Ming Taizi's Total War

Chapter 108 Yue Qijie Crossing the River

Chen Qianfu believed that Yue Qijie must know how dangerous it was to go north of the Yellow River at this time, but he still had no hesitation.

Chen Qianfu was very moved. He thought, if only there were more officials like Yue Qijie and him, the speed of the fall of various places would not have been so fast.

A few more civil officials who risked their lives and used their tiny bodies to resist the army of thieves, I am afraid that Emperor Chongzhen would not even be able to escape from the capital.

"Okay, Brother Yue, it's up to you. I'll write a letter in hand later, and let the villages north of the Yellow River listen to your orders. Besides, if you need any armored horses, just tell me."

"Although I don't have many here, it's not difficult to get some for you." Chen Qianfu patted his chest and said to Yue Qijie.

Now all the armed forces of the Ming Dynasty in Kaifeng Mansion are Chen Qianfu's 36th Village. They are still scattered on the north and south banks of the Yellow River, making it difficult to coordinate and command.

"I don't need anything, and you don't have much. Besides, you have to assist the general in attacking the city. After I cross the Yellow River, I can raise everything anywhere."

Chen Qianfu never expected that Yue Qijie would reject his kindness.

However, he was not angry, but felt very moved. Just when he was holding Yue Qijie's hand and wanted to say a few words of advice, a petty official suddenly stood up.

"My Lord Governor, I am a low-ranking official and I am willing to cross the river with you." The speaker was Han Guang, the former official of Kaifeng Prefecture.

Since Kaifeng fell and thieves ran rampant in the Central Plains, he followed Chen Qianfu and Yue Qijie to Qi County.

"Okay, then you can go with Master Yue, and I will definitely ask His Majesty to reward them for their merits in the future." Chen Qianfu has nothing on hand now, so he can only promise that Zhu Cihong will reward them in the future.

In fact, Zhu Cihong would indeed do this, and he was not as picky as his Lao Tzu Chongzhen. He was willing to throw away gold, silver and jewelry, high officials and generous salary.

It's a pity that it takes time and can only be cashed out after the war, and Han Guang can't wait any longer.

Like Xu Dingguo, Han Guang had already contacted the Manchu Qing Dynasty privately through personal relationships, and even contacted Prince Heshuosu Hauge.

Zhu Cihong was going to cross the Yellow River to land in Lankao and come to Kaifeng Mansion. This was a shocking news. He was anxious to pass it on to Haoge, so he offered to cross the river with Yue Qijie.

Qi County is not far from the Yellow River, only more than a hundred miles away. Yue Qijie and Han Guang hastily packed their luggage, brought a few followers, and arrived at the ferry.

"Boatman, go to Zhujiazhai." There was only one lonely boat on the ferry, so Yue Qijie had no choice but to choose this boat as a means of crossing the river.

"Okay, the guest officer is stable, I'll put on the pole now." The gray-haired boatman was very happy to see a guest boarding the boat, so he quickly untied the boat from the post, and then set up the pole.

"May I ask, is the guest an official from Dashun or an official from Ming Dynasty?" Seeing Yue Qijie and Han Guang's fair faces, neat clothes, and attendants, the boatman concluded that they must be extraordinary. people.

"What do you ask this for? This is what you can ask? Just support your boat." Han Guang hated the boatman's talkativeness, so he cursed.

"Hey, don't be so cruel to the elderly."

"To tell you the truth, brother, I am the governor of Henan Province of the Ming Dynasty, Yue Qijie." Yue Qijie sat upright, not afraid that anyone would harm him, and answered the boatman's question openly.

This boatman is actually about the same age as Yue Qijie, both in their 50s. Yue Qijie has worked hard for half his life, and he is now a second-rank governor of Henan, which is considered very powerful.

"It's the official master, I have seen the master before." Hearing that Yue Qijie was an official of Daming, the boatman wanted to throw away the penny in his hand and knelt down to salute Yue Qijie.

"There's no need to be too polite, just punting well." Yue Qijie hurriedly stopped him when he saw it.

Just kidding, now they are in the river, if the boatman throws away the penny, how can they go ashore, maybe they are feeding the fish in the Yellow River.

"What are you going to do to cross the river? Haven't the northern part been shot down by the Chuangjun? I heard that the Tartars have also come recently." The boatman didn't understand why a high official, Yue Qijie, wanted to cross the river in this dangerous season.

"Haha, it's the danger, that's why I'm going." Yue Qijie laughed confidently.

"The government army wants to recover the lost land. I will be the first to go. Now the army is almost at Qi County. In a few days, the imperial court will be able to recover all of Henan and Hebei." Yue Qijie said confidently.

In fact, don't say a few days, it is a few months, even a few years, Yue Qijie can't guarantee that the imperial court will recover all these territories.

He said this just to listen to the boatman and his entourage. He is a second-rank official, and most people would trust his words unconditionally.

What he said can at least boost the morale of the army and the people, and give everyone a hope of victory.

"So the world is about to be at peace? It's not easy to think that my old man will live to see that day." As he spoke, the boatman burst into tears.

He wiped away his tears with his sweat-stained sleeves, but his eyes became more and more astringent, and he squeezed out two drops of water from time to time.

Then he talked to himself about his miserable life experience, "I have been ferrying here since my middle-aged family's fields were washed away by the Yellow River to support my family."

"Later, in the early years of Chongzhen, my son was captured by rogue bandits, and there was no news about it. When I was ferrying on the river two years ago, the army came to my village to rob, killed my daughter-in-law and grandson, and burned down the house. gone."

"I don't have a place to live, so I always sleep on the boat. No matter it is windy or rainy, even if there is a flood, I still live on the boat."

"No way, who made us poor people have nowhere to go."

"In the past few years, there were still many people ferrying here, and there were many people crossing the river, but for some reason, I have been ferrying here alone in the past two years, and the number of guests crossing the river has become less and less."

"Fortunately, I can still fish, and there are reeds on the shore to eat, so I didn't starve to death."

"Look how big and fat the carp in the middle reaches of the river are. Let me tell you, they grew so big after eating dead human flesh. When Chuangwang Kaifeng was opened two years ago, the Yellow River burst, and the surrounding areas of Kaifeng city were destroyed. The prefectures and counties were all flooded once, tens of thousands of people were soaked in the water, now the carp have something to eat, and so do I.”

Listening to the ferryman's soliloquy, Yue Qijie, Han Guang, and the few followers couldn't help but burst into tears.

How could they not know these things? It was the [-]th year of Chongzhen. They were defending the city together with hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians in Kaifeng. Zhou Wang Zhu Gonghao spent millions of dollars in silver to help defend the city, and almost went bankrupt.

(End of this chapter)