The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 153 The news spread

But Yue Wenxuan immediately added, "The battlefield is so chaotic, yet you're still staring intently at the enemy you killed with your giant crossbow arrow. You're focusing all your attention on that one thing. What if you miss opportunities elsewhere? This time, the enemy collapsed after just one round of arrows. You can't be sure what will happen next time. If you fired ten rounds of arrows, would you have ten pairs of eyes to stare at ten corpses? Then, can we still fight?"

When the archers heard this, their expressions suddenly became awkward.

An archer knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "Master, now that you've said that, we really feel that this is wrong. But if we don't keep a close eye on the enemies we kill, the credit will go to someone else. What should we do?"

Yue Wenxuan: "Get up! I've already informed Madam Gong Er to readjust the method of distributing military merits. From now on, the merits of long-range weapon units will no longer be calculated based on kills, but will be distributed in a different way. This time, the regulations above were not implemented properly, so it's not your fault. You should go and claim the merits with your ears. Also, notify the other crossbowmen that they will not be able to receive their rewards in the army this time. Come to me, even those who don't have kills. I will personally distribute special rewards to everyone."

The archers were overjoyed. Instead of getting up, they kowtowed vigorously, saying, "Young Master, you are a good man."

There are no rules in the army, and rewards cannot be given out in the name of the army, but there is no problem with giving rewards in Yue Wenxuan's personal name. He can give rewards however he wants, as long as it does not violate military regulations, and no one can object.

The archers happily called other crossbowmen and catapult soldiers to collect the reward.

Yue Wenxuan waved at Zhang Wazi and said with a smile, "Come here!"

Zhang Wazi came over obediently, his head hanging low. He thought the True Lord was going to punish him for cutting off someone else's ear, so he said pitifully, "True Lord, I was wrong."

Yue Wenxuan smiled and said, "Don't be afraid. I'm not blaming you for cutting off your ears."

Zhang Wazi: "Ah!"

Yue Wenxuan: "I can understand why you might want to cut off an ear when you see an unclaimed corpse on the battlefield."

He wasn't just being polite, he really understood.

When he was playing games in the past, if other players killed monsters and no one looted the corpse, he would just loot it when he passed by. It was a normal thing and there was no need to catch Zhang Wazi and shout to kill him.

He simply patted Zhang Wazi's shoulder and said, "I'm just telling you a lesson. When you're in the wrong, don't be stubborn. Give in when you should. If you insist on being stubborn even when you know you're wrong, you'll become a keyboard warrior. That's not conducive to your growth, and you won't achieve much in the future."

Zhang Wazi didn't know what a keyboard warrior was, but that didn't stop him from understanding the meaning of the sentence. He bowed respectfully and said, "Thank you for your teachings, Master. I will keep them in mind for the rest of my life."

"Alright, let's disperse." Yue Wenxuan waved his hand and said, "Today's conflict stems from a loophole in the system. It's not your fault, and I don't blame anyone. Before the next battle, a new reward system will be formulated! Everyone should continue to act according to the system from now on."

Everyone saluted and dispersed.
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The news of Jiaoshui County's great victory over the pseudo-Jin thieves instantly took off and flew to several surrounding counties.

There was no need for the Beggars' Gang to operate at all. The common people spread the news spontaneously. Traveling merchants and wealthy cross-county families like the Ma family all helped spread the news.

"Win!"

"We won two games in a row."

"In the first battle, our opponent had only a thousand men, so we didn't mention how weak they were. In the second battle, we defeated the Khitans." "The former Liao generals were beaten by our army led by Gong Yishi, and their heads were blown off."

"We also stole food from the Jin thieves, enough for several thousand people."

"What? You don't believe it? If you don't believe it, go to Jiaoshui County and see for yourself."

This news not only spread in Laizhou and Dengzhou, but also spread its wings and flew to Weizhou.

Because many of the civilians who helped the Jin army deliver food were recruited locally in Weizhou, and in fact a lot of the food was also recruited from Weizhou. Most of the civilians who escaped were from Weizhou. They fled westward and soon fled back to Changyi County, Weizhou.

Although these people had surrendered to the Jin Dynasty with the surrender of Weizhou and became civilians of the Jin army, they were still Song people deep in their hearts.

Even though he had been defeated and escaped, he didn't feel sad at all. Instead, he felt a little happy.

In Changyi County, crickets chirped quietly, "This time I went to help the Jin people transport food and grass, and I suffered a crushing defeat in Jiaoshui County. Hahahaha, what a terrible defeat. That Liao general leading the charge, someone named 'There's a Mountain in the Distance,' was chased clean off by the Song army in Jiaoshui County. It made me laugh to death."

"The Song army in Jiaoshui County was no more than eighty steps away from me at the time. The arrows flew right past me. I looked over and saw the Song army coming. Great! Even though they almost shot me to death, I still felt good. I wasn't going to fight for the Jin bandits, so of course I turned around and ran. Look, I even grabbed a bag of military rations when I fled."

"The Song army in Jiaoshui is very strong. Maybe they can hold their own against the Jin thieves."

"Hey! When I was transporting grain to the Jin bandits, I chatted with Wang Hong's soldiers. There's a high-ranking official of the Jin bandits, some name called Amao Agou, who is now in charge of Jinan Prefecture. He's forcing the officials of Jinan Prefecture to shave their heads. They're all shaved to a half-human, half-ghost look. After the officials are shaved, it's the turn of the common people. After they're all shaved, it's the turn of Qingzhou, and then it's our Weizhou. I don't want to get a haircut, I might as well run away to Jiaoshui."

"I want to go to Jiaoshui too. We have no land to farm if we stay at home, and the Jin bandits won't let us farm properly. They constantly conscript laborers to haul things for them, don't pay them, and kill them at the slightest disagreement."

"I heard that the Jin thieves are recruiting craftsmen. Anyone with any skills will be captured and taken to the bitter cold land in the north. They will have to work hard every day, and even if they die, they won't have a straw mat to wrap themselves in."

In the county town, such discussions were everywhere. The county magistrate, who had surrendered to Jin, sent people everywhere to silence them, but it is more difficult to stop the people from talking than to stop a river from flooding. There was no way to stop it, no way at all.

Moreover, for some unknown reason, the beggars in Changyi County suddenly united and formed a strange gang called the "Beggars' Gang". These beggars did not have to work and had a lot of free time, so they spread news on the streets all day long.

But the common people just like to hear them spread the news from Jiaoshui County. If the news spreads well, the common people will give the beggars half a steamed bun or something, showing encouragement: "Tell me, if you tell me more about Jiaoshui, I will give you another half a steamed bun."

The beggars were even happier. They spoke eloquently and described the events in Jiaoshui County vividly, as if they were not local beggars but beggars from Jiaoshui. God knows where these beggars got the news.

It was through the beggars' words that the people of Changyi County finally understood the truth.

The one who fought against the Jin army in Jiaoshui was a prince, Wang Zhaoye. He single-handedly killed 200,000 Jin troops, killed 70 Jin generals with his spear, broke through the siege, and then sailed across the sea to the Jiaodong area.

The righteous thief Gong Dawang of Jimo County was impressed by the majesty of King He Zhao Zai as soon as he saw him. He led the righteous army to obey the king's orders and gathered all the forces in Laizhou and Dengzhou to fight against the Jin thieves.

(End of this chapter)