He had heard earlier that the eunuchs in Dongchang were sinister and vicious, but he never thought they would be so aggressive. Li Xingzu, who was following Chang Yu, couldn't help but sigh, but he also admired him. This leader of the eunuchs was really brave, and he acted like a madman when he struck. Three or five people couldn't stop him easily.
"I will come back"
Looking back at Wenshui City, which had slowly disappeared into the night, Chang Yu said the next sentence coldly.
Li Xingzu almost fell over and wanted to come back!
To the west of Wenshui City is a vast mountain with lofty mountains and endless peaks. The nearest hilltop to the city is Dragon King Mountain. The mountain is deep and densely forested. Although it is not too high, it is extremely steep.
There is a temple on the mountain. Judging from the incense burner, the incense must be quite strong on weekdays, but today there was a military disaster and few people came.
Chang Yu and others knocked on the door for a while, but someone answered, but did not open the door. In a rage, Duan Wuhu climbed over the wall and entered. After hearing some scolding and fighting, the temple door opened and everyone rushed in.
"You thieves..." Several monks inside the door stood with knives and sticks and yelled. Two monks lying next to them were groaning. They must have been injured by Chang Yu's men just now.
"We are not thieves, we are officials." Chang Yu rebuked coldly, and the monks immediately shut up, with doubts and fear on their faces.
"Close the temple door tightly. Thieves may come at night. Don't expose us, otherwise I will kill you all." Chang Yu said fiercely, and asked a monk to lead the way and arrange a side room for them to stay.
Although the temple is not big, there are many rooms, which is more than enough space to accommodate Chang Yu and his party.
As soon as Chang Yu finished setting up the brazier, the abbot of the temple came, but he was a fat monk about sixty years old. The people at the foot of the mountain had a sallow face and thin muscles, but this monk had a big face and big ears, which made him lose his favor immediately.
"We are officers and soldiers who are spies. There may be thieves looking for us at night. I know you can't stop them, but you can't leak our whereabouts," Chang Yu said coldly.
"Monks don't lie..."
"Then I will kill you right now." Chang Yu interrupted the pretentious abbot with an angry shout, which frightened the monk into looking pale.
Get out! Chang Yu saw him as an eyesore and angrily scolded him to leave. The abbot left in a panic.
The night was cold and windy. Chang Yu stood on a platform in the corner of the temple and looked into the distance. The lights in Wenshui City were brightly lit. It seemed that the bandit army had already entered the city. A long fire dragon stretched to the south to the far end, and the main force of the bandit army had also arrived.
A violent storm is coming! Chang Yu clenched his fist hard.
"Will the thieves come to hunt us down?" Duan Wuhu asked from behind.
"Probably won't come"
Li Xingzu looked down the mountain and whispered: "The thieves concluded that when we leave the city from the west gate, we must enter the mountain. It is difficult to find people in the deep mountains and dense forests. What's more, they won't spend so much time searching for a few spies. If they really wanted to come, they would have come long ago. "We won't wait until now," he said, pointing to the bottom of the mountain: "But we can't be too careless. We have to take shifts at night. We can see Wenshui City from here. If there is another fire coming from the west, it is most likely to be looking for us. ".
"Brother Li is really experienced." Duan Wuhu and Zhou Tianpeng expressed admiration. This is all based on experience.
Chang Yu listened without interrupting and looked to the north. There were also dots of fire moving around. It was obvious that Zhou Yuji's men were still searching around in that area.
Tonight was not peaceful, Chang Yu sighed.
During the day, Zhou Yuji's men swept through a small group of thieves and spies in the territory. At this time, the bandit army arrived. Naturally, they were not to be outdone and wanted to regain their position. I don't know how many people died that night. The area from Wenshui to Jiaocheng became a real hell.
"Sir, the bandits have arrived in Wenshui."
In the Jiaocheng County Yamen, Zhou Yuji was discussing matters with his subordinates, and a spy came to report.
Zhou Yuji was not surprised at all: "How many troops can be found?"
"There are more than 5,000 people in the vanguard, and the main force is entering the city. It is estimated that there are more than 200,000 people."
Taking a long breath, Zhou Yuji's expression was solemn. When the rebel army launched from Xi'an, although it was said to be one million, it was actually only 60,000. The returning troops were divided into two groups, but at this time, they actually numbered as many as 200,000. This snowball is big enough. Fast enough.
"It sounds bluffing, but they are just a mob," Zhu Kongxun sneered. They all knew that more than 60% of the 200,000 troops were civilians and refugees who were kidnapped along the way to serve as cannon fodder, and the other 20% were used as cannon fodder. Ten is when the imperial court surrenders its troops, and what remains are the elites of the rebel army.
"Is the vanguard Li Guo's or Liu Zongmin's men?" Zhou Yuji asked calmly. Li Zicheng used these two as the vanguard for this eastern expedition.
"Return to my lord"
The spy's expression was a little tangled: "It's General Xiong...Xiong Tong and Chen Shangzhi..."
"You bastards. If you don't do good things, you will become thieves." When he heard the names of these two people, Niu Yong couldn't help but cursed.
Chen Shangzhi was the guard general of Pingyang Prefecture. Historically, he and the prefect Zhang Linran surrendered without a fight. However, Xiong Tong was a general under Zhou Yuji. He was ordered to organize the Yellow River defense line and surrendered directly.
"They are not even thieves, at most they are dogs of the thieves." Another general, Wang Yongkui, couldn't help but cursed.
"When it was dark, they had a small-scale conflict with our troops. Later, our troops retreated and they did not follow up." The spy continued.
"What a damn good dog, working so hard to kill his own people," Niu Yong cursed again.
"If he doesn't bite his own people, how can he ask for credit and show loyalty to his new master!"
Zhou Yuji sneered: "Send the order and ask our troops to withdraw ten miles north of Wenshui. The bandit army has just arrived tonight and it is impossible to fight with us in formation, but there will be no shortage of small-scale conflicts. We don't have to be soft. Kill them before the big battle." The opponent’s momentum”.
After talking for a while, he asked again: "Is there any news about the factory supervisor?"
The spy pondered for a moment: "I heard that today someone killed a traitor and a spy in Wenshui City in public, and then forced his way out of the city gate. We speculate that it was the Factory Superintendent's group who did it."
Zhou Yuji and others' expressions changed: "Is there any evidence?"
"Sir, in our line of work, whether we are exploring military camps at night or collecting intelligence, our movements are extremely secretive and low-key. Even if our whereabouts are exposed, we always try to escape, especially in broad daylight. They rarely take action, and today... plus the number of people in the group is about the same as when the factory governor set out, so..."
Zhou Yuji, Niu Yong and others looked at each other with wry smiles on their faces. This master was really speechless. He would not stop wherever he went, and there would be bloodshed at any time. He had received intelligence before that Chang Yu and his party had already done something before arriving at Wenshui City. Tickets, but it was in the wilderness, inaccessible, and in the city, he was still so arrogant, and there was no one else.
Late at night, the porridge shack outside Taiyuan City was crowded with many refugees who had not had time to enter the city to stay warm and take a nap.
In the city, the lights were brightly lit along the streets, and a large number of patrol soldiers walked along the streets. There were too many refugees in the city, and security must be strictly enforced.
The refugee camp has not yet calmed down. Many refugees who do not have shelters to live in are huddled under the porridge shacks and warming themselves by the stove.
"I heard that all the temples in the city are open to welcome guests. I have to go early tomorrow to grab a place to sleep..." someone was muttering.
"Hey, we're not just guests, we're just trying to escape, don't put money on your face," someone laughed at themselves.
"There are many temples in the city. They opened their doors to accommodate refugees and even opened porridge shacks. However, there are more refugees..."
"My Buddha is compassionate, and the Bodhisattva who saves the suffering is kind-hearted..." Someone was about to sing, but was interrupted by a voice: "But come on, I heard that the government forced them to help the refugees. I also heard that, start Some unwilling monks were even arrested..."
The west gate of the Prince's Mansion, this is the center of the yamen of Taiyuan Mansion. It was late at night, there were no pedestrians on the street, and it was quiet.
Suddenly there were dogs barking on the street, and several figures appeared at the door of the Tiju Si Yamen (equivalent to the local Ministry of Education in later generations). One person started knocking on the door, and soon the watchman heard the news: "Who is there?"
"Dongchang, open the door!" someone outside the door responded.
With a creak, the yamen opened, and several figures walked in. After saying a few words to the watchman, the man quickly ran towards the yamen.
After a while, an old man in his fifties and short stature walked out with a puzzled look on his face, "What do you want from me?"
"But Ti Xuedao Li Zhisheng (senior official of the Ministry of Education)?" someone asked.
"Exactly" Li Zhisheng frowned.
"take"
With a sharp shout, Li Zhisheng was tied up tightly in the blink of an eye.
"What are you doing, why are you arresting me..."
Li Zhisheng struggled and shouted, and then his mouth was gagged, but this also alerted other people in the yamen, who went out to check.
"Everyone should stay out of the Dongchang business." Several people said as they bundled Li Zhisheng out of the Yamen and gradually disappeared at the end of the street.
At this time, two people emerged from a shadow at the yamen entrance.
"Your superiors asked you to do this secretly, so why are you so public?"
"This is not a publicity, this is a frame-up plan. Only by using falsehoods and truths can we deceive people. Otherwise, the loss of a person and an official will be too great."
The night passed quietly, and the city did not know the danger outside the city, and the people outside the city did not know the chaos in the city.
