When Wang Qiang was at ease in Suzhou, the situation in Daming was in turmoil. There were hunger riots one after another in various places, and the officials and troops surrounded and suppressed everywhere, overwhelmed like firefighting teams, making the court anxious; Immediately afterwards, on the front line of suppressing bandits in the northwest, Shang Dayong, the deputy general who was responsible for guarding the Majiayu fortress on the south side of Shangluo Mountain, led more than 4,000 officers and soldiers under his command to mutinier because of poor food and salary, and washed the neighboring Tongcheng with blood and killed the garrison of Tongcheng. Li Zicheng, who had been besieged by the officials and troops for half a year, took advantage of the gap caused by the chaos of the front-line officers and troops to jump out of the encirclement in one fell swoop and into Henan! The iron bucket array that took the imperial court to build for a year collapsed in an instant, and the efforts of the Western Front to suppress bandits were wasted!

The military situation on the front line was urgent, Chongzhen was furious and issued an order to strictly order the provinces to levy and suppress salaries to support the northwest front, and at the same time, 800 li urgently sent an order to Wang Qiang, asking him to quickly send grain into Beijing, there must be no mistake!

Because of the urgency of the emperor's holy decree, Wang Qiang did not dare to slack off, early the next morning, Wang Qiang and Tian Jingming escorted the grain and grass on the road, accompanied by the people they brought, Zhang Xiaodong also sent 500 elite soldiers to follow the canal to escort the grain and grass. Due to Zhang Xiaodong's strong support, during this time, Tian Jingming raised a total of 80,000 quintals of military rations, which exceeded the amount of 60,000 quintals required by the household department, which was very satisfying. And Wang Qiang's trip will be even more complete! The gifts he received along the way were piled up in a room, and because he was in a hurry, he didn't have time to deal with them, so he only took the silver tickets and some valuable treasures with him, and handed over the rest to Zhang Xiaodong for safekeeping. After the fleet set off, Wang Qiang hid in his warehouse and carefully counted the belongings around him, there were more than 200,000 taels of silver tickets alone, and some treasures such as golden Buddhas, jade carvings, and pearls were also worth a lot of money. Wang Qiang counted the pile of silver tickets a few times, his eyes lit up with excitement, his hands danced, and he couldn't help lying on the ground of the cabin and rolling a few times, he really wanted to rush out and shout: "Lao Tzu is rich!" ”

Wang Qiang caught a glimpse of a black leather box placed at the head of the bed, and remembered that this box was carried by Zhang Xiaoping when he gave it to him this morning, and he didn't know what kind of treasure it was. He dragged the box over, sat cross-legged on the ground, pressed the tension spring to open the box, and saw that the box was divided into several squares, he opened the packaging in the box one by one, a gilded base of the self-striking clock, this thing is also the mechanical clock of modern society, but in the late Ming Dynasty it was a rare thing, which could only be imported from the West; There is also a monocular, which is also a foreign product; Wang Qiang opened the third grid, and inside was a musket, with a dark barrel, the handle of the gun was inlaid with various colored gemstones, and it was heavy in his hand, and there were three rows of bullets neatly stacked next to the musket, and the bullets were wrapped in copper skin, which was round and spherical, yellow, orange, and orange. These three things were extremely rare at that time, far more valuable than those ordinary jewelry, presumably obtained by Zhang Xiaoping when he went to trade overseas.

The grain ship team traveled north along the canal, in addition to replenishing supplies and docking for a short time along the way, they were all traveling day and night, because this batch of grain was very important, Chongzhen had strictly ordered the prefectures along the way to send troops to escort to ensure food security, so the fleet had the local government to send troops to escort along the coast every place where the fleet went. After walking on the canal for more than ten days, at noon on this day, the grain ship arrived at Yanzhou Wharf. Due to the drought and dry water, the water of the canal from Yanzhou to Beijing was too shallow for boats, so it was necessary to land in Yanzhou Mansion and load the grain into horse-drawn carriages for transportation.

Wang Qiang stood at the bow of the ship, and saw hundreds of carriages gathered in the empty field in the center of the wharf from a distance, and the surrounding area was the officers and soldiers on the alert, three steps, one post, five steps and one sentry on guard.

Cui Ming, the political envoy of Shandong, and Yang Lichang, the prefect of Yanzhou, took officials from Shandong's neighboring state capitals to greet Wang Qiang on the dock.

Yang Lichang, the prefect of Yanzhou, said diligently: "Lord Qincha has been tired all the way, please go to the government office to rest first, it will take a day to unload the grain and load the truck, and then set off tomorrow morning." ”

Wang Qiang glanced around and said, "It's easy to say, it's just that this batch of grain is important, and there must be no mistakes, and I hope that adults will pay attention to safety." Wang Qiang has been on patrol for nearly two months, and he has been edified between the arrivals, and his speech and demeanor have unconsciously brought some officialness.

Cui Ming, the political envoy, said: "Lord Wang, rest assured, the emperor has ordered us to cooperate with the adults and escort the grain into Beijing along the way, we have a thousand officers and soldiers stationed here, and everything is wrapped up in this official. ”

Wang Qiang saw that Zhang Yu, the commander of the Jinyi Guard, was also in the crowd, but he was an old acquaintance in Beijing, so he greeted: "Brother Zhang Yu, why are you here too?" ”

Zhang Yu stepped forward and said with a smile: "I was ordered by Lord Fan Hu Fan to bring a hundred guards to greet my lord. ”

"Oh, this Lao Pan is too polite, I'm just an official position with a sesame mung bean, and I bother so many brothers." Wang Qiang said.

"That's not the case, before I came, Lord Fan said that it was the emperor's will to protect the safety of Lord Wang, and he asked me to ensure that my lord arrived in the capital unharmed." Zhang Yu replied.

Yang Lichang said flatteringly: "Lord Wang, young talent, this time the grain raising went smoothly, it is the first achievement, the adults passed by Yanzhou on the last return and found out a mess of the party by the way, saving me a disaster in Yanzhou Mansion, this is another merit, is the emperor's favor also reasonable!" ”

"Huh? Mess with the party! Wang Qiang asked in a little surprise.

"Lord Qiyu, is that the case------ said one of the guards behind Zhang Yu, Wang Qiang recognized this person as the one he left behind to inquire about the news when he left Yanzhou. It turned out that this guard was ordered by Wang Qiang to stay, and soon found out that a group of people were plotting to plan a starving riot, because Wang Qiang could not be found, so he had to use Jinyiwei's intelligence agency in Yanzhou to report to Beijing, Jinyiwei's deputy commander Fan Hu received a report, thinking that the matter was serious, and reported to Emperor Chongzhen on the one hand, while sending Zhang Yu to lead a hundred Jinyi guards to Yanzhou to deal with the camera, and at the same time ordered Zhang Yu to stay in Yanzhou and take Wang Qiang back to Beijing. Zhang Yu led his troops to Yanzhou, and according to the guidance of the guards, he arrested the young scholar and imprisoned him in the Yanzhou Mansion Prison, but the credit went to Wang Qiang.

Wang Qiang didn't like it when he heard it, he didn't want to be an enemy of the peasant rebels, and secretly complained that this guard was troublesome. Then Yang Lichang said jokingly next to him: "Xia Guan and others interrogated a key criminal, and it has now been ascertained that this group of people is the remnants of the thieves, led by Li Yan, they secretly conspired to incite the hungry people to riot, if it wasn't for the adults who saw the opportunity early, General Zhang Yu dealt with it in time, and almost caused a riot." ”

Wang Qiang has listened to Li Zicheng's commentary, and knows that this Li Yan is an important adviser under King Li Chuang, and Li Yan and the Red Lady also have a good story of heroes and beauties. Now that I heard that the arrested person was called Li Yan, I couldn't help but be secretly shocked, this time I offended Li Zicheng to the home, once this Li Zicheng entered Beijing, this account must be calculated, how can this be good! Wang Qiang thought wildly, and his face sank unconsciously.

Yang Lichang didn't know what to do, and he was still chattering and saying: "The lower officials have prepared a banquet in the mansion, firstly, to catch the wind and wash the dust for the adults, and secondly, to repay the kindness of the adults to quell the chaos." ”

Wang Qiang already had no good impression of Yang Lichang, but now he was even more disgusted, he stared at Yang Lichang's horse face and said unhappily: "This official is the emperor's life, I don't dare to be careless, besides, this Yanzhou Mansion is full of hungry people, and I really don't have the mood to drink and feast, I think it's better to forget it." ”

"This, yes, yes, yes." Yang Lichang patted his horse's feet on the horse's feet, embarrassed, and stopped talking. Cui Ming and other officials were also secretly unhappy when they saw Wang Qiang holding on to him like this, and everyone sent Wang Qiang back to the pavilion to rest.

Wang Qiang went back to the room alone, his mind was still thinking about Li Yan, he was restless, he couldn't eat lunch, thinking about it, he decided to go to the prison to visit Li Yan and act at the opportunity.

In the afternoon of the same day, Wang Qiang came to the prison in the west of the city. Accompanied by the cell boss, Wang Qiang walked down a dark corridor lined with cells on either side, each of which housed five to seven prisoners, all of whom were ragged and thin, many with blood and whip marks, told Wang Qiang that these were starving people who had participated in the rebellion and who had taken the lead in resisting taxes.

The innermost row of the cells is a cell for felons, with an iron door in the middle, guarded by a special sergeant. Inside the iron door, there were more than a dozen cells, but all of them were single rooms. Wang Qiang was surprised to find that the prisoner in the outermost cell was actually wearing a seven-grade official uniform, so he asked, "What's the matter with this?" If you have committed a crime, why are you still wearing official uniforms? ”

The cell head sighed and whispered: "These are the county orders of several counties under the jurisdiction of Yanzhou Government, and they were ordered to be locked up by Lord Zhang because of the unfavorable collection of salaries, and because the decree of dismissal has not arrived, they are still wearing official uniforms. Wang Qiang knew that Emperor Chongzhen ordered additional collection of salaries from all over the country, because the collection of salaries was not effective, and more than a dozen government officials had already been picked.

Wang Qiang ordered the cell boss to open a cell and walk in. The prisoner was in his forties, with a round face, leaning in a corner, his hands folded, his eyes looking at the roof, his robe stained with mud. Wang Qiang sat down on the chair brought by the cell head, and asked with a smile, "What do you call my brother?" ”

"Zhang Hao in Xiadingshan County, who are you?" Zhang Hao said casually.

"Under Wang Qiang."

"Oh, it turned out that Lord Qincha came, and the prisoner was shackled, so I won't salute you!" Zhang Hao said in a light tone.

Wang Qiang saw that Zhang Hao didn't even have a rope on his body, let alone any shackles and shackles, and he didn't mind, so he raised Erlang's legs and smiled: "I don't like those false courtesies either, let's talk about it, you are a good Qipin county order, why did you become a criminal official?" ”

"If you can't get paid, you will naturally have to be removed from your post and investigated, and there is nothing to say. Lord Qincha is coming, presumably by the holy order to take off our crowns, or not, we have no official and are light, and we are at ease. ”

"I'm just ordered to escort the military rations, and I'm not next to you to investigate, and I'm just trying to figure out the rights and wrongs of this, and in the future, the Golden Palace will face the saints, and maybe I can help a few people to hug their grievances."

Listening to Wang Qiang's explanation, Zhang Hao couldn't help but sigh and said: "Last year, there was a great drought in Shandong, the autumn grain harvest was almost gone, and the peasants had no overnight grain. As the saying goes: starve to death dad and mother, don't eat seed grain, but now there is no seed grain left, now it has come to the spring sowing season, there is no seed to the ground, it is another famine year, the court also has to levy wages, is it not to starve to death the people of Shandong Tong Province! ”

Wang Qiang once visited Yanzhou privately, knowing that what Zhang Hao said was true, he nodded and said: "Since this is the case, then you should report to the court according to the truth, the emperor loves the people like a son, and naturally there will be a will." ”

"Our officials are lowly and small, and such small words are difficult to hear, Yang Lichang naturally does not dare to disobey the will of the imperial court in order to protect the black yarn, and only oppresses us to strangle the people, and does not care about the life and death of the people.

Wang Qiang also felt helpless when he heard this, stood up and said: "It's still the same sentence, I'm just a passing Qincha, and I have no right to let you go, but when he sees the emperor one day, I will tell the truth and believe that the emperor has his own holy judgment, so I will leave." ”

Zhang Hao saw that Wang Qiang was talking truthfully, and he had a good impression, so he hurriedly got up and hugged his fists to send him off.

Further inside, there were the cells where the "remnants of the thieves" were being held, all of whom were ragged, scarred, and wearing heavy shackles, apparently tortured. The young man Li Yan was locked in the innermost cell, but he was neatly dressed and only his feet were shackled, because he was a key criminal in the imperial court, but he was not punished.

Wang Qiang looked at Li Yan through the fence, and saw that he was immersed in reading, with a calm and calm demeanor, admired in his heart, and didn't know what to say for a while.

Li Yan sensed that someone was coming, raised his head and put down the book, arched his hand through the prison door, and asked politely: "Dare to ask this son's name?" What do you want to learn here? ”

Wang Qiang bowed his hand and said, "Under Wang Qiang, come to visit Li Gongzi." ”

"What? You're the dog eunuch! It was a black-faced man in the cell next to Li Yan who spoke, and I saw him rushing to the door, shaking the iron fence with both hands, glaring at Wang Qiang with a hideous face, and scolding: "You eunuch, it's your eunuch who spoiled our son's big thing."

Wang Qiang was shocked by the black-faced man, took two steps back, stabilized his mind, but said to the cell leader: "You step aside, I have something to ask this prisoner." ”

After the cell boss retreated, Wang Qiang said to Li Yan: "Li Gongzi, no matter what you think, today's matter is definitely not the original intention, please don't misunderstand." ”

"Fart, don't want to deceive my son-in-law with clever words, if you want to kill or scrape, although you have a good time, otherwise a certain family will have a bright day, and you will be cut by a thousand knives!" The black-faced man scolded again.

Li Yan raised his hand to stop the black-faced man, and said politely: "Now that you are an official and I am a bandit, we are inseparable." If you just come to see me, then Li is here to thank you, if you want to come to listen to the tone and persuade Li, then don't open your mouth, don't bother talking. ”

"Don't misunderstand, Wang Qiang didn't have any other intentions here, he just admired Gongzi's talent, and wanted to ask for advice in person, anyway, tomorrow Gongzi will return to the capital with my grain team, and it's not too late to ask Gongzi for advice on the way, Wang will leave!"

"In the shackles, I will not be far away!" Li Yan said lightly.

Wang Qiang returned to the post house in a huff, but saw that the sedan chair in front of the hall had already lined up, and when he inquired, he found out that it was actually officials from various state capitals who came to visit him. Wang Qiang was depressed, but he couldn't refute everyone's face, so he had to fight his spirits to meet him in waves, and he was busy until the time of the lamp. Wang Qiang had a simple dinner, tired from a day, just wanted to rest in bed, and his entourage came to report, saying that there was a rich local businessman who asked to see him, and Wang Qiang saw that the gift list given by the man was very rich, so he instructed his entourage to invite the future into the living room.

After a while, the entourage took the two to the living room, led by a middle-aged man, with a square face and big ears, a burly figure, and a small servant following behind, with a green coat and a small hat, a fair face, delicate skin, and a wooden box in both hands. Wang Qiang vaguely felt that the two were a little familiar, but he couldn't remember where they had met.

The man clasped his fists and saluted and said, "In Xia Cui Fenglin, I have seen Lord Qincha. ”

"Boss Cui is polite, please sit down and watch the tea." Wang Qiang waved his hand casually, and then yawned exaggeratedly.

"Master Xie." Cui Fenglin sat in the guest seat, and the little guy stood beside the man.

The entourage knew that Dafan came to visit at this time as gifts, and after serving tea to the guests, he left the room and closed the door.

Cui Fenglin said respectfully: "Lord Wang has worked hard all the way, and he has prepared a little courtesy, and I hope that my lord will accept it with a smile." He nodded at the little guy.

The little guy came to Wang Qiang with a wooden box, and when the little guy walked sideways, Wang Qiang's heart was booming, and he remembered the identity of the person who came, the little guy turned out to be the green-shirted woman who appeared in Li Yan's room that day, although Wang Qiang had never seen this woman's face, but he was very impressed by her graceful posture of walking sideways, and then pay attention to the man, who was the person who reported to Li Yan that day.

Wang Qiang said secretly: Bad things! Before he could react, the woman had already quickly reached out to cover Wang Qiang's mouth, and then her throat was cold, and a sharp dagger was already pressed against his neck. The woman whispered in Wang Qiang's ear: "Thief! If you dare to shout, this girl will cut off your dog's head! ”

Wang Qiang was so frightened that he closed his eyes, shrunk his head and didn't dare to move a little, and whispered: "Don't, don't, I don't shout, don't shout." ”

Cui Fenglin also came to Wang Qiang's side, stared at Wang Qiang and said viciously: "Count you interesting, if you want to live, you quickly ordered to release my Zhao Gongzi and my brothers." ”

Wang Qiang listened to Cui Fenglin's words and seemed to have room to turn around, his heart was a little calm, he opened his eyes, smiled bitterly, and said self-deprecatingly: "The two of you look down on me too much, I am just a little eunuch who serves in front of the emperor, I have no position and no power, you Zhao Gongzi is a prisoner of the imperial court, do you think that these officials in Yanzhou Mansion can listen to me and let me go!" ”

"Nonsense! Those officials are clearly currying favor with you, it's a big deal that we will take you out, replace my son-in-law and come back, and see them take care of you. The woman said.

"Shh Wang Qiang said in a mocking tone: "I said girl, can you use your brains, are they currying favor with me?" They were aiming for the emperor. As soon as you think about it, you will understand that you are escorting me out to change Li Gongzi, if Yang Lichang and they agree, Li Gongzi will live, and I will live, but they will have to lose their heads. If they don't agree, I'll die, Li Gongzi won't be able to live, and they won't even lose a single dick hair. This kind of stupid thing changed you, why did you do it? ”

Wang Qiang's words were vulgar and sinister, and the woman was annoyed and angry when she heard it, and the dagger in her hand tightened and said: "Dog thief, this girl will take your dog's head, it's a big deal to exchange one life for another!" ”

Wang Qiang knew that the two of them had something to ask for, but he had a bottom in his heart, and his mouth was also sharp, he looked at the woman's handsome face and said in a slightly flirtatious tone: "Hey, I said girl, you just talk with your brain, right?" Can we compare with Li Gongzi? You say that I am a dog's head, but you really lift me up, in the palace, our eunuchs are not even as good as dogs, you are not scolding me, you are scolding Li Yan and Li Gongzi! What kind of person is Li Gongzi, that is Zhang Liang's reincarnation, Zhuge was reborn, Li Chuang was the first adviser before King Li Chuang, sooner or later he was going to be a marquis and worship the prime minister, you take my rotten life and exchange it for someone Li Gongzi, your brain is burned out! ”

"You!" The woman was surrounded by Wang Qiang's words, and she didn't know how to refute it for a while, and her face was red with embarrassment.

Cui Fenglin was also fooled by Wang Qiang, but he felt that his brain was not enough, and he didn't turn a corner for a long time.

Wang Qiang struck while the iron was hot and continued: "Besides, if you really kill me, then Li Gongzi will really be hopeless." ”

"You mean that Li Gongzi is still saved, right?" The woman grabbed Wang Qiang's shoulder, her concern was overflowing, and in a hurry, her small hat fell to the ground, and her long black hair fell down, revealing a woman's appearance. Wang Qiang looked at the woman's expression, and guessed that this woman was Li Yan's friend, maybe it was the one called the red lady, and she was really a first-class beauty, he stared at the woman's face, smelled the woman's body fragrance, and couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.

"Little thief, tell me quickly, how can I save my son-in-law!"

"Don't let the thief scream so ugly, you take the dagger away, I can't breathe, and I won't tell you if I have a good idea." Wang Qiang was a little proud and began to pick it up.

The woman let go of the dagger according to her words, but still pointed at Wang Qiang's throat, and said, "If there is really a way, say it quickly, don't think about any tricks!" ”

"I haven't thought of the specific method yet, but I have to escort the grain and grass to the capital tomorrow, and then I will escort Li Yan and others on the road by the way, I don't count what I said in Yanzhou Mansion, but out of the city, this grain team is my master, and I will naturally find a way to help Li Yan get out when the time comes." Wang Qiang said.

The woman frowned slightly and thought for a while, and said uneasily: "This is a method, but what if you regret it tomorrow?" ”

"This is easy to do, from now on you will follow me inch by my side, if I regret it, with the skills of a girl, I can take my life in a moment, although our lives are cheap, but I don't want to die like this at a young age. ”

"That's right, we'll follow him, don't be afraid of him running away!" Cui Fenglin said.

"Huh! There's nothing to do with you here, I'm talking about this girl, you can't stay here. Wang Qiang said.

"Why not?"

"Why! I said do you also use your brains, you came to visit me, you haven't gone out for so long, those brocade guards at my door noticed something abnormal, and they must come in to check, this method will not work. But does this little girl want to stay, hehe, but it's normal, at most let me carry a merry black cauldron, hehehe. Wang Qiang laughed evilly after speaking.

"You—but you're a eunuch!" Cui Fenglin said.

"What's wrong with the eunuch? Are eunuchs also human! Besides, if I wasn't a eunuch, would you be able to rest assured that you would leave this little lady by my side? Wang Qiang said impatiently: "If you want to save Li Gongzi, this is the only way, if you can't do it, Lord Ben still wants to rest early." ”

Cui Fenglin still wanted to argue, but the woman on the side interjected and said: "Brother Cui, just as he said, I will stay, and you will be ready to receive Li Gongzi outside, don't worry, I will deal with this little eunuch." ”

Cui Fenglin was ruthless, waved his fist at Wang Qiang and said, "You listen to me, if the red girl is missing a hair, I will take your head!" ”

"Okay, don't worry, I guarantee that the red girl is a dick, this and this -----" Wang Qiang said that he leaked his mouth, quickly stopped, and reached out to pump his own small mouth. He sat upright, coughed loudly, and shouted outside the door, "Send off!" ”

The red girl hurriedly stood beside Wang Qiang, and Cui Fenglin also changed a flattering smile and said, "Thank you Lord Wang for your success, my little guy will stay by the adult's side to serve, and Cui will leave." ”

"Well said, well said." Wang Qiang snorted, grabbed the red girl's jade hand, rubbed his hands and said: "Brother Tai, don't worry, the girl can't stand the grievances with me, and I promise to return the full beard and full shadow to you in half a day." After speaking, he kissed the red girl's palm. He was scared half to death by this woman just now, and now he naturally took the opportunity to bargain for some bargains.

The red girl didn't dare to attack in front of her entourage, she pretended to smile on her face, but she hated this thief to death in her heart.

After sending Cui Fenglin away, Wang Qiang got up and stretched, yawned long, and said, "Red girl, it's not early, we should go to bed, right?" ”

"Little thief, whoever wants to sleep with you, and say such frivolous words, be careful that I cut your tongue." The Red Girl said viciously.

"Do you like to sleep or not, anyway, I have to sleep, Master Ben has to recuperate, and tomorrow I will find a way to save your handsome guy Li Gongzi." After speaking, she walked into the bedroom in all directions, and the red girl was blushing when she was talked, and quickly caught up with Wang Qiang and followed the bedroom.