Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 330: Silver Sword Rekindles
"A mere rebel soldier dares to call himself the deputy envoy of Tianping Jiedushi?"

On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, in the government office of Yangzi County in Huainan, Linghu Tao, who had been sent out as the governor of four towns, was holding a piece of letter paper with contempt written all over his face.

As the Jiedushi of the four towns, although he only had nominal jurisdiction, he still had the power to control each town.

If it weren't for the report from the Luzhou governor, he would not have known that Cui Xuan, the governor of Xuanshe Town, had actually released Wang Xianzhi's group of rebel soldiers into the Huainan territory.

What was even more unfortunate was that this killer was quite capable and actually recruited dozens of pirates from Chaohu Lake and proclaimed himself as the deputy envoy of the Tianping Army in Chao County.

"Prime Minister, should we take the initiative to attack and defeat them?"

Sitting on the left side of the main hall, a sturdy general in his thirties bowed and asked.

He is Li Xiang, the left military commander of Huainan Road, and also the general that Linghu Tao relies on when he is in charge of Huainan.

Facing Li Xiang's question, Linghu Tao threw Wang Xianzhi's petition on the table and said calmly, "The imperial court has not issued an order yet, so there is no need to bother yourself."

"By the way, where did these bandits go?"

"I went to Haozhou." Li Xiang responded.

"Hmm..." When Linghu Tao heard that they were not coming to Yangzhou, a look of satisfaction appeared on his face.

Since all the towns are letting this group of rebellious soldiers run wild, there is no reason for me to clean up their mess.

However, since the rebel soldiers had arrived in Huainan, he still had to express his opinion.

"Send someone to report to the court, saying that the rebels have come to Huainan to recruit nearly 10,000 bandits, and are now heading north to Haozhou, and will soon leave the area under Huainan's jurisdiction."

"Please ask Your Majesty whether Huainan needs to send troops to suppress these bandits."

After Linghu Tao finished speaking, Li Xiang immediately bowed in response and then left the main hall.

The memorial from Huainan was sent to Chang'an, and the imperial edict from Chang'an was also sent to Huainan.

People who originally viewed Wang Xianzhi's rebel army as a joke began to pay attention to him after learning that he had appeased the Chaohu pirates.

The general situation of the world seemed to be pulled by an invisible thread at this moment, affecting the nerves of all parties.

Wang Xianzhi led his 6,000 troops and marched towards Haozhou in a mighty manner.

Along the way, if they were short of money and food, they would allow their soldiers to rob villages, but they never invaded any county or city.

Wang Xianzhi also knew that robbing a village and attacking a city were two different things.

The former can be explained as a helpless act in troubled times, but the latter is tantamount to open rebellion.

At this moment, he still wanted to accept the court's amnesty, so naturally he couldn't go too far.

What was surprising was that the number of refugees in Huainan Road far exceeded Wang Xianzhi's expectations.

He simply raised the banner of "Deputy Envoy of the Tianping Army" and did not even shout out any inflammatory slogans, and countless refugees joined his team.

These refugees were ragged, pale and thin, but their eyes were filled with a desire to survive.

Although their joining increased the team's demand for food and fodder, it also caused the entire team to expand rapidly and become more powerful.

On the twelfth day of the twelfth lunar month, Wang Xianzhi's troops entered Haozhou and stationed outside Dingyuan County.

When the people of Haozhou learned of this, they were terrified and fled to Zhongli, Dingyuan and Zhaoyi counties. The officials of the three counties were terrified and could only recruit civilians to defend the city while asking for help from Xuzhou.

Fortunately, Wang Xianzhi did not attack the city, but continued to let his troops plunder villages and villages, and then headed north to Zhongli after collecting food and grass.

By then, the number of his troops had exceeded 10,000, and their momentum was so great that all the towns stepped up their vigilance.

At the same time, Linghu Tao, who was originally thinking about watching the show, received an imperial edict from the court on the same day.

"Your Majesty, today we are suppressing the rebellion that is ravaging the countryside. I am appointing Linghu Tao, the governor of Huainan, as the envoy to attack the eastern part of Henan Province. I order..."

"The decree is as on the right. Please obey it and implement it. I'm very careful."

"Your Highness Linghu Tao obeys your orders!"

In the Yangzhou government office, Linghu Tao respectfully received the order from the angel, and immediately ordered the officials on both sides to arrange for the angel to go to Yin Hotel to rest, and then summoned his confidant Li Xiang.

"The Prime Minister!"

Li Xiang walked into the main hall. Linghu Wan motioned for her to sit down, then he spoke:
"Meng Ming, the imperial court has issued an order, ordering me to send troops to encircle and suppress Wang Xianzhi and other rebels."

Upon hearing this, Li Xiang immediately raised his hands and saluted: "Prime Minister, do you need me to send troops immediately?"

Linghu Tao nodded first, then shook his head slightly.

In the face of Li Xiang's puzzled gaze, Linghu Tao calmly said, "Sending troops is inevitable, but there is no need to pursue too closely."

"If we push them into a corner and cause heavy casualties among the soldiers in the town, we will have to pay for the compensation, which will not be worth it."

"If possible, drive them into Xuzhou or even Tianping, and then petition the court to allow them to enter the country to buy time."

"If the imperial court still allows me to send troops from Huainan to suppress the bandits, then I will see if I can recruit them to settle the matter."

Linghu Tao naturally didn't want to make any trouble. After all, he was sixty-eight years old and it was uncertain how many years he could live.

It is not difficult to defeat Wang Xianzhi, but the difficult part is how to deal with the casualties and compensation.

Thinking of this, Linghu Tao seemed to remember something and looked at Li Xiang:

"Among these bandit soldiers are both men and women, old and weak, so we need to be careful that the bandit army uses men and women, old and weak to confuse our army."

Li Xiang understood what he meant and bowed immediately, saying, "I understand. I'll arrange it right away."

After standing up and leaving the government office, Li Xiang immediately mobilized 600 elite cavalry and 5,000 cavalry and infantry troops and rushed straight to Haozhou.

His mission was not to annihilate Wang Xianzhi, but to drive him out of Huainan Road to avoid a head-on confrontation with the rebels and cause unnecessary losses.

As for the spoils, there were countless refugees in Huainan, so there were plenty of spoils!

Because of this, Li Xiang made his march very grand, so when he just left Yangzhou, a private salt dealer leaked the news of Huainan Town's military deployment to Wang Xianzhi and others.

"Damn it, this Huainan Town really thinks highly of us, sending out 6,000 soldiers at once!"

"Why should we be afraid? They have more than 6,000 people, and we still have nearly 20,000!"

"You bastard, you know how powerful armor is. There are only a thousand elite soldiers wearing armor in our army, and the rest are all able-bodied men. How can we defeat the government troops?"

In a camp somewhere in the north of Zhongli County, the Tianping rebels had already become a mess.

The garrison soldiers all knew what the 6,000 armored government troops were like, but the pirates and bandit leaders who were recruited did not understand.

Shang Junchang and Shang Rang looked serious, but Wang Xianzhi, who was sitting in the main seat in the tent, was not panicked.

"Stop arguing!" Wang Xianzhi stopped everyone from arguing, and then spoke up:

"I had expected the imperial court to take action, but I didn't expect Huainan Town to send so many officers and soldiers."

"But it doesn't matter. We have almost harvested all the money and grain now, so there is no need to stay in Haozhou any longer."

Shang Junchang and Shang Rang bowed and said, "General, if you are not in Haozhou, where should we go?"

"Marshal Ji, how about we go to Hong County?"

After the two brothers finished speaking, many people nodded in agreement, but Wang Xianzhi shook his head and said:
"Hong County is an important shipping town. If we get close to Hong County, I'm afraid we will be surrounded and suppressed by the imperial court."

"Compared to Hong County, I prefer Qi County."

"Qi County and Hong County are both close to the canal, but Qi County is more than 20 miles away from the canal, while Hong County is adjacent to the canal."

"Choose one of the two. Qi County is less likely to provoke the court."

Wang Xianzhi finished speaking, and seeing that no one objected, he nodded and said, "Since there is no objection, then I will order the three armies to move camp at noon tomorrow and march towards Qi County, Suzhou!"

"I will obey your orders--"

Faced with Wang Xianzhi's command, everyone chose to execute it without objection.

The next morning, nearly 20,000 Taiping rebel troops marched northward toward Suzhou.

After the news was reported back to Yangzhou, Linghu Tao ordered Li Xiang to station troops in Haozhou and wait for the imperial edict to be conveyed.

After the Wuning Army was disbanded, Haozhou came under the jurisdiction of Huainan Town, so the troops of Huainan Town could enter and leave Haozhou freely.

However, Xuzhou, Sizhou and Suzhou are still under the jurisdiction of the Xu-Si militia, and the Huainan army cannot enter rashly and needs to ask for permission from the court.

Linghu Tao's memorial was sent to the imperial court, and the Xu-Si area at that time became lively because of the entry of the Taiping Rebellion.

At the beginning, Wang Shi petitioned the court to execute the deserters of the Seven Armies of Wuning, but was stopped by the court, and even he was transferred to Chang'an to take up a post.

The official who succeeded Wang Shi as the governor of Xuzhou and the commander of the Xu-Si militia was the governor of Jinzhou, Meng Qiu.

There were only 2,000 soldiers in the three states of Xu, Si and Su, as well as 1,000 soldiers in Changshandu left behind by Wang Shi.

Meng Qiu knew nothing about military affairs, so he could only rely on Zhao Qian, the general left behind by Wang Shi.

Upon learning that Wang Xianzhi led an army of 20,000 into Suzhou, Meng Qiu hurriedly summoned Zhao Qian.

Inside the Pengcheng government office, Meng Qiu, who was over 60 years old, paced back and forth. He never expected that he would suffer such a disaster in his old age.

As he walked, Zhao Qian, the general of Changshan City, also walked into the hall.

"Your Majesty!"

"Hui Ming, you are finally here!"

After Zhao Qian entered the hall, he bowed and saluted without being servile or arrogant. Seeing this, Meng Qiu stepped forward eagerly, called him by his courtesy name, and helped him up.

"Hui Ming, the rebel army broke into Suzhou and is now heading towards Qi County."

"There are only 800 soldiers in Suzhou. Now only Changshan under your command can resist the bandits."

"I summoned you here to discuss with you how we should deal with the bandits next."

Although Meng Qiu was old and did not know much about military affairs, he at least knew how to employ people. Zhao Qian did not show any fear when he heard this, but was full of courage:
"Don't worry, sir. With me and Changshan at the helm of Xuzhou, the enemy won't dare to attack!"

"What's more, although the bandits claim to have 20,000 soldiers, their elite are only the thousand or so rebels."

"If the enemy troops come to Xuzhou, I will lead my troops to attack them."

"If the enemy troops divide their forces to attack the three states of Xu, Si and Su, I will lead them to defeat them!"

Faced with the courageous Zhao Qian, Meng Qiu, who was originally a little panicked, gradually calmed down.

"That's good... That's good..."

He kept repeating this sentence, and Zhao Qian also bowed and said:
"Sir, the most urgent task right now is to send light cavalry to Chang'an to deliver a memorial, and then ask for help from Huainan, Tianping, Yanhai, Xuanwu, Yicheng and other towns."

"I can defend the city, but I cannot protect the countryside."

"If the rural villages are in trouble, it will definitely shake the foundation of Xu Si."

"That's right, that's right!" Meng Qiu nodded repeatedly, and then, following Zhao Qian's suggestion, he sent letters for help and memorials to various towns and Chang'an.

However, it always takes time to send memorials and imperial edicts back and forth, and Wang Xianzhi of Suzhou did not waste time.

He continued to display the banner of "Deputy Envoy of Tianping Army" and promised that those who joined the army would have enough food and be exempted from punishment.

After the slogan was spread, many bandits from the three states of Xu, Sixu and other places and from Longji Mountain came down the mountain to join the army.

In Longji Mountain, the strongest group is undoubtedly the remnants of the Wuning Seventh Army who fled to Longji Mountain.

The remnants of the Seventh Army were led by Wang Zhongfu, with a total of about a thousand people.

Since all the soldiers had fled, Wang Zhongfu was the most powerful and did not need to go down the mountain to rob. He only needed to order each village to pay a little money and food every month to meet the expenses of the one thousand rebel soldiers.

Upon learning that Wang Xianzhi had raised the flag, many bandits in Longji Mountain came down the mountain, and Wang Zhongfu also summoned all the military officers in the army to come.

At this moment, they gathered in a mountain village somewhere in Longji Mountain. Everyone wore an old battle jacket and breastplate, with a dagger at his waist.

The bonfire was burning in the not-so-big main hall, crackling...

Wang Zhongfu, who was a general before his defection, sat in the main seat, and the rest were several du yu hou and lieutenants.

More than ten people were crowded here. Wang Zhongfu, who was in his forties and looked quite bandit-like, set the tone at the beginning:
"Now that the weather is getting colder, many brothers can't stand it and want to go to Suzhou to join that damn Tianping Army Jiedushi Deputy Envoy."

"To be honest with you brothers, Wang Xianzhi is just a rogue soldier, no different from us. Going to join him is undoubtedly courting death."

"Don't panic, everyone. I have already collected enough money and food and am ready to send someone down the mountain to bribe Meng Qiu, the governor of Xuzhou."

"As long as Meng Qiu is willing to intercede for us in the imperial court, we can return to the foot of the mountain and continue to serve in the army!"

Wang Zhongfu's remarks made many people feel relieved.

However, at this time, a Du Yuhou in the army said arrogantly: "Can we be sure that they will be willing to accept us if we pay them?"

"Don't forget, Wang Shi, the country bumpkin, used a banquet to deceive Wang Changshi and his men, and burned all the more than 3,000 brothers in Pengcheng to death!"

"yes……"

"Damn it, I will never trust the imperial court again!"

"If you ask me, Wang Xianzhi is a rebel who claims to be the deputy governor. Then why don't you, Wang Dutou, also claim to be the deputy governor, lead us down the mountain and capture a few cities, and then propose to the court to recruit us!"

"That's right. We have more than a thousand people, and there are many brothers scattered in the nearby mountains. If we can gather them together, it won't be a problem to capture Xuzhou and Sizhou."

"Attacking a city is treason..."

"Aren't we rebels now? What's the big deal about taking over a city?"

"But Zhao Qian of Changshandu is still here. If we go down the mountain rashly, I'm afraid..."

"Now that Wang Shi is gone, what use is a mere Zhao Qian? Why shouldn't we rebel?"

The military officers of the Silver Blade Army were very afraid of Wang Shi, but they were not so afraid of Zhao Qian and Changshandu under his command.

Wang Zhongfu did not expect that the course of events would actually deviate from his control. Seeing that Wang Xianzhi was able to win over tens of thousands of people with his self-proclaimed reputation, this group of unruly Silver Knife and Teeth soldiers gradually became dissatisfied.

They tried to instigate Wang Zhongfu to claim himself as the deputy governor of Wuning Army, but Wang Zhongfu knew very well that if he really claimed to be the deputy governor, the court would forgive anyone in the future, but would never forgive him.

Thinking of this, Wang Zhongfu quickly interrupted everyone: "I am old. I am OK as a captain, but I am not good enough to lead everyone to conquer the world..."

"How about this, we'll stop here today, and tomorrow I'll send someone to Suzhou to get some information."

"If this is really feasible, then you brothers can choose someone else to be the commander of the section, and I will just be the captain."

Wang Zhongfu's words attracted a lot of slightly dissatisfied looks.

The other Du Yuhou naturally knew what he could think of.

No one wanted to call themselves the commander-in-chief, so after Wang Zhongfu declined, the title of commander-in-chief would definitely fall on them.

Facing the dissatisfied looks of several Du Yuhou, Wang Zhongfu, the Dutou, quickly stood up and said, "Okay, let's all go. We'll make a decision after we get the news tomorrow."

At his signal, everyone left unwillingly, and Wang Zhongfu wiped the sweat off his face after everyone left.

"Damn it, you are pushing Aye into the fire pit!"

His eyes flickered, and he finally called over a few familiar soldiers.

These soldiers were his subordinates when he was at the foot of the mountain, so when facing them, Wang Zhongfu said straight to the point:

"Xu Ji, Zhao Keli, Yao Zhou, and Zhang Xing are crazy. They actually want to go down the mountain and join the rebels to cause chaos."

"We are all acquaintances. We asked you to come here because we don't want you to be deceived by them."

"Right now, I still have more than 100 taels of gold and more than 300 strings of cash looted from my house."

"If you are willing to follow me, I will take you down the mountain with gold and some money."

"With this money, I will definitely be able to persuade Meng Qiu to intercede for us."

Wang Zhongfu tempted several people, or rather, there was no need to tempt them at all.

Although life in the mountains is also carefree, it can't compare to the carefree time in the Wuning Army.

Thinking of this, the seven military schools and captains nodded quickly, and Wang Zhongfu also ordered:

"In that case, let's go down the mountain to Pengcheng tonight and tell Meng Qiu that Xu Ji and his men are planning to join Wang Xianzhi and his men. This will surely be a great success!"

When they heard the word "great achievement", strange expressions flashed across their faces.

In order to avoid being discovered, Wang Zhongfu quickly signaled everyone to leave and decided to gather at his house at midnight tonight.

Time passed slowly, and by midnight, seven military schools and captains gathered in front of Wang Zhongfu's house.

Wang Zhongfu carried more than 100 taels of gold himself and asked the other seven people to carry 30 strings each. The rest that could not be taken away were hidden away.

The eight people began to support each other and walked down the mountain, and were not discovered until dawn.

Xu Ji and his companions quickly summoned all the military officers, only to find that the colonels and captains who were familiar with Wang Zhongfu had all disappeared.

"Damn it, these people donated money and went down the mountain!"

"They will definitely report us for treason. Even if they don't, we have no money now and we will definitely not be able to convince Meng Qiu to intercede for us."

"If it were up to me, we should just gather our former brothers and head south to join Wang Xianzhi and start a rebellion!"

Zhao Keli, Yao Zhou and Zhang Xing each held their own opinions, while Xu Ji, the Du Yu Hou, looked at a strong officer in the corner.

"Pang Erlang, tell me what you think!"

As Xu Ji finished speaking, everyone looked sideways at the man called Pang Erlang.

The man felt everyone's gaze and said in a deep voice:

"Whether Wang Zhongfu and his men come down the mountain to inform on us or not, we have to gather our former brothers together. Otherwise, once they are recruited by Wang Xianzhi, who else will we have available?"

"Okay!" Xu Ji nodded in agreement and continued:

"I don't think I have the talent to be a captain, how about I give this position to you?"

Xu Ji finished speaking, but the others were not stupid.

Once you get the position of the captain, no matter what you do in the future, you will be the mastermind and will be sentenced to death.

Thinking of this, everyone fell silent, and Xu Ji could only look at Pang Erlang.

Feeling Xu Ji's gaze, Pang Erlang could only bite the bullet and walk out, bowing to everyone and saying:

"Brothers, rest assured. Pang Xun, apart from anything else, will definitely not abandon you like Wang Zhongfu did!"

"Okay! Pangdu takes the seat!"

Seeing that the hot potato of the captain had been thrown out, Xu Ji quickly supported Pang Xun and sat in the main seat.

Pang Xun, who was sitting in the main seat, felt everyone's gazes and couldn't help feeling a little uneasy.

If it weren't possible, he wouldn't be willing to be the head of the city.

Just looking at Xu Ji's eyes, even if he didn't do it, Xu Ji would find a way to let him sit in this position. It would be better for him to take the initiative.

Thinking about this, Pang Xun also took a deep breath and said:
"Xudu Yuhou, Zhao Liexiao, Yao Liexiao, and Zhang Liexiao each sent their brothers to the surrounding mountains to recruit the brothers from the former Wuning Army."

"Whether we wave the flag or not, the more brothers in the Wuning Army, the better!"

"I obey your command!" Everyone responded one after another, and then followed Pang Xun's suggestion and sent people to search the surrounding mountains for the former members of the Wuning Army.

At the same time, Wang Zhongfu and others who had fled down the mountain also rushed to Pengcheng, preparing to use the information about Pang Xun and others' attempt to cause chaos and the money in their hands to exchange for a good life...

(End of this chapter)