The new era of chaos begins in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 454: Ten Jiedu Commanderies
Not long after Jing Zhong left, another man emerged from the darkness beside the big tent. He was thin, like a monkey, but had a handsome face. It was Xu Jing.

Xu Jing glanced at Jing Zhong who was walking away, with a look of disdain on his face.

Afterwards, Xu Jing looked at the big tent with a complicated expression, but quietly retreated.

After Xu Jing left, he did not return to his own tent. Instead, he quietly came to Jia Gan's tent and sneaked in.

Jia Gan, who was already resting on his bed, was extremely alert. As soon as Xu Jing entered the tent, he realized something was wrong.

Of course, this was also related to Xu Jing's deliberate exposure of his whereabouts. After all, Xu Jing did not come here to do anything bad, he just did not want others to know that he had a secret meeting with Jia Gan.

Jia Gan drew his knife and shouted in a low voice, "Who is it?"

Xu Jing was afraid that Jia Gan would alarm others, so he quickly said, "Brother Jia Gan, it's me! It's [Four-legged Snake] Xu Jing."

Jia Gan felt relieved when he heard Xu Jing's voice. He asked curiously, "Why did Brother Xu Jing sneak into my tent in the middle of the night? Come on..."

As he said this, Jia Gan called someone in to light the lamp.

Xu Jing called out in a low voice: "Brother Jia Gan, please don't alarm others. I have something that concerns my life that I want to tell you. Please don't let it leak out, so as not to alarm others."

Jia Gan was puzzled when he heard this and asked, "What kind of important matter involving life and death cannot be revealed to the public?"

However, Xu Jing told Jia Gan everything he had heard from Wang Hou and Wang Huan, father and son.

Jia Gan was shocked and angry when he heard this, and he kept shouting, "Damn it! I took into account the loyalty of the Jianghu and everyone else, and I covered up the revenge of my brother's murder! These bastards just wouldn't let me go! It would be better for me to be a strong and powerful gangster, and live a happy life!"

Xu Jing said, "Brother Jia Gan, we wandering men, although we boast of brotherhood and seem to be living a happy life, are actually just loaches in a mud pit. Not to mention the government, even if we meet some country bumpkins, we can't help but suffer and flee in panic. Even if we raise the flag and set up a camp, we still suffer from hunger and fullness. Now that we have been recruited, we all have a good ending."

Let me say here that the martial arts world in the Song Dynasty at that time, and even in the past, was completely different from what it would be more than ten years later.

Since the founding of the Song Dynasty, although it was not very tough towards the outside world, it was relatively stable internally and the emperors of all dynasties were not incompetent, so social contradictions were not very prominent.

Moreover, the martial arts of the people are not bad either. Don't think that there are no masters in the countryside of the Song Dynasty. It is more accurate to say that masters are everywhere.

Places like Zhujiazhuang and Zengtou City in Water Margin are basically the mainstream templates for all villages, communities and towns in the Song Dynasty. It can even be said that you cannot find a village or community in the Song Dynasty that does not have its own clan power.

Take the villages and towns in Water Margin for example. Dongxi Village has Chao Gai, Shijie Village has the three Ruans, Dulonggang Three Villages has no need to mention many, Jieyang Town has the Mu brothers, Shijia Village has Shi Jin...
These towns and villages not only have their own high-ranking leaders, but also able-bodied men from the farm as their servants. For those independent wanderers, they are definitely local tyrants that cannot be provoked.

Even the bandits who occupied the mountains and acted as kings had to retreat in front of these villages and towns that were united together. Especially after the Song Dynasty court implemented the baojia system in the countryside since Wang Anshi, the local forces became even more difficult to provoke.

However, after the great calligrapher had been busy with the Song Dynasty for nearly twenty years, the reputation of the Song Dynasty changed dramatically.

The so-called "a lifetime of happiness" is happiness in the literal sense.

However, the world that Jia Gan, Xu Jing and others had experienced before was really not as happy as that of their younger generations.

For Xu Jing and others, being recruited by the imperial court was not just a change in status and identity, but also an example and benchmark that all other heroes (who had not been recruited) envied and set.

Jia Gan certainly understood what Xu Jing said. He said indignantly, "You all got what you deserved, but I was the only one who was not tolerated by my superiors. I got nothing for nothing. How unlucky!"

Xu Jing comforted him, "Brother Jia Gan, don't be upset! As the saying goes, if you can't stay here, there will be other places that can. We have received great kindness from Commander Chen, but because of changes in circumstances, we turned away from him! Now that brother Jia Gan is not welcomed here, it is better to give up the benefits here and go to find Commander Chen to fulfill his kindness."

Jia Gan was stunned when he heard this. He could not help but feel excited. He said, "Brother Xu Jing's words really woke me up! The treacherous officials in the court cannot tolerate me. I will go and find the commander-in-chief to join them! Who knows, I can do something big again, which is not inferior to the glory here!"

Jia Gan paused, then said, "There is only one thing. If I go, I am afraid that a group of my brothers will be implicated and suffer a bad end."

Jia Gan was still clear-headed. If he went alone, the impact would not be great. At most, he would be wanted by the government. If one battalion of soldiers ran away, it would be tantamount to rebellion. Not only would his battalion be treated as traitors and completely wiped out, but Xu Jing and others would also be implicated.

It is possible that brothers will turn against each other and fight against each other.

This was also the reason why Xu Jing came to see Jia Gan overnight. Xu Jing said, "If Jia Gan trusts me, I am willing to take charge of the Gan Camp temporarily on his behalf, and I will make sure that all the brothers will not suffer a disastrous end!"

Jia Gan said, "Why can't I trust Brother Xu Jing? If you take charge of my camp, what will happen to your scout camp? You must know that Wang Xianggong (Wang Hou) will never allow you to take charge of two camps."

Xu Jing said, "This is an easy matter! My brother-in-law Li Congji has also made many military achievements and is even better at spying and tracking than I am. He is just the right person to lead the scout camp."

Jia Gan said happily: "That's good!"

The two of them talked a little more and then went their separate ways.

The next day, all the generals gathered in the big tent to greet Wang Hou, but there was no sign of Jia Gan.

Afterwards, he sent people to look for it, but they only found Jia Gan's military badge, the fish token, and some documents, as well as a letter left for everyone.

Jia Gan said in the letter that he was carrying a grudge against his brother and could never let it go. He was also afraid that it would ruin the future of his brothers and damage their loyalty, so he resigned and forgot about his brothers from then on. He was just worried about his subordinates who had gone through life and death together, and was afraid that they would be persecuted, so he wanted to ask his brother Xu Jing to help him, hoping that the other brothers would help him.

Wang Huan and others were confused after reading the letter, but Wang Hou sighed to himself that the guy was very calculating. He had come up with a good plan of retreating to advance, and single-handedly relieved the pressure from the court for the Zhennan Righteous Army.

In fact, Jia Gan's departure was not a big deal. The key point was that his righteous act of sacrificing his own future for the benefit of others was very consistent with the mainstream values ​​of the Song Dynasty, especially for the literati of the Song Dynasty.

In the officialdom of the Song Dynasty before Wang Anshi and Sima Guang, there existed a very unique political atmosphere and tradition.

For example, if a talented young person makes a mistake, the senior people at higher levels will often sacrifice themselves to protect the young person out of admiration for the young person and consideration for the future of the country.

From the early Kou Zhun and Li Di to Ouyang Xiu, Pang Ji, Bao Zheng, Fan Zhongyan and others, all have made such sacrifices, and of course some of them have also been beneficiaries of this tradition.

Other beneficiaries of this tradition include Wang Anshi and Sima Guang.

However, it was these two people who completely destroyed this tradition, and led to the factional struggles in the court of the Song Dynasty becoming more explicit, intensified and normalized.

Although today's Song Dynasty officials can no longer maintain the traditions of their ancestors, they do miss the good old days and have a natural liking and respect for victims who commit similar acts, even if that person is just a mountain barbarian of humble origins.

Therefore, Jia Gan's messages were basically implemented, such as Xu Jing was transferred to become the commander of the Gan Battalion, and Li Congji took over as the commander of the Scout Battalion.

Of course, Jia Gan was inevitably regarded as a deserter, and a warrant for his arrest was issued by the Hehuang Camp. However, this warrant was not issued to the whole country, but was only kept in the Privy Council as a military file.

Soon after, Li Congji led the scout battalion to track down the main force of the Huangzhou barbarian tribe, captured the rebel general Zhao Huaide (Longzha, the lord of Qingtang, who was expelled by his brother at this time), and led the main force of the Song army to defeat the Xishe Luosa (Longzha's younger brother, who forcibly replaced his brother as the lord of Qingtang) tribe, and Qingtang was thus stabilized.

After several years of war, Wang Huan and ten other generals were awarded military governorships for their merits.

Among them, Wang Huan was granted the title of Jiedushi of Henan and Hebei (i.e. Luoyang), Xu Jing was granted the title of Jiedushi of Shangdang and Taiyuan, Li Congji was granted the title of Jiedushi of Longxi and Hanyang, Wang Wende was granted the title of Jiedushi of Jingbei and Hongnong, Mei Zhan was granted the title of Jiedushi of Yingzhou and Runan, Zhang Kai was granted the title of Jiedushi of Zhongshan and Anping, Yang Wen was granted the title of Jiedushi of Jiangxia and Lingling, Han Cunbao was granted the title of Jiedushi of Yunzhong and Yanmen, Xiang Yuanzhen was granted the title of Jiedushi of Langya and Pengcheng, and Jing Zhong was granted the title of Jiedushi of Qinghe and Enzhou.

These ten Jiedushi were the highest achievements bestowed upon bandits after they were recruited since the founding of the Song Dynasty. Therefore, all heroes and good men in the world (bandits) regarded these ten men as their idols and goals, and they all wanted to replicate their achievements.

What is amazing is that these ten military governors were also the vanguards of the Song Dynasty court in suppressing local rebellions.

However, Wang Huan and others, feeling the difficulties faced by the heroes in the martial arts world, also made an unspoken rule with the heroes of the world.

But if there are heroes who have been wronged, no matter you are a mountain king or a bandit, as long as you do not invade states and counties, attack cities and seize land, and disturb the overall situation, the ten military governors will turn a blind eye and let you live happily, otherwise you will definitely wipe out.

Therefore, in the next ten years, although the world was in turmoil under Emperor Huizong of Song and his ministers and bandits were everywhere, these bandits were afraid of the ten military governors and did not dare to invade the prefectures.

Although local officials knew that the people were already corrupt, they did not dare to report it and damaged their own official achievements. The court saw that the officials of various prefectures and cities reported that there was no trouble and thought that the country was stable. In addition, Cai Jing and other treacherous officials colluded with each other and flattered the emperor, so that Zhao Da called himself a prosperous era of "prosperity and peace".

It was not until the rebellion of Song Jiang and Fang La in the future and the riots of the four great bandits that the self-anesthetized situation of the Zhao Song monarchs and their ministers was broken.

Of course, that's another story.

(End of this chapter)