In the 4o years of the 17th century, both in the East and the West, history entered the most critical period. The basic pattern of modern civilization in the world has completed the initial formatting work in these years.

Under the churning of the butterfly wings of the new world, although the details of history will always make some people ignore, the inertia of the general context of history remains.

The English Civil War continued after the beginning of the spring, and Charles I garnered more support. Not only was an understanding reached with the Scottish Presbyterians, but about half of England, including Wales, was brought under the influence of the Princes, while the Parliamentarians continued to retreat from the odds.

Cromwell, who had secretly returned to England from a South Atlantic penal colony, did not appear much in public, but London received a shipload of Chinese and American arms from the Portuguese after the beginning of spring. After a generous speech to the National Assembly, the Model Army, which Cromwell had personally organized, began to sprout.

The Great 6 War in Western Europe continued to be chaotic and stalemate, and due to Denmark's perfidy, the Swedish army, which had been smooth sailing in the German region, was forced to fight on two fronts, and even had to privately start a new round of negotiations with the Holy Roman Empire.

The Marquis of Emden, who has watched a good show for several years, can't hold back at this time. After a pretense of righteous indignation, the full-fledged Frederick V calculated the timing of the autumn harvest and went to war against his neighbor Oldenburg at the end of the summer on the grounds of a crusade against Denmark and its allies who had betrayed the German Protestant cause. For this purpose, Frederick V had been preparing for two years.

Oldenburg and nearly half of Saxony have been the dominant influence of the Danish royal family for hundreds of years, and even the current Danish king Christian was once a German nobleman from the Oldenburg line. It is really surprising that the Marquis of Emden is fighting against the brothers who were once on the same front, but now there are few people in the whole of Europe, and everyone can see what Frederick V's real ambition is.

The sewage of this jar of melee in Europe. In this spring, I finally couldn't see the colors at all.

In the view of some scholars in later generations, although the Thirty Years' War in Europe was so cruel that it could not be repeated, it completed a deep reform of Europe's modern military system and geopolitical relations.

In the Ming Empire in the East, peasant rebellions and the Ming and Qing wars were driven by a series of seemingly accidental or inevitable propulsions, which brought the Eastern civilization into another unbearable fork.

……

June 21, 1643, Sunday, the sixth day of the fifth month of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen in the Ming Empire.

Daming Shaanxi, west of Tongguan, Huayin County, Xi'an Prefecture.

The earth is still a dull yellow mottled color, and the theoretical spring drizzle has lost its sights during this Xiaoice climate period. The drought continued into the summer. In the north of the official road, deserted villages and fields can be seen everywhere, and the Wei River, which once nourished the fertile fields of the Qinchuan River for 800 miles, has also lost its vigorous momentum at this time, and the shallow water level is difficult to raise many waves, and it seems to be weak.

On the edge of the sparse woods, the official road leading to Huayin County is crisscrossed with dirt roads and ravines, refugees in pairs and threes support each other, and an abandoned pergola tea shop on the side of the road. Qi was so slippery that there was a row of children in tattered clothes, all of them unkempt and silent. Behind the children, the adults looked wooden, only the broken bowl in their hands was still shaking slightly. You can also see a little dying anger.

When a convoy of more than 50 grain wagons appeared in the west, adults and children kneeling by the abandoned tea shed stretched their necks, and then began to moan and bow down like a reflex.

The wind blew, and suddenly the yellow dust was blind. The horsemen of the convoy walking on the official road rolled up their sleeves and covered their mouths and noses, and the horses seemed to be disturbed by something, and began to lose their temper very unpleasantly. The team lost its normal marching order.

Both the driver and the guards around the convoy were scolding and tightening the reins at this time, looking forward to the wind and sand passing as soon as possible. In the middle of the procession, a middle-aged businessman dressed as a middle-aged businessman with a pockmarked face lifted the curtain of the car, called an accompanying escort, muttered a few words in his ear, and pointed to the abandoned pergola full of refugees not far away.

"Let's get off the road, go to the woods over there to avoid the wind, and then move forward!" The guard nodded, walked to the side of the road and spread his arms, and began beckoning the entire convoy to turn to the side.

"Hey, it's eight hundred miles of Qinchuan in Guanzhong, and now it's like this, this god is also tossing Daming......" The middle-aged businessman who got out of the car turned around and looked around, and couldn't help but shake his head slightly and sigh.

"Shopkeeper, take a little rest and leave early, and rush into Huayin County after dark, here in the wilderness, we still transport so much grain and grass, or keep more snacks." A man dressed as an elderly steward walked up to the middle-aged merchant in a few steps and reminded him quite carefully.

"Don't worry, it's still early, wait for the wind to pass before you hit the road. Also, let the guys give these folks something to eat. The middle-aged businessman's gaze stayed on the refugees, young and old, who were kneeling and begging, and while raising his hand to the steward next to him, he slowly walked towards the nearest refugee family who sold their children.

Seeing that his employer was so generous, the steward had no choice but to walk towards the end of the convoy with a few caravan men. A two-horse towed trailer lifted the lid of the carriage, revealing large and small boxes.

"My shopkeeper is kind and gives the villagers something to eat. Let's say it first, come one by one, if anyone thinks badly, don't blame us for being out of line. In these years, it is not easy to do some good deeds! ”

As soon as the steward finished speaking, dozens of sturdy guards quietly formed a formation at the side of the convoy, and several people dressed as small leaders quietly put their hands behind their backs. Seeing that it was safe to do so, the caravan men carried a food box for the caravan members.

When I opened the box, I saw that there were a pile of strange "square bricks" wrapped in oilskin paper, and occasionally a few iron cylinders could be seen. These gorgeous food products from the South Seas were only assigned to the caravans at certain times because of their difficulty in transportation and scarce stocks, but now the caravan keeper clearly intends to allocate part of it to help these refugees who are struggling to survive the end of the year.

"Thank you for your mercy!"

"Great good man, many sons and many blessings!"

I had hoped that kneeling on my knees would be enough to get one or two nests, but when such a large household arrived, refugees suddenly flocked to the caravan, both adults and children. It's kowtowing and reaching out again.

"Slow down, everybody has ...... Don't have a last meal or a next meal, save some food! ”

One package contains two pieces of compressed dry food, and each refugee gets two packets. These foods, which are the most hated in the eyes of the American soldiers in China, were divided one by one, and almost every adult and child who got their hands on them busily tore open the wrapping paper, grabbed a piece and stuffed it into their mouths.

"This is Nanyang's fragrant honey dry food, just a piece of water can be full, folks, don't eat more, otherwise you will die!"

Probably just after opening the seal, there was an enticing smell of wheat, and a refugee child grabbed the compressed dry food and stuffed it into his mouth, seemingly not caring about what was in his mouth. I just can't wait to fill this piece of dry food on the spot and immediately fill my stomach.

This action frightened the steward who had suffered a loss and hurriedly stepped forward to grab the child's arm, and the child's parents were even more exaggerated, in just a dozen seconds, a piece of compressed dry food had dried up, and he was muttering and chewing while showing an inexplicable expression.

"Mother, it's sweet!" On the other side, a little girl took a bite and smiled happily at her parents behind her, but her parents didn't say anything at this time. Just nodded while shedding tears.

In front of him, there were joyful tears in front of him, and the eyes of the middle-aged businessman were slightly red, and in the end, he couldn't stand it anymore, so he simply turned sideways and looked at the sky.

"Stationmaster Feng. None of these people are armed and pose no threat to us...... There are a lot of women and children among the refugees, so if they are all honest people, they should take them with them, right? A small escort dressed as a small leader gathered around the middle-aged businessman. Muttered softly in a voice that only the two of them could hear.

"Well, let Lao Zhang eat them first." The middle-aged businessman got accurate feedback from his subordinates and seemed very satisfied. But he frowned at the last half of the sentence, "Our Northwest Station does not have the task of organizing 6 refugees, don't think about it!" Just do what we're supposed to do! ”

When he said these words, the expression of the middle-aged businessman who was secretly called "Stationmaster Feng" was very cold, even if he couldn't bear it in his heart, he still gritted his teeth and gave a death order, so as not to make any mistakes and omissions in the sudden hearts of these young subordinates.

Taking the canned food sent by the caravan guys, Feng Liang ate it bite by bite, thinking about the details of his actions after arriving in Huayin County.

……

Feng Liang, or Feng Mazi, is one of the undercover agents of Zheng Zhilong, who inadvertently fell to Huamei with Sun Erxi and others eighteen years ago. After following Sun Erxi to the Huamei Intelligence Organization, he also married a family overseas on Huamei Pearl Island. Not only did he have several children, but he was gradually reused by the Asian Intelligence Department, and now he is the head of the Daming Northwest Intelligence Station of the Asian Intelligence Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Among all the intelligence stations active in the Daming Inner Province, the Northwest Station was the latest, established in 1638, and the main intelligence collection area was in the Sichuan-Shaanxi area. In order to hide people's eyes and ears, and also to establish a long-term and stable intelligence base, agents of the Northwest Station established a business name in Hanzhong, Shaanxi.

There are only six Huamei agents in the northwest group, and now except for Feng Liang as the team leader, the remaining few are all serving as small leaders of the business, and they usually use the identity of grain and salt traders who travel from Hanzhong to Xi'an as a cover.

Unlike the northern, southern, and southeastern stations, which are highly active, the Northwest Station has not only had the least number of personnel since its establishment, but has also been in a state of idleness. Except for the quarterly transmission of information on the change of Ming officials in Sichuan and Shaanxi or the route of the peasant army, it is basically difficult to receive any meaningful big tasks, because there is no radio equipment, and the transmission of information is extremely slow.

Soon, the Northwest Station used the funds from the event to raise a large caravan in Hanzhong, and also recruited a bookkeeper, a steward and a large number of men to escort him. The main business of the firm is the grain and salt of Sichuan and Shaanxi, but a small number of Nanyang seafood that are difficult to see in the mainland of the Ming Dynasty will always emerge all year round, and its reputation among the merchants of Sichuan and Shaanxi has gradually increased.

But this semi-vacation state ended shortly after the beginning of spring last year, and Feng Liang received a long-term follow-up task, which was to cooperate with the northern station and pay close attention to the movements of the peasant army east of Shaanxi, as well as the movement of the Ming Dynasty officers and troops in Shaanxi.

In order to obtain more valuable information, Feng Liang managed to establish some contacts with the Ming Dynasty officials in Xi'an Province on the recommendation of some Hanzhong merchants, and procured and transported grain for the army of Sun Chuanting, the governor of Shaanxi, who had returned last year.

In the process of Sun Chuanting's reorganization of the Qin army, Feng Liang took advantage of the introduction of the Shaanxi gentry, not only to supply Sun Chuanting with thousands of stone of grain. He also donated 3,000 taels of silver with a very generous gesture, which left a deep impression on Sun Chuanting, and also gained a lot of convenience for walking around Xi'an Mansion. You must know that Sun Chuanting was ordered to be the governor of Shaanxi military affairs, and Emperor Chongzhen scraped the inner palace of the palace, and gave a total of 60,000 taels of silver for military expenses.

Hearing that Sun Chuanting might lead the army east out of Tongguan this time, it was estimated that it should be a big military operation, Feng Liang personally led the team to transport a batch of grain, intending to continue to listen to some information. Don't look at the caravan that used more than 50 carts, in fact, it could only carry more than 800 stones of grain at most.

……

By the time I came back to my senses, the wind and sand had stopped. In the pergola by the forest next to the official road, a group of favored Shaanxi refugees have become more or less familiar with the caravan guards and guards, helping to collect firewood and boiling water, or simply selling their children, and the caravan has been much less kind in addition to being vigilant.

There was a puff of smoke and the sound of horses' hooves on the east side of the official road, and then a group of Ming cavalry trotted in, numbering about 20 people, a man with a tall horse and a large horse, and well-equipped. He also waved a bright red banner for a young colonel, who seemed to be the officers and soldiers of Sun Chuanting's supervision battalion, who was currently temporarily stationed in Huayin County.

"Phew!"

It seemed that he saw a large convoy resting on the side of the official road, and the Ming army colonel at the head tightened the reins of his horse. Scanning the convoy and the refugees back and forth vigilantly, his gaze especially on the bushy wagons and the food in the hands of the caravan men.

"Yo, all the military masters have worked hard! Why don't you get off the horse and drink saliva? "How could the caravan steward not understand that it was more difficult to meet the officers and soldiers than to meet the rogues in these years, so he hurriedly greeted him with a smile on his face.

"Hmm. If there is any selling point for eating and drinking, it will give you silver. Hurry up, we're still in a hurry to go to Xi'an to urge food! A smile squeezed out of the corner of Colonel Mingjun's mouth. Deliberately clenched his fists on the horse to make a polite gesture.

"A little bit of food is nothing, just enjoy it!" The bookkeeper waved his hand again and again, and walked to the side of the horse, took out a large piece of broken silver from his arms, and stuffed it directly into the hands of the Ming army colonel.

"Listening to your accent, it should be from Hanzhong Mansion, right? Here are all the children of Weinan, Shanxi, how can the Hanzhong villagers break the bank! The expression of the junior colonel of the Ming army suddenly softened, and while beckoning his subordinates to dismount, he made a friendship with the caravan steward.

"Hehe, the military master is so earful, I am from Hanzhong, and I plan to go to Huayin County to transport grain to Inspector Sun's army, no, the owner is resting there." Seeing that the other party's attitude had improved, the caravan steward also hurriedly gave up his hand, and pointed respectfully towards the carriage where Feng Liang was sitting.

"You are Lan Cheng, sending food to the army? How slowly, don't you know that the Inspector is about to transfer troops out of the customs! Colonel Ming Jun was slightly stunned, and then took a closer look at the merchant flag planted on the carriage of the caravan, and immediately became serious.

"It's the contempt, Feng Liang, the shopkeeper of Xia Lancheng, does the little general have any orders?" Feng Liang also walked over and bowed his hand without being humble or arrogant. Feng Liang has also practiced a lot of Hanzhong accent over the years, and at this time he looks like the demeanor of a big businessman in Shaanxi. The other caravan guards all returned to the carriage quietly at this time.

"This official was ordered by the Governor to go to Xi'an to urge the grain and grass, and you are so slow and delayed the important matter of the imperial court to suppress thieves, can you afford it!" The Ming Army Colonel, who had a heavy responsibility, snorted coldly when he saw the shopkeeper coming, as if he felt that the bribes he had received before were not enough.

"The road is really long, and we have to avoid mountain bandits and wanderers, no, we were planning to continue the journey, but when we saw that the people on the side of the road were in trouble, we couldn't stand it, so we temporarily delayed it." Feng Liang didn't think so, but his face was still polite, and as he spoke, he secretly stuffed another piece of silver into the other party's hand.

"That's understandable...... Anyway, when the thieves are pacified, the people's lives will be better. The Overseer is in a hurry, so let's get off quickly! Seeing that you are working so hard, the official will send a few people to protect you. Picking up the broken silver in his hand, the Ming army junior colonel didn't even glance at the refugees, but just urged the caravan to go on the road as much as possible.

The preparations were completed early, Feng Liang just made a gesture, and the entire convoy started immediately. A group of refugees who had survived another day reluctantly watched the convoy go east, and then remained in the pergola on the side of the road, waiting for the next good Samaritan to arrive.

……

At night, the west gate of Huayin County was wide open. Such a strong army and horses, carefully inspect the stalls of strict defense, but only a Hanzhong merchant from the west is very convenient, and this caravan is accompanied by the cavalry of the supervision battalion, a domineering posture so that the Ming army guarding the door does not dare to slack off.

Sun Chuanting's governor Xingyuan was temporarily set up in Huayin County, and at this time, the lights in the backyard study were dim, and Sun Chuanting was still writing his folds.

He is just over fifty years old, but Sun Chuanting's temples have turned white, and the former governor of Shaanxi, who was once strong and full of vigor, has become silent after so many ups and downs, but his eyes are still full of vitality.

“…… The thieves are cunning and cunning, and they go out to Luo to plunder Henan, and use the rabble to take Luoyang, Dengzhou, and Xiangcheng to appoint pseudo-officials, shouting and echoing, and the old camp is wandering and hiding, intending to take the hungry people as the forerunner, and then surround Kaifeng. The thieves in the large array of the official army should have spare strength, but the thieves often leave after a small defeat, and it is difficult to eradicate the roots, so it is necessary to use Henan, Shanxi, Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Huguang to encircle and intercept the officers and troops and cut off their retreat routes, so as to complete their work in one battle...... The army of Shaanxi was led by the army, and the training was not carried out in May, although there were places to help the army, but in the great famine, the land of Weinan could not harvest three buckets, and it was difficult to continue to collect grain and levy wages......"

A recital is written very slowly, and almost every paragraph passes, Sun Chuanting has to quietly stop for half a pillar of incense to think.

In the past month or so, Emperor Chongzhen has urged three times in a row to let the Qin army in Shaanxi go out of the customs to recover Luoyang, and to clear Li Zicheng, who has become a prairie fire in Henan. However, since Sun Chuanting's comeback last year, he has temporarily taken over the military affairs of Shaanxi, and his strength in his hands is really limited, especially the shortage of food and salary, and if it were not for the old connections in some places when he was the governor of Shaanxi, I am afraid that he would not even be able to form a decent army now.

"Master Inspector, the army's food and salary inventory book has been completed...... Now it is only enough for the army for two months, if you can wait for the autumn harvest, you can also raise some from Xi'an and Hanzhong, which can alleviate one or two. ”

A staff member whispered outside the study, and as soon as Sun Chuanting's brush in his hand stopped, he slowly turned around, with a trace of bitterness in his eyes.

"Don't let the saint worry anymore, the governor has made up his mind, and he will swear to leave the customs after half a month. On the matter of food and wages, we will send people to various places to urge it. This time to reorganize the Qin army, the Guanzhong father and elder support a lot, help me a lot, when the thief is returned, the governor should report to the court, do not hesitate to reward. ”

Sun Chuanting remembered the situation when he was released from prison last year, when Emperor Chongzhen summoned him alone, the agitation and bitterness in his heart were intertwined back and forth, but he still looked full of confidence.

Whether it was the anxious staff or Sun Chuanting himself, who suffered from gains and losses, they did not know that under the influence of butterfly wings, the last main official army of the Ming Empire would leave the customs more than a month earlier than in history.

No one can predict how much the deviation of the historical timeline may lead to changes in the details of history, whether large or small. (To be continued......)

PS: Well, it seems to be the wrong day. Today is Wednesday.

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