Zhangjiakou Fort is located at the gap of the Great Wall, and there are many people entering and exiting the Great Wall Pass. However, it is the coldest time in winter, and no one wants to go out at this time.
If you go to the grassland now, you are not making money, you are seeking death. Horses will freeze to death, let alone people.
However, some people still go to Zhangjiakou because this is the distribution center for trade between the grasslands and the mainland. There are a lot of furs and grassland products in the city. Although transportation is cut off in winter, the connection between Zhangjiakou City and the mainland is not completely interrupted.
Li Jike was a squadron leader, and he had a hundred cavalrymen. This time they captured the Mopan Village Fort in the middle of the night and stationed themselves here, pretending to be the original guard soldiers.
This is a small village, and there is a guard stationed by a general banner. The standard number of soldiers of the general banner is fifty, but not even half of the people in the guard station have fled long ago.
There are actually only twenty-six people here, and they are all old soldiers over forty years old.
This is the south entrance of the valley behind Zhangjiakou. The location is very important. Li Jike's purpose is to block this place and block the traffic between Zhangjiakou and Xuanfu Town.
The small villages are all built with stone walls along the hillside. There is a beacon and a watchtower. Now, the more than twenty captured guardsmen have been chained up and guarded in the dungeon of the watchtower.
In the early morning, a group of carriages came here.
It was foggy in the morning, but we could still see that a new wooden fence and wooden gate had been added to the valley entrance, a dozen meters long, blocking the official road.
Ten soldiers stood at the gate, wearing mandarin duck war coats with black hair and sour hair.
"Commander, these clothes are rotten, and the smell of sweat makes me dizzy." Wu Commander Chai Shanping complained.
"You kid, just bear with it. The one I'm wearing is no better than the one you're wearing. It's just as rancid and smelly. Damn it, I guess I haven't washed it since my hair." Wang Da'an, the team leader, said with disgust.
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"Just make do with it. If you don't wear this outfit, your secret will be revealed soon," said Wu Commander Luo Dayong.
"Let's wash these clothes before wearing them. It's unhygienic and will get all the lice and fleas on us," Han Jin said.
"Wash it, these clothes haven't been washed for decades. The cloth is ruined. If you rub it with water, it won't be like rags anymore. Just bear with it," Wang Da'an, the team leader, scolded.
Yang Fan's soldiers are already used to being clean. They have to take a bath once a week. If it's summer, they take a shower every night before resting. After all, the intensity of exercise is high and they sweat a lot. If they are not washed, they will go rancid quickly.
Now I raided this outpost and put on the clothes of these guard soldiers, making them feel uncomfortable all over.
The reason why we let this group come to the front is because this group is composed of Han people.
"Who are you, stop, let's go and fire arrows again." Hu Yaozu shouted loudly.
In the mist in the distance, a motorcade came.
"Don't shoot the arrows, don't shoot the arrows. We are a caravan from the Xuanfu. We are transporting food to Zhangjiakou and in exchange for some furs."
"Go back, the road here is closed, and the valley inside has landslided. It's impossible to walk." Hu Yaozu shouted loudly.
"Ah, fellow military lords, when will the officialdom be repaired?" the shopkeeper asked in surprise.
This is the only access to Zhangjiakou. If a landslide occurred in this valley, it would be equivalent to losing contact with Zhangjiakou.
"I don't know. Let's go back first. There is an inn ten miles behind. You go there and wait. I will notify you when the official road is cleared. There is free accommodation and cheap food."
Seeing the impatient look of these soldiers, the caravan group did not dare to say anything more and had no choice but to walk back.
"Old Zhao, don't you think the guardsmen we met today are a little strange?"
"When you say that, I feel a little strange. Why are they so polite? They don't extort money."
"And I think these people have a special spirit. Their whole spirit is different. I can't tell what is different."
"Yes, their spirits are different. I feel that they have become cleaner, which gives people a refreshing feeling. Those guardsmen in the past were all old men, and they did not wash their faces all winter.
.It smells bad when you get closer."
"Yes, these soldiers are all young men. They all look less than twenty years old. How can there be such young soldiers in the guardhouse? It's really strange."
Lao Zhao waved his hands and said: "Forget it, these things are not something that ordinary people like us can guess. Who knows what those generals and gentlemen are doing. Don't get into trouble. Let's just go to that inn and stay there.
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"That inn is also very strange. It didn't exist before. It didn't exist when I came last month. It suddenly appeared. It's made of wood and it's not even painted. But the service is pretty good and the waiter is attentive.
The charges are also very cheap. The accommodation also provides hot water. The horse feed is also good, and they are all good bean cakes. The house is also warm. "
"Let's go, let's go live first. We'll talk about it in two days."
At this time, Yang Fan, with 80,000 soldiers from the capital and 100,000 civilians, had been staying at Jiming Fort for ten days. The entire army was free to eat, drink and have fun. In a short period of time, local businesses and people benefited greatly.
For a time, everyone praised him and hoped that the army could stay longer.
Originally, when an army arrived in a local area, it was as if they were facing a formidable enemy. It is said that bandits passed by like combs and soldiers passed by like grates.
The soldiers not only bullied the market and refused to give money when buying things, but also harassed women. They even killed good people to take credit. Once the Ming Dynasty was in turmoil, the homeless and beggars would almost be killed by the rebel soldiers.
Because these people had their heads chopped off to take credit, and no one came forward to avenge them. Since there is no one to blame, it is safest to chop off their heads.
After these Beijing-based troops entered the city, merchants and people became panic-stricken.
However, everyone soon discovered that these soldiers never harassed the place, they spoke kindly, and their business was fair. Most importantly, they found that these soldiers were rich. They were not comparable to the poor guys in the guard station. Each one of them was rich.
Spend generously.
Especially in brothels and secret houses, business is booming. For a time, the business is booming, and it is difficult to make money. These soldiers also have many good things, and the local ladies prefer them to use these things to pay the bills.
Towels, toothbrushes and toothpaste, canned luncheon meat (produced in Duolun), soaps, candies, cigarettes, etc. These are very popular commodities in Beizhili, and they can't be bought without any channels. Businessmen in the capital are listening to this.
After hearing the news, everyone rushed to buy these things.
Especially canned luncheon meat, which is made from the offal offal of cattle, sheep and pigs slaughtered in Duolun, crushed and mixed with starch and spices.
The cost is very low, but the heat is super high. Moreover, the tinplate plate produced by the tinplate workshop of Xincheng Steel Plant is used as the outer metal box. The shelf life is three years, so it can be stored for a long time.
This stuff is high in calories, low cost, and tastes good. It is a popular junk food.
Yang Fan sold it to His Majesty at a fair price to distribute it to the officers and soldiers to replenish calories. After all, if everyone is as skinny as a march to Guihua City in the winter, there would be no need to fight.
In this era, meat was too scarce and too expensive. Even vegetable oils were very expensive. Most people could not afford it. This kind of meat that could be preserved for a long time immediately conquered the people of the Ming Dynasty.