Begging in late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 202 Mr. Sun

Originally planned to take root here, people still hope to live a comfortable life. It is still in May, the end of spring plowing, and many peasant troops have already prepared seeds, but they have to put away their things.

Shanxi is also suffering from a severe drought under the influence of the Little Ice Age. This dry and rainless weather is fatal to agricultural production, but it is beneficial for marching. Taking advantage of the good weather, the hungry people in the affiliated army are divided into production teams of 100 people The food, clothes and quilts were quickly taken out to dry in the sun. The half-side slope of the huge Lingfeng Canyon was actually covered with these things, which looked spectacular.

More than a dozen large stone mills are also turning rapidly. The sorghum rice is sprinkled on the top, and the fine sorghum noodles are ground below, and finally steamed into steamed buns, which can be stored for a long time. It is very convenient as a marching army ration. .

Of course, you can’t just eat the staple food. Even if you can’t eat meat, you still need to supplement the vegetables. This valley is irrigated by a small stream. The end of spring and the beginning of summer are the time when wild vegetables are lush. Caiwei organized women to go up the mountain to cook vegetables. He and Li Gu'er also went, and there was another hillside, and the laughter of these vegetable picking girls could be heard everywhere.

So relaxed, the Qihuo army is not afraid of a sudden attack by the officers and soldiers. More than 2000 cavalry are on standby at any time. The scouts assigned by the leader of the scout army, Carrot, should there be any trouble, these guys who run faster than rabbits will come back to report immediately, so that the army has enough time to react.

Compared with other peasant armies, the begging army is quite efficient. Every morning, Song Qingshu and a few big leaders will set tasks for each department, and then they don't have to worry about it. Naturally, the middle and lower level leaders are responsible for the specific execution of the tasks .

Yesterday, Liu Tichun joined in. I remember that this guy seemed to be a general under Li Zicheng in history. He was also a restless master. His family was poor. Keep an eye on the door, if there are small-scale caravans, rich households will write down when they go out of the city, and at night, they will find a few brothers who are pretending to be operating in the tavern to catch up on horseback and rob them. , one for the township party, one for the hungry people, or donated to the temple, and the last one is in the pocket. He is usually generous, and he has quite a bit of prestige among the defenders of Dai County.

But this guy didn't help Song Qingshu for no reason, he himself was in trouble, a few officials in the county came to blackmail him because he thought he was rich, but Liu Tichun refused, so they secretly took advantage of him, how could he be a thief all day long? Clean, or else he escaped with Song Qingshu yesterday, or he will have to run away soon.

Anyway, a few of them are bachelors, and the small tavern in charge was burned down by the officers and soldiers yesterday. Liu Tichun came to find him in the morning and wanted to join him. After thinking about it, Song Qingshu simply put him in Xiaoluobo's scout team, first to see if it fits well. .

However, it is easier to lead the team, which does not mean that Song Qingshu is easy. Dai County is close to Yanmen Pass, and further out is the Datong Basin. Xuanfu Datong Town is there, and almost all the heavy troops in Shanxi are gathered here. This is why most of the peasant army is in Shanxi. The reason for not coming to the north for activities in the south is that if there is a respectable local gentry to help cover it, it is possible to gain a foothold here. If not, the officers and soldiers will come to trouble you sooner or later.

For finding Shi Tianfu, Song Qingshu gave up hope. Where to go next, he had to make a long-term plan. After arranging the team in the morning, Song Qingshu began to study where there is a paradise in front of the map of Shanxi that he snatched from the government.

But just when Song Qingshu was dazed looking at Taihang Mountain, the bearded Liu Fangliang ran in with a few brothers, but he opened the curtain of the tent and yelled: "Shuai Qu, something is wrong! The U.S. commander was defeated at the Hutuo River Jinyindu!"

"What?" Song Qingshu was a little dumbfounded when he put down the map.

Miao Mei went out early in the morning. Although the main force was not brought, the strength he brought was not weak. The two thousand and five knife shield soldiers were all experienced in the Fenchuan River War and had scar faces. Skills can be said to be stronger than two or three battalions tied together after the 36th Battalion and the [-]th Battalion, not to mention the [-] core soldiers that Miao Mei brought with her when she was under Wang Zuohang, the combat effectiveness is not small.

I went to the county seat yesterday, although I was looking for news about Shi Tianfu, but I also indirectly inquired about the military situation of Dai County. Dai County's garrison is only more than 500, and there is a guard led by a garrison. But in the countryside, there is not much defense in the hundreds of miles of plains at the uppermost corner of Xinding Valley.

It is so close to Yanmen Pass that there are more than 2000 border guards, but they are much worse than those on the front line of the Great Wall. They cannot easily leave Yanmen Pass, which is an important military area. How could Miao Mei be defeated?

Could it be that the army has increased its troops again?Or is there any officer army that has been following him, but he didn't notice it?
I didn't have the time to study anymore, so I called Liu Fangliang and went out to collect the remaining cavalry. Song Qingshu personally led the team and went out to meet Miao Mei's defeated soldiers at a distance of more than ten miles into Wutai Mountain.

The loss was not as big as imagined, even so, more than 200 horses were lost, especially more than 80 of Miaomei's pro-cavalry soldiers died, and more than 1000 shield soldiers were wet, as if they were fished out of a well. A discarded armor discarded.

Seeing Song Qingshu, Miao Mei jumped off the horse sadly and knelt down on the ground. She greeted her very depressedly and said, "Shuai Qu, the last general is unfavorable. He has lost the face of our begging army. Please punish him!"

Miao Mei's body was also wet, and when she knelt down, the water immediately wet the ground, and she looked extremely embarrassed. Looking at him like this, Song Qingshu was even more confused, and asked in a hurry: "How did you lose? Yanmenguan Guanjun Arrived?"

At the mention of this, Miao Mei's face turned red with embarrassment, and she kowtowed sadly: "Commander Huiqu, no! There are only more than 300 officers and soldiers in Dai County, and dozens of horsemen. rushed..."

In the center of the Xinding Basin, the Hutuo River, a tributary of the Fen River, divides the basin in half like a watermelon. In the morning, Miao Mei led troops to "borrow" food, livestock, clothing, money, etc. When I borrowed a place in Dongheputun, there was a family named Sun, who was not considered a landlord, at most a rich peasant, who jumped out to show Miao Meizhi the way, saying that there was a government repair shop on the east bank of the Hutuo River. official warehouse.

Miao Mei thought to herself, the leader won't let me attack Dai County and rob the head office of a government warehouse, right?He left more than 1000 beggars to move things back on the east bank, and he took the cavalry and [-] infantry to the nearest Jinyindu, planning to rob officials and silver.

Who knew that this trip would be a bad thing. The gold and silver crossed the shallow water, and you can pass by lifting your trouser legs. Just after three hundred cavalry and more than 500 infantry passed, a flood came from the upper reaches, and more than 100 people who were still swimming in the river all died. It was washed away, and then the officers and soldiers were killed from the reeds.

These officials and dogs are wicked enough, they don't come to fight with real swords and guns, but set fire to the reeds, hide behind and shoot arrows, there is smoke in the front, and fire in the back, almost forcing Miao Mei Death, fortunately, there is a severe drought this year, and the water comes and goes quickly. Seeing the water recede to the thigh, Miao Mei fled back with her people.

The army was really defeated, and the defeated soldiers retreated with the begging army who collected supplies. They lost more than 1000 dans of grain, more than 5000 taels of silver, and more than 800 sets of clothes that they had collected with great difficulty in the morning.

After arranging the terrified defeated army to go back to rest, Song Qingshu was also confused when he heard Miao Mei crying and complaining about his father and mother, there are capable people in this generation of county!
What happened yesterday, until now Song Qingshu hadn't figured out how he showed his feet, and now he encountered such a flood that flooded the Seventh Army, why did he encounter such a bad thing?

Not only Song Qingshu, but even Zhao Sheng and his scarred faces were also worried, but when a group of people sighed, they squatted in the corner and quietly watched Liu Fangliang, the bearded and pretending leader, suddenly slapped his forehead.

"What did I say! Mr. Sun saw through Shuai Qu yesterday, and today it is probably Mr. Sun's plan. Isn't Dongheputun the place where Sun's family lives?"

"Mr. Sun? Which Mr. Sun?"

Unexpectedly, Liu Fangliang actually knew, Song Qingshu immediately asked with interest, and his mind was vague. The image of the middle-aged scholar who passed by the city gate yesterday morning came into his mind.

"Mr. Sun is a famous person here, Wenquxing! He was a high-ranking official in Beijing, and it is said that he was framed by traitors. He abandoned his official position and returned to his hometown. Even our county magistrate respects him very much. He is invited to help the county government. His family is not counted. If you are rich, you can also subsidize your family in this way.”

He said it with joy, just like later generations said that he was the number one scholar in the college entrance examination in his hometown, Liu Fangliang danced excitedly.

"Mr. Sun is amazing! Once, Li Yuanwai in Dongpishi Street was poisoned to death. Li Yuanwai's wife, a senior official, said that it was her concubine Zhao Pinger who poisoned her. She was the only one present that day. Mr. Sun was stunned. From a few hairs, I found evidence that the housekeeper Wu Da was dissatisfied with the master's punishment for stealing money, so he poured the poison into Zhao Pinger's hair washing water, and then provided hair products during dinner at night. The poison will be poisonous, we call him Mr. Sun, and secretly call him Sun Qingtian!"

Really tired of listening, Song Qingshu helplessly pressed his shoulder.

"Old Liu, let's get to the point, what's his name?"

"I heard that the county magistrate called him brother Boya, and his real name is, what court."

Liu Fangliang grabbed his big beard and thought hard, but for a moment, it seemed like a lightning flashed across Song Qingshu's mind, the defeat was not unjust!What a capable person!Sun Boya, King Gao Yingxiang, and Sun Chuanting, the trilateral governor who led the last strong force of the Ming Dynasty!
(End of this chapter)