Quanzhou plays a vital role in Zhao Mengqi's development blueprint and cannot be missed.
"Originally, I thought that although Prime Minister Xie had few troops, he would be able to defend Quanzhou City without any problem. But now it seems that things are not that simple... I'd better go there myself."
"No." Chen Wei immediately objected and said seriously, "This chaos was originally directed at Your Highness, and the various forces in Quanzhou are complex. It is too dangerous to rush forward without absolute strength guarantee. I think that as long as I remind you, A quick thank you will make him more vigilant, which is enough to temporarily stabilize the situation."
Zhao Mengqi thought about it for a moment, "What the bachelor said makes sense...but now Quanzhou is like a pool of muddy water. I'm afraid the number of people available to Prime Minister Xie is limited, so we still have to give him some manpower and troops to support him."
"Only when you have reliable elite soldiers at hand can you intimidate Xiao Xiao."
Chen Wei agreed, and then the two discussed it and decided to send one of the Right Army to command a battalion of the Eastern Guards, a total of more than 700 people, and a dozen civilians were selected from the staff of Jiedu Mansion.
Just as he was about to issue the order, Qian Xiaopang suddenly begged, "Your Highness, I also want to go to Quanzhou."
"What can you do if you go?" Zhao Mengqi glanced at him, and his eyes naturally fell on his round belly.
Qian Xiaopang scratched his head, "This...that...then Wu Qiong is on a mission, isn't it? We are all close to His Highness, so we must do something..."
"Hey, are you afraid that you won't be tough enough to argue with Wu Qiong in the future? Okay, you can go if you like."
Zhao Mengqi joked casually and agreed. These personal guards and followers around him will be released in the future. It is always good to have more experience.
The arrangement was implemented, and two hours later, two Dinghai navy warships escorted six merchant ships out of the port.
At this time, Wu Qiong met the waiting scout captain Zhang Yi about ten miles away from Gutian County.
Zhang Yi knew Wu Qiong and couldn't help but be surprised, "Why are you here, Commander Wu? How long will it take for the main force to arrive?"
As he said this, he stood on tiptoe and looked behind the official road, probably thinking that this cavalry team was just the vanguard.
"Don't look at it. It's not like you don't know the situation in the army. We are the only ones who can get here so quickly. The rest will arrive tomorrow night at the earliest. Without further ado, get on your horse and find a place. Let's place the horses and talk about the situation..."
Zhang Yi led them along the official road for a while, then turned into a mountain road and entered a small village, where a dozen scouts were resting.
"Places near the county seat have been plagued by bandits. All the people and belongings were looted and taken away. Only a few old people who could not walk were left. Fortunately, they still had some humanity and left some food for the old people."
Wu Qiong looked around the terrain, "Have all the bandits' outposts been cleared?"
"A bunch of rabble, how can we send any outposts? No one will come to these areas that have been raided." Zhang Yi said with disdain, "But we have met more than a dozen villagers hiding from bandits in the mountains. , were all taken back to this village and imprisoned."
If they were general army scouts, they would usually be silenced in this situation.
"Just let them help carry the equipment later."
Wu Qiong nodded silently, and then asked everyone to place the horses first, and then rested for more than a quarter of an hour. Under the guidance of the scouts, he walked to the mountains four or five miles southeast of the county seat. From a high position, he could see clearly the bandits. Camp".
It is said to be a large camp, but it actually starts two miles away from the county seat. There are a large number of shacks set up in a mess. The only decent thing is that there are dozens of simple bamboo huts in the center, but the most conspicuous ones are the three large cowhide tents. Like a military style.
At this time, the sun has not completely set. Wu Qiong used a monocular telescope to observe, while Zhang Yi talked about the detected situation.
"The bandit leader's name is Yang Xiao, who calls himself Akamelong. In his early years, he was a miner at Dayan Bank. Five years ago, he was beaten by the supervisor of the bank because of something, so he left the bank and gathered more than a hundred people to start a private mine... …”
"He currently has more than a thousand miners under his command, and the other more than ten thousand are ordinary people. Most of them are coerced, but some are voluntary, including men, women, old and young..."
"The one at the beginning
The farm supervisor is now the chief bookkeeper of the county, so he claimed that he must invade the county and kill the chief bookkeeper to avenge the past..."
"Now there are three tunnels dug in the south, and two in the west, just a dozen feet away from the city wall. To the northwest of the county is Cuiping Mountain, and to the northeast is the lake. Each one is blocked by more than a thousand people..."
At this time, Gutian County has become a lake area due to the construction of reservoirs in later generations.
"It seems like it will take at most another hour or two to dig under the city wall." 5
Wu Qiong clearly saw from the telescope that the front end of the tunnel was still being worked on. After digging a little further, wooden boards would be stretched out to cover it. In this way, the archers on the city wall would be unable to do anything.
At the end of the tunnel, baskets continued to come out, pouring out the soil and then passing it back, while many people in ragged clothes carried the soil away in various containers, including women, children, and old people.
Seeing this, Wu Qiong couldn't help but frown.
It is not difficult to deal with this bandit, after all, their backbone is only more than a thousand miners, but if they use these people as human shields, it will be very difficult.
At this time, Zhang Yi suddenly said, "Commander Wu, look there, the big black man in the middle is Yang Xiao."
Wu Qiong moved the telescope and saw a bare-chested, muscular man surrounded by a hundred people, slowly walking sixty feet away from the city wall.
The more than fifty archers on the city immediately became nervous and aimed their bows half-drawn at the group of people, but the distance was beyond the archers' killing range.
Therefore, Yang Xiao swaggered without any fear at all. He even raised his hand and patted his chest, "Mother Selin, I can't even cum for you. There's no point in doing that."
Then he continued to shout, "Okay, I won't beat you today, don't be afraid... For the sake of the folks in my hometown, I will give you one last chance to hand over Zhong Genci's old turtle family, and collect ten more If you have ten thousand dollars, I will let you go and stop attacking the city. Otherwise, don't blame me for being ruthless when I break in."
After a while, a reply came from the top of the city, "Yang Haohan, I, Xu He'an, the magistrate of Gutian County, would like to have a few words with you."
"Although Mr. Zhong has a personal grudge against you, he is an official of the imperial court and there is no reason to leave it to you. His family is even more innocent, and I cannot give it to you."
"As for the money, we can discuss it, but we are only a small county. It is impossible to get 100,000 guan even if you scrape the ground three feet away. I can give you 5,000 guan at my discretion. What do you think?"
"Haha, are you sending beggars away!?" Yang Xiao sneered, then pointed at the city wall, "Listen to me, I'm too lazy to talk nonsense with you, I'll give you one night to collect the money, if you can't do it tomorrow morning, then I'll wait for you Smash your turtle shell to pieces and go in and get it yourself!"
After saying that, Yang Xiao turned around and led the people back, but there was a commotion at the top of the city and then silence fell.
After Yang Xiao showed off his power, he sent his men to have a drink and went into the big tent alone. There sat a man dressed as a businessman, drinking leisurely.
Seeing Yang Xiao come in, he said calmly, "I have said that Xu He'an is a stubborn person and there is absolutely no way he will agree to your request, so why should you waste your efforts?"
"It's okay to be idle. It's okay to scare them."
Yang Xiao walked over to the table, picked up a roast chicken, sat down and ate it, "I've been eating boiled meat these past few days, and there's been a bird in my mouth... Mr. Tian should bring more delicious food." ..."
"If the city is destroyed, there will be no food." Mr. Tian remained indifferent.
Yang Xiao gnawed and muttered, "Speaking of which, your method of digging holes to attack the city is good, but if you really want to get in, you still have to rely on my brothers to fight for their lives, and the big families inside can't really do it." How can we get any money if we don't move? Besides, King Yan's army can come at any time, why should we take this risk?"
"It's useless to tell you the truth behind this. Anyway, as long as you attack it, the benefits we will give you will be enough to keep you happy for the rest of your life. As for the soldiers of King Yan, they are still recuperating in Fuzhou. Even if If we send troops as usual tomorrow, it will take at least three days to get here, which is enough for you to run far, so there is nothing to be afraid of."
"What if they move in advance? King Yan has been here for several days, how could he not send someone to check
What about the situation? "
"Don't worry, any changes they make will not escape our eyes. At least I haven't received any news before I came here."
"I don't understand what you're saying, but I always feel a little bit scared..."
"If you are really worried, then let those mud-legged guys seize the time to dig. I will stay here tonight and watch you destroy the city tomorrow."
"Haha, since Mr. Tian is not afraid, I, a big old man, have nothing to be afraid of."
Afterwards, Yang Xiao ordered his men to continue digging holes with torches, but they didn't dig for long, because poor people in this era often suffered from night blindness, and working at night was too difficult, so they had to give up.
Seeing that the bandits stopped digging, Wu Qiong on the mountain was relieved and began to discuss the action plan with his team members.
"Wutou, although His Highness gave us the task of delaying the harassment, the hole is only three to four feet away from the city wall. I'm afraid we won't be able to delay it for long."
"That's right. In my opinion, we don't have to put in so much effort at all. We can just go in at night and behead them. The bandits will definitely collapse!"
"Yes, it's not that I look down on these gangsters. We can fight them openly in broad daylight."
All the team members expressed that they wanted to do it directly. Wu Qiong was also a little moved. After taking another look at the "big camp" at the bottom of the mountain, he nodded, "Okay, then let's do it."
Zhang Yi, who was standing next to him, shook his head and thought that these people were crazy. Thirty people actually wanted to attack others' more than 10,000 troops and kill the bandit leader...
After selecting the plan, the members of the special service team began to take turns to rest and prepare. When Yin hour was estimated and there was only a faint starlight left in the sky, they were all fully equipped and quietly headed down the mountain.
What they wear is not chain mail or pierced armor, but something similar to half-body plate armor. The protection may not be as good, but it is lighter and more flexible. There is no sound of armor plates clashing when moving. After being painted with black paint, it is even more impressive. Hidden.
Although the thief camp didn't even have a fence, the dark and unorganized shacks on the outside hindered Wu Qiong and the others' movements in disguise, forcing them to be extremely careful.
Listening to the sounds of snoring and talking in sleep all around, Wu Qiong and others tiptoed and touched the "Zhongjun".
There were many pine tar torches burning here, and there were more than a dozen sentries, but they were all dozing off.
Without Wu Qiong's orders, the team members were like ghosts and shadows, touching each sentry and ending their lives quietly.
Then they divided into several small teams and approached the three large cowhide tents from all sides without any accidents. The operation was so smooth that Wu Qiong was surprised. It was ten times easier than during training.
In this case, Wu Qiong was not polite and directly opened a tent door and walked in with three team members.
There was actually an oil lamp burning in the tent, which was very bright, and Yang Xiao was sleeping soundly with two naked women in his arms.
Perhaps sensing something, Yang Xiao suddenly opened his eyes and saw a black ferocious ghost face appearing in front of him, with a pair of eyes staring straight at him.
Just as he was about to scream, a big hand covered his mouth and nose.
"Shh! If you want to survive, just be obedient..."
"Thank you "Midway Island" for the koi. "
