"Liu Cheng, Liu Cheng?"

Min Min's soft voice pulled Liu Cheng back from fantasy to reality, he turned his head and saw that the girl was looking at him with a strange gaze, Liu Cheng touched his face with some embarrassment and asked, "Is there anything on my face?" ”

Min Min shook his head: "No." “

"Then why are you looking at me like that?"

Min Min sighed: "Liu Cheng, I thought I knew you very well, but just now I felt that I didn't know anything about you." ”

"How can you say that?" Liu Cheng laughed: "Who else can I be?" Liu Cheng, the general of the Ming Dynasty. ”

"Not really!" Min Min stubbornly retorted: "Neither our chieftains of the Dzungar people nor the generals of the Ming Dynasty will be so good to a craftsman!" “

"So that's what happened!" Liu Cheng smiled: "Min Min Beiji, don't you think those bird guns have changed the times?" But who made those birds? Aren't they craftsmen like Master Liu? If I want more and better birds, shouldn't I be nicer to the craftsmen? “

"You have a point!" Min Min lowered his head and thought for a while, and suddenly laughed: "Don't call me Min Min Beiji in the future, just call me Min Min, I won't call you General Liu, Lord Liu." “

"It's good!" Liu Cheng said with a smile.

At this time, a horse galloped in the distance, and Liu Cheng realized that something might happen - in the Ming army, war horses are very precious, and there is no important thing to do without such a horsepower.

"General, please go back to the city quickly, there is an urgent envoy in Yanzhou!" Hao Shaoqi knelt on the ground, his swarthy face already covered with sweat - just like the black horse. Liu Cheng nodded, whipped hard on the horse's buttocks, and shouted loudly: "Hurry back to the city!" “

Chaoyi Castle.

"Lord Liu!" As soon as the messenger saw Liu Cheng, he hurriedly threw himself to the ground, kowtowed twice in a row, and shouted, "Lord Liu." The thieves have captured the city of Juzhou, Lord Lu and the head of my family have fallen into the hands of the thieves, the situation is extremely critical, please hurry up and send troops! ”

"Speak slowly, speak clearly!" Although he was anxious, Liu Cheng still lowered the speed of his speech, he knew very well that as the master, he must show calmness and composure, so that his subordinates would feel that they had a backbone to rely on and would not panic.

The messenger was affected by Liu Cheng's composure, and his words became slower and more logical. It turned out that just two days ago, a group of thieves captured the city of Juzhou, Lu Zhizhou, Ma Ziyi, He Qianhu, Liu Juren and many gentry in the city were captured by the thieves.

"Captured by thieves? How could it be so fast? Liu Cheng asked, "I remember that I repaired the city wall of Dunzhou by the way before leaving?" “

"The villain is not in the city, the thieves will first send the inner should be mixed into the city, and then the inside and outside should be combined to break the city!"

"Inside and outside?" Liu Cheng sighed, Lu Boqi, who was thinking about returning to his hometown all day long, did not look like a capable minister who defended the land, but it was too wasteful to break the city for others so simply. I also considered whether to find a way to get the other party to Puzhou, Shanxi Province on the other side of the Yellow River as the prefect, and continue to cooperate happily together. But looking at the current situation, even if this guy can save his life from the hands of the thieves, he can't get away with the crime of losing the city.

"Exactly. It was the Spring Festival that day, and the gang of thieves disguised themselves as monkey entertainers and infiltrated the city, and the result was—"

"Isn't it that the veterans who defend the city are fascinated by watching the monkey show? I didn't even search people's bodies carefully, and I brought in all the weapons? Liu Cheng asked with a sneer.

"Your Excellency is really like a god!"

"I knew something was going to happen to those bastards sooner or later!" Liu Cheng spat and looked at the messenger who was kneeling on the ground. I felt that the more I looked at it, the more familiar it became, so I asked, "What's your name, and why do I think I've seen you somewhere?" “

"Adults have a good memory, the villain's surname is Qi Xingjiu, and everyone else calls the villain Qi Jiu!" The messenger sneered and said, "I was originally on an errand in the Ma Mansion, and there was a villain who followed the housekeeper to set fire to Qianhu City, and I once met the adults in the Jinglun Hall. “

"It's you!" Liu Cheng recalled the past and laughed: "I didn't burn you by the river that day, but this time I escaped from the thieves, it seems that your luck is really good, Qi Jiu, Qi Jiu, didn't you say that you have nine lives?" “

"That's what your lord said!" Qi Jiu said with a smile: "The little one has no other ability, even if he has a bright leg and feet, he is stealing a melon and a jujube, and he has never been caught!" “

"What about the city of a thousand households? And what about Ma Rencheng and Brother Ma? “

As soon as Young Master Ma heard the news that Fucheng had been captured by thieves, he took the servants of the Pitang Bureau to transport the valuables in the factory to Qianhu City, but there was too much food to move for a while, and most of them remained in the granary of the Pitang Bureau. There is Du Guoying and Lord Du left behind in the city of Qianhu, and the villain was very fine when he left. “

"Well, it's okay, Ma Gongzi has done a good job, and the grain thieves can't move away for a while!" Liu Cheng breathed a sigh of relief, what he was most afraid of was that the armor, weapons, firearms and cloth in the factory warehouse would fall into the hands of the thieves, which were much more valuable than food, and the improvement of the thieves' combat effectiveness was immediate. He took a deep breath and asked one of his biggest concerns: "What about the laborers?" How are they doing now? “

Qi Jiu hesitated for a moment and replied, "The villain is in a hurry, and he is not clear about the situation of the laborers. ”

"Well, you've worked hard all the way, get the reward money and go down to rest!" didn't get the answer he wanted, Liu Cheng's face became gloomy, in fact, what he cared about most was not the goods in the factory, anyway, most of the equipment and craftsmen had already migrated to Chaoyi, even if they were snatched away by the thieves, they could still be rebuilt, and the thousands of well-trained laborers were another matter, which Liu Cheng spent more than a year in Yanzhou A little bit of painstaking operation, and it was also the biggest capital for his next plan, if this gang of thieves was taken away, I don't know how long it will take to build up the center of gravity. Thinking of this, Liu Cheng's gaze turned to Du Ruhu on the side, his nephew happened to take a hundred people to relocate the equipment a few days ago, but fortunately he bumped into it. Du Ruhu sensed Liu Cheng's inquiry, and said in a deep voice: "My lord, although the city of Qianhu is not big, the city walls have been repaired, gunpowder and various instruments are enough, although Guoying only has a hundred people on hand. But with the old and weak people left behind in the city and the people brought by Ma Gongzi, there should be four or five hundred people, although the thieves are insufficient, there must be more than enough self-defense, adults don't need to worry! “

"Hmm!" Liu Cheng nodded, and Du Ruhu's words gave him a reassurance: "Okay, you go and gather all the departments immediately and prepare to return to the aid of Juzhou City." “

"Yes, sir!"

At this time, there was a commotion outside. Liu Cheng was about to go out to take a look, when the door was slammed open, and Min Min rushed in with a fragrant breeze, and said sharply: "What's the matter, Liu Cheng, why are you hiding from me?" “

Seeing the person who came clearly, Liu Yuan's anger suddenly dropped, and he said with a smile on his face: "Where is there hiding from you, it's just that there is an urgent military situation to discuss countermeasures with Master Du." ”

Min Min glanced at Du Ruhu, and his face became serious: "Is that the messenger just now?" ”

"Exactly. The city was broken by the thieves, and the prefect Lu, who had fallen into the hands of the thieves! Liu Cheng nodded, the three hundred Mongolian cavalry who came back this time must go together, and there is nothing to hide from the other party.

Seeing that Liu Cheng did not hide it. Min Min's face looked a lot better, and she casually handed the horse whip to Liu Chengdao: "Since that's the case, let's go immediately." “

"Immediately?" Liu Cheng was stunned when he heard this, and he realized that Min Min was already wearing a suit of armor. This is a kind of placket robe at that time, and the waist is tied with a narrow belt, which is a type of military clothing. It is usually worn on the outside of the armor, and the cold light emitted by the cold wrought iron armor inside can be seen from the neckline. Apparently the girl was already fully armed before she came in.

"My cavalry has been assembled, and it is at the gate of the West Gate." Min Min's face was full of anger: "The thieves have just broken through the city, and while they are not on a firm foothold, they will be caught off guard!" “

"Minmin!" Liu Cheng smiled bitterly: "Then Qi Jiu came in a hurry, how many troops did the thieves have, who was the leader, you only had three hundred people, if you rushed into the army, wouldn't it be too risky?" Let's wait a while, and when my men are ready to stop, let's go out together!" “

Min Min laughed: "Liu Cheng, our Mongols are not fighting more than people, but attacking them unprepared, the thieves have just broken the city, I didn't expect us to come so fast, although I have few soldiers, we can also break the thieves; Even if the thieves are on guard, but one person and two horses, the advance and retreat are up to me, if it is advantageous, it will fight, and if it is not profitable, it will retreat, so what is there to worry about? “

"My lord, what Beji said is good!" Du Ruhu on the side persuaded: "At present, there are many hungry people everywhere, if the thieves use the corn accumulated in the city to give relief, the 100,000 people will only be a matter of ten months." The thief knows how to break the city, and he is by no means an idle person, if he is allowed to win the crowd again, he is afraid-"

"Ruhu, you don't have to say it!" Liu Cheng interrupted Du Ruhu's exhortation, he turned to the Mongolian girl and said, "You go to the West Gate and wait for me first, I'll come over as soon as I pack up!" ”

"Okay, I'll wait for you at the West Gate!" Min Min smiled and tapped Liu Cheng's palm lightly, turned around and went out. Du Ruhu hurriedly admonished: "My lord, why don't you let me go with Min Min Beji, you can gather the brigade as a backup." ”

"No!" Liu Cheng shook his head: "These Mongolian cavalry are the new people, I'm afraid that you won't be able to move if you go, and when you go to Dunzhou, you not only have to fight, but also have a lot of things to contact with the local gentry, these are not as good as me." And I can't match you in the march, so it's important for you to stay and gather the troops as soon as possible. ”

Du Ruhu nodded, as Liu Cheng said, those Jungar cavalry are not the common volunteers and soldiers in the Han army in the past dynasties, and the movement that can be called often depends on the personal relationship with its commander, from the current point of view, the relationship between Liu Cheng and Min Min is definitely better than that of Du Ruhu and Min Min, and when he goes to Dunzhou, he must take care of the relationship with the local gentry, and Du Ruhu and Liu Cheng are even more out of reach in this regard. Liu Cheng looked at the other party's still somewhat worried face, and said with a smile: "Don't worry too much, if the situation is not good, at most you can run into the city of Qianhusuo, anyway, there is gunpowder and food in it, and it is always no problem until you come to save me!" “

"Military affairs, don't joke!" Du Ruhu said: "Five days at the least, seven days at most, the last general must lead the troops to arrive!" “

"That's good!" Liu Cheng laughed: "You immediately find that Zhao Laosan for me, I can use him this time!" “

Simon.

Like most county towns in the Ming Dynasty, there was a small open space inside the west gate of the court, which had two advantages: first, it was convenient for people and livestock to enter and exit the city gate, so as to avoid blockages; Second, during the siege of the city, it is convenient for the army defending the city to maneuver, and it also prevents the rocket oil bombs fired from outside the city from igniting the houses and causing fires. After a long time, this vacant land spontaneously formed a small market, and some vendors sold some porridge, tea and water to the merchants, and the locals called it Ximen Market. At this time, Ximenji has long lost its usual scene, everywhere is the Mongolian cavalry wrapped in woolen wool and wearing armor inside and their mounts, the air is filled with the peculiar smell of cattle, the ground is full of horse manure, and the pedestrians are all covering their noses and walking quickly.

Zhao Youcai looked at the scene in front of him, nervous and excited, he had worked very hard under Liu Cheng these days, and the more he knew about Liu Cheng's grand plan, the more fortunate he felt about his previous decision. Although this old man Zhao doesn't understand any political science, he also knows that if he wants to be prosperous and rich, in addition to following a boss, he has to follow early, just take the Taizu of this dynasty as an example, if he follows the Taizu in Haozhou City, even if he is a horse-leading, the founding of the country can at least be a marquis; But if the Battle of Poyang Lake comes to seek refuge with Grandpa Tai again, I'm afraid it would be good to have a hereditary guard commander; If the city of Beijing is broken, and the Tartar Emperor flees north to the desert and comes to take refuge again, if he is lucky, he will be a vassal official, and if he is unlucky, he may lose his head. Although he doesn't have the same good luck as Ma Rencheng, he can at least be regarded as a second person.

Liu Cheng didn't know what Zhao Youcai had in mind, so he asked straight to the point: "Do you know how to ride a horse?" “

"No!" Zhao Youcai shook his head and said with a smile: "The villain has a fame, and he has always sat in a sedan chair on weekdays!" “

"Can't ride a horse? That's a bit of a hassle! Liu Cheng sighed, reached out and patted Zhao Youcai's shoulder: "Then I have to work hard for you along the way!" ”

Dozens of minutes later, Zhao Youcai understood what Liu Cheng meant by "hard work", and several fierce Mongolian cavalry threw him into a camel sedan like a sack. Master Zhao has not seen this livestock before, but it is one thing to see it, and it is another thing to ride, the smell of this livestock is terrifying, and it can smoke people six or seven feet away, plus it is bumpy up and down, and before walking two miles away, Master Zhao vomited out the lunch that had just been out of his stomach, and when he camped and ate at night, he had almost vomited bile, and he was more than half a breath of breath than the dead. At this time, naturally no one took care of him Master Zhao, Zhao Youcai finally rolled off the camel's back, and lay down for a while before he had a little strength, but everywhere he could see was Mongolians gathered around the fire drinking milk tea and nibbling on jerky, and he didn't know what to do for a while. (To be continued.) )

PS: Routinely ask for a monthly pass, ask for a red envelope!