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

He wanted to take these people in, but was afraid that they would cause trouble for him. After all, since ancient times, people have never fought against officials. If Yang Ling rashly took these people in, he might be impeached by the court. From a certain perspective, perhaps his risky attack on Jeju City this time would also be regarded as a merit and detained in the court.

"Marshal, why don't you take these people in?"

Yang Ling was hesitating when he suddenly heard Zhang Xian's voice from behind him, so he turned around to look.

Zhang Xian rode up to Yang Ling and asked in confusion, "General, since we have won the battle, why do you want to abandon these people?"

"Lord Xian, I need to think carefully about this matter!" Yang Ling frowned and said, "Our rebel army is in a bad situation now. We are in danger of being destroyed at any time, so we must not provoke the court or other forces."

Zhang Xian suddenly realized what was going on after hearing this: "I understand your concerns, but these civilians are really no threat. Even if someone wants to cause trouble for you, I'm afraid they won't dare to act rashly. Besides, our reinforcements will arrive soon, and we have a large group of guards, so there's nothing to worry about."

Yang Ling smiled bitterly and said, "What Lord Xian said makes sense, but we must always take precautions before it happens. It is better not to take in more of these people."

Zhang Xian nodded slightly, agreeing with Yang Ling's opinion, but he still insisted: "I think the Marshal's concerns are completely unnecessary. Our reinforcements have already left Shanhaiguan and will arrive by noon tomorrow at the latest. As long as the reinforcements arrive, anyone who dares to cause trouble for the Marshal will be killed!"

Yang Ling was slightly startled when he heard this, but then he showed a look of relief on his face: "Mr. Xian is indeed far-sighted! I was just worried about the impact after the city was captured, but now it seems that I was worrying too much."

When Yang Ling thought of this, he immediately ordered his men, "Come on, count all the gold, silver and jewelry we seized, distribute them to comfort the victims, and then distribute them to them."

Yang Ling had previously killed dozens of rebels outside of Jeju City and seized a lot of loot, with gold, silver and jewelry alone piled up into a small mountain. Because they were too heavy, they could only be temporarily stored in the barracks. Now Yang Ling is going to distribute all of these gold, silver and jewelry, which can be regarded as the greatest compensation for the people.

As for the food, Yang Ling distributed it to the displaced people. After all, the granaries in Jeju City were burned down, and there was no enough food to help the refugees in Jeju City. Now the people in Jeju City were exhausted and poorly dressed, and they were in urgent need of relief. Otherwise, Jeju City would likely face a more serious famine, or even an epidemic.

"Yes!" The guards responded in unison.

Yang Ling looked at the surviving defenders on the city wall and said, "Brothers, Jeju City is now full of dangers. Everyone has worked hard for the past few days. Go back to the barracks and rest. When the reinforcements arrive tomorrow, you will continue to guard."

"Yes, Marshal!" The soldiers obeyed in unison.

Yang Ling waved his hand to signal everyone to retreat, and watched these exhausted, hungry and cold soldiers return to the city.

The number of refugees in Jeju Prefecture continued to increase, filling the entire city and even surrounding the city walls.

At this time, a deafening shout came from the city: "Marshal Yang is merciful, Jeju City is saved!"

"The Marshal will live forever, his name will be recorded in history and will be immortal."

"The Marshal will live forever, his name will be recorded in history and will be immortal."

Yang Ling stood on the city wall and silently looked at this group of excited people. His mood became complicated. He felt that this trip to Jeju was really a life-or-death experience.

Yang Ling looked up at the blue sky and murmured to himself with emotion: "My fellow countrymen, I have fulfilled my mission and finally saved Jeju City! Don't worry, I will help you get back the grievances you have suffered!"

While Yang Ling was daydreaming, he suddenly heard Han Wu beside him screaming: "Marshal, why is it so bright on the northwest wall?"

Yang Ling looked carefully and saw flames rising from the southern wall of Jeju City, and faint shouts of killing could be heard.

"Bad thing!" Yang Ling was so surprised that he couldn't help but exclaimed.

Although he didn't know which rebel group was attacking Jeju, he was sure it was not the Jeju army, because the Jeju army had been completely defeated long ago.

"Lord Xian, lead the troops to provide support!" Yang Ling shouted anxiously.

"As ordered!"

Zhang Xian did not dare to delay and rode towards Jeju City with dozens of his personal soldiers.

Yang Ling turned around and looked at the blazing fire, feeling guilty. There were originally nearly 30,000 defenders in Jeju City, but they were attacked last night, leaving only 7,000 to 8,000 defenders, and they didn't even see the shadow of the enemy.

These refugees were already short of food and money, and now that Jeju had fallen, the people in the city were crying with hunger. If Jeju City was attacked again, the fate of these people would be unimaginable.

Yang Ling didn't want these people to suffer the pain of being displaced, but what could he do when facing the robbers?

At this moment, Yang Ling saw flickering fire in the night sky in the distance, followed by shouts of killing and the faint sound of horse hooves.

"Marshal, what is that?" Liu Wu beside him asked curiously.

"Never mind, let's go!" Yang Ling waved his hand.

Yang Ling urged everyone to return to the tent to rest. After all, the attack on Jeju City was very costly, and the soldiers and generals were already exhausted. Now that Jeju City was finally defended, the battle could be said to have been won, and Yang Ling naturally did not want to cause any more trouble.

"Marshal, Jeju City has been recaptured. Why don't we take this opportunity to capture Taicheng and completely occupy Taifu!" Chen Xinjia suggested.

Yang Ling shook his head and refused: "Not appropriate!"

"Oh, Marshal, why?"

"Our main force has not yet arrived. With our strength alone, it will be difficult to capture the city. Moreover, our army has suffered heavy losses. If we cannot recover in a short period of time, it is likely that the subsequent operations will become difficult. Because this is a situation we do not want to see, we must proceed step by step."

"Well, great advice, Marshal!" Chen Xinjia's eyes lit up immediately after hearing this. He was a civil servant, and usually hesitant and indecisive. This time Yang Ling's proposal to attack Tai Mansion was to solve his initial indecision, so Chen Xinjia admired Yang Ling's courage and boldness very much.

"General, I have a question." Han Wu suddenly asked: "You said that Jeju City has been controlled by the rebels, but we did not encounter any resistance near the city gate."

What Han Wu said was exactly what others wanted to ask. Everyone looked at Yang Ling in confusion, waiting for his explanation.

Yang Ling hesitated for a while before answering, "I guess the rebels used fireworks to lure the people to flee en masse. After the refugees left, the rebels began to loot the city's property, and then pretended to be our army attacking the city. As for why the rebels did not resist near the city gate, I guess the rebels thought that we would definitely send people to hunt down the people after attacking the city, so they did not fight back, but only drove away the refugees.

I estimate that there are several thousand rebels in the city, but they are hiding in various corners of the city. If we attack the city rashly, we may be ambushed by the rebels. In this case, not only will we fail to rescue the imprisoned people, but it may also cause huge casualties. "

After listening to Yang Ling's analysis, everyone suddenly realized. "So, the rebels have taken control of the entire city?" Chen Xinjia frowned.

Yang Ling sighed and said, "It should be about the same. The county government of Jeju Prefecture is controlled by the rebels, and the rest of the places should also be controlled by the rebels. This time the rebels should be out in full force, eliminate the Jeju garrison, and then immediately control Jeju and quickly expand to the southeast."

As soon as Yang Ling finished speaking, a scout hurried back to the city to report: "General, the rebel cavalry is approaching us, less than 20 feet away."

"You've arrived just in time. Let the archers get ready!" Yang Ling ordered calmly.

Upon hearing this, the bodyguards immediately got busy, drawing their swords from their horses and checking their shields and weapons.

Each of the guards who participated in the siege was equipped with two sets of spears, a total of 46 spears, two of which were tied with ropes woven from cowhide strips. The tops of these ropes had spikes, which were extremely sharp and were specially used to tie the reins of the enemy's war horses.

Yang Ling personally led his troops and slowly moved towards the city gate, but did not rush to attack the city.

The rebels had obviously noticed something was wrong with Jeju, so they stopped advancing a few dozen meters away from the city. Yang Ling saw the crowds of people under the city and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

However, Yang Ling still did not dare to act rashly. After all, no one could predict whether this was an enemy conspiracy.

Not long after, Yang Ling saw a large crowd of people surging in the distance, followed by several cavalrymen riding their horses towards the city gate.

When the two sides were about ten feet apart, the cavalrymen dismounted, knelt on the ground, and took off the command flags at their waists in unison.

Yang Ling narrowed his eyes and looked carefully, and found that the opponent's flag was embroidered with three golden dragons and several Chinese characters.

"In compliance with the Imperial Order of the Grand Ancestor and the orders of the General Guarding the Nation, we will immediately capture Jeju and kill anyone who resists!"

"According to the orders of the general, immediately capture Jeju and kill anyone who resists!"

After exchanging signals, several cavalrymen immediately stood up and continued to move forward towards the city gate, trying to climb over the moat.

The archers on Yang Ling's side immediately bent their bows and drew their arrows, pulling the bowstrings to a full moon. However, they did not shoot at the enemy, but only aimed at the enemy's horses to avoid accidentally hurting their own infantry.

Yang Ling looked up and found that the enemy had a large number of troops. If the horses and cavalry were included, there would probably be more than 2,000 people. This was only the vanguard of the Ming army, and they had not yet crossed the Yellow River to reinforce.

According to common sense, since the rebels dispatched 2,000 cavalry to attack Jeju, their main force should also gather in Jeju City and then advance towards Jeju Prefecture.

Yang Ling turned to the generals and said, "Everyone, Jeju has been lost. We must hurry back to Changli as soon as possible, otherwise the situation in Jeju will be dire!"

"The commander is wise!" The generals responded loudly. Although they had some doubts about Yang Ling's judgment, they would not question it.

Yang Ling led his troops back to the city, quickly entered Jizhou City, and went straight to the county government.

When they arrived at the county government office, the county magistrate, the registrar and other officials had already been arrested and forced to work as laborers to repair the city wall.

"Meet the Marshal!"

Seeing the dusty Yang Ling and his subordinates, the officials who were busy carrying bricks stopped their work and bowed hastily.

"Thank you for your hard work!" Yang Ling replied with a smile.

It was then that everyone noticed that Yang Ling was followed by a large number of soldiers. They were wearing shiny helmets and armor and were well-armed. They were obviously the Northern Expedition Army.

Yang Ling looked around and found that the governor of Jizhou, Zhou Xilin, was not there, so he asked the teacher next to him: "Where is the governor?"

"In reply to the commander-in-chief, the prefect is leading his troops to track down the rebels. Please rest assured, the prefect has already led his troops to encircle the rebels and will capture them before dark at the latest." The lawyer replied respectfully.

Yang Ling nodded and asked Chen Xinjia beside him: "General Chen, how many young and strong people are there in Jizhou Prefecture now?"

Chen Xinjia immediately replied, "Reporting to the commander, excluding the female relatives, there are about 8,000 young and strong men left, of which 70% are the elderly, children, women and children. If you don't count the family members, the total number of young and strong men is about 9,000."

"Then let's dispatch these people to defend the city." Yang Ling thought that the population density of Jizhou Prefecture was not low. If the rebels really planned to attack the city, the defenders would not be able to stop them at all, so he decided to transfer the people in the city to a safe place as much as possible.

Chen Xinjia nodded and said, "I obey your command!"

Yang Ling added: "Also, inform the gentry and nobles in all villages of Jeju to help the government organize civilians to defend the city, especially the elderly, the weak, the sick and the disabled who need to be protected. Also, notify the troops stationed outside the city to come in and assist in the defense."

Chen Xinjia agreed and immediately went down to make arrangements. Soon after, people from various villages and gentry came to help. When they saw the tragic situation in Jeju, their faces turned pale and many of them even cried in fear.

Seeing this, Yang Ling hurriedly comforted the people and announced that Jizhou Prefecture would become the headquarters of the Northern Expedition Army in the Huaiyang area. He then issued a conscription order to recruit civilians and young and strong men to defend the city.

Soon after Yang Ling's troops arrived at Jeju Prefecture, the rebels raided Jeju City, leaving Yang Ling's side unprepared and suffering heavy losses.

However, although the rebels' sneak attack on Jeju repelled the resistance of the defenders, they also suffered heavy losses, especially the leader who was killed by Yang Ling himself in front of the city gate. His death was unjust. This guy shouted and cursed in front of the formation, angering Yang Ling to lead his troops out of the city gate, and then took the opportunity to hack him to death.

The rebellion in Jizhou City had been quelled, and Yang Ling was unwilling to stay in the city and live off the resources, so he immediately led his men westward along the Ji River and rushed to Jinan Prefecture.

It was already evening when Yang Ling led his troops back to Jinan safely.

In Jinan city, Yang Ling met Xu Shiji, who was in charge of setting up the Jizhou Governor's Office, and his deputy Liu Ruji.

Zhou Xilin, the prefect of Jeju, was killed for embezzling military rations, and Xu Shiji was temporarily appointed as the prefect of Jeju. At the same time, Xu Shiji also issued an official document on behalf of Jinan Prefecture, ordering the officials and militia of Jinan Prefecture to cooperate with the army stationed near Jeju to strictly rectify local order.

"Marshal, you are finally back. I have been worried sick."

Upon hearing that Yang Ling had returned safely, Xu Shiji immediately ran to Yang Ling excitedly to greet him.

"Haha, I'm fine, but I think there will be changes in Jeju in the next two days, so you should be prepared!" Yang Ling patted Xu Shiji's shoulder and said loudly. (End of this chapter)