In the years of constant fire and chaos, people live like a year, and they don't have the heart to celebrate the New Year. But whether you want to or not, the third year of Hongwu (1370) The year of the Chinese still came as scheduled. The long-term war, coupled with Wang Baobao's siege of Lanzhou for more than three months, connived at the soldiers to loot everywhere, this year's New Year, where is there still the atmosphere of the New Year in Lanzhou.

The more this is the case, the more Zhang Wen dare not be careless.

On this day, he led his generals to inspect the city walls, and suddenly from the west side of the city came the sound of drums.

"What is this?" He asked the crowd.

"It's the New Year, and people are making social fires." Tuhuan, who is familiar with the surrounding people's feelings, replied, "In these chaotic years, people who are difficult still have the heart to make a social fire?!" ”

He hesitated for a moment and asked, "What do you tell me about the social fire here?" ”

"Dragon dance, lion dance, and Yangge,—— by the way, the best thing is the stilts - I heard that there are stilts everywhere, but they are not as good as the stilts here,—— I heard that the stilts of Zhuanglang Kushui Fort are two feet high, and those who step on stilts can easily sit on the roof." Dehuan gestured.

Also, the drum played here is also special, cylindrical, the drum is more than three feet high, more than two feet thick, covered with cowhide on both sides, painted with two dragons playing with beads and other patterns, with a drum belt on the shoulder, without a drumstick, is twisted into a drum strip with hemp, also known as the drum whip, beating its drum surface. Generally, the drum corps of a fire brigade consists of thirty or forty people, and the number of people is as high as hundreds. The drumming action has martial arts movements, the amplitude is large, the strength is strong, and the drum is lifted to the top of the head in a flash, and the drum is slammed on the ground in a flash, jumping back and forth, riding the drum and beating, it is very difficult to perform, and the weak person can't play at all. ”

"Oh?" Zhang Wen was thoughtful. That night, he brought Tuohuan to the account to discuss.

Like a lion waiting for its prey to enter the hunting circle, with the beginning of the Chinese New Year, Wang Baobao's heart is full of longing, and he waits for the right moment in high vigilance. He knows that if he can conduct a strategic decisive battle with Xu Da in Lanzhou, if he makes good use of the terrain and grasps the fighter plane, he can mobilize his subordinates' desire to win, and wait for work at ease, at least half of the certainty of victory, if God helps him, then he will be seventy or eighty percent sure, so that he can completely defeat the Ming army, realize the strategic counteroffensive, rejuvenate my Great Yuan, and establish immortal feats, in this way, he is the first hero to rebuild the Great Yuan!

So where is the battlefield? It is located in the Shen'eryu area southeast of Lanzhou.

Wang Baobao's mind was highly excited, and he was not idle for a moment, he was eager to succeed, and his eyes seemed to be steaming with a thirst for success.

His soldiers did not have as much desire as he did. It's the New Year, and the smell of the New Year in their bones tickles their hearts. Many people talk about the customs of celebrating the New Year in their hometowns and reminisce about the fun stories of celebrating the New Year when they were children. Chatting and chatting, some people's eyes were moist.

"The social fire in Bitter Water Castle is good!"

"People's stilts are called high, two or three, and people stepping on them are like clouds and fog, walking in the air!"

"Actually, their drums are pretty good! Dozens of people pressed the drum, and the yellow earth changed the patterns neatly and uniformly beating the drum, and the scene was amazing! ”

"Is the social fire of bitter water making trouble this year?"

"I was born on the sixth day of the first month, and I was making trouble."

"You've seen it before? We can't see it, our eyes don't get hot. ”

"That's it, it's so messy, they don't dare to come to Lanzhou City."

The commander gave an order. Do they dare to come? Ate leopard gall? ”

"Yes, yes, tell the marshal, and give them an order to send us a fire. For the New Year, let the brothers also relax. ”

"Let the Bitter Water Castle's send-off society come over?"

Hearing the opinions of his subordinates, Wang Baobao thought it was ridiculous at first, isn't this a joke? The enemy is at present, in extraordinary times, how can this work!

However, the people under him chattered more times, and Wang Baobao's heart was moved, and the Lantern Festival was a day for all the people to enjoy together, isn't it just a social fire? This is a social fire in a nearby village, what are you afraid of? Thinking about it this way, Wang Baobao acquiesced.

Wang Baobao still didn't dare to be careless, and asked his subordinates: "If you make a fuss on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month,—— you must strictly investigate, and you can't let an idle person get in." Anyone whose origin is unknown will be killed, and no one will be left! ”

If you really want to find a social fire team, it's really difficult, people are either hiding or hiding. searched and searched, and finally found a social fire team - under coercion and temptation, the social fire team of Kushui Fort agreed to perform. On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Wang Baobao sent a team of cavalry and the Shehuo team of the 100th person to Wang Baobao's city.

The fire entered the city, and the four streets were noisy. Most of the people who play social fire are in the prime of life. After they had rested for half an hour, they struck the gongs and drums and danced. The Yuan army defending the city surrounded it. The performance officially began, and the "four-door cover" of the social fire team wore flowers, which dazzled the audience; The lion that rolled the hydrangea played spiritually lively, winning applause from the audience; The "big-headed monk playing Liu Cui" made people laugh a lot. The performance of the fire team marched to the south gate, at this time, I saw the conductors of the drum corps lose their eyes at each other, and the enthusiastic drum corps came on the stage, only to see the mighty drummers, the pace was neat, and the drums were thundering, which pushed the atmosphere on the field to a new climax. At this moment, only a cannon sound was heard, and the commander standing in front waved the bamboo pole into the sky and shouted "Kill!" I saw dozens of drummers punching and kicking three times, breaking the long drum, taking out the swords, guns and weapons hidden in the drum, and killing the unsuspecting Yuan army.

It turned out that on that night, Zhang Wen called Tuhuan to the big tent, and said in his heart that Lanzhou had been besieged for more than a month, and there was not much grain and grass left, and Xu Da's reinforcements had not yet arrived, especially the castle maintained by Wang Bao on the edge of the Zhenyuan Bridge blocked Lanzhou from the outside world, how to storm this castle and force the Yuan army to withdraw?

"Can you use the social fire?" Dehuan's eyes lit up.

"Using the fire?"

"We pretended to be a social fire performance, infiltrated Wang Baobao City, and joined forces inside and outside, so that we could easily break through the city gate."

"That's a way to do it. The question is how to bring knives and guns in? ”

"Can you hide it in the drum?"

"Hiding in a drum?" Tuhuan pondered for a while and said, "This drum is long, it should be no problem." ”

"You pick fifty or sixty people, quietly go out of the city, find a Shehuo team, borrow their belongings, and infiltrate into the Yuan army city - whether Lanzhou can break the siege is the key to this."

"Good!"

So, after the father and son took 50 warriors out of the city, they found the Kushui Fort Shehuo team, and told about the plan to use the Shehuo performance to break through the Wangbao City, and the common people suffered from the oppression and bullying of the Yuan army on weekdays, and hated the Yuan army very much, so they agreed, they made a special drum, and put various light and short weapons such as knives, swords, hooks, and hairpins in it. In this way, there is a wonderful and heroic scene in front of us.

Hearing the sound of cannons and seeing the president's order, the others also took up arms and chased down the Yuan army. The Ming army, which had already been prepared outside the city, heard the sound of cannons, and also sent light cavalry to attack, meeting the outside and taking the city of Wang Baobao by the Zhenyuan Bridge in a moment and three minutes.

Yuan Shou saw that the general trend was gone, so he had to abandon the city and flee. Wang Baobao can't take care of it so much, Xu Da has led the army in front of him, the decisive battle is imminent, and success or failure is here! He couldn't afford to think about it.

The siege of Lanzhou was lifted. Everyone rejoiced and waited for the arrival of the great general to fight the Yuan army!

Xu Da led the army to attack and advance, clearing obstacles along the way. On the eighth day of the first month of April, Xu Da went all the way out of Anding County, Gongchang, to Shen'eryu, and lined up with Wang Baobao across the ditch to confront each other. On the ninth day of the first month, Xu Da commanded all the generals to fight with all their strength, defeated Timur, captured the king of Yuantan, the king of Wenji, and the princes Yan Sixiao, Pingzhang Han Zhar, Hu Linchi and other officials 1,865 people, more than 84,500 officials, 15,280 horses, and countless donkeys, cattle, sheep and miscellaneous animals.

As the saying goes, a defeated army is like a mountain falling, and a tree is falling and a lemur is scattered. Just now, it was still overwhelming, and the shouting of killing like thousands of horses galloping suddenly stopped, and the field returned to its usual silence.

Wang Baobao almost couldn't believe himself, the hundreds of thousands of troops under his command were killed, wounded, surrendered, and fled, suddenly evaporated, and now there are only wives and children left around him. They followed him helplessly, panicked, and fled to the Yellow River in a puff of smoke.

There are no ships!

The pursuers behind emerged from the horizon, and the sound of horses' hooves seemed to be heard.

"Heaven will not me!"

At the moment when Wang Baobao was desperate, a large log floated down the river and reached the feet of their family.

Hurry up and hurry up –

didn't have time to think about it, Wang Baobao asked his wife to climb the wood with their children, Wang Baobao pushed hard, jumped on the wood, and the family encouraged each other to swim to the opposite side.

At this time, the pursuers of the Ming army also chased to the opposite bank, and the sound of the waves of the Yellow River swallowed up the shouts of the Ming army. Wang Baobao's family escaped from the sight of the Ming army with all their strength.

Zhang Wen saw Xu Da and reported the process of guarding Lanzhou City, and praised the father and son. Xu Da was extremely happy, he said, thanks to the governor of the capital, Jining Hou Gu Shi General many times, as early as the third day of the first month of the first month when the army in Gansu, Emperor Hongwu issued a holy decree, the edict to give off the joy for a hundred households, the world to guard the city, control the local people, listen to the order of recruitment, guard, tribute, and protection. Now that hundreds of households have meritorious service in guarding Lanzhou, I will report to the emperor in person when I return to the capital to ask for merit.

The father and son were overjoyed when they heard this, and kowtowed to thank him.

Xu Da instructed the father and son to take their subordinates back to Liancheng to continue to govern the local people, listen to the conscription, and serve the imperial court.

The father and son of Tuhuan were grateful, and said that they would swear to serve Ming Ting.

Speaking of hiding the big knife in the drum and pretending to play the social fire to sneak into Wang Baobao's city to attack the city, Xu Da and the generals were surprised again and again. Xu Date ordered someone to invite the head Miao Zheng Miao of the Bitter Water Castle Social Fire Association and rewarded him with a generous gift. Xu Da asked them what the name of the drum was, and the people who came said that the drum did not have a name, but after the defeat of Wang Baobaocheng, the people rejoiced and praised the drum as "Taiping Drum".

"Taiping Drums! Taiping Drums! All right! In the year of peace, the people of Taiping played the drum of peace, and the people looked forward to a peaceful and prosperous world! ”

Later, Lanzhou Tanhua Huang wrote a preface to "Cymbal Song Propaganda", praising the Lanzhou defenders for using Taiping drums to break through Wang Baobao's city:

The Yuan general Kuangkuo Timur led his troops from Gan and Su into Kou, and when he heard that the prime minister of Shaanxi Province was bald and Lu and Zhang Liangbi who participated in politics fled, Li Siqi and Privy Counsel Kong Xing surrendered to Shaanxi County, and then attacked Lanzhou.

Command Zhang Wen to hold on, not down. Taifu Xu Da begged for it, fought in Dingxi, and made the tenth in "Battle Dingxi". The words say:

Yixi fought in the west, and Wang Shi was a hundred times angry. Blowing the horn and plugging the city late, Yangjing Mountain is obscure. Huang Yun was murderous, and the drums of war shook the ground. Huanhuan Bears and Tigers fell from the sky. East and west are suitable, and the clouds are relative. Qiang Qing Lan was afraid, and the soul was destroyed. The momentum is like a mountain to press the eggs, and the night escapes to leave an empty base. Lanzhou ancient gold city, the guard letter is majestic. Strict preparation strategy, the heavenly soldiers suddenly arrived. Relying heavily on the power of the gods, the border is cleansed.

Tuhuan took Ashdu to Gu Shi's tent that night. As soon as they entered the big tent and saw Gu, they bowed their heads and bowed.

Tuhuan said: "It all depends on the general Huwei, and we can return to the imperial court." It is all thanks to the general's good words in the imperial court, and we can Mu Ze Holy Grace, receive the land, and inherit it by hereditary. The general is very gracious, and the slave father and son are unforgettable; The grace of a drop of water should be reciprocated with a gushing spring. In the future, we will wait for the grass to tie the ring, but the general's horse is the head. ”

Gu Shi hurriedly stepped forward to help the father and son, congratulated them, and then said: "The good bird chooses the tree to perch, and the virtuous minister chooses the master." Thousands of households can abandon the darkness and turn to the light, and submit to my great light, which is in line with the will of heaven and the will of the people. I am Emperor Hongwu of the Ming Dynasty, who is a great man and a hero, who has the universe in mind and is blessed by the world. We must all do our best to be loyal and make meritorious deeds to repay the grace of God and be honored by future generations! There is one more thing, you have to be attentive - my Ming army continues to fight. The loss of horses is uncountable. Next, the army will inevitably march into Mobei, chase the grassland, need countless war horses, you have to start as soon as possible, breed excellent horses in the land under your jurisdiction, and pay tribute to the imperial court on time for wartime needs, the imperial court will definitely reward a lot, praise! ”

I was very happy to return to Liancheng. On the one hand, he summoned the leading figures in the area to come to Liancheng to tell about the Hongwu Emperor's granting of the title, told about the Ming army's defense in Lanzhou, and broke the Yuan army in Shen'eryu, and warned everyone to sincerely return to the Ming Dynasty, live and work in peace and contentment, obey the dispatch, and share the peace. He also specially found his cronies Huo Chitu and Zhihuan, and arranged for them to go to the surrounding areas to look for good horses in preparation for tribute.

Huo Chitu and Zhihuan lived up to expectations, and it took more than three months to find more than ten horses in Wushengyi, Chakouyi and other places, and brought them to let Dehuan accept them. Tuhuan saw that these horses had straight heads, medium size, big eyes, small pointed ears, large nostrils, and dry faces. The neck length is average, and the armor is not high and long. The anterior chest is wide, the chest is deep and long, the back length is medium, the waist is short and broad, the abdomen is full, and the muscles are developed, which is a little unsatisfactory. Huo Chitu and Zhihuan hurriedly stepped forward and explained: "Lord Baihu, you may not understand, this is a really good horse. Zhuang Lang has a proverb: 'The fork of the post is in the womb.' These horses are known for their good walking and fast strides, and their stamina is good, and when they are ridden, they are fast and steady, and the rider does not feel the bumps. Especially if you can walk more than 300 miles a day, sprint up, and in the blink of an eye, you can run a mile. You'll know if you ride for two days. ”

I didn't feel at ease, I tried to ride for a few days, and it was really good, so I arranged for Huo Chitu and Zhihuan to find a good place to raise horses. Tell them that this is a big deal, and they can't be careless.

Huo Chitu and Zhihuan searched carefully in the surrounding area for a month, and finally thought that there was a natural horse ranch under Liancheng to Tianwanggou, where the terrain was open and the grass was green. In front of the Odori River, the river is surrounded by a semicircle, backed by a steep slope of the mountain's dense forest, and there is a spring flowing out of the ravine.

They took Tuohuan here to see it, and Tuohuan thought it was very good, so they identified it as a horse farm, where horses were raised, and other people were forbidden to graze here.

Tuhuan also built a horse number on the right side of the house, placed horse stakes, troughs, etc. for feeding horses, and his own mounts and tribute horses were raised on the horse number.

In the eighth year of Hongwu (1375 AD), Tuhuan was over fifty years old and his hair was gray. The imperial court ordered Pu Ying, the governor of the capital, to attack Hexi Dorba, and Tuhuan led his subordinates to participate in the battle. The battle was met with stubborn resistance from Dol Zoba. The governor Pu Ying fell to the ground in the war horse, and Pu Ying fell off the horse and met the enemy on foot. Seeing this, Tuhuan hurriedly came to Pu Ying's side, gave his war horse to Pu Ying, snatched a Yuan army war horse, killed the Yuan army, defeated the Yuan army, burned the Yuan army's lair, captured its subordinates, and returned triumphantly. After the war, the merit is the first to get rid of the joy. Governor Pu Ying wrote a war report and reported it to the imperial court, the emperor was overjoyed, and ordered to go to Beijing to make a contribution, but he was unable to make the trip due to old age and illness, which became a lifelong regret. The next year, after a long battle, he died,