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Dead and Alive(1)

The city of Quanzhou is still lively, and there is no sign of imminent war. Giant ships returning from overseas bring back fresh cargo from all over the country, declare it for customs, and unload it in the newly repaired cargo hold on the docks. One by one, the fortune ships and sand ships sailing near the sea left the port, loaded with them, and transported the spices, curiosities, and goods from Quanzhou, Shaowu, Xinghua, Jianpu, and other places that had been trafficked from the sea, and scattered them to various places in the north.

As for the destination of those lucky boats and sand boats, everyone knew each other. No matter how the war is fought, people will eventually eat, dress and have fun, and as long as there are places in the world that have not been affected by the war, there will be rich people and there will be demand for goods. That's where the cargo ship goes.

"Master You, you, you say, can we hold this Quanzhou?" Next to the trestle, Tian Debao, the manager of Quanzhou Honghai Lianhao, wiped the sweat on his face and whispered to You Michael, the second shopkeeper who had just jumped off the board.

"It should be able to hold it, the big boss and the prefect have an agreement in advance, if Quanzhou City can't be defended, the prefect will notify everyone to leave Hong Kong first!" Master You glanced at the busy scene on the dock a few times, and replied a little unconfidently.

The early autumn sunlight is very poisonous, and the white painting is dazzling on the water. Hundreds of shirtless men walked from behind Tian Debao, pushed over the unloading tower made of wooden shelves, lowered the cargo hook, pulled the pulley, and hoisted the cargo boxes and straw bags on the big ship one by one and placed them on the four-wheeled trolley. Immediately, men came running with horses and oxen, and pulled away the four-wheeled carts full of goods one by one.

"But let's go, what will we do with this cargo? In the past few days, you and the big boss have not been there, and the shareholders have come to me several times in private, and some people have been clamoring to discount and withdraw the shares, so that I don't even dare to go home. Tian Debao didn't get the answer he wanted, and sighed with a sad face. He is the dock manager of the Quanzhou Honghai Lian, and no one in the entire caravan knows better than him how much stock is in the warehouse and how much it is worth.

Hon Hai was established by several of their Quanzhou merchants with the vigorous support of Mrs. Xu. There are more than 100 large and small sea vessels and more than 40 shops under its name. Among them, Mrs. Xu's family contributed the most capital and accounted for the largest shares. It was managed by Mrs. Xu's cousin, Chen Shuo, on behalf of the Chen and Xu families. The big boss in Master You's mouth is him. And You, Tian, Li, Ma, Sai and several other local old businessmen, also accounted for about 10 to 1 and a half percent of the shares, everyone worked hard for a year, watching the capital increase exponentially. Just when it was expected that at the end of the year, when each family could get tens of thousands of taels of silver as dividends, the Tartars came over, isn't this clearly to rob everyone's jobs?

"Hey, don't say it, unload it. Isn't the first standard and artillery division of the Broken Army already coming, with them, they should be able to block the Tartars! Listening to Steward Tian's complaints, Master You was also a little depressed in his heart. His ancestral home is not from the Song Dynasty, and it stands to reason that the Song and Yuan dynasties are not his business. But now, the interests of the family and the survival of Quanzhou have been firmly tied together, and he can't help but worry about the progress of the war situation in Fujian.

"But I've heard that the first standard and artillery division are preparing to retreat to Jianpu and rely on the Minjiang River to fight a decisive battle with the Tartars!" Tian steward doesn't look at people's faces, which pot is not opened.

"What do you say? Jianpu? Could it be that the Broken Army is ready to give up Quanzhou? Master You was startled, took a few steps forward to Steward Tian, and asked loudly. His stature was far taller than that of Tian Steward, and the two stood together, like a flat pole and a water tank facing each other, and from a distance, the scene was indescribably funny.

"It is said that he wants to give up Quanzhou and surrender Chaozhou and Jianpu! Please be quiet, don't let Liu Yanwang's eyeliner listen! Tian Guan took half a step back afterwards, stepped on the edge of the trestle with his heels, and said in a low voice.

"Could it be that we have paid all our taxes for a year in vain!" Yumike took another half step forward, shouting like an argument. It seems that the person standing opposite is not Tian Guanshi, but Chen Longfu, the Taishou of Quanzhou. "No, I'm going to ask them for clarification. When the Mongols come, they will run, so what are we going to do with their taxes! ”

"You, be quiet, please, don't let the guys hear!" Tian Guan leaned back afterwards, moved out of the edge of the trestle, and changed his back to the dock to talk to Master You. In this way, if Yu Mike pressed again, he could retreat to the dock without falling into the water.

"What if you hear it, if you take our taxes, you have to stand up for us!" Yumike waved his arms and shouted like a fight. He is the second largest shareholder in the joint number, second only to Mrs. Xu. At the beginning, because he was optimistic about the development of the joint number, he borrowed a lot of funds from relatives and friends, and said that he would return it at the end of the second year with interest. If the Broken Prisoner Army really withdrew from Quanzhou as Steward Tian said, and let the inventory in the warehouse be looted by the Mongols, at the end of the year, he had no choice but to jump into the sea.

"You have a point, but who can we talk to! It's been decades, and it's not just the Broken Army that collects our taxes, who cares about our life and death" Master Tian shrugged his shoulders and walked away, not wanting to see Yu Mike again. In his heart, he has already classified the person surnamed You in front of him into an unreasonable category. Theories with the government, jokes, if the government is willing to reason with the people, is he still the government?

"I, I ......" Old Man You's arms waved desperately, unable to say any other words to express his indignation. The taste in his mouth was fishy and bitter, as if all the bile was pouring out of his throat. He knew in his heart that the so-called theory of peace with the government was just an angry word. Steward Tian is right, whether it is the Song family, the Yuan family, the Pu family, or the Wen family, the duty of the government is to collect money, where to bear the obligations of the government.

The government is the parent official, and the people are the people, dogs and sheep. If you don't take the things of your own 'son', you don't take them for nothing. The ass of his own 'son' is not beaten in vain. As for whether the 'sons' will starve to death, that is the 'sons' own business, and the parents and officials have no time to deal with it.

The surrounding waves were a little high in an instant, and Master You, who was used to sailing the sea, swayed like seasickness and squatted on the trestle. Steward Tian, who had already walked away, was startled, and hurriedly rushed back, using all his strength to help him up.

The two staggered and supported each other, and for a moment, their bodies looked so helpless.

"I have already theorized that the Broken Army will not give up Quanzhou. If Quanzhou is lost, as long as the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion does not fall, we can apply for state compensation! A voice came from the docks, and it came into the ears of Tian and You.

"You, big boss, you're back!" Steward Tian exclaimed happily.

Old Man You held back the annoyance in his heart and raised his head, and saw Chen Shuo and Taishou Chen Longfu walking towards the dock one after another. Behind him, several local businessmen happily followed, as if someone had opened a business and wanted to distribute red envelopes.

"Quanzhou must be able to hold it. If you can't keep it, according to your tax records, all the goods that have been taxed can apply for state compensation, and as long as the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion is still there, all losses will be compensated to you! Chen Longfu found a slightly higher position, stood up, and announced loudly.

"Okay!" The crowd boiled instantly, and many vendors who gathered around to see the excitement cheered in unison. While most of them are engaged in small-scale deals in shared cabins, many of them have evaded customs duties. Even if there is compensation, it is not their share. But what Chen Longfu said was something they had never heard before. It brought them not only shock, but also touching.

"Lord Chen, Lord Chen, are you serious!" Master You slowly stepped forward and asked in disbelief. Tian, Sai, Ma, Li, several larger merchants, all clansmen rushed over, looking up at Chen Longfu expectantly, lest they hear a word wrong.

"Quanzhou will definitely be able to hold it. If I can't hold it, I will tell everyone to evacuate from the sea to avoid military trouble. As for the losses you have suffered, as long as there is a tax collection certificate recorded, the state will compensate according to the price afterwards, and will never break its word! Chen Longfu's gaze swept over everyone's faces, and his voice was slow and clear.

This is a way for him to repeatedly discuss with Liu Zijun, Du Gui, Zhang Tang and others to stabilize the people's hearts. In Du Gui's words, businessmen value money, and as long as they can pay less tax, they will definitely pay less. No matter how strict the punishment is, there will be people who take advantage of the loopholes. But if you give them the promise of benefits while collecting taxes, they will naturally weigh the pros and cons. Now that the merchants in the city were worried about the losses caused by the war, the Metropolitan Governorate took the opportunity to instill its own national ideals. Through the promise of state compensation, the majority of them no longer blindly fled or secretly colluded with the Northern Yuan, but chose to live and die with the Metropolitan Governor's Office.

State compensation, provided that the state can still exist. When the rise and fall of the state is linked to the interests of the people, the people will naturally try their best to defend the country. The small profit that can be seen is more effective than the words of a saint.

"State reparations? Country? Steward Tian looked at Master You, who had suddenly regained his spirits, in a daze, and muttered as he looked at the boiling crowd around him.

He had seen more than once the theories of the state and the imperial court, the death of the country and the destruction of the world, in the newspapers issued by the Metropolitan Governor's Office. Today, I really felt his presence.

The so-called state, in the eyes of businessmen, is a contract. When you pay taxes and other obligations, you can enjoy the corresponding security and power.

What maintains the existence of a country is not power, not clean officials and clear monarchs, but a real contract, a contract that can bind everyone. In front of the contract, all the holders of the covenant are the same tall and short.

At dusk, the army left the city and headed north. Merchants and people spontaneously poured out of the city, standing on both sides of the official road next to Anxi, cheering and sending each other off. Some small restaurants, cooked steamed buns and cooked meat, were placed on the side of the road, hoping that the quartermaster of the Broken Army would accept these labor supplies. Some of the hard laborers who sold their strength at the docks and the former Pujia Army soldiers who were left at home after being dismissed crowded to the shogunate station to see if they could seize the opportunity to join the Broken Army.

For the only time in the past five years, Quanzhou City did not plan who to sacrifice in exchange for the opportunity to surrender and the mercy of the enemy in the face of a strong enemy, but stood with the defenders. Although the main force of the Broken Capture Army was deployed, the number of troops remaining in the city was less than 5,000. Far less than the number of troops defending the city in the previous times.

This is because the Metropolitan Governor's Office gave the people of Quanzhou a promise to share blessings and misfortunes. Although this promise seems slim, the act of being able to make a promise has already satisfied the few extravagant hopes in everyone's hearts.

Zhang Tang and Wu Xizao walked side by side at the front of the ranks, constantly coordinating the marching speed of each battalion according to the terrain conditions. In order to collect the wagons in the hands of the merchants, the preparation time before the departure of the captives was a little long. Therefore, we had to speed up the march as much as possible, and strive to intercept them head-on in the valley between Qingyangzhai and Anxi before the Yuan army came.

"Inform the generals of the battalions of the first standard to march while the weather is cool at night, and strive to enter Anxi City to rest before tomorrow (about ten o'clock in the morning)! Call Captain Wang Laoshi and tell him that there is a task for him! Zhang Tang, the commander of the first standard, took out the order flag and handed it to the herald beside him.

"Yes!" The herald took the horn flag and galloped away.

Anxi City is located in the northwest of Quanzhou and is named after Anxi, the main tributary of the Jinjiang River. Anxi, also known as Xixi, originates in the Daiyun Mountains and rushes down the hilly terrain at the southern foot of Daiyun Mountain, connecting villages and mines along the way. As you march along the riverside, you can see the river in the distance winding its way through the green valley like a glowing golden snake. The sandy areas on both sides of the river are relatively flat, about half a mile wide, and some unknown wild grasses grow dotted between the sandy beaches, which contrast with the tall reeds along the river. The sun was about to set, and the glow was spreading in the sky overhead, and a few golden rays of light poured down from the edge of the colorful glow in the west, as if a shower of light had fallen from the sky.

"It's a great river, but some people like to burn it for fun!" Wu Xizao said with emotion. The echo from Mrs. Xu and Chen Hangyan had not yet arrived, and the decision to attack was made relatively suddenly. But the first standard and the artillery division could not wait any longer, because according to the last news sent by the scouts the day before yesterday, the Yuan army adopted a sea of men attack Yong'an City regardless of casualties. Large siege equipment such as ballistas and catapults also stared at the artillery defending the city and pushed to the front.

Zhang Hongfan was using force to force the Song army scattered around the country to move closer to Yong'an, so the Broken Army had to make some response. On the one hand, let Zhang Hongfan not be desperate and make the feint come true. On the other hand, it is also necessary to stop the frenzied destruction of the two men in the outskirts of Quanzhou Province.

According to the news sent by the scouts, after Arakhan and Ali Hague captured the empty Qingyang Village, they wreaked havoc and filled all the mines that the people had worked so hard to open with boulders. Nearby villages and farmlands were also burned. The frenzied Arahan even set fire to a few bamboo forests, saying that he wanted to burn the people out of the mountains. Fortunately, the weather was humid and the weather was uncertain, and the fire did not spread on a large scale.

"The two of them did this, undoubtedly to drag down the defenders of Quanzhou, so that we did not dare to rescue Yong'an. Let's meet the requirements of the two Tartars, if we don't save Yong'an, give them a ruthless first" Zhang Tang smiled and said confidently.

He has not read many poems, and he is not as sensitive to the changes in the surrounding scenery as Wu Xizao. Along the way, I thought more about the details of how to deal with the Yuan army with the limited forces in my hands. This morning, after making the decision to meet the enemy, he sent a messenger to send a letter to Chen Hangyan by sea, hoping to get the support of Chen Hangyan's troops in time. But there are many unpredictable factors in the matter of marching and fighting. What was the outcome between Chen Hangyan and the Yuan army in Zhangzhou, Zhang Tang did not know. It is unknown whether Chen Hangyan can get rid of the entanglement between Lu Shikui and Zhang Hongzheng, and whether he will have the strength to divide his troops and advance eastward after solving the crisis in Zhangzhou. After all, the four standards of Chen Hangyan's subordinate were included in the Broken Army for a short period of time, and their combat effectiveness was relatively weak. Unlike the first standard of the Broken Army under the command of Zhang Tang himself, it is almost composed of veterans of a hundred battles, and has been trained in quality and tactics since Baizhang Ridge.

"What are the chances of General Zhang winning this battle?" Wu Xizao turned his head, looked at Zhang Tang's expression, and asked with a smile. Regardless of age and seniority, Wu Xizao, the commander of the artillery division, was much taller than Zhang Tang, the commander of the first standard. But Wu Xizheng admired Zhang Tang's ability to grasp the battle situation, and willingly led the artillery division to cooperate with Zhang Tang's actions.

"The odds?" Zhang Tang shook his head and replied with a smile, "If General Chen's soldiers and horses can arrive in time to strike at Arakhan's flank, the 50,000 yuan army will be held in the palm of our hands." If General Chen can't come, with more than 20,000 people in our hands, we can also be evenly matched with Arakhan. At that time, even if Chen Hangyan is killed outside Yong'an City, Ah Rahan and Ali Hague will not be able to go back, and Zhang Hongfan's encirclement will not be able to close. Therefore, as long as we can guarantee that we will not be defeated by the Yuan army, we have already won! ”

"And General Wu thinks that Ali Hague and Arakhan, in the mountains, can he defeat these veterans under our command?" Zhang Tang stretched out his finger and pointed to the army rushing along the riverbank, and asked with a smile.

This is the decisive factor for him to dare to meet the Yuan army, among all the soldiers and horses of the Broken Army, the first standard is the only team, which is built with the veterans of the original Baizhangling as the main body. After several expansions, there are now four regiments, a total of 20 battalions, and more than 12,000 veterans of the Broken Army. After more than two years of war, the officers were extremely skilled in cooperating with each other, and the soldiers' personal combat ability was also one of the best in the army. It can be said that looking at the world, except for Miao Chun's scout brigade, there is no infantry that can compete with the first standard.

In addition, there was Wu Xizao's artillery division on the flank to provide fire support. The military system of the Broken Army is the highest unit, but the artillery and naval forces are called divisions. In Zhang Tang's eyes, this is by no means simply to distinguish it from the land mark. Prime Minister Wen also had the idea of concentrating artillery and surface forces and using them as separate arms, rather than simply as a coordination of land targets. Otherwise, it is enough to have two artillery battalions under one land mark, and there is absolutely no need to establish a separate artillery division.

And the battleships and artillery were in separate columns, giving full play to the advantage of concentrated firepower, a tactic he had already tried. In Liangzhe, the first target of the Broken Army had several times, and it was with the fire support of warships that it defeated several times its opponents.

Therefore, although the Mongol army and the Tanmachi army were the main body under the command of Arakhan and Ali Hague, Zhang Tang did not think that the other party had an absolute advantage in the mountain warfare.

The key to the current battle situation is whether Chen Hangyan can rush to the new suggestion in his letter and deal a fatal blow to the Yuan army at a critical moment in the battle.

If Chen Hangyan can come, Ali Hague and Arakhan will be defeated. Zhang Hongfan's flank was threatened, and the only way to go was to retreat in large strides and then concentrate his troops and horses to fight a decisive battle with the broken army. The crisis caused to Fujian by Li Guida's defection to the enemy can be solved by this.

This is a strategy that Zhang Tang has repeatedly considered and deduced with his staff officers, and the possibility of mistakes is very small, so he has always been full of confidence.

However, he never expected that at this moment, Chen Hangyan had no idea that the Yuan army had captured Qingyang Village. Chen Hangyan's messenger was on the way to Quanzhou, hoping that he would march slowly so that the two sides could cooperate.

Zhang Tang also didn't expect that the appetite of Arakhan and Ali Hague was not just to loot places. The wealth of Quanzhou has long been coveted by the two. These two Northern Yuan generals did not know that the first standard of the Broken Army had arrived in Quanzhou. They were obsessed with plundering and were speeding up their advance towards Anxi.

If there really were gods in the underworld, from the air, in the autumn of the second year of Xiangxing, he would see an amazing scene.

The 50,000 yuan army went down the river from Qingyang Village and went straight to Anxi City.

At the same time, contrary to the direction of the Yuan army, the 20,000 broken army advanced along the bank of the stream towards Anxi.

To the west of these two relatively rapid armies, at the foot of the Drumming Mountain, there were 30,000 troops moving slowly along the mountain road, quietly approaching Qingyang Village.

If the commanders of the three armies knew where they were in each other, they would never have made such a decision.

However, in this era of relying on carrier pigeons and war horses to transmit information, they know almost nothing about the actions of their opponents, except for calculations made on the basis of limited intelligence.

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