Before, when Shao Hongyuan was defeated for the second time, he felt something was wrong.
The rebels could be strong, but not that strong. Even their equipment could compete with the Song army. He would never believe that there were no bad actors in the army.
There must be something wrong with logistics, and it's not a small problem.
So he secretly sent people to investigate, and he really caught evidence that the quartermasters were making deals with the peasant army.
So he secretly got rid of all the quartermasters, replaced them with a group of new ones, and asked them to make false accounts based on the current situation in the warehouse to get through without letting the imperial envoys find out anything.
Finally, the newcomers suggested that the munitions camp should take the initiative to have a fire, and it is best if everyone can burn down a few warehouses, otherwise the account cannot be filled up. As long as professionals come to check, they will definitely be able to see the clues.
Qi Fang had no choice but to order a secret operation to handle the warehouse fire incident. In order to increase credibility, he also threw the killed quartermasters into the fire and burned them to bones without causing death in the fire.
As for whether something would be discovered in the future, Qi Fang didn't know. He could only say that he had to do everything he could to fulfill his destiny. Qi Fang had done everything he could. If something else was discovered, there was nothing he could do.
However, what Qi Fang didn't expect was that what made him unlucky was not doing business with the peasant army, but the local officials in Jizhou who had swallowed their anger.
Feng Shixing was in trouble when auditing the accounts. Although he was full of doubts about the fire, there was no reliable evidence that the fire was led by Qi Fang, so he could only bite the bullet and audit the accounts.
When he was confused about the investigation, the local officials in Jizhou risked their lives and came to complain to Feng Shixing because they were bullied by the soldiers, telling him that Qi Fang's troops were domineering and bullying men and women in the local area.
Good guy, Feng Shixing was worried that he couldn't find any definite evidence to capture Qi Fang, so this was an unexpected surprise.
So he sent people to investigate and went to Jizhou to investigate the illegal activities of Qi Fang's army. The results confirmed what the local officials said. They were all bullied miserably by Qi Fang's soldiers, and the people were also bullied miserably. .
Everything that could be robbed was taken away, and most of what could not be robbed was destroyed. The land was ravaged, the people were forcibly plundered by the army to do chores, local production was seriously damaged, and several state capitals south of Jiangnan West Road lost their lives for three to five years. Don't even think about recovering.
This is an extremely serious dereliction of duty.
Feng Shixing was furious when he learned about it. He rebuked Qi Fang on the spot and wanted to arrest Qi Fang and send him back to Lin'an for questioning. People around Qi Fang wanted to resist, but they were suppressed by Shao Hongyuan, who was well prepared. They disarmed him and successfully became prisoners.
Although Qi Fang could not be captured on the charge of collaborating with the enemy or even killed on the spot, being able to capture him on the charge of dereliction of duty and send him back to Lin'an for questioning was already a great victory and was enough to restore Zhang Jun's life.
By the time the army learned the news, Qi Fang had been captured and could no longer command the army.
Faced with the anxiety of the army, Feng Shixing also promptly announced that this incident would only involve Qi Fang and his important senior cronies, and would not involve other low-level officers or ordinary soldiers.
Everything is business as usual.
As a result, the military's morale was somewhat at ease.
After all, except for some senior officers who were really close to each other, most of the top soldiers thought Qi Fang was a bastard from the bottom of their hearts. They had also been severely bullied by Qi Fang and did not think he was a good person.
Whoever is the general, we will follow him, there is no one thing that must be done, we are just soldiers, who is the general, it does not matter.
The excellent military tradition of the Song Army helped Feng Shixing.
Feng Shixing took control of the military with Shao Hongyuan's support. In order to avoid long nights and nightmares, he wanted to escort Qi Fang back to the capital to face charges.
But what surprised these two people was that although Qi Fang was captured, the expression on his face was very calm, with a hint of ridicule.
"Do you really think this is the end? Hahaha, don't worry, maybe we will meet again. Also, the bandit army in this mountain is not simple, so be careful."
Qi Fang's inexplicable attitude made Feng Shixing and Shao Hongyuan feel a little uncomfortable, but they did not think that Qi Fang could do anything else after he had been relieved of his military power.
Next, Feng Shixing supported Shao Hongyuan in controlling military power, commanded the crusade army, reorganized the crusade army, restrained military discipline, and then prepared to launch the third siege of Luo Xiaoshan.
News of the mutiny within the Song Army soon spread to the Song Army's barracks. Several local good men from the Peasant Army lurked into the Song Army in the name of doing handymen. After hearing the news, they quickly passed it back to the Luoxiao Mountains. .
So Zhao Yucheng and others also learned the news that Qi Fang had been captured and Shao Hongyuan ascended to power.
This is not good news.
Zhao Yucheng immediately reported the news to the leaders of each brigade and squadron, asking them to prepare. The Song Army's third encirclement and suppression might be coming.
The people sent to the Song Army camp soon sent news back, saying that the Song Army had begun to reorganize the entire army. This was a precursor to a large-scale attack on Luoxiao Mountain.
People sent to civilians to do work in various villages also sent news, saying that the Song army had begun to gather its troops, and the Song soldiers who were stationed as elders in the villages returned to the military camp cursing.
Zhao Yucheng was even more nervous. He realized that this might be an unprecedented large-scale battle, and many people and soldiers might die.
But there was no way, he had to persist.
He waited nervously.
However, things did not develop as he expected, because suddenly, a funeral was held in the Song Army camp, and white flags were erected.
Zhao Yucheng thought it was Shao Hongyuan who died, but no, Shao Hongyuan was in good health, and the person who died was Feng Shixing.
Feng Shixing himself was not in good health. He was sick and traveling, so he was worried and in a state of tension.
After he finally captured Qi Fang, appeased the army, and felt relaxed, his illness began to show signs of recurrence. In addition, at this time, he accidentally got caught in the rain and failed to change clothes in time. A gust of wind blew by, and he fell completely ill. .
Anxious Shao Hongyuan quickly tried to find a doctor to diagnose and treat him. Doctors came one after another, prescribed prescriptions after prescriptions, and drank bowl after bowl of medicine, but his condition did not improve.
Feng Shixing became weaker and weaker day by day.
While Shao Hongyuan was reorganizing his army and preparing to encircle and suppress the peasant army, he also wanted to seek medical advice for Feng Shixing. He was so busy that he got angry, but in the end he could not save Feng Shixing's life.
On May 23, Feng Shixing, whose high fever persisted, became critically ill.
On May 24, Feng Shixing died of illness in the Jizhou military camp.
Shao Hongyuan was completely dumbfounded.
The person Zhang Jun sent to him to support him died of illness in the military camp. This...
What is this?
Shao Hongyuan secretly lamented that he was unlucky and could only organize the funeral for Feng Shixing while sending someone back to Lin'an to report the news and ask how to deal with the matter.
As for the launch of the war to encircle and suppress the peasant army, we can only postpone it slightly.
Mainly Qi Fang's old troops were appeased by Feng Shixing. He represented the central court as a supervisor of the imperial army. The soldiers trusted him more than Shao Hongyuan himself. With him, Qi Fang's old troops did not become turbulent and continued to wait and see the situation.
Now that Feng Shixing is dead, I'm afraid someone in the army will have strange ideas again.
We cannot start a war now. If we start a war with internal instability, it will be difficult to achieve good results.
Let's send people into the mountains to explore the road first. In the specific situation, we should despise the Privy Council and let the Privy Council send a reliable supervisor to stabilize the morale of the army.
Shao Hongyuan pressed the pause button here, but Zhao Yucheng did not.
Realizing that the leadership of the Song Army had just died and the morale of the army was unstable, Zhao Yucheng felt that this was a great opportunity and could not be wasted, just waiting for Shao Hongyuan to attack.
The peasant army is indeed relatively weak, but not that weak.
Maybe taking the initiative is a good idea.
Since going up the mountain, they have always defended passively and never taken the initiative to attack. These Song soldiers may not have any sense of prevention at all.
However, there were so many Song soldiers, several times more numerous than them. If they attacked rashly, they might not even be able to protect their family's foundation.
Night attack?
A veteran like Shao Hongyuan would never be unprepared for a night attack.
You can't defeat the Song Army simply by playing military, so what should you do to survive the desperate situation?
Zhao Yucheng thought hard, tossed and turned, and finally came up with a clever plan for him.
