Estuary

A dilapidated tent sits alone on a slope next to a puddle, and a nine-year-old boy plays carefree on the grass. Not far from him, more than a dozen sheep were "bleating" grazing and drinking water by the puddle, and these sheep were all the property of the Heli Bu family. The dwindling flock of sheep did not affect Xiao Helibu's mood, and at this time he was shooting wooden sticks one by one with a small bow made of himself on the grass, and sometimes rushed into the flock, grabbed a little sheep and stepped on the back of the sheep, shouting "drive" in his mouth.

Helib's elderly grandmother, Herahu, was preparing breakfast outside the tent, and the smell of goat's milk spread across the quiet grassland. The family is now left with only an elderly grandmother and a young grandchild. One day two years ago, when Herahhu was struggling to find his grandson who had gone out to play on a pony, his tribe had been annexed by Nurhachi ten years earlier, and none of the more than 500 people who were unwilling to be enslaved survived. The strong Herahu led his grandson around grazing alone and survived with difficulty, and he could go away with peace of mind as long as his grandson could survive on his own.

The sound of rumbling hooves was heard, and hundreds of strong men dressed as Han Chinese rushed from afar. When the tent was discovered, five horsemen rushed straight to it. "Whoa!" Hala was startled and knocked over the scented goat's milk, and the snow-white goat's milk splashed all over the ground. Herahhu didn't care about cleaning up the spilled goat's milk, and stood up in a panic, looking at the cavalry that appeared in the distance with a look of despair in his eyes. Whether it is a Han Chinese or a strong cavalry, every time they encounter it, they snatch everything they can after they are full of food and drink. In the two years of wandering in the steppe, Herahu has seen too much. She had hoped that the sheep would produce a few more litters, and that it would be better to get two inferior horses the next year, but the old horse in the family was too old to walk, and without the horses she would not be able to drive the sheep to grazing in time to a place with abundant water and grass.

Knowing that he could not stop the impending bad luck, Herahu still ran in front of the five cavalry who rushed and waved his hand to block it. With a flash of the sword, the bearded Han leader rode by, not looking at the old woman he had just slaughtered. Herahu's cloudy eyes revealed deep incomprehension, when he met the Jiannu cavalry before, he was just kicked twice when he stopped the sheep snatching soldiers, why this time... Why are there Han Chinese cavalry here? … Wide-eyed and Herahu ended his thoughts with great questions about the world.

"Take!" A small wooden stick bounced off the bearded Han man's half-body plate armor and fell to the ground, leaving a little wet mud, Xiao Heli Bu held a small bow, staring at the bearded Han man on the horse with tears in his eyes, and his fearless face revealed deep hatred. The bearded man smiled contemptuously at the small wooden stick on the ground, and swung the long knife in his hand hard.

Poof, the young body fell to the grass, still clutching the slingshot in his hand.

"My lord~~ Is this good? Are they just old people and children? A Han knight said

"Old people and children? When Jiannu washed our village in blood, why didn't you say this to him? The cavalry Bai Zongcheng didn't even care about the tiger, "The lord has an order, don't take prisoners, no matter people or animals, don't leave a living mouth." "Years of war and vendetta between the Ming Dynasty and Jiannu have long made Cheng Lian's heart like a stone.

Cheng Lianhu is a native of Hebei and Gaoyang, and his family of more than 20 people died in the fourth time when he was in the eleventh year of Chongzhen. This time, he led the cavalry as the vanguard into the hinterland of Jiannu, and Song Youliang gave him an order: do not take prisoners, no matter people or animals, and leave no living mouths. Since Huang Taiji sent all the men under the age of 60 and over the age of 14 to Jinzhou, Cheng Lianhu met old men over the age of 60 and children under the age of 14 along the way. Since crossing the Yalu River, Cheng Lianhu led his cavalry to burn all the way, resolutely and thoroughly carrying out Song Youliang's orders, and opening a safe and hidden road for the subsequent arrival of the army

On the evening of May 28, the 14th year of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty

Shengjing City, the puppet capital of Jiannu, was as calm as ever, and six white-haired old men stood guard at the entrance of Shengjing's big west gate (Huaiyuan Gate) with spears in their hands.

Shengjing is Shenyang, Ming Hongwu 21 years (AD 1388), Liaodong commanded the envoy to command Min Zhong to supervise the construction. The "city" here specifically refers to the "city wall", after the city wall is completed in the Ming Dynasty, the circumference of the city wall is 9 miles and 10 steps, the height is 2 zhang and 5 feet, the city takes the central temple as the central point, and the garrison is inside. In the 21st year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, the construction of the Shenyang city wall was mainly used to resist the military attacks of the Mongols and Jurchens in the north. This was the original purpose of the construction of the Shenyang City Wall. According to records, in the 22nd year of Jiajing (1543 AD), Shencheng was expanded, and the north side of the "Anding Gate" was renamed "Zhenbian Gate" (nine gates, opposite the Baita Primary School), and the military defense capability of the reinforced North Gate was stronger. In the more than ten years after 1610 AD, in the several years of war between the Later Jin and the Ming Dynasty, the Ming city wall of Shenyang was almost completely destroyed except for the north gate.

After Nurhachi entered Shenyang, he did not immediately start construction, but attacked westward, only building a simple "living palace" in the city according to the Jurchen architectural model within the town border gate (i.e., Jiumenli). The rebuilding of the Shenyang city wall by the Later Jin Dynasty was after Huang Taiji succeeded to the throne of Khan. From the first year of Tiancong to the fifth year of Tiancong (1627~1631 AD), a new city was built on the basis of the original city wall, and the city wall was thickened, heightened and reinforced; The four gates of the Ming Dynasty were changed to eight gates, and the Eight Banners Army each guarded one gate, and the city passage changed from the cross street of the Ming Dynasty to the Tic-tac-toe street. Four roads enclose the Forbidden City in the middle, and the four roads correspond to the eight gates that enter and exit the city. To the east of the city, the north is the small east gate (Neizhi gate), and the south is the big east gate (Fujin gate). To the south of the city, the west is the small south gate (Tianyou Gate), and the east is the big south gate (Desheng Gate). To the west of the city, the north is the small west gate (wai fangmen), and the south is the big west gate (Huaiyuan gate). The north of the city is the small north gate (ground gate) in the west, and the big north gate (Fusheng gate) in the east.

The original strongest north gate of the Ming Dynasty was the least destroyed in the war, and because it was close to Nurhachi's residence, it was fortunate to be preserved in the Qing Dynasty and became the "Nine Gates". At this time, in addition to the Forbidden City, there are Khan Palace, 11 palaces, six yamen, temples and so on.

"You say, can our Majesty win against the Hong soldiers?" An old man in a felt hat asked in Manchu

"Why can't you? When will the soldiers of the Southern Barbarians beat my Eight Banners? The other old man with a gourd pinned to his waist smiled

"That's right~ The dolls went to war, and we old men were left to take care of the home. What if the southern barbarians come to attack? The third old man stuck a cigarette pouch in his waist

The old man in the felt hat smiled: "Sneak attack on Shengjing? Lend a few guts to the Southern Barbarians, and they don't dare~" Before the words fell, a middle-aged man came out of the city and glanced at him

"What do you see? Stinky Southern Barbarian, don't think that you won't know you if you shave your hair~" The old man in the felt hat scolded fiercely: "Get out~" The old man in the felt hat raised the spear in his hand and made it look like he was going to smash it on the head

The middle-aged man hurriedly quickened his pace and ran out as soon as he wrapped his head

A few old men who were guarding the door laughed

At this time, someone on the tower of the city gate laughed and scolded: "Giltahui, you old immortal, don't laugh, look, the dust is rolling in the distance, it seems that someone is coming." ”

As soon as he was shouted by the people on the city tower, the old man in the felt hat immediately put his hand on the pergola, looked south, and sure enough, he saw a group of cavalry gradually becoming clear in his sight

"Quick~Pull up the suspension bridge~" Giltahun shouted loudly

Only a moment of effort, but saw a team of cavalry wearing white flag armor and the white flag of the Han army came to the front, and shouted for the first person: "I am the Han army flag Niu Lu Zhen Fang Chaoting under the command of Prince Yu, Prince Yu was ordered to return to China, and now he has crossed the Yalu River. ”

Although this person is Han, he can speak Manchu, and he is very fluent, and the old man in the felt hat is a commoner, although the other party is Han, he can only say politely: "My lord, can you have a token?" ”

"The Goldskin Arrow is here." Locking Fang Chaoting, he took out a golden leather arrow and shook it reluctantly in Jile Tahui, "Why don't you hurry up and put down the suspension bridge?" ”

"This little one can't be the master, so he said that the little one has never seen the golden skin arrow, and he doesn't know if it's true or not. The adults will wait, and the small ones will invite the doorman to come. With that, Giltahun ran to find the officer on duty

Suddenly, the officer came, he was a Han man, his position was low, and he had never seen the golden leather arrow, he said in Chinese: "The prince who led the troops in the city has gone to Jinzhou, this lord, can you throw the golden leather arrow over and let the small one test the authenticity?" ”

"Fart~ Can Goldskin make arrows throw? Is it also verifiable for a petty official like you? Fang Chaoting scolded: "If you don't open the door again, you will delay asking Fujin and the ladies to say goodbye, be careful of your head." Scolding and scolding, he still took out a piece of silver from his arms and threw it to the petty official, "Lao Tzu went to North Korea and made a fortune, I don't care about this money, I should reward you, open the door quickly!" ”

"Chirp~" The junior official took the silver, stuffed it into his waist pocket, and shouted at the old men: "Open the door quickly!" ”

Quack~~~ The heavy suspension bridge was slowly lowered, and Fang Chaoting rode his horse proudly, leading the thirty knights behind him to slowly step onto the suspension bridge

"Adults go slowly~" The little official smiled and made a gesture of please on the side

"Hmm~~ You're getting acquainted!" Fang Chaoting's horse stopped in front of the petty official, "Fang Cai has less reward, this official has to reward you again~~"

"Reward?" The petty official was flattered and said, "Thank you for your wrong love~~"

"Then the official will reward you with a whole corpse~"

"What~ah~" Before the little officer could react, he felt a chill in his neck, and then his body collapsed disobediently, and the moment he fell to the ground, he saw those knights pounce on those old city defenders like wolves and tigers

He wanted to shout "Close the gates", but at the moment he was unable to make any sound