Since it was difficult to come from Jiashen, the Dashun army was invincible, controlling the entire Yellow River Valley, and seemed to have a tendency to dominate the world. Zhang Xianzhong, who was also a peasant army, was also on the way to Shu, wanting to take Sichuan as the foundation.

And half of the rivers and mountains south of Jianghuai are still under the control of the orthodox Ming forces, plus outside the Shanhai Pass, the Jurchen Houjin is eyeing the tiger, and the land of China can be described as a white cloud and a dog.

It was the beginning of May in the year of Jiashen, and Wang Yan and Xu Yanyan had been trapped in the camp for dozens of days, but what they did did did not seem to have changed, the difference was only that they had fled south on their own initiative before, and now they were coerced south.

It's just that Zhao Yingyuan's department is not in a hurry, and it seems that he doesn't have to worry about Shandong at all.

In his eyes, the miserable forces in the south may not be worth mentioning at all.

Since the end of the year, the trilateral governor Sun Chuanting died, and the attitude of the northern gentry has changed greatly, and there are only a few people like Xu Zhi and Liu Lishun who are loyal to the Ming court.

There were more than 3,000 ministers in Beijing in the Chongzhen Dynasty, and only 20 committed suicide.

The Southern Ming Court was busy with the dispute over Fulu, and the Ming army did nothing, just as Shi Kefa said bitterly, "There are few people who die in the northern ministers, and there are few people who beg for thieves in the southern ministers, which is an unprecedented shame for thousands of years!" ”

The southern ministers did this, Zhao Yingyuan was not in a hurry, and in his opinion, expanding the troops and horses under his command was the top priority. Along the way, he has gathered several groups of displaced people, causing the number of former troops to skyrocket to thousands.

After there were many people, and Zhao Jun did not manage it, the entire front army was naturally mixed, ruffians and scoundrels were rampant, and flirting with female dependents also happened from time to time, which made Wang Yan feel at ease.

Since Xu Zhi's death, Xu Yanyan has been like a different person, no longer speaking, and in a daze all day long. This made Wang Yan very worried, so he could only take her with him at all times, but even so, he was almost recognized by the splash, if he hadn't desperately protected him, he would definitely be harmed by it.

The splasher's name is Liu Shun, and it is said that he used to be a famous scoundrel in the township, and he was extremely difficult. Wang Yan didn't want to follow Zhao Jun in the first place, but this strengthened his desire to escape.

However, although the front army was chaotic, the Zhao army, which guarded the camp, was very conscientious, and the night patrol was also very strict.

If he is okay alone, but if he wants to bring Xu Yanyan, who is a little demented, it is impossible at all, Wang Yan waited hard for several days, and still did not find an opportunity.

On this day, the Zhao army finally reached the border of Dezhou and wanted to cross the Grand Canal into Shandong, but there was no ferry, so the army had to set up camp.

Across the river is Texas, a big city with abundant supplies.

Zhao Yingyuan promised everyone that as long as he arrived at his station, he would be fed, which greatly boosted the morale of Zhao Jun.

In order to find the ferry, Zhao Yingyuan led the army to search along the riverbank, leaving only a few sentries in the camp to guard it, and Wang Yan felt that it was the best time to escape.

These days, he was assigned to the former army's room, responsible for carrying water and cooking, because he made a good dish, and was appreciated by the old firehead Li Mazi.

As for Wang Yan, a dignified old man, how could he suddenly have superb cooking skills, this is thanks to another Wang Yan in his sleep.

Now he knows how many things he knows, he doesn't know how much, the things in his dreams can always bring him novelty and a strong impact, and the whole person's temperament seems to be slowly changing, becoming more and more like the Wang Yan in the dream.

If it was Wang Yan in the past, how could he, a man who was a man, pretend to be a commoner! But now there is no pressure at all, it seems that he was originally a poor boy in the countryside, and the influence of dreams on him is too much.

Determined to flee with Xu Yanyan, Wang Yan naturally would not let go of such a God-given opportunity, and when Zhao Yingyuan's army had gone for more than half an hour, he went to the room to find Li Mazi.

Li Mazi, as the name suggests, has a pockmarked face.

He was able to become a leader in the former army, not because he could cook any good dishes, but because of his old qualifications. When Zhao Yingyuan was still the deputy general of Henan in the Ming Dynasty, Li Mazi was his personal guard.

Later, Zhao Yingyuan voted for the fifth battalion of Zuoge, and followed Li Chuang, and Li Mazi was by his side. It's just that now that he is old, he really can't open his bow or dance his knife, so he was arranged by Zhao Yingyuan to be a fire leader in the former military camp and enjoy happiness.

Wang Yan went out of the camp tent to find Li Mazi, and saw that he was squatting next to a pile of firewood, drumming his dry tobacco, so he took the opportunity to mention: "Old Huotou, when I get water today, I want to take my little brother with me, do you think it's okay?" ”

Li Mazi didn't rush to answer, until he lit the dry cigarette, took a beautiful puff, then glanced at Wang Yan, lowered his head and smoked a cigarette and said angrily: "There is a rule in the former military camp that those who leave the camp must leave their relatives as hostages, what do you want to take your stupid brother to do?" ”

Seeing that Li Mazi didn't refuse, but just asked the reason, Wang Yan couldn't help but feel happy in his heart, and said the original thought of the statement. "The first few **** offended the ploppy Liu Shun, you know the old guy! These **** always trouble me, I'm worried that if I get out of the camp, he will find an opportunity to bully my stupid brother, so I want to take it with me, old guy, you will be accommodating. ”

The situation in the front camp was very chaotic, and Li Mazi knew. is not only a scoundrel, but even the old soldiers and ruffians in the camp often come to make trouble, but now that he is old, as long as it does not affect him, he will not care about those idle things. After listening to Wang Yan's words, he also hesitated.

Seeing that Li Mazi hesitated to answer, Wang Yan had no choice but to say again: "I heard that the fish in the canal are very delicious, I will take my brother to get you a river fish by the way, what do you think?" ”

Hearing the river fish, Li Mazi, who was originally hesitant, couldn't help but smile, and a pair of pockmarked faces instantly bloomed. "Haha?? That's a must! ”

The Dashun Dynasty is newly established, there is no experience in governance, the local area is still relatively chaotic, and it is really difficult for Zhao Jun to provide support all the way, even Li Mazi has come all the way, and he has done more and less in Xi, and as for meat and fish, he may not see it once in a few months.

Wang Yan's good cooking skills, Li Mazi knows the place, but no matter how good the cooking skills are, there must be materials to play. As soon as he thought that Wang Yan, who could play with a cake, could give him the whole fish, Li Mazi was immediately excited. He hurriedly got up and shook the cigarette stick, took out two wooden cards from his arms and handed them to Wang Yan, and then said: "Get a bigger one, it's okay to come back later, I'll go and tell the person who watches the value." ”

Wang Yan was very excited to take the wooden card, but he didn't show it. He thanked Li Mazi like Li Mazi, and went to the camp to bring Xu Yanyan out.

Half an hour later, they checked the wooden signs at the guard, and then went out of the camp with the men and horses who fetched water. In the past, it was a sentry that followed everyone to fetch water, but today, because there were not enough sergeants in the battalion, only one sergeant came to monitor. Seeing this, Wang Yan's heart was suddenly overjoyed, it seemed that he had really chosen the right time to escape.

The Grand Canal runs through the north and south, reaches Beijing in the north, and reaches Yuhang in the south, which is actually the blood of China. Take a boat here, you can go all the way south to Nanjing. It's a pity that the once prosperous Grand Canal has also become depressed and lonely because of the fall of Dashun to Beijing and the interruption of Cao Yun.

When they came to the edge of the canal, everyone carried it back to the camp after taking water, but Wang Yan and Xu Yanyan did not follow. Seeing this, the soldier in charge of monitoring pressed one hand on the hilt of the knife on his waist, and said with some displeasure: "Why don't you two leave?" ”

"Oh, this big brother, the old firehead told me to catch the tail river fish and go back, and I hope you will be accommodating." Seeing the soldier's movements, Wang Yan couldn't help but be a little nervous, although there was only one person on the other side, but Wang Yan was very self-aware, he had been a powerless scholar for many years, and he didn't dare to fight with the knife-wielding pawn until he had to.

"Old man? But what about Li Mazi? Hearing this, the soldier said.

"Exactly!" Wang Yan hurriedly replied.

After hearing the answer, the soldier put down his hand on the hilt of the sword, but he still hesitated, but at this time the person who took the water did not stop and distanced himself from them. The soldier looked at the team that was going away, then at Wang Yan and Xu Yanyan before deciding: "In this case, you should go back to the camp earlier, don't embarrass me." ”

After the soldier finished speaking, he turned around and chased after the team to get water, Wang Yan suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, he didn't expect everything to go so smoothly.

But just as he was about to take Xu Yanyan away, the soldier suddenly stopped, and then trotted all the way back.

Wang Yan was shocked in his heart, but he pretended to be calm on his face and said, "Why did the eldest brother come back?" But what else is there to explain? ”

"Oh, I just want to ask, little brother, can you get a fish for me later? After all, the food in the camp is really poor these days. The soldier said with some embarrassment.

Hearing this, Wang Yan couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and continued to deceive at the moment: "Of course there is no problem, I will have to rely on my eldest brother to take care of me in the future." When dinner comes, I'll send it to my eldest brother when it's ready. ”

"In this way, then I will thank the little brother!" The soldier clenched his fists with some delight, and then turned again and trotted away with the team chasing the water.

When they really went away, Wang Yan immediately pulled Xu Yanyan and ran into the distance. The two looked for the ferry boat all the way along the canal, but there was no gain, and Wang Yan couldn't help but feel a little anxious. However, at this time, the sky was already a little dark, and there were not many people at night to see, and Wang Yan was naturally no exception.

At this time, they had already left the camp for more than ten miles, so Wang Yan decided to find a safe place to rest first.

He was afraid of bumping into Zhao Yingyuan's army, so he didn't dare to take it to the side of the canal. Now they left the river, and turned over to the river, and went to a distant place to rest.

Wang Yan climbed the river embankment with some hard work, and was about to slow down Xu Yanyan, but a team of figures in the distance made him stunned, and his face suddenly changed greatly.

What are you afraid of, what are you afraid of.

Didn't Zhao Yingyuan look for a ferry? How did you come back so quickly! Wang Yan didn't have time to think about it, so he immediately jumped off the river embankment quickly, pulling Xu Yanyan and running down.

It's a pity that he was still discovered by Zhao Jun in the distance, "What person? "Give Lao Tzu a stand!" All kinds of shouts and scolding came from behind.

In a hurry, the two of them plunged into the reeds by the river, Wang Yan turned around and watched, and his heart couldn't help but feel cold. I saw nearly 100 soldiers of the Zhao army coming down the embankment and coming towards the reeds, obviously not intending to let them go.

If you get caught, is there still a way to live?