Chapter 156 155 It’s Raining

Nothing happened along the way. The Jiujiang Guards soon approached Liyang and searched for local people along the way to learn about the recent movements of the Japanese pirates nearby.

Perhaps because the locals were scared, they met very few people along the way and heard a variety of news. Some said that the Japanese pirates had passed Liyang, and some said that the Japanese pirates were still hiding near Lishui.

However, Wu Zhankui knew very well that this area was inland and there were actually very few garrisons. The nearby guards were only Xuanzhou Guard and Jianyang Guard, and the other was Suzhou Guard across Taihu Lake.

Suzhou Guard naturally could not come here to fight the Japanese pirates. It is estimated that the Nanjing Military Department is most likely to mobilize the troops of Xuanzhou Guard. After all, the commander of Jianyang Guard has been killed in battle, and the team has been defeated. It is impossible to organize in the short term.

When they arrived at Liyang County, the scouts sent out had sent back news that they had contacted the local government under the city. According to the information provided by the other party, the Japanese pirates had gone east two days ago and their target should be Yixing.

While urging the team to continue moving forward, they went to Liyang County to spend the night. After all, there might be Japanese pirates nearby, and it was not safe to camp in the wild.

At the same time, someone took out the map. Wei Guangde and Zhang Hongfu were following Wu Zhankui at this time, so they naturally took the map and unfolded it one by one.

This is the headquarters of this team, but there are only Wu Zhankui, Wei Menghe and two children, and some personal guards around them.

My cousin and eldest brother went to lead the troops, and they were not here.

Wu Zhankui's finger passed Liyang and continued to the west, which was Yixing County. Along the way, there was Yandang Lake in the north and Zhejiang in the south. There might also be troops from Xuanzhou Guard.

"It should be Yixing, but I don't know if they will go north or south around Taihu Lake."

After Wu Zhankui pointed to Yixing, he obviously hesitated.

Although it was said before that the Japanese pirates might want to hide in Taihu Lake, that was just a joke. The area of ​​Taihu Lake is relatively small and it is not easy to hide. However, they rushed to Suzhou Prefecture on the opposite side. If they run a little further, they will enter Songjiang River, which is close to the sea and have a chance to escape.

"These mud-legged people are really good at running."

Old man Wei just smiled and said on the side.

"If we want to stop them, we may not be able to stop them if we chase them to Yixing. We can't even see their shadows."

Wu Zhankui didn't laugh, but frowned and said.

They have chased here, so naturally they want to take all the credit. It's not worth running in vain.

"We can go along the south bank of the lake. Although there is a guarding thousand households in Zhejiang, it is estimated that there are not many soldiers. The elite soldiers have been transferred to the coastal defense against the Japanese. If we go around, it will be Wujiang County. After Wujiang, we will reach Tuo Lin. We can't chase them at all."

Old man Wei also put away his smile at this time and analyzed.

"Do you think they will go south around Taihu Lake?"

"It's closest to other pirates there, so it's easier to find an opportunity to escape. These people are probably exhausted now, and they can't hide nearby for a long time."

Old man Wei expressed his thoughts.

Going around Taihu Lake is Wu County, and going forward is Tuolin Town in Songjiang Prefecture. It is now a nest of pirates. The Ming army is only deploying troops to block the three counties of Jiaxing, Wujiang and Huating, and is temporarily unable to clear them out.

Wu Zhankui understood. He thought that the pirates at this moment would only think about escaping as soon as possible, so they would naturally choose the nearest road. Moreover, there were not many government troops around. If there was any danger, it would be after reaching Wujiang, and then running to Tuolin from there.

Going around Taihu Lake from the north, it was indeed a lot farther, and turning around would face the troops of Suzhou Guard, which was also difficult to fight. Immediately, Wu Zhankui nodded slightly, indicating that he also agreed with Wei Meng's judgment.

Wei Guangde and Zhang Hongfu on the side also stared at the map. When Wu Zhankui pointed at the map earlier, they also understood what was going on.

There are many hills marked on the Taihu Lake side. It is estimated that the area near Zhejiang is mountainous, which is convenient for hiding the whereabouts, unlike the north, which seems to be flat.

"Then let's go through Liyang, not Yixing, and go directly to Huhan to see if we can stop this group of Japanese pirates by the Taihu Lake."

Wu Zhankui also made a prompt decision and said what he meant.

After reading it, Wei Guangde also felt that his father's analysis made sense, but he still looked at the map carefully again to see which places he had to pass on both the north and south sides.

In the south, when Wei's father analyzed it before, he had already looked very carefully and didn't miss anything. The route was indeed very close. If he encountered the government troops, it could only be on the Wujiang side.

Going north, Wei Guangde saw Wuxi and Suzhou. Looking further, Songjiang was naturally in the east, Changshu was in the northeast, and in the north

When Wei Guangde looked north of Wuxi, he suddenly saw a name he had only heard a few days ago, Jiangyin.

Blinking slightly, Wei Guangde followed the Yangtze River waterway in Jiangyin and finally saw two other names, Xupu and Sanzhangpu, closer to Wuxi and Suzhou.

Wei Guangde's heart moved. It seemed that he had heard from his uncle a few days ago that there were Japanese pirates in Xupu and Sanzhangpu, and there were also in Jiangyin. In fact, this group of Japanese pirates could not go north, not to Tuolin but to Jiangyin or Xupu.

However, if he made this judgment at this time, he would be back to square one, and he didn't know what to do next.

Wei Guangde was a little hesitant. Tuolin was the old nest of Japanese pirates, and Jiangyin was only the area where Japanese pirates had recently started to move. Xupu and Sanzhangpu were similar, but the Japanese pirates were active earlier.

However, Wei Guangde felt that he should still say something, so as not to fall short in the end. After all, they had walked such a long way here. Although this military achievement was not necessary, maybe they were not too far away from this group of Japanese pirates now, and they had been fighting for dozens of miles.

Wei Guangde said what he thought of immediately. After hearing the three place names mentioned by Wei Guangde, Wu Zhankui and Wei Meng looked at the map again, and finally hesitated.

They only considered the Japanese pirates escaping to Songjiang Prefecture, but did not consider that they might also find other Japanese pirates to help them escape.

The Japanese pirates of this era actually had many connections with each other. Although there were internal battles, they were relatively united on the mainland.

Wei Guangde's guess cannot be wrong.

At first, they did not consider the Japanese pirates escaping to the north. They mainly considered that there were people from the Suzhou Guards blocking the road. Even if they escaped the encirclement and suppression by the Suzhou Guards and continued to run to Songjiang, there would be Taicang Guards behind them. They would have to cross two consecutive In the defense area of ​​​​the guard station, the natural possibility is extremely small.

But if it merges with the Japanese pirates in the Yangtze River waterway, that's not necessarily the case.

Don't ask why the Japanese pirates didn't grab a boat and go down the Yangtze River waterway when they were in Nanjing. The past was Zhenjiang, and the navy of Zhenjiang Guard over there was not a vegetarian.

During this period, the Ming Navy's patrols near Jiangyin have been greatly strengthened to prevent Japanese pirates from entering from Jiangyin and going straight to the surrounding areas of Nanjing. It is a rich land. If it is robbed by Japanese pirates, I don't know how many officials will be dismissed. Spray them.

"Who is in charge over there in Wujiang?"

Wei Guangde suddenly asked.

"It seems to be Yu Dayou now. There have been a lot of battle reports in the past few days, many beheadings, and countless Japanese warships destroyed."

Wu Zhankui said.

"Then it's even more impossible to run there. Looking at the battle reports, the officers and soldiers are very strong there. They are at the end of their strength. They might have been able to kill them in the past, but now, they may not."

When Wei Guangde heard that it was Yu Dayou on the other side of Wujiang, he immediately became more confident in his guess.

In the shadow of the famous tree, Wei Guangde did not believe that the famous Yu Dayou would not be able to deal with dozens of Japanese pirates.

What the Japanese pirates were doing under Nanjing City was probably known to the surrounding officers and soldiers at this time. Although the suppression of this group of Japanese pirates was not a great achievement, since the number of Japanese pirates was not large after all, it was likely to be noticed by the high-level officials of the imperial court.

No general would not want to show off his face.

Punishment was for the garrison and civilian officials of Nanjing. For the generals of the garrison, even if the commander of the defeated Jianyang Guard died in battle, he would not only not be punished, but would also be rewarded.

During the hesitation, a soldier reported in a low voice: "Master Commander, our people are going far away."

Only then did everyone realize that when they were analyzing the enemy's situation, the team they led had already passed by them and headed towards Liyang County in the distance.

In a war zone, because there are Japanese pirates nearby, this is also a war zone.

Without the majority, it is naturally unsafe.

"Deng Deng Deng" there was a sound of rapid footsteps, and an official in a python suit trotted in quickly along the palace road, holding a document in his right hand, followed by two military attachés in flying fish suits. dance to tune.

The visitor looked to be in his forties, but he was still strong and vigorous. He kept walking towards Yongshou Palace at this speed after entering from the palace gate.

Not long after, in the Yongshou Palace.

"Crash, bang, bang, bang, bang." There was a sound of throwing things. At this time, people inside and outside the Yongshou Palace immediately became silent when they heard the noise. They were very careful in what they said and did, for fear of making their superiors unhappy and being punished. punishment.

The person in Yongshou Palace showed no mercy to those who committed crimes, and it was not unusual for him to be dragged out and beaten to death directly.

Perhaps there was nothing that could be thrown, so the movement in the room gradually disappeared, and then there was the faint sound of conversation.

Not long after, a young eunuch rushed out of Yongshou Palace. One of them went straight to Xiyuan to check the room, while several others rushed out of Xiyuan and rushed to the cabinet and the six departments.

The scenes that happened under the city of Nanjing reached the hands of Emperor Jiajing before the Nanjing official's memorial through Jin Yiwei's message transmission system. A storm was brewing over Xiyuan.

For a long time, Emperor Jiajing, who was served by officials in python suits and Taoist robes, walked outside the gate of Yongshou Palace. He looked at the dense dark clouds in the sky. After a long time, he opened his mouth and said, "Okay, it's finally going to rain. This year." By this time, it was finally going to rain. ’

The man in the python suit is naturally the Zuo Governor of the Rear Army Governor's Mansion and Lu Bing, the commander of the Jinyi Guards.

He was naturally very familiar with Emperor Jiajing, and it seemed that he was lamenting the dark clouds in the sky. However, Lu Bing knew very well that the master he served since he was a child could fall out of favor faster than turning the pages of a book. He also liked to talk like this, and often Pun.

It's raining, it's raining. Isn't the emperor's anger what those civil servants call "thunder, rain and dew"?

Lu Bing has always been cautious since he took charge of the Jinyi Guards. Although he did some shameful things, he has always been like this when it comes to delivering news outside the palace. He will never conceal or delay, even if he offends the chief minister of the court. The most trusted person by the emperor.

He knew the emperor's habits very well. Once he discovered a flaw, he would not say anything to his face, but the thorn in his heart had been pierced and he could not pull it out.

In the distance, pattering rain has fallen, from far to near.

Finally, in the square outside Yongshou Palace, the rain continued to fall, and the ground was soon soaked.

In the distance, an old man in red official clothes was hurriedly coming under the leadership of a eunuch in the wind and rain, and in the west of the Forbidden City, the eunuchs who were delivering the imperial edict also arrived in the cabinet and the six ministries.

The army arrived at Liyang County. The Liyang County Magistrate saw the military appearance of Jiujiang Guards on the top of the city and immediately asked people to open the city gate to welcome them in.

The gate of Liyang County has been closed for a long time because of the rampant Japanese pirates in recent times.

The army entered the city and was arranged to stay by the county government, and hot meals were soon served.

At the banquet arranged by the Liyang County Magistrate, Wu Zhankui clasped his fists and said: "My men have been on the road for a day, please arrange some hot water for me to warm my feet."

"Don't worry, I will go down right away."

The Liyang County Magistrate immediately agreed and ordered his subordinates to prepare hot water.

In the Jiajing Dynasty, the imperial court had very strict control over the military leaders, far from the level of "bandits passing like combs and soldiers passing like combs" in the late Ming Dynasty. So when the Liyang County Magistrate saw this garrison army coming, he generously opened the city gate to let them in to rest.

The court is still ruled by civil officials.

If these soldiers dare to mess around in the city, they will report directly to the government, and the court will take action soon, so there is no worry about military discipline.

When entering the city, the Liyang County Magistrate had already learned that this team came from Jiangxi, but he didn't care which garrison it was.

"May I ask the county magistrate, is there any news about the Japanese pirates? We followed the military order all the way from Lishui, and we didn't get any information on their attitude on the way."

Wu Zhankui continued to ask.

"Two days ago, the Japanese pirates passed by Liyang City. Fortunately, we received a warning from the prefectural government in advance, so the Japanese pirates did not attack the city."

"But did they go to Yixing?"

"That's right."

The two asked and answered, and soon explained the situation clearly.

"How many Japanese pirates are there?"

At this time, Wei Meng couldn't help but interrupt.

"About fifty people, but unfortunately my Liyang army has no more than a hundred soldiers. There are more than enough to defend the city, but we dare not go out of the city to fight."

The banquet continued. After everyone had enough wine and food, they went to their rooms to rest. Tomorrow they will continue to chase the Japanese pirates.

No one talked all night, but Wei Guangde seemed to hear some noise outside in the evening, as if his uncle called his father over.

The next morning, after eating breakfast arranged by the county government, hundreds of people from the two thousand households of Jiujiang Guard gathered on the streets of Liyang. At the banquet last night, Wu Zhankui asked the Liyang County Lord to prepare horses and vehicles, which was intended to speed up the pursuit of the Japanese pirates.

The Right Army's Qianhu Division was very strict in military discipline. After a day's journey, the soldiers had some complaints, but fortunately they did not cause any trouble. The Rear Army's Qianhu Division was a bit difficult.

"Let the people of the Rear Army get on the carriages, and the two guards behind will take turns."

The county government came forward, and some carriages were gathered, but they could not accommodate more than 500 people, so they could only take more than 200 people, so the soldiers of the two Qianhu Divisions took turns riding in the carriages to travel.