Fortunately, this situation only lasted for a while, and it went away as quickly as it came. Li Guo and others quickly regained their feet. Everyone looked at each other, and then a word came out: Earth Dragon Turns Over!
"Damn it, God doesn't give me a way to survive!" Gao Yigong couldn't help but cursed in a low voice.
Li Dingguo suddenly said: "It's raining!"
Sure enough, the occasional drops of rain began to fall. After a while, the raindrops began to become more and more dense. It was obvious that a heavy rain was coming.
"God damn thief!" Seeing this, Li Guo couldn't help but cursed, and then said to the others, "Let's take advantage of this time to leave quickly. It will be daybreak when the cavalry is active, so it will be difficult to leave." Got it!"
After he finished speaking, a group of people began to flee again regardless of fatigue.
Almost at the same time, Emperor Chongzhen also felt the earth dragon turning over at the Zhongjun tent. Fortunately, he was camping in the wild and was basically not affected by the earth dragon turning over. This is also the first time he has encountered it in ancient times. Compared with the earth dragon turning over that he has experienced in later generations, this is really childish and should not be a major earthquake. Therefore, he didn't care.
After leaving the Zhongjun tent, I found that it was starting to rain. It happened that Chen Qiyu, the governor of the five provinces, rushed over because of the earth dragon turning over. When Emperor Chongzhen saw his tired face, he knew that he probably didn't get much rest last night and was busy catching the bandits, so he asked casually: "How is the situation? Already?"
"Back to Your Majesty, the cavalry has been divided into two parts, taking turns to search for the fleeing thieves. The infantry also rejoined the search team when the sky was dimming just now." Chen Qiyu quickly echoed, "Currently, fifty-six thousand thieves have been captured. There are many people. With the cavalry on the hunt, the remaining thieves will definitely not be able to escape. It is estimated that in two days, they will be almost wiped out without waiting for the surrounding troops!"
After hearing this situation, Emperor Chongzhen was still satisfied. He nodded and asked again: "How many of the bandit leaders have been captured?"
"Most of the bandit leaders captured so far are middle and low-level leaders in the bandit team. However, there are too many people and we haven't had time to sort them out yet. There should be many that have not been sorted out." Chen Qiyu said skillfully, " However, there is chaos on the battlefield, and there must be some bandit leaders who have not been caught. I must mobilize troops to pursue and intercept all the bandits. This time, the emperor has laid a dragnet, and they will definitely not be able to escape!"
In response, Emperor Chongzhen also nodded, and when he saw the rain coming, he entered the Chinese military tent and said at the same time: "It's a shame that the weather is still at the end of August, otherwise, this heavy rain would have frozen the soldiers! "
"Your Majesty cares about the soldiers, which is really a blessing to the soldiers." Chen Qiyu, who followed, said sincerely, "Thanks to your Majesty for keeping calm, otherwise, if the Earth Dragon turned around just now, things would have been a lot more troublesome!"
Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but smile after hearing this. He would not believe this. Whether the earth dragon turned over or not had nothing to do with him.
Suddenly remembering something, he turned around and explained: "By the way, there are still about 50,000 bandits fleeing outside Nanyang City. The most important thing is that Zuo Mengeng must be caught!"
"Your Majesty, don't worry. The minister sent the cavalry to search for him last night." After hearing this, Chen Qiyu quickly replied.
Emperor Chongzhen had told Zuo Liangyu that his son would be cut into pieces in front of Zuo Liangyu, so that he could taste the destruction of people's families. Therefore, he had long been concerned about the search for Zuo Mengeng.
After sitting back on the throne, Emperor Chongzhen thought for a moment and then asked Chen Qiyu: "How is the food and grass situation?"
After all, the eavesdropping seeds can only convey what Chen Qiyu heard or what he said himself. As for what he saw, it will not be fed back through the eavesdropping seeds. If you ask in person, you can learn more about the situation.
As soon as he heard this, Chen Qiyu's face became serious, and he immediately replied: "Your Majesty, the food and grass carried by the Weichen army can only be used for ten days. If we add the bandit rations, even if we only have enough food for one day." A life of gruel will only last five or six days at most."
Having said this, he paused, then thought of something, and then added: "These grains are sent by humble ministers from the vassal palaces in various places according to His Majesty's orders. The grain supplies from Jiangnan and other places have only been received so far. Just once. I am busy with military affairs, so I haven't had time to investigate the transportation of grain and grass carefully."
When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, his expression became serious. Although they defeated the stray thieves and captured so many, the key to solving the problem was food. Otherwise, even if these bandits are killed, other people will become bandits.
So, he immediately ordered Chen Qiyu to send someone to investigate the food matter.
By this time, it was raining heavily outside. However, Chen Qiyu did not hesitate at all. After receiving the order, he immediately left the Chinese military tent and hurriedly went to arrange the order given by the emperor.
However, not long after, Chen Qiyu, who was soaked at the corners of his official robes, returned. In a hurry and panic, after entering the Chinese army tent, he said to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, the previous Earth Dragon Turn over, Nanyang City was severely damaged, and many houses collapsed!"
Upon hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen was immediately surprised and asked quickly: "How is the disaster?"
As soon as he asked this question, he felt that Chen Qiyu didn't see it live, so he probably couldn't tell clearly. Thinking of the earthquake he had experienced in later generations, he immediately strode out without saying a word, and at the same time announced: "Prepare your horses, I want to go back to Nanyang City to have a look."
"Your Majesty, it's raining heavily outside!" Chen Qiyu said a little worriedly when he saw it. Even if he had a poncho, the rain was so heavy that the emperor would probably get wet when he arrived at Nanyang City.
Emperor Chongzhen did not stop because of this. As he walked out, he said to Chen Qiyu: "This little rain is nothing. I leave this place to you, Chen Qing, and continue to hunt for the bandits."
After saying this, he had already left the Chinese army tent.
Li Ruolian, the commander of the Jin Yiwei who followed in a hurry, quickly put a poncho on the emperor, but the rain was indeed a bit heavy and the poncho was actually of no use.
Seeing this, Emperor Chongzhen simply pushed off his poncho, got on his horse, and said, "Let's go back to Nanyang!"
Nowadays, there are still many thieves outside. Although the officers and soldiers are searching for him, they must be careful. A cavalry army of two thousand people escorted the emperor from front to back. They immediately rushed to Nanyang City in the heavy rain and rushed to Nanyang City.
Besides, Li Guo fled with Li Dingguo and others. However, there were teams of imperial cavalry everywhere, roaring past from time to time. As long as they saw someone, they would surround them. Therefore, Li Guo and others had an extremely difficult time escaping.
Fortunately, these people were all experienced in escaping. They hid and managed to avoid being discovered.
However, Li Guo was not optimistic. He took advantage of the opportunity to hide and said in a low voice: "The cavalry has delayed our escape to the greatest extent. When the infantry comes to search for us, we will not be able to hide so easily. Therefore, we must escape as soon as possible. Avoid being overtaken by infantry!”
What he said was right, and everyone else nodded.
At this moment, Gao Yigong, who was in charge of monitoring, suddenly shouted in a low voice: "Silence, a large group of cavalry is coming."
When everyone heard this, they quickly lowered their bodies and hid.
Sure enough, after a while, the thundering sound of horse hooves was heard, but they were not spotted and they galloped past them on the official road not far away.
"Damn it, why are there so many cavalry this time?" Li Laiheng peeked at the cavalry going away, and couldn't help but cursed in a low voice and guessed, "Could it be that he discovered a large group of rebels and went over to arrest them?"
In the past, the imperial cavalry usually consisted of teams of one or two hundred, and they spread out to search for them. There were about two thousand cavalry that passed by just now, so Li Laiheng said this.
This time, it was Li Dingguo who answered him: "It's not like that, he seems to be guarding some important person! I just took a peek and saw that there was no older person in the middle. It shouldn't be Chen Qiyu, the dog officer. I guess..."
Before he could say anything, Liu Wenxiu said in surprise: "Could it be that dog emperor?"
Hearing his words, Li Dingguo nodded and said, "That's what I thought."
"You put it this way, and now that I think about it, it's true that there are Jin Yiwei inside!" Li Guo also nodded in agreement, "It should be that dog emperor! Otherwise, there wouldn't be more than two thousand cavalry troops escorting them."
At this point, he said with a little surprise: "Why is this dog emperor rushing in the rain? Why is he so anxious? It's impossible. Is it because of the earth dragon turning over in the early morning?"
"Of course the Dog Emperor cannot be so concerned about the life and death of the people!" Gao Yigong also said, "But don't forget, there is a Tang King in Nanyang. He must care about the Tang King, after all, their own surname is Zhu No!"
After hearing this, everyone thought this was the reason. They cursed the Dog Emperor one after another, and then, led by Li Guo, sneaked on their way again.
At this time, they had to thank the heavy rain. Although it caused inconvenience to them, it also caused inconvenience to the cavalry in the search.
It took more than an hour for Emperor Chongzhen to arrive outside Nanyang City.
The bandits here have long since dispersed. From the fire camps and other things left behind by the bandits outside the city, it can be seen that countless people gathered here before. As for the corpses outside the city, they should have been cleaned up immediately yesterday, but there was still a faint smell of corpses.
A large group of cavalry rushed over and had already alerted the garrison on the top of the city.
Seeing the royal guards surrounding him, he knew it must be the emperor and hurriedly came over to see him.
When Emperor Chongzhen saw the generals arriving from Nanyang City, he did not stop. While driving his horse towards the city, he first asked: "How is the disaster relief situation in the city this morning?"
"Your Majesty, don't worry, there is nothing serious in the Tang Palace!" The general reported quickly after hearing this.
Emperor Chongzhen listened, but after waiting for a while, nothing came out. He couldn't help but turned to look at him, frowned and asked, "Where are the others?"
"Others..." When the general heard this, he was stunned for a moment, came to his senses, and quickly added: "The residences of all the adults in the city are only damaged at most, and everyone is basically fine. Your Majesty, there is no need to worry!"
When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he finally understood that daring to be affectionate was a matter for the common people and did not exist here at all.
Thinking this way, he became a little angry, and shouted louder: "I'm asking how the people of Nanyang are doing?"
After saying that, he crossed his legs, drove the horse away quickly, and went in to see the situation by himself.
When the general heard this, he was a little dumbfounded. He really didn't expect that the emperor would be so concerned about the people's affairs!
It had been raining heavily all morning and had slowly subsided.
Upon entering the city, what Emperor Chongzhen saw at first glance was that many houses in Nanyang City had collapsed. At first glance, you can tell that it is a bungalow with mud walls and the like.
Obviously, these houses are just simple places to live in, and there are no other specialties. Therefore, although the magnitude of this earthquake was not high, many collapsed. But those wealthy mansions rarely collapsed.
In Nanyang City, during the Zhengde period, there were five or six earthquakes in a row, almost every one or two years. Therefore, it is likely that since then, wealthy people have also paid attention to whether their houses are strong or not.
In the collapsed houses, one can glance over and see the poor people in Nanyang City, busy in twos and threes in the ruins of their houses, digging with their hands and moving with force. They may be digging people out, or they may be looking for their belongings.
In some ruins, there are still people crying holding the corpses of their relatives, and there are also injured people, without exception, all in the rain.
Emperor Chongzhen just took a look and didn't find any officers or soldiers helping. It was the people themselves who were saving people.
Seeing this situation, he became a little angry. Many houses collapsed in Nanyang City. In the early morning, when the earthquake occurred at dawn, many people must have been buried inside. How could it be possible for the people to save their loved ones in time just by relying on the lucky escapees from their own families?
At this moment, a group of civil and military officials were seen approaching. The leader was the young King of Tang. Apparently he got the news and came to pick him up.
While they were receiving the gift, they were worried about the dragon's body and asked the emperor to go to the Tang Palace to change clothes and keep warm.
Emperor Chongzhen glanced at them coldly and found that in their eyes, they did not even glance at the ruins on both sides of the street.
He was riding a horse, looking down at them, and suddenly shouted sharply: "Are you turning a blind eye to this disaster? The people are in urgent need of rescue, can you lend a helping hand?"
Hearing this, Governor Nanyang was startled and quickly explained: "Your Majesty, unless I am waiting for you, I really don't have the manpower to save me. All the manpower that can be used has been sent to the city to hunt down the bandits!"
"What about you?" Emperor Chongzhen pointed at them angrily and shouted: "The servant is holding an umbrella. Were you still drinking and having fun before you came to see me? Do you have the intention to be a parent?"
When he said this, he naturally saw that these people must have been having a party before coming over. Maybe they were just celebrating the rescue of Nanyang. They persisted until the emperor arrived, which was a great achievement.
"If you don't make decisions for the people when you are an official, why not go home and sell sweet potatoes!" Emperor Chongzhen stared at the governor of Nanyang and snorted coldly: "Come on, take off his black gauze hat!"
