A few days ago, Soochow, Linhu County, Lujiang County.
Magistrate Zhao was sitting in the back house of the county government, half lying on the couch, and the newly purchased tender maid's little hands were gently beating on his legs, which made people feel itchy in their hearts.
The weather is getting colder. I pick up the scalded wine and take a sip. My body feels warm and comfortable.
Magistrate Zhao was in a good mood. He heard that General Sun and King Wei had made peace, and both sides had withdrawn heavy troops from the front lines. For a while, there would be no more fighting in the one-third of an acre of land near him.
It would be nice not to fight.
Once a war breaks out, very little of the oil and water you scrape will be left behind.
After all, the enemy is currently facing us. If you dare to play tricks on raising money and food, you will really be impatient.
He doesn't have a strong backing above.
Moreover, the place where the battle was taking place was too close to him, so he was always on tenterhooks.
Now that there are no more wars on the central and eastern fronts in Yangzhou, the preparations for raising money and food and recruiting troops to send troops to Jingzhou have also ended.
Once the war in Jingzhou is over, the superiors will reduce taxes for the people here.
If Jingzhou wins a big victory, the loss may be even greater.
Don’t you have room for your own oil and water?
It is impossible to reduce taxes for the people according to the order. If you reduce taxes as much as you are told, who will take advantage of this county?
Just a symbolic reduction so that the people who are digging in the mud will not cause too much trouble.
The difference will naturally go into Magistrate Zhao's pocket.
Of course, if the taxes of the large squire households in the county increase, they will be repaid in full.
Whether I, the county magistrate, can do my job properly, and whether the county magistrate's performance is good or not, all depend on these people.
Magistrate Zhao caught the maid's tender little hands and caressed them. Zheng Meimei was thinking whether she would have enough money to buy a dancing girl in a while. If she could really buy one, how honorable would it be?
Suddenly, a servant stumbled in and said, "Zai Gong! Something's not going right! Something's not going right with Mr. Zhao!"
"Bastard!" Magistrate Zhao let go of the maid's hand angrily.
As a man, he was forced to retreat just as he was about to stand up. His mood would not be much better if he left it alone.
Especially as he gets older, his time to successfully stand up is really limited.
"How rude is it to yell and scream! What's wrong is not good, this county is very good!"
But the servant knelt down with a thud and cried: "Zai Gong, Cao's army is coming, let's run!"
"Ah?!" Magistrate Zhao was confused.
who? Cao Jun?
Impossible. Didn’t King Wei and General Sun make peace? How did you get here? !
The most important thing is, why did Cao Jun suddenly attack without any sound? Why was there no news at all before?
"Zai Gong, run quickly, it's too late!"
"Cao, how many people from Cao's army came?" Magistrate Zhao was also scared.
"I heard that there are thousands of people in the vanguard, and there is still a large army behind!"
"Let's go! Order the others to collect their belongings and rice and food, and hurry up!"
There are only two ways before Magistrate Zhao, either to run away or to surrender.
He chose to run.
Today's Shangguan treats him well. For a master like him from a poor family, it is uncertain whether he can keep his current life and official position if he is demoted to Cao Cao.
What? Resistance to defend the city?
The rammed earth wall in Linhu County is only two meters long, and there are no troops stationed in the county. How about taking the lead and guarding it?
However, the news from County Magistrate Zhao was obviously still slow, and the cries and howls outside the mansion became increasingly clear.
"Zai Gong! Cao Jun is coming to kill you, hurry up and leave!"
Magistrate Zhao was sticking his butt out and took out a hidden wooden box from behind the couch. Inside was the savings he had saved over the years!
Bang!
The door of the house was kicked open, and a big man with a bald head and a short beard led several people in with knives and guns.
Magistrate Zhao turned around in horror. Sure enough, they were all wearing Cao Jun uniforms.
The bald head looked at the frightened maid hiding in the corner, and laughed and said: "You are an old thief, but you know how to enjoy it. I don't have a family yet, how about asking her to share the table with you from now on?"
Magistrate Zhao forced a smile: "If the general likes it, there is nothing wrong with it. Haha, there is nothing wrong with it."
The bald man's face turned cold when he heard this: "Well, thank you very much."
puff!
Magistrate Zhao felt a sharp pain in his chest, and the cold blade had passed through his chest.
The bald man drew his sword, and the blood spurted out all over his head and face. He didn't care and kicked Magistrate Zhao to the ground.
Then he hacked to death the servant who reported the news.
The maid squatted in the corner, biting her hand tightly. She was so shaken that she didn't dare to take a breath, let alone scream.
The bald man used his knife to poke at the place where Magistrate Zhao had stretched out his hand, and pulled out a wooden box. When he opened it, he found several gold cakes placed in it.
"Damn you, you bitch!" The bald-headed Magistrate Zhao spat at the dead-eyed Magistrate Zhao on the ground. He took out a piece of gold cake and put it in his arms, then covered the wooden box again and held it in his arms.
He turned his head and grinned at the maid, showing his big yellow teeth: "Madam, get up quickly and follow me, there will be a fire soon."
…
In front of the county house, Chai Rong was sitting on a bad horse holding a gun, trying to look as natural as possible.
It’s just that after riding for a while, I still feel a little awkward.
This horse's ribs are so thin that you can see it, and it doesn't grow strong no matter how much forage it eats. It's really a bad horse.
This is what I got with great difficulty when I was robbing a big customer.
"Da Shu..." The bald man ran out of the county house. Before he could call out the commander, Chai Rong glared at him and immediately changed his words, "General Cao, the county magistrate here has been executed by his subordinates, and his subordinates have ordered people to go there. Open a warehouse to get grain."
"Well, good, ready to set fire."
"Yes!" Then the bald man grinned and handed the wooden box over again, "General Cao, this old boy also hid this wooden box."
Chai Rong opened it and saw several gold cakes inside.
He casually threw a piece to the bald man: "Afterwards, I changed it into money and food and divided it with the brothers."
"Yes! Thank you... General Cao." The bald head immediately beamed.
Chai Rong, who used the pseudonym General Cao, led the "Cao Army" of more than a thousand people to attack Linhu County, killed the county magistrate, and opened warehouses to collect grain.
They also massacred two large families in the county who wanted to resist and harvested all their rice and grain.
The county people who thought that Cao's army was going to kill all the chickens and dogs in Linhu found out that General Cao had finished looting, set fire to the county government and led his troops to leave. It seemed that he had no intention of occupying the county for a long time.
Some of the brave ones rushed into the burning county house after Cao Jun left to see if they could snatch anything else.
Others rushed into the homes of wealthy families who had been massacred. Even if there were some dishes, chopsticks and cooking utensils left, it was still a good thing.
In order to fight for Jingzhou, Sun Quan forcibly recruited soldiers from various places. When raising food and grass, officials from various places took the opportunity to squeeze it, making the people miserable.
At that time, Cao Luo Tong, who had meritorious service, urged Sun Quan to recruit soldiers forcibly, which would alienate the people and lead to civil unrest over time, but Sun Quan argued with him and refused.
Now that Linhu County is in chaos, it has immediately triggered a wave of robberies for the county government and large households in the county.
…
Ruxuwu in the northeast of Linhu County.
Now Jiang Qin is leading the main force west to Xiakou, preparing to send troops from Xiakou to Mianshui to further block the escape route of Guan Yu's Jingzhou army.
Zhou Tai guarded Ruxuwu on behalf of Jiang Qin, but received incredible battle reports.
"You said that Cao's army has reached Linhu? Ridiculous, how is this possible!"
"General, this is absolutely true. Linhu County Magistrate Zhao Ji has been executed and the granary has been robbed. In addition to the Zhao family, all the Zhang and Meng families who wanted to resist have been massacred!"
Zhou Tai stood up awkwardly, frowning, and couldn't help but wonder in his heart: "Now that the siege of Fancheng has been resolved, could it be that King Wei went back on his promise and planned to take the opportunity to send troops south to Jiangdong?"
"Report——!"
While he was in shock and doubt, someone suddenly sent another battle report: "Report to the general, the vanguard of Cao's army has reached Xiang'an County!"
"So fast?!" Zhou Tai was shocked, "Have you ever seen clearly that the person coming is really Cao Jun?"
"The troops are all wearing the uniforms of Cao's army, and the banners of the leading generals have the word Cao written on them. It's absolutely true!"
Zhou Tai hurriedly looked at the map. Linhu and Xiang'an, Cao Jun was heading straight to Ruxuwu by land!
"Where is the main force of Cao's army now?"
"We haven't found out where the main force of Cao's army is yet."
"Trash! Probe again and report again!" Zhou Tai smashed the wine cup in his hand angrily, "Send a small boat to pursue Governor Chiang's army quickly and ask him to return troops for reinforcements! At the same time, send someone to quickly inform General Sun about the local army's intelligence! "
"yes!"
Zhou Tai turned his eyes back to the map, feeling extremely worried.
If Cao Cao sends his army southward at this time, most of our main force in Jiangdong will rush to Jingzhou. If Ruxuwu is breached and the Yangtze River natural moat is missed, Jiangdong will be in danger!
"Ruxuwu must not be thrown away under any circumstances!"
Zhou Tai didn't stop for a moment and immediately went to assemble his army to prepare for war. The defenders of Ruxuwu were all ready.
At this time, Chai Rong and other "Cao troops" who were looting Xiang'an County lost their traces on the way to Ruxuwu in the northeast...
While the team was heading to the Northeast with great fanfare, they suddenly moved in a hurry and went in a circle.
After taking off all the uniforms of Cao's army in the barren mountains and throwing away their flags, they stopped their activities and disappeared, taking a detour to prepare to return to the stronghold.
The bearded man's eyes were so happy that they almost became slits. He personally led Chai Rong's horse and said with a smile: "Commander, General Gongming is so good at predicting things. He actually predicted that the government would send troops to Jingzhou at this time. The defenses everywhere are empty. But I’ve made a huge fortune! Hahaha…”
Chai Rong, who was on the horse, was also very happy, and he seemed to be used to riding a horse: "Who is General Gongming? The plan he gave personally is of course foolproof.
"Now that we have robbed two county towns in a row, the debt will be settled on the head of that thief. We only need to go back to the mountain to avoid the limelight. All the brothers can do is eat, drink and have fun in the mountain these days!"
"Hahaha! It's wonderful. This harvest is enough for me even if I don't leave the mountain for several months."
The main source of the joy in Chai Rong's heart was not the harvest from the robbery.
What he was more excited about was that he had successfully completed the task assigned by General Song Gongming. He felt that General Gongming was still testing them, and they should have passed the test this time.
When I see General Gongming again, I will definitely ask him to take over the mountain stronghold! If that doesn't work, you can just lead the whole village and follow General Gongming.
If the stockade is no longer needed, another one can be built. Only by firmly embracing General Gongming's lap can we have a bright future!
After a long separation, the image of Comrade "Song Gongming" in Chai Rong's heart not only did not dilute, but became more beautified and even deified...
After this incident, he became more convinced of this.
…
Compared to the good mood of Chai Rong and others, Sun Quan was in a terrible mood after the army entered the police station.
He wants to kill someone.
After proudly leading the main force to Jingzhou, he was told that the army could only be stationed at the Public Security Bureau.
Because Jiangling has not been taken down yet.
It doesn't matter, Jiangling City is strong, so it's understandable that it couldn't be taken down for a while.
But the question is, why the hell is Lu Meng gone?
Lu Meng's army of more than 10,000 people, even if there was an accident in the plan and failed to capture Jiangling for a while, how could they still say that they were gone?
Comrade Sun Quan, who was furious and heartbroken, did not know at this moment that the bad news was far more than this...
(End of chapter)
