Taiping Mansion (now Dangtu County, Ma'anshan), more than 500 miles away from Nanjing City.

There is a small mountain in the territory of Taiping Mansion, called Daqing Mountain, the mountain is steep, the forest is deep and dense, the foot of the mountain is almost invisible to people in a radius of more than ten miles, it is not that the water and soil here do not support people, just because the world is in chaos, and there are many bandits in the deep mountains.

Not long ago, a group of bandits were stationed here, committing evil and doing business without capital, and many villages gradually moved away.

The prefect of Taiping Prefecture has also organized several purges, but it is a pity that the officials and soldiers in these years have the skill to disturb the people, but they are powerless to break the enemy, and the dignified officials and soldiers are often beaten to the ground by these hundreds of outlaws.

After a long time, the government was helpless, and they did not dare to report it to the court, so the banditry kept dragging on.

However, since last month, this group of mountain bandits has suddenly settled down, and has never gone down the mountain to rob again, I heard that they also played a banner to protect the territory and the people, and fight against the Manchurians, I don't know if it's true or not, and the bandits can also affirm their righteousness like this?

In this way, the officials of the Taiping Mansion are even more afraid, in recent years, the imperial court has suffered a big loss in this regard, the imperial court originally had the mentality that the people can use, and once indulged the civil organization of the township brave and righteous people, and jointly fought against the thieves and bandits, but did not expect that as soon as the thieves arrived, this group of rebels immediately became birds and beasts, and most of them were rebellious from the thieves, called the thieves, in fact, to help the thieves, so the court had a clear decree "to suppress the thieves with the people, in fact, to help the thieves, where the folk villagers can only make them protect the township and protect the land, not cross the border to fight the thieves."

Now the bandits in Daqingshan have actually raised the banner of fighting against the Manchurians, how not to make the Taiping officials frightened, terrible and afraid, they have not destroyed it before, and now the momentum on the mountain is flourishing day by day, I heard that thousands of people have gathered, and then to suppress it, or to ask for hardship.

It's okay, if you don't fight, you won't fight, and now the court has no time to take care of the matter of mountain bandits, as long as you don't make a big mess, it's best for everyone to get along peacefully.

Along the rugged and narrow path of Daqing Mountain, through the layers of bandits' Mingka secret sentinels, a sheep intestine trail leads straight to the top of the mountain, hugging the calf ridge.

After nearly half a year of development by mountain bandits, the ridge is also quite large-scale.

The bandits cut down trees on the mountain, filled the ditch and rubbed stones, and opened an open area on the top of this mountain that could fill thousands of people.

Standing on the top of the mountain, feeling the gentle breeze on the face, listening to the pine waves, watching the mountains and rivers show, if you don't think of the bandits' nest, this place is really a paradise.

At this time, on the top of the mountain, there were more than 500 men in tattered clothes who were waving all kinds of weapons in their hands, and they were practicing in a good manner.

Not far from everyone, it is a pine forest with lush leaves, a particularly thick pine tree stands out from the crowd, there is a stone platform the size of a table of eight immortals under the tree, more than half a person is high, there are two women standing on the platform, both are wearing tight-fitting clothes, one of the women is covered with a white veil, can not see the face, but the eyes are not owned by ordinary women, there is a heroic atmosphere of women.

The woman behind her was Zhu Yan, the princess of Zhaoren of the Ming Dynasty, who was going to Jiujiang Mansion from Nanjing City to Zuo Liangyu that day.

On the edge of the big stone, there is still a person, five big and three thick, at a glance, it is not good, this person is the mountain king Hu Damao, who took Zhu Yan and Ruxue up the mountain at the foot of the mountain more than a month ago, I saw him at this time, his hands on his waist, so happy that he couldn't close his mouth, in the blink of an eye, hundreds of bandits have such a scale and momentum as today, how unhappy he is.

The masked woman turned her head to look at Hu Damao, and there was a hint of disgust in her eyes, "What are you laughing at?" ”

Hu Damao laughed, looked at the shouting bandits in front of him, raised his eyes to look at the charming Zhu Yan, rubbed his chest and said, "Why can't I laugh, didn't you say it, whoever kills Li Zicheng will marry you, you see, I have given you the position of the big boss, when to kill him is not a matter of your words, and when that deflated grandson dies, won't you become my mother-in-law, of course I will be happy"

Zhu Yan was forcibly taken up the mountain by this Hu Damao that day, in order to save her life and her actual wishes, she had to stay on the mountain, Hu Damao was salivating for this beauty, but she was salivating all day long, Zhu Yan and Ruxue also knew that it was futile to resist, so they deduced that this marriage was a major event, and they wanted the life of their parents, and now her parents died in Li Zicheng's death, who helped her avenge this blood feud, she would marry whomever she wanted, so as to paralyze Hu Damao's non-part thoughts, and then choose the opportunity to escape.

If Hu Damao wants to force her, she will jump off this calf ridge, so Hu Damao has to endure for a while, and agrees to kill Li Zicheng, who dares, as long as she stays on the mountain for a long time, are you afraid that she will not obey.

However, later, after Zhu Yan lived in the mountains for a period of time, she suddenly came up with an idea, if she borrowed the hands of others to take revenge, why not do it herself, let go of the bandits in the mountains, wouldn't it be wasted, in the eyes of others, they are bandits, but as long as they work hard, why not train them into an official army that recovers the Ming Dynasty.

Just do it, Zhu Yan used the marriage contract as a reason, in exchange for Hu Damao's trust, and became the second leader on the mountain, Hu Damao was born in the mountains, and he had no ambitions, but because the world was not good, he had to go up the mountain and fall into the grass, and his inner thoughts were just that his wife and children were hot on the kang, ten acres of fertile land and a cow, and he was willing to marry such a flower-like girl, and he was willing to exchange his life for him, not to mention that this will be a family in the future, what is the difference between who is the lord of the mountain, so Hu Damao is more generous, simply gave up the position of the big boss.

Since then, the mountain has been changing with each passing day, although Zhu Yan is not in the army, but as the daughter of the royal family, she has also read some of the art of war, and sometimes accompanied her father to review the Ming army, just learn the same, and slowly explore.

Soon after Zhu Yan took over the position of the big boss, a big banner was erected on the mountain, and the book 'swore to kill the thieves', the purpose of which was clear at a glance, it was for Li Zicheng and the Manchurians.

Zhu Yan ordered that from now on, he was not allowed to do any more robbery and looting, nor was he allowed to be enemies of the government and the people, and he was dedicated to training soldiers and horses, and used all the money he had robbed in the past to buy food and build weapons at the bottom of the mountain.

In just one month, it has grown from more than 300 people to 2,000 people now, with tens of thousands of deniers in store, and even a lot of firearms have been purchased, and its strength has increased greatly, and it is no longer comparable to the previous bandit battalion.

Hu Damao didn't expect that there would be today's prosperity, looking at this group of soldiers and his future daughter-in-law, he couldn't even dream, but how did he know that in Zhu Yan's eyes, he was not even a bedbug.

Zhu Yanliu raised her eyebrows, glared at Hu Damao and said, "Li Zicheng is not dead yet, before he dies, I am not your mother-in-law."

Hu Damao grinned, his mouth full of big yellow teeth, "Hehe, that's not a matter of time or night, or we will worship heaven and earth tonight, ah, haha, my heart is really itchy" Saying that, he reached out to pull Zhu Yan's hand.

'Snap' Zhu Yan shook her hand and slapped it on the back of her hand, "What do you think, dare to be unreasonable to me, be careful of my military law"

Zhu Yan waved her hand, and saw more than 20 women flash out of the pine forest behind her, all dressed in strong suits, each holding a newly created weapon in their hands, surrounding the edge of the boulder, glaring at Hu Damao.

It turned out that Zhu Yan not only trained 2,000 soldiers, but also selected 100 women from the people who went up the mountain as her guards, after all, this is a bandit den, if women are not armed, it is easy to be humiliated, with these 100 female soldiers, Zhu Yan can be said to have real power.

And most of these women are fleeing, when they are desperate, they heard that there is a female head of the family in Daqingshan who has a good reputation, so they went up the mountain, among them, there are women from the mountains and villages, and there are also businessmen who have died in their families, ranging in age from eighteen to thirty, and they are trained to do so, even if they can't kill the enemy, they can still be used to scare people.

Seeing this, Hu Damao smiled wryly, took a few steps back, waved his hand again and again, "Come on, come here again, okay, I'll drink, don't worship heaven and earth, don't worship, I'll wait a few more days."

Zhu Yan smiled coldly in her heart, wait a few days, you toad won't be able to eat swan meat, and after I gather the hearts of the people on the mountain, where will there be a place for you.

"The second team, go to the field to practice" Zhu Yan waved her hand at the five hundred people in front of her, and suddenly, everyone gathered their momentum, walked to the side, sat on the ground and rested, while another team of more than five hundred people walked out of the pine forest, came to the field, and practiced with a martial artist.

Ruxue held a tray with several tea sets stacked on it, and looked up at Zhu Yan with envy, she really didn't think that the princess still had such an ability, so many bandits actually listened to her, can the princess really recover the Ming Dynasty?

"Miss, let's take a break, have a cup of tea" Ruxue lifted the tray and looked at Zhu Yan innocently.

Zhu Yan walked down the boulder, the two walked to the stone table on the side of the field, Ruxue was still in the palace, helped Zhu Yan sit down, and handed the tea set to her.

Zhu Yan lifted the white veil, lightly pursed her lips, dipped in some tea, and then put it down again, looking away, her eyes became heavy.

Ruxue was careful, knowing that she remembered the situation when Beijing City was breached, so she chuckled and comforted, "Miss, do you know? You are really amazing, with these soldiers, you are no longer afraid of Li Zicheng and Manren, Miss, you will definitely achieve your wish"

Zhu Yan didn't move, and her pair of beautiful eyes were extremely indifferent, "It's too early to say, with this person now, you can't compete with Li Zicheng at all, Ruxue, are you afraid?" ”

Ruxue blinked her eyes wide, and said with a pout, "Miss, you are not afraid, what is there to be afraid of as a little girl Ruxue"

Zhu Yan took Ruxue's hand, "You and I are like sisters, life and death depend on each other, don't think about the difference between master and servant, in a few days, I will let people go down the mountain, find you a safe family, husband and children, and live a peaceful life"

Ruxue hurriedly said, "No, where is Miss, where is Ruxue"

Zhu Yan smiled bitterly, "My road is too dangerous, not for you to walk, Li Zicheng is fleeing towards Anqing Mansion, this is an opportunity, life and death are unpredictable, I am afraid of ......"

Ruxue stubbornly shook Zhu Yan's arm, "No, Ruxue won't go anywhere, and she will be with Miss when she dies, and she will never be separated."

It's not the first time that Zhu Yan has persuaded her to leave like this, Ruxue refuses every time, and refuses to abandon her.

"Miss, I heard from the new people on the mountain that the Ming army is fighting with the Manchurians in Yangzhou, Miss, why don't you go to find that Wang Lanping together, I heard that he is dedicated to Ming, this time he went to Yangzhou to fight the Manchurians is his soldier, with his help, Miss, don't you also save some heart"

Zhu Yan smiled indifferently, "I have long seen through these courtiers of the Ming Dynasty, and I can't count on any of them, that Wang Lanping is not for the Ming Dynasty, and the loyal ones are not for the Ming Dynasty, Zuo Liangyu, Liu Liangzuo, Ma Shiying, Ruan Dacheng, Gao Jie, Liu Zeqing, all of them are selfish and self-interested people, when there is a Ming dynasty in my eyes, I don't expect them, I come by myself"

Ruxue pouted, "But it's all men who fight, can you stand it, miss?" ”

Zhu Yan's eyes sank, grabbed Ruxue's arm hard, gritted her teeth and said, "As long as you can restore the Ming Dynasty, what is the death point?"

At this time, a person came from the trail, a spy sent out from the mountain, and Zhu Yan did not work hard to run Daqingshan.

As soon as the words came out, the people who were practicing attracted a round of sideways, and they all knew that Li Zicheng was the mortal enemy of the big boss.

"What? Is the message reliable? Zhu Yan's eyes widened.

"It's true, he was chased and killed by the local people, and now in the area of Jiugong Mountain, there is a river of blood, ten rooms and nine emptiness, this is all done by Li Zicheng's soldiers"

"He died well, I didn't expect him to die in the hands of the people, it's really a retribution"

When he was talking, Hu Damao came out of nowhere, and he was dancing happily, "Okay, that kid is finally dead, save me from doing it myself, come on, has the new house been cleaned up, I want to be with the big boss tonight."

When Zhu Yan heard this, she pulled out the sharp sword at the tip of her waist and pointed at Hu Damao, "Say one more word, I'll kill you."

Hu Damao was stunned for a moment, "Hey, lady, let's say okay, as long as you kill Li Zicheng, you will marry me as a mother-in-law, you can't go back"

"Did you kill him?"

"Anyway, he's dead, you can't let him come back to life and let me kill him."

"Although the Li thief is dead, the full thief is still there, and the thief is not exhausted, I swear not to marry"

"That's not what we said at the beginning, Xiao Zhao"

Zhu Yan can't use her real name to show people, a dignified princess, how can she fall into the grass, so she used one of the Zhao characters in her title as a pseudonym and named Xiao Zhao.

"Don't call me Xiao Zhao, tell you, if you want to marry me, wait"

"Look at you, you're in a hurry, you're in a hurry, you're a good-looking girl, kill and kill at every turn, okay, I'll wait, I'll wait"

Hu Damao said so, it was nothing more than a hundred female pawns who were afraid of her, and he gradually realized a little bit these days, Shantian's people's hearts are changing, as if he has become a superfluous, how can this be done, don't lose your wife and soldiers when the time comes, forget it, who called himself so stupid at the beginning, and gave away the power, he can only endure it first, and slowly think about regaining power.

Since Zhu Yan took power on the mountain, he was immediately divided into two factions, one faction is Hu Damao's old department, that is, the original more than 300 bandits, and the other faction is all towards Zhu Yan, it is nearly 2,000 people who went up the mountain later, Hu Damao is not dominant now, and the food and silver money on the mountain are all in the hands of Zhu Yan's people, there is no money to buy people's hearts, sooner or later, he will get this girl.

Zhu Yan too, if she wasn't afraid of a fire in the mountains, she would have dragged a bandit leader like Hu Damao to the mountains to feed the wolves.

Hu Damao fled.

"Who is the False Shun Manifest?" Zhu Yan asked the messenger, although Li Zicheng is dead, but they have a lot of troops, and there are hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses, it is impossible to disperse, there must be a successor.

"His nephew Li Guo"

Zhu Yan put the sword back into its sheath, "Is there any movement over there in Yangzhou?" How's the war going? ”

"According to the brother detective, the official army has been confronting the Manchus and has not started a war"

Zhu Yan snorted and laughed, "People who are greedy for life and afraid of death, all thieves have fought in Yangzhou, and they are so cowardly and incompetent."

Immediately, Zhu Yan raised her voice and said, "Listen, the drill is unbreakable for a day, you don't go up the mountain to be a bandit who is scolded by the world, you are the people of the Ming Dynasty, you are chased by thieves and thieves all the way, it is they who let your family be ruined, it is these people who are in chaos tomorrow, the rise and fall of the country, the husband is responsible, although I am a woman, I can't bear to see this country ruined, one day, I will take you to make contributions and be a hero."