Not knowing whether there were reinforcements behind the rebel army, Jiang Guanjun did not dare to fight, so he ordered the enemies to be stripped of their armor, their weapons confiscated, and they marched through the valley as quickly as possible to Guiyang.
This valley is still more than 70 miles away from Guiyang. After passing through, the Chang'an army marched at full strength and arrived outside Guiyang in the evening.
This is Zhu Renxia's first visit to the provincial capital of Guizhou.
Looking around, I saw that Guiyang City was huge and solid. The city wall was about four feet high. Flags were fluttering on the wall, and dense officers and soldiers were patrolling.
The rebels did not besiege the city, but set up camps twenty miles apart.
After learning that Xiang Zhou was killed in the attack and more than 2,000 of his 3,000 men were lost, a furious Xiang Fan led 10,000 troops out of the camp to pursue them, hoping to capture all Chang'an troops before they entered Guiyang City.
"What is the origin of this Minzhuang? They actually killed three thousand of my people. If I don't avenge this revenge, I, Xiang Fan, will be a useless person!"
Xiang Fan was so angry that his eyes were splitting, and he rode on his horse to urge the rebels to march quickly. However, they were still twenty miles away from Guiyang City, and it was difficult to find the Chang'an army for a while.
"Who's here?"
On the city wall, Yang Kang, the commander of the Guiyang Guard in charge of guarding, shouted loudly.
Zhu Renxia clasped his fists and said, "My subordinate is Zhu Renxia, the magistrate of Jinping County. Following the order of the magistrate, he led the people's strong regiment to come to the aid of the provincial capital. I hope the general will open the city gate and let us enter the city."
Yang Kang frowned and said, "How many people do you have in Liping City? It looks like there are nearly 1,500 people. I guess you are rebels in disguise and are here to deceive us?"
Zhu Renxia explained: "General, please don't misunderstand. We had an encounter with the rebels early this morning. Our army was waiting for work and set up an ambush in the valley. We killed more than a thousand enemies and captured more than 400 people. Because there were prisoners in the team. , so it looks like a huge number of people. In fact, the number of people we came to rescue was only nine hundred people."
Yang Kang didn't believe his ears: "What? You killed more than a thousand enemies with 900 people, and captured more than 400 people? Do you think this commander is a fool? Do you think I am so easy to fool?"
"I have absolutely no lies, and all the soldiers and prisoners can testify." Zhu Renxia argued with reason.
Yang Kang continued to question: "What evidence do you have to prove that you are reinforcements sent by Liping Mansion? Do you think you can trick me into opening the door with just a few flags and some armor?"
"To tell you back to the general, I have the order arrows from Jinping County, the letter from the prefect Li Yao, and the tiger talisman for mobilizing troops from Liping Prefecture."
Zhu Renxia ordered Hou Jie to come forward and show the voucher. Jiang Guanjun took the opportunity to hand Xiang Chou's head to Hou Jie and asked him to send it to the city wall together.
Hou Jie took his things and ran to the city gate to salute: "General, please put down the bamboo basket and drag me up the city wall!"
"Put the bamboo basket." Yang Kang waved his hand and shouted.
After a while, a rope was lowered from the city wall, and a bamboo basket large enough to accommodate an adult was tied to the end of the rope.
Hou Jie was only a little over 1.6 meters tall. He easily got into the basket and waved to indicate that he could rise.
After a while, the bamboo basket was pulled to the city wall.
Hou Jie jumped out of the bamboo basket and handed the voucher to the commander: "Here is the voucher. Please take a look, sir."
Yang Kang took it and inspected it carefully. After confirming that it was correct, he felt relieved.
"This group of troops is indeed from Liping Mansion, but the county magistrate said that they killed more than a thousand enemies and captured more than 400 people. It's hard to believe it!"
Yang Kang stroked his beard and raised his doubts, "I think this Zhu Renxia is probably lying about the military situation and deceiving Lord Futai."
The surrounding officers laughed loudly: "I guess this county magistrate is used to being domineering in small places. He does a lot of things to deceive superiors and subordinates. He thought that when he arrived in Guiyang, it would be no different from his three-acre land! "
"This little county magistrate may not know that lying about military merit is a serious crime. Maybe Master Futai will take off his black gauze hat directly. He is not afraid of the strong wind flashing his tongue. It is true that the ignorant are fearless. Waiting for the steel knife to cut on the neck Sometimes, he regrets it!"
Hou Jie was unhappy and held the baggage in both hands and presented it: "I have another piece of evidence here. Please show it to your Excellency. After you read it, you will know whether what our county magistrate said is true or a boast."
"What is this?"
Yang Kang showed a vigilant look and asked solemnly.
Hou Jie bent over, holding the blood-stained bundle that had long since dried up in his hands: "The commander will know after seeing it."
"Head?"
Yang Kang looked confused. From the shape of the bundle and the blood stains on it, he could easily guess that what was wrapped inside was a human head.
Although he was surprised, his hands were not idle.
As the commander of the Guiyang Guard and a third-rank military attache in the Ming Dynasty, he was in charge of 5,600 people at the most. He was considered a person who had seen big scenes, so naturally he would not be silenced by a head.
After the baggage was untied, what appeared in front of Yang Kang's eyes was Xiang Zhou's dead head.
His eyes were wide open, as if he was unwilling to accept the reality of his death. His messy hair was dirty and stained with dried blood, and was condensed into locks and scattered on his head.
"Isn't this Xiang Chi?"
Yang Kang couldn't help but gasped when he saw this. This was Yang Yinglong's approximately ten generals.
The younger brother of Xiang Fan, one of the Five Tiger Generals of the Bozhou Yang Family, was usually known for his bravery and skill in fighting, and his speed in using troops. How did he become such a bad guy?
"Xiang Chou was actually killed by Minzhuang of Jinping County?" The expression on Yang Kang's face was a bit abrupt, making it hard to tell whether it was surprise or shock.
The surrounding military attachés were also surprised. They all came over to check and studied Xiang Chi's head carefully.
"Isn't he an impostor?"
"Xiang Tou is one of the few strong men under Yang Yinglong. How could he be killed so easily by a county magistrate?"
"It's not like it's fake. How can there be such a similar person in the world? When we were fighting fiercely in the wild a few days ago, I fought with Xiang Zhao for more than ten rounds. I remember the look in his eyes clearly!"
Hou Jie sneered repeatedly: "The evidence is in front of you, but you are still so ignorant. It's really ridiculous! Do you think that if you can't kill Xiang Zhou, others can't? To tell you the truth, let alone just a Xiang Zhou. Even if it's Yang Yinglong's men The five tiger generals are not enough to kill us, Captain Jiang, by himself!"
The military attachés who were looking at the heads held positions such as commanding colleagues, commanding ministers, town governors, and Qianhu. Most of them held positions from the third to the fifth rank. They were used to being domineering and domineering on weekdays, and they didn't care about Zhu Renxia, a small county. Ling Cang took it seriously, not to mention Hou Jie, the pawn who came to report the news.
After hearing what he said, everyone became furious: "You little pawn are tired of living, aren't you? It's your turn to speak here? Your regiment leader can kill the five tiger generals of the Yang family in Bozhou by yourself. Do you think you are?" who?"
"Who did I think we were?"
Hou Jie's temper got worse. He tore off his armor, opened his clothes, exposed the scars on his chest and back, and roared:
"I am a member of the Qi family army. I have fought forty or fifty battles with General Qi Jiguang over the years. I have killed not a hundred but eighty enemies in my hands! I have even killed dozens of Japanese pirates with my hands. People who think you can't kill them become unparalleled generals. In the eyes of our Qi family army, they are just selling out!"
"Qi Jiajun?"
After listening to Hou Jie's words and looking at the hideous scars on his body, all the military attachés present were shocked and stopped showing contempt.
"It turns out that some of your people have retired from the Qi Army. No wonder they can win the battle. I look down on you."
Yang Kang said "Haha" and found a place to go down the stairs. "The Qi Jiajun are the elites in the world. They are the best in the Ming Dynasty. There are veterans of the Qi Jiajun among your people. It is natural that they can win the battle."
At this moment, with smoke and dust billowing in the distance, Hou Jie saw a group of troops marching towards Guiyang under the banners of "Yang" and "Xiang". It looked like there were at least tens of thousands of people.
"Commander, please open the door quickly and let our people into the city." Hou Jie was a little anxious and asked with his fists clasped.
"Um."
Yang Kang snorted and was about to order the city gates to be opened to let Liping Mansion's reinforcements enter the city, when he saw his confidant Lu Zhiwen leaning over and whispering:
"This Minzhuang of Liping City has made great achievements, but his attitude is arrogant and arrogant. How dare a small leader who reported the news dare to laugh at us, how can we do it without killing their majesty?"
The original commander of the Guiyang Guard, Zhang Huan, died in Feilianbao with Yang Guozhu, the commander of the capital. Therefore, the commander Lu Zhiwen was promoted by the governor of Jiangdong and temporarily assumed the post of commander of the Guiyang Guard.
This Lu Zhiwen is Yang Kang's distant cousin. The two have a close personal relationship. After listening to Lu Zhiwen's words, Yang Kang squinted his eyes and thought to himself, thinking in his heart: "Zhiwen's words are reasonable. We must take this opportunity to kill the spirit of this team." , let them know what the sky and the earth are!”
"Haha... Thank you for your hard work, strong man. You go have tea and rest first. I will immediately order someone to open the city gate and let your Liping army enter the city."
Yang Kang ordered with a smile on his face, and several of his soldiers immediately came forward to invite him, "Brother, come to the barracks with us to drink tea."
