Chapter 273 Rich Harvest (Part 3)
Shopkeeper Wang from the capital led his men south along the canal. According to the agreement, they were to come here to pick up a batch of meat. They had just checked into an inn on the canal when they heard a commotion outside. Shopkeeper Wang quickly sent someone to see what was going on. Soon, his men ran back to the house with pale faces, and immediately closed the door, saying tremblingly, "Shopkeeper, Mr. Huo's men are coming."
Shopkeeper Wang was also afraid, but he trembled slightly and said to his staff, "Don't be afraid. Master Huo said that he will never disturb the people!"
The guys were hoping that things would turn out just as Huo Chong had advertised, but Huo Chong was a man who had even killed the emperor. He said he would not disturb the people, but when he really started killing people, who could control him?
Everyone huddled in their houses and dared not go out. The timid ones could not help but whispered "Amitabha" and "Greatly Compassionate Guanyin Bodhisattva".
After the commotion finally subsided, someone suddenly knocked on the door, scaring the people inside so much that they dared not breathe. Then someone outside shouted, "Is anyone in the house?"
One of the guys was so frightened that he just wanted the other guy to leave quickly and couldn't help shouting, "There's no one in the room."
"Oh." The man outside responded. After a moment, he figured out the situation and couldn't help but curse, "There's no one in the room, are you ghosts?"
Shopkeeper Wang felt the voice was familiar and asked carefully, "Is that Brother Wang?"
"Of course it's me. Open the door quickly, let's get this done and go our separate ways."
Shopkeeper Wang knew the origin of his trading partner and quickly opened the door to let the person in. When the two shopkeepers Wang met, the shopkeeper Wang from the capital looked him up and down and said, "Brother, you are so brave."
Wang, the shopkeeper from Shandong, spat, "What a courageous bullshit! They are all our people, we have nothing to fear. We would be afraid if we were allowed to go north on our own. Even if we are not caught, how much tax will we have to pay at the checkpoints along the way?"
It turned out that the team transporting rabbit meat followed closely behind the three regiments commanded by Hu Yue. The Han army went north along the canal, and the brothers transporting goods from Shandong pressed the goods all the way north. The Qing troops along the Yuanhe River were either killed or scared away, and everyone did not have to pay any taxes to get here.
After the goods were delivered, the shopkeeper Wang in the capital was worried, so he took out a few rabbit legs from the bottom of the big wooden barrel with an iron hook. The rabbit legs marinated in red oil were shiny , and he cut off a few pieces and tasted them. The rabbit meat did not spoil or change its taste.
Shopkeeper Wang was very puzzled, "Brother, what method did you use to achieve this?"
"Haha, do you still want to use our prescription?" Shopkeeper Wang from Shandong said with a smile.
Wang, the shopkeeper in the capital, quickly said that he had no such intention, but he really admired him in his heart. Although meat is expensive, it may not be profitable to sell it. It’s not that the price of meat is a problem, but that meat spoils too quickly. Even pickled meat can have many problems, such as stinking, getting worms, and changing taste. Good meat will be ruined in a few days.
Compared with meat, grain is cheaper but more durable. The meat sent from Shandong, whether it is rabbit meat, pork, beef, or donkey meat, is either pickled in red oil or air-dried and smoked, and can be stored for a long time without going bad. The price is also fair, so even if you don't make much money when you transport it to the capital, you won't lose money easily.
Since the shopkeeper Wang from Shandong refused to tell the secret recipe, the shopkeeper Wang from Beijing asked, "Brother, how can we return to Beijing after the war?"
"Don't be afraid. Our main purpose on this trip is to kill officials in various counties and prefectures. As long as you don't wear official uniforms or military uniforms, our people will ignore you."
Wang, the shopkeeper in the capital, was panicked when he heard this. Killing officials! Killing officials in various places in Zhili. This is simply too bold.
On second thought, compared with killing the emperor, killing officials is nothing. If the Han army really only killed officials, businessmen would not be afraid.
After the transaction was completed, Wang, the shopkeeper in the capital, mustered up his courage and began to return north. As expected, he did not encounter any harassment from the Han army along the way, and safely delivered the meat to the destination outside the capital. Wang, the shopkeeper, did not rest, but hurried back to the city to inform all the distributors to pay for the meat.
Entering the capital was troublesome in the first place, and it was even more troublesome at this time. Fortunately, Manager Wang had already made arrangements with a group of soldiers guarding the city gate, and he finally returned to the city safely.
Just as Manager Wang began to arrange distribution matters, news of the Han army's conquest of cities in Zhili had already spread within the court.
Li Fu, who was reappointed as the governor of Zhili, personally led his troops to recapture various county towns and prefectures, chasing after the Han army. Good news came one after another, and the government troops did not encounter any resistance. The Han army just gave up the captured county towns and fled when they heard that the government troops were coming.
Li Fu's memorial was written very cautiously, only saying that he was continuing to pursue the bandit army, hoping to drive the bandit army out of Zhili and then annihilate it in one fell swoop. When the officials in the court saw that Li Fu had not lost the battle and was even chasing the bandit army all the way back, they all requested to send a large army to besiege the bandit army that had been frightened by the government troops.
The young emperor Hong Zhou was at a loss as to what to do with the news. He saw that the government troops were very capable of fighting. However, the enemy troops' retreat gave people the feeling that they had set up an ambush.
In order to obtain accurate information, Hong Zhou sent many scouts to track the movements of the bandit army. As Li Fu said, the bandit army retreated all the way, circled around the southern part of Zhili, captured all the counties in the southern part of Zhili, and fled. They crossed the Daqing River and returned to Shandong.
Just when he was regretting not sending troops to besiege the bandit army earlier, Li Fu's memorial came in. After the bandit army broke into the county town, they did not plunder it wantonly, but killed all the officials in the county town.
Hundreds of officials and hundreds of clerks were killed in twenty or thirty counties. Thousands of soldiers guarding the cities were also killed. Hong Zhou suddenly realized that the court had to send the same number of officials to these counties and send more troops to defend against the burning and killing of the bandit army.
This was an urgent matter, and Hong Zhou immediately ordered the Ministry of Personnel to do the job. The Minister of Personnel, Chalang'a, quickly ordered his subordinates to do the job. Three days later, his subordinates brought back the latest developments to Chalang'a, "Those Jinshi from the Hanlin Academy are unwilling to go to southern Zhili to serve as county magistrates."
"What?" Chalang'a was frightened and screamed. Emperor Hong Zhou issued an urgent order to quickly restore the government system in southern Zhili so that the interrupted tax collection affairs could be continued. Wherever Huo Chong's subordinates went, the officials were gone and no one was willing to take over. This year's autumn grain was doomed.
Chalanga shouted, "Why don't those people want to take up their posts?"
The subordinates who were doing the work did not dare to say anything for a while. This action made Chalanga understand the problem. Needless to say, those people were afraid of death. Seeing that the officials in southern Zhili were almost in danger of losing their jobs, these Hanlin scholars who were just here to serve as officials certainly did not want to die in vain.
Chalang'a shouted, "Go tell those people that if they refuse to be officials, they will be on the bench for the rest of their lives!"
Seeing his men hesitate and not move, Chalanga stood up and shouted, "What are you waiting for? Are you waiting for me to give you money?"
When his men saw that Chalang'a was really angry, they quickly got up and went out to do their work.
When he got home that night, Shangshu Chalang'a was so angry that he couldn't eat. If it wasn't for the third concubine bringing the reheated meal to Chalang'a's study, he probably wouldn't eat anything.
Just after taking a sip of Tremella soup, the servant came to report, "Minister Xu is here to visit."
Chalanga sighed and put down the bowl. But he suddenly felt a little hungry, so he took another sip of Tremella soup. That was considered two bites.
Minister Xu was straightforward. After meeting him, he asked whether Xu Hanlin was nominated by Chalang'a to be the magistrate of southern Zhili. Chalang'a was unhappy after hearing this, "Is Minister Xu here to intercede?"
"I'm not asking for mercy. It's just that if we send a Hanlin to the county right now, what does he know? By the time he figures things out, it will probably be winter! What we need now is a county magistrate who has experience in collecting taxes and can handle things on his own."
Chalanga was very unhappy, "I studied for so many years, and it was all in vain? You can't even collect taxes!"
Minister Xu smiled bitterly, "Master Chalang, this kind of thing is not something the county magistrate should do, it is the responsibility of the local clerks. Many clerks have been killed, and sending only some Hanlin scholars will delay the important affairs of the court."
Chalanga was very unconvinced after hearing this. But he also felt that there might be a little truth in it. Unlike those Manchu Jinshi, Chalanga was a member of the Nara clan and a member of the Manchu Bordered White Banner. His great-grandfather Zhangtai was awarded the title of Toshalahafan for his military merits.
My grandfather, Chaerhai, was promoted to the first-class Adahahafan for his military achievements.
His father, Setet, died in the Battle of Ulanbutong. Chalang'a inherited the post and served as assistant commander, later promoted to assistant commander.
Chalang'a, who came from a family of military merit, actually thought that a Hanlin who had read so many books would not dare to be so incompetent.
Seeing that Chalang'a was a little loose, Minister Xu advised: "Minister, do you think those people are afraid? Of course they are. But if they don't know how serious it is, don't they know that what the court wants now is not to send people to be officials, but to quickly clean up the situation and collect the autumn harvest? After all, they have read so many books, they will know. Precisely because they know, they are more afraid of messing up the job and disappointing the emperor. It is also disappointing the good intentions of the minister."
Chalanga was tempted. He originally thought that if he gave these people a chance, they would be grateful. However, he did not expect that these people were limited in their abilities. If they really messed up the job, they would not have a good ending, and Chalanga would not have a good ending either.
After repeated deliberation, Chalang'a asked, "What do you think is the best way, Minister Xu?"
"Why not urgently transfer some capable county magistrates from Henan and have them collect the autumn grain first. As for their positions, let these Hanlin scholars take over. It's not about who has a real vacancy, but who can do the job."
Although he was very unhappy, the Minister of Personnel Cha Lang'a finally followed the advice of Minister Xu and drafted a new list and submitted it to Hong Zhou.
Because he was ordered to do this, Chalang'a did not expect any good comments on this list. Unexpectedly, Hong Zhou praised Chalang'a after reading it, saying that he was diligent in his work. He also asked Chalang'a to transfer some county magistrates from Shanxi as well as Henan.
Chalanga hurried back to recompile his list and gave it to Hong Zhou. This time Hong Zhou didn't say much, but just looked very satisfied.
Before Lord Chalanga could rest for two days, new news came in. The rebel army suddenly marched out of Henan and confronted the Qing army led by Ortai again near Jining.
The court immediately fell into panic. Ortai and Yue Zhongqi had hundreds of thousands of Qing troops under their command. Apart from the elite Qing troops in the northwest, Ortai had the largest number of troops under his command. If there was a mistake, the Qing would be finished.
Here, Qian Qing asked Lei Hu to command 30,000 troops to confront Ortai, and he personally led four regiments to Liangshan, avoiding Ortai's Qing army in Jining, and advancing eastward.
There are mountainous areas in the north and west of Shandong, and there are mountainous areas in the north and west of Henan. The difference between the two places is that the southern part of Shandong is the endless Jianghuai Plain, while the southern part of Henan is the Xinyang Luoshan Mountain Range that stretches across the vast land between Henan and the Yangtze River.
Qian Qing did not take any shortcuts along the way, but marched westward along the official road. After passing Yuncheng and Heze, he entered Lankao, and after breaking through the city, he did not stop and went straight to Kaifeng.
Kaifeng is located in the eastern part of Henan Province, in the heart of the Central Plains, and on the banks of the Yellow River. The Wei Kingdom during the Warring States Period, the Later Liang, Later Jin, Later Han, Later Zhou, Song, and Jin dynasties during the Five Dynasties established their capitals here.
Kaifeng, as the capital of Henan Province, was the key point. Qian Qing thought that the Qing army would come out of Kaifeng to fight, but he did not expect that when the troops arrived at Kaifeng, there was no sign of a Qing army coming out to fight.
The officers who followed Qian Qing were also very surprised. However, after seeing the city wall of Kaifeng, they were all speechless. The city wall was endless and there was almost no end in sight. There were many flags on the top of the city wall, and many people were defending the city wall.
Just looking at the city wall, one can already feel that this is a powerful place. Although the Han army was no longer afraid of the Qing army, the city wall still made the Han army feel a lot of pressure.
"Are you scared?" Qian Qing asked with a smile.
No one wanted to talk, and finally Wang Weichang said, "Commander Qian, please let me attack the city."
Qian Qing thought this was a good suggestion, but he didn't want Wang Weichang to suffer losses in vain. After all, this group of people was a surprise attack force. If they could capture Kaifeng, it would be fine. But if there were losses and they were tied up in Kaifeng for a long time, that would be troublesome.
Just as he was about to object, Wang Weichang said, "If Commander Qian is worried, why not leave me here to contain the Qing army? Commander Qian can lead his troops to continue westward. If we divide our forces like this, it will frighten the Qing army."
Qian Qing thought about it and shook his head to express his objection, "I don't care whether the Qing army is scared or not. If you suffer any losses, I will not be able to explain to you, sir."
I thought Wang Weichang would give up after saying this, but he got excited. "Commander, we agreed that if we can't win, we'll leave. If we can win, we'll leave too. Since the Qing army is like this, let's go back and forth with them. Anyway, if the Qing army chases me, I can just go back or go in the direction of . But if we fight the Qing army in the field, can't we still win?"
Qian Qing felt that Wang Weichang's words made sense, but he was still worried. Finally, he called someone over, "Captain Wang, I'll leave Yu Qian to you. Although this child is young, he has been with the governor for so long, and the governor also praises him highly."
Seeing that it was Yu Qian, the young boy next to Huo Chong, Wang Weichang immediately agreed, "I have seen this little brother. If Commander Qian is willing to hand him over to me, I will keep him."
The two sides did not say much and took action. The head of the regiment could not help but ask Qian Qing, "Commander, is Wang Weichang reckless? He really wants to compete with Hu Shuo."
Qian Qing laughed twice, "Since Wang Weichang wants to compete with Hu Shuo, he must know that if he loses, even if he doesn't die, he will be killed when he returns. Not to mention other things. Although Hu Shuo can't be the division commander this time, he is a good regiment commander. Wang Weichang must work hard and carefully. Let's see how far he can go."
The team leader didn't expect that Qian Qing didn't say anything, but his mind was so clear. He didn't dare to say much and followed Qian Qing all the way to the west.
The next day, the troops arrived at Zheng County and captured the county town in half a day. As before, they killed all the officials in one fell swoop, then looted the treasury and turned south, heading towards the next county town.
Huo Chong's purpose of this action is not to capture territory, but to destroy the living forces of the Qing Dynasty. He will see if he can mobilize the two powerful generals, Ortai and Yue Zhongqi. If he can mobilize the two, he will take the opportunity to inflict heavy damage on them.
If they could not mobilize the troops, they would kill all the Qing officials. Huo Chong had no good feelings towards the Qing officials anyway and did not care whether they lived or died. The more officials were killed, the more the foundation of the Qing rule would be damaged.
As Qian Qing expected, Ortai and Yue Zhongqi were under great pressure at this time. The court had issued an order, asking the two to deal with it on their own. Seeing this order, Ortai and Yue Zhongqi were so grateful that they almost burst into tears. Such a heartwarming order has given the two a way to survive. At least now they still have a certain degree of freedom of action.
However, the two of them thanked the imperial envoy profusely and sent him away, and they stopped doing the same thing. Looking at each other, both Ortai and Yue Zhongqi saw deep fear in each other's eyes.
This matter is really difficult to handle. Yue Zhongqi spoke first, "Governor, why don't you let me lead the troops to relieve Kaifeng."
Ortai didn't say anything. After thinking about it, he felt that something was wrong.
But at this point, we can't just watch Kaifeng fall. Ortai sighed, "Why not let me go after them?"
Here at the foot of Kaifeng City, Yu Qian was looking through documents.
Kaifeng is located in the heart of the Central Plains, with flat terrain and fertile soil, mostly clay, loam and sand, suitable for growing all kinds of crops. In Kaifeng, the Yellow River bed has been continuously raised due to the siltation of the Yellow River, forming a "hanging river on the ground" where the river is higher than the city. Underground Kaifeng, due to the Yellow River floods, several ancient capitals and prefectures and cities in Kaifeng were buried 3 to 12 meters below the ground, with 6 cities stacked up and down, including 3 capitals, 2 provincial capitals and 1 prefecture capital, forming a rare and unique landscape of cities stacked on top of each other in China.
Kaifeng has many rivers and lakes, belonging to the Yellow River and Huai River systems. The area north of the Yellow River embankment belongs to the Yellow River system, with a wide basin. The area south of the Yellow River embankment belongs to the Huai River system, with major rivers such as Huiji River, Majia River, Bian River, Jialu River, and Wo River.
