Chapter 195: Hewan Village suffers

Li Mao's caravan of more than 10,000 horses may have been unique in the Ming Dynasty in this troubled era. Such a caravan, walking on this thousand-year-old road, will use their wisdom and bravery to break through all the obstacles that stand in their way, and move forward fearlessly. The caravan also brought new life to this ancient trade route that had been dormant for many years, and revitalized this ancient road.

After leaving Hewan Village, pass through Runcheng Town to Wulongkou Town, the channel of this section of the Qin River cuts the Taihang Mountain, the river bends with the mountain, and the bank wall stands steeply. In the summer, the water is turbulent and the water is abundant. In winter, the ice surface of the river is not very smooth. Li Mao: They walked for three days in this section.

The Qin River flows out of Wulongkou, flows through the alluvial plain, there are embankments on both banks, the riverbed is 2~4 meters higher than the ground on both banks, similar to the lower reaches of the Yellow River, it is also a "river on the ground". This is because the water of the Qin River, like the water of the Yellow River, has a high sediment content.

Soon after leaving Taihang Mountain, the Qinhe River turned all the way to the east, passing through Huaiqingfu (now Qinyang) and Xubao Town, and then eastward to Wuling County, and then southward to join the Yellow River.

Li Mao and the others basically walked on the embankment of the Qin River all the way, the road was easier to walk, and they didn't encounter much trouble, but the long horse team still walked for four days.

After entering the Yellow River, Li Mao and his team walked all the way east along the north bank of the Yellow River, and when they arrived at the north bank of Kaifeng, they chose a place with a better ice surface to cross the Yellow River. They walked for another four days.

Starting from Qinyuan, Li Mao and his team walked for more than 20 days and went through a lot of hardships before they arrived in Kaifeng.

At the beginning, Li Jing and Liu Chenghuang knew that Li Mao had some concerns about taking this road and didn't quite understand it, but they all followed Li Mao to Jinnan, and they knew that Li Mao was a cautious person and would not easily show his attitude. This time, they followed Li Mao to this Qinshui Ancient Road only to know that the human and geographical environment here is too complicated, if it weren't for Li Mao's great patience and wisdom to resolve a lot of crises, if a battle comes, then I don't know how many years to get out of this road.

In fact, the process of their incomprehension to admiration for Li Mao is also a good exercise for themselves. They have also learned that if they can solve things by soft means, they should use soft methods to solve them, and that the use of force is the last resort.

Outside Kaifeng City, Li Mao led the caravan to set up camp and prepared to rest well.

After arranging the caravan, Li Mao and Li Jing took a few people into the city and came to the palace to meet the king of Zhou. Zhang Zhimu brought a gift to King Zhou, of course, it was all produced by the kiln itself. Like glass mirrors, zippered purses, soap, locks, zippered boots, and the Kiln Weekly. King Zhou was very close to the people in Yaogang, so he had to leave Li Mao and others to eat in the palace. But Li Mao politely declined.

Leaving the palace, Li Mao and the others found a better inn to live in. He wanted to contact his former friends and some of the businessmen that Zhang Zhimu had come into contact with in Kaifeng last time. This time, Li Mao also had to play the front station for Lu Chengxiang, and he wanted to buy a place in Kaifeng to build a semicolon. Because Yaogang has decided to open a feudal branch that includes ticket numbers, shops, and inns. Li Mao helped to see if there was a suitable place this time, because Lu Chengxiang had never decided on the shopkeeper of this semicolon, and now Li Mao could only do it for him.

Due to the wars in Kaifeng and the drought for many years, business is very bad, so the shops and real estate are very cheap. With the help of the Shanxi Guild Hall, I quickly looked at a large mansion facing the street that could be used as a front shop and a backyard. This can not only be transformed into a façade shop and ticket number façade, but also can be used as an inn in the back, and can also be used as a station when the transportation company develops here.

Li Mao's caravan arrived in Kaifeng, making the whole Kaifeng as lively as a festival. Because the caravan of more than 10,000 horses is too big, even in the stable years, such caravans are rare, let alone in this troubled times. Many people are not afraid of the cold to go out of the city to see the excitement. On the one hand, the kiln gang has just been released from the siege of Kaifeng, and the people of Kaifeng have not forgotten it, on the other hand, more than 10,000 horses are really spectacular. Many Kaifeng people took the initiative to help work when they came to the camp out of the city, because they knew that there were no kiln gang people to help send grain into the city last time, and they didn't know how many people would starve to death in Kaifeng City, and their gratitude could only be expressed with actions. This made the people from the kiln also very moved. Those merchants in Kaifeng City even lined up at the inn where Li Mao lived, waiting to see Li Mao. These merchants were not only grateful to the people of Yaogang for coming to the rescue in times of crisis, but also very interested in the goods brought by Li Mao.

After staying in Kaifeng for a few days, Li Mao felt that the price was right, so he sold some goods and two thousand horses. After all, Kaifeng is a central big city, and its radiation range is very large. The merchants in Kaifeng expressed their dissatisfaction with the small amount of goods left behind by Li Mao. Li Mao patiently explained to them that these goods were originally set in Yangzhou, and the fathers and elders of Kaifeng were too eager to keep these goods, so they reluctantly pulled out some, but don't worry, when the Yellow River is opened, the goods will be transported from the kiln gang later.

Li Mao felt that the courtyard he liked this time was really good, so in order to prevent any other accidents, he decided to buy it directly with silver. Leave a few people to watch the yard, and wait for Lu Chengxiang and them to arrive before making arrangements.

The original plan was that Li Jing, Liu Chenghuang and others would send Li Mao to Kaifeng and go back, but according to the situation along the way, it was a bit difficult to leave 200 people to escort these horses.

Before leaving Kaifeng, Li Mao went to the palace to bid farewell to the king of Zhou. King Zhou asked Li Mao and the others when they would return. Li Mao said: "Originally, the brigade of Yaogang sent us to Kaifeng and returned directly, but after the situation along the way, it was decided that the brigade should be sent another ride, maybe we can return to Xuzhou." ”

King Zhou said: "When you return, you must go to Kaifeng, I still have something to explain." In addition, before you leave, my people will buy a few horses, and you will help you choose them. ”

What Li Mao didn't expect was that instead of buying a few horses, King Zhou bought a hundred horses at once, which was bought for his royal guards. Li Mao and the others also carefully helped select the horses, and when the people of the palace paid the bill, they must pay more. Because King Zhou ordered, it was already very unreasonable to pick horses in the herd, and the Yaogang people must not be allowed to suffer.

Li Mao and the others left Kaifeng and stopped in Shangqiu for a day, because the people of Shangqiu had long known that the caravan in Yaogang was coming, and the merchants of Shangqiu finally looked forward to a caravan coming, and Li Mao must stay for a few days. Li Mao had no choice but to stop for a day to see that the price of the horses was good, and sold another five hundred horses and some goods. After the caravan arrived in Xuzhou, it was not in a hurry to sell the goods, because there was its own semicolon here, and the goods could be sold slowly at a good price. Li Mao left two thousand horses to the Xuzhou branch.

The caravan of Yaogang also brought a great shock to Xuzhou, and the semicolon horses had not yet been listed in Xuzhou, and there were already more people in the horse market. Because it has been a long time since a large number of horses have entered the market. These people who used to trade horses for a living can be regarded as seeing an opportunity.

When he arrived in Xuzhou and went south, Li Mao did not need to be escorted by Li Jing and Liu Chenghuang. Because there were more than 5,000 horses left and there were a lot less goods, there were more than 200 people enough to escort them to Yangzhou. When they arrived in Xuzhou, Li Jing and Liu Chenghuang only repaired for a day and then returned. Because their return journey is still very long. Fortunately, without a caravan escort, the cavalry marched much faster on its own.

When they arrived in Kaifeng, according to the orders of King Zhou, Li Jing and Liu Chenghuang went to the palace to inform them, and King Zhou directly summoned the two of them. It turned out that the king of Zhou was going to send a small group of people to follow them to the kiln. It was a team of more than fifty people, and it had been prepared for a long time. Li Jing and Liu Chenghuang left in a hurry, but these people didn't say anything else, and immediately followed on the road. Li Jing's return journey was to return the same way as before, and the return speed was more than twice as fast as when they came, and the horses could basically run.

The horse team of the palace also looked like they had been mixed on horseback for a long time, and they were not ambiguous at all, and they didn't need Li Jing to take special care of them at all. It took only a few days for a group of people to reach the front of Hewan Village.

When he broke up with Li Mao, Li Mao was a little worried, and said: "I think the third and fourth sons in Hewan Village are not good-looking, and when they go back, if they are in trouble, they can ignore them and talk about it." ”

In order to be polite, I can't help but say hello when I go back. Li Mao wrote a handwritten letter, all of which were greetings and thanks, and asked Li Jing to bring them to the sentry post in Hewan Village, so that they didn't have to stay in the past. It is not rude, but it can pass safely.

Knowing that Hewan Village might be a trouble, Li Jing and Liu Chenghuang set up camp in advance before Hewan Village. I got up early in the morning and came to Hewan Village early, this time I was still walking on the ice of the river, Li Jingce immediately stepped forward and came to the shore to hand over Li Mao's letter to Zhuang Ding at the sentry. Then he descended to the ice of the river to join his team. Seeing that the team was about to pass through Hewan Village, a burst of bows and arrows suddenly fell from the castle of Hewan Village. Originally, Li Jing and Liu Chenghuang led the team, and they have been on guard against accidents, but it has been going well. Just when everyone had just put their hearts down, there was a problem on the castle. Caught off guard, the bow and arrow shot condescendingly wounded more than a dozen people at once. Everyone hurriedly suppressed the momentum of bows and arrows on the castle with muskets, and the team passed through the village of Riverbend.

This made the Lin family and Liu Chenghuang angry and blew up their liver and lungs. But Li Jing was thinking that it was definitely not the best strategy to attack the castle now, so he had better leave here as soon as possible before making plans.

It turned out that the person who was shot off by Li Jing last time was a bandit from a cottage invited by Hewan Village, and there were a total of more than a dozen people who came to Hewan Village together, and the one who was killed could only be counted as a small leader. When they arrived in Hewan Village, these people were treated very favorably, and Hewan Village has always treated them as treasures. What I didn't expect was that this time the caravan from Yaogang came over and let them take their lives, which made these people angry. However, seeing that the owner of the village couldn't raise his head to train the third and fourth sons, Zhuang Ding died, and several owners endured it, so they didn't dare to squeak too much. When they saw the third and fourth sons again, they couldn't stop fanning the wind and said: "The humiliation suffered last time is that men will not forget, and they must take revenge, otherwise they will be laughed at by the world for a lifetime." The last time they suffered a loss, they were defenseless, and if they relied on the castle to fight against them, no matter what firearms they had, they would not be able to take advantage. Tens of thousands of people attacked each time, and we didn't repel them twice. Not to mention one or two thousand kiln guards. ”

The two sons, thinking that the people of the kiln would not come back, boasted about the mouth of the sea, and said, "When they come to our castle again, they must kill them all, even if they are punished by their father, or they will be men in vain." ”

This time, when Li Jing and the others came back, when they passed by Hewan Village, the third and fourth sons happened to be on the castle. They also heard the hoofs of a cavalry passing over the river. When they came to the battlement of the castle and looked down, they could already see that it was probably the team of the kiln, but they were still afraid of the kiln gang people in their hearts, so they pretended not to see where someone was coming, and deliberately asked Zhuang Ding to go down to investigate. But Zhuang Ding, who went down, sent a letter written by Li Mao to the owner of the village, no need to ask, there is no doubt that the cavalry below is the kiln gang. Now the brothers are a little embarrassed, they really don't dare to fight, but the big words in front of them have already been said. Just when they were in a dilemma, the invited masters came over and asked, "Two sons, if you don't beat them again, they will pass." We can't just forget about the bullying we are subjected to, in that case, are we still men? ”

These few words aroused the anger of the two sons, and the third son said: "Let go of the arrows, don't let them go." I'll take it when something happens, and the fourth brother, you just say that this matter has nothing to do with you. ”

When the fourth child heard it, he said: "Third brother, there are difficulties." Fight it, or it's too late. ”

At this time, Zhuang Ding had already stood on the city, and as soon as they gave the order, their bows and arrows shot down like rain. At the same time, bangs, gongs, and drums also sounded. The sound of the drum is to inform the other castles that they have been attacked and to call for help.

Li Jing and Liu Chenghuang knew that these castles were jointly defended, and there would be many people to help the family if they had something. Although Li Jing and Liu Chenghuang didn't care about dealing with these Zhuang Ding in the field, they didn't know how powerful they didn't kill some people. It would be difficult to kill someone and then ease it, so they decided that it would be better to leave quickly. led the team to speed up and rush over.

But still, they were blocked by a group of men.

Liu Chenghuang rode forward and told the people who stopped them that they were a passing kiln gang team and were attacked by Hewan Village, and we had no grievances in the past and no hatred in the near future, please get out of the way and let us pass.

However, the other party relied on people to say that all the castles are jointly defended, and everyone has to come out if there is something in the family, if you have a misunderstanding with Hewan Village, you can get off the horse and go back with us and explain to Hewan Village. Liu Chenghuang knew that it was useless to talk about it, so he came back to discuss with Li Jingyi, and felt that he should rush over as soon as possible, otherwise the more people gathered, the more unfavorable it would be to himself. Li Jing led people in front, Liu Chenghuang led people to delay, and the whole team rushed over together, rushing to the front of the intercepting team, and a total of several bows and arrows were shot in front, and it seemed that the other party was also unprepared. What made the other party even more unexpected was that their plan to take advantage of the large number of people to fight was useless, because the musketeers led by Li Jing had already opened fire before they could meet them. These farmers only occasionally dance with guns and sticks. A team like theirs is an opponent of the musketeers, and if such a team can stop the musketeers in the kiln, it will become a miracle in the world. After a burst of impact, a large number of corpses lay on the intercepted position, and the cavalry of the kiln post passed with ease as if they had entered no man's land. Leave those lucky enough not to die there stunned. Where have they ever seen such a team. I don't even have the slightest resistance. The shouts of the wounded who did not die made the river look even more terrifying this winter. Those who died were even more miserable, and the bodies of those who were shot were mutilated to varying degrees. It's completely different from what they're used to fighting. Those who did not die trembled and congratulated themselves on the fact that they had escaped this disaster.

One of the wounded cavalrymen was so wounded that he died before he could make it to the kiln. Li Jing did not give up on him, but carried him back with horses.

After introducing the situation, Li Jing and Liu Chenghuang looked very heavy.

Zhang Zhimu said: "Your performance this time is very good, in a complex situation, it is commendable to be able to handle things so calmly. If we have to struggle, there will be sacrifices, and we must avenge the martyrs. ”

Liu Yun and Li Wei heard that their team had suffered a loss, and even said that this revenge must be avenged. Zhang Zhimu also felt that this matter could not be finished like this, if this was the case, first, it would affect morale, and on the other hand, this Qinshui Ancient Road would be finished.

Chen Yufeng said: "Li Jing, you can tell me more about the details of that castle. ”

Li Jing said that he took out the sketch he had drawn after the last reconnaissance, drew a big picture on the blackboard according to the picture, and combined with the big picture, he gave a detailed introduction to the situation of the castle in Hewan Village according to his own reconnaissance.

Such a castle would be difficult to achieve if it were to be attacked hard.

Ouyang He said: "Such a castle is more complicated inside. It is difficult to solve it in a short period of time after entering, so you should think about it carefully. ”

Chen Yufeng said: "There is no castle in this world that cannot be attacked. Li Wei: How many mortars do you have available now? ”

Li Wei knew that his mortar should be useful, and hurriedly said: "There are more than 50 cannons, and there are 20 cannons that can be used." That's all we have for the artillery that can go into battle, and the new ones haven't been trained yet. ”

Chen Yufeng asked again: "How many shells are there now?" ”

"There are more than 50 smokeless shots, 500 black, and more than 200 oil bombs. However, the firing table of the oil bomb was not finished. Li Wei replied.

Chen Yufeng then asked: "I don't care if you finish shooting the watch or not, can you shoot into such a big castle." ”

Li Wei said: "That's no problem, but if you aim it, it will cost a few more shells." If you shoot in the city, you can shoot in with your eyes closed. ”

Chen Yufeng said: "Tell Li Yunhe to get a little more fire oil bombs, and we don't have to punch them in, just shoot them out." The inside of their castle was made of wood, which was blown up with cannonballs and then set on fire with oil bombs. They came out on their own. ”

Zhang Zhimu really admired Chen Yufeng very much, and he quickly used mortars in actual combat. Those castles were very useful fortifications in the Cold Weapon Age, but they were very different when it came to mortars that were hundreds of years old. When it comes to the critical moment, you can see that people are different. Chen Yufeng is definitely handsome, not only thoughtful, but also has a sensitivity beyond ordinary people for new things.

Chen Yufeng's words are tantamount to finalizing the plan for this operation. The rest is for Liu Yun and Ouyang He to formulate a detailed action plan.

After everyone discussed this important matter, Zhang Zhimu had time to meet the team sent by King Zhou. What Zhang Zhimu never expected was that the leader of the palace turned out to be Princess Anping, which also made Li Jing and Liu Chenghuang unexpected, because Princess Anping has always appeared in men's clothes, and no one noticed that the leader was actually a woman along the way, and there were more than a dozen women in this team, and those were the princess's female companions.

----------

Recommended: "Assault boats confront three-masted ships, mortar battles return guns." --"Memories of the Southern Song Dynasty".