The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 233 Sentinel Charter

Li Kui was illiterate and had only said he was joking about reading the imperial edicts. He then heard that all the edicts in the box were the same, so he didn't insist on reading them all and just snatched the one from the eunuch. The eunuch was about to read the edict aloud, but Li Kui snatched it away as soon as he took it out. He froze in his tracks, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

Li Kui unfolded the imperial edict and found that he didn't recognize a single word.

Wu Shun was also illiterate, so the imperial edict was handed to Wu Jialiang.

Wu Jialiang unfolded it and read aloud: "I hereby order Li Kui and others: I understand that the barbarians are bullying Shandong and that the protection of these several states is due to the merits of you generals. You have all demonstrated your loyalty and are worthy of this appointment. You should be devoted to each other and commend the court. Achieve success quickly and you will repay your country." (Volume 129 of "Sanchao Beimeng Huibian" and Volume 16 of Wang Zao's "Fuxi Collection")

After reading it, Li Kui was confused: "What does this say?"

Wu Jialiang: "He said that the Jin rebels were in chaos because you and a few others protected several states. He said that you are very loyal and should continue to serve the country and fight against the Jin rebels."

Li Kui grinned: "You want me to go against the Jin thieves?"

Wu Jialiang: “Yes!”

Li Kui: "Why bother with him? Let's go and have some wine."

Everyone: "..."

The eunuch who had delivered the decree had a dark face, but he didn't dare to lose his temper. He stood there for a long time, and finally, a breath of foul air came out of his nostrils, digesting his anger. He said, "Li Zhizhou, I have already delivered the imperial edict. I have nothing to do here. I still need to go to the next place to deliver the edict. I will take my leave now. This is called "retire after success."

Li Kui: "Don't you want to have some wine before you leave?"

Eunuch: "..."

To be honest, the eunuch really wanted to take out a 40-meter-long sword and chop Li Kui in half with one stroke, but he didn't have the ability. He had to swallow all his dissatisfaction, smiled with difficulty, and bowed to say goodbye.

The attendant behind him asked, "Eunuch, where are we going next?"

The eunuch said, "Go to Weizhou, see Qingzhou, and see Zhao Sheng."

The attendant whispered, "Shouldn't we go to Jimo County to see King He first?"

The eunuch whispered, "Prince He is nothing but a puppet supported by Guan Yi, a fake. Why should we meet him? Let's meet the other bandit chiefs first, and then go to the fake prince as the last stop. This is called [making priorities clear]."

So he started running again, trotting for a hundred miles, tired as a dog, and finally arrived at Qingzhou City. He saw that it was just like Mizhou, with common people dragging their children and preparing to flee. The bandit army in the city was demoralized and lazy, and they did not look like they could fight.

It is obviously unreliable to rely on such a guy to fight against the Jin Dynasty.

But the eunuch had no choice. He took out another imperial edict. The content inside was exactly the same, except that the first sentence was changed to "To Zhao Sheng and others: I believe that the barbarians are bullying me..."

There were no photocopiers back then, so even though the content was the same, it had to be handwritten.

Zhao Gou put in a lot of effort this time, sweating profusely as he wrote a large box of imperial edicts. It was as hard as a primary school student being punished to copy his Chinese homework dozens of times.

Zhao Sheng's actions in receiving the imperial edict were not as seductive as Li Kui's. He accepted the order honestly and respectfully, which made the eunuch feel better.

So the eunuch continued riding to Weizhou to deliver an imperial edict to Yan Gao.

Finally, we headed east from Weizhou and entered Laizhou.

This long run really exhausted the horse.

The followers were exhausted, and one couldn't help but ask, "Third Master, we've traveled through so many states and encountered so many bandits. Do you think any of them can resist the Jin?"

The eunuch couldn't help but sigh: "No! We think they are all useless. Alas! Let alone fighting, they can't even handle government affairs. The fields are abandoned, people are eating each other, and every county is like a bandit stronghold. If they can resist the Jin like this, we can give birth to sons." The followers: "..."

Eunuch: "Finally, there is Gong Yi. Sigh, let's deliver this imperial edict. We will go to Jimo County to see the fake prince, and then find a boat in Jimo County to return to Jiangnan."

Everyone felt that the bandits could not accomplish anything and had no hope anymore. Now they just wanted to complete the work of issuing the decree as soon as possible and go back as soon as possible.

However, when they entered the area of ​​Jiaoshui County, they suddenly realized that something was wrong.

He actually saw a pass with an earthen fort next to it.

A flag with a huge "Palace" character inscribed on it was hoisted atop the fort. As we approached, a sentry's head popped up from the fort and shouted, "Who are you? What are you doing in Jiaoshui County?"

As he shouted, several heads appeared from the fort, some holding bows, others holding strange iron rods. The ones holding bows had their bows half-drawn, while the ones holding iron rods pointed the tips at them, their intentions unclear.

The eunuch quickly introduced himself: "My name is Thirty-two, and I'm here on orders from the emperor to deliver a message to the righteous man in the palace."

The sentry then put away his weapon and opened the closed door.

The eunuch looked carefully and saw that there were a large number of barricades in front of the pass, with a small path in the middle that was only wide enough for two people to walk side by side, and a solid wooden door blocking the middle of the path.

This kind of pass can stop a light cavalry unit of dozens or even hundreds of cavalry, but it cannot stop a large army.

The eunuch couldn't help but look up and ask: "Is this pass used by Prince Gong to defend against the Jin bandit cavalry?"

The sentry didn't hide it from him, not even afraid that he was a spy, and answered frankly: "That's right! Small groups of cavalry can't get through here. As for the large group of cavalry, we can just shoot a few arrows and then run. The large group of cavalry will have to remove the barricades before they can pass through the pass. By then, we will have already run back to report the news, and we may even have time to notify the villagers to evacuate along the way."

The eunuch thought to himself: Amazing! Isn't this the method used by the border troops?

Throughout the dynasties, the Central Plains dynasties often adopted this method to prevent the cavalry of northern ethnic minorities from coming to plunder the countryside.

It's not surprising to see this thing in a regular government, but it's a bit weird to see it in the sphere of influence of a thief.

When did thieves learn to build passes and earthen forts to prevent enemy cavalry from infiltrating?

Can this still be called a thief?

The sentry did not make things difficult for him. He opened the gate and let the eunuchs pass, but he did not completely ignore them. Instead, he sent one person from the guards at the pass to ride a horse and follow the eunuchs from a distance without getting too close.

The eunuch immediately understood and decided not to get close to prevent them from suddenly attacking and killing the sentry.

Following them from a distance feels a bit like surveillance, and I must see with my own eyes that they are going to Glue City.

If they made any rash moves along the way, the sentry would immediately ride back to Jiaoshui City to alert the police.

A sentry who can't read a single word wouldn't be so methodical...

This must be a rule set by the leading general, and the sentinels are just faithfully following it.

This general leading the army is quite capable.

The eunuch thought: This is much more regulated than the sentries in our Song Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)