The Rise of the European Emperor

The facts were similar to what Zheng Yunhu had expected. After the Ming army arrived, after a short rest, they launched a siege, and even used the local cannons and Fran cannons. However, the effect is not good. After all, the Ming army's local artillery and Fran cannon are both small-caliber artillery. In the face of the strong city wall, the power seems to be insufficient.

After that, the Ming army tried to attack the city with ants, but the effect was not good. After all, the main force of this uprising was Tong Min, the source of the Guangxi coyote soldiers. Tongmin's fighting power is very powerful, they may not be tall, and their strength is not very strong. However, relying on the ferocity of the mountain people, it is fatal to fight. Therefore, the Ming army's method of ant attachment is naturally ineffective. Even if some soldiers climbed up the city wall, they were driven down the city wall by the soldiers of the Tongmin Rebellion.

Then, the Ming army and the Tong Yao uprising fell into a confrontation...

At this time, outside the Daming Barracks, a group of ragged refugees suddenly arrived...

"What are you doing? Don't get close to the important barracks, or you will be killed without mercy!" The camp guards knocked their spears to the ground and warned loudly.

However, an old man with gray beard suddenly walked out of the refugees, and said to the guard:

"Master, we are the ones who were driven out of Luorong County by the savage soldiers. We have important military information to report to the Governor!"

"Bold, the Governor-General is a second-rank official of the imperial court. How could you wait for the village husband to meet you?" The guards at the camp said disdainfully.

"But, the old man really has a military intelligence report!"

"Old man, you're still messing around here! Be careful, my master beats you!" The guards guarding the camp gate are not good birds. What military situation.

In the midst of the quarrel, one of Chen Jin's personal guards happened to pass by near the camp gate and happened to hear the quarrel between the two.

However, the guard did not bring the old man in on his own, but returned to the Chinese army camp and reported the matter to Chen Jin.

"Oh, did the old man really say that?" Hearing the report from the guards, Chen Jin, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, became interested.

"Yes, that old man claimed to have been driven out by the savage soldiers from Luorong County, and has an important military intelligence report."

"Then, bring a meeting?" Chen Jin was moved. There has been little progress in the siege these days, and he is also in a hurry. If you know the enemy's weakness...

"Don't do it!" At this time, Master Zhou, Chen Jin's aide, stopped him.

"Why not?" Chen Jin was a little puzzled.

"Dongweng, how do you know that what the old man said must be true? If the old man is a spy sent by the barbarian soldiers to assassinate, it will not be good..."

"This……"

At this time, the guard interjected:

"Lord Governor, why don't you just bring the old man in? An old man, is there any threat? I can just wait for the guard. And, before coming in, my subordinates must search!"

"Also! Go and bring that old man in!" Chen Jin nodded.

When the guard returned to the gate of the camp again, the group of refugees had been driven away by the guards. The guards chased for a while before they caught up with the group of refugees.

Then, the personal guard took the gray-haired old man into Chen Jin's tent.

After entering the tent, the old man immediately knelt down and said:

"Luorong County Craftsman Head Niu Dafu kowtows to see the Governor!"

Chen Jin saw that the old man must be over 60, and immediately said:

"Father, please get up, stand up and answer!"

If he were a young man, Chen Jin wouldn't treat him like this, he would just let him kneel and answer. This was the gap between the ancient officials and the people.

However, the Ming Dynasty treated the elderly preferentially, stipulating that the elderly over the age of 60, if they did not have children and brothers to support them, could live in a nursing home established by the government and be supported by the state. The elderly who reach the age of 80, even if they have children, can still be supported by the state if they live in poverty. For example, Zhu Yuanzhang once ordered: "If the poor and unemployed are over 80 years old, they will be given five buckets of rice, five catties of meat, and three buckets of wine per month. For those over 90 years old, they will be given one piece of silk and one catty of silk per year." When you see an official, you don't need to kneel, unless you see the emperor and the imperial envoy, you need to kneel. Chen Jin was the governor-general, so Niu Dafu knelt down. Otherwise, just bow. Of course, Chen Jin wouldn't really let the old man kneel all the time, otherwise, he would definitely be accused by other civil servants.

However, although the Ming Dynasty preferentially treated the elderly, it actually did not make much sense and did not cost much. Why? Because the life expectancy of the ancients was short... With such a low level of medicine, most people died at the age of forty or fifty. How could they live such a long life? Although the state supports the elderly over 80 years old, in ancient times, people over 80 years old were definitely old birthday stars, which were relatively rare. Even if you support it, it doesn't cost a lot of money.

After Niu Dafu got rich, he continued to hand in hand:

"Lord Governor, the old man was once the head of the craftsmen in Luorong County, so he knows some secrets of the city defense. Hearing the arrival of Master Wang, I will report it to the Lord!"

"Oh, but is there any secret passage leading to the city?" Hearing this, Chen Jin asked excitedly.

In fact, some big families in ancient times often dug secret passages at home in order to leave a way out. If the mansion is besieged, the core members of the family will run through the secret road.

The old man Niu shook his head and said:

"There is no secret road leading to the city in Luorong County..."

Chen Jin was immediately disappointed, but Niu Dafu continued:

"However, the old man knows that there is a section of the city wall that is not strong..."

"The city wall is not strong? What's the solution?" Chen Jin didn't understand.

"Do you remember, in the second year of Chenghua, Luorong County was once conquered by the army of the barbarian prince Dagou?"

"Slightly heard..."

"That year, Da Gou, the barbarian chieftain, led tens of thousands of troops to besiege Luorong County. After besieging the city for several months, he finally broke through the corner of the western city wall..."

Chen Jinruo realized something, and then asked:

"How did the thief Hou break through the western city wall? Does he have a cannon?"

Niu Dafu shook his head and said:

"It's not like that, but that summer it happened to rain heavily in Luorong County, and the outside of the city wall was flooded. Hou Dagou sent a few boats and forcibly hit the wall... It happened that the section of the city wall was loosened by the blisters, so the boat was caught by the boat. A hole was opened..."

"It can still be like this..." Chen Jin was a little dumbfounded. However, it is rare to encounter torrential rain flooding outside the city. Counting on such a broken city, it really requires God to be very powerful.

The old man Niu continued:

"After the imperial court restored Luorong County, Hu Wenhai, the then chief of Luorong County, directed a group of craftsmen to repair the gap in the city wall. However, for the sake of greed, Mr. Hu used improper materials, which led to the repair of a section of the city wall that was not strong..."

"What kind of weak law?" Chen Jin asked expectantly.

"This section of the city wall is hollow..." Niu Laohan paused, then continued:

"Also, there is a big problem with the materials for building the city..."

"Hollow..." Chen Jin was stunned, but still motioned for Niu Dafu to continue.

"Your Excellency may not know that besides masonry, I also need special materials to build a city wall in Daming. These masonry and stones are firmly glued together to keep the city wall unbreakable. The material for bonding masonry and stone is generally glutinous rice. Juice, brown sugar and lime..."

"In order to greed for ink, Master Hu not only bought a lot less bricks and stones, but also made that section of the city wall hollow. Moreover, he also replaced the glutinous rice juice with indica rice juice... As for the brown sugar, I didn't put it at all... glutinous rice is a stone and a tael. Two coins and silver, and indica rice is only half a tael and one stone. I used indica rice juice instead of glutinous rice juice, and all the money saved went into the pockets of Hu Zhuzhu and others..."

"This scorpion is very hateful!" Chen Jin said angrily.

"Sir, calm down. Although Master Hu is hateful, it is convenient for the king to siege the city. Indica rice juice has no effect of glutinous rice juice at all, so the old man can be sure that the appearance of that section of the city wall looks flawless, but it is definitely not strong. Moreover, because it is hollow, it is not resistant to impact. Therefore, the old man believes that he can use cannon stones to break it..."

Chen Jin's eyes suddenly lit up - if according to the old man Niu's words, if the city wall can be blasted with artillery, then the army can easily defeat the enemy. As long as the army enters the city, even if the brute force is strong, it is still useless in the face of absolute numerical superiority. It's really not possible, I have a lot of people, so I can use the wheel to fight. No matter how strong you are alone, I will send troops to fight you in turn, and I will not let you rest...

So Chen Jin said urgently:

"Also ask the old man to lead the way and help Master Wang break through this city!"

"Lord Governor please!"

"Father, please!"

……8)