At dusk,
The jade hall was cold, and the cloud trees were deep.
The old eunuch was already so old,
He even danced with joy. "Empress, I didn't know before! Marshal Wang personally commanded the army,
They gathered in Jiangbei,
To prevent the short-haired ghost army from entering the north. But who knew that that night, the short-haired ghost opened the altar to cast a spell and summoned a thick fog over the river,
The short-haired ghost was like a ghost,
Taking advantage of the fog,
He rushed across the river and wiped out several large camps in Jiangbei in one go. The tens of thousands of soldiers in Jiangbei,
They were all killed by thieves! "
At this point, he used the tip of his sleeve to wipe the corners of his eyes,
He lowered his head and sighed.
Jia Yuanchun's expression was slightly cold,
He could not help but worry about his uncle. This was a great defeat with tens of thousands of soldiers dead. How would the Emperor punish his uncle?
"Who knows that the short-haired ghost is a ghost,
That was all the luck that had been seized.
Sooner or later, he will have to pay it back. Moreover, he met a famous general like Marshal Wang! Seeing a total of 80,000 short-haired ghost elites strut around,
They crossed the Yangtze River,
They approached the imperial court. In the end,
Half of them reached the shore,
But the other half was still crossing the river and was blocked by the Marshal and Xue Sheren's navy! At that time, the river was filled with Xue Sheren's merchant ships, and the Marshal's elite archers were all on board. The short-haired ghost's broken ships were all sunk into the river to feed the fish. The short-haired ghost hoped that the Chamber of Commerce's rebel navy would save them, but who knew that the Chamber of Commerce's rebel navy had long been scared away when they saw the might of the imperial army.
Those short-haired ghosts who killed tens of thousands of my soldiers in Jiangbei had no way out. On the shore, the ambush troops that the Marshal had arranged long ago descended from the sky and charged out. Heh, peng. "
He made an exaggerated and proud gesture and squeezed his hands in. "That short-haired ghost was in the Jiangbei camp like this. He was wrapped up like a dumpling! The Marshal ordered to exterminate them on the spot. Those soldiers, they couldn't even cut off the short-haired ghost's head! "
The old eunuch smiled again. "When the Emperor heard this news, all the civil and military officials cheered in unison. The Emperor stood up on the spot and shouted, 'Good!'"
When Jia Yuanchun heard this, he stood up. Wrapped in a fox fur coat, he did not seem to feel cold. He walked to the window and looked at the floating clouds in the sky.
After the eunuch finished his report, he saw that the imperial concubine didn't speak for a long time, so he stopped moving and lowered his white head even more.
After a long time, he finally heard this concubine, who had always been upright and self-restrained, look at the floating clouds and say,
"Go and receive your reward, the highest one. Also, tell the family that no matter what losses there are in Nanjing, it will only be temporary. Even if it's the foundation of our ancestors, don't take it to heart. "
"Uncle and Cousin, Uncle knows what's going on. As for Cousin Family Xue, go and remind him to cooperate with Uncle at all costs. "
He said yes. As he retreated, he heard Imperial Consort Jia muttering to herself, "The weather this year is really strange …"
Gradually, a hint of a smile appeared in his voice.
The weather in recent years was indeed strange.
It was winter, but there was no heavy snow in the north.
Instead, it was snowing heavily in Jiangnan, which was a rare sight.
Snowflakes fell on the beard and eyebrows of the strong general and the mane of the horse.
Lines of crescent moon marks were left in the snow, and the air was full of whining sounds.
"Marshal?" The guard was the son of the general's family. Seeing that the general suddenly reined in his horse and stopped moving forward, the army behind him also stopped. He rubbed his hands and asked aloud.
The general's eyes were unmoved by the wind, snow, and cold. "What's the news from the scouts?"
The guard had just received the news from the scouts, but unexpectedly, the general already knew. "Uncle …"
The general glanced at him. "There's no uncle here. On the battlefield, no matter good or bad, report it quickly. If there's any hesitation next time, you'll be punished by military law. "
"… Marshal, the front is still in a stalemate … A few days ago, the short-haired man suffered heavy losses in the battle of crossing the river. His elites were all killed, but they were stubborn. Although their vitality was greatly damaged, they still stubbornly resisted …"
"Three deputy generals tried to break into the city by force, but one was killed by the short-haired man …"
"Who?" the general asked.
"Deputy General Shi …"
"He was short-tempered and always underestimated the enemy. He died at the hands of the short-haired man. He died for the imperial court, for the saints. This was his fate. "
"But …" But that was one of the Wang family's in-laws.
Deputy General Shi … was the great-nephew of Old Madame Jia.
The guard wanted to say something but stopped.
The marshal, Wang Ziteng, looked up at the gray sky and remembered that before he left the capital, Old Madame Jia of Duke Rongguo's family had personally hosted a banquet for him.
Old Madame Jia trembled. She pointed at the young men of the Jia and Shi families who filled the hall with one hand and held him with the other, personally entrusting these young men to him.
She stared at him with her cloudy eyes until he nodded and agreed. Only then did she let go.
Thinking of this, Wang Ziteng's eyes turned cold.
However, few of the Jia family's disciples were useful.
They relied on the Wang and Shi family's disciples to fight.
Especially the Shi family's disciples, all of them were willing to sacrifice their lives.
After all, the Shi family had been in decline for too long, and wealth could only be exchanged with one's life.
How did the Jia family's duke trade? The two old dukes fought their way out of a pile of corpses with the late emperor.
Whether or not the Wang family could exchange for the title of duke depended on whether or not they could seize this opportunity.
He was lost in thought and didn't move. The snow fell even faster, and it was as if his beard and hair had all turned white. In a flash, he came back to his senses. As if he didn't care at all, he changed the topic and said, "What about the provisions?"
Seeing that Wang Ziteng didn't bring it up again, the guard didn't dare to bring it up again. He hurriedly replied, "The provisions … aren't much. It'll take some time for the imperial court to deliver the provisions. Although the short-haired man built Nanjing to cross the river, he failed and was outflanked by us. But … there are short-haired men in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, Yunnan, and other places. I'm afraid that these short-haired men heard the news and sandwiched us between the two sides … "
Wang Ziteng had already pulled his horse away. In the wind and snow, a steady voice said, "Don't worry about this. Pass down the order to speed up the march. Scorch the walls and clear the fields along the way. Follow the old rules and raise the grass on the spot. Let the grass go through fire, the stones go through knives, the people have to be changed, and the grains have to be changed. Send another report to the two deputy generals at the front to continue to besiege Nanjing. The reinforcements will arrive in a few days. "
The night gradually deepened. The army continued to trudge forward in the wind and snow.
Nightfall. Jiaxing.
In the light snow, the Revolutionary Army soldiers guarding the gate were wrapped in thick cotton-padded jackets. They drank some wine to warm their bodies, and drunkenly discussed whether they should go to the brothel to relieve their boredom the next day or find those young women workers in the textile factory who didn't abide by the virtue of women.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!" The city gate was knocked heavily.
"Who is it?" the soldier yelled at the top of his lungs. "It's curfew. You can't enter the city even if you're dead!"
There seemed to be many people outside shouting in unison, "We're the allied army! We're here to deliver the provisions and support the crossing of the river! We're passing by Jiaxing and need to resupply! Open the gate and let our president in to see the person in charge of the Revolutionary Army! "
The soldier was shocked. The snowflakes that hit him in the face entered his neck. His whole body trembled, and he sobered up a lot. He hurriedly woke up his companions and went up the city tower to take a look.
Below, there were blue silk tied to the arms, Western boots on the feet, foreign guns, foreign cannons, and strange flags printed with the logos of various chambers of commerce.
As expected, it was the "Alliance of Chambers of Commerce" organized by the merchants that they often mocked for fun. It was said that the officers inside were all descendants of merchants or small merchants.
How could some people who only knew how to make money fight? How could they have the courage to fight? They were only allocated to the Revolutionary Army to transport military provisions, firearms, and ships.
However, he didn't hear that the Alliance Army was going to pass by Jiaxing soon. His drunken brain thought sluggishly.
"Who are you? Don't you recognize me? "A voice rang out.
This voice was really familiar. The soldier quickly straightened his neck and looked down. In the night, the light snow fluttered, blocking his vision.
He straightened his neck and looked for a long time. The figure waited patiently for a long time.
The light snow stopped. The moonlight reflected on the snow.
The figure walked a few steps down the city wall, and the rough outline of the figure was revealed.
The soldier was shocked and murmured, "Mr. Li …"
His eyes suddenly became wet. He grabbed his companion's lapel and shouted, "It's Mr. Li!"
Ever since General Shou was accused of colluding with the imperial court and executed, Big Sister Luo was summoned back to Shengjing and never returned.
Mr. Li and the other Chamber of Commerce gentlemen who used to be inseparable from General Luo also cut ties and scattered back to the Alliance of Chambers of Commerce.
Shengjing sent a new General Shou, and everything changed greatly.
The Yuan Warehouse, which provided food and clothing to the poor soldiers, disappeared.
The soldiers who used to address each other as brothers and sisters were all replaced with the respectful "Sir".
The land that was originally allocated to the soldiers' families was quickly bought by some of the officers after the prohibition of land sales was abolished.
Those who used to follow Big Sister Luo only complained a little about this situation. They were either treated as "accomplices" and dealt with together, or like them, were sent to do the hard work of guarding the city gate.
So when they saw Mr. Li, who used to catch landlords, break Jiaxing, and get rid of etiquette with them, the soldiers immediately felt very close.
"Open the door. We're all old acquaintances. Don't tell me … cough cough … cough cough … "Li Baiquan was blown by the cold wind that rolled up the snow on the ground. He couldn't stop coughing.
Oh, Mr. Li was not young after all.
The two soldiers hesitated for a moment, then said to the people downstairs, "Yes, but please only bring the two people who helped you in and take shelter under the city wall. We'll go and report to our superiors. "
The city gate creaked and slowly opened. What greeted them was not Li Baiquan, but a shiny steel sword.
Before the soldier fell, he heard Li Baiquan sigh and say, "I'm sorry, little brother."
"Let's go, sir. Don't blame yourself. Since the rebel army went north to cross the river, Jiaxing's military forces have been diverted to cross the river. They can't be defeated, but it's best if we can save some energy to break the city. "
The soldier who recognized Li Baiquan finally realized something.
However, his consciousness was gradually blurring.
When the long robe brushed his cheek, he reached out his bloodstained hand and used the last of his strength to pull the robe.
"Whoosh." Someone reacted and pulled out a sword.
Li Baiquan stopped the person who pulled out the sword.
He squatted down. Mr. Baiquan, who had always been unruly and unruly, also said in a very gentle voice, "Do you have anything to say?"
"You, you're here to avenge big sister and Mr. Shou, right …"
Li Baiquan lowered his eyes. "Also … Yes, I guess."
The traitor must die.
His hands hung down. The soldier's young eyes no longer had a trace of light, but there seemed to be a satisfied smile on his face, which was forever frozen on his face.
They stepped over his body and followed Li Baiquan into Jiaxing with the flag and artillery of the coalition army.
It was night. Jiaxing had fallen. The rebel army's flag was changed to the flag of the coalition army of commerce.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
