Chapter 9 flee in a hurry

The "Master Wan" that Chen Zhenhui referred to was Wanji Wanji, a doctor in the Ministry of War in Nanjing.Not long ago, this person was sent to Yangzhou in the north of the Yangtze River to inspect the military situation, and he returned to Nanjing yesterday.Because Shi Kefa was eager to understand the situation there, he asked Chen Zhenhui to send a reminder overnight, asking Wanji to return to the Ministry today. Speaking of it, this is another matter that makes the left-behind ministers in Nanjing anxious and headache.Originally, after the fall of Beijing, facing the threat of the peasant army taking advantage of the victory and going south, it was enough to make them, a group of lonely ministers and wicked sons, cry and run to their lives, and there was no time to warm up.Unexpectedly, the Huaiyang area, which has always been relied on as a barrier to the south of the Yangtze River, is now in great chaos again.If this kind of chaos is caused by "treacherous people" taking advantage of the situation to rebel, it would be simple, nothing more than strict suppression.It happened that it was the Ming Dynasty army itself, which was responsible for protecting the environment and the people, who took the lead in making troubles. This made everyone shake their heads and sigh, helpless.

Of course, it would not be accurate to say that this turmoil has nothing to do with the whole incident.In fact, if the elite main force of the Ming army had not collapsed in Tongguan two months ago, Gao Jie, the commander-in-chief who has always been fighting against the peasant army in the northwest region, would not have led more than 100,000 remnants of the defeated generals to rush eastward and rampage. Entering the Jianghuai area; similarly, if it were not for the sudden fall of Beijing, Liu Zeqing, another military officer stationed in Shandong, would not have dared to abandon the defense area without authorization and forcibly retreat to the south of the Huaihe River to "eat".Originally, in order to resist the attack of the peasant army, the Jianghuai line really needed to readjust the military deployment. The arrival of the two armies with a total of about 200,000 people at the same time was not a good thing.However, Gao Jie and Liu Zeqing are extremely rebellious and domineering, and the army under them is even more corrupt and greedy.Along the way, they escaped by burning, killing, and looting; when they arrived in the Jianghuai area, they still did not restrain themselves.When the persuasion was ineffective, the local governments were forced to protect themselves by the strong demands of the scholars and the people, or closed the city gates and refused them to enter; or joined forces to kill them when they did evil.As a result, the relationship between the two parties became extremely tense.Now, Liu Zeqing's troops are wandering around the Tianchang and Liuhe areas, and their intentions are unpredictable; as for Gao Jie, he has taken a fancy to the prosperity and prosperity of the Yangzhou area, and has brazenly sent his troops south in an attempt to occupy this territory...

After receiving a large number of urgent documents from Jiangbei, especially Yangzhou, Shi Kefa had no choice but to send Wanji to inspect.Now, from the report, he learned that the two sides are still deadlocked-Gao Jie insists on entering the city to be stationed, but Yangzhou officials and people flatly refuse.After Wanji's best efforts to mediate, the situation has eased slightly.While a compromise is unlikely to be reached in the short term, it does not appear to be on the verge of a sharp deterioration.Therefore, Shi Kefa breathed a sigh of relief, put aside Jiangbei's affairs for the time being, turned around, and continued to painstakingly plan for finding a new emperor and forming a new court.

As a minister in a high position and responsible for the overall situation of saving the nation, Shi Kefa may only and should handle things in this way.But when it comes to the vast number of ordinary people living in Jiangbei, whose lives and property are being seriously threatened, the situation is completely different.If the residents of Yangzhou city can still manage to hold on with the help of high walls and deep pools, then the scholars and people living in the county towns and towns can only be frightened and confused.Especially the wealthy families with a bit of property, they managed to save money one after another, fled the whole family, and rushed to the south of the Yangtze River to avoid the limelight.Even Mao Xiang's family, who had a good friendship with Shi Kefa, is currently in a difficult situation of being displaced.

Maoxiang and his family left Rugao on April 23 and fled southward by land.After two days of trekking, I have now come to the edge of the Yangtze River in Jingjiang County.As the richest man in Rugao County, they fled with their whole family this time, and the burden of people and luggage is naturally much heavier than that of ordinary refugees; and needless to say, they are more likely to become the targets of robbers.Therefore, just to be on the safe side, Mao Xiang had secretly sent his father and his aunt Liu, who was about to give birth, to Jiangnan yesterday.The remaining mothers, wives and children, nearly a hundred male and female servants, and a large number of boxes and luggage will be divided into ten large boats hired with a lot of money, under the charge of Maoxiang himself, and prepare to set off across the river the next day.

It was already evening, and the vast twilight was rising from the sea in the east of the sky.But on the western horizon, the setting sun that was about to disappear was still emitting bright and soft afterglow.This area was originally an isolated sandbar in the middle of the river. As it approached the estuary, the river suddenly opened up, and the water flow slowed down. Over time, the continuous deposition of sand made the waterway on the north side of the sandbar narrower and narrower. It becomes shallower and shallower, and gradually connects with the north bank.Now, paddy fields have been plowed out one by one, and villages have been gathered on the island where the ditches are criss-crossed.The ear seeds have passed and the Dragon Boat Festival is approaching. Under the reflection of the setting sun, the clusters of seedlings in the rice fields seem to spread out a dark green carpet with golden light, which looks so peaceful and far away.Whenever the river wind blows, the seedlings sway gently, sending layers of light waves far away to the horizon.At this time, the water surface on the river branch and in the field will be rippling, and the reflection of the sunset will be disturbed, so it adds a little change, a little color...

Although the journey went smoothly, and the surrounding scenery at the moment is quite refreshing, Mao Xiang did not dare to be careless at all.Because the experience of traveling all over the world in these years told him that the morals of the world have become unprecedentedly corrupt, especially at the moment of this kind of turmoil. For their big families, hatred and murderous intentions that may burst out at any time are lurking everywhere. , will lead to unforeseen disasters.Therefore, after dinner, Mao Xiang specially led a few entourages, and went around again until it was confirmed that the situation on the boats was normal. Scattered around the fleet in groups of three and four, and stayed there obediently before he walked back.Although he was quite tired, but when he thought that he had not said good night to his mother, he cheered up again, waved away his servants, and walked through the middle cabin alone.

Maoxiang's mother, Ma Shi, is a kind-hearted, charitable, but very timid old lady.The long-term pampering made her unable to withstand any storms, and the slightest movement could scare her to death.On that occasion two years ago, Mao Xiang's father, Mao Qizong, was transferred to Xiangyang, Hubei to be Zuo Liangyu's supervisor.If Mrs. Ma hadn't been crying day and night, for fear that her husband would lose his life, Mao Xiang might not have tried every means to ask the court to transfer his father away from the front line of suppressing "thieves", and he himself would not have caused public criticism for this.But as a son, Mao Xiang certainly would not blame his mother for this.However, Maoxiang was most worried about whether the old lady could withstand the bumps and fright and whether she would suffer from any illness during this escape.So along the way, no matter how busy and tired he was, he would visit Mrs. Ma three or four times a day and say some comforting words. He didn't feel relieved to leave until the old lady calmed down and had a smile on her face again... Now, Mao Xiang had already stepped into the middle cabin, and he couldn't help being startled by the sight that greeted him.

On the Kang bed, Mrs. Ma was wrapped in a quilt and curled up in a corner.Her beautiful oval face with a straight nose and light eyebrows showed a look of terror, and her body was still trembling slightly.Chunhua and Chuntao, two maidservants, stood by her side tightly, and Chunhua still held a pair of scissors in her hand.Under their nervous gaze, the maids Chunyan and Chunying lay down in front of the kang, pressed their ears to the deck, and listened intently. "Mother, this is..." Mao Xiang asked inexplicably. Mrs. Ma raised her head in panic, glanced at her son, but did not answer, but anxiously asked the girl who was lying on the ground: "How is it, did you hear me?"

"Mrs. Madam, no, I never heard it." Chunyan with a fat round face raised her head and replied hesitantly. "Why can't I hear it! 'Tu Tu Tu Tu Tu', I heard it clearly just now!" Mrs. Ma insisted anxiously, "Hurry up, listen again!" Chunyan didn't dare to disobey, and put her ear down again. "What's going on?" Seeing his mother's flustered look, Mao Xiang had no choice but to turn to Chuntao who was guarding her. "My lord, my wife fell asleep on the kang just now, and when I heard 'duk tuk tuk tuk', I was afraid there might be someone hiding underneath, so I ordered the servants to look into it."

"What, villain?" Mao Xiang was taken aback.To tell the truth, in the area of ​​Jingjiang, they were not living in a remote place, and these ten large boats were hired temporarily, although they were introduced by the grain chief of the village, after all, they couldn't figure out the details.It wouldn't be a good thing if there were people really hiding under the cabin.Therefore, he suddenly became nervous, and regardless of his master's identity, he quickly took a step forward, knelt down on the deck, put his ears to his ears, and listened intently. However, after listening for a long time, apart from the breathing of the two maidservants beside her, there was no sound under the deck. "Well, could it be that my mother heard it wrong? Or, the villains below have already sensed it, so they are all dormant right now?" Thinking of this, Mao Xiang couldn't help becoming more panicked.For a moment, he straightened up, but forgot to stand up, he just bit his lips tightly, anxiously thinking about what to do. "Ah, so, they have conspired long ago to plot against us. Even the boatman on this boat is a thief! What should we do? Maybe they will do it tonight. Fortunately, they found out early! But how many people are there, and what are they going to do?——It’s really bad luck this time! No, I have to call someone quickly, and I can’t startle the snake. But..." "Listen, it's coming again! Tuk tuk tuk tuk tuk tuk tuk!" Madam Ma exclaimed again. Mao Xiang was taken aback for a moment, then quickly bent down again, pricking up his ears to listen carefully.However, as before, there was still no sound from under the cabin. "Well, did you hear that?" He asked Chunyan and Chunying who were lying beside them. "No." "I didn't hear it." The two maids shook their heads and answered softly. "Ah, here we go again, tuk tuk tuk tuk tuk tuk tuk!" Madam Ma called again. Mao Xiang glanced at the old lady, and couldn't help letting out a sigh of relief.He hesitated for a while, then quickly stood up, pointed out the cabin door, and said to the maids: "Go, tell the outside to call the boat lady here!" Chuntao bowed her head in agreement, and walked out.Not long after, the boat lady, who is strong and strong, has a pair of big feet and hurried to the middle cabin. "I don't know if my wife or uncle is calling, what's your order?" She asked politely, with a smile on her dark and round face. "You uncover this," Mao Xiang pointed to the deck, "we want to see!" The boat lady blinked her eyes, obviously surprised, but seeing Mao Xiang's face was serious, she didn't dare to ask more, she agreed, bent down, and lifted the deck skillfully and quickly. Mao Xiang watched intently, "Well, go down and see if there is anything hidden?" He ordered, and then gestured to Chunyan beside him: "Give her the light!" After giving this order, he bypassed the cabin, walked to the Kang, gently helped Mrs. Ma up, and said comfortingly: "Mother, come and have a look, there is indeed no one hiding below. The child is sleeping next door." If there is anything in the cabin, you will feel it immediately. Mother just rest assured and rest!" Mrs. Ma was timid at first, but couldn't stand her son's repeated persuasion, and finally moved closer, poking her head out towards the lighted cabin in front of the kang.She didn't let out a "beep" until she saw that it was really empty inside, and there was nothing there except the boat lady who went down just now and the two big stones in the ballast, and then she leaned against Chuntao's body with a breath. , patted his heart gently with his hands, and closed his eyes weakly.