Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 189 The Thousand Knights Scroll Hiraoka

"The first climber will be rewarded with a hundred taels of silver!"

"boom--"

On the sixth day of October, the rebel army swept in. The guards of Yanzhou, Shandong were defeated at the Daqing River. The Daqing River fell, and the guards retreated to Dong'e in a hurry.

The rebels then came and began to demolish the houses outside Dong'e City to build siege equipment.

In the afternoon of that day, the rebel general Shen Zhi commanded [-] rebels to attack the city. Fortunately, there were more than a dozen cannons left over from the Jiajing period in Dong'a city.

With the help of [-] guards and a dozen artillery pieces, the rebel army did not break through the city that day. At this time, Dong'e City was heavily guarded, with soldiers guarding every gate.

"The gunfire stopped..."

"Really, I don't know if the rebels have retreated."

"In this world, it's not that the imperial court has no disaster relief, but these guys actually want to raise their flags to rebel."

"It's probably just a commotion, and it won't take long for it to subside."

On the streets of Dong'e, the people stood in the yard, using chairs to pad their feet, propping their hands on the wall, chatting through the wall, it was very hot.

Since the city was taken over, no one could go to the streets at will until they got the news.

But even with such regulations, under the atmosphere of the late Ming Dynasty, the common people still had a way to chat.

Some soldiers and horses passed by and saw them like this, but they didn't yell or scold them, but trotted to change defenses.

Most of the people living in this area are civilians, so they can chat freely.

However, as night fell, some subordinate officials began to knock on the doors of the common people, and then said, "The military camp is small, and the soldiers and horses are borrowed", and then they divided up and lived in the common people's homes.

Some families are big and divided into four or five, while others are small and divided into one.

No matter how it is divided, the head of the household needs to take care of the food problems of the soldiers.

Even so, the civilian area of ​​Dong'e still couldn't accommodate [-] soldiers, so other areas were also arranged for people to live in.

Yang Shun, who was only a scholar, also had two soldiers living in his home, but the two who lived in him had no rules at all, not to mention trampling on the poultry in the house, and begging Yang Shun for dozens of pennies every day.

Three days later, he gradually felt that it was difficult to continue, so he had to discuss with his neighbors and invite Yang Baihu, who was in charge of their area, to have a meal together.

"Yang Baihu has a hulking back, and he looks like a mighty general in the army."

"I'm sure that after the suppression of the rebels this time, they will definitely be promoted!"

"Hey... Where is it, it's absurd, it's absurd..."

At night, amidst the sound of flattery, in the private room of an ordinary restaurant, Yang Shun in Taoist robes kept fawning on Yang Baihu in paper armor, and Yang Baihu was also praised and chatted with them.

"According to Yang Baihu's opinion, when will the rebel army be put down?"

Seeing that he was pleased, Yang Shun carefully asked when the battle would end, and kept pouring wine for Yang Baihu.

On the contrary, Yang Baihu got drunk and immediately laughed and said:

"Hurry up! I heard that the court has dispatched the four cavalry guards guarding the capital to go south. There are more than [-] cavalry. If the rebels see it, they will be scared to pee!"

"That's it..." Everyone at the dinner table breathed a sigh of relief when they heard that the imperial court had dispatched troops to the south to suppress the rebellion.

It was also because of this incident that it started. When Yang Shun asked Yang Baihu other questions later, Yang Baihu always answered every question.

In the end, I ate this meal for an entire hour, but the effect was not bad. Yang Baihu asked the chief banner officer accompanying the army to instruct the soldiers to stay away from Yang Shun's house and stop making trouble.

After the general flag left, Yang Baihu originally wanted to have a fun night, but someone suddenly opened the door of the private room.

Yang Shun and the others looked at it, but saw that it was a military officer in the army who came forward nervously, and then handed a note to Yang Baihu.

Yang Baihu took the note and unfolded it, his face changed greatly, he got up quickly and said: "The rebels are going to attack the city at night, you all go home, guard this night, I will treat you again tomorrow night. "

"How can this be done? It's still here tomorrow night. I'll wait for a treat." Seeing this, Yang Shun quickly comforted him, and Yang Baihu also led the soldiers out of the restaurant and went straight to the city wall because of the urgency of the matter.

When Yang Shun and the others saw that the matter was settled, they went home separately.

But as soon as they got home, news came from outside the house that the official army had a small victory over the enemy army and had secured the city wall.

The news spread, and everyone smiled and congratulated each other.

Yang Shun went back to the courtyard, but his pregnant wife was greeting the three messed-ups for dinner.

"Gao Niang, these three are..."

"Husband, these are my parents and younger brother..." Gao Niang, who was pregnant, immediately stepped forward and pulled Yang Shun to sit down at the dining table. Yang Shun took a closer look, and the three people in front of him were not his wife's natal family. .

"This, this... Father-in-law, what are you doing..." Yang Shun got up anxiously, and pushed the food in front of the three of them.

Father-in-law, who was a little full, also cried while explaining the experience of his group.

It turns out that Pingyin City in the southeast has been captured by the rebels. As a talented scholar, his father-in-law led people to escape to Dong'e after several reversals, and he was going to join his son-in-law Yang Shun.

But I didn't want to go to the city because I didn't know the place, and I took my wife and children to look for it for three days before I went door to door and asked where Yang Shun's family lived.

Regarding this, Yang Shun could only sigh: "I changed yards with Gao Niang half a month ago. I wanted to write a letter to tell my father-in-law to pick you up, but I didn't expect this to happen..."

The so-called matter is Xu Hongru's rebellion.

"The rebel army held the banner of saving the people, but after they entered Pingyin, they began to be looted by rebels, and finally developed into a massacre of the city, so you should be careful."

Yang Shun's father-in-law told about what happened after the fall of Pingyin, which made Yang Shun feel trembling.

Just when he was about to say something, there were shouts outside the door.

"The rebels have entered the city! The rebels have entered the city!"

At this time, there was suddenly shouts from outside that the enemy soldiers had already entered the city, and Yang Shunjia's door was also slapped frantically:

"Accordingly, the rebels have entered the city! Hurry up and hide all the valuables at home!"

Yang Shun heard the voice of his friend, and quickly got up and trot to open the door. After the door opened, he saw two young scholars in Taoist robes. They both told Yang Shun the news of the rebels entering the city, and then notified Yang Shun hurriedly hid the things at home.

Before Yang Shun could say anything, they said they were going to inform other friends, and then ran deep into the alley with umbrellas.

Yang Shun was a little flustered, and immediately closed the door. After checking the latch, he returned to the hall and said to the family:

"Hide your things. Pengsheng and the others say that the rebels have entered the city. I'll go out and find out."

After all, Yang Shun picked up the oil-paper umbrella and ran out of the door with the big umbrella, and his wife also inserted the door bolt after he left.

Yang Shun went outside in the rain with a big umbrella, but the street was in a mess, and the people were running around.

Yang Shun had just confirmed that the rebels had entered the city, and heard someone say, "It's not that the enemy army has entered the city, but that the imperial court's reinforcements have arrived."

But before Yang Shun could heave a sigh of relief, suddenly sewage splashed in the rain, and a group of refugees with disheveled hair and bare feet rushed towards him.

"what happened?"

Yang Shun asked anxiously, but no one responded to him.

After finally grabbing a person, before he could ask any questions, he saw dozens of riders galloping from west to east, fleeing in embarrassment, the momentum was surging, and the crowd ran away one after another.

Yang Shun was squeezed in the crowd, but he could still see clearly that one of the dozens of riders was Yang Baihu who was drinking with him just now.

Look at that appearance, he didn't even bring his personal guards with him, so there must be no doubt that the enemy soldiers entered the city.

"Go away, go away!"

The general abandoned his defense and fled, and the soldiers defending the city lost their morale. They immediately abandoned their armor and uniforms and jumped off the city wall to escape for their lives.

Some people died of smashing their heads, and others broke their leg bones.

Those who escaped took their weapons and hacked at the people blocking the way, trying to escape with the generals, but when Yang Shun, who was surrounded by the crowd, looked back at the city wall, there was no one there.

The civilian husbands who were summoned to defend the city also ran down the city wall in panic. Only then did Yang Shun grab a person and ask why.

It turned out that last night the rebels changed into the clothes of Pingyin's defenders and horses, and cheated to open the North City Gate under the banner of Pingyin's reinforcements. Now Dong'e City has been captured by the rebels, and the rebels are pouring in continuously East A City.

After inquiring about the news, Yang Shun was so anxious that he didn't even bother to ask for the umbrella that was squeezed out, and hurried home. After knocking on the door for a while, his wife asked his identity, and only opened the door after knowing that it was his husband who came back.

Yang Shun hurriedly squeezed into the house, then hurriedly locked the door and bolted it, and couldn't control his wet hair, grabbed his wife's shoulders and asked:

"Is everything hidden?"

"Hide it well, ask Dad and the others to dig a big hole, hide the food and valuables in a big wooden box, wrap it in oiled paper and bury it."

Yang Shun's wife was taken aback, and answered subconsciously, but Yang Shun turned his head and looked, the father-in-law and the three had simply washed their cheeks and hair, changed into their own clothes, and they were much cleaner.

"The rebel army has entered the city, and it is estimated that a notice will be posted later."

Yang Shun reminded his father-in-law, and the father-in-law who had experienced the Pingyin incident also said anxiously:

"The rebels are not restrained at all, I'm afraid Dong'a City will also..."

"Probably not. After all, Dong'e is a land of water transportation, and it is impossible for the rebels to..."

tuk tuk-

Yang Shun wanted to explain, but suddenly he heard an urgent knock on the door, so he ran to the door and asked, "Who is it?"

"Zhaoju, I am a Confucian, don't open the door, just hide it after listening!" The voice sounded, it was Yang Shun's classmate, and he lived near the west gate.

"I peeped at the city wall from the window in the back hall of the house, and saw that the rebel army was sparse, and they stopped and walked."

"There are miscellaneous women among the rebel soldiers. Judging by the color of their clothes, they are all local women in Dong'a. Be careful."

After saying that, Yang Shun's classmate left, and when he heard what his classmate said, Yang Shuncai became very frightened, and turned back to his wife and said:
"If the enemy soldiers enter the city, if anything happens, you can use your hairpin to cut yourself off so as not to be humiliated."

"Ah?!" Yang Shun's wife was so frightened that her eyes turned red immediately, and she was stunned for a while before crying and nodding her head, forcing out a sentence: "Okay!"

Immediately, he wept again, and Yang Shun couldn't bear it and said: "The rebels are inhumane, you are pregnant with Liujia, if you are caught, you will definitely not survive."

"Now I just hope that the rebels will look down on us, and leave after robbing the treasury and granary early."

He didn't have any confidence in what he said, and the people around him were sobbing.

At this time, the sky was getting brighter, but the sounds of murder and footsteps were also heard in the alley. Yang Shun and his wife's family did not dare to stay in the house, so they could only climb upstairs in fear and hide on the roof.

It's just that the rain was getting heavier and heavier, and the five of them shared a blanket, and their whole bodies were soaked by the rain, cold and hungry.

But even so, no one said anything, because around them, the sound of mourning pierced the heart and frightened the soul.

Yang Shun's family of five lay on the roof. They didn't dare to grab the eaves until late at night when their voices became sparse, and knocked stones to make fire for cooking.

However, at this moment, fires broke out everywhere in the city, there were more than a dozen places nearby, and countless places far away.

The flames in Dong'e city shone like thunder and lightning, and the sound of divination was endless. Yang Shun's wife clutched his arm in fear. Although Yang Shun himself was afraid, he could only pretend to be calm for his wife's sake.

They squatted in front of the stove, and faintly heard the painful groans of the survivors who were injured, and their mourning was intermittent, which was indescribably miserable.

It was not until the rice on the stove was cooked and the fragrance wafted out that everyone woke up and looked at the people around them. No one dared to chopsticks, and no one could come up with an idea.

At the critical moment, Yang Shun's father-in-law proposed to dig out the hidden rice grains and silver money, and then divide them into five shares, in case of emergency, or to save a life.

After Yang Shun heard this, he also felt that the method was good, so he took his father-in-law and brother-in-law to dig out the things, and after dividing the things into five parts, everyone returned to the meeting hall in the house, where they crowded together to rest for the night .

It was difficult for everyone to fall asleep that night. In the night sky, there was a strange bird in the air that made a sound like a reed, and it seemed like a child was crying. It seemed to be not far from people. It was creepy to hear, and I couldn't help tightening the bedding. .

Until dawn, the fire in the city weakened, and Yang Shun also woke everyone up with a shot, and took his family to the roof to hide again.

It’s okay if you don’t go up, but when you go up, you find that dozens of neighbors are already lying on the roofs of each house, hiding in the gutter between the roofs.

"There are so many people, why don't we change places..."

Yang Shun's wife was a little scared, but Yang Shun reached out and patted her hand to show comfort.

But I don't know if Yang Shun's wife had a premonition, or they were too unlucky.

When they hid until noon, suddenly a person escaped by climbing the wall in the east wing of the neighbor next door, and a rebel soldier wearing a red scarf chased after him with a knife.

Seeing the pursuers on the roof, the soldier quickly went up to the room, and immediately saw Yang Shun and the others.

"..." Seeing dozens of people hiding on the roof of the row, the soldiers with knives froze, a little frightened.

But at this time, there was an old man clasped his hands together and begged for mercy: "Master, please forgive me..."

"Get down!" It seemed that the old man's sheepish appearance reminded the soldier of his current identity, and he pretended to be fierce and threatened with a knife.

In desperation, everyone had no choice but to get off the roof, and Yang Shun's family was not spared.

They were forced off the roof, and then the gates of all the courtyards were kicked open. More than a dozen rebel soldiers wearing red scarves drove them into the alley and into the street.

When they came to the street, Yang Shun and the others huddled together in fear, and there were hundreds of people who were driven out from several alleys.

Facing hundreds of civilians, the dozen or so rebel soldiers first demanded money from everyone one by one.

Some who had no money were beaten and scolded. One of the women was holding a baby girl in her arms. When the angry rebel soldiers found out, they raised their hands and grabbed the baby girl and threw it into the mud. drive away.

After that, the rebels drove hundreds of people with knives like dogs and sheep, and walked towards the prosperous place in the city.

During this period, if someone does not move forward, he will be beaten or killed immediately by the rebels.

The women were also tied around their necks with long ropes, and the ropes were dragged like pearls. Because of the difficulty of walking with small feet, the women kept falling, covered in mud, and fell with every step.

At this time, the streets were full of abandoned babies, trampled by horseshoes or human feet, their hearts were shattered, and the sound of crying filled the field.

When passing by the Dong'e Central Axis Avenue, Yang Shun saw corpses piled up in the ditches, and many died of severed hands and feet.

The ditch that was more than one mile long and three feet wide was filled with corpses, and in front, there were more corpses lying on the ground.

Yang Shun's wife was a pregnant woman. Seeing such a horrible and disgusting scene, she immediately knelt on the ground and vomited.

Yang Shun wanted to help, but saw a rebel approaching with a knife, and was about to chop his wife with the knife.

"Rumble..."

Time seemed to stand still for an instant, and the booming sound sounded, and the rebels who were about to swing their knives and the surrounding rebels were also stunned.

"What's going on? Where's the sound of so many horseshoes?"

A rebel asked nervously and loudly, and Yang Shun thought of the news that Yang Baihu said that the imperial court had transferred iron cavalry to the south to suppress the rebellion, so he immediately shouted to the surroundings:

"It's the iron cavalry from the imperial court coming to suppress the rebellion! Run!"

After that, he dragged his pregnant wife and ran into the alley next to him, and the hundreds of people also ran around after hearing the words.

A dozen or so rebels couldn't take care of them, and after hacking and killing a few people, seeing that they couldn't be stopped, they were also afraid of being besieged, so they ran out of the city.

Yang Shun took his wife skillfully to the roof of the street and watched the dozen or so rebels running towards the gate of the city, but at this moment, the sound of frying beans sounded.

"Crackling-"

The moment the dense voices sounded, more than half of the more than ten rebels fell down, and then the black shadow rushed into the city from the gate of the city, and the iron cavalry wearing the cloth face armor of the Ming army came out in a file, and Yang Shun clenched his fists. , eyes staring tightly.

"Pass down the order of the King of Qi! Not one of the rebels who participated in the massacre will be left behind!"

One person rode his horse and swung a knife, he chopped down one person in an instant, and shouted orders, while the cavalry behind him kept pouring into the city from outside the city.

At this moment, Yang Shun's ears were filled with the sound of rumbling horseshoes.

He stood up and boldly shouted to the general riding the horse:

"The rebels are all in the west city, where rich businessmen and scholars live!"

"Huh?" The general reined in his horse, and subconsciously aimed his lance at the direction of the sound, but after seeing Yang Shun's disheveled appearance, he relaxed his vigilance, and said to Yang Shun:

"The tens of thousands of rebels outside the city have been defeated by His Royal Highness King Qi, you can go outside the city to rest first, drive—"

After all, the general rode his horse and led hundreds of riders to kill the west city that Yang Shun said. As for Yang Shun himself, he took his wife down the roof and walked towards the gate of the city.

While walking out of the city gate, they saw the Ming army blocking the city gate with horses.

The Ming army raised the blunderbuss as soon as they saw Yang Shun, but Yang Shun could only shout in horror:

"I'm not a rebel!"

"Come here!" There was a voice at the gate of the city asking him to pass, Yang Shun could only support his wife, and moved his steps carefully, finally walked from the dark corridor to the sunny place.

When the surrounding Ming troops saw him and his wife, they put down their guns one after another. A chief flag officer waved his hand to signal him to pass the pass, and explained:
"If you're too hungry, walk a mile forward, there's a porridge shed there."

"Yes... yes... thank you, Mr. Jun..."

Maybe it was the aftermath of the catastrophe, or maybe the experience of the past few days was too terrifying, Yang Shun nodded meekly like a dog and sheep, and took his wife to the porridge shed one mile away.

When he came to the porridge shed, he saw hundreds of survivors sitting cross-legged on the ground, looking around, as if they were about to run away in the next second.

Yang Shun helped his wife to sit down, and then queued up to get two bowls of rice porridge.

But at this moment, the sound of horseshoes sounded again, Yang Shun looked sideways, and saw hundreds of cavalry trotting towards the porridge shed.

But the difference is that among the people who came this time, the leader was not a tall general, but a young man in armor who was only twelve or thirteen years old.

Yang Shun and the other refugees froze in place, not daring to move.

At this time, the leading young man reined in his horse in the porridge shed, and a thousand households in charge of the porridge shed immediately bowed and said loudly:

"Your Highness!"

"Only these people who escaped?" Zhu Youjian frowned and looked at Yang Shun and the others. Looking at their frightened appearance, he was obviously frightened by the massacre of the city in the past few days.

"Only a few hundred people have escaped so far. The rebel army slaughtered the city with vicious methods. There are more than [-] people in Dong'e, and there may not be one out of ten."

Qianhu couldn't bear to explain, but Zhu Youjian frowned when he heard the words, and then rode his horse to the porridge shed at the north gate without saying anything.

As for Yang Shun and his group of refugees, they didn't come back to their senses until the backs of Zhu Youjian and others disappeared.

"Your Highness...Your Highness..." Yang Shun murmured, before he dared to speak:
"That person just now was His Royal Highness King Qi?!"

"Well, His Royal Highness King Qi is leading the army to suppress the rebellion this time." The soldier serving porridge for Yang Shun nodded, and then said to Yang Shun:

"Give up your position after you finish playing, and don't delay the people behind."

"Well..." Hearing what the soldiers said, Yang Shun was a little embarrassed, then gave up his position, and looked in the direction where Zhu Youjian was leaving, but he didn't see any figure again.

"My Ming Dynasty can still have a vassal king to lead the army..."

As a scholar, Yang Shun had mixed feelings, but this kind of intersection disappeared when he went back with the porridge and saw the three father-in-law holding his wife and crying bitterly.

The family was reunited again. Fortunately, no one was injured. The only one who was injured was Yang Shun's father-in-law, who was beaten with a wooden stick by the rebels, leaving his back black.

No matter what, it's good to survive under such a war.

Dong'e was briefly captured by the rebels, and then briefly regained, the speed was jaw-dropping.

The rebels who kept saying that they wanted to restore the happiness of the people got lost when they entered the city and became the executioners who massacred the city, causing the people of Dong'a to suffer the most terrifying day in their lives.

They weren't the first rebel army to be lost, nor would they be the last.

The massacre of the city is still being staged in Shandong, Henan and other places, and what Zhu Youjian can do is to put down the rebellion quickly...

　Four o'clock and one more chapter

　　
　
(End of this chapter)