In September of the seventh year of Chongzhen, the main force of the thieves who had escaped from the carriage gorge all withdrew from Shaanxi and drove to Shanxi, Huguang and Henan respectively.

The thieves entered Henan this time, and the momentum was very huge, with hundreds of thousands of people, and there were as many as 72 battalions of 13 families, stationed between Yi, Song, Wan, and Luo, and the battalions were dozens of miles. Henan officials said: The Central Plains is a land of thousands of miles, with the big river in the north and the Chu boundary in the south, and all thieves are spreading.

Chongzhen ordered Hong Chengchou to go out of the Tong joint system to suppress the pacification, so that within six months to level the thieves, if successful, the officials concerned will award rewards, if it is not completed, set up a heavy ceremony.

At the same time, 15,000 soldiers from Jizhen drove out of Jizhen to Henan under the command of the commander-in-chief Zhang Jiamo and You Shiwei;

Zhending 5,000 pacesetters plus 2,000 Tianjin soldiers, led by the chief soldier Xu Laiqian, drove to Linlu;

There were 3,000 soldiers of Baipolezi and Luo Tusi, led by the Sichuan general Tan Daxiao, and went to Henan from Kuizhou via Yunyang.

The commander of the Beijing battalion sent Lin Jiantai to supervise the 5,000 soldiers of the Shenji battalion from Tongzhou to Henan.

The soldiers of each town were controlled by Hong Chengchou, and Yang Yuan, the general soldier of Shaanxi, and Wang Chengen, the general soldier of Yulin, each led their headquarters to the governor's camp.

Zhang Quanchang, the general soldier of Henan, Cao Wenzhao, the general soldier of Yansui, Qin Yiming, the general soldier of Kaiping, and Deng Xi, the general soldier of Chongqing, were taken by the thieves and stationed on the front line of Kaifeng and Luoyang to ensure that Kailuo was not lost.

Hearing that the imperial court sent a large army to surround it, Gao Yingxiang immediately flew to gather all the leaders to Xingyang to discuss countermeasures

Dengzhou, in the field of the re-expanded Dengzhou Army University, the flags were unfurled, and the sound of guns shook the sky.

After several rounds of volleys, the school yard was shrouded in smoke, and he couldn't stand the choking smell of gunpowder, and the Hou Sui of Tobe Shangshu, who was watching, couldn't help coughing. As soon as he coughed, the entourages who were holding back also began to cough.

The generals of Liaodong on both sides of the stage are as quiet as water, and none of them have a strange face, which has long been accustomed to it.

After coughing, Hou Xie felt refreshed, and at this time, the smoke in the field had also dispersed, and the 3,000 drill soldiers had been packed up and lined up.

There are Qin cha attachés looking sideways, the phalanx is a horizontal line, vertical is also a line, the soldiers under the felt hats are full of energy, and they can't see the color of vegetable yellow on their faces, and they can't help but sigh secretly: It is worthy of the strong army that defeated the Dongyu, and it really lives up to its reputation, and it looks more energetic than those showcases in Beijing.

I also thought that it was rumored that Shi Dayong snatched the gold and silver piles from Dongyu, I didn't believe it before, but now I am afraid that it is true, otherwise how could he raise these soldiers to be so energetic, more powerful than the other general soldiers' pro-soldiers, and I don't know how much silver he smashed in. secretly calculated how many Cheng Yi would be sent by Dengzhou when he returned to Beijing.

3,000 soldiers were lined up on the school ground, and the officers and soldiers were silent, their eyes looked at the high platform in unison, and they couldn't hear a cough, which made Hou Sui also admire, nodded secretly, and secretly said that this army is available.

Thinking that when he saw the charge of the soldier just now, he did not pour gunpowder from the gourd to fill it like the gunners of other armies, but directly tore open a small package of medicine, which was much faster than the ordinary charge, and couldn't help but ask Shi Dayong on the side curiously: "What the soldier is holding in his hand is the new type of firearm you are talking about?" ”

Shi Dayong bowed down and replied: "Lord Hui, it can't be regarded as a new style, but the last general has made a slight improvement, and the original medicine filling has been changed to a fixed gunpowder." ”

"Gunpowder?" Hou Sui was puzzled.

Dayong explained: "In the previous army, the charge of the gun could not be measured, and it was less powerful, and it was difficult to injure and kill the enemy; There are too many, but it is easy to blow up the pipe, and on the battlefield, people's hearts are uncertain, and it is difficult for the soldiers to quickly charge in a panic, which will inevitably affect the battle. Therefore, the last general will ask people to count the amount of gunpowder each time and put it into the oiled paper, and when you use it, you only need to tear the oiled paper and pour the gunpowder into the gunpowder, and you don't need to calculate the amount of the charge, so it saves time and effort, and it is much faster than the previous filling. On the battlefield, the time saved is enough to make a start. ”

"If the so-called workers want to do their jobs well, they must first sharpen their tools, and General Shi is a soldier who uses everyone, no wonder he can break through the East and increase the prestige of our country. This method will be played with the Holy Lord after the official returns to Beijing, and then it will be promoted in all armies, and the official will also ask the Holy Lord for credit for you. "Hou Sui is also a person who knows the soldiers, so he naturally knows what it means to play one more shot, and he can't wait to return to Beijing to promote this method to the Son of Heaven and the whole army.

"My lord praised it, but this customized gunpowder is not the credit of the last general, but the creation of Ma Gui under the command of the last general."

"Oh? So where is the hemp? ”

"The last general told him to go and get a new flintlock torch to help the craftsmen develop a new type of flintlock firebolt, but this will not be in the school field."

"Flint flint?"

"The last general saw that the arquebus was not easy to use in rain and fog, so he thought about whether he could improve it and use flint to fire, if the development was successful, he would not be afraid of rain and wind."

"Okay, okay." Hou Sui praised a few times, and asked Dayong a few more details about the flintlock pistol, secretly remembering it in his heart, and after returning to Beijing, he called the Ministry of Industry to develop it. With the foundation and skills of the Ministry of Industry, it will not be worse than Shi Dayong's command.

Dayong also knew what Hou Sui's intention was to ask in such detail, but he didn't hide his selfishness, but as long as he knew the way, he told the other party as much as possible, and Dayong also looked forward to the Ming army to assemble the flintlock pistol as soon as possible, so it was another contribution to Daming. However, thinking of the virtue of the Ministry of Industry, I don't hope to improve to what extent, and if I can not blow up, the masters of the Ministry of Industry are worthy of the country.

After Hou Sui asked a few more words, Fang pointed to the gunners on the school field and asked Dayong: "How many of your subordinates do you have?" ”

"Twenty thousand." Dayong said very calmly and did not hide anything.

"Twenty thousand?!" Hearing this number, Hou Sui gasped, and the attachés behind him were also taken aback.

"Dengzhou is barren, I don't know how you can raise so many soldiers and horses?" Hou Sui's brows furrowed slightly, and after speaking, he said meaningfully, "As far as this official knows, the imperial court has not given you Shi Dayong's military salary in the past two years, is it really as rumored, you Shi Dayong made a fortune in Dongyu, hehe." "It's not natural to laugh.

In the laughter, the eyes of all the Qin Attachés lit up, and the more they looked at Shi Dayong's mutilated face, the more they liked it, and there was still a little disgust.

Da Yong also smiled, and then said: "Don't hide it, the last general broke the Dongyu Shenyang City the year before last, but he got some money, but in the past two years, he has used it to raise the army, and there is not much left. To tell the truth, the last general once wanted to ask the court for salary, but he heard that in order to save money and supply military expenses, the emperor not only cut the cost of the inner court, but also reduced his own meals by half, and he could only eat one meat in two days. The emperor is so difficult, where can the last general bear to reach out to the emperor to ask for money. We are still self-reliant to repay our father. ”

"What a self-reliant, if I am a Ming general, everyone is like you to be brave, why worry about the world."

Hou Sui originally wanted to say that even the military salary was paid by you Shi Dayong, is this Liaodong Army still the army of the Ming Dynasty, but this is something that cannot be said in any way.

"But I don't know when General Shi will set off to level the thief?" After talking for a long time, Hou Sui finally got down to business, which was also the purpose of his coming to Dengzhou this time.

Dayong hesitated for a moment and said, "It will take some time. ”

"The thieves in the Central Plains are in turmoil, the documents urged by the military department are one after another, the so-called military situation is urgent, and General Shi can't delay the big thing. When the official came, he promised the emperor that you don't want to disappoint the emperor. Hou Sui did not explicitly urge Dayong, but in and out of his words, he wanted Shi Dayong to send troops immediately.

"The non-final general is unwilling to leave immediately, but the army is really unable to do without food." Dayong sighed, "Do you want the last general to be a thief before he exterminates the thief?" ”

The army has not moved, the grain and grass go first, Hou Sui how the importance of grain and grass to an army, he also sighed at the moment, and said: "The matter of grain and grass, this official will try to raise some for you." ”

"Thank you, sir." Dayong bowed very solemnly and saluted Hou Sui.

"If the food and grass are ready, but I don't know when you will be able to send troops?"

"At least half a month."

"How many troops can you transfer?"

"Thirty thousand horses."

"Thirty thousand?" Hou Sui was stunned again, but it was much weaker than when he heard about the 20,000 soldiers before, he groaned slightly, nodded and said: "The day the soldiers and horses set off is the time when the court will repay you for your loyalty." ”

"The last general will not dare to ask the court for anything in return, but he will ask the court to be fair to me, and the princes in power will no longer doubt my sincerity."

"The court won't fail you."

"The last general has one more request, and I ask you to agree."

"What?"

"Dongjiang General Shen detained several boats of the last general's sailor, and I want to ask the adults to leave a letter to Shen General Soldier to let him go."

"This is a trivial matter, and the official will leave the book for you later."

Hou Sui agreed, but he was puzzled, how did Shen Shikui of Dongjiang have a conflict with Shi Dayong? But this matter needs to be investigated

Xingyang has the name of "the eastern capital belt, the throat of Sanqin", Songshan is in the south, the mountain is across its north, the east embraces the city of Beijing and Xiangcheng, and the west crosses the tiger prison pass, which has always been the place where the soldiers must fight.

Just after October, the Dahai Temple in the east of Xingyang City is very lively, two huge red lanterns are hung in front of the temple gate, and two rows of colorful flags are neatly planted on both sides of the road leading to the Daxiong Treasure Hall, and hunting sounds from time to time in the cold wind.

In front of the Buddha statue in the main hall, there is a large red sandalwood table, and thirteen Taishi chairs are placed around the table. Li Zicheng took Li Guo, Gu Junen and dozens of other personal soldiers to be busy, and tonight the leaders of the thirteen families will gather in the temple to discuss the battle plan. As soon as the sky was dark, the soldiers outside the door came to report that the eighth king Zhang Xianzhong had arrived, Li Zicheng hurriedly greeted him, Zhang Xianzhong hugged his fists and asked: "Brother Zicheng, what good meal did you prepare for your brother?" ”

Li Zicheng led Zhang Xianzhong into the main hall and beckoned him to sit down by the big brazier, before replying: "The younger brother knows that the elder brother is a master who drinks wine and eats meat in a big bowl, and he is not used to eating such fine meals as the eunuchs' houses, so he has prepared dozens of jars of spirits, and the two whole pigs have already been killed and steamed under the stove!" He stopped talking and inhaled, "There is already some fragrance, it must be out of the pot." ”

"Tonight, the big bosses gathered, if it was the usual wine and dinner, my brother would pull his legs and leave." Zhang Xianzhong stroked his dense beard, and Ha Lu laughed.

Li Zicheng took a step forward, stretched out his hand to lift the red sandalwood table curtain, there were many wine jars lined up under the table, touched the red paper sticks on the altar, and said with a smile: "My brother is a distinguished guest, how dare my younger brother treat him with ordinary soju?" This is the famous Shangdong Spring in Xingyang, and the aroma of wine is full of mud. ”

"Upper Cave Spring? I hadn't really heard of it, let alone tasted it. ”

"This is a famous wine since ancient times!" Gu Junen saw that Zhang Xianzhong's words seemed to be a little unhappy, and explained: "This wine has been recorded in the "National History Supplement" written by the Tang Dynasty as early as the Tang Dynasty. From the first year of Tang Xuanzong to the first year of Mu Zong's Changqing, it has always been the work of the imperial court. This wine is brewed from the Three Cave Village, but only the Upper Cave Village is considered a good wine......"

"Alright, alright!" Zhang Xianzhong shouted: "I can't read a few baskets of big words, I hear people drop their bookbags and their heads are big, whether the wine is good or not, you can know the Tao if you taste it, why be so noisy?" He faintly smelled a faint aroma of wine, and the wine worm in his stomach moved, but he asked, "It's strange!" These days, I ordered people to look for wine everywhere, and I have also been to Shangdong Village, why haven't I found it? ”

Li Zicheng said: "The owner of the winery in Shangdong Village fled long before we came. Later, I couldn't rest assured that those old wine cellars were approaching, and when I ran back, I saw that Ma Qiu, the person who broke into the king, did not commit any crimes, so I dared to reopen to do business. ”

As the two were talking, Gao Yingxiang strode in, and when he saw Zhang Xianzhong, he smiled and said, "You came early, you smell the wine!" ”

"Look at what my brother said! I want to have a good year with my brother! Zhang Xianzhong stood up and crossed his hands and clasped his fists in salute.

"Sit down and cook the fire." Gao Yingxiang nodded with a smile,

Li Zicheng heard a noise in the courtyard, and knew that many leaders had come and hurriedly greeted him. Sure enough, Lao Hui Ma Shouying, Ge Li Yan He Yilong, Zuo Jin Wang He Jin, Cao Cao Luo Rucai, Reincarnated King Xu Chang, Shot the Sky Li Wanqing, Mixed 100,000 Ma Jinzhong, Guotian Star Hui Dengxiang, Sweeping King Zhang Yichuan, Breaking into the Sky Liu Guoneng, and Nine Dragons Guo Dacheng entered the temple gate one after another.

Li Zicheng greeted and led everyone into the main hall, and when everyone saw Gao Yingxiang, they hugged their fists and saluted. Gao Yingxiang beckoned everyone to sit down around the table, and the dishes came up immediately, without waiting for the soldiers to move the wine and put the wine bowl, Zhang Xianzhong stretched out his hand and proposed a jar of wine.

He looked around at everyone and smiled, "I'll taste it first." He poured a bowl full of it, poured it into his throat, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and praised: "The fruit is a good wine!" ”

Gao Yingxiang gave him a boost of pride, got up with the wine and said: "I have been waiting for my brothers to have an incident for six or seven years, and I have never been born in peace since I fought in Sanqin. ”

Everyone did it together, sat down to eat vegetables, and Zhang Xianzhong took the pork leg from the clay basin and chewed it. Gao Yingxiang paused for a moment, and suddenly sighed: "In the last year of the Apocalypse, heroes rose up, raised the banner of righteousness, killed corrupt officials, and attacked the city, what a momentum!" For more than ten years now, most of the 36th battalion of that year has been scattered, and only a few of us are left, but they have driven people out of their hometown in Shaanxi......