I

Page 392

Makata replied: "There is a lot of wool."

Zuo Xiaocheng said: "The wool from the Chahar department can be sold to Zhangjiakou in the future. We have a workshop there, which can make wool, felt and woolen cloth, and transport them to the south to sell to the Han people."

Makata liked him more and more, and felt that he was beautiful from head to toe. She said, "Dear guest, please come to my tent to discuss business."

The two came to the king's account.

Ten years ago, this was the tent of the Mongolian Khan.Two years ago, this was the royal tent of Prince Chahar of the Qing Dynasty.Now, the eight-year-old Abu Nai is not qualified to be a knight, but because of the need to rule the grassland, he was temporarily appointed a captain of cavalry.

Ma Kata poured tea for Zuo Xiaocheng himself, and instead of talking about business, he asked, "Is your honored guest a scholar?"

Zuo Xiaocheng replied: "Ashamed, Daming was wiped out by the intruders just before he was admitted to the scholar."

Makata became more and more happy: "Sure enough, I am a scholar. I lived in Shengjing (Shenyang) before I was 12 years old, and I also read books when I was a child. My father invited Mr. Han to teach me to recognize many characters. I can also recite Han poems." .”

Zuo Xiaocheng said: "No wonder you speak Chinese so fluently. Who is your father?"

Makata said: "My father is Emperor Taizong of the Qing Dynasty."

Huang Taiji's daughter?

Zuo Xiaocheng was amazed immediately, and through the Fan family's information, he suddenly realized: "It turns out that Your Excellency is Her Royal Highness, Princess Chahar."

Makata said: "My husband, Prince Chahar, is dead. I am not the princess now. But your Excellency, a dignified scholar, why do you go to the grassland to do business in person?"

"It is better to travel thousands of miles than to read thousands of books." Zuo Xiaocheng answered ambiguously.

When Makata heard this sentence for the first time, he immediately admired: "Mr. is really knowledgeable!"

Did Zuo Xiao grow up handsome?

He only looks Zhouzheng, but he has fair skin, is in his 30s, and looks like he is in his early twenties.What's more, he has read books and worked as a spy for several years, so he looks quite temperamental in pretending.

As for the Chahar Grassland, they are all rough men.

Even if Makata has been to Zhangjiakou and knows a few more dudes, he will not regard Zuo Xiaocheng as a handsome guy.

What's more, Makata really misses a man. Married at the age of 12, she was neglected by her husband for a long time, even hated by her husband. She hadn't met any man in these years, and now she remarried to an eight-year-old child.

She is now stepping on the tail of her girlhood, and of course she will be pregnant when she sees a man she likes.

Zuo Xiaocheng said casually: "Is the Chahar tribe short of food? I saw many hungry herdsmen along the way. Before arriving here, most of the food was bought on the way."

Afraid of being misunderstood as cruel, Makata explained: "The weather these years has been bad. There are often droughts in summer and snowstorms in winter. Droughts can't feed too many livestock, and snowstorms will freeze a lot of livestock. In the past, you can still buy food, but now you can buy food. It’s not easy to buy either. The people who bought grain with my husband on the way are all the little leaders of the Chahar Department. Clansmen are not allowed to trade privately."

Although Makata is a princess of the Qing Dynasty, she has no political acumen.Historically, her husband and two biological sons, who were raised by her own hands, were all involved in the rebellion during the Kangxi Dynasty.

This princess is more like a daughter of the south, with romance in her mind.

Makata said: "When I was in Shengjing, I heard a play called "The Romance of the West Chamber". Have you seen this kind of play, sir?"

"Naturally." Zuo Xiaocheng felt something was wrong.

He didn't intend to seduce Princess Manqing, but Princess Manqing seemed to be seducing him.

This Manchu princess was considered a great beauty on the prairie, but in the south of the Yangtze River she could only be considered pretty.

Do you want to sacrifice your life for your country?

For His Majesty, Zuo Xiaocheng decided to go all out!

Cao Fengji had already returned to Liaodong, but he didn't know the situation for the time being, so Zuo Xiaocheng stayed in Zhangjiakou and came to the grassland to see what was going on.

Unexpectedly, when I went out for the first time, I met Princess Manqing and the mistress of the Chahar Department.

Immediately, he stopped talking about business, Zuo Xiaocheng asked: "Did the lady learn how to play the piano?"

Makata said happily: "I can play the dragon head qin."

Longtouqin is Matouqin, which is also called Huqin by the Han people, or a spoon-shaped Huqin.

Before the Republic of China, matouqin rarely had horse heads, but were divided into human heads, skeletons, crocodile heads, turtle shells, dragon heads and so on.There is also a kind of Matel head, which looks like a dragon and has a face like a monkey, which belongs to the demon-suppressing thing.

Zuo Xiaocheng said: "I can only support the qin of the Han family, and I am going to ask how to play the huqin."

Makata asked the maid to bring the faucet, and the two seriously discussed the art of music.

When Zuo Xiaocheng practiced, Makata taught with his hands, and the lonely men and widows almost hugged each other.

Thinking about the identity of this woman, Zuo Xiaocheng felt particularly exciting, and suddenly enjoyed this mission, which was much more interesting than staying in the south!

Chapter 480 [The Difficulties of Guangxi Soldiers]

Instigating rebellion against the Mongolian tribes did not happen overnight.

At that time, Nurhachi and Dorgon, two generations of people continued to intimidate and lure them, and only then did they nibble away and win over the various ministries of the grassland.

As soon as Nurhachi started attacking the Liaoxi Plain, Lin Danhan immediately led his troops to conquer, and beat the Manchus into the princess and marriage.Then quietly separated the ministries, kept giving benefits, and flirted with the Mongolian tribe in private.

When Lin Danhan heard the news, he severely punished the tribes that colluded with the Qing Dynasty.

But the more severely Lin Dan Khan punished, the more tribes fell to the Manchus.In the end, the peripheral tribes ruled by Lin Dan Khan fell into the arms of the Qing Dynasty one by one.

As a result, Lin Danhan, who had "40" iron cavalry, was chased and killed from outside Zhangjiakou to Qinghai by the Qing Dynasty with only "[-]" troops.

After carefully studying this period of history, the most impressive thing is that the Tartars in Houjin could really have daughters!

This tribe married one, and that tribe married another, and the Mongolian tribe was tied to death through marriage.Sometimes, even if they are married, they still have to fight, killing their daughter's husband, and marrying another tribe.Or kill the husband of the daughter and remarry the daughter to the brother, nephew, or nephew of the deceased husband.

Eight-year-old Abney, completely unaware that he was being put on a green hat.

He felt that the gentleman from Handi was very amiable.Telling him stories about his father Khan (Lin Danhan) and many interesting stories about the south, he gradually felt a father's love that he had never had before.

In addition, Zuo Xiaocheng began to contact the leaders of the Chahar Department.

He has basically determined that as long as the Datong army occupies Zhangjiakou, binds the Chahar tribe with food, and promises to help the Chahar tribe deal with the revenge of the Manchus, these Mongols who are next to the Han will definitely rebel!

The Chahar tribe had a feud with the Manchu Qing, and was squeezed out by other tribes that belonged to the Manchu Qing.

Because they used to be tribes directly under the Great Khan of Mongolia, they occupied rich pastures, and they enjoyed the convenience of mutual trade.Other tribes must prevent the growth of the Chahar tribe, and the Manchu Qing must also prevent the revival of the Chahar tribe.

They harbored resentment, hating Manqing for killing their relatives, hating Manqing for depriving them of their pastures, and hating Manqing for interfering in their trade with the Han people.

Today, there is not much grain shipped from the Han area, and the Manchu Qing have to buy most of it in advance.

Every time a herdsman in the Chahar tribe starved to death, their hatred for the Manchus intensified.

Zuo Xiaocheng's current task is to straighten out the relationship between the Chahar Ministry and figure out which ones are loyal to the Manchu Qing.When the Datong army occupies Zhangjiakou, it will be a matter of course, and the entire Chahar tribe will be instigated to rebel!

Zuo Xiaocheng fought fiercely with Princess Manqing in the grassland, and the Guangxi Datong Army also launched an offensive again.

……

After several years of encroachment and continuous suppression of the rebellion, the Datong Army has occupied two-thirds of Guangxi and owns 80% of the land suitable for farming in Guangxi.The rest that have not been recovered are mountainous and difficult to walk, and the land is relatively barren.

The worst drought this year is in Hunan, followed by Henan and North Zhili.

Shanxi, Shandong, Anhui, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, and Guangdong, these provinces only had partial severe droughts.

The "Chongzhen Drought" seems to have completely eased, and even the provinces with the most severe drought were nothing in previous years.

A bumper harvest in Sichuan and a bumper harvest in Hubei!

Compared with previous years, Guangxi can also be called a bumper harvest this year.

The people of Guangxi under Zhao Han's rule, regardless of their nationality, were allotted land.Some Yao and Zhuang people in the deep mountains, after asking Zhao Han for instructions, allowed them to continue farming collectively.However, first, land ownership must be clarified, and second, advanced agricultural technology must be taught to them.

After this year's corn harvest, the Han, Zhuang, Yao, and Miao people in Guangxi were all ecstatic.

There are no exorbitant taxes, the land tax is relatively light, and the rest of the grain is their own.They can guarantee to eat two meals a day, and they will not be hungry until next year.

After the bumper summer grain harvest, the enthusiasm of the people in Guangxi has become unprecedentedly high.

I heard that the Datong Army recruited civilian husbands, and people of all ethnic groups enthusiastically signed up, and farmers and soldiers of all ethnic groups also applied to join the war.

Nanning Fucheng.

Ding Jiasheng's new No.13 Division is taking oath. The composition of this unit is extremely complex. Han soldiers (including Hakka people) account for only 55%, and the remaining 30% are Zhuang soldiers, and the rest are Yao and Miao soldiers.

In addition, there are peasants, soldiers, and peasants from various ethnic groups, who are listening to Ding Jiasheng's speech there.

Although they were too far away to hear clearly, everyone was in high spirits, because the goal of this battle was to wipe out the remaining forces in Guangxi.

Ding Jiasheng led the No.13 Division, starting from Nanning, first to capture the entire Nanning Prefecture, and then attack Taiping Prefecture, Siming Prefecture, Longzhou, Siling Prefecture, and Pingxiang Prefecture.

Liu Xinyu led the Tenth Division, starting from Yicheng, first to capture Si'en Mansion, and then attack Tianzhou, Sicheng Prefecture, Anlongsi, Shanglinsi, Zhen'an Mansion, and Guishun Prefecture.

The Ministry of War has an order, don't dawdle any longer, the whole territory of Guangxi will be determined in World War I.

The remaining chieftain forces and bandits were left to the peasants and soldiers to slowly wipe out, and the important duty of the new county magistrate was to suppress bandits.

After occupying Guangxi, they immediately put pressure on Yunnan, so that the puppet court in Yunnan could not support Guizhou, because two divisions from Sichuan were about to attack Guizhou!

"Let's go!"

Ding Jiasheng drew his sword and shouted.

This soldier who was born as a poor scholar picked up a copy of "The Collection of Datong" in the village, and dared to lead the hungry people to rebel. He conquered the county and imitated Zhao Han's compilation of households and land.

He has been a propaganda and instructor in the army for several years, and he is also considered to have rich combat experience. This year, he finally became a commander and directly served as the commander of the No.13 Division.

The army set out, plus the civilian husbands, there were 5 people.

Soldiers, peasants and soldiers marched along the Yu River (Yong River). There were a large number of ships transporting luggage in the river, and there were also many peasants pushing wheelbarrows along the river.

Cen Mian, dressed in Zhuang costume, pushed the cart and wanted to sing.

The original meaning of the surname Cen is "cutting board", which is the surname of the owner of the cave, so the whole village has the surname Cen.

Cen Mian used to help the Cave Master fight against the Datong Army for half a year.Now that he thinks about it, he thinks it really shouldn't be. The Datong Army is a good man, and His Majesty the Emperor is also a good man. He also divided the land and settled down, and the tax is not high, and he organized everyone to dig canals together.

This year, the family collected [-] catties of corn (corn), which is enough to feed the government.

What's more, sweet potatoes will be planted next, and a lot of food can be harvested.

In winter, sweet potato and corn porridge are used to cook porridge.

When the corn was harvested, Cen Mian's family ate three meals a day for several days to celebrate.

He felt that it was too extravagant, and he felt guilty of wasting food.The family also thought it was not good, so they ate two meals instead, and now I think about it, I still miss it.

"Brother Cen, can your sister marry this year?" Nong Kun asked from behind.

Cen Mian turned back with a smile: "This year is festive, it's time to get married, is your family ready?"

Nong Kun said happily: "It's all ready, two chickens, ten bundles of firewood, one hundred catties of corn, and one big fat pig. Isn't it beautiful? Did you treat my sister badly?"

"It's not bad, it's very good, very good," Cen Mian said from ear to ear happily, "When my sister gets married, let her bring a sheep over there. Ewes can give birth to cubs, and they will give birth to many for your family in a few years." .”

Nong Kun laughed and said, "Very good, very good!"

Cen Mian warned again: "When you start a war, you have to be more careful. Don't let my sister become a widow who is not married yet."

Nong Kun said with a smile: "The Datong Army is good at fighting, so I'm not afraid. When I go back this time, I will sign up to be a farmer and soldier. Maybe I can be a Datong Army in a few years. When I make military achievements, I will be rewarded with land. There will be a lot of land." You can't even grow corn if you have to grow it."

The people in Guangxi can live a good life not only because of favorable policies, but also because of successive years of natural disasters and wars, which have caused a large number of population losses.

As long as the chieftain is overturned, every commoner can share the land property.

Moreover, Guangxi was one of the first provinces to introduce corn and sweet potatoes.As early as the Wanli period, corn and sweet potatoes were planted in large quantities. After the Datong army came, it only accelerated the promotion of crops.

Let's put it this way, more than 60% of the summer grain harvested in Guangxi belongs to corn.

Even the military rations for this expedition, corn accounted for half.

Another thing is to organize the people to build aqueducts.Taking the village as a unit, villagers bring their own dry food and tools, and build diversion canals to irrigate crops in sections.

As long as someone organizes, water conservancy facilities can be built no matter how difficult it is.

In history, Yang Yi, a general of the Nanming Dynasty, went to Fangchenggang to become king himself, and he did not forget to build water conservancy projects.He organized the people to dig a canal with a total length of 24 miles. When the Qing army came, only the last mile was left uncut... Since then, it has not been dug through, leaving behind the relics called "Emperor Ditch".

Cen Mian and Nong Kun followed the army and arrived at the fork of the Yu River two days later.

The mainstream is called Youjiang, and the tributary is called Zuojiang.This time they are going to Zuojiang to attack Xinning Prefecture (Fusui).The Longzhai on the bank of the Youjiang River had already been captured by the Datong Army, and five hundred soldiers were left to guard against the enemy troops from Long'an County.

After only half a day's march along the Zuojiang River, the vanguard came back to report.

A fast horse galloped along the river and came in front of Ding Jiasheng: "General, I learned that our army went out on a large scale. The enemy army in Xinning Prefecture abandoned the city and fled, and all of them got into the mountains to the west."

The news of the enemy's abandonment of the city did not make Ding Jiasheng happy, but gave him a headache.

The city is so easy to attack, the most annoying thing is to drill valleys, there are mountains everywhere in Guangxi, and it will take a long time to conquer the mountains.

In a few years, the Datong Army only won two-thirds of Guangxi, because the enemy frequently entered the mountains to fight guerrillas!

Ding Jiasheng immediately ordered: "The army moved to Xinningzhou City, divided into three thousand troops, three thousand peasant soldiers, and five thousand civilian husbands, and took Qianlongzhai in the east of Xinning Prefecture."