Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 173, Sword Pointing to the Capital

After Juyongguan was breached, Gao Zhi was in high spirits and full of pride.

Correspondingly, Bazin's status also rose because of Gao Zhi, from a middle-level official to a grassland general with 5,000 soldiers under his command.

The relationship between the two became closer as a result.

Since Juyong Pass was breached from the inside, the defenders inside the pass did not suffer too many losses.

Except for Qi Jianhui who quickly escaped with a small number of soldiers when he saw the situation was not right, most of the rest of the soldiers were captured in the city.

As for these soldiers and horses, Kah Khan adhered to the principle of treating all barbarians equally proposed by Li Hao and planned to recruit them under his command.

However, it is not appropriate to use grassland people to manage the Han people.

Although Zhao Shihong could manage these people, he was a civil servant and was not young anymore, so he was not good at leading troops in battle.

Thinking that Gao Zhi was once a general who commanded these troops before his surrender, Kah Khan appointed Gao Zhi to subdue these troops.

Of course, he was not at ease to leave so many troops to Gao Zhikah Khan. It happened that Bazin was a native of the grassland and his nephew, so he could be trusted, so he asked Bazin to supervise from the side.

Soon, Gao Zhi received the order.

He immediately summoned these soldiers to the training ground, appealed to their emotions and reason, threatened them with their lives and families, and tempted them with large amounts of gold bills and beautiful women. He soon broke the will of most of the soldiers and succeeded in making them serve the grassland.

But there are still many stubborn people who are unwilling to surrender and insist on their integrity.

One of them even cursed Gao Zhi in public and spat a mouthful of thick phlegm on Gao Zhi's face.

"Traitor dog, I really don't know who pulled out a bastard like you, a traitor to the country and a betrayer for fame and fortune, bah!"

Gao Zhi wiped off the thick phlegm with a grim look on his face, and ordered his men to push the man onto a high platform, pour concentrated salt into his seven orifices, and torture him to death.

The soldiers below became excited when they saw this, and some even cursed Gao Zhi.

Gao Zhi had these people captured and some of them were cooked, some were hung up to practice archery, some were half buried in the ground and trampled by horses. There were so many horrific tortures that it is difficult to describe them all.

The Han soldiers went from resentment to hatred, and from hatred to fear, until finally they became numb, filled with hatred and fear, and dared not move rashly.

When Li Hao heard about this, he immediately reported it to Kah Khan.

Upon hearing this, Kah Khan was furious and ordered his men to tie up Gao Zhi and ask him why he tortured and abused the soldiers.

Gao Zhi was not at all panicked when he heard this, and said:
"Gao Zhi is only thinking about the Khan. I bully and abuse the soldiers so that the Khan can show his kindness and bribe the soldiers. If the Khan needs it, you can chop off Gao Zhi's head. Gao Zhi will never complain!"

After hearing this, Kah Khan thought about it and decided that this was a good dog, so he ordered someone to untie Gao Zhi.

Li Hao's face was gloomy. After Gao Zhi left, he reminded Kah Khan:

"Great Khan, a villain like Gao Zhi, who doesn't hesitate to abuse his own compatriots to flatter the Khan, can such a person be truly loyal? I hope the Khan will be careful of him, because I predict that he will rebel in the future!"

Kah Khan laughed upon hearing this:

"I also know what the Prime Minister said. I have already sent Bazin to control him. He is a good dog. It will not be too late to kill him after he has been used up."

Li Hao nodded when he heard this and said nothing more.

In fact, in Li Hao's heart, he thought that even if Bazin was used to control Gao Zhi, it would not be completely safe, because if these two people stayed together for a long time, they would very likely collude with each other and become corrupt.

It’s just that Bazin is the nephew of Kah Khan. Although Li Hao is the prime minister of Kah Khan, there is no real blood relationship between them after all, so it is not convenient to say more about this.

But it doesn’t matter. Li Hao is confident that with him keeping an eye on Gao Zhi, Gao Zhi will definitely not have the chance to cause trouble.

Afterwards, Kah Khan followed Gao Zhi's plan and pretended to severely punish Gao Zhi in front of the soldiers. This move was indeed recognized by many soldiers, and Kah Khan became more satisfied with Gao Zhi.

Although it is a small guy, it is still very useful at certain times.

After the grassland army broke through Juyongguan, they went straight down along the Guangou and approached the capital.

Although many soldiers were lost along the way, many Han soldiers were also captured. Kah Khan's troops increased instead of decreased, and now the number of troops has exceeded 200,000.

At that time, Wang Ziteng's troops arrived at Pinggu County, a hundred miles away from the capital. After hearing that the grassland people had already broken through Juyongguan, Wang Ziteng did not rush to lead his troops to rescue the capital, but chose to set up camp directly in Pinggu County and set up a defense line.

This does not mean that Wang Ziteng is afraid of fighting, but rather a prudent strategic approach.

Most of the grassland people are cavalry, and it is not wise to fight against the cavalry on the plains. If you rush to rescue the capital at this time, once you clash with the grassland cavalry on the way, it is very likely to lead to a great defeat. Therefore, the best strategy is to stay calm and not move.

The capital city is also one of the most fortified cities in the world and is not easy to conquer.

The grassland's expedition will certainly not last long. Once the enemy can't help but attack the capital, he can immediately send troops to attack the enemy from the front and back together with the capital's defenders, and defeat the grassland army.

The only thing that worried Wang Ziteng was that Emperor Longqing might flee without a fight because he was afraid of the grassland army.

After all, news of the capital's move south had already spread.

In that case, don't blame the other party for being unjust if he is unkind!
He led his army to seek refuge...

Beijing.

When the news of Zhao Shihong's treason and the breach of Juyongguan came, the whole court was shocked!
As expected, the Mansion of Marquis Jing'an (Zhao Shihong's title) was deserted. Among them, the two most important sons and one legitimate grandson of Zhao Shihong all fled secretly. The rest were unimportant illegitimate sons and daughters who were left behind as cover.

Emperor Longqing was extremely angry and announced that all nine members of Zhao Shihong's clan would be killed.

But unfortunately, the court now does not even have time to look for Zhao Shihong's nine clans. Emperor Longqing has no choice but to kill all the people in Zhao Shihong's mansion to vent his anger.

The good news is that because Zhao Shihong rebelled so quickly, although the families of Duke Zhenguo Niu and Duke Zhiguo Ma had their properties confiscated, their families had not yet been escorted to the execution ground in time. In a sense, this was a blessing in disguise.

But now, Emperor Longqing did not have much time to deal with these trivial matters of redress. He was now as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. After the grassland army broke through Juyongguan, they would reach the capital in less than two days. He had to make a decision as soon as possible whether to move south.

"Your Majesty, move south!"

"Only by moving south can we save our country!"

"Your Majesty, quickly issue an order to move south!"

Many ministers submitted memorials to the emperor, requesting that Emperor Longqing move south.

But at this time Wang Ziteng also sent a message, saying that the army had arrived in Pinggu County, and hoped that Emperor Longqing would defend the capital. Once the grassland attacked the capital, the army could immediately come to the rescue, and defeat the grassland with internal and external cooperation.

Emperor Longqing was somewhat hesitant because of this.

Upon seeing this, the court ministers urged Emperor Longqing not to listen to Wang Ziteng and to move south as soon as possible.

First, there were no available soldiers in the capital, and it was unable to stop the grassland army.

Secondly, Wang Ziteng's army marched slowly and his troops were unpredictable, and they might have ulterior motives.

Thirdly, the Huaiyin bandits went north under the pretext of serving the king and have been eyeing the capital. Lord Guo went to dissuade them but no news has been received so far. I'm afraid they have already died for their country. It is hard to guarantee whether the Huaiyin bandits will unite with the grasslands to attack the capital together.

Fourthly, their family wealth cannot be lost...

(End of this chapter)