Liu Yong listened to the words of the disciples of the Huashan Sect, and couldn't help but turn his head to look at Li Qiufeng.

Li Qiufeng said to Liu Yong: "Mr. Liu, I'll go with you." ”

Liu Yong said: "That's very good. It's just Li Shaoxia's injury ......"

Li Qiufeng stood up and said, "My injury is no longer serious, Mr. Liu doesn't have to worry." After that, he went to the inner room to get his long knife, and then went out with Liu Yong. Seeing that Murong Danyan was also about to follow, Li Qiufeng glanced at her and pointed at Ma Dongqing, who was sitting on the side crying. Murong Danyan knew that Li Qiufeng was afraid that something would happen to Ma Dongqing under her sadness, so he wanted to stay by her side. Although the boss was not happy, he finally stopped.

Li Qiufeng and Liu Yong walked out of the Zhou family's mansion and walked towards the gate of Dongcheng. It is only a hundred steps away from Dongcheng, and the two of them are fast, and they arrive at Dongcheng in a moment, and go up the road to the city. At this time, there were already many heroes standing on the head of the city. When the heads of the various factions saw that Liu Yong and Li Qiufeng had arrived, they greeted them one after another. Xu Chenghe, the head of the Qingcheng faction, said: "There is a person from outside the city, claiming to see Li Qiufeng and Li Shaoxia. We didn't dare to make our own decisions, so we asked Mr. Liu to come and get an idea. ”

Li Qiufeng held the battlement and looked at the city, but saw a person standing under the city, wearing a cloth coat and a backpack on his shoulder, like an ordinary foot merchant. Li Qiufeng recognized that this person was one of Sang Liangtian's two henchmen, and hurriedly waved his hand at the city, then turned to Liu Yong and said, "Mr. Liu, I know this person, please let him enter the city." ”

Since the Tartars were repulsed, Sang Liangtian's camp has not moved, but at noon he sent someone to transport the corpses of the Tartars under the city. After learning that the reinforcements' vanguard had arrived in the west of the city, although the defenders of the eastern city were doing as usual, they were not as noisy as they had been two days before, so they let this man go all the way to the city. Liu Yong saw that Li Qiufeng really knew this person, so he told the leader of the defenders in the city. And the prince commanded that the gates of the city should be opened, and that the men of the city should be let in. But the gate was opened with a gap for one person, and when the man entered the city, the gate was closed again.

Li Qiufeng walked down the city, greeted the man at the city gate, and led him to a no-man's corner in the urn city before stopping.

The man arched his hand and said, "The villain sees Lord Li." ”

Li Qiufeng returned the salute with his fists and said, "Hard little brother." I don't know what to call the little brother?"

The man said: "The villain's surname is Bi, his name is precious, and he is used under General Sang's account, and he came to meet Master Li on the order of General Sang." ”

Li Qiufeng said: "General Sang, can you send a letter?"

Bi Guigui said: "This is an extremely confidential matter, General Sang let the villain memorize it well, and came to see Lord Li." ”

Li Qiufeng thought secretly in his heart: "Although Sang Liangtian is a general who leads troops and releases horses, this wit is no worse than those civil officials. Immediately said to Bi Guigui: "Please talk to Li and listen to it." ”

Bi Guigui said: "General Sang said that the reinforcements from Xuanfu and Datong towns have arrived. It's just that the 3,000 forward troops have set up camp in the west of the city, but the army and horses of the headquarters have stopped fifty miles west of Yong'an City, and they have now set up a company camp, and they don't know what they are watching. The soldiers and horses of Shanhaiguan in the middle of the Nanshan Mountains had already assembled in large numbers this morning, but they suddenly dispersed to the battalions at noon. General Sang thought that the troops of Xuan and Da Towns were acting suspiciously, and seemed to have known that the army of Shanhaiguan wanted to attack the capital, so he would suddenly give up the eastward advance. At present, the situation is unclear, General Sang has sent people to the capital to investigate, and he also hopes that Lord Li will inform the garrison of Yong'an City that they must not relax their vigilance, so as not to be taken advantage of. ”

Li Qiufeng originally thought that after the soldiers and horses of Xuan and Da two towns arrived, the army of the Shanhaiguan General Army hidden in the South Mountain would advance westward, and then the Sang Army would block it on the way, and the reinforcements of Xuan and Da Liang Towns who arrived in Yong'an City would chase and kill from behind, and they could break the enemy army. Unexpectedly, the situation suddenly changed, and the original plan was completely frustrated. He thought to himself: "Could it be that Sang Liangtian has a different heart and wants to take Yong'an City again?" but then he thought about it: "If he wants to take Yong'an City, why should he send someone to tell me to strengthen the guard?"

Li Qiufeng pondered for a moment, and said to Bi Guigui, "Does General Sang have any other orders?"

Bi Guigui shook his head and said, "General Sang only needs the villain to say so much to Lord Li. He said that if Lord Li had something important to discuss, he could go to the camp to find him. ”

Li Qiufeng said: "Where is Zhao Zhen now?"

Bi Guigui said: "Now he is detained in General Sang's camp, guarded by fifty or sixty brothers, even if he has wings, he can't escape." ”

Li Qiufeng nodded and said, "Little brother, you can go back and tell General Sang that everything is safe in the city." It's just that you have to beware of the Yanagi sect sending people to assassinate you. ”

Bi Guigui hugged his fists and said: "After the villain goes back, he must report to General Sang." If nothing else, the villain will leave. ”

Li Qiufeng said: "If you go back like this, will you be seen by the Tartar soldiers?" I will send you out of Nancheng, although it is far away, the Tartar soldiers will not see it." ”

Bi Guigui said with a smile: "The Tartar soldiers suffered a big loss in the morning, and the commander of Duoyan Sanwei went to General Sanwei's camp to make trouble for a while, but was pushed back by General Sang. The commander said that if he wanted to attack the city, General Sang would attack it himself, but he didn't care. At present, the Tartar soldiers are guarding the camp, and they have a dislike with us, and they will not send people out to inspect at all, so Lord Li can rest assured. ”

The two said a few more words, and Li Qiufeng sent Bi Precious out of the city. After the defenders at the city gate consulted the leader, they opened a small gap in the city gate that only allowed one person to enter and exit, and let Bi Guigui out. Li Qiufeng walked quickly to the city, and saw Bi Guigui's figure disappear into the camp of Sang Liangtian's army, so he pulled Liu Yong to a no-man's land in the city and told Bi Guigui everything he said.

Liu Yong frowned, and said to Li Qiufeng: "Li Shaoxia, I won't tell you, Liu is becoming more and more incomprehensible now." Who are the masterminds behind this, and what is the purpose of these people?"

Li Qiufeng said: "This matter is complicated and complicated, and it is simple to say simple. However, to explain the ins and outs of the matter, we must start from the reign of the first emperor. During the reign of the first emperor, he repeatedly wanted to use troops against the Tartars and completely remove the threat of the Tartar soldiers. This is because the first emperor was fond of martial arts and wanted to make a greater career than Taizu and Chengzu. It's just that when the first emperor wanted to raise an army, the household department informed the state that the treasury was insufficient and could not supply the military baggage needed for the army's northern expedition. The emperor was furious and asked where the taxes collected each year were spent. The household report said that the Japanese in the southeast coast were becoming more and more troublesome, which had affected the supply of wealth in Jiangnan.

"Jiangnan taxes accounted for more than half of the Ming Dynasty's annual revenue, and the financial income was insufficient, so it was impossible to send troops to the north. The first emperor sent several groups of ministers to the southeast to supervise the army, trying to eliminate the Japanese invaders, but to no avail. Later, the first emperor traveled privately and brought a lot of fans and brocade guards from Dongchang with him. These people spied on the news among the people and came back to inform the emperor that it turned out that the sharp reduction in taxes in Jiangnan was indeed affected by the Japanese Rebellion on the one hand, but the impact was almost negligible. The main reason for the sharp decline in Jiangnan's wealth was that officials and wealthy households annexed a large amount of land, and the officials and gentry did not pay taxes or perform labor, and the state's wealth was drastically reduced. Some of the common people, who originally had some land, were greedy for small profits, and hung the land in the names of these officials and gentry, and only had to pay them a small amount of money and goods, and did not pay taxes to the state.

When the first emperor heard the report from Dongchang and Jinyiwei, he was immediately furious. He called several scholars in the cabinet and scolded them, and then ordered to measure the land in Jiangnan and severely punish the lawless officials and gentry. After a few scholars went down to discuss it, they sent an inspector to Jiangnan to preside over the measurement of land. It's just that after three years, the inspection of the imperial history has changed seven or eight people, and two of them are still in Jiangnan and died mysteriously, and the income of the Ming Dynasty is still only decreasing, not increasing. The first emperor was suspicious, and sent Dongchang and Jinyiwei to Jiangnan to secretly spy on the news. It was good that the result was not checked, but there was a big problem with this check.

Dongchang and Jinyiwei reported the facts, and it turned out that the officials who annexed land in Jiangnan were not only local officials, but also officials from other places regarded the four provinces in Jiangnan as a big piece of fat meat, and sent people to Jiangnan to buy land and land. And the officials in the capital colluded with the local gentry and joined hands to cheat, and everyone had a fortune. Several scholars are even big landlords in Jiangnan, but others come forward to hold the title deeds, but behind the scenes, these scholars make a fortune. After the first emperor ordered the measurement of the land in Jiangnan, most of the inspectors sent by several scholars were their protégés, and when they arrived in Jiangnan, not only did they not check the land, but colluded with the local gentry to buy the land on a large scale. There were two people who were not their protégés, and after they took office, they really began to thoroughly investigate the land annexation, and they were actually killed by local corrupt officials, but they were 'violently killed' when they reported to the capital. It's just that as a result, the land annexation in the south of the Yangtze River has become more and more serious, and the country's annual income has dropped sharply, and it is already beyond its means, not to mention the northern expedition, and even the military salaries for the suppression of the Japanese in the southeast coast will not be paid. ”

(End of chapter)