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Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong successively proclaimed themselves kings in Xiangyang and Wuchang, and their military power was so great that the whole world trembled in fear.
Looking at the Ming Dynasty, Zhao Lushi died, Lu Xiangsheng died, Man Gui died, Cao Wenzhao died, Hong Chengchou surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, and Sun Chuanting was defeated in Jia County last winter.
The remaining Zuo Liangyu, Liu Liangzuo, Liu Zeqing and other bad guys were not very good at fighting, but they were no less harmful to the people than the rebels. For a while, Chongzhen could not find anyone who could be of great use.
In desperation, they could only choose the tallest among the short ones, and that was Zuo Liangyu. Zuo Liangyu had fought with Li Zicheng in Zhuxian Town last year, was badly defeated, and retreated to Xiangyang.
Li Zicheng then attacked Xiangyang, and Zuo Liangyu withdrew his troops to Wuchang, asking the King of Chu for soldiers and food, but he did not get any supplies, so he plundered Wuchang, including the grain and salt ships. After arriving in Jiujiang, he had 200,000 soldiers and waited to protect himself.
Chongzhen had issued several edicts in succession, ordering Zuo Liangyu to attack Zhang Xianzhong who was entrenched in Wuchang. Zuo Liangyu repeatedly made excuses on the grounds of lack of funds, and instead allowed his troops to plunder counties around Jiujiang in the name of raising funds, which terrified the people. The people had to move several times a day, and passing merchants and travelers were often robbed of everything.
When the caravan of Ganzhou Rentong Company arrived at Niutou Chong in Pengze County, Li Xiangjun's carriage followed behind the caravan. She wore a square scarf on her head, a Confucian shirt, and a man's outfit, like a scholar on a study tour.
But if you look closely, her eyebrows are as slender as willows, her eyes are charming and pretty, and her small lips are slightly upturned, showing a bit of playfulness. She is clearly a lovely girl.
She had already sent a letter to Qin Mu, informing him that she was going to Ganzhou to meet him. She was somewhat impulsive at the beginning of the whole thing, and now she was halfway there, and she didn't know whether Qin Mu had received her letter.
She was inevitably a little nervous. After thinking about it over and over again, she couldn't calm down. Looking at the scenery outside the windows, she murmured softly: "Crossing Huanhua Creek, the distant dream is light and powerless..."
"Don't worry, young lady. Young Master Qin is deeply in love with you. Even I can hear the affection in this poem." Xing'er, who was in the same car as her, was dressed as a servant. She saw that her young lady was worried, so she gave her some advice.
"This time when we went to Huichang, we were unable to send him a message beforehand. I really don't know if he will look down on me because of this." Speaking of this, Li Xiangjun's pretty face inexplicably flushed, as if she were Zhuo Wenjun who ran away at night.
"No, no, don't worry, young lady. Lord Qin is not that kind of person." Xing'er patiently comforted her young lady, but she was also comforting herself.
At this moment, the convoy suddenly stopped. Li Xiangjun could not help but lift the curtain and ask the driver: "What happened? Didn't we say we were going to Pengze County to rest? Why did we stop here?"
"I'm not sure. The cars ahead have all stopped."
Before Li Xiangjun could ask again, the leader, Manager Xu, shouted from the front: "Quick, quick, quick! Turn around, quick!"
The convoy, which was nearly half a mile long, could not turn around at will. The scene suddenly became chaotic. Li Xiangjun was shocked, knowing that the affair must be serious. The caravan had hundreds of skilled guards, and ordinary bandits did not dare to attack the caravan. The only thing that could make Manager Xu so anxious could only be a large group of rebels.
Could it be that Zhang Xianzhong is attacking
It was not Zhang Xianzhong's rebel army that came, but three or four hundred ragged Ming soldiers, most of them on foot, a few on horseback, raising a large cloud of yellow dust, and surrounding the convoy with shouts and calls.
This group of people were full of bandits and extremely unruly. After surrounding the car, they stabbed the oilcloth on the car with knives without saying a word. They cheered when they saw valuables, and immediately pointed their knives and guns at each other when they were blocked. Except for wearing Ming army uniforms, their behavior was no different from that of robbers. The whole convoy was in chaos.
The leader, Shopkeeper Xu, spotted a general leading the army and hurriedly went up to him with a smile, saying, "General, I am the shopkeeper of Ganzhou Rentong Trading Company. This time, I am passing through here on my way back to Ganzhou on the orders of my boss. I hope you will be lenient."
Shopkeeper Xu said as he pulled out a few silver bills from his sleeve. Before he could hand them over, the triangular-eyed general snatched the bills away and kicked Shopkeeper Xu to the ground. “Why are you talking so much nonsense? I am following the order of my prince’s guardian to collect food and grass for the army so that we can send troops to wipe out the Wuchang rebels as soon as possible. These goods are exactly what my army needs. I will accept them. If you know what’s good for you, get out of here quickly. Otherwise, you will be charged with treason. Get out!”
"General! Ah..." Shopkeeper Xu had just shouted when he was whipped, and his face was immediately torn into pieces.
There were more than 200 people in the caravan, 100 of whom were guards with good martial arts skills. Seeing that the officers and soldiers were as brutal as bandits, they all glared at them angrily, but they did not dare to use force without the order of Shopkeeper Xu.
At this time, the curtain of Li Xiangjun's carriage was suddenly pulled down, and a soldier with a shifty look poked his head in to take a look, and immediately chuckled. Although Li Xiangjun was wearing men's clothes, her eyebrows and eyes were picturesque, and her skin was as white as cream. In the late Ming Dynasty when male chauvinism was extremely popular, even if she was really a man, it would be enough to make these soldiers salivate, not to mention that as long as they were not blind, it would not be difficult to see that she was a woman.
"What are you doing? Are you still the imperial army?" Li Xiangjun was shocked and angry, and shouted.
"What's wrong with the court's army? The court's army is also human. They need to eat and have fun. The world is in chaos. Aren't you afraid of a beauty like you traveling outside? Don't worry, you don't have to be afraid in the future. I will protect you." The soldier with a shifty look reached out and pinched Li Xiangjun's pretty face.
Li Xiangjun was of strong character, so how could she allow him to insult her like this? She had a pair of scissors hidden in her hand, and she suddenly stabbed it out. The soldier was caught off guard and his hand was pierced. Blood gushed out, and he screamed in pain and retreated repeatedly.
The commotion here attracted the attention of the general who led the army. He rode over and asked from a distance: "What's going on? Is there anyone else who dares to resist?"
"General Yan, there is a woman here. I was going to ask her to serve you, but I didn't expect that this woman would suddenly stab me..."
"Get lost!" The general named Yan came on horseback and shouted. When he looked into the carriage, his eyes suddenly lit up and his sight could no longer leave Li Xiangjun's beautiful face. "Miss, what is your last name and name? Tell me quickly. Don't worry, with me here, no one will dare to bully you anymore."
Li Xiangjun, a weak woman, was inevitably a little flustered when she first encountered an incident, but when she was in Meixianglou, she met many nobles and officials, and she was able to adjust her mood quickly. She calmed down and said, "Thank you for your kindness, General, but I don't know your name yet."
"My surname is Yan and my given name is Mao. I am a general under the command of the Crown Prince's Grand Guardian. What is your name, my beauty?" The general who called himself Yan Mao had a scorching look in his eyes, as if he was peeling off Li Xiangjun's clothes layer by layer.
When Li Xiangjun met his gaze, she knew in her heart that it would be difficult to escape from this man's clutches. After the Prince's Guard Zuo Liangyu was defeated by Li Zicheng, he retreated from Xiangyang to Wuchang, and then from Wuchang to Jiujiang. He looted wherever he went and the people scrambled to escape. Li Xiangjun had heard of his notoriety when she was in Nanjing.
Now she had encountered Zuo Liangyu's rebellious army. Her mind raced. Although she was reluctant to mention Hou Fangyu, she was in a desperate situation now. In order to escape, she had to make some adjustments.
"So it's General Yan, who serves under the Crown Prince's Guard. When I was in Nanjing, I often heard Young Master Hou Fangyu mention General Yan's name. He said that General Yan was brave and good at fighting, and had made many outstanding achievements. He was indeed a rare general in our Ming Dynasty. Hou Fangyu was the son of Minister Hou Xun, and he still respected the general in every way. I am honored to have the opportunity to meet General Yan this time."
Zuo Liangyu was once a subordinate of Hou Xun, and was appreciated and promoted by Hou Xun, which led to his current status. Last year, Li Zicheng swept across the Central Plains and besieged Kaifeng. The court could only rely on Zuo Liangyu, but because Zuo Liangyu was unruly and unrestrained, Emperor Chongzhen had to pardon Hou Xun from prison and replace Ding Qirui as the governor of Baoding and other seven towns as the Minister of War to relieve the siege of Kaifeng. Because there was no countermeasure to rescue Kaifeng, Hou Xun hesitated and faced Kaifeng across the river. Soon, Li Zicheng flooded Kaifeng with the Yellow River, and Kaifeng fell. Hou Xun was dismissed from office and imprisoned again.
The "private affair" between Zuo Liangyu and Hou Xun was known to the world. After Li Xiangjun heard that Yan Mao was Zuo Liangyu's subordinate, she brought Hou Xun out in the hope that he would be cautious.
Who knew that Yan Mao was obsessed with her beauty and didn't care about it at all. He walked up to her with a lewd smile and said, "Since my beauty has heard of my great name, that's even better. When we accomplish something good, we can tell Hou Xun about it."
"Don't come over here. If you come over again, I will die in front of you." Li Xiangjun put the scissors against her throat with a determined look on her face. In desperation, Li Xiangjun had no other choice but to do this.
"No, no, no, girl, why are you doing this? It would be a waste of a beauty like you to die like this. Put down the scissors, put them down, and we can talk slowly!"
The general named Yan stopped but his eyes never left Li Xiangjun. Her pretty face and petite body aroused his infinite desire. He wished he could immediately press the beauty under him and would not let anything happen to her.
At this moment, something unexpected happened. A caravan guard following Li Xiangjun's carriage took advantage of Yan's infatuation and suddenly rushed out. He opened his sleeve and stabbed a dagger straight into Yan's throat. The dagger had pierced the skin, and red blood flowed down like beads.
"Let your men withdraw immediately, immediately! Otherwise, don't blame me for cutting your throat with a knife!" The guard had a fierce look on his face and roared like thunder. His men continued to increase their strength, forcing the man named Yan to retreat step by step with a pale face.
No one had expected this sudden change. Both the soldiers brought by Yan and the people in the caravan couldn't help but scream out in surprise, and the scene was in chaos.
***
In Ma Yongzhen's big tent outside Ganzhou City, the aroma of wine and meat filled the air, and the host and guests sat opposite each other. There was no tension at all, but the atmosphere was a little weird.
Qin Mu was a very outgoing person. He toasted Ma Yongzhen frequently with a friendly smile on his face. Until he touched a green bean growing on his chin, his smile suddenly froze.
Oh my god! There were green beans in the Ming Dynasty. It's not that there was no industrial pollution in ancient times, the air was very fresh, and you didn't even need to bring toilet paper when going to the toilet... Well, green beans shouldn't grow anyway.
The generals in the tent had been guessing what his purpose was, and when they saw his serious expression, they thought he was going to get down to business, so they all stopped drinking and looked at him.
"What are you looking at? Haven't you seen green beans before?" County Magistrate Qin found that his defects were exposed in front of everyone's eyes. He couldn't help but get furious and shouted in a buzzing voice, as if everyone in the tent was his minions.
Ma Liuliang could no longer endure it. He lifted the table and stood up suddenly. He drew his knife and pointed it at Qin Mu and shouted, "Stop pretending. If you don't explain your intentions, I will kill you with my knife!"
"For a green bean, is it necessary to draw your sword against each other?" Qin Mu smiled innocently, turned to Ma Yongzhen and said, "Master Ma, I'm just joking. I hope our next conversation can be carried out in a relaxed atmosphere. But I hope Master Ma can ask everyone in the tent to step aside first. I have something to discuss with Master Ma alone."
"There is nothing that cannot be told to others. Everyone in the account is my brother in life and death. Sir Qin, please just state your purpose directly." Ma Yongzhen replied calmly.
"Master Ma, I am here to recruit you."
"Do you think you are worthy? Get out! Get out now! Our general will not kill the messengers, but I, Ma Liuliang, have been displeased with you for a long time. No matter you are a messenger or dog shit, I will kill you without hesitation." Ma Liuliang had a gloomy face and the murderous intention was aroused again.
Ma Yongzhen said coldly: "Master Qin can go back now. My army will arrive tomorrow. We will meet in Ganzhou City then."
"Even if you were given another 20,000 troops, you still wouldn't be able to capture Ganzhou City." Qin Mu smiled coldly.
Ma Yongzhen stood up suddenly, staring at Qin Mu's face with a sharp gaze: "What if I kill Mr. Qin first?"
The atmosphere in the tent took a sharp turn for the worse, reaching freezing point in an instant.
Ma Yongzhen is already certain that everything in Ganzhou was planned by Qin Mu, and that it was supported by him. Once Qin Mu dies, Ganzhou will not be difficult to conquer. It can be said that Qin Mu has become the biggest stumbling block for him to take over southern Ganzhou.
At this moment, Ma Yongzhen really wanted to kill Qin Mu, and it was not just an empty threat, because he remembered the mistake Xiang Yu made at the Hongmen Banquet.
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