The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 128 Military Parade

The news that King Gong was going to move into the county town spread immediately throughout Jimo.

The people in the county were shocked by the news and were a little frightened. Although the rebel army had entered the city once a few days ago when escorting Zhao Shi, they came and left in a hurry and did not stay in the county for long, so they did not cause any trouble.

The people were afraid that if the rebels stayed here for too long, they would start bullying men and women and committing crimes.

Not only would such a thing happen to the rebel army, but even the officers and soldiers would be of the same nature.

Feelings of panic and uneasiness permeated the entire county.

However, the officials have made this decision, and the common people can only bear it.

A street vendor was about to pack up his stall.

But then a beggar came up to him and said with a smile, "Boss, what's going on? Are you going to close your stall?"

The vendor said, "Lame Three, it's you. Didn't you tell me that King Gong was coming? I'm going to close my stall for the next few days to prevent it from being snatched away by King Gong's men."

Lame Third laughed, "Nonsense! You don't know the character of Queen Gong. I'm telling you, Queen Gong is a truly righteous and extraordinary woman, very kind to the poor. How could she possibly steal you?"

The vendor said, "Ah? Last year, Gong Dawang's men came here and caused chaos in the county. Have you forgotten so quickly?"

Lame Three: "It's different, it's different. Last year it was Gong Yi who came, and this time it's Gong Yi's daughter who's coming. Let me tell you, this female king is much better than her father, a very kind person. You must have heard that the villages around the county town planted the new grain given by King Gong, and everyone has become rich this year."

The vendor said, "I've heard about this. Yesterday, someone brought some corn to me to trade for goods. I took some home and cooked a pot of corn rice. It was really delicious."

Lame Three: "Then what are you afraid of? If Prince Gong is really a thief, why would he teach people how to grow crops? When have you ever seen a thief teach people how to grow crops?"

The vendor nodded. "That makes sense... Alas... I'm just worried about the people under Lord Gong. You know, it's easier to see the King of Hell than to deal with the little devils."

Lame Three: "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. I heard that King Gong is very strict in his military discipline. If anyone harasses the people, he will chop off their head and hang it on the flagpole."

Vendor: “Huh?”

Lame Three: "This is true. I heard that before Prince Gong sent troops to suppress the Laiyang bandits, he beheaded four people. Many people know about this. If you don't believe it, just ask a few people who come from Dongmiaozi Village to sell corn and you will find out."

After hearing this, the peddler felt much more at ease. If this was true, then there was no need for King Gong to be afraid.

Lame Three: "Don't be afraid, just set up your stall as usual, nothing will happen."

After saying this, he dragged his lame leg and limped into an alley, only to see a ragged middle-aged man sitting in the alley. Lame Third quickly saluted and said, "Master, I have already taught dozens of people today."

The middle-aged man is the new leader of the Jimo Hall of the Beggars' Sect. He was appointed as the leader by Su Qier not long ago and is very motivated.

He patted Lame Third on the shoulder and said, "You've done a great job. Keep spreading the word. Walk around the city more often. If you see anyone speaking ill of the rebels, go up to them and redirect the conversation."

Lame Three: "I understand."

He limped again and walked towards another street.

The hall master confirmed that Lame Third had done a good job, and hurried through the streets and alleys. Soon he came to another street. There was an old beggar woman, also speaking well of King Gong to the people on the street... Across another street, there was an old beggar man, who was bragging to a bun vendor about how King Gong taught people how to grow corn...

The Jimo Hall of the Beggars' Sect now has 500 members. Although they are all old, weak, sick and disabled and cannot fight in battles or do proper work, they are very effective in creating public opinion.

Under the desperate efforts of this group of people, the fear of the people in the county town gradually subsided. From the original fear of Gong Dawang, they slowly turned to looking forward to Gong Dawang's arrival as soon as possible. In this atmosphere...

"Here they come! Prince Gong's men are here."

An archer in charge of defending the city was the first to shout. After this shout, the news immediately spread throughout the city like a stone thrown into a calm lake. Then, a large number of people rushed to the top of the city wall to watch King Gong enter the city.

He Wang Zhaoye, the prefect of Laizhou, and the magistrate of Jimo also came out to greet them with a large number of assistant officials and wealthy gentry.

Scouts arrived first, dozens of them on swift horses, approaching from afar. When they reached the city gate, the scouts didn't enter, but instead shouted repeatedly, "The Jimo rebel army is about to arrive. Please don't be alarmed, civilians! The rebel army will only kill the Jin thieves and not disturb innocent people. If any rebel has robbed your property or molested your women, you may report this to the palace king. If the facts are proven, they will be executed without mercy. If anyone is found to be causing trouble or oppressing innocent people, if the facts are proven, they will be severely punished with fifty military sticks."

The people were all stunned: they had seen many armies entering the city before, including government soldiers, bandits, and even Jin soldiers, but they had never seen any army send people to yell a few words like this before coming.

This army is really different.

The people's expectations are higher...

The Laizhou governor and his group of foreign officials were a little confused: What's going on? What kind of bandit army is this?

The scout shouted loudly towards the city wall: "Our army has arranged a small military parade. Let everyone review our military appearance and have a good time watching it."

Common people: "???"

What is a military parade?

Ordinary people didn't understand, but the prefectural officials did, and they couldn't help but be secretly shocked: A military parade? How confident do they have to be to dare to do this?
At this time, dust was already flying in the distance.

A large group of soldiers, pushing light carts, walked along the official road towards Jimo City...

All the soldiers were holding cold weapons, not firearms.

Yue Wenxuan didn't want too many people to see the benefits of firearms for the time being, lest the news get out and make the Jin army prepared.

So let them review the soldiers with cold weapons first.

The light carts rumbled up, forming a long row like a moving wall. Behind them were a large group of archers, ready for battle. In fact, few of these people could shoot accurately, they were just pretending with their bows and crossbows. What they were actually practicing were muskets and long swords.

Zhang Dalang stood at the front of the car, holding a flagpole in his hand. Behind him were two musketeers, one of whom was Zhang Dashu. However, he was not holding a musket at this time, but a bow for show.

When the carriage was not far from the city wall, Madam Gong Er shouted, "Kill!"

The captains of each light vehicle shouted at the same time: "!"

All the soldiers shouted at the same time: "Kill!"

The chariot commander, Zhang Dalang, pointed his lance forward. Zhang Dashu quickly imitated the motion of drawing a bow and shooting an arrow, pretending to shoot at the enemy in front of the chariot. Then he hung the bow on his back, drew his long sword, and swung it a few times...

At the same time, the spearmen and halberd bearers following the light chariot were waving their weapons forward.

The soldiers on each light vehicle were doing the same action at the same time.

Although the movements were not very coordinated, a large number of people doing this at the same time was still a very shocking scene.

(End of this chapter)