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The thin man looked at the tail of the money rat, and his heart seemed to be cut off, and he replied with a smile: "General Qi, my name is You Jinlei."

Wu Dinggui asked: "What do you do for a living in Jinzhou?"

You Jinlei replied: "Jinzhou officials collect fish maw from fishermen, and I will boil the fish maw. After it is cooked, there will be bannermen... Tartars came from Gaizhou and took away the boiled fish maw. Some food will be counted as rations. When they come, they will take away other military supplies besides isinglass.”

Hu Dinggui finally understood that the Han people who stayed in Jinzhou City specially provided military materials for the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

For example, fish maw glue is a necessity for making compound bows.

Hu Dinggui asked: "Is there a weapons factory in Gaizhou City?"

You Jinlei nodded: "Yes, they specialize in making bows and arrows and cotton armor. However, after the Tartars moved away, they probably took away many artisans, and Gaizhou collected less isingas than before. The rations given were also less and less. After spring, people will definitely starve to death."

Hu Dinggui looked at these people, and there were only 3000 to [-] people left in the city, and all of them were sallow and emaciated.

Hu Dinggui had some calculations in his mind, and asked Meng Huai'en, a civil servant accompanying the army, to organize the people in the city to go to the seaside to carry food.

As a result, there was a shortage of manpower, and the local people happened to be the folks who moved the food.

The second is to use work as relief and distribute some food to the people.

The third is to register and make a book, and compile the household registration of the people in the city while moving the grain and grass.

Hearing that one would be given rations as a civilian husband, the people of Jinzhou immediately became excited and followed Meng Huaien to the beach one after another.

Hu Dinggui left You Jinlei behind and asked, "How much population is left in the Jinzhou territory?"

You Jinlei shook his head: "I don't know."

Hu Dinggui asked again: "Where is the nearest Eight Banners Army stationed?"

You Jinlei said: "Gaizhou."

Hu Dinggui asked again: "How many Eight Banners troops are there in Gaizhou?"

You Jinlei shook his head again: "I don't know."

This guy doesn't know what to ask, but it's normal.They can't even afford to eat, how can they have the time to pay attention to other things?

Hu Dinggui occupied Jinzhou, settled down his soldiers, and sent cavalry to scout around.

A few days later, sentry cavalry brought back news one after another.

Except for the official road leading to Gaizhou, the rest of the roads are mostly submerged in weeds.

The wilderness is full of ruined villages, houses and lands that belonged to the Bannermen.With an order from Dorgon, the bannermen not only took away the serfs, but also burned down the houses.

Sometimes I rode for a whole day without seeing any people.

It quickly became pristine, and commercial and agricultural activities all but disappeared!

The sentinels who came back from Jinzhou Zhongzuo Station (Lushun) reported that there were only a few hundred fishermen left there.There are ten families of Han soldiers living in the fort, who are responsible for expropriating fish maw, and they themselves have to cultivate land and fish for a living.

Immediately afterwards, the sentry cavalry who went to Fuzhou to inquire also came back.

The forts and checkpoints along the way were all abandoned, and no one could be found, only occasionally encountering a few farmers in the wild.

Hearing the news, Wu Huapu approached Hu Dinggui: "I want to take a day off and buy some wine from the army."

"Why do you suddenly want to drink?" Hu Dinggui asked.

Wu Huapu said sadly: "I can't hold it anymore, I want to drink some wine and sleep. I am from Liaodong, and I know what it is like here. Jinzhou and Fuzhou are both large counties in Liaodong, especially Jinzhou, which used to be full of business travelers. In the past There are more merchants living in Jinzhou than in the whole city now! There is also Fuzhou, where there are farmlands everywhere, and there is no need to worry about food at all, but now it is deserted. What the hell has all this become?"

Hu Dinggui patted Wu Huapu on the shoulder: "Make an exception tonight, I will drink with you!"

While they were drinking, six sentry riders from Datong came outside Fuzhou City to inquire about news.

The six went straight to the bottom of the city, wanting to observe the situation of the city defense.

Suddenly the gates of the city opened wide, and a Han civil servant, leading officials and military officers, went out of the city to greet them with nodding and bowing their heads.

"Is this, treating us as Tartar soldiers?"

"Perhaps... yes."

"Never mind him, let's go in and talk!"

"..."

Six cavalry rushed towards the city gate.

Fuzhou officials didn't take it seriously, because the Tartar cavalry were all elite, and they were used to showing off their power in normal times, so they often rode their horses like this in the city.

The six cavalry in front of me, although they were dressed a little strangely, were not like the various cavalry of the Qing Dynasty.But in the land of Liaodong, who else could there be besides the master of the Eight Banners?Maybe it's time for a change.

The Datong cavalry charged closer and closer, and Fuzhou officials greeted them with smiles, and finally bent their waists and lowered their heads.

"Clang clang!"

Six waist knives were drawn out, and they aimed at the official and hacked randomly.

"Forgive me!"

The surviving officials fled in all directions, four of the six Datong cavalry rushed into the city, and the remaining two chased and killed them outside the city.

The people in the city couldn't figure out what was going on, so they hid in fright.

In this way, the six cavalry who came to inquire about the news directly occupied Fuzhou City.

After some interrogation, I got important news: In Gaizhou City further north, 50 people from the Eight Banners of Manchuria were stationed, and 100 people from the Eight Banners of the Han Army, and there were only 150 defenders in total.

Don't think it's too little, it's already too much!

There are only 15 cities left in the Northeast with troops left behind. Even in Shengjing (Shenyang), the home of the Tartars, there are only 800 people stationed there.Xingjing (Xinbin County), as the land of Longxing in the Manchu Qing Dynasty, had only 50 troops in the garrison.

Gaizhou is a strategically important place and must be taken seriously, so there are 150 soldiers left.

"There are really only more than 100 soldiers?" Hu Dinggui couldn't believe it.

Wang Yaochen said with a smile: "Soldiers are precious and fast, let's fight by boat."

Due to the terrain, once Gaizhou is taken, it is tantamount to controlling the Liaodong Peninsula, and a fool will let go of this good opportunity!

And until now, the Manchu Qing defenders in Gaizhou did not know that Jinzhou and Fuzhou had been taken away by the Datong Army.After all, the snow has not yet melted, and the wilderness is deserted, who the hell wants to run around?

Hu Dinggui built hundreds of simple wooden ladders in Jinzhou, and immediately the whole army sailed to Gaizhou.

After landing by the sea, they pushed the artillery and carried the simple ladder, and went straight to Gaizhou City.

Due to the boat trip and the snow-covering, Wu Huapu only had more than 2300 war horses left, and dozens of horses were sick and thrown in Jinzhou.He took these cavalry and immediately circled to the north to cut off the escape route of the enemy in the city.

Thousands of Datong soldiers, armed with artillery, attacked the city garrisoned by 150 men.

What suspense can there be?

The people in the city were so frightened that they all hid, and the soldiers of the Eight Banners did not dare to force the people to defend the city, fearing that they would all turn against each other.

The defenders didn't even prepare materials for defending the city, and they all relied on bows and arrows to shoot.

After only a moment of attacking the city, the Datong army climbed up the city wall and formed an formation to fight with the Eight Banners soldiers on the city.

Moreover, the 50 Manchu Eight Banners were fighting hard, but the 100 Han Army Eight Banners ran away.

The real elites have been taken away by Dorgon long ago, how many of the remaining ones can be beaten?

"Not a single one!"

Seeing that the Eight Banners of the Han army fled from the city, Wu Huapu rushed over with his cavalry.He hated Tartars and traitors, and it would be best to kill them all.

More than 2300 cavalry, chasing and killing 100 Han Army Eight Banners infantry.

"Forgive me, I'm Han Chinese!"

An officer knelt down directly, Wu Huapu put his legs between the horse's belly, and stopped pulling the reins with his only arm, he drew his knife and slashed at the Eight Banners officer of the Han Army.

Blood splattered.

Wu Huapu laughed loudly: "Come on, come on, this life is worth it!"

Hu Dinggui, who had already boarded the city, shouted: "Don't kill them all, save a few alive for interrogation!"

There were more than a dozen Manchurian Eight Banners left. Seeing that there was no way to escape, they simply assembled and launched a charge.

"Array!"

"Bang bang bang bang!"

Taking advantage of the melee soldiers attacking the city, the gunfire soldiers had already lit the matchlock, loaded the ammunition, and climbed up the city wall.

Seeing the enemy charging, Hu Dinggui didn't bother to fight recklessly, and let the gunfire soldiers shoot directly.

This battle was fought outrageously. The original plan was to rebuild Dongjiang Town on Phi Island.

After learning about the situation in the Northeast, they changed to occupy Jinzhou as a military base.Unexpectedly, six cavalry captured Fuzhou, and now they took down Gaizhou, an important military town.

Except for the mountainous areas, the entire Liaodong Peninsula is controlled by the Datong Army.

But in this vast area, the three cities plus the wild villages have a total population of less than 10.

After some interrogation, he soon learned of the military situation.

Both Haizhou and Liaoyang have defenders, the number of which is about the same as Gaizhou.

The population around Shenyang is the largest, many Manchus have not migrated, and there are still a large number of domestic slaves and serfs.

"Do you still want to fight?" Wang Yaochen asked.

Hu Dinggui gritted his teeth: "Go straight to Shenyang and overthrow the Tartars' lair!"

"How is the grain and grass transported?" Wang Yaochen asked.

The previous three cities were all on the seashore, but the next one will go deep into the hinterland.

Hu Dinggui said: "The snow has almost melted, and the people in the three cities are recruited to transport food. The soldiers are quick, don't bring artillery, first take Haizhou, then take Liaoyang, and finally take Shenyang."

Hu Dinggui then ordered Wu Huapu: "The cavalry go ahead and bypass Haizhou. According to the confessions of the captives, after passing Haizhou, there will be more farmers outside the city. If there is no food, they will go all the way. The cavalry will kill the Tartars when they see them. Shenyang, Liaoyang The reserved population is specially used to provide soldiers for the Eight Banners of Manchuria. The more people are killed in those places, the less the Manchu Qing will have outside the customs.”

"Okay, this military order is exactly what I want!" Wu Huapu was overjoyed.

Chapter 401 [Broken Haizhou]

Jin Guozhen's ancestors were nobles of Goryeo. After the founding of Joseon, the power of his family declined rapidly.

Today, the main clan is still a landlord, but those like him have been reduced to tenants.

Even as a tenant, Jin Guozhen is more noble than ordinary tenants.Because he has a surname, it proves that his ancestors were rich, and the real North Korean civilians don't even have a surname.

The Japanese and Manchu invasions led to the collapse of Korean social order.A large number of civilians took the opportunity to occupy unowned land, and by the way stole the surname of the original landowner.

You heard that right, stealing last names!

With a surname, you are eligible to own land in North Korea.

Jin Guozhen did not reap any benefits, but was kidnapped by Manqing instead.Along with four other Han Chinese and one Korean, they were assigned to the Manchus as serfs—they didn’t even have coats.

After spring, continue to thaw.

This year's weather is good, the snow melted early, and it was cold last year.

During the Little Ice Age at the end of the Ming Dynasty, although there was no drought in Liaodong, the snowstorm was very serious.Even Haizhou cannot grow winter wheat, and can only sow it after the snow melts in spring.

"Hurry up, hurry up, if you dawdle, you will eat the whip!"

Early in the morning, Baoyi, the Han man, knocked on the door with a whip, and Jin Guozhen jumped out of bed reflexively.

When they got dressed and waited to go to work, the master's family was eating.

This is a family of low-ranking Manchurian Eight Banners officers. The old master has long since died in battle, leaving behind three sons and a daughter married to another officer.Now the eldest son and the second son have all moved to Guannei, leaving only the third son to stay in Haizhou.

The remaining Manchus only need to have two tasks: one is to continue to grow land and grain; the other is to have more children and provide soldiers for the Eight Banners of Manchuria.

The masters eat dry for breakfast, after all the master has to practice martial arts.

This is a tradition that has been formed in recent decades. Eat more, grow stronger, and practice martial arts well to join the army.Then go out to battle with the army, burn, kill and loot, and distribute the spoils according to military merits. The spoils include livestock, food and people.

The masters were full, and the leftovers were eaten by the Han people.

As for the serfs, just eat some miscellaneous grains and bran porridge.Try not to starve to death without starving to death, they are similar to animals, which owner is willing to starve to death of animals?

Of course, if there is not enough food, the real livestock must be given priority, and the status of serfs is far inferior to that of cattle.

In the middle of the morning, Baoyi took several serfs to work in the fields.

The master was wearing a set of old cotton armor and took a few young masters to practice archery near the farmland.

Jin Guozhen squatted in the farmland without any tools, so he could only pull out the weeds with his bare hands.