The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 110: Obey the Command of King Gong

Yue Wenxuan patted his shoulder lightly: "Mr. Jialiang, don't worry, we have been preparing for battle."

This sentence calmed Wu Jialiang down for a moment. The excitement he felt upon hearing of Zong Ze's death subsided a little. He sat back in his chair, his mind immediately cleared, and he clasped his fists towards Ma Yang, "Thank you, Ma, for the news."

Ma Yang: "The news of Zongze's death must first be sent to Yangzhou to the Emperor. After that, there will probably be some debate in the court before it is spread to the various prefectures and counties. My family's servants brought the news directly from Kaifeng, which should be more than ten days earlier than the court. Upon receiving this news, I immediately summoned the head of the Ma family to come to Jimo County to discuss the important matter of resisting the Jin army."

He was from Mouping County, while the other three heads of the Ma family were from Laiyang, Huangxian and Wendeng respectively. None of them were from Jimo County. However, when they wanted to discuss resisting the Jin army, none of them went to the local county magistrate, but came directly to Jimo.

With Wu Jialiang's intelligence, it was clear to him that he understood the reason. He realized in an instant that in the entire Jiaodong region, only Jimo County had combat capability, and they had targeted me and Guan Dawang, who were here.

Ma Yang made no secret of his feelings, not even trying to find an excuse. He said directly, "After the Jin army's devastation last year, the Jiaodong region was left unattended. Although the court has reappointed a group of officials, I'm afraid to admit that few of them are doing any real work. Most of them are just sitting there idly. When the Jin invaders come again, most of them will pack up and run."

At this point, the fourth brother, Ma Sheng, spoke up. "Only Magistrate Cui and Lieutenant Wu of Jimo County are truly effective officials. Since Magistrate Cui took office, he has restored the livelihood of Jimo County to an orderly state. And Lieutenant Wu organized archers to wipe out the bandits and bullies in the county, and organized craftsmen to mass-produce weapons and armor, intending to fight the Jin bandits to the death. We all know all of this."

It turned out that since the last time that Prince Gong went across the border to suppress horse thieves, the Ma family began to take action. Ma Congyi persuaded his father, visited his second uncle and third uncle, and contacted the four branches of the Ma family to fight against the Jin together.

Laiyang Ma Sheng, the branch closest to Jimo, sent servants to inquire about the affairs of Jimo County from various sources.

Ma was greatly surprised by the situation in Jimo County. He had never expected that such a small city would have so many bigwigs in both the black and white worlds. In the white world, there was a fierce county lieutenant with a tough style and a daring fighting spirit. In the black world, there was a benevolent thief who persuaded the people to help the business and won the support of the people.

After some research, Ma finally concluded that among all the prefectures and counties on the Jiaodong Peninsula, only Jimo County was worth cooperating with, and the other officials were useless.

Therefore, after learning of Zong Ze's death, Ma immediately rushed to Jimo.

Ma Yang said, "County Magistrate Cui, County Lieutenant Wu, now that General Zong Lao is gone, the Jin bandits could arrive at any time. The earliest they arrive would be the autumn harvest, and the latest would be early winter. My Ma family is willing to mobilize the entire clan to raise some troops, but we alone are not enough. I hope County Lieutenant Wu can organize another force. In addition..."

When he said this, he dragged out the tone and deliberately didn't say anything else, as if it was a bit difficult to say it out loud.

Wu Jialiang immediately knew what he was about to say and simply helped him finish: "And we have to involve Prince Gong, right?"

Ma Yang spread his hands and said nothing, but his meaning was very clear: This is what you said yourself, not the collusion with thieves that I mentioned.

Wu Jialiang said, "At this point, with the Jin bandits imminent, there's no need to be so evasive. I'm not afraid to speak frankly. Most of my archers are docile and easy to bully. They can fight well when the wind is favorable, but they'll fall apart if they suffer even the slightest setback. And the servants and militia of your Ma clan are probably on par with my archers. They're no match for the Jin bandits' cavalry. We must bring in Prince Gong to have any hope."

Ma Yang nodded in agreement. "That's why we came to Jimo! County Magistrate Wu is in charge of public security here, and I'm afraid he's had dealings with King Gong before. I wonder if there's any way to contact him..."

Wu Jialiang turned around and looked at Yue Wenxuan: "Master Yue! Stop standing there watching the fun. It's your turn to speak now."

Yue Wenxuan laughed and stood in the hall.

Ma Yang: "Oh? Master Yue, do you have a way to contact the King of Shanggong?" Yue Wenxuan: "Yes, I can!"

The Ma family was very happy.

Yue Wenxuan: "But I have to be frank. If you really intend to join forces with Prince Gong to fight against the Jin, then the command must be handed over to Prince Gong. Because... you don't know how to fight at all! If you don't agree to this, I'm too lazy to contact you. In the end, we'll all be a mess anyway, so it's better for us to fight our own way."

Wu Jialiang was stunned for a moment, then thought about Qi Jiguang, whom he had met before, and then he had no objection.

However, the Ma family members were obviously unwilling to do so. The strength of these families was enough to control most of Dengzhou and a small part of Laizhou. Once the Ma family started an army, they could easily turn the governor of Dengzhou and the magistrate of Laiyang into puppets, which was equivalent to actually controlling the territory of a state and a county. How could they be willing to listen to the command of a thief who lived in a small county?
Yue Wenxuan knew what they were thinking from their expressions and smiled, "How about this? I'll take you all to Dongmiaozi Village to see for yourself how King Gong's army trains. Then you can reconsider."

Ma Yang hesitated a bit: "Just go there directly? What if King Gong gets angry?"

Wu Jialiang said, "Okay! I want to see it too."

Two months have passed since Wu Jialiang last went to Dongmiaozi Village. He actually wanted to know how powerful King Gong is now.

Seeing that Wu Jialiang agreed to go so easily, Ma's people thought to themselves: Even the county lieutenant is not afraid of entering a thieves' den. If we are afraid, it will make Ma look incompetent.

Ma Yang: "Let's go!"

Cui Weihua: "Eh? Really? You really want to go? Hey, hey, this isn't good! County Magistrate Wu, you are an official appointed by the court after all..."

Seeing that no one paid any attention to him, Cui Weihua had no choice but to say, "I'll go with you to take a look..." After that, he lowered his voice and said to Wu Jialiang, "County Lieutenant Wu, I'm not a military officer and I don't know martial arts. If anything happens, you have to protect me."

Wu Jialiang didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Don't worry, I will protect my brother... cough... I will protect the county lord."

Cui Weihua always felt that he had just heard some extraordinary way of addressing, but Wu Jialiang changed his words so quickly that he was not sure if he had heard it wrong?

So, the group set off in a mighty procession.

Yue Wenxuan would bring a team of people with him every time he came to the county town. Wu Jialiang also had his own small team. The Ma family brought a large group of people. Even Cui Weihua had four trusted subordinates. Together, there were more than a hundred people heading towards Dongmiaozi Village.

Cui Weihua was a little worried: "We have such a large group of people going to Dongmiaozi Village in a grand manner. We must not let Gong Dawang misunderstand that we are going to suppress bandits. It would be terrible if he attacked us head-on. Should we send someone to spread the word first?"

"Don't worry!" Wu Jialiang said, "Just follow Master Yue."

(End of this chapter)