Cutting over the end of the Ming Dynasty: a dog-leg knife at the beginning

Chapter 75 Entering Beijing
Wu Yong rode up to catch up, took a deep look at the little girl in Yang Menglong's arms, and sighed: "Poor baby...Little General Yang, you are really kind-hearted."

Yang Menglong smiled wryly: "I can't say how kind I am, but since I saw it, I have to take care of it... Eunuch Wu, what's wrong with this country? It has thirteen provinces that are rich and prosperous, and has thousands of miles of territory. Can't support it anymore?"

Wu Yong sighed again: "Isn't this caused by natural disasters and man-made disasters? Since the Wanli Dynasty, the natural disasters in the Ming Dynasty have never stopped. Either there is a severe drought here, or there is a thousand miles of land, or locusts are overwhelming the sky, and the refugees are making trouble... At the beginning, the imperial court was barely able to deal with it, but since the Liao incident collapsed, it had to invest most of its money and food in Liaodong, and it was no longer able to deal with the frequent natural disasters."

Yang Menglong thought for a while, then shook his head: "It is impossible for the whole country to suffer from natural disasters. Even if the grain harvest in the north is lost, it can still be transferred from the south. It will not make the common people unable to eat. There must be something wrong in this country."

Wu Yong's complexion changed slightly, he looked around nervously, and said in a low voice, "Little General Yang, speak carefully!"

Yang Menglong scoffed, but didn't speak.The collapse of every dynasty began with successive natural disasters and plagues, and the Ming Dynasty was no exception.Looking at the records of natural disasters at the end of the Ming Dynasty, it can be said that every word is shocking. In the 48 years of Wanli's reign, there are 25 years of famine records. As for the 17 years of the Chongzhen Dynasty, there is no hunger.Shaanxi suffered severe drought year after year, and the grass and trees were overvalued. The people in Shaanxi could not survive and could only rebel. Henan also suffered from famine year after year. Drought, flood and locust disasters followed one after another, and it did not get better until the end of the Ming Dynasty.Not to mention the north, even Huguang, which has always been in good weather, suffers from droughts and crop failures from time to time. This kind of long-term and large-scale natural disasters, coupled with years of wars, has emptied the Ming Dynasty's national power little by little. Corruption and corruption have completely corroded the foundation of the Empire State Building. The Ming Dynasty barely supported the Chongzhen Dynasty.

He didn't speak, and Wu Yong didn't speak either. He pursed his lips and didn't know what he was thinking.As an eunuch with a little bit of integrity, Wu Yong also felt sad seeing the displaced people all over the place, looking at the corpses, but what can he do?Do nothing!Nothing can be done.

Fang Yizhi also said nothing. He just looked at the corpses on the roadside and lamented in his heart: "Pity our country, our people, our people!"

In silence, the team continued to move forward, towards Beijing City.

The land transportation in the Ming Dynasty was quite developed. The post roads were centered on the capital city and extended over mountains and ridges to every corner of the empire. They were ancient highways.Post roads extending in all directions provide convenience for important operations such as army mobilization, conveying military information, and food transportation. If the weather is clear and the road conditions are good, you can travel four hundred miles a day on horseback. When you are tired, you can rest at the post station, which can provide transfers. Horses as well as food and accommodation, extremely efficient.Unfortunately, after a great war, life was devastated, and even the post roads suffered. Many post stations were robbed and burned by Hou Jin, and the efficiency was naturally greatly reduced.There were dozens of people in Yang Menglong's group, so it was naturally impossible for everyone to ride a horse. Of course, they couldn't run at such an astonishing speed of four hundred miles a day. By dark, they were still more than 100 miles away from the capital.The most unlucky thing is that the post station has been burned down, and the brigade has to camp on the side of the road, eat some dry food, drink some water, and rest.

As soon as it got dark, An Ning cried and wanted to find her mother. A four or five-year-old girl was still very dependent on her mother. She suddenly lost sight of her mother and was with a group of strangers. Of course she was afraid.Yang Menglong tried his best to coax her, but the more he coaxed her, the more she cried. He was helpless, because he was really not made to take care of children.In the midst of the panic, Fang Yizhi came over and asked his maid to hug An Ning aside to coax her, hey, An Ning will stop crying in less than 3 minutes, so this kind of thing has to be done by professionals .Fang Yizhi handed Yang Menglong a bowl of chicken soup, which was cooked with roast chicken, and it was delicious. Yang Menglong poured the soup on the rice, and his cheeks bulged without lifting his head.Fang Yizhi was also patient, he just waited on the side, and asked after he was full, "Little General Yang, what do you plan to do with this little girl?"

Yang Menglong said: "How else can she be resettled? Take her with you first, find a way to find a family willing to adopt her, and give her up for adoption."

Fang Yizhi said: "You are really kind-hearted."

Yang Menglong's voice was low: "It's not that I'm kind-hearted, but I can't just sit back and ignore such a tragic incident." He looked depressed: "It's just that my strength is too weak, and I am powerless!"

Fang Yizhi said: "It's very rare for you to have this kind of heart." He sighed a long time, "It's all the fault of Jianshou, the civilians who have been displaced everywhere, and those who died on the road The hungry people are all thanks to them!"

Yang Menglong raised his head and looked directly at Fang Yizhi, his eyes turned wide: "Even if there was no Jiannu invasion, how would the situation be better?"

Fang Yizhi was taken aback by his strange gaze, and wanted to speak, but his Adam's apple wriggled, but he couldn't make a sound.

Over there, a maid somehow got a small apple and threw it to tease An Ning. An Ning patted it carefully and smiled happily.Yang Menglong took a deep look at the poor child, slowed down his tone, and said, "Master Fang, you will be my boss from now on. We have to take root in Nanyang. What are your plans?"

Fang Yizhi said: "Nanyang... Nanyang today is not a good place. Henan has suffered from droughts and locust plagues for many years, and people are everywhere. Many fields are deserted. Many hungry people have left their hometowns and fled to Huguang through Nanyang, so that Nanyang thieves Bees are rising, bandits are endless, in a word, it is poverty and chaos! I have no good solution. After taking office, I can only vigorously encourage farming, educate the people under my rule, perform human affairs, and obey the destiny."

Yang Menglong shook his head: "Just encouraging farming alone can no longer solve the problem."

Fang Yizhi asked: "Then General Yang, what can you do?"

Yang Menglong said: "There is a way, but it may conflict with Fang Da's people's ideas... Forget it, let's not talk about it, it is very difficult for Fang Daren to accept these things immediately, I only ask Fang Daren to come to Nanyang. , turn a blind eye to some of my actions that you can't understand, and observe for a few years before drawing conclusions, okay?"

Fang Yizhi was confused and asked, "What do you want to do?"

Yang Menglong said: "The horoscope has not been written yet, so I can't make it clear now, but you will know when the time comes."

Fang Yizhi was silent.The two of them had known each other for a long time, and he knew Yang Menglong's character very well. This kid seemed easy-going, but in fact he was very stubborn. Once he made a decision, he would not make any changes.Although Yang Menglong refused to say clearly what he was going to do, Fang Yizhi guessed that with his bold temperament, what he was going to do would definitely make people shudder and stunned!Thinking that this little guy was going to become his subordinate, Fang Yizhi couldn't help but secretly smiled wryly, those bureaucrats in the official department, why did someone on our side offend you, and actually put such a thorn in my hands!

Rested for one night and continued the next day.Now there are a lot more carriages returning to the capital, and the post road is a bit crowded, so the speed is naturally much slower. They lingered until evening before finally arriving in Beijing.They were very unlucky. When they arrived, the gates of the city had already been closed. Although Hou Jin had already withdrawn, the memory of the horror of the Manchurian Eight Banners approaching the city was still vivid, which made people in Beijing feel lingering fears. Therefore, the city gates were closed very early, and a large group returned in a hurry. The dignitaries and dignitaries in the capital were all shut up, and they were so angry that they jumped their feet.Yang Menglong didn't care, if he couldn't enter the city, he couldn't enter the city. Isn't Lu Xiangsheng still stationed outside the city? It shouldn't be a problem to go to him for a meal, right?After making up his mind, he handed An Ning to Fang Yizhi, rode his horse, and went straight to the Tianxiong Army camp according to Wu Yong's instructions.

At this time, more than a dozen armies that had entered Jingqin King had returned to the army one after another, and the chilling atmosphere of the Horn Company Battalion under the city of Beijing had faded a lot, and only a few troops remained there to practice day and night.Apparently, the Ming Dynasty let people feel into the nest and beat them up. They couldn't swallow the breath, and they were selecting elites to show some color to the Houjin army who were still in the pass.The Tianxiong Army happens to be one of them. Whether they can participate in the battle to recover the four cities in the pass is still unknown, but it is well known that the imperial court attaches great importance to this newly released army. Equipping this army, we can't let the Tianxiong army continue to fight with hatchets and guns, right?Lu Xiangsheng is also a person who is diligent in training soldiers. During this period of time, the Tianxiong Army has been trained to death. His camp is full of roars and horns. Standing at the gate of the barracks, Yang Menglong feels as if he has returned to the military training of the first year of high school. playground...

(End of this chapter)