The girl washed her hands and looked at the dumplings neatly arranged on the curtain. They were her creations. They looked like a group of little white geese with round bellies. She couldn't help but smile with joy.
"Let Zhuzi in!" Yingzi's father came out, smelling of cigarettes and alcohol. He said with a smile, "You're leaving me to drink alone on New Year's Day without anyone to accompany me?"
Zhang Zhuzi not only brought the pork allocated to him, but also took several young reserve soldiers to Laotie Mountain and hunted some quails, yellow-legged three-toed quails (yellow lazy quails), and pheasants to distribute to the villagers.
These wild game, when stewed with the collected wild mushrooms, were delicious. Yingzi's father drank the wine Zhang Zhuzi had bought, smoked a cigarette, and ate the stewed game. It was a delicious meal.
"He'll be in soon. He's loading the three-eye dumplings with gunpowder!" Yingzi lifted the lid of the pot and saw that the water was already boiling. She reached out, lifted the curtain, and put the dumplings into the pot. "After the dumplings are out of the pot, I'll set off firecrackers, the three-eye dumplings!"
"The girl's family fired guns and cannons." Yingzi's father shook his head and said, "Luckily he went to the shop to sell goods, otherwise he would definitely have to join the reserve army. The court is the same, why do they even accept women?"
Yingzi rolled her eyes and said unconvincedly, "What's wrong with women? They can still fight with guns. The female generals of the Yang family and Hua Mulan are all women."
Yingzi's father curled his lips and didn't argue with his daughter. Zhang Zhuzi came in just then and greeted him warmly, "Come, come, drink with me. This wine shipped from the capital is really strong. Shaodaozi is as famous as it's said to be, but I haven't had it in years."
Zhang Zhuzi laughed and said, "Shaodaozi is too strong. Drinking it in winter can help keep the cold away. However, we should plant chili peppers in the spring. I heard they can also invigorate blood circulation and remove dampness."
"Is chili a vegetable?" Yingzi asked casually, "If it's spicy, I like it too."
Chili peppers were introduced to China at the latest during the Jiajing and Wanli periods of the Ming Dynasty, gradually spreading from the southeast coast to the northwest inland.
Even without chili peppers, Chinese cuisine has substitutes, such as onions, ginger, garlic, Sichuan peppercorns, and cornelian cherry bark. So, when it comes to spicy food, Yingzi is no stranger to it.
"It can be eaten as a vegetable or used as a seasoning." Zhang Zhuzi said, "There are also sweet potatoes and pumpkins, which the government wants to promote their cultivation next year."
Yingzi's father was not very interested in this. He still insisted on his own plan and thought it was better.
The dumplings floated up, and Yingzi stirred them skillfully. After cooking the skin, she scooped them up with a colander and poured them into four large bowls, adding a pot of dumpling soup.
"Okay, we can go out and set off fireworks now." Yingzi brought the dumplings into the house, walked out holding her father's hand, and said to her father, "Dad, let's go and take a look together."
"You guys go ahead!" Yingzi's father waved his hand, "Come back quickly to eat the dumplings before they get cold."
Yingzi and Zhang Zhuzi came to the yard. The maid took the bamboo pole with firecrackers tied to it, went to the fire and lit it. She turned her face to the side, covered one ear, and let out a clear and cheerful laugh amid the crackling sound.
Fires burst out and confetti flew. Zhang Zhuzi looked at the girl who was immersed in simple happiness, his face full of smiles.
Hahahaha, Yingzi shook the bamboo pole, still a little unsatisfied, and said with a smile: "Next year, I will buy more loud ones, and fireworks that fly high and explode into flowers in the sky."
Zhang Zhuzi nodded vigorously, took the three-barreled gun from the wall, and said, "The recoil of this one isn't big, but you didn't let it go, so let me hold it for you!"
"Okay!" Yingzi nodded briskly, stepped forward, grasped the pole with both hands, and asked with a smile, "Shall we release it toward the sky?"
Zhang Zhuzi pulled a piece of firewood from the fire, came over, reached out to hold the three-barreled gun, adjusted the angle, handed the firewood to Yingzi, and said, "You light it. I've made it strong enough for you to hold it with one hand."
Yingzi agreed, took the firewood with one hand and reached for the fuse.
The two men, three hands gripping the rifle barrels, their bodies naturally pressed together. But no one paid any attention to this somewhat intimate gesture, all tilting their heads slightly upwards, staring at the muzzles.
Boom, boom, boom!
The musket fired, emitting fireworks, and the barrel dropped slightly, but was held firmly by Zhang Zhuzi, so Yingzi only felt a slight vibration.
"You've grown one year older!" Yingzi looked at Zhang Zhu with a smile, pursed her lips slightly, but did not let go, as if muttering to herself.
Zhang Zhuzi chuckled, but this time he didn't avoid looking.
White smoke was still curling out of the muzzle of the gun as the two men leaned against each other, their eyes turning to the night sky dotted with scattered snowflakes.
Light snowflakes fell happily, landing on the bodies and faces of the two people. However, neither of them moved, and it was unknown what they were thinking about, or perhaps they were praying to the heavens.
………………
Dip the hot dumplings in garlic sauce and vinegar and eat them. Mmm, they taste so delicious.
With the cooperation of the Flying Cavalry Battalion, the Liaozhen Dragon Cavalry Battalion finally completed the blocking mission, withdrew to Ningyuan on New Year's Eve, and had a feast on New Year's Eve.
Xiong Tingbi's order was to block the advance of the Jiannu at every turn, but there were no hard and fast rules. If you could hold them off for a few hours, that would be great; even half an hour would be fine.
But the principle is clear: do not fight to the death with the Jiannu, and preserve your strength as the top priority.
As a result, the Dragon Cavalry Battalion and the two thousand Ming troops who abandoned Jinzhou and Dalinghhe retreated alternately, using pre-set positions to repeatedly block the Jiannu.
The ones who suffered the most were not Manggurtai's Bordered Blue Banner, but the Mongol vassal soldiers, who were all cavalry and served as the vanguard together with the Bordered Blue Banner.
It is not an exaggeration to say that Manggurtai was rude and simple-minded, but he was no fool and would put his own men first.
As for the Mongolian cavalry, they were obviously not adapted to the new fighting style of the Ming army. The weak armor protection alone made them suffer heavy casualties when facing the Ming army's musket fire.
After the Mongolian vassal army was thrown into chaos by muskets on the official road, Man Gui led the Flying Cavalry Battalion to attack at the right time, launching an attack with bows and sabers.
Well-equipped with armor and sophisticated weapons, the Flying Cavalry Battalion's fierce charge made the situation even worse for the Mongolian vassal army, and they were defeated miserably.
When Manggurtai led the Bordered Blue Banner to reinforce, the Flying Cavalry Battalion retreated to avoid fighting, leaving the Bordered Blue Banner with only the musketeers who had to rely on their positions.
Fortunately, the Dragon Cavalry Battalion did not insist on defending the stronghold. With the losses on both sides not being too great, the Dragon Cavalry Battalion withdrew to Ningyuan, and the Jiannu army would have to wait at least one day before they could reach the city.
"If we hadn't been in a hurry to get back to eat dumplings, the Dragon Cavalry Battalion could have held out for another two or three days."
Yang Guozhu stuffed a dumpling whole into his mouth and chewed it heartily, saying, "Let's not even talk about the positions on the official road. Just Xingshan, Daxingbao, and Tashan alone, if we hold on with all our might, any one of them would be enough for the Jiannu to gnaw on for seven or eight days."
This may sound a bit exaggerated, but if we really want to stop them, we can indeed delay the Later Jin army for a few more days.
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