scourge the qing dynasty

Chapter 25

Leaving the other bodyguards and servants waiting in the posthouse, Lu Da County Magistrate took Kong Fanlin, Xiao Erlang and Guangzhou Sanhu to the road to Huizhou overnight.Before leaving, just in case, the magistrate of Lu Da county specially told the guards and servants who stayed at the post house, "Remember, if anyone comes to inquire about my situation, just say that I have gone to Dongguan to visit relatives, and it will take up to three days." Come back in five days, and then return to Yunnan immediately."

"My lord, what if those bastards in the Pingnan Palace don't believe it?" Luo Kedi, the vice-captain of the guard, said in a deep voice, "Just now, I sent someone to go around the posthouse and found a few unfriendly people. He is a running dog from Pingnan Palace."

"Believe it or not, it's up to them." Lu Da County Magistrate said coldly: "If I go to Huizhou this time, I can successfully persuade Shang Zhixin to stand on our side, and these bastards will naturally have Shang Zhixin to deal with them. If you are not convinced, Anyway, it’s a loss, and I don’t care if I lose completely.”

"Understood, please rest assured, my lord, the subordinates are waiting for you to come back." Luo Kedi and other guards clasped their fists and agreed, and Xiao Erlang's servants also told Lu County magistrate to be careful-they were still waiting to talk to Lu County Ling went to Qujing to enjoy the blessings, but he didn't want any accidents to happen to Lu Da County Magistrate.The magistrate of Lu Da County stopped talking, led the horse out of the post house, and rushed out of the city before the gate of the outer city was closed, and rushed to Huizhou overnight. carry.

In order to prevent the old traitor from sending people to intercept and interrogate extraneous issues, the county magistrate Lu Da and his party of six did not dare to rest all the way after they left Guangzhou. After staying there, he stopped to rest for half an hour, and then immediately got on his horse and set off on his way.Fortunately, the three brothers Shen Xin, Liu Zhen, and Liu Xu, newly recruited by the county magistrate of Lu County, played a big role at this time. Relying on their familiarity with the terrain, they led the magistrate of Lu County to take shortcuts and run straight. Throwing off the tails sent by the old traitor Shang and Jin Guang, and greatly speeding up the journey, on the morning of the third day, which was also the morning of the seventh day of October in the sixth year of Qingkang Mazi, the county magistrate Lu Da and his party finally arrived. They arrived outside the city of Huizhou where Shang Kexi's eldest son, Shang Zhixin, was temporarily stationed.

To be honest, because of the records of Shang Zhixin's bloodthirsty madness in the later generations of the Manchu Qing Dynasty—although no one knows whether it is true or not, the Manchu Qing Dynasty has always been very good at discrediting history. The impression is not good, and there is a little disgust.However, at least Shang Zhixin rebelled against the Qing Dynasty in history, and it is gratifying to kill his hard-core traitor father, so just based on this, the impression of Lu Da County Magistrate on him is more gratifying than his traitor father The impression is a hundred times better.At the same time, Shang Zhixin is currently the only hope for magistrate Lu to get out of the predicament.

The luck of the county magistrate Lu Da was really mediocre. After arriving in Huizhou City, he ran to the barracks to ask Shang Zhixin to see him before he even had a sip of water, but was told by the guards in front of the camp that Shang Zhixin was not in the camp. When Qishang Zhixin went, the leader who guarded the gate of the camp immediately bulged his eyes and shouted: "How dare you dare to inquire about the whereabouts of our army's commander-in-chief? Take it as a fine work!"

"This general, we don't work carefully." The county magistrate of Lu was sweating profusely, and quickly asked Xiao Erlang to take out the official defense guide issued by Wu Sangui, and held it in front of the leader with both hands, explaining: "Please look, general, This is the guide given to me by Prince Pingxi, I have something urgent to see the eldest prince Pingnan, please help me and tell me the whereabouts of the eldest prince."

"Sorry, I can't read." Nazuo Ling pushed the official document away and said coldly: "So I can't help you. If you must see the eldest prince, you can wait here by yourself, but stay away from the camp gate. , an important military camp, idlers are not allowed to stay."

"I'll just wait if I have time! I hurried to find Shang Zhixin, Shang Kexi, that old traitor can't be suspicious, maybe the old traitor sent to monitor me will arrive in Huizhou soon!" Lu Da County Magistrate anxiously I was sweating profusely, and I only hated myself for being a seventh-rank county magistrate the size of a sesame seed and mung bean. If the official position was a little higher, would these veteran soldiers dare to treat me like this?
"General Li, General Li Tianzhi!" When Lu Da County Magistrate was helpless, the Guangzhou Sanhu Liu family brothers who were behind Lu Da County Magistrate suddenly yelled loudly, and kept waving to a general in the barracks, shouting loudly : "General Li, do you still remember us? You recruited troops in February this year, and you specially tested our fists, feet, knives and guns."

"Huh? It's you?" The Guangdong general who happened to pass by here turned his head and saw the Liu family brothers, hurried over and asked in surprise, "Why are you here again? The palace didn't post a notice to recruit soldiers recently?"

"The general misunderstood. We have already found a job to serve as a government servant for this lord. This time, we are not here to serve as a soldier." Liu Zhen saluted, and quickly introduced to the county magistrate Lu: "My lord, this General Li , that is, General Li Tianzhi, whom we told you about in the restaurant last time, has a very good temper, so if you have anything to do, tell him quickly."

"Ha, I didn't expect you guys to be really useful." Lu Da County Magistrate was overjoyed, and hurriedly cupped his hands to Li Tianzhi, who was wearing a general's uniform, and said, "General Li, the matter is too urgent, so I will make a long story short. The next official is Lu Yifeng. It is the new county magistrate of Qujing, ordered by Prince Pingxi to come to see the eldest prince of Prince Pingnan, the matter is very urgent, I hope the general can tell the whereabouts of the eldest prince, if you can introduce him, it would be even better, I will thank you very much."

"The eldest prince has gone to the Huizhou magistrate's yamen." Li Tianzhi is indeed a kind person, and he said directly without making things difficult: "Since more than [-]% of the military rations transferred by the Huizhou prefect's yamen yesterday were moldy and rotten, the eldest prince lost his temper and personally I went to the Yamen to settle accounts with the prefect Zhu Ben."

After all, Li Tianzhi said kindly again: "Seeing that you are in such a hurry, I just have some time now, and I treated these three strong men badly in the recruitment last time. Let me take it as a favor for them and lead you to the magistrate's yamen."

"Thank you General, General Li is indeed a kind man." The county magistrate Lu Da was overjoyed, and hurriedly took Li Tianzhi's hand and begged: "General Li, the matter is too urgent, please take the officials down immediately to meet the eldest prince, hurry up, quick."

"What's the hurry? It's very close, so I can't miss your business. Wait for me to lead a horse." Li Tianzhi smiled, and asked someone to bring a war horse, and led Lu Da County Magistrate and his party directly to the Huizhou magistrate's yamen.The county magistrate of Lu Da is not that kind of pedantic and unrepentant white-eyed wolf. It is rare to meet such a kind person as Li Tianzhi. Naturally, he had to give 20 taels of gold sand from Wu Sangui's activity funds to Li Tianzhi, but Li Tianzhi didn't mention it.

With the help of Li Tianzhi, County Magistrate Lu entered Huizhou City smoothly, and went directly to the Huizhou magistrate's yamen, but when he came to the prefect's yamen, which was heavily guarded by soldiers, he went inside, and the county magistrate Lu's eyes widened.In the lobby of the magistrate’s yamen, seven or eight officials in official uniforms were pinned to the ground, and a dozen Guangdong soldiers were slapping their asses with wrenches, but the real yamen servants were like a group of wounded chickens Huddled in a corner of the lobby, shrunk his head and dared not even take a breath, the screams, howls, and cries for mercy of the officials in the Qing Dynasty filled the lobby one after another, which was extremely lively.

"Fortunately, it seems that the eldest prince has a good temper today - I guessed how many of these guys should have been chopped off by the eldest prince." Li Tianzhi shrugged his shoulders and said something that made the county magistrate Lu dumbfounded.At the end, Li Tianzhi said again: "You guys wait here, I will go in and report to you."

Thanks to Lu Da County Magistrate and others, Li Tianzhi strode into the yamen, walked to the magistrate's seat under the plaque of "Mingjing Gaoxuan", nodded and bowed to the man sitting in the middle, and said something, the man didn't know what to say What, Li Tianzhi quickly ran back to the hall and said to the magistrate Lu: "Master Lu, the eldest prince agrees to see you. You come in alone, and the rest of you are waiting here."

"Thank you, General Li." The county magistrate Lu Da was overjoyed, and hurriedly cupped his hands to thank him, and took the necessary official documents and defenses, and rushed into the lobby of Huizhou prefect's yamen.But when he took a closer look in the hall, the county magistrate Lu could not help being a little stunned—Shang Kexi's eldest son, Shang Zhixin, who was sitting in the middle of the court hall, was not as short, fat and ugly as Man Qing had advertised, but A thin man of medium build, in his thirties, with a white face and beardless, with regular features. Although he is not particularly handsome, he is more than enough to surpass our county magistrate Lu in terms of handsomeness. Attractive mature man.

Fortunately, after the county magistrate of Lu Da came to this era, it is not the first time that he has been brainwashed and deceived by braids and braids. Said: "The next official, Lu Yifeng, the magistrate of Qujing County, pays homage to Prince Pingnan's son, and the son is blessed and safe."

"I'll talk about your matter later. Stand aside first." Shang Zhixin waved his hand, and impatiently pushed Lu Da County Magistrate aside, slapped the table again, and shouted: "Okay, stop beating, and Zhu Ben Bring me up!"

"Strike!" The tortured soldiers in the hall agreed in unison, stopped the torture together, and dragged an official whose buttocks had been beaten bloody to Shang Zhixin.The official wailed loudly, resisting the pain in his buttocks, struggled desperately to kowtow to Shang Zhixin, and cried loudly: "My son, please spare me, please! I will recruit you for a lowly position, and you will be recruited for any lowly position! The five thousand shi military rations sent by the imperial court to the eldest son It is true that there are more than 400 stones that were not properly kept by the humble job, and they were accidentally drenched in the rain and rotted.

"Fuck you, when I don't know how to count?" Shang Zhixin was furious, grabbed the pen holder on the public case, and smashed it on the head of the unlucky Huizhou prefect Zhu Ben, roaring: "Five thousand shi grains, all of them are moldy and rotten!" One thousand 190, three stones, four buckets and three liters, and the remaining good grains are mixed with at least [-]% of rice husks and rice bran! You only admitted four hundred stones to Lao Tzu, and you think Lao Tzu is two?!"

"This kid is very careful, he can remember so clearly how many fights and how many liters." The county magistrate Lu Da cheered up secretly, thinking that this Shang Zhixin was rough on the outside and thin on the inside, and it seems that he is not an easy master to deal with. You have to be extra careful.Fuck, why is my life so hard, and how come everyone I meet is more difficult than the other?In history, the opponents that Kang Xiaomazi encountered were more stupid than the last?God, you don't have eyes!
"My son, I am wronged!" Zhu Ben wailed and said, "I swear to God, in the hands of the humble officer, more than 400 stones have been moldy! The other moldy grains are sent to the humble official like this! As for Mixing rice husk and rice bran in the military rations is like this when it is delivered! Please be enlightened, my son, even if you kill the humble official, I dare not play such tricks in front of you!"

"My lord, Mr. Futai is telling the truth!" The other officials in the hall also cried and cried out, "In front of you, my lord, we have grown a few heads. How dare we embezzle and embezzle your lord?" Lord, your military rations? It was really mixed with chaff and rice bran when it was delivered. We accept the moldy rations in Huizhou Mansion, and we can double the punishment, but other rations, even those who kill low-ranking officials dare not admit it. what!"

Crying and shouting, a few unlucky Huizhou local officials kowtowed desperately, swearing that they only caused more than 400 shi of military rations to rot due to poor storage, and others were responsible for the rest.But Shang Zhixin looked at his words and saw that these unlucky people were crying and talking with sincerity, not like a fake, so he waved his hand again and said: "Okay, I trust you once, and I will give you a chance to rot in your hands." More than 400 shi of military rations, within one day, doubled to Lao Tzu's barracks! Also, find out the official documents for transporting this batch of military rations, I will check one by one, find out who dares to let my son eat rice bran, Lao Tzu Let his whole family go to the underworld to eat ghost chaff!"

"Thank you, my son, thank you for your kindness." Several unlucky people who were beaten by Shang Zhixin until their ass blossomed were amnesty, and kowtowed to Shang Zhixin desperately, crying and weeping to thank Shang Zhidao.

"Stop the fucking nonsense, why don't you hurry up and raise food for me?" Shang Zhixin's eyes widened, and a few unlucky officials almost peed in their crotch in fright. Rushed out of the lobby to raise food.Shang Zhixin cursed again, then pointed at the magistrate Lu Da, and ordered: "You, follow me to the back hall."

After all, Shang Zhixin got up and walked to the back hall without looking back. The county magistrate Lu didn't dare to neglect, and hurriedly followed up. Behind him, Li Tianzhi understood and followed with a large group of Shang Zhixin's personal soldiers, and quickly guarded him. At various intersections, lest others eavesdrop on the conversation between Shang Zhixin and Lu Da County Magistrate.

After entering the back hall, Shang Zhixin sat down in the middle with a big face, and did not let the magistrate Lu take his seat. He just asked the soldiers to bring a cup of tea, took a few sips slowly, then raised his head, and squinted at the standing The county magistrate Lu Da in front of him suddenly sneered and said: "You are Lu Yifeng? You are not small. I originally planned to settle accounts with you when I returned to Guangzhou City, but I didn't expect you to come to my door to die. ?”

"My lord, do you know about humble positions?" County Magistrate Lu Da asked in surprise.

"Nonsense." Shang Zhixin sneered, "I not only know that there is a number one person like you, but also know that three days ago, on the night of the third day of October, you met with my father and urged your father to go to the court and ask for withdrawal." fan."

"It turns out that this kid also has an eyeliner in his traitor's house." The county magistrate Lu suddenly realized, and said with a smile: "My son is really brilliant, he can predict things like a god, and I admire him for his humble position."

"Don't talk about such good things, I'm tired of hearing them." Shang Zhixin waved his hand contemptuously, and then said with a smirk: "Your surname is Lu, you are indeed very courageous, just persuade my immortal father to take the initiative to ask for the withdrawal of the feudal clan. , How dare you come to Lao Tzu to die? Tell me, if Lao Tzu's immortal father really listened to your proposition and agreed to take the initiative to ask for the withdrawal of the feudal clan, then Lao Tzu will be blown away by you when he sees the throne in his hand. ? You said to yourself, how should I deal with you, so as to get rid of this hatred in my heart?"

Facing the threat of the famous and brutal Shang Zhixin with a sneer, our county magistrate Lu showed no fear, and instead showed a happy smile on his fat face that was about to drop fat, and asked calmly: "What the elder son said is not bad, It is indeed possible for the lowly position to persuade Prince Pingnan to take the initiative to ask for the withdrawal of the vassal. However, there is something very strange about the lower officials. Among the few local officials that the old man beat up just now, some are higher than the humble officials. The local officials represent that the son of the world wants to kill the humble official like crushing an ant——in this case, why didn’t the son of the world do it immediately?"

"I have a habit." Shang Zhixin's smile became more ferocious, and he said slowly: "Before killing someone, I like to hear the crying and begging for mercy of the person who is about to be killed. Now I haven't heard your crying and begging for mercy. How could you just chop you up like this?"

"Not necessarily?" The county magistrate of Lu Da also smiled more happily, and said word by word: "Master, you are an extremely smart and meticulous person, and you will think that the low-ranking Western candidate is the same as your old and foolish father. The official and the special envoy of Prince Pingxi, is he sincerely persuading him to take the initiative to ask the imperial court to allow San Francisco to withdraw?"

Shang Zhixin stopped his smirk, tilted his head and looked at the county magistrate Lu for a long time, finally showed some smiles, nodded and said: "Good boy, he is indeed the person sent by Wu Sangui. He really has the courage and insight to dare to stand in front of Lao Tzu." , Lao Tzu who scolds me—but, I like you to be so kind! Tell me, that old boy Wu Sangui, what is the real purpose of sending you to Guangdong?"

To find out what happened next, please see the next chapter, "Showdown".

Note: Li Tianzhi, a historical figure, was the General Soldier of Guangzhou after Shang Zhixin forced Shang Kexi to death. He once punished Wang Guodong, a Guangdong rebel general who betrayed Shang Zhixin and took refuge in Xiao Mazi. Guangdong soldiers were killed by Kang Xiaomazi in Gongbei Building (now Beijing Road, Guangzhou).

(End of this chapter)