The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 234 Pillow Sword Song

"I, Shen Lian, am not a bloodthirsty person. Today I only want to take the heads of my enemies and avenge my elder brother, Wei Zhongxian! I have no grudges against you, Tianjin Wei. Don't get involved in this mess. Swords and knives have no eyes, so get out of here!"

Zhangjiagang Port in Tianjin.

The guards held blazing torches in their hands, and the flames illuminated the defensive line of horses and caltrops in front of them.

Shen Lian held the Huquan sharp blade left by the famous anti-Japanese general Yu Dayou, stood resolutely in front of the two armies, and roared angrily at the approaching enemy.

Behind him, thirty-five warriors were each ready to fight the endless enemy.

Guard Lin Yu put down his heavy pickaxe, rammed his heavy shield, which was more than half a person's height, into the ground, picked up a javelin and prepared to throw it at the enemy.

The servant Wei Zhao brought nine of his men and gathered around the giant to give themselves courage.

This was the first time they had seen such a grand scene. Although Wei Zhao was very skilled in martial arts, he was not a military man after all. With thousands of soldiers coming to attack, including the East Factory guards among them, it would be a lie to say that he was not afraid.

Behind them, Pei Dahu and his twelve men formed a typical Qi Family Army mandarin duck formation. All of them were fully armored, armed with long spears, halberds, and maces, as well as short cannons and stone mines. They were the core of this defensive force.

Behind the Mandarin Duck Formation, the torches could no longer illuminate the area, but in the dark night, a defensive force was still hidden.

Wu Xiao took out a triple-barbed iron-boned wolf-tooth arrow from the arrow holder, put it on the string, gently hooked the arrow feather with his thumb ring, and slowly drew the bow towards Tian Ergeng who was standing under the flag of the Eastern Investigation Bureau fifty steps away.

Behind this skilled archer and horseman, Shen Lian's younger brother Lu Jianxing was loading ammunition into the Tiger Crouching Cannon, while his close friend Zhao Yuanzhi was aiming a row of Divine Fire Flying Crows at the densely packed guards.

A large Fu ship loaded with silver and cargo was quietly anchored on the shore.

Liu Zhaosun's father-in-law and several of Shen Lian's female relatives lay on the side of the boat, looking worriedly at the people on the shore.

Everyone was waiting for Pei Dahu to give the order to attack.

At this time, Tian Ergeng's voice sounded from the opposite side:
"Shen Lian! You bastard! You killed the former factory master, Eunuch Wei, the new factory master's nephew, and more than a dozen people from the Pacification Office! Today you set fire to the Tianjin Arsenal, and even kidnapped Lord Xu and Gini Ge, and robbed Vice-Minister Lu of his goods. You are guilty of deceiving the emperor and treason, a heinous crime! It is unfortunate for the East Factory to have a scum like you! You bastard, you still dare to speak so shamelessly! I have sent a fast horse back to the capital overnight. Tomorrow, everyone in the world will know about your heinous crimes. You traitors! Rebellion and murder! Unforgivable crimes! You and your accomplices will be exterminated!"

Under the ten-foot-high banner of the Dongjishichang, Tian Ergeng rode out on his horse, roaring at the top of his lungs.

Two guards protected him, holding up their shields and looking around vigilantly.

In the early morning of Zhangjiagang, the wind was biting cold and the sky and the earth were empty.

The armory was still burning, and someone could be vaguely heard crying in the flames.

On this night of killing, the boundary between good and evil becomes unclear.

"Tian Ergeng, stop slandering me! The factory owner was killed by you and Xu Xianchun. If you have the guts, come out and die. Otherwise, you'll implicate innocent people!"

Shen Lian drew his sword from its sheath, and the cold light of the Huquan sword illuminated all directions.

"Shen will say it again. Today's incident has nothing to do with you. I will only kill Xu Xianchun and Tian Ergeng. Everyone else, get out of the way!"

"Hahaha! Shen Lian, haven't you implicated enough innocent people? In the past two years, you have killed countless civilians in the capital. You bastard, how could the East Factory produce a scum like you!"

A captain appeared beside Tian Ergeng and said in a deep voice:
"Captain Tian, don't waste your words with them. The Kaiyuan thieves, damned, colluded with Yang Hao and burned the armory. Tianjin is in chaos right now, and I don't know how many people will die. If we don't kill these traitors, we will all be guilty of death. I will lead the water camp and cut the Kaiyuan thieves into pieces!"

Tian Ergeng nodded and was about to wave his hand to let General Fan lead his troops forward when Lu Tongzhi came on horseback. He was so fat that the horse under him was panting.

"Captain Tian, why use a butcher knife to kill a chicken? There's no need to send the water camp soldiers in. The Jinyiwei and Wucheng Bingmasi can rest first. The Tianjin Guards are all here. My lord, please see, there are more than a thousand of them, plus my retainers and the volunteers who have come to help. We will definitely be able to capture these rebels, vent our anger on the factory master, and avenge me."

Tian Ergeng and Lu Tongzhi were old friends. He turned around and glanced at the ragged garrison soldiers. There were quite a few ugly people in the crowd.

Tian Ergeng was an old hand, and he could tell at a glance that they were the so-called righteous citizens, all young and unscrupulous scoundrels.

Fatty Lu's servants all had unfriendly faces and murderous looks. They must be local thugs from Tianjin.

"Okay, logically speaking, this is the Dongchang Factory's internal affairs. Shen Lian is a traitor to the Pacification Department, so we can just let the Jinyiwei arrest him directly. But since Lu Tongzhi is so concerned, once we eliminate the treason, we will definitely commend you to the factory master."

"Then let Lu Tongzhi go first!"

Lu Demin waved to the head servant.

Tong Lao San called out to his men, driving the guards to the opposite side. "Charge forward! There are only a dozen of them. Kill these rebels and the master will reward you handsomely!"

Tong Lao San shouted loudly, waving his scabbard and hitting the guards around him who were still confused.

The black crowd began to slowly flow towards the horse caltrop.

These garrison soldiers were actually local farmers, and among them were some old men with white beards. Similar to other garrisons in the Ming Dynasty, most of the young and strong men in Tianjin Garrison had also fled.

Thanks to Zhu Yuanzhang's ingenious system, military households were forced to farm in one place for generations. From the early Ming Dynasty onward, an ordinary military household, lacking training and material resources, could go from being a skilled soldier to a farmer in just three generations.

In the late Ming Dynasty, farmers needed to have extraordinary vitality in order to cope with all kinds of crises and survive like cockroaches.

For these military households, escape is also an option.

Thus, refugees emerged.

An hour ago, these garrison soldiers were woken up from their sleep by Mr. Lu's servants and rushed to Zhangjiagang Wharf in a disorderly manner. Many of them still don't know what they are doing here.

"Fire arrows!"

Captain Fan shouted at the archers to shoot arrows in the opposite direction.

Compared with these ragged garrison soldiers, the water camp soldiers are recruited soldiers with stronger combat effectiveness and better equipment.

Dozens of archers immediately raised their bows and shot at the dark night sky.

A sparse rain of arrows came in the dark night, landing on the opposite side's armor, making a few crisp tinkling sounds.

These water camp archers rarely train on a daily basis, and the light arrows they shoot have basically no lethality.

Under the big flag, Tian Ergeng looked at the scene in front of him, shook his head helplessly, and looked back at the group of Dongchang men behind him who were eager to try.

"Let the Five Cities Army go first!"

Shen Lian raised his iron arm above his head to cover his eyes. Unexpectedly, no arrow hit him.

Several waves of arrow rain did not cause any casualties, but they did make the water camp soldiers' arms sore from exhaustion.

Fortunately, the guards had already approached and were stationed there.

Thousands of people rushed to the front of the horse like a tide. Under the pressure of the servants, they began to remove the obstacles blocking the road.

"Rush over and kill them all!"

Lu Tongzhi's servants were still behind, forcing the guards to move forward.

Shen Lian leaned over and grabbed a hemp rope buried in the soil, closed his eyes, and pulled hard.

Explosions suddenly sounded all around Ma, and the landmines buried in advance were detonated. These landmines, which had just been taken out of the arsenal, were incredibly powerful and were comparable to the original stone mines.

The mob immediately collapsed.

Shen Lian shouted and led everyone forward, hacking and killing people in the crowd.

"The last kill."

~~~~~
In blood and fire.

The young boy lay beside the dead old man and cried loudly.

"Father! Father!"

Shen Lian wiped the blood off the blade with a blade and looked at the young man.

"Let's go. I won't kill you. I killed your father today. If you have the ability, come find me later and avenge your father. My name is Shen Lian!"

(End of this chapter)