Although the vassal kings from all over the country also knew that if they went to Beijing to meet the Holy Spirit, they would be beaten, but most people still went there happily. After all, as long as they were not really rebellious and had a guilty conscience, they would not care about the emperor's beatings. On the contrary, the emperor would still punish them openly. There are various awards and awards, but the important thing is that they can finally leave the fiefdom. For them, this is a travel opportunity that occurs once a year or even every few years.
Therefore, Zhu Shenxuan was quite happy to learn that he was going to the capital for the annual meeting at the end of the year. After all, the performance of the Jin Palace in the defense battle of Taiyuan at the beginning of the year was very outstanding. As long as the vassal kings from all over the Ming Dynasty were targeted by intruders, how many of them would be successful? , Hey, my Prince Jin’s Palace is intact, and I have a good reputation of supporting the army. Naturally, the emperor and the court will praise me for a while. I will give Prince Jin’s Palace more face at the annual meeting. Although there is no actual reward, I look good. .
Yusei, now that his business has reached the capital, wants to take a closer look.
"Then I, the king, should explain all the business at hand before going to Beijing. Hey, it's been busy enough..." Zhu Shenxuan rubbed his hands with some excitement: "By the way, how long will you stay in Taiyuan?" , maybe they can go together, it would be nice to have a companion on the road."
Chang Yu thought for a while: "The time for our return to Beijing may be the same as that of the prince, but it may not be the same. We have to patrol the Yellow River defense line these days, so we may take the east road back to Beijing."
"Well, we'll see when the time comes. It would be best if we can go together." Zhu Shenxuan said and stood up: "Time is running out and I have to discuss business matters with Chang Shi and the others. Let's talk later." Chang Yu stood up and saw him off. , and said casually: "If you can't go with us when you enter the capital, remember to take the princess with you."
Zhu Shenxuan was startled, then smiled and said: "Maybe the queen and princess are talking about this girl again. I once heard her say..."
Chang Yu sent someone to trick Zhu Zhi'e into the capital before, using this as an excuse. Zhu Shenxuan and his mother still don't know. Chang Yu hurriedly hissed. He was afraid that the prince and Kun Xing in the room would hear the reason. Zhu Shenxuan Seeing this, he quickly stopped talking and nodded slightly. He thought Chang Yu was worried that this was a secret matter and would be overheard by his followers.
Boom... At this moment, a long muffled sound came from a distance. Zhu Shenxuan frowned: "What time has it been? How could the Drum Tower..." He turned to look at Chang Yu: "Could it be you? What?" Chang Yu chuckled, cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, go and do your work, it's just the East Factory's work."
Zhu Shenxuan curled his lips and shook his shoulders: "You guys are really working hard, working day and night."
"Serving the people, it's not hard work." Chang Yu laughed, but Zhu Shenxuan felt in his heart that his mother had betrayed him and left in a hurry.
As soon as Zhu Shenxuan left, Zhu Cixiang flashed out: "What's going on over there at the Drum Tower?"
"Lao Jiu put a bait over there, and unexpectedly someone actually took the bait." Chang Yu held a tea cup and asked Zhu Cixiang to sit down: "Soon we will know what he caught, whether it was a shrimp or a snakehead fish."
The night is not too late yet, and the streets and alleys of Taiyuan are almost empty. After all, in such a cold day, even wild cats and wild dogs have to find a haystack to stay warm. As a city, there are naturally many entertainment venues, but brothels and casinos are all brightly lit. It was dark because there were no guests. The reason was very practical. People after the war were poor! The common people are poor, and the wealthy gentry are also poor. In addition, in the past few days, everyone has known that the eunuch and the Minister of War are in Taiyuan City. If they can go out less to live and drink, they will be less visible. What's more, the Dongchang has recently been cracking down on gangs and evil. Although there is no curfew, it is like a curfew. generally.
Deserted, cold and quiet.
In the wooden cage under the Drum Tower, the thief huddled up in a ball and did not know whether to live or die. Several officers and soldiers guarding him closed the door in the Drum Tower not far away, warming themselves over the fire and chatting. To them, there was already a dead man outside, and they didn't care whether he died or not. It doesn't matter, they don't care. The so-called care is actually just a formality.
A few black shadows staggered from the shadows, walking and stopping, sometimes rummaging for something in the haystack, sometimes cuddling under the eaves of someone's house, and occasionally meeting a hurried passerby, they would stretch out their hands. He knocked his bamboo pole on the ground and said, "Master, give me some copper coins for the reward." It turned out to be a few beggars.
On this freezing night, it was impossible to beg for food in a famine year. The laughter of several officers and soldiers on duty in the Drum Tower attracted the attention of the beggar, and then they slowly walked over. One of them came to stingy the door: "Master, please give me something to eat." ".
"I'm going to drink the northwest wind. How can I get anything to eat for you? Hurry up and leave." An officer and soldier looked over and saw a beggar waving his hands impatiently: "Why don't you go to a restaurant and inn to beg for food and go here to beat the autumn wind? Are you stupid because of hunger..."
"The restaurants and inns are all closed. How can we get anything to eat? It's very cold outside, Master. Can you let me go in and warm up for a while? Just for a while..." The officers and soldiers looked at the four of them and felt a little disgusted. He said: "It's such a big place, how can it be packed in?"
"Master, please do well. Our hands and feet are numb from the cold. Let us warm up before we leave. Please..." Several beggars begged with their hands raised.
"Okay, okay, let them come in for a while." Several officers and soldiers inside said and got up to make room for a few beggars. The beggars squeezed in with thanks. At this moment, the officers and soldiers in the room suddenly burst into action, slammed the door, and pulled out The short knife held down the beggars and stabbed them violently, shouting: "Do it!"
The two beggars were caught off guard and were stabbed to the ground. The other two quickly evaded and reached into their arms to draw their knives and strike. However, the officers and soldiers were well prepared and struck first. There was no way to escape death. They did it inside. For a moment, several people suddenly jumped out from the shadow of the wooden cage that held the thief and assassin outside. They ran away. They were not beggars, but they were all associates of the assassin!
Those few people dressed as beggars wanted to go in and drag the guards and soldiers to cover the rescue of their companions outside, but they fell directly into the fire pit.
A beggar is not a beggar, so how can the officers and soldiers be ordinary officers and soldiers!
It’s Lao Jiu’s Black Wolf Camp.
After the thief was interrogated, Chang Yu threw it to Lao Jiu to use as bait for fishing. As for whether he could catch him, it was a gamble to see if these so-called green forest heroes were really loyal!
It seems that he did have loyalty, but he lost his life in vain.
These thieves' comrades would not have been so careless at first, and could even be said to have been extremely cautious. They had previously speculated whether the officers and soldiers had set up a trap, but it was not possible to think so, so they locked up their comrades in the prison. As soon as the public display in the cage began, these people began to plan a rescue, pretending to be ordinary people, and the beggars kept observing and testing the surroundings, but found nothing.
Perhaps, the officers and soldiers guessed that they were not so bold to take action, or maybe they guessed that they had already left Taiyuan City.
Then do the opposite and do it!
Several thieves who were quietly sawing wood cages knew something was wrong when they heard the shouts in the drum tower, and ran away in all directions. However, several strong bows poked out from the windows above the clock tower and fired at these people. Two people were shot down.
"We are ambushed, don't save me, run away..." The fallen man shouted, and the two accomplices gritted their teeth and fled towards the dark alley next to them, but suddenly they found dozens of black-clothed men coming from the residence. It turned out and surrounded them.
"Catch him alive!" Lao Jiu shouted from the Drum Tower.
"Fight these bastards!" a thief shouted and drew his knife and was about to rush over, but the accomplice beside him said angrily: "I'll leave first" and then he committed suicide with a wipe on his neck!
"Defa, you!" The thief who was about to rush to kill was startled, but before he could make any other reaction, he was held down by the fierce soldiers of the Black Wolf Battalion!
Of the eight thieves, four were stabbed to death in the Drum Tower, two were shot, one committed suicide, and one was captured alive. ']
Lao Jiu came to the palace to report to Chang Yu. It was a bit unexpected that the thieves actually came to rob someone, but what surprised him even more was the confession of the captured man. They were not the thieves commanded by Li Zicheng, but from Green Forest Road. In their words: "As a family, there is nothing wrong with helping fellow comrades in trouble."
"You see, this is the ability and power of the intruder. All three mountains and five mountains are used by him." Chang Yu said to Zhu Cixiang, but he was personally skeptical. Dongchang's various actions in Taiyuan City, ordinary Jianghu people and The Green Forest Road people had already heard the news and left. How could they have the guts to stay in the city? Besides, even if they were Jianghu people, by chance, eight people came together to plan this robbery at the execution ground?
Chang Yu didn't quite believe it. Even if this group of people was not Li Zicheng's bandit army, they were all Green Forest Road who obeyed his orders. They were all responsible for this entry and trouble. But who was the bandit leader responsible for this operation? The confession said He was a strategist beside Li Zicheng. There were originally four strategists around Li Zicheng. Li Yan surrendered. According to the prisoners, Song Xiance broke his leg and Gu Junen was lost. Niu Jinxing was the only one left, but he was the backbone of the thieves. I won't let him leave easily.
The most likely reason for crossing the river eastward to plot something big this time is that Gu Junen got lost at that time. When the rebel army was defeated, he got lost. Perhaps he found a place to stay with a group of defeated soldiers and later contacted Li Zicheng who ran back to Xi'an. Then Li Zicheng asked him to Don't come back yet. As a spy, you can plot evil and give eye drops to the officers and soldiers.
Impressed!
Chang Yu told his speculation, and Lao Jiu and Zhu Cihong fell to the ground.
