"Powder falls in Baihua State, fragrant swallow building; Clusters form pairs one by one. Wandering is like a thin human life; Empty, say merry ......"

In March, the Grand View Garden was much deserted, and many teams were either practicing new words and songs, or packing up and preparing to go north. In the small half-moon Kuixing Building, only the outer class of the Feitian Art Workshop continues to perform, singing all the lyrics and songs of the present world, and dancing the ancient dances of the Tang and Song dynasties.

It was tea time, and the hustle and bustle on the Huangpu River was surging, and the well-soundproofed hall was difficult to stop. The audience didn't care about the sparseness under the stage, they were all used to it, since the Northern Expedition commanded, the Huangpu River was so lively.

The audience was talking in a low voice about the turbulent north-south trend, and their attention was not on this dance, although the stage was performing hard was a rookie from the outside class, nicknamed Xiaoyanzi, who was famous for playing a clown in the palace earlier, but now he seems to have changed people, with a sad and sad face, and can only take the old drama road of Tang Dance and Song Ci and deep resentment of his mother, relying on the lyrics and music of "The Story of Stones", and gradually earned some fame.

It's not that everyone is absent-minded, one person is sitting in the corner, half-squinting and savoring the singing, waving a chopstick in his hand, as if he is scheduling the melody of the singer.

"The grass and trees are also sorrowful, Shaohua is white-headed, sighing who will give up and who will take it in this life? Marry Dongfeng Chun and don't care, go with you, endure drowning......"

In the last part, the chopsticks stiffened, and the young man dressed as a Confucian shook his head and sighed: "If you are not a child, you should not choose a flag person to sing this word." ”

Another voice sounded: "It's not a phonetic error, but a mistake in the heart of the person who said you......"

A middle-aged man in a Confucian shirt sat down in front of the young man, and his mouth did not stop: "Where is the famous garden, don't be red in the fairyland; borrow the beautiful mountains and rivers to add new scenery; Xiangrong Jingu wine, flower charm Yutang people; What a blessing to invite grace. The palace car passed frequently...... Mengruan, your stone is also going to be famous in the Central Plains. You don't know how many red-clothed warriors go into battle with guns, and they are still worried about Bao Dai's fate in their hearts. But you came to such a poem in the eightieth chapter. If you really want to dismantle the two of you, even I will have to cut off my liver and intestines. ”

The young man was Cao Zhan, and he smiled bitterly: "If you can win people to share my sorrows, why not break your bowels." ”

Raising his head to a glass of turbid wine and lowering his stomach, it seems that the bitterness of the past two years has turned over his mind again, and Cao Zhan feels drunk again.

The cousin is married after all, and the groom is neither the emperor nor him. The frustration in Wang Zhu's case and the remorse of living up to his cousin's heart, the two deep sorrows entangled him together, making him extremely disgusted and disappointed in himself. simply bury yourself in the bookcase. wrote eighty episodes of "Stone Records" with a lot of blood. While writing, he sang and mingled with the geisha in the Grand View Garden, winning the nickname "Cao Bangyan", and "The Story of the Stone" was also widely spread around the world.

Britain and North China have been invaded, and China is about to be unified. He didn't care at all, from the beginning of the year to the present, how to write after eighty times, he held back every day, he just didn't dare to write, as the person said. Baoyu and Daiyu, what fate do they deserve? With this pen, I am afraid that I will have no thoughts in this life.

By the way, someone......

Cao Zhan sobered up a little, and quickly got up and said, "Wu Bingbei, how can you still have time to see me at this time?" ”

The person who came was Wu Jingzi. He smiled and saluted: "At this time, I am no longer a soldier in Jiangsu." ”

Cao Zhan frowned: "Could it be......

Wu Jingzi nodded: "I am also involved in Bai Daolong's matter." Zhang Guangsi is a martial artist, he acts according to orders, and he has no fault in killing, but I am a civilian official. The Metropolitan Procuratorate impeached me for not handling it confidentially and dereliction of duty, so I ......"

Throwing away his sorrows, Cao Zhan suddenly became indignant: "How did the Metropolitan Procuratorate become a broken mouth imperial history that was rumored in the old world?" I just know how to pull my own family's hind legs! ”

Wu Jingzi smiled again: "I just handed over the Great Seal of the Soldier Preparation Road, and was requisitioned and transferred to the Shandong Yanyi Cao Ji Dao Placement Envoy, leading the military government, and my subordinates are lacking a soldier Beidao, Meng Ruan, go north with me to build a business!" ”

Cao Zhan was stunned, and after a long time, he said: "I, I have no intention of ...... career."

Wu Jingzi said in a deep voice: "Is this a matter of personal career!?" The Cao Mengruan I know is not the talented Cao Bangyan, but the captain Cao who fought with the soldiers in Juyan Fort! I also believe that Cao Mengruan is still there, right in your heart! In the prosperous Jin world, you can be your Cao Bangyan and let you feel sorry for yourself, but now that the British and Northern Expeditions and the unification of China are the time for God to redistribute the situation, how can you be buried in the love of children again? Captain Cao...... Come out and take on the corner of the world! ”

Cao Zhan's hand holding the wine glass trembled, and at this time, the noise outside suddenly rose up, gradually converging into a rushing wave, and someone rushed into the hall and shouted: "The Sixth Division of the Praetorian Guard has been opened!" ”

Praetorian Sixth Division!?

In an instant, the bloody and sweaty time of Juyanbao flashed in his mind again, pinching his suicide note but his colleagues who died first went to the illness on behalf of him, teaching himself how to overcome the fear of death, but Yang Jiyuan, the battalion commander who no longer had fear, turned into his own life on paper and disappeared one by one, and the panic that he stood up when the dragons were leaderless, and when he succeeded, he was as relieved as if he had been reborn, and his thoughts were so clear, as if it happened yesterday.

"Yes, I used to be a lieutenant and staff officer of the 6th Praetorian Division...... The mission carried by that identity has not yet seen the end, and today the opportunity is in front of me, I have lost my cousin, do I still have to lose that self? ”

The originally dim pupils gradually revealed brilliance, and at first they were confused, but finally gathered into essence. When Cao Zhan raised his head, his eyes were extremely clear: "Cao Zhan is willing to go!" ”

On the stage, a little swallow dressed as an ancient Tang lady waved colorful silk and sang dutifully: "Is it embroidered velvet remnants, rolling up half a curtain of incense mist, and the slender hands come by themselves, making the cuckoo cry and swallow jealous; Stay, stay! Don't let Chunguang go to ......"

The east gate of Xuzhou City, looking at the Zifang Mountain three miles away, the spring light in March is sprinkled, and the low mountain is like a handle, leading up the endless green. But this spring and greenery did not bring a little anger to the prefect of Xuzhou in the Qing Dynasty, and Yao Zhijin, who was the governor of Jiangsu, he shrank under the battlements, and felt that the blood was flowing backwards, soreness and pain, and it was difficult to move.

Finally accumulating enough strength, he shuddered and asked his subordinates: "How many flags have passed today?" ”

The subordinates also replied with a tremble: "One big red flag, three big red flags, four red flags, twelve red flags, and white flags...... I can't count them. ”

Yao Zhijin wrenched his fingers and muttered to himself: "That's a general, three battalions, and four auxiliary battalions." The Twelve Militia and ......"

Not to mention the fingers, the toes can't be counted, Yao Zhijin said irritably: "How much, you can't give an accurate number!?" ”

The subordinates' eyes were out of focus. I wanted to cry and said without tears: "Lord Fuzun, the villain feels that there is no need to count." ”

Yao Zhijin was furious, he was about to scold when he turned his head sideways, and through the battlement, the scene that he had not dared to see suddenly broke into the corner of his eye, and the paralysis on his body suddenly invaded the atrium.

Vehicles and people rolled along the way, and various flags were unfurled like clouds, heading north to the bank of the Yellow River [1]. Extending to the south to the extreme of the view, it divides the spring land. On the Yellow River in the north of the city, the sails cover the sky and the sun, crisscrossing with the flow of chariots, horses and people. Movement and stillness weave together. The viewer feels as small as dust.

The trace of resistance that still existed in Yao Zhijin's heart was instantly crushed into powder by this torrent.

"Fuzun! It's time to decide! ”

"I'm too late!"

"Tens of thousands of living beings in Xuzhou City are just a thought of Fuzun!"

Fu Tongju, Tongshan Zhixian and other subordinates, and even the master knelt down. Crying and begging in unison.

Yao Zhijin was originally full of the heart to fight to the death, he has been in charge of Xuzhou for many years, he can acquiesce to the free exchange of Nanban merchants, and he can ignore the Xuzhou capital Bai Daolong and Nanban eyebrows, but Xuzhou is governed by the Qing Dynasty, and he will never lose this piece of skin.

When Bai Daolong was killed. He is still full of schadenfreude and deserves it! At the same time, he also strengthened his heart to fight to the death in awe, because he is also a banner man. Although he is a bannerman of the Han army, he is not like Yinghua treats the bannerman, and he has to divide the Han into two points, he is a disciple of the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty. He is the pillar of the Qing Dynasty.

When the news of the Southern Barbarian Northern Expedition came out, the deputy capital of Xuzhou fled north in a hurry with two thousand banner battalions. But he won't run away. In just two or three days, he drove away the merchants of the whole city with an iron fist, leaving only ordinary people and the people from the north to practice the people. Dazhi gunpowder guns and cannons, ready to fight to the death with the Southern Barbarian army.

Xuzhou is the gateway to the north, and the southern barbarian expedition to the north bears the brunt. Yao Zhijin was full of longing for his heroic martyrdom in the hellish and tragic scene, and he trembled with excitement when he thought that his martyrdom was about to spread all over the world.

When the Nanban red clothes appeared, and the battle flags fluttered under the city, Yao Zhijin was thinking, how many will there be? Thirty thousand? Fifty thousand? Lakh? The more the merrier, wow! He Yao Zhijin isolated the city to resist the 100,000 army of the Southern Barbarians, and he will leave his name in history!

But this fiery heart was beaten the day before yesterday, and the red-clothed ones who appeared left a few hundred people and a few cannons, and lazily bombarded the east gate, and all the large and small general cannons on the city wall had to be removed. The other red-clothed people went straight north, ignoring Xuzhou City at all.

Yao Zhijin could only barely maintain the hearts of the people in the city, as for going out of the city to invite attack...... Don't look at the fact that only a few hundred red clothes are making a move on Xuzhou, just casually divide a share of the torrent traveling outside the city in the east, and you can flood Xuzhou City, and he is sure that when you open the city gate, it will be when you lose the city.

Waiting for yesterday in fear, the red clothes should have attacked the city, but they didn't expect that what they were waiting for was such an endless torrent of people and horses that could not be seen. What is even more unexpected is that this torrent turned a deaf ear to Xuzhou City, continued to cross the river in the north, and surged to the north.

What kind of doorway is this?

Yao Zhijin was puzzled, Xuzhou City was like the eye of the storm in the storm, but it was extraordinarily calm, which also allowed him to spend yesterday safely and not be flooded by the people in the city.

On the one hand, he was puzzled, but on the other hand, he still worked a hundred times more energetically, and he did not relax for a moment to guard the city. And after a day, my eyes were spent, and my heart was shaken away.

Not to mention 100,000! On this day, I am afraid that there will be no less than 100,000 cattle and horses passing through Xuzhou City......

To this day, the torrent is still boundless, and if you talk about people, I am afraid that there are more than two or three hundred thousand, and when you see the tail of this torrent, the total number is probably not less than three or five hundred thousand. Yao Zhijin's heart is colder than ice. It's over, the Great Qing Dynasty is over, just the first road in Xuzhou, there are three and a half million, and it is rumored that the Southern Barbarian Six Roads and the Northern Expedition, together, two or three million...... What is this concept!? The total number of flag men is not so much!

So today, Yao Zhijin's heart to the death is only a trace left. Resisting a strong enemy and dying unyieldingly, this is heroic, but is this a strong enemy in front of you? This is Tarzan overpowering! His plan is to block the car with his mantis arm, and all that can be left in the history books is self-indulgent ridicule.

Yao Zhijin swallowed his saliva hard, he understood very well that these subordinates were also forced to come, if he still wanted to suppress the people and make enemies of this torrent, he would be crushed by the people first.

Outside the city, the city was pressed from both sides, and the solar terms in Yao Zhijin's heart collapsed. He closed his eyes and brushed his sleeves: "That's it......"

With a sonorous sound, he pulled out the long sword at his waist, Yao Zhijin bowed to the north, and the horizontal sword was about to kill himself. was hugged by his subordinates.

"The government can't help it!"

"Ming Gong don't abandon the people of a city!"

The subordinates shouted nonsense, and the master said more directly: "What can the city of Xuzhou be dissolved, and the government has to explain to the southern court!" ”

Knowing what the master meant, Yao Zhijin, who had no embankment in his heart, suddenly realized, yes, yes, I am a member of the Han Army, and I may still be able to save my life in the south, and even seek wealth.

"Kaesong, please surrender!"

Yao Zhijin's face was full of tears. He exhaled with a full breath.

On March 7, Xuzhou, which had been left to dry for two days, was surrendered, but in the Anglo-Chinese historical materials, Xuzhou was recovered on March 10. Where did this deviation come from?

Here's the thing. Yao Zhijin took his subordinates to cut their braids, took off their winter hats, and went out of the city with their bare heads, holding high the white flag. In a tea shop at the foot of Zifang Mountain outside the city, they met with the commander of the small red-clothed army that had been guarding them for the past two days.

"I was only ordered to suppress Xuzhou and ensure the safety of the brigade's march, and I have no right to accept your request to surrender."

One of the cardinal lieutenants said this gloomily, and it seemed that he was also dissatisfied with his errand.

"Who has the right to surrender? I'm waiting, it won't be too long. According to the principle of distance and proximity, it is estimated that which government in Anhui will accept you. If you want to be lenient, just wait and try to keep everything as normal in the city. ”

The knight's answer made Yao Zhijin feel quite fresh, which government in Anhui came to receive Xuzhou? What is this charter? It's pretty fine. In the old days, it was not to entrust officials and march into the city. Replace the flag plaque and count the money and food booklets. The addition of grace and power soothes people's hearts, is it just a change of dynasty?

With a confusion, Yao Zhijin returned to the city, and then sat like a needle and felt as the Qing prefect for the last three days, and finally waited for the surrendered people, which is a later story.

At the same time that Yao Zhijin went out of the city to ask for surrender, in the northeast of Xuzhou City, on the bank of the Yellow River, several masted flat boats lay in the middle of the river, connected with iron cables with wide pedals, and the endless flow of people crossed the Yellow River and went north.

Several large cardboard boxes stood at the feet of Hou Quan, the head of the North District of the Zhenyuan Dart Bureau, he took out a bright red dress from the box, unfolded it, it was a sleeveless vest, and the back of the chest was embroidered with a "dart" word in a circle, and there were two big characters "Zhenyuan".

Waiting for the full set of vests, he beckoned his subordinates: "Distribute these red vests to all departments, and tell the dart masters to cross the river after they are dressed, and if they don't wear this in the north, they will be armed with guns, and the inspectors will be treated as enemy soldiers." ”

As he was speaking, a voice of surprise sounded: "Second child! ”

Hou Quan looked up, but it was a middle-aged red-robed official, his face was similar to his own, but he didn't have his own fierce air at all, and his whole body was full of solemn smell, like a ruler, he glared and shouted: "Big brother!" ”

The two said in unison, "Why are you here!?" ”

The red-robed official is Hou Quan's eldest brother Hou An, more than ten years ago, when he handled the Mi Wuniang case in Jiangnan, he was just a small county general judge, and now he has served as an envoy to Anhui, and Hou Quan took over the eldest brother's dart bureau after retiring from the army, and is now also one of the directors, and is in charge of the entire northern cause.

Behind Hou An was a large group of soldiers in black clothes and red sleeves, Hou Quan smiled again: "Say Cao Cao, Cao Cao will arrive, big brother, you should be the big leader of supervision." ”

Hou An replied: "Work under Chen Xiang, lead the Shandong marching envoy, and the Shandong supervision is under my control." ”

Hou Quan said with emotion: "Big brother, after more than 20 years, we are finally together again and fighting side by side." ”

Hou An nodded with deep sympathy, back then, their two brothers were still poor children in the mountains of Hunan, they had been Lian Yong under the rule of the Qing Dynasty, and they had been guards under the rule of Yinghua, and the most noteworthy thing in the early years was to catch Yue Chaolong, although they were from Nantou. Then the brothers successively entered the red clothes, moved to Jiaozhi and even Nanyang, and then went their separate ways. After a big circle, when the British went on a northern expedition, although they were no longer in the army, they still went north side by side.

"Not counting the red-clothed and brave, in Anhui Province, there are tens of thousands of officials and police officers who have been transferred, plus the people of your dart bureau, the businessmen who cooperate with the army, and the militia group, I am afraid that there will be no less than 100,000 ......."

Hou An said with a smile: "The Northern Expedition, even the army and the people, there are more than millions, I am afraid that there will be as many as three or five million, so if you calculate it, our brothers will definitely meet." ”

Hou Quan said: "Three or five million!?" Obediently, our Northern Expedition is really pouring out of the country......"

Hou An glanced at the leaders of the dart division under Hou An, and his eyes continued to extend to the bridge in front of him, and the south bank was still a mixed flow of people, and after getting on the bridge, the main color had converged into a red tide, and everyone was dressed in red. Either the officers and soldiers in red, or the Northern Expedition regiment formed by volunteers, dart divisions and even civilians wearing red vests.

The red flag embroidered with various military emblems and coats of arms is the red-clothed army, the red flag with the province number written on the white side is the righteous and brave, the red-edged blue flag is the official government personnel, the red-edged white flag embroidered with the font number is the dart bureau, the red-edged blue flag is the heavenly temple and the civilian medical personnel, the red-edged blue flag is the cooperation of military businessmen, and the red-edged gray flag is the "homecoming group" and other non-governmental organizations.

These are all the regulations promulgated by the General Administration of North-South Affairs when mobilizing a country in accordance with the "general war" strategy of the Northern Expedition drawn up in advance, and the military, government, officials, and people have organized the largest torrent of marches in history in an orderly manner in accordance with these strict and meticulous regulations. Supervision and care with local police officers as the main body. Not only Xuzhou, but also in the direction of Shaanxi, not only on land, but also on the waterway sails fluttering all kinds of distinctive flags.

The march of every stream of chariots, horses, and people has a clear direction and goal, a clear arrangement of affairs, every type of person has a clear idea of what they want to do, and every day's itinerary is taken care of and guided, and the army has already set foot on the northern land, and this torrent that follows closely behind the army will rush to the north like a sweet spring, and will pour the sweet spring with fresh vitality into the dry land.

"Big brother, cross the river!"

Hou Quan interrupted his brother's reverie.

Hou An looked forward and backward, the rolling red tide was rushing in his eyes, and he said in high spirits: "We are the big river, it is the north that is about to cross our big river!" ”