Chapter 348: Oath, Kaifeng Mansion

With a "whoosh", a sharp arrow pierced the head of the man with the stick at the head, and then the bow was opened left and right that night, and several men who were chasing after him were hit by arrows and flew out. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

There was a "snap", but it was another night that he didn't aim at the last man and fired a shot, and as the smoke of his handcuff came out, the man broke a big hole in his chest, retreated several steps backwards, and finally fell straight to the ground.

Now the rabbit got up and fell, and the women who ran to the side seemed to be frightened, and they all knelt on the ground and kowtowed, and the woman who ran looked back, and also threw herself on the ground in horror, screaming loudly: "Don't kill me, don't kill me......"

When a horse came to her, and on the third night he looked at the woman, and threw it before her, and the woman hesitated to pick it up, and then cried out with joy, "It's a flat......bread, it's a flatbread."

She stopped her mouth cautiously, took the cake into her arms, and tried to find a safe place to eat it. But her voice had caught the attention of the women beside her, who screamed and were about to pounce on her.

The sound of "pop" was the sound of a handcuff again, and he didn't take out the handcuff and let it go to the sky this night.

The women who pounced on them screamed in panic, and hurriedly ran back again, ran a few steps, and then stopped hesitantly.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the woman hid behind a mound of earth, took out the bread in her arms, and stuffed it into her mouth desperately, she ate so quickly that she seemed to choke, and coughed desperately.

A kettle fell in front of her from the sky, and the woman hurriedly took out the stopper and poured the water into her mouth.

"For you."

Ye Bujing, who had killed the man before, dismounted, took out a few flatbreads from his horse's bag, and motioned to the women.

He was young and had a sunny smile on his face, and although his accent was difficult for the women to understand, everyone recognized the bread in his hand. The women hesitated, snatched the bread from his hand, and each found a safe place to eat, looking around as they ate, keeping their posture of running away at any time.

Seeing these women gobbling up, they shook their heads with emotion this night.

A piece of bread didn't seem to be enough for them to satisfy their hunger, looking at the fierce looks of the two officers and soldiers, only this young officer and soldier had a gentle expression, so they all crowded in front of this night and begged: "Master Jun, give me another piece of bread, let us do whatever we want." ”

A woman even pleaded as she grabbed the hand that had not been collected that night and put it into her chest, and looked at him pitifully.

It was quite embarrassing not to collect this night, and he looked back at the Shunxiang army.

Wang Tianxue had followed Wang Dou for many years since he entered Jingbian Fort in the seventh year of Chongzhen, and now he was also the chief medical officer in the Shunxiang army. ”

Wang Dou nodded and said, "Bring them over." ”

Those women were brought over, and when they saw the ironclad army here, the tiger-wolf men of all colors, they were all extremely afraid.

It seems that the young night just now did not accept them to eat the bread, and his demeanor was gentle. So they subconsciously thought that they were "good people" who didn't close this night, and they all cowered behind him, pulling his sleeves as they walked.

There were six of them, all unkempt and ragged, and they were wobbly when they stood. I can't see their looks clearly, but I guess that they should be young, otherwise they will be old and frail, and they will not be able to survive in this year of famine.

Hearing that Wang Dou was the leader of these officers and soldiers, and his expression was quite gentle, not as if he was going to harm them, several women were a little relieved, and they all knelt down and kowtowed and begged: "General, take us down, be cattle and horses, do anything, just ask for a mouthful of food." ”…,

Everyone sighed, and calmed Chi Dacheng and said: "You must not have women in the army, so as not to disturb the morale of the army." ”

Wang Dou groaned for a while, summoned Sun Sanjie, and temporarily placed these women in the middle of the baggage Qianzhong, and made arrangements in the future.

It was nearly noon, and not far from the town was a local river called the Luo River, but the river had almost dried up, and there were cracks everywhere. Wang Dou ordered the Shunxiang army to rest and cook here, and sent the Chinese army comfort officer to ask the details of the women.

The women, who had asked to work in spite of their physical weakness, feared that the army would abandon them, had seen that this army was different, and that it seemed that they could live here. Soon the consolation officer came back and sighed repeatedly: "It's miserable, it's really miserable." ”

These women are local residents, all of whom are from the vicinity of Wu'an County, Chang Duc Province, and after several major droughts in the local area, the price of this rice has risen all the way, especially the rich merchants have closed the market, and finally they cannot buy grain.

According to the productivity of the Ming Dynasty, if the price of goods is two or three times higher than usual, there will be a great famine in various places, not to mention that the price of goods is as high as ten or twenty times. The people developed from eating tree bark, grass roots, and tribulus terrestris to eating soil and rocks, and after eating these, they began to eat people.

Family, brothers, friends, and neighbors eat each other, and this basic morality no longer exists. In the end, there were groups of strong men armed with sticks, picking out those women and children, but no one dared to save them.

I heard that in the local and nearby cities, except for the city and the suburbs, the villages in various places either starved to death, or became bandits, "cannibal teams", and the rest of the people were in danger, fearing that they would become food for others. Fortunately, these women were lucky enough to meet the Shunxiang army, otherwise they would have become the food in the mouths of those hungry and dizzy men.

A long sigh sounded, and Qin Yi said: "Since the year of Chongzhen, Zhongzhou has been hungry every year, and the mountains are all thieves, and the grass roots and wood skins are exhausted, so they take people as food. Parents who eat their children, children who eat their parents, minors who don't want to see them, wandering every night, hearing the sound of crying for help, are all traitors use tricks to devour people. This sad and sour nose, I can't bear to smell it......"

The more Qin Yi said, the more sad he became, he was from Nanyang, every time there was a famine, he would be like this Zhangde Mansion, he felt the same way, how could he not let him cry when he looked at it?

Gao Shiyin scolded: "It's still that the local officials are incompetent, otherwise why would no one starve to death on my East Road, and other places in Daming would be so chaotic and so bitter?" ”

Wen Fangliang said: "Only under the leadership of the general can we sweep away all the injustices in the world, and return the Ming Dynasty to a bright future." ”

Everyone nodded, Wang Dou closed his eyes and was speechless, rare disasters and famines one after another, especially in Henan, which is why the land of Henan is particularly vigorous. Suppression is a political issue, not a military issue.

……

In the evening of the same day, the Shunxiang army arrived outside Wu'an County, and after camping, Sun Sanjie took the official document of the military department as usual and went into the city to ask for grain from the magistrate in the city.

Soon after, he returned, but he was empty-handed, and he did not ask for a bucket of food. According to what he said, the local magistrate was reluctant to distribute grain at all because of the lack of food.

Wang Dou was furious, the army came from Zanhuang, and nearly a thousand stone of military rations were scattered along the way, although the army brought a large amount of silver taels with the army, but the merchants and wealthy households were closed, and it was extremely difficult to buy grain. If you don't replenish grain and grass in the official warehouses of various prefectures and counties, you may not have enough military rations to go to Kaifeng Mansion.

He shouted to Wen Fangliang: "Mr. Wen Qian, you take a general sergeant into the city to arrest Nazhi County, I want to see if he dares not to give food in front of my army." ”

A cold light flashed in Wen Fangliang's eyes, and he clasped his fists at Wang Dou and saluted: "The last general will take the order"

There was a commotion outside the barracks, and then the noise sounded inside the city, and soon, Dou Weilu of Wu'an Zhi County, Zhangde Prefecture, was twisted in by several Shunxiang soldiers. …,

To Wang Dou's surprise, Dou Weilu was very young, less than thirty, and had a gentle appearance. He was twisted by a few Shunxiang soldiers, but he was not panicked, his eyes swept over everyone in the tent, and then he stared at Wang Dou, squinting at each other.

Wang Dou glanced at him: "My army was ordered to suppress thieves, thousands of miles away, the military department is here, why don't you give food?" ”

Dou Weilu smiled slightly: "I have heard for a long time that the general of Dingguo is powerful in the north and south, the emperor personally crowned the three armies of Yongguan, and the Shunxiang army is also a division of benevolence and righteousness, and the general is like this, it is not a way of hospitality." ”

He spoke with an Anhui accent, not from the prefectures of Zhongzhou, too, the Ming Dynasty did not allow people from this province to be officials, especially when Zhu Yuanzhang was the emperor, the requirements were stricter, and even let "the south officials the north, the north people the south", but later it was not limited to the north and the south. However, except for academic officials, it is an iron law that people in this province are not allowed to serve as local officials.

Dou Weilu knew himself so well, which made Wang Dou a little surprised, he asked Dou Weilu to sit down, and asked him why he was unwilling to give food.

Dou Weilu suddenly lost his temper and laughed wildly: "When people die, they naturally have no food." ”

He laughed wildly, and his voice was choked up: "The general may not know that there were 135 households in this county, but at the beginning of the year, 8,288 households have died. The original editor was 20,325 ding, and 18,450 ding escaped to death, this is still the beginning of the year, and how much is left now, and the county does not know. ”

"However, the county also has to bear more than 44,000 taels of silver, more than 2,300 stones of rice, 12,533 stones of Liao rice beans, 688 stones of Linqing rice, and 842 stones of Lu rice. In this way, the remnants of 2,000 households in this county, more than 1,800 ding, how can they send grain to pay? ”

His expression suddenly became resolute: "The disaster is becoming more and more embarrassing, and seeing that the county is about to be extinct, this official has decided to distribute all the grain and rice in the warehouse to the victims. ”

Wang Dou said: "Then how do you explain to the imperial court?" ”

Dou Weilu smiled weirdly: "It's okay, the lower official has already made up his mind to hang the seal and return." ”

He shook his head and chanted: "The knot is in the human realm, and there is no noise of cars and horses." How can you ask you? The heart is far away from itself. Picking chrysanthemums under the east fence, see Nanshan. The mountain weather is good, and the birds are still ...... Ah, this is the heart of the lower officials. ”

Wang Dou looked at him for a long time and sighed: "Dou Zhixian, you go back, you have offended a lot." ”

Dou Wei said: "I'm not busy, I just went down to the camp and saw that there seems to be a lot of grain and grass in your army, for the sake of the common people, I also asked the general to pull out a piece of grain and grass to help the lives of the people of Wu'an." ”

Wang Dou was speechless, and he had nothing to say about Dou Wei's shamelessness.

……

Early the next morning, Wang Dou led the army to leave Wu'an County, he was in a bad mood, not only did he not get grain, but instead pasted hundreds of stones of grain and grass.

However, these grains were used to help the victims, and Wang Dou felt better. Dou Weilu is naturally grateful, praising Wang Dou for being worthy of being the pillar of the country, Shun Xiangjun is worthy of being a teacher of benevolence and righteousness, only Wang Dou has a word of suffering.

"Now the exile is full of roads, and the bones are full of wilderness. The yin wind is miserable, and the green of the forest is roaring. The small bones of the flank arm, in the road, every suburb, the feet on the top, the sound of the stalks, such as on the hemp straw......"

The army came all the way, and every time they passed through a city, they either cannibalized each other, or they were arrogant, and they couldn't bear to hear about it, and they couldn't bear to see it. When the army marched to Qishui, the whole army stared blankly at the opposite side, where hundreds of people were throwing themselves into the river, and they were scrambling to be the first, as if they were rushing to some Elysium.

Behind him, the voices of the soothing officers of various ministries came: "Everyone has seen it, if you don't enter the East Road, your family will be the same as now, either becoming food in the mouths of others, or life is worse than death." You and others need to cherish the good days now, and strive to kill thieves for the general of Dingguo, and you must not slack off. ”

All the soldiers nodded desperately.

Wang Dou silently planned on the horse, the water was very wide, although it was a great drought, there was still a lot of water left, and the river wind blew his fiery red cloak and fluttered high. …,

With a choking sound, he drew his sword, and the generals around him were all looking at Wang Dou.

Wang Dou flicked his sword with his fingers, and the sword was a dragon chant, and he said to himself in his heart: "I, Wang Dou, swear that I will bring the world back to peace, and make this land of China a paradise, no matter who stands in my footsteps, I will get rid of him." ”

……

October 22, the twelfth year of Chongzhen, afternoon.

Wang Dou led the Shunxiang army to the Yujiadian ferry on the north bank of the Yellow River, which already belonged to Kaifeng Prefecture, and was Kaifeng City not far from the Yellow River.

Suddenly seeing the majestic water of the Yellow River, Wang Dou couldn't help but be stunned, he had never seen the Yellow River in later generations, and it was the first time he saw it in this life.

People say that the Yellow River is the mother river of the people of China, and if you don't reach the Yellow River, you are not a hero, the golden river is surging, and it seems that it has been flowing unchanged for thousands of years, just like an old man who has been weathered, taking solid steps, just walking calmly, walking.

Not only Wang Dou, but most of the Shunxiang army were shocked by this mighty river that could not be seen at a glance, they were on the East Road, in Baoding, in Zhending, in Liaodong, how could they have seen such a wide and mighty river? Many people were shocked by the power of nature and were speechless.

The turbidity waves are churning, and the turbulent waters of the Yellow River seem to be hanging over the head, and under the high embankments, there are vast plains, dotted with cities, villages and towns. The water of the Yellow River hangs high over the heads of millions of living beings along the river, making people worry about when this monstrous turbid wave will break through the embankment and destroy everything around.

Fortunately, all this did not happen for the time being, although Wang Dou knew that in the third battle of Kaifeng, the embankment of Kaifeng was dug up, and millions of people died.

Approaching Kaifeng, it also made Wang Dou feel some of the vitality of the world, the disaster here is slightly lighter, although there are still displaced people, villages and towns are depressed, but there is finally some normal life and business order.

Opposite is Kaifeng Fucheng, the original residents, plus almost most of the wealthy families and officials in Henan have moved into this city, and the people of Kaifeng Fucheng have nearly one million. With such a large population, the daily needs are very large, and on the Yellow River alone, there are constantly merchant ships carrying goods, merchant travelers, and people with all kinds of accents.

Crossing the river is a problem, but fortunately, there are many boats in this section of the river in Kaifeng, and those flat-bottomed boats can transport dozens of people and horses at a time. Fair trade, the army that is willing to spend money is still welcome, Wang Dou doesn't care about the silver at all, and the shipwrights can care.

In addition, Wang Dou arranged some East Road businessmen in Kaifeng to help contact. Soon, Sun Sanjie's baggage camp found a large number of ships, about hundreds, and many sheepskin rafts inside. By the afternoon of the next day, the whole army of Shunxiang crossed the Yellow River and reached the west gate of Kaifeng.

As usual, Wang Dou was ready to fight the autumn wind in Kaifeng Mansion and ask for food.

Since the march has been carried out a lot, only half of the grain and grass in his army has been dispersed, and it has not gone far since it is replenished. In Wang Dou's plan, it is best to get grain for free, and if it doesn't work, he arranged for the merchants on the East Road in Kaifeng City to also hoard some grain and grass, which should be able to meet the needs of the army for most of the month.

Although he had seen the city wall of Xuanfu Town and Jingshi, and saw the city wall of Kaifeng Mansion from afar, Wang Dou was still shocked.

The circumference of the city is estimated to be twenty or thirty miles, and the whole city is covered with bricks, and the city walls are very thick. In particular, the moat around the city is very eye-catching, there are four moats, each of which is about 50 zhang wide, and the depth is estimated to be 4 or 5 zhang. At the span of the five gates, all the city gate bridges were built, and the suspension bridge was made of elm locust wood, which looked like a bridge.

When pulling the suspension bridge, it is easy to pull it up with iron cables, iron rings, and iron wheels. If there is a police outside the city, the upstairs can be pulled up quickly, and after the suspension bridge is pulled up, the material of elm locust wood is very strong, and it can also be used as a doorguard. …,

Wang Dou sighed, such a strong city, if the defenders are a little stronger, it is very difficult to break through, no wonder Li Zicheng has to open the seal three times in history.

The military department has been sent into the city, and Wang Dou is waiting for the news to come back, and he will definitely not leave if he does not get food.

At this time, Wang Dou also recruited merchants on the East Road in Kaifeng Mansion to ask questions, and these people were mainly businessmen from Baoan Prefecture.

If we talk about the merchants of the East Road, the merchants of Baoan Prefecture have the most "iron" relationship with Wang Dou, and they are ordered by the shogunate to gather some Shunxiang troops to buy and sell in Kaifeng Mansion and other places, and they also have a great role, that is, to collect information in the vicinity.

"The thief Li Zicheng entered Henan, united with the thieves of Yidougu and clay pots, numbering hundreds of thousands, and even broke Lushan, Jiaxian, Yiyang, Yiyang, Yanshi, Lingbao, and Zhuxian in western Henan, and the officers and soldiers suffered defeats. A few days ago, I heard that the city of Yongning was broken, and the king of Wan'an and the gentry in the city died. ”

"Passers-by rumored that the thieves had plans to besiege Luoyang."

The war situation in the northwest of Henan, although the Kaifeng local government tried its best to conceal the news, but there were still many rumors, I heard that the king of Zhou and the governor Li Xianfeng, the political envoy Liang Bing was worried, if Li Zicheng really besieged Luoyang, then what should be done?

Li Zicheng suddenly rose up, the momentum was huge, and he heard that his army had grown to hundreds of thousands, and the soldiers and horses of Kaifeng Mansion were less than 10,000, and he was powerless to rescue him.

Although the city of Luoyang is deep, everyone thinks that Li Zicheng will not be able to capture it, but they are afraid that there will be a ...... After all, the city of Yongning was broken, the king of Wan'an died, and Luoyang was not trivial, it was the location of the vassal king, and it was the uncle of the current emperor.

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Old White Cow:

There are always people arguing about stallion harems and the like, to make it clear, my attitude towards women is to do what I want, not deliberately, not arrogant, everything depends on my preferences. If I see a woman that is pleasing to the eye, I will let the protagonist accept it, and if I don't like it, I will not let the protagonist accept it. So what kind of dedication, harem, stallion and other low-IQ arguments, there is really no need for me here.

My principles will not be influenced by others, and if I don't like it, I can leave, and I will never keep it. I personally am very disgusted with people who are anti-stallions, harems, etc., and think that they are against for the sake of opposition, arrogant, hypocritical, and inconsistent, and theoretically these people are not welcome to read my book.

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