Nanming Engineer

Chapter 239
As soon as it got dark the next day, Ma Zuoheng got up. Because he was so energetic in the middle of the night last night, he was a little sleep deprived and had two dark circles on his eyes. Most of his five hundred men looked like this, which made those common people It’s very strange, and I’m even more curious about who the “Lord Wang” these officers and soldiers called out in the middle of the night, who is willing to die for him, is him, and where does he come from? There are so many strong soldiers who are willing to serve him loyally, I guess he must be someone. A majestic, burly and powerful general.

Ma Zuoheng didn't give them time and space to imagine. After they ate the simple dry food provided by the Kuizhou army for breakfast, he gathered them together and asked where they should go.

People, you look at me, I look at you, with a blank and helpless face, where are you going?Yes, where are we going?

They generally come from Shandong, Hebei, Zhili and other places. They were all captured when the Tatars invaded and looted a few years ago. They have been away for seven or eight years, and some have been away for four or five years. Now they are taken to Sichuan. During the war, I don’t know what happened to my hometown, whether my family members are still there or not.It's far away from here, and the north is basically the territory of the Qing Dynasty. If you go back, you will be caught by the Qing soldiers on the way. According to the law of harboring a fugitive, you will definitely be beheaded.

So after hesitating for a while, an old man standing in front, an older man with gray hair on his temples, hunched over, knelt down with a plop, paused with tears streaming down his face and cried: "Master, where are you guys going? ? I have been away from home for so many years and have left my hometown. Even if I want to go back, I can’t go back. Please have mercy on me, Master Jun, let us stay here and give us a place to stay. "

He knocked his head on the ground repeatedly, and there was a loud bang, and the other common people knelt down together, crying and shouting, "I beg the military master to take me in!"

On the top of the mountain, a mass of black heads fell on the ground, and the sound of "Bengpeng" hitting the ground one after another made Ma Zuoheng feel sad and uncomfortable. You don't have to, get up, get up."

After a long period of fuss, Ma Zuoheng calmed down the mood of the group of people, calmed down and waited for the arrangement.

According to the plan, Ma Zuoheng had to stay on Motian Ridge all the time to guard against surprise attacks by the Tartars, and he could not leave, and the dry food he brought was limited, so many people couldn't afford it.How these people deal with resettlement is a bit troublesome for him, but he knows that with Wang Huan's principles of handling things, he will definitely take in refugees, so he doesn't have to worry about being punished and blamed for making decisions without authorization.

After thinking about it for a long time, he came up with an idea and decided to send troops to send these hundreds of people to Chengdu. There is a big city and a vast land, so there is no problem in arranging such a small number of people.As soon as he thought of it, he did it. Taking advantage of the high sun, Ma Zuoheng immediately sent a few veterans to lead the way, and led the people along the path.

Not even half an hour after they left, Ma Zuoheng was sitting on a stone and taking a nap when he saw a soldier leading the way running back anxiously.

Ma Zuoheng's heart skipped a beat, wondering if something had happened?Stand up quickly.

I saw the soldier running towards him, and before he reached the person, he shouted from a long distance: "Mr. Ma, Mr. Ma, your lord is here, your lord is here!"

"My lord is here?" Ma Zuoheng asked in surprise, "Which lord?"

Before he finished speaking, his eyes suddenly opened wide and he said in shock: "Your Excellency is here!? How come your Excellency is here?"

Taking three steps and two steps at a time, Ma Zuoheng ran towards the south of Motian Ridge. Before he could reach the end, he saw a steady stream of people climbing up the rope from the south cliff. The one standing at the front, age He is gentle yet calm and cold, with a delicate face, sharp eyebrows and starry eyes, and a white robe covering his strong body that exudes a heroic spirit. Who is he if he is not Wang Huan?

"Sir!" Ma Zuoheng stepped forward excitedly. As soon as he shouted two words, he was interrupted by Wang Huan.

"I heard that you and the Tatars fought last night?" Wang Huan asked immediately.

Ma Zuoheng was stunned and said hurriedly: "Yes, there are about 6000 or [-] Tatars, trying to take a small path to bypass Jianmen Pass. Unexpectedly, we also have guards here. We will set up an ambush and attack, and we will win a great victory!"

"Take me to see the battlefield." Wang Huan acted vigorously and ordered Ma Zuoheng to lead the way.

Ma Zuoheng led Wang Huan and his party to the north slope of Motianling. After one night, when they returned to the place where the fierce battle was yesterday, everyone could still see the intensity of the battle from the corpses everywhere and the dark and purple blood stains. , but the corpses of the Tartars are basically naked, and the white flowers are a bit funny.

Wang Huan went down to the slope, inspected several corpses carefully, turned his head and asked, "These are not bannermen, but the Han army. Who is the leader?"

Ma Zuoheng said: "The last general cleaned the battlefield and picked up a few recognition flags, all of which belonged to the officers of the Tartar Han army. Among them, the one with the highest official position was written with the words "Li Guohan, Gushan Frontal Realm, Xianglan Banner of the Han Army of the Qing Dynasty", and asked again. There are a few prisoners, the main general should be Li Guohan."

"Oh, Li Guohan actually died here?" Wang Huan frowned, a little surprised.

In the history of the late Ming Dynasty and the early Qing Dynasty, Li Guohan was a southwest town general with the same status as Wu Sangui, the King of Pingxi. He was granted the title of Marquis and had been under the influence for three generations. He quelled many anti-Qing uprisings in the southwest corner and led troops to suppress Jiang Yu's uprising in Datong. The rebellion made great contributions to the stability of the southwest and northwest of the Qing Dynasty. He can be said to be a famous general of his generation.

Just like that, he died at the foot of Motianling in a daze.

Wang Huan couldn't help but glanced at Ma Zuoheng. The other party obviously didn't understand who this Li Guohan was, and the official position of the Qing court was different from that of the Ming court. Ma Zuoheng didn't know what kind of official he really was. , so at this moment he looked back at Wang Huan in a daze.

"Well, my lord, do you know Li Guohan?" Ma Zuoheng asked cautiously.

Wang Huan couldn't help but smile, and said with a smile: "I don't know you, but you have made a great contribution this time, so I will write it down and wait for the war to come to an end before we can discuss promotion and rewards."

He patted Ma Zuoheng on the shoulder and encouraged: "Although you are a Han army, you are also a Tatar soldier. You are the number one person in our Kuizhou army who killed the Tatars. You have done a wonderful job. You must keep up your efforts and keep working hard." ."

Every time he patted, Ma Zuoheng felt himself a little lighter. After a few pats, his whole body floated up. He felt more comfortable than eating honey. He blushed and knelt down on one knee, shouting excitedly: " In the end, I must remember it, I must remember it!"

Wang Huan said with a smile: "Okay, let's go, where are the survivors you caught? Take me to see them."

Ma Zuoheng's feet fluttered, and he hopped and brought Wang Huan to the place where the prisoners were being held. Bai Yan had half his life left, lying on the ground and humming.

Wang Huan ordered these people to take turns to a secluded place, and he asked them alone. These people seemed to be high-ranking officials. In order to save their lives, they answered all questions with tears and snot running down their noses.Wang Huan asked carefully. He asked the details of Hauge's army's firearms configuration, military composition, etc., and then asked where the rest of the Daxi Army fled. After one person asked, another person was brought up. Then all the prisoners were interrogated.

Ma Zuoheng stood quietly at the side, and quietly said to Ma Long, who was acquainted with Qian Zongzong: "My lord's official speech is really good, clear and clear, and the words spoken by the tartars are so raw and unpleasant, my lord can actually understand me."

He said this because the official language of this era, that is, the Mandarin before the improvement of later generations, is not known by everyone. Only scholars and businessmen who travel far and wide can speak it. Usually, the aborigines from all over the country copy the local dialect to communicate. Just like going abroad, I can't understand what the other party is saying at all.Wang Huan came from a later generation, so of course he was fluent in Mandarin, and he was an engineer in the field. He traveled all over the north and south and knew some dialects of various places.

"Of course, my lord, you have learned a lot, and this little bit of official talk is nothing." Zu Bian, with his sharp ears, heard Ma Zuoheng's words and came over and said, "You should also learn more, or else I will fight with you in the future and send you to the Tatars." The commander-in-chief of the territory is preparing the road, but what can I do if I can’t speak in official terms?”

Ma Zuoheng and Ma Long were stunned, and felt that it made sense. They pondered thoughtfully, then nodded together, and decided to learn Mandarin when they had time.

A few people were talking nonsense here, but Wang Huan had finished the interrogation, hurriedly ate some dried meat, drank some freshly boiled hot water, and summoned all the generals around him.

He sat casually on the ground, with a few stones in front of him, and pointed to the generals surrounding him: "Everyone, I led the troops through all the hardships and dangers, and ignored the good official road, but I decided to come up on the Yinping Road. Crossing the mountain, do you know why?”

Ma Zuoheng was stunned, thinking: Isn't it here to support me?
He blinked and saw that the other people were all in deep thought. He knew that it must not be that simple, so he kept his mouth shut and didn't dare to speak out.

"The Tartars are cunning and intend to take the back road of my Jiange by taking a small path. They can do this, but can't we do it?" Wang Huan tapped a stone on the ground with his finger: "They want to take Chengdu, but they don't know what we are doing. If you want to take his Hanzhong, please see, the terrain of Hanzhong is dangerous, and it guards the throat of Shaanxi and Sichuan. If you want to go out of Sichuan and enter Shaanxi, you can't avoid it. The ancients said: If you don't have Hanzhong, you can't occupy Longxi. It may be possible for Shuzhong to be in the pocket, but on the contrary, if we want to occupy the land of raising horses in Longxi, Hanzhong must be captured by our Kuizhou army, otherwise, we will end up as frogs locked in a well and will not see the big world."

"Hanzhong and Xi'an are only five hundred miles away, and the counties in Longxi are also within easy reach. Therefore, with Hanzhong, our Kuizhou army can advance and retreat, and advance and retreat can be done in one thought. On the contrary, if the Tartars If Hanzhong is occupied, not only will it be impossible for us to form cavalry, but we will have to garrison heavily on the front line of Jiange in Guangyuan, wasting money and food, so Hanzhong, we will definitely win!"

Wang Huan's hands repeatedly gestured on several stones representing the cities of Hanzhong, Xi'an and Longxi. The onlookers listened carefully, carefully considered and digested Wang Huan's highly strategic words.

Wang Huan paused to give everyone a little time to ponder, and then he pointed the food on the largest stone representing Hanzhong, and continued: "Haoge is now in Guangyuan, facing off against Ma Xintian at Jianmen Pass, He Zhen In Fengxiang's rebellion, the Qing army in Shaanxi was restrained. To protect Xi'an, Hauge and Governor of Shaanxi Meng Qiaofang must send troops to reinforce Guanzhong. Instead, Hanzhong has become a power vacuum at this moment. If you feel that you are approaching Hanzhong, if you take it in one fell swoop, Haoge's [-] troops will be hacked in the middle by our army, and the food road will be cut off by me. Do you think he panicked?"

Wang Huan laughed, showing his white teeth, tapping the stone with the knuckle of one finger, and said: "When he panics, he will rush to Hanzhong desperately. The siege of Jianmen will be solved by itself, and we are in Hanzhong." , then we can successfully set up an ambush and mobilize reinforcements, turning Hanzhong City into a meat grinder for the Tatars!"

(End of this chapter)