"Kneel down!" Yuanxian County Government, this place has become the temporary headquarters of the Ming army. The battle was over in just half a day. The Annan soldiers who were leaderless and without a complete formation were not the thousands of Ming soldiers who were like wolves and tigers. In addition to hundreds of people who escaped under the leadership of two battalion generals, the two battalions of Annan soldiers outside the city were almost completely wiped out. The men and horses in the city were not much better. The Ming army entered the city too fast. , the defeated soldiers who had no time to leave were directly blocked in the city.
Since Yongle, the Ming army has always been on the defensive against Annan. After Annan became independent, the Ming army never set foot in Annan's territory. Zhennanguan is the final dividing line between Annan and Ming Dynasty, but who can Thinking about it, Zuo Bin actually led his troops to occupy a county town in Annan today. This was an achievement that had not been seen in a century. If he could reach Tianting, Zuo Bin didn't know what kind of official he would be granted.
All the captured defeated troops have been taken to camps outside the city and are under strict supervision. The city has been taken over by the Ming army, and the doors and windows of every household are closed. Zuo Bin selected some Ming soldiers who knew Chinese and asked them to issue a notice to calm the people at home. Hide well and don't come out, otherwise you will be killed without mercy.
Zuo Bin and other generals came to the county government office, and Gao Heng captured Zheng Yuan. He looked like a general in the Annan Army and could be interrogated.
Zheng Yuan was brought up by Gao Heng and others. When they arrived at the county government office, Huang Kun glared at Zheng Yuan and told him to kneel down. However, although Zheng Yuan was accompanied by Zheng Guang personally, he was still stubborn and refused to kneel down. Two of Zuo Bin's soldiers left. I went up to hold him down, but I didn't expect that he was still holding his neck and wouldn't kneel down.
Zuo Bin sneered and said: "You should understand Chinese." Annan is similar to the Japanese country. The upper-class people are proud to learn the Central Plains culture. Chinese characters and Chinese are the most basic learning content. Generals like Zheng Yuan , I can definitely understand it. Zheng Yuan closed his eyes, but didn't look at Zuo Bin.
"It doesn't matter if you don't tell me. Your subordinates have already told you that your name is Zheng Yuan, and you are Zheng Guang's general. How about it? It feels uncomfortable to be a prisoner." Zuo Bin said again.
Seeing that he still didn't speak, Zuo Bin said calmly: "It doesn't matter. If you don't speak for a moment, I will kill ten of your subordinates. If you don't speak for two moments, I will kill twenty of your subordinates. I will kill you until you speak. Anyway, I have captured hundreds of your people, we have plenty of time, let’s take our time.”
"You!" Zheng Yuan said angrily. He didn't care about anything else. Since he was captured, he had to kill or cut them up as he pleased. However, Zuo Bin learned through his men that many of the prisoners in the third battalion were relatives and friends of Zheng Yuan. He should After becoming a general in the camp, many people came to the army, and he wished that all the wild dogs from his hometown could be arranged to serve as military dogs. If Zuo Bin went on such a killing spree, all his relatives from the same village would be dead.
"Don't be complacent for too long. Yuan County was only temporarily captured by you. It happened suddenly and we didn't react. But you don't know that there are still several battalions of people coming to join us. You are isolated and helpless and will fail sooner or later. "Zheng Yuan said with some pride.
What he said was true. Zheng Guang's troops were just the vanguard. For this battle, Lord Zheng gave Zheng Guang 14,000 town troops in addition to 3,000 Beijing soldiers. However, these troops were still behind with their baggage. Zheng Guang couldn't wait to launch the attack. If these ten thousand people had already arrived, no matter how brave the Ming army was, they would not be able to match so many enemy troops.
Zuo Bin's brows knit together. Looking at it this way, Yuan County is a hot potato. They mobilized in full force. Although they defeated the vanguard and killed Zheng Guang, once the follow-up troops arrived, they could not afford it, and they had no food, grass or weapons. It is impossible to fight for a long time with supplies.
Huang Kun whispered to Zuo Bin: "What he said is true. His subordinates have interrogated many strange leaders. It is similar to what Zheng Yuan said. In a few days, troops will arrive. Although Zheng Guang is dead, If Lord Zheng is determined, it would be a good idea to change to another general, and they will definitely avenge this."
Zuo Bin was a little dazed. From this point of view, Yuan County no longer needed to defend. It could only search and then retreat, taking Zheng Yuan back with him to report the victory to the court.
Zheng Yuan's Zuo Bin had a strange look on his face. He knew that his words had hurt Zuo Bin. He laughed loudly and said: "Haha, why, weren't you arrogant just now? Why don't you say anything now? You said you wanted to kill my people, Okay, you kill me. To tell you the truth, in Tuo County in the north, we gathered 10,000 Chinese immigrants to serve as slaves. If you kill my people, do you think our people will retaliate against these people?"
"What did you say?" Several people exclaimed at the same time. I didn't expect Annan's army to be so despicable. It seems that the rumors are true. As early as a few months ago, there was news that Annan was preparing to attack the Ming Dynasty and imprisoned all the overseas Chinese in the territory, saying that he was afraid of them. To cause trouble during the attack on the Ming Dynasty, or to provide material intelligence to the Ming army as a spy. Originally, Zhennanguan people didn’t take it seriously, but they didn’t expect it to be true.
It was different from the later Qing Dynasty's attitude towards overseas immigrants. During the Qing Dynasty, there were incidents of Dutch killing overseas immigrants. However, Qianlong said in the imperial edict that overseas immigrants were not Chinese people. He even believed that they had brought it upon themselves and that all overseas immigrants who were not under the control of the Qing Dynasty were Traitor to the people, such behavior is unpopular.
The Ming Dynasty was different. Ever since Zheng He's voyages to the West, he had understood the principle of benefiting the world. Although the overseas Chinese lived in other countries, they were still considered part of the Chinese people. Many of these overseas Chinese in Annan usually have contacts with Guangdong and Guangxi. Now that they are suffering, these Ming soldiers feel uncomfortable.
Zuo Bin looked up to the sky and sighed, "But our army can't last long, so we have to retreat." His words were full of disappointment, but fortunately they also achieved great results. He waved his hand and said: "Take him down and take a closer look. Interrogate, clean the battlefield, pack up armaments, ask every household to donate money, and those who don't donate will be severely punished. In addition, all the food, grass, and weapons here are taken away if they can be taken away, and burned if they can't be taken away, and cannot be left behind. of enemy troops.”
Just as Zuo Bin was about to signal everyone to step back, Gao Heng stepped forward and said, "Sir, I have a request."
Zuo Bin said: "Say. Oh, by the way, you fought bravely just now, and this is your first achievement. The bounty promised to you by a certain family is now going to be cashed in with you." At this moment, Zuo Bin had a lot of money in his hands, and he defeated several The soldiers from Qian'an Nan occupied the county government again and found out tens of thousands of taels of silver from the military pay treasury. This did not include the donations from every household. Zuo Bin was really rich this time. He had originally promised him fifty taels of silver per person. Twenty people only have one thousand taels, so just give it to him.
Gao Heng said: "My lord is trustworthy, and I am not worried about my lord embezzling my money. There is just one more thing, please allow me." Zuo Bin nodded and motioned for him to continue.
Gao Heng said: "Just now Zheng Yuan said that there are tens of thousands of Chinese people in Tuo County, and I am willing to lead people to rescue them."
"You? A fantasy!" Zuo Bin said angrily, obviously thinking that Gao Heng was telling lies. "Didn't you listen to what Zheng Yuan said? The follow-up troops will arrive in a few days. Even if Tuo County doesn't have many defenders, how many troops do you need? Even if you capture it, can you take away these 10,000 people? ? Drag your family with you, and when we arrive at Zhennanguan, the day lilies are already cold, so you should go back with a certain family. They will definitely do what they promise you."
At this moment, Zuo Bin also had a love for talents. As expected, Gao Heng had some abilities. This time, it was all because of his skill and boldness, and his ability to go deep into dangerous situations that he could get so much credit for nothing. This guy is a man of hundreds of families and has failed to show his talent. If he could be promoted to the rank of general, he would have to be promoted. It would be possible for him to be the general manager of Zhennan Guanqian in the future. He never expected that a civilian in his army would have such talent. Zuo Bin only regretted that he had not discovered this earlier. Talent.
Gao Heng refused: "Tens of thousands of Chinese people are in danger. Now the Ming Dynasty is suffering from internal and external troubles. There are captives in the north, bandits in the central plains, and the villain is in the southwest. Since we encounter such injustices, we must take care of them. Again, the villain did not sue. If he succeeds, it is the credit of the adults. If he fails, it has nothing to do with the adults. It is the villain who made his own decision."
"Presumptuous!" Huang Kun couldn't help but say.
But Zuo Bin pressed his hand and said: "What conditions do you have?" Gao Heng saw Zuo Bin relaxed. Indeed, the temptation of ten thousand people is no less than killing Zheng Guang. If he can add to his credit book, If you don’t have to do your own part, why not?
Gao Heng immediately said: "There are no conditions. I just need your help. First, give me another two thousand taels of silver. Second, leave some armor, weapons, food and grass for me. I will give you the list later. Third, before I still need their help from the twenty people who attacked me. Please allow me to explain to them. If they are willing to follow me, please don't stop them. Also, when I assassinated Zheng Guang, I learned that in this city There are many expatriates acting as civilian husbands. Since the Annan Army was defeated, these people must have been rescued, and I need to talk to them."
"Oh, whatever conditions I had at that time, yes, I will satisfy you with these requirements." Zuo Bin said with a wave of his hand. Two thousand taels of silver is a small thing, just consider it as your investment in Gao Heng. If it succeeds, it will be considered a small gain, and if it fails, it will not feel bad. Ordnance, food and fodder can be kept, but they can't take them all away anyway. Just now he ordered that what he couldn't take away be burned. Since he wanted it, give him part of it.
As for those twenty people, I have never regarded them as my own. If they are willing to continue taking risks with Gao Heng, then go and I will never stop them. If there are any other civilians, just leave them to him.
After leaving the county government office, Gao Heng came to the temporary shelter of his team. It was a small teahouse temporarily occupied by the Ming army. Twenty people gathered in the lobby at the moment. After this battle, Ming The army only paid the price of more than 200 casualties and defeated the enemy several times its own number. Except for three of the twenty people who were injured, the rest were intact.
Gao Heng came among them, and many people couldn't wait to look up. Gao Heng pointed to the cart outside the door: "All the money you want is here." Cheers broke out in the lobby, and some people They hugged each other excitedly. Only Wang Qi, Lu Tao and Wu Rong showed indifferent expressions. Song Zhi greeted: "What the hell are you doing standing around, moving boxes!"
Several soldiers rushed out and moved the box to the lobby.
Entering the lobby, everyone was a little strange. Song Zhidao said: "Boss, that's not right. Each of us has fifty taels, which is only one thousand taels of silver. Why are there three big boxes?"
Gao Heng said: "That's a good question. One thousand taels of these are the silver reward I promised you. Each person can get fifty taels by themselves. These two boxes are the additional two thousand taels I asked Mr. Zuo for."
"Why is this?" Everyone was puzzled. Gao Heng stretched out a finger and said: "There is one more thing to do now. The silver reward has been increased to one hundred taels. Do you dare to do it?"
After the battle in Yuan County, not only the people in the support team, but also the people in the action team admired Gao Heng very much and were very convinced. Song Zhi's eyes shone, and he immediately patted his chest and said, "Is this true?"
Gao Heng nodded and said: "Seriously."
"Do it!" Song Zhi said firmly.
"Don't you even ask what the mission is?" Gao Heng said.
Song Zhi smiled and said: "Haha, we have done such an outrageous task as assassinating Zheng Guang. Now we are rewarded with a hundred taels of silver. You can let me assassinate Lord Zheng."
As soon as Song Zhi said this, everyone felt confident. Yes, such a difficult task has been completed. Now that the reward has doubled, there is nothing else that cannot be done. Everyone spoke one after another: "Gao Xiaoqi, please speak."
Gao Heng then told Zuo Bin exactly what he had just said, and added: "The Tuo County defenders are estimated to be several hundred people, all of whom are the original four town soldiers. Their combat effectiveness is not strong. It will not be possible to kill them with just twenty of us." Realistically, when we came here last time, we found that there are many civilians in Yuan County who are expatriates. I think these people are probably from Tuo County, and their families are still there. If we come forward to help them rescue their families, I believe they will agree. Cooperate with us.”
Gao Heng said again: "These silver rewards can be distributed to everyone now. However, one hundred and fifty taels per person is not light. Whether you can take it is another question. If you believe me, let this be the case for now." In the box, in addition, after capturing Tuoxian, in addition to the money from the treasury, you can take the silver found from the enemy soldiers yourself."
There was another burst of cheers. If everyone thought the task was very arduous before, now everyone's eyes were shining with light. Sure enough, they were seeking wealth and wealth in danger. Originally, they were just unknown military households and civilians, but following Gao Heng, overnight He suddenly became rich. If he could continue to venture with him, he would soon become a wealthy landlord. How could this temptation not be great?
Gao Heng clasped his fists and said, "Since everyone is willing to follow me, I would like to thank you here." Everyone clasped their fists at Gao Heng. Wang Qi and Wu Rong felt that Gao Heng had great righteousness in his heart. If you follow such a person, you will definitely be able to Doing something big arouses even Lu Tao's competitive spirit and is willing to give Gao Heng a try.
