Cutting over the end of the Ming Dynasty: a dog-leg knife at the beginning

Chapter 731 Seeing Catherine Again

Chongzhen eight years on March [-]th.

The long gossip and nonsense finally came to an end, Yang Menglong took his few personal guards, boarded a four-wheeled carriage with Zhu Cihong, and set foot on the way home.And just as they were leaving the city gate, the dusty frontier passers-by galloped over, shouting in a hoarse voice: "Good news! Good news! Hussar general Qian Yu defeated the Mongolian army in Wuhai and regained Wuhai successfully! General Cao Wenzhao smashed the Dalate army, drank horses from the Yellow River, and pushed into the three cities beyond the river!"

The so-called three cities outside the river are actually three cities built by the Tang Dynasty on the north bank of the Hetao. These three cities were certainly not built to accept the surrender of the Turks. They were a defense system used to resist the attack of the Turks. , Dongshoujiang City is in today's Urad Grassland, West Shoujiang City is in today's Tuoketuo County, and Zhongshoujiang City is in Baotou - of course, the place name Baotou did not exist in the Ming Dynasty, so the Central Plains area will still be That area was called the Three Cities Outside the River, even though the three surrendered cities had long since ceased to exist.

Obviously, the Tianxiong Army did not intend to give the Mongols any chance to breathe. When the Mongols were tortured to death by the black disaster, the Tianxiong Army kept feeding the horses with high-quality barley to make them fat and strong, even From time to time, the war horses are fed eggs, so that the war horses are too fat after spring, and they have to hang fat to lose weight, otherwise they will not be able to run when they arrive on the battlefield.At the same time, the Tianxiong Army also vigorously supported the Oirats to fight against the Tumed tribe, asking for food for food, weapons for weapons, and even armed a large number of Mongolian prisoners of war to let them join the Oirat troops.And some small Mongolian tribes who also moved back from the Volga River Basin also joined the Oirat tribe. The strength of the Oirat tribe expanded rapidly. Under the command of Timur, they defeated several large-scale attacks by the Tumed tribe. The soldiers were lost and the generals were lost.The worst thing is that the black disaster has finally passed in the spring, but the Mongolian plateau has ushered in a rare snowstorm. The snow has been falling for more than 40 days, and the snow in many places is as deep as one meter. A large number of livestock died of cold and starvation, and many small tribes were buried under the snow overnight, and there was no trace of them anymore.The black disaster and the war have exhausted the last material reserves of the Tumed Department. In the face of this terrible snow disaster, everyone is helpless. Not only the Tumed Department, but the whole Mongolia has been seriously injured!After they survived the snow disaster, none of the livestock remained, and the war horses were either frozen to death or starved to the bone, which can be described as extremely weak.

At this time, the Tianxiong Army launched an attack...

The main force of the Tianxiong Army in the direction of Datong is still in different positions, crossing their legs and watching Tie Mu'er and Boyan being killed.Qian Yu was not so polite. He led [-] Lancers and [-] vassal cavalry from Yinchuan City, passed through Shizuishan, passed through Polu City, and entered the Urad Grassland. Cao Wenzhao led a [-]-step cavalry army from Dongshengwei and beat them violently. The last batch of tribes on the Ordos Plateau who refused to surrender either became ghosts under the knife or were driven down the Yellow River.Now the Ming army is only a short distance away from the West Surrender City and the Central Shou Surrender City, and the entire Mongolian plateau is shaken and terrified!
Things that can scare the Mongols are great things for the people of Ming Dynasty. Countless people cheered loudly, their faces flushed with excitement. Wherever Chuanqi went, the voices of "Long Live the Ming Dynasty" kept coming and going, and the atmosphere became frenzied.Zhu Cihong was also excited, and said to Yang Menglong: "The Tianxiong Army won another big victory, it's great!"

Yang Menglong said: "Yes, it is one step closer to capturing the entire Hetao Plain. By the end of this year at the latest, the entire Hetao Plain will be filled with Ming battle flags."

Zhu Cihong pointed at the people who waved their fists and shouted long live, a little puzzled: "I don't understand, the chief minister and the others have always said that as the king of a country, he must rule the world with benevolence, pay attention to his own conduct, and not use weapons rashly. In a barren and cold land, using troops outside the Great Wall will only make the people miserable... But why are these people so happy when they hear that our army has won the battle outside the Great Wall?"

Yang Menglong said: "The Hetao area is not a barren and cold place. There is abundant water and fertile land. It is perfect for growing rice, wheat, barley, and cotton. The land there is even more fertile than the fields in the Central Plains. The Tianxiong army has occupied hundreds of miles of fertile land, which means that those landless farmers have the opportunity to migrate to the Hetao area and get a piece of fertile land, can they not be happy?" Patted Zhu Cihong's head , said: "Actually, the outside of the Great Wall is not as terrible as those rotten scholars said. Even in Gansu, where the smoke and sand are obscure, there are still many lands where wheat and potatoes can be grown. Where there is really no way to grow crops, you can also mine or mine. Plant pastures, create enormous wealth, and these lands are not easily given up."

Zhu Cihong muttered: "No gentleman has ever told me these things before...but what you said must be right, Daming must take back these lands piece by piece!"

Yang Menglong said happily: "That's right! You have to remember that the major affairs of the country are in the levy and the sacrifice, and the levy will always be in front of the sacrifice! The vitality of an empire lies in expansion. If it stops expanding, it will stagnate. Even regress, and eventually perish. As the king of a country, you can never be afraid of war, but you must know which battles should be fought, which battles should not be fought, and what benefits can be gained by fighting!"

Zhu Cihong nodded vigorously: "Yes! When Daming's national strength is restored, we must take back all the former land! Hamiwei, Wusi Zangdusi, and Nuergandusi will all be restored. Not only that, but the battle flag must be restored. If you go to the fishing sea, it is also the land of your ancestors, so you can’t give up!”

Yang Menglong chuckled: "Let's talk about it when you grow up, it's too early to talk about it now!"

Zhu Cilang immediately fell silent... He is still too young now, and these matters are out of his control.But the scene of the common people cheering after hearing the good news has been deeply engraved in his heart and left a very deep impression on him.

The carriage galloped along the post road, changing horses when tired, and opening a few canned food on the side of the road to satisfy our hunger when hungry, running wildly day and night, and finally returned to Nanyang for seven days and seven nights.

"Huh, I'm finally back!"

Yang Menglong stretched his waist, jumped out of the carriage, and rushed into the Hou Mansion excitedly, shouting all the way: "Is anyone home? I'm back!" The roar was so loud!
Xiao Yufang flashed out with her daughter in her arms, glared at him angrily and amusedly, and said, "Even if someone is at home, I'll scare you away! You're so grown up, you're still like a child!"

Yang Menglong rubbed his nose and smiled: "It's been a long time since I've been home, I'm a little excited... How is Kaixuan doing during this time, are you listening?"

Xiao Yufang rolled his eyes at him: "Just look at yourself and you will know whether the child will be obedient or not."

Yang Menglong said: "That means you are disobedient!" He carefully picked up his daughter and saw that her little face was as red as a ripe apple. He couldn't help but kiss her and said happily: " Good daughter, you can’t do this! You have to listen to mother, or I will beat you, do you hear me?”

Yang Kaixuan looked at him with wide eyes, and suddenly his mouth was flattened, and he cried.Xiao Yufang quickly snatched her daughter back, kissed and coaxed her, and said, "How can you talk to your daughter like this, and always say you want to beat her!"

Yang Menglong said: "I scare her!"

Just as he was talking, a clear and beautiful voice floated over: "Why is Kaixuan crying again?" The fragrant wind fluttered, and a big beauty with black hair and blue eyes walked in holding Yang Menglong's baby son. Seeing Yang Menglong, she was obviously stunned one time.

Yang Menglong was also stunned, pointed at the beautiful woman and shouted: "You————"

The beautiful woman rolled her eyes at him: "What am I, don't you recognize me?"

Yang Menglong said: "No, Catherine, didn't you go back to Europe, why..."

Catherine said, "I'm back again, aren't I?"

Yang Menglong was speechless: "Okay, of course! When did you come back?"

Catherine said: "I arrived in China at the end of February. I went to Guangzhou to find you first, but Mr. Li said that you were still in the north. There was no choice but to come to Nanyang to wait for you."

Yang Menglong blinked his eyes. He originally thought that Catherine would not come back in three or two years, but he didn't expect that she would come again after only a year. Hey, this foreign girl is really hardworking!No wonder the Venetians are so rich and hardworking, it is impossible not to get rich!

Xiao Yufang said: "Catherine has endured a lot of hardships along the way. After arriving in Nanyang, she was seriously ill. Her complexion has improved a little in the past few days."

Yang Menglong looked at it carefully, and sure enough, Catherine was really thinner than when she left last year, and her mental state was not good.This is not surprising. Ocean sailing is very hard these days. Even if everything goes well, it will take more than four months to travel from Europe to Asia, and eight months to go back and forth. Who can bear to spend more than half a year on the sea?Moreover, the sea situation is unpredictable, storms, tsunamis, fog and so on are commonplace, and life is in danger at any time. Let alone a delicate girl, even a towering man like Wang Tiechui can't stand it!He couldn't help but said: "I said, do you need to risk your life like that? After all the hard work, you returned to Venice, and you sailed out to sea again without breathing. Are you risking your life to make money?"

Catherine didn't care: "We Venetians eat this bowl of rice, men and women are no exception." Carefully put the child in his arms and hugged him more comfortably; The batch of cannons are very satisfied, let me increase the purchasing power... The books, materials, horses, crop seeds, etc. you want are still behind, and I am ordered by the governor to bring a large number of gold coins to go ahead. When are you free? Let's sit Come down and have a good talk, this time I want to purchase a relatively large quantity!"

Yang Menglong's eyes lit up: "You mean, your governor is very satisfied with the performance of those cannons, right?"

Catherine said: "Very satisfied! He hopes to increase the purchase quantity to five hundred. As for the incendiary bombs, as many as there are!"

Yang Menglong's eyes suddenly became brighter than a [-]-watt light bulb... Five hundred smoothbore guns are installed in front of the door, so much money!Get rich, this time you're going to make a fortune!
(End of this chapter)