The bear child of the Red Chamber, Jia Cong

It was a quiet night, with occasional worms and birds whispering, and the breeze pushed down scattered flower petals.The third girl from the governor's family in Fujian was in a state of mind for no reason, and she got a poem under the moon, her brows slightly frowned.A servant girl came forward to persuade her to rest, but she looked around for no reason—there was nothing wrong; she finally helped the servant girl back to the house.

There is a firewood shed in the northwest corner of Huangfu, and a family of four is locked inside. They are Zeng Alu, his wife, and two children who were keeping watch at the back door.A few days ago, Master Zhang suddenly sent someone to call him over, saying that someone saw their big girl in Taiwan.That day the eldest girl couldn't be found, everyone said she was dead, the old couple wiped away their tears and burned some joss stick paper money for the eldest girl; when they heard that she was still alive, they were overjoyed and chanted repeatedly.

Mr. Zhang sneered, slapped the table and drank: "I don't know whether to live or die!" Then he said, "Fu Que ran away from the master, and the master has sent someone to bring her back."

Zeng Alu hurriedly kowtowed and said: "Master, my child didn't run away, but he was forced by Mrs. Zhang to die!" Then she cried and told how cruel Mrs. Zhang was, how she beat and scolded and tortured his daughter, and how pitiful her daughter was.

Mr. Zhang sat and listened for a long time. Zeng Alu thought that he wanted to make decisions for his daughter, but he ordered people to lock up their whole family here, saying that they would deal with Fu Que together when he was caught.Zeng Alu cried out for several days that he was wronged, but no one answered him. He sighed day and night: he was afraid that the steward would implicate his whole family, and he was afraid that the elder daughter would die if the master took hold of him; his wife and children were even more frightened. , Wash my face with tears.

Tonight, the family is still trembling and unable to sleep.After the fourth watch, I suddenly heard a "click" and there was a sound at the door.Zeng Alu woke up immediately.Hearing the door squeak open, an old man swaggered in, followed by a big man holding a torch in his hand, and the old man asked, "Are you from Zeng Alu's family? "

Zeng Alu got up, bent over and said in a trembling voice, "This slave is Zeng Alu."

The old man immediately jumped up and grabbed him, calling out affectionately: "My father-in-law!" Zeng Alu was stunned.The old man turned his head and said, "Big dog, hurry up and kowtow to the old man!"

Then the big man handed the fire bag to the old man, turned over and knelt down: "My lord, father-in-law."

Zeng Alu looked at him blankly, and after a while pointed to him and asked the old man, "What did he call me?"

The old man smiled so brightly: "He called your father-in-law, he is your son-in-law, and he married your eldest daughter the month before last."

Zeng Alu didn't know whether to believe it or not: "My big girl...son-in-law?"

The old man was about to speak when another person came in from the outside and said, "Second Uncle, Eldest Brother, hurry up, after all, this is someone else's house."

The old man snorted, "You don't even have a decent nursing home, and you're calling yourself a high-ranking official!"

The one who just came in said: "I heard that many young and strong laborers have been recruited to farm in the countryside... Mr. Zeng, my elder brother is still kneeling."

Zeng Alu seemed to be in a dream: "Get up quickly..."

His son-in-law stood up and cupped his fists and said, "Father-in-law, I don't have time to talk now. But what's important? Take it quickly, let's go."

Zeng Alu said: "It's nothing important. It's just how to get out of the house?" His son-in-law smiled slightly.

At this moment, Zeng Alu's son and daughter have all woken up and looked at them with open eyes.The old man stepped forward and asked with a smile on his face, "Are you brave enough?"

The girl said: "I'm brave!" She pointed to her younger brother, "He's timid!"

The boy hurriedly said, "I'm not timid!"

The old man heheed twice: "Don't shout if you are brave." Then he put the fire bag on the ground, and strode outside with one hand, like carrying a chicken.

When it was dark in the room, the boy couldn't help but let out a low cry.The girl said: "I told him he was timid!"

The boy argued: "I wasn't scared, I was shocked!"

The son-in-law's younger brother laughed and led everyone out of the house, and ran forward with Mrs. Zeng on his back; the old man followed behind with his two children.Zeng Alu's son-in-law saw that they were all gone, so he walked into the house alone, untied a leather pouch from his waist, sprinkled the contents of the pouch on the walls and haystacks, and went out to throw some more on the roof.Nai jumped down and picked up Zeng A donkey on his back, took out a fire pocket from his sleeve, lit it, and threw it behind him-the firewood room suddenly caught fire, like a fire dragon.The son-in-law said with a smile: "This is called pouring oil on the fire." He immediately ran away with his father-in-law on his back.

The members of Huang's family woke up immediately, exclaiming "the water is gone", and the vigilant beat the gong.This firewood room is not the only one, there are two piles of firewood next to it, and after a while, both of them are on fire, and several trees are drawn.Everyone rushed over to put out the fire; the fire was so big that it took more than half an hour to extinguish it.The three firewood houses were burned down to nothing but empty shelves.

It was still dark at this time, and the clerk of an inn near the south gate of Fuzhou City knocked on the door of a business courtyard with a yard and shouted.A kid who was brought by the merchant opened the door in a daze and asked, "What are you shouting so early in the morning?"

The man said: "yesterday your master asked me to wake you up at [-] o'clock today, saying that you are going to leave the city early today for a long journey."

"Oh, yes." The boy rubbed his eyes, "Thank you, little brother."

"You're welcome! The dry food you want is fully prepared."

"Our second master is going to pay the bill now."

After a while, the second master of this merchant went to the front to pay the bill, and I would like to thank the waiter for waking them up in time, "I will stay at your place when I come back to Fuzhou."

They had packed up the carts and horses last night, only washed up for a while, didn't even eat breakfast in the inn, and left the inn with a lot of noise, rushing away just as the city gate opened at Maoshi.

Master Zhang didn't know that Guan Zeng's house was burned until near noon, and immediately said to Huang Wengang, "There is a ghost in this matter! How can it catch fire for no reason? The Zeng family must have been rescued."

Huang Wengang didn't fully believe that Mrs. Zeng was Fuqu, but now he believed it, and took the case seriously!After a while, he gritted his teeth and said: "Since this is the case, I will go to Taiwan again in a few days and I will definitely bring that slave back."

"Master, I see!" Master Zhang bowed and said, "It doesn't matter if you are a mere slave, what matters is the face of the master, and he slapped Jia Lian in the face."

Just at this moment, someone rushed in and shouted: "Master, something is wrong..."

Huang Wengang said angrily: "How decent is it to be so reckless!"

The man hurriedly said: "A group of cavalry came from the south gate of the city, all of them were carrying Western muskets on their backs. The defenders of the city were not able to close the gate in time, and they shot down all of them in the blink of an eye. They have already entered the city at this moment!"

Huang Wengang was startled.Instead, Master Zhang asked, "Where did the soldiers and horses come from?"

"The character 'Cheng' was written on the banner I picked!" said the messenger, "It's so fast, it's like flying all the way!"

Huang Wengang shouted: "Quickly go and report to Mr. Zheng!"

Before the words fell, he heard footsteps, and immediately someone ran in and shouted: "Master! The enemy soldiers have turned around the street and are about to kill them!"

Master Zhang shouted: "Guards! Guards!" He said to Huang Wengang, "Master, don't hesitate. Hurry up and change clothes with the villain. Just say that you are the master and the villain is Governor Huang."

Huang Wengang calmed down now, waved his hands and said, "No need. I, Huang, is a majestic court official, and I still have some backbone."

Master Zhang persuaded again, but he just refused to listen.Mr. Zhang was in a hurry, and ordered the people in front of him: "Change clothes for the master!" All the guards knew that what Mr. Zhang said was very true, and they didn't care about Huang Wengang's struggle, so they took off his clothes abruptly, and took Mr. Zhang again. Change with him.The two had just finished changing, and there was a commotion outside, and some people screamed as if they were dying.All the guards hurriedly protected Huang Wengang and Mr. Zhang to the back door.Just opened the back door and took a look - there was a row of cavalry outside, and dozens of Western muskets were aimed at them.Huang Wengang's feet were weak and he almost fell.

Not long after, the enemy army rushed into the backyard from the front, and the leader was a young man in his twenties.When Master Zhang saw it, he couldn't help secretly praising: This person has a full heaven and a round earth pavilion, which is an extremely rare blessing.The young man walked straight up to Huang Wengang, clasped his fists and said, "Master Huang!"

Master Zhang coughed: "The old man is Huang Wengang."

The young man said: "The aura of a second-rank official in the imperial court cannot be faked by the staff."

Huang Wengang smiled bitterly and said: "Young man has good eyesight. Yes, I am Huang Wengang. But I don't know what kind of grievances I have with you. You destroy my city and kill my soldiers?"

The young man said: "The last general, Cheng Chi, is the governor of the special battalion of the Taiwan government." This official position was made up by Jia Cong casually. "I was ordered to invite Mr. Huang to visit the Taiwan government."

Huang Wengang sneered and said, "So it's from Jia Lian. You are a small town governor from Wupin, and you surrounded my Fujian governor's yamen with soldiers. Are you guilty?"

Cheng Chi said with a blank expression: "The general only follows orders. Mr. Huang, it's useless to talk too much, let's go with the general." Nai turned his head and clasped his fists at Mr. Zhang, "Please tell Zongbing Zheng, this aide." After gesturing, the people under him rushed forward to Huang Wengang and left.

Suddenly he heard two sounds of "bang" and "ouch", but saw Huang Wengang's personal guard covering his arm, and blood oozed from his arm immediately.Cheng Chi said: "When playing western firearms and guns, the competition is who is faster. You are not as good as me." He looked at him again, "You are brave. Mr. Huang will return home someday, so I will give him a reward."

Master Zhang suddenly asked from behind: "Dare to ask, there is a teacher surnamed Yang in Chengtian Mansion, is he here today?"

Cheng Chi said inexplicably: "The teaching is all from the police department. What has it to do with us?" He turned and left.

The Fujian General Soldier’s Yamen is not far from the governor’s Yamen. Cheng Chi and Huang Wengang had just walked to the intersection when they bumped into Zheng Chao’er leading the soldiers and horses. Huang Wengang shouted from a distance, “Master Zheng, save me!” Chi held up the fire. The gun buckled with a "bang", hitting Zheng Chao'er's horse's head.The horse had a bloody gash in the middle of its eyes, neighed, and fell to the ground dead, throwing Zheng Chao'er off.

The soldiers quickly helped him up and sent another horse.Then look at Cheng Chi's gun aimed at the head of the horse again.Zheng Chao'er shouted: "It's kind of like fighting Sanbaihe with a gun with a certain family! What kind of skill is a gun with fire?"

"Bang!" Zheng Chao'er's horse's head was shot again, still in the middle of both eyes.Cheng Chi said indifferently: "With fire guns, but also with long guns to fight, is General Zheng an idiot?"

A soldier of Zheng's family shouted: "Borrowing the benefits of weapons is not considered a real man!"

Cheng Chi said: "I am a soldier, not a hawker in the green forest. For a soldier, what matters is not loyalty or reputation, but killing the enemy." Nai gestured, and the soldiers behind him all started to fire. The guns were aimed at Zheng Chao'er's camp. .Zheng Jun has no guns.Zheng Chao'er also sent people to look for Hey Claw, Pianhuo. The gun was too expensive, and he was not willing to buy it.Although no one spoke, both armies knew in their hearts that once a fight broke out, Zheng Chao'er might not survive according to Cheng Chi's aim.

Cheng Chi said: "The last general was ordered to tell General Zheng something."

Zheng Chao'er got up now, and without getting on his horse, he stood on the ground and asked, "What's the matter?"

"There is still a group of people in our army who have already gone to Ningde." Cheng Chi said, "I will go to Nanping, Sanming, Longyan, Zhangzhou, and Quanzhou in the future. If General Zheng is interested, you can meet them."

Zheng Chao'er sneered and said, "Jia Lian wants to occupy Fujian? What a big appetite! Don't forget that the north of Fujian is the State of Wu."

Cheng Chi wondered: "Master Jia is the magistrate of Taiwan, why occupy Fujian? Just go for a walk and go back after a while." Zheng Chao'er was taken aback.Cheng Chi continued, "The leader of the army really wants to meet Mr. Zheng. How about you and I stop fighting here, and Mr. Zheng go to fight with him?"

Zheng Chaoer asked: "Who is leading the way?"

"Jarvis."

Zheng Chaoer was startled.He has heard of it no matter whether it is the three merchants of the Rongguo Mansion or the one thousand broken five thousand.Jarvis was originally a genius in using soldiers, and the troops under his command must be no weaker than the one in front of him in terms of armor and firearms.He asked, "What does Jia Lian want to do?"

Cheng Chi said solemnly: "Fujian has blocked many seaports these days, which has seriously damaged the normal business exchanges between our island and the inland, and it is getting worse. Therefore, Mr. Jia sent the last general to invite Mr. Huang to Chengtian Mansion. Once you come back, it’s good to discuss this matter.”

Zheng Chao'er said: "It really is that. Master Jia, don't you know how many people escape from Fujian every day? It's been a long time. Doesn't Fujian need no one to cultivate it?"

Cheng Chi said: "Soldiers don't care about political affairs, and these are not under the control of the general. At that time, Mr. Huang will discuss with Mr. Jia." Nai clasped his fists and said, "The order given by the military adviser to the general is only to ask Mr. Huang to go away, but not The end of life will fight with Master Zheng. Master Zheng, why not let the general go back first. Then we can discuss with Master Jia about opening the pier, or gather troops to attack the island and take back Master Huang, and then Master Zheng will discuss with all the adults in Fujian, how about it." He and Zheng Chao'er just talked, and none of the soldiers behind them put down their guns.Seeing Zheng Chao'er's eyeballs rolling around and his expression hesitating, Cheng Chi turned his head to look at Huang Wengang, and said, "Why don't you do this, Ah Qi points a gun at the back of Master Huang's head."

The soldier behind Huang Wengang responded loudly: "Order!" He turned his hand and pointed the gun at the back of Huang Wengang's head.

Cheng Chi said: "Master Zheng, now we are only taking Mr. Huang as a hostage. You dare not act rashly for fear of accidentally injuring the Shangguan, okay?"

Zheng Chao'er smiled wryly and said, "Forget it, I, Zheng, admit defeat today." Nai waved his hand and led the people aside.

Cheng Chi clasped his fists and said, "Thank you." He led his troops forward boldly.

The two horses crossed each other, Zheng Chao'er asked: "Did Jia Lian's order just let you kidnap Master Huang?"

"More than that, the military division has an order." Cheng Chi smiled, "Otherwise, with the foot strength of the last general, he was lying in the suburbs last night, opened the city gate at Maoshi, attacked the city, and rushed straight to Mr. Huang's house. Take Master Huang out of the city before Master Zheng puts on his armor."

Zheng Chao'er finally noticed the word "military division" and asked, "What is the order of the military division?"

"Show your might." Cheng Chi waved the reins of his horse, "Master Zheng, don't worry, General Jia has also obtained this order, and will not take away your Fujian city." After walking a few steps, he suddenly turned around and said, "Mr. All the way. If General Zheng is interested, would you like to meet for a while?"

Seeing Huang Wengang passing by with his head pointed at, Zheng Chao'er's eyes turned red: "Master Huang, the general will save you!" Huang Wengang also burst into tears immediately.

For a while, Cheng Chi's people walked away, and the soldiers hurriedly asked: "Master Zheng, what should I do?"

Zheng Chao'er sneered and said, "Reorganize the army, go to Nanping!" Then he got on the third horse, "That Army Master Lin has put the letter of war under his nose. If I don't go, I won't make the world laugh at me!"