Nanming Engineer

Chapter 421 Visitor
It was dawn, and with the fresh air, the morning sun shone over the woods, shooting spots from the gaps in the leaves, and casting them on the ground, like strange-shaped golden leaves, shaking with the swaying of the leaves.

In Xinfeng City, the shops that get up early have opened their doors. Hardworking people are coming and going on the street, carrying purses, busy for life; the tempting aroma of the bun shop permeates the whole street, and passers-by swallow their saliva Take a look and leave in a hurry, these days, there are not many people who can afford meat buns.

In fact, there are some, after all, it is a county town, and there are still some rich people, but these people have all gone since this period of time, and the imperial army from Guangdong is stationed outside the city, and the news of going to war with Donglu has been spread for a long time , People with a little knowledge ran away for fear of being affected, but this was a minority after all. Most of the people still lived in the old houses left by their ancestors and did not leave.

"You won't fight here, right? It's been so many years, and I haven't seen any wars. Wars are only a matter of big cities. Small places won't suffer, right?"

Occasionally, idlers sitting in teahouses were talking to each other. When talking about these things, luck prevailed. A few years ago when the Tartars came, Li Chengdong even occupied Guangzhou. There was no big disturbance here. Some officials with braids became magistrates, and there was nothing else. For ordinary people, taxes were still paid, and corvee continued to be served, but it was just a different office.

As for the braids, if you don’t keep them, your head will be beheaded. Although it feels very humiliating, if you don’t keep them, you will die. Everyone kept them. Later, Li Chengdong and Marshal Li changed his family for some reason and became an official of Ming Dynasty again. They were not allowed to stay anymore, and if they were kept, they would be beheaded. They all had their heads cut off one after another, and became the common people of the Ming Dynasty.

In the past few months, Marshal Li has come outside the city again. He heard that he was going to Jiangxi, where the fighting was severe and many people died.

Discussions continued in the teahouse. People drank tea and chatted. Those who could be idlers had some money, but not much.

"Marshal Li's soldiers are outside the city, and the camp has even reached the other side of the mountain, tsk tsk, it's so majestic."

"That's not true. Daming has come back to life again. The court has made up its mind this time and must recover Jiangxi. I think the Tartars are at an end in the south."

"Hehe, a few days ago, the king at the entrance of the alley locked his house and fled with his family. He said he wanted to avoid the front of the army. Who would like it? Second, the imperial court has become very powerful in recent years, and the Tartars will not be able to jump for a few days. Marshal Li will undoubtedly win in the past. It is better to stay at home and watch the excitement. Who would have thought that the king would not speak a word? He just left, but fortunately he was an official in charge, so he didn't even have the foresight."

"A rich person has little courage. You and I don't have money like him, so of course we're not afraid, hahaha."

These words were meant to be ridiculed, and everyone laughed, and the teahouse was full of joyful air. Li Chengdong was extremely strict and prohibited his soldiers from disturbing the people, so although there were many soldiers in the city, they lived in peace with the people, and the social order was maintained. As usual, the tea drinkers in the teahouse were very relaxed.

There was a rush of footsteps running across the street. Someone took a curious look, turned around and shouted to someone at a table as if he had discovered something new.

"Huh? Look, look, I ran over just now, it seems to be Yangzhi County!"

"Yang Zhi County?" Everyone looked over, only to see a few people in cloth robes and linen clothes flashing past the corner of the street, and disappeared across the street. The other side of the street was the direction of the city gate.

"Yang Zhixian always rides in a sedan, so why are you running on the street? You must be dazzled." Everyone laughed.

The man was in a hurry, and quickly distinguished: "How can I be wrong? My brother works in the county government office. I often go there. The appearance of the magistrate of Yang County is very familiar. How can he admit his mistake? Those people really have the magistrate of Yang County. , ah, it seems there is still his son in it.”

"This man is talking nonsense." Everyone laughed even more happily. It was rare to have such a good joke on weekdays, and everyone was amused.

Before the laughter fell, another rush of footsteps came from the street. This time everyone saw that a group of people in linen straw sandals and backpacks ran over along the uneven stone-paved street. The leader was actually the county lieutenant. .

They looked panicked, flustered, not wearing official robes, and there were women and children inside, and they looked like they were fleeing.

Everyone in the teahouse was stunned, watching the group of people running towards the city gate. In a daze, the woman inside was still weeping and chattering. He slapped the woman and yelled viciously, but the woman fell silent and followed up sniffling.

When he was running, his eyes met the people in the teahouse without stopping at all. When some acquaintances wanted to say hello, the county captain turned his head and ran away.

That woman was the county captain's wife, a very domineering woman on weekdays. The county captain lowered his voice when he yelled at the woman, but because of the close distance, the people in the teahouse still heard her.

"Crying for your mother, what do you do with the little household items? The city is destroyed and people are dead, so what do you need household items?"

The city is broken?
The city is about to collapse?

Everyone was stunned for a moment, and then they shouted, and the birds and beasts dispersed.

That morning, the Qing army, which was hundreds of miles away in Ganzhou City, suddenly appeared outside Xinfeng. The troops were overwhelming and began to attack Li Chengdong's front army without any warning. The Badaomu City laid out by Yan Keyi was reduced to ashes as if made of paper. , The former army collapsed in an instant, tens of thousands of people fled, and countless people were killed.

Half an hour after the Xinfeng County magistrate ran out of the city, the defeated defeated troops began to attack Li Chengdong's middle army. The defeated troops were as chaotic as ants and could not stop them. The Qing troops behind them were like savage beasts, chasing after the defeated Ming troops. Li Chengdong's army broke through the camp.

Li Chengdong had no way to return to heaven, and retreated into Xinfeng City with the people around him.

The second Northern Expedition became a laughing stock.

……

Nanjing City is directly under the south, the place of dragons and tigers, the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties, leaning on the Yangtze River in the north and Qinhuai in the south. Ten miles of fun has been undefeated for thousands of years, and endless erotic songs have been endless.

How many talents and beauties left poems here, and how many generous people lingered here, so it lasted until the Ming Dynasty. The most famous Liufang later generations are the legends of Qian Jianyi and Liu Rushi.

Liu Rushi was the first of the eight beauties of Qinhuai, with unparalleled elegance and mastery of all things musical, chess, calligraphy and painting; Qian Jianyi became famous at a young age and was a leader in the literary world. Liu Rushi was from a humble background and was a geisha who only sold her skills but not her body. When the two met, Qian Jianyi was already 59 years old. , and Liu Rushi was only 23 years old. They were very different in age, but they hit it off immediately. Qian Jianyi even wrote thirteen quatrains in a row, which won the beauty's heart and became the talk of elegant scholars and poets.

However, this year, Qian Jianyi, who was demoted to the Qing court, was implicated in the Jiangyin Huang Yuqi rebellion. He was imprisoned in the Humble Administrator's Garden in Suzhou.

In the original Forbidden City of the Ming Dynasty in Nanjing, in the Wenlou on the left side of Fengtian Hall, Hong Chengchou, the prince of the Qing Dynasty, Taibao, Minister of the Ministry of War, academician of the Inner Academy, and prime minister of Jiangnan provinces, is sitting behind a huge desk, burying his head in his books. .

The house is spacious, but there are no other things, a desk, a few armchairs, some potted plants for the occasion, a variety of thread-bound books are placed on the bookshelves around the wall, a few calligraphy and paintings hang on the wall, and there is a belt. The sheathed sword hangs behind Hong Chengchou.

A burner of sandalwood was burned in the room. The 57-year-old Hong Chengchou is no longer young. His military career in gold and iron horses left indelible scars on his body. Even now that he is old, he has dull pains in many places on his body every rainy season. Only by relying on sandalwood to soothe the nerves can it be slightly resisted.

However, looking at the way he is bent over the desk, his eyes are concentrated, his spirit is hale and hearty, he does not have the attitude of an old man, but instead has the vigor of a young man.It's just that his eyes are a little cloudy.

His relative followed Hong Fu in from the outside, stood in the room with his hands down, bowed, and wanted to open his mouth to say something, but when he saw that he was concentrating on writing with a serious face, he shut his mouth wisely and waited quietly.

After a while, the brush in Hong Chengchou's hand wrote the last word on a piece of rice paper full of characters, the expression on his face relaxed, and he read it carefully again, and finally, he made a sound without raising his head Asked: "What's the matter?"

Hong Fu responded respectfully: "The rice merchant the Prime Minister wants to summon has been waiting outside for a long time."

Hong Chengchou kept his eyes on the document in his hand, waited for a while, and then said casually: "Let him in."

Hong Fu withdrew, and after a while, he led a person in.

This man is dressed in silk and satin. He has a handsome figure, a pleasant smile, and honest eyebrows. He is not tall but very fat. His clothes are bulging with flesh. He has no beard on his face, and is shaved smoothly. He is oily, except for the dark spots on his skin, and he looks like a standard businessman.

Hong Chengchou was born as a Jinshi, and he was familiar with Confucius and Mencius. He had a deep-rooted disdain for businessmen. He raised his head and glanced at the fat man standing in front of him who didn't know what to do with his hands and feet. A disgusted expression emerged spontaneously. Unobtrusively revealed on the face.

The fat man didn't seem to be aware of this, he was still smiling dryly, he may have never seen such a big official as Hong Chengchou in his life, his smiling expression was flattering.

However, if someone had seen him on Mudun Island in Hongze Lake a few years ago, they would have recognized him at a glance.

He is Zu Tianci who shaved his beard.

　The title of this chapter was posted wrongly, it should be Chapter 420, but the content is correct, everyone will read it, and contact the editor to change it after the holiday is over.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)