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

Chapter 637 Farewell to the New Industry

The center of Xuanfu Town is Guwang Mansion. From north to south, there are Bell Tower, Drum Tower, Nanmen Gongjilou, and Cross Street. It is also full of official stores and shops.

To the north of the town, there are many government offices at all levels. The drum tower named "Zhenshuo Tower" tells the time every day. The big drum with a height of more than two meters in the building and a diameter of more than one meter is played every time. The whole city can also be used as an alarm in wartime.

In front of the Drum Tower, there are East and West Streets, the East Street is the Yard Street, the Yamen of the Procuratorate, and many workshops and warehouses. The Tongzhi of the household department, the general judge, etc., manage the military and civilian materials allocated by the imperial court, and supervise the local use.

On this street, there is also the Office of the Ministry of Punishment and the lobby of the Governor's Yamen, which is similar in size to the General Army's Yamen. The west side of the Governor's Yamen is the town's archery range, which is used for military inspections and military training in the city.

Due to the encroachment of the government and the people, this archery practice field is getting smaller and smaller, so the town troops usually practice on the large martial arts field in the northeast suburb outside the city. This training field is also known as the Xuanfu teaching field.

In Xuanfu Town, the yamen guarding the general army is located on Pailou East Street. Due to the urgent urging of the imperial court, Yang Guozhu, the former general soldier, has already packed his luggage and is waiting for Wang Dou to take over.

Wang Dou led the army to arrive, and he went out of the city to greet him. All the officials arrived in front of the Zongbing Yamen. This mansion called "Shuai Mansion" and "Zhenshuo Mansion" was very large. In front of the mansion stood a flagpole, a tall screen wall, and a majestic stone lion. , on both sides of the door of the guardian instrument, there are gold-lacquered tin rings with animal faces on the door.

There are many halls and halls in the interior. It is estimated that the entire yamen occupies an area of ​​no less than [-] square meters. On the east side of the Zongbing Yamen, there are Confucianism and Xinghe Shouyu Thousand Households. institutions etc.

Looking at the general yamen, Wang Dou was overwhelmed with emotion. After a long time, he waved his hand: "Go into the mansion."

……

Several of Yang Guozhu's brothers, as well as his two sons, all died early in battle, so sometimes when Yang Guozhu went out to fight, apart from some personal soldiers, only his wife He lived in the huge mansion with some maidservants.

The sudden increase in popularity made He very happy. Yang Guozhu recognized Xu Yue'e as his adopted daughter.

Wang Dou didn't expect her to have a sense of humor. When meeting her, Mrs. He smiled and said, "The Marquis of Yongning and my master are close friends, and they are like brothers. It's just that E'er is your wife, and she is my daughter. What should you call your old body? What should you call my master?"

At that time, many people snickered, Wang Dou couldn't help being a little embarrassed, and just said: "This, call it whatever you want..."

In the backyard of the general’s mansion, there is a clear spring brought in from the mountains in the north of the city. There is also Longquan Temple and Aloft in the vegetable garden in the east of the hall. Dou intends to accompany them well.

So on that day, he declined the banquet of the officials to cleanse the dust, and when he asked the officials of the town to see him, he only said to Zhong Tiaoyang: "If you accept the gift, I will disappear."

"Guoqin, I don't want to thank you for your kindness. I only hope that when I arrive in Jizhen, I can reproduce the iron wall that Qi Shuai used to protect our country."

In the past two days, the subordinates were busy handing over military affairs, while Wang Dou and Yang Guozhu walked around the town and let Yang Guozhu guide them.

To leave the familiar place and take office in an unfamiliar place, even Yang Guozhu is also full of emotion.

At this time, the two of them were standing on the Zhenshuo Tower. The houses in the city were vividly visible. Not far to the north was the Bell Tower, also known as the Qingyuan Tower. Up to forty or fifty miles.

Wang Dou had already promised Yang Guozhu that when he left, he would present him with a large number of Donglu blunderbusses, as well as powerful potions. Although they were only matchlock guns, these weapons were all Yang Guozhu needed.

At the same time, Wang Dou and Wang Pu also gave Yang Guozhu a lot of silver taels from the house raids, which made Yang Guozhu grateful.

His army completely imitated Wang Dou's army, not to mention that they were all young and strong. After retiring, each of them could be allocated [-] mu of land, but it was not as good as Wang Dou's. Of course, his new army needed food and wages, plus various Expenses, so the cost of raising soldiers is a big problem.

To him, the money Wang Dou gave was a timely gift.

The cold wind was blowing, the two were wearing clothes, hunting sound, pointing to the distance, Yang Guozhu pointed out to Wang Dou: "The town is strong, the north and west of the city is the Liuchuan River, which has been transformed over the years to become a big moat. A part of the river , into the city through the Yang Ditch, which can supplement the water source.”

"Not far to the east of the city is the Paosha River, and not far to the south is the Yang River. There are more than [-] piers around the town of Xuanfu, which are known as the eyes and ears of the city."

Looking at the familiar landscape in front of him, he sighed: "It's just that the town is strong, and it's nearly two thousand miles along the wall. It's not easy to protect it."

Wang Dou said: "Don't worry, Shuai Yang, our Jingbian army is stationed in the town, and we will keep the captives and horses from entering, and protect the safety of the hometown."

Yang Guozhu nodded: "This, I believe."

After pondering for a long while, Yang Guozhu said: "Guoqin, I'm going to Ji Town. Before I leave, I have something to say. I don't know if I should say it or not?"

Wang Dou said: "Shuai Yang, please tell me."

Yang Guozhu said: "I know that Guoqin is loyal to the country, but, have some things exceeded his authority?"

Wang Dou was silent for a while, and sighed: "I know that in the eyes of many people, I, Wang Dou, are extremely domineering, but, otherwise, why did the Jingbian army become a strong army, and why did Donglu become a Taoyuan? Yang Shuai, you know , Sometimes when we do things, we only need to take a step back, and someone will push you two steps, and all your achievements will be wiped out."

He said: "With Yang Shuai's prestige, there are many people who are staring at him and attacking the new army, what should Yang Shuai do?"

Yang Guozhu was silent for a long time, and sighed: "Yes, there are many things that cannot be controlled by oneself."

He whispered: "The general died in a hundred battles, and the body of the horse leather was returned. These things are a headache to talk about. I'd better concentrate on fighting and guarding the frontier for the country!"

On the afternoon of the 26th of the first lunar month, Wang Dou held a farewell banquet for Yang Guozhu at the General Army Mansion. All the generals of the Jingbian Army and all the generals under Yang Guozhu's command arrived.

Everyone drank heavily and ate meat in big bowls. Wang Dou and Yang Guozhu let go of themselves.

Xie Yike dragged Yang Guozhu's Chinese army general Guo Yingxian to drink together. Seeing Xie Yike's refreshment, Guo Yingxian was happy, pointed at Xie Yike and laughed: "You little baby, it suits my old Guo's appetite, I won't bully you, you drink One bowl, Lao Guo, I will drink three bowls!"

Xie Yike shouted: "Little brother Guo looks down on brother? You drink one bowl, thank me for three bowls!"

In the end, he got drunk and Guo Yingxian also passed out.

At a banquet, everyone got drunk and shouted at each other: "We are all brothers of Paoze."

Everyone hugged and wept bitterly.

On the 27th, early in the morning, Yang Guozhu led the main army battalion, as well as the new army battalions, and left the town of Xuanfu. Wang Dou and the town officials will see off, as well as many family members of the new army.

Because there was only one old wife in the family, Yang Guozhu couldn't bear her to stay in the town alone, so he took He away.

Watching their backs going away, Wang Dou silently said in his heart: "Shuai Yang, have a good journey."

……

Although all the officials in the town were concerned about Wang Dou's arrival, they were all very concerned about Wang Dou's movements.

Sure enough, on the 28th of the first lunar month, the shogunate issued the first order to carry out a sanitation campaign for the entire town. At the same time, the garbage was purchased, and the garbage was paid when it arrived.

Wang Dou had learned a lesson on the East Road before. The garbage that was transported outside the city was stolen in the middle of the night, and then sent to sell again, or even several times.

In order to prevent this lesson, the garbage sent outside the city was guarded by sergeants of the Jingbian Army, and the medical and health department burned it and buried it deep. Of course, some cow dung and human dung black mud can be used to fertilize the fields.
As soon as this announcement came out, there were indeed a lot of people in the town. As long as they didn't serve for nothing, they were in charge of food, housing, and wages. .

Of course, there are also many people who are disdainful in their hearts. It turns out that he is a martial artist who only cares about profit and does not teach righteousness.

The current situation in the town, although some streets are bluestone roads, but there are also many dirt roads, which last forever, and the road area is covered with thick dust. soaring.

And because of the cow dung and horse urine from the passing livestock carts, many residents have the habit of dumping toilets into the ditches on the street.

In addition, in the north of Daming, coal was widely used, and a lot of ashes were dumped by the residents. Therefore, like many cities in Daming, Xuanfu town was full of feces and urine, dust was everywhere, and there was a stench everywhere.

Such an environment is also the main reason for the outbreak of the plague, and it is also an important reason for the recurrence of epidemics in various places in the late Ming Dynasty.

In fact, the streets and cities, all over the Ming Dynasty, were always in charge of patrol archers, which had long since become empty talk, because money and food were inseparable from anything, and it was possible to do things with money, which was also the reason for the powerlessness of municipal administration in the late Ming Dynasty.

So as soon as Wang Dou issued a notice, saying that everyone who participated in the work would have enough food and a good salary, it can be said that the whole city moved.

From Pailou Street to Zhonglou Street, from Mishi Street to Caishi Street, from Yandian Street to Youdian Street, in every street and alley in the city, busy people can be seen everywhere.

The crowd dug the trenches, leveled the garbage, and cleaned up all the dust on the road. There were also medical and health officials, wearing masks, pouring lime down continuously.

With the busyness of countless people, the town seems to be brighter in a blink of an eye, and an industry has been quickly spawned. Garbage collectors, every day, go door to door to buy coal ash and feces. Because the town has a large population, garbage collection is profitable. , and even some murders broke out.

During the period before the spring plowing, it was a bit of a novelty for the people in the town. Suddenly, the whole family became busy. Building a barracks next to the teaching ground in the town requires a lot of manpower.

Therefore, not only the military households and civilian households inside and outside the city, but even the battalions of the battalions rushed to work, because building camps not only had wages, but also meat to eat.

(End of this chapter)