In August of the tenth year of Chongzhen (1637 AD), Gao Junshan led the second brigade out of Tongbai Mountain, and the generals who followed Gao Junshan to go on the expedition were Cao Wenzhao, Bai Wenxuan, Sun Kewang, Zhou Shichen, Li Hu, and the strategist Liu Hongru.

Zhou Shichen was a disciple of Chongwen, and the 3,000 men and horses of his "Zhou Shichen Camp" were also brought down the mountain. Sun Kewang and Li Hu are Gao Junshan's personal followers.

More than 20,000 people crossed the hairpin mountain and arrived at a place called Lutoudian, Gao Junshan ordered the troops to camp on the spot, and sent Zhou Shichen and Li Hu to take a few brothers to Zaoyang to find out the situation first.

Zhou Shichen and Li Hu each brought two brothers, and after some dressing, the six of them set off for Zaoyang.

In the early morning of summer, people get up relatively early, the genius is bright, there are woodcutters carrying firewood, hunters carrying pheasants and hares, vegetable farmers pushing carts and so on at the city gate, after the sound of opening the city gate, a group of soldiers opened the city gate, and the city guard stood majestically in the city gate, announcing the opening of the city.

The routine of entering the city is to be checked, those who have money have to pay the door tax, and those who have no money will be offset by things, in short, the wind has left traces, geese have plucked their feathers, and if you want to enter the city to do business, you always have to have some blood.

As the sun rises, there are more and more people entering the city, in the flow of people into the city, there is a southerner, dressed as a businessman, under a small follower of less than twenty, these two people are Zhou Shichen and Li Hu, behind them, four strong laborers, pushing two wheelbarrows, the car is loaded with Jiangnan embroidery, tea.

"Haha! Here comes a big fish. The gatekeeper saw Zhou Shichen from a distance and said excitedly to the soldiers beside him, "Cheer up, keep an eye on this stranger for me!" ”

"Stop!" A thin monkey blocked Zhou Shichen's way.

The city gate official stared at the things on the cart and asked Zhou Shichen, "Where did you come from?" ”

"Yixing, Jiangsu." Zhou Shichen replied.

Zhou Shichen was originally a native of Yixing, Jiangsu.

The city gate official said: "It seems that you are a businessman, you should know the rules of entering the city?" ”

Zhou Shichen took out thirty taels of silver and put it in the hands of the city gate official, and the city gate official smiled all the way: "Please ——, wish you a fortune all the way!" ”

Zhou Shichen raised his head and paced slowly into the city, followed by Li Hu and four carts.

After entering the city, several people symbolically walked around the street, they were originally very familiar with this place, so they went to "Dongyang Restaurant".

Dongyang Restaurant is now Gao Junshan's contact point, and the new boss is a member of Feng Shuangli's detective team, surnamed Zhao, who is very clever.

When Zhou Shichen and his entourage entered the restaurant, they came to greet them enthusiastically: "Guest officer, how many are you?" ”

"Six." Zhou Shichen took the opportunity to glance at the situation in the restaurant, and three of the seven tables were empty.

The runner shouted in the direction of the counter: "Here, please come in the six!" ”

Zhou Shichen and his entourage, under the guidance of the running hall, came to an empty table, and the running hall asked, "Guest officer, what do you drink?" ”

Zhou Shichen said: "There are a lot of us, it's inconvenient to sit here and talk, can you give a private room, I won't lose a tattoo of money, and by the way, give me a pot of high-fragrant tea." ”

The runner shouted to the counter: "Okay! Six distinguished guests upstairs, please, stuffy a pot of fragrant tea! ”

After finishing speaking, he led Zhou Shichen and the six people to the second floor and brought them into a private room.

After the six of them sat down, Zhou Shichen asked, "Do you have any fresh fish here?" ”

Runtang said: "Yes, there are carp." ”

"Is it fresh?" Zhou Shichen asked uneasily.

ran the hall and said: "The big carp jumping around, one or two dollars and one tail." ”

Zhou Shichen asked: "One or two dollars, how big is this?" ”

Runtang replied: "It's all over a pound." ”

Zhou Shichen asked: "Is there any bigger one?" I want a tail of two or four dollars. ”

I want one or two or four dollars and a tail, this sentence is the contact code, and when I heard it, I hurriedly said: "Yes, yes!" I'm going to prepare it for you, the guest officer. ”

After running the hall, he went to the basement. After a while, a person who looked like a boss came up to see Zhou Shichen and them.

This boss is Lao Zhao, who Feng Shuangli arranged to be in charge of finding out the news here.

Lao Zhao is also a warm-hearted person, as soon as he came up, he said: "My surname is Zhao, you call me Lao Zhao, if you have any orders, just say, don't be polite to me." ”

Zhou Shichen took out a letter and handed it to Lao Zhao, who burned the letter after reading it, and then said to Zhou Shichen: "Mr. Zhou, what do you need me to do?" ”

Zhou Shichen said: "The purpose of our coming is to understand the situation of the official army in Zaoyang. ”

Lao Zhao was a little embarrassed, and said: "The transfer of officers and troops here in Zaoyang is very frequent, this general soldier is here, and the general soldier is gone, and it seems to be changing like a horse lamp in the past half a year, no, there was a new team of people yesterday, and I didn't have time to inquire, you came." ”

Zhou Shichen nodded and said, "I know." We'll inquire tomorrow. We're hungry along the way, so let's get something to eat. ”

Lao Zhao said: "Mr. Zhou, please rest assured, we have prepared the meal, I will immediately ask Xiao Er to bring it up, I will say goodbye first, if you have any orders, just say it." ”

They did not go out again after eating that day, so as not to attract the attention of others, and planned to go out to inquire about the situation of the Zaoyang garrison after breakfast the next day.

Early the next morning, a team of officers and soldiers came to Dongyang Restaurant, surrounded Dongyang Restaurant, and a thousand generals knocked on the door of the restaurant with more than 30 soldiers.

"Master Jun, we are a legally operated restaurant, I don't know why Master Jun came to the shop?" After Lao Zhao opened the door, he blocked at the gate and asked this Mr. Qian.

"Don't be verbose, we're going to go in and search!"

Lao Zhao still didn't give up: "Master Jun, this small place is just a restaurant, and there is nothing valuable." ”

Mr. Qian said: "Did you stay with a few outsiders in this restaurant last night?" ”

Lao Zhao explained: "That's my distant cousin, who came here to do business, and didn't do anything illegal. ”

Mr. Qian waved his hand and said arrogantly: "Search for me!" ”

At this time, Zhou Shichen appeared at the top of the stairs: "No need to search, we are here." ”

Mr. Qian said: "Even if you know each other, you will be anxious to come and burn down your restaurant." ”

Zhou Shichen asked: "This military master, what is the important matter for us?" ”

Mr. Qian said viciously: "Come back to the barracks with us!" ”

Lao Zhao hurriedly stopped: "This can't work, they are my guests when they come here, and I won't let him go." ”

"Are you looking for pleasure!?" Mr. Qian drew his sword.

Zhou Shichen walked down the stairs: "This military master, let's go with you, don't embarrass the boss here." ”

Mr. Qian put the saber back into the scabbard: "Then let's go, it's a rambling fart!" ”

……

Zaoyang official army barracks.

Zhou Shichen's six people were taken to a small house in the barracks, and the Qian Zong left, and after a while, a guard came, and as soon as he entered the door, he looked up and down the six in the house, and then shouted fiercely to his subordinates: "Take down these thieves for me!" ”

Dozens of big men rushed up and tied up Zhou Shichen and them.