As soon as this team of two thousand people entered the boundaries of Baoding City, they were immediately reported to the government office of Baoding Prefecture.

When they heard that a team of more than 2,000 people had entered their territory, and they were equipped with weapons and were in order, just like an army, everyone from the government office to the magistrate and the servants immediately tensed up their nerves.

Just when the prefect Li Wensheng was restless like an ant on the lid of a pot, the prefect Wang of Baoding City had already hurried over. When he saw the prefect, he immediately said, "I have seen the prefect before."

Li Wensheng was anxious and said: "Hideyoshi, for some unknown reason, a group of thieves suddenly broke into our territory, and now they are less than fifty miles away from Baoding City. What should we do?"

Li Wensheng was already fifty years old when he realized his destiny, and he was once again a dignified official. However, at this time, he lacked the dignity and solemnity of the past, and was in a state of confusion.

It's not that he lost his sense. Baoding Prefecture is close to the Taihang Mountains, so it's normal for bandits to continue. Although attacks on county towns are uncommon, they have happened. But this time things are different from the past.

The emperor had just ascended the throne and was now appointing the Donglin Party to thoroughly investigate the Eunuch Party. In just a few months, countless officials inside and outside the court were killed. Although he had never interacted with the Eunuch Party, he did not fail to make confessions when he went to Beijing. In addition, Donglin

The party has long since spied on his position as the prefect of Baoding and used it to install party members who would rehabilitate him.

If there is a disaster of thieves attacking Baoding City at this time, it will not be able to stop the fire, and the court will definitely know about it. At that time, the Donglin Party will take the opportunity to advise the emperor. It is a small matter to remove him from the official position, but a big deal is to kill him.

It's a matter of life and fortune, and Li Wensheng cannot afford to be careless.

Wang Zhixian said: "Your Majesty, please calm down for the time being. My Baoding Mansion is under the governance of your Majesty. Although I have not been on the road or picking up lost things in recent years, it has been peaceful and uneventful. The bandits in the Taihang Mountains also admire your talents. They have always kept their peace and have never encountered any problems."

In this situation, there must be something fishy about it."

After saying some compliments, Wang Zhixian immediately closed his mouth and pretended to listen to the advice of the governor.

"Ahem. Hideyoshi is so flattering. I am also at a loss to solve this matter. Shouldn't I call you here to discuss it?" Li Wensheng looked helpless. Looking at the expressionless Wang Zhixian, he felt a little unhappy.

"What can I do if I can do anything? My lord, if you tell me, I will just do it." Wang Zhixian said respectfully, but his respect was a bit indifferent.

The thieves entered the country and came directly to Baoding City. They wanted to attack the city. This matter was a hot potato. No one wanted to take it. How could Wangzhi County be willing to participate in it?

It is said that if the sky falls, there is a tall man holding it up, and there is a magistrate on top, so he can fish in troubled waters, so he can hide when he can, but he really doesn't want to deal with such a disaster.

But Magistrate Li, who had been in high-level affairs, was not stupid. He didn't know what his subordinate was thinking. Seeing how weak he was, he immediately put away his pleasant expression, his face became gloomy, and he said: "It seems that I have done something unnecessary."

.Since Wang Zhixian is not willing to help me, please go back."

Since you won't eat the soft one, I'll give it the hard one.

Wang Zhixian's heart sank, and he realized that he could no longer stay out of the matter, and immediately said: "Actually, there is no way out. As long as we follow the usual rules and quickly ask the military generals in the city to send people to guard the city, and then organize civilians to assist, I believe that everything will be guaranteed.

Then we need to urgently ask for help from the surrounding prefectures and counties. We can't hold on and just make sure that Baoding City is not lost."

"What Hideyoshi said is absolutely true!" Magistrate Li smiled again and said in a deep voice, "Then I will do as you say and ask Hideyoshi to work harder and organize a defense of the city. I have already ordered people to visit the aristocratic families in the city and ask them to

I will send servants to help defend the city, and I believe that with the energy of my government, there will be no problem in defending Baoding City."

"Your Majesty is wise, and your subordinates will do their best." Wang Zhixian said two more beautiful words, said goodbye and left.

After walking out of the magnificent gate of the government office, he straightened up and glanced at the plaque on the government office with a gloomy face, feeling secretly resentful.

Since Li Wensheng had already ordered someone to visit the big families in the city, he had already made arrangements. He was pretending to be anxious just now, obviously because he wanted to make some suggestions.

Although I tried to evade it in every possible way, I still couldn't escape this disaster.

It would be fine if everything goes well, otherwise if something unexpected happens, that old fox Li Wensheng will definitely regard himself as a scapegoat when reporting the memorial, saying that everything was caused by the county magistrate's inability to defend the city. He will bear the responsibility for an oversight at most.

responsibility.

Although he was dissatisfied, Wang Xiuji had no choice. The rank of official was overwhelming. As a subordinate, one of his functions was to help the leader with his tasks.

When the thieves entered the country, Baoding Mansion, which was originally sluggish, suddenly fell into chaos as if it had been injected with stimulants.

By the time the two thousand soldiers in the city had gathered slowly and climbed onto the city wall, Li Yi had already led the refugee team to the city.

Compared with the northwest region, the situation in Baoding Prefecture is indeed much better.

You must know that when he came all the way from the northwest, the fields on the road were full of dead branches of wormwood, and it had completely turned into a wasteland. Under the wormwood, beside the road, and in the ravines, you could see scattered white bones everywhere; sometimes pits were dug.

When cooking, you can often dig up rotten corpses, and the entire earth can be regarded as a thousand miles of bare ground, like hell.

After entering the border of Henan, the situation is much better. Especially in the border of Baoding Prefecture, there are fewer and fewer corpses on both sides of the road, and the unpleasant crows can no longer be heard. The rice fields on both sides are growing well, and it is obvious at a glance.

I know there will be a good harvest this year.

The next step is to see how the Baoding government office arranges for these refugees.

He clapped his horse and stepped forward, looking up at the tall and majestic city walls of Baoding Prefecture, feeling the breath of the majestic city coming to his face, and feeling that these days were like a dream.

Starving, killing gangsters, defeating bandits, sneaking into the village, and leading everyone to Baoding Prefecture, each of these things seemed so unreal. But now, this kind of wandering life is finally coming to an end.

.

"Battal Commander, why do I feel that the atmosphere is not right? Look at the city wall, they seem to be wary of us." Zhang San followed after him and looked at the city wall carefully.

Li Yi looked up and found that the city wall was densely packed with people. It looked like there were at least four to five thousand people. Seven or eight flags were fluttering in the wind, and the muzzles of the guns were pointed at him. At first glance, he thought he was a bandit.

.

At this time, Li Yi remembered that from the time they left Hushan to here, not a single officer or official appeared in front of them. Even the refugees who could be seen everywhere hid far away in the village Wubao.

They guarded them as if they were facing a formidable enemy.

It can be said that they, a team of two thousand people with their families, slowly traveled in the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty, not far from the capital. After three days of journey, no army dared to stop them and ask questions.

Who are they? Where do they come from?

Li Yi wanted to laugh a little. He finally understood why Li Chuang and Zhang Xianzhong were able to loot and flee everywhere without anyone being able to stop them. He finally understood why Hou Jin was able to march straight in, burning, killing and looting everywhere.

Because the generals were hiding in the city, and the sergeants were also locked in the city, their teeth and claws were worn away, and they no longer had the courage to go out to fight.

Obviously, as long as one person is sent to investigate them, the people in the city will know that they are not thieves, but refugees begging for a living, but this group of civil servants and military generals dare not. Isn't this ridiculous enough?

Although ridiculous, this situation also shows that the Ming government's control ability has become weaker and weaker. Except for various prefectures and counties, they have lost control over the vast rural areas.

On the surface, the Ming Dynasty seemed to have perished due to bandits, natural disasters, and corruption, but in reality, it was due to the paralysis of the government caused by financial collapse and the inability to carry out production and management.

"Zhang San, go up and shout that we are not thieves, but refugees who have come to Baoding Mansion to escape famine, and please take them in," Li Yi ordered.

Zhang San responded and rode his horse to the city gate. Just as he was about to speak, he heard several booming firecrackers and Zhang San fell off his horse in response.

Li Yi never thought that such a thing would happen. Not to mention that they were not thieves. Even if they were, they could not attack by surprise even if they shouted before the war.

Holding back his anger, he quickly clapped his horse and stepped forward, jumping off the horse to check Zhang San's injuries.

Unexpectedly, Zhang San got up in a daze, patted the dirt on his body, and shouted: "It's okay, it's okay, I'm not hurt."

Li Yi checked up and down and found that he was indeed not injured. He was secretly relieved and kicked Zhang San to the ground, cursing: "You weakling, why did you fall from the horse without being injured?"

"I was scared, I was scared..." Zhang San smiled sheepishly, "When I heard the sound of the gun, I was startled and fell down."

With another laugh and curse, Li Yi stood up and looked up at the city wall. This time, no one attacked them again.

It seemed that the defenders on the city must have been frightened just now and accidentally lit the match. Fortunately, Zhang San was not injured, otherwise he would not have let them go so easily.

On the city tower, the officials and gentry in Baoding City looked at the "thief soldiers" coming under the city wall. They saw that this bandit army was well-trained and well-trained. On the one hand, they secretly wondered where this elite force came from. On the other hand, they became a little worried.

.

Because of the weakened military preparedness, there were only more than 2,000 soldiers in Baoding Mansion, and their servants only numbered 3,000. At first, they were still confident in defending the city, but now it seemed that the enemy was all elite, and they couldn't help but start beating the drum in their hearts.

Li Wensheng was also upset, secretly saying that if he had known this, he should have allowed his family to take refuge elsewhere.

At this time, when I saw the opponent riding over, I wanted to hear what the opponent would say, but I didn't expect that some of the soldiers were too timid. In a panic, they lit the match rope and fired directly.

It happened that the official was right next to him, so Li Wensheng couldn't help but cursed angrily: "Who told you to do this to a group of people who have little success but only failure? What should you do if you offend these thieves?"
Chapter completed!