weaving

Carts passed slowly by one after another, and behind each cart were four or five soldiers. The carts were pulling either bloody corpses or sinners from various families.

Wheels rolled by all over the streets and alleys. The sergeants stationed at various street corners were accustomed to this and did not have any special reactions. On the contrary, the soldiers and civilians hiding at home saw this scene through the cracks in the door. They were all silent and did not dare to say anything. A sound.

The entire residents of Zhangjiakou Fort are waiting in panic for what is happening in front of them to pass as soon as possible. Some of them have a look of gnashing their teeth. Even if these people are ordinary soldiers and civilians, they are still smuggling the Tartars. A person who profits from trade.

They have lived here for generations and have made a living on this. What they are worried about is whether the financial path they rely on for survival will be cut off in the future. Is there any possibility of making a living from this?
In the houses and warehouses of various houses inside and outside the fort, the profiteers resisted with unexpected tenacity, and there were almost no cases where they were easily captured.

Even if they knew they were resisting, they still had to resist. This more or less caused some trouble for the Yongyi Army. Perhaps in their eyes, this was to protect their hard-earned family property and their long-term companionship. family.

After all, in their hearts, there is no thought of family and country!
If Zhang Cheng hadn't planned this for a long time and was able to hide in the fort beforehand, he would have suddenly captured the south gate, led the army into the fort, and killed the merchants in the fort by surprise.

This made the Shanyou profiteers work independently and did not form a whole. The weak performance of garrison Shi Jinzhong's direct surrender became the last straw that killed them.

Just imagine, if Shi Jinzhong's will can be more determined, as long as he organizes nearly a thousand soldiers and horses under his command, fight desperately in the streets, and buy some time for the profiteers to come out.

At that time, they could see that their respective servants and guards were entangled together, instead of like now, like a plate of scattered sand, being defeated one by one.

Although even if they can be truly organized and have Shi Jinzhong's garrison cooperating with each other, without the protection of the fortress wall, they are doomed to fail no matter how they resist.

Moreover, it was still a fiasco!
But if that is the case, it is bound to cause Wu Zhizhong a lot of trouble. At least he will not be able to control the entire fort so easily, nor will he have such a record.

The casualties were so rare that they could be written into the military textbooks of Jiangwu Hall!
However, the most miserable person was undoubtedly Zhangjiakou garrison Shi Jinzhong who chose to give up resistance and surrender.

poor person must have something mean!
Shi Jinzhong did not intend to surrender to Zhang Cheng, but was determined to be tied to the slave traders. To this end, he not only strengthened the defense of Zhangjiakou, but also expelled all those who did not know the truth from the fort.

The reason why he gave up resistance was just an external manifestation of his cunning heart. Faced with the reality that the fort gate had been broken and most of the Yongyi Army had entered the fort, Shi Jinzhong naturally wanted to save his own life first.

He knew very well in his heart that if the fort gate was not breached, he would definitely organize several powerful forces, plus the soldiers and civilians in the fort, and there would be brave men under the heavy reward. With the fort's stronghold, Zhangjiakou Fort would be able to defend it for three to five days. Day, it's not a big problem.

What's more, the two brothers-in-law of the Lai family are close at hand. After they get the news, they will definitely come to help urgently. At that time, they can attack from inside and outside and defeat the invading Yongyi army in one fell swoop.

But by the time he reacted, the Yongyi Army had already entered the fort, controlled the traffic on the street, and even captured the east gate, causing him to completely lose the advantage of holding on to the city. The situation was over, and continuing to resist would be like hitting a stone with an egg.

Therefore, he resolutely abandoned his alliance with Shanyou profiteers and chose to surrender. He originally thought that if he continued to guard Zhangjiakou in the future, he would wait for an opportunity.

But he didn't expect that Wu Zhizhong could see through the dirty thoughts hidden in his heart at a glance, so he killed him with a knife after using him to recruit the Lai brothers.

There were hundreds of garrison soldiers in the barracks next to the garrison office. Wu Zhizhong first confiscated their weapons, and then sent a group of soldiers to guard them here, so that they would not cause trouble.

…………

Since this time, the sound of gunfire and screams have been ringing in Zhangjiakou Fort.

In the face of absolute force, the resistance of profiteers is so unbearable that it will only cause more and more corpses to fall on the streets, in mansions, in shops, and in warehouses.

The smell of blood in the air became stronger and stronger, and the atmosphere of terror reached its extreme at this time. Every household in the fort was speculating about the situation outside and what was going on.

"This is the Huang family's business. The defense master invested money in it, and General Lai of Youweicheng also invested money in it. You can't touch it... you can't touch it..."

His roar was full of despair, but what he responded to was a flurry of muskets. After the explosion, there was no sound again...

On the Bell and Drum Tower, Deputy General Xu Jinyong listened to the reports from all parties and knew that the inside and outside of the fort were completely controlled by his subordinates. He led his guards to inspect the east gate and south gate before heading to Kuixing Tower.

When I arrived downstairs from Kuixing, I saw a group of people blocking the back door. It was very noisy, and there were even some women yelling and cursing. I don't know why?
After he quickly walked up and separated the crowd, he saw a woman with disheveled hair in gorgeous clothes, who was constantly pushing the soldiers of Weiyuan Camp, as if she wanted to go to Kuixing Tower.

Behind her were several maids and women, all of whom were as silent as a cicada. They neither dared to pull the woman in fine clothes, nor dared to help push away the Weiyuan camp sergeant.

"Whose subordinates are you? You have occupied my building for nothing. Why don't you allow me to go upstairs to meet my husband?"

When a commander saw Xu Jinyong coming, he hurriedly walked up to him and said in a low voice: "General Xu, this woman claims to be the guard's wife and insists on going up to Kuixing Tower. We stopped her and kept crying here. "

Just at this time, the slightly fat woman in gorgeous clothes also saw Xu Jinyong coming. Knowing that he was a general who kept his word, she got the strength to push aside the blocking sergeant and walked straight to Xu Jinyong. In front of you.

"Which of you subordinates who can kill a thousand swords don't recognize me?"

As soon as she came up, she pointed at Xu Jinyong's nose and yelled angrily: "You short-lived people, don't survive. Do you know how powerful my mother's family is.

Hurry up and ask this old immortal Shi Jinzhong to come out to see me. I'll count to three. If he doesn't come out, I'll take my people back to my parents' home. Let's see how Shi Jinzhong ends up! "

The more she spoke, the more enthusiastic she became, and her fingers were about to poke the tip of Xu Jinyong's nose: "You are a murderer..."

"Bang!" There was a crisp sound, and everyone was shocked on the spot.

It turned out to be Xu Jinyong's personal guard. Seeing him insulting his general like this, he couldn't bear it. He slapped him on the ground regardless of the situation.

Although it is a bit crude, it really proves the saying "simple and crude, but the most direct and effective"!

The fat, well-dressed woman who was originally arrogant and arrogant was now standing there with a blank look on her face, with a look of disbelief on her face, revealing a very aggrieved look.

"Wow……"

Suddenly, an angry and mournful howl pierced the sky, seeming to perforate the eardrums of everyone present. Almost everyone showed uncomfortable expressions at the same time.Even Xu Jinyong, who was known to be extremely brave, couldn't help but frown. He glared at the soldiers around him angrily.

It was the soldier who had hit someone just now. He understood instantly, strode forward, picked up the woman's collar, "Pah! Pah!" They were two big-necked thieves.

The woman's hair was scattered all over the ground, and she covered her fat face in a daze, with an expression of disbelief and horror, but she still muttered in a low voice: "I am from the garrison mansion. General Lai Tianlu of Youweicheng is my second brother, and General Lai Tianshou of Geyubao is my third brother. From childhood to adulthood, no one dared to hit me... No one can hit me..."

It turned out that this fat woman in gorgeous clothes was Lai Shi, the wife of Zhangjiakou garrison Shi Jinzhong, and Lai Zhucui, the ninth sister of the two brothers, Lai Tianlu and Lai Tianshou, who were the garrison commanders on the West Road and the middle garrison in Xuanfu Town.

"Shi Jinzhong, you damn bastard who can kill a thousand swords, where did you find these dirty thieves and robbers? How dare you come to beat me... My parents have never beaten me... My second brother and third brother have never beaten me. Pass me...

Look...look...Shi Jinzhong...my second brother and third brother will not let you go...my father will not let you go..."

Although Xu Jinyong was brave and fierce, he still couldn't do anything to the woman, but he couldn't let her fool around here, so he said with a cold face: "You two stay here, if this crazy woman keeps messing around, you will Serve her with an ear scraper, bark once and hit her twice."

After he finished speaking, he walked up to Kuixing Tower without looking back.

…………

"General, where is the garrison at Zhangjiakou?"

Xu Jinyong didn't dwell on it. After he went to Kuixing Tower, he met Wu Zhizhong and asked straight to the point where Shi Jinzhong was.

Wu Zhizhong was also slightly surprised and asked, "Why are you looking for him?"

"The guard lady wants to see her master, and she is making a lot of noise downstairs."

Seeing that Wu Zhizhong was speechless after hearing this, Zhang Jintai only glanced at himself, and immediately understood: "Report to Vice General Xu, Zhangjiakou garrison Shi Jinzhong did not obey the military orders of the Zhenshuo Mansion, refused to open the fort gate, and regarded our army as the enemy and wanted to resist. , has been executed under military law."

Xu Jinyong was only slightly surprised when he heard this, but he didn't feel much surprised. He heard Zhang Jintai pointing to a middle-aged strong man standing not far away and continued to report: "This Liu Xingren, the former [-]th General of the Jia Ding Team, is now He has been promoted to Deputy Qianhu and temporarily takes over the guard position in Zhangjiakou."

As he spoke, he pointed to another dark and fat middle-aged man and said: "This Du Chengshan, who was formerly the Chief Hundred Officer, has now been promoted to Deputy Qianhu, assisting Liu Shoubei in taking charge of the defense of Zhangjiakou."

Xu Jinyong has been at the Bell and Drum Tower, responsible for controlling the fort, capturing major profiteers, and inspecting their homes, businesses, warehouses and other affairs. He is not aware of the situation here. Now after Zhang Jintai's brief report, he also has Have a basic understanding.

Seeing that Zhang Jintai had briefly explained the situation to Xu Jinyong, Wu Zhizhong turned around. He looked at acting guard Liu Xingren and deputy guard Du Chengshan and said lightly: "Shi Jinzhong, in vain, sold himself to a profiteer and had an affair with him. Slaves, thieves, escorts, acting as a protective umbrella for traitors and profiteers are not allowed by national law.

Although Shi Jinzhong has been executed, his family members have not been imprisoned. They are still occupying the garrison office and spreading the news. What kind of dignity is this? "

Liu Xingren was originally the leader of Shi Jinzhong's retainer team. Although he received many benefits from Shi Jinzhong on weekdays, he was often bullied by his mother-in-law, Lai Shi, and he had long complained about it.

In addition, he has now been promoted from Baihu to Deputy Qianhu, and is expected to take over the garrison of Zhangjiakou in the future. Now is a good opportunity for him to actively perform. He immediately said: "General Wu, I am going to arrest Shi Jinzhong's family members and search them." Family wealth.”

"Ugh……"

Wu Zhizhong raised his hand to stop him and said: "Capturing the traitor's family is a trivial matter. How can I work for Liu Shou?"

When he said this, his eyes were looking elsewhere, but Du Chengshan knew that this was calling his name. He hurriedly stepped forward and saluted: "General Wu, I would like to go to the garrison office to arrest the traitor." Families, check the family property."

"Ah."

Wu Zhizhong said "hmm" seemingly casually to show his approval.

Just when Du Chengshan was about to leave, Wu Zhizhong said lightly: "Zhang Jintai, please accompany Du Qianhu. Don't interfere with the arrest. Du Qianhu is fully responsible. All you have to do is take over the government office and investigate the history of rebellious ministers, their loyalties, their private affairs, and other matters."

"Here!"

After Zhang Jintai responded loudly, he got up and went out with Du Chengshan.

Although Wu Zhizhong meant to let Du Chengshan take the lead and Zhang Jintai to assist, Du Chengshan did not dare to really follow what he meant. He stood there and waited for Zhang Jintai to come up and accompany him. He followed behind with a smile on his face.

"To cut the grass, we must eradicate the roots. If the family members of the rebellious ministers intend to resist, they must not tolerate it!"

Just when the two of them were about to cross the threshold, Wu Zhizhong's last instructions floated into their ears like gossamer. Although these words were soft, they contained extremely heavy weight.

Zhang Jintai, who existed like a supervisor, performed well, but Du Chengshan's fat body was shocked. He turned around involuntarily and looked at Wu Zhizhong, but was frightened by the power in his eyes and did not dare to ask any more questions.

"Little obedience."

…………

Xu Jinyong reported to Wu Zhizhong about the arrests of profiteers and the seizure of houses, shops, and warehouses inside and outside the fort. Wu Zhizhong was deeply satisfied with this operation, and even said that it had exceeded his expectations.

He first ordered Liu Xingren, the acting guard, to go to the barracks to stabilize the mood of the guards in the fort. After all, there would be places where they would be needed in the future, and he could not cause trouble for himself at this time.

After Liu Xingren left, Wu Zhizhong invited Xu Jinyong to sit next to him, poured him a cup of tea, and asked him: "Jinyong, do you think I am too cruel to attack women and children?"

Xu Jinyong did have this idea in his mind, but now that Wu Zhizhong asked him about it personally, he didn't know how to answer for a while. (End of chapter)