Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 124 Who Can Ask Lian Po’s Old Age? (End)

The release of the prisoners went very smoothly.

This is nonsense. How could something like this not go smoothly?
In fact, after many captives were taken away by their families, they immediately carried farm tools and joined the army to harvest autumn crops.

Even so, it was already evening after the prisoners were registered in detail and released.

After all, including the newly recruited military clerks, there are quite a few literate people in the Loyal Army, but not all of them can come to Zhangjiazhuang, because several small villages in the north that are affiliated with Zhang Chou are doing the same thing.

This also led to the fact that even a military general like Zhang Baiyu was temporarily conscripted by Lu You and made to do clerical work for an afternoon.

After finishing, the sun was setting, and many farmers who had completed the autumn harvest and brought their crops home gathered unconsciously in the training ground.

After Lu You released the last prisoner, he pounded his waist and didn't even eat the dinner he had prepared. He brought a hundred soldiers and a white fish to the gate of the Zhang Family Ancestral Hall.

"Zhang Chou! What else do you have to say now?"

Lu You did not order the soldiers to break down the door, but stood outside the ancestral hall and shouted with all his might.

After a long time, the door didn't open. Lu You pointed at the two people sandwiched between the soldiers and said, "You two go in and persuade him."

The two people were Ma Jintuo and Zhang Baicao.

They looked at each other, not daring to say anything. Zhang Baicao hurried forward and pushed open the door of the ancestral hall.

Ma Jintuo was stunned behind.

Was the gate of this ancestral hall originally ajar?

Without time to think, the two arrived at the hall and saw Zhang Chou kneeling alone in front of many spirit tablets, with disheveled hair like a ghost.

He heard the sound of the door opening and shuddered all over, but he didn't even turn his head.

"Big brother!"

"Brother! Surrender!"

Ma Jintuo and Zhang Baicao took a few steps forward, but did not come in front of Zhang Chou. Instead, they gave him earnest advice from behind.

"Erlang, Atuo, I...I'm sorry for you..." Zhang Chou's first words were not about surrender or not, but an apology in a trembling voice: "I was afraid of death and left you on the battlefield, but I escaped back."

Zhang Baicao was covered in dust and looked extremely disheveled, but he didn't even have a scratch. He was embarrassed when he heard this: "Brother, let's not talk about this. The Song people... the Loyalty Army didn't make things difficult for us. The farmers have all been released..."

"That's good...that's good..." Zhang Chou muttered to himself for a few words, and finally spoke tremblingly: "Erlang, Atuo, you two should surrender. I...I can't surrender for the time being."

"Brother, what are you trying to do? Have you really become a loyal minister and filial son of the Great Jin Kingdom?!"

Ma Jintuo finally lost his patience. Although he wasn't seriously injured after falling from his horse, he did suffer some scrapes. Pulling at the wound at the corner of his mouth, he said, "Brother, do you still want to fight? In terms of military administration, military tactics, and winning people's hearts, how can we compare to the Duke of Wei of the Loyal Army?"

I've also heard there's a tough guy called Liu Feihuzi who's away on business. The Loyalty Army says if he were still here, he could crush us all with a single charge. If you refuse to surrender, are you going to let all the loyalists in Zhangjiazhuang die with you?

Zhang Chou's face was as pale as gold paper, but he still shook his head: "I didn't say you can't surrender, I really can't surrender..."

Ma Jintuo interrupted him and asked, "Do you still remember Zhang Bajiu? Did you ask him to guard the village gate when you came back?"

Zhang Chou finally turned around, his eyes filled with confusion.

"You locked all the farmers outside. Now they want to enter the village, but you have ordered the gates to be closed. Zhang Bajiu had no choice but to let the farmers in and then commit suicide to preserve his loyalty." Ma Jintuo trembled all over: "You think... you think you can get away with just saying one word to let others surrender? Someone will follow you to death!" Zhang Chou sighed and covered his face: "Zhang Bajiu... Zhang Bajiu... I just thought he was a scoundrel and didn't even give him a real name..."

As he said this, Zhang Chou kowtowed deeply to the spirit tablet again, then stood up and took off his shirt.

"Come and tie me up," Zhang Chou ordered. "I will not surrender, nor will I resist, but I will wait for a word. You will not betray me, but I also have someone I absolutely cannot betray."

A moment later, the door of the ancestral hall opened, and Zhang Chou, who had taken off his shirt and was only wearing trousers, came out tied up, staggered forward, and in full view of everyone, came in front of Lu You and knelt on his knees.

Lu You asked sternly, "Are you willing to surrender?"

Zhang Chou raised his head, moved his lips for a moment, then hesitated and shook his head.

Lu You was stunned. He then asked again, his voice now sharper: "Why don't you surrender? Is it to show loyalty to the Jin Empire that is exploiting you?"

Zhang Chou was silent again for a moment, then spoke with difficulty under the illumination of the surrounding torches: "I can give away all my land and property, and all my wealth to support the army, but I cannot surrender. I must listen to what my brother, He Boqiu, has to say. If my brother says he is willing to surrender, then I will surrender."

When Zhang Chou said this, he had not yet realized that he was actually extremely pessimistic about the future. In his mind, the extremely capable He Boqiu would have no choice but to surrender or die in the future.

Lu You relaxed slightly upon hearing this and asked sincerely, "If He Boqiu chooses to die, will you die with him? Also, you must know that for someone of your status, being the first to surrender always comes with a reason. If you want to wait for He Boqiu, you must give him that reason."

Zhang Chou finally lost his patience and burst into tears. "Brother, you told me to hold out for at least twenty days, but I'm so incompetent that I've let the whole situation collapse before even ten days have passed. If I weren't so desperate, I would have died long ago. How could I even think about a better future? If you don't surrender, I'll die with you, and that would be a repayment for our past kindness."

Lu You sighed and said, "Well, Zhu Sanlang, arrest this man."

The leader of the soldiers stepped forward and gestured for invitation.

At this point, Zhangjiazhuang, along with seven small villages to the north, twelve villages, three markets, and two ferry crossings, surrendered to the Loyal Army.

The vanguard of the Loyalty Army, under the command of Li Huoer, the deputy commander of the vanguard, broke away from the main camp and moved westward. After taking control of the defense of Zhangjiazhuang in the evening, they set up camp on the banks of the Yi River, controlling the largest ferry crossing and pretending to force a crossing of the Yi River.

A gap was suddenly opened in a large number of manors that were originally connected and colluded with each other, and the entire defense system between Yishui and Shuhe Rivers was on the verge of collapse.

It was not until this time that this fatal news was officially placed on the desk of Liu Fen, the Tongpan of Yizhou in the Jin Dynasty. It was placed side by side with the information that the Loyal Army had sent civilians to assist in the autumn harvest yesterday, which made Liu Fen's scalp numb.

He could accept the collapse of the defense line, and he could also accept being slaughtered in a sea of blood, because at this time the Loyal Army was attacking and the Jin Army was defending. The other side was so aggressive and confident, and it was impossible for his side to not suffer any losses.

But what Liu Fen could never accept was that Wei Sheng had just made his move yesterday, and today half of the Yishui defense line was gone, and the other half became unstable in an instant.

Putting aside other things, so many things happened today. The military reports sent in showed that the civilians of the Loyal Army came and went, and the regular troops of the Loyal Army were fighting and mobilizing. Why didn't you, Cui Hema, as the only remaining powerful leader, take any action?
What if you send troops to wipe out the civilians and ambush a small group of loyal soldiers?
But Cui Toad did not move.

He might be afraid, or confused by the news of Zhang Chou's defeat, or he might want to preserve his strength, but it doesn't matter. In this situation, Cui Hema didn't take any action, which meant that he had been shaken.

Liu Fen copied the military report and asked someone to deliver it to Mrs. Wang, who was known for her wisdom. After waiting for a long time, she only received the word "wait".

Yes, now we can only wait.

Liu Fen walked out of the government office and looked towards the northwest.

That day, the sky was gloomy, but it still didn't rain.

The commander-in-chief of the loyal and righteous army, Wei Sheng, never left the camp from beginning to end.

(End of this chapter)