Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 475

When Zhao Xin rushed into the city gate and passed through the blasted city gate, he stopped suddenly and couldn't help but stare at the scene in front of him.He suddenly realized that he almost made a big mistake.

At this time, the sky has turned slightly blue, and there is a moat more than three meters wide lying 30 meters away from Anjiangmen, and a wooden suspension bridge with two cast iron chains has been raised to a height of more than two meters above the ground. The ends of the two iron chains stretched all the way into the gate tower of Anjiangmen.

In fact, if it wasn't for the violent explosion just now that made the city gate tower crumble, and scared the soldiers who were desperately turning the winch to flee in panic, the suspension bridge would have been put away long ago.At that time, even if Zhao Xin and Wang Yuanfang could swim across the moat, Jiao Xun and the others might not be able to.

"Damn!" Zhao Xin cursed, then took off two oval grenades from the tactical vest, pulled out the safety catch, and threw them towards the gate tower, followed by two explosions, There were several wailing sounds from the city tower, and the falling masonry debris hit the helmet with a rattling sound.

Then, he took out a magazine filled with black-lacquered bullets from the upper pocket of his vest, replaced the original magazine, pulled the safety, and started shooting at the iron chain tied to the suspension bridge.

In the faint morning light, Zhao Xin shot each shot slowly and steadily through the illumination of the tactical flashlight and the guidance of the scope. Every shot hit the connection between the suspension bridge and the iron chain. The sparks of the iron chains shot out.

After seven or eight shots, there was a crisp sound of metal breaking, and the taut iron chain suddenly detached from the suspension bridge, swung back like a whip, and hit the wall brick of the city gate, dropping a layer of dust.

After another ten seconds, when another iron chain was also broken, the heavy wooden suspension bridge crashed onto the stone platform opposite the moat.

"Okay! Everyone hurry up and cross the bridge!" Zhao Xin yelled into the city gate hole, then replaced the previous magazine, trotted to the other side of the suspension bridge, turned around and squatted down, raised his gun and stared at the city gate Every move upstairs.

Tungsten alloy armor-piercing bullets are not easy to buy and are also very expensive. Even Zhao Xin is reluctant to waste them!
There was a sound of chaotic footsteps in the city gate, and everyone who was still in shock stepped onto the suspension bridge one after another.Because most of the female family members have bound feet, they can't walk fast at all. At this time, no matter Jiao Xun or Zhong Huai, they all carried their mothers or wives on their backs.

Zhao Xin was still watching the movement on the top of the city, and said loudly: "All go to the canal pier!"

At this moment, Wang Yuanfang, who was in charge of the rear of the palace guarding the Anjiang Gate, saw figures emerging from both sides of the street to the north, as if they were spying on the movement under the city gate, so he immediately fired several shots, hitting the white wall in the distance Puffs of light smoke rose from the ground, and then there were several screams and exclamations faintly.

At this time, on the Anjiangmen city wall, seven or eight green battalion guards huddled under the wall but did not dare to move.Whether it was the "enemy of ten thousand people" just now or the interruption of the iron chain of the suspension bridge, they were frightened to death.In their view, the methods of these thieves are really terrifying, comparable to sorcery, and absolutely beyond the reach of human beings.Instead of fighting back, it's better to lie down obediently, and the world will be peaceful when the thief leaves.

When Wang Yuanfang ran up the suspension bridge, Zhao Xin had already turned around and ran towards the canal.He took a long stride, and after running about 50 meters, he came to the front of Jiao Xun and others.When he crossed the crowd and came near the pier of the canal, he found that there was no one on the river bank.

The huge explosion at the city gate woke up the sleeping people nearby, but when Zhao Xin threw a grenade on the city tower, all the people who woke up scattered and fled along the river bank.

Zhao Xin came to the north wall of a house, and said to Jiao Xun and others following behind him: "Everyone is waiting here!"

Jiao Xun carried his mother on his back and asked out of breath, "Where is the boat?!"

Zhao Xin didn't explain, and said loudly to the rescued people: "You wait here, I won't call you, don't show yourselves!"

Everyone listened to what he said with absolute certainty and no doubt, they all hurriedly nodded in agreement.After running for more than 200 meters in a hurry, many people were out of breath, so they gathered under the north wall.

At this moment, Wang Yuanfang had already arrived, and he said to Zhao Xin, "Go quickly! I'll watch here!"

When Zhao Xin came to the side of the canal, he thought for a while, then removed the silencer from the gun, then went to the trestle of the pier to find a piece of water without boats, and then pointed the muzzle of the gun to the sky and fired several times . The "bang bang" gunshots scattered the wild ducks and wild geese that were foraging in the river in shock, and those who were peeping in the dark shrank back in fright.

In the blink of an eye, Zhao Xin had already taken out his large yacht, and the nearly seven-meter-wide and 30-meter-long shuttle-shaped hull immediately filled the water surface in front of the trestle bridge.

He entered the cabin from the diving board at the stern, started the power supply, opened the fuel line to the filter, the cold water pump and the water supply valve, then turned on the electrical switch, then went to the control room to lower the anchor and start the engine.When Zhao Xin confirmed that all the instruments were showing normal, he pressed the switch of the siren and informed Wang Yuanfang to bring people on board.

However, when dozens of people helped each other around the house that blocked their sight, and turned their eyes to the pier, they were suddenly dumbfounded, as if petrified.

In the eyes of these [-]th-century Qing Dynasty people, a large yacht parked in the canal can no longer be called a ship, but a "divine object" of ingenious craftsmanship.Even Jiao Xun, Zhong Huai, and Huang Chengji, the three Confucian scholars who never believed in the theory of gods and ghosts, have a little shaken in their beliefs at this moment.

This is simply not something humans can do!
Not to mention the rescued people, those peeking around the city of Anjiangmen and around the canal also opened their mouths wide in shock, unable to close them for a long time.At this moment, they only have one question in mind, where did that big white shuttle-shaped guy on the pier come from?

Just when Jiao Xun and others boarded the boat from the diving board one by one under the urging of Zhao Xin and Wang Yuanfang, the Jiang Family Garden near Pingshan Hall in the northwest of Yangzhou City was already full of eruptions.

Jiangjia Garden, also known as "Shuinan Flower Villa", is the villa of the late salt merchant Jiang Chun's family.During his lifetime, Jiang Chun was fond of poetry and wine, and liked to entertain scholars from all over the world, so he built a reading building here, including "Autumn Sound Hall" and "Jiangjia Arrow Road".Because there are pavilions, ponds, medicine fences and flower paths everywhere, and the scenery is beautiful. When Qianlong went to the south of the Yangtze River, he visited this place twice to show his favor to Jiang Chun.

In fact, it's because Jiang Chun has donated a lot of money as the general merchant these years and is obedient!
Shuinan Flower Villa is very close to Yangzhou City, and only two miles away from Zhenhuai Gate in the northwest corner.Changlin and the others chose to stay here because it was close to the city and convenient to go back and forth; secondly, the environment was good, and the Jiang family took good care of them in terms of food and lodging.

After the explosion at the gate of the government office, Governor Chang Lin, Taiwanese Li Qingjue, and Xuezheng Hu Gaowang woke up from their sleep one after another.Although both Zhao Xin and Wang Yuanfang's guns were equipped with silencers, and there was no sound when they fired, the explosion of the grenade and the sound of warning gongs on the city wall all reminded the three of them that something serious happened in Yangzhou City.

More than half an hour later, Changlin sent bidders to report back. They learned from the guards on the north city wall of Yangzhou that thieves had broken into the Yangzhou government office and kidnapped Jiao Xun, who was involved in the treason case. Dozens of people are waiting, fleeing towards Anjiangmen in the south of the city.

Hearing this news, the three of Chang Lin were stunned.Immediately, the three of them thought that they had only arrived yesterday, and someone would rob the prison immediately at night. Don't ask, someone must have tipped off the news!

The reason why the thieves chose to attack at this time must be because they were worried that Jiao Xun and the others would be tortured to confess and implicate other people.Thinking that Beihai Town was involved in Jiao Xun's treason case, the three officials shuddered.

Speaking of Changlin, his evaluation in later history books is still good.This person is also decent and has a reputation as an official.Perhaps because of the relationship with the clan, he confronted He Shen many times, and was later dismissed and demoted to Yaerqiang.After the fall of Heshen, he successively served as the governor of Yunnan, Guizhou, Minzhe, Shaanxi, Gansu, and Guangdong.

Since Beihai Town was involved, Changlin would inevitably be associated with Xu Zhuang, so he immediately ordered his subordinate Goshha to take his governor's badge and rush to the nearby Zhenjiang, and ordered the Taihu Association's garrison camp stationed there Immediately send troops to help Yangzhou.

Then, Changlin ordered his staff to draft several warrants one after another. After stamping the seal, he sent his subordinates to Taizhou, Dongtai, Gaoyou, Xinghua, Baoying, Yancheng and even Huai'an Prefectures and counties, as well as the local green camps, Strictly order them to inspect the city defense immediately, select young and strong, and check suspicious people entering and leaving the city; at the same time, they are required to inspect all water, land, lake and main roads in the area under their jurisdiction, so as to prevent thieves and criminals from escaping into the sea or entering the city. Xuzhuang in Sheyang Lake.

And Li Qingyu, who is a native of Taiwan, saw that the governor was acting resolutely, and said to himself that I should not be idle.Immediately, in the name of the chief officer of the Jiangsu Procuratorate, he also issued warrants to various states and counties, ordering them to strictly inspect the security of the prisons they belong to, and at the same time cooperate with the chief officials of the states and counties to conduct interrogations, and not neglect their errands.

Unlike the governor who corresponds to the chief officials of various places, the inspector division corresponds to the officials who are responsible for arresting robbers and judicature.

And Xuezheng Hu Gaowang saw that adults in Taiwan were also busy, and thought to himself, what should I do?Compared with the other two, Mr. Hu is actually the most depressed. If he had known earlier, he would not have taken this muddy water, but it is too late to regret it now.

Originally, he didn't come to Yangzhou at all, but news came back from Beijing that the imperial court planned to let him return to Beijing as the right servant of the Ministry of War, and he was about to be promoted.It's just a trivial matter of getting rid of the fame of the three scholars, and it can be done by writing a warrant to the instruction of Yangzhou Prefecture.

The problem is that Hu Gaowang likes to find talents in the local area, and he wants to come to Yangzhou to have a look, so that he can make a good name before leaving office.

Regardless of the fact that in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the admiral had little power and could only manage scientific examinations and education in one province, but he had to be a Jinshi with two backgrounds to be eligible, and his social status was very high.There are also many daring and black-hearted people in history, and there are many people who cheated on the cash register and lost their heads.

Hu Gaowang said okay, let's also write a few warrants to the local governments, county schools, and academies to warn the students and scholars that they must concentrate on studying for the imperial examinations, and serve the imperial court as the highest pursuit in life.Don't learn from Jiao Xun, Zhong Huai, and Huang Chengji, who collude with bandits, collect anti-books, and conspire to cause chaos.

It is said that although these three people had already ordered their subordinates to prepare a boat by the river and were ready to run away at any time, the reason why they did not run away was because of the deterrence of the "Laws of the Qing Dynasty".

According to the regulations in "Laws of the Qing Dynasty. Household Laws", if the governors of the provinces are in the place where they are stationed, if they encounter banditry, they must stick to it first.If anyone flees after hearing the warning and causes the city to fall, he will be executed in prison; if the crime is serious, he will be executed immediately.

Yangzhou City is located at the throat of the Grand Canal, and it is also the most important place. Once it is lost, the crime will be serious.From the governor to the county magistrate, no one can escape, and the lightest ones have to be exiled to Yili.

While Changlin and the others were in a hurry, Zhao Xin and Wang Yuanfang had already left the canal wharf with dozens of people on a yacht.

The white shuttle-shaped yacht crossed the Yijiang Gate in the south of Yangzhou City in a blink of an eye. Layers of blue waves aroused by the bow and silvery white waves swept across the ship's side, and then merged into a white wave at the stern, and the water belt expanded. On both sides of the canal, there are thousands of hectares of waves.This scene stunned the people on both sides of the canal, their eyes and jaws dropped to the ground.

Next, the yacht carrying dozens of people turned from the south of Yangzhou City to the east of the city along the canal. After a while, he disappeared from the sight of the young and strong soldiers on the city wall.

Until this moment, a soldier standing on the city wall seemed to have remembered something.He frowned and recalled for a while, until the people around him had almost left, and suddenly pointed in the direction of the yacht and shouted: "I remember! I saw it that night six years ago!"

Half an hour later, when the yacht passed the port area of ​​Shahe Port at a low speed and sailed into the broad Yangtze River, Jiao, Zhong, and Huang, who had already been exhausted physically and mentally, finally woke up and dared to fight and explode from the beginning to the end. There were only two people who caused such a big scene, nothing else.

Judging from the limited knowledge of the three scholars, these two people are too fierce!Presumably those fierce generals in ancient times were nothing more than this, right?
Sitting in the lounge on the ground floor, Zhong Huai was in a trance for a while, and found that his wife, children, and parents were already asleep on the bed, so he got up and walked up the stairs to the main deck. new.

After leaving Yangzhou City, Zhao Xin was in charge of sailing the boat here, while Wang Yuanfang went to the uppermost flying bridge with a machine gun and a bazooka to prepare for emergencies on the river.

After a busy night, Zhao Xin felt a little tired at this time, but he still didn't dare to slack off, as long as the boat didn't pass Chongming Island, it wouldn't be completely safe.

But now there were no enemies around, so Zhao Xin took off the skull mask on his face, with a cigarette in his mouth, squinting at the water in front of him.When he heard footsteps on the stairs, he turned his head and saw Zhong Huai, then nodded, indicating that he could sit on the sofa behind him.

Zhong Huai originally wanted to salute the person in front of him to thank him for saving his life, but when he saw the other person's profile, he suddenly froze.At this time, the sky was already bright, and the ship was heading east again. The sunlight passing through the cockpit glass just hit Zhao Xin's face, making his facial contours extremely clear.

Zhong Huai stared at this face that seemed to have been seen somewhere for a while, and suddenly an unbelievable answer came to his mind.

When he rubbed his eyes and reconfirmed that he was right, Zhong Huai's face flushed with excitement, he fell to his knees, and kowtowed in a choked voice: "Now, Zhong Baoqi, pay homage to King Zhao! Thank you for saving your life, Unforgettable!"

　By the way, there is a TV series "Great Qing Salt Merchant" in which the protagonist Wang Chaozong is based on Jiang Chun, but Ni Dahong's Qianlong is too wretched, and he doesn't look like an emperor at all.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)