Chapter 199 Be bold

In mid-March of the 16th year of Chongzhen, Qizhou.

After breakfast, Xu Wenqi, the former deputy envoy of Xiajiang Road Defense, continued to walk alone in a fixed area on the mountainside of Qilin Mountain as usual.

He wandered for a long time.

The soldiers of Zhang Xianzhong's department who were responsible for guarding him had long been accustomed to no one bothering him, and they no longer even bothered to follow him, leaving only a few people to watch from a distance from a higher place.

Qilin Mountain is located in the northeast corner of Qizhou City, and the city wall is built on the top of the mountain. Zhang Xianzhong's soldiers were not worried that Xu Wenqi would escape.

Since Zhang Xianzhong had ordered to treat Xu Wenqi with courtesy, from the prisoner's point of view, Xu Wenqi's life was pretty good. His supervision was not very strict, he could go out for fun every day, and he was able to have three meals a day, although the quality of the food was very poor.

Another bad thing is that the accommodation is relatively poor.

Dozens of people, including Xu Wenqi and Juren Xi Dingxuan, were imprisoned together and lived in a former horse-breeding yard at the foot of Qilin Mountain. It was very close to the Jing Prince's Mansion, which was burned down shortly, and also very close to the original Confucianism and the state government.

One of the characteristics of Qizhou City is that it gathers places of authority and dignitaries in the northeast of the city.

Before Zhang Xianzhong sent troops to attack Qishui County, he burned down all the Jing Prince's Mansion, the County Prince's Mansion and the Zhenguo General's Mansion in Qizhou City.

Although the first thing he saw when he raised his eyes when standing on Qilin Mountain was the ruins of Prince Jing's Mansion right in front of him, Xu Wenqi was in a good mood today.

Yesterday, he talked for a while with the little boss who was guarding him. He was an ordinary hawker who had just become a thief. He was still wearing his original simple family clothes.

This little leader, like many other peasant army soldiers in custody, had great respect for Xu Wenqi, who had an excellent official reputation, and remained polite enough.

Xu Wenqi tried to persuade the little leader to repent.

The little leader neither scolded him angrily, nor was he frightened or frightened, nor even reported him. Instead, he looked ashamed and hesitated.

This gave Xu Wenqi hope.

It was from this little boss that Xu Wenqi learned accurately for the first time that the gunfire that often appeared in the west and south came from the government gunboats cruising on the river.

These gunboats often lined up in groups of more than ten from time to time, passing by the river south of Qizhou City, and fired their guns in a deterrent manner.

However, they never got too close to Jiangbei, and they never hit a cannonball ashore.

Xu Wenqi was very surprised by the bold actions of these officers and soldiers.

He had never heard of any civil servants and generals worth mentioning on the other side of the river, nor had he heard that there were still regular imperial troops there who dared to fight.

But anyway, this is good news.

At the same time, it also gave him more hope for the plan he had been planning.

Zhang Xianzhong's elite are currently not in Qizhou. This is an opportunity.

While Xu Wenqi was thinking secretly, someone's voice interrupted his thoughts. Two bearded soldiers he had never seen before walked up from the bottom of the mountain talking and laughing.

Xu Wenqi returned to the custody of Zhang Xianzhong's rear camp. Over the past few days, he had already established a basic impression of all the enemy soldiers who were guarding him.

Zhang Xianzhong's military force structure and name are significantly different from other peasant armies. According to the distance of the relationship, they are divided into Zhonglao camp, front camp, middle camp and rear camp. The core is the Zhonglao camp, and the "inner camp" in the Zhonglao camp lives in

The core strength of the family.

The front camp, the middle camp, and the rear camp surround the middle and old camps like a tripod.

The combat force formations within each battalion are usually named after sentries and teams, which are more similar to the official army.

Because the rear camp was ranked last, it had the newest soldiers, and the worst equipment and support.

When they noticed Xu Wenqi, the two unfamiliar bearded soldiers, who were also only wearing variegated sleeveless uniforms over their original civilian uniforms, were stunned for a moment, and then immediately pulled out their swords.

They did not belong to the same battalion as the peasant army soldiers who were guarding Xu Wenqi.

"Who are you? Why are you here? Looking at your clothes, you must be an escaped dog officer. Tell me your name quickly, or I will chop off your dog's head." A bearded man asked sternly.

Although Xu Wenqi, a prisoner, did not wear official uniform, he did wear a well-fitting high-quality cotton robe. He also had a majestic appearance and a rosy complexion. He looked like a wealthy man at first glance.

This is significantly different from the peasant army soldiers who all have rough skin and shriveled cheeks. Even if they wear the best clothes they snatched, most of them do not fit and cannot support their aura.

"I am Xu Wenqi. I have been here every day for some time, but I am very unfamiliar to you. If you have any questions, you should ask your companions, they are up there." Xu Wenqi frowned and said in a loud voice.

He hoped that the sound would attract the attention of the guarding soldier who had obviously neglected his duties. This was a new discovery.

"Xu Wenqi? This name sounds familiar!"

A bearded soldier murmured, and at the same time looked up high following Xu Wenqi's eyes.

Soon, a few people finally slowly emerged from the woods high up. As they ran, they shouted: "Don't get me wrong, we are all our own people."

After a hasty explanation from the arriving guards, the two unfamiliar bearded soldiers put away their knives.

But at this time, one of the soldiers guarding Xu Wenqi finally reacted. He asked: "Which battalion are you two from? Why are you here? This Qilin Mountain has an order that no one can enter casually."

The two bearded soldiers looked at each other in confusion, and then one of them said: "No one is allowed to go up this mountain. We don't know, we have never heard of it, and no one is stopping us from going up here!"

The two of us were subordinates of the sentry officer Pei Dashu of the rear camp. We were originally pig butchers in the countryside and had only recently joined the rebel army.

I have long heard that the northeast of the city is where the royal palaces and government offices gather, but we have been stationed in the south city and have never had the opportunity to come to such a wealthy place to feast our eyes on it. I finally got some free time today and came here to experience it. Since I didn't know the way, I thought I'd find a high place to take a look, so I came up."

"Sentinel Officer Pei Dashu? I haven't heard of him, have you heard of him?" The soldier who asked scratched his head and looked at his companions, but he did not start to be on guard because he didn't know him.

"The surname Pei is rare. I think I've heard of it, but I'm not sure. There are tens of thousands of us here, and there are at least several hundred camp leaders. Everyone may recognize it." A guarding soldier muttered impatiently.

He obviously found doubt and excessive vigilance ridiculous and unnecessary.

"That's right, we are all new to the gang. We were all frogs in the well before. Why do you still want to sue the two brothers for this matter?" It was probably the person who was guarding the little leader said.

The two confused bearded soldiers immediately showed angry expressions after hearing this.

The guarding soldier who first asked the question hurriedly said with an angry look: "No, no, I don't mean that. Don't get me wrong, brothers." Then, the soldier introduced himself to the two bearded soldiers with a smile on his face.

.

The atmosphere soon became cheerful, and the peasant soldiers, who had not known each other before, exchanged their eye-opening experiences over the past few days, and bursts of laughter continued.

Xu Wenqi on the side was very scornful when he saw this, but he was secretly happy in his heart.

Judging from the fact that these two strange bearded soldiers could easily go up the mountain and get close to him, most of the peasant army's troops in the city are in terrible condition, and their supervision of him is becoming more and more lax.

Back at the foot of the mountain, Xu Wenqi found Juren Xi Dingxuan, who was sitting alone under the courtyard wall staring at the sky in a daze because he could not go out to relax, and whispered to him his experiences yesterday and today.

Seeing the confusion and nervousness on Xi Dingxuan's face, Xu Wenqi continued: "This bandit camp is mostly a mob, and the soldiers are mostly captured good people. If we show justice to them, many people should be willing to work together with us. Isn't this how to recapture Qizhou?"

Not possible."

Xi Dingxuan immediately put away his nervous expression in a sudden realization, and said generously: "By saying this about participating in politics, I think I already have an idea. The students are willing to be pawns, even if they die."

"Okay!" Xu Wenqi couldn't help shouting with satisfaction.

Realizing that his movements were too loud, Xu Wenqi immediately looked around.

Then, he continued to whisper: "Let's first mobilize some brave and available captured people, and then everyone will use every opportunity to secretly persuade the thieves who are good people, especially the thieves' leaders. There are four choices.

If you take action on one day of the month, everyone will use Liuquan as your nickname..."

On that night, Zhao Dongdong, who had a big beard on his face, reported to Li Ping and several officers from the staff office on the reconnaissance situation over the past few days in a house in Wujiaba.

After sneaking into Qizhou, Zhao Dongdong, the new reconnaissance company commander, must set an example himself.

"I think we can give it a try." Zhou Wen was the first to express his opinion in the silence after Zhao Dongdong completed his report.

But Li Ping did not answer, and others did not express their opinions.

All people are very cautious.

Although Zhang Xianzhong himself and his elite are not currently in Qizhou, and most of the enemy soldiers in Qizhou City are ordinary people who have recently been forcibly recruited, there are tens of thousands of them after all, not less than a thousand like Huangpi County.

.

Moreover, due to Li Ping's gunboat intimidation actions on the Yangtze River, the peasant army guarding Qizhou strictly guarded the city gates.

This makes Li Ping's plan to enter the city to rob people extremely risky and has a low chance of success.

That's right, Li Ping planned to rob people, including Xu Wenqi.

Regardless of whether the court would deal with Zuo Liangyu after the Qing troops withdrew from the Pass, Li Ping could no longer count on Zuo Liangyu, and Li Ping had to find a new way out for himself.

Rescuing Xu Wenqi was a choice he thought of, and it was also a very bold plan.

Of course, Li Ping did not want to recognize Xu Wenqi as his boss, but he needed someone to speak for him at the top.

Xu Wenqi, who has been promoted to overseer of grain and participated in politics but cannot continue to control troops in the future and is currently a prisoner, is undoubtedly the most suitable candidate at the moment. Xu Wenqi's reputation also makes it very likely that he will not conceal or suppress Li Ping's military achievements.

Zhou Wen is very supportive of Li Ping's idea.

However, this matter is very difficult to handle.

Although from the reconnaissance point of view, they had determined the location where Xu Wenqi was imprisoned and met Xu Wenqi himself, and most of the enemies in the city who were new soldiers were numb and incompetent, how to get out of the city safely and smoothly was still an unsolvable problem.

Once the enemy is alerted, as long as the enemy soldiers close the city gate, there will be nothing they can do.

The possibility of kidnapping someone without alerting the enemy is pitifully low. The probability of losing in this kind of gambling is too high, and the only ones who lose are the lives of the most elite soldiers.

This makes everyone have to be cautious.

What's even more troublesome is that whether it succeeds or not, it may cause Zhang Xianzhong, a very vengeful man, to risk crossing the river to attack Fuchi.

Then they will be in trouble.

Because the gunboat fleet currently deployed by Li Ping on the river is basically a paper tiger.
To be continued...