According to the plan, Li Dingguo personally led a thousand fierce soldiers to carry a bamboo raft and a small boat to Baiyan Mountain on the riverside.

These 1,000 people are Li Dingguo's henchmen, and they are the elite of the elite, with extremely strong combat effectiveness.

It is not an exaggeration to say that one is ten.

The reason why Li Dingguo only brought 1,000 people was not because he was worried that the Ming army would not have enough frontal troops, but because he wanted a surprising victory effect when he led the troops this time.

If you bring too many people, it is easy to be exposed, and if the Qing army discovers that the other party is alert, it is easy to fall short.

In fact, in the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, when Li Dingguo led troops to attack Tongluo Gorge, he also brought a thousand people. At that time, the combat effectiveness of the soldiers he led was far inferior to the current elite, so Li Dingguo was still very confident.

To reach the back of the Qing army in Causeway Gorge, they needed to climb the entire White Salt Mountain.

Although Baiyan Mountain is not high, it is still a bit laborious to march on a bamboo raft.

It was fine at first, the more you walked to the top of the hill, the denser the bushes became.

Li Dingguo had to order the soldiers to cut down the bushes that were in the way.

Otherwise, the raft will be stuck, and then it will have to be tossed again.

Since this was a small road that almost no one knew about, Li Dingguo did not see the sentries of the Qing army all the way.

However, out of prudence, he still ordered his corporal to move forward. This prevents the soldiers from making noises and being noticed by the enemy.

To be honest, due to the change in identity and status, Li Dingguo has not personally led the surprise soldiers to fight the vanguard like this for a long time.

Generally, he commands the overall situation as a commander-in-chief, commanding and dispatching battlefield troops.

The reason why he personally went into battle this time was because of the trust of the Son of Heaven, and secondly, because Li Dingguo was very aware of the importance of Tongluo Gorge.

Of course, the Ming army could also make a detour to attack the city of Chongqing, but then it would have to abandon the water route and take the land route.

Compared with the waterway, the problem with the overland march is that the transportation efficiency of grain, grass, and baggage is too low.

Not only will the speed of the march be affected, but it will also easily cause the army to be harassed and cut off by the enemy, and the end of the army will not be able to take care of each other.

In addition, this time the Ming army was more than 100,000 people attacking Chongqing, and they belonged to different factions, so it was very difficult to dispatch.

Walking by water is the best way to do it.

So in any case, Causeway Gorge must be taken!

Once the Causeway Gorge is taken, the Ming army will have a stronghold and can steadily advance towards Chongqing!

Thinking of this, Li Dingguo's eyes became a little more resolute, and his steps were more powerful.

...

...

"Daddy, I want to eat rice."

The little tiger girl sucked a finger and looked at her father with an aggrieved expression.

Yang Zhengqi was stunned for a moment, and then sighed: "What kind of rice to eat, the rice jar at home has already bottomed out... Hmm, have you finished eating the bread you served in the morning? ”

Unexpectedly, the little tiger girl cried out when she heard this.

"Don't eat cakes, the cakes are hard and give you a toothache."

Yang Zhengqi's heart was like a knife, he hugged his daughter into his arms and comforted: "Daddy will buy rice for you on the street, Niuniu is waiting at home, don't go out." ”

Now that the world is very chaotic, Yang Zheng is actually worried that his daughter is running around, if she is robbed by a black-hearted person, it is almost impossible to get it back.

His wife died early, Yang Zhengqi was a father and a mother to pull the little tiger girl up, and his only wish was to watch the little tiger girl grow up and marry a good family. Expect nothing else.

In troubled times, life is as cheap as mustard, and being able to live is the greatest blessing.

Yang Zhengqi put his daughter on the bed, took out some remaining pieces of silver from under the bed, gritted his teeth and walked out.

There is a bleak scene in Chongqing today, and Yang Zhengqi walked nearly a hundred steps without seeing a single person.

He was a little apprehensive in his heart, but when he thought of his daughter's pitiful appearance, his faith strengthened a little.

Anyway, you have to buy rice today!

The shop where he often buys grain is called Chen Ji Grain Shop, which is just across the square area from his house.

Soon Yang Zhengqi came to the front of Chen Ji Grain Shop.

Seeing that Chen Ji Grain Store was not closed, Yang Zhengqi breathed a sigh of relief.

Along the way, he saw that many shops along the street were closed, and he was worried that this was also the case with Chen Ji Grain Shop.

Now it's finally not in vain.

As soon as he entered the door, the old man Zhao Liangmin came over and said in a low voice: "Old brother, why are you here, the government has ordered martial law in the whole city, and we are preparing to close the door." ”

Yang Zhengqi was taken aback and said, "What, the government wants martial law?" When was this? ”

Zhao Liangmin rolled his eyes and said, "The old brother really doesn't listen to things outside the window, and only reads the books of sages." This notice has been posted for a day, and it is available at all city gates and at the gates of the square! ”

Yang Zhengqi was blushed by what he said.

It's true that he is a scholar, but he is still an old talent in his thirties. Although it sounds good to say that there is a talented and talented person, it is actually useless.

In troubled times, this identity can neither be exchanged for food nor silver, but will be ridiculed for being a scholar who is useless.

"I want to buy a bucket of rice, do you think the money is enough?"

Yang Zhengqi took out some broken silver and carefully sent it to Zhao Liangmin.

Zhao Liangmin only glanced at it and sneered: "My old brother, aren't you really stupid to read." You don't know the current price of rice, a bucket of rice is three taels or two dollars, and your money is not enough to buy a bucket! ”

Yang Zhengqi gasped when he heard this.

"A bucket of rice, three taels and two dollars? What about grabbing money, right? During the Wanli period, one tael of silver could buy two stones of rice. When there was a famine during the Chongzhen period, the price of rice rose to two taels at most. This bucket of rice is really unheard of! Now is not a catastrophic year, why is a bucket of rice so expensive? ”

Zhao Liangmin smiled and said: "Old brother, you also know that you are talking about the Wanli Year and the Chongzhen Year." Now it's the year of Shunzhi, it's the Qing Dynasty! What are you doing in advance? This year is indeed not a disaster year, but there are no natural disasters or human disasters. The thief came to Chongqing Mansion to fight the autumn breeze again, do you know? The governor has ordered martial law throughout the city, and most of the food in the city has been bought by the government as military rations. I still have some left here, and I also have a hard relationship with the government. Don't say that a bucket of rice costs three taels or two, if you go out of this door, you will be able to buy a grain of rice for five taels of silver! ”

After a slight pause, Zhao Liangmin's tone softened a little.

"Brother, I advise you to buy some rice for later use. God knows how long the thief will stay in Chongqing Mansion, don't look for it when there is no rice in the pot, it will be too late! ”

Yang Zhengqi was so angry that he shook his head again and again: "I can't afford to buy this rice, it's just that..."

After saying that, he turned around and walked out.

Zhao Liangmin took off his melon skin hat, revealing the top of his bare head and a string of extremely thin money rat tails, and said, "Poor Xiucai, you really take yourself seriously." I'd like to see if you're so hard when you're hungry and your heart is pressed against your back, isn't it? ”

...

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