Ludu City (Hefei), the new capital of the Dashun Dynasty.

After Li Laixiang became the emperor of Dashun, he looked at it and saw that it was really miserable, and he was waiting for a new one.

Today's Dashun Dynasty is surrounded by strong enemies, the north has the Manchu Dynasty eyeing the tiger, the south has the remnants of the Ming Dynasty with the Yangtze River natural danger to resist, the west has Zhang Xianzhong there to sharpen the knife Huo Huo, the Dashun Dynasty is struggling to survive in the cracks.

Li Laixiang didn't want the foundation of three generations to be ruined in his own hands, and vowed to reshape the country of the ancestor Li Zicheng, who had a long knife in his hand.

So far, Li Laixiang decided to revitalize the Dashun majesty, reform the government, dredge up the evils of the times, reverse the habits of the Dashun army from the root, consolidate the current territory, make great efforts, and recuperate with the people.

He personally formulated several national policies, first of all, militarily, taking advantage of the inability of the Qing army Azig to pursue the Xiangfan area to advance eastward, and also taking advantage of the excellent opportunity for the Ming court to completely defeat the Qing army's southern expeditionary army in Yangzhou, Da Shun immediately built defense lines in various frontline points and increased troops. Moreover, after the battle of Yangzhou, it was impossible for the remnants of the Ming Dynasty to go north again, so Li Laixiang relieved himself to draw part of the troops from the Jiangbei defense line and built four fortresses in the Hefei area.

Politically, the Dashun Dynasty abandoned the policy of killing officials and supporting the people, and used a large number of former Ming officials who were stranded in the territory, and used them to fill the vacancies of the lack of scholars in the Dashun.

Economically, this Li Laixiang is the most powerful among the heroes in the world, and at the beginning of the year, Li Zicheng was in Beijing to 'recover stolen goods and help salaries'. More than 70 million taels of silver were found from the former Ming princes and ministers in Beijing alone, and this is only the tip of the iceberg of the finances of the Dashun Dynasty. If it is collected from ordinary people, it will not be able to be counted. And Li Zicheng was defeated from Beijing and retreated to Xi'an, and from Xi'an to Xiangfan, until he died in Jiugong Mountain, this huge wealth, he had no chance to use, and now it is all in the hands of Li Laixiang, and now the treasury of the Dashun Dynasty can really be described as a mountain of gold and silver, inexhaustible.

More importantly, there is one more point. Li Laixiang announced that the new dynasty of Dashun abolished the tax on people, followed the reform of Zhang Juzheng in the former Ming Dynasty, the gentry paid grain in one piece, and redistributed all the idle and abandoned land to the landless people, and all state capitals in the territory were exempted from land tax for three years, and after three years, ten taxes and three levies were adopted, and all harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes were abolished in the former Ming Dynasty, and cultivation and weaving were rewarded. Agribusiness is encouraged.

When Zhang Ju, the first assistant in the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, was implementing this national policy, it was really like crossing thousands of mountains, and the resistance was like a mountain, but Li Laixiang did not waste his efforts. This is mainly because the combat style of the Dashun army in recent years has been like locusts crossing the border, sweeping away all cows, ghosts, snakes and gods, regardless of whether you are a prince or a nobleman or a big family. All swept away, killed and killed. Those who fled fled left behind patches of borderless land.

Now Li Laixiang redistributes the land. Even the 'local tyrants' don't have to fight, they are directly divided according to the head, almost no resistance, and there is not much opposition to the official gentry's integrated payment, because these people thought that their lives were not guaranteed under the premise that the Dashun army was like bandits, but they didn't expect the Dashun Dynasty to suddenly open up to them, not only to restore their status in the former Ming, but also to promise not to raid the house, not to rob or kill, in contrast, to pay some money and taxes is not worth mentioning.

When these national policies reached the whole territory of Dashun, it was really jubilant for all the people, and the people were like the grace of heaven, and they were grateful to Li Laixiang for the new Dashun Dynasty, and everyone supported it.

In Dashun, the people's morale, the morale of the officials, and the morale of the army are unprecedentedly high for a while, and the prospects are very good.

And these have nothing to do with one person, that is, the unfinished queen of the Dashun Dynasty, the daughter of Du Mansion in Huaining County, Du Ningning.

Li Laixiang chose Du Ningning as the queen, there are two main considerations, first, the Du family has a big business, a hundred years of Wang, the Du family's business in Anqing Mansion covers all walks of life, and now Du Ming, the head of the Du family, is the Yin of Anqing Mansion of the Dashun Dynasty, and the business is in the official, all of whom enjoy irreplaceable benefits for Li Lai, and supporting the Du family is like supporting the business of Anqing Mansion, which also wants to set an example for the Dashun Dynasty in the rich Jin merchants, aiming to tell the world's giant businessmen that there is no need to be suspicious of the Dashun Dynasty, and the Dashun Dynasty treats Shinong industry and commerce equally. And those who come do not refuse.

Second, the Du family is a giant merchant attached to the former Ming Dynasty, and the Dashun Dynasty chose the daughter of his family as the queen, which is an encouragement for the officials and people of the former Ming Dynasty, as long as you are willing to surrender to Dashun sincerely, as long as you are willing to work hard for Dashun, Emperor Shun can give you all the wealth and dignity.

In the third point, there is also, Li Laixiang likes Du Ningning, this rude and extremely willful girl who does not know the height of the sky, has a strong attraction to Li Laixiang, just because Li Laixiang is now the head of a country, all he thinks about is to put the overall situation first, and the personal affairs of his children must stand aside.

But coincidentally, whether it is the overall situation or selfishness, this focus has fallen on Du Ningning, and Li Laixiang has many birds with one stone.

It is now the beginning of November, less than a month before the marriage of the Dashun Emperor Li Laixiang and the Du family, the Du Mansion is busy, and in another ten days, Du Ningning will be sent to Hefei and wait for the wedding in the Shun Palace.

As the date got closer and closer, Du Ningning's rebellious heart became stronger and stronger, and the escape exit in the rockery of Du's garden was getting wider and wider.

Du Ming has been busy these days, not only to deal with Anqing government affairs, but also to be busy with the major affairs of Zhang Luo and the royal marriage, one accidentally was almost played to death by his daughter, the queen fled before the wedding, this matter is repaid, and it is light to raid the house and kill the head.

Du Ming, who was extremely angry, surrounded his daughter's attic on the third floor and the outer three floors, Du Ningning didn't care where he went, there must be at least ten pairs of eyes staring behind his buttocks, and a large number of family members were added outside the courtyard to patrol day and night, which was bigger than the movement of guarding a Jiangyang thief.

As soon as Du Ningning saw this movement, he knew that it was over, this time it was difficult to fly, but who was Du Ningning, it was a ghost-like existence, no matter how strict her father was, she couldn't stop her from wanting to leave, and the stricter her guard, the more eager her idea of escaping.

Just send more people to watch. made a fuss, and Miss Du dared to set fire to her own house. Miss Du grew up in a pile of money and had no concept of money at all. However, today, Du Ningning was in a hurry because of a few taels of silver.

Her personal maid, Ah Xiang, happened to hit the muzzle of the gun.

In the attic, one of the master and servant was blocked at the door, and the other knelt on the ground.

"Miss, I, I really don't have any money, I gave my mother all the wages given by my lord last month. Didn't leave any of them."

Du Ningning leaned his back against the door, waving a feather duster in his hand, "No, no, I don't care, you have to help me get the money, otherwise, I, I'll let my father kick you out." I won't have to work here anymore."

Ah Xiang was so anxious that she cried, she knew what the young lady wanted to do, she was preparing to entangle, and if she gave her silver, wouldn't she become an accomplice. The master wants to know, he has to peel off her skin.

"Miss, you just let me go. I, I really don't have any money. And miss, don't run away anymore. Last time you were in the rockery, the lord broke the legs of the two maids, please, miss, for the sake of Ah Xiang serving you for so many years, you let me go, don't run away, I don't have money to entangle you, you are good, don't embarrass us people, I promise not to tell the master"

Whew! Du Ningning's silver teeth were bitten, his apricot eyes were round, and he was arrogant, as if he wanted to eat people, and waved his feather duster in front of Ah Xiang, "I don't care, you dare to tell the master, when I become the queen, I will put your whole family in prison, or you give me money, money, money, money, or else, you do me a favor, then, this, you take it, help me exchange it for silver,"

Du Ningning took his jewelry box, opened it, and showed it to Ah Xiang, which was full of high-quality jade and gold and silver jewelry, in fact, these things could be used directly as money, but they were too eye-catching.

Ah Xiang looked up, and the brilliance in front of her was dazzling, "Miss, I, I don't dare, besides, these are all jewelry sent by the emperor, and no pawnshop in the city dares to accept it."

"Then I don't care, in short, you have to help me, or when I become the queen, I will be the first to settle accounts with you"

Ah Xiang is in a dilemma, what to do is not pleasing to the queen, don't do it, the queen will have to die after offending, at most the old man will break a leg, think about it or the latter is more cost-effective, so he took the jewelry box of the young lady with a miserable expression, "Miss, you, how much do you plan to be?" ”

Du Ningning has spent money, in the past, on the street, what he saw would be taken directly and left, at the end of the month, the shopkeeper would take the account book to Du Mansion to settle the bill, as for how much it cost to go to Nanjing this time, how did she know.

Hearing Ah Xiang's promise, Du Ningning immediately turned his anger into joy, and helped Ah Xiang up more concerned than his sister hurt his sister, "Okay Ah Xiang, be good, get up, in the future, I will repay you, I don't know how much it will be, how much do you say it will take to go to Nanjing from here?" ”

Ah Xiang has never been out of Nanjing City in her life, but she grew up in the market, she knows a little bit, thought about it, and said with a sad face, "I have a cousin in my family, I went to Nanjing last year to catch the exam, it seems that it cost more than five taels of silver, ten taels should be enough."

Du Ningning smiled with satisfaction, "Okay, just ten taels, send it to me tomorrow night"

"Ten taels? Miss, this, although Ah Xiang doesn't have much knowledge, but these things are at least worth a thousand taels."

Du Ningning pouted, threw his shirt and leaned back on the chair, "I want ten taels, more than Miss I will reward you, by the way, what are you holding out like this, the housekeeper will not arrest you as a thief, come, sit there, Miss, I will personally dress you up, I guarantee that no one can see that you have something hidden on you"

Ah Xiang sighed and sat down in front of the young lady's dresser.

"Miss, it's useless if you have money, you can't escape from this mansion, there are all old people's people outside"

"Don't worry about this, I have my own tricks"

"Miss, can you promise me something?"

"Okay, you say, as long as you don't stop me, you can pick and choose the things in my house"

"Ah Xiang doesn't want anything, can you take me with you? I'll stay, my lord will beat me to death."

"Then it depends on your performance, if you are obedient, I will take you away, and when the time comes, I will leave a letter for my father, and he will not go to your family to ask for someone"

"Thank you, Miss"

"Don't thank me, since you are here, it's simpler, tomorrow night three watch, you take the money and wait for me under the root of Nancheng, by the way, prepare a set of men's clothes for me, and we will go out of the city as soon as the morning dawns"

"Miss, why do you have to go, marry the emperor, that's something that many women can't envy, what do you want?"

"Don't want anything, I can do whatever I like, no one wants to arrange me, strange, why am I talking to you about this, remember, tomorrow night three watches, Chengnan Genxia"

"Oh......"

With Ah Xiang's help, Du Ningning's eighth escape plan is about to take shape again, but this time I don't know if I can get my wish.

The next day, Du Ningning pretended to be nothing, embroidered flowers in the attic window, and put a warm basin and incense on the side, a good girl's appearance, until the sun set, a picture of a mandarin duck playing in the water embroidered her into a wild duck fight.

The moon hangs high, and the time is close to the beginning of the change.

Du Ningning got out of the bed, the candle flame by the window was still burning, she tiptoed to the window to see the movement outside, outside the house, seven or eight maids were leaning or lying, making a slight sound.

Du Ningning laughed secretly, retracted his head, found a bunch of books in the room, all loosely piled up next to the bed, and then took the candle flame, the spark was blazing, and Du Ningning smiled.

This attic, the main body of the wooden structure, now it is late autumn, the fire soon began to spread, Du Ningning opened the windows on both sides, the wind helped the fire, not long after, the fire engulfed the whole bed, and it was burning towards the roof.

Seeing that the fire was getting more and more urgent, Du Ningning turned around and went downstairs, waiting for the opportunity to escape.

The sound of 'thunderclapping' in the night sky was resounding, and the smell of smoke was filling the air.

Suddenly, a loud noise startled Du Ningning, it turned out that the floor on the second floor was burned through, and a big fireball fell to the first floor with a bang, sparks splashed, and the curtains in the house were heavy.

There was also an uproar outside the house, and the group of women who were guarding outside also screamed.

The sound of gongs, cries, noises, fire calls, all in one.

"Quick, hurry up and put out the fire, someone, rush in, get the eldest lady out, hurry"

Du Ningning heard that it was the voice of the housekeeper.

The door was opened with his feet, and more than a dozen people immediately poured out, and when people were unprepared, a figure rolled out of the back window, "ouch" Du Ningning fell, but quickly got up again.

The fire is getting bigger and bigger, and with the direction of the wind, there is a momentum of turning towards the front yard.

'Boom! ’

The floor on the third floor collapsed, and wooden blocks with flames spread through the windows, setting fire to the rooms on the side.

More people joined the firefighting army, but because the fire was deliberately set by man, and it burned for so long, it was impossible to extinguish it in a short time.

Some people have done research and it is only possible to extinguish a fire in the moment before it happens, and the fire is merciless, it will never stop until it burns everything around it without burning everything around it.

The fire has not been extinguished, but can only wait for it to be slowly extinguished.

The fire was raging, the people were boiling, and the entire Du Mansion was busy, and even the soldiers standing guard outside the courtyard joined in.

In all the compounds, there are wells, people stand in several lines, pots and pans have become a baton, the river is endless, the direction of the well, at the intersection of the front yard and the back yard, and Du Ningning jumped out of the back window of the attic, which did not attract anyone's attention at all, and when he looked at the back door, it was great, this time he didn't even have to turn over the wall.

The grizzled Du Ningning ran out of the back door, rushed onto the street, twisted and turned, this Huaining City, she was familiar with every street, and it didn't take long for her to come to the root of the south city, the master and servant leaned against the root of the city wall, looking at the pillar of fire in the city that went straight to the night sky, both of them couldn't help but be surprised.

Ah Xiang said stupidly, "Miss, this time, this time, play big."

Du Ningning wiped a handful of charcoal ash on his face, bit his lip, and said dumbfoundedly, "It seems to be."

As soon as Yin Shi arrived, the sky was bright, and the outside of the city slowly opened, Du Ningning and Ah Xiang changed into men's clothes, mixed in a bunch of porters out of the city, and went out.

The fire burned all night, the entire backyard of Du Mansion burned down, and the attic completely collapsed at dawn.

As soon as the housekeeper of Du Mansion heard that the eldest lady had not been found, he suddenly fainted, and when he woke up again, he beat his chest and feet, and was so anxious that he ran up and down, and it took him a long time to wake up.

Du Bo asked people to search carefully in the ruins, and for a while sent people to Pegasus to report to Anqing, but Yin Duming of Anqing Mansion didn't know about it.

The future Empress Dashun was buried in the fire, and if this was to be spread, none of Du Fu would survive. (To be continued.) )