Chapter 78: Retreat to the South (Part 1)
The carriage was bumping, and Chen Yuanyuan frowned slightly, feeling a burst of pain all over her body, as if she was distracted. She barely opened her eyes, but she was still in the carriage, but her body was covered in blood and her robe was scratched.
"Where is this?"
"Tianjin!"
Xia Shouli's annoying voice came over, and when the curtain was raised, Xia Shouli smiled and said, "Miss Chen, you are so wild, just jump down the car, it will be a life."
"It's better to die than to suffer alive!" Chen Yuanyuan said with a frown. She had ambition to die, but she didn't know that she jumped off the car and was just a waste of God.
"Miss Chen, Lao Xia, I won't talk nonsense to you. I'll wait for Uncle Zhongyong to deal with everything."
Xia Shouli said, and asked his subordinates to drive the carriage into the city. However, inside and outside the city gate were full of people coming in and out, densely packed, as if it was the Chinese New Year.
"I haven't seen each other for a few days, why has it become so lively?"
Xia Shouli smiled and stopped a middle-aged man in his thirties and asked, "Brother, what's going on? Why is Tianjin City so lively?"
"You don't know, the fun has not stopped these two days. First, I recruited soldiers, and then killed traitors, and cut dozens of big profiteers on the edge of the Haihe River. One tael of silver and one piece of meat were sold!"
When Xia Shouli heard this, he nodded slightly. This must be a trick made by Gu Zhenhua.
Chen Yuanyuan in the carriage also heard this and suddenly felt a chill all over her body. The word "traitor" hurt her heart. Will the former Ruyi Man really become a traitor? Will he end up in the end with Lingchi? Chen Yuanyuan's heart felt like she was cut by a knife, and it hurt to the extreme.
At this moment, another yamen run over and posted a new notice at the city gate.
"Dear young and old men, the loyal and brave uncle has given me a kindness. I want to release grain to help the people. All the people in Tianjin, including those in the ten miles and eight villages, can receive two ducts of grain. I can tell you that it is not a grain-cured noodles or mixed noodles, but all ducts of japonica rice and white flour. Two ducts of grain can be enough for a family to eat for a year!"
"Mr., are you saying true?"
"It's true that Mr. Gu killed so many traitors. Of course, the food he took out from the traitor merchants will be distributed to everyone!"
When the people at the city gate heard the news, they all squeezed under the notice. They didn't care whether they read or not, they all stared at them, for fear that the good things that would fall from the sky would disappear!
"If you want to say that Mr. Gu is really a good official. Not only do you want our things, but you also give us food. Such a good official is hard to find in the world!" The people sighed.
The yamen runner also smiled and said, "Young and young men remember that starting tomorrow morning, four city gates will line up to receive food!"
"knew."
Everyone agreed in unison, and, somewhat anxious, simply ran home, pushed the cart, put on the cart, and ox carts, and all rushed to Tianjin. They simply waited for one night, and for two loads of food, everything was worth it!
In Tianjin City, not only these common people were lively, but many scholars also gathered together and discussed.
Fang Jianming, Liu Wenxiong and others were having tea in the teahouse while talking a lot.
Liu Wenxiong curled his lips and said, "Brother Fang, you said you wanted to surrender to An** a few days ago and join the army. But in the past two days, you can see what they have done. You are even worse than bandits. Block the docks, seize ships, arrest merchants, and sway one by one. There is no such thing as being virtuous and politically loving to the people. They all look like they came down from Liangshan, just a group of living bandits. I want to write articles to expose their ugly deeds, so that the people in the world will denounce them together. Let this kind of thing that harms the country and the people, the court will sooner or later be finished!"
"Yes, Brother Liu said it well." Several other scholars also started to make noise: "We scholars should ask for the people. We should not watch Tianjin become a purgatory on earth. We will write a memorial in collaboration. We must let An ** and other bandits know that there is still righteousness in the world and let them see the strong scholars!"
Fang Jianming sipped a sip of tea and smiled contemptuously: "Everyone, who are you going to hand over to write a memorial? According to me, if you want to plead for the people, you should go to the yamen, block the yamen, and scold Gu Zhenhua. If you don't have that rooster feather, don't pretend to be an old harrier eagle!"
"Brother Fang, what do you mean?" Liu Wenxiong frowned and stared at Fang Jianming fiercely.
Fang Jianming sneered: "Brother Liu, we have known each other for a few years. You have been passionate and criticized the current problems, which is really admirable. But now those unscrupulous merchants colluded with the Qing Dynasty and had many evil deeds. It is natural that you ask for the traitor. Do you also want to join forces with the crowd?"
"Nonsense!" Liu Wenxiong suddenly stood up and pointed at Fang Jianming and asked loudly: "Who is surnamed Fang, you dare to slander my character. Get out of the resumption of the society now. You are not worthy of being a real scholar!"
"Fang is indeed unwilling to join a group of people who are fucking and bastards. Do you still remember Zhou Zhong, who was the second place in Chongzhen for 16 years and the leader of Fushe, but I heard that he had already served as an advisor to Li Zicheng and gave Li Zicheng advice to capture Jiangnan. Is this your integrity? Is this the so-called righteous gentleman? In my opinion, when the Qing Dynasty came over, those who claim to be loyal and kind will probably also surrender to the enemy!"
After being questioned repeatedly by Fang Jianming, Liu Wenxiong was so angry that he trembled all over. He suddenly stood up and said to the students around him: "Everyone, everyone, let's fight this little traitor together!"
Fang Jianming also clenched his fists. At this moment, there was a burst of rapid footsteps outside the teahouse, and more than a dozen soldiers rushed in and surrounded Liu Wenxiong and the others.
"What are you going to do? We are scholars and must not be rude!"
"Yes, you can't wrongly accuse good people."
"Good people? I think they were selected from the crowd of good people. The profiteer Wu Shizhen has confessed that there are many scholars in Tianjin who have correspondence with the Qing Dynasty. Please follow me!"
...
"Have fun, kill happily!" Li Jibo said with a smile: "It is so satisfying to cut off these profiteers. Those Liaodong soldiers who died in the nine springs can also rest in peace."
No wonder Old Man Li was angry. How many soldiers have died in Liaodong over the years? If it were not for the help of the Shanshang Group, I would have been finished early in the morning and would not have become such a disaster!
Just by the Haihe River, more than 60 Shanxi merchants led by Fan Da were all sentenced to death. As Fan Yongdou's brother, Fan Dacheng was even more taken care of. After citing his crimes, he was given the treatment of being tortured to death on the spot.
The people were entangled with a thin fishing net, and the knife kept cutting the squeezed meat one by one. The people in the field were also very satisfied. Many people even threw silver on the stage, hoping to buy a piece of meat.
After snatching the meat, some people burst into tears and some people burst into laughter.
The Tartars poisoned the Central Plains and entered the pass several times. Tianjin was also a severely affected area. Many families had their wives and children separated and their families were destroyed. Now they have obtained a piece of meat from the culprit, which can be used to pay tribute to their dead relatives.
Some people simply ate a mouthful of soju and a mouthful of human flesh, and their mouths were covered in blood and tears flowed!
"Mr. Li, these merchants in Tianjin are just miscellaneous fish. The real culprit is still at large. With the protection of the Qing Dynasty, they will continue to accomplice the tiger. I think the most urgent task is to expose the ugly faces of these people and let everyone in the world shout and kill Fan Yongdou and others. Let their reputation be ruined and they cannot do business. Only in this way can they truly attack them!"
"Don't worry, I have asked someone to write the crimes of Shanxi merchants, and they will be spread all over the world immediately, so that everyone can know that even if they don't die, they will be skinned!"
Gu Zhenhua also showed joy on his face and said with a smile: "If you destroy the Shanxi Shang Group, it is equivalent to cutting off one of the Qing Dynasty's arms, which is really gratifying."
Li Jibo also smiled and said, "That's right, but after all, if you want to defeat the Qing Dynasty, you have to rely on a powerful army to succeed. You are still powerless at the moment!"
Gu Zhenhua nodded: "Mr. Li, the Dashun army cannot stop the Qing Dynasty. We have been staying in Tianjin for a few days. I have planned to retreat south. I plan to retreat along the canal to the Zhili area in southeast Shandong. It is still the territory of the Ming Dynasty. We hold the prince in our hands. As long as we use it well, we can gain a foothold."
"Well, this is the only way, but we have made so much money, food, and people in Tianjin. It is not easy to retreat south smoothly!"
"Mr. Li, I am going to retreat in batches, with grain passing by sea. Now I will go south. Then the new military camp will take gold, silver and treasures to the south, and finally the main force will retreat south. When I left, I will burn down Tongzhou and Tianjin, blow up the canal, and strengthen the walls and clear the fields, leaving only a desolation for the Qing Dynasty!"
Li Jibo smiled bitterly and said, "It should be true that this should be done, but I'm afraid it will cause people to be irresponsible."
"If Tumu Xingzi can drown people, it will not exist in the early morning." Gu Zhenhua sneered: "Faced with wild beasts, you must be even more cruel than them!"
"That's right, Zhenhua, don't worry. I will make arrangements and keep them safe."
Li Jibo was about to leave, Xia Shouli hurried over. When he saw Gu Zhenhua, he smiled and bowed, "Sir, the villain fulfilled his mission and brought you more than 700 craftsmen from Beijing."
"That's great!" Gu Zhenhua slapped the table excitedly, and the teapots and tea bowls bumped into each other. He couldn't help but walk around the ground twice: "With craftsmen, money, food, and people, I lack a piece of land, and I can soar into the sky!"
Xia Shouli smiled: "Sir, the villain not only brought out the craftsman, but also brought a woman. Do you want to meet?"
When Gu Zhenhua saw the strange smile on Xia Shouli's face, he couldn't help but smile and said, "What a great woman, it's worth making a fuss."
"Sir, I'm not sure about it. It's Wu Sangui's beloved concubine Chen Yuanyuan. Don't you want to meet him?"
Chen Yuanyuan?
The best disaster?
Chapter completed!