A small soldier of the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 197 Lu Xiangsheng Ding You

In the middle of March in the 11th year of Chongzhen, Wang Dou came to Mashuikou. He passed Shunxiang Fort, Huiyao Fort, Shiweng Fort, Chadao Fort, Shimen Fort and other places along the way.Along the Aikou ancient road, these key forts are vigorously repairing the roads and setting up warehouses for luggage, especially in Niujiaowa, not far from Mashuikou, where more than a thousand soldiers are building camps.

After inspecting Niujiaowa, Wang Dou led several guards, accompanied by Han Chao and others, dressed in cloth robes, and was welcomed by Mashuikou Guard Chu Qinmeng into Mashuikou City.

Along the way, Wang Dou paid close attention to the surrounding environment. As expected, Mashui City is dangerous, embraced by mountains, with a stream flowing beside it, full of steep and narrow ravines, typical of a mountain city.Occupying Mashuikou, you can go to Laishui and Yizhou in the east, Yuzhou in the west, and Baoanzhou in the north. It is the only way from Baoanzhou to Yizhou.

From Chu Qinmeng's mouth, Wang Dou knew that Mashui City had four gates and four gates. The first was Dongguan, which cut off the official road from Baoanzhou to Yizhou and set up a small castle, also known as Toudaomen.Going west along the official road for about one mile, there is another city gate, which is called Erdaomen. Entering Erdaomen is Mashui City.

Not far west along the city, there is another city gate on a gentle slope, known as Sandaomen, and finally one mile westward is Nantianmen, also known as Tianmenguan, which is connected with the Great Wall of Zhenbao Town. attack.

Along the way, Wang Dou was secretly frightened by Ma Shuikou's danger. If the place is not in his hands, his future plans will be in vain.Han Chao, who was beside Wang Dou, also watched silently, keeping in mind the main points he saw along the way.

After entering from Dongguan, Wang Dou saw that there were many residences for officers and soldiers along both sides of the rugged official road. As Wang Dou guessed, all of them were ragged and listless.Seeing the appearance of these sergeants, Chu Qinmeng was quite ashamed. He said: "I made my brother laugh. The soldiers under my brother's command are far incomparable with the officers and soldiers of my brother in the state city."

Wang Dou comforted him and said: "Brother Chu, why should you blame yourself? The court can't pay the salary, and the soldiers have no food and clothing. It's no fault of you."

While they were talking, they entered Mashuikou City through Erdaomen. Wang Dou saw that Mashuikou City was quite small, with narrow streets, smaller and dilapidated than the original Shunxiang Fort.

However, although the sparrow is small, it has all five internal organs. It has a general's mansion, a garrison mansion, and many sergeant barracks.Like other military castles, there are many temples inside. According to Chu Qinmeng's introduction, there are more than a dozen temples of different sizes, and the temple with the most incense is Guanshengdijun Temple.In addition, there are bell towers and drum towers in the city, which tell the time every day.

General Yang Shen of Mashuikou led his soldiers to station in Yizhou, so the garrison at Mashuikou only had 300 soldiers. Wang Dou estimated that the number of soldiers who fled was less than 1000.

After entering the Garrison Mansion, Chu Qinmeng entertained Wang Dou, and he ordered his servants to kill a sheep, and the two sat and drank together.

Wang Dou smiled and said: "When I just entered the mansion, that little lady was your daughter, brother Chu is so lucky, my daughter is already this old."

Chu Qinmeng is 35 years old this year. He has a son and a daughter. The son is 17 years old and the daughter is 16 years old. It is indeed a blessing.Talking about his daughter, Chu Qinmeng showed a doting look on his face, and he sighed: "My daughter is also well-behaved. Thinking about it, she should also start a family, but I can't find a suitable son, which is quite annoying to me."

He looked at Wang Dou: "Brother Wang, is there any good man under his command, introduce him to brother?"

According to Chu Qinmeng, it is best for his daughter to marry Wang Dou as his wife. Unfortunately, Wang Dou already has a wife, so it is impossible for his daughter to be his concubine, right?He made up his mind to make friends with Wang Dou, so he made up his mind about the generals under Wang Dou's command.

Chu Qinmeng's words fit Wang Dou's intentions. He thought about it quickly. All the generals under his command had wives. Finally, Wang Dou thought of one.

He smiled and said: "My personal guard is my brother-in-law. This kid is 19 years old this year. He has been reluctant to marry for a long time. I don't know if he will have the good fortune to climb up to Brother Chu."

Xie Yike is Wang Dou's brother-in-law and a personal guard. His future is limitless. Chu Qinmeng is also satisfied. When he greeted Wang Dou just now, he noticed this strong young man. Hearing that it was this man, he made a final decision: "Brother said If not, it’s my elder brother and I’m Gao Pan.”

The two laughed at each other, and the matter was decided in this way.

The two are considered in-laws at the moment, and they feel more affectionate in their expressions.

Chu Qinmeng couldn't wait to say: "Brother said a few days ago that he was going to do some business, I don't know about it..."

Wang Doulue pondered for a while, and said: "To be honest, the reason why my brother's Bao'an Prefecture is able to develop is because after my brothers have trained sergeants, they let them go out to suppress bandits, get money and food, and use it continuously to support the army and the people. Such a virtuous circle Only in this way can Baozhou develop like this.”

"Brothers hope that Brother Chu can join together and make a fortune together."

Chu Qinmeng was taken aback, and said, "Brother."

It turned out that the secret of Wang Dou's success was this.Chu Qinmeng even guessed that Wang Dou had plans to go to Yizhou and other places to suppress bandits through Mashuikou, and he was quite surprised by Wang Dou's audacity.He said: "Brother, have you always been like this in the past few years?"

Wang Dou nodded.

Chu Qinmeng was also moved: "How much can I gain every time I go out to suppress bandits?"

Wang Dou said: "It will not be less than 3000 taels of silver."

Chu Qinmeng was even more surprised: "So rich?"

He couldn't help himself, and then he hesitated: "It's just a sergeant under brother's command."

Chu Qinmeng had seen the sergeants in various places in Baoan Prefecture, and they were all strong and strong. Such an army would be invincible when they went out to suppress bandits, but his own soldiers might risk being suppressed instead of defeating bandits.

Wang Dou also considered this point and said, "How many soldiers and horses under Brother Chu's command can go to battle?"

Chu Qinmeng thought about it for a while, and said: "Brother has three hundred servants under his command... Well, it is estimated that he can pull out five hundred men and horses."

Wang Dou said: "That's enough."

He said: "I will support Brother Chu with a hundred firecrackers to enhance Brother Chu's combat power."

After Chu Qinmeng had seen the power of the new firecrackers in Baoanzhou, and after listening to Wang Dou's words, he was even more delighted. With these firecrackers, would he still be afraid of those bandits?Panting heavily, he gritted his teeth and said, "The cowardly will be starved to death, and the bold will be starved to death. Okay, let's do it."

……

Afterwards, the two discussed in detail, and there was one key issue, how to let the sergeant pass through the Zijing Pass, which is more than 100 miles southwest of Mashuikou, on the official road between Baoanzhou and Yizhou.How to transport the seized money and food back from the pass is a difficult problem.

Chu Qinmeng hung up the map, and the two looked at it carefully. Wang Dou said, "Brother Chu, first of all, we need to build a stronghold in Henan Wa, set up some warehouses for transporting luggage, and then build a similar warehouse in Zhaogezhuang. If the Walled City is captured in the future, it can be stockpiled here in advance, and then transported back to the pass in a leisurely manner."

Chu Qinmeng wondered: "It is really necessary to build a stronghold in the city, but brothers have money and food..."

Wang Doudao: "Brother Chu, don't worry, I will provide all the money and food for the establishment of the stronghold. Brother Chu can let his soldiers participate in the construction. I will definitely not treat them badly for their food supply."

Chu Qinmeng thought that Wang Dou was rich and powerful, he smiled and said: "If there is enough food to eat, those bastards must run faster than anyone else."

He stared at the map carefully, and suddenly his eyes lit up, and he said with a smile: "I forgot."

He pointed to the location of Zhao Gezhuang and said: "This place is close to the Juma River. Although the banks along the river are steep and not easy to walk on, but it freezes in winter, the ice is thick. People, horses and vehicles can walk on it without any worries. We transport in winter If it is captured, you can go directly to Zhaogezhuang from Laishui City, so you don’t need to go through the Bauhinia Pass.”

Wang Dou nodded and said: "In this case, we need to set up a stronghold in Song Gezhuang at the mouth of the river."

Chu Qinmeng pointed to one of the routes and said excitedly: "Not only that, there is a hidden mountain road in Zhaogezhuang that can lead to Pingchuan between Yizhou and Laishui, without going through Zijingguan."

Wang Dou thought: "Looks like I still have to set up a stronghold in Liujing Township of Yi County in later generations."

……

The two had made up their minds, Wang Dou said goodbye, Chu Qinmeng sent him out of Dongguan, and then looked at Xie Yike with meaningful eyes.

After walking away from Mashuikou, Xie Yike suddenly whispered to Wang Dou, "Brother-in-law, I don't want to get married."

Wang Dou glanced at him, this kid actually eavesdropped on his conversation with Chu Qinmeng?
He glared and said: "Whether you want to get married or not is up to you? You are not young, do you know that your sister is worried about your marriage?"

He said: "Let me tell you, that young lady of Chu is beautiful and intelligent, she is really a good wife, and she is the daughter of Chu Shoubei, will she be worthy of you?"

Wang Dou said: "After you get married, you need to treat her well. If there is anything wrong, I can't spare you."

Xie Yike was speechless after Wang Dou's scolding lectures. He was quite afraid of this brother-in-law and didn't dare to say anything, so he could only follow behind Wang Dou with a mournful face.

……

When Wang Dou returned to Bao'an Prefecture, he told about the marriage between Xie Yike and Mrs. Chu, Xie Xiuniang was indeed very happy, and immediately arranged for her brother's wedding in full swing.

At the same time, Han and North Korea also led their soldiers and horses to build strongholds in the then desolate Henan Wa and Zhaogezhuang through Mashuikou. Chu Qinmeng dispatched his soldiers to help.As expected, what Wang Dou said was true. The officers and soldiers that Ma Shuikou helped out with were provided with good supplies, full food and meat from time to time, which inspired them and everyone wanted to come out to work.Under the deliberate friendship of the officers and soldiers of Baoan Prefecture, the officers and soldiers of the two places quickly became one.

Soon, the city strongholds in Henanwa and Zhaogezhuang were built. On the edge of the Zhaogezhuang city is the Juma River. Along the winding Juma River, Laishui is in front of you. , Yizhou, Zhuozhou and other places, a vast North China Plain.

……

When Wang Dou was busy opening up the traffic arteries from Baoanzhou to Yizhou and other places, in March of the 11th year of Chongzhen, the situation in Xuanfu Town was once tense.

At the beginning of March, Yang Guozhutang, the chief military officer of the Xuanfu, reported: "Kang Youde, the chief general of the sentry sent out before, saw the campfire of the bandits at Tulijiaer, about [-] miles long, and feared that the bandits would invade."

Tens of thousands of Qing soldiers and Mongolian soldiers gathered two hundred miles outside Xuanda Great Wall, and tried to invade the Central Plains from all over Xuanda.After receiving the alarm, the Ministry of War and Xuanda Governor Lu Xiangsheng were on strict alert. On the day of hearing the alarm, Lu Xiangsheng galloped from Yanghe Xingye to Xuanfu town.

According to various forms, Lu Xiangsheng's plan to plot the enemy's intentions outside the Great Wall was to order soldiers and horses from all parts of Xuanda to gather in Xuanfu Town, and then they took advantage of the vacancy to enter. Therefore, he preached that the soldiers and horses from all over the country should not move, and he himself led the supervising battalion to the right of Datong Wei, strictly warn border officials not to speak lightly.

At the beginning of April, Lu Xiangsheng said: "Slave riders are slack and can be attacked."

The Qing sentry outside the Great Wall knew that Xuanda soldiers and horses were coming sixty miles away from the wall, and they were about to fight the Qing soldiers and various Mongolian tribes, so they fled in a hurry.After that, Lu Xiangsheng stationed troops in Yanghe, and the Qing soldiers outside the Great Wall saw that Lu Xiangsheng declared that the defense was tight, so they had no choice but to give up.

In May of the 11th year of Chongzhen, Lu Xiangsheng was shocked to hear that his father had died of illness on the way back to his hometown in Yixing. He was so sad that he wrote ten memorials and begged Emperor Chongzhen to allow him to go home for the funeral and mourn for his deceased father for three years.

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Old White Bull: There is another chapter tonight.

(End of this chapter)