Chapter 78 Mianchi
Both Guan Shengyun and Luo Yonghao were very satisfied with being able to block the news of the army's attack on the Central Plains until now. The most dangerous part has passed. If we are stuck on the dead-end road of several hundred miles from Tongguan to Shaanzhou, it is a high probability that the entire army will be annihilated. Even if some people can escape with their lives, they will once again be in a situation where they have to worry about being killed at any time. Bandits suppressed by local officials. But now, Xishiguan is firmly under the control of Gu Baihua's Gangfeng Battalion, and the vast heart of the empire is open.
Pan Ding, Jing Xiangshan, Wang Jian and others all died, but they died very honorably.
Luo Yonghao had advised them in private, and Guan Shengyun also turned a blind eye and pretended not to know. Guan Shengyun himself was once an officer in the army, and Military Advisor Luo was a county magistrate before. In his heart, everyone had the same origin, especially because of their integrity, which was what people valued most at that time. However, due to various reasons, several people cannot "become thieves". Even if Guan Shengyun and others don't kill them, they will have no way out and may even harm their own family. Luo Yonghao fully understands this. In turn, after talking all night long, everyone also understood the difficulties of Guan Shengyun, Luo Yonghao and others who had no choice, and each other could only sigh.
This is life.
Sacrifice in front of the enemy is the best choice for these truly loyal ministers of the Ming Dynasty, and it is also the only choice in this situation - this is reverse elimination: blaming the third division of Shaanxi Province on their neighbors, the Yulin Prefecture of deceiving the emperor and endangering the enemy, Ansai County, which collaborated with the enemy... all received generous rewards, and the most incompatible Yu Shengliang's family was destroyed, and the three who resolutely resisted died in front of the enemy... In this environment, in the end, those who could still stay in the official circles of the Ming Dynasty, What kind of people are they?
After washing and bathing, each person left a suicide note. Luo Yonghao asked Luo Shifan and other literate people to make several copies of each person's suicide note in front of them and post them everywhere in the city - this was a disguised guarantee: From this, the court will know about their "death day", and not only will their family members not be hindered, but they will also be commended, and it will also benefit future generations. Their sons and nephews can directly obtain honors through this, and the Ministry of Personnel will give priority to the actual appointment of officials. This kind of background in the officialdom is even better than the "correct" background in scientific research - the elders are loyal ministers and generals who sacrificed their lives for the empire, and the Shaanxi Prefecture will erect a stone monument for them that will last forever. In their hometowns, a Martyrs' Shrine will be built for them or they will be enshrined in existing sages' shrines, and their deeds will be remembered for generations to come.
The three of them had a sumptuous farewell meal, and Guan Shengyun led the generals to offer them farewell wine. In front of the government office, the three of them committed suicide calmly, in front of many people. Immediately, Guan Shengyun used three good coffins to restrain them, but the burial was not deep. Because when the army leaves, there will definitely be officers and soldiers who will "conquer" Shaanzhou, and their remains will be taken out again and transported back to their hometowns with officials from all over the place paying homage in person.
It's extremely sad, this is the best arrangement.
Of course Ma Wensheng died too.
Gu Baihua privately had a good opinion of Wang Jian. The two fought head-on, and although the latter lost, this upright man had more respect for his unyielding opponent. After learning about Ma Wensheng's usual bullying of the military attachés, he wanted to find trouble with him. It happened that Luo Shifan was using lies and threats to ask him about transportation in Henan Province.
Master Xiao Luo dragged his brother-in-law Gu Youqi away, asked what had happened, patted his chest and promised to let Brother Gu relieve his anger, then turned back and patted his chest again to reassure Ma Zhizhou that he would never kill him - of course, the condition was that he knew All questions must be answered.
After writing down all the information Ma Wensheng knew about Henan Province's transportation, cities, garrison strength, and officials, Luo Shifan asked Ma Wensheng to write his own confession. Ma Wensheng knew this was a big pit, but he had to jump out of it even now - it was just a temporary thing.
Master Xiao Luo already had a general understanding of Ma Wensheng's situation, so he forced him to write down the events of these years, starting from the time when he killed wealthy households in Dingtao and enriched his own pockets, until he moved to the right to become the magistrate of Shaanxi Province, paying special attention to the analysis of psychological activities. And the details of the bribery, whether it was the court or the provincial government, the time, place, person, scene, amount, were written in detail. Ma Wensheng couldn't continue writing several times, so Luo Shifan dictated and asked him to write by himself. It's useless to plead - even though this young guy always has a smile on his face, but he's full of evil, once he sighs or coughs, the ugly and fierce Guan Yehuo next to him pulls out a knife and marks him everywhere. Then I asked myself which piece of meat I wanted to give up... In the end, Ma Zhizhou had a complete mental breakdown, and he wrote whatever he was told, and the broken jar simply broke.
Before the army set off, when the three kings of Pan Jing were about to go on their way, Ma Wensheng was also pulled over. The three of them had a farewell drink in the lobby of the Yamen. Ma Wensheng knelt under the steps outside the Yamen and read his confession in public. Several copies of the confession had been copied, and they were posted side by side with the three suicide notes. Let him read it personally. In addition to humiliation, it also means taking care of those illiterate people. In addition to ordinary people, young and old, the audience was mostly composed of wounded and weak soldiers from Hongnongwei who were forcibly driven over (the strong men were all incorporated into the auxiliary barracks in Guoqinglin). After reading, Master Xiao Luo took the confession and said to him: "You can go, I promised not to kill you." Just as Ma Wensheng knelt down to thank him again, Gu Baihua's loud voice had already shouted: " Those who have been wronged will be punished, and those who have vengeance will be punished!"
Then Ma Wensheng was beaten to death in the street by the wounded soldiers with fists and canes. Not to mention, Liu Shiting really had two brushes, and he really responded to Liu Shenxian's original sentence of "ten thousand people bow their heads" - Ma Wensheng didn't even have time to get up, everyone lowered their heads and fought hard.
No one bothered Liu Shiting, and no one even touched the money he had confided to himself. On the one hand, all the generals knew in their hearts that Liu Shenxian had saved a lot of blood from his subordinates, so it would be embarrassing to try to rob him; on the other hand, Guan Shengyun was already extremely rich, and he really didn't care much about his A few bucks.
When Luo Yonghao suggested that he could leave first, Liu Shenxian thought he was setting up a trap to find an excuse to kill him, and kept swearing to join the "Righteous Master". Luo Yonghao waved his hand and said: "Mr. Liu, everyone is sensible, no It's boring to say these insincere words. If it was really his intention, why would Luo need to come to you personally? Since you have made great achievements, the commander is not someone who breaks his promise to get rich. Sir, if you please, this hand will allow you to pass the Kip Shek Pass. You can throw it away to avoid getting yourself into trouble. Mr. Black Donkey outside can do it for you. From now on, when you have the opportunity, you might as well spread some beneficial words to my teacher, and I will be very grateful."
When Liu Shiting left with great gratitude, Guan Yehuo asked blankly: "Master Military Advisor, if you let him go like this, will it leak military information?"
Luo Yonghao glanced at Luo Shifan and said nothing. The latter smiled and replied: "Brother, please use your brain. Where can he go? To Tongguan? It's a dead end. They know who we are! I still have that with me. A lot of money, he will definitely be caught as a spy, beheaded, and everyone will share the money! He can only go to Luoyang through Xia Shi Pass. There is no need to worry about him leaking military information - 'Ah? Shaanzhou was broken? How? How did you do it? Do you know? How did you escape? How did you bring so much money?' How did he answer? 'The money was deceived from Ma Wensheng, and I led the way to the city?' Hahahaha..."
Guan Yehuo scratched his head: "Brother, what you said makes sense! Why didn't I think of that? It's because you scholars have so many twists and turns in your stomach."
Luo Yonghao smiled and added: "The two small counties of Mianchi and Xin'an can't stop my large army. I guess he will go straight to Luoyang, or even further, and then buy some acres and become a rich man. However, In the first half of his life, he had developed the habit of bragging. Even if he settles down, he may not be able to control his mouth, so as not to pretend to be mysterious and mysterious. I just gave him a nod. The power of my teacher can be spread widely through him. With the addition of those condiments of fairies, demons and monsters, whoever listens will be afraid. No matter how you look at it, it is a good thing."
Master Luo expected it to be true - when Liu Shiting ran non-stop to the outskirts of Luoyang, Kankan met the official sent by Qi Xiaoguang to Shaanzhou to inquire about the news. When those people saw Liu Shiting coming from the west, they couldn't help but ask a few questions. Liu Shenxian could frighten Zhizhou in person. Isn't it a piece of cake to fool a few soldiers? Looking at the backs of several people galloping towards Shaanzhou, Liu Shenxian smiled contemptuously, and Shi Shiran rode a donkey into Luoyang Fucheng.
At this time, Mianchi City was in chaos.
The dismissed government officials spread the fear throughout the city that a large group of thieves were about to attack, and the people of the city fled like headless flies with their young and old in tow. Families from well-off families fled to Xin'an one after another. Prices at carriage shops soared more than ten times in an instant. Most of them were ordinary people who were unable to escape and were reluctant to abandon their family business completely. As the saying goes, a broken family is worth a thousand dollars, and no one can bear to throw away all their life's work. The mountains and plains are full of residents with valuables in their arms, burdens on their backs, and old, young, women, and children in their hands. They all want to stay in the barren mountains for a while to escape the disaster of the war.
The happiest thing is the rogues in the city. There is no better opportunity than now to take advantage of the situation. However, when they excitedly ran to the bank, they discovered from a distance that many government officials were already guarding there with iron rulers, guns and clubs... The same was true for the granary and arsenal, so they had to turn around and run back to the common people in disappointment. Search the empty houses.
The fact that the government officials guarded the warehouse was not due to their loyalty to their duties, but to Fu Yuehui's orders. Well, to be precise, it's not that they can still obey Master Fu's orders at this time, they do it for themselves. Fu Yuehui told them: You are "officials", temporary officials, and you will pass on this profession here from generation to generation. It will definitely not be your turn to pursue the crime of losing the city. The only threat comes from the upcoming thieves. If you can keep an eye on the treasury, it won't be too difficult for you guys to find thieves. Otherwise, any city in the future will burn its silver grain before it falls! Thieves will not understand this truth. So the government officials settled their families in the warehouse one after another, and they stood guard outside the door in groups with weapons. Their posture was much more energetic than the usual days of guarding the national property of the Ming Dynasty.
Sure enough, after Guan Shengyun entered the empty city, he found that the granary, bankroom and arsenal were intact. He was overjoyed. Not only did all these government officials escape, but they also received some rewards.
The soldiers were very fast. Guan Shengyun left Zhang Ding's Pili camp to guard the retreat, and the army quickly rushed towards Xin'an.
