At the west gate of Jinzhou, dozens of Qing soldiers were checking passers-by at the gate. It was already evening. It was getting dark in winter and it was cloudy today. Although it was not dark yet, the sky was already gray, so we entered the city. There were only a few people there, mostly people leaving the city.
The gatekeepers of the Qing Dynasty randomly inspected people leaving the city, but were much stricter on those entering the city. When there were many people, they might be a little careless. When there were few people, they had to both interrogate and search, and sometimes they would deliberately look for trouble. , after all, it’s boring.
"Killing, killing, the military master is killing people." Just when a group of Qing soldiers were bored, they suddenly heard someone shouting loudly. When they looked up, they saw a shepherd driving sheep, and two hunters with panicked faces. He ran over in confusion: "Master Jun, there is a murderer over there..."
The guards at the door were startled when they heard this, and they shouted and gathered around: "What are you shouting about? Where is the murderer?"
"Just two miles ahead, there was a group of people chasing a man and killing him..." The sheepherder ran so far in one breath that his throat was almost smoking. He crossed his arms and couldn't speak. The Qing soldiers listened and said, They looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief, then smiled calmly: "That man is a thief. We just sent people from the city to arrest him. It's nothing to make a fuss about."
"No, Master." Seeing that the shepherd was speechless, the two hunters next to him quickly took over the conversation: "It's not just one person, there are several!"
"How many?" The leading Qing army frowned: "Can you finish it in one breath?"
"Yes, yes, yes." The young Orion bowed and nodded: "I just saw several people chasing one. When that one was no match for him and was about to be caught, suddenly another group came and started fighting with the chasing people. They used knives to kill people, and we were scared to death..."
"What did you say..." Before the young Orion could finish his words, the leader of the Qing army stepped forward and grabbed his collar: "Another group of people is here?"
The young Orion was so frightened that his legs collapsed: "Yes, Master, they started fighting and killed people..."
"Who killed whom?" the leader of the Qing army roared. The young hunter was so frightened that he couldn't speak. The young hunter next to him knelt down and said, "Master, we ran away because we were afraid. We don't know who killed whom." , anyway, people died, several died..."
"Yes, Master, there are indeed many dead." The shepherd finally regained his breath, knelt down and shook his head and said. The leader of the Qing army put the young hunter down, turned to the city gate and shouted: " Liu Saner, lead the horse."
Immediately, someone brought four or five horses to the city gate. The leader of the Qing army got on his horse and pointed at his more than ten men beside him: "Follow me and take a look." Then he said to Liu San, who was leading the horse, "Go to the city quickly to report."
After saying that, he led his cavalry and more than ten infantrymen to leave in a hurry. Seeing this, the shepherd quickly got up and faced the Qing soldiers at the door. He cupped his hands and said, "Master, I am from Liujia Village on the other side. Look at these few sheep." It’s not like I’m a guy, just let me go into the city. I’ll sell the sheep later and I’ll show my respect to you.”
Several Qing soldiers smiled and waved for him to enter the city. Two hunters also quickly picked up the load and put it in front of the Qing soldiers. They bowed and said: "Master, we are from Xujiazhuang, thirty miles west of the city. Go." There is a leather seller at Changlong in the east of the city. Even if you checked, you didn’t hide anything..."
The Qing soldiers glanced at their burdens, but did not reach out to check. Instead, they frowned and asked, "When you ran away, could you clearly see how many people were dead over there?"
"There must be at least three or four of them. How dare you look at them? To be honest, the military master said that our legs were so scared that our legs were weak. We only wished that our parents would have two legs. You see, my brothers even peed their pants," said the young Orion. Then he grabbed the boy next to him. Several Qing soldiers looked at it and saw that the boy's crotch was really wet. They couldn't help laughing and said: "He is a hunter after all, so timid."
"Ahem, we only hunt some animals in the mountains. We have never seen anyone kill anyone..." The young man said and glanced towards the outside of the city, his face full of fear.
"Go in." The Qing soldiers waved their hands, thanked the Orions, picked up their burdens, and hurried into the city.
"Stop!" At this moment, several Qing soldiers stopped one person, but a strong man walked in swaggeringly.
"What are you doing?" The big man raised his eyebrows, showing no fear in the face of several Qing troops.
"Who are you, where are you from, and where are you going?" Several Qing soldiers walked up to him, stopped him and asked with impatient expressions on their faces.
"The man from Tangzhuangzi in the west was ordered by the old lady to go into the city and deliver a message to the big boss' family. The old lady is dying and asked him to go home." The man raised his head and said.
The Qing soldiers guarding the gate knew the surrounding villages and towns well, and knew that Tang Zhuangzi was a little west of Liujiazhuang. There was indeed such a place. Seeing the tall man, he guessed that it was the nursing home of a big family in the village, so he asked casually. He finished: "Who is your boss?"
"Do you know that Xinglong Oil Factory is owned by my boss in the north of the city!" The man looked proud, while several Qing soldiers looked disdainful: "Look at your virtue, as if you are your boss, your boss How much money can I pay you in January? Is it enough to go to the city and have a drink? "
"Is there wine in the city?" The man's eyes lit up: "How much does a bowl cost?"
"You can't afford to drink for a few dollars, and it's not your turn to drink." Several Qing soldiers looked at him with disdain and waved their hands at him: "Go away quickly." The man snorted and walked towards the city. But he was suddenly stopped: "You came here on the main road just now, didn't you encounter anything?"
"We met," the man pointed toward the outside of the city: "Almost two miles away, several people died on the roadside."
"Ah, how many are dead?" the Qing army asked quickly, and the man shook his head: "How dare I count them? They were just lying on the ground." He said and sighed: "It's a good thing it's daytime. If you encounter them while walking at night, You won't be scared to death yet." He shook his head as he spoke, ignoring a few Qing soldiers who were stunned and solemn, and went straight into the city.
Besides, the leader of the Qing army led more than ten people to the place where he was born. Several horses arrived first. When he was far away, he saw several people lying on the roadside. He suddenly became nervous. When he was guarding the city gate earlier, there were still people like him. He inquired whether a person with a certain appearance was passing by. Although he did not know the person he was inquiring about, he knew their identity. They were the people in the city who were responsible for investigating.
These people are ruthless people. They can't afford to offend them and they don't dare to inquire more. I heard the sheepherder say that these people were chasing someone, so I immediately thought of this, so I didn't take it seriously. When I heard that Wang Zhengnan said that another group of people came... ...He knew something was wrong and hurried to see it.
What he saw was a pile of corpses, seven people lying on the ground.
Going down to the ground to check, one of them should be the one they were chasing before. The other... grasses were all killed. How many of them came, and they were able to wipe out their own people.
Just when they were shocked, the sound of horse hooves was heard. Several Qing soldiers looked up in shock. Seeing that there were more than ten riders in Zhengxi who didn't know whether they were friends or foes, they quickly got on their horses and drew their weapons.
"Where are the people?"
The group of people arrived in an instant, reined in the reins, glanced at the corpse on the ground, and opened their mouths to ask.
The leader of the Qing army knew that he was one of his own, so he put his sword back into its sheath and cupped his hand in front of him: "My lord, I just arrived and I didn't see anyone alive."
"How did you know?" The person who asked the question was a Manchu. He got off his horse and looked at the corpses on the ground. His face was extremely pale.
"When the city gate was being inspected just now, the people entering the city said this, and the young ones hurriedly came to check."
"When you were checking at the city gate, you saw two hunters and a swordsman?" The Manchu stood up and asked. The leader of the Qing army was startled: "The humble position is what I heard from the two hunters and a sheepherder..."
"Where are they now?" The Manchu asked sharply after taking a step forward.
"This, this, I don't know, maybe I entered the city, maybe I went somewhere else..." Before he finished speaking, the man got on his horse, whipped his whip and ran towards Jinzhou City: "Intensify the search, if it's It can't run very far without entering the city. If it does enter the city, it will be like catching a turtle in a urn!"
Needless to say, this group of people was a Tatar special operations group active in the surrounding areas. As for how they determined that the target was a hunter and a swordsman, that was even simpler. Chang Yu and the others were doing it on the road, and there were pedestrians coming and going at that time. , it’s just that there are fewer people entering the city and more people leaving the city. But when they see someone fighting, ordinary people have long been frightened and ran away. Even those who were preparing to enter the city have given up the idea, because it is easy to get into trouble and leave the city. People are even more eager to run as far as they can.
After running far away, I started talking about such a thing, and some people along the way overheard me. Once I asked about the details, I found out.
After all this trouble, by the time the Manchu people arrived at the gate of the city, it was dusk and it was already dark.
"You just saw two hunters and a swordsman?"
"I saw two hunters, but no swordsmen," the gatekeeper answered truthfully.
"Where are you going?" the crowd shouted and asked,
"When I entered the city, I said I was going to sell leather at some number..."
"Changlong," another Qing soldier said quickly.
"Yes, yes, Changlong."
When the Manchus heard this, they were immediately overjoyed and rode away: "Close the city gate."
"My lord, it's not time yet..." Before he could finish his words, he was hit with a horsewhip. A Mongolian soldier cursed and said: "Where is all this nonsense? If the thief is gone, let me ask you, and quickly send an order to close all the city gates." !"
