Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 474
When the three of them walked into the cell yard, the prisoners in each dormitory were actually awakened by the explosion just now.Although he knew something was wrong, he didn't know what was happening outside.

Under the illumination of two flashlights, the true appearance of the prison in the Qing Dynasty finally appeared in front of Zhao Xin and Wang Yuanfang.

Completely different from what you imagined or seen in movies and TV dramas, the prison in Yangzhou government office is a row of staggered green brick buildings.The eaves of the prison are not high, so they are slightly taller than Zhao Xin; the door of the cell is extremely low, about as high as Zhao Xin's chest, no more than 1.5 meters.As for the doors of the cell, they were not big iron doors or round wooden doors, they were all made of wooden fences, which were just over one meter high.

In addition to the low cell door, there is a small window of [-] to [-] centimeters on the wall on the side of the door of each cell, which is blocked by railings.

At this time, seeing light flickering in the yard, the prisoners in each cell gathered in front of the cell door to look around.However, when Zhao Xin and Wang Yuanfang flashed their flashlights, the prisoners dispersed and hid in the darkness of the cell.

The jailer led the two of them around, and finally came to the innermost row of cells in the southwest corner of the cell.He pointed to the row of cells and said to Zhao Xin: "My good man, this is it. Everyone involved in the case of the Jiao family will be locked up here."

Zhao Xin hit the prisoner on the shoulder with the butt of his gun, and shouted sharply, "Are you looking for death? Are the male and female prisoners locked together?!"

The jailer knelt on the ground and kowtowed: "You don't dare! You don't dare! It's because the cells are full and these people are repeat offenders, so they are locked in one place. The two innermost rooms It’s female relatives, and the three rooms outside are all male.”

At this time, Zhong Huai, who lived in the outermost cell, was startled by the voices outside, he hurried to the door, leaned over the fence door, and said anxiously: "This is Zhong Baoqi, I don't know who you are?"

Zhao Xinyan was overjoyed, and raised his flashlight to take a photo, while Zhong Huai's eyes were dazzled by the bright light, and then he raised his hand to cover it.

"Are you Zhong Huai? I was sent by King Zhao to save you."

Zhong Huai was stunned when he heard it, he completely ignored the other party calling his name directly.It's only been six days since the whole family was arrested. They didn't expect Beihai Town to send people here so soon!He hastily cupped his hands to Zhao Xin, and said: "Great kindness, Wang Zhao, I, Zhong Baoqi, will never forget this in my life! Please rescue my old parents first."

Zhao Xin then pointed the gun at the cell, and said sharply, "Open all the doors!"

The jailer said with a mournful face: "The villain didn't bring the key! I put them all in the room where the villain lives."

Wang Yuanfang shouted: "Get up! Go get the key!"

"No need!" After Zhao Xin finished speaking, he put the rifle behind his back, and in a blink of an eye, a heavy fire ax nearly one meter long appeared in his hand.

Zhao Xin asked Zhong Huai and others to back away, and then swung the big ax with a few clicks, and the fence gate of the house was chopped to pieces.Then he successively smashed open the gates of the barn in the back.

Seeing that Zhao Xin broke through the door with an ax very smoothly, Wang Yuanfang pressed the jailer under his body and tied his hands and feet with plastic ties. In order to prevent him from screaming, he tore off a large piece of fabric from the other side's skirt , Rub it, rub it, stuff it into the prisoner's mouth, and the choked one rolled his eyes.

Hundreds of people were crammed into five small dormitories for several days in a row, and they were already suffering from suffocation, thirst and hunger.At this time, they were all unkempt, and although their clothes were not tattered, they were all filthy.If Zhao Xin came a few days later, he would have to face a group of patients.

Everyone came out of the cell hesitantly in fear, although they felt a lot more relaxed, except for the three of Jiao Xun and the others, they all stood under the eaves timidly, not daring to move.

Even the big prison was robbed, and it was not a rebellion but it became a rebellion.If he is caught by the government now, his head will be beheaded, and the three clans will be punished by Ling Chi!
Do you want to go with these two people?For most of the people present, it was definitely a matter of personal life and death and the clan's reputation.

Jiao Xun, Zhong Huai, and Huang Chengji, who walked out of the cell, looked at it, and they already understood eight or nine points in their hearts.Jiao Xun then gritted his teeth and said, "Why are you still hesitating?! Now that I have been labeled as a rebel, do you still expect those corrupt officials to let me go?!"

At this time, someone spat and said: "Bah! That's your Jiao Xiucai's intention to rebel, which implicated me and others. Now that the Holy Son of Heaven is in power, except for the three of you, everyone present is innocent. As for embarrassing me."

Zhong Huai was trembling with anger, pointed at the man and reprimanded him: "I think you are starving and dizzy! Nowadays, the government is corrupt and all officials are incompetent. Even if they are falsely accused of treason, the government will be beheaded, at least the whole family will be beheaded." Exile for three thousand miles!"

When everyone heard this, they were suddenly frightened and trembled in their hearts.Although Zhong Huai was less than 30 years old, he was known as a modest gentleman in Yangzhou city, and he never lied to others in his dealings with others.

Zhao Xin took the big steel ax away while no one was paying attention, then took out a small flashlight from his vest pocket, opened it, handed it to Jiao Xun who was at a loss, and said to him: "Jiao Xiucai, hurry up and count everyone!" For a moment, those who are willing to go go, those who don’t want to go don’t force it. Let’s go out of the city and take a boat in a while.”

At this time, a person suddenly said: "Is there a boat? How many people can it hold?"

Zhao Xin frowned and said, "It's enough for you to sit."

Jiao Xun, Zhong Huai, and Huang Chengji didn't have much contact with Zhao Xin during the few months in Beihai Town. At this time, Zhao Xin was covered with camouflage ointment, so he didn't recognize him at all.At the same time, he thought that there must be a lot of people outside, so he checked them one by one with a flashlight.

Suddenly, there was a roar from the crowd in the courtyard: "Jiao Yingyuan, you shameless person! You still have the face to hang out with us. I will beat you to death today!"

"kill him!"

At this time, a man was heard crying at the top of his lungs: "Mother save me! Mother save me!"

"I don't have a son like you! What a crime!"

Zhao Xinsheng raised his flashlight to look, and saw a middle-aged man with unkempt hair frantically blocking the fists falling around him, and he couldn't help but backed away from the eaves of the house.

Among those who beat him, in addition to several creditors whom he falsely accused of treason, there were also his two younger brothers, and even his biological mother Wang joined the team of denunciation.

Zhao Xin had roughly understood what was going on from the telegram before. Seeing such a chaotic scene in front of him, he strode forward to push the crowd away and shouted: "Get out of the way!"

The few people who were punching Jiao Yingyuan were stunned when they heard the words, and saw the strong man who was smashing the door with an ax before, and they immediately backed away unconsciously.

Zhao Xin stepped forward and grabbed Jiao Yingyuan's lapel, and swung his right hand. The "slap" was a big slap in the face, which made Jiao Yingyuan dizzy immediately.Zhao Xin said to the surrounding people without turning his head: "Hold him down!"

Everyone hated Jiao Yingyuan so much, they all rushed forward and pinned him firmly to the ground.Zhao Xin then took out two plastic binding ties from a pocket of the vest, tied Jiao Yingyuan's hands and feet firmly, and then said to the crowd: "We have no time to waste, carry him into the cell, and the Manchu government will clean up. he!"

After a lot of entanglement and psychological struggle, only two-thirds of the people finally decided to go with Zhao Xin and Wang Yuanfang; the remaining one-third of the people included Jiao Yingyuan's three creditors and his family, as well as Jiao Yingyuan's mother Wang family and three sons.No matter how much Jiao Xun tried to persuade her, her aunt Wang would not leave, and she always believed that the officials in the government would be fair and fair.

Zhao Xin was also helpless, he couldn't even persuade Jiao Xun, and he didn't bother to waste his time talking, he said to Wang Yuanfang a little depressed: "This is called not crying when you don't see the coffin, sometimes they cry!"

Wang Yuanfang was also speechless. He checked his equipment and said to Zhao Xin, "I'll go out and have a look first. There is still some distance from here to the city gate."

Zhao Xindao: "You clear the way, I'll come to the back of the palace. After going out, just use the grenade to open the way, I still don't believe it!"

Wang Yuanfang said: "What should we do at the city gate? Or use explosives?"

Zhao Xin said: "Yes, explode! As long as you go out of Anjiangmen and go to the canal, it will be easy!"

At the same time, outside the gate of the magistrate's office, dozens of officials from Jiangdu and Ganquan counties who had been hastily summoned had just arrived.These people timidly huddled on both sides of the eight-character wall, poked their heads to look at the gate of the government office that had been blasted into a big hole, they all looked at each other in blank dismay, wondering where the fierce thieves came from, they even used gunpowder.

Now that the situation of the enemy and ourselves is unknown, officers and soldiers died all over the place under the eight-character wall. Everyone thinks that the thief must have at least one hundred and ten troops, so no one dares to join the gate.

At this moment, a black object was suddenly thrown from the dark hole in the gate of the government office, and it hit the ground more than ten meters away in front of the gate with a "bang".

More than 30 yamen servants were at a loss. When they didn't know what to do, they heard a loud "boom", and the two nearest yamen servants were blown to the ground on the spot. He ran away, and kept yelling, "Run! Thieves are the enemy of ten thousand people!"

Amidst the smoke and dust, Wang Yuanfang walked out of the gate with his head in the air. Regardless of whether there were people or not, he fired several shots at the dark streets on both sides.Then he heard someone wailing loudly on the Taiping Bridge in the east, and another person yelled, "It's not good! The second child of the Hua family was killed by the thieves' blunderbuss!"

At this time, in the main room of the back house of the magistrate's compound, Ma Huiyu, the magistrate of Yangzhou, was sitting on the grand master's chair, wearing an official uniform and mending gown. Qingfeng's hands trembled uncontrollably.And in the inner house behind him, there are wives, daughters, concubines and a group of maids who are crying endlessly.

In the Qing Dynasty, the chief officials of prefectures and counties had the responsibility of guarding the land. Once the city fell, they could only apologize with death, so as not to be held accountable by the court afterwards and end up in the end of ransacking their homes.As for the family members of the chief official, they usually hang themselves or throw themselves into a well to avoid humiliation.

In the courtyard outside, the prefect Ma's [-]-odd entourage and dozens of servants were armed with weapons, kitchen knives, scissors and the like, ready to fight when the thieves rushed in.

Those few hired workers are okay, they will run away; and for other people who have been sold as slaves, if the master has any troubles, their fate will not be much better.Even if they escaped, it would be very difficult for them to escape from the territory of Yangzhou Prefecture, because in the circulation book of household registration, their identities are all domestic slaves.Once the magistrate's home is ransacked by the court, what awaits them will also be sold or exiled.

At this time, hearing the roar of explosions coming from outside, Ma Huiyu thought that the thieves were about to attack the back house, and felt extremely desperate.He slowly drew out the sword, with a few tears streaming down his eyes, he stood facing south and cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty! I am responsible for the loss of the Malang Mountain. Now I can only die to repay your kindness!"

After finishing speaking, he raised the sword and just hung it on his neck when the door of the main room was suddenly knocked open, and a family servant ran in and knelt on the ground and said, "Master, sir! The thief is gone!"

gone?Ma Huiyu trembled in disbelief and asked, "Are you sure?"

"The slave's brother saw it with his own eyes just now on the roof! They have robbed a large group of people from the prison, and now they have left the gate of the government office!"

With a sound of "clang", the sword in Ma Zhifu's hand fell to the ground. After being stunned for a moment, he suddenly rushed towards the inner house behind, shouting: "The thief is gone! Ma'am! Lan Xiang! Don't seek death!" "

When Wang Yuanfang walked eastward against the base of the wall, fired a few shots at the Taiping Bridge, and threw another grenade, the entire Taiping Bridge was empty. The strong team guarding the bridge had already left It's gone.

Behind him are Jiao Xun, Zhong Huai, Huang Chengji and their family members who stumbled.Zhao Xin was walking at the end of the line. While urging the people in front to leave quickly, he held his gun and glanced at the walls and roofs on both sides of Fuqian Street from time to time.

When Wang Yuanfang rushed up the Taiping Bridge, dogs were already barking in the streets and alleys opposite, and torches were lit on the towers of Xianchun Gate in the northeast and Xiaodongmen in the southeast.There were crowds of people on the city wall, and some people kept beating gongs to issue warnings.

The Youshu Mansion of the Green Camp in Yangzhou is located in the new town in the east of the city. After the camp commander received the police call, he didn't know how many thieves had come, so he took a hundred soldiers from the Green Camp under him to the city wall.The problem is that a hundred soldiers can't defend the walls of Yangzhou City at all, so the general had to order his men to beat the gongs constantly, intending to use the sound of the gongs to scare the thieves in the city.

Soon, when Wang Yuanfang and Zhao Xin ran to Anjiangmen Street with a group of people and were about to reach the Anjiangmen Tower, the guards on the city wall found them, and then the "boom" gong sounded, and several The soldiers hid behind the wall and shouted: "Don't let the thieves escape! Come quickly!"

Wang Yuanfang raised his hand and aimed at the top of the city, and counted his guns, and the bricks of the city wall were shot with green smoke.When he jumped over the antlers under the city gate and entered the dark city gate, he turned on the flashlight under the rifle, only to see that the latch that locked the gate was thicker than his own thigh.

He rushed to the gate, took out the last strip of plastic explosives from the pocket on the outside of his thigh, didn't cut it for a while, tore off the package and stuck it directly to the door latch.

And behind him, Jiao Xun and others walked quickly with support all the way, and when they were about to enter the city gate, they heard Zhao Xin shout from behind: "Everyone hide on both sides of the gate, cover your ears, don't go in!"

When Jiao Xun, Zhong Huai, and Huang Chengji heard this, they hurriedly called their families to stop, scattered to both sides of the city gate, and tightly covered their ears.

After a few breaths, Wang Yuanfang also ran out from the city gate. Just as he turned around and hid at the corner, he heard a loud bang, and a puff of smoke mixed with sawdust spewed out from behind.

Even wearing a mask, Wang Yuanfang was choking and coughing.Not to mention the others, they were all terrified, their legs were weak and they fell to the ground, coughing uncontrollably.

At this time, all the guards on the gate tower of Anjiangmen were knocked to the ground by the explosion just now, and the archery tower on the city gate also became crumbling, with tiles falling down with crackling.

Zhao Xin, who was hiding on the opposite side, yelled at Wang Yuanfang: "Wait here!"

After finishing speaking, he rushed into the city gate.

(End of this chapter)