Kaifeng was known as Tokyo and Bianjing in ancient times (also known as Daliang and Bianliang), referred to as Bian, and was known as "the ancient capital of the Ten Dynasties" and "the capital of the Seven Dynasties".

If you talk about the degree of wealth, if Kaifeng in Henan is the second, there is no place to dare to say the first, so the Ming Dynasty Kaifeng prefect court is awarded the third rank, at this moment Kaifeng prefect Cen Zhi is accompanied by Pang Gang, behind them are hundreds of Kaifeng officials and mighty soldiers and horses.

For the arrival of Pang Gang's army, all Kaifeng officials, including Cen Zhi, were welcomed, when a few days ago, when the news of Liukou coming to Kaifeng Mansion came, the whole Kaifeng was like boiling water, and it boiled at once, and the poor people who poured into Kaifeng reached seventy or eighty thousand in a few days, and the pressure brought by the sudden influx of so many people into Kaifeng Mansion was obvious.

Whether it was food, accommodation, public security and other issues, Cen Zhi was very busy, but what frightened him the most was that there were less than 5,000 troops in Kaifeng City, and it was indeed too difficult to rely on this force to hold Kaifeng City. Fortunately, after those rogues broke through Qixian, they retreated after a few days, this news made everyone happy and shocked, could it be that these rogues found out in conscience, or collectively stupid, and let go of the rich Kaifeng City.

However, soon news came that General Dingguo led an army from Luoyang, and they were originally confused and understood that the Liukou was afraid of General Dingguo's army. This is the matter of Cen Zhi leading all the officials of Kaifeng Mansion out of the city to welcome Pang Gang and his army.

Cen Zhi, who was riding a horse and accompanying Pang Gang, said to Pang Gang: "General Pang galloped in the starry night and galloped to Kaifeng, which shows the hospitality, and the officials and the people of Kaifeng are grateful. ”

Pang Gang stared at the prefect of Kaifeng, who was slightly fat and looked like a rich man in the countryside, but he didn't dare to underestimate it in his heart, it was this person who was not good-looking, and in history he led the Kaifeng army and people to resist Li Zicheng's army of more than 100,000 people for more than a month, and gave heavy casualties to the Liukou, and later if it was not really outnumbered, Kaifeng City would not have been destroyed in a flood after being occupied by the Liukou.

Pang Gang smiled faintly: "Lord Cen has won the award, I have long heard that Lord Cen is an upright official and has managed Kaifeng Mansion in an orderly manner, but this is beyond the reach of this official." ”

Pang Gang praised Cen Zhi so much, but Cen Zhi didn't dare to accept it, if it was someone else, it would be fine, but who didn't know that this huge man next to him is now a veritable king of Shandong, he and his father-in-law Wei firmly controlled every grass and tree in Shandong in the same year, and now the imperial court's control over Shandong has become useless, and Shandong has developed under the leadership of this pair of Weng sons-in-law, and even Henan has a lot of displaced people who have gone to Shandong this year, can such a person see him as a simple martial artist? The answer is clearly no.

While speaking, the group entered Kaifeng City, entered Kaifeng City from the West Gate, and Pang Gang immediately saw a very unforgettable scene for him.

As the ancient capital of the Ten Dynasties, Kaifeng's wealth and prosperity are beyond doubt, as evidenced by the luxurious mansions that can be seen everywhere in the city, the numerous princes' official residences, the numerous Qinglou taverns, and the rows of archways on the streets and alleys.

Pang Gang and others walked along the long east-west street centered on Dengshikou Street, and saw that both sides were full of colorful buildings, facing each other from north to south, and the Zhumen embroidered households, painting and carving beams. Most of the curtains upstairs are the Xun family, noble relatives, eunuchs and gentry dependents, and the rental price of each colorful building is hundreds of dollars a night. In terms of the material of the lamp, there are those that burn beads, those that are filled with ink wire, those that are painted and piled with ink, those that are five-color yarn, those that are bright, those that are bright, those that are paper, those that are made of wheat oranges, and those that are grassy. In terms of form, there are flowers, birds, beasts, insects, fish, and marquees...... Intriguing. As for the fireworks, they are also full of variety and amazing. All kinds of bands, all kinds of juggling, playing all night. In addition, here and there, there is a team of boys in colorful clothes and drumming, from late to dawn, called Taiping Drum, all night long men and women crowded, crowds of people.

But at the same time, in those alleys, there were countless refugees fleeing the famine, all of them were ragged, with yellow faces and thin muscles, on one side of the Zhumen wine and meat smell, on the other hand were refugees struggling on the death line, this strong contrast made Pang Gang shake his head.

Such a strong gap is enough to make the vast majority of refugees have strong hostility towards the government and the gentry and wealthy families, but no one in Kaifeng Prefecture is aware of this danger, and perhaps even if they do, they will not care.

The rolling torrent drove into Kaifeng City, the head was a column of cavalry wearing stainless steel light armor, the shining armor reflected people's eyes in the sun, the red cloak on the cavalry looked so energetic, behind the cavalry was a soldier wearing stainless steel chain mail, they drove into the city in high spirits, and finally the baggage battalion and artillery battalion, when hundreds of artillery guns drove into the city, everyone was stunned, so many artillery even if the whole Kaifeng City added up to not so much, And these swarthy cannons are remarkable at a glance.

At this time, the streets in the west of Kaifeng were crowded with people, and people were vying to see this army that had never been seen before.

In the restaurant, a scholar asked another person who looked like a scholar, "Eh, dare to ask Brother Tai, where did these soldiers and horses come from, they look quite stylish." ”

"You don't even know that?" Another scholar looked surprised, "This is the army of General Pang, the general soldier of Shandong, who has just returned from a great victory in Luoyang, and heard that Kaifeng was trapped by thieves and specially rushed to the rescue." ”

"Really? I'll have to take a good look at that. ”

Not only these two scholars, but countless Luoyang people on the street ran out to see the excitement.

"Is that the man and horse of General Dingguo?"

"Eh, the firecrackers on the backs of those military masters are really long, but why don't they bring firestrings?" This is a slightly knowledgeable person.

"Wow, these military masters are really mighty, all of them are covered in armor, and they look really strong." This is the voice coming from a green building on the side of the road.

"That's, didn't you see that as soon as General Pang came, the rogues were scared away?"

"Look, look, that flag says, the right governor of Nanjing, the general army of Shandong, the commander of Qingzhou, the general of Dingguo, what a long official title."

Looking at the bustling crowd on the street, and then at the countless homeless people in the alley, Pang Gang sighed slightly in his heart and asked: "Lord Cen, there are so many homeless people in Kaifeng, this official has come all the way, why haven't you seen the government open a porridge shop to help the victims?" ”

Cen Zhi's old face turned slightly red, and he replied helplessly: "The huge people don't know, there is not much food in Kaifeng Mansion, although the official has opened some porridge shops, but there are really many monks and little porridge, but the granary will be exhausted in two days, and the official really has no choice." ”

Pang Gang sneered: "No, the huge Kaifeng City, is it possible that the porridge shop has only been open for two days and the food has run out?" Didn't Lord Cen think that this official was a military attaché, so it was easy to deceive? ”

It is no wonder that Pang Gang suspects that Kaifeng City is an important town in the Ming Dynasty, and there must be a lot of grain reserves, otherwise if the imperial court has something important, the local government will not be able to get a little food, wouldn't it be bad.

Seeing Pang Gang's suspicious gaze, Cen Zhi was anxious, "Huge people, there is naturally food in the official warehouse in Kaifeng, but you also know that these grains are life-saving food, and whoever dares to move without the will of the imperial court is a big crime of beheading!" ”

Seeing the angry Cen Zhi, Pang Gang also began to believe a little, he shook his head while pointing to a pair of eager eyes in the alley next to him and said: "Lord Cen, have you thought about what the consequences will be if these hungry people don't eat in a few days, it's not Pang Mou who scares you, if you don't hurry up and open a warehouse to help the victims, and provoke them, these people are another group of rogues!" ”

Cen Zhichang sighed: "How can the lower officials not know, but at this time, none of the rich gentry in the city are willing to contribute, so what can the official do?" ”

"What can I do?" Pang Gang sneered: "I'm afraid that if you don't wait for the fifty or sixty thousand disaster victims in the city to riot, those old men in the city don't know what is powerful." ”

Although Pang Gang's words were not polite, Cen Zhi was not angry, but just smiled bitterly and shook the horse to the side

For the arrival of Pang Gang, both the poor and the rich in Kaifeng City expressed a great welcome, and that night a group of officials headed by Cen Zhi, the prefect of Kaifeng Prefecture, together with many wealthy gentry in Kaifeng, held a feast in the Yamen of Kaifeng Prefect to welcome this hero who came from afar to help Kaifeng.

When night fell, the prefect's yamen was crowded with large and small sedan chairs, countless sedan chair drivers squatted in the corner to brag, but the backyard was brightly lit, dozens of tables were placed in the courtyard, dozens of servants and maids were busy serving tea and water, and all kinds of dishes were brought up like water.

Pang Gang sat at one of the tables, and Kaifeng Governor Cen Zhi sat on his left, of course, the people at Pang Gang's table were all people with heads and faces in Kaifeng Mansion, but Pang Gang was not in the mood to know them, and after the introduction, he turned his head and forgot all about it.

After the banquet, everyone came over one by one to toast Pang Gang, but Pang Gang also did not refuse to drink until the cup was dry, which made people shout that General Pang was massive.

After three rounds of wine and five flavors, everyone stepped forward to talk, one by one patted Pang Gang's horses and made Pang Gang nauseous, this said that General Pang was wise and martial, and people had fled before they reached the thief, and that said that General Pang could even beat the Tartars, and the thieves were nothing.

These sycophants slapped Pang Gang's head one by one, and he almost wanted to turn his face, and finally Cen Zhi couldn't stand it anymore and stopped these people.

After Cen Zhi stretched out his hand to stop the crowd that came up in a hurry, he turned his head to Pang Gang and asked: "Huge man, this time you can lead the troops to help, the people of Kaifeng Mansion are inexplicably grateful, but I don't know how long the adults can stay in Kaifeng?" ”

Pang Gang couldn't help but move when he heard this, and after looking at Cen Zhi twice, he said half-jokingly: "How long does Lord Cen want this official to stay in Kaifeng Mansion?" ”

"This" Cen Zhi smiled awkwardly, "Xiaguan naturally hopes that the adults will stay in Kaifeng as long as possible, but Xiaguan also knows that the adults have all the opportunities, so naturally it is impossible to stay in Kaifeng all the time." ”

"Hmm" Pang Gang stared at Cen Zhi, and couldn't help but guess in his heart the true intention of the Kaifeng prefect to say this.

After a while, Cen Zhi, who was a little flustered by Pang Gang, couldn't stand Pang Gang's gaze, and knew that this kind of little trick couldn't hide from the other party, so he smiled bitterly: "Okay, Xiaguan to tell the truth, although the thieves have retreated now, the gentry and people in Kaifeng are still afraid of the thieves coming back, and now they are still panicking, so they asked the officials to ask the adults, do you want to pursue the thieves next?" ”

When Pang Gang heard this, he was secretly happy in his heart, this is really sleepy and came to the pillow.

However, the surface work had to be done, and then he said with a sad face: "Lord Cen doesn't know, this official sent troops to aid Luoyang this time, it was at the request of Governor Li and Confucian, and he did not get the official document of the Ministry of War. Now that the thieves are going to Hubei, that is the matter of Hubei, how can this official make the decision and chase it down again, or just sweep the snow in front of the door. ”

After listening to Pang Gang's words, everyone glanced at each other, and a trace of anxiety flashed in their eyes, and a middle-aged official with a fat head and big ears and a green official uniform immediately stood up and said to Pang Gang: "General Pang, Xiaguan Tong Xu Zhi'an, the county commander of Xu County, dare to ask my lord, Hubei is too far away from us, we can't take care of it, Xiaguan and your colleagues are worried about whether those thieves will come back, if so, isn't Kaifeng City always in danger?" What do you think about this? ”

Pang Gang was surprised: "This adult's words are also wrong, this official is the general soldier of Shandong, but not the general soldier of Henan, how can he stay in Kaifeng for a lifetime, besides, the reason why the thieves are called Liukou is because those thieves are scattered for the people, and those who gather are bandits, let's just say that the people in the city now, this official can guarantee that if the government does not open a warehouse for disaster relief in the third day, those who are hungry and crazy [***] will immediately become thieves overnight." ”

Listening to Pang Gang's serious and half-frightened words, everyone at the table was frightened, even Cen Zhi, who was the lord of the First House, was a little pale, seeing that everyone's faces changed, Pang Gang smiled secretly in his heart, and added fire, "That's it, if the refugees in the city collude with the thieves, then the consequences will be nothing, this may just be the official's random speculation, you don't have to take it seriously." ”

Speaking of which, the people at the table were no longer pale but blue, and the more they thought about it, the more they felt that this was very likely, the trick of returning to the horse pistol had been used in ancient times, and now there were fifty or sixty thousand disaster victims in the city, and it was too easy for the rogues to contact them and the victims to cooperate with each other, this kind of low-tech thing was a common trick of the rogues, and it was tried and tested.

"Pang Da man, you can't see death without saving." Xu Zhi'an's face turned pale, and the muscles on his fat face couldn't help but tremble.

Everyone also begged bitterly: "Yes, huge people, as the saying goes, save people to the end, send Buddha to the west, since you can help Kaifeng, then help the people of Kaifeng." ”

Seeing that he had already received what he wanted, Pang Gang still shook his head, "Where is the duty of this official, how can I stay in Kaifeng for a long time, if I let the court know, I am afraid that the head of this official will be difficult to protect." ”

"Phew, what are you doing?" As soon as Pang Gang's words came out, everyone at the table scolded in their hearts, they may be idiots in other things, but they are clear about the movements of the imperial court, they are too clear about the good things that this huge man has done, will this bastard who dares to turn his face with the emperor be afraid of the imperial court? The answer is obviously no, especially when he is still in control of tens of thousands of elite soldiers in Shandong Province, even if Chongzhen wants to deal with him, he has to think and think, if he provokes this master, it will be bad.

Although he secretly despised Pang Gang in his heart, everyone now begged him and had to continue to pretend to be his grandson, at this time Cen Zhi also spoke, "Huge man, the lower officials also know that you have a lot of nobles, but the thieves are cunning and will kill them back at any time, so there is no way to save the people of Kaifeng City?" ”

Seeing that Cen Zhi had also spoken, Pang Gang knew that the fire had arrived, and it would be too hot to pretend to be any longer, so he smiled slightly: "Lord Cen, you can't say that, as the saying goes, there is no way to keep Kaifeng City, it's just that Pang Gang paused in embarrassment.

Cen Zhi smiled bitterly and said, "Don't tease us, please have something to say!" ”

"Okay, then the official will say it directly!" Speaking of this, Pang Gang didn't hide it anymore, "As the saying goes, if you go outside, you must first settle inside, and it's the same with this city, if you want to eliminate internal troubles, you must first get the refugees in the city out of the city, and then send an elite army to garrison in Kaifeng City, then you can ensure that Kaifeng is foolproof." ”

"This" Everyone couldn't help but look at each other, this huge man said so easily, how can tens of thousands of refugees get out of the city, and what if one bad one causes a civil uprising? Who will be this black cauldron, and the later talk of getting an elite soldier to defend the city is even more nonsense, if there are elite soldiers, do we still need to pretend to be a grandson in front of you?

Everyone thought about it, and some of the people with the surname couldn't help but show anger on their faces, this huge man is too bullying, isn't this a clear pastime for us?

But there are also smart ones, Cen Zhi saw that the old god Pang Gang was eating food, his eyes lit up, and he said anxiously: "Huge man, there must be a way for you to say this, don't sell it." ”

Pang Gang snorted and said: "Okay, the official won't tease you, let's talk about the first one first, get the refugees in the city away, this article is difficult to say, easy to say." The official is about to move the refugees to various parts of Shandong, and a large number of people are needed to open up the wasteland, but they are suffering from a shortage of silver and grain, as long as the gentry and gentry in Kaifeng Prefecture can fund the official with a batch of money and grain, the official can get them all to Shandong, and the problem will be solved. As for the second one."

Speaking of this, Pang Gang began to groan.

"My lord, you should say it quickly!" The crowd couldn't stand it anymore and collectively urged it.

(To be continued)