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

Chapter 203
In July of the 11th year of Chongzhen, Zhending Prefecture, Xingtang County.

A group of people and horses were walking on the vast North China Plain. These people and horses were all strong and strong men. They were all dressed in coarse cloth robes, but they carried long guns and firecrackers with them.The sun was scorching hot, and all of them were flushed from the sun, but they were in good spirits, and their laughter and laughter could be heard from time to time.

In front of the people and horses, Han Chao rode on a steed. In front of him and behind him were his guards and army standard bearers and drummers.Of course, they are not playing any banners, nor are they wearing any armor. They are all dressed in casual cloth robes, but they can't hide the aura of the rest of their lives.

Beside Han Chao is Huang Shibian, the governor of the army, in his 30s, wearing a blue cloth robe, with a cold face, it seems that all the governors in the army have this kind of expression and virtue.Now Wang Dou's chief executives and commanders all have appointed governors, who are responsible for the military discipline and merit capture registration. These governors are all directly led and appointed by Chi Dacheng, which can be regarded as an independent system.

Behind the two, Li Jinpei, a comfort officer in the army, was followed by a very kind middle-aged man who was responsible for the psychological counseling of the soldiers in the army.Compared with Huang Shibian, the governor of the town who looked like he owed him 300 taels of silver with a cold face, Li Jinpei was obviously more popular with the sergeants.

Behind Han Chao is Huang Yujin, the general general of his Chinese army, followed by Gao Shiyin, the general general, and finally Wu Zhengchun, the new general general.They marched one by one, and the march seemed to be disorderly, but in fact they were all deployed in a column of line formations. When encountering an enemy in the wild, they could be hooked head to tail in a moment to form a defensive circle.

Between Bazong Gao Shiyin and Bazong Wu Zhengchun, there is a large dense area of ​​chariots and horses. These chariots and horses were all captured by the Han and Korean troops after they left Baoanzhou.

Although the army's supply team and artillery team were formed, it was naturally impossible to pull the artillery team out when they went out to suppress bandits.As for the 130-strong convoy of the Han and Korean army, although all [-] and [-] of them were with the army, the mountain road from Baoanzhou to Yizhou was rugged, and it was inconvenient to walk in a wheelbarrow or a horse-drawn carriage.

So when the Han Dynasty came out, they only brought some mules and horses to carry some supplies in the army. Unexpectedly, after returning, there were hundreds of horses and horses, which shows that the harvest is rich.With chariots and horses, not to mention the food and supplies in the army, even the armor of the sergeants, all were put on the chariots and horses.

These chariots and horses were loaded with all kinds of grains, rice and soft goods, and they were driven by the soldiers of the Ministry. In addition, some young and strong refugees who accompanied the army were dispatched to help.Behind the chariots and horses, there are thousands of refugees densely packed, carrying their own humble belongings, dragging their families and their mouths, and following the security sergeants with hope.

In the end, it was Wu Zhengchun who led him to adjourn the president's brother.

Although there is a lot of money, food and rice, the group of people came from Zanhuang County, and the journey was smooth.Judging by the sturdy appearance of this group of people, no gangster or horse thief would dare to attack them.It's just that some officers and soldiers who don't open their eyes want to rob, and they don't say anything, they kill them first.After killing several groups of people, no one dared to attack Han Chao and others.

……

Han Chao rode on the horse and looked around. There was an endless flat and dry yellow land with few trees. After the horses and horses passed by, the dust raised was all over the sky.Although the land is vast, there are few people along the way. Han Chao saw that many small villages were abandoned.

Natural disasters and man-made disasters, coupled with the invasion of Qing soldiers in the ninth year of Chongzhen, and the looting of places near Gyeonggi, it has not recovered for a long time.Baoding Mansion and Zhending Mansion suffered severe drought again and again, and the vegetation was scorched everywhere. All the trees in the mountains were white flowers. The grass was eaten up, the bark was eaten up, and even the grass roots were dug up.

The dead bodies of the refugees were starved to death everywhere, and even saw people scraping human flesh by the roadside like dogs butchers.Refugees and bandits everywhere, except for some big Zhuangzi and Baozi, walking in the wild, it is rare to see small villages with people.

In Baoanzhou, every population is precious. When you leave Baoanzhou, you will see human life as worthless.Sometimes Han and North Korea and others entered some big cities, and refugees in shabby clothes were everywhere, lying on the streets dying.Countless girls knelt on the street, voluntarily being slaves of other families, just asking for a full mouthful of food, what they saw and what they saw was like the end of the world.

Han Chao sighed for a long time, people's livelihood is difficult.

The smoke and dust billowed, but it was the people in the department who rode their horses for several nights and reported to Han Chao: "Mr. Han Qian, Zhengjiazhuang is five miles ahead."

Han Chao nodded. Their stronghold is not far from Shangfang Village, and it is only a few dozen miles away from Zhengjiazhuang. It seems that they can reach their own village by tomorrow at the most.It's just that they used to walk from the southwest direction of Xingtang County, and they didn't walk this way, so if they calculate the way to go, they still count here.

He sent an order to speed up the march, and soon, the group arrived at a place called Yu Village by the locals. Looking from the outside, the village must have been abandoned.A village like this has no protection, even if there are a small number of residents in it, the government will not hit them with the idea of ​​urging the police, and all kinds of horse thieves will turn the village into a wasteland and have no choice but to abandon it.

Han Chao still ordered a search. He has experienced a lot of villages like this, and there may be a small number of villagers waiting to die. He can save one by one.And people like them, if they are moved to Baoan Prefecture, given them enough food and fields, they will definitely become the most staunch supporters of Lord Garrison. Many of the refugees in the Korean and North Korean teams are like this.

Not to mention the thick smoke coming from inside, it seems that some horse thieves visited not long ago, maybe they didn't get anything, and set fire to vent their anger.

Sure enough, after searching, some traces of horse thieves' rampage could be seen inside. The young and strong in the village seemed to have fled the famine, leaving some old and weak who could not walk or were unwilling to leave.Right now, these old and weak people have all been murdered, and their corpses are all lying on the ground. Some older women are still naked, as if they were insulted before they died.

Seeing this situation, Han Chao couldn't help but clenched his fists tightly, and ordered to collect the corpses and bury them.

At this time, a personal guard came to tell him that two people were found alive in the village. When Han Chao went to look, he saw two skinny children crying on top of a female corpse.

Judging from the situation at the scene, because the two children hid well, they did not encounter the criminals of the horse thief. The woman may have been insulted by the horse thief, and because she had no hope in life, she no longer had the courage to survive, so she committed suicide and left two poor children.

The two children, a boy and a girl, seemed to be siblings, and their bodies were extremely dirty. Han Chao ordered the female body to be buried, and took in two more children, giving them drinking water and dry food.Seeing how they were devouring, Han Chao sighed again, and ordered the soldiers to take a rest.

Huang Shibian, the governor of the town, Li Jinpei, the comforter, Huang Yujin, Gao Shiyin, and Wu Zhengchun all gathered beside Han Chao.Huang Yujin seemed to be walking around the village. He said, "Look at this village. There are rivers and land. It's a good village. Why is it abandoned? There are so many villages like this around Xingtang County."

Gao Shiyin scolded: "The local officials and generals are nothing but such a rich land, if the guards manage it, it will definitely become another Baoan Prefecture."

Everyone nodded.

Han Chaodao: "Since we left Baoanzhou, it has been like this everywhere."

He said: "I once heard adults say that the affairs of the world are nothing more than suffering from inequality rather than poverty, and worrying from uneasiness rather than poverty."

He said: "If you don't worry about scarcity but inequality, the world will be in chaos. If the world is in chaos, there will be no place for Taoyuan, and the people will not want to live a life of poverty. How can ordinary people farm with peace of mind? No matter how good Zhuangzi is, no matter how Good fields will also be abandoned.”

Gao Shiyin's face was trembling, and he shouted loudly: "With the skill of our heroes in Baoan Prefecture, we only need to set up a few troops in Xingtang County, and within a few months, the territory will be safe from bandits. The common people can farm with peace of mind.”

He grumbled, "It's a pity."

After a while, he raised his voice and said, "My lord should be promoted quickly, and spread his benevolence and righteousness to more places, so that more people can live a peaceful and happy life."

Han Chao and others looked at each other, they all knew it, and everyone felt regretful that Zhending Mansion and Baoding Mansion are really far away from Baoan Prefecture.

Several people were discussing, but they saw a few more people from the ministry galloping towards them at night. They had excited expressions on their faces and loudly reported to Han Chao that a large group of refugees had been found near Zhengjiazhuang. Nearly ten thousand people.After a few nights of inquisition, these refugees will go to Quyang and Tang County, and even further to Baoding Mansion.

Gao Shiyin and the others were all excited. The opportunity was rare. It is not easy to meet such a large number of refugees. It is a pity that there are more people.There are nearly ten thousand refugees, and I don't know if they can bear it.

Huang Yujin and others also looked at Han Chao, their eyes full of eagerness: "My lord, should these refugees be accepted or not?"

Han Chao gritted his teeth and said, "Accept, with such a large population, if we move them to Bao'an Prefecture, we can form a strong army of thousands. Just like the adults said, if you kill someone wrong, don't let them go."

……

It is often said that there are more than [-] people, and there are no boundaries. When Han Chao and others rushed to Zhengjiazhuang, they saw a dark area full of refugees, dragging their families and carrying their own simple luggage.Most of those who were able to escape from the famine were still young and strong, the old and the weak, women and children, and a considerable number of them had already died on the way to escape from the famine.

Zhengjiazhuang is one of the largest villages in Xingtang County, with high and thick outer walls, but with so many refugees gathered outside the village, they also closed the gate of the village early.If these refugees rush in, their village will be as clean as locusts have swept through. Even after these refugees leave, the surviving villagers will probably join the fleeing team.

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Old White Bull: There is another chapter tonight.

(End of this chapter)