The guarding force of Guifan Tower did not last long at all, and was almost vulnerable to a blow in front of the regular army.
The two sides only fought fiercely for less than a quarter of an hour, and Guifan Tower was completely defeated.
What followed was a one-sided massacre.
"Run quickly, the officers and soldiers are coming in, and they will kill everyone they see."
"Go inside and leave it alone."
"Take Xinruan and run straight away, don't look back."
Everyone panicked and fled in all directions.
The main force of the imperial guards continued to pursue, while the government officials in the rear rushed into various caves to rescue people.
In this battle, the Imperial City Imperial Guards and the Yulong Imperial Guards led by Di Qing were the main forces, with a total of about 4,000 people.
There are about five thousand government officials in Kaifeng Prefecture, serving as auxiliary troops.
Although in terms of total number of people, Wuyou Cave and Guifan Tower together may have nearly 20,000 people, which is twice as many as the number of people in the Imperial City Division and Kaifeng Mansion.
But in terms of combat effectiveness, a ragtag group of people is far from being comparable to the regular army, and they cannot hold on just by fighting head-on.
Under this offensive, the two factions were quickly destroyed, and a large number of evil elements fled in all directions.
Zhao Jun guessed well. Since the attack was launched suddenly and the nearest road was chosen, the following people had no time to move the victims.
Many victims were rescued.
The person in charge of Guifan Tower was Fan Zhongyan. After learning about the following situation, he assigned the same task as Zhao Jun.
First, rescue the victims first.
Second, eliminate the remaining bandits.
Third, seize enemy supplies.
Fourth, chase the fleeing enemy.
These four items are in sequential order, representing the importance of sequence.
Put saving first and pursuit last.
But before the list was issued, Di Qing had already led dozens of people to chase Ma Zhiwu.
At the same time, Jiang Dalang was also wandering around in the cave, encountering many people in his recklessness, but he did not take action.
They are just some trash fish and there is no need to expose them immediately, so he has been looking for important people in Guifan Tower.
After walking around for nearly half an hour, people were coming and going everywhere, some of them were even officers and soldiers. If they hadn't been tied with red scarves, the government would have known that they were one of their own, and they would have been arrested.
"Dalang, there is no way to continue searching like this. We have been underground for two months. Although we know the way, we don't know where the left and right palm whips and left and right palm poles have gone."
One of Jiang Dalang's brothers said: "It's better to follow Fatty Huang first. Capturing him can be considered a great achievement."
"no."
Jiang Dalang shook his head and said: "The task of eradicating evil is what Zhisi said. This Guifanlou master never shows up. Only a few people including his close followers, left palm whip and Zhangzhang know about it. Only by catching them can we catch the Guifanlou master." .”
"Then how to find it?"
Everyone looked at each other in confusion. Now Guifan Tower was in chaos. People were escaping in all the passages. They still couldn't find the location of the left and right palm whips and others.
Jiang Dalang thought for a while, and suddenly remembered something that happened a few days ago, and said happily: "Come with me."
"Dalang, what's wrong?"
The brother said: "Do you know where they are hiding?"
Jiang Dalang said as he walked: "I was following Fatty Huang before, and I occasionally heard him mention that the terrain of Guifan Tower is not as good as that of Wuyou Cave, so there are many secret ways to escape, one of which is under the main building."
"What Dalang means is that the top management of Guifan Tower did not evacuate through the open path, but took the secret path?"
"That's natural."
"That's right. Even Fatty Huang ran away through the secret passage to the north, let alone others."
Everyone thought so.
At that moment, Jiang Dalang and others headed towards the main building.
The main building has been breached, and Di Qing is still wondering at this time. Just now he chased Ma Zhiwu, the right palm whip, into the main building, but the person behind him disappeared after entering here, which puzzled him.
"There must be a secret passage."
Di Qing looked around. Although the Ghost Fan Tower called itself Fan Tower, it was more than one level worse than the Fan Tower on the ground.
This underground cave was excavated by man. In order to prevent collapse, pillars were built to support the ceiling. However, since it is an excavation, it is naturally impossible to dig out much by manpower, and the area is only one square mile.
The lower floor is the ghost market in Guifanlou, which is used for human trafficking. Their internal staff also often traffic people. There are fifty-four regular hookups in Bianliang. There are also countless secret prostitutes and brothels below. If the conditions are good, you can sell them. If you check the formal check boxes, the poorest conditions will naturally be found in these places.
The upper floor is the main building of Guifan Building, which is actually a two-story building. It is extremely difficult to build a two-story building underground, but it is quite luxurious inside. The main house is spacious, and the upper part is like a zigzag, with many rooms and fragrant fragrance.
The entire building was filled with candlelight, and the enemy wanted to burn down the Guifan Building to stop them before leaving. However, since Guifan Tower was built of bricks and tiles, even if some silk curtains were burned, the overall building was not damaged.
Di Qing searched around the main building. The front floor was obviously a place for high-rise people to enjoy themselves, while the back floor was used for guest rooms, kitchens, etc. There was no trace of secret passages at all.
At this time, Jiang Dalang and others also rushed into Guifan Tower. Because their hands were tied with red scarves, they were able to go without any obstruction.
The two sides meet.
Di Qing knew them well. When Jiang Dalang went to save the daughter of a friend of his, he took Di Qing deep into a branch in Wuyou Cave.
Seeing that it was Di Qing, Jiang Dalang quickly went up and raised his hands and said, "Commander Di."
"Jiang Dutou."
When Di Qing saw Jiang Dalang, he was overjoyed and said, "You came just in time. The bandit leader fled inside and disappeared. Do you know what secret passage there is?"
Jiang Dalang thought for a while and said: "I don't know the specific location of the secret passage, but I know the rooms where they live, the so-called Cunning Rabbit's Three Caves. Where they live, there must be a secret passage underground."
"Well."
Di Qing thought it made sense and said, "Then which rooms do they live in?"
Jiang Dalang said: "I have never been here, but I definitely don't live on the second floor. You can search from various rooms on the first floor."
"go."
Di Qing issued military orders.
After a while, more than a hundred soldiers searched the Guifan Tower and found several secret passages.
Then the two of them each led their men to pursue them, going all the way deep.
Jiang Dalang didn't go very far here, he only walked about twenty or thirty feet in the secret passage, when a faint light of fire appeared in front of him.
"Extinguish the torches."
Jiang Dalang still vaguely heard human voices, so he whispered to the brothers behind him to put out the torches.
Soon the secret passage became dark.
The road is very narrow, allowing only two people to pass side by side, and in some places you even have to bend down.
Jiang Dalang walked cautiously in front, and after walking another seven or eight feet, there was a corner in front of him. He stuck his head out and took a look inside.
I saw that this place turned out to be a secret room. There were many supplies hidden in the secret room, including gold, silver and jewelry, as well as bags of food and luggage. More than ten people were carrying things to another passage in the secret room.
There was also the faint sound of running water coming from below the passage. Apparently this secret passage was also connected to the underground river in the canal below Bianliang. As long as they escaped, it would be difficult to catch them.
Jiang Dalang noticed that the leader of this group of people was actually Scarface's left palm whip. It seemed that this was where he hid his supplies.
"Hurry up, don't dawdle."
"The officers and soldiers suddenly killed them. You can leave those women and children alone, but our money and food must be moved away."
"Brother, where should we move our things? There are officers and soldiers everywhere now."
"For the current plan, we can only go to the original poster."
"Is the host still in Bianliang?"
"Don't ask any more questions."
"It would be great if I could join the landlord."
"Well, move quickly."
Scarface just responded and said nothing else.
Jiang Dalang outside was overjoyed when he heard this.
Unexpectedly, the owner of Guifan Tower is still hiding in Bianliang. If we catch them, we will definitely catch the owner.
This is a great achievement.
At that moment, he thought for a while, thought of a countermeasure, and suddenly rushed out, with a look of surprise on his face: "Left Palm Whip, I didn't expect you to be here."
"who?"
Scarface was shocked. He built this secret passage himself, how could others break in.
Jiang Dalang shouted: "Zhang Whip, you forgot, my eldest brother is Huang Song. The officers and soldiers attacked just now and got separated. I panicked and ran into the main building and found this secret passage in a room."
"I remember, you are indeed the one behind Huang Song. Are the officers and soldiers chasing you?"
Scarface asked quickly.
"Yes."
"What?"
Scarface was shocked and angry.
He never expected that this man would accidentally rush into his secret passage and attract the officers and soldiers.
If the officers and soldiers chase him now, all the money he has saved for so many years will be lost.
At that moment, Scarface was furious, pointed at Jiang Dalang and yelled: "You straight thief! You are really killing me!"
Jiang Dalang then said: "Don't rush with the whip. I will seal the secret passage when I come down. Maybe they haven't come after me yet."
"Really? Let me see."
Scarface rushed over to see if the officers and soldiers behind him had poured into the secret passage.
Almost at the moment he rushed over, Jiang Dalang suddenly slapped his palm over, hitting Scarface just under the back of the head.
Scarface's combat prowess was actually quite good, but he had met Jiang Dalang before and knew that he was Fatty Huang's confidant. He didn't expect that he was an undercover agent, and he thought that the other party had just stumbled in by mistake.
As a result, he was caught off guard and received a hard slap. The back of the head is a weak point of a person. If the force was stronger, it could even kill the person directly.
He saw Scarface groaning and falling to the ground.
The men who were moving around were stunned, and then they came back to their senses and cursed: "Are you looking for death, you rotten sheep head?"
"This old man Chi has long since seen that he doesn't look like a good person. Brothers, chop him down."
"Cunniaolan helps the boy, come and die for me!"
Everyone cursed with common curse words in the Song Dynasty, then dropped what they were holding and took out knives and daggers.
As a result, a large number of people poured out of the rear passage in the next second, including Jiang Dalang's brothers and government servants from Kaifeng Mansion. In an instant, there was a chaotic fight in the room. Everyone was killed and captured, and Scarface's belongings were all confiscated.
Jiang Dalang ordered everyone to take everything back, monitor each other, and not hide it secretly. He caught Scarface, a big fish, and exited Guifan Tower under the protection of several imperial guards.
Scarface was quickly transferred to the Imperial City Department's Zhenfu Department in Nancheng.
The Southern Town Governor is Wang Ze, who turned out to be Cao Xiu's confidant. Due to his outstanding performance, he was promoted to the Town Governor. He has torture experts under him, and if he falls into Wang Ze's hands, Scarface will not end well.
．
．
In the third year of Jingyou's reign, in early October, it started to rain lightly in Bianliang.
The sky has been gloomy recently, and it occasionally rains in the middle of the night, but basically not too much.
But today it was raining continuously, with sporadic raindrops falling since midnight.
Then at dawn, the light rain began to turn into moderate rain, and Bianliang was shrouded in mist and rain.
The sky was getting brighter and brighter, and a faint mist appeared on the river in the early morning. Zhao Jun was still standing on the high platform, staring at the channel not far away below.
Although Yunqi Bridge had evacuated the crowd at this moment, a large number of people gathered on the second floors of the houses on both sides of the Cai River, looking around.
There are also Hengzi Bridge to the northwest and Xuantai Bridge to the southwest. The nearby streets and buildings that can be seen here are densely packed with Bianliang people who come to watch the excitement.
The fighting lasted all night, or in other words, the fighting only lasted for a while. The whole night was mainly spent by the government rescuing hostages, searching for remaining gangsters, transporting seized materials, and cleaning up other evil forces except Wuyou Cave and Ghost Fanlou.
Bianliang Underground Wuyoudong and Guifanlou are just the two most important gangs. In addition to them, the Beggar Gang, Ghost Market, and Dock Boat Gang also have strongholds below. They engage in different illegal activities and often gather together to harm the people.
In addition, in addition to the headquarters in Wuyoudong, the other branches must also be destroyed one by one.
It is estimated that although all the underground forces cannot be completely wiped out this time, they can at least be severely damaged, and they will be reduced to pieces one by one, hiding in the gutter and continuing to remain in the dark.
When there is a flood next spring, Kaifeng Mansion will basically be able to completely annihilate the underground forces and restore public security to Bianliang.
In the continuous rain, boats kept coming out.
Some ships were loaded with gangsters tied up, while others were filled with ragged victims, most of whom were children and women. These two vulnerable groups were also the main targets of gangsters.
A small boat docked, and several women with numb faces stepped out of the boat. They didn't even wear much clothes, they were just covered with dead people's clothes.
Zhao Jun had already sent people to buy a large amount of clothes from the nearby market, so an old woman took them to a temporary tent set up on the river bank next to them to change into women's clothes, which was still a bit decent.
A child who was dressed in rags and covered with injuries was carried down, and the doctor next to him walked over, took him to the tent, and treated him on the spot.
A beggar without legs was carried out of it.
There are also some things that are not even human. "They" are covered with monkey hair, dog hair, and snake scales, like a group of animals. Their throats were mute and made a creaking sound.
It was still raining lightly in the sky, and a new group of gangsters were escorted out from the canal. Weeping, begging, screaming, and begging for mercy could be heard.
Compared to the victims, even the injured gangsters did not receive good treatment. Basically, they were taken to the shore and locked up in prison cars, and then sent to the Imperial City Department for trial, and they would be executed at the end of the year.
Most of them are strong men. These people are the controllers below. From bottom to top, the hierarchy is clear.
Secondly, there are some old ladies. These people are the most abominable. They often take advantage of people's sympathy to abduct women or children. Many underground prostitution places in Bianliang are guarded by these old madams.
When it comes to dealing with women, the madam who is also a woman is more ruthless than the man.
Groups of gangsters were roughly tied up hand and foot by the imperial guards and government officials, and taken to prison cars. Many gangsters made desperate pleas for mercy. Some of them shouted, "Don't kill me, don't kill me. I'll do anything."
Some shouted: "Sir, I still have some savings in my hand. As long as the senior officials let the villains go, they will all be handed over. I also know the hiding place in my stall."
Others, knowing that they were facing a dead end, shouted loudly: "Eighteen years later, I will be a good man again."
The victims were still hiding in the tent with fearful expressions, just like before, opening a gap in the tent to look out cautiously, and from time to time they could gnash their teeth and curse in a low voice.
A woman saw the old woman who was abusing her among the people being held in custody. She went crazy and rushed towards her to bite her, but was dragged away by the guards.
As a large number of hostages and gangsters were brought ashore, various odors, fragrances, and medicinal smells were emitted.
Bodies floated out of the channels and ditches from time to time, and the strong smell of blood made the smell near the surrounding culverts feel strange and unpleasant.
Zhao Jun still stood high and looked down with his hands behind his back.
Fantai Chunxiao was a river bank lawn. At this moment, at least a thousand victims were rescued under the willow trees. The cries gradually spread in the camp, which was the joy of seeing the light of day again.
Everything in the world seemed to have quieted down, so quiet that only their cries seemed to be left.
A large number of people also came to the blocked streets and markets in the distance. Many people wanted to break the blockade and rush to the tents by the river embankment to see if any of their missing family members were inside.
In Fang City next to Yunqi Bridge, the Imperial City Department set up roadblocks. But at this moment, some people were still crying and begging: "Please, let us go in, I just want to find my daughter."
"My child, there must be my child in there. Ah Li, don't be afraid, mother is here."
"Could my wife be there? Last autumn, she went shopping with the neighbor's daughter and disappeared. Our two families were going crazy. Could she be here too?"
The people were howling, and people kept crowding in from behind. The wooden fence barricades were already crumbling.
The soldiers of the Imperial City Division had no choice but to explain impatiently: "Don't worry, everyone. The Imperial Court has issued an order. The victims will be registered one by one and the government will escort them home. They are safe. Don't worry."
"Everyone understands the mood, but the person has been rescued, so don't rush. If you attack the roadblock now, it will only make the scene chaotic, and the government will punish you."
"Step back, step back, don't rush forward any more."
the soldiers maintaining order shouted.
If it were in later generations, this would definitely appease the emotions of the people.
But in the Song Dynasty, the status of soldiers was really low, especially in Bianliang, almost no one took them seriously.
An old woman spat and said: "Bah, where are the thieves and soldiers who can kill a thousand swords? Let us in quickly."
"Why are you so ignorant, old woman?"
The soldier was spat on and became furious. However, he did not dare to take any action due to the Imperial City's Imperial Guard's military orders.
"Can you afford the punishment for delaying my search for my child?"
shouted the old woman.
With her taking the lead, the people behind became more noisy, and the scene became even more chaotic.
However, this side was relatively close to the embankment, which quickly attracted Zhao Jun's attention. He turned his head and glanced at the market situation behind him, then walked down from the high platform and headed this way.
After a while, he came closer. The soldiers around him quickly raised their hands and said, "Zhiyuan!"
The noisy people all became quiet when they saw an official wearing a purple robe arriving.
Compared with soldiers, the people of Bianliang were more afraid of officials.
"what happened?"
Zhao Jun asked.
The soldier who had been spat on before immediately pointed at the old woman and said, "Zhiyuan, this man encouraged the people to attack the roadblock and spit on us."
Zhao Jun glanced at the past with stern eyes and shouted: "Those who dare to attack the roadblock are contemptuous of the government. Moreover, the soldiers also said that all the victims will be sent home afterwards. The provocation must be caused by the gangsters' accomplices. Civil turmoil, rescue the gangsters in the chaos, arrest them!”
Some people were dissatisfied and said: "We also want to find our children, why do you arrest us?"
"I know the Constitutional Yuan by virtue of my authority!"
Zhao Jun looked over and said coldly: "I caught the corrupt officials in Kaifeng Mansion, and I also cleared the ghost fan tower in Wuyou Cave underground in Bianliang. I can understand how you want to see your relatives. But this is not the reason for you to attack the government roadblocks."
"What, is this Zhao Zhiyuan?"
"Oh my god, we actually acted wildly in front of Zhao Qingtian."
"Zhao Qingtian, this has nothing to do with us, it's all the fault of that old woman."
"Go quickly, go quickly."
Suddenly the people were shocked. Some people were shocked on the spot, some knelt on the ground and kowtowed, and some wanted to leave when they saw that the situation was not good.
Zhao Jun waved his hand, and the soldiers behind him immediately rushed forward and captured those who made the most noise.
Among them was the spitting old woman, who was still wailing and rolling around, insulting Kaifeng Mansion and the Imperial City Division for arresting people indiscriminately, hoping to stir up public sentiment and attract the sympathy of the people around her, so that they could help stop her.
Little did they know that Zhao Jun had long had a reputation among the people of Bianliang, and no one dared to make a mistake before seeing him come. There were even people who blocked the way of those who wanted to escape and captured them all.
After investigation, it turned out that except for a few ignorant people, the rest of the people who made noise were basically related to the following.
The old woman's son was being held in a nearby prison car. She just wanted the people to rush in so that she could take advantage of the chaos and rescue her son.
Time gradually passed, and basically all the hostages were rescued, and all the gangsters who could be caught were sent to the shore.
Wait until noon to start moving supplies.
Boxes and bags of grain, coins, gold, silver, jewelry and other items were carried to the bow of the ship and sent to the river, where they were moved to the carriage by the soldiers.
Zhao Jun left Cao Xiu to continue to guard the Yunqiqiao area, while he went to inspect other water canals.
The Yunqiqiao area is only the Wuyoudong headquarters, and there are a large number of branches in the rest. Due to lack of manpower, Zhao Jun even asked Zhao Zhen to mobilize 10,000 forbidden troops from the Dianqian Division to help control the entrances and exits of various channels.
The fighting in most Wuyoudong branches has basically ended, and many victims have been rescued. After the victims saw the light of day again, they hugged each other and cried bitterly, and many kowtowed to the soldiers who rescued them.
When Zhao Jun arrived at the Tuqiao area under the Bianhe River and the Guifanlou area where Fan Zhongyan commanded the attack, he saw the same scene. Countless women and children were rescued, and the screams spread throughout the countryside.
"I really hope those gentlemen in the court can see what the Song Dynasty is like under their governance."
Fan Zhongyan saw a touch of sadness on his face when he saw Zhao Jun coming over.
The situation down there was really miserable. The victims were treated inhumanely. Many soldiers even wiped away their tears quietly when they saw their miserable appearance, with sympathy on their faces.
Zhao Jun looked down indifferently. It wasn't that he didn't sympathize with these victims, but he was almost numb because he had just rescued three more bottles in Wuyou Cave.
"There will come a day."
Zhao Jun raised his head and looked at the sky and said softly: "Let's find a place first and resettle them properly. Tomorrow I will take Lu Yijian and the others to have a good look and see how "prosperous" the Song Dynasty was under their rule. "
Today, two-in-one is really unbearable. I originally wanted to take a leave of absence, but after thinking about it I gritted my teeth and persevered. The main reason is that I don’t know if I have a cold or something else. I feel dizzy, runny nose, stuffy nose, cough, sore throat, and my mental state is not very good. I took cold medicine in the morning and fell asleep until noon. I can barely code it in the afternoon. After this plot, there will be a new plot. It is troublesome to be sick again. I have a headache. I hope the cold will be cured soon.
(End of chapter)
