Chapter 86 Hold on to the crisis

Heavy rain enveloped Yangzhou Fucheng on the north bank of the Yangtze River... This is the longest and most violent heavy rain since the beginning of spring.It has been three days and three nights since April 11th.Except for a few short intervals, the torrential rain mixed with rumbling thunder and thundering lightning swept across the sky and the ground with an almost crazy momentum.During the day, the strong southeast wind rubbed and tore the dark clouds like lint, and rushed past the battlements clinging to the city wall.Under the sky, thousands of shining silver rain arrows are flying all day long, filling the ancient city that has been riddled with natural disasters and man-made disasters and has become riddled with ominous and strange murderous spirits.At night, the arrow-like raindrops disappeared for a while, but because of the darkness and silence, the lightning, thunder, and raging wind and rain that became more distinct made people often wake up from their sleep, suspecting that the Qing soldiers had died. Unknowingly, soldiers approached the city and were launching a fierce attack.So everyone was full of fear and listened again and again with their ears sideways, but they could no longer sleep peacefully...

Since ten days ago, it was said that Zuo Liangyu sent troops from Wuchang to the east to threaten Nanjing, and Shi Kefa was ordered to transfer the main force defending the Huanghuai line to the Luzhou and Anqing areas on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River to participate in the interception. All kinds of frightening rumors going south have never subsided in Yangzhou City. For a while, it was said that Xuzhou, an important town on the edge of the Huanghuai River, had fallen; The entire army was wiped out, and even the town of Fuqiao was captured.Until today, Shi Kefa's Xingyuan returned to Yangzhou and officially announced that Zuo Liangyu actually died of illness when he was in Jiujiang. The army led by his son Zuo Menggeng had been defeated by Huang Degong and escaped Jiangbei. People feel a little relieved.But immediately there was news that Xu Dingguo, the traitor general who killed Gao Jie, was leading his troops southward after surrendering to the Qing Dynasty, and was about to arrive in Yangzhou.Xu Dingguo also threatened to kill Gao Jie's family members and old troops stationed in the city, in an attempt to eradicate the roots and prevent future troubles; he also said that the news came from Shi Kefa.As a result, the people all over the city suddenly panicked again...

Not everyone believed such rumors.Hou Fangyu, who lived in the yamen of the Admiral's Mansion, got confirmation from Governor Xingyuan this afternoon that Shi Kefa had never said anything similar.This legend is pure rumor.Of course, Hou Fangyu was not relieved by this.In September last year, because of a complete quarrel with Huang Zongxi and others, and because his father Hou Xun had betrayed and surrendered to a "thief", he was prosecuted by the court. He felt that he could not gain a foothold in Nanjing, so he ran to Yangzhou, and was soon sent to Gaojie by Shi Kefa. Effective in the military.In the past six months, he has been migrating with the army in Jiangbei, and once returned to his hometown - Shangqiu County by the Yellow River.It wasn't until Gao Jie was killed that he returned to Yangzhou with Gao Jie's nephew, Li Benshen, who has now been appointed as the admiral.Hou Fangyu can clearly tell what kind of critical situation the battle situation in Huainan area is in.As far as he knew, most of the rumors in Yangzhou about northern soldiers moving south were actually true. Even Shi Kefa rushed back this time because he had no choice but to shrink the line of defense to Yangzhou, seeing that the front could no longer withstand the Qing army's southward march. He intends to defend the city to the death.However, can Yangzhou hold on?If he can't keep it, then he will be destroyed with him!It was this terrible scene that was approaching before him that made Hou Fangyu feel trembling and shuddering, so that he tossed and turned in the bed, and he still couldn't fall asleep until the third watch outside.

Over the years, due to excessive drinking, Hou Fangyu felt that his physical condition was getting worse and worse.Coupled with the fact that he has been traveling around in recent months and has been in an abnormally tense and busy life, he feels that he is almost unable to support himself and will collapse anytime, anywhere.Perhaps because of this, his state of mind has also become unprecedentedly gloomy and depressed.If we say that in the early years, with Chen Zhenhui's strong citations, he became a young leader of Fushe. Then, when Beijing fell, the Donglin faction in Nanjing suffered a crushing defeat in the competition to support the new monarch, and after the throne of the emperor fell into the hands of King Fu, Hou Fangyu realized that there was no hope of revival of the Ming Dynasty.It was only out of hatred for the peasant army and fear of foreigners in the Qing Dynasty, and because he didn't want to appear timid and mediocre in front of his friends, he still stayed in Nanjing, but he was always assessing the situation in his heart in order to make countermeasures at any time .Because of this, he once strongly supported Chen Zhenhui's idea of ​​working together, hoping to at least make Jiangnan find peace and prevent Ma Shiying and others from further gaining power.Unexpectedly, things backfired, because the ministers in Donglin went their own way, and Zhou Bi was pulling one faction against another within Fushe, which resulted in his own party being defeated, and even his wealth and life were in the hands of political enemies.Out of despair, Hou Fangyu resolutely decided to leave.However, in the past six months, what he saw and heard on the front line plunged him into deeper despair. "Ah, maybe I should go, I should leave this sinking ship as soon as possible, escape to a place far away from the world, free from troubles and sufferings, recuperate my body, and then be a leisurely person who has nothing to do with the world, Wouldn't it be more peaceful?" The flash of this thought made Hou Fangyu seem to have a ray of light in front of his eyes, a ray of life that could walk out of death and darkness.However, only for a moment, this ray of light went out again. "The situation has come to this point, where can I escape? My hometown has long been in ruins, and there are still constant wars. I must not go back. Then flee to the south? Flee to Zhejiang, Jiangxi, or Go to Lingnan? But if Nanjing can’t hold it, can Zhejiang be able to hold it? As for Jiangxi and Lingnan, who have no relatives, who can they rely on? What’s more, Shigong and his staff, as well as the staff of Jixian Hall , decided to stick to Yangzhou, how can I escape alone? What will they say about me when they find out, and what will the world say about me? No, I can't go, and I shouldn't go! However..."

Just like that, Hou Fangyu thought about it, and he couldn't give up. At the same time, he felt more and more weak and tired, and he didn't know when, and finally fell into a deep sleep.However, after only sleeping for a while, he suddenly woke up again, and at the same time, he heard a commotion, people shouting, horses neighing, mixed with the sound of chaotic footsteps and the clashing of knives and guns, and everything sounded very close , as if in the alley outside the courtyard wall.Hou Fangyu was still in a daze at first, not knowing what happened.Then, a thought flashed through his mind: "No, the northern soldiers have entered the city!" He suddenly became nervous, turned over in a panic, and even forgot to put on his shoes, and rushed towards the door with bare feet, intending to Go outside and find a place to hide.Unexpectedly, just as he was about to step over the threshold, he was slammed by an oncoming person and fell to the ground with his buttocks. "Ah, it's over, this time I will definitely die!" In the confusion, he thought desperately, but the instinct of survival prompted him to struggle hard, trying to crawl to the side, so as to avoid possible swords and the like.However, at this moment, he heard a familiar voice say in surprise:

"Oh, it turned out to be Grandpa!" Following the words, a pair of powerful arms supported his body.He stood up involuntarily.Relying on the hazy morning light outside the window, Hou Fangyu realized that it was one of his followers who knocked him down. "The villain deserves to die. He offended the Lord, please forgive him!" the attendant lowered his head and confessed. Hou Fangyu was in a state of restlessness, he didn't care to scold the servants, but asked impatiently: "Hey, what happened? What's the noise outside?" "The villain is about to come to report to the Lord: the admiral's yamen is gathering soldiers and horses, with many family members and boxes and luggage, as if they are going out of the city, so it is noisy."

The admiral's yamen now lives with Gao Jie's nephew, Li Benshen, and Gao Jie's widow, Mrs. Xing.Gao Jie's family were originally "rogues". Since they surrendered to the imperial court, they have been favored by the imperial court for their willingness to fight Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong.After Gao Jie's death, Mrs. Xing, who was quite resourceful, once asked her son to recognize Shi Kefa as his adoptive father, obviously hoping to obtain asylum.As a result, Shi Kefa did not agree, and only let Gao Qi, the eunuch who escaped from Beijing, secretly recognize Gao Jie's son as his adopted son.But the Gao family seemed dissatisfied and worried.So this time, after the news that Xu Dingguo came to seek revenge again in the city and planned to kill the Gao family, Li Benshen seemed very nervous, as if he was worried that the court would use a knife to kill people.Originally, Shi Kefa had repeatedly explained to him that this matter was purely a rumor.Unexpectedly, the current accident still happened.However, after finding out that it was not the Qing soldiers who entered the city, Hou Fangyu finally felt a little relieved.He estimated that Gao's tribe probably planned to flee Yangzhou to avoid the disaster of killing themselves.However, the troops defending Yangzhou are already quite weak. If the Gao family army's brigade leaves again, the situation will be even more precarious.As a staff member who was sent to Gao's army, Hou Fangyu knew very well that he had the dual mission of coordinating and monitoring Shi Kefa's opponent.So, with the help of his entourage, he quickly put on his clothes, hat, shoes and socks, and hurried out the door, intending to at least find out the situation as soon as possible and report to Shi Kefa even if he couldn't stop Gao's army from moving.

By this time, the sky was getting brighter.The sky was still overcast, but the rain had stopped.Days of torrential rain left the streets full of water and mud.On the mud and water, there are now many hats, poles, old clothes, broken shoes and other sundries.It was probably lost by people of the Gao clan by accident, or abandoned casually.These visible relics make the street look more messy, and there is a sense of fleeing for life.Hou Fangyu no longer had the mind to take care of this, because in the depths of the surrounding streets and alleys, there were bursts of shouting, cursing, and begging and crying.One after another, mules and horses were being driven and dragged by groups of officers and soldiers, from the alley to the street, and then rushed towards the direction of the east gate.These mules and horses were obviously looted temporarily from the homes of nearby residents.Because in the back, there are still many ordinary people who are eager to follow, begging the officers and soldiers to return the animals to them, but they are answered by fierce shouts and merciless beatings with swords and guns.The looting soldiers also seemed very nervous and panicked. Once they got rid of the entanglement, they would flee and drive their mules and horses eastward.Hou Fangyu followed out of the main street and came to the edge of the river, where he immediately discovered that Gao's army not only plundered mules and horses, but also wantonly plundered boats on the river.They brandished their knives and guns, rushed into the cabin, drove off all the people they thought were irrelevant, then forced the boatman with knives and guns, and ordered the boat to support the Dongshuiguan.Judging from the chaotic situation along the way, it is clear that this brutal action is affecting a large area of ​​the city.But the strange thing is that there has never been any intervention by local officials or the army. "Hey, does Shigong not know yet? Could it be that Shigong just let them go and let them take the army away? Then what about Yangzhou's defense in the future? What about the defense along the river?" Hou Fangyu felt anxious and puzzled, and at the same time accelerated Footsteps, want to follow to the east gate to see what happened.

At this time, it should have been bright according to the time of day, but the dark clouds that accumulated over the city still lingered.It was still gloomy all around, only the lower part of the sky in the east of the city showed a relatively bright band of light, the helmets and figures of the soldiers who were swarming forward, as well as the shadows of various mules and horses, against the backdrop of this light , clearly distinguishable.As Hou Fangyu walked forward, he felt that the sound of footsteps and panting became more and more dense and chaotic, and his body was bumped violently by people or mules from time to time.He stopped involuntarily, and found that he was already in the roaring crowd of people, and he was in danger of being dragged away anytime and anywhere.

"Hey, Lord, it's very chaotic ahead, it's impossible to go, go back quickly!" A anxious voice called from behind, it was his personal attendant. This reminded Hou Fangyu.He trembled in his heart: "Ah, I'm so confused! Why did they come here? It seems that they are planning to rush out of the gate. If the guards don't let them go, the two sides will hack and kill, wouldn't it be bad!" Thinking this way, He suddenly lost the courage to move on.But the sense of responsibility still lingering in his heart made him unwilling to retreat immediately, so he looked around and found that there was a small alley not far from the street.Probably the soldiers of the Gao Family Army went inside to plunder the mules and horses, and the gate at the entrance of the alley, which was usually locked at night, had been smashed open.Right now, it is empty inside, and there is no one in sight.Hou Fangyu immediately led his followers, retreating into the alley while avoiding the rushing soldiers.

As soon as they stood still behind the gate, they heard an earth-shattering cry suddenly sounded from the city gate not far from the alley.It was a bloody frantic cry of anger because the action was blocked, and there were bursts of dying wailing among them.At the same time, outside the gate, the soldiers of the Gao Family Army who followed up from the west end of the street stopped in confusion, and then suddenly became agitated, raising their guns, spears, knives, and axes together, "Oh! Ho! Ho! Ho" roared, with a more resolute advance posture, to support the partners in front.Seeing this scene, Hou Fangyu, who was standing behind the gate, became nervous all of a sudden, holding on to the wooden gate with both hands, and his heart was beating wildly in his chest. "It's over, it's over, I'm afraid there will be chaos in the city if you attack and kill like this! No, I can't stay any longer, I have to go, I have to go!" I was thinking so much, but my two legs seemed to have taken root. He was trembling on the spot, unable to lift himself up no matter what.He couldn't help but panic and worry.However, the more this happened, the more he couldn't move his legs, so that in the end, he broke out in a cold sweat. At this moment, the situation on the street changed again.Although the soldiers of the Gao family army were still roaring, they obviously accelerated their progress.It seems that the short-lived quarrel at the east gate has been resolved by the killing and fleeing of the guards.The city gate was finally opened.At this point, there is no longer any force that can prevent the main force from fleeing. After half an hour, the army crowding the streets and the mules and horses they had snatched gradually thinned out.As the last sound of boots and horseshoes faded away, or even disappeared, the street became deadly silent.Only the expanded light and shadow in the eastern sky slumped over the post-catastrophe city, casting a palpitating paleness on the stagnant water and muddy streets. It was only then that Hou Fangyu felt that his legs became obedient again.He left the gate silently, walked out of the street with unprecedented despair and confusion, and walked back to the apartment step by step, braving the oncoming morning wind, curled up.