Chapter 149: Risks and Opportunities (I)
Without talking about the earlier preparations, let's just say that Lord Xie Cili, the general of Dengzhou Town, led his troops from the Dengzhou camp. From the departure to the battle site, Lord Xie Cili walked for seven days. It took about 160 hours.
From the time Qian Qing ordered the charge to the time the 4,000 officers and soldiers of Dengzhou Town collapsed with their bodies scattered all over the ground, it took less than 1.6 hours at most.
This brutal battle was simply dizzying for the sixty-year-old Dengzhou Town General Xie Cilu. There were gunshots everywhere, shouts and screams everywhere. As the commander, General Xie Cilu had no idea what was going on. He could only be protected by his personal soldiers as he staggered in the vortex of the battlefield. In the end, he was defeated in an unknown direction under the protection of his personal soldiers.
When General Xie Cilü began to understand what was happening, he found himself being carried by his personal soldiers on a horse that had been obtained from somewhere, and marching forward with a group of defeated Qing troops.
After barely calming down, General Xie Cilu found himself still walking on the official road. He asked the personal soldiers who were running with horses, and then he learned that the brothers in the Dengzhou camp had finally broken out of the siege of the bandit army and began to flee along the official road that was vacated for unknown reasons.
After running for a while, General Xie Cilu saw a group of Qing troops coming from the front, which turned out to be the vanguard camp. When they learned that the rear and central troops were attacked, they quickly withdrew to provide assistance.
After the troops were gathered together, Xie Cilu finally felt relieved. After discussing with the commander of the vanguard camp, they decided to continue to move towards Jinan. No matter what, there were still many soldiers in Jinan. Since the bandit army came to attack Xie Cilu's troops, it seemed that there were no bandit troops in Jinan.
The rear troops and the central army had already abandoned all their baggage, and they had not had breakfast. They looted every shop and restaurant they saw along the way. They finally reached the afternoon after stumbling along the way.
Suddenly, a group of people and horses rushed out from both sides of the road, and they spread out in a row, completely blocking the road. The Qing army was not sure how to respond, but shouts of killing came from behind. The bandit army that attacked the Qing army in the morning had caught up.
At this time, the Qing army had been running for a whole day and was exhausted and could no longer move. General Xie Cilu saw that there were hills on both sides of the official road. He was surrounded from the front and back and was in a desperate situation. He made up his mind and ordered: "The bandits in the rear team have also been running for a whole day, charge back!"
Another 1.6 hours later, General Xie Cilu was carried by his personal soldiers in turn, walking through the hills. The pursuers behind him were chasing him closely, and suddenly several figures appeared in front of him. The personal soldiers were startled, and when they looked closely, they saw several people with wounds on their faces. Judging from their attire, they looked like businessmen.
The merchants were also surprised to see these soldiers. Xie Cilu saw a trace of gloating on the faces of the merchants who were beaten by the government troops. The general was from Guangxi, where the Han people and the local natives had deep conflicts. This trace of gloating was not unfamiliar to General Xie. Whether it was the local Han people seeing the local natives who were alone, or the local natives seeing the local Han people, they all had this expression.
The merchants had already started to run away. The personal soldiers threatened them a few words and continued to run forward carrying Xie Cilü on their backs.
After passing a fork in the road, Xie Cilu heard the soldiers panting and gasping, and he really couldn't run any longer. He struggled to jump off the soldiers' backs. Although the soldiers were shocked, they were really exhausted.
Xie Cilu lifted up his official uniform, asked for the sword of his personal guard, and directly cut off the hem of his green robe underneath his official uniform. Then Xie Cilu stretched out his left hand, closed his eyes, and chopped down with the sword in his right hand.
Amidst the splattering of blood, Xie Cilü actually cut off his left index finger.
Perhaps he was too tired, or perhaps he was too emotional. Xie Cilu could hardly feel much pain at this time. He picked up the severed finger with his right hand and began to write a suicide note on his clothes.
The guards never expected that this 60-year-old general would be so tough. They screamed and tried to rush over to help him, but Xie Cilu, who looked drunk and unsteady, pushed them away. Xie Cilu shouted in a low voice: "Hold the cloth, don't let it slip!" Then he began to write.
"I, Xie Cilu, the general of Dengzhou Town, submitted this petition before his death. The defeat of the 4,000-strong government army is all my fault. I beg Your Majesty not to embarrass the soldiers. I will never forget what Your Majesty has said. However, the bandit Huo is more important than the comment. This bandit is a threat to the Qing Dynasty. I ask Your Majesty to mobilize the army and wipe it out in one fell swoop. I, a guilty minister, dare not be captured by the bandit, and I will kill myself to apologize. Long live the emperor, and I, Xie Cilu, kowtow to you ten thousand times."
Just as I finished writing, I heard someone shouting in the distance, "Chase over there!"
When Xie Cilü heard the voice coming towards him, he threw away the severed finger and handed the suicide note to his personal soldier.
"You are strong and healthy, and you certainly can't run away with me on your back. If you can escape on your own, you still have a chance to survive. My innocence in life depends on whether you can bring this letter to the emperor. If you are captured, I will not be able to escape you even if I become a ghost!"
After saying that, Xie Cilu pulled out a pistol from his guards' waist. The guards were all shocked, as they never expected that this general in his sixties could be so resolute.
When they wanted to go forward to dissuade them, they heard the pursuers getting closer. One of the soldiers made up his mind and lit the match. Then everyone picked up the suicide note and continued to flee.
Not long after I ran out, I heard a dull gunshot behind me.
The personal soldiers were all strong and healthy. At this time, they were inspired by Xie Cilu's toughness and good health. Finally, they got rid of the pursuers and escaped. The personal soldiers knew that they could not return to Dengzhou camp, so they carefully went to Jinan City. When they arrived outside the city, they found that there was no one outside Jinan City. Huo Chong's troops had already withdrawn. When they shouted at the city, they were almost shot by the soldiers in the city. However, when they saw their military uniforms and heard their responses, they finally dropped a basket from the top of the city, searched several people and brought them into the city.
Shandong Governor Chen Shiguan read Xie Cilü's blood-written suicide note and sighed. He asked how Xie Cilü died and how the battle was lost, and then he wrote a memorial and sent it to the capital in a hurry, 800 miles away.
Yongzheng was in a good mood at this time. Tian Wenjing had some good news. The land tax system in Henan was being promoted effectively and might be fully effective next year. However, when he saw what Chen Shiguan had sent, Yongzheng's good mood immediately vanished.
Xie Cilü's will was concise and to the point. Yongzheng felt a little heartbroken when reading it, but also a little puzzled. The general of Dengzhou Town was defeated by Huo Chong. According to the will and the news that Chen Shiguan got from the few defeated soldiers who fled to Jinan City, Yongzheng had to think of Nian Gengyao again.
Nian Gengyao's evaluation of Huo Chong was extremely high, but Yongzheng actually didn't believe it. A craftsman who looked to be in his twenties, who had spent the past few years making glass fire, brewing wine, making glass, and raising livestock. How could he be worthy of the evaluation of "elegant in military operations and solid in combat" when his handwriting was as bad as a dog's crawling?
Nian Gengyao was a famous general after all, known as Liang Gong. The "Liang" here refers to Zhuge Liang. It is absurd that a man who can compare himself to Zhuge Kongming would make an evaluation of Huo Chong as "elegant in using troops and solid in fighting".
Yongzheng believed that the reason why Nian Gengyao wrote this in his petition was that he was trying to protect himself by nurturing a powerful bandit. He wanted to promote a powerful bandit and praise him to the sky, so that the court would think that no one except him, Nian Gengyao, could deal with Huo Chong. Then Nian Gengyao could survive.
Yongzheng looked down upon such tactics.
However, according to the few rear troops of the Dengzhou camp who escaped to Jinan City and the defeated troops of the central army, the firearms used by Huo Chong's men were extremely sharp. The government troops had also prepared their matchlock guns, but before they could even fire a single shot, the enemy's firearms had already rained down on them, forcing a passage through the government troops.
When the bandits entered the government, some of the bandits' firearms could fire continuously. The government soldiers risked their lives to fight hand-to-hand, but they could not withstand such close-range killing and were knocked down row by row. The bandits killed them head-on with firearms until there were few left.
After seeing Xie Cilü's will, Yongzheng felt that he could no longer underestimate Huo Chong. He had to at least trust Nian Gengyao's evaluation of Huo Chong.
After reading the statements of the defeated government troops, Yongzheng felt that there might be some misunderstanding or even a conspiracy.
When Yongzheng first met Huo Chong, what impressed him most was the drug in Huo Chong's hand. Yongzheng could not even imagine a drug that could make a person completely unconscious, and even pull apart a broken leg and put the broken pieces back together without waking up. If he had such a thing, what else could he be but a bandit?
Compared with the firearms described by the defeated soldiers, this impressive and unforgettable knockout drug was nothing shocking. Yongzheng could not imagine the craftsmen who could make such firearms.
In the end, Yongzheng had no choice but to issue an order, asking Chen Shiguan to gather the defeated soldiers and send them to the capital as soon as possible.
After issuing an edict to Chen Shiguan, Yongzheng ordered the Ministry of Justice to re-examine the sons of Master Huo Chong and find out everything they knew about Huo Chong.
The Ministry of Justice received Yongzheng's handwritten instructions and knew that this matter could not be sloppy at all. They immediately sent experienced officials and executioners to separate Liu Shu's sons and interrogate them carefully.
The news soon reached the two people who had a secret meeting last time. The person in charge was a little nervous, "Eighth Master, the emperor has ordered a thorough interrogation..."
"Don't worry. Those evil-minded people in the prison have done so many bad things over the years. They are all as cunning as devils. If they tell others about it this time, what will happen to them? Those servants know it very well."
After hearing what the Eighth Master said, the people in charge felt that it was correct. If Yongzheng had not taken it so seriously, the jailers in the prison might have accidentally let the secret slip. Now that Yongzheng was so concerned about Huo Chong's background, the jailers would definitely give up. With Yongzheng's temper as a living devil, for corrupt officials, not only would the officials be killed, but their families would also be implicated. Wouldn't the little jailers be cut into pieces?
Feeling relieved, the person in charge couldn't help but ask, "Eighth Master, why did you... do that?"
"Even Huo Chong knows that my father's death was unclear. How can I, as his son, let my father end up like this?"
The room fell silent and no one spoke.
