Ma Xianglin came to the bow of the ship, looked at the thick smoke rising in the distance, and said with some surprise: "That shouldn't be the case, isn't the slave capital built around the imperial capital? Why are you here? We are almost to the Tianjin Acropolis."
"
Zhang Fengyi also stared into the distance. This is a large lake with vast smoke and many sandbars and reed marshes. The distance is unclear, but the shouts of killing can be heard and smoke columns can be seen.
There are many villages in Tianjin with "Gu" as their common name. Tianjin's urban development and cultural history are deeply influenced by "Gu". Therefore, Tianjin's nicknames include "Jingu", "Gushang", "Seventy-two Gu", etc.
"Gu" is the name of an ancient shallow lake, which formed a channel into the sea over time.
Tianjin was dotted with lakes in the late Ming Dynasty, many of which were the same as the imperial capital upstream. There were too many waterways to get to Tianjin from the imperial capital. The rivers were as dense as a spider web. Even Baoding and Tianjin were connected by rivers.
The fleet is now traveling to the largest lake in North China - Triangle Lake. How big is this lake? It is several times larger than Baiyangdian. It is a pig kidney-shaped lake located about ten kilometers northwest of Tianjin Acropolis.
Many rivers such as the Yongding River in the upper reaches flow into this place, and then flow out from the Triangle Lake into the Grand Canal. The river channel is wide, the water depth is seven to eight meters, and the navigation conditions are very good.
There are many sandbanks and small islands in the lake, with dense reeds growing there. It was here that the cargo that Yang Fan escorted Mrs. Taozi the year before last was collected fifty taels of silver by the tracker's gang.
These wetlands were full of waterfowl and rich in fish. At that time, Tianjin was really dotted with lakes, and the water surface at the lower end of the Jiuhe River was much wider than that of the later Jiuhe River.
"Where is that place?" Qin Liangyu said to Fan Shoufan. Qin Liangyu led troops to Beijing many times and even went as far as Liaodong. But he had never walked through the canal waterway.
"That's Yujiajia Village. It's a village where fishing is the main business. At the same time, we grow some food by the lake. It's all saline-alkali land, so we can't harvest much food. But it's all ownerless land, and we don't have to pay taxes." Fan Shoufan
said.
The sound of gunfire was heard in the distance again.
"We don't need to pay attention to them. Many fishermen also work part-time as water bandits when they are not fishing. However, we have a battalion of militiamen on board and are not afraid of them." Fan Shoufan said.
The small steamer of the fleet was churning and moving forward with smoke and fire. The sound and smoke column could be seen far away. In a reed swamp in the distance, Chen Laoqi reported to an old man with a white beard: "Old man
, a steamer came downstream, it should be the ship from Dingyuan."
From Beijing to Tianjin, everyone knows that there is a steam engine for power transportation, and it is the Dingyuan Hou family. Others do not have this thing at all. Others at most have steam engines for pumping water.
The old man with a white beard looked to be over seventy years old, but his back was still strong. He was holding a simple knife and standing upright. He was still wearing the clothes he wore two years ago. When Yang Fan came with the Japanese pirates, they made a fortune.
, iron armor and leather armor stripped from the corpses and wounded soldiers of the guard station.
That time, they made a fortune and seized more than 100 spears, more than 100 bows and arrows, more than 36,000 arrows and arrow clusters, more than 70 pieces of armor, and 100 three-eyed blunderbuss and bird blunderbuss.
There are many poles. This is enough to arm three or four hundred households.
The first residents of this village were veterans who returned from the Wanli Dynasty's expedition to Korea.
Three general banners and more than a hundred people were placed here by the government and allocated land. The officers and soldiers of this hundred-household station married wives and had children, and the descendants multiplied to form a village. Over the past few decades, four generations of them have lived under one roof.
There are still three old men in their seventies left among the veterans. The others are the children and grandchildren of these veterans.
Seeing that the world was about to be in chaos, the old men gathered together and formed a village protection team. More than 280 strong young men and middle-aged people were armed.
They usually fish and farm, and during the slack time, they pull out the young men to practice military training.
Ever since the village protection team was formed, the fishermen no longer dared to come and exploit them. Those who came before had entered the reed swamp and never came out again. They sent people to ask the housekeepers, but they shook their heads like rattles and said they didn't see it.
After a few times, no fishermen dared to collect the farm money anymore.
They are guard stations, and the government does not come to collect taxes, and there are no corvee labor. Although the yield of saline-alkali land is low, there is a lot of wasteland and there is no shortage of water. Therefore, they can support a family.
However, the quiet days are over. News came the day before yesterday that Ma Dengkou Village was massacred by a group of Mongolian Tatars. It is only more than ten miles away from Yujiujiu Village and separated by a small southern river.
There are 500 households in Ma Dengkou Village. There is a Tuweizi, which is also a 100-household residence.
However, their hundreds of households and general banners do not do any serious work. They only know how to exploit military households. Many young people have run away, leaving a few old men and children lingering around.
As a result, a team of more than 100 Mongolian cavalry arrived. In less than half an hour, they broke through Tuweizi and entered the village. Hundreds of households, two general banners, and five small banners were all shot to death. More than fifty people were shot dead.
More than half of the soldiers died. Except for the more than 50 villagers living outside who fled to Yujiajia Village, most of them suffered.
The news came that Yujiajia Village had been bombed, and everyone was clamoring to flee to Tanggu.
Old man Chen slammed the table angrily and cursed: "You useless things. The Tatars haven't even arrived yet, so you're thinking of running away. Who will hit the Tatars if they run away? If there's no one to resist, the Tatars are still in limbo."
Is it the human realm? If we catch up to Tanggu, where will you run? Will you go to the sea to feed the bastard?"
"Uncle, it's not that we don't want to resist. The key is that we can't beat the cavalry. The Tatars' archery skills are great. We are no match." Chen Dahai said aggrievedly.
"Shit! I think you are just trying to increase the prestige of others, and you are a bit short and a bit strong. It's not like I haven't fought against the Tatars back then. When I was Qi Shuai, your father and I didn't fight in Jizhen.
They scurried away with their heads in their hands.”
The old man's name is Chen Zhong. He was the first general of the Hundred Household Office. He was later promoted to the Hundred Household Office due to his meritorious service. Now his son has inherited the Hundred Household Office and has gone to Tianjin Acropolis City. Only he retired in the Household Village.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Zhao Beixing, the other remaining boss, said: "After all, the Tatars still have more than a hundred cavalry. How to fight requires long-term planning. Don't be reckless."
At this time, a man dressed as a scribe raised his hands and said, "I have an idea."
The speaker was Lin Xiucai. He was in his fifties this year. He had never passed the civil examination. He was also discouraged and gave up his career. Just two years ago, he made a fortune in Jiajiu Village and raised several injured horses.
Sold for about one hundred taels of silver.
Once he had money, Chen Zhong considered hiring a husband for his children and opening a restaurant in the village so that the next generation could learn some words and not be blind. If there is someone smart, say
Maybe there will be a master who can lift people.
It would be great if there was a juren. Housework would be prosperous.
So he invited scholar Lin Siyuan to open a private school and give lessons to the children who were busy with housework.
People in this era respect teachers and education. As soon as he spoke, everyone in the chaos fell silent. Chen Zhong cupped his hands and said, "If Mr. Lin has any advice, just tell me."
"I can't speak of advice, but I'm a bit ignorant. I thought, the people from the north are good at horses, and the people from the south are good at boats. We make a living by fishing in Jiujia Village, and we are very skilled in handling small boats. We fish on land.
But for the Tatar cavalry, we might as well lead them into the reed swamps. Once they get there, our world will be ours. It's not up to us to flatten or round them." Mr. Lin said, stroking his beard.
Suddenly, the people below started a heated discussion again.
"Yes, we have led the Tatars into the reed swamps and are dealing with them. We are familiar with the terrain. They are outsiders and they will get lost if they go in."
"It's a good idea, but how do you lure them here? They are not stupid, and they may not be willing to enter the reed marsh."
Mr. Lin said: "There are ways. The Tatars are used to being arrogant. They fought all the way without encountering any decent resistance. They must be very lax. Let's send all the family members to hide deep in the reed swamp tonight."
Then we will sneak attack at dawn, set a fire, and then run back. The Tatars will definitely chase us."