Su Chengyu asked about the specific situation of the chaotic people in Qingliu County.

One of the two Ming soldiers said that there were six or seven hundred people, and the other said that there were three or four hundred blade-wielding soldiers, but in terms of the fact that the rebels were equipped with a large number of rattan cards, swords, axes, bows, arrows, and firearms, their intelligence was very consistent.

Su Chengyu told them that the soldiers of the Ninghua Inspection Division had gone to Yongde and asked them to continue to report the news. However, looking at this situation, I am afraid that it will be difficult for them to find an army to save Qingliu County in a short time.

Shi Lin searched the three corpses, turned out two wooden cards with symbols engraved on them—one of them had a chest beaten to pieces, and it was really impossible to search his body—and then turned to Su Chengyu and said, "Master, it is indeed the remnant of the White Lotus." ”

"White Lotus Sect?" Su Chengyu frowned slightly, this strange organization with the goal of "anti-government" was anti-Yuan in the Yuan Dynasty, anti-Ming in the Ming Dynasty, anti-Qing in the Qing Dynasty, and anti-Republic of China in the Republic of China. How did the popular rebellion in Tingzhou get involved in the White Lotus Sect?

While he was thinking about it, he heard an exclamation beside him, and turned his head to see Chanyi getting out of the car with him, but staring at the corpse on the ground, his face turned pale with fright, and his feet shook a few times.

It's no wonder she's afraid, except for the one who was crushed to death by the horse, all of them are extremely miserable. In particular, those who were hit in the chest by lead bullets leaked out of the cracks in their leather armor.

The bullet speed of the front-loading smoothbore gun is slow, but the projectile is heavy, and all the energy of the projectile acts on the human body. In addition, lead bullet is easy to deform, and it often messes up the body of the person who has been shot. It can be said that in this era, as long as you get shot, you don't need to be saved.

Su Chengyu grabbed the little girl and said with concern: "How are you?" Let's go back to the car first. ”

Chan Yi resisted the urge to vomit, not wanting to lose her temper in front of Su Chengyu, and for a moment felt that she really should stay in the palace. She fantasized about following His Highness to wander outside, waiting for her left and right, and finally being trusted and favored by His Highness, but now even she has to be taken care of.

But if you don't come out with Your Highness, will you die alone in the palace? She clenched her fists and told herself to hold on.

Su Chengyu comforted her again: "They are all wicked people, the worse they die, the better people can be at peace." ”

Chanyi nodded seriously, "Yes, Chanyi is not afraid!" ”

As he spoke, the guards who had been sent out returned, bringing back two horses, each carrying a corpse.

Several guards turned over and dismounted, nodded to the ground on one knee, lowered their heads and said, "The subordinates are incompetent, only catch up with two people." The other two seemed to be very familiar with the nearby terrain, and their subordinates got lost in the woods. ”

Su Chengyu nodded and asked them to rest first.

The Zhu family brother came over and said to Su Chengyu: "Your Highness, the thieves will definitely attract a large number of people here, and my subordinates think it is appropriate to temporarily avoid Ninghua or even continue to the north." ”

This former guerrilla promoted by the elder of the Yellow Pavilion has rich battlefield experience and knows very well the truth of avoiding reality and making up for fiction.

Shi Lin objected: "Master, we are only more than 100 miles away from the ancient walled city, we should take advantage of the fact that the people of the White Lotus Sect have not yet reacted and drive the horse south." When we enter the Wuyi Mountain Pass, the rebels will naturally not chase after us. ”

Su Chengyu looked at the two of them, and weighed repeatedly in his heart, retreating to the north meant that he didn't know how long it would take to reach Jiangxi, and to the south would face great danger.

He thought for a moment, then took out his map and looked at it, and finally pointed to a river more than ten miles to the west, "Let's go here." ”

Brother Zhu and Shi Lin were stunned.

"Master, those thieves are very familiar with this place, and it will be difficult to avoid them if they only walk ten miles to the west."

"Hide?" Su Chengyu smiled, "I didn't say I wanted to hide. ”

At night, after the fat man with a white scarf walked around the woods dozens of times, he finally got rid of the pursuers and fled back to Qingliu County.

At the head of the city, a man with a torch shouted, "Who is coming?!" ”

The fat man first shouted "Lifeless Sage" and the like, and finally said, "I am Wang Gu!" ”

And some people in the city recognized his voice, and immediately opened the gates.

After the fat man entered the city, he threw down his mount, which had run so much that his hooves trembled, and took the horse of the disciple who guarded the gate and went straight to the yamen of Zhixian County.

The former Zhixian Yamen is now the incense hall of the White Lotus Sect. There were more than a dozen torches burning in all directions, and a few sect members with swords patrolling back and forth, and when they saw the fat man, they didn't ask, and he ran all the way into the county hall.

The official case in the lobby has been removed, several clay statues have been placed, and smoke is billowing from the incense burner.

"The unborn sages are all in the world! Our Lady came to the world, and the world is governed! Not long after, with the sound of chanting the true secret, a middle-aged man in loose white clothes was surrounded by three disciples and transferred from the back house to the county government hall.

The middle-aged man glanced at the fat man and said sharply, "Wang Gu, what about the person you want to arrest?" ”

Wang Gu hurriedly knelt down and sang the truth first, and said with a bitter face: "Master, the disciple is about to catch up, but halfway through the encounter with a group of people who don't know whether they are businessmen or official gentry, dozens of guns are fired in turn, only me and Zhao Hei escaped. ”

The middle-aged man's eyes narrowed slightly, and he asked, "Merchant and official gentry?" How many centaurs are there? ”

Wang Gu recalled, "About fifty or sixty people, or seventy or eighty people, I don't really see it. However, there were six carriages and many horses. ”

"Master, it looks like a big family that has escaped." A swarthy and sturdy disciple beside the middle-aged man said, "And with such a strong family member supporting, there is a lot of gold and silver in the car." ”

The middle-aged man thought for a moment and said to Wang Gu, "Can you still find where those people are?" ”

"The disciples are very familiar with the vicinity of Tingzhou, and they can't run away."

"Okay," the middle-aged man said to the dark-skinned strong man beside him, "Yu Wu, you take one hundred and fifty disciples and three hundred Xiangmin, and Wang Gu will chase after you overnight." I will definitely cut off these evil ways that kill my sect members in one fell swoop! ”

"Disciple commands!"

Su Chengyu and several craftsmen brought by Tianxing Mansion were holding a flintlock bolt in the carriage to study.

Lu Ning, the most skilled of the craftsmen, was fastening the bolt to a wooden plank, and the fire sickle was nailed to death.

Then he pulled the hammer and pulled the rope in his hand hard. The other end of the rope was stuck at the junction of the trigger and the hammer, and as the rope was pulled, the hammer slammed into the fire sickle, bursting out with a spark.

"Sure enough, nailing the fire sickle can produce more fire." Su Chengyu nodded and pointed to the wooden board in Lu Ning's hand that fixed the bolt, "Just follow this, make ten more out." ”

Half of the more than 20 bolts he asked craftsmen to make in the Tianxing Mansion Ordnance Bureau were consumed.

In another carriage, tin boxes containing silver were vacated, and a craftsman was drilling holes in the sides of the boxes.

The carriage stopped, and the drilled box was handed to Lu Ning. He then nailed the plank-mounted bolt to the top of the box, and the rope attached to the bolt protruded through the small hole drilled in the side.

After all six iron boxes were processed, Su Chengyu took Chan Yi and Qiao Qian, who were careful and careful, to pour gunpowder into the drilled iron box.

After the tin box was used up, the small urn and the wooden box were used, and finally, a whole eleven dangerous goods filled with gunpowder were freshly concocted.

The carriage and horse also drove to the side of the small river that Su Chengyu had designated earlier.