In the middle of March of the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, in the territory of Shaanzhou, Henan Province, near Shangluo Mountain.

"Bang!"

A loud bang was accompanied by the sound of the door slamming on the ground, and the door of a dilapidated courtyard was rudely kicked open, and a team of officers and soldiers in worn armor broke in with the sound of chaotic footsteps.

"According to the order of the prefect, all households under the jurisdiction of Shaanzhou must pay ten catties of food to relieve the victims!"

An officer in armor read the notice to a trembling family, and then waved his hand, and five or six officers and soldiers behind him immediately began to search for food without saying a word.

The family shrunk in the house, watching in horror as the officers and soldiers armed with waist knives rummaged around for food, and the four-year-old child was suddenly frightened and cried.

The officer was accustomed to such a scene, and only glanced at them coldly, and then stopped looking at them.

The news of the emperor's southern tour had already reached Henan, and Li Xianfeng, the governor of Henan, strictly ordered all localities to collect grain and grass to vigorously pacify the victims in Kaifeng and Luoyang.

Luoyang and Kaifeng are the most important places in Henan, and they are also the most likely places for the emperor to stay on this southern tour.

The officer looked boredly at the prices engraved on a wooden board in the courtyard: rice and corn, 223 yuan per bucket, 221 yuan per bucket of wheat, 9 cents of salt and silver per liter, 1 pound of clear oil 1 yuan and 6 cents, 1 pound of pork 1 dollar and 8 cents, and cotton 1 pound and 2 cents and 3 cents......

In recent years, natural disasters have continued, and this year it is more prosperous in the past, causing an abnormal surge in prices in various places, it can be said that it has reached the point of "rice beads are expensive", Shandong land is 20 taels of rice per stone, and the disaster in Henan is final, and some places even soar to 150 taels of silver per stone.

"Found it!"

An officer and soldier finally found a small bag of grain hidden behind the cabinet after rummaging through the cabinet, and held it in his hand and put it on the mat.

The family of five suddenly panicked, and the little woman in her early twenties even stopped the officers and soldiers and said, "Master Jun, you can't take it!" This is our family's last lifefood! ”

The leading officers and soldiers ignored her, pushed her aside, waved their hands and said, "Let's go!" ”

"Master ......"

The three adults chased out of the house, and all fell at the feet of the leading officer, and the old woman hugged his legs and cried: "Our family pays taxes every year, this is the last ration in the family, the military master will leave us a way to live!" ”

The leading officer shouted: "Dare to resist the government, get out of the way!" ”

As he spoke, he raised his foot and kicked the old woman aside, I don't know if it was intentional or too hard, the old woman was kicked out a few meters, and her head fell on the stone mill in the courtyard, and suddenly blood gushed down, unconscious.

"Mother!" When the old woman's son saw that the old lady was out of breath, he was furious, picked up the hoe in the courtyard and threw it at the officer.

The officer was frightened, and hurriedly dodged, and after stabilizing his body, he pulled out his waist knife and slashed at the man, and immediately blood was dripping, and the man fell down after a few convulsions.

The man's wife, the little woman, screamed and beat the officer incessantly.

The officer looked at the little woman and yelled, "Damn! Kill this crazy! ”

Then several officers and soldiers stepped forward and punched and kicked the little woman, so that she rolled on the ground until she could not move.

The officer at the head of the group had a cold glint in his eyes, and said: "They are Li Thief's comrades, and they have been killed by us, so they all cut off their heads and take them back to ask for a reward!" ”

As he spoke, he heard the crying in the house, but it was the cry of the four-year-old child, and the officer stared at the house, slowly drawing out his waist knife, obviously moving to cut the grass and eradicate the roots.

An officer and soldier beside him stopped: "Big brother, he is still a child, and it is unreasonable to say that he is an accomplice of the rogue." ”

The officer jerked back his sword, and with a wave of his hand, several officers and soldiers rushed out with a small bag of food.

About a quarter of an hour later, an old man entered the small courtyard with a hoe, and when he saw the three headless corpses in the courtyard, he immediately began to cry.

......

The officers and soldiers of the brigade wearing tattered armor marched on the official road carrying food, and the surrounding people hurriedly fled when they saw it.

The countryside through which the officers and men transporting grain passed was full of desolation, the four fields were depressed, all of them were ten rooms and nine empty, and on the side of the road, lodging and starving could be seen from time to time.

In the team, Chen Yongfu, the deputy chief soldier of Henan who was riding on a tall horse, saw this scene and sighed, the long-term drought, military disasters, and the looting of thieves were everywhere in Henan, and it was unbearable to see.

At the end of last year, Li Zicheng and other rogues who were hiding in Shangluo Mountain went down the mountain from time to time to attack the surrounding areas, and even appeared as far away as Luoyang to loot.

The rule was not appeased, and the thieves were not loud, and the officials in Henan did not dare to report it, lest they be demoted and dismissed from office by the imperial court.

Hearing that the emperor will inspect Henan recently, Chen Yongfu has some faint expectations in his heart, if the Son of Heaven sees this situation, he will definitely be furious, and depose these people who deceived the superiors and deceived the subordinates, and brought disaster to the country and the people!

Chen Yongfu admired the emperor from the bottom of his heart, and dared to inspect Henan, which was full of thieves, he was not afraid of being hit by thieves?

However, he had some doubts in his heart, did the emperor not know that Li Zicheng had made a comeback?

Shaanzhou is located near Shangluo Mountain, where Li Zicheng is hiding, and along the way, there are many homeless people caught in the middle of the homeless people, staring at the grain and grass escorted by the officers and soldiers, and they from time to time instigate the hungry homeless people around them to rob the grain team of the officers and soldiers.

As the officers and men fired indiscriminately with their birds, the displaced people suddenly woke up after some corpses fell and quickly dispersed.

As soon as the escort team left Shaanzhou City, many intruding soldiers appeared, rushing to meet them from time to time, trying to intercept this grain transportation team.

Liu Yongfu immediately sent sentinels in the army to constantly drive away these rogue horses, although his cavalry was stronger than the rogue horsemen, but there were too many rogue thieves around, for the sake of safety, he did not dare to send more cavalry to fight.

Chen Yongfu's side is a young general with thick eyebrows and big eyes, fully armed, it is his son Chen De, who has shot Li Zicheng's left eye blind in the Luoyang offensive and defensive battle in history.

Chen Dece leaned forward slightly, arched his hand at Chen Yongfu, and said solemnly: "Military gate, mark the command to lead a thousand families to defeat these thieves!" ”

Chen Yongfu's eyes flashed with love, but he still said with a straight face: "No!" Protect the grain and grass! ”

Chen Yongfu, as the deputy commander-in-chief of Henan, is in charge of a lot of troops, but the real combat effectiveness is still his own thousand strong family members, which is also the strength that Chen Yongfu relies on.

Seeing that his father refused, Chen De did not talk back, and followed honestly.

In the midst of his thoughts, the grain brigade passed by a village, and there were some small courtyards made of mud fences scattered in the middle and west of the village.

Chen Yongfu ordered to rest in place for two quarters of an hour, and no one was allowed to disturb the people, while he and his son Chen De dismounted and chatted while walking.

Looking at the sparse wheat planted on all sides of the village, Chen Yongfu sighed and said, "De'er, for my father, I want to ask someone to transfer you to Nanzhili." ”

Chen De groaned slightly and said, "Does my father want me to join the Heavenly Martial Army and defect to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?" ”

Chen Yongfu glanced at him appreciatively, and said: "You have also seen the situation in Henan, Li Zicheng's resurgence is a foregone conclusion, when Chongzhen was eight years old, King Gao Yingxiang and Li Thief had attacked Luoyang, and suffered heavy losses, it is rumored that he hates Luoyang deeply, if Li Zicheng makes a comeback, he will definitely slaughter the city in the future to vent his anger, and then I am afraid that Henan officialdom will be purged." ”

Chen Yongfu wanted to ask for a transfer to Jiangnan, but was resolutely vetoed by Li Xianfeng, the governor of Henan, so he made a promise to promote him as the chief soldier of Henan.

Chen Yongfu knew that he couldn't leave, so he could only let his son leave and find a good home, and the crown prince in Jiangnan was the only choice.

While the two were talking, they walked into the village, only to see that the village was mostly old and weak, all of them were ragged, their faces were yellow, they sat numbly and stood, and when they saw Chen Yongfu and his son coming, they all looked at them with hatred.

In front of a dilapidated courtyard, a thin old man sat on a stone in front of the door and stared at Chen Yongfu in armor.

This situation made Chen Yongfu very puzzled, he had never harmed the people, why did the people here stare at him with such eyes, he approached and asked, "Can the old man recognize me?" ”

The old man just shook his head and didn't speak.

Chen Dedao: "My father is the deputy chief soldier of Henan, and he has always been above board and upright, why does my husband hate us so much?" ”

"Above board?" The old man smiled miserably and said, "The old man doesn't understand, the chief soldier is also a parent, why did he set up arson to steal my family's life's food, and killed my son and daughter-in-law on the charge of thieves?" ”

Chen Yongfu frowned and said, "Is there really such a thing?" ”

The old man pointed to the courtyard and cried, "And my poor old wife, whose heads have been cut off!" ”

Chen Yongfu and the others hurriedly entered the hospital to take a look, and sure enough, they saw three corpses with their heads cut off.

Chen Yongfu had long heard about the looting of the countryside when the local officers and soldiers were raising grain, but he didn't expect to do such a dehumanizing thing!

Looking at the three corpses, Chen Yongfu said coldly: "Chen De, I will order you to investigate this matter quickly!" Arrest the bold fanatic who cares for human life! ”

Chen De's body has been all the time, and he immediately said: "Mark the order!" ”

Seeing that the old man was still crying bitterly, Chen Yongfu sighed, ordered someone to fetch a large bag of grain to leave, and rode out of the village.

In the afternoon of the same day, Chen De found the officers and soldiers who had killed the people and brought them to justice according to military regulations, which aroused strong dissatisfaction among the Shaanzhou prefect and local generals.

A few days later, Chen Yongfu returned to Luoyang City with grain and grass to pay for his errand, but heard from his colleagues that the emperor had canceled the imperial tour of the south.

"The emperor is not coming?" Chen Yongfu was stunned, he didn't expect to expect such a result.

He heard some officials talking that as soon as the emperor's imperial drive left the Forbidden City, he was stopped by a large group of civil officials in Beijing, and on the grounds of the safety of the imperial driver, the emperor was not allowed to go out of Beijing for inspection.

Chen Yongfu sighed, very disappointed, and strengthened his determination to let his son Chen De defect to the crown prince.