Begging in late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 324 Jiang Fang
This Anqing is really a good place.

No one would have thought that the fortress on the north bank of the Yangtze River, which had a heavy army, was lost just like that. The grain grains transported from Huguang to the capital continued to pass through here. In just two or three days, there were no fewer than 100 grain boats sent by Jiangnan transshipment envoys. However, if Song Qingshu was more ruthless and provided the high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital, the Lumi of various vassal princes' mansions, and nearly half of the military rations in Liaodong and even the Nine Sides, they would all be cut off by themselves.

Of course, Song Qingshu couldn't, and didn't dare to do it so utterly, not to mention, if the Liaodong army collapsed and let Donglu enter the capital in advance, he would have no place to cry, let alone how much it involved If the interests of the dignitaries and nobles moved their cheese, maybe the Qin army would not go after Gao Yingxiang and kill Gao Yingxiang, but turn around and beat themselves.

But it’s not just letting the past go, no matter how harmless Song Qingshu behaves, the imperial court will definitely not watch him occupy Anqing, and will turn around to deal with him sooner or later. The imperial court was in a hurry, and he immediately freed up his hands to deal with him, and he couldn't lose himself. This has to test the measure of precision.

"Quick! Keep up, keep up, move all these down, and that pile, don't touch the rest!"

Amidst the loud yelling, the wharf of Anqing City was in full swing. The peasants mobilized from the mountains carried swollen grain bags and kept getting on and off the boat. Soon, a warehouse was full in the warehouse at the port. Song Qingshu really didn't move much, and only one-twentieth of the amount was unloaded from a boat. This is probably not enough for grain officials at all levels to drift away. If so, the begging army also intercepted thousands of people in a short period of time. Take food.

All the carriages in Anqing City were requisitioned, and they were continuously transported from Anqing to Tiantangzhai through the buried hills. Now the Qihuo army has made Tiantangzhai their base camp, and the arsenal and main food storage point are located there.

Not only tank boats, but also hundreds of merchant ships from the upper reaches of the Yangtze River to Nanjing to do business. Most people didn't know that Anqing was lost, and they went ashore as usual, selling, eating, and the begging army didn't snatch them. Now, the taverns and shops in the city are also urged to open for business, but the tax money that originally fell into the pockets of the government fell into the pockets of the beggars this time.

Those tax collectors at the port were expropriated by Song Qingshu. Under the supervision of the sergeants of the begging army, they inquired about the goods and collected taxes one by one. Song Qingshu knew that for a while, he was blind to the trade on the Yangtze River. Rely on these well-informed local snakes.

However, occupying Anqing is not all good, and there are many disadvantages. The first is corruption. In three or four days, there are more than 30 beggars who were bribed by these tax collectors and passing merchants. There are veterans from the north, and one is even a veteran from Funiu Mountain.

The reason why the begging army is stronger than the peasant army of all walks of life, and even not weaker than the official army, relies on iron-like military discipline. Sun Chuanting will not use Sun Chuanting to make a bad face. He was cut off and his head was hung on the port.

In order to prevent corruption, Song Qingshu had to move out the Hong Kong ICAC system in later generations, and the begging army sergeant supervised the tax collectors, and specially recruited some locals to supervise the begging army sergeant. Under the double defense, it could be regarded as a temporary stop Got this vibe.

Just like the later tsarist Russia desperately wanted to open an outlet to the sea, the benefits of such a river mouth city to the beggar army were immediately obvious to all, and the next step was to rack their brains on how to keep it from the imperial court.

Not only is the port bustling with activity, but there are also people coming and going next to the Anqing port. A large number of peasants are shirtless and carrying burdens. They dig out stones from the nearby Dabie Mountains, cut down a lot of wood, and pull them to the shore. Here, dozens of furnaces emit scalding heat and green smoke, and burn the excavated limestone into lime, and then mix it into cement.

On the river bank, large stones accompanied by cement are constantly being built together. From the day they entered the city, civilians were recruited to build this project. In three days, a stone platform more than one mile above the river has been built on the river bank. More than three meters, on the edge of many stone platforms, the recruited craftsmen have already started the construction of the female wall.

Just as the repair of the fort by the river was in full swing, the blacksmith shop in the city was even more busy.

"One, two, three, down!"

Hooked with an iron lock, the winch rattled, and the steelmaking furnace weighing two to three tons was lifted out of the small blast furnace. With the shouting of the chant, more than a dozen strong men dragged the iron chain and desperately went down. Pulling the steelmaking furnace, along the mouth of the pot, the red-hot hot molten iron was poured down with black smoke. After missing a little bit, the rest was poured into the prepared pottery form underneath. .

Even Song Qingshu, who came to inspect the heat wave, felt his hair scorched and sweat dripping from his forehead.

In the tense attention, the huge Tao fan took half a day to cool down. Finally, two strong men shouted and smashed the Tao fan with a big iron hammer, revealing the dark things inside.

With such great fanfare, it was not a cannon, but something that looked like a big iron plate.

These days, the East has no awareness of coastal defense, let alone Jiangfang, and although many cannons are equipped on the top of the city, they are fixed on the top of the city, and they cannot move even if they move. The angle of attack is fixed there, so Miao Mei held When Anqing was guarding Liu Shizhong, more than [-] cannons were fired from the top of the city, but none of the beggars were killed.

Now that Anqing has been conquered, what Song Qingshu considers is the issue of defending Anqing. Anqing City is next to the Yangtze River, and in Lu'an, Luzhou and other places in the north, the official army does not have much strength. As long as the frontier army led by Hong Chengchou does not go south, With the dangerous terrain in the Qianshan area, it is basically safe. The biggest threat to Anqing City is the Huguang garrison on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River or the official army from Nanjing on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River coming to attack by boat.

After seeing the sale of cigarettes in Humen in later generations, Song Qingshu had the impression of a battle between a fort and a warship in his mind, so he took the time to build the fort, but he was quite dissatisfied with the cannon like a dead wood. After thinking about it for a long time, he finally drew the picture. For the blueprint, Liu Zongmin, the head of the logistics department, was sent to cast it.

Pig iron was used for direct pouring. In just one day, the first model Song Qingshu wanted was cast. There are several parts in total. The bottom is a two-piece large plate base with an acute angle facing inward, and then a slightly smaller one. A cast iron small plate bearing like an inverted bowl, with two circular slits on it.

Although the Ming Dynasty imitated the Hongyi cannon, Emperor Chongzhen was so poor that he couldn’t afford to wear pants. More than 100 Hongyi cannons cast by tightening his belt were all equipped in Liaodong. This inland Anqing city is naturally red. There is not even a single hair on the barbarian cannon. After finally casting the fort, and dismantling a big general cannon from the top of the city, Song Qingshu was dumbfounded to find out that this thing is just a bare cannon barrel, and there is no support for the cannon lugs at all. .

After working for a long time, Liu Zongmin worked out a large cast iron clip for him, and hung it tightly on the gun body as a support, and then put it on the fort.

There are bearings on both sides that can adjust the height of the muzzle up and down, and the two sites are fitted together, pouring a catty of oil, a heavy cannon, and two artillerymen can easily turn it around. Leaving three small boats behind, they fired three cannons in a row, two of which were near the disembarkation area, and another shot hit the sampan, throwing a wooden boat weighing more than [-] jin out of the water. After two circles, it fell heavily into the river.

Sun Chuanting, who couldn't help watching this series and followed him, was stunned, and he really pointed at something. After a long time, Sun Chuanting patted the dark cannon body with emotion, and said with emotion.

"If such cannons are installed all over Liaodong, how can they be defeated?"

"Otherwise, no matter how sharp a weapon is, it needs a strong person to use it. Mr. Boya, Mr. Song said bluntly. With the corrupt army in Liaodong, the generals are all ulterior motives, and they only care about their own one-third of an acre of land. Even if there are ten thousand Hongbari cannons, they should be defeated or they will be defeated. Now it is a time of chaos, and the future will depend on us!"

Listening to Song Qingshu's earnest words, Sun Chuanting's face was heavy again, he bowed his head for a long time without saying a word, patted him on the shoulder comfortingly, and immediately faced Liu Zongmin, who was also full of novelty, pushing the revolving fort back and forth endlessly, Song Qingshu was suddenly full of He ordered with a smile.

"Old Liu, let's have fun! I'll give you a task. Tomorrow, the commander will see twenty gun carriages placed on this fort. There must be no mistakes!"

A rough face full of beards suddenly fell down, Liu Zongmin sadly raised his big rough hands, and shouted depressingly. "Marshal, if the handsome old Liu quits, you can spare Lao Liu, okay?"

"no!"

…………

The elite officers and soldiers on the other side of Nanjing may go up against the current at any time to retake Anqing City. Song Qingshu is also interested in this iron rice bowl. Blacksmiths, more than 1000 handymen were used by Liu Zongmin. In three days, they were divided into three pieces to guard the riverside. On the Anqing Fort more than one kilometer long, twenty such iron forts were placed neatly on it. Compared with Qi Jiguang's invention These guys are really big iron tigers, staring at the center of the river.

Coincidentally, the construction of the Anqing Fort happened to be completed, and the Nanzhili official army fleet also arrived. On this day, Song Qingshu and Sun Chuanting were inspecting the fort.

"Big, it's not good to be handsome, the river is full, the river is full of boats!"

(End of this chapter)