My God, I am the emperor, the lord of mankind.

Chapter 72 Yongding River
The boatman replied quietly.

The old man on board was much older than expected.

His beard was gray and messy, and his skin was covered with scars from wind, sun, and battles.

His outfit was completely soaked by the heavy rain just now, and he looked particularly embarrassed.

While the old man was shivering in the boat against the river wind, a pot of strong wine and a bamboo hat were handed to him.

The old man raised his head to say thank you.

Zhu Houcong shook his head and said no.

"How old is this old man!"

The old man poured a sip of strong wine down his throat, feeling a surge of heat, and he felt that his frozen body was feeling better.

"I was born in the 22nd year of Yongle. Counting the days, I am already 97 this year!"

He rubbed his frozen hands to let the blood flow.

He held his fists and thanked Zhu Houcong again.

"Thanks to this little brother for his strong drink, I can save my life!"

"The ancients said that it is a blessing to live a hundred years. My father-in-law is not enjoying family happiness at home, so why do you come here?"

Qiu Luan asked at the side. The old man smiled bitterly when he heard this. He looked at Qiu Luan's fair face and exquisite clothes. He must be another wealthy young man who doesn't know the sufferings of the world, and answered.

"My ancestors followed Taizu in the Northern Expedition. The whole family settled in the north with the army and were enrolled in the military. Since Yongle, the imperial court has no plan to conquer and the war is never-ending. I originally had three sons. The eldest son was drafted into the army during the Xuande period and died in Annan. The second child, Chenghua, enlisted in the army and died in Jianzhou. The third child served as a corvee during the Hongzhi period and accompanied the army to conquer the southwest. Since then, there has been no news——"

The defeat of Xuande's Ming army in Annan and the loss of all the territory acquired during the Yongle period were an eternal pain in the Ming court's heart.

Chenghua Liting, coupled with the crusade against Mongolia, Miao chaos in the southwest... Chenghua Hongzhi was also in chaos.

"The two grandsons left by the eldest son died in Luchuan during the Chenghua period, and the second son's only son died during the Japanese suppression campaign in Zhejiang. No bones were left... Only the two grandsons left by the third son were tortured and crowded among the ancestors. The old man and I lived together in a dilapidated house assigned by the guard."

"And after successive wars, the war in all directions of the imperial court has not stopped. There are Tatars in the north, Japanese pirates in the south, southwestern chieftains in the west and Jurchens invading the border in the east. The imperial conscription order has become more and more stringent. In order to let the two of me If Xiaosun is not taken away, I can only continue to fight with the army. In the past ten years, Hongzhi has quelled the Miao rebellion, Zhengde conquered the northwest in the early years, conquered Henan in the middle of the year, and later the Tatars invaded, King Ning rebelled, and the White Lotus Sect There is chaos in Fujian... I am running around with the army, how can I have free time to enjoy the so-called family happiness of this young master?"

Listening to the old man talking about his experience, Zhu Houcong and others were silent.

The people most harmed by war are always ordinary people.

The atmosphere suddenly fell silent.

At this time, the boatman, who had been silent since the old man boarded the boat, suddenly spoke when he saw the atmosphere was gloomy.

"The water in the river is strong! The boat is moving slowly! Why don't you let me tell you a story to entertain you!"

The fog on the river got thicker and thicker at some point.

The voices of passengers crossing the river in the distance disappeared, leaving only silence.

Wang Meng subconsciously held the handle of the knife.

Qiu Luan also realized something was wrong.

Through the fog, Qiu Luan suddenly noticed something flashing under the boat.

That thing is extremely fast.

Qiu Luan had no time to see its appearance clearly, leaving only a huge black shadow flashing before his eyes.

Just as he was about to remind Zhu Houcong about the underwater things, he heard the emperor sitting on the bow of the boat reply with great interest.

"Okay! Please ask the boatman to explain it in detail!"

-

According to legend, during the Zhengtong period.

There is a small fishing village called Wangjia Village by the Yongding River.

There is a family in the village. The male owner is named Wang Jinzhong, and his wife is Mengshi. They are both locals.

Most of the people in the village are military households, and they live on the land and military pay allocated by the ancestral guards.

In the 14th year of the Zhengtong reign, Emperor Yingzong heard that Wala was invading, so he led his army to conquer it personally.

Wangjia Village also welcomed a group of Ming army cavalry with bright armor, who replenished supplies and asked about the road.

They claimed to be soldiers under Yang Hong, the commander-in-chief of Datong, and showed the edict and token issued by the Ministry of War asking them to reinforce the emperor. They heard that the emperor and the Oara army were facing a confrontation on the front line, so they went to reinforce the emperor.

Because the Beijing army led by Emperor Yingzong had just passed through this place, they came to ask the locals for directions and look for a guide.

The ancestor of this king was a soldier who followed Taizu in the Northern Expedition, and he had been loyal to the Ming court since he was a child.

As soon as he heard that they were going north to reinforce the emperor's army to fight against the Tatars, he volunteered and led these soldiers from Datong as a guide to chase the army of Emperor Yingzong.

The vanguard took Wang Jinzhong and set off first, while the rest collected supplies in the village and then followed.Along the way, he inquired about the news of this army. When he learned that the leader of the army was Yang Junzhi, the son of Yang Hong, the commander-in-chief of the Xuanfu, his last doubts were dispelled.

He noticed that in the center of the army, a huge coffin was carried in a carriage drawn by six horses.

Wang Jinzhong asked curiously, but Yang Jun smiled and remained silent.

Wang Jinzhong didn't ask again. He had a vague feeling that there was something wrong with this army, but the edicts and military symbols were all available. He didn't think much about it, but he was particularly uneasy at this time. He just wanted to complete the mission quickly and return to his hometown.

Until that day, the first day of September in the 14th year of Orthodoxy, outside Tumu Fort.

He finally knew what the large coffin, which was made of pure iron and painted black, was for.

Yang Jun deceived the camp gate of Tumu Fort, and cooperated with the Ming army who suddenly turned against the enemy and the endless Oala Tuqi who suddenly appeared around him.

Thousands of evil spirits poured out of the coffin, and the Ming army was caught off guard and rushed directly into the Chinese army's tent where Yingzong and the civil and military ministers were.

Beside Yingzong, all the civil and military attendants, monks and Taoists were devoured.

The Tianshi Mansion Tianshi and the Zen Master of the Pure Land Sect broke out on the spot and just sent Emperor Yingzong to escape.

At this time, Yingzong realized that his real enemy was not outside the wall, but in the rear area that he thought was stable, in the prosperous and prosperous capital that the heroes of the world yearned for.

While Yingzong was still sketching out his blueprint for restoring the rule of Hongwu and Yongle, the conspiracy behind it had already quietly emerged.

One hundred thousand soldiers were devoured by the evil spirits, their bones were broken and their marrow was sucked out, leaving only bones on the ground.

I don't know what method he used, but Wang Jinzhong finally escaped with a narrow escape.

However, the familiar location of Wangjiazhuang now only remains a burned-out ruins.

It turned out that after Wang Jinzhong left with the forward just now, he was trying to cover up his whereabouts.

The Ming army participating in the rebellion immediately began massacring villages and setting fires.

More than [-] people in Wangjia Village were wiped out overnight.

Later, in order to find out the truth at that time, some Ming Dynasty officials who led troops to the capital to rescue him found the surviving Wang Jinzhong.

However, he could only leave an unclear record in his "Northern Envoy Record".

"Ye Xian was surrounded by men and horses, and there was a big battle. The army turned against each other and trampled each other. The bandits slaughtered them wantonly and invited them to stay."

This person's name is Li Shi, a native of Hezhou, Sichuan.He was a Jinshi in the seventh year of Zhengtong (1442). In the 15th year of Zhengtong, he was ordered by the court to recruit [-] troops in Huai'an and Yangzhou, and went to Beijing to respond to the situation and relieve the court in the capital!

……

The boatman on the boat told this story vividly and vividly, which was difficult to distinguish between true and false.

Zhu Houcong listened very seriously, while the old soldier sitting next to Zhu Houcong had a calm expression.

Wang Meng Qiu Luan on the side looked at the thickening fog around him and the looming black shadows in the fog. He was so nervous that he seemed to draw his sword at the next moment.

"no yet?"

Zhu Houcong asked with unfinished meaning.

"The story of Wang Jinzhong is over, but there are still a few rumors about his death that are not true or false."

The boatman's face was shrouded in mist. He chuckled lightly and glanced at the old soldier beside Zhu Houcong intentionally or unintentionally.

"It is said that after seeing off Li Shi that day, Wang Jinzhong received a letter from the capital."

"Is it a letter from someone from Beijing threatening him?"

Zhu Houcong asked.

And the boatman shook his head.

"it's not true."

"That was a letter sent by his son who was guarding the capital. It said that under the leadership of the imperial court, they successfully defended the capital and repelled the invasion of Oara."

"Of course, he also repelled the former emperor who carried the anger of revenge and tried to return to Beijing to completely liquidate his enemies."

"After Wang Jinzhong received the letter, he thought of the innocent souls of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the Tumu Fort. He was so ashamed that he took his wife's clothes and jumped into the river that night and committed suicide. This is the Yongding River under your feet now."

The old soldier trembled when he heard this.

He stared at the river at his feet as if he had been struck by lightning, and burst into tears at some point.

But Zhu Houcong smiled at this time.

The laughter echoed on the Yongding River, which was full of ghosts in the heavy fog, and seemed particularly loud on the silent river surface.

(End of this chapter)