***
Ninghai is located between Xiangshan Port and Sanmen Bay on the coast of eastern Zhejiang, where the Tiantai Mountain and Siming Mountain ranges meet, connected to Fenghua in the north and Taizhou in the south. It is a must-go place from Ningbo to Wenzhou.
Yuan Zongde marched south from Ningbo, captured Fenghua, captured Qian Sufan, then broke through Ninghai and headed straight for Taizhou.
The troops of Prince of Lu Zhu Yihai were trapped in Taizhou and could not move. Under such circumstances, Zhu Yihai ignored the dissuasion of Zhang Huangyan and others, hurriedly gave up the title of regent, surrendered to Yuan Zongde, and accepted the enthronement of Qin.
At this point, Zhu Yihai's troops, who had been chased by the Qing army and hid in the Zhoushan Islands, became the first descendant of the Zhu family to surrender to the Qin State with his subordinates.
Zhu Yihai's submission was extremely beneficial to the Qin State politically. Although he had never made any progress, he received support from many people in eastern Zhejiang. Moreover, as a prince of the Ming Dynasty, his submission to the Qin State was tantamount to telling the world: Look, all the descendants of the Zhu family have obediently submitted to the Qin State, this is the trend of the times!
Militarily, it was also extremely beneficial to the Qin State. The southward passage from Ningbo to Wenzhou was completely opened, and the Qin army could go straight to Fenshui Pass, putting greater pressure on Fujian.
Zheng Zhilong in Fujian was definitely feeling more and more pressure. He had already made preparations and asked his fifth brother Zheng Zhibao to lead the navy to attack Taiwan. However, at this time, two envoys arrived, one was Shang Kai, an envoy from the Qing Dynasty, and the other was Gannan, an envoy from the Qin State.
The Qing envoy Shang Kai hoped that Zheng Zhilong would continue to fulfill the agreement reached with Hong Chengchou and send troops to attack the Qin army with Duoduo. To this end, he not only brought a large amount of treasure, but also brought the imperial edict of the Qing emperor to confer Zheng Zhilong the title of King of Pingnan.
As long as Zheng Zhilong nodded, he would be the King of Pingnan of the Qing Dynasty.
The arrival of Gannan made Zhi Zhilong somewhat embarrassed. Qin Mu's condition was to let him be the general of Fujian and continue to control the army of Fujian, but he had to hand over the administrative power of the prefectures and counties of Fujian.
For Zheng Zhilong, whether it was the King of Pingnan or the General of Fujian, it was just a title, and there was not much difference in fact. Whether to side with the Qin or the Qing Dynasty did not depend on who was given a higher position, but on who had the upper hand in the war.
Now both countries are interested in winning him over, which makes Zheng Zhilong immediately feel that he is a rare commodity.
Therefore, he temporarily suspended the attack on Taiwan, preparing to wait and see who would gain the upper hand between Duoduo and Qin Mu in the next battle.
This is a typical speculative mentality. If you have a long-term vision, you will not do this. Because this kind of waiting for the price to rise will actually make both parties unhappy. Once the winner is determined in the future, no one will look at him in a good light.
The wise thing to do would be to choose a side as soon as possible and get involved. This would show some sincerity and be more valued. But Zheng Zhilong lacked such foresight, and he thought he still had a way out, so he chose to wait and see for the time being.
***
Ma Liuliang was also watching, but what he was watching was not the general situation in the world, but the situation in Pingxi Weiguan City.
To the north of Pingxi Weiguan City is the clear Wushui River, which flows from west to east toward Yuanzhou. To the south, due to the limited terrain, it is close to the mountain peak.
Ma Liu led a team of personal soldiers and imitated Qin Mu's previous behavior, with one hand on his waist and the other holding a monocular telescope to look around.
Wu Xiaoliu, a personal soldier, was also from Huichang. Seeing how well he imitated Qin Mu, he couldn't help but chuckle and said, "General Ma, did you see that clearly?"
Ma Liuliang smacked his lips and replied, "Look carefully, a woman took off all her clothes and was..."
"Really? Really?" Wu Xiaoliu's eyes sparkled, and he reached out to grab Ma Liuliang's telescope. "Where is it? Where is it? General Ma, let me have a look..."
"Look at you, damn it, this is all you can do." Ma Liuda was furious and kicked Wu Xiaoliu to the ground, cursing while continuing to watch with the telescope.
Wu Xiaoliu rolled in the grass a few times and got up, covering his forehead with one hand, his eyes bulging, as if he wanted to fly to the city gate to look for the naked woman.
Dozens of other soldiers were laughing so hard that they were bent over backwards, without any sense of nervousness about the battle.
Ma Liuliang kicked out again, kicking Wu Xiaoliu away again, cursing: "Damn you Wu Xiaoliu, if you do anything weird again, I'll make you swim back and forth in the river."
Wu Xiaoliu's face changed drastically and he begged for mercy repeatedly. Their horse leader was a very rude man and if you really pissed him off, he would definitely make you fall into the river.
If it were summer, Wu Xiaoliu would be happy to accept this punishment, but now it is the coldest time of the year. Although Huguang and Guizhou are not as cold as the north, it is not a pleasant experience to swim back and forth in the river at this time.
"General Ma, Ma Tou'er, you were the one who said that a woman was naked..."
"I knew you, a son of a bitch, would think in the wrong way. Look, the south side of the pass is close to the mountain. To us, doesn't it look like a naked woman?"
The solitary peak to the south of the city wall stands solemnly like a pillar, two hundred feet higher than the city wall. The mountain falls straight down on all sides like a screen, with only some dwarf pines and thorn bushes growing on the top. It would be extremely difficult for ordinary people to climb up.
"General Ma, you mean to let the brothers climb up..."
"It's you, no one else. Don't you want to see naked women? Once you climb to the top, Guan Cheng will be naked in front of you, so you can see as much as you want!"
"No, no, no, General Ma, only Hou Saner can do this job. I can't do it. General Ma, please spare me."
Seeing Wu Xiaoliu retreating in fear, Ma Liuliang was in a good mood. He laughed and continued to curse: "You don't have the ability and still want to see women strip naked, so go and count yourself as an ass, get lost!"
Ma Liuliang's "mountain division" is absolutely first-rate in rock climbing and wall crossing ability. However, this mountain is vertical and two hundred feet high. Among his three thousand men, except for Hou San, nicknamed "Skinny Monkey", it is estimated that no one else can climb up with bare hands.
"Let's go back to the camp." Ma Liuliang took the lead and left without any delay.
Chen Guimin, deputy commander of Guizhou, stood on the city wall and watched Ma Liuliang coming and going in a hurry, with a relaxed expression on his face. The Pingxi Wei City Wall is built on the mountain and faces the water. One man can guard the pass against ten thousand men. I'm afraid the Qin army was scared.
When Ma Liuliang returned to the camp, the deputy general He Jinan was still directing the soldiers to set up camp. Ma Liuliang rode over and shouted, "Stop, stop, stop, there's no need to set up camp. Let's stay inside the city gate tonight. Quick, everyone, set up ladders, set up ladders. Hou San! Hou San! Come out..."
"Ma'er, I'm here!" A thin soldier with a pointed face and a monkey-like appearance came running over with a helmet in his hand.
When the military assistant saw Ma Liuliang's hasty look, he hurried over and asked, "General Ma, why did you order us to stop setting up camp? It's getting late. If we don't set up camp now, it will be too late."
"Sour scholar, didn't you hear what I just said? We're going to stay in the city gate tonight, why are we setting up camp? By the way, sour scholar, watch me capture Pingxiwei, you'd better write a lewd poem and report it to the King of Qin, hahahaha!"
"General Ma, how do you plan to capture this city? Although I cannot interfere with your battle, please tell me your battle plan first. This is... "
"What's all this? Don't worry about it this time, Hou San. See that mountain? Climb up and I'll give you credit for the first achievement."
"This is a bit difficult." Hou San replied as he looked at the mountain south of Guancheng.
"Damn it, if it's not difficult, why would I look for you? I climbed up by myself a long time ago. Just tell me, can you climb up?"
"Yes, yes, yes, yes." Hou San patted his chest hurriedly, but he was too thin, with very little meat on his chest, making people worry that he might break his sternum.
"That's enough. You take a rest. Come on, prepare half a pound of good wine and half a pound of meat for Ma San. Let him eat and drink enough. If he can't climb up, I will kill him."
"Horsehead, half a catty of wine is not enough. I'm afraid I won't have the strength to climb halfway if I drink half a catty of wine."
"Get out!" Ma Liuliang shouted majestically, and then asked people to prepare a long rope.
You need to prepare not just one rope, but three, one small, one medium, and one large.
After Hou San had eaten and drunk his fill, Ma Liuliang let him rest for a while, and then they set off. Going around the side of the mountain, Hou San began to climb with the smallest rope. This guy was thin and would not be of much use in frontal combat. The reason why he was able to stay in the "Mountain Division" was because he had a unique skill in rock climbing.
This guy is as light as a swallow, with nimble hands and feet. He can nimbly climb up rocks that are difficult for ordinary people to climb with the help of some small bumps and two sharp daggers.
Ma Liuliang and others were watching from the foot of the mountain. They saw his thin body climbing higher and higher on the almost vertical rock wall, and his figure becoming smaller and smaller. They couldn't help but feel their hearts in their throats.
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ps: The month is halfway through and the weather is hot. It’s hard to endure. I hope all my brothers can give me some support. If you have received the monthly subscription tickets, please vote for me to support me. I bow my head in gratitude.
.(To be continued..)
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