Haisheng Mingdi

Chapter 586

Wang Xianzhu didn't want to come down.

Although he is only the head of a foreign committee, he is still an eighth-rank official. He has 3000 troops in his hands and guards Baita Township. It is necessary to be filial and manage, but it is no problem to have a net surplus of more than a thousand taels a year, which is more comfortable than ordinary rich people.

Emperor Shaotian has been in Shandong for more than a year, and he has heard about what the Shence Army next door looks like. They drill every day, and they are not allowed to cheat. This eighth grade official hat.

"My lord, I guess the Great Emperor Shaotian is going to be serious this time." Jia Dingtou said bluntly, and even directly called Tianzi by the Great Emperor. It is said that this title was first spread among the victims in Shandong, and now it is used everywhere We called that one.

Wang Xianzhu was very tangled.

"Going to Zichuan is not a good end, not to mention going to Jinan. If you want to say, it is better to vote for the Ming. Even if the Ming army looks down on us, we will pay a few pieces of severance pay at that time. At least we don't have to worry about being fooled by others." Cannon fodder, isn't it?"

"Yes, let's not serve as soldiers anymore, so we will go to a coal mine to dig, and even transport coal and sell it. It's not bad."

No one wants to fight, especially against the imperial camp of the Ming army.

"My lord, hurry up and make up your mind. If it's later, the team is probably coming."

Wang Xianzhu saw that several of his trusted family members were like this, so he could only sigh. He was reluctant to part with the property here. It has been in business for a long time, and he has such an acre of land. Who would give it up easily, let alone everyone's wife and children? It's all here.

If you leave here, you will become a homeless wild dog, and if you are not careful, you will be chopped off by the top.

"Prepare some gifts, let's welcome Master Wang!"

Wang Xianzhu went to his own pawn shop, picked out a few high-end gadgets from it, and took two ingots of 100 taels of ingots, then rode on his horse, and took his servants to the dustpan pond to meet Master Wang.

In order to make his pedestrians look like that, and not to be looked down upon by the emperor's master, he specially asked his soldiers to return to the camp quickly, and even ordered the guards in the Xuntang to build momentum, and sent his own children to the camp. Call up and pretend to be the number.

It is rare to take all the weapons in the arsenal that are usually reluctant to use.

In the end, there were originally 100 soldiers, but he asked him to gather more than [-] soldiers.

All the way to the dustpan.

"Raise the white flag, hurry up!"

He hurriedly asked his son to set up the white flag he had brought.

At this time, not far from Dupan Village, there are already Ming troops cruising around at night, and the people in the village are not at all nervous. This is next to Boshan County controlled by the Ming army, and it is on the traffic line, so everyone is familiar with it. .

Even though there are four Qing soldiers stationed in the village, the head of the village often goes to Yanshen Town for meetings, and even the Baojia Township Group led by the big households in the village actually listens to them.

In the past, only the Ming army did not come here, so on the surface, the green battalion is still guarding here.

During the corn harvest season, corn is harvested and corncobs are being dried everywhere. When they came here, everyone was a little uneasy at first, thinking that they were here to rob grain and force taxes.

But seeing them raise the white flag, they were all relieved.

Several big households in the village even hurriedly asked people to bring tea and snacks over.

"Hearing that the Great Emperor Wangshi is going north, Mr. Benqian came here to greet him specially. Mr. Zhao, you are familiar with that side. Please go over and say hello to Wang Shifeng."

Wang Xianzhu knew very well that the village chief surnamed Zhao was actually close to the Ming army. He had known it for a long time, but he never bothered to care about it. Anyway, the surname Wang gave him three festivals and two birthdays every year, and he ignored it after the money was collected.There is also a coal mine in this village, and he also comes to collect money regularly.

In the past, everyone pretended not to know about the village's enlightenment, and even bought the weapons of the Baojia Township regiment in the village from Wang Xianzhu, which was the Xuntang weapons he sold privately.

Upon seeing this, Village Chief Zhao also patted his chest to express his willingness to come forward.

He took a trip out of the village himself, and then came back, and the matter was settled.

Ye Bushou in Shence Town surrendered to Wang Xianzhu, and he was not surprised, let alone embarrassed, just let them hand over their weapons outside the village.

Promise to keep them safe etc.

"No more?" Wang Xianzhu was a little disappointed. He thought that if he voluntarily surrendered, he would be able to keep his original job, even get a higher level of use, and even give some rewards, but he didn't expect to let them go out of the village and surrender their weapons.

"Don't worry Wang Qian, the Shence Army has always kept its word."

"Ok."

The surrender ceremony is actually very simple.

In the fields outside the village in Jinqiu, Wang Xianzhu led more than 100 horsemen and surrendered to the [-] Yebushu team.

Wang Xianzhu handed over his seal, flags, armor and weapons, and finally gave a gift of 100 taels of silver.

The captain of the Ye Bu Shou team accepted the seal flag, confiscated weapons, armor and clothing, etc., and asked the team deputy to write a list, listing all kinds of things on it, and finally asked Wang Xianzhu to draw a pledge.

The 100 taels of silver were confiscated.

The captain's original words were that private gifts are not accepted.

He took off his cotton armor, handed in his seal, guns, knives and even horses.

Originally, Wang Xianzhu wanted to keep the horse. This horse was not a war horse, but his private mount, but in the end he didn't dare to say more, so he could only let Ye Bushuo drive the horse over with great reluctance.

The villagers gathered around to watch the fun, and the corn was not harvested for the time being.

After the ceremony, he didn't dare to walk around.

Wang Xianzhu had no choice but to let everyone stay in the village first, and he took his son to see the Ming army's superiors at night.

······
"There is a mission!"

Zhao Xiaolou was peeling corn cobs when the captain came back.

"There is a mission coming. The Naxun Tartar defenders of the White Tower have come and surrendered. Our camp told us to rush to Baita Township to take defense immediately."

"Surrendered? Why did they surrender, why didn't they resist, a bunch of cowards."

Hearing this, Zhang Tiezhu threw the corncobs on the ground, "Training every day, training every day, raising troops for a thousand days, and finally dispatching troops. The first opponent they met, they ended up surrendering? This son of a bitch, do you have any backbone?" .”

"Zhang Tiezhu, shut up, pack up your things quickly, and get ready to go. You will be stationed in the village before dark, and there are still many tasks to do."

Zhao Xiaolou didn't feel any loss at all, although he also faintly looked forward to the battle and wanted to be rewarded for his meritorious service.But sometimes I am afraid of fighting, afraid of being injured or even killed in battle.

He hasn't married a wife yet.

Pack up the unfinished corn and pack everything else into a backpack.

He picked up the bird gun, wrapped the matchlock around his waist, and put the bayonet on the muzzle.

"gather!"

"Line up!"

"Count the numbers!"

Li Baoquan ordered again and again, and everyone gathered quickly as a habit.

"Check gear again."

Everything is correct, everyone set off.

More than 100 people from the eight teams of the sentry, together with the team directly under the head of the sentry, gathered at the entrance of the village and marched singing military songs.

The surrender of Luying Flood Pond made it easy for them.

In the villages along the road, the village chiefs also came to greet them with Baojia and Xiangtuan, and brought tea, eggs and so on.

The marching speed was very fast, and all the way to the village went smoothly.

Take over the gate of the township, the sentry chief distributes tasks, guards the gates of the township, square gates, and alleys, informs the people that the Ming army has officially entered the defense, and issues a notice to calm the people. Everything is carried out in an orderly manner according to the usual drills.

Zhao Xiaolou's team of 12 people is responsible for guarding the East Square of Sifang in the village.

The township market is not big, with a cross street that divides the township into four squares, and there are several alleys in this square. They notify the villagers from house to house, and then just guard the streets and alleys.

Zhao Xiaolou and the others put on cotton armor, put on a helmet, wrapped the fire rope around their wrists, and got ready for battle. The 12 people were divided into two teams and took turns to stand guard.

The people in the village looked at them with some curiosity and some awe.

Was wary at first.

But seeing that they were so well disciplined and didn't intend to harass the people at all, they became curious again, and some even brought them tea and water, and even gave them eggs and corn.

There are also big families who come to send money.

But Captain Li Baoquan very politely refused, and he asked Captain Liu to be in charge of explaining the military orders of the imperial camp to everyone, and asked him to come forward to communicate with them.

Captain Liu had read books after all, so it was easy to explain clearly.

dusk.

Zhao Xiaolou and the others switched defenses with another group of people in the team, and set up a pot to cook corn on the side of the street.

Although some villagers gave them food and so on, they confiscated them. The military regulations were strict and they did not dare to cross the line easily.

Of course, they have plenty of food for themselves. In addition to the corn bought along the way, there are also meat and vegetables, and even dry food, bacon, salted fish, and vegetables.

Bacon and boiled corn is actually quite good, fresh and salty.

At dusk in late autumn, half of the sky was glowing red with the fiery sunset glow. They sat around the stove on the street, ate corn and bacon, and drank some tea made from corn leaves to relax their bodies after a day of marching and standing guard. , but also quite comfortable.

There were even a few villagers chatting with them.

This doesn't look like a war at all, but rather like rushing to sell goods.

As the smoke rose from the kitchen, more and more villagers gathered to chat together. Everyone expressed their admiration for them, welcome to Daming now, and full of expectations for the future.

"The Great Emperor Wang Shi is here, we won't have to pay taxes to the Tartars anymore, and we will also reduce rent and interest like Yanshen Town in the future, right?"

"Will you stay here permanently in the future?"

······
Wang Xianzhu took his son to meet the battalion officer of the forward of the Shence Army. The battalion officer expressed his approval for his voluntary surrender, and after a chat, he also gave a temporary resettlement method.

Those with official positions who are willing to stay in the army will stay with him temporarily and wait for the arrangement from above.

The Xuntang guards without official positions will all be dismissed, and a silver dollar will be issued as a dismissal fee.

If you want to continue to join the army, you can sign up, but the Shence Army is not recruiting for the time being.

The next day, Wang Xianzhu took his son back to Duji Village with the army.

Shence Army directly called his men together, and then began to pay severance pay.

They took out a roster, which turned out to be the actual roster of Baita Xuntang soldiers, with only 60 people.Obviously, the situation of the more than 100 people brought by Wang Xianzhu has been known for a long time.

In the last sixty soldiers, one silver dollar was given to each of them, and they were dismissed on the spot. All weapons and equipment were taken away, and another silver dollar was given to them.

Wang Xianzhu and several servants rode horses, and some rode donkeys and mules, and all the horses and mules were returned to them.

They have a total of 90 people in Xuntang, and there is only one foreign commissioner and two foreign commissioners. Three of them stayed with the army and waited for arrangements.

It's also a joy.

The first battalion then arrived in Baita Township. Zhao Xiaolou and the others received an order to continue with the battalion to Zichuan County without staying in the village.

They marched for one day and arrived in Zichuan County.

There are half a battalion of Qing army city guards stationed here, trying to hold on.

The battalion commander saw that it was still early, so he ordered the musketeers to line up in the city, make nine turns and ten consecutive formations, and fire guns at the defenders on the city.

Zhao Xiaolou was a little excited and finally started to fight.

Light the matchlock, load the ammunition, and line up to go forward.

Following the orders of the officers, rows of guns sounded.

Zhao Xiaolou excitedly pulled the trigger, not knowing if he had hit it, and there was no one to be seen in the city, but when the order to shoot was issued, he could only fire the gun.

According to military regulations, a musketeer must shoot in a row when firing a gun. It is not allowed to fire early or slow, and it is not allowed to fire alone. If it is fired, it is a group of people who fire together. What is required is the effect of the salvo, not the accuracy of the individual.

If you are attacking against the enemy, the first shot is especially strict. You have to wait for the enemy to approach before you can fire. Especially when facing cavalry, if you shoot too early, the hit rate is too low. When you reload, you will be taken advantage of by the enemy. .

Therefore, the salvo must be allowed only when the enemy has entered the optimal range. If you shoot in advance, you will be registered and severely punished after the battle.

After following the volley, he immediately began to reload. As a result, just as he was about to raise his gun after reloading, he heard the sound of the guns stop.

The green flag of the Tartars on the top of the city was torn down and replaced with a white flag.

The commander of the battalion guarding the Tartar city originally wanted to resist.

As a result, in a battle camp of the Ming army, more than 200 musketeers stood up, as well as the gun-carrying team and the small artillery team. They blasted fiercely at one shot, killing more than a dozen directly, and then Mr. Qian was also scared out of his wits.

surrender.

In fact, he didn't want to surrender, but all his subordinates turned around and ran away.

And the Baojia in the county, at this critical moment, actually "remonstrated", and those big gentry families and his mothers actually brought Baojia to persuade him to open the city and surrender.

Still holding a spear and bow and arrow, he persuaded him to surrender.

Only a team of servants were left running beside Mr. Qian.

How dare not listen to advice?
I had no choice but to obediently order my subordinates to put down their weapons, and then raised the white flag.

The city gate was opened by Baojia.

The gentry led a team out to meet the Ming army.

Zhao Xiaolou still had a burning match wrapped around his hands, and was on standby with the loaded blunderbuss.

But the battle was over.

Just fired a shot.

Kaesong, Zichuan County surrendered, and Zhao Xiaolou obeyed the order to blow out the matchlock.

He looked at the city, the walls were tall and strong, the foundations were made of big stones, the gates were tall and easy to defend but difficult to attack.

Deputy Liu led everyone into the city and said, "There is a saying here, Weixian is fought with steel, and Zichuan is fought with iron. I think the Tartars broke through the Great Wall and entered Qilu several times in the past, but they never broke into it." Zichuan County.

Now with the sound of our guns, we can easily take down the city. The prestige of our imperial camp is really powerful in the world. "

Zhang Tiezhu complained.

"I just shot a gun in my arms, and the **** surrendered, bad luck!"

"I still want to kill ten or eight of him, so that he can get rewarded for his meritorious service."

The team leader Li Baoquan scolded unceremoniously, "In normal training, you're the worst bastard shooter. Eight out of ten times you fail. Why are you still calling me a ghost?"

Zichuan was called Banyang City in ancient times.

This was originally an earth city, but in the ninth year of Chongzhen, Han Chengxuan, the county magistrate of Zichuan, rebuilt it into a stone city.

The streets and alleys in the city are criss-crossed, the pavilions are uneven, the palaces are majestic, and the archway is magnificent. Looking at Zhao Xiaolou is also a little dazzled. If such a big and strong city is stationed with 5000 troops, it is really difficult to attack.

They entered the city through the south gate, which was called Yingxun Gate.

There is also a Linghong bridge outside the south gate, which crosses the Banyang River, and the post road from Zichuan to Boshan passes through it.

There is also a Liulong Bridge in Xiguan. It is said that in the 43rd year of Wanli, six candidates were won at one time, and the county magistrate hosted a banquet on the bridge, so it is called Liulong Bridge, and the carp leaps over the dragon gate.

There are three main streets leading directly to Simen in the city.

Entering through the South City Gate is South Street, which is called Pangong Street.

There are Town God's Temple, Confucian Temple, and Banyang Academy in the city. There is also a very grand Ying'en Square in the city, which was built by Zhang Zhifa, a native of the city.

Because every time Zhang visited Shandong, he would visit relatives in his hometown Zichuan, and would call local officials to read the imperial decree under the Yingenfang built by him. .

At this time, the Ming army entered the city, and all the officials and gentry in the city gathered under Ying'enfang to welcome the king's teacher grandly.

In the Ming Dynasty, Zichuan produced 31 Jinshi, 96 Juren, and [-] Wuju. There was also a cabinet scholar and a small county town, which is still very impressive.

At this time, all the clothes in the city came to pay homage to the king's teacher.

The dignified gentry and powerful gentry turned out the clothes of the Ming Dynasty one after another, quickly cut off their braids, and put on the hats of the Ming Dynasty to cover them up. Many people even hurriedly wrote a letter of respect to Master Wang on the door of their own house before going out. And planted the sun and moon flag.

They chanted slogans such as ZTE, Restoration, and Long Live the Emperor.

Looking at these people, Zhao Xiaolou felt very strange, but at the same time felt very proud!
(End of this chapter)