Ancestors, please don't crawl out again.

Chapter 182 Ma Ge is finally no longer a pockmarked man.
Tayai Post Station.

Inside Ma Ge's palace.

"Father, it's time to eat."

Yinzhi, who was on duty as a servant, personally carried the food box and delivered it to Ma Ge.

The brothers took turns serving him, except for Thirteen, since he had a festering leg that even Brother Ma found annoying.

Meanwhile, Ma Ge, looking somewhat haggard, opened his eyes from his drowsy state while sitting in the armchair...

This was their third day in the mountains. Although Ma Ge used to shoot hundreds of rabbits a day, he was now approaching sixty, and this long-distance horseback march, especially in the mountains, was gradually taking its toll. As for his imperial carriage, it couldn't go into the mountains. Although the main road to Zijing Pass followed the river valley, there were many dangerous sections along the way. Carrying such a thing into the mountains would basically mean no speed at all.

Of course, the main reason was that Ma Ge wanted to show that he shared weal and woe with his subjects; otherwise, he could have easily found a sedan chair or a horse-drawn carriage to ride in.

But he insisted on riding a horse so that his subjects could see his splendor as an emperor on horseback, so the accompanying officials had no choice but to ride horses as well and suffer the same fate.

There were even civil officials who couldn't ride horses and had to walk.

In fact, quite a few people have fled halfway through the journey. After all, there are 400,000 people, and at this point, even those who come later may not necessarily enter the mountains.

Those officials whose families are in the south have long since begun to scatter like monkeys when the tree falls.

"Take these and give them to the guards; I want to eat sweet potatoes."

Ma Ge looked at the roasted lamb and several exquisite dishes in the food box, and said with a dark expression.

"Father, the guards are all there, and we have enough food. Besides, Father has been working hard for days, so those sweet potatoes won't be enough."

Yinzhi quickly said.

Sweet potatoes were indeed ineffective, because Ma Ge had to set an example by forcing the princes and ministers to eat sweet potatoes together, and now Yinzhi felt like vomiting at the mere smell of sweet potatoes.

Ma Ge sneered and got up to walk outside.

Yinzhi, carrying the food box, quickly followed along with several guards and eunuchs.

They suddenly appeared before the civil and military officials and loyal farmers who were sitting on the ground all over the mountains and fields.

The guards who were eating quickly put down their food and stood up to pay their respects. Ma Ge immediately stepped forward to help the nearest guard up, then looked at the roasted sweet potato in his hand that he hadn't yet put down. Although they had swept through the area like locusts, they hadn't actually looted much. The common people realized something was wrong and all fled. Those living near the mountains carried their grain and led their livestock into the mountains, waiting to come out after the guards had passed. The common people weren't stupid; they couldn't just stand there while the guards were burning, killing, and looting. As for those who hadn't had time to flee, or those who were still loyally welcoming the royal army, the grain and livestock they could salvage were a drop in the ocean compared to the 400,000-strong army of the Western Hunt.

Even if so many people only eat two catties of grain a day, that would still amount to over a million catties, or more than ten thousand shi. Moreover, they were already close to running out of food when they left the capital, and they had to leave some for those who stayed behind. They could only rely on looting along the way, taking whatever they could get. And this season is when food is scarcest among the people.

Spring famine!
Besides, Ma Ge actually stole the second batch.

The first batch of meat was all eaten by his son and his supposedly 200,000-strong army.

All that could be left for them were the unwanted sweet potatoes.

So in just three days, they had already eaten up the grain and livestock they had looted when they went into the mountains, and then they had to start eating sweet potatoes again.

"You bastard, how dare you deceive me!"

Ma Ge turned to Yin Si and shouted angrily.

As he was saying this, he raised his foot to kick him, and Yinzhi quickly knelt down.

"Father, I'm doing this for your health!"

He wailed.

Several ministers nearby quickly kowtowed.

"Your Majesty, the Eighth Prince is also acting out of filial piety."

They all pleaded for Yinzhi's life.

Ma Ge snorted and turned to the guard he was pulling.

"I was negligent in my moment of carelessness, allowing that sorcerer to cause trouble, and causing you all to suffer along with me."

He spoke to the guard in the manner of a wise and benevolent ruler.

The guard was terrified and trembled. He wanted to kneel but was pulled back by the man. He didn't know what to do if he didn't kneel, but he still held the roasted sweet potato in his hand.

Under the guard's bewildered gaze, Ma Ge took the roasted sweet potato from his hand and began to eat it himself.

"This is sweet and delicious, and I like it very much. I will give it to you."

He munched on a roasted sweet potato and gestured to Yinzhi, who was still holding a food box. The latter quickly crawled forward on his knees, and Ma Ge tore off a leg of lamb and handed it to the guard.

The latter stood there trembling, swallowing hard as he struggled between reason and instinct, but in the end he couldn't control himself. He grabbed the lamb leg and took a bite without waiting.

"Good! As expected of the brave warriors of the Eight Banners! So heroic!"

"That's what Brother Ma said."

Immediately, a chorus of praise and admiration erupted around him.

Ma Ge seemed to have returned to the past, to the days when he reigned supreme and all his people submitted to him. He stood there, surrounded by the worship of countless subjects, as if he were standing on the city wall of an imperial city receiving homage, slowly shifting his gaze...

Suddenly, a wisp of white smoke rose from the green of the opposite mountain forest.

Before he could react, the whistling of a bullet pierced the air. The guard who was gnawing on a lamb leg instinctively screamed and lunged forward. At the same moment, the bullet pierced the guard's head, spraying blood and flesh forward, and then struck him squarely in the face. Fortunately, Ma Ge was turning his head at the time, so the bullet entered his left cheek, swept across his mouth, and as he instinctively opened his mouth to spit out blood and teeth, it flew out of his right cheek, and then Ma Ge fell heavily to the ground.

"Huang Ama!"

Yinzhi screamed and pounced on him, shoving away the guard whose head had exploded, the poor man still holding the lamb leg in his hand.

Ma Ge's entire face had turned blood red. He trembled as he raised his hand, seemingly trying to say something, but air was clearly leaking from his mouth, blood was filling his throat, and his tongue was probably also damaged, so he could only make a series of strange sounds before his hand fell limply to his side. Yinzhi, who was holding him, paused for a moment, instinctively wanting to put him down. After all, in this condition, Ma Ge would probably choke to death if left unattended. But in the end, he still picked Ma Ge up and kept patting his back.

"Imperial physician, imperial physician..."

He called out anxiously.

But at the same time, more bullets came hurtling in.

The ministers and guards who couldn't dodge in time fell one after another amidst the whistling bullets, while the loyal peasants who had been kneeling on the ground were thrown into chaos.

"The heavenly soldiers are here!"

"His Majesty has passed away!"

……

They screamed in terror and scrambled to escape.

"They're on that mountain over there. Hurry up and rush into the woods; they can't hit us there."

Longkodo, the former commander of the Nine Gates, raised his sword and roared at the soldiers in the chaos.

Meanwhile, in the forest 300 meters away from them, hundreds of sharpshooters were kneeling beside large trees, aiming at them and repeatedly loading and firing.

"That's enough, retreat!" Xu Ming, the battalion commander of the First Army of the Heavenly Soldiers, said through his binoculars, looking at the chaos below the mountain and the Qing troops rushing into the forest.

The Qing army had already reacted to Longkodo's roar and rushed into the mountains and forests, beginning their counterattack from there.

"These pieces of shit!"

Beside him, Wang Yi, a scholar from Laiyuan, cursed with deep resentment.

He fled from Yi County to Baoding. Before that, he studied at the home of a relative in Yi County, who was considered loyal to the Qing Dynasty. During this period, the battles between the Qing army and the imperial troops gave these gentry, who had been living in constant fear, a glimmer of hope, just like when the Qing army swept south to eliminate the rebel leader Li Zicheng. Therefore, his relative and other gentry did everything in their power, not only plundering surplus grain from the people for the Qing army, but also conscripting able-bodied men to build defenses and even capturing women to appease the imperial army, as if in this way the imperial army could sweep away the rebel leader Li Zicheng as before, allowing them to continue singing praises of a prosperous era.

Unfortunately, they didn't get to see the royal army sweep away the demon soldiers; instead, they encountered Ma Ge, who was hunting in the west.

Before the latter even reached Yi County, the vanguard of the royal army charged directly into the county town and began a massacre-style sweep.

They killed anyone they saw.

Livestock, grain, and even the corpses of the murdered people were dragged away.

His relative even claimed that he had shed blood for the Qing Dynasty, but he was stabbed to death, and his entire family perished. Several young women were dragged into the military camp. Fortunately, he was quick-witted and escaped by hiding in a latrine. He then fled south under cover of night, taking advantage of his upbringing in the mountains to bypass the Qing army and escape through the forests to the area controlled by the Heavenly Army.

As for now...

"General, the people of Laiyuan are counting on you."

He said to Xu Ming through tears.

"go!"

The latter stated it very directly.

"General, I have a younger sister who is of marriageable age. If you would not mind..."

Wang Yi said.

"Leave far away!"

Xu Ming kicked him to the ground.

Wang Yi quickly got up, a flash of shame and indignation crossing his face.

"Yes, yes, General, you are a righteous man, how could you be one who is lustful?"

He immediately put on a smile and said.

Of course, this was just a minor incident. They quickly crossed the hill behind them, then descended into a valley and soon returned to the main road.

Xu Ming was ordered to intercept Ma Ge in Laiyuan. After receiving news from Yi County, Lin Qing immediately dispatched his battalion into the mountains. They took the route from Langya Mountain to Laiyuan, while Wang Yi accompanied them as a witness. Also accompanying them was a militia transporting supplies. The latter were all from this area and familiar with all the mountain roads, including some that couldn't even be called roads. However, their mission was still arduous, as both sides were taking similar routes, but Ma Ge had arrived earlier and was riding a horse, making him faster than them.

Finally, a militiaman who was originally a hunter led them to Laiyuan instead of taking the planned main road, which would have meant a longer route. Instead, they went straight through the mountains, taking a gamble. In the end, they managed to get ahead of the Qing army. Upon arrival, Xu Ming learned that the Qing army was still behind at Tayaiyi, so he simply turned back to harass them.

As for the accompanying militia, they went directly to Laiyuan to mobilize local young men to prepare for battle.

The longer Xu Ming and his men held them off, the more time they had to prepare. Ma Ge couldn't avoid Laiyuan either, since going in other directions would take several times longer than walking through the mountains. His Western Hunting Army was also out of food, and if they couldn't seize food from Laiyuan, they would really have to eat people without food on the road.

That would cause a complete collapse.

As for Wang Yi...

Xu Ming wanted him to follow the militia, but he refused and just stayed by his side, constantly trying to seduce him with his sister.

However, mobilizing the young men of Laiyuan was indeed not something that Wang Yi needed to do.

Many of those militiamen had relatives in Laiyuan, and when Brother Ma massacred Yi County, many Laiyuan people who were also in Yi County had already fled.

Unaware that he had severely wounded Ma Ge, Xu Ming led his men forward at breakneck speed, running for over twenty li along the main road until they reached Futuyu Fort. This area was part of the Great Wall, and a crucial defensive line of the Inner Great Wall. From Futuyu, the Great Wall stretched diagonally southwestward from Wulonggou Fort to the north, and southward from Ningjing'an, Baishikou, Shiwo, and Chajianling, separating Laiyuan and Zijingguan. The Ming Dynasty had constructed a complex, multi-layered defensive system in this area, though it ultimately failed to stop Li Zicheng.

However, there was no one left at Futuyu Fort, and the traces left behind showed that they had left in a hurry, which clearly indicated that they already knew about Ma Ge's westward hunt.

They also knew that his 400,000 locusts left nothing but barren land in their wake.

not running?

Even if they didn't run away, this little castle, even if all the bones of its inhabitants were crushed, wouldn't be enough to feed 400,000 locusts.

The journey was pretty much the same along the way. The Laiyuan people who had fled back from Yi County had already spread the news along the route.

Those who could run away ran away.

They had barely reached Futuyu Fort when the Qing cavalry arrived. Normally, these cavalry wouldn't have allowed them to reach Futuyu first, so Xu Ming immediately guessed their attack. This caused considerable chaos for the Qing army, preventing them from advancing for a short time. Facing these hastily arriving cavalry, the Qing army, having already occupied Futuyu Fort, unleashed a fierce barrage of fire from the city walls, completely stunning the Qing army. They never expected that there would be heavenly troops blocking their way here.

Ambushed by heavenly soldiers halfway there and blocked by them ahead, they were clearly surrounded by heavenly soldiers on all sides.

Because of their deep-seated fear of the heavenly soldiers, they were so frightened that they turned back immediately.

Only hundreds of corpses and wounded soldiers remained.

"Quickly, go and capture a few people alive."

Xu Ming shouted as he looked at the wailing wounded soldiers outside.

A captain immediately led his men out, and then dragged several wounded soldiers who seemed to be able to hold on into the castle.

"Battalion Commander, we've wounded Pockmarked Man. He says half his face is rotten."

The captain, dragging a wounded soldier, shouted excitedly to Xu Ming as soon as he entered the room.

The wounded soldier nodded hurriedly.

“Lord Heavenly Soldier, I was only about fifty paces away when the first volley of bullets hit me. I saw my face—no, my pockmarked face—become unrecognizable, covered in blood.”

He put on a fawning smile and said.

Because Yang Feng habitually called Ma Ge "Ma Zi," all his subordinates called him that. Now that he was a prisoner, this sensible Qing soldier naturally called him that as well.

Xu Ming...

"battalion commander?"

The captain quickly called out to him.

"Let's go up the Great Wall. You, go to Laiyuan immediately and tell them that if they don't want the city to be massacred, they should hold their ground. The Qing demons have no food and will collapse in less than three days."

Xu Mingchao shouted to Wang Yi.

The latter also came to his senses, quickly grabbed the horse that the soldiers outside had brought in, and then mounted the horse and galloped towards Laiyuan.

Xu Ming and his men went directly up the Great Wall and headed southwest. If the Qing army failed to break through Laiyuan, they might turn south, that is, turn back to the militia defense line, and they would have to block them.

(End of this chapter)