According to the plan, Li Dingguo personally led a thousand men to carry bamboo rafts and boats to Baiyan Mountain by the river.

These thousand people are Li Dingguo's confidants, and they are also the elite among the elites, with extremely strong combat power.

It is not an exaggeration to say that one is worth ten.

The reason why Li Dingguo only brought one thousand people was not because he was worried that the Ming army would not have enough frontal forces, but because what he led the troops this time was to achieve a surprise victory.

If there are too many people brought, it is easy to be exposed. If the Qing army finds out that the other party is alert, it is easy to fail.

In fact, in the 17th year of Chongzhen, Li Dingguo led troops to attack Tongluoxia, and then brought a thousand men. The combat effectiveness of the soldiers he led at that time was far inferior to the current elite, so Li Dingguo was still very confident.

To reach the back of the Qing army in Tongluoxia, they need to cross the entire Baiyan Mountain.

Although Baiyan Mountain is not high, it is still a bit difficult to carry a bamboo raft to march.

At first, the more you go to the top of the mountain, the denser the bushes are.

Li Dingguo had to order the soldiers to cut off the shrubs that were in the way.

Otherwise, the bamboo raft boat will be stuck and you will have to make trouble.

Since this was a path that was almost unknown to anyone, Li Dingguo did not see the Qing army's sentinels along the way.

However, for caution, he ordered his soldiers to move forward with a pair of people. This would prevent the soldiers from making noises and being noticed by the enemy.

To be honest, due to the change in identity and status, Li Dingguo has not personally led the surprise troops to fight the vanguard like this for a long time.

Generally, he is the commander-in-chief and commanding and dispatching battlefield troops.

The reason why he personally took action this time was that, on the one hand, the emperor's trust, and on the other hand, Li Dingguo knew very well the importance of Tongluo Gorge.

Of course, the Ming army could also detour Chongqing City, but then they had to abandon the water route and change to land routes.

Compared with water routes, the problem with land marching is that the transportation efficiency of food and supplies is too low.

The speed of the march will not only be affected, but it will also easily cause the army to be attacked and cut off by the enemy, and the beginning and end cannot be taken into consideration.

In addition, the Ming army attacked Chongqing this time with more than 100,000 people, and they belonged to different factions, so it was very difficult to transfer the order.

The best way to play flags and slogans on the water.

So no matter what, Tongluo Gorge must be taken down!

Once Tongluo Gorge is captured, the Ming army will have a stronghold and can steadily advance towards Chongqing!

Thinking of this, Li Dingguo's eyes became a little more resolute, and his steps were even stronger.

...

...

"Dad, I want to eat rice."

Xiaohuniu sucked a finger and looked at her dad with a grievance.

Yang Zhengqi was stunned for a moment, and then sighed: "What rice do you eat? The rice jar at home has already seen the bottom... Well, have you finished eating the cakes you gave me in the morning?"

Unexpectedly, Xiaohuniu cried when she heard this.

"Niu Niu shouldn't eat pancakes. The pancakes are hard and they hurt toothache."

Yang Zhengqi's heart was like a knife cut. He hugged his daughter in his arms and comforted him: "Dad went out to buy rice for you, Niu Niu is waiting at home, don't go out."

The world is very chaotic now. Yang Zheng is actually worried that his daughter will run around. If he is robbed by a bad person, it will be almost impossible to find her again.

His wife died early, and Yang Zhengqi was both a father and a mother, and his only wish was to watch Xiaohuniu grow up and marry a good family. He had no expectations for anything else.

People's lives are as cheap as grass in troubled times, and it is the greatest blessing to be able to live.

Yang Zhengqi put his daughter on the bed, took out some of the remaining silver from under the bed, and gritted his teeth and walked out.

Now there is a bleak scene in Chongqing. Yang Zhengqi walked nearly a hundred steps but saw no one.

He felt a little nervous, but when he thought of his daughter's pitiful appearance, his belief became a little firmer.

Anyway, you have to buy rice today!

The shop where he often buys grain is called Chen Ji Grain Shop, which is separated from his house by a workshop area.

Soon Yang Zhengqi came to Chen Ji Grain Shop.

Seeing that Chen Ji Grain Store was not closed, Yang Zhengqi breathed a sigh of relief.

When he walked along the way, he saw many shops along the street closed, worried that the same was true for Chen Ji Grain Store.

It's not in vain now.

As soon as he entered the door, the old friend Zhao Liangmin came over and said in a low voice: "Old brother, why are you here? The government ordered martial law in the whole city and we are preparing to close the door."

Yang Zhengqi was surprised and said, "What, the government needs martial law? When will it happen?"

Zhao Liangmin rolled his eyes and said, "Old brother is really deaf about things outside the window and is devoted to reading the books of sages. This notice has been posted for a day, and it has it at all city gates and gates!"

Yang Zhengqi's old face turned red when he said it.

It is true that he is a scholar, but he is still an old scholar in his thirties. Although it sounds nice to have a scholar's husband when he comes out, it is actually useless.

This identity cannot be exchanged for food or silver in troubled times. Instead, it will be ridiculed and useless.

"I want to buy a dou of rice. Do you think the money is enough?"

Yang Zhengqi took out some broken silver and carefully delivered it to Zhao Liangmin.

Zhao Liangmin only glanced at him and sneered: "My old brother, you are really stupid in studying. You don't know the price of rice now. One dou of rice is three or two taels, and your money is not enough to buy a dou!"

Yang Zhengqi gasped when he heard this.

"A dou 3 taels and 2 qian per dou? Is it okay to grab money? During the Wanli period, you could buy rice for one tael of silver. Even when the famine broke out during the Chongzhen period, the price of rice increased to at most two taels and 2 qian per dou. This dou 3 taels and 2 qian per dou is unheard of! It is not the year of a disaster, why is a dou 5 rice so expensive?"

Zhao Liangmin laughed and said, "Brother, you also know that you are talking about the Wanli year and the Chongzhen year. Now it is the Shunzhi year, the Qing Dynasty! Why are you doing the court in advance? This year is indeed not a disaster year, but there are no natural disasters and human disasters. The Ming thieves came to Chongqing Prefecture to fight Qiufeng again. Do you know? The governor has ordered martial law throughout the city, and the food in the city has been basically bought by the government as military rations. I can still have some left here, and it is also a strong relationship with the government. Not to mention a dou of rice, three or two cents, you can't buy a grain of rice even if you pay a dou of rice and five taels of silver!"

After a brief pause, Zhao Liangmin's tone calmed down a little.

"Old brother, I advise you to buy some rice for later use. God knows how long Ming thief will stay in Chongqing Prefecture. Don't go find it if there is no rice in the pot then, then it will be too late!"

Yang Zhengqi was so angry that he shook his head repeatedly and said, "I can afford this rice but I won't buy it, that's all..."

After saying that, he turned his head and walked out.

Zhao Liangmin took off his melon-skinned hat, revealing his bare head and a string of extremely thin money rat tails, and said, "A poor scholar, really take himself seriously. I want to see if you are so tough when you are hungry when you touch your back?"

...
Chapter completed!