But this moment came faster than Xu Ping imagined. After the Changqing battalion advanced more than ten meters, Xu Ping saw a sudden chaos behind the rebels. In the binoculars, Zhen Octopus, who had been directing the battle, turned over and left in a hurry with the surrounding guards. Looking farther away, Xu Ping saw the banner of the Ming army appear in his field of vision, which was the military flag of the Shanlan camp, and there were dense spears around him.

Countless rebels dropped their planks and sticks and began to flee. To Xu Ping's surprise, the rebels in the center were still resisting, and hundreds of people surrounded their cannons and fought with the Ming army to the death. Gradually, the Ming army's front line changed from a straight line to an arc, and the two ends of this arc continued to bend, and finally joined together to form a closed circle, tightly enclosing the cannon and the last few hundred rebels in the middle.

The rebel artillery was still firing, and each time before firing, the gunner would let out a loud roar, and the rebels in front would hula and dodge a gap, and the shells would fly out of this gap after them, knocking down their comrades who had not had time to dodge, along with some Ming soldiers.

Xu Ping, who rode forward, walked all the way behind his soldiers, and the rebels who were surrounded in the middle were only a few dozen people, and they were still desperately defending the artillery. Xu Ping was so close that he could even hear the rude invincing coming from the rebels' mouths. The rebels are rapidly dwindling until there are few left. A rebel with a disheveled head, brandishing a spear frantically, crackled it against the approaching Ming army's gun forest. Another rebel had been stabbed by the spear of the Ming army, and he leaned on the heavy copper cannon he was defending with his life, propped a single knife on the ground with one hand, and covered the wound on his stomach with the other to prevent his intestines from flowing out, and his mouth let out a dying cry: "Kill the officers and soldiers!" ”

The last rebel gunner pushed the last shot into the chamber, and the rebel with the spear covering him was killed, and he was also stabbed in the lower leg by the Ming army behind him, nailing him to the ground. The rebel struggled to raise his torch as several guns pierced him in the back. The rebel rattled in his throat and threw his torch at the door, staring at the cannon and tumbling to the side.

The missing rebel gunner fell to the ground, his face stuck in the blood-soaked mud - he died.

The single knife had slipped from the hands of the last seriously wounded rebel, and he was struggling to protect the cannon with his backhand, looking at the countless pairs of eyes hidden behind the visor around him. He puffed up his chest, but no one shot him in the end, and the action drained the rebel's last strength, and he slowly slumped to the ground. "Kill the officers and soldiers!" The rebel shouted again, and Yuan sat on the ground with his eyes open and his back to the gun—he was dead, too.

A lonely copper cannon, which seems to be a product of a hundred years ago, was dragged to this battlefield today without knowing which county seat it was sleeping in the dusty corner of yesterday. The cannon was covered with old rust and fresh blood, and it was surrounded by more than four hundred peasants who had given their lives to defend it.

The commander of the Shanlan battalion, Tongzhi Wei Landu, jumped off his horse, and in front of him, the soldiers of the Changqing battalion had been reorganized, and the brightly armored Ming soldiers were lined up in a neat formation, and the spears they held high were full of blood, but they still couldn't hide the little cold light coming from the sharp blades. Wei Landu walked through the murderous procession, and his feet were littered with the corpses of ragged rebels, many of whom were barefoot and still clutched the sticks in their hands until they died.

Wei Landu continued to move forward, and in the center of the battlefield, he saw Xu Ping, who was known as the rising star of the new army, kneeling on one knee, carefully looking at the corpses of the fallen traitors one by one. It wasn't until Wei Landu walked to the bronze cannon that Xu Ping let go of the arm of the rebel he was inspecting, and when he slowly stood up from the ground, his eyes were still on the traitor's blind face, and at the same time he whispered to Wei Landu: "These people are not old thieves, they are all ordinary croppers. ”

"Yes...... Yes. "Wei Landu has just examined the palms, arms, etc. of several fallen rebels, and it is obvious that they have not touched the traces of weapons, but they all have the characteristics of farmers.

Xu Ping raised his head to look at Wei Landu, who sighed and told Xu Ping that the Shanlan camp had encountered a large number of rebels today, most of whom were improvised armed peasants. This time the officers and soldiers attacked Shandong, and many people fled, but more people stayed in the local ravine to avoid the disaster, and did not flee one after another until the Ming army opened a killing spree. The rebel leaders gathered these refugees whose families were ruined, and gave them a knife and a wooden gun at random, and obtained a large number of soldiers who were not afraid of death.

These peasants were a complete rabble, less combative and organized than the main forces of the rebels. However, it was the tens of thousands of such peasant soldiers who blocked the 1,000 officers and soldiers of the front army of the Shanlan Camp here for a whole day. Just now, Wei Landu saw half of the rebels on the opposite side heading north, so he judged that it was the rescuers of the Changqing Battalion who arrived. When he heard the sound of artillery, he hurriedly waved his army to kill, dispersed the thousands of rebels in front of him in one fell swoop, and then rushed to join Xu Ping.

Xu Ping squatted down and stretched out his hand, gently closed the rebel's wide open eyes, stood up and asked, "What about Lord Fang?" ”

Wei Landu shook his head and told Xu Ping: "I was dragged down, and there are nearly 10,000 thieves in the south." ”

"And tens of thousands?"

"Yes, there are thieves everywhere, at least seven or eight thousand, including more than two thousand cavalry of the dragon." Wei Landu looked at the sky and said, "Although they can't stop us, we can't go fast." I suggest camping and resting temporarily, what does Brother Xu think? ”

Today, more than 30 people in Xu Ping's division were killed and more than 60 were seriously wounded, and the front army of the Changqing Battalion lost almost 10 percent of its troops, and countless were slightly wounded. The officers were also exhausted, and many of the staff officers did not close their eyes for several days and nights, and many of them fell asleep during the leisure of the battle.

In view of the situation of the troops, although Xu Ping wanted to meet the retreat of the Shanlan battalion overnight, he was also powerless. Even his own mental and physical strength is on the verge of collapse. After Xu Ping and Wei Landu joined forces, he struggled to force the exhausted officers and soldiers to set up the camp according to the regulations, stumbled back to his tent, and threw himself on the pillow that he had touched for the first time in three days, and Xu Ping fell asleep as soon as he closed his eyes.

Not long after Xu Ping got up the next day, Zhang Chengye led the Chinese army to arrive and ordered Xu Ping's troops to repair, while Zhang Chengye himself went with Wei Landu to pick up the headquarters of the Shanlan camp. Xu Ping asked the military doctor to seize the time to treat the wounded soldiers, and the soldiers of each battalion to maintain vigilance while seizing the time to recover their strength. Unexpectedly, the battle in the south was much more fierce than expected, and Zhang Chengye soon sent someone to inform Xu Ping to transfer 500 troops to reinforcements, and in the afternoon, he ordered Wu Zhong's rear army to move forward and join forces with Xu Ping, and then take 500 soldiers to the front line.

It wasn't until after night that Xu Ping saw the Ming army return to the camp, and Zhang Chengye and Wu Zhong both had solemn faces. They told Xu Ping that Fang Mingda, the commander of the Shanlan battalion, and the commander were both killed, and Wei Landu was already the only commander of the Shanlan battalion. The dragon's rebels brought several cannons, and in the fierce battle, a cannonball happened to hit Fang Mingda under the general's command, killing him on the spot. In order to speed up the march, the Yamalan battalion ordered all twelve guns to be destroyed and abandoned. However, the rebels' 2,000 cavalry still harassed frequently, and the commander of the Shanlan battalion personally led the horse team to launch a counterattack after ambushing the rebels.

"The two battalions have a total of 668 officers and men killed or missing, and 424 seriously wounded, which is close to 20% of our army's strength." Except for the negligible losses in the previous phase, most of the casualties in these two days were from the Yamalan battalion. After Fang Mingda died unexpectedly in battle, his Chinese army fell into command confusion for a while, and several thousand corps were completely defeated.

"However, the rebels have also suffered heavy casualties, and they should not be able to launch an offensive in the short term." The staff officers of the two battalions were all gathered in the tent of the Chinese army, and after discussion, the four commanders decided to abandon all the artillery of the Evergreen Battalion and retreat north as quickly as possible.

……

English Channel

As the stormy sea gradually returned to calm, the ships that had been staggered by the wind stood upright on the blue waves again, and the French sailors on deck knelt down to thank God for the gift.

The sailors who had bravely climbed up the mast and put away the sails, at the risk of being blown into the sea by the strong winds, also returned to the deck from the masts after re-rolling the sails, and they waited for the captain's commendation with their heads held high. The French captain, who had commanded everyone to overcome the storm, walked past the group behind them and bowed to a young man with a bare back, who had also just jumped off the mast: "Your Excellency, your extraordinary courage is admirable, you are a true nobleman. ”

"It's over." Huang Naiming smiled and said to the captain: "You are the calmest captain I have ever seen. ”

"Huang ...... Brother Huang. Bao Yuenlong, who had not yet recovered from his worries, rushed forward and stammered: "You are so brave. ”

"I've seen a lot of winds and waves," Huang Naiming laughed: "What is this little wind?" ”

"Brother Huang, hurry up and put on your clothes, don't freeze." Shi Tianyu draped Huang Naiming's clothes on his shoulders, and noticed that Huang Naiming's waist had a jade pendant, Shi Tianyu stared at it for a long time: "A very valuable treasure, was it given by the Hou Ye?" ”

"Oh." Huang Naiming carefully took off the jade pendant that he had collected close to his waist and wiped it clean carefully: "Yes, it was a token given to Xianci by Jiayan back then, and then it was given to me." ”

"Can I take a look?" Shi Tianyu asked eagerly.

"Yes." Huang Naiming knew that this Brother Shi liked jade the most, and he loved this kind of treasure more than his life, so he took off the jade pendant and handed it over to the other party.

Shi Tianyu immediately grabbed it in his hand and watched it carefully, "Valuable, priceless!" He sighed and said: "There is such a good jade in the world, it is really flawless, why have I never seen Brother Huang with this thing?" ”

"It was handed over to me by Jia Yan when I left Beijing this time."

"But it seems that it should be a pair," Shi Tianyu pointed to the smooth back of the snow-white jade pendant, which was not engraved with beautiful patterns like the other side: "It should have a sister." ”

"Brother Shi has good eyesight." Huang Naiming couldn't help but be in awe: "Jia Yan also said that it should indeed be a couple." ”

"Where?" Shi Tianyu immediately asked, his eyes still searching for Huang Naiming: "Brother Huang, are you willing to give me a look?" ”

"Not on me......"

"It turned out to be at the second son's place." Without waiting for Huang Naiming to finish speaking, Shi Tianyu suddenly realized.

"No, I thought so at first, but Jia Yan said that he didn't give any tokens to his second brother's mother." The smile on Huang Naiming's face gradually faded, he took the jade pendant back into his hand, as if he was thinking about something, and finally, Huang Naiming made up his mind and said: "Jia Yan told me that Xianci also has a sister, when Jia Yan was in Liaodong, he gave Xianci and his aunt a piece, and when he hurriedly transferred from Liaodong to Funing, his aunt was pregnant like Xianci and the mother of the second brother, so he didn't take the three of them away, but when he sent someone to Beijing to pick him up, his aunt didn't know where to go." ”

"Ah, I don't know where to go, how is this possible?"

"I just don't know where to go." Huang Naiming shook his head: "Jia Yan said that he has been looking for 20 years, but there has been no news, well, that is, in addition to the second brother, I also have a brother or sister who is a concubine, but Jia Yan doesn't know whether it is a man or a woman, and where are their mother and son?" Huang Naiming's tone was filled with sadness: "I have been clothed and fed since I was a child, and I have the guidance of famous teachers, and my brother, if he is a brother, will he have the money to read and write?" If she were a sister, how would she be doing? ”

The two companions were silent, and after a while, Bao Yuanlang said hesitantly: "Brother Huang, Master Hou is famous all over the world, and your aunt will not know it." ”

"I know what you're thinking, I thought so at first, but Jia Yan firmly believes that it was my aunt who refused to come to him, so I don't know why." From a common sense point of view, Huang Naiming felt that his aunt and the brother and sister who had never met were definitely no longer alive, but his father obviously had something unspeakable, and he also said that this child was closer to Huang Naiming than Huang Naiming's second brother. Huang Naiming also sees it this way, because not only is he a father, but his mother is also a sister. His father also instructed him not to tell his mother-in-law, second brother and sister about the jade pendant.

As early as the third year of Chongzhen, the Marquis of Zhendong found that the two children were true and one false, and the loyal servant of the first emperor who met with Jin Qiude dropped a concubine, but the two children were raised by him, and the relationship between father and son was very deep in the past twenty years, and he was unwilling to let his wife or others know about it. This secret is very important, and Zhendonghou has tried his best to find it for more than ten years, but he still found nothing, and he did not dare to tell Huang Naiming the truth. And Huang Naiming thought that this was because his father didn't want to make trouble at home, and the second brother didn't have a jade pendant, so he might also have thoughts in his heart. Huang Naiming held the jade pendant tightly in his hand: "Whenever I hold it tightly, I have a feeling that it is one of my brothers, and I will definitely be able to meet him." ”

"Your Excellency, Honorable Viscount." The captain came over again: "We have seen the port of London. ”

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