An official road south of Yongding Gate in the capital was filled with refugees and guardsmen. At this moment, snowflakes are flying everywhere, there is a harsh roar in the air, the wind and snow are blowing, the sky is freezing, and it feels like the end of the world is coming.
A large flag with the word "Zhang" written on it hung low in the snowy night. The sudden darkness made the flag even darker, like a soul-calling flag held by a monk or Taoist priest.
The soul-calling flags were fluttering fiercely, and a creaking sedan moved forward like a ghost, with two lanterns leading the way.
Eight short, strong and powerful bearers carried the official sedan, like a gloomy coffin, walking step by step towards the cemetery through snow that was up to their ankles.
Fifty elite servants under Zhang Chun's command were on horseback to guard the sedan. Almost all of these servants came from western Liaoning and were servants under Zu Dashou.
If nothing else happened, these servants of the ancestral family should have died long ago, but they are all here at this moment.
This is certainly not a "Liao Zhai"-style supernatural story in the late Ming Dynasty. When the ancestral family was destroyed and Zu Dashou was killed, not all of the ancestral family members were killed. A small part of them escaped in the chaos and lurked. After the Battle of Western Liaoning, Soon, they took refuge with Zhang Chun.
Because Zhang Chun is Wu Zongbing (Wu Xiang)'s trusted brother.
"My brother has already started an uprising in Gaoyou. He is on the side of the Qing Dynasty. He is going to kill the Liu thieves. This is in line with my command from the north to the south. Liu Zhaosun is nothing in the south. My brother will soon be able to sweep north and fight all the way to the Yellow River..."
Zhang Chun, the chief military officer of Zhending Mansion, was in a drunken state and spoke incoherently.
"Master, can you have another drink?"
The sedan was as warm as spring. There were copper stoves placed at the four corners of the sedan, and the charcoal fire was burning brightly in the stove. Two good-looking top men of Shuntian Mansion, holding Zhang Chun's arms on the left and right, were holding wine bottles to encourage the commander-in-chief to drink.
"In addition to the Lord Protector, isn't it that I am the Lord Protector? I must not forget the little girl when the time comes."
"What kind of Lord Protector is this? When the time comes, I will be the new emperor. Master, I want to be a queen first."
Two famous prostitutes from Yihongyuan, Yingying Yanyan, kept talking and feeding Mr. Zhang meat and wine. Zhang Chun got drunk and the prostitutes took the opportunity to steal Mr. Zhang's money.
"Be the emperor, yes, be the emperor. When you wait for me, I will become the emperor, and I will be the empress after I am granted the title of Daiyu, and I will be the empress dowager after being granted the title of Bao..."
Zhang Chun staggered, stretched out his hands to touch the two women, and finally fell asleep with his head on the woman's chest.
Outside the sedan, in the wind and snow, there was an endless stream of refugees, the guards cowered, and heavy snow fell from the sky. Many people were still wearing thin linen clothes, and their bare feet were shivering in the wind and snow. These people walked slower and slower, In the end, they were frozen to death and turned into cold and stiff corpses.
But no one easily falls behind, and moving forward, only by breaking into Beijing can they have a way to survive.
In November, the climate in North China under the Little Glacier climate was very different from previous years. The weather was alternately cold and hot, and most of the fields were dry. All the wheat seedlings planted died of lack of water, and the crops that were not killed by drought were frozen to death by the cold current.
Both households and guardsmen are gradually entering a state of famine. Of course, the disaster situation in Beizhili is slightly better than that in Shaanxi. At least no one eats Guanyin soil - because it does not exist here.
Instead of starving to death, it would be better to go to the capital with General Zhang and work hard to steal money and food. If you can bring the food and money back alive, the adults and children in the family will not starve to death.
That's why Zhang Chun was able to respond to a hundred calls and quickly build up a considerable "army".
The sedan stopped at a post station in Baoding. It was getting brighter. Zhang Chun rubbed his sleepy eyes and finally woke up. He looked around. The cups and plates in the sedan were in a mess. The two beauties Daiyu and Baocai from Yihongyuan had disappeared. .
He opened the sedan curtain, the sun rose as usual, and out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of the dead body lying beside the roadside of the inn.
Zhang Chun was about to lower the sedan curtain when a huge head suddenly stuck out, making Mr. Zhang jump up in fright.
"Things that don't know whether to live or die, scare me to death!"
Niu San, the head servant, looked around in the sedan, then turned his eyes back to the master.
"Sir, the two girls transferred to the donkey cart at the post station to return to Shuntian Mansion. Before leaving, I asked the villain to tell you that you don't have to wait for them. As a man who wants to do big things, I'd better go to the capital to attack the Liu thief and don't let your children wander around. Affection·······"
Zhang Chun touched his sleeve and found that the twelve gold ingots that his brother Wu Xiang had given him on behalf of King Gui had all disappeared.
"God damn it, not only will you rob sex, but you will also rob wealth!"
The head servant looked fierce: "Master, do you want to send someone to chase and kill these two bitches?"
Zhang Chun cursed a few times, waved his hand and said: "Let them go, wait until I kill Liu Thief, take control of the court, and take over all the mausoleums and hairpins in Yihongyuan."
The head servant quickly added:
"Tongling Thirteen Hairpins!"
Zhang Chun smiled and nodded.
"The enemy is these thirteen girls, not one of them can be missing."
Before Mr. Zhang finished speaking, there was a sudden noise outside.
Niu San picked up his riding crop and hit two homeless people walking slowly by the roadside.
"Hurry up, there will be endless money in the capital, let's go! Let's go! Let's go!"
A few generals rushed forward and drove the refugees and guardsmen forward like ducks. The physical strength of the people being driven was already at the limit. One after another, some people fell behind and were abandoned by the slowly advancing team. Submerged in a snowstorm.
Zhang Chun didn't care about the life or death of one or two refugees. In his eyes, those corpses were no different from the wild dogs that were eating the corpses.
This time they instigated 50,000 to 60,000 refugees. After drinking 30,000 people of gruel, these 60,000 people became General Zhang's recruits and were brought here overnight by Zhang Chun and others.
Zhang Chun looked at the large swarm of homeless guardsmen in front of him and felt quite proud. He had been waiting for this day for a long time.
With the support of these cannon fodder and military leaders from all over the northern Zhili region, as well as the financial support of the southern gentry, Zhang Chun felt that he had the ability to arm-wrestle with the Protector.
Zhang Chun knew very well that this was an opportunity, an opportunity to replace Liu Zhaosun.
In retrospect, in the forty-seventh year of Wanli, Zhang Chun and Liu Zhaosun were both generals of the foreign troops aiding the Liao Dynasty. Liu Zhaosun was a general, and Zhang Chun was a thousand generals at that time. As a result, a few years later, Liu Zhaosun was granted the title of Lord Protector, and Zhang Chun , still a little general soldier.
According to the intelligence, Liu Zhaosun had only three to four thousand people in the capital. These people would be divided into the inner nine gates and the outer seven gates. On average, they would be on top of each city wall, but there would only be a few hundred people.
It is difficult to defend the capital.
Liu Zhaosun was about to summon all his subordinates when Yang Hao arrived.
"My dear son-in-law, why are you here? Why are the thieves attacking the city and we still don't know about it?"
Liu Zhaosun explained to his father-in-law: "Everything is as expected by me, you don't have to worry."
~~~~
Fifty thousand "Jingnan Army" gathered in front of Yongding Gate in the outer city of the capital. The crowd was huge, the flags were flying, and it was a spectacular sight.
The rice shops at the foot of the Imperial City have long been robbed by the refugees, and the robberies continue.
Almost all the troops that Beizhili could mobilize were in the hands of the rebels, and Liu Zhaosun had no way out.
Zhang Chun led the generals who came from all over Beizhi and said loudly:
"If you don't kill Liu Zhaosun, heaven and earth will be intolerable! If you don't kill Liu Zhaosun, the people will not be angry enough. If you don't kill Liu Zhaosun, I swear that I will not be a human being! Today, you are here! Jingnan's army is here, and the Ming Dynasty can be saved!"
The mountains roared and the tsunami cheered, and the generals who participated in the rebellion nodded their heads. It is more appropriate to describe Liu Zhaosun as worse than a beast.
Everyone present wanted to tear Liu Zhaosun into pieces. Although everyone usually had many conflicts, they had surprisingly the same goal in dealing with Liu Zhaosun.
Having said that, Zhang Chun was pleased to hand over the wooden trumpet to the Yongping Mansion guard general.
Sixteen-year-old Shang Kexi walked to the front of the city, smoked and shouted:
"Since ancient times, no one has died, and his loyal heart will be remembered in history! Even if it means killing one's life, thieves must be eliminated at any time! Liu Zhaosun must be killed, and it is impossible not to kill him. Think about it, you are hugging the number one, Smoking cigarettes and singing songs in Yihongyuan, the Jinyi Guards came up and said that you were going to rebel. They arrested you! They said that you were secretly collaborating with the slave builders! They killed your family and ransacked your house! What did you do? Don’t do it!”
"Don't do it!!!"
"Liu Zhaosun won't pay our brothers, and he wants us to work hard for him. Do you agree?!"
"I won't agree!!!"
"Go to the palace and take back your things! Kill Liu Zhaosun!"
Zhang Chun waved his hand with murderous intent.
With an order, the "Jingnan Army" composed of soldiers from the Beijing Camp, Qingpi from the Cao Gang, soldiers from the Refugee Guards, Donglin's servants, and the Shanxi merchants' horse gang marched toward Cining Palace in a mighty manner.
At three o'clock in the morning, the rebels arrived at Chengtianmen. The troops stationed in Kaiyuan resisted vigorously. Three hundred soldiers were killed one after another. The remaining soldiers retreated to Cining Palace, which was Liu Zhaosun's last line of defense.
