Wang Lanping never dreamed that history had played a big joke with him, and the capital, which had been calculated to be lost for more than a month, was unexpectedly advanced, just a month after he left the capital, just entered the territory of Nanzhili, Li Zicheng's army had broken through the city of Beijing, and Zhu Youzhen, who was bent on revitalizing the Ming Dynasty, was martyred in desperation, and the Ming Dynasty, which had enjoyed the country for more than 270 years, collapsed.

Due to the war on the postal road, the great changes in the capital were only transmitted to the south of the Yangtze River after more than a month, and there was a wail along the road for a while, and the people were clothed in white, but at this time there was no news from Huaining City.

At night, Du Yuanwai really deserved to be the rich home of Huaining, and he really collected 80,000 taels of silver within a few hours, only to see him come to the back hall excitedly, Wang Lanping was still sitting and waiting, Du Ningning Xu had run back to the boudoir because of this sudden shyness and excitement.

"Champion Gong has been waiting for a long time!" Du Ming carried a wooden box in his hand and walked as he walked.

When Wang Lanping saw him like this, he thought that this matter had been completed, and stood up when he heard the sound, he was now focused on recruiting troops and horses, and said straight to the point, "With Lao Du Yuan, is it done?" ”

Du Ming raised his sleeves and wiped his sweat, smiled, patted the wooden box in his hand and said, "Zhuangyuan Gong invited, how dare I slack off, not to mention that this matter is related to the marriage of a little girl, 80,000 taels of silver tickets, two capitals and 13 provinces of silver, and redeem the tickets when you see them."

Wang Lanping was overjoyed when he heard this, half of the money was gone, and he hurriedly reached out to get the wooden box, "Thank you"

Who knew that Du Ming's hand shrank back, and Wang Gang's flat hand fell into vain, "What does Du Yuan mean, if you want to regret it?" ”

Du Ming was born as a businessman, how could he hand over such a large sum of money to others so casually, "Champion Gong, when Ning Ning passes the door, you and I will be considered a family, and the money will be yours sooner or later, but now, this, this 80,000 taels is not a small amount, do you see if it is ......"

Wang Lanping understood, this is not to believe himself, but he can also be cool, "Okay, take pen and ink, I will set up a note for you"

Du Ming pretended to be embarrassed, "It's serious, but it's okay to do this, lest someone use this money to make a fuss in the future, saying that my Du family is rich and skilled, and beware of villains slandering the name of the champion and the incorruptible, so good, come, pen and ink are waiting"

Wang Lanping just wanted to get together the money quickly, if Da Ming was gone, what was the use of this incorruptible reputation, and the name of the first martial champion of Da Ming was even more worthless.

In a moment, with a splash of ink, Wang Lanping had already written the money delivery document and handed it to Du Ming, he also understood Du Ming's wishful thinking, if he wasn't the champion, how could he be so generous, the two sides just took what they needed.

Du Ming is optimistic and very satisfied, with this thing in hand, I am afraid that you will not regret it in the future.

Wang Lanping got the silver ticket, too late to be polite, a few words of greetings and hurriedly left Du's house to rush to the county office, at this time it was getting dark, just arrived at the county office, Wang Lanping saw that the county government door stopped an official sedan chair, see that the regulation should be the sedan chair of the Anqing prefect, Wang Lanping was a little puzzled, Zhou Zhifu has not returned to Anqing, how did he come here.

The matter was urgent, Wang Lanping walked into the county office quickly, and a messenger had already reported it.

After a conversation, Wang Lanping learned that the Zhou Governor's Mansion went and returned, and when he walked halfway, he suddenly encountered a large number of refugees from the north and the defeated generals mixed in, this group of refugees and defeated soldiers lacked food and clothing, and from time to time robbed and eaten on the way.

Wang Lanping heard about this, but not surprised, when he came from the north, he often saw such a homeless people, the war continued, the common people had to leave their homes in order to save their lives, each looking for a safe place to take refuge, but the refugees mixed with a large number of deserters scattered generals, this is really rare, not to mention that I have not heard that the war is approaching the Jianghuai region, where did these soldiers come from.

Wang Lanping asked Governor Zhou, "Lord Prefect, where are the refugees now, and where did those defeated soldiers retreat from?" ”

Governor Zhou was frightened by this group of refugees, those people were hungry, and when they saw who robbed whom, they didn't even pay attention to the official master, as if Wang Fa had no effect on them.

"More than ten miles away from the east, I heard that it is from Hebei and Shandong, this group of scum, so disturbing the place, lawless, all should be killed, when I return home, I will definitely send troops to clean up," Zhou Zhifu said.

Wang Lanping glanced at Kong Zhixian County, and thought about it carefully, Hebei is thousands of miles away, if you want to say that you don't need to run so far to escape, many of the state capitals you passed through when you came have not suffered from war, why these refugees have gone so far, why did the magistrates along the way not settle them, and no one even collected the defeated soldiers, thinking of this, Wang Lanping felt a trace of uneasiness in his heart, if the whole territory of Hebei and Shandong is lost, then the capital must be more auspicious and less auspicious, and there is a lonely city.

Kong Zhixian on the side also seemed to be a little uneasy, and then interjected, "Lord Prefect, Zhuangyuan Gong, there is something that the lower official has always felt strange."

"What?" Wang Lanping asked.

Kong Zhixian walked back and forth a few steps back and forth, and said, "Governor Zhou, I think you also know that since more than a month ago, my Huaining County has never received a report from the imperial court."

Governor Zhou was also well aware of this, but his guess might be that Li Zicheng's army caused the Yellow River Valley to be blocked, which was normal in times of war, so he didn't take it to heart.

Wang Lanping came all the way from the north, and he was well versed in the art of war, he knew that Li Chuang's army was from the northwest and entered Tongguan, and it was impossible to cut off the postal route between the capital and the Jianghuai region, unless he bypassed Tongguan and passed through Shandong or Tongguan was broken, and the rebels were in the Gyeonggi area.

The more Wang Lanping thought about it, the more wrong it became, and he hurriedly asked, "When was the last time you received a report?" ”

Governor Kong said, "On the eighth day of the second month, the imperial court ordered all the garrisons in the world to enter the king of Beijing Qin"

This Wang Lanping knew that the result was, of course, that none of the garrison generals were ordered, and he also left Beijing a few days after the imperial decree was issued, and it had been almost two months.

At this moment, there was a rush of footsteps outside the flower hall, and Huaining County rushed in in a hurry, not even caring about the minimum etiquette, and pushed the door open directly with a 'bang'.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it's not good, something big has happened" The county Cheng's face was pale, sweating profusely, and his body couldn't stop shaking.

"What's the matter?" asked Kong Zhixian.

"The emperor is martyred, and the Ming Dynasty is dead" The county man knelt down and cried loudly.

Wang Lanping's brain buzzed wider, and he glanced at Zhou Zhifu, and Zhou Zhifu's eyes widened even more, and he was so shocked that he spread his butt on the chair, his face turned blue, and he muttered in his mouth, "Big, bold, you, you dare to curse the holy bow"

Wang Lanping stepped forward, pulled up the county prince's clothes, and said in a deep voice, "How do you know?" ”

The county Cheng gasped and said, "Half an hour ago, several rebels from nowhere rushed into the city to rob and eat, and were twisted to the county government by a group of people as thieves.

Kong Zhi County was paralyzed on the ground, looking at the north and kowtowing repeatedly, weeping more than once, and said desolately, "The lord is worried about the humiliation of the ministers, the lord humiliates the ministers and dies, and now the saints are in trouble, what faces do our courtiers have standing between heaven and earth, Daming, God has no eyes, and I have been dead in the Ming Dynasty for 270 years, and God is unfair."

Zhou Zhifu's lips trembled, he collapsed in the chair, he didn't have any strength in his body, he was like a puppet, and thought: Da Ming is gone, then what is the official of which dynasty is his prefect, the origin of Jin Shi and Di has become an empty piece of paper in a blink of an eye, the future is lost, no, you can't lose all this, the emperor of the iron country, the Ming Dynasty has exhausted the number of gas, who is the lord of the new dynasty? Li Zicheng became the emperor? You'll have to figure out a way to get in touch with him.

Wang Lanping felt a violent cramp in his heart, when he left the capital, the Chongzhen Emperor who had done his best for the Ming Dynasty and forgot to sleep and eat was full of hope for his move to the south, he wanted to revitalize the Ming Dynasty and be an emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

"No!" Wang Lanping, who was suddenly grief-stricken, suddenly shook his body, "This matter is not trivial, you can't trust the words of these deserters, Zhou Governor's Mansion, Zhou Governor's Mansion"

Governor Zhou was still thinking about how to be invincible at this time of changing the dynasty, and was pushed by Wang Lanping and exclaimed, "He, what's the matter"

Wang Lanping helped Kong Zhixian up from the ground and said, "Governor Zhou, you are the governor of a prefecture, whether this matter is true or not, what are your plans?" ”

Zhou Zhifu how can he have the heart to think about these, the emperor is dead, the tree is scattered, the official is either a supporter of the new dynasty, or a martyr of the previous dynasty, he has also heard the news of Li Zicheng's breaking of the Tong Pass a few days ago, plus the severance of the postal route, the capital is in difficulty, and now there are deserters who say this, then this thing must be true, if you want to say where to go now, then you have to wait for the new emperor to ascend the throne, the most important thing for you now is to register the money, food, soldiers and people of the whole house, so that he would be his prefect when the new dynasty was established.

Although Zhou Zhifu said so, this matter cannot be said clearly, and there can be no second person to share the credit of Anqing Mansion in supporting the new monarch in the future, so he spread his hands and pretended to be at a loss and said, "The emperor is in trouble, I am in pain, my mind is in turmoil, the six gods have no master, the emperor, the emperor, the minister is incompetent."

Wang Lanping didn't have the heart to listen to him cry and wipe away his tears, turned his head to Kong Zhixian and said, "Kong Zhixian, what do you think about now?" ”

Kong Zhixian studied hard the books of the sages, and he only knew that he was loyal to the country, and he muttered, "Zhuangyuan Gong, the lower officials are really in chaos, what do you think?" ”

Wang Lanping helped Kong Zhixian to sit down on a chair and said to the county man who was lying on the ground, "You go and bring those deserters here, I will ask you personally."

The county Cheng should retreat, and after a while, he led two frightened men who were tied up by five flowers and walked in, Wang Lanping interrogated, the two didn't know much, and the general idea was slightly the same as what the county Cheng said.

Seeing that he couldn't ask anything, Kong Zhixian asked the messenger to take the people down.

Wang Lanping said, "Zhou Zhifu, Kong Zhi County, the facts are unclear at the moment, but we should make preparations as soon as possible to cope with all changes."

Zhou Zhifu said, "What is the high opinion of the champion prince?" ”

Kong Zhi County said, "At this critical moment, it is up to the champion to make the decision"

"Okay, in my opinion, the top priority at the moment, first, immediately send someone to the direction of the capital to inquire about the news, second, raise food and reorganize the army, third, resettle refugees, fourth, stabilize people's hearts, if the emperor is really good, Zhou Governor's Mansion, please come forward to appease the officials at all levels of the whole government with the respect of the governor of a prefecture, if the officials are not chaotic, the people will not be chaotic, what do you think?"

When Governor Zhou heard this, he secretly said, this champion is really not in vain, he is not chaotic in the face of danger, and the four points are also to the point, so he said, "Okay, I will send a letter to the officials of the whole government one by one, so that they can maintain the place well, and they should not believe the rumors."

Kong Zhi County said, "What about the lower officials?" ”

Wang Lanping thought for a while and said, "Kong Zhi County, it seems that it won't be long before a large number of refugees and deserters will pour into the city, you have to do everything possible to settle the refugees and open a warehouse for relief."

Kong Zhi County Road, "Without a holy decree, how dare the lower officials open a position"

Wang Lanping snorted lightly, "The postal route is broken, can you see the holy decree, you should do extraordinary things in extraordinary times, don't think too much, open a warehouse and set up a porridge factory, and separate the resettlement of refugees and deserters, you can't let them disturb the people, and the market must also send people to appease, refugees enter the city, prices in the city will inevitably rise wildly, you must resolutely stop this kind of illegal traders who make a fortune in the country"

Kong Zhixian also had to admire Wang Zhuangyuan's resoluteness, and his words suddenly seemed to fall into the water and saw a floating tree pole, stood up and arched his hand, "Okay, I'll do it, but Huaining City is small, and the official warehouse has only 5,000 stone of grain, I'm afraid it won't help."

Wang Lanping thought for a while and said, took out a silver ticket from the wooden box he brought, and handed it to Kong Zhi County, "This is five thousand taels, immediately buy food tents and other living utensils, refugees will become mobs when they are hungry, I have seen too much along the way."

Kong Zhixian took the silver ticket, thinking of the matter that the two of them had set yesterday, but there was a presence in the Zhou Governor's Mansion, so he whispered, "The champion asks for leave to speak one step"

When Erliang came to the hall, Kong Zhixian said, "Can you still do the purchase of military horses?" ”

If the capital is really breached, then there is no need to attack Xi'an to besiege Wei to save Zhao, Wang Lanping said, "First inquire about the conclusive news, by the way, you said yesterday that there is a government camp army stationed outside the city, right?" ”

Kong Zhi County said, "Yes, but they are all Liu Zeqing's general soldiers"

"It doesn't matter whose soldiers are, okay, you go and get busy with yours, I'll go to the barracks for a trip, such a big change, people's hearts are panicking, there can't be chaos, it's better to have soldiers in the city to guard it"

"It's okay, but the champion should be careful, these soldiers don't pay attention to anyone on weekdays, they have to beat and scold in front of the lower officials, and the lower officials can't do anything about them."

"It's okay, I'm the new deputy chief soldier of Anqing Mansion"

Wang Lanping returned to the flower hall and saw that Zhou Zhifu was drafting documents, so he didn't bother, turned around and went separate from Kong Zhixian.

Zhou Zhifu is really busy, he is busy in the county government at the moment, and it is too important for him to contact the officials of the government to settle the city, if the Ming Dynasty exists, then he is the able minister to appease the party, if the Ming Dynasty dies, then he can give up a stable state capital to the new monarch, and the drought and flood will be guaranteed.