Zaoyang County is located in the plain, and the entire city wall is built into a square with four levels and eight stability. There is a city gate on all four walls, except for the west gate, the east, south and north three gates are not far from the river. Because of the danger of the place, from the Song Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty, the successive dynasties have not stopped, so although the whole city is only a thousand zhang, but the workmanship is very solid. The bottom of the wall is rammed with three-fold soil, and the loess is rammed in layers, and the top has more than one to two layers of blue bricks to lay the sea wall, more than 2,000 pheasant battlements along the outer edge, more than 10 enemy platforms, and the four city gates also stand corner towers, arrow towers and climbing horse roads, etc. Although the bureau system is small, it is like a hero.

Two hundred people of the Ministry of Honesty and Unbelief rode through the suburbs of Chongxing Temple, ancient pagoda and other places in the twilight, and entered the city through the west gate. Zaoyang City has been under martial law for a long time, and although there are many flags flying on the battlements, it is not difficult to find that the officers and soldiers distributed among them are sparse.

"It's all superficial work that is useless, the garrison is so lax, if you really wait for the thieves to attack, the officers and soldiers are afraid that they will not be able to resist it for half an hour." Lian Buxin relied on his past experience to analyze the various measures of Zaoyang Beikou that he saw along the road, "I heard that the parents of Zaoyang County are old fools, hehe, life and death, the head is still sober, self-aware, and knows how to find someone to help." ”

Zhao Ying, in order to subdue the Chu family, forcibly drove the Feijie camp to the back township in the south of Zaoyang County, so as to put the county under surveillance. Han Gon was well aware of the stakes, and even though the situation in Chungling City was not optimistic, he still insisted on separating a section of Lian Buxin to continue to be stationed in the same place.

In the evening of the day before yesterday, Lian Buxin, who was inspecting the armament in the camp in the back township, suddenly received a handwritten letter from Zhu Yuncheng, the magistrate of Zaoyang County, which was sincere, but said that the thieves and soldiers were huge, and the stragglers were scattered and infiltrated in Zaoyang County, and the garrison of Zaoyang County was insufficient, so Zhao Yingjian'er needed to help and assist in the defense. Lian Buxin and Han Gon both believed that compared with Houxiang, settling in the county seat could not only strengthen the stability of the defense line, but also further keep an eye on the county soldiers, without losing the best of both worlds. Therefore, after getting Han Gon's permission, Lian Buxin began to prepare for the transfer of troops yesterday evening, and everything was in order this morning, and more than 200 horsemen set off in the afternoon and rushed to the county seat non-stop.

Yang Zhaofeng, the counselor of the Feijie battalion, did not go to Chungling City with the army, but also went to the county seat. Although the position of counselor and overseer is nominally the assistant to the commander of the battalion, and he is responsible for supervising the army, his actual status is second only to that of the commander, but he has no military power. In addition, Yang Zhaofeng has a very good personal relationship with Lian Buxin, so this time Han Gon and Lian Buxin divided the troops, and he was willing to play an auxiliary role and cooperate with Lian Buxin.

Waiting for Yang Zhaofeng, who was at the end of the horse team, to enter the city, the night was completely closed, the county was curfew, and the city gate was slowly closed. Walking through the dark city gate hole, inside, there are already crowds of people holding lights, lined up along the street to meet each other in two columns on the left and right.

Yang Zhaofeng patted his horse and walked quickly, overtaking the horse team that was slowing down with a whip, and when he came to the end, he saw Lian Buxin talking to a man.

The man finished his outfit and nodded to Yang Zhaofeng. Lian Buxin said: "This is Sun Tuanlian." After Yang Zhaofeng and the others got to know each other, he said, "Sun Tuanlian is currently in charge of the garrison of the whole city. ”

That Sun Tuanlian looked like he was in his early forties, thin but full of energy, he listened to Lian Buxin's polite words and immediately shook his hand and said, "What supervisor, General Lian is laughing." Now General Lian has entered the city with a hundred strong soldiers, and in the future, the city defense affairs will depend on the two generals Lian and Yang to arrange and promote. ”

After a short conversation between the three of them, Yang Zhaofeng learned that this Sun Tuanlian was not actually from the army, but a lieutenant in the city. In the Ming Dynasty, there was no regimental training envoy, and it was changed to subordinate the regimental training according to the inspection envoy and the military preparation road, and down to the county and township level, it existed in the form of township soldiers, people's strong, archers, and regimental training, and the states and counties in the country were adapted to local conditions, and the system was not the same. Sun Tuanlian has the name of "Tuanlian", but in fact, it is self-appointed and self-appreciative in the county, which has no practical significance.

Zaoyang County is located in a strategic place, and in order to prepare for self-defense, in addition to the inspection department and some archers in the county, 500 township warriors have been temporarily recruited to practice on their own to defend the city in the past two months. The county ordered that the yamen and the Li Fang recommend each other suitable candidates for the training of the regiment, this grandson regiment practiced martial arts when he was young, and he would also move stones and boil his muscles and bones in his yard when he was free.

In the Ming Dynasty, Lijia, Zafan, and all of them were called the three major servants, and Fan Jingwen, who was cut to the people's post because of Yang Sichang's seizure of the auxiliary government, once used the phrase "The patients of the people are not as good as the servants" to express the heavy burden of the errand service. And the most powerful of the errand soldiers, there is no one who is Lijia, Jiehu, Kuzi, Dou level, etc., often acting as a big household, "the family has a thousand gold property, when there are beggars in a year, there are more than ten strong men in the family, that is, there are desperate households, the people avoid food service too much, and the government is not as good." During the Wanli period, Zhang Juzheng pushed a whip law, supplemented by the correction of the problem of land levy, reformed the service law, and focused on changing the commonly known as the "four differences" of Lijia, Junxi, Yichuan, and Minzhuang, although it is still not perfect, but it also has some results, but later, due to the increasing resistance of the gentry and landlords, the result is that "the servants are coming, and the peasants are reinstated".

Sun Tuanlian's ancestors were all big landowners in Zaoyang County for generations, and his family was well-off. It's just that in recent years, the county has cleverly set up a name, confiscated a lot of land under his family's name into the official, and elected his family as the head of the department three years ago. Fortunately, he has a lot of savings, and he still has the strength to breathe after running hard. Unexpectedly, two months ago, the government said that "the people's will cannot be shirked" and ordered him to serve as a county regimental training officer in addition to the lieutenant governor. Relatives and friends privately think that he may have been targeted by the Chu family even if he was unlucky, but even so, Zaoyang County is a hall of the Chu family.

What's even more infuriating is that after the group practice, the county immediately gave him a plaque on the grounds that the government treasury branch was nervous, commending him for his selflessness, and secretly ordered him to "relieve difficulties for the country", pay out of his own pocket to solve all kinds of expenses for the newly recruited 500 villagers, and promised that as long as the thieves retreated, the county branch would be relieved and would reimburse the expenses with him. In this way, it is difficult for him to ride a tiger, so he can only agree. Walking on the street on weekdays, others call "Sun Lichang" and "Sun Tuanlian" affectionately and movingly, but he is dumb and can't say whether he has suffered from eating Coptis chinensis, and when he returns home every day, his mind is full of thinking about how long he can support the rest of his family. In just two months after becoming a "group exercise", he was originally strong and lost more than ten pounds.

Sun Tuanlian, who dared to be angry and did not dare to speak, heard that Zhao Yingbing was going to enter the county seat, and he didn't fall asleep for two nights with joy. Shicai's words that "in the future, the city defense affairs will depend on the two generals Lian and Yang to arrange the collar" is really sincere. In his mind, Zhao Ying's soldiers are all battle-hardened, and a soldier is at least worth four or five clumsy villagers, and with them sitting in the county seat, the heart of worrying about the attack of thieves and robbers can be relieved by half. In addition, when Zhao Yingbing came, the daily guarding work undertaken by the regimental training township Yong will also be shared. Think about these days, getting up earlier than chickens, going to bed later than dogs, and running around for team training, not only psychological pressure, but also physical exhaustion. Looking at the majestic Zhao Yingma team, Sun Tuanlian kept rubbing his hands, and repeatedly chanted the word "good" in his mouth.

"Where's Lord Zhu?" Yang Zhaofeng raised his eyes to inspect the crowd, but did not find Zhu Yuncheng's figure. It stands to reason that the field troops entered the camp to garrison, and the incident was a major event, as the lord of a county, Zhu Yuncheng should come forward, even if there was nothing to take out to work the army, the basic etiquette and face still had to be given.

"This ......" As soon as Zhixian was mentioned, Sun Tuanlian also scratched his head, "Sun is humble, I haven't seen Lord Zhu a few times." I only received a notice from the yamen to bring people to the city gate to greet your army...... Oh......" said and patted his head, "Yes, I was eating noodles at a noodle stall in the city this morning, and I seemed to hear a soap official on an errand boy at the side table, mentioning Lord Zhu...... I wish you all the best in the near future...... Presumably, I didn't come forward today, and it has something to do with it. ”

Yang Zhaofeng frowned, and had nothing to say. Sun Tuanlian is no longer in the stream, but he is also one of the leaders of the armed forces appointed by the county, Zhu Yuncheng is so rough, even if he is sick, he should inform Sun Tuanlian, who presided over the greeting, so that he can communicate with the Zhao Yingbing who entered the city. I have heard that Zhu Yun is old and faint, and I don't want to be able to appreciate one or two when I first arrive.

After chatting for a while, except for Sun Tuanlian, there were no other officials in the county at the city gate, and Yang Zhaofeng, who was going to briefly communicate with the county officials about the current situation and countermeasures, couldn't help but be depressed. After Sun Tuanlian finished his polite words, Mu Mu Nene stood there, his eyes wandering, and his hands seemed to be groping up and down with nowhere to put them, which was quite embarrassing. At that moment, Lian Buxin and Yang Zhaofeng were anxious to settle the soldiers and horses, so they stopped talking and asked about the situation of the camp in the city.

Allowing Zhao Ying's soldiers and horses to enter the city and station, this was the only place where Yang Zhaofeng felt that Zhu Yuncheng had courage and a little appreciation. I only heard Sun Tuanlian reply: "The thieves invaded in a big way, I wish the adults benevolence, and they do not want to sit idly by and watch the bones of the people barren mountains and mountains, so they have temporarily opened up many resettlement points in the city for the people on the outskirts of the city to take refuge temporarily." The east, west, south, and north sides of the city have all vacated places. However, at present, there are only two sides to the east and west, and there are still some vacant barracks to live in, but it is difficult for your 200 people to accommodate one side, so it is necessary to divide the troops to live in the east and west. ”

Before coming, Lian Buxin sent someone to inquire about the county camp in advance, and at that time, the county swore that it would not be a problem to settle 200 soldiers and horses. Yang Zhaofeng frowned at Lian Buxin and asked, "How many people can live in the east?" How much does it cost to stay in the west? ”

Sun Tuanlian replied without thinking: "Fifty in the east, one hundred and fifty in the west." ”

Lian Buxin said unhappily: "Is there really no way to move? It is better to ...... those people."

"That being the case, Lao Lian, it's late tonight, and I'm afraid the county will let go. And the troops are tired, let's arrange rest first. You take most of them to the west, and I will take the rest to the east. Yang Zhaofeng knew whether he believed it or not, and knew that between him and Meng Aocao's big-mouthed mouth, for fear that he would cause unnecessary trouble to Zhao Ying, so he immediately interjected and interrupted without waiting for him to finish, "Defending in the city and separating the two places is not a big problem, but I practice more on weekdays." When we settle down tomorrow, let's take the opportunity to visit Lord Zhu in the yamen, and then talk about whether there is room for accommodation in the camp, how about it? ”

Lian Buxin has always been very convinced of Yang Zhaofeng, and when he heard him say this, he nodded and said, "It's good." ”

Sun Tuanlian looked at the two with a smile, for fear that these soldiers would be annoyed and make trouble at the gate of the city, and then saw that Yang Zhaofeng was reasonable, and was surprised in his heart, and was afraid that Lian would not believe it and regret it, so he hurriedly recruited soldiers and guided Yang and Lian to go to the east and west camps respectively.

The roads in Zaoyang County are narrow, but fortunately, the curfew is effective, there is no one, and it is very smooth to walk. Yang Zhaofeng took fifty horsemen, followed the guide for a while, and came to the camp near the Yama Temple in the east of the city.

The guide pointed to the shacks not far from the camp and said, "These are the places where the people on the outskirts of the county are housed. These people are all stupid people in the countryside who don't know how to be polite, and they live close to the military masters, and they may occasionally collide in ordinary times. ”

Yang Zhaofeng smiled and said, "I can save it." The swords of my Zhao Yingbing have always only killed demons and treacherous evils, and never harmed civilians. ”

The guide thanked Nuo Nuo and went, Yang Zhaofeng led the troops into the camp, and the old soldier who was guarding the camp opened the door and continued to lead. When the horses, baggage, and personnel are settled, the moon is shining in the west.

Even though he was drenched in sweat and had adapted to many years of fighting, Yang Zhaofeng, who was lying on the futon, quickly fell asleep. I don't know how long I slept, in a daze, someone suddenly pushed the door in, and although the voice was soft, the sensitive Yang Zhaofeng still reflexively bounced up.

"What's wrong?" Yang Zhaofeng found that the person who came was a soldier in the battalion, his face was panicked, and when he listened carefully, there seemed to be a commotion outside the window, and the sound was very small, as if it was coming from a distance.

The soldier swallowed his saliva, and two lines of tears rolled straight out of his eyes: "There is a fire in the west of the city, and it is known as the incorruptible sentry officer who burns and loots, and the city is already in chaos!" ”

"Burn, kill, loot?" Yang Zhaofeng's head buzzed, and he was stunned.