Chapter 16 third quarter

Ou Zhaoqing dragged his tired body, and his sweat-soaked clothes, followed his boss back to Fengxiangfang. The twenty or so people who were traveling with me did not speak, all of them were unkempt, and their clothes were covered with dust.One of them was injured by a falling stone just now, and he was walking with a limp. The boss is the cleanest one.He didn't do the work himself, but just instructed his subordinates to work—no, to be more precise, he obeyed the supervisor sent by the Imperial Guard and passed the instructions to his subordinates. Ou Zhaoqing, who followed closely behind, could see that although the boss was not tired, his expression was the same as that of the twenty or so people behind him, obviously full of resentment.

"Fuck it, I'm so tired..." Someone behind complained, and the voice was not low.The boss heard this but didn't look back. As Ou Zhaoqing walked, he looked at his rough-worn palms. He used to hold knives or throw dice, but now he was holding stones. The city wall of the capital is towering and solid on the surface, but in fact, except for the most important south wall, which is relatively stable, there are many collapses on the other three sides.Of course, the imperial court allocated regular funds for construction, but due to the corruption of bureaucrats at all levels, the money actually distributed to the fortifications was only enough for a little cosmetic repair. On the surface, it was brand new and solid. .

Now that the city is really about to be defended, the bureaucrats are worried about their lives, so they really get nervous.It is said that Lu Yingfeng's "splitting army" has already fought to Yunzhou, crossed the Tunni River, encountered very little resistance on the way, and it is afraid that they will reach the suburbs of Beijing in less than a month.The imperial court immediately ordered to recruit migrant workers to assist the imperial army to repair the city wall as soon as possible. In fact, the work was too urgent and the migrant workers were not enough, so even the "Feng Yilong" who had been conscripted into the "Volunteer Civilian Brigade" had to join.Ou Zhaoqing and others were one of them. They were in charge of repairing the northern end of the east wall. They worked together with those "deer zi" whom they usually despise--"deer zi" is a code word for ordinary people in the underworld.

The more Ou Zhaoqing thought about it, the more he didn't like it. At the beginning, he joined "Feng Yilong" desperately to make money, drink and play with women, and to walk on the street with prestige.He knew that he had to pay a price to get these things, but he didn't expect to do this now. ——Damn it, if I want to do this kind of rough work, why should I join "Toyoshi Takashi"?It's better to be a porter or something, at least you don't have to kill people, and you don't have to be afraid of being killed... A group of people returned to "Fengxiangfang Branch" and entered through a side door.There are also several other batches of brothers who have returned and are showering in the open air in the backyard.Ou Zhaoqing joined the ranks.

Dozens of naked men were washing their bodies silently, relatively silent.Their thoughts are similar to Ou Zhaoqing's, and some of them are not thinking about whether to do rough work, but will soon go up the city wall to defend the city... —Are we building our own tomb? ... Morale in the capital "Feng Yilong" fell to an unprecedented low.Since Lun Xiao ordered Mengzhen to send people to join the "civilian brigade", there have been people who left one after another.Although not much, it has already had an impact on the remaining brothers. The underworld guys are not afraid of death yet, but they are not timid either.But the thought of going to war, of risking death for those who usually sit comfortably and safely in mansions or government offices... just doesn't feel good.In particular, they know that even at such a critical juncture, those officials' children still do not need to join the army.

"I'm really not reconciled..." Someone finally couldn't help muttering. When one person opened his mouth, the others also rushed to talk, vomiting out the resentment that Yu hid in their stomachs. "Why do we do this kind of thing?" Ou Zhaoqing also joined in. "After a while, there may be wars... If he dies, he will be so fucking wronged!" "I don't want to die." The person beside him said with a wry smile. "There are several thousand taels of silver on the street, and I haven't recovered it yet." "Oh, what can I do? It's all orders from above." An older gang member sighed. "One word from the imperial court is to let us block swords and guns. Their lives are covered with gold and silver, and ours..."

"Why didn't Meng Jijiu say a few words to those dog officials?" Ou Zhaoqing's voice became louder and louder. "I'm not afraid of war. I just don't want to do this kind of shit job!" His boss glared at him, but he didn't notice it, and said to himself: "If you receive the sacrifice, just curry favor with that old dog and forget about us..." "What nonsense are you yelling at?" The boss finally couldn't hold back, and yelled to stop Ou Zhaoqing. It was only then that Ou Zhaoqing realized that he had made a slip of the tongue, and his puffed chest shrank back.

At this time, a person stepped out from the back door of the building to the backyard. It was Mao Gonglei, the "right sacrificial wine".Everyone's faces turned pale, they wondered if Mao Jijiu heard what he said just now. "Mao Jijiu, this is actually..." Ou Zhaoqing's boss stepped forward, wanting to say a few words for his subordinate's gaffe. Mao Gonglei ignored him, and walked up to Ou Zhaoqing. "You said just now that you are not afraid of war?" Ou Zhaoqing didn't know how to answer in panic, so he could only nod his head.The others looked at them nervously.

Only then did Mao Gonglei smile, and lightly slapped Ou Zhaoqing's chest with his fist: "Very good." Mao Jijiu seemed to have no intention of blaming, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm a little scared." Mao Gonglei said with a smile. "At that time, the enemy on the other side of the city wall will be that Lu Yingfeng. I heard that he is really scary." Everyone also laughed. Regardless of his clothes being wet by the shower water, Mao Gonglei stretched out his left and right arms to rest on the shoulders of the other two, his face became serious.

"I don't know what the officials in the court think. Probably they think: the private salt has given us so many benefits, and now they have to find us to solve the difficulties, as if we usually eat for nothing. We In their eyes, it is like a chamber pot: put it under the bed when there is nothing to do, and use it when you are in a hurry." The emotions of the "Feng Yilong" men were all affected, and each of them clenched their fists. "Mao Jijiu, what should we do?" Ou Zhaoqing asked boldly. "If those traitors really captured Kyoto... the sky has changed, what will happen to 'Toyoshi Takashi'?"

"This time is indeed a difficult time, and I will not hide it from you." Mao Gonglei replied sincerely. "However, brothers must grit their teeth and get through it no matter what. Meng Jijiu will definitely find a way. Believe me and him, we will never let you die." When the men heard this and saw Mao Gonglei's confident expression, they felt relieved.Mao Gonglei took out two ingots of gold and ordered his men to buy some wine and food.Because of preparations for the war in the capital, supplies and food are very tight, and the price has risen a lot. They haven't eaten and drank happily for a while.Seeing the gold, the crowd cheered. Seeing that the mood of his subordinates had improved, Mao Gonglei left the backyard and returned to the branch building.He climbed up to the second floor and entered the study room that originally belonged to Rong Yushan. Meng Zhen was reviewing a large stack of accounts inside, his brows were tightly locked.Because of the war, several private salt transportation lines were cut off, and the funds turned over to the capital were greatly reduced. He saw his foster brother come in and put down the stack of bills. "What happened to the brothers?" "It's okay." Mao Gonglei closed the door, but couldn't hide the worry on his face. "There should be no more sneaking around." "That's all right." "Brother, this is not what I'm most worried about." Mao Gonglei walked up to Mengzhen's desk with a serious expression on his face. "It's Yu Runsheng. He was defeated before, but he was unwilling to leave the capital. I think he was waiting for this battle." "Yu Runsheng..." Meng Zhen sighed, leaning on the back of the chair and stroking his beard. "I have to admit, this person is really powerful..." Regarding the collusion between Yu Runsheng and Nanfan, Meng Zhen had already learned about it from Hua Que's five mouths. Mengzhen meditated: When he and Zhang Shuai were thinking hard in this underworld struggle, it turned out that Yu Runsheng's thinking had already jumped out of this frame, and his eyes fell on another bigger game with completely changed rules . Mengzhen was puzzled again: Could it be that Yu Runsheng's ambition to assassinate Pang Wenying in order to advance to the capital was not "Feng Yilong" at all? ...No, he must be preparing with both hands. It is important to seize the power of "Toyoshi Takashi", but if he fails, there are other ways to go... "He has such a close relationship with the feudal lords in the south, he not only assisted them in preparing military supplies, but also gave Lu Yingfeng this great gift..." Meng Zhen said quietly. "If the rebel army really captures Kyoto, and the imperial court changes its master..." If Meng Zhen doesn't go on, Mao Gonglei also knows the consequences: the new regime will inevitably rely heavily on Yu Runsheng who has made great contributions; the underworld in the capital will become his world; "Feng Yilong" will disappear from history... The situation is so delicate: Yu Runsheng colluded with the rebellion, as long as he is informed, he can be punished by the nine clans; Zhang Shuai, but dare not report him, otherwise he may be liquidated by the new regime in the future... "Could it be that we can't do anything?" Mao Gonglei punched the desk. "Yes." Meng Zhen replied affirmatively. "Whether it's Lun Xiao, He Taiji, or the princes of Nanfan in the future, the people in power have the same idea. In their eyes, we are just hunting dogs for them. As long as they can bite people, is the hunting dog familiar or not?" The new one, named Yu Runsheng or Mengzhen, doesn't make any difference to them..." Mao Gonglei's eyes lit up, he understood. ——As long as we were the only "hound dogs" left in Kyoto when the Southern Army entered the city, they would have no reason not to keep them... ——Before the city is destroyed, Yu Runsheng and "Dashutang" must be eliminated! The difficulty is: the military situation in the capital is more urgent now, a curfew has been imposed, and the streets are full of soldiers from the imperial army.It is even more impossible to attack the "Great Tree Hall" than two months ago. "Is there any way?" Mao Gonglei said bitterly. "If the sickle head was killed that time, it's still easy to do now-I lead ten or eight people to sneak attack, there should be no problem. But now..." "Zhang Shuai should also understand the current situation?" Meng Zhen said suddenly. "The Fourth Qi who betrayed Yu Runsheng is still with him." "Brother!" Mao Gonglei asked in surprise, "You want... to find Zhang Shuai? But he..." "After all, we are all 'Feng Yilong'. Of course I have not forgotten that he was behind the last assassination. But now the situation has changed. Let Yu Run live, and both of us will die." Meng Zhenlan Eyes sparkle with wisdom. "He is the 'Curse Army Master', there must be a way."