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

Chapter 367 Entering Kaifeng

"Weave, weave, weave a flower basket, weave a flower basket and go to Nanshan. Nanshan is full of red peonies, and the flowers are blooming beautifully. Silver peonies, silver peonies, silver peonies, Nahai, hey..."

The ones who sang at this time were the six women rescued by the Shun Township Army in Wu'an County, Zhangde Prefecture that day. They were dressed in mandarin duck battle jackets, and with the accompaniment of vocal music, they jumped up and down and twisted their bodies exaggeratedly.

All around them, soldiers from the Shun Township Army sat on the ground, and Wang Dou and the generals also sat in front to watch.There were bursts of laughter, and everyone's words were full of admiration for these women's singing and dancing.

These women are all in their teens, when they are in their youth, and Han women have always been good at singing and dancing, no matter whether they are in the north or the south.After these women were rescued into the Shun Township Army, they were temporarily arranged to join Xie Youcheng's troupe.

Since the ninth year of Chongzhen, Xie Youcheng's Yuhuangge Troupe has made great contributions to the public opinion propaganda of the Shunxiang Army. The various repertoires they composed and performed were very popular among military households all over the East Road.This time, Xie Youcheng's troupe also accompanied the army, bringing spiritual comfort to the soldiers of the Shunxiang Army who went on the expedition.

After these women were rescued, they came to Kaifeng Mansion with the army. In fact, Wang Dou deliberately arranged them into Kaifeng Mansion City, but these women were looking for life and death, and they were unwilling to leave the army.

These days in the Shunxiang Army, they have seen it very clearly. The army has enough food and clothing, and often has meat to eat. Both officers and soldiers treat them kindly. This day is like heaven. Leaving this army, Where can I find such a good place?I'm even afraid that I won't be able to survive in the future.

They stayed in the army of Shun Township wholeheartedly. Natural disasters and man-made disasters occurred in Henan Province, bandits were rampant, states and counties were constantly being plundered and trapped, and indeed no place was safe.Save people to the end, stay in the army for the time being, and bring them back to the East Road in the future, so let's count on them.

Considering their physical strength, it was not appropriate to enter the baggage supply. In the end, Wang Dou arranged them into the troupe accompanying the army. It was not bad to sing and dance on weekdays to boost the morale of the soldiers.Needless to say, they are quite talented in music and dance. This Henan local folk song and folk dance was performed wonderfully, which aroused bursts of applause from the soldiers.

Wang Dou also nodded with a smile, and watched the soldiers sit around and around. Although everyone applauded and the atmosphere was enthusiastic, they still maintained their military appearance and clear eyes.Also, the military discipline in Shun Township is strict, and all the sergeants have married families. Many families have one wife and several concubines. It's not that they have never tasted men and women.

The music of silk and bamboo drums was melodious, and Wang Dou was fascinated by it. Later generations, he liked traditional folk dance songs, but he was not interested in singing and dancing from overseas countries.

Just as he was admiring the local folk songs and polls, Xie Yike suddenly walked up to Wang Dou and said in a low voice: "General, Chen Yongfu, deputy general of Henan Province, led Kaifeng generals to visit."

……

With the sound of hooves, an armored cavalry army slowly headed towards Kaifeng City. In front of the army, Wang Dou and Chen Yongfu walked side by side. Chen Yongfu pointed out the scenery around Kaifeng for Wang Dou from time to time.Obviously, he was a little absent-minded, as if he hadn't woken up from what he saw in the military camp in Shun Township just now.

At this time, Chen Yongfu was still confused. Wang Dou said that he was ordered by the Ministry of War to lead more than [-] troops to Sichuan to conquer Zhang Xianzhong's thieves, but Chen Yongfu didn't understand why there were nearly [-] elites in his army?
Wang Dou said that there were [-] soldiers accompanying the army. Chen Yongfu couldn't believe it. Those were soldiers?Are the soldiers so elite that everyone wears armor?Even the battalion of one's own servants cannot all wear armor.It seems... In terms of military appearance, his family battalion is far inferior to Wang Dou's soldiers.

Could it be that these people are Wang Dou's servants?If these people are all servants, Wang Dou actually has seven thousand servants?He's just a general.

If those people are not servants, why are these battalion soldiers as elite as servants, even worse than them?

Chen Yongfu couldn't turn his head around a bit. In fact, he had heard of Wang Dou's reputation. He had fought against Tongzhou, Julu, and Pinggu.

It turned out that Chen Yongfu thought that this reputation must have water, because as far as Chen Yongfu knew, Wang Dou fought with the general army of Xuandashu Town several times, and he must have followed behind to take advantage of it.However, what he saw and heard at this time was far beyond Chen Yongfu's expectations. Just looking at Wang Doujun's military appearance, this victory...

The elite of the Nine Frontiers is well-deserved of its reputation. Even Wang Dou, a general, is so strong. How strong will Yang Guozhu and others in Xuanzhen be?However, the Nine Frontiers were repeatedly defeated in front of Dongnu, and the combat power of those Tartars...

Not to mention Chen Yongfu's other thoughts, Wang Dou was also secretly observing Chen Yongfu and the guards behind him.

Chen Yongfu is that kind of traditional old Ming army. The armor on his body is quite old. The guards behind him are wearing pockets, waist armor or full armor. On the shoulders, the red jacket with two arms exposed, like a breastplate.

Obviously, the Ming troops in the heart of the Central Plains couldn't be equipped with as elite equipment as the Nine Frontiers troops, not to mention iron armor, even full-body cotton armor was rare.Most of the sergeants guarding the city of Kaifeng were wearing red hats, sash guards, or simply Tsing Yi battle skirts, without even a hood.

What's more, the military uniform, shoes and socks are torn... The Nine Frontiers army that Wang Dou has seen is even more embarrassing. The combat strength of the Ming army can be glimpsed just from this equipment.As for Li Zicheng, in the last few years of Chongzhen, it was this kind of army that he repeatedly defeated. He had never encountered such a stubborn stubble.

With this in mind, under Chen Yongfu's guidance, Wang Dou and his party entered Kaifeng City, Zhangde Mansion, Weihui Mansion, and people were eating people everywhere.Although Kaifeng Mansion is better, it is still full of displaced people, disaster victims gather, and the streets and alleys are full of hungry people.

On the contrary, there are luxurious mansions that can be seen everywhere in the city. What impressed Wang Dou is that there are many palaces and archways in the city.There are row upon row of archways in the streets and alleys, there are palaces and squires, and the whole city is immeasurable.

Passing through those mansions, you can hear silk and bamboo and laughter from inside from time to time, but outside the high walls are the victims of disasters.The life of the rich and powerful is heaven, but the life of ordinary people is hell. This sharp contrast may arouse the greatest anger of those victims who live on the streets.

In addition to these, Wang Dou was quite surprised by the many government offices in Kaifeng City and the prosperity of business affairs.According to Chen Yongfu's introduction, the most prosperous places in Kaifeng City are the Daxiaoshanhuo Street, the Bell Tower, the Drum Tower, and the area around Dayushou.Here, merchants from all over the Ming Dynasty gathered, and there were all kinds of goods imaginable.

In particular, there are a large number of restaurants and hotels here, and all kinds of high-end restaurants emerge in endlessly, and they are full of guests every day.When everyone tastes delicacies from mountains and seas, they can also call a cappella prostitute to serve them, and there are all kinds of women they want.

The Shunxiang army camped in the Xinghuaying area in the southwest of Kaifeng City. From the suburbs to Xiguan, there were taverns and hotels lined up door to door. After entering the city, the prosperity was even more unimaginable, just like fireworks blooming.

Wang Dou sat on the horse silently, he knew that in the not-too-distant future, a monstrous flood would destroy everything in the city, and the prosperity in front of him would become a thing of the past.

Following in front of Wang Dou, those extremely noisy crowd, at this moment, their expressions are either happy or sad, each person is different, but most of them will not exist in this world in the future.But it is undeniable that the Bian people were fierce. Li Zicheng came to the city three times and stormed Kaifeng. The people in front of him, citizens, merchants, scholars, and even prostitutes, all participated in the defense of the city with all their strength.

Looking at everything in front of me, a sense of sorrow from history welled up in my heart. Maybe it was fate. The survival of Kaifeng City several times was related to the flood. This city was also flooded during the Anti-Japanese War...

Wang Dou couldn't help being a little crazy, it seemed that the voice of Chen Yongfu beside him was thousands of miles away.

At this time, Wang Dou entered Kaifeng City, and Xie Yike led a team of sword and shield soldiers and Lumi musketeers to accompany him as guards. Everyone wore iron armor and rode horses at their waists.While they were marching on the street, the surrounding Kaifeng people were also looking at this army. Everyone commented with the vicious eyes of the people from the provincial capital of the Central Plains, and whispers in the local accent kept coming.

"Well, where did these military masters come from?"

"Who is that general? Chen Zongbing personally accompanied him. He seems to be a big shot."

"The sticks on the backs of those military masters are so long, have you seen them?"

"It's definitely not a three-eyed gun, it should be a bird gun, but the bird gun doesn't seem to be that long."

……

"It's Dingguo General Wang Dou..."

A voice suddenly sounded: "Have you seen the big banner with the characters of Wang? It is the flag recognized by General Wang of Xuanfu Town. I am lucky. Today I saw General Wang's real face. In the past, I only heard Mr. Shu's words."

The voice sounded suddenly, but Wang Dou secretly laughed in his heart. This accent was obviously the accent of East Road of Xuanfu Town.

Like a stone stirring up thousands of waves, the surrounding voices sounded one after another: "Is that the general Wang who fought against the giant deer and the Pinggu battle? I heard that he killed the Tartars and fled in the face of the wind. He is unparalleled in loyalty and justice. The emperor personally crowned the three armies bravely. See."

"I heard that General Wang led an army of [-] people to come here, and they are as good as the heroes in front of them. If General Wang assists Luoyang in Kaifeng, I, Bian people, will not be afraid of thieves."

"General Wang, a hero, Shunxiang Army, well done."

With densely layered thumbs stretched out, Wang Dou smiled and cupped his hands on the horse.

Chen Yongfu took a look at Wang Dou: "General Dingguo is powerful in the north and south, and he is in Kaifeng. The soldiers and civilians have heard of it."

Wang Dou said: "The people of Bianliang are hospitable and hospitable, and the end will be honored."

All the way into the city, there were more crowds flocking to the street to watch the excitement. From time to time, people greeted Chen Yongfu and Wang Dou on the street. Doors along the street opened window sills one after another, and charming ladies secretly looked at the pedestrians. .

There were even many women lying outside the window frame, dancing champagne and giggling at Wang Dou and the others: "Master Jun, come to Bianliang, remember to come and patronize the slave's house."

Wang Dou smiled: "Kaifeng City, a wonderful place."

(End of this chapter)