Haisheng Mingdi

Chapter 634 Defection
In the city of Dingzhou.

Military parade on the playground.

Xu Dayong, who was divided into guards and military preparations, sat on the stage and drummed through the three links, but there were very few troops on the playground, and the soldiers dragged their feet.

The Dingzhou General Soldier was traveling all day long, sitting on the stage with a group of lieutenants, generals, and guerrillas, drinking tea, leisurely, not half a soldier.

Xu Dayong stood on the reviewing platform, worried.

Dingzhou is an important town in Hebei. The city is the old base of the Han Dynasty. At the beginning of Hongwu period in the Ming Dynasty, the city wall was expanded, with a circumference of more than 26 miles, a height of three feet, and four gates.

In the former dynasty, there were Dingzhou Wei, Tengxiang Wei, and Wugong Wei three guards in the city.

But at this time, just looking at the disrepair and decay of the city wall, one can know the details of Dingzhou.The Qing Dynasty entered the customs for several years, and also pulled out money and food, and let the local soldiers and civilians build Dingzhou City, but the local officials and the garrison took chicken feathers as arrows, all kinds of apportionment and corruption, and finally the big gentry were robbed of a lot of money, and the people were exhausted. , but in the end only one wall was repaired.

The ten ring rivers that are two feet wide and deep have not been dredged for a long time, and they have almost silted up long ago.

"Haizong Town?" Xu Dayong waited for the meeting and there were still many people who hadn't arrived, so he had to turn his head and ask Hai Shixing.

"My lord, brothers are also suffering. The imperial court hasn't paid any food for a long time. Since we moved to Dingzhou, we can only farm and farm for self-sufficiency. Many brothers are still working outside the city. Wait a minute."

Xu Dayong wanted to scold someone.

Although the imperial court has not paid food and salaries for a long time, it is basically true, but it also drew some money, and allocated fields to them as military fields, and the proceeds belong to them, and even let them raise their own salaries in the local area. Bei Dao, this is what I'm in charge of, so how can I not know what's going on with Hai Shixing's soldiers and horses?
Usually everyone shared the money together, but he still got the bulk of it. He knew very well that the soldiers and horses in Dingzhou were not hungry, and even secretly smuggled and traded with Taihang thieves (Tu Guobao, etc.).

Not to mention, the New Year is coming soon, what crops can be planted in the field?
Who didn't know that half of the soldiers under Haixing were Mongolians and half Han, and the military discipline was the worst, and the soldiers were like bandits.

"Mr. Hai, please remind me."

Although Xu Da is not as good as the second-rank chief soldier with this four-rank division, he is a civil servant and also holds the rank of soldier.But Hai Shixing is domineering and arrogant, but there is nothing he can do.

"Go and urge, tell those bastards to hurry up and stop dawdling." Hai Shixing waved his hands at the guerrillas of the Chinese army.

After another half an hour, 3000 people finally arrived.

Xu Dayong first invited the governor Ma Guangyao to give him a king's order flag, quoted Governor Ma's order, explained the fact that Zhengding mansion is very powerful, and reprimanded Dingzhou soldiers for their lack of discipline.

In the end, the subject changed and the tone slowed down.

"This way is deeply trusted by the governor. He has entrusted him with a heavy responsibility and vowed to destroy the thieves. All the soldiers are also the guards of the country. They have raised soldiers for thousands of days and used them for a while. Now they should work together to serve the court.

All the soldiers use their lives, they will be rewarded for their merits, and they will be punished for their mistakes.

If anyone ignores the military order and fails to fight, this way will use the flag of the king's order awarded by the governor to cut it first and then play it! "

After finishing speaking, he specially asked the servants to display the king's order flags again, each flag and each flag were given to the governor by the emperor, and he was given a pair to save the state's soldiers and horses.

He yelled loudly on the stage, but the Dingzhou soldiers gathered under the stage lazily, neither forming nor responding.A look of indifference, and someone even chatted below.

"The imperial court will not treat everyone badly. Governor Ma has also withdrawn the silver rewards. Now I ask Mr. Hai to give the rewards."

These words seemed to arouse the interest of Qiu Ba below, and they finally became more serious.

Hai Shixing stood up and swept across the audience with majestic eyes.

He didn't speak, but just stood there and looked around. After a while, the 3000 people gradually became quiet, and finally the audience was silent.

"Governor Ma is in Baoding. He ordered our soldiers from Dingzhou to help Zhengding Mansion. They even brought 1 taels of silver. However, I haven't seen so much silver until now.

I checked.

Governor Ma did order to withdraw 1 taels of silver, but Xu Bingbei only took 9000 taels of silver out of Baoding, and when he entered Dingzhou City, he only brought in 8000 taels.

After entering the city, he first summoned the prefect and other civil officials, and finally gave me 7000 taels. "

"Brothers, in three days, 1 taels from Baoding to Zhengding turned into 7000 taels of silver. However, the imperial court owed us 3000 men and horses and silver for two years, and the amount owed is more than seven thousand." ?”

The deputy general Hou Sichang stepped forward and questioned Xu Dayong loudly, "Xu Canzheng, what's the matter? As for the money, the brothers have worked so hard for the court, but why is the money still withheld? Whoever withheld it, and where did it go?" gone?"

Another guerrilla came up and questioned loudly, "We must clarify this matter today, otherwise the brothers will not agree!"

Xu Dayong hurriedly looked at Hai Shixing, "Mr. Hai, what do you mean?"

"Brothers, if you have something to ask Xu Bingdao, you can answer it truthfully."

Xu Dayong looked at the turmoil in the crowd, knew that Hai Shixing had a double heart, and pointed angrily, "Hai Shixing, are you going to rebel?" Zhang Sixuan, the capital of his Daobiao Battalion, also immediately came to protect him.

Hai Shixing has 3000 troops under his command, and there are four battalions in front, back, left, and right, each led by a guerrilla, and the guerrilla has a Chinese army garrison.He himself was promoted to the rank of general in the Chinese army, and his old brother was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general.

In fact, the team of Haishihang was seriously overstaffed by the situation since it surrendered to captives, but the Tartars didn't have the energy and spare energy to rectify it. Later, they raised their own money and food anyway, so they didn't care whether they were overstaffed or not. .

It is precisely because of this that although Hai Shixing moved several times, he has a strong control over this team.

Zhang Sixuan wanted to protect Xu Dayong and leave here.

The guerrilla Kong Guozhen yelled, "Don't go!" He drew his knife and stepped forward, chopping down the governor Zhang Sixuan to the ground with one knife, and then pulled Xu Dayong over like an eagle catching a chicken, and directly put the bleeding knife on him neck, "Where are you going, my lord?"

At this time, several battalions of Hai Shixing also became agitated, and they picked up the guy and surrounded the camp that Xu Da used.

There were only more than [-] people in this battalion, and even the battalion officer was cut down with a knife, and the Daotai was also captured. Those who knew the current affairs hurriedly raised their hands and knelt down to surrender, and some even directly shouted to kill the thief Xu Dayong.

Hai Shixing looked at Xu Dayong with a smile, "Master Xu, borrow something from you."

"Take it, take whatever you want, if you have something to say."

Hai Shixing drew his sword and chopped it down.

Xu Dayong's screams came to an abrupt end.

A huge head flew up.

"Thank you Master Xu for borrowing your head."

He bent down and picked up his head and held it up high.

The whole battalion cheers.

"Brothers, follow me into Zhizhou Yamen, and get back our hard-earned money!" Instigated by Hai Shixing, Dingzhou Town soldiers mutinied, and the defenders were divided into Xu Dayong and Daobiao Dusi Zhang Sixuan. More than [-] people were marked down.

So more than [-] people killed to Zhizhou Yamen.

Zhizhou Li Huang and other officials were all slaughtered.

After the rebels slaughtered the state government, they began to rob the state treasury, and then, dissatisfied, they began to loot the whole city. The big and powerful households in the city, including the shops in the state city, were all robbed.

Haishi ordered people to lock the four doors, and the soldiers plundered and killed wantonly.

But he himself cut his braids in the General Army Yamen, changed into Ming Dynasty clothes, and then took a few generals to worship south, and had them temporarily sew the sun and moon flags.

Dingzhou is Zhili Prefecture. In the heyday of the Ming Dynasty, it had jurisdiction over three counties with a population of one million. There were more than [-] famous families in Dingzhou City, all of which were looted by the rebel army, and more than [-] gentry and powerful families were killed.

The soldiers closed the city and looted for three days before sealing their swords.

Everyone looted countless things, and Hai Shixing asked the rebels to seize half of the loot and hand it over, and keep the half. Everyone was happy, and no one cared about the tens of thousands of taels of silver anymore.

Hai Shixing gave up 1 taels of silver, and sent a team of servants Qingqi to Shijiazhuang to meet the governor of Tianjin, Tu Guobao, and the governor of Zhili, Ma Guozhu.

He sat in Dingzhou by himself, and then divided his troops to plunder Quyang, Tang County and other places.

······
Shijiazhuang.

In the last years of Chongzhen, it was still a small village. According to the county household registration records, there were only 94 households in the village with 300 people, but there were 240 surnames, more than [-] rooms, but only [-] acres. land.

It can be said that this is indeed a very small village.

However, after the Qing army entered the customs, this small village, which was originally inconspicuous, changed because it was located on the important Jingxing road between Taiyuan, Shanxi and Zhengding, Hebei. He also led the army into Zhengding Mansion.

The Qing army once increased troops to Niangziguan, Jiuguan and other passes, and at the same time increased troops in the Zhengding area to the east, trying to ensure the safety of Jingxing, an important Yan-Jin passage, while besieging the Ming army in the dead mountain.

However, the local national treasure Zhang Ding and others became stronger as they suppressed more and more. More and more failed rebels gathered in the Taihang Mountains, and the mountains were dominated by the Ming army.

The Qing army even captured the counties of Lu, Jingxing, and Pingshan, but could only guard the county seat.

In order to ensure the safety of Zhengding City, the Qing army set up camp in Shijiazhuang, not far from Zhengding City, and built a post station.Of course, there is another more important reason why this small village can quickly become lively.

smuggling.

Tu Guobao fought guerrillas in Taihang, and also brought together many rebel armies from Shanxi and Hebei. Relying on the dangers of Taihang, it developed in the mountains. It would definitely not work if it only relied on self-sufficiency in the mountains. , I like to engage in smuggling.

In the Taihang Mountains, the pressure of survival has increased greatly, so naturally we have to rely on the old methods.

Fortunately, he was able to transport salt from Cangzhou.

As a result, under his careful management, he opened up many joints in the officialdom of Shanxi and Zhili provinces, opened a road from Cangzhou to Dezhou, and then passed through Jizhou, crossed Baichikou, and passed Shulu to Huolu Shijiazhuang. The area, and then the smuggling route into the mountains.

The small village of Shijiazhuang has become a distribution center for smuggled goods. Countless salt, grain, even ammunition, equipment, and horses are transferred here, coming in and out.

But whether it was Zhengding Prefecture on the other side of the river, Huolu County not far away, or even the battalion stationed in this village, they all turned a blind eye to this, and they even participated in the business together in secret, making huge profits.

It is precisely because of this smuggling line that a steady stream of supplies are supplied to the people in the mountains, and even directly connected to Taiyuan, Datong and other places. Countless salt, grain, silver and horses flow on this line, and countless officials and generals also earn a lot of money. Bowl full.

But why is Ma Guozhu, the governor of Zhili now, sending troops to occupy Shijiazhuang?

Because Tu Guobao, the governor of Tianjin, is already very powerful, there is no room for them in the mountains, and the Ming army almost took Henan and Shandong, Tu Guobao is naturally unwilling to be lonely, not to mention the emperor also specially ordered him to send troops to cooperate.

So Tu Guobao took down the three counties of Huolu, Jingxing, and Pingshan, which had been surrounded by him for a long time.

Shijiazhuang was also won in one fell swoop.

The men and horses from several towns in Henan and Shandong who occupied Daming Mansion also sent troops to the north to attack Guangping and Julu, and went to Zhengding's local national treasure.

Of course, Tu Guobao also spoke to Zhang Ji in Shanxi and the officials and generals of the Qing Dynasty in Zhengding. It was snowing again in the cold winter and the twelfth lunar month. We went to the city to escape the wind and cold, and the business could go on as usual.

Dingzhou in the north suddenly sent someone to send 1 taels of silver.

This made Tu Guobao and Ma Guozhu somewhat unexpected.

Ma Guozhu, the former governor of the three provinces in the south of the Yangtze River, was indeed a fake one. He was sent back to Henan by Yan Wogong to raise money, but it didn't go well. Later, he was intercepted and captured by the Ming army navy on the Yangtze River.

Ma Guozhu was quite stubborn at first and refused to surrender.

Then Zhu Yihai didn't kill him, but sent him to Yuhuan Island, Wenzhou, where he was reformed through labor for more than a year. He cultivated wasteland during the day and studied politics at night. Many prisoners were locked up here.

After more than a year in a labor camp there, Ma Guozhu was successfully rehabilitated. The almost isolated life on the island was really torturous. Being left alone was more terrifying than physical torture.

Finally he figured it out and took the initiative to write a letter to the emperor.

But after writing more than 30 letters, he was taken away by someone sent by the emperor, and stayed in Dengzhou for half a year before finally being recognized and sent to Tu Guobao.

In fact, the official title of Tu Guobao is no longer the governor of Tianjin, but the governor of Zhili, and Ma Guozhu's official title is the governor of Zhili.

Back then, Ma Guozhu was the governor of the three provinces of Jiangxi, Henan, and Jiangnan, and Tu Guobao was the governor of Jiangning. Now the two are partners again, but they have been transferred.

Zhang Ding, the former Shanxi rebel army, was awarded the admiral of Zhili, and Yang Guohai was the chief soldier of Zhending.

The emperor reorganized the troops on the side of the Tu National Treasure for him, and compiled them into four teams of supervising bidders, approving bidders, promoting bidders, and township bidders. In fact, it was a reduction of the power of Tu Guobao, who is now quite powerful in the Taihang Mountains. .

"This Hai Shi Xing is an old acquaintance."

At the beginning, Tu Guobao was a confidant general under Hong Chengchou's command. When Hong Chengchou went south to appease Jiangnan, he dispatched the Hai Shixing Department to go south. Tu Guobao and Hai Shixing even fought together.

It was only later that the imperial court transferred Hai Shixing to Jiaozhou to guard against the navy of the Ming army.

Later, Hai Shixing went to Dingzhou again.

"It's really an old acquaintance." Ma Guozhu is also very familiar with Hai Shixing, because Ma Guozhu was the governor of Xuanda when the Tatars first entered the customs, and then he was promoted to the governor of Xuanda. Those stationed in Xuanda were controlled by him, and later they were transferred to Tianjin, and then to Laizhou, Jiaozhou, Dingzhou and other places.

"He sees the opportunity quickly."

A few people looked at the vain money that was sent, "Since he turned his back on the dark and turned to the bright, he rebelled anyway, that's a good thing."

"It's been a while since I became an admiral. Reply to him and tell the emperor that he is the commander-in-chief of Dingzhou and still leads his troops."

"Well, if Beijing, Baoding or Tianjin send troops to attack, he can lead troops to Zhengding to meet up."

They also occupy several cities in Zhengding, and are considering whether to besiege Zhengding Prefecture. Even if they can't take it, they can retreat to the Taihang Mountains, or even fight south, and join forces with Ding Qiguang and other troops who came from the daimyo.

(End of this chapter)