(Logging Dingding, rat chirping, wolf smoke rising, tiger Ben north expedition)

Produced in the Northeast, the wood that can be slightly called precious is roughly only a few kinds of willow, basswood, and fir wood, and it is far from being very valuable.

In this era, the forests of Northeast China have not been cut down to the extent that they have to be protected, and the trees of ashwagandha and red tree are not the second-class cherished protected species of the state.

In this era, it can be called a precious wood - Huanghuali, Hainan Huanghuali, Jinsi Nanmu, Ebony, Rosewood, Rosewood, Sour Branch, etc., in later generations it can be described as a treasure, other wood is sold according to the cube, only these woods, are sold according to the ton.

The forests of the Northeast stretch for thousands of miles, but these precious timbers are not produced.

But the Northeast also has its own advantages - in this primeval forest that stretches for thousands of miles. These primeval forests in the Northeast have grown for thousands of years, and have always been inaccessible and forbidden places for human beings. Most of the trees can grow freely, and large trees that are thousands of years old or even thousands of years old can be called abundant. So the trees in it are extremely huge.

Something big, even if it's not very rare in itself, then it becomes rare.

It's like mosquitoes, mosquitoes can be found everywhere, but if a mosquito the size of a human appears, it will naturally become explosive news.

The pine and birch trees in the Northeast are not very valuable, but when these trees grow into giant trees that stand tall in the sky, they naturally become very valuable and rare. There are many such giant trees in the Northeast.

Moreover, those precious timbers that are famous in China have been cut down in large quantities since the Qin and Han dynasties, and until now, it can almost be said that there is very little left of the felling. It can be said that there are fewer and fewer.

For example, in the early years of the Dynasty, the Yongle Emperor's Changling Tomb Hall Qi'en Palace, modeled after the Forbidden City Fengtian Hall was built, this hall beams, columns, fangs, purlins, gilded bucket arches and other large and small wooden components. All of them are processed from golden silk nanmu. Each component is in the inner part of the hall except for the ceiling, there is no paint and painting, and it is simple and unpretentious. The sixty pillars of Nanmu supporting the temple are all made of extremely high-quality golden silk Nanmu, which is thick and slender, and it is a rare strange wood in the world. In particular, the thirty-two heavy eaves golden pillars in the forest hall are thirteen meters high. The bottom diameter is around one meter. Among them, the four golden pillars in the middle of the bright room are the thickest, and the bottom diameter of the golden pillar before the left seam reaches four feet and one inch.

This batch of golden silk nanmu in the Qi'en Hall is the last batch of large-scale nanmu in the land of China.

When it came to the Zhengde period, if you wanted to build the Yanshan Dynasty Palace, you naturally had to keep up with your ancestors. He also ordered Yun Guichuan and other political envoys to pay tribute to large nanmu.

However, Nanmu is harvested from the deep mountains and dense forests in Sichuan and Huguang, where people can't find it, "poisonous snakes and beasts come out of the mountains." The spider is as big as a wheel, and the silk is like a phantom, and the tiger and leopard eat it. With the order of the Son of Heaven, the picker made a sacrifice to the mountain god, set fire to the forest, and then dared to enter". Moreover, the felled Nanmu is often "a tree lying at the beginning, and it is difficult to move".

Zhengde gave an order, and the local authorities naturally did not dare to disobey it, how could those officials who were accustomed to speculative drilling camps let go of this good opportunity to tie up with the emperor? The Sichuan political envoy recruited tens of thousands of people to go into the deep mountains and old forests to find and cut down Nanmu. But tens of thousands of people entered, but only sixty percent came out, so that the proverb "one thousand into the mountains, five hundred out of the mountains" began to circulate in Sichuan.

Such a great effort was wasted, tens of thousands of silver, thousands of lives. I only found that it was only ten big nanmu, and it was not as big as the one in the Yongle Emperor's Changling Palace, and it was cut down, and the next thing was naturally to transport. Transporting wood from Shu to the capital, there are eight major difficulties, saying: "the mountains and rivers are treacherous", "the trekking is difficult", "the snake and the tiger are vertical and horizontal", "the mining and transportation is difficult", "the flying bridge is dangerous", "the hanging wood is hanging the cliff", "the sky car crosses the stream", "the giant immersion drifts". When the raft is transported by water, each raft should use 4,400 bamboos and five roots, in addition, there are also 40 people who carry the boat, from Shu to Beijing, and not less than 10,000 miles, from Zhengde 47 years in Sichuan, and when they arrive in Beijing, it is already 50 years of Zhengde - it took three years. …,

And when a wood went to Beijing, the amount of silver reached 100,000 taels.

Emperor Zhengde really couldn't afford this kind of cost.

Therefore, this requirement is naturally lowered - it is not required to be nanmu, other wood is also okay, but it must be large enough, the wood is straight and hard, so that these woods in the northeast are enough to be competent. These thousand-year-old trees in the Northeast are naturally large enough, and they have grown in this almost cold climate for a long time, and their wood is also very dense and compact, very hard, as for straight and firm, it is needless to say.

So when Zhengde summoned Lian Zining, he mentioned it by the way, and in his heart, he didn't have much hope, after all, it was quite difficult for Lian Zining to even unify the entire Songhua River at that time, let alone get these, but he didn't expect that Lian Zining would soon rise between the white mountains and black waters, and he would rise in a short period of time.

After cleaning up the surrounding enemies, Lian Zining also had time to start arranging such things.

Lian Zining is still very concerned about this matter, he knows that his future is really tied to the emperor's wishes, so before he has enough strength to decide his fate, he must pin this hope on the emperor. He has never been one of those people who stick to the rules, thinking that doing such things for the emperor is flattery, or rather, even if it is flattery, he will do it.

Anyway, if you don't do it yourself, someone else will do it, and if you do it yourself, you can save some manpower and costs.

"Young master, look at this tree, can it be successful?"

The leprosy head was rubbing around, and suddenly his eyes lit up, and he found an extremely thick red pine, hurried up to look at it carefully, and then turned around and shouted to Dong Sanlin.

Dong Sanlin stepped forward, and when he saw this tree, his face also showed excitement, and he smiled on the side of the leprosy: "Young today, do you take a look!" ”

This red pine foot is three or four feet in diameter, straight and erect, rarely forked, looking up, no head can be seen at a glance. Looking at it like this, it's at least a dozen zhang high! It can be said that it is quite a good big wood.

Dong Sanlin circled around this number a few times, reached out and knocked again, and listened to the sound coming from inside. After a closer look, the smile on his face became weaker and fainter.

The leper head asked, "Less in charge, this tree can't be made?" ”

Dong Sanlin waved his hand: "No." The sound is not crisp and pleasant enough, there is no sound of gold and stone, and the wood inside must not be dense enough, and to be honest. The tree wasn't big enough to meet the standards that the adults had told me. ”

He thought for a moment, and then said, "That's it, make a mark, and if you can't find a better one, come back and look for this." ”

And they drew a mark on the tree.

The crowd continued to look forward until they were gone. In a small hole in the pine tree's roots, a small head poked out, and it was the little squirrel.

This little guy was just frightened by the crowd. It knew that it could not stay in this comfortable nest, so it quickly grabbed the food and started moving.

After a while, several soldiers rushed over and reported to Dong Sanlin: "Lord Tongzhi, the brothers over there have found a big tree, please go over and take a look." ”

As soon as I heard this title, I knew that it was not the old brother of Black Tiger Mountain.

Dong Sanlin nodded and walked over.

This time, it was a huge oak tree. The dark gray bark was mottled with the traces of time, and the leaves of the oak wood, which were several circles larger than the palm of an ordinary adult man, were already about to fall, and a golden layer was spread on the ground. The general oak wood is seven or eight zhang high, and the thickness of the three people hugging each other, and this oak wood does not know how many years it has grown, and it has a diameter of two zhang and three or four feet. Even more than 20 people have not been able to close up, and the height is even more unsightly. …,

Dong Sanlin looked at this appearance, was overjoyed, knocked on the sound again, listened carefully, and said continuously: "This oak wood is excellent, tall and straight, and the posture is enough. ”

Oak wood is hard, high strength, specific gravity, dense structure, unique wood grain, clear and beautiful texture, moisture resistance, wear resistance, coloring, soil decoration performance is good, if you make furniture, then dignified and calm, elegant and simple, is a good object to make wood, to build a house, it is a bit of a waste.

Dong Sanlin didn't care about this, and shouted loudly: "Brothers, come on, hurry up, cut down this big tree, this one can top three trees, hurry up, let's cut it down, and call it a day today!" ”

When the soldiers heard that they could go back, they were extremely excited and hurried over.

They had been cutting down trees for so long, and they were already very experienced, and under the leadership of the officers, according to their own organization, they each took care of one direction, and the soldiers took off the big axes they were carrying on their backs, and often spit in the palms of their hands, and then began to cut them down with a clang. Some of them took off the large saws used for logging, and two people held one side and cut them down with a clang.

Although the tree was very large, and the wood was quite fine and hard, it could not stand the thousands of people tinkling around him.

That is, half an hour's time, the lower saw edge is sawed, and then the wood chips between the two saw edges are removed with an axe or saw, and after the lower saw edge is completed, on the opposite side of the reverse direction of the tree, perpendicular to the axis of the trunk, and a saw edge is called the upper saw edge.

After the sawing was completed, the soldiers removed all the weeds, shrubs, stones, etc. in the direction of the tree's fall, and then tied the rope they carried with them to the upper part of the tree, and then divided it into two groups and dragged it in the direction of the tree's fall. Finally, with the joint efforts of thousands of people, this big tree finally fell to the ground slowly.

Dong Sanlin looked at this shocking big wood and let out a long breath.

The reason why such a behemoth tree must be chosen is because of Lian Zining's instructions. Until now, he still remembers what Lian Zining said clearly: "Dong Sanlin, you remember, I don't have any requirements for this big tree, only one point, in addition to being big enough for the pillars, it must be big enough, it must be big and long!" The better the wood we offer, the happier the emperor is, and the benefits of our Wu Yi Army are greater than fighting a big victory. You remember clearly, pick the big one, don't worry about how to transport, after the water is transported all the way to Zhenyuan Mansion, I will worry about this transportation! When the Holy Commendation comes, I will give you a great credit! ”

After all, Dong Sanlin still didn't know much about these intrigues, but he really thought that Lian Zining was really trying to please the emperor, but he didn't know that it was those big trees with a diameter of one zhang and a length of ten zhang. It's completely enough, but why did Lian Zining have to choose such a big one?

In the meantime, the mystery is not enough for outsiders!

———————— Dividing Line————————

Zhenyuan Mansion University Campus.

In the large school field within a radius of dozens of miles, the ground is extremely thick. Usually in the sun, it used to be a piece of white flowers, but at this moment, it was a fiery red.

On the colonel's field, there were already soldiers wearing big red fat jackets, and according to their respective formations, they stood in a phalanx, and the small flags formed a hundred households. A hundred households make up a thousand households, and a thousand households form a guard. One guard is a huge phalanx, and at this time, more than a dozen guards are spread out on this large school field.

At this time, the sun was already rising, and the heavens and the earth were brilliant.

A total of 11 military units of the guard level, including the pro-barracks, the 1st guard, the 2nd guard, the 3rd guard, the 5th guard, the 6th guard, the 7th guard, the 8th guard, the 9th guard, the 12th guard, and the 13th guard, a total of 11 guard-level military units, more than 70,000 people lined up in a neat queue, and ten huge phalanxes spread out on the vast colonel's field, which was extremely magnificent. …,

At a glance. The mountains of soldiers will be sea, boundless, and the flag will be displayed. The sharp reflection of the sky and the earth are brilliant!

As soon as the number of people is thousands, it is already completely overwhelming, not to mention that the 70,000 army is arranged here, which makes people feel endless at a glance, just like facing the vast ocean, the monstrous waves, the fear and awe that are terrifying and irresistible.

Spearmen, flintlock musketeers, halberders, artillerymen, all stood straight. His eyes were firmly fixed on the high platform at the front of the large school field.

There is adoration in the eyes, there is excitement, and more than that, there is awe and gratitude.

The high platform is about 10 zhang high, and it is made of large stones, and it stands solemnly.

On top of the high platform. At this time, there were already more than a dozen people standing.

At the front is a young man with a long body, tall and slender, with a handsome face, he wears a white copper chain mail, which is made of countless small copper pieces interlocking, to make a pair of chain mail, it takes more than 8,700 small copper pieces the size of copper coins, and a pair of chain mail, but it weighs fifteen or sixteen pounds, which is only about half of the rotten silver plate armor. In terms of defensive power, chain mail is no worse than rotten silver plate armor, especially to prevent sharp weapon slashing and cutting, and it can unload that power.

At the back of the shoulders of the chain mail, there are two copper rings, tied with a large red cape.

Lian Zining did not wear a helmet, combed his hair in a bun, and wore a purple gold crown, the front of the purple gold crown was inlaid with a huge piece of jasper, and a high-quality jade hairpin was inserted in the center of the purple gold crown.

Behind him, Shi Dazhu, Wang Dachun, and Xie Deqing, the third of the four major commanders, Li Tie, the counselor of MI6, and Xiong Tingbi, Chen Dakang, Dong Ce, Jin, and other high-ranking officials at the level of Wei Commander and Envoy were all listed. All of them were dressed in armor, exuding a fierce aura.

Except for Liu Liangchen, who was still in the capital, Yang Husheng, Xia Zikai, who guarded Baiying Gorge, and those commanders of the new guards who had already gone north, all the military attachés and generals above the third rank under Wu Yijun were here today.

Lian Zining looked at the mountains of soldiers and generals below, and let out a long breath, his heart was agitated, but he felt a lot of emotion for a while.

Speaking of which, this is not the first time he has sworn to go on an expedition, although the last expedition to the north was secretly from the Asu River and then from the Songhua River all the way north to the Jurchen hinterland, but there have been two times before.

The first time was in the camp in Jingnan, on the order of the king, to go south to fight against the white-robed rebellion.

The second time was in Beidaying, Leling County, leading the army to the north, and accompanying Xu Pengju, the Duke of Wei, to the north to conquer the Jurchens.

The first big victory, he made a lot of contributions; The second fiasco had almost nothing to do with himself, but he stubbornly defended Xishenwei, fought against the Jurchen strong army, made great contributions, and put this Wu Yibo's false title on the shell of a Songhuajiang general.

This is also the beginning of his real rise.

After all, I really started by the war! After the first expedition, the governor of the six counties and the administration of the Ma Zheng Yamen, more than tripled the Wu Yi army from a small force of 2,000 people, and after the second expedition, it has been all the way to today's field.

However, when he went out on the first expedition, he only commanded a mere 2,000 soldiers, and when he set out on the second expedition. It's only seven thousand, and now, it's just these armies standing in front of them. It is a full eleven guards, more than 70,000! Not to mention, in the north of the Songhua River, there are more than 100,000 troops of their own. Either fight hard, or plough the fields.

Lian Zining lifted his eyelids, looked up at the blue sky, and the corners of his mouth hooked slightly: "Could it be that I am the broken army star in the sky?" The main battle in his life, easy to kill, everywhere he goes, is the sword and the fire continues? ”…,

"That's it!" He let out a long breath of turbid air in his chest. There was a lot of pride in his chest, and he said softly: "Let me be this army-breaking star, but I also want this big tomorrow to change my face another day!" ”

He suddenly looked at the army below and said in a loud voice, "Brothers, do you know what we are going to do next?" ”

In times like these. There is no advanced scientific and technological means, and the large school field is dozens of miles away, Lian Zining's words. Naturally, it is impossible to spread it all and let everyone hear it. Although there are already some mechanisms set up in this high platform - at the feet of Lian Zining and others, dozens of large urns are buried in the high platform, these large urns are upside down, and they are neatly stacked side by side, so that the hollow under the stage can form overlapping sounds and echoes, so that the words of the people above can be transmitted farther.

The stage in Heshen's house is such a setting.

But this is only a matter of what can make Lian Zining. It was transmitted to the dozens of sergeants with loud voices standing in front of the high platform, otherwise, from such a long distance, dozens of meters, it is estimated that only a few people standing on the platform could hear his words.

His words were shouted out by the sergeants. Then in the guards below, there were people who passed the word to ensure that everyone could hear it.

There was silence below, and no one dared to speak.

Lian Zining said in a deep voice again: "Two months ago, we also conquered the Jurchen barbarians in the Northland!" But at that time, we went out of the city from the East City Gate, sneakily went to the Asu River, and then to the Songhua River, and sneaked into the hinterland of the Jurchens! ”

After the sergeant below passed on these words, there were bursts of low laughter below, and even the generals behind Zining couldn't help laughing.

"But, despite the fact that we have only a few tens of thousands of men, and although our army is still besieged in the city, we have won! We won a big victory, we leveled the Haixi Jurchens, this has been pressing on our hearts, and the henchmen are in great trouble! Since then, we have been soaring! And now! Lian Zining's voice suddenly became heroic and intense, he pursed his lips tightly, and shouted: "I will take you to the north again, this time, we will be above board and attack the land of those Jurchen barbarians!" Since the 51st year of Zhengde, our Wuyi Army has fought a lot of fierce battles with the Jurchens, and our army has suffered heavy casualties. ”

He took a long breath: "Now, I'm going to take you to revenge!" Revenge! ”

After Lian Zining's words spread, there was a riot below, and after a while, this riot condensed into a gloomy and sad atmosphere, these soldiers, many of them are veterans of the Wu Yi Army, Wu Yi Army has fought with the Jurchens in the past, and their life and death comrades died in the hands of the Jurchens, there are definitely a lot.

Eventually, the cries of all the soldiers were reduced to two words: "Vengeance!" ”

"Revenge!"

Seventy thousand soldiers shouted angrily, converging into a huge sound wave, and for a while, there was only one voice echoing in heaven and earth, and no other noise could be heard, and people's eardrums were all buzzing.

The heavens and the earth were all discolored, and the white clouds in the sky seemed to be shaken into wisps of fragments by this sound.

At this time, Lian Zining also successfully mobilized the morale of the army.

Morale is a very delicate thing, and in this era of cold weapons, morale can even determine the outcome of a war. It can be said that the factors of victory or defeat in a war, combat effectiveness and morale are about 55 percent.

Broken boats, fighting against all odds, and embattled, these words all explain the extreme importance of morale to an army. A group of convicts with high morale and no way out can defeat the elite Qin army, which is several times more numerous than them, and the elite Chu army with low morale is a completely different fate. …,

Lian Zining nodded with satisfaction, and pressed his hand on the sword at his waist.

The sword is the king of a hundred soldiers, the holy product of the ancients, the supreme and noble, and the people and gods are worshipped. It is the ancestor of short soldiers, the weapon of close combat, and with profound Taoist art, it has entered the legend of Xuan.

The sword, in the Chinese dynasty, has become a symbol of status, the princes and emperors of the previous dynasties, the scribes and knights, the merchants and the common people, all take pride in perseverance. It is also known as the gentleman's sword, according to the habits of the Ming Dynasty, scholars wear swords, Wenchen swords, and military generals are naturally swords.

Lian Zining's sword was given by Dai Zhangpu at the beginning, and since then, this heavy weight, Dai Qinglan's deep affection, has been concerned in his heart.

It wasn't until later that Lian Zining first conquered Fusang, then swept the Jurchens, and also captured a lot of ancient famous swords, but he never replaced this sword.

The style of the long sword, imitating the ancient system, the willow leaf shape and the flat stem, its whole is a willow leaf, grinding into a round sharp angle along the gong, the center of the wax is slightly raised, there is no sword lattice, there is no obvious boundary between the wax and the stem, the stem is flat and there are two piercings. Its material is a jade sword of a grade, Peishan Xuanyu.

The stem of the sword is seven inches long, and if the sword body is five times as long as its stem, three feet and five inches, and weighs twelve pounds, it weighs five catties.

With a clang, Lian Zining pulled out the long sword at his waist, the bright sword blade flashed with the cold light of Aomori in the sun, Lian Zining pointed forward with his long sword, and said loudly: "Go out!" ”

"Expedition!"

Seventy thousand soldiers shouted in unison, the sound shook the four fields, and the heavens and the earth changed color.

Tens of thousands of troops, led by their respective officers, left the large campus in turn according to their respective sequences, from small to large. They transformed from a phalanx into a long snake formation, with ten people in a row, winding forward. The team spread for dozens of miles, and when the front team had already left the West City Gate and arrived at the Songhua River, the team behind had not yet left the Daxiao field.

Lian Zining and others also got off the parade platform, and Wang Dachun took the lead in resigning.

The so-called soldiers and horses have not moved, grain and grass go first, and the army set out today, and the cart team of the logistics department has left Zhenyuan Mansion a few days ago and crossed the river to the north. They also did this so as not to slow down the speed of the big team, but this advantage could not be maintained for a few days, and I am afraid that they will soon catch up.

After Wang Dachun left, the generals also said goodbye.

In this northern expedition, Lian Zining can be said to have done his best, except for the 11th guard who stayed behind because of the errand of transporting big wood to the capital, all the rest of the guards went out with the army.

The scale of Wu Yijun's expedition this time can be described as unprecedentedly powerful!

Soon, in addition to Shi Dazhu and other guards, only Lian Zining and another person - Dong Laohu remained.

Lian Zining turned to Dong Laohu, rubbed his hands, and said with a smile: "Lord Dong, the defense of Zhenyuan Mansion this time will be handed over to you!" ”

Dong Laohu is also a person who understands the rules very well, and immediately clenched his fists and said loudly: "Your Excellency, please rest assured, the mark will definitely defend this city for your lords, the city is in the people, and the city is ruined!" ”

Lian Zining laughed and patted Dong Laohu's shoulder: "Where are you talking about, even if the city is broken, you can't die, live well!" Our soldiers, you generals, are what I value the most! (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation and monthly passes, and your support is my biggest motivation. )