The new era of chaos begins in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 314

In Zeng Zhao's heart, Li Gefei was no longer a stumbling block for him to get rid of quickly. Compared to his terrifying son-in-law, Li Gefei was just an innocent little lamb.

While waiting for the announcement of the recruitment plan, Zeng Zhao organized his troops more than once to try to kill Ergou, but no matter whether it was an organized army or a group of martial arts masters, they were helpless against Ergou.

In fact, what Ergou is not afraid of the most is the gangsters who form a group. In a real fight, there is almost no coordination between them, just like a ball of loose sand. Ergou kills them almost as easily as killing a chicken.

What really makes Ergou feel troublesome is the troops forming a battle formation. Perhaps the individual combat effectiveness of the soldiers is far inferior to that of the martial arts masters, but the troops forming an array, with spears and shields in front, and strong bows and crossbows behind, Fighting in array, even if the King of Heaven comes, he has to take a detour, and the two dogs have to hide and run away when they see him.

Fortunately, what Ergou is good at is running. As soon as his legs spread out, he can run faster than a rabbit that has been hit by an arrow.

The general who led the army to encircle Ergou was none other than his great nephew Chen Congshan.

Why don't you submit a petition for your benefactor?

No chill!

However, the night before dispatching the troops, Chen Congshan specially asked his personal attendant Wang Ji to send a warning letter to Ergou.

As a local snake in the south of the Yangtze River, Zeng Zhao's small actions of Chen Congshan were not hidden from his eyes and ears. However, instead of being angry, Zeng Zhao admired Chen Congshan even more.

And it was precisely because of his performance in encircling and suppressing the two dogs that Chen Congshan unexpectedly got the opportunity to comfort the rebels.

However, after deciding on the person to announce the edict, Chen Congshan and Zeng Zhao agreed upon it and chose an auspicious day. He took some sergeants and porters and took a large ship along the Gan River with imperial wine, gold medals, brocade and other imperial gifts. Then, they traveled all the way through Jizhou and Linjiang Army, and arrived at the boundary of Hongzhou within a day.

At this time, the leaders of the Zhennan Rebel Army had also received the news early, and they all felt that their long-standing daughter-in-law was about to become a mother-in-law. Wang Huan even led most of the leaders to Fengcheng County in the south of Hongzhou in advance and waited early. Imperial envoy.

When the imperial envoy arrived in Fengcheng County by boat and Chen Congshan, dressed in official uniform and holding the imperial edict, walked out of the cabin, all the rebel leaders and soldiers knelt down and worshiped.

His "loyal" look would make Song Heizi from the Water Margin feel ashamed.

But this is also a normal thing. At this time, there were basically few careerists in the Song Dynasty. Whether they were upper-class dignitaries or lower-class civilians, they enjoyed a hundred years of peace, and the emperors of the Song Dynasty were not very strict. There are many cruel and cruel people, but there are many benevolent kings. It is not an exaggeration to say that the world will accept them.

Not only in the Song Dynasty, but also in the Northern Liao and Xixia areas, there are countless people who are envious and jealous of the prosperity and stability of the Song Dynasty to the point where their eyes are red. There are some dogs that admire the Song Dynasty and often shout, "I wish I could have been born in the Zhao Song Dynasty." "Home", even the vast majority of the people at the bottom of the two countries have this intention.

What is sad is that the Song Dynasty did not make good use of this situation of popular support. Instead, it often cut off its arms at the most critical moments.

Take the example of Song Taizong's northern expedition to Yanyun in the early Northern Song Dynasty. Originally, the people of Yanyun, both Han and other ethnic minorities, had a good impression of the Song army. Never an exaggeration.

But no one expected that the leading troops of the Song Army entering Youzhou City saw that the people of Youzhou were "rich" and immediately started the "soldiers like combs" mode and made a fortune in Youzhou City.

The subsequent Song army was unwilling to see the front team getting rich, but at that time Song Taizong had just ordered a ban on plundering in the city, and then those big soldiers secretly ran to the surrounding countryside to plunder.

The final result is also very clear to everyone. Song Taizong's donkey cart raced across the Gaoliang River, and the Liao army was unable to catch up.

The funniest thing is that one hundred and forty-six years later, the Song Army once again staged a similar farce in Youzhou.

At that time, the Song and Jin forces jointly destroyed the Liao Dynasty. The Jin soldiers occupied Youzhou first, and after plundering it, they handed over the devastated city to the Song army who spent money to buy the territory.

Then the Song army announced to the people of Yanyun that he had "gloriously" become a part of the Song Dynasty.

Feeling that they had a backer, the people of Yanyun cried out to the Song army about the brutality of the Jin soldiers and begged the Song army to avenge them.

What’s funny is that the Song army, which had just suffered a big loss from the remnants of the Liao Kingdom in Baigou (Juma River) (a 100,000-strong army was defeated by 10,000 remnants of the Liao army), not only did not want to protect the people, but also carried out attacks on the people of Yanyun. Brutal looting.

Then the Jin soldiers who saw the opportunity directly pushed back the Song army in a wave, regained the land of Yanyun, and started a campaign of conquest against the Northern Song Dynasty.

The topic has gone too far.

In this era when the legacy of Zhezong has not faded away, people's recognition of Zhao Song is really high.

This also gave Chen Congshan, who was worried, some peace of mind.

You ask why Chen Congshan is upset?

The reason is very simple. The imperial court's Zhao'an reward to the rebels had some evil intentions.

The rewards this time include ten gold medals, twenty-one silver medals, ten pieces of red brocade, twenty-one pieces of green brocade, and thirty bottles of yellow imperial wine.

However, there are thirty-four leaders, big and small, in the rebel army. This means that among the leaders, not only will there be differences in rewards, but there will also be at least three people who will not receive any rewards.

This strategy of "two peaches kill three soldiers" was Song Ting's usual method of dealing with the traitors who were recruited, and it was an out-and-out conspiracy.

Since the Song Dynasty, almost no bandits in the past dynasties have been able to escape this strategy.

Whether it was Wang Xiaobo or Li Shun, the heroes of Sichuan in the past, Wang Lun, the king in yellow, or Song Gongming, the hero of Liangshan in the future, they all suffered greatly from this strategy.

However, although this trick is very useful, it is relatively useless for the envoys of the Xuan Dynasty. I don’t know how many unlucky envoys of the Song Dynasty were killed by some bad-tempered thieves after reading out the imperial edict.

But who cares!

Anyway, there wasn't much else in the Song Dynasty, except for the redundant officials, and no one cared about three or five casualties.

And this is one of the reasons why Chen Congshan was able to get this position. After all, it was a job with a high chance of death.

However, looking at the respectful looks of the rebel leaders, Chen Congshan felt that as long as he could be more cautious, he should be able to save his life and even complete his mission successfully.

After a series of welcome ceremonies, Chen Congshan and the leaders arrived at the rebel camp at the foot of Meiling.

But those who stayed behind had already arranged the arrangements for Zhao'an.

But in the camp, I saw fragrant chariots and dragon pavilions, where the tents were displayed.

There are three tables in the middle, all surrounded by yellow, dragon and phoenix tables.

There is a Long Live Dragon Tablet in the middle, with the Royal Book of Alchemy in the middle, the gold and silver tablets on the left, the red and green brocade sections on the right, and the Imperial Wine table and inside in front.

Three feet of incense burnt in the golden furnace for worship, and the fragrance lingered like something magical.

Wang Huan, Yang Wen and other leaders, big and small, all knelt on the ground, and under the command of a scholar from Hongzhou, they chanted and worshiped, and made a pilgrimage to the official's house.

Then Chen Congshan stepped forward, respectfully held the imperial edict in his hands, unfolded it carefully, cleared his voice, and read the edict:

"Zhi said: Since I came to the throne, I have governed the world with benevolence and righteousness, performed rituals and music to bring peace to the world, and issued rewards and punishments to determine the war. My pursuit of virtue has never been less lazy, and my love for the people has never been less consistent.

Giving generously to the people, I want to be equal to the heaven and the earth; practicing benevolence, so that the people can be protected. You are so innocent, you know my heart.

I sincerely remember Wang Huan, Yang Wen, etc., who always cherished loyalty and refrained from violence. The heart of surrender has been long-standing, and the ambition to serve is awe-inspiring. Although they commit evil crimes, they all have their own reasons.

Observe his sincerity and feel pity for him.

I have sent a personal envoy to the south of the Yangtze River with the imperial edict to pardon all the crimes committed by Wang Huan and other officials. Ten pieces of gold medals and ten pieces of red brocade were given to Wang Huan and other senior leaders; twenty-one silver medals and twenty-one pieces of green brocade were given to the leaders of Wang Huan's subordinates.

When the pardon letter arrives, don't let me down. Return as soon as possible and I will put it to good use.

Therefore, this is an edict, and I think it is appropriate to know it.

The edict was issued on the spring and March of the second year of Chongning. "

After Chen Congshan finished reading the edict, everyone knelt down and shouted, "Long live the mountain" and offered thanks again.

Then came the most frightening part for Chen Congshan, which was to award gold and silver medals, red and green medals to everyone according to the registration list registered by Wang Huan and others.

Not to mention who is the superior leader, who should receive the gold medal and red brocade, and who is the inferior leader, who receives the silver medal and green brocade, and only distributes rewards less than the number of heads. When the time comes, the leaders who have not received the reward will inevitably cause trouble. It's a trouble.

But what surprised Chen Congshan was that the number of leaders who came to receive the gold, silver, and red and green brocade medals was actually less than the actual number of people on the list. In the end, there was still an extra silver medal and green brocade, but Chen Congshan did not hear that the list was Who refuses a reward?

This is a bit confusing.

Could it be that my calculations were wrong and I did not count the number of people who were rewarded?

But that’s not right! Chen Congshan was confused, but he took the previous roster and counted the names, only to find that there were only thirty people.

So Chen Congshan found Wang Huan and asked: "Chief Wang, earlier you reported that all 34 leaders were waiting for the imperial edict, but now only 30 of them are being rewarded. I wonder where the other four are?"

Wang Huan sneered in his heart, but smiled bitterly on his face: "The good angel knows that we have indeed reported the list of thirty-four leaders, but in the past two days, there have been attacks from the imperial army on the east and west sides, and many of my troops have been killed. Everyone, some leaders whose soldiers were injured are resentful and are leading their troops to confront the imperial troops at Wuyang Beach."

Chen Congshan was shocked when he heard this, but shouted: "Impossible! The imperial edict has been issued, who dares to attack and disturb you?"

Wang Huan hesitated for a moment, then whispered to himself: "They are the subordinates of He Gong, the commander-in-chief of Pingnan. His student Cui Ye and others led thousands of soldiers and horses to raid from Fuzhou. If Chen Daguan hadn't been alert, I'm afraid we would all be dead." It’s a big loss!”

When Chen Congshan heard this, he was not surprised at all, but he felt a little angry in his heart.

The students of He Zhizhong were not acting as sons of men. They came here to declare an order to the rebel army, but those guys came to disrupt the situation, showing no tolerance for the country.

Straight bitch! What a villain!

Chen Congshan said angrily: "Chen is already aware of the grievances you have suffered. When I return, I will report the truth to the court, but please ask Mr. Zeng to uphold justice for you!"

Everyone was overjoyed when they heard this, but they organized a banquet and wine to entertain Chen Congshan.

Let’s talk about Wuyang Beach.

Wuyang Beach is a flat beach where Wuyang River meets Hongzhou and Fuzhou. At this time, two armies were fighting here.

Ergou, however, led a force of thousands of soldiers and horses to strangle the Song army, which was almost in disarray.

This is not because the Song army's combat power is weaker, but because Song general Cui Ye is cowardly and does not dare to face the front.

After Ergou was driven away by Chen Congshan's military formation, he had some thoughts of practicing military command skills.

Five years ago outside Bianliang City, Ergou had seen the formation of the Song Dynasty Forbidden Army, but at that time he directly used the Thunderbolt Fire Pill to clear the scene, and he had some personal concerns, so he didn't pay attention to it.

Only this time did he truly feel the power of the military formation.

Speaking of which, when Wang Huan and others reported the number of leaders to Zeng Zhao and the court, they deliberately reported four more vacancies because they knew some of the court's practices.

Of course, it cannot actually be considered an overreporting. Earlier, four rebel leaders died in the battle, and now there are only thirty leaders left. If the court is willing to reward them all, he will just use the four dead leaders as the top number (when the time comes) Return the rewards), or promote four highly motivated people from the army.

If the imperial envoy's plan is to intentionally reward unfairly, they will have some room to spare.

I never thought that the reward from the imperial court happened to be one more than the number of remaining leaders.

Originally, Wang Huan and others wanted to give this spot to Ergou, but he politely declined.

If he accepts this reward, I am afraid that not only the Zeng brothers will be frightened, but his father-in-law will also be in trouble.

However, Ergou was messing around with the rebels. If he wanted to refuse the reward, he had to have a more reasonable excuse. The invasion led by He Zhizhong's students was undoubtedly an excellent opportunity.

Maybe you will ask why Cui Ye came to harass him by such a coincidence?

Of course, it was Ergou who deliberately tipped off the information about Zeng Zhao's secret command of the An Yijun to He Zhizhong and others.

That’s right! He Zhizhong did not know about the actions of the Zeng brothers Zhao'an Yijun, and they deliberately concealed the information from He Zhizhong and his family.

After He Zhizhong received the message, he was shocked and shocked. The Zeng brothers actually wanted to cut off his achievements? !

How shameless!

He Zhizhong immediately sent someone to inquire about Zeng Zhao's recent whereabouts, and even wrote to the capital to find friends in the DPRK and China to verify the authenticity of the matter.

However, just waiting for the news to be verified was undoubtedly too passive. Therefore, in order to delay time, He Zhizhong sent his close student Cui Ye to lead thousands of Fuzhou troops to attack.

It's a pity that Cui Ye is also a useless idiot. His ability in battle formation is mediocre. He was scared out of his wits by Ergou's little tricks in just a few times. Then the Song army fell into a state of disordered command and was beaten by Ergou. The dog led a group of rebels to suppress and beat him.

Ergou's tactics were actually very simple. He first unexpectedly set up an ambush at Wuyang Beach, which was not suitable for an ambush, catching Cui Ye off guard and making it impossible for the Song army to deploy their military formation.

Then Ergou led dozens of elite cavalry to launch a surprise attack on Cui Ye's Chinese army banner.

When Ergou was forty steps away from Cui Ye, he fired three short spears in a row, but failed to hit Cui Ye. He only killed five of his guards, especially since two of the shots hit him twice.

This move frightened Cui Ye. He had never felt so close to death in his life, only one body away.

Then he fell into a state of panic and shock.

(End of this chapter)