weaving

Chapter 510 Master Su Has a Letter

Fang Han was wearing a tight-fitting jacket. For the convenience of his actions, he did not wear armor. He also dressed like a thief.

In order not to alert the thieves, he asked most of the brothers in the third team to stay where they were. He only took two cavalry and sneaked into the city of Kaifeng outside the thieves' camp. Fortunately, the thieves didn't notice.

But in the cold winter night, the cold wind was howling, and the moon was dark and the wind was high. The guards dared not let him fall off the suspension bridge.

Guan He and Sang Kaidi, who was in charge of guarding the north gate of Kaifeng, agreed to get off the suspension bridge. After Fang Han and the other three rode over the suspension bridge, the guards put the suspension bridge away again, and then slowly opened a gap in the north gate of Kaifeng.

Fang Han and others filed in, and they were disarmed one by one as soon as they entered the city gate. Dozens of city guards inside the city gate bravely waited with swords and guns in hand. Fang Han could understand why they were so vigilant.

After all, there are no generals or warriors in charge in Kaifeng at this time. It is not easy for them civil officials to lead a group of common people to guard Kaifeng so tightly, and it is understandable to be stricter with themselves and others.

He obediently handed over the letter written by Master Su Zhuang, who guarded the way. After receiving the letter, several Xiangyong ran to send it to Sang Kaidi, and took away the horses of the three of them. Fang Han and the other three accused them of being trapped in the doorway Not allowed to move half a step, he could only cooperate with a wry smile.

Sang Kaidi and Su Zhuang are officials in the same city. Although the affairs they manage are different, they still have some contacts on weekdays. He saw that it was written by Su Zhuang himself, and the letter stated that Gao Mingheng and Zuo Bu were to be inspected. Liang Bing, the political envoy, personally signed it.

The day before yesterday, Su Zhuang and more than ten riders left the north gate to beg for help. It was the city gate he personally ordered someone to open. Seeing the reply, he was very excited, and hurriedly shouted: "Hurry up, get your horses ready, I will Take the three warriors to meet the inspector and chief envoy!"

Before leaving, he gave special instructions: "Take good care of the city gates, and strengthen patrols on the city. Don't be negligent!"

…………

On this day, it was cloudy and the weather was very cold.

After half a day of fighting outside the city, the moats on all sides were almost filled up. Even the corpses of the hungry people who were killed outside the moats were filled into the moats by them and mixed with soil to fill the moats.

The soldiers and civilians defending the city fought all day, but they couldn't stop the hungry people from filling the trenches. As the trenches were gradually filled, their hearts became more fearful. Everyone knew that the bandits would attack the city tomorrow.

Rumors abounded in the city, saying that after the intruder Li Zicheng captured Kaifeng, he would kill all the men in the city, leaving only the women to be distributed to his subordinates, and children under the age of 16 to serve as bandits.

The Governor's Yamen, Buzhengshi Yamen, Inspector's Yamen, and Commander's Yamen in Kaifeng City, in addition to Taoist, government, and county yamen, are mostly concentrated in the southwest area of ​​Zhou Wangfu.

There is a tall archway in the north of the West Street of Yamen, the chief minister of Henan Province, with the word "General Constitution" written on it.

After entering the memorial archway, and passing a stone's throw away, there are three gates in the north, with a solid sign in the middle, which reads "Henan and other places are punished and inspected by the inspector", and there is another sign on the left that reads "Take a look at the corrupt officials. ", and there is also a sign on the right that reads "Justice for Wronged Soldiers and Civilians".

This is the Henan Xunya Yamen, commonly known as the Taiwanese Yamen. In front of the gate, two tall stone lions glared at the people passing by on the street with their round eyes.

After nightfall, silver snowflakes fell from the sky, and the white snow made the yamen look more solemn.

More than a dozen social soldiers walked through the street in a team. Although the leader of the team didn't know Sang Kaidi, they saw him coming under the escort of several cavalry, and he was riding on a tall horse in official uniform. Naturally, he backed down and left without asking.

Going forward, you can see the tall and majestic archway in front of the Xunya Yamen, and behind the Yimen is the dark lintel. The red lanterns under the lintel exude a strange light, making the Xunya Yamen look even more gloomy and gloomy.

Standing on the steps were four guards with their hands on the hilts of their swords. They were all unarmored and wore the red mandarin duck battle jackets of the Ming army. They looked extremely heroic amidst the silver and white everywhere.

From afar, I saw a group of knights galloping on horseback. They had been on duty in various government offices, including the Niesi Yamen, and they had long been familiar with the officials in the city. , a guard quickly ran down the steps to meet him.

He took the reins from Sang Kaidi's hand, and hurriedly said: "Master Sang, my lord is still at the west gate and has not returned. Are you here to find my lord in a hurry?"

Sang Kaidi shouted anxiously: "Hurry up, get on my horse and ask Gao Xun to return to the government office as soon as possible, and say that Mr. Su has a letter back."

Only then did he get off his horse, and added eagerly: "Separate one person, and then go and ask the chief envoy, Mr. Liang, to come to the yamen to discuss important military affairs."

The two guards galloped away, and the other two hurriedly called the porter to invite Sang Kai's first party into the Nisi Yamen, waiting for Gao Mingheng, Liang Jing and others to arrive.

All the officials of the Procuratorate Division followed Gao Mingheng on the west gate wall to participate in the city defense. Even if they did not go to the city to garrison, they also participated in the city defense in various places in the city. In the office, there was only one Zhengqi rank experience officer, Fu Zhengyang, who stayed behind.

When he heard that Guan He's fellow acquaintance, Sang Kaidi, came to the government office at the critical moment of the city guard, he knew that there must be a big event, so he hurried out to greet and invite Sang Kaidi into the office.

Behind the lobby of the Neisi Yamen, once you enter the courtyard, you will find the second hall. In addition to the official hall in the middle, the second hall has East and West Nuan Pavilions on both sides, which are the places where meetings are usually held.

Fu Zhengyang led Sang Kaidi and his group of four to the warm pavilion on the east side of the second courtyard, and ordered the servants in the Yamen to serve fragrant tea. In order to prevent Sang Kaidi from sitting down, he talked softly with Sang Kaidi.

But his eyes couldn't stay on Fang Han's body. He didn't understand why Sang Kaidi brought three men who looked like bandit soldiers to patrol the yamen, and even left his own guards in the gatehouse to lead the party alone. The three went straight to the second hall.

It's not that Fu Zhengyang doesn't trust Sang Kaidi, but he just feels that there must be something wrong, so his words are more tentative, and he keeps inquiring about the situation of the bandit soldiers filling the trench outside the north gate.

Although he was puzzled in his heart, he didn't dare to ask. After all, Sang Kaidi's rank was too high, and he didn't want to say that there must be a reason. After a while, he pushed back and said: "Master Sang, please sit down a little bit, please come down." The officer is going to see if my lord is back."

…………

In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, the old system of the Yuan Dynasty was followed, and Xingzhong Secretary Departments were set up in various places.

In the 13th year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang executed the prime minister Hu Weiyong and related officials in the name of conspiracy. At the same time, he announced the abolition of Zhongshu Province and the post of prime minister.

At the local level, the original provincial system was also abolished, and instead, Chengxuanzhengshisi, also known as the Fansi Yamen, was established in each province. There were one left and one right Buzhengshi, who were in charge of the civil affairs of a province and were divided into government offices. States and counties are governed by the six central ministries.

Set up the Division of Judicial Envoys, also known as the Yamen, and one of the Inspectors, that is, the inspector censor, also known as the inspector, is in charge of the supervision of judicial prisons in a province, obeys the orders of the Ministry of Punishment and the Inspectorate, and is directly responsible to the emperor .

The responsibility for the military defense of the province fell on the shoulders of the Commander and Envoy, who was in charge of the military household guards in a province, and obeyed the orders of the Ministry of War and the Dudufu of the Five Armies.

The three are separated and restrained from each other, which prevents the local power from being too heavy and endangering the imperial power.

At this time, not only the governor Li Xianfeng, the highest administrative officer of the province, was not in the city, but even Chen Yongfu, the chief officer in charge of the military, was not there. responsibility.

The Kaifeng city guards all depended on him to make up their minds, and he had already replaced Fuchen Li Xianfeng as the head of Kaifeng officials.

After Gao Mingheng got the report, regardless of the severe wind and snow, he ordered Huang Shu, the pusher, and Cao Kun and Li Yingchun of Zhou Wangfu to stay behind, and hurried down the west gate building with a few entourages, and rode his horse to the Siyamen in the face of the wind and snow. flocked.

(End of this chapter)