Chapter 020: The Disaster of Ningbo

Chen Cao went home and gave a brief explanation, and before leaving, he went to the other courtyard and Zhang Chen's storm once before leaving, and then took the people of the Thousand Households Institute towards Ningbo.

And Chen Cao did not have many people, more than 500 people in the team of thousands of households, plus the entire Nanjing right guard, coincidentally, the commander Zhang Tiande was Chen Cao's former quasi-father-in-law.

"Just before the Dragon Boat Festival, a group of Japanese invaders attacked Ningbo Longshan Beifu, and then went straight to Guanhaiwei, and even went to Songpu, Cixi, and Dinghai, and Ningbo Fucheng was in an emergency." Zhao Xin rode next to Chen Cao and continued: "Just in time, Lord Zhang's Qincha team arrived in Hangzhou, and when he heard the news, he was furious, and angrily scolded Li Rulong, the chief soldier of Zhejiang's Beiwei, and ordered the arrest of Ningbo General and other cadres, etc., I heard that even Huang Sihai, the general of Zhejiang, and Huang Chongtao, the commander of the capital, were also scolded, and then Lord Zhang sent people to rush to the capital for 800 miles to report the news, no, he has ordered Wei Guogong to send the Nanzhili garrison to reinforce it, and we have six thousand people in Nanzhen Fusi, and you are just responsible for supervising a force. ”

Chen Cao knew in his heart, and felt faintly unstable about the attack of the Japanese invaders, and then asked: "You said that there are many firearms in the right guard of Nanjing?" ”

"Yes," Zhao Xin clasped his fists: "Commander Zhang was in the Shenji Battalion when he was young, and he learned the art of troop transfer from Cheng Guogong at that time, and he had some means in firearms. ”

A herald rode his horse in front of Chen Cao, hugged his fists and said, "Lord Chen, my family commander invites your lord to discuss matters." ”

Chen Cao did not hesitate, and took Zhao Xin to ride a few horses and rushed to Zhang Tiande's former military camp, the official roads in the south are muddy and watery, and it has recently entered the summer, it is the rainy season in Zhejiang, and the roads are muddy, but fortunately, Chen Cao's army is riding a horse, otherwise I don't know how embarrassing it is.

Zhang Tiande was waiting in a dry place, and when he saw Chen Cao coming on horseback, he also took out the official shelf, gave a military salute to Chen Cao, and then said, "There is a nephew of Lao Xian..."

Chen Cao dismounted and returned the salute, and then looked like a businessman: "Don't dare, this time it's to suppress the Japanese invaders, there are no relatives in the army, and please pay attention to Commander Zhang, after all, Chen is the brocade guard who supervises the army." ”

Zhang Tiande was embarrassed for a while, and then said: "Don't be angry, that matter is really..."

"Hey.." Chen Cao interrupted Zhang Tiande's words: "Commander Zhang, don't blame yourself, the matter has passed, after all, Chen Cao can't afford to climb high..."

The dialogue between the two sides broke up unhappily, Chen Cao led people to Hangzhou first, and it took four days to arrive at the city of Hangzhou, and met Zhang Wenda, who had been stationed on the edge of the West Lake.

"Lord Zhang," Chen Cao saluted, "how is Ningbo?" ”

Gao Hongtu said with a frustrated face: "It's lost, Ningbo Mansion was captured by the Japanese three days ago, and there are no soldiers in Ningbo at this moment." ”

Zhang Wenda sat on the Taishi chair and shook his eyes: "There are only more than 100 true Japanese soldiers who attacked Longshan, and a thousand people were wiped out like this, this is not a big deal, Guanhaiwei has more than 5,000 people, but it was also wiped out by the whole army killed by these more than 100 Japanese soldiers, except for the command of Lin Youcai with more than 300 personal soldiers to disperse, the rest were killed." ”

Chen Cao secretly thought to himself that with the current guard system, it would be good to have 500 people in Longshan, not to mention Guanhaiwei, presumably there would be 2,000 people at most.

"The Japanese are ferocious, and there are few Japanese in the coastal areas of Zhejiang since Qi Shaobao, these people have never been in contact, and defeat is also a common thing." Chen Cao comforted.

Gao Hongtu said with a ashamed face: "There are more than 30,000 people in the Ningbo Mansion combined, but they were defeated by less than 1,000 Japanese robbers, which is a shame." ”

Chen Cao arched his hand towards Zhang Wenda and said, "My lord, but are you a little prepared?" ”

Zhang Wenda opened his eyes, nodded and said: "You are your own person, and the old man will not hide it from you, now Ningbo is occupied by the Japanese invaders, the prefect Liu Guang was killed, and the slaughter officials are as large as a thousand people, Your Majesty has issued an order for the old man to deal with this matter with full authority, and he will prepare to fight back against this group of Japanese invaders in three days." ”

...

Chen Cao listened carefully to the news summarized by Zhao Xin after his arrival in Hangzhou in his camp: "More than 100 people from Zhenwei crossed the left place in Dinghai and attacked the Longshan Institute at night, the Longshan Station was only ten miles away from Songpu, on the edge of a sea cliff, the Longshan Station was full of 1,115 people, the actual number of soldiers was only 236 people, and all the officers and soldiers of Zhang Cai and below were killed in battle.

The guards along the coast of Zhejiang are all independent, and Guanhaiwei can't control the Longshan Institute, and Lin Youcai is not involved in the fact that Zhang Cai eats the blood of soldiers, but the Ningbo staff should have taken the advantage.

Then the Japanese rode straight to Guanhaiwei, and were defeated by this group of more than 100 Japanese robbers, Lin Youcai ran out of Guanhaiwei under the protection of his own relatives and went to Songpu to report the news. ”

Chen Cao frowned, thinking carefully about things, and then asked, "Where is Lin Youcai now?" ”

Zhao Xin arched his hand: "Lin Youcai's defeat has been decided, he was dismissed and imprisoned, and he was detained by the people from Beizhen Fusi who came from the capital, and he was sent to the capital in a few days. ”

"I have to see him..."

The place where Beizhen Fusi temporarily detained Lin Youcai was in a side courtyard of the Hangzhou Prefect's Yamen, which should also belong to Jinyiwei, Chen Cao was still a thousand households, and exchanged a few words with the hundred households that led the team, and then smoothly entered the room where Lin Youcai was detained.

Chen Cao entered the house and saw a middle-aged man in his forties, with a fat waist and only wearing white obscene clothes.

Chen Cao sat down in the room before he said, "Commander Lin, this official asks you, what kind of widows do you encounter?" ”

Lin Youcai probably anticipated his way into Beijing, and after shouting grievances, he sat on the chair decadently: "Hey... It's all real people, those people kill people too quickly, you know, which one of the guards along the coast of Zhejiang..."

"Commander Lin..."Chen Cao interrupted Lin Youcai's words: "There are some things that you know, why bother saying them, it's not good for you." ”

Lin Youcai sneered: "Yes, I have been arrested until now, and no one has come to visit, I know that I have a dead end in Beijing this time," and stared at Chen Cao: "This adult, I still have some family wealth, I don't know if you can use the means of Jinyiwei to keep my family safe?" ”

"You just believe me?" Chen Cao said coldly.

Lin Youcai shook his head with a wry smile: "If you don't believe it, you can't help it, I went to the capital for that matter, that is a crime that can't be washed away, the money is not enough to deal with the top and bottom, this time it is on the cusp, someone needs to be responsible, so I will die if I go," said and looked at Chen Cao with a serious face: "My lord, my son Lin Guodong, is in Weizhong as a pacification envoy, this time he will be implicated, there is a surplus of 170,000 taels of silver at home, please bring my son to see the guilty general, the guilty general will be taught in person, please help the adult, let my son wear the crime and make meritorious service..."

...

Chen Cao didn't know why he agreed to Lin Youcai's words in a daze, and after thinking for a long time, he reacted, it turned out that he was trapped by 170,000 silver...

Lin Guodong can also be regarded as a talent, compared with his father, he is a serious military person, Chen Cao walked around Lin Guodong who was kneeling on the ground, and nodded with satisfaction: "If you are the same figure as your father, this official also thinks that you are innocent of death." ”

Lin Guodong hugged his fists and said: "My lord, Lin Guodong's life is an adult's, please help me." ”

Chen Cao stood still, and then shook his hand: "The official saved you, and it had to be because your father gave 170,000 taels of silver, which is also secondary, the key is to see if you are a soldier." ”

Lin Guodong was a little embarrassed, but immediately reacted and said: "The three hundred personal soldiers in Weizhong were personally trained by Lin Guodong, and they can be worthy of a battle. ”

It is not bad to gather the power of one guard to feed three hundred people, and this is also a common phenomenon in Liaodong, Chen Cao turned his head to look at Zhao Xindao: "Arrange it, summon Lin Guodong into my camp in the name of Nanzhen Fusi, and I will personally go to Lord Zhang to intercede later..."

Lin Guodong bowed: "Lord Xie..."

June 12, auspicious time, Lord Najib, avoid villains

Zhang Wenda, the governor of Zhejiang, Yang Jichang, the governor of Zhejiang, Huang Sihai, the general soldier of Zhejiang, Li Rulong, the commander of Zhejiang, Huang Chongtao, and other officials of the three divisions of Zhejiang gathered in front of the Guanghua gate of Hangzhou.

Ningbo's former staff general Yang Li was dismissed from his post and taken back to Beijing, and the former guerrilla general of Ningbo, Qian Zhangding, commanded Guan Haiwei to make meritorious contributions, and Lin Guodong's department was put into the military camp of Chen Caodu, and he was convicted together.

Yuyao County, Shaoxing Prefecture

"My lord, we are not the only ones who oversee the army," Zhao Xin walked quickly into Chen Cao's camp: "After we set off, the Marquis of Shouning led two brothers from the Thousand Households to Hangzhou, and heard that he was going to come to Shaoxing with Zhang Shangshu. ”

"My lord," Zhao Xin's words were finished, and Xu Kaixian also walked into the camp tent quickly: "My lord, General Huang ordered the right guard of Nanjing to set off to recover Guanhaiwei, and we must go with the army to supervise the formation." ”

Chen Cao raised his head and opened his eyes: "Just the right guard of Nanjing?" ”

Xu Kaixian said again: "I heard that more than that, all the guards in the five prefectures around Shaoxing were evacuated, and they followed General Li to Songpu, and the brothers under Shou Ninghou also went to Songpu. ”

The big battle...

Chen Cao's thoughts flew wildly, if he wanted to say that the Japanese invaded Ningbo, he should also fight in Ningbo, why did he fight a decisive battle with the imperial court in Songpu: "You guys are ready, and besides, have we sent our firearms?" ”

Zhao Xin arched his hand: "My lord, the whole hundred and three eyes can only be beaten once." ”

Chen Cao glared and scolded: "Bastard thing, this big battle, can only be fought once?" ”

Zhao Xin looked embarrassed: "My lord, we are just supervising the army, and we don't go to the battlefield, just these firearms are all in Weizhong, and the gunpowder is still borrowed by the Ministry of Industry in Nanjing, and we have to pay back the silver when we return to the army." ”

"These killers..."Chen Cao took a deep breath, and said in his heart that it was impossible to ask the Nanjing right guard for firearms, so he had an idea: "Order, without my order, you must not shoot indiscriminately." ”

Two days later, Ningbo Mansion Guanhaiwei stationed

When Zhang Tiande and his gang straddled into the station of Guanhaiwei, only the barracks that were destroyed by the fire were left, and Chen Cao did not go in, although he was extremely brave when he killed the Tartars in Liaodong, but compared to the Japanese Kou, it was with an attitude of awe, not to mention that when Lin Youcai, who was killed by a hundred people, lost his armor, he was much more vigilant.

This side is still surveying the Guanhaiwei station, Zhang Tiande estimated that he was thinking about how to recover the lost land with great difficulty, and when the killed widow lost his armor, a fast horse ran into Chen Cao's team, and then Gao Chong ran quickly to Chen Cao's horse: "My lord, something happened... The army was ambushed by the Japanese in Songpu and lost most of its losses, and Dai Gao, the deputy general of Zhejiang's Bei Japanese, was killed. ”

Nani?

Chen Cao heard a stirring spirit all over his body: "How many people are there?" ”

"I don't know," Gao Chong shook his head: "It is reported that there are a lot of Chinese speakers among them, and it is estimated that as in the Jiajing period, many fishermen from Jiangsu and Zhejiang were involved." The messenger of the news told the Nanjing right guard to stay still and wait for instructions. ”

Zhang Tiande was quite shocked when he received the news, and then stopped at the Guanhaiwei station according to Huang Sihai's instructions, and Chen Cao was not idle, taking advantage of the soldiers to build the camp tent, and led people around the cliff.

"My lord, there are 30,000 people in the guards that gather in Songpu..."Zhao Xin said casually.

"Cut..."Chen Cao sneered, then stopped, looking at the rolling waves under the cliff, his voice was like cold seawater: "It's not me Chen Cao who is talking big, at least 20,000 of these 30,000 people are strong men who have been temporarily captured, maybe all the fifty-year-old men in the rest of the army will be arrested to fill up the number, do you believe it or not?"

I'm Ming, except for Jingwei and my Jinyi Guard, the rest of the guards have long existed in name only, and now the commanders of the guards who are participating in the war are not worried, but it's okay now, so many people have died, and the vacancy of the guards has been covered up, what a hell of irony..."

Zhao Xin heard Chen Cao speak for the first time, and said: "I heard that some time ago, the Japanese invaded Taizhou, and they were killed and retreated by Qi Changguo, the general of Taizhou, and now they are blocked in Maple Ridge. ”

"Qi Changguo?" Chen Cao was stunned for a moment, and then asked, "But Qi Shaobao's descendants?" ”

Zhao Xin nodded: "Yes, Qi Shaobao is Qi Changguo's grandfather." ”

"It's still the Qi family's army that is reliable..."Chen Cao sighed, and then turned his head to look at the Nanjing right guard in the distance: "These people have been comfortable in Jinling for so long, I don't know if there will be a war." As he spoke, he looked at a camp next to the camp: "I have to rely on Lin Guodong's three hundred personal soldiers." ”

A soldier ran to Chen Cao, clasped his fists and said, "Lord Chen, my family commander asks your lord to settle the account." ”

Chen Cao is the overseer of Nanjing's right guard, and Zhang Tiande's decision must be made by Chen Cao, which is equivalent to the eyes and ears of the Son of Heaven: "This official knows, you go first." ”

In the big tent, Zhang Tiande sat on the main seat, and the five thousand households under him stood next to him, and Chen Cao entered the tent, and instantly had the illusion of three hundred swords and axes.

Zhang Tiande spoke first: "Chen Qianhu, please...", the official title, that is to say, Zhang Tiande asked Chen Cao to come to talk about business, Chen Cao sat up towards the first place on the right, Zhang Tiande continued: "I don't know if Lord Chen knows about the battle of Songpu?" ”

Chen Cao nodded: "I know, the specific news hasn't come back yet." ”

Zhang Tiande stood up, pointed to the map behind him and said: "General Huang sent an order, let my guards set off from Songpu tomorrow and attack from the north side. ”

The five thousand households in the tent all gasped, most of them had been officials in Beijing, and they had never been to Jiubian, let alone the anti-Japanese war during the Jiajing period.

Chen Cao sneered, and then said, "Master Zhang, then guess how many real people are among the more than 10,000 people?" ”

"The Jiajing Warlord is the leader, and there are only more than 1,000 people who have participated in the Wars in the past few years, and the rest are fishermen from Jiangsu and Zhejiang." A thousand households replied.

Zhang Tiande looked at Chen Cao and asked with some interest: "Master Chen thinks that how many real people are there?" ”

The ball is played well, Chen Cao has always thought that the soldiers are all stunned and don't understand the way of officialdom, but this one has obviously been nurtured by Jinling officialdom for too long, and has some means: "I don't know, this official only knows that my soldiers of the Ming Guard rarely fight against the Japanese invaders, and I am quite afraid of the Japanese invaders, and I hope that Lord Zhang will come up with some means when the time comes, don't let the official kill his own people." ”

"Bastard..."Qianhu opened his anger and scolded, relying on the command to make Zhang Tiande his uncle, and then stood up and looked at Chen Cao: "Chen Qianhu, you don't want to kill all the guards with a stick, be careful to go back to Nanjing and be secretly attacked." ”

Jinyi Weinan Zhenfu Si does not have much power, and it is common for thousands of households to be threatened, but the other party obviously underestimated the difference of Chen Cao, a traverser.

Chen Cao was not angry, but simply said to Xu Kaixian behind him: "Write it down, Zhang Kai, the official of the right guard of Nanjing, insulted Chen Cao, the envoy of the prison army, in public. ”

"Yes..."

Zhang Kai was about to continue to scold when he heard this, Zhang Tiande interrupted Zhang Kai's intention with a cough, and then said with a smile: "Chen Qianhu, the big war is coming, don't be rash about the army." ”

"Don't scare me with the military order that can kill the head if you shake the heart of the army," Chen Cao turned his head and looked at Zhang Tiande with a smile and said: "This official is the Tianjian Army, if you dare to kill me, all the right guards in Nanjing will be punished for the crime of rebellion, Lord Zhang, you can't run away first." ”

Zhang Tiande was obviously angry by Chen Cao's words, and the atmosphere in the tent became tense, and at this moment, a soldier walked into the tent and arched his hand: "My lord, the commander of Guan Haiwei led the troops to arrive, just outside the camp. ”

Qian Zhangnai is a fourth-grade guerrilla general in Ningbo, and his official position is smaller than that of Zhang Tiande, the commander of the third-rank guard, but after Jiajing, the local staff general is in charge of all the military affairs of the government, including the guard, plus Qian Zhang has the title of a Guanhaiwei commander, so the appearance is bigger than Zhang Tiande.

After hearing this, Zhang Tiande got up, forgetting the conversation with Chen Cao just now: "Let's go, let's go and greet General Qian." ”

Guanhaiwei was beaten and only the name of Wei remained, and these people under Qian Zhang were all temporarily mobilized from other places, and their aura was not large, but the more than 200 serious soldiers were the former personal guards of Yang Li, the general of Ningbo.

After Zhang Tiande and Qian Zhang talked, they both entered the camp, probably drinking, and did not inform Chen Cao, Chen Cao is not the kind of shameless person, so he took people back to his camp.

Zhao Xin walked in from time to time, drank a cup of tea handed over by Chen Cao, and then said: "I have heard that the soldiers under Qian Guerrilla are all selected from the untouchables in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. ”

"Untouchables?" Chen Cao seems to have heard it somewhere: "But the people who have entered the lowly nationality? ”

Zhao Xin shook his head: "My lord doesn't know, the untouched and the untouchables are not first-class, when Emperor Taizu and Zhang Shicheng, who divided Jiangsu and Zhejiang, fought a decisive battle in Suzhou, the result is not to be said, but after Zhang Shicheng's death, the people in Jiangsu and Zhejiang still respect Zhang Shicheng as the emperor, Emperor Taizu was angry, and all the soldiers and people who supported Zhang Shicheng were put into the untouchable, and decreed that these people must not leave the country forever, and the end... Hey..."Zhao Xin whispered mysteriously: "When Zhang Shicheng was the emperor, he was quite kind to the people of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, thinking that he would do this..."

Chen Cao nodded, and slowly reacted, so he asked thoughtfully, "How many people are in this gang now?" Where to live? ”

Zhao Xin thought for a while: "When the Jiangnan Zhudi went to Nanjing to report the household register, it seemed that there were more than two million untouchables registered, and these people were distributed in the villages on both sides of the official roads in various cities in Zhejiang.

The untouchables were never allowed to enter the city, were not allowed to engage in any labor, but could only beg, but fortunately, when Lord Wanli ascended the throne, he was merciful and decreed that these people could be allowed to engage in farming, as a way of self-preservation. ”

"My lord," Xu Kai walked into the big tent first: "My lord, I just got the news that the imperial court ordered the Marquis of Fengcheng to bring the firearms troops of the Beijing camp to Zhejiang for reinforcements, and the sea ship from Tianjin is expected to arrive in three days." ”

Eyelid jumping?

Chen Cao's right eyelid has been jumping non-stop since the evening, as the old saying goes, 'the left eye jumps wealth, the right eye jumps disaster', plus there is a trace of irritability in his heart at the moment, so he stared at Zhao Xin and said: "You go to Lin Guodong and come over, I have something important to discuss with him." ”

"My lord, are you looking for me?" Lin Guodong walked into the big tent and saluted Chen Cao.

Chen Cao stood up, wearing a half-body armor on his body, and said with a serious face: "Don't sleep with your men tonight, and order to go down, the official has concluded that the Japanese will definitely attack tonight, so don't take it lightly." ”

Lin Guodong was strict at that time: "How did the adults know that the Japanese were attacking?" ”

"Intuition..."

Lin Guodong: "..."

This side is nervously arranging according to intuition, and Zhang Tiande and Qian Zhangjiu are also drinking vigorously, and the two are staggered, and the guard is like this.

...

Before Zhao Tianlin became a pirate, he was a big family in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and just because he ran the sea trade for a long time, he established good trade relations with the daimyo of Japan, and also married the Shimazu family.

"Lord Zhao," a short man dressed as a Japanese samurai spoke fluent Japanese, and his ornate clothes showed that the identity of this Japanese man was not simple: "The siege is underway on the Matsupo side, and Matsui-sama's meaning is to let us end the battle here as soon as possible and rush to wipe out all the Ming troops in Matsuura." ”

This time with Zhao Tianlin is the Shimazu family's general Matsui Pingfu, and the Japanese samurai in front of him is the Shimazu family's Ashigaru general Hirata Taka, the two of them in the Shimazu family's military force is quite high, the Shimazu family master is also happy to send a thousand samurai to fight together, which in Japan, this thousand samurai is equivalent to 10,000 regular troops of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhao Tianlin's cousin died in Nanjing, to be precise, it was the unlucky scapegoat Zhao Cheng, this time he sent troops, but it was not because of this incident, but he got the news from Nanjing that the enemy who killed his cousin happened to be in Ningbo to supervise the army, so this operation, Zhao Tianlin is equivalent to venting his personal anger.

Zhao Tianlin looked coldly at the flickering fire of the Guanhaiwei garrison in the distance, and replied in Japanese dialect: "It won't be too long, wait a little longer, the reinforcements from Tsushima will come." ”

Hirata Gao turned his head to look at the direction of Zhao Tianlin's eyes, nodded for a long time, and then said, "How can those pirates on Tsushima Island compare to my Satsuma samurai?" As he spoke, he turned his head to look at the more than 300 samurai who were resting in place.