Chapter 303: Enemy Traces in Beitang

The night was dark and the moonlight was like gauze. It was probably the beginning of the You period.

Zhang Ergou came up from the field carrying two bundles of wheat. After walking for a while, he felt a little tired, so he supported the load with a pestle and stood on the field ridge to rest his breath.

Zhang Ergou is lucky. He was originally from Baoding, and his family once had dozens of acres of land. However, during the years when Emperor Chongzhen of the previous dynasty reigned, there were constant natural and man-made disasters. A group of bandits appeared near his hometown to rob and kill people. The village was destroyed, but Zhang Ergou's family members escaped. But he was afraid of bandits, so he had no choice but to abandon his hometown, sell the land at a low price, and hope that the capital would escape.

Later he found out that the so-called bandits were the work of a certain big landowner in the village. To take away the land from them, the free people.

Zhang Ergou hated him deeply, but he could do nothing.

Zhang Ergou was a skilled carpenter and fled to the capital to make a living. However, the gangsters and government officials in the capital plundered him one after another. He can earn 20 yuan a day, and it would be great to have 30 to 50 yuan in hand.

The money from selling the land quickly ran out, and the capital could no longer live in it, so he had to make a living outside the city.

When the Xia king took over the capital, Chongzhen issued an edict to abdicate, and Zhang Ergou's family was resettled as refugees. It is a resettlement village by the sea outside Beitang Town near the Chao River outlet.

Then the fields were divided and farming was carried out. There are seven members of his family, including his parents. The couple, plus three children, have a total of 140 acres.

Fed up with the pain of not having enough to eat or clothing to keep warm, Zhang Ergou and his family gritted their teeth and worked on 140 acres of land. So far, we have had a great harvest, but we are still troubled.

One hundred and forty acres, with a yield of more than ten stones per mu, making harvesting extremely difficult.

During the day, his parents were responsible for cutting, he and his wife were responsible for picking, and the children were responsible for threshing wheat at home. But in order to complete the harvest as soon as possible, he, the main labor force, almost got up earlier than the chickens and went to bed later than the dogs. No, it was already midnight and he was not finished yet.

"Fortunately, the weather has been good these days and it didn't rain."

Zhang Ergou sighed.

I'm just afraid of rain. The wheat in the field is so lovely. If it rains, wouldn’t it all sprout when it rains heavily?

Standing on the ridge of the field, not far away is the outlet of the Chaohe River. Under the night, you can still see the sparkling waves.

It should be said that when I came here earlier, the waves here were rippling, but the government has repaired the water conservancy canals, and I heard that reservoirs and other things will be built upstream, and the outlet has become less magnificent. A lot of water was blocked.

But that's also a good thing. We can’t be afraid of drought in the future, right? Besides, after this harvest is over and the farming slackens, Zhang Ergou plans to apply for workers to build the reservoir. I heard that he can make a lot of money in one day.

Although he was tired, he felt happy.

Suddenly, Zhang Ergou's eyes narrowed, and he saw some black spots appearing on the vast water at the mouth of the sea in the distance.

Zhang Ergou was startled, looked at it for a while, and finally saw it clearly.

It's a boat!

There were at least three to five hundred boats, large and small.

Zhang Ergou rolled his eyes: "I haven't heard that any troops will cross the border... Otherwise, Beitang would have posted a notice long ago. And there is no dock in Beitang. If there are merchant ships, I heard that they all go to Dagu. ”

When the army crosses the border, in order to prevent the common people from colliding with the army and causing trouble, the government will make announcements. And if it was a merchant ship, Zhang Ergou knew earlier that it was concentrated at Dagu Port and there was no dock in Beitang. Moreover, there are three to five hundred ships, large and small, and they are probably not ordinary merchant ships, right? How large a caravan must be to have so many ships?

He quietly put down his burden, bravely climbed over and hid in the grass by the river. I saw those boats stopped on the opposite shore, and then they jingled. Many people got off the boats, and through the reflection of the moonlight, I could see the luster of the metal.

"It's the army!"

Zhang Ergou made a sound and his heart beat wildly.

Hearing a faint shout again, he pricked up his ears and listened to the sound coming from the wind. His face suddenly turned pale: "It's not Chinese! It's not Chinese!"

He gritted his teeth: "It's a Tatar, it must be a Tatar!"

He had seen Tatars and even seen Tatars attacking the capital. Those Tatars were showing off their power under the city, shouting and screaming, pulling out the people, beheading them, and trampling them on them. That was the sound!

Even until his death, he will not forget it.

"no!"

Zhang Ergou murmured to himself: "I have to report it to the government. Otherwise..."

He thought of the hardships when thieves were wreaking havoc, and of the life that was getting better and better now. He didn't want these good things to be broken again. He took a deep breath and crawled along the grass for a mile, his face and arms bleeding from the rubbing. He got up, stumbled and ran towards the village.

"Village Chief! Village Chief!"

Zhang Ergou ran to Zhang's house in the village and shouted.

"Who is it? Ergou?!"

The young village chief came out, and with the faint light coming from the house, he saw the panic on Ergou's face, and couldn't help but ask, "What happened?"

The two dogs were out of breath and said: "Tatars, it's Tatars!"

"Tatar?!"

The young village chief looked solemn and said, "Have you discovered the Tatars?!"

Ergou nodded fiercely: "At the mouth of the Chaohe River, I was picking wheat. There were many Tatar boats ashore on the other side. I vaguely heard their words, not Mandarin, but Tatars! I knew they were Tatars! I saw them Pass them and stay in the capital!"

The village chief turned around suddenly, and his voice came: "Wait for me."

After a while, the village chief came out of the house leading a mule and horse: "Take me and have a look!"

"Um!"

The two returned the same way without disturbing the villagers. At this time, the Tatar army has not yet completely landed!

The village chief saw everything and said to Ergou: "Go back first and don't make any noise. Don't disturb the villagers."

He added: "There is a war going on at Shanhaiguan, but the Tatars have arrived here. I'm afraid it's a ploy. They come quietly and they won't disturb the place. Just don't worry. I'll go to Dagu right away. Our army will be there soon. These Tatars will be wiped out!"

Then he said: "Go along this bank of the river and inform the village chiefs of the villages upstream. Tell them what is happening here and ask them to monitor the Tatars' movements and create opportunities for our army."

Ergou's blood boiled, and he felt a heavy burden on his shoulders, heavier than wheat, but he felt like he had won the honor. He nodded fiercely: "I know!"

The young village chief jumped onto the mule and horse and said, "Be careful."

Then head straight to the southwest.

Beitang is not far from Dagu, only a few dozen miles. All on the coast of Bohai Sea. The young village chief drove the mules and horses. Although they did not run very fast, the mules and horses were strong and had great endurance. At midnight, they finally arrived in Dagu.

Hundreds of years later, the Wei River, known as Haihe River, flowed through here, with Dagu on the other side.

On the north bank, there were also outposts and forts, and the young village chief went straight to the outpost. Before he even got close, he was discovered by the soldiers at the outpost.

"Who is this? Military important place, leave quickly!"

The young village chief shouted: "I am the village chief of Yichou resettlement village in Beitang Town in the north. Brother, I was also a soldier. I have important military matters to meet with the Dagu garrison general!"