Kangyin, midnight
Although it was already the most sleepy time, the Zhennan Army officers and soldiers on the walls of Kangyin City still did not dare to relax and looked nervously at the situation outside the city... ···············
Just an hour ago, Zhao Jiye, who had just been transferred to Kangyin as the commander-in-chief, came to inspect the city wall. Because he did not say hello to anyone before coming, he saw the three sentries on duty dozing off, and he was immediately ordered to the military court by Zhao Jiye. Engaged, three bloody heads are now hanging on the city gate.
The appearance of these three heads immediately chilled the hearts of other soldiers responsible for the night watch. The fear of death made them dare not slack off.
I don’t know why this year’s winter is particularly cold. Even on a November night in the Huainan region, the biting cold is unbearable.
Under the influence of the cold night wind, a veteran who looked a little older leaned directly against the battlement and sat down.
Seeing the old lady sitting down, a childish young soldier reminded him in a low voice:
"Uncle Zhao, why are you sitting down? If those officials see you later, they will take care of you!"
After hearing the young soldier's reminder, the old lady smiled and said:
"Da Zhuang, you are so honest! What do you think those officials are like, staying up all night without sleeping at this late hour?"
"It's enough for them to come up once tonight. They must be staying in the room and sleeping soundly now. Maybe there are women to warm their beds..." ··············”
Listening to the old lady saying the word "girly", the young soldier's big eyes showed some longing. At this moment, the old lady carefully took out a wine bag, opened the cork and took a sip with great anticipation.
Even though it was the cheapest roasted knife in the tavern, and it was the kind that had been mixed with water, the old lady still had a beautiful expression on her face.
In this era when human life is as cheap as trash, it is a rare treat for a soldier like him, who is at the bottom of the army, to take a sip of this wine to warm his body on a cold and windy night.
After enjoying the stimulation brought to the body by the water and wine, the old lady looked up at the young soldier Dazhuang who was shivering in the cold wind. He hesitated for a moment but still handed the wine bag over and said:
"Just give me a small sip, kid! Don't drink too much!"
Looking at the wine bag handed over by the old lady, Da Zhuang understood that it was a good thing, and immediately took a sip without any courtesy. Then he returned the wine bag to the old lady and wiped his mouth. With wine stains, he lowered his head in embarrassment.
The old lady who took the wine bag back weighed it and felt that there was only a small mouthful left in the wine bag. She couldn't help but cursed with some distress:
"You brat, I asked you to take only a small sip. You almost drank it all in one sip. I won't give you a drink next time... ············”
Listening to the old lady's words, Da Zhuang preached very seriously:
"Uncle Zhao, when I get rich later, I'll treat you to a restaurant and prepare a jar for you to burn knives on, without mixing it with water!"
When the old man heard this, he said with some disdain:
"When your kid gets rich, the sow can climb the tree. You kid can still survive this battle and talk about other things!"
Facing the old lady's reprimand, Da Zhuang scratched his head, and then the young man seemed to have thought of something and asked curiously:
"Uncle Zhao, I'm tired and sleepy on duty tonight. Why do you have to rush to do this job?"
As soon as these words came out, the old lady immediately slapped Da Zhuang on the head and cursed:
"Does your kid have a lump on his head?"
"Although this night watch is sleepy and cold, we can go back to sleep during the day. How powerful are the cannons of the Fengwu Army? Can't you see it? A cannonball hits the wall of Kangyin and makes a big hole. If it hits the city wall, In your kid’s head, you are going to meet your father directly!”
Hearing the old lady mention his father, Da Zhuang was a little depressed. Seeing this, the old lady patted his head again and said:
"I told you, the Fengwu Army people are a bunch of lunatics. They are not afraid of death when fighting. The last time your father and I went to Hebei Province, we were beaten back by these people. We lost tens of thousands of dollars." People were beaten so hard that they threw away their armor and scrambled for their lives. I will never forget that scene..."
"I was shot by their blunderbuss. I thought I was going to die, but your dad pulled me out and saved me. But it's a life-threatening situation. Your dad didn't die. In the hands of the Fengwu Army, he was bitten by a snake while escaping and died!"
"I heard that the Fengwu Army treated prisoners quite well. Although they had to work, they would be fed well and they would be released. How about we feeding rabbits with porridge and wild vegetables all day long? If your father and I If he didn't run away and was caught by the Fengwu Army, maybe your father would have survived!"
At this point, the old lady's mood became very low, so she simply opened the wine cork and drank the last sip of water and wine left in the wine bag.
Just when the old man and the young man fell silent in the cold wind, Da Zhuang suddenly noticed some firelight not far away in the east. Seeing this, Da Zhuang quickly reminded the old lady:
"Uncle Zhao, look what's going on in the east?"
Hearing Da Zhuang's reminder, the old lady immediately looked to the east attentively, and saw that there were already flames reaching into the sky, and there was a cry of killing in the wind. Seeing this scene, the experienced old lady immediately secretly thought. He couldn't help but said anxiously:
"The Fengwu Army attacked the east gate at night, and it seems they can't stop it!"
When these words came out, Da Zhuang was startled and immediately said:
"Why did the Fengwu Army invade? Uncle Zhao, let's report the news as soon as possible!"
When the old man heard this, he immediately cursed:
"What kind of letter are you reporting? Hurry up and hide with me! If the city gate is lost, Kangyin will not be able to defend it..." ·······”
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Yi Jing, Chen Mansion
"Butler Shen, you should pay me the wages for these five days, right?" Zhang Chengzhe looked at Butler Shen in front of him and said angrily:
Upon hearing Zhang Chengzhe's words, Butler Shen didn't even raise his head and just threw out a bunch of copper coins.
In response to this, Zhang Chengzhe could only suppress his anger and count the copper coins one by one. After saying this, Zhang Chengzhe found that the total number of coins in the string was only fifty. He immediately thought of Butler Shen and said:
"Butler Shen, this money is wrong! I earn fifteen coppers a day, and five days' wages should be seventy-five coppers. Why do you only have fifty-five coppers? Where are the remaining twenty coppers? ah?"
Listening to Zhang Chengzhe's words, Butler Shen slowly raised his head and said:
"Zhang Chengzhe, what is your dog barking here?"
"I told you back then that I would give you fifteen coppers a day, but look at your craftsmanship. Are you worth fifteen coppers a day?"
"And how much food do you eat every day? Don't you have any idea in your mind? Others eat two woofou in one meal, but you, my dear, eat seven woofao in one meal. Are you a starving man?"
Seeing Butler Shen talking about this, Zhang Chengzhe also felt a little unreasonable. He had been practicing martial arts since he was a child and had a strong physique. He was born to be able to eat better than others. However, in the Chen Mansion, masons like him were provided with two meals a day, but they only gave them wowotou. , there was no raw material for meat and vegetables, and there was no oil or water, so he ate more steamed buns...
Although he felt a little unreasonable, Zhang Chengzhe still said:
"Steward Shen, you promised to provide food and accommodation back then. Now you can't deduct my wages just because I eat too much?"
Butler Shen waved his hand and said:
"Zhang Chengzhe, don't tell me that. I can give you eleven coppers a day. It's a great mercy. Don't talk about wages when you go to other people. I won't even let you eat. These fifty-five Do you want the copper plate? If not, just put it here for me!"
Seeing Butler Shen starting to act like a scoundrel, Zhang Chengzhe sneered in his heart, then pretended to be angry and glared at Butler Shen, then put the fifty-five copper coins in his arms without looking back. out of the room.
Seeing this, Butler Shen said lazily:
"If Zhang Chengzhe doesn't come back before midnight, I'll treat you as quitting!"
After speaking, Butler Shen took out twenty copper coins from the drawer with a satisfied smile on his face. It was very pleasant to deduct twenty copper coins from Zhang Chengzhe. He knew that Zhang Chengzhe did not dare to If he fell out with himself, he would have to work for another ten days, and by then he would be able to deduct forty copper coins from him, which would make a total of sixty copper coins.
When the time comes, I can use this money to go to Xiao Taohong and have fun once. It’s fun to use other people’s money to play with women. Butler Shen feels happy when he thinks of this... ·············
After walking out of the Chen Mansion and confirming that there were no informants behind him, Zhang Chengzhe came to a grain store. This grain store was the contact point set up by the Coordination Office specifically for Zhang Chengzhe's operation and only served Zhang Chengzhe alone.
After seeing Zhang Chengzhe's arrival, the special agent of the Coordination Office, disguised as a grain store clerk, immediately put out the sign of going foreign.
At this time, in the grain store, Sun Taihai from the Coordination Office was waiting for Zhang Chengzhe. When he saw Zhang Chengzhe's appearance, he went straight to the point and asked:
"How is the current situation in Chen's house?"
Faced with Sun Taihai's inquiry, Zhang Chengzhe also said seriously:
"Master Sun, there are several people who live in seclusion in Chen Shangye's mansion. I have only seen one of them in the past few days in Chen Shangye's mansion, and only once!"
Upon hearing this, Sun Taihai showed some interest and immediately asked:
"Can you still remember what this person looks like?"
Zhang Chengzhe heard this and said:
"This man has a flat nose, triangular eyes, and a half-inch long scar on the left cheek. He looks very ferocious. Judging from his walking posture, I think this man must have practiced martial arts. There are nine out of ten weapons on his hands. Human lives!”
After Sun Taihai wrote down the characteristics of this person, he also asked Zhang Chengzhe:
"Have you found any clues about Jiang Kuang?"
Hearing Sun Taihai's question, Zhang Chengzhe shook his head with regret and said:
"I haven't found any clues about Jiang Kuang yet..."
Hearing this, Sun Taihai also had a little disappointment in his eyes. Although his superiors decided to take a long-term approach to fishing for big fish, the recent performance of the Coordination Office on the intelligence front has been somewhat mediocre.
This led to the fact that even the commander-in-chief knew about Jiang Kuang. Although the commander-in-chief did not catch Jiang Kuang within a time limit, as the secret service agency of the Fengwu Army, the pressure on the Coordination Office was still very high.
Therefore, the Coordination Office also hopes to produce some results as soon as possible to reduce some of the pressure on them. Therefore, some internal businessmen believe that if no clues about Jiang Kuang can be found in Chen Shangye, they might as well start with him and the supervisors related to him. All the thieves were arrested, which was an explanation to the superiors!
As the person in charge of this case, Sun Taihai did not agree with this idea. He believed that Chen Shangye still had more value to explore. If he were to arrest him directly now, although he could reduce his own pressure in the short term, in the long run Look, you will lose more.
Although Sun Taihai disagrees, after all, he is only a member of a hundred households. In the entire power structure of the Coordination Office, he is only a middle-level leader. He is responsible for how to do things, but it is still up to him to decide whether to do it or not. It's not up to him to decide...
Seeing Sun Taihai's slightly disappointed look, Zhang Chengzhe also said:
"Master Sun, although I didn't find any information about Jiang Kuang, I found some clues in other aspects!"
Hearing Zhang Chengzhe talk about this, Sun Taihai once again held on to a glimmer of hope and asked:
"how do I say this?"
Zhang Chengzhe organized his language and said:
"Sir, I think the reason why the Supervision Department paid Chen Shangye to buy the old house next to Chen's Mansion is probably because he wanted to turn Chen's Mansion and the old house next to it into a warehouse for the Supervision Department. The Secretary stores gunpowder, armor and stomach and other things!"
Hearing the word gunpowder, Sun Taihai immediately became energetic, interrupted Zhang Chengzhe and asked seriously:
"Zhang Chengzhe, are you sure that the Supervision Department plans to store gunpowder there?"
Faced with such a serious question, Zhang Chengzhe also showed some hesitation. After a moment, he said:
"Sir, I'm not sure about this. It's just that the new house built by the Chen Mansion has very high requirements for moisture-proofing, so I guess they may be storing gunpowder there. However, I have seen armor stored in the Chen Mansion's house. The stomach and the crossbow..."
