Chapter 296 Going to Suzhou [Subscribe]

After Yang Mingzhao left, Chen Ming looked at his pocket watch. It was not yet five o'clock. He was drunk and sleepy, but he couldn't sleep well in the study.

Let's go to Liu Wanyun. Chen Ming is a nostalgic person.

At this time, Liu Wanyun's psychological shock had completely dissipated. She asked the maid to find out what Chen Ming was doing. When she heard that he was busy with work, she felt that he would not be idle for a while. After soaking her feet, she asked the maid to bring her the list of the five boxes of books. She leaned on the bed and looked at the long titles happily. She fell asleep unconsciously. When Chen Ming came in, Liu Wanyun was awakened by the maid next to her. She was about to get up to serve him, but Chen Ming stopped her. He took off his coat and sat down and said, "No need to get up, I'll lie down for a while."

There was still a smell of alcohol in his voice, and his face was a little red. Liu Wanyun knew that Chen Ming was drunk.

That was nothing to say. Her personal maid came in to help Chen Ming take off his boots and pour water, and she winked at the maid. I don't know how long Chen Ming will lie down like this? But it will be dark for sure. Hurry up and go to the kitchen to tell them to prepare dinner, and ask for some soup and porridge to nourish the stomach.

The maid nodded to indicate that she understood, and walked out of the room quietly, closing the door gently before leaving.

They were the only two left in the inner and outer rooms.

Liu Wanyun said that she had slept for a while, but she fell asleep after lying down. Chen Ming's head was dizzy, but his brain was still turning over the Shandong affairs. The Hunyuan Sect's righteous army had been divided into three groups long ago. What would Liu and Fan think and how would they view the surrender of the Yang family? What would the scholars in Shandong think of the Fu Han Army? After all, it was the Hunyuan Sect that made fun of some Confucius, and had even laid on the Yellow River embankment before. The Yang family had a share of the Hunyuan Sect's sewage.

Now the old master's photo-editing incident is still spreading, and has been brought to the south of the Yangtze River. In the future, the gentry of the whole world will curse the Hunyuan Sect's righteous army, and they have not yet removed the stigma of tearing up the Yellow River embankment. Chen Ming promised the surrender of the Yang family. Of course, he knew that the Yang family was also using the reputation of the Fu Han Army to consolidate their own position, but would the dirty water on the Hunyuan Sect also be contaminated on the Fu Han Army?

Chen Ming has now promised the Yang family. He had thought about these considerations a long time ago. He did not weigh a definite gain and loss, but still accepted the Yang family. Chen Ming thought about it in his mind. It should be impossible to fall asleep, but Liu Wanyun was too quiet here. He turned his head and looked at the woman next to him. She had fallen asleep again. Chen Ming was also led away by the quietness of this room and the rhythm of the people around him sleeping soundly, and fell asleep unknowingly.

A good sleep. When he woke up, Chen Ming felt more energetic and awake than sleeping all night.

Chen Ming read the Suzhou battle report sent outside the bedroom. The Fu Han army has completely captured the strategic locations on the north, east and west sides of Suzhou, such as Hushuguan, Yangcheng Lake, and Mudu Town. The navy camp also landed from the south, and it seemed that they were about to completely encircle the 10,000 or 20,000 Qing troops in Suzhou City.

At noon today, Yin Jishan led a group of Qing soldiers to counterattack Zhenze.

Chen Ming felt that the Qing soldiers in Suzhou City really couldn't sit still, and everyone wanted to escape. Just like that, half an hour passed, and it was half past eight when I looked at the watch.

Dinner was served, and the table was full of fragrant rice porridge, a plate of salted duck eggs cut in half, and a jar of stewed tofu, which is a famous dish in Jiangnan, a bowl of yam stewed pork ribs, and vinegar cabbage and mushroom stewed pork belly.

A table of very, very homely dishes, and all of them are good for the stomach. Chen Ming smiled and appreciated it in his heart. He first took a salted duck egg, and in front of Liu Wanyun's surprised eyes, he used chopsticks to scoop the egg white and yolk into the porridge bowl. He had never eaten this way in front of her. He learned this in the south.

That night, Chen Ming slept at Liu Wanyun's place. He had only slept for an hour in the evening. Chen Ming, who was full of energy, showed his virility, which made Liu Wanyun almost faint. The little brother's endurance was also buffed as Chen Ming's physique and strength increased.

The next day, Chen Ming got up at dawn and put on his clothes neatly. Those clothes were leaning on the stove all night, so they would not be too hot or cold. They would be warm when they were put on. Liu Wanyun, who was weak all over, wanted to serve but couldn't do it, so she had to tell the maid to serve the meal quickly.

Chen Ming ate two bowls of white porridge and a basket of soup dumplings, and then hurried out. When Liu Wanyun woke up after a nap, she got up and dressed up, and was told by the maid that Chen Ming had gone to Suzhou.

…

In the early morning, everything was quiet. A ray of light appeared on the eastern horizon, carefully soaking the light blue sky, and a new day gradually moved from afar.

The first ray of sunlight in the morning shone on Suzhou City. Under the morning light, the beautiful ancient city of Gusu was wrapped in a thin morning mist. Outside Suzhou City, the flags of the Fu Han Army fluttered in the wind. The thin white mist could not cover the deep red, just like the cold winter in the south of the Yangtze River could not extinguish the Fu Han Army's vigorous morale at this moment.

Chen Ming was determined to pull out this nail, and the Fu Han Army was also curious about Suzhou, which was known as a paradise.

There is heaven above and Suzhou and Hangzhou below. This sentence is known by countless people throughout China. Whenever the sour scholars in the army mentioned Suzhou, they always showed an intoxicated expression that made many rough men's teeth ache, to show their fascination. After all this, the Fu Han Army really had a determination to win Suzhou. This was purely Chen Ming's consideration in military strategy, and it was also a need for the soldiers to satisfy their curiosity.

It is said that Chen Ming also spent a year in Shanghai in his previous life, but he had never visited Suzhou, which is very close to Shanghai. It’s not that I don’t have any time to spare from my part-time job, but I am short of money. The last time he was outside Suzhou City for a long time, but he never set foot in Suzhou City. Now he not only wants to really pull out this nail in Nanjing, but also take over the most beautiful Suzhou gardens in the world. landscape.

A large number of city residents fled from Suzhou City. Yin Jishan, the governor of Liangjiang, also led his troops to escape. He took his people back to Zhenze County, but they were not seen. He led his troops back to Suzhou, which meant he had escaped.

Everyone who wanted to leave has already left, and life in Suzhou has entered a dull rhythm. This kind of life is so ordinary that the officers and soldiers guarding the city can't muster any enthusiasm, and some people even forget about themselves. The precarious environment we are in. The only thing that reminds people of zeal for loyalty to the imperial court is the call for help from those who have help and money from those who have money. This matter started in the city of Suzhou after the Battle of Northern Jiangsu ended with the victory of the Han Dynasty Army. With the official document issued by the government, it became something that must be done in the past period and still in the current situation.

As the enemy gradually encircled them, the Suzhou people's attitude towards their situation, just like those who see the impending disaster, became more rash instead of becoming more serious. When danger is imminent, there are often two equally powerful voices in people's minds: one voice very rationally tells people to consider the nature of the danger and ways to escape from it; the other voice says more rationally that it is coming. The danger is simply something you can't resist, so don't think about avoiding the danger. Take your time and enjoy the last moments!

There are always some elites and people who think they are capable in the world who listen to the first voice, but among the general public, on the contrary, more people listen to the second voice. This is what the residents of Suzhou are like now. Ever since the Fuhan Army came to the south of the Yangtze River, Suzhou people have not been as relaxed as they are now for a long time.

Like the defenders of Suzhou and General Rong Bao of Jiangning, they believed from the bottom of their hearts that they were unable to resist the attack of the Fuhan Army. Nowadays, in the empty streets and alleys of Suzhou, there are officers and soldiers posting notices, or shouting along the streets: Beware of spies, investigate and investigate carefully, the people of the Qing Dynasty are loyal and patriotic, and we will protect the Qing Dynasty together. It is so peaceful that people forget about the war. . At most, when friends and relatives sit together and chat, they talk about so-and-so in which alley provided the government with the whereabouts of Xizuo, and were rewarded with how much silver; and whoever caught Xizuo was rewarded with how much silver...

When Wu Xiongguang returned home, his servant handed him two newly posted official documents from the government that day.

The first official document stated that there were rumors that the government and army began to prohibit people from leaving Suzhou. This was untrue. On the contrary, if a large number of people in the city are willing to leave Suzhou, this will make the burden on the officers and soldiers lighter. Because when the war is raging, the Fuhan Army will not care about the casualties of the people in the city. Their indiscriminate bombing will fill the city with terror and pose a major life threat to the residents in the city.

The second official document was still the same, calling on the people in the city to join the militia. The government's arsenal had prepared all weapons for them: swords, guns, shields, shotguns, artillery, grenades, etc. As long as they are willing to join the militia, each person will be given one tael of silver first.

Wu Xiongguang became thoughtful. He thought about the changes at the head of his battalion these days. Not only did no one come to join the army, but some people ran away. Even one patrol team escaped, which made him dare not draw patrol teams from one formation like before, but instead selected several people from each of three or four formations to combine together.

The morale of the team in the city was really low. Such an army would disperse in a hurry with just a few shellings from the Fuhan Army outside the city, right? It is true that Wu Xiong is from Suzhou, but he has never thought of coexisting with Suzhou. As early as when the dust settled in the Battle of Northern Jiangsu, he knew something was wrong. He asked his father to take his family to move to Hangzhou early. At that time, few people felt the danger. Wu Xiongguang did not attract anyone's attention when his father left.

Now Wu Xiongguang only needs to consider his own team. This is his capital, thinking about who in his team can be trusted. A militia group, as long as the backbone is still there, as long as there is food and money in hand, as long as one's reputation is not lost, and the flag is raised, hundreds of people can be recruited in a few days. The key is these backbones. If you want to run, you must run with them...

…

In the Fuhan Army camp outside the city.

Wang Zhizheng ate steamed buns and pickles with rice porridge, and all he could think about was his parents, siblings. Since he was captured by the Fuhan Army, Wang Zhizheng has not seen his parents for several months. He does not know what is happening to them now. I wonder if they are also fleeing south with the tide of fleeing south. Went...