March 2, Xinzheng.

The atmosphere in the county has been tense recently. The Chief Secretary of Henan Province reported that a small group of bandits is moving here, numbering about 50,000 to 60,000. According to consistent experience, this means that the actual number of bandits is about seven or eight.

About a thousand. For such a small group of bandits, the Xinzheng government did not consider it to be an actual threat. Judging from the number of people, it was very unlikely that they belonged to the fighting force of King Chuang Li Zicheng. They were probably just a team of refugees who had just left Luoyang.

However, the county magistrate of Xinzheng still called on the gentry to donate money, and organized more food collection teams and conscription teams. Although this team of thieves would not have much combat effectiveness, Xinzheng officials knew that they were now in the thick of the fire. Pass by

Years of levies and exorbitant taxes have brought the people to the critical point of rebellion, so even rumors about Wang Dongjin may bring unpredictable consequences.

The night watchman, Lao Li, was bored and stared at the torch at the door. The cold wind forced all the night watchmen into the doorway. Lao Li was already very sleepy. He could only keep his ears open, looking forward to the sound of the watchman telling the time.

Lao Li looked enviously at his sleeping companion and comforted himself: "It will be my turn soon."

Suddenly, a hand covered Lao Li's mouth without warning, and at the same time a bright dagger was strangled around Lao Li's neck, and a stern whisper came from his ears: "I don't want to kill anyone, don't bother."

As if to strengthen the persuasiveness of this sentence, the voice paused briefly and added: "We are not bandits, we are intruders."

The intimidation and meaning contained in this sentence made Lao Li give up resistance. He saw several more people tiptoeing into the doorway and subduing Lao Li's disciples and companions one by one in their sleep.

After several Ming army gatekeepers were captured, the hand behind Lao Li's back was released, and the dagger on his neck disappeared. Then Lao Li felt someone gently push him on his shoulder.

Companions in the corner: "Brothers, don't be a hero, don't work for the dog officer."

Lao Li walked to the other Ming soldiers without saying a word and squatted down. He turned around and in the light of the torch, he recognized that his attacker was the bodyguard who escorted several carts into the city two days ago. Now he was surrounded by these soldiers.

The prisoner was accompanied by the man who had followed him into the city. At that time, Lao Li and the others gave the bodyguard five taels of silver. The distressed and helpless expression on the bodyguard's face at that time was still fresh in Lao Li's memory.

He couldn't help but become a little nervous. A "guy" behind him tied up Lao Li three times.

Xu Ping is very satisfied with the actions so far. The people in the city have not been alerted. The next step is to open the city gate without anyone noticing. Xinzheng is the first city to break out of the Dazhou Mountain.

Xu Ping believed that there was no need to attack the county town that he wanted to attack, so he decided to take advantage of the government's paralysis and carelessness to open the city gate.

At that time, Xu Ping looked around and felt that he had no capable subordinates capable of taking on the task of sneaking into the city. Not to mention the black guards, whether they were New Army officers like Yu Shenhe, Shen Yunchong, or Gu Mengliu, they all had the ability to adapt quickly.

They had not experienced the test. Xu Ping was worried that if they showed their flaws, they would not only lose capable officers in vain, but also affect his own strategy. As for Xu Ping personally bringing ten people into the city, of course his subordinates strongly opposed it, but after several prior

After the exercise, Xu Ping was so confident that he finally decided to enter the city himself.

Leaving a few people to monitor the prisoners, Xu Ping asked the remaining people to open the city gate. At this time, he heard a whisper: "Good man."

Xu Ping turned around and saw that the Ming soldier who had been restrained by his own hands was squatting on the ground, looking up at him, and whispered: "Hero, you can't open the door like this, it will make a lot of noise."

"I'm sorry." Xu Ping said with a smile. At this time, his men had already begun to unbolt the door. These specially selected intruders made almost no sound during the entire process of opening the door.

The heavy city gate was quietly opened. Xu Ping drew his sword in his hand and glanced at the ten subordinates around him one by one - they were all ready to fight. Xu Ping nodded, and someone immediately jumped to

Beside the door, he shot the loud arrow he had prepared long ago into the dark night.

At the same time, Lao Li saw the "escort" turn around, smile at them, the Ming army prisoners, and said, "You guys, please don't cause trouble, I don't want to cause any harm." His words were full of confidence.

As the resounding arrow shot out, Lao Li immediately heard a noise above his head, followed by a stern shout.

Old Li saw the young bodyguard and his men standing apart without saying a word, already forming a small defensive formation. The cold light from their weapons made Old Li palpitate.

The shouts and questions on the tower became more severe. When Lao Li saw that several of his enemies still had no intention of answering, and acted as if they were guarding the door, he suddenly became heartbroken and shouted: "It's our own business!

"

After hearing the cry, Xu Ping glanced at the Ming soldier who shouted, still holding the sword in his hand steadily, preparing to welcome the defenders' counterattack.

Another question came from above, and the Ming army cursed loudly.

"This change is quite interesting." Xu Ping thought in his heart. He didn't stop the Ming soldiers. He wanted to rely on their mouths to shout words like "The thieves have entered the city." Xu Ping felt that he heard it from acquaintances.

Hearing this news would have a more shocking effect on the defenders than loudly announcing that he was leaving home; he also wanted to use these prisoners to persuade the defenders to lay down their weapons for their own lives; and Xu Ping felt that even if the prisoners shouted, the other party would be panicked.

They may not care about it, and they are all hiding in this small doorway. If the defenders have intentions, they can't hide it.

At this time, the rapid sound of horse hooves sounded in the dark night, and the tone from the tower became more and more unfriendly. The Ming army prisoner who answered simply sat down on the ground, leaned his back against the wall, and shouted in reply: "Everyone outside is here."

He's Master Cheng's brother. If you have the guts, you can stop him and give him a try!"

Xu Ping didn't know who the prisoner was talking about, Master Cheng, or who the officer was yelling at upstairs, but it was obvious that the officer had a much higher status than the prisoner, and his tone was no longer as flustered as at the beginning.

Instead, it was mixed with anger and surprise. The officer cursed the gatekeeper for daring to open the city gate at night for smuggling, and threatened that he would report the matter. When the officer ordered his men to go down to the city to stop people and seize the stolen goods,

Chi Shude had already taken the lead and rushed to Xu Ping: "How is the general?"

Since the loss was smaller than expected, Xu Ping was very happy and shouted at Chi Shude: "What are you doing around me? Why don't you go and catch the dog officer?"

Then, Xu Ping smiled encouragingly at the Ming prisoner. The Ming soldiers who swarmed downstairs to get the man were dumbfounded when they saw the cavalry pouring into the city gate. Chaos finally broke out on the city tower: "Intruders!"

!”

"He who sits will avoid death!"

As soon as Xu Ping started, several Ming army prisoners - not just that one - started shouting in unison with other soldiers of the invading army.

…

Chi Shude captured Xinzheng County Magistrate Li Chaolin alive, and the officers, soldiers and civilians in the city surrendered if they rebelled.

Every household in the city closed their doors tightly and placed an incense table in front of the door facing the street. Upon seeing this, Xu Ping ordered the main guards of the guard camp not to enter the city and to rest outside the city. After seeing Chi Shude in the lobby of the county government,

Xu Ping's first sentence was: "Brother Chi, what are the casualties?"

"Two brothers were injured," Chi Shude said: "When I rushed into the county government office, one brother was bitten by the dog raised by the dog official, and another brother broke his leg when he jumped over the wall."

Several soldiers guarding the gate were brought to see Xu Ping. They were all untied. They claimed that they had owed wages for ten months, so when they heard that the invading army was coming to kill them, they were unwilling to die for the court anymore, and the regiment organized by the county magistrate did not want to die.

If you make any resistance, if you see the intruders entering the city, go home or simply join Xu Ping's side. For several days, there have been rumors from all over the countryside that millions of intruders are coming. The soldiers hope that Xu Ping will not resist in Xinzheng.

Hearing this, Xu Ping ordered the county magistrate's property to be confiscated and paid for the soldiers. He then hung a banner in Xinzheng County that read, "Killing one person is like killing my father, and raping another person is like raping my mother."

The consistent policy of the Chuang camp is to recover stolen goods and support them, and Xu Ping naturally still adheres to this order. The Chuang army stipulates that all the official families in the city and those who have the reputation of being a civil servant will have their property confiscated.

"Based on the household registration, there should be 20,000 males in Xinzheng County," the staff officer reported to Xu Ping: "But during the autumn harvest last year, there were only 267 males left in the county."

According to the latest examination law, the Xinzheng County Magistrate needs to guarantee the payment of 90% of the tax, so he has set a tax of 170 taels of silver for each person who is left behind to escape the famine. If he cannot pay the tax, he will be demolished.

His house, his ancestral graves, and his wife and children were sold... Of the last 267 people who did not flee because their families were relatively wealthy and thought they could afford the regular payment, only 22 survived.

Nowadays, there are still rows of standing cages outside the county government office. After those fleeing famine went home to celebrate the New Year, the Xinzheng County Magistrate broke with the tradition of not counting old accounts in the New Year and arrested all these people to force them to pay taxes - because he also knew

, next year's flight will definitely be more serious than this year, and I'm afraid not a single family will stay.

"Let their families recognize all the dead, and each family will be given five taels of silver for burial." Xu Ping copied ten thousand taels of silver from the county magistrate's house. Fearing that his subordinates would forget, Xu Ping added: "Those who have been exterminated, let them

The Guards Battalion took action to build their graves, and we covered the ancestral graves that were dug up and re-erected monuments."

The siege ability of the camp, which is dominated by refugees, is very poor. Every time the officers and soldiers defend the city, they will cause heavy casualties to the camp. According to convention, the next step is to demolish the city wall of Xinzheng. In addition, the policy of the camp also includes the warehouses.

All the money was moved away, half of the stored grain was given to the people, and the other half was enough for the army.

But Xu Ping had different plans this time. He did not order the demolition of the city or the removal of grain. Hei Baoyi was quite suspicious about this, fearing that Xinzheng would return to the rule of the Ming court as soon as the invading army left Xinzheng.

He disagreed: "My army of tens of thousands is not far away, how can they have the courage?"

"But when the imperial army arrives..."

"Brother Black, the reason why I entered Kaifeng's territory this time is to defend the territory. If the imperial army comes, we will also fight with them." Xu Ping did not plan to demolish the city wall to calm people's hearts. In the past, after the city wall was demolished, the caravans were afraid of thieves.

If they don’t dare to stay in the city, the traders in the city will leave the county and go to safer places. Li Zicheng’s order is not to collect grain from farmers, but it does not mean that taxes are not allowed. At present, Henan is in chaos, and many caravans have given protection fees to bandits.

Praying for peace. Xu Ping found several leaders who had opened the city gate and did not let them join the invading army. Instead, they stayed in the county to protect the city wall. If there was a caravan that wanted to stay inside the wall, he would collect some money.

When Xu Ping gave the order, Chi Shude did not argue with him, but after a few leaders left, they began to express their dissatisfaction. In short, they were letting outsiders control the county. They might not get much benefit from breaking into the camp. But if they do bad things,

, and it will bring shame to Chuangying. The last point is that Chuangying has always asked for food to feed the hungry people around him.

"I have thought about everything you said, so I want to keep someone as the magistrate of Xinzheng County."

Xu Ping asked the wounded soldier who had broken his leg to stay as the magistrate of Xinzheng County. He was responsible for supervising the soldiers in Xinzheng not to rob merchants, and also ensuring that at least part of the tax collected would go into the pockets of the camp. As for sharing the grain, Xu Ping decided to set up a porridge

If hungry people come to the factory, they can be given some porridge, but they are not allowed to take the rice away on their own. Luoyang’s way of putting food away is too wasteful in Xu Ping’s opinion: “The city walls are left to protect the people of Xinzheng from

thieves attack, otherwise if this happens, they will remember that we demolished the city wall; setting up a porridge factory will allow more hungry people to eat. When Luoyang opened a warehouse, a large amount of food was thrown on the road in vain. It is really

What a pity, and once you get the rice, you eat it without any plan. Open a porridge factory in Xinzheng, and the hungry people will not starve to death here. A large number of fields in Xinzheng are abandoned, and they can help the local people farm, so that next year there will be no

It would also be a burden for our army; or it would be nice to help the county officials here scare away the small group of thieves."

Chi Shude only responded to this, while Hei Baoyi was worried that if he did not leave a group of soldiers, he would not be able to suppress the local gangsters. If Xinzheng decided to surrender to the Ming court, the people Xu Ping left behind would be used as an escape gift.

.

Xu Ping has already made up his mind about this: "We have wiped out all the scholars in Xinzheng City, and our army is nearby. They will be afraid of us unless another army from the imperial court comes. If the imperial court really sends

Come to the army, we must gather all the soldiers together to fight them. It is meaningless to leave a group of soldiers here. It will only make the locals more uneasy. After all, we have a reputation as thieves. If there is a dispute now, it will be them.

It's our own affairs and we won't resent us for breaking into the camp. As long as we strictly abide by the king's orders and severely punish the soldiers who disturb the people, the people will return home sooner or later."

After Xinzheng was captured, Xu Ping believed that the counties in Kaifeng Prefecture must be more vigilant. It would not be easy to deceive the city so easily. While he asked the troops who had traveled a long distance to make some repairs in Xinzheng, he also vigorously collected intelligence from nearby counties.

.

Xu Ping ordered the Dinghe militia of Xinzheng County to be summoned to the county government and spoke to them in front of the people in the county:

"I am Xu Ping, the general who broke into the camp. I used to serve in the Changqing Battalion of Huang Hou's new army." Xu Ping looked at the large group of dark people in front of him and said: "There are thousands of people in Xinzheng City, and I led ten of them.

So we captured the city gate, ten of us!" Xu Ping shook his head: "If we are not intruders, but officers and soldiers sent by the court to suppress the bandits, what will happen to you in Xinzheng? How many elders in the city can survive? Brothers.

, you are responsible for the safety of the Xinzheng elders, and this kind of thing must never happen again in the future."
To be continued...