Hearing the shouts of killing from the officers and soldiers coming from behind, a group of servants were frightened into confusion and felt terrified.
Some of the servants who were unwilling to follow Li Ji to die had already fled first, and would be hacked to death if they were chased by the officers and soldiers.
They cherish their lives very much. If a person dies, how about money and a ball?
There has always been only "the devil who is full", there is no such thing as "the devil who is rich"!
Some people even hated Li Ji, a self-righteous fool who had to ask for trouble even though everything was fine before.
Now "Trouble" is chasing me like a mad dog, and I can't get rid of it no matter what. If this continues, everyone will die.
"Follow me to Tianjin, and each person will be rewarded fifty taels of silver!"
Li Ji also realized that the team was starting to scatter, and if he was not careful, he would be completely disbanded. If he was left alone, it would be easier for the officers and soldiers behind him to catch him.
When things are urgent, follow the authority. If you want to win people's hearts at the critical moment, you must do what they want. These servants are all greedy and lustful people. Li Ji can only bear the pain and give away a lot of money as a promise. .
"Master Li is righteous!"
There are still people in the team who dare to make life-threatening money, and fifty taels is a lot. Normally, they wouldn't be able to make it in two years.
"Okay! I'll go there soon!"
When he arrives in Tianjin, if this guy dares to go back on his word, it will be out of his hands. At worst, he will kill people and steal goods first, and then escape.
"Speed up and run to the river! Hurry!"
When Li Ji saw nearly twenty people following him, he immediately calmed down. As long as there were people around to protect him, he would not be anxious.
However, the female family members on the carriage were a huge burden after all, and now they had been reduced to a dragging role. Li Ji could not accept the decision to abandon the carriage, the people and the money on it.
But what he really couldn't accept was that when the team rushed all the way to the shore, they found that there was no big boat that could cross the shore, but only small fishing boats.
At this time, the Yuhe River is in its flood season. Although due to the weather, there is not enough rain and the water level is not high, it is still better than during the dry season, when a ten-foot-long pole can be poked down to reveal its head.
"Kill a dog officer and soldier to death, and I will reward you with a hundred taels of silver! Give them all to me!"
The water was so deep that it was impossible to cross it directly on horseback. Li Ji wanted to find a boat, but there was no time, so he had to repel the pursuers behind him first and then think of a way.
Li Ji didn't know that all the large and medium-sized ships near Tongzhou had been requisitioned by Li Chengdong. Hearing that he could earn money by transporting grain to the capital for the government, the ship owners would of course be happy to ask for work.
There is a canal nearby that can be used. Of course, the governor of water transportation, Zhang Kentang, would not be stupid enough to use horse-drawn carriages to load the grain stored in the warehouse. All ships around Tongzhou that could transport grain must first accept the call from the government.
Seeing that the Dog Tartars are about to come, I heard that the Crown Prince has decided to implement the strategy of strengthening the wall and clearing the wilderness. For a long time from now, there will be no business between the Yu River, Bai River and the canal.
The shipowners all knew that if they did not accept the errands assigned by the yamen, they would have no chance to make money, so they all gathered in the canal near Tongzhou City to wait for their orders.
Many ship owners make money by "shorting", because ships from the Huaihe River and Huaihe River will not sail directly to the capital, but can unload and settle in Tongzhou, and then return south.
Shipowners in the Tongzhou area can continue to work, not only transporting grain to the capital, but also to Changping, Yanqing, Shunyi, Huairou, Miyun, and the northernmost Miyun Guard.
But this invisibly deceived Li Ji and his group. If you want to go to the river, you have to either swim directly across it or take a fishing boat. Once you get on the fishing boat, you must abandon the horses.
It's not that larger fishing boats can't carry horses, but once they're on the horses, they can't carry people on, so what's the use of just having the horses? Wouldn't it be more embarrassing for people to be blocked here by officers and soldiers?
But how can we get to Tianjin without a horse?
On two legs?
Li Ji was determined not to do this. He had to be tired from traveling in such a hurry.
After they landed, they had to rob other people's horses, and they had to rob more than a dozen horses.
This is too difficult. Those who have more than a dozen horses these days are either officers and soldiers or escorts.
With the few people Li Ji brought, not to mention the officers and soldiers, even the people in the escort agency could defeat them completely if they had a horse to attack them.
The only way was to kill the pursuers behind them so that they could have time to find a larger ship to transport the horses.
Li Ji was relatively lucky. Not long ago, Tongzhou's official and military ships were still patrolling along the river to notify them, but now they have returned to deliver their missions.
Once a suspicious person is discovered by an army warship, Li Ji and others will not be able to cross the river even if they are tired and vomiting blood, and they will be knocked off their feet by the artillery fire on the ship.
"kill!"
"One hundred taels and one dog officer and soldier!"
Under the temptation of a piece of silver, the desperadoes in the servants took the lead in launching a counterattack against the officers and soldiers chasing behind them.
"Come on! Kill the officers and soldiers! Make money!"
Someone took the lead, and the herd mentality of the others came into play. They all waved their waist knives and rode towards the opponent.
"Everyone slow down! Arrange on the spot to meet the enemy! Prepare grenades!"
When Wei Lai saw his prey running to the river, he immediately turned around and came back to kill him, which made him very happy.
But it would take time for the horse to slow down at full speed, so Wei Lai could only give orders while gradually tightening the reins.
Although many of his subordinates wanted to kill him in one fell swoop, they had no choice but to obey the platoon leader's orders.
When the fourteen people stopped their horses one after another, everyone could see the faces of the thieves clearly.
"Everyone is here, light the grenade and throw it to me!"
Throwing a grenade from a horse is no better than standing on the ground. The key is that the waist, abdomen, legs and feet are not strong enough to use force together. As a result, the grenade cannot be thrown far, and it can reach the sky only twenty meters away.
But if the thieves were allowed to charge forward on horseback and the two sides fought hand-to-hand, Wei Lai could not guarantee that his men would be able to escape unscathed. Even if one of his men died in the battle, it would be unworthy.
"Eat your grandpa's fireball!"
The soldiers quickly lit the objects in their hands and threw them directly in the direction of the enemy's attack without waiting for the platoon leader's order.
At this time, it is an indiscriminate attack. One by one, they are all prey.
It would be best to throw it directly into the opponent's mouth and let them taste the power of the grenade explosion with tears in their eyes.
"Boom boom boom boom..."
A series of loud noises accompanied by flames immediately engulfed the surrounding servants, and people kept falling off their horses and screaming because of the iron beads produced by the explosion.
This was something they never expected. Officers and soldiers could throw this thing not only during infantry battles, but also on horseback, but it killed them.
Wei Lai did not order another throw. At such a close distance, the damage caused by fourteen grenades was enough to eliminate most of the thieves without armor who were running over.
Of the fifteen servants who suffered the disaster, six were killed on the spot and nine were injured. None of them survived, and even some of their mounts fell into a pool of blood.
This surprised Li Ji. He originally thought that the two sides were roughly evenly matched, and that his side had a slight numerical advantage and could still fight to the death. He did not expect such a result.
Now, except for the four confidants, the remaining people were either directly killed or injured and lost their combat effectiveness. Even the surviving servants were definitely not willing to become enemies of the officers and soldiers.
"Shameless rat, your time of death has come, why don't you get off your horse quickly!"
When Wei Lai saw that his side had achieved a surprise victory with grenades and almost wiped out most of the opponent's troops, he immediately urged his horse forward and pointed at a young man in the middle.
This man was well-dressed and surrounded by four people. He must be the target of his arrest. Now the situation was extremely clear. No matter how much he tried to struggle, it would not change the outcome.
"Bah! Dog officers and soldiers! In the fish and meat village, bullying is too much! You and I are incompatible with each other!"
Li Ji didn't intend to surrender at all. Anyway, according to the other party's tone, surrender would mean death, so he might as well continue to run for his life.
After saying that, he turned on his horse and ran away. If there was a chance to escape and ascend to heaven, he would have survived the catastrophe and would be blessed in the future.
"Load your ammunition! Prepare to fire!"
Wei Lai felt that the target was far away and the thieves were running for their lives, making it difficult for the grenade to hit, so he ordered his brothers to use blunderbuss to kill the target.
In order to ensure shooting accuracy, everyone dismounted and reloaded. Due to proper training and the fact that they had just severely damaged the opponent, they had a huge psychological advantage, which made everyone reload very quickly.
The East Palace Guards are issued fixed-load gunpowder. There is no need to weigh the weight yourself. You only need to tear open the small paper bag, pour the gunpowder inside into the barrel, tamp it with a push rod, then reload, and add a small amount of gunpowder into the gunpowder. Can fire.
The gun that has not been fired always has a piece of match rope inserted in the gun. Since there is no gunpowder in the gun, there is no need to worry about misfire. At most, the match rope will be burned out.
"put!"
"Pah, pah, pah..."
A row of bullets was fired, and the result was that the war horse mounted by a servant was killed, causing it to fall to the ground like a dog.
Li Ji was so frightened that he broke into a cold sweat. Gun bullets were no joke. If one of them was hit into the body, he would definitely feel that life would be worse than death.
"The squad leader will lead five people to guard the vehicle and the injured thief. The others will follow me to continue the pursuit!"
Wei Lai also felt that he was careless, thinking that the muskets he was equipped with were all new guns, and the hit rate at this distance should be good. However, the results were really unsatisfactory, so he could only lead his men to continue chasing.
Fortunately, the prey did not run far at all, and was always within the range visible to the naked eye. As long as the weather was still good, he would not be able to escape even if he had wings, and he would be killed sooner or later.
If more than a dozen soldiers of the East Palace Guards are not able to complete such a low-difficulty task, then the previous training will be in vain, and all the hardships they have endured will be in vain, and they will hate themselves for being useless.
"Let's see where you can escape!"
Wei Lai really wanted to strangle this rat-like thing to death. He couldn't do anything except say harsh words and run away. He didn't know how brave he was to attack Liu Shuang's men.
"Follow me to Tianjin! You will surely enjoy glory and wealth!"
Li Ji saw that there were only three followers left around him, and he had even lost his two women. He felt very unwilling and at the same time extremely panicked.
In order to appease these three confidants, they can only persuade them first and wait until they get to Tianjin to talk about other things.
Although the gold and silver jewelry in the box was lost, Li Ji still carried twenty taels of gold and three hundred taels of silver with him.
The money can be dealt with for a while, provided that the dog officers and soldiers behind them are thrown away.
"Master! You have no money!"
"ah???"
A confidant saw that Li Ji had lost power, and even the box containing the money fell into the hands of the officers and soldiers. There was no hope of continuing like this.
Fortunately, he said something straightforward and inserted the waist knife in his hand directly into the butt of Li Ji's horse. The horse immediately felt pain and kept using it, throwing Li Ji off, who was still confused.
The remaining three people fled north quickly. Only in this way, giving Li Ji to the mad dog behind them, could they stop their mouths and delay for a while. If the officers and soldiers stopped chasing, it would mean that this move worked for them.
Li Ji was caught off guard and fell on the spot with a bruised nose and a swollen face, and blood flowed from the corner of his mouth. However, he only wiped it with his sleeve and as soon as he recovered, officers and soldiers rushed to him.
"Grandpa, please forgive me! The younger one was held hostage by the three people in front of me! Don't dare to fight against the military master!"
At this point, unable to run or fight, Li Ji could only kneel down and beg for mercy, completely losing the arrogance he had just now.
"Bullshit on you! You were doing one thing just now, and you're doing another now. Are you a fool? I'll tie you up before we talk!"
When Wei Lai heard this, he was so angry that he stared at this person for a long time. He didn't change his horse or clothes, so he must be right, but he was such a coward and seemed a bit spineless.
He originally thought that he might be a man who could challenge Liu Shuang's subordinates, but when he saw him begging for mercy, Wei Lai was really disgusted.
"The little one still has some gold and silver, and I would like to honor grandpa with all of it. Please beg grandpa to be generous and let the little one have a way to survive!"
Li Ji planned to contribute all the gadgets he had. As long as the officers and soldiers nodded in agreement, it would be easy.
"You still need me to remind you? We are neither stupid nor blind. How can we not see it? Shut my mouth!"
Upon hearing this, a soldier immediately cut off a section of Li Ji's sleeve with a bayonet, rolled it into a ball and stuffed it into his mouth.
It would be bad to let him go around talking nonsense. Things like dividing money must not be spread to outsiders.
"Platoon commander, how about..."
A brother who had a good relationship with Wei Lai made a beheading gesture. This was also for the sake of everyone. After the person died, the threat was gone.
"Save him a life first, and let me think twice!"
Wei Lai did not want to do that and immediately tried to attack the East Palace Guards. This was a rebellion and should be punished according to law.
If he was killed like this, once someone under his command reported the matter, he would be the platoon leader for the rest of his life.
Wei Lai didn't want to chase the three people who were running away. As long as he caught the biggest fish, the remaining shrimps would be insignificant.
When he returned to the carriage, Wei Lai loaded the "big fish" into the carriage and felt relieved when he saw that the box for earning treasures was still locked.
The carriage was stuck in the mud by the river and could not get out, so it was naturally captured.
There were two beautiful women in the car. After questioning, they learned that they were Li Ji's women.
This guy is really advantageous, but he won't be able to play with it anymore, because this guy probably can't even be a eunuch.
By the time they returned to Lijiacun, the suppression operation had ended.
No one from Liu Shuang's and Sun Lei's troops was killed in the battle, and only a few were slightly injured.
Seven thieves were killed on the spot, 11 were captured, and 20 were forced to land. The rest must have been scattered by birds and beasts.
He should have fled to other places. All he had to do was alert the surrounding troops before dark.
After discussion among the three commanders, the box Li Ji carried while running away will not be opened for the time being, but will be handed over as the result of the battle.
The prisoners and the money found can be divided privately. This is the rule of the army and should not be a problem.
The most important thing is that the first criminal Li Ji was captured alive, the suspect Li He is not dead, and the witnesses and material evidence are all there, then it can be handed over.
Wei Lai wrote the summary of the incident and the seized property in triplicate with pen and ink. The three people pressed their fingerprints one after another, each of them getting a voucher, so that they could have a verification.
The money boxes are all sealed, and men and women, as well as minor and serious suspects, are kept separate until someone from the camp comes to collect them, so that they can rest easy.
The servant did not kill good men for meritorious deeds, nor did he insult women. Apart from sharing some money, it was in line with what the Crown Prince and Zhou Zongrong taught them.
This kind of performance is quite good in King Master, but it is a bit higher than other parts!
