Great time travel

124 Chapter [-]
In the heavy snowfall, the city of Hangzhou was covered in silver.However, the city gates were tightly closed all day, so that the citizens of Hangzhou could no longer enjoy the snowy scenery of the West Lake like in the past, and the increasingly tense atmosphere of the war made everyone completely lose interest in traveling in the mountains and rivers.

Since the Kun bandits invaded from the sea, Liu Mengqian, the prefect of Hangzhou, has always adopted the tactic of shrinking his head and closing the city gates tightly and never attacking.

Although this approach allowed him to avoid the danger of personally risking arrows, it also led to the vast, densely populated countryside outside Hangzhou City, which became a hunting ground for thieves to come and go wantonly. Ravaged enough.So in the past few days, Liu Zhifu's life has not been easy-after the thieves ended the siege of the city, the pond papers from all counties were piled up on his desk, and there were also a bunch of ruined scholars. Juren, come to the city to cry for revenge to his parents and officials: In the late Ming Dynasty, the style of writing in the Jiangnan water town was quite prosperous. Even if the landlords in the countryside, most of them had the fame of juren or scholar. According to the system of the Ming Dynasty, they had a certain political status and should be respected. and respect.

However, this group of thieves did not know what was going on crazy. They treated the lowly grassroots so-so and politely, but they treated the gentlemen as tyrannical. In my eyes, all the big gentry and gentry who passed by were spared, even the retired old Shangshu killed one-you stupid and ignorant thieves, don't you understand the truth that "you can't punish a doctor"?
In short, the magistrate Liu Mengqian is very clear that after the death of so many famous gentry with fame in the court, as the parent official in Hangzhou and the first person responsible for this war, his situation is already very dangerous. If there is something to say, when the governor of Zhejiang returns or the court pursues responsibility, not only will the black hat on his head be difficult to protect, but even his own head will be a bit mysterious... However, Liu Zhifu, who does not want to treat a shrunken turtle as a dead turtle After thinking for a long time, I still couldn't come up with a good countermeasure, and finally decided to brainstorm, borrow the wisdom of everyone, and invite scholars from all over the city to come forward to offer suggestions, hoping to save the city of Hangzhou and at the same time give the thief a ruthless blow. lesson!

Um?Why only invite scholars who study?Of course, it is because the scholars are knowledgeable, and the dignified court orders officials, how can they be with traffickers and pawns?
As a result, the lobby of the magistrate’s yamen was full of voices for a while, and poor scholars and down-and-out literati from all walks of life appeared at this Ping Kun Conference—those scholars from rich and powerful families, seeing the thieves so great and difficult The enemy is now taking advantage of the cessation of the siege of the city these days, dragging their children out of the city under the heavy snow, and fleeing to the north to Huzhou and Jiaxing for refuge.Only poor scholars who have nothing to worry about come to the yamen to join in the fun.

Although the situation was urgent, the prefect Liu Mengqian still did not forget to put on a show, and Shi Shiran did not show up until most of the participants had finished their second cup of tea.A group of supervisors, scholars, juren and old students who were waiting eagerly, rushed forward to pay respects, and waited until everyone sat down after the ceremony.Master Liu unhurriedly wiped his hands and face with a hot towel first, then took a sip of the Longjing tea brought up by his servants, and then opened his mouth leisurely:

"...Everyone, you should have heard about the deeds of these overseas thieves arguing that they are descendants of the Song Dynasty. The most benevolent place! Since ancient times, the Han and the thieves have been incompatible. It is a pity that outside the city of Hangzhou, there are many loyal ministers and righteous men of the Ming Dynasty. I personally led the troops out of the city to meet these villains for a while! But right now, defending the city of Hangzhou is the top priority. In order to prevent this city from dying, I would like to ask everyone here to offer advice and suggestions. The official should recommend everyone here to come from one of their backgrounds."

Liu Mengqian's remarks contained both righteousness and self-interest, which successfully stimulated the utilitarian hearts of all the down-and-out literati.Immediately, a trembling old voice rang out: "...Master Mansion! Cough cough! The robbers came from afar just to plunder property and population. Among the villagers, as soon as the opportunity arises, assassinate and kill the bandit chieftain, ahem! The bandits are bound to retreat!"

An old man with white beard and hair and a stooped figure stood up tremblingly first, his face was flushed with excitement, and the strands of white beard on his chin trembled...as if Liu Zhifu gave an order , this old sour boy in his 70s is going to put on a sharp knife himself, and it seems like he will go out and retreat from the enemy.

Encouraged by this old senior, all the scholars present also offered suggestions one after another. You gave me a lot of ideas, but unfortunately most of them were inspired by "Water Margin" and "Three Kingdoms". There are all kinds of scheming, alienation, false surrender, and beauty tricks, but they are basically taken for granted, seriously lacking in operability... So the prefect Liu Mengqian was very interested in hearing it at first, but soon became more and more frowning.

——Opening the city gate to feign surrender?Do you want yourself, the magistrate, to go to the enemy camp as a hostage?Regardless of whether we can retreat from the enemy in the end, isn't this letting us die?
——Putting out the city plan?But everyone knows that the Kun thief is vulgar and has no literature, and he doesn't know poetry and books. What if he rushes directly into the city?
——Assassinate the thief chieftain?How could it be so easy to kill the leader of a bandit among thousands of armies?Can such a powerful assassin be found in the city of Hangzhou?
——Differentiation meter?Right now, everyone knows nothing about the inside story of the bandits and soldiers outside the city, and they have no way to start a conspiracy!

——Borrowing arrows from straw boats?Hey, where did the kun thieves get their bows and arrows?Those are all bird guns and cannons!How can a mere straw boat handle it?
Just when the prefect Liu Mengqian became more and more suspicious of the necessity of holding this "Ping Kun Conference", finally someone's words made his eyes shine:
"...My lord, seniors, as to what strategy to use to defeat the thieves outside the city, this can be discussed in a long-term way. But there is a saying in the art of war: know yourself and the enemy, and you will never be imperiled in a hundred battles. Before we fight the thieves with wits and courage, we must Find out the details of these overseas tycoons, so that we can adapt to local conditions and target them... The students are not talented, and in recent years they have also been interested in national affairs. , and compiled into a volume of "Ping Kun Minutes", I hereby present it today, and I would like to invite your lord to have a look at it..."

This scholar named Gao Xuan was only in his 20s, wearing a half-worn straight gown that was washed white with starch, it could be seen that his family was not well off, but his expression was unusually calm and composed. He took out a booklet from his arms and handed it to Liu Zhifu respectfully.

This move was surprisingly successful, and it immediately attracted the attention of everyone around. Fang Lue, systematically compiled into a manuscript, is really unique except for Gao Xuan, a poor scholar.And Liu Zhifu was not ambiguous, he took this "Ping Kun Minutes" immediately, shook his head and read it, and when he read something unclear, he would politely ask Gao Xuan a few words, as if he appreciated this person very much Right... All of a sudden, Gao Xuan, who was originally plain-looking, instantly became the focus of everyone's attention. Those fiery eyes full of envy and hatred almost set him on fire!
As for Gao Xuan, who has attracted everyone's attention, after listening to a few words of flattery, he also had a smug look on his face, thinking that he had already embarked on the road to success and was about to rise to the top...so his whole body entered a kind of soul wandering In Tianwai's state, he seemed to see that his father-in-law who always looked down on him before finally looked at him with admiration, and that brother-in-law who had always looked down on him kneeled down in front of him in a respectful manner, saying hello to him...

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This Gao Xuangao scholar who made a big splash at the "Ping Kun Conference" is not yet 30 years old this year, and he has already won the fame of a scholar. He can be regarded as young and promising, but his family is really poor-compared to this year. Like many scholars in China, Gao Xuan has no job and lives on his ancestral property.In the early years, the family still had a little property, and life was still manageable. He kept studying and making friends with teachers and friends, in order to be able to enter the middle school. Before his parents passed away, he married his wife again... The series of weddings and whites have completely consumed the last wealth of the Gao family.In the end, there was only a dilapidated house handed down from the ancestors and some dilapidated household items, which could be called bare.

By last year, most of the daily necessities of Gaoxuan's family depended on his father-in-law to support him—Gaoxuan's talented lady was the daughter of a small commoner family, and my father sold wine along the street, because he thought it would be honorable to be married to a scholar Married his daughter to him, a poor scholar.I don't want Gao Xuan, a talented son-in-law, to be able to take the Juren examination because he has to keep filial piety for his parents. In front of him, Gao Xuan was always aggrieved and unable to lift his head.

In this depressing atmosphere where everything is sad, the Wanbi Bookstore opened by Zhao Yingong, the "Lingnan gentry" in Hangzhou, became a good place for Gao Xuan to spend time and escape from reality—in order to gain enough popularity in Hangzhou and give himself Zhao Yingong implemented the policy of free borrowing when he opened the Wanbi Bookstore for this outsider to "raise hope". Not only did he not interfere with the free reading of poor scholars and children in the bookstore, but he also provided tea in order to win scholars. Among the reputations: These days, there is no fame, and without the protection of the government and the gentry, it is very difficult to do anything... As a result, a cultural salon that is well-known in the whole of Hangzhou is quickly formed, especially for those who Poor scholars yearn for it.

So Gao Xuan, a scholar who was depressed and had nothing to do, was introduced by a few scholar friends who were also down and out, and plunged into the mountain and sea of ​​exquisite books in Wanbi Bookstore. The bookstore was only willing to leave when it was closed... I don’t want to think that last summer, Mr. Zhao Yingong, who was praised by the scholars in Hangzhou, suddenly became a "kun thief and spy", and the Wanbi Bookstore he opened was also closed down by the government!
——When this earth-shattering news came, Gao Xuan was reading books in Wanbi Bookstore as usual... After hearing the news, other customers in the store and the bookstore's clerks all turned pale with fright, and fled in haste at the fastest speed, lest they be caught. The officials were arrested and convicted together indiscriminately.Only Gao Xuan was calm and relaxed. After the others had fled, he picked up the pens, inks, papers and inkstones they had left behind, plus a purse left behind by someone. Ten books, and then happily returned with a big sack full of loads.

In the next few months, in order to make ends meet, Gao Xuan successively pawned the windfall harvested from Wanbi Bookstore in exchange for money to buy rice.But among the pile of books that he rolled back, he found a handwritten pamphlet that recorded many "Secrets of Kun Thieves" and "Miracle Strategies of Flat Kun", which immediately made Gao Xuan read it with gusto—and extremely Like most Confucian scholars in the late Ming who cared about the world, Gao Xuan also had a strong interest in "gewu", "firearms" and "military science", which was related to the social and historical background at that time. Continuous defeats on all fronts made Ming The imperial court was looking forward to turning the crisis around by developing and introducing several new weapons and new tactics. So at that time, a wave of "talking about war on paper" arose. Following the trend, they also read military books one after another...

When he was in Wanbi Bookshop, Gao Xuan wanted to find some Australian books on the art of war, so as to make a surprise victory.But he couldn't find such a book. Now that he has this "Ping Kun Cheats", it is natural that he has found a treasure, and he has been studying day and night, trying to learn some "dragon-slaying skills" from it.

——What he didn't know was that this handwritten booklet, which recorded the "Secrets of the Kun Thief" and "The Wonderful Plan of the Ping Kun", was actually collected by a traveler from the Lingao Group when he was bored. The rumors of those who traveled through Hainan Island, combined with their own wicked imagination, wrote a book for self-entertainment, which is probably similar in nature to various jokes on the Internet in later generations... But However, when he came to Hangzhou for business, he somehow left the pamphlet in Wanbi Bookstore, and let Gao Xuan, an "elegant thief", steal it...

If it is those experienced veterans, I am afraid that they can see the absurdity of these contents in the booklet at a glance.The problem is that Gao Xuan, a poor scholar, is like all similar "military enthusiasts" of the Ming Dynasty. , he believed it to be true.

After reading it fascinated, Gao Xuan also excerpted the passages in the booklet, combined his own secondary processing and artistic imagination, and some "deeds of the Kun people" he found in other books, and painstakingly wrote a book "Ping Kun Minutes" ", thinking that he is already a "kun thing master".

It is a pity that although the "Ping Kun Minutes" has been completed, the Kun thief is thousands of miles away. Gao Xuan, who is in Hangzhou, has no way to recommend himself for fame with this wonderful book, and there are not many. People are interested in this kind of gossip - the high-level backbone of the Donglin Party and the Fushe are not accessible to a small person like him, and in the end he just lives in a shabby house and eats the mountain... However, as the saying goes, the sky pays off. Just when Gao Xuan was lamenting that his skills were useless all day long, a large number of fierce gangsters fell from the sky, and rushed to the Qiantang River, which was only a few feet away!
Regarding this, the others were terrified and worried all day long, but Gao Xuan was as excited as if falling asleep on a pillow. First, he dug out the "Minutes of Ping Kun" and carefully transcribed it, in order to present it to the nobles when he recommended himself. , and found out all the books on the kun thieves at hand, read them repeatedly, and talked with those who fled to the city to find out about the thieves... Finally, there was a blockbuster at the "Ping Kun Conference"

At this moment, in his professional capacity as a "knowledge expert", he is giving advice to the magistrate Liu Mengqian who is currently confused.

"...It is said that most of the kun thieves can't bend their legs, so they use firearms more. As long as you select a few brave men and throw them to the ground with bamboo poles, they can't get back up. You can kill several thieves with one hand, you might as well give it a try, it will be very effective..."

——After hearing Gao Xuan's "high opinion", Liu Zhifu decided to conscript the young and strong in the city and organize a bamboo pole team.Although if they were to go out of the city to attack the bandit camp in Phoenix Villa, they would probably be powerless, but if they were just guarding behind the city wall for street fighting, they should still be able to make do.

"...Among the thieves, there are quite a few barbarians from the West. Since childhood, they have eaten dried beef and mutton, and they can't melt it. Therefore, they need tea and rhubarb to help them digest food. If the barbarians don't do this, their stomachs will be blocked and they will die. .This is the great power of China to control barbarians..."

——After Liu Zhifu heard this, he ordered the rapid closure of tea shops and medicine shops in the whole city, and never let one or two tea leaves and rhubarb fall into the hands of the gangsters.

Next, Gao Xuan analyzed to Liu Zhifu that the Qiongzhou Kun thieves came across the sea from thousands of miles away in the south. Therefore, it can be lured by high-ranking officials and generous salaries to use it to control the barbarians... This sentence coincides with the social reality of today's Ming Dynasty where "the people are noble and the military are cheap", so Liu Zhifu couldn't help but nod his head when he heard it.

In the end, as the end of this high-spirited discussion, Gao Xuan, who has become more and more open-minded, even revealed the secret of the reason why the Kun thief's firearms are sharp—"...The Kun thief's artillery was forged with the method of gouging out the heart, Therefore, it is the most vicious, and it is the most vicious, and it will never harm the heart and lungs, but the yang, yin, and filthy things can be broken... I don’t know how this thing is derived from the forging method that I don’t know in that book, and then it is further extended. Gouging out the heart method, and drawing inferences from one instance to another, came to the weird conclusion that "things from the most yang to the yin to the most filthy can break firearms".It's a pity that such a good talent doesn't write fantasy novels.

In short, at this moment, Gao Xuan is full of ambition, thinking that based on his understanding of the Kun thief, he must be promoted and make a fortune just around the corner!Right now the world is in chaos, tyrannical and powerful are everywhere, and there are everywhere looking like water and smoke, and I am afraid that this chaos will not be over for a while. Although the people of Li are in dire straits, it is a strategist like him who has made great achievements and made a name for himself. The best stage is like Guo Jia and Zhuge Liang in the troubled times of the Three Kingdoms...

However, since ancient times, literati have been indifferent to each other. Seeing that Gao Xuan has won the favor of the lord of the house with a little trick, how can the other scholars present sit still?Although they know very little about the foreign barbarians, it does not prevent them from absorbing wisdom from the stories of their ancestors, and immediately they have a lot of coups:

"... I wonder if Liu's parents heard about the old wisdom of Mr. Tie Xuan guarding Jinan during the battle of Jing Nan? This generation of thieves came from overseas and pretended to be the Miao descendants of the Song Dynasty. If you ask for the tablets of the emperors of the Song Dynasty, List it on the city wall, and then write a majestic article to repel the enemy's courage, and the thief will be ashamed and retreat if he thinks about it!"

——Although this teenage boy took it for granted, at least he learned the history of this dynasty well.

"...I don't know if Mr. Liu knows about the Battle of Chibi in the Three Kingdoms. The Eastern Wu navy took advantage of the east wind to destroy Cao Jun's chain of large ships with fire boats? Now that the giant ships of the thieves are all moored in the Qiantang River, isn't it as different as the Caoying navy back then? ?Now it is cold winter, and the northwest wind is strong. If the officers and soldiers set fire boats to attack the enemy in Fuyang County on the upper reaches of the Qianjiang River, the wind will go smoothly, and the Chibi battle of the year will be repeated at the foot of Phoenix Mountain! Randomly attacking the bandit camp in Fenghuang Mountain Villa, even if they can't destroy the bandits in one fell swoop, they can still cause chaos, and they won't have time to attack the city for many days..."

——Although the statement made by the Juren master is still somewhat vague, it is already the "most professional" idea at this conference...

All in all, the "Ping Kun Conference" held by the Hangzhou government office ended successfully with Gao Xuan's fame and the heated discussions among everyone.After the meeting adjourned, the whole city of Hangzhou was in a commotion under repeated urgent orders from the magistrate—those who posted a list to recruit strong men, those who collected bamboo poles to stab the knees of thieves, those who sealed up tea shops and medicine shops, and searched everywhere for black dog blood and clean barrels. , Boy urine, women's "horse riding cloth" (ancient version of sanitary napkins) and other "most yang to yin to filthy things", consult historical materials and engrave tablets of the emperors of the Song Dynasty, and quote scriptures to write majestic essays scolding thieves... really There are all kinds of surprises.Idlers in the city rushed out to see this rare Western view, and finally put together a ridiculous offensive and defensive battle in Hangzhou...

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However, at the beginning of this ironic Hangzhou offensive and defensive battle, the actions of both sides were barely normal.

——On the night when the heavy snow stopped for the first time, before the gangsters, who had been recuperating in the Phoenix Mountain Villa for many days, launched an offensive against Hangzhou City again as the weather improved, the Ming officials and troops in the city had already taken the lead. Launched a full-scale counterattack from both land and water!

Under repeated strict orders from Hangzhou, Fuyang County on the upper reaches of the Qiantang River bit the bullet and recruited a fleet of fire attack ships, forcibly seized more than 50 civilian ships, piled up firewood, poured clean oil, and added many ships that were said to emit poisonous smoke. The toxic Chinese herbal medicines are used for burning.At the same time, they recruited a group of brave men with good water skills, most of them are heroes in the rivers and lakes, and prepared to let them drive these arson boats to ram the big boat of the gangsters.

This fire attacking fleet raised its sails from the Fuyang Wharf at dusk and sailed down the river. It is expected to arrive at the foot of Phoenix Mountain at night. All the officials and gentry in Hangzhou are looking forward to the reenactment of the Battle of Chibi by these arson ships. Miracle... Regrettably, under the pervasive satellite aerial photography, this Huogong fleet was noticed by the traversers as soon as it left Fuyang Wharf, and was monitored in real time all the way afterwards—the reason why it was not in the first place The small boats were sent to intercept them at the first time, but because they were mistaken for refugee ships at first, they didn't take it too seriously.

In addition, sailing a boat in the dark is a very difficult technical job. If you are driving a sailboat instead of a motor boat, it will be even more difficult-these warriors who were lured by the government's bounty to drive the arson boat In terms of courage and water skills, it is good, but the ability to sail a boat may not be very good, and at the same time, not everyone is familiar with the Qiantang River waterway.If it is in the daytime, one boat can follow the other, but the fire attack must be at night to have a miraculous effect... As a result, in the dark night, these arson boats kept running aground and falling behind along the way, and finally only 30 Many ships arrived at the foot of Phoenix Mountain, and the "Gun Thief Fleet" at the foot of Phoenix Mountain was already impatient.

The next moment, along with the red signal flare rising from the pier to represent an attack, a sharp siren sounded throughout Captain Li Huamei's Hangzhou—because the berth of this ship was the closest to the upstream.Captain Li Huamei, who had already been in battle for a long time, immediately adopted standard anti-fire attack tactics: bright searchlights swept across the river, so that these small boats that thought they were lurking well could be seen at a glance; The naval guns opened fire immediately, and a rain of bullets like hail swept across the river, punching holes in the small fishing boats!

Seeing the bright beams of searchlights before, the warriors on the fire attack fleet were already in a panic. Several ships immediately collided into a ball and capsized one after another during the collision.And then the bullets rained down on their heads and brains, which further exacerbated their panic... Amidst the rumbling gunfire and heart-piercing wailing.These daredevils, who were actually quite afraid of death, immediately lit the arson boat, then drank a small pot of shochu to keep out the cold, and hurriedly jumped into the water to escape.Some people were burned by the flames set by their companions before they even had time to dive from the boat...

At the stern of the Hangzhou, Li Huamei was holding a pair of binoculars with night vision effects that she had just obtained, and looked at all the farce in front of her with a contemptuous expression—the shore defense battery of Phoenix Villa did not fire at all, and the rest of the warships did not move at all. In the end, only her Hangzhou made two broadside salvos, and as a result, the opponent's more than 30 ships were all messed up. Some sank after colliding with each other or circling on the water surface, and some caught fire and sank after being hit by shells. Some were ignited prematurely and sunk at a long distance, some drifted in the wrong direction, and some fled to the riverside in an attempt to land on the shore... Only one of the most fortunate arson boats drifted to the Hangzhou. Nearby, but it was immediately doused by the crew with a high-pressure water cannon.

"...It's really boring, they are simply a bunch of cowards, far worse than the fire attack of the Malay pirates."

Finding that there seemed to be no excitement on the river, she curled her lips in disdain, put down the binoculars, turned around and went back to the cabin to sleep.

On the other side, when the army officers and soldiers in Phoenix Mountain Villa were all looking at the flames on the river with great interest, Captain Zhen Huan from Lizhai, Qiongzhou was ordered to gather everyone in the mountain infantry company and listen A chief in snow camouflage gave a lecture:

"...As we all know, good hunters don't just make a trap. Although I think most of the enemies in Hangzhou are not good hunters, but you have to be careful when you should be careful-according to reliable sources, an elite army of the enemy is today. I left Hangzhou City in the afternoon, and came over to us quietly. And your task is to find all these damned mice, and then wipe them all out..."

After accepting the task solemnly, Captain Zhen Huan, with black lines painted on his face, led his Li soldiers to separate and quickly disappeared into the vast night around the villa—what he didn't know was , this enemy was also discovered by the traversers through satellites, and they have been following them since they left the city.It was only when the other party entered the densely forested mountain west of the city that they lost track of him because of the darkness and the cover of trees.

In addition, what Captain Zhen Huan didn't even know was that when they were carefully stepping on the snow against the cold wind and searching all over the mountain for this unknown enemy, the other party was actually still dawdling slowly on the way to Phoenix Villa. , and a considerable number of people will never arrive here...