Although the scale of Lishui City is far smaller than that of Jinling, with a city three to four miles deep, it can only be considered a small city in the prosperous area east of the Yangtze River. However, it has inherited the prosperity of the south of the Yangtze River for thousands of years, with white walls and black tiles, rows of pavilions, pavilions, and mud lanes and stone streets like spider webs.
The city is well connected in all directions.
It was midsummer, and the Mingshi River that passed through the city was covered with green willows and luxuriant flowers. Fifty or sixty wine shops and brothels were built along both sides of the Mingshi River. Every day, an unknown amount of rouge water flowed into the river, making fish and shrimp compete for food.
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A bright bright circle was reflected in the rippling river water, and was crushed by a catamaran painting boat.
The troops advanced towards Lishui, but this did not prevent the young masters and young masters in the city from living in debauchery and living in debauchery.
This was originally the time to go out of the city and seek shelter among the mountains and rivers. Now there is a chaos of war outside the city. Nowhere is safe. For example, the Wanhonglou, a famous pavilion in the capital of Jinling, houses the top kabuki performers and stunning prostitutes.
How could he not cause a sensation by riding a painted boat to Lishui City to make money? How could he not attract the attention of young men in the city who had pockets full of gold and silver but could not vent their energy and desires?
The catamaran is two ships with a length of seven to eight feet, with four-story wooden flower towers and carved railings built on top of the cabins. It is parked in the Mingshi River, like a city fortress.
In addition to the catamaran bilge, there are four floors of flower buildings. The bottom floor is where the boatmen and guards live. Stepping on the wooden planks directly leads to the second floor. It is a brightly lit hall with high candles. At this moment, there is a singer holding a pipa.
Sitting in a corner, it was as if a clear spring was splashing under the rocks, and the clear strings penetrated people's hearts. Twenty or thirty young men who boarded the ship to have fun did not pay attention to the strings. I don't know who brought in a notice from outside the city.
The letter attracted everyone's attention, and even the flower girls around who were wearing light clothes, revealing jade-like arms, and plump long legs could not attract the hearts and souls of these people.
"I have long said that the father and son of the Han family must be rebellious officials and traitors. Look, look, what is he trying to do? Is he trying to destroy the roots of all the aristocratic families? At present, we will inherit the previous system and make good decisions.
There is no distinction between superior and inferior. The son of the Han family ignored the law and took away the servants and children of the family. He even boasted that he wanted to grant the land to him. Where did he get the land from, or did he want to take it from other families?" A thin-faced man wearing a silk shirt said
The young man, who had a pointed mouth and monkey cheeks, shouted loudly in the crowd with an excited and sharp voice. His tone was full of anger. He rolled up his sleeves and said, "Every one of you thinks it has nothing to do with you. Look, you can hide from flying enemies by hiding."
An unexpected disaster?"
"In my opinion, each family should gather its troops together. Don't wait for the Han family's son to poop on our heads and regret it before it's too late!" Someone echoed, hating that the young and strong servants would be killed at this time.
Tong La came out and rushed into Maoshan to show Han Qian, who coveted the family's slaves, fields and other private property.
Lishui is right next to Maoshan, and Han Qian wanted to recruit slaves to join the army. The first to be affected were the aristocratic clans in Lishui whose interests were harmed.
The many young people in the flower boat are all descendants of nearby aristocratic families. How can they have any thoughts of having fun at this moment?
They were also unaware that there was a separate small cabin at the end of the hall. They opened the small window connected to the hall, and a pair of deep and worried eyes stared from the cabin.
Except for a very limited number of people, no one in Jinling City knew about the connection between Wanhonglou and the former Shenling Division and Yueyang. In fact, when the third prince Yang Yuanpu was granted the title of Linjiang County Prince, in order to avoid the connection between Wanhonglou and the former Shenling Division,
The secret was revealed by people around Emperor Tianyou. At that time, Yao Xishui, Chun Shisanniang and others cut off from Wan Honglou.
Later, with the help of Zhang Ping, Yao Xishui and others were able to clear their identities, and the famous red hustlers became adopted daughters of officials, or were directly married into officials' families as concubines. This was a common thing in Jinling City.
After Yao Xishui, Su Hongyu and other girls left, Wanhonglou was still the first-class place to have fun inside and outside Jinling City.
During the Jinling Incident, all the troops in the Xinchang Hou Mansion withdrew, but Wanhonglou lurked very deep and did not alert the enemy. Naturally, they could continue to lurk in the depths of Jinling City and spy on the movements of Jinling City.
Jingshan Nunnery was defeated miserably and was expelled from Danyang. Li Pu was worried that if they encountered any mishaps again, he would not even have a place to hide, so he transferred a boat from Wanhonglou to Lishui City to be on standby.
After the Jinling Incident, Zhang Ping expressed his sorrow for Han Daoxun's tragic death. At the same time, he became taciturn when discussing countermeasures against Xuzhou, and did not even advocate too deep a clampdown on the third prince Yang Yuanpu.
No matter how you look at it, Zhang Ping is not enough to continue trusting him.
Therefore, Yao Xishui decided to act alone without Zhang Ping, Lin Haizheng and the others, but it was only two days before Zhang Ping and the others entered Lishui City, met with Xu Jing, a person in charge of the late Honglou affairs of the Shenling Division, and lurked in Huafang
After coming down, no one in Maoshan knew her whereabouts.
Of course, Yao Xishui did not expect that as soon as she returned to Jinling, news about Han Qian that shocked her would come one after another.
First, Han Qian attacked Danyang City and tore up the alliance with Chuzhou. Then he led the remaining troops to retreat to Maoshan and formally established the Chishan Rebel Army. Together with Zhao Mingting's troops of the Nanya Imperial Army who guarded Jiangcheng City, they entered Danyang and Jintan in the past two days.
, the Chuzhou army in the three cities of Liyang formed a tripartite force.
The two cities of Jintan and Liyang to the east of Maoshan are, on the one hand, subordinate counties of Runzhou. Many people have children and their family businesses are in Dantu, the state city. At the same time, the officials of these two counties and the influence of local aristocratic families are also believed to be trustworthy.
Wang and the Chuzhou Army chose to surrender due to the military prowess they displayed in the Battle of Jingshan'an. However, the Chuzhou Army had only collected grain from these two counties before and had never divided its troops into garrison.
After Han Qian led the Chishan Army to retreat to Maoshan, even if the Chuzhou Army had no intention of attacking Maoshan in the short term, it was a natural and inevitable move to divide its troops into Jintan and Liyang to curb the activities of the Chishan Army on the east flank of Maoshan.
From Danyang via Jintan to Liyang at the northern foot of Jieling Mountain, it is almost on a straight line and is about 120 miles long.
Although the Chuzhou Army dispatched about 6,000 horse infantry to garrison three cities in one day, which seemed a bit weak, there were cities to defend and sufficient vigilance was maintained. Han Qian wanted to replicate the results of the raid on Danyang City, but failed.
It's no longer possible.
However, from Jieling Mountain to the south and Tianmu Mountain to the north, the two counties of Langxi and Huaide belonging to Xuanzhou, and the two counties of Anji and Changxing belonging to Huzhou, the Chuzhou Army is currently unable to extend the front too long.
There are no troops assigned to control it yet.
These counties, because they were far away from Dantu, did not feel the immediate threat from the Chuzhou Army. They still maintained their allegiance to the new emperor who ascended the throne in Jinling in name. However, officials and local powerful forces also secretly recruited troops to defend the country.
Walled city.
At this time, Han Qian could be said to be facing the enemy on both sides in Maoshan. Yao Xishui didn't even know that he was going to lead 3,000 old and weak soldiers and nearly 50,000 women and children to create more tricks in a narrow area. How could he have thought of sneaking out of Lishui yesterday?
The spies outside the city brought back Han Qian's notices that he had sent to surrounding towns.
Han Qian actually wanted to recruit slaves from various families into the camp!
After Han Qian led his troops to retreat to Maoshan, the nearby Lishui City was like a formidable enemy. There were only five or six hundred county soldiers. They could only close the city gate and wait for the Nanya Imperial Guard to come for reinforcements. No one was bold enough to go out and inquire.
information.
The young men in the city were even more intoxicated, but they only found out about this on the third day after the notices were distributed from Maoshan.
The young man who was filled with righteous indignation and called on all the families to unite to show off the Chishan Army was Shang Xi, a descendant of the Shang family. He was serving as a minor official in the city at this time. He had a saber hanging on his waist, his hand bones and joints were thick, and his mouth was covered with thick calluses.
, with a tall and straight posture, as if he had worked hard to practice swords and bows.
Yao Xishui stopped eavesdropping on the discussions of these wealthy men in the hall, quietly sneaked back to the cabin on the ground floor, changed into a spacious and gorgeous undershirt, and transformed into an ordinary-looking young man in the blink of an eye.
Yao Xi hid the dagger close to her body. When she was leaving Huafang, Xu Jing, the owner of Huafang, came over. Seeing Yao Xishui's outfit, he asked in surprise: "Where are you going?"
Xu Jing is a middle-aged man in his early forties. If Han Qian and Feng Yi were here, they would recognize him as the very inconspicuous concierge at the gate of Wanhong Mansion.
"I'm going to Maoshan to see the Marquis. No matter what Han Qian wants to do, the Marquis has Li Xiu, Li Qi and the 400 elite cavalry guards of the prince's palace under his command, so we can't just do nothing..." Yao Xishui said.
The Cavalry Guards of the County Prince's Palace are the elites that Li Pu has trained over the years. They have all trained their bodies and developed good skills. In terms of individual combat effectiveness, they will never be as strong as the Silver Halberd Guards beside Xin Wang Yang Yuanyan.
Not to mention Li Xiu, Li Qi's art of war was passed down by Li Yu.
Such an elite combat force is on the near side. If Li Pu cannot make good use of it, how can he get rid of the negative impact caused by the successive setbacks in Jingshan Temple and Danyang City?
Han Qian dared to seize military power and acted arbitrarily. To put it bluntly, Han Qian made great military exploits. However, they only had elite combat power, but they did not establish enough military exploits to shock people. They did not speak loudly, and no generals would listen to his words.
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Can the generals and soldiers obey orders and the hearts of the people follow just by relying on conspiracy and trickery?
In addition to the fact that they had to do something to take back the initiative, there was also a deeper reason why Yao Xishui couldn't tell Xu Jing at this time, that is, Li Xiu and Li Qi should be used by her eldest brother.
"The four cities are tightly closed. Isn't it too dangerous for you to sneak out of the city so late?" Xu Jing said.
"Walking alone on the road during the day attracts more attention." Yao Xishui said, ignoring Xu Jing's dissuasion, he left the boat and went ashore alone, walked around the streets and alleys inside the city wall, and finally found a place that was not well defended.
Climbing up the city like a gecko, sneaking out of the city, hiding in the night...
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After Yao Xishui left, the young people were still discussing with indignation on the boat how to deal with Han Qian's conscription of slaves into the army, but Shang Xi became less interested.
Because of Shang's relationship, Shang Xi received a job offer in Lishui County, but it was a torment for the young and energetic man.
He usually likes martial arts, swordsmanship, reading military books, and making friends with local knights, but he always suffers from the lack of opportunities to make a splash.
At this moment, he shouted at the top of his lungs. Although the princes from the surrounding families were very angry, when it came to asking all the family soldiers to gather together to fight against the Chishan Army, in addition to being friends with him, Liu's
Except for the side disciple Liu Zishu, the others just yelled and talked about him.
"They are all idiots. If they don't send troops at this time, do they still expect the capital to send troops and horses to protect their slaves and property from being taken away by Han Qian?" Shang Xi muttered to Liu Zishu angrily,
"Wealth and honor are all gained through danger, Zi Shu, would you like to go out of the city with me?"
Although Shang Xi is the direct nephew of Shang Wensheng, the official of the Ministry of History, how much of the Shang family's property can be divided into his head, let alone the chance to take over the official position, if you want to get rich, you still have to fight for it yourself; and Liu Zishu, as the Liu family's
His descendants were even worse than him. Except for an old slave arranged by the clan to take care of daily life in the house, there was no servant around him to run errands. However, they were both unwilling to settle for mediocrity.
In the eyes of others, the people currently in chaos are panic-stricken, but they feel inexplicably excited.
At that moment, the two of them no longer had the interest to stay in the evening party of the Red House and have fun with those spineless young men. They left the boat and went ashore. They took the two boys serving Shang Xi to a restaurant by the river and left the little boy behind.
While they were outside, they went in to drink and discuss gathering troops.
This riverside restaurant is also very lively after dark, and the ground floor is very noisy. Shang Xi, Liu Zishu went up to the second floor and found a table by the window to sit down. As soon as he sat down, he heard whispers outside the window:
"The Chishan Recruitment Army issued a notice to recruit slaves into the army. I heard that as long as people come over, the whole family will be freed from slavery. After the war, they will be given ration fields, and there will be more generous rewards for military exploits. Huzi, what do you think?
Don’t you want to go to Maoshan to join the army?”
"How can it be that easy? Besides, the host family treats us well and even promised to help me find a wife in two years."
"You are also a slave when you marry a wife, and you are a slave when you have children. Are you really willing to have children and grandchildren, and be slaves of the Shang family for generations?"
"Then we have to talk to the Fifth Young Master, right? The Fifth Young Master might agree to let us join the army incognito, earn military honors in the future, and then redeem our parents from their citizenship."
There was a trace of anger in Shang Xi's eyes. He didn't expect that the two boys beside him, instead of waiting outside quietly, went around to the back street near the river to discuss such treacherous things, and even thought about betraying the master's family and surrendering.
Chishan Army?
It really made him so angry that his heart and lungs were shaking.
Shang Xi thought that he treated these two young men with deep affection and kindness. He thought that they were all disloyal and wanted to join the Chishan Army. Those slaves who stayed in the manor outside the city did not know what they would do to them.
Here we go!
"Go downstairs and get out of the city!" Shang Xi put a glass of wine in his hand and wrote four words on the table, instructing Liu Zishu not to make any noise to disturb the two boys outside the window, and to go downstairs with him first.
Shang Xi and Liu Zishu went downstairs and walked out of the stone street in front of the wine shop. They shouted loudly to the boy to come over and asked them unhappily where they were hanging out.
The boys were two stocky young men, both about twenty years old. One was named Shang Zhong and the other was named Shang Hu. They had been slaves in the Shang family for several generations. These two were extremely strong and good at boxing.
Shang liked the publicity, so he asked them to come over.
Little did the two boys know that their words had been overheard by Shang Xi and Liu Zishu. The young man named Shang Hu wanted to say something, but Shang Zhong pulled his sleeve to stop him. Shang Xi impatiently urged them to go back to the house and bring the horses.
He had to leave the city and return to his village at night.
Waiting for Shang Zhong and Shang Hu to bring the horses, Shang Xi and Liu Zishu walked to the east city gate, greeted the primary school guard at the gate, and sneaked out of the city while the stars and moon were bright.
Not far from the city gate, Shang Xi excused himself from having to urinate urgently, so he and Liu Zishu got off their horses and walked to the side of the road to untie their pants and urinate. Then they told Shang Zhong and Shang Hu, "You two should go to the roadside to deal with it, hurry up."
It will take more than an hour to get to Jiazhai, and no one has the patience to wait for you on the way."
Shang Zhong and Shang Hu did not suspect a deceit, so they handed the reins to Liu Zishu, walked to the side of the road, picked up the skirt of his robe, and untied the straw rope that tied his trousers.
Shang Hu was still thinking about telling the Fifth Young Master about surrendering to the army, so he turned his head and looked back, only to see that Shang Xi and Liu Zishu had quietly pulled out their swords in their hands.
His mind was clear, and he immediately thought of what was going on, but at that moment he was so scared that he froze until Liu Zishu stabbed him with a knife. He didn't bother to pick up his pants, and subconsciously reached out and grabbed the spine of the knife at an alarming speed.
, his strength was so great that the tip of the knife penetrated half of his left armpit before he could not move forward any further. Chao Shangxi begged for mercy: "Fifth Young Master, we want to join the army and earn military merits to redeem our lives. We have no intention of betraying Fifth Young Master!"
Shang Xi had already stabbed Shang Zhong in the back with a knife, but Shang Xi used too much force and stabbed Shang Zhong to death, but it was difficult to remove the knife.
Shang Hu did not dare to waste time fighting Liu Zishu for the sword, and suddenly let go of his hand, causing Liu Zishu to fall onto his back. He climbed and rolled over the ditch, then picked up his pants and ran away into the wheat field beside the road.
Shang Xi picked up the knife that Liu Zishu had dropped on the ground, jumped down the ditch and went after Shang Hu, but he accidentally stepped on a broken brick, his feet stumbled, and he almost fell down.
"It's dark and windy at night, so asking a dog slave to escape won't hurt anything. We'd better rush to Shangjiabao first and discuss important matters with your second brother." Liu Zishu picked up the knife from Shang Zhong. He knew Shang Hu.
He was extremely powerful and was worried that something might happen if they chased them out, so he advised Shang Xi to go to Jiazhai with him first.
"Bah!" Shang Xi spat fiercely before limping back to the official road. Seeing that Shang Zhong was still twitching slightly and not completely dead, he grabbed his bun and wiped the knife on his neck.
A line of blood spattered out, and he said, "My dog slave, I don't even think about whose food I have eaten all these years to grow such a good body, but I dare to develop a bone in the back of my head. Bah, raising a dog is better than raising a lowly slave like you!"
The two of them threw the body in the field, and while the stars and moon were bright, they rode towards Shangjiabao...
After a long time, Shang Hu walked to the roadside in the dark and saw Shang Zhong's body lying on the side of the road. He was at a loss and didn't know why the fifth young master Shang Xi suddenly became so vicious and had such a murderous intention against them. His heart was empty on the mud ridge.
After sitting for a long time, he thought about his family members who were staying in Shangjiapu with Shang Zhong, and then rushed to Shangjiapu along the official road in the dark.
Shangjiabao is located at the northwest foot of Donglu Mountain, about thirty miles southeast from Lishui City.
The sky was getting brighter, Chaoyang had just revealed half of his face from the forest tips on the far side of the horizon, and Shang Hu, who was very strong on his feet, walked to Shangjiabao.
He hid in the ditch of the wheat field, frightened and worried. He hesitated for a long time, thinking that although the head of the family Shang Wensheng and the young master Shang Geng were officials in the court, the second son Shang Zhongjie who stayed in Shangjiabao to take charge of the affairs was knowledgeable and reasonable.
I can uphold justice for Shang Zhong, who died for no reason, and prevent the fifth young master from going crazy and harming him.
Just as Shang Hu was about to walk out of the wheat field where he was hiding, he saw several figures peeking out from the battlement walls of the tall and solid castle, and one after another hanging out three bloody corpses. One of them happened to be his father who was nearly fifty years old.
Shang Biao's clothes were torn, revealing horrific bloodstains, as if he had been whipped alive with a whip.
"These are the fate of the slaves who wanted to escape to Maoshan and join the army!"
At this time, someone came from the ridge beside the wheat field and pointed at the fort wall and said.
"Shang Biao is such an honest man. He can serve as a servant to the second young master without making any mistakes. Now that he is so old, he wants to run away?"
"Shang Biao is honest, but his boy is restless. He received thirty iron whips together and couldn't bear it."
Shang Hu clenched his fists and feet, digging his nails deeply into his flesh. He didn't understand why all this happened!
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However, before dawn, Yao Xishui bypassed the light and dark sentries and sneaked into Xiaomao Peak to directly find Xinchang Hou Li Pu.
In the past two days, Li Pu was still sulking because Zhang Ping and Han Qian were wearing the same trousers and were unwilling to stand with him clearly to oppose Han Qian's recruitment of slaves into the army.
After the Chuzhou Army divided its troops and stationed in Jintan and Liyang, it mainly restricted the Chishan Army's movement out of Maoshan to the east flank. There was no trace of attacking Maoshan at all.
Li Pu, Li Xiu, and Li Qi led 400 elite cavalry guards to guard Xiaomaofeng, but they had nothing to do and could hardly accomplish anything.
He went to find Han Qian several times and argued the pros and cons, but Han Qian ignored him. He just kept sending scouts to towns farther west of Maoshan to issue notices announcing the existence of the Chishan Army. They were known as slaves and slaves.
Bring your mouth to vote.
"Han Qian has caused a lot of trouble, and everyone is in danger. The noble families in Lishui and Pingling are recruiting troops one by one to defend the stronghold. He is now an enemy of the noble families. Not to mention that he may never be able to collect any grain.
It will stimulate the family members to gather troops to cooperate with the troops from Anning Palace to encircle and suppress him," Li Pu said with hatred, "In the end, we will definitely be dragged down by him."
"Han Qian dared to seize military power from the Marquis before, forcing Yueyang to acquiesce in the matter. I think even if the Marquis sent people to Yueyang to complain, Han Qian's domineering temper would not change anything for the time being," Yao Xishui said
, "Then in my opinion, it's better to just go with the flow."
"How can we follow the trend and follow the law?" Li Pu was slightly startled and asked.
"Han Qian insists on recruiting slaves to join the army, but the Marquis's many attempts to persuade him are in vain. Then the Marquis is thinking of the overall situation and is forced to cooperate with Han Qian. Even if he causes any trouble in the future, he should not be blamed on the Marquis.
?" Yao Xishui said.
"..." Li Pu frowned and lowered his head, pondering the meaning of Yao Xishui's words.
"We should do what Miss Yao said. Didn't Han Qian insist on recruiting slaves and maids to join the army? We couldn't persuade him, so we had no choice but to follow his orders, in order to obey the overall situation. However, we came forward to recruit some slaves.
You can leave the strong men at Xiaomaofeng to increase the strength of the army, and leave their young women and children to Han Qian for resettlement. It is better than us staying at Xiaomaofeng and doing nothing!" Li Xiu heard his father say about the Shenling Division.
As for old things, I didn't expect that Yao Xishui, a female prostitute, but not bad at all, immediately agreed with him.
Li Xiu came out of the mountain this time, no matter whether he was not optimistic about Han Qian's stay in Maoshan or not, he wanted to be able to do something, rather than liking his second uncle who stayed in Xiaomaofeng doing nothing and only knowing how to make money.
Complain.
Li Xiu naturally did not agree with Han Qian being an enemy of the aristocratic family, but the problem was that now they could not make Han Qian change his mind, and they did not want to lead his troops to withdraw directly, so their best way to deal with it was not to follow the trend, but also to
After recruiting a group of strong slaves to expand the army, even if it is difficult to defend Maoshan in the future, they can jump out with more soldiers and horses.
Now they have 400 mounted guards. Although they are all elites, their number is too small and cannot withstand damage. Not to mention attacking the city and charging into the battle, even harassing the enemy soldiers will be frightening.
If they could gather three or four thousand able-bodied slaves and form a battalion to seize and defend Lishui City, which Wanhonglou had already planned, they would be much more proactive than they are now.
