Chapter 005: Eat first and then make money
Chen Guodong is a commander of the Dongjiang Army. He was originally a Haizhou guard.
In April of the first year of Tianqi, his hometown Haizhouwei fell. There were eleven members of Chen Guodong's family. Except for Chen Lian and his younger brother Chen Guoliang, nine members of the family, including Chen Guodong's father, mother, two brothers, one sister, two sisters-in-law, one nephew, and one sister, died at the hands of Jiannu.
Chen Guodong, who was only 11 years old at the time, took nine-year-old Chen Guoliang with the refugees and fled to Guanglu Island. Later, when Mao Wenlong made a surprise attack on Houjin Zhenjiang and opened Dongjiang Town, he became a member of the Dongjiang Army militia.
In the sixth year of the Apocalypse, the seventeen-year-old Chen Guodong officially became a member of the Dongjiang Army. He accompanied the Dongjiang Army to attack the slaves several times, and was promoted from a pawn to the commander-in-chief due to his meritorious service.
However, the good times did not last long.
The always rebellious Mao Shuai had a conflict with Yuan Chonghuan. As a result, Mao Wenlong was killed and the Dongjiang Army became scattered. Yuan Chonghuan supported Chen Jisheng, the former deputy general of the Dongjiang Army, as the commander-in-chief. However, Chen Jisheng could not convince the crowd and was scheming without making any decisions.
In March of the third year of Chongzhen, Chen Jisheng, the second commander-in-chief of the Dongjiang Army, was killed by Liu Xingzhi, Liu Xingji and others. Huang Long, who was from the Guanning Army in western Liaoning, succeeded him as the third commander-in-chief of the Dongjiang Army.
The new commander-in-chief of the Dongjiang Army, Huang Long, made three fires when he took office. The first one was on Geng Zhongming's brother, Dusi Geng Zhongyu. Geng Zhongming led his troops to join Sun Yuanhua, the governor of Denglai.
Chen Guodong was one of the generals under Geng Zhongming. Different from what ordinary soldiers imagined, Chen Guodong was very disgusted with the generals who fought against one thing today and against another tomorrow.
The Dongjiang Army is united, and even the slaves can be treated with caution, but after the division, who will treat them as a dish?
After arriving in Dengzhou, Chen Guodong deeply felt the malice of Dengzhou and Shandong people. Any Dengzhou person staring at them seemed to be on guard against thieves.
Chen Guodong led his men on a routine patrol. Suddenly, there was a rush of chickens and dogs, and several Dongjiang Army soldiers came quickly.
"Mr. Chen!"
"Why are you so alarmed!"
"They... they... bully people!"
Chen Guodong led his men to the south gate of Dengzhou City. This scene made his head pound.
A dozen Dengzhou Army soldiers, armed with bright weapons, were intimidating a group of refugees. The soldiers of the Dengzhou Army asked these refugees to open the packages they carried with them, throw gold, silver, money, jewelry, utensils and other items into a large basket, and even strip off their clothes.
The naked refugee huddled up and shivered. Not only the men among the refugees were required to be naked, but also the women and children. The refugees were all skinny. Even if their upper bodies were exposed, they were pointed at by the Dengzhou Army soldiers. If they moved slightly slowly, they would be kicked and punched.
If these refugees were from Shandong, Chen Guodong would never say anything and pretended not to see them.
But the problem is that these refugees are ordinary people who can no longer live on the islands in Dongjiang Town. When they see the Dongjiang Army being transferred to Dengzhou, they are worried about being attacked by slaves. Without the protection of the Dongjiang Army soldiers, they are just a group of cattle and sheep waiting to be slaughtered.
It is a pity that Shandong, which is extremely xenophobic, is not willing to accept the refugees from Liaodong. I don’t know whether it was the spontaneous behavior of the Dengzhou Army soldiers or a hint from above.
These refugees from Liaodong were driven to the moat under the city. A topless woman screamed and struggled to keep the Dengzhou Army soldiers away. It turned out that the child in the woman's arms was wearing a silver necklace around her neck. The longevity lock was discovered by a soldier. The soldier grabbed the longevity lock and pulled it hard.
A bloody mark was found on the child's neck, and the child's mother opened her mouth and bit the Dengzhou Army soldier.
The Dengzhou Army soldier was furious, threw the woman away, stabbed the woman fiercely with a long spear.
"Puch..."
The sharp spear penetrated the woman's back without any delay, and also penetrated the mother who wanted to protect her child with her body. The spear penetrated the woman's back, but passed through the chest of the child in her arms.
Chen Guodong was angry. He walked up to the Dengzhou Army soldier, raised his hand and slapped him.
"Zhi Xie Niang!"
The Dengzhou Army soldier who was beaten dropped his spear and ran towards the city, shouting as he ran: "The Dongjiang Army has rebelled..."
As the saying goes, three feet of ice did not freeze in a day. The conflicts and hostility between the Shandong Army and the Dongjiang Army were not caused in a day, so the two sides began to kill each other.
…
Cheng Shijie was a little lucky that he brought a sword this time. With a knife in hand, Cheng Shijie felt somewhat confident. As long as someone comes to kill him, he will not be helpless to fight back. Just like a soldier who can be blown away by a gust of wind, he should be able to kill two or three by himself.
When a middle-aged man becomes ruthless, he even fears himself.
The clerk was still a little confused. He remembered very clearly that when Cheng Shijie moved in, he carried very few things and absolutely no knives. Especially the Tang straight knife that Cheng Shijie was holding now, which seemed to be of very good quality.
"Don't worry, sir, there won't be any chaos here!"
"So much the better!"
Liu Ji Inn is also considered a local snake in Dengzhou City. When the chaos started, the waiters had already started to close the door. The door of Liu Ji Inn was very thick, with a three-inch thick wooden board. Unless it was burned with fire, it would be really difficult to break through. enter.
The chaos lasted for half an hour, and then slowly stopped.
The air began to be filled with the smell of blood, and it seemed that there was a lot of murder.
Cheng Shijie looked at the door warily until the handsome boy came back.
"Sir, it's okay!"
"what happened?"
"I heard that the Liaodong soldiers were causing trouble!"
This made Cheng Shijie feel a little uneasy. If he hadn't consulted historical data, he really wouldn't have figured it out. Now he knew that Dengzhou City was already a volcano about to erupt, and it could shake the mountain at any time.
Cheng Shijie decided to try his luck at the Dengzhou Governor's Yamen. Sun Yuanhua was training Denglai's new army. Maybe he needed such a magical weapon in his hand.
The purchase cost ranges from more than 200 yuan to more than 300 yuan. As long as he can sell it for more than ten taels of silver, he will have more than ten times the profit.
After walking out of Liu Ji Inn, people were shouting on the street. A group of government officials drove the people away and were cleaning the street. Buckets of water were poured on the street, and soon a faint red color floated.
"Wow wow..."
Just as Cheng Shijie was walking forward, he suddenly heard the shrill cry of a baby. He looked around, but did not see the baby or the woman holding the baby.
Obviously the baby's cry was not far away. Cheng Shijie subconsciously walked over and saw a swaddling baby on the mound next to him, and bursts of crying could be heard from the swaddling baby.
Cheng Shijie gently picked up the baby. The baby was very thin and had dry skin on his mouth. He had obviously not eaten for a long time and shouted to the crowd around him: "Whose child is this?"
However, if no one of the pedestrians around him paid attention to him, they all went about their own way.
"Abandoned baby!"
Cheng Shijie quickly thought of this situation. He pretended to leave the street, turned his phone upside down in his hand, exposed the camera lens, and started recording.
Shortly after Cheng Shijie left, a woman poked her head out from the corner. The woman knelt down and kowtowed towards Cheng Shijie's back.
Just when the woman was about to get up, Cheng Shijie came over with the baby in his arms.
The woman raised her head and looked at Cheng Shijie's feet.
"Why are you so cruel? Why do you want to throw away your child?"
Cheng Shijie's daughter had congenital heart disease and was also a premature baby. When she was just born, she was raised in the hospital for more than half a year before she was successfully discharged. He spent nearly 100,000 on this.
Many people advised Cheng Shijie to just pretend that he had never had this child and that he was still young and could have another one.
Cheng Shijie has some contempt for mothers who abandon their children.
The woman covered her face and cried sadly.
"Get your kids!"
Seeing that Cheng Shijie had no intention of adopting the child, the woman picked up the child and reached out to pinch the child's neck.
"Snapped……"
Cheng Shijie was really angry and slapped the woman on the face: "You are such a cruel woman, I will report it to the official..."
But the woman kowtowed to Cheng Shijie, choking while kowtowing: "I don't want to... but there is no way... my family is gone, my money is gone... I can't live anymore..."
Following the woman's grief and pain, Cheng Shijie finally understood what was going on.
This woman was originally from Liangxiang County. Her surname was Yang and her given name was Yunniang. In the first month of the third year of Chongzhen, Liangxiang County was captured by Jian slaves, and Liangxiang County was massacred. The fate of women was more miserable than that of men. Yang Yuniang was kidnapped by Jian slaves.
In the last five years, the imperial court regained Yongping Fucheng. Because she was seriously ill, Jiannu did not take her outside the customs, but abandoned her in Yongping Fucheng. After Yongping Prefecture was recovered, the government repatriated the captured people to their place of origin. Yang Yuniang was ruined and pregnant. Her family thought she was embarrassed and drove her away.
Yang Yun thought about committing suicide, but was rescued when she threw herself into a river. She drank a lot of river water, but she was too frightened to die. In desperation, she had no choice but to beg while going south.
On the way south, Yang Yunniang met Luo Gui, a middle-aged widower. Luo Gui did not dislike her experience and took him to Dengzhou City. The two then got married, but with the birth of the child, rumors emerged. Her husband Luo Gui thought the child she gave birth to was a bastard and kicked him out.
Cheng Shijie could only lament what happened to Yang Yuniang.
"When was your child born?"
"The first day of July"
Cheng Shijie can be sure that this child should be Luo Gui's. After all, Yongping Mansion was recovered in May of the third year of Chongzhen. It only takes 280 days to conceive a child, even if it is beyond the expected date, it can take up to two weeks.
Cheng Shijie hesitated. If he ignored Yang Yunniang, Yang Yuniang and her child would only die.
But, care, how to care? He is just a passerby.
Cheng Shijie touched the silver in his arms. He still had more than seven taels of silver. Although it was not much, it would not be a bad idea to give some to Yang Yunniang.
Thinking of this, Cheng Shijie took out a piece of silver and gave it to Yang Yunniang, about one tael or more. Cheng Shijie didn't know the exact amount.
"Thank you, Lord, but I can't take the slave!"
"Why!"
Yang Yuniang held her child and looked deep into the alley.
Deep in the alley, there are three big yellow teeth exposed and ragged clothes. They should be the beggar leaders. After all, ordinary beggars can't eat so well.
A woman with a baby who is not yet a month old and has money in her hands is the original sin.
Thinking of this, Cheng Shijie said: "Follow me!"
Cheng Shijie didn't think much. He decided to rent a guest room for Yang Yunniang in Liu Ji Inn. As long as he sold the sword in his hand, he would have a lot of money. By then, if he paid more for the room, Yang Yunniang could live.
As for the future, that is fate.
Cheng Shijie walked in front, followed by Yang Yunniang.
He vaguely felt that there was a tail behind him.
He took out his phone again, put it in his sleeve and turned on the video recording function.
Cheng Shijie didn't look back, and clicked on the video playback. Sure enough, three tails appeared behind him, but they were not the beggars in the alley, but three people wearing waist knives and dressed in green attire.
How is this going?
Cheng Shijie thought, he was probably someone from the Xingping pawn shop. One thousand taels of silver was a huge sum of money in the late Ming Dynasty. Could he be trying to take advantage of others?
Two thugs must be hired immediately, otherwise...
It's really unsafe.
Thinking of this, Cheng Shijie clenched the Tang straight knife in his hand hard.
I'm still not prepared enough. Unfortunately, electric shock batons can no longer be purchased directly online. Otherwise, I wouldn't be so scared.
At this moment, Cheng Shijie found a beggar on the side of the street.
The difference between this beggar and other beggars is that the beggars around him are incompatible with him. This beggar is covered with scars on his face, neck, chest, and arms, but they are all old wounds, especially one on his face. The hideous scars make people shudder.
In particular, the clothes on the beggar's body were all turned into rags, and his beard and hair were already gray. He looked to be in his fifties or sixties. The beggar lazily moved his body and exposed his back. There were no scars on his back.
It’s you.
Cheng Shijie walked towards the beggar. He slowly knelt down and took out a silver nugget from his arms. He had already sold the copper coins, and now he still had six or seven taels of silver in his hand.
This piece of silver is the smallest piece of silver and can be exchanged for hundreds of copper coins.
"I want to hire you to do something for me!"
"I only know how to kill people!"
Cheng Shijie's eyes lit up: "If someone kills me, kill him for me!"
"If you want to hire me, give me money first!"
"for you!"
The beggar took the money from Cheng Shijie and weighed it in his hand: "I, Shen Mingyu, this life is yours!"
Cheng Shijie took Yang Yunniang and Shen Mingyu and walked towards Liu Ji Inn.
Arriving at Liu Ji Inn, the waiter looked at Cheng Shijie with a troubled expression.
Fortunately for Yang Yunniang, although her clothes were in tatters, they were still clean, but Shen Mingyu stank all over his body.
Cheng Shijie put a piece of silver into the waiter's hand: "Prepare some hot water for him, let him take a bath, and find him some clothes. It doesn't have to be too good, just wearable!"
"Please come in, guest officer!"
Money makes things easier.
However, after buying Shen Mingyu an outfit and giving him the money, Cheng Shijie only had one tael of silver left in his hands.
More than half an hour later, Cheng Shijie was in Liu Ji's room, and Shen Mingyu, who had changed his clothes, appeared in front of him again.
Cheng Shijie was stunned. He almost didn't recognize Shen Mingyu. The original Shen Mingyu had gray hair and beard, and his face was covered with dirt. He looked as if he was sixty or seventy years old.
But now he has become a middle-aged man.
"Shen Mingyu meets the master..."
"Don't call me master, call me boss...or boss!"
"Yes, boss!"
"Shen Mingyu, how old are you?"
"I am thirty-six years old!"
"You look like you are sixty-three, not seventy-three!"
"Gugu..."
Shen Mingyu looked at Cheng Shijie sheepishly.
Cheng Shijie took out the last piece of silver: "Man, prepare the food and drinks!"
He decided to eat first and then make money.
