East of Tongzhou City, Tongyun Gate.

The gates were blown down, and only a large mound remained. It hasn't been repaired for half a month, so it's just left dry. On the city wall that had not yet collapsed, the lonely Marco Ma Gonggong held on to the battlement and looked out - the anti-thieves who blew up the city wall circled the capital and came back.

"Ma Gonggong has been defeated again and again, and he has been defeated again and again. He hasn't given up until now, which is really admirable. Ouyang Jun clasped his hands under the city wall and said cool words, mocking the loyal Ma Gonggong to the fullest.

Luo Lie also stood under the city wall, looking at Ma Gonggong, who was determined to resist to the end, and was speechless. He didn't mock it, but he felt that Ma Gonggong was quite pitiful - from Liaodong to Tianjin to Tongzhou, Ma Gonggong came to the front of the stage from behind the scenes, and has always been at the forefront of fighting against thieves. Everyone else began to waver, but only Ma Gonggong was determined to fight the thief to the death.

It's just that Ma Gonggong wants to fight, but others refuse to fight. Even Luo Lie, who shouted at the beginning to make meritorious contributions and passed on to future generations, felt that fighting this gang of thieves was only a long-term struggle, and it was not up to anyone to persevere and win.

Half a month ago, the city of Tongzhou was broken, but the thieves ran away in style. The people in the city have a bit of a resigned mentality when they have a false alarm. The commanders in the city hanged themselves, and the grain reserve eunuchs were frightened. Anyway, you can't win, and it's better to have more than one thing - it's been half a month, and no one has repaired the broken city wall at all.

After Ma Gonggong came to help, he became a town guard eunuch, but he couldn't mobilize the situation where the morale in the city was gone, so he racked his brains to think about how to keep Tongzhou, keep Tongzhou's food and salary, and keep the Ming Dynasty.

For this idea, Ma Gonggong really did his best. This Dongchang eunuch really came up with an idea and did a big thing - he played to the emperor and said that Tongzhou was no longer defensible, and it was better to issue it in advance than to let the thieves loot or burn the grain in the city.

Emperor Wanli had no choice, pinched his nose and admitted that this was not a solution, and agreed to issue nine months' salaries to officials in Beijing and other places in advance, and six months' salaries to Qinwang's soldiers who came to help from all over the country.

Hearing that there was silver to take, the officials of the Ming Dynasty were very active. Everyone is really grateful, so they sent it to Ma Gonggong's ancestral hall. Especially now that the war is in chaos, a great opportunity to make money has come.

With this order, the officials in the capital overcame all difficulties and overcame the difficulties. In the case that there were still anti-thieves running around outside the city, he gave full play to the fearless spirit of asking for money and organized tens of thousands of people to go to Tongzhou to carry food and wages. Zhou Qingfeng is like a big havoc in the surrounding area of the capital, and Tongzhou is also in full swing here.

Before Zhou Qingfeng led the team back, more than 15 million stone grain and more than 3 million taels of silver were divided. Now the entire warehouse in Tongzhou is empty, and the whole court praises Ma Gonggong for being the wisdom of Kong Ming and the ability of the country. It's a pity that he is a eunuch, otherwise he will be promoted and reused.

The food and salary are gone, and the thieves can't take advantage of Tongzhou, and the importance of this place is greatly reduced. Ma Gong's peace of mind was relieved, and the people in the city were also relieved, feeling that the anti-thief should not come again - who would have thought that the anti-thief would come again after running for half a month.

Outside the traffic gate is the pier of the North Canal, and Marco Ma Gonggong can have an unobstructed view of the movement on the pier when he stands on the city wall. It's been three days since the thieves arrived, and it's rare that they haven't run around. He had already spread the news that the thieves were here, and he was waiting for the officials and soldiers to come and suppress them. He stared at the city for three days in a row, and reported to the capital if there was any movement, which can be called a model worker of the Ming Dynasty.

And on the third day, there was more movement on the docks of the canal - a large flat-bottomed boat came. It's strange that this ship can sail on its own without sails or oars. There was a pillar of black smoke erected at the stern of the ship, and it was so sudden that it was hard to understand.

After more than half a month of hard work, although Ma Gonggong's cultivation is profound, his eyes are red. When he saw the big ship appear, he exclaimed in a dumb voice: "It's not good, the thieves have come to help." Are all the officials in Tianjin blind? How can the thief be transported by ship so easily? ”

Ouyang Jun heard this under the city wall, and said with a smile: "I'm afraid that Tianjin is even more empty than us, where is there still the strength to intercept the anti-thieves?" Ma Gonggong is really roundabout. ”

Then I heard the Gonggong Ma exclaimed, "Oops, no, this gang of thieves actually has cannons." They were here for three days to bring in the cannons. He had pen and ink at hand, and after quickly writing down the latest military information in Tongzhou, he shouted under the city wall: "Ouyang Jun, you quickly send this military information to the capital, and urge the Qin Wangguan army to come quickly." I'm just worried that this gang of thieves is going to run away again. ”

Ouyang Jun got the military emergency report, muttered 'let me run errands again', and turned around to look for horses. Luo Lie went to the city wall to persuade: "Father-in-law, don't be too anxious, King Qin's army has already spread a net on all sides to form a round-up trend." In the next few days, there will be a decisive battle, and a big victory can be expected. ”

Ma Gonggong shook his head, "This gang of thieves is extraordinary, good at inciting fools and fools, and ruthless to the officials and gentry. After thinking about it recently, we found that these methods seem to be nonsense, but in fact they are vicious and deliberately damage the foundation of our court.

Its leader has a deep understanding of the shortcomings of my Ming Dynasty, and is by no means an ordinary arrogant person. At the moment, I am afraid that it will be difficult to win a big victory, and it is a fluke to be able to drive away this gang of thieves. If it is to be eradicated, it needs to be reformed by the imperial court. It's just that this court, alas, ....... ”

Luo Lie didn't understand Grandpa Ma's words, but suddenly pointed in the direction of the dock outside the city and exclaimed, "Father-in-law, the anti-thieves and horses have left the camp in formation." They ......, they seem to be coming towards us. ”

After the northward detachment returned to Tongzhou, it built a camp near the wharf. They had just received supplies from the direction of Dagukou, and immediately the whole team went out of the camp and killed them in the direction of Tongzhou City.

Marcos was stunned for a moment, and said to himself in confusion: "The thieves didn't enter the city for three days, why did they want to enter the city today?" ”

Luo Lie hurriedly stomped his feet, pulled Marco's arm and shouted, "Father-in-law, why don't you go quickly?" The city is empty, and there is no food to guard, and the two of us can't defeat the thieves, so let's evacuate quickly. ”

Ma Keshi pushed Luo Lie away and shouted: "The country is difficult, and there should be someone who fights hard." Our family bears the emperor's grace and guards Tongzhou, how can there be a reason to flee without a fight? The civil and military officials of the imperial court are all greedy for life and afraid of death, but they laugh at me and other eunuchs every day for having no roots and no eggs, and they are not men. Our family disdains to be in the company of it, and we will die in battle today. Let the world see that there are also men among the eunuchs. ”

The situation changed too quickly, and Luo Lie was stunned and didn't know what to do. Except for Ma Gonggong, there is no one stationed in the east of the entire Tongzhou City, and the anti-thieves are simply like probing for something.

Instead of leaving, Marcos jumped off the wall and stopped in front of the ruins of the gates. Luo Lie looked at it for a while, and then hesitated. Seeing the anti-thief army approaching step by step, he felt his scalp tingle again, stunned for a few seconds, sighed a few times, and left with a useful body.

The northward detachment came out of a hollow phalanx and killed Tongzhou City. Zhou Qingfeng had long known that the city's defenses were empty, and he even knew that a eunuch named Ma Keshi had the ghost idea to distribute all the food and salaries hoarded here. This made him quite stunned and annoyed. He has always been uneasy to play his cards with common sense, but he didn't expect that a eunuch would do such an unbelievable thing.

With the artillery in hand, Zhou Qingfeng intended to attract the Ming army to attack in Tongzhou. He ordered Ye Na to lead the team to take Tongzhou. This is the first time that the Yanma has led the army alone, although it is only a small thing, but she is very excited to rush to the front.

Seeing a white-faced and beardless guy standing in front of the ruins of the city gate, Ye Na asked very innocently: "Hey, we are going to attack the city, are you here to surrender?" ”

"Our Dongchang Marco is going to fight to the death with you and other thieves today." Ma Gonggong finished his words arrogantly, and a person rushed towards the hollow phalanx.

The name of Ma Gonggong of Dongchang, Ye Na, who has lived in the capital for a long time, has also heard of it. She felt inexplicably strange before the battle, and at first she thought that there was something hidden in it. But after fighting with this famous eunuch for a long time, except for feeling that the other party's cultivation is not low, and he is fighting like a crazy tiger, he doesn't feel anything special.

Thinking that the first time she led the army to attack the city alone, she encountered such a guy with brain problems, Ye Na was angry.

The last time she was coerced by the attack of the Xuanwu real people, Ye Na fought under the heavy pressure, and her mood tempered and broke through the eighth layer to the ninth layer of muscles and bones. She had long thought about how to make a gorgeous debut, and after a few rounds of fighting, she beat Ma Gonggong unconscious like a joke, and shouted arrogantly like a storyteller: "Tie this guy up." ”

Tongzhou City was opened from this hole, and there was no obstruction. The location of this place is important, and there are a large number of bureaucrats in the city, such as household departments, transportation, and warehousing. It's just that after Zhou Qingfeng came, all the officials fled. There were still a few thousand people left in the city, and there was no way to resist the northward detachment.

After Zhou Qingfeng got the supplies by ship, he wanted to deal a blow to the Ming army that pursued him. He decided to use the city of Tongzhou as a backing to build some fortifications to defend and counterattack. If necessary, it can also use the waterway to transfer or retreat, and the Ming army is difficult to stop.

The process of entering the city is also simple, and then it is to give money and grain to recruit the people in the city as migrant workers to build fortifications. Due to the limited number of troops, Zhou Qingfeng patrolled the city to decide where to defend. He soon learned that Ye Na had caught the eunuch Marco who was guarding the place, and asked in surprise: "Is this Marco who scattered all the food and salary in Tongzhou this time?" ”

"That's him. He was also the one who encouraged the White Lotus Sect to go to Jinzhou to make trouble. He also served as a prison soldier in Tianjin, and killed many of our scouts. "Ye Na was extremely excited to capture the 'enemy general' alive for the first time. She ordered someone to bring over the father-in-law Ma who was tied up with five flowers and pushed it in front of Zhou Qingfeng.

Ma Gonggong's hands were tied behind his back, his brocade robe was torn, his gray hair was scattered, and there were a few more blood marks on his white and fat face. He was of medium height, and when he saw Zhou Qingfeng, he didn't kneel, but deliberately straightened his back, raised his head and scolded, shouting 'anti-thief anti-thief' in his mouth. They wanted to cut him down at once.

Zhou Qingfeng had also heard of this father-in-law, and when he met, he felt that the other party was really annoying. He turned his head to Ye Na and asked, "What is the reputation of this Gonggong Ma in the court?" ”

"Ruthless smiling tiger." Ye Na said, "He has a lot of authority and has handled many big cases. But he doesn't follow the rules and has a very bad reputation, he only listens to the emperor's orders, and the ministers of the court and the central government hate and fear him. Although he is not the governor and eunuch of Dongchang, most of the affairs ordered by the emperor to Dongchang are handled by him, and he is a loyal dog with real power. ”

"Is he greedy for money?" Zhou Qingfeng asked again.

"I don't know about that, and I've rarely heard of him taking money from anyone's family. However, I heard Liu Fucheng of Jinyi Wei Qianhu say that this Ma Gonggong does not eat oil and salt, which is really annoying. Ye Na told the truth.

Zhou Qingfeng was a little surprised, and ordered: "Strip off this father-in-law's clothes, look at what material he wears, and see what jewelry he wears?" ”

The guards immediately stepped forward like wolves, and they did not loosen their ties, and directly tore Ma Gonggong's clothes. After taking off the brocade robe outside, he ripped off the underwear inside and handed it to Zhou Qingfeng - the material of the clothes was silk, but it was not a particularly good material. I brought a jade pendant with me, the material was not bad, but it was worth at most a hundred taels of silver.

Oops, ......, Zhou Qingfeng grabbed the other party's jade pendant and smiled: "Could it be that I have met a eunuch who is not greedy for money?" ”

Marco's cultivation was restrained, and only a pair of pants were stripped of his clothes, and his image was embarrassed. But he still kept struggling and scolding: "Although our family is a eunuch, we are also an upright eunuch." Today, I want to let you thieves know that I still have loyal ministers. ”