Looking at the backs of Lu Zhenfei and the others, Duan Xinian licked his lips and looked at Zhu Ping'an incredulously, "Lord Lu actually listened to the words of your little hairy child?" ”

Zhu Ping'an shrugged his shoulders and coughed dryly, "My lord, let's arrange it as soon as possible!" Lord Lu's move has pushed our high wall guards to the forefront all of a sudden! Once Fengyang falls, I'm afraid you and I won't be able to leave anything good! ”

Duan Xinian's eyes rolled a few times, and he finally figured out where the joints were, and stomped his feet hatefully, "Lao Tzu is considered to have been pitted by you." ”

After that, a series of orders were issued, and the only two Qianhu ran to greet the soldiers with a bitter face, and glared at Zhu Ping'an with a resentful glare before leaving, but they all knew that Zhu Ping'an was Duan Xinian's henchman, so no one dared to say anything. Zhu Ping'an just didn't see it, and pulled Zhang Dagou to make peace with his subordinates.

The Imperial City of Fengyang was founded in the third year of Hongwu. It is divided into Wumen, Donghua Gate, Xihua Gate and Xuanwu Gate. The wall of the imperial city was rebuilt and strengthened after the thieves left in Chongzhen's eight years, and it was three zhang nine feet five inches high, plus the female wall, a total of more than four zhang and five feet high. The city wall is a stone base, the wall is built of the bricks of the big city, there is a moat on the east, south and west sides of the city, the north is the long live mountain that is called the Fengyang city mountain, the pillow mountain builds the wall, the wind goes straight up, the hundred households under the jurisdiction of Zhu Ping'an are stationed on the east side of this long live. Surrounded by mountains on one side and forests on both sides, the west side of the village is the Hao River.

After the orthodox years of Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty, the military household guard system gradually deteriorated. The imperial court at all levels ordered officials to occupy the land and arbitrarily serve the guards and sergeants, so that the military households became tenants of the powerful, with no medicine for the sick and no coffins for the dead. The sergeants rushed to flee, and the officers took advantage of it and embezzled the shortage. By the time of the Apocalypse and Chongzhen, the military household guard system had existed in name only, and the recruitment system that arose since the Jiajing period brought the Ming Dynasty one step closer to the abyss of destruction.

In the ninth year of Chongzhen, Zhu Ping'an went to Fengyang to take office. This is the situation that took over. There are only three thousand households left in the high wall guard, and the one that Zhu Ping'an took over is one of them. In the early years, there were more than 1,500 military households under its jurisdiction, but by the ninth year of Chongzhen, there were less than 500 households left. If it weren't for Zhu Ping'an and his people secretly cultivating hundreds of acres of barren land in Phoenix Mountain, I'm afraid these military families would have scattered and fled long ago.

As soon as I entered the village, I met Zhang Ergou, the brother of Zhang Dagou, pulling a mule cart to take the old lady and her belongings out.

As soon as Zhang Ergou saw Zhu Ping'an, his eyes shrank a little, and his head twisted unnaturally to the side, but it was his wife Zhang Qinshi who hurriedly stopped the car, staggered out of the car, and called an adult, blocking Zhu Ping'an's way.

Zhu Ping'an responded to the old woman's concerned inquiry with a smile, and asked Zhang Ergou if he had diarrhea and if there were any difficulties in leading the troops next. This time, Zhang Ergou was even more spitting, and his usual fast talk was completely gone. Zhu Ping'an didn't doubt him, but he thought he was nervous before the big war, so he said a few words and turned to leave.

Zhang Ergou turned around and looked at Zhu Ping'an's back, wanted to speak and stopped, and finally had to sigh, helped the old lady into the car, and shouted at the military households and family members who were already lined up behind him and the family members with thick bags: "Speed up Lao Tzu, hurry up to the designated Fang City in the imperial city to settle the family, and then immediately go to Donghua Gate to concentrate, if anyone misses the matter of the hundred households, the knife and military law in Lao Tzu's hand will not admit the face!" ”

In front of the land temple in the village, more than 100 soldiers in light armor are lining up to receive the money for the settlement. Behind the wooden table sat a fat man in a small flag uniform, with two silver boxes sitting under his buttocks, and an open silver box in his hand, still screaming in his mouth.

"Again, it's all for this quartermaster. The silver kicked into his arms, and after the battle, he drank wine and ate meat, and went to find a girl, and tried to block his mouth tightly. This is the compassion of our adults, and it is really his old man's own silver. Those of us have received a lot of favor from adults in the past year, but this kindness is not something for you to talk about, but for Lao Tzu to keep it firmly in your heart, when it is time to work hard, don't pity your own cheap life, understand! ”

The soldiers applauded. "Fat man, don't worry, these hundred and ten of us are all unrelated and unprovoked murderers, if it weren't for the hundred households to take them in, maybe we would have died in a place where birds don't. Not to mention the food and drink with the hundreds of adults, there are still copper coins and silver expenses every month, what else do you want, just do your best! ”

At this moment, another small flag officer squeezed in the crowd silently raised his arm. There was a sudden silence around him, and even the face of the fat man sitting in the center stiffened a little. "Yue Xiaoqi, what do you have to say?"

Xiao Qiyue Jinfeng pinched the silver in his hand, the expression on his angular face did not change in the slightest, even his voice was cold and piercing, he casually threw the silver back into the silver box, "Save it for you first, if you are unlucky, it will be counted as the cost of doing future things!" ”

The silver drew a parabola and landed in the box, making a crisp crashing sound. The soldiers behind Yue Jinfeng shook their heads for a moment, and then threw the silver back one after another. "Fat man, I ask you to save it first. If you have a life to come back, let's eat and drink spicy food, and if you don't come back, I will bother you to find a place for your brothers! ”

The fat man Xiaoqi was stunned on the spot, "How did you say this, how can you explain it to the hundred households?" ”

Yue Jinfeng and his subordinates did not answer again, turned around to leave, but saw Zhu Ping'an behind him. "Your Excellency!" The crowd hurriedly saluted.

Zhu Ping'an waved his hand, "It's me who was negligent!" Squeezed into the crowd and looked at the shiny silver taels in the box, Zhu Ping'an said to the fat man Xiaoqi: "Hong Fatty, register by name." In the future, this will be considered a rule for us. All the brothers who have no home and no mouth, except for the monthly silver that is sent to their hands, as for the money of the family, they will be deposited with you first, and then distributed with the rewards after the war. ”

"Understood!" Hong Fat Man straightened his waist, and the fat on his face shook endlessly.

After Yue Jinfeng and his subordinates dispersed, Hong Fatzi couldn't help but shiver, "This dead face, every time I am around, I always feel like the weather has suddenly arrived in the tenth winter wax moon. ”

Zhu Ping'an smiled, "Lao Yue was born in the army, what is the origin of the line, one day will know." If he refuses to say it now, it will be for his sake. Besides, you know his cold-faced and hot-hearted temper, so why always raise the bar with him! Cao Wuxian sneered.

Hong Fatzi followed with a smile, then slapped his head, and took the account book on the table and asked Zhu Ping'an to take a look. "The steel triangular blood trough spear head, hand crossbow and steel knife made by our military craftsmen have been distributed, and they have all been covered, and those guys from the Ban Cao Army and the New Army of the Tomb Protector will definitely not be able to see it. There were still about 5,000 taels of silver left, and after a while, the small ones were sent to load them into the car and send them to the imperial city for safekeeping. ”

Hong Fatzi looked at the back mountain and felt very sorry, "It's a pity that the fields we reclaimed were finally fattened by the fertilizers that the adults made, and the bandits are going to be ruined again." ”

Zhu Ping'an waved his hand disappreciatively, "What are you afraid of, as long as you are here, you will have a chance to make a comeback." What's more, the bandits are also human beings, and they are all croppers, and they will not waste the fields if they waste anything. ”

Hong Fatzi pondered and nodded, "That's really the truth, my lord is wise!" ”

At this time, Yue Jinfeng led his subordinates to gather up the war horses that were free-roaming in the back mountain. It is said that it is a war horse, but in fact, there are only more than 30 qualified war horses. There was no shortage of war horses in the Ming Dynasty, but due to the civil strife in Mongolia, Duoyan Sanwei betrayed one after another, and the passage of the source of war horses in Hetao was blocked.

In order to build Yue Jinfeng's old army, Zhu Ping'an put a lot of effort into it, grinding it softly, and spent money to get some from Duan Xinian, but Fengyang Mansion is not a military town, so naturally there can't be any high-quality war horses, at present, it can only meet the training and use of more than 100 people.

Two miles out of the village is the avenue leading to the imperial city, and the bustling shops on both sides of the road have become ruins, only the tattered guins that keep coming into view show the prosperity of this place.

Cao Wuxian didn't know when he followed, "Young master, this is the area." Most of the industries of jewelry and jade shops, money houses, and salt merchants are located in this area. ”

Zhu Ping'an nodded imperceptibly, "Besides, the things here can't run away." We'll have to find a chance to pick it up again. The top priority is to get rid of the hidden danger of Shi Yingzhao and protect the safety of the prince, so that we can go with peace of mind even if we leave! ”

Then he instructed Cao Wushu and said: "After entering the city, you will go to the high wall to keep an eye on it, the soldiers are in chaos, maybe Shi Yingzhao will come up with some moths!" ”

Since the last sack, Fengyang City has lost a lot of people, on the one hand, because of homelessness, on the other hand, because the land has become more and more concentrated in the hands of rich and powerful people in recent years, the people's lives are unsustainable, and some people choose to take risks and join the ranks of thieves. Therefore, there were not many local people in Fengyang City, and most of them had already entered the imperial city to settle down temporarily.

But there was still a lot of people on the road, but Zhu Ping'an was stunned, they were all old and weak, women and children, ragged and unkempt. Hong Fatzi grabbed the horse's belly and rushed forward, "My lord, it seems that these are all hungry people in the vicinity, and they have come to Fengyang for refuge!" ”

"Evacuation?" Zhu Ping'an hesitated. A gust of wind approached Fengyang, and it was believed that it had spread all over the territory within a radius of hundreds of miles at this time.

Zhu Ping'an had read the local chronicles of Fengyang in his previous life, except that Fengyang had fallen in the eighth year of Chongzhen, and after that, after the Qing army occupied Beijing and moved south, it completely became the territory of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. During this period, there was no record of falling again, and because of this, Zhu Ping'an believed that Fengyang was not in danger of falling this time when the bandits attacked, which was why he was determined to defend Fengyang.

However, Zhu Ping'an also remembered that Fengyang was in the land of four wars, and when Chongzhen was eight years old, the refugees would rather go to Shandong than come to Fengyang for a while.

Zhu Ping'an carefully looked at the team of refugees, but suddenly found that in the middle of the team were some sturdy men with thick bags on their backs, they seemed to deliberately use hats and felt to cover their original faces, whenever there were eyes patrolling, they couldn't help but bow their heads.

Before Zhu Ping'an could speak, Yue Jinfeng on the side came over rarely, "My lord, something is wrong!" ”

Zhu Ping'an frowned, the gate of the imperial city had already appeared in his field of vision, and the sun was also a little westerly, and it was already very close to Youshi. "Everyone be on guard, and if there is a change, immediately kill the leader!"

The city gate was bustling, and the soldiers of the Terracotta Division and more than a dozen soap subordinates brandished short sticks and leather whips, urging the refugees to enter the city as much as possible, and the cries and screams of babies and women resounded. It makes the lonely Fengyang Imperial City at sunset look particularly depressing.

In the chaos, a howl suddenly sounded, "Brothers, take the city!" ”

A big man with a beard pulled out a sharp blade from the bamboo basket behind his back, and raised it to the sky, dozens of people in the surrounding crowd immediately responded, and pulled out a bright steel knife and rushed to the city gate.

The bearded man was overjoyed, "Brothers, the big dragon head said, take the first credit of the city, and the gold and silver women in the city will ...... at will!" ”

The sound stopped abruptly. Everyone looked back, and suddenly a crossbow arrow was nailed to the choked throat of the bearded man.

Not far away, the crowd of refugees spread out in waves on both sides, and more than 100 armored cavalry rushed along the avenue.

A slightly trembling childish voice sounded among them, but in the ears of these cavalrymen it was an uncompromising order.

"Kill the bandits, don't let one go!"