Fenghou

Chapter 325 Yiling

When the fleet passed through Baling County, another [-] men were drawn from the [-] defenders, making Chen Qing's army number [-], including [-] cavalry and [-] infantry. Marching westward, we arrived at Yiling in five days.

At this time, Xiazhou had been captured by Jiang Yanxian. Thousands of Song troops in Xiazhou retreated to Baidi City and Zigui County to continue to defend. Jiang Yanxian firmly implemented Wanyanchang's strategic intention and continued to lead an army to attack Guizhou.

The key to Xiazhou lies in Yiling County, which is today's Yichang. Seizing Yiling County will open the door to the Bashu East Line and enter Sichuan along the Three Gorges Road.

The guard of Yiling County was called Wang Bin, a commander under Jiang Yanxian, who led [-] people to guard Yiling County.

Yiling County is located on the north bank of the Yangtze River. It is a middle county. It just guards the only way to enter the Three Gorges Road. It also has a wharf beside the Yangtze River. The county seat is about one mile away, and restaurants, inns, teahouses, brothels, and shops of all sizes are densely distributed on both sides of the road. Once a passenger ship docks, a large group of guys and bartenders will come up to warmly invite customers, and many prostitutes will look at each other. ogle.

Since Yang Yao was annihilated, the number of cargo ships on the Yangtze River waterway has increased significantly. Yiling County has become more prosperous and lively when leaving and entering Sichuan.

In the afternoon, a cargo ship docked slowly, and a middle-aged businessman stepped off the ship, followed by a dozen guys, carrying heavy cargo boxes.

As usual, a group of guys and bartenders came forward to solicit customers enthusiastically, "The proprietor, please come to our store for a drink! Authentic Yiling sake."

"Go to our inn to stay! Our inn's special warehouse."

"Why did the guest officer come here? I want to kill my servant!"

The businessman smiled and pointed to the county seat. Seeing that he had a clear destination, everyone had to leave angrily, preparing to pull a cargo ship behind him.

The businessman came to the city gate with his buddies. The city gate had been replaced by the puppet Qi army, but the city gate was not closed, but the interrogation was very strict.

A captain stepped forward and asked, "Where did you come from? Where are you going?"

The businessman clasped his fists and said with a smile: "I am from this county. My surname is Jiang, and my name is Jiang Ming. I am responsible for running errands and delivering goods!"

"What do you have in dozens of boxes?"

"It's all spice!"

"Spices? There is a tax when entering the city!"

Where there is a need for taxation, it is clearly for the benefit.

The businessman touched Dutou with a handful of money, and Dutou shook his head, "You're sending a beggar!"

The businessman had no choice but to take the Tongguan money and gave it to him, and said coldly: "The Yiguan money has to be checked out of the box. If there is any loss, I will not be responsible!"

The merchant had no choice but to take out an ingot of silver from his pocket, which weighed about two or two taels, "There will be no more!"

They weighed their heads, finally satisfied, and waved their hands, "Let them enter the city!"

Only then did the businessman enter the city with a dozen of his fellows.

The lead porter is Yang Zaixing, and the deputy is Gao Ding. Although there are only thirteen of them in total, they are all generals with high martial arts skills.

Yang Zaixing asked the businessman in a low voice, "Why didn't they search?"

The merchant smiled bitterly and said, "No merchant wants to be searched. Once searched, at least [-]% of the goods will be lost. This is a common practice. These soldiers use this to blackmail the merchants. If they want to avoid being searched, they have to pay a high purchase price. "

"What if you carry weapons or something?"

"When you go out, how can you not carry self-defense weapons? You can definitely find short knives, long swords, bows and arrows, but as long as you don't carry crossbows and long weapons, you will be fine. Besides, you can buy them in the city, and no one will carry them. It is a contraband, so the guards don’t bother to search it, collecting money is the key.”

The merchant's name was indeed Jiang Ming, and he was also a native of Yiling. He opened a large shop in Jiangling County, and the county government introduced it to Chen Qing. Jiang Ming agreed to help Chen Qing's men sneak into the city.

He smiled and said: "Actually, the goods I brought are worthless. I'm not afraid of them searching. I just want to find an excuse to bribe him. If I give him money, he won't make trouble."

Yang Zaixing nodded, "We also want to buy some weapons, can the owner buy them?"

"You don't need to buy it. My family has it. There are more than a dozen of you, from armor to spears and crossbows, everything is available."

Everyone came to Jiang Ming's house. Jiang Ming's house was not small, covering more than ten acres. His parents, wife and children lived here. He also had a manor outside the city with hundreds of acres of land.

Jiang Ming asked the housekeeper to arrange for Yang Zaixing and others to live in the East Courtyard, and told the housekeeper that they were not buddies, but warrior guards whom he had hired at a high price, and they had to eat and stay well to save their lives at critical times.

The housekeeper agreed, and took Yang Zaixing and others to the east courtyard.

The thirteen people only brought their own daggers and no other weapons. They ate and rested for a while. Jiang Ming came over and said with a smile, "Guard Yang, come with me."

Yang Zaixing played tricks on Gao Ding and Liu Qiong, and they brought a few men to follow Jiang Ming to the West Courtyard, and walked into a large room without windows, which was a warehouse, filled with all kinds of goods, from fur to cloth to silk and satin , and fillers such as duck down and goose down.

Jiang Ming moved the goods away, revealing a small door. He opened the door and invited everyone in.

Everyone's eyes lit up, and there was a small arsenal inside, with spears, armor, swords, shields, bows and crossbows, everything was available, and there were dozens of each.

"Basically every household in Yiling has weapons. We have a total of [-] sets here. They are for my buddies and Zhuang Dingmen, and they are also for defending the homeland. You can take as many as you need."

Everyone took thirteen sets of armour, and Yang Zaixing each found an iron spear. Although the workmanship was a bit rough, it was of good weight, and they returned to the East Courtyard.

In addition to the three generals Yang Zaixing, Gao Ding, and Liu Qiong, the thirteen people were all commanders and capitals, including the mighty Liang Gui. hammer.

Without the help of Jiang Ming, a big local businessman, Chen Qing would not have dared to be so careless. If he was caught by the pot, he would have suffered a heavy loss.

According to the agreement, they seized the East Gate at midnight tonight.

There is no moat in Yiling, but it is built on the mountainside, and the upper city needs to climb a relatively long and steep slope. It is very difficult to attack the city. Jiang Yanxian took nearly [-] people to capture Yiling.

Chen Qing didn't want to pay such a heavy price, so it was imperative to plan to take Yiling.

As night fell, Jiang Ming brought an official, who was the governor of the county government. After the puppet Qi army attacked the city, the magistrate and other officials followed the defenders and retreated. , He still continued to use several clerks in custody, otherwise many things would not be able to be done.

This Yasi is called Jiang Yun, and he is Jiang Ming's cousin. Their Jiang family is regarded as a local snake in Yiling, and their population is relatively prosperous. There are people from all walks of life in the county.

"Before, Jiang Yanxian set a very strict set of rules. In fact, Wang Bin did not strictly abide by them. If you followed Jiang Yanxian's rules, you would not be able to enter the city at all. Jiang Yanxian stipulated that young and strong men with foreign accents were not allowed to enter the city. When men enter the city, there can be no more than three people at a time. Before entering the city, the place of residence must be specified, and the defenders must check every two hours. Wang Bin thought this regulation was too cumbersome, so he did not implement it.

Then, the number of guards and patrols at night must not be less than [-], and the number of people at the east gate must not be less than [-]. All soldiers must wear armor to sleep, and they cannot even take off their shoes. One thousand people patrolled and defended, three hundred people at the east gate, and one hundred people on each side of the city head. "

"How do we go on the patrol route?" Yang Zaixing asked.

"Just two patrol teams, one from east to west, the other from south to north, with two hundred people in each team."

The East-West Street is about five miles long, and the North-South Street is four miles long. The patrol team can run about three miles at most to the East City Gate.

Everyone felt a little overwhelmed. This Jiang Yanxian was really powerful. The defense measures at night were so strict that it was not easy to seize the city gate.

"How to open the city gate, do I need to go to the city?" Yang Zaixing asked again.

He knew that it was usually the suspension bridge that protected the city to go up to the city, but there was no suspension bridge in Yiling County.

"You have to go to the city. The gate has three iron bolts as thick as an arm. The switch is at the top of the city, and it cannot be opened from the bottom of the city."

Everyone asked about various details in detail, and then Jiang Yun left.

(End of this chapter)