Outside the west gate of Chuzhou City, tens of thousands of thieves were everywhere. It was called a thieves, but in fact it was more like a refugee camp composed of straw sheds and tents. After all, most of the thieves were from the common people, had not been trained by special straits, were scattered and chaotic, and had no discipline. They were used to wandering and destroying, breaking the city and looting, and then finding the next target. This locust-like mobility caused destruction to the local area, and also caused great trouble to the encirclement and suppression of the government army.

In a large tent on Sanli Bridge in the west of the city, Ma Shizhong was shaking the sky and shaking Ma Shizhong with his upper body covered in chest hair, drinking and having fun with his confidants. A beautiful woman sat beside him to serve. This was Ma Shizhong's subordinates who snatched the filial leader from Hezhou City. It is said that he was the eldest wife of a wealthy family, and her husband naturally became a ghost under the sword of a thief.

Ma Shizhong picked up the wine bowl with his left hand and took a big sip. His right hand reached into the beautiful woman's clothes. The woman felt slightly painful and frowned slightly. Ma Shizhong put down the wine bowl and glared at her: "Donkey ball! Call me a hair!" After saying that, she slapped the woman's face hard. She covered her face and screamed. Her pretty cheeks suddenly turned red and swollen, and tears were already in her eyes. The woman did not care about the pain and hurriedly knelt on the ground and kept begging for mercy. Because she knew Ma Shizhong's cruelty, she saw Ma Shizhong kill a woman who resisted him with her own eyes.

Ma Shizhong stood up and kicked her over, cursing, "If I don't feel happy to serve tonight, I will chop you up with a knife! Get out of the back tent and wait!" The woman rolled and crawled to the small tent behind, and the thieves in the big tent were all laughing and watching this scene.

Ma Shizhong's confidant, Long Yang Jin, smiled and said, "Brother, he has a thief-eye vision! I like this kind of rich woman, who is gentle and obedient, and she does whatever she asks her to do. When we were still mud-legged, this kind of woman could not even think about it! Since he started a crime with King Gao Chuang, all kinds of women have to kneel in front of us obediently. I woke up happily in my dreams!"

Another confidant Pilizhen also echoed: "I have the same idea as Lao Yang. I can't count the women I've played with in the past few years! Brother, when I capture Chuzhou, I will give you the family of the prefect and the master to enjoy. How about you exchange this for me?"

Ma Shizhong laughed and said, "You donkey day, what do you want to drink my pot water? OK! If you really take the prefect's family, I will exchange it with you!"

The Rolling Dragon took a sip of wine, wiped the wine stains on his mouth and said, "Brother, we will divide our troops to attack Chuzhou today. The King of Chuang went to the north. I feel that the government army is not enough now. Our 30,000 troops will be fine to attack Nanjing! By then, my brother's reputation will be better than the King of Chuang! What are you talking about?" The other leaders said it was reasonable and agreed.

When Ma Shizhong heard this, many thoughts turned around in his heart like lightning. He looked at everyone and shook his head and said, "Old Yang, we have grown up naked since we were young. I know what your thoughts are. Ordinary government troops are not enough for us to fight, but there is also a King of Yan Lu. We have suffered his losses. If we go to fight Nanjing, King of Yan Lu will not fight with us. If it fails, Nanjing will never dare to think about it!" When the confidants heard him say this, they all looked disappointed. Nanjing is the richest place in the world. If it can be defeated, how much gold and silver will it take.

Ma Shizhong laughed and scolded: "Donkey ball! Let's defeat Chuzhou first! You can recruit more people with money and food. When we recruit 100,000 people, we dare to go to Nanjing without saying that we dare to go there!"

The rolling dragon smiled and said, "Let's listen to my brother, and we will capture Chuzhou first! I'll go to the city to see. These grandsons have not broken the city when they attacked twice. I'll go to the front to fight the formation. This time I will definitely break the city. Brother, wait for good news!" After saying that, he drank the wine in the bowl, quickly stepped out of the big tent, and led his personal soldiers to the city.

Ma Shizhong was drunk and cursed, "You donkeys! Get out of here! Send the horse to the back road to take a look, don't just visit the front, and ask others to take the back road!" After that, Ma Shizhong got up and went to the back tent with a smell of alcohol. Everyone had a silver look on their faces, exchanged their eyes, and they also got up and went out of the tent to go to the city.

In the arrow tower at the top of Chuzhou city, the prefect Xu Zhiyuan was observing the bandit camp under the city through the arrow window. Tongzhi Wang Renyuan and Tongzhi Zhao Yuzhi sat in the chair with a blank expression.

The guard Dong Qigao walked in quickly, and the long sword in his hand was still covered with blood. This time, the troops guarding the city were mainly one thousand officials under his command, the yamen runners of the government office, the guards of the wealthy families in the city, and the young and strong people in the city as their auxiliary.

Dong Qigao turned his sword and bowed to Xu Zhiyuan: "Sir, the bandits retreat temporarily. This is the second time that the bandits have siege. The casualties of the men of Beiyi have exceeded 200, and the casualties of the people are even greater. Everyone is already panic. Beiyi has just killed a civilian who escaped in the battle, and then stabilized the morale of the army. If the bandits attacked a few more times, it is probably difficult to protect the city!"

Xu Zhiyuan slowly turned around and said with a calm expression: "I know, the thief is powerful, and the city is expected to be broken. Dong has worked hard for the garrison. I should have asked the court for you to ask for me. Unfortunately, hehe, when the city is broken, it is time for us to die!"

When Wang Renyuan and Zhao Yuzhi heard this, their expressions were suddenly tragic. Dong Qigao replied solemnly: "Eat the king's fortune and loyalty to the king. Huizen has the intention to die, but our family members will also die with the city. I really can't bear it! Why don't you have the rest of your strength to send people to Nanjing while you are escorting your relatives to Nanjing, so as to leave some blood and blood!"

Wang and Zhao were so energetic when they heard this. Wang Renyuan stood up and bowed and said, "Master, Dong Shoubei is right. As a minister of the Ming Dynasty, we are responsible for guarding the territory and have no face to live in the world. But the relatives in the family are indeed innocent. The young master of the adult is smart and sensible. He can write a poem at the age of seven and can write poems at the age of nine. He will definitely be a great talent in the future: if he dies, wouldn't it be a pity for people to lose his life!"

Zhao Yuzhi also nodded in agreement, and the three of them looked at Xu Zhiyuan with anticipation.

Xu Zhiyuan was stunned for a moment, and his son Xu Wen's cute face appeared in his mind. His wife gave birth to four children for him, the first three were daughters. It was not until ten years ago that Mrs. Xu gave birth to this son at the age of 40. For the ancients who were generally short-lived, she could call herself an old man at the age of forty. She was very happy to have a son when she was young. She loved her son very much since she was a child, but her son was extremely smart and had already enlightened at the age of five. Xu Zhiyuan personally taught him during his official duties. Under the education of his Jinshi father, Xu Wen had far surpassed his peers' age, and everyone praised him as a child prodigy.

Seeing that his only bloodline inheritance was about to go to the underworld with his own life, Xu Zhiyuan was reluctant to do so. He sighed: "Since the rebels and other thieves have been invaded by countless prefectures and counties, countless colleagues have been martyred by their families. If we break the convention, we may not be tolerated by the court!"

Zhao Yuzhi said with tears in his eyes: "The Lord and the lower officials have already had the intention to die, but when they think that the closest relatives will suffer this misfortune, they are really like a knife. Lord, the court has no regulations to allow their families to escape. Please think twice!"

Wang Renyuan continued: "Sir, why not just send our children out of the city, and the rest of us will die with us. What if the Lord wants?"

Dong Qigao agreed: "What Lord Wang said is reasonable, and it is difficult for us to go there for the most part, but we must leave some blood. Please make a decision quickly! The thief will soon attack the city again!"

As if he wanted to verify his words, the treacherous thieves that had been temporarily calm rose again. Several people hurried to the arrow window to watch. The treacherous people had gathered together and rushed towards the city walls with shouts.

Dong Qi said anxiously: "The thief is coming fiercely, and it is difficult to resist. Please make a decision quickly!"

Xu Zhiyuan sighed and said, "According to what you said just now, Dong Shoujie, we will entrust our blood to you!"

Wang and Zhao were happy to see each other, and Dong Qi bowed: "I will arrange the manpower to protect the relatives of the adults from leaving the city!" After that, he hurriedly left the Arrow Tower.

Xu Zhiyuan walked out and said loudly: "The affairs after his death are ready, and we will kill the thief when we go into battle!"

Wang Renyuan and Zhao Yuzhi hurriedly followed him, and several people walked out of the arrow tower to the wide corridor of the city wall. Several soldiers guarding at the door were guarding the side with long swords. Xu Zhiyuan stood firm, looked at the crowd of officers, soldiers and civilians on the top of the city, and shouted loudly: "I am the prefect of Chuzhou! I will kill the enemy side by side with you today! I vow to live and die with Chuzhou!"

After saying that, he grabbed a knife from an officer and soldier beside him, and walked towards the battlement with his head held high.

Wang Renyuan and Zhao Yuzhi did not say anything, but also took a knife in his hand and moved closer to Xu Zhiyuan. Since his worries were gone, he would die in battle today to repay the court's kindness!
Chapter completed!