Volume 1: Birth! Seven time travelers Chapter 151 The Prosperous Kuandian Fort
“Pah~~”
“Bang~Bang~Bang~”
Liaodong, Kuandian Fort. Hundreds of Ming soldiers wearing fine plate armor and red helmet tassels are conducting live-fire training with flintlock rifles at the shooting range outside the fort.
"Observe, the Jiannu spies are spying on us over there again."
"Hmph! These idiots thought they were hiding well, but unfortunately, they were completely exposed ."
It was September 1610, and it had been exactly four years since Xiong Tingbi left this place.
In the past four years, Zhu Youdong's support for Kuandian was 100,000 taels of silver per year in the first two years. From the third year on, it rose to 200,000 taels. In addition, Xiong Tingbi was not a scholar-like official. After His Highness kept investing money, the food supply in Kuandian was not a problem at all. He organized the military households in the fort to hunt game everywhere nearby, cut down virgin forests to sell wood, and dig ginseng. In short, there were various incomes. So in the past four years, the people of the six forts in Kuandian have changed from the hardship of having enough food and clothing in the past to having some spare money in their hands.
With such a large amount of money invested in such a small place, Kuandian Liubao entered a kind of abnormal prosperity in a very short time: the output of this place itself was very limited, but the residents of the fort were relatively wealthy, and the geographical location was superior, so merchants from Liaodong Town, the interior of Daming, Jianzhou, Korea and even Mongolia gathered here. In just four years, Kuandian actually became a logistics distribution center on the border between China and North Korea.
The geographical location of Kuandian had already made the Jianzhou Jurchens very uncomfortable, and now the trade here was so prosperous, how could Nurhaci not be jealous? His desire to bring Kuandian Liubao under his rule became even more intense.
Unfortunately, as long as he had not made up his mind to completely break with the Ming Dynasty and go to war, Nurhaci would not dare to use his sword in places where the Ming Dynasty flag was hung. Besides, even if Nurhaci wanted to use his sword, Kuandian would not be so easy to fight.
Four years later, Zhu Youdong invested 600,000 taels of silver here. Since Li Guozhu joined him, flintlocks, Minié bullets, military uniforms, medicines, telescopes, cement, and even 12-pound and 16-pound cannons were almost all shipped to Kuandian. After Henghaiwei was rebuilt in November 1609, the organization and training methods of local soldiers in Kuandian were exactly the same as those in Henghaiwei!
Now, the walls of the six forts in Kuandian have all been hardened with cement, and they have been built in the popular bastion style in Europe at that time according to the drawings given by Zhu Youdong. Sixteen-pound cannons have been installed in all the key parts of the bastions. Other city defense supplies such as food, bows and arrows, gunpowder, etc., are also in great stock.
There were more than 60,000 households in the six forts of Kuandian. Xiong Tingbi was short of money at the beginning and only trained 3,000 soldiers. Later, Zhu Youdong increased his support, especially after the reconstruction of Henghaiwei. In line with the principle that the personal soldiers under His Highness should be organized in a consistent manner, Xiong Tingbi increased the number of Kuandian's combat troops to 5,600, and also set up five thousand households and an artillery team. The slight difference is that of the five thousand households on the Kuandian side, four are pure infantry teams and one is a pure cavalry team.
Moreover, the Kuandian Army had two advantages over the Henghai Guard: first, the auxiliary personnel were extremely wealthy and cheap, so the Kuandian Army had as many as 3,000 auxiliary soldiers. Second, the Kuandian Army had to train, and the field was much wider than the Henghai Guard.
In short, according to Zhu Youdong, next year, both sides will form a mixed thousand-household team to conduct joint drills. In this regard, Xiong Tingbi is very confident of winning.
"Observe, what is this Jiannu thinking about all day long? He covets the wealth of my Kuandian, and he wants to attack me if he wants! What's the point of spying like this?"
"Haha, Captain Mao, let me ask you, if my Kuandian Guards were to fight against the Jian Nu alone, could we defeat them?"
"Hmm..." Mao Wenlong thought seriously for a while and then said, "Observe. If the Jiannu attack us, we can rely on the fortress to defend and consume their spirit before counterattacking. This way, we have a better chance of winning. If we attack directly, our troops are still a little insufficient."
"Then it's settled, so if he wants to see it, then let him see it. Your Highness has done great things in the south over the years, and his support for Kuandian has been growing. Apart from the 200,000 silver coins every year, the artillery, bird guns, ammunition, clothing and other equipment sent here are probably no less than 200,000 a year."
"Yes, Your Highness, I really have no way to repay your kindness. Sometimes I wonder why Nurhaci is so cowardly. Hasn't he always wanted to take down the Donghai Jurchens behind us and become the real Jurchen Khan? Then come on, he has at least 300,000 or 400,000 people in Jianzhou now. It shouldn't be difficult to grit his teeth and withdraw 50,000 or 60,000 men to join the army, right? We only have more than 5,000 people here."
"Ah, if Nurhaci came now, I would be happy. Although we will be trapped in the fort and beaten in the short term, as long as he dares to attack the place flying the Ming flag, not to mention the emperor and the grandson, even the Earl of Ningyuan will not let him go! What a pity..." With a long sigh, Xiong Tingbi raised his head sadly: "This beast is so patient, he is really a big worry for my Ming Dynasty."
"Yes, I observed. Last year, Nurhaci killed Shuerhaci's two sons and completely deprived Shuerhaci of his military power. The Jiannu were completely integrated internally. Hey! To be honest, Shuerhaci was a fool. He wanted to establish his own territory and actually went to Tieling. As a result, when Nurhaci went to deal with him, the Tieling Guards did not react at all. If this guy had come to our Kuandian Guards in advance..."
"Hey, who made Tieling Guard inside the border wall, and we are the only one in Liaodong that is isolated outside the border wall? As for that idiot Shuerhaci, he must think that it is safer to have a wall. But Wenlong, what you said makes sense. After Shuerhaci's death, Nurhaci was completely the one who had the final say in Jianzhou Jurchen. Haha, it's ridiculous that Ningyuanbo even told the court that he would support Shuerhaci to contain Nurhaci..."
"Observe, I have a bold idea."
"Hmm? Wenlong, you go ahead."
"Observe. Why don't we take the initiative to provoke the Jiannu and make them unable to bear it and come to attack us."
“Hahahaha~~” After laughing for a while, Xiong Tingbi said, “I have thought about this many times, and I really want to do it, but…”
"Why is that? Guancha! From what I heard, that Sun Chengzong, Sun Guancha, is now very famous in the mainland because he conquered Mubang for the Ming Dynasty."
"Haha, Wenlong, you only know one side of the story. Sun Kaiyang's capture of Mubang is not a great achievement. The real achievement is to develop the jade mine there, so that its output can support the Ming Dynasty's garrison and pay money to the court. Jianzhou is a poor and remote place. Even if we take it down, the Ming Dynasty cannot stay there permanently. Therefore, if Nurhaci's power had not expanded too fast, it is estimated that the Grand Prince would not have invested money in our Kuandian!"
After saying this, Xiong Tingbi raised his head proudly and said, "I have worked with Sun Kaiyang in Xinghua Palace for nearly two years, and I know him very well. In terms of knowledge, coordination and relationships with all parties, I am ashamed of myself. But in terms of military affairs, I believe I am not inferior to him! If I had commanded the battle of Mubang, it would have been even more beautiful!" Then he spread his hands again, "But what can I do? We are loyal to the emperor and we have to be loyal to him. Without the order from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, we can only focus on defense."
Just as the two men were looking at each other in silence, a group of cavalry came galloping towards them in the distance leaving a column of dust.
"Observe!" Yang Ruda, a cavalry captain, dismounted and approached Xiong Tingbi and whispered, "Observe, the Crown Prince's secret envoy has arrived at my Changdian Fort. Please hurry there as soon as possible."
"Okay!" He quickly stood up, nimbly rode on the horse brought by Yang Ruda, and ran quickly towards Changdian Fort in the south.
Xiong Guancha was very strict in disciplining his troops, so at this moment Mao Wenlong had no intention of coming over to inquire about the news. He just bowed to Yang Ruda and turned to pay attention to his soldiers.
…
"Your humble servant Tian Ergeng, a captain of the Nanjing Imperial Guard, is here to meet Observer Xiong."
"Captain Tian? What is so important that you have to deliver the letter in person?"
"Hahaha, Bear will know after reading the letter."
