The capital is in chaos, and Tianjin is also in chaos.

The officials and gentry in the city fled, the shops were closed, all industries withered, and the people were panicked. Quite a few criminals have taken advantage of the opportunity to run rampant and overbearing, and have even bullied and humiliated them with the signboard of the 'revolutionary army'. Waiting for Zhou Qingfeng to come back with his troops, there are even more speculative people to come and attach him. Peddlers and pawns, down-and-out literati, green skins on the streets, and three religions and nine streams come one after another.

The social situation in Tianjin is more complicated than that in Liaodong, and Xu Bing only brought some people from the administrative department, which was completely unable to deal with it. Although she also has a lot of local agents sent by the Ministry of Security to be responsible for screening, these people are often uneducated at the bottom of society, most of them turn to the enemy because of hatred, and their practical ability is flawed.

Xu Bing was so busy with this that he could only get close to the guards to maintain law and order in the city. But how to clean up the scum in the city is not something she can do.

Zhou Qingfeng was busy expanding the army, and the battle of Tongzhou made him more prestigious, and Liu Wei's family was swallowed by him. There were more than 2,000 of them, and they were good soldiers with good physique and high level of training. However, their feudal mentality is also more serious, and they have many vices and urgently need education.

A large number of Ming soldiers who made a living as soldiers were also selected, and those with better quality were included in the trainees. In addition, there were young soldiers recruited from Tianjin, adding up to six or seven thousand in total. Therefore, it is necessary to set up a recruit training center in Tianjin to conduct standardized training. In addition, Zhou Qingfeng also plans to establish a naval training center in Tianjin, which is also a bunch of trivial matters.

In this case, it is necessary to find a capable person to deal with the local bulls, ghosts, snakes, and gods. This person must be capable, familiar with the people, and preferably experienced. Zhou Qingfeng looked at the personnel file in his hand, and was stunned that he didn't find this kind of person. He asked the Minister of Security, Wang Kunpeng, to recommend him manpower, and Wang Kunpeng recommended a eunuch to him.

"Marcos?" Zhou Qingfeng naturally remembered this person, "Is it the father-in-law Ma who scattered the large pile of grain and salary in Tongzhou, cheapened the civil and military affairs of the Ming and Manchu dynasties, but made me empty?" That guy is very stubborn, he wants to be a loyal servant of the Ming Dynasty, and he will be in prison, right? ”

Wang Kunpeng has been training for more than a year and has grown rapidly. He was very satisfied with his position, but he was more self-aware, and he knew that he was not sitting in the position of Minister of Security because of his ability, otherwise Fan Wan'er, who was anti-water of the White Lotus Sect, would be a few streets stronger than him. He relied on diligence and loyalty to secure his position.

As long as Wang Kunpeng is a pure minister, the crucial position of Minister of Security will definitely be his, and no one can take it away. But if the Ministry of Security can't do its job, no matter how loyal it is, it's useless. Fan Wan'er became the deputy minister of the Ministry of Security, and she stirred up trouble in Shandong. This incident gave Wang Kunpeng a lot of inspiration, so he has been thinking about how to recruit some powerful subordinates to drive.

"This Gonggong Ma is indeed loyal enough, but the Wanli Emperor to whom he is loyal suddenly died the day before yesterday. Perhaps this will persuade him a thing or two. Wang Kunpeng said: "If this Ma Gonggong can come out to do things, just his identity as a worker in the East Factory is enough to pull many people from Daming East Factory and Jinyiwei over." These people are absolutely qualified to deal with the city fox society rats. ”

Zhou Qingfeng groaned a few times, nodded slightly, and said: "According to the investigation, except for the ruthlessness of this person when handling the case, there is not much bad deeds in other aspects. We, the 'revolutionary army', do not engage in any retaliation, and it is not a matter of imprisoning him. You go talk to him and allow him to go back to the capital to see the limelight. I don't think this person has a good reputation for money. If you want fame, I'll give it to him. ”

The marshal agreed, and Wang Kunpeng went to find Marcose.

This will be Ma Gongimian's count lice in the prison in Tianjin. He was sealed by Ye Na in Tongzhou and became a wasted person, and he wanted to be loyal to the emperor but was locked up by the thieves. He has been on a hunger strike for the past few days to show that he is not the same as the thief.

In addition to Ma Gonggong, there were many Ming generals who were captured in the battle with the guards, and these people wilted one by one, and they were listless all day long. In the past few days, the security department of the 'revolutionary army' has been checking the identities of these people, and junior officers are often dragged in for re-education. Some of the high-ranking officers were executed, while others were sent to the Liaodong Peninsula for rehabilitation as war criminals.

Ma Gonggong has no friendship with these people. He sits alone every day, thinking only about whether his life is worth it? If you think too much, you are in a daze.

"Qin Bangping, there is your letter." Guards soldiers who temporarily served as jailers shouted outside the cell door.

Ma Gonggong raised his head slightly, and saw a person in his fifties standing in the opposite cell. He was born in Dongchang, and he knows a lot about the world's famous officials, just by hearing this name, he knows that this person is a Tusi general from Sichuan. I don't know why, the thief seems to treat this person very favorably, eats and drinks well, and has always been polite.

The jailer opened the cell door, gave Qin Bangping a letter, and said by the way: "The commander has an order, you are in good health." Thinking that you are old and have no great evil, I want to transfer you to the military department of Golden State University to write a memoir. ”

Qin Bangping, who got the letter, was stunned for a moment, and before he could figure out what 'writing memoirs' was, he was politely asked out by the jailer. In the past few days, Ma Gonggong has seen several generals of the Ming army being 'invited' to write memoirs, most of them are veteran generals in the Ming army. This is especially true for those who have a lot of experience.

For example, the veteran Liu Wei. This man fought in Burma, quelled the Tusi Rebellion in Yunnan, and was dismissed twice for embezzlement of money and bribery of Shangguan. Japan's Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded Korea, and he also took thousands of Sichuan soldiers to Korea to fight the Japanese twice. Later, he quelled the rebellion of Lu'an, and finally fought with the 'revolutionary army' and surrendered.

This person can be called a living fossil in the war history of the late Ming Dynasty, and he has intersections with many civil and military forces in the Ming Dynasty. Zhou Qingfeng felt that it would be a pity not to transfer him to write his memoirs.

Liu Wei is gone, and Qin Bangping is also gone. Liu Wei's adopted son, Liu Zhaosun, was also captured on the battlefield and imprisoned here for a few days before being sent to Jinzhou for reform. The people in the prison came in and out for several days, but Ma Gonggong still sat still. He didn't know what he was going to do, and he was occasionally upset, but with some kind of luck.

"Marco." The jailer shouted and woke up Ma Gonggong, who was sitting in a corner of the cell.

Ma Gonggong stood up slowly, and found that there was still a ghost woman who had taken him down before. The jailer pushed him out of the prison, and the ghost woman reached out and pressed him on the back, undoing the vein-amputation technique that controlled his bones, and restoring him to a good cultivation.

"Why is that?" Ma Gonggong is so strange.

It's just that the ghost woman turned around and left after doing this. Another young man walked over with a wrinkled face and said coldly: "Ma Keshi, I am Wang Kunpeng, the Minister of Security of the 'Revolutionary Army'. I now officially ask for my family's handsome, do you have the intention of surrendering? ”

Marcose immediately laughed in the voice of a male duck, and happily refused in his heart: "Our family is born as a Ming person, and death is a ghost of the Ming Dynasty." You guys are underestimating our family, thinking that closing it for so many days will make our family change their minds? If you want our family to be obedient, unless the sun and moon are shining, and the stars are reversed. If you want to kill, you will kill, and our family will never frown. ”

Ma Gonggong said refreshed, as if he had already recited this line silently in his heart. It's a pity that there is no one in this prison, and no one knows about such a heroic thing, which is too much of a loss.

The imaginable sword and axe didn't appear, Wang Kunpeng turned sideways and said to Ma Gonggong: "Since you don't want to submit, we won't embarrass you." You are not a war criminal and you have no blood debt. You can go and come and go freely. ”

Let me go?

Ma Gonggong was even more strange, he was very suspicious in his heart, and he couldn't figure out what medicine was sold in the other party's gourd. But he still walked out of the prison with his head held high, thinking that no matter what tricks this gang of thieves used, he would face it calmly. But until he left the prison, no one embarrassed him. The jailer even gave him five taels of silver for the journey, told him not to do evil, and left him alone.

The road outside the prison was full of people, and Ma Gonggong was dressed in tattered clothes, stupid in a daze - let me go? There's definitely a conspiracy in this. Hmph......, let's go, are we still afraid that your gang of thieves will not succeed?

Thinking of being able to return to the emperor's side and cry about his bizarre and brave loyalty in escaping from the thief's nest, Ma Gonggong couldn't help but feel hot in his heart. He didn't stop at all, he quickly left the city, and along the way he was wary of the pursuers behind him, and he hid in Tibet with great effort, determined to fight the thief - but the thief seemed to ignore him at all, and really let him leave.

So the loyal Ma Gonggong went out all the way day and night, and returned to Tongzhou with the five taels of silver given by the thief. He didn't even cross the city, and continued to go from Tongzhou to the capital. When he finally arrived at Chaoyangmen in the capital, he saw two acquaintances coming out of the city with sad faces.

Ma Gonggong escaped from the cage and regained his freedom, and he was cautious along the way that he was afraid that he would be caught by the thieves again. When he arrived at the feet of this day, he was very settled, and when he saw his acquaintance, he was even more happy to take the initiative to come forward to greet and shout: "Hahaha......, where are you two boys going?" Why do you cry and mourn your face? ”

Those who came out of the city were Ouyang Jun and Luo Lie, and the two of them were in a daze after recognizing Marco. Ouyang Jun asked in surprise: "Gonggong Ma, I heard that you surrendered to the thief and became a big official, what are you doing when you come back?" Luo Lie also asked: "Gonggong Ma, the government and the opposition are scolding you, saying that you are treacherous and loyal, and you are heinous." ”

Ma Keshi's mind changed, and he immediately scolded: "The thief is so kind to let our family out, it turns out that the root cause is here." They must have spread rumors of our family's surrender first, and wanted to force our family to have no way out. It's a pity that we can't get close to each other, our family has always been loyal to the emperor. The emperor will definitely be able to understand that our family has been wronged. It doesn't matter, as long as our family enters the palace to see the emperor, everything will naturally be clear. ”

Marcos said with a smile, only when he had seen through the ghost tricks of the anti-thief and had a countermeasure. It's just that Ouyang Jun and Luo Lie didn't smile, so Ouyang Jun said: "Gonggong Ma's loyalty to the emperor, the two of us naturally know. If the government and the opposition want to rank their names according to their loyalty, they must be the first in office. ”

Ma Keshi was embarrassed, laughed wildly, waved his hand and said modestly: "It can't be true, it can't be true, there should be loyal ministers in this court, and our family can't be the first." ”

But Luo Lie interjected again: "It's just that it's useless for me to wait for me to know, the emperor can't know." ”

Ah......, Ma Gonggong frowned and was puzzled.

"Anti-thieves are ravaging Gyeonggi, and the emperor can't afford to get sick after worrying about it."

"Three days ago, the emperor's condition worsened and he died in the Qianqing Palace."

"The emperor has returned to heaven, the government and the opposition are in chaos, and the palace is busy with funerals."

"There is not enough white cloth in the city, so the two of us were sent out to the city to buy white cloth in other places."

"Father-in-law, you really don't have to go back."

"The celebrant has removed you."

"There's no place for you in the East Factory."

"You have a bad reputation, and no one speaks for you."

"I want to take your head to the top of the house."

"Grandpa Ma, you'd better run away."

"The anti-thief looks like he's getting mixed up over there, what are you doing when you come back?"

Ma Gonggong stood in place, stunned. Only now did he understand why the thief let him go - the emperor is dead, and there is no one to cover him anymore!