The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 151 Seized Military Rations
Zhang Dashu was so angry that he yelled, "One hundred coins, don't leave."

Bali Yuanshan was furious and turned around and cursed, "My name is Bali Yuanshan, not Yibaiguan."

Zhang Dashu: "Who can remember such a complicated name? One hundred coins, stop right there."

"I'm not asking for a hundred strings of cash!" Bali Yuanshan was furious, but he didn't stop to curse. Instead, he ran even faster. Even if Duan Yu (Duan Zhengyan, also known as Duan Heyu, 1083-1176), who was still the king of Dali at the time, used his Lingbo Weibu at full power, Bali Yuanshan would have overtaken him in a matter of minutes.

He ran to the distant mountains and the rebels chased him.

Run and chase!
Soon, Baliyuanshan ran to the vicinity of his logistics team.

Three thousand regular troops went into battle, followed by a five thousand logistics team.

The logistics team was mainly composed of old and disabled auxiliary soldiers and conscripted civilians.

Generally speaking, before a battle, the army would set up camp, store food and fodder within, and have auxiliary troops and civilians guard the camp. If the main force retreated after a defeat, they could defend the camp, stabilize their position, and then regroup before fighting again.

The enemy will usually stop when they reach the camp. They will not foolishly rush directly into the camp. That would be no different from attacking a city and would be very difficult to fight.

But Bali was too arrogant and didn't build a camp at all.

His food supplies and 5,000 logistics troops were staying in the wilderness, planning to directly enter the county town after the main force captured Jiaoshui County.

Now suddenly I see the defeated army retreating, even the commander is not wearing a helmet and his hair is disheveled.

The auxiliary soldiers and civilians understood what had happened in an instant.

I don’t know who let out a strange cry, but then turned around and ran away, and then all 5,000 logistics team members ran away.

Baliyuanshan gritted his teeth, grabbed a torch, and threw it on a grain cart. Burning the grain cart was better than letting the enemy seize it.

But as he was searching for the second torch, he heard Zhang Dashu shouting from a distance behind him: "One hundred strings of cash, don't run!"

Bali Yuanshan no longer cared about burning the grain, nor did he look for a torch. He just ran away, sprinting past the grain cart...

Half a minute later, Zhang Yong led the Zhangjia Village team and seven or eight Yuanyang teams and caught up with the grain cart at the same time.

Zhang Dashu wanted to continue chasing the 100 strings of cash, but he heard Zhang Yong yelling, "Stop chasing! These are all grain carts! Hahahaha! They're all grain carts! Dashu, hurry up and grab the grain!"

When Zhang Dashu heard the words "steal food", he instantly forgot about the hundred strings of cash.

"Grain carts? Wow? So many grain carts."

Zhang Dashu's pupils turned into the shape of wheat ears...

"A grain cart is on fire." Zhang Yong had just finished speaking when he saw Zhang Dashu jump over and keep hitting the burning grain cart. The flames were still spreading.

He suddenly became anxious, grabbed the bottom of the grain cart with both hands, roared, the muscles on his arms bulged, and with a strange cry of "Ah Ah", he actually overturned the entire grain cart. The cart turned over, and the wooden boards pressed on the fire, instantly extinguishing the flames. Zhang Dashu then roared and used both hands to dig desperately, dug out the torch, and threw it far away.

Then he used his hands to quickly dig out the burnt grain that was still smoking and pushed it aside to separate it from the grain that was not burned.

Finally, he sat on the ground and gasped: "I... I saved most of this cart of food... Hahahaha, most of the cart of food... was not burned, hahaha, this can be eaten for many meals." Zhang Yong blew the bamboo whistle again, and the mandarin duck teams that were scattered to pursue the enemy gave up chasing the enemy and kept gathering towards their position. After a while, thousands of volunteers surrounded the Jin army's food carts, and everyone had a smile on their face.

The Jiaoshui County Magistrate had actually come along, accompanied by a group of Jiaoshui County archers. Seeing everyone surrounding the grain cart, but no one reaching out to take anything, one of the archers couldn't help but feel curious and asked, "Brothers, why aren't you taking anything? Can't we just divide this grain among ourselves?"

The rebel soldiers next to him looked at him with strange eyes.

He was so frightened by the sight: "Why are you looking at me like that?"

A rebel soldier asked, "How many heads do you have to chop off?"

Archer: "Huh?"

Another rebel soldier said, "If General Qi Tian sees you taking the spoils privately, you'll be beheaded at best, or punished with forty military sticks at the worst. This time, the spoils are enough rations for several thousand men. If you take them, you'll definitely be punished, and your head will definitely be on the line."

When the archer heard this, he felt a chill on his neck and quickly shrank behind the county magistrate, not daring to speak.

The magistrate of Jiaoshui County could not help but marvel at it. Seeing that the Jin army was really defeated, he brought his archers out to check the situation. However, he did not expect that King Gong's army was so disciplined. They surrounded the large amount of food but did not take it. Just based on this point, their military rules and discipline were many times stronger than the imperial guards.

Is this still a bandit army?
Do not!impossible!
Zhang Yong clasped his fists towards the Jiaoshui County Magistrate and said, "Your Excellency, our army must be prepared for battle at any time. It is inconvenient to transport this grain. Please quickly organize the laborers to leave the city and push these grain carts back to the city."

The Jiaoshui County Magistrate quickly said, "Leave this matter to me."

He quickly gave orders to recruit laborers to go out of the city to transport grain carts.

After a while, a large number of civilians poured out of Jiaoshui County. They were still a little timid, but after seeing the Jin army's defeat and retreat with their own eyes, they became much braver than before. They mustered up the courage to run to the place, only to see the rebel soldiers scattered around, all on high alert, ready to fight at any time. The civilians felt a little relieved.

Being with this rebel army, I feel unprecedented security, and it feels much more reliable than being with the officers and soldiers of the Song Dynasty.

Everyone happily transported the food back to the city and piled it in front of Madam Gong Er.

Madam Gong Er waved her hand and said, "It will be used as military rations."

Yue Wenxuan popped his head out from the side and said with a smile, "The soldiers have seized so much military rations. How can we not give them some rewards? If we don't give them a generous reward, the next time they seize a large amount of military rations, they will risk being beheaded for taking or dividing it among themselves."

Madam Gong Er suddenly realized: If the reward is not adequate, the punishment will not be effective.

She quickly issued an order: "The civilians who just left the city to transport grain will be rewarded with two kilograms of grain each, and they will be paid on the spot."

The civilians were overjoyed.

Madam Gong Er added, "Every one of the thousand soldiers who captured this grain will be rewarded with three dou of grain."

The soldiers were also ecstatic.

Madam Gong Er finally turned her gaze to Zhang Dashu. "Zhang Dashu, you risked your life to save half a cartload of grain, even getting blisters on your hands. Your heart is truly commendable. In addition to the three dou of grain reward, I'll give you half of the grain you saved."

Zhang Dashu: "Wow! Yahahahahahaha."

He received the heaviest reward, but no one was jealous; everyone admired him sincerely. He was the only one who could overturn the grain cart single-handedly; no one else could do it. Furthermore, he had burned his hands with blisters from digging at the fire. He worked so hard, so he deserved the reward!
(End of this chapter)