and soldiers, and his expression was quite gentle, not as if he was trying to harm them. The women were relieved, and they all knelt down and kowtowed, begging: "General, take us in, just be cows and horses." , do whatever you want, just ask for a bite to eat.”

Everyone sighed, Zhenfu Chi Dacheng said: "There should be no women in the army, so as not to disturb the morale of the army."

Wang Dou pondered for a while, and summoned Sun Sanjie, and temporarily placed these women in the general manager of the luggage, let's make arrangements in the future.

When it was almost noon, there was a river called Luo River not far from this small town, but the water of the river had almost dried up, and there were cracks everywhere.Wang Dou ordered the Shun Township Army to rest and cook here, and then sent a Chinese military comfort officer to ask the women for details.

Regardless of their physical weakness, those women asked to work, only fearing that the army would abandon them. They had already seen clearly that this army was different, and it seemed that they could survive here.Soon after the comfort officer came back, he sighed repeatedly: "It's miserable, it's really miserable."

These women are local residents, all of whom are from near Wu'an County, Zhangde Prefecture. After several severe droughts in the local area, the price of rice has been rising all the way. Especially the rich merchants closed their markets, and finally they could not buy food.

According to the productivity of Daming, if the price is two or three times higher than usual, there will be a famine everywhere, not to mention that the price is as high as ten or twenty times.The people developed from eating bark, grass roots, and thorns to eating earth and rocks. After eating these, they began to eat people.

Family members, brothers, friends, and neighbors eat each other. This basic morality no longer exists.In the end, hordes of strong men with sticks went to pick the women and children, but no one dared to save them.

I heard that in the local and nearby cities, except for the city and the suburbs, the villages all starved to death, or became bandits, "cannibals", and the rest of them were in danger of becoming food for others.Fortunately, these women were lucky enough to meet the Shun Township Army passing by, otherwise they would also become the prey of those hungry and dizzy men.

Long and short sighs sounded, Qin Yi said: "Since the year of Chongzhen, Zhongzhou has suffered from hunger every year, and the mountains have been robbed. The grass roots and wood bark have been eaten up, and people are used as food. Parents eat their children, and children eat their parents. The minors are looking forward to disappearing. Wandering around in the middle of the night, hearing cries for help, all traitors use tricks to devour people. This sad and sour nose, I can't bear to hear it..."

The more Qin Yiyue said, the more sad he was. He is from Nanyang. Whenever there is a famine, he feels the same as this Zhangde Mansion. How can he not let him cry?

Gao Shiyin scolded: "The local officials are still incompetent, otherwise why would no one starve to death on my east road, and the other places in Ming Dynasty are so chaotic and so miserable?"

Wen Fangliang said: "Only under the leadership of the general can all the injustices in the world be settled, and the world will be brightened."

Everyone nodded, Wang Dou closed his eyes and was speechless. Rare disasters followed one after another, especially in Henan, which was why the rogues in Henan were particularly prosperous.Suppressing bandits is a political issue, not a military issue.

……

In the evening of the same day, after the Shunxiang army arrived outside Wu'an County and set up camp, Sun Sanjie took the official document of the Ministry of War as usual and went into the city to ask for food from the county magistrate in the city.

Soon after, he came back, but he was empty-handed, and he didn't want a bucket of food.According to what he said, the local county magistrate excused the lack of food and was unwilling to distribute food at all.

Wang Dou was furious, the army came from Zanhuang, and had scattered nearly a thousand shi of military rations along the way, although they brought a lot of silver along with the army, but the merchants and wealthy households were closed, and it was extremely difficult to buy food.If you don't replenish food and grass in the official warehouses of various states and counties, you may not have enough military food to go to Kaifeng.

He shouted to Wen Fangliang: "Mr. Wen Qian, you bring a group of soldiers into the city to capture Nazhi County. I was going to see if he dared not give food in front of my army."

A cold light flashed in Wen Fangliang's eyes, and he clasped his fists to Wang Dou and saluted: "The last general takes orders!"

There was a commotion outside the barracks for a while, and then the commotion rang into the city, and soon, Dou Weilu, the magistrate of Wu'an, Zhangde Prefecture, was twisted in by several Shunxiang troops.

To Wang Dou's surprise, Dou Weiren was very young, less than thirty, with a gentle appearance.He was twisted by several Shunxiang soldiers, but he didn't panic, he glanced at everyone in the tent, and then fixed on Wang Dou, squinting at each other.

Wang Dou glanced at him: "My army was ordered to suppress thieves, and traveled thousands of miles. The Ministry of War wrote this. Why don't you give us food?"

Dou Weilu smiled slightly: "I have heard for a long time that General Dingguo is powerful in the north and south, and the emperor personally crowned the three armies with bravery. The Shunxiang Army is also a teacher of benevolence and righteousness. This is not the way to treat guests like a general."

He speaks with an accent from Anhui, so he is not from any prefecture in Zhongzhou. Also, the Ming Dynasty never allowed people from the province to be officials, especially when Zhu Yuanzhang was emperor, the requirements were even stricter, and even made "Southern officials in the north, and northerners in the south" ", but later it was not limited to the north and the south.However, except for academic officials, it is an iron rule that people from the province are not allowed to be officials in the local area.

Wang Dou was a little surprised that Dou Weiren knew him so well. He asked Dou Weiren to sit down and asked him why he refused to give food.

Dou Weilu suddenly lost his composure and laughed wildly: "Everyone is dead, so naturally there is no food."

He laughed wildly, and his voice was choked with sobs: "The general may not know that the county's original household registration was 35 households, but at the beginning of the year, 28 households had died. The original population of 320 households escaped death. There are 450 dong, and this is still the beginning of the year, so the county does not know how much is left."

"However, the county still has to bear three rates of more than 53 taels of silver, more than 680 shi of Caomi, 840 shi of Liao rice and beans, [-] and [-] shi of Linqingcang rice, and [-] and [-] shi of Lumi. There are [-] households and [-] people left in this county, so how can we provide food for them?"

His expression suddenly became resolute: "The disaster is getting worse day by day. Seeing that the county is about to lose its households, this official has decided to distribute all the grain and rice in the warehouse to the victims."

Wang Dou said: "Then how do you explain to the court?"

Dou Weilu smiled strangely: "It's okay, the lower official has already made up his mind to hang the seal and go back."

He shook his head and recited: "The hut is in a human environment, and there are no cars and horses. How can I ask you? My heart is far away from myself. Picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence, you can see Nanshan leisurely. The mountain weather is beautiful at day and night, and the birds return to each other... ...Ah, this is the heart of an official who can do whatever he wants."

Wang Dou looked at him for a long time, then sighed: "Magistrate Dou, you should go back, you have offended me just now."

Dou Weilu said: "No rush, I just came into the camp as an official, and I saw that your army seems to have a lot of food and grass, for the sake of the common people, please ask the general to pull out a grain and grass to help the people of Wu'an."

Wang Dou was speechless, he had nothing to say to Dou Weiren's shamelessness.

……

Early the next morning, Wang Dou led the army and left Wu'an County. He was in a bad mood. Not only did he not ask for food, but he sent in several hundred stones of food and grass.

But these grains are used to help the victims, Wang Dou feels better.Naturally, Dou Weiren was grateful and praised Wang Dou as the pillar of the country, and the Shunxiang Army as the teacher of benevolence and righteousness. Only Wang Dou has suffering.

"Today, the road is full of exile, and the bones are full of wilds. The dark wind is miserable, the green of the ghosts, and the green of the forest are gathered together. The small bones of the flanks are scattered on the road. Every time you walk in the suburbs, your feet are on it, and there is a sound like on hemp stalks. ..."

The army came all the way, and every time they passed through a city, they were either eating each other or being arrogant. This situation is unbearable to hear, and this scene is unbearable to see.When the army reached Qishui, the whole army stared blankly at the opposite side. There were hundreds of people drowning themselves in the river. They rushed to the first place, as if they were rushing to some paradise.

The voices of comfort officers from various ministries came from behind: "Everyone has seen it. If you hadn't entered the East Road, your family would be the same as it is now. Either you would become food for others, or your life would be worse than death. You all need to cherish the good things now. Days, do your best to kill the thief for General Dingguo, don't slack off."

All the soldiers nodded desperately.

Wang Dou rode silently on his horse. The Qishui was very wide. Although it was a severe drought, there was still plenty of water left. The wind from the river made his fiery red cloak flutter high.

With a clanking sound, he drew out his sharp sword, and all the generals around him looked at Wang Dou.

Wang Dou flicked the sword with his fingers, and the sword made a dragon chant. He said to himself in his heart: "I, Wang Dou, swear that I will bring peace to the world and make this land of China a paradise. No matter who stands in my way, I will remove him."

……

Chongzhen 12th October 22nd, afternoon.

Wang Dou led the Shunxiang Army to Yujiadian Ferry on the north bank of the Yellow River, which already belonged to Kaifeng Prefecture, and Kaifeng City is not far from the Yellow River.

Suddenly seeing the majestic water of the Yellow River, Wang Dou couldn't help being stunned. He has never seen the Yellow River in later generations, and this is the first time he has seen it in this life.

People say that the Yellow River is the mother river of the people of China. If you don’t reach the Yellow River, you are not a hero. The golden river is surging and seems to be flowing unchanged for thousands of years. Go, go.

Not only Wang Dou, but also most of the Shunxiang army were shocked by this mighty river that could not be seen at a glance. They were on the East Road, in Baoding, in Zhending, and in Liaodong. How could they have seen such a vast and mighty river? river water?Many people were shocked by the power of nature, speechless in a daze.

The turbid waves are churning, and the raging Yellow River seems to be hanging above the head. Below the high embankments, there is a vast plain, dotted with cities and villages.The water of the Yellow River hangs high above the heads of millions of living beings along the bank, making people worry about when this monstrous turbid wave will break through the embankment and destroy everything around it.

Fortunately, all of this did not happen for the time being, although Wang Dou knew that during the third Kaifeng battle, Kaifeng's embankment was dug up, and millions of victims died.

It was only when we approached Kaifeng that Wang Dou felt some anger in the world. The disaster situation here is slightly lighter. Although there are still refugees everywhere and the villages and towns are depressed, there is finally some normal life and business order.

On the opposite side is Kaifeng Fucheng. The original residents, plus most of the wealthy households in Henan and the family members of officials, have moved into this city. The people of Kaifeng Fucheng have reached nearly one million.With such a large population, the daily needs are huge. On the Yellow River alone, there are constant merchant ships carrying goods, and business travelers vying for the crossing. There are people with various accents.

Crossing the river is a problem. Fortunately, at the mouth of Kaifeng, there are many boats, and those flat-bottomed boats can transport dozens of people and horses at a time.Fair trade, and troops who are willing to spend money are still welcome. Wang Dou doesn't care about money at all, but the boatmen do.

In addition, some East Road merchants arranged by Wang Dou in Kaifeng also helped to contact them.Soon, Sun Sanjie's supply camp found a large number of ships, about several hundred, and there were many sheepskin rafts in them.In the afternoon of the second day, the entire Shunxiang army crossed the Yellow River and reached beyond the west gate of Kaifeng.

As usual, Wang Dou was going to fight the autumn wind in Kaifeng Mansion to ask for food.

After marching till now, due to the loss of a lot along the way, there is only a small half of the food and grass in his army, and if he doesn't replenish it, he can't go very far.In Wang Dou's plan, it would be best if he could get food for free. If not, he arranged for the merchants on the east road in Kaifeng City to stockpile some food and grass, which should be able to meet the needs of the army for half a month.

Even though he had seen the city walls of Xuanfu Town and the capital, and the city walls of Kaifeng Mansion from a distance, Wang Dou was still shocked.

The circumference of the city is estimated to be twenty or thirty li, and the whole city is covered with bricks, and the city walls are very thick.In particular, the moat around the city is very eye-catching. There are four moats, each about fifty feet wide, and four or five feet deep.At the crossings of the five city gates, all city gate bridges were built. The suspension bridge was made of elm and locust wood, which looked like a bridge.

When pulling the suspension bridge, it is easy to pull it up with iron cables, iron rings, and iron wheel troughs.If there are police outside the city, the upstairs can be pulled up quickly, and after the suspension bridge is pulled up, the material of elm and locust wood is very strong, and it can also be used as a door guard.

Wang Dou lamented that it would be very difficult to break through such a strong city if the defenders were a little bit stronger. No wonder Li Zicheng had to open the seal three times in history.

The document from the Ministry of War had already been sent into the city, and Wang Dou waited for the news to come back, he would definitely not leave without asking for food.

At this time, Wang Dou also recruited businessmen on the East Road in Kaifeng Mansion to ask questions. These people were mainly businessmen from Baoan Prefecture.

As far as the merchants on the East Road are concerned, the merchants in Baoanzhou have the most "iron" relationship with Wang Dou. Under the order of the shogunate, they joined forces with some Shun Township troops to operate in Kaifeng Prefecture and other places. intelligence.

"The trespasser Li Zicheng came to Henan, joined forces with Yidougu and Waiguanzi thieves, numbered hundreds of thousands, and broke through Lushan, Jiaxian, Yiyang, Yiyang, Yanshi, Lingbao, and other counties in the west of Henan. Successive failures. A few days ago, I heard that Yongning City was broken, and King Wan'an and all the nobles in the city died."

"Passers-by have rumored that the thieves have plans to besiege Luoyang."

Although the local government in Kaifeng tried its best to conceal information about the war situation in northwest Henan, there were still many rumors. It was heard that Zhou Wang and governor Li Xianfeng and the chief envoy Liang Bing were worried. If Li Zicheng really besieged Luoyang, what should we do?
Li Zicheng suddenly rose up with great momentum. It is heard that his army has grown to hundreds of thousands, and the Kaifeng government has less than [-] troops, and he is powerless to rescue him.

Although the city of Luoyang is so deep that everyone thinks it is impossible for Li Zicheng to capture it, but they are afraid of one eventuality... After all, Yongning City is broken and King Wan'an is dead. Luoyang is no small matter. uncle.

※※※

Old White Bull:
There are always people arguing about studs and harems. To put it bluntly, my attitude towards women is to do whatever I want, not deliberately, not arrogant, and everything depends on my own preferences.If I find a woman pleasing to the eye, I will let the protagonist accept it. If I don't like it, I will not let the protagonist accept it.So there is really no need for me to argue about low IQ such as special feelings, harem, and stallions.

My principles will not be influenced by others, I can leave if I don't like it, I will never keep it.I personally dislike anti-stallion, harem and other people. I think they oppose for the sake of opposition, arrogance, hypocrisy, and duplicity. In theory, these people are not welcome to read my book.

(End of this chapter)