It was dark in the fourth watch of the day. On Qijia Mountain in the Nanshan Mountains of Hezui, several large pots and earth stoves were set up in the drying area at the entrance of Maquanbao Village. The women who got up early started cooking and preparing for the men who were about to go to work.
Meals.
This fort belongs to the family of the chieftain of Xiqi and is called Maquan. In the past, it was a fort where horse breeders lived together, with only a dozen families.
However, nearly a thousand people now live in this fort, and the temporary wooden and cloth shacks have crowded the courtyard drying areas inside and outside the fort. Many people have even built bunks directly on the drying areas.
Green smoke was rising from the extinguished bonfire, snoring and talking in sleep came and went, and the satin bedding was mixed with tattered linen, which looked like a disaster.
Qi Zhaozhou stood on the upper level of the fort, looking at the fort filled with sleeping refugees, and sighed helplessly.
He is the second son of Chieftain Qi Tingjian, who is not yet twenty years old. His family has lived in Sanqibao in the south of Xining for a long time. He only came here to hunt and play after the Chinese New Year. He never expected that war would come.
, can’t go back.
As soon as the news came that Liu Shizi had raised troops in Juerwan, Qi Zhaozhou's brother Qi Xingzhou sent a message to the soldiers, telling him not to go anywhere and hide in the mountains, telling him that the old Qi family could not get involved in this battle - their father was here
Liu Chengzong’s hand.
The two children of the Qi family are very filial and have a deep brotherly love. They have never thought about starting an army.
The younger brother is going to throw himself into a trap, and the whole family must be in good order even if he dies; the elder brother tells him not to come, and to stay in the east and hide well.
Qi Zhaozhou followed his good deeds. Although he was young, his good education made him not panic at all when encountering difficulties. He first sent people to the west to investigate the war situation, and then summoned horse breeders to form a small pony team of forty people for protection.
Own property.
But war is one of the most cruel behaviors of human beings. In the face of a war that spreads hundreds of miles across the Hehuang Valley, it is difficult for a few people to not only control the situation of the war, but also to protect themselves.
The march of the Marshal's Mansion was so fast that Qi Zhaozhou first saw Yang Yao's garrison at the mouth of the river. A day later, the sentry from the west came back and told him that the imperial army was completely defeated in Shangchuan.
The army of the Marshal's Mansion has blocked the mouth of the river. What's the use of telling him about the defeat of the chieftain's army in the west?
In the later days, Qi Zhaozhou was busy contacting chieftains, gentry, and tribal leaders in Nanshan, and agreed that the nineteen families would protect themselves together in this war and advance and retreat together.
In Hehuang, neither the tribal leaders nor the Han gentry have as much say as the chieftains.
The ambiguous attitude of the chieftains was surprisingly unanimous, and in the end they decided not to send troops to the marshal's palace or to contribute to the court, but to hide in the mountains and watch the success or failure.
This war caused Qi Zhaozhou's understanding of his own camp to deviate.
Qi Zhaozhou was taught since he was a child that chieftains would be loyal to the Emperor of Heaven from generation to generation, and the entire family was always ready to fight for the orders of the imperial court.
But today's reality is that his father Qi Tingjian is on Liu Chengzong's side, which makes him an outsider in the war. For three months, the news he receives every day makes him happy and worried.
But later, as the imperial court entered the army, he had nothing to worry about.
Because before the imperial army arrived at the mouth of the river, a general named Zhong Bao led more than 32,000 people from Hehuang to pour into Nanshan, and asked 19 families to donate 800 shi of grain.<
/p>
Eight hundred shi can be used as grain, which is 130,000 kilograms of rice and flour.
The leaders of the Nineteen Families of Nanshan were so angry that they jointly elected Qi Zhaozhou as their leader and gathered 500 people to argue with them.
The talks between the two parties were very civilized, and no swords or guns were used. Zhong Bao simply proposed that since you dare to bring troops to come to me, the eight hundred stones will not count, let’s go to eighteen hundred stones.
Nineteen families agreed with smiles and donated 1,800 dan of grain to the Marshal's Mansion as food rations for more than 30,000 people during the war.
Qi Zhaozhou felt that the reason for this result had nothing to do with the eloquence of General Zhong Bao, the commander-in-chief of the Marshal's Guards. The main reason was that the well-equipped artillery and cavalry team was too persuasive.
Although he donated food, Qi Zhaozhou was not so enthusiastic about the Marshal's Mansion. Instead, he felt that Liu Chengzong was sick.
In fact, originally, he believed that the outcome of the war between the Marshal's Mansion and the imperial court was between two sides. As long as his father and brother were safe, he had no resistance.
Even if Zhong Bao comes to ask for food, he doesn't care about fifty or one hundred stones of food.
But after meeting Zhong Bao, Qi Zhaozhou felt that the Marshal's Mansion had little chance of winning because the coach was not wise enough.
At this critical moment, if such elite soldiers and generals do not stay on the battlefield, but are instead sent to resettle the refugees, there must be something wrong with their brains, waiting for the army to be defeated!
With this mentality, Qi Zhaozhou was surprised when he saw Yang Yao leading his cavalry on the mountain to overwhelm the three-town border army cavalry.
Not to mention that the aggressive generals of the three towns were turned into quails. The 20,000-strong army suddenly developed a special affection for the soil and worked hard for ten consecutive days with shovels held high.
Not to mention the strategic situation, the impact on morale of this tactical change alone can be imagined.
This was the first time Qi Zhaozhou realized the combat effectiveness of the Marshal's Mansion. After that battle, he deliberately approached Zhong Bao, hoping to get more information about the Marshal's Mansion from the Generalissimo's commander.
For this reason, he even gave the Maquan Fort in Qijia Mountain to Zhong Bao. He wanted to use this to please Zhong Bao, but he didn't expect that Zhong Bao also had a brain problem. He was very grateful to him, but the elite soldiers and generals were still asleep.
In the wild, more than 400 hungry people were recruited to live in Maquanbao.
I just come here every day to have a meal, chat with the hungry people, and then go about other things.
"Master Qi didn't sleep at night?"
Hearing the familiar voice behind him, Qi Zhaozhou knew that Mr. Zhong was here for dinner again.
Sure enough, when he turned around, he saw Zhong Bao wearing a helmet and carrying a bowl of porridge and a burrito in his hand. He said hello to him as if he had returned to his own home, and then led a few soldiers to look for him on the second floor of the fort.
A place to sit and eat.
Qi Zhaozhou also sat next to him, nodded and said: "I couldn't fall asleep until midnight. Judging from the general's appearance, he slept well last night."
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Zhong Bao was big, and he didn't look good at eating. He was even bigger when he was wearing armor, and he looked like a big bear eating. He swallowed him alive. He stuffed a burrito into his mouth in two mouthfuls, snorted half a bowl of rice porridge in one gulp, and swallowed it.
Cai said: "Why can't you sleep?"
Qi Zhao and Zhou Ting were envious of Zhong Bao's sleep quality and asked: "Last night, three towns fired artillery, but the general didn't hear it?"
"That's it. Mr. Qi really comes from a wealthy family."
Zhong Bao and the guards on the left and right laughed loudly: "I am a soldier of the Marshal. I am awake when the Marshal wakes up, and I am awake when the Marshal sleeps. Let me tell you, being able to sleep is a blessing."
"The sound of the cannons is so loud, how can I sleep?"
"It's wrong of you to take artillery seriously. It's not smart. Mr. Qi will also be a general in the future. Can you fly?"
Qi Zhao was stunned on Monday. He thought Zhong Bao wanted to teach him something good, but he didn't know how to ask this question. He was dumbfounded: "Can you fly?"
Zhong Bao smiled, then raised his finger and said solemnly: "If the cannon doesn't hit you, what are you worried about? If the cannon hits you, can you fly?"
Qi Zhaozhou thought about it carefully, and it seemed to be the truth. But if someone is hit by a cannon and the person is dead, can this not be taken seriously?
However, he did not intend to argue with Zhong Bao. Zhong Bao looked like a rough man who fought in the army. Qi Zhaozhou had seen many people like this. They had long been indifferent to life and death. Anyway, they did not have the official position of hereditary chieftain to inherit. Discuss
This topic makes no sense.
He nodded in agreement, thanked Zhong Bao for imparting battlefield experience, and then changed the subject and asked: "General Zhong, I am particularly curious about something. If this battle is not over, the eighteen hundred stone grains will be eaten.
What would you do?"
Zhong Bao was stunned for a moment. He didn't think this question was true in his heart.
In the past few days, he has been asking the guards to observe the conditions of the hungry people who were organized into sixty hundred households, and carefully search for those who had acne. He guessed that the day was approaching.
More than 32,000 people came from Lanzhou and Hekou. If there was smallpox there, there must be some among these people.
That's why he left the fortress uninhabitable and let the soldiers and cavalry camp out in the open, so that they would not be infected when someone got the pox.
Once the people here get acne, the border troops in the three towns will also get acne. Then it will be the time for a decisive battle. He believes that the commander will not miss the great opportunity to defeat the border troops in the three towns.
However, he did not intend to tell Qi Zhaozhou the news.
Zhong Bao just thought for a moment and said: "Then you nineteen families will have to donate another eight hundred stones of rice to the Marshal's Mansion."
Qi Zhaozhou felt that he was asking for trouble. He shook his head and said: "General Zhong also knows that there are only seventy or eighty stones left in the fort. It will last for more than ten days at most. This is a mountain, and every family's surplus wealth is like this. Eat
What should we do when it’s over?”
"Let's talk about what to do after eating. The commander asked me to settle these people."
To be honest, Zhong Bao has never thought about running out of food, but even if he does, there is nothing for him to think about.
There is no use thinking about those things. Military orders are like mountains and cannot be shaken.
This is true on the battlefield. The military orders tell us to move forward, even if we sacrifice our lives. The same is true outside the battlefield. When the general asks us to resettle the people, we must resettle the people at all costs.
Therefore, Zhong Bao easily came to the conclusion: "Kill the sheep first, then the pigs, the donkeys and mules, then the cattle and horses. If you eat them all, the battle will never be over."
After that, Zhong Bao comforted Qi Zhaozhou: "But don't think that I am bullying you, as this is not harmful to you. Even if the imperial court wins, the survival of the people of Hehuang is a great merit in itself." p>
"If the commander-in-chief wins, I will truthfully report your food donation to the commander-in-chief. I hope the commander-in-chief will not treat you badly."
Qi Zhaozhou did not speak at the first moment, but leaned back, paused for a moment, and then sighed: "If all the soldiers in the commander's office are like General Zhong, I'm afraid the imperial court will not be able to stop you west of Lanzhou."
He discovered the characteristics of the Marshal's Mansion.
These generals have no experience in governing local areas, but they have very strong execution ability of military orders, and this execution ability is based on the great power of the generals who accept the orders.
They exerted their strength in one place without any constraints. At least since Zhong Bao entered Nanshan, Qi Zhaozhou did not see anyone restraining Zhong Bao.
This made him feel that joining the Marshal's Mansion might not be a bad choice for the Xiqi Tusi family... At least for now, the Marshal's Mansion's eastward expedition was not as unreasonable as he had imagined.
After all, Liu Chengzong's Marshal's Office has a bad reputation as a Shaanxi rebel.
Most people in Hehuang thought the same as Qi Zhaozhou. Liu Chengzong would definitely plunder when he sent troops.
But Zhong Bao did not plunder. Although his undoubted tone was similar to that of robbery, if Zhong Bao could truthfully report the food donation to Liu Chengzong after the war, the result would be far from plundering.
"General Zhong..." Qi Zhaozhou said, seeming to realize that his question was a bit embarrassing, and smiled dryly before asking: "Why didn't you plunder? And you can obviously put the refugees here and let the 19th family recruit workers and provide food.
Why should the commander-in-chief provide rations?"
"Ha!"
Zhong Bao sneered contemptuously: "Do you think we are soldiers of the imperial court? The commander-in-chief has military laws and no looting is allowed."
Qi Zhaozhou's eyes widened: "The imperial court also has military laws."
"Military law is not just a few regulations. I am worried about Mr. Qi leading the army in the future." Zhong Bao smiled and shook his head: "Whether military law can be implemented depends on rewards and punishments. Mr. Qi, think about what the officers and soldiers can get if they don't plunder;
What punishment will you get if you rob?"
Before Qi Zhaozhou could answer, Zhong Bao had already asked and answered his own question: "If we don't plunder, the imperial court will not pay military pay, it will not provide enough rations for expeditions, and it will be difficult to be promoted even if we have heads... Just because of you guys, how many generals will the imperial court promote?"
They all have the same last name!"
Zhong Bao's words had a strong personal grudge. He had not become an officer because of this matter before, and he was still a top soldier until he defected to Liu Chengzong.
"So what if we plundered the imperial court? As for the border troops in the five towns, the imperial court used them to fight in Shaanxi, they still used them to fight in Shanxi, and they still used them to fight in Hehuang. So what if we robbed them?"
”
After saying that, Zhong Bao raised his head very proudly and said: "The commander-in-chief gives us enough food and supplies, and the war profits are distributed to every soldier who participates in the war. The war profits can be directly exchanged for what he wants. The commander-in-chief also occasionally gives us money to spend.
Why don't you just let this day go and rob?"
Qi Zhaozhou shook his head: "The military discipline of the entire army cannot be so good. What if we meet a rich family?"
"Rich family? Do you think we are grass bandits?" Zhong Bao shook his head and said: "If it is one of our own, no one dares to rob it. If it is the enemy, then just wait for the spoils to be divided. There is no need to rob it."
These words were very convincing. Qi Zhaozhou felt that if the imperial court lost this battle, he should join the army of the Marshal's Mansion.
Zhong Bao also meant the same thing. He said: "As for you asking me why you are not allowed to recruit workers and provide food for the people, then these people are yours."
The tall and tall Zhong Bao glanced at Qi Zhaozhou, sighed and shook his head, as if he felt that he was not up to par, and said: "The Marshal's Mansion is different from the imperial court in many places, and is not as good as the imperial court in many places, but whether it is military or local governance, the fundamentals are
The things on the Internet are much better than those of the imperial court...even me."
Zhong Bao pointed at himself and said: "Even I know that the vassal king is useless to the court, and the landlord is useless to the local area. If you don't believe me, think about it, can the world survive without farmers? Can it survive without soldiers? But without landlords, what?
Nothing happened."
Qi Zhao and Zhou Xin said that the Marshal's Mansion was very hostile to a family like his.
He rubbed his hands and asked: "General Zhong, can I serve as a soldier under you?"
"The future commanders of my cavalry will all be officers. You are quite smart. Let's wait until the battle is over." Zhong Bao was secretly happy. Qi Zhaozhou had some skills. It would be a good thing to recruit him. However, he did not agree and waved his hand.
Said: "If the imperial court wins this battle, you will have to rebel again. There is no need."
At this moment, a guard quickly went upstairs and whispered in Zhong Bao's ear. Zhong Bao's eyes immediately widened.