Chapter 138: Rebellion Must Have Discipline (Part 3)
Even though it was only October in the lunar calendar, the mountains were already extremely cold. The soldiers rubbed their hands and tried to find some water on the dry and cold mountain path. There was no water on the bare mountain, and even the green moss on the rocks was cold and hard, and not a single drop of water could be squeezed out.
The screams of the wounded gradually subsided, and all that remained were pleas, "Give me some water to drink." "Please, give me some water."
Ning Hai tightly shut his mouth, with a look of disgust on his face. Not long ago, the attempt to break out of the mountain failed. Rocks from the mountain rained down, causing heavy casualties among the government troops. However, this time the government troops also knew that if they couldn't break out, they would die. They really risked their lives.
However, when they rushed to a high point on the downhill slope, the bandits had already built a wall and were firing guns from inside. The guns were really fast and fierce, and the government troops were knocked down row by row like cutting rice. In the end, there was no place to stand on the ground. They were beaten back by the bandits.
If these guys ran faster, if they were not so greedy, if they were not afraid of death... the situation would not be like this...
Just as the Ninghai garrison was resentful of this group of useless people, he heard the imperial envoy Zhang Wei ask: "What should we do next?"
Ning Hai didn't know what to do. He had some resentment towards the imperial envoy. If it weren't for these unlucky guys who kept forcing Huo Chong to be dealt with, there wouldn't be such a situation.
Just as I was about to answer, I heard two screams from the bottom of the cliff next to me. Not long after, two dull sounds of falling were heard in the deep valley. It is basically impossible for a human to make much noise in the air when falling from a height. In movies and TV shows, people scream when falling into a deep valley to exaggerate the effect.
Ninghai was no stranger to this. Hundreds of people were trapped and died here, so someone would always find a way. However, the place chosen by the thieves was extremely vicious, with a vertical slope and fierce mountain winds. So far, no one has been able to get down very far.
"Master Zhang, we have to find a way to trick Huo Chong's people away." Ning Hai expressed his .
Zhang Wei felt that this was equivalent to expressing that there was no other way out, but at this time Zhang Wei himself could not think of any other way. It was already late, and there was not much gunpowder left in the matchlock. It was becoming increasingly difficult to rush out.
"Master Zhang, I heard that you know Huo Chong, why don't you give it a try?" Ning Hai said.
Zhang Wei had no choice but to take a few steps forward and shout to the enemy who was temporarily invisible: "I am the imperial envoy Zhang Wei, a good friend of the Huo Chong brothers..."
"Oh. I didn't expect Brother Zhang to be here too." someone answered.
Zhang Wei thought the voice was strange, but he didn't know where it came from. However, it did sound a bit like Huo Chong's voice.
Regardless of whether it was true or not, Zhang Wei shouted, "Brother Huo, this is a misunderstanding!"
"If it's a misunderstanding, show me the imperial edict."
"I don't have the imperial edict. Come back with me and I'll show it to you."
"Haha. Zhang Wei, there is a dog-like master, and there is a dog-like slave like you. Let me ask you, when Yongzheng poisoned his father Kangxi to death with medicine, were you, a dog-like slave full of lies, also helping him? I heard that the Nine Gates Admiral Longkodo took advantage of Kangxi's illness and secretly put Yongzheng into Changchun Garden, letting Yongzheng poison his father Kangxi to death with a bowl of medicine. One person can't do it, and someone else is needed to help pry open Kangxi's mouth. Were you, a dog-like slave..."
Zhang Wei felt an uncontrollable rage rushing to his head. He no longer cared about anything and jumped out to curse: "Huo Chong, you damned criminal. The emperor has long seen that you are not a good person, but he just didn't have the chance to kill you. In fact, he should have killed you a long time ago. You deserve to die! You deserve to die a long time ago!"
After cursing for a while, although the anger was still at the top of his lungs, the content of the curse was gone. More importantly, Zhang Wei was extremely thirsty, and he felt a burning pain from his mouth to his lungs. Although his eyes were also burning, he didn't even have tears.
I am so thirsty, if I can't break out at night, I will die tomorrow.
Thinking of this, Zhang Wei turned around and shouted to Ning Hai: "Charge again, charge again..." At this time, Zhang Wei's throat was so dry that he couldn't even speak.
Ning Hai also knew that he really couldn't get out, so he made up his mind and shouted to the less than 300 people left: "If you don't want to die, follow me and rush out."
The government troops also knew that the plan was really not going to work, so they stood up but did not move much. Ning Hai saw that this group of people seemed to be attacking him, the Ning Hai garrison, and personally led the team. He felt that this was not going to work, so he began to organize the team and let the soldiers line up in front.
This charge was launched, but it was not even a tiger's head but a snake's tail. Just a few flying stones drove the officers and soldiers back, at most it was a snake's head but a snake's tail.
It was dark, and Huo Chong's men used solid alcohol to quickly light a bonfire on the mountain path. The mountain path was brightly lit. The Qing army was freezing to death, and some people wanted to come over to get some warmth. However, they were knocked down by the rocks.
That night, the sound of falling into the ravine continued. It was not until the second half of the night that the officers and soldiers finally gave up.
Zhang Wei wanted to sleep for a while, but he couldn't sleep because of thirst and cold. He would wake up after a short while. Hearing the groans of the injured people around him getting weaker and weaker, and gradually depressed. Hearing some people crying because of the death of their loved ones, Zhang Wei felt as if he had fallen into a nightmare.
Huo Chong didn't sleep much either. The number of people who could actually fight was less than 200, less than one-third of the officers and soldiers. They were able to achieve this level entirely because of Huo Chong's long-standing preparations.
However, Huo Chong also found that even if he successfully lured the enemy deep into his territory, it was too much of a mental burden for his subordinates. Throwing stones on the mountain was already quite relaxing, but after killing so many people, the initial excitement faded and the subordinates began to feel stress syndrome.
Killing people is a very burdensome thing, especially for a good family. Huo Chong's subordinates really don't have any bad people.
Let the subordinates rest as much as possible, Huo Chong sat in front of a simple barrier, and was very interested in why the Qing army had such an impulse to kill. While thinking, Lei Hu walked up to Huo Chong and said, "Mr., your knowledge is really solid."
"Those are just idle books. I don't know the Four Books and Five Classics." Huo Chong turned around and answered the question raised by this promising young man.
"Others say that the gentleman has never been to school. It turns out that he has never read the Four Books and Five Classics." Lei Hu sighed.
Huo Chong probed, "It's useless to say all this. I see that everyone has killed so many enemies, and it seems that some of them can't hold on any longer. I wonder if everyone will feel unable to do anything the next time they fight."
Lei Hu's eyes widened in confusion. His expression looked particularly exaggerated in the shadows cast by the fire. "If we don't kill them, we will die. What's the problem?"
"Oh?" Huo Chong was very happy with this answer. As long as he could do it, it would be fine. Thank God.
However, Huo Chong realized that his previous thoughts were just pure chastity. Only those people would react like this, and chastity could not survive in the Qing Dynasty. He really thought too much. Even if his subordinates were not resolute warriors, they would never be chastity who would make moral judgments on the dead.
Huo Chong felt better when he made himself closer to the Qing Dynasty. Just as he was getting rid of the anxiety in front of him, he heard Lei Hu continue to ask: "Sir, we defeated the officers and soldiers this time, what should we do in the future?"
Huo Chong had already thought about it, so he answered directly without even thinking: "We need to continue to defeat the officers and soldiers, and recruit more soldiers to fight back our territory from Mengyin County to Muping County. Let everyone live the life that our Zhongfu platform led everyone to live before."
"Can we really go back?" The young man who seemed to be dozing off opened his eyes and asked in surprise.
"Why don't you go back? I can't possibly live with you in this mountain valley for the rest of your life. Haha." Huo Chong laughed. It seemed that this conversation had found a new direction, the direction for the future.
With confidence, Huo Chong said to several young people who were inspired by the question of being able to go home: "Whoever dares to block us and prevent us from going home. We will kill them all!"
The night passed, and Huo Chong had fire, food, and hot water. A considerable portion of the food and drink came from the baggage brought by the officers and soldiers. When Huo Chong led his men to kill the baggage team, the officers and soldiers guarding the baggage fled. Only four or five stupid people stayed until the end.
When the morning sun illuminated the officers and soldiers, the cold sunlight made them see the grim future approaching. Without food or water, the officers and soldiers who had been freezing in sub-zero temperatures all night slowly got up and saw that the bandits on the mountain and below had sent out a team of soldiers and horses, holding weapons and marching towards the officers and soldiers.
I don’t know if it’s because of a lack of nutrition in the brain, or maybe it’s because the cruel environment has caused their intelligence to decline, or maybe it’s because these people have never learned how to surrender, let alone the experience of trying to make thieves surrender.
The officers and soldiers just stared at the enemy army approaching with their bodies powerless, until the enemy army began to kill the officers and soldiers with their pistols, and then they barely got up to resist. However, this resistance was of little use, even if the Ninghai garrison and his personal soldiers, together with the imperial envoy Zhang Wei and several other guards, launched a counterattack, the team attack of such prestigious guys did not have any effect, and they were easily knocked to the ground.
Zhang Wei covered the wound at the junction of his chest and abdomen, and felt blood gushing out from between his fingers. With every drop of blood that gushed out, Zhang Wei felt his vitality gushing out with the blood, and his intuition told Zhang Wei that he could not hold on any longer.
At this dead end, Zhang Wei wanted to ask the thief to save him. However, a sense of shame prevented Zhang Wei from saying such a thing. Just when he was completely desperate, he saw a figure approaching. From the thief's salute to him, Zhang Wei thought that this person was Huo Chong.
At this moment, his whole body was cold. Zhang Wei knew that he would die under the arrangement of that bastard Huo Chong. He wanted to curse loudly, but found that he could not make any sound.
This silent bounce caught Huo Chong's attention. Huo Chong made a quick analysis and then ordered the guard beside him, "Go and feel his arms."
Sure enough, the guard took out something made of brocade. Zhang Wei was powerless to resist and could only let others take care of it. Then he heard the thieves asked in confusion, "Sir, what is this?"
"It should be some bullshit imperial decree. It's an order to arrest and kill us."
Zhang Wei wanted to yell at Huo Chong, saying that Huo Chong deserved it, but in his excitement, Zhang Wei first felt his whole body burning hot, then his eyes went dark, and he lost consciousness.
Huo Chong really didn't want to save anyone. If he was so innocent, he would not only be sorry for himself, but also for the young people who followed him. Seeing that Zhang Wei couldn't be saved, Huo Chong didn't save him either.
Just as he was about to ask his subordinates to read out Yongzheng's imperial edict, he heard Qian Qing shouting. Looking up, he saw that the officer had jumped up from his dying state and grabbed Qian Qing, intending to pull Qian Qing off the cliff.
Qian Qing's pistol had run out of bullets long ago, and no one else had ever seen such a situation. Just when he was in danger, Qian Qing threw away the pistol in his hand, reached into his bosom and pulled out a dagger, and directly stabbed it into Ning Hai's neck. Ning Hai's eyes immediately widened, and it seemed that his eyeballs were about to pop out. He knelt down unconsciously and raised his hands to cover the wound.
At this time, the extremely anxious Lei Hu had already jumped over and hit Ning Hai's head with the short stick in his hand.
Under this double blow, the Ninghai garrison rolled his eyes and fell down.
Maybe it was because officials had good food and good health. In the end, they were the ones who caused trouble for Huo Chong's men. In the end, Huo Chong still ordered his men to shout the slogan "Kneel down and we won't kill you."
Without exception, all the officers and soldiers who survived to this day knelt down obediently.
When the officers and soldiers heard Huo Chong's men asking them to raise their hands, they put down everything in their hands and raised their hands obediently.
Since they were willing to surrender, Huo Chong did not kill them. He first gave them some food and water, and then ordered his men to take the captives to clean up the battlefield. In particular, they went to the foot of the mountain to bury the officers and soldiers who fell off the cliff and died, and brought back their clothes and weapons.
Huo Chong led the team to the county seat of Mengyin County. The county seat had been broken long ago, and everyone from the county magistrate to the soldiers were captured. This group of people was really fierce. After the first questioning, no one surrendered.
In this case, Huo Chong did not tolerate them and immediately ordered their execution. When these people saw that Huo Chong was serious, several of them were so scared that they shouted hysterically, "I surrender." However, the county magistrate almost shouted the words of surrender, but in the end he did not shout. Until he was shot, he just lowered his head and trembled all over. But he never said the word "surrender".
Huo Chong was surprised by the conduct of the Qing officials at that time. He ordered people to bury the county magistrate and other officials with honor. In order to encourage everyone, Huo Chong asked his subordinates to go to the tombs of these people and said to them: "Since we have already started the uprising, we must know what our enemies are like. Even in the end, these people refused to surrender even though they knew they would be killed if they did not surrender. We ourselves must be more loyal to our team than they are. If you don't want to join, you can leave. But if you join, you must not be a traitor..."
Yongzheng didn't know that his loyal ministers were killed by Huo Chong. The Qing emperor's priority was to get rid of Nian Gengyao. And his uncle Longkodo was also on Yongzheng's hit list.
It is slightly different from the later saying that Longkodo was killed after he had done his job. Yongzheng's dissatisfaction with Longkodo was more because Longkodo and Nian Gengyao did not know how to advance or retreat. Yongzheng hated the embezzlement of the national treasury, while Nian Gengyao was more corrupt. Longkodo himself was an official in the capital and borrowed a lot of money from the national treasury. He was also quite resistant when Yongzheng cleared the debts.
Longkodo's son Yuzhu was dismissed from office for his bad behavior and handed over to Longkodo for supervision. In October, seeing that Longkodo still did not restrain himself, Yongzheng summoned Longkodo and ordered him to hand over the four-dragon robe he had been given and that he could no longer use the double-eyed peacock feather, yellow belt, or purple horse.
Longkodo still didn't understand why his uncle was treated like this by his nephew. Yongzheng was so angry that he ordered Longkodo to go to Alanshan and other places to build cities and reclaim land.
But an uncle is an uncle after all, so Yongzheng simply warned Longkodo, "When I first ascended the throne, you and Nian Gengyao were both my confidants, and I had no suspicion or precautions. Who knew that the confidants I regarded as one with you would dare to have two hearts, seek power and bribes, abuse your power without authorization, and deceive and betray my heart? How could I tolerate evil? In the past, Mingzhu and Suo'etu colluded for personal gain, and the Emperor Shengzu dismissed them from their important positions. If you and Nian Gengyao still don't know fear and don't change your ways, you will be like Mingzhu and others. This is absolutely unacceptable! Pay special attention to the lessons of the past, strengthen your precautions in your heart, and don't destroy yourself."
Longkodo then realized that he had helped his nephew Yongzheng ascend the throne, but he did not receive his nephew's full gratitude. His nephew Yongzheng even directly exposed Longkodo's little thoughts and told him not to think of becoming a powerful minister like Mingzhu and Suoertu.
Disappointed, Longkodo had no choice but to obey the order and leave.
After dealing with his uncle, Yongzheng received a message from Shandong Governor Chen Shiguan. Shandong garrison Ninghai led hundreds of troops to capture Huo Chong, but there was no news. Huo Chong must have killed him. Imperial envoy Zhang Wei and others also lost contact with Ninghai.
At this time, Chen Shiguan had already mobilized Shandong troops to suppress Huo Chong who had fled to Mengyin County.
After reading the memorial, Yongzheng was so angry that he threw it on the table. At this time, the 13th Prince Yi and the 8th Prince Lian were both in front of him. Yongzheng pointed at Prince Lian and scolded him: "You coveted the Liuli Fire in Huo Chong's hand and secretly gave him an official position! Huo Chong is a notorious thief. Do you know how powerful he is now?"
The eighth prince, Yunsi, knew that Yongzheng had always wanted to deal with him, and this matter was just an excuse. He could only lower his head and let Yongzheng scold him.
Old Thirteen was a smart guy, and he knew he couldn't say anything at this time, so he lowered his head and listened to Yongzheng's anger.
There were other reasons why Yongzheng was so angry. Li Shude, the governor of Shandong who gave Huo Chong the official position, was also a big borrower. He was not even an official in Beijing. He just borrowed 100,000 taels of silver from the treasury because he listened to Kangxi's arrangement to repair Xiaoqing River. Yongzheng was just asking the Thirteenth Prince to force Li Shude to pay back the money quickly.
After scolding the Eighth Brother, Yongzheng asked the Thirteenth Brother, "You want him to pay back the money Li Shude owes you now!"
The Thirteenth Prince Yi knew that Yongzheng was more angry with Li Shude than Huo Chong, even though he had agreed with Li Shude to pay off the debt within three years. Before the debt was paid off, Li Shude himself could not be promoted, and Li Shude's relatives could not participate in the imperial examination. The Thirteenth Prince Yi also immediately replied: "As ordered!"
