On April 20th, the weather was a bit sultry. At noon, Zhang Xing and Wei Xuanding led a small number of people to ride horses into Yucheng, which smelled a little burnt.
On the way here, a lot of things happened around Zhang Xing.
Some expressed their loyalty, some remonstrated, and some quarreled... Most of the disputes actually revolved around the handling of the Meng rebels, because Meng Shanggong's head brought huge trouble to the deposed dragon army.
You know, no matter how self-righteous this guy is, and how ridiculous his death is, as the unique core of the powerful Meng family in the surrounding area, and the former captain of a county, he is one of the few people in this world who can hold up the situation. .
It is because of his presence that the Meng rebels are qualified to maintain their independent posture.
Now his death is easy, but where will the Meng family's rebel army that he established with his family as the main line go?
Zhang Xing allowed Meng Shanggong to seize the four counties to the west of Liang County on his own in order to establish a buffer zone and protective film for Jiyin. But now that he has been defeated and perished, he still has two counties and a younger brother, including his family. Chuqiu County is basically ordinary... On the contrary, when the Dragon-Deposed Army was fighting, it was natural for them to advance into Yucheng, and they would soon enter Dang County. This in turn caused the Dragon-Deposed Army to run to the periphery and become the outpost of the Meng rebel army.
At the same time, the Meng Zhi ghost came back to his senses, and he had already secretly left in the chaos. Before leaving, he told the people who deposed the Dragon Army that he would go back to Chuqiu to find his nephew. To put it bluntly, he still had to maintain the It means that a family business will not be merged.
This is very confusing.
Therefore, at this point, Zhang Xing must make a decision, whether he should continue to support Meng Shanggong's brother and son, or whether he should be ruthless and annex the other party. Otherwise, he will have to give up the buffer zone of these two counties. .
But to be honest, it seems pointless to support a Meng Zhigui who only has family inheritance in his mind, and taking advantage of the situation and annexing it may also cause trouble. Not only is the influence of the Meng family in Chuqiu, there will also be some dissatisfaction in the world. Good influence. Don’t forget, to this day, the Deposed Dragon Gang still has a distinct Jianghu color... This is the social rule that rebels in the previous court must follow. Of course, it affects the present, and cannot be simply rejected or ignored.
Therefore, the main dispute along the way was that Wei Xuanding and some people firmly suggested that Zhang Xing annex the Meng rebel army. Some people even recommended themselves on the spot, saying how to fight without bloodshed or how to use bloody swords to help Zhang Dalong end the matter. At the same time, some people really suggested that Zhang Xing should take the initiative to support Meng Shanggong's underage son to preserve their territory and the continuation of family power, so that people can win over him.
Taoist Wei has always been mean-mouthed, and Xu Shiying led the troops to Dang County first. As the chief Wei, he could actually end the quarrel, but at this time, even he couldn't open his mouth and say something harsh. words come out.
Because Chief Wei also knew in his heart that the Deposed Dragon Gang could be established, and that he, a poor Taoist priest who couldn't even afford clean shoes, could reach his current position with the Deposed Dragon Gang, and his survival was more or less based on the spirit of the world.
Some words are difficult to refute.
In addition, this is not only a problem of the Meng rebels, but also involves some knights in white. After this battle, many people changed their minds and thought about making progress, but it was the two counties of Jiyin and Dongjun. The pits were all filled, so they couldn't wait... It's not that Zhang Xing and Taoist Wei didn't understand.
Ever since, along the way, Zhang Dalongtou could hear the quarrel between power and loyalty.
However, all this came to an abrupt end after they entered Yucheng.
Because there is more than just Meng Shanggong’s corpse here in Yucheng, and it’s even more than just a corpse.
"How many houses were burned down?" Zhang Xing stood at the first intersection inside the city gate, looked around, and then looked at Guo Jingke who came to greet him.
However, Guo Jingke looked around, but did not reply. He just lowered his head in fear.
Zhang Xing was stunned for a moment, then realized immediately that the other party was a horse dealer turned rebel, and he didn't have the ability or awareness at all. He immediately dropped the question and continued to ask: "Have the fires been put out?"
"Yes." Guo Jingke nodded. "It was destroyed last night."
"Have the corpses been identified and packed away?" Zhang Xing continued to ask.
"Not yet... not yet." Guo Jingke began to sweat on his forehead. "I'll go……"
"Those who have been decapitated should put their torso and head together as much as possible and let their family members identify them. The naked female body should be wrapped in a mat. At the same time, the number of corpses and the number of burned houses should be counted clearly." Zhang Xing ordered, and comforted his head. Guo Jingke was buried up to his neck. "I don't blame you for this. I came late yesterday, marched all day, and hunted all night. I'm so tired... But we don't have to fight now, so we still have to cheer up and deal with it as soon as possible."
Guo Jingke felt relieved and nodded immediately.
Seeing this, Zhang Xingfu turned to look at Taoist Wei again:
"Chief Chief, you choose your own people, and you can command Chief Guo's subordinates as you please. I ask you to help as many living people as possible, and then encourage the surviving people to go to the county government to complain to me, and then bring as many prisoners as possible from yesterday. I remember We should organize prisoner identification and on-site execution at the county government office... We don’t expect it to be accurate and comprehensive, but we should provide basic relief to the people and let the local people vent their anger first and cry when they should."
Taoist Wei was also in a daze, and then he immediately nodded without giving a second thought. He also immediately called a bunch of people and left with Guo Jingke.
After the people left, Zhang Xing looked around. He was no longer as calm as before, but rather in a daze... Even though he was mentally prepared, he still underestimated the violent and destructive power of the army, especially the impact of the organic army on the city. Collective violence.
According to the military report, there should have been about 2,000 officers and soldiers staying here all afternoon yesterday. They procrastinated and left the city to support according to military orders yesterday evening. As a result, they ran into each other face to face on the official road at night and were directly deposed by the Dragon Army. Several waves of organized troops of thousands were overwhelmed. When they first heard the news, the people of the Deposed Dragon Gang were thankful that they arrived late, otherwise the battle yesterday evening might not have been so devastating.
But at that time, no one expected that two thousand people staying in the city for just one afternoon would be so destructive.
As soon as they entered the city, they saw burned houses, smashed shops, headless male corpses, naked female corpses, old and weak people who were unable to cry. The members of the Deposed Dragon Gang who had just entered the city instantly changed from yesterday's victory to today's. Returning to reality amidst the power and loyalty on the road.
However, it is worth noting that whether it was Zhang Xing or others, they only lost their composure for a moment and quickly recovered their posture. This shows that everyone has a little "reasonable" psychological preparation and has already imagined this scene in their hearts. , some people have even seen similar scenes in reality.
At this time, there were already people who were interested in following the trend and it happened in half a day in Yucheng. So what about Dang County?
Zhang Xing even extended it even further - the saint gave up the north and went to the south to wait for death, but he still brought such a huge and elite military force out of selfish motives. How could he not die by then? It's easy to say, but once this elite military force, which is almost unique on paper, loses control, or becomes internally corrupted, it will inevitably leave a legacy to the world.
Of course, it will definitely become a powerful disruptor.
Putting away his unnecessary thoughts, and a little self-comfort from yesterday's victory, Zhang Xing and the remaining entourage entered the county government office amidst the smell of burnt heat and the sound of crying.
This thing that represents the authority of the Wei Dynasty seems to go beyond the framework of the Wei Dynasty itself in a sense. It is actually clean... Those organized soldiers and bandits are killing people, raping women, and looting large areas along the streets. , actually all avoided this building.
Zhang Xing came here, ordered the gate and courtyard wall of the county government to be demolished, and then moved to the front of the hall. He did nothing else for the whole day, but ordered to kill people.
In the face of organized collective crime, fair killing is the most effective.
But the situation in Yucheng is here, soothing the emotions of the people is the top priority, but there is nothing to control... In fact, those who survived arson, looting, rape, and killing are not willing to distinguish between things at all, and often They were pointing at the latest batch of prisoners of war who were closest to them or who had just been brought up to make hysterical identifications.
At most, when multiple people gather together, they discuss who is taller or shorter, and choose a relatively taller or shorter person to kill.
At this time, the reaction of the captured officers and soldiers was also very interesting... Many of them cried out for injustice at first, but it was useless. Then they started to yell and curse, and then begged. In the end, they were dragged all over the ground by the people of the Deposed Dragon Gang. At the crossroads of blood, hysterics often arise.
"Zhang Gong wants to do great things, why do he want to kill strong men?"
Another officer with a strong body and obvious Qi cultivation was dragged down by Jia Yue himself, performed a routine performance, and finally shouted out the unique lines only for the elite.
"the fourth."
Under the strange look in the eyes of Taoist Wei who had just arrived after working hard all afternoon, Zhang Xing shouted these words in a low voice, and then suddenly raised his head and raised his voice as if dealing with an official official's official duties. His voice was loud and resounded throughout the whole room. Trial and execution scene. "Your Excellency, you are overthinking! The deposed Dragon Gang raised the army for the sake of the common people. I asked someone to rebel personally, just to calm the world and bring justice to the people. You have done such a shameful thing yourself, and you still come to beg me. How can you Aren’t you putting the cart before the horse?! Kill him quickly!”
At the end of the sentence, he really got serious.
And Jia Yue also dragged this man to an intersection full of red.
Seeing that he was covered in blood, there was a strong man waiting in front of him holding a big knife. This man became more and more frightened and couldn't help but continue to struggle for survival. His words became sharper: "Mr. Zhang is also from Dongdu. Or the Fifth Army escaped from death several times, why are you so confused? Even if you want to calm the world, you have to rely on strength! Even if a grand master builds a tower, it will take civilians to lift bricks! Victory or defeat is only a matter of strength, regardless of guilt. If it’s not illegal, why don’t you use strong men like us and rely on these powerless people to fight and win for you?”
"There are many clean strong men in this world." Zhang Xing sounded impatient and just urged. "And you have the final say on the difference between strength and weakness...send him on his way quickly."
Jia Yue dragged the man to Wang Xiongdan, then stepped on the man's back. Wang Xiongdan waved his sword and cut off the man who was still trying to say something in a pool of blood.
The head rolled down, and the blood flowed from the severed part of the torso for a while, and then gradually eased... Just looking at the headless corpse, it seemed to be no different from the locals of Yucheng who had been killed for guilt, and no different from the prisoners who had been beheaded before. , the blood is red.
"I thought the blood of such a hero was green." Zhang Xing frowned slightly, then looked at Taoist Wei. "Do you have any explanation?"
"Three to four hundred people died, including about two to three hundred women... mainly those along the street." Taoist Wei hesitated for a moment and responded in a low voice. "But a few of them said there were rapes and robberies last night."
Although Zhang Xing was surprised, it was only for a moment, and he immediately asked seriously: "What is the minority?"
"Seven or eight... and the people below said that Guo Jingke reportedly took all the gold and silver that he captured to himself, and the gold and silver were robbed by the officers and soldiers in Yucheng yesterday." Wei Xuanding said uneasily. . "Do you want to investigate these seven or eight things?"
"Yes...but not now, nor can it be investigated publicly. Guo Jingke's matter is not that simple." Zhang Xing had no choice but to respond. "We have to communicate with Xu Dalang, and we have to ask him to pay attention to similar incidents in Dang County, rescue the people as soon as possible, and maintain military discipline... I still have to go out and catch up with Zhang Jinshu and Guan Xu, and make it clear to Xu Dalang in person. Make preparations, I'll stay here all night, wait for Xu Dalang's reply tomorrow, calm people's hearts, give Guo Jingke a beating, and then I'll come see you tomorrow or the day after."
Taoist Wei nodded immediately.
Zhang Xing also turned around, just raised his head and sighed, and then continued to kill... Here in Yucheng, there were six to seven hundred prisoners. If you can't kill a hundred, it will always be unsettling.
With that in mind, Zhang Xing spent the whole night killing and wanted to stay in the city at night, but in the end he was so upset that he didn't sleep well all night.
It wasn't until the next day that I received a letter from a personal guard leader sent by Xu Shiying. After seeing the guarantee, he couldn't hold himself back anymore and called Guo Jingke over, asking the latter to impose strict military discipline and privately investigate what happened the night before, and then asked him about it. He asked about the seizure of gold and silver, but he didn’t say much. He only asked how much gold and silver he had seized and had he reported it according to the rules?
Guo Jingke was at a loss, and then panicked for a while. It took him a long time to react, and then he managed to answer a number.
Zhang Xing made a note in his mind and asked the other party to take out this amount of gold and silver to repair Yu City and compensate those who suffered from the war... Guo Jingke was just Nuonuo.
Zhang Xing felt that it was boring, and since Dang County was bound to be more troublesome, he gave some good instructions again, and then hurriedly led the people south.
On the evening of April 22, we hurriedly arrived in Dang County.
The situation here is indeed worse, but it is not only the problem of military disaster, but also the problem of too much time... After all, no matter how disorderly the officers and soldiers are, they are only the most unruly and concentrated when they first enter the city; other than that In addition, Xu Shiying was a person who did big things, and he promptly restrained military discipline when he heard the summons. However, according to the timid accounts of the locals, there seemed to be something wrong with the Meng's rebel army who had gone south before and on the day they succeeded.
But at this time, you can’t even check.
This is the so-called military disaster. Of course you can restrain your troops and be a person worthy of your conscience, but you can only restrain the troops you can control. More often than not, the strong come and go, and the weak are trampled on like this. Mud, and the strong may become weak in the next battle, and the weak become stronger... This is the so-called troubled times.
There will only be more of this in the future.
But after returning to Dang County, just a few days later, the mood of the people was completely different.
The people here lack the anger similar to that in Yucheng, and have a touch of numbness and distrust... However, at Zhang Xing's suggestion, Xu Shiying still held a wonderful meeting in the city on April 23. The eleven kills somewhat restored some vitality to the city.
Only in the evening of this day, when the weather became more and more muggy and the mood became worse, Zhang Dalongtou heard an unexpected suggestion from Leader Xu Da.
"Do you want to surrender these troops?" Under the light, an extremely tired Zhang Xing asked with a frown.
"Yes." Xu Dalang admitted directly and directly in front of everyone... In fact, in front of Taoist Wei.
"Why?" Zhang Xing was thoughtful. "Is it because the quality of their soldiers is good?"
"It's better than that." Xu Shiying spoke excitedly. "If there are ten thousand such strong soldiers, why worry about Zhang Xuguo?"
"Do you think I object or agree?" Zhang Xing thought for a while and asked seriously.
Xu Dalang was slightly startled and instinctively looked at the third person present, but Taoist Wei just twisted his beard and remained silent.
"I'm not teasing you with words." Zhang Xing explained sincerely. "I'm really too tired. After the battle the day before yesterday, and then for two days in a row, I was either rushing or dealing with trivial matters. My head felt numb, and I just felt ignorant everywhere... At this time, you come here Ask me, I really don’t know what to say at the moment. I just feel something is wrong but I can’t tell you. And you, Xu Dalang, have always been good at observing words and expressions. In this case, instead of waiting for me to sleep all night and figure it out, why don’t you explain it yourself now? .”
"Third brother is probably...probably a little angry." Xu Shiying's voice immediately became much lower. "But these soldiers are really a pity. We killed more than a thousand people and captured more than a thousand prisoners. I thought that since we killed one or two hundred people as punishment, they should be frightened and calm down. Then the remaining few thousand people, It’s not that it can’t be used.”
"Since you know that I am angry, you still persist like this, which shows that you really want these soldiers..." At this point, Zhang Xing paused and then sighed. "Can't we recruit from Yucheng? The people there should be willing to come with us now, right?"
"Can you take the opportunity to recruit people from Mangdang Mountain?" Taoist Wei also took the opportunity to speak. "With the annexation of the Meng's Rebel Army, we can have more soldiers, right?"
"But there are clear distinctions between strength and weakness. These warriors from the Eastern Capital and the Guanxi garrison are the most useful and militarily most appropriate." Xu Shiying still had a hard time letting go. "The more important thing is, third brother, the situation is so difficult now. I don't know when Han Yingong will come. I shouldn't throw away any strength... The soldiers in Mangdang Mountain can be used. Yucheng recruits troops and annexes the Meng family. Don’t delay recruiting surrender here.”
"Are you too hungry?" Taoist Wei asked proactively.
"There is no way..." Xu Dalang spoke sincerely. "War is dangerous and opportunities are rare."
Zhang Xing frowned and said nothing.
To be honest, Xu Dalang's desire for more elite soldiers is a natural need. Even here on the entire Western Front, everyone in the Deposed Dragon Gang knows that they are not short of money or ordnance, but they are short of soldiers. Money and ordnance are the big eaters. Needless to say, there is no need to say more about the big family in the royal family... As for the soldiers, this is because the two counties were systematically mobilized before the Dragon Clan's Eastern Expedition. At that time, not only Xu, Wang, Shan, Zhai, These powerful private soldiers, large and small, as well as the original county soldiers were retained, and recruitment and redistribution were carried out specifically according to the size of the county, ranging from one to two thousand to three thousand.
For example, Xu Dalang had a quota of 5,000 soldiers, Zhang Xing had 3,000, and Niu Da actually controlled 4,000, but he claimed 3,000, and then he had to stay in the counties to maintain public security and order. Most of the rest were Went to the east with Li Shu.
It's not impossible to recruit more, but I don't dare.
Because the reason why the Eastern Territory rebelled was because the imperial court recruited a large number of sergeants and civilians during the three expeditions against Dongyi, which caused every family to mourn. In this case, whether it was Zhang Xuguo or the Deposed Dragon Gang, or Han Yingong or even In Mayu, logistics has become a luxury.
Zhang Xuguo almost caused a civil uprising because of this. As soon as Han Yingong's troops left the Xuzhou camp, they had to rely on the river transportation of the Huaiyou Alliance.
For the same reason, the Deposed Dragon Gang does not dare to recruit more soldiers from the two counties on the western front.
This matter belongs to whoever gets involved.
It was okay before, the situation was not that bad, and those like Xu Dalang who wanted to expand the army naturally did not dare to violate the taboo. However, after the spring plowing this year, the Eastern Front suffered many defeats, and Xuzhou was dispatched. Whether to recruit troops in the two counties again has always been a very controversial topic. ...Xu Dalang, including Taoist Wei, Niu Da, these gang backbones and some outside leaders and members are all wanted to recruit, but many local people are firmly opposed.
Over and over again, everyone was afraid that it would cause a public backlash, so it has been postponed until now.
"Third brother..."
Seeing Zhang Xing frowning and holding his forehead in silence, Xu Shiying seemed to be ready to try his best to persuade him. "Things of life and death must be preserved before morality and etiquette can be respected."
"I agree." Zhang Xing came back to his senses and responded simply. "Besides, I am not a gentleman or a moral gentleman. I have already executed many people to establish my authority...but you must be more careful in the future. You must completely eliminate this force among your followers to ensure that nothing goes wrong. "
"This is natural." Xu Shiying was overjoyed and nodded immediately. "Yucheng might as well recruit some, and it's up to you, Third Brother, to dispatch them."
"But if that's the case, what does Meng say?" Taoist Wei immediately asked, his words a little sour. "Why don't you give me two thousand?"
"That's it for now, let's talk about some things." Zhang Xing thought for a moment and continued. "Don't annex the Meng family here. Chuqiu is the foundation of the Meng family and it's not easy to annex it... But I'm not going to include Yucheng and Dang County directly. Instead, I want to write to Xiayi and Mangdang Mountain to see Do they want to take over the initiative? If they are willing, give it to them... The main reason is that we don't have enough strength, and we really shouldn't push the defense line so far."
Xu Shiying was already overjoyed because of Zhang Xing's recognition of the prisoner. She could not object at this time, she just nodded.
Wei Xuanding was nearby and saw Zhang Xing's firm words and Xu Shiying's behavior. Although he was a little unhappy about missing the opportunity to control the troops, he was not prepared to get into trouble... so he just mocked a few words about the unreliability of the internal servants. , Mangdangshan goes his own way and doesn't listen to the call and other nonsense that directly stimulates someone's weak heart, and then he no longer persists.
In fact, next, Zhang Xing talked about Guo Jingke's inappropriateness, and talked about sensitive issues such as the knight in white clothes who wanted to do something and hoped that the military and the local government would relax their position a little bit. He didn't know that it was the knight in white clothes that day. The knight's attack on the officers and soldiers was too shocking, so both of them just nodded and did not dwell on it anymore.
Most of the important troublesome matters seemed to be settled on this night, and this humid and stuffy early summer night would be over.
In other words, this is indeed how it went. Xu and Wei just nodded and then left. As for Zhang Dalongtou, who had barely managed to get rid of all the troublesome things, he lay down on the couch because he was exhausted and was ready to go. Go to sleep with your clothes on like this.
It wasn't until he heard the slight movement of the roof tiles above him shortly after the two left, and just as he was about to stand up, someone opened the door, came directly in, hugged him face to face, and pushed him down on the couch.
The moment Zhang Xing opened the door and walked in, he suddenly cheered up. All the difficulties he had experienced this time were temporarily gone, and many inexplicable pressures and doubts were instantly relieved.
Without him, it was his heroine Bai Yousi who came.
"I have a lot to tell you." Bai Yousi pressed the other person's shoulder, raised his head, and took a deep breath.
"Me too." Zhang Xing, who was being held down, also took a deep breath in response.
"Let's talk together." Bai Yousi still spoke so simply. "Take turns... I led Hong Changya to rebel in Mayi!"
Zhang Xing was dumbfounded for a moment, then stopped laughing: "I killed more than a hundred people yesterday."
Bai You thought for a while and seriously suggested again: "Then we'll talk about it later."
"Okay, let's talk slowly." Zhang Xing was confident.
At this time, there was a sudden crackle outside the house and rain fell suddenly.
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