Northern Dynasties

Chapter 1321: Taking Wu County

Wu County is located on the east side of Taihu Lake. The territory has a flat terrain and fertile soil. It is one of the most suitable areas for farming. It is also the earliest and best developed place in the Three Wu region. It is a veritable land of fish and rice.

In addition to these unique natural endowments, Wu County itself is located in a superior geographical location between lakes, rivers and seas. It is also a prosperous place with convenient transportation and frequent exchanges of people.

Whenever other areas in Jiangdong suffered from drought, flood, or war, many people would flee to Wujun. Once they arrived here, their chances of survival would greatly increase.

Therefore, when a large number of vagrants have been wandering into the country recently, the Wu County authorities did not think it was surprising and did not make a fuss about it. The government did not step in to impose any restrictions or management. Some wealthy families in the village simply organized their villagers to patrol the surrounding areas and strengthen the village's defenses, and did not allow these vagrants to approach their villages and estates.

Because the authorities did not pay enough attention to this, they did not realize that these refugees entering the country were any different from ordinary wanderers.

Generally, refugees who enter the country always bring their families with them, and there are relatively few young and able-bodied men. Moreover, once they enter the country, their main activity is to look for food, either begging along the road, or gathering, fishing and hunting in the countryside. They rarely do other things, trying to avoid unnecessary physical exertion.

But this is not the case with these incoming nomadic food hunters. Most of them are adult males. Although they look ragged and unkempt, they are actually still strong and healthy. They move as fast as the wind in the countryside and rarely stay in a fixed place for a long time. You will not see them collecting and looking for food much. There is a sense of weirdness in every aspect of them.

Wujun Prefect Shen Junli was recently entrusted by the Prince of Linchuan to report matters to the court in the hope of easing the relationship between the court and Wuzhong. However, this greatly angered Lord Chen and he was reprimanded by an envoy sent by the court. Even his father Shen Xun sent a letter to warn him not to intervene in the conflict between the emperor and the Prince of Linchuan.

Shen Junli also felt quite aggrieved about this. In his heart, he certainly sided with the court, but because he had originally worked in the Three Wus, he knew very well that Prince Linchuan had a strong appeal in the countryside of the Three Wus and had considerable talents. If the relationship between them could be eased, it would naturally be a very beneficial thing for both the family and the country.

Since the King of Linchuan asked him for help, he was of course willing to mediate and eliminate the resentment and misunderstanding between them. However, he did not expect that this action would draw the emperor's anger to himself, and also made his enthusiasm for the country somewhat cold.

Shen Junli was in low spirits and had no intention of handling county affairs. His subordinates in the county were either happy to have some free time or had secretly received some instructions and deliberately concealed something. Therefore, Shen Junli did not receive any relevant reports until these vagrants entered the vicinity of Wu County, where the county seat was located.

"A large number of vagrants are rushing towards the county city? Quickly order the county officials to lead the troops out of the city, set up huts along the road ten miles outside the city, intercept the vagrants, and forbid them to approach the city again. Tell them that if they obey the arrangements, the county will soon provide relief. If they do not obey the orders, they will be immediately captured and enslaved!"

After learning the news, Shen Junli quickly made arrangements. Since the incident of refugees crossing the border had happened many times, there was a set of procedures on how to deal with it.

The first thing is naturally to prevent refugees from entering the city to disrupt public order, and then to provide them with certain relief so that they can maintain basic survival, and then to find a way to evacuate the gathered refugees.

However, this method that had worked in the past was not effective this time. Soon, the subordinates of Shen Junli who were sent out to intercept the refugees sent someone to report that the county soldiers who went out to intercept them were dispersed by the refugees, and those refugees still continued to rush towards the county town without listening to any dissuasion.

"These are not refugees begging for food, they are clearly rioters!"

After learning about this situation, Shen Junli's face suddenly changed. He immediately ordered the county soldiers in the city to continue to gather. He also put on armor and prepared to lead his troops out of the city to quell these daring mobs.

As the soldiers in the city gathered, the refugees outside had already rushed to the outside of Wujun County. Shen Junli, accompanied by his personal soldiers and servants, came to the city gate. He looked out and realized that these were definitely not ordinary refugees. He shouted angrily: "These rioters are so obvious, but the county inspectors were unaware and let them enter the county city directly. They really deserve to be punished!"

Seeing that these mobs were coming in large numbers and with such an aggressive momentum, and even had a large number of armor and stick weapons, Shen Junli did not dare to risk going out of the city to fight. He immediately ordered the city gates to be closed and relied on the city to repel the invading enemies.

The city of Wu County was also very tall and solid. Although the nomads outside the city were well prepared, it was difficult for them to easily shake the city defenses with simple weapons. Since they did not have war horses and their organization was still relatively loose, they could not launch surprise attacks, let alone fight at night. Now facing the tall city walls, they were helpless and could only howl and make noise around the city to disturb the soldiers and civilians in the city.

"There must be something strange going on! Most of these bandits are able-bodied men, yet they are able to gather thousands of them. If they were seeking food, they could have roamed everywhere in the county. Why did they have to attack the county town directly?"

Shen Junli was appreciated by Chen Baxian last year and was recruited as a son-in-law, of course, because of his family background, but he was also talented. Standing on the top of the city wall and observing the enemy situation outside the city, his expression became serious, and he muttered thoughtfully. But soon a panicked shout broke his train of thought: "My Lord, something bad has happened! The south gate has been broken, and the thieves are pouring in from the south of the city!"

After Shen Junli heard this, his expression changed drastically. He ordered his trusted generals to go south to intercept and resist, while he personally led his troops from the rear, shouting loudly: "As soon as the thieves enter the city, the city defense will be lost. There must be thieves inside the city to help. Quickly order all officials in the city to return to the county government. Anyone who does not come will be arrested and killed!"

But at this moment, the south gate of the city was wide open, and the mob poured into the city like a tide. When they saw the county soldiers gathered on the main road, the mob that had left the city quickly dispersed to the streets and houses in the city, and soon the riots swept the entire city. Even if Shen Junli had any remedial plan at this moment, it was too late.

"My lord, the enemy is too aggressive. We should quickly retreat to the inner city, defend the city, and hold out against the enemy until help arrives!"

Seeing the riots spreading in the city, people were running around everywhere on the streets. It was hard to tell whether they were mobs rushing into the city or civilians who were frightened out of their homes. There were even stray arrows and chaotic soldiers coming towards the direction where Shen Junli was. After his subordinates killed some rioters who tried to get close, they spoke to him anxiously.

Shen Junli also realized that the current chaos was irreversible, and the best strategy was to avoid greater losses as much as possible. So he nodded resentfully, and led the hundreds of county soldiers who had not yet been dispersed around him to fight and retreat, and evacuate directly to the inner city county government.

However, as he was walking, his sight suddenly swept across a familiar face. It was a fair, handsome, even beautiful face, so Shen Junli was quite impressed. He pointed at the figure and shouted angrily: "Han Zigao? How dare this thief to lead the mob to invade? Did he do it on his own initiative or was he sent by the King of Linchuan?"

Han Zigao was in the crowd and did not notice that Shen Junli had retreated here. When his whereabouts were discovered and his identity was exposed, he felt a little nervous for a moment, but soon he was replaced by the fierceness in his heart. He pointed the blade in his hand at Shen Junli and shouted, "This is a high-ranking official guarding the city. Go and capture him quickly. You will be rewarded!"

Not only did he encourage the surrounding rebels to attack and kill Shen Junli, he also temporarily put away his sword and shot Shen Junli with a strong bow, hoping to kill him. After all, according to the plan of King Linchuan, they should first occupy the county city as rebels, and then King Linchuan would lead his troops to the north to quell the rebellion. If Shen Junli spread the news at this time, it would be detrimental to the subsequent plan.

Shen Junli also saw the murderous intent in Han Zigao's expression, and his heart turned cold. He did not bother to question him any more and directly led his troops to evacuate to the inner city.

However, as Han Zigao revealed his identity, the soldiers who had entered the city quickly gathered here, blocking the streets in the city and making it more difficult for Shen Junli and his party to retreat.

Knowing that his appearance was too eye-catching, Han Zigao did not dare to be too high-profile. He tore off a piece of cloth to cover half of his face, and wandered among the chaotic army towards the direction where Shen Junli was. When he saw an opportunity, he drew his bow and shot. A sharp arrow directly penetrated the gap in the crowd and pierced directly into the neck of Shen Junli, which was not covered by the helmet on his head.

"The city lord is dead, the city lord is dead!"

When the people who were in the nearby fight saw this scene, they all cried out in surprise. The county soldiers became even more terrified and began to flee in disorder in the street.

Han Zigao took the opportunity to lead his men to snatch Shen Junli's body, and then rushed to the inner city. Next, several groups of people gathered at the county government in the inner city, and with the help of both inside and outside forces, they directly took control of the county city.

Wu County was plundered by rioters and the county capital was breached. When the news reached Jiankang City, the emperor and his ministers were immediately shocked.

Chen Chang was about to order troops to be dispatched to Wujun to quell the rebellion, but was dissuaded by some ministers. Because troops had been sent to Nanchuan before, the capital city did not have sufficient troops at the moment. Moreover, the rebels had captured Wujun so quickly, which showed that they were quite powerful. The court might not be able to quell the rebellion for a while, so it would be better to order the Prince of Linchuan, who was nearby, to lead his troops to the area.

However, Chen Chang was not a fool. He was currently on high alert against Chen Qian, so naturally he would not give him any power to conquer. Just when he was at a loss, the news that Nanchuan had been settled reached the court.

After learning about this, Chen Chang was overjoyed. He immediately ordered Wu Mingche to lead 5,000 troops from the capital, and sent a message to Xu Du in Jingkou, so that the two could join forces and go straight to Wujun to quell the rebellion!

The temperature has dropped in the past few days due to the change of seasons. My lumbar disc herniation has recurred. The pain is too great to stand or sit for a long time. The updates are not very good. Sorry, sorry...