Since the deputy general of Shenji Camp was captured from the city, the camp was under the responsibility of the governor Song Shouren.

But Song Shouren is nearly 60 years old and is weak and sick. He has only been in the camp for more than ten days a year. How can he bear this critical moment? How can he count on him?

Helplessly, the Duke of Wei, who was admiring Cao Jiang, ordered the guerrilla Ma Kui to temporarily take charge of the camp.

After Ma Kui was ordered, he led his troops outside Shangfangmen to garrison under the order of Duke of Wei.

There were more than a thousand soldiers in his army, but most of them were temporarily transferred, which was not as good as the troops brought out of the city by deputy general Li Zhaoji. Therefore, during the confrontation with Wei Yin and horses opposite Shangfang Bridge these days, Ma Kui was always worried, fearing that Wei Yin and horses on the opposite side could not attack the bridge.

Fortunately, Wei Yan's soldiers looked elite, but they did not dare to provoke without authorization. They only criticized Shen Ji and the Second Police Battalion on the grounds of the disappearance of the soldiers, but they always bluffed and did not dare to take any action.

Over time, everyone in Shenji Camp knew that this battle could not be fought. After all, this was Nanjing City, not Liyang County. No matter how arrogant and arrogant the eunuch Wei was, he would not dare to do anything in the Ming Dynasty.

Tonight, the water and land model barracks suddenly entered Shangfangmen, which greatly increased the confidence of the Shenji and the Second Police Battalion outside the city.

Everyone was waiting to see tomorrow's jokes. How could Wei Yan dare to come into the city? If he just retreated back to Liyang in a dirt, there would be jokes in the Nandu city.

Ma Kui was in his prime and was a close confidant of Duke Wei. He was ordered to do so and did not dare to be slackened at all. He kept patrolling the camp in the first half of the night.

Around the second hour of the hour, the soldiers guarding the camp suddenly came to report that the deputy general had returned.

Ma Kui was so shocked that he didn't come back to his senses for a long time: Didn't the deputy general ask Wei Yan to capture him? Why did he come back?

Soon, Ma Kui, who was confused, met Deputy General Lee Ka-ki.

The deputy general looked very embarrassed, with ragged clothes and fluffy hair. He led six or seven people like Fengyang beggars singing the falling lotus, and he was stunned at Ma Kui at first glance.

Not to mention that Ma Kui was stunned, the soldiers guarding the camp were stunned. They really didn't recognize him at first, and almost drove him away as beggars.

The news of the deputy general's return quickly spread throughout the military camp. The officers in the camp arrived one after another, looking at the deputy general who looked listless, as if he hadn't had eaten for many days, the officers were also stunned.

"What a fool, let me get some food first!"

The deputy general didn't bother to talk to his subordinates. He was really hungry. After eating it, he became a little energetic. Then he talked to his subordinates with a look of grief and anger to tell him how he died.

"It's all Zhu Guozhi who sold me, otherwise how could I be defeated so badly!" The deputy general gritted his teeth.

The person who came back with the deputy general, said one thing, and I said indignantly that Zhu Guozhi, the general of Shenwu Camp, colluded with eunuch Wei, and how he designed to lure them, causing them to be wiped out.

After hearing this, the officers knew what happened. They were all in the camp that day. Many people only learned from recent rumors that the deputy general led his troops out of the city to "suppress" Eunuch Wei, otherwise they would not know what had happened at all.

Regarding how the deputy general was defeated, I only heard the soldiers of the Duke of Wei who fled back, but I didn’t know the details. I only knew that I was suddenly caught and then suffered a complete defeat. Then, what happened these days.

Now that he heard what the deputy general said in person, everyone realized that it was Shenwu Camp who betrayed them.

The officers hated each other and cursed each other, wishing they could settle the score with Zhu Guozhi and the people from Shenwu Camp now.

Just think about it, if no one betrayed, the deputy generals would be the elite troops in the camp and all had weapons and equipment. Even if they were defeated by the eunuch Wei, they would not be wiped out.

Just as everyone scolded Zhu Guozhi, Ma Kui thought of a question. He hesitated and asked the deputy general how he escaped.

"Why are you running away?" The deputy general said angrily, "I asked Eunuch Wei to release it back!"

"Put back?!"

Ma Kui was shocked when he heard this. Everyone was stunned when the rest of the officers heard this. Wang Qing, the camp officer, and Jiang Wei, the guards, secretly looked at the deputy general, with a little respect. Only the people around him stared at the deputy general, and no one noticed this scene.

"Sir, Eunuch Wei is so kind to let you go back?"

Ma Kui couldn't figure it out. Eunuch Wei was yelling every day to ask the nobles in the city to redeem people with money. How could such a greedy person be so kind-hearted and let others go for nothing?

The deputy general sniffed: "Eunuch Wei has a good intention. He wants me to collect money to redeem people when he comes back."

"Gather money to redeem people?" Ma Kui was stunned again.

"If you don't raise money, then brother Qianzhezi will not want it?"

The deputy general was a little annoyed, and patted the table and asked his subordinates: "I will ask you now, brothers, do you want it?"

“…”

No one dares to say no.

But how to redeem?

The deputy general was very pleased and said that he had thought about it on the way, and after he came back, he asked everyone in the camp to raise money to redeem the people. The one who is an official and a soldier must redeem the people no matter what.

It basically means that even if you have money, you have to pay.

After hearing this, the officers kept silent. Look at me, I look at you.

Ma Kui frowned and said, "Sir, how much money does it cost to redeem people?"

"Not much, tens of thousands of taels."

As soon as the deputy general finished speaking, he saw that his subordinates' faces turned green.

"Where are you asking me to go and get more than 100,000 taels?" Ma Kui was the first to object, "Sir, it's not that I'm not willing to save people. It's really because of the fact that there are old people and young people, who has the money to get it."

"We can't make up so much money, even if we can't make up, we can't give it. At worst, we can just grab the people back!" A sad and depressed man always muttered behind him.

"Snatch it back?"

A Qiang general who came back with the deputy general yelled and scolded the man and shouted: "Qin Si, there are thousands of people under Wei Yin's men, and we can't beat them. Why can you steal the man back?"

When the officers heard this, the officers were suddenly relieved.

"That may not be."

Ma Kui thought about it, leaned forward and said, "Sir, from me, there are not so many people on the other side of Wei Yan at all. He is just bluffing."

The deputy general glanced at Ma Kui and asked him, "What do you mean?"

"Sir, I think there are really thousands of people on the other side. How much food and grass should I consume every day? How much supplies do I need? This is only connected to Liyang by land. Have you ever seen a large brigade of mules and horses on the road? I have seen these days that there are no food transport vehicles on the road... So, I think that the soldiers on the opposite side will not exceed two thousand, and I will not stay for long and have to retreat by myself, otherwise I will starve them to death."

"If they don't transport grain, can't they buy grain?"

"There are really thousands of people, just relying on temporary purchase of grain, how much can I buy and how long can I support it."

“Um…”

The deputy general thought carefully and seemed to be so reasonable.

Mr. Qian, who came back with him, sneered and said to Ma Kui: "Wei Yan really hasn't many people, how could we lose so badly?"

"Didn't you just say that it was Zhu Guozhi of Shenwu Camp who sold you. If you were not prepared, this was Wei Yin's army successfully attacked."

Ma Kui's analysis makes some sense.

As soon as he finished speaking, Qin Si’s eyes suddenly lit up behind him and shouted, “Yes, sir, why don’t we attack them too? Maybe we can really save the brothers, which will save a lot of money!…”

"Well..."

The deputy general was slightly moved, quite as if he was moved. He pondered for a moment, but asked everyone to go out and he wanted to think about it very much.

The deputy general really has to think about this matter. It is a big move to take the initiative to attack Wei Yin, and it is not something that the deputy general can decide. He may have to ask the Duke of Wei and others for instructions.

After Ma Kui came out, he was a little worried and wanted to send someone to inform Duke Wei and Longping Hou of the matter. However, the city gate was closed at this time. If he sent someone to knock on the door, it would inevitably make the deputy general unhappy, so he suppressed this idea and entered the city before dawn to notify him.

…………

It was already Yin, and it was quiet outside Shangfang Gate. The air was filled with the smell of the Qinhuai River and the wetlands in the distance, which smelled very fresh.

Due to the fact that the troops stationed outside Shangfangmen were stationed, the merchants and people who had entered the city from here would definitely not dare to leave it here anymore. Therefore, the city was not as dark as before, even if it was dark, it was crowded with people.

Although it was still dark, it was less than half an hour before dawn. It only started to fog in the first half of the night. Although the fog was not too big, it was not clear even if it was ten feet apart.

Fortunately, when you look down from the city, you can still see clearly on Shangfang Bridge, but you can't see thoroughly on the camp of the eunuch Wei's army.

After staying up all night, the officers and soldiers of the Water and Land Model Battalion who had just been transferred to guard the city last night were all sleepy. Many people were lying on the chassis and dozing, but whenever there was any movement in their ears, they woke up immediately and looked around vigilantly.

Compared with the water and land model camps on the city, the quality of the officers and soldiers stationed at the city and the second patrol battalion of the police are obviously inferior.

There was a snoring sound in the camp, and the officers and soldiers watching outside the camp were yawning.

Most of them either hold spears or muskets and doze on the fence. Some people find a corner to lay a layer of hay and clothes and go to bed.

It’s okay if you sleep lightly, but you can still tell if you have any movement. If you sleep deeply, you may not wake up even if someone comes over and kicks it.

Perhaps because they knew that Eunuch Wei was bluffing and scaring people, the officers could come out to check the post in the first half of the night, but none of them came out in the second half of the night.

Although spring is coming in this February, people can still freeze to death at night.

In the distance, there was a faint sound of rooster crowing. Looking at it, it was almost dawn.

Two soldiers from the patrol battalion who placed the muskets aside on the wooden fence handed their hands in their sleeves, sometimes stomped their feet and pulled out their hands to heat up, or covered their ears.

"This dog-good eunuch Wei has caused us to suffer."

A soldier covered his ears and cursed. If this eunuch Wei hadn't caused trouble, he would have to have his wife in bed, so how could he endure such hardship?

"It's just today. The water and land model barracks came over. He heard from the above that the inner garrison father-in-law had spoken. If Eunuch Wei dared to do something wrong, he would come forward to deal with him."

The soldier who spoke was named Wang San, who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was not valued this time, and he was not allowed to find someone to take him. He would rather spend a hundred copper coins to hire someone to stand for him for two days, and would not be willing to live here and suffer.

"The evil people are rubbed by evil people, and the eunuch is treated by eunuchs. You know the eggless thing all day long, and you don't see where it is. At that time, Taizu-hsiung did he dare to make such a noise? It would be strange if Taizu-hsiung doesn't peel him!"

The soldier had a sigh of relief, and turned his head and looked at Shangfang Bridge not far away. Seeing that there was still nothing on the bridge, he turned around and asked Wang San: "It's worth waiting, are you going?"

"Well, go to bed, come and look at it at noon..."

Wang San nodded. His house was behind Shangfang Gate. While he was talking, he heard a "whoosh" roar suddenly sounded across the bridge, and then there were a few more roars.

The two of them were startled by the screaming scream, and they turned their heads and looked up at the bridge.
To be continued...