The two thieves were killed and captured, Deng Longye dragged the tall thief who fell to the ground into the house, and Zhao Dangshi was tearing off the corner of his clothes to bandage Zhou Wenhe, who had a broken finger, to stop the bleeding. When the tall thief saw that his companion was dead, he stopped calling and pursed his lips. Deng Longye grabbed his hair bun and pulled his head up, and asked: "Kill talent, why do you want to harm my father-in-law, recruit from the truth!" ”

The tall thief didn't answer, and Man Ning stepped forward and slapped him twice, until his face was swollen. After Zhao Dangshi dealt with Zhou Wenhe's severed finger, he asked, "Old Zhou, are there any injuries on your body?" ”

Zhou Wenhe said embarrassedly: "It's okay to worry. Alas, Zhou is useless, but he bothered the lord and was ashamed. ”

Zhao Dangshi said solemnly: "What are these words, you and I are the main ministers, but we are actually brothers." If you hadn't discovered the thief in time tonight, I don't know what the situation would have become. ”

Speaking of this, Zhou Wenhe was puzzled: "Lord, what did you ...... at that time Not in the house......"

"This ......" Zhao Dangshi smiled, slightly embarrassed, and before he could answer, he stumbled outside the door and ran in again, but it was Huaqing.

"Zhao Lang, you ......"

"I'm fine, Lao Zhou is injured. I simply stopped the bleeding, didn't there still be some knife wound medicine bought in the Qizhou market in the bag, you know how to use medical skills, it is better to take a look. After that, he immediately instructed Man Ning and Deng Longye, "Ning Zi, you carry Lao Zhou on your back, and go to the building with the county lord to give Lao Zhou medicine openly." Old Deng, you stay. ”

Hua Qing nodded, his eyes full of concern, and said, "Zhao Lang, be more careful." So he and Man Ning went out of the house with Zhou Wenhe, who was humming and chirping.

Deng Longye twisted the tall thief, pulled out his waist knife and put it on the back of his neck, and asked sharply: "Say, what do you want to do when you sneak here late at night?" The hand pressed down, and the blade cut shallowly into the flesh.

Zhao Dangshi searched for the short thief who had fallen, but he didn't get much, turned to look at the tall thief, and found that the corners of his mouth seemed to be oozing blood, and he took three or two steps to pinch his mouth, but saw that the flesh and blood in his mouth were blurred, and the root of his tongue had been bitten off at some point, and it was shocking. Deng Longye hurriedly let go of his hand, and the tall thief snorted, his body was weak and softened, and he died of excessive blood loss.

"Lord, thieves are cruel, and there will be a future." Deng Longye frowned.

Zhao Dangshi said profoundly, if it is a local thief in Huaining who attempts to commit adultery, he will probably only be put in prison, so why kill himself. This tall thief was anxious to seek death, obviously afraid that he would not be tortured in the future, and would be forced to ask what was difficult to hide. It's a pity that the two thieves, tall and short, are dead, and there is nothing on their bodies, so they can't be deduced for now.

"Lay the body in order. Wait for the government to be buried. Zhao Dangshi looked left and right, and the movements of the two thieves had already disturbed the inn. Nowadays, the lights up and down the whole inn are bright, and the guys run into the courtyard in twos and threes to probe their brains, thinking that it will not be long before the soap officials in the county will arrive.

"These two thieves seem to be trying to get their lives rather than money, they are coming for me, maybe there are also comrades, we should pay more attention in the future." Zhao Dangshi frowned and said, "Go back to the building first, and wait for the government to come." I can't sleep tonight if I want to. ”

Not long after, after hearing the news, several Huaining County middle catchers came quickly. Zhao Dangshi personally made a record, and the boss was unhappy when he was catching fast late at night, and he was trying to squeeze some silver under the name of a project, but after learning Zhao Dangshi's identity, he was so frightened that he couldn't stop calling "Zhao Ye", and the transcript was also hasty, patting his chest to ensure that the future would not disturb Zhao Dangshi for half a minute. Even so, when the catchers dragged the corpse away, it was half dawn.

Su Gaozhao and his two companions galloped to the inn, and were shocked when they learned of this, and said with their hands folded: "Contemptible people often pass by Huaining, and they don't want the people here to be so evil. Lord Zhao has his own natural appearance, and he can spare a catastrophe, good, good. ”

Zhao Dangshi had no intention of discussing with him in depth, and squeezed out some laughter and a few words to deal with the matter. He was just worried that if there was another turmoil in the future, Hua Qing would also be involved, so he found an opportunity to pull Hua Qing aside and said, "Ah Qing, I frightened you last night, but I didn't think it through. The road ahead is dangerous and unpredictable, so it is better to let Lao Zhou escort you back to Xiangyang first. Zhou Wenhe had a deep wound, Hua Qing was busy all night, and it was difficult to hide the tiredness on her beautiful face, Zhao Dangshi took her out with the intention of sharing the pleasure of the journey, but the fatigue of traveling along the way made her suffer a lot, so she naturally didn't want to go, and she was extremely distressed.

But Huaqing didn't wait for him to finish speaking, he immediately shook his head and said firmly: "Zhao Lang, you follow you, even if there are thousands of difficulties and dangers, as long as I have you by my side, I will not be afraid." After that, he suddenly threw himself into Zhao Dangshi's arms.

Zhao Dangshi's heart was hot, and he was speechless.

Zhou Wenhe had a broken little finger on his left hand and the wound had not healed, and although he could ride a horse, it was difficult to gallop. Zhao Dangshi wanted him to return to Xiangyang, but he refused to die, and he had the strength to jump into the river to find death and life. Huaqing comforted Zhao Dangshi and said: "Listen to Su Dangshi's words, go back to Zhenjiang, take the waterway, during this period, there is no need to ride a horse, and Lao Zhou can also recover." ”

Zhao Dangshi felt justified, so he dispelled the idea of sending Zhou Wenhe back, and Zhou Wenhe jumped happily, almost like a child. also had more respect for Huaqing, and even changed the name to "master mother", and was reprimanded by Zhao Dangshi for two sentences before turning back to "county lord". Hua Qing heard him say this, although his face was red and shy, but the fatigue of the night was magically swept away.

Because of Zhao Dangshi's accident, Su Gaozhao felt that Huaining was ominous and arranged to leave the ship in advance. Several sand boats in the trading house are more than one size larger than the boats and barges in front of them, and they are as stable as flat on the river. Zhao Dangshi had a boat, Su Gaozhao and his two companions were a boat, and all the horses were in a boat.

Looking at the wide deck of the sand boat, Deng Longye said: "If it weren't for the change of scenery on both sides of the strait, sitting on this boat, it would not have been off the shore." The Zheng family's ship is really extraordinary. He is a reckless and straightforward man from the northwest, even though he has seen ships and walked waterways in Guanzhong, Sichuan, and Huguang, but he has never seen large ships on the rivers and seas, and he can't help but sigh in surprise.

Zhao Dangshi said with a smile: "That's not it, the Zheng family dominates the sea, not by war horses, but by this mast sail." This sand ship is nothing, I heard that the fortune ships and big bird ships used for war cargo transportation under his command are as high as buildings and as wide as courtyards. ”

Zhou Wenhe suddenly asked: "Lord, when I was still in Sichuan, Zhao Hudao, Li Pichao and Pang Xingong left with that Guangdong ghost, what happened now?" ”

During the period when Zhao Ying was stationed in Yankou Town, Zhao Dangshi happened to meet Du Chunchen, a native of Panyu who came to Sichuan and Yunnan to do business, and then set up a new city envoy to go to Liangguang for development. Compared with other divisions, the city envoy department had fewer opportunities to show up because he was in the field, and some of the generals who later joined the Zhao battalion did not even know the existence of this organization. Pang Xingong, the deputy envoy of the city, is the younger brother of Pang Jinming, the commander of the secret service department, and Pang Jinming has a good relationship with Zhou Wenhe, and often mentions his younger brother's affairs.

Zhao Dangshi said: "Tiger Dao, the three of them have sent letters several times. Although they have Du Chunchen's help, they are still in their infancy, and it is difficult to talk about what scale. A recent letter said the trio had separated and each expanded its opportunities. Tiger Dao stayed in the trench and relied on Du Chunchen's recommendation, and continued to deal with the Franc Machine; Li Pichao went to Taiwan's Bengang, Longgang and Fujian Zhongzuo Institute to contact the red-haired ghosts; There is also Xin Gong, he repaired my book a month ago, saying that he had gone north to the islands around Dinghai and Ningbo, waiting for an opportunity to go to the Japanese country. I also sent someone to reply to him, asking him to meet me in Hangzhou first, and when we arrived in Hangzhou, we should be able to meet him. ”

Deng Longye sighed: "These three guys are all over the world, but they are happy and happy. ”

Zhao Dangshi shook his head and said, "No, the three of them are outside, and they have suffered a lot." No matter how difficult it is for me Zhao Yingchuan and Chubei, I can still go hand in hand, and the three of them are hanging alone, they are really floating in the water, and they have nothing to rely on. Tiger Knife once hit the shoulder blade with a sharp gun to an unknown person in the trench area; Pi Chao's martial arts are outstanding, and his left palm also cut off three fingers for Haikou; Xin Gong also contracted smallpox on the way, and after several months of recuperation, he narrowly escaped. What they have experienced in the more than a year since they left Zhao Ying is really something for me to sit and figure out. ”

When Deng Longye heard this, he instantly put away his impetuous posture and said solemnly: "I see." "Turning around," When I see Xingong, I, as an elder brother, have to comfort him." A serious and honest look made everyone laugh, and gradually diluted the unhappiness caused by the turmoil last night.

The Yangtze River is thousands of miles, and the smoke and fresh water are wide. With the strength of the wind, from Xiuning to Fanchang, I thought that the one-day journey would be half a day. Su Gaozhao urged the boatman to continue to raise the sails and rock, and it was already dusk. Staying overnight, Zhou Wenhe, Deng Longye and Man Ning waited for the day, sat on the horizontal knife, and never blinked their eyelids, but fortunately, the night was calm. The next day, the road was smooth, the boat passed through Quarry Town, Cimu Rock, Liezhou, Sanshan Rock, and stayed overnight in Meilinggang, a suburb of Yingtianfu, Nanjing, which was also safe. After two nights, Zhao Dangshi's tense hearts began to relax a little.

Su Gaozhao was going to do business in Yingtianfu for three days, and Zhao Dangshi and others also postponed their pace and took this opportunity to tour around. The former capital of the six dynasties in Nanjing, the Mengyuan Dynasty was Jiqing Road, and was renamed Yingtianfu after being captured by Zhu Yuanzhang, the Taizu of the Ming Dynasty. The founding of the Ming Dynasty was supposed to be the capital here, but after the Jing Dynasty, the capital was moved to Beijing, and Nanjing was still called "Beijing", retaining the central official system consistent with Beijing, governing the southern direct subordination, and maintaining strong control over the southeast wealth. So, in general, Beijing was more of a political and economic center in the Ming Dynasty, while Nanjing was a real economic center. To a certain extent, the "two Beijing system" can solve the centrifugal problem of the Ming army, government and finance, that is, Qiu Jun, a scholar of Wuyingdian University in the Hongzhi period, said, "Use the wealth of the southeast to unify the northwest and the horses, and be invincible in the world."

The capital of Nanjing, Yingtianfu, has eight counties under its jurisdiction, of which Shangyuan County and Jiangning County are governed by the same county, which is the main body of Yingtianfu City. Zhao Dangshi and his entourage got up in the morning to step on the fog, passed through Yuhuatai, and separated from Su Gaozhao in Bao'en Temple outside the Jubaomen in the south of the city. Su Gao rode three times to the Dongjiang Bridge outside the northwest city, and Zhao Dangshi entered the temple with Huaqing and Zhou Wenhe to pray.

Maybe it was in Huaining that the fright did not retreat, Huaqing burned incense and prayed very sincerely in the temple, but she didn't want to say much about the content of Zhao Dangshi's inquiry, only said that the heavenly opportunity could not be leaked, and it was very naughty.

Leave the temple to the city and see the city wall. The Ming Dynasty strictly restricted the scale of construction of city walls at all levels in Fuzhou and counties, and in the hands of Zhu Yuanzhang, the scale of the city walls of Yingtianfu was second to none. Its walls are divided into four layers, from the outside to the inside, they are the outer Guo, the inner city, the imperial city and the palace city. Most of the outer Guo rammed earth, with a circumference of 1,734 zhang and 2 feet, when the indigenous people who guided reported this number to Zhao Dangshi and his party, Zhao Dangshi and Huaqing were shocked. Looking at Zhou Wenhe, Deng Longye and Man Ning, they were all stunned, they had no concept of numbers, and it was reasonable to hear the unit of "10,000" beyond imagination.

"Obediently, a 10,000-foot long wall costs how many loads of soil and bricks." Deng Longye looked up at the towering city wall intently, and sighed.

Zhao Dangshi said with a smile: "Taizu built the city wall, the original meaning is 'people are exhausted, the land is in danger, and heaven is made', the outer Guo is in Guangzhou, the inner city is in Jian, the imperial city is in Jing, and the palace city is in China, each has its own merits." ”

Deng Longye stuck out his tongue and couldn't speak, and Man Ning next to him shook his head around, and could only mutter: "Labor hurts money, labor hurts money, labor hurts money......"

Hua Qing added: "There are more people who say that this should be the city wall of Tianfu secretly coincides with the number of days, according to the Ziwei Yuan, Taiwei Yuan, Tianshi Wall and the Twenty-eight Suzhou Rules Inner and Outer Cities, and the Nandou and Beidou Gui Palace Cities." ”

Deng Longye exhaled and said: "It's mysterious, my old Deng only needs to find a broken wall and tiles and sleep soundly with the sky as the bed and the ground as the bed, where do you want to get these doorways." ”

Man Ning also said: "It doesn't matter what number of days he fits, if he is really blessed by the blessed stars, how can the world be chaotic like it is now." ”

Hua Qing heard this and was silent. Zhao Dangshi immediately said: "No." Those who have attained the Tao will be blessed by heaven, respect heaven and earth, and benefit all people, and God will bless all generations. But if you go against the sky, the yang will be contrary to the yin, and the heart will not be good, and the sky will destroy it. ”

Deng Longye and Man Ning actually didn't understand it, but they felt that they were listening to the mystery, so they were still happily boasting that "the lord's words are reasonable", and "what the lord said is very "cloudy".