Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 145 Military Glory
At noon on the top of Guangzhou City, the sound of gongs and drums rang out from the opposite bank of the river, and the Qing army that was attacking the city finally slowly retreated.

Xu Wu leaned against the wall, his clothes stained with blood. He gasped for breath and felt weak all over. He didn't even have the strength to lift a finger.

There were several figures lying beside him with ferocious faces, some were young and strong men from the Ming army, and some were soldiers from the Qing army. It was unknown whose half arm was next to Xu Wu's hand, and it looked bloody and ferocious, but Xu Wu didn't want to care at all.

He touched his chest, and when he felt the hard touch on his chest, a trace of relief flashed in his eyes.

This half piece of leather armor saved his life countless times. If it weren't for this half piece of armor, he would have been dead in the first battle.

Xu Wu leaned against the city wall and looked around. There were dead bodies everywhere. Among them, he was quite familiar with some of them. They were the young and strong spearmen in his team.
Pan Xing and other imperial guards wearing leather armor were constantly walking on the city wall, turning over the Qing soldiers on the ground. If they found any survivors, they would kill them with a single blow.

Xu Wu sat by the city wall for a while, and felt that his body seemed to have regained some strength. Just as he was about to sit up, Pershing came towards him, holding five or six heads in his hands.

“These two are yours.”

Pan Xing held up the braid and threw two heads over. Xu Wu looked at the two bleeding heads, his face turned pale, and he sat back on the ground with a plop.

"Hold it, one head is five taels of silver. If you hadn't shown some courage just now, I wouldn't have given it to you," Pan Xing snorted coldly as he looked at the pale-faced Xu Wu.

Just as Xu Wu was about to speak, a man in military uniform with a yellow silk bandage tied around his arm came over with his men.
The Yellow Turban man spoke to Pan Xing for a few words. Pan Xing pointed at Xu Wu, then took the head from his feet and handed it to the soldier behind the Yellow Turban man.

Then the yellow-turbaned man walked up to Xu Wu and said

"Sergeant Xu Wu, kill two enemies, reward ten taels of silver"

Chen Qi Ce spoke loudly, and the young and strong people who survived around him immediately looked over.

After Chen Qi Ce finished speaking, the soldiers behind him immediately took out two silver ingots and placed them in Xu Wu's hands.
Xu Wu stared at the two silver ingots in his palm. He subconsciously squeezed the silver and felt a hard and cold feeling in his palm.
He had never seen so much silver since he was born.
Chen Qice handed over the silver and walked to the next place. When Xu Wu saw Chen Qice was about to leave, he felt that he looked familiar the more he looked at him. Then he suddenly remembered the identity of the person in front of him.

The man who had just handed him the silver was the official who had been shouting about recruiting soldiers on Cangqian Street that day with a cart full of silver coins. He still remembered that cart full of copper coins and silver clearly.

Xu Wu thought of this and spoke subconsciously.

"Your Excellency is the official who manages Cangqian Street."

"Yes, I was indeed the inspector in charge of Cangqian Street. You are..."

Chen Qice was stunned when he heard this, then turned around and looked at the bloody strong master soldier behind him. He soon realized Xu Wu's identity.

Sure enough, when Xu Wu saw Chen Qi Ce admit it, a hint of joy flashed across his face and he said

"I am a young man who has applied for the job from Cangqian Street. May I ask, sir, how is Cangqian Street now?"

"I was recently transferred to the army by the court to serve as a military merit envoy, responsible for checking and issuing military merits. Now I am no longer the inspector of Cangqian Street."

Chen Qi Ce looked at the young man in front of him, a hint of understanding flashed in his eyes, and after a little thought, he continued

"Everything is fine in Cangqian Street now, you don't have to worry"

"The court has issued an order that all young and strong families who have applied for the rations can now not only have priority in purchasing rations, but also can purchase them at half price. The daily limit has also been raised to two kilograms. Just focus on killing the bandits. The court will not treat loyal people unfairly."

Xu Wu's face relaxed when he heard this. Previously, the price of grain was nearly three taels per stone. If he could buy it at half the price as the official said, five taels of silver would be enough to buy three stone of rice, which would be enough for his family's consumption.

Chen Qi Ce encouraged him and was about to leave, but was stopped by Xu Wu.
"You are an official from Cangqian Street. When I applied for the job, you gave me money to settle down, not a penny less. You must be a good official."

"I am now guarding the city, and I don't know when it will disappear. It is useless for me to carry this silver with me. I dare to ask you to help me take the silver back to Cangqian Street and leave it for my family."

Xu Wu was about to bow down, but Chen Qi Ce immediately stopped him and said

"No need to do that. The court has already ordered that if the soldiers in the army want to send money back home, they just need to register and the court will send someone to deliver it back to their homes."

After Chen Qi Ce finished speaking, he waved to a clerk holding a book behind him, and then spoke to Xu Wu.

"How much silver are you going to send back?"

Seeing Chen Qi Ce so happy, Xu Wu hesitated.

Seeing Xu Wu's hesitation, Chen Qice seemed to know what Xu Wu was thinking, so he spoke
"How about this, you send half back home and keep the other half for yourself?"

Xu Wu made up his mind after hearing this. After the clerk wrote down Xu Wu's name and home address and pressed his fingerprints, the silver ingot Xu Wu had just received was immediately missing one.

Xu Wu looked at Chen Qice and the others who were walking away, his face still showing some anxiety. When he held the remaining silver ingot in his sleeve, he calmed down a little.
Xu Wu kept comforting himself in his heart. This was free silver. Even if the court took his half of the silver, he still had the other half. It was not bad to have these five taels.

While Xu Wu was still worried about the outcome, a clapper sounded from the city wall. Hearing the sound, Xu Wu swallowed his saliva subconsciously, and felt extremely hungry.

At this time, Pan Xing also gathered the remaining seven or eight young men in his team, and Xu Wu didn't care about the silver, and hurried to the team and followed Pan Xing to grab food.

There are five or six places for eating on the city wall. The young and strong people have learned how to eat these days. Those who arrive first not only have more rice and vegetables, but those who fall behind may only have some leftover soup and vegetables.

At this time, the sound of the dinner clapper sounded, and the soldiers who were originally slumped on the ground on the city wall immediately stood up and rushed to the place where the dinner was served.

Xu Wu followed the team and squeezed into the crowd. He vaguely heard a cry of surprise from afar, as if someone was coming.

But at this moment, he was so hungry that he didn't care about the emperor or his highness. He felt that he was so hungry that he could eat a cow. Xu Wu followed the crowd and squeezed forward, but for some reason, the crowd in front of him was getting smaller and smaller.

A hint of joy flashed across Xu Wu's face, and he pushed forward with all his might. However, he suddenly reached the front. When he came to his senses, he found that there was no one in front of him, only himself.

There were several large wooden barrels placed beside the wall corridor, filled with white rice, stewed meat, bamboo shoots and other food. However, the people standing next to the barrels were not the burly soldiers from the kitchen that we had seen in the past, but a young man in a bright yellow robe and several old men in red robes.
Xu Wu looked at the figure in front of him with birds and beasts embroidered on his body, and his face suddenly panicked. He took a quick look and found that there was no one around him at this time. All the soldiers were one meter behind him, forming a semicircle. He was the only one in front of him.

Xu Wu looked at Pan Xing in the crowd behind him, but found that his own flag officer was also hiding in the crowd, not daring to take a step forward, as if there was some kind of ferocious beast ahead.

Xu Wu looked at the nervous people behind him, and was about to retreat immediately. However, Chen Qice, who had been standing on the side, coughed lightly and spoke loudly.

"What are you doing, officers and soldiers? His Highness the Regent and the cabinet ministers Lu and Su have come to the city to comfort you. Officers and soldiers, come and get your meal."

Xu Wu moved his feet and wanted to retreat to the back, but the crowd behind him heard Chen Qice's words and did not give Xu Wu any chance. Everyone lined up behind Xu Wu, and Xu Wu once again became the leader of the crowd.
Xu Wu looked panicked, but the imperial guards had already handed him the bowl and chopsticks. Xu Wu had no choice but to hold the bowl and tremble as he walked to the wooden barrel.

In front of the wooden barrel, a young man in a bright yellow robe took the bowl from Xu Wu's hand, and then used a wooden spoon to fill the bowl with rice.

When the rice had piled up to the top, he stopped and handed the bowl to Xu Wu.
“Defending the city is hard”

The young man in front of the wooden barrel handed over the porcelain bowl, and then gently patted Xu Wu on the shoulder.
Xu Wu's body trembled immediately. He looked at the dragon with bared fangs and claws on the young man's robe. He was shocked and knelt down subconsciously with the bowl in his hand.
As Xu Wu knelt down, all the soldiers who were originally standing behind him also knelt down at the same time.
Zhu Lang looked at the soldiers kneeling around him with a look of surprise on his face, but he quickly reacted, walked to the front and helped Xu Wu up, and asked someone to wake up everyone before speaking.

"Please stand up, all the soldiers. You have fought bravely to protect the people in the city. I and the court should thank you all."

"I don't dare to wait"

The soldiers around him said they dared not to, and were about to bow, but were stopped by Zhu Lang.
Zhu Lang looked around and saw that everyone around him had a nervous look on their faces. He thought to himself and looked at Xu Wu in front of him and said

"This soldier is covered in blood. He must be a rare warrior in our army. May I ask his name?"

"My name is Xu Wu," Xu Wu said subconsciously, lowering his head as the young man looked at him.

Zhu Lang ignored the look of the man in front of him, looked around at the soldiers around him, and said directly

"A good name for civil and military strategies"

"The warriors of our Ming Dynasty should be like Xu Wu, killing the Tartars and defending their hometowns. Only in this way can they be good men and heroes who stand tall and proud."

Zhu Lang patted Xu Wu's shoulder heavily, and Xu Wu's body trembled again, his feet softened, and he almost knelt down again.
But before he could make any move, the young man next to him spoke again.

"Xu Wu, you can get the reward for killing the enemy today."

"Yes, I killed two enemies today, and the army immediately gave me ten taels of silver. I sent five taels of silver back home," Xu Wu replied in a trembling voice.
Upon hearing this, Zhu Lang looked at the people in the room and spoke loudly.

"It's good to receive it"

"The court has issued an order that killing the enemy while defending the city is not only meritorious, but also a reward of five taels of silver will be given for killing one enemy soldier."

"Today, I, along with the ministers and officials in the court, promise to all the soldiers that the rewards for killing the enemy will be paid immediately after the battle and will not be delayed."

"If a soldier dies in battle, the court will give each soldier an additional ten taels of silver as compensation. This compensation silver and the reward silver will be distributed together to the families of the fallen soldiers."

"Soldiers, just focus on killing the enemy. Did you see those people with yellow scarves on their arms?"

Zhu Lang pointed at Chen Qi Ce who was standing on the side and said loudly
"These people are the military merit envoys I sent to the army. They are specifically responsible for awarding merits to the soldiers. If anyone dares to embezzle the rewards for your military merits, just go find these military merit envoys and they will naturally help you get your military merits back."

"I will personally manage these military meritorious officials. If you can't even handle them, then I and the cabinet's Lu and Su will personally make the decision for you."

Zhu Lang spoke loudly, and Lu Daqi and Su Guansheng stood behind Zhu Lang without knowing when, with a solemn look on their faces, and made a promise to the soldiers around them.

"We will certainly fight hard to kill the enemy and repay your highness for his kindness," all the soldiers in the field suddenly shouted in unison.

Zhu Lang glanced at the people in the room and saw that their expressions had calmed down a lot. He thought about it and continued to speak.
"Do you know that the Qing army only arrived in a hurry yesterday afternoon? Why are they so eager to attack the city today?"

Zhu Lang glanced at everyone and spoke loudly without waiting for anyone to answer.

"Because the imperial court has tens of thousands of troops in Zhaoqing, reinforcements from Zhaoqing will arrive soon. How far is Zhaoqing from Guangzhou? Less than 200 miles."

"As long as we hold Guangzhou for a few days, once the Zhaoqing army arrives, the Tartars under the city will be crushed to dust immediately."

The soldiers around looked at each other in bewilderment when they heard this, and none of them spoke.

They had also heard this news privately, and now they were just hearing it again from the Regent.
Zhu Lang ignored everyone's expressions and continued to speak loudly.

"The Qing army arrived yesterday. There were only a few cavalrymen outside the city. Although the imperial court could leave at any time, why didn't I, the cabinet's Lu and Su, and other ministers leave? Instead, we recruited everyone to defend the city."

"That's because I and the court know that our army is not far away. We will definitely win this battle. If the Qing invaders under the city advance rashly, they will definitely be surrounded and annihilated by the imperial army."

When the soldiers around heard this, their expressions were all lifted, thinking that His Royal Highness the Regent was not lying to them.
His Royal Highness the Regent is the Emperor. The Emperor must cherish his life. If the Emperor and the other officials in the court had not known that reinforcements were coming, how could they have risked their lives? They would have fled to save their lives.
Zhu Lang was relieved to see the soldiers' morale restored. He said in a loud voice without saying anything more.

"Comrades, please have a meal. Only when you have a full meal, you will have the strength to kill the enemy and protect our fellow countrymen and relatives in the city."

"Kill the thief, kill the thief!"

No one knew who spoke first, but all the soldiers on the top of the city wall suddenly shouted together. For a moment, the sound of killing the enemy filled the city wall.

Outside Guangzhou, Li Chengdong looked at the crowd cheering faintly from the top of the city in the distance, but his expression became increasingly gloomy.
After lunch, the sound of trumpets rang out, and countless people on the river bank were driven to the front again, crying and marching towards the city wall not far away, while the rumbling sound of cannons could be heard again from all sides of the city wall.
Under the city of Guangzhou, the brutal siege began again

At this time, Zhaoqing City finally received a letter from Guangzhou asking for help, and countless soldiers rushed to the city of Guangzhou.
(End of this chapter)