Chapter 63 Pacifying Pingrong Soldiers Besiege Xining

Li Kui knew that the people here were frightened by the army, and they were afraid of another disaster. But when they said that the mighty general was wounded, it was good news.

Li Kui comforted them and said, "Everyone, don't worry, please come and sit in my tent." ”

Seeing that although Li Kui looked rough, he still spoke very kindly, so these people followed Li Kui to a tent that had been set up temporarily, and sat down around a platform. Li Kui ordered water to be boiled.

The old people hurriedly said, "Don't be polite, general. ”

Li Kui looked at several old men and said, "I know that the current people have been killed by all kinds of troops, and you are also worried about us. I don't blame you for that, because you don't know us. I tell you that the withdrawn Dashun army will not come back. Our army in the kiln is ordered to suppress thieves. From now on, we'll take over the defense. Our army in Yaogang is very disciplined, and no one is allowed to harm the people. ”

"That's good, that's good!" An old man said, "In fact, the military discipline of some officers and soldiers is not as good as that of the army of thieves. At the very least, the army of thieves would not rob the people, although they went too far with the gentry. But it's still good for the people. ”

"You can rest assured, we kiln gang people have our own rules, and the places we manage, whether they are poor people or gentry, are all equal. We will be exempted from payment for three years from the time we take over. This is to heal the wounds of war. When Li Kui said these words, he felt a little awkward. However, he saw that what he had said was done, and it worked well, so he was more confident.

"Oops! That's great. An old man said, "We should take our time here." Not to mention the drought for several years, countless taxes have been collected since the Ming Dynasty, and the people are too bitter. Especially since this trade route is broken, the people have no other way to live, and it is difficult to barely make a living on that little land. ”

As soon as Li Kui heard that the trade route was broken, he asked, "Old man, is the trade route you are talking about the Silk Road?" We Mr. Zhang can say that we must open up the Silk Road. ”

An old man saw that Li Kui was interested in this matter and said: "This is also the Silk Road, but it is the South Road." We call this place the Tangbo Ancient Road. This is the only way for the interior of the Central Plains to go to Duogan (Qinghai), Tubo (Tibet) and even Nepal, Tianzhu (India) and other countries since the Tang Dynasty. When Princess Wencheng married the king of Tubo, Songtsen Gampo, it was this avenue that she walked. It has been a millennium since its formation and accessibility. The road started from Chang'an (Xi'an) and ended at the Tibetan capital of Lhasa (Lhasa, Tibet), where there was an endless stream of caravans. The people have benefited along the way. During the Han and Tang dynasties, we had a famous post station here, called Ping'an Station. ”

Another old man said: "Actually, we are located in the upper reaches of the Huangshui River, and the land is fertile, if it were not for the unstable situation, the wars and turmoil, and the Mongols from time to time to attack. We should have been a wealthy place here. ”

"So, why did this good business road be broken?" Li Kui asked puzzled.

"It's a long story, and there are many reasons for that." An old man said, "Dulan, west of Xiningwei, was originally the territory of Tibet, and it was a throat of this ancient road. Chongzhen was occupied by the Warat people for ten years. Those barbarians didn't know the truth of raising fish in live water, and when they saw a caravan, they directly snatched it. This is also a reason why the caravan did not dare to go any further. Moreover, our side is also full of wars, and many caravans that have entered the Central Plains have not returned, and the merchants dare not go again. In short, there are many reasons. ”

"Don't be afraid, wait for Lao Tzu to defeat Xining, and then go and clean up those Mongols. At that time, we sent people to Tibet and told them that they could come to us and do business. We are responsible for the safety of the road here. Li Kui said angrily.

"That's great." The old men all smiled when they heard Li Kui's words.

"But those Mongols are not easy to mess with." An old man said, "It turns out that the army of the Ming Dynasty did not dare to provoke them. After the Dashun army came, they fought a few battles with them, and they also won and lost each other. What's even more terrifying is that those Mongols don't know when they will come. The army went to fight them, but they could not find them. ”

"Humph!" Li Kui smiled and said, "I will keep beating them until I forgive them." ”

Then, Li Kui told him how the Yaogang people fought with the Mongolian people, and how the Mongolian prince of Ordos had been arrested in Yaogang. These things have not been heard in this remote place. So these old men listened and shouted.

An old man said, "General Li, your arrival is a blessing for our people here. From now on, we, the people, will listen to you, the general. ”

"No, no, in the future, things here will still depend on all of you. We're just in charge of military defense, catching thieves and thieves. Li Kui said, "We Mr. Zhang said that the world should be the world of the people of the world." Therefore in the future, you people here will elect a leader together. This boss is in charge of everything here. If the person is incompetent, or has bad behavior such as embezzlement. You can also remove him. You're also going to have to elect some senators, and they're going to decide what is going on here. Officials are never allowed to have the final say. In the future, the accounts of officials will all be made public and subject to everyone's supervision. No one who is an official can be corrupt. ”

Li Kui's words simply shocked these people. They found that although the general's speech in front of them was a little vulgar, the truth was not coarse. This made them impressed with the general in front of them. On the contrary, the gentry here are very receptive to what Li Kui said. Because in the past, the officials sent here by the imperial court were all desperate to make money, especially in this area, the emperor was far away, as long as there were no major incidents in these places, no one cared about whether the officials were greedy or not. So there is no official here who is not desperately greedy. The people at the border gates, there is no one who does not grit his teeth when it comes to officials.

An old man asked, "Dare to ask the general, who is the Mr. Zhang you have been talking about?" ”

"Ah, how can I say it, even if it's our emperor." After Li Kui finished speaking, he felt that it was wrong, "No, our President Zhang doesn't want to be the emperor." He said that the world is the world of the people of the world, and it should not be the world of that person or that family. In the future, the emperor will ask everyone to elect a person who can bring benefits to everyone. Those faint and mediocre gentlemen, let them step aside. ”

Li Kui's words frightened these people and didn't dare to speak. They know it's the same as rebellion.

A visitor tentatively asked: "General Li, will the emperor be ...... if he knows that you are talking like this?"

"Don't worry," Li Kui said with a smile, "Now we Yaogang people lend two million taels of silver to the emperor every year." Without the help of our kiln gang people, his court would have broken up long ago. Hehe! ”

"Two million taels?" One asked, "How much silver do you have in your kiln?" ”

"Huh! The amount of silver earned every year in the whole world is not as much as that of our kilns. Li Kui said proudly, then turned back and said, "Bring our cloth and silk to show everyone." ”

The sergeant took out a wide bundle of woven cloth and a wide bundle of woven silk and placed them on the table. Li Kui said: "How about everyone look at the cloth and silk we weave? Is it good to sell? ”

These people all got up and looked carefully at the cloth and silk that Li Kui had brought out. After reading it, these people kept babbling, and one said: "It's so good for me to see such a good cloth for the first time, and besides, no one has ever been able to weave such a wide cloth before, and the same is true of silk." ”

"This cloth is so neatly woven, if it gets to Tibet, it can definitely be sold for a lot of money." Another said.

Li Kui pointed to the military uniform on his body and said, "How do you look at the fabric of our military uniforms?" ”

Because these people were talking to Li Kui very speculatively, one was not polite, reached out and touched the fabric of Li Kui's military uniform, and said: "Good fabric, I see that the fabric on the general's pants is thicker!" ”

Li Kui smiled and said, "Hehe! The old man knows the goods. My trousers are made of thick fabric specially woven for horseback riders, and this fabric is hard-wearing, otherwise it would be easy for horseback riders to wear out. In short, there are still a lot of good things in our kiln. So you don't have to worry about our silver. In the future, we will also ship the kind of thing called fertilizer to everyone. When that thing goes up to the field, the grain can be multiplied. ”

"And something like that?" These people are more interested.

"Huh!" Li Kui smiled and said, "We still have a lot of good things, you will know in the future." ”

At this time, the old men glanced at each other, and one of them said, "General Li, thank you for taking us like this." I don't think it's too early, we have a little wine in the city, please go into the city to enjoy the light! ”

"Yes! It's getting late, and I'll give you a brief introduction to our situation. Li Kui said, "Since the Dashun army in the city is gone." Our brigade will not enter the city. But I'm going to leave a detachment of men and horses here to stay. Just lead them into the city and take over the defenses, and I won't go into the city. Because tomorrow we will go straight to Xining early in the morning. Thank you for going out of the city to brief us. ”

"How can that work? General Li, you can't pass by our Pingrong City and don't even drink a sip of wine. One said. They sincerely want to invite Li Kui to drink now.

"I have received the wishes of everyone in Pingrong City, first, we are disciplined, regardless of the officers and soldiers are not allowed to disturb the people, and second, we will start tomorrow." Li Kui refused their kindness, so he arranged a company to follow the old men into the city to receive the defense.

When the old men were leaving, Li Kui asked, "I want to ask all of you, is the mighty general of the Great Shun Army seriously injured?" ”

"The injury was not light, one calf was missing, and one arm was also not lightly injured." An old man said, "When we pleaded with him, he was already a little out of his mind. It was the spirit of the beating that received us. ”

After sending away the old men in Pingrong City, the commander of the first division said: "The mighty general of the Dashun army can, he has been so seriously injured, and he still knows how to shrink the defense." ”

"Humph!" Li Kui smiled and said, "I think he has already arranged the defeat of the battle, which is why they retreated so calmly." It won't be so well organized in a hurry. He is a man who can lead troops into battle. ”

Li Kui and his team rested for the night outside the velveteen city. The next day, I got up early and went straight to Xining. When they were halfway there, the scouts in front of them reported that the gates of Xining were now closed, and it seemed that they were all concentrated in the city and ready to defend Xining.

Li Kui ordered, "Hurry up and camp five miles outside Xining City tonight." ”

When it was getting late in Xining, Li Kui handed over the matter of camping to the commander of the first division, and he took the cavalry commander and led a team of cavalry to run around Xining City.

Looking at Xining City, Li Kui couldn't help but say, "It's a good city!" It's a pity to blow up. ”

The commander of the cavalry said: "I asked the people outside the city, and the inside of this bread brick outside the city is rammed. This is still a city built by the Ming Dynasty. ”

"With such a strong city stationed at the border, it is much safer here." Li Kui already likes Xining City.

"However, this mighty general of the Dashun Army gathers so many people here, why don't we move the real thing?" said the commander of the cavalry.

"Yes! It's a pity that this mighty general, although he is very good at fighting, still doesn't understand the power of our firearms. With so many people gathered here, if we were not afraid of hurting the people and opened fire, we could kill many of them with one shot. Li Kui said, "I just can't bear to blow up this city." ”

Li Kui and the others inspected the city of Xining on the spot, and when they returned to the camp, the commander of the first division said: "Deputy commander, when you went out, I asked people to interrogate the prisoners. After a few captives checked. They all said that the city of Xining was five zhang high and five zhang thick. There are four gates in the south, east, and west. The north gate is near Huangshui. ”

"Well, almost!" Li Kui nodded and said.

"In addition, according to what the captives said, I counted that their original soldiers and horses, plus later, were fifteen or six thousand. We killed more than 5,000 and captured more than 1,000 prisoners at the Datong River. Then there will be more than 10,000 people in Xining City. "The commander of the first division is also a very attentive person.

Li Kui looked at the commander of the first division and said, "Heh! You're so fast, you've figured it out. Li Kui knew in his heart that these people would be incredible generals in the future, "Tell me, how will we fight this battle tomorrow?" ”

The division commander understood that Li Kui wanted to test himself, and said: "Now, I can't think of a clever way at once. Tomorrow, we will first fence off Xining from the east, west, and south. If it doesn't work, we can solve it with a hard attack. ”

"Tomorrow's siege will be handled by the teacher." The cavalry commander said, "I'll take someone to search the perimeter, don't let this guy come after us again." ”

"Haha!" All three burst out laughing. Li Kui said: "Your kid was bitten by a snake for ten years and was afraid of grass ropes. ”

After dawn, everyone had eaten the war meal and set off separately to enclose Xining City on three sides: east, west and south. The North Gate simply sent a company of soldiers there to keep an eye on it. Because the north brigade can't be opened.

The commander of the cavalry regiment led the cavalry into several ways to reconnoiter and search around.

Li Kui discussed with the commander of the first division and decided to choose the south gate for the main direction of attack.

They first wrote a letter of persuasion to surrender, explaining the situation in the whole of Shaanxi and Hexi, and then persuaded them to surrender. But the letter went into the city, and there was no reply. After waiting for a while and seeing no news, Li Kui was a little anxious. The commander of the first division said: "Deputy commander, I see that when you talk to those old people in velveteen, you are not in a hurry at all, just like a scholar. ”

"Haha!" Li Kui laughed and said, "For the first time, Lao Tzu thinks it's fucking good to be a good person!" In the past, Lao Tzu was a horse thief, and when he was a bandit, although he was happy, he didn't feel good about being a good person. Li Kui also knew that the commander of the first division was afraid that he would be anxious and deliberately teased him. But what Li Kui said was also from his heart.

"Since I met Mr. Zhang, I feel that everything is different." Li Kui said, "I originally thought that our big boss was the most capable person in the world, but our big boss admired Mr. Zhang very much." It's really a human being! ”

I really can't wait, because the team can't just poke like this. Li Kui ordered a cannon to be fired at the city wall next to the city gate tower.

There was a "bang", followed by a "boom" on the city wall. The shell was hitting the city wall at close range, and the shell removed several of the battlements in the wall. A gap was also blown in the city wall. The soldiers on this wall were all blown up with the fragments of the wall, and there was nowhere to find them.

At this time, the soldiers on the city wall no longer dared to show their heads.

The commander of the first division was afraid that Li Kui would be anxious, and said, "This time they should think about it, right?" ”

"Wait for another pillar of incense, and then blow the gates open with infantry cannons. Don't blow up the gates. Li Kui said.

"Don't worry, deputy commander, as long as you don't use heavy artillery bombing, you won't blow up the city towers." The commander of the first division knew it in his heart.

After waiting for a while, Li Kui sighed and said, "Alas! I don't want to blow them up, it seems that there is no way. ”

"We did our best, and that's providence. I'm going to see the artillerymen and get them on time. The commander of the first division was just about to leave, but suddenly stopped and said, "Deputy commander, something is wrong!" You see they have a lot of cannons on the walls, why didn't they shoot at us? ”

"Are you afraid of retaliation from our artillery?" Although Li Kui guessed this, he didn't believe it in his heart, now that the ten or two armies were fighting, no one would care about this.

"Shall we wait first?" The commander of the first division still couldn't make up his mind.

"Huh! I'm fooling you kid. Li Kui said, "But don't wait, let the heavy artillery fire again, and we'll wait a little longer." ”

Perhaps the heavy gunners wanted to show the accuracy of their guns, and after firing with a "bang", the shells exploded again in the original gap. The original blown gap has been blown open a little more.

Looking at the big gap, Li Kui sneered and said, "Hmph! I think they should know awesome! ”

But after waiting for a while, there was still no response in the city, Li Kui was really impatient, and waved his hand: "Go!" Hurry up and blow open the city gate for Lao Tzu! ”

The commander of the first division did not speak, turned around and left. Needless to say now, everything that needs to be done has been done.

The commander of the 1st Division came to his artillery regiment and said to the artillery commander: "We have been watching the heavy artillery performance. You hurry up and blow the gates open with infantry artillery. Remember to fry on time. Don't blow it up. The city gate building was blown up, and the deputy commander was distressed to death. He already felt that this Xining was his. ”

"Huh!" The commander of the artillery regiment said: "The division commander can rest assured, he will definitely not make the deputy commander feel distressed!" ”

The commander of the artillery regiment transferred two infantry guns and aimed them at the city gates. The artilleryman pushes the shell into the chamber and closes the gun valve. Preparing to fire.

At this moment, the gates of the city suddenly opened. The commander of the first division looked anxious and shouted: "Stop, stop shooting!" ”

The gunners reluctantly stopped firing.

A man on horseback ran out of the open city gate and came straight to the front of the Yaogang People's Army.

When the commander of the first division came to Li Kui's side, Li Kui said, "I thought you could bomb that guy with one shot." ”

"Huh! Almost, I shouted a little slower and gave a bang. So our gunners are so dissatisfied. The commander of the first division said.

At this time, the visitor had already come to the front, turned over and dismounted, and knelt on one leg and held up a letter with both hands.

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Mt. Fuji erupted, Japan was earthquaked. --Progress of "Memories of the Southern Song Dynasty".