In October of the eleventh year of Chongzhen, there were originally a few days of light snow, but this year it was unspeakably weird, the sun was still scorching the earth, the temperature did not fall but rose, the villagers beat their chests and feet, and there were words in their mouths, there must be demons when the sky was abnormal, why did God not open his eyes so much, and the disaster suffered by Daming was not enough!

Half of the mountains and rivers north of the Huai River are faintly brewing in this abnormal solar term, and people's fears do not seem to be only due to the possibility of another major drought next year. Finally, the beacon fire on the north wall of the fortress burned all the way to the capital division, followed by the eight-hundred-mile fast horse that galloped south to urge the liver and sausage, all confirmed this hidden worry.

More than 300 miles to the south, Gaoyang City within a radius of nine miles has become a construction site for blasting earth and dust, and the people have built the green bricks in their hands layer by layer on the outside of the rammed earth city wall. Suddenly, the construction site was boiling, and an old man with white hair slowly walked out of the north gate.

Among the thousands of eyes of all colors, there was a pair of eyes full of compassion and sorrow, because he clearly knew that only a month later, the Ming Emperor, the veteran of the Three Dynasties, the builder of the Guanjin defense line, the founder of the Guanning Iron Cavalry, Yuan Chonghuan and other generals and commanders were killed in the city, and more than 40 members of the family were also martyred.

"Smack!"

A crisp whip sound.

"Thief ringing horse, are you lazy, Sun Ge Lao Tianyan is also worthy of you to watch?"

The leather whip was whipped on the back of the only layer of clothing, and immediately there was a deep blood mark that could be seen in the flesh, and he crooked his mouth in pain. His name is Li Xin, and unlike those ordinary people who came voluntarily, he was a prisoner who was waiting for the crime to serve, and he was originally going to be beheaded after this autumn, but Jiannu broke through the pass and invaded the south, and Sun Chengzong destroyed his family to relieve the difficulty and rebuild the Gaoyang city wall, so the execution was postponed. Hundreds of prisoners held in the prison were also conscripted to build walls.

At this time, Li Xin had already accepted the identity of a prisoner of Xiangma, and compared with the strong sense of distress about the country and the nation when he just crossed, he was now thinking more about how to keep himself safe. However, the moment he saw Sun Chengzong, the positions of these two thoughts were reversed in an instant. Since he came to the end of the Ming Dynasty, he must do something, even if he can't change this sad history, he must save the Sun Pavilion in front of him.

Li Xin grabbed the overseer's wrist and raised it high to wave it again, and the overseer was immediately furious, did the prisoner who was like a little sheep just now dare to resist and eat the gall of an ambitious leopard? But seeing the fierce light in the other party's eyes, his arrogance immediately decreased.

"You, what do you want to do?"

"What? Beat you! ”

With that, a punch slammed into the overseer's face. Many of the prisoners around him were also from the Xiangma bandits who robbed the house with Li Xin, and they were all bullied and severely by this overseer.

The riot attracted the attention of Sun Chengzong, who had been in the sea for a long time, and knew that once so many people gathered, there would be a big mess, and his gray beard trembled slightly.

"Left and right, go and capture the first evil of the trouble."

After a while, Li Xin was tied up and pushed down in front of Sun Chengzong, let people push, beat and scold, stood up straight, and did not kneel down and beg for mercy according to the requirements of Soap Li. Sun Chengzong sneered, but he was a man, but it was a pity that he became a thief on the evil side. Unexpectedly, the other party's mouth stunned him!

"Sun Gebu, such a wall repair can't stop the Tartar soldiers at all, and this city can't last three days in front of Dolgon and Yue Tuo!"

Li Xin created a riot in order to attract Sun Chengzong's attention, and then he could hope to get a chance to talk to him. According to various historical records, under the leadership of Sun Chengzong, Gaoyang City was broken in one day, and more said that it held on for three days. In short, the twelfth day of the eleventh month of the lunar calendar is the date of death of this Sun Gebu. Immediately afterwards, on December 21, Lu Xiangsheng, the governor of Xuanda, died in the battle of Julu, and Li Xin, who is a lover of military history, remembers this very clearly. This time, the Kou Tartar soldiers plundered the two provinces of Zhili and Shandong, so far the entire North China was eroded, and the thieves were irreversibly sitting, and the death knell of the Ming Dynasty was officially sounded.

Soon, Li Xin was pulled back to reality by everyone's ridicule.

"The thief is crazy, there is Sun Ge is always there, and Gao Yang is solid."

"The thief is not dangerous, don't say that in Gaoyang, it is Ning Jin who is outside the gate to face the Tartar soldiers, and the elder of the pavilion is not like guarding the iron bucket......"

Everyone is very sure in their hearts, with this meritorious and prestigious Sun Ge Lao here, how could Gaoyang City be attacked by the Tartars? This is absolutely impossible! Sun Chengzong's face was cold, and a feeling of powerlessness rose in his heart, what the ringing horse in front of him said was right. According to his judgment, the scale of this two-way attack of the Tartar soldiers was unprecedented, and the previous general ambition was not to be in the high city and deep pool, but mainly to loot the population and property, and would inevitably burn and loot around the Beijing division, in addition to destroying and sweeping Zhili to hit the morale of the imperial court, killing two birds with one stone. Gao Yang has become a big tree because of him, and the Tartars are likely to send heavy troops to attack the city, and how can this small city with a wall no more than two feet high be able to stop it at that time? He is now destroying his house and repairing the city wall, but he is just doing his best. Although this kind of remark is true, it is alarmist and affects the morale of the army, so it has to be severely punished to set an example!

"Zhibo, what should be the crime of gathering the crowd to make trouble, confusing the crowd with gossip, and disturbing the morale of the army?"

Sun Chengzong did not talk to Li Xin, but asked an official in a green robe and black yarn beside him. The green-robed official Li Xin also recognized that it was the Lei County Order of Gaoyang County, and that day he personally came to announce the temporary pardon of the horses.

"If you go back to the cabinet, you should be cut according to the law!"

"Okay, let's do it!"

Sun Chengzong replied lightly and turned around to leave, Li Xin was in a hurry, broke free from the soap that held him, and rushed in the direction of Sun Chengzong, shouting in his mouth:

"Slow down in the cabinet, I have a way to help adults keep Gaoyang without losing!"

If you don't work hard, you will die, this is unexpected by Li Xin, Sun Chengzong is not half soft under the killer, and he is worthy of a generation of famous ministers. struggled to exhale and was ridiculed by the people around him, but Sun Chengzong stopped, turned to look directly at Li Xin, and said coldly:

"You are a horse thief, how can He De dare to speak out and be ashamed to help me defend Gaoyang?"

I am more than this people, and the knowledge of the next 400 years is not enough? Li Xin knows it himself, but he can't say that, otherwise it would be strange if he would not be regarded as crazy. Since he crossed over to Gaoyang Prison, he has been thinking countless times, if he is Sun Chengzong, how can he defend Gaoyang, as a military history lover in his previous life, he has many answers, and today may come in handy.

Lei Xian Ling reprimanded left and right: "What are you still doing in a daze? Hurry up and go out to rectify the law on the spot, don't let the thieves collide with the cabinet again! "Today, I was careful to accompany Sun Chengzong to inspect the construction site, but I didn't expect that there would be chaos. He is not a common man, he will not blindly believe in authority, he still has a relatively sober understanding of the current situation, no matter how Gaoyang City is repaired, who will defend it, there is no foreign aid army of the imperial court, and it is simply a fool's dream to resist the Tartar soldiers with only a few dozen soap subordinates. Therefore, he is seeking the possibility that this Sun Gebu can let him leave his post and return to Beijing.

"Wait, the old man is tired, go to the shed over there to rest, and bring this horse thief with you."

The so-called shed is a few poles to support a mat, and seven cauldrons are supported at the bottom, full of water boiled with coarse tea stalks, ready to quench the thirst of the people. A few mouthfuls have been cooled, and there are several stacks of stoneware bowls on the shelves next to them, which should be taken and served directly in the pot and drunk. The conditions on the construction site were very simple, there were no chairs, and the handymen found a stake to use as a stool for Sun Chengzong to sit down.

Sun Chengzong deliberately asked Soap Li to take a large bowl of stoneware to fill himself with a bowl of tea stalk water, and drank a big sip of it, praising it: "Good tea, happy!" ”

The handyman who boiled the water was flushed with excitement, such a big official could take a sip of the tea he brewed himself, and even claimed that he had not lived in vain in this life. If he hadn't been stopped outside, he couldn't wait to go in and kowtow to Sun Chengzong, so he shouted at the crowd outside in excitement: "Ge Lao drank the tea we brewed, and he praised it!" ”

The crowd was boiling again, and when the court elder and we drank the water in the same pot, what a glory! After a while, the chaos stirred up by Li Xin was thrown out of the sky by people.

There was thunder outside, but the air in the shed was a little cool.

"Hou Sheng, tell me about your skills in defending the city, if you don't say it, you are allowed to do it!"

The implication is that if you believe it, you will inevitably have the knife on your neck. Li Xin wiped the sweat on his forehead and smacked his lips, the dry inside could burst into flames, and he squeezed out a dry smile.

"Although Lu Butang is nominally the governor of the whole country, he is actually constrained by Yang and Gaoren, and I am afraid that he has lost a battle at this time, and the court is fighting and uncertain, and it is difficult to stop Jiannu's southward troops."

Li Xin did not directly say how to defend Gaoyang, but he started from the situation and talked about it so appallingly. Lei Xianling's heart was shocked, Lord Yang Sichang and he knew, but if Lu Xiangsheng was defeated because of this, he couldn't believe it. But the situation is so erosive, and I have tacitly believed in the defeat in my heart. Sun Chengzong's surprise in his heart was no less than that of Lei County's order, not to mention the personnel arrangements in the court and the matter of the fly camp dog Gou who fought for power and profit, how did he know about the horse thief, and it was not simple to dare to predict the defeat of Lu Xiangsheng's army, this is by no means the insight that an ordinary prisoner should have. Sun Chengzong looked at Li Xin carefully, he was tall, with dark skin and unkempt hair, no different from the prisoners. Do you still have an unknown identity?

Li Xin looked directly at Sun Chengzong's glancing gaze, and said: "So Gaoyang City can't wait for reinforcements, and can only save itself." After finishing speaking, he quietly waited for Sun Chengzong to speak. The reason why he said a bunch of things other than Gao Yang was to see if this generation of celebrities agreed with his judgment of the situation, only if he agreed with this, there would be talk and some to do later.

After a long time, Sun Chengzong breathed a sigh of relief, and when he looked at Li Xin again, his eyes were much softer than before. This subtle change was keenly captured by Lei Xianling, and he even faintly felt that Sun Chengzong's eyes still had some praise in his eyes. That's right, Sun Chengzong does have some praise, I am afraid that there will be no more than three people in Gaoyang City who can conclude that there are no rescuers outside Gaoyang City, and there is only one person who dares to predict the defeat of Lu Xiangsheng's army, and he Sun Chengzong does not dare to assert so. In comparison, the knowledge of those descendants of his own children is not half a little.

"Okay, how should this Gao Yang be guarded, the old man listens!"

Note: Soap Li, the errand officer in the yamen of the state and county in the old days -

Old wine QQ: 179452059, brothers who like history plus! There is also a discussion group: 296657060, the old wine is waiting in the group! Also, friends and brothers are welcome to express their opinions in the book review area, or point out the problems of the old wine, and your message is also the driving force for the renewal of the old wine!