Hou Sui has not led troops for many years. Suddenly appointed as a superintendent, he needs a large number of trustworthy people around him, one is easy to call, and the other is to form a pro-army to protect his safety. When he left Beijing, he first sent people back to Shangqiu, one to report the good news, and the other to inform the second son Hou Fangxia and the housekeeper of this intention. Soon after he arrived in Fengqiu, many people came from Shangqiu and Guide Prefecture, and finally a total of several hundred people came. More than 100 of them came to supervise the teachers and officials, and they were of no practical use. This large number of people all rely on the clansmen of the Hou Mansion, the old people, the relatives of the family, the friendship of the family, or just the return to the German fellow villagers. Guidehou Mansion was originally a Wang clan in eastern Henan, with many slaves, in addition to raising a group of operas, there are also courtesans. This group of courtesans was actually selected from Yahuan and asked someone to teach them silk and bamboo cappella. When the rebels besieged Shangqiu in April of this year, the women, slaves, actors, and courtesans of the Hou Mansion fled for the first three days under the protection of their families and slaves. The last to escape from Shangqiu City was Hou Fangyu's younger brother Fang Xia. At that time, the gates of the city were closed, and it was forbidden to enter or leave. Hou Fangxia didn't care about the ban of the government and the county yamen at all, and led dozens of people from his family to seize the east gate, and no one dared to stop him. This incident made many people in Shangqiu very angry, and it was rumored that Hou Fangxia opened the city gate, and Li Zicheng's men and horses took the opportunity to break the city. In fact, it was the day after Hou Fangxia left Shangqiu, and the army of Chuang and Cao arrived outside Shangqiu City. Since the servants and servants of the Hou Mansion were intact, half of them were led by the steward's son, plus the tenant youths from Shangqiu and the separated family members of other families, to form an army of 500 people. The group of actors who could play Kunqu opera was also sent.

Hou Fangyu was also called by his father from Nanjing to participate in the planning and take charge of important writing. He is a young son, quite famous, an important member of the Restoration Society, has always lived in Nanjing, living a life of poetry and wine frivolous eunuch son, and Tongcheng Fang Yizhi, Yixing Chen Zhenhui, Rugao Maoxiang are equally famous, and they are also dense, and they are called "four sons" at that time. He actually didn't understand military affairs at all, and only lived in Fengqiu for a little more than a month, and drafted two important letters on behalf of his father, the absurd letter to the emperor suggesting that Kaifeng and Henan be abandoned was the idea he helped and the draft he wrote on behalf of his father. Because this letter was ignored by Chongzhen, Hou Sui thought that he was not suitable in the army, and he himself was greedy for life in Jiangnan, so he left Fengqiu in late August.

Although Hou Sui had four general officers in Fengqiu, there were less than 20,000 people and horses, and there was no famous general. Bu Congshan was only because he was the general army of Henan to aid and suppress, and he had been fighting in Henan for a long time, and he first went to Fengqiu in May to defend the Yellow River, so he gained his trust, and he was actually a mediocre talent. Nor is there a useful counselor. Every day, he spends his time in depression, or plays chess, watches plays, and listens to music with Qingke. After receiving the emperor's stern command to fight yesterday, he was really at a loss, thinking that he might be arrested and imprisoned at any time. Today, I received an urgent message from 100,000 people from the Ministry of War, saying that "according to the report, the thieves have taken advantage of Kaifeng's lack of food, and the soldiers and civilians are unable to defend it, so they will attack the city on a large scale within a few days." He also urged Hou Sui to quickly send troops across the river to transport grain to the city. Hou Sui understood that he couldn't cross the river, and he couldn't do it without transporting grain to Kaifeng. If Kaifeng falls soon, he will not only have to be re-imprisoned, but he will not even be able to save his life.

After Yan Yunjing and Bu Congshan sat down, he retreated left and right, handed over the 100,000 urgent documents of the military department to them, and asked worriedly:

"At present, the situation in Kaifeng is urgent, and the imperial court has repeatedly urged to receive help. What are the two of you? ”

Yan Yunjing said first: "The troops on the north bank are weak, and they are really unable to cross the river. Besides, the autumn flood is rising, even if there are enough troops and not enough ships, how to cross the law? Even if there were many soldiers and boats, they could not cross the river: before they approached the south bank, they would be hit by the gunfire of the thieves, and the ships would sink and people would die. ”

Hou Sui turned to look at Bu Congshan and asked, "What is General Bu's good plan?" ”

Bu Congshan stood up and said, "Please give instructions to the Inspector." We can only follow the order, and there is no good way. ”

Hou Sui motioned for Bu Congshan to sit down, sighed deeply, and said, "In order to cherish the lives of the soldiers, the old man has to wait for him to be re-imprisoned. Henan is my mulberry state, how can I sit idly by and watch it fall? There's really no way out! ”

Yan Yunjing said: "At present, there is only one way, maybe you can break through the hundreds of thousands of thieves and save the lives of Kaifeng City." ”

Hou Sui hurriedly asked, "Is there any way?" ”

Yan Yunjing took out Huang Shu's letter from his sleeve and handed it to Hou Sui, and said, "I have discussed with General Bu just now, and I think this plan is feasible, please consider it. ”

Hou Sui understood at a glance that Yan Yunjing and Huang Shu had already had a secret discussion, to dig the mouth of the Yellow River and release water to flood the "thieves". He handed the book back to Yan Yunjing, shook his head slightly, and whispered:

"It's dangerous!"

Yan Yunjing said: "Please don't worry. According to Huang Tuiguan, Huang Shui will not overflow the city wall. ”

Hou Sui said: "I am from Henan, and I know better than Huang Tuiguan. The Yellow River is in this section of Kaifeng, if the river is horizontally trough, it is three zhang higher than Kaifeng. Once it is broken, it will be difficult to preserve Kaifeng City. ”

Yan Yunjing said: "After the yellow water bursts the embankment, the water will inevitably disperse, and the downstream will inevitably suffer, but please rest assured, it will never overflow the city wall." As long as Kaifeng is preserved, the feudal domain and the military and civilians of the whole city are safe, and other deficiencies are not enough. ”

Hou Sui was silent for a moment, not daring to assert anything. If he does not agree, and the "thieves" break through the city within a few days, Yan Yunjing will attack him for wandering timidly and obstructing the plan of drowning the "thieves", and he will be imprisoned again, and he will inevitably die in Xishi. If he agrees, what about Kaifeng drowning? Why did he deal with the court and the elders of Sang Zi? He knew that Yan Yunjing had decided to break the embankment, so he had to sigh and say:

"The old man has no master in his heart, and he really lacks good strategies, so he can only rely on Lord Yan and General Bu to act at their discretion."

Yan Yunjing said: "This matter is extremely important, please don't leak it to others." ”

Hou Sui sneered slightly and said, "The old man is not here yet!" ”

Yan Yunjing gave Bu Congshan a look, resigned together, and went to the secret discussion again.

Chapter 55

In mid-August, Li Zicheng was fully aware of the starvation situation in Kaifeng City, so he listened to Tian Jianxiu's suggestion and immediately agreed. After the necessary preparations, he ordered people to shoot books in the city, and asked the old and weak women to escape from the city. On the day when he agreed to let the old and weak women out of the city, he issued a temporary decree that all women who were willing to return to the city after receiving the food should be left to their own devices, and the soldiers would carefully protect them until the refugees entered the city gates. At that time, he was taking Song Xiance to inspect not far from the south gate, and heard Shuangxi report to him: the soldiers were talking in private, saying that this method was too lenient, and I don't know why the generalissimo was so thoughtful. He smiled slightly and asked Shuangxi:

"Don't you understand that?"

Shuangxi immediately replied respectfully on the horse: "Back to the father, the child understands." ”

"You know what?"

"It seems that it would be good for the women to bring food back to the city, but they brought back very little food to no avail. Every woman has a meat notice on her mouth, preaching the benevolence of the king everywhere, do the soldiers and civilians in the city still have the heart to stick to the city? ”

Li Zicheng nodded. After a pause, he put away the smile on his face and said to the soldiers on the left and right:

"All the women who want to return to the city are concerned by their relatives in the city. They wanted to save their relatives with the little food they had brought back to the city, and they would rather starve to death with their relatives than escape alone. I hope that the women who return to the city with food will not be robbed of their food by the soldiers after entering the city gate! ”

One of the pro-soldiers boldly asked, "Generalissimo, what should I do next?" To continue to be besieged lukewarmly like this? How long are you going to besiege it? ”

King Chuang said, "What, are you in a hurry?" Okay, it's almost time to have eyebrows. ”

Li Zicheng did not clearly answer the question of the pro-soldiers, and the pro-soldiers did not dare to ask again.

After the city stopped letting old and weak women go, a confidential military meeting was held in Li Zicheng's big tent. Most people advocated a siege, but Li Zicheng did not adopt it. The two attacks on Kaifeng were frustrated, especially the battle seven months ago that besieged for many days, extremely tragic, many soldiers were killed and wounded, and they were never overcome, which taught Li Zicheng a very deep lesson, so after listening to everyone's discussion, he said slowly:

"Since Kaifeng refuses to surrender, our army will inevitably lose morale under the fortified city for a long time, of course, it is advisable to attack the city as soon as possible. However, in this siege, we could no longer use the method of digging the city, nor could we expect to use artillery to open the city wall, and most of them had to rely on dozens of ladders to climb the city. Regardless of whether this method succeeds or not, the casualties among our officers and men will inevitably be even heavier. If it still fails, the morale of our army will be greatly reduced, and it will be difficult to stay in Kaifeng City. ”

As usual, Li Zicheng was calm and thoughtful, refusing to confide in all his worries. As soon as Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance heard the tone, they immediately understood his thoughts. It turned out that they also agreed with the idea of attacking the city, worried that the delay would be long and the morale would be low, and Cao Ying now had a lot of complaints, and the army would inevitably be unstable over time. Now they saw that the generalissimo had a serious attitude, and understood that he was worried about too many casualties among the soldiers, and on the other hand, he was worried that if he did not succeed again, his prestige would be greatly defeated, and his vitality would be damaged, which would be quite unfavorable to the future, and would even prompt Cao Cao to leave as soon as possible. The two of them looked at each other, but they did not dare to say any more about attacking the city. Li Guo actively advocated the siege of the city, and after waiting in silence for a moment, he couldn't help but ask Song Xiance:

"Strategist, you don't advocate attacking the city immediately?"

Song Xiance smiled and said: "The city still has to be attacked, and if it is not attacked, it will not be broken." But the generalissimo did not want the soldiers to bleed too much, and reminded me to ponder again in my heart. At the moment, it is important to choose the best time to attack the city and break through Kaifeng with fewer casualties. I think it would be much better if it had been delayed for another ten or eight days, when the melons were ripe and falling, and our army would attack lightly, and the city would collapse and the city would collapse by itself. At that time, if you still have to rely on the ladder to climb the city, the soldiers and civilians in the city will not be able to fight desperately, and someone will definitely put up a white flag. When a white flag is erected in one place, the whole city collapses, which is the so-called trend of ripening melons. ”

Niu Jinxing continued: "The words of the military advisor are quite pertinent, and he can also deeply understand the generalissimo's seriousness in the idea of attacking the city. Moreover, the siege of Kaifeng this time is not for the sake of children's jade silk, but really wants to call on the world according to Bianjing. Therefore, instead of going through a vicious battle, Kaifeng is extremely dilapidated, and it becomes a ruin everywhere and then obtains it, it is better to keep the palace and the government office intact, and the market mansion is intact. In the future, Xi'an and Beijing will be broken in this way, and the city will never be named in the ashes. ”

When Li Zicheng listened to Song Xiance and Niu Jinxing talking, a slight smile appeared in the corner of his eyes, nodded frequently, and then asked Li Yan:

"What is Lin Quan's opinion?"

Li Yan originally thought that now that the city is being attacked, the soldiers and civilians defending the city will probably not have strong resistance, and it will not be difficult to break the city, and the people in the city can starve to death by hundreds or thousands of people every day. But when he saw that King Chuang's mind had been decided, and Niu Jinxing used the word "Bianjing" in his speech, he didn't dare to say more. He bowed respectfully and said:

"Let's wait a few more days and see how it goes."

After a few days of delay, as soon as September came, it began to rain in Kaifeng and the upstream area. In the rain, gunpowder and fuses were prone to dampness and direct rain, the bowstrings were softened by the dampness, the moats were filled with water, and the siege was not mentioned.

By 14 September, the weather had cleared completely. Li Zicheng saw that his morale had been low recently, and there were many complaints, and Cao Ying's situation was even worse. He thought that the current attack on Kaifeng was probably ripe, so he held a military meeting after breakfast. Only Liu Zongmin, Gao Yigong, Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance and Li Yan participated in the secret discussion. What they want to discuss is how to deal with various problems after entering the city, especially how to deal with the relationship with Cao Ying. Li Zicheng hoped that Kaifeng would not be damaged too much, and he was very worried that after Cao Ying entered, he would set fire to the houses, rob and kill people at will, and plunder and rape ** women, which would make him lose the hearts of the people in the Central Plains. Although there had been a verbal agreement in the past: after the city was broken, Cao Ying would occupy the places east and south of the Drum Tower, although these places were not as important as the northern and western cities, but there were still many wealthy people, and many great gentlemen and big merchants lived here. If a fire burns out of shape, how can it be opened to call the world? In addition, what if Cao Ying's men and horses entered the city and did not occupy some more places as agreed? These problems are easy to say, but they are not so simple to deal with. The more important problem is that the contradiction between Chuang Ying and Cao Ying has gradually been revealed in the past few months, and now it is even more important to pay attention to it.

Today's meeting is particularly closely guarded because of the discussion of these issues. The meeting was held in the Generalissimo's tent. There were some smaller tents around Li Zicheng's big tent, where Wu Ruyi, Li Shuangxi, and some civil and military officials worked. In front is the pro-army tent, and there are two arrow towers horizontally outside the pro-army tent, which is the gate of the Generalissimo's Mansion. On normal days, ordinary generals can come and go at will, but today they are all blocked from the gate and are not allowed to enter casually.

At this moment, Wang Changshun came to the generalissimo's line, and he was also carrying an old man in peasant attire. When he arrived at the gate, he was about to go inside, but unexpectedly two sentries came to stop him, and said:

"Uncle Wang, don't go in, old man. There are important meetings inside, and no idlers are allowed to enter. ”

Wang Changshun rolled his eyes and said, "You two descendants, how do you know that I am an idler?" ”

In the old camp of King Chuang, there is no one who does not know Wang Changshun. And no matter whether you are familiar with him or not, you have a lot of respect for him. This is not only because he is the old man of King Chuang, and he has made countless achievements over the years, but also because he is upright and helpful. Take the recent incident as an example: Wang Congzhou asked for Zhou to help his relatives, and there was no silver, so Wang Changshun took out five taels of silver from his savings and gave it to Congzhou, and this story has spread all over the old camp and made people admire. Now after listening to Wang Changshun's words, the two sentinels of the gate hurriedly smiled and said:

"Your old man is naturally not an idler, but just now General Wu of the Chinese army had an order, no matter who it is, he is not allowed to put it in the gate. Uncle Wang, we are acting on orders, and we have to do this! ”

When Wang Changshun heard this, he felt that this was also reasonable, but he thought that the matter he wanted to talk about was really very important and could not be delayed, if it was delayed, maybe hundreds of thousands of righteous troops and the fathers and ordinary people of Kaifeng City and even many prefectures and counties going to the southeast would suffer. In a soothing tone, he said:

"I have followed King Chuang for many years, and I understand everything you say. But I have a confidential matter today, and I must report it to King Chuang immediately. You see, if I have brought a man, I will not bring him to the king in person if there is no urgent matter. Don't stand in my way, for the king will not blame me. ”

The sentry smiled again and said, "Uncle Wang, you are the old man of the generalissimo, and we know that you can usually see the generalissimo casually, and you can also meet your wife casually." It's just that today Wu Zhongjun has repeatedly instructed that you can't just let people in. ”

Wang Changshun thought for a while, then changed his head and said: "That's okay, after I enter the Yuanmen, I won't go to the marshal's tent, but only talk to Wu Zhongjun or the young general Shuangxi in person, this is always okay, right?" ”

The sentry thought that Wang Changshun was not an ordinary person after all, so he let him and the farmer walk in.

Who knew that he didn't go far, and when he encountered the second sentry, Wang Changshun was blocked again. The two sentinels knew him well. And he said unto them,

"I know that there is a confidential matter being discussed in the king's tent right now. I don't go to the big tent, just to meet Wu Zhongjun or the young general Shuangxi. ”

The sentry said, "Please wait here for a while, and we'll make a report." ”

Immediately, a sentry went to the Shuangxi tent, and then to Wu Ruyi's tent, and when he came out, he said: "The young general of Shuangxi was ordered to go to Cao Ying to invite Cao Shuai, and Wu Zhongjun is very busy now. ”

Wang Changshun was a little annoyed, and said: "No matter whether Wu Zhongjun is busy or not, my matter is more important than anything else." If you tell Wu Zhongjun, you will say that my old groom, Wang Changshun, came to see King Chuang and asked him to pass on the report. I am not here for my own business, but for the good and bad luck of the whole camp, and for the lives of millions of ordinary people. ”

The sentinel said, "No, shepherd, there is indeed a matter of matter being discussed in the generalissimo's tent today. No matter how important your old affairs are, Hengzhi is just saying a word for the people, asking the king to give relief to the hungry. These words are the same when you say them to King Chuang half a day in advance or half a day in the evening. ”

Wang Changshun glared at him and said, "What are you guessing blindly? How can you guess what I'm going to say to King Chuang? ! My business is much more urgent than you might think! ”

When the sentry saw that Wang Changshun was on fire, he didn't dare to offend, so he hurriedly said: "You wait a minute, I'll go and report to Wu Zhongjun again, okay?" ”

Although Wang Changshun was annoyed, he thought that the current situation was indeed not what it used to be, and it was not as easy for ordinary generals to see King Chuang, and they had to report it layer by layer, especially through Wu Ruyi or Shuangxi first. I saw them first, and after they nodded and reported it, I could see King Chuang. Thinking of this, his anger subsided, and he said:

"It's the new rule, I understand, I can't blame you. Okay, I'll wait a little longer, you go and report to Wu Ye quickly. ”

Soon after the sentry entered, he came out with one of Wu Ruyi's personal soldiers. The leader of the pro-soldier smiled all over his face, greeted Wang Changshun and said:

"Uncle Wang, please wait a minute, our General Wu is very busy today, and he will not be idle immediately, wait for a while for him to spare time and meet you again."

Wang Changshun said: "If you pass on the message for me again, you will say that I have an extremely important matter to report to Wu Zhongjun in person, and ask him to turn it to King Chuang to know, and he can't delay it." ”

Seeing that Wang Changshun's tone and expression were very serious, the leader of the pro-soldiers asked again: "Uncle Wang, is there really something urgent?" ”

Wang Changshun said: "Who still lied to you, this kid? When Uncle Wang followed the king to fight the world, you were still wearing open crotch pants! Can I lie to you? Hurry up and report to Wu Zhongjun, you really can't delay! ”

The leader of the pro-soldiers was about to go back to deliver the news, but he saw Wu Ruyi holding a stack of papers, hurriedly walking out of his tent and going to the big tent. Wang Changshun sighed in disappointment and said to the old farmer behind him:

"Things in the old camp are very busy now, and it's very different from previous years, so we have to wait a little longer."

So they took two steps back and found a place to crouch. After a while, I saw Wu Ruyi come out of the big tent again and walk back to his tent. Wang Changshun asked the sentry to pass the word again, and then the leader of the pro-soldier came out again and said to Wang Changshun:

"General Wu instructed, saying that he has no leisure at the moment, please ask Uncle Wang to stay for lunch, and come back after lunch."

When Wang Changshun heard this, he knew that there was no way, so he had to turn around and go back with the old peasant, ready to come back after lunch. His heart is very uncomfortable: in previous years, the situation was not big, and there were not many rules, when he wanted to see King Chuang, he would see King Chuang, let alone Wu Ruyi, but now he has to be layer by layer, see this first, see that again, it is not as easy to see King Chuang as in the past!

When he had returned to his little tent in front of his stable, a groom chief who had been with him asked, "Have you seen the king?" ”

He shook his head: "King Chuang has something to do, and I haven't seen it yet." ”

"King Chuang is not in the old camp?"

"Yes, in his tent."

The head of the groom smiled and said, "Since the king is in his tent, you rush in and tell your urgent matter to your face, isn't it over?" ”

Wang Changshun didn't answer, grabbed a firewood stick from the ground, and slowly pinched it, cutting it off one by one. The head of the groom did not know what was on his mind, and said:

"I still remember that in Shangluo Mountain, the pole of Shimen Valley rebelled, you ran to see King Chuang, but Li Qiang blocked the way, you made a big noise, pushed Li Qiang away and rushed in. At that time, King Chuang was taking a nap, and when he heard the noise, he couldn't even wear his shoes, so he came out to invite you in, and scolded Li Qiang. What's wrong with you today? Hmph, if others don't let you in, you won't dare to enter! ”

Wang Changshun scolded: "You know a pee!" This is not the case anymore. Saying that, he ignored the companion and began to talk to the old peasant beside him.

The farmer, surnamed Zhao, lived in a village about twenty miles northwest of Yanli Village. He used to be an old river worker, and every year he took a group of farmers to the Yellow River embankment to repair the embankment. Because of the war this year, the government naturally did not have the strength to inquire about the rescue of the Yellow River. The generals of the rebel army were all from the Shaanxi Plateau, and they didn't know how important the danger of the Yellow River was, so they didn't take it seriously. In previous years, at this time, in the vicinity of Kaifeng, there were tens of thousands of people and more than 100,000 people on the embankment. And since spring, we have been preparing various materials for rescue. This spring there was no preparation at all, and now there are only a few migrant workers and a few volunteer patrols on the embankment. The various rescue equipment that should be spared is just a little so-so. Yesterday, Wang Changshun met this old Zhao when he was buying forage from the people, and when he talked about the danger of the Yellow River, Wang Changshun was very worried, so he asked him to come today and take him to see King Chuang in person. I didn't expect King Chuang to see him, not even Wu Ruyi. At this time, the two old men sat in the tent and talked about the danger of the Yellow River again. According to Lao Zhao, this year's autumn flood is very violent, and it is only two feet away from the embankment, and if it rains above, the water will rise sharply, even if it does not rain, in case of a north wind, the waves will rush straight to the embankment, which is very dangerous. Nowadays, there are not many people guarding the embankment, and there is also a shortage of materials for emergency rescue, in case of breaking the opening, not only will the surrounding area of Kaifeng not be protected, but many prefectures, prefectures, and counties going east will be flooded.

There were some other people in Wang Changshun's tent, who were all talking to each other, but when they heard Lao Zhao's words, all the voices stopped, and all eyes looked at this strange peasant. As soon as he finished speaking, everyone asked Wang Changshun to report these words to King Chuang today no matter what. In case you still can't see King Chuang after lunch, you must find the chief whistle Liu Ye or the chief manager Gao Ye and explain the words.

Wang Changshun walked out of the tent, looked at the sun, and saw that it was still early for lunch, so he said to Lao Zhao: "This is only a dozen miles away from Heigangkou, how about the two of us ride there on horseback?" ”

Lao Zhao said: "That's great, I really can't rest assured." Although I live in the west of Heigangkou, and the Yellow River will not flood our village, I have been a river worker for half my life, and I am really worried when I see the current water potential! ”

Wang Changshun immediately ordered his own soldiers to bring two horses, he and Lao Zhao rode up, took a few personal soldiers, and ran in the direction of Heigangkou.

The weather was very clear, and the autumn sun shone on the vast Yellow River. Wang Changshun and Lao Zhao immediately stood on the embankment at Heigangkou, looking at the water. The yellow water was constantly tumbling and swirling, and all kinds of dead bodies, trees and timber rushed to the water, and some broken furniture also rose and fell with the waves. Some of the dead bodies and belongings were washed to the shore, and after a whirlwind, they rushed downstream. Fortunately, the wind was very small at the moment, and it was a northeast wind, which was not terrible, but even so, the turbid waves crashed against the embankment of Heigangkou, and still made a terrifying surging sound.

Looking into the distance, I saw a dozen large ships and many small boats, with white sails open, relying on the slight wind, slowly sailing along the north shore to the west. Since the siege of Kaifeng, there have been no ships on the south bank, and large and small ships have been brought to the north bank by the officers and soldiers. Now these dozen large ships and many small boats were carrying Bu Congshan's infantry and some large and small firearms, as well as several thousand catties of gunpowder, to the west side of the opposite bank of Heigangkou, preparing to destroy the river embankment on the south bank. The place they wanted to destroy was east of Heigangkou, but because of the rapid current, they had to go far upstream first, and then let the boat go down the river to the east of Heigangkou to dock. Wang Changshun put his hands on the pergola and looked at it for a while, but he didn't expect that this was the official army that destroyed the river embankment on the south bank, and thought that this was the official army's ship transporting grain and grass, so he didn't care much. What frightened them was the rolling yellow current, which kept crashing against the embankment. Lao Zhao said:

"You see, this water is much higher than the flat ground in the embankment, and if it bursts, it will be out of control."

He pointed to the embankment protruding from the water and said, "This is called Si." In previous years, when spring came, stones would be brought in from hundreds of miles away to reinforce the dams along the coast. This year, because of the war, no one cares. Behold, some of the stones were thrown into the embankment. Now the dam is very dangerous, if a few stones are washed away, the water will cut into a large hole, and the embankment will collapse. In previous years, the straw bales and sacks were piled up like mountains on and down the embankment, filled with dirt and stones, and where there was danger, they were thrown down; Once the breach was broken, they threw it desperately in, blocking the flood while rushing to repair the embankment. Nowadays, there are many straw bales and sacks piled up here, but they are far from enough. At this time in previous years, the embankment was full of migrant workers, but now there are not many people, and if there is a break, they can't grab it. This Yellow River is different from other rivers, an ant hole can wash away the river embankment, and I don't know how many people will suffer at that time. ”

Every time the old river worker pointed out a place and said a few words, Wang Changshun nodded his head, adding new worries to his heart. He was born on the Loess Plateau in Mizhi County, northern Shaanxi, far away from the Yellow River, and although he later followed Li Zicheng's troops across the Yellow River to southern Jin, and then crossed the Yellow River to western Henan, those two times were in winter, the river was very narrow, and it was frozen, and the raging waves could not be seen. Now it was the first time in his life that he had seen the Yellow River rise, surging and wide. He was really scared. At this time, I saw the old river worker pointing to the northeast direction and said:

"Fengqiu is in that place, and the Ming Dynasty's superintendent is stationed in Fengqiu. I heard that there were many officers and soldiers there, but they did not dare to cross the river. ”

Wang Changshun thought to himself: They don't know what tricks there are now, if they secretly make a break in Zhujiazhai like they did in June, it will be terrible! But he didn't say it. After looking at it for a while, Wang Chang asked the patrolling rebels on the embankment by the way, how the water is better today than yesterday. A small leader told him that it had fallen half a foot deep today, and it seemed that the water was still going down. Wang Changshun felt a little relieved in his heart, but Lao Zhao immediately shook his head and said:

"Don't look at the river disappearing, as the saying goes: the sky is unpredictable. Who knows if it's going to rain again upstream? Even if it doesn't rain, now that the water is so fierce and the embankment has not been repaired, it can still be broken through the opening. Even if the water goes down another three feet, it is still much higher than the flat land in the embankment, and two or three zhang higher than Kaifeng City. Don't be careless! ”

When Wang Changshun heard this, the little relief he felt just now was swept away. He couldn't help but say to the patrolling rebels: "You have to have people patrolling day and night, and you must not be careless." There are few people here, and if I go back to King Mingchuang, he will definitely send a large number of people to the embankment. ”

After saying that, he didn't dare to delay, and rushed back to Yanli Village with Lao Zhao and his own soldiers.

By this time it was already past noon. Wang Changshun and Lao Zhao hurriedly had lunch and went to see King Chuang. When I entered the gate, I knew that King Chuang had also finished eating, and he was still discussing with his civil and military cronies. Changshun had to find double happiness first. Shuangxi asked what he meant, and he also felt that the matter was very important, but after all, he was too young to know anything about the Yellow River. He said:

"Uncle Wang, although the matter is tight, the generalissimo is discussing the military situation. I'll tell him tomorrow, okay? ”

Wang Changshun was a little annoyed and said, "Little Master Li, you are now an official, so you won't listen to me, an uncle." If it weren't for the urgency, I wouldn't have come to see King Chuang several times. Am I mad enough to come to the Generalissimo and gossip? This Yellow River is different from the small river in our Mizhi County, as long as there is a small hole in the embankment, the embankment will collapse and become a major flood, and many prefectures, prefectures and counties will be flooded, and the people will die and be displaced. You must report to the king at once, saying that I have an urgent matter to see. ”

Shuangxi then asked Wang Changshun to sit in his tent and wait, and he immediately went into the big tent.

After Luo Rucai and Ji Jue arrived in the morning, the military meeting continued. Cao Ying's soldiers were very tired because of the fact that Jiutun Kaifeng was outside the city, and it was raining for a long time, and it was difficult to burn firewood, so they almost burned all the doors, windows and furniture of the common people. Fortunately, Cao Cao took care of the overall situation and tried his best to maintain it, so that he would not have an accident. But Cao Cao himself was often distraught and wanted to end the war as soon as possible. Therefore, as soon as the siege of the city was discussed, you were full of approval, and also thought that it was indeed time to break Kaifeng, and opposed to delaying it any longer. He also said:

"Generalissimo, this bustling Tokyo Bianliang has been holding on to this until now, just like a lamp oil that is about to dry, as long as you blow lightly, it will go out. The difficulty was that the moats on all sides had been filled with water. Before the siege of the city, we had to dig the mouth of the Huiji River from the vicinity of the Song Gate, let the water out, and each person had to carry a bag of soil to fill in the water. Now the brethren were so flustered that they were waiting for the generalissimo's order to attack the city, and the whole camp was allowed to rejoice. ”

Li Zicheng was originally worried that Luo Rucai might be half-hearted about the siege, but after listening to his words, he was unexpectedly happy. At the moment, it was discussed that preparations for the siege of the city should be made in one or two days, and the mouth of the Huiji River, which was blocked outside the Song Gate, would be dug up tomorrow night, and the water from the moats on the east and north sides would be drained. Of course, it is impossible to drain the water in a short period of time, so it is easy to fill in the siege road with soil bags if the water in the moat is reduced by half from the higher ground in the north city to the east city.

When Li Shuangxi walked into the big tent for Wang Changshun's visit, King Chuang was discussing with everyone what would happen after the city was broken. Because Luo Rucai proposed that he wanted to give the area from Nantu Street to Caomen to Cao Ying to occupy, King Chuang refused immediately, and was upset, so he waved his hand at Shuangxi and asked him to withdraw. He didn't dare to mention Wang Changshun's request to see him, so he immediately retreated back and said to Wang Changshun:

"Uncle, you wait a moment with me, the meeting is almost over. As soon as the meeting is over, I will pass it on. ”

Wang Changshun had no choice but to sit in the double happiness tent and wait anxiously. About two meals later, the meeting was over. Li Zicheng and others sent Cao Cao and Ji Jue out of the big tent, and sent them out of the gate until the gate, and only after watching them get on the horse did they return to the big tent. Wang Changshun saw King Chuang sending Cao Cao back, and was walking in front of him, and jumped up to report to him. Shuangxi hurriedly pulled him for a moment, made a look, and said:

"Don't worry, let me report it."

Shuangxi went to the big tent for a while, and came back and said, "The generalissimo knows. ”

Wang Changshun was extremely surprised: For such a big matter, King Chuang was not in a hurry, and only said "I know", can the three words "know" keep the embankment from opening? He couldn't help but push away Double Happiness, rushed out of the tent with a horizontal heart, ran to the door of the big tent, and shouted:

"Generalissimo, the old groom Wang Changshun has an urgent matter to see!"

Shuangxi, who followed behind, was shocked and hurried to pull his arm. He shook off Shuangxi's hand with a slam of his hand. At this time, I saw that King Chuang had already walked out of the tent, and Wang Changshun went up to meet him, and because he was in a hurry, he was speechless for a while, but shouted:

"King Chuang! Break the king! ……”

Li Zicheng saw that Wang Changshun was in such a hurry, but he thought it was very funny, stopped and looked at him with a smile. Seeing that King Chuang was not angry with him for his reckless actions, Wang Changshun felt a little calmer and said:

"King Chuang, I have been looking for you several times, and it was not easy to come to you. I have something important to report to you in person! ”

Li Zicheng said: "Shuangxi has told me just now that the Yellow River is very powerful, and I am afraid that the embankment is dangerous. I already know. ”

Wang Changshun said: "King Chuang, Generalissimo, you just know it!" You have to send someone up to the embankment at once, and it will be too late if you delay!" ”

Li Zicheng asked, "Do you think it's really dangerous?" ”

Wang Changshun said: "I don't understand the water nature of the Yellow River, an old river worker Lao Zhao told me. He spent half his life on the Yellow River berm rescue. His words were by no means casual. I brought him after breakfast and asked him to tell the generalissimo with me personally. But I can't see you, my king! Now that you haven't sat down yet, I, an old groom, the head of the groom, it's so difficult to see you when I have something. Someday......" When he said this, he was so excited that he couldn't help but roll down his tears, and he couldn't go on.

Li Zicheng also felt a move in his heart, still smiling, looking at Wang Changshun and saying cordially: "I really have an important military meeting today, and it is for our whole army. ”

Wang Changshun said: "I know that the generalissimo's military meeting is for the whole army, but what I want to report today is also for the whole army and the hundreds of people. ”

Li Zicheng said with a gentle smile and a casual tone: "Changshun, you have something urgent to find me in the future, and you don't have to wait for others to report it." As long as I don't have anything particularly important, I'll see you right away. You are not like others, you can talk to me as freely as you used to. You are an old brother of our old eighth team, how can I not see you? ”

When Wang Changshun heard this, he became more and more emotional, and said: "King Chuang, I know that you miss the old and will not forget my old brother of the old eighth team. But although my Wang Changshun is a big old man, he is not the kind of reckless person who does not know the height of the sky. How could I not understand? You are not who you are today. Your generals are like clouds, your advisers are like rain, and there are thousands of old people like me. Whoever wants to see the generalissimo is a matter of course. The character is big, what if you don't do this? If it weren't for the matter of the Yellow River today, I would not have broken into the gate twice or three times and asked to face you in person! ”

Li Zicheng said: "Okay, I already know about this. I'll send someone to the embankment tonight. Now I have to go to Yuwangtai to deploy the military, and I can't talk to you more. ”

Wang Changshun said: "King Chuang, although the deployment of the military is important, this matter must not be careless. In case something happens tonight and the Yellow River breaks down, it's too late to regret it! ”

Niu Jinxing was very unhappy when he saw Wang Changshun being so willful on the side, so he interjected with a smile and said: "Changshun, it is indeed rare for you to think about the army and the people like this, but our generalissimo is now in charge of everything, and he can't be the same as before." As long as the generalissimo keeps this matter in mind, I will also keep it in my heart, and send soldiers to the embankment to protect it tonight, isn't it? ”

Wang Changshun was still not at ease, and said: "Since the generalissimo is going to Yuwangtai, please ask the chief whistle Liu Ye and the chief manager Gao Ye to go to the embankment to see how it is?" ”

Liu Zongmin didn't answer, and Gao Yigong didn't answer, because they were about to attack Kaifeng, and the burden on both of them was very heavy, and they were both worried about their own affairs. Song Xiance smiled and said:

"Changshun, I will follow the generalissimo to Yuwangtai first. When I came back, I went to the embankment of the Yellow River to see it myself. I have lived in Kaifeng for a few years, and I know a little about the situation of the Yellow River, and I just remember it in my heart. ”

Wang Changshun still had to speak, and King Chuang Tongniu, Song and the others would no longer stay, walked out of the gate, and flew on the horse. Wang Changshun stood in place, and suddenly remembered that Li Gongzi was from Kaifeng Mansion, and he should know the water nature of the Yellow River, and he heard that he also had a meeting here in the morning, why didn't he see it at this time? He was about to look for Li Gongzi, but when he saw King Chuang turning around on his horse, he instructed Wu Ruyi to say:

"Ziyi, you send a capable leader to lead five hundred people to patrol the embankment at night, there must be no mistake."

Wu Ruyi replied respectfully: "Obey!" ”

Wang Changshun was disappointed: how could these 500 people be rescued when they encountered a breach? He exclaimed:

"King Chuang, five hundred people is too little!"

But the war horses of King Chuang and others had already left the village and galloped away. Wang Changshun saw this group of people, there were hundreds of elite soldiers guarding before and after, very majestic, and somehow suddenly remembered the situation when King Chuang went to Shimen Valley three years ago, when there were only thirty people following, and today's situation is indeed very different from the past, he sighed unconsciously. After a while, Wu Ruyi saw that he was still standing in place, looking at the back of the cavalry in a daze, and said to him:

"Changshun, what else are you looking at? Immediately I sent someone up the embankment and did not wait for the evening. ”

Wang Changshun said: "You don't understand, Ziyi." Li Gongzi should understand, where has he gone? ”

Wu Ruyi said: "After lunch, he was ordered to leave first and go to the city to make arrangements. I'll send people to patrol the embankment right away, don't worry. ”

Wang Changshun sighed again: "Alas! Five hundred, five hundred, such a long embankment, what is the matter of five hundred people! ”

At the time of the first shift, Li Zicheng and Song made a decision, and hurried back to Yanli Village with Shuangxi, Li Qiang and two hundred personal soldiers.

In the afternoon, he and Song Xiance went to several places and personally deployed the siege military and some measures after entering the city. After Niu Jinxing accompanied him out of the village, he went to Cao Ying to continue to discuss some specific issues with Cao Cao after entering the city. Liu Zongmin and Gao Yigong both went to busy their own affairs, and they did not follow him back to the old camp.

After walking a few places, he came to Fanta Temple outside the south gate of Kaifeng, and discussed with Tian Jianxiu and Li Yan how to relieve the hungry people after entering the city. Tian Jianxiu was originally stationed in the King Garden of Yingcheng County, because there has been a lot of rain in the past ten days, and the terrain is low-lying, so he left a part of the men and horses there to besiege Caomen, and he took another part of the people and horses to move to the area of Fanta Temple. Li Yan came to him after lunch, and discussed how to escort some women and children out of Kaifeng City after the city was broken, and temporarily send them to the area of Fanta Temple and Yuwangtai, so that they would not starve to death, and those who were sick would be treated, and then sent back to the city after the order in the city was stable. This thing looks easy, but it's hard to do. It was not an easy task to set up many tents, to go to the streets and alleys to send out of the city the sick, the starving, the women and children who could no longer move. Because Tian Jianxiu is kind-hearted and is most willing to do this kind of good deed, Li Yan is more experienced in this area, so Li Zicheng handed over this task to the two of them. Now Li Zicheng listened to the various methods they discussed, and felt very thoughtful, and nodded his head to approve.

At this time, it was not yet dark, and Li Zicheng took advantage of the joy in his heart, so he wanted to walk around the temple. From late December last year to the first month of this year, Cao Cao's old camp was stationed here, and Li Zicheng came many times at that time, but each time he came in a hurry to discuss things, and never visited all parts of the temple. And because Cao Ying kidnapped many women, whether it was the meditation room, the dining hall or the tent outside the temple, it was a daily sheng song orchestra and a continuous wine banquet. When Li Zicheng saw this kind of scene, he was very unhappy in his heart, although he couldn't show it on his face, he had no intention of visiting all over the temple again. Now that Tian Jianxiu is stationed here, there is not a single woman who has been taken captive from the countryside, nor has there been cattle or sheep that have been stolen from the countryside. The barracks are barracks, the meditation room is the zen room, only Tian Jianxiu and a few pro-soldiers live in the temple, and all the other soldiers live in tents, and they are not allowed to harass the temple. There are still a few old monks and two or three young monks in the temple who have not fled into the city, and still chant sutras and worship the Buddha on time; On the first and fifteenth day of the new year, the bell is still struck. Every morning when chanting, the sound of bells, chimes, and wooden fish comes out of the Daxiong Treasure Hall, making people feel that in this chaotic year, only this Fanta Temple is a quiet Buddha land.

Accompanied by Tian Jianxiu, Li Yan and Song Xiance, Li Zicheng climbed the Fan Pagoda and watched the scenery for a while. After coming down, I walked into the Daxiong Treasure Hall again, and suddenly saw a small table and two small chairs here, and chess was placed on the table. Li Zicheng was also very interested in chess when he was a teenager, but later rebelled, trained and fought in war, and was so busy every day that he had no time to play chess anymore. Now he unconsciously walked over to the chess table and took a look.

On the table is a game of chess. There is a red chess rook, a horse, and a cannon, and a river crosser, who is besieging the veteran of black chess, and the black chess players are incomplete, although there are also one horse and one cannon, which is obviously difficult to parry. Li Zicheng turned around and asked:

"Yufeng, who are you playing chess with?"

Tian Jianxiu said with a smile: "I am playing chess with the old monk, and the remnants of the chess have not been finished, and we will not play anymore when I heard that you are here." This old monk is very careful, and the chess is still placed here, waiting to be played again tomorrow. ”

King Chuang smiled: "You are really busy. The army is full of things, and there is leisure to play chess, which will really enjoy Qingfu. ”

Everyone laughed. Li Zicheng asked again: "Who is the red chess piece and who is the black chess piece?" ”

Tian Jianxiu said: "I play red chess. ”

Li Zicheng said: "You are about to win." The old monk is already difficult to parry. ”

Tian Jianxiu said: "Playing chess is ever-changing, I often think that my chess position is very good, and I am about to win, who knows that a negligence, the chess situation immediately changed, but the old monk won." ”

When Li Zicheng heard this, he felt his heart move, and suddenly remembered what Wang Changshun said to him. He was about to rush back to Yan Li Village before dusk, but then he changed his mind and said, "Yufeng, Lin Quan, I have one more thing to discuss with the two of you. Let's go to Yufeng's room and have a look. ”

Tian Mixiu smiled and led them to his bedroom. It was a meditation room, with only a rope bed, a broken square table, and a few chairs that he had repaired himself. The brick floor was swept clean, and there were no gray stars in sight. On the back wall there is a dilapidated strip, part of the paint has peeled off, scrubbed spotlessly, and on top is a gilded Buddha statue less than a foot high, with its right arm exposed, sitting on a lotus throne, with a kind and serene expression. An old copper incense burner is offered in front of the Buddha, and a pair of tin candlesticks are placed on both sides, with red candles. The candle was not lit. There was a stick of incense in the furnace, light smoke curled up, and the quiet aroma filled the small room. As soon as Li Zicheng came in, he said with a smile:

"Yufeng, where do you look like a tiger will live!"

Tian Jianxiu also smiled and said: "Now that I am in the middle of the army, besieging the city for half a year, it is rare to have such a clean place, of course I can't let it go." ”

After sitting down, Li Zicheng first mentioned the matter of the autumn flood of the Yellow River, and said: "These days, even if it rains, I know that the autumn flood is coming, but everyone is busy attacking the city and does not pay much attention to it. Today, Wang Changshun came to me and told me about the berm rescue, and I thought of paying attention to it. There were 1,200,000 people on the embankment, as well as some migrant workers, and now I quickly sent 500 more people to patrol. Lin Quan is a native of Kaifeng Prefecture and knows more about the Yellow River than we do. Lin Quan, how do you think you should prepare for the autumn flood of the Yellow River? ”

Li Yan immediately said: "I have often kept this matter in my heart for the past few days, just thinking that the old battalion has sent someone to patrol the embankment, I am careless; I didn't ask how many people the old battalion sent. Now, listening to the generalissimo, 2,000 people is too little. In the autumn flood of previous years, a lot of people were recruited, not only all the men from various villages in the embankment went to the embankment, but even the people from dozens or even hundreds of miles away also recruited to go to the embankment. This year, because Kaifeng was besieged, the magistrate naturally didn't care, and we didn't pay attention to it. Now the Generalissimo mentions it, and this is really a big deal. Wang Changshun is a native of Mizhi County, why did he think of this? ”

Li Zicheng said: "He knew an old local river worker and told him about the dangers of the Yellow River, so he told me the words of the old river worker today." I'm a layman on the Yellow River. What do you think we should do now? ”

Li Yan said: "500 men can only be regarded as an increase in patrols, and at least a few thousand infantry must be sent, carrying pickaxes and shovels, and preparing many baskets, many straw bales and sacks. ”

Li Zicheng said: "There were also some straw bales and sacks on the embankment, which were filled with sand and soil, and some stones were piled up. ”

Li Yan said: "That's what was left over from previous years, and it must not be enough." In the matter of the Yellow River, I am not afraid of 10,000, but I am afraid that in case, a place will break open, and many sacks, straw bales, and stones will be thrown in, and sometimes some boats will even be prepared, and when it is necessary, the boats will be filled with stones and sink into the gap. That's it, sometimes it can't be blocked. Generalissimo, I think this matter is very urgent, and must be done immediately. ”

Li Zicheng didn't talk anymore, stood up and said, "Since this is the case, I will immediately go back to the old camp and give an order." ”

Tian Jianxiu said: "It's already dusk, the generalissimo has dinner here, let's go back to the old camp." If it's really that urgent, send someone to give the order first. ”

Li Zicheng said: "No, then they won't pay attention to it, I want to go back in person." ”

Song Xiance said: "The generalissimo is tired for a day, so he stays here to eat, and I will go back to the old camp first to deploy the matter of going to the embankment, how about it?" ”

Li Zicheng said: "No, let's go together." ”

After saying that, they walked out of Fanta Temple together, and with their own soldiers, they ran northwest in the twilight.

Not far from Yan Li Village is the place where Cao Cao's old camp is stationed. Cao Cao heard the report that the generalissimo and the Song army had returned from their inspection in the area of Fanta Temple, and when they passed by, he hurried to meet them outside the gate with Ji Jue and Niu Jinxing, who had stayed here for dinner. Li Zicheng did not get off the horse, only said that he had urgent matters to return to the old camp. Cao Cao said:

"We are having dinner, please stay with the generalissimo, have a glass of wine, have a meal, and it is not too late to go back to the old camp."

Li Zicheng said: "No, I have something urgent. Qidong can stay here and go back to the old camp after eating. ”

After saying that, he arched his hand and continued to rush to the old camp with Song Xiance. Already a mile away, they could faintly hear the sound of silk and bamboo orchestras and guessing fists coming from Cao Ying.

After returning to the old camp, Li Zicheng immediately called Gu Ying and ordered him to immediately lead 3,000 people to guard the river embankment. Tonight is mainly guarding, and tomorrow morning we must prepare more emergency materials to repair dangerous places; If you can find some tools tonight, try to bring them with you. Gu Ying did not dare to slack off, and immediately sent Ding Guobao and Bai Minghe to lead 500 cavalry to set off to strengthen patrols in the area of Heigangkou. He himself hurriedly sent people to look for all kinds of rescue tools, and prepared to lead the remaining 2,000 people to rush to the river embankment with tools and food during the third watch.

King Chuang thought of Wang Changshun again, and quickly sent someone to call him and ask if the old river worker had left. Wang Chang told him that the old river workers had long since left.

Song Xiance was also anxious, he was worried that the northeast wind during the day had turned to a northwest wind at dusk, and although the wind was not strong, it would obviously increase the water potential of the Yellow River to hit the south bank. He immediately sent messengers to all the villages along the river, and told the men to go up the embankment and not to slack off.

King Chuang thought that the northeast wind would turn into a northwest wind, and he became more and more anxious, and asked Wu Ruyi, "Has Gu Zijie gone up to the embankment?" ”

Wu Ruyi replied: "A thousand cavalry has set off, and Zijie is gathering men and horses, collecting guys, and preparing to catch up with the embankment later." There are no guys, it's useless to go empty-handed. ”

King Chuang said, "Urge him to hurry up, don't delay too much." ”

The Yellow River, the Yellow River, is really a big river that changes distinctly throughout the year. There are four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter every year, and the changes of the four seasons are most significant only in the Yellow River Basin, and only in the Yellow River Basin.

Every winter, the Yellow River dries up, and the sandbars in the center of the river are exposed. Where there was water, there was ice, and ox carts, horse-drawn carts, carts, and travelers on foot walked over the ice as if they were on land. The Yellow River, the Yellow River, what a quiet Yellow River, sinking into the sleeping country. Even though the water was still flowing under the ice, it was like the atria was still beating, but it was indeed asleep.

In spring, the land on both sides of the Yellow River slowly turns from yellow to green, and the wicker slowly sprouts, swaying in the spring breeze. Birds call to the Yellow River from the willow trees. Slowly, the Yellow River was awakened. When the peach blossoms bloom, the ice of the Yellow River shines in the sunlight and slowly melts in the warm spring breeze. The ice gradually thinned, and the sound of ice cracking could be heard in the middle of the river, and finally it broke into ice. At this time, if it rains for a few days, the ice and water are rushing downstream, and the ice is racing against each other, competing, colliding, and crowding, and it looks particularly lively on the water. Carriages and horses are no longer passing. Travelers on foot also switched to wooden boats. The boatmen propped up the boat and lit the ice with pennies at any time to prevent the boat gang from being damaged by it. Despite this, the Yellow River at this time is relatively quiet, and its anger and ferocity cannot be seen.

When summer comes, if there is a lot of rain, the Yellow River begins to rise, and the river trough is filled with water. At this time, it is more difficult for the boat to cross the Yellow River. Pennies often don't work, they don't hold up to the bottom of the river, and the oars don't work completely, because the water of the Yellow River is constantly swirling, and there seems to be no pattern to follow. So the boatmen had to use oars on one side and anchors on the other. Several people lifted the anchor and threw it forward with great force, and with the force of the anchor, the boat sailed forward for some distance, and then pulled the anchor up and threw it forward again. Sometimes you have to use a penny, because no one knows what the underwater situation is, maybe yesterday it was still deep water, and overnight the yellow sand accumulated, and it became a shallow stream, and in the shallow place you have to use a penny.

In autumn, there are often autumn winds and autumn rains for many days. Ancient poets, when they encountered the autumn wind and autumn rain, they would sigh and chant poems. Generations of countless sassy people, wandering women, often can't help but be full of sorrow when they come to such a time. But how could they have imagined how thrilling the Yellow River was at this time! It's in a rage; It's in the madness; It's roaring. It seems to have concentrated the power and anger of the whole year at this time, and vented its ancient brain to the world. Then you stand on the south bank and look out to the north shore, often as far as you can see, but you see the flood raging and the turbid waves empty, but you cannot see the north bank. This is the most destructive season, with shipwrecks every day, people and livestock, furniture and wood floating down with the rolling yellow current.

It's the season. Because the rebels of King Chuang only paid attention to besieging Kaifeng, they did not know much about the temper of the Yellow River. It wasn't until tonight that Ding Guobao and Bai Minghe's 1,000 reinforcements arrived on the embankment, but they didn't bring any tools.

At the time of the second watch, there were more than 20 large ships and some small boats, with full sails, galloping from the northwest to the southeast, and after crossing the Heigangkou, they continued to the east. The boat rode the water, and the wind was as fast as an arrow, and in the blink of an eye it disappeared in the moonlight.

Ding Guobao, who had just arrived at the Heigangkou embankment (Bai Minghe ran to Liuyuankou from another road), saw the sails of these big ships, and only thought that this was the enemy who came to harass him, but he did not expect that this was the one who came to steal the river embankment. Ma Shiyao, who was guarding the embankment, immediately divided the men and horses into two groups; He himself led two hundred cavalry from the embankment to the east, to get ahead of the big ships, so that the enemy could not come to the shore. Because he didn't know whether the official army had follow-up ships, he left an important leader under his command to lead 300 cavalry to wait in place in order to respond. At the same time, he sent several flying horsemen to the old camp to warn him, and urged Gu Ying to lead his men and horses to come quickly.

At this time, a gong sounded on the embankment. The sound of the gong started from the mouth of the black post and went all the way to the east, calling the defenders on the embankment to pay attention to the defense. The shouts of the people also rise and fall, mixed with the sound of gongs, horses' hooves, and waves.

The convoy of officers and soldiers stopped outside the Zhujiazhai embankment and prepared to dock. When the defenders found out, they immediately shot arrows at the ship, and at the same time desperately banged the gong to call the alarm. The rebels and the people of the berm shouted. The officers and soldiers on the ship were personally commanded by Bu Congshan, and they did not shout, but kept shooting arrows to the shore. At this critical moment, 200 cavalry led by Ding Guobao personally arrived. When the soldiers and civilians guarding the embankment saw the reinforcements coming, their courage suddenly doubled, and they shot arrows at the official convoy together. Although the enemy on the ship prepared shields when they came, which reduced casualties, there were still many arrows.

Seeing that the enemy ships not only could not dock but retreated to the middle of the river, the people on the shore were very excited. But suddenly, from the two large ships on the left and right, firearms, both birds and guns, were fired. The rebels on the embankment saw the flash of fire, but they had nowhere to hide, and they were killed and wounded; Some of the horses were wounded, jumped up, and fell into the water.

Ding Guobao's mount was also hit by a cannon and fell, throwing him ashore as well. He immediately jumped to his feet and ordered all the brethren to dismount and defend the embankment. At this time, an enemy ship took the opportunity to approach the riverbank, and because the plank and the embankment were almost level, thirty or forty officers and soldiers easily jumped onto the embankment. Ding Guobao wielded a broadsword and slashed to death two officers and soldiers who had just climbed the embankment, and then he was wounded in the left arm by an arrow. He continued to cry out loudly, and did not retreat, and the brethren, with his encouragement, did not break up, and killed some of the officers and soldiers who had already landed, and drove the rest back to the ship. The second time the firearms were fired on board, more violently than the first. Ding Guobao fell from the cannon, and the brothers on the left and right were also killed and wounded. Ding Guobao shouted on the ground with his last strength:

"Hold the embankment! Hold the embankment! ”

Before he could say anything, he was stabbed in the chest by an enemy and died. The officers and soldiers went ashore one after another, and no more strong resistance was encountered. They had obviously planned very well in advance, so when they had come ashore, one officer and army ran to the west, and the other ran east, and did not stop until fifty feet away, and immediately piled up the straw bales and sacks that were to be used for rescue on the embankment into a wall, like a fortress, on which all kinds of firearms and crossbows were erected. Others, about a hundred, began to dig the embankment with pickaxes and shovels. The embankment is more than two zhang wide. They wanted to dig a ditch three feet wide and five feet deep, let the yellow water flow through the ditch, and then make the breach wider and wider, and finally break the embankment. They dug out from the inside of the embankment and then down from the top of the embankment, digging a deep and large hole, but leaving the side by the water, about three feet wide, without digging. They took turns resting, digging quickly, and the excavated earth was transported to the east and west, reinforcing the fort.

Ding Guobao's 300 cavalry left at Heigangkou heard the sound of fighting coming from the Zhujiazhai embankment and immediately rushed to reinforce it. But as soon as they arrived near Zhujiazhai, they were blocked by the firearms and crossbows of the official army. Although they dismounted and fought desperately, they were unable to break through the defensive line set up by the officers and soldiers, and many brothers were killed and wounded in vain. They had no firearms, large or small, and had to rely on bows and arrows to shoot at the enemy, who were covered by sacks and straw bales filled with sand, and they were completely exposed to the glare embankment of the Yellow River. As soon as the leader of the team saw this situation, he divided dozens of men to go down to the embankment and ran to the place where the excavation was dug, preparing to climb up the embankment from there and drive away the enemy soldiers who were digging the embankment. But their numbers were too small, and the arrows kept coming down from the embankment, causing them to suffer casualties, and the plan failed again. The leader had no choice but to send another brother, Pegasus, to the old camp for help.

When the 300 rebels rushed from the west to the excavation, the rebels patrolling the embankment on the east desperately attacked from the east to the west. However, they were not elite soldiers, they were not numerous, and they had no effective commanders, and although they were very brave, they could not break through the enemy's lines.

At this time, no matter how fierce the battle between the two sides was, the officers and troops at the middle embankment were still digging the embankment. Originally, they had carried the excavated soil to both sides, but now they simply transported it to the bottom of the embankment. The man who had dug in the middle of the embankment had dug five feet deep, three feet lower than the water outside the embankment, and they went down any further, and brought out from the boat a large jar twice as thick as a bucket, which was filled with gunpowder. They put the jar in the hole and pulled a finger-thick lead all the way out of the hole. The lead wire is packed in a bamboo tube beforehand so that it does not get wet with water. They pressed a layer of earth on top of the jar and returned to the ship, ready to blow up the embankment.

However, it was said that the general Gu Ying received a report in Yanli Village, and immediately led 2,000 infantry and cavalry to the Zhujiazhai embankment. Since the embankment was not conducive to cavalry combat, more than 1,000 cavalry galloped to the rear and quickly dismounted and rushed up the embankment on foot. But it was too late to defeat the officers and troops and keep the embankment. The officers and soldiers lit the fuse, left behind many dead bodies and seriously wounded soldiers, and returned to the ship. The boats lifted anchor and retreated towards the center of the river. There was a boom, and the watery side of the embankment collapsed, and the flood water rushed into the breach, along the dug trench, and rushed into the embankment. Gu Ying took the lead and grabbed the gap. The enemy's galleons fired again at the shore, and the rebels on the shore also fired arrows at the ships. The boat quickly retreated out of range and continued to fire on the shore. Fortunately, the rebels also found a few bird guns and hit the boat, but the sailboat did not dare to stay any longer and kept sailing in the direction of Fengqiu. By this time, the sky was already numb.

The breached gap was quickly widened by the yellow water, and the flow became larger and larger, pouring into the embankment. Gu Ying shouted: "Shut up!" Plug! Hurry up and gag it! ”

However, the river continued to rush into the gap, and the embankments on both sides kept collapsing. There was a panicked cry from Zhujiazhai and nearby villages, and the villagers helped the old and the young to run for their lives. Some of them had time to take out a little something, and some of them escaped alone. The low-lying areas of the embankment soon turned into a vast ocean.

Soon after Gu Ying left, Li Zicheng ordered Lao Fu and Cao Ying to send 5,000 infantry each to the embankment. He himself and Song Xiance also galloped to Zhujiazhai, leaving Liu Zongmin and Gao Yigong to sit in the old camp.

When Li Zicheng concentrated his forces to plug the gap in Zhujiazhai, thirty miles to the northwest, that is, in the area of Gubo Langsha, that is, on the Yellow River in the southeast of Yangwu County, there were 30 large and small sailing ships rushing towards the Majiazhai embankment near the Langchenggang. These ships did not sail from Fengqiu, but ordered Yangwuzhi County to vacate the ships carrying military rations, and the soldiers came aboard the ships with cannons and birds, as well as shovels and pickaxes. These boats had already secretly sailed to the center of the Yellow River after dusk, and stopped only a few miles away from the Wolf City Gang, and they were about to start when the sound of cannons came from Zhujiazhai or saw the light of fire. They also agreed that if the digging of the embankment in Zhujiazhai did not go well, and it dragged on until daytime, the officers and troops on the Zhujiazhai River would burn wolf smoke on the boat.

Yan Yunjing sat on a big boat, without saying a word, staring intently at the southeast. They ordered all the ships not to show their lights, so that they would not be seen by the patrolling rebels and the berms on the shore. Suddenly, there was a cannon sound from the area of Zhujiazhai, and I also saw the firelight. Yan Yunjing looked at the shore for a while, and said softly to the left and right: "Okay, okay!" There were very few thieves patrolling the shore, and as soon as we landed on the shore, the old camp of the robbers and thieves would be completely flooded. ”

After Li Zicheng rushed to Zhujiazhai, he personally supervised the military and civilians to block the mouth. The soldiers carried or carried large stones, straw bales and sacks and threw them desperately towards the breach, but as soon as all the sand bales and stones were thrown down, they were swept away by the fierce flood, and the more they were blocked, the more ineffective they became. They were still making a last-ditch effort to save the day, and even Li Zicheng himself was throwing sandbags among the brothers. In the midst of the chaos, King Chuang suddenly received a report that the enemy had landed in Wolf City Gang and Majiazhai, killed a small number of patrol rebels, and dug the river embankment. Li Zicheng was shocked when he heard this, and was about to divide his troops to go to the Wolf City Gang to rescue, when suddenly another report came, saying that the yellow water rushed through Majiazhai from the vicinity of the Wolf City Gang and rushed straight to the direction of Yan Li Village, which was unstoppable. Suddenly, the commander of the army, who had always kept an unusually calm presence in times of war, panicked.

After a while, he ordered a quick withdrawal of troops, sent a colonel to tell Cao Cao, and at the same time sent more than fifty cavalrymen, each two, to send orders to the garrisons of the two battalions of Chuang and Cao everywhere: the righteous army in the west of the city retreated near Zhongmu, the righteous army in the south of the city retreated near Tongxu, and the righteous army in the east of the city retreated near Zhuxian Town. After the order was issued, he instructed Gu Ying to immediately straighten out the infantry and cavalry on the embankment and retreat, move his battalion of more than 10,000 people to the high post near Yan Li Zhai as soon as possible, and then assist Gao Yigong's Chinese military camp to rush to transport the grain and grass and various military materials of the old camp of Yan Li Village.

After giving an urgent order of 100,000, Li Zicheng got on the oolong horse, took Song Xiance, Shuangxi and one or two hundred personal soldiers, left the river embankment, and galloped back to the camp before the flood flooded Yan Li Village.

While galloping on his horse, he regretted that he should not be careless about the Yellow River, and regretted that he should not have let go of the opportunity to break the city before the end of August......

The breach near Zhujiazhai has rapidly expanded, becoming a terrifying torrent, making a huge sound like ten thousand horses galloping. Li Zicheng looked sideways on his horse, and in the bleak morning light, he saw that the flood was inundating Zhujiazhai and many nearby villages. Countless houses are collapsing. On the grass roof sat people fleeing for their lives, floating on the water. Wood and furniture float on the water. People and animals float on water. The young climbed to the big tree, but the tree was swept down by the flood, submerged and floated up. Everywhere there were cries and cries for help......

From the place where Majiazhai broke in the northwest, although the distance was very far, the sound of water gradually became clear, as if it was the sound of a strong wind. He turned his head and looked to the right, but he saw no flood, but the people of the villages helping the old and the young, leading the animals, crying and shouting, fleeing from their homes and running to the high places nearby. Because of the rain for many days, the mud was very deep, and there was standing water, and the elderly and children kept falling. Li Zicheng's heart was bitter, and he couldn't bear it or have time to look at it carefully.

While galloping on his horse, he thought about attacking Kaifeng three times in the past year and a half, the first two times were setbacks, and the third time he got such a result! Thinking that many of the hundreds of thousands of troops and cattle would be drowned outside Kaifeng City, and that many people in the prefectures and counties would be flooded to the southeast, he was so heartbroken that he almost burst into tears, and couldn't help but sigh deeply.

Chapter 56

Zhang Dehou's mother has been dead for three days, her body is buried in the backyard, and he is the only one left in the house.

When he got up this morning, the sun was already high. Recently, he heeded the advice of his neighbors and rarely got up and moved around every day, and spent most of his time sleeping in bed, so that he could reduce his physical exertion and live a few more days. In fact, he didn't have the strength to move around the courtyard much anymore. He now eats only one meal a day, and is always in a state of hunger, often flustered with hunger, sweating profusely on his head, and his stomach seems to be empty as two pieces into one, and from time to time there is a slight gurgling sound.

Now there's a little food left in the pot. It was an old sheepskin jacket, the wool was shaved off, the skin was soaked in water for two days, and then boiled in a pot for a long time, until it was finally thick and fluffy enough to be bitten on. But the skin had been eaten for a few days, and now only a very small piece remained. In addition, there were some maggots in the pot, which he followed the example of his neighbors, and fished the maggots out of the jar and washed them in water. Fortunately, it had rained every day for the past twelve or thirteen days, and several empty tanks in the yard were filled with rainwater, so there was no need to go to the well to fetch water.

He warmed up the boiled piece of skin and a little maggot, and found that not only could he not eat enough, but he could not even eat half full, what should he do? There is still a little grain buried in the ground, which was brought back from outside the city by Xianglan, and it has not been eaten until now. The mother refused to eat while she was alive, leaving her son alive. In order to save his mother from dying, he still cooked some one after another. Every time he boiled the bread grains, he had to cook them according to the number, first boiling a hundred, and then reducing it to eighty or seventy. Do you want to dig up the grain and cook some more corn today? After thinking about it for a while, I decided not to dig and left it for the last help.

So he decided to go maggot fishing again. When he walked to the backyard, he suddenly saw many maggots crawling out of the place where his mother was buried. It turned out that he was so hungry that he had no strength at all, and one of the old neighbors who had come to help was even more hungry than him, so the two men dug only a shallow pit and buried his mother's body in so-so. Now the corpse is decomposing, the stench is blowing in the face, and maggots have crawled out of the corpse. He was sad when he saw it, and cried "Mother"! shed tears, and had no intention of catching maggots again.

After retreating into the house, he suddenly remembered the rat cage that had been placed in a corner the day before. It was also when he listened to the advice of his neighbors and found an old rat cage at home, wanting to try his luck and catch a mouse to eat. Originally, the rats in Kaifeng have been almost eaten by the people, but recently too many people in the city have died, and the rats have come out to eat the corpses of people and reproduce again. And because people catch rats everywhere in the house and yard, after suffering a few losses, the rats also have their own way, not living in people's houses, but living outside the house, only when people are not paying attention to the house to look for something to eat. When neighbors catch a mouse, they often spread it as good news. Zhang Dehou was encouraged by his neighbors to also set up a rat cage.

Now he decided to check out his rat cage. He didn't have much of an expectation, he just took a look. Unexpectedly, when he approached the rat cage, there was a large rat in the cage, and it was moving around in a hurry. He was so overjoyed that he almost cried out. But he didn't scream, because he suddenly realized that he was the only one left in the house. He took the rat cage and put it in a water tank and soaked it for a while, waiting until he was sure that the rat had drowned, then he opened the cage door and took out the dead rat. When he took it, he was still a little uneasy, for fear that the rat would pretend to be dead, and if he suddenly ran away, he would have nothing to eat.

He carefully took the rat to a place where the neighbor could not see, and as if he was afraid of being snatched by others, he secretly cut open the rat's belly, took out the intestines, squeezed the feces out of the intestines, and then put the washed intestines into a small pot with the whole rat. While he was cooking, he couldn't stop looking out. There was a slight noise in the courtyard, and he suspected that someone was coming, and would rob him of the rat, or beg him for a little rat meat. Fortunately, no one came, and the courtyard was just a rumor.

When the rat meat was cooked, he warmed the sheepskin and maggots and put them in a bowl. Although there is no salt and it is completely light, I also feel that it is a hearty lunch, as if I have never eaten such a delicious taste in my life. As he ate, he thought of his mother again, and thought that she could not enjoy it with him, and his heart became sad again. Later, he wondered, should he eat all the things he cooked? He didn't want to eat it all, but he was so hungry that the allure of the food made him eat it all. After eating, he felt that he hadn't been so full in days, and he was determined to try his luck again. So he put a few buns of grain in the rat cage and used them as bait. At first, there were ten of them, but then I thought it was a pity, so I took out three of them, and only seven were left in them. Remembering that rats were often unoccupied at night, he carried the rat cage to a dark corner of the backyard, hoping to catch another big fat rat tonight.

After setting up the cage, he returned to the Westinghouse where he lived and sat down. At this time, the scene of the day of my mother's death resurfaced in front of me. My mother was so hungry that she had nothing but skin and bones, and she didn't even have the slightest strength. She said to Dehou in a very small voice:

"Son, don't feel sorry for me. In this world, it is better to live than to die early, and those who die early are blessed. Your dad is walking well. I didn't go with him when he left, and now I'm going to the underworld to find your father. ”

After taking a few breaths, she said intermittently: "I think that this Kaifeng City will not be held for a long time, either the king will come in, or someone in the city will open the gate to welcome the king in." In any case, people's hard times are coming to an end. Son, you have to wait, Mom can't wait for that day. Son, you are a filial son, I can't bear you, and I want to see Xiaobao and them again, but I can't wait for that day. ”

Thinking of what his mother said, Zhang Dehou felt distressed for a while, and couldn't help but roll down tears. He remembered that his mother had said to him three times and twice:

"We haven't done anything bad in two generations, so the gods blessed and let my daughter-in-law escape from the city with Xiaobao."

At that time, Dehou replied: "Mother, Dexiu also escaped, and Brother Zhao also escaped." ”

"I don't care about those two girls. I'm talking about Xiaobao, he is a root of our Zhang family, as long as he escapes and pulls him to adulthood, our Zhang family will not be extinct. The mother cried weakly for a while, and then said, "Son, once the siege of the provincial city is lifted, you must immediately go to find Xiaobao and your daughter-in-law to come back, as well as your sister and brother Zhao...... Remember! ”

Dehou choked up and said, "Mother, don't worry, I will definitely take them back, let Xiaobao study hard, and grow up in the future, Kuiming High School." My sister's marriage, I will arrange it properly, please rest assured. ”

The mother's voice was even weaker, and she saw her mouth tremble, and she said again, "You remember, remember," and then stopped talking. Zhang Dehou leaned over and saw that his mother had lost her breath.

Now that he remembered the scene of that day, he felt that his heart was like a knife, and he wiped away a burst of tears before he slowly calmed down. He turned his head to look at the books on the desk, which were already full of dust. He brushed the dust off the book, and couldn't help but think in his heart, this year's science field was wrong, I don't know if the next science field can still catch the exam, maybe the township examination list will be named, and it will not fail the parenting grace. Due to his weakened health, he no longer had the energy to read books. Feeling very tired, he fell back into bed and fell asleep to save his strength. Before he knew it, he was in a sleep.

It seemed that after a while, he suddenly understood that he was going to the Gongyuan to take the township test today. When he looked up, he saw his wife packing up the exam basket for him. His mother burned incense and kowtowed to the tablet of "Heaven and Earth Monarch Teacher" in the upper room, and made a wish for him devoutly, hoping that the gods would bless him to be able to pass the examination this time. After the mother made a wish, the wife had already packed up the examination basket and came to the upper room to kowtow and make a wish. Then the family sent him out of the gate. It was clearly from the church before the adult, but I saw Xiaobao running out and shouting to him:

"Dad, Dad, I dreamed that you passed the test, and you passed the test."

He smiled, touched the top of Xiaobao's head and said, "I'm going to pass the test." I passed the exam and the whole family liked it. ”

Xiaobao said: "I like it too. You want to pass the test, you want to pass the test. ”

The mother said: "The child is telling the truth, it seems that this time you are going to pass the test." ”

He left home and walked north with his basket. Outside the gate of the Gongyuan, it was already bustling, full of talents rushing to take the exam. Many had servants with them, and some had scholars with them. Although neither the servants nor the scholars were allowed to enter the Tribute Academy, the grandeur was very magnificent. He was about to walk towards the gate of the Gongyuan with the examination basket when he suddenly heard someone calling him. It was two or three times before he could hear a familiar voice, but he didn't see anyone. The voice continued to scream, and he answered. With this promise, he suddenly woke up, was stunned for a moment, and opened his eyes, only to hear clearly that the person who called him was standing outside the window. It turned out to be two neighbors to the east and west. Both men's voices were very anxious and alarmed, and they cried out:

"Zhang Xiucai, Zhang Xiucai! Hurry up, the Yellow River is broken! It's broken! People all over the city are saying that the Yellow River has burst! ”

Zhang Dehou sat up suddenly, and asked repeatedly: "Really?" It's true? ”

The terrain of Majiazhai is much higher than that of Zhujiazhai, so after the embankment of Majiazhai was dug by the officials and soldiers, the flow was more fierce and rushed down to the southeast. About ten miles northwest of Kaifeng, the two yellow streams converged, and the main stream continued to rush to the southeast. But it also branched out some tributaries, flooding large areas of the western and eastern suburbs of Kaifeng, and flowing from the western suburbs to the southern suburbs.

Since the two openings of Majiazhai and Zhujiazhai were excavated, the water potential of the Yellow River below Zhujiazhai has gradually decreased. The Yellow River shifted its course from the two mouths, and in the north and east of Kaifeng, it made a loud sound like a sea tide, which could be heard clearly in the center of Kaifeng City, which was very scary.

The officials, gentry, military and civilians in Kaifeng City, all who can walk will climb the north, east and west cities to watch the water. There are also people who use ladders to climb the roof of the Daxiong Treasure Hall of Daxiangguo Temple, some people climb the bell tower and drum tower, and a few young people with more strength climb to the second floor of the iron tower. But climbing this second layer is almost tiring. Like the people who were able to climb to the top of the tower in previous years, there is no one left at this time.

At this time, it was already about the beginning of the afternoon, and the bleak slanting sun shone on the vast yellow water, flooding the suburbs, and gradually approaching the city wall.

Huang Shu and Li Guangli both stood on the north city. Chen Yongfu and several of his generals also stood in the northwest corner of Beicheng. Huang Shu was most concerned about whether Chuang and Cao were drowned, so he walked east with Li Guangli, where he could also see the rebel camps in many places in the north and east of the city. They saw that many of the rebels had fled, and some of them were flooded by the yellow water before they could move, and the corpses of men and horses were floating on the water. Huang Shu and Li Guangli clapped their hands and said:

"Alright, alright, Kaifeng is saved! Heaven forbid, Kaifeng is saved! ”

A few days ago, Huang Shu secretly sent someone to send the wax pill book to Yan Yunjing, the inspector of the imperial history, but the person who sent the book did not return, and the news from Hebei was unclear, which made him very relieved. Was that person caught by the king's men and horses halfway? Did you drown in the yellow water when you crossed the Yellow River? Now seeing the yellow water surging, he not only relieved his heart, but also celebrated himself. He thought that after the incident, the imperial court would reward the "non-qi plan", and it would be just around the corner to soar in the future.

After dusk, the flood poured to the edge of the city, and many places in the sheep and horse walls of the west and north cities were washed away or collapsed by the water. The flood went over the wall of sheep and horses and came to the root of the city. The few remaining vacant houses in Chengbei Pass soon collapsed, and some of the timber drifted away with the water. Yellow water began to flow into Moon City from the cracks in the North Moon City Gate. Huang Shu and Li Guangli hurried to the north city gate. Although the lamps in the city were now running out of oil, and there were no lights or torches to illuminate them, they could still see that the moon city was already full of water, although it was not deep, but it was constantly rising.

They immediately went down to the city, supervised the soldiers and volunteers, and blocked the gap in the moon city. Huang Shu kept scolding, always feeling that people were not trying their best enough. In fact, everyone has long been so hungry that they have no strength at all, not because they don't do their best, but because they can't do anything. Huang Shu was afraid that if the city gate could not be blocked in January, something would happen, and the situation would be out of control. The more frightened he became, the more irritated he became, and when he saw that everyone was slow, he added twenty or thirty more men, plugged the gaps with quilts and clothes, and ordered people to carry sandbags. The Moon City Gate was originally blocked three feet high with sandbags, so that the rebels could not attack the city gate. Now the water is rushing in through the crack in the gate that is more than three feet high, so it is necessary to completely block the top of the Moon City Gate with sandbags, which are nearly a foot high. After being busy like this for a while, he found that the water under his feet was almost up to his thighs, and he was worried that he would not be able to escape, so he retreated to the big city gate with Li Guangmi. At this time, the gates of the city were not closed. It is believed that the important thing at present is to block the Yuecheng Gate, as long as the Yuecheng Gate can be blocked tightly, the big city gate will not have an accident, even if a small stream of water flows in, there will be no major obstacle to the entire Kaifeng City.

He and Li Guangli went back to the city and ordered everyone to step up to block the Moon City Gate. He still kept scolding, and repeatedly shouted: "Whoever does not use force will be beheaded; If you work hard, you will be rewarded! ”

Li Guangli reminded him: "Now that everyone has been distracted, please don't scold Master Huang too much." ”

Huang Shu said dissatisfiedly: "These minions, fools, if you don't scold hard, they won't use force." Kaifeng is safe, it's a good shot, man! ”

Below, people plugged holes in the dark doorways. Someone scolded: "Damn! You reward Lao Tzu with 1,000 taels of silver, 10,000 taels of silver, and you can't buy a grain of grain, who wants your heavy reward! ”

Another scolded: "Beheading? Kill your mother's ×! Defend the city for you every day, defend the city, everyone is starving to death, and you still have to defend the city, who still has the strength to block this cock door! ”

At the beginning of the scolding, there were more people answering the phone:

"What city to keep? It's all for the sake of protecting King Zhou's family and them, the officials and masters who ride on the heads of the common people! ”

"The people in Kaifeng City are almost dead, you bastard is still so fierce, you have the ability to block it yourself!"

"Let's not block it, let's all die together, anyway, sooner or later, we will always starve to death in a few days!"

"I'm the only one left in my family, and it's no longer interesting for me to live!"

"You still want to live? Will you be able to live? Even if you keep Kaifeng from flooding, you will starve to death! ”

At this time, the water in the gate of the moon city was deeper, and some people really did not have the strength, so they shook in the water, stood unsteadily, and fell down. Some people made a ** sound. And water poured in from the gates of the great city. Huang Shu stomped his feet and cursed, and ordered the big city gate to be blocked as soon as possible, so as not to block it when the water came in.

When the people in the Moon City Gate heard that the Great City Gate was going to be blocked, everyone was afraid, because then they would not even have a way out. At this time, the three leaders who led everyone to block the gap at the Moon City Gate immediately discussed, telling everyone to retreat into the big city gate quickly and not die in the Moon City. When they heard this, they rushed to the gate of the city. But many of them, because they were really hungry and were in the water, fell down and could not get up without reaching the gates of the city. Then one of the leaders said to his companions:

"Good brothers, we can't escape, and if we escape, we will starve to death, so let's just die with the princes, county kings, and gentry in the city."

One of the soldiers immediately replied: "Okay, we will all die, Lao Tzu will not live." ”

The other soldier said as he walked back: "I have a way: take off this waist bar, remove the middle few sandbags, and the door will rush open immediately, and all the bastards in the city will die together!" ”

So the three of them returned to the dark Moon City Gate Cave, removed the sandbag in the middle, and went to get the waist bar. But the pressure of the water outside was too great, and the waist bar was squeezed tightly by the door, and it couldn't be lifted at all. All three of them walked to one end of the waist bar and lifted it up desperately, finally making the end of the waist bar leave the hole in the wall. At the same time, the gate was immediately pressed, only to hear a click, the waist bar was broken, the water pushed the city gate, and the city gate pushed the sandbag backwards. Some of the punching bags were poured. The gate of the Moon City could no longer be closed, and only a large iron lock was still hanging on the door and shaking. But after a while, the iron lock shook off, or it may have been broken, and the flood rushed in fiercely, and the three people didn't even scream, they were washed away by the water, and the water in the Moon City immediately rose more than one person high, and the sandbags that were originally piled up inside and a stone tablet against the gate of the Moon City were washed aside. At this time, the gates of the great city were not completely closed, and the flood soon broke open the gates again, rushing and roaring. Originally, the flood did not come straight to the north gate, but went east along the city wall. The Moon City Gate does not face due north, but faces northeast, so it is not facing the torrent. The Moon Gate was only under the pressure of the high flood, not by the impact. If it weren't for the "brave" people of flood control, they would have taken off their waists and moved sandbags, and there would be no reason for the Moon City Gate to be washed open. The Moon Castle Gate is only flooded through the crack of the door, and there is no danger to such a large Tokyo Bianliang. What's more, in the case of water entering the cracks of the Moon City Gate, it was completely too late to temporarily block the main city gate with sandbags. Therefore, the destruction of Kaifeng was destroyed by the officials and soldiers crossing the river on the north bank to dig embankments, and the second was destroyed by the "righteous and brave" people who defended the city hated the royal gentry. It's just that after the fact, the officials and gentry concealed the truth, so that the truth was distorted and covered up for more than 300 years!

Huang Shu and Li Guangli saw that their "plan to deuce" had caused a catastrophe, and the whole city of Kaifeng would soon sink in the yellow water, and they were terrified. Huang Shu was afraid that his net worth would not be guaranteed, and he thought that he was the culprit who suggested digging the river, so he suddenly became paralyzed, almost unable to stand, and had no idea at all. Gao Mingheng and Chen Yongfu sent people from the northwest corner of the city to ask what was going on, and sent down a strict edict from the governor: Immediately block the north gate, regardless of everything, must be blocked! Immediately, Chen Yongfu sent a battalion of officers and soldiers to arrive and handed over to Huang Shu's command. Li Guangli also dispatched a battalion of people from the Volunteer Shrine to the north gate to block the water. However, these officers and soldiers and volunteers had not prepared anything to block the water beforehand, and in addition, everyone was hungry and their physical strength was very weak, and they had no way to deal with the rushing and roaring yellow water. They barely carried some sandbags and threw them into the water, and they were washed away on board. Later, the two iron-clad gates of the north gate were also washed away and went with the flow.

Li Guangli saw that the situation was not good, and asked Huang Shu to hurry into the city, move the yamen of the Punishment Hall to a higher place, and he himself had to go back to take care of family affairs. Huang Shu had no idea at this time, his soul was lost, he looked at the fierce water that entered the city and paused again and again, and cried out in despair:

"It's over! Finished! I'm done too! ”

Li Guangli was also very scared, and reluctantly comforted him and said: "Master Huang doesn't have to be afraid, although Kaifeng has caused a catastrophe, the thieves will definitely drown most of them." Li Zicheng's old camp has been submerged, and perhaps the robbers themselves have also been drowned. Even if he can escape from the yellow water, he will no longer be able to encircle Kaifeng. The court will not blame Master Huang. ”

Because of the people around him, he didn't dare to speak out about the conspiracy to dig the river. But after Huang Shu heard this, he felt a little comforted in his heart, thinking that his family would never be drowned; As long as the thieves drown a lot and Kaifeng is not occupied, it is still easy for the court to speak. Seeing that he was frightened, Li Guangli stopped waiting and hurried away with his servants and servants. But he didn't go far when Liu Zibin suddenly came, stopped him, and returned to Huang Shu together. Liu Zibin was calmer, looked at them and said:

"I just came from Dongcheng, and after looking at the water situation there, I have a plan to save Kaifeng, at least half of Kaifeng."

Huang Shu asked urgently: "What are your clever plans, say it quickly!" ”

Li Guangli also said: "Say it quickly, and we will do it immediately." ”

Liu Zibin said: "Now the north gate can't think about it. The west gate has not yet been opened, and there is a lot of water there. However, the water outside Caomen and Songmen was gentle, and the water flowed southeast from the Yingcheng Junwang Garden. If the Cao Gate and the Song Gate are opened now, the yellow water can flow eastward out of the Cao Gate and the Song Gate, and the city will not be completely submerged. This is a common method of flood discharge since ancient times. ”

As soon as he said it, Huang Shu immediately thought of the story of the flood of the ancient Kun "Yan" and the story of Yu using the "channeling" method and the result was very different. Li Guangli also remembered that the flood discharge was an effective way for his predecessors to save the city, so he immediately said:

"Master Huang, what do you think? I think it works! ”

Huang Shu immediately said: "Okay, good, this is a method of grooming......"

Li Guangli didn't wait for him to continue, and continued: "That is the case, while the water is not too deep now, open the Cao Gate and the Song Gate, and it will not be possible to open it if it is too late." Leave this to me. ”

Huang Shu nodded in agreement. Li Guangli immediately left with his family. As he walked, he instructed a few of his cronies to lead the people of the Yiyong Shrine to go to Caomen and Songmen to open the city gates. He himself hurried to the south end of the dirt street, turned west, and ran home. Although Li Guangyi's home is some way away from Tujie, his three houses are built on high platforms, so there is no water in the water.

Huang Shu stood in the city for a while. He was thinking about the king of Zhou, the governor and the governors of the major yamen, what would he do if they had three longs and two shorts? At this time, in the vast moonlight, there was hardly a place in the city without floods, and everywhere there were the sounds of water, cries, shouts, and temple bells. Temples large and small are urgently ringing bells to tell people that the flood has entered the city. The whole scene was so terrifying, Huang Shu was completely stunned. Liu Zibin pulled him and said:

"Master Huang, hurry up and go back to the office with me."

A few months ago, Huang Shu moved his punishment hall to Caomen for the convenience of defending the city, but the terrain there was low, and by the time he and Liu Zibin rushed back, the water had risen very high. Fortunately, for a few days he secretly ordered his servants to prepare a raft, and now he could save the family by reinforcing the raft. Since he returned too late, he had already lost some time. By the time he and his aunt and wife and Mr. and Mrs. Liu Zibin boarded the raft, the flood had already washed in, and two maids, because of their young age and weak health, were swept away by the flood. Most of the money and jewelry that could not be loaded onto the raft were also washed away. By the time they arrived near Caomen on a raft, the whole area had become an ocean.

By this time, the water had reached the south gate. There is also water outside the south gate, which flows from outside the west city. The water inside and outside the south gate was almost as flat as the city wall. The water continues to rise. Huang Shu was frightened, and suddenly received a report that the Cao Gate and the Song Gate had been opened, and two streams of water were flowing out of the city. Huang Shu hurriedly went up to the Caomen city wall, looked at it, and saw two torrents rushing out, felt a glimmer of hope, and said in his heart:

"Alright, alright, so that the flood in the city can be weakened."

Liu Zibin, who was standing beside Huang Shu, found that the method he thought of was really effective, and he couldn't help but be secretly happy. He thought that it was probably because of this idea afterwards that he saved countless lives in the city and was credited with a great deal by the imperial court.

However, after dawn, they found that although some of the floods had been drained from the Caomen and Songmen, the water in the city was still rising sharply because the floodwaters had overflowed the city walls in many places, and the whole city had almost completely sunk into the water. Only the upper half of the bell tower and the drum tower, the ridges of the big yamen and the high-rise roofs of the rich and wealthy, the roofs of the Daxiong Treasure Hall of Xiangguo Temple, the rockery of the Zhou Palace, the palace roof in the Forbidden City, and the rockeries and roofs of the palaces of the kings. In addition, what is not completely submerged is part of Yamashoten Street and a section of the middle section of Dirt Street. There is also an iron tower standing in the midst of the surging flood. The rest of the streets and alleys, but I saw a vast water, and I couldn't even see the roof.

After Zhang Dehou was woken up by his neighbors, he only heard the cries, shouts, and bells all over the city, and he had no idea at all, and after a few turns around the house, he suddenly remembered that Wang Tiekou had secretly instructed him, saying that Kaifeng City might be flooded, and he was asked to prepare a piece of wood, and he could escape if he held it temporarily. The wood is ready-made, and the east room where Huo Pozi lives has long been demolished, and the doors, windows, and rafters have been burned as firewood, and a part of it has been given to the neighbors as firewood. There are still two girders left, which are thrown at the base of the wall under the west eaves. But he thought to himself, he was so weak, and when the flood came, how could he have the strength to hold this wood tightly? And how can it withstand soaking in water? Thinking about it like this, I ran out of ideas again. Later, he thought it would be better to find a solid solution. So he dug up the rest of the grain from the ground, put it into a small bag, tied it to his body, and wrapped several books of "Shiwen" selected by Ai Nanying and other famous artists that he used to recite in the past, as well as the good articles he himself selected and copied from the calendar examination and the township examination, and went to the upper room to "invite" the ancestral god from the table, and wrapped it in a bag and tied it to his back, and then dragged out an old ladder in the house with great difficulty and leaned against the eaves of the west house. He thought that if the great water came, he would climb up to the west room, and from the west room to the upper room, and sit on the ridge of the roof. After a while, he heard the sound of the water getting louder and louder, as if it was about to rush to the vicinity, and he thought it was time to climb up the slope of the house, but instead of climbing the ladder at once, he went into the backyard first, knelt beside the mound where his mother was buried, kowtowed, and wept:

"Mother, the unfilial son can't take care of your old man's corpse. The son had no choice, and only one of them went to the roof and fled for his life. Mother......"

He wanted to say something, but he choked up and couldn't say more, kowtowed again, stood up tremblingly, and walked into the courtyard. He was about to climb up the ladder when suddenly a hand grabbed him by the garment, and at the same time a voice shouted from behind him:

"Sir, sir! You don't climb the slope, don't climb the slope! ”

Zhang Dehou turned his head and saw that it was a young man named Chunsheng in the east neighborhood. The boy was seventeen or eighteen years old, and had studied with him for two years. He immediately said:

"Chunsheng, the flood has come, it's important to run for your life quickly."

"Sir, you can't climb the house slope. Go to my yard! ”

Dehou is wondering: why did he go to his yard? Chunsheng's father also came in a hurry, shouting:

"Mr. Zhang, go to my yard quickly, let's run for our lives together!"

"How do you escape?"

"Now the water is so strong that the house can't stand the water. Even if the water is slow, it will not withstand the blisters. In Kaifeng City, eight out of ten houses have nitrate, and the bricks have been corroded by nitrate over the years. As soon as the yellow water is soaked, the house will collapse. What's more, how terrifying the water is now, what can we do with the houses of the common people! Don't go up the slope of the house, go to my yard quickly. We're building a raft, so let's get on a raft with us and run for your life. ”

Dehou wanted to go with them, but then he thought that their raft must be very small, and there were old people and women in their family, how could they carry it? He hesitated for a moment, then said:

"I'd better go up the slope. The house won't collapse for three or two days. There are a lot of people in your family, so get on the raft and I won't bother you. ”

"How do you say that, we are crammed into a raft, why do you care if you are alone? Although I am illiterate, I know that you are a learned person, and you have not done anything wrong, as long as you pass this level, you will definitely be a famous high school in the future. But as soon as you die, this belly of good knowledge will be washed away with the water. ”

Because the relationship between the two families was very good in the past, Chunsheng's father wanted to write a letter and read a letter, all asking Zhang Dehou for help, so now he refuses to leave Zhang Dehou and let him drown alone in any case. As he spoke, he pulled Zhang Dehou towards the east courtyard. As soon as Chunsheng saw that there were still two logs on the ground, he beckoned his father to come back and carried one of the logs together.

After coming to the East Courtyard, Dehou was going to go to the raft with them, and Chunsheng's father said, "Mr. Zhang, you are a Xiucai, you have never done this kind of work, you stand aside and wait." ”

The raft had been almost tied, but now another piece of wood had been added and re-tied. The five men and women of the Chunsheng family all came out, and all the food was taken out and put on the raft. Chunsheng's mother was crying and crying, and she was reluctant to throw it away, so she had to put it on the raft, and was stomped and scolded by Chunsheng's father, so she had to not bring it.

Everyone was about to get on the raft, and Chunsheng's father saw that Zhang Dehou was still wearing a robe, and shouted: "Xiucai, Xiucai, take off your robe!" In case of falling into the water and the legs are wrapped in robes, the person dies faster. ”

Zhang Dehou never wore short clothes, as if he had to wear a long robe. Now after being reminded by Chunsheng's father, he had to take off his robe.

They had just sat down on the raft when the flood had come and swept down the wall. The raft floated up in the courtyard. Fortunately, Chunsheng's father and son both knew a little bit of water, and prepared two long bamboo poles to hold in their hands, so that the raft would not hit the eaves. They were not in a hurry to let the raft drift along the water, hoping to stay in the yard for as long as they wanted. Chunsheng climbed from the eaves to the ridge of the roof, tied a rope to the head of the beast in the hall, and then went down to the raft and held the other end of the rope, so that the raft would not be carried away by the waves, and would always be in the courtyard.

The water rose higher and higher, and soon the houses on the east and west sides and the houses facing the street were completely submerged. Chunsheng's father tried it in the water with a bamboo pole, and it was more than a zhang deep. At this time, Zhang Dehou felt that Chunsheng's father and son were really kind-hearted people; If he stays at home, it's too dangerous now. Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly heard a "boom", and his house fell in the water; There was another "boom", and the side house of Chunsheng's house also fell, and only the upper room had not fallen. The raft still surrounds the upper room, jolting in the waves. After a long time, the upper room finally collapsed. Chunsheng loosened the rope, and the raft drifted south with the floodwater.

Along the way, the raft almost touched the eaves of high-rise buildings several times, but was opened by Chunsheng and his son with a penny. It was the morning of the eighteenth, and the sky was clear, and what was on the water could be seen very clearly, and they avoided several dangers. But Chunsheng's father and son are not very expert in supporting the boat after all, and it is difficult to grasp the direction. When the raft was washed near the state bridge, suddenly a large wooden raft came from the opposite side, and there were about a dozen people sitting on the raft, both men and women. Seeing that Chunsheng's small raft was about to be overturned by the big raft, fortunately, a penny stretched out from the big raft at this time and lit the small raft. Zhang Dehou looked up and saw that it was none other than Zhang Minbiao, his wife, concubines, servants, and a young son. Zhang Dehou hurriedly shouted:

"Uncle!"

Only then did Zhang Minbiao see that this short-dressed person was Dehou, so he asked:

"Dehou, what about your family?"

Dehou choked up and said, "I am the only one left in our family, and my neighbor is sitting on this raft." ”

"Do you have anything to eat?"

"I only have two liters of multigrain with me."

Zhang Min ordered the servant to use a bamboo pole with a hook to pull the small raft to the nearest side, and then ordered the man to take out two taels of silver and some miscellaneous grains and give them to Dehou, saying:

"Since you escaped, this is a blessing in misfortune. After this catastrophe, you will be able to study well. ”

Zhang Dehou thanked him for his kindness, and then asked, "Uncle, what is it that you have piled so many oil paper bags on the raft?" Nowadays, the lighter the better! ”

Zhang Minbiao replied: "These things are a bit heavy, but you can't bring them." I've been working here for decades. Here are 200 volumes of my manuscripts, many of which you copied for me. In addition, there are some calligraphy and paintings, with the ink of the Jin and Tang dynasties. There are also some Song and Yuan editions of books that I have circled. I can't do without these things! ”

After speaking, the servant loosened the bamboo pole with the hook, and the two rafts were immediately swept away by the torrent, each in one direction. After a few moments, the raft of the Chunsheng family stopped under a high wall. Zhang Dehou looked back at Zhang Minbiao's big raft and almost screamed.

It turned out that many people who had fallen into the water and saw this big raft and swam to get on it. Zhang Minbiao couldn't bear to see death without help, so he let these people climb up the raft. Unexpectedly, because there were too many people on one side, the raft lost its balance and suddenly overturned. Zhang Minbiao, his wife, concubines, children, servants, and all the calligraphy, paintings, books, and manuscripts all fell into the water. I heard them scream, and they never showed their heads again. It was a servant who grabbed a piece of wood, and with the other hand grabbed the little master of the Zhang family, and went with the water. There are also some papers that disappear in the yellow water.

When Zhang Dehou saw all this, he was shocked and sad, and he almost cried, sighing in his heart:

"Alas, a generation of literati, romantic celebrities, it's over, it's over!"

For some reason, a whirlpool swept the raft eastward. Zhang Dehou sat on the raft and saw that to the south and left and right of Xiangguo Temple, most of the houses had been submerged; The eaves of Xiangguo Temple are also not in the water, only a roof ridge is exposed, and the roof ridge is crowded with people. Some of them apparently climbed to the roof alone, while their loved ones were not able to climb up, so they were looking around, crying out in grief. Outside the mountain gate there was a pool of water with many corpses floating on it, and after many houses had collapsed, the timber was also floating with the current, crowded with the corpses. Some people did not drown after falling into the water, grabbed a piece of wood and were shouting for help. There was also an old woman, holding a child, probably a granddaughter, sitting in a large wooden basin, also drifting in the water. Suddenly, a person rushed from the opposite side, grabbed the wooden basin and tried to climb into the basin, but the basin was overturned, and the old woman screamed, hugged her granddaughter, and fell into the water.

At dusk, Zhang Dehou's raft was stretched to the bottom of the drum tower, trying to find a place to live, but suddenly he heard a wail from the top of the drum tower: "Don't kill me!" Don't eat me! "It's terrible. They hurried a little bit and left the drum tower.

Now the twilight is heavier, where to go? Everywhere you look, there are floods, corpses, collapsed houses, and people can be heard crying for help, wailing and crying for loved ones. Their raft drifted aimlessly in this terrifying atmosphere. At night, their worries were not about where the flood would wash away the raft, but about someone swimming to grab their raft and overturn it. Later, they thought that the northwestern city wall was higher and would probably not be flooded, so they pushed the raft northwest in the moonlight. When passing by the governor's yamen and the political envoy's yamen, I vaguely saw that there were also people on the roof of the yamen hall, and there were also cries and shouts.

The next day was September 19, and after dawn their raft reached the west gate. The terrain in this area is high, and the head of the city is exposed to the water. They brought the raft close to the walls and climbed up the city with difficulty. Because they were all hungry and had no strength, Zhang Dehou and several women of Chunsheng's family almost fell into the water, but fortunately, the water surface was only about two feet from the city, and they all climbed up safely with the help of Chunsheng's father and son. There were already many people in the city, including officials and gentry, as well as soldiers and civilians. Zhang Dehou and his neighbors found a place to sit down and rest with their backs against the battlements. Chunsheng's family brought a little dry food, and at this time took it out and everyone chewed a few bites. Zhang Dehou also took out a bag of food he brought with him and shared it with his neighbors. However, both families have only a little food, how can they eat enough to be saved? They looked at each other and felt hopeless. If no one comes to the rescue, won't they starve to death in the city? What if it rains again? A terrible set of questions caused them all to bury their heads and stop talking.

Chapter 57

Huang Shu's family moved to the north city wall on the night of the 17th and slept near the north gate. Gao Mingheng and the major incumbent officials and the families of the eunuchs also fled to the northern city wall. The northern city wall was crowded with people fleeing the flood, and the soldiers and civilians were mixed, shouting and crying incessantly. There are only a few feudal officials such as Gao Mingheng, who are guarded by soldiers and slaves, and the place they occupy is not mixed with the people, and the order is slightly better. Chen Yongfu and his family fled to the northwest corner of the city, where his soldiers and their families were with him, and occupied a relatively dry area, because there were many soldiers to protect them, and the order was slightly better than elsewhere.

King Zhou did not come out. That night, Gao Mingheng and Huang Shu both sent people to ask the king of Zhou to flee to the city wall quickly. But there were too many gold and silver treasures in the palace, and they couldn't be transported away for a while, and when the eunuchs and palace maids had just bandaged the important things, the water had already surrounded the Forbidden City, so the king of Zhou and his family members were hundreds of people, including those county kings and the homes of the generals of Fengguo, all went to the Forbidden City together. The Forbidden City is five zhang high, just like the big city, so it is safe to escape from the city.

After dawn, that is, on the morning of the 18th, Gao Mingheng invited several important civil and military officials to come to discuss the matter. Huang Shu and others came, only Chen Yongfu did not arrive, and sent a praise painting and a deputy general under his command to come. He knew in advance that Huang Shu and others had a "plan", and sent soldiers to control the only two small boats in the river near the Zhou Bridge in the city in the name of the military, and now they are busy rescuing his soldiers.

In the place occupied by Gao Mingheng at the head of the city, two cloth tents were temporarily set up by his soldiers and slaves, one cloth tent lived for the female dependents, and the other cloth tent was where he lived. Several of his cronies also lived with him. There were no beds or tables in the tents, but wool felt and wheat straw were spread on the floor. The dignitaries who had come to discuss the meeting sat on the ground in the tent. Everyone was very aggrieved, their faces and clothes were full of yellow mud, and they couldn't see the officialdom demeanor on weekdays.

Gao Mingheng complained very much about Huang Shu and Yan Yunjing's "non-destructive plan" in his heart, but he couldn't say it. Because he himself had acquiesced to this poisonous plan, and now that Kaifeng has been drowned, if he says it, Huang Shu will bite back, and he will put all the blame on him. He lowered his head and was silent for a moment, then sighed and said:

"Now send someone to the north shore for help. That's the first thing that matters. As the minister of the imperial court, I have the responsibility to defend the territory, and it is not a pity to die here, but His Royal Highness the King of Zhou and hundreds of palace dependents must be rescued, and the officials, gentry, soldiers and civilians must be rescued. As for the flooding of Kaifeng this time, I will bear it with all my body, and I will never let others suffer it. When he spoke, he seemed very sincere, and tears flowed down his eyes.

Huang Shu said: "Yesterday morning, my humble family members Li Yong and Liu Tizhi crossed the river to ask for help, please rest assured." ”

Gao Mingheng asked: "With such a big water and boundless water, how can we reach the north shore?" ”

Huang Shu replied, "Please rest assured. They were all lowly hometown people, accustomed to water, and each of them held a piece of wood. Now the water was wide, but when the water spread out outside the city, the force was greatly reduced, and there was no north wind, so it was estimated that they could cross the river. Even if one drowns on the way, the other can reach the north shore. ”

Gao Mingheng looked at the other officials, only to see that everyone was sad and sighed, and no one spoke. He said helplessly, "Let's just wait." I don't think Master Hou and Master Yan Xun will come to our rescue without ideas. ”

An official said: "What Lord Futai said is very true. The civil and military officials on the north bank were ordered to rescue Kaifeng, and now that Kaifeng is flooded, they will never stand idly by, maybe they were preparing how to come to the rescue yesterday. Especially Inspector Hou, who is from Henan, how can he not save him? ”

Everyone listened and nodded. This is the end of the meeting in desperation.

On the north bank of the Yellow River, the civil and military officials did not know until noon on the 17th that the flood had flooded the entire city of Kaifeng. Since the secret digging of the river embankment, Yan Yunjing and Bu Congshan have been very concerned about the safety of Kaifeng and the flooding of Cao Renma outside the city, and have constantly sent small boats to inquire about the news. On the 16th, Huang Shui had not yet entered the city, and they were glad that they had done a great job. But because the water outside the city is still rising, I don't dare to be overly happy. On the 17th, they received the news that Kaifeng had been flooded, and they were very afraid. Yan Yunjing and Bu Congshan discussed it, and then released a rumor, saying that Li Zicheng sent someone to dig the river embankment. Bu Congshan called several officers who commanded the digging of the embankment that night and asked them to strictly order their subordinates not to say a word; Whoever dares to talk nonsense will not be spared. At the same time, they were puzzled by the fact that the yellow water did not rush straight to the north gate of Kaifeng, but passed through the outside of the north gate and flowed eastward, and the north gate was closed.

Many civil and military officials stationed in Fengqiu were all shocked by the flooding of Kaifeng. Particularly sad is the newly arrived overseer Wang Xie. He is different from Yan Yunjing. He didn't know anything about the secret of digging the embankment. That night he was a hundred miles away inspecting thousands of newly arrived reinforcements. Although he is not from Henan, he has a special relationship with Kaifeng. Half a year ago, he was still the magistrate of Xiangfu County. Li Zicheng attacked Kaifeng twice, he was one of the main people in charge of defending the city, and he once fought desperately with the army of Chuang and Cao, so that Kaifeng was spared from falling. It is precisely because he has made great contributions to Kaifeng that he was promoted from the county magistrate to the imperial history and sent to Fengqiu to supervise the army. He didn't expect that Kaifeng had never fallen in his hands in the past, but now it was flooded by yellow water. He stood on the bank of the Yellow River, looking south, and couldn't help but cry. His colleagues understood his special feelings and advised him from the sidelines. He cried and said:

"My generation rescued Kaifeng by holy order, and the siege of Kaifeng was not only not solved, but was flooded. If His Royal Highness King Zhou is in danger, how can we deal with the court? How can you deal with the officials, gentry, military and people in Kaifeng! ”

Yan Yunjing said hatefully beside him: "I didn't expect the thieves to be so vicious, and the siege could not be successful, so they actually broke the river and flooded the city!" ”

Bu Congshan also paused and said: "I'm worried that the blind man will do this, but unfortunately our soldiers are stationed on the north bank of the Yellow River, and there is no way to defend the south bank of the Yellow River." ”

Wang Xie was very skeptical about the reason for the Yellow River break, but now he didn't care about investigating the reason, so he asked Yan Yunjing how to save Kaifeng. Yan Yunjing said:

"I've told the men down there to hurry up and prepare the boat."

Wang Xie was very anxious and said, "The matter of preparing the ship must be done immediately. The people below are used to procrastination, and I'm afraid it won't be able to do it for a while. I can't delay this for a moment, so I'll take care of it myself. ”

Yan Yunjing said: "If Lord Wang can cook it himself, it would be better, I will go by boat with Lord Wang." ”

Wang Xie said, "Lord Yan can stay on the north shore and continue to prepare the boats. I'll take a group of ships first, and it's important to rescue His Royal Highness King Zhou and his palace dependents first. ”

Yan Yunjing said: "Do you want to make it clear to the Supervisor first, and see what the Inspector says?" ”

Wang Xie said, "Okay, I'll go with Master Yan at this moment to Master Ming." ”

So he ordered his subordinates to prepare the ship first, and he rode a horse with Yan Yunjing to supervise the division.

In the superintendent's journey, Hou Sui already knew that Kaifeng was flooded, and he was also very shocked, and he was particularly afraid that the secret of the break would be leaked out, which would affect him. After several years of prison life, he had tasted all the bitterness, and as long as he thought of Chongzhen's short temper and intolerance towards the minister, he shuddered. He thought that the "non-qi plan" was acquiesced by him, at least he did not stop it, if Yan Yunjing put the blame on him, he would not only be re-imprisoned, but also his life could not be saved. He wandered around the house for a while, thinking back to his conversation with Yan Yunjing a few days ago, in fact, he did not explicitly agree to the matter of digging the embankment, but only said, "You should do it at your discretion, the old man is really lacking in good ideas", and in addition, not a single piece of paper fell into Yan Yunjing's hands. In the end, he thought that it was better to protect each other in this matter, as long as the emperor did not seriously investigate it, everyone would be safe.

At this time, Wang Xie and Yan Yunjing came to Xingyuan together and told him about the rescue of Kaifeng. He urged them to send ships to Kaifeng as soon as possible to pick up important officials such as the King of Zhou, the palace dependents, and Gao Mingheng, and the rest of the officials, gentry, soldiers and civilians should also be rescued as much as possible.

Wang Xie was suspicious of the breach of the Yellow River, and took the opportunity to say: "We were ordered to save Bian, but we did not see an inch. Today, the whole city of Bianliang was flooded, and it was really faceless to see the court again, and the lower officials could only thank the emperor with a death. ”

Hou Sui heard that there was something in his words, and he was silent.

Yan Yunjing sighed and said: "Although the breach of the Yellow River is a natural disaster and is inevitable in the past dynasties, we live on the north bank and are unable to take care of it. If the life of King Zhou's family is not guaranteed, alas, not only will the prison army have no face to see the court again, I am the minister of Henan Frontier, and I can only thank the people of Henan with a death. ”

Hou Sui said: "Henan is the land of students and students, and students are ordered to supervise teachers, but now Kaifeng is flooded, and the main responsibility should be borne by students." At present, it is important to send a boat to rescue His Royal Highness the King of Kaifeng Zhou and the gentry and the people, and the future matters will be discussed separately. ”

Wang Xie said: "I am already preparing more than a dozen large ships and two boats of grain, please rest assured." What I feel strange in my heart now is that under the long-term trap of Kaifeng, the city gate must be blocked very strictly, how can Huangshui enter the city? What's more, the thief will want to get Kaifeng, and Kaifeng has already run out of food, and the city is only in the end, why did he dig the Yellow River to flood Kaifeng? And I heard the report of the spies that after the Yellow River broke, the thieves could not move the camp and drowned many people. Some say more than 10,000 died, some say 20,000 or 30,000. Since it is a thief digging an embankment, why is it careless? ”

Yan Yunjing's heart was shocked, he forced his composure, twisted his beard and said: "According to the students sent people to explore twice, it was indeed the thieves who sent people to dig the opening, first digging Zhujiazhai, and then digging Majiazhai. ”

Hou Sui wanted to diverge the words, and quickly continued: "The river height in the Kaifeng area is higher than the city wall, which everyone knows. In terms of this dynasty, in the twenty-fourth year of Hongwu, the river broke under the Heiyang Mountain in Wuxian County, and flowed southeast through five miles northeast of Kaifeng City, becoming a big river, and went down to meet with the Huai River. At that time, the city of Kaifeng was in danger, but fortunately, the flood did not enter the city. In the thirty-first year of Hongwu, the Yellow River broke again, collapsed the earth city, and flowed into the city from the north gate, and the yamen and private houses were submerged and some collapsed, and the water in the city did not dry up for a long time. In the ninth year of Yongle, the Yellow River was executed from the northwest thirty miles, that is, between the current Majiazhai and Zhujiazhai, and the imperial court had no way to dig a new river on the north bank of the Yellow River and channel the water into the Yellow River. Later, during the orthodox years, the Yellow River rose again and changed its course. So now it can't be said that it must have been a thief digging a hole, nor can it be said that it wasn't him digging a hole. According to the students, 80% of them are natural disasters. In the fifth year of Tianshun, the yellow water also rushed into Kaifeng, so the Kaifeng city gate was washed away twice in this dynasty. Once in the fifth year of Tianshun, the king of Zhou and the kings of the counties all fled Kaifeng and took refuge in neighboring counties. The officials and citizens of the city also moved to the city and waited for the water to recede. ”

Wang Xie said: "Since Tianshun, the berm has gained experience, and the yellow water no longer floods Kaifeng, which has been more than 100 years. ”

Hou Sui said: "Although there is a law for the embankment in the future, and Kaifeng will no longer be flooded, but the thieves besieged Kaifeng in December last year and did not leave until the second half of the first month of this year. In April, he came to besiege Kaifeng and trapped it for half a year. In previous years, the government supervised the military and the people to repair embankments and flood control every year, and took precautions. This year, the provincial capital was under siege and could not repair the embankment, and in early September, it rained heavily for more than 10 days, and the Yellow River swelled, and finally broke the embankment, which is not something that can be prevented by manpower. Therefore, it should be said that either the thieves digging the embankment due to man-made disasters, or the river bursting by itself, is purely a natural disaster. One of the two must be ascertained. Now is not the time to talk about how Kaifeng was flooded, and it is important to ask the two of you to send a boat to Kaifeng to rescue people as soon as possible. ”

At that time, because the Yellow River had been diverted, from Fengqiu to Liuyuandu, the river quickly became very shallow, and some places exposed sandbanks, so the big boats that originally stopped near Fengqiu had moved to more than 30 miles to the west, and only the small boats still stayed on the bank of Fengqiu.

Wang Xie came to the shore, and while ordering the small boat to wait for the Liuyuan ferry on the opposite bank, he rode west with his servants and soldiers, and boarded the big boat more than 30 miles southwest of Fengqiu City. The ship was already loaded with more than 100 stone of grain and 2 or 300 soldiers. Taking advantage of the northwesterly wind, all the ships lifted anchor and sailed southeast.

When I arrived near the south bank, I found that on a section of the embankment between Zhujiazhai and Majiazhai, there were many people and soldiers who had not had time to retreat, and the boat had to pass through the gap in Zhujiazhai to Kaifeng. Wang Xie's men saw the rebels on the embankment watching the boat, so they asked if they could enter through the gap in Zhujiazhai. Wang Xie said sternly:

"Now that the army of thieves has been drowned, what is there to fear? If you don't go in from the Zhujiazhai gap, how can the big ship rescue Kaifeng? Walk! Don't stay! There are retreating people to chop! As long as you arrive in Kaifeng, every boatman and every soldier will be rewarded, and they will never break their promises. ”

After saying that, he stood on the bow of the ship and directed the ship to rush towards the gap in Zhujiazhai. He ordered the ship's firearms and crossbows to be prepared, and if necessary, to fight while rushing through.

The general of the rebel army who remained on the embankment was Ma Shiyao. On the night of the 15th, he received an order from King Chuang and Gu Ying, telling him to withdraw quickly to avoid being cut off by the flood. But at that time, some of the river workers were also on the embankment, and he could not leave them alone and lead his troops to retreat. There were also some old and weak women in Zhujiazhai, crying and crying, and ran to the embankment. In the chaos, in order to save the people, he was one step late, and the flood water from Majiazhai had cut off the way to retreat. So he was trapped on the embankment with three or four hundred volunteers and the common people. For three days, they did not communicate with the army, and they did not know whether the old camp of Yan Lizhai had been flooded, but they heard that there were many camps of the righteous army going east, because they could not move the camp before they were flooded. When they set out from Yanli Village, they did not bring any food or dry food, and they originally thought that they would send food from the old camp after dawn. After being besieged by the water, the people who fled from the vicinity brought some food and gave it to the rebels. Ma Shiyao knew that the people did not have much food, so he refused to ask for more. Fortunately, he and his soldiers rode a few war horses when they came, so they had to kill the horses and eat them, waiting for King Chuang to send someone to save them. Not only were they hungry, but they were also tired, because they had to patrol day and night, fearing that this section of the embankment would be washed away.

When they saw more than 20 large ships sailing in, they were very surprised at first: Are these boats going to rush into the gap in Zhujiazhai? Ma Shiyao immediately gathered his three or four hundred men and said:

"This group of officers and soldiers is obviously going to Kaifeng, and they may come to seize this section of our embankment. Either way, we're going to fight them to the death. Brothers who know how to swim stand up, and if the enemy ship comes to the embankment, jump on board. If we can capture a big ship, we have a way. ”

He knew how to water, and he was going to lead his brothers who knew how to take the boat, and he also arranged for those who knew how to use firearms and those who were good at shooting bows and arrows.

At this time, the fleet had approached, and Wang Xie stood on the first big boat and shouted:

"Regardless of the enemy, we must rush through the breach. As long as you pass the gap and arrive at Kaifeng, you will be rewarded with five taels of silver per person, and you will never break your promise! ”

When he had finished speaking, the fleet sailed like arrows along the rapids of the breach, riding the newly increased north wind.

Ma Shiyao saw that the ship was sailing so fast on the embankment, and knew that the idea of capturing the big ship had failed, so he ordered the immediate use of firearms and bows and arrows. So the firearms were lit and the bows and crossbows were fired in unison, and the sound of cannons and shouts became loud. Wang Xie's fleet was not in a fight, and fired firearms at the embankment while rushing through the gap and heading east.

Liuyuandu is an important ferry crossing of the Yellow River, there was originally a small street in the north and south, now the southern section of the street has been submerged in the yellow water, and the section in the north is connected with the embankment of the Yellow River, which is still exposed to the water. The common people did not flee either. On the night of the 15th, when Bai Minghe led 500 cavalry to rush here, Bu Congshan had already dug the embankment of Zhujiazhai. After dawn, two or three thousand people from the embankment guards and migrant workers east of Zhujiazhai retreated to Liuyuandu. The migrant workers, all farmers on the outskirts of Kaifeng, wept on the streets and embankments of Liuyuandu when they saw the flood and villages being flooded. Later, they dispersed one after another, and each escaped; Many of them tried to float back to the village to rescue their relatives, but they were swept away by the waves or drowned from exhaustion halfway through. The leader of the rebel army stationed in Liuyuandu was Liu Tichun, plus the newcomer Bai Minghe, a total of about 2,000 people, and now they are all under his command. Liu Erhu sent many people to explore the way, knowing that there was no way out, but he couldn't wait to starve to death on the Liuyuan embankment. On the morning of the 17th, his whole team retreated southeast along the embankment, still in order, and the banner was not chaotic. The people of Liuyuandu had a good impression of Liu Tichun and his brothers, and they couldn't rest assured when they looked at their backs. An old man who owned a restaurant muttered:

"There is a lot of water everywhere, where are they going to flee along the embankment? Alas, enough of them have suffered! ”

By the time Wang Xie's fleet arrived at Liuyuandu, the rebels had already retreated for a day. He was asking the people about the situation in Kaifeng, and it happened that Huang Shu's servant Li Yong came here and reported the flooding situation in Kaifeng to Wang Xie, and said that when he came out, it was two people, and the guy was swept away by the waves halfway, and he didn't know whether he was alive or dead. Wang Xie asked about the situation of the king of Zhou and the feudal officials, and knowing that they were not drowned, he was relieved in his heart, and he asked again:

"How did the north gate break open?"

Li Yong had actually heard the inside story of the matter, but he didn't dare to say it, but replied: "The villain only heard that it was washed away by the flood, and he didn't know anything else." ”

Wang Xie was suspicious in his heart, but he didn't have time to inquire in detail, so he immediately ordered more than 20 big ships to sail in the wind and sail towards the north gate of Kaifeng.

At this time, Huang Shu and other large groups of officials and gentry and soldiers were expecting someone to come to their rescue, when they suddenly saw more than 20 large ships sailing and sailing quickly, and everyone immediately flocked to the battlements and stared north. Someone shouted:

"Alright, alright, the North Shore has sent a ship!"

"Thank goodness!"

When the big ship was still half a mile away from Beicheng, Huang Shu had already recognized that the official standing on the first boat was Wang Xie. He was surprised, he thought that Yan Yunjing would come, but now it was Wang Xie who came first. In the first two battles of Kaifeng, he worked with Wang Xie. During the siege, when he heard that Wang Xie was appointed as Hou Xie's supervisor, he couldn't help but feel a little jealous in his heart, thinking that Wang Xie had risen too quickly. Now that the old people see each other, they don't feel tears flying, he naturally does not call Wang Xie "master", but raises his hand and shouts:

"Lord Wang! Lord Wang! ”

When others heard him cry, they also recognized Wang Xie, and there were excited shouts from the city:

"Master Wang! Master Wang! ”

"Lord Wang! Lord Wang! ……”

The big boat on which Wang Xie was sitting first lowered the white sail and lowered the mast. The big ships behind also lowered their sails and masts. The flotilla entered the Moon City Gate and the North Gate, then turned right and approached the inside of the city walls. The stump of Dengcheng was used as a temporary dock. Wang Xie ascended to the top of the city from this blue brick. Huang Shu and the others were already waiting at the entrance of the steps. Huang Shu and Wang Xie didn't have time to salute, so they grabbed their hands and choked up so that they couldn't speak.

Later, Wang Xie asked first: "Where is His Royal Highness King Zhou?" ”

"His Royal Highness King Zhou is at the head of the Forbidden City, and the palace is safe and sound. In the past two days, hundreds of people in a government have slept in the city, waiting for Hebei to come to their rescue. ”

"How is Lord Futai?"

"Lord Futai and Lord Zhentai are in the same Beicheng, everything is fine, but the servants and soldiers also can't escape and drown."

Wang Xie didn't ask again, and hurriedly walked towards Gao Mingheng's place. Other officials were there as well. Wang Xie saw Gao Mingheng and hurried to give a salute. Gao Mingheng didn't have time to return the salute, so he took Wang Xie's hand, and said while crying:

"You're here, you're coming. Everyone is looking forward to the North Shore to come to their rescue. Good come, good come. ”

Wang Xie saw a big flood in Kaifeng City, and all the officials and gentry were sleeping in the city, embarrassed, sad for a while, and cried bitterly. All the officials also wept bitterly. Wang Xie wiped away tears and said:

"As courtiers, what a pity to die, it is important to save His Royal Highness King Zhou first."

Gao Mingheng and others all said: "To put it mildly, it is important to save His Royal Highness King Zhou first." ”

So Wang Xie carried the officials in a boat and sailed to the Forbidden City. At that time, King Zhou and others were holding the battlements with their hands, waiting to be rescued. After the officials climbed to the top of the city, the king of Zhou, with the support of several ministers, sat down on a chair under the eaves in front of the city gate tower and waited for the officials. The officials came to the front of the city tower, knelt down and saluted him in shifts, he stood up unconsciously, staggered forward a few steps, grabbed Gao Mingheng's hand and wept bitterly. When the civil and military officials saw King Zhou crying bitterly, they all started crying again. Many of the courtiers, servants, and guards of the city wept silently. Wang Xie took a step forward and said to King Zhou:

"The minister was ordered to supervise the army in Hebei, and he should have gathered people and horses, crossed the river to kill thieves, but a few people could not get to Qi, Liu Zeqing was defeated at a touch, Xu Dingguo collapsed without a fight, and Zhou Yuji, the deputy general soldier of Shanxi, also collapsed without a fight, so only Bu Congshan and Bai Qizheng came to the north bank of the Yellow River. The ministers were anxious day and night, and there was nothing to be done, resulting in today's disaster in Kaifeng. Even if the bones are broken, it is not enough to atone for the sins of the courtiers. In the end, how the two mouths of the Yellow River will be resolved, Weichen is still unclear. ”

King Zhou wanted to protect Huang Shu back, sighed and said, "This is the number of days!" Otherwise, why didn't Kaifeng fall into the hands of thieves, but fell into yellow water? Days, days, it's inevitable! ”

Huang Shu immediately corrected King Zhou and said, "Your Highness, these are all thieves digging the river." Dig Zhujiazhai first, and then dig Majiazhai. The two sides were defeated, causing the whole city of Kaifeng to be submerged. ”

Gao Mingheng saw Wang Xie's expression, and didn't seem to agree with Huang Shu's words, afraid that there would be a dispute in front of King Zhou and the officials, so he quickly interjected: "It is both a natural disaster and a thief." Now there is no need to say these words anymore, it is important to quickly escort His Royal Highness the prince and his palace dependents to Hebei. Now the thieves know that Kaifeng is flooded, and they may come to plunder by boat. Don't delay here. ”

Wang Xie immediately commanded more than 20 large ships, first sending the king of Zhou, the kings of various counties, the generals of Fengguo, and more than 600 people from all the palace dependents to the big ships, and then sending some high-ranking civil and military officials to the big ships. There were not enough big boats, and it happened that more than 100 small boats also entered the north gate at this time, moored in the city wall, and some officials with slightly lower status and some famous eunuchs and gentry got on the small boats, and naturally there were not many people in total. At this moment, a rumor suddenly came that Li Zicheng was going to send someone to Kaifeng City to kidnap women and kill people. So everyone panicked, crying and screaming, shouting "help". Some of the gentry hurriedly handed gold, silver and jewels to Huang Shu's entourage, begging them to get on the ship and flee for their lives. There are also some people who are not of high status, or who have already been dismissed from their official positions, because of bribery, and are also in the first batch to get on the boat.

At this time, Wang Xie sent people to preach in the city: From today onwards, we will continue to send ships to transport the officials and gentry and the people to Hebei, please don't panic, and don't rush to get on the boat. After this paging, although people were skeptical, the chaotic situation improved. Especially because Wang Xie has a good reputation among the officials and gentry of Kaifeng, and most people think that he is much more decent than Huang Shu.

When everyone rushed to get on the boat, Li Guangli took two servants and hurried from the northeast corner of the city, running out of breath. Seeing that Huang Shu was already on the boat, he shouted:

"Master Huang, save me! Master Huang save me! My family is in the city! ”

Huang Shu was on the last big boat, and when he heard Li Guangli calling for help, he hesitated in his heart. It is said that he and Li Guangli have been working together in times of trouble, and Li Guangli should be allowed to bring his family onto the boat; But suddenly I thought again: Li Guangyi's family is still in the northeast corner, in case the time is delayed, is it really too late for Li Zicheng to send troops to intercept and kill? Moreover, although he has been close to Li Guangli since he worked together, he Huang Shu will not be an official in Kaifeng in the future, and he will no longer deal with Li Guangli; If Li Zicheng's army really came, Li Guangli was killed, but it could make the "non-qi plan" leak out by one less person. These thoughts came to my mind in the blink of an eye. He then replied in a loud voice:

"Wait a minute, dude! There are really not many people on the ship these days. I will send a boat at once, and I will definitely take my brother and my treasure to Hebei tonight. I'm waiting in Hebei! ”

After Huang Shu finished speaking, the last big boat sailed away from the city. After a while, ships of all sizes left the north gate. Li Guangli was greatly disappointed. Although he believed that the north bank of the Yellow River would continue to send ships to transport the Kaifeng gentry, after listening to Huang Shu's answer, he always felt like Wangmei quenching his thirst, and couldn't help but scold hatefully in his heart:

"Anyway, you don't need me Li!"

The shadow of the fleet faded away. Above the city, on the rooftops, and in the treetops, there was a cry and a sigh.

Wang Xie was almost intercepted by the righteous army at the Zhujiazhai pass when he came, and now he wants to send the king of Zhou and the gentry to the north, so he doesn't dare to leave from the Zhujiazhai pass. He asked all the big and small boats to anchor in Liuyuandu, found a few chairs from the people's homes, invited the king of Zhou, the princess and the county kings to sit on them, and ordered them to be carried up to the riverbank. Those low-status concubines and palace maids had no choice but to walk behind with difficulty by stepping on yellow water and mud and sand. After this half-day delay, between Liuyuandu and Fengqiu, the river has become even smaller, and it is almost difficult for small boats to pass. After the king of Zhou and the princess got on the boat, some people supported the penny, and some people pulled the fiber, and the boat barely went north. The palace ladies and low-status concubines had to walk through the mud and sand. The gentry had no choice but to do so. On the beach of the Yellow River, there is really a picture of displaced people, and the former princes and grandsons, dignitaries and nobles have become refugees today. Later, King Zhou couldn't bear to see it, and asked Wang Xie to transport the palace dependents to Hebei by ship no matter what. Under Wang Xie's best arrangement, all the palace dependents arrived on the north bank of the Yellow River at dusk.

Hou Sui led Yan Yunjing, Bu Congshan, Bai Qizheng and many other civil and military officials to welcome the king of Zhou on the shore. After saluting the king of Zhou, the king of Zhou, Gao Mingheng and other feudal officials, some in a sedan chair, some on horses, entered Fengqiu City in a chaotic manner.

After walking for a while, the rebels began to take advantage of the dusk to capture the palace maids of King Zhou. Some palace maids shouted for help, but when King Zhou heard it, they glanced out of the sedan chair, powerless to save each other, and sighed secretly. Hou Sui and Yan Yunjing pretended not to hear. Wang Xie rode on his horse and glanced at Bu Congshan and Bai Qizheng, hoping that they would come out to stop him, but the two chief military officers pretended not to see it and rode forward. When the king of Zhou and the governor were about to enter the gate of Fengqiu, they heard the sound of the palace maid crying in the distance behind them. At this time, the dark shadow of dusk was heavier, and layers of twilight shrouded the north bank of the Yellow River and Fengqiu City.

After the Yellow River broke, some of the men and horses of the second battalion of Chuang and Cao were flooded by the yellow water because they could not move the camp in time, and some were flooded by the yellow water because of the rescue of military rations and baggage, and they lost more than 10,000 people, and hundreds of mules and horses. It was not until September 21 that the army came to a few dozen miles southwest of Kaifeng, between Zhuxian Town and Zhongmu, and set up a camp. And the old camps of King Chuang and Cao Cao are stationed in Weishi County.

Li Yan and Tian Jianxiu's men and horses both lost. During the retreat, Li Jun couldn't bear to see all the women and children in a village drowned, so he led a group of soldiers to rescue dozens of people. Although he could swim himself, he was almost swept away by the heavy water because the yellow water came so violently, but fortunately a few soldiers with good water skills tried desperately to help him get out of the rapids, and grabbed a piece of wood, and then slowly reached the dry place.

On the afternoon of the 21st, all of Li Yan's men and horses, totaling more than 3,000 people, withdrew to camp 20 miles north of Zhuxian Town. Except for Liu Tichun, there is no news yet, this is the last person to evacuate the danger zone, and it is also a camp stationed closest to Huangshui.

That night, Li Zicheng sent someone to call him to the old camp to discuss matters, and it was not until the early morning of the 22nd that he returned to his camp. Unable to rest, he conveyed the generalissimo's order to Li Yu, Li Jun and other generals: they should take on the work of rescuing the Kaifeng refugees in their battalion. This is because considering that most of them are people from Qixian and around Kaifeng, they are more familiar with Kaifeng City, and many of them know the water nature. At the same time, King Chuang also told him: He has ordered the whole army to collect all the soldiers with good water characteristics and put them under his command, and must rescue all the refugees in Kaifeng City within three days, and the refugees who have a place to go will be immediately given food and dismissed, and those who have no place to go will be sheltered in Zhuxian Town and set up a porridge factory. King Chuang also promised to send some other doctors to Zhuxian Town to rescue the sick refugees who were dying.

In addition to those who were rescued from Hebei, 20,000 or 30,000 refugees who did not drown in the city remained in the city, the roof, and the area around Tujie. For several days, bandits and hooligans on rafts and boats entered the city and looted and abducted women. and Bai Qizheng, the chief military officer of the Ming Dynasty, was ordered to rescue the Kaifeng refugees, and his soldiers were similar to bandits. Therefore, if Li Yan wanted to save the refugees, he had to exterminate or drive these officials and bandits out of the city. This requires the preparation of a large number of ships. But where did the ship come from? From Zhuxian Town to Weishi County, although there are some rivers, the water flow is very small on weekdays, there are few boats, and there is no waterway with the Yellow Water. There is a river that flows south of Zhuxian Town from the Jialu River from Zhengzhou, and although there are some boats, they cannot enter the yellow water.

In order for Li Yan to carry soldiers and grain into Kaifeng, he must first solve the problem of rafts and boats. But the area was all plains, and most of the trees had been cut down for firewood after the army had been in place for months, and it looked bare. The houses had to be demolished as a last resort. However, due to the frequent wars in this area, the houses were also badly damaged. Generally, small houses, the wood is also small, it may not work, and how many houses have to be demolished to make a raft! The Li Yan brothers repeatedly summed it up, and felt that at least two or three hundred rafts were needed to be effective. On each raft there were a dozen soldiers, who were to fight the enemy with firearms, bows and arrows at any time. In addition to the rafts, there were at least two or three hundred wooden boats, some of which were dedicated to transporting refugees, and some of which were carrying soldiers, protecting rafts and boats carrying refugees. But where do you get these ships?

From Kaifeng to the southeast to Suizhou, there is a canal called Huiji River, which can be connected to Kaifeng City in the past. The state bridge in Kaifeng City is a bridge over the Huiji River. Now the Huiji River is flooded by yellow water, from Kaifeng to the northern suburbs of Chenliu to Suizhou, a vast ocean. It turned out that many boats in the Huiji River had been collected from the camp, and most of them stopped at the border of Chenliu County. The grain and grass collected by the rebels from several prefectures and counties in the southeast were transported by boat along the Huiji River to the vicinity of Kaifeng. Now the water is so fierce and so big that these ships don't know where to go. Li Yan discussed with Li Yan for a while, and decided to send several cavalry squads to the area of Chenliu to find ships.

On the afternoon of the 25th, the required large and small ships came from various places in Chenliu to the north of Zhuxian Town and anchored at a designated place near the flood. Newly built rafts were also assembled there. Every boat and every raft was loaded with dry food, and there was also cold boiled water, because the water in Kaifeng City was all yellow, and there were dead bodies floating everywhere, which were rotting and undrinkable. There were 5,000 or 6,000 soldiers recruited from various battalions, including Li Yan's own soldiers, and after selection, only three or four thousand were used, divided into two groups, and took turns to rescue the refugees. The first group of more than 1,000 people got on board and rafts on the night of the 25th. They were to enter the city from two directions: a procession, led by Li Yun, would enter from the southern city; The other team, led by Li Yan and Li Jun, passed through the area of Fanta Temple and Yuwangtai, and entered the city from the Song Gate. Each team is divided into many sentry posts, and each team is equipped with a large boat, two or three small boats, and one or two rafts, and each boat has a small flag with the word "Chuang" on the bow. Most of the boatmen were the same, and when they were done, they were promised a lot of rewards from the generalissimo.

Before leaving, Li Yan summoned the big and small leaders at the water's edge and explained to them the method and great significance of rescuing the Kaifeng refugees this time. He didn't expect that his parents' state and the capital of Henan would be destroyed in one fell swoop, so he was very excited. He thought that if King Chuang had attacked the city in late August, it probably wouldn't have been what it is today. But he could only hide these words in his heart and not reveal a word.

After giving a brief lecture to the big and small leaders, Li Yan waved the flag in his hand, sounded three horns and cannons, and hundreds of boats and rafts of all sizes marched straight in the direction of Kaifeng.

Wang Congzhou and Zhang Deyao were assigned to the fleet led by Li Yu. The two of them had known each other half a month and a half ago.

After Zhang Deyao jumped from the east city wall, the arrows in the city did not hit him, but he himself fell and was injured in the back by a brick, and another brick hit the back of the head, and he fainted next to the moat at that time, and after a long time, he slowly woke up, and then endured the pain and hunger, waded through the moat, and crawled to the suburbs. Fortunately, he met Tian Jianxiu's patrol cavalry at dawn and rescued him to Fanta Temple. During the treatment of his injuries, he heard the story of Wang Congzhou and knew that the relatives he found from Zhou were his sister, sister-in-law, nephews, and nieces. So he hurriedly asked someone to bring a message to Cong Zhou, asking to meet him. The king rode from Zhou to see him. Because we met under unusual circumstances during the war, it was very cordial. Uncle Lang and the two of them spent a day together. Since then, every day or two, I have come to see Deyao from Zhou. The day before yesterday, King Chuang preached that all those who could drive boats and had good water quality were singled out to go to Kaifeng City to rescue refugees. They all signed up. After coming to Li Yan's camp, from Zhou to the small leader, Deyao was assigned to his team.

The two of them shared a wish, that is, to find Dehou in the city. According to Deyao's calculations, their mother had already starved to death and would never see the flood enter the city; Dehou was only in his early thirties, and he would have escaped by climbing the ridge of the roof or grabbing a piece of wood before the flood came. Where exactly they fled, it is impossible to guess.

Wang Congzhou's squad was assigned to Li Yu's command, and instead of entering the city through the Song Gate, nor going to the area around the Drum Tower and Nantu Street, Wang Congzhou's squad passed through the southern city, divided into several teams, and went to the west city gate and the northwest corner of the city (the southwest corner and the south city were all submerged) to rescue the refugees trapped in the city. Zhang Deyao was disappointed with this route because it was too far from where Dehou lived.

When they entered the city, they saw the corpses of adults and children floating in the yellow water, all swollen and stench, and covered with flies. As their boats and rafts passed by the corpses, the flies flew up with a "buzz" and then flew back to the corpses greedily.

Fighting had already taken place in the city, and the sound of artillery and fighting could be heard in many places. Wang Congzhou's team also encountered two boats of bandits, a large boat and a small boat. The boat was hit by them with shotguns, and the enemy panicked, and the boat capsized. The big ship fired a burst of arrows at them, and fled quickly. On the one hand, they rescued people, and on the other hand, they drove towards the western city wall, looking for a place to ascend the city.

Li Yan led another fleet of ships, passing near Fanta Temple and passing north of Yuwang. Most of the pagoda was exposed on the water, and the ridge of the main hall and the upper part of the temple gate were also exposed on the water, and some people fled on the tower and the ridge of the temple, and they were saved by them before they starved to death. Yuwangtai is now like an isolated island, surrounded by yellow water on all sides. The roof of the Nine Immortals Hall is also exposed to the water. There were people who had escaped on the isolated island and on the roof of the Nine Immortals Hall, and when they saw the boats and rafts, they shouted for help. Li Yan did not stop here, but sent a small boat to deliver dry food to the refugees, telling them to come and pick them up when the fleet returned.

When the small boat sailed away, Li Yan raised his eyes on the big boat, and many past events came to his heart, as if in front of him. Just in the autumn of the previous year, he and a group of friends such as Chen Juren held a society here, drank and wrote poems, but they never expected to come again. In just two years, the vicissitudes of personnel have been like a lifetime. His home has been destroyed, his wife Tang has been dead for nearly two years, and his ancestors' graves have never had a chance to be swept again. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but be full of sadness, couldn't bear to look at it more, and urged the fleet to hurry up to Songmen.

Since Nancheng was submerged in the water, the water flowing out of Songmen had calmed down. After entering the Song Gate, the fleet went along the Song Gate Street to the Drum Tower, because they heard that there were hundreds of people on the Drum Tower, and some hooligans were selling human flesh there for money. When the boat passed in front of the Caigenxiang Pickle Garden, Li Yan saw that the house had been completely submerged in the water, although this business and his other family property in Kaifeng had all been confiscated by the government since the uprising, but he still had a special nostalgia for Caigenxiang. Now the water here is so deep that you can't see any ridges. Suddenly, he saw a floating plaque on the semi-still water, on which were the words "Houle Hall" inscribed by himself. He sighed with emotion, and had no intention of ordering someone to fish out the plaque, so he urged the fleet to move quickly. The ship continued to move forward like a gust of wind. He once wanted to go to the vicinity of Tangfu, but when he looked at it from afar, there was also a vast amount of water in that area, and only a few high-rise roofs remained, and there was no one on them. His heart was sour, and he did not stop, and continued westward.

Li Yan's fleet was divided into five ways to save people. Ten large boats, fifteen small boats, and two rafts led by himself killed a group of robbers at the Dongyue Temple, captured a raft, and saved the people on the ridge of the Dongyue Temple, and then continued westward. When the fleet stopped next to the drum tower, he heard miserable wails and begging for mercy from above, and quickly led more than 20 soldiers to the drum tower to rescue people. At the end of the steps, Leng Bu met resistance, and five men slashed at him with swords, almost slashing him. Fortunately, his retinue were very skilled in martial arts, and they drew their weapons in a hurry to meet them; Li Yan didn't have time to pull out his sword, and kicked the right wrist of the big man in front of him, causing the big man's steel knife to fly a few feet away. His retinue quickly killed all five bad guys, rushed up to the drum tower, and caught the three bad guys who had nowhere to escape. There were more than 100 refugees on the drum tower, mostly old and weak women, all of whom were controlled by these eight bad people, who took money and killed them whenever they wanted. There was no food on the drum tower, so they boiled human flesh in pots to satisfy their hunger. Although none of the refugees knew Li Yan, they could see that he must be an important general of King Li Chuang, so they knelt around him and wept bitterly, begging him for help. Li Yan ordered his soldiers to immediately behead the three people, throw their bodies into the water, and send the refugees onto large boats and rafts. At this time, he suddenly noticed that a child who was less than ten years old was so good-natured that he seemed to have seen it somewhere, but he couldn't remember it for a while. An old man who looked like a servant pulled the child tightly and walked out with everyone. Li Yan couldn't help but ask:

"Whose child is this?"

The servant quickly stopped and replied in a respectful and sad voice: "Master Hui, I really don't dare to hide it, he is the little master of Zhongmu Zhang Mansion, and now he is the only one left in the family!" ”

Li Yan's heart moved, and he asked again: "But Mr. Zhang Linzong's house?" ”

The servant was surprised, "Master, ...... are you?" ”

Li Yan said: "You don't have to ask me. I know Mr. Lin Zong, and I have also visited him for advice in previous years. The eyes and nose of this little master of your family are quite similar to Mr. Lin Zong, so I feel as if I have seen them when I see them. Where is Mr. Lin Zong now? ”

Servants often hear people say that Li Gongzi of Qixian County voted for the king, and at this time he suddenly realized, he didn't dare to ask, so he quickly knelt down and kowtowed, and said:

"Please forgive the villain's clumsiness, I don't remember. After the yellow water enters the city......"

"Don't cry, speak slowly."

After Li Yan listened to Zhang Minbiao's drowning, he sighed unconsciously, and even said, "It's a pity! Pity! He ordered one of his soldiers to carry their master and servant down and place them in the great ship in which he was riding. He said to Zhang Minbiao's servant:

"Mr. Lin Zong is a famous scholar in Zhongzhou, so there are many old protégés. If you can't survive when you return to Zhongmu, you can go to Mr. Zhang's old protégé for a while. In a few years, the world will be settled, and everything will be fine. ”

After everyone got on the boat, Li Yan still stayed on the platform in front of the drum tower with two personal soldiers, leaning on the railing, looking at the city full of water, and the dead bodies floating everywhere, he was full of sorrow and almost wept bitterly. He walked into the drum tower, picked up a firewood ember from the stove, and quickly wrote two verses of poetry on the wall:

The flood is surging and Bianjing is falling,

The people are sinking, and my heart is sad!

He threw down the embers of firewood, turned to withdraw, and walked down the drum tower with tears in his eyes.

By this time, Wang Congzhou's squad of boats and rafts had stopped beside the bell tower and rescued dozens of refugees, some of whom were dying of starvation, some of whom were dying of illness. They put the refugees on rafts, gave them some dry food, and then gave each of them a bowl of cold boiled water, and told them to eat slowly. Among the refugees, Zhang Deyao recognized an old woman who was a close neighbor of Dehou's family and moved to live near the bell tower only last year. This mother-in-law saw Deyao, as if she had seen a relative. Deyao hurriedly asked her if she knew Dehou's whereabouts. The mother-in-law said:

"Someone on our bell tower saw him sitting on a raft with others and going to the west side of the city."

When De Yao and Congzhou heard this, a glimmer of hope suddenly sprouted in their hearts, and they immediately led this small team of boats and rafts to Xicheng.

Zhang Dehou is indeed still on the west city wall at the moment. He did not get sick, he did not starve, he miraculously survived. At first he ate a little grain that he had brought, but when some of them fell ill and died, he and the other living people divided the food of the deceased and stripped off the clothes of the deceased and put them on. The weather in Kaifeng in late September is already quite cold, especially at night, and the frost and wind are biting. By wearing the clothes of the dead, he was able to withstand the cold. Bai Qizheng's military ships once came here and rescued those who were rich and famous, and the rest were poor. The officers and soldiers also asked Dehou: "Do you have any silver?" If you have any money, you will get on the ship and send you to Hebei; Don't even think about getting on a ship without money. Although Zhang Dehou had the silver that Zhang Minbiao gave him, he still wanted to keep it and go to Lanyang to find his wife, children and sister in the future, so he refused to hand it over. He thought that since a ship came every day, sooner or later he would have to rescue him.

Today's sun is particularly warm. Zhang Dehou leaned against the battlements and fell asleep groggyly. He was sleeping soundly when he was suddenly awakened by the sound of cannons, and then heard the sound of cannons and shouts and fighting in several places. He was taken aback, opened his eyes, got up, and saw that the ships of the officers and soldiers were fighting with other ships. His eyesight was very good, and he saw many other ships coming from a distance, and each boat had a small flag with the word "Chuang". Recently, he secretly hated the officials and the army, and fell in love with the king, but what he was looking forward to really came. The companions began to talk one after another, some said that the king's ship was here to save the people, some said that it was to rob, and some said that it was to arrest the gentry. Zhang Dehou heard Xianglan say how benevolent and righteous King Li Chuang's men and horses were, so he didn't interject, watched the battle, and secretly hoped that King Chuang's ships would quickly kill the officers and soldiers so that they could be rescued.

At this moment, the two large ships of the officers and soldiers approached the edge of the city and shouted at them to hurry aboard. They did not dare to disobey and all got on board. There were already a number of refugees on board, and one by one they were being forced to search their bodies, and some jewelry and scattered silver were found. The officers and soldiers also came to search for Dehou and found his silver. He fell on his knees and begged, saying that he had only this life-saving money, and that he would rely on it to make a coil and go to his wife and children. But the officer glared at him viciously, cursed, and took the silver away. He had to beg again, but when he saw that some of the refugees had been pushed into the water by the officers and soldiers, he didn't dare to say anything. At this time, the official army went to untie the small bag on his back, and he quickly explained that there was no silver in it, it was all the anthologies of Lu Mo and Shiwen that he liked to read, as well as the articles he had done in the previous examination rooms.

The officers and soldiers didn't listen at all, so they tore open the package and looked at it. Zhang Dehou was feeling helpless, and suddenly saw two big boats and several small boats with small flags with the word "Chuang", followed by two rafts rushing towards this side, and they were already close. His eyes suddenly lit up, and he exclaimed in his heart: "Isn't that Deyao?!" He glared again, and saw clearly that the one standing on the bow of the first big ship was indeed Deyao, his younger brother! He ignored the officers and soldiers beside him, and shouted loudly:

"Deyao save me! Deyao is coming! Deyao is coming! Deyao is coming! Deyao—"

Before the last sound fell, he was suddenly kicked into the water. He soon sank to the bottom of the water, came out again, and had no more strength to struggle.

Deyao was standing at the bow of the ship, firing arrows at another warship, when he suddenly heard a voice calling him, what a familiar voice! He quickly turned his head and saw several refugees being kicked into the water, one of whom was clearly his brother. He suddenly understood that it was his brother's voice that called him, and hurriedly said to Wang Congzhou beside him:

"My brother was kicked into the water by officers and soldiers, help! Help! ”

Wang Congzhou ordered a salvo of bows and crossbows, and the firearms men to cast bird guns, ready to drive away the ships of the officers and soldiers, and then go into the water to save the people. The officers and men did not dare to fight, so they also fired a burst of arrows and bird guns on this side, turned the bow of the ship and fled. In the confrontation shot, Deyao was hit by an arrow, wounded in the left chest, and fell suddenly. Wang Cong leaned down on Monday to hug Deyao, and ordered:

"Hurry up, chase that bastard boat, chase! Pursue! "The ship was speeding towards the enemy ship. The officers and men of the enemy ship were frightened, pushed all the refugees into the water, lightened the hull, and finally fled. Wang Congzhou ordered the boat to be stopped and rescued Deyao; He also ordered a small boat to salvage Dehou.

Deyao was lying in Congzhou's arms, his eyes closed. He was hit by two arrows, one in the left chest. The arrow was pulled out from Zhou, and the blood was gurgling outward. Calling from Zhou Liansheng:

"Brother Zhang! Brother Zhang! ”

Deyao didn't make a sound. After shouting a few more times from Zhou, De Yao slowly opened his eyes, but his eyes had lost their brilliance. He kept looking at Cong Zhou, as if he couldn't recognize it anymore, and slowly closed his eyes. From Zhou, I heard his voice speak indistinctly and intermittently:

"Sister-in-law! …… I, I can't see you, you and the little treasures! …… Sister-in-law, my brother is dead! Where are you and your little treasures? Deok Xiu ...... Is it with you? ……”

Wang Congzhou cried: "Brother Zhang! Brother Deyao! I'm from the week! You don't want to die! I will ask the old fairy to save you quickly, you don't want to die! ”

Zhang Deyao suddenly reopened his eyes, and his eyes brightened slightly. He looked at Cong Zhou fixedly, looked at it for a moment, then his chapped lips moved a few times, and said weakly:

"From Zhou, I can't make it live. After this battle, you must go to Lanyang County, take your sister-in-law and them out, and take them to the camp of King Chuang, or to Runing Mansion, you can marry my sister as soon as possible. My sister-in-law is still young, you have to treat her as a sister-in-law and send her to the end of your life. Do you remember what I said? ”

Cong Zhou cried and said, "Brother Deyao, I must remember clearly." Don't worry, I'll remember it. ”

Deyao said with difficulty: "The family is dead, and there is only one lonely seedling guarding the two gates, which is my nephew, you have to raise him as an adult." ”

With that, his eyes closed again. I can't wake up when I call from Zhou. From Zhou stood up, hid his face and wept bitterly. By this time, the boat had returned, and told him that Dehou's body had not been recovered. He wiped away a handful of tears and ordered his small fleet to chase after the West Gate and kill the officers and soldiers. He stood at the bow of the boat and looked around, but saw a raging flood with corpses floating everywhere. Some of them had just been caught in the water by bow and arrow or artillery fire from the boat, and the blood stained the yellow water.

Li Yan encountered two robberies between the Wuchao Gate of the Zhou Wangfu and the Governor's Yamen, and overturned three Bai Qizheng's ships, and the rest escaped. He heard shouts and firearms near the west gate, and immediately led several clippers to arrive. When he arrived at the place where Wang Congzhou's squad was fighting, he saw that the enemy soldiers had been driven away, and the water was calm and sound. He climbed the West City Tower, looked around, and could not see the edge of the flood. He thought that King Chuang had been busy settling down the people in the past few days, his face was haggard, his mind was heavy, and he had not had time to discuss other issues. He stood at the head of the city, looked at it for a while, and asked in his heart:

"The whole city of Kaifeng is submerged, where will the army stand next?"

He let out a secret sigh that no one heard.