In early May of the 16th year of Chongzhen, the heavy rains in Nanyang came much earlier than in previous years. But for farmers planting crops, this is undoubtedly particularly good news, especially in the south of Nanyang Prefecture and bordering De'an Prefecture.
Thanks to the efforts of Chen Kexin, the energetic former governor of De'an Prefecture, these places have all completed the land reform of the camp system.
The pressure and burden on tenant farmers have been greatly reduced, and their enthusiasm for cultivating the land has naturally become far greater than before.
Many refugees who were brought back to the land by the Dashun Army were able to rent cattle, farm tools, and seeds from the Dashun Army at very low prices.
Kang Dayan is an indigenous person from Liaodong. His hometown is in Liaoyang. When Nurhachi was in rebellion, Kang Dayan's father was forced to become refugees and fled into the customs.
Originally, the imperial court implemented the policy of Liao people guarding Liao territory. Most of these Liaodong refugees could serve as soldiers in the Dongjiang Army and Guanning Army and eat a portion of the imperial food. Unfortunately, Kang Dayan's fathers fled to Dongjiang Town. After Dongjiang was destroyed, Kang Dayan
Seeing that he did not want to be a slave of the Eight Banners soldiers, he grabbed a piece of wood and crossed to Shandong.
Unfortunately, the Ming Dynasty was already suffering from internal and external troubles at this time, and was unable to resettle refugees like them. As a result, Kang Dayan became a refugee with no fixed residence, following the flow of refugees, traveling from Shandong to Henan.
It wasn't until the Chuang Army came out, pacified the Central Plains, and opened up the Three Chus, that Li Laiheng vigorously called for exiles to restore production between Henan and Chu. Only when Chen Kexin implemented the new camp field law, Kang Dayan benefited from this and obtained a valuable piece of land.
land for survival.
Outside the county seat of Tongbai County, there is a jujube tree near Xishan Mountain. Half of it was struck by lightning. The main trunk was dead, but the side branches grew vigorously and prosperously.
Kang Dayan heard from the locals that when a general from Zuozhen was stationed in Tongbai County, he was cruel and cruel. He captured innocent people and hung them one by one on jujube trees. He would hang dozens of them a day.
He was drinking and having fun by the tree, and it was a great pleasure to watch. Later, when the sky net was restored, he finally could not escape the hands of the people, and was captured alive by the intruders. He was also tied to this tree, and burned to death together with the tree.
His blood stains can still be seen faintly on the burnt side of the tree trunk.
When the locals mentioned this past incident, they were filled with indignation. But Kang Dayan felt that there was nothing worth making a fuss about. Is it really terrible to hang dozens of people in one sentence?
He witnessed with his own eyes in Liaodong a scene where tens of thousands of civilians were massacred by Jiannu slaves in one day. In comparison, the history of blood and tears hidden in a big tree outside Tongbai County seemed to be childish.
The local villagers snorted and argued unconvincedly. Because of the continuous rain, it was inconvenient for everyone to go out to do farm work, so they all gathered in the grass shed at the school ground where the county's bandits were trained to train militiamen, chatting.
Some trivia and gossip from the past.
Kang Dayan was sitting on the haystack. He looked old, thin, dry and shriveled, as if all the oil and water had been scraped away and all the blood had been drained away, but in fact he was only about thirty years old.
The long years of exile have taken away from his appearance. However, during the year or so he settled in Tongbai County, Kang Dayan gradually felt that the blood and energy had returned to his body. The abundant diet also made Kang Dayan's appearance more beautiful.
The body became a little stronger, like the jujube tree in the Western Mountains, suddenly rejuvenated, with lush branches and leaves, colorful red flowers, and it seemed that it would soon bear sour and sweet fruits, which is mouth-watering.
Another villager sitting opposite Kang Dayan was a local. From what he bragged, he seemed to be a soldier in the Xiong'er Mountain village who was later captured by King Li - ah, no, according to the rules of the bandit hunter.
The explanation should be Suihouhou Ye.
In short, this man had joined King Li's army, and later became disabled in the war, so he came to Tongbai County to farm, and during the slack time, he helped the local bandits with the militia training.
The man spread pancakes and steamed cakes with meat on the table and asked Kang Dayan if he wanted to eat. Kang Dayan wanted to refuse, but the smell of meat was too tempting. He couldn't help it, so he took a piece of steamed cake.
Come and eat.
"I heard that there is going to be another war in the north!" The villagers talked to Kang Dayan about the changes in the situation in the north. "My old Shangfeng, Lieutenant Li, who is now in Yuzhou, has already led his troops and set off. I heard that even the south
...Even in Suizhou, they are recruiting troops everywhere, and they are about to send a large number of troops northward."
Kang Dayan is somewhat interested in the changes in the situation in the north. He is from Liaodong, and he has a fantasy of returning to his hometown. The Dashun Army and the Ming Army have completely different styles, as well as the good weather in Tongbai County this year.
, things are prosperous and people are prosperous, which gave Kang Dayan more ideas.
He murmured to himself: "It seems that since King Li settled in Huguang, he has never seen any major droughts or floods... Do you think this is a coincidence? Could it be that King Li is really good at magic?"
When the villager who had fought in Xiong'er Mountain heard this, he immediately pretended to be mysterious and said: "Hey, you don't know! Do you know the Longsha prophecy? In Xiong'er Mountain and Funiu Mountain, there are many
Legend has it that our little King Li is an earthly immortal who descended to earth!
If it weren't for the magic power of the Earth Immortal, how could things be so smooth once the Dashun Army pacified the Central Plains?"
In fact, the fifteenth and sixteenth years of Chongzhen were originally a rare period of mild climate and good weather in the late Ming Dynasty. This was a sign that the Little Ice Age and extreme climate that had troubled the late Ming Dynasty for many years were gradually moving towards another more stable cycle.
in.
It's just that in the original history, during the fifteenth and sixteenth years of Chongzhen, the Ming Dynasty court suffered from various blows and no longer had any administrative resources to mobilize the people. The improved weather did not continue the fate of the Ming Dynasty, but instead made Dashun
The army was able to gain a foothold, accumulate resources, and finally destroy the central court of Emperor Chongzhen in the 17th year of Chongzhen.
Now, the Ming Dynasty is collapsing earlier than in history, and the Dashun Army has also benefited from the milder climate changes in the past two years.
The reform of the new camp law released the long-suppressed enthusiasm for production of tenants. With the improvement of the climate, from Suizhou to Jiujiang, from Hanshui River to Dongting Lake, and even expanded to the Central Plains, there are thousands of green and vibrant fields everywhere.
A certain atmosphere.
hiss--
The neighing of war horses suddenly came from outside the thatched hut. Kang Dayan was startled. The villager who was chatting with him had already ignored the heavy rain and quickly ran outside the thatched hut and exclaimed:
"Captain Li!"
Li Hao wore a bamboo hat on his head. He led six or seven cavalrymen who also wore bamboo hats and raincoats and stood in the rain. After a while, he frowned and asked:
"Have the reinforcements from Huguang not left Tongbai Mountain yet?"
Only then did people realize that Captain Li, who had come from Yuzhou, had made a special trip to the vicinity of Tongbai County to greet the Huguang reinforcements.
It seems that the war in the north is indeed very urgent. Not only are the northwest and central plains conducting comprehensive mobilization, but also Huguang has mobilized many soldiers and horses to rush to the northern battlefield.
Will this be a decisive battle to reach Youyan and restore Liaozuo?
Thinking of his hometown in Liaodong, Kang Dayan's heart, which had been silent and dry for many years, became hot again.
"They're coming out! Captain!"
Under the jujube tree on the edge of the west mountain, another group of cavalry rushed over. The leader was still holding a military flag with the word "Li", but the people following behind were all wearing dark blue cloth armor. Finally,
One person was holding a flag with the word "Guo" written on it.
Blah, blah.
The cavalry were galloping. Kang Da looked at it from a distance and could see that those dark blue cloth armors were of excellent workmanship. These cavalrymen also wore another kind of fire blunderbuss different from the three-eyed blunderbuss on their waists. They looked like
It is fresh and small, somewhat similar to the firecrackers Kang Dayan saw in Dengzhou in his early years.
Li Hao was also very surprised when he saw this group of troops running out of the pass of Tongbai Mountain: "Today's heavy rain, I originally thought it would affect the march of Ying Shanbo's army, but I didn't expect you guys to come so fast."
A cavalry soldier wearing a blue smock, his equestrian skills are not as sophisticated as those of the old brothers from northern Shaanxi in the Dashun Army, but he is very young and has a youthful smile on his face.
He stammered and replied: "Duwei, Captain Li, Guo Shuai said, Guo Shuai said 50,000 reinforcements, the reinforcements... couldn't all get out of Tongbai Mountain at one time, so he brought the leading 10,000 troops to Tongbai."
Come here from the county.”
Under the continuous rain, Li Hao knew how difficult it was to walk on the mountain road in Tongbai Mountain. He originally thought that in this weather condition, it would take Guojun Town at least two or three days to reach Tongbai County, but he did not expect that this Dashun
Ying Shanbo, who was newly enfeoffed at the founding of the country, marched so fast.
More than ten thousand new troops have arrived near Tongbai!
The young knight was young and his articulation was not very clear. He was anxious, and his words seemed even more incoherent, without any order or structure.
Another older, more calm knight in blue came closer on horseback, patted the young cavalryman on the shoulder, then put the whip beside the saddle, held his hand to Li Hao and said:
"Is this Commander Li Hao from Yuzhou? I am Ma Jinzhong, Commander of Flags and Drums in Guo Shuai's army. Your Majesty has mobilized all the troops from all over the world to march northward. The three towns of Jingxiang, De'an and Wuyue are led by Ying Shanbo and Li
Guo Shuai mobilized more than 50,000 troops and galloped north under the stars to fight. Now more than 10,000 elite troops have arrived near Tongbai County. I also hope that the captain will help prepare a place for the army to rest."
Li Hao knew that Ying Shanbo was of course the famous Guojun Town in Hunan Province. He heard that he had just conquered Jiujiang not long ago, but he did not expect that he would be able to lead 50,000 new troops northward for reinforcements so soon.
Another Li Guoshuai, the newly announced Dashun regulations are all based on the Tang Dynasty, but there is no fixed method for the specific military ranks and how to honor them.
Li Hao himself guessed that the so-called Li Guoshuai was probably General Guoyi named Li. He quickly ran through it in his mind, because Li Hao himself could also be regarded as Li Laiheng's old subordinate, although when Li Laiheng went south to develop in Suizhou,
Li Hao stayed in Henan, but he has always been very concerned about Chu Chuang's development.
Is it General Guo Yi whose surname is Li? Then probably only the one in Huguang has recruited Li Polu, the training envoy.
The general in charge of the recruitment and training of the Huguang army actually went north with Guo Junzhen. It seems that the sudden recruitment of 50,000 new troops to leave Huguang for expeditionary operations was also a big deal for the wealthy and powerful Chu Chuang.
Very challenging thing.
Ma Jinzhong turned out to be Zuo Liangyu's old subordinate. Like Jin Shenghuan, he was Zuo Liangyu's right-hand man and served as deputy commander-in-chief of the army.
It's just that he surrendered when he was extremely outnumbered, and the person who surrendered was Li Laiheng, who was particularly cautious about using surrendered generals, rather than the generous and generous Li Zicheng. Therefore, compared with his old colleagues who were promoted to counts one by one under Li Zicheng, Ma Jinzhong
Now he is just a flag and drum captain in the central army of Guojun Town.
However, being able to become the flag and drum captain of Guojun Town, in Ma Jinzhong's view, he was already on the fast track to promotion in the new dynasty.
The many months of "education reform" I spent in that camp school were not in vain.
The earth was trembling slightly, and Li Hao and Ma Jinzhong looked towards the direction of the towering Tongbai Mountain. The mountains were majestic and turned into a deep dark green shadow in the rain:
Under that shadow is a huge army of tens of thousands.
The flags are densely covered, the horses are neighing, the golden drums are constantly beating, and the swords are clanging. Although the Chu Chuang New Army is a new force that lacks experience in large-scale battles, they have a particularly complete military training through Huguang's recruitment and training department system, not to mention
Sophisticated ordnance based on a solid material foundation.
The army was in order, and Guo Junzhen and his old friend Li Polu immediately rode in front of the army. Ying Shanbo from the Dashun Dynasty gently pulled his bamboo hat down a little, and said with a hint of anxiety in his tone:
"We have to hurry up... If we can't catch up with the front line and arrive before the decisive battle between Junhou and Donglu, things will be ruined in my hands!"