golden scales

The north wind blew up the lanterns on the city gates, and the old soldiers guarding the city covered their ears and squatted in front of the stove to keep warm. .The firelight distorted by the cold wind did not bring much heat. There was still some warmth on the chest and face, but it was already cold when it reached the back.The old soldier shrugged his shoulders, moved the frozen shoulder blades on his back, and hummed a little song in his mouth, fearing that once he closed his eyes, he would never be able to open them again.

These days, several old soldiers guarding the city have froze to death.

"Is there anyone on the tower! Come out one!" Three or five carriages drove up at the gate of the city at some point, with lanterns made of Korean paper hanging on them.

The old soldier vaguely heard someone shouting, popped up, looked down, and shouted with confidence: "It's still early to open the city! Don't wait here! Go to the city and find a place to live!" Then As cities get bigger and bigger, the population gathers more and more.As a strategic defensive facility, the city wall cannot be expanded at any time as the population increases.So there is a city wall outside the city wall.

Some of these city chambers are also protected by low walls, and there are city gates.Others are exposed to the outside, but the same house is in order, and it is by no means a swarm of bees built indiscriminately.In the late Ming Dynasty, there was no big distinction between the city and the city, but the degree of safety was slightly lower.

The man in the city refused to leave, and shouted again: "We are the family of Mr. Bai! Open the door!"

"Bai Zongbing?" The old soldier murmured, and said to himself: "Even if the emperor is here, I can't just open it. This is the city gate, how about your living room?" He turned around, no Pay no attention to the bluffing servants in the city, and continue to warm up by the fire.

"What's the matter?" The general in armor came out of the tower and made a mouthful.

"General Wang!" The old soldier got up quickly: "It's a few foreign visitors, who say they are the family members of Mr. Bai, shouting to let the city gate open."

General Wang didn't say much, walked up to the parapet, put his hands on the bricks and pressed them down.Before he could see the figure below clearly, his hands were already sore from the cold from the bricks, and he quickly pulled them back.

"We are the servants of General Guangen of the Bai Zongbing! Open the door quickly!" the servants under the city gate shouted reluctantly.

General Wang glanced at it, retracted his head, and ordered casually: "Come on, get the hanging basket and put one up."

Unauthorized opening of the city gate is a felony that can be beheaded. Even this General Wang dare not do such a reckless thing.This is common sense, how could the family of the general soldier not know?When things go wrong, there must be a monster, and it is also an interesting thing to catch a monster in a long night.

The servant who claimed to be Bai Guangen's family was hanged up quickly, and when he saw General Wang's armor, he fell to his knees with a thud: "General! I beg you to be merciful, open the door!"

General Wang stabbed him with his saber, and asked calmly: "Your general can't even call this door open in person, understand? Tell me, what's going on, what are you going to do in the middle of the night?"

The family looked around and saw that they were surrounded by officers and soldiers holding long guns. They suddenly burst into tears and said, "General, please let us go! Bandit Li has already hit Tongguan!"

General Wang's heart was shaken, but his face seemed to be hardened by the wind and frost. He squeezed out a voice through his teeth, "When did Bandit Li attack the city? Where is he now?"

"Li Thief hadn't attacked the city when we came out, but later some family members caught up and said that Li Thief's general Ma Shiyao attacked Tongguan early yesterday morning!" The family member cried: "I don't know what happened to Tongguan now, My master has been determined and brave all his life, and he must be the first to charge, maybe now... woohoo, master!"

General Wang turned around and walked straight into the tower.He flung out a sentence: "Stop howling, if I don't talk about opening the door, the door of Xi'an City will not be opened."

"I beg the general to be merciful!" Ding just shouted, his voice was swallowed by the north wind.

When General Wang returned to the tower, the guards behind him came in one after another, and immediately filled up the small space.The hot air exhaled by many generals also made this cold world a little hotter.

"Tongguan was fought yesterday..." General Wang sat down on his general seat, "Who is going to find out where the intruder is now."

"The final general is willing to go!" A capable man stood up under the bid, and responded with a vibrating voice.

General Wang nodded and said: "Go and come back quickly, don't delay on the way!"

"As ordered!"

The door opened, and the north wind rushed in.The soldiers behind the door closed the door forcefully, cutting off the retreat of the cold wind.

General Wang sat in his seat, closed his eyes and meditated, like an old monk in meditation.But his heart was churning: Li Zicheng finally knocked on the gate of Tongguan.

A year ago, he expected Li Zicheng's army to come earlier, in order to go to battle to kill thieves and fight for the meritorious service of sealing his wife and son.But now, he no longer believes in the myth of a wise king and a wise minister.According to his arrangements, people died of freezing and starvation every day, but the king of Qin in the rich family was not at all!Who in Shaanxi doesn't know that his family is rich!But he could bear to watch the soldiers freeze to death and starve to death!Why is there any need to work hard for this group of people surnamed Zhu!

……

"Pull me up! The military report is urgent!" Someone came on horseback under the South Gate of Xi'an and shouted loudly.

The defenders in the city were still awake, and when they heard the call, they quickly lowered the hanging basket, and pulled up the man in the costume of the Ming soldier below.When the man was exposed to the lights, the defenders at the top of the city were quite surprised.There is no other reason, this man is strong and strong, and his fat jacket is clean and tidy, which is in stark contrast to the beggar-like defenders all over the city.

"I'm from the Eastern Palace Guard Battalion!" The man took out his seal: "The Zuo Military Department will not accept it at night."

A literate general came out of the Guanlou, and after a careful inspection, he was sure that there was no mistake, and then he smiled and said: "This brother has worked hard, why don't you sit inside for a while to warm up?" He wanted to inquire about the military situation, and it would be convenient There is a preparation.Ordinary Tanma would not refuse for the sake of stove spirits, but this Eastern Palace guard was particularly unkind.

"The military situation is here, can we delay? Find a horse quickly, I'm leaving now!" Ye Bushou said anxiously.

"Brother with an accent is from Yulin, right?" Some people used a Yulin accent to express their nostalgia.

It was Qin Bing who followed Sun Chuanting out of the customs this night, and he returned to his old profession after retraining.For a person like him who has not heard news from his hometown for a long time, he can't help but ask a few words whenever he meets a fellow villager.However, at this moment, the military discipline in the Eastern Palace's canon reverberated in his mind.

"Get your horse ready! Stop talking nonsense!" He scowled and ran downstairs with a straight face.

This urgent military situation was finally sent to Prince Qin's mansion without delay.

The secretary of the East Palace who was on duty finally waited for the opportunity to wake up the crown prince, and entered the prince's bedroom accompanied by guards.Sitting in the bed, Zhu Cihong received the military emergency report, which read in black and white: "At noon on the third day of December, the thieves broke through Tongguan."

"Yebushou came across the military newspaper from Tongguan and hurriedly brought it back." The staff member on duty explained.

Zhu Cihong nodded, and sighed: "Li Zicheng chased really hard this time, Tongguan was broken at noon yesterday, so it's time to go to Weinan now."

Weinan is between Tongguan and Xi'an, and it takes almost two days to travel between the two.Li Zicheng's Zhongquan personal guards mostly had cavalry soldiers, and their marching speed would be higher.However, it is precisely because of the horse that the possibility of a night attack is very small.Because of poor road conditions and poor eyesight, horses can easily break their legs at night.

"Since Li Zicheng is here, let's go!" Zhu Cihong put on his clothes and stood up: "Call the Donggong guard battalion to discuss with officers above the general!"

"Your Highness, tomorrow is the matter of offering sacrifices to Zhang Zi..."

"As usual!" Zhu Cihong said vibrately.

……

On the fourth day of December, there was fog in the morning.

In the dense fog, a large number of banners were raised, and the mighty banner seemed to have no end in sight.

Yang Xuan, magistrate of Weinan County, a native of Wanquanwei, Shanxi Province, was a Jinshi of Gengchen Division in the 13th year of Chongzhen. This is his last year in Weinan.As long as this year is over, or if he is promoted to Beijing, or transferred to another place, he will not continue to stay here.However, at this moment, Yang Xuan could only stand on the top of the wall, letting the cold wind blow away all his thoughts.

Li Zicheng is about to attack the city.

Yesterday, there was news from Tongguan that he was caught in a bandit.That night there were broken soldiers rushing towards Weinan, God knows how they could run so fast.Maybe he took an unknown trail, or maybe he fled before the bandits attacked the city.

As the magistrate of the county, Yang Xuan had the responsibility to guard the land, so naturally he would not open the city and let him go.Those rout soldiers fled to Xi'an one after another after looting outside the city.Yang Xuan summoned the disciples from the city, went up to the city wall to supervise the battle, and prepared to defend against the enemy.Equipped with a sword that has been hanging in the study all year round to ward off evil spirits, he tried to stand up straight in the wind, his lips were chapped, and looked at this force that could level the entire Weinan.

Boom!

The sound of the cannon sounded, followed by the muffled thunderous drums.

Thieves attacked the city.

"To kill thieves and serve the country is now!" Yang Xuan drew out his sword, pointed it obliquely at the sky, and shouted loudly: "I hope that all the dead will be my brothers, and the emperor and queen will learn from each other!"

"Slay thieves and serve the country!" The disciples followed Yang Xuan and shouted impassionedly.

suddenly……

The thieves split into two groups, and one went straight to the west gate.

Yang Xuan had never been in a battle before, so she was a little surprised, not knowing what kind of medicine was sold in the thief's gourd.

"Wang Juren opened the door to offer the city! Wang Juren opened the door to offer the city!"

The shouts of the county government officials came from afar.

Weinan County was like a leaky boat, immediately filled with soldiers in blue-gray shirts who broke into the camp.

In just a moment, there was no one standing beside Yang Xuan.Because he was wearing an official uniform, the bandit soldiers recognized him as the county magistrate, and brought his hands behind his back to Li Zicheng.

When Yang Xuan saw the one-eyed Li Zicheng, thousands of thoughts flashed through her mind, but in the end she settled on the words "kill one's life and become a benevolent".He thought that he studied hard in a poor window, but he had only served one term as a county magistrate and had no chance to show his talents. He was even more saddened by it, and yelled angrily: "Wang Minggao! You are a traitor who steals from others! You are not a son of man! Li Zicheng You thief! You caused the destruction of your ancestral grave, and your ancestors will suffer forever because of you in the ground! You are a thief of heaven..."

"Kill it." Li Zicheng lightly pressed the newly made black cotton blindfold, and thought to himself: It's a pity that he is still a non-commissioned officer. (To be continued.)