"Zhao Sanye, Zhao Sanye!"

A voice came from behind, Zhao Youcai looked back, but it was a Han man in rough clothes and short brown, looking a little familiar but couldn't remember it for a while, and when he was thinking about it, the man smiled and said: "The villain is Qi Jiu, the subordinate in the Ma Mansion, Zhao Sanye doesn't remember the villain?" ”

"Oh, oh, it's you!" Zhao Youcai then remembered: "Why are you here?" ”

"Zhao Sanye, you still don't know?" Qi Jiu had a surprised look on his face.

"Know what?"

"The city of Yanzhou has been broken by the thieves, Governor Lu, Master Ma, and Liu Juren have all fallen into the hands of the thieves, I finally escaped from the city, and Young Master Ma asked the villain to ask Lord Liu for help, let's go to Yanzhou!"

"What?" Zhao Youcai's face changed greatly, no wonder he felt that the scenery on the side of the road was a little familiar on the back of a camel, presumably because he was busy vomiting and didn't recognize it. At this time, Zhao Youcai's heart can be described as mixed, at first he was surprised to learn that his hometown was attacked by thieves, then he was glad that he was spared, then he was worried about his relatives who stayed in Dunzhou, and finally he was afraid of his future and fate.

"Zhao Sanye, Zhao Youcai?" Qi Jiu saw Zhao Youcai standing there, his expression was sluggish, as if he had lost his soul, and hurriedly called the other party's name, Zhao Youcai came to his senses after a while, grabbed Qi Jiu and asked, "What about my family, but there are people killed or injured?" “

"Zhao Sanye." Qi Jiu smiled bitterly and broke away from the other party's arms: "I was very flustered when I broke the city, and I finally escaped from the city, where do I know so much, I can only count on the blessing of my ancestors." “

Zhao Youcai didn't get the answer he hoped for, opened his arms in disappointment, and sighed: "Hey, to be honest." I have a lot of support with Master Ma and Liu Juren on weekdays, but at this time, I hope everyone can be safe and sound this time! “

Qi Jiu sighed, nodded and said, "Yes, all the masters can be safe and sound!" “

In front of the prefect's office.

A swarm of green-headed flies flew on the stone floor. Make an annoying buzzing sound. From time to time, these disgusting bugs landed on the stone slabs, which were covered in blackened blood, and they were a good meal. These were the traces left by the peasant army after the breach of the city a few days earlier—this was actually the only place where the victors had resisted—Ma Ziyi's butler commanded a dozen or so men to knock down the three men in front with bird guns on the courtyard wall, slightly hindering the momentum of the attack, but when he himself was shot through the throat by an arrow, the archers dropped their bird guns and scattered.

Several cages in front of the yamen were dismantled, and the materials obtained by the peasants and the army were built into a fence to enclose a vacant lot in front of the yamen. There were twenty or thirty people sitting or lying in the open space, among which were Lu Boqi, the former prefect of Yanzhou, and Ma Ziyi, whose father had been in the cabinet. Liu Juren and so on, these members of the "upper class" of the former Yanzhou are like a herd of cattle enclosed in a fence.

"Ma Gong, Ma Gong!" Lu Boqi gently patted the person on the side, the person turned over, it was Ma Ziyi, I saw the other haggard faces, where are the strengths of the usual looks, and said in a low voice: "My lord." What's the matter? ”

"Ma Gong, it's not a way to hold on like this!" Lu Boqi's voice was already full of three points of crying: "It has been four or five days since the city was broken. So he gave a few bowls of paste, and if he went on like this, he would die. ”

Ma Ziyi's Adam's apple twitched twice, and his usual full cheeks had already sunken, and his cheekbones were even more prominent, and his eyes were sunken. just relied on a strong force: "Ma Gong doesn't need to worry, my boy was not in the city when the city was broken, he will definitely rush to Chaoyi after learning about this and ask General Liu Shen to lead the troops to help." ”

"Liu Cheng?" Lu Boqi's eyes lit up when he read the name. Then it dimmed again: "Do you think he can catch up?" I am afraid that he will be afraid of thieves, and he will delay for a long time. "It's no wonder that Lu Boqi thinks so, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, due to serious arrears of salaries, so the mobility ability and will to fight are very problematic, and there are often cases where the officers and soldiers follow the thieves for a day or two, looting and extorting supplies along the way, watching the thieves poison the place, but they dare not fight with them.

"Others will, Liu Cheng won't!" Ma Ziyi laughed: "Think about how many things he still has in Dunzhou, the goods in the city of Qianhusuo, the grain storage of the Pitang Bureau, and the unfinished machinery in the factory on the embankment, do you think he is the one who is willing to give up these things?" I bet that as soon as Liu Cheng heard that the city of Juzhou was broken, he would definitely come back day and night. “

After listening to Ma Ziyi's analysis, Lu Boqi's eyes lit up again: "Amitabha, bless this Liu Shen to come back as soon as possible and drive away the thieves." Ay! On weekdays, I think this Liu adult is too greedy and his hands are too long, but now I think this is also a good thing, if he is as clear as water and as cheap as a mirror, we can't count on him now. “

While the two of them were talking, Sauromon not far away saw that there was no one around, and he couldn't bear the torture of ** anymore, he climbed to the fence, and shouted to the head of the guard not far away: "This brother, this hero, this master!" He saw that the other party turned around curiously, hurriedly put a smile on his face, took out a jade pendant from his waist, stretched out the fence with his right hand and shook it: "This lord, as long as you let me go, this jade pendant is yours." “

The guard turned and walked over, and saw that he was about twenty-three or four years old, with a black face, and a short beard under his chin, as if he had been beaten with iron, and he looked at the jade pendant. Seeing that there was hope, Solomon hurriedly stirred his lips and said: "This jade pendant is my ancestral treasure, it is worth at least three hundred taels of silver, and there are eighty old mothers in my family who want to fulfill their filial piety, please show mercy and raise your noble hand and let me go!" “

"Humph!" The guard sneered, snatched the jade pendant from Solo Meng's hand, and scolded: "Do you have an old lady who wants to be filial? My mother couldn't even eat millet porridge before she died, so I won't let you go, so I let you know that my mother can't be honored! ”

Seeing that the guard took away the jade pendant but didn't open the door, Solo Meng couldn't help but be anxious, and his voice became louder: "If you don't let me go, return the jade pendant to me!" ”

"Pay you back?" The guard took up his spear and reached through the crack in the fence, knocked Soromon to the ground, and scolded: "Rich dog, I wielded a hammer in front of the stove for a year, and I sweated like a river and could not earn five taels of silver. But you bought this thing for three hundred taels of silver and hung it on your waist, and you don't know how much flesh and blood of the poor you have eaten, and you want to pay you back, but I won't pay you back! With that, the guard slammed the jade pendant to the ground, shattering it.

"My jade pendant!" Solomon saw that the ancestral jade pendant had been shattered. Feeling like a knife, he pointed at the guard and scolded: "If you want it, just take it, why did you break it?" ”

"Which one wants your stuff!" The guard sneered: "God created that everyone had food to eat and a field to plant, but you rich people took away the grain and cloth that others had worked so hard to grow, and in exchange for these things that could neither be eaten nor worn and hung on their bodies, so that others worked hard but had no food or clothing. You're not good people, and these things aren't good! ”

Tholomon was speechless by the guard's words, and scolded: "That's it, what else can I say with a rough person like you, it's a pity that my ancestral jade pendant!" ”

At this moment, a group of people came out of the yamen, and the man at the head was dressed in a coarse cloth robe and a felt hat. Tall stature with prominent cheekbones. His eyes were attentive, but it was Li Zicheng, and when he heard the guard arguing with Na Solomeng, he shouted loudly: "Brother Liu, what did that guy say to you?" ”

The guard turned around and respectfully saluted Li Zicheng and said, "The one who holds the plate." This guy gave me the jade pendant on his waist and asked me to let him go privately! “

"I see!" Li Zicheng smiled: "Then Brother Liu, how did you answer him?" “

"Naturally, I won't agree!" The guard said proudly: "I, Liu Zongmin, a man who stands up to the sky, how can I be bought with just a few dollars?" “

"Well said!" Li Zicheng smiled and patted Liu Zongmin's shoulder, and smiled at Solo Meng in the fence: "See, my brother is not a dog slave in your family." You can buy it for a few taels of silver. ”

"Alas!" Solomon sighed and said, "It's okay if he doesn't let me go, why did he smash that jade pendant, this is passed down from my ancestors, it's a pity." “

Li Zicheng was stunned for a moment when he heard this, his eyes turned to the ground, and when he saw the broken jade on the ground, he bent down and picked up a few pieces, looked at them for a while, and asked, "Brother Liu, this is really a good jade, why did you break it?" ”

"These rich dogs have very good things on them, and they can't eat or drink, so it's better to break them." Liu Zongmin sneered.

Li Zicheng's face became gloomy, he took the broken jade into his arms, and shouted coldly: "Come on, take this guy down for me!" ”

"Uncle!" Li Guo, who was on the side, hurriedly stepped forward and admonished: "Although Brother Liu is a recent brother, his advice is also his way to take the city gate, and he has made a great contribution to taking this city of Yanzhou." “

"Merit is merit, and passing is merit!" Li Zicheng sneered: "I will naturally reward him for my merits, and my merits can't be overcome, otherwise how will this army be governed?" Get out of the way, or you'll be punished together!" “

"Well said!" Liu Zongmin said with a smile: "It seems that I, Liu Zongmin, didn't follow the wrong person this time, but you have to explain what mistakes I made, as long as what you say is reasonable, you don't need others to take it, I, Liu Zongmin, will kneel down and let you punish me, even if I cut off my head, I won't frown!" ”

"Good!" Li Zicheng said with a smile: "I'll tell you, I asked you before you joined my command, did I ever say that you can't take property without permission?" If the goods must be given to the treasurer or the chief, and then distributed by the chief? ”

"Yes, but I didn't swallow this jade pendant privately." Liu Zongmin retorted.

"Yes, you didn't steal it, you just smashed it?" Li Zicheng sneered: "But did you give that jade pendant to someone else?" “

"Nope!" Liu Zongmin lowered his head, and then he raised his head again and retorted loudly: "But this jade pendant is not cloth, and it is not food. “

"Yes, this jade pendant can't be eaten or worn, but it can be exchanged for cloth and food!" Li Zicheng said solemnly: "Three hundred taels of silver can buy at least three hundred and twenty stones of wheat, do you think about how many people's lives can be saved?" ”

Liu Zongmin lowered his head high, he was born poor, he naturally knew the preciousness of food, for farmers food is life, no, food is more important than life, because life is only his own, but food can save many people. It's just that the habitual stubbornness made him hesitate to bow his head and admit his mistakes, Li Zicheng saw Liu Zongmin's psychology, he took something from the hands of the soldiers behind him, handed it to Liu Zongmin and asked, "Brother Liu, look at what this is?" ”

"Isn't this the bird gun used by the dog's legs when the city was broken that day?"

"Not bad." Li Zicheng sighed: "Do you say that this bird is powerful?" “

"It's awesome if it's awesome, it's not awesome if it's not awesome!" Liu Zongmin sneered: "No matter how powerful things are, they have to be called, people don't use them, no matter how powerful the guy is?" “

"Brother Liu is right, but if it wasn't for the fact that Hong Jiaotou shot the housekeeper of the Ma Mansion with an arrow that day, and asked them to block the gate of the yamen and put a gun on it, I don't know how many more people would have died before they could attack it." Speaking of this, Li Zicheng weighed the bird gun in his hand: "Just such a bird gun, it costs fifteen taels of white silver, the officers and soldiers wear armor and carry soldiers, ride high-headed horses, and have such sophisticated firearms, do we have to fight with them with wooden sticks and bamboo guns?" “

Hearing Li Zicheng say this, Liu Zongmin's face was already full of shame, he knelt on the ground and said: "Don't say anything about you who are in charge of the plate, I, Liu Zongmin, already know that I am wrong, and if you want to beat or punish, you will be at your disposal, even if you cut this guy on my neck, I am willing!" “

"Good! Yufeng, what should a person who takes property without permission do? Li Zicheng asked, and Tian Jianxiu behind him replied with some hesitation: "If you take more than 100 taels of property without permission, you will be beaten with 100 whips and inserted arrows into the camp." ”

"Well, although Brother Liu took property without permission, he didn't stuff it into his purse, and he was exempted from inserting arrows in the camp, and the hundred lashes were reduced by half, so he would be given fifty lashes! Brother Liu, are you convinced? ”

"Convincing, convincing! Even a hundred lashes are not wronged! Liu Zongmin stood up with a smile, took off his shirt, exposed his upper body covered with scars, turned his back and said, "Do it, if I want to snort, I won't be surnamed Liu!" “

Tian Jianxiu took the leather whip and beat it one by one, but Liu Zongmin was also stubborn, gritted his teeth and held back, without making a sound. When the gentry in the fence saw it, they couldn't help but be speechless.

"What a thief, is it really iron!" Lu Boqi's mouth has opened into an O-shape, and when he was a magistrate and a county official, he had not heard the cries of pain from the people under the hall when they were beaten by the board, but people like Liu Zongmin had never seen it, even if he thought about it. (To be continued.) )