Chapter Sixty-One After the Gate

  Beyond the hills, several familiar faces appeared in front of me again. The war horse also seemed to have sensed its master's emotions and galloped wildly without restraint.

  When there were still thirty or so steps away, Gu Zhenhua jumped off his war horse and ran over.

  "Big brother, second brother, third brother, we meet again!"

  "Nice to meet you! Nice to meet you!" Sun Cheng and the others also burst out laughing loudly, jumped off their war horses one after another, and rushed to Gu Zhenhua's side.

  Less than a month apart, but for everyone, it's like a century. Several big men hugged each other tightly, patted their shoulders, laughed loudly, grinned from ear to ear, and tears rolled down, this is extreme joy!

  "Big brother, second brother, third brother, are you all okay?"

  "What's going on with us? We were all recovering from injuries the past few days, and just when we're almost back to normal, I hear you've run off to Wu Sangui's side. Don't know how many brothers you scared to death!" Sun Cheng said.

  Lu Yong also laughed and said, "At that time, we heard that Wu Sangui was going to surrender to the Great Shun. We didn't know what to do with ourselves, thinking about how to rush into the Guanning Army and rescue you."

  "Second brother, didn't I tell you at that time? Wu Sangui and Li Zicheng can't be together, didn't Zhou Kun tell you?"

  Gu Zhenhua was unable to head south as planned, so he had the idea of intervening in the Shanhai Pass battle. He dispatched his guard Zhou Jun to secretly leave the Guanning Army and inform Sun Cheng and others.

  "Hey, I told you it's true, but these days all sorts of news are flying around and we can't be sure. Sun Cheng laughed: "Now that things have settled down, Fourth Brother, quickly tell your brothers what exactly happened during this time. You're followed by so many soldiers, aren't you kidnapping them again?"

  "Big brother, you really have vision! These are all brothers from the Guanning Army. They didn't want to surrender to the Qing with Wu Sangui, so I brought them out."

  Wu Sangui? Qing Dynasty? Xie Bin's eyes widened in shock, and he asked: "Lord Gu, did Wu Sangui really surrender to the Qing Dynasty? What happened at Shanhai Pass?"

  "Let's find a place and talk slowly!"

  Gu Zhenhua pulled a few people to the bottom of a large tree, and after sitting down, he introduced the events of the past few days one by one to Sun Cheng and others.

  Several people listened attentively, and the more they heard, the wider their eyes became. In the end, Lu Yong couldn't help but punch Gu Zhenhua's chest with a loud laugh: "Old Fourth, you're too awesome! Wu Sangui, Li Zicheng, and even Dorgon of the Qing dynasty were all calculated by you. Tell me, is there anything under heaven that you dare not do?"

  Xue Biao also exclaimed: "Fourth brother, this is even more interesting than what the storyteller said!"

  Xie Bin stomped his foot and pounded his chest, saying regretfully: "Master, if I had known it would be so wonderful, I would have followed you too. It's just a pity that we couldn't kill the great traitor Wu Sangui, which would have eliminated one more scourge for the world."

  Sun Cheng furrowed his brow, clearly not as pleased: "Fourth Brother, with the Qing entering the pass, will this world really not become what you initially said it would?"

  Gu Zhenhua also nodded slightly: "Big brother, no matter what, the Qing army has been rebuilt and the Da Shun army has been defeated. Next, they will definitely expand their gains, even to the point of grazing horses in the Central Plains. We brothers should think about our way out too."

  "No need to say, everyone listens to you!" Lu Yong smiled and said: "Lao Si is a god-like strategist, those big shots can't escape your calculations, you must have a plan."

  Gu Zhenhua also smiled and said: "What can be done, let's talk about it later. I'll introduce a few new brothers to you guys."

  Just as they were talking, Li Jibo, Li Xu, Guo Yunlong and Yue Poxu also rushed over. Everyone met each other, introduced themselves briefly, and were all very enthusiastic.

  Sun Cheng had also mixed with the border army, and after saying two sentences to Li Xu, he was particularly in tune with his temper, and the more they talked, the more enthusiastic they became, and others were no exception.

  Gu Zhenhua smiled and said, "In the capital city, we were born and died together with Big Brother and his men. At Shanhai Pass, we fought shoulder to shoulder with Li Brothers, sharing life and death. From now on, everyone is brothers, regardless of surname!"

  "Good!" Sun Cheng smiled first: "Everyone has a different identity, but the old sky let us walk together, that is fate. I think we might as well take an oath of brotherhood and knock our heads on the ground."

  Everyone shouted in unison, and Lu Yong suddenly smiled: "Big brother, I think we need to add one more person!"

  Sun Cheng suddenly woke up and laughed: "Fourth brother, I was so focused on listening to you that I forgot about my brothers these past few days. Let me introduce someone to you."

  Gu Zhenhua had long noticed the triumphant look on Sun Cheng's face and guessed that they might have gained something special, so he smiled and said: "What kind of great hero is this? Let me take a look too."

  Xue Biao smiled and said, "Big brother, you tell Fourth Brother about it, I'll go find General Zhou to come over." As he spoke, Xue Biao turned around and left. Sun Cheng also smiled as he began telling Gu Zhenhua about their experiences.

  After the separation, Sun Cheng and his men found a small mountain village to hide, nursing their wounds and spreading rumors. After Li Yan's defeat, he was not reconciled and sent many soldiers to investigate the news. Sun Cheng and his men hid for half a month, during which everyone's physical condition had almost recovered, and the attention of the Dashun Army had shifted to Wu Sangui.

  Sun Cheng and his men followed Gu Zhenhua's instructions, secretly dispatching people to rob the noble farms, getting their hands on the gold and silver that had been transferred.

  As a result, during the robbery, they unexpectedly discovered another group of robbers. Sun Cheng was also unwilling to engage in a shootout, so he agreed to join forces with them and share the spoils together.

  Just as they were about to act, Sun Cheng noticed that this group of people didn't seem like ordinary bandits. They acted extremely methodically, just like a regular army. The other side also noticed their abnormality and after robbing them, sat down to talk. Only then did Sun Cheng learn the identity of this group of people.

  The leader's name is Zhou Yingjie, he is the nephew of Shanxi General Zhou Yuji. He retreated from Ningwu Pass.

  On Li Zicheng's way to attack the capital, the most tragic battle was at Ningwu Pass, where General Zhou Yujie led his troops in a desperate fight and inflicted heavy casualties on Li Zicheng.

  Zhou Yingjie also told them the details of the Battle of Ningwu Pass: "My uncle defended the isolated city, defeating the bandits' attacks several times. The corpses piled up as high as the city wall. We fought day and night, exhausting our gunpowder. My uncle pretended to surrender, luring the bandits into the city, and beheaded four of their generals!"

  "After defending for half a month, killing tens of thousands of bandits, but the imperial court still didn't send reinforcements! As a result, the city wall was breached, and my uncle fought bloody battles with the bandits, killing dozens of enemies. His body was covered in arrows, densely packed, just like a porcupine!" Zhou Yingjie said this, his eyes turned red, and his fists clenched with a cracking sound.

  "Grandmother, in order for Uncle to focus on the war, set fire at the time of the city's fall. The old house was also thrown into the sea of flames. Aunt led dozens of female soldiers, fighting desperately, shooting down an enemy soldier with one arrow, and finally being burned by the bandits!"

  Listening to Zhou Yingjie's introduction, Sun Cheng and Lu Yong also nodded frequently. The entire Zhou family died for the country, truly worthy of being called a loyal and heroic family, admired by everyone. Sun Cheng and others also had a mind to pity and cherish talent.

  "General Zhou, to be honest with you, the bandits have breached the capital city. My sworn brother and I rescued the crown prince from the capital!"

  "What? Where is the prince?" Zhou Yingjie hastily said: "I'm going to pay respects to His Highness the Prince."

  "The crown prince is not by our side, but was taken away by Old Four." Sun Cheng immediately gave a brief introduction to what had happened with Gu Zhenhua.

  Zhou Yingjie also hastily bowed and paid his respects: "Several gentlemen risked their lives to rescue the crown prince, it's truly admirable. My family has always been loyal and filial. I, Yingjie, couldn't die with my uncle in battle, which is already a shame to our ancestors. I'm willing to follow several gentlemen, and one day we can escort the crown prince south and revive the great Ming dynasty."

  Sun Cheng and his men were overjoyed when they heard that Zhou Yingjie was willing to join them, and suddenly their manpower exceeded 500 people.

  There were many people and great strength, they plundered all the farms of the nobles, got more than 2 million taels of silver, which was a huge sum wherever it was put.

  Zhou Yingjie suggested recruiting more people, Li Zicheng fought his way over, many surrendered, but some border troops simply became bandits. In the Battle of Ningwu Pass, many of Zhou Yuji's subordinates also broke through and fled in all directions, most of whom fell into banditry.

  Zhou Yingjie originally had no money and no grain, and it was difficult to maintain his hundreds of men. He didn't dare expand his troops either. But with the help of Sun Cheng and others, they seized a large amount of gold, silver, and food, and there were no more problems. Soon their troop exceeded 2,000 people.

  It so happened that at this time, the Dashun Army marched north to Shanhai Pass and fought with Wu Sangui. Sun Cheng and his men also brought their horses and quietly followed them. According to their original plan, they wanted to meet up with Gu Zhenhua, but unexpectedly, the Battle of Shanhai Pass was much faster than expected, and by the time they arrived, the battle had already ended.

  The scouts sent out discovered that Gu Zhenhua's troops had no banner, and they were carrying a large number of horse-drawn carriages, with war horses outnumbering soldiers by far.

  Reported to Sun Chengyi, Sun Cheng was overjoyed at once. This style is too much like Gu Zhenhua's. When they left Beijing, it was like this. They hurriedly found their way back, and the brothers reunited again!

  At the same time, Xue Biao also brought Zhou Yingjie over. Gu Zhenhua immediately stood up and carefully sized up Zhou Yingjie. He was in his early twenties, very handsome, and walked with a strong and energetic stride, indeed worthy of being the son of a general.

  "General Zhou, I am Gu Zhenhua. My brothers have also introduced themselves. I have long admired General Zhou, especially the Battle of Yangliu River, where General Zhou led a small force to victory and killed thousands of Qing troops. It's truly worthy of praise. Now that the Qing has invaded again, their ambitions are likely even greater. We are determined to resist the Qing. Will you join us, young general?"

  Zhou Yingjie had also been sizing up Gu Zhenhua, who was more than half a head taller than himself, and whose entire body exuded an air of heroism. Wherever he stood, his momentum was in no way weaker than that of his uncle Zhou Yuji. Without a doubt, this too was the heroic aura that had been forged in the midst of a million horses, leaving one to admire him from the bottom of their heart.

  Especially in these days, after hearing Sun Cheng and others introduce the situation in Beijing, he knew that Gu Zhenhua had risked his life to rescue the crown prince, and he was deeply grateful to Gu Zhenhua.

  "Lord Gu, Uncle, these years you've been fighting against the Qing dynasty or battling bandits. I, Zhou Yingjie, do not dare to tarnish the reputation of the Zhou family. Whatever your orders are, please just say so."

  Gu Zhenhua burst out laughing: "General Zhou, now there is indeed one thing, that is, I don't know if you are willing to become sworn brothers with the brothers present here?"