Chapter 34 Meet Wu Sangui for the first time
"On June 20th, I passed the garrison officer one or two or four coins and went up to the female wall to see the glory outside the pass. The wall was not more than eight feet high and the number of soldiers was not enough. At fifty, the mountain wind was strong, and the mountains in the distance were surrounded by mist, like the waves of the Bohai Sea in a typhoon..."
"On June 24, the self-controlled government office. It was learned that from now on, if you take pine nuts, hazel mushrooms, animal skins and other mountain products from outside the customs, you will need to pay six coins of silver for each transaction. This is the silver after the official tax. The name of the controlling official is Liu Jian, who is vulgar and lustful.
On July 9th, the people who left the customs came back. I counted clearly. One hundred and twenty-seven people went out and two hundred and eighty-nine came back. I decided to meet those who had not People who left the city and returned to the city..."
On July 10th, I met Wang Xiong and spent 400 Wen with him to discuss the fur business outside the customs at a restaurant. Wang Xiong said drunkenly - "It's the best." The leather is in the hands of Jiannu. If you want to get these goods, you need to establish a relationship with Wu's manager. ”
On July 11th, I sent a letter of thanks to Wu Xiao, the manager of the Wu family’s foreign residence, but there was no news.
On July 14th, I sent another two gold coins Ye Zi's invitation to Wu Xiao was answered by saying - just wait!
On July 15th, Wu Xiao was captured at the Beichunlou brothel and sent back to the safe house for interrogation for seven days to get everything done at Shanhaiguan. The news about Jiangmen's dealings with Jiannu will be recorded in another book without going into details.
On the second day of August, Sihai Trading Company issued sixty-seven taels of silver and received a customs order... to test contact with Jiannu! /p>
Han Lingshan stayed in the back house for three days. After coming out, he said to Wen Yushan: "Those things are too dangerous for you, I have destroyed them all. "
Wen Yushan chuckled and said: "I have already remembered it in my head. "
Han Lingshan sighed: "I've wronged you. "
Wen Yushan put his hands in his sleeves and smiled: "I'm waiting for the moment when Lantian's army arrives at Shanhaiguan. "
Han Lingshan said: "Shanhaiguan is not important, what is important is the people here. You have to understand that any fortified city is just a pile of bricks to our Lantian army. People are more important...
The Great Wall, the Great Wall, just seeing this thing makes people feel mixed. "
Wen Yushan said: "The documents for leaving the country have been processed. Old Han, you are not an adventurous person. Why do you have to leave the country this time? I don't think there is anything to do with Jiannu. discuss.
The only way we can talk to the slaves is with swords and artillery. ”
Han Lingshan didn’t explain to Wen Yushan, not because he couldn’t believe him, but because Wen Yushan shouldn’t think that way at all.
Wen Yushan sighed when he saw Han Lingshan’s gloomy face. Without asking any more questions, during the next ten days of waiting to leave the customs, Han Lingshan, in the name of a graduate of the Imperial College of Nanjing, visited the entire city.
Shanhaiguan is actually a city with the Great Wall as its main body. , with Shanhaiguan City as the core, Dongluo City, Xilao City, Left Wing City, and Right Wing City as the surrounding military fortresses.
Starting from Laolongtou in the south and ending at Jiumen Gate in the north, the Great Wall is 52 miles long. There are 129 castles, passes, enemy towers, city towers, beacon towers and piers, forming a complete Great Wall. defense system.
The entire city gate lies across this narrow passage between Yanshan Mountain and the sea. In terms of architectural layout, it is really worthy of its title of "the best gate in the world".
On this line of defense, the court needs to spend four million taels of national funds every year... Beyond this city gate, the cities outside Ningyuan, Jinzhou, Dalinghe and other cities belong to the Ming Dynasty rather than to the Ming Dynasty. The city of the dynasty could rather be said to be the home city of the Liaodong generals.
Han Lingshan stood on the Great Wall facing the sea breeze, stroking the rough battlements and murmured to himself: "Compared with these people, the county magistrate is really too kind."
p>Through Wen Yushan’s records, Han Lingshan came to a very clear judgment. Today’s soldiers on the defense line outside the pass do not belong to the imperial court, but to the border generals. They are called family soldiers. And almost all the farmers outside the city are tenants of the generals, and every general is a man of countless wealth.
On the one hand, they looked down on the Jian slaves and thought they were savages. On the other hand, they also looked down on the imperial court, believing that the imperial court was weak and incompetent. It was in their best interest to keep the current situation unchanged.
If the Jiannu were not so powerful and the Ming Dynasty was not so desperate to throw money here, they would probably have established themselves as kings long ago.
Han Lingshan doesn’t know how long the current situation can last, and what determines the fate of Shanhaiguan is not Shanhaiguan itself, but the imperial court, the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and even Lantian County.
The sound of boots could be heard from behind. A group of soldiers entered the Great Wall from the female wall. Han Lingshan humbly stepped aside and saluted.
"Who are you?"
A clear voice came, and Han Lingshan followed the sound and saw standing in front of him a man wearing a phoenix-winged forehead helmet and wearing a The young general with mountain-patterned fish scale armor and a short beard was looking at him with bright eyes.
"Student Han Lingshan is a student of Nanjing Imperial College."
"What are you doing in Shanhaiguan?"
"Study tour!"
The young general laughed and said: "What an excuse." Then he yelled at the left and right: "This is an important military location, how can we let people up so easily?"
Han Lingshan lowered his head when he saw the left and right. Without saying anything, he said angrily: "Reading thousands of books and traveling thousands of miles is the right of the Ming Dynasty scholars. If I want to, with the help of the Imperial Academy in my arms, even General Wu's White Tiger Festival Hall can do it." Why don't you visit the Great Wall to reminisce about the past?"
The young general glanced at Han Lingshan and said, "I'm afraid you won't be able to enter General Wu's White Tiger Festival Hall."
After despising Han Lingshan, he said to the general on his left: "This is your negligence, you have to hold the staff for thirty years."
The general looked at Han Lingshan bitterly and knelt on one knee. He cupped his fists and said, "General, take your orders!"
Han Lingshan looked at the young general and said, "General, these thirty sticks are still worth it."Just hit me. "
The young general was surprised for a moment and then said: "You are a supervisor of the Imperial College, so you can't be beaten. "
Han Lingshan said: "Students have already received thirty boards in Lantian County, and they have received another thirty boards in Shanhaiguan, which is exactly the same as the one in the east and the other in the west. "
The young general said with an ooh, "Did you provoke Yun Zhao in Lantian County? "
Han Lingshan said: "I accidentally took a peek at his Fenghuang Mountain military camp. It didn't matter at first. It's just that students are naturally bold, so they sneaked into the military camp and prepared to take a closer look. When they entered, they were captured alive. , If it weren’t for Kan Yin in his arms, his head would be hard to save! "
The young general waved his hand to spare the general once. He looked at Han Lingshan with interest and said: "Since you have seen the power of Yun Zhao's army, do you think that the Lantian County army can compare with mine? How about Liaodong athletes? "
Han Lingshan sighed deeply, turned around and looked at the undulating ocean and whispered: "You are all strong, but Your Majesty is weak. ”
The young general came to Han Lingshan and said: “I can’t have more than a hundred generals, and I can’t have more than ten thousand soldiers. How can I be called powerful?” "
Han Lingshan did not answer the young general's words, but changed the subject and said: "I want to visit Jianzhou! "
The young general said: "What are you looking at? Are you ready to surrender to the slaves?
Han Lingshan shook his head and said: "My parents, wife and children are all in the Central Plains. I just want to go to the land of tigers and wolves to see what those savages can do to cause such misery to our Ming Dynasty." .
The young general smiled and said: "Jiannu recently established Hongwenyuan. Do you want to try your luck there?" "
Han Lingshan said: "Han thought that he was not that shameless. ”
The young general smiled and said: “That’s because you have never fought against Jiannu. When you see Jiannu, you may not think so. You people always think highly of yourself and think that My ambition is noble and pure, and there is no place for it to be stained with dust. Unfortunately, as long as the knife is placed on my neck, my knees will bend faster than anyone else. "
Han Lingshan looked at the long knife that appeared on his neck at some point and smiled: "My legs are not bent. "
The young general chuckled and said: "But you are sweating on your forehead. "
Han Lingshan said angrily: "My legs are not bent! "
A soldier raised his leg and kicked Han Lingshan in the crook of his knee. He knelt down on the ground with a thud. However, he still raised his head and said, "My leg is not bent. . "
The young general looked down at Han Lingshan and said, "Do you really want to go to Jianzhou to visit? "
Han Lingshan gritted his teeth and said: "My master once said that the master's skills are used to control slaves!
The young general frowned and said: "According to what you mean, you have visited Lantian County and then came to Liaodong. So, have you been to Li Hongji and Zhang Bingzhong?" "
Han Lingshan said: "In Lantian County, I saw prosperity that surpassed all areas of the Ming Dynasty. In Li Hongji's place, I saw countless blindly obedient people building siege ladders with guns and tearing at the Ming Dynasty desperately. I'm ZhangIn Bingzhong, I saw countless people on horseback. They turned themselves into devils, and rivers of blood flowed wherever they went. In Liaodong, I saw a dead silence. Everyone only lives for today, regardless of what happens tomorrow.
If I could go to Jianzhou and see for myself, I would know the real reason why the world is in such chaos. "
The young general lowered his head and thought for a while. He stood in front of the female wall with his hands behind his back and stared at the rough sea for a long time. Finally, he sighed and said: "I can send someone to take you to Liaodong, but if you If you come back, I mean if, if you can come back, tell me what you saw in Jianzhou. "
Han Lingshan struggled to stand up and said decisively: "It's a deal!
The young general threw a card to Han Lingshan and said: "With this thing, you can cross our Ming Dynasty defense line to Jianzhou. I don't know if Jiannu will kill you. It depends on everything." Your luck. "
Han Lingshan looked at the word "Wu" wrapped in cloud patterns on his waist badge and clasped his fists and said, "I wonder if it's the general of the Wu family?" "
The young general said: "Wu Sangui of a certain family, named Changbo. "
Han Lingshan's eyes stayed on Wu Sangui's face for a long time. After a long time, he handed over his hands and said: "Disrespectful, disrespectful, young hero who bravely saved his father." "
Wu Sangui smiled and said: "Go and see Jiannu for me. I also want to know how Jiannu can achieve such great things with thirteen pairs of armor! "
After saying that, he led his subordinates along the Great Wall to the Nine Gates.
Han Lingshan looked at Wu Sangui's retreating back and said to himself: "In this way, If I go to Jianzhou, the probability of coming back alive has increased to 80%. This probability can still be gambled on. ”