On April 11 of the first year of Hongguang, Tianchang County, Fengyang Prefecture. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

It rained heavily overnight, and there was still a drizzle at dawn.

The gate of Tianchang County was wide open, and groups of Ming soldiers came out of the city gate in silence and headed southeast.

On the road outside the city, the road that had just been rained overnight was muddy, and the soldiers walked on the muddy road one foot deep and one foot shallow, and from time to time some soldiers slipped to the ground, making him covered in mud, while the other soldiers who passed by him looked indifferent and let him struggle in the mud.

In order to reduce the burden of the march, many soldiers threw away the materials they were carrying all over the road, and some even threw away the weapons in their hands.

The soldiers walked all the way, cursing the damn weather all the way, and the officers in the ranks turned a deaf ear to their swearing.

Although the rain is thin, it can be drenched after a long time, and most soldiers do not have a coat on their bodies, so they can only let the wind and rain blow.

Fortunately, the weather in April is quite warm, and there is no risk of frostbite.

Cabinet scholar Shi Kefa rode on a war horse and followed the procession silently.

Since the beginning of this month, the continuous fighting has made Shi Kefa exhausted. As a cabinet scholar and supervisor of Jiangbei, Shi Kefa, the burden on his shoulders is too heavy and heavy.

But in the past month, first Zuo Liangyu led his troops down the river to the side of the Qing monarch, and then the Manchu Yu Prince Duoduo led the army to return to Germany to the south. When Zuo Liangyu first sent out his troops, the Nanjing Imperial Court issued orders three times a day, ordering Shi Kefa to quickly send troops to block the eastward advance of the left army. Helpless, Shi Kefa had to order Huang Degong, who had the strongest combat power, to rush to Wuhu to intercept Zuo Liangyu's army.

However, the battle in Wuhu has not yet been decided, and suddenly the north came to report, and the Duoduo army set off from Guide and quickly went south, and the Ming troops along the way surrendered one after another.

After hearing the battle report, Shi Kefa was shocked, hurriedly rushed back to Yangzhou from Guazhou, and ordered all armies to assemble in Xuyi and arrange the Huai River defense line.

Originally, Xuyi had an army of 20,000 under Liu Liangzuo, but Shi Kefa was not enough, so he ordered the Gaoyou Ming army, which was originally sent to Wuhu to reinforce Huang Degong, to go to Sizhou instead. In the afternoon, Shi Kefa suddenly thought that the Ming army of the Gaoyou Department was almost on the Yangtze River, and he was afraid that he would not be able to catch up with Sizhou, so he quickly ordered them not to go to Sizhou, but to transfer back to Yangzhou.

Shi Kefa originally ordered Pisu Tuntian Daoying Tingji to lead the military weapons and money and grain to Pukou to reinforce Huang Degong, but when he got the news that the Qing troops were heading south, he hurriedly ordered Yingtingji to supervise the troops to Tianchang to respond.

After issuing many orders to transfer troops, Shi Kefa himself also rushed to Tianchang in person, so as to command the Xuyi armies nearby to resist the attack of the Qing army.

How do you know that as soon as the first day entered Tianchang, there was news that Xuyi had lost and that the Qing soldiers had crossed the Huai River. It turned out that Liu Liangzuo of Xuyi did not dare to fight with the Qing soldiers at all, and fled without a fight, giving Xuyi to the Qing army. The north gate of Yangzhou was wide open to the Qing soldiers.

Since Xuyi, which has the danger of the Huai River, has been lost, the small city of Tianchang cannot resist the Qing army, and Shi Kefa can only lead the Tianchang defenders to retreat to Yangzhou in a hurry.

There was rain in the sky, and Shi Kefa's heart was as chaotic as this drizzle.

Since Xuyi is lost, it will only take a few days for the Qing soldiers to come to the city of Yangzhou. After getting the news, Yangzhou City also fell into a panic.

Shi Kefa, who returned to Yangzhou, successively ordered to mobilize troops from all walks of life, collect grain and grass, and swore to defend Yangzhou to the death.

Dozens of heralds were sent out of Yangzhou and rushed to various places. Countless wealthy businessmen left Yangzhou with their families and fled by boat on the canal to the south of the Yangtze River.

The Qing troops moved south, and the news of Yangzhou's emergency soon crossed the Yangtze River and reached Nanjing.

In the past few days, Ren Siqi has been busy dealing with all the forces in Nanjing, and asked the cabinet for the allocation of weapons, grain and grass, but fortunately, the Daishan army is an army that has just made great achievements, and the first assistant Ma Shiying is trying to win over Ren Siqi, and the allocation of various materials is extremely timely.

In these two days, Ren Siqi participated in a great court and met Emperor Hongguang today. It was a fat man, piled like a heap of great flesh on a throne, yawning incessantly as the courtiers deliberated.

Ren Siqi saw the court of the Ming Dynasty even more, and the solemnity of the imagination was different, the whole court was as chaotic as a vegetable market, and the ministers quarreled and abused in the court, just like a shrew scolding the street, and they almost did it.

At first, Ren Siqi listened carefully, but when he heard that the courtiers were entangled with each other about trivial matters, he no longer had the heart to listen.

In the court, Ren Siqi also got acquainted with another group of people, who were the nobles of the Ming Dynasty. Headed by Xu Jiujue, Duke of Wei, including Zhu Guobi, Duke of Baoguo, Zhang Gongri, Marquis of Longping, and Zhao Zhilong, Bo of Xincheng, and a group of people.

It is said that Xu Jiujue, the Duke of Xu, should be respected, after all, he is the descendant of Xu Da. But after observation, Ren Siqi found that their leader turned out to be Xincheng Bozhao Zhilong, which made Ren Siqi quite puzzled. Under the side knock, I learned that Zhao Zhilong was the garrison of Nanjing and was in charge of the garrison of Nanjing.

These nobles were very polite to Ren Siqi, an upstart, and were not angry at all because Ren Siqi refused their banquet, but chatted with Ren Siqi enthusiastically one by one, and strongly invited him to go to Qinhuai River to eat and drink.

Xu Jiujue, the Duke of Wei, with the respect of the Duke of the Kingdom, actually hugged Ren Siqi's shoulders and called him a brother, and he had to go to the mansion as a guest.

There was only a quarrel left in the court, and at the end there was no discussion of a ugly show, and a group of courtiers were helpless against the chaotic situation.

After the next court, at the invitation of the enthusiastic nobles, Ren Siqi was gracious, and went to the Qinhuai River with them and got on a painting boat.

The owner of the painting boat is Li Xiangjun, one of the eight Yanans of Qin Huai, who is twenty years old and has amazing beauty. The sound of the piano is even more beautiful, and the nobles shook their heads and admired it.

"What does Uncle Su think of this Miss Li?" Xu Jiujue climbed Ren Siqi's shoulder, squeezed his eyebrows and asked quietly.

"The country is beautiful and fragrant, and it can be a wonderful thing in the world." Ren Siqi, who was immersed in the sound of the piano, replied casually.

"Then you have to behave well, brother, you may be able to kiss Fangze!"

Ren Siqi shook his head with a smile and was silent, now he has a lawsuit in his head, and it is helpless to come to the banquet with all the nobles, how can he still be in the mood!

Before Li Xiangjun finished a song, there was a sudden commotion on the shore, and it didn't take long for a small boat to forcibly approach the painting boat, and Li Xingjiu broke in.

"Uncle, the Qing soldiers captured Xuyi and approached Yangzhou, Director Li asked me to invite you back to the camp to discuss matters!"

"This Ren Siqi doesn't know what to do!" Zhu Guobi, the Duke of Baoguo, looked at the back of Ren Siqi, who left in a hurry, and scolded dissatisfiedly.

"That is, Yangzhou has changed, and it is very important for him to be a small Ningbo general soldier, and there is Shi Kefa to stand up to it when the sky falls." Zhang Gongri, Marquis of Longping, echoed.

"I can't say that, people rely on hard work to get an earl, so naturally they want to make meritorious contributions to a marquis or duke or something, it's understandable!" Xu Jiujue, Duke of Wei, said with a smile.

"Haha, it's up to these laymen to take care of the big things, let's get away with ourselves. Don't stop, Miss Xiangjun? Xincheng Bo Zhao Zhilong said with a smile.

The beautiful sound of the piano continued to sound, and all the nobles present pushed their cups and changed their lamps, but no one noticed that Li Xiangjun's smiling face flashed with contempt. (To be continued.) )