After leaving Dusi, Zhejiang, a warm breeze blew on the street.
"Should we find a place to rest temporarily, or should we go directly to Taizhou?" Duan Tianming couldn't help but ask.
This Zhejiang Dusi has no intention of entertaining anyone. If they stay here, more than 300 people will be looking for a suitable inn, and they may not be able to find one for a while.
"Go to Taizhou." Xiao Chen said.
The group of people headed towards Taizhou again under the bright sun.
The journey of five to six hundred miles took everyone three days.
At dusk, we finally arrived at Songmen Town, an important border town in Taizhou where Japanese pirates visited most frequently.
Although it is a town, it has a solid city wall that is more than two feet high.
The city gate is also extremely wide, and a moat is actually built around the city wall.
A suspension bridge, pulled by iron cables, was placed over the moat.
If there is a war, it can be hoisted up at any time to cut off the enemy's attack path.
On the city wall, soldiers holding red-tasseled spears could be seen faintly, looking out from the crenels.
"When I saw this city, I felt like I was on the front line of a battle." Duan Tianming felt a little emotional for a moment as he stared at the tall city wall.
"Japanese pirates have been raging recently, and it is normal for the defense of the Songmen Guards to improve." After looking at the strong suspension bridge, Xiao Chen rode on his horse and walked slowly towards the city gate.
"Stop, who is coming?" Seeing the team behind Xiao Chen, the soldiers with five or six orders stood vigilantly in front of the city gate.
A military attaché dressed as a hundred households frowned slightly and shouted sternly.
Duan Tianming took out the Plum Blossom Order from his waist and raised it towards the opponent: "Dongchang is here to destroy the Japanese pirates under the orders of the Emperor."
The hundred households looked at the Plum Blossom Order carefully, and seemed to feel something was wrong. There was a hint of embarrassment on their faces: "Sir, we have received an order from our superiors, saying that Dongchang will come in the near future. But the Japanese pirates are cunning and we have to guard against them.
Could your Majesty please take a closer look at your Plum Blossom Order?"
"Here, go on." Sitting on the horse, Duan Tianming threw the plum blossom order in his hand.
Baihu hurriedly caught it with both hands.
He nodded to everyone with a smile, took out an official letter from his waist, opened it, held the Plum Blossom Order in one hand, and compared it carefully with the pattern on the official letter.
After confirming that it was correct, he hurriedly handed the plum blossom order to Duan Tianming with both hands: "Sir, please come in."
Tang Xing, the commander of the Songmen Guards, was standing on the towering observatory in the city, looking at the coastline in the distance.
Behind him were two guards, commander Tongzhi, and three Qianhu.
"The last time the Japanese pirates burned Nanping Village, they deliberately lured us to pursue them, resulting in the loss of more than 200 soldiers. After that, the Japanese pirates fled. Once they reached the sea, they did not have enough troops, so we should not pursue them easily." Tang said with a sullen face.
Xing said slowly.
This Tang Xing, who is in his thirties, looks extremely thin.
The straight waist is like a sharp sword, soaring straight into the sky.
"Yes." The three Qianhu behind him responded hurriedly.
"Our defenses are connected everywhere along the coastline. You haven't found out where the Japanese pirates landed from. This is very worrying."
Turning back, Tang Xing's eyes swept over the faces of the three Qianhus one by one.
The three of them were ashamed and had to bow their heads.
"Nanping Village was burned, and my subordinates thought that the Japanese pirates should have landed near Nanping Village." A Qianhu mustered up his courage and gave his own suggestion.
"Not far to the north of Nanping Village is the Baihu Station in the south of the city. Bai Qianhu means that the Baihu Station in the south of the city was not well protected from rain, allowing the Japanese pirates to land secretly?" Staring at the Qianhu Station named Bai Sang, he commanded
It made Tang Xing sharp-eyed.
"I didn't say so. I just have suspicions." Bai Sang lowered his head.
"We have no fortifications on the beach, and our Thousand Households and Hundred Households are built on the mountains. But our patrol team should patrol the beach, and our patrol department even drives boats.
, patrolling the inland sea. The Japanese pirates landed, but we had no idea. Is this because the Japanese pirates knew our patrol time and took advantage of it? "
Faced with Tang Xing's questioning, everyone lowered their heads and no one dared to answer.
"The capital announced that Dongchang will be arriving at our Songmen Guards in the near future. Let's forget about the past. Next, I hope everyone will be more open-minded. The person coming from Dongchang is the captain in purple. He has handled countless cases.
If he finds out something wrong with you in the process of exterminating Japanese pirates, even if I want to protect you, I have no reason to do so."
"Yes." Everyone responded quickly.
The commander, Tang Xing, is a truly courageous person, and he is extremely brave in combat.
But these thousands of households under his command are not like military attachés, but more like civil servants who have been in the officialdom for many years.
Calculating, scheming, and playing tricks.
Seeing this, Tang Xing had no choice but to do anything.
These people are more or less related to Zhao Wuming, the commander-in-chief of the Zhejiang Dusi, who is capable of fighting. There are some things that I really can't stand and want to punish.
But when he reported it to Zhejiang Dusi, he would be suppressed by Zhao Wuming with a smile.
As time went on, Tang Xing's ambition to serve the imperial court was diminished.
Now, Dongchang is about to arrive. If these people make a mistake, Zhejiang Dusi will inevitably blame himself.
People had to bow their heads under the eaves, and Tang Xing felt endless bitterness in his heart.
There was a sound of "tapping, tapping" coming from the stairs of the observation tower, and hundreds of households guarding the city came up in a hurry.
"Master Commander, the people from Dongchang have arrived."
"Where?" Tang Xing turned around quickly.
"Just down there."
In the square below the observation deck, a team of several hundred Shenji soldiers were standing neatly on war horses.
All of them held their heads high, carrying a sword on their left waist and holding a gun on their right waist. They all looked full of fighting ability.
However, the two people at the front were sitting on horseback carelessly.
One person had a knife slung around his waist, while the other person didn't even have anything on him.
Looking around, dozing off, and picking his ears.
Is this the purple-clad captain of Dongchang?
"Let's go down and take a look." Tang Xing said, leading everyone down the observation deck.
Watching everyone get off the observation deck, Xiao Chen and his two men straightened their waists slightly.
"Master Dongchang came here really fast. As soon as the official letter from Dusi arrived, he led the team to Songmenwei. At this speed, there shouldn't be much rest on the way, right?"
Holding his fists, Tang Xing began to be polite.
His eyes wandered around Xiao Chen and the two of them, but he was a little undecided.
Which of these two people is the purple-clad captain? If I call him the wrong one, will the other party feel unhappy?
Hearing the other party ask this, Duan Tianming's dissatisfaction was immediately amplified countless times.
"There are more than 300 of us who have been traveling and traveling all the way. The chief of Zhejiang Province is so stingy that he doesn't even care about a meal. Instead of continuing on our journey, we still stay in Hangzhou and look at others with contempt?"
When they met for the first time, he heard Dongchang's dissatisfaction with Zhejiang Dusi. Tang Xing didn't know how to answer for a while.
Xiao Chen on the side took over the conversation, looked at Tang Xing and said slowly: "Your Excellency must be the commander of Songmen Guards?"
"Commander Tang Xing, commander of the guards at Xiaguan Song." Tang Xing bowed slightly.
Xiao Chen smiled and pointed at Duan Tianming: "Commander Duan leads the most elite Thirteenth Army and Divine Machine Army in the East Factory. His ability to do things is absolutely terrible. The only shortcoming is that he is outspoken. I hope Commander Tang doesn't mind."
"It turns out to be Captain Duan." Tang Xing nodded hurriedly towards Duan Tianming, "Your Excellency has just arrived at Songmen Guards, and he must be very tired and exhausted. Otherwise, I will ask the kitchen to light a fire for cooking immediately and provide fodder for the army and horses. After we have eaten,
Let’s talk about the Japanese pirates again.”
"That's fine." Sitting on the horse, Xiao Chen yawned and nodded.
Tang Xing hurriedly ordered a commanding officer behind him: "Save a barracks in the city so that the adults in the East Factory can rest first."
Seeing Xiao Chen and his party leaving, Tang Xing felt anxious.
The legendary purple-clad captain was so wise and powerful that solving crimes was like eating tofu.
But that man just now was sitting on the horse with a lazy look. Is he really the purple-clad Colonel?
"The men and horses of Dongchang look very energetic. But the captain in purple clothes doesn't stand or sit the same way. Can this destroy the Japanese pirates?"
"That's right, this is very different from the legendary impression."
"I think Dongchang is going to fail this time."
Several thousand households started discussing in low voices.
"Just do your own thing well and don't fall into his hands. From now on, I will get rid of these bad habits of talking about people behind their backs. If you really can't get rid of them, go back to your own Qianhu office and talk about them. Don't talk in front of me.
