Li family
The gate to the officials and gentry in the county was very gorgeous with gilt tin nails. The head of the household, Li Zhenlin, was a juren. Now that the city gate was breached, the gate was immediately closed.
In just a short period of time, soldiers with weapons in hand kept smashing open the doors of large houses in the city, and there were screams and cries.
Li Zhenlin wandered in the courtyard, looking at the street, frowning deeply, but still forced a smile: "Sir, don't worry, I always raise people, and I don't dare to harass these rioters."
The man in his thirties opposite was the special envoy, and he said: "Li Juren, if you can serve the imperial court in times of crisis, I will report it to the emperor when I get back, and I will give you a reward."
Li Zhenlin was overjoyed and kept saying: "Thank you, sir, thank you, sir."
At this moment, the clanking of armor and the sound of neat footsteps came from the street outside the mansion, and someone loudly announced: "According to the true emperor's order, the officers and soldiers in the county and the officials and gentry rebelled and rebelled, and they will be punished as traitors. kill!"
Hearing the announcement and the sound of neat footsteps, Li Zhenlin suddenly turned pale, and his voice trembled: "Sir, you'd better hide."
Seeing that the special envoy was hiding, everyone in the mansion turned pale. He only heard the footsteps outside one after another, and it gradually became quieter, so he felt relieved. Suddenly there were footsteps at the door of the mansion, and then the voice of a soldier suddenly came: "Open the door." , open the door."
"Sir, it's not good, someone is coming outside." The concierge was still shouting, but there was a "bang" sound, and the door was pushed open. Then armored soldiers swarmed in, and the concierge was still shouting. The cavalry slashed, and only a tragic sound was heard. Yelled, immediately chopped and killed on the spot.
Li Zhenlin was so frightened that he took a few steps back and shouted: "I am a judge and you are officers and soldiers. How can you kill my people without trial?"
"The True Lord has seized the county government office. He has a list of officials and gentry. The True Lord has an order. Anyone who raises more than one person or has more than 10,000 acres is a thief. He will be killed without mercy - you will be killed."
"If you die honestly, your family will be spared death. Otherwise, the whole family will be buried together."
The team that rushed in was grinning ferociously, and with a wave of their hands, soldiers came forward. Li Zhenlin was shocked and backed away in fear, shouting: "You dare, you dare?"
Before he finished speaking, a knife handle hit him hard. Li Zhenlin convulsed in pain and knelt down involuntarily. He vomited blood in his mouth and looked miserable. Then, his hair was grabbed and pulled, and his neck was exposed.
The sword flashed and the head fell to the ground.
"Searching the house, Zhenjun said, one-third of the money confiscated will be handed over to the public, one-third will be left to the brothers who did not go out to fight, and one-third will be ours!"
"Anyone who dares to stop us will be killed immediately."
The captain waved his hand, and the armored soldiers rushed forward. Screams and cries came from the backyard, and it seemed that a woman was blocking them. As a result, the sword flashed, and a cloud of blood spattered on the window paper of the woodshed. The special envoy hid in the woodpile with a gloomy face. Looking at it, he gritted his teeth and said, "Damn it, I don't want Pei Ziyun to be so heartbroken."
However, it seemed that these officers and soldiers did not realize that they were just looting and were not interested in the woodshed at all. They went straight to the warehouse. After a long time, the officers and soldiers who had robbed a lot of gold and silver listened to the command of the team leader: "Quick, it's worthless." Just don’t take it and go to the next one.”
After waiting for the officers and soldiers to leave, the sound of women and Confucians crying could be heard in the mansion. The special envoy did not move for a while, but after listening, he realized that they were indeed far away, so he lit up the talisman.
"Open the door and die!" Such voices continued, and thick smoke billowed from many places in the county. There were sounds of breaking doors, fleeing, killings, and screams.
Ordinary people hid in their homes with fear, some hurriedly hid in cellars, and those without cellars just huddled in corners, but the officers and soldiers didn't even look at them and went straight to the big houses.
At the pavilion on the city wall, the eunuchs accompanying the army watched, seeing thick smoke billowing and killings happening continuously, with unbearable eyes.
"Hey" the eunuch sighed, and Pei Ziyun smiled and ignored it. He suddenly felt something. He first glanced at a place in the city, then turned to the opposite side and looked outside the city. He saw rain in the sky, clouds and mist surging with the wind, and thin The rain fell slightly, but he just watched and smiled: "King Lu's army is coming."
The eunuch's eyes were unbearable. He was startled when he heard this, and looked at Pei Ziyun uneasily: "Why did the true king say this? How could King Lu's traitor come so fast?"
The eunuch didn't think Pei Ziyun was cheating, but he just had doubts. Pei Ziyun sneered and said calmly: "The emperor is different from the bandits. If the emperor cannot protect the county, people's hearts will be separated."
"I am a serious problem to King Lu, and my every move must be closely watched. In order to monitor me, the enemy troops are not far from me. Although the county town is broken, the news can be conveyed, and now they are coming."
"Zhenjun, what should we do? The original plan was to fight as a guerrilla, but now we are fighting against each other. It might be disadvantageous."
The eunuch was uneasy. After hearing this, Pei Ziyun smiled and said, "They are the ones waiting for you. Don't worry. If you don't want to die, the government servants and servants who have been recruited have already prepared food, grass and resting places. The soldiers will have them as soon as they return to the camp." Hot meals and sleepers.”
"Come here, please pass the order. Instruct each team to seal their knives and return to the camp to eat and sleep. The looted property will be tallied by the Military Law Department and will be rewarded uniformly in the future."
"Those who refuse to obey will be dealt with by military law."
The eunuch was startled, and saw Pei Ziyun issuing orders one by one, in order, following the military cooks, the tolerant yamen servants who did not want to die immediately opened fire, buried the pots for cooking, the smoke was faint, and the messengers kept coming and going.
Official way
The drizzle continued to fall with a chill in the fields. Three thousand King Lu's cavalry were running fast in the rain. The rain kept flowing down through the gaps in their armor, taking away the body's body heat. The strange thing was that despite the cold, all of them remained silent, as if they were silent. It marched like a black snake. Occasionally, it fell solidly into the muddy water, but it always jumped up and continued walking.
Arriving at a place, a general looked very young, in his mid-twenties, with a stern expression on his face. He sat on a horse and looked into the distance, asking: "Are we almost to Taiping County?"
The armored soldier in front glanced around and nodded: "General, we have arrived at the pipe shop. We are still ten miles away from the county seat."
"Stop!" This man was a guerrilla general. He raised his whip and shouted loudly. Following the order, the three thousand cavalrymen pulled their saddles and slowed down to a stop.
The guerrilla general glanced at the cavalry and issued an order: "Eat dry food and dried meat, eat and drink enough, rest for a while, and prepare for battle."
The three thousand cavalrymen listened silently. They took out the dry food and dried meat one after another and swallowed it in big gulps on their horses. They didn't care about the rain and sweat running down their faces, and ate it in big gulps.
Following the guerrilla general was a Taoist official. Hearing what he said, he quickly advised: "General, as long as you bite the enemy cavalry and don't let it escape, Pei Ziyun is fierce. If we damage the spirit of our army, it will be a trivial matter. We won't win." Let him escape, fearing that His Majesty will still be displeased..."
"Asshole" the guerrilla general listened, his face turned green, and he yelled at him.
"My brave battalion is invincible in terms of elites, and its numbers are comparable to those of the enemy. Aren't Zhongqin Bo's imperial cavalry also known as elites? They hold several times more troops. Didn't they beat me to a pulp?"
"With our military strength, we can win even if we fight head-on. What's more, we have internal support. During the day, the special envoy sent news that a large-scale looting was taking place in the county. This is a good opportunity for a night attack. As long as Pei Ziyun is killed, we will win a big victory. Your Majesty has Order, if I kill this Liao, I will be promoted to the third level."
Just as he spoke, the guerrilla general's eyes were bloodshot and he was ready to move.
The military Taoist officer was suffocated and speechless. This general is too conceited. You know how easy it is to kill Pei Ziyun, who has a brilliant record.
But the Taoist official looked at the red eyes of the guerrilla general, and he had a demonic and unruly look. Even though he was one of his own, in this situation, it was useless to explain, and he swallowed his words again.
The guerrilla general saw that the Taoist official had been beaten into obedience by him, his face gradually softened, and he asked: "Is Special Envoy Hu Chu still there?"
The Taoist official closed his eyes and felt for a moment, and there was a feeling in the city, reporting: "Yes, still in the county."
"now it's right."
I saw a fierce look on the guerrilla general's face, looking towards the county seat in the distance, and licked his lips greedily.
city wall
A group of people approached, and it was night. They saw torches lighting up the city wall, and soldiers armored going back and forth. They looked warily into the distance. The guerrilla general felt at ease. If he was not even prepared, he felt it was a scam, and immediately ordered: " Send a message and ask the special envoy to open the door, and we can go in."
"Zi" The Taoist priest took out a little bit of the talisman, and the talisman started to burn with a dim light. The fire spread quickly and burned the talisman in the blink of an eye.
Inside the city
A temporary road was built with sandbags. On both sides of the road, there were many cavalrymen. All of them had eaten and slept for an hour. They were wearing armor and riding on horses with murderous intent. Pei Ziyun was riding on the horse, his face was like cold dew, and his hands were Playing with the talisman.
The special envoy was tied up at the intersection with injuries all over his body. He stared at Pei Ziyun with hatred and kept struggling.
"call"
Pei Ziyun looked at the talisman in his hand, and it started to burn.
"I want you to open the city gate? This general is really arrogant. Do you really think that I am just a show-off?"
"You are also a fool. If I can't avoid you, or I can't find you for a while, but you still want to use the talisman to communicate with me - I am an earth immortal, and I am communicating with the talisman in the city. How can I not notice it?"
Pei Ziyun said, looking out the door with a smile: "Hide them all and prepare the kerosene. As soon as King Lu's army comes in, we will immediately take action and seal the city gate."
"yes"
Just after Pei Ziyun finished speaking, the cavalry suppressed their excitement and dispersed, hiding in various places. With another wave of his hand, someone stepped forward and opened the city gate.
"Zi"
With a sound, the gate of the county town opened. The man looked similar to the special envoy. The door opened. Suddenly, he was noticed on the city wall. He screamed and beat the gong, and there was a panic.
"There is no defense in the city. It's too careless. Kill, go in and kill them all." The guerrilla general shouted.
"Pei Ziyun opened the city gate without any defense. I'm afraid there's some fraud involved." The Taoist official shuddered as he looked at the county town. The city gate was a dark hole with a beast swallowing people up.
"Huh? Pei Ziyun just didn't expect us to come so quickly. The special envoy is very powerful in martial arts, so he opened the city gate. There is nothing suspicious about it. What are you afraid of?" said the guerrilla general. At the city gate, the special envoy was already fighting. As soon as they got up, someone wanted to close the city gate. What the Taoist officer wanted to say was ignored by the guerrilla general: "If you don't dare to go up, then just keep it. I will report the truth to the court then."
After saying this, the guerrilla general no longer paid attention to the father-in-law in front of him. He roared and whipped the horse hard. The horse felt pain and galloped forward with all his strength. He shouted: "Kill, rush in with me."
The cavalry behind him didn't hesitate at all. He whipped out his whip and rushed towards the open door like a billowing stream of iron.
(End of chapter)