Haisheng Mingdi

Chapter 504

Xu Zhongyi has entered the city.

He first led his troops into Yongcheng, and then went to Shangqiu.

In the former yamen of Guide Mansion, Xu Zhongyi welcomed Old Master Zhao, who came with many red guns.

"I really didn't expect the situation to change so quickly."

Xu Zhongyi still can't believe it now, and he has become the general soldier.

But the old master was still very calm, "Xu Dingguo probably saw Liu Zeqing was killed and Hong Chengchou surrendered again, knowing that the Tartars would not believe him, and might even arrest him, so he had no choice but to rebel. He doesn't have any soldiers at hand now, since he wants to rebel, For you, the adopted son, you must be promoted to an official position, and Guide is also the gate to the southeast, and it is also close to Xuzhou, so we want our Red Spear Club to guard the gate for him."

"Old Master, is there an order from the south?"

"Have!"

Old Master Zhao told Xu Zhongyi that now the three-way army is on the northern expedition, and the right-hand army led by Long Live Lord not only captured Denglai, but also captured Qingzhou Mansion, and even sent troops to the north to capture Cangzhou and other cities. Liaodong has opened up a new battlefield, and now it can be said that the army is in full swing.

Zhang Guowei, a senior scholar on the middle road, went north along the canal, and had already recovered Fengyang, Huai'an, etc., and advanced to the vicinity of Xuzhou.

The governor Huang Daozhou on the left set out from Anqing to regain Luzhou, and then took Shouzhou. Now he is also stationed in Huai, and he has also united with the volunteers from Yinghuo and Qihuang Mountains. It can be said that the momentum is magnificent.

"Great, we've finally called, so let's just light up the flag?"

"Don't worry!" The old master shook his head.

The old master came to Shangqiu from Yongcheng. What he saw along the way was desolation and countless refugees. The situation was worse than before. Although the Yellow River did not rush south, refugees flooded in. Before Li Hua Jing raised troops in Caozhou, and also caused many Shandong people to flee to Guide. Now Xu Dingguo raised troops again and robbed Shangqiu again, adding to the chaos.

Shangqiu has a long history. It is said that two of the five emperors were in Shangqiu.

The current Shangqiu of Guidefu City broke ground in the 16th year of Hongzhi in the Ming Dynasty. It took eight years and was completed in the sixth year of Zhengde.And under this city, there are also Guidefu City built in the Yuan Dynasty before Hongzhi, Yingtianfu Nanjing City in the Northern Song Dynasty, Songcheng City in the Song Dynasty in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Suiyang City in the Qin and Han Dynasties, and Song Dynasty in the Zhou Dynasty. There are six capitals and ancient cities including the capital city.

Shangqiu has been known as the Jianghuai barrier since ancient times, and it is a battleground for military strategists.

It is also a place where transportation and businesses gather.

In the Tang and Song Dynasties, Shangqiu's industry and commerce was extremely developed, and it was a famous metropolis at that time.

During the Hongzhi period of the Ming Dynasty, the flood of the Yellow River submerged many ancient cities, such as Xuzhou and Shangqiu, and covered them under the sand. Later, new cities were directly built on the original sites.

During the Jiajing period, a new city wall was built outside the city wall, forming a trinity of city wall, city lake, and city wall. It is shaped like a unique pattern of ancient copper coins with a circle on the outside and a square on the inside. It has a circumference of seven miles and two, four gates, and 93 streets.

After Jiajing, the city has produced two great scholars, five ministers, and more than a dozen ministers, governors, and general soldiers.

Those archways, mansions, and courtyards can be seen everywhere in the city.

There are even two special water gates, which can prevent the impact of the overflow, overflow and breach of the Yellow River.

Yingtian Academy in the city was founded in the late Jin Dynasty of the Five Dynasties. It was originally named Suiyang Academy, and was named Yingtianfu Academy when it was promoted in the Northern Song Dynasty. In the third year of Qingli, it was promoted to Nanjing Guozijian.

When a new city was built in the Ming Dynasty, the academies were also rebuilt. When Zhang Juzheng demolished all the academies in the world, they were destroyed, and the academies were rebuilt at the end of Wanli.

Hou Fangyu, one of the four sons, was from Shangqiu and had also studied in this academy.

But all the prosperity of the past has now become a dead silence.

Xu Dingguo robbed Shangqiu with his troops again, and left after robbing.

When the old master came to Shangqiu, all he saw was a dead city.

Fortunately, Xu Dingguo didn't finish the looting and then set fire to it. The city defenses were basically kept intact. When Xu Dingguo killed Gao Jie and surrendered to the Qing, and led the Qing army to go south, the Qing army occupied Henan and established the towns of Hebei, Henan, Nanyang, and Guide. There are Eight Banners and Green Battalion stationed in Guide, and the city defense has been repaired and reinforced.

Even for a time, some industries and businesses were barely restored, and many businessmen were attracted back.

But now they're all gone again.

In such a huge city of Shangqiu, there are no locals except the Red Guns.

Most of those who did not die escaped, and many young men were directly arrested by Xu Dingguo and enlisted in the army.

The big houses and shops in the city were all open, turned upside down, and there was no one there.

"Shangqiu is an empty city. There are no officials, no officials, no merchants and no people. It's a dead city." Xu Zhongyi felt helpless, "I thought that when I came to Shangqiu, I could receive some property, but it turns out that apart from this city, there are only those empty houses. , Yamen, warehouses, not a grain of food, and not even a single weapon."

"I'm planning to return to Yongcheng."

The old master said that Xu Zhongyi was too young, "Xu Dingguo, a city where the old army has fought, can there be oil and water? It's normal if there is no one, but now we have finally taken over, so we can't let it go. As soon as we leave, there will be local thieves." Bandits or native villages come to occupy it."

"Not only Shangqiu City has to be guarded, but the entire prefecture and county towns of Guide Mansion have to send troops to guard as soon as possible."

"But they are all empty cities!"

"What are you afraid of in an empty city? People will come if there is a city. At this time, the city can still protect the people and fight against bandits. Tax collection, not to mention relying on the city, can gather the hungry people, reclaim the fields and return to farming..."

"Don't talk about anything else, let's talk about Shangqiu City. After I came here, I went around. This city has an inner and outer walls and an outer city. The city is two feet high, the top is two feet wide, and the base is three feet wide. There are city gate towers, urn city and twisting gate.

On the four sides of the city wall, there are also nine enemy towers, and at the corners of the city wall, there is also a corner tower. It is said that there are [-] crenels on the city wall.

Outside the city wall is the moat, which is one mile wide at its widest point and thirteen feet wide at its narrowest point. The depth of the water is two feet seven at its widest point, and more than three feet at its shallowest point. There is also a moat with a circumference of eighteen li at the outer edge of the moat. The embankment is more than seven feet wide, one foot seven high, and two feet three feet wide..." The old master said these data obtained from his inspection tour.

From these data alone, Shangqiu, the city of Guide, is indeed much stronger than Yongcheng. If there are enough soldiers guarding it, it will be very difficult to break through such a big city.

Xu Dingguo didn't guard Shangqiu because he didn't want to stay here and be attacked by Tulai and Tantai in Xuzhou and Yingzhou. soldiers.

"This old boy Xu Dingguo is afraid of Tulai and Tan Tai, so we can't keep it."

"Not necessarily!" The old master smiled, "First of all, the left and middle Northern Expeditionary armies have already reached Huaishang, and the forward of Zheng Zunqian's left army is at the foot of Bagong Mountain in Shouzhou, only two hundred miles away from Tantai in Yingzhou.

Zhang Guowei, the senior scholar in the middle road, also stationed in Huai'an. Although it is [-] miles away from Xuzhou, the governor of the Beijing camp, Wang Zhiren, also led troops to station in Fengyang, and a part of them was stationed in Huaiyuan not far away across the river.

Have you seen the situation?Pressing in from three directions, the two Eight Banners of Xu and Ying now have no more than about ten thousand people each, and many of them are Han Army Banners and Green Battalions. Do you think they can still send troops to attack? "

"It's more than 300 miles from Xuzhou to Shangqiu, and [-] miles from Yingzhou to Shangqiu. Right now, Guide Mansion has just been looted by Xu Dingguo, so Tulai and Tan Tai won't attack easily, and there will be nothing when they come. Instead, it will lead to death."

Xu Dingguo asked, "Then it's impossible for them to stay in Xu and Ying to wait to die?"

"It's not all waiting for death. The three Northern Expeditionary armies will not be able to attack in a while."

"Why?"

"grain!"

"Before the Tartars abandoned the Huai land, they had looted all the people's food reserves, burned the cities and villages, and forced the people to abandon Huaibei. Now, although the imperial camp has regained the Huainan land, what they have obtained is only refugees, thieves, and military rations everywhere. All have to be transferred from the rear.

Although it can be transported by water, it is very expensive and not easy.The Imperial Battalion had to re-establish the supply department, repair some cities, and divide the troops to garrison. There were a lot of things to do. Before they were fully prepared, they would not easily fight against Linying and Xucheng. "

Xu Zhongyi scratched his head, "It's so complicated!"

"It's like this in war. One move will affect the whole body. If you make a careless move, you may lose everything. Therefore, every step must be carefully planned and carefully considered. But generally speaking, the current situation is very favorable to us. We have to nail it to Guide Mansion for the imperial court, and guard this important place."

"Then what should we do?"

Xu Zhongyi, who picked up the territory of a mansion for nothing and was hit by a commander in chief, is now a little at a loss.

The old master stroked his sparse goatee.

"I don't think it's difficult. It can be divided into several steps. The first step is to act with the title of Guide Commander-in-Chief that Xu Dingguo gave you, recruit troops, expand the number of troops, station in each state and county, appease the gentry, businessmen, and common people, and select local townships Gentlemen are local officials to restore production and maintain order,"

"On the other hand, we can't lose the name of the Red Spear Club. It just happens to expand in various rural areas, open altars to recruit new people, practice guns and martial arts, build a stronghold for self-defense, and send us strong and strong soldiers as soldiers."

Xu Zhongyi was a little worried, "What about the money? What about the food? There are also the refugees in Huainan now. The refugees from the Yellow River breach are all rushing here. How can we appease and provide relief?"

"Step by step," the old master was not very worried, or that the world has become so chaotic and rotten, how could it be worse, "With soldiers and guns in hand, words have power, we can establish a government in Guide Mansion. The new rules are completely in accordance with our Daming's New Deal in Jiangnan,

The land is divided into acres, and the gentry pays for the grain. Now that there is a disaster, the land tax and labor can be exempted first. But with so many refugees, we can also recruit them to organize the farmland and plant all the land first. "

"As for the food, the hungry people are screaming, and they can't do anything with a hungry stomach!"

"Although the imperial camp will not be overwhelmed for the time being, we can transport some grain from the south. We have also smuggled salt and cloth from there before. This is not a problem. Let the porridge and relief be given out first, and the life will be continued first.

Of course, we didn’t have enough harvests in Mangdang Mountain before, so we can mop up those thieves by gathering people and digging mouse holes to get food. Even those villages have some food in storage. We can ask them to borrow and ask them to donate. If you are willing to borrow food to donate, you can get along well in the future, if you are not willing to borrow, then we will fight and rob! "When the old master said this, he was also very firm.

"It is also possible to restore industry and commerce in various cities, set up cards at roads and ferries to collect lijin, etc. There are more solutions than difficulties. Although the road is long, as long as you go on, you can always get there!"

"The master is right, how about asking the master to be the prefect of Guide?"

"The old man is doing his part!"

(End of this chapter)