PS: Continue to ask for a monthly pass.

Kaifeng, on the Majiakou embankment on the south bank of the Yellow River, is crowded with people and traffic.

The surface of the Yellow River is almost covered by large and small boats. There were children who watched the excitement, pointing to the huge white sails of the ship, and letting out a crisp laugh.

The older children, on the other hand, picked up mussel shells and frogs in the reeds on the shallow shore, and occasionally caught one or two fish from the Yellow River, or the eggs of waterfowl from the reeds, and cheered excitedly to show them to their parents.

However, their parents did not care about it, and just scolded the children aside, and kept following the leaders to their own work.

Along the embankment, improvised trestle bridges were built with thick timber, creating a temporary pier that stretched for several miles. On the wharf, flags of different colors are planted in sections, so that ships carrying different goods can dock at the corresponding berths. After the inventory is completed, hundreds of former homeless people, now called rogues by the officials, gentlemen and doctors, will rush to the temporary dock in an orderly manner under the leadership of their respective leaders, unload and transport the goods on the ship one by one, and then return to transport them again.

In order to carry these materials, nearly 70,000 or 80,000 people, thousands of carts, and nearly 10,000 mules, horses, and donkeys were mobilized.

After Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai jointly conquered Kaifeng, the momentum was even greater, and the people were flourishing. There are five or six hundred thousand people, and the rumors are more than one million. The actual elite soldiers were only about 130,000 or 40,000, including 100,000 infantry and 30,000 cavalry. Four and a half million other people, including various craftsmen, grooms, and baggage teams...... All of them are logistical non-combatants. There are also the so-called Mu Yi from the clothes, yellow crowns, three religions and nine streams, etc., which are beneficial to the peasant army, and the grass on the wall who come to eat mixed rice, and the generations who climb the dragon and attach the phoenix.

There are more than 100,000 men, women, elderly and weak dependents in the camp alone. In addition, there are a large number of recruits, who have not been trained, and they are also among the five or six hundred thousand. The good thing is that the cavalry is indeed elite soldiers, and each soldier has two or three war horses.

However, fortunately, it was opened in the open. The seizure is huge, the commanders of the two groups, Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai, have never seen so much money and food, since we have money in our hands now, then we will simply be a local tyrant!

The generals at all levels of the second battalion of Chuang Cao coveted those sophisticated and sturdy Nanzhong equipment as early as when they were in western Henan, and not long ago in Kaifeng, they witnessed the sophisticated equipment of the subordinates of Wang Long and Luo Hu, who were junior characters, and the terrifying combat effectiveness. They even demanded to change the weapons in their hands.

What's more, Kaifeng has millions of residents, and there are many important towns around, if there is no trade, I am afraid that no prosperous place will become a desert.

So, Wang Lung went to Jinan again, food, and weapons. Cloth, medicine. They are all the objects of his big purchases, and the ones used to pay for the price are the gold and silver, jewelry, antique calligraphy and paintings, and rare books harvested in Kaifeng City.

"As long as you are willing to accept it, we will have no problem dismantling the tower for you and transporting it!"

You have the money to buy, I have the goods to sell, this kind of thing is naturally a hit and it off for the Nanyue Army and the peasant army of Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai.

But. Looking at the huge purchase list proposed by Wang Long, Rao is Li Huayu was bold, but he could only gasp.

That's a lot!

After a rough look at the list brought by Wang Long, just the grain, rice, oil and salt were about to empty the warehouses in Denglai and other places. Grain and rice cost at least four million stones, and oil and salt were to be supplied to a million people for at least three months. At present, although there are not so many people in the second camp of Chuang Cao, Wang Lung sneered and revealed the mystery: "First, we have to prepare more goods, and second, although we don't have so many people, there are a lot of mules and horses!" ”

During their few months in Shandong, Wang Long and Luo Hu also learned to give their horses some salt every day to keep them in full condition. Now this practice has been recognized by the generals of Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai's battalion, and has been approved by the two commanders, and it has been officially promoted in the army as a rule.

Therefore, salt should not only meet the needs of people, but also the needs of mules and horses.

However, what made Li Huayu even more entangled was the number of weapons.

Compared with enough grain, rice, oil, and salt for millions of people to eat for several months, and enough cloth for these people to sew several sets of clothes for the four seasons, "40 twelve-pound guns, 60 8-pound guns, 100 6-pound guns, 400 big Buddha machines, all ammunition, 10,000 guns, 10,000 ammunition accessories, guns, and other things, 10,000 pieces of high-quality Nanzhong cuirass, 50,000 iron helmets, 20,000 collars of high-grade Jiaolong leather armor, 20,000 collars of iron-inlaid cotton armor, and 50,000 collars of coconut shell armor." There are 10,000 copper-backed iron tire bows and 200,000 knives and guns of various colors. Even Li Huayu, who has been accustomed to seeing a large number of officials since he was a child, was a little flustered and caught off guard in the face of this list. As for things like gunpowder, arrows, meat porcelain jars, all kinds of cured meat, salted eggs, spirits, life-saving bags, etc., there is simply no indication of how much is needed, but it is indicated in a small font behind the name of the item, and all are cleared! As long as there is, let's break through the two families!

"Damn! Wang Lung, what are you going to do? ”

"Eldest Prince, who made your guy so sharp?" Wang Lung smiled at Li Huayu with a smile, "After we go back, we will show a little one, and the generals of each battalion and each outpost will go to our uncle to ask for these guys, what do you want our uncle to do?" Are they all old brothers who were born and died together? Right now, the seal is broken, and the big boss has silver and hard goods in his hand, so let us beg you, right? ”

"But the artillery, guns, guns, guns, and armor you want are too much?!"

Li Huayu lowered his voice and talked to Wang Long, "Don't talk about me here at the moment, even the entire Ming Dynasty, there may not be so many heavy artillery and big Buddha machines cast in Nanzhong!" I just want to sell it to you, and I have to cast it from the south little by little, and then sail north! ”

"It's okay! When I went out, our uncle and the big boss both said that as long as the eldest son is willing to help, we will pay all the payments at once, and then, how much have you arrived? Just leave it to us! ”

Seeing that Li Huayu's tone was loose, Wang Long, who was familiar with the world, beat the snake with the stick, and also offered his own conditions to repay Li with his own conditions, pay off the full amount at one time, and those artillery knives and guns can be delivered in installments!

The words have come to this point. What else can Li Huayu say? summoned the steward in charge of military quartermaster and commerce, who was also an acquaintance of Wang Long, "You go and discuss, come up with a charter, and come back to report to me." ”

After sending away Wang Long and the others, who had been thanked for their kindness, and trying to suppress the ecstasy in his heart, Li Huayu took out the secret book of contacts with his father from the leather book stored in the cabinet, and wrote it himself, and secretly reported to his father about the peasant army sending people to Jinan to purchase.

A few days later. Kuaima brought back Li Shouhan's reply from Tianjin. "It's doable. But be absolutely confidential. Except for food, cloth, and other civilian materials, the rest of the military supplies must be paid in batches. In addition, Shouhan informed Li Huayu in his letter that the sworn enemies of the peasant army at present are Zuo Liangyu, Sun Chuanting and other departments, and it is still some time before they clash with the Nanyue army. At this time, it is better to use the hands of the peasant army. It is best to smash the military forces relied on by those guys who oppose the New Deal and stumble on the Nanyue Army, and it is best to be able to wipe them out!

The new deal was vetoed in disguise by the bigwigs of the DPRK and China. It really made Li Shouhan very angry, and Ning Yuanbo was angry, and the consequences were naturally very strict. In addition to forcing the palace with the government and the opposition when there was a discussion in the court and rumors, our Ning Yuanbo had a ruthless after-move to deal with it.

When he received Chongzhen's holy decree asking him to send troops, he gave the court a clear response. As long as the new policy proposed by Ben Bo is implemented, Ben Bo can guarantee that whether it is a thief or a rogue, it is just a group of clowns who jump off the beam! It can be destroyed overnight!

But. Li Shouhan also knew that most of the scholars and doctors who opposed the new policy in the DPRK and China were from Jiangnan. All kinds of taxes and one-piece errand payments are tantamount to their great enemies who kill their fathers and take their wives. How can you do it in your own roots? Therefore, they openly and secretly supported Zuo Liangyu in various forms, helped him make meritorious contributions, expanded the army, and provided military salaries, ordnance and various materials. In order to use Zuo Liangyu's military force to confront the Nanyue army!

In this point, in a recent personnel appointment and dismissal, Li Shouhan saw some clues. Emperor Chongzhen specially released Hou Sui, who was imprisoned for an incident, and reappointed him as the right attendant of the military department and the right servant of the Imperial Palace, the governor of Baoding, Shandong, and Hebei military affairs, and the jurisdiction of the "Ping Thief" (referring to Zuo Liangyu who hung the seal of the 'Ping Thief General") and other towns to aid and suppress the officers and soldiers, and let him organize the officers and troops to attack the north and south in order to quickly recover Kaifeng.

Chongzhen probably made a little fool of himself after suffering successive setbacks, and made this personnel appointment that made Li Shouhan and the Nanyue Army system furious. Forget about anything else, what Baoding and Hebei Inspectors are all bullshit, but they shouldn't be included, and Shandong should not be included in the jurisdiction of this freshly baked supervisor. You must know that in Shandong at this time, our Li Huayu and Li Dagongzi are running for Uncle Ning Yuan. At this time, what does it mean to assign Shandong to Hou Sui to command moderation? Before the emperor decreed that Shandong, Denglai, Tianjin, and Jimen would be the jurisdiction of Li Shouhan, and the words were still in his ears, but now he didn't count?

Our father Hou Sui is more of a good hand at pulling hatred than his son! He was a native of Guide Mansion in Henan, but he also had a better understanding of the situation in his hometown in the Central Plains at this time, and after taking over, he went to the imperial court and put forward a comprehensive plan for the strategy of using troops. From Qin to Yu, he defeated Wang Qiaonian and Fu Zonglong, and all the strong soldiers and horses in the world were thieves. The thieves rode tens of thousands of horses, drifting like wind and rain, passing through the fortified city, because of the soldiers. The officers and soldiers only asked what they wanted, and they were hungry. Even with the spirit of the sword, it is impossible to make the county order of the closed city go out and see it, transport a bunch of swords, and give a bunch of rice. This is why it is often frustrated. Now the thief atmosphere is pressing, Quanyu has fallen into seven or eight, and the vassal king is rescued, and he is hopeful. However, according to his words, the Central Plains is the heart of the world; From this day onwards, it is the ear of the broken. Since the vassal king said, the city is solid; Since the safety of the world is in danger, Weicheng should not be in a hurry to socialize. The minister is the commander of all the ways, and he is a thief, how can he say that he will not help? But the seven towns under the command of the minister are only tens of thousands of soldiers, and the four towns have not yet arrived. Feng He went forward, no matter whether it was light or not the righteousness of the eldest son, it also made the thieves look forward to measuring their reality and playing easy for the imperial court. …… Therefore, for today's plan, Gou has a definite opinion, and it is better to use Henan to commission it. ordered Baoding Fuchen Yang Jin and Shandong Fuchen Wang Yongji to moat the north; Fengyang Fuchen Ma Shiying, Huaixu Fuchen Shi Kefa South to curb thieves and chong; and to Qin Governor Sun Chuanting Saitong Pass; The minister led Zuo Liangyu to solidify Jingxiang. Therefore, the road of its escape is also cut off. The people who came from the thieves in the countryside all said that there were millions, and now there are 500,000 people and 100,000 horses, and the eclipse of people is one liter, and the eclipse of horses is three liters, which is 8,000 bells of millet a day wherever they go. The Central Plains is thousands of miles away. Looking at the people, since the past, Ann has caused this. The current soldier is not stronger. Liangyu is the old minister, and every pair of ministers weeps and has the heart of retribution. Three times through the ministers, they all kowtowed to their fathers. Don't dare to disturb the grass and trees. If selfish favors are like this, how can they be willing to lose the country? However, in the past, he supervised and controlled the obedient side, and the soldiers were too many to eat, so it was difficult to dispatch. Sincere envoys have to gallop to their troops, proclaim to the soldiers, drum loyalty, and feed the soldiers of the whole town with the grain provided by the south and the middle. There is an opportunity. That is, the east goes out and Sun Chuanting together, the group of thieves are attacked on their backs, hunger and gallop suddenly, and if they do not slaughter each other, they will disperse. Giving up this is not trying, but the desire has collapsed in the Central Plains, the danger of losing the danger, and the snake is wanton. I'm afraid that the disaster is not limited to the vassal king. This is a concern for the community, not a small plan for success or failure. ”

It can't be said that Hou Sui's mind is not clear enough. He reckoned with a clear account. After Kaifeng was conquered by the peasant army, the strength of the Ming army and the peasant army had undergone quiet, but irreversible changes, and the imperial court could no longer take the initiative to seek the main force of the peasant army to fight as it had done in previous years. As far as the combat effectiveness of the troops on both sides is concerned, the situation in which more than 1,000 officers and men can chase and kill tens of thousands of peasant troops for dozens of miles is gone forever. At present, the imperial court can only hold on to the danger. Wait for your time. Therefore, Hou Sui opposed the court's proposal to recover Kaifeng as a top priority, and advocated instructing the governors of Shaanxi, Baoding, Shandong, Fengyang, and Huaixu to defend their own territory.

He made it very clear in his recital. At present, Henan is thousands of miles of red land, food is in dire straits, and nearly a million people of the rebel army are concentrated here, and there will be a food crisis in the near future. At that time, he led Zuo Liangyu's troops from Huguang to the north, and together with Sun Chuanting, the governor of Shaanxi, attacked the peasant army in Henan.

In all fairness, Hou Sui is much more advantageous than his talented son who can only make some poems on the Qinhuai River and moan without illness. This is a bit of a strategic proposition. Moreover, it is also harboring evil intentions! Because the millions of peasant troops headed by Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai are currently guarding the Yellow River, relying on water transportation channels, and having a large number of materials and goods seized in Kaifeng, they will naturally not starve. Even if they encounter food difficulties, don't forget, they are called rogues by the imperial court! Walking is their strong point, and it is their forte to go to the enemy, and they will never squat in Henan and starve as Hou Sui wishfully imagined. And Hou Sui's proposal to instruct the governors of the provinces bordering Henan to defend the territory and "cut off its road to escape" is just a copy of Yang Sichang's "ten-sided net". The key here lies in whether the peasant army's decision-making can withstand the supervision and control of blockage. Once the blockade fails, the first party to bear the brunt will inevitably become Hou Sui's scapegoat, which is exactly where Hou Sui is vicious.

What made the Nanyue army roar with the same hatred of the enemy was that this freshly baked Hou Inspector actually openly pretended to be at the top of the mountain, and gave an order to Li Huayu, who was in charge of the money and grain affairs of the army and horses in Shandong, Denglai and other places in Jinan at this time, and ordered Li Huayu to quickly prepare half a year's food and salary for 300,000 horses to supply Zuo Liangyu's subordinates, who were about to go north to the command of Hou Suihou. "The military situation is urgent, there must be no mistakes, and those who violate the order should act with military law and the imperial sword!" Is this Hou Sui, who was a father, taking Li Shouhan's son to avenge his son's humiliation on the Qinhuai River that day?

However, even if you want to vent your anger for your son and establish yourself for yourself, please find an idea that is easier to bully! For example, the pine bag of Baoding Governor Yang Wenyue, and Ning Yuanbo's father and son, are also something that you can shake as an empty supervisor who has just been released from prison? Do you really think that your old subordinate and old friend have 300,000 horses in his hands, and you can humiliate the Li family's father and son unscrupulously?

In fact, this so-called 300,000 horses are completely Zuo Liangyu scaring this old chief. He thought to himself that the strength of Pingqi Town was far inferior to that of the peasant army, and the two sides were no longer opponents of the same level, and the whole army might be swallowed by Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai, who were currently in full swing, if they went north.

In order to perfunctory Hou Sui's face, he sent his subordinate Jin Shenghuan to report with 5,000 soldiers first, acting as a pro-army to protect Hou Sui, and at the same time attached a letter saying that he would bring 300,000 pro-unification troops to the meeting later. In fact, Zuo Liangyu's subordinate had only 25,000 soldiers, and most of the rest of the troops were a large number of troops that he had cobbled together by recruiting and subduing rebels, and the supply of food and salary was all self-raised by means of local grain (that is, the general term for the means of plundering the prefectures and counties, and plundering the people's property). This time, he promised to go out to listen to Hou Sui's dispatch, and the voice outside the strings was the number of 300,000 horses, signaling that Hou Sui would retreat in the face of difficulties.

However, Hou Sui misinterpreted Zuo Liangyu's intentions, patting his chest and saying that he could raise and solve the food and salary of 300,000 people, and on the other hand, he forced Li Huayu to quickly raise 300,000 people's food and salary for half a year, and dismissed the superintendent to obey him, and regarded Li Dagongzi as a fat sheep that could be slaughtered at will.

How can such a person stay against him?! (To be continued......)