weaving

Chapter 883 How Can Fu Be Called Governor?
On September [-]th, the officers and soldiers stationed in the fire shop finally ate the last grain of rice.

But people are like iron and rice is steel. If you don't eat a meal, you will be hungry!
In desperation, everyone decided to slaughter the mules and horses to satisfy their hunger. After all, if this continues, if they are not killed by the bandits, they will starve to death. Keeping these mules and horses is also an enemy. It is better to let yourself have a few full meals first .

Although these mules and war horses are the most important military resources, there is no other way at the moment. They only have more than [-] people, how can they break out of the siege of tens of thousands of bandits?

In this way, it was forced to last for a few days, but by the seventeenth day, not only the mules and horses had been eaten up, but even the gunpowder, lead, bows and arrows necessary for defense were used up.

Waves of despair enveloped the entire Huoshao shop inside and outside!
As a last resort, the officers and soldiers had to start slaughtering war horses for food, but not only were there not many war horses, they could not be eaten for a few days in total. Moreover, doing so was undoubtedly digging their own graves.

Once the horses were slaughtered by them, even if they wanted to break through, they would have no chance. After all, infantry alone would not be able to escape from the bandits' iron hooves no matter what.

At this moment, Fu Zonglong also knew that it was the critical time to break through.

It's not that he changed his original intention and became greedy for life and afraid of death, but that he didn't want the 5000 men under his command to just wait for death. Go to Xiangcheng.

Sure enough, at the second watch, he called all the generals to come before him to arrange the breakout.

The officers and soldiers who were trapped in the burning shop at the beginning were about 7000 to 5000 people, and besides the recent casualties, there were about [-] more horses.

However, these more than 5000 horses are almost all infantry, whether they are war horses or mules, they have eaten them all. In fact, even if the war horses have not eaten, they have no strength to run and cannot ride at all.

After some intense preparations, the officers and soldiers trapped in the burning shop finally broke out in three ways at midnight!
Fu Zonglong himself led the elite battalion in the middle. After they rushed out, they encountered two trenches dug by bandits. The first trench was only guarded by a few bandit soldiers. Difficult to rush.

But when they reached the second ditch, there were more bandits, and they savagely intercepted and killed them. The officers and soldiers were hungry and tired, obviously not their opponents, and finally broke up here.

Some of them gave up resistance on the spot and knelt down to beg for surrender from the bandits, while the others were either killed on the spot or fled in all directions.

Bandits shouted everywhere on the battlefield: "Catch Fu Zonglong alive! Don't kill Shaanxi soldiers, only capture Fu Zonglong!"

The 2000 troops led by Fu Zonglong are all the elite of his standard battalion, and they eat a lot on weekdays, so they are still quite capable of fighting at the moment.

Moreover, all the generals in the standard battalion are his confidantes who have been single-handedly picked up by him, and they are also very loyal to him. At this moment, everyone is running away with him, fighting and leaving, but the number of troops is getting smaller and smaller as the battle progresses.

Under the protection of a small number of servants and soldiers, Fu Zonglong, the governor of the three sides, kept avoiding the chasing and intercepting bandits, and only chose a place where there was no voice, no shadow, and no fire.

When the sky was getting brighter, the distance from the burning shop was getting farther and farther away. Not only was the killing sound gradually inaudible, even the flames gradually faded out of people's sight.

Fu Zonglong was also very hungry and exhausted at this time. After all, running away on two legs was not ordinary tiredness, let alone running wildly in fear.

In the wilderness, they simply rested for a while, just drank a little cold stream water, and did not dare to delay any longer, so they dragged their tired bodies and continued to flee northward.

Sure enough, it didn't take long before I heard the sound of horseshoes stamping on the ground behind me. Obviously, the bandits and chasing soldiers had caught up again. The soldiers guarded Fu Zonglong and went into the nearby forest, supporting him from left to right. , Continue to flee in the direction of Xiangcheng.

At noon, Fu Zonglong and his group finally escaped to a place eight miles away from Xiangcheng. Although they had only traveled more than ten miles in the middle of the night, they were all relieved that they would be safe if they walked another eight miles.

That night, they twisted and staggered through the small roads and forests, not daring to walk on a smooth road at all. Now that Xiangcheng is in sight, everyone seems to have forgotten their hunger and exhaustion, and they seem to have a little more strength suddenly. .

After fleeing all the way till now, there are less than 200 people left by Fu Zonglong, the governor of the three sides. He looked at the shadow of the Xiangcheng tower in the north. Although he couldn't see it very clearly, he was convinced in his heart that it must be the gate of Xiangcheng. building.

Looking at the shadow of the city tower in the north, hope was rekindled in everyone's hearts, but can the remaining eight miles be completed in the end?

Everyone has no idea about this!

Although Fu Zonglong was also exhausted to the point of death, and he was also very worried about whether he could escape to Xiangcheng safely, but he was like a person who was destined to die and saw the hope of life. At this moment, he was like everyone else, and nothing could stop him from escaping. Go to Xiangcheng.

But after running around in the middle of the night, everyone was already hungry and thirsty. They found a small river and sat down to rest, drinking some water to restore their strength.

Suddenly, in the direction of the main road behind him, there was a faint sound of shouting and killing again, and Fu Zonglong felt that his old bones were about to fall apart.

As the governor, every time he went out, he was either in a fancy sedan chair or a tall horse, and he never ran like he did tonight with only two legs.

Now, although the opportunity to escape is in front of him, he really can't move anymore, so he just said to everyone: "You all go to your own escape, and leave me alone! Let me, an old bone, do it for Your Majesty. Give your life."

His loyal servant Lu San grabbed Fu Zonglong by the arm and said to him: "Master, you must not die here. It is only a few miles away from Xiangcheng. Even if Lu San carries it, he must carry it to Xiangcheng." City, we will be saved when we get to Xiangcheng!"

It's not that Fu Zonglong really doesn't want to run away anymore, but his body is hungry and tired, and he has no strength left, so how can he escape, so he just speaks nonsense here to win a good reputation after his death.

Now, seeing Lu San talking like this, and the soldiers and servants around him persuading him, he no longer insisted on staying.

Seeing that Fu Zonglong's face softened, Lu San hurried forward to help him, and there were servants behind him pushing him, and Fu Zonglong staggered forward.

The shouts of killing were getting closer, it seemed to be behind this forest, and it seemed to be far away, but no matter where the chasing rogue was now, everyone never dared to stop for half a step.

Even though there was only more than eight miles away from Xiangcheng, they still dared not take the main road, for fear that the bandit cavalry would intercept them in front, so they just headed down into the woods and mountains.

It may be that the closer to Xiangcheng, the greater the hope of escape, and there are fewer and fewer people around Fu Zonglong. It seems that they also have a premonition that the risk is still extremely high with this Governor Fu, so they all scattered and fled.

Now, only Lu San and a few other servants and less than ten soldiers are left beside Fu Zonglong, and he lost one of his shoes in the escape, but now he even lost the other in the woods !
He has been pampered and pampered all his life, but has he ever walked without shoes?

Both of Fu Zonglong's feet were bleeding. He was in unbearable pain, and it was even more difficult to walk. Fortunately, his servant Lu San discovered this situation in time.

Although he himself was so hungry that he didn't have much strength, he was already flustered, his legs were weak, and he was sweating all over, but he still carried Fu Zonglong on his back, and the other two servants were behind, gently supporting Fu Zonglong's body with both hands , to lighten Lu San's burden.

When everyone was in distress, suddenly a group of people appeared not far in front, Lu San couldn't help but turn pale with fright, but it was too late to retreat to the woods just now.

The crowd had no choice but to go forward, the closer they got, they could see clearly that the armor on their bodies seemed to be the official army of the imperial court, and the word "He" could be vaguely seen on their uniforms, and there was also a big "congratulations" on the banner. The word "he".

"He Zhen! Master, we are saved, it is He Zhen's soldier!"

Seeing it, the servant behind Fu Zonglong was the first to shout out in joy.

At this time, Fu Zonglong, the governor of the three sides, had also seen clearly that there was indeed a word "Congratulations" on the armor of the cavalry cavalry coming from the opposite side, and a closer look at the banner, it was indeed the commander-in-chief He Renlong's men and horses.

He suddenly felt bewildered, as if in a dream. Although he was ecstatic in his heart, he was also afraid that this was his dream again, so he couldn't help blurting out: "I'm not dreaming..."

"It's not a dream, master, it's not a dream, it's He Shuai who came to save us!"

The servant Lu San had also seen the situation clearly, and shouted excitedly. All the dozen or so people in their line were very excited, and they all felt extremely joyful for their rescue.

But after all, Fu Zonglong is the governor appointed by the emperor, even if his ability is a bit weak, he is definitely not a waste. He couldn't help but have doubts when he was excited: How could it be a coincidence that the people of He Renlong are here to welcome him?

He even thought in his heart: Lu San is not paying back, He Renlong is now stationed in Shenqiu, how could there be He Zhen soldiers and horses suddenly appearing in Xiangcheng?

Although there were all kinds of doubts in his heart, when Fu Zonglong couldn't judge the authenticity, he still chose to believe that He Renlong suddenly changed his mind and wanted to return to the Huoshaodian, and this was the outpost he sent.

But in his heart, he was still on guard, he didn't fully trust him, and he was still full of doubts and couldn't really rest assured.

At this moment, a small school rode up to greet him. He galloped up to Fu Zonglong, intervened to salute, and reported loudly: "We are the troops under He Shuai's command, and we are specially ordered to welcome the governor here!"

Fu Zonglong didn't have time to think about other things, and asked directly: "He Renlong, where is he now?"

The little school policy immediately replied: "My commander-in-chief and Li Shuai are leading the army, and they are rushing from Shenqiu. Because we found out that the governor broke out from the burning shop last night, he sent me to wait for [-] cavalry to look for the governor first. minister."

After he finished speaking, he jumped off the horse with a few cavalrymen, and stepped forward to help Fu Zonglong onto the horse, but Fu Zonglong was absolutely unwilling to get on the horse when he was still in doubt.

Just when he was hesitating, the pursuers seemed to be getting closer, and the voice of shouting could be faintly heard: "Hurry up, hurry up...don't run away from Fu Zonglong...kill the officer army...you must capture Fu Zonglong alive!"

The little school seemed to have heard the thief's cry, and his expression was filled with urgency. He couldn't help but force Fu Zonglong to get on the horse. Don't delay any longer, lest you be surrounded by thieves, it will be difficult to stand out!"

At this time, Lu San was also persuading: "Master, it's not too late, don't delay!"

At this time, another bearded general rode up to us. He cupped his hands and said to Fu Zonglong: "Minister, my family He Shuai will arrive in Xiangcheng soon, please go to Xiangcheng to rest quickly, don't delay here !"

After he finished speaking, he shouted to the little school just now: "After you lead 200 people to death, wait for the guards to cross the river, and then remove the bridge deck. Don't let a thief cross the river to chase after him!"

"Yes."

Only now did Fu Zonglong dare to believe that the people who came to meet him were indeed He Zhen's army.

Because, he heard the accent of these people was very similar to the accent of He Renlong's hometown Yan'an Mansion, and seeing that they kept urging him to go to Xiangcheng, it didn't seem like there was any conspiracy.

The heart that has been hanging since breaking out from Huoshaodian has settled down at this moment. Surrounded by the cavalry and guarded, he rushed straight to the south gate of Xiangcheng.

However, when it was about three miles away from the South Pass of Xiangcheng, Fu Zonglong saw some clues again, which made him doubt this Hezhen cavalry again.

Although it was only a few months since he was promoted to Governor of Shaanxi, He Renlong and Li Guoqi have known most of the generals in the battalion since he led his troops out of Tongguan, and many of them have even spoken to each other.

But why is there really not a single familiar face among the people from Hezhen sent to greet him?
Logically speaking, both He Renlong and Li Guoqi's battalion had quite a few partial generals. No matter how they said it, he shouldn't have sent a strange general who had never met him to greet him?

Although Fu Zonglong was secretly suspicious in his heart, he didn't show any emotion on his face. He just quietly turned his head to look for Lu San, but saw that Lu San was also winking at him.

At this moment, he suddenly understood completely.

It turned out that it was not only himself who was suspicious of this group of people, Lu San went to Shen Qiu a few days ago, and now even he is giving him winks, so it is self-evident.

But Fu Zonglong is still wondering, if this group of troops is an official army, why would they pretend to be He Zhen soldiers?
If it's not the officers and soldiers, but they are really protecting themselves and rushing to Xiangcheng, but why?
Immediately, he spoke to the general who came to greet him and asked, "Who are you? Why has this governor never seen him in the He Zhen camp before?"

Hearing the words, the general cupped his hands and replied: "Please don't be suspicious, the governor. There are many generals under He Shuai's tent. I am just a small school. It is normal for the governor to have never seen it. There is no need to ask more questions now, and run away with me first. After entering Xiangcheng, seeing He Shuai, he naturally understood."

Hearing this, Fu Zonglong became more suspicious. He couldn't help glaring, and asked, "Who are you? What is your intention of taking the governor to Xiangcheng!"

The general suddenly slowed down his horse, showed his yellow teeth, and said, "To tell you the truth, I am Liu Tichun, the general under King Chuang."

After Liu Tichun finished speaking, he raised his horsewhip, pointed at the bearded thief general, and said to Fu Zonglong, "Over there is Tong Shoushan, the general under King Chuang."

Although Fu Zonglong had doubts in his heart for a long time, he was surprised when he confirmed it himself, but immediately shouted majesticly: "Since I am a bandit, why don't you kill me?"

"Hahaha……"

But Liu Tichun laughed and said: "The king of Chuang has an order, as long as you are required to open the south gate of Xiangcheng, I will spare your dog's life."

Fu Zonglong instantly understood that the bandits didn't kill him for the time being because they wanted him to be the "Governor of Calling Doors"!
He didn't speak any more, but he was secretly thinking about how to deal with it when he arrived at Xiangcheng South Pass.

(End of this chapter)