Win the Ding 1617

The weather finally cleared up.The sun lazily appeared in mid-air, sparing light and heat on the land.

Taking advantage of the good weather, the soldiers who broke into the camp came out to do some activities in the sun one after another, so as to bask in the moldy smell that had been suppressed for half a month.The horsemen and auxiliary soldiers put the saddle armor that had been soaked and rotted by the rain on the threshing ground to dry well.

But in front of the big temple at the intersection at the foot of the mountain, there are bursts of golden drums.

Li Zicheng took advantage of the rare good weather and the fact that there was no fighting, and transferred the old battalion soldiers to practice in turn. Those who didn't have their turn to practice were stationed in various places to get familiar with the new weapons in their hands.

There were only 300 soldiers from the old battalion practicing in front of the temple. Child soldiers were mixed with the old battalion.These child soldiers not only have to practice riding and archery and various martial arts like adults, but also focus on practicing formations. The purpose is to let the soldiers develop the habit of listening to the golden drum and looking at the current flag, and advance and retreat from left to right, so that they will not be chaotic in the middle of the battle.

Zhang Nai, Li Shuangxi, Luo Hu, and Wang Si, the leaders of the four child soldiers, each led a group of child soldiers in the queue, brandishing their spears, following the sound of the drums, moving left, right, The actions of defending, dialing, stabbing, and picking.

Although the spears in their hands are very heavy, these dolls, who have been haunting the battlefield since they were ten or even seven or eight years old, couldn't let go of the sharp spears.

The spear made of pure steel is extremely long, and together with the spear head, the length has reached three feet long that no one has ever seen before!In Hao Yaoqi's words, "There is no need to install a spear. This spear is a good thing to use on horseback!"

However, when the freshly felled wooden pole was wetted and assembled on the spearhead, the spear with a length of about one foot and five feet immediately caught the eyes of the generals.Such a weapon, when encountering officers and soldiers on a narrow mountain path, dozens of spearmen rushed in array, what kind of officers and soldiers can resist it?

"Let's line up the archers behind the spearmen! Shooting arrows while stabbing like a forest of spears, those bastards of the officers and soldiers can only kill those who make good deeds, dare to confront us head-on?!" Yuan Zongdi He proudly fiddled with a newly acquired copper-tired iron arm bow.The rawhide bowstring on it was plucked by his thick fingers.There were bursts of bang bang noises.

And Liu Zongmin judged the two newly replaced steel knives with his blacksmith's professional eyesight.The long sword known as Juehu Dao by merchants is generally similar to the popular Miao Dao, but it is entirely made of fine steel.No frills.The starting weight is very heavy.Gently twist the blade with your fingers.Feeling the sharpness of the blades, Liu Zongmin snorted in satisfaction with the newly obtained pair of precious swords.This was much stronger than the pair of iron swords he had used for many years.

Follow Wu Ruyi's suggestion.Since they can't grab it by hand, they will lose the few remaining old battalion troops for nothing, and spread the word to ruin their reputation. In the future, which businessman would dare to make a deal with Chuangying?That being the case, then simply go to trade with this group of merchants, anyway, merchants!They smuggled goods thousands of miles for the sake of profit.When transporting these weapons to the periphery of this battlefield, they are either sold to the officers and soldiers or sold to poles. Whose money is not money?

At that moment, Li Zicheng ordered Gao Yigong, wife and younger brother of the commander in chief of the army, to follow Wu Ruyi to Huang's courtyard to negotiate with those merchants.

However, when the leader of the businessman, Chen Guoxi, used Mandarin with a strong Hokkien accent to explain the laborious offer to Gao Yigong, he couldn't help but make Gao Yigong a little annoyed.

"A gun costs 15 taels of silver or 15 silver dollars, a pair of iron armor and an iron helmet costs 100 taels, a firecracker costs 40 taels of silver or silver dollars, and steel armor is sold to dog officers and soldiers for 150 taels a pair. It’s also the same price. Gunpowder costs three taels of silver per barrel, and if we buy more, it’s two taels of silver per barrel.”

With anger at these businessmen taking advantage of the fire, and longing for those strong soldiers, Gao Yigong had no choice but to return in dismay.

"Tell them! As long as the things are good, even if I go bankrupt, I will pay them the price!" Before Li Zicheng could speak, Gao Yigong's sister Gao Guiying expressed her attitude.As for things other than money and wealth, as long as you have swords and guns, soldiers and horses in your hands, won't money and wealth come like a tide?Breaking through a stockade at random will earn at least tens of thousands of taels.

"Ma'am is right!"

Several generals who entered the camp also agreed with Gao Guiying's words.What is silver?What is lacking in the camp now are knives, guns, equipment, medicine and cloth.

After several rounds of back and forth bargaining, Gao Yigong and Chen Guoxi reached an agreement.

The officers below the sentinel who broke into the camp and above the commander all put on the same jiao leather armor as Wu Ruyi, so beautiful that these old brothers who accompanied Li Zicheng in the South and North Wars showed off to each other like the bridegroom officers.

The more sophisticated iron armor was worn by mid-level generals such as Zhang Nai, Gu Ying, Niu Wancai, and Lin Chengyang.As for those steel armors that make people drool upon seeing them, Zicheng also weighed them for a long time, so he reluctantly bought twenty pairs, equipped them with Liu Zongmin, Hao Yaoqi, Yuan Zongdi and others, and made an agreement with Li Shuangxi and others that once they leave the mountain After that, we will put on such good things for everyone!

The money saved was spent on ordinary soldiers in the old battalion.These people usually only have a cotton waistcoat on their bodies, and some of them have a piece of iron cotton armor that is not inlaid.Those who can have a shoulder-length cotton armor are all stripped from officers of at least the rank of small colonel.In addition to buying a large number of funeral guns, Juehu knives, gunpowder, meat porcelain jars, salt and life-saving kits, another item Chen Guoxi brought out attracted the attention of Li Zicheng and others.

"King Chuang, please look!"

Chen Guoxi pointed to a target thirty steps away with his Fujian accent and showed it to Li Zicheng.

On a wooden pole as tall as a person, a strange armor is tied to it, but inside the armor is a fat pig that has been slaughtered and washed.

A caravan guard took a matchlock gun, slowly poured the primer into the cleaned medicine pot in front of everyone, filled the gunpowder and projectiles, and rammed it twice with a spade to let the projectiles and Gunpowder is better combined in one place.Light the kindling rope, blow on it gently, and let the matchstick burn.Finished the above series of actions.The guard raised his head and waited for Chen Guoxi's instructions.

"Let King Chuang and the leaders see how powerful our coconut shell armor is!"

The generals standing next to Li Zicheng glanced at the distance and smiled a little. At such a distance, as long as the gunfire does not explode, the projectiles fired will definitely penetrate the human body.

"If I'm lucky enough to win Master Liu, the chief whistler, then this fat pig will be given to Lord Liu's subordinates for a dental sacrifice."

Facing the questions from Liu Zongmin and others, Chen Guoxi didn't say anything, just joked with Liu Zongmin, Hao Yaoqi and others with a businessman's smile.

"Old Chen. Speak up. It counts!" Hao Yaoqi hadn't eaten a meal of meat for many days. Faced with this meal of wine and meat that was almost at his fingertips, he would naturally not let it go.

"Not only does it count, but there are also two jars of shochu."

Li Zicheng had other considerations.He ordered someone to fetch a set of cotton armor commonly seen in the army. "After a while, shopkeeper Chen's guards have tried this set of armor. Try this armor again."

Under the expectant eyes of everyone, the guard aimed at the target more than 20 steps away and pulled the trigger, and the firecracker roared.A white smoke rose, and with the gunpowder smoke from the muzzle, a blue smoke rose from the coconut shell armor opposite. It was the bullet that hit the armor, and the hot bullet burned a trace on the surface of the coconut shell. But the projectile is only embedded in the coconut shell.

The same burst of fire came out, and with the sound of firecrackers, the armor on the fat pig was pierced by the projectile fired at close range, and the impact of the projectile knocked the fat pig to the side. It was an inconceivable expression. The shoulder-length cotton armor that is common in the army has no defense against firecrackers, but this rather weird-looking armor can protect the body so well.

"King Chuang, how about this armor?"

Chen Guoxi still had that tepid, harmless smile.

"Old Chen! Damn it! It's a good thing that I didn't bet with you on other things, otherwise, I would have lost so much that I lost my wife's pants!"

Hao Yaoqi yelled from the sidelines, causing everyone to roar with laughter.

A thousand pairs of coconut shell armor became the standard equipment for ordinary soldiers in the old battalion.According to Chen Guoxi's words, this armor is no worse than the rattan armor worn by the rattan armor soldiers Zhuge Liang encountered, and it is not afraid of fire.

Now the camp soldiers who are practicing on the spacious temporary school field outside the temple are equipped with various equipment exchanged from Chen Guoxi according to their respective grades.

Shuangxi and Zhang Nai, the two adopted sons of Li Zicheng, were both wearing iron armor, holding mourning guns, and hanging from their waists were extremely household knives made of fine steel.On his back was a copper-tired and iron-armed bow, and the quiver was full of three-edged long arrows made of steel.Such equipment was absolutely unthinkable before.

As for the two younger brothers, Luo Hu and Wang Si, they kept stealing glances at the beautiful and strong iron armor on the two big brothers, and then at the leather armor on their own, feeling a little frustrated.Although the armors are different, the weapons of the four boy soldier leaders are generally the same, each of them has spears and knives, hard bows and sharp arrows.

And those leaders at all levels who are practicing are also dressed in the same way.Even those ordinary soldiers in coconut shell armor had high morale, and the gloomy atmosphere that filled the camps a few days ago was swept away.

Seeing the new mental outlook of the entire army, and a new set of equipment from head to toe, Hao Yaoqi, Tian Jianxiu, Yuan Zongdi, Liu Fangliang and others can naturally stand beside the school field and watch the battalion drill with a grin.However, in the Guandi Temple on the mountain, Li Zicheng, Liu Zongmin, Gao Yigong and other family members were a little worried.

"One thousand and five hundred spear heads, one thousand extinct knives, one thousand pairs of coconut shell armor, twenty pairs of steel armor, one hundred pairs of iron armor, four hundred bows, sixty barrels of gunpowder, and one thousand and seven hundred pieces of meat Porcelain pots, 150 bolts of cotton cloth of various colors, [-] stone experience, [-] life-saving kits, and [-] mules and horses.”

The old battalion secretary reported a series of numbers received in front of Li Zicheng, Gao Guiying, Liu Zongmin, Gao Yigong, Wu Ruyi, and the owner Chen Guoxi. As these numbers flowed out of his mouth, the expressions of Li Zicheng and others changed. Have to dignify.

"King Chuang, what's wrong with these numbers?"

Chen Guoxi is still smiling like Maitreya Buddha.

Li Zicheng could only cry bitterly in his heart!When I originally bought these things, I kept telling myself and my subordinates, but now it is difficult to enter the camp, and I don’t have much money, so don’t be greedy, but there are still so many things after saving left and right.These numbers?well!

A Sangmen gun costs 15 taels of silver, a pair of iron armor and iron helmet costs 100 taels, a pair of steel armor costs 150 taels, a barrel of gunpowder costs 20 taels of silver, a razor knife costs 30 taels, and a hard bow costs 50 taels. An arrow costs 40 taels, a pair of jiao leather armor costs 150 taels, and a coconut shell armor costs [-] taels.The sum of these is an astronomical figure that makes Li Zicheng very headache, not to mention the meat porcelain pots, life-saving kits, oil, salt and cloth, etc., and the [-] mules and horses that carry the luggage.

"King Chuang. Our battalion can't afford so much cash." Wu Ruyi was in the middle army.Naturally, he knew the current situation of Chuangying's family.

After saying this, Wu Ruyi's right hand had consciously or unconsciously pressed on the hilt of the Juehu Dao at his waist. He peeked out, and the surrounding soldiers also put their hands on the hilt.Just waiting for Li Zicheng's expression.an action.

Although Chen Guoxi still had a smile like Maitreya Buddha on his face.However, one hand took over the matchlock gun from the guard next to him at some point, as if he was about to explain the benefits of the matchlock gun to the camp soldiers next to him.

"King Chuang. I still have a few thousand taels of silver and some jewellery. Take them out together and hand them over to Shopkeeper Chen!" Hao Yaoqi's words immediately eased the atmosphere.

Same as other peasant army camps.The generals who entered the camp also had their own small family background and a small team, as did their own soldiers and property.Only when he was in Shangluo Mountain, Chuangying managed to manage and dispatch the personal soldiers of the generals in a unified manner, but the property could not be deployed in a unified manner.

"Brother Waqi is right! I still have some silver and jewels in my place, so take them out together! No matter what, you have to settle this account!" Although Liu Zongmin had always been a little dissatisfied with Hao Yaoqi, but for Waqi's move, But it is greatly appreciated.

Li Zicheng is very pleased that his generals are so aware of the overall situation.It's not that he didn't think about turning his face and denying his account, and doing Chen Guoxi and others here, so that he can be black and black.But doing so is not worth the candle.For one thing, if he confronts the tough, he may not be able to get a bargain. In Chen Guoxi's caravan, one-third of the people are always dealing with him, and the rest are "resting" in the temporary camp.Moreover, for the convenience of drainage and flood discharge, a not-so-deep but absolutely wide trench was dug around their camp.Zicheng didn't intend to put all his capital into this ditch.Secondly, once the matter is kept secret, someone escapes, and the rumors go out and ruin the reputation, which businessman will dare to have contacts with him in the future?

"Xiao Wu, you and your wife go and take out the pieces of jewelry, jade, jewelry, calligraphy and paintings I collected, and give them to the shopkeeper Chen for review." After explaining to Wu Ruyi and his wife Gao Guiying, Li Zicheng was amiable and even full of faces. Looking at Chen Guoxi with a smile: "Master Chen, I don't have enough cash in the camp. I wonder if Master Chen accepts jewelry, jade, jewelry, calligraphy and paintings?"

"Hmph! Let go!" Chen Guoxi replied to Li Zicheng in Mandarin with a Fujian accent: "King Chuang, in fact, there is no need to give me money. King Chuang is just about to get out of luck, so it's better to keep the money on hand. .”

"As for the payment, the trumpet can accept King Chuang's jewelry, jewelry, antiques, jade, calligraphy and paintings, and even rare books!"

As soon as these words came out of Chen Guoxi's mouth, he immediately regretted the viscera of Liu Zongmin, Hao Yaoqi and other generals who broke into the camp.During these years of fighting between the north and the south, they only cared about collecting hard currencies such as gold and silver, as well as some valuable jewelry. They often didn't even look at the antiques, jade, calligraphy, paintings, books, etc. that Chen Guoxi said, and even discarded them casually, what's more. Those who use books to warm themselves by the fire.

Liu Zongmin recalled what he had done between Jianghuai and Hehan in the past, and unconsciously patted his calloused hands on his thighs, and squeezed out a sentence: "Donkey ball, you have to tell the boys in each battalion that you can't do it in the future." It's a waste of things!"

If he had known that those unfamiliar things could be exchanged for things, Li Zicheng would not have tolerated his subordinates using those books, calligraphy and paintings as firewood.

But it's too late to regret it now, I can only wait until the situation improves in the future, and then restrain my subordinates.

"King Chuang, Madam, Master Liu and Master Hao, in fact, you are all in the treasure mountain, but why are you blinded by one leaf?" Chen Guoxi once again pointed out a bright road for Li Zicheng's generals.

Although Wushan, Zhuxi, and Fangxian counties have high mountains and dense forests and little grain production, everyone will suddenly understand when they mention another geographical name for the mountains in this area.

Shennongjia.

In addition to the legends of wild men for thousands of years, the dense forests here produce all kinds of precious medicinal materials.There are a bead on the head, a bowl of water by the river, a pen by King Wen, a flower with seven leaves, nine dead yang grass, Gastrodia elata, Codonopsis pilosula, Angelica, etc.

In addition to these medicinal materials, there are also a large number of animal resources, not to mention birds, there are dozens of species of animals.There are all kinds of golden monkeys, South China tigers and leopards.These are the best skins in the eyes of everyone.

Hearing what Chen Guoxi said, everyone seemed to be enlightened, wow!Send the brothers out to hunt, first to get familiar with the weapons in their hands, to train soldiers, and second, to obtain meat and skins.If you are lucky, you can hunt leopards and tigers, and even tiger bones and leopard bones are excellent medicinal materials!

Chen Guoxi's words were undoubtedly a shot in the arm for the battalion soldiers who were currently reciting characters.

In the next few days, several generals under Li Zicheng took turns to lead the attack, and looted all the businesses in several nearby towns that purchased the local medicinal materials from the mountain people.

The seized proceeds were used to pay Chen Guoxi for the goods. (To be continued..)