I have a cornucopia

Chapter 209 The Furnace
Haizhou.

"Ha, it's still like this!"

Prince Yang could only smile at what happened in Suzhou.

The Suzhou Elders Association kidnapped Jin Zhijun, who was trying to persuade him to surrender, and Wu Weiye, who was colluding with the Jianlu, and sent them to Nanjing...

"I still don't quite understand. Since Feng Sheng knew that Qian Qianyi was secretly dealing with the Jianlu, and he was also a participant in Zuo Liangyu's rebellion last time, why did he still leave him alone and even let him sit on the position of the head of the Suzhou Elders Association?"

Yan Ermei said doubtfully.

Even though Prince Yang was already a prince, he still could not be called an official title within the Knights of Confucius and Mencius.

Of course, the title of a prince was not valuable in those days. Li Zicheng had already conferred a lot of dukes and even a few princes, such as Li Guo and Gao Yigong. The Ming Dynasty could also confer the title of a prince to people with different surnames, but it was only conferred posthumously on dead people. However, the title of a prince with different surnames was legal, and Dorgon could confer the title of a prince to Wu Sangui and others, so Li Zicheng certainly could not let his brothers be unhappy.

seal up!
All sealed.

It's just a little increase in salary anyway.

He is already the King of Qin, so what's the point of giving his brothers the title of Prince?
"Who would you like the Suzhou Elders' Association to be headed by, Qian Qianyi or Yang Tingshu?"

Yang Feng said with a smile.

Yan Ermei was at a loss for a moment.

"The Suzhou Elders' Council can be said to be the expectation of the Elders' Councils in other prefectures in Jiangnan. The decisions made by the Suzhou Elders' Council will most likely be followed by the Elders' Councils in other prefectures. If a strong and resolute person takes the lead, it will inevitably cause us some trouble.

After all, he doesn't give in easily.

But people like Qian Qianyi, who only talk big and seem to be upright but actually follow the wind, will immediately surrender as long as we intimidate them a little, and they are the most suitable for us. As for his collusion with the Jianlu and his secret plots, these did happen, and I know them all, but in which of them did he not kneel down immediately when he saw that the situation was not good?

Barking dogs don't bite.

He is good at making plans but lacks decision-making, and likes to stir up trouble but lacks the courage to persist.

Why should we worry about such people? "

Yang Feng said.

Yan Ermei was speechless.

Come to think of it, it's true. He colluded with Zuo Liangyu, but ended up running away first. He conspired with Hou Xun to try to get the Suzhou Elders to support Zuo Liangyu, but Shen Tingyang immediately stopped after he fired the gun. It was obvious that Wu Weiye and Jin Zhijun had contacted him in advance. If he was tougher and acted decisively, he might be able to coax those elders. After all, the latter really cared about the money. This was a rare opportunity. As long as the Suzhou Elders stood up and called for action, the Elders' Associations in Songjiang, Changzhou, and even Jiahuhang, which were also extremely unhappy, would most likely respond. After all, this was not surrendering to the Jianlu, and they were still ministers of the Ming Dynasty.

Just submit to the new king.

And the new king was the original crown prince, so there is really nothing wrong with that.

but……

He still didn't dare.

He is good at making plans but lacks decision-making. He likes to stir up trouble but always lacks the courage to see it through to the end.

Or maybe he is just afraid of death.

Very afraid of death.

I don't dare to do anything even slightly risky.

"As expected, strong winds reveal strong grasses. No one would have thought that the current leader of Donglin, the hope of Jiangnan scholars, would become like this."

Yan Ermei sighed.

"He has never changed. He has always been like this. Donglin did have many tough guys, but they were all killed by Wei Zhongxian a long time ago. When the waves wash away the sand, most of what is washed away is sand. Not to mention Qian Qianyi, Hui Shiyang also sang praises to Li Zicheng."

Yang Feng said.

Of course, Qian Qianyi’s role was not that great.

The essence of this matter is that the Suzhou Elders Association is not willing to take action until they see the rabbit. Dorgon has not yet reached the outskirts of Suzhou City, so why should the elders of the Suzhou Elders Association take the initiative to stand up? This matter is not impossible, but people like them must be foolproof. In essence, most of the elders are too cold, and they just feel that it is not safe to jump out now. But the problem is that if they don't jump out and raise their arms, Dorgon will not be able to reach Jiangnan, so the two sides can really be said to have a love affair, but they are just across the river and can never let their hands be held together...

It's quite painful too.

After all, this was a rare opportunity for the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River. Once they united with Dorgon, they might really be able to get rid of the nightmare of Li Zicheng.

but……

There’s also Yang Feng who’s getting in the way!

If Dorgon cannot defeat Yang Feng, then everything will be in vain.

They dare not take risks.

They could only look at the opportunity that was within their reach in pain, but they could not accept the hand that Dorgon extended to them.

"Come on, since they are still sensible, we should do our job!"

Yang Feng said.

Then he boarded the chariot.

This is a special amphibious vehicle, which looks like a BMP, but is much larger and more like a smaller battleship, so it can also be said to be a land boat. However, because it is made of wood, it is not heavy, and using eight wheels removed from cars is enough to ensure that it will not sink into the mud. However, because the modified power system is beyond his technical level, and using horses to pull it requires at least a dozen horses, which is an overstepping of authority. After all, the emperor can only have a dozen horses at most, so the final power method chosen is human power.

Build power.

More than one hundred captured loyal farmers of the Qing Dynasty were tied to horizontal bars on both sides with iron chains, just like the people rowing on the European coolie boats at that time.

"Forward, target Yangzhou!"

Yang Feng stood at the bow of the land boat and pointed forward with the iron hammer in his hand in a very imposing manner.

Then the supervisors on both sides cracked their whips.

More than one hundred Eight Banners Manchu prisoners pushed the horizontal bar and took steps forward. The land boat, which was huge but not too heavy, moved forward immediately. Because of the wheels and bearing system, the burden on them was not too heavy. After all, they were not asked to push it over mountains and across rivers.

Eight rubber tires rolled across the winter plains of northern Jiangsu and marched towards Yangzhou.

Behind Yang Feng, the specially assembled army to aid Yang also began to move forward. The reason for this was that Yang Feng did not bring too many troops. Not to mention the threats from Hauge and Jirgalang in the north, even Dorgon's cavalry could quickly withdraw from Huainan and raid Shandong at this season. Therefore, Shandong's defense could not be affected in any way. In this way, not too many troops could go south. Ten thousand cavalry would be enough, five thousand from the Confucius and Mencius Knights, plus another five thousand Shandong official troops, and a single general, and the general was Liu Yuanqing...

He's still good at fighting.

It was just his brother's matter, but it was also because of his brother's matter that his fear of Yang Feng was unforgettable.

Moreover, he has performed well during this period. He cooperated with Wang Zuntan in defending the west gate of Shandong in Caozhou, and he was still a local militia. He should be re-employed. Anyway, he is led by Yang Feng himself, and he is just a soldier who leads troops into battle.

Ten thousand cavalrymen followed Prince Yang, who stood on his land boat, and the image of Confucius, the symbol of the Confucian Knights, was behind him. Even the Confucian Knights who were guarding the image were also standing on the land boat, each wearing half-body armor, a green robe, holding a sword and a short gun hanging from their waist...

"nice!"

Prince Yang shouted, "Great!"

The gentry and common people on both sides who were seeing him off shouted loudly.

They had reason to be happy, because when this army that went south returned, they would definitely bring back countless gold, silver and jewelry. At this moment, regardless of whether they liked Yang Feng as their leader or not, they cheered for him sincerely.

……

And Yangzhou at this time.

Li Xiangjun, leaning on a wooden stick, was standing on the smoke-filled city wall with a confused look on her face.

Since she reported the news, she had been in a coma because of pneumonia caused by soaking in ice water in the severe cold season. Although she relied on magic medicine to survive the critical period, she never woke up. Until a few minutes ago, she woke up in the soldier cave on the city wall. Because there was no one around, she walked out by herself, and no one paid attention to her in the chaotic city.

Who cares about a woman who looks like she can just go with the flow?
There are many rich girls in the city who have completely collapsed due to the stimulation of war.

There are plenty of crazy people.

The fighting here has been going on for many days.

Even the city walls were blown down many times, but there were still plenty of materials in Yangzhou. After the city walls were blown down, they were blocked, houses were demolished, gardens were demolished, and even the rockery of the gentry in the city was smashed and then used as stone bullets. Although there were a lot of supplies in the city, the continuous fighting had to save ammunition. Fortunately, the Qing army began to save ammunition. Their main problem was the difficulty of transportation...

In fact, most of Dorgon's logistics came from what Shi Kefa abandoned in Fengyang.

Without the reserves abandoned by Shi Kefa's 200,000-strong army, the Qing army would not have been able to continue the fight. Not to mention the heavy artillery itself, it would have been difficult for them to obtain it, but Shi Kefa had abandoned hundreds of heavy artillery.

There are giant siege cannons.

There are indeed a lot of supplies in Yangzhou New City.

But the main products are salt, grain, and cloth. This city is a civilian commercial city, not a fortress. It does not usually stockpile large amounts of ammunition. Even if it does, most of them are in the old city, which is a fortress.

Amid the whistling of artillery shells, Li Xiangjun trembled as she walked to the parapet with the help of a wooden stick. She held onto the parapet that was obviously broken, and looked at the ruins of the new city outside with a dreamy gaze...

"Sister Xiangjun, hurry down, it's dangerous here!"

Xia Wanchun, who happened to see her, hurriedly shouted to her.

Immediately afterwards, the sound of a cannonball whistled past, and Li Xiangjun subconsciously turned her head. A cannonball that flew over the city wall instantly penetrated an embroidered building in the city and flew out from the other side with broken wood.

Of course, there was no one there. Now, men, women, young and old in Yangzhou were defending the city. Even children were running to pick up the arrows shot by the Qing army, and even the cannonballs that hit the city. These could also be fired back, and it was nothing more than remelting and recasting. Women were rescuing the wounded under the city wall, and some were operating catapults. The small catapults were very simple, just throwing blue bricks out. No matter how simple it was, a five-jin brick hitting the head would not be able to withstand it even with a helmet.

Li Xiangjun looked on blankly. She had just woken up from a coma and was facing the familiar city again.

The once prosperous place is now in ruins.

There is hardly a single intact building left in the new city.

The charred pavilions and towers were all piled up in black under the rain, and in the black were rotting bones everywhere. The Qing army stepped on the dead bodies and bones to attack the city walls. The sky was filled with smoke, and the cannonballs whistled overhead. The rumbling sound of the cannons was like rolling thunder. In the gaps that were randomly blocked, the Qing army and the defenders were still fighting bloody battles.

A fight with mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

This picture of hell suddenly appeared before her.

"Sister Xiangjun, hurry down!"

Xia Wanchun hurriedly walked up to her and shouted.

After saying that, he raised his hand and fired a shot, hitting a Qing soldier outside who was holding a bow and arrow, and the latter fell down.

But then a sharp arrow fell.

He pulled Li Xiangjun over, and the arrow fell on his back. Even the heavy arrows of the Qing army did not penetrate the forged steel plate armor on his body, but were directly bounced off. As a son of an aristocratic family, his equipment was still top-notch. At the same time, there was a roar not far away, and then hundreds of soldiers with heavy armor and long swords in the city rushed to the gap. The defenders who were originally blocking the Qing army hurriedly retreated. The Qing army cheered and moved forward, but then they ran into them. These soldiers with heavy armor and long swords were specially selected. They were all wearing forged steel plate armor and even cloth armor. They were completely iron cans. They all used sabers. The Qing army was caught off guard and was instantly chopped down. Then they chopped the Qing army out. As soon as they stepped onto the high ground, dense arrows fell from outside.

Sharp arrows kept falling on them.

Including bullets.

Even a cannonball hit among them, sending armor and flesh splattering everywhere.

"put!"

Chen Zilong, who was giving the orders, shouted.

The two siege cannons on standby on both sides spewed out flames at the same time.

This is a twenty-four-pounder.

Fill it with one or two heavy shot shells.

The artillery shells swept across the Qing archers outside like a storm.

Of course, more shells landed on the city walls soon after.

There were even shells from heavy artillery, and the shells that penetrated the parapet sent up broken bricks, but the sandbags added behind the parapet protected the artillerymen. Chen Zilong, who had been lying in the sandbags for a long time, immediately poked his head out. He also saw Li Xiangjun suddenly appearing on the city wall, and immediately waved his short gun to signal her to leave quickly. The soldiers beside him then rushed to the gap in the parapet and threw Molotov cocktails at the Qing army who were preparing to put up the ladder below. The flames exploded under the ladder, and the Qing army that had gathered was instantly ignited, and they screamed and rushed to the nearest puddle.

Those soldiers wearing heavy armor and carrying long swords also quickly retreated, dragging their dead and wounded companions.

The civilians who had been waiting in the city for a long time carried sandbags and climbed up the gap desperately to continue to raise the gap, but the attack of the Qing army outside the city made them fall down one after another. There was no time to drag away the civilians who followed them, and they even piled sandbags on them directly...

This is the only way to do it.

After all, the Qing army's second wave of attack was already preparing to move forward.

Li Xiangjun was still looking at it blankly. The whole Yangzhou was filled with such battles.

"Why is this so?"

She said blankly.

Xia Wanchun pulled her to the back of the horse road.

"Huang Shu and Hou Fangyu held salt merchant Wang hostage, and persuaded the militia to open the gates to the Jianlu. After the Jianlu entered the city, they massacred the new city, killing more than 100,000 people. Now they have been besieging the old city for many days."

He said.

"What about him?"

Li Xiangjun said instinctively.

"I don't know. Someone who fled here said that he was chopped by the Jianlu, but they didn't know whether he was dead or not. This kind of person deserves death. It would be too easy for him to be chopped to death. He should be cut into pieces."

Xia Wanchun said casually.

……

(End of this chapter)