Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

"Big, big, big..."

"Open, open, open!"

"Hi!"

On Salmon Island, a group of sailors were gambling in the military camp.

The troops of the Ming Dynasty and the New Dynasty were not allowed to engage in gambling or drinking during training in the military camp, but Salmon Island was an exception.

The court has already decided that these serious criminals are not allowed to return to their hometowns to live a normal life. At most, a group of them will be selected every year to be allowed to go home to visit relatives.

Unless someone has made meritorious deeds and risen to level five or above. Even generals below the fifth rank must stay on the island!

Even if the Jin Kingdom is destroyed, there will be a broader world in the future, and there will be places for them to show their talents overseas.

A policy will be introduced in the future. As long as they have not committed any of the "Ten Evil" crimes, those serious criminals who should be sentenced to death and have extenuating circumstances can voluntarily choose to be exiled to Salmon Island and join the army.

For a group of people who are destined to never return to their roots, there is no need to emphasize military discipline too much, and some room must be left for them to vent.

Therefore, they were allowed to drink and gamble in the camp for an hour after the training every day.

But no trouble is allowed, as any private fight will be severely punished.

It is also not allowed to violate the prohibition outside the prescribed time, let alone do these things during the march and combat. Also, borrowing money for gambling is not allowed, both the borrower and the borrower will be severely punished!

Xia Yuqing held a piece of grass in his mouth, lay beside him and patted his belly, turning a deaf ear to the sound of gambling.

"Xia San, why don't you come and play?" someone shouted.

Xia Yuqing said: "It's boring."

The setting sun shines on the sea, flashing golden-red waves.

Xia Yuqing sat up and admired the beautiful scenery, and whistled happily. His desperate life finally saw light.

He is a scholar. Although he has never passed the imperial examination, he has read the books of sages seriously.

There was nothing strange about his murder and conviction. His father fell in love with a poor scholar and not only supported his education, but also betrothed his sister to this man. This scholar was admitted to Jinshi but regretted his marriage. He looked down upon their merchant family and instead married the daughter of a prominent gentry from the same town.

The way things develop here is purely ordinary, similar stories happen from time to time.

But for the sake of face, the wealthy gentry did not want to bear the reputation of breaking the engagement, so they secretly spread rumors that his sister was having an affair with someone, so it was logical that the engagement would be annulled.

Xia Yuqing's sister couldn't bear the humiliation and hanged herself to prove her innocence with her death.

This kind of lawsuit could not be fought, so Xia Yuqing was furious and killed the father of the man the scholar had married.

Fortunately, the Xia family was in business and had money to atone for his sins and avoid death. They also spent crazy money to bribe officials, and his sentence was changed to exile in Hebei Province. As long as he spends more money to manage his crime, his sentence can be reduced in two or three years.

However, the family of the murdered person belonged to a prominent family and had extraordinary connections, so the Criminal Division changed the sentence to exile on Salman Island.

Xia Yuqing's family came over with money and bribed Dengzhou officials, promising to give them money every year. As long as I receive a handwritten letter from my son in the first month of every year, I will definitely spend money again that summer.

In this way, Xia Yuqing survived on Salmon Island.

Wonderful days have just begun!

As the peasant army wreaked havoc in Shandong, even Dengzhou was captured by the rebels, and Salmon Island became completely unpopular.

Food no longer arrived, and they had no ships to leave the island.

The officers and soldiers stationed on the island first looted the islanders to obtain food, and then ate the human flesh of the starved to death.

The officers and soldiers became more and more cruel. They found it too unpalatable to starve the dead without meat, and even began to slaughter prisoners for human flesh. The prisoners were forced into a collective riot, and the islanders were also called in, killing hundreds of officers and soldiers on the island.

Officers and soldiers are also human beings, and they have meat even if they are killed.

Of more than 800 officers and soldiers, more than 1,000 islanders, and more than 4,000 criminals, only 2,000 were still alive after half a year.

Xia Yuqing had more than 20 friends. They formed a small group and grabbed a long gun and a pair of light armor from the officers and soldiers. They took turns wearing this equipment, and the remaining people all used sticks as weapons, and gathered together for defense day and night. Sometimes he also took the initiative to attack. Xia Yuqing was responsible for formulating the attack plan, killing people and immediately eating them to fill his stomach.

At that time, there was no innocent person on Salmon Island, only cannibal demons whose hands were stained with blood.

It has been more than a year since the Ming Dynasty took over Salmon Island, and the food supply has long been restored, and people seem to have forgotten that terrible past. But everyone has retained a habit, which is to carry weapons when eating, pooping and sleeping. They can't sleep without holding something in their hands.

"You are not allowed to gamble anymore. Go back to the barracks and sleep immediately. We will go to sea early tomorrow morning!" The officers came and shouted.

These officers were transferred from other places and had some prestige but not much.

Seeing that the gambler couldn't be persuaded, he had no choice but to run and report.

Not long after, the chief general Shi Huan came over, clapped his hands and said: "We generals are only responsible for training you, and will be transferred elsewhere in the future. Tomorrow, when we cross the sea to invade the Kingdom of Jin, the first batch of meritorious service members will be promoted to commanders and captains. . There will be a second and third batch in the future, and the general will be selected from among you. You think about it for yourself, whether it is fun to gamble and make money here, or to recharge your batteries and kill the enemy and make meritorious deeds."

Xia Yuqing stood up and shouted: "Everyone has gone to bed!"

His small group of more than twenty people immediately left laughing and joking.

The rest of the soldiers also left together one after another.

After sleeping all night with his weapon in his arms, Xia Yuqing got up early in the morning, packed his things and lined up to board the ship.

Not long after, the navy ship in Dengzhou Port also brought the army to join them. Even the six large-scale ships brought back by Xue Daoguang also set off for this operation.

Shi Huan, who escaped from the Liao Kingdom, served as a navigator and led the way straight to the seaside salt fields of the Jin Kingdom.

The whole journey was smooth, and it wasn't until we saw the coastline that the Jin Kingdom's Jiangnan navy came to meet them.

The Kingdom of Jin did not pay attention to the navy at all, and the treatment of these naval forces in the south of the Yangtze River was extremely poor. Moreover, no new warships are being built, only old antique warships. Many warships even have water leakage but are not repaired.

The distance between the two sides was still outside the artillery range, so the Jin Navy fled directly.

Just kidding, who wants to fight a naval battle where defeat is inevitable?

The Kingdom of Jin moved the Jiangnan naval base from Jinzhou to the vicinity of the seaside salt field. After Zhao Lichen, the commander-in-chief, gave an order, the navy rushed into the port and bombarded it, then fired thunder cannons and rockets, setting fire to the buildings where the Jin Kingdom's navy was stationed.

Immediately, the army chose a suitable place to land in the salt field, the infantry built a basic defensive position, and the cavalry all dispersed to look out.

"Brothers, we are robbing each other of salt, money and women!"

"Kill!"

The salt fields are not concentrated in one place, but are distributed for more than ten miles along the coast. The landing points of Ming soldiers were also divided into more than ten places. If it was not conducive for large ships to dock, they would row small boats to the shore.

Xia Yuqing and two other small groups formed a team of 100 people to land.

This year, the Ming army in the north has completely changed their equipment and formations. The basics are still the Mandarin Duck Formation, but the wolf warriors and giant shields are no longer used. The wolf warriors are changed to archers, the rattan players are changed to spearmen, and musketeers will be added in the future.

Xia Yuqing is now the corps commander and the highest officer among the cannibal demons.

They trotted with weapons in hand, but kept their distance, and could form formations at any time when they encountered enemies.

Not long after, a cavalryman who was a horse bandit ran over and shouted: "There is a salt boiling factory ahead. My brother is on horseback to stop and kill the salt workers. Don't let the salt workers escape at will. You go there quickly!"

"Grab the salt!"

The demons cheered.

Xia Yuqing quickly followed the team to their destination, where more than a dozen cavalrymen were intercepting the salt workers trying to escape. Usually they are scared back, but if they really want to run away, they rush up and kill them directly.

The salt workers were driven into a gathering, where they knelt and trembled.

Xia Yuqing gave his 100-man general an idea: "Divide these salt workers into twenty groups, and let us guard one group at a time. Invite Ma Jun's brothers to burn down the houses, and don't want any extravagance, but only take away the salt!"

"good idea!"

These bastards immediately divided their labors and cooperated, ordering the salt workers to quickly carry salt to the landing point.

The cavalry lit torches and ran wildly, setting fire to any house they saw and lighting anything that could burn. They even rushed to nearby villages, burning houses whenever they saw them and arresting young men, women and children whenever they saw them.

As for the elderly, they can be left to the Kingdom of Jin.

If anyone dared to resist, or tried to escape more than twice, he would rush forward and chop him down.

There were blazing fires everywhere, accompanied by the cries of young adults and children.

This sea salt field, which ranked second in the Jin Kingdom, was basically abandoned. Even if people migrate again, they may not be able to boil salt.

“Woooooooo~~~”

A horn sounded in the distance, probably indicating that the golden soldiers had been spotted.

The cavalry roared at the people of the Jin Kingdom: "Go to the beach immediately. If anyone dares to run away, we won't leave anyone behind until we come back!"

After saying that, they gathered in the direction where the horn sounded.

Xia Yuqing sped up action, urging the salt workers to move the salt quickly, deliberately dilly-dallying and stabbing him to death.

The enemies who came after hearing the news were the troops stationed in Haibin County of the Kingdom of Jin.

The number is not large, because the Jin Kingdom does not regard this place as a front line. There are only twenty or thirty real Jurchen soldiers, and the remaining hundreds are Han soldiers.

Dozens of Shandong cavalry came up to harass and delay. As time went by, more and more cavalry gathered.

These guys were all horse bandits. They didn't want to rush forward and fight head-on. They just circled and shot arrows repeatedly, and immediately distanced themselves as they got closer.

Gradually, the Jin soldiers were led to Zhao Li's seaside infantry formation (only a thousand soldiers).

"You lead the infantry to charge!"

After Zhao Li finished speaking to Song Jiang, he immediately rode his horse to join the cavalry and roared: "The enemy has to be lured here. Don't you know how to kill them directly? Follow me and charge, and destroy the enemy cavalry first!"

This guy who was shot like a hedgehog every time he fought, led the cavalry charge without saying a word.

Song Jiang muttered: "Madman! Grandpa was not so desperate when he rebelled."

Li Kui's eyes flashed and he said, "Brother, I also want to be a cavalryman. It's so fun to charge!"

The troops stationed in Haibin County, even Jurchen soldiers, are second-line troops.

Seeing Song Jiang leading the infantry in formation, Zhao Li led hundreds of cavalry to charge forward. More than twenty Jurchen cavalry immediately fled, and hundreds of Jin Han infantry were abandoned.

These Jurchen cavalry couldn't figure out the situation, and they didn't know how many enemies were coming. They were lured here by the Shandong cavalry, feeling that they had been ambushed, and planned to go back to defend the county immediately, and asked the chief official of Haibin to issue militia to defend the city.

As soon as the Jurchen cavalry left, hundreds of Han infantry also ran away. They were still confused until now, and they didn't understand why there were suddenly enemies in the rear.

The last cross-sea battle of the Song Dynasty was ten years ago, and it was a small force attacking elsewhere.

The military and civilians here seem to have forgotten that there is such a thing as a cross-sea war.

Zhao Li took the lead, and the Shandong bandit cavalry behind him were also led by the general to fight high. When they rushed closer, hundreds of Jin Han soldiers collapsed, and some even knelt down and surrendered.

"Those who surrender, carry the soldiers away, and kill all those who are still running!" After Zhao Li gave the order, he rushed out and chopped again.

The Ming Dynasty’s army left as quickly as it came.

In just three days, they took away salt, people, and livestock, and turned the seaside salt field that stretched for more than ten miles into nothing. Everything that could be burned was burned, not just the houses, but also the firewood stored in the saltworks.

However, Haibin County was so frightened that they frantically recruited militiamen to defend the city. At the same time, they quickly requested elite troops to come for support.

The nearest elite Jin soldiers were mobilized quickly, and they were afraid that other salt fields would be attacked, so they mobilized a large number of troops to protect various salt fields.

Zhao Li returned to Dengzhou with the trophies. He was very satisfied with the results of the trip and called Song Jiang, Shi Huan and others: "Those salt fields in the Jin Kingdom must be on guard next time. Let's avoid the salt fields and go to plunder the coast." Villages, take away the young adults and children there. Then burn down all the houses, leaving only the old people in the Kingdom of Jin, and let these old people go begging outside the prefectures and counties!"