A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1121 Cannon Fodder
Cheng Yaojin sat on the steps on the top of the city wall and rubbed his cheeks.

"Send the order, guard the four gates."

"Give the bull half an hour,"

"If he has not led his people out of the city and handed over the loot in half an hour,

"Just destroy them."

Cheng Yaojin's words were full of murderous intent, which surprised the officers around him.

"General, these people are only surrendered soldiers from the Western Turks, and they are newly joined as auxiliaries. If we ask them to do too much, it might provoke rebellion, which would be bad."

"What's wrong with that? These people are not good people to begin with. They surrender now only because they are forced by the situation. Once they get a chance, they will rebel." Lao Cheng has led troops for many years and is not at ease with the 3,000 surrendered soldiers assigned to him.

They must be cut down and oppressed.
You have to tame it when you have the chance, just like taming a horse, otherwise you will never be able to control the horse.

This is a process. It can be done with gentle means, but it is time-consuming, or it can be done with drastic means, but it is difficult to control.

Old Cheng has no time now, he just wants to tame these surrendered soldiers forcefully.

This attack on Gongyue City is a good opportunity to tame it.

Last night, they were allowed to enter the city to fight, and their numbers were reduced by nearly 20%, which weakened their strength. Old Cheng intended to let them plunder first, but now he forced them to give it up.
These people will definitely not cooperate.
Then, Lao Cheng will enforce military law.

Kill the chicken to scare the monkeys, kill one to warn the hundred.

The purpose is to suppress their rebelliousness.

If they dare to rebel, Lao Cheng doesn't mind slaughtering them all.

Old Cheng didn't dare to massacre the people in Gongyue City, as Wu Huaiyu had already issued military orders prohibiting looting and killing prisoners. However, Old Cheng would show no mercy when dealing with the auxiliary troops who violated the orders or even rebelled.

Amubuzayi walked down the city wall and returned to the city lord's mansion. His face was ashen and his chest was heaving violently with anger.
"Too deceiving!"

In front of the City Lord's Mansion,

The head of the former city lord Yuzhi Jijin of the Gongyue tribe was stuck on a spear. Although one of his eyes was missing, Yuzhi Jijin was still furious and unwilling to give up before his death.

The bull looked at the head and became even angrier.

He chopped off the head of Yujijijin, a warrior from the Chuyue tribe, and now he is in trouble.

"Call everyone to discuss this matter."

Soon, all the Turkish officers above the rank of centurion arrived.

The composition of this 3,000-strong Turkic auxiliary army was quite complex, with the majority being Turks, but also members of the three Chuyue tribes, Chumukun, Karluk, Chishi, etc. Many of them were directly under Yugushe.

The Tang people broke up the Khan's troops and mixed them up.

"Pack up and prepare to leave the city for rest."

"Also, Deputy Chief Cheng requires us to hand over all the property, people, livestock, etc. looted last night. We are not allowed to keep the spoils privately. All the spoils must be turned over to the public."

As soon as Amubuzayi finished speaking,
The Turkic nobles below started to cheer and shout.

"Why?"

"We fought the war and seized the things. Why should the Tang people take them away?"

"No, not even a damn thing."

"Just give them a small portion, why should they pay it all?"

A group of Turkic chieftains with braided hair were all unruly and unruly. Asking them to hand over the spoils was like asking for their lives.

In their eyes, fighting and looting are natural and right, just like paying off a debt, a son paying off a father's debt, and paying with one's life for murder.

"Stop arguing," the bull shouted.
He was originally the young leader of the Turkic tribe, and was also a famous young warrior in the tribe. He was also the captain of the Fuli Wolf Cavalry Guard established by Yugu, so his prestige was quite high.

As soon as he shouted, everyone shut up.

"The Tang people are indeed very greedy, but now they are very tough. If we don't hand them over at all, I'm afraid we won't be able to get through this.
I think I should pay half.

Of course, we handed over everything we could see, and as for other valuables like gold, silver, pearls, and silk, we could just hide them. They couldn't just search us.
And those war horses, weapons and armor are also valuable things. Let's keep the good ones and divide them up directly."

Bull's proposal still made many people dissatisfied, and some even felt that he, as a leader, did not speak up for everyone in front of the Tang people.

"If you have this ability, go find Cheng Yaojin now and fight with him, go,"

The man took a few steps back after being scolded and kept silent.

After much arguing, although everyone was dissatisfied, they also knew that the situation was stronger than they were. They were defeated and surrendered soldiers, and now they didn't have much capital to resist.

Finally, I had to agree to the Bulls' proposal.
They found ways to hide the valuables and divided up the good war horses, weapons, and armor. As for the big items such as livestock and women, they had to hand them over to the Tang people.

They all cursed and were very unhappy.

"Everyone, move quickly. The Tang people only gave us half an hour. In half an hour, the Tang army will enter the city and clear the area."

After the Bull finished speaking, he turned around and went back to the backyard. His eyes were red and he was breathing heavily. He felt very unhappy.
In the backyard, his personal soldiers were still enjoying themselves.

A group of captured women screamed feebly.

The bull came forward angrily, with his sword drawn.

He chopped off all the women who annoyed him with his sword.

This sudden move,

His personal soldiers were all stunned, and some of the unlucky guys were even covered in blood.

There was a guy who was having fun, but then a knife flashed and the woman he was holding lost her head, and blood splattered all over him. The guy was stunned for a moment...

Half an hour later,
Bull led his team to withdraw from Gongyue City.

They left the captives and livestock they had captured in the city.
Everyone was bulging. It was summer, but they were still wearing three layers of clothes, some even wearing fur coats.
He also wore several layers of armor inside, and even took off the soldiers' armor, whether iron or leather, and tied it to his warhorse.
Even tied to the mount,
There was only one horse when we entered the city, but now one person was leading several horses.

Some guys even brought a few camels.

Others, despite the Bull's orders,
They even disguised some young and strong captives as their own people, and even went further, disguising some young women as tribal warriors.

This poor disguise,
You can see through it at a glance.

Cheng Yaojin sat on the gate tower of the west city.

Looking at that bloated team and the bloated Turkic allies, he couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"What a bunch of greedy guys,"

An officer said, "Why don't we let the bull straighten himself out and call it a day."

Cheng Yaojin said, "This precedent cannot be set. Otherwise, how can we lead the army in the future and command these surrendered vassals to join the army? We must be serious today and set rules. I have said it clearly, but they don't take my words to heart at all."

"Search for me. If I find one, I'll kill him."

"Execute him on the spot and punish him severely!"

I am afraid to take everything seriously.

Of course, if you want to be serious and turn the table over, you also have to be able to clean up the mess.

If you don't have the ability to overturn the table, you will end up in a miserable situation.

But here, if Cheng Yaojin wants to overturn the table, he can do so at any time. He is now both right and powerful.

The city gate slowly closed.

The Turkic soldiers waiting in line to leave the city were all stunned.
The Bull was also stunned.

His face became more and more gloomy.

The captain of Cheng Yaojin's personal guards came to the front and pointed at the guy who was waiting in the front to leave the city.

"Bring it up."

Several Tang soldiers rushed to grab him, but the man resisted fiercely, so the Tang soldiers knocked him to the ground like a sheep. The Turks behind him became restless and uneasy.

On top of the city walls and behind the city gates, countless Tang soldiers immediately raised their bows and crossbows, and raised their spears.

"Anyone who dares to act rashly will be regarded as a traitor and will die!"

A shout of anger,

Countless weapons were pointed at the auxiliary troops.

The Bull's face was so gloomy that water could drip out of it. He could not imagine that these Tang people were so deceiving.
With both hands clenched into fists,

But in the end he still tried hard to control his anger.
"Don't move."

The bull came forward.

"General, what does this mean?" He shouted loudly at Cheng Yaojin on the top of the city wall.

"Wasn't what I told you before clear enough? Are these people just being clever, or did you teach them?"

Amubuzayi was speechless.

"Please give them another chance, they are stupid, greedy and ignorant."

Cheng Yaojin snorted coldly, "If that's the case, then I'll give you one more chance. Get naked here and leave the city."

The bull's face turned red.

I felt extremely humiliated.

"General Manager, you can't treat a hero like this."

"Don't worry, I will not deduct any of your merits. I will record your merits truthfully and reward you later. I will also give you a share of the spoils that we have brought back to the public."

"But, I still say that what you have confiscated must be returned to the public and not kept privately. The court will reward you based on your merits, and you can only take the rewards that are given to you. You are not allowed to take what is not given to you privately. Anyone who dares to take action will be chopped off."

The bull gritted his teeth and agreed.

But the Turks below refused to accept this.

How could this be possible?

Originally, everyone was pretty careless about it and they could barely accept it.

But now the Tang people not only refused to give them anything, but also required them to strip naked and undergo inspection before leaving the city. This was a great humiliation.
These people became chaotic on the spot, or rather, the anger in their hearts had accumulated to the extreme and they wanted to vent it and fight for their spoils.

Cheng Yaojin saw that those people had already drawn their knives and were shouting in protest.

"The surrendered soldiers are mutinying and rebelling. What are you still standing there for? Suppress them all!"

Following an order,
The Tang army's bows were like thunderbolts, and their arrows rained down from all directions.
They were blocked in the street with shields and spears, and were shot and killed by the Tang army on high ground.

Those guys smuggled too many things and wrapped themselves in layers. Although these things were valuable, they made them difficult to move targets. Even though the layers of silk, armor, leather robes and other things could increase their defense,

But he is still just a sitting duck.

The bull cries out loudly,

But Cheng Yaojin was too lazy to pay attention to him. To him, this was all a good show designed and arranged by him from beginning to end. It was cruel, but to him, it was a way to eradicate a scourge.

In other words, as a leading general, he must seek benefits for his soldiers.

Prime Minister Wu issued strict military orders, forbidding his soldiers to plunder. Cheng Yaojin could not openly disobey the order, but he could find a way out.

As for Gong Niu and the 3,000 Turkic surrendered soldiers, they were not innocent either. If they had not repeatedly violated military orders, this disaster would not have happened.

As for the loss of three thousand auxiliary troops, Cheng Yaojin didn't care at all.

These three thousand people will not be killed completely. A small part will be killed, and the majority will be left. In addition, many more can be recruited from Gongyue City and the Gongyue tribe outside the city.

After this bloody lesson, the Turkic surrendered soldiers will only become more obedient and honest.

Lao Cheng is very experienced in this, as this is not the first time he has done this. He was the governor of Luzhou and the governor of Youzhou, and he had done this before with the northern Hu and southern Liao peoples, with very good results.

Screams were heard everywhere in the city.
The auxiliary troops who had just been shouting in anger now turned into screams of fear, but it was too late.

Soon, blood was flowing everywhere.
The anger of many Turkic allied soldiers had long been replaced by fear. They all knelt on the ground and begged for mercy, no longer showing the anger and arrogance they had just shown.

The riot ended quickly.

The auxiliary troops surrendered again.

Cheng Yaojin looked at the bull being brought before him and the soldiers kneeling on the ground.
"Let them draw lots, and kill them all by eleven,"

Regardless of officers or soldiers, all surviving auxiliary soldiers were divided into groups of ten and drew lots. Each group had an "execution lot", and those who drew the lot would be executed.

Those who didn’t draw the lottery will be spared from death.

Cheng Yaojin also announced that he accepted the surrender of the Chuyue tribe and recruited 3,000 soldiers from the Chuyue tribe to assist in the expedition.

At the same time, it was announced that these new recruits would carry out the execution of the auxiliary soldiers who drew the death lot.

After the execution, the remaining approximately 2,000 former auxiliary soldiers, together with the 3,000 auxiliary soldiers of the Chuyue tribe who were recruited later, were disbanded and reorganized to form the left and right wings of the auxiliary army, each with about 2,600 people.

"Quickly finish all this, clean up Gongyue City, and prepare to welcome the arrival of Wu Xiang."

(End of this chapter)