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

Chapter 787 Boiled Shrimp with Tomatoes

In February of the 16th year of Chongzhen, Jiangxi, Jiujiang Prefecture.

It is said that when Li Zicheng went south, Zuo Liangyu, the general who suppressed the thieves, did nothing but run. He broke into the army to attack Xiangyang, and he ran to Wuchang.Then Chuangjun captured Hanchuan, and it seemed that he was going to attack Wuchang. He hurriedly led his men to Jiujiang.

And he also made up his mind that if Li Zicheng continued to go south, he would still run down the river.

Fortunately, God had a sign. The intruders crossed the river to attack Wuchang in the first month of the month. There were big waves on the river. Most of the intruders were landlubbers who were not familiar with water, and they were drowned by the river water. government.

Zuo Liangyu, who had fled to Jiujiang to wait and see, heaved a sigh of relief, and fell back into his old ways.

Also because of looting all the way, recruiting soldiers and rebels, and coercing the rebellious people, at this time he has so many soldiers and horses that he can't even count them, and he claims to be 20.How to feed so many soldiers and horses?Zuo Liangyu has his own way, that is to rob!

He led the army to rob all the property of the people outside the city, and searched all the beautiful wives and concubines from every household, so that the suffering of the people in Xiangyang was repeated in Jiujiang.

What's more, his capable subordinate Wang Yun was born as a rebel, and he was the most fierce and rebellious. In early February, he led the army to rebellion in Qizhou, killing people and setting fire, doing everything, and all the troops of the bandit army responded.

Because they plundered Wuchang's ships including the grain and salt ships earlier, they went down the south of the Yangtze River in a mighty way. Ships seized all of them to carry troops.

The various generals also claimed to send money to Nanjing, and please bring 3000 cronies with them. The civil and military officials in Nanjing were terrified. Migration, business travel is not enough.

Fortunately, the governor of Anqing called on Zuo Liangyu, using dangerous words to move him, and issued tens of thousands of taels of silver to the treasury. Only then did these rebellious troops calm down, and the women returned full of money.

And because there is an example of suppressing bandits in the front, killing people and setting fires, robbing money, food, and women is not only doing nothing, but getting rewarded, why not do it?Crying children have milk to eat, and the so-called no trouble is not worth it, and the benefits are even more beneficial, so in the future, various rebellions will emerge in various prefectures along the river.

On this day, Jiujiang Fucheng is not far away. People say that the spring breeze in February is like scissors, and in March in Yangchun, it is almost the time when the breeze is warm and the green willows are full of smoke. The reputation, this place of ancient Jiangzhou and Xunyang, has always been a beautiful place in the eyes of the world.

However, all kinds of poetic and picturesque flavors have disappeared recently, and there are no sails on the river. Even though Jiujiang is known as the mouth of three rivers and the thoroughfare of seven provinces, there is a thief general Zuo Liangyu here. Is there any pedestrian and merchant who is not afraid of death who dares to come to Jiujiang? Is it through this section of the river?

It's not without lessons. Once a river boat passed through the water of Jiujiang and encountered the patrol boats of the bandit army.

Before robbing or casually accusing him of being a thief, he was chopped up and the body was thrown into the river.Or they didn't even bother to look for the crimes, and they just boarded the boat and robbed them. If there were beautiful women on the boat, the end would be even more miserable.

The gates of Jiujiang Fucheng are also often closed, and the soldiers and the people are strong, all staring at the barracks outside the city vigilantly, fearing that the bandit army will rush in, burn, kill and loot, and there are too many bandit army, the south bank of the river seems to be covered They are full.

Zuo Liangyu's soldiers numbered 20, and the first few battalions were the pro-military troops, and the last few battalions were the surrendered troops. The military law was to gallop between two horses, saying: "It's too right." Their horsemen often galloped outside the city of Jiujiang, showing off their might , but looking at these bandits, the local people hate them to the bone.

When the thief general arrived, the local people suffered countless disasters, and many of their wives and daughters were even taken to the camp and ruined.At this time, they don't understand why there are so many such beasts among the officers and soldiers?Aren't they protecting the people? Why are their actions inferior to beasts?

Everyone's hatred is deeply buried in their hearts. Seeing that King Chuang's rebel army will not go south for the time being, they only care about one thing, when will there be retribution for this thief army and that thief general?

Jiujiang City used to be prosperous, with Suduo Manor outside the city, and tea shops and restaurants of various colors, but when the bandit army arrived, how many people would dare to open the doors for business?Even if they have the guts, or if they have no other way to make a living, they all hold their hearts and fears that someday they will encounter unreasonable disasters.

However, there was a restaurant near Suojiang Tower that was doing very well. Usually, the generals and soldiers of the bandit army did not dare to harass this restaurant, which inevitably aroused the curiosity of outsiders.

It turned out that according to people's inquiries, the shopkeeper of this restaurant, Boss Tian, ​​who just came to this restaurant not long ago, is from Shandong, like Zuo Liangyu, the general who suppressed the thief, and he cooks Shandong cuisine well. Fellow villager, Zuo Liangyu personally issued an order to prohibit the bandit suppression army from harassing this restaurant.

From time to time, he would bring the generals over for a few drinks, so that the restaurant's business would not succeed.

Suojiang Tower is located on the edge of the Yangtze River in the northeast of Jiujiang City. This restaurant is also facing the river. It has a grand style and is divided into three floors. up.

It was noon, and there was a lot of noise in the restaurant, the sound of knives and spoons, shouting, and the aroma of wine and meat came out from the restaurant, and the surrounding area was full of unrestrained officers and soldiers of the Bandit Suppression Army. Still hugging the looted folk woman, there was a lot of noise.

A thin guy was holding a plate of brightly colored fruits, and hurried upstairs. The officers and soldiers he saw along the way, and the fruits in his hands were all strange. What kind of fruit is this?So alluring, so colorful?

But the crowd didn't dare to stop and seize it, because they knew that the shopkeeper of this restaurant was from the same town as the general, and this kind of strange fruit must be sent to the top floor for the general and others to enjoy.

This guy behaved like a spirit fox. He was walking on the stairs and accidentally looked out of the window. He saw a fleet of ships approaching the shore not far away. The crying and screaming of all kinds of women can be heard. It seems that another group of people have suffered from the army of suppressing bandits.

The guy bit his lower lip. At this moment, a guy upstairs came down with an empty plate and gave him a wink. The thin guy nodded and continued to go upstairs.

Before reaching the top floor, there was a burst of wild laughter, accompanied by faint silk and bamboo music, the sound of singing and dancing. When I went up to look, I saw Zuo Liangyu sitting with the generals.

His son Zuo Menggeng, General Wang Yuncheng, Vice General Wu Xueli, Vice General Lu Guangzu, Counselor Ma Jinzhong, Ma Shixiu and others were all present. A group of prostitutes were singing and dancing, or persuading them to drink.

At the corner of the upstairs, there were some guards standing. Seeing this guy coming up, they cast fierce eyes on him, and Lu Guangzu and others also glanced at him when they heard the movement, their eyes were full of tyranny and ferocity.

At this time, Wang Yuncheng was laughing wildly: "... those officials in Nanjing still want to ask the commander to kill me, what a beautiful idea..."

Zuo Menggeng's face was pale, with a look of excessive wine and bitterness, he said sharply: "It seems that the trouble is not enough, father, we must show some color to those Jiangnan officials and let them know that we are The Ping Bandit Army is amazing..."

"We have hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses, and the court can only appease. After each time, it is funny to think about the faces of the emperor and cabinet ministers..."

Wu Xueli and Ma Jinzhong also laughed out loud and spoke recklessly.For them, the current life is indeed comfortable. The day when the warriors stand up and call the shots has finally come. Every time they think about it, they still have to thank Li Zicheng and others.

The owner of the restaurant, shopkeeper Tian, ​​was serving him. He was fat and fat, but his movements were flexible.

After each dish was served, he also graciously explained it to Zuo Liangyu. After eating another piece of fried oil, Zuo Liangyu nodded in satisfaction, and said to shopkeeper Tian: "Old Tian, ​​your hand Needless to say, Lu Cui Kungfu, if I move to other places in the future, you will follow."

The shopkeeper Tian looked flattered, sobbing, he knelt down and kowtowed, and said with a sob: "The master is very kind, even if the younger one is so heartbroken, he can't repay him. Whatever the master says, the villain will do."

Wu Xueli, Lu Guangzu, Ma Jinzhong and others didn't take it seriously. The commander-in-chief likes to eat Shandong cuisine, so they just came to join in the show. It doesn't matter if there is such a cook in the army.

In particular, Wang Yuncheng glanced at shopkeeper Tian with the eyes of sizing up the food, thinking that this guy is full of fat and chewy, and when he lacks food and clothing, he can chop it up and eat it.

At this time, the thin guy came over with the fruit, seeing how delicate and beautiful the fruit was, everyone was curious and wary at the same time, like a poisonous snake, the brighter the color, the more poisonous it is, the same is true for the brightly colored mushrooms, what is it?
Seeing the expressions of Zuo Liangyu and others, as well as a few guards who were about to come over holding the handle of the knife, the shopkeeper of Tian hurriedly nodded and bowed his waist and said: "Marshal, and all the generals, don't be nervous, don't be nervous, this is just for the villain. A little thought for the Marshal..."

He picked up such a thing with his own hands, put it in his mouth and took a bite, immediately the bright red liquid flowed down, and the shopkeeper Natian showed an intoxicated look in his eyes: "It's really delicious in the world."

He ate the fruit in a few mouthfuls, and then smiled to Zuo Liangyu and the others: "This thing is called Xibao Sanyuan. I heard that it came from Xiyang, and there is another name called foreign persimmon. It usually grows longer than autumn and summer. It's extremely rare to see it in spring, but I found it from a rich family's warm house for a small one, so it's rare to see it in leisure time."

Zuo Liangyu and the others saw that the shopkeeper was eating with gusto and looked very delicious, and they were all moved. They also saw his good news that nothing happened after eating the three yuan. Obviously the fruit is non-toxic, so they felt relieved.

In fact, at the beginning, they were worried about this restaurant. Not only was there someone supervising the kitchen, but every dish was served with silver needles to test for poison.It's impossible even if you think about it, who dared to murder a town's commander-in-chief, or the commander-in-chief with hundreds of thousands of troops in his hands, who had a bad reputation outside?

There are not many seasonal fruits at this time, if this thing is not found in a rich man's warm house, it would not be seen on weekdays, the Chinese name is still festive, and it is from the West, so it is even rarer, so Zuo Liangyu said anxiously: " Quickly bring it to Ben Shuai."

He picked up a tomato and bit it down, opened his eyes wide immediately, smacked his lips, and then finished one tomato in a few big mouthfuls, picked up another one, bit it in his mouth, and said vaguely to his subordinates: "Not bad, not bad, You wait and try."

Immediately, everyone took you one by one and picked them up curiously. All of them were full of juice, especially the taste of tomatoes for the first time. Even better, especially I heard that Dashuai eats lake shrimp, if you cook with it..."

Zuo Liangyu picked up another tomato and bit it, and he waved his hands again and again: "Go, go, shopkeeper Tian, ​​you go out in person, I will definitely eat it today."

(End of this chapter)