Chapter 6, the twenty-seven moments of Chongzhen's four years (6)

The sixth moment: an incredible savior

November of the fourth year of Chongzhen, Liaodong Peninsula, Lushun

The howling cold wind swept through the turbid waves, and the soldiers and civilians of Dongjiang Town, whose faces were withered, touched their shriveled bellies and curled up numbly in the leaky shacks.

In the second year of Chongzhen, in order to completely disintegrate the combat effectiveness of Dongjiang Town, so that when Huang Taiji led the elite soldiers of the Eight Banners into Beijing, the hinterland of Liaodong could be stable and worry-free, and the grand cause of destroying the Ming Dynasty was realized in one fell swoop. It is not allowed to sell one meter and one fish with the Dongjiang River. In the face of Governor Yuan's repeated strict orders, the state capitals were suddenly facing a great enemy, all ships that were forbidden to go to sea would be confiscated of all their goods, and merchants who dared to transport grain and cloth to Dongjiang Town would be thrown into prison.

Soon, the terrible famine quickly spread throughout Dongjiang Town, and thousands of soldiers and civilians starved to death...... Although after killing Mao Wenlong, Yuan Chonghuan, in order to prevent going too far and arousing the attacks of the government and the opposition, could not continue to cover Huang Taiji's entry into the pass to destroy the Ming, and ordered the restoration of the food supply to Dongjiang Town. But just a few months later, the Eight Banners broke through and ravaged Gyeonggi, plundering all the prefectures and counties around Beijing. After the Qinwang army was defeated, it became bandits and wreaked havoc everywhere, and even the Guanning army once rebelled, thus turning all parts of Hebei into a big purgatory where chaos was rampant. Not to mention that Jiannu went and came, once again breaking through the front line of Xuanda and Shanxi, creating countless hungry people, routs and rogues along the way, and it was not until the third year of Chongzhen that it was temporarily stopped...... In such a mess in the rear, where can the imperial court allocate how much grain to Dongjiang Town?

As a result, even after Mao Wenlong's death, people in Dongjiang Town continued to starve to death, and food was always very scarce.

In addition, Huang Long, the new Dongjiang commander-in-chief who was appointed by Yuan Chonghuan and parachuted, was unable to suppress Mao Wenlong's old troops in Dongjiang Town, and the internal strife in Dongjiang Town soon became more and more intense, and a series of famous generals such as Chen Jisheng were killed one after another.

By the fourth year of Chongzhen, even the soldiers of the Dongjiang General Army stationed on Phi Island were because of Huanglong's harsh treatment - they were driven by hunger and cold to dig ginseng and resell it for profit, and there was a large-scale mutiny, although this mutiny was quickly quelled because of the arrival of the imperial court and the internal strife caused by the mutiny, but the unlucky Huanglong was also kidnapped in the mutiny, and let the rebels cut off their noses and ears...... As a result, even after the mutiny on Phi Dao subsided, the general soldiers of Huanglong, who had become "remnants", did not dare to continue to stay in Phi Dao, but moved to Lushun with torches.

But no matter what, for most of the soldiers and civilians in Dongjiang Town who did not starve to death or died of internal strife, Chongzhen's three years were still half-starved and half-fed, and Chongzhen could still make do in the first half of the fourth year, but in the second half of Chongzhen's fourth year, the battle of the Daling River broke out on an astonishing scale, attracting all the attention of Beijing. Due to the destructive power of the original plane Jiannu to Gyeonggi was far worse than that of the same period in history, the financial and material resources of the Beijing court were even more embarrassed, and they could only tilt the little resources they had to the battlefield in western Liao...... As a result, Dongjiang Town became a stepmother's mother, and once again fell into a food shortage crisis

——Dongjiang Town, which was in the fourth year of Chongzhen, although it was not as grand as when Marshal Mao Wenlong was still alive in the seventh year of the Apocalypse and the first year of Chongzhen, there were still about 30,000 soldiers, distributed in Juehua, Zhenjiang, Hengshan, Jinzhou, Shepu, Seri Island, Zhangziliu Island, Chengdao, Ludao, Changshan Island, Xiaochangshan Island, Wangjia Island, Mikuan Fort and other hundreds of castles, cities, ports and islands. In addition, there are also the Liao people on the island, the relatives of officers and soldiers, and the Liao people who have fled, plus the Tieshan "refugee camp" set up in the territory of Korea, the total number of Liao people under the jurisdiction of the whole army town is not less than 200,000 people.

Although the military and civilians of Dongjiang Town have not tried to cultivate fields, the most fertile Liaohe Plain in eastern Liaodong has been taken away by the Tatars, and most of the existing territory in Dongjiang Town is barren islands, and even in the modern world, agricultural harvests are very tragic. Coupled with the harsh weather of the current Xiaoice and river disasters around the world, it is a miracle to be able to harvest a little, and it is normal for the grain to be harvested...... Therefore, Dongjiang Town can only count on transporting grain from the rear.

As a result, in the second half of the fourth year of Chongzhen, the grain ships from Dengzhou and Tianjin in Shandong became scarce and scarce - even if the local government could still afford to form a grain fleet, they were intercepted by the rice buckets of the Guan Ning army who could only rebel and not fight. And Dongjiang Town itself does not have much hoarding, the rations of the soldiers are not enough to eat, coupled with the layers of deductions of the first general, those military households and Liao people who were originally starved half to death and barely survived, the days are naturally more difficult, since the autumn, the islands of Liaodong have starved to death countless people for 6 consecutive years, and the scene of the entire Dongjiang Town has once again become miserable.

If Marshal Mao Wenlong was still there, the Dongjiang Army might still be able to rise up and fight for Jiannu, trying to snatch food from the enemy's hands to survive the difficulties. However, in view of the current situation in which the hearts of the Dongjiang generals are scattered, the internal strife continues, and the fact that many people have secretly colluded with Jiannu, it is very difficult for the Dongjiang army to maintain itself, so it is natural that they can only wait for death in the face of famine...... Therefore, Huang Taiji was able to devote all his troops to the battlefield of Dalinghe, without worrying that the hinterland of Shengjing and Liaoyang would be taken advantage of by the Dongjiang army to take advantage of the situation and make a black tiger dig out his heart.

But just when hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians in Dongjiang Town were on the verge of starvation, and even if they wanted to sell themselves into slavery, no one would come to collect them, the situation changed......

“…… Toot Toot - "

An unusually loud whistle broke the silence of the sea at Lushunkou. The soldiers and civilians of Dongjiang Town, who were dizzy with hunger on the beach and on the cliff at Lushunkou, turned their heads in confusion, and then they were frightened by the behemoth that appeared on the sea, and their thoughts were blank......

Ship

What a big ship

How could there be such a big ship?

And it's actually an iron ship

The so-called "big warships" of the Ming Sailor are as ridiculous as toys compared to the huge iron ship in front of them.

“… Oh my mother, this ship is at least a few thousand...... Ah, no, at least tens of thousands."

Soldiers and civilians alike had all gathered on the beach and on the hills, all staring dumbfounded, looking at the big ship with stupid faces, after all, they had never seen such a big ship in their lives, and they had never even heard of it. It wasn't until the huge iron ship slowly sailed into the bay and the huge bow gradually opened that they scattered and fled with shouts of "Mom", "The Lord of the Land", and "The Monster Ship is coming".

The next moment, the villages and towns on the shore were in chaos in an instant, the Ming army and the people were all running around in a noisy manner, the houses were closed, the doors were closed to death, and beacon fires were lit on several pillboxes, looking like chickens flying and dogs jumping, like ants on a hot pot.

Mao Shisan, who was wearing a Russian-style military coat, stood on the bridge of the No. 1 boarding 6 ship, holding a telescope borrowed from a certain "chief", and carefully looked at the familiar scenes on the shore: the "human market" by the harbor like a livestock pen, the dead trees stripped of their bark in the wilderness, the dead babies abandoned in the barren grass on the roadside, the hungry people who were so hungry that they couldn't run, and the so-called "road corpses" that were eaten by wild dogs and hungry people...... I couldn't help but burst into tears for a while.

“…… It's really bitter folks, but it doesn't matter, wait for the long boat, you just wait to enjoy the blessings. He muttered silently in his mind.

At this time last year, Mao Shisan, like these people on the shore who were struggling on the death line, was also an ordinary military child in Dongjiang Town, who originally lived in Lushun, and later moved to Zhenjiang Fort on the bank of the Yalu River with his adoptive father. I remember that day he was so hungry, so he took advantage of the warmer afternoon to sneak to the beach, to see if he could dig out a few shells under the ice ballast-covered sand, and dig up a few crab screws or something to fill his stomach - since the autumn of Chongzhen's third year, he had not eaten decent food for more than two months.

Mao Thirteen's father and mother were all lost in the Battle of Lushun during the Apocalypse, and finally a father's fellow townsman adopted him. The two of them depend on each other for their lives, although they have survived a few difficulties and barely survived, but unfortunately life is still extremely difficult - it is said that it is a military household, but they have no land, and it is not easy to grow crops in the fields of Liaodong. But since Mao Shuai was killed by Yuan Lao, the military households in Dongjiang have become even more unbearable, and the food that goes down is given priority to the families of the generals, and those military households have almost nothing to receive. Although Zhenjiang Fort is close to the Yalu River, you can still catch some small fish and shrimp from time to time to fight tooth sacrifices, but all kinds of food are also very nervous, especially when you go to the Yalu River to fish, you will also have conflicts with North Korean people from time to time - the Dongjiang Army was not treated by the North Korean side. The wild vegetables around Zhenjiang Fort are basically picked up, but fortunately, there are patches of forests not far from the inner 6 here, so it is not a problem to burn a fire to keep warm, otherwise this day will really not be able to live.

I remember that it was snowing every day in those days, and I should have tried to stay in the shed to rest and recuperate, but Mao Shishi had no choice - there was nothing to eat at home, and for this young man who had just become an adult, the feeling of sour water in his stomach was really indescribably painful.

Even if he wanted to find a neighbor who was in the same difficulty to borrow food, it was impossible, and now in Dongjiang Town, there is no longer the situation when Mao Wenlong was still there, and everyone was bent on revenge against Jiannu. Except for a little friendship that is becoming more and more indifferent, the others have long been unable to care about anyone.

Although Mao Thirteen's stepfather was sent on an errand the day before, the reward may not be there, but he can finally mix a mouthful of rice to eat, and he may be able to bring some leftovers when he comes back tomorrow. But Mao Thirteen was already dizzy from hunger, and he really couldn't wait for tomorrow. Against the howling cold wind, he dragged his feet to the shore, and there was no life in sight on the icy shore. Not to mention anything that can be eaten. He felt that he had hallucinated that a huge iron ship had stopped in the bay not far away...... Then, Mao Thirteen's eyes fell down as soon as he sparked, and then he didn't know anything.

When Mao 13 woke up again, he was already lying in the cabin of the No. 1 board 6 ship, and was happy to find that he was not dead, but was rescued by a group of strange short people on the big iron ship - according to a North Korean who was on the boat earlier than him and could speak a few words of Chinese, what "long" appeared on the beach and fainted, it was snowing at that time, if it weren't for his kindness, he would have frozen to death on the beach.

Then, Mao Shisan drank hot rice porridge and changed into new clothes, so he stayed on this big ship with peace of mind, and followed these short-headed "long" to their old nest "Vladivostok" to work as laborers - in the short "long" here can temporarily mix food and clothing, and when you go back to Zhenjiang Fort, you can only starve and freeze, maybe even your life will be frozen and starved, how to choose is naturally self-evident.

Next, Mao Thirteen, a half-grown boy, followed those weird short "long" and experienced a fantasy journey that seemed like a dream to him, and saw a lot of unbelievable things: a big iron ship that could fly like a fly without hanging sails or oars, a strange "military master" with a short head and wearing green clothes, a terrible artillery with an amazing power that could erode miles in one shot, and a city called "Vladivostok", the "Far Eastern Company" that ruled that city, and the small black box (walkie-talkie) that could speak in the air, An iron cart that can walk without a cow or a horse, and a big iron bird that flies in the sky...... But what impressed Mao Shisan, a person who has lived in hunger since childhood, was the abundant food there

- Rice and white noodles that are full at every meal, fish and meat that must be eaten every day, corn, potatoes and sweet potatoes that have never been seen before, refined salt, sauces and oily meat in meals are also full, and there are even spices in meat dishes...... Every time he walked into the cafeteria, Mao Shisan silently thanked God in his heart for allowing him to escape from the "hell" of Dongjiang Town and come to the "paradise" of Vladivostok. At the same time, I am even more grateful to all the good people of the Far Eastern Company, who have freed themselves from the sea of suffering like a dream, no longer need to suffer from hunger and hardship, and only need to work every day to eat and drink enough, and there are very strange but warm clothes to put on, and the house I live in is much stronger than the shack in Dongjiang Town. What's even worse is that if you have made meritorious contributions, the Far East Company, according to Mao Shisan's understanding, is a surprisingly large business, and will even give you a woman as a wife

Well, although it is estimated that there will be few women in the Ming Kingdom, usually they can only get Japanese women and Korean women, and they may even be Tartar women, but where are they qualified to pay attention to so many poor military households? If you can have a woman anywhere to pass on your ancestry, you should burn high incense

Therefore, in order to be able to do his best to make meritorious contributions to women and inherit the lineage, Mao Shisan patted his chest and claimed that he had many acquaintances in Lushun and Zhenjiang Fort, and rushed to take over the job of being a guide and recruiting soldiers and civilians in Dongjiang Town, without the slightest sense of shame of being a leading party - taking those half-starved Dongjiang Town villagers to Vladivostok to eat and dress warmly, how can it be regarded as a great good deed, it is obviously very glorious, but what is there to be ashamed of?

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To get back to the point, by the time the No. 1 board the 6th ship had surveyed the route and completed the beaching, the Dongjiang military households wandering outside Lushun City had already fled with their legs, some fled into the city, some hid in the mountains, and the gate of Lushun City was also closed. Crowds of Dongjiang soldiers and civilians trembled with swords and guns, standing at the head of the city with fear and amazement, squinting at the huge ship in the harbor that was far beyond the limits of their imagination.

- Accompanied by the shocking "Soviet March" played on the loudspeaker, a group of heavily armed soldiers rushed to the beach south of Arthur, and then quickly assembled to establish a beachhead. Among them are the short Japanese sword-drawing team, as well as the slightly taller Koreans and the Liao people who were "naturalized" last year, as well as the warriors of the "Shengjurchen" tribe around Vladivostok...... However, at this time they were all dressed in almost the same modern military uniforms, shaved the same short, and held similar rifles, and from a distance, there was no particularly significant difference.

Next, the Dongjiang soldiers and civilians who were lying nervously at the head of Lushun City were surprised to see a small man wearing a dark green coat and a short shave, holding a horn in his hand, slowly walking towards the direction of the city wall, repeating the following words in a Liaodong accent: "...... Brothers in Dongjiang Town, my name is Mao 13, I used to stay in Zhenjiang Fort, some of you must know me, last year I and some other Dongjiang brothers who couldn't live a good life, together with the Far East Company in Vladivostok, originally just hungry and wanted to eat, I didn't expect the treatment of being a soldier in the Far East Company is really good, there are rice and white flour buns to eat every day, and I can often eat meat. When I thought of my big fish and meat every day, but my fellow countrymen were suffering in Lushun, I felt uncomfortable, so I told the chief of the company about the suffering of Dongjiang's fathers and elders with a few brothers, hoping that the chief could solve the pain of Dongjiang's fathers. The chief benevolence of Vladivostok sent a big ship to pick you up without saying a word, and brought you delicious food. I hope everyone has a full meal, and then you can sign up for the boat, and then we will eat fragrant and spicy ...... together."

After shouting like this for a while, Mao Shisan felt a little tired, so he threw the horn to a former Dongjiang Town soldier named Zhang Yu and asked him to continue shouting...... After the two took turns shouting for a quarter of an hour, although there was still no movement on the head of Lushun City for the time being, in the wilderness and woods outside the city, dozens of Dongjiang military households that had not had time to retreat into Lushun City were drilled out, and they slowly approached the beach hesitantly.

Hearing the sound, Mao 13 turned his head to look at it, and suddenly saw a familiar figure, and was immediately stunned: "...... Daddy"

“… You're Little Thirteen, I can't imagine that you didn't die, I was sad for a few months last year."

Mao Fugui, who was covered in rags, trembled with a spear, opened his eyes wide for a while, and finally cheered, and the old tears hugged him forward, and took Mao Shisan, who had become a lot burly and strong, into his arms...... After rejoicing for a long time, Mao Fugui noticed Mao Thirteen's strange dress and short hair, "...... Huh? You're dressed like this...... And this one...... Could it be ......?"

“…… Yes, Dad, I was rescued from the sea by the captains' boat that day, and I joined the Far East Company in Vladivostok, and now I have food and clothing, and my life is much better than in the past. Mao 13 said very generously and frankly, "...... By the way, Dad, why didn't you stay in Zhenjiang Fort, but you came here? ”

“…… Alas, it wasn't the sins of Huanglong Huang General Soldier, who refused to stay on Phi Dao, and insisted on moving Xingyuan to Lushun's side, and thought that there was no decent good house in Lushun, so he ordered to build a more magnificent general soldier's yamen, and recruited us people from Zhenjiang Fort to serve in labor, chiseled stones for him, cut trees, burned lime, and sifted sand, but he didn't even have a full meal...... mentioning this, Mao Fugui sighed and complained naggingly, "...... By the way, Little Thirteen, what kind of road are these short-haired pirates you brought today? He asked, a little nervously.

“…… Dad, don't be afraid, the Changren and righteous of the Far Eastern Company are incomparable, and there is nothing to say about treating his subordinates, you will take the villagers to come over this time, and go to Vladivostok with your son to live a good life" Mao 13 said to his adoptive father with a smile, and at the same time took it out on his body: "Oh, I didn't expect that Dad, you were here, you didn't bring anything good on you, only a pack of compressed cakes with a long reward, Dad, you take it first and taste it, the taste is good, the key is to be hungry...... Eh, isn't that the uncle of the Li family? And the second uncle of the Zhao family, come and sit down, and divide the cake into the ......"

Next, Mao 13 asked Zhang Yu to shout with a loudspeaker, and he found a flat place, pulled the former acquaintances who came to Lushun with his father to sit in a circle, and talked about his adventures of "going to heaven" with great interest in the past year, blowing the living standard of Vladivostok to the sky: the rice and white noodles are white, there is fish and meat every day, and the clothes and shoes are still women, so that the bitter Dongjiang military households are dumbfounded.

For these words in Mao Shisan's mouth, most of the people around him didn't believe it, in this era of famine and suffering, even the grassroots soldiers can eat rice every day is too amazing, as for women...... That's even the treatment that the general's family doesn't have

However, after all, there are many acquaintances of Mao Shisan, so some people think that Mao Shisan may have told part of the truth, but he just happened to meet a good time when "pirates made a big deal and rewarded the three armies". But since Mao Wenlong's death, Dongjiang Town has not won a decent battle for a long time, and the Dongjiang soldiers and civilians have not had a full meal for a long time.

But even so, compared with Dongjiang Town, which is now waiting to die of hunger and cold, Vladivostok in Mao Shisan's mouth is still a good place to go - it can be seen from Mao Shisan's current appearance of being sturdy, red-faced, and well-dressed, even if the treatment of the Far East Company is not as exaggerated as he said, at least the food and clothing are definitely not bad...... Some of the Dongjiang military households, who were active or dissatisfied with the new general soldier Huang Long, soon had the idea of "joining the Ming Lord", and they cautiously inquired about the news from Mao Shisan, considering whether to get on the ship of these short pirates.

Mao Fugui didn't have any superfluous thoughts, unlike others, he had no choice from the beginning - so many people saw their adopted son standing with the pirates, if he dared to go back to Lushun City again, he was afraid that he would be beheaded as a spy by Shangguan immediately

Therefore, even if he is reluctant at the moment, he can only follow these pirates...... Anyway, the Liaodong military household has had enough of the hard life of having a meal but not a meal, and Mao Fugui has already had enough. And Xiao Thirteen is also a filial piety, even if it is a pit, no one will pit himself as a father

“…… Little Thirteen, it seems that from now on, we are afraid that the two of us will have to stir the horse spoon in a pot again, how do those short-haired kings plan to arrange us, and what are the particularities and taboos, you have to talk to your father well...... "Looking at Mao Thirteen, who has become much taller and stronger now, but also seems to have become a lot stranger, Mao Fugui scratched his head and sighed, and said with a complicated look in his eyes.

“…… Dad, don't worry, those who are always very talkative, you just wait to enjoy the blessings" Mao 13 comforted, "...... Of course, before joining the house, the 'purification, that level is still inevitable, everyone has to take a bath first, and in addition, they have to shave their heads, just ......like my son and me."

“…… What the? Do you really want to shave when you join the house? Same as Tartar? As soon as he heard this, Mao Fugui was a little resistant.

“…… It's shaved like a monk, not an ugly pigtail like Liujiannu. Besides, shaving the head is not cutting off the head, and the head can grow after shaving. It is said that if you stay for a long time, you will get miasma and be prone to plague. And once the head is injured, it is not easy to diagnose and treat......" Mao 13 hurriedly explained.

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At the same time, on the beach on the other side, the soldiers of Deng 6 were already lined up in a loose ring of warning rings with loaded guns. In the middle of the cordon, the last disembarking laborers quickly put together twenty sets of simple seats using the wooden planks and iron feet that had been unloaded from the ship. Each set of seats consists of a long table and two benches, which can accommodate 10 people, and the entire open-air camp can accommodate 200 people at a time. On the left and right sides of the dining table, the five cauldrons set up by the cooking class have already boiled fragrant batter, and the ten large bamboo baskets next to them are full of steamed buns and steamed buns.

Tempted by the smell of food, a few hungry and panicked Dongjiang military households trembled out of the bushes and rocks, accompanied by smiling faces to beg for food, and soon got their wish. With their example, other Dongjiang military households hiding in the wilderness soon appeared one after another, swarming to snatch those fragrant buns and steamed buns, and then happily feasted. Mao 13 was pointing and talking to his acquaintances, and when he looked back, he saw that the meal was already open, and he couldn't care about it anymore, so he hurriedly dragged his adoptive father Mao Fugui over to eat, followed by a large group of hungry ghosts with green eyes, and after a while, even the Dongjiang military households guarding the city wall in Lushun looked greedy, and they couldn't stand it when they touched their deflated stomachs, so they 6 continued to climb the rope and go down the city, and ran to eat white food, so that the number of "diners" in this "beach open-air restaurant" quickly swelled to nearly 1,000 people. Most people can't find a seat at all, so they can only squat and gobble up a random spot on the beach......

Of course, although there are many people who come to eat, not all the diners plan to get on the boat and follow these "short pirates", in fact, a considerable number of people just run over in the spirit of "eating white food", planning to run back to Arthur City under the pretext of "going home to clean up" or "taking relatives out of the city" after eating enough - after all, these short pirates are so strange that people feel a little bottomless in their hearts.

However, there were also many Dongjiang military households who were half starving to death, who had already felt hopeless about their future and fate, and really did not want to continue to suffer in Dongjiang Town.

However, at this time, the gate of Lushun City suddenly opened, and a tall and strong man who looked like an officer rushed out on a war horse, and slowly approached the beach with more than a dozen soldiers, and scolded loudly, trying to drive back the Dongjiang military households who were eating: "Wait for these lowly embryos, all of them will be given to me to go back to the city, Huang Shuai has an order, no one is allowed to beg for food in the thief, and those who violate the order will be punished with 'bandits, and they will be killed"

When the Dongjiang military households on the beach heard this, they couldn't help but hesitate for a while. But one of the traverser soldiers immediately raised his rifle and struck it with a "bang", knocking over the officer's horse, causing the officer, who had been arrogant a moment before, to slam into the mud.

“…… Don't hurry up, Uncle Ben is in a good mood today, spare your life, if you don't get out quickly, the next shot will blow your dog's head"

“…… Hum Er and these pirates are not arrogant and act so publicly, aren't you afraid that I will fight against them tomorrow? ”

Although he said it well, the officer was now very skewed, and the big iron ship in the harbor of Lushunkou and the few black cannons that had just been unloaded from the ship were still very bluffing, not to mention the muskets that the other party had fired so accurately.

Therefore, after the cruel remarks, the officer hurriedly got up from the ground, beat and scolded a few military households who were caught on the way and wanted to come to eat, and left, as for those military households who were eating and even had eaten enough and began to listen to the short pirates' "rules", they did not dare to run over and arrest them.

While the men and horses of both sides were making noise at this "food stall" outside Arthur City, the soldiers and laborers of the Far Eastern Company had already surveyed the terrain on the beach near the Golden Mountain and began to build improvised trestle bridges and temporary camps. Subsequently, another large freighter followed, unloading batches of supplies from the ship, and those military families who had just surrendered were also driven over to help, greatly speeding up the construction of the camp.

That night, the general army of Huanglong, who did not dare to send a sailor to confront the big iron ship head-on, finally had a trace of luck and let his family organize a night attack from the ground, trying to snatch the mountains of grain on the beach and the guns in the hands of the "short-haired pirates", but they were immediately exposed in front of the scouts equipped with infrared night vision devices, and then they were beaten under the machine-gun strafing and returned defeated, losing hundreds of people in vain.

Seeing the powerful guns of the short pirates, Huang Long, who failed to steal the camp, had no choice but to order the cage city to defend it. And after this defeat, the morale of the Lushun Ming army also dropped, and no one was willing to let them go out of the city to die. What's even worse is that those short pirates continued to set up flowing water mats under the city, trying to lure the soldiers to surrender with food, so in the next two days, hundreds of people sneaked out of the city by night.

Fortunately, although Huanglong, the chief soldier, was greedy and tyrannical, he was not incompetent, and seeing that the army's morale was becoming more and more unstable, he quickly and quietly ordered a few pro-soldiers to do so. As a result, all kinds of strange rumors about the short pirates outside the city quickly spread in Lushun City:

“…… That group of pirates likes to take captives as slaves, and once they are caught, they will be transported to the pirates' lair tens of thousands of miles away. Even if you don't die on the road, you will never be able to return to the homeland of the Ming Dynasty. Not only yourself, but even if you have a future in the future, you will also give birth to a man as a slave and a girl as a prostitute, and it is better to die from generation to generation. What the? People say Vladivostok is on the edge of North Korea? That must be nonsense."

“…… I heard that if we outsiders want to join those pirates, we have to 'clean words, what do you mean' clean words, understand? It is to purify the words between your two legs, and from now on when you become a eunuch, you will not be able to leave your whole body when you die, and you will not be able to see your ancestors and ancestors......"

“…… Have you ever known that these pirates drive big iron boats, and the firearms in their hands are so sharp, where in the world can't they go? But why do you want to come to our Lushun, a place where birds don't? Because these pirates did not come to Lushun for money, but to arrest people. They will do evil things, and after catching people, they always like to dig people's hearts and go back to boil them into oil, and light lamps at night to shine them all over the ground. The human heart is always greedy for money, so when it shines on the place where the treasure is buried, the fire bends down. They immediately dug it up and took the treasure, and it was this magic that the pirates relied on to make their home......"

With the rapid spread of these deliberately concocted terrifying rumors in the city, coupled with the fact that in the past two days, the Huanglong general soldiers learned from the pain, gritted their teeth, and took out the grain stored by their embezzlement over the years, so that the soldiers and civilians in the city suddenly opened their bellies to eat, and the military morale in Lushun City finally barely stabilized - although the quality of the food provided by Huanglong is still not as good as the "pirate rice" on the beach, but it is better to be able to eat with an open belly, in this case, the flowing water seats placed by the "short-haired bandits" are temporarily unattractive to the Lushun military households. Although everyone in the city of Lushun knows that the current good days of eating with an open belly will not last long, who can guarantee that after joining those pirates, he will really be able to "eat big fish and meat" every day?

After all, with the tragic environment of natural disasters and military disasters at the end of the Ming Dynasty, even the vast majority of small and medium-sized landlords cannot guarantee that they will have white rice and meat to eat every day

Therefore, in the eyes of the Dongjiang military households in Lushun City, the "good life" promised by the "short-haired pirates" is really good, too illusory and unreal, and it is no problem to have the courage to eat a "overlord meal", but it is difficult for them to make up their minds to follow the "short-haired pirates". It's like if you go to the talent market to apply for a job now, and you encounter a company that announces that there is no limit to the qualifications for application, and all applicants will receive all the applicants, and immediately send a house, a car, and an annual salary of more than 200,000 yuan after entering the company, and live a middle-class life overnight, you will also feel strange, right? As long as you are not a rookie in the fledgling workplace, in the face of such recruitment conditions, the first reaction is that this company is a scammer; The second reaction is that this is probably not a serious job, and that living this "good life" requires a great price, such as sacrificing one's own discipline, chastity and even one's life...... In contrast, the rumors spread by Huanglong such as "pirates taking people into slavery", "pure words" are castration, and "digging people's hearts and going back to boil them into oil" have become "true and credible......

However, no matter how hard and soft the Huanglong army tried and tricks, at best it only stabilized the morale of the army and the people in Lushun City, and as for the villages and towns and tunbao scattered outside the city, he really couldn't control it, and could only watch the "beach food stalls" outside the city crowd and business flourished day by day, and the big iron ships of the "short-haired pirates" came and went, transporting away one group after another of lowly and poor military households who had no loyalty......

——In the eyes of generals like Huanglong in the late Ming Dynasty, the military households under their names are almost equivalent to their own slaves, and they should naturally be like cattle and horses, doing hard labor for themselves all their lives, although they can starve to death, can die of pestilence, and can be beaten to death by Jiannu, they will never wipe a tear from these lowly embryos, nor will they give them a penny or a grain of rice, but they must not be dug up by others, and now I see that these "short-haired pirates" have the audacity to go directly to their noses to dig the foot of the wall, Of course, he was so angry that he beat his chest and was furious.

However, in view of the fierce force of the short-haired group outside the city, the Huanglong general soldiers, who had lost hundreds of families in the previous night attack, did not dare to send troops to smash the food stall again, so they could only be trapped in Lushun City as a shrinking turtle, and did not dare to talk nonsense at all, lest one of them on his side accidentally annoy the gang of evil stars and let them push the cannon to break Lushun City, so that they would not have to do it...... Therefore, this year, this gang of unskilled rebels who practiced medicine without a license had plastic surgery, missing ears and noses and other parts - in short, the Yellow Dragon soldier who looked like the Voldemort in "Harry Potter" could only scold those thieves in the house for being disloyal, unrighteous and unconscionable, while lamenting that he was too bad luck this year and had a bad year, and at the same time prayed for the Bodhisattva's blessing to let those short-haired pirates not enter the city......

Although the "Voldemort" in Lushun City, well, or the general soldier of Huanglong, was already gritting his teeth and squatting in the corner to draw circles and curse people, but as everyone knows, Gao Jianguo, chairman of the Military Committee of the Far East Company on the No. 1 and 6 ships, also scratched his head with sorrow when he looked at the crowds of Dongjiang military households.

- You must know that they came to Liaodong this time to recruit military households in Dongjiang Town, not just to set up a point in Lushun to attract people, but to carry out at the same time in many places under the jurisdiction of Dongjiang Town, such as Ludao, Ocean Island, Changshan Island, Phi Dao, etc., originally thought that it was the limit to be able to recruit 10,000 or 20,000 people, but who knew that more than 30,000 people came in one go, so the most direct problem was that the food hoarded in Vladivostok might not be enough to eat......

Therefore, he firmly rejected Mao Shisan's absurd construction of "taking advantage of the situation to attack Lushun City and rescue the suffering villagers" - with so many people being accommodated at the moment, the Far East Company in Vladivostok is already difficult to digest, if another 10,000 or 20,000 people come, aren't they afraid of dying alive?

“…… Although before we left the temporary transit station on Jeju Island, we had already sent a small team to Gangnam to find a way to buy grain. But at that time, I didn't expect the current situation, and even if I could successfully buy grain and rice, the quantity might not be enough. Or...... After the stall is closed in Liaodong, let's take the entire fleet and go to Japan to try our luck. Anyway, there are many modern small industrial products such as cheap perfumes, glass pendants, small mirrors, fruit knives, etc., and there are many more around us. Even if we are not familiar with the Japanese market and cannot afford to spend the time being, we still have a batch of silver brought from the modern world...... Of course, if it still doesn't work, then you can only really be a pirate and grab food to eat......"

Just as Gao Jianguo was sitting in the cabin and thinking about it repeatedly, a sailor knocked on the door and came in to report that the lookout on the mast was now peeping at a ship outside the harbor, and it might be a Ming army sailor from Dengzhou or Tianjin, but now he had turned around and gone away, and the captain asked for instructions on whether to pursue.

“…… Now that they've gotten out of the way, we don't need to pay attention to it, and we don't think our own troubles are enough," Gao Jianguo waved his hand and said disapprerovingly, but he didn't know that because of this negligence, he missed the opportunity to contact another traverser force......

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On the sea outside the mouth of Lushun, six Ming Dynasty warships flying the flag of "Chen" are rising and falling among the icy waves. The sailors of the ships looked at the several huge iron ships in the bay of Lushunkou, and their faces were already pale with fright, but they did not dare to retreat without authorization, so they had to look at a general standing on the deck of the flagship expectantly—I saw that the general was wearing a big hat and holding a monocular, and looked at the Soviet-style boarding 6 ships and modern freighters moored at Lushunkou for a long time, and then shook his head helplessly and squeezed out a sound from between his teeth, "...... All the ships immediately turned around and returned to Weihai after hearing the order."

“…… I have to order a few of you, don't hurry up and pass on Chen Dashuai's words."

Hearing this order, the whole ship went up and down and the sailors were suddenly pardoned - there was no need to touch the stones with the eggs of those big iron ships, so they hurriedly hoisted the sails, the helmsman, and gave orders to the other ships...... But no one noticed that "Chen Dashuai" was smoking a cigarette and cursing secretly: "...... Damn, that Huangshi in Fujian, the 'thief' on Hainan Island, it's enough to give Lao Tzu a headache, who knows what is more difficult to deal with in Vladivostok This side of the Far Eastern company looks at their Soviet equipment, it can't be the real Russian Maozi"

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