Chapter 45 King Chuang sent troops to the kiln gang to respond

Hearing Yang Yulin say that Li Zhi was coming, Yang Chang knew that he should go, and said: "Mr. Zhang, I understand everything you said, and I will arrange for someone to get this thing when I go back." If you're working on tubes, you need us to shout. ”

Li Zhi saw Yangchang go out and said, "**Urgent information." ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "Say it quickly." ”

** said that Li Zicheng's military advisers are preparing to be crowned emperor, and the ceremony of becoming emperor will be held on the first day of the Lunar New Year. At the same time, they also began to prepare for the attack on Shanxi, claiming to have a million troops to attack Shanxi, but in fact the number of troops was no less than 600,000. After they planned to capture Taiyuan, they would attack Beijing in two ways, north and south, and one route would be led by Liu Zongmin and others, passing through Guguan, Zhending, and Baoding to the north; One route was commanded by Li Zicheng, and entered Juyong Pass through Datong and Xuanhua. Li Zicheng will also lead people to personally attack the kiln. Now Li Zicheng has sent 20,000 people led by Li You and Bai Jiuhe as the vanguard to march to Shanxi. After Li Zhi finished the report, he looked at Zhang Zhimu and didn't speak again, he knew the weight of this information.

Zhang Zhimu heard this information and didn't speak for a long time. Zhang Zhimu was mentally prepared for this result, and it can even be said that he has been waiting for this news. But Zhang Zhimu felt a little inexplicably uneasy in his heart. Because according to Zhang Zhimu's judgment, Li Zicheng was delayed in Tongguan, and he should delay some more time in Shaanxi to solve the problem in Shaanxi. In that case, the time when Li Zicheng marched into Shanxi should be later than the time of the original march in history. But history has stubbornly been restored to its original track. Last time, it should be said that at a critical moment in history, he sabotaged Li Zicheng's plan to conquer Kaifeng, although he curbed Li Zicheng's development to the east and north banks of the Yellow River, but did not change his history of developing to the south and finally defeating Sun Chuanting. Zhang Zhimu was thinking, this time he was about to have a hard encounter with Li Zicheng in Shanxi, could he change the historical development trajectory of Li Zicheng's entry into Beijing?

When Zhang Zhimu raised his head and saw Li Zhi waiting motionlessly, Zhang Zhimu knew that he was distracted again, and asked, "How is the arrangement of Li Guo's affairs over there?" ”

"Everything, this is normal." Li Zhi replied.

Zhang Zhimu said: "It's not easy to get such information. ”

"**Now they have been following Li Zicheng's old camp, and they have arrived in Xi'an. No. 2 sent No. 3 to Xi'an to send the information. Thanks to the fact that all of our people who stayed in Tongguan were withdrawn. Li Zhi said.

"Let's go. Go to the command center and talk to Uncle Chen about the information. Zhang Zhimu said.

Hearing Li Zhi's information, Chen Yufeng didn't react much, because he was waiting for the news. Chen Yufeng said: "In the past two days, Mr. Ouyang will arrive soon. We still have time, divide the soldiers in Tongguan and train them again. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "I thought that Li Zicheng would not come over so soon, how could they have a good New Year." It seems that they wanted to drive a large army over during the freezing period of the Fen River and the Yellow River. ”

"After mid-January, the ice in the Yellow River became unstable," Chen said. They don't understand. ”

"I thought we would wait until the end of the New Year to talk about everything. It seems that we can't wait. The fortifications on our side of the kiln gang should be carried out as soon as they are built. Try not to be too public. Zhang Zhimu said.

Chen Yufeng said: "There is not much to do, and everything that should be done on the earthwork has been done." Now it's time to put up all the barbed wire. The horses that were kept out of the cavalry charge were all secured. Fortunately, it was cold, so I buried the soil and poured some water on it. **The location is all designed, and then the time comes. Li Wei: The people who participated in the minelaying have all trained. They are also fast in laying mines. The locations where the mines are going to be deployed have been dug up. When the time comes, just lay mines and bury the earth. It's not a big deal, it's almost ready. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "Let's report this information to Zhou Yuji and Jiang Ji." ”

Chen Yufeng said: "It is right to report it. But I think that with such a big deal, they must know about Xin'er too. Qin Peng and the others also got the news that the imperial court had made arrangements. Cai Maode, the governor of Shanxi, was also responsible for the defense of the lower reaches of the Yellow River in Shanxi. In order to carry out the defensive task, he led 3,000 men to Pingyang (now Linfen, Shanxi) to inspect and deploy defensive affairs, and instructed the relevant generals to defend Hajin. Zhu Qiugui, the king of Jin who lived in Taiyuan, was panicked when he heard the rumor that Li Zicheng's army was going to attack Taiyuan, so he consulted with Wang Zongwen, the governor, and ordered Cai Maode to return to Taiyuan as soon as possible. Cai Maode arranged for 2,000 people to guard Fenzhou and Pingyang. On the 18th, that is, the day before yesterday, Cai Maode left Pingyang with 1,000 pacesetters, returned to the provincial capital, and handed over the defense of Pingyang to Chen Shangzhi, the deputy commander-in-chief who guarded Pingyang. ”

Li Zhi said: "It is rumored that on the day Cai Maode left Pingyang with his people, Li Zicheng's army successfully crossed the Yellow River at Chuanwo (also known as Shawo) and conquered Hejin. Now I'm going straight to Pingyang. This matter is too big, I have sent someone to implement it, and there will be accurate information today anyway. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "It's a pity that the Yellow River is dangerous. It's child's play that they send a few thousand people to defend, so it's better not to send people. I can't figure out who is in charge of Shanxi's defense. Zhou Yuji didn't care about it. ”

Chen Yufeng said: "I have long lost hope in them, and the relationship between them is very complicated. The governor of Shanxi and the general army of Shaanxi were appointed by the imperial court, but they still had to listen to the king of Jin, and the Ming Dynasty was the world of the Zhu family after all. Li Zicheng's vanguard of 20,000 people was not enough to worry about, and they were the ones who fought at the front. However, they have already found out the truth of the Shanxi defenders for Li Zicheng. Li Zicheng's army, how could it be that they could not be dispatched until they were finished claiming the emperor. Hundreds of thousands of troops are mobilized, but it cannot be completed in a day or two. ”

At this time, a report came from outside the door: "Mr. Ouyang is back." ”

Chen Yufeng said: "It's so fast." It seems that he has some news too. ”

Mr. Ouyang, who has always been steady, walked in quickly and said, "Okay, you are all here." On our way back, we were met by the rout of Hezu, and I took in more than 500 people. Hajin has been occupied by Li Zicheng's people. What is infuriating is that the army of the imperial court fled and surrendered almost without resistance. I arranged for the officers and soldiers in Tongguan to let them not mess up, and retreat to Yaogang together, and then hurried back. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "In fact, it is no wonder that Shanxi and Shaanxi are only separated by a river. The Yellow River is more than 2,000 miles long in Shanxi and is a natural barrier set up by God for Shanxi. However, due to the long river shoreline, especially during the ice period of the Yellow River from December to the beginning of the first month of the first month of winter, people can cross the ice at any time and anywhere. It is impossible for the imperial court to send heavy troops to guard all the coasts. In the future, when we defend Shanxi, we must also take down Shaanxi. If there are men and horses guarding the Yellow River, it is better to occupy Shaanxi. ”

Ouyang He said: "On the way back, I was thinking about what should be prepared, and we have all prepared. What we need to do now is to get our fortifications done quickly, and then we will arrange for Liu Yun to immediately send someone to receive the team from Tongguan, and the soldiers who can be selected can be added to our team. ”

Chen Yufeng said: "It's no problem. We've finished talking to Ningde, and he agrees to do so. Now our squad leaders and above have been trained in rifle shooting. Li Yunhe said that their rifle production line works overtime every day, and at least 2,000 rifles can be produced by the end of the year, and if Li Zicheng can delay until February next year, we will be able to do it better. ”

Ouyang He said: "In fact, we have muskets, hand **, and mortars to deal with them. It's just that it's easier with a rifle. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "Let's not be careless, Li Zicheng commanded a total of more than 600,000 people, and it is enough to kill us for a while if we stand there." ”

Ouyang He said: "No matter how many of them are, it is impossible for them to all spread out with us at once. The direction in which their brigade attacked our kiln was to the south and west. In other places, we have already arranged ** formations, especially on those hillsides, and arranged some orientation**, which can solve big problems. What worries me is that, according to the brothers in Tongguan, when Li Zicheng and Sun Chuanting were fighting, they all let the hungry people take the lead, and if they let the hungry people take the lead and go to our ** formation, it would be troublesome. ”

Chen Yufeng said: "What Mr. Ouyang said is really troublesome. We thought that they drove cattle and sheep over to the ** formation, and made a lot of fences to block, for fear that they would use cavalry to attack, so we arranged to reject horses and tripping horses. But people, there is no way. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "We can use electric remote-controlled ** and flying thunder to bomb the soldiers behind the hungry people, and we can also use mortars to bomb the soldiers behind the people. After all, the soldiers who blend in with the hungry people will be in the minority. At that time, if the hungry people and soldiers rush in, we will destroy them with rifles. ”

Chen Yufeng said: "It can't be like this, let's talk about it then!" You can't be merciful in war. ”

"Let's hold a meeting early tomorrow morning, and the leaders of our kiln gang must enter a state of war ideologically, but do not publicize it to the rest of the masses for the time being. Let's try to make everyone have a good year. Zhang Zhimu said.

The next day's cadre meeting was attended by all the cadres above the middle level in the kiln. Before the meeting, it was not as dull as Zhang Zhimu thought, and everyone still talked and laughed together. It was as if he had never heard any disturbing messages.

At the beginning of the meeting, Zhang Zhimu emphatically said: "I ask everyone to keep the content of today's meeting strictly confidential. ”

The venue was quiet all of a sudden, and Zhang Zhimu continued: "Presumably, everyone has heard the news that Li Zicheng's army is marching towards Shanxi. I'm officially telling you today that it's true. The news I waited for this morning was that Li Zicheng's vanguard had taken Pingyang (Linfen). ”

Zhang Zhimu glanced up at everyone and said, "Actually, we don't have to be nervous, we have been waiting for this day for a long time." What I want to say is that from today onwards, everyone will enter a state of tension in their hearts. We do not expect that Li Zicheng's army will pose any threat to us before the year. I ask everyone not to disseminate unstable information after returning home, and to be vigilant and report to everyone who is found to have incited trouble. We must let everyone have a good Spring Festival. Our arrangement is that after the fifteenth year, all the people who have opened up the wasteland in Xishan will withdraw to the kiln. They have been conducting military training now, and Liu Yun reflected that they have practiced well. The lime factory, the brick and tile factory, and the two mines outside us will be withdrawn from the kilns by the end of January next year. The places we will defend in the future are the smelting yard, the Lingshui wharf, and our kiln gang. From today onwards, the defensive facilities of our kiln gang will also begin to be improved. If you have any ideas, or what we haven't thought of, you can also remind us at any time. ”

After Zhang Zhimu finished speaking, he saw that everyone still didn't look a little nervous. Zhang Zhimu glanced at Chen Yufeng, Chen Yufeng smiled slightly and said, "I look at everyone's appearance, there is nothing to be afraid of, is it?" ”

Those who attended the meeting burst into laughter. A middle-level cadre who attended the meeting for the first time said: "Oops! Since we started to build all kinds of civil fortifications in the kiln, we kiln people know that we will have to have this day sooner or later. But who are we still afraid of? Li Zicheng will come, what else can they do to our kiln people. We didn't hit them and cheapened them. Besides, most of our people in Yaogang were saved by Yaogang people, and I don't know how many times we died, we finally lived a good life, whoever comes to mess with us, I will fight with them. When the time comes, Mr. Zhang, you will say a word, and we kiln gang people, regardless of men, women and children, will go into battle together. You see, now we Yaogang people, even if the sky falls, no one will be afraid. Every day we go to war, we do whatever we have to do every day. No one can deal with us kiln people. ”

These words resonated with everyone, and Zhang Zhimu was also warm when he heard it. "Thank you for your trust in us, and I would like to make a promise to you," he said. We kiln gang people will not let anyone attack our kiln gang step. ”

The fortifications of the kiln gang were soon under construction. In fact, it is to insert wooden stakes into the pit dug before, bury the soil steadily, and pour water to freeze it firmly. The barbed wire fences are all bundled, and when pulled apart, they are tightened to the stakes with pliers. Some of the iron nets were laid out on the ground in circles, and the ground was nailed to the ground with large iron nails.

After arranging the barbed wire, Li Di came over and carefully inspected the iron wire that needed to be electrified. Because the energized barbed wire cannot be grounded, otherwise it will affect the effect of the power grid.

Zhang Zhimu just felt a little strange, the mentality of the kiln gang people didn't know why it was so good, those people, looking at the liveliness of the construction work, were all talking and laughing. Huang Yukun's words explain this mystery. Huang Yukun said: "Don't you see, don't we Yaogang people walk with their faces raised one by one? You defeated the Mongol cavalry and defeated the Manchu cavalry. These are all the officers and soldiers who ran away when they saw it. Who else can we Yaogang people be afraid of? As long as Li Zicheng formed an army of hungry people, he could still withstand our musketeers. Besides, no matter how young or old, we people in the kiln gang will not let them take advantage of us at all. If something really happens, I will come out and work hard. We Yaogang people are not afraid, it is a big deal to die, and those who eat and drink well in Yaogang will not give in to death. ”

Li Zicheng's attack on Shanxi caused panic everywhere in Shanxi. However, except for the kiln gang, the kiln gang people did two happy events that surprised Shanxi. One is the opening of the Yaogang Circle Erlou Department Store; The other is a large-scale marriage event.

Due to the advance publicity of the "Yaogang Weekly", the newspaper gave a detailed introduction to the Huanlou Department Store. So on the day of the opening, there was a huge crowd of guests and guests who came to attend the opening ceremony. The scene is also very lively. Lu Chengxiang invited a lot of lion dancers and all kinds of jugglers to cheer.

That night, the Yaogang Cultural Palace held its first commercial performance, of course, "Tang Guifei". The show was a great success. Unexpectedly, a ticket was originally sold for two taels of silver, but before the performance, it was sold for twenty taels of silver in private. Those who spend money to watch the show are big businessmen, and they are willing to spend money. Because they don't have a high status, they can't watch the performance without spending money, but being able to watch the performance here with money like everyone else is very good for them to find balance in their hearts. Not to mention that such a show is worth the money.

The Yaogang Department Store also opened the eyes of the merchants, who never thought that buying and selling could be done like this. Many of them often go to the mall in the morning and don't want to go out until the evening. The first is that the environment inside the mall is so beautiful. On a very cold day, it is indeed warm inside, because there is heating inside. Besides, people can't get enough of the products they've never seen before. There are even more young people, who prefer to look at the saleswomen from afar. Because in the Ming Dynasty, there were no women who came out to work like this. In particular, the waitresses are neatly dressed, all of them are clean, and they all look very beautiful.

When you enter the mall, it is easy for people to forget the troubles outside, and those young masters who have a little silver not only buy things to show their wealth, but also eat in the restaurants in the mall. Although the things are expensive here, the quality is absolutely first-class, not to mention that you can appear to have a lot of status here.

Another happy event in Yaogang is that the young men and women of Yaogang want to get married before the Spring Festival. Zhang Zhimu proposed to hold a group wedding, but was denied by Huang Yukun and others. Later, a compromise plan was used, that is, the New Year's lady of each family was taken back to her own home, and the guests attending the wedding were unified to several canteens to drink the wedding wine, and the wine money was given by the kiln gang head office. Unexpectedly, as soon as I signed up, there were more than 300 couples who got married together. This made Lu Chengxiang very happy, and he personally organized the wedding banquet. Picking up the bride and pretending to be the mother's family, there are sister-in-law Xu and Huang Yukun to help Zhang Luo, and those emcees are handled by the people in the troupe of Liu Banzhu. In short, on this day, more than 300 couples got married in Yaogang at once. Most of these newlyweds who have no relatives in Yaogang, they are all free to love, and the house is also arranged by the company. They were overjoyed to have such an opportunity to get married. Those who didn't catch up with this marriage, that envy, regretted that they didn't be bold and talked to their sweethearts earlier. As a result, this wedding led to the preparation of many young adults for marriage.

Although the kiln people are still lively on the surface, the preparations for war have not relaxed at all. Among them, Zhang Zhimu did one thing that made Yang Yulin very unhappy.

Because Yangchang asked the company to train the personnel of the telephone switchboard exchange earlier, Zhang Zhimu knew that this was a confidential position, and ordinary people could not work in this position. The person in this position must be articulate and have a bit of culture. In addition to these requirements, the person in charge of this position must also have some organizational skills. This person Zhang Zhimu is optimistic about Yang Yulin's Song Jiaxin. This girl is not only educated, but also clear-headed, although she is small feet and her movements are not flexible, but during this time, following Yang Yulin to work in her own office can be regarded as having seen the world, and she has also been exercised, so it is very suitable for her to be in charge of this work.

But as soon as Zhang Zhimu and Yang Yulin said it, Yang Yulin stopped doing it, and what he said was very ugly: "Don't beat my people anymore." They finally got acquainted with me, and I don't care where you want to go to find a woman. "It's just nonsense.

Zhang Zhimu said: "Since you care about her so much, wouldn't it be better if you could give her a better development opportunity and let her come out to lead a department?" Don't be too selfish. ”

Yang Yulin asked: "Then what kind of official are you going to arrange for her?" ”

"Set up a telephone exchange center on Uncle Chen's side, which is a very confidential department that needs to be on duty 24 hours a day. We don't dare to trust ordinary people. I see that Xiao Song has been with us for so long, and after our test, I think she can do this job. If you really think about her, you should let her take the job. Zhang Zhimu said.

Yang Yulin said: "Let me think about it! ”

------------------

Mechanics of Materials, Theoretical Mechanics, Elastic Mechanics, Fluid Mechanics. --Progress of "Memories of the Southern Song Dynasty".