Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 605 Return to life
Zhao Zhen coughed and said, "Don't worry, I dare not damage the body of Gao Zhizhou. I have asked someone to put it into the coffin. You two can take it away." After saying that, he coughed again.

Sun Jing squinted and saw Zhao Zhen sitting crookedly behind the desk, separated by a soft gauze curtain. Two maids had anxious looks on their faces and kept bringing him tea and water, asking him to calm down.

Sun Jing took two steps forward and shouted, "Calm down, sir. The duel has now come to an end. Magistrate Gao is not as skilled as his opponent and has signed a life and death agreement. The two of us will go to Bianjing to report to His Majesty and the Grand Commandant. This matter ends here."

Zhao Zhen waved his hands in a feigned weakness and said, "Of course. You can go now."

Seeing that Zhao Zhen looked pale and weak, Sun Jing delayed for a moment. Then he saw that Zhao Zhen was coughing non-stop and even spit out blood in front of them.

After confirming that Zhao Zhen was also injured, Sun Jing and Luo Ji examined Gao Lian's body and saw that the Liangshan soldiers had changed Gao Lian into a clean burial suit, but unfortunately his face was burned. Only from the body shape, it was still possible to identify that the body was Gao Lian. They asked people to carry it into the city.

After returning to the city, the two men found a carriage and left Liaocheng without stopping, heading for Bian Jing.

After the two men left, Buddha's Hand quickly gave Zhao Zhen a bowl of medicine.

This was also Wu Yong's idea. Before Luo Ji and Sun Jing arrived, he asked Zhao Zhen to take a pill of detoxification and then a dose of snake venom to create the illusion of being seriously injured and perform it for the two of them to see.

As for the vomiting of blood, it was just that they had prepared half a cup of beast blood in advance. Buddha's Hand and Rose saw the opportunity, gave it to Zhao Zhen to drink, and then Zhao Zhen vomited it out.

After Luo Ji and the other two left, Zhao Zhen waved his hand and asked everyone to act according to the plan.

In the camp, the soldiers divided into three groups according to the plan. One group, led by Lin Chong, went straight to Gaotang, one group, led by Shi Wengong, went to Boping, and the remaining group went out of the camp to persuade Liaocheng to surrender.

With the surrender of Gaotang Prefecture soldiers leading the way, Gaotang and Boping were captured without resistance. Wang Yunpeng, the magistrate of Liaocheng, heard about the surrender outside the city, but did not dare to make a decision. There were more than 5,000 imperial guards brought by Gao Lian in the city, under the command of two militia commanders, Jin Bigui and Huan Qi.

Wang Yunpeng hurriedly invited Jin Bigui and Huan Qi to come over and said, "Jin Tuanlian, Huan Tuanlian, Liangshan outside the city wants us to open the city and surrender. Should we fight or surrender? Please make a decision, the two Tuanlian Envoys."

Jin Bigui naturally heard the shouting outside the city. After listening to the words of County Magistrate Wang Yunpeng, he said, "Before the angel left, he told us to guard the city carefully. Now that the angel has just left, Liangshan has come to force a landing. Even Magistrate Gao cannot defeat Liangshan, what can we do? What should we do?"

Wang Yunpeng said, "We have to make a decision. If we hesitate, we will end up in trouble. If Liangshan can't stand it and sends troops to attack the city, we will have no choice but to defend it. But the soldiers in the city have been scared out of their wits, and we can only survive for a few days."

After hearing this, Jin Bigui knew that Wang Yunpeng had no intention of resisting and only wanted to save his life. Therefore, Jin Bigui asked, "Brother Huan Qi, what do you think?"

Huan Qi asked, "Brother, how are our abilities compared to that of the eunuch Qian Ji?"

Jin Bigui said: "There are many things that are inferior to him. Even the militia commander Wei Bao cannot compare to him."

Huan Qi nodded and said, "If the two of them couldn't defeat Liangshan, how can we dare to defeat them? Besides, their morale is low now, and I'm afraid they won't be able to hold out for three to five days. In my opinion, it's better to open the city and surrender."

"I heard that Liangshan's Zhao Anfu is the most trustworthy. Since he told us to stay or leave as we wish, we have also explained to our brothers. The people in the city will not be killed, which is also a merit for the three of us."

Upon hearing this, Jin Bigui looked at the magistrate Wang Yunpeng.

Wang Yunpeng quickly expressed his opinion: "If we can save the people of the whole county, it would be the best."

Jin Bigui listened and nodded, saying, "In that case, the two of us will leave the city and surrender."

The two men took off their armor, and together with Wang Yunpeng, they ordered the city gates to be opened. The three of them then walked to Zhao Zhen's camp to surrender.

In Bianjing, Luo Ji and Sun Jing traveled day and night to deliver Gao Lian's body to Gao Qiu's mansion. Gao Qiu was furious when he saw it and scolded them for being useless and delaying the process, which resulted in Gao Lian's death. Luo Ji took out the death warrant and said to Gao Qiu, "Captain, it's not that we didn't try our best. Gao Zhizhou insisted on competing with Zhao Anfu, and we couldn't stop him. If you don't believe me, you can ask Wang Yunpeng, the magistrate of Liaocheng, and the soldiers outside."

Sun Jing also said: "General, calm down. The prefect is determined to kill Zhao Ze with a magic trick, and we can't stop him."

Upon hearing this, Gao Qiu called in the imperial guards who had gone with them and asked them some questions, and found out that it was just as the two had said.

Gao Qiu cursed: "Fool, idiot."

After Luo Ji left, Sun Jing said to Gao Qiu, "Captain, if the prefect is dead, Zhao Ze will not be well. We went to his camp and saw him vomiting blood, his face was pale, and he was gasping for breath. He must have been punished by the prefect."

Gao Qiu heard this and asked quickly, "Did you look carefully?"

"It's absolutely true." Sun Jing insisted.

The next day at five o'clock in the morning, Gao Qiu waited in the waiting room for the ringing of the Jingyang bell. All officials wore official uniforms and went straight to the Danchi to wait for the audience. At three o'clock in the morning, Emperor Daojun ascended the palace, and the whip sounded three times. The civil and military officials gathered and the emperor sat down. The head official of the palace shouted: "If you have something to say, please go out and report it. If not, draw the curtain and leave the court."

Gao Qiu came out of the class and said, "Today, Liangshan and Zhaoze refuse to obey the imperial court's control. They have raised troops to occupy Gaotang Prefecture and killed the prefect Gao Lian. I beg for your wise judgment."

The emperor frowned and said, "Liangshan has been peaceful recently, and has been working together with your son to suppress the bandits. The former has already sent angels to mediate, so why did they kill officials and occupy the prefecture? Call the envoys Luo Ji and Sun Jing to see him."

After a while, the two of them went to the palace, and the emperor asked, "How is Gaotangzhou?"

Luo Ji took out another death warrant from his pocket and presented it to the emperor. After reading it, the emperor asked the eunuch to hand it to Gao Qiu and said to him, "What does the commander say?"

Gao Qiu pretended to read it once, glared at Luo Ji, and said, "We are all high-ranking officials of the court, how can we play it so lightly? Although there is a death warrant, it is an indisputable fact that Zhao Ze killed Gao Lian. Please issue an order to reprimand him and not to encourage his arrogance."

The emperor listened and nodded.

The emperor had long known about the conflict between Gaotang Prefecture and Liangshan, otherwise he would not have sent angels to mediate. Gaotang Prefecture was originally in the wrong, and now it had signed a death agreement and died, so the emperor really didn't want to provoke Liangshan at this time.

Since Tong Guan led his troops south, Jiangnan has won victory after victory, and Huaixi has also been at a stalemate. It would be good if the status quo could be maintained here on Jingdong Road.

Gao Qiu could not just ignore the death of his brother, so he had to issue an order to send people to Liangshan to denounce the enemy.

Because Zhao Zhen killed Gao Lian, Gao Qiu hated Zhao Zhen even more. As a result, he was no longer as close to Tong Guan as before.

After hearing that Zhao Zhen practiced Taoism, Gao Qiu secretly ordered the invitation of extraordinary people and experts, intending to take revenge secretly.

As for Zhao Zhen, he stayed in Gaotang Prefecture for seven or eight days. After hearing Huanzhang's news, he led his troops back.

After discussing with Wu Yong and Liu Huiniang, Zhao Zhen merged Kouzhou and Gaotangzhou into one, restoring the old name Bozhou, which governed four counties: Liaocheng, Gaotang, Tangyi, and Boping. Liaocheng was made the prefecture capital, Wen Huanzhang was made the prefect, and Wang Lun was made the deputy judge.

Wang Jin, the leader of the charge, was transferred to be the commander of the Bozhou army, with two military supervisors, Wei Yangyin, the iron spear general, and Xuan Zan, the ugly county horse, and four militia commanders, Zhen Dayi, the red iron knife, and Shan Shiqi, Jin Bigui, and Huan Qi, to lead 10,000 soldiers to garrison.

(End of this chapter)