In the defense of Yancheng, the Huainan army replaced the defense with attack and won a complete victory.

A total of more than 5,000 Japanese were annihilated, nearly 20,000 were taken prisoner, and more than 300 small boats were burned.

The victory of Chuzhou affected Taizhou, Tongzhou, and even the coastal areas of Zhejiang, and the morale of the anti-Japanese army was greatly increased, and the Japanese from all sides withdrew from the mainland one after another and retreated to the sea.

The 20,000 captives were slaughtered by the Japanese soldiers and ronins, and the local pirates were sent to the north to serve as military slaves, repair official affairs, and carry Dijon.

Although this battle was won beautifully, Song Che still saw many problems - the Japanese are well-equipped, and there must be forces behind them to transfuse blood, if this force cannot be pulled out, if it cannot kill the king of thieves and cut off its roots, the spring breeze will blow and regenerate in the coming year.

It is equally important to eliminate external troubles and internal worries.

The great cause of resisting Japanese aggression continued to implement Song Che's "three-step plan" - taking Chuzhou as the starting point, rebuilding Longkou Port, reorganizing soldiers, horses and warships, going south by land and water at the same time, and then contacting Hangzhou from north to south, occupying Huainan and the coastal ports and bays of Zhejiang and Zhejiang, and establishing a coastal defense line.

Once the defensive line was firmly established and the ships were sufficiently equipped, they could attack the sandbanks and islands where the Japanese were entrenched.

Of course, everything needs time to settle, and it can't be near or far, but it certainly won't go beyond this winter.

……

On November 15 of the year, like this victory, the weather began to clear after the snow.

But in the harsh winter season, the cold is still so cold.

When the army was about to go south, the edict from Luoyang also arrived.

"Fengtian carrier, the emperor edict said, the privy envoy Gao Chen, the anti-Japanese meritorious...... Return to the dynasty immediately, admire this! ”

In addition to Gao Chen's recall to Beijing, the civil and military generals who have contributed military merits have been given names, posts, gold, residences, and rewards.

Jiang Yuntian also got his wish, and the official went to the Taizhou Command Division to control and lead the soldiers and horses.

Twilight.

Sunsets are rare.

Gao Chen stood on the city wall, holding the holy decree tightly in his hand, quietly looking at the sunset, with sadness between his eyebrows.

"It should be a good thing for Lord Gao to move back to Beijing, why are you depressed?" Song Che walked up to the city wall.

"This is not Your Majesty's will, but some people are afraid that I will take too much credit and want to stop it in time," Gao Chen shook his head and sighed, and looked at Song Che again:

"After I leave, Li Zhihui will take over from me to continue to lead the military affairs of Huainan, and I hope that Mr. Song can assist me more."

Song Che smiled slightly, which counted as an answer.

Gao Chen took out a black-gold token from his sleeve and handed it to Song Che: "This is the 'Black Phoenix Order', you can use it to dispatch the dark department under my command, and they are all in Taizhou at the moment." ”

Song Che hesitated.

"Sir, don't worry, the dark ministry is a force outside the imperial court, and it is not an official position," Gao Chen stuffed the token into Song Che's hand and said with a smile: "What's more, you are a businessman, and in what you often say, a businessman has to do something." ”

Song Che no longer shirked, thanked him, and put the token in his sleeve.

"The sun is going down, and I've got to go."

Gao Chen reluctantly looked at the sunset that had sunset into the horizon, sighed, and turned around to walk down the city wall.

"Tall, sir."

Song Che stopped him, "I don't know what to say when I leave, there are three things I still want to think about." ”

Gao Chen paused and said with a smile: "Mr. Song's words are worth a thousand gold, and Gao listens to them." ”

"First, the emperor doesn't have much to do." Song Che said first.

Gao Chen was surprised, but after a moment, he returned to indifference, contemplating his eyebrows.

"Second, although Daliang has formed an alliance with Xiqiang, Dijon is becoming stronger and stronger, and the northern military affairs should be put first, followed by the Hu people, and the Japanese are not to worry." Song Che said again.

Gao Chen nodded.

"Third."

Song Che looked at the afterglow of the sunset and slowly exhaled: "The sunset is infinitely good, and it will be dusk in the coming day." ”

"Hehehe......" Gao Chen laughed from the bottom of his heart, "Then I look forward to enjoying the sunset with you next time." ”

"Xijing is a long way, and the tall man has a smooth journey."

"There will be a date later."

The two clasped their fists and saluted, saying goodbye to each other as gentlemen.

……

He couldn't sleep well with the army, so Song Che didn't go with the army, took off his mask, restored his identity, and only took his maid Coco, and went to Taizhou with Jiang Yuntian to take up his post.

Gao Chen's dark department is in Taizhou, Ning Yehong is also in Taizhou, so eighty percent of the "snake head" is also in Taizhou.

This is also the reason why Jiang Yuntian will become the commander of Taizhou, with military power in his hands, it will be much easier to catch the "snake".

From Yancheng to Taizhou, it is a day and a night by car.

Although most of the Huainan Ronin retreated to the sea, there were still many Dongying Ronin wandering around, walking very cautiously along the way.

"Little girl, fill me with wine bags again!"

Jiang Yuntian handed the shriveled wine bag into the carriage.

Coco pouted and complained, "I'm not your maid......"

Even so, he still filled the wine and handed it back, who told him to endure the cold wind as a coachman?

"Brother Jiang, where are we at this moment?" Song Che asked.

Jiang Yuntian was arrogant: "It's already my territory!" ”

He is the commander of the Taizhou Command Division, the supreme commander of the state and the region, and calling it "his territory" is not bragging.

"It's not early now, if there is no post station ahead, just find a farmer to spend the night, it's too cold."

"Well, there's a family not far ahead, and it's still smoking, so let's just go for a meal."

The carriage turned right into a path, drove into a small bamboo forest, and then entered a dozen zhang, and a family came into view.

Jiang Yuntian tied the carriage, Song Che and Coco also got out of the carriage, and the three of them came to the gate of the courtyard together, Song Che took out a silver ingot from his sleeve and just wanted to knock on the door.

"Wait."

Jiang Yuntian shouted at him, "Something is wrong." ”

Jiang Daxia said that something was wrong, it must not be normal.

Song Che also began to be vigilant, "What's wrong?" ”

Jiang Yuntian snorted, "The smell of blood, you can't be wrong." ”

He nudged the door, as if it was in the way, but it was not locked. With a little more force, he pushed the door open, and suddenly, a bloody corpse collapsed out like a head.

Song Che hurriedly covered Coco's eyes, the picture was too bloody, and it was really not suitable for children.

Looking in along the doorway, another female corpse lay under the eaves.

"A knife to seal the throat, professional techniques." Jiang Yuntian could see it at a glance.

Song Che said in a deep voice: "Could it be a wolf?" ”

"You stay, I'll go in and have a look." Jiang Yuntian slowly drew his sword and walked slowly into the courtyard.

Song Che also took out his musket, vigilant of the wind and grass around him.

After a while, Jiang Yuntian walked out of the house, there was an extra steamed bun in his hand, and he said while gnawing: "There are three dead inside, two people with a child, the corpse is hot, the steamed bun is also hot, and the taste is not bad." ”

And it's smoking!

In this flat snowfield, a bird can be seen clearly when it flies by, if a person has just been killed, and the murderer cannot be seen, it can only mean that they are hiding in the ......

Song Che glanced at the bamboo forest in horror, and hurriedly pulled Coco to Jiang Yuntian's side!

"You still have the heart to eat steamed buns, they ...... They are hiding in the bamboo forest! ”

"I know."

Jiang Yuntian was very indifferent: "They must be staring at us in the dark, but they didn't make a move, indicating that they don't want to kill us, we can leave as if nothing happened." ”

"What if it's a ronin? If you have the ability, you will eliminate harm for the people. ”

"It's unlikely to be a ronin."

Jiang Yuntian pointed to the corpse under the eaves and said, "The wound cut by the Japanese knife is much more slender. The young woman in the house was good-looking, and she was not insulted. The house has not been turned over either. This is not the style of the ronin to burn and loot. ”

Song Che said: "This is your territory, you can't ignore it."

"Who said I don't care." Jiang Yuntian stuffed the last mouthful of steamed buns into his mouth, "I'm a little hungry, I have to eat enough to clean them up." ”

Then, he strode out of the courtyard gate and shouted at the bamboo forest:

"Hey! Don't hide! I know you're in there! I'll count three, and if you don't come out, I'll go in and find you." ”

"Three ......"

"Two ......"

Unequal to count to one.

"Whoa......

Out of the bamboo forest came three swordsmen with disheveled heads, dressed in the clothes of the Japanese people, but their faces and postures were completely different.

"Heaven has a way you don't go, but hell has no door to break in! Since you're looking for death, it's no wonder we're going to blame! ”

The swordsmen rushed up in unison.

"Brother Jiang, stay one-"

"Huh!"

The sword light flashed, and the three swordsmen paused their steps, their eyes widened, and they couldn't believe that there could be such a fast sword in this world!

The sword was put back into the sheath, the bamboo leaves were dashing, and the head fell to the ground.

Jiang Yuntian raised his head and looked at Song Che: "What are you talking about?" ”

Song Che sighed and walked to the corpses of the three swordsmen, "They are dressed in ronin costumes, but they speak official dialect and use simple knives, this matter is too strange." ”

Jiang Yuntian pursed his lips and analyzed: "Maybe they want to use the notoriety of the Japanese to hide their motives for killing. ”

"That's why I told you to keep one, for the living are far more useful than the dead."

"But the damned man, I can't let him live."

"Your territory, your way."

Song Che squatted down again and groped for the corpse, and took out a small sack made of linen from the arms of one of them, and poured out extremely irregular gold grains, some of which were as many as two or three taels.

"It's the first time I've seen such a piece of gold." Jiang Yuntian couldn't help but be curious.

Song Che looked at the sky and looked at the gold grains a few times before saying: "This is the golden sand that has just been dug out, and it is often necessary to melt them first, and then make them into ingots through molds." ”

"It's easier to kill people and make money than to pan for gold in the sea."

"So this gold is not a killer's, it should come from this family."

In the coastal areas, there are not only pearl and agate people, but also people who want to get rich overnight through gold panning.

Gold panning is generally done overseas, either by filtering the sand or by mining on the islands.

Overseas, islands, gold panning, Japanese ...... Will it be related?

These three killers obviously can't kill their entire family for a few taels of gold.

If you don't rob money, and if you don't rob sex, then there is only one possibility left - to destroy your mouth.

Even in modern times, wars often break out over scarce resources. Gold, such a fascinating thing, seems normal for people to die for it.

"Anyway, we have killed the murderer, and we can be regarded as avenging the family, as for the follow-up, everything is as fate would be."

Jiang Yuntian is still the same, no matter whether it is a good person or a bad person, he should be buried in the ground, he simply dug a few pits, buried the body, took a pot of steamed buns, and drove away from the bamboo forest.

……