"The old one?" Qiao Keyong, the commander of the Nanjing Embroidered Uniform Guard, was stunned by the question.
He subconsciously wanted to answer that he had kept the old knife at home as a sacrifice.
But the words stopped at his lips.
This is not small talk, nor is it an attempt to get close, but a password to verify identity.
If he says the wrong thing, he will be in an irretrievable situation.
This sentence is not included in the passwords and secret codes commonly used by the Jinyiwei.
He seldom uses it and can't think of it all at once.
In order to buy himself some time to think, Qiao Ke touched his neck and coughed hard a few times to delay time.
While coughing, he cursed himself: "You stupid brain, think quickly!"
"Where is the old one?" the armored soldier asked again.
What was different from before was that this time, the other party put his right hand on the handle of the knife when asking.
Qiao Ke knew he couldn't delay any longer, so he answered with a stiff upper lip: "The old one has been handed in."
The soldier in armor nodded slightly.
Just when Qiao Ke thought he had gotten away with it, the soldier suddenly stepped back five or six steps and shouted behind him, "Come here, there's a spy!"
As soon as the words fell.
Countless soldiers in armor rushed out from the darkness behind him.
They held various long-range and short-range weapons in their hands, and under the light of torches, they exuded a cold and eerie breath of death.
Qiao Ke's expression suddenly changed: "You...what are you going to do? I am the special envoy of His Royal Highness Prince Ding, why don't you put down your weapons immediately."
What he got in response was not an explanation, but an order: "Lay down your weapons and you can still live, otherwise you will die without a burial place."
Qiao Ke held the knife and considered how to resist.
After all, he was the commander of the Nanjing Jinyiwei. Surrendering without a fight would make him lose face.
Before he could think of a solution, the soldiers on the opposite side were already approaching them in neat steps.
The sound of heavy footsteps on the ground, the sound of armor blades colliding with each other, and the sound of bowstrings being drawn taut made Qiao Ke lose the courage to resist.
He sighed, dropped his weapon and chose to surrender.
Seeing this, the Jinyiwei behind him also dropped their weapons and surrendered.
The soldiers rushed over and tied them up.
A moment later, Zhang Rong, the governor of the Eastern Depot, walked up to Qiao Keyong holding a torch.
Zhang Rong stayed in Nanjing for a period of time and met Qiao Keyong.
He patted Qiao Kegong on the shoulder and said, "Qiao Kegong, you are so brave! You actually dared to rebel against His Majesty!"
Qiao Ke lowered his head and answered: "I...I came to the front line under the order of the prince."
With a loud slap, Zhang Rong slapped Qiao Keyou on the face: "Stop throwing dirty water on the prince."
Qiao Ke was hit very hard, but the slap also woke him up.
He realized that he had said the wrong thing and quickly changed his words: "What the admiral reminded me of is that this matter has nothing to do with the prince. It is all Zhu Guobi's fault."
Zhang Rong snorted coldly and ordered to those beside him: "Take them all away and wait for their punishment."
"Yes," the soldiers planned to take them away.
Qiao Ke struggled on the spot and shouted, "Wait a moment, Admiral. I have something to say."
"Wait a moment," Zhang Rong waved his hand to ask the soldiers to stop.
He walked up to Qiao Ke and asked, "What do you want to say?"
Qiao Ke looked up at Zhang Rong, then lowered his head and asked in a pleading tone, "Admiral, I want to know what the second half of that codeword is."
Zhang Rong laughed and shook his head gently: "This is the secret of the Imperial Guards. How can I tell you about it?"
Qiao Ke said with a sad face: "I have been caught by you and cannot reveal the secret. Sir Admiral, please tell me the codeword for the sake of our acquaintance."
Zhang Rong asked: "Is that code word important to you?"
Qiao Ke nodded heavily.
He is an old member of the Jinyiwei and knows everything about the internal affairs of the Jinyiwei.
But until now, he has never remembered that the Jinyiwei had similar code words.
He was arrested because of this code word.
If he doesn't figure this out, he will be unable to sleep or eat.
Zhang Rong smiled and looked at one of his followers, and asked him, "Your sword looks quite new, where is the old one?"
The attendant smiled and replied, "The old one was mortgaged by the Grand Ming Bank."
Qiao Ke opened his mouth in surprise: "That's it?"
Zhang Rong smiled again and said, "There must be more complete secret codes than these. Telling you these is already the best I can do."
Qiao Ke lowered his head helplessly: "Alright, I, Qiao, accept the defeat."
Although Qiao Ke was very curious about other code words, he was just curious.
He is already a prisoner, there is no point in thinking too much.
What Qiao Kekou didn't know was that this was to distinguish the Jinyiwei in Beijing and Nanjing.
Chongzhen wrote many code words himself.
There's no way they could get away with it.
The news that Zhang Rong had captured Qiao Kekou soon reached the front line.
Zhu Cijiong ordered his troops to march without any hesitation.
Zhu Guobi originally wanted to rely on the natural barrier of the Huai River to stop Zhu Cijiong from moving south.
Unfortunately, the Huai River was frozen.
The ice was three feet thick, and the natural barrier became a thoroughfare.
The Record of Northern Travels by Tan Qian, a historian in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, recorded: On the 27th day of the 11th month, Shen Shuming arrived from Jinhua. Shuming said: In October, the boats are frozen, and the ice at Wumen is more than three feet thick. Each boat recruits strong men, and the light boats go first, cutting the ice and traveling three or four miles a day. From Tongwan frozen to Jiaxing, I don't think so.
On the first day of November in the twenty-seventh year of Chongzhen, Zhu Cixiong led his troops to attack the city of Huai'an.
The tactics are the same as before.
The cavalry stood guard on both wings, while the artillery moved in and launched a fierce bombardment.
Zhu Guobi's troops collapsed at the first blow and fled to Yangzhou Prefecture along the canal.
Zhu Cijiong still did not pursue the victory, but ordered his troops to advance only after Zhu Guobi ran far away.
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