But at this time, those knights also saw the two of them, and after a whistle, they beat their horses and rushed over here, and the young man saw that the other party was coming too fast, so he hurriedly grabbed the young man and said: "Seventh brother, we only have two legs, they have four legs, how can they run away, or don't run!" ”

The young man was stunned for a moment, but he reacted and understood what the young man meant. As soon as www.biquge.info the two of them stopped, they came to ride and caught up with them, and surrounded them. At this time, the distance was closer, and the two saw that those Hu cavalrymen were all braided and tattooed, and their faces were hideous, and their legs were even more frightened, and they trembled like chaff.

The Han knight at the head was very kind, he arched his hand and smiled: "Don't be afraid, these are the generals of my family, although they look fierce, they are not bad people." I waited for the military order, and there was a tolerance to go to Tongzhou, but I was not too familiar with this road, and asked the two of us to show me the way! ”

That Wang Qi is older than the young man, and when Huang Taiji led the troops to break the border in the first year of Chongzhen, he already knew what was going on, and vaguely remembered that those who burned, killed and looted were dressed like this, and he was already frightened when he remembered the original experience, and he couldn't say a complete sentence in a trembling voice. The young man was still young at that time, and he was a foreigner, but he was a little bolder, and when he saw that the knight spoke very kindly, unlike the fierce and vicious men he saw on weekdays, he had the courage to sing a fat man: "If you go back to the military master, here is only a dozen miles away from Tongzhou, as long as you go west along this road, pass a willow forest, and then turn north from two Zhuangzi, and cross the canal from a pontoon bridge." ”

"Still want to cross the river?" The knight frowned, he was originally from Shaanxi Liukou, followed Bai Wang to vote for Liu Cheng's promotion, and became a thousand generals in a few years, this time after Bai Wang's army landed from Tianjin, in order to avoid Tongzhou being on guard, he immediately sent Acton to lead the cavalry directly to Tongzhou to control the warehouses there. Since Acton's men were charming and unfamiliar with the language, he sent a sentinel to Acton's side to the front. He knew that this was related to his future rich future, but he was afraid that something would go wrong and delay time. After thinking about it for a while, he smiled at the young man and said, "This little brother, I have an errand on my body, and I can't delay, so please lead us on a journey!" Speaking of this, he touched his waist, took out a few silver coins and shook them in front of the young man: "I won't let you run in vain this trip, as long as you bring the road, these will be yours!" The young man hurriedly stretched out his hand to catch it, and found that it was a few silver dollars, although the Ming Dynasty had not minted silver dollars, but many gold and silver coins minted by Spain and other countries had flowed into the country through trade, although the young man was not very old, but he had been fighting on the canal wharf for two or three years, and he also knew that this was a kind of coin. After weighing it for a while, there were about two or three taels, and his heart was overjoyed, he looked at the young man on the side, gritted his teeth and said: "Master Jun, it's not difficult to show you the way, but my mother at home is still waiting, can you let my friend go back and let me know, so as not to worry my mother?" ”

The knight was stunned for a moment, and said with a smile: "I didn't expect you to be a filial son, why not?" ”

"Thank you, Master Jun!" The young man sang a fat song to the knight, then turned around and whispered to the young man: "Seventh brother, I will lead the way for these military masters, you can bring this money to the family for me, so that they don't have to worry!" ”

When Wang Qi heard the young man say this, how could he not know that the other party also had the intention of helping him get out, he was moved in his heart, and hurriedly took the silver coins and said in a low voice: "Brother, take care, I will definitely bring these silver coins!" ”

The knight was a shrewd man, and he couldn't see the young man's intentions, but he just watched with a smile on the sidelines, and when the two of them had finished speaking, he shouted to his subordinates: "You bring a horse and give this little brother to ride!" ”

Seeing this, the knight laughed, and lifted him from the ground and put him on the horse's back: "You hold the reins with your hands, and clamp your legs around the belly!" ”

The young man sat down on horseback as the knight had said, and then the two horsemen caught him in the middle, and ran, at first he was quite timid, but after running for a while he found that the mount under his crotch was very stable, and the trees beside the road were rapidly falling backwards, and his heart was indescribably happy, and even the soldiers on both sides were not as terrible as they were at the beginning.

"How? Is horseback riding happy? The knight laughed.

"Well, it's the first time I've ridden a horse in my life, so where are we going?"

"Go to see our general first, and then you take us to Tongzhou!" The knight smiled suddenly, "Are you trying to sacrifice yourself so that companion can escape?" ”

The young man was distracted by the knight's words, his face turned red, and he said in his mouth: "Brother Wang's daughter-in-law has a big belly and can't do without him, but my father and mother have four sons, and there is no shortage of me-!" ”

"Okay, it's a lot of courage at a young age, it's a man!" The knight gave a thumbs up: "What do you call it?" ”

"My surname is Li, and my neighbors all call me a dog, and I haven't raised a tuba yet!"

"Hmm!" The knight didn't think much of it, at that time, ordinary people generally didn't name underage men, and usually called them by cheap names such as stones, cats, dogs, etc., which were easier to feed, and they were officially named when they became adults, and some poor people simply called them like this all their lives. He smiled and patted the young man's shoulder twice with a horsewhip: "Li Gou'er, your seventh brother Wang is not blessed in life, you have done a good job of this mission, at least you can earn a daughter-in-law to go back!" ”

Li Gou'er responded ignorantly, at this time the group had arrived at the willow forest on the riverside, only to see that the riverbank was full of strong men and war horses wearing iron armor, a rough look at no less than a thousand horses, Li Gou'er had never seen such a scene, and was immediately frightened and couldn't close his mouth, the knight and the sentry exchanged the password, and led him to the willow forest.

Acton sat on a bed of beard, his upper body was naked, beads of sweat were flowing down his forehead, like a waterfall, he wiped the sweat from his face, and sighed: "I can't imagine that it is so hot here, it is better to Liaodong, it is very cool!" ”

"Subordinates, see your lord!" The knight saluted Acton with his hands crossed and said in a deep voice: "My subordinates have already found a guide, and this place is only a dozen miles away from Tongzhou City!" ”

"It's so close!" Acton was overjoyed when he heard this, stood up and asked Li Gou'er, who was kneeling on the ground, in unskilled Chinese, "Are you familiar with this road?" ”

Li Gou'er knew that this shirtless Hu man was the "general" in the knight's mouth, so he didn't dare to raise his head, and said in a low voice: "The villain is begging for food on this canal, and he has to go to Tongzhou once or twice a month!" ”

"Good, good!" Acton smiled and said, "You are so good that you lead the way, and I will have a great reward after the deed is completed!" After that, he said to the knight: "Mr. He Qian, this young man will follow you and lead the way in the front!" ”

"Yes, sir!"

"Someone, blow the trumpet! Give me armor! ”

By the time Acton was dressed, the queue outside the willow forest had already been completed. Surrounded by his own soldiers, Acton came to the front of the ranks, and saw the motionless sergeants, all wearing iron armor and holding bows and spears, to be equipped with knives, like a group of fierce beasts waiting to be preyed, nodded with satisfaction, and whispered to the cronies behind him: "Okay, there seems to be iron in everyone's eyes, this is the strong man in my beggar list!" ”

The more than 2,000 beggars he brought with him this time were the elites he had selected from the various ministries at the beginning, and according to custom, they were changed to the same surname as him, all of whom were well-armed, and they were listed behind him like wings. After Acton finished watching the formation, he said in a deep voice: "This time I went south, I was ordered by Lord Jinong to take the world. When we go out hunting and shooting bears and tigers, we must be disciplined, and if we open our bows and set fire to them, and disturb them with them, we must be put to death immediately. This time is also general, after the city is broken, the teams are stationed at the city gate, those who enter the city without orders are beheaded, and those who are reckless are beheaded by the army commander, and the general is beheaded by the commander, and the thousand are all beheaded, do you all understand? Speaking of this, he paused slightly, and his tone became gentle: "This Tongzhou is the end of the canal, and all the treasures that the world pays tribute to the great emperor are hoarded here, not to mention billions?" After entering the city, each person will be rewarded with two brocades, 20 catties of tea, 10 catties of salt, and double the salary and rations! ”

Jingshi, Qianqing Palace.

Chongzhen lay on the bed, his chest rising and falling with the sound of rhythmic breathing, and the candlelight shining through the mosquito net on his face, looking like a young man with a bit of bookishness. The little eunuch on night duty sat in the corner of the room, taking a nap for a while, and the faint cigarette smoke wafted out of the bronze incense burner with the gilded beast head, filling the room with an intoxicating aroma.

Maybe it was because he was a little stuffy, Chongzhen turned over, and made an unknown sound in his mouth, and the little eunuch on duty at night woke up and looked carefully at the bed, but Chongzhen didn't wake up, turned over and fell asleep again. The little eunuch breathed a sigh of relief, patted his chest gently, and prepared to continue to doze off. Suddenly, there was a rush of footsteps outside, and then the door was violently pushed open, and a figure rushed in.

"What people!" The little eunuch's sharp voice broke the calm night, but he quickly recognized the identity of the person who came, and hurriedly knelt down in fear: "Old man, ancestor, the slave didn't see it clearly!" ”

"You wait for the emperor to get up immediately!" Wang Chengen's face was very ugly, he flicked his sleeves impatiently, came to the side of the bed and hesitated, but gently shook the sleeping Chongzhen, and said in the voice as gentle as possible: "Emperor, Emperor!" ”

"Wang Daban, what's going on?" Chongzhen threw the wet towel that wiped his face to the little eunuch on the side, and at this time he was completely awake, and an anxious crimson appeared on his slightly pale face.

"Emperor, something happened in Tongzhou!" Wang Chengen said in a low voice, he knew Chongzhen's character, but now that time is pressing, any delay will only make things out of control: "A team of men and horses occupied Tongzhou and posted an official document, saying that it is difficult to clear the monarch's side, and it will be difficult to Yasukuni!" ”

"Qingjun's side? Yasukuni disaster? These two words immediately touched Chongzhen's sensitive nerves, and the green tendons on his forehead immediately jumped: "Who is so bold, when did it happen?" His voice suddenly became high-pitched, and the eunuchs and court ladies fell to their knees in fright, lest they become the target of his anger.

"Last night's incident, I heard that it was a team of Hu Qi! The specific situation is not very clear, Jinyiwei has already sent someone to investigate strictly! Speaking of this, Wang Chengen's voice suddenly became low: "But from the people who fled back, it seems that this matter is aimed at Yang Wen's weakness!" ”

"Yang Wen is weak?" Chongzhen clenched his teeth, as if he was about to chew these words and swallow them, he shouted in a low voice: "Spread my will, let Wu Mengming step up his investigation, and he must get the definite news before noon tomorrow!" ”

Chongzhen spent the rest of the night in complete anxiety, and the news kept coming out like flowing water, but most of the news was scattered, messy, and even contradictory. It was not until noon the next day that more accurate and complete information came in a systematic manner: it turned out that two days earlier an army had landed in Tianjinwei, and then unexpectedly occupied this port located in the deepest part of the Bohai Bay, and after occupying the port, this army quickly marched towards Tongzhou, and arrived in Tongzhou yesterday evening, and easily occupied the city. After occupying the city, the commander posted a proclamation, claiming that it was an army under the command of the Duke of Yue, and claiming that it was to get rid of the traitorous ministers who were entrenched in the Shengshang's side and framed the former first assistant Yang Sichang, and that there were already traces of Hu Qi around several county towns south of Beijing.

"What a Yang Wenweak! What a Liu Cheng! Chongzhen's gold-encrusted handle clenched the throne so tightly that it almost shattered. The ministers kneeling in the hall all looked terrified, and of course the most frightened was Lu Boqi, the secretary of the military department who had just entered the cabinet.

"Death penalty, capital crime!" Lu Boqi kowtowed vigorously, he never expected Liu Cheng to suddenly come to such a hand, the merits he had obtained as a partner with Liu Cheng in the past have now become a crime, at this time, he didn't know whether it was fear or resentment, or both.

Chongzhen snorted coldly and didn't speak, he was still hesitating what to do with the minister who was kneeling on the ground and trembling, intellectually he understood that in fact Lu Boqi was not responsible for this matter, but his feelings drove him to be angry with the other party. At this moment, Hou Sui raised his head and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that this matter should have nothing to do with Lord Lu, otherwise he should not be in the capital now!" ”

Hou Sui's admonition made Chongzhen's reason triumph, and he took a deep breath and said, "Mr. Lu, I forgive you for your innocence!" ”

"Guilty minister, thank you, Your Majesty!" Lu Boqi kowtowed two more times, and his whole body trembled up and down, as if he had just climbed up from hell. He knew very well that he was not out of danger yet, and he had to do something to save himself, so he thought for a while: "Your Majesty, Tongzhou is the end of the canal, and the officials and concubines of the Beijing division are all dependent on it, so we must quickly take it back and ensure the safety of the granary!" ”