Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 746
On August [-]th in the fourth year of Longwu, there were many markets and small towns outside Nanjing Waiguo City, along the Yangtze River waterway to the west of Jiangdong Bridge.

The section of the Yangtze River from Jiangning to the sea is also known as the Yangzi River. The river is very wide and supports many fishermen and trackers.

These fishermen and trackers gathered together and gradually formed villages one by one.

At this time, a group of Qing soldiers were sweeping along the Yangtze River, and several villages along the way were looted by them.

In order to defend Jiangning, Hong Chengchou naturally couldn't allow the Ming army to get supplies outside the city, and the war was too expensive. The Manchu Qing only had a purse in Jiangnan, and normal taxes could no longer meet the expenses of the Manchu Qing.

Although Hong Chengchou wanted to stabilize Jiangnan before, but if he does not rob now, these materials and money may become the capital for the Ming army to attack Jiangning, so it is imperative to fortify the wall and clear the country.

Taking advantage of the fact that the Ming army had not yet approached the city, Boluo dispatched hundreds of Qing soldiers to the outskirts of Jiangning, robbing money and food, arresting young men, and burning houses, making the local people miserable and devastated.

In fact, in the past few years, after the Qing army killed half of the people, the conflict between people and land in the south of the Yangtze River was basically resolved. Hong Chengchou bought people's hearts with those unowned lands, and through his management, those ordinary people have been bought by the hypocrisy of the Qing court. , and even many people have regarded themselves as subjects of the Qing Dynasty.

At this time, the Qing army tore off their previous hypocrisy, and they realized that no matter how obedient they were, the food they received was not the people of the Manchus, but slaves who could be harvested at any time, and the Manchus were purely using them.

It turned out that they still allocated land to Hong Chengchou and were grateful to him, but now they don't know how many people are cursing him to die.

At this time, a group of green battalion soldiers escorted a group of captured young men, drove cattle, sheep, chickens and ducks, and pushed a cart full of grain and copper coins through the dirt road in the village.

"Boss, we'll be at Jiangdong Bridge soon, and there's only Zhaojiadu left in front of us. It's not easy to deal with this little thing!" an old soldier said, licking his lips.

The Qing soldiers who were sent out were all set targets. There were regulations on how many people each team would catch, how much food they would grab, and how much money they would pay. The implementation of Hong Chengchou's strategy of strengthening the wall and clearing the country.

This was supposed to be a good job, but most of the soldiers in this team were locals. After all, they were from the countryside, so they couldn't bear to be cruel.

The boss looked back at the harvest, wondering: "The rations are almost gone, let's leave a way for the people to survive!"

"The other teams have ordered all the houses. They completed the task. If we can't finish it, I'm afraid it will be hard to explain." benefit, but feel dissatisfied. "

There was a burst of irritability on the boss's face, "Straight mother, you really drove me into a hurry, I~"

Before he finished speaking, there was a sudden roar behind him, his voice stopped abruptly, and he looked back suddenly, only to see a cloud of yellow dust rising far away.

This road, only their team is responsible for mopping up. With so many war horses coming from the west, it is easy to know that the Ming army from the direction of Dashengguan is coming.

"No, run!" The chief's face changed, and he ran out of the village. The soldiers rushed the carts, drove the strong men, and followed closely, but before they left the village, they threw their things away. Clean, because the cavalry has been chasing up.

The general looked back, there were hundreds of cavalry chasing them, each with a white belt wrapped around their helmets, plain clothes over their armor, and white scarves wrapped around their weapons.

The cavalry galloped like a moving snow mountain, with white belts fluttering on their bodies and sharp swords in their hands, shining dazzlingly under the sunlight.

The speed of the cavalry was extremely fast, and the Qing soldiers were crying in their hearts. They didn't care about the vehicles and the strong men, and they all ran away, but how could a two-legged man outrun a four-legged war horse.

The cavalry of the Ming army divided into two teams like driving a flock of sheep, surrounded them from both sides, and drove the scattered green battalion soldiers back together.

In a short time of urinating, nearly a hundred Qing soldiers and hundreds of strong men were surrounded by cavalry.

A group of Qing soldiers and strong men looked at the plain-clothed cavalry, circling around them, galloping their horses, with expressions of fear on their faces.

The strong men said that they were sensible, and they squatted down with their heads in their hands without any orders, while the Qing soldiers stood at a loss, their faces full of panic.

At this time, the galloping Ming army finally stopped. One by one, they drew their bows and arrows, and pointed their sharp arrows at the green battalion soldiers. Suddenly he took his lance and pressed down his bow and arrow.

The general turned his head to look suspiciously, but the gunman said: "The entire western suburbs of Nanjing are full of thick smoke, we have come all the way, but we haven't seen any houses burnt down, let's spare their lives and serve for the attack on Nanjing. "

Ten miles behind the cavalrymen, in the village that had just been raided by the Qing soldiers, every household closed their doors and windows tightly, because outside the village, it was like a flood, and countless soldiers and men came here in plain clothes. Just like the Yin soldiers.

The people whose villages were destroyed stood blankly in the wilderness, surrounded by soldiers wearing filial piety, who walked past them and didn't talk to them, all holding weapons and walking silently, as if there was a ghost hidden in their bodies. special energy.

An old man with white beard was holding his grandson and standing aside, looking at Guo Bing, he couldn't help pulling his grandson behind him, and at this moment, a hundred households on horseback walked by, glanced at his grandson, but didn't say a word, Throwing a burden over, Cui Ma continued to move forward.

The old man was slightly taken aback, took the burden, watched the hundreds of households walk away, and then opened it to see that it was nothing expensive, just a few big cakes, but the old man burst into tears.

The western suburbs of Nanjing, with a radius of tens of miles, are covered with snow-white, like snowflakes in summer.

Next to another burned village, dozens of people watched the endless army pass by outside the village, and one of them asked stupidly, "Baozheng, why are they all wearing plain clothes?"

Baozheng looked at the team, seemed to be thinking about it, and said after a while, "You idiot, this is the emperor of Ming Dynasty who came back and went to Nanjing to pay homage to the Taizu."

"Then can the Qing soldiers let them worship?"

Lao Baozheng smiled, "Fool, the Qing army was defeated, didn't you see it?"

While he was talking, he saw in the distance a cart drawn by six horses. On the cart was a large coffin covered with white flags.

A large group of court ministers in plain clothes, each holding a white flag in their hands, followed the two sides of the cart, walking slowly and crying.

In the middle army of the team, a cavalry of thousands of households galloped on horseback, asking where the lord was. When he found Wang Yan, he drew his horse and went over, gasping for breath: "Your Majesty, the vanguard is only ten miles away from Nanjing Waiguo. General Qin asked if he should set up camp." Or move on?"

Wang Yan opened his eyes and looked around, seeing the army spreading across the field, the army was majestic and majestic, he raised his whip, "Tell Qin Shangxing, the army is heading straight to the city of Nanjing!"

(End of this chapter)