When Bai Wang led his troops out of the mountain a few months ago, his original purpose was just to respond to Li Zicheng's Eastern Expedition and take the opportunity to join forces with him. After all, you have already proclaimed yourself king and emperor in Xi'an, so what's the point of throwing me into a cave in the nooks and crannies of the mountain!
To put it bluntly, Bai Wang had no intention of opening up his own world in the Yangtze River Basin at that time. Hearing that Li Zicheng's eastern expedition was unstoppable, he just wanted to follow him to eat and drink. So after he came out of the mountain, he captured a city and plundered all the wealthy gentry.
They continued to go north without leaving any troops to defend themselves. It was not until they defeated Pengze and Wangjiang counties that they realized how easy it was. Then they came up with the idea of creating a new world for themselves, so they sent some people back to garrison in various towns, but not more than a few dozen.
More than a hundred people.
After he conquered Anqing, his intention to carve out territory for the king became even more profound. He continued to expand his territory with the intention of good management, and at the same time consolidated the existing territory in his hands. He did good deeds to the people within his jurisdiction without robbing or disturbing them to win over their hearts.
, even when they went north to support Wang Ti Zhong, they did not use coercion to recruit cannon fodder in order to replenish their troops. It was mostly a method of seduction and deception. Anyway, it was just to make you rich... and it mostly happened in the Chizhou area, and did not affect the west of Anqing.
In this area, the people here are still living and working in peace and contentment under the rule of the bandit army, and they know nothing about what is happening in the east.
And because Bai Wang was defeated so quickly in Chizhou, the news of his defeat has not yet spread, let alone someone to notify him. After all, these are all little shrimps.
In short, the rebels here are still in the dark, but they are not ignorant compared to the common people. At least they know that the city of Anqing on the other side of the Yangtze River, which is more than a hundred miles away, is besieged by officers and soldiers.
But they were not worried at all. After all, they were more than a hundred miles away on the other side of the Yangtze River, and it was very safe here. They heard that Marshal Bai personally led his troops to attack Nanjing. If Nanjing was captured, the officers and soldiers surrounding Anqing would have to hurry up.
Get out of here with your butt between your legs.
Besides, even if Marshal Bai didn't capture Nanjing, what could those besieging officers and soldiers do? Is it possible that they could still break the city, just by them? Bah!
The war is raging in the east, and the years are quiet in the west. The common people are living under the rule of the puppet regime no differently than in the past. However, the county gentlemen in the city have lost their former dignity. When meeting the rebels in the city, they have to nod and bow. You see?
Have officials in the imperial court ever nodded and bowed to the officers and soldiers?
Dongliu County is a small county. It faces the river in the north. Outside the east and west city are hills and swamps. It looks like an isolated city on an island. There are more than a dozen small and large villages in the surrounding hills.
Although the county town is small, it is well-organized and has four city gates. The funny thing is that three of the city gates are close to the water. If you want to go in and out, you can only enter through the east gate. This is also the only city gate with bandits on duty.
In the afternoon, it was raining non-stop in the sky. Several thieves guarding the city gate at the east city gate were hiding in the doorway and were blackmailing a commoner who came into the city. They scolded him and searched him all over but couldn't find anything, so they threw him away.
He kicked his feet away and was about to find the next target when he saw a familiar gangster running from outside the city: "Hey, there are hundreds of people coming from the north, maybe it's your head."
"What the hell are you talking about? We are drinking tea and listening to music with the county magistrate in the yamen." The gatekeepers shouted, but they were also curious and walked out of the city gate to look towards the front, and saw a cavalryman several hundred meters away.
When I came, I couldn't tell who it was for a moment, but it was definitely one of my own.
Soon the dozens of cavalry arrived at the city gate, and the defenders cupped their hands: "Who are you, brother?"
"General Wang Tizhong's men were ordered to return to Hukou County on errands. We passed by to take shelter from the rain." The leader said and cupped his hands: "Who is the master of the mountain here?"
"Hey, we are serving under the King of Hell," the guard said, and greeted them to enter the city. He raised his hand and pointed at Li Muchian: "This Taoist priest, you are Wang Zamao's man, right?"
Li Muxian was startled: "How did you know?"
"Hey, I've heard that there is a Taoist priest next to Wang Zamao who can pinch and do calculations. The Taoist priest will come back and help me do the calculations."
"Forget it, you won't survive today." As Li Muxian spoke, a cold light flashed in his hand, and a short knife flew into the throat of the bandit soldier. The remaining bandits were shocked, but they couldn't react as the guards rushed forward and chopped them down, and captured two of them alive for questioning.
: "How many people are there in the city?"
"More than thirty, we have a one-eyed man living in the county government office..." The two survivors explained quickly and clearly. Kuang Ren, Chen Suole and Chen Ruxin immediately led their troops into three groups and rushed to the county government office.
One ran to the military camp, the other ran to the city.
Chang Yu and several of his attendants entered the city on horseback and walked slowly on the street, looking around. The people in the city fled in all directions and looked at them with expressions full of fear. There were faint shouts in the distance, and soon the whole town was in a panic.
Although the thieves in the city were paralyzed, they were dispersed. Some people were caught and killed by the guards before they could react, while others were alerted and took the opportunity to flee, creating a smoky atmosphere in the city.
"North Gate, the one-eyed dragon escaped from the North Gate." Kuang Ren, who was responsible for going to the county government to catch the bandit leader, accidentally let him escape and then shouted to his men to chase him.
"Beyond the north gate is the Yangtze River, which can't be far away..." His personal guards looked at the wretched figure of the one-eyed dragon and sneered. Unexpectedly, they were dumbfounded when they chased him out of the city.
It is true that outside the north gate of the city is the Yangtze River, but it is also a ferry. There is a state in the middle of the river. The one-eyed dragon and a few thieves were setting up a boat to cross the river. His bodyguards did not allow him to escape. He shot them all with his bow and shot quickly. The boat slowed down.
Slowly drifted away with the waves.
At this time, Chang Yu also passed through the city and reached the Beimenkou River. Looking at the surging river, he felt relaxed and happy. He also saw that Jiangxinzhou was full of crops and there were people working in the fields, and a smile appeared on his face.
Chen Ruxin escorted an old man in his fifties behind Chang Yu and said: "Duke Gong, the thief's county master."
"Sir, this official is not a thief of the county. Your official Hu Liangji is a serious court official and the magistrate of Dongliu County!" The little old man just saw a group of people rushing into the county government office and used a knife to kill people. At that time
He was so frightened that he thought it was an internal fight among the bandits. When he heard these people calling the young man the title of Governor, he suddenly knelt down and said, "I have been coerced by the bandits to bear the humiliation..."
Chang Yu turned around and looked at the little old man kneeling on the ground and chuckled: "Oh, so you are an official of the imperial court. Does that mean you are surrendering to the city to surrender?"
"I was forced to do this to save the people." Hu Liangji fell to the ground and wailed. Chang Yu sighed, stretched out his hand to help him up, and then patted him gently on the shoulder: "Hu Liangji, the magistrate of Dongliu County, slipped.
Drowning".
Hu Liangji screamed, and before he could react, he was pushed to the riverside by several guards and kicked him down. The river was so fast that he struggled a few times and disappeared.
Li Muchian clicked his tongue and shook his head: "What if his vitality survives?"
"Then let's call him a lucky man." Chang Yu sneered. The river was flowing so fast that an old man in his fifties or sixties who was unsteady on his feet had little chance of surviving.
"The bones of civil servants are so soft!" Wuzhong couldn't help but spat while standing by the river. Chang Yu snorted: "The crows don't call the wild boars black, the bones of the civil servants are not as soft as the generals!"
After a surprise attack, Dongliu County changed hands in less than half an hour. This seemed normal to Chang Yu, but to the people in the city, it was a big deal. Everyone rushed to tell each other, and there were endless discussions in the streets.
After hearing the news, all the surviving wealthy gentlemen in the city rushed outside the north gate to meet the officials of the orthodox court.
Unexpectedly, he is a young man!
But the young man's identity is extraordinary. He is the admiral of the Ming Dynasty East Police Factory, and is feared by many civil servants and generals.
But the young man had no airs. He chatted with these squires for a long time and informed them of the current situation. When they learned that Bai Wang had been defeated and fled into the mountains, and that the recovery of Anqing was imminent, the squires were excited and held a banquet in honor of Chang Yu and his men.
But at this time, Kuang Ren brought bad news. After counting, he found that at least six or seven fish slipped through the net and fled in an unknown direction. This means that although they can successfully raid Dongliu County, the thieves in the next place will
The army was most likely prepared.
You were careless, you were so careless. You should have closed the city gate before taking action.
Search, Chang Yu ordered all the guards out of the city to capture them as much as possible, but the results were disappointing. Dongliu County was surrounded by hills and swamps, and there were mountains and bushes where people could be hidden. It was really difficult to find a few people. The search lasted for several miles.