Chapter 139: Being Deceived
At this time, Cao Youwen in the north was still fighting. They fought and ran all morning and headed straight for Minggao. However, the Jin army, which had two thousand Mongolian troops stationed in Minggao, was determined to surrender to the Mongolians and fight to the death with the Song army.
Minggao was a large town built early on. Although the city walls were not high, they were strong and sturdy. The Song army had long run out of explosives, and the iron barrel cannons and catapults became nothing more than decorations.
It was not until Du Baiyue came up with mortars and fired the only fifteen shells to suppress the front and blow up the city gate that the Song army rushed in at a desperate moment.
After Lao Cao, who was at the rear, entered the city and counted the number of people again, including the wounded, there were less than 10,000 people.
Cao Youwen said very tiredly that this time they fell into Subutai's trap and were left with an empty city, which brought suffering to our brothers.
All the generals said in unison: We are willing to die with the general.
The soldiers found the remaining food of the Mongolian army and started to make a fire to cook. Cao Youliang, who was wounded by an arrow, said proudly that he would have a full meal first with the protection of the city wall, and he would die with a full stomach.
Lao Cao told us not to be careless and to guard well, as the northern barbarians could also climb over the wall and launch a sneak attack.
Du Baiyue said with some worry that the food was only enough for two meals, and we had to think of a way out. He turned to look at Cao Youwen, who was so tired that he forgot the pain in his body and fell asleep in the chair.
The scouts came back to report that the Mongolian commander Liu Heng'an was leading 20,000 troops approaching the town, and the vanguard was less than ten miles away.
Du Baiyue became nervous again.
Minggao had no strategic locations to defend, so he could only hold on to the town and wait for help. He immediately discussed with several main generals, and everyone took action.
When Lao Cao heard the noise, he suddenly turned over and touched the spear beside him, shouting, "The enemy is coming?"
All the generals shouted in unison, "General, take a rest and we will go to fight you."
Lao Cao took the spear handed to him by the personal guard and asked them to attack together.
At dawn, standing on the town wall, one could already see the dark mass of Mongolian troops in the distance, with puffs of black smoke rising. They were cooking and burning houses.
Lao Cao looked at the unscrupulous Mongolian army in front of him and asked his brothers if they had eaten.
They had just had a full meal yesterday and had run out of food, so their stomachs were rumbling with hunger.
Cao Youwanhao said angrily that we are not hungry and it will not be too late to eat after driving these bastards away.
Suddenly, thunder bombs exploded continuously in the Mongolian army's formation, and the loud charge of the Shenwei Army was heard in the south of the town.
Du Baiyue was excited and shouted: "Our reinforcements have arrived, our reinforcements have arrived."
Lao Cao immediately ordered his troops to charge out, and the soldiers quickly opened the blocked gate of the town, and the generals rushed out first.
The Mongolian army did not expect that the Song army in Zhejiang and Sichuan would react so quickly. When they arrived at Minggao, they were still waiting to eat with large and small, strangely shaped bowls and utensils.
The 4,000 fresh troops from the Second Cavalry Column of the Shenwei Army rushed into the enemy camp. The new Shenbi crossbow kept reaping lives, and they rampaged in the Mongolian camp like a mad bull.
After Cao Youwan led his troops to charge out, Liu Heng'an's personal soldiers tried to stop them. However, as soon as he entered the battle, he was hit by the crossbow arrows fired by the oncoming Second Cavalry Column. He was hit by three arrows in succession and almost fell off his horse. The guards around him fought desperately to protect him and led him out of the battlefield.
Lao Cao was so angry that he spurred his horse to chase after the enemy.
Wang Gui shouted from behind, "General, don't be anxious. Don't chase the desperate enemy."
Lao Cao then stopped, and Wang Gui reported to him that the Second Cavalry Column had occupied Song County, and the Mongolian army was unaware of their strength, so it was a good time for them to retreat to Song County for rest and recuperation.
Cao You was awakened by this, and called back the troops, letting the wounded who could not move ride away first. He still stubbornly stayed behind with Wang Gui.
Wang Gui reported to him: The Third Young Master had already made instructions. He personally led the troops to station in Shangnan. The Second Column also had 10,000 infantrymen stationed in Zhejiang and Sichuan. After receiving the military order to go north for support three days ago, they captured Xiakou Town in Neixiang County and rushed all the way over.
But after occupying Song County, the infantry could not keep up, so he could only send out a small group of scouts. Last night, he discovered that the main army had entered the town, and immediately sent troops to support them.
The city of Song County could already be seen in the distance. Lao Cao sighed and said that these ten days felt like ten years, and now he had finally arrived home...
When Zhao Yulin woke up, it was already daybreak. He felt that he was getting old, so how could he sleep so deeply?
Li Chuan told him that Master Lu had been there, and asked him to come in quickly.
Zhao Yulin went out and just sat down with a cup of hot tea when Lao Lu came in.
He pointed to the cup on the tea table and said, "Take a sip first. I made it for you myself." Lao Lu looked at him gratefully and picked up the cup.
Lu Youpeng told him that if you pull out a carrot, you will bring out the dirt, and even the prison will not be able to hold them all. Jiazhou has coal, salt wells, and developed water transportation. It is rich, so there are naturally many corrupt officials. In the state government, except for Yang Jicheng, a guest of the aide, who was relatively clean, a lot of real gold and silver were found in the homes of other people.
Even a few clerks who copied documents had problems with taking bribes and accepting money to do things for them.
"Oh shit." That's fucking scary.
Li Yunqing and Bao Wenli came in and said, "Don't be afraid, they have already controlled the palace soldiers. The four gates are all our Shenwei Army, no one can escape."
It was just one night of arrests, but the people on the street thought for some reason that there had been a mutiny. People were a little panicked.
Zhao Yulin ordered Yang Jicheng to convene a meeting of those working in the government office.
When Zhao Yulin walked into the meeting hall, he found that there were less than 20 people inside. Lao Lu smiled bitterly and said: Even the yamen runners are not honest, and they use magic tricks to collect money from the people who do the work.
It was Mag who forced Zhao Yulin to get angry. He asked Yang Jicheng to name the names and then told him that the Shenwei Army had received a report about corruption and was dealing with it. He asked Yang Jicheng to arrange to immediately post a notice to publicize the evil deeds of the criminals in the government office and encourage the people to come forward to report it.
Yang Jicheng asked tremblingly, "Should they all be written down, including the prefect's?"
Zhao Yulin glared at him and said, "Of course. In our Song Dynasty, there is no place outside the law, and there is no one outside the law."
Yang Jicheng immediately found two scribes to organize the confessions collected by Shunfeng and write notices. Soon, they were posted on the wall outside the government office one by one. The common people gathered around and immediately saw that the Shenwei Army was eliminating traitors and investigating corruption. 50,000 taels of silver were found in the magistrate's house, and it had been announced that there would be no tax increase this year.
Everyone was overjoyed and started discussing it heatedly. Then a notice was posted on the wall saying that the Transport Commissioner had embezzled 200,000 taels of silver, along with many gold, silver, jade artifacts, and famous paintings and calligraphy. Everyone said that the Transport Commissioner was in charge of money and grain, and had worked in Jiading for many years, so it was normal for him to be richer than the prefect.
Soon, notices of corruption were posted on the wall again, and the amount of embezzled money piled up again.
Li Chuan held an iron loudspeaker and shouted at the gate of the government office, welcoming the villagers to come and sue the officials and expose the corruption and illegal activities of the government office.
Jiading became bustling now, with people constantly coming in and out of the yamen to report things. Shunfeng opened six rooms in succession as secret collection points for clues, and warmly welcomed every reporter.
In the afternoon, Lu Youpeng finally took a breath and said that the South Parade Ground was used to detain prisoners. He was short of manpower, so he asked Jianwei for help. The Jianwei County Magistrate actually sent people to help.
Zhao Yulin was also having a headache. He didn't expect that after arresting so many people, the state capital had been paralyzed.
The next step is to need more manpower to start the work.
Just when I was worrying about it, Lao Lu came in nervously and said that the imperial envoy from Lin'an had arrived.
Zhao Yulin asked with a smile, "What are you afraid of?"
Are you still afraid that the imperial envoy will read out the imperial edict in public to arrest me?
Of course Lao Lu knew that he was not afraid, because everyone knew that he specialized in killing imperial envoys.
Lao Lu asked him what to do?
He said, "You're welcome," straightened his clothes and went out.
The imperial envoy has arrived in the lobby.
Zhao Yulin was immediately called to receive the imperial edict. Zhao Yulin bowed and took the imperial edict. While opening it, he said that the Shenwei Army only kneels to their parents. He should go back and tell the emperor , who will know the reason.
He handed the imperial edict to Yang Jicheng and asked him to read it.
Zhao Yulin's domineering attitude surprised everyone in the hall.
Yang Jicheng read the imperial edict aloud. The emperor praised Zhao Yulin for his contributions in Guanzhong, rewarded him with some silver, and ordered him to lead the troops of Jiading Prefecture to Bozhou to quell the rebellion.
Everyone was shocked again when they heard this, thinking that this man was so arrogant, but the emperor still protected him. It really was God's will.
The imperial envoy felt much more relieved. He had heard in Lin'an that Zhao Qier of the Shenwei Army would kill him if he made a mistake, so he declined three times before setting out on the westward journey, fearing that he would lose his life.
Now that he has completed the task easily, it is really all thanks to the good deeds of his ancestors. He kept saying in his heart, thank God.
Immediately, the imperial envoy's problem came back. He put on airs and asked Zhao Yulin why he arrested the three envoys from Jiading, who were appointed by the emperor and were important ministers of the court.
Zhao Yulin led him out to read the notice. The people made way for him one after another. When they saw the imperial envoy coming to check it personally, some people began to shout, "Kill the traitor, kill the corrupt officials." The shouts became louder and louder, one wave covering the other.
The imperial envoy's legs were shaking before he even finished reading it. This is what the people want.
Zhao Yulin helped the imperial envoy into the room and asked Lu Youpeng how the trial went.
Lao Lu said he had almost finished vomiting.
He looked at the imperial commissioner and said: The people's call is very loud, so please ask the imperial commissioner to supervise the execution and order them to drag out the prefect and his men.
The constables and yamen runners went there immediately.
The imperial envoy immediately said no, no, the case had to be handed over to the Dali Temple for execution.
Zhao Yulin said that we are responding to the concerns of the people, otherwise it would be a big deal if it caused a civil unrest, as there are huge crowds of people outside.
The bailiffs, constables and executioners were all there. He pulled the imperial envoy to the gate of the government office and asked Yang Jicheng to announce the criminal's crimes. After identification, he would behead him immediately.
When the common people saw that the Shenwei Army was indeed swift and resolute and would do things as soon as they said they would, they immediately began to shout: Thank you, imperial envoy, for standing up for the people. May the Song Dynasty be forever stable and may the emperor have great fortune.
The imperial envoy supported him very reluctantly, but he was actually supported by the people, which made him very happy.
But when he thought about Zhao Yulin's intention to kill someone, his heart began to beat fast. He took two sips of tea and was ready to say goodbye and return to Lin'an.
Zhao Yulin smiled, pointed at the sun in the west and said: The sun is setting and it will be dark soon. The road will be unsafe, so it is better to stay overnight before continuing.
Zhao Yulin asked Lu Youpeng to settle the accounts of the search and seizure, and asked Yang Jicheng to verify them quickly and hand over this year's tax silver to the imperial envoy to take back.
He thought that the Northern Expedition had failed and the losses were huge, and Lin'an must be short of money. It would be better to use the money collected from the seizures to make up the tax and submit it to the Lin'an court in advance.
