Just after the second watch that night, Li Rufeng suddenly called the steward of the escort agency: "Old Zheng, take care of the kitchen and cook according to the head! Each person has half a catty of stewed meat and two catties of white flour pancakes! Prepare fifty wine gourds and fill them all with wine.
Full of burning knives!”
"Cooking?" Lao Zheng was surprised. The escort agency did not do business at night, let alone go out, so as not to cause trouble.
"Yes, let's cook." Li Rufeng, however, was very lively and impressive, "Send someone to wake up all the bodyguards who are resting in each room. They should be fully dressed and ready. You are not allowed to wear clothes with brand names. You are not allowed to
You are not allowed to bring personal belongings, and no weapons with brand names are allowed. No noise is allowed, and no lights are allowed. Meet me in the lobby in a quarter of an hour!"
Old Zheng knew that the escort agency would do something big tonight, so he immediately cheered up, first called up his servants, and then arranged for people to call people from room to room.
There are fifty-five people in the escort agency, not counting the handymen, but those who can fight in battle, whether they are escorts or hired thugs. Three of them are either asking for leave to go home tonight or staying out because they are too late to get back. Inside the agency
own
Within a quarter of an hour, the escort agency hall was filled with people standing in darkness.
There were not many lamps, so the light in the hall was dim and the appearance was vague and quite strange.
Li Rufeng clasped his fists and bowed: "Brothers, please come!"
Everyone knew that calling people up at this time must be confidential, so they did not answer the call and only returned the greeting with fists. Only a "swish" sound was heard in the hall.
"... I wake you all up in the middle of the night. There is a big matter." Li Rufeng looked at everyone with bright eyes. "I don't need to tell you, everyone knows that - for the past month, everyone in our escort agency has been busy with this matter."
Although everyone had been ordered not to make any noise, there was still a low buzz at this time.
"Now that the news has been received, it's time for our brothers to show their skills. I will take people to rescue the escort soon. I will take forty brothers to fight. I know that everyone is a good man, and everyone wants this.
What a good luck. But the escort agency cannot be left unattended. So we all cast lots, and those who won will go with me for a while, while those who did not draw will stay at the escort agency."
After saying that, someone brought a jar, and everyone drew lots one by one. After a while, those who stayed behind and those who attacked were divided into two teams. One team was forty, and the other was twelve.
Regardless of whether he was caught or detained, everyone's expressions were very complicated.
If you catch the "go" person, you will naturally know that there will be a fight tonight, and life or death will be unpredictable, but the owner will receive a heavy reward afterwards; it depends on whether you are lucky enough to get this wealth; if you catch the "stay" person, of course there is no need
He braved the cold wind and fought hard, but tomorrow the brothers would win and return to court, and I could only watch helplessly as others counted their money.
Li Rufeng looked at everyone's faces and suddenly smiled: "What?! Those who go are afraid of losing their lives, and those who don't are afraid of not being rewarded?"
This sentence caused everyone in the hall to burst into laughter. Someone immediately responded: "Who told us that we are not good at horoscopes! It is not our turn to get rewarded for not working hard!"
Li Rufeng said slowly: "This brother is right. Everyone goes out to fight in spite of the frost and snow, just for a few taels of silver. In recent years, the escort business has been getting worse day by day, all thanks to Delong's support and rewards.
Brothers have a mouthful of food, and the whole family is protected from cold and hunger. When we walk on the street with dignity, everyone calls us "Master Leng". Now Mr. Leng of Delong is in trouble. We rescue Mr. Leng because we are "receiving money from others".
To eliminate disasters for others, Yu Li also protects the jobs of the brothers in the escort agency."
He paused and continued: "It's very dangerous to go out to rescue people this time. If brothers don't want to go, I won't force you. The escort agency will also help."
After that, he looked at everyone again, but when no one answered, he continued: "Everyone in this hall counts, whether they are full-time bodyguards or the heroes who came to help recently, we have the same rules as Liansheng
They all know it. I won’t say any more. Just talking about this action, Mr. Delongwu has already said that if the vote rescue is successful, the first person who contributes will be rewarded with a thousand taels."
At this time, the whole hall was in violent commotion. Everyone looked greedy and happy.
Li Rufeng was very satisfied with the result, which aroused people's desires, and they would naturally fight for it. He continued: "Anyone who contributes in battle will be rewarded with a hundred taels; and those who kill and capture will be rewarded with fifty taels each."
, one counts as one!”
There was another commotion in the hall. The escorts, who were somewhat hungry and out of spirits because they were called in in the middle of the night, were all brimming with blood. If the noise had not been banned, they would have been so loud that they would have torn off the roof by now.
.
"Those who stay behind need not be discouraged. Those who stay behind tonight will be rewarded with fifty taels for the bodyguards and twenty taels for the handymen!"
The atmosphere in the room became more and more heated, and the escorts were gearing up, eager to go out and fight immediately.
Seeing that the atmosphere was getting better, Li Rufeng told everyone to rest and eat first and be ready to set off at any time.
"We all had a full meal. Not only did we not get any sleep tonight, but we will all have a hard time in the next few days."
The cook in the kitchen here worked hard and cooked a good meal. Each person had a bowl of stewed meat and two pounds of white flour pancakes. Fortunately, it was the coldest month of winter, so the meat could be stored in the cold room in the backyard.
He Liansheng's bureau is not located in the city, but at the gate of Chaoyangmenwai Street. Chaoyangmen is located in the east of the city, which means "welcoming the sunrise". Food from the south is transported by water from Tonghui River to Tonghui River via the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal.
County, and then loaded into trucks and transported into the capital through Chaoyang Gate. In addition to grain, bulk goods transported on the Grand Canal also mostly pass through this gate. Therefore, the Escort Bureau is located here not only to facilitate transportation, but also to avoid the trouble of tight security in the city -
―After all, the escort agency mainly deals with "bandits".
Li Rufeng took care to bring out all the horses and mules in the escort agency. More than forty people were dispatched, and there was no small noise. If the other party has an informant nearby, tell them quickly. If the other party is on guard, the matter will be ruined. The only way is to solve it quickly.
More than forty riders came out of the escort office. They led their horses slowly until they all reached the official road, then they got on their horses and galloped southward.
It's hard to tell when it's dark at night. Fortunately, the official roads around the capital are well-maintained. There are no pedestrians or vehicles on the road in the middle of the night. You just need to follow the gray road marks. In order to facilitate identification, each escort has luminous lights on his back and chest.
Therefore, he ran for dozens of miles without anyone getting lost or separated.
When we arrived at Nanyuan, it was already two o'clock in the morning. Wu Cheng had been waiting by the roadside under the protection of his bodyguard. He had been in the field for half a night and his face was pale from the cold. When he saw them, he finally felt happy.
Not convinced, he said: "Finally it's here! Even if you give me a thousand taels of silver for this crime, I won't do it a second time..."
Li Rufeng didn't care to talk to him and asked the escort: "How is the situation in Ningyou Temple?"
"Business as usual!"
Li Rufeng immediately ordered everyone to cross the collapsed earth wall and enter Nanyuan.
"Everyone dismounts! Only bring six fast horses with hoofs bound. The rest of the horses and mules stay here!" Li Rufeng ordered. The galloping horses make too much noise at night, which will alert the people inside. Maybe it will also attract
The Forbidden Army of the Four Gates.
"Everyone cover their faces! Kill everyone you see on the road!" He gave the order with murderous intent.
The group of people walked quickly through the woods and grass, and even Wu Cheng was carried and ran wildly. He was originally a Taoist, how could he withstand such a torment. He just thought that after the matter was completed, he would get a hundred taels of silver, and then the two escorts
With the support of others, he reluctantly followed the team.
Thanks to his presence as a guide, the escort had made luminous marks along the road according to his guidance during the day. Therefore, the team's march was not delayed at all. It was just after one o'clock in the fourth watch when they arrived outside the Ningyou Temple.
"How is the situation inside the temple?" he asked again.
"Business as usual!"
Li Rufeng summoned several "leaders" in the team to his side and made some arrangements.
The attack was scheduled to be launched on the fifth day of the night. At this time, the sky was dim, which was good for visibility, and many of the night watchmen inside were tired, waiting for someone to take over their shift. It was the time when people were distracted.
"The situation in the temple is unclear. Time is running out now and there is no time to find out the truth." He waved his hand, and someone opened a black cloth curtain around him to block the light. He opened the "Hand Zhaozi" and spread out a map -
―This is a sketch of Ningyou Temple based on Wu Cheng’s narrative.
"This temple is very large. There are three courtyards starting from the mountain gate. But according to Wu Laodao, the only houses that can live in are the main hall and the back hall. On a cold day, there will not be more than twenty people watching the tickets. I guess most of them
The tickets and the 'tickets' are all in the backyard."
He used a branch to indicate on the map: "As far as we can see, they have a hidden sentry on the mountain gate of the front yard, and there are two people high on the roof of the main hall. The situation in the backyard is unknown, but there is at least a hidden sentry."
Chen urged: "The place is not big, so there is no difficulty in getting in. However, it is half a mile from the woods to the entrance of the temple. Once the sky gets brighter, the brothers will be discovered by secret sentries as soon as they leave the woods. In addition, there are also surrounding areas.
There is no cover from the woods. We cannot lay an ambush in advance. If we fail to act in time and fail to surround the entire temple, I'm afraid they will break through."
"And they still have horses. If they break out on horseback, even though we have horses, chasing them will make too much noise." Sun Changtou frowned and said, "It's best to capture the temple in one fell swoop."
"While the night is still dark, we will ambush beside the temple first, and we will act together when the sky is dimming." Chen urged, "Use the Dying as a signal. I am willing to take the lead! Take down the secret whistle on the top of the hall first."
He was born in Maohulu, and he was the most flexible in climbing houses. Since Mao Sui recommended himself, Li Rufeng didn't have to disobey him and nodded immediately.
"Old Liu, you take the archers and watch around the temple, and shoot when you come out! If you don't call, one of them will be gone!"
Liu Chang said with a smile: "Do you need me to take care of this myself? Just let the boys do it. I will follow Mr. Chen to the roof and help you fight. I make sure no one runs out!"
The plan was decided, Li Rufeng divided his men into six teams, four archers guarded the east and west sides of the temple, six bodyguards were on standby on horseback, and the remaining people were divided into two teams and entered the front and rear gates together.