Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 461 Arrangement
Back in Xintai City, Zhao Zhen summoned all the generals and rewarded them for their meritorious service. All the gold, silver and silk were distributed in full, and the army was given a large reward. Pigs and sheep purchased from Fei County were distributed to the troops, and the soldiers defending the city cheered loudly.

In the back hall of the county government office, Zhao Zhen held a banquet to celebrate.

During the banquet, Zhao Zhen said, "The great victory in Xintai City is all due to the efforts of all the brothers. Now we have captured Yizhou Prefecture, and Fei County has also surrendered. Xuejiu is still chasing the Qingzhou bandits, and drove them out of Yishui and Yiyuan, leaving only Cheng County. In this way, only Cheng County is left. Yizhou has suffered this war disaster, and it is close to Qingzhou. I am planning to supervise this place. If the success is achieved, all the brothers will be rewarded."

Everyone was delighted when they heard this.

Li Ying said: "Sir, Dean Dai took away the three heads of the bandits and recaptured Yizhou Prefecture. How can the court not reward you?"

Qin Ming took a sip of wine and shouted, "If it is a peaceful time, it will not work. The day before yesterday, the spies reported that a group of outlaws from Qingzhou entered Laiwu, and Song Jiang spread the news everywhere. Now the bandits in Qingzhou have not weakened. How many of these people in the court dare to take office?"

Dong Ping said, "That's right. Yizhou has many mountains and little land. The people are already poor, and they have suffered from wars, so there is not much money to make."

As he was speaking, the gatekeeper came to report: "Sir, there is a man outside who claims to be your old acquaintance and wants to see you for something. He came all the way from Qingzhou, but because he missed the time, he cannot enter the city, so he asked me to pass the message. The guard was afraid of delaying your business, so he asked me to come and report."

"What does it look like?" Zhao Zhen asked.

The soldier said hesitantly: "It's not very good."

"Could it be Chief Steward Du Xing?" Zhao Zhen asked doubtfully.

"Sir, brother Du Xing returned to Liangshan a long time ago. I saw him in Liangshan when I came here." Li Ying said.

Zhao Zhen asked, "Do you have any followers?"

"More than ten strong men, all driving carts."

Qin Ming shouted, "Sir, why bother guessing? Just call him in and we'll know."

"What Qin Zhizhi said is true. We are just guessing here. Why don't we meet him in person?" Zhao Zhen said to the soldier who came to report the news, "Please invite him to the front yamen. I will go and meet this guy."

After a while, Zhao Zhen brought Lu Fang and Guo Sheng to meet this man in the front yamen.

The soldier led the man in. Zhao Zhen looked at him but did not recognize him. "Sir, the man has been brought here."

Zhao Zhen asked, "Who are you? Why are you pretending to be an old friend?"

"I am a weak scholar, I came here on orders, please ask your attendants to leave."

As soon as Zhao Zhen heard this, he knew that this person was from Song Gongming. He said, "Since you have something to talk about in private, follow me to the second hall."

As he spoke, Zhao Zhen stood up and took Lü Fang and Guo Sheng with him. After they sat down, Zhao Zhen asked, "Is [Ghost Seer] coming to Yong'er?"

Lai Yonger said, "It is me."

Zhao Zhen scolded: "You broke your promise, how dare the leader come?"

"Sir, what has been done is done, and we will not argue. Fortunately, it did not cause much loss to you. Brother Gongming has reprimanded several leaders who acted on their own. Now Brother Gongming asked me to bring 300 kilograms of gold to redeem the bodies of the three leaders Li Li, Kong Liang and Di Yun. Since ancient times, the death of a person is like the extinguishing of a lamp. Sir, please, for the sake of our fellow green forest brothers, let the three brothers rest in peace." Lai Yong'er bowed.

Lü Fang scolded, "What fellow green forester? What status do you have, sir?" Zhao Zhen waved his hand and said, "What the leader said is true. I came from the grass roots."

Zhao Zhen then said to Lai Yong'er, "Now I am an official appointed by the court, in charge of a state. I am sent as the vanguard of the expedition to the Eastern Capital to suppress Song Gongming. It is inappropriate to meet with you in private. It is precisely because of Song Gongming's great reputation that I thought he would be recruited one day, and we could support each other. I didn't expect that he could not control his leaders."

Lai Yonger immediately responded, "My husband is right. The outlaws have lived in the mountains for a long time, so it is inevitable that they are a little rude. When they get angry, they don't care about the consequences."

"When I came here, Yishui and Yiyuan had already been handed over to Wu Yong, the military advisor. Now we have completely withdrawn from Yizhou, and the conditions we promised you have been fulfilled. Although it is a bit dirty, it is just that the brothers are unwilling to accept it. After this, Brother Gongming and others have realized the gap between them and you, and will never dare to come to disturb us in the future."

"In addition to the three hundred kilograms of gold, there are also many treasures and cloths, all of which are exquisite items that Brother Gongming personally selected from the warehouse. I hope you will accept them."

Zhao Zhen heard this and said, "You are a step too late. The heads of Di Yun and the other two have long been sent to Bian Jing to ask for credit. Brother Li Ying, considering that the three were bandits, collected their bodies and placed them in the charity cemetery in the city. You can have someone carve the heads for the three and take them back for burial."

"Thank you, sir."

"Everyone serves his own master, and life and death are determined by fate." Zhao Zhen said.

"Besides retrieving the bodies of the three leaders, what else do you need? Tell me as well."

Lai Yonger said: "Of course, I will reconcile with my husband and the two families will stop fighting."

Zhao Zhen was silent for a moment, then said, "I have reported to the court that the war was fought in the middle of winter, and the horses and soldiers were seriously injured. They need to rest, but I don't know how long it will take."

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Lai Yonger said, "It's good that you want to stop the war. If the imperial court is pressing hard, you can send a message to us and we will cooperate and give up the city. But you should also swear not to attack us by surprise."

Zhao Zhen shook his head and said, "Since the last time the military advisor left, my Liangshan has never targeted you. I also sent Manager Du Xing to Qingzhou to do business. I treated you with sincerity, but I summoned 5,000 troops to attack the city. This oath should have been made by Song Gongming."

Lai Yong'er heard this and said no more.

Zhao Zhen continued, "Now that you have killed more than 50 members of Gao Feng's family, the Grand Commandant Gao will surely be furious. Next year, the government troops will come to suppress us. Military Advisor Lai should return home as soon as possible to prepare to resist the government troops."

"I'll give you a definite answer. This spring I'm busy cleaning up Yizhou and have no intention of going north. If the court presses me hard, I'll go north from Xintai and only take Laiwu. At that time, I'll need your cooperation to delay the time."

After hearing this, Lai Yong'er no longer hesitated and left immediately.

Zhao Zhen ordered his men to unload the wealth and goods that had been sent, and also ordered others to deliver the three coffins, and then let Yong'er leave the city.

When Zhao Zhen returned to the back, he told everyone about Yong'er's intention. Zhao Xin said, "This is a good opportunity for the Qingzhou thieves."

Zhao Zhen said, "No, Yizhou has been in a state of chaos under the rule of Gao Feng. It has long been exhausted. In addition, there have been many wars, and many people have fled to the mountains to avoid taxes and war. We must make a good rectification in the spring of this year. Otherwise, occupying Yizhou will be useless. Taxes are not enough to support the soldiers, so what's the point of coming?"

"Besides, the soldiers are exhausted after fighting so many battles. Many soldiers have sores on their hands and feet when they go out in winter, so they should rest. Taking this opportunity, the state should also forge spears, swords, weapons, armor, helmets, and organize flags, robes, bows, crossbows, and arrows in preparation for the next battle."

"The Qingzhou bandits are not to be trusted. We are now transferring Brother Li Ying to replace the soldiers here, recruiting another thousand men, and leading three thousand soldiers to garrison. Qin Ming and Dong Ping's troops will return to Liangshan to recuperate. Zhao Xin's troops will be stationed in Mengyin to suppress the small gangs of bandits in the mountains and coordinate with Xintai."

"I heard from Lai Yonger that the scholar led his army to retake Yishui and Yiyuan. I think the scholar is now stationed in Yiyuan to guard the corner with Xintai. For the rest of the places, we must ensure that the farming season is not delayed. I will send people to manage the affairs of each county. In addition, Xinwen and Xintai are close to each other, so Xinwen will be abolished and the two places will be merged into Xintai County, and Xinwen County will be changed to Xinwen Village. Shi Gugong will be transferred to Xintai County Magistrate, and Jinzhuang will be the Xinwen Village Magistrate."

(End of this chapter)