Nanming Engineer

Chapter 386 Let's Go to Jiaocheng

Seeing more and more people around Wang Huan, Jiang Jianxun's complexion became more and more ugly, from blue to black, but he couldn't use force to get angry, and finally turned helplessly pale.

Wang Huan didn't stare at him all the time. He looked in the direction of the city of Fenzhou, carefully observing and sizing up.

Fenzhou City used to be the governor of Zhili Prefecture, Shanxi Chief Envoy. The palace of the king is located in the city, so the city is tall and strong. Although it is not as grand as Taiyuan and Datong, it is still very grand.

However, after months of wars, the city has become dilapidated. The three-story wooden tower has long been burned, leaving only some charred remains of beams and columns. In many places on the city wall, the blue bricks have peeled off, revealing the yellow color inside. From the rammed earth, even the many stone crenels are missing corners and edges.

Wang Huan shook his head, sighing to himself that in the troubled times, Fenzhou was the base camp for Jin merchants to make a fortune. There was a saying in the Ming Dynasty, "Liaodong merchants, more than half of Shanxi, and Fenzhou is the majority." The main thing is to deal with Shanxi merchants. At first, they exchanged some ginseng and mink skins with Ming people for some copper, iron, rice and salt. Later, they gradually became acquainted and began to exchange expensive and luxurious items. In the end, Shanxi merchants exchanged a large amount of valuable military supplies such as gunpowder , firearms, weapons, etc., were smuggled or transported by sea through the side wall, and sold to Houjin in exchange for large sums of silver. By the way, they also tipped off the news and passed on some military information. Therefore, some people in later generations said that Shanxi merchants were the fifth column of Ming Dynasty. It's the big rat hiding inside.

When they made money, I don't know if they ever thought about it. The silver in their hands was all looted by Hou Jin from Daming, and the robbers just passed it through and handed it into their hands.

Probably the wealthy households in the city have already fled to Taiyuan.

Wang Huan thought that these businessmen had a deep relationship with the Qing court, fearing that if the rebellion would be affected, they would definitely have left with their wealth at the beginning of the anti-Qing war in Shanxi.

At that time, these guys can't be cheap, Taiyuan City is broken, and their wealth will be collected as soon as possible.

After thinking for a while, Wang Huan withdrew his thoughts and brought his gaze back to his eyes, only to be surprised to find that there was no one beside Jiang Jianxun on the opposite side, except for a few solitary soldiers and not a single leader of the rebel army.

Looking back, Han Zhaoxuan was drooling and giving a speech to a group of leaders of the rebel army gathered around him. This man was sloppy in battle, but the civilian officials were extremely good at speaking. .

Although he has never seen it with his own eyes.

Accompanied by his narration, from time to time, the crowd around the audience let out gasping "呵呵" sounds, like a group of chirping mice, especially when they heard the Kuizhou army's artillery fire, hundreds of "fire bombs" When the city wall of Pingyang was smashed like the earth was shaking and the mountains were shaking, the sound of "呲呲" reached a climax.

"It's your blessing to follow Pinglianghou. Have you seen that? Yu Yin and I have hundreds of thousands of soldiers, and we are not willing to be the pawns of the Marquis." Han Zhaoxuan seemed to be slobbering endlessly. Flying all over, he still mysteriously lowered his voice, and whispered to everyone: "Also, the emperor thinks highly of Lord Hou, and wants to betroth Chongzhen Emperor's daughter, Princess Changping, to him. Ladies and gentlemen, have any of you ever been royal relatives?" No, right? Lord Hou will be the emperor's relative from now on! There is no dragon son in the world, and if there is any good or bad, Lord Hou's son may be... Do you understand?"

This remark was like enlightenment, pouring on the heads of the leaders and making them suddenly realize that they all looked at Wang Huan with eager eyes. If Jiang Jianxun's face was not taken into account, someone must have gone up to flatter him, and there would be a flood of flattery.

As the saying goes, some people are happy and others are worried. Wang Huan's side is enthusiastic and passionate, while Jiang Jianxun's side is desolate and lonely.

Jiang Jianxun couldn't hold back anymore, he had no intention and no face to stay any longer, and it was impossible for him to hug Wang Huan's thigh tightly like those leaders of the rebel army.

He gave Han Zhaoxuan a hard look with resentful eyes, then bowed his hands to Wang Huan indifferently, and said coldly: "Since Lord Hou has his own opinion, it is inconvenient for the last general to say it again, but Fenyang is the last general to lay down. Please don't make things difficult, Lord Hou."

Wang Huan glanced at him, narrowed his eyelids slightly, did not speak, but waved his hand lightly to signal him to go.

Jiang Jianxun gritted his teeth, how many times he had gritted his teeth today, then turned the horse's head and went straight into the city without looking back.

Li Dingguo reined in his horse not far behind, saw Jiang Jianxun going away, rode his horse up, approached Wang Huan and asked softly, "Do you want...?" He made a downward chop with one hand.

Wang Huan shook his head, looked at Jiang Jianxun's back and said slowly: "No need, this son is not a heinous person. What he did was to maintain the authority of the Jiang family in Shanxi. If it were you, it would be for the benefit of this marquis. Not hesitating to offend the powerful."

These words were said by Jiang Jianxun, but Li Dingguo's blood fluttered when he heard it, and his heart overflowed with warmth. He quickly lowered his head so as not to lose his composure in front of Wang Huan.

But Wang Huan didn't notice it, and continued to say: "If he wants Fenzhou, give it to him. It's quieter and more comfortable without him being in the way."

Li Dingguo responded, "Hey, okay?" Wang Huan turned his head and pointed in another direction: "Go and separate those two people. Don't you feel tired after fighting for so long?"

Li Dingguo looked at the sound and laughed. It turned out that Yu Yin and Monk Hou were still fighting hard at the same time. He didn't even notice that Jiang Jianxun had pulled off his horse and left.So with a wave of his hand, he led more than a dozen soldiers with big arms and round waists, and ran towards the two of them.

Wang Huan smiled again at the leaders of the rebel army gathered with Han Zhaoxuan, and bowed their hands together, so startled that the group jumped off their horses in a hurry, bent down and bowed, fearing that they would lose their courtesy.

"My lords, I'm here for the first time, and I don't know your names and where you are based. How about you come here one by one?" Wang Huan asked politely with a smile on his face.

"It should be." Han Zhaoxuan was the first to speak again, and then said to the crowd as if ordering younger brothers: "Come on, everyone."

These people are powerful, of course they are not satisfied with Han Zhaoxuan's big brother's behavior, but no one objected, instead they all respectfully reported their names and birthplaces to Wang Huan like a team.

"My subordinate, Li Qimian of Yongji Prefecture, has met Lord Hou! With five thousand troops, I am willing to follow Lord Hou and go to the national crisis together!"

"Xiaguan Shilou entrusts you as an eunuch. I have met Lord Hou! With two thousand soldiers, I am willing to follow Lord Hou!"

"The last general Hu Guoding of Luzhou, has seen Lord Hou, and led [-] troops, and is willing to fight with Lord Hou!"

"The last generals Chen Du and Zhang Douguang from Zezhou, with [-] troops, met Lord Hou!"

……

As if they were going to court in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, dozens of leaders of the rebel army stood in front of Wang Huan in an orderly manner, and reported their names and military strength. The number of these people's subordinates was not accurate. The power of these people is often exaggerated, and even if it is a real number, its main force is the unregulated militia, so Wang Huan is very clear that although the numbers reported by these people are astronomical, they are still not enough to look at.

However, Wang Huan still had a smile on his face, and after everyone had stepped forward to speak, he took notes one by one in his heart, and then said loudly to one of them: "Wang Chunming, I am planning to lead the leaders of the army to Jiaocheng, can you do your best?" The friendship of the landlord, prepare a camp for my army, and arrange a festival hall?"

The leader named Wang Chunming was suddenly caught off guard. Under the gaze of everyone, his face turned red and he was a little panicked. It is no wonder that Jiaocheng is only a small county with less than [-] people and less than [-] soldiers. His name was called out, of course it made him both happy and embarrassed.

"Yes, yes, of course, Lord Hou, the small county is full of splendor!" Wang Chunming felt as if he had grown taller in an instant, and answered with his neck held high.

Jiaocheng, which belongs to Taiyuan Prefecture, is only 110 miles away from Taiyuan Prefecture City. The middle is vast and open, with no mountains or water, and no natural obstacles. Within a day, soldiers can reach the city of Taiyuan.

(End of this chapter)