Pingyang Fu of the Red Chamber

Chapter 278

Under the west gate of Jinling City, the afterglow of a large torch illuminated the city like daylight.

The soldiers around were all standing quietly outside the city, their evil aura was overwhelming, so many people didn't make any noise, the guards on the city were all secretly looking down in fear, seeming a bit at a loss, the principal Wei Geng didn't know what to do. He hid behind the walls of the city wall and waited for General Leng inside the city.

While Ma Shichao, Lieutenant of the Military Academy, was praying secretly,
Under the city, Zhang Jinyu saw Eunuch Zhao riding on a horse, and after thinking about it for a while, Zhang Jinyu said such brazen words, but it made sense, but he felt that it was such a joke.

"What Eunuch Zhao said, is it true? How can you say that this is Jinling City, the accompanying capital!"

Zhao Si grinned and explained indifferently:

"Hey, Lord Hou, you may not know that the pissing behavior of the army in the pass, especially those in the south of the Yangtze River, if the miscellaneous guesses are correct, the people above the general did not even come, and they all fell asleep at home. How can it be like the frontier pass?" Similarly, the generals all sleep on top of the city tower, so you should ask General Ning to change the question."

"Okay, let's try another question."

Zhang Jinyu was still dubious, mainly because it was too unimaginable. If it was a border gate and the Jurchens called, it would be like this. The elite Jurchens would not be able to conquer ten cities in a day.

"Ningbian, ask whoever is in charge above, let him come out and answer."

"Yes, Lord Hou."

Hearing Lord Hou's reminder, Ning Bian shouted again;

"The one with the highest official position above, the one in charge will come out and answer!"

Several generals on the tower looked at the captain Ma Shichao who was hiding behind the wall at the same time. Under the watchful eyes of several generals, the captain had no choice but to stand up bravely, leaning on the city wall, and slowly stretched out his head to look at A general who was flaunting his power below replied tremblingly,
"Come, come, who is coming? What's the matter, it's night and the city gate is closed."

"Dare to ask who is on the tower, Ning is under the command of the Imperial Envoy Luo Yunhou, and the commander-in-chief of the Pioneer Battalion of the Frontier Army outside the pass has come here to enter the city."

Ning Bian was riding a horse, holding a scimitar, and shouted angrily from below.

Lieutenant Ma on the city wall swallowed his saliva when he heard the series of official titles of the general under the city, and looked at the brothers in the surrounding government army. Unexpectedly, everyone took a step back unconsciously, only the general behind him said in a low voice;
"Brother Ma, you'd better answer quickly and see what's going on. If it's really an imperial envoy, beheading is a matter of a few words."

"Don't rush, I know."

Captain Ma plucked up his courage and shouted down;
"Refer to General Ning, Ma Shichao, the junior lieutenant of the Xicheng Gate of the Jinling Army. I have seen the Imperial Envoy. What orders do you have?"

"Wocao, it really is."

Zhang Jinyu below couldn't help swearing, causing Eunuch Zhao beside him to ask,
"Master Hou, what did you say?"

"Hey, Eunuch Zhao is still predicting things like a god. As expected, I didn't expect those generals to be so bold and neglect their duties for such an important thing as defending the city. At the border, such people can be killed on the spot."

As she said that, Zhang Jinyu couldn't help but feel a little angry. The great mountains and rivers were all dragged into the abyss by these corrupt officials who neglected their duties.

Especially in the capital, thinking of those nobles who have nothing to do, and those fat civil servants, it is simply a cancer.

But thinking about it again, if there were no such people, how could I have such a good life as a feudal official? Thinking of this, I also sighed from the bottom of my heart.

"Master Hou, Lord Hou! It's a good thing to calm down, let's just go in."

Mr. Zhao Si had seen a lot in the capital, so he was no longer surprised. Not to mention the disappearance of the guards. In the early years, there were some places where the guards were not even present at the pass in the Zhongzhou area.

"That's true."

General Ning in front was also stunned for a moment, a school lieutenant can be on duty to accompany the capital of Nuoda University, but he didn't think much, and shouted again;
"Open the city gate and welcome the imperial envoy to enter the city."

Captain Ma was a little at a loss. The Shangguan explained that no one is allowed to open the city gate at night, especially during this time. No matter who comes, the city gate can only be opened when it should be opened, and it cannot be opened downward said:
"Lord Ning, it's not that the younger ones won't open the gate, it's because the Shangguan told him not to open the city gate at night. If it is opened, the younger ones will die."

"You dare to stop the imperial envoy, who gave you the courage!"

Ning Bian continued to shout angrily.

Captain Ma was so frightened that he couldn't speak coherently, and the brothers in the surrounding government army couldn't help but backed up and backed away. It seemed that he was always scolding his mother in his heart, when did Captain Captain be so stubborn.

I also want to remind that suddenly a group of people came down from the inner city. It turned out that the commander of the army, Leng Dandong, came in person, and then ran to the top of the tower without taking a breath. , I breathed a sigh of relief.

Afterwards, he adjusted the official robes with both hands, went to the tower, looked down, and saw a large number of cavalry in secret, under the light of the fire, he even saw a lot of people from the Imperial City Secretary inside. I'm sure it's the imperial envoy who went south from the capital, but why did he come to Jinling? Didn't he go to Yangzhou in the south of the Yangtze River?

Whether it is open or not, thinking about the words of the imperial envoy who went south to the south, General Jiao personally brought the letter from the Eastern King and the souvenirs from the Jiawang family of Jinling to him, gave me a headache. How could this be delayed.

"General Leng, here is the imperial envoy Luo Yunhou. They want to enter the city."

Captain Ma saw the general standing there silently, so he reminded him, and Leng Dandong tried to say when he regained his senses;

"The last general, Leng Dandong, the guard general of the Jinling Mansion, has seen the imperial envoy, Lord Hou, it's getting late, do you want to enter the city tomorrow?"

General Leng stood on the tower, trying to persuade him with good words, to see if he could delay for one night.

Zhang Jinyu glanced up in surprise in the team below,
"interesting."

He rode a horse and came a little closer, and said to the above:
"General Leng actually knows that it is Ben Hou, so it's easy to handle. Ben Hou will give you half a stick of incense to consider whether you should open the city gate or not. Those who dare to block the imperial envoy will be punished as treason, and the attack on the canal Did General Leng know about the people sent by the imperial court, or did you participate in it?"

Leng Dandong was so frightened that his face turned pale, he was sweating profusely, and he cursed furiously in his heart, he didn't know about this, could it be that they...

"Master Hou, the last general, open the door, open the door, the last general doesn't know about this, those rebellious officials and thieves should be killed, they should be killed!"

Leng Dandong hastily denied it on the tower, and when he saw the unmoved government army around him, he cursed:

"My mother didn't hear it. Open the city gate for Lord Hou and welcome the imperial envoys to come in. Go quickly."

"Yes, General,"

Ma Xiaowei immediately rushed down the city tower with the government troops around him, and when he reached the bottom, he personally raised the thousand-jin gate and opened the city gate.

"Squeak,"

With the sound of grinding teeth, the west gate of Jinling City slowly opened.

Seeing this, Ning Bian glanced back, and Zhang Jinyu said out of caution:
"The third battalion of the pioneer battalion, enter the city and control the city gate."

"Yes, Lord Hou."

Among the large group of people behind him, General Qian of the frontier army led 1000 people into the city, then dismounted and rushed to the city gate and tower.

Seeing that his own people took control of the city gate, Zhang Jinyu was relieved, and then waved his hand, and the brigade behind him began to enter the city. As the brigade entered, Zhang Jinyu and Zhao Si and Eunuch Zhao entered the city at the end.

Just after passing the city gate, I saw Leng Dandong leading people to gather and stand on the side of the city gate. As soon as he saw himself, he immediately "plopped" and knelt on the ground collectively, shouting;
"The last general, Leng Dandong, led the Xicheng government army to meet the imperial envoy."

Zhang Jinyu, who wanted to go to the city to find something, suddenly lost interest when he saw this. He was a winking person, but he couldn't be reused.

"Get up, if it's true that you are being punished for being unreasonable, what about Captain Ma?"

"Yes, yes, Lord Marquis, please tell me, the little one is here."

A school lieutenant of the government army came running from the team, he was not tall and looked average, is it okay, asked;
"Who is the general on duty tonight, and why is there no one on guard?"

"This, this, I don't know the humble position."

Where did the captain dare to talk nonsense, he could only find an excuse to prevaricate. Zhang Jinyu didn't press him when he saw it, so he said:

"General Leng, tell me, do you arrange for the person on duty at night to be a lieutenant or a general?"

General Leng also understood in his heart that Lord Hou was making use of the problem, and it was naturally not his fault, so he replied:

"Going back to Lord Marquis is naturally arranged. There is a general who is on duty here every day. This person must have left his post without authorization. The general will go back to investigate and will definitely punish him severely. Don't worry, Lord Hou."

Zhang Jinyu shook her head, saw that General Leng was still playing tricks, and laughed,
"General Leng, don't use official words to prevaricate the Marquis,"

Just as he was talking, people from the government army not far away came to report,
"Report, general, General Liu, the defender of the west city, has arrived with two generals."

"Here, let them roll over."

Leng Dandong also had a cold face, either to come or not to come, what is the purpose of coming at this time, the people below are getting bolder.

"Yes, General."

Before the government army went back to report, a group of people came not far away. I saw a general with a big belly, two generals and the soldiers behind him walking over swaggeringly.

The smell of alcohol could be smelled from a long distance away, and everyone was shaking their heads because of the smell of alcohol. The leader, General Liu, seemed to be asleep, and couldn't see his eyes. Zhang Jinyu looked disgusted,

"Are you the guard of the west gate?"

General Liu with a big belly glanced at the person in front of him and smiled contemptuously;
"It's this general. Who are you? If you see this general and don't get off your horse to pay homage, it's the opposite."

When General Leng saw his subordinates being so rude, he was anxious and angry, and shouted angrily.

"General Liu has not dismounted from his horse to meet the imperial envoy!"

Among those who came, General Liu waved his hand and continued;

"Nonsense, where did the imperial envoys come from? They have already fed the fish in the canal. Even though you are the general's superior, this general is much more informed than you."

Zhang Jinyu and Zhao Siwenyan looked at each other solemnly, they secretly walked through iron shoes and found nowhere, and it didn't take much effort, this person is of great use.

"General Liu! What nonsense are you talking about?"

Leng Dandong was frightened and furious, this was treason.

"Hey, General Leng, don't open your mouth casually. This is Eunuch Zhao, the chief inspector of the Imperial Horse Supervisor. He is a good torturer. Whether there is such a thing will be known at the first trial, or is it that General Leng also knows and has something to hide."

"Lord Hou, Lord Hou, grand duke, the last general will never know, how dare the last general, this person must have been bribed by bandits, please look into this matter clearly."

"Well, come here, take down the person in front of you, take him with you, and interrogate Eunuch Zhao to see if there are any rebellious accomplices."

"Yes, Lord Hou."

Zhang Jinyu took this as an excuse and directly positioned it as a major treason case.

Zhao Si nodded, Master Hou is so powerful, Gao!

(End of this chapter)