Chapter 168 Rushing Out with Sword
Zhao Yulin smiled and said that this is right, but there is one thing, since we are the Shenwei Army, we must strictly enforce military discipline and cannot harass the civilians on the march.
Both of them assured them that they would restrain their subordinates and transfer safely.
Zhao Yulin asked Li Chuan to prepare lunch, and after lunch, Cao Yong actually asked him to let Li Chuan work in his army. He hesitated and agreed, criticizing Li Chuan in public for not following the rules, but it would be different when he went to General Cao's place. He asked Cao Yong to supervise him and let him try as a junior officer in front of the account, and not to make any mistakes.
After the person left, Lao Cao said, why was he so easy to talk to? He just gave it to the other person when he asked for it?
He said that Cao Yong and Guo Chongma had just surrendered, so we transferred them away from their territories. He was afraid that they were still a little uneasy, so he asked Li Chuan to mediate.
This was indeed the case. Guo Chongma and Cao Yong agreed very straightforwardly during the meeting with Zhao Yulin and others, but they were still a little uneasy. When they arrived at Xigong to rest, they took Li Chuan to drink and talk.
Li Chuan was influenced by Zhao Yulin and learned the methods of ideological work. Now the two gave him another chance, which came in handy. After three rounds of drinking, he started to talk. He started from Zhao Yulin's abandonment of the Wang family, and continued to talk about the establishment of the Shenwei Army at the Yibin Wharf. He talked about the origins of the Third Young Master and the Shenwei Army.
The two old generals listened with great interest, but they had no idea that the walls had ears.
Cao Yong and Guo Chongma entered Xigong, with a large group of entourage and guards. The small Xigong post station had only a few households and was overcrowded everywhere, so the two of them were arranged to stay in the yard of the Wang family's carriage shop, a wealthy family.
However, how did they know that a group of fugitives including Wang Shixian were hiding in the dark room of the Wang family?
Wang Xian's eldest son was wounded by an arrow in Yanchuan and could not move easily. After they met in Weiyuan, they saw that the team had been dispersed. They were afraid that the guards would be chased by the Song army. They immediately asked the captain of the guard to continue to flee westward with most of the troops to attract the Song army and scatter and hide. He himself took less than 20 personal guards and disguised himself as a merchant, hiding from place to place, and wanted to go to Xinhui Prefecture to meet Kuoduan.
However, after they left Xigong, Wang Shixian met a caravan coming from Huichuan and found out that Huizhou had been occupied by the Shenwei Army and that Kuoduan had been defeated miserably and had fled to old Huizhou two days ago.
At this time, he was really crying out to heaven and earth for help, but no one could help him. His eldest son had a high fever and would not go away, so he had to return to Xigong and stay in the house of a distant relative to take shelter temporarily.
However, the good times did not last long. As soon as he moved in, soldiers came to and from Xigong one after another, causing him to fail in his repeated plans to escape from Huizhou. He was essentially confined in the Wang family's house.
Just then, his eldest nephew came to him in a hurry to report that a large army had come to the town to requisition the yard. He had no choice but to hide in the dark room again like a mouse.
When his guards saw Cao Yong and Guo Chongma move in through the hole in the wall, they immediately reported it to them. It was really a narrow road for enemies to meet. When enemies meet, their eyes are red. His youngest son drew his sword and rushed out to kill them, but was held tightly by the guards.
Wang Shixian quickly raised his index finger to his mouth, reminding everyone not to make any noise. Everyone crouched nervously.
However, despite all his calculations, he still managed to eliminate this source of danger to his eldest son.
The eldest son's lungs were damaged by an arrow wound and he had to cough from time to time to feel better. He covered his mouth and held his breath, and his face gradually turned red. He really couldn't hold it anymore, and at the critical moment he started coughing violently, and each cough was like a thunder that struck everyone's heart.
The guard wanted to step forward to cover it, but seeing Wang Shixian frozen in the same place again, the third son knew that his hiding place would surely be exposed, so he shouted loudly, kicked open the secret door, and rushed out with a sword.
Cao Yong and Guo Chongma were chatting in the outer room when Li Chuan suddenly heard the sound of a patient coughing coming from the wall behind him. He was so scared that he turned around to look at the wall behind him in confusion. There were no windows or doors, yet how could a coughing sound come from the wall where two landscape paintings were hung?
Just as everyone was wondering, there was a roar from the wall, and with a bang, the secret door opened. Wang Shixian's youngest son jumped out and stabbed the guard who was stunned at the moment to death with a sword. The guards guarding the door quickly closed their living room.
Then, more than a dozen people rushed out of the dark room and fought with Cao Yong's personal soldiers. Cao Yong was shocked when he took a closer look. It turned out that it was General Wang's youngest son who was leading the guards in the fight. Wang Xian had come out from behind, supporting his eldest son.
Guo Chongma recognized Wang Shixian, and he shouted: Shoot, shoot, shoot these bastards to death for me.
After saying that, he snatched the bow and arrow held by his personal soldier, aimed at the window hole, pulled the bow to full length and shot arrows one by one.
Wang Shixian's guards were extremely skilled in martial arts, and all of them were worthy of being killed. However, two fists are no match for four hands. Just as they were about to break out of the courtyard gate, the personal soldiers who had climbed up the wall finally drew their bows and shot them. These people had been equipped with Zhao Yulin's new crossbow, and their super rapid-fire technique killed his youngest son on the spot.
Then they were covered by a dense rain of arrows.
Cao Yong lamented the advanced weapon of the Shenwei Army and walked out with lingering fear. Seeing Wang Shixian with arrows all over his body, he still felt a little bit sorry for him and asked his captain of the guard to find a coffin to bury the father and son of the Wang family.
Guo Chongma had no feelings for the Wang family, only hatred. According to him, they should be dragged out and fed to the dogs. He also ordered that the whole family be dragged out and chopped.
Guo Chongma's guards immediately sprang into action, and the yard became chaotic again.
Li Chuan immediately tried to dissuade them, saying that our Shenwei Army does not kill innocent people, and will punish the guilty, but will never kill innocent people indiscriminately.
Cao Yong followed and advised him, asking his men to bring all the prisoners over for careful interrogation, and to give leniency to those who confessed, reward those who made meritorious service, and no guilt to those who were ignorant.
After some verification, eight heads of this family, from the master to the servants, fell off.
Guo Chongma said that there were not enough houses in the post station anyway, so he wanted to confiscate the houses and use them as government property, leaving the stables for the survivors in their family as a punishment.
Cao Yong also nodded in agreement.
This kind of crime of harboring a criminal would definitely be enough to exterminate the entire clan if it happened during the time when Marshal Wang was in charge of Gongchang Prefecture. Fortunately, our Third Young Master was kind and set a rule not to harm innocent people, giving him the opportunity to do good deeds.
It was five days later that Zhao Yulin received the news that Wang Shixian had been executed. He and Lao Cao returned to Ningyuan. As soon as they entered the city, a military report from Shunfeng was delivered to them.
When Lao Cao saw Guo Chongma and his friends meet Wang Shixian by chance, he was overjoyed and kept saying that it was really a case of searching for something without much effort, but it was finally found without any effort. Now his brother could sleep well and rest assured.
Zhao Yulin ordered a message to be sent to Xigong, and the man was given a grand funeral.
Lao Cao nodded and muttered that Marshal Wang was also considered a hero and a great man in Gongchang, and that he should be given a proper burial and a monument should be erected for him.
Then he went back to writing memorials with a smile on his face.
Zhao Yulin shook his head and asked the captain of the guards to lead the way to the top of the city wall to take a look.
At this time, Kuoduan had returned to the royal court of the grassland, kneeling in front of his father's throne to report the defeat of Huizhou. The Khan of the grassland was furious, stepped forward and kicked the prince to the ground, and cursed the prince for being a waste, why didn't he listen to his warning, and lost Huizhou due to his carelessness?
Yelu Chucai who was standing by quickly supported Kuoduan and said that it was not entirely the prince's fault, but that Zhao Qier was too cunning and had a strong army. He even dared to concentrate his forces to attack Gongchang Prefecture and take Lanzhou without even giving us a heads up.
The Khan had returned to the dragon throne and sat down. He took the mare's milk brought by the maid, drank a sip and said: Damn Zhao Qi'er, he can concentrate his forces, so why can't I? Just wait and see how I kill him, huh.
Then, the Khan sighed again, alas, Huizhou and Lanzhou are gone, and Hexi is gone too. Let’s see where that abandoned child will reach out to?
Yelu Chucai said slowly that Hexi would definitely be lost and we would temporarily lose contact with Tubo, but it didn't matter, these were only temporary, and the emperor's army would be able to take it back in the future.
The Khan took another mouthful of mare's milk and threw the golden bowl to Kuoduan, telling him to go back and reflect, organize his troops and prepare for war, and take back Guanzhong for him first.
After Kuoduan left, Yelu Chucai analyzed to him that it seemed that the Shenwei Army had integrated the Northwestern Song Army into a group with unified military commands, otherwise how could it have such a strong mobilization power.
He advised the Khan not to be angry, as anger would damage the liver. He also advised not to force the little prince to fight desperately, and that Guanzhong should be taken slowly.
The Khan sighed and said, "Although our Great Mongol Empire is powerful now, there are undercurrents among the kings. That's why he decided to send his eldest son to the west, hoping that his own family would make achievements and suppress those who disobeyed him, but he didn't expect to be defeated repeatedly by Zhao Qi'er."
Yelu Chucai reported to him that the Shenwei Army was indeed an army that could not be ignored. Their bows and crossbows were far superior to those of other armies, and their artillery stones were thunder bombs that could explode.
Now that he has the cavalry's muskets, his combat power should not be underestimated. Such people should be won over, not made enemies.
The Khan held up a wine jug and said thoughtfully, "It seems that we should kill less and use more Han troops to fight back. Let the Han people fight the Han people. Otherwise, I won't even be able to recruit soldiers."
The Song Dynasty was very good at internal strife. He asked Yelu Chucai to find a way to create public opinion in the Lin'an court and discredit Zhao Qi'er like Qin Hui killed Yue Fei.
Then, he ordered the Han craftsmen to make cannons for him, and he also wanted to have Zhao Qi'er's cannon.
Yelu Chucai kept saying "Yes, Yes, Yes." It was not that he did not urge him. No matter how he urged, the cannon could not be made by just trying harder. It was the crystallization of black technology.
Seven days later, Zhao Yulin and Lao Cao returned to Fengxiang Prefecture, and Gao Jiadu from Xingyuan Prefecture in Hanzhong came to visit the troops.
The three of them sat down and drank together. When they heard that the Song army had recaptured Lanzhou and was marching into Wuwei, Gao Jia was extremely excited and recited poems one after another. Cao Youwen also sang the heroic "Man Jiang Hong".
Zhao Yulin could fully understand their feelings at the moment, and got drunk with them.
The next day, the three of them drank tea together again. Gao Jia conveyed the official document that Lin'an wanted to increase taxes in Hanzhong. He said reluctantly that the reason why Xingyuan Prefecture was able to recover quickly was all due to the huge investment of the Shenwei Army and the new skills and goods. Now the army is not enough to cover the expenses, but it wants to take a large amount of taxes from Sichuan and Shu.
How can we last long if we go there in the afternoon like this?
