Two hundred steps outside the Xiuchuan Gate due west of Lanzhou.
At the time when the ice and snow in the upper reaches of the Agan River melted, flash floods surged and rushed under the Holding Bridge. Water spray splashed and the waves roared. The vegetation on both sides of the river was lush and picturesque. Dozens of huge water mills slowly rotated day and night, forming the strange spring surge of Hongqiao.
View.
The pear blossoms in Xingyuan Temple on the upper reaches of the river are in full bloom and the fragrance is overflowing. During this beautiful scenery, there should have been rice grains shipped from Lintao, watermelons from Xigu and wood shipped by the Yellow River ferry, forming a bulk trading market on the bank.
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But the war made all this disappear without a trace.
Zhang Quanchang, a sergeant in the Biao Camp of Shaanxi Province, stood by the pavilion, looking livid as he watched the soldiers of the Biao Camp in messy uniforms dragging cannons and flags as they retreated from the west bank of the Agan River towards Lanzhou City.
In his secret letter to the governor Lian Guo Shi, he mentioned that someone in Lanzhou City leaked military information.
Hundreds of thousands of rafts from the Marshal's Mansion accurately bypassed the mined defense lines in one day and landed on the north, west and east sides of Xigu City, completely defeating his ambush and almost being surrounded in Lama Ridge. If he hadn't been experienced enough and decided to retreat before the encirclement, Lanzhou's last fully-established elite force would have been lost outside the city.
Although he has retained this army, he has lost the initiative in field battles because he avoided encirclement. Zhang Quanchang does not know whether he has gained or lost.
All he knew was that his base camp must not leave the city to fight until the spies were discovered.
He Renlong also looked livid in the city.
He is the one who has the most information on both the enemy and ourselves on the battlefield among all the guards in this city.
The way the Marshal's Mansion troops avoided landmine formations and the way Zhang Quanchang was withdrawn by Lian Guoshi before he was ambushed, these two things are linked together, and it is not difficult for him to come to the conclusion that he was scared to death and fuming with rage!
He Yong leaked military information to Liu Chengzong.
But after all, He Yong is the brother who has worked hard to block arrows for him since he was a child. Besides, there are many people in the city and it is not a suitable place to talk. He Renlong just glared at He Yong angrily: "Just wait to be shot.
!"
He Yong still didn't know what was going on, so he stepped forward and whispered: "General, we can plant the flag."
He Renlong raised his head and closed his eyes in pain, then turned his head and glanced at his servant in despair, lowering his voice and said: "Putting a flag instead of an egg! Do you think everyone else is a fool?" p>
He Renlong cursed in his heart, why didn't he realize before that Liu Shizi and He Yong had eight hundred tricks when they got together?
Liu Shizi lost one, and He Yong lost one.
He hated that iron could not be made into steel and said: "You are being fooled!"
These two people are awesome together, one is fucking stupid and the other is fucking bad.
He asked He Yong to find Liu Chengzong because he realized that practicing state affairs and Zhang Quanchang's ambush would cause Liu Chengzong to suffer heavy losses.
Afraid that Liu Shizi would go crazy and massacre the city, he asked He Yong to go over and let the lion read the incense and love.
Anyway, there is no big hatred between the two sides, they are just their own masters. It is impossible for me to surrender, and it is impossible for you to retreat. The old officer and his brothers are just living together, so there is no need to kill them all.
This is only half the story. If Liu Chengzong is smart, he will act cautiously and carefully investigate the terrain around Lanzhou to reduce casualties; it doesn't matter if he is a big fool, the old officer has warned you anyway.
In the end, no matter what, He Renlong will be able to settle down well. Even if he is captured with a battle injury, he will be treated for his injuries and everyone will be his own master. That's fine.
It would be better for He Yong to directly disclose the deployment of military aircraft for practicing state affairs.
Liu Chengzong was even more of a bastard. He didn't even show off. His troops climbed up from the Yellow River like ghosts, bypassed the minefields, and directly divided their troops into three groups to surround Lama Mountain.
The siege was not yet complete, so Zhang Quanchang was allowed to run back to Lanzhou City without a fight.
He Renlong didn't believe that Liu Chengzong, who could defeat the frontier troops in three towns head-on, was no longer sure of encircling and annihilating Governor Biao's camp. Thinking in this direction, he easily concluded that Liu Shizi did it on purpose.
Deliberately driving Zhang Quanchang back to Lanzhou City.
It's just that He Renlong couldn't understand Liu Shishi's purpose of doing this at first, but he soon figured it out.
Starting from the evening of the second day of April, the sound of artillery in the direction of Xigu continued until the early morning of the third day of April when the sound of artillery finally stopped.
In the morning, on the field ridges on the other side of the river in the west of the city, there were first hundreds of people driving donkeys and driving eastward, and then there was an endless stream of people fleeing on foot, raising dust on the field ridges, and fleeing to Lanzhou.
People boarded the pedestrian-only Waiqiao Bridge, leaving all their cars on the west bank.
Lian Guoshi originally wanted to burn the Holding Bridge, but Zhang Quanchang said that the bridge would be gone if it was burned. The Western invaders could cross the river no matter what they wanted, so it would be better to keep the Holding Bridge as a place to block the enemy. p>
Therefore, Zhang Quanchang left a few soldiers to guard the bridge and check the passers-by to prevent any thieves or spies from sneaking into the Lanzhou city defense.
However, there was no need to be on guard at this time. Thousands of people had escaped and there was no time to conduct an investigation. Some even had the commander-in-chief stripped down to his single clothes and ran to the city to report the news of the fall of Xigu.
Zhang Quanchang couldn't bear to be angry, and it wasn't entirely a bad thing that the people fled. He happened to organize the people and built a sheep and horse wall 200 steps outside the city to prepare for city defense.
There used to be a sheep and horse wall built by Yang Yiqing in Lanzhou, but that was during the Jiajing period of Zhengde.
There has been peace here for a long time. Even when the Songlu pirates were at their worst, the military disaster did not affect Lanzhou City. The sheep and horse wall that prevented people from enjoying the scenery and crossing the river had long been demolished.
It's just that this normal recruitment and reorganization of refugees has caused a stir among the people who escaped. The prominent gentry among them complained one after another, "Why are your officers and soldiers worse than traitors?
Even Zhang Quanchang was dumbfounded.
After questioning him carefully, he found out that these people fled eastward, not to be killed by thieves or to escape hunger, but to avoid forced labor.
The most respected old man among the refugees burst into tears, accusing the Marshal's Army of the evil deeds. Those troops surrounded Xigu City, sent scattered cavalry to various villages and villages, incited the people to attack and kill the gentry, opened warehouses and released grain, and went around to announce that the people were at peace to deceive people's hearts.<
/p>
Anyone with the Lijialiang surname who built forts and villages ordered the demolition of the fences one after another, and asked the villagers to accuse them of being rich and unkind. Once they were accused, they would swarm into the forts, destroy the houses and empty out the money and food.
They only gave two cents of what they looted to their neighbors, and then forced the people to send money, food and materials to the vicinity of Xigu.
People were fearful all night, and artillery bombarded the city battlements until early morning. When no one could stand on the wall, long ladders were set up to climb up the city, and Xigu City fell immediately.
Then the Western thieves revealed their true colors and drove tens of thousands of people from all over the country to tear down the bricks and dig up the earth, leveling the city.
Many people were quite happy when sharing food and money, but when it came time to work, they were not happy. They had not slept well all night, and they gave up the heavy physical work in Pingcheng. How could the people
Run?
Fortunately, the Western invaders did not stop them, and thousands of people came to Lanzhou City with the money and food distributed by the thieves.
Everyone in Xigu was forced to do hard work by thieves, and they were given money and food at least. Who would have thought that they would go to Lanzhou to meet the officers and soldiers, and forget about it without giving them money and food, and let people do such hard work for free.<
/p>
Who can bear this!
Zhang Quanchang was helpless, angry and funny.
Naturally, Liu Chengzong was angry because he wanted to level Xigu City. This castle is easier to demolish than to build. As long as there are enough people, a city can be leveled in three or two days, but if you want to build the city again, it will take less than a year.
It will take half a year to complete the cultivation.
As for the funny part, it is laughing at Liu Chengzong.
Zhang Quanchang also followed the practice of state affairs and fought in various places in Shaanxi for two years, and he was used to seeing what northern Shaanxi was like.
As for Liu Chengzong's things, if they were anywhere west of the Taihang Mountains and east of the Liupan Mountains, the people who had not been robbed would be absolutely grateful and would have to offer Liu Chengzong's portrait on their stoves during the Chinese New Year.
But this is Lanzhou. Except for a heavy rain that flooded the fields in the first year of Tianqi, for the next twelve years, Lanzhou had good weather and good harvests every year.
Liu Chengzong wanted to rely on this set of ancestral craftsmanship from northern Shaanxi to confuse people's hearts here, but it simply didn't work.
The common people were sitting peacefully at home. Suddenly, thieves and soldiers came and killed their neighbors, bosses and even relatives. They harmed their neighbors, and even distributed the blood-stained money and food to their neighbors.
To put it bluntly, in Lanzhou, even an idle day laborer is not short of two monthly rations, let alone a tenant farmer.
There are essential differences between the same actions in Lanzhou and northern Shaanxi.
However, the silly smile on Zhang Quanchang's face soon solidified.
These Lanzhou people ran from the west to the east. When they heard that the country people were not allowed to enter the city, they had to dig trenches and build walls. Even if the food was not as good as in the west, the defeated soldiers who defended the city even blackmailed us and robbed us of our money and food!
Within one day, 90% of them went back exactly as they came, and they all ran to the west.
Except for the old, weak, women and children, the rest of the young and strong cannot stop them.
Zhang Quanchang later realized that it was indeed difficult for Liu Chengzong to win over people with small favors in Lanzhou, but the imperial court seemed to be even more unpopular.
From the common people's point of view, it is true that the Western thief robbed the richest neighbor near his hometown, but it does not hurt as much as cutting someone else with a knife. If three wages are collected on his own head, it is really a heart-to-heart.
The person in charge of pacifying Xigucheng was Wang Wenxiu. At first, he saw that thousands of people from all over the country had fled, but there was nothing he could do.
Before crossing the river, Liu Chengzong had already explained that plundering the city could slow down the progress, but military discipline must be strictly enforced to let the people know that there would be little benefit from the Marshal's Mansion's attack, but the harm to most people would not be great.
The people who are willing to obey and do things will be given food and money as hired workers. The people who are disobedient and unwilling to do things will be left alone.
The escaped people returned to Xigu. Some hid in the mountains to the south, while others came over to talk to the soldiers from the Marshal's Mansion and asked if they were still recruiting people to ping the city.
When the sergeant of the infantry battalion reported the situation to Wang Wenxiu, Wang Wenxiu couldn't help laughing loudly: "Here, pay as much as you can, give you food and food, and level the city!"
Liu Chengzong, who had set up his military tent at Baita Mountain on the other side of the Yellow River, smiled with satisfaction when he saw people fleeing and leaving on the other side.
The war itself had unavoidable damage to production and public security. The drought had little impact on Lanzhou. The people were still the subjects of the imperial court. But here, he was dubbed a traitor and a huge bandit. He could not have too many extravagant expectations for the people.
.
He does not need people to stand by his side and follow him to abandon their homes and careers to start a rebellion, let alone expect the people to eat pots of pulp to welcome the king's master.
As long as the majority of people who are still living in peace can wait and see the situation, and even think about it in their hearts, Liu Chengzong is indeed not very good, but it doesn't seem to be that bad.
That's enough for him.
Liu Chengzong, who was born as a small landowner, knew best that the people who had the greatest conflicts with him in the world were the gentry, landlords, civil and military bureaucrats, and these people were also the biggest stumbling block and help for his eastward expansion.
Because he is short of food, these people happen to have food; the people are short of land, but these people happen to have land.
And these people are exactly the weakest and bluffing group of people. They can only control the power at the top and communicate with the people, so they look extremely powerful, but in fact they are only a little bit stronger than ordinary people.
This power is borrowed and comes from the fears and hopes of all living beings.
People are afraid of death and yearn for survival, but a single person or family cannot accomplish anything, so they will cling to the person who can lead them to survive in times of crisis.
If you are attached to the wealthy gentry, you are a fortress that resists and defends itself; if you are attached to the heroes who rise up, you are like a wandering bandit who goes out to prey; if you are attached to the army for food, you will become an official army that conquers the east and west.
The power of one man is like a weed blowing in the wind; the power of ten thousand men is the torrent that controls the world.
Liu Chengzong was the beneficiary of this power. He knew where this power came from and how to strip it away.
People should not be afraid of death. Without fear of death, they naturally have no yearning for survival. They should live.
As long as the Marshal's Mansion can prevent the common people from feeling fear and let everyone know that it is unsafe to follow the wealthy gentry, the differentiation can be completed. The gentry who cannot gather people's strength are just lambs waiting to be slaughtered.
Liu Chengzong walked out of the handsome tent and looked at the majestic Lanzhou City on the other side of the mighty Yellow River, surrounded by mountains and rivers, with a proud smile on his young face.
Xigu City is about to be pacified, and Anning Fort has also fallen, followed by the cities of Jin County, Hezhou, and Lintao further away.
When all those cities were demolished and only the huge and strong Lanzhou City remained, the divided wealthy families would naturally realize that building forts and forts in the countryside was not the place to live, and only this Lanzhou City could protect them.
Wealth.
All the wealth and rice will be gathered into this huge city with a circumference of 18 miles, and people will mistakenly think that this city is indestructible.
Wait until next year or the year after that, when he has digested all the Hehuang Valley and surrendered troops gained from this war, all it takes is a natural disaster, and Liu Chengzong, who is not so kind in Xining, will become the savior of Lanzhou in the blink of an eye.
By that time, the wealth and rice in this huge city will be able to save countless dying people.
Looking at the Zhenyuan Floating Bridge across the Yellow River outside the Shuibei Gate of Lanzhou Beicheng, Liu Chengzong turned his head and said: "Sanlang, ask the guards to tell Wang Wenxiu that some of the migrant family members who have returned to the Lanzhou Guard Banner Army will be picked out and separated in batches.
Send it over."
Fan Sanlang nodded in agreement, and after giving instructions to the guards, asked: "Commander, do you want to make a briefing?"
"Yes, I will give their parents, wives and children the best care in Xining. However, for the time being, they will have to stay in Lanzhou for a year or two as the poor bannermen whose families were robbed by the Western thieves... and will come to this city." Liu Chengzong pushed his arms forward flatly in front of him, pointing at the majestic Sufan Royal City: "I want it to collapse without attack!"
