Chongqing City, outside a warehouse where important supplies are hoarded, is the dead of night and everything is silent.

The rebels are besieging the city, the soldiers are in danger, and today's Chongqing has long been rumored.

Xu Keqiu, the governor of Sichuan, also issued a notice early on, during this period, the whole city was under martial law, and no one was allowed to leave the house at night, and only five people could be seen on the street as a small team of soldiers.

As soon as a group of soldiers turned the corner of the street on the east side, five soldiers came from the west side carrying lanterns, which showed the strict guard.

The lights flickered, and five officers and men in cloth armor stood in the middle of the road for a while with sabers at their waists.

The solemn countenance of the leader was revealed through the dim light.

The dark clouds covered the moon, the two candles flickered faintly, and the long street could not be seen at a glance, but when he saw that the general had handed over the lantern to his subordinates, he took a few steps forward and asked the person guarding Cangli:

"How's it going, Ergouzi, is there anything abnormal?"

The person who was asked moved his eyes, smiled, and said, "I've been watching here, and I haven't seen anyone else in the whole street except for the officers and soldiers." ”

Because his family was poor when he was young, and he caught up with the disaster year, he couldn't eat enough, and there were many people like him who casually became Wu Ergou.

Some are more direct, with stools, tables as names, and even without surnames.

"Well, that's not to be taken lightly." The general nodded and said as he left: "This Cangli is the lifeblood of the 240,000 soldiers and civilians in the city!" ”

"Don't worry, Master Ma." The guard answered, looked up at the sky, and said, "This bright ball is really round!" ”

He also raised his head and glanced at the general Wenyan, and then squinted and said, "Ergouzi, what's wrong with you, this dark cloud, there is a moon?" ”

Hearing this, Wu Ergou smiled awkwardly, scratched his head and didn't say a word.

"You kid..."

At first, I didn't take it seriously, but after walking a few steps, I turned back sharply, stared at Wu Ergou carefully, and asked:

"Ergouzi, what's the big gasp?"

"No, no-" Wu Ergou smiled, "Master Ma, the rebels are besieging the city, and everyone doesn't know if they can hold it, so I'm panicking!" ”

"Oh, I see."

Mr. Jiang also knows Wu Ergou, although he feels that something is wrong, but he can't say it. Because it was an old acquaintance, he didn't ask too many questions, turned around and continued to patrol.

Just a few steps away, there was a sudden sound of firewood scattered on the ground in the Cangli courtyard.

"What's going on?"

At this time, the general manager was completely relieved, he quickly drew his saber and shouted: "Come in with me to see!" ”

"Yes!"

The soldiers immediately drew their knives and followed the general to Cangli, but they were blocked by Wu Ergou with a smile, and only listened to him:

"Master Ma—"

"It's not like I'm forcibly stopping you, Futai has an order, except for his old man's order, no one can enter Cangli at will."

"Maybe it's just windy?"

"It's windy?" General Ma Hong sneered: "How can there be wind here, even if it is blown away, where is the sound of firewood?" ”

"Ergouzi, this Cangli is related to the lives of the soldiers and civilians in the city, if something happens, I am responsible!!"

Wu Ergou continued to block, and also put his hand on the handle of the knife,-for-tat.

"You can't afford this responsibility, if I Wu Ergou lets you in, I will also be subject to military law."

"Will you let me?"

Asking, Mahon tightened the saber in his hand.

"Ma Ye, it's not that I won't let it, it's true-"

Wu Ergou was saying helplessly, and suddenly, a blood mark appeared on his face, his face was expressionless, and he died directly.

But seeing Ma Hong put away the blood-stained knife, he shouted: "Something happened, I am responsible alone, go in and see what is going on!" ”

The crowd kicked open the door and rushed in but were stunned.

In front of them, several strangers dressed in gray cloth carried bundles of firewood, poured oil on them, and almost threw out torches to ignite a skyrocketing fire.

The sound just now was that someone accidentally broke up a bundle, but the movement was too loud and spread outside the warehouse.

"Throw it away!"

Seeing that they were discovered by the officers and soldiers, these people all panicked, shouted and rushed up, and the person in front even caused a fire and wanted to throw it on the oil.

When Ma Hong saw this, he threw down his knife, kicked the rushing man over, rushed over frantically, hugged the person in front, and pressed the fire fold under him.

The two fought together, in terms of skill, this spy was not the general opponent of the officers and soldiers at all, the fire was forcibly extinguished, and he was beaten to the point that his nose was blue and his face was swollen.

"Take it away!"

Soon after, Ma Hong picked up the knife on the ground, looked back, and saw Wu Ergou dead outside the door, his eyes tightened, and he didn't know whether to hate or pity him.

There are too many poor people like Wu Ergou, and the little salary he gets as a soldier is not much, and he is always in arrears, and he can't support a family at all.

Besides, there are more than 100,000 rebels outside the city, who knows if this Chongqing can hold it?

Extravagant Chongming has a violent personality and kills Han people indiscriminately, once the city is broken, the whole family may die in the city, it is better to join the rebels as soon as possible, and still be able to keep the family well-being.

The idea of the second dog, Ma Hong can more or less understand.

This incident of spies infiltrating directly caused the governor's permission to beg and Chongqing's general soldier Huang Shoukui's tense nerves into a mess.

Afterwards, Huang Shoukui personally interrogated that the people who piled firewood and burned the fire in the courtyard were the Tusi spies sent by Yu Chongming.

These people are familiar with the Chinese language, and their appearance is ordinary and ordinary, and at first glance, they are completely honest people, and no one will associate them with spies.

As for Wu Ergou, the little soldier guarding Cangli, he was indeed bought off because of the lure of these people to protect his whole family after breaking the city and giving him two hundred taels of silver.

This gang of spies made too much noise on their own, which attracted the attention of Ma Hong, the chief inspector of the warehouse, and tried his best to kill Wu Ergou, so as to ensure the safety of Cangli.

If there is a different person, this matter may be over, and the 240,000 soldiers and civilians in Chongqing will be in dire straits.

On this day, Huang Shoukui, according to the usual practice, came to inquire about the promotion of the chief Ma Hong, because this kind of thing is still in charge of the Ministry of War.

Therefore, it is necessary for a civil official like Xu Keqiu to be sparse in order to determine his military exploits and award Ma Hong to an official position.

Ma Hong made a great contribution to keep Cangli safe, this is a well-known thing, Huang Shoukui originally asked, but he didn't expect this to be a thing.

In Xu Keqiu, he went around in a circle, but said that Ma Hong was not only not meritorious, but also guilty.

As soon as he heard this, Huang Shoukui was stunned.

"Futai, what do you mean by that?"

"Ma Hong stopped the spies from burning Cangli and kept the whole city safe, isn't it a credit, it's a sin?"

"What is the reason?"

"Mr. Huang is angry, and listen to the official's story." Xu Keqiu sat on the chair, savoring the few remaining Longjing tea in the city, and after a long time, he said leisurely:

"It's true that Ma Hong saved Cangli, but this is the first time he violated the official's order."

"This official just said yesterday that no one is allowed to enter Cangli without my order, but today this Mahon went in... Or cut down the gatekeepers without permission to enter! ”

"The two crimes are punished together, although Ma Hong has a small merit, but he also has a big fault, he should be beheaded immediately, with the heart of the army!"

The more Huang Shoukui listened, the more annoyed he became, and he couldn't stop sneering.

"Why don't you think about it, why do you do this, how can you serve the people in this town, and how can you think about the soldiers who can't eat enough in the city, but are still patrolling day and night!"

"It's going to give them chills!"

"Once a mutiny is caused, Chongqing will be finished—"

In the end, Huang Shoukui was trembling with anger all over.

"Mutiny?" Xu Keqiu was instinctively startled at first, and his body almost left the chair, then chuckled again, put down the tea set in his hand, and said quietly:

"That's what you should be concerned about, Mr. Huang."