March 17, 17th year of Chongzhen. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

At dawn, the clouds were overcast and the light rain was endless. Fog fans, Russian snow slightly.

Looking at the smoke and flames in the suburbs, it was thieves burning and plundering all the cities, villages and towns in Gyeonggi. There are rumors in Beijing every day, saying that thieves are coming, but how far away they are, there is no consensus. Some people say that the thief is only a hundred miles away from Beijing, and some say that it is only dozens of miles.

The Japanese in Beijing set up horses to probe the horses, but most of them were plundered into the camp by thieves, and few rode back, even if someone returned, there were many remarks, and each had different opinions.

In the rain and snow, the majestic Jingshi stands, quite sad, and on the majestic city wall, the crowd of ants is busy.

This great city, since the 19th year of Yongle Ming Chengzu officially set the capital of Beijing, after years of continuous expansion and reinforcement, has been thick and solid. In the huge city, there are palace cities, imperial cities, inner cities, and outer cities.

In the inner Miyagi on Saturday, there is a door eight. The imperial city is eighteen miles in circumference, and there are six gates. The inner city is fifteen miles on Thursday, and there is a gate nine. The outer city is the south of the capital, and the east and west corner towers are embraced, and there are seven doors on Tuesday. The inner and outer walls together amounted to sixty or seventy miles.

Such a majestic and huge city is only available in the Ming Dynasty at this time, and there is no such thing as a world in the world, east and west.

In the light rain and misery, in the snowflakes dancing, Fu Yingchong, the chief soldier of the Beijing camp, stepped on the city wall of Yongdingmen with heavy steps, followed by four armor soldiers, all of them were heavily armoured, and the pieces were made of fine iron, and the nail leaves clanged between the lines.

These armor soldiers are not simple, but Fu Yingchong recruited elite heroes from Xuanfu Town through Chen Jiugao's relationship, and all of them have the skills of first-class swordsmen. They are well-proportioned, their bodies are strong, and their iron armor of thirty or forty pounds is draped over their bodies, but they seem to be effortless, and their steps are as light as tanuki in their movements.

As the hero of the Jinzhou War, the emperor's favorite general, the thief is about to advance, and Fu Yingchong, as the chief soldier, naturally needs to take up the heavy responsibility. Therefore, he defended the largest of the outer city gates, the main thoroughfare from the southern part of Gyeonggi to and from Gyeongshi, ,—— Yeongjeongmun Gate.

This is located on the central axis, the main gate of the outer city wall of the capital in the middle of the left and right front gates.

Two years have passed, and Fu Yingchong is still so tall and thin, but his shrewd face is full of confusion at this time. His family knew his own affairs, and he knew that he was a good hand at making connections and making money in business, so he let him lead the troops to fight......

The battle of Jinzhou in the fourteenth year of Chongzhen relied on the military exploits of the Jingbian Army, and his subordinates looked mighty and majestic, but they were actually all goods. Not to mention the heavy losses in the Beijing camp after the plague, whether the newly recruited children were soldiers or thieves, Fu Yingchong didn't know at all.

Over the years, he has been busy making money from friends, but in fact, he rarely puts his mind on military affairs, and many things can be passed. Only Hong Chengchou will be more active during that time, and after Hong Chengchou is seriously ill, he will slack off.

Alas, Fu Yingchong sighed heavily, he regretted it a little, he should have listened to Chen Jiugao's words earlier, and put down everything to go to Xuanfu Town. With his current net worth, it is not bad to open a few commercial stores over there, or to learn from Chen Jiugao to open a dart game, and you can live a chic life.

It's just that he was reluctant to give up the foundation of the Jingshi, and he also had a fluke mentality, but he didn't expect that the thieves would be so strong that they would hit the foot of the capital so soon. I hope that Jingshi can hold it, as long as it lasts for a few months, the Marquis of Yongning will not watch it.

With complicated thoughts, Fu Ying Chong went to the Yongding Gate city wall, and many soldiers here were busy, busy adding guards and erecting Hongyi cannons, and the Qing four-wheel grinding disc cannons captured during the Jinzhou War were impressively listed.

In the battle of Jinzhou, the Ming army won a complete victory, and captured hundreds of Han Eight Banner Hongyi heavy artillery, after the imperial court asked Wang Dou about the meaning, leaving dozens of Hongyi heavy artillery to protect the cities in Liaodong. Some of them were transported to Jizhen, and the rest were transported back to Jingshi, where they belonged to Fu Yingchong's Shenji Battalion, which contained these four-wheeled grinding disc cannons.

Yongding Gate was built in the 32nd year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty, meaning "always stable", there are city towers and arrow towers, the city wall is high and thick, there is a deep moat moat below.

Although the city is strong, Fu Yingchong looked all the way, and the uneasiness in his heart became more and more intense, and the busy sergeants were only a few, most of them were lazy and lazy, and they did not think that the thieves would cause them at all. A lot of people got together, laughing as usual, and looking at the people who were doing the work like fools.

Thousands of guerrillas watched lazily, and some even gathered in the grass factory to roast the fire, slowly beating horses and cranes, and did not bother to pay attention to defense at all. Occasionally, he shouted two voices, and what he said was full of clichés such as 'loyal to the country and dedicated to serving the emperor', which could not arouse the slightest wave of foreign sergeants.

In the fog, snow and rain, watching Fu Yingchong and his party coming, the sergeants at the head of the city had different expressions. They either looked cold or laughed. Most of the Jingying are the sons of nobles and the descendants of officers, although Fu Yingchong is the chief soldier, but few subordinates will be in awe of him.

Especially those squad soldiers who were urged to work, their expressions were numb, and when Fu Yingchong passed by, they just didn't see it.

Some people glanced at each other, and they were full of coldness and hatred.

Some of them saw the four armorers behind Fu Yingchong, who were wearing fine iron armor, and their eyes were still full of jealousy.

Without exception, all of them were ragged and their uniforms were tattered. Most of them are only dressed in mandarin duck battle jackets, no fur hats and leather robes, etc., and they are just shivering in the cold spring and rainy and snowy weather.

Fu Yingchong sighed in his heart, there was a lot of hard labor in the class, and he sometimes sympathized when he saw it, but he couldn't do anything, after all, he was also a beneficiary. As the chief soldier of the Beijing battalion, he often served in the battalion privately, drove the tireless, and often let them work without paying.

Although it was not a taste in his heart, but the scene still had to be said, Fu Yingchong showed two huge tiger teeth and inspired a few words, and the city wall was just a sparse echo of the echo.

Some close battalion officers naturally wanted to help Fu Yingchong support the scene, and they shouted: "Fu Ye has to listen carefully when he speaks." ”

While swinging the sergeant with a leather whip.

However, most of them beat people who worked hard, and those who were blue-skinned and suspicious in appearance did not dare to fight.

Fu Yingchong's heart was even more unpleasant, and he was about to say something, when suddenly there was a cheer, and someone shouted: "Long live the lord has sent money to the army." ”

……

The commanders of each battalion brought the money and distributed it to the guards of the city, and the guards of the gate had 100 yellow coins each, and the soldiers guarding the wall had only 20 coins per soldier. Holding the copper coin, many people sneered, and some even flicked the money with their fingers, and said jokingly: "The emperor wants his life, so that my generation can defend the city, and this money can only buy five or six baked cakes." ”

The person next to him smiled and said: "It's not bad to have five or six baked cakes, Chen Sanye, wait to buy food at noon, remember to help my brother bring three baked cakes up." ”

The people next to them laughed loudly, there were no cooking utensils on the city wall, and the soldiers guarding the city ate in the market, and when they were hungry, they went to the market to buy food to eat.

Fu Yingchong was a little embarrassed, he knew that the emperor had no money, and the money in the treasury had already run out, and only these were left after collecting the treasury gold.

Of course, the city defenders will not care, they are resentful in their hearts, and Fu Yingchong is not easy to say.

He walked away by inspecting the city defenses, and saw a group of people gathered there, a man with a dark face talking something, his eyebrows fluttering. There were several squad soldiers with shabby military uniforms squatting next to them, and they kept nodding their heads, all looking yearning and full of anticipation.

“…… You know? The righteous army has always been generous, and on the occasion of the Lantern Festival, do you know how much Chen San and the others get? ”

With an expectant look on his face, he stretched out his finger: "This number." ”

Several squad soldiers next to him all took a breath of cold air: "Thirty taels? ”

The man said proudly: "So, where to go, I think everyone knows, right?" ”

He raised his head suddenly, but saw Fu Yingchong, whose face was pale, obviously he listened to what he said.

He was not afraid, his eyes followed, quite provocative, and he even hummed a ballad on his lips: "Eat his mother, eat his mother, eat not enough to break the king." He opened the gate to meet the king, but when the king came, he did not pay for the food. ”

There was a thousand generals not far from him, and this soldier spoke out of great rebellion, but he just listened with a blank face.

The soldier hummed a ballad, the soldiers next to him laughed, and the "Chen Sanye" who played the money laughed even more when he heard it.

Several squads around this soldier also looked blazing, and there was resentment in their eyes.

Fu Yingchong gritted his teeth, he didn't know what to do, at this moment, a dragon groan, a cold flash, but it was a cold-faced armored soldier behind Fu Yingchong who pulled out his blade, and the long knife in his hand slashed through the soldier's neck.

The soldier was stunned, he touched the blood marks on his neck in disbelief, and then the blood sprayed out, and with a "bang", his head hit the ground, and his body slowly fell.

A smell of blood spread.

Everyone in the city was shocked, and the "Chen Sanye" who played the money stood up with a shocked face.

Before he could speak, another armor soldier behind Fu Yingchong pulled out his blade, he grabbed a few steps, and in the wide open mouth of "Chen Sanye", the long knife in his hand stabbed violently, like piercing a piece of paper, piercing his body and piercing his heart at once.

"Chen Sanye" body trembled violently, and soon, his body slowly fell soft, his expression was full of pain, confusion and consternation.

There was silence in the city, and the officers opened their mouths and hesitated, but no one came out to speak.

The sound of footsteps was heavy, and the armor leaves on his body clanged, and the long knife in the hand of the armor soldier with a cold face pointed obliquely, and a few drops of blood slipped down from the blade, and he pressed over step by step.

Several squads of soldiers around the soldier looked scared, and some wanted to kneel down and beg for mercy, but another person stalked his neck and said, "What, you want to kill someone?" You magnates, day. The mountains and seas, big fish and meat, but even the monthly salt, grain and silver are not replenished. A certain Zhang Shouyin has been in the capital since he arrived, building a city tower today, repairing the city wall tomorrow, and building a mansion for a noble family the day after tomorrow, but he is even in arrears with the rations for his life...... I just want to save enough money for a good piece of cloth...... It's better to live than to die, kill me, I'm dead! ”

His tearful howl made many people feel the same way, especially those squad soldiers.

One of them muttered: "That's it, I don't treat us as human beings on weekdays, but now that the thieves are calling, they think of us." ”

The cold-faced soldier paused, he carefully looked at the squad soldier who was howling with his neck in hand, and saw that he looked haggard and wrinkled, maybe only in his thirties, but his hair was gray everywhere, full of wind, frost, snow and rain, but his expression was stubborn and full of unbending.

He also put the knife into the sheath and sneered: "You have a hard time, do you think that the thieves will have a good life?" If so-and-so doesn't kill you, it depends on how you will die if you fall into the hands of a thief. ”

Everyone on the city wall was silent, and many people were still numb to watch, Fu Yingchong opened his mouth, and suddenly felt extremely regretful, regretting that he shouldn't have been busy making money all day long, and ignored his soldiers.

He looked at the officers around him, some just didn't see and hear what was going on, some looked embarrassed, some looked evasive, some didn't care, and some sneered.

He felt even more excited, but if he really wanted to investigate it, there were few officers and soldiers in the city who should not be killed.

They strategized their horses and walked along the city wall, Fu Yingchong looked at the Yongding Gate, there were some battalions set up on the side of the city, because the thieves came from the north, after they arrived at the Beijing Division, they might attack from the east and south, so the three battalions in the capital were pulled, the train cannon, the antlers of thistles, and the Yongding Gate, Guangqu Gate, and Chaoyang Gate were deployed along the area.

However, after the matter of Fang Cai, whether these camps outside the city can stop one or two, Fu Yingchong is not sure at all.

At this time, they are going to the west, in the past is You'anmen, Fu Yingchong looks at the city, the southwest corner of the outer city is called Yange, from You'anmen to Guang'anmen, there are many back to live together. Fu Yingchong heard the wind and said that the group wanted to open the door in chaos.

He sighed in his heart, not to mention the matter of Fang Cai, that is, who in Beijing did not say so? From ordinary military and civilian people, to court ministers, to eunuchs, who doesn't mean this? Who knows what's really going on in their hearts?

After arriving at You'anmen, the situation here was the same as Yongdingmen, which made him frown, and then he rode his horse to Guang'anmen, but saw a general receiving the arrow from the eunuch guarding the gate, and then the city gate was opened, and many refugees entered, and no one dared to ask, and the ministers who assisted in guarding the side just sat back and watched.

Fu Yingchong sighed again in his heart, the thieves are approaching, there are many refugees, and many people want to take refuge in the city, but who knows how many of them are people and how many are thieves? If you really want to defend the city, you should not be allowed to put it in anyone.

Fu Yingchong knew that His Majesty only believed in eunuchs now, and the city guards of all gates were all internal officials, that is, the Admiral City Guard, Xiangcheng Bo Li Guozhen, and also the Admiral of Everything Wang Chengen, who often lived on the upper floor of Yongding Gate, and Fu Yingchong knew very well.

Do you know if these eunuchs also have the intention of changing their masters?

He pulled his horse and walked back, passed through You'anmen and Yongdingmen, and then went east, where were Zuo'anmen and Guangqumen.

Zuo'anmen is located in Dongyuan, which is a remote "village gate", here are open fields everywhere, growing vegetables and grains, and then reeds everywhere, and there is no sign of the city at all. This is a low-lying flood-prone area, with a lot of water and grass, and it has never been the direction of the enemy's main attack, so the city defense is easy to say.

In the end, Fu Yingchong arrived at Guangqumen, in the second year of Chongzhen, Huang Taiji had led the Eight Banners Tartars to attack here, and this time it was also the key point of city defense.

It's just that as soon as Fu Yingchong arrived, he heard a whisper: "...... The Son of Heaven hunted in the south, and dozens of internal officials rode out of Desheng Gate. ”

Seeing that they had noses and eyes coming and going, Fu Yingchong sighed again, and then a soldier beside him said: "Master Fu, the army's heart is unstable, and you need to reward the soldiers to calm their hearts." ”

Fu Yingchong was a little reluctant, but thinking that this was not the time to be stingy, he gritted his teeth: "That's it, I'm out of my big teeth, so I'll go to the mansion to get 30,000 silver yuan and reward the soldiers." ”

They went down from the Guangqu Gate, and then prepared to enter the inner city from the Chongwen Gate, and entered their mansion to get the silver.

Just when I passed a low alley on Chongwenmen Street, I saw that the residents here were whispering, they were men and women, old and young, and most of them were women, and they gathered in a circle, especially listening to a businessman in the middle.

"You know what? The emperor ran away, and dozens of eunuchs walked out of the Desheng Gate in ......"

"Ah, the emperor has run away, so what city are you still guarding?"

"Yes, don't defend it, otherwise the rebels will attack the city, and it will inevitably be dead and wounded, and my good one can defend the city on the Yongding Gate......"

"Ah, Eighth Aunt, hurry up and tell your good down, the righteous army is going north, and the main attack must be Yongding Gate and Guangqu Gate, this sword and arrow have no eyes......"

"Yes, Aunt Ba, you have had such a hard time all these years, and it is easy to have a man who is really good to you with a slave, but it can't just be gone."

The words of the neighbors made the woman called "Eight Aunts" even more anxious, she was about thirty years old, she looked haggard, her clothes were full of patches, but the pulp was very clean, her hair was meticulously combed, and her face was quite stubborn.

There was a girl standing beside her, fifteen or sixteen years old, beautiful in appearance, but with a vegetable on her face and patches on her clothes.

This woman is called Yang Bagu, who was born in a garden, and she asked the merchant expectantly: "Shopkeeper Tian, the righteous army is really like what you said, don't kill people, don't love money, don't rob, let everyone be safe?" ”

The neighbors looked forward to it, and the shopkeeper of Natian smiled and spoke, with a strong Shaanxi accent in his voice: "Of course, this ballad has been spread all over the place, otherwise why would the Dashun army be like a bamboo, enter Shandong, and fight to the foot of the capital?" ”

Yang Bagu asked again: "After the Great Shun Heavenly King is in charge, our errand money can also be exempted?" ”

Shopkeeper Tian smiled and said: "Of course, it is not bad, it is not good, it is very clear in the ballad." ”

The neighbors were excited: "Great, this is really saving the people from hanging upside down." ”

"I really hope that the rebels will call, and then establish a new dynasty to live a good life."

Yang Bagu's eyes shone brightly.

Her daughter, Niannu, tugged at her sleeves and looked full of anticipation, imagining a heavenly day.

Yang Bagu's family belongs to the garden households, Ming Shi is known as the household errand saying, Jingshi as the imperial capital, there are many yamen, but also the service is huge, in addition to the ordinary households, military households, craftsman households, stove outdoors, there are a large number of miscellaneous households, such as mausoleum households, garden households, sea households, households, treasury services, etc., trivial and incalculable.

In addition to the privileges and exemptions enjoyed by officials, lifters, prisoners, and students, the rest of them had to undertake miscellaneous errand work. After the late Ming Dynasty, the miscellaneous servants were basically converted into cashiers, and then hired by the government to fill the service. These people have a body, such as a treasury, a servant, a bucket level, etc., a certain amount of food, silver, all kinds of gray income, and so on.

If the rest have no way, they can't mix up the "compilation", and those who don't have a quota will have to pay honestly. Just like Yang Bagu, her former husband was a gardener, and she paid four taels of silver every year, which was actually doubled. After her husband's death, Yang Bagu still couldn't avoid this kind of forced labor.

And because of the difficulties of state affairs, there is no man in Yang Bagu's family, and the service money has been collected more severely, and now it has reached ten taels a year.

This made Yang Bagu indignant and felt oppressed, and she desperately wanted to change this fate.

On weekdays, she can't do anything, but if she resists, her head will be even more bloody, and now she finally has hope for a new life.

At this moment, she is so looking forward to the arrival of the Shun army, saving the people from hanging upside down, and no longer living under the **** of the Ming Dynasty.

At this time, when they saw Fu Yingchong and the others coming, they all looked at them with indifference and hatred.

"Look, the dogleg is here."

"Their good days are coming to an end......"

They whispered, although their voices were low, how could Fu Yingchong not hear them, he was no longer able to deal with these people, he only felt that all kinds of dissatisfaction of the Jingshi converged, and finally converged into one voice, that is, to change the master and change the dynasty.

He even saw the street patrol soldiers coming and going, they had already passed a few times, and no one would have heard these great rebellious words, but they should have not heard them.

Fu Yingchong rode over directly, and the armor soldier with a cold face glanced at Yang Bagu and the others, his eyes were indifferent, and there was a hint of pity in his heart.

Seeing the silent past of Fu Yingchong and the others, there was a smug look in the eyes of the shopkeeper of Natian.

He smiled and said: "The righteousness of the human heart can be seen. (To be continued.) )