Since the beginning of February this year, the pursuit of Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai's operation, at the beginning, there were really a few big victories, and the eight kings and Cao Cao who were rampant in the world were about to be destroyed.

In the city of Jinzhou, which hangs outside the lonely pass, an urgent military report was sent to the Beijing Division, saying that the Jurchens were constantly harassing from the Eastern Prisoners, and it was observed that there might be a larger offensive to be organized.

The internal strife continued, and the external troubles intensified, and Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiliao, was mobilizing troops and horses from various towns to prepare for a major offensive operation outside the pass to ease the military pressure of the Jurchens on the Ming Dynasty.

With Emperor Chongzhen's talent, he can't bear such a fire everywhere, and it is not enough to describe his current state as burnt. This resentment was also vented to other people by him without principle, and Fu Xue Guoguan was deprived of his official position and cut off his position for the people because of the words and officials who attacked him for forming a party.

This Xue Guoguan is the auxiliary position that only arrived this year, and he has not been convicted of taking office for half a year, and the position of the cabinet assistant is similar to that of the prime minister, presiding over the country's major affairs, since Wen Tiren's resignation, because of Emperor Chongzhen's moodiness, four or five assistants have been replaced, and the people in charge of the government have changed frequently, and the country's major policies will naturally not be organized, and it is naturally chaotic and abnormal.

However, Sun Chuanting and Zheng Chongjian, who have repeatedly won victories against the Shaanxi rebellion, are staying in the edict prison, and the ministers and officials in the court also know Emperor Chongzhen's temper, and no one opens their mouths to mention it.

From the emperor to the ministers below, everyone seems to have forgotten about the people in the edict.

Huang Ping led most of the personnel to operate the major event of "Displaced People Chaos in Huaibei", and there were not many people left in Shandong.

After the old eunuch discussed with the inner tent room, he issued this order with the outside, the intelligence system of the Jiaozhou battalion is generally regarded as the "Shandong Salt Gang" in the eyes of the Jianghu people, and Huang Ping is the mysterious gang leader, of course, this intelligence organization is under the surveillance of the pro-military battalion, and it is completely under the command of Li Meng.

Other military generals or civilian officials have no right to intervene at all. But the situation in the inner account room is a little different. Although this is just a local organization similar to the cronies' staff, the inner tent is the hub for intelligence sharing between the Lingshan Commercial Bank and the Shandong Salt Gang, and the identities of these women in the inner tent room also have some legal rights to mobilize the external intelligence system.

And although Mu Yunyao's current identity is ambiguous, since Yan Ruoran entered the Li Mansion, she is the owner of the Jiaozhou camp house, known as the existence of "eldest lady", which is almost known to the high-level officials.

The plan to go to the Imperial Prison of Beijing to fish out Sun Chuanting was proposed by the old eunuch. The inner tent room was arranged to the deputy commander Jiang Xianqiu, who stayed behind, and faintly revealed that this was the meaning of the old lady, and the inner tent room, the old lady, these identities were pressed over. Jiang Xianxuan was naturally cautious and cautious, and did his best.

When the Tartars entered Koubei Zhili and Shandong, Jiang Xianqiu and Huang Ping sacrificed their lives to investigate the Jiaozhou battalion when their subordinates fled, and after the great success was completed, he was promoted to deputy commander because of his qualifications and merits.

People are in this position. always wanted to go to a high position, but after the war, Huang Ping learned a lesson. The personnel selected and appointed were all trained by themselves, and they were completely trustworthy to the sons of the land, and there was no big war in Shandong and the surrounding areas, and they were all routine deeds, and there was no chance of meritorious service at all.

went to the edict to rescue Sun Chuanting, after hearing the news, Jiang Xianqiu was really startled, but then he realized excitedly. It's an opportunity to perform yourself. The bigger the matter, the more important the above-level figure of the Jiaozhou battalion will explain. If it succeeds, the benefits will of course be many.

Zhao Prison, Sun Chuanting, Jingshi, these words are combined, it is the great crime of raiding the family and exterminating the clan, Jiang Xianxuan has taken everything into account, this crime similar to rebellion is naturally clear, but this crime is not put in his heart at all, what is the emperor, Li Dashuai is the heaven on his head.

Shandong and Beizhili are close to each other, and many people in Beijing have come to Shandong after committing crimes or being ruined, and the emperor is far away from the sky, and nothing can be involved, and the distance is not far, and there is a turnaround and you can go back.

Jiang Xianxuan followed this line of thought to find manpower, and Cheng Hai, who had stayed in the Jingshi Imperial Horse Prison Warrior Camp, came into his sight.

The military camp of the Imperial Horse Supervisor is the most elite unit of the Beijing military camp, the armor and weapons are all excellent, the salary and silver are also known to be full, and the soldiers used are all Han young people who fled back from the grassland and outside the Guan, basically they are orphans, these people often have no worries, and they are brave and reckless in doing things.

This Cheng Hai was a lawless character in the warrior camp back then, rampant in the Beijing market, but that day he was eyeing a wealthy businessman in Shanxi who came to Beijing to do leather trading, and joined forces with the surname Jinyiwei that Zhou and robbed the merchant in the middle of the night.

Who would have thought that the case would be the next day, saying that the merchant was a relative of the household department, which could be regarded as a hornet's nest, and the soldiers and horses of the five cities and the Yamen of Shuntianfu searched all over the city, and the looted wealth also made many people in Jinyiwei and Dongchang make up their minds.

After all, Cheng Hai was the mastermind of this matter, so he had no choice but to escape from the capital overnight with a few hundred taels of silver, but Zhou surnamed Jinyiwei stayed in Beijing with a large amount of silver because of some forces in his family and did not expose his traces.

Cheng Hai went to Shandong to join a distant clan uncle, who would have thought that this clan uncle was not a good citizen, but the second leader of the local green forest cottage, Cheng Hai was not a good person, he simply went up the mountain to join the gang, but he also made a career, and asked for a wife on the mountain, but he was born as a regular sergeant, and his heart was naturally bigger.

When the Jiaozhou battalion recruited troops in Shandong, Cheng Hai took the initiative to participate, relying on his martial arts and skills, and also worked hard to get the position of deputy team. When the Tartars entered the Kou, those people recruited by Huang Ping with Jianghu backgrounds and those Jianghu people all felt that the general trend had gone, and they were scattered, and there were also people with similar backgrounds and identities to Cheng Hai, but this time Cheng Hai didn't know how much he turned over, but he didn't want to run, and followed Huang Ping and them to explore and lead the way for the army.

This may be related to the fact that he ran back from Mongolia, and those who persist are blessed, and this Chenghai is also the leader of Dengzhou Mansion.

Going to the Beijing Imperial Prison to fish for people, such a big event. Naturally, it is necessary to choose elite soldiers and strong generals. Cheng Hai was the person in charge of this operation, and the Inner Ledger authorized him to call on the Lingshan Trading House and other connections, as well as various resources.

Jiang Xianxuan actually considered it very fully, Cheng Hai was already married and had children in Dengzhou Mansion, it is understood that he is very fond of his local family, so the local people are sent out, and there is a family in the rear, and he is not afraid of any other problems there, which is easier to control.

After Liu Fulai and Li Meng finished talking about these things, the next day, the account room and Jiang Xianqiu reported a detailed plan to Li Mengyu respectively. Li Meng didn't say much.

But afterwards, he told Mu Yunyao a sentence: "Hurry up and hurry up, what's the matter, Shandong and the surrounding provinces, you can reach it within eight days, even if you cut it first." Inform me too. ”

Mu Yunyao understood the meaning of Li Meng's words, the transfer of the inner tent room this time set an extremely dangerous precedent within the Jiaozhou battalion system, and Li Meng didn't want to say anything, after all, according to the hierarchical division, the status of the inner tent room is getting higher and higher, is there any authority to directly mobilize external forces. There are also no explicit provisions.

The old eunuch is indeed thinking about the overall situation of the Jiaozhou camp, but this time the precedent can be set, but it cannot become the norm. The Jiaozhou battalion can only have a brain, and there are high-ranking people who also have secret power by their side, which is too dangerous.

However, Li Meng didn't say anything to death, the old eunuch's insight and the comprehensive intelligence processing ability of the inner account room have begun to take shape, which is really very useful to the Jiaozhou battalion, and it is not impossible to give some power to himself.

The afternoon of the day when everything was done. Thirty pro-soldiers rushed to Beijing overnight. These pro-soldiers do not need to enter the capital to help, and they can be picked up outside the main station. But these people who answered did not contact Chenghai and them. But he only met secretly with the old shopkeeper of the semicolon, and Jiang Xianxuan didn't know about it.

Cheng Hai brought a total of nine people to Beijing, he was barely a snake on the ground, and the Jiaozhou battalion had a large amount of silver to support this time, and several people bought a courtyard in the place where civilians lived, pretending to be merchants from Shandong who came to Beijing to traffic in seafood, and they did bring a lot of local goods.

Jingshi is an important place, if a few unknown outsiders appear, the Five Cities Terracotta Division and Jinyiwei will soon notice, but several of them are all complete with formalities such as road guides, and there are a large number of goods, and it is indeed a daily contact with some grocery stores in the city, which looks very normal. When he came to Jingshi, after communicating the news, he could only be cautious step by step.

After Cheng Hai accepted this task, he made a very bad plan in his heart, Jingshi robbed the prison, this is a major event that even Mr. Storyteller does not dare to mention, and if he does it himself, it must be nine deaths.

However, the military life is like a mountain, and now his wife and children also have a dividend in the grange, and there is a small field property at home, this day is much stronger than when he was a slave to those Tartars on the grassland, and he fought for his life, according to the military merits of the Jiaozhou camp, the children in the family will have a very good prospect, and it is worth thinking about it.

He has been in Shandong for many years, and he has a lot of things to do when he returns to Beijing, although he has Lingshan Commercial Bank to pull the strings, but the help is not too great, and he can only use his old relationship in the past.

Jinyi guards probe and monitor everywhere, stand guard in the court, send orders to escort, and interrogate the Qin case by the Zhenfu Division, and the other is the edict and prison.

Dafan is not able to mix in Jinyiwei, and he will generally be beaten to a place like the edict prison to support the elderly, that Zhou Fanzi and Cheng Hai did that big case, although Cheng Hai ran out of the capital, he had no involvement, but he and Cheng Hai have such a good relationship on weekdays, and they are also seen by everyone.

After this incident, there was a stain on his body, and there was no hope of promotion in the brocade guard, so he was sent to the edict prison to guard the prisoners, and in the past few years, he has been a small team leader.

The officialdom of the Ming Dynasty is dark, and this prison is like hell, the cell head jailer is bullying and bullying in every way, and the guilty body does not have so much power, and there is no way to speak out.

But this edict is different, the sinners who can enter the edict are often high-ranking officials and nobles, these people have countless protégés, and if they offend a little in prison, they have to worry about retaliation outside, and such a high-ranking official may have to be reinstated one day. When the time comes, Han Anguo's allusion to the Han Dynasty will be unlucky.

Arrived in the Chongzhen Dynasty. This prison is even more strange place, every cell is cleaned and clean, and there is never a little deduction in food. The jailers and servants did not dare to scold and scold, Emperor Chongzhen was moody, and the ups and downs of the officials made people unable to feel the law.

In the sixth year of Chongzhen, a member of the military department did not know what crime he was beaten to prison, and the jailer who guarded it said a few words sarcastically, who would have thought that a month later, I don't know why he became a waiter of the criminal department again. The commander of the Jinyi Guard naturally did not get angry because of this little hell pawn and the squire of the criminal department, and as a result, the end of this jailer was very miserable.

With such a lesson from the past, the other people in the edict naturally knew what to do, and the brocade guards guarding the edict were all sincerely afraid. It's not so much a guard as a prisoner, but a servant of the master.

Here, the benefits of oil and water are not to be considered, the only source of money is that the relatives of the officials come to visit, or they will give some money and rewards, which only a small number of people can get. The rest of the people can only live on the money, and they are very poor.

Although there were thousands of taels of silver in his hands this week, so many years have passed. Jin Yiwei and these people are not cautious and thrifty characters, and gradually their hands are also nervous.

Cheng Hai came to the door, although Zhou surnamed Jinyiwei was frightened at first, but then he was moved by the reward of 10,000 taels of silver, how much is his annual salary, and he can't earn this 10,000 taels of silver in a few lifetimes.

When Cheng Hai first came to Beijing, he thought about this matter very difficult, and coerced and lured this Zhou Fanzi to agree. It's a little relieved. Finally took the first step out.

But what happened next made him a little dumbfounded, and Zhou Fanzi was not as nervous as him. ate and drank every day, and then Cheng Hai learned about the various circumstances of this edict.

Not to mention the preferential treatment of those officials inside, and the guards are also very lax, when Chengzu Zhu Di was martyred, there were still some felons who needed to be strictly guarded to prevent those people outside from coming to rob and rescue the prison, but the more they went on, there were some civil officials and nobles in this edict.

The nobles are at most a rich man, after losing power, the people around them are afraid that they will not be able to open the relationship, and the civil ministers are pretentious, since the Son of Heaven has issued an order to take people, it is what should be obeyed as a courtier, even if the prison door is not closed, let them escape from this edict by themselves, I am afraid that it is an insult to them.

Moreover, the prison guards have a meager income and heavy work, in this case, who is willing to guard with their hearts, and you are tired of patrolling back and forth with weapons every day!

Of course, if you bring people outside openly, it must be absolutely impossible, in case there is a disturbance, Jinyiwei's own armed forces, the Imperial Horse Guard, and the troops of the Beijing camp will be able to arrive immediately, and when the time comes, it will be difficult to fly.

Zhou Fanzi's method is not complicated, that is, to mix some laxatives into the meals that Sun Chuanting eats every day, the amount is very small, but it is enough to make people very uncomfortable.

Although Sun Chuanting is physically strong and diligent in martial arts, he was inexplicably beaten to prison, so the psychological impact is too great, and his body is not as good as before.

However, Cheng Hai and Zhou Fanzi are not in a hurry, it is already August, and the climate in Beijing is also starting to heat up, this kind of weather, eating bad things is normal, since the end of July, Zhou Fanzi's medicine is intermittent, which makes people feel that Sun Chuanting's health is not good, not that someone is making trouble.

On the 10th day of August, Sun Chuanting's family, who also lived in the civilian area of the capital, really felt miserable and miserable, seeing that the Mid-Autumn Festival was coming on August 15, and other people's families were reunited, but Sun Chuanting was arrested, and the whole family changed from the family of the governor and the governor to the relatives of sinners. Sun Chuanting has been an official for many years, and he is also a big family, but after being arrested and imprisoned, the trees fell and scattered, many distant relatives, and the people who went to take refuge are slowly dispersed, and now it is a family of five and two old servants who depend on each other, according to the judgment of many people in Beijing, this Sun Chuanting is estimated to have completely lost power, seeing that Yang Sichang is as big as possible in Huguang and Sichuan, and when it is completely calmed, there is no chance for him to recover.

Since this is the case, there are not too many people who pay attention to this family, so on the night of the tenth day of the eighth month, the family is worried and ready to have dinner. More than 20 people suddenly rushed in the courtyard. And no one cares.

These people are all masked, and their hands are measured, but the mouth and nose are covered, and the hands and feet are also very good, these people are clean and neat, these people are poured a large mouthful of unpleasant smelling liquid, and then they slowly fall asleep.

Before the Sun family fell into a coma, everyone was a little desperate, thinking about what kind of evil our Sun family had done, but Sun Chuanting was imprisoned for serving the country. After being imprisoned, the family will be implicated.

The disappearance of Sun Chuanting's family was only discovered on August 15, and no one cared about the fact that these sinners went there, perhaps because they had returned to their hometown to avoid trouble.

Of course, no one noticed. On a certain day, there are several large truckloads of goods out of the south gate, these goods are said to be some leather goods from the north in the city, and the sales in the city are not very good, and they want to go to Tongzhou to transport them to other places by boat, and see if there is a market.

As a result, because there were a lot of goods, I chatted with the soldiers guarding the city gate for a long time. It is not until the two sides agree on the usual practice of how much money should be paid, which is considered to be a release.

In the end, a total of fifteen taels of silver were sold, and the soldiers guarding the city gate were full of joy. The merchants who drove the car were sad.

These big carts loaded with leather goods arrived at the big car shop a few miles away from Beijing, where they tossed around for a while, and when they left the place again, they were some seriously ill patients who had fallen ill in Beijing and wanted to return to their hometowns.

It was actually a carriage with carriages, and some young men escorted it, full of pomp. It looks like this is a wealthy family. But it should be not light, such a hot day. The curtain will not be lifted.

Although no one at the upper echelons cared about the news that Sun Chuanting's family members were missing, the Jingshi market and these law enforcement yamen were also boiling, and some people couldn't help but sigh that this world was hot and cold, even the blood relatives were so indifferent, and they didn't want to think about the prosperity and wealth that Sun Chuanting brought to the family when he was prominent.

The jailers summed it up and decided not to tell Sun Chuanting about this matter, Sun Chuanting's body is weak and abnormal these days, and if he tells him such news, I am afraid that it will be a bigger blow.

But these jailers also wondered, Sun Chuanting's diet had already paid attention to hygiene, and even improved a lot, why his body had not improved, and he didn't see any problems after inviting Lang Zhong over a few times.

Sun Chuanting's edict to prison is to be imprisoned pending trial, that is, to be imprisoned, if something goes wrong in prison, this side really has to be involved.

"Luo Tou, I don't think that Sun Chuanting's complexion is very good, today Xiao Wang changed the toilet for him a few times, I'm afraid that the problem will be committed again, please give him a Langzhong!"

Zhou Fanzi asked politely in the gatehouse of the edict, Na Luotou is a big fat man, and when he heard this, he snorted angrily and said:

"It's just evil, we don't have any flowers here, and if we treat him like this, I'm afraid I'll have to pay the silver."

"It's better to please, then Sun Chuanting's family is gone, and people are pitiful, it's impossible to watch him get sick like this, arrange for someone to go over!"

It was getting dark, and seeing that the shift was about to change, this Luo Tou was also in a hurry to go back, and he didn't want to say more, so he nodded and agreed.

In the evening, a tall man and two followers came here reluctantly, thinking that he was obviously in the south city, but he was called to this west city, and as soon as the lights were on at night, how could he go back was still a trouble, but it was Fanzi, who couldn't afford to offend viciously.

The jailer on shift also knew what was going on, and directly put people in, and then closed the prison door, Zhou Fanzi said that he went to the gambling house a few days ago and got a lottery, and invited everyone to eat meat and drink wine today.

Although it was just soy sauce meat and shochu, it was a delicious food after all, and a group of people had already gathered together with great interest. Let Na Langzhong be busy in prison. After a while, I heard that the attendant of Na Lang Zhong said that it was already a diagnosis, and the jailer on duty went over listlessly to open the door for those people, and Na Lang Zhong was very weak, and was supported by the two attendants, and one of the attendants said to the jailer with some complaints:

"The evil spirit of the prison is too heavy, my lord takes a good look at this adult, but he is dizzy and dazzled......"

"Phew, Lao Tzu has been on duty here for more than ten years, why haven't you encountered any evil spirit, your family is not in good health, and you are biting indiscriminately, go to the silver, what should you do."

The jailer looked at Sun Chuanting who was lying on the bed. With his back to the jailer. Motionless was obviously asleep, and the jailer guarding the edict was also amazed:

"So many Langzhong, it's just your family cured, let's go, let's go, go back and have a good rest."

The sauce meat is a time-honored brand, the soju is very mellow, and a few generous people bought side dishes, and a group of people drank happily, making this edict like a bazaar. The voice even reached the inside of the edict, causing these important ministers to frown for a while.

"A leaf knows autumn, the world is over......

There are also people whispering in the corner of the prison cell, this small edict is still the prime minister of the five provinces Xiong Wencan, who was beautiful a year ago. But now everyone knows that Xiong Wencan's fate is to ask the queen of autumn.

At night, there was no need to worry about any danger in this edict, these jailers locked the door from the inside, and those who drank too much went to sleep in other places, and if they drank too little, they also leaned against the wall and took a nap the next day. But when he saw that all his subordinates were listless, and the house was full of the smell of wine and meat overnight, he didn't get angry. They are all their own brothers, and they will pass after a few laughs and scolding.

At night, the prison guards routinely counted the cells, which was also very simple, and of course there would not be too many people in the cells that could only enter at such a high level.

The jailer on night duty slipped into Sun Chuanting's cell, and looked through the thick wooden fence, but Sun Chuanting was still motionless facing the wall. I can't help but feel a little weird. Originally, when the handover, the soldier on duty during the day said that Sun Chuanting's illness was favored by Lang Zhong. During this time, his health has been unfavorable, so let him sleep more.

But this is the calculation of time, I slept for a day and a night, looked at the steamed buns and water in front of the prison door, but it didn't move, I felt that something was wrong in my heart, and immediately called a companion, someone to be a witness, opened the prison door together, walked to Sun Chuanting and greeted cautiously:

"Governor ......"

Luo Tou of the Imperial Prison was drinking wine and eating sauce and meat in the gatehouse, and if Zhou Fanzi wanted to be rewarded, he would naturally not be missing the leader, and he was happy in a big gulp, only to see two jailers running over in a hurry, with a panicked look on his face, and he was just about to open his mouth to reprimand.

A jailer whispered a few words in his ear, Luo Tou did not hold the wine jug in his hand, and suddenly fell to the ground, and the person stood up quickly, and was about to ask loudly, but saw a few people around him looking at this side in amazement, and swallowed back the words that came to their mouths.

"Take me to see it."

Luo Tou said in a muffled voice, and led the two jailers into the edict prison.

The three of them hurried to Sun Chuanting's cell, first to let the jailer see the way, and then Luo Tou and the other walked in.

Whenever a big man comes in, the leader of the jailer always has to meet him in person, showing his attentive care, this Sun Chuanting He has also seen him, approaching the open cell, the "Sun Chuanting" is already lying on his back on the wooden bed, looking at the dead face, it is definitely not Sun Chuanting.

But this man had been dead for a day, his body was already stiff, and the jailer on the side had a pale face, and asked in a trembling voice:

"Luo ...... Luo Tou Sun Chuanting escaped from prison......"

Lowering his voice, stammering and stammering, Luo stared at the corpse, his body gradually trembled, and when he heard the words of his subordinates, he suddenly trembled, and scolded sharply:

"What escaped from prison, it was death from illness, this health has been bad for a few months, and now I can't stand it, I can't hold it, I am sick and dead."

Before the jailer beside him could react, he opened his mouth stupidly, and the fat Luo Tou suddenly became angry, grabbed the jailer, lowered his voice and shouted angrily:

"Don't be stupid, Sun Chuanting died of illness, he was incurable, and he died in our prison, do you understand!!? The jailer was scolded by Luo Tou, and his whole body was excited, and he immediately reacted, and hurriedly said:

"Sick to death, yes, this Sun Chuanting is sick to death!!"

Outside the Jingshi City to the direction of Shanxi, according to the old shopkeeper's instructions, Cheng Hai and Zhou Fanzi came to an inn here, and there were already people and horses who came to pick up the people in this inn, and Sun Chuanting of Mumu was stuffed into the carriage.

After leaving the capital for a hundred miles, Zhou Fanzi finally breathed a sigh of relief, looked at the knights with swords on horseback outside the car, and said to Cheng Hai with a smile:

"Brother Cheng, I didn't expect that Shandong would arrange so many people to come over to respond."

Cheng Hai was also extremely relaxed leaning against the wall of the carriage, and replied lightly:

"If this doesn't work out, so many people will use it to kill us."