Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1863 Phoenix City

"The thief in yellow actually wants Phoenix City. It's really unreasonable." Chongnian, who had just been promoted to the capital because of his meritorious service, heard the news that the slaves had come to inquire about him. It fell to the ground and shattered.

However, this time, Chongnian didn't care about the tea spilled all over the carpet, but went out of the house directly, stood under the eaves, looked at this servant who had followed him for many years, raised his voice and asked: " Is it reliable? Where did you hear the news?"

"Master, it came from Shenyang. There are noses and eyes. Many people are talking about it. They say that the condition of the peace proposed by the thief in yellow is that we cede Phoenix City, which makes many people panic."

"Bastard, with the emperor's will and no court documents, this Phoenix City still belongs to me, why are you panicking!" Chongnian heaved a sigh of relief when he heard the words, and reprimanded him.Fenghuang City and its surrounding areas were just upgraded to the jurisdiction of the capital by the Qing court last year. Because of his outstanding military achievements, Chongnian was promoted to the capital of Phoenix City. It was a high position that he could not even imagine before. The emperor treated his servants really kindly, it's really hard to repay such kindness to the king without breaking his body to pieces!

Of course, Chongnian was able to be promoted to the position of the capital of the Phoenix City. Apart from his bravery and accumulated achievements over the years, not many people came to compete, but it was also one of the key factors, and it could even be said to be the most important. the elements of.It has been several decades since the Qing Dynasty entered the customs. Even though the eight banners outside the customs have lived in a bitter and cold place, it is relatively difficult and the rate of corruption is slower, but after all these years, they cannot be compared with the old slaves and Huang Taiji's era.The stability of life and the abundance of supplies made them lose their pioneering spirit of forging ahead. Wearing warm clothes and eating enough food, their spirits are not even as good as Shandan recruited by people from the East Coast from the Northeast. people.Those people are short and stocky, with dull speech, but thick and well-developed joints, with explosive power all over their bodies, and they are not very afraid of death. They put on the armor of the people from the east bank, and they often make the Eight Banners outside the pass feel terrified when they fight. Don't dare to beat him directly.

Compared with those of his fellow clansmen who were a bit life-threatening, Chongnian is relatively brave, and his martial skills, courage, and knowledge are all good. He has killed many Shandan people in frontal fights, and even killed two active officers on the east coast. The Eight Banners outside the pass—at least in the area of ​​Phoenix City—had a high prestige, so few local people dared to compete with him.As for the places outside Phoenix City, everyone is not a fool, and they have a good life, so why go to Phoenix City, a place that directly faces the front line of yellow-clothed thieves, to make yourself unhappy?What a surprise!So after many times, this Chongnian became the only candidate, so he quickly took office and took command of this vast land with a radius of [-] to [-] square kilometers.

Chongnian is not a fool either, he has been around inside and outside the pass, and he has experienced many twists and turns in the process of taking the position, and he also knows that the position under his buttocks is not easy to sit, and if he is not careful, he will be killed by people from the east bank. Come here and die.Even if the people on the east bank didn't kill him, Chongnian, he might be questioned by the imperial court for various things.There is no way, this position is too conspicuous. Although many people are unwilling to be the governor because of fear and fear, it does not mean that they are willing to see Chongnian flourishing in this position. Therefore, as long as he seizes the opportunity, he will definitely go to death, until this humble person suffers from bad luck.

Therefore, it is not surprising that Chongnian's house slave heard some gossip when he went to Shenyang to give gifts to his boss this time. Who made him be on the cusp of this crisis now, so he can only live with it.

After reprimanding the servant, Chongnian felt a little irritable, he walked slowly around the room twice, then sighed softly, asked Ma Bian to lead the horse, and left the city for inspection.

The scenery of Phoenix City in summer is the best. Galloping away on horses, unknown wild flowers are blooming all over the mountains and fields, and occasionally some cattle and sheep roam among them, giving people a pleasing feeling.Although Chongnian is a soldier, he still has the ability to appreciate the beautiful scenery, and has always had a certain simple feeling for the land under his rule.I think how difficult it was when our ancestors struggled to survive under the oppression of the Koreans. Now a hundred years have passed, Jianzhou Jurchens have risen all the way, and they have taken over the city of Beijing and become the masters of this beautiful world in the Central Plains. , What a passion!What a feat!Can't I, Chongnian, learn from my ancestors and work hard under hardships to keep this yellow-clothed thief out of Phoenix City so that he can't take a step inward!

The war horse continued to gallop forward, bathed in the bright purple glow of the setting sun, passing through patches of jungle and pastures, and finally stopped at a construction site on the edge of a farmland.Originally, there were hundreds of masters conscripted from the Guannei Han area on the construction site, making final repairs to the basically completed fortress, but it was getting late and most of them had already evacuated, only a dozen of them Stay there to sod the walls.

The fort is a mixed structure of earth, wood, and stone. Basically, it can be said that it can be said to use whatever material it can. It can station one or two hundred soldiers and control a trail in the mountains. It is part of the early warning facilities outside Phoenix City.The foundations of this kind of fortress are basically stone, and the main structure is a mixture of civil and wood. In order to resist the close-range bombardment of the cannons of the people on the east coast, the walls of this kind of fortress are extremely thick.And since it has been built thickly, it can only be built into an earthen wall out of cost considerations!

The fort in front of Chongnian is a very thick earth wall, about 9-10 meters high. A layer of clay was spread on the outside, and then a lot of grass roots were sprinkled to compact it, and then covered with grass-covered soil clods to make it It gradually merges with the inner layer.The construction method of this kind of fort was not originally created by the Qing people, but learned from the Russians. This is how their first few fortresses in the East were built, and they were very strong. , the main structure is wood, covered with soil, and the outermost layer is thick grass blocks. It was besieged by the army led by Kangxi for two years. .

Now that the Qing people have learned this way of building a city, although they may still be unable to withstand the bombardment of some large-caliber heavy artillery from the people on the east coast, is this kind of artillery easy to transport?Is it possible to run around with it?Is every army equipped with it?How can it be!Therefore, as long as the fortress of the Qing people can defend against the attack of the small-scale east bank army, it is enough. If you really encounter the east bank army, then you should wash your neck and wait for death.

Moreover, this kind of earthen city is also fireproof, which is much safer than a simple wooden village, and it is cheap to build, so it is natural to promote it on a large scale.Today, many such castles have been built around Phoenix City, and they have begun to gradually replace the old wooden military fortresses. Although they are not as good as the brick-and-wood mixed-structure gun towers, fortresses, and grain depots of the people on the east coast, they are still better than the old ones. It has come a long way since then, and that's enough.

There are a lot of farmland next to the fortress, and the wheat is planted. It has grown tall and green, and it makes people happy at first sight.Chongnian knew that these flat farmlands basically belonged to the Eight Banners of Manchuria, but this did not mean that the farmers were also from the Eight Banners!For more than ten years, as the people on the east bank were tossing vigorously along the Yalu River, the Manchu and Qing courts continued to transfer troops, food, and supplies from within the pass in order to be able to compete with the people on the east bank.Especially when Prince Kang ended that time, he organized an army of 2 to [-] to attack the two counties of Dandong and Kuandian under the control of the people on the east bank. Materials, money and food, how many people were enlisted to serve as masters on the front line.

After the war, some of these people returned to their hometowns, and some were retained by the Qing court. They rented and planted the land of the nobles of the Eight Banners in the areas of Shenyang, Tieling, and Kaiyuan to support themselves while not leaving the customs. The Eight Banners accumulated some food and grass.In addition to these people who sneaked to the Liaodong Peninsula to reclaim wasteland during the severe drought and earthquake in Shandong, the Han Chinese from Hebei and Shandong provinces in the land outside the customs probably numbered 8 to [-], and they basically had legal identities.

In recent years, because the situation outside the customs has never been improved, the people from the east bank not only gained a firm foothold in Dandong and Kuandian, but also took a cold breath to build a new Dadonggou County, which put a lot of pressure on the Qing court. increase.Therefore, in order to change this unfavorable situation, the Qing government had to choose to increase the troops deployed outside the pass, but the number of the Eight Banners outside the pass was limited. Doubling.Therefore, after repeated consideration by the Qing government, in the end they had no choice but to reluctantly transfer the Han army in the pass to the north to deploy defenses on the land of Liaodong to make up for the huge gap in troops.At present, these Han troops still implement the rotation system, that is, the northern provinces and governments take turns sending troops and food to guard outside the pass, but how do you know that after a long time, these "marching troops" will not become "sitting households"?You know, there was an incident on the border during the Tang Dynasty. At the beginning, the general manager led the army to fight, and returned to the division after the incident, but what happened after a long time?Have you heard the name of Tianbao Ten Festivals?

Chongnian was very worried. Now that this situation continues, when a large number of Han troops stationed outside the customs for a long time to fight against the people on the east coast, and a large number of Han people poured into the customs to farm and herd to provide war resources, what will the land outside the customs be like? Is it still the Manchuria of the Manchurians?Moreover, the proportion of adult men serving as fighters in the Eight Banners outside the Guan is too high. After a battle is over, it is not uncommon for half of the village to wear mourning and cry for funerals.If this continues for a long time, will the Eight Banners fight less and less?

Children of the Eight Banners serve in the army to fight, and the Han people farm and herd. Chongnian always feels that this model is not right.But exactly what is wrong, he only has a vague idea. It was reminded by an old gentleman of the Han Army Banner in the city last time, saying that it was an old thing that happened in a certain dynasty in the ancient Central Plains. Go back and find someone to ask when you have time.The history of the Han people is really too long, no matter what things seem to be able to find living examples in ancient times, and draw a lot from them.

Chongnian slowed down his horse and circled around the fort, then stopped, and walked to the gate of the fort, a general wearing a lightning rod immediately came out to greet him.Chongnian recognized him. A Niu Luzhangjing of the Zhengbai Banner was the common commander of several nearby forts. This was his headquarters, with a hundred Manchurian Eight Banners soldiers stationed and almost the same number of musketeers from the Guannei and Henan provinces.

Chongnian felt a headache looking at those Han army musketeers, and wanted to send them back, but he knew that this was impossible. The existence of these Han army officers and soldiers was indispensable outside the pass, otherwise the defense line might be full of loopholes.But Chongnian is still very entangled, fearing in his heart that these people will settle down for a long time, multiply and thrive, and it is unknown whether this "Manchuria" will eventually become "Hanzhou".

There are too many Han Chinese, and too few Manchurians!

"Take care, the emperor will not forget us." Chongnian sighed softly, patted the shoulder of the subordinate in front of him, and said: "Nowadays, Liaodong thieves are rampant, and you and I must do our duty more faithfully and report to the emperor." kindness."

After saying this, Chongnian felt a sense of sadness.In the land of dragon prosperity in Manchuria, the descendants of Nurhachi are also being squeezed so hard here, how absurd it is!The only hope now is that the emperor will be wise and mighty, govern the country well, improve everyone's equipment and tactics, and then accumulate a large amount of money and food, fight to the death with the yellow-clothed thieves, and completely regain the lost land in Liaodong.

Although the emperor and the court are negotiating peace with the yellow-clothed thieves, Chongnian believes that this is only temporary.After digesting the Western gun-making, cannon-casting technology and various new tactics brought by the Dutch red-haired and English merchants, the cheered up "My Great Qing" tiger and ben army will be able to reorganize the old mountains and rivers, and put this hateful yellow The clothes thief rushed into the sea in one fell swoop.Chong Nian still doesn't believe it, everyone is not superhuman, and they have to fight with real knives and guns, who can be much stronger than whom?I heard that those fearsome blue-clothed thieves have left Liaodong, so what is there to be afraid of?As long as the emperor gives an order, the servants will just do it!

After inspecting this nearby fortress, Chongnian saw that it was getting late, so he didn't continue to go to other places, but returned to Phoenix City with the horses.At this time, it was already the first time when the lights came on in the city, and on the busiest street, many shops and eateries were already bustling. Seeing this, Chongnian's face became even colder, and the horsewhip in his hand became more urgent!Most of these shops and restaurants were run by the families of the Han soldiers who came here, and very few belonged to the children of the Eight Banners of Manchuria and Mongolia. If things go on like this, the mountains and rivers thousands of miles away from the pass will probably change color, so why would they kill themselves, it would be better to give them to the yellow-clothed thieves, it would be easier!

(End of this chapter)