Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 361 What's the point of the Eight Banners?

Fu Liqiao.

This place is fifty miles north of Suzhou. It is called Yongqiao, also known as Fuli Bridge, and it is called Yongji Bridge in later generations.

Built during the Renzong period of the Northern Song Dynasty, it is the world's first large-scale wooden arch bridge, a famous scenic spot in Suzhou, Fuli Xiaodu.

Due to the importance of the Yongji Canal in the Tang and Song Dynasties, Suzhou was established on the Yongqiao. Because of a bridge, it became a city.

The long arch bridge brought together a large number of people and businessmen, carrying their bags, enduring the scorching sun, and slowly moving forward with the long team.

"Ding-dong-"

A string of copper coins was thrown down, and there was a crisp sound.

"Let's go!" Wearing a bamboo hat, the guard waved lazily.

Immediately, the travelers with their bags on their backs couldn't wait to walk onto the arch bridge.

But at this time, a merchant holding a mule was pulled, and the hand that threw the copper coins was also caught:
"Who are you fooling? Five cents for one person, twenty cents for a mule, don't even think about getting away with it!"

The guard's eyes lit up, and he scolded sharply.

That expression seemed to bear a blood feud.

The merchant trembled, and fearfully took out some copper coins from his pocket.

"Not enough!" The guard shook his head and said with a sneer, "You fooled me just now, so give me double."

The businessman glanced at the increasingly long queue behind him, so he could only swallow his anger, and took out another twenty coins from the chain.

Unexpectedly, the guard snatched it away and stuffed it into his arms.

"Go away, don't let me see you next time."

But in the team, they are full of envy, and even take it for granted.

People want to replace it with their bodies, and never rebel.

Suddenly, the earth began to shake, and from a distance, waves of smoke and dust were raised.

With the passage of time, the smoke and dust became bigger and bigger, and the sound of horseshoes came.

"Not good, enemy attack enemy attack—"

On the arrow tower, the dozing guard woke up instantly and couldn't help shouting.

Immediately, the entire bridge became a mess.

The people who crossed the river couldn't wait to flee in all directions to avoid the coming military disaster.

And the guards, who were scattered with no more than a hundred people, had no fighting spirit and couldn't wait to surrender.

Of course, the most important thing is to pack up the money.

The horseshoes kicked up the dust, and the cavalry were basically dressed in light leather armor, helmets on their heads, and long bows and quivers on their backs, filled with long arrows.

"Is that the way to vote?"

Looking at the guards kneeling in a row, Hu Xinshui couldn't help sighing, it was so easy.

Since he was captured in Henan and joined the cavalry battalion, he has served as the commander-in-chief. He has three or four hundred people under his command, and he is considered a figure.

"General, spare your life!"

The big guy with his butt up, big face and round waist, couldn't wait to beg for mercy:
"We are just collecting money, we don't know how to fight."

Hu Xinshui glanced across, most of the people in this group had long spears, waist knives, and longbows, only three or five, and none of them had blunderbusses.

Obviously, he wasn't lying.

"Quickly control the bridge!"

Hu Xinshui didn't bother to talk to them, and directly ordered his subordinates to do things, and checked the stability of the bridge.

Half an hour later, the army arrived.

As a forward, the cavalry battalion is obviously qualified.

"The cavalry found that the bridge had not been repaired for many years, and it was damaged. It would be dangerous to cross the bridge by force."

"Then fix it for half a day."

Li Jingwu looked at the large-scale Fuli Bridge, and said indifferently: "It's also fortunate that it is made of wood, so let's hold it for a few days."

Afterwards, the news that the cavalry battalion was commended spread throughout the battalion.

"Not bad!"

Guerrilla patted him on the shoulder: "As expected of being from the Guan Ning Army."

Hu Xinshui was overjoyed, after this battle, it seemed that he could become a boss.

The [-] army, plus a large number of civilian husbands and livestock, took five days just to cross the river.

However, the cavalry battalion, as the vanguard, must have crossed the river on the first day.

Energetic Hu Xinshui kept checking the bridges, water flow, villages and towns, and official roads, and then sent them to the base camp in the rear.

Even, he had to find a suitable place to camp every thirty or forty miles, which was a daunting task.

When necessary, bridges and roads should be built. This is the work of pioneers.

"Brother, why can't you understand the map?"

Hu Xinshui looked around, and immediately stretched her neck and poked her head away, asking the big man who was also riding on the horse.

I saw that the big man was holding a wooden ruler and a fine pen in his hand, and the map in his hand was full of children's graffiti.

There are all kinds of patterns, which seem quite weird.

"It was taught in the military school, have you forgotten?"

Although the big man is unshaven, he speaks very calmly and looks very quiet.

"Up north and down south, dots are townships and villages, circles are counties, squares are states and prefectures..."

As he said that, he was eloquent: "Look at '][', this is a bridge; these two triangles connected together are the forest; two parallel lines are the official road..."

"All right!"

Hu Xinshui's forehead hurt from hearing this, and she couldn't help but said: "The military school only teaches reading and writing. When did you teach this?"

"Oh, this is taught in the school set up by the Chief of Staff."

The big man rubbed his head and said embarrassingly: "This time, besides me, there are 100 people in the army to draw a detailed map of the entire Huaihai area."

"Do you want to show the control the picture?"

Hu Xinshui's heart moved, and he hurriedly asked.

"That's right!"

The big man nodded, and immediately persuaded him: "According to the news, in the future, all officers above the rank of general will be able to read pictures. Brother Hu, the sooner you learn, the greater the benefits."

Hearing this sentence, Hu Xinshui immediately said: "Brother, these days are all up to you."

The two were chatting happily when suddenly, the horse panicked.

Hu Xinshui even felt the ground tremble slightly.

He quickly lay down on the ground and rode on his horse after a while, panicked:
"Hurry up, this is at least thousands of cavalry, we can't deal with it!"

At this time, the advantage of one man and two horses was revealed, and after a while, hundreds of people escaped.

After the news was reported, Li Jingwu's expression changed: "It seems that Gao Jie is really going to rebel."

"This birdman dared to raise troops and go south, so he should be cut alive."

Prime Minister Whedon couldn't bear it, and hurriedly said loudly.

"After all, there are 200,000 people, so you have to be careful."

Qin Yiming had a psychological shadow on the rogues, and couldn't help but say.

"200,000?"

Li Jingwu shook his head and said with a sneer: "At least we have to make a [-]% discount. Let's see, this battle is easier than imagined."

"Then what if the Qing Dynasty went south? Shandong is not far from Xuzhou!"

On the side, Bai Wang frowned, showing a trace of doubt.

"Let's not mention the weather for the time being, how the Manchus went south, even if the Manchus sent troops, I would be happy and not afraid."

Li Jingwu swept across the crowd: "Our cavalry battalion and heavy infantry battalion are all here, so what's the point of the Eight Banners?"

When Yan Guochao heard this, he couldn't help puffing out his chest.

(End of this chapter)