Brocade tears

In the suburbs of the capital, there are large and small military camps. There are about 15 people in the written record, but the actual number is only 100 to [-].These barracks are collectively referred to as the Beijing Army, which is composed of more than [-] guards, large and small, directly under the command of the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies.The combat tasks entrusted to them are to participate in important field battles, support frontier troops in operations, put down rebellions, and so on.Originally, such an army was elite and was the most important military force of the entire dynasty. However, this situation basically disappeared after the civil fortress change in the Zhengtong dynasty. downhill.Among them, less than [-]% were able to fight, and they were all stragglers, and there were even a large number of local ruffians who received money from military households to serve on their behalf and went to the army to earn a living.

The Beijing Army is divided into three battalions: the Fifth Army Battalion, the Shenshu Battalion, and the Shenji Battalion.Among them, the Shenji Battalion specialized in using firearms, and it was a very special unit. It did have elite combat forces, and it was not comparable to the Shenshu Battalion of the Fifth Army Battalion.

The Wuxiangwei West Camp, where Guo Dayou, Meng Kuang and Zhou Jin came together on the first day of March, belongs to the Five Army Battalion system.The barracks is located thirty miles northwest of the capital, on top of the hills of the Western Hills, so it has some geographical advantages.When the three of them rode their horses to the west mountain, the sun was almost in the middle.

At the foot of the mountain where the military camp was stationed, Guo Dayou got off his horse, commanded Meng Kuang and Zhou Jintong to tie the horse to a tree, and the three walked up the mountain immediately.

It snowed heavily the day before yesterday, and a thick layer of snow has accumulated in this dense forest. The snow blocks on the dead branches flutter down with the cold wind, and hit people's heads and faces without warning, which is annoying for no reason. .A group of three people walked to the high ground on the east side of the camp with one foot deep and one foot shallow. Guo Dayou found a flat place with a good view. The three of them swept away the nearby snow with their boots, took out their own dry food and Kettle, easy to eat lunch while standing.While biting the cake, Guo Dayou spoke:

"Don't be in a hurry to get close, let's wait and see from a distance first, you have a clear view of the situation in and out of the camp, and if there are any people who shouldn't come in and out of the barracks, you have to take them out and record them in your mind."

Meng Kuang nodded, and Zhou Jintong responded, "Here."

After a while, Zhou Jintong swallowed the food in his mouth with the water in the pot, cleared his throat, and asked:

"Boss Guo, why did we come to visit Wuxiangwei West Camp?"

"Haha, I know you're going to ask, but I didn't expect that you can hold your breath even now. It's Lao Liu who taught you well, but you still haven't learned well. You didn't hold back after all. Look at your brother Kuang, how can you hold your breath?" Guo said. Dayou laughed. The "Old Liu" in his words was referring to Liu Chun, the head of Jinyiwei, the Fusi of Beizhen.

Zhou Jintong was young and thin-skinned, and when teased by his boss, he blushed and didn't know what to say.Meng Kuang was still the same, no matter what Guo Dayou said, she had a cold face and no mood swings.Coupled with wearing a Shura mask, it really looks like a silent and terrifying ice sculpture.Zhou Jintong had long heard the rumors that his immediate superior murdered without batting an eyelid, and now he couldn't help but feel a sense of awe.

Guo Dayou ate the cake in two bites, patted the crumbs on his hands, and then set up a pergola with his hands to cover the sky, staring into the distance.But in the barracks, it was the time when the training was over and the gang started, and the soldiers returning from the school field were queuing up in front of the gang leader's barracks to get food.Guo Dayou thought for a while, and said to Meng Kuang and Zhou Jin beside him:

"Today is the first day of junior high school. Generally, when the first day of junior high school is the time when the major military camps and colonels are in charge, the senior officers in the camps will show up. Please help me to see if there are any officers who look like thousands of households."

Among the three, Meng Kuang had the strongest eyesight. She stared at it for a while, then raised her hand to point.Guo Dayou and Zhou Jintong followed the direction of her fingers, and they really saw an officer wearing the armor of thousands of households leaving the crowd quickly.

After a while, the man took off all the armor on his body, put on a robe, and fastened his belt.A soldier nearby had brought a horse, and he quickly got on the horse and rode towards the gate of the camp.The three of them looked at the gate of the camp again, where another man was already waiting for him on a horse.This person doesn't look like a military officer, he is dressed in the clothes of an official, and he looks like a mouse, a little sneaky.

The thousand households met this person at the gate of the camp, and together they rode their horses towards the southeast.

Guo Dayou immediately realized that the two were going to the city.He hurriedly patted Meng Kuang beside him, and said:

"Thirteen, chase!" Then he pointed to Comrade Zhou Jin, "Boy, come with me, let's go lead the horse!"

Meng Kuang got the order, and immediately jumped down from the high hill where he was standing without hesitation.Only then did Guo Dayou have time to add:

"Leave the signpost!"

Zhou Jintong was taken aback, he didn't even see Meng Kuang's movements clearly, he was dragged by Guo Dayou, he had to obey the order and ran after Guo Dayou.He looked back while running, and saw Meng Kuang gliding down the slope of Gaogang, his body dexterously avoided or climbed over the obstacles formed by many tree branches, stones and soil slopes, and flew away in the blink of an eye. Going down to the high hill, he quickly took steps and started running at an astonishing speed, chasing the thousand households and officials who rode away in the distance.

Not long after, Meng Kuang's figure disappeared into the dense forest.Zhou Jintong also had to run in the opposite direction, because he and Guo Dayou had to go back along the same road to lead the horse tied down the mountain.At this moment, he couldn't help admiring Meng Kuang's courage, but he was still worried.

"Guo Tou! Just chase like this, can you catch up?" He shouted from behind.

Guo Dayou, who was running wildly ahead, shouted without looking back: "Catch up!"

He had never seen horses chasing people, but no one could catch up with horses. Zhou Jintong couldn't believe how fast Meng Kuang could catch up with horses on two legs.It's just that right now he himself is running out of breath, and he really has no time to question, so he can only trust the judgment of the officer.

It took the two of them a little time to run back to the place where the horses were tied and unhooked the horses. Guo Dayou rode ahead and went straight to the road leading to the capital in front of the camp. Zhou Jintong drove his own horse and followed closely with Meng Kuang's horse in his hand. thereafter.In front of Wuxiangwei West Camp, there is a road tamped artificially with stones and gravel, which is widened along the mountain road that was originally stepped on the hills, in order to make horse racing and driving more convenient.This road is directly connected to the official road in the capital, but it can also lead to nearby military camps and villages. Therefore, although Guo Dayou guessed that the other party is likely to enter the capital, Meng Kuang still needs to follow it directly to ensure that he will not be lost. .

"Meng Shisan, although it is indeed impossible to catch up with a horse with two legs, if his tracking skill ranks second in Beizhen Fusi, no one dares to be the first. A little bit of clues along the way, can Be seen by him."

Guo Dayou was on the horse and finally explained Zhou Jintong's question.Zhou Jintong was stunned, and couldn't help but add two points of admiration in his heart.Not long after, they rode their horses across the road in front of the west camp. Because they were a distance away, covered by trees, and it happened to be lunch at noon, the sentry on the watchtower at the gate of the camp did not notice their figures.

Just after passing the gate of the camp, Zhou Jintong saw a barbed wire not far from the roadside.Guo Dayou said:

"This is the road sign he left, boy, aren't you good at riding? Take back the thorns and let's chase along the road sign."

At the moment, the two rode their horses and galloped along the barbed wire left by Meng Kuang. If there were no forks in the road, there would be few road signs, but if there were forks, there would definitely be road signs.Zhou Jintong's riding skills are excellent. Every time he encounters a road sign, he clamps his legs around the horse's belly, bends down, reaches out his hand, picks up the barbed wire, and throws it into his pocket.

To Zhou Jintong's surprise, they chased for a long time before finally seeing Meng Kuang running ahead.Her speed was not slow at all, and she ran seven or eight miles in one go, her figure was still like the wind.Guo Dayou and Zhou Jin rode their horses over to her side. While running, she raised her hand to hold the saddle of her own horse, turned over and jumped on the horse, and then joined the two of them.

"Isn't it lost?" Guo Dayou asked.

Meng Kuang shook his head and pointed to the front, which meant that the other party was right in front.She panted slightly for a while while riding on the horse, and soon returned to calm.

Guo Dayou nodded, the three of them didn't speak any more, they just chased after him, and after a while, they saw the figures of the thousand households and the officials riding their horses.The three of them slowed down their horses and trailed far behind.

At this moment, Zhou Jintong already had eight-point admiration for Meng Kuang. He deserved to be the new thirteenth Taibao. Compared with him, he was really far behind.

The three followed the thousand households and officials silently all the way, keeping a distance so that they could not hear their hooves.After a while, they really took the official road and entered the city from Xizhimen.He was not interrogated when he entered the city, and the official seemed to have shown some kind of token.The three also quickly passed and followed.After entering the city, the flow of people suddenly became dense, and the speed of the horses of the thousand households and officials also slowed down a lot, even if they were just walking, they could still keep up.

The goal of riding on a horse was too big, Guo Dayou, Meng Kuang and Zhou Jintong all got off their horses.Zhou Jintong led the horse at a distance by himself, Guo Dayou followed closely behind on foot, and Meng Kuang rushed into the nearby alleyway, keeping a flanking observation.

Under this close and secret tracking, Qianhu and the officials arrived at their destination unknowingly.Meng Kuang, who was observing in the dark, looked at the place they were in with some surprise—the Ruifeng Pawn Shop on Qianmenkou Street.

This Ruifeng pawn shop is the largest pawn shop in Beijing today, with countless money in and out every day, and strong financial resources.It was really unusual for these two people to come here.Because this pawn shop was opened by the natal family of Concubine Zheng Gui.

Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the ancestors learned the lessons of the previous dynasty and strictly prohibited foreign relatives from intervening in politics.Since then, the empresses and concubines of the emperors of all dynasties have all participated in beauty pageants, and they are basically from commoner families, even from humble families.The daughter of the family had to enter the palace, and the blessings the family received were quite limited.Father and brother are often only awarded vain positions and low-ranking lords. Although they are indeed beyond the common class, they cannot rise to heaven or even control the government alone.Like Concubine Zheng's natal family, her father, Zheng Chengxian, was only conferred the vain post of governor and acquaintance, and has not yet been awarded the title of knighthood.

But even so, relatives still have considerable privileges among the people.In particular, Jin Yiwei was able to patrol the foreign relatives of the current dynasty. Although Meng Kuang had never personally followed the Zheng family, he had long heard that he was encroaching on the people's fields, relying on his status as a relative to do business, and amassing money wantonly.Although the Zheng family has no power in the court, because of their status as a relative of the emperor, they receive preferential treatment in terms of salary, which can generally reach several thousand shi.In addition, the favored Zheng family was awarded [-] hectares of land, which was only registered. Now after years of occupation, annexation, and donations, the estimated number is nearly [-] hectares, and he is a veritable landowner.Over the years, there are already abundant assets to open pawn shops and lend money in Nanjing and Yangzhou in Southern Zhili, Hangzhou and Huzhou in Zhejiang.Thereby revolving profits and obtaining huge profits.Of course, the Ming Law expressly stipulates that the lords of foreign relatives and officials above the fourth rank are not allowed to do business, but it does not prevent these people from doing business with their servants, and it can save them trouble.

And the apparent merchant owner of Ruifeng Pawnshop is named Wu Yuan.Wu Yuan is the servant of the Zheng family, and the master behind him is Zheng Guotai, the brother of the most beloved Concubine Zheng in the world.This is already a tacit secret, even many ordinary people know it, Jin Yiwei naturally knows it well.

Now that the Zheng family actually had contacts with military officers, Meng Kuang already smelled something unusual.

The thousand households and the officials handed over the horse to the groom at the door of the pawnshop, and walked into the pawnshop.Meng Kuanglue was a little hesitant, wondering if he should follow up immediately to find out.Just at this moment, footsteps sounded behind her, and she turned sideways quickly, with her hand on the dagger at her waist.Taking a closer look, it turned out that Guo Dayou circled around and came behind her, so he stopped moving.

"Thirteen, find a way to sneak in and find out what they are talking about. I just looked around and there is no surveillance other than us. You can be a little bolder. Zhou Jintong and I will meet you in this alley .”

Meng Kuang nodded.Then she took a quick step, dodged across the street outside the alley, and entered the side alley of the pawn shop.After running for a short distance, an elm tree appeared inside the courtyard wall by the alley.Taking advantage of the fact that there was no one in the side alley, she jumped up lightly, covered the wall with branches and leaves, and observed the situation behind the pawn shop.Seeing that there was no one in the backyard for a while, he jumped directly into the courtyard and stood in the verandah by the window.Hearing the sound of footsteps coming from the pawnshop building, there should be three people. Judging from the sound of their posture and pace, they should be the same as the Qianhu and the officials, and the other person should be from the pawnshop.They went up the stairs to the second floor.Meng Kuang immediately turned around and rushed towards the elm tree. When he got close to the elm tree, he lifted his right foot and kicked off the trunk, leaped back, stretched out his hand to grab the tiles on the verandah, and then stepped on the pillar under the eaves to pull himself over, extremely dexterous landed on the roof of the porch.Then he took a few small steps forward along the verandah, stepping lightly like a civet cat under his feet, without making a sound.She quickly came to a row of windows on the second floor, listened to the movement, and judged the best place to eavesdrop, then leaned down on the roof tiles of the veranda, and listened quietly under the window.The eyes are also constantly watching the comings and goings of the people in the courtyard below, so as to react at any time.

Immediately, she heard an astonishing conversation.