Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 189
As the warm sun fell, Zhu Meng's whole body trembled, and the chill was gone.

Ten points of merit, that is, twenty acres of land for ordinary soldiers.

And an officer like him is one percent of the total number of soldiers and horses under his command.

One after another, more than [-] people gathered in Dasanguan. In other words, he could get [-] points of merit.

That is, one thousand acres of land.

This is a huge income for Zhu Meng.

"Your Highness said, starting from today, I will entrust the important task of breaking up the Great Pass to me. You go directly to Xiangyang, and you have other appointments!"

Zeng Ying said with a smile, quite emotional.

A general like Zhu Meng who has mastered the skills of the dragon, coupled with his clan status, can still be remembered even after staying in a remote place for a year.

Seemingly aware of the awkwardness in Zeng Ying's heart, Zhu Meng said deliberately: "General Zeng, I don't want to hand over to you."

"These days, Li Zicheng is making a lot of noise in Guanzhong. He is relocating and collecting taxes. He might want to take Hanzhong!"

As he said that, Zhu Meng pointed to the cannons on the city wall, and said, "There are woods, stones, everything. Look at those cannons in red clothes, Franco cannons, they are being polished one by one."

"Once the intruder comes, he will definitely be unable to eat and walk around."

Hearing this, Zeng Ying immediately became excited: "Are you saying that the intruders are about to move?"

"Probably so."

Zhu Meng thought for a while, and said, "Shun Jun is clamoring for revenge all day long, but in fact, he doesn't do anything at all, he just thinks about messing around."

The two chatted for a while, both of them were rough people, but there was nothing wrong with them.

The next day, Zhu Meng announced the reward of King Hanyang, and the army, mainly composed of miners, immediately burst into joy.

Just when he asked his brothers to pack up their things and was about to leave Dasan Pass, suddenly, a beacon came from not far away.

"This is?" Zeng Ying was taken aback.

"I set up a sentry post in the mountains."

Zhu Meng said in a deep voice: "There are more than a dozen buildings in the vicinity for a hundred miles, and five beacons of smoke mean that more than [-] troops are coming."

Stretching his neck, Zhu Meng observed while talking.

"General Zhu, what you said is really good. The burglar really has a heart."

Zeng Ying was amazed, and showed a determined smile: "So we just guard the Dasan Pass and let the intruders die completely."

"General Zeng's courage is commendable."

Zhu Meng laughed loudly, waving his arms, and said: "The intruder is still in Dasan Pass, and he still hasn't suffered enough."

At the same time, Chen Yongfu, who was guarding Nanyang, also received the news of the intruders in the Wuguan area, and the arrangement was tight for a while.

In fact, although Li Zicheng was unable to launch a large-scale counterattack against the Manchu Qing, small-scale local attacks were common.

For example, on the northern line, Gao Yigong was dispatched to quell the internal changes, defeated the rebel general Tang Tong, and then crossed the Yellow River eastward to attack the Pianguan in the northwest, the Ningwu area.

On the southern line, cross the river from Luoyang, attack Huaiqing Mansion, an important town in northern Henan, and threaten Hebei and Shanxi.

This little action, on the contrary, forced Man Qing's determination to flank and destroy.

"Li Zicheng didn't go to fight Jiannu, why did he think of our Nanyang?"

Chen Yongfu thought about it, but couldn't understand it.

Logically speaking, it is absolutely unfavorable to be attacked on both sides, and the Shun army should go all out to deal with Jiannu.

"Report, there is an urgent military situation in Fangcheng."

At this time, a messenger suddenly came, carrying Yuxi from Fangcheng Pass.

Yuxi, that is, military sentiment.

Chen Yongfu was taken aback. Could it be that the intruder was planning to attack from both sides?
I saw that outside Fangcheng, a group of troops of unknown origin, about 3000 people, and thousands of old and weak people, begged to surrender.

The leader is a female general in red and flowers.

"Why does this person look so familiar?"

Chen Yongfu muttered.

He didn't dare to be arbitrary in this matter, so he could only pass it on to Xiangyang and let His Royal Highness King Hanyang decide.

……

At this time, outside Fangcheng, thousands of troops and many people leaned on the river and camped with difficulty.

The army still maintains its formation, but the common people are disorganized, their faces are withered and yellow, and they are suffering from hunger and cold. Obviously, they can't last long.

Many children are so hungry that they can't even hear the cry.

"Eat some of this, and feed him some more!"

A woman, with a yellow face and a shriveled breast, was unable to express milk, and her child was so hungry that she could not cry out.

The woman's face was full of grief, and she kept trying to feed him, but there was nothing.

At this time, suddenly a female general in armor and red robe scooped out a large bowl from a bucket of milky white fish soup and handed it to the woman.

"Thank you, General Red!"

The woman knelt down hurriedly, her face full of surprise.

"fine."

The red lady nodded and walked around one by one carrying the fish soup with her guards, handing it to women and children in need.

Soon, the fish soup was distributed.

She walked quickly to the river, where hundreds of iron pots were already filled with fireworks, cooking porridge and fish from the river.

A young woman was rolling up her sleeves, boiling fish soup, bending over to hold a spoon, her black and white skirt wrapped around a pair of perfect circles.

The waist is delicate, constantly bending and undulating, showing strong toughness.

"Miss Tang, you don't need to do this."

The red lady was taken aback for a moment, walked over with big strides, and said directly.

Lady Tang turned her head, with firm eyebrows and phoenix eyes, she whispered softly:

"Hong Niangzi, I'm relying on you to support me now, and I have to do something. You can't bear this burden alone."

Hearing this, the red lady took her hands, those slender hands now had many calluses, her eyes were slightly red:

"I promised Li Lang to take care of you, but I can't make you suffer."

"It's enough that you let our Li family escape from birth."

Tang Niang said softly, a friendly smile appeared on everyone's ladies' faces.

Hong Niangzi went down from Shanxi to the saline-alkali Kaifeng. Even if the river receded, not many people cultivated it.

The Li family was in Qixian County, and the red lady led the soldiers and horses. After more than a month of repairing, she took her and the soldiers' families and started the journey to survive.

Until last month, when the Chuang army went east again, Hong Niangzi had no choice but to run around, but Henan had already been desolate for thousands of miles, and there was no extra food.

He had no choice but to come to Fangcheng and surrender to the Ming army.

Of course, this is in view of King Hanyang's good reputation.

"Escape from birth?"

The red lady's bulging chest heaved up and down: "It's too early to say this, it will be difficult to rescue you, let alone avenge Li Lang."

"Li Lang!" Tang Niangzi sighed, and said sadly: "My husband has not yet had any children, so the incense has been cut off."

"Son!"

Speaking of this, Hong Niangzi's resolute face couldn't help but move: "It's my fault, I have never given him a concubine."

"Ugh!"

Tang Niangzi sighed, looking at the embarrassed Li family members and the weak people, she couldn't help asking:
"The King of Hanyang, can you accept us?"

The red lady turned her head, looked at the strange fortress in the distance, and said in a deep voice: "I will definitely, he is the only one in the Ming army who has a good reputation."

(End of this chapter)