Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 133 Why do you want less?

"Uncle, what's wrong?"

Qi Laoer anxiously asked the middle-aged man who had just been admitted to the hospital, but when he saw the middle-aged man's expression clearly, his heart sank.

That day, after he helped the Yingtian Army to trick open the Zhenjiang city gate, he went to the silver vault and plundered it. When he had loaded several hundred taels of silver and was ready to return with a full load, he saw the surrendered general Liu Linsheng and his trusted subordinates who were taken away by the Yingtian Army appeared in the silver vault.

There is no need to mention what happened afterwards.

After some negotiation and consideration, these dozen people agreed to help Liu Linsheng move the silver in exchange for his help in leaving Zhenjiang.

Afterwards, the treasury was half-emptied and the group left by boat.

After leaving the river mouth, Qi Laoer and others were placed in Songjiang Prefecture, while Liu Linsheng sailed directly out to sea.

The so-called money and silk move people's hearts.

Previously, Qi Laoer and his men were able to unite and fight against Liu Linsheng, but after losing the external enemy.
In short, after Qi Lao Er hid the newly acquired silver, he used the power of silver to sneak into Huating County, the seat of Songjiang Prefecture, and after answering some questions, he successfully found his uncle's house.

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"Go in and talk."

The middle-aged man seemed unaware of Qi Laoer's anxiety. He said something in a low voice and went straight to the main room.

His uncle's family had some connections in Huating County, so his first reaction after getting off the boat was to get a new identity here.

Originally, he thought that by spending some money and asking his uncle for help, he would be able to settle down here no matter what.

But who would have thought that my uncle's relative was always away these days, and it was only today that my uncle went to that person's house again at the urging of Qi Laoer.

Just looking at his expression, things didn't seem to be going well, and were quite unpleasant, so Qi Laoer's heart was also shrouded in a gloom.

My uncle's house was not big to begin with, and it only took four or five breaths for the two of them to sit down in the house.

"Uncle, but there's not enough money?"

"It's not a matter of money," the uncle waved his hands a few times, but his face couldn't hide his worry: "The elders said that they will find a way to get you a new identity in a few days, and when you bring your family over, they can help them settle down."

Hearing this, Qi Laoer finally let go of his worries.

Although he had not left the house in the past few days, he knew that if he could get his identity card done as soon as possible, he would be able to

After all, he had been in the army before, so how could he not know the current situation?

In the past, when the government caught people of unknown origin, they would usually beat them with a stick and then send them back to their hometown. But now there is war and chaos everywhere, and if you are caught by the army, you may be treated as a spy and beheaded directly.

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"Uncle, since things have already turned out well, why do you still look so sad?"

"You happened to have served in the military before, so please help me with this."

When he heard the word "in the army", Qi Laoer's heart suddenly beat fast, but since it was related to whether he could obtain the identity, he could only calm his mind and force himself to concentrate.

After a while, his uncle briefly told him what he had seen in the family mansion today, and after listening to him, Qi Lao Er's face immediately showed a trace of worry.

Weapons, new faces.

If these two things were taken out separately, they would probably only make Qi Lao Er suspicious, but if they were put together, it would probably mean that big changes were going to happen in Huating County.

"Uncle, are there many new faces?"

"Quite a few. I have seen about 10 to 20 of them."

"How many Qing troops are there in the city?"

"Maybe more than a thousand."

The more Qi Lao Er asked, the stiffer his uncle's expression became. By the last question, his uncle had roughly reacted.

"You mean we're going to fight?"

"I can't tell, but it's not a good sign anyway."

"That"

"Uncle, it's too late to leave now. No matter if they are bandits or soldiers, they are all the same kind of people. If we meet them outside the city, we may lose our lives."

Qi Lao Er had managed to get into the city with great difficulty. If he went out, it would cost a lot to come back in. But if people really took his words as a scare tactic, they might have the chance to see whether there was any difference between bandits and government troops.

But the price of this experience is not light. If nothing unexpected happens, a person can only gain it once in his lifetime.

That night, Qi Laoer hid his uncle's family in the woodshed, and he took his bed and bedding, took a short blade, and prepared to spend the night by the door.

Honestly speaking, if something really happened, such preparations would probably be of no use, but in the current situation he had no choice but to do so.

Fortunately, there is still some distance between the Tartar’s residence and his uncle’s home, so if there is anything wrong, it should not involve here.

As time passed, the night gradually darkened. However, Qi Laoer was not as alert as he was in the army. Instead, he became more energetic as the night went on.

At this moment, a faint sound of footsteps suddenly came into his ears. When he listened carefully, he found that the sound came from behind him.

"Who?!"

I don’t know if it was the aftereffect of the surprise attack by Yingtian soldiers that night, but this tiny sound immediately aroused Qi Laoer’s vigilance.

But when he turned his head with the short blade in his hand, he saw a familiar figure standing more than ten steps away. Qi Laoer immediately put away his posture ready for fighting.

"Uncle, why are you up?"

"can not fall asleep."

During the day, Qi Laoer was extremely nervous. How could his uncle, who was an ordinary citizen, sleep peacefully?

"There's still more than an hour left. If we can get through it, nothing will happen tonight."

Hearing this, my uncle seemed to let out a long sigh of relief, and then sat down on the mattress.

"Ah~~ What a world!
When the Tartars entered the city, the government collected money and food from every household.
Now I don't know who will come to kill me, and whether they will ask for money and food.
If we can win in one battle, it will be fine. But if it takes a long time, I don’t know if there will be enough food at home.”

"Don't worry, uncle. There are only about a thousand Qing soldiers in the city. Moreover, we are attacking at night. If a real fight breaks out, it may not even take an hour."

"That's good, that's good."

The two chatted for a while, and when even Qi Laoer felt a little sleepy, they saw that the night sky, which was originally full of silver-white light spots, seemed to be dyed with a touch of orange-red.

In the past, Qi Laoer might have thought that this was caused by the rising sun, but after experiencing that night, he was absolutely sure that this was a scene that could only be caused by a raging fire.

"Uncle, please go back. No matter what happens outside, don't come out."

"Hey."

At this time, my uncle also realized what had happened from his nervous expression. He responded in a panic and ran to the yard.

Does Qi Lao Er have a solution? Probably not.

But in the current situation, leaving one more person outside seems to be of no use. It would be better to be alone outside, so that I can run away more freely.

As time passed, the orange color in the sky became brighter and brighter.

By this time he could faintly hear bursts of shouting and killing, and he was completely sure what had happened in the city.

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Apart from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's Yingtian Army, who else has the courage to attack the Tartars?
As a former Ming army soldier, Qi Laoer knew very well the quality of his comrades.

As a former Qing army soldier, Qi Laoer was also very clear about how powerful the enemies from the north were.

So in this place far away from Yingtian, he really couldn't understand where these people came from who dared to attack the Tartars like this.

It can be imagined that the more than a thousand Qing troops would not be able to hold out for long in the event of a night attack.

This situation made Qi Laoer feel a little uneasy.

Of course, his anxiety was not caused by the life and death of the more than a thousand Tartars.

He was worried that whoever occupied the county town would definitely plunder it first, and by then he didn't know if anyone would find out that he was a deserter.

The orange-red color in the sky gradually faded, and the sounds of shouting and killing became almost inaudible.

Just as the sky gradually brightened and the noise caused by the raid completely dissipated, footsteps suddenly sounded in the alley outside the door.

"Hongfeng, open the door!"

Bang, bang, bang. After a series of rapid knocks on the door, a male voice was heard from outside the door.

Hongfeng is the name of Qi Laoer's uncle. Anyone who can knock on this door and call out the owner's name should not be an outsider.

But at this time of year, one still needs to be extra careful, so Qi Lao Er took a look outside through the crack in the door, and when he saw that there was only one person coming, he pretended to have just woken up: "Who is it? Uncle hasn't gotten up yet."

"The elder of the clan has something to ask, so let him go quickly."

As soon as he finished speaking, the person outside the door seemed a little anxious and left without waiting for a response from inside.

At this point, Qi Lao Er was sure that the man was not trying to trick people into opening the door, and he immediately prepared to tell his uncle about it.

After about a cup of tea, the door slowly opened from the inside. Qi Laoer looked outside for a few times and saw that there was no one in the entire alley. Then he opened the door and sent his uncle Wen Hongfeng out.

"Uncle, I'll go with you."

"Forget it, you stay. If anything happens, we still need you to take care of the family."

"Then please be careful, uncle."

The two men exchanged a few words, and then Wen Hongfeng walked straight out of the alley.

According to common sense, even if there is a big event, people should not be called out at this time of year. However, as a big family in the county, the Wen family has family property to pass down.

If you want to know what is the connection between going out and family property.
All we can say is that the annual allowance from the clan is enough for an ordinary family of four to have enough food and clothing.

In this situation, let alone just fighting a battle, even if it was raining knives from the sky, Wen Hongfeng had no choice but to respond to the call.

I walked out of the alley carefully. The expected corpses all over the ground did not appear in front of me. The street was basically the same as usual except that there was no one on it.

Seeing this, Wen Hongfeng couldn't help but feel relieved, but his pace did not slow down at all.

The fact that there were no signs of fighting on the streets only meant that the battle was controlled in the Tatar camp, but it did not mean that there would be no danger if they encountered the soldiers.

Although the Huating County City directly submitted a surrender letter and did not resort to violence, in this chaotic world, even if you have not seen it, you must have heard of things like rebellious armies slaughtering cities.

Fortunately, the clan elder’s residence was not too far away. After an incense stick or two, Wen Hongfeng arrived outside a gate about two meters wide.

Yesterday, the servants and unfamiliar faces in the clan elder's house were all busy, but outside the gate there was almost no one around.

At this time, the gate was wide open and people were constantly coming in and out. There were even a few soldiers dressed as Ming army standing guard on the side of the street.

Seeing this scene, Wen Hongfeng roughly figured out the ins and outs of what happened last night.

It is possible that the elders of the clan opened the city gate, allowing the Ming army to attack the Qing army at night.

This is not surprising. When the Qing army first arrived, every family just wanted to be obedient and live a peaceful life. But who knew that the Tartars would become more and more excessive as time went on.

Collecting grain and paying silver is fine, after all, the Ming army, Qing army, pirates, and bandits are all the same. What Wen Hongfeng can't accept the most is the land grabbing!

Although he made a living in the city and had no land under his name, many of the clan's best paddy fields were taken away.

It is said that cutting off someone's financial resources is like killing his parents. It would have been fine if we were powerless to fight back before, but now with the help of the royal army, we must drive out the Tartars and return our land to us!
After all, he is the elder of the clan, and he did such a great thing without making any noise.

With a change of mind, Wen Hongfeng walked towards the clan elder's mansion. The soldier did not stop him, perhaps because he saw him constantly greeting people coming out of the mansion.

"Uncle Hongfeng, everyone is here, except for your room."

Hearing this, he could not help but quicken his pace, and after a while he arrived at the door of the main hall. When everyone in the hall saw him coming, they took their seats and then turned their eyes to the old man in the main seat.

"I think you have guessed what happened last night. I will go with a few other families to meet General Wu Zhikui soon. I called you here to discuss the matter of entertaining the troops first."

After the words fell, there was silence in the hall, but no one responded.

In fact, this reward for the troops was something that was expected, but usually the amount of money to be allocated was announced by the higher authorities before it was discussed among the clan.

Furthermore, although each family knew that the Ming army had entered the city, they knew little about the ins and outs.

In such a situation, everyone is in the dark. Who would agree to it directly?

The so-called reward for the troops may seem to be as simple as giving some money and food to the army, but there are actually many details involved.

For example, there are Ming troops, Qing troops, bandits, and pirates around Huating County. Different amounts of money need to be paid when different types of troops come.

If we look more specifically at today's situation, everyone has judged from the soldiers' attire at the door that they are Ming Dynasty troops. However, the Ming army is also led by different generals, and their appetites vary accordingly.

If you agree to it easily without knowing all these circumstances, who knows if the eldest wife will take advantage of you.

"Fourth brother, you need to tell us the general situation, otherwise we will be completely in the dark and don't know how to agree."

Hearing people talking, the old man in the main seat naturally knew what they were thinking.

This trip was not his intention, but things were a little different from what he had originally thought.
"The people who came are from General Wu Zhikui's army. They don't ask for much this time. It would only cost us about 600 taels of silver and 200 dan of grain."

After the words were spoken, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

They were indeed worried when they heard the name Wu Zhikui. Everyone knew that this general had a famous appetite. He could get a huge sum of money after fighting pirates and robbers in the past. But they didn't know why he asked for much less after fighting the Tartars this time.

(End of this chapter)