The Red Mansions

Chapter 933 Jia Heng: It must be the slave chief who leads the army in person, and all 8 flags are o

Chapter 933 Jia Heng: It must be the slave chief who leads the army in person, and the eight banners are all out...

Taiyuan Prefecture

A group of military and political officials looked at the Beijing cavalry army with strict military appearance and strict orders, all of them felt awe-inspiring.

Xie Zaiyi, greeted by all the generals, led the five thousand vanguard cavalry to the city of Taiyuan, and walked towards the city along the stone-paved streets.

The entire city of Ohara Prefecture is not only built with high walls and deep moats, but the urns and walls inside are also very complicated. Franco machine guns are erected on the arrow stacks of the female wall, and the black muzzles are quite deterrent.

Surrounded by soldiers holding flags, their armor was bright, and they held Yanling Saber tightly, looking rather energetic.

Wang Chengyin looked away from the majestic cavalry of the brigade, asked Xie Zaiyi with a serious face, and asked with a smile: "I don't know where the general is?"

Jia Heng used the first-class Yongning Marquis to hang the seal of the general who conquered the captives, and restrained the armies on the edge of Shanxi and Hebei.

Xie Zaiyi said: "It's right behind, the general sent the last general to lead the army first, Wang Zongbing, I will order all the soldiers later, and choose an iron cavalry to go with the army."

Wang Chengyin's complexion changed slightly when he heard the words, and said: "The army still has the importance of defending Taiyuan. If the soldiers are transferred, the Taiyuan army town will definitely be empty."

This time, the Jingying army almost brought a lot of elites, how could they use the soldiers and horses from Taiyuan Town.

Xie Zaiyi said in a low voice: "Deploy an army and join forces to attack. This is the general's order. The country raises soldiers for a thousand days and uses them for a while. Commander Wang, now is the time to use them."

Wang Chengyin's face was a bit ugly, but he could only bite the bullet, looked at the deputy commander Shang Zhonggang and said, "General Shang, go and pick out the roster."

Shang Zhonggang bowed his hands to answer, and then went to the government office beside him to prepare soldiers and horses.

At this time, Governor Gu Binghe glanced at Wang Chengyin, put down the teacup in his hand, and said, "General Xie, just now I discussed with Lord Luo about the supply of military rations. Generals don't have to worry about military rations."

This Futai is a standard civil servant, also in his early fifties, with a shrewd smile in his small eyes.

Xie Zaiyi didn't dare to be negligent, and said: "The treasury is preparing the food and grass for January in advance, and the imperial household department will send important officials to raise the army food."

For this war, the Ministry of Households prepared with two hands, part of the military food was for transshipment, and the other part was for buying food. However, the rice shops in Jin Province had already increased in response to the announcement of the northern expedition by the imperial court.

But because it is not sure how the imperial court transferred the grain and fodder, the increase has not been that exaggerated.

After Xie Zaiyi left, Governor Gu Binghe and Chief Envoy Luo Jingwen also went to raise food and fodder, leaving only Wang Chengyin and Xiang Bin.

Wang Chengyin said: "Xiang Dushuai, this man named Xie wants to choose elite cavalry to support military affairs, what should we do?"

Xiang Bin pondered and said, "Master Wang has a cavalry force of 6000 men, all of them are elites who can count as ten. They can be drawn out and go to Datong for his dispatch."

Previously, Wang Shuirong of Beijing went to Taiyuan to inspect the army, and Wang Chengyin used this to play the trick of Dong Zhuo's iron cavalry from Xiliang.

Wang Chengyin said: "Jurchen is not easy to deal with. Taiyuan has only a little wealth. If the toss is gone, the foundation of the old man's life, how can you and I sit firmly in the land of Jinzhong?"

It's not that Wang Chengyin wants to support his own self-respect, but that he must have an elite soldier in his hand as a front, and the imperial court has to be a little bit afraid of cutting power.

Xiang Bin shook his head, with a solemn expression on his face, and said: "This is difficult to handle. Now that the Jingying army has entered the city, Lord Wang just saw it. The army is majestic and can be a powerful force. The General Zhenglu heard that It’s not a good match either.”

Wang Chengyin's face was as gloomy as ice, and he said: "Shuai Xiang, once the court finds out, this Marquis of Yongning killed an unknown number of generals when he was rectifying the Beijing camp."

It can be said that the road to prosperity of such a Wuhou as Jia Heng was also studied by Wang Chengyin, and he organized the army with iron fists in the Beijing camp.

Xiang Bin frowned and said: "What Wang Zongbing said is completely unreasonable. The general will work in the capital, and the ordering soldiers are no more than the guards. I don't know what Wang Zongbing is worried about."

"The last time the King of Beijing came to investigate the military situation, Xiang Dushuai..." Wang Chengyin asked.

Xiang Bin's face turned gloomy, and he interrupted Wang Chengyin, saying, "General Wang."

"Now you and I are grasshoppers tied to a rope." Wang Chengyin smiled, looked at Xiang Bin, and said in a low voice.

Just now when he saw Xie Zaiyi's five thousand cavalry troops, Wang Chengyin had a bad feeling in his heart. There are still fifty or sixty thousand soldiers behind. Uneven forehead, taking the opportunity to attack?

In fact, the political sense of guarding a general is indeed extraordinary, and he has already begun to be vigilant when he sees troubles.

Xiang Bin stared at Wang Chengyin unkindly, and said, "General Wang's troops must be jittery. This time the Beijing camp dispatched troops to the north to intervene in the Mongolian war, and it's not about rectifying border affairs."

"I have to guard against it. This Marquis of Yongning has today, but he has harmed many colleagues." Wang Chengyin said sadly.

He doesn't have a good way now, and this special mother's surname Jia brought an army of [-].

And just when Jia Heng led the troops to Taiyuan Army Town.

On the other side, Jia Heng also gradually approached the military town of Taiyuan. A map was hung on the wooden board, which depicted the border defense situation of Mongolia, Jurchen and Han.

Apart from Chen Xiao, there were Song Yuan, Fan Yi, Pang Shili, Qi Jianhui, Xie Jing and other generals from the Beijing Camp.

Jia Fang stood outside the military tent, guarding the surroundings. Not far away was a handsome-looking chief banner officer, who was Liu Xianglian.

Jia Heng said: "Once our army goes out to Datong, the Jurchen will definitely take action to restrain our army from going north, and Ping'an Prefecture is the flank of Datong, and it is also under the Jurchen offensive."

"Jie Shuai, can Beiping send a fine cavalry out of the fortress to contain Jurchen?" At this time, General Xie Jing said.

Jia Heng said: "Peking has no strength to go out, and the Jurchen must have soldiers and horses to guard against it. Among the Beiping armies, the combat power is not enough to go out to deal with the elite Jurchen. Unless the Beijing camp divides the troops, but the Beijing camp can't divide the troops right now."

Today's strategy is to defend from the east and attack from the west, that is, the battlefields on the eastern front, such as Beiping and Xuanfu (Zhangjiakou), as long as they resist the Jurchen invasion, it is a great achievement.

Datong and Shuozhou in the west are the focus of defense.

Because once Datong and Taiyuan are lost, the shock to the imperial court will be relatively large.

This is a political account.

In other words, no matter how fierce the war in Beiping is, as long as Beiping does not fall and Yanzhao land is full of wars, the civil and military officials of the Shenjing court will not feel like the sky is falling.

But Datong and Ping'an Prefecture are not good. The two are horns of each other. If there is any loss, Taiyuan will be threatened, and the gate of the Northwest Land will be completely opened by Jurchen.

Shenjing is bound to shake, and the voice of moving the capital will rise.

The first line of defense in Chang'an is Datong and Pingan Prefecture (Shuozhou), and in the past it was precisely because of the Ping Fan of Chahar Mongolia that it was not attacked.

This is also the reason for the previous assistance to Chahar Mongolia, because after Jurchen annexed Mongolia, Datong and Ping'an Prefecture would definitely not be able to sustain it.

The second line of defense is Yulin and Taiyuan.

"The army of [-] is now resting in Taiyuan first, and the elite of Taiyuan will be drawn." Jia Heng said in a deep voice.

His plan was to vacate the cage and change the bird. First, he put the elite of Wang Chengyin's men by his side and rushed to Datong, and then left a group of Beijing infantry waiting for the pick-up, and began to rectify the border affairs and investigate Shanxi merchants.

The whole thing is majestic, not to mention mutiny.

Mutiny means that he took a few people to Taiyuan Mansion to persecute them too much, but now that he has the elite of the Beijing camp, where can he go to mutiny?

All the generals agreed one after another.

After ordering the order of troops to march, Jia Heng looked at Pang Shili at the side and said, "General Pang, early tomorrow morning, you will take a short cut with [-] cavalry and go to Datong first to meet the army."

Pang Shili said: "Yes, Marshal Jie."

After Pang Shili left, Chen Xiao looked at the young man and said softly: "This is to guard against the invasion of Datong."

"Someone in Datong will also inquire about the movements in Taiyuan. If they stay in Taiyuan for too long, Datong will be aware of it. Datong will also have soldiers to respond, and the Jurchen side may also take action." Jia Heng road.

Chen Xiao said: "I don't know any news from the grassland."

Jia Heng said: "Let's prepare for the battle first. Yesterday I asked Jinyi Mansion Feige to send a message. If Ezhe is willing, he can lead the troops to the Datong line."

Chen Xiaodao: "If those Hongyi cannons want to be effective on the grassland, I'm afraid they won't work. The main thing is to defend the city."

Jia Heng nodded, and said: "The Hongyi cannons are inconvenient to transport, and need to be arranged as soon as possible, but the formed flintlock gun team can attack the enemy on the move, and it is very useful at critical times."

The nearly one hundred flintlock guns originally obtained from Hao Jing, although not many, combined with other high-stability firearms, formed a battalion of troops.

"Is there any news about Jurchen's deployment of troops this time?" Chen Xiao asked.

"I don't know yet, just wait for the information from the grassland." Jia Heng shook his head, his eyes were serious, and said, "I guess, it should be a battle of the Jurchens to rejuvenate the country, and the slave chiefs will definitely lead it personally Soldiers, with all the eight banners out, I don’t know whether the slave chieftains are in the west or the east.”

So this time he brought out [-]% of the cavalry Xiaorui from the Beijing camp, plus [-] infantry, just to deal with this matter.

Chen Xiaoqing showed a thoughtful look on his beautiful face, and said in a low voice: "If troops are sent out at the same time..."

"Yes, I'm worried now that Jurchen annexed Mongolia and invaded Han soil, and sent troops at the same time. Once I see my army dispatched, I will act first and contain my big man. At that time, it will depend on whether the Xuanfu can stop it." Jia Heng Suddenly said.

"Beiping?" Chen Xiao looked at the map not far away and said in a low voice.

Jia Heng nodded and looked in the direction of Xuanfu.

……

……

In Taiyuan Mansion, the twilight is in harmony, and the night is filled with the whole sky. A round of bright blue moon sprinkles the cold moonlight, shining on the land of the three Jin Dynasties. It seems that there is a layer of white on the eaves and tiles of the city and the row upon row. Frost.

The Kang house is brightly lit, and the sound of silk and bamboo orchestras can be heard from the attic of the back house.

The Patriarch of the Kang family, Kang Yisheng, was sitting on a grand teacher's chair at the moment, dozing off slightly, listening to an opera being sung on the stage not far away.

They sang "Wu Song Fights the Tiger". The martial artist was wearing bunt clothes, holding a whistle stick, and was saying aloud, while a few gongs sounded around him from time to time.

Kang Yisheng's aunts and concubines were holding grapes in their hands, watching and whispering.

Kang Yisheng is about fifty years old, with gray hair, but rosy cheeks. At this moment, he closes his eyes slightly. The little concubine Ping Niang beside him has a better appearance and is sixteen years old. She hands the peeled grapes to Kang Yisheng's mouth.

"Master." At this time, the housekeeper hurriedly approached and whispered a few words in Kang Yisheng's ear.

Kang Yisheng opened his eyes, a ray of light seemed to shoot out of the sunken eye sockets, and said, "Go and have a look."

Not far away, the second young master of the Kang family, Kang Zexing, who was listening to opera, put down the wine cup in his hand and said, "Father."

"Xing'er is going to greet her as a father." Kang Yisheng waved his hand, and the drama stopped immediately.

One of the eight great families of Shanxi merchants, the Kang family in Linfen, Pingyang Prefecture, is the richest man in Jinzhong. Its subordinates run countless rice shops. It can be said that the family wealth is huge. Compared with the other few families that are still worth millions, the family wealth of the Kang family has reached tens of millions. Since the founding of the Han Dynasty, traditional businesses such as selling salt and rice grains have been the main business. When smuggling to Jurchen, wealth has accumulated rapidly.

There are as many as thousands of warehouses, and rice and grain merchants are spread all over the land of the Three Jin Dynasties.

The head of the Kang family, Kang Yisheng, and his second son, Kang Zexing, now live separately in Taiyuan Mansion.

Because Taiyuan Prefecture is the provincial capital, the news is also well-informed.

In the hall——

Luo Jingwen, the chief minister, and Jiang Yan, the prefect of Taiyuan, sat on the chairs and did not touch the West Lake Longjing tea on the side table, their expressions were indifferent.

"What wind brought the two lords here?" At this moment, the head of the Kang family, Kang Yisheng, entered from the inner hall with a smile on his face, and said, "You are welcome from afar, you are welcome from afar."

As he spoke, he approached and bowed.

"The two adults visited late at night, what orders do you have?" Kang Yisheng said.

The chief envoy Luo Jingwen and the prefect of Taiyuan, Jiang Yan, looked at each other, smiled, and said first: "Old Mr. Kang, I and Mr. Jiang have nothing to do but go to the Three Treasure Hall."

Kang Yisheng smiled and waited for his words.

As a subordinate, Jiang Yan took the initiative to take over the conversation, and said with a smile: "It's not that the imperial court sent a large army to Datong to fight the Jurchens. Now they need to raise military rations. A minister of the household department is on the way. They should arrive in two days. Taiyuan."

In fact, Lin Ruhai set off two days earlier than Jia Heng, but because he was traveling in a carriage and took a different route, he did not catch up.

At this moment, the vanguard of the Beijing Army arrived in Taiyuan first, and Lin Ruhai had just entered Taiyuan Mansion.

I didn't go directly to Taiyuan Mansion before, but went to the nearby Pingyang Mansion to find out about the plan of the prefect of Pingyang Mansion to buy food and recruit civilian husbands.

Raising food and grass on the spot during the war is easy, except that there is really no way to go deep into the Western Regions and the desert for transshipment. Jin Province is a large grain-producing province. With this condition, most of the military food must be replenished.

Kang Yisheng smiled and said: "My lords, the country is going to use military force. I, a citizen of Shengdou, have also heard about it. It's a good thing. It's just that Kang has no property, and he can barely make ends meet by doing a little business. The army needs food and fodder. The amount is huge, I'm afraid it will be too weak to catch up, and it will delay the military situation."

If you are here for alms, then don't open your mouth, the number of his rice shops is not enough to support the war.

"The Ministry of Households is willing to give money to buy rice." Jiang Yan asked.

When Kang Yisheng heard the words, he put down the teacup in his hand, looked serious, and said, "I don't know how big a gap the court needs."

Obviously Jiang Yan is very familiar with this Patriarch Kang.

Luo Jingwen frowned secretly, and cursed secretly that profiteers are not profitable.

"Nowadays, the cavalry's rations for one month are provided by the imperial court, but there will be infantry marching to Taiyuan later, and the war will consume a lot of rice and grain, and Mr. Kang needs to raise more money, the more the better." Jiang Yan said with a smile on his face. Smiling, explained.

It is worth mentioning that the march of military supplies in wartime is different from the normal state, and the consumption is often more.

Because after fighting with generals and schools and marching, they consume a lot of physical energy. People chew horses and feed them, which consumes a lot, just like people who have done farm work, their appetite will definitely increase.

At this time, Luo Jingwen twirled his beard under his chin with his hands, and said with a calm expression on his slightly fat face, "If you count according to affluence, the three-month army food reserve is estimated to cost 300 million shi."

Generally speaking, when a country employs troops, March is a regular cycle. Jia Heng’s 40 cavalry army collects 40 shi a month, and the subsequent 240 infantry also need [-] shi, which is [-] million shi.

This is not counting the usual non-staple food consumption such as fish, fruits and vegetables, and the consumption of salt, which is why the war is so wasteful.

"My lords, 300 million shi is not a small amount. I need to coordinate several friends to raise it. I just don't know what price the imperial court is willing to pay for rice grains?" Kang Yisheng asked again with his eyes flickering.

300 million shi of grain, this is a big deal, if it is replaced by grain, it will be 300 million taels, if the price of rice is doubled, it will be 600 million taels.

The price of rice at this time, because of the continuous disasters, was still around one stone of rice and one tael of silver, which was naturally far lower than that of Emperor Taizong and Longzhi.

Jiang Yan smiled, and said vaguely: "This, the lower officials can't guarantee it, it should be bought at the market price, Mr. Kang is so supportive of military affairs, can the court treat Mr. Kang badly?"

Kang Yisheng pondered for a moment, then said: "Now the price of grain in Taiyuan City has nearly doubled, is the court willing to buy grain at this price?"

"Mr. Kang, the prices of rice and grain in the city are mostly fluctuating nowadays, and the imperial court's purchase of grain naturally cannot be judged on this basis." Luo Jingwen frowned and reminded.

Kang Yisheng smiled and said: "Master Luo said that the main reason is that there is not so much rice now, and it has to be purchased from other provincial governments, which consumes a lot of manpower and material resources. Here, Kang has nothing to say , for the great affairs of the country, but those guys and Lifu under him have to eat."

We can't let them save their families for the country.

However, Luo Jingwen laughed and said: "Mr. Kang only needs to prepare food and grass. After Lin Butang comes, we can talk about the purchase price slowly. We must not let the volunteers suffer."

Kang Yisheng cupped his hands and said, "The grassroots sent people to buy grain and rice for military supplies."

Luo Jingwen and Jiang Yan nodded, and said they left Kang's mansion, preparing to raise other bean materials, grass bundles, and non-staple food.

After the two left, the second young master of the Kang family, Kang Zexing, said in a low voice, "Father, the business of the imperial court is not easy to do, and IOUs are usually issued."

"The imperial court has made a lot of money over the years, and has a lot of money in hand. It's not as embarrassing as it used to be, but what's the background of this Lin Butang?" Kang Yisheng looked out at the moonlit Yimen, frowned, and said in a low voice.

With that said, he walked towards the back house.

Kang Zexing followed, a young man in his late thirties, with a calm face, said: "I heard that he was transferred from the south of the Yangtze River. His surname is Lin, and he used to be an inspector in Yangzhou."

Kang Yisheng pondered for a moment, then said: "Xunyan Yushi, those eight families in Yangzhou were stripped of their skins last year, this Marquis of Yongning is desperate for money."

Merchants are well-informed, not to mention Shanxi merchants who have always regarded Huizhou merchants as their enemies, so they naturally pay attention to things in Jiangnan.

"Father, the eight salt merchants in Yangzhou embezzled the money from the salt courtyard, except for the four smugglers..." Kang Zexing said, his brows frowned, and his heart trembled.

Kang Yisheng sighed, and said, "Understood? I'm afraid the visitor is not kind this time."

He colluded with the Eastern Captives, and then he was registered and confiscated four families, and there was no property left. Wouldn't he know this?

And this Lin Butang is the in-law of Yongning Marquis Jiaheng, the two practiced the new salt law in the southern province, almost breaking the roots of the Yangzhou gang.

Fortunately, they still follow the rules, only seeking money, but not killing them.

But their Kang family is also engaged in the business of smuggling to the grasslands.

Kang Zexing looked solemn, and said in a low voice: "There is nothing wrong with the Wang family, Jiang family, and Xiao family. Father should worry too much. When the ban was abolished, it was not our family that was doing it when the ban was abolished. Doesn't the family also have a business?"

"Be careful sailing for ten thousand years." Kang Yisheng said in a low voice, his eyes flickering coldly, and said: "These people in the public family will sell us faster than anything else when they encounter trouble."

"Master Gu..." Kang Zexing's voice became a little lower.

Kang Yisheng said coldly: "The same is unreliable."

So these years, in order not to become a fat pig waiting to be slaughtered, in addition to wooing Wang Chengyin and his generals, he also raised hundreds of people under his command, just for the sake of being able to fight in an emergency.

……

……

On the grassland, flames billowed, gunpowder smoke filled the air, and there were bursts of killing and crying.

Accompanied by Han generals Shi Tingzhu, Ma Guangyuan, Wang Shiyuan, and Bayan, Dorgon rode on a horse, looking at the flames of war ignited from tents in the distance, and trampled over the crying Mongolian old woman and young son with his horseshoes, expressionless.

Shi Tingzhu cupped his hands and said, "My lord, it's almost there."

Dorgon nodded, and told a flagman, "Send someone to inform Samushha and Ye Chen."

The two are Dutong and Deputy Dutong under Azig.

"Yes, my lord." The elite bannerman rode a fast horse to inform the two of them.

Dorgon's eyes were gloomy, and he sneered, "Sunite's troops were defeated, and the soldiers and horses were scattered, and most of them were injured. Later, we will go to the big tent to discuss matters, and lead the troops to threaten the Heshiketeng's troops to surrender."

"Yes." All the generals said yes, and Wei Guang, a gourd monk with a mole on his face, also agreed, but there was a hint of worry in his eyes.

I have been lurking here for the past few days, and I am really worried, Nanbianer wants him to send information.

(End of this chapter)