There was still a horse that had not returned. So, the guards still divided into groups and went to look for it nearby. Zhang Biao and Li Sanhe, two men from the green forest brought by Zhou Xun, had the experience to find it based on the traces of the horse's hoofs.
After a while, they came back and reported that the horse's whereabouts were clear. Someone saw that the horse was led back to a village. The village was next to the main road in front, and a forked road went forward for five miles.
The distance between left and right.
Now that they knew the whereabouts of the horse, Wu Shigong would definitely come back. After gathering all the guards who had gone out to look for it, the group walked towards the Zhuangzi in great force.
That Zhuangzi is from a family of officials in Guide - the Zhuangzi of the Hou family. The old man and the old man Hou Xun of the Hou family are both Jinshi and have served as officials in the court. However, both father and son are members of the Donglin Party.
Therefore, in the fourth year of Tianqi, Wei Zhongxian was forced to resign and return to his hometown.
However, a blessing in disguise was that since they were already far away from the court, Wei Zhongxian's purge of the Donglin Party did not touch the father and son this time.
Originally, the father and son of the Hou family basically stayed behind closed doors after returning to Guide, pretending to hide their capabilities and bide their time. However, after hearing the news that Emperor Tianqi passed away and Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne, they also felt
The day when I can be revived and reused is not too far away.
Today, the chief steward of Zhuangzi happens to be in Zhuangzi. Because, these days, the wife of the Hou family and the young master are staying in Zhuangzi to relax.
And this morning, the chief steward heard a report from his subordinates that there was an ownerless horse near Zhuangzi. The chief steward without hesitation ordered the horse to be brought back to Zhuangzi. This windfall fell from the sky.
If you don’t pick it up, you won’t pick it up.
Besides, the chief steward is a close person around Mr. Hou Xun. He must also know that Mr. Hou Xun is going to make a comeback. Since the old man and the old man resigned, the servants of the Hou family have had enough of living with their tail between their legs.
, if you don’t feel proud now, then when will you wait? Now, who would dare to offend the Hou family without opening their eyes?
When Wu Shigong and his party walked onto the side road leading to Zhuangzi, they were discovered by Zhuang Ding in Zhuangzi. They hurried to the chief steward to report the news.
After the chief steward received the report, he did not allow Wu Shigong and his party to come, and Wu Shigong and his party had more than two hundred well-dressed men. Therefore, the chief steward immediately ordered the bell in the village to be rung to let them know.
In Zhuangzi, all the villagers who were working in the fields outside retreated back to Zhuangzi. They also closed the door of Zhuangzi and stood ready.
Wu Shigong and his party included both young and old, so they were not walking very fast. When they reached about three hundred steps away from the gate of Zhuangzi, they saw Zhuangzi, looking as if they were facing a formidable enemy. They also
Stopped.
Wu Shigong still remembered what Yuan Xingshan said to him on the way back to Germany. He thought in his heart: This Zhuangzi is also a bandit's nest.
Wu Shigong called Yuan Xingshan over and asked him if he knew about that Zhuangzi. Yuan Xingshan replied: "My lord, I don't know about the little ones either. However, looking at the size of this Zhuangzi, it must be the Zhuangzi owned by the gentry of the Guide family."
Seeing that he could not find out the reason, Wu Shigong sent a bold guard to shout in front of Zhuangzi. After that, the guard and the chief steward of Zhuangzi began to quarrel.
The guard must have asked Zhuangzi to return the horse.
However, the big steward's answer was harsh and harsh. He categorically denied that there was Wu Shigong's horse in the village. He also threatened: "This village is the property of the Hou family. If you dare to make unreasonable troubles, don't you want to live?"
"
When the guard came back and told Wu Shigong what the chief steward said, Wu Shigong became angry. However, he was not so impulsive. So he called Yuan Xingshan over again and asked him if he knew whether Guide had
A Hou family?
Yuan Xingshan knew about the Hou family and told Wu Shigong about the situation of the Hou family. However, after all, Yuan Xingshan was a businessman living at the bottom and did not understand the situation in the court. He just said: There are two in the Hou family.
Jinshi, but now they have resigned.
When Wu Shigong heard this, he became more courageous. Although he, a Qianhu, was a minor official, he was still better than the two Jinshis from the Hou family who had no official positions.
This is Wu Shigong's remaining modern thinking at work. He doesn't know that in the Ming Dynasty, as long as he was a Jinshi, no matter whether he was an official or not, not to mention a small Qianhu, even a general soldier, few dared to go
Provoke them.
In addition, in Wu Shigong's mind, his horse was a military horse, and it was military supplies! In modern times, who would dare to rob a military vehicle without opening their eyes? If they were beaten to death by the guard soldiers, they all deserved it.
Therefore, Wu Shigong immediately decided to show some color to the people in Zhuangzi.
Of course Wu Shigong is not that stupid. The wall of Zhuangzi is more than ten feet high, and there are people standing on the wall. It is estimated that the thickness of the wall is not small. But Wu Shigong and the others don't even have a ladder. They can't attack that Zhuangzi.
Just don't think about it.
Wu Shigong's idea was to lead the men and horses around the village, make a few circles in a showy manner, and then shoot at the village a few times. It would be fine to scare them. As for the horse, that could only be discussed later.
But at this moment, someone beside him excitedly let out a strange cry: "Blow open the gate of Zhuangzi with a cannon."
It was He Fei who made the strange scream. In the past few days, the whip wounds on his body have healed a lot, so he can now limp on the ground.
Just now in the thick fog, He Fei was the first one to raise a false alarm. After everyone had a false alarm, although no one came to accuse He Fei, He Fei always had a little...that...him in his heart.
He was even more afraid that his master would teach him a lesson later. Therefore, when he saw his master blowing the battle horn, how could He Fei not shout a few words from the side?
He Fei's words immediately reminded Wu Shigong: "Yes, using cannons to intimidate is much more powerful than using firecrackers to intimidate!"
So Wu Shigong immediately ordered: First, gather all the carts in a large circle at the same place, and let Xue Yong and Xue Qiang lead thirty guards, plus these people from Yuan Xingshan, to protect the old, weak, women and children in the carts
The rest of the people helped to move the cannon and prepare for the battle.
Xue Yongli also agreed with Wu Shigong's behavior. Xue Yongli and other powerful slaves of the princes have always been used to showing off their power in the capital. If they don't bully others, others will recite Amitabha. How can they tolerate others riding on them?
He pooped and peed on his neck!
So, a dozen people led by Xue Yongli checked the horses, took off the arm armor from the cart and put them on, preparing to rush in first after blasting open the gate of Zhuangzi. The rest of the people began to move the cannon.
The weight of the squatting tiger cannon is not very heavy, that is, about three to four hundred kilograms. Of course, the cannons Xue Lian gave to Wu Shigong have very small calibers, so they are all small cannons. The main reason is to facilitate Wu Shigong's transportation.
The guards were busy together, some were looking for wooden sticks, and some were untying the ropes wrapped on the cart. Without much effort, a squatting tiger cannon had been tied up. The guards shouted labor chants and fired the squatting tiger cannon at Zhuangzi's side.
Move to the front door.
Wu Shigong was also very high-spirited. He pulled out the samurai sword and loudly issued a declaration of war. Perhaps this samurai sword contained the spirit of a Japanese samurai, and the tone of Wu Shigong's declaration of battle changed.
"Blast Zhuangzi away and everyone rushes in. The golden ticket is huge and the flower girl is huge!"
What is a golden ticket? Maybe these guards don't understand. But what is a flower girl? Even a man knows it. All the guards shouted their labor chants more vigorously.
The big steward in the village was originally very arrogant. However, after seeing the shouting guard return, it didn't take much time for the group of people to surround the cart in a large circle, and a group of men prepared to attack.
Zhuangzi.
The chief steward still pretended to be calm at this time, comforting himself in his heart: They can't break into this village. Even if they can break in, there are three to four hundred villagers in the village. He will definitely not suffer any loss.
However, when he saw Xue Yongli and the others wearing ring-armor armor, the chief steward panicked a little. He also followed Hou Xun, the master of the Hou family, to expand his horizons outside and knew that he must have encountered the army this time.
And it is not an ordinary army, but the elite of the elite. Because it is good for the bodyguards around military attachés to have leather armor. Only the main generals will have iron armor.
In the Ming Dynasty, the reputation of the army was not much better than that of bandits, or even worse than bandits. Because bandits still needed to pretend to be morally responsible, but the army did not even need this fig leaf.
When he saw that the other party started to move the cannons, the big steward's heart was completely cold. No matter how thick the gate of Zhuangzi was, it could not prevent the cannons from blasting!
When he heard a faint voice coming from his opponent: "Flower girl is really awesome!" the manager was completely collapsed. This is also because every man knows what a flower girl is!
Not only did the chief steward collapse, but Madam Hou's wife who was listening by the wall also looked defeated. She shouted in a sharp voice: "How do you do things? You agree to whatever they ask for."
And the crotch of the young master of the Hou family was already wet.
It was impossible for Wu Shigong to know the psychological activities of the big manager. He finally moved the cannon 200 steps away from the village and set up the cannon. Suddenly, everyone looked at each other with big eyes and small eyes. Look.
As he watched, he didn't know who it was, but he burst out laughing, causing everyone to burst into laughter.
After the laughter subsided, Wu Shigong asked: "What? No one knows how to fire a cannon?" His words then caused a burst of laughter.
The artillery is a technical branch, and none of these guards can fire cannons. Besides, firing a cannon does not mean lighting firecrackers, just a little. Wu Shigong was very helpless: Then why are you people so energetically moving cannons?
At this moment, a guard suddenly shouted: "Look! That Zhuangzi is raising a white flag!"
Everyone knows the meaning of flying the white flag. Wu Shigong thought to himself: "It would be good if peace is the most important thing." So he sent the guard to negotiate with Zhuangzi.
There was no waffling in this negotiation. Even when Wu Shigong said that five of their horses were taken away by Zhuangzi, the chief steward pinched his nose and admitted it.
In addition, Zhuangzi also gave Wu Shigong two pigs, five sheep and two jars of wine as rewards. He also gave Wu Shigong a shock fee of one hundred taels of silver. I don't know if the shock fee should be reversed.
Originally, the big manager thought that Wu Shigong and the others needed women, and he was planning to find some fans for Wu Shigong and the others. However, when they saw Wu Shigong and the others, they didn't mention it, so the big manager was happy to pretend to be stupid.
After getting these trophies back, Wu Shigong gave Yuan Xingshan twenty-five taels of silver and a pig. But Yuan Xingshan refused to accept it.
Wu Shigong insisted: "Although we didn't encounter any danger, in the thick fog ahead and in front of Zhuangzi now, your guys have done their best to protect the convoy."
Hearing what Wu Shigong said, Yuan Xingshan accepted the money. Wu Shigong also gave the rest of the money to Xue Yongli, asking Xue Yongli to divide it among the guards.
Then, Wu Shigong announced: The first time the spoils are divided, forget it. However, the spoils after each battle in the future are not allowed to be kept privately, and they are all distributed uniformly. The personnel participating in the battle will be divided into two percent, and the personnel doing auxiliary work in the rear will be divided into one percent.
The remaining 70% is used as pensions for disabled and dead soldiers and as a fund for troop development.
None of the guards had any objection to Wu Shigong's allocation.
However, it is estimated that those guards were still thinking about the flower girl. Therefore, they still had a look of unwillingness. Wu Shigong shouted at them again: "What are you thinking about? Remember! We didn't come to Guide to do this.
It belongs to bandits. Even if you think so, the rabbit still won’t eat the grass beside its nest.”
After Wu Shigong and his party left, the chief steward immediately sent someone to inquire about the background of Wu Shigong and others. It didn't take much time to find out that Wu Shigong went to the Thousand Household Office below Guide Guard to work as an agent for thousands of households.
.
After the chief steward reported all these situations to his master, Hou Xun, Hou Xun pondered for a long time. Finally, he decided: let this matter go now.
Now is the critical period for Hou Xun's recovery, and Hou Xun doesn't want any extraneous things to happen. As for the little Qianhu who humiliated the Hou family's face, let's wait and see.
By the way, here is a tidbit. The young master of the Hou family who was so frightened that his crotch was wet in Zhuangzi was later the famous young master Hou Fangyu. However, a rough man like Wu Shigong had no idea why Hou Fangyu was such a great person.
Even if Wu Shigong knew who Hou Fangyu was? He wouldn't care, let alone whether Hou Fangyu was so scared that his crotch was wet. Maybe Wu Shigong would still be interested in Li Xiangjun who was so scared that his crotch was wet.