Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 99 Arrival
After receiving Chen Qiyu's order, Huang Degong ordered the army to rest and wait on the spot, and immediately sent people into the city to find the magistrate of Huaiyuan County and other chief officials. After explaining the situation, Li Qing, the magistrate of Huaiyuan County, immediately sent a messenger to lead the army.

This [-]-year-old courier named Wang Er often travels between the prefectures and counties under the jurisdiction of Fengyang Prefecture and is very familiar with the roads.Although I was terrified when I heard that I was leading the army to Shouzhou to suppress the bandits, but after the magistrate gave a reward of ten taels of silver and promised that his son would grow up and be able to take over his errand, he reluctantly agreed. down.Before leaving, Wang Er went back home, handed over the money to his wife, told his wife to be filial to his parents, and brought up his two sons. After that, he followed Huang Degong's soldiers to the military camp.

Under the guidance of Wang Er, Huang Degong ordered the rear army to change to the front army, and the fifty cavalry were divided into several teams as horse scouts, going back and forth to check the enemy's situation.The civilian men of the supply camp avoided the side of the road to make way for the army, and then followed behind.Because the road to Fengyang had been checked and it was extremely safe, Huang Degong personally took the rest of the cavalry as a forward and walked at the front of the army so as to know the situation ahead in time.

The distance from Huaiyuan to Shouzhou is not very far. After two days of marching, when Zhang Xianzhong was about to lead the people to flee overnight, Huang Deli led the vanguard and had already arrived at a village five miles away from Shouzhou. Come.

At this time, the sky was already in the evening, and the tall city walls of Shouzhou were already faintly visible. It would be completely dark in less than half an hour.Huang Degong ordered the village entrance to be surrounded on all sides to prevent anyone from leaving and leaking military information.The scouts reported that there was no trace of enemies within a radius of ten miles. Shouzhou City had not yet been breached, and the city gates were closed. At the top of the city, soldiers could be seen patrolling. Huang Degong breathed a sigh of relief. He arrived in time. This group of recruits who have never been on the battlefield can also add a lot of courage.

He sent two soldiers, holding his lieutenant's seal, and the governor of the five provinces Lu Xiangsheng's order to dispatch troops, went to Shouzhou City to contact the government, and asked them to prepare meals and a place for the army to open after dark. The city gate is for the army to rest and eat after entering the city.Although the new-style marching rations are much better than the original ones, no matter how good they are, they still make me feel sick when I eat them twice a day.

Xu You, who was personally leading a team to patrol the city, suddenly received a report from the soldiers guarding the north gate, saying that there were only a few riders who came down from the city and galloped back and forth, and now there are two more riders calling the gate, claiming to be reinforcements from the army from Shandong. .Xu You was taken aback when he heard this: The officers and soldiers from Shandong?Didn't Lord Liu say that the reinforcements came from Fengyang?The officers and soldiers from Fengyang should go through the east gate?Where did the Shandong reinforcements come from?
Xu You immediately sent someone to report to Liu Zhiyuan at the south gate, and hurried to the north gate with more than a dozen government officials, thinking as he walked: Could it be that the bandits pretended to be officers and soldiers and came to defraud the city?If that was the case, of course I would personally command the defenders to repel the bandits.Imagining himself majestic at the top of the city, exposing the lies of the thieves defrauding the city, and beating the angry bandits to flee in embarrassment, Xu You's heart suddenly became hot, and he couldn't help speeding up his pace, wishing he could get to the top of the city with one step. superior.

When he arrived in Beicheng, Xu You climbed to the top of the city, and while it was still bright, he looked down from the crenel with his hand.

I saw two soldiers sitting on two tall horses dozens of steps away from the city.They all wear a bamboo hat-shaped wide-brimmed iron helmet, with a small group of red hairpin tassels on the top of the helmet, a black double-breasted armor on the upper body, an iron net skirt and net boots on the lower body, a longbow on their back, and a loop bag on the left side of the saddle. There is a quiver full of feathered arrows, a saber hanging from the waist, and a heavy weapon like a hammer in the loop bag on the right hand.The two soldiers were both about 20 years old, tall and strong, and against the background of their equipment, a murderous aura rushed towards their faces.

Seeing this attire, Xu You basically confirmed that the visitors were indeed officers and soldiers.

He had watched the rogues from a distance more than once, and even watched them carefully from the lookout hole of the watchtower when Zhang Xianzhong attacked the city twice.

There is no lack of brave men among the bandits, but there are very few bandits who are so well-dressed, let alone energetic, and they cannot compare with the two men in the city.These two messengers, who were said to be officers and soldiers, kept their horses standing in place like this, just looking around non-stop. It was obvious that they had developed a habit of vigilance on weekdays, but the two of them did not speak a word from the beginning to the end. This is what elite soldiers look like!
Xu You leaned over and shouted loudly: "Two strong men in the city! My official Shouzhou judge Xu You! Can someone present the fuze?"

The two soldiers of Huang Degong looked at each other, one rode forward and came to the city, the other held a bow in his hand, drew out a feather arrow and hit it on it.

The soldiers who came to the city replied loudly: "My lord, I am a soldier of General Huang, the deputy commander of Shandong! Please put down the basket, so I can send the seal for inspection!"

Xu You hurriedly ordered to find ropes and baskets, but the city hadn't prepared them.

A yamen servant was clever, went down the city wall and ran to the homes of the nearby people, and returned after a while with a long rope and a bamboo basket containing vegetables. The bamboo basket was tied with a rope and fell to the bottom of the city. Yin and Lu Xiangsheng's military deployment documents were put into the bamboo basket, and the bamboo basket was quickly pulled up from the top of the city.

Xu You took the small and exquisite silver seal handed over by the yamen servant, on which were engraved eight characters: Huang Degong, deputy general of Shandong, and then took the military transfer document stamped with the seal of the governors of the five provinces, which said Huang Degong was recruited to go to the army. The order and date of aid to Fengyang.These are not things that the rogues can come up with. The rogues have never fled to Shandong, so there will be no seals from the generals of the Shandong army, let alone Lu Xiangsheng's military transfer documents.

After Xu Youyan had seen it, he ordered the original to be sent back to the city in a bamboo basket, and the guards in the city shouted after collecting it: "Please open the city gate and let a certain person enter the city, and the master of a certain family has something to say to your lord! "

Xu You condescendingly raised his eyes and looked around, but there was no sign of a large group of troops within a few miles of his eyes. In addition, he confirmed that the two were indeed officers and soldiers, so he ordered the soldiers to go down and open the gate of the city, and let them enter the city. The person who came was a thief pretending to be a thief, and the two of them couldn't make waves.But he still secretly told the soldiers in the guard to kill them immediately if they found something wrong.He didn't even think about it, if it was really thieves who cheated the city, just these two sturdy soldiers, not to mention a few guard soldiers, dozens of them might not be their opponents.

Fearing that the bandits would split up and attack, the gates of the four cities were blocked with bricks, stones and other sundries. It took a long time for dozens of soldiers and civilians to clean up the sundries, and the heavy gates slowly opened. , it was completely dark.

After the two soldiers rode their horses into the city, they specifically warned that the city gate should be closed, and no more debris should be used to block it, and the army would arrive later.The soldiers and civilians guarding the city were all overjoyed when they heard the news. Since the bandits came under the pressure, many people have been unable to sleep for several nights under the fear of the bandits. Now they can finally go home and have a good rest.

After dismounting from their horses, the two guards clasped their fists and saluted Xu You. One of the guards asked, "May I ask this lord, where is the Lord Zhizhou of Shouzhou? The general of a certain family ordered me to meet the Lord Zhizhou in person, and then send My family has explained in detail what the Lord has entrusted to me!"

Xu You felt a little uncomfortable when he heard this, but he still said: "Master Liu is at the south gate, and I will send someone to take you to meet him! Zhang Laosi!"

"The little one is here!" A guard hurriedly stood up and replied.

"Lead the way quickly, and take the two strong men to meet the master of Zhizhou! This officer will continue to inspect, so go!"

"Little one obeys! Two military masters, please follow me!"

After the two soldiers saluted Xu You with fists in their hands, they got on their horses. One of the soldiers drove the horse to Zhang Lao Si's side, complaining that he was offended. The front of the saddle knocked on the horse's belly, and the horse walked away under the eyes of Xu You and the others with their mouths wide open and their shocked eyes.

After the two rode for dozens of steps, a group of people waited until they came back to their senses.

"It's really supernatural power! Mr. Zhang weighs more than 400 catties!"

"No! It's hard for me to hold him on the ground! He just picked him up and kept him!"

"The difficulty lies in the horse! You can't rely on your legs, you have to rely on your arms and waist!"

"Hey! I'm afraid you must have hundreds of catties of strength in your arms!"

"You didn't see that arm, it's thicker than my thigh! It's not me, a slap like this can kill me!"

"Haha! Fuck you, I thought you wanted to slap him to death!"

A group of yamen servants chatted excitedly in low voices, and everyone felt more at ease: With such elite soldiers coming to help, no matter how many thieves are there, they will not be enough.

Xu You secretly praised: It is really a strong soldier rarely seen in the world!If the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty looked like this, why would they be afraid of these rogue bandits!
He didn't know that these two soldiers were both from the Yongwei Battalion. They were elite soldiers who were selected by thousands of people and practiced every day. The equipment, food and supplies of the soldiers of the Yongwei Battalion can be said to be unique in the world. The money and food spent every year are enough to feed tens of thousands of ordinary officers and soldiers. Because it is the armed force that Chongzhen trusts and has high hopes for, he has invested huge financial and material resources in it.

(End of this chapter)