Nanming Engineer

Chapter 195 Li Dingguo's Anger

The harsh winter in the Sichuan Basin is cold and humid everywhere, and Hezhou is no exception. Although there is no snow, there is a kind of coldness that penetrates the bone marrow due to the rainy weather. The moisture on the ground is more unbearable than the dry cold in the north.

The nationwide natural disasters that began in the reign of Chongzhen were very violent. As far as Sichuan is concerned, the severe drought in the Chengdu Plain that began in the 14th year of Chongzhen caused a large-scale reduction in grain production in the past three years. Although it began to rain after the first year of Hongguang, due to the There is no harvest, food is in short supply everywhere, and a bucket of grain can even be sold for five taels of silver, which is an unaffordable high price for most ordinary people.

How to survive the winter without food?
There are almost no traces of pedestrians on the official roads in various state capitals. In desolate villages, outside the walls of huge cities, corpses that have died of freezing and starvation are lying on the side of the road, even in the bustling towns. , There are also countless refugees huddled in the corner and shivering. Many of them cannot persist through this cold winter.

The government will not come out to help. Daxi Kingdom is busy suppressing the rebels from top to bottom. Central Sichuan and Western Sichuan are shrouded in the terror of massacres. Every day, fresh heads are hung on the city gates of various prefectures and prefectures. Those who entered and exited did not dare to raise their heads.Zhang Xianzhong’s Five Armies Commander’s Mansion was the busiest yamen, and the rebels captured from all over the country were marched into Chengdu, beheaded hastily at the Caishikou, and then hung their heads on the city gate, and threw their bodies into random graves to be eaten by wild dogs. bite.

In the whole of Sichuan, only the three prefectures in eastern Sichuan have another piece of land. In the land under Wang Huan’s rule, everyone lives and works in peace and contentment. They have land to grow and clothes to wear. Poor families have Lijia Baochang to report to the county government, and there are truckloads of winter clothes for relief. Although not many were sent to every household, it was enough to last through the cold winter.

A large number of refugees are like migrating migratory birds, fleeing from west to east over mountains and ridges, staggering to the east of Sichuan where they can survive, but when they walk along the official road to the various passes of Shunqing Prefecture and Baoning Prefecture, they are met by Zhang Xianzhong. The soldiers drove them back, Daxi Kingdom had strict rules, and those who had no legal way to lead were not allowed to run around.

The poor refugees cried in the cold wind and had nowhere to go, so they had to turn around and go back. Many people died by the side of the road along the way, screaming on the way, and their bones were everywhere.

Only a few people escaped the pass from the trails among the mountains, climbed mountains and waded to the east of Sichuan, and survived, but the number was very small.

Throughout central and western Sichuan, starvation is everywhere, and there is no human habitation for hundreds of miles. The prosperous and prosperous Land of Abundance in the past is almost a land of ghosts.

A few hungry people were walking slowly on the loess official road outside Chengdu, carrying a few tattered bundles on their backs. It seemed that they were going out of the city to seek refuge with their relatives and friends.

A group of knights in fresh clothes and angry horses galloped from a distance, splashing dust all over the sky. The horses are healthy horses, and the men are strong men. The horses are dressed in brocade and the men are wearing armor. The weapons hanging on the saddles are shining reflecting the winter sun , anyone with a discerning eye can tell at a glance that this is the most elite general in the Great Western Army.

The leader is a strong general, tall and strong, sitting on a streaky horse, wearing a bright silver chain mail, covered with a purple brocade robe with cotton, and a long knife hanging on a cowhide belt inlaid with white jade. Wearing a soft top hat, under the brim of the hat, a young face in his 20s is frowning. The lines of his face are as clear as a knife and an axe. In the cold wind, he looks like a flower with the word "Chuan" engraved on it. Gangshi.

The few hungry people saw the cavalry coming in front of them from a distance, so they avoided the roadside early, lowered their heads in fear and fear, and did not dare to vent their breath.

Unexpectedly, that group of knights galloped forward, and the leading purple-robed man glanced at them, reined in the reins, and waved his hand, a group of well-trained knights suddenly stopped at the same time, forming a line in front of the hungry people. The column stopped silently, and no one made a sound immediately, only the hot breath of the horses snorting, rising slowly in the cold air.

The starving people consisted of men and women, old and young. They seemed to be a family. A woman was holding a baby in her arms, probably hated by the cold, and stayed in the swaddling baby without crying or making noise.

The adults were terribly frightened. Looking at the soldiers in bright armor and the gleaming weapons in front of them, they knelt down on the muddy ground with a "plop", their heads touching the ground and trembling all over.

The young man in purple rode his horse around in a circle, then jumped off the horse neatly, his cowhide boots creaking in the mud, he came to the hungry people, and asked gently: "Where are you waiting for?" Sir, where are you going?"

An old man in his 60s or [-]s kneeling in front of his head stole a glance at the pair of black leather boots standing in front of him, but he didn't dare to look up any more. The little ones are residents of Jinguan City. At the end of this year, there is no food at home, and they can't live. They are going to go back to their hometowns to seek refuge with relatives and friends in the clan. They don't want to hinder the journey of the military men here. They deserve death and hope Forgive me, my lord."

"No food? Isn't there relief in the city? How could there be no food?" The purple-robed man frowned and asked, "The official warehouse allocated a batch of food a few days ago, didn't you get it?"

The old man was stunned ignorantly, turned his head to look at the family members kneeling beside him uneasily, then raised his head slightly blankly and said: "Master Jun, you guys have lived in this city for half your life, and have never seen an official warehouse. Give food."

"Huh?" The purple-robed man's brows furrowed even deeper, almost knitting his two eyebrows together, and his face turned ashen.

He didn't move, and the hungry people kneeling on the ground didn't dare to move.

A knight came forward and whispered beside the purple-robed man: "General, General Pingdong is already waiting in the mansion. We have been waiting for a long time just to ask these people along the way. The final general is afraid that General Pingdong will wait for you." It's been too long, it won't look good later, shouldn't it be time to go?"

The purple-robed man waved his hand impatiently, and the knight immediately bowed and retreated. The purple-robed man thought for a while, then called him back again, and said, "Leave something for these people according to the rules just now."

After saying that, he got on the horse, shook the reins, and shouted loudly: "Drive!" He kicked the horse's belly fiercely, and the five-flowered horse neighed, its hooves fluttered, and it ran far away in the blink of an eye.

A group of knights behind him followed suit, and one of them dropped a piece of something as he passed the hungry people kneeling by the side of the road, and then a voice came from the horse running away: "This is a reward from King Anxi!"

The hungry people knelt on the ground and did not dare to get up until the cavalry had gone far away. The old man took a few steps forward and picked up what the knight dropped just now. He was surprised to find that it was a piece of cash weighing five taels.

A few hungry people gathered together in surprise, the old man burst into tears, holding silver ingots in his hands, and knelt down with his family, facing the dusty knight, kowtowed endlessly.

And that team of knights, without looking back, galloped all the way forward, and rushed into the magnificent Jinguan City.

Chengdu City is also known as Jinguan City. It is said that during the period of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period, the brocade handicraft industry in Chengdu was particularly developed. The silk handicrafts called Shu brocade were well-known throughout the country.Therefore, the Shu Han Dynasty specially set up Jinguan to manage the production of Shu brocade, and specially built a city to protect the production of Shu brocade, so it was called Jinguan City.

Jinguan City was built in the Song Dynasty, and was burned many times in the tug-of-war in the late Song and early Yuan. Later, Cao Guogong Li Wenzhong entered Shu under the order of Zhu Yuanzhang in the early Ming Dynasty. He lamented the key terrain of Chengdu and rebuilt the city.In the 18th year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang felt that "Shu is a state, and it is in the southwest corner, and the Qiang Rong admired it. It is not magnificent and cannot be used as a demonstration." So he ordered Jingchuan Marquis Cao Zhen to start large-scale repairs of the city. After the peasant uprising in the early [-]s, the governor Zhao Qing and others worked and repaired many times. By the time of Chongzhen, Chengdu had become a giant city with walls two feet five feet wide and three feet four feet high. The inside was rammed with loess and glutinous rice juice, and green Wrapped in bricks, the firmness is equivalent to modern concrete. It is surrounded by inner and outer rivers. There are five gates. A crescent gate is built outside each city gate. There are gate towers on the gates and turrets at the four corners. It stands proudly on the Chengdu Plain. Unlimited grandeur.

Li Dingguo drove his horse into the city from the south gate, and went straight to the center of the city without stopping. It used to be the Shu Palace of the Ming Dynasty. In August of the 17th year of Chongzhen, Zhang Xianzhong captured Chengdu. After Zhu Zhishu, the last king of Shu, committed suicide, this place became Daxi Kingdom. In order to show his generosity, Zhang Xianzhong awarded the four courtyards around the huge Shu Palace to the four righteous sons as their palace.

The four palaces are located in the four corners of the palace in the order of east, west, north, and south. The mansion of Pingdong Wang Sun Kewang is just to the east. Li Dingguo is familiar with the door and the road, so he rode straight to the gate of the palace. He got off his horse and drove straight in.

Entering the second hall, a strong man with a Chinese character face and short beard was standing cheerfully on the steps of the second hall, waiting for his arrival.

"Brother, younger brother is late, I'm tired of waiting for a long time." Li Dingguo, a man in purple robe, stepped forward quickly, cupped his hands and said to Sun Kewang.

"Where, the third brother Ping the thief worked hard, traveling back and forth, that's called being tired, the eldest brother guards the city, sits and enjoys what he gets, why is he tired?" Sun Kewang took Li Dingguo with both hands, welcomed him into the hall, sat on a chair, and next to him Sitting down, he asked affectionately, "How is it going? Is the matter that the father asked you going well?"

Li Dingguo took a sip of the bird's nest soup served by the maid and said casually: "They are just bandits. They will not be successful. The army will arrive and they will be wiped out in the blink of an eye. Thousands of his people will be killed, and more than ten of their bandit leaders will be captured. They will all be detained in the prison." In the prison car, with the army slowly approaching, the younger brother was worried that the elder brother was impatient, so he rushed back first. It is estimated that the army will reach Chengdu in the next few days."

Sun Kewang was overjoyed, he patted the table and said: "Okay, the third brother is worthy of my Daxizhu Kingdom, the elder brother will write a memorial to the emperor to announce the good news, and please do a great service for the third brother!"

After finishing speaking, Sun Kewang asked people to present the Four Treasures of the Study repeatedly, and personally polished the ink and displayed the paper, ready to write.

He was excited for a while, but suddenly found that his third younger brother was sitting on the chair, not at all excited about returning from victory, his head was silent, as if he had something on his mind.

Sun Kewang frowned, paused the brush in his hand, and asked aloud, "Third Brother, what's wrong? Why are you listless?"

Li Dingguo sighed, raised his head and said solemnly to Sun Kewang: "Brother, you are the supervisor of the army, the most trusted son of the emperor, in charge of the army, government and people's livelihood, and even the left and right prime ministers have to discuss everything with you. The younger brother has something to ask you. report."

Sun Kewang narrowed his eyes slightly, and looked at Li Dingguo: "Third brother, it's okay to talk."

Li Dingguo thought about it, and said slowly: "My little brother came back from the north of Sichuan. On the way, he crossed the prefecture and the state. He saw many places, like ghost towns, with no one for hundreds of miles, deserted villages, scattered counties, hungry people everywhere, and dead bodies lying everywhere. We are the same in Shaanxi, it’s horrible, and now it’s winter again, cold and hungry, the poor can’t stand it.”

Sun Kewang put down his brush, put it lightly on the Bijia Mountain, and said with a sigh: "Two years ago, there was a severe drought in central Sichuan, the fields had no crops, and the state capital near Chengdu was almost empty. Although it has improved, it is hard to get back. After a few years of hard life, the third brother pitied the common people, and the emperor and all the cabinet ministers also saw it, and they were also anxious."

Li Dingguo said: "Father and eldest brother, what good strategy can we use to alleviate the suffering of the people? Elder brother, I watched those hungry people die by the side of the road, and I remembered how helpless we were when we were living on the streets of Luoyang. The people under our rule are as miserable as those under the government, how can we feel at ease?"

Sun Kewang nodded, and said in a deep voice: "Father has ordered ten thousand dou from the army rations to be distributed to the residents of Chengdu to alleviate the food shortage."

Li Dingguo frowned and said, "I'm afraid that Wandou's food is not enough to pay a bucket of water. Chengdu has a population of more than 50, which is not enough to distribute."

Sun Kewang glanced at him, and said helplessly: "This is also a helpless method. Third brother, you also know that there is not much food in the army, and it is really powerless to allocate too much. After all, after the beginning of spring, the tartars and officers and soldiers are all staring at each other. The big battle is imminent. If there is no food in the army, there will be no fighting spirit, how can we care about one and lose the other?"

Li Dingguo gritted his teeth, and asked in a low voice, "Brother, it's not impossible. Over the years, the father has collected wealth from all over the world, and the gold and silver he got from the land of Sichuan and Tibet alone is more than tens of millions? If you take part of it..."

Before the words finished, Sun Kewang yelled angrily: "Shut up! Third brother, do you know what you are talking about?"

Li Dingguo gritted his teeth tightly and said, "What am I talking about? I'm talking about the fate of the Daxi Kingdom! The common people are all dead, so what are we going to fight with the Tartars? Then what are we going to fight with the officers and soldiers? Do we have to go back?" Go to the old road of thieves, fight wherever you go, go to one place and grab another place?"

Sun Kewang said angrily: "So what? My father started his business recklessly and spread across the world for more than ten years. Didn't he conquer such a huge country? Since you can win it, it doesn't matter if you lose it. If you win it again, what are you afraid of?"

Li Dingguo was heartbroken: "Brother, you can't say that. What are we planning to fight with the emperor? Isn't it just to have enough food to eat and a way to survive? If we only care about ourselves, what is the difference with those dog officials in the Ming court?" ?”

Sun Kewang laughed back angrily, twitched the flesh at the corners of his mouth twice, then sat down, and said flatly: "Third brother, you are tired, go back first, your victory will naturally polish your pen."

He stretched out his hand and made a gesture of seeing off the guest.

Li Dingguo stood on the ground in astonishment, stood there for a while, and then bowed lightly: "Younger brother has lost his composure, elder brother, don't blame him."

Then he slowly exited the hall and walked out.

Sun Kewang held the pen holder in his hand and hung it in the air. He didn't drop it for a long time. A ball of ink on the tip of his nose slipped from the wolf hair and dripped onto the fine rice paper, staining it black and white.He stared at the ball of ink with complex eyes. After a long pause, he raised his head again, looked at Li Dingguo's back outside the hall, and let out a long sigh.

(End of this chapter)