Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 595: Martyrdom

However, in Qingzhou Prefecture, Ma Ling had already delivered the official documents.

After receiving the order, the commander Guan Sheng asked about the whole story and was overjoyed. Without waiting for all the troops to be assembled, he ordered his training officer Liu Qi to lead his 500 cavalrymen to march south immediately, passing Yidu, and joined the governor of the prefecture stationed there, Luan Tingyu. The two led 3,000 cavalrymen to block the north of Lushan first, to prevent the bandits from escaping to Zibo Prefecture after hearing the news.

Then he sent someone to inform the deputy commander [Green-faced Beast] Yang Zhi and the military commander [Nine-patterned Dragon] Shi Jin stationed in Boxing to be on guard. Guan Sheng led the military commander [Red-haired Ghost] Liu Tang and the militia commander [Right-armed Bear] Haransheng, with 5,000 soldiers to follow, leaving only the militia commander [Jumping Tiger] Chen Da to guard Linzi.

However, Luan Tingyu and Liu Qi drove their horses down the Zibo River. Coincidentally, they encountered Yun Tianbiao halfway across the river. Yun Tianbiao heard the rumbling sound of horse hooves and his face changed drastically, thinking that it was Lu Shan's hidden trump card.

He ordered the 500 machete soldiers who stayed behind to be on full alert, and Yun Tianbiao urged Yun Long and Feng Hui to urge the soldiers to cross the river.

On the other side, when Xu Jin saw this, he thought it was an ambush by government troops and ordered his men to be on alert.

After a while, a huge flag was seen fluttering in the wind.

When Yun Tianbiao saw them, he breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that they were soldiers from Liangshan.

Yun Tianbiao rode forward and intercepted the cavalry. When Luan Tingyu and Liu Qi saw this, they also rode forward.

When Xu Jin saw that they were cavalry from Liangshan, he dared not stay. He cursed loudly and ordered his men to turn their horses around and flee to Lushan.

When the cavalry saw this, three thousand cavalrymen divided into two teams and surrounded them.

Although Xu Jin had a total of 500 people under his command, not all of them were war horses. There were also quite a few donkeys and mules. When they came here, they were moving slowly and no one noticed anything. But now everyone was trying to escape, and the cavalry suddenly became very long.

Liu Qi and Luan Tingyu saw him and drove their troops to chase him. They were both riding first-class yellow-maned horses. If they let the horses run fast, there was no way Xu Jin could escape. In less than half an hour, Luan Tingyu hit Xu Jin from a distance with a hammer, knocking him off his horse. After catching up with him, he shot him dead with a spear.

Five hundred people, not one escaped. Not many were killed, after all, those riding donkeys and mules behind them, seeing that they could not escape, mostly dismounted and consciously became prisoners. After all, the Liangshan official army had the best credibility, and the horsemen chasing along the way shouted: "Only kill the leader of the bandits, and don't care about the rest."

As for those who followed Xu Jin in his desperate escape, the Liangshan army did not show them any mercy and attacked them with swords and guns when they caught up with them.

By the time Luan Tingyu and Liu Qi escorted the prisoners to the river bank, all the soldiers from Zibo Prefecture had already boarded the pontoon bridge, except for the 500 machetemen under Yun Tianbiao.

Seeing the Liangshan troops arriving, Yun Tianbiao stepped forward again.

Seeing Xu Jin's head hanging on Luan Tingyu's horse, Yun Tianbiao congratulated him, "The general is indeed a hero. He defeated the bandit leader Xu Jin in just one battle."

After hearing this, Luan Tingyu laughed and said, "I never thought that I could achieve such meritorious service just after arriving here."

Liu Qi said, "Uncle, when my nephew came, my husband told me to invite you to Qingzhou as a guest after I met you."

After hearing this, Yun Tianbiao said, "I haven't seen you for many years. My nephew has grown into a young general. This is really a cause for celebration. I am now in charge of the troops, so I dare not leave easily."

After a long conversation, Luan Tingyu and Liu Qi inquired about the situation of the bandits in Lushan, and Yun Tianbiao also told them everything he knew. After the soldiers had crossed the river, Yunlong rode back from the other side.

Yunlong was also very happy to see Liu Qi. The two immediately greeted each other. Yunlong said enviously: "My elder brother has become a militia commander, while my younger brother is only a military commander now."

Liu Qi said: "My dear brother, your martial arts skills are better than mine, but you are just being held back by corrupt officials. If you are willing to come to Liangshan, the position of the militia commander will be within your grasp."

Yunlong heard this and replied, "Hey, how can I make the decision?"

After that, he said to Yun Tianbiao: "Father, the soldiers have crossed the river. Do we want to set up camp?"

Yun Tianbiao said, "No need, the army will return to Zizhou Prefecture to hand over the order." Then, Yun Tianbiao said to Liu Qi, "My dear nephew, I have official duties to attend to. I will write a letter to Yidu later and reminisce with your father."

After watching Yun Tianbiao lead the last 500 soldiers across the river, Luan Tingyu said, "Since you are on good terms with Yun Tianbiao, why don't you persuade him to join you, my lord?"

Liu Qi heard this and sighed, "My father said that Uncle Yun admired Han Shou Ting Hou Guan Wu'an Wang the most in his life. He also learned to use a crescent steel knife. He is very loyal to the emperor and will never betray the court. Therefore, even though my father is in charge of Qingzhou, he couldn't ask for his help, so as to avoid losing their friendship."

After a short rest, the soldiers watered the horses and fed them with hay and beans. Then they escorted the captives and headed south along the path that Yun Tianbiao had taken. At nightfall, the entire army arrived at Yun Tianbiao's camp.

Just as Yun Tianbiao said, he withdrew his troops in a hurry, and the fences around the camp were not dismantled. Although there were no trenches, chevaux de frise and caltrops outside, the firewood and stoves left in the camp could be used.

At that moment, Luan Tingyu and Liu Qi led their troops to move in.

On Mount Lushan, Zhang Xian and Wu Hu had been waiting for Xu Jin for a long time but he had not returned. Now they saw the bonfires in the camp of the officers and soldiers at the foot of the mountain. Zhang Xian smiled bitterly and said, "It seems that Brother Xu Jin is in great danger. The withdrawal is just a trick of the officers and soldiers to lure the enemy."

Wu Hu smiled bitterly after hearing this and said, "We will know the outcome tomorrow. If this is the case, I'm afraid we will have to go to Liangshan."

There was no words to say that night.

On the next morning, the government troops at the big stronghold at the foot of the mountain did not leave the stronghold to challenge the enemy, but only guarded the stronghold.

Zhang Xian and Wu Hu, who were on the mountain, went up to the upper carriage and looked at the big camp. They saw that the flag of the big camp had changed and it was no longer the big flag with the word "cloud" on it.

Wu Hu asked in confusion, "Why did they change to the Liangshan flag? Could it be that they stole horses from Yanzhou a few days ago and are here to take revenge?"

Luan Tingyu and Liu Qi, who were both cavalrymen at the foot of the mountain, discussed with each other and decided not to leave the camp to challenge the enemy. They just stayed in the camp to accumulate horsepower and recuperate, waiting for the infantrymen to arrive before fighting.

At the time of Shenpai, Guan Sheng's 5,000-strong army, accompanied by chariots and war horses, came in a mighty procession from afar. Luan Tingyu and Liu Qi welcomed them into the camp.

The bandits on the mountain were all horrified when they saw this. They were already no match for the troops of Zibo Prefecture, and now Liangshan had dispatched even more troops, so how could they not be worried?

At the foot of the mountain, Luan Tingyu presented Xu Jin's head and told him about their chance encounter yesterday.

After hearing this, Guan Sheng ordered people to interrogate the prisoners and found out that since Yun Tianbiao came, the supply of food in the mountains has been limited.

After Guan Sheng discussed with everyone, he gathered all the captured Lushan bandits together and sent someone to announce, "We are soldiers under the command of Prime Minister Zhao of Liangshan. We are here to suppress Lushan in accordance with Prime Minister Zhao's military order. Prime Minister Zhao did not intend to kill so many people. Today, I will let you go back to the mountain and tell the people in the mountain, 'Only kill the bandit leader, and don't care about the rest.' Now Yizhou and Yanzhou have also dispatched troops. If you don't come down the mountain and surrender, the troops will be everywhere and you will be destroyed."

After the announcement, he untied the ropes on the hands and feet of all the minions and let them all out of the camp.

On the mountain, Zhang Xian was already armed and ready to fight when the government troops came out of the camp. But he heard the guards come to report that the brothers who came down the mountain yesterday were released by the government troops camp at the foot of the mountain.

Zhang Xian was shocked when he heard this, and immediately joined Wu Hu and asked a few stuttering minions to explain the situation.

The two heard that the government troops at the foot of the mountain were not the Yun Tianbiao troops from Zibo Prefecture, but the troops from Qingzhou of Liangshan, and Xu Jin had been killed by the commander Luan Tingyu [Iron Rod].

Hearing the words "Only kill the leader of the bandits, and don't care about the rest," Wu Hu cursed non-stop. He asked his trusted minions to arrest all the minions who came back. Wu Hu said: "Brother, what do you think? This Zhao Xianggong no longer associates with us bandits. Now the only plan is to fight our way out of Lushan and go to Zibo Prefecture, maybe we can still survive."

Zhang Xian heard this and shook his head, saying, "Brother, you have heard it too. The army camp below has no less than 3,000 cavalrymen. Lushan is surrounded on all sides. If we want to break out, we have to abandon the elderly, the weak, women and children in the mountains. I'm afraid the people below won't agree to that."

"Brother, the people down there want our lives now. If we don't leave, the people down there will soon become disloyal. How about we take only our confidants and quietly go down the mountain tonight?"

Zhang Xian asked, "Without these brothers under my command, I'm afraid we won't have a good time when we go down the mountain."

Wu Hu said irritably, "I don't want to leave, and I don't want to stay. Brother, give me some advice."

Zhang Xian said: "I'll borrow your head for use."

When Wu Hu heard this, he was startled. He overturned the table and chair in front of him and was about to run out.

Unfortunately, Wu Hu was injured, and although he was not careful, he was still a burden. He could only run three or five steps before Zhang Xian caught up with him, kicked him down, raised his machete, stabbed Wu Hu, and then raised his machete again, killing Wu Hu.

The soldiers outside the Juyi Hall heard the noise in the house and hurried in to see what was happening. They saw Zhang Xian holding a broadsword in one hand and the head of a Wuhu in the other. Everyone was horrified when they saw this.

Both sides had their weapons drawn.

Zhang Xian shouted, "Don't do anything."

After stopping everyone, Zhang Xian continued, "We were no match for the government troops, and we had no chance of survival if we surrendered. Now, Lord Zhao of Liangshan only wants the heads of the three of us, and nothing else. We were originally good people, but we could not bear the pressure, so we rebelled. Liangshan has light taxes and levies, and there are no corrupt officials. It is a godsend that we can surrender to Lord Zhao and become good citizens again."

"Now that I have killed Wu Hu, I dare not live alone. I will kill myself later. You take our heads down the mountain and save the people in the mountain."

As he said this, he threw away his machete, drew the dagger from his waist, and committed suicide.

When all the minions saw this, they were all speechless.

After a while, everyone burst into tears.

They removed the door panels of the Juyi Hall on the spot, and the four men carried the corpse of Zhang Xian and Wu Hu down the mountain together to beg for surrender at the big camp at the foot of the mountain.

At the foot of the mountain, Guan Sheng and his men heard that a group of bandits had come down from the mountain, so they hurriedly gathered their soldiers to prepare to meet the enemy. Before the soldiers left the camp, Guan Sheng and his men on the flying tower had already noticed something was wrong.

There were quite a few men coming down the mountain, roughly counting them, there were more than 3,000 of them, the first 100 or so were neither wearing armor nor holding swords or guns, while the last 3,000 were holding swords and guns.

The hundred or so people in front of them were heading straight for the stronghold. When they got closer, they saw that everyone in the group was in a state of grief. Most of them were captives who had been released back to the stronghold.

After asking, I learned that the leader Zhang Xian killed Wu Hu and then committed suicide, and asked everyone to surrender to Liangshan.

The crowd brought the two bodies to the big camp.

Guan Sheng heard this and sighed, "What a pity for such a righteous man like Zhang Xian."

Guan Sheng gave orders to open the gates of the camp and recruit the people, while at the same time he sent out messengers to report the victory.

At Baishi Manor, Zhao Zhen and others sighed after hearing what Zhang Xian had done.

Most of the bandits in Lushan were farmers, and most of them were sent to Yizhou for resettlement. The rest of the population, except for those who built villages near the water in the north of Lushan, also went to Laiwu and Laiwu Prison. The [Repair Army] craftsmen were sent there to lead the farmers who came down the mountain to build townships.

The merits of the soldiers who went on the expedition were clearly marked, and the rewards of gold, silver, cloth and silk were immediately distributed. Then someone was sent to Bianjing to present an official document to report the victory.

As for the heads of Zhang Xian, Wu Hu and Xu Jin, they were sent to Zibo City.

Zibo Prefecture Governor Wen Yan sent someone to identify the thief and found that he was the leader of the gang.

Military Commander Cheng Ziming and Militia Commander Yun Tianbiao were both shocked when they heard this.

Although this Lushan bandit was not a brave and experienced old bandit, and he was defeated repeatedly in the fight with Yun Tianbiao, he was not so bad that he could not even last three days.

【Golden Haired Iron Lion】Cheng Ziming said: "Yun Tuanlian, are the Lushan bandits so weak?"

Yun Tianbiao heard this and said, "The bandit leader's martial arts skills are not very good. But Lushan is also quite steep. If he just retreated, there would be many minions on the mountain, and it would be difficult to win a complete victory. Although I won three battles, I couldn't kill the bandit leader, and he fled back to the mountain. I never thought that Liangshan would win a complete victory so easily."

Cheng Ziming was silent for a moment, then sighed, "I underestimated Liangshan."

After hearing this, the prefect Wen Yan felt disdainful: These two warriors have no skills, but they are good at finding excuses.

Wen Yan had the heads of the three men pickled again and hung on the city gate for three days. He then wrote an official document and sent it, along with the three heads, to Bian Jing to report the victory.

Gao Qiu received the victory report from Liangshan two days ago. Today, he saw the official document from Zibo Prefecture and the heads of the three bandit leaders. He cursed inwardly: Zhao Ze is such a cruel man. My guess was right. These three people must be from Liangshan. Otherwise, a mountain stronghold with 100,000 people would not be destroyed in one day.

The document was presented to the emperor, who read it and said to Gao Qiu, "Zhao Anfu is indeed knowledgeable about military affairs. He has put down the rebellion in just a few days."

Gao Qiu said, "Your Majesty, it was not Liangshan's achievement. Cheng Ziming and Yun Tianbiao both contributed a lot. Wu Hu was injured by Yun Tianbiao's son Yunlong."

The emperor put down the memorial in his hand and asked, "In this case, how will you reward me?"

Gao Qiu said, "Cheng Ziming was just promoted to the military commander. The bandits started in Zibo Prefecture. He was responsible for the poor performance of the commander, and now his merits and demerits have been offset. Yun Tianbiao was originally a criminal, but the emperor did not dismiss him because of his loyalty and bravery. I heard that Yun Tianbiao has great ambitions and wants to make achievements. It would be better to transfer him to the northwest. As for Liangshan Zhaoze, he has been given a piece of land, and it would be fine to reward him with some gold and pearls."

Upon hearing this, the emperor nodded and asked the Ministry of Rites to confer rewards as appropriate.

As for the Baishi Manor in Liangshan, after the Lushan bandits were wiped out, although there was no big celebration, there was still some movement.

At Wu Yong's suggestion, Le He composed lyrics and asked storytellers to sing the songs and spread them in brothels, taverns and teahouses. It was about corrupt officials exploiting the people, and three righteous men could not bear the oppression, so they gathered 100,000 people and killed the officials to resist. It was about the court being unable to suppress the war, and asking the pacification minister to send troops. Three righteous men heard that the pacification minister was sending troops, so they committed suicide to save the people in the mountains, etc.

They either belittled the imperial court or promoted Zhao Zhen's reputation. For this reason, a temple was built in Lushan for Zhang Xian, Wu Hu and Xu Jin to commemorate their loyalty.

The people under Liangshan's rule became more and more supportive of Zhao Zhen.

(End of this chapter)