Ten days later, along the Yangtze River down the bank of the Baihe River in the north of Qingpu County, Jiangsu, it was already dark at night, the sky was full of stars, and the river was still surging and flowing.

In a village on the riverside, it is full of people. Around the entrance of the village, dozens of men in short coats, holding big knives and spears, patrolled back and forth, and in the largest ancestral hall in the village, a huge fire was lit, and dozens of men sat together, looking at these people, old and young, all of them were coarse cloth short coats, looking like village farmers dressed up, and several of them were dressed in long shirts, like teachers in the city. And the most eye-catching among them was a woman, who saw her big red pants and tight-fitting moon white shirt on her upper body, and said that she had dragged out a well-proportioned figure, and her appearance was very beautiful. She looked like a village girl waiting for a boudoir, but she was crowded in a crowd of big men, which seemed extremely incongruous.

In the center, a man in his forties was full of beard, with a Chinese character face, dressed in a short coat, and looked very mighty, only to hear him say loudly: "Today, thanks to the arrival of the head of the Guangdong Knife Club Liu and the head of the Bailong Gang Pan, our Tangwan Tiandi Club is really inadequate." ”

I saw that among the few people wearing long robes, one of them stood up and hugged his fists and said: "Zhou Yingying is polite, it's just that our Bailong Gang has been merged into the Little Knife Society, and the word "gang leader" should not be mentioned again. ”

The person who spoke was in his thirties, with a thin face and a short beard under his chin, and he was very dignified, but this person was Pan Qiliang, the leader of the Bailong Gang, and I saw him finish speaking and look at a thirty-year-old man sitting beside him, waiting for him to speak.

I saw that this person had sword eyebrows and starry eyes, a timeless face, and a light smile on his face, which was very heroic. When the hero heard this, he sighed, and also looked at the man, and asked, "Chief Helmsman Liu has already subdued the Bailong Gang?" What a blessing. ”

This person is Liu Lichuan, the chief helmsman of the Shanghai Knife Society, he was originally from Guangdong, and with the opening of Shanghai, many people from other provinces such as Guangdong, Fujian and other places have come to Shanghai to beg for a living. Among them, there are many Cantonese people, many of whom are members of the Heaven and Earth Society, Liu Lichuan was born in the Heaven and Earth Society in his early years, and after arriving in Shanghai, he secretly established the Guangdong Gang, and later Chen Qingzhen established a branch of the Heaven and Earth Society in Fujian - the Little Knife Society, and Liu Lichuan changed the Guangdong Gang into the Little Knife Society in Shanghai.

Liu Lichuan saw that Zhou Hero asked, stood up immediately, and said with a smile: "I don't dare to export the word "acceptance, Zhou Lichun Zhou Hero, last year in Qingpu uprising against the Qing Dynasty, defeated the Qing army several times, and has a prominent reputation." Even Ling Yuan Zhou Xiuying is also a heroine, in the first battle of Baihejiang, she killed three Qing generals, and her reputation is far and wide. My Little Knife Society is now united with the Hundred Dragons Gang, just to raise troops against the Qing Dynasty, and has no intention of annexing other gangs. Besides, my knife will originate from the Heaven and Earth Society, and it will have the same root and origin as the Tangwan Heaven and Earth Society. ”

The woman beside Zhou Lichun interjected and asked, "Chief Helmsman Liu, do you also know my name?" ”

Liu Lichuan smiled and said: "Zhou Xiuying, the heroine of the female middle school, has small red pants and a tight body, carries a big knife for 100 pounds, and kills four doors on the Tangwan Bridge, this poem is widely spread, and everyone knows it on the ground in Shanghai." ”

Zhou Lichun scolded: "Girl's family, just listen to it, what do you say?" And not afraid of the jokes of the heroes. ”

Zhou Xiuying pouted and snorted and said, "Is it so rare?" Let's talk to a bunch of stinky men, I'll go in and see if the pumpkin soup is ready, and give each of you a big bowl. Ignoring Zhou Lichun's blowing beard and glaring, he walked into the house with a smile and a small song.

Everyone couldn't help laughing, Liu Lichuan sat down and said, "Miss Zhou is really heroic and uninhibited. ”

Zhou Lichun snorted and said: "Wild girl, you are used to being wild, but she is more fierce than a man, and she is a big spender, I am afraid that I will not be able to get married." After he finished speaking, he saw that everyone's faces were red and wanted to laugh, and then coughed and said: "Chief Helmsman Liu is dating tonight, does he also want us Tangwan Tiandi to join the Little Knife Club and jointly oppose the Qing Dynasty?" ”

Liu Lichuan bowed slightly and said: "Yes, Zhou Yingying has already raised troops against the government last year, and now the people of more than 20 villages and towns such as Tangwan and Huangdu are all supporting Zhou Yingying, forming an army of their own, defending the village, and defeating the official army. ”

It turned out that as early as the second year of Xianfeng in the Qing Dynasty, Qingpu had a poor harvest year after year, and Yu Longguang, the magistrate of the county, also pursued the exempted money and grain within a time limit, which aroused the anger of the local people. Under the leadership of Zhou Lichun and Zhou Xiuying, the peasants of Qingpu rose up to resist the grain. In September of the same year, it successively repelled the attacks of the Qingpu prefect and the Suzhou prefect. Zhou Xiuying took the lead, and the battle of Baihejiang made the Qing army fall into the water. Zhou Lichun organized peasants in more than 20 villages, including Tangwan and Huangdu, to defend themselves against the official army.

A man in his thirties beside Zhou Lichun suddenly said: "I don't know if Chief Helmsman Liu wants to make trouble, does he want to establish himself as the king, or does he have other plans?" ”

Liu Lichuan sighed, hugged his fists and smiled: "In the lower eye, who is this hero?" ”

Zhou Lichun said: "This is Xu Yao, the leader of the Luohan Gang, who was falsely accused and imprisoned by the government a few days ago, and was rescued by the Luohan Gang, so he came to me to defect. ”

Liu Lichuan stood up, clasped his fists and said with a smile: "It turned out to be Xu Yingying, who has heard of the famous name for a long time, and I didn't expect to be able to meet here today, it is really a blessing for three lives." ”

……

Anyway, Zhou Xiuying turned around and entered the inner hall, humming a Jiangnan song, walked quickly to the kitchen, opened the curtain and entered the house, but saw a man in Tsing Yi in his twenties eating a bowl of pumpkin soup. Zhou Xiuying looked at him, only to see that his eyebrows were clear, with a hint of a smile on his face, and when he saw her come in, he didn't care, and he was still eating.

Zhou Xiuying only said that he was a member of the Little Knife Club who came with Liu Lichuan, and asked strangely, "Who are you?" How did it end up here? Are you the person who is the helmsman of Mr. Liu? ”

The Tsing Yi shouted pumpkin in his mouth, and said vaguely: "No, it's just that this pumpkin soup is fragrant, so I came in over the wall and ate a bowl." ”

Zhou Xiuying was shocked: "It's heavily guarded outside, how did you get in?" Who the hell are you? ”

The man in Tsing Yi was still gulping down, and said with a smile in his mouth: "I'm just a passerby, and I climbed the wall to come in when I smelled the aroma." ”

Zhou Xiuying looked at his naïve appearance, and was furious in her heart, Hong fist raised her hand, and said angrily: "Don't pretend to be crazy and stupid with me, say quickly, are you an eagle dog of the Qing court?" Break your dog's leg otherwise. ”

The man in Tsing Yi drank the remaining mouthful of soup, put down the bowl, wiped his mouth and smiled: "It's really sweet, Miss Zhou, your craftsmanship is really good." ”

Zhou Xiuying listened, where could she still bear it, the willow eyebrows were raised, and with a coquettish sound, Hong Fist swung the willow up and hit the man in Tsing Yi fiercely, and shouted: "Look for a fight." ”

The man in Tsing Yi saw that her fist style was fierce in the afterlife, and praised it: "What a powerful boxing technique." He was not in a hurry, avoided the fist wind, turned sideways, grabbed Zhou Xiuying's slender hand, twisted it with a button, and instantly hugged her in his arms.

Zhou Xiuying was horrified in her heart, since she became an artist, no one has been able to catch herself in one move, even if it is her own father, this person in front of him seems to have seen the flaws in his boxing skills, and the shots are very miscellaneous, his tricks are very similar to Shaolin boxing, but that buckle and twist, but I don't know which boxing technique.

She was held by the man in Tsing Yi, panicked in her heart, and hit her other hand backwards with her elbow, but the person behind her gently grabbed the elbow joint, and she couldn't exert her strength anymore. Zhou Xiuying was shocked, her arm strength was outstanding, and a big knife was dancing loudly, many men were not her opponents, she had not met an opponent since her debut, but now she was caught by someone in three moves and two styles, but who is the person behind her?

The man in Tsing Yi grabbed Zhou Xiuying's hand and smiled: "With so much strength, I almost can't restrain you." Miss Zhou, don't be angry, I'm not a bad person. When he said this, he put his mouth to Zhou Xiuying's ear and said it, and the heavy manly breath sprayed on the edge of her earlobe, itching, she couldn't help blushing, and said angrily: "Let go of me." ”

The man in Tsing Yi chuckled, let go of her, took three steps back, and still smiled.

Zhou Xiuying became popular, when was she teased like this? But the person in front of him has very high martial arts, and he is not an opponent, so he took a step back, put on a defensive posture, and said angrily in his mouth: "Where did you get the obscene embryo?" Rushed to tease this girl? ”

The man in Tsing Yi said, "Miss Zhou, don't worry, listen to me." Tonight, a few of your gangs will meet here, the Qing court has received the news, and sent a large number of people to arrest them, led by a few royal eagle claws from the capital, I am here to tell you the news. ”

Zhou Xiuying's face eased slightly when she heard this, and said: "You are talking nonsense, how can the Qing court know about the alliance of our gangs?" ”

The man in Tsing Yi smiled and said: "There are spies from the Qing court in your gang, if you don't believe it, in a while, those eagle talons will lead the soldiers and horses to arrive, you better prepare early." "I'm leaving.

Zhou Xiuying stretched out her palm and asked, "Who are you?" Don't think about leaving if you don't make it clear. The man in Tsing Yi frowned and said: "The eagle talons of the Qing court borrowed foreign soldiers and horses to encircle and suppress you, and you still took advantage of the night to break through early, and it was too late to be late." ”

Zhou Xiuying exclaimed: "Foreigners? ”

The man in Tsing Yi nodded and said in a deep voice: "Yes, Miss Zhou, I used to be a member of the Heaven and Earth Society, and you should know this incision of Ming Da Fuxinyi."

Zhou Xiuying's eyes widened, this incision is the incision of the Heaven and Earth Society, and in turn, she is dedicated to recovering the Ming Dynasty, and hurriedly asked: "Since this eldest brother is his own person, where is he worshipping incense?" ”

Worshipping incense is also the code word of the Heaven and Earth Society, which means where the congregation is, the man in Tsing Yi smiled and said: "I worship incense in Xiangdi, it is inconvenient to say more at this time, Miss Zhou should go and tell the old hero Zhou, I am afraid that there will be changes." After speaking, he turned around and walked out of the house, Zhou Xiuying chased him out of the house, but saw the man over the wall and left, Zhou Xiuying shouted a few times, and the man didn't stop, so he had to watch him go away, and Zhou Xiuying had to walk quickly to the ancestral hall compound.

When I came to the ancestral hall, I saw that the leaders of the gangs were chatting very happily, and Zhou Lichun saw her come out and said strangely: "Ying'er, where is your soup?" ”

Zhou Xiuying hurriedly stepped forward to tell the mysterious man in Tsing Yi just now, and after listening, Liu Lichuan was the first to frown and said: "I don't know which brother this person is, but since he has already warned him, let's be careful." ”

Zhou Lichun stood up and shouted: "Yes, the gentlemen in Tangwan will meet these foreigners." Everyone responded loudly, each picked up his weapon, and followed the leaders of several gangs out of the ancestral hall.

In this alliance, the Tiandi Society in Tangwan is regarded as a landlord, with nearly 300 people under Zhou Lichun, and the rest of the gang leaders, most of them brought more than 30 people to guard, and less than 10 people to guard, adding up to only more than 500 people. Everyone out of the ancestral hall, there are Tangwan Tiandi will help the people to report, sure enough, there are people and horses on all sides surrounded the village by the Baihe River, but it is dark in all directions, I don't know how many people and horses, just now in several directions have clashed several times, the people and horses on the opposite side do not fight, a distant musket, artillery will come over, and the gang who want to try to break through is forced back.

Zhou Lichun frowned when he heard this, and said loudly: "What that person said is really right, there are foreigners and soldiers all around, firearms are sharp, heaven and earth will help the people to listen to the order, everyone will gather, and let the friends of other gangs walk in the middle, let's work together to take advantage of the night to kill the north, we are familiar with the road here, and the fence in the night of the foreign devil will not be very strong." ”

Liu Lichuan heard this and hurriedly said: "We understand Zhou Yingying's kindness, but we are all men who are seven feet old, why should we hide behind others, which makes people laugh, we don't distinguish between each other, rush into battle at the same time, and live and die with our own destiny, how about it?" ”

Zhou Lichun slammed the big knife in his hand into the ground, and said loudly: "Okay, Chief Helmsman Liu, we had a very good conversation just now, I have made up my mind to form an alliance with your association, and I will look forward to the helmsman of Liu." Now Qinggou and foreign devils want to arrest me, if we are lucky enough not to die tonight, after breaking through, we will meet again in Jiaxing. ”

Liu Lichuan took out the knife on his waist and said, "Okay, swear with the knife today and never go against each other." "Everyone swore with swords at the door of the ancestral hall and made an alliance with each other. Then Liu Lichuan began to arrange everyone to break through, Zhou Xiuying looked at Liu Lichuan standing in the middle, speaking eloquently, generously and calmly, with great admiration in her heart, but she remembered for no reason in her heart, this Liu Helmsman is much better than the person who summoned the messenger just now, this thought just started, and suddenly realized, how could she compare Liu Lichuan with that person? I don't even know his name, it's ridiculous to think about it.