Fenghou

Chapter 187 Blood Deterrence

Zhou Jian raised his sword high and remained motionless like a sculpture. His head was gone, and the plasma on his neck was still bubbling outwards. It looked particularly terrifying. His head rolled two feet away, staring at the sky with remorse.

The bows and arrows of Zhou's children lost their effect, and they drew their swords and fought with the soldiers with heavy shields. At this moment, Yang Zaixing's and Liu Cui's troops rushed up like a flood, and surrounded more than a hundred Zhou's children. It only took a moment. The Zhou family's children were all slaughtered, leaving no one alive.

The bloody killings frightened the people on the mountains on the north and south sides, and ran back to their homes one after another, closing the doors tightly.

The soldiers rushed into the gate of the courtyard and began to search for the Zhou family members in the room. Chen Qing stood in the courtyard, watching groups of men and women being escorted out. At this moment, Liu Cui stepped forward quickly and said in a low voice: " We found Zhou Xin, but he has hanged himself, what should we do?"

"Cut off his head, be careful not to break the face!"

"Understandable!"

"Not long after, all the family members of Zhou Xin and Zhou Jian were escorted out, kneeling all over the yard, basically women tend to be more, Zhou Xin and Zhou Jian each have two sons, Zhou Xin's eldest son is in Bianliang, not here, Zhou Jian's eldest son, Zhou Qing, was killed. There were five adult males, four minor males, and the other twenty were wives and concubines.

"All adult men will be executed, and all others will be pardoned!"

After Chen Qing gave the order, he turned around and went to the warehouse. The courtyard was soon filled with begging and crying.

Zhoujiabao’s warehouses are divided into public warehouses and private warehouses. In fact, they are all property of the Zhou family, but the materials stored are different. There are six thousand shi of grain, but many of them are old rice and wheat for many years.

When Yang Zaixing handed over a property list to Chen Qing, Chen Qing was taken aback. There were [-] taels of silver, [-] taels of gold, [-] guan of copper coins, [-] bolts of silk and satin, [-] bolts of cloth and silk. Lots of jewelry and jade.

A cashier tremblingly said: "These properties include the savings of the Zhou family for decades, as well as valuable items looted from [-] households."

"How to distinguish?"

"I can't tell the difference, but the property collected from the people's homes is mainly copper coins, cloth and jewelry. Among them, the silver jewelry and copper jewelry are basically looted, but there is no record."

Of course, it is impossible to return the jewelry, but it can be rewarded to the soldiers, and some money, food and cloth can be distributed to the people so that they can settle down.

Chen Qing nodded, and ordered Yang Zaixing and Liu Cui to lead the soldiers to go door-to-door and gather all the people to the foot of the mountain to collect money, food and supplies.

The people who were originally closed and refused to come out changed their minds one after another when they heard that there was money, food and cloth, and went down the mountain with their families, fearing that they would miss the opportunity.

Half an hour later, the open space at the foot of the mountain was full of people from Zhoujiabao, about [-] households, more than [-] people.

Dense crowds of people stood in the open space. At this time, it was already dawn, and the gorgeous morning glow filled the sky.

Chen Qing stood on a big rock, surrounded by five hundred soldiers each. He saw tens of thousands of people in ragged clothes and haggard faces. Almost all the children were pale. All the prisoners of war returned to their homes. Can cry secretly.

"All the parents and folks listen to me!"

Chen Qing raised his hands high, and more than [-] people fell silent in an instant.

"Zhou Xin and Zhou Jian fought against the imperial court and tried to rebel and stand on their own. They have already been killed, and the Zhou Family Fort will be closed. All the people must return to their homes in Chengji County!"

As soon as this request was announced, tens of thousands of people were buzzing and discussing like a frying pan.

Of course, Chen Qing knew that the people were not homeless. Qinzhou was located in Longdong, and most of the rural people here lived in cave dwellings. Most of the cave dwellings were abandoned, but they would not easily collapse.

After waiting for a cup of tea, the people's emotions were almost vented, Chen Qing winked, and Liu Cui shouted, "Bring it up!"

The soldiers brought sacks of grain and cloth and copper coins, which was more effective than anything else, and everyone fell silent, with countless eyes on the money, grain and cloth.

Chen Qing continued: "While it is still possible to grow corn, everyone will quickly plant the abandoned land after returning home. The wheat fields at the foot of the mountain will also continue to be cultivated, and the grain will eventually belong to themselves. Considering that the harvest is still a few months away, I will I will give you some money, food and cloth.”

More than [-] people were silent, and almost everyone held their breath, not daring to cough, for fear that they might miss some news.

Chen Qing pointed to the cloth and money and grain and said, "Distribute according to households. Each household will be given two stones of grain, ten guan of money, and five pieces of cloth!"

When the news came out, there was a burst of cheers, and everyone was very excited, much more than they expected.

Chen Qing said loudly again: "Everyone go back to pack their things, come to collect money, food, and cloth when they go down the mountain, and then go home, I hope it will be over for today."

With anticipation and motivation, tens of thousands of people went up the mountain to pack their belongings.

Chen Qing sent someone to find Zhao Xiaoyi again, and after a while, Zhao Xiaoyi rushed over, clasped his fists and said, "Please command!"

"Immediately take a few brothers and bring the heads of Zhou Xin, Zhou Jian, and their families back to Chengji County, hang the heads on the top of the city, and let Lao Zheng arrange a batch of carts to carry money and food."

"Humble post obeys orders!"

Zhao Xiaoyi turned around and was about to leave when Chen Qing thought of something again and hurriedly called out, "Wait a minute, you bring more brothers, bring back all the heads of five hundred Zhou's children, and hang them on the city wall."

Now that it has been done, it must be publicized and let everyone know that Zhoujiabao was massacred, so as to have a deterrent force.

Chen Qing also arranged for more than a dozen literate soldiers to be responsible for registering the roster and distributing money and food, including the surviving women of the Zhou family.

All the money, food and supplies have been transported back to the Chengji County military camp. Chen Qing handed over the follow-up matters to Zheng Ping. He led two thousand cavalry and continued to run westward.
At noon the next day, the Zhou family fort was breached, and the news of Zhou's family being killed spread to Chengji County, which immediately caused a commotion among the people in the city.

Everyone in the city was farming outside the city. When the news came, everyone had no intention of farming. They ran under the city wall one after another, looking at the heads that had just been hung up. The military notice was also posted. The front was crowded with crowds stretching their necks.

During the noon break, the people of Man County were sitting in the fields, discussing the matter in low voices.

The judge Wang Huai's face was extremely ugly, he found an excuse and went back to the city.

The Wang family mansion was also empty, and the servants and maids had gone out of the city to farm. Only two cooks were cooking. Wang Huai hurried to the back house, and saw his father planting winter melons in a field with a small hoe , a few grandchildren carrying water jugs to water.

"Hey! Why are you back?" Wang Yu asked with a smile.

"Break at noon, come and see father!" Wang Huai smiled forcedly.

Wang Yu saw that his son's eyes were full of anxiety, so he smiled at the three little grandchildren: "Ms. Sun has already cooked the meal, you go quickly!"

The three children saluted their uncle, turned around and ran away.

Wang Yu washed his hands, and asked with a smile: "It seems that something serious happened!"

Wang Huai nodded, "The news just came that Chen Qing had breached the Zhou Family Fort yesterday and slaughtered the entire Zhou Family!"

Wang Yu was startled, "Didn't you say that he led the army to Xining County?"

Wang Huai's face was full of bitterness, "That's what he told us, and the soldiers from Xining County came to report the news, and everyone in the city knew about it. He also notified the state government officials to discuss urgent matters, explained the follow-up matters, and praised Zhou Xin for his sincerity. , we all believed it to be true, but in the end we were all tricked by him!"

"Did he play tricks on you too? I don't think so!" Wang Yu laughed.

Wang Huai sighed, really dissatisfied and said: "The truth is so, I don't know anything about it!"

"Think about it again, didn't he say anything to you alone before or after the discussion?"

Wang Huai frowned, and thought for a while, he suddenly remembered the strange words Chen Qing said to himself before he left, could it be...
"Did you remember something?"

"He said some strange things, saying that Li Dujian is a bit abnormal, so let me pay attention to him these few days."

Wang Yu laughed, "He has explained it so clearly to you, but you still don't understand?"

Wang Huai finally understood a little bit, "Father means that Li Dujian is Zhou Xin's brother-in-law?"

(End of this chapter)