Naturally, Dong Shuheng didn't know the situation in Yangzhou City. In this era without telegraphs or telephones, the transmission of information basically relied on running. The speed of information dissemination was only a little faster than people running.
At this time, Dong Shuheng and his team were marching on the road to Gaoyou. It was more than 90 kilometers from Dongtai to Gaoyou. There were dense water networks in the middle. Fortunately, Dong Shuheng and his team took the main road openly and did not need to build bridges over water.
During this march, Dong Shuheng wanted to test his team's marching ability.
A dirt road goes straight through the golden rapeseed fields, stretching into the distance. This is the boundary of Xinghua, Yangzhou Prefecture, and a group of ragged farmers are topdressing fertilizer in the green wheat fields.
Suddenly, there was the sound of neat running in the distance. Many people stopped their farm work and looked up. They saw an army in colorful clothes running along the road. This army was wearing a
It's full of things. The key is that so many things don't affect them from running forward at the same rhythm.
There were many people in the entire team and the team was very long, but no one stepped on the farmland next to it.
"Hey, dear, they are carrying muskets, right? Are they the army sent by the capital to surrender the bandits? Oh, no, the red flag seems to show "Huaihai Regiment Training". Huh? Never heard of it!" A squire
I saw it and muttered.
Dong Shuheng was in the team at this time. In order to set an example and boost morale, he marched with the team on foot. At this time, Dong Shuheng no longer had the usual handsome, elegant, and windy look. Sweat was mixed with the sweat rising on the road.
Dust has drawn ravines on his fair face. The braid on his head has also been soaked with sweat, and drops of sweat are flowing down the top of the braid. This makes Dong Shuheng, who usually loves cleanliness, really unbearable. Now in his heart
My biggest wish is to take a hot bath and change into clean clothes.
However, when he saw that the group member next to him carried dozens of kilograms more weight than him and was still gritting his teeth and persisting, Dong Shuheng could only persevere.
"Hey! As a protagonist, you have to be prepared to endure hardships! When I have a team of tens of thousands, I won't have to rush to the front to set an example."
Looking at the regiment members next to him, even Dong Shuheng, who had been influenced by a large number of divine dramas in later generations, still had to sigh: "What a group of good soldiers!"
It was already noon. According to the original plan, the emergency march had to be completed outside Gaoyou City. By this time, more than 40 kilometers or nearly half of the journey had been completed from morning to now. Dong Shuheng took a look.
Pocket watch. He gave the order to the bugler to rest for half an hour. Two short and thick whistles sounded. The long queue rang with the sound of passwords one after another. The company commanders heard the whistle and were giving instructions to the regiment members.
.
"Everyone in the company is here, rest where you are, for half an hour."
"Second Company..."
…
The soldiers sat on the weed mats on both sides of the road, took out their water bottles, and took a sip of the cold water they brought. Some soldiers took a bite of compressed biscuits with the water in their mouths, and suddenly the strong aroma of wheat flour filled their mouths.
Open.
Ding Li was assigned to the second battalion, third company, and first class. He ate the compressed biscuits in his hand and thought to himself: "It would be great if my parents, younger brothers, sisters, and wives could eat biscuits like this every day! No matter what,
Like this, be sure to take some with you next time you go home, otherwise you will save some food while in the army."
At this time, he noticed that the chairman was walking towards him. He quickly put away the food and water in his hands and stood up and saluted.
"Hello, Chairman, Ding Dingli, the first squad of the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Company, is taking a break for a meal."
"Thank you for your hard work, please continue!" Dong Shuheng said in return.
Under the dual influence of several Prussians and their own training program, his regiment at least surpassed the Qing Dynasty in terms of military appearance and rules. This is especially satisfying to Dong Shuheng. He actually has some obsessive-compulsive disorder and likes this kind of uniformity.
Feel.
There is a peninsula on the south side of Gaoyou Lake that plunges deep into the lake. It is called Qiaojiajian. There used to be a village. But it no longer exists. The current village is occupied by a group of water bandits, and the leader of the bandits is Lai Shancheng.
, this person is bold and cruel. He used to be a boat operator on the canal, and occasionally robbed cargo ships. Moreover, this person always robbed money and silenced his mouth, and his methods were vicious. Therefore, he has not been wanted by the government for so many years.
After Yangzhou was occupied by the Taiping Army, he gathered dozens of ships and nearly a thousand people to move around Gaoyou Lake. They looted from all sides and absorbed the young and strong refugees, and there was a vague tendency to grow bigger. At this time, Lai Shancheng was sitting on the top of Qiao's house.
In the main hall of Qiao's courtyard, there was a girl in the front and back rubbing his shoulders and legs, which felt very comfortable.
Taking advantage of the chaos in Yangzhou, Lai Shancheng and his gang of thieves robbed many young ladies, and of course they kept the best ones for themselves. This Yangzhou young lady was a water spirit and could also serve others. Moreover, Lai Shancheng found that by giving his brother
They send women to make their men more loyal to him.
Lai Shancheng is also a man with great ambitions. He is not satisfied with the status quo of being a bandit. Now, he is preparing to do something big. He has signed a certificate of surrender and voted for Changmao. It is said that there is a high-ranking official in Changmao also named Lai, who said
Maybe he can even get some relatives. Maybe Liu Dahai can become a general when he gets there!
By the way, Lao Lai was also lucky. Someone who claimed to be the manager of the Huang family approached him. This Huang family had some friendship with him in the past, and he had even helped the Huang family do several dirty jobs.
This time, the Huang family approached me generously. They offered me five thousand taels to kill a group of Dong family members who had just arrived in Gaoyou. No matter what the Huang family's purpose was, Lao Lai planned to take over the job.
First, these group trainers are all newbies, and their combat effectiveness is definitely not strong. The old brothers under him have all seen blood. Secondly, these group trainers are going to help defend Yangzhou. If eaten, they can be used as a refuge for Taiping.
Military certificate of surrender.
Lao Lai convened a few big bosses to discuss it, and decided to send a few brothers to explore the surrounding areas of Gaoyou City, mainly to see when the group would arrive.
Gaoyou City is built next to the east bank of Gaoyou Lake and faces Yangzhou City across the lake. The land here is fertile and the population is dense. It can be regarded as a large and first-class county.
At this time, the sun sets in the west, and the afterglow of the setting sun shines on the lake, making the sparkling lake surface seem to be covered with a layer of golden scales.
Wei Yuzhen stood on the high watchtower of the city gate, wearing a goose-yellow double-breasted cheongsam and a swan on her head. Today she did not look at the beautiful sunset on the lake in the west. A pair of bright eyes stared closely at the east that was eroded by the night.
The earth. She remembered a poem that the boy named Dong wrote for herself a few days ago. This guy was obviously a businessman, and he also imitated other people's dance and calligraphy. But the poem he wrote was pretty good!
"Outside the long pavilion, beside the ancient road, the green grass reaches the sky. The evening wind blows the willow flute, and the sunset is outside the mountains. At the end of the sky, at the corner of the earth, acquaintances are half scattered. A pot of turbid wine is all the fun, don't sleep in the cold tonight. Chang Pavilion
Outside, beside the ancient road, the green grass reaches the sky. I asked you when to come here, and when you come, don't wander around. At the end of the sky, in the corner of the earth, acquaintances are half scattered. Life is rarely full of joyful gatherings, but only partings are many." She whispered in her mouth softly.
He hummed, and his face turned red without realizing it.
"Miss, you are a nymphomaniac again!" Ying'er beside her whispered.
Dong Shuheng really didn't have the energy to go on a date with a beautiful woman at this time. His team members were okay. After all, they had endured all kinds of hardships. At least they had enough to eat and clothing to wear now. Although he was a young man, he had also stepped up his exercise recently.
But along the way, he felt that his bones were about to fall apart. In order to avoid misunderstandings, Dong Shuheng placed the team in Xiejia Town, east of Gaoyou City. After clearing the paperwork with the town, the team set up camp outside the city.
Daying. There was no need for Dong Shuheng to personally take care of the matter of setting up camp. After he handed over the command of the regiment to Liu Qingnan, he led a guard squad into the town. He only wanted to do one thing now - take a hot bath and sleep.
Sleep peacefully.
After a rare early sleep, Dong Shuheng naturally woke up early in the morning. He washed briefly, changed into an ordinary scholar's green shirt, and entered Gaoyou City with a few disguised guards.
Gaoyou City is obviously much more prosperous than Dongtai, after all, it is close to Yangzhou. After Yangzhou was occupied, many large households moved to Gaoyou, which also caused abnormal prosperity here.
Dong Shuheng found a shop that sells steamed buns. When he comes to Gaoyou, he always tries the steamed buns here. During his senior year in high school in his previous life, Dong Shuheng basically had a basket of Yangzhou steamed buns every morning. The meat fillings of Yangzhou steamed buns are filled with sugar, which makes them taste special.
Fresh. He ordered ten steamed buns in one go, called the guards who were accompanying him to eat together, and each ordered a bowl of tofu curd. He burped, and his throat was filled with the aroma of beans.
Dong Shuheng’s first goal in traveling is to eat snacks from all over the world and see if these famous foods have changed in taste after a hundred years of development. In the future, he also wants to try Xinjiang’s baked buns, Kazakh horse intestines, and Russian sausages.
Lieba...
By the way, take a look at the baked naan Xishi and bread Xishi without filters...
After breakfast, he had to do a housework. His younger sisters, Dong Shuyun and Dong Shumei, had been brought to their parents' home by his third wife for some time. He came here this time to have someone take his sister back to Dongtai. After all, Gaoyou is not very safe near Yangzhou.
The third wife, Bai, came from a medium-sized merchant family in Gaoyou. Due to the previous incident with the Huang family, she had some trouble with Dong Shuheng.
In the Bai family, there was a knock on the door early in the morning. The concierge opened the door and saw a handsome young man. The concierge did not know Dong Shuheng. After Dong Shuheng announced his door, the concierge went to report to the master's house. Soon a forty-year-old man appeared.
A few years old middle-aged man came out.
The middle-aged man's name is Bai Qing, and he is the elder brother of the third lady. He is wearing a long gown, has a square face without beard, and is smiling. He looks very kind. He is an authentic businessman. He is still able to do this even though he knows about the feud between Dong Shuheng and the third lady.
This shows that he is a smooth person.
Bai Qing and Dong Shuheng chatted for a while and then asked Dong Shuheng to be led to the courtyard where the third lady lived.
Passing through a flower door, Dong Shuheng saw two girls embroidering on the porch from a distance. These twin sisters must be his sisters.
"Second brother? Look, it's second brother here!" Seeing someone coming in, one of the girls jumped up and ran towards Dong Shuheng.
"Are you Shuyun?" Dong Shuheng raised his hand to block the girl who almost jumped into his arms.
"Oh, second brother, I am Shumei, how come you can't even recognize me?" Dong Shumei said coquettishly. It is obvious that this Shumei has a lively and lively temperament.
At this time, another girl looked over with a smile, and said with a slight salute: "Hello, second brother." Then she said seriously to her sister: "Sister, if you don't stand still, you have no manners in front of second brother."
Oops, the contrast in the personalities of these two girls is too great.
At this time, a middle-aged woman walked out of the house. This woman looked about thirty. She was dressed in white plain clothes, with only a few wintersweet flowers embroidered on the skirt. Her hair was pulled up high, and she looked like a reality.
The version of White Snake.
"No wonder, my two sisters are so beautiful. It turns out that they have good genes." Dong Shuheng thought to himself.
"Ahem..." Mrs. Bai saw Dong Shuheng staring at her and looked up and down, and immediately became very angry. She thought to herself: "This boy is getting more and more unruly. No wonder he did the disobedient thing he did last time. I'll marry my wife
Is it my daughter’s turn to be the host?”
When Dong Shuheng heard Bai's clear cough, he quickly came to his senses and saluted awkwardly: "Greetings to Sanniang, is everything going well in Gaoyou?"
"Everything is good to me, brother, and no one here makes things difficult for us, mother-in-law! You can rest assured, Shu Hengda." Bai said in a weird way.
Dong Shuheng ignored Bai's words and said loudly: "My son, I have been ordered by the imperial court to lead troops to support Yangzhou. I have to stay in Gaoyou for a few days. I have nothing to do today. I want my two sisters to take me to visit Gaoyou City.
Please Sanniang agree." Dong Shuheng doesn't want to stay with this Sanniang anymore, even if you look like White Snake.
Bai wanted to refuse, but Hou Shumei said first, "Okay, okay, my second brother has come all the way, so my sister should show her loyalty as a landlord!"
"You are just doing your best to be a landlord!" Bai Shi glared at Shumei.
"Mom, I think I can go out with my second brother for a walk. My sister and I are just strolling around the city and not going out of the city gate, so there won't be any problem." At this time, Shuyun also stood up and said.
Seeing her well-behaved eldest daughter saying the same thing, Bai had no choice but to agree.
The main street of Gaoyou City is divided into east and west markets. The east market is mostly filled with restaurants and restaurants, and the west market is closer to the water transport terminal and has many department stores, grain, oil, fish and salt shops. There are many snack and sideshow stalls on the street. What was in Yangzhou City in the past is now available here.
.Walking on the streets of Gaoyou City, Shumei wanted to buy this now and then that. When she saw the gun on Dong Shuheng's waist, she actually wanted to take it out to play with, which frightened Dong Shuheng and quickly refused.
Shuyun followed Dong Shuheng quietly, occasionally saying a few words.
At this time, in a rouge shop in the distance, an official lady and a little maid were buying gouache.
"Miss, look quickly, isn't that Master Dong?"
When Wei Yuzhen heard about the reputation, it turned out to be Dong Shuheng. But who were the two pretty ladies next to him? They didn't look like his maids. Wei Yuzhen suddenly felt an inexplicable grievance in her heart.
She turned around with her back to Ying'er and said, "Ying'er, I'm not feeling well, let's go home!"