Nanjing, Yingtianfu Prison, Chen Renxiao is interrogating a Leopard Taowei sergeant, who is the guy who bites his finger and swears to heaven that he will never reveal the whereabouts of Emperor Chongwen. He was tied to a chair, unkempt, covered in blood, and already tortured to his death.

"Are you sure that Emperor Chongwen is in the direction of Benmoling Pass?" asked Chen Renxiao lightly.

Sergeant Leopard Taowei said weakly: "I heard Liu Li and Qi Lu discuss with my own ears, they are going to Lishui County. ”

Chen Renxiao still asked calmly: "But the people from the Elephant Guarding Zuo Qianhu told me that they didn't see Emperor Chongwen go out of the city from the upper gate, what is the reason?"

Sergeant Leopard Taowei said, "Then you should ask the mahouts, and I have told you everything I have heard." ”

Chen Renxiao nodded, stood up and walked to the sergeant, lowered his head and said softly: "We have found the secret passage under the Fengtian Palace, which means that you did not lie to me, it was Liu Li who deceived you, and they did not go to Moling Pass." But what I promise you will be done, your family will be alive, you will not be alone, and your 10 Leopard Taowei brothers will be on your way with you. ”

Sergeant Leopard Taowei spat on Chen Renxiao's face, Chen Renxiao was not annoyed, took out a handkerchief from his arms, elegantly wiped the filth off his face, patted him on the shoulder, and turned to leave.

After one bad luck after another, it seems that luck has patronized Liu Li and his party: it's raining.

To the north from Chunhua Town Avenue, there are continuous lakes and marshes paddy fields, and the so-called roads are field paths. This kind of ridge can accommodate up to 2 people to stagger over, and below is a muddy pond, where the blocks look neat and tidy, and if the weather is cloudy and rainy, people and animals can slide into waist-deep water at any time, and it takes a lot of courage to rush in this kind of place.

Liu Li and the others were hurrying in the rain, and they knew that the pursuers were more painful than them.

Twenty miles behind them, a cavalry of 200 men divided into several squads and searched the paddy fields. The bad weather and the slippery field paths all made these northern men complain. I don't know how many war horseshoes slipped and fell, and broke their legs, and the officials of the hundred households, Zhang Yu and Sun Cheng, had to order the whole army to dismount and lead the horses.

The rain kept going, and all the animals were soaked, and every inch of their bodies was covered with mud, just a team of mud men and mud horses. The horses were afraid of these terrible pools, and struggled to move forward, and the soldiers could barely advance by pulling the reins of their horses and kicking and beating them, marching more slowly than they climbed. The rain obscured the view, and the target 10 feet away could not be seen clearly, and the flag turned into a wet rag.

In the far north, where have you seen such a water town, the soldiers are extremely uncomfortable.

Sun Cheng leaned over to Zhang Yu and said loudly: "Old Zhang, the people and horses have collapsed, we have long been lost, we can't go on like this, we have to quickly find a place to shelter from the rain." ”

Zhang Yu said loudly: "How many heads do you have, dare to stop and shelter from the rain? Didn't you hear the order of Commander Zhang, we searched in the rain, whether we found Emperor Chongwen or not, we also did our best." Stop? Aren't you afraid that Commander Zhang will punish us for the crime of delaying military aircraft?"

Sun Cheng was speechless, and it took a long time to react, and he shouted to the rear team: "Keep up, keep up, all the injured horses are abandoned." ”

The fugitives were no better, each of them was wounded, the scorching sun and rain had worsened their wounds, and the insane escape had exhausted everyone. The advantage is that they are Nanjing people, adapted to this ghost weather, familiar with the geography of the water town, at least they can distinguish the direction by simply marking, and there are no horses to take care of, they are getting farther and farther away from the pursuers.

In Nanjing, Xiao Lingwei commanded the government office to become the line of Sun Hong, the king of Yan, and tomorrow he will visit the mausoleum of Emperor Gao, tell him the reason for the difficulty, win the hearts of the people of the world, and lay the foundation for the next step to ascend the throne for the emperor.

His Royal Highness King Yan was dressed in Yanju clothes, quietly looking at the raindrops under the eaves with his hands behind his back, his expression was calm, and only a trace of worry appeared in his eyes. The strategist Chen Renxiao sat down, the monk was still in a black robe and beads, with bake shoes and white socks, sitting cross-legged on a wide official hat chair with an indifferent expression.

Finally, King Yan said: "In this way, Chongwen Xiao'er did escape, and Emperor Gao actually dug a secret passage under His Royal Highness Fengtian, which is so powerful." If only then ... The ministers persuaded me to enter, and I was persecuted with righteousness, but I can't enter the imperial city?"

Chen Renxiao's eyes suddenly flashed, and he said: "Enter! Of course, you must ascend the throne and sit in the palace! The country cannot be without a king for a day, even if Emperor Chongwen's whereabouts are unknown, but he abandoned the country and left, and has lost the great unification, can he still sit on that chair? The king is the concubine of Emperor Gao, the oldest year, it is difficult to raise troops, stabilize the society, and cover the world, who else is qualified to inherit the great treasure besides the king?"

King Yan turned around, paced back and forth a few steps, and said, "But Chongwen Xiao'er is the prince appointed by Emperor Gao after all, and the law is not in me." I don't know.,I thought I rebelled to seize the world of my nephew.,People are terrible.。。。 I originally meant to be Uncle Liu Huang, isn't this Cao Cao?"

Chen Renxiao said: "In those days, when the yellow robe was added, who will criticize it in later generations? That is because Song Zu ended the funeral and set his heart on serving the people, and the whole world is happy, who will slander a holy monarch? The holy virtue of the Son of Heaven is a public virtue, not a private virtue, as long as the great prosperity is prosperous and strong, and the people live and work in peace and contentment, who will remember Emperor Chongwen yesterday." ”

Chen Renxiao's words made King Yan's heart feel a little easier, and the big matter in his heart had been decided, he turned around and sat on an official hat chair, and asked, "In the master's opinion, Chongwen has fled to Jurong?

Chen Renxiao twisted the Buddha beads in his hand and said: "I have already found out what happened that night, Emperor Chongwen did flee east, Zhang Fu quickly reported it, and also found some signs. It's just that the weather is bad, and Liu Li, the head of Chongwen's guards, is very cunning, so it's not so easy to capture Chongwen. ”

King Yan looked at Chen Renxiao and said, "What should you think of?"

Chen Renxiao said: "Although Zhang Fu is shrewd, the officers and men of our Northern Army do not understand geography, do not know people, and do not even understand words. The minister thought that the king would succeed to the throne as soon as possible, travel to Wenjun County with the righteousness of the Son of Heaven, draw shadows and pictures to catch Liu Li, Liu Guan and others, and catch Liu Li, where else can Chongwen run?"

King Yan pondered for a moment and muttered, "Liu Li... Liu Li, could it be the son of Liu Bingqi, the late Duke of Quguo?"

Chen Renxiao said: "It is this person. ”

King Yan said: "I heard that there is a proverb in eastern Zhejiang: Yangyu Qing, go to sea fine. Legend has it that Yangyu is an island with no grass, and one year suddenly grass and trees grew, and the whole island was green. Liu Bingqi was born that year, and the people of Zhejiang say that Liu Bingqi is a sea spirit, and his Liu family has always been a hero on the sea, doesn't Liu Limo want to take Chongwen to the sea?"

Chen Renxiao still said lightly: "The king is wise, in addition to the sea fishing documents, he must also implement Emperor Gao's policy of forbidding the sea, and the board must not go to the sea... However, as a vassal king, how can the king command the world? The top priority at the moment is to ascend to the great treasure as soon as possible, so as to be justified. ”

King Yan finally nodded and said, "What the master said is very true, immediately order the Qin Heavenly Supervisor to choose an auspicious day, and I will ascend the throne as soon as possible." Before that, I will personally adjudicate the state affairs as a prisoner, and first clean up those ministers who stir up trouble and divide the flesh and blood. ”

After a pause, he continued: "Although I can't order the county yet, I can always order the Yangtze River Sailor, you immediately give Chen Xuan an order, let him block the Yangtze River, and if a civilian ship goes to sea, let him come to see him." ”

Chen Renxiao bowed down and said, "Minister, obey Jun's orders... It's just Liu's family in Beijing, do you want to detain them?"

King Yan sneered: "No need, just go to jail, I want to see if Liu Li'er dares to resist me to the end." ”

The next day, His Royal Highness King Yan paid homage to the filial piety mausoleum, sacrificed to the emperor, and then entered the imperial city, and ascended to the palace as a prisoner. The first edict he issued was to reiterate Emperor Gao's policy of forbidding the sea, that all the islanders should move to the interior, that the people should not own two-masted ships, and that all coastal states and counties should implement the law of protecting the armor, and the law of joint sitting, one person going to sea, the whole family is guilty, the whole family is guilty, and all the people are guilty.

The second edict was to arrest Liu Li, Liu Guan, Wang Hui, Li Qiqian, Lin Yanghao and others in the two provinces of Xingwen Zhili and Zhejiang, and at the same time appoint Li Yuan, a close general, as the governor of Yingtian in Zhili, and Zhang Fu as the governor of Zhejiang, to strictly supervise the local arrest of key criminals.

A month later, on an auspicious day of the zodiac, King Yan ascended the throne as the emperor in the Huagai Palace, and changed the yuan to Yongji, which was the first year of Yongji. At the same time, the Chongwen era name was abolished, and the first year of Chongwen was changed to the 32nd year of Shenwu, which was postponed.

Liu Li and others took Emperor Chongwen to get rid of the pursuers and fled to Gaozi Town, 5 miles away from the south bank of the Yangtze River, but they could only look at the river and sigh, helpless. At this time, the order to close the river of the Yan Wangjian State has been issued, and the civilian ships on both sides of the Yangtze River have been collected, and the naval warships have been patrolling the river back and forth, day and night, and it is wishful thinking to seek ships from the Yangtze River to go to sea.

40 miles west of Gaozi is Yingtianfu Longtan, 30 miles east is Dantu Town, Zhenjiang Prefecture, from Gaozi Town across the Yangtze River to the north, is the Yizhen County of Yangzhou Prefecture.

There is a small village 3 miles east of Gaozi Town, called Liutang Bay, the village is not big, there are only about 30 families, fishing along the river for a living. Liu Li and his entourage touched this village and found a family to stay, this family is surnamed Mao, and the head of the family is called Mao Qigong.

After the order of King Yan to seal the river was issued, the fishermen in the vicinity had no livelihood, and they were bored at home, and they encountered distant guests. Liu Li only said that he was fleeing Nanjing refugees, Mao Qigong saw that they were in rags and everyone was injured, and they were indeed fleeing, so he felt pity in his heart, and hurriedly asked his children and grandchildren to put down hot food and soup, and vacate a clean room to settle these Nanjing guests.

Nanjing's guest shot was very generous, and a lot of silver was rewarded, which made the family very happy and flattered. In a small fishing village, I can't see a few copper coins in my life, where have I seen a white flower of silver, and the guests are nothing more than a few mouthfuls of hot rice and soup, a few coarse cloth clothes, and three pennies are worth two dollars, where do you want so much.

Li Qiqian rewrapped his wounds, changed into clean clothes, and lay on a dry straw mat, the familiar comfort made him sigh a long sigh, and said: "Mother, it would be good if you rested here for two days, these days seem to have run away for a year." ”

Lin Yanghao said gloomily: "If we hadn't run like this, we would all be dead now." He turned his head to look at Liu Li and asked, "Liu Gong, the Yangtze River has been sealed, what should we do next?"

Liu Li said firmly: "Go to Lucheng Town." ”