Daqin arrests alchemists, what does it matter to me as a qi refiner?

Yang Ling searched every corner of the City Lord's Mansion, and finally found the brocade box in the closet of the side hall where Han Mingzhi kept the gold. The brocade box was locked, and it was easily pried open with a dagger. Inside was full of dazzling gold and silver ingots, weighing at least 70 or 80 kilograms. Yang Ling took out two gold ingots and weighed them. Feeling that the weight was about right, he put them back in his arms.

Yang Ling ordered his men to loot the City Lord's Mansion and then return to Jeju City with his troops.

"Report to the Marshal, the main force of the Han army has withdrawn." Liu Renyuan reported to Yang Ling.

Yang Ling said with a smile: "It seems that we are lucky today. We captured Jeju City so smoothly."

"That's because the Marshal is so brave and led his brothers to kill countless enemies, which led to such a victory." Liu Renyuan flattered him.

"Okay, you give orders to each battalion and tell them to return to Jeju County along the same route."

"I will obey your orders!"

Yang Ling led several hundred soldiers and rushed back to Jizhou County, escorting a large amount of seized property and food.

Inside Jizhou County, all officials stood on the city walls, looking up at the Yang Ling flag approaching in the distance, their faces pale.

Before Han Mingzhi was captured alive, he wrote to the county magistrate and county lieutenant of Jizhou, asking them to keep a close eye on Yang Ling's whereabouts, especially to strengthen the defense of the city. The county magistrate and county lieutenant were both smart people. They guessed that Jizhou might be in danger, so they sent people to notify the militias in various towns and villages to closely monitor the situation in Jizhou County and told the militias in various towns and villages to be prepared for the battle.

Unexpectedly, as soon as Jeju County was attacked at night, Yang Ling led his troops back.

"What should we do?" The county magistrate was extremely anxious and worried.

The county lieutenant said calmly, "I think we'd better abandon the city and run away."

"Abandon the city?"

"That's right. Now that Yang Ling has conquered Jeju City, his strength has greatly expanded. I'm afraid we can't stop him. Since Jeju City has fallen, I think we should retreat as soon as possible to avoid being caught by Yang Ling and having our property confiscated and our clan exterminated."

"But there are still thousands of old people, women and children in the city. Are we just going to abandon them?"

The county lieutenant pondered for a moment and said, "Jezhou County has fallen, and the fate of the people of Jezhou is uncertain. Rather than risking our lives to save the people of the state, it is better to save our lives and seek a better way out in the future. Let's hand over the people of Jezhou to Yang Ling for disposal. He can't just kill thousands of old, weak, women and children, otherwise his reputation will be ruined."

The county magistrate hesitated. Although the county lieutenant's words made some sense, he couldn't bear to abandon the people of Jeju. Jeju was the foundation of the Han army. Without Jeju, the Han army would be leaderless. By then, the whole of Jeju would be in complete chaos, and even destroyed by bandits.

Yang Ling led his troops into Jeju City. The people in the city were terrified and hid in their houses or on roofs.

Yang Ling did not pursue the fleeing Han soldiers. He was worried about the safety of the people in Jeju, so he could only search for the remaining Han soldiers in the city. Yang Ling led his troops to search the entire county government office, but found nothing.

"It seems that the Han army has indeed escaped." Yang Ling murmured, and then ordered, "Send orders to all villages, and have them send out militiamen to block the mountains, forests, river banks, ditches, fields, and alleys around the county town to prevent the Han army from escaping. At the same time, order the people along the way not to enter Jeju without permission, otherwise they will be killed without mercy."

"As ordered!"

After Yang Ling led his troops to search the county government office, they returned to the county town to rest. After lunch the next day, Yang Ling began to lead his troops to sweep the Han army's fleeing soldiers near Jeju City. This time, Yang Ling learned his lesson. He led his troops to clear out the fleeing Han army along the way without making a big fanfare.

Yang Ling did this for two reasons.

The second consideration was to avoid alerting the Han army. The Han army in Jeju couldn't have been unaware that Han Mingzhi had been captured alive, but Han Mingzhi hadn't shown up yet, and it was obvious that they were planning something. Yang Ling didn't want the Han army to launch a counterattack in advance because of his arrival.

Yang Ling gradually eliminated the defeated Han army soldiers near Jeju City, and then left Jeju with his troops.

After Yang Ling led his troops away, the county magistrate and the county lieutenant quietly slipped out of the county with their trusted men.

After the county magistrate and the county lieutenant escaped from Jizhou County, they immediately contacted the militias in various towns and asked them to send people to keep an eye on the movements in Jizhou County. At the same time, they sent people to Dongchang Prefecture and Dongping Prefecture to ask for help, requesting the support of the court, and also asked for help from Chen Xinjia, the governor of Jiangxi.

Yang Ling and his troops stayed in Jeju City for too long and missed the opportunity. If they waited until the reinforcements of the Han army arrived, it would be meaningless to capture Jeju, so Yang Ling decided to return to Liaoyang as soon as possible to be on the safe side.

The news of Jeju soon spread in Jiangning, and the people were talking about it. The news of Han Mingzhi's defeat shocked everyone.

The civil and military officials around Han Mingzhi were also dumbfounded. They never expected that Han Mingzhi, who had conquered the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun for three consecutive years, would be defeated by Yang Ling.

Yang Ling had stayed in Jeju for too long, which had caused officials at all levels to be wary of him.

Now that Yang Ling led his troops to leave Jeju, the officials immediately jumped out and asked Yang Ling to continue to garrison Jeju, and they were willing to take on the responsibility of guarding Jeju.

How could Yang Ling have the time to play with them? Yang Ling refused directly. Han Mingzhi was already dead, and his threat was lifted.

"Everyone, Han Mingzhi has been captured, and the Han family army has collapsed. There is no need for everyone to be controlled by Han Mingzhi anymore. Everyone can surrender quickly while Han Mingzhi is captured in exchange for the court's pardon." Yang Ling said loudly.

Although Yang Ling said this, the officials did not dare to express their opinions easily.

Seeing this, Yang Ling snorted coldly, "Don't worry, the court will never be soft on traitors. Han Mingzhi has committed many evil deeds and his crimes are grave, the court will never forgive him. If you take the initiative to surrender the city, the court will definitely reward you handsomely, and you can even keep your position. If you are stubborn and insist on waiting for the reinforcements of the Han family army to arrive, then you will be punished along with your entire clan."

Yang Ling's harsh words shook most officials.

"I am willing to surrender the city."

"I am also willing to surrender the city!"

"I am also willing to surrender the city!"

A large number of officials responded and were willing to surrender the city.

"Okay! Since you all understand, I will agree to your request on behalf of the court. I am willing to accommodate you all on behalf of the court. Come with me." Yang Ling said loudly.

"Thank you for your help!"

Yang Ling led his troops to take over Jizhou County, emptied the county government office of all valuables, and then organized the people to relocate.

Since Jizhou City is close to Jinling, Yang Ling divided Jizhou City into two areas, named Jishui and Jihe. The source of the Jizhou River is called Jishui, and the two banks of the Jishui River are called Jishui and Jihe respectively.

The county government of Jizhou was located in Jizhou City beside the Jishui River. The city of Jizhou was built along the river and covers an area of ​​about 50 hectares, which is larger than most cities in Linxiang City. The Jizhou River was formed by the upstream of the Jishui River, so it was called the Jishui River.

Yang Ling transformed the south bank of the Jishui River into a dock and agricultural area, preparing to build Jizhou City into the most prosperous port in the Song Dynasty.

The north bank of the Jishui River is the granary of Jizhou City, and Yang Ling plans to store the grain here. After the granary is full of grain, the north bank of the Jishui River will become a military farm area, and the military farm area will become the agricultural trade center of the Song Dynasty.

A large amount of grain was stored in the granary of Jeju County. Yang Ling first vacated the granary in Jeju County and prepared to transport Jeju's grain to Linxiang City, and then transfer the grain to the granary in Jinyong City.

Of course, Yang Ling also planned to renovate and expand the granary to increase its storage capacity. There was enough food in Jeju City to meet the needs of millions of disaster victims.

Yang Ling originally thought that there were still many corpses and bloodstains of the Han army in Jizhou County, so he did not bring too many troops, only 8,000 troops to escort the food. As soon as Yang Ling left with his troops, several county magistrates, county lieutenants and lieutenant generals of Jizhou County gathered at the county government to discuss.

"Yang Ling is too arrogant. We, the senior county magistrates, county lieutenants, and lieutenant generals, were scolded by him in public. We must not let him ride on our heads and pee and shit on us." Wang Rende, the county magistrate of Jizhou, said angrily.

"That's right, we can't just let this matter go. We have to teach him a lesson and let him know that we are not pushovers." Jeju County Magistrate Li Zhengyuan echoed.

"What do you want to do?" asked Han Wende, the county magistrate of Jeju.

"I think Yang Ling is so arrogant because of his bravery. If he didn't have that good appearance, no one would be convinced by him, let alone us old brothers."

"Commander Li is right. If we want to avenge ourselves, we must find a way to kill Yang Ling."

"With so many of us, are we still afraid of him?"

Wang Rende looked at the other four county magistrates and county lieutenants, and after a moment's silence, he slowly said, "Yang Ling is the nephew of the famous general Han Shizhong. Although we have dozens of people, if we really want to fight Yang Ling, the outcome is unpredictable."

"What good ideas does Lord Wang have?" Han Wende asked.

"Yang Ling's troops are extremely powerful. Even if we surround them, we may not be able to wipe them out. So I suggest that we lure Yang Ling here first, and then shoot him with a crossbow."

"This is a good idea. As long as we can kill Yang Ling, the morale of Yang Ling's men will surely plummet. Then we can launch a counterattack and we will have a chance of winning." Han Wende said approvingly.

Wang Rende added: "We have to find a way to trick Yang Ling into coming to Jeju City first! Yang Ling is currently stationed in Jeju City, and we have no way of luring him to Jeju City."

"Lord Wang, I don't think this is difficult." Jeju County Magistrate Zhu Dafu said with a smile.

"Oh, how is it not difficult?"

Zhu Dafu laughed and said, "The Han army in Jizhou City has been completely destroyed. Yang Ling is alone. Now Yang Ling is short of manpower and must be anxious to recall his subordinates. As long as he returns to Jinling, he will definitely be ambushed. As long as we lead him to the Ji River, he will be trapped and we can slaughter him at will."

"But this is too risky. It's absolutely not allowed."

Wang Rende shook his head to reject Zhu Dafu's proposal, and then continued: "I heard that there is a small lake called Jishui south of the Jishui River, and the lake is surrounded by dense forests. We might as well ambush there. As long as Yang Ling's troops enter the dense forest, we will use gunpowder to blow up the valley, and Yang Ling's troops will definitely suffer heavy losses. Then Yang Ling will be finished!"

"Okay, let's do it this way. We'll start tonight and try to capture Yang Ling alive," said Han Wende.

Yang Ling's troops quickly cleared the entire Jizhou County and loaded all the food onto ships and shipped it to Linxiang City.

After a busy while, Yang Ling led his troops to leave Jizhou County and head to the Jishui River south of Jizhou County.

The Jishui River is on the west side of Jeju County, flowing southward from Jeju County, with barren wilderness overgrown with weeds along the way.

Walking in the wilderness, Yang Ling felt extremely lonely. Yang Ling was in an unfamiliar environment and felt like he was in a dream.

Yang Ling stopped by the Jishui River and looked out at the vast mountains ahead. The peaks were towering and lush, with no end in sight.

"Is this the Jishui River? How spectacular!"

Yang Ling looked at the wide Jishui River and muttered to himself.

The surface of the Jishui River is calm, the water is emerald green, and the water quality is clean and clear.

Yang Ling stood by the river and looked out for a long time, when he suddenly discovered a faint light in the dense forest on the other side of the river.

"Sir, look, there seems to be someone over there!"

Yang Ling turned his head and saw faint lights flickering in the dense forest.

Yang Ling immediately became alert. He ordered his men to be on guard and said, "Inform all camps to send out scouts immediately to find out the situation."

"Here!"

Following Yang Ling's order, the eight thousand elite troops quickly dispersed, each looking for cover to hide, and then arranged personnel to gather information.

Not long after, the scouts came back one after another and reported: "General, there are more than 3,000 enemy soldiers camped deep in the forest. They are probably resting."

"What weapons does the enemy have?"

"Bows and crossbows are useless unless they have rockets."

"Yes, I understand!" Yang Ling nodded thoughtfully, and then ordered: "Pass on my order, the troops stay on standby, and no unauthorized action is allowed."

Jizhou County is five or six kilometers away from the Jishui River. The dense trees on both sides of the river block the view. Yang Ling has no way of determining the specific strength of the enemy army, nor can he judge whether the other side is a soldier or a bandit.

Yang Ling decided to wait and see.

As night fell, Yang Ling led his troops to set up camp on the banks of the Jishui River.

Yang Ling sat by the campfire, drinking hot soup to warm his stomach.

"Report——"

The guard ran into the tent, clasped his fists and said, "General, the Han army in Jeju County has sent someone to deliver a letter."

"Give it to me!" Yang Ling put down his bowl and chopsticks and reached out to take the note handed to him by his personal guard.

After opening the envelope, Yang Ling unfolded the letter and read it carefully, his brows furrowed more and more.

Han Wende invited Yang Ling to a banquet and asked Yang Ling to meet at the east gate of Jeju on March 7th.

"Humph, this Han family soldier is so bold that he actually took the initiative to invite me to dinner. He is simply courting death!" Yang Ling snorted angrily.

"Sir, I'm afraid this isn't a Hongmen Banquet. After all, you are an official appointed by the court. They won't be so bold as to do that."

"I'm worried that they are setting a trap to frame me. Our whereabouts have been exposed, so we should be cautious."

Yang Ling thought of his performance in Jeju Prefecture and couldn't help but sigh secretly. He had been too arrogant and overbearing recently.

Now the Han family army is worried about not being able to find any evidence against me, so it is not surprising that they take the opportunity to retaliate against me. (End of this chapter)