Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 265 You won’t run away this time, right?

The idea of ​​smooth communication in wars in this era has long been lost. The Dragon Guard spy, who was praised to the sky before, is really useless when he arrives at the front. At most, he can pass on some information about the current location of the enemy, which can be done by scouts.

It cannot be said that the Dragon Guards are useless. In the past few days, they have brought some useful news. The number of [rebels] heading south is small, and they are all led by high-ranking members of the White Lotus Sect. In times of peace, these high-ranking members always act in secret and are rarely seen. From the perspective of combating the White Lotus Sect, Jia Lian should prioritize the pursuit of these [rebels].

Jia Lian sneered at Long Jinwei's suggestion and said thank you for the information, but no need for any suggestion.

As long as there is human society, some things cannot be eradicated, and we can only see how harmful they are. After all, human thoughts are all kinds of strange, and if they see some benefits, gender can give you a three-digit number.

Most people's behavior is driven by interests and emotions. What makes people believe must provide what the believers need. War is too destructive, so from the perspective of the country, peace and stability are of course the top priority.

Anyone who knows modern history knows that the reforms in the late Qing Dynasty that I mentioned did not make any preparations before abolishing the imperial examination system and reforming education. This was a hasty move, and it made those who were most loyal to the court completely desperate.

The Great Zhou needs reforms, but it certainly cannot be reckless.

The officers and soldiers of the Shenji Camp did not think so far ahead. Jia Lian had to consider a lot, especially after receiving the military order from Yue Qi, asking him to lead his troops to march eastward quickly. However, the specific goal was not expressed in words, but was spoken by the messenger.

"The general direction is east, and the specific implementation depends on the specific situation."

Yue Qi hinted that I could only do this much. During this period, the one who really felt the huge pressure was Yue Qi.

Due to the limitation of communication, military actions in this era often only have a general purpose, and the specific implementation depends on how to respond flexibly. Considering the reaction of scholars in the world if there is a problem with the Kong family, Yue Qi, who has people coming to him every day, can only issue an order. Give an explanation to the lobbyists, I have already issued the order, whether it can be in time depends on God.

In fact, Yue Qi's worry was unnecessary, Jia Lian was not that radical. In other words, given the sensitivity of the Kong family in this era, if something really happened, it would shake the cultural confidence of the nation. Of course, there is no so-called nationalism now, and there is no specific subdivision. It can only be said that the Central Plains dynasty has its natural main ethnic group. The debate between Hua and Yi is deeply rooted in the bones.

This state is unique in the world.

With this in mind, after replenishing the baggage, Jia Lian ordered his troops to march eastward.

When approaching Yanzhou, Jia Lian was completely confused. How many days have passed? You are still outside Yanzhou?
How can I put it? I can only say that it is a disorganized mob. Once there are too many people, the march will be a disaster.

After learning that the soldiers from Jining had not caught up with them immediately, and had not made any movement for several days, the senior officials headed by Hu Yong relaxed a lot. They even thought that the continuous journey was too tiring and they could take a day off. Hu Yong also felt that it was necessary and agreed.

This was bad news. After a day's rest, seeing that the soldiers had no intention of chasing them, some people began to think about it. There was a good village nearby where they could rob some property and women.

When the first person made a request, Hu Yong did not refuse, but he completely lost control afterwards. At first he could still say hello, but later he just didn't say hello at all and took people out to work, thinking that at most he would give the boss a share.

Fortunately, the Jining soldiers were slow to catch up, giving Hu Yong an illusion that the East Sea Venerable was the leader and the soldiers went to chase him. When Hu Yong's eyelids twitched when he woke up in the morning, the brothers who were arranged to follow him hurriedly came.

"General, the soldiers from Jining are catching up with us."

The news was like a bolt from the blue. Hu Yong jumped up immediately and asked, "How far is it?"

"Over a hundred miles. If we don't move today, we'll be caught up tomorrow."

Several leaders who had gone out to work came back one after another before dark. They were quite moved to see Hu Yong waiting on the roadside. After they stepped forward to greet him, they learned that the officers and soldiers had caught up with them, which immediately brought back bad memories.

There were so many people who went out that by the time the first half of the night was over, half of them had not returned yet.

Hu Yong couldn't care less: "Brothers, we can't wait any longer. We have to set off early tomorrow morning."

"Pang Wu, Ma Liu and the others are still outside and haven't come back yet."

"Yes, half of the brothers haven't come back yet."

The people below are a little bit disobedient. This is because they have been too relaxed recently and are a little out of control.

"Okay, you guys stay and wait for them, I'll go first." Hu Yong didn't say any more nonsense. It's a good thing for you to stay, it's a bit of a scapegoat. Seeing the boss like this, everyone recalled the cruelty of the boss in front of them in Jining.

"I'll go with the boss!" someone spoke up, and the others followed suit. Hu Yong finally breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to himself that he had to find a way to change this situation in the future, otherwise the team would be too difficult to lead.

Hu Yong was quite honest. Although his people left, he did not dismantle the tent, which remained in the same place.

People who went out to work came back one after another and found that the village was empty. Everyone was panicking. Boss Hu left without saying hello. Does he think he is a brother to us? A group of people were in a mess and were complaining when a big flag appeared on the hillside in the distance.

The thrilling and orderly drum beats, the sharp whistles, and the fluttering flags led the neat square formation to appear.

Jia Lian couldn't understand why these people were still here instead of going to Yanzhou.

But this did not prevent Jia Lian from immediately deploying his troops and launching an attack.

Holding a telescope on horseback and looking at the mess in the camp in the distance, Jia Lian knew that this group of people was in trouble.

To Jia Lian, whether to save Qufu or not was never a problem. The order from above indicated that Yue Qi could not bear it any longer, so he had to execute it. It was not a bad thing for ordinary people to eliminate this group of rebels as soon as possible. In any era, ordinary people are always the first to suffer in war and endure the vast majority of pain.

Sporadic gunshots indicated that the enemy had not formed an organized resistance and were all thinking about running away. If they could not run away, only the fierce ones would fight to the last. Looking at the deserters all over the mountains, Jia Lian's cheeks twitched violently. What a mob.

Even if they are not a mob, Jia Lian is confident that he can easily win as long as he dares to fight head-on.

It's a pity that there are only a hundred or so cavalrymen, and they are used as scouts. Jia Lian had a taste of the Volunteer Army fighting the Han Army. Those horsemen ran very fast and could not be caught up at all. Jia Lian fought another rout, but he captured a lot of spoils. The camp is ready and looks good. If the previous 10,000 or 20,000 rebels united and defended the camp, it would still be a bit troublesome. It would take a whole day to defeat them. Now, they all started running before they got close. Those who didn't run were either drunk or slow, or like the one in front of him, they were reluctant to throw away the things in their arms after being caught.

The pursuing officers and soldiers returned one after another, and no one returned empty-handed. Some had captured prisoners, while others had brought back valuables.

The Shenjiying had the strictest discipline, and all the spoils were attributed to the creditors and distributed uniformly. If it were any other superior, no one would be convinced, but if it was Jia Lian, he would have no temper at all.

After walking around the abandoned camp, Jia Lian entered the central tent. The camp was well built, but some people didn't pay attention to it and left some yellow and white things, which gave off an unbearable smell. The closer to the periphery, the more such phenomena there were. There was no smell in the central tent.

Officers from various groups returned one after another, bringing back the latest battle statistics.

Jia Lian didn't have to worry about this kind of attack at all, but he still ordered scouts to be on guard all around to avoid falling into a trap.

The biggest weakness of the Shenji Battalion is that it is approached by superior forces, so reconnaissance must never be slacked off.

"Sir, the statistics are out. We have captured 3,608 prisoners. We have seized too much property and cannot count it clearly for the time being. We have handed it over to the local officers and soldiers to process and cash it out. Is that General Qi reliable?"

After Deputy General Yang reported, he expressed his concerns, mainly because he looked down on the local officers and soldiers led by General Qi.

"Whether he is reliable or not depends on whether he is sober enough. He dared to tamper with my money. He should just wait for death."

Jia Lian's answer was very casual, and Deputy General Yang reacted immediately. Although General Qi had a high rank, whether he could survive this time really depended on Jia Lian's help.

Before Deputy General Yang left, General Qi came in, smiling very flatteringly: "Master Jia, I am honored to meet you."

Jia Lian was so upset that he sighed and stood up to return the greeting: "Master Qi, you are the general, and I am only a fifth-rank soldier."

General Qi smiled and said naturally, "Whether we can survive this disaster safely depends on Master Jia's help."

Jia Lian looked at him with a half-smile: "Saving a life is not a problem, but keeping the position is impossible."

General Qi understood that as long as he followed orders, Jia Lian could save his life, but he could not do anything else.

In Jia Lian's eyes, General Qi still had the ability to lead troops in battle, but he had lost all his courage. This was because people had lived in peace for too long and had lost their fighting spirit. There were many such examples, and one of the famous generals was Liu Zhi, who was under the bald man.

As a general, if you lose the courage to fight, you are naturally of little value.

"I also know that I am afraid I can't become a general. I am willing to give out half of my family wealth and ask Lord Jia to show me a way forward."

Seeing the humble General Qi, Jia Lian asked him curiously, "You have made enough money now. Wouldn't it be better to go back to your hometown and become a rich man?"

General Qi knelt down and said, "Master Jia, please save me. If you are an official and you retire and go home, you are called a rich man. If you are not an official and you go back home with money, you are called a fat pig."

Ugh!

Jia Lian blinked and understood. Yes, General Qi was a military commander. After his abnormal retirement, wouldn't he be a fat pig when he returned to his hometown?

What if the local county magistrate is a ruthless person? Even if he is not now, what about in the future? There will always be people who are attracted by his wealth, and officials and gentry will collude and kill him as a fat pig? If you want to protect yourself, you can't be reluctant to give up your wealth. You must at least have an official position when you return to your hometown.

This guy is not good at fighting, but he has maxed out his skills to save his life.

General Qi knelt forward with a sad face, but Deputy General Yang kicked him away: "Don't dirty Lord Jia's official robe!"

"Yes, yes, I deserve to die!" General Qi really understood that Jia Lian could save his life, but that was only temporary. It would be better if he pretended to be poor and be an ordinary person in the future. If he wanted to be a rich man, he would end up like a fat pig.

Don't ask why General Qi knows so much, the answer is that he has seen it a lot. Officials extorting rich people is really not a big deal.

Jia Lian narrowed his eyes and looked at him. After thinking for a while, he said, "Since you are so sincere, I will show you a way."

It's not that Jia Lian is soft-hearted. General Qi is very capable except for his poor fighting skills. He is in charge of the military supplies of the Jia family. In contrast, Qinling Zhao Qian and Zhang Ru are all good at talking. They are obsessed with how to use Jia Lian and have no benefit at all. It's not like General Qi. It's not that he didn't want to send it, but that he was rejected by Jia Lian after sending it.

In Jia Lian's opinion, none of the local officials in Shandong Province were wronged, and they were not good at being human. No matter what the reason, the fact that they were not good at being human was enough. The truth was that Jia Lian was still too young, and he looked easy to fool. Even though he "forced to death" Governor Nie, in the eyes of others, he was just a young man. He was easy to control by threatening him and then making promises.

But no one expected that Jia Lian was not just reckless, he was outright rude.

"Thank you, Lord Jia, for saving my life." General Qi kowtowed to Jia Lian hastily, and no one could stop him.

After receiving three rings, Jia Lian said calmly, "Keep the money. When someone from the capital comes, take it out and donate it directly to the inner treasury. Remember, don't just say you're not comfortable with the money, and hand it over to His Majesty for disposal. Of course, you don't have to hand it all over. You have to keep some for your retirement. But remember, the bulk of it goes to His Majesty."

"I understand, I understand, I will do it." General Qi finally felt relieved. These days, he had been trying hard to curry favor with Jia Lian, and finally got a result.

It is not difficult to think of donating the money to His Majesty, but the difficult part is how to meet the emperor and how to ask for the money. With Jia Lian as a matchmaker, all problems are no longer a problem.

"Also, this matter must be kept secret. If a word gets out, it will be easier to end it yourself." Jia Lian put away his good face and warned fiercely. General Qi shuddered and nodded repeatedly.

Although the battle went smoothly, Jia Lian was more upset. Under the city of Yanzhou, he finally saw the closed city gate. This time, the main force of the rebellion should not run away, right? I guess they have nowhere to run.

(End of this chapter)