Ziyang County, Yanzhou Prefecture

Ziyang County, the seat of Yanzhou Prefecture, was the fief of the vassal king Lu Wang Zhu Yipai, and it was also the only place where the capital led to the south of the Yangtze River.

Yanzhou Mansion in Shandong Province was the hardest hit area by the infestation of the Liukou at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and it was not only necessary to face the harassment of the Liukou, but also the invasion of the Jin army crossing the sea after the team.

At that time, the rebellion of Li Qingshan, a liukou in Shandong, had just been pacified, and all industries in Yanzhou were withering, the people were struggling to make a living, and the land was thousands of miles away, which was very different from the richness of the capital.

On the open plain, the cold wind was howling, and a team of thirty horses escorted an oil-walled carriage, and three ox carts carrying heavy loads were moving forward on the official road.

The thirty brocade guards were uniformly dressed in cyan robes, tied their hair at their waists, wore long knives at their waists, carried two long bird guns on their shoulders, and hung two three-eyed god guns on both sides of the saddle.

These brocade guards are all tigers with bears on their backs, with sturdy figures, and the leader is Fang Yuan, who is dressed in a cotton robe.

Fang Yuan led the thirty brocade guards under his command to escort the national abbot Tian Hongyu to Nanjing, Yangzhou, and Suzhou to enter the palace for a generation of beauty pageants, and eight days after departure, he entered the Shandong territory; Half a month later, they arrived in Yanzhou Prefecture.

The group came to the post station eighty miles away from Ziyang City, and the post man stood respectfully in front of the carriage, ready to welcome the arrival of Tian Hongyu, a national relative.

Tian Hongyu stretched out his head from the carriage and said to Fang Yuan, "Fang Zongqi, I want to enter Ziyang County to visit His Royal Highness King Lu, so I won't live in the post station, do you want to go with me?" ”

Tian Hongyu is about forty years old, his face is like a crown of jade, he is dressed in brocade, and his green hair shows his graceful and luxurious literati popularity, and it is no wonder that he can give birth to Tian Guifei, who is deeply favored by Chongzhen.

Since the king of Qi was stripped of his fief and went to the country name due to the battle of Jingjing, Zhu Yipai, the king of Lu, was the only vassal power of the Ming Dynasty in Shandong.

Fang Yuan had an instinctive rejection of these receptions and entertainment before he crossed, and now he can hide and hide, "Master Guo, I will arrange ten brocade guards to escort Master Guo to the county seat, and we will stay in the post house to guard the property." ”

He didn't want to go to the officialdom for entertainment, and Tian Hongyu didn't force it, and it was too ostentatious to bring so much silver with him to meet His Royal Highness King Lu, so he solemnly explained, "I stayed in Ziyang County for three days, and the accompanying silver was strictly guarded by the general flag of labor. ”

Tian Hongyu made this trip to Jiangnan, and he brought five large boxes of silver with him, which needed to be specially pulled by two ox carts, which also greatly affected the speed of travel.

With these five big boxes of silver, Fang Yuan estimated that there were at least 40,000 taels of silver, and the national disaster was at the head, spending the money on buying beautiful women, Fang Yuan was both greedy and helpless, if it was handed over to him to shop on Taobao, at least he could arm a team of 100 people!

He watched Tian Hongyu's carriage and ten brocade guards leave, disappearing at the end of the plain, and then followed the post man into the post house.

Qin Zhan commanded the ox cart carrying the silver to be pulled into the post house, and the remaining twenty brocade guards also arranged for proper accommodation.

Fang Yuan returned to the arranged room, and after freshening up, he stood by the wooden window, looking out the window at the endless plain, taking a deep breath, and breathing in the fragrance of the grass.

"Squeak"

The sound of the wooden door sounded, and Qin Zhan's voice came from behind him, "Boss, I found an abnormal situation. ”

Qin Zhan came suddenly, there must have been something important to inform, Fang Yuan sat back on the chair, picked up the teacup and lowered his head to take a sip of tea, "Fourth, let's talk!" ”

Qin Zhan looked at the absence behind him, closed the wooden door, and said in a low voice, "There is something wrong with the boxes of the father-in-law, and there are not a few silver I have carried, the silver is definitely not so heavy, I estimate that the boxes are gold." ”

In the Ming Dynasty, the ratio of gold and silver was about one to five, and if it was 40,000 taels of gold, it would be 300,000 taels of silver, and it would never cost so much gold to buy beauties.

Chongzhen's routine thrift in the palace has reached the realm of slamming the door, even his own dragon robe is also worn many times after sewing and mending, and the concubines in the harem led by Queen Zhou and Tian Guifei are also known as thrifty, and even personally wash and sew clothes.

never thought that Tian Hongyu would be able to accumulate a huge family property of tens of thousands of gold, which made Fang Yuan vigilant and secretly pondered, it seems that Tian Hongyu, who is the father-in-law of the country, has other intentions for this trip to Jiangnan!

He put the teacup down, his eyes flashed with a gleam, and he said unhurriedly, "Fourth, Tian Guozhang came to Jiangnan to buy a woman, one, twenty thousand silver is more than enough, but he brought forty thousand taels of gold, what do you want to do?" ”

Qin Zhan had a good relationship with him, and continued to follow his words, "Boss, I see that he is transferring the family property, and he wants to transfer the family wealth from the capital to the south of the Yangtze River. ”

Fang Yuan nodded, agreeing with his judgment, "It seems that this national master is watching my Daming Songjin Battle defeated, the thieves are already attacking and opening the seal, and the capital has no troops to help, it is already in danger, so leave a way to retreat in advance!" ”

Qin Zhan asked in a low voice, "Boss, shouldn't we also be ready?" ”

Fang Yuan lowered his head and gently rubbed his temples to relieve his tiredness, "What to prepare?" ”

Qin Zhan asked tentatively, "Tian Hongyu is the national ruler, he is preparing for the back road, why don't we go back to the capital and prepare to flee to the south?" ”

Fang Yuan stopped kneading his hands, and didn't look up at him, "I'm alone, and I live on the money of the imperial court, and I don't have any family property to luck." ”

He refused very simply, Qin Zhan had nothing to say, and was about to say goodbye, but he saw Yi Cheng hurriedly entering, and when he saw Fang Yuan, he hurriedly said, "Master Fang, according to the tea merchants in the past, Houjin Tartar came from the official road in the south, and it is only less than fifty miles away from the post station, and it will be able to kill the post station tomorrow, so let's escape first!" ”

The Manchu Qing not only defeated the Ming army on the frontal battlefield, but also often organized invasions to sweep the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty.

Since Mao Wenlong was executed by Yuan Chonghuan, the generals of Phi Dao, such as Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming, led their fleets and naval forces to join the Houjin, and then the entire Shandong Peninsula became the main target of the Houjin army's invasion across the sea.

"The Manchus are coming to invade Yanzhou again?"

Fang Yuan didn't expect that when he first arrived in Shandong, he didn't meet the Liukou who came to look for trouble, but he met the Manchu army who came to loot, looked at Yi Cheng and asked, "How many people have come from Houjin Tartar?" ”

Yi Cheng didn't know the specific situation of the Houjin army, but he just listened to the tea merchants in the past, and hurriedly said, "There are only more than 50 people, and a lot of robbed women and money are also detained, and they are ready to return north to cross the sea." ”

"After more than fifty years, the Jin army dared to rob in Yanzhou Mansion in the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty, and then swaggered back north?"

Fang Yuan was taken aback at this time, he almost didn't believe his ears, and asked in amazement, "This is only fifty Houjin Tartars, the post station should inform Yanzhou Mansion and mobilize the army of the guard to exterminate it, why do you want to escape?" ”

Yi Cheng couldn't cry and laugh and said, "Master Fang, you are the master from the capital, I haven't seen the power of the Golden Tartar after you!" The Yanzhou Mansion Guard, as well as King Lu's personal army, can't hide, and they can't wait to send these plague gods away immediately, who dares to exterminate them? ”

Whether it is the prince, the bureaucrats, or the common people, the Ming Dynasty is afraid of Hou Jin like a tiger, and he has long lost the courage to fight.

Fang Yuan, who was a traverser, was deeply dissatisfied with this kind of cowardice, and said in a deep voice, "The Houjin Tartar has three heads and six arms, and there are only more than fifty people, why are you scared like this?" ”

Yi Cheng sighed and said, "Master Fang doesn't know, a few years ago, the three mansions of the Shandong Buzheng Division were all looted by the Houjin Tartars who went south, and the general soldiers and prefects were all killed in battle. It is easy to kill these more than 50 Hou Jin Tartars, but if it attracts the crazy revenge of thousands, or even tens of thousands, of Jin Tatars, it will be a catastrophe for Yanzhou! When these Tartars have grabbed enough, they will leave, and more is better than less! ”

Fifty Houjin people can rob under the nose of tens of thousands of Ming soldiers, these Ming princes and officials do not want to protect the territory and the people, but want to use the lives of the common people, the people's fat and the people's ointment to feed this group of hungry wolves, and then send them away.

Before, Fang Yuan heard that dozens of Japanese Kou could run rampant in Jiangsu and Zhejiang until the city of Nanjing, just like black humor, but now he is immersive, but he knows that such a real thing is happening in front of him, the only difference is that the protagonist has been changed from a Japanese Kou to a Manchu Tartar.

Seeing that Fang Yuan was still hesitating, Yi Cheng seemed to be unbelieving, so he hurriedly said, "Master Fang doesn't leave, I have to leave first!" ”

After explaining the scene, he fled in a puff of smoke, leaving only Fang Yuan and Qin Zhan to stay in the room and look at each other.

Next, will Fang Yuan's Jinyi guards flee with the people of the post station, or will they face the Manchu Tartars?!