Chapter 238: The Prologue to the Great Era

The year of the great drought may not be as described in literature, with scorching sun, cracked ground, etc., in fact, Shandong, which has been dry for two consecutive years, has a much colder weather than in previous years.

In August of the eleventh year of Chongzhen, it was far from the heat of previous years, and it was impossible to talk about what autumn tigers and the like, especially near the seaside.

The uncle and nephew of the Deng family from Pingdu Prefecture are salt dealers who sell Lingshan private salt, and their family is also a strong man in Tingkou Town, and the relationship with the Jiaozhou camp has always been good.

When the uncle was in his thirties, and the nephew was still a fifteen-year-old descendant, this time he went to Fengmeng Town to enter the salt, mainly to see the market.

In Tingkou Town, I came to Jiaozhou City along the waterway, and went to Fengmeng Town in Jiaozhou City, and the uncle also came many times, and the guys under him knew how to do it without being instructed, and hired a big car in the carriage and horse shop, and went to Fengmeng Town together, and the Deng family came here to buy salt very simply, and they didn't even have to buy it themselves. As long as the town has delivered the money, the salt goods transported by the Jiaozhou camp waterway happen to pass through the ferry of Tingkou Town, and they can be sent along the way.

"Uncle, this Jiaozhou City is really amazing, much more prosperous than Fucheng."

Sitting in the cart, the nephew sighed excitedly, and the uncle of the Deng family sat cross-legged on the side and replied with a smile:

"This Jiaozhou is the salt center of Shandong, the merchants selling salt goods are walking around, and there are those landlords who have sold their land, from the good Xiangma, and the merchants from Tiannan and Haibei have gathered here, of course, it is much stronger than the dilapidated mansion."

The nephew nodded again and again, and the uncle of the Deng family reached out and touched his nephew's head, and said with a mocking smile:

"You kid, when we settle the money, Uncle will take you back and play for two more days."

The child's heart naturally agreed excitedly, and after a few miles out of the city, he entered the undulating terrain, and the official road seemed to cut these hills, stretching all the way forward.

There are not many people on the official road, and the children who came out gradually became a little bored, and the terrain on both sides looked varied, but it was just a hilly and low tree, and it was also extremely boring.

After walking a short distance, suddenly a sharp suona sound sounded on the side of the hill, and the nephew suddenly became excited, there was such a loudspeaker movement, either red and white things or there was a troupe or something, and the car was going slowly, and the child was excited to jump out of the car and go to the place where there was a sound.

As soon as he jumped out of the car, he heard his uncle shouting at the top of his voice behind him:

"Don't go over, stop him!"

The first half of the sentence is to shout at his nephew, but the child is running fast, maybe he didn't hear this sentence, the second half of the sentence is shouting at the guys, several guys are very fast, catch him up, and quickly drag back, the nephew wants to lose his temper, but when he sees his uncle's calm face, he immediately dare not speak.

"Uncle, there's a lot of excitement over there, look at what's there."

"It's the first time you've come, you kid, you don't know anything, what's going on over there, it's for military training."

The nephew was a little unconvinced, but seeing that his uncle's face was gloomy, he didn't dare to say anything, and the guys didn't make a sound, and the atmosphere was a little dull, but then he heard that something was wrong, although it was a suona on the other side of the hills, it was not blown into a tune, it was a sharp and long tune.

And after that sound, there was no sound of the next sound, but a neat drum beat, and some other neat sounds, and loud voices.

It seems that it is really not a red and white thing and a play thing, but this nephew is also very puzzled, thinking that the soldiers don't all rely on gongs and drums to advance and retreat?

After his uncle finished shouting, the group continued to move forward, and without going a few steps, they saw two cavalrymen appear on the mountain bags on both sides of the official road, looked down a few times, and saw the flag planted on the cart, that is, they ignored it.

Today's Jiaozhou Zhizhou Yamen, Wu Zhizhou is really proud, he can be regarded as the hardcore of the general Li Meng, with this backer, Jiaozhou's civil affairs are also handy and smooth.

And in the past, the Zhizhou was to share power with the same knowledge, after all, a six-pin, a six-pin, is the responsibility of the principal and deputy, but the new Tongzhi Zhou Yang, all his strength is on the tuntian, the grange of the tuntian is distributed in the four mansions of Denglai Qingyan, this Zhou Yang and his subordinates are almost equivalent to the power and responsibility of the political envoy Yamen.

After all, there are only six prefectures in Shandong, and the relationship between Zhou Yang and Li Meng is even more than the relationship between Wu Zhizhou and Li Meng.

Every day, Zhou Yang came here to show his face, and then went to the inspection and verification house in the city, dozens of people such as the account master, and synthesized the reports and documents sent by various granges, as well as many daily related matters, all of which had to be summarized and accounted for by these people.

"I really want to thank Lord Liu, the general soldier of Caozhou."

Zhou Yang said with a smile in the courtyard of the Yanzheng Inspection Mansion, this was originally Li Meng's study, but now it is the office of Zhou Yang and Ning Qiangui, and the books of the two people are opposite.

Hearing Zhou Yang's ridicule, Ning Qiangui put down the brush in his hand and replied with a smile:

"This Liu Zeqing has been operating in Caozhou for many years, but he has really bought a lot of good fields, and most of the fields in Yanzhou Mansion are in the hands of Confucius Mansion, I really don't know how this Liu Zeqing got out of the hands of Yan Shenggong."

"But this gives us a lot of convenience, Yanzhou Tuntian can only have fields near Ningyang and Surabaya, and the Confucian family in other places is only willing to sell grain and grass, but is unwilling to sell fields, or Liu Zeqing bought so much land and land, it is really impossible to enter!"

Yan Shenggong Confucius Mansion is the descendant of the first saint of ancient and modern thousands of years, and the imperial courts of all dynasties have to treat them politely, give them official titles, and raise them well.

Although Yan Shenggong is only a noble title, he is different from those vassal princes who raise pigs in the city, Yan Shenggong also holds the position of Qufu County Commander, with a super noble status and actual power. Although it is the real power of the county order, even the governor of Shandong has to be respectful, and it is not too much to say that it is an independent kingdom in the Qufu area.

Although it is the inheritance of saints, it has been handed down for thousands of years, and there may not be Confucian masters from generation to generation.

The school has not been handed down, but the ability of this noble official to collect money has been fully learned, and the Confucian government does not have to worry about the change of dynasties, the best way to accumulate wealth, for Shandong in this era, is nothing more than to buy land, farm and collect grain.

With the influence and power of Confucius, the wealth accumulated by ancestors from generation to generation, from the time of Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, Confucius is the entire Yanzhou Mansion, more precisely, the largest landlord in the entire Shandong Province, to Chongzhen's dynasty, Confucius almost received all the fields that could be bought in Yanzhou.

Shandong's land annexation is extremely serious, Li Meng's Tuntian policy is to buy land from these big landlords, but the situation of the Confucian Mansion is a little different, it cannot be forced, and the Confucian Mansion is not afraid of threats, regards the land as its own lifeblood, and is unwilling to give up a cent.

However, this Yanzhou Mansion is the largest government in Shandong, and it is also the richest place in the land, in the year of the great drought, there are more and more hungry people, Li Meng needs this place to make tuntian, and resettle the hungry people. The two sides quarreled several times, but there was no result, after all, Kong Sande was not like the rest of the Confucian Mansion who sat in the well and watched the sky, so he could only appease the anger of the Jiaozhou camp by selling grain and straw at a low price.

The two sides were at a stalemate, and Li Meng once wanted to make a surprise attack, but this Confucian Mansion was the spiritual temple of the world's corporals, and he couldn't bear the impact and consequences of touching it.

However, at the time of this situation, someone suddenly secretly reported that a large number of fertile land was ready to be sold in Caozhou and Cao County, and after careful inquiry, it was found that the Jiaozhou battalion only took away the gold and silver in Liu Zeqing's inner city when they attacked Caozhou that day, and the title deed was still there.

Liu Zeqing, the general soldier of Caozhou, acted in a completely bandit style, but on the same day, he forcibly pulled out a large area of land in the southwest of Yanzhou Mansion from the hands of Confucius, and also did a land deed, as soon as Liu Zeqing died, his bereaved family had a difficult life, so he wanted to sell these fields at a low price, and the one who could buy these fields in Yanzhou Mansion was also Confucius, but this news was known by the local wealthy families close to Li Meng, and secretly passed the message.

As long as Li Meng knew about this matter, he would naturally not let the Confucian Mansion take back these fields, and Liu Zeqing's bereaved family naturally knew how to choose, not to mention that Li Meng also gave enough silver.

The fields of Ningyang, Surabaya, Wenshang, Yuncheng and Caozhou are connected into pieces because of this move, and at the same time, Li Meng's Tuntian Grange in Denglai Qingyan Sifu is also connected into a piece, and the Tuntian Government of Jiaozhou Camp has almost completed all the puzzles.

The wall is a pass 80 miles away from the east of Miyun County, both sides of this pass are cliffs, only the pass can reach inside and outside, the pass is the stone city built with huge stones, the city wall is nearly three zhang high, one zhang and five feet thick, there are cannons on the pass city wall, there is a beacon tower in the place about two miles before the pass.

This side is close to the Beijing Division, and it is the pass of the North Zhili and the Saiwai grassland, so it is considered a military stronghold, and there are soldiers of the Miyun Guard stationed to guard day and night.

Of course, these statements are just the statements of the imperial court documents, in fact, the Mongols on the steppe and the Han people in the north can easily enter and exit as long as they give a few small money to the soldiers guarding the pass. During the Apocalypse, there was also a scandal in which the soldiers guarding the pass sold weapons to the Tatar Mongols in exchange for cattle and sheep for profit.

The weather at the mouth of this pass is extremely cold, the north wind blows from the far north, the soldiers at the pass are one of the first to be blown to, although it is September, but the cold wind is already a little biting, the soldiers on the pass can hide in the room are hiding in the room, unwilling to go out, as for the soldiers on duty in the gate and in front of the gate are looking for a shelter to stay in the wind, a little warmer is a little.

The sheltered place at the head of the city is naturally the battlement and the tower, and the sheltered place under the city is naturally behind the city gate, and the soldiers on duty on the beacon tower think the same, whether it is far away or near, look at this pass as if there is no one.

This situation has been like this every day since the first snow fell in September, and everyone who can be lazy is lazy, and now the Mongolians on this steppe are also waste, and they are beaten by the officials and soldiers of Jizhen, and there is nothing to worry about.

According to the rules of the soldiers defending the city, when the sky saw the light, the soldiers would get up and practice, tidy up the equipment and various fortifications at the pass, but this rule has not been observed for almost a hundred years.

The barracks under the gate were also in tatters, the mud houses, the roofs covered with wheat straw, the doors and windows were all cracked, and they casually took a plug of cotton wool and cloth strips, and coped with the matter.

The sun was about to rise, and there was a quarrel in the barracks:

"Qian Laosan, you go pick up some firewood, this stove has been cold for half the night, and it may be warmer for him without it."

“…… Why do you want to go, I've been there for two days, head, don't always call me! ”

"Your grandson's lost money hasn't been repaid yet, if you don't pay it back, you will honestly go to work for Lao Tzu, and if you scream again, Lao Tzu will whip your grandson."

"Go, go, can't I go, there's no firewood and grass around here, you can point me somewhere......"

“…… Go to the beacon tower to get some cow dung and dry firewood, they have a deposit there, didn't they allocate a batch half a month ago? ”

At this time, Qian Laosan scolded and walked out of the barracks, and when he came out, he slammed the door of the barracks shut, and a puff of dust fell from the door frame, and someone inside scolded a few words at the top of his voice.

Qian Laosan didn't take his own weapon, put on this basically hairless sheepskin jacket, and walked towards the city, but saw more than a dozen soldiers and cats on duty in the city gate cave napping in the corner, and suddenly he was angry, and couldn't help but scold:

"The sun is almost noon, why hasn't the gate of this city been opened, and we still have to count on those cattle and sheep dealers in Duoyan to cross the gate, so what if we make money before we cross the road?"

"Third brother, it's not half an hour before dawn, what are you anxious about, you can sleep in the barracks for a night, let's go outside to patrol the night and drink the wind, besides, in the past seven or eight days, there are less than twenty people from the north, how can there be so many people waiting to enter the customs, this year is not good!!"

Qian Laosan pondered and pondered and didn't make a sound, thinking about this ghost weather, it's good to sleep for a while, but there is a small sheltered warehouse on the city tower, just go over to go back to sleep, and then lazily walked towards the city wall, and when he arrived at the head of the city, he found that the scene here was no different from the city.

The soldiers in charge of lookout at the head of the city couldn't see it, and they were all looking for a convenient place to take a nap, Qian Laosan scolded with a smile, and was about to enter the city tower.

There are often literati who sing the praises of the so-called Gobi scenery and the scenery outside the fortress, and the magnificence that is different from the scenery of the Central Plains is indeed shocking and admirable if it is seen at first sight, but for such veterans who have guarded the border for more than ten years, this bare scene is really unwilling to see more.

Qian Laosan walked a few steps, and always felt that in addition to the sound of the wind, there were some other voices in his ears, and he couldn't help but turn his head to look north.

The soldiers on duty at the head of the city are not much stronger than the soldiers under the city, a group of people are hiding in the city tower and falling asleep, and a general manager who was awakened by urine walked out of the city tower, but he happened to see Qian Laosan standing there, these people were also casually tight, and couldn't help but laugh and scold:

"Old money, if you want to go in and sleep, go in, and stand here as a stake to blow the wind!"

This is the general inquiry, the Qian Laosan's body shook, and then began to tremble slowly, stretched out his finger and shouted in a hissing voice in the north:

"Tartar...... Tartar, ...... Quickly ignite the fire to warn. ”

The boss hurriedly turned over from that side, and a large number of people appeared in the distance, and the black pressure pressed towards the side of the wall ridge level.

This day was September 22 of the 11th year of Chongzhen, and the day before, the same scene had happened to Qingshankou in the northeast of Jizhen.

"Yigong, is there still no news from Shanxi?"

"King Chuang, people who are familiar with it over there said that in the second half of the year, all the weapons produced by private workshops in Shanxi were emptied by Goldman Sachs and sold outside."

Hearing the report of the people around him, the tall man on the horse sighed in his heart, but there was no expression on his face, and after a slight pause, he turned around on his horse and shouted at the team behind him:

"Brothers, as long as we go out of Shaanxi to Henan, our life will be better, and someone is waiting for us over there with food and straw!"

The person who was called King Chuang on the horse shouted loudly, and the team that had no sound, whether it was foot soldiers or cavalry, cheered loudly, the weather was cold, but there were many people in this team who were not clothed, and the weapons in their hands were wooden sticks and farm tools. But they believed the man who shouted, and that man was Li Zicheng, the famous king of the whole world, the first rank in the northern and southern provinces.

The poor villagers couldn't eat, and it was this righteous king who led everyone to fight with the lord of the government and gave everyone a way to live.

Li Zicheng, the king of Chuang, who wore a red tasseled felt hat, was full of confidence, and the horse ran around the team, and the morale that was already extremely low became high, Gao Yigong looked at his brother-in-law from afar on the horse, and his heart was extremely admired.

But Gao Yigong knew that this time the situation was already extremely embarrassing, after getting the gold and silver from Li Meng in March, he thought that with real money and silver, the Jin merchants in Taiyuan Pingyao would be able to agree to sell weapons, but there was still no at all, and in the end they could only collect some in some small shops, but it didn't have much effect at all.

Lack of weapons, the Ming Dynasty officers and troops before and after the encirclement is closer than before, the size of the battle continues, the frequent battles make the equipment loss of the camp army increase, but it can not be supplemented, so that the combat power regresses greatly, resulting in a vicious circle, in April when crossing the Tao River, and the official army fought to the death, the various battalions lost contact with each other, Li Zicheng, the king of Chuang, entered Hanzhong with a small number of men and horses, and then slowly gathered.

After the Battle of Taohe, the backbone of the camp has been lost, while the other Shaanxi people's armies have been repeatedly defeated by Sun Chuanting and cannot converge. Li Zicheng led the camp to Sichuan, but was stopped by the Sichuan governor Fu Zonglong, who led the troops, so he could only return to Shaanxi again.

Shaanxi Governor Sun Chuanting and his subordinate generals learned the lessons of the previous battles with the camp, fought steadily, intercepted step by step, and never ventured to break through, but the camp was short of armament and the backbone was lost. The situation was so embarrassing that the generals Guo Tianxing, who was called the Nine Coalition Forces, directly surrendered to the Ming army.

In September and October, Li Zicheng, the king of Chuang, also knew that if he went on like this in Shaanxi, it would be a dead end, and after discussing with his subordinates Tian Jianxiu, Liu Zongmin, Gao Yigong and other cronies, he decided to leave Shaanxi from Tongguan and enter Henan, reopen the situation, and come back to life.

However, Gao Yigong has some other speculations, after entering Henan, he can follow the Yellow River towards Shandong, although Li Meng, the general there, does not know what he thinks, but it does not seem to have a hostile position to the camp, if the camp wanders in Henan, with his back to Shandong, he may be able to get some support.

But this is just speculation, King Chuang is the most stubborn, this is a consensus in the Ming court, and there is no way to surrender, let alone have contacts with the officials and soldiers.

Li Zicheng has already played a horse, and returned to the forefront of the team, after the team after Fang Cai's agitation, the speed of the march has obviously accelerated a lot, the team that broke into the camp had fought fiercely with the team of the chief soldier Cao Bianjiao the day before yesterday, and finally got rid of the other party, the morale of the team was low, and the speed of the march could not be fast, for fear of being caught up by the other party. Chuang Wang Li Zicheng just agitated, and it also made everyone speed up.

Gao Yigong followed behind, but he heard King Chuang in front of him say in a very low voice:

"You can ...... out of Tongguan"

Before he could hear clearly, there was some commotion in the ranks behind, and a cavalryman hurried to the king of Chuang, and said breathlessly:

"King Chuang!! Cao Bianjiao caught up again. ”

At this moment, the mountains on both sides of the road suddenly shook, and countless officers and soldiers rushed out with shouts.

In September of the 11th year of Chongzhen, the Qing army entered the Kou, and the prince Dolgon and Belle Yuetuo led the army to enter the North Zhili at the wall ridge and Qingshan Pass, and coerced the Beijing division.

In October, Li Zicheng entered Henan from Tongguan, the governor of the three sides, Hong Chengchou, the governor of Shaanxi, Sun Chuanting, set up an ambush, attacked before and after, broke into the camp and was defeated, Li Zicheng only led Tian Jianxiu, Liu Zongmin and other eighteen cavalry to break through, and his wife and daughter were lost.

Shandong Liufu, everything is as usual.