At night, in a courtyard outside Xiangyang City, within the Great Bend of the Han River, Commander-in-Chief Li Shengcai was standing proudly in the courtyard holding a bloody knife.

There were several corpses scattered at his feet that occasionally twitched.

Li Shengcai did not catch up with the Battle of Baimadu, and he probably didn't want to catch up. In fact, he had already retreated before he even reached two-thirds of the way.

He is considered the slowest of the infantrymen who reinforce Baimadu, and is also one of the few teams that lags behind.

However, running back, Li Shengcai and his men were surprisingly fast, and were never overtaken by the exhausted infantry group that was retreating.

Like several teams who ran back in despair, Li Shengcai did not dare to call the closed West City Gate, nor did he dare to wait for Zuo Liangyu's group to come back and enter the city together.

They all chose to go around the city, and then found that the south gate and the east gate were also tightly closed.

What's even more terrible is that after a lot of trouble, Li Shengcai lost almost half of his few 200 people.

But at this time, Li Shengcai completely lost the fatigue and panic he felt during the day, let alone the fear and anxiety he felt when he first entered the city without a way out. Instead, he felt as if he had been given a shot of blood.

However, his eyes kept looking upwards, as if he was avoiding something.

Li Shengcai didn't want to look at those twisted faces, especially the guy whose head he couldn't decapitate despite being chopped several times. He was still suppressing the rising turmoil in his stomach.

Although he was still not at peace in his heart, he still pretended to be calm and shouted loudly to the surrounding soldiers and a group of men and women squatting on the ground: "This is the fate of those who collaborate with the bandit army. According to the Shangguan military order, those who collaborate with thieves will be killed and their property will be taken away."

All of them will be used as military equipment, and their right and left will be temporarily transferred to the army for our dispatch. Brothers, search carefully and never let a bad person go."

As soon as Li Shengcai finished speaking, the surrounding soldiers immediately shouted loudly again, and the women who had been lying on the ground crying also loudly cried "Unjust" again.

Li Shengcai was already upset, but seeing those women still shouting, he felt even more angry.

He suddenly stepped forward and slapped one of the women in the face, and at the same time cursed: "I'll let you shout, I'll let you yell, you rebellious one."

The beaten woman's face was covered with blood and she couldn't cry anymore. Several other women were also frightened and did not dare to speak anymore.

Li Shengcai was still angry. In order to further intimidate him, he asked his soldiers to pull the young woman out alone and strip off all her clothes. Then he picked up a whip and beat her hard until she couldn't hold back.

Rolling around begging for mercy.

The surrounding soldiers all became very interested, and some even whistled, while the servants in the house who were kneeling around them became completely quiet and even more frightened.

Li Shengcai knew about this house before, and he even knew that the owner of the house was a businessman and an outsider.

I also know that this businessman has a large business and has a close relationship with people in the Yamen, but he has little connection with the military.

More importantly, Li Sheng learned that this businessman was very wealthy, had horses and goods, and his concubines and daughters were also very beautiful.

In the past, Li Shengcai didn't have the courage to touch this family, and neither did anyone else.

And those generals who are more arrogant are not willing to mess with people who have clearly shown their official backgrounds for some money. Although this is outside the city, there are still some things that cannot be done.

After all, this is the seat of the Xiangyang Mansion, the official envoy of Huguang Cheng, so the power in the yamen is still strong, and the king's law is still there.

But today, it became an exception.

After the defeat of Baimadu and the rampant flight of the defenders in Fancheng, even a fool knew that something was wrong. The small number of troops who were not allowed to enter the city naturally became headless flies, leaving them to be used as obedient babies outside the city.

It's impossible to even think about it.

At the beginning, the rebels outside the city only looted, killed and set fire on a small scale, and basically only targeted ordinary civilians who had no chance of entering the city in such a short period of time.

After all, Xiangyang has been stable for some time, and hundreds of thousands of troops have gathered in the city. Military law and national law were still in place just a few hours ago.

After seeing that no one came out to restrain them, the looting quickly began to intensify, and fire began to break out.

Then, the madness outside the city quickly affected the city, making many generals who crowded into the city regret it.

The area outside the city is large, with many residential buildings and few troops. It is really rich to rob!

When Zuo Liangyu gave the order to withdraw, everything changed completely, and the looting and massacre turned into a feast.

Zuo Liangyu thought that the city gate was closed and military orders could no longer be transmitted. However, he forgot that many generals and troops were blocked outside the city and did not all enter the city. After all, the small Xiangyang City could not accommodate so many troops.

Some of these generals will always find ways to notify their subordinates who are still outside the city to prepare. However, in times of chaos, many troops outside the city have no fixed location, let alone concentration.

As a result, the order to withdraw quickly became a secret known to everyone in the army outside the city.

Then, all the Ming army units inside and outside Xiangyang City almost unanimously started a full-scale looting with ease, just like they had done in Zhuxian Town.

The people of Xiangyang, who had just recovered from the great looting half a year ago, suffered disaster again, or even worse, because this time the officers and soldiers had no scruples.

Moreover, the looting quickly expanded to include big businessmen with basic backgrounds and even ordinary gentry who were not very prominent, because ordinary civilians had long since run out of much to rob.

These big businessmen and even ordinary gentry who are not very prominent will rob and kill. As soon as tonight is over, even the government will fall into the hands of thieves, not to mention that there will be no place to find people.

There are only a few wealthy merchants who are not in serious trouble. This is not because the rebels are timid, but because most of these wealthy merchants have a large number of escorts and often have close relations with the generals in the army. They are really untouchable.

In addition, the vast majority of the rebels have maintained a basic level of sobriety, and officials and scholars with high status generally will not move.

The reason is simpler. They didn't just run away after robbing, but continued to fool around with Zuo Liangyu. If Zuo Liangyu knew that they had robbed a serving official and his closest scholar, they would definitely not get any good results.

Therefore, the situation in Xiangyang City is generally better. This has a lot to do with the large number of prominent nobles, officials and scholars. The tacit agreement at the beginning also bound the hands and feet of many rebels.

However, there will always be exceptions and stupid ones, and there are quite a few.

Moreover, the government's various warehouses and the various shops of wealthy merchants are not among the areas where the rebels can exercise restraint. The rebels can only try not to hurt anyone.

Zhao Jin and Shi Ming did not react at first.

The initial chaos in the city only made them mistakenly believe that a large number of troops with no camps in the city were competing for the few military supplies and territory.

However, the violent noise that quickly spread throughout the city after the withdrawal order quickly shocked them, and they finally remembered that such a scene and moment seemed to be familiar.

But they are still waiting and watching. After all, robbing friendly troops is still different from robbing a city.

After discovering that the looting had completely become a torrent with no one to restrain it, they finally no longer hesitated, and there was not much hesitation.

Anyway, if they don't rob, others will. It's better to let them rob, because they are people with a bottom line after all.

Being looted by them will not only leave you alive, but also some basic expenses. If you are looted by other armies, most of them will not be left alive, and your life will be hard to say. At a time like this,

Their evil deeds actually saved many lives.

Therefore, Zhao Jin and Shi Ming will not have too much psychological burden.

After a brief discussion, the two immediately sent out all their troops to blockade the nearby streets, and then started looting from house to house.

The nearby street blocked by Zhao Jin and Shi Ming was originally a residential area for wealthy households. After all, the location close to the former royal palace could not be a slum area.

Originally, Zhao Jin and Shi Ming's subordinates were already sluggish after an afternoon of bloody battles and nearly a hundred miles of back and forth. But once they knew what they were going to do, they all seemed to be on stimulants, and every one of them became active again.

.

No wonder people always say that there is a devil living in everyone's heart.

At that time, there were already many rebels who had taken the lead on this street, but after Zhao Jin and Shi Ming decided to take over, their subordinates who had just experienced close combat quickly took control of the situation. Their ferocity and bravery made the looters

All the friendly forces in the territory were frightened and were easily beaten away.

An army that has seen blood and fought hard battles is always different. War is definitely the best school and the most effective training ground.

But Li Shengcai, who had never been baptized by war outside the city, was not bad either.

Even though Li Shengcai is not good at fighting, he has a vicious eye and quick hands. It is not for nothing that he is the driver of the big boss.

As soon as Li Shengcai discovered the chaos, he immediately began to conduct tentative crimes against ordinary civilians, and miraculously restored the health of his almost disintegrated army.

When the detective learned about the order to withdraw his troops, Li Shengcai made a decisive decision and went straight to the business he had been spying on for a long time.

As soon as he broke into the house, Li Shengcai killed all the male and female owners and male relatives of the house on charges of liaison with the bandit army, so as to avoid future trouble, and used this to intimidate and coerce his servants.

Li Shengcai is very knowledgeable and talented in this regard.

However, when he showed his bravery and ruthlessness to the unstable soldiers, he was still a little uncomfortable after killing several people in a row.

Although Li Shengcai had some experience stabbing civilians to death when he committed crimes before, the bloodshed at this time still made his heart tremble, especially the trouble when beheading people made his whole body tremble.

Fortunately, he managed to hold on in the end, and the effect seemed to be pretty good.

Seeing the awed eyes of the soldiers and the trembling expressions of the men, women, and children in the courtyard, he felt extremely satisfied.

Suddenly, he remembered what he had missed.

Yes, he is the loyal servant and hard-core guy of this family.

So Li Shengcai smiled evilly, called a few core men, then smiled evilly and walked toward the kneeling crowd with a knife.

At this time, horrific incidents like Li Shengcai's were being repeatedly staged on every street and in every corner of Xiangyang City, and the homes of countless scholars, businessmen, and wealthy households were broken into.

There is no worst, only worse.

The entire Xiangyang City was filled with fire, crying, excitement and lewd laughter. The area around Xiangyang City had completely turned into a lawless land. Those who didn't know it thought the bandits had invaded Xiangyang.

Only Fancheng was strangely calm. The peasant soldiers who were snooping in the distance were probably also confused. Fancheng, which was too quiet and dark, might have given them more baseless speculations.

King Yongzuo of Yunfu went completely crazy.

What made him even more furious was that he found that most of the rebels were carrying out robberies in an organized manner, and they were getting more and more violent. There was no one to restrain them, and they could not restrain them. He tried his best to stop it, but he was completely unable to control the situation. The rebels

Even he was almost robbed.

Wang Yongzuo knew very well that no one except Zuo Liangyu could end this catastrophe. But he traveled through most of Xiangyang City and still couldn't even touch Zuo Liangyu's shadow.

Of course, Zuo Liangyu couldn't stand on the city wall all night. His body was no longer what it was before, and it was even declining. He needed to rest.

At this time, he did not go to bed and lie down. Instead, he changed into a robe in the hall of a small mansion and closed his eyes to meditate.
To be continued...