Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 180 Blow open the city gate

When Hong Chengchou received the news, he was stunned. He had never heard of such a tactic before, but from what the messenger reported, it was an effective way to break the city. Hong Chengchou secretly decided that once the war was over, he would report this method to the court.

Upon hearing that Meng's army was digging at the city gate again, Hong Chengchou stood up in shock and quickly issued orders to block the city gate urgently and not let Meng's army blow through the gate.

As the military order was urgently issued, teams of Qing troops rushed to various parts of the city. Any house with stone slabs or steps was forcibly removed and transported to Jinchuan Gate.

Even the Qian Mansion, which had insisted on opening the city and surrendering, was forced into the mansion by the Qing army and dismantled everywhere. Qian Qianyi looked at the mess of his house being dismantled with tears in his eyes, but he did not dare to stop it and could only sigh helplessly. Liu Rushi, on the other hand, had shining eyes and was excited. She kept praying that the army could break into the city and recapture the Southern Capital.

Even the stone steps at the entrance of Yuhuchun Teahouse were removed and taken away. As for Lu Ping in Jiangning City, he had returned to his small teahouse. After Liu Guquan's careful investigation, Lu Ping learned that his identity was not exposed, but Mao Xiang and Wu Weiye had been sent to Beijing by Hong Chengchou, and Lu Ping's only mission target in Jiangning City was gone.

Since he had not been exposed, Liu Guquan was eager to make some moves. The Intelligence Department had sixty skilled fighters in Jiangning City. If they could cooperate inside and outside to open the city gate, Liu Guquan would have made a great contribution. However, Liu Guquan also knew that it was a pipe dream to open the city gate with only these people.

But the army was just outside the city. If he could help the commander-in-chief to break the city, it would be a tremendous achievement. Liu Guquan was itching to do it, but he couldn't make up his mind. In just two days, the already thin Liu Guquan became even thinner, his cheeks were fleshless, and his cheekbones became more prominent.

As for Lu Ping, he could only sigh and then silently reopened the shop door.

However, although the store was still open, business was not as good as before. The whole day passed with almost no customers in the store.

Lu Ping looked at the empty shops and couldn't help but sigh: "Alas, with the war going on, why don't people even have the mood to drink tea?"

Lu Ping shook his head and picked up a rag to wipe the dust everywhere. At this time, Fang, the shopkeeper from the next door shop, came in and asked curiously, "Shopkeeper Lu, why haven't you opened the shop in the past two days? Many customers have been asking about you."

"Oh, don't mention it. We are at war now. We have to think of a way to escape from the city. Who knows? Even money may not work," Lu Ping said casually.

Shopkeeper Fang smiled smugly upon hearing this, and said in a mocking tone: "Shopkeeper Lu, your business is OK, but when it comes to connections in Jiangning City, you are far worse than me."

Lu Ping was stunned, thinking: "You are a shoe seller, what connections do you have? Why are you bragging in front of me?" Then Lu Ping nodded perfunctorily and said: "Yeah, yeah, great, great."

Seeing Lu Ping's disdainful expression, Shopkeeper Fang said angrily: "Believe it or not, if you want to leave the city at this time, forget it."

After saying this, Shopkeeper Fang was about to leave. At this moment, Lu Ping suddenly had an idea and hurriedly pulled Shopkeeper Fang's sleeve, saying with a smile: "Oh, Shopkeeper Fang, it just so happens that there is nothing important to do. Come on, I'll make a pot of good tea, please taste it."

Seeing Lu Ping's good attitude, Shopkeeper Fang smiled proudly and sat down. As the pot of tea brewed, Lu Ping felt a little pain in his heart. This was really good tea. Shopkeeper Fang took a sip, said "hmm", and praised: "Not bad, not bad, Shopkeeper Lu didn't lie to me, it's really good tea"

"That's right. I would never fool Manager Fang. By the way, the way Manager Fang talked about is real." Although there was no one else in the store, Lu Ping couldn't help but lower his voice when he spoke the rest.

Shopkeeper Fang tapped the table with one hand and whispered, "Of course I have the means."

Lu Ping asked: "What way?"

"You don't need to know the way, Shopkeeper Lu just needs to know the price."

"Then how do you calculate the price?"

"Two hundred taels per person," said Shopkeeper Fang, and he stretched out two fingers and flipped them in front of Lu Ping's eyes.

"So expensive!!" Lu Ping's hand trembled, and the tea splashed onto Shopkeeper Fang's hand.

Shopkeeper Fang cried out in pain, then shook his hands and said unhappily, "This is the price, no bargaining."

Lu Ping thought for a moment and asked, "If there are many people, can it be cheaper?"

"A lot of people? How many people... How about this, if there are ten people, I can reduce the price by three taels of silver per person." Shopkeeper Fang was delighted at first, then he calculated in his mind and spoke.

"It's only three taels cheaper, Shopkeeper Fang. We are all neighbors, so don't make too much money."

Upon hearing this, Shopkeeper Fang said anxiously, "Nonsense! This requires a lot of scheming and sharing of profits among the various levels. I really don't make much. Besides, life is so precious, how can it be measured by such vulgar things?"

Lu Ping nodded first, then asked with some concern: "There are more than ten of us who want to leave the city. This is a huge sum of more than two thousand taels. What if you run away with the money?"

Shopkeeper Fang hesitated for a moment, but still said: "My cousin is a captain of Dinghuai Gate. I can only tell you this much. If you want to leave, you have to leave as soon as possible. If the army outside the city surrounds Dinghuai Gate, I will be helpless."

"Then when do we leave? Is there a fixed time?" Lu Ping asked.

"Of course there are. You can leave the city at 3:00 p.m. late at night."

"Manager Fang, are we going to open the city gate and go out?" Lu Ping asked again.

At this time, Shopkeeper Fang couldn't stand it anymore and replied angrily: "Why do you have so many questions? Anyway, isn't it enough to let you out of the city?" Finally, he couldn't help but said: "The city gate must not be opened. Pull the basket from the top of the city and let them down one by one."

Lu Ping nodded thoughtfully, and finally couldn't help asking: "Hey, Manager Fang, since you have this way, why don't you leave the city?"

Shopkeeper Fang hesitated for a long time, and finally said: "It's too expensive, I can't bear it."

Lu Ping was speechless when he heard this: "............ So your life can be measured by mundane things?"

Outside Jinchuan Gate.

At this moment, the sky was dim, and Meng Jun prayed silently, hoping that this time he would succeed. Meng Jun and the generals stared at the closed city gate, their hearts filled with tension and expectation.

Several gunpowder boxes were placed next to the city gate. This time, more gunpowder was used than before. As the seal line was ignited, a roar sounded instantly, as if the whole city was shaken.

The huge force of the explosion made the city gate sway and creak. Finally, under the expectant gaze of the generals, the city gate slowly fell down, raising a cloud of dust. This spectacular scene made everyone hold their breath and witness the moment of history with wide eyes.

But as the smoke dissipated, one could see that behind the city gate, pieces of stone were piled up at the city gate, and the entire city gate was tightly blocked.

Qian Biao yelled angrily: "Damn it, I'm so mad!"

The generals looked at the scene behind the city gate and couldn't help feeling discouraged. Meng Jun whipped his horse whip hard and said in a cold voice: "Sound the horn, withdraw the troops and return to the camp!"