On the third day of March, Huojiazhuang in the west of Yonghe County.
This place is located at the junction of the two provinces, far away from the city, with no more than a hundred households. But when the spring is bright, the ancient cypresses in the mountains are shrouded in clouds and mist, and the scenery is extremely beautiful.
The land here was originally barren, and in the early days it was just barren mountains. A scholar named Huo bought the land and led his servants to cultivate it and build pavilions.
Later, the scholar passed the examination and served as an official in the south for more than ten years. He returned to his hometown and settled here. He multiplied from generation to generation, and today's Huojiazhuang has emerged.
Up to now, the village has been handed down for six generations, and has produced two scholars and seven scholars. The tallest one, Mr. Huo, was promoted to the sixth rank of Yangzhou Tongzhi. The year before last, he was promoted to the fifth rank of Ganzhou Tongzhi. But I heard that there
The mine slaves were causing trouble, so they didn't take office.
What's more, this promotion is really meaningless, just like being demoted.
The official rank has been raised by two levels, but in fact, can the general magistrate of Yangzhou be the same as the tongzhi of Ganzhou?
Mr. Huo is an honest man. During his four years in Yangzhou, he has never committed any crime for a wealthy family. Except for the regular silver that everyone receives from his subordinates, he does not take anything else from him.
During his four years in Yangzhou, Mr. Huo did not allow anyone in his family to buy land. Every year, he transported 7,400 taels of regular silver and 65 taels of silver from his salary back to his hometown.
The number of routines is scary, but in Yangzhou, you can’t do without them.
This amount of money is reserved for subordinate officials in each county to hand over when collecting various types of money.
Below are classics and histories from county magistrates to non-officials.
As for the fourth-rank magistrate, the fifth-rank fellow magistrate, the seventh-rank official, and even the low-ranking jailer in the prefect’s yamen.
They already have it, why don’t they send another copy to the capital?
Everyone has it, but you don’t want it?
Why don't you come to Yangzhou?
What's more, even if you don't want it, the people will still take one tael from the court and two taels from the government.
Do you love it or not?
That's not Shanxi or Shaanxi. There is no one to hold official positions. A county can count as having an official if it only has a book of classics and history.
Yangzhou Prefecture has a complete bureaucracy system, and even small subordinates can make people fight for their heads.
Thinking back to the years when he was an official in Yangzhou, Mr. Huo saw too much about gardening, visiting brothels, buying skinny horses, eating, drinking and having fun.
Some people spend thousands of taels of gold foil to make gold foil, climb the gold mountain and scatter it in the wind, and let the people all over the city fight for it, just for a smile.
His age is not worth much in Yangzhou.
Mr. Huo didn't want to meet anyone when he returned to Shanxi's small mountain village. His family said they wanted to buy a big yard in Fenzhou Prefecture, but he didn't agree, so he stubbornly lived in the mountains of Yonghe County.
Every day I look at the mountains and trees, eat, pee, drink and sleep.
Wealth, other people's wealth.
Sometimes I see other people earning three to five hundred taels, and I think that’s really awesome, I have to work hard too.
Sometimes when I see others earning three to five million taels, I will doubt the world.
If you are used to seeing those things, you won’t have much to live for in this life.
Even if you are materialistic, you will never make that much money in your life no matter what you do.
If you are worried about your family and country, no matter what you do, a sixth-grade official will not be able to do anything about these things.
Suddenly, the son of the family ran up to the pavilion in the mountain. The heavy footsteps interrupted Mr. Huo's reverie: "I'm so panicked. I throw you again. What happened?"
The son of the family supported his knees, lifted up his silk arrow sleeves and tied them to the hem. He wiped his sweat and said, "Dad, there are many people coming to the mountain, holding flags, drums, swords and guns. Many of them even wore the uniforms of the western frontier army."
Cotton armor."
"Western frontier army?"
Mr. Huo was a little panicked. He looked down the mountain but saw no one. After taking a deep breath to calm down, he asked: "Is Fu Renxi in Yongheguan going crazy with hunger? If he wants money, just let him have twenty taels from the account. I'll turn around and ask him."
Hand me a note, you bastard, you dare to come to your house with a knife and a gun, you don’t want to live anymore.”
"No, no, it's not General Fu, the commander of the Shaanxi frontier army."
The domestic servant couldn't explain clearly, so he could only point back and said: "Dad, please go down and take a look."
The law of the Ming Dynasty stipulated the number of servants, so any extra servants were not called servants, but were adopted sons and daughters.
"Let's go."
Mr. Huo didn't ask any more questions, took two steps back to the pavilion, picked up the wine bottle, and followed the servant down the mountain.
When you walk halfway up the mountain and turn a corner, you can see the appearance of Huojiazhuang.
Huojiazhuang has a fort on the hill.
The year before last, Wang Er of Shaanxi had just rebelled against Sanyue, so he started to build a fort here. At least one letter was sent to Yangzhou late and he came back. Then he built a square earth fence with loess, and the walls were high and thick.
The two villages where hundreds of households live scattered are located on two hills outside Tuwei.
The dry farming terraced fields on the mountain are lush and green, and the corn that has just grown to a foot high is planted. When it is time to topdress, there are piles of manure everywhere in the field.
Mr. Huo didn't see anyone at first, but even if the servant didn't say anything, he could still get an idea of the situation from the extremely flustered look of the clan members in the village.
Farmers are driving their cars, sheep, cattle and horses towards the fort, and chickens are crowing and dogs are barking everywhere.
The younger generation who were studying in the family also acquired bows, crossbows, knives and guns, and were led up the fortress wall by their husbands.
Mr. Huo also hurriedly ran towards the fort, and then he saw the person coming.
First, more than ten people came from the mountain road, all dressed as pond riders, wearing light armor with bubble nails, iron helmets with the word "Yong" on their heads, and small flags of various colors on their backs, walking along the mountain road.
Each team formed a team of three, either to block the mountain road, to occupy the fields, or to bypass the village fort, and choose a key point to climb up. Some people stood with bows, and some raised flags to signal.
In the next moment, a dozen horsemen with spears and bows came up the slope, or a dozen people came out of the forest carrying cannons on their shoulders, or a Mara man from Guandao pushed a cannon.
When Mr. Huo boarded the fort, he saw hundreds of soldiers with guns and helmets in all directions, which made him tremble with fear.
The nephew of the clan was used to being arrogant, so he stepped forward and said, "These Qiu Ba, uncle, let me ask them what they want to do!"
"Forget it now. They are confident and not soldiers. Have you seen that flag?"
If the people who come are officers and soldiers, and if Mr. Huo has any fear in his heart, just ask him to stand on his head and walk to Zhangjiakou.
But it was obvious that these people were not soldiers. My nephew looked along and saw a red flag among the helmets and guns all over the mountains and plains, with a simple Liu character drawn out of gold thread.
"I'm afraid they are bandits from Qin."
"Qin's bandits and bandits, the drought-stricken and hungry people?" The eldest nephew seemed to have seen a ghost: "The drought-stricken and hungry people can't look like this, right?"
"Of course the drought-hungry people don't look like this, but there is only one Liu in Qin, Liu Chengzong of Yan'an. He first killed the guerrillas and then the generals. It's a pity that the donated Hongyi cannon is not there."
There was no change in color on Mr. Huo's face. He took a sip from the flask and patted his eldest nephew on the shoulder: "Don't leave the castle. Go and get the pipe from my room."
Get a pipe?
The eldest nephew looked reluctant, turned around and sent a servant, and then came back and asked: "Uncle, if this is not a soldier but a thief, what can we do?"
"Go down if I ask you to. What can I do? Let them surround you. There will be water and food but you won't starve to death. Don't hang around me all the time and light up the smoke."
The eldest nephew responded and ran down.
Mr. Huo was holding on to the battlements of the fort wall. He tried his best with his arms but couldn't stop his legs from shaking. This man really couldn't control himself when he was afraid.
He said to himself that he was unwilling to build this fort back then, but now it seems that he may have to rely on this fort to save his life.
He really didn’t want to practice it.
When I received the letter, Mr. Huo drank too much and was enjoying the snow in Slender West Lake.
I didn't even read the letter carefully. I just heard that the servant who delivered the letter said that I needed to build a fort at home and it was estimated that it would cost six hundred taels.
Six hundred taels, I can’t bear to part with it.
Officials like them in Yangzhou can't find their place at all.
All day long, there are salt merchants' children bringing food, drink and fun. They don't need to spend money wherever they go. They enjoy the best and spend money like water.
But on the other hand, these are just castles in the air. Who doesn’t know that this illusion comes with power, and it will naturally go with power.
Who can bear to take his turn to take out money from his pocket, weigh up his salary, and then throw away ten years of salary at once?
But I couldn't bear it and there was nothing I could do. There was someone nearby, so I couldn't lose face, so I decided to do this and built a fort in my hometown.
At that time, Mr. Huo never thought that this fort would one day come in handy.
But if you insist on saying that he is stingy, that’s not the case.
Maybe he felt guilty. When he heard that the Donglu invaded Jizhou last year, he threw out 600 taels of silver on the spot and entrusted the craftsmen of Zezhou Wei Tiao to donate one thousand catties of copper red barbarian cannons and one thousand five hundred catties of iron red barbarian cannons.
Gate, intends to donate to the imperial court to equip Shanxi Guard reinforcements.
The same amount was six hundred taels, and he threw these six hundred taels away without blinking an eye.
The gun price is actually not expensive.
The cost of labor and materials plus a little bonus for Commander Qiu Ba is the cost of a red cannon donated by Mr. Huo.
There is no added value of craftsmanship.
But the irony is that as long as the commander's benefits are enough, the enthusiasm of the craftsmen can be guaranteed, and there will be no problems with the craftsmanship.
It has been popular since the Tianqi Year to donate red cannons to the imperial court.
It has been cast and is being shipped from Zezhou.
There's nothing he can do if he doesn't transport it home. Damn Zhang Honggong and Geng Ruqi are both in jail. He just donates it to whom. He can't push the cannon to Beijing by himself.
Mr. Huo thought to himself, why didn't Hou Jin join the invaders earlier? If Hou Jin joined the invaders earlier, he would have made cannons earlier, the emperor would have put Zhang Honggong and Geng Ruqi in jail earlier, and the red barbarians would have entered the house earlier.
Although he does not have a skilled gunner, Mr. Huo does not have the dream of killing Liu Chengzong with one shot, but at least two heavy cannons are placed on the wall, which can scare the thieves on the outside and boost morale on the inside.
He knew Liu Chengzong. Throughout the winter last year, the gentry visited relatives and friends and gathered together to enjoy the snow and mountains. The death of General Li Bei of Yan'an Prefecture on the way to take office was their biggest source of discussion.
If one person knows it, he will laugh secretly in his heart, if two people know it, they can exchange opinions, and if three people sit together, they can talk things through.
Oh, it turns out that the guerrilla general Lu Cheng also died in the hands of Liu Chengzong.
This proves Liu Chengzong's strength from the side, but it does not prevent the scholars from sitting together and mocking Qiu Ba, with a patriotic look on their faces, hating iron but not steel.
Of course, the winter chatter does not stop Mr. Huo from trembling with trembling legs and about to urinate.
You're bragging, no one has this problem yet.
Mr. Huo was counting heads on the wall. As soon as he counted two hundred, someone came to the foot of the fort under the protection of several shields and shouted loudly to persuade them to surrender.
Mr. Huo cursed with a trembling voice: "What the hell, you and the thieves are waiting. When the imperial army arrives, this is where you will be buried!"
Feeling strong, he sniffed the pungent smell in his nose and looked back at the black smoke rising into the sky from the castle. He knew very well that the fate of their entire clan was no longer in their own hands.
It depends on when the Fenzhou Guard, Pingyang Guard and Yonghe Pass Guard Chief Fu Renxi and his gang will come first.
Fu Renxi comes first.
In fact, to be precise, if the one-mile radius of this solid earth fortress is used as the boundary, Fu Renxi arrived a little earlier than Mr. Huo.
On the hill opposite the castle.
Liu Chengzong put down the wolf fur bowl on his head, put down his telescope and turned around and asked: "Brother Fu, is this the castle you are talking about?"
Fu Renxi was standing next to him, wearing a military uniform that was not as good as the Huo family's servants. He had a black scarf on his face, bowed his head, raised a finger to his mouth, and whispered: "General, don't leave."
Call me by my last name!"
He cursed in his heart. He was scared to death the first time he did this, and Liu Chengzong even called him by his last name!
This gang of thieves has been wiped out by the army. If we capture a prisoner and question him, won't he be finished?
Seeing how careful he was, Liu Chengzong laughed out loud: "Then what should I call you?"
"Call me...call me a suitcase of gold."
This nickname is good, rich and noble.
Liu Chengzong came here entirely because of Fu Renxi.
He always thought that Chengyun was timid, but this guy was actually not timid at all, he just never killed anyone.
He arranged the baggage outposts and work posts of the transporters in Yatou Mountain. After the division was completed, I was responsible for repairing the fort, and the transporters were responsible for helping. We also observed the movements of the Yongheguan garrison. If possible, we contacted each other to express feelings and talk about transporting supplies from Shanxi to Shaanxi in the future.
matter.
Who would have thought that Liu Chengzong had just left the day before, and Chengyun entered Yonghe Pass by himself that night and went to have dinner with Fu Renxi.
One meal a night and a Huojiapu.
Liu Chengzong was furious when he found out about this and scolded Chengyun. Unexpectedly, this kid actually talked back, saying that it would be useless for Fu Renxi to kill him because he was afraid of what he would do.
But let's compare our feelings, transporting singles to Yonghe Pass, in exchange for Fu Renxi daring to meet Liu Chengzong alone.
"This is this bungalow. Mr. Huo used to be the magistrate of Yangzhou. He shipped two to thirty thousand taels of silver to his family every year. His bungalow is definitely rich!"
"Two or thirty thousand taels, is it twenty thousand taels per year, or thirty thousand taels per year, have you seen it?"
Liu Chengzong could not believe the amount estimated by others. When he first bought the land in Liujiazhuang, Song Shouzhen and his gang asked for information, and some people said that there were tens of thousands of taels in Heilong Mountain.
Without seeing it with your own eyes, who knows whether you have money or not?
"I didn't see it, but he must be rich. Last year he donated two red barbarian cannons to Shanxi. The cannons were probably just built in February."
Fu Renxi said: "What is the general's plan to surround him like this? Use cannons to bombard him!"
"What you said is very good, but don't rush to beat him. We will surround him for two days."
"General, if you want to surround me, I won't be here to accompany you." Fu Renxi was still worried and asked, "What about the promised money?"
"Don't worry, what I promised you will not change. Are you sure this bungalow has ten thousand taels?"
"I'm sure, there are definitely ten thousand taels. If you didn't break this fort, you would have bombarded me later!"
"Okay, then I will ask the carrier to deliver one thousand taels later, five hundred taels for a box of gold, and five hundred taels to help me buy medicine. After everything is done, there will be 888 taels left to distribute to all the brothers in Guanli." After saying that, Liu Chengzong nodded to Renxi, sent a team of people to escort him back, turned to look at Baozi again and smiled.
If he does not occupy Yonghe County and advance eastward, the Fenzhou Banner Guards in the north will cross the border and cut off his retreat.
This castle is very suitable for a family of officials and a huge amount of money.
Let’s see now, which one of Fenzhou Guard and Pingyang Guard will come?
Liu Chengzong took a deep breath and thought, it doesn't matter if they are all cowards.