The rations for the army led by Li Yan at the rear!
Previously, when Dorgon attacked the capital, he did not lead his troops east and went south. Chang Yu pursued the capital with all his troops and horses. In order to fight with all his strength, he did not carry heavy equipment and travel quickly. The food and grass were provided by his own rear. After all, Chang Yu drew a circle in the east of the capital.
The plan was to cripple Dorgon in that circle, and since the circle was not far from the capital, the logistics supply was coming in quickly and without any delay.
But after Dorgon jumped out of the encirclement, the battle line was stretched too long and supplies became very difficult. Even Chang Yu left the infantry in Tianjin for this reason.
The infantry was left in Tianjin for training the day before yesterday. Huang Degong, Zhou Yuji, Li Yan and Tengxiang Guard, Jinwu Guard, a total of five cavalry troops of about 30,000 (including Wu Weiying's Shenji Battalion) under Chang Yu were ordered to continue the pursuit and were taken away at that time.
Received all the rations for the infantry.
But that little army ration is only enough for three days. What to do with the rest?
borrow?
From Tianjin to the south, there are small towns. It is not a matter of whether to borrow or not, but whether to return or not is a matter of return. Moreover, chasing the enemy cannot deviate from the marching route of the Qing army, but behind them are all ruins, let alone borrowing.
, you can’t find a place to rob it, and you can’t find anyone to rob it for you.
Previously, Chang Yu thought that Dorgon was heading towards Jinan. The city of Jinan has high walls and thick walls. This time, he would not attack the city without carrying any baggage and would only loot the surrounding areas. He could then enter the city to borrow food and settle his troops. But what happened?
Dorgon took the lead and went straight to Qingzhou Prefecture in the southeast. He was anxious to arrive first and lead his troops across the front line of fire, but he forgot about the food and grass.
It is estimated that Li Yan is already in dire straits at this time. According to the normal speed, he can resist Qingzhou for three or four days and there may be some way to save him. However, he is now behind the main force of the Qing army. The main force of the Qing army is walking and grabbing at the same time.
It's weird to be hungry.
On the way to the palace, Chang Yu told this matter and Li Shiyuan was also anxious. What should we do? If the main force of the Ming army outside is hungry, who will rescue them? Can the city really be able to withstand it just by relying on the soldiers and civilians in the city to defend the city?
?
I'm afraid not. If he could support himself independently, the little eunuch would not be so anxious. He could just let the soldiers and horses outside find a place to beg for food before he is full.
"I'm afraid I'm leaving the city!" Chang Yu got off the city and rode straight to the palace. Li Shiyuan was stunned for a long time without reacting: "The city will not be defended?"
Chang Yu secretly sighed, this person's brain is far worse than Li Yan and Li Muxian.
When Li Shiyuan saw Chang Yu not speaking, he knew that he might have made a mistake, so he quickly said: "I'm humble and stupid, so please ask the factory supervisor to give me some advice."
"The soldiers and horses have not yet moved the food and grass. How can the soldiers kill the enemy without enough food, and how can they relieve Qingzhou from the siege? We must help Li Yan to solve the food and grass issue before he comes." Chang Yu said and sighed: "The governor has not thought of where to go yet.
I want to get food and grass, but I can’t do it while staying in the city, so I have to go out and make plans early.”
While they were talking, they had arrived at the east gate of the palace. A servant led the two of them to see Prince Heng. Chang Yu asked the servant to inform the guards to gather and go find Jia Waixiong and others back to the palace.
Prince Heng had just come over from Qian Lianghan's place. When he learned that Chang Yu was back, he quickly ran over from the back house and saw the young eunuch looking anxious and about to ask what was going on.
"Quickly bring five thousand taels of silver and some food and grass. Our family is leaving the city." Chang Yu came up and said this, which made Prince Heng confused and frightened: "Eunuch Chang, please don't scare me. What happened?
Why do you want money to leave the city at this critical moment? You can't leave me alone..." He thought Chang Yu was going to run away.
Chang Yu had no choice but to patiently explain the ins and outs of the matter briefly. King Heng was relieved a little. It turned out that the soldiers and horses outside were out of food and grass.
"But when we get to Qingzhou, we will be able to bankrupt everything..." When Prince Heng was being generous, he was coldly interrupted by Chang Yu: "At that time, the Tatar army was besieging the city, and how could the palace transport out the food no matter how much it had?"
"Then what are you going to do, Eunuch Chang? Go out of the city to buy grain? Where to buy it? How much can you buy for five thousand taels? If you give me too much, you won't be able to pull it. I'm afraid you will be robbed by the Tatars as soon as you leave the city... Eunuch Chang, you
Don't be anxious, there will always be a solution if you think about everything slowly..." It can be seen that Prince Heng still doesn't want Chang Yu to leave. After all, this man is the backbone. Who knows if he deliberately used this as an excuse to escape with money when he left?
, even though it doesn’t look like it, I just don’t want to let him go.
Chang Yu smiled bitterly. What King Heng said was right. If he was given too much, he wouldn't be able to pull it. One hundred taels of silver at that time was about eight catties, and ten thousand taels was eight hundred catties. That would take two or three carts to load.
It is really inconvenient to transport it out.
Fortunately, he did not need to bring so much, and the five thousand taels of silver did not plan to buy much food. It was used as a deposit. He would go to Linzi County next door to raise food and grass to raise money and buy supplementary supplies.
Linzi is also the Linzi District of Zibo City in later generations (the urban area of Zibo was still an undeveloped mine in the Ming Dynasty, and the other Zichuan District belonged to Jinan Prefecture at this time). It is a small county on the edge of the mountains 40 to 50 miles northeast of Qingzhou Prefecture under the jurisdiction of Qingzhou Prefecture.
Chang Yu's plan to go to Linzi to raise food was denied by Li Shiyuan: "Linzi is no more than a small town and too close to Qingzhou. Even when the Tatars go south to Qingzhou and have to pass through Linzi, how can they not break it easily?"
"This is one of the reasons why I insist on going there. Linzi is too small and has no oil and water. The Tatars have no time to care about it. Plus there is a fat man like Qingzhou Prefecture nearby and they have no time to care. The most is to scare the soldiers and civilians in the city if they insist on not opening the door to surrender.
"Tatars may not use force." Chang Yu's meaning was very clear. With Prince Heng's Mansion as a bait, the rest of the Qing army simply looked down on it. Even if they didn't dislike the ant legs as meat, they still had to wait to pick the watermelons before picking up the sesame seeds.
However, both Li Shiyuan and Prince Heng felt that it was too risky. Of course, they thought it was more because they thought the little eunuch was gone and they were worried.
"I have a humble suggestion. Instead of going to Linzi to beg for food in danger, it is better to transfer food from the palace." Li Shiyuan thought for a while and said: "While the Tatars have not yet come to the city, transfer the food and grass from the palace to the city and hide it in the mountains to the west..."
Chang Yu interrupted him before he could finish his words: "How can we transport it out if it is hidden in the mountains? There are layers of Tatars outside the city and in the mountains. Do you want to send food to the horse thieves in the mountains?"
Li Shiyuan's face turned red, and he quickly waved his hands and said: "I would like to hide the grain somewhere in the mountains, and then transport it out from the northwest to Linzi by manpower, or let General Li's troops enter the mountain from the northeastern pass..." As he said this,
His voice fell silent as he spoke, and even he himself felt that not only was it impossible, it was simply ridiculous.
The mountains to the west are so vast that we don’t know how deep they are. Instead of going through a lot of trouble to transport food through the mountains with manpower and waiting until all the soldiers starve to death at the end of the field, it is better to go directly to Linzi to collect food. However, the troops and horses led by Li Yan were all cavalry, and the cavalry crossed the mountains.
Ling, you're kidding me. When we get to the place where you store grain, I'm afraid that Qingzhou City will be destroyed by the Tatars.
"Food and grass are related to the success or failure of this battle. Without foreign aid, Qingzhou City will be destroyed." Chang Yu knew that time was urgent and if the Qing army's vanguard arrived outside the city, it would not be so easy for him to go to Linzi and he would have to cross the line of fire again.
Seeing Chang Yu's solemn expression and his scary words, Prince Heng and Li Shiyuan had no other good ideas, so they had to agree, but they were a little unwilling to give up: "Eunuch Chang has many capable people under his command. Can't you personally take care of the food and grass matters?"
Chang Yu nodded: "Not only our family is leaving the city, Li Shoubei will also go with us."
Ah! King Heng and Li Shiyuan were shocked, especially King Heng who was shaking all over and almost fell down. What a joke, he seemed to have lost his soul when the little eunuch left. Now that you want to take away the patron saint of Qingzhou, who will defend the city?
Chang Yu had no choice but to explain that fighting outside the city was the key to success or failure. Since the army came and was not familiar with the terrain of Qingzhou, it had to be assisted by a guide who was familiar with the surrounding environment, and Li Shiyuan was the best candidate. Of course, this was only one of the reasons. Maybe
Or because I'm not too worried about Li Shiyuan.
As for the defense of the city, he left it to his two battalions of black wolves and black tigers!
Hearing this, King Heng felt a little relieved. Although he was not familiar with Jia Wai, Xiong Laojiu, he knew that he had followed the young eunuch in the south and north, fought in the corpse mountain and sea of blood, and died several times. In terms of combat power, he killed Li Shiyuan's subordinates instantly, and in terms of experience
Not to mention they can't be compared. They can be attacked or suffered. The only regret is that there are too few people.
Without further ado, now that the decision had been made, everyone got to work quickly. King Heng immediately asked the steward to prepare money, mules, horses and other items. Li Shiyuan went to find his subordinates to explain the matter, while Chang Yu took a surrounding map provided by the palace and looked at it carefully.
At this time, his soldiers, Chen Suole, Kuang Ren and others, were ready to go outside the palace.
Not long after, Jia Waixiong and Lao Jiu were also found. The two people, who were enjoying themselves in Wenrou Village, knew that something must have happened. They hurriedly handed over the goods and returned to the palace to see Chang Yu.