Not long before the battle in Xuyuan started, Yang Boxing had just brought his brothers to a fishing village on the banks of the North and South Lakes.
As the personal troops of the Flag Bearer Battalion, the reserve team in the camp, and the personal soldiers of the Chief Military Officer Zhu Wu, they would not have appeared on the front line originally.
But this time it's different.
Zhu Yihai put forward a combat plan to lure the snake out of its hole, and also proposed the idea of waging a people's war. The 10,000 Northern Expeditionary Army should be broken into pieces and sent to the coastal countryside of Haiyan, asking them to mobilize the masses and attack the gangsters and traitorous evil gentry.
Although the accompanying ministers Zhang Mingyang and Shen Chenquan agreed, in the end they firmly opposed Zhu Yihai's move together.
No matter what Lu Jianguo said this time, they just refused. In the end, Zhu Yihai had no choice but to compromise first and said that he would let each battalion take action first. After settling down on the coast, he would then go ashore with the second batch of auxiliary battalions.
When Yang Boxing's group of soldiers heard the news, they originally sighed and said they could only stay on the island to fish, but Zhu Yihai came over to have a meal with them and then let them set off in the first group.
Zhu Yihai's original words were that I am not in danger on the island. You are the best of the best and cannot be wasted here.
Yang Boxing and others were naturally very excited. Although they also proposed that they would be wherever the prison country was, they could not resist their eagerness to perform meritorious services and finally set off according to the order.
They acted together with the flag-bearer Zuo Ying. The first batch of 800 people landed at the foot of Fenghuang Mountain in the southwest of Haiyan County. After landing, the whole battalion was quickly divided into five, and the four posts on the front, rear, left and right acted separately. Deputy General Zhang Mingyang led the battalion.
The Ministry and the servant team act together.
Not far from where they landed was Hainingwei's Kanpu Suo, but the purpose of their trip was not the Kanpu Suo city, but the villages in the countryside.
Nanbei Lake is a lake east of Fenghuang Mountain. Because there are two mountains in the middle, the east and west mountains go deep, so the lake is like a lake in the north and south connected, so it is named.
After they landed, a total of about a hundred people from the battalion headquarters and servants came to Nanhu Village.
Nanhu is a small village with more than a hundred households, mainly fishermen. It was a little panicked by the sudden arrival of the troops. Although they did not shave their heads, the people were still running around in fear, calling their children and hiding in every place.
Only a few old men with trembling legs and gray beards remained, standing tremblingly at the entrance of the village to greet the army.
"Master Jun, we just paid the grain to Xujiaying two days ago, and the boss who collected the grain also promised us that the payment of what we owe can be postponed to next month."
Zhang Mingyang and his group of more than 100 people have relatively good equipment, because the flag-bearer battalion is originally a brave guard affiliated with the prisoner's army, one of the two units of the flag-bearer. They are the battalion headquarters and the soldiers, so their armor coverage rate is very high.
Cotton armor, iron armor and cloth face armor accounted for more than half, and some foreign breastplates, Japanese rattan armor, etc. were also equipped. The equipment was mainly spears and muskets.
There are even many horses and mules.
What's strange about this seemingly elite army is that they didn't display any formal banners, they just held a red flag with the word "righteousness" written on it.
Zhang Mingyang asked Yang Boxing to come forward to understand the situation.
"Old man, we are our own people, a volunteer rural group from Haining."
The old villagers with gray hair and beards were not relieved after hearing this, but became even more uneasy, "Aren't you from Xujiaying?"
"We are the Haining Volunteers. Which team are you talking about in Xujiaying?"
"They are the men and horses of the Xu family in Kanpu."
"Ah, old man, we just came from Haining and don't know much about the situation here. Can you tell me more about it?"
Another old man looked at them suspiciously, "The Xu family in Kanpu is a branch of the Xu family in Haiyan, and Xujiaying was built by the current head of the Xu family in Kanpu, Mr. Xu Min. Mr. Xu was a Jinshi of Tianqi and did military science in the Chongzhen Dynasty.
I heard that I went to Chongming to pay homage to King Yiyang to supervise the country, and was awarded the title of patrol officer. After I came back, I recruited troops and set up the Xujia camp with more than a thousand people."
"We are usually stationed in Xuyuan by the lake in the west of Kanpu City. We have come to collect food from us twice before, and we also took a dozen strong men into the camp."
Yang Boxing was not very happy when he heard the words "King Yiyang".
"So Xujiaying is an official army of the Ming Dynasty?"
Another old man couldn't help complaining, "What kind of official army are they? They are more ruthless than bandits. The people recruited in Xujiaying are all scoundrels. They go around to collect grain and raise donations. The new grain we harvested this summer was appointed by the Tatars in Haiyan County."
The pseudo-county magistrate had just collected them once, and Zheng Shoubei of Haiyan, after setting up the flag anyway, sent people to collect the food back. As soon as they left, the Xu family camp came again and collected more than the previous two families."
"What's the matter of requisitioning food? It's just an open robbery."
Although they didn't know whether the people in front of them were the same as Xu Jiaying, they couldn't help but complain about the politeness of the man.
"Master Jun, we really have nothing left. There are only a few sweet potato seedlings left in the village. Please don't harass us. We are willing to send you some sweet potato vines."
Not long ago, Yang Boxing was a woodcutter in Dinghai and a common man at the bottom. He knew very well that what these old men said was true, and he also understood their uneasy and fearful mood at this time.
He sighed and said, "Old man, we in Haining Yiying have rules. Don't take a single sweet potato from the common people, and don't take a needle or thread from the people."
Several old men looked at each other in confusion. Is there still such a group?
"If you don't like sweet potatoes, needlework, and some dried fish and shrimps in the village, you can take them if you don't mind."
Yang Boxing had no choice but to explain hard, "We really have rules. We can't take a sweet potato from the common people, nor can we take a needle or thread from the people. There's no other meaning."
The old men were puzzled.
"Old man, do you think we can go into the village to have a rest and make sure we don't disturb the people? We'll buy your sweet potatoes, dried fish and shrimp at market prices."
The old men were even more puzzled.
An old man asked tentatively, "Which master's family in Haining are you from?"
"Hasn't Haining County been occupied by the Tatars a long time ago?"
Yang Boxing smiled and said, "We are a volunteer township group recruited by Mr. Zhu's family to stand up for our common people."
Although they had the intention to refuse, they did not have the courage in the end. Several old men followed Yang Boxing slightly tremblingly to pay homage to the door-god-like Camp Commander Zhang.
Although they felt like they didn't have many people, they were very strong, half of them had armor, they even had so many muskets, a few small cannons, and many horses and mules, which made them very nervous.
Some old men even knelt down with their legs weak.
After Zhang Mingyang heard Yang Boxing tell him the information he had found, he got off his horse and helped a few old men up.
"Fellow fellow villagers, we are all our own people."
They were very nervous and led these people into the village. Every house in the village was still closed. Yang Boxing took out some money to buy things. The old men resisted for a long time. Seeing that it didn't look like they were cheating, they agreed nervously and happily.
.
So, this family brought some sweet potato flour, that family got some dried fish, and some rice from that family, and pieced it all together, and they also got a lot of grain and vegetables.
Zhang Mingyang's hundreds of men and horses did carry some dry food, but since they landed, they had to try their best to replenish supplies on the spot and save the dry food first.
Whether it was smelly salted fish and shrimp, or rice in the shell, or moldy old bacon, or freshly picked vegetables from the vegetable garden, Yang Boxing had someone weigh them and price them.
Pay according to the amount.
Things in rural villages are given according to the market prices in prefectures and counties, which obviously gives the common people some advantages.
"I also need to borrow pots, stoves, buckets, etc. from the fellow villagers. Don't worry, we will give you some money. It won't be used in vain."
The villagers, who were still holding the money they had just received, would be very fond of these polite people from the "Haining Yiying", so they all agreed.
Negotiate everything.
Several groups of people began to enter the village to rest.
Yang Boxing returned to the team, "Our team is stationed in the south of the village. Zhao Desheng's front guard is on guard duty, and the rest are resting."
"I have given you three orders before coming here. Everyone must keep in mind the three major disciplines and eight points of attention. Remember what the army told us. We are the Northern Expeditionary Army, the Wangshi rebel army like Grandpa Yue, so we must be as cold as the Yue Family Army.
They will not demolish their houses until they die, and they will not plunder them until they starve to death."
"I know there are many veterans in our team who have even served in many armies, but no matter what you did before, you must now do things according to the rules of our military. What kind of battalion is our battalion? We
What kind of team is this? Don’t let others look down upon you.”
"One more thing, the rules have been established a long time ago. If anyone dares to break the rules, I, Yang Boxing, will be the first to question him. Then don't blame me for not respecting brotherhood and comradeship!"
Because the area is currently occupied by the enemy, everyone tried not to mention the Ming Dynasty, His Highness Lu Jianguo, the Flag Bearer Camp, etc., but instead referred to the Haining Yi Camp, and replaced it with the Military Gate or Shangtou.
"Everyone, let me tell you the three major disciplines and eight points of attention again!"
Everyone had serious expressions and began to recite it seriously.
"All actions must be carried out according to the command, and no sweet potatoes, needles or threads should be taken from the common people. All seizures must be returned to the public."
"Speak kindly, trade fairly, pay back everything you borrow, pay for any damage, don't beat or curse people, don't trample crops, don't molest women, don't kill innocent people indiscriminately."
Yang Boxing took the lead to finish the recitation.
"Very good. It seems that everyone has kept it in mind. Although the superiors are not here, we still can't be obedient in the slightest. Not only must we talk about it at all times, but we must also keep it in our hearts."
"What did our superiors say when they sent us here? We are here to open up a base area and save the people from misery, not to burden them."
"Okay, now the front guard is on duty, and the rest are going to borrow firewood from the villagers' homes to cook. Remember not to harass the people. You have to pay for the firewood for the stoves, and when you are done, you have to fill the water tank with water for the fellow villagers.
, wash the used pots and stoves."
Zhang Dabiao was stunned when he heard this. Although he had never been a soldier before, he still felt that these rules were too strict.
But these were the new military regulations promulgated by the supervisor on the island before they set off.
"We are the King's Master and we are here to rescue them. Why do we seem to have become the servants of these people now?"
"Zhang Dabiao, shut the hell up, you are so talented. Can you be a good leader? If not, get out of my team. I don't care about you."
"Captain, don't worry, I'll tell you this. Don't worry, I, Zhang Dabiao, traveled all over the world with my master, and stayed in people's homes everywhere. I'm familiar with this, and I will definitely have a good relationship with the people."
After settling in, the village became much livelier.
Seeing how polite these people were, the restless common people gradually relaxed a lot, and many people even took the initiative to strike up a conversation with them and ask questions.
Lunch was just a simple stew of vegetable porridge with some oil and salt, and everyone was quite happy with it.
The family where Yang Boxing and his family cook did not cook at noon. They said they only had two meals a day when the farm was not busy. They had late meals in the morning, breakfast in the evening and no lunch.
However, their children kept looking at them eagerly, and Yang Boxing smiled and invited them to eat together. The adults refused, but the children did not know how to be polite, because these volunteers were always polite, and they were not as scared as the adults. They had delicious food.
Attracted by the porridge, I took a bowl and served it.
In the end, the adults couldn't help it anymore and came over half-heartedly to fill the bowls. They squatted at the door of the house and ate happily together.
"Brother, can you tell us more about Mr. Xu and his Xujiaying?" Yang Boxing asked the homeowner squatting next to him while eating vegetable porridge.
"Hey, they are a group of bandits. That Mr. Xu is not a good person. His family is a big local family. He has always oppressed the people and ran rampant in the countryside. This Mr. Xu is even more like this. After he returned to his hometown after becoming an official, he even indulged his servants and oppressed the people.
He specializes in lending usury to harm his fellow villagers. Because he did too many immoral things, he forced a family into desperation and pawned off his wife and sold his daughter at a low price. When a brother of that family who worked in another country came back and found out about it, he went to his house in the middle of the night and set a fire.
The ancestral home of his family that had existed for hundreds of years was burned down, and even the coffin of Mr. Xu’s mother was burned.”
"We villagers all call Mr. Xu Xu Bapi. When the Tatars came, Xu Bapi was the first to surrender. However, the Tatars who passed by later robbed Xu Garden and took Xu Bapi's daughter-in-law.
He was raped, but Xu Bapi didn’t dare to say a word at the time, and afterwards he gave a lot of money to send the Tatar away.”
"However, he turned back and ran quietly to Chongming. It is said that he paid homage to King Yiyang who was supervising the country, and got an official position as a patrol officer. When he came back, he recruited many rogues and set up the Xujiaying. Because he recruited thousands
The number one was so strong that he didn't even dare to mess with the commander who surrendered the prisoners at Kanpu."
"But after Xu Papi recruited these scoundrels, he didn't do human affairs. Apart from sending people to the countryside every now and then to collect grain and ask for money, he just dragged strong men to work for him. He didn't do any serious work. He only did some things like giving birth to sons without buttholes.
Regarding the smoke coming out of the wicked belt, look at our village, which has been raided several times by these groups of people. If it weren’t for the fact that there are some fish, shrimps, wild vegetables and so on in the lakes, seas, mountains and rivers in the current season, we would all starve to death.”
Yang Boxing listened carefully.
The Supervisor had a meeting with them before they came, instructing them on how to proceed after they arrived. He said that they should maintain public order in the countryside, crack down on gangsters and bandits, and crack down on traitors who surrendered, so as to restore peace to the people and mobilize the masses to work together.
Resist the captives and restore the Ming Dynasty.
Now this Xu Bapi is obviously the traitor bully that Jian Guo said he wanted to crack down on.
"There are really thousands of people in Xu Bapi's Xujiaying?"
"There must be thousands of people, just a lot more. You have to be careful not to provoke these people. You can't provoke them." The villagers persuaded kindly.
Yang Boxing chuckled, finished the vegetable porridge in a few mouthfuls, and then went to report to Zhang Mingyang.
