（0379）

Shi Kefa, Zhang Shenyan and other civil officials were all shocked to the point that their ears were buzzing, and they couldn't hear anything except the loud explosion. Not to mention other civil servants. It's good that I didn't get stunned. When did they experience an explosion at such a distance? At the moment of the explosion, their faces were extremely pale, and some people couldn't even squat, so they had to use their hands to support the ground to maintain the balance of their bodies.

In the violent explosion, the entire east gate of Haizhou City completely collapsed. Thick black smoke enveloped the entire vicinity of the East Gate. Bricks, gravel and debris and the like flew at least thirty or forty feet away. Some even flew to the beach and smashed directly into the seawater, splashing crystal water columns. After the violent explosion, there was the sound of the city wall collapsing, which was also very shocking.

As the smoke gradually dissipated, Zhang Zhun found that the city wall near the east gate of Haizhou City had collapsed by at least fifteen zhang. The power of three hundred catties of black gunpowder is really not covered. The city walls of this era were also far less solid than the reinforced concrete fortifications. Collapsed rubble, forming a huge slope.

"Up!"

With a loud shout, Yin Fengyi rushed forward with the soldiers of the Seventh Association.

The soldiers of the Tiger Ben Army rushed up bravely and rushed down the slope into the city of Haizhou.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

Sporadic but constant gunfire was heard.

This is the warrior of the Tiger Gun, shooting the pirates who have been blown up into chaos.

Near the east gate, the main force of the pirates was concentrated, probably two or three hundred people. After a loud bang, at least half of the pirates were buried under the ruins. The other half of the pirates were shocked into chaos, their vision was blurred, and their minds did not react, even when they saw the Tiger Ben Army rushing up, they didn't know how to fight back. As a result, with a bang, he was thrown directly into the ruins.

At the beginning of the battle, the Tiger Army did not want to take prisoners. If you spot a pirate, you can shoot them on the spot, or you can go up and stab the pirate to death with a bayonet, and then continue to attack. The pirates who were blown up to a pulp naturally had no ability to fight back, and they were all wiped out quickly.

Soon, the soldiers of the Seventh Association all entered the city through the gap. Subsequently, the soldiers of the Sixth Association also entered the city through the gap. The Tiger Ben Army of the two associations had a total strength of 600 people. After they entered the city, even if the pirates in the city wanted to fight back, it would be impossible. After a steady burst of gunfire, more than a hundred pirates who tried to rush up to close the gap were all killed in the streets.

After the Tiger Army entered the city, it quickly expanded along the streets to the four city gates. They soon opened the northern, western, and southern gates of Haizhou City. The troops of the Tiger Ben Army outside the city also followed into the city. According to the previous battle deployment, they divided and surrounded all the pirates in the city along the streets, and then annihilated each one.

Five army forces, plus four squads of marines, a full 2,000 Huben troops appeared in Haizhou City. With such a strong force, the pirates don't even have a place to hide, not to mention resistance. Haizhou City is a county seat, with only three or four streets, and it has long been controlled by the soldiers of the Tiger Ben Army. They could only cower in houses that had not yet been burned down, and resist stubbornly. However, the fire continued to spread, and as a result, some pirates were burned alive in the fire. It's so sad that they lit their own fire, and it turned out to be themselves who burned to death in the end.

"How so?"

"How so?"

"How so?"

Sun Ronglu muttered to himself in despair.

He originally thought that he could rely on the city wall to block the Tiger Ben Army for a while, but he didn't expect that after a loud bang, the Tiger Ben Army appeared in the streets and alleys of Haizhou City like a tide. The pirates who tried to rush up to make up the gap were swept away by a dense barrage of bullets as soon as they saw them. Sun Ronglu was also a pirate leader with rich combat experience, and as soon as he saw this posture, he knew that Zhang Zhun had brought at least 2,000 people.

There were only a few hundred pirates, but Zhang Zhun came with 2,000. With his ass, he can imagine what kind of hatred Zhang Zhun has for himself. Sun Ronglu warned himself that he must not fall into Zhang Zhun's hands. He would rather commit suicide than fall into the hands of Zhang Zhun. Otherwise, he would have been the most painful person to die in this world!

Sun Ronglu is not afraid of death, but he is very unwilling! He was really unwilling! He also has a pirate ship, which can completely deal with Zhang Zhun, even if he can't beat it, he can get out of the way. But now, he is completely wiped out! The ship is gone, the people are gone, there is nothing!

You shouldn't come to Haizhou City!

You really shouldn't come to Haizhou City!

If there is a regret medicine in this world, Sun Ronglu is willing to pay all the price in exchange. It's just a pity that no. Therefore, he can only bear the brutal consequences that come with it.

"Where are the pirates?"

"Where are the pirates?"

"Where are the pirates?"

The soldiers of the Tiger Ben Army, they ask when they meet people.

Those people who were ravaged by the pirates found out that reinforcements were coming, so they naturally actively assisted, leading the soldiers of the Tiger Ben Army to search for the traces of the pirates. As a result, all the pirates, even those hiding in the sewers, were turned out. Either killed or captured. In the past two days, the pirates have burned and plundered in the city, and the surviving people hate them so much, how can they not actively cooperate?

After a series of gunshots, the soldiers of the Tiger Ben Army completely controlled the situation in the city. The organized resistance of the pirates, which is no longer visible. What the Tiger Warriors have to do now is dig deep into the hidden pirates. At the same time, organize forces to vigorously fight fires and save as many buildings as possible. Lu Liangyu and Chen Xingguo came to report to Zhang Zhun successively, saying that the pirates in the city had been basically cleared and Zhang Zhun could enter the city.

Zhang Zhun nodded and said casually: "Everyone, do you have the courage to enter the city now?" ”

Zhang Shenyan said without hesitation: "The lower officials are not afraid!" ”

With that, straighten up and walk towards the slope.

Shi Kefa also followed and walked behind Zhang Shenyan.

In terms of qualifications, Zhang Shenyan is much more than Pharaoh Shi Ke. Zhang Shenyan is a Jinshi in the 30th year of Wanli, and Shi Kefa is a Jinshi in the first year of Chongzhen, the former is ten years earlier than the latter. In the civil service system of the Ming Dynasty, the qualification of this jinshi was very important. When ranking seniors, the most important thing is to look at the number of years of each jinshi. The earlier the seniority, the more seniority. Even if Shi Kefa is currently a high-ranking official in the Hubu Langzhong, and Zhang Shenyan is only the governor of Haizhou in the seventh grade, but on many occasions, Zhang Shenyan is the leader.

The other civil officials, although they were a little scared, worried that the thieves in the city had not been cleared yet, but they thought that Zhang Zhun's team had already controlled the situation, so they also followed Zhang Shenyan and Shi Kefa into the city. As for Zhang Zhun, he naturally walked in the last place as if nothing happened.

Near the slope, the smoke of gunpowder filled the air, and the smell of gunpowder was thick. It felt like it was going to suffocate. There was a constant coughing sound, apparently unable to stand such a pungent smell. Despite the constant blowing of the sea breeze, the rich smell of gunpowder has never been completely blown away. Yin Fengyi, that kid, did put too much explosives.

The original east gate of Haizhou City has been completely blown down, and all of them are rolling bricks and rubble. You can see that many pirates are buried directly in the ruins, in any pose. Of course, all are dead. Even if he was not shocked to death, he was stabbed to death by the bayonets of the Tiger Ben soldiers. There has been a painful lesson from Yang Junjie, and the soldiers of the Tiger Ben Army are very cautious in dealing with the corpses of enemies on the battlefield.

Climbing over the slope with difficulty, Zhang Zhun and his party appeared in the city.

The first thing they smelled was the strong smell of blood. Compared with the smell of gunpowder smoke at the gap, the smell of blood in the city is even stronger. Of course, the smell of blood is not that the Tiger Ben Army killed too many pirates, but that the pirates killed too many people in the city. On both sides of the street, the bodies of people who had been killed could be seen everywhere. There were also bodies of people who had been killed, and because they were left in the house, when the house was on fire......

Sun Ronglu wants to pretend to be Zhang Zhun's person and frame the blame for Zhang Zhun, naturally the more cruel the better, and the more people killed, the better. The more people killed, the stronger the people's resentment against Zhang Zhun became. Therefore, in the past two days, Sun Ronglu and they have killed thousands of people. The madness of despair just now killed at least a thousand more people.

Looking at the corpses everywhere, the civil officials who followed Zhang Zhun were also grief-stricken and wailed. It turned out that Shi Kefa and Zhang Shenyan's families were not in Haizhou City, and there were no major losses to their families. Other officials, not so lucky. Most of their families were spoiled by pirates. In the frenzied slaughter just now, they were all killed again.

The further you went, the more corpses littered the streets. Zhang Zhun roughly counted, I'm afraid there are thousands of people. Haizhou City is just a small county town with a permanent population of up to 60,000 or 70,000. Such a bloody massacre is truly unprecedented. Zheng Zhilong is indeed Zheng Zhilong, and he has a group of very good subordinates!

Yang Zixuan came up and said with some worry: "My lord, the situation in the city is not very good......

Zhang Zhun nodded and said in a deep voice: "Don't pay attention to the dead!" Destroy the thieves as soon as possible, live to see people, and die to see corpses! ”

Yang Zixuan agreed.

Zhang Zhun turned his head to Zhang Shenyan and said: "Duke Shan, I am the one who leads the troops, and I am only responsible for suppressing thieves, and I have to ask Duke Shangong to deal with this matter of appeasing the people." The fact that a large number of people were killed and that a large number of houses were burned down is no small matter. Please also ask the contempt of the mountain to find out the truth and return my innocence! ”

Zhang Shenyan was heartbroken and angry, and said bitterly: "Such a tragic situation is all the fault of me Zhang Liangshan, Zhang is really ashamed of the country and the people!" When the truth is ascertained, Zhang will inevitably go to the court to explain the cause of the matter, and at the same time ask the court to deal with it! ”

Shi Kefa hurriedly said: "Contempt the Shan Gong, by all means, this is not the fault of the Shan Gong, it is really the thieves who are too ferocious." You Haizhou City, there are no soldiers and no food, what ability do you have to stop the thieves from raising troops? According to Xianzhi's estimation, these thieves must have a background, and it is the right way to track down the mastermind behind the scenes. Such a thief, if he is not ruthlessly punished, he is really sorry for the people who died! ”

Zhang Shenyan shook his head and staggered.

This old man, who is about to be 60 years old, has experienced many ups and downs, ups and downs, ups and downs, and repeated blows, and he has not been so sad as he is today. The thieves slaughtered the people and suffered heavy casualties, and as the governor of Haizhou, he naturally felt that he was derelict in his duties and had no face to see people. But that's not the most heart-wrenching part of it. The most painful thing for him is that the war has actually spread to Haizhou, how long can this world last?

Shi Kefa and Zhang Zhun face to face.

Zhang Zhun said casually: "Shi Kefa, in fact, this is nothing, if the Tartars enter the customs, I am afraid that everything in front of me will be thousands of times more miserable." ”

Shi Kefa frowned subconsciously.

Zhang Zhun said slowly: "These small groups of thieves are at most a scourge to one state and one county, and they can only poison thousands of people, as long as they concentrate their forces, they can be wiped out." However, when the Tartars came, the entire northern kingdom was plundered, and hundreds of thousands of people were affected, and the elephant of the country was destroyed! ”

Shi Kefa said fiercely: "The Tartars are certainly hateful, and the civil unrest is also terrible. If there is no civil unrest in Shaanxi, how can the Tartars easily enter the prison? The most hateful thing is still a thief! As long as they are exterminated, the world will naturally be peaceful! ”

Zhang Zhun said coldly: "Shi Langzhong." Your point of view, I dare not compliment. You don't even think about why there is civil unrest! Why the civil unrest has never been quelled! Civil unrest is not that the people are willing to rise up and do something, but they have to rise up and do something! Do you know that they don't have anything to eat and can't live! If you don't have anything to eat, of course it's going to be messy! Should they starve to death in vain? ”

"Poverty is not a reason to rebel. The famine was caused by natural disasters, and the imperial court allocated a large amount of silver every year for disaster relief, and as a result, they still had to rise up and rebel! Such a thief is to kill! Kill it clean, and the world will be peaceful! ”

Zhang Zhun said coldly: "Everyone has the right to live!" If you can't live, you will rebel! Yes, there is indeed a natural disaster! However, natural disasters are not the main thing, ** is the main thing! You go to investigate and see how much of Yang He's disaster relief money has reached the hands of the victims? Since others make it impossible for me to live, then I only have the right to rise up and fight for my own life! ”

The two had too many differences in philosophy, and they quarreled as soon as they met.

However, there is nothing special about this, the scholars and doctors of the Ming Dynasty often quarreled. The scholars and doctors in the early and middle Ming Dynasty all had their own ideals and beliefs. When people's ideals and beliefs conflict, there will be quarrels. Everyone insisted on their beliefs and refused to give in, and the quarrel naturally became more and more intense. From the ministries to the cabinet, and then from the cabinet to the court, and in front of the emperor.

Even, there are those who dare to do it above the court, and even the emperor doesn't pay attention to it. When the emperor got a fire in his belly, he ordered the Han general to come in and drag everyone out to beat him, which was a matter. However, when there is a chance in the future, they still have to quarrel. What is a stubborn donkey called? In the court of the Ming Dynasty, there was a group of stubborn donkeys, a group of stubborn donkeys.

The former ministers of the Ming Dynasty had a lot of hard bones and would never retreat easily. What the emperor wants them to do, if they think it is inappropriate, they will refuse. Whatever you say, I don't think it's okay anyway, don't even think about it! Even if you are the Emperor! As for the scholars who quarreled with the emperor, there were even more. How strong the emperor of Wanli is, he was forced by a group of scholars and doctors to dare not go to court. Why? I couldn't quarrel with this group of people, so I had to play tricks.

Unfortunately, by the end of the Ming Dynasty, the atmosphere of scholars and doctors had been completely corrupted. No one quarreled anymore. Whatever the emperor says, they do as they promise. Even if there are different ideas and opinions, they no longer have the courage to refute them. Without this atmosphere, the imperial court will become a hall of words, and there will be no hope in sight, and the Ming Dynasty will perish.

Shi Kefa is familiar with history books, and what he admires most in his life is the old predecessors in the past, especially those who directly dismissed the emperor's golden words above the court. What kind of courtier is the most admirable, of course, the one who directly slapped the emperor in the mouth! He was bent on being some counselor, an iron-clad counselor. Therefore, in the household department, he is very unaccustomed to the actions of other colleagues. It's a pity that his power is too small, and he is not a member of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and he has no authority to speak at all above the court.

Zhang Zhun's words, of course, greatly stimulated Shi Kefa. His loyalty to the monarch is very serious, how can he stand Zhang Zhun's crazy words? Shi Kefa said angrily: "You are a fallacy! ”

Zhang Zhun wanted to add some fierce medicine to Shi Kefa, to change some of his understanding, and said disdainfully: "Shi Langzhong, you can bravely ask Ying to go to the front line to suppress the people and see how the civil unrest is caused." Why can the rebel army respond to every call, don't they know that the rebellion will raid their homes and exterminate their clans? Why do you want to rebel even when you know that you have been killed and your home is raided? ”

Shi Kefa said angrily: "Chen Qiyu is a disaster to the country and the people, and he should not accept the surrender request of the traitor!" If the thieves had been completely eliminated in the Carriage Gorge, there would not be such a situation today! Henan will not be erosive! ”

Zhang Zhun laughed and said loudly: "Shi Langzhong, you have always been in the household department, and you only know that there is never enough money and food, but you don't know whose hands the money and food in this world is!" Does Da Ming really have no money and food? Is it really so poor that you can't even take out a tael of silver? No! There is a lot of money and food! Where is the money and food? In the princes, in the lords and magnates, in the high-ranking officials, in the fathers-in-law, in the hands of the landlords, and in the hands of the big merchants! If this problem is not solved, the Ming Dynasty will die at any time! ”

Shi Kefa's face turned pale.

Zhang Zhun's words stung him deeply.

This trip to Jiangnan just confirmed Zhang Zhun's statement. The salt merchants in Yangzhou are definitely not short of silver. Every salt merchant's home was built more luxuriously than the royal palace. The number of singers and concubines in their family is more than that of the emperor's harem. The cost of a meal for them is more than the cost of the emperor for a day. The lowliest servants of their household were all dressed in silk and satin. However, they were reluctant to pay the silver to the imperial court.

Shi Kefa went south to Yangzhou to get the salt merchants to pay their taxes in full. However, behind every salt merchant, there is an extremely powerful background. The big salt merchants add up, and the background is even more complex and powerful. Shi Kefa racked his brains and spent all his efforts, but in the end there was no result. There was no way, so he had to come to Haizhou City and ask Zhang Shenyan for help. I didn't expect such a thing to happen.

The two were still arguing, and Wu Qingliang came to report: "My lord, the captives have been arrested!" ”

Zhang Zhun frowned and asked, "Did Sun Ronglu catch it?" ”

Wu Qingliang said regretfully: "That kid resisted stubbornly, and was shot by the brothers of the Sixth Association in a row, and all of them were killed. ”

Zhang Zhun frowned, "I'll go to the scene to have a look." ”

Wu Qingliang took Zhang Zhun to the vicinity of the Zhizhou Yamen.

There were many other corpses in it, presumably killed by the pirates before they died. These pirates were so mad that they found that they had no way to live, so they killed people indiscriminately. In the warehouse in the backyard, there were the corpses of seven pirates lying horizontally, they should have retreated here, and then were shot and killed by the soldiers of the Tiger Army. The corpse of a pirate was cleaned up, and after the captives identified it as Sun Ronglu's corpse. Sun Ronglu had at least a dozen bullet holes on his body, which shows the fierceness of the firepower at that time.

Yang Qianqiang said: "My lord, the brothers are red-eyed......"

Zhang Zhun nodded and said indifferently: "It's good to be killed, it's more than innocent to die." ”

After a moment of silence, Zhang Zhun said slowly: "Clean out all the pirates, whether dead or alive, and gather them in the square in front of the yamen, waiting to be dealt with!" ”

Yang Qianqiang, Wu Qingliang and others all agreed to go.

Soon, the job was largely done.

According to rough statistics, the Tiger Army killed more than 570 pirates and captured more than 260 alive. When Sun Ronglu went north, the number of pirates exceeded 1,000. Part was lost in naval battles. Coupled with the loss in Haizhou City, they were completely wiped out, and none of them escaped the net.

More than 2,000 people were slaughtered in the city. For the small city of Haizhou, it is really an unprecedented blow. No wonder Zhang Shenyan blames himself so much. Failure to defend the territory is of course a heavy responsibility. Fortunately, most of the people survived.

Zhang Zhun said: "Duke Shan, these thieves, or will they be handed over to you for interrogation?" ”

Zhang Shenyan barely bothered to cheer up and led people to escort a few prisoners down.

For this Jinshi of Wanli for thirty years, interrogating a few prisoners is naturally not a problem at all. The result of his personal interrogation was also the most convincing.

Shi Kefa's eyes were red, staring at the captured captives, and asked angrily, "Could it be a traitor in Shaanxi?" ”

Zhang Zhun frowned and said, "Shi Langzhong, you have to speak according to the facts. The civil unrest in Shaanxi, separated by Fengyang Mansion and Guide Mansion, could not be affected here. ”

Shi Kefa said fiercely: "Except for Jianyu, except for the traitor, who else is so cruel? ”

Zhang Zhun said lightly: "I don't know either." But, I feel, they are neither Tartars nor traitors. Or wait for the results of the interrogation of the Shan Gong. ”

While speaking, Zhang Shenyan appeared.

His face was quite solemn, a little heartbroken, and a little angry.

Shi Kefa hurriedly asked, "Duke Shan, what are the origins of these thieves?" ”

Zhang Shenyan said angrily and bitterly: "They are all subordinates of Zheng Zhilong, the chief military officer of Fujian. ”

"Smack!"

Shi Kefa smashed the teacup in his hand to pieces.