Jia Kaizong's statement seems to more or less attribute the responsibility for the Guide garrison's failure to evacuate in time to the gentry, which is undoubtedly tantamount to blaming Hou Fangyu.
Hou Fangyu knew very well who Jia Kaizong was, and also knew that Jia Kaizong admired him very much, and would never think so. However, he felt guilty and uneasy, so he subconsciously retorted anxiously:
"Chen Zhentai couldn't make a decisive decision, so who can blame him? I also hope that everyone can evacuate as soon as possible, but the Henan Zhentai soldiers set fire to the house, and the method was too much... I think it must be Yuan Shizhong's idea, a thief will be a thief after all
.”
Outside the small pavilion, there was rain like arrows, and a burst of thunder roared past, which seemed to foreshadow the bleak future for the troops and civilians of Guide. Jia Kaizong shook his head and sighed: "I heard that the intruders have already reached Qiulong Valley, and the defenders of Guide are going to withdraw."
It’s really difficult to get to Xuzhou, I’m afraid there’s no way out.”
Hou Fangyu said: "Everything depends on man-made things, everything depends on man-made things."
At this time, Jia Kaizong was more or less aware of Hou Fangyu's cowardly nature. He did not want to cut it directly and stared at his worried look. He also thought that he was also trapped in Guide with no way out. He was just a fallen person in Tianya, so how could he go there?
Where is poor Hou Chaozong?
He sighed: "In terms of character, family background, and article, you are worthy of being the first of the 'Four Young Masters', but compared to Pijiang and Mi Zhi, there is one less thing, and that is courage."
Hou Fangyu did not dare to look directly at Jia Kaizong. He turned his gaze to the rain. The Hou family members brought some snacks temporarily, but Jia Kaizong did not dare to talk more because it was late. Hou Fangyu's hands were frozen in the air and he could not say anything more. He had no choice but to say that it was late.
Send him to the door in person, and say before leaving:
"To be honest with my brother, there are hundreds of cannons and cannons hidden in the Hou Mansion, as well as dozens of horses. As long as Chen Zhentai is determined to march eastward to break out of the encirclement, we will have to abandon our family wealth and rush lightly, and there will definitely be a way out...
…Brother, if you have no other option then, please come with me."
Jia Kaizong naturally agreed, but looking at Hou Fangyu's uncertain appearance, he felt that things would probably be very troublesome.
After leaving the Hou Mansion, Jia Kaizong held up his bamboo umbrella, and Guide was in complete chaos like a wild horse in the rain. The regiment training and the town soldiers were wary of each other, and occasionally there would be some friction, while the servants of each gentry were all in disarray.
Busy moving property.
Some people are so stupid that they even want to move some large pieces of furniture. I wonder what they are thinking?
Smart people are like Hou Fangyu, who only took away gold, silver and some extremely valuable calligraphy, painting, gold ornaments and antiques.
Jia Kaizong looked at this chaotic scene and couldn't help but shake his head. If this is not an apocalyptic scene, what can be called an apocalyptic scene?
"Brother Jingzi!"
While he was thinking about it, Chen De, the son of Chen Yongfu, suddenly ran over with a group of cavalry. Chen De was a student of Chen Xin, the Jingxiang Jiedu envoy who had defected to the Chu army. Chen Xin was also a famous scholar in Henan.
Through this relationship, Chen De and Jia Kaizong also had some friendship.
That's why Jia Kaizong participated in the removal of the river defense troops.
Chen De stopped his horse by the road. The horse's hooves splashed the rain and mud. He dismounted and asked, "Brother Jingzi, won't you go with the Hou Mansion? My father has made up his mind to evacuate Guide today no matter what."
, we really can’t control those who refuse to leave.”
Jia Kaizong said in surprise: "Leave today! Do all the gentry know the news? Isn't this too urgent? I just came out of the Marquis Mansion, and I think Chaozong has not even completed half of the preparations for evacuation."
"Hey, time waits for no one." Chen De blocked the wind and rain above his head with one hand, and grabbed Jia Kaizong's shoulder with the other hand and said, "The Chu army has conquered Xiayi County, and now the father-in-law personally leads the troops to Ma Muji. This is
If Ma Muji, the most important stronghold between Guide and Xuzhou, has been taken by the Chuang army, we really have no choice but to wait and be killed...or find another way out."
The implication of Chen De's "finding another way out" was naturally to submit to the Chuang Army.
But of course Chen De would not tell this kind of inside story directly to Jia Kaizong.
"Brother Jingzi, I am going to take people to various houses to inform the news. You are a well-known figure in Guide, can you help me? Everyone is willing to listen to you. Brother Jingzi will help the younger brother to spread the news to the whole city.
Go! Our time is really urgent!"
Only then did Jia Kaizong realize how urgent the situation was, especially when he heard another piece of news from Chen De. It turned out that not long after they withdrew the river defense soldiers, thousands of soldiers and horses from the invading army swarmed to the edge of the Yellow River and took over.
They had seized several ferries that were originally in the hands of the Ming army. Now even if they change their minds temporarily, it is now impossible to cross north to Zhili.
What he felt a little strange in his heart was that since the Chuang army was able to take over the ferry on the south bank of the Yellow River so quickly, why didn't the Chuang army ravage them when the river defense troops retreated?
Based on the situation at that time, once the river defense troops were attacked, they would definitely be defeated.
However, this matter was less important than the news that Chen Yongfu was about to withdraw and return to Germany today. Jia Kaizong knew the priority of the matter, so he immediately agreed to Chen De's request. After thinking for a while, he wrote to Chen De again.
A note containing his words of advice to Hou Fangyu:
"This...general, please leave this to Chaozong. Chaozong is the son of Hou Zhitai. Chen Zhentai must not want anything to happen to him here, right? Leave all the matters of persuading the German gentry to leave to me. Alas.
, what will happen to the Ming Dynasty in the future? What does the general think it will be like?"
Chen De took the note and carefully stuffed it into his arms to prevent it from getting wet by the rain, and then said with a smile: "I don't think this dynasty can change its destiny. The so-called wind and water change, how can the destiny be guessed by us mortals?
Let’s all do our part and do our part.”
"Hahaha, the young general has such insight and is also well-educated!"
After the two of them laughed, they passed each other. Jia Kaizong borrowed a poor horse from Chen De and hurried to the houses of several gentry with relatively large fortunes in the city, and tried his best to persuade them not to argue with Chen Yongfu again.
Went down.
The Chuang army had already captured Xiayi and controlled the Yellow River crossing in Yucheng County. Now, except for Mamuji controlled by Chen Yongfu, the returned soldiers and civilians really had no way to go.
It is a pity that even though Jia Kaizong tried his best to persuade, many gentry were still unwilling to give up their family property easily. Only a few of them were unwilling to leave Guide. Most of them wanted to leave Guide, but they still had some problems.
I was lucky enough to think that Chuangjun could not come so quickly, so I wanted to stay for another day or two and take away some more family property.
Jia Kaizong could only look up to the sky and sigh, and persuaded them to leave such errands to the steward. The famous gentry leaders must evacuate first, right?
After everyone arrives at Ma Muji, we will talk about other things.
But things are so strange. Now that it has reached this point, many people are still calculating. They are afraid that if they go to Ma Muji first, no one will keep an eye on these servants, and the housekeepers will enrich themselves and embezzle a lot of family wealth.
.
That's why they were determined not to leave immediately and insisted on staying in Guide, waiting for the intruders to come and kill them.
"Man perishes for money, and birds perish for food! Only by being served by a robber will these people understand this truth!"
The east gate of Guide City was still ablaze in the heavy rain. There were some conflicts between the Gentry Tuanlian and the Henan Town and Xiaoyuan Camps.
Several gentry insisted that the officers and soldiers of Ming Dynasty stay for one more day and were not allowed to leave Guide City on their own. The two sides argued endlessly at the Dongguan Gate. There had been conflicts before, and the regiments and officers and soldiers, who had one hundred and eighty lives in hand, started to fight.
The fight started again.
This time, Xiaoyuan Camp intervened. Yuan Shizhong had already followed Chen Yongfu to Mamuji. The person who stayed in Guide to handle the evacuation of other troops from Xiaoyuan Camp was Yuan Shitai. He was not as superstitious about the destiny of the Ming Dynasty and the order of the gentry as Yuan Shizhong was.
How could a person who was full of treachery endure the anonymity imposed by these gentry?
In a rage, Yuan Shitai simply asked all the soldiers of Xiaoyuan Camp to reveal their swords, and called back the soldiers who had left the city. They directly got into a battle formation and charged at the city gate, killing dozens of regiment training soldiers.
, dispersed all the gentry group training in one breath.
Hou Fangyu, who had just been picked up by Chen De, also arrived at the Dongguan City Gate. He looked at the blood and corpses everywhere under the city gate. He wanted to scold him sharply, but when he saw Yuan Shitai standing in a pile of corpses covered in blood,
When he was in trouble, his whole body trembled violently, and he couldn't even speak clearly.
Chen De patted Hou Fangyu's back and said with a smile: "Master Hou, don't worry, General Yuan is one of our own. These regiments are also indifferent. The little Yuan camp is all wild and untamed people. How could they even think of going there?"
Touching Xiao Yuanying’s bad luck?
Let's go to Mamuji quickly, time waits for no one. It will be much safer when we get to Mamuji. The two troops of Henan Town and Xiaoyuanying are united together. Let's rush for a hundred and eighty miles and we will arrive.
Xuzhou. I heard that Mr. Hou, your father is in Xuzhou. He will definitely try every means to rescue us. When the time comes, the Guide garrison and the Xuzhou garrison will advance from east to west. We might be able to switch from defense to offense and lead Li Laiheng's army.
"
Hou Fangyu said nonchalantly: "That's good...it all depends on General Chen's arrangement."