Chinese New Year

Chapter 509: What the People Want

On June 11, a team left the south gate of Dongqiu and walked along the country road.

Perhaps it was a sign from heaven, and finally a few drizzles of rain fell, giving the dry seedlings some source of life.

I don’t know how far I walked, but a pond appeared in front of me.

The pond is not big and can only irrigate more than 200 hectares of farmland, but it is a landmark place in the southeast of Dongyu.

There was a boat tied to the side of the pond, with several boatmen inside, who respectfully welcomed the governor.

Jia Liu glanced around and his face darkened.

"I gave the order so long ago, why haven't the troops arrived yet?" he asked angrily.

On June 11, the various forts planned to send 3,000 warriors to Zhaiqiaobei. He wanted to observe the military training, horse riding and archery, entertain the fort owners, and then take his men back to Dunqiu to strengthen the defense.

This was supposed to be done by the end of May, but the commanders kept dragging their feet. It was finally decided, but the Shao bandit army was close at hand. If we didn't gather troops today, it would be too late, because no one could say for sure whether the Shao bandit would leave Baigou and attack Dongqiu.

"My lord, I think something is wrong." The servant Jia Da stepped forward and said.

"What's wrong?" Jia Liu asked with a chill in his heart.

The servants are all from the Jia family in Liaocheng. They share the same fate with me and can be trusted.

"Those dozen boatmen have flickering eyes and refuse to come ashore to welcome us. There must be something wrong." Jia Da said in a low voice.

Jia Liu glanced at him from the corner of his eye and said, "Go and capture someone and interrogate him."

"Yes." After agreeing, Jia Da pointed to a few fully armed guards and walked towards the cruise ship.

According to the plan, the Lord of the Palace was going to entertain the commanders of the fortresses on this cruise ship today and watch the military review. But now the commanders of the fortresses have not come, and the boatman is also very suspicious, so he really needs to be interrogated.

But just as they were heading towards the shore, the boatmen panicked, immediately cut the ropes, and rowed the boat away from the lake shore.

"It must be a trick!" Jia Da was furious and ordered the guards to shoot arrows at the boat.

The arrow flew past, and one or two screams were heard from the cabin. As the ship gradually went away, the sound gradually disappeared.

"Master." Jia Da rushed back with a grim look on his face.

Jia Liu's face was a little anxious: "It's bad, these villains have surrendered to the Jin people."

Jia Da also thought of it and looked at each other with the guards.

Jia Liu's expression changed for a while, he stamped his feet, jumped on the horse, and said, "Return to the city."

Jia Da and others responded loudly and surrounded Jia Liu as they rushed towards Dongqiu.

The city soon came into sight.

Jia Liu was anxious and kept wiping the sweat off his face. When he reached a distance within an arrow's reach of the city, he felt a chill in his heart: all the gates of Dunqiu were closed, and the big "Han" flag on the top of the city had been taken down. The city was empty, with nothing there.

When they saw someone coming from outside the city, several people stuck their heads out and pointed at Jia Liu.

It's over! I was away for just a short while and the city was controlled by others.

Jia Liu wanted to make a final effort. He calmed down the restless horse and shouted, "Who is in charge of the city? Why don't you open the gate when you see me coming back?"

He was very careful not to say the word "anti". No one knew why he did that. Maybe he still had a glimmer of hope in his heart.

But the people on the city wall soon shattered his luck: several hanging baskets were lowered, with people sitting in them, and as soon as they landed on the ground, they ran towards Jia Liu.

"Husband."

"Father."

It turned out to be his wife.

A voice came from the top of the city wall: "Your Excellency has been in Dunqiu for two years, encouraging agriculture and sericulture, and providing relief to orphans and widows. You have done nothing wrong. You can leave now. Your wife has been returned to you. Go back to Liaocheng. We will not see you off."

"Li Shou, but you?" Jia Liu was so angry that he cursed: "How foolish! The Jin Lord is weak and the government is corrupt. If you are not from an aristocratic family, don't give power to them. Haven't you figured it out after all these years? Shi Andong has no prejudice against factions. Whether you are poor or powerful, or you are famous for your articles or your talents and virtues, as long as you are favored by him, you can become an official. What's the point of following the Jin Lord and the aristocratic family? Do they think highly of you?"

Li Shou laughed loudly when he heard this and said, "Shi Le promoted you, not me, so what else can I say?"

Jia Da walked over and whispered a few words.

Jia Liu suddenly realized what was going on and secretly sighed that he was too soft-hearted and did not kill the entire Li family.

Li Shou's niece Li was the concubine of Yu Liang, a military officer in the Xuchang shogunate. No wonder he wanted to rebel.

In theory, this is not surprising. It is very common for members of a large family to be divided into different positions, but when it comes to the critical moment, they are unreliable!
There is no doubt that Li Shou must have had close ties with Yu Chen and Yu Liang, father and son.

"Jia Mansion Master, leave quickly, don't stay." Li Shou shouted from the city wall again: "In the future, when the royal army attacks Qinghe in the east, if you surrender with your whole family, you will not lose your wealth and honor. You should think carefully about what to do, and that's all I have to say."

After saying this, Li Shou bowed and said, "I bow on behalf of the people of Dunqiu. When you first came here, the roads were full of wounds, but now they have been greatly improved. This is your virtue. We may meet again in the future."

The voice came from far away, but the person was gone.

Jia Liu withdrew his gaze dejectedly and remained silent.

Jia Da led the horse, guarding his wife, and headed towards Liaocheng.

In troubled times, there is no right or wrong, only success or failure.

******
The change of flag in Dongyu was peaceful, but it may not be so "gentle" in other places.

On the same day that Jia Liu was imprisoned outside the city, inside Fanyang County, a large group of soldiers rushed towards the county government office shouting, and the sound of killing shook the sky.

The county magistrate Xie Guang, who was from the Xie family of Dongwuyang, held a halberd and fought bravely with hundreds of soldiers.

Arrows were flying around and blood was splashing in front of him.

There were fewer and fewer soldiers who could fight, and more and more people fell down. Even he had several new wounds on his body. I will die here today! Xie Guang had already understood in his heart, and he was extremely sad and angry.

Damn Jin court, even worse than Liu Han.

The people of Henan and Youzhou are worse than the Huns.

Damn it, give it a try!
At this moment, a large number of arrows shot from the top of the wall.

Xie Guang stumbled and fell to the ground, never getting up again.

"Kill!" More people rushed into the county government office and killed all the guards.

Dozens of people rushed into the backyard first, and when they saw the servants, they stabbed them with their swords.

He saw the woman, stripped her clothes and started having sex with her right there.

The people in the fort looked at it and burst into laughter.

Xie Guangzhi's wife held the baby and cried for mercy.

Someone rushed over, snatched the baby away and threw it into the well.

Mrs. Xie was so frightened that she was stunned. Then she was dragged into the room, crying and screaming.

Yin Fang, wearing a helmet and armor, strode into the backyard, laughed and scolded the soldiers for their behavior, but did not stop them.

Isn't that what war is all about?

"See where there are some supplies and collect them all for me." Yin Fang looked around and picked up a set of women's clothes on the ground. The quality was pretty good, so he asked someone to collect them.

"Yes." A villager from the fort put a few dozen coins into his pocket and said with a smile.

It is impossible for them to eat the emperor's food. After killing Xie Guang's family and recovering Fanyang, they will have to go home and continue to farm and live as ordinary people. It would be a shame for themselves if they don't grab something or live happily.

"Has Xie Guang's head been cut off?" Yin Fang asked again.

The nephew Yin Tu replied, "I have sent someone to collect it and send it to Lord Chen's army."

"Alas, I have done too many evil things with the Huns in the past. Now that I have this head, I can finally breathe a sigh of relief." Yin Fang sighed.

He walked past a naked female corpse without paying any attention.

In his view, killing an entire family, raping and looting were certainly not evil. Such things happened every day, too many times, so many that people had become accustomed to it, and the historians had no interest in writing about them.

It would be evil to surrender to the Xiongnu, because it is a matter of right and wrong. Now, as long as you return to the court and actively serve, everyone will praise you, and the historians will also speak for you with flattering words.

Thousands of years later, who would know what you have done? If you can take advantage of the situation and become a high-ranking official, perhaps there will be a lot of people in the future who will bow down to you.

After leaving the county government office, they saw people looting on the street, but it was not their family but other families'.

He was too lazy to look any longer, and after waiting for a while, a noisy group of people pulled the valuables and went straight back to the fort.

Dozens of vehicles were parked outside the fort, carrying 3,000 hu of grain, ready to be shipped to Baigou.

Yin Fang checked carefully to make sure there was no red, rotten or rotten grain in the rice, then waved his hand and had the grain taken away.

After burning, killing and looting, the fort guards returned to their homes and became honest farmers, tending crops, taking care of their families and honoring their parents. Only in occasional casual conversations would they reveal the "great achievements" of following the fort master, which aroused the envy and jealousy of others, who wished they were there at the time.

Good and evil are not so clear-cut and often exist at the same time in one person.

There are no stereotypes in the world. It is not black or white, most of it is just gray.

This is troubled times.

On June 15th, a large army gathered outside Neihuang City and surrounded the city tightly.

"Surrender! Surrender! Surrender!" The soldiers of the Silver Spear Army hit the ground with their spears and shouted in unison.

The cavalry of the Yicong Army circled the city three times, shooting arrows from time to time, causing chaos on the city walls.

Behind them, the auxiliary soldiers formed a formation around the chariot, one group after another, shouting in unison -

"Benevolence and forgiveness are the foundation, and only the root of evil will be punished."

"No one will be questioned about those who were forced to follow."

"If you don't surrender, you will be punished as before."

"After the city is conquered, not a blade of grass will be left."

"Surrender! Surrender! Surrender!" The rhythmic sound of spears hitting the ground rang out again, and tens of thousands of people roared in unison, reaching straight into the sky.

The people on the city wall looked pale and sweated profusely.

A moment later, there was a sound of "creaking", and the county magistrate walked out with his upper body naked, having tied himself up.

After seeing the big banner in the distance, he fell to his knees with a plop and said in a trembling voice: "I am a criminal, please make your decision, sir."

"Oh!" The soldiers of the Silver Spear Army raised their spears high and cheered loudly.

Under the great banner, the general in golden armor rode out on his horse. Wherever he passed, the cheers reached a new level.

Within a few days, many scholars and powerful people in Dongyu, Fanyang, Wei, Dongwuyang, Wei and other places came to submit to the righteousness, and either expelled the fake officials of Liu Han or directly killed the officials and surrendered.

For a time, Shi Le's rule on the north bank of the river collapsed and the situation was very good.

To put it bluntly, it is what the people want.

This "people", of course, refers to the gentry and powerful people, and has nothing to do with ordinary people, who do not even have personal freedom.

(End of this chapter)