Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 403 0398 [Li Bao's debut]
Suizhou, Zaoyang County.

Chen Ziyi rode his old horse and slowly followed behind the Shengjie army.

Not only was he demoted, but he was also directly kicked out of the Shengjie Army and transferred to the Xiang Army's cavalry as the capital.

The reason is very simple, it has nothing to do with Ju Ming, it's just being excluded.

This time I came to Suizhou to suppress the bandits, because the government exploited too much, and the bandits have been raging for more than a year.

If the officers and soldiers go to suppress, the bandits will hide in Tongbai Mountain and Dahong Mountain.After the officers and soldiers left, the thieves and bandits came out again, seriously interfering with the government's collection of grain for Tongguan.

The Shengjie army went out in person, but it still had no effect, and the bandits entered the mountain again.

"Open the city gates!"

The person who spoke was Bu Chang, the general of the Shengjie Army, riding a steed with arrogance and arrogance.

However, the city gate is still closed.

After a while, an official came down from the basket, walked up to Bu Chang, and said, "I am Li Hanzhang, the magistrate of Zaoyang County. Are you here to suppress bandits, or to plunder the people? Are you the villagers of Baishui Village?" Butcher?"

"Those are thieves, not villagers," Bu Chang shouted, "Hurry up and get some food, drink, and kill a few pigs."

Li Hanzhang said: "There is only one hundred shi of grain, and I will not do anything else. Please retreat to the outside of the moat. If you dare to step across the moat, you will not even have the hundred shi of grain."

Bu Chang sneered: "Do I have to go to the city?"

Li Hanzhang was neither humble nor overbearing: "Then I can only impeach Tong Guan Xingbing for rebellion."

Clang!
Bu Chang drew his knife out of its sheath, and pointed the knife point at Li Hanzhang's throat: "Do you really think I dare not kill people?"

Li Hanzhang said: "Arbitrarily killing officials ordered by the court is the proof of rebellion."

Bu Chang stared at Li Hanzhang for a while, then turned his horse's head and said, "Hurry up and bring the grain, at least three hundred shi!"

Chen Ziyi followed the Shengjie army to camp in the suburbs, and soon he received an order to lead a team to investigate the surrounding area, in case any bandits would suddenly appear.

When the sentry cavalry led by him passed through the countryside, the people hid one after another.

Chen Ziyi has long been used to the strangeness, and the news of killing the good and pretending to be meritorious has spread all over the country.No matter the gentry or the ordinary people, they are all afraid of their own heads, and they were cut off by the Shengjie army to repay their merits.

At that time, it was detected that the rebels had appeared near Baishui Township, and the Shengjie Army hurried over, but the bandits got the news and entered the mountain ahead of time.

Bu Chang was furious, thinking that the villagers had colluded with the bandits and directly slaughtered the village.

"Brother, do you really know that little Zhu thief?" Geng Zhongnian, the vice-captain, asked.

Chen Ziyi said: "Does it matter if we recognize each other or not? We are not from Tokyo, nor from Shaanxi. As a soldier under Tong Taishi, we will never try to climb up. Even if we climb up, we will be squeezed down."

Geng Zhongnian said: "If brother really knows each other, he might as well lead us to join the bandits."

Chen Ziyi laughed and said: "It's not good to be an officer and soldier, why do you want to be a thief?"

Geng Zhongnian complained: "The officers and soldiers are worthless, and have been bullied by those Shaanxi people. They don't fight serious battles, they only know how to kill the good and pretend to be meritorious. But killing the good and pretending to be meritorious is the benefit of the Shaanxi people. Apart from being scolded by the people Can't get anything."

A few years ago, Tong Guan formed the Shengjie Army and selected nearly [-] young people from the northwest frontier.

The selection of soldiers is extremely strict, and only those who are close to 1.8 meters tall can pass.

Excellent armor, delicious food and drink, very brave at the beginning, able to explode amazing fighting power.

Gradually he became depraved, Tong Guan was always with him, and he was reluctant to use it in times of crisis, fearing that the troops he had carefully built would be damaged.

Only dispatched when the battle situation is clear, to put it bluntly, it is to grab credit!
Even when the officers and soldiers were about to win a big victory, Tong Guan suddenly transferred back to the fighting troops, and then sent the Shengjie army to "destroy the enemy".

Nearly [-] brave and fearless youths from Northwest China became soldiers in just a few years.In addition, the generals leading the army are brothers Xin Qizong and Xin Xingzong, and the Shengjie Army has other bad habits.

Especially in the defeat of the Liao Dynasty, the Shengjie army suffered heavy losses in a daze, and it has been broken since then.

Moreover, in the past, everyone was from Shaanxi, and there was no situation of crowding out foreigners.After the expedition against Liao, the soldiers were replenished, and some soldiers from Kaifeng and Hebei were recruited, which formed a chain of contempt among the Shengjie army.

Shaanxi soldiers frantically squeezed out foreigners by relying on their numbers, power, seniority and seniority.

Kaifeng soldiers were bullied by Shaanxi soldiers, and turned their heads to bully Hebei soldiers.

When Hanzhong people like Chen Ziyi were in urgent need of soldiers, he was recruited to take command.When there was no shortage of troops in the army, they were immediately squeezed out, directly expelled from the Shengjie Army, and transferred to the Xiang Army's cavalry sequence.

What happened to Geng Zhongnian was similar to that of Chen Ziyi.

He was originally a cavalry soldier in Hebei, and he temporarily joined the Shengjie Army as the capital.At the beginning of the year, he was also expelled from the Shengjie Army and thrown to the Xiang Army as the deputy head of the capital.

These vacated officer positions were replaced by the Xin brothers' trusted followers, who made small moves under Tong Guan's nose.

The current officers of the Shengjie Army are either from Shaanxi or henchmen of the Xin family.

Chen Ziyi looked around and asked in a low voice, "Do you really want to be a thief?"

"Can you still joke about such things?" Geng Zhongnian's expression was serious, and then he gritted his teeth again, "We are also the forbidden army in Hebei, and we followed Tong Guan to the capital, and became Xiangjun cavalry in a daze. Go back to Hebei to be a thief! A fellow of mine rebelled in Hebei, and his reputation has spread to Tokyo, where he just needs a general to lead the army."

Chen Ziyi said: "All my cavalry are mostly from Hebei, what do they think?"

Geng Zhongnian said: "The head of the army, the ten generals, and the Marquis of Yu, all plan to return to their hometown in Hebei. If you stay in the south for a day, you will be bullied for a day. You will never be able to get ahead in this life. But Xiangzhou is too far away from Hebei. It’s not very convenient to go home, it’s best if you can rely on Zhu Xianggong. If it’s not possible, you might as well go into Dahong Mountain in Suizhou and fall into the grass!”

"Okay, find a chance, I'll take you to Hanzhong!" Chen Ziyi had long wanted to leave.

As the evening approached, Chen Ziyi gathered up the sentinel cavalry, continued to patrol nearby, and brought the rest of the cavalry back to the camp.

Li Hanzhang was roaring in the barracks, but it was an officer of the Shengjie Army under Bu Chang's command who led a group of soldiers to eat and drink for free in restaurants outside the city.Not counting enough to eat and drink, but also forced to buy goods at a low price, the shopkeeper said a few more words, and was beaten to death by these soldiers.

Leaving the barracks without authorization is a very serious violation of discipline.

Bu Chang didn't punish the soldiers, but protected them because they were all from Shaanxi.

Li Hanzhang was humiliated and returned to the county government angrily.

"Sir, the servants from my hometown are here." Xuxian Wang hesitated to speak, not knowing how to tell the bad news.

Li Hanzhang asked, "Where is he?"

Wang said: "Running all the way, eating."

The servant was brought soon, and when they saw each other, they wept and said, "Lang Jun, the master and wife are dead!"

"What?" Li Hanzhang was shocked.

The servant recounted in detail: "The thieves attacked Qingzhou, the master led the people to defend the city, some spies sneaked into the city and set fire to it, and the city gate was opened by the spies... The court sent the news home, and Lord Dalang sent me to tell Lang Your letter."

Li Hanzhang stood there for a while, unable to speak for a long time.

He knew what was going on in Qingzhou, and he had received a letter from his father a while ago.

In the letter, my father complained that the imperial court was defeated in the campaign against Liao, and was still thinking about getting Yanjing back. He ordered the counties and counties in Shandong to raise money and food, as if he wanted to buy Yanjing.If such levies continue, thieves and bandits will surely arouse everywhere, and it will be difficult to deal with them at that time.

I didn't expect a prophecy to come true, and it came true so quickly.

Mrs. Wang said: "Master, the luggage is packed, and you can go back to your hometown at any time."

Li Hanzhang still did not speak, went to the study alone to sit quietly, and did not return to the bedroom until midnight, and said to his wife: "Put all the luggage back."

Wang asked, "Aren't you going back to your hometown for the funeral?"

Li Hanzhang said: "There are more important things than funerals. I want to stay in Zaoyang and wait for an old man. If he has the ability, he will come. Even if he doesn't come, his subordinates will come. When the time comes, I want to give him a present."

"What gift?" Wang asked puzzled.

Li Hanzhang stopped talking.

Zaoyang County should be considered a gift, if it is not enough, then find a way to give the whole Suizhou out.

When Li Hanzhang was preparing gifts, Chen Ziyi returned to Xiangyang with the army.

Tong Guan had already set off with the three thousand victorious army, and the three thousand victorious army who hurried back hurriedly took a boat to catch up.

At the mouth of Wuling River, the officers and soldiers were confronting the rebels.

The terrain here is rough and narrow, and cavalry platoons are useless.Chen Ziyi's cavalry unit of the Xiang Army followed the cavalry of the Shengjie Army and went to Zhushan County by boat.

Xin Qizong is fighting on the front line, and Xin Yongzong sits in Zhushan County and is responsible for dispatching grain, grass and civilian husbands.

"General, it's not good!"

The secretary in charge of the army came to report in a hurry.

Xin Yongzong stood up in surprise: "But my brother was defeated?"

The secretary in charge said: "It was the thieves who captured Fangzhou. Zhizhou's life and death are unknown. The prefect and Fangling county magistrate have fled here!"

"How can there be thieves in Fangzhou?" Xin Yongzong was at a loss.

The secretary in charge said, "I'm afraid he came back from Zi."

Xin Yongzong immediately summoned the fleeing officials and asked, "Where did the thieves come from, and how many are there?"

"There was a sudden noise at night, I put on my clothes and went out, the thieves have already entered the city."

"Those thieves went straight to the state government office, and I ran away from the west gate when I saw that the situation was not good."

"I saw the prefect running towards the northeast gate. He may have fled to Gucheng in a panic. The journey there is very difficult. I'm afraid there will be bad luck."

"..."

These officials chattered, and Xin Yongzong said angrily: "I ask you, how many bandits have come here, and where did they come from!"

"I don't know." The officials shook their heads.

After hesitating for a while, the magistrate of Fangling said: "Most of them are bandits from Kuizhou. They went out of Kuimen to occupy Zigui in the east. I was an official there. From Zigui, go north along the Xiangxi River to reach Xingshan County. Then continue along the Xiangxi River. To the north, across the mountains is Fenshui, along which you can reach Zhushui. The intersection of Fenshui and Zhushui is tens of miles east of Fangzhou City."

This road has existed for thousands of years, and it is equivalent to passing through half of Shennongjia. Even smugglers shook their heads when they saw it.

Zhu Ming planned to suppress Li Bao and transfer most of the Kuizhou rebels back to Hanzhong, and only let Li Bao iron lock Hengjiang to guard Kuimen.

However, with several thousand troops in hand, Li Bao not only defeated the officers and soldiers on Jinghu Road, but also went east to Kuimen to occupy Zigui.Then he led his troops across half of Shennongjia, and the divine soldiers raided Fangzhou as if descended from heaven, and joined the Eastern Front battlefield uninvited.

The officers and soldiers of Zhushan County are about to be flanked by Li Bao and Guan Sheng!
(End of this chapter)