Chapter 931
: Burned to White in One Night
Chapter 931: Burned to White Overnight
on the street,
The noise was still going on, and ordinary people were standing on both sides of the street, looking out. The guards of the Southern Pacification Office, riding on tall horses, dressed in armor and looking majestic, left the office and rushed south in a hurry. Something big must have happened.
The people of Beijing always love to watch the excitement.
The people in the wine shops, tea houses, neighbors, and even the common people gathered together to discuss.
"Hey, what's going on? The people in the Imperial City Bureau are usually not so anxious. Now they are rushing south in a hurry. I'm afraid there are thieves causing trouble again."
An old man, wearing a coarse linen shirt and with a dark complexion, sighed and put down the bowl of soup in his hand heavily. This year, the weather is getting worse and worse.
The other, a slightly thin middle-aged man wearing a square scarf, frowned and shook his head, then took over the conversation.
"That's impossible. Marquis Luo Yun's army just marched south the day before yesterday. The bandit army has many spies, so it's impossible that they didn't know about it a few days later. In my opinion, something may have happened around the capital, and I don't know which bandit caused the riot. Otherwise, the Southern Guard would not have gathered a large army to leave the city. Who in the Southern Guard would not know about it?"
Once finished,
The atmosphere in the originally quiet tavern suddenly became lively, with people talking to each other and guessing what had happened.
Those who arrived late and did not see what happened all came over to listen to the boasting of some "people who know the inside story".
The person who listened attentively to the conversation at this table even clasped his fists and asked,
"My dear friends, let me ask you, what could possibly happen around the capital? This is not the mess in the south of Beijing, where those peasants are making trouble everywhere."
Everyone present knew that the peasants who were talking about the chaos were the rebels from the Taiping Sect and the White Lotus Sect. However, as they could not speak these words openly in the capital, the people of the capital used their local dialect instead when they chatted.
"Yes, there are still hundreds of thousands of imperial guards in the capital, as well as the Imperial City Guards. In addition, there are so many soldiers in the Military Department. It is impossible for some scoundrels to come here."
A young man in light clothing began to explain, and everyone nodded in agreement.
unfortunately,
A man dressed as a merchant stroked his beard, came closer and whispered;
"Everyone, that's not necessarily true. I heard that a few days ago, the official road to the south of Beijing was full of fleeing civilians, and the official road to Daliang City has been cut off."
The rest of the words were not said explicitly, but the people around him all took a deep breath. The official road was cut off, which meant there was only one possibility: Daliang City was about to be lost.
Then there was a worried look on their faces. They had dinner with worries and left. The two people in the corner had mixed feelings after listening to it.
"Wan Sheng, send someone immediately to follow those people and find out where they are looking for them. I have a feeling that maybe it is a group of people sent by Master Chu to ambush in the heart of the Central Plains. Find out how to find out."
"Yes, big brother, I will arrange it right away. Be careful about the matter in the capital. Those lackeys in the Imperial City Department are like crazy now, looking for our people everywhere. In addition, I heard that many people from Jianghu have joined the Imperial City Department as officials. We must send a message to Master Chu about this matter and find a way to solve it."
Wan Sheng had a solemn expression on his face. Some of the original simple strongholds had now been seized by the people from the Imperial City Bureau. There was another time, he had a fight with people from the Imperial City Bureau who had come to arrest him in a house in the east of the city. The moves they used were obviously the martial arts of the Jingnan Five Lakes Alliance. These martial arts sects did not take the Taiping Cult seriously at all.
Although he was angry, he still had to solve the problem. However, he didn't know that the hall master Luo Fei shook his head and said;
"We'll talk about this later. The sect has reached a critical moment and we must not be distracted. You also know that the leader is too overbearing and has destroyed many small sects. The death of the rabbit makes the fox mourn. The reputation in the martial arts world is nothing more than that. You go and be careful."
"Yes, brother, I'm going."
Master Wanxiang lowered his head and left, leaving no trace, leaving only Luo Fei with a gloomy face. He didn't know why the leader could not tolerate other sects. There were so many strange people and things in the world. If this continued, the interests of those powerful sects would be affected, which might cause more trouble.
"My Lord, my Lord, hurry up, make the top-quality ginseng soup. I boiled it for two hours this morning."
In the tent,
Zhang Jinyu had just gotten up and changed his clothes. Outside the big tent, there was already a lot of noise as people were packing their luggage. It must be getting late outside.
"Well, bring it in. By the way, how is the situation with Prince Jin?"
As the door curtain opened,
Lan Yueer walked in slowly in a martial arts uniform, with a gentle face. She rolled her eyes at him.
"My dear, drink the ginseng soup first to warm yourself up. His Highness got up early and after dinner, he inspected outside the tent. Captain Ji and General Duan accompanied him."
When he came to my side, he handed me a big bowl of ginseng soup, which actually contained a lot of red dates and other tonic foods. The fragrance came, and I couldn't help feeling a little hungry.
After Zhang Jinyu reached out to take it, he tilted his head back and drank the bowl of ginseng soup. Suddenly, a warm current rose in his stomach and flowed to his limbs and bones. He felt refreshed. Seeing that there was still half a body in the bowl, he simply reached out and took it out and swallowed it in one gulp.
It is true that precious medicine nourishes the kidneys.
"What time is it?"
"It's already morning. General Ning received a letter saying that the rear army of the Beijing camp has set out to the south, so the soldiers in the camp have begun to gather."
Putting down the bowl and chopsticks, Lan Yue'er had already gone inside and started to clean up, pack up, and take out the meat and vegetables from the food box and put them on the table.
"My Lord, let's eat first."
Sitting at the table, Zhang Jinyu was not polite. He picked up the naan bread, wrapped the meat in it and put it into his mouth. He was still thinking in his mind how to fight the battle in three days. The imperial army would surely arrive first, and he would follow closely behind. In fact, there was nothing to think about. He would just push forward and show his momentum to lift the siege of Daliang City first. Then, Linshan County City would be the next target. But he didn't know how to deal with those people from Taiping Sect?
While having meal,
The curtain of the big tent was opened, and Jin Wang Zhou Ding had already brought Xia Yu and others into the tent. He found that the Marquis was having a meal, so he walked over and sat down.
"My Lord, are we going to march today like we did yesterday, until midnight? I think since we can save time on setting up camp, why not march a little longer?"
Zhou Ding also saw the benefit of arranging the march in this way. They could walk more than half the distance in a day without delaying rest. So why not walk a little further in the next few days?
Unexpectedly, Zhang Jinyu finished the meat in his hand in a few bites, wiped his hands with the brocade cloth, shook his head, and replied;
"Your Highness, the further south we go, the closer we are to Daliang City. The soldiers are exhausted from marching forward, while the enemy is well rested and in high spirits. It is not difficult to walk, but it will consume the soldiers' physical strength.
Therefore, it is most important for the soldiers to rest. They should march for a day and stop at sunset, and then rest in the camp. They must not tire themselves out. "
This is a big taboo during marching and fighting. Not to mention ordinary soldiers, even if they are riding horses, if they are tired for a long time, they will want to doze off and feel weak all over. No matter how many people there are, a tired army is useless. Your Highness, don't you understand this simple truth?
"Well, what the Marquis said makes sense. Why not get a little tired in the front, and then take more time to rest when you are close. This way, you can save..."
He stopped talking, and felt that his method was a little wrong. If there was an ambush or something else, the soldiers would be tired and would not be able to deal with it. His face was a little embarrassed, so he kept silent.
Zhang Jinyu picked up another piece of meat and chewed it, saying indistinctly,
"Your Highness, marching and fighting are inseparable. No one knows when they will encounter the enemy ahead. Therefore, during the daily march, the soldiers' physical strength must be guaranteed. When marching to noon, they must replenish dry food and water and rest for half an hour. This is the reason why we cannot rush to fight against the Taiping Sect."
After thinking about it, Wang Ziteng was defeated because he was too slow. If he went straight to Linshan County and controlled the city, it would be clear at a glance whether the officials in the city were human or not. How could he have made the final desperate breakout?
unfortunately,
Wang Ziteng was cautious and hesitant by nature, and the enemy army was treacherous, so he was defeated for no apparent reason. But this time, he used swiftness to defeat the enemy army under Daliang City first.
As the saying goes, it is better to cut off one finger than to hurt ten fingers. There are at least elite members of the Taiping Sect among the bandits under the city. If we capture those people, it will be easier to attack the county city.
Thinking this way, the 50,000 troops of the vanguard imperial guards were not enough, so we surrounded and annihilated them. The key was numbers. So he raised his head and shouted,
"Come here, send a message quickly to the commander of the Right Guard of the Imperial Army, He Xiaocheng, to slow down the march and keep pace with the central army. Do not march south in advance. If you reach the camp first, rest there and wait for orders."
"Yes, Lord Marquis."
Footsteps were heard outside the door. This military order made His Royal Highness Prince Jin beside him confused. Before leaving, it seemed that he told the imperial guards to move south quickly and reach Daliang City first. Why did the military order change now?
"My Lord, what are you doing?"
Aren't the vanguard troops always marching ahead of the main army, building bridges over rivers and clearing roads through mountains? Why can't they be allowed to go first?
Zhang Jinyu smiled slightly, turned his head to look at the puzzled King Jin, and whispered;
"Your Highness, I want to defeat the Taiping Rebellion army under Daliang City in one fell swoop. Since they have been besieging the city for several days, they must have at least 200,000 troops. Our central army has nearly 300,000 troops, and there are also Daliang City defenders. 300,000 versus 200,000, the advantage is on my side."
In order to be at ease, I deliberately did this comparison. Sure enough, Jin Wang Zhou Ding's face looked much better. Thinking about it, it made sense.
"Listen to the Marquis's arrangement and kill the Taiping Cult first." The King of Jin was delighted and secretly relieved. He got up so early today because he did not sleep well last night. Many things were on his mind and he could not sleep well, so he walked around the camp to relax. However, the more he walked, the more uneasy he felt. He had no choice but to come back to discuss with the Marquis. Unexpectedly, Marquis Luo Yun had already made up his mind and was relieved.
"Well, Manager Xia, pack up the prince's things and we're ready to go,"
"Yes, Lord Marquis!"
Xia Yu just responded,
outside,
The horn for gathering and marching was sounded. Zhang Jinyu did not delay. He gave an order, put on his clothes, and went out of the tent.
"Boom."
The sound of horse hooves came from afar.
The hunting palace in the south of the capital was burned beyond recognition after a fire broke out overnight. The originally majestic and elegant building was left with only ruins and smoke rising from some places.
The thieves had already fled and their whereabouts were unknown.
There was a sound of horse hooves, and a large group of cavalrymen came slowly from the north. Leading the group was Ma Mengquan, the commander of the Southern Pacification Command of the Imperial City Division, as well as Ma Deqiu, the deputy commander, Cai Changyue, the captain, Zhou Huaijin, the second son of the Zhongshun Palace, and two thousand imperial city guards.
As soon as they arrived at the place, they saw a vast expanse of darkness. Not only were the newcomers shocked, even the Second Young Master on his horse was extremely shocked. He had had his meal here last night, and hadn't seen it for a night. Not only was it burned to the ground, but it was all built with the money of the royal palace, and it was ruined like this.
The second son had a look of disbelief on his face, and he looked dazed. He had hurried into the city last night and entered the city in the early morning. He did not return to the palace, but went to the Imperial City Sinan Pacification Office to ask for reinforcements. He did not expect that after he came back, the Taiping Sect thieves had already fled. There was another thing, he would not kill the Taoist who met him at the beginning, right? On second thought, the Taoists in Longhu Mountain were not simple.
"Commander Shi, last night the Taiping Religious bandits ambushed and raided the palace. The defenders were defeated, so we had no choice but to lead our troops to break out."
The second son Zhou Huaijin felt sad. He had made such careful arrangements, but ended up like this. Was there someone around him who informed on him? Was it his eldest brother's people? He was terrified. He was ambushed the first time he left the city. If he hadn't wanted to show off when he left the palace, he would have brought some more personal soldiers from the palace, and also brought his own retainers, Lord Jiang and others. He might not have been able to return last night.
When I think about it this way, I feel a little scared and a little angry.
"Yes, the bandits are very brave. Ma Deqiu, take some people down to search and see if they can find anything."
The commander Ma Mengquan shouted that the place had been burned to ashes, and the corpses of the defenders were probably among them.
The entire palace,
Now it has all disappeared, but those Taiping Cult thieves, since they were able to come here, there are so many of them, where can they hide?
Ma Deqiu dismounted, clasped his fists and accepted the order. He immediately led his men into the palace. After a careful inspection, he found bloodstains on the ground and some unburned corpses inside. It was a horrible sight. The two thousand cavalrymen of the Imperial City Department were quietly waiting for news outside the palace.
"Report, Commander, urgent report from Tongzhou City. Last night, Marquis Luo Yun led his army to Tongzhou City and joined forces with the garrison to ambush the dense forest in the south of the city. They attacked with fire, killing and wounding a large number of ambushes, but did not pursue them last night."
From behind, several people from the Imperial City Division came hurriedly, panting and passing on messages. The second son Zhou Huaijin was shocked, and then he suddenly realized that he was implicated.
He wanted to ask something, but his deputy general Ming An grabbed his clothes. He turned around and shook his head at his master.
"Why are you reporting this today?"
"Your Excellency, Commander, it's not that I didn't come to report, but the Tongzhou City garrison retreated back to the city last night after Marquis Luo Yun left. This morning, we sent people out to check and found a large number of Taiping Rebellion soldiers' corpses. After confirming them, we sent the message."
The leading centurion had sweat on his face. He didn't know much about the matter. Last night, the garrison commander, Wing Guard Sima Shan Changyong, led the troops alone and did not mobilize the Tongzhou treasury soldiers. They were all from the Beijing camp, so after hearing the news, they were unable to send it out in time.
Ma Mengquan snorted coldly, squinted his eyes, and looked around. They had just galloped and arrived here in less than half a day. According to the time, it took most of the day to go back and forth. The thieves became stray dogs after being ambushed last night. They desperately attacked this place just for supplies. Therefore, they couldn't run far with the things they carried. They were still around.
"Send someone to call Captain Ma back and stop him from investigating. The enemy troops can't have run far. They should still be near the palace. They are either hiding in the mountains or running for their lives."
"Yes, my lord,"
The personal soldiers around him immediately ran to the palace to inform Captain Ma. The second young master beside him couldn't help but ask;
"Sir, if they can't run far, then where are they hiding? Could they really be hiding in the mountains? Then our efforts would be in vain."
The Anyang Mountains are so vast that people entering them are like water dropping into a river. Who can find them?
"Second Master, don't worry. The Anyang Mountains are large, but their supplies won't last that long. They can either take a risk and march along the edge of the mountains, robbing houses along the way to replenish their supplies, or risk everything and go deep into the mountains. Both are ways of life and death."
Looking at the open space around him, Ma Deqiu had already come out with his soldiers, with a look of joy on his face, knowing that something had been discovered. He looked up at the worried face of the Second Young Master and shook his head.
"Second Young Master, I have been blessed by the Emperor's kindness and have been ordered by the Minister of Internal Affairs to be the head of the Nanzhen Pacification Office and train 5,000 Imperial City Guards. Now that the troops are ready, I have not achieved any credit. This is truly shameful. If there is any trace of the evil Taiping Cult, I, the commander, will never let this go."
These words should not be said, but Ma Mengquan had to say them. One of the things entrusted by the governor of the capital was not done. The evil Taoist who sold the test questions and the stronghold of the remnants of the Taiping Sect were nowhere to be found, and the other was taken by the people of the Northern Pacification Office. If he could not achieve any results, his position would be unstable.
Fortunately, someone came to bring a pillow when I felt sleepy. The second young master arrived just in time.
"The commander is loyal and we will cooperate with him."
Although Zhou Huaijin was exhausted and hadn't slept all night, his body was exhausted but his spirit was excited. If he really caught the leader of the bandit army, he would definitely interrogate him carefully to see if his whereabouts had been betrayed.
at the moment,
Ma Qianhu hurried back and clasped his fists.
"Sir, everyone in the palace is dead. Although the warehouse was burned, there is no ashes of food and grass inside. In addition, there are a large number of horse hoof prints in the yard, heading straight to the west. I guess those rebels wanted to go to the manors south of Anhu Lake."
As he spoke, his face became a little grim. They were all traitors who killed people without blinking an eye. If they went to the manors of the noble families and started killing people, the capital would be in turmoil.
Ma Mengquan's face also condensed, knowing what Ma Deqiu meant. He remembered that there were many manors of dignitaries there, and the Imperial Manor of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was also there. How could he wait and be idle?
in addition,
These war horses left marks, not to mention that they were robbed from the palace. If this happens, they will become like horse bandits running around everywhere, which will be troublesome.
"Hurry, get on your horses, send out all the scouts, and chase them after we determine the direction. If you encounter any thieves, don't hold back, kill them all."
"Yes, sir, go ahead."
"drive."
There was a burst of rapid horse hoofbeats, and the Imperial City Guards cavalrymen left westward one after another.
But don't know,
At the bottom of the hillside on the east side, in a patch of grass, there were several figures lying there, motionless. After confirming that they had left, an incense master couldn't help but ask;
"Master, it turned out to be those people from the Imperial City Division. This is troublesome. Old Liang only has more than 200 people going west. What should we do?"
There was some anxiety on his face. Two hundred people who didn't know how to ride a horse had no chance of survival against the imperial guards of the Imperial City Division.
Zhou Xiu's face was even more gloomy.
"Damn it, how did they invite these imperial lackeys here? Shouldn't they use the soldiers from the Beijing camp to encircle and suppress us?"
Seeing the cavalry disappearing in the sky, how could they leave the mountains with them around? After all, two legs can't outrun four legs.
"Master, what should I do?"
"Hmph, what should we do? Gather the troops. There is a farm in the north. Let's kill people and move food first, then attract them back. Let some of them pull some carts east, then go into the dense forest and come back, and cover more distance."
His eyes were solemn. The noses of these henchmen of the Imperial City Bureau were more sensitive than those of dogs.
"As for Lao Liang and the others, just leave it to fate. This is all we can do."
(End of this chapter)