How could Zhang Wen listen to Liang Chuan's preaching at this time? Scholars are the most stubborn people who have seen what they have seen. Unless a strong force makes him bow his head, it is better to save it by relying on preaching to make these old officials realize their mistakes.
All he is thinking about at the moment is how to keep his official position! Who can know the pain of ten years of poverty? He did not study hard for ten years, but almost twenty years before he stood out in the imperial examination. It was not that he did not do anything in the administration, but that these damn Japanese were too rampant, as if It seemed like it appeared overnight, causing chaos in his jurisdiction. Can you blame him?
Every word Liang Chuan said was going in one ear and out the other. His mind was filled with the idea that Liang Chuan was going to Bianjing to kill himself. The message behind the lines was clear, that he was going to bleed heavily. He had long heard that Liang Chuan was from Tongji. Along the way, He threatened and lured all the officials along the way, forcing them to take the road of sending money.
To be honest, he did not invite the Japanese pirates, and his men did not have the ability to exterminate the Japanese pirates. In the final analysis, the imperial court received all military power from Songzhou. It was not that he did not want to compromise with the Japanese pirates. He has the responsibility to defend the country. If he allows the Japanese pirates to break through the gate of their Dengzhou County at this time, he will face an even greater disaster!
He has done his best. Once traces of Japanese pirates are found in villages along the coast, beacon smoke will be lit. All personnel will clear the country and retreat, and try not to leave supplies to the Japanese pirates. Under this mechanism, Dengzhou has been under heavy pressure for a year. The Japanese pirates attacked countless times, but they were always able to persist in the attack, and the common people were not injured or suffered catastrophic injuries.
In general, Zhang Wen, as a high-ranking member of the party, has no merit but some hard work!
If he was asked to give gifts to Liang Chuan in exchange for compromise, to be honest, he couldn't do it himself. He is not a fool, and he does not want to be the kind of soft-headed official with no principles and no bottom line, relying on flattery in exchange for the stability of his position. At this time, if Liang Chuan wanted to use this to make a fuss, he was not afraid!
"The Japanese pirates are causing trouble due to my own inaction. In fact, the prefecture and county have no available troops. The dispatch of troops depends entirely on the superior officers in Luli. If my subordinates can report this situation to the court and provide available troops below, I will do it for them." Thank you Qian Baishengli for this great kindness!"
Liang Chuan asked, "How long have these Japanese pirates been causing trouble? Have you ever reported this to the court?"
Zhang Wen responded in a neither humble nor arrogant manner: "I have sent thirteen letters to the road so far, almost one per month since the Japanese pirates started causing trouble!"
Chen Jiangning said at this time: "These Japanese pirates have only started to invade our Jingdong Road in the past year or two."
Liang Chuan said with a look of disbelief: "It has been more than a year and the court has not paid any attention to it?"
Zhang Wen sighed and answered truthfully: "Songzhou really paid attention to it at the beginning. There are at least a few battalions of one faction, and there are probably thousands of people. Who knows that the Japanese are really cunning. There are only dozens of people every time they land, and at most there are only a few dozen people." There were only a few hundred people, all of them fierce and violent people. One enemy was ten. When the Japanese pirates heard that people were coming from the direction of Songzhou, these people ran faster than anyone else. They took a seaboat and dived into the vast sea. The imperial court There is no way to destroy them!"
"The first few times the Japanese pirates invaded Songzhou, they sent troops, but they often returned without success, and even the shadow of the Japanese pirates was not seen. After several times like this, Songzhou knew that the Japanese pirates only came to rob people's property, and they would not attack the city. The plunder of the city was postponed for a few days, and the Japanese were only allowed to leave when they were satisfied with the robbery. They could also save a lot of military expenses! Although my officer was not able to do the job well, the responsibility for the loss of the land was not mine. , please take a closer look at all the evil appearances!"
Zhang Wen was also confident when he said these words. He was different from other officials on Jingdong Road. There were bandits in other places on Jingdong Road, while the one in his place was Japanese rebellion. The difference is that the number of Japanese pirates is too small. Compared with Li Yuanhao's large army in the northwest, which can easily have tens of thousands of cavalry, these Japanese pirates are no better than beggars who landed in the Song Dynasty to beg for food. Even those bandits on Huangnigang outnumbered these Japanese pirates. Why did the court pay attention to this?
Liang Chuan himself had experienced the rebellions of the mountain people in Shicang and Youyang Mountains. Even in poor mountains and harsh waters like Fujian Road, the number of peasant rebellions was a hundred times greater than the harm caused by Japanese pirates!
There are certainly mistakes in people’s perceptions here. They only think that the size of the harm is measured by the number of enemies, but they don't know that there are also various factors including weapons, equipment, and economic foundation.
Before this, the island country was really poor, so poor that they didn't even have ships to go to sea. But now they are different. Genji unified the island country and officially entered the feudal era. The island country's economy has developed rapidly, but a small amount of land has been raised. Unable to afford so many warriors, they had nowhere to vent their strength, so they naturally turned their attention to the richer Song Dynasty!
Looking back at the Song Dynasty, the Song Dynasty was afraid of learning from the past and was wary of the separatism of vassal towns. The military personnel could not be trusted, and even a little bit of military power would not be decentralized casually. All of it was firmly grasped at the center of power of the court.
It is impossible for them to use the imperial army or large-scale mobilization of local soldiers to exterminate dozens of beggars on this beach. This is like using a shotgun to kill mosquitoes. They cannot predict the destructiveness of the Japanese pirates. Once the Japanese pirates rob too many, they will become addicted. , they began to recruit more people to attack the city and seize territory, treating the coastal areas of the Song Dynasty as their own territory! By then it will be too late!
Chen Jiangning and other businessmen could not understand the disadvantages caused by this system. They only believed in one principle: officials should make decisions for the people. Not to mention the Japanese pirates killing people, setting fires and hijacking merchant ships, even if the Japanese pirates only robbed one of their chickens, these officials The Japanese pirates must be punished! They couldn't understand Zhang Wen's dilemma of being criticized on both sides.
People like Sun Shubo and Liang Shiguang, who came from the Forbidden Army, know best that their Forbidden Army cannot be mobilized by ordinary people. Unless there are enemies of Xixia's magnitude or a large-scale rebellion, the Forbidden Army will not take a direct look at them. If the Forbidden Army can be allowed to pursue these Japanese, it may not take much effort, but it is impossible for the Forbidden Army to fight these little guys.
Liang Chuan knew even more clearly that people said that the Song Dynasty was weak, not because the Song Dynasty was really weak, but because the Song Dynasty tied its own hands and feet and destroyed its most powerful weapon. It has no combat effectiveness at all, let alone efficiency. The battlefield changes in an instant, and no one can stand the slow pace of the Song Dynasty!
"I've been to Japan!"
Liang Chuan's words were like a thunderbolt thrown from the ground, and everyone turned their attention. Even Zhang Wen looked at Liang Chuan in disbelief.
"To be honest, I have been to quite a few places. I was born in the south, and I fought in the northwest. By chance, I also lived in the Japanese country, and also traveled to Nanyang. I have some say."
Sun Houcai said: "You suddenly disappeared for two years in Qingyuan. Could it be that you went to Japan at that time?"
Chen Jiangning didn't believe Liang Chuan's words at first. This guy was too clever. Eight out of ten words he said were untrue. Although Japan was on the other side of the sea, and the sea journey was no farther than going to Nanyang, the storms and winds there were when going to Japan. Nanyang is not on the same scale, and there are no ships even if it is a little bit different. You need to think about the words coming from his mouth, but Sun Houcai is different. He came to Dengzhou completely on the boat this time, and there is no chance of colluding with Liang Chuan!
Could it be that what Liang Chuan said is true!
"You have a pretty good memory! At that time, I was plotted by a traitor and drifted at sea for who knows how long. Finally, my fate was not saved. I was rescued by a passing merchant ship and brought to Japan!"
Liang Chuan did not tell the following story according to the script. He only talked about what he saw and heard in the Japanese country, and downplayed his thrilling and legendary process of picking up girls.
Even so, everyone still looked in disbelief. Liang Shiguang and Sun Shubo were now determined to follow Liang Chuan. They were fascinated by what they heard and wondered when they would have the opportunity to go see it with Liang Chuan!
Liang Chuan said solemnly: "I have been to countless places and met countless people. Our Song Dynasty is surrounded by four enemies. There are Khitans in the north, Dangxiang people in the northwest, Tubo people in the southwest, and Dali people in the south. Just these Our opponent will make our court miserable!"
Everyone took it for granted.
Liang Chuan continued: "But what you don't know is that there are more powerful enemies to the north of the Khitans! There are two terrible ethnic groups rising on the grasslands to the north, and there are several very terrible ethnic groups overseas. In recent years, Although there will be peace in ten years, the Song Dynasty will be in danger a hundred years from now. Among these enemies, who should not be underestimated the most? One is the Mongols on the Mongolian grasslands, and the other is these Japanese!"
"Don't underestimate their size. They can endure better than anyone else. Although they will not pose a fatal threat to the Song Dynasty now, in a hundred years they will become more and more powerful, so powerful that they will be almost fatal to us Han people!"
Sun Houcai was a little unconvinced at this time and asked: "Our merchant ship has also been to Japan. The crew members came back and said that it was such a poor place that no one could shit, and the people there were like monkeys, naked on the mountain." Run away, how can they turn around when they are so poor that they are not as poor as our small village in the mountains and forests in the south?"
Liang Chuan said: "The scene I saw when I went to Japan was worse than what you said, but it has only been a few years since I came back from Japan, and they dared to send such well-equipped warriors to invade our Song Dynasty!"
After saying that, Liang Chuan took off the Japanese sword that Sun Shubo had snatched from the seaside camp, and pulled out the sharp blade with a bang. The blade glowed with cold light. Liang Chuan pulled a piece of hair from his head, and in full view of everyone, he gently Blow, I saw that the hair was instantly broken into two pieces when the knife touched it!
hiss!
The audience at the scene gasped in unison, and Sun Shubo took the knife and looked at it several times and said: "I thought it was a long knife that was not useful, but who could make such a thin knife? It broke without a hit, but I didn’t expect it to be a magic weapon!”
Sun Shubo gently stroked this unexpected object, as if touching a peerless beauty: "Tsk, tsk, after our Great Song Dynasty Taizu banned martial arts, not many craftsmen can create such sharp magic weapons!"
Liang Chuan said: "You have to know that almost every warrior in Japan has a sword like this! Thirty warriors can chase hundreds of villagers. What if the number of warriors reaches tens of thousands? Then what? How to deal with it?”
According to Liang Chuan, the Japanese are indeed scary, and they in Dengzhou have a deep understanding of the fear of the Japanese.
"When I return to the capital this time, I will definitely talk to Mr. Xia about the Japanese pirates' rebellion, but Mr. Zhang, you must resist here. If Songzhou doesn't send troops to suppress the bandits, and you lose the city, then you won't be demoted. Demotion is so easy!”
If the Japanese pirates captured the city, their lives would probably be lost.
Zhang Wen said anxiously: "I have recently defeated the Japanese, but these Japanese will come back soon, and the attack will be more fierce. To avenge their companions, I know the Japanese so well, and there are many heroes who are enemies of ten thousand people around me, why not do it?" This party has a long-term plan, so stay and help me resist for a while!"
It's not impossible to stay if he has nothing to do, but he has more important tasks on his hands now, so it's absolutely impossible for him to stay.
Moreover, these escorts were all hired with their own money, and they did not receive salaries from the court. How could they spend their own efforts to help the court? These Japanese are not kind people. They go crazy and even kill themselves!
He and Chen Jiangning exchanged glances casually and said, "I'm afraid it's not convenient!"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Wen's legs went weak and he knelt down on the ground, saying: "Can you please think about it again? You have also seen how devastated the people are when the Japanese pirates come. I think the people below are not cold-blooded people." , otherwise there would be no such words of concern for the country and the people, and they would not have the heart to ignore all these people!"
Liang Chuan thought to himself now that grandma is playing too big a trick.
He thought for a while and said: "Master Xia asked me to come to Jingdong Road for a time limit. I must go back on time to return to my job. Besides, the manpower I have is limited. I don't know how many Japanese pirates will come next time. With my own strength It’s still insignificant.”
Sun Shubo and Liang Shiguang are both very skilled, but there are many ants that can eat elephants, so they are not truly a ten thousand enemy. The Japanese sword is so sharp, not to mention being hacked to death, even if they take one or two blows, they will probably die. Confessed!
Even they can't fight against so many Japanese with their own strength.
Zhang Wen had a look of despair. To be honest, it was more painful for him to watch the Japanese murder the local people when he was appointed as an official than to demote him from his official position. We finally hoped for a savior, but there was nothing we could do. Could we just let the people fend for themselves?
"But I have a few ideas!" Liang Chuan helped Zhang Wen up.
Zhang Wen suddenly raised his head, his eyes filled with desire and urgency.
"First, we will present the more than 30 corpses of the Japanese we captured to the officials in Luli, and ask them to report to the officials and issue a declaration to the Japanese in the name of the court. I remember that the Japanese sent a mission two years ago. At that time The two countries were once good friends, why have they turned against each other now? Naturally, we, the great dynasty, are polite before fighting. When the ministers of the Ministry of War saw the corpses of the Japanese, Mr. Zhang, please write a letter in your own hand directly to Tianting, explaining the sufferings of Dengzhou in the past two years. Then the ministers of the Ministry of War have no reason not to take it seriously!"
Zhang Wen's eyes lit up and he thought again: "But it takes a long time to come back and forth. The Japanese will come again soon. What should we do?"
Liang Chuan said: "There must be brave men under heavy rewards. Zhang Wen can recruit regiments from his neighbors and offer heavy rewards when it is expedient. Since ancient times, there must be heroes in Shandong. This is the first point. Secondly, Mr. Zhang You can’t defeat them, but you can outwit them!”
Zhang Wen quickly raised his hand, bowed politely to Liang Chuan and said, "How to outwit him!"
Liang Chuan said: "You can set traps on the coast and let the fishermen and villagers lure the Japanese. You can also set up an ambush in the city to catch turtles in an urn. Fortunately, the number of Japanese is not large, so it is easy for this strategy to be effective. Then I see that every villager There will always be some supplies left behind during each retreat, so you don’t have to take advantage of the Japanese. Let the villagers poison their food when they retreat, or deliberately leave poisonous food. It will be difficult for the Japanese to keep up with the supplies when they come from afar, so just You can rely on plunder to snatch these poisonous things back and eat them, and you won’t be afraid of poisoning them to death!”
Everyone felt chills behind their backs when they heard this. Liang Chuan looked at his idleness. He had come up with so many poisonous schemes when he first arrived. Fortunately, he didn't use them on his own people, otherwise who could stand it?
Zhang Wen was overjoyed. He was a scholar who didn't know how to use soldiers, but he patted his thigh heavily and said: "In the past, I only focused on running and forgot that I could deal with Japanese pirates like this. Everything I said made sense. All are feasible measures, and now the people of Dengzhou can be saved!"
