Delong

229 Chapter 12: The Way of the Armor ([-])

On April [-]th, the weather was a bit muggy. At noon, Zhang Xing and Wei Xuanding led a small group of people into the burnt city of Yu.

On the way here, many things happened around Zhang Xing.

Some people expressed their loyalty, some advised, and some quarreled... Most of the debates actually revolved around the handling of the Meng's Rebel Army, because the head of Meng Sangong brought great trouble to the Dragon Army.

You know, no matter how self-righteous this fellow is, how ridiculously dead he is, but as the unique core of the surrounding powerful Meng family, as well as the former captain of a county, he is a rare figure in this land who can support the situation .

It is because of him that the Mengshi Rebel Army is qualified to maintain an independent posture.

But now his death is easy, but where will the Meng family's rebel army established with the family as the main line go?
Zhang Xing let Meng Sangong take the four counties on the west side of Liangjun by himself that day, in order to build a buffer zone and protective film for Jiyin, but now that he has been defeated and killed, he still has two counties and a younger brother, including his family. The basic Chuqiu County... On the contrary, when the Delong Army was fighting, it took it for granted that they entered Yucheng, and would soon enter Dang County, which in turn caused the Delong Army to go to the periphery and become the outpost of the Meng's Rebel Army.

At the same time, the ghost of Meng Yi came back to his senses, and he did not know when he had already secretly taken advantage of the chaos to leave, but before he left, he told the people who deposed the dragon army that he would go back to Chuqiu to find his nephew—to put it bluntly, he still had to maintain It means that a family business is not merged.

This is very pitted.

So now, Zhang Xing has to make a decision, whether to continue to support Meng Shangong's younger brother and son, or to be ruthless and annex the other party, otherwise, he will have the consciousness to abandon the buffer zone of these two counties .

But to be honest, it seems meaningless to support a Meng Yi ghost who only has some family inheritance in his mind, and taking advantage of the situation to merge may also cause trouble, not only the influence of the Meng clan in Chuqiu, but also some differences in the world. Good influence.Don't forget, to this day, the Dragon Gang still has an obvious layer of quackery... This is the social rule that rebels in the previous court must follow, and it is of course affecting the present, and cannot be simply rejected or ignored.

Therefore, the main dispute along the way was that Wei Xuanding and some people firmly suggested that Zhang Xing annexed the Meng Clan's Rebel Army, and some even recommended themselves on the spot, saying how to fight without bloodshed, or how to help Zhang Dalong end the matter with bloodshed.At the same time, some people really suggested that Zhang Xing should take the initiative to support Meng Sangong's underage sons, to keep their territory and the continuation of the family power, so that people's hearts can be attached.

Daoist Wei has always been mean-spirited, and Xu Shiying led the troops to Dang County first, so in his capacity as Chief Wei, he can actually end the quarrel. words come out.

Because this Chief Wei also knew in his heart that the Dragon Gang could be established, and he, a poor Taoist priest who couldn't afford clean shoes, was able to climb the Dragon Gang to reach his current position.

Some things are hard to refute.

In addition, this is not only a question of the Meng family's rebel army, but also involves some white knights. After this battle, many people have changed their minds and moved forward. The pits were filled, so they couldn't wait... Zhang Xing and Taoist Wei didn't understand either.

Ever since, along the way, Zhang Dalong's ears were full of quarrels between power and loyalty.

However, all this came to an abrupt end after they entered Yucheng.

Because there is not only Meng Sangong's corpse here in Yucheng, or even more than just a corpse.

"How many houses were burned?" Zhang Xingzhu stood at the first intersection inside the city gate, looked around, and then came to see Guo Jingke who came to greet him.

However, Guo Jingke looked around, but didn't answer, just bowed his head in fear.

Zhang Xing was stunned for a moment, and immediately realized that the other party, a horse dealer-turned-rebel, didn't have the ability and awareness at all, so he immediately dropped the question and continued to ask: "Has the fire been put out?"

"Yes." Guo Jingke nodded. "It was gone last night."

"Have the corpses been identified and cleaned up?" Zhang Xing continued to ask.

"Not...not yet." Guo Jingke began to sweat on his forehead. "I'll go……"

"If the head is cut off, the torso and the head should be put together as much as possible, and let the family members identify them. The naked female corpse should be wrapped in a mat. By the way, the number of corpses and the number of houses burned are clearly counted." Zhang Xing ordered, and comforted the head by the way. Guo Jingke, who has been buried under his neck. "I don't blame you for this matter. I came late yesterday, marched all day, hunted and killed all night, I am too tired... But there is no need to fight now, I still have to cheer up and deal with it as soon as possible."

Guo Jingke nodded immediately with relief.

Seeing this, Zhang Xingfu turned to look at Taoist Wei again:

"Hard work chief, you choose the person yourself, and you can direct the subordinates of Chief Guo as you please, and then ask you to help the living as much as possible, and then encourage the surviving people to go to the county government to find me for grievances, and then bring as many prisoners as possible from yesterday, I remember At the county government, there is a captive identification and on-the-spot execution... Don’t expect it to be accurate and comprehensive, but you should roughly rescue the good people, let the local people vent their anger first, and cry as they should.”

Daoist Wei was also in a daze, and then immediately nodded and called a bunch of people, and left with Guo Jingke.

After the people left, Zhang Xing looked around. He had lost his composure and was in a daze...Even though he was mentally prepared, he still underestimated the destructiveness of the army, especially the impact of the formed army on the city. Collective violence.

According to the military report, there should have been about [-] officers and soldiers staying here all afternoon, and they dragged their feet out of the city to support them in accordance with the military order yesterday evening. As a result, they bumped into each other face to face on the official road at night, and were directly deposed. Several waves of established thousand-man teams were overwhelmed.When they first heard the news at that time, those who dismissed the Dragon Gang were glad that these people went late, otherwise the battle yesterday evening might not have been so devastating.

But at that time, no one thought that two thousand people staying in the city for an afternoon would be so destructive.

As far as the eye can see, burned houses, smashed shops, headless male corpses, naked female corpses, old and weak unable to cry, let the members of the Dragon Gang who just entered the city instantly change from yesterday's victory to today's victory. Power and loyalty on the road back to reality.

However, it is worth noting that whether it is Zhang Xing or others, they only lost their composure for a while, and quickly recovered their posture. This shows that everyone has a little "reasonable" psychological preparation, and has long imagined this scene in their hearts. , Some people have even seen similar scenes in reality.

At this time, someone with a heart has already spread out, and Yucheng has been like this for half a day, so what about Dang County?

Zhang Xing even stretched it even further—that sage himself gave up the north and ran to the south to eat and die, but he still brought such a huge and elite military force out of selfishness. How could he not die by then? It's easy to say, but once this elite military force, which is almost unique on the books, gets out of control, or if its internal self degenerates, it will inevitably poison the world.

Of course, it will definitely become a powerful spoiler.

Putting aside his extra thoughts, the little self-consolation of yesterday's victory also dissipated, and Zhang Xing took the rest of his entourage into the county government office amidst the burnt smell, heat and crying.

This thing that represents the authority of the Great Wei court seems to be beyond the framework of the Great Wei court itself in a sense, it is actually clean...Those established soldiers and bandits are killing people for meritorious service, raping women and looting along the street , All of them avoided this building.

When Zhang Xing came here, he ordered the gate and courtyard wall of the county government to be demolished, and then moved to the front of the hall. He did not do anything else all day, but ordered to kill people.

In the face of established collective crimes, or fair slaughter is the most effective.

But the situation in Yucheng is here, and it is the most important thing to relieve the emotions of the people, but there is nothing to do... In fact, those who survived arson, looting, rape, and killing are not willing to distinguish at all. It refers to the latest batch of prisoners of war who are closest to them or have just been brought up to make hysterical determinations.

At most, when multiple people gather together, discuss whether they are tall or short, and choose a relatively tall or short person to kill.

At this time, the reaction of the captured officers and soldiers is also very interesting... Many people started to cry for grievances, but it was useless, and then they started to shout and curse, and then begged, and finally they were dragged all over the ground by the deposed Dragon Gang At the crossroads of blood, they often become hysterical.

"Mr. Zhang is going to do great things, why kill a strong man?"

Another officer with a strong figure and a certain level of genuine energy was dragged down by Jia Yue himself, performed a routine performance, and finally yelled out the unique lines of elites.

"the fourth."

In the strange eyes of Daoist Wei who had been busy all afternoon and just came over, Zhang Xing shouted these words in a low voice, then suddenly raised his head as if dealing with an official, and raised his voice in response. His voice was loud and resounded throughout the whole place. Trial and execution scene. "Your Excellency is overthinking! The Delong Gang raised troops for the common people, and I, Zhang, personally rebelled, only for the sake of peace and justice for the common people. You have done such a dirty thing yourself, and you are still begging me? Isn't it putting the cart before the horse?! Kill it quickly!"

At the end of the sentence, he really came down hard.

And Jia Yue also dragged this person to the intersection full of red.

Seeing that he was covered in blood, and there was a big man waiting in front of him holding a big knife, the man became more and more frightened, couldn't help but continue to struggle to survive, and his words became sharper: "Mr. Zhang also came from Dongdu. Why are you so confused when you narrowly escaped from the upper five armies several times? Even if you want to secure the world, you have to rely on strength! Even if a great master builds a pagoda, he must be moved by civilians! Don’t break the law, don’t you use strong men like us to count on these powerless people to fight and win for you?”

"There are a lot of clean and strong people in this world." Zhang Xing was impatient and just urged. "And it's up to you to decide who is strong or weak... Hurry up and send him on his way."

Jia Yue dragged the person in front of Wang Xiongdan, and then stepped on the person's back, Wang Xiongdan swung his sword, and gave the person who wanted to say something in the pool of blood to the head of the sword.

The head rolled down, and the broken part of the torso was bleeding for a moment, and then gradually eased... Just looking at the headless corpse, it seems to be no different from those local people in Yucheng who were killed for meritorious service, and it is no different from the captives who were beheaded before , the blood is red.

"I thought the blood of such a hero was green." Zhang Xing frowned slightly, and then looked at Taoist Wei. "Do you have an explanation?"

"Three to four hundred people died, and about two to three hundred women...mainly along the street." Taoist Wei hesitated for a moment, and answered in a low voice. "But a few of them said there was also rape and looting last night."

Although Zhang Xing was surprised, but only for a moment, he immediately asked seriously: "How many are the few?"

"Seven or eight... And the people below said that Guo Jingke is said to have taken all the gold and silver treasures he seized to himself, and those gold and silver were simply snatched by the officers and soldiers in Yucheng yesterday." Wei Xuanding said a little uneasy. . "Do you need to check these seven or eight things?"

"To...but not now, and we can't openly investigate, Guo Jingke's matter is not so simple." Zhang Xing said helplessly. "We have to communicate with Xu Dalang, let him pay attention to similar incidents in Dang County, rescue the people as soon as possible, and maintain military discipline... I still have to work hard for you, catch up with Zhang Jinshu and Guan Xu, and explain clearly to Xu Dalang in person, To make preparations, I will stay here for one night, wait for Xu Dalang to reply tomorrow, calm down my heart, beat Guo Jingke, and I will go to you tomorrow or the day after tomorrow."

Daoist Wei nodded immediately.

And Zhang Xing also turned his head back, just raised his head and sighed, and continued to kill... Here in Yucheng, there are six or seven hundred prisoners. If he can't kill a hundred, he will not be at ease.

Just like that, Zhang Xing killed the whole night and had to stay in the city at night, but he was upset and didn't sleep well all night.

Until the next day, I received a letter from a leader of the personal guards sent by Xu Shiying. After seeing the guarantee, I couldn't hold it back. I called Guo Jingke over and asked the latter to strictly enforce military discipline, investigate the incident the night before in private, and then asked He asked him about the seizure of gold and silver, but he didn't say much. He only asked him how much gold and silver he had seized, and whether he had reported it according to the rules?

Guo Jingke was at a loss, and then panicked for a while. He was at a loss for a while before he realized it, and then he tried his best to answer a number.

Zhang Xing made a note of it in his heart, and asked the other party to take out this amount of gold and silver for the repair of Yucheng and compensation for those who suffered from military disasters... Guo Jingke is just Nuonuo.

Zhang Xing felt that it was boring, and Dang County was destined to be more troublesome, so he gave a good warning again, and then hurriedly led people south.

On the evening of April [-], I hurriedly arrived in Dang County.

The situation here is indeed worse, but it is not only the problem of the military disaster, but also the problem of too long... After all, no matter how disorderly the officers and soldiers are, it is only when they first enter the city that they are the most presumptuous and concentrated; In addition, Xu Shiying is a man who does great things. He heard the summons and promptly restrained military discipline without mentioning it. However, according to the timid narration of the local people, it seemed that something was wrong on the day when the Meng's rebel army went south and succeeded.

But at this time, you can't even check it.

This is the so-called military disaster. Of course you can restrain your troops and be a person worthy of your conscience, but you can only restrain the troops you can control. Most of the time, the strong come and go, and the weak are trampled like Mud, and the strong may become the weak in the next battle, and the weak will become stronger... This is the so-called troubled times.

This kind of thing will only happen more in the future.

But back here in Dang County, it was only a few days later, and the mood of the people was completely different.

The people here lack the kind of anger similar to that in Yucheng, and have a little more numbness and distrust... However, under Zhang Xing's suggestion, on April [-]rd, Xu Shiying still held a wonderful event in the city. The [-]th smackdown somewhat made the city recover a little bit of anger.

Only in the evening of this day, Zhang Dalongtou, who was getting hotter and hotter and in a worse mood, heard an unexpected suggestion from leader Xu Dalongtou.

"Do you want to surrender these soldiers and horses?" Under the lights, Zhang Xing, who was extremely tired, frowned and asked.

"Yes." Xu Dalang straightforwardly admitted in public...in fact, in front of Daoist Wei.

"Why?" Zhang Xing was thoughtful. "Is it to see the quality of their soldiers?"

"It's more than one step better." Xu Shiying said excitedly. "If there are [-] strong soldiers like this, why worry about Zhang Xuguo?"

"Do you think I disagree or agree?" Zhang Xing thought for a while and asked seriously.

Xu Dalang was slightly taken aback, and instinctively went to look at the third person present, but Taoist Wei just twitched his beard and remained silent.

"I'm not teasing you verbally." Zhang Xing explained earnestly. "I'm really tired. After the battle the day before yesterday, and then two days in a row, I either rushed on the road or dealt with these trivial matters. My head is numb, and I just feel that I don't know anything... At this time, you come Ask me, I really don't know what to say at the moment, I just feel that something is wrong, but I can't say it, and you Xu Dalang has always been good at observing words and expressions, so, instead of waiting for me to sleep all night to figure it out, why don't you just say it yourself .”

"The third brother is probably... probably a little angry." Xu Shiying's voice immediately dropped a lot. "But these soldiers are really a pity. We have killed over a thousand people and captured over a thousand people. I thought that since we have killed one or two hundred people for punishment, they should be frightened and honest. Then the remaining thousand people, It's not that it can't be used."

"Since you know I'm angry, you still persist like this, so you really want these soldiers..." Having said that, Zhang Xing paused, then sighed. "Can't we recruit from Yucheng? The people there should be willing to go with us now, right?"

"Can you take the opportunity to recruit people from Mount Mangdang?" Taoist Wei also took the opportunity to ask. "With the merger of the Meng's Rebel Army, can we have more soldiers?"

"But there is a clear distinction between strength and weakness. It is still the best use of these Dongdu soldiers and the Guanxi army, and the most appropriate military." Xu Shiying is still a little hard to let go. "More importantly, third brother, the situation is so difficult now. I don't know when Han Yingong will come. I shouldn't throw away any power... The soldiers in Mangdang Mountain are already available. Yucheng recruits troops and annexes the Meng family. Don't delay the surrender here."

"Could it be too much appetite?" Taoist Wei asked proactively.

"No way..." Xu Dalang spoke earnestly. "The war is dangerous and the opportunity is rare."

Zhang Xing frowned and remained silent.

To be honest, Xu Dalang's desire for more elite soldiers is a natural need. Even the entire Western Front, the Chulong gang knows that they are not short of money or armaments, but they are short of soldiers. Money and armaments are big eaters. As for the soldiers, this is because the two counties were mobilized systematically before the Dragon Clan's Eastern Expedition. At that time, not only Xu, Wang, Shan, Zhai, These large and small private soldiers and the original county soldiers were retained, and according to the size of the county, recruitment and redistribution ranging from [-] to [-] to [-] were carried out.

For example, Xu Dalang has a quota of [-] soldiers, Zhang Xing has a quota of [-] soldiers, and Niu Da actually controls [-] soldiers, but he claims [-], and then he has to stay in the counties to maintain law and order. I went to the East with Li Shu.

It is not impossible to recruit more, but I dare not.

Because the reason why the East Territory rebelled was because the imperial court recruited a large number of soldiers and civilian husbands during the three expeditions to Dongyi, which caused every family to cry. For Ma Hu, logistics has become a luxury for civilian husbands.

Zhang Xuguo almost caused a civil uprising because of this, Han Yingong's troops had to rely on the river transportation of the Huaiyou League as soon as they left the Xuzhou camp.

Then for the same reason, the Dragon Clan did not dare to really recruit more soldiers in the two counties on the western front.

This matter belongs to whoever touches it.

It was fine before, and the situation was not that bad. Xu Dalang, who wanted to expand the army, naturally did not dare to touch the taboo, but after the spring plowing this year, the Eastern Front was defeated many times, and Xuzhou was dispatched. Whether to recruit troops in the two counties has always been a very controversial topic. ...Xu Dalang, including Daoshi Wei and Niu Da, the backbone of the gang and some outside leaders and members all wanted to recruit, but many local people were firmly opposed.

After going back and forth, everyone was afraid that it would cause a backlash among the people, so they dragged it on until now.

"Third brother..."

Seeing Zhang Xing frowned and held his forehead in silence, Xu Shiying seemed to be going to try his best to persuade him. "Things of life and death must survive in order to talk about morality and etiquette."

"I agree." Zhang Xing came back to his senses and agreed. "Besides, I'm not a gentleman, Mr. Morality, and I've already executed a lot of people to establish my prestige... But you have to be careful in the future, and you must completely eliminate this army among your followers to ensure that nothing goes wrong. "

"It's natural." Xu Shiying was overjoyed for a moment, and nodded immediately. "Yucheng might as well recruit some, and only you, third brother, can dispatch them."

"But if you say that, what does the Meng family say?" Taoist Wei immediately asked back, his words seemed a little sour. "Why don't you spend two thousand with me?"

"That's all the talking, let's talk about some things." Zhang Xing thought for a while and continued to speak. "Don't swallow it here in the Meng family. Chuqiu is the foundation of the Meng family, and it's not easy to swallow... But I don't plan to directly include Yucheng and Dang County, but I want to write to Xiayi and Mangdang Mountain. See Should they take the initiative to take over? If they are willing, then give it to them... The main reason is that we are not strong enough, and we really shouldn't push the line of defense so far."

Xu Shiying was already overjoyed because of Zhang Xing's approval on the captives, so there was no way she would object at this time, she just nodded.

Wei Xuanding was at the side, seeing Zhang Xing's resolute words and Xu Shiying's appearance, although he was a little unhappy about losing the opportunity to control the troops, but he was not prepared to run into trouble... He just mocked a few words about the unreliability of the guards , Mangdangshan does not listen to greetings and other nonsense that directly stimulates someone's weak heart, and then no longer insists.

In fact, next, Zhang Xing talked about Guo Jingke's inappropriateness in turn, and talked about sensitive issues such as the knight in white wanting to do things, hoping that the military and the local government will let go of their positions a little bit, but he didn't know that it was the white-clothed knight that day. The fact that the knights attacked the officers and soldiers was too shocking, and the two of them just nodded without further entanglement.

Most of the crucial troubles seemed to be settled in this evening, and this damp and stuffy early summer evening would be over.

In other words, it was indeed carried out in this way. Xu and Wei just nodded, and then left. As for Zhang Dalongtou, who barely managed to fool all the troublesome things, he also lay down on the couch because he was exhausted, ready to go Go to bed with clothes like this.

Not long after the two of them left, he clearly heard the slight movement of the roof tiles above him, and just as he was about to get up, someone pushed open the door, came in directly, hugged him face to face, and directly pushed him down on the couch.

From the moment the other party pushed the door and came in, Zhang Xing suddenly cheered up. All the difficulties he had experienced this time disappeared temporarily, and many inexplicable pressures and doubts were instantly relieved.

Without him, it was his heroine Bai Yousi who came.

"I have a lot to tell you." Bai Yousi pressed the other's shoulder, raised his head, and took a deep breath.

"Me too." Zhang Xing, who was held down, also took a deep breath in response.

"Let's talk together." Bai Yousi still spoke crisply. "Take turns... I led Hong Changya to rebel in Mayi!"

Zhang Xing was dumbfounded for a moment, and then laughed: "I killed more than 100 people yesterday."

Bai You thought for a while, and then seriously suggested again: "Then we will talk about it later."

"Okay, let's talk slowly." Zhang Xing said nothing.

At this time, there was a sudden crackling outside the house, and it rained suddenly.

(End of this chapter)