Volume 2 Chapter 17: Rainwater (Part 1)
The Grain Rain is like silk and dust, and the wax floating in the bottle is the time to taste the new food.
Peonies are blooming and cherries are ripe, but the falling flowers are not allowed to detract from the spring.
At the end of March, the transition between spring and summer was the Grain Rain season. At this time, a round of rain suddenly appeared in the Jianghan area, corresponding to the season, and began to advance from south to north. This allowed Fan Qiong and Fan Baochen, who had been entrenched in the Xiangzhou area and officially became "rebels" a few days ago, to finally let go of some of their previous anxiety and sleep well for the first time.
The reason why it was said half a time was that the rain was dripping, and gradually there was a little thunder. Although it was not harsh, it was enough to wake Fan Qiong, who was sleeping in armor, up suddenly. After waking up, there was endless hesitation and blankness, and then he could not remember the past event that kept repeating in his dream. It was that past event that made him palpitate and wake up suddenly, and then lost consciousness.
To be fair, Fan Qiong, who was lying on the couch in the back room of the Xiangzhou provincial government, looking thoughtfully at the raindrops falling outside the window, couldn't figure out why he suddenly behaved like that.
You must know that during the Jingkang Rebellion, he led tens of thousands of troops from Jingdong and was the first one to arrive at the city of Dongjing. He was regarded as a hero at the time, and that action to support the king actually forced the Jin army to retreat. It is said that the three towns of Taiyuan were used to exchange for the withdrawal of the Jin army...
Of course, what followed was the total collapse of the Battle of Taiyuan, the return of the Jin people, and the death and complete desolation of countless national generals.
Logically speaking, if there really was a change and a complete disappointment with the Song Dynasty, it should have happened here.
But at this moment, Fan Qiong was lying on his bed looking at the rain, and recalled carefully, but he found that he did not seem to be completely shaken at that stage like others, because he was immediately appointed as the inspector of the four walls of the capital, becoming the de facto chief of the capital's garrison. And this appointment was enough to make him ecstatic when he still had tens of thousands of elite soldiers at the time... His strength was intact, he was promoted and made a fortune, and he became the only military support for the new emperor at that time. He had a bright future, so how could he be shaken?
In fact, if I remember correctly, after this incident, he sought opportunities many times during the second siege and took the initiative to attack, not afraid to fight the Jin people at all. Moreover, no matter how many soldiers died in the battle or how many times he was defeated by the Jin cavalry, he never lost heart.
Even if I died at that time, it would still be recorded in history books, right?
However, when he thought of this, Fan Qiong suddenly discovered a memory point that he wanted to avoid as much as possible, but was unable to cross:
When the Jin army attacked Xuanhua Gate in winter, he personally led his most elite 1,000 soldiers and prepared to do the opposite, crossing the river on the winter ice to attack the Jin army. As a result, the Jin army walked back and forth, and the river ice was as solid as usual, but when the Song army walked up, the ice cracked directly in the middle of the team, and 500 of the 1,000 soldiers were killed in an instant.
It seemed that from then on, the entire city defense army lost the last bit of courage. Fan Baochen also believed in his heart that the Song Dynasty had lost its destiny, and began to give up on himself. He also had inexplicable expectations for the future situation of the Song Dynasty... Otherwise, he would not have regarded Zhang Bangchang as a man with a destiny, and then did those things that would bring him no return!
What about not fighting against the Jin people, what about being arrogant and domineering, the written order of the Nanyang official a few days ago was all false. Fan Qiong had long determined the reason why the Nanyang official Zhao wanted to kill him - after Yuanzong (Song Qinzong) was detained by the Jin people, he was assigned by the Jin people to return to the city and openly escort the Emperor Taishang Daojun, civil and military officials, concubines, and royal family nobles out of the city, and suppressed and stopped the people along the way!
Regarding this matter, when the emperor had no troops at the time but he had a large army under his command, the emperor and Li Gang made a promise to let bygones be bygones. But now that the situation has improved and the emperor has actually withstood the Jin army's sweep, they simply went back on their word and are going to deal with him again.
However, at this point, it is redundant to think about these things. Fan Qiong can only sigh that he did not realize that the man from Nanyang had such courage and strength to maintain the situation to this point, and secretly regretted that he did not stay in the north to surrender to the Jin people... It can only be said that this official is so forbearing and so cruel. Compared with the two saints in Tokyo City in the past, he does not seem like a member of the Zhao family!
“Daddy!”
A clear shout suddenly rang out, startling Fan Qiong, who then grasped the knife handle in his hand. He was relieved when he saw that it was his own daughter Xiuniang who was walking towards him holding an oil lamp.
"Dad, there are too many mosquitoes. Should we burn some realgar duckweed (a Song Dynasty version of mosquito coils made from realgar and dried duckweed)?" Fan Xiuniang, who was only sixteen years old this year, was shocked when she saw her father holding up a knife, but she still walked over carefully to ask.
"No need to do that." Fan Qiong shook her head repeatedly. "Burning too much of that stuff makes me dizzy. Now is a critical moment, I can't light that, and you don't light it for me without permission..."
"Yes." Fan Xiuniang put down the oil lamp and answered carefully.
"What time is it?" Fan Qiong looked at the oil lamp and finally came back to his senses from his sleep.
"It's only the middle of the afternoon, but the clouds outside are too thick, so it's dark." Fan Xiuniang whispered to him, then moved closer to continue asking. "Dad, it's been three days, do you want to take off your armor and change into clean clothes? I'll also take this opportunity to wipe your armor for you?"
Under the light, Fan Qiong, who almost smelled sour and even had a hint of blood on his body, looked at his daughter's big black eyes that were pure and without any impurities. He was slightly startled and almost agreed.
But in the end, this person still chose to shake his head: "It's not just the officials in Nanyang, there are also people in the city who want to kill our family. Your father can't relax for a moment!"
Fan Xiuniang lowered her head and said nothing, but turned around and went out. Suddenly, she brought a basin of hot water and a face towel, lowered her head and wrung them, preparing to wipe her father's face and neck.
Fan Qiong sighed as he watched his daughter's white forehead and clean temples flash past him when she leaned forward. He thought back to the day in the north when he saw the official Zhao looking for laundry maids everywhere, and he felt disdain in his heart. But when the official showed his old ways in Nanyang a few days ago, he had already felt that a disaster was coming, and he had thought about sending his daughter over to save her life, but he hesitated for a moment and ruined his last chance in vain.
"Daddy?" After a pause, Fan Xiuniang, still holding a hot towel, carefully broke the silence.
Fan Qiong came back to her senses again, took the hot towel and started to wipe herself, sighing as she wiped.
"Daddy." Fan Xiuniang looked at her father and couldn't help but repeat the question that was destined to have the same answer. "The government wants Daddy to die, so what should we do?"
"You won't die!" Fan Qiong wiped his face, threw the gray face towel into the basin, and repeated the answer he had said countless times. "As long as you can hold on for half a year, the Jin people will send a large army to Nanyang, and then your father will be able to turn bad times into good times!"
While Fan Xiuniang was wringing out the hot towel again, she looked hesitant and seemed to be hesitant to speak.
"What do you want to say?" Fan Qiong held his sword, his eyes narrowed slightly. "Could it be that those girls in the backyard are instigating you to persuade me to plead guilty again? Have you forgotten how the last person died?!"
Hearing the last sentence, Fan Xiuniang was also shocked by the scene a few days ago, and then her face turned pale. She quickly grabbed the face towel and shook her head repeatedly: "What Madam Zhang said is right, but she didn't ask me to persuade Dad to surrender in Nanyang. I heard from her that this official is lustful, and Dad wanted to offer his daughter to him a few days ago... I want to say that I am willing to share Dad's worries."
Fan Qiong's expression eased, but he shook his head again: "Too late!"
After saying this, this man who was once a loyal minister of the Song Dynasty, and now had no idea what he had become, stood up with his sword in his hand, and walked out without even looking at his daughter.
And without mentioning how worried Fan Xiuniang was about her father, it was only said that when Fan Qiong left the back house and turned into the front yard along the corridor, he was greeted by several trusted soldiers who were waiting there.
"What's the matter?" Fan Qiong came to the steps and no longer tried to be polite as she did in front of her daughter, but instead spoke sternly.
In the rain, the leading general knelt down and reported: "General, let me tell you, the city wall is too wide, and we have too few people. What we encountered today was a captain from the left army who escaped with a whole team, but we only had time to capture seven or eight people!"
"waste!"
Fan Qiong was so angry that he started to curse and even wanted to draw his sword to hack at her. But as soon as he got angry, he found that a sore had appeared in his mouth. It was fine because he had spoken softly to his daughter before, but the curse he brought out now tore the wound, causing unbearable pain.
However, since he didn't touch the knife, he held his cheek and continued to scold: "Han Li, the commander of the left army, is a waste. He actually made the whole team disloyal. I think he has changed his mind too! And you are also useless. How come you only captured seven or eight people? Are also wavering?!"
The guards were helpless and could only look at each other, then kneel down in the rain and bow their heads to each other .
Fan Qiong cursed for a while, and felt a severe pain in his mouth. Finally, he could only sit in the corridor with his cheek in his hand. It took him a long time to recover his strength. But at this time, he was filled with fear, terror, anger, and violence in his heart, which were difficult to calm down and even became more intense.
"Were they all captured alive?" After a pause, Fan Baochen, who seemed to have calmed down, suddenly spoke.
"Of course." Jiang Jian, who was drenched by the rain, responded carefully.
"Then send an order, have all the officers above the rank of commander in chief, and all the officers above the rank of general under my direct command, come to the hall of the prefecture!" Fan Qiong's eyes were red, but his tone was surprisingly gentle. "As always, I will execute the sentence in a formal manner, and have them all come to watch!"
The guards looked at each other, without saying anything, and quickly fled in the rain.
Soon, in the city of Xiangyang, which had already been squeezed into a large military camp, Fan Qiong's most core 10,000 troops, including Han Li's troops under the left army commander, Wang Jun's troops under the right army commander, and all the troops directly under the central army, received the news...but they were all used to it, because this kind of thing had been going on for three days.
The only thing to say is that Han Li, the commander of the left army, will inevitably be more worried this time.
Relatively speaking, Wang Jun, the commander of the right army and a close confidant of Fan Qiong, who had two front teeth shot out by the Jin people during the Jingkang Campaign, was naturally a little more casual.
After receiving the order, the famous commander with a gap-mouthed face gave his guards some silver and drinks as usual, and then took a few of his personal soldiers to the backyard of his residence to change clothes... According to Fan Qiong's rules in the past few days, everyone who went to see him in the provincial government could bring guards, but except for his personal soldiers, no one else was allowed to wear armor.
"Mr. Lin!"
Entering a well-guarded and brightly lit back house, the gap-toothed Wang Jun immediately knelt down and kowtowed to the ground. "Mr. Lin, I dare to ask you to change into coarse cloth and follow me to the state capital..."
The person who was reading by candlelight on the couch was naturally the indomitable scholar Xiaolin who was determined to do something for the government. Upon hearing this, he glanced at the ground casually and frowned:
"General Wang, the imperial edict was only received six days ago, but five days ago you asked your concubine's father to find Lord Li outside the city and ask him to find someone from Nanyang Prefecture. I am a scholar of the Imperial Academy, a trusted official and a minister of internal affairs. I took the risk to come and see you because I saw that you are one of the best generals under Fan Qiong. But you have been making excuses for three days in a row. Do you think Fan Qiong still has a chance to survive? Can you really be so indecisive?"
"Master!" Wang Jun kowtowed again, but then raised his head with a gap in his mouth and spoke earnestly. "I am not indecisive. I also know that this will not end well for General Fan, but General Fan has been very kind to me... When I was in Tokyo during the Jingkang period, I was just a deputy captain when my front teeth were shot out. Two years later, I became a commander, in charge of 3,000 of the most elite soldiers... How could I have done that at this time?"
Scholar Xiao Lin sneered, "Then why are you still kneeling here to talk to me? Wouldn't it be a good way to repay General Fan's kindness if you had tied me up and given me to him earlier?"
Wang Jun kowtowed again: "Don't I know what loyalty is? Loyalty to the emperor and righteousness to the general. This is exactly what people in the martial arts world say about the dilemma of being both loyal and righteous. Back when I was in Dongping Prefecture, I was with General Zhang Rong..."
"If you hadn't said Zhang Rong, why would I have followed you into the city?!" Scholar Xiao Lin threw down his book, but he was finally furious. "Why do you think you can make me come to see you?! Zhang Rongxu is the governor of Dongping Prefecture, who are you to fool me again and again?!"
"Master!" Wang Jun kowtowed again, but still spoke incoherently. "I know no one will believe such nonsense, but I am in trouble... Today I asked you to go with me to the provincial capital, because I want you to see my troubles with your own eyes!"
Seeing how earnestly the other party spoke, Mr. Kobayashi hesitated again.
"Master, don't worry, my officers are all from Jingdong, and General Fan and below don't recognize you." Wang Jun quickly struck while the iron was hot. "It's raining today, and the sky is dark, just like night. Master, bear with it, put some yellow powder on your face, and pretend to be my attendant. There is absolutely no danger..."
It is said that Scholar Xiaolin has been here for several days and has been hung up by Wang Jun, which is like house arrest. He is also annoyed and wants to go and see the situation over there so as to prescribe the right medicine. However, he hesitated for a moment, then nodded slowly.
So, according to Wang Jun's arrangement, Bachelor Kobayashi put on an inconspicuous set of clothes, painted his face yellow, and then took advantage of the continuous rain and heavy clouds to go to the provincial capital of Xiangyang City.
Of course, with Wang Jun, the most powerful person in the city, leading the way, the journey was naturally smooth. Not long after arriving there, Scholar Kobayashi understood the reason for the gathering from the conversation of these people. It was said that since Fan Qiong ordered the city to be closed three days ago, those who fled had to be publicly executed for three consecutive days, and today, because it was raining, they were going to kill people in the lobby of the government office.
At this point, seeing all the officers under Fan Qiong's command gathered here, Scholar Kobayashi understood Wang Jun's "painstaking efforts". He knew that the gap-toothed man wanted to tell him that although the title of Emperor Zhao was useful and everyone understood the overall situation, Fan Qiong had accumulated power over the years and used such brutal means, so no one dared to take the lead for the time being.
In addition, he must have wanted to use the murder to intimidate a scholar like me.
But to be fair, although Lin Jingmo was once ridiculed by Han Shizhong as a "cute boy", that was because he was not good at riding a horse, which had nothing to do with his other courage. Moreover, he himself had been on the battlefield, so why should he be afraid of the so-called killing and execution?
While Mr. Kobayashi was daydreaming, a group of officers in silk uniforms were hurling obscene words at each other in the hall. Then, he heard a sharp sound of armor plates rubbing against each other from behind. The people in the hall were instantly terrified and quickly took their seats.
However, Wang Jun was a well-behaved man after all. He just gave a slight gesture, and the other three attendants hid Scholar Kobayashi behind them, allowing the latter to hide in the shadows against the wall calmly.
On the other side, Fan Qiong, wearing armor, came up with his face covered. He said nothing, but signaled the guards to act quickly. As the guards brought some belongings and the fugitives into the hall and began to prepare, everyone including Han Li and Wang Jun became confused again.
Because, under the eyes of everyone, the guards did not simply tie up the fugitives, but first dug up the blue bricks in the hall, and then continued to pour water and dig the soil, directly wedged a meter-long wooden stake firmly into the ground, and placed fire pots on all sides, and then tied up one of the fleeing soldiers... This posture does not look like a serious beheading, does it?
Are you trying to dig out your heart and lungs to make a hangover soup? !
"Chopping heads all day is so boring!" Amid the suspicion of the whole room, Fan Qiong suddenly held his cheek and spoke. "It's raining today, so it's a good time to change the way! The rest, chop them off first!"
Following Fan Qiong's words, several fugitives who had not been put on the rack were instantly pinned down by the fully-armed guards. Then, they were beheaded one by one amidst scolding and struggles. As expected, Scholar Kobayashi was not frightened.
"The last one, the fattest one..." After the others were killed, the bound fugitive cursed a few times and then trembled and lost control of his bladder, until he gradually fell silent. In the silence of the whole room, Fan Qiong finally held his cheek and continued to speak casually in the sound of rain. "Skin him now!"
As soon as these words were spoken, not only Scholar Xiao Lin, but also Han Li and other military officers in the hall felt cold all over.
