The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 60 Reduce losses
When he flew, the more than one hundred old brothers were instantly scared silly.

He was stunned for half a minute, then reacted and fell to the ground with a thud.

Xin Qiji walked up to the crowd and stood in front of them, saying loudly, "You were all recruited by Gong Yi to join the rebel army, right?"

The old brothers quickly responded, "Yes! Last year, the Jin bandits came and ravaged our village. Brother Gongyi raised his arm and called on us to join the righteous army, vowing to fight the Jin bandits to the death."

Xin Qiji nodded: "Very good, having this intention is good. As long as you are willing to kill the Jin thieves, you are a good man."

At this point, he suddenly changed the subject: "However, some people joined the rebel army not to fight against the Jin, but to burn, kill, and plunder for a momentary pleasure. Or perhaps, they just wanted to use you as a tool, using you to gain wealth and glory for themselves."

As soon as these words came out, the faces of the old brothers in the rebel army changed drastically: "Who? Who is so shameless?"

Xin Qiji: "They are your leaders, Zheng Hao and Zhang Jiaozi."

The faces of the old brothers turned dark instantly...

Many people showed expressions of disbelief on their faces, and some were even visibly angry.

A soldier said angrily, "You... ahem... Lord Tianguan, you can't just speak without any evidence and slander someone's innocence. Brother Zheng Qi has been kind to me. When Jimo City fell, it was Brother Zheng Qi who led me out of the siege and saved my life. In the past two months, Brother Zheng Qi has also taken care of me in every way. How could he be the kind of person you describe?"

Another soldier shouted, "That's right! When the city was broken, it was Brother Zhang Jiu who desperately blocked the Jin bandits' swords and startled their horses, so I survived. You want to slander Brother Zhang Jiu? I won't agree."

The crowd was outraged. If Xin Qiji was not the "Heavenly Official", they would have rushed up and attacked him.

Fortunately, Yue Wenxuan's "flying into the sky" just now shocked the situation, allowing this group of soldiers to maintain the most basic restraint.

Even the four scouts were a little bit unbelievable, looking at Xin Qiji with dumbfounded expressions: "Master Tianguan, do you have any basis for what you said?"

Facing doubts, Xin Qiji remained calm...

He was born only a dozen years later than now, and the first thing that was recorded in history was his joining the anti-Jin army. He also experienced two rebellions in the army, both of which were suppressed by him personally.

In this situation, his adaptability is extremely strong. He seems smarter and more resourceful than those figures that Yue Wenxuan had put in before, which could only memorize the settings.

No, it should be said that his "setting" is to be good at dealing with this kind of situation.

Xin Qiji: "Basis? What basis do you need? You will follow me and see with your own eyes what is going to happen next. That will be the basis."

He picked up a small branch and casually drew the outline of the Jiaodong Peninsula on the ground, then pointed at the ground with the branch: "This is Dawang Village."

One more point: "Here is where we are now."

Another point: "This is the seaside."

One last point: "If Zheng Hao and Zhang Jiaozi want to kill Madam Gong Er, this is the best place to do it... They're bringing new recruits from the island, so they're moving slowly... We're all veteran rebels here, so if we hurry up, we can get there before them."

"Everyone, come with me. We will rush here in advance and lie in ambush in the woods and grass beside the road. Then you can see for yourself what kind of people these two are."

The rebel soldiers looked at each other in bewilderment. After a few seconds, they all made up their minds to take a detour and take a look. If what Tianguan said was true, then they were blind. If Tianguan was talking nonsense and slandering the two brothers, it would not be too late to fight him to the death.
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Yue Wenxuan finally understood Xin Qiji's idea. His order to Xin Qiji was to "preserve the strength of the rebel army to the maximum extent and reduce the losses caused by the civil unrest." Xin Qiji clearly understood this statement very well. He knew that the loss was not only in terms of manpower, but the most important thing was "people's hearts."

In order to avoid losing the hearts of the people, the traitors must be dealt with openly and honestly, and all soldiers must know that "they are really traitors", otherwise it will only cause disunity.

It seems that he is very stable and there is no need to worry. Let's focus on Madam Gong Er.

Turning the focus back to Madam Gong Er, we can see that the rebel army in Dawang Village has started to move.

The refugee soldiers on the island were in a good mood. They heard that the rebel army now had a base and had captured Mr. Wang's manor. They had no worries about food and drink, and they couldn't help but feel extremely happy.

In recent months, they have been hiding on the island, and their lives have been very difficult. There is no food on the island, and they can only survive by relying on fish, shrimp and shellfish. However, the more fish, shrimp and shellfish they eat, the hungrier they become. The island is also often hit by strong sea breezes, which blow the waves into rolling waves.

This is winter!
The winter sea breeze is really unbearable. Every day that passes on the island, I feel that the Ox-Head and Horse-Face are one step closer to me.

I can’t hold on any longer. I simply can’t hold on any longer.

This time they followed Zheng Hao and Zhang Jiuge to fight their way out of the island. When they heard that the Jin army had retreated, they felt relieved. However, they were still rootless and quite confused about their future. Now that they heard that the rebel army had a base and food to eat, how could they not be happy?

A group of people happily followed the leaders, planning to pick up their wives and children from the island and then go to Dongmiaozi Village to live a happy life.

Just when they were overjoyed, they saw Brother Zhang Jiu, who had been accompanying Madam Gong Er, seemed to have found some excuse to withdraw from Madam Gong Er, retreat to the middle of the soldiers, and follow them.

A refugee soldier from the island laughed and asked, "Brother Zhang Jiu, why are you here?"

Zhang Jiaozi lowered his voice and said, "Brothers, don't let your guard down. Hold your weapons. We might have to fight soon."

"Huh?" The island refugee soldiers were completely stunned. "Who are we fighting? Are the Jin bandits coming again? Or are the government troops coming? Or are they some gentry soldiers from somewhere?"

Zhang Jiaozi: "I can't explain it now. Everyone will know when we get there."

The refugee soldiers were frightened and didn't know what was going on. Their originally happy mood was now shrouded in confusion.

Only a few smart and alert people vaguely noticed something.

But they would not say it out loud even if they felt it, because they were not soldiers recruited by Gong Yi, and they did not know Gong Er Niangzi and Qian Zhuoqun at all. They only knew that Zheng Hao and Zhang Jiaozi were the leaders, and they didn't know anything else.

Whoever the leader tells them to fight, that’s who they’ll fight!

The team headed eastward for several miles before a small hill appeared in front of them. It was called Aoshan, and its shape resembled a giant turtle lying on the ground. At the foot of the hill, two small rivers converged.

Where the two rivers meet, a small triangular island is formed.

If they take action here, the war horses ridden by Gong Erniangzi and Qian Zhuoqun will not be able to run and their way will be blocked by the river.

Zheng Hao winked at Zhang Jiaozi, and the two of them understood and prepared to take action...

(End of this chapter)