Daming: I asked you to hang yourself, but I didn’t ask you to rebuild the Ming Dynasty

They were about to leave Baigou River completely, but the Ming army on the opposite side did not move at all.

Li Laiheng couldn't help but sigh:

"There are experts in the Ming army. Can they see through this?"

Seeing that he could not lure the Ming army to cross the river to attack, he had to give up his plan to ambush the Ming army. He quickly broke away from the confrontation with his army and headed northeast.

As expected, the leading soldier from before pulled out the war horse from the middle forest!

Fang Zhenghua couldn't help but break into a cold sweat!

"His Majesty still sees things thoroughly!"

……

Zhang Luofu saw that Li Guo's army had crossed the new city, and even all the rear troops had crossed the Liuli River, so he loudly ordered:

"Order the generals of all departments to check the horses' hooves and replace the worn cloth bags. In half an hour, we will go straight to Gu'an!"

In half an hour, the intruders, all cavalry, had to travel at least ten miles more!

Gu'an is located in the northwest of Yongqing. The two cities are very close to each other, only more than 50 miles apart.

Gu'an is closer to the capital, only 120 miles away, which is [-] miles less than Yongqing.

The Lugou River, which originates from the Taihang Mountains in the northwest, turns an almost ninety-degree bend in the north of Gu'an City and flows diagonally to the Triangle Lake in the southeast.

Li Guo in yellow, Ming army in red

When it comes to Triangle Lake, not much is known about it. Due to the flooding of sediment, Triangle Lake has become a seasonal lake in later generations.

However, when it comes to Baiyangdian, which is thirty miles due west of Triangle Lake, almost everyone knows it.

The story of Xiao Yu Lai and Gazi made Baiyangdian, a small lake, famous all over the country...

As for the Marco Polo River, there is a bridge on it that is even more famous - Marco Polo Bridge!

Gu'an City is surrounded by the Lugou River on both sides and faces Yongqing across the river...

The soldiers of Zhang Luofu's war horses wrapped their hooves with thick rags.

The soldiers led the horses through the dense forest and headed straight into Gu'an.

Half an hour later, the spies went up the tree to check again, but found that they could no longer use the binoculars. They saw the dust raised by Li Guo's department. Zhang Luofu gave the order, and the soldiers got on their horses and stepped onto the official road. , galloping towards Gu'an.

When it gets dark, the Gu'an City Wall is already in sight!

"The entire army dismounted, and no spies were sent out at night. They immediately covered a five-mile radius. The entire army spent half an hour preparing and mixing beans with eggs. They fed the horses first!" Zhang Luofu gave the order to rest.

Once they begin to cover the battlefield, the scouts will capture everyone who steps into this area. If they cooperate, they will just be tied up and taken away. If they resist, they will be shot to death!

……

Morning bell and evening drum.

In every city in China, there is a Bell and Drum Tower attached to the Qintian Prison.

There are yin and yang officials who have been responsible for telling the time for generations, responsible for checking the time, telling the time, etc...

At the fifth quarter of the Yin hour (4:15 minutes), the morning bell rings and the city gate opens; at the fifth quarter of the Xu hour (20:15 minutes), the evening drum sounds and the city gate closes.

It was getting dark, and there were no pedestrians on the official road outside Gu'an City.

Ma Dazun, the leader of the strong class, sat on his horse in a boring and imageless manner, opened his mouth and yawned:

"What a fool! Since the plague, there have been fewer and fewer of them!"

Guarding the city gate is a fat job!

Every citizen who enters the city must pay an entrance fee ranging from one penny to two or three penny.

Although most of this money has to be turned over to the government, it falls into the pockets of the big men.

However, if the meat is eaten above, they, the little pawns, can also leave some soup behind.

"What Dutou said is that over the years, we have spent so much money to get this skin that we can't even get back a piece of it!"

A guy with a pockmarked face came up and complained.

Ma Dazhen glanced at him: "What's going on, Wang Mazi? Do you still dare to have an opinion against the elder?"

He spat: "The governor who destroyed the family, the county magistrate who destroyed the family, chew your mouth carefully."

"You old boy, why are you making such a loud noise?"

Ma Dazhen lowered his voice: "Be careful, the walls have ears."

Wang Mazi was scolded, but he smiled:

"For those of us, whoever is not your follower Ma Ye, then the county magistrate is nothing. He will be replaced every three to five years. Only you, Ma Ye, are our evergreen tree in Gu'an!"

Ma Dazhen chuckled and did not defend himself.

In order to keep his robes, he spent a lot of money. Officials came and went, and when one came wearing a wild duck robe (鸒钒子), he didn't want to give away some money!

I really thought that all officials were easy to fool!

They don't dare to attack the entire class of minor officials, but they have plenty of means to deal with one or two minor officials!

The imperial examination system has been implemented for thousands of years. Even though there are many elites, there are bound to be some people who just want to be imperial examination worms who read poetry and books and focus on articles!

They may not be ordinary people, but some of them are people who serve officials!

There is even an extension of service, a loan shark group that provides money, activities and official positions for the new scholars; a team of professional opinion brokers who advise them and analyze the pros and cons; and a master who is responsible for giving step-by-step guidance on political administration!

The most famous one is Shaoxing Master who was born in eight counties of Shaoxing Prefecture.

Although Shaoxing-born masters only began to reach their peak in the middle Qing Dynasty, they are known as Yamen without Shaoxing.

However, at this time in the late Ming Dynasty, Shaoxing masters, like Huizhou merchants, had become synonymous with dominating the world!

Under the operation of the master, officials only needed to collect money. Even in the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the master once controlled local government affairs. Even the Qing Emperor Yongzheng approved such words as "I am well, is Mr. Wu well?"

……

Ma Dazun didn't say anything about these sects. These secret rules are the guarantee for the long-term prosperity of a family!

"What's going on? Is there something wrong with you?" Ma Dazhen glanced at Wang Mazi.

Wang Mazi lifted up his sleeves and let Ma Dazhuang take a look.

I saw that there were two or three kilograms of pork hidden in this guy's sleeve pocket.

"Okay, Wang Mazi, what did you do?"

Wang Mazi chuckled: "At noon, wasn't there someone carrying a pig on his back to sell it in the city..."

Ma Dazhuang nodded, he even received thirty cash from that guy!

Wang Mazi winked: "We took advantage of the inspection and cut it secretly."

"Haha!" Ma Dazhen laughed: "You old boy, your hands are still so fast!"

Wang Mazi winked:

"Du Tou, come to my place for a drink tonight?"

Ma Dazun laughed: "Okay, I'll be here soon. I'll go on duty later!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly woke up and stared at Wang Mazi again and again:

"You kid is trying to be so courteous for nothing, so what's the shit you're holding in your stomach?"

Wang Mazi didn't hide it either: "I knew I couldn't hide it from everyone."

He came closer: "Do you know the Widow Fu in the west of the city? The one with a daughter!"

Ma Dazhen thought for a while: "The one at Yangshu Alley on West Street?"

"Yes, yes!" Wang Mazi rubbed his hands and laughed lewdly:

"We would like to ask the boss for a favor.