I am Emperor Shizu of Song

Chapter 29: Huaixi encountered thieves, but escaped danger

"Young Master, your archery is truly remarkable! After only a month of practice, you can already hit the target seven or eight out of ten times. You are truly a man of both civil and military talents!"

As Zhao Zicheng stood on the deck, drew his bow and shot the arrow again, everyone who accompanied him was truly impressed and praised him highly.

This Hua Shi Gang fleet is almost reaching Caizhou.

(Note: In Water Margin, it is called "Runing County", but this place name is from the Yuan Dynasty. In the Yuan Dynasty, it was called "Runing Prefecture". Shi Naian was used to using the place names of the Yuan Dynasty. During the Song Dynasty, it was called Caizhou most of the time, and later it was changed to "Huaikang Army". However, the place names of the Song Dynasty's so-called "army" are too niche, and readers are easily confused. They were not used for a long time. In my book, all the place names called "army" during the reign of Song Huizong are uniformly called "zhou")
In the last section of the voyage on the Huai River, the water flow was relatively fast and the boat speed became slower and slower, but it also became more and more stable.

Everyone knew that after entering the Bian River, it would be unlikely to encounter pirates again, so they became more relaxed and spent the past few days practicing martial arts and having fun on the deck.

Zhao Zi said that he was tired of practicing swordsmanship and other basic skills, so he tried playing with bows and arrows for something new.

Despite everyone's praise, he remained unfazed: "I know my own abilities. Shooting arrows from a boat is only about ten steps away, so hitting the target is only natural. I heard that in the military exam, you have to hit the target with three arrows within fifty steps to pass. My mediocre skills are nothing compared to that."

Zhao Zicheng brought up this topic. Li Jun was from a humble background and was not good at speaking. However, An Daoquan had been in the army before and immediately told him:

"What you're talking about is an old rule from the early years of our dynasty. Nowadays, military preparations have become increasingly lax, and the standard has long been reduced to hitting two out of three arrows within fifty steps, plus being able to pull an 80-jin bow. In some years, there are simply no talented people to choose from, so even someone who hits one out of three arrows will be accepted, as long as they're strong enough and can pull a 100-jin bow.

I heard that during the Former Tang Dynasty, the military examination emphasized martial arts, but in the beginning, the current dynasty said 'strategy as a secondary factor,' but now strategy has become the main subject of the examination. I heard that the examination papers are just rote memorizations of military books."

Zhao Zi said that his understanding of the Song Dynasty's military examinations was still limited to history books, and he had never personally experienced it before. After listening to An Daoquan's stories, he realized how corrupt the military examinations had become.

He himself had passed the Imperial College entrance exam, which meant he could have been a more respectable civil servant. If he hadn't taken it, with his current mediocre skills, he would probably have passed the military exam.

He didn't want to talk about such a depressing topic anymore, so he put down his bow and sighed, "After we reach Runing and turn into the Bian River, let's find a dock to rest for the night. The sailors have been sailing against the current on the Huai River these days, traveling day and night, and they are exhausted.

"Once we've entered the Bian River, we should be safe. Tonight and tomorrow, they're allowed to drink three bowls each, but they have to be divided into two groups, so only half of the group can drink each night. This is just to help them relax, and they can't drink too much."

Zhao Zi said that he had some money on hand, which was mainly given to him by the Murong family after he helped them before.

Zhao Zicheng paid for the food and drinks for the soldiers along the way out of his own pocket, and the additional treatment provided by the Yingfeng Bureau itself was not that good.

Since they could often have wine and meat, the soldiers and sailors were convinced by Zhao Zicheng and were willing to accept the hard and tiring work.

The fleet quickly followed Zhao Zicheng's instructions and hurried for half a day, finally re-entering the canal from the Huai River.

The sailors were quite tired, so they looked for a nearby dock to dock.

Because the canal was busy and bustling with ships, the nearby county town was small and lacked a water gate. Large ships docked there could not enter the city, forcing them to spend the night at the docks outside. However, the nearby towns were all fortified, with simple wooden and rammed earth walls, numerous watchtowers, and a battalion of local troops stationed there.

A battalion was theoretically to have a full complement of 500 men, but given the decadent and often empty-handed payrolls of the late Northern Song Dynasty, the typical complement was around 200. Huaixi was relatively poor, being close to the mountains, and the actual situation was worse than average, so it was estimated that a battalion would only have around a hundred men.

After the fleet docked, Zhao Zicheng paid money and sent people ashore to buy wine and meat to share back on the ship.

Everyone was quite relaxed, but Zhao Zi still required that people continue to keep watch and take turns sleeping as usual.

Although the sailors and soldiers felt that this was a bit of an exaggeration, they did not dare to disobey, especially since Yang Zhi was there enforcing military law and playing the good guy role, so everyone could only strictly follow the instructions.

Yang Zhi was a very strict commander of his troops, but he was also very ruthless. In Water Margin, he made the soldiers who carried the burdens of Liang Zhongshu suffer a lot during the transportation, and severely beat and scolded them if they disobeyed his orders.

To be honest, Yang Zhi's rough behavior is indeed unpopular and a bit unethical.

But now he is completely convinced by Zhao Zicheng. Zhao Zicheng is the de facto leader. Yang Zhi can only obey Zhao Zicheng's orders. With the cooperation of Zhao Zicheng, the situation is much better.

Zhao Zi said he could spend money to appease people and play the good cop, while Yang Zhi would be the harsh and harsh villain. Everyone was grateful for Zhao Zi's kindness and loyalty, and even if Yang Zhi occasionally criticized them, they would not rebel against the entire team. At most, they would just feel resentful towards Yang Zhi personally.

Although half of the soldiers on duty did not get any wine tonight, at least everyone could eat meat.

Moreover, those who did not drink alcohol received double the amount of meat, a full pound of pork per person, plus a fish, and everyone was completely satisfied.

There was no conversation in the first half of the night. Zhao Zicheng was sleeping soundly in the second half of the night when he suddenly heard the shouting of people and horses and the whistling of wind and fire outside.

Zhao Zicheng woke up and opened his eyes quickly, only to see Murong Yan, who had been in a cold war with him for several days, standing guard by his bed with a vigilant look on her face.

Zhao Zicheng couldn't help but feel a little warm in his heart. Although this girl was a little jealous and easily embarrassed to see people, she would still stand up when something happened.

Unfortunately, now is not the time to be sentimental. Zhao Zicheng jumped up, put on his clothes quickly, and went out of the cabin to look. He saw flashes of fire in the direction of the town wall in the distance, and he didn't know how many people were there in the dark night.

"Where did these bandits come from? They can't be rebels, right?" Zhao Zicheng was also a little nervous. He quickly ordered all ships to prepare for sailing and collect all the anchors first.

He had always been worried about pirates, so he was always on edge during those days on the Huai River. Now that he had turned into the canal, he finally breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that as long as he was not on the big river, no small thief could be a match for Yang Zhi.

This allowed the soldiers to eat and drink to relieve their fatigue and avoid their nerves being tense all the time. But who knew that something unexpected would happen.

Fortunately, the dock town has defense capabilities and will not be breached immediately, which gives Zhao Zicheng time to prepare.

In less than a cup of tea, the Hua Shi Gang fleet was ready to set sail again and had paddled their boats out of their berths, waiting for any unexpected situation so that they could lower the boats downstream and re-enter the Huai River to take shelter.

Zhao Zicheng saw clearly that these bandits came from land. To avoid the enemies on land, they had to go down to the river, and return to a big river like the Huai River. The enemy could not catch up with them without big ships.

While the fleet was preparing to set sail, Yang Zhi had already sent people to get information. Just as the preparations were completed, Yang Zhi also received news:
"Sir, I asked the local garrison officers, and they said a bandit problem has just started in our state. The leader is called Wang Qing. Before, he was just a mountain lord, and he became a bandit out of fear of crime, robbing passing merchants. I didn't expect that they would dare to come and rob the town and the village now."

After hearing this, Zhao Zicheng was moved and quite surprised.

According to the Water Margin, during the later years of Emperor Zhao Ji's reign, there were four great bandits: Song Jiang, Fang La, Wang Qing, and Tian Hu. However, Zhao Zi claimed that having read history books in a previous life, he knew that only Song Jiang and Fang La existed with absolute certainty.

The so-called Wang Qing and Tian Hu were only mentioned casually in the "History of the Song Dynasty. Annals of Emperor Huizong" in the section recording the major events of the second year of Xuanhe. "In the tenth month of winter, Fang La rebelled...bandits rose up in Hebei and Huaixi."

In other words, in roughly the same year that the Song Jiang and Fang La rebels emerged, there were indeed bandit activities in Huaixi and Hebei, but this is only mentioned in one sentence. Even the names "Wang Qing" and "Tian Hu" do not appear in the history books.

The historical records don't explain how the rebellion was ultimately quelled, or how long it took. This suggests the scale and influence of these two bandits were certainly far smaller than those of Song Jiang and Fang La. Zhao Zicheng, upon his journey through time, had inquired about the situation in the country, but having heard of neither Wang Qing nor Tian Hu, he dismissed them. Unexpectedly, upon arriving in Huaixi, he discovered that a relatively recent, yet relatively insignificant, bandit group already existed.

If they were to encounter a robbery by a group of a hundred or so bandits, Zhao Zicheng would certainly be no match for them. He had the strength of Yang Zhi and others to fight with, and now with the addition of Li Jun, who was also a capable fighter, he could definitely counterattack and kill the bandits.

But at this moment, looking at the momentum of the so-called "local bandit Wang Qing", it is unknown how many people there are, probably hundreds or even thousands. It is difficult to see clearly in the dark, so Zhao Zicheng did not dare to be careless.

The enemy's forces were at least several times greater than our own. In this situation, relying on personal bravery to change fate was quite risky.

The original garrison troops in this dock town were indeed too weak. They were already drawing empty salaries and had only a little over a hundred men left. Moreover, their combat readiness was slack and they were unable to hold the walls made of rammed earth and wooden fences. Soon their positions were breached by the bandits, who rushed into the town, burning, killing and looting.

It is estimated that Wang Qing did not know Zhao Zicheng's background. He just sent out spies under his command and found out that a fleet that seemed to be carrying a large amount of wealth passed through the mouth of the Huai River, so he came to try his luck and hope to make a big profit.

Fortunately, Wang Qing is still far from being a "complete form", otherwise it would be a difficult situation.

Zhao Zicheng made a quick decision: "Leave the fleet and break through immediately back to the Huai River. The river is narrow here, and it will be troublesome if the enemy blocks it from both sides. Yang Zhishi, you will cover the rear and block the enemy. Li Jun, you will lead the two small boats to lead the way."

In the current situation, they can return to the Huai River by turning around and going downstream, and the tail group that is left behind will be the last to withdraw from the canal, so they need strong naval combat forces to open the way, and strong land combat forces to cover the rear.

Letting Li Jun lead the way and Yang Zhi cover the rear is just the right way to make the best use of their talents.

Although Yang Zhi was not good at swimming, he had improved a little bit in the past two months following Zhao Zicheng. Moreover, the water in the canal was calm and the boat would not be bumpy. Fighting on a boat in the canal was basically the same as fighting on land. Yang Zhi could use at least 80% of his martial arts.

After receiving the order, everyone immediately began to divide the work. Li Jun took the lead in driving a small boat, and then led two small boats, rushing downstream in a herringbone formation.

The gang of bandits had surrounded the dock town. There were actually a few bandit boats blocking the way on the river, but they were just ordinary civilian ships and fishing boats, and they had no combat power.

Li Jun stood at the bow, lightly clad in leather armor. As the two sides drew close, he hurled several three- and four-foot-long darts, catching the thieves on the opposite bow, eager to attack, off guard. They were struck and fell screaming into the water.

Li Jun was not satisfied with the long-range fighting, with a shield in one hand and a javelin in the other. Seeing that the two sides passed each other by ship, he threw the last javelin in his hand and stabbed another person. Then he picked up his waist knife, still holding the round shield in the other hand, and jumped onto the opposite ship. He slashed up and down with his sharp knife, and a killing spree occurred in the dark.

The thieves who blocked their way were unaware of the strength of Zhao Zicheng's fleet and were caught off guard. They quickly tore a hole in the enemy's line and broke out downstream.

In the dark night, communication between the various groups of bandits was not smooth. Most of the bandits did not know that the biggest fat sheep had broken through, and they were still fighting in the town, struggling with the imperial troops guarding the town.

Zhao Zicheng did the opposite, and within half an hour, he had the boat safely back on the Huai River. With the boat open on all sides, he was no longer afraid of being attacked by bandits.

After Zhao Zicheng's ship carrying the most valuable goods sailed into the Huai River, the bandits on the shore gradually reacted and quickly sent people to chase after it.

Yang Zhi fought hard to cover the rear, and got many opportunities to make achievements.

Wang Qing's bandits were too numerous to count for many boats, so they could only catch up bit by bit, or take advantage of the narrow canal and swim directly into the water to the boat.

Yang Zhi stood on the deck with several large shields in front of him to avoid being covered by the enemy's long-range arrows, leaving the left and right sides open for hand-to-hand combat with the enemy on the boarding board.

The enemy could only use the tactic of adding fuel to the fire. As they came one after another, Yang Zhi felt no pressure at all. His right hand shot out like a dragon, suddenly stabbing a few bandit leaders into the water, and his left hand's heirloom sword lashed out like snowflakes, slashing and killing the remaining bandits indiscriminately.

"Don't be so arrogant! Yang Zhi from Yanmen is here!"

After leading his personal soldiers to kill several pursuing enemies on small boats, Yang Zhi shouted several times, which was quite intimidating in the dark night. The other bandits were not sure whether to advance or retreat for a moment.

The two sides engaged in a bloody battle that lasted for over half an hour, including the initial siege of the town by the bandits and the subsequent fight-and-fight retreat by Zhao Zicheng, Yang Zhi, and his men. Unexpectedly, the bandits were unable to concentrate their superior forces and attack the fleet, as they were unable to capture it.

The bandits seemed to number hundreds or even thousands of people, but only a small number of them could be deployed to the battlefield at the same time. The rest could only watch the show on the shore or try to shoot arrows to support them.

But Zhao Zicheng's fleet all had tightly shielded cabins, and the cabin planks were all solid and thick hardwood boards.

As long as you don't stand on the deck, the thieves' low-quality bows and arrows are no threat at all.

After more than half an hour, the sky was slightly brighter. Even if the surrounding government troops were slow to react, they should have received the urgent news by now and learned that the dock town had been looted by thieves.

Sure enough, in the direction of the northern city, a small but swift and agile cavalry soon appeared on the horizon.

Because they were few in number and visibility was poor at dawn, the bandits didn't take notice at first. It was only when the cavalry approached that they finally panicked and started fighting on their own.

But the bandits were all armed with swords and shields, at most a machete with a temporarily extended pole, and a small number of inferior long spears, and they had not yet formed a tight battle formation.

Faced with the cavalry's attack, the several hundred remaining bandits led by Wang Qing were quickly thrown into complete chaos and brutally massacred. The rest of the group fled in all directions before daybreak and broke up into small groups.

The upper reaches of the Huai River are located in the foothills of the Dabie Mountains. A little further from the county seat, the terrain is very complex, so it has always been a haven for many bandits. Even if they are defeated, as long as they retreat into the hilly areas, it is difficult for the government troops to completely wipe them out.

"The reinforcements have finally arrived. This group of bandits really dares to seek death. They dare to rob the dock town by the canal even though it is so close to the city." Zhao Zicheng finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the reinforcements repel the bandits.

All the imperial officials and soldiers he saw along the way were useless, but he didn't expect to see someone brave enough in Caizhou.

They rushed to reinforce with a small number of cavalry, without even waiting for the main infantry brigade in the rear.

Zhao Zicheng thought about it and decided to prepare some thank-you gifts to make friends and do him a favor.

By the time he prepared the gifts and sent someone ashore to make contact, it was already dawn.

Zhao Zicheng then saw clearly that the flag on the opposite side was "Hu Yan, the military commander of Caizhou".

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PS: I have to take my son to a rehabilitation center for autism every Friday...so each chapter is four to five thousand words long and I won’t break it up.

(End of this chapter)