Chapter 334: The Siege of Jiangning (VIII)
Digging the sewer system and dredging the inner Qinhuai River. With the patrol team and other projects, Jiangning City is in a busy and orderly situation. Yu Qian knew that Lei Hu was one of the many senior officials loyal to Huo Chong, but such a resolute execution of Huo Chong's orders still made Yu Qian feel an unusual feeling.
While Lei Hu was resting, Yu Qian went to hand in his work report. Just as he was about to ask, he heard Lei Hu say, "Junior brother, come and have a drink with me."
"I can't drink." Yu Qian quickly declined.
Lei Hu shook the glass, and the herbal tea inside swirled in the transparent container with the flow of water. "Drinking alcohol is not okay, but drinking tea is always okay."
Yu Qian sat down and took the teacup to pour tea for Lei Hu. Lei Hu leaned back comfortably on the recliner, "Don't mind it. You definitely have a share of the credit for catching Zhu Xiucai. I remember that. But you have to give others some face. Although I don't care about what they did, they can't forget it."
"I understand. I actually think the director is a nice person." Yu Qian replied quickly.
Lei Hu moved his body to make himself more comfortable while half lying down. "Yu Qian, you graduated from the Junior Military Academy, right?"
Yu Qian was startled and instinctively became nervous, "Brother, don't talk nonsense. The teacher has already ordered that no one is allowed to mention the Youth Military Academy again, and the Huaxia Dynasty is not allowed to establish a Youth Military Academy."
Lei Hu had never paid attention to the Junior Military Academy, but after hearing what Yu Qian said, he became interested. "Did the teacher tell me why?"
"The teacher said that the military academy is destined to become a tool for powerful people to arrange the future for their children. Rather than causing all kinds of trouble at that time, it is better to set a rule from now on that all military academy students must be selected from outstanding soldiers through examinations and recommendations."
Lei Hu thought for a while before sighing, sitting up from the recliner, picking up the teacup and taking a sip, "Alas, sir, you are too understanding. It makes me feel that you are too harsh."
Yu Qian said nothing. Even in a private conversation, Yu Qian was unwilling to say anything bad about Huo Chong.
Lei Hu took of tea and said, "Yu Qian, you are a staff officer now. You have fought in wars, right?"
"Yes, I became a sergeant in the army."
Lei Hu was sure that Yu Qian was not a guard or orderly, so he ordered: "You go back to the army now, I will write you a transfer order."
"Okay." Yu Qian replied immediately. After expressing his attitude, Yu Qian asked, "Brother, I will return to the army. But why?"
"Now that you are staying at the General Staff, many people are upset. Some people said that you deliberately didn't tell everyone and only said you were going to the checkpoint to look for people after you got there."
At this point, Lei Hu saw Yu Qian frowning, so he advised: "I know you are not that kind of person. Who would have known that Zhu Xiucai was detained at the checkpoint? If you had spoken at the headquarters, they would have said something different if Zhu Xiucai was not detained. There are so many of them, I can't touch them. I can only ask you to leave the headquarters, do you understand?"
"I understand." Yu Qian answered readily.
Lei Hu was stunned. Although he thought Yu Qian would agree, he didn't expect Yu Qian to agree so easily. Although he wanted to ask Yu Qian what she thought, Lei Hu didn't ask. It would hurt feelings to ask such questions. Finally, Lei Hu said, "Do you have anything to ask?"
"Brother, I'm very curious. With so much construction going on in the city right now, don't we really have to worry about someone taking advantage of the situation and causing trouble?" Yu Qian asked the question that was in his mind.
The Chinese army in Jiangning City was busy with their own affairs, while the Qing army outside the city acted according to their own decisions. The south of Jiangning City was a mountainous area, and it was not easy for the army to bypass it. At the order of General Fucha Fuqing, the Qing army still set out on the road to Jurong.
The Qing army was moving in the mountains when suddenly there was a burst of gunfire. The Qing army officers were prepared, and the troops immediately stopped and hid in a hidden place. At the same time, some troops circled towards the location where the gunfire was fired.
When the Qing army circled around to where they launched the attack, there was only the smell of gunpowder in the air and footprints on the ground. The Chinese army did not want to fight at all, and retreated after harassing the Qing army.
On the seemingly endless mountain road, the Qing army was attacked by the Chinese army every few steps. The Qing army had to send out more than a dozen troops to find where the Chinese army might be hiding, and this method worked. Gunshots rang out in the distance, and the vanguard troops discovered the ambushed Chinese army and started fighting.
The 30,000 Qing troops were like a giant python moving through the mountains and forests. They finally managed to temporarily drive away the mosquitoes that were biting the python by various means, and it took them four days to reach their destination, Jurong.
There were no Chinese troops in Jurong County. There were a few people standing at the gate of the county, who looked like righteous men coming to welcome the king's army. Someone was sent over to inquire, and apart from two local clerks, the rest were three local gentry.
When asked if they had seen the Chinese army, they replied, "Sir, the rebels fled two days ago. We knew that the government troops were coming back, so we came here to welcome them."
When asked where the Huaxia army had gone, all of them said they didn't know. The Qing army knew that the Huaxia army must be in Jiangning City, and this was not wrong. So they sent troops into the city to set up camp.
After walking so many mountain roads, the food supply seemed insufficient. The Qing army ordered to buy some food from the local gentry. However, after asking several times, the gentry said they had no food.
The Qing army's vanguard had encountered such a situation before when it arrived at the west of Jiangning City, and it encountered such a thing in Jurong as well. It seemed that the matter of the Qing army general Ling Jue was not that simple.
Since these gentry refused to accept the toast, the Qing army ordered them not to be lenient. At a single command, many gentry were locked up. When questioned, the gentry all begged for mercy. The general shouted, "People are bitter insects that cannot be made without being beaten. If you don't tell me where the food went, I will have to torture you."
The soldiers standing on both sides were holding military sticks. After hearing what the general said, they raised their military sticks and stabbed the ground hard. Amid the dull thuds, the gentry turned pale and begged for mercy.
After scaring the gentry, the general continued to inquire, and learned that the gentry in Jurong sold the surplus grain to the Huaxia government in Jiangning City after harvesting it.
The general said angrily, "How dare you lie to me? After the autumn harvest, grain is cheap, and you only sell some. How can you sell all of it? Do you think I don't know your treachery?"
The gentry saw that as the general shouted, the Qing soldiers on both sides raised their military sticks and pretended to hit. Some gentry were so scared that they crawled forward using their hands and feet. Being stopped by the Qing army, the gentry did not care about their dignity and shouted loudly, "Master, Master! The price of selling grain is indeed higher during the lean period. But at that time, the grain had been stored for more than half a year, and it would also be damaged. Besides, we are not the only one who has grain. There were also many wild vegetables at that time. We were really just hungry, so we could bear it. Although the price of grain is cheap now, it is all new rice, which is not particularly cheap. If the traitor is willing to buy it, we will naturally buy it as soon as possible!"
"Nonsense! Beat him with ten sticks!" the Manchu general shouted.
Immediately, soldiers dragged the gentleman aside and put him on a stool. They took off his pants and beat him with military sticks. The gentleman screamed in pain, but no one paid attention to him. After ten solid beatings, they put him down.
The general shouted, "Just tell the truth. If you dare to hide anything, you will be beaten until the stick breaks!"
The gentry was so frightened when he heard about such a brutal beating that he was almost out of his mind. He didn't care about anything else and told everything out loud.
It turned out that the Chinese government in Jiangning City was fair when collecting grain, and paid for it. However, the supply and marketing cooperatives they run have many things that are eye-catching. Salt, cooking oil, cotton cloth, ironware, medicine. The prices of these are extremely cheap.
However, if you want to buy these things, you have to use the banknotes issued by the Chinese government. The face value of the banknotes is two and a half. You have to sell grain to exchange for banknotes. If you buy them with silver, the Chinese government will not recognize them at all.
The gentry had already sold some of their grain and exchanged it for silver. Now, in order to exchange it for money, they had to sell more grain. However, as they kept selling and buying, they sold out all the extra grain in their homes.
When the Qing army general heard this explanation, he felt it was absurd. But there was a sense of reality in the absurdity. After thinking about it, the general sent someone to check the gentry's house to see if he had any strange goods.
Although the gentry were scared to death, it was completely useless. They were in the hands of the Qing army and could not resist.
The Qing army general wanted to catch the gentry in lies and force them to hand over the grain. Unexpectedly, the next day, the Qing army that went to search actually brought back more than 20 loads of goods.
These were only the items found in the three houses. The largest amount was salt. The Qing army commander was also a man who had seen the world. When he saw the crystals of salt the size of a fingertip, he had to put them in his mouth to taste them to know that they were really the best sea salt.
Salt, strong liquor, large bottles of cooking oil. In addition to these, there were beautifully printed books and a large amount of homespun cloth that was obviously not hand-woven. In particular, there were several white teacups, which surprised the Qing generals.
This thing feels like iron sheet, but the iron sheet is covered with a layer of sintered glaze. It looks like something that can be made in Shandong.
There are also door curtains and wind chimes made of glass balls, as well as other metal products.
Seeing that the Qing army actually confiscated their homes, the gentry had no choice but to confess. Like these gentry, they also exchanged food for industrial products sold by the Chinese government. Although these things were not cheap, they were very practical. For example, those strange rubber-soled shoes were much more useful than straw sandals and cloth shoes.
The Qing army general did not order these to be confiscated, but instead allowed the gentry to take the items back.
Even though they were Manchus, they knew how to make use of the Han people. Or, it is precisely because they were Manchus that they knew how to make use of the Han people.
The total number of troops for this expedition is 120,000, and 30,000 are in the three towns of Wuhan. They are ready to see the situation and join the war at any time.
Among these 150,000 men, there were 20,000 well-trained Eight Banners soldiers, and the other 130,000 were elite Green Camp soldiers.
If they act too aggressively, it will only have a negative impact on the morale of the army. Moreover, the reason for scaring the gentry is to make them hand over food and reduce the logistical pressure on the government troops. Since these people really have no food at this time, forcing the gentry to death will also cause trouble.
The Qing army in Jurong quickly wrote down what had happened and sent it back to the Qing army camp west of Jiangning City.
The messenger did not dare to delay for a moment and rushed to deliver the letter. Fu Cha Fu Qing of Jiangning Camp received the document and could not help but sigh after reading it. This time the Qing army was going downstream, so it was not difficult to transport supplies. In addition, the food was transported from Huguang upstream, so the army would not starve.
However, near Jiangning, the landlords had no surplus food. This happened when the Huaxia Army was not very vicious in collecting food and grass. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, Fu Cha Fu Qing would never have believed that such a thing would happen.
However, when things came to this point, Fucha Fuqing had no other choice but to order preparations for the siege.
Before the attack, Fu Qing also ordered the Qing army in Jurong to send troops to contact the Qing army that might come from Fujian and Jiangxi. The best way is for the Qing army to attack Suzhou, Hangzhou, Yangzhou, Zhenjiang and other places together, so that the entire Chinese rebels will be unable to take care of both ends and lose their composure.
After the Qing army captured Jurong, Zhenjiang City, which was more than a hundred miles away from Jurong, had already announced the news.
The news was announced by the Governor of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Gao Pang. When Gao Pang's teacher Chen Mingtai saw the notice, he looked disappointed. When he got home, he asked his wife to fry an egg and took out a bottle of absinthe to drink by himself.
Chen Mingtai frowned as he took a bite of the egg. Mrs. Chen, who had wanted to see what was wrong with her husband, saw Chen Mingtai's expression and knew that the scrambled eggs were not as good as her husband liked. She said unhappily, "The scrambled eggs you praised a few days ago were made by your daughter! She happened to be at home, so let her scramble!"
Chen Mingtai wanted to make do with it, but when he took another chopstick, he couldn't eat it anymore. So he asked his daughter Chen Tuiyi to fry an egg. When his daughter Chen Tuiyi was busy in the kitchen, Chen Mingtai went to the kitchen to see.
But I saw the newly built stove in the kitchen, made of cement. It looked very smooth. The charcoal had also turned into black honeycomb coal. My daughter was quite skilled in fanning herself with a palm leaf fan, and the fire came up quickly.
Cold pan, cold oil. The amount of oil made Chen Mingtai a little nervous, it seemed like a lot. At this time, two eggs were cracked into a bowl, salt was added, and chopsticks were used to beat the eggs. Before the oil pan smoked, the egg liquid had already been poured into the pan.
Originally, when Mrs. Chen fried eggs, there was always a lot of noise. At this time, the egg liquid did not make much noise. With a slight sound, the egg began to expand. When the sound became louder, Chen Tuiyi had already taken it out of the pan, and a plate of fresh and tender fried eggs that were not burnt or discolored, but golden yellow, came out of the pan.
Chen Mingtai didn't expect it to be so simple. He quickly took a chopstick to taste it, and it was indeed the taste he liked.
Seeing that his daughter's cooking skills can be compared with those of a chef, Chen Mingtai didn't know whether he should praise his daughter. Or should he question his daughter Chen Tuiyi, what on earth has she been learning after being a cadre for more than half a year?
Chen Tuiyi did not stop, there were still vegetables at home, she quickly cooked two dishes. In particular, Chen Tuiyi used a strange pink block, the dish smelled of soy sauce and other seasonings, and also had a meaty smell. This made Chen Mingtai a little rare.
Since such a table was prepared, Chen Mingtai simply called his wife and daughter together, and the three of them sat at the table to eat.
He put the pink object into his mouth and tasted it. It really tasted like meat , but not strong. Chen Mingtai sighed, "It's not delicious."
Chen Tuiyi didn't care at all. "It's just luncheon meat. It tastes like meat and can fill your stomach. It's just a lazy person's food. I don't like it if I eat too much."
Without waiting for Chen Mingtai to speak, Mrs. Chen smiled and said, "You can actually be lazy, but it's not easy."
"Rule the world right away? If you don't even know whether you are lazy or not, then ruling the world right away is just empty talk." Chen Tuiyi answered as calmly as possible.
Chen Mingtai felt that his daughter's words were indeed a bit arrogant and boastful, and he felt helpless.
At this moment, his son smelled the smell and ran over. Before Chen Mingtai could say anything, the Chen kid shouted, "Sister, I want to eat instant noodles."
Chen Tuiyi went to the kitchen and soon brought in a pot. There was a piece of twisted food cooked in it. It looked like noodles.
Then he put some vegetables into the pot and asked the boy from the Chen family to take the pot away.
Mrs. Chen yelled angrily, "Have you never eaten? Take the pot away with you! Put it in a bowl and eat it."
Seeing his daughter's actions, Chen Mingtai took a bite of his favorite scrambled eggs and couldn't help but sigh, "You're not afraid?"
"What are you afraid of? Are you afraid that the Qing army will attack from Jurong, or are you afraid that the Qing army will attack from Fujian?" At least there was no fear in Chen Tuiyi's expression.
"Oh? You actually know about fighting?" Chen Mingtai was really interested.
Chen Tuiyi didn't mind showing off in front of his father. After all, he had been unilaterally oppressed by his father's knowledge for so many years. At this time, Chen Tuiyi believed that the military knowledge he had learned in the training school was better than that of his father.
"Dad, if the Qing army attacks Zhenjiang, the troops in Yangzhou will attack them from both sides. They will not be able to return. We will be at the top of Chengcheng, watching the battle and recalling the Battle of Caishiji."
Chen Mingtai snorted, said nothing, and just took a sip of wine.
"As for the route to Fujian, they must take the Xianxialing Ancient Road. There are checkpoints on that ancient road. If they block the checkpoints, how can the Qing army fly over?" Chen Tuiyi continued.
From the map, Zhejiang and Fujian are two neighboring provinces. Until Huang Chao opened up Xianxialing, people from the two provinces had almost never seen each other. This is because the two provinces are separated by the majestic and steep Xianxialing Mountains. The Xianxialing Mountains are more than 100 kilometers long, with an average altitude of more than 1,000 meters. The main peak, Dalonggang, is 1,503 meters above sea level, like a huge wall, separating Zhejiang and Fujian.
In Zhejiang Province and Fujian Province, there is the Qiantang River system and the Minjiang River system respectively. In ancient times when land transportation was not well developed, large rivers undertook the heavy responsibility of water transportation. Before Huang Chao dug the Xianxia Ancient Road, the Qiantang River system and the Minjiang River system were isolated; after the Xianxia Ancient Road was opened, the two major water systems were able to communicate.
