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

Chapter 184: The Officials Returning South with the People Look Like Bandits

The next day, early morning of August 24th.

The group set off in a hurry.

They were traveling light, not because the old and weak were willing to give up their belongings, but because they were basically penniless and had no gold or silver to pack. They could basically take all of everyone's belongings with a mule-pulled cart.

This mule was borrowed by Dianlun from the Wu Gang!

Just one day later, the atmosphere in Yishui County changed again. The most obvious thing was that facing the rising sun, it was not only Liu Huai and his group who were walking on the path with their families, but also many panicked people.

Compared with today, the panic caused by the extortion and heavy taxation in the past few days seems to be just a prelude.

A large-scale exodus seems to be finally about to occur.

Of course, the government has rich experience in this regard. As early as the middle of the night, they had set up checkpoints at various road intersections, and clerks, soldiers, and archers all fired at the fleeing people.

This interception naturally became a carnival for the clerks to plunder wealth.

Liu Huai saw more than once that clerks stopped ordinary people on the pretext of government office orders. When they met rich families, they would intimidate and plunder them. When they met poor people, they would tie them up and conscript them. For a while, the official roads were filled with crying.

Because Liu Huai's group included four obviously extraordinary warriors, the clerks and soldiers along the way only dared to point fingers at them. The only official who wanted to step forward to block their way had his headband shot off by Zhang Baiyu, and he fled in embarrassment, covering his loose hair.

But this will almost certainly lead to ordinary people following suit.

In fact, when the group just passed Yishui County, they were followed by nearly a hundred miserable and dazed people. When the road began to narrow, there were already three or four hundred people behind them, including some driving carts.

Zhang Baiyu was a little worried when he saw this scene: "Dalang, what should we do?"

Liu Huai looked behind him and felt a little worried.

Ordinary civilians are different from the army and cannot be ordered to obey orders. Not only is their marching speed slow, but if they are not restrained, chaos will soon arise.

The previous Libra Army was a good negative example!

However, unlike the Tianping Army, as long as they persist in walking through this 50-mile passage between the hills and Yishui, they will reach the camp of the Loyal Army's vanguard, and there will be people to resettle the people.

Liu Huai made up his mind in a moment. "These people have all followed us voluntarily. How can we abandon them so easily? To accomplish great things, people must be the foundation. How can we ignore something that Liu Xuanzong understood hundreds of years ago?"

"Get your weapons ready, we're going to have a fight today."

Liu Huai's words made the other three people excited and they nodded one after another.

This is natural. Anyone who is praised by Han Zhaolie's moral standards will be like these people, and will be eager to fight a battle immediately.

In any case, as more and more people follow, it will naturally arouse the vigilance of the bigwigs in the county.

Soon, the county lieutenant Sun Qi came with more than 20 archers and joined forces with a dozen minor officials who were already blocking the intersection to stop this huge team.

"Stop!"

"Stop!"

County Lieutenant Sun leaned on a spear and roared.

Zhang Baiyu reined in his horse and moved forward, wanting to chat with this guy, but he heard a loud shout from behind.

"Kill!" Liu Huai drew out his long sword and rushed directly into the formation of local soldiers, starting to kill them wantonly.

Poor County Lieutenant Sun just wanted to ask who this noble man was, but half of his head was chopped off with a knife.

Zhang Baiyu was only slightly stunned, then he bent his bow and arrow, and rode on his horse, shooting arrows one by one from a high vantage point.

This kind of archery is purely a trick on the battlefield where there are many armored soldiers and armored cavalry flying fast, but when facing these local soldiers who don’t even have light armor, it is like the King of Hell calling the shots, and they kill one by one with one arrow.

The local soldiers are just for show. They usually bully the good and catch thieves, but they can't even deal with larger bandits, let alone the bloody battlefield tactics.

"Escape!"

I don't know who shouted first, but the local soldiers and clerks scattered and fled in all directions.

"Let's go! Head south along the Yishui River!" Liu Huai shook the blood off his long sword and turned back to shout. Seeing Dian Lun standing there in a daze, he simply drove his horse forward and gave him a push: "You take the lead, head south!"

The chaos here quickly subsided, of course, not in the way the Yishui County officials had hoped.

The news that a hole had been opened in the Yamaguchi official road spread almost instantly, and some people who were originally waiting and watching could no longer sit still and ran south along the road.

At the county government office, news of the death of County Magistrate Sun also reached them.

"How did he die? Didn't Sun Qi have soldiers with him? How could he die so easily? Are you cowards just here to eat and do nothing?"

In the inner hall of the county government office, a fair-faced civil servant with a long beard almost lost his composure instantly after hearing the news. He angrily cursed the person who came to report the news and spit in the other person's face.

The man, dressed as a yamen runner, lowered his head and waited for the county lord to finish speaking before he said tremblingly, "It was too chaotic, it was too chaotic at the time, and people were saying all kinds of things.

Some say it was a civil riot, when a man who had been collecting excrement came forward and stabbed County Magistrate Sun with a dung fork;
Some said it was because a soldier's uncle robbed the neighbor's house of his second aunt in the morning, and the soldier was dissatisfied and instigated a riot.

Others say that County Magistrate Sun blocked the path of the Jin army and was beheaded by the soldiers on their horses.

"Stop, stop, stop, what the hell is this nonsense?" Zhu Tianshou, who was sitting on the side seat, interrupted the yamen runner with an impatient look on his face. He crossed his legs and said to the long-bearded, white-faced civil servant, "Da Pingzheng! Daxianjun! Why are you so anxious? Isn't it just a county lieutenant who died? Clerks in the county government die every day. Can't we just promote another one? In this world, it's hard to find a three-legged frog, but people who want to be officials are everywhere!"

Daping was called by his full name, but he was not angry. He just glanced at Zhu Tianshou coldly.

Indeed, ever since the autumn tax began to be levied, Yishui County has been in chaos. Officials who went to the countryside to collect grain often encountered violent resistance to the tax, and casualties were commonplace.

If Zhu Tianshou had not suppressed them, the county officials would have dispersed long ago, and the magistrate Dapingzheng would have been left alone.

But hasn’t he already died at the level of a county lieutenant?
Above the county lieutenant are the chief clerk, the county magistrate, and then him, the county magistrate!

How could he not be afraid?
Daping was pacing back and forth in the hall. Before Zhu Tianshou could speak in frustration, he approached him and bowed deeply to the ground. "Master Zhu San, I know you are a man of great ability. Please protect me for a few more days. Once the entire Wuxing Army arrives, I will reward you handsomely."

Zhu Tianshou yawned. "My Lord, you are of Bohai ethnicity, second only to the Jurchen people. How can you still allow a Han Chinese like me to protect you?"

Da Pingzheng was slightly startled, then he gritted his teeth, lifted up his robe and pretended to kneel down.

Zhu Tianshou was quick-witted and reached out to hold the man steady. "Grand Lord, please don't frustrate me."

As he spoke, Zhu Sanlang sighed again, but he couldn't help but smile smugly. "My Lord, if you're worried about living in my Zhu Family Manor, I have another solution. Please come with me to ask Tu Shan Taiwei for help. If you live in the military camp, wouldn't that allow you to stay safe and still be able to serve?"

Daping thought about it and couldn't help but feel his heart beating fast.

(End of this chapter)