But he said, where did these 100,000 troops come from in such a short period of time?
It turned out that Chu Yu had been showing no signs of improvement in Yanzhou Prefecture. He soon came to Jining and wandered around, and heard that there was a group of Yuyuan thieves near Caozhou (Heze).
Due to the continuous natural and man-made disasters that began during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, large areas of land in southwestern Shandong such as Caozhou were barren and uncultivated, turning them into wastelands.
It is close to the old course of the Yellow River, has abundant water resources, and relatively fertile land. Over time, dense elm forests have formed here.
The bandits led by Zhang Qi and Ren Qi used the dense elm garden as cover and dug criss-crossing underground passages to continuously attack the government and barely survive.
As the Qing Dynasty entered the Pass, the Yuyuan Army attacked the Qing Army on a large scale, spreading to Chaocheng, Guancheng, Yuncheng and other areas in southwestern Shandong.
Until now, in the fourth year of Shunzhi, the scale has reached 100,000, which cannot be controlled by the local government.
The Eight Banners that dominate the world, and even the Guan Ning Cavalry, are completely helpless when fighting on muddy riverbanks and hidden underground tunnels.
Therefore, we can only allow him to grow up.
After Chu Yu learned his name, he was overjoyed and hurriedly went to contact him. He also used a carrot seal to confer Zhang Qi as the commander of the Yanzhou Guard and Ren Qi as the commander of the Jining Guard.
Of course, this can only fool these Yuyuan troops. The Ming Dynasty's defense basically spans several prefectures, and Shandong is the location of coastal defense. Yanzhou Guard and Jining Guard do not exist at all.
However, in these troubled times, the increase and decrease in official positions is also normal.
But Zhang Qi and Ren Qi were local ordinary people. How could they know this? When they heard that they were hereditary commanders, they immediately beamed with joy and surrendered to the Ming Dynasty wholeheartedly.
Therefore, when the liberation operations in various parts of Yanzhou Prefecture were in full swing, the Yuyuan Army, a bandit army that had been active since the 13th year of Chongzhen, secretly came to Jining.
"Jining is located at the heart of the canal, with countless watercraft passing by every day, and most of them transport military supplies. It is really a rare and good place for your army."
Chu Yu turned his head and looked at the two big men in military robes beside him, and couldn't help but smile.
Zhang Qi and Ren Qi, one is fat and the other is thin, but their faces are also withered black and their hands are covered with calluses. They are no different from ordinary old farmers.
But at this time, they were wearing general robes. Although they looked a little funny, they were quite impressive after leading troops in battles for many years.
"While I was eating chaff and skin in Yuyuan, these Tatars were still searching for money and food everywhere, forcing many people to death. This time is the time for retribution!"
Zhang Qi gritted his teeth and said angrily.
The same is true for Ren Qi, but he is more flattering to Chu Yu:
"Chu Baihu has made great contributions. This time he defeated Jining again. The most beautiful girl will be dedicated to you."
"Nonsense!" Although he was happy in his heart, Chu Yu knew the emperor's mysophobia. If he was criticized in the future, this would be a handle!
"Now that we are regular troops of the imperial court, how can we still act like bandits?"
Chu Yu scolded: "There is more than one Jining in Shandong, Yanzhou Prefecture is the largest..."
Zhang Qi and Ren Qi did not comment on this.
Although they hated the Manchus, they did not have much favorable impressions of the Ming Dynasty.
In the past, the Manchu Qing raided Shandong so hard that the Yuyuan Army was starved and could only survive by eating elm tree bark.
But when Ming Dynasty came, they hit it off immediately.
One needs a flag, the other needs to block the canal, each takes what he needs.
This is how the Yuyuan Army attacked Jining and blocked the canal.
A hundred thousand troops surrounded Jining, intercepted hundreds of canal ships in an instant, and obtained supplies of tens of thousands of stones.
At this time, Jining City panicked. Under the attack of the well-fed Yuyuan Army, it won the victory in just two or three days.
The Manchu Qing lost the city of Jining.
In an instant, there was a huge earthquake in Jinan.
Ding Wensheng, the governor of Shandong, panicked instantly.
Gu Tao
A few days ago, Zhang Guang's anti-Qing riot broke out in Weixian County. Thousands of people besieged Laizhou and were finally put down.
Who would have thought that such turmoil would break out again now.
It's okay if Yanzhou Prefecture is lost. No one in Qufu's Yanshenggong dares to mess around. Only Jining can't have any trouble.
"What's the damage?"
Ding Wensheng asked through gritted teeth.
The chief envoy Shao Mingshi smiled bitterly and said: "The money and food are about ten thousand shi. The most important thing is that we have lost hundreds of watercrafts. Where can we find them in a short time?"
"Ten thousand stones? Isn't it thirty thousand stones?"
Shao Mingshi suddenly realized it, and quickly changed his words, his eyes shining: "The lower official was negligent."
Ding Wensheng gave him a somewhat thoughtful look, and a smile appeared on his mouth.
Since Jining has been lost, we can only try to protect ourselves.
What's more affordable than silver?
Shao Mingshi naturally knew what he was thinking, but he just said nothing and added 20,000 shi. This was a reminder to Ding Wensheng that some people in Shandong should also be fed to prevent the news from leaking.
Of course, that includes him.
Although Shandong is now in the post-autumn harvest period, due to the imperial court's raids, the private grain reserves are almost gone, and grain prices are high, with each stone exceeding three taels of silver.
In other words, the extra 40,000 shi of grain is equivalent to 120,000 taels of silver.
"The thieves are so rampant that they are called the Yuyuan Army, but they are actually the puppet Ming army. They use their banners to confuse people's hearts. It is really abominable."
Shao Mingshi also started to think in order to clear himself of responsibility: "Perhaps it was the Ming army coming from Henan, gathering bandits and trying to block the canal."
"That's right, he's from Henan."
This time, I try to get rid of my guilt as much as possible.
Ding Wensheng nodded hurriedly and smiled: "The most important thing now is to let Beijing dispatch the Eight Banners Army to wipe out the Ming Army."
However, neither the Eight Banners garrison in Dezhou nor Qingzhou could be commanded by Ding Wensheng. He was a Han bannerman and had no qualifications or authority to dispatch an Eight Banners soldier.
"Ask Feng Wuxiang, Yang Yuming and others to send troops to Yanzhou Prefecture to restore water transportation as much as possible!"
Ding Wensheng opened his mouth and gave instructions: "Chief Envoy, the most important thing now is to raise money and food to support the army."
"Yes!" Shao Mingshi responded hurriedly.
When the news from Jining came, the Eight Banners army was besieging the last fortress before Shanyang City: Caowan.
At this critical moment, Jierhalang learned the news about Jining and became furious:
"What does Ding Wensheng do for food? He is worse than a dog when I was hunting. How did an army of 100,000 people appear out of thin air?"
Hauge, Luck Dehun and others on the side were also shocked and looked ugly.
Ninety percent of the army's food and fodder came from the canal. The canal was cut off, and the army's defeat was not far away.
Wu Sangui on the side found an opportunity and quickly asked for orders: "General, Wu Sangui is willing to return to Jining to wipe out these Yuyuan thieves!"
"Oh? You know them?"
"General, the last general sent troops to clear it out, but it turned out that there were many tunnels on the riverbank and it was muddy and not conducive to riding, so we had no choice but to return!"