Desert Eagle Suletan Khan

Chapter 703: Kill the tiger in its mouth, butcher the tiger and knock the pig out (Part )

Eight thousand cavalry rolled toward the west, and King Sumur of Liao was filled with excitement. Because he did not encounter any resistance when he captured Zuoyun Acropolis, he felt extremely comfortable. He took out the Xianhan letter (the emperor's letter and letter) written by his brother Suletan from his pocket and read it carefully. The content is very short, just a line of small words: "There is one tiger and eight pigs in the mouth of the tiger. You kill the tiger and knock the pigs for me." There are two Ikemingans that cannot be written in one sentence. After all, they are brothers. Sumur only needs to read it once to understand what his brother means. One tiger refers to the Qing army's killing of Hukou Xie; eight pigs naturally refers to the so-called "Eight Imperial Merchants" who are closely related to the Manchu Internal Affairs Office. Well, my brother wants me to slaughter the tiger. He wants me to quickly defeat the tiger-killing town and seize this important land of wealth for the Manchu people. As for knocking pigs, the word "knock" is very important. You can't kill the pigs. Just get some benefits from the pig. In fact, the "Eight Great Imperial Merchants" not only had a good relationship with the Qing Dynasty, but also had a pretty good relationship with the David Kingdom. A few days ago, the Guards captured Guihua City. They sent people to deliver gifts. The gifts were worth more than 1.5 million taels, which was considered a large sum. However, it was this generosity that made the Great Khan of Lotus see their strength and felt that these eight major families still had great potential to be tapped. He secretly instructed his younger brother to take advantage of the opportunity of this attack to kill the tiger's mouth and kill the eight fat pigs again. Scrape some oil and water.

Like his brother Suletan, King Sumur of Liao also suffered hardships when he was a child. At the beginning, the Huite tribe was still a small tribe, dealing with various powerful forces. Even the son of Datai Jinomu Dalai had to join the army and practice martial arts. He had to eat enough to fill his stomach and wear clothes to keep out the cold. Benjia, how could he be as well-dressed and well-fed as he is now? A person who is used to being poor has a great desire for wealth. Moreover, it is an old rule of the Mongols to obtain trophies in battle. When he thinks of the wealth of the legendary tiger's mouth, His Highness the King of Liao's already burning heart becomes even more intense. fiery.

"Send orders to Sengge and Shandan to speed up the march. I will sleep in Ninglu Fort before dark," he ordered loudly.

"Yes", all the banners and drums on the side were immediately conveyed by the general's order.

Ninglu Fort belongs to Zuoyunwei and is one of the five Jinglu forts in Datong Town. Although the Qing army changed "Lu" to "Lu" after entering the pass, the local people still used to call it Ninglu Fort. This place is very close to Mongolia and has a market for trading with the Mongols. It is relatively more prosperous than other military forts. To prevent the Mongols from invading, there is only one gate to the south, and the east gate is through the urn city. In the Ming Dynasty, this fort was equipped with one garrison, one garrison and two generals, and 607 troops were stationed in this fort. However, with the Qing Dynasty's conquest of Monan Mongolia and the gradual stabilization of Shanxi, Emperor Shunzhi vigorously abolished and merged the Shanxi Guard Station, setting up only one guard and a hundred troops. How could a mere hundred soldiers have the courage to fight against the Liao King's army? Seeing the Mongolian military flags all over the mountains and plains, the guard of the fortress lost his composure and obediently abandoned his weapons and disarmed himself.

Also due to the abolition and merging of guard posts, the Red Earth Fort to the west of Ninglu Fort used to have more than 200 soldiers, but now it also has only a hundred soldiers. The conduct of the fort defenders was more courageous than that of Ninglu Fort. Instead of surrendering, they withdrew to Yuyouweicheng with their troops. The Yuyouwei were two guards in the Ming Dynasty, the Yulinwei and the Datong Youwei. Emperor Shunzhi merged them into one guard with a stroke of his pen: Yuyouwei. The Yamen of Shahukou Xiezhen (Deputy General) was located on the edge of the Great Wall between the original Yulin Guards and Datong Right Guards. Sha Hukou deputy general Sha Yaoke had three battalion heads. The left camp was stationed at Yuyouweicheng, the right camp was stationed at Tuanshan near Shahukou, and he led the middle battalion to station at Shahukou.

Killing Hukou was originally called "Slaying Hukou". After the Manchu Qing Dynasty took over the Han people's Huahua Kingdom, it changed "Slaying Hu" to "Slaying Tiger". As the hub between the north and the south, this place has been the main channel for tribute, trade, and immigration since ancient times. The Qing government set up bureaus such as the Hubu Branch Office, the Xiezhen Office, and the Post Mission Office to manage the area. With the development of commerce and trade, the daily tax collected at Shahukou is huge, and there is a saying that "every day makes money and money." Therefore, among these yamen, the branch office of the Ministry of Household Affairs is the most important.

Because of the money, the buildings in Shahu Pass are extremely exquisite. The long streets and lanes paved with bluestone slabs, pink and white walls, carved windows, green tiles with eaves, high steps, ancient temples, unique stages... all tell the story of the prosperity here.

Next to Guankou Street in the Great Wall Gate, there is a row of magnificent government offices. They are so magnificent that they can "respect the decency of the imperial court and protect the vassals from outside." ". This is the post office and postal mail station set up by the Qing court at Shahukou, as well as the postal and communication arrangements for Yancha, referred to as "Tongsi Yamen". The Daotai Yamen of Zhang Hongjun, deputy envoy of the Shanxi Envoy Department of the Qing Dynasty and minister of branch patrol post, was also located here. This official position has great power. Not only is it responsible for patrolling and delivering propaganda, but it is also responsible for supervising the "food and salary" and "salt laws". In normal times, it would be a first-rate job, but now I heard that the Wei army has gone south and has reached Datong Town. , Zhang Hongjun couldn't sit still, and hurriedly asked the imperial envoy to supervise Hukou, who was also responsible for the taxation and household affairs department, Liu Guoqin, the deputy general of Hukou, Sha Yaoke, the guerrilla Ai Shi of the middle camp of Hukou, and the guard Wang Yuan and others. yamen discussion.

The Taoist priests on the patrol side invited each other, and they all showed some respect both in literature and martial arts. Sha Yaoke, Ai Shi, Wang Yuan and others rushed over quickly, but Liu Guoqin was the only one who didn't arrive. Mr. Liu is a bit arrogant. Although he is only from the fifth rank, his rank is lower than Zhang Hongjun, but he has the word "imperial envoy" on his head, and his status is far more respected than others. Apart from anything else, he is among the major yamen in Shahukou. , this is the only one that can eat the "Fuchu Banquet of Manchu and Han Dynasties". In addition, he was a Jinshi in the Bingxu Department of Shunzhi and had always looked down upon warriors with swords and guns, so it was understandable that he arrived later.

Humph, that sour Jinshi is late again! Sha Yaoke was dissatisfied. In terms of official position, he was the highest-ranking official here. But Liu Guoqin, relying on his status as an imperial envoy, was able to outdo him.

"I was just busy unpacking the tax collection and bringing it into Beijing. I'm really sorry for keeping you waiting for so long." With an apology, Zhang Hongjun came swaggeringly. He said he was sorry, but there was no trace of guilt at all, showing his dignity as an imperial envoy. In fact, he was lucky. After becoming a Jinshi, he worked as an official in the Ministry of Household Affairs for many years before he got such a good position. If only a few years later, in the first year of Kangxi, "the Zhang family and Shahu two people were sent to Manchuria and Mongolia." "Official" has nothing to do with him as a Han. "How dare you~ How dare you~" It didn't matter if everyone shouted, after all, no one wanted to offend the imperial envoy from Beijing.

Seeing everyone gathered, Zhang Hongjun got to the point: "The Guards are attacking Datong, and sooner or later they will come to kill the tiger. Do you have any good ideas?"

"Ahem~" Sha Yaoke coughed majestically, reminding everyone that he was the commander here, and then said slowly: "Zhang Daotai doesn't need to worry. The soldiers will block it, the water will cover it, and the tiger's mouth will be covered by my middle camp and Wang's guard camp. There are two battalions of defenders at the head, and one battalion is also placed on Tuanshan Mountain near Yuyouweicheng and Shahukou. This 'pin'-shaped structure is most conducive to defense. What needs to be done now is to transfer the tax revenue from the Hubu Yamen Ding, the Yamen servants of Daotai Yamen, and the postmen of Tongsi Yamen all gathered in Guancheng to assist in the defense."

"There are a total of 600 postmen and government servants under my command. They are all willing to obey your orders." Zhang Hongjun took the lead in expressing his stance.

Although Liu Guoqin was arrogant, he also knew that no eggs would be left intact after overturning the nest. He thought for a while and said: "There are four hundred tax collectors in the Hubu Yamen. One hundred must be left to guard the tax money in the treasury. The other three hundred are willing to be transferred to The city wall is guarded."

"Well, in that case, you guys should go back and prepare quickly. Soldiers from all yamen will gather at the school grounds tomorrow morning," Sha Yaoke ordered calmly.

"Xie Zhen, we actually still have troops," Zhang Hongjun offered a strategy, "There are dozens of major businesses that want to kill Hukou, and each of them has guards. It's better to recruit them all to the wall."

"Zhang Daotai doesn't know anything. The sources of the company's guards are complicated, and many of them are Mongolians. There may be spies from the Guards hidden inside, so it's better not to use them. Not only that, we also need to strengthen the inspection of Shahu Pass to prevent small disturbances at night." , Sha Yaoke flatly refused. This man is a veteran on the battlefield and has rich experience in defending the city.

"Report! About 8,000 guardsmen have captured Ninglu Fort and Hongtu Fort, and are heading towards Yuyou Guard City." While they were discussing, the spies came with news.

How come the guards arrived so quickly? Everyone was shocked after hearing this. Wei Sha Yaoke laughed loudly and said, "Don't panic, gentlemen. I have written a letter to David Fan, the commander of Weiyuan Road, and asked the Weiyuan Road camp to send troops to rescue. As long as you hold on patiently for a while, reinforcements from the imperial court will arrive."

(End of this chapter)