The Rise of the Marquis

Chapter 47 Earthquake
In the open space outside the wreckage of the Sentinel Ridge post station, Wang Jian saw more than [-] men and women veterans escorted up by Uncle Gong's soldiers.

After Uncle Gong's explanation, he finally knew what was going on. These people were all "collaborators".

To put it simply, they were local residents of Sentinel Ridge, and most of them either opened their doors to meet the enemy or surrendered directly after the Maling army came, without any resistance.

Their houses were used by the enemy, and their food was handed over to the enemy.

The clerk who escorted them up accused these people of their crimes. When the Marquis issued an order for them to retreat to the vicinity of the gazebo post, none of them would leave. As soon as the enemy came, they used the house and food for the enemy and betrayed their lord. These people are unfaithful and unrighteous, heinous, the elders should be executed as an example to others, and to warn future generations.

Wang Jian looked at the group of people kneeling in front of him, including men, women, and children. The oldest one was as thin as a stick, his face was ashen, his eyes were cloudy like a pool of stagnant water, and he had given up on himself.

Some knelt and kowtowed and shouted their innocence, others begged for mercy, and some remained silent with blank eyes.

The youngest among them was still being held in the swaddling baby by his mother and crying. The young mother was so frightened that she covered his mouth so as not to annoy the nobleman in front of him. Seeing that the child's face turned red, he was about to be out of breath.

Wang Jian let go of his spiritual sense and immediately confirmed that these people were not a threat. He got off his horse and walked into the crowd, walked up to the young woman and pulled her hand away. Suddenly, the baby's loud howling resounded all around, breaking the silence around him instantly. .

"My lord, she doesn't understand anything! She doesn't understand anything, please spare her!" the young woman cried.

Wang Jian said to her, "I won't argue with a child."

He raised his head and looked at the crowd: "Some of you may have a heart for Maling City, but I know that most of you are powerless, not strong enough to resist the Maling soldiers, and it is also my fault for not being able to protect you.

When the Ma Ling army approached aggressively, our army was still unable to confront them head-on, and it would be difficult for a strong man to ask you to contend with them.

This Marquis will not pursue your faults, nor will you punish you for it, but you must always remember that you are the people of Heyang, the people of Heqinhou, and you and I have the obligation to do our best.

Let them go." Wang Jian waved his hand.

Everyone looked at this side with surprise in their eyes, and the soldiers cast a questioning look, which seemed a little unbelievable, until Wang Jian confirmed the order again: "Let them go, it's just that they don't have enough strength, what's the crime?"

The soldiers began to carry out the order, and many local people in Sentinel Hill kowtowed their heads in thanks, and kept shouting that the Marquis gave another big gift, until they were sent out. Among them, several young people knelt down and asked to join the Marquis' army to serve, but they were not allowed.

Wang Jian knew that this place was already at the border, and the army would enter the territories of other princes as long as it moved forward a little, so he found the secretary of the army and asked him to write down the military discipline and read it out to the whole army.

At the same time, he ordered people to go back and inform the Chinese army that Sentinel Ridge was safe, but it was not enough to accommodate a large number of troops, and the main force would still stop at Peach Valley Camp, waiting for further orders.

Liu Yu has been silently watching these actions of He Qinhou, which greatly exceeded her expectations. She was surprised and admired, but she suddenly thought of Emperor Gao, the founding father of this dynasty.

At that time, the world was initially settled, and Zhao Guo rebelled. Emperor Gao led his troops to march in person, and went east to Handan.

Zhao Guo Xiangguo said that the guards and lieutenants of the cities in Changshan were unfavorable in the battle, resulting in twenty cities being attacked by the rebels, please punish the guards and lieutenants.

Emperor Gao asked, "Are the Shou and Wei rebellious?"

Zhao Guoguo replied: "No."

So Emperor Gao directly said: "It's just that their strength is insufficient, what's the crime?"

He also ordered the selection of four strong men from the state of Zhao who could serve as generals, summoned them in person, sealed them as thousands of households, and appointed them as generals.

The left and right ministers remonstrated: "The veteran generals who followed your majesty to calm the world and destroy the enemy army, the king has not rewarded them all, but awarded these four people. May I ask what credit they have?"

Emperor Gao said: "You don't know that the Chen family rebelled, and both Zhao and Dai belonged to it. I used my feathers to recruit soldiers from all over the world, but no one came. For the present plan, only the soldiers of Handan can be used.

Why do I begrudge four thousand households and be reluctant to use it to comfort the people of Zhao State. "

The ministers all praised him as good, and then Emperor Gao sent someone to find the descendants of Le Yi, a famous general of the Yan State during the Warring States Period, and named him Hua Chengjun in Le Township.He also asked the generals of the rebel army. After learning that most of them were businessmen, they bought them with a lot of money. Many rebel soldiers surrendered, and the rebellion was quickly put down.

Every time I read these stories, I was full of pride and admiration for my ancestors.

But now a similar thing seems to be happening in front of her eyes, and she has many different feelings.

However, she quickly denied her own thoughts. How can He De, a small Marquis of Zhao, be compared with Emperor Taizu Gao? Looking at the tall back in front of him, Liu Yu told herself in his heart that he was just lifting shoes for Emperor Gao Not worthy either.

After a hundred days of the misty moon, the cold wind swept along the north of Hongshan for hundreds of years, sweeping across Maling City unstoppably from north to south.

In the beginning, it was cold and dark and the heavy fog lingered for a long time, and the ground was covered with frost every morning, and it was white every morning, and then the rain and snow continued for several days, until one morning when the residents of Maling City woke up from their sleep It is discovered that the world has become a piece of snow white, and the white snow has become the unified color of the world, and the heavy snow is still swaying and falling, spinning and dancing to occupy the sky.

Afterwards, the weather gradually became less cloudy, but still frighteningly cold.

Until one day, the soldiers on duty found the deserters who fell outside the city for the first time in the thick white snow, and then there were more and more deserters, more and more corpses and living people.

This time, the terrifying news was straightforward, like the chill brought by the heavy snow, not so eerie and slow and biting, but a straightforward ice knife and cold arrow implanted in my heart
The Ma Ling army was lured into the enemy by Heyang's close relatives, and then defeated in the Liangtingyi River Valley. The 2000 or [-] troops were almost wiped out, and less than [-] people fled back to the territory of Maling.

The rest were captured, killed, or lost their way, and Ma Linggong's most elite "tiger sons" were almost completely lost.

This news was confirmed as more and more deserters fled back to Maling City. It quickly spread in the streets and alleys, and it continued to ferment over time.

However, there has been no statement in the Maling City Mansion, and no news has been released to the outside world. There are many discussions in the streets and alleys, but they can't be confirmed.

It wasn't until the morning of the [-]th day of the Bruma month that Mu Zhiyong led more than a thousand disheveled routs back to the south of the city and more and more confirmed its authenticity. There were many witnesses with such a large team, and the news spread faster, which soon triggered an earthquake.
(End of this chapter)