Chapter 100 The Last Closing the Net and Taking the Eastern Front Lightly

Li Zicheng saw that the people of Yaogang really did not stop them from transporting people, so he sent ships to pick up people one after another, and they were transported day and night. However, the Fenglingdu Wharf is too small, and it is pitiful for more than 100,000 people, especially since this is the place where the Yellow River bends and the water flow is very fast. It takes a lot of effort for the ships to go back and forth. These onlookers have a great capacity for the steam ships in the kiln, but it is impossible for the kiln people to take care of them. The boats of the Kiln Gang were soldiers who watched them cross the river, and they were not allowed to carry weapons or carry anything other than people. Some people thought that the kiln people would not be too serious, so they brought things on the ship, and the kiln people did not listen to the warnings. Unexpectedly, the kiln gang people actually fired a warning shot, so that the people who made the boat no longer dared to allow the soldiers of the Dashun army to bring things on the ship.

Until the time stipulated by the Yaogang people arrived, the Dashun army only transported most of the people across the Yellow River. As soon as the time came, all the warships in Yaogang turned on their searchlights to illuminate the Fenglingdu wharf. After the last boat left the dock, the men on the Yaogang warship told them not to come and pick them up again.

There are still more than 30,000 people left on the north bank of the Yellow River, and many of them are crying loudly knowing that the time has come and they cannot return to the south bank. Because it was too dark, the warships of Yaogang stopped at the Fenglingdu Wharf and did not move again.

Until dawn, the Yaogang cavalry came to inform the soldiers of the Dashun Army here, put down their blades, lined up, and came to the prisoner camp that had been built in several ways. When the captives came here, they were first given hot porridge to drink. These people haven't eaten for a few days, and they don't dare to give them too much to eat. After the captives walked, the last ones left were the soldiers of the Dashun Army, who could no longer walk. There are thousands of such people. The Yaogang soldiers used to help them to a special camp where they were treated by a military doctor. In fact, most of them are relatively weak and hungry here. The kiln people gave them milk and gruel to recuperate.

Li Zicheng, Prime Minister Niu Jinxing, and military advisor Song Xiance stood on the gate tower of Tongguan and looked out to the north bank. Although they couldn't see anything, they knew that the Kiln Gang was gathering the soldiers they hadn't come. At this time, Li Zicheng's weather-beaten face was also full of tears, and the prime minister and the military adviser persuaded each other several times, but Li Zicheng was unwilling to leave here.

Back in the yamen of Tongguan, Li Zicheng asked: "Prime Minister and military advisor, you said that if the Yaogang people attack Tongguan, how many days can we hold it?" ”

The military advisor Song Xiance replied: "Your Majesty, if the people of Yaogang insist on attacking Tongguan, we will definitely not be able to hold it, as for how long it will take, it depends on how much sacrifice Yaogang wants to pay." If they are not afraid of the life and death of the soldiers, they will be able to fight in one day. However, this is not the case with the Kiln Gang people, who value the lives of their soldiers. They will definitely take Tongguan with minimal losses. ”

Li Zicheng listened, thought for a while and asked: "Then when will the people of Yaogang be able to fight Tongguan?" ”

"If the merchant ships of the Yaogang people are attacked by us, they will fight sooner, otherwise they will be later. Because they occupy such a large space at once, they need to stabilize it. Song Xiance will answer.

"Oh? The military advisor thought that the Yaogang people would turn against the imperial court this time and take over the entire Shanxi by themselves? Li Zicheng asked.

"In my opinion, the kiln people will not let go of such an opportunity. Now it is for the imperial court to take over Shanxi, and they are powerless to take it over. Song Xiance said.

Li Zicheng sighed and said, "If that's the case, we'll never have a chance to fight back to Shanxi." The military advisor thinks that where should the next target of the kiln gang people be? ”

Song Xiance said: "Sadly, I still don't know what the people in Yaogang are thinking. We are fighting a confused battle with the kiln people, and I have never understood why they used this strategy. However, there are two directions for the next choice of Yaogang people, one is Henan and the other is Shaanxi. These two places have their own advantages and disadvantages for the kiln. We don't know what kind of choices they make. ”

Li Zicheng said: "When the merchant ships of the Yaogang people pass by, we should not harass them. Besides, we can't take advantage of it even if we do it. If they don't come, we'll recuperate. Let's think about what we're going to do next. ”

Li Zicheng was unwilling to go back to Xi'an like this, and he didn't have the face to go back like this. Now, at the beginning, when the oath set off, he was so arrogant, and now there are only more than 100,000 people when he returns to Tongguan, and there are only more than 200,000 people including Liu Fangliang. What they never expected was that they would lose to a kiln man they didn't pay attention to at all. Now that I think about it, the kiln people have already shown their edge before this, but I just don't want to think about how strong the kiln people are. Now it is not unjust to be defeated in the hands of the Yaogang people, whether it is in weapons or strategy, it is too much worse than others.

The military advisor Song Xiance also knew that his strategy and the kiln gang people were not at the same level at all, so he resigned early and said: "Your Majesty, there are many reasons for our failure, and I think the biggest reason is that the gap between us in firearms is too big. The minister wants to retire and return to Xi'an to concentrate on supervising the manufacture of firearms, if we can achieve something, maybe we will fight with the kiln gang people. ”

Li Zicheng didn't know what Song Xiance meant, and said, "No, military advisor, we can't do without you here." ”

Song Xiance had already made up his mind to retreat at this time, and said: "Your Majesty, through this Eastern Crusade, the minister feels that the minister is no longer suitable for the post of military advisor, and if he continues like this, it will delay the emperor's major affairs, so I implore the emperor to allow him to go as a minister!" ”

Li Zicheng said: "O military advisor! We were all a little disheartened by this defeat. But I also know it's not your fault or mine. Don't mind, I'll just take a break. Don't say anything about leaving, I can't leave you. ”

When Li Jing led people out of Fenglingdu, although Ouyang He told him that you don't have to worry about the grain and grass behind, Yang Jing's transport team will follow later. However, Li Jing knew that the distance he was not close to, there were nearly 20,000 of them, and there were not many opportunities to get grain on the spot. Because of this way, Liu Fangliang has already called and swept it. The people will not have enough food to eat. So after he unloaded Li Zicheng's silver box and other things, the carriage was loaded with grain and grass, and he brought a lot of grain and grass carts. If the grain and grass behind you can't be supplied, you can still hold on for a while.

Li Jing set off with the 2nd and 3rd Divisions. They set out from Yaogang, first to Xinzhou, to Yangqu, then to Taiyuan, Taigu, Qixian, Jiexiu, to Huozhou and Chen Yufeng and their army converged. This time, they were of course happy to hear that they were following Li Jing's expedition. They all know Li Jing's fame in the kiln, that is, he has never left Zhang Zhimu's side, and he has also made many miraculous achievements. And everyone said that Li Jing never fought a losing battle. This time, following Li Jing will definitely have a chance to make great contributions.

Along the north bank of the Yellow River to the east, the road conditions are very poor, although Liu Fangliang was on the eastward expedition, the pioneers who opened the road also built the road, but the road can barely allow vehicles to pass. Li Jing's first stop was to take over an empty city of Ruicheng, and Chen Yufeng and their army were staring at the Dashun army in Fenglingdu, and they didn't care about taking over this Ruicheng County. The Dashun army here had already gone to Fenglingdu to line up and wait to cross the river. When Li Jing helped the officials of Yaogang enter the county office, she found that everything was intact.

Li Jing said to the newly appointed official: "You are a good official! Everything is ready-made. Tomorrow you put up a notice, and you can take office! ”

The newly appointed official, who was also very excited, with a pistol pinned to his waist, said: "Thank you for coming to cheer me on, I have wanted to come here for a long time." Because when this place was in Yaogang, Mr. Ouyang assigned it to me. But without a large army following, we had a few policemen, and we didn't dare to come. Now it's okay, whether it is the people of Ruicheng or the hidden Dashun army, they all see the military might of our kiln. We're also down-to-earth. ”

Li Jing said: "Okay, I'll ask the soldiers to help you clean up, and tomorrow morning, we will continue to hurry." ”

The official said: "General Li, this Ruicheng is an ancient city, and the Chunyang Palace here is a must-see." ”

Li Jing knew that this Pure Yang Palace was also handed over to Wanshou Palace, and it was the first ancestral court of the three major ancestral courts of Taoism, but this time he didn't have time or mood to look at these, and said: "Next time, when you manage this place well, I will come again." Get busy. ”

Li Jing didn't stay in Ruicheng for long, and he left Ruicheng early the next morning and went straight to Pinglu County. In this Pinglu also took over a county town abandoned by the Dashun army, where Li Jing did not stop, he sent people to take over Maojindu, an important ferry on the Yellow River south of Pinglu. This Maojin Ferry and Fengling Ferry and Dayu Ferry are known as the three ancient ferries on the Yellow River. Strategic location is important. At the same time, he led his troops straight to Kaiyuan Xinhe.

In Kaiyuan Xinhe, Li Jing encountered a headache for him. After Liu Fangliang occupied this place, he did not understand the management of Kaiyuan Xinhe, he just beat the Ming army away and expelled the officials who were managed here by the famous dynasty. When they remembered that this was a necessary place for ships to come and go on the Yellow River, and it was also a place where they could collect a lot of silver, and when they wanted to find those Ming Dynasty officials with management experience, they were long gone. At this moment, not only did the passing boats not be towed by slender men, and they could not cross the Kaiyuan New River. What's even more pitiful is that there are thousands of slender men here who point here to eat. The slender men who have no work have starved to death. When Li Jing took over this place with people, he saw a large area of hungry and dying slender men. Li Jing knew that the slender men who could persist in living until now had saved a little silver in normal times, otherwise they would have starved to death or fled elsewhere.

There was no way, Li Jing had to order to camp first and get them some porridge to drink.

But what Li Jing didn't expect was that the slender men here are getting more and more together. Li Jing had no choice but to let everyone boil porridge in multiple pots for them.

Yaogang has long prepared a team to manage this Kaiyuan Xinhe. After the kiln gang people take over here, they will not use a lot of slender men, because the kiln gang side will send two steam tugs to tow the passing ships, in this way, the Kaiyuan Xinhe will be several times more capable of passing boats, and faster. However, the last time he crossed the river, Zhang Zhimu felt that the Kaiyuan New River had silted up too much sediment from the Yellow River and needed to be cleaned up. With tugboats, when the water is high, the sediment at the bottom of the river can be stirred up and washed away with the current.

On the hill next to the Kaiyuan New River, there is a fortress built by the Ming army before. Li Jing took people up to see that the artillery of the Ming army was still here. It seems that the Ming army left the artillery here when they fled. The Dashun army didn't move them when they ran. However, Li Jing didn't look down on them, and the Yaogang people specially equipped them with 120 heavy mortars here.

It is precisely because of the reason of this Kaiyuan New River that a town called Sanmen Town has risen on the riverbank, and the Yellow River here is Sanmenxia, which is across the river from Shaanzhou on the other bank.

As soon as the Dashun army here left, the barracks and the residences of the original officials had already been occupied by the slender men. After Li Jing sent troops to drive them out, he saw that the house also needed to be cleaned up. The officials sent here said to Li Jing: "General Li, you don't have to worry about us here. We'll take care of things here. Go ahead and go on the crusade. That's the big deal, we are here, and there are troops left, you don't have to worry. We took a look at the Kaiyuan New River, there were a few boats stranded here, we organized people to tow them out, and the Kaiyuan New River could cross the boat. ”

Li Jing said: "What I'm worried about is that if you don't use them in the future, what will they do?" ”

"Haha! General Lee doesn't have to worry about it. When we came, we thought about these things. Mr. Lu wants to do some reclamation, and if the slender men are willing to go, we will organize them and send them over. This is all strong labor, and our construction in Shanxi needs a large number of people. Commander Fan will soon send a ship to pick up these slender men who are willing to go with us. The official said.

Li Jing said: "Great! I'm relieved. Tomorrow when we leave, I will leave you some more food. It has not been easy for the slender men to survive until now, and we can't let them starve to death anymore when we come. ”

Li Jing's attitude towards the slender men directly affected these former officials of the Ming Dynasty. They all know that they will be like this in the future. However, this official has lost his previous prestige, but he is very comfortable.

The original plan was to leave an infantry company and artillery here in Kaiyuan Xinhe, but Li Jing saw that there were too many slender men gathered here, and he was afraid of any accidents, so he left a company of infantry for the officials here.

Li Jing was also wondering in her heart, the slender men here are gathering more and more, how did they report the news so quickly?

Leaving Kaiyuan Xinhe, Li Jing led his troops eastward, taking over Jiyuan, Mengzhou, Wen County, and all the way to Wuzhi County. Along the way, there was basically no encounter with a large force of Dashun army, and Liu Fangliang had already led most of the officers and soldiers to cross the Yellow River according to Li Zicheng's instructions. The remaining scattered officers and soldiers who had finished up surrendered when they saw Li Jing's team. However, on the way, Li Jing spent a little time suppressing the bandits. Because of the start of the war, the officials of the Ming Dynasty couldn't take care of those bandits, and the Dashun army was in no mood to care about them. Bandits also became rampant, especially the refugees who joined them more and more, and they felt that they were strong one by one, so they burned and looted everywhere.

Li Jing's special forces have a set of bandits, along the way Li Jing and they killed a lot of bandit leaders, for those bandits who have nowhere to go and want to change, Li Jing asked them to report to Kaiyuan Xinhe and participate in the reclamation team of Yaogang.

After Li Jing took over this section of the county seat along the Yellow River, he left a regiment in Wuzhi County, and the other teams scattered together to the north, leading the officials of Yaogang to take over the prefectures and counties.

In Fenglingdu, Chen Yufeng and the others recuperated the captives for two days and then began to work for them. In the end, most of the captives were willing to go to the kiln. In this way, the captives who were willing to go to Yaogang took Fan Chengkun and their barge to Yaogang. The seized booty was also transported by boat. There are still more than 3,000 Shun army prisoners who can't do any work, but they don't want to go to the kiln. Chen Yufeng thought that it would be a trouble for such a person to go to Yaogang. In the end, more than 3,000 of them were sent to the Tongguan wharf on the other side by warship, and asked them to find Li Zicheng.

At this time, Ningde and Qiu Laodong's family also came to Fenglingdu Wharf.

Ningde very much hoped to cross the Yellow River immediately to take Tongguan.

However, Ouyang He said: "Now Tongguan is no longer a threat to our merchant fleet, and we are on the Yellow River, and we have no direct confrontation with Li Zicheng. In this way, we can take some time to stabilize the situation in Shanxi as a whole. ”

Ouyang He pointed to the map again and said, "If nothing else, Li Jing and the others will soon be able to reach Wuzhi County and control the mouth of the Qinshui River." It then took over all the state capitals and counties north of the Yellow River to the north. Officials have been dispatched, but it will take a little time to gain a foothold. ”

Ning De said: "Oh my God, Wuzhi has already left the boundary of Shanxi, which is under the control of Henan. ”

Chen Yufeng laughed and said: "We don't care about him Henan and Hebei, we need to control this Qinshui River estuary." This is one of our waterway exits to the south. ”

Qiu Laodong said: "If our hands are stretched too long, will the emperor have ideas?" We tossed like this, didn't we just want the emperor to be dissatisfied with us? ”

"It's okay now. We have just received a telegram that the emperor has borrowed another million silver from our kiln. Mr. Zhang gave him 300,000 taels of silver and 700,000 taels of silver kiln coins. The emperor himself could not collect a million taels of silver in Shanxi. Give Shanxi to us, he should say that he earned it. Ouyang He said with a smile.

Chen Yufeng continued: "Besides, do we still need to be afraid of the emperor today? ”

Ouyang He said: "It's best for us to do what Mr. Zhang said and try to have a good relationship with the emperor." ”

Ning De snorted with his nose and said, "The emperor is just not satisfied, and he doesn't have the strength to do anything to us?" What do we care about them? ”

"Mr. Zhang said that the Ming Dynasty has ruled for so many years, and their roots are very deep, and it will take some effort to completely eradicate them. We don't have the strength to do it all at once. So we still have to stick to the method of driving the tiger and driving the wolf. You see, Li Zicheng drove away the officials of the Ming Dynasty and killed them, and we sent someone to take them over to save more trouble. Ouyang He said.

Qiu Laodong said: "Mr. Zhang is the master of the world!" ”

Ning De also nodded in admiration and said, "Only a person like Mr. Zhang can come up with such a solution." ”

Fan Chengkun: The loading capacity of their barge is amazing. They looked like shallow ships of 400 stones, but they were an empty hull without sails, and they carried much more material than shallow ships. In particular, the newly built tugboats are even more powerful. Although they still have wooden shells, their draft is much shallower than that of the fortune boats, and they are basically built in the style of sand boats. Especially when they were built, they were well coordinated with the steam engine, and their steam boilers were larger than those on those warships, and more importantly, they adopted a three-level cascade method, which greatly improved the power and efficiency. In particular, they used a double propeller, which can increase the power several times more than the original warship. They also had no sails on their ships, and their hulls were much smaller than those of warships, so they could not carry much cargo, but only some coal and water for their own use. His dragging ability is also incomparable to the original warship.

Such a tugboat, towing twenty barges, is still moving fast against the current. Four barges, with only one round trip, transported the personnel and materials of Fenglingdu.

When the tugboat returned, a barge towed by a tugboat brought grain, cattle, sheep and vegetables to the officers and soldiers on the Fenglingdu side, and the barges towed by the other three tugboats were loaded with goods from the kiln.

The mighty Yaogang merchant fleet, escorted by warships, passed through Tongguan, and there was no reaction from Tongguan. Chen Yufeng ordered Liu Yun to supervise the unloading of the boat, and after the unloading was completed, he quickly went to Maojindu on the other side of the Kaiyuan New River, and transported the slender men who were willing to go to the kiln gang, and at the same time transported some grain to them. Chen Yufeng was afraid that their food would not be enough and he would not be able to support them. At the same time, he told them to go and pick up Li Jing back.

To deal with Tongguan, Chen Yufeng still hopes that Li Jing can start to play. In this way, Tongguan will not need to be attacked by brute force.

The photos that Zhang Zhimu brought home made the family happy. Even Huang Yukun, who has always been steady, couldn't help it, and said, "Don't move, this is mine." ”

As a result, the whole family unanimously opposed.

Zhang Zhimu looked at them like this and said, "Okay! Tomorrow I'll beg Qingfengzi to let him wash a few more photos for me? ”

Zhang Zhimu's suggestion was not recognized by everyone, and the requirements they put forward made Zhang Zhimu very surprised.

Xiaoqing was the first to say, "No, uncle." I also want a picture of myself. ”

Xiaohu also said: "I want it too!" ”

Although Huang Yukun and Yang Yulin didn't speak, their attitudes obviously wanted to do the same.

Zhang Zhimu turned his mind and asked: "If we open a photo studio in Yaogang, can we make a lot of money?" ”

Yang Yulin said: "Then you can't squeeze your head." If you want to run a photo studio, you need to do it bigger. ”

Zhang Zhimu knew that if he set up a photo studio in Yaogang, it would be a small matter to make money, but the impact would be too great. I can't wait for Qingfengzi to study the hand-held camera and film. I should have started a photo studio, and since my family is so interested, so should others.

Seeing that Zhang Zhimu didn't speak, Yang Yulin came over and pinched Zhang Zhimu and asked, "Hey!" What do you think? What about our photos? ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "Okay! Tomorrow our whole family will go for a photoshoot. We're going to build a photo studio in Yaogang. Pictures of our whole family hung up outside. By the way, call Xiao Hongyu too. ”

"What? Our pictures are all hanging out for people to see? "My family is gone.

Zhang Zhimu said: "In that case, tomorrow's photos will not be taken." I'll let Xiao Hongyu take a picture, I guess she can be willing. ”

Zhang Zhimu's agitation method still worked, and the family had to compromise and agree to hang up their photos. It seems that the temptation of photos is just too great.

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anesthesia, anti-inflammatory, blood transfusion, suturing, surgery; Zip code, constitution, patents, stocks, scientific and technological innovation. --Progress of "Memories of the Southern Song Dynasty".