When it was ugly, (three o'clock in the morning) Xiao Ran, who was napping in the South City Gatehouse, was pushed awake, and a subordinate whispered a few times in his ear, Xiao Ran quickly got up and walked out of the city tower, and the fine snow and cold wind were still raging outside.

"Lord Xiao, look" Shen Jianghu, who was on duty, stood at the head of the city with a few personal soldiers and saw Xiao Ran coming out, so he pointed due south, and there seemed to be a bright light between them, no more, no less, exactly three.

Xiao Ran squinted his eyes and frowned: "I'm sure it's right, don't be a set set by Tartars."

Shen Jianghu said with an affirmative face: "Lord Xiao rest assured, this matter is not trivial, the last general will not dare to hold it up, last night after half of the morning (ten o'clock in the evening) in order to avoid the wind and cold, the army and horses of the Tartar brigade have retreated north, only a few spies are scattered around, at this time the wind and cold are too heavy to know where to hide, even if they find out, a few Tartar horses are not to be afraid!" ”

Xiao Ran smiled: "Ning Yuanjun has been very murderous recently, in the past, he heard that the color of the Tartar had changed, but now he is eager to try, and I heard that the generals and soldiers in the army are busy forming a group and waiting for the dawn to go out of the city to earn silver."

Shen Jianghu laughed: "Who would give the silver and can't get by, not to mention that killing the Tartars is a matter of duty!" ”

Xiao Ran no longer talked about this, and looked at the three or two points that were looming in the south.

Ning Yuanjun's salary is 200,000 yuan, and the five taels of silver brought by Chang Yu are only 20,000 taels of water and cart salary, and now that the war is imminent, silver is the only magic weapon that can directly boost morale and inspire the morale of the army.

The first battle was successful, nearly 6,000 enemies were killed in one fell swoop, the government and the opposition were shaken, the emperor was overjoyed, Chang Yu reported that he wanted silver with a white strip, Chongzhen was no matter how poor he was, he would squeeze out some points to him, he knew better the importance of silver to morale at this time, and morale directly determined the importance of the next battle.

It's just thousands of miles away, and the efficiency of the imperial court can be reached in ten days at the earliest, and it is difficult to quench the thirst of the near water, so it happened that Li Yan's vanguard support troops arrived at this time, and brought some of the little eunuch's private money over, and at this time it happened to be used to pay in advance.

However, when Li Yan came, it was when the little eunuch joined forces with Wu Sangui to set up an ambush for the vanguard of the Qing army in Abatai, and when he arrived at Zhonghou Station, Wu Sangui ordered him to be stationed on the spot and go to Ningyuan to watch the battle.

When he left the day before yesterday, Chang Yu had secretly ordered him to send the 100,000 taels of silver in the army of Zhonghou to Ningyuan City as soon as possible after he returned. At that time, the two estimated that the time to return to Ningyuan was very likely to be late at night, and there was no peace outside the city recently, so they set up a code of three torches, and the guards in the city went to greet them.

Xiao Ran was ordered to do this, and he waited in the city until the early hours of the morning.

After confirming that it was correct, Shen Jianghu led a thousand men and horses and quietly went out of the city to pick them up without lighting the lights.

After half a pillar of incense, Chang Yu, who was suffering from the pain on his body, got up after getting Xiao Ran's secret report, and ordered Li Tiezhu and others to pack their luggage and wait for him at the Bell and Drum Tower, and then took Wu Zhong and Guo Ren to the General Soldier's Mansion.

The little eunuch came to knock on the door early in the morning, Wu Sangui got up in a hurry, and hurriedly asked if he had military information or went out of the city.

The tactics discussed by several people earlier, Chang Yu is outside, Wu Sangui is inside, and now Dolgon's army is close at hand, and he can come to the city at any time, and the little eunuch must go out of the city and enter the mountain unconsciously before he arrives, and this is the best time.

Chang Yu nodded, he was about to leave the city, the silver has arrived, and the 100,000 taels will be handed over to you!

100,000 taels, where did it come from? Wu Sangui was shocked, he only knew that his subordinates were going to receive Li Yan's people into the city, but he didn't know that it was to send silver, even Tang Tong, who came after hearing the news, was also puzzled, even if the capital was funded, it would not arrive so quickly, robbery? There are not many big households in this 100-mile radius.

The little eunuch didn't know how to say it, leaving suspense for the two to think nonsense.

It's just that this silver is not a salary, but a reward for silver, which is used to stimulate the morale of the military and buy the head of the soldier, which is also the consensus reached by the three of them.

While he was talking, Xiao Ran came to report that the silver had entered the city, and there was an unexpected joy, and Chongzhen's messenger had arrived.

So fast!

This made Wu Sangui and Tang Tong surprised, according to the general decree that the eunuchs can go this thousand miles away, that is, it takes three, four, five or six days to leave the post station for a while, but it has only been a day and two nights since the little eunuch sent someone out of the city, and how did they come out of Shanhaiguan when it was dark.

How did they know that Chang Yu had set up a special communication team with Xiao Ran before he arrived in Ningyuan, a post for a hundred miles, a number of horses, non-stop, at the beginning of the thousands of miles away in Taiyuan, Ning Yuan to the capital is a piece of cake, as for Shanhaiguan, who dares to stop the horseshoe of Dongchang, their big boss is outside the gate, he said when you open the door, you have to open.

The two dusty Jinyi guards hurriedly entered the hall to pay their respects, and when the two of them went out of Shanhaiguan and passed through the middle of the mountain, they happened to meet Li Yan's silver guard car and horses, and they entered the city together.

Chang Yu saw that the two of them were working hard, and without saying a word, he directly took out ten taels of silver to reward, and the two brocade guards were grateful, and they couldn't hide their joy, and thanked them again and again.

Wu Sangui and Tang Tong glanced at each other, no wonder the little eunuch's subordinates were so desperate to support him, and they were never vague about buying people's hearts.

But now Wu Sangui is more concerned about what good news the emperor asked the messenger to send and what rewards he had!

A brocade guard took off the long package behind his back and offered it with both hands, Chang Yu looked sideways, Wu Zhong took a step forward and put it on the table to untie it, and saw that a long thing about three feet long was wrapped in yellow satin, and after untying it was a wooden box made of chicken blood sandalwood, simple and heavy, with carved flowers.

When everyone saw that this wooden box was extraordinary, they were all amazed and came over one after another.

Chang Yu raised his eyebrows and opened the wooden box himself, and everyone couldn't help but be surprised, the wooden box contained a long knife, and the entire knife body was glowing with blue light and cold air.

Reaching out and grabbing it, Chang Yu waved the knife in the air a few times, there was a faint phoenix roar, and he couldn't help but slash down at the corner of the table.

"Back then, Qi Shaobao's famous craftsman Han Xichen cast five knives to reward the generals with great military achievements, this knife is named Qingque, and it is the head of the five knives, and I don't want to be in the palace." Wu Zhong stared at the knife in the little eunuch's hand and tried his best to restrain his excitement.

Everyone was attracted by his words, and Chang Yu handed the knife to him: "Qi Shaobao Jingwei Heaven and Earth Wencheng Wuluo, it is a peerless Tianjiao that comes out once in a thousand years, his knife is extraordinary, they all say what kind of sword saint you are, how about you come to taste?" ”

Wu Zhong took it, stretched out his hand and touched it lightly on the body of the knife, his face couldn't put it down, and his mouth kept whispering a good knife, a good knife, and he flicked the knife body with his fingers, and there was a crisp sound, like a yellow warbler singing green willows.

"Han Xichen is really a generation of knife casting masters, this knife condenses his life's work, has entered the holy product, and is nearly one of the second grades." Wu Zhong exclaimed.

The little eunuch listened to the clouds and let him fart straight, Wu Zhong explained that the knife is divided into ten grades, and there are many ordinary rangers' knives, and the standard saber in the army is only the lowest grade, but the embroidered spring knives of Jinyiwei are extraordinary, in seven or eight grades, and some can reach five or six grades...... More than three products can be called holy products, and there are divine products above one product! But he's only heard of it and hasn't seen it, and he doesn't even have a chance to do it.

Pretend! The little eunuch listened to what he said, so he gave him two words, and then asked Wu Zhong what kind of long knife he was carrying with him?

"A family heirloom, not a product but priceless" Master Wu is very arrogant.