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

Chapter 523 Who Knows the Hardships

On the third day of March, Zhang Xiaoxiang was preparing a banquet in Beigu Tower.

In Anfeng Army, Shouchun, on Bagua Mountain, Liu Yungu, a native of Youyan, stared at the fire in front of him, lost in thought, unable to speak.

The same was true for the hundreds of people around him and even the tens of thousands of people in the entire mountain. Hunger and sleepiness had made them lose the most basic desire to communicate.

Unlike these farmers who were forced to rebel during the spring plowing season, Liu Yungu was not a farmer and did not own an inch of land. As a converted person, he was not eligible to purchase land in the State of Song without the guarantor of a powerful person.

Therefore, Liu Yungu made a living by doing business.

But how could it be so easy for a person who fled from Youyan to gain a foothold in the south?

Liu Yungu was very smart. He found a different way and found a very unpopular way.

Jewelry business.

The reason why this business is unpopular is that the world is a bit too chaotic. Saving gold and silver is the serious thing to do. Dressing up with jewelry will attract thieves!

However, this business was inevitably tainted with corruption and bribery, which led to Liu Yungu becoming a kind of white glove figure and getting to know many important figures in the court.

Originally, Liu Yungu just wanted to live a peaceful life, but as a converted person of lower status, he always had a key topic in front of the nobles of the Southern Dynasty.

What do you think of the Jin Dynasty and the Song Dynasty?
Liu Yungu naturally understood it. It was nothing more than that the Jin Kingdom was like a mortal enemy, and the Song Kingdom was like a reborn parent.

Liu Yungu was happy when he spoke, and the noble lady of Song State was also happy when she heard it. Everyone was happy.

However, just as we were happy, something went wrong.

The nobles of the Song State saw that Liu Yungu was so loyal to the Song State and was a converted person who had a deep hatred for the Jin State, so they began to arrange for this guy to act as a pioneer in disrupting the Jin State.

Liu Yungu was confused, but since he had already boasted, he had no choice but to agree.

If you find use for me, we will take over the Central Plains and destroy the Jin Dynasty!
The nobles of Song State were also very happy and directly gave Liu Yungu the post of commander of the Zhejiang West Commandery and asked him to prepare to go north.

Just when Liu Yungu was in a dilemma.

Wanyan Liang is here.

All plans came to nothing.

Although Liu Yungu also lost a lot of property, he had a manor in Bagua Mountain and had saved some capital to settle down. He was full of gratitude to Wanyan Liang. If it weren't for this guy's invasion to the south, he would have really returned to the Jin Kingdom and was in great danger of death.

However, Liu Yungu had not been happy for a few days before Huaibei and other places suddenly fell into chaos. The people killed officials and rebelled, and many people fled to Bagua Mountain.

The leader of the rebel army, Hao Donglai, led three or four thousand soldiers and ran around everywhere, looking like a refugee army.

Originally, everyone kept to themselves, but the starving refugees didn't care about that. They were going to die anyway, so why couldn't they eat you?

But Hao Donglai had some ideas.

He felt that although Liu Yungu was a converted person, he was brave and famous, and was a good man. It would be better to invite him to the mountain and sit on the throne.

Faced with this situation, Liu Yungu, who only had more than 50 confidants with him, had no choice but to open the gate of the manor and take out all the food to reward the troops. After making an impassioned speech in front of Hao Donglai and showing off his marksmanship, he took the second-in-command position of this uprising army that had no name yet.

If that were the case, it would be fine.

He wanted to be an official, so he killed people and set fire to people in order to be recruited.

Liu Yungu was quite familiar with this method, but who knew that the nobleman from the State of Song who admired him had sent someone to bring him news today.

Liu Yungu, you get ready and take all the refugee troops to the north of the Huai River and to establish farms in the territory of the Jin Kingdom!
I just fucked it!

Liu Yungu finally became furious.

After a moment of anger, I felt deeply powerless.

What is this thing called? !

However, this was a time of famine, and no matter how wealthy Liu Yungu's family was, he could not support so many refugees. He had to make a choice within two days.

Thinking of this, Liu Yungu sighed deeply again, stood up and walked towards the so-called gathering hall.

It was called the Gathering Hall, but in fact it was just a few shacks built outside Liu Yun’s ancient manor, where a few refugee leaders took over and used them as a meeting hall.

"Brother, something bad has happened!" Liu Yungu walked to the door of the Juyi Hall, adjusted his expression, and ran towards the hall in a panic.

Hao Donglai and several of his confidants were drinking wine by the fire. When they heard what the second in command said, their hands trembled slightly and some wine spilled.

He looked at the wine glass distressedly: "Second brother, you have also experienced great storms, why are you so impulsive?"

Liu Yungu took a deep breath and said, "Brother, disaster has struck! The imperial court intends to send us north of the Huai River to cultivate the land! Even if the government wants to recruit us, they won't let us become officials!"

To Liu Yungu's surprise, Hao Donglai was only stunned at first, but then he became interested and even eager to try it.

"So, we can still continue farming?"

Now it was Liu Yungu's turn to be shocked.

It turns out that you are really the same as you say and you only think about farming!
One of Hao Donglai's confidants frowned and said, "Second Master, it's not that I doubt you, but how did you get this news?"

Liu Yungu: "I used to sell jewelry, so naturally I have some connections with officials. A nobleman brought me a message, asking me to kill the boss, and then take everyone across the Huai River to Shouzhou to open up wasteland."

Hao Donglai was stunned again after hearing this, and then said sincerely: "Second brother, do you really want to do this?"

Liu Yungu was immediately at a loss for words: "What are you talking about, Big Boss? If I really wanted to fight, why would I say these things to Big Boss?"

Hao Donglai nodded, a simple smile breaking across his dark, old farmer-like face. "That's right. Farming is a great blessing to us, but it's a punishment to Second Brother. How can you win people over by punishing them?"

Liu Yungu was speechless again when faced with such truth.

This is the truth, but if we do this, doesn’t it mean that Liu Datou is a man without loyalty?

However, Hao Donglai seemed oblivious and only looked at Liu Yungu with great interest: "Second brother, how do you think that nobleman will get us across the Huai River? Will he build a floating bridge or use a large ship?"

Liu Yungu finally lost his patience and said, "Brother, why are you thinking about these things? Shouzhou in Huaibei is the territory of the Jin people. The government said they were sending us there to cultivate land, but in fact they are just letting us fend for ourselves. In the end, we will definitely be enslaved by the Jin thieves!"

Hao Donglai still had that cheerful look on his face: "Second brother, you're worrying too much. Could the Jin Kingdom really stop the people from farming? As for the Great Song or the Great Jin... Sigh..."

At this point, Hao Donglai sighed: "What difference does it make? The Jin Kingdom treated us as slaves, and didn't the Song Dynasty also treat us as bandits and send us into the army?"

How can they be the same?
If this is the same, why would Liu Yungu travel thousands of miles, even abandoning his clan wife, and escape from Youyan to Song State?
But he was about to persuade her again when he heard hurried footsteps outside the door. A young man, breathing heavily, rushed in: "Father, Second Uncle, someone is coming down the mountain."

"Who?"

"I heard he was from the Jingnan Army, and he said he would give us a chance to live."

Liu Yungu's heart moved: "From Shandong?"

The young man shook his head: "I can't hear it."

Hao Donglai said, "No matter if he is from Shandong or not, we should meet each other."

The young man nodded hurriedly, then walked down the mountain, bowed and said, "Mr. He, the boss invites you to come up the mountain for a chat."

Uncle He, who was wearing light chain mail armor, sighed, then turned around and asked his son to wait for a while, then followed the young man into the mountains on horseback.

The southern foot of Bagong Mountain is actually not easy to walk on. After riding for a while and going around a few bends, we had to dismount and walk.

Walking slowly also has its advantages. At least He Boqiu can see and remember the appearance of the refugees around him.

He Boqiu was about to strike up a conversation with the young man, but then he remembered that he didn't know his name, so he immediately asked, "What's your name?"

The young man didn't seem to want to say anything, but he didn't dare to leave his distinguished guest out in the cold. After a long silence, he finally said in a muffled voice, "I don't have a real name. My last name is Hao, and my nickname is Gou'er."

Hao Gouer.

He Boqiu was speechless. What kind of a name is that? No wonder the young man didn't want to say it.

"How many hours do you take at home?"

"Row two."

"Okay, then I'll call you Hao Erlang." He Boqiu didn't hesitate and pointed directly at the ragged men, women, old and young around him: "Tell me the truth, how many people have died?"

A more experienced person would have started spouting nonsense, but Hao Erlang was a sincere man. He shook his head, "I don't know, but with only a few thousand people and a transition period, a hundred or two hundred deaths wouldn't be unusual."

"Did they all die of starvation?"

"That's not the case." Hao Erlang shook his head and said, "Some are injured, some have died of illness, and there is still food to share. So many people won't starve to death."

He Boqiu looked at Hao Erlang with some amusement: "Oh? How did you divide the food?"

Hao Erlang gestured and said, "Just find a few large pots, put water and corn in them, and cook them together. Each person gets a bowl, and no one takes more."

"Has your boss ever thought about saving some food?"

"How can we save food in this situation? If we skip a meal today, the young and old will eat each other's meat tomorrow."

He Boqiu nodded. Combining the intelligence he had gathered, he formed a preliminary impression of Hao Donglai and Liu Yungu. As they were talking, the two had already arrived at the Juyi Hall.

Several bosses and their confidants were already waiting at the gate to greet them, and several guards in tattered leather armor were standing by with swords and spears in their hands.

If a few underworld slang were to be shouted out, the scene would be almost the same as Yang Zirong paying homage to the gate of Wohu Mountain.

But the key point is that Hao Donglai and Liu Yungu, a farmer and a businessman respectively, are not gangsters after all. They are just trying to show off their strength. They don't even know how to show their power.

He Boqiu was a wealthy man in Yishui, who was well-connected to both the black and white worlds. He had seen a lot of battles, so when he saw this situation, he threw away the reins, put his hands on his hips, and prepared to deal with the subsequent criticism.

Make sure you never fall behind on the scene.

However, the two sides stared at each other, and the atmosphere became tense.

Seeing He Boqiu's aggressive attitude, Hao Donglai was puzzled. He scratched his head and pointed towards the Juyi Hall: "Sir, please come in."

He Boqiu, who had been holding back his energy for a long time, instantly lost his temper upon seeing this. He shook his head with amusement, then made a gesture of invitation, stepped forward, grabbed Hao Donglai's arm, and walked with him arm in arm.

After entering the Juyi Hall, Hao Donglai could no longer hold back and asked directly: "Sir..."

"My name is He Boqiu, the third child in my family. I'm in charge of logistics for the Jingnan Army, so I'm considered a high-ranking official. I'm here to make a promise to you that I'll keep my word."

Facing He Boqiu's serious speech, Hao Donglai was stunned for a long while, then smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Master He, I really don't understand what you are talking about, what kind of official business is this."

Liu Yungu quickly interrupted, "Brother, the most important thing about Mr. He is that he keeps his word. Mr. He, it's one thing to say that you keep your word, but whether we should listen to these words or not depends on whether we can bear it."

He Boqiu glanced at Liu Yungu and said, "Let's not mince words in front of others. I had some conversations with Ambassador Yang Kangyang before I came here, and he mentioned you to me."

Liu Yungu's breath was held in his throat. He had not expected that He Boqiu's status was so high. The nobleman from the State of Song whom he relied on was on an equal footing with him.

"Do you know what Ambassador Yang said about you?"

Liu Yungu forced a smile that was uglier than crying: "I really don't know."

He Boqiu said with a half-smile, "Ambassador Yang said that you are a Youyan native, with your parents, wife, and children all left in Youyan, and you came to Song alone. Then you kept making friends with officials and nobles, and kept saying bad things about Jin. It's really too much. You are probably a Jin spy.

Given the current situation between Song and Jin, you're probably eager to return. As long as you kill Hao Donglai and the Hao family, you can lead these rebellious refugees north of the Huai River. Then, whether they live or die will be up to you."

Liu Yungu listened to He Boqiu's words, his mouth opened wider and wider, and in the end he suddenly burst into tears, choking out a sob: "I couldn't survive in the Jin Kingdom, so I came to the Song Kingdom. I wanted to gain a foothold, so why didn't I flatter them? I didn't expect that even though I was so humble, they would still doubt me..."

"They actually still doubt me!!!" Liu Yungu sighed to the sky, tears streaming down his face, and roared.

This was the difficult situation faced by the converted people in the State of Song.

People who hold high positions like Xin Qiji in history are exceptions among exceptions. We can only say that Xin Qiji is really very capable.

Most converts were ostracized by mainstream Song society, sometimes forced to work menial jobs. If they encountered a bastard like Qin Hui, who would issue a decree that southerners return south and northerners return north, they would be driven back to the enemy country to die.

In professional terms, this is a standard subject-object contradiction.

This kind of contradiction was common during a series of turbulent periods of division between the north and the south, including the Southern and Northern Dynasties.

For example, if Liu Yungu had developed according to normal history, he would have been known by more high-ranking officials of the Song State and would have been valued by prime ministers of the Song State such as Chen Kangbo, Xin Ciying, and Zhang Jun.

During the Longxing Northern Expedition, Liu Yungu even became the chief military officer and wanted to lead more than 10,000 soldiers to cross the Huai River to cultivate land and try to change the situation north of the Huai River.

Then, due to the failure of the Longxing Northern Expedition, the pro-war faction lost power again. Shi Hao used a little trick to "discover" Liu Yungu's identity as a spy and executed him.

Yue Ke also recorded this incident in detail in his notes to prove that people from the north should not be allowed to come south.

Of course, this is a follow-up.

Now history has changed greatly. The suspicion that Liu Yungu was a spy was exposed in advance, which caused this northern man who had experienced a lot to burst into tears on the spot.

He Boqiu also felt the same way.

It is not a good idea for a northerner to become a decent person when he comes to the south of the Yangtze River. The fate of his two elder brothers' families has already shown this.

If not, why would He Boqiu have such a strong resentment towards the State of Song?

On the other side, seeing Liu Yungu crying, Hao Donglai sighed: "He Daguan, you don't have to kill me. I can also go to Shouzhou to farm. As long as you can let us farm, we are willing to do anything."

He Boqiu was slightly stunned, then said, "I still don't know why Mr. Hao is rebelling. Is it because someone was able to seize your fertile land right under the noses of my Jingnan Army?"

Hao Donglai shook his head: "I'm not from Huaixi. I fled here from Huaidong. It was Mr. Chen who divided the land among us."

He Boqiu nodded. "That's right. Huaixi was the land distribution area overseen by our Jingnan Army. We made it clear at the time that anyone who dared to delay spring plowing could simply file a complaint with the army, and someone would stand up for them."

The main forces of the Jingnan Army were all in Huaixi. After the Chizhou Army and the Ezhou Army returned to their respective bases to rest, the Jingnan Army was in a state that no one dared to provoke.

He Boqiu was a reactionary who was eager to raise the flag of rebellion. When he was in charge of military affairs, his style of doing things could be described in one word.

hard!
What Huaixi landlords and powerful people, what Jiangnan family scion, I want to see whether your connections are stronger or my knife is harder.

It's okay to be soft-hearted. All the gifts will be accepted as a reward for the troops, but nothing will be done for you.

Moreover, the Jingnan Army was not without personnel in the court.

Yu Yunwen is not just a decoration.

Prime Minister Chen Kangbo also wanted to clean up the mess in Lianghuai.

Neither yin nor yang, hard nor soft tactics worked. Faced with such unreasonable people, the powerful people in Huaixi completely stopped their attacks and just waited to send these plague gods away.

Hao Donglai's eyes lit up with hope: "That's great! Someone can take charge of Huaixi. That's great! We're not being robbed of our land, but we're being conscripted into the army as bandits."

"No, it can't be called exile." Hao Donglai said, then shook his head and denied his previous statement: "Because Zhang Daxiang has publicly announced his grace and no longer has a tattoo on his face, it can't be considered exile."

"But the conscription isn't limited to young men, nor is it just one round; it's endless. Farmers like me, though worthless, are the backbone of our families. If I leave, my family won't be able to cultivate much land, and they'll starve to death."

"I don't know who killed the King of Hell's official, but they started shouting 'kill people!' The bandits who were tied together broke free from their ropes and started killing people."

"I followed them blindly, running around everywhere to protect my family. The next day, my family members all ran away. I didn't know what to do, so I could only take a few trusted brothers and continue running."

"We have some courage, and more and more people are following us. I can only lead them to look for food everywhere, and appoint a few leaders."

“Then we came to Bagong Mountain.”

Compared to Liu Yungu, Hao Donglai was less articulate and couldn't express many of his words clearly. However, in the end, tears still shone in his eyes: "Uncle He San, you said we want to live a peaceful life, why is it so difficult?"

He Boqiu sighed deeply upon hearing this, and without beating around the bush, he said directly, "Don't go to Shouzhou north of the Huai River. There are still Jin thieves at Wokou. Although they can't defeat the Huai River, if you go there, you will be destined to be slaves.

Come back with us to Shandong. There, we will distribute land and reclaim wasteland for three years, but you will have to work in the winter repairing the river. I can't say I can make you rich, but at least you can live a peaceful life farming. A boat will come to pick you up when the time comes."

He Boqiu had already seen everything along the way.

This refugee army is still in its early stages and has not yet developed into bandits. Instead, it is more like a group of farmers fleeing famine.

If time goes on any longer, the leader will taste the sweetness of power and either degenerate into a real thief or be killed by a more treacherous person.

At that time, the refugee army will drag more people with them, disrupt production everywhere, and accumulate into a large number until the situation is completely out of control.

In fact, the peasant uprising forces gathered in Duliang Mountain in Xuyi had already shown signs of developing into bandits, and it was impossible to pacify them with words alone.

Zhang Baiyu has already led the elite troops of Dongping Army to go to war. The leader must be killed at all costs before discussing other matters.

This is the black humor of history.

The peasant uprising army was certainly just, but the short-sightedness and corruption of their leaders caused the vast majority of the peasant uprising army to quickly degenerate into bandits that scourged the world.

Anyone who wants to bring peace to the world must first suppress the peasant army and become a so-called running dog of the feudal class whose hands are stained with the blood of the peasant rebels.

This is true from Liu Bei to Yue Fei.

Fortunately, He Boqiu acted quickly and arrived in time.

Liu Yungu had stopped crying by this time. Upon hearing this, he nodded, then shook his head: "Can't we just give them some land in Huaixi?"

He Boqiu was silent for a while, then shook his head and said, "It won't work. Although we can rely on the power of the court and the army to clearly measure the land, the Jingnan Army can't stay in Huaixi forever. After we leave, can those who have been allocated land still keep it... Alas... It's hard to say."

Having said that, He Boqiu shook his head again.

"In that case!" Hao Donglai lowered his head and thought for a moment, then finally slammed his palm hard: "I'll go with you! We can't stay in Huainan anymore, so we might as well give it a try."

Seeing Hao Donglai so bold, He Boqiu couldn't help but feel refreshed. He was about to say something polite when Hao Donglai continued with a ferocious expression, "No one can stop us from farming! Not the Jin thieves, not the government!"

"Dog, Gou'er, bring me some wine! Today I want to swear an oath of blood with Mr. He San!"

Hao Erlang flashed in from outside, looking embarrassed: "Father, all the wine in the Second Master's house was drunk by you."

"Huh?" Hao Donglai was stunned. "I just took a few sips and it's gone already?!"

He Boqiu shook his head and laughed, "We have our own rules in the Jingnan Army. We are not allowed to drink alcohol in the army. Today we will use tea instead of wine. I wish you a safe journey in the future."

(End of this chapter)