Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 137: Serving the People
On the street, a soldier in red cotton armor suddenly rushed into the street on horseback. The soldier stood on his horse, holding a longbow in his hand, and the bowstring trembled slightly.

Pershing shot one man down and immediately dismounted. Two more soldiers in armor followed him and dismounted to gather behind Pershing.

The three men held longbows in their hands, and their arrows shot out like beads. With a whoosh sound, seven or eight of the rioters on the street fell down immediately, and the street was instantly covered with blood.

The ruffians on the street were stunned for a moment, and then they were in chaos, fleeing into nearby houses to avoid arrows.

Jiang San and his group were right in front of the three imperial guards. Among the seven or eight people who fell just now, three were from Jiang San's group.

Although the gangsters on the street were fleeing, there were also some fierce ones who directly attacked the three people in the middle of the street with knives.

Jiang San was trying to dodge, but in the blink of an eye he saw the burly soldier leading the way, with his bow pointed at him.
Jiang San rolled on the ground in a panic, dodging an arrow. Looking at the trembling tail feathers not far away, his forehead was immediately covered with cold sweat.
When Jiang San saw that someone had already approached those soldiers from behind, a fierce light flashed in his eyes and he immediately shouted

"There are only three dog messengers. Brothers, follow me and kill them to avenge our brothers."

Jiang San shouted angrily, then rushed towards the three imperial guards in the middle of the street with his sword in hand.

At this time, the other gangsters on the street had already approached the three imperial guards. When the three imperial guards saw the gangsters rushing towards them with knives raised, their faces were calm.

Pershing threw down his longbow, drew out his long sword, and slashed forward. The bandit in front of him couldn't dodge in time, and his head was cut in half and he fell to the ground, blood splattered everywhere.
The bandits around had never seen such a scene before. They were stunned for a moment when they saw the blood splattering. However, the three imperial guards had no expression on their faces. They directly raised their knives and killed the bandits in front of them. In a blink of an eye, they killed three more. The bandits came to their senses at this time, and more than a dozen people immediately fought in a group.

When Jiang San approached with a long knife, there were already five or six people lying on the ground. The ground was covered with blood. The bodies of the bandits who were not yet dead were twitching subconsciously. So many people fell to the ground, but the three imperial guards were intact and were suppressing seven or eight bandits and killing them.
Jiang San looked pale and wanted to retreat, but at this moment he suddenly saw the leading soldier with his back to him, fighting with the bandits in front.
A hint of viciousness flashed in Jiang San's eyes, and he suddenly shouted

"Go to hell"

Jiang San's face was ferocious. He took a step forward and stabbed Pan Xing's waist with the long knife in his hand.

吭哧
The long knife stabbed at Pershing's waist, but it made a sharp friction sound, and a faint flash of iron flashed in the cotton wool, and the long knife immediately slid to the side.

Pan Xing was hit by the sword and staggered, but he immediately stood up. Then, without even looking back, he turned around and chopped the goose-feather sword in his hand directly behind him.
Jiang San looked at the long knife that was slashed aside, and stood there in a daze, as if he had not yet reacted.
But the next moment, a knife came towards him, and before Jiang San could react, the knife slashed from his neck to his chest, and a stream of blood gushed out.
Pershing had no expression on his face. After putting away his knife, he immediately turned around and charged forward.

Behind him, Jiang San was lying in a pool of blood, with a look of fear still on his face. A huge gap was cut on Jiang San's neck and chest. Blood kept pouring out of the gap and merged with the blood on the ground. Jiang San was no longer able to make a sound.

The battle on the street came and went quickly. In just a quarter of an hour, there was no one left on the street. More than 20 bodies of bandits lay in the middle of the street, but the three imperial guards were standing on the street unscathed.
Pershing picked up the bow and arrow on the ground and put it back into the quiver, while the two imperial guards squatted on the ground, searching for the bandits on the ground. If they found anyone alive, they would immediately kill them.
Pershing stood on the ground for a while, and then an official in a black robe came trembling on his donkey and hurried to the street, followed by several young and strong men who looked like frightened civilians.

The official in black robe turned pale, got off the donkey and walked towards Pershing in front of him. But before he took a few steps, he saw the body that was cut in half on the ground. He could no longer bear it, and squatted on the side with his mouth covered, retching.

The black robe clerk vomited for a while, then stood up with a pale face and walked to Pan Xing. At this time, the two imperial guards had already counted and finished their attacks, and walked back behind Pan Xing.
Pan Xing glanced at the pale-faced official in black robes, sheathed the blood-stained goose-feather knife, and said:
"Liu Shushou, Cangqian Street has been cleared, and a total of 21 bandits have been killed."

"The army has ordered not to behead people, so you must count them for us. Each head is worth two taels of silver. Don't let this ruin our brothers' military exploits."

"I dare not. I will definitely count the heads for you and will never let you down in your military exploits."

Liu Shun looked at the three blood-soaked soldiers in front of him with a look of fear on his face, and immediately replied

When Pan Xing saw Liu Shun agree, a look of satisfaction flashed across his face.

"There are still two streets to clean up ahead, so I won't stay here for long. I'll leave the matters here to you. Remember to send someone to take over."

"Liu Shushou is a straightforward person. When I receive the reward, I will definitely treat Liu Shushou to a drink."

Pan Xing stepped forward and patted Liu Shun on the shoulder. Liu Shun looked at the bloody handprint on his shoulder and his heart trembled. He immediately responded with
Seeing Liu Shushou's agreement, Pan Xing did not delay any longer. He called out to two soldiers, mounted his horse and followed the guide in front, heading out to the street.
Liu Shun saw Pan Xing and the others disappear down the street, and his expression finally relaxed.

"Drink! I'd drink with a killer like you!"

Liu Shun cursed inwardly. He looked around and saw the bodies scattered all over the ground. His face turned pale again. He suppressed his nausea and called over the frightened civilians. He said,

"Count the number of people, select a few and hang them at the street entrance, so that those evildoers in the city can see clearly the consequences of their rebellion."

Several civilians trembled as they counted the bodies on the ground, while Liu Shun took a gong and struck it.

When the bandits were rioting, the streets were quiet. When the imperial guards were killing the bandits, the streets were quiet. Now that the imperial guards have left, the streets are still quiet.

On the street, every house has its doors shut, as if no one lives on the street.

Although the street was empty, Liu Shun knew that the residents on the street must be secretly observing the situation on the street. He struck the gong and started shouting without caring whether anyone heard it or not.

"Listen, people on the street. Yesterday, there was a riot outside the city. The court has issued an order to impose martial law in the city from today onwards."

"All citizens should stay at home and not come and go as they please. Anyone who dares to take advantage of the situation to cause trouble will end up like the evil bandits on the street."

"Yesterday, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, His Royal Highness Gui Jianguo, and the civil and military ministers of the court moved to Guangzhou. They encountered bandits who wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to attack the city. His Royal Highness Gui Jianguo personally led the imperial army to defeat the bandits' vanguard. Now, there are only remnants of the bandits outside the city. There is nothing to be afraid of."

"Now, His Royal Highness the Regent and the other ministers have entered Guangzhou. There are also imperial guards stationed in the city. The imperial army will arrive soon to clear out the bandits outside the city. The people in the city must not panic and disturb the city."

"His Highness the Regent has issued an order to recruit literate citizens and local elders to help defend the city."

"All those selected will be granted the title of inspector by the imperial court. This grace from the imperial court is rare. All the wise men should not hesitate and come forward to apply for the position as soon as possible."

Liu Shun held up the gong and struck it as he walked. The sound kept echoing in the street. However, he walked from the beginning to the end of the street and then walked back to the beginning. His throat was almost smoking from shouting, but every door on the street was still closed. There was no one in sight.

In Zhao Yan's house, Chen Shangchuan heard the shouting outside the door, his face was excited, he immediately walked back to the room, took out the letter of departure, and was about to open the door to leave.
But Zhao Yan immediately moved, and stood in front of Chen Shangchuan with a nervous look.
"Brother Shengcai, what are you going to do?"

"Of course, we are volunteering to defend the city. The imperial court has moved the capital to the city, and His Royal Highness the Regent is stationed in Guangzhou to defend the city. We, the saint's disciples, should strive to be the first to serve the imperial court and relieve its worries."

Chen Shangchuan's expression straightened up. Although he didn't know who the Gui Jianguo that the clerk on the street was talking about, he knew that the central government of the imperial court was now in the city and was recruiting people to defend the city.

As a student of the imperial court, he should respond to the imperial court's call and help defend the city.

"Shengcai, think twice"

"That clerk deceived the people in the city, but don't you know that the news has spread all over the city yesterday that those outside the city are not bandits at all, but Tartars!"

"Now that the Tartars are besieging the city, the situation in the city must be critical, so the court has promised a large sum of money to recruit people to defend the city. If you suddenly respond to the call, you will definitely be sent to defend the city, and you may be in danger of life and death."

"Brother Shengcai, you can't go," Zhao Yan blocked the door tightly and refused to let Chen Shangchuan go out.

Chen Shangchuan's face straightened when he heard this, and he said

"If there are Tartars outside the city, then we should defend the city even more."

"The Tartars have always been violent. If we let them break into the city, the people in the city will surely be slaughtered. We are following the teachings of the saints. We should report to our emperor and father and protect the people. How can we sit back and watch the Eastern Tartars harm the people of the Central Plains?"

"Brother Zhao, please don't say anything more. The court has sent people to clear out the hooligans in the city. There shouldn't be any more danger. Brother Zhao, just guard the gate and nothing should happen."

After Chen Shangchuan finished speaking, he ignored Zhao Yan and directly opened the gate and walked out of the courtyard with his sword in hand.
Zhao Yan was anxious and was about to chase after Chen Shangchuan, but when he reached the door, he saw blood on the ground not far away. Zhao Yan's face turned pale and a look of fear flashed across his face.
Zhao Yan chased after him for a few steps, looked back at his wife and children, and finally stomped his feet, returned to the courtyard and closed the door tightly.
Zhao Yan lay by the door, watching Chen Shangchuan's back getting farther and farther away on the street, until he finally disappeared.

(End of this chapter)