Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Wang Zhen was injured in twelve places on his body, but none of them were fatal. He was even alive and kicking after being captured.

All I can say is that his armor is awesome.

Wang Zhen was detained incommunicado, and his son Wang Xun was brought to see Li Bao.

Li Bao opened his mouth and said: "You come and lead the troops to defend the city. The soldiers are strictly prohibited from looting the people. If there is any mistake, they will be killed without mercy!"

"ah?"

Wang Xun thought there was something wrong with his ears.

He was just a prisoner, not even a surrendered general, let alone surrendered.

What the hell is the point of just letting him lead the troops to defend the city without engaging in any drama of personally easing the bonds, treating the virtuous corporal, and persuading him kindly?

Li Bao was too lazy to beat around the bush and said truthfully: "I don't have many soldiers in hand. I have left some to garrison Kuimen, and the rest have to attack Zigui. In other words, I don't have the troops to guard the prisoners. You can either lead the prisoners to defend the city and restrain them." They are not allowed to do evil, or I will kill all the thousands of prisoners. Choose for yourself!"

How else to choose?

As long as Wang Xun says no, thousands of heads will fall to the ground.

Wang Xun couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you afraid that I will lead my troops to fight again?"

Li Bao said: "You can die if you want. I will take away all the captured soldiers and armor, leaving only weapons for your father's personal soldiers. You can escape and lead the troops to Zigui. You can also defend the city. , anyway, food is shipped every half month, let’s see how many days you can survive without food. Also, your father will be taken to Kuimen!"

Wang Xun was speechless for a moment.

The next morning, Li Bao led his troops and left without a single soldier, as if he had never been to Wushan.

No, some military rations were left.

Wang Xun stood at the top of the city and watched Li Bao go away, as if he was in a dream.

His father's personal soldier still had his weapons, but his armor was stripped off.

The rest of the prisoners were all empty-handed, just like ordinary people.

Then, Wang Xun will lead these soldiers to defend the city, and he will help the bandits to defend the city. He is also the Sheriff, and those unarmored soldiers are the basis for his rule over Wushan City.

There was simply not enough food, so we had to help the people.

Li Bao said that food would be shipped regularly to ensure that the soldiers and people would not starve to death.

Not starving to death, that's all.

Therefore, Wang Xun's main job was to suppress the soldiers from grabbing food, eating porridge every day and waiting for the end of the war.

What the hell is this?

There was no way to escape, so the best they could do was to go further north to Daning Prison (Wuxi County), and then there were the mountains that were difficult to climb.

Going north and east, there are also mountain villages there. You can also go to Badong by crossing the mountains and ridges, but Badong is the direction in which Li Bao marched. And the only way to get to Badong is by boat.

There are two waterways in the east and west directions: Qutang Gorge in the west, Wu Gorge in the east, and Xiling Gorge further away.

Wang Xun could also try demolishing private houses to make rafts to see if he could lead his entire army across the Three Gorges.

Also, his father was taken away, obviously as a hostage!

Li Bao's fleet disappeared completely. Wang Xun and a group of soldiers stared at him with big eyes.

"Are we considered thieves?" a soldier officer said confusedly.

Wang Xun was also unsure: "You're not a bandit, are you? You're just helping the thieves to defend the city."

Everyone was speechless.

Wang Xun said to his soldiers: "Everyone, remember, from today on, you must strictly abide by military orders. You must not rob the people, especially those soldiers who have been relieved of their armor. They are strictly prohibited from disturbing the people. It is best to lock them all in the military camp." Don't let it out. Every time the thieves bring in food, some of it must be distributed to the people. The ministries are not allowed to deduct it. If the officers and soldiers are hungry together, they will definitely not die of hunger."

One of the soldiers complained: "It's not like we are working for the imperial court. Not looting along the way is a strict discipline. Now we help the bandits to defend the city, but we have to starve to feed the people."

Wang Xun said: "If you don't listen to that traitor general, you and I will all die here."

An officer suggested: "It is better to go to Daning to collect grain. We can also get some grain from the villages on both sides of the Daning River. It is worse than staying in the county seat and starving."

Wang Xun said angrily: "You want to kill the whole army? What's the difference between robbing the villagers along the river and robbing the people in the city? When the thief comes back to kill, he will definitely kill all the officers and soldiers to vent his anger!"

So, a group of officers and soldiers with extremely poor military discipline came to suppress thieves. Now he is helping the rebels to defend the city, and he has become strict in military discipline. Even when he is hungry, he has to share food to help the people.

During this period, an officer deprived his soldiers of their rations.

A group of soldiers rioted, and Wang Xun immediately killed the officer to let the resentful soldiers vent their anger.

The wealthy households in the city were not economical. They were afraid that the officers and soldiers would fall out due to hunger, so they collaborated with the chiefs of security guards to form citizens' militia.

Every time food arrived from Kuizhou, the local militiamen would carry it ashore and then negotiate with the officers and soldiers for distribution.

Soon a third force appeared. The reason was that wealthy households colluded with the chief of security to seize the people's rations during grain distribution. Several green-skinned gangsters contacted the neighbors and beat the chief to death. After grabbing the food, they were suppressed by Wang Xun's troops.

The news became more and more sinister as it spread, saying that officers and soldiers colluded with wealthy households and security chiefs to seize all the people's food rations.

Craftsmen and shop assistants with some knowledge led civilians to form armed forces and killed more than a dozen wealthy households and security chiefs. Some even took the opportunity to insult women.

Wang Xun once again sent troops to suppress the attack, and a melee broke out, resulting in hundreds of casualties among soldiers and civilians.

The grain transport team heard the news and the next time they shipped grain, they also brought a lock of Wang Zhen's hair.

Wang Xun was frightened and angry. He sent people to post notices throughout the city. Anyone who dared to occupy, embezzle or rob food would not only have his whole family beheaded, but also five neighboring households. Every five households are organized into one A to supervise each other, and those who report will be exempted from punishment!

After more than fifty heads were chopped off and displayed to the public, order in the city was finally stabilized.

We are all starving together, so no one has to worry about it. We won’t starve to death anyway, and we will be relieved when the war is over.

…

But he said that Li Bao led his troops to Badong County, and the county seat here was almost empty.

The residents in the city were robbed by Zhong Xiang and either fled to the countryside to beg for food, or went to the mountains and forests in the suburbs to make a living by picking wild fruits and chewing grass roots and bark.

The food in Kuizhou is also limited, so it is not easy to relieve Wushan, and Li Bao, who is further away in Badong, cannot take care of it.

How well the people of Badong County can survive depends only on their own destiny.

Fortunately, the rice has begun to ear, and after another two months, you can eat this year's new rice.

He led his troops to continue eastward and came to Zigui County, which is also the capital of Guizhou.

This area was later flooded by the Three Gorges Reservoir, and even the county seat was moved further downstream.

Looking at the closed city gate, Li Bao was not depressed, but rather happy, which meant that he was not robbed by Zhong Xiang.

Rong Jue, the secretary in charge of the military account, once again volunteered and came to the city as an envoy.

Yang Jie, the prefect of Guizhou, hung a basket and hoisted Rong Jue to the top of the city, asking, "Are you an officer or soldier, or some kind of bandit?"

Rong Jue said: "We are Sichuan rebels, not traitors."

"As long as they are not Jinghu thieves." Yang Jie finally breathed a sigh of relief.

When Zhong Xiang was looting Badong, some fishermen sneaked back to the river at night and floated downstream in small fishing boats.

Most of the thieves went into the city to loot, and the navy troops who stayed behind did not find him.

This section of the river was not so dangerous, and the fishermen escaped smoothly to Zigui to report the news. They told the prefect Yang Jie: "The Jinghu soldiers rebelled and killed and robbed in Badong County, even in the villages outside the city. The government should send troops to rescue them quickly! "

Yang Jie was shocked and organized the people to move the military supplies from outside the city into the city, then closed the city gate tightly and recruited young men to defend it.

This is not only a grain and grass transfer station, but also has hundreds of grain transport troops.

Zhong Xiang came with his troops and tried to attack. When he saw that it was difficult to fight, he left by boat.

Rong Jue said: "Jinghu officer Zhong Xiangbing rebelled and Wang Zhen was defeated. He has led his troops to surrender to the rebels. Do you still want to fight stubbornly?"

Yang Jie actually started to build a relationship: "Old man and Zhu Tanhua had a relationship in the palace. Mrs. An, the concubine of Zhu Daxiangong, was sick, and it was Lao Chen who came to treat her."

Rong Jue was surprised and said: "The prefect can actually cure diseases?"

Yang Jie stroked his beard and said: "I used to be an imperial physician. He was granted a Jinshi status by your Majesty because he cured the chronic diseases of officials."

Yang Jie was appreciated by Song Huizong not only for his medical skills, but also for his good poetry and rhythm. Yang Jie's uncle is Zhang Lei, one of the four bachelors of the Su family.

By the way, Yang Jie is good at anatomy and once drew a map of the human internal organs!

He drew the esophagus, chest, abdominal cavity, five internal organs, blood vessels, diaphragm, etc. into atlases. It is a pity that it was lost due to the war, and only some written records remain for later generations.

Yang Jie recalled the past: "When I was treating Mrs. An, I once talked about medical skills with Mr. Zhu. I never thought that Mr. Zhu also knew medicine. He also said that the heart beats and opens and closes, pumping blood throughout the body. It's a pity that you can't cut open the body of a living person. For chest observation, dogs can only be used instead. The old man killed more than ten dogs and is basically convinced that what Zhu Xianggong said is true. Zhu Xianggong is really a great talent. If he becomes a doctor, he will be a famous doctor."

Rong Jue was stunned when he heard this. What does this mean?

Since the governor of Guizhou knows Mr. Jinglue and the general, things will be easier to discuss.

Rong Jue echoed for a while and asked: "The prefect is willing to surrender the city?"

Yang Jie said seriously: "I can offer the city, but I have to agree to two things."

"Prefect, please speak." Rong Jue said hurriedly.

Yang Jie said: "First, since we are called rebels, we cannot massacre and rob the people; second, we must not let the court know that Lao Gu is dead. My family is still in Sizhou."

"Please rest assured, Prefect!" Rong Jue was overjoyed.

Yang Jie ordered the city gate to be opened, and saw that the rebel army Qiu Wu had committed no crime, and he immediately no longer had any doubts.

When Li Bao heard that he had an old relationship with Zhu and his son, his attitude became more respectful: "This junior has met the prefect!"

Yang Jie asked: "Are you going to fight Yiling?"

Li Bao said: "Exactly."

But Yang Jie said: "Yiling has no troops to defend. We can capture it by sending sailors. General, why don't you go north and cross the mountains to capture Fangzhou?"

Li Bao was surprised and said: "Can we go to Fangzhou from here?"

Yang Jie said: "There is a thousand-year-old road, and there are many wild animals and miasma along the way. Outsiders are afraid of it like a tiger, but it is not difficult to walk. There are many mountain people living along the way. I have a recipe of Ji Tang, which can be decocted in the morning and evening to prevent miasma. As for the wild beasts, The general must not be afraid."

The horror of Shennongjia lies in the fact that it is easy to get lost, there are many wild animals, the weather changes suddenly, and in ancient times there was also the worry of miasma.

However, 90% of the ancient road from Zigui to Fangling follows the river valley. It is not easy to get lost, and the climate change is not big. Just be prepared for wild beasts and miasma.

Moreover, there are still scattered mountain people living in those river valleys, so it is not an uninhabited land.