Chapter 795 Untitled!

Kangyin, three o'clock in the morning
Although it was the most difficult time, the soldiers of the Zhennan Army on the wall of Kangyin City still did not dare to relax and looked at the situation outside the city nervously...

Just an hour ago, Zhao Jiye, who had just been transferred to Kangyin as the general, came to the city wall for inspection. Because he did not greet anyone before coming, he saw three sentries on duty dozing off. Zhao Jiye directly brought them to justice, and their bloody heads were now hanging on the city gate.

The appearance of these three heads immediately chilled the hearts of the other soldiers on duty. The fear of death made them dare not slack off.

For some reason this winter is particularly cold. Even in the Huainan area in the evenings near November, the biting cold is unbearable.

Under the attack of the cold night wind, an old soldier who looked somewhat old leaned against the battlement and sat down.

Seeing this old soldier sitting down, a young soldier who was still childish whispered a reminder:

"Uncle Zhao, why are you sitting down? If those officials see you, they will punish you!"

Hearing the young soldier's reminder, the old soldier chuckled and said:
"Da Zhuang, you are such an honest boy! What do you think those officials are like? Why are they standing guard here in the middle of the night without sleeping?"

“It’s more than enough for them to come up here tonight. They must be sleeping soundly in their room now. Maybe there’s a woman warming their bed…”

Hearing the old soldier say the word "woman", a little longing appeared in the eyes of the young soldier Da Zhuang. At this moment, the old soldier carefully took out a wine bag, opened the cork and took a sip with great anticipation.

Even though it was the cheapest shaodaozi in the tavern, and it was diluted with water, the old soldier still had a happy expression on his face.

In this age when human life is as cheap as grass, for a soldier like him at the bottom of the army, being able to drink a sip of such wine to warm his body on a cold night is already a rare enjoyment.

After enjoying the stimulation brought by the wine, the old soldier looked up at the young soldier Da Zhuang who was shivering in the cold wind. He hesitated for a moment but still handed the wine bag to him and said:

"Just give me a small sip! Don't drink too much!"

Looking at the wine bag handed over by the old soldier, Da Zhuang knew that it was a good thing. He took a sip without any hesitation, then returned the wine bag to the old soldier, wiped the wine stains from his mouth, and lowered his head embarrassedly.

The old soldier who took back the wine bag weighed it and felt that there was only a small amount of wine left in it. He couldn't help but cursed with some heartache:

“You little brat, I told you to only drink a small sip, but you almost drank it all in one gulp. Next time I won’t let you drink…”

Listening to the old soldier's words, Da Zhuang preached very seriously:

"Uncle Zhao, when I have money in the future, I will treat you to a meal at a restaurant and give you a jar of Shaodaozi, the kind without water!"

The old soldier said with some disdain:
"When you have enough money, even a sow can climb a tree. You can still survive this battle before you talk about other things!"

Facing the old soldier's scolding, Da Zhuang scratched his head. Then the young man seemed to have thought of something and asked curiously:

"Uncle Zhao, I'm tired and sleepy from being on duty tonight. Why are you so eager to do this job?"

As soon as these words came out, the old soldier slapped Da Zhuang on the head and cursed:
"Are you a blockhead?"

"Although it's cold and tiring to be on duty, we can go back to sleep during the day. The Fengwu Army's cannons are so powerful, can't you see it? A cannonball can make a big hole in the wall of Kangyin. If it hits your head, you will meet your father directly!"

Hearing the old soldier mention his father, Da Zhuang was a little depressed. Seeing this, the old soldier patted his head again and said:

“I told you, kid, these people in the Fengwu Army are a bunch of lunatics. They are not afraid of death and dare to fight to the death. The last time your father and I went to Hebei and Henan, we were beaten back by this group of people. Tens of thousands of people were beaten and fled for their lives, abandoning their weapons and armor. I will never forget that scene…”

"I was shot by their muskets. I thought I was going to die, but your father pulled me and saved me. But it was fate. Your father didn't die at the hands of the Fengwu Army. He died from a snake bite while escaping!"

"I heard that the Fengwu Army treated prisoners quite well. Although they had to work, they would be fed and released. We are now feeding rabbits with porridge and wild vegetables all day long. If your father and I hadn't run away and were caught by the Fengwu Army, maybe your father would have survived!"

At this point, the old soldier became very depressed, and simply opened the cork and drank the last gulp of wine left in the wine bag.

Just as the old man and the young boy fell into silence in the cold wind, Da Zhuang suddenly discovered some firelight not far to the east. Seeing this, Da Zhuang quickly reminded the old soldier:
"Uncle Zhao, look to the east, what's going on?"

Hearing Da Zhuang's reminder, the veteran soldier immediately looked towards the east, where he saw flames rising to the sky and shouts of killing in the wind. Seeing this scene, the experienced veteran soldier immediately said in a hurry:

"The Fengwu Army attacked the East Gate at night. It seems that they can't be stopped!"

Da Zhuang was also shocked when he heard this and immediately said:
"What? The Fengwu Army has invaded? Uncle Zhao, let's report it quickly!"

Upon hearing this, the old soldier cursed:

“What news are you reporting? Hurry up and hide with me! If the city gate is lost, Kangyin will not be able to be defended...”

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Yijing, Chen Mansion

"Butler Shen, you should pay me the five days' wages, right?" Zhang Chengzhe said unhappily to Butler Shen in front of him. Hearing Zhang Chengzhe's words, Butler Shen didn't even raise his head and directly threw out a string of copper coins.

In response to this, Zhang Chengzhe could only suppress his anger and count the copper coins one by one. After saying it once, Zhang Chengzhe found that the total of this string of copper coins was only fifty. Then he thought about Butler Shen and said:
"Butler Shen, this money is wrong! I get 15 copper coins a day, and five days' wages should be 75 copper coins. How come you only have 55 copper coins? Where are the remaining 20 copper coins?"

Listening to Zhang Chengzhe's words, Butler Shen slowly raised his head and said:

"Zhang Chengzhe, why are you barking like a dog here?"

"I told you at the beginning that I would give you fifteen copper coins a day, but look at your skills, are you worth fifteen copper coins a day?"

"And how much do you eat every day? Don't you have any idea? Others eat two steamed buns for a meal, but you eat seven. Are you a starving ghost?"

Zhang Chengzhe felt a little guilty when he heard Butler Shen talk about this. He had been practicing martial arts since he was a child and had a strong physique. He was born to eat more than others. In the Chen Mansion, a bricklayer like him, although he had two meals a day, was only given steamed corn bread, and there was no raw meat or meat, and no oil or water, so he ate more steamed corn bread...

Although he felt a little guilty, Zhang Chengzhe still said:

"Butler Shen, you promised to provide me with food and lodging. You can't deduct my wages just because I eat too much."

Butler Shen waved his hand and said:
"Zhang Chengzhe, don't tell me that. I can give you eleven copper coins a day, which is already very kind. If you go to other places, you won't even be paid, let alone given food. You can take these fifty-five copper coins or not. If you don't want them, just leave them here!"

Seeing that Butler Shen started to act like a rogue, Zhang Chengzhe sneered in his heart, then pretended to be angry and glared at Butler Shen, then put the fifty-five copper coins in his arms and walked out of the room without looking back.

Seeing this, Butler Shen lazily preached:
"If Zhang Chengzhe doesn't come back before twilight hour in the evening, I will assume that he has quit!"

After saying that, Butler Shen took out twenty copper coins from the drawer with a satisfied smile on his face. It was quite pleasant to deduct twenty copper coins from Zhang Chengzhe. He knew that this guy Zhang Chengzhe didn't dare to turn against him. He still had to work for another ten days, and then he could deduct another forty copper coins from him. In total, there would be sixty copper coins.

By then, he could take the money and go find Xiao Taohong to have some fun. It was so cool to use other people's money to play with women. Thinking of this, Butler Shen felt very happy...
After walking out of Chen's house and confirming that there were no spies behind him, Zhang Chengzhe came to a grain store. This grain store was a contact point set up by the Coordination Office specifically for Zhang Chengzhe's operation this time, and it only served Zhang Chengzhe.

After seeing Zhang Chengzhe's arrival, the agent from the Unification Coordination Office disguised as a clerk in a grain store immediately hung up a sign announcing the closing of the store.

At this time in the grain store, Sun Taihai, a centurion of the General Coordination Office, was waiting for Zhang Chengzhe. When he saw Zhang Chengzhe appear, he went straight to the point and asked:

"What's the current situation at the Chen Mansion?"

Facing Sun Taihai's question, Zhang Chengzhe also said seriously:
"Lord Sun, there are several people who live in seclusion in Chen Shangye's mansion. I have only met one of them in the past few days, and I have only met him once!"

Hearing this, Sun Taihai became somewhat interested and immediately asked:

"Can you still remember what this person looks like?"

Zhang Chengzhe said:

"This man has a flat nose, triangular eyes, and a half-inch long scar on his left cheek. He looks very ferocious. Judging from the way he walks, I think he must have practiced martial arts and has probably killed someone!"

After Sun Taihai noted down the man's characteristics, he also asked Zhang Chengzhe:
"Have you found any clues about Jiang Kuang?"

Hearing Sun Taihai's question, Zhang Chengzhe shook his head with some regret and said:
“I haven’t found any clues about Jiang Kuang yet…”

Upon hearing this, Sun Taihai's eyes showed a little disappointment. Although the higher-ups decided to play the long game and catch the big fish, the recent performance of the Coordination Office on the intelligence front has been somewhat mediocre.

This led to the fact that even the Marshal knew about Jiang Kuang's affairs. Although the Marshal did not set a deadline to capture Jiang Kuang, as the Fengwu Army's secret service agency, the Coordination Office was still under tremendous pressure.

Therefore, the Coordination Office also hopes to achieve some results as soon as possible to relieve some of the pressure on them. So some people inside think that if they can't find any clues about Jiang Kuang from Chen Shangye, then they might as well arrest him and all the thieves from the Supervisory Office who are related to him. This can also be regarded as an explanation to the higher-ups!
As the person in charge of this case, Sun Taihai did not agree with this idea. He believed that Chen Shangye still had more value to be tapped. If he were to arrest him now, although it would relieve his own pressure in the short term, he would suffer greater losses in the long run.

Although Sun Taihai disagreed, he was only a centurion after all. In the entire power structure of the Coordination Office, he was only a small mid-level leader. He was responsible for how to do it, but it was not his turn to decide whether to do it or not...
Seeing Sun Taihai's slightly disappointed look, Zhang Chengzhe also said:

"Master Sun, although I didn't find any information about Jiang Kuang, I found some clues in other aspects!"

Hearing Zhang Chengzhe say this, Sun Taihai once again held on to a glimmer of hope and asked:
"how do I say this?"

Zhang Chengzhe organized his words and said:

"Sir, I think the reason why the Supervisory Office gave money to Chen Shangye to buy the old house next to the Chen Mansion is probably because they wanted to turn the Chen Mansion and the old house next to it into a warehouse for the Supervisory Office to store gunpowder, armor and other things for the Supervisory Office!"

Hearing the word gunpowder, Sun Taihai immediately became alert and interrupted Zhang Chengzhe to ask seriously:

"Zhang Chengzhe, are you sure the Inspectorate plans to store gunpowder there?"

Faced with such a serious question, Zhang Chengzhe seemed a little hesitant. After a moment, he said:
“Sir, I’m not sure about this, but the new house built by the Chen Mansion has very high requirements for moisture and humidity resistance, so I guess they might be storing gunpowder there. However, I have seen armor and crossbows stored in the Chen Mansion’s house…”

(End of this chapter)