Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 726 Reward
Feeling he had escaped unscathed, Kong Yanzhou burst into laughter. His subordinate, Lai Shida, panting heavily, asked, "Why is the commander laughing?"

Kong Yanzhou said, "I laugh at Liangshan's lack of strategy. They had a great opportunity, surrounding us on three sides but leaving one open, yet they didn't set up an ambush, allowing us to escape. When the Great Jin returns next spring, we will definitely avenge this day."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the thunderous sound of horses' hooves approached.

The soldiers of the puppet Qi regime who were running at the front shouted as they ran back.

Kong Yanzhou looked around from his horse and saw a massive cavalry charge coming from the south.

"Kill, kill, don't let a single one escape."

Shouts of battle rang out, and the shouts that had stopped behind them started again.

"Form ranks, form ranks..."

Kong Yanzhou shouted, "After running for so long, the ranks and formations have long since disintegrated. How can the soldiers be kept in check?"

Kong Yanzhou drew his broadsword and slashed at the scattered soldiers who were running around and ignoring his orders. He killed more than ten of them, but still could not control the troops.

The cavalry charged forward, further scattering the Qi army.

Kong Yanzhou was terrified and spurred his horse to lead his trusted soldiers gathered around him to run to one side.

Soldiers were running around everywhere, and for a time, they couldn't shake them off.

When Kong Yanzhou gave the order to draw his sword and slash wildly, scattering the surrounding soldiers, he tried to escape, but Liang Heng had already caught up with him.

A fast horse charged up from behind, and with a single spear thrust, pierced through Kong Yanzhou's back and chest as he desperately tried to escape.

With one hand holding an iron spear, Liang Heng impaled Kong Yanzhou in the air and shouted, "Kong Yanzhou is dead. Those who surrender will not be killed."

Ma Jun charged forward, scattering Kong Yanzhou's guards. They all shouted in unison.

"Those who surrender will not be killed!" This message spread throughout the land.

The puppet Qi soldiers, who were already too exhausted to run, saw no hope of escape and dropped their weapons, kneeling on the ground.

Bian Xi and Sheng Ben, who arrived later, also joined in, collecting weapons and driving away the surrendered soldiers to clean up the battlefield.

As Li Cheng and Fu Yu arrived from behind, the army drove the prisoners and supplies toward Songcheng.

As night fell, no one dared to run away.

In this kind of weather, without food or shelter from the wind, one cannot survive in the wild.

That night, after interrogating the ten generals, officers, and Kong Yanzhou's confidants among the prisoners, Pang Yi and Liang Heng exchanged a glance, and Pang Yi said, "Bozhou can be taken."

Liang Heng nodded, "The commander has given the order, so I will lead the cavalry on a mission."

The next day, Pang Yi, along with Sheng Ben and Bian Xi, guarded the prisoners and inventoried the valuables in Songcheng. Liang Heng, carrying Kong Yanzhou's head, collected all the horses and mules, and led Li Cheng and Fu Yu with 5,000 troops out of the south gate, heading towards Bozhou.

Among the group was another person, Wang Dengbang, a subordinate of Pang Yi who later defected to Gao Shide and eventually became a confidant of Kong Yanzhou.

It was this fellow who, as soon as he was interrogated, shouted that he was a subordinate of Pang Yi.

With Wang Dengbang leading the way, Bozhou was leaderless, and it was not difficult to persuade them to surrender.

As the two worlds separated, Zhao Zhen was overjoyed to see the notification in the palace.

In this battle, they captured the entire territory of Huainan East Road, killed Kong Yanzhou, the general commander of the puppet Qi army, and captured Guo Zhongwei, the governor of Zhen and Yang provinces of the Southern Song Dynasty, along with hundreds of civil and military officials.

Although Zhao Gou weakened the puppet state of Qi by utilizing the state of Liang, he also suffered considerable losses himself.

Yangzhou and Zhenzhou, the two prefectures under the actual control of the Southern Song Dynasty, were also captured by the Liang Kingdom. North of the Yangtze River, only a few prefectures remained in Huainan West Circuit; the rest fell to the puppet Qi state. The advantage was that the Southern Song's defensive pressure was significantly reduced.

Of course, the puppet Qi regime was also in a bad situation, having lost all the salt-producing areas along the southeast coast, and bordering the Southern Song Dynasty's Zhao Gou only through the Huainan West Circuit. From now on, if they wanted to attack the Southern Song, they would only have one route.

In the following two months, Huainan East Road was gradually brought under the control of Liang State.

Because many mountain bandits, river pirates, and militias still roamed the countryside, the newly captured areas in Huainan East Road were temporarily placed under military control.

Liu Tang, the commander of the Huaiyang army, was transferred to be the commander of the Sizhou army, and Yan Shun, the military commissioner of Yanzhou, was appointed as his deputy.

Peng Qi, the military commander of Xuzhou, and Han Tao, the general of the Hundred Victories, were appointed to govern Suzhou.

Fu Yu, the military commander of Danzhou, was appointed as the military commander of Danzhou. Pang Yi, the military commander of Yizhou, was sent to garrison Yingtian Prefecture. Wei Zhong, the military commander of Yizhou, was transferred to serve as his deputy.

Li Cheng, the military commander of Xingren Prefecture, was appointed as the military commander of Bozhou, and Li Zongtang, the military commander of Jizhou, was appointed as his deputy.

The General Commander of the Army, Huyan Zhuo, known as "Double Whip," was transferred from Chuzhou to Yangzhou. Li Jun, known as "River-Crossing Dragon," was appointed as the Deputy General Commander of the Army, commanding the Yangtze River Navy. Huang Xin, known as "Suppressor of Three Mountains," and Zhu Xiaoba, known as "Water-Dividing Rhinoceros," were appointed as the Military Supervisors of Weizhou.

Fang Jie, the military commander of Quanzhou, was transferred to be the military commander of Zhenzhou, with Deng Fei, the "Fire-Eyed Lion," as his deputy.

Yang Xiong, the military commander of Xinghua Army in Fujian Road, was transferred to be the military commander of Chuzhou, and Liu Yun, the magistrate of Yuanbi Village, was appointed as his deputy.

Captured able-bodied men belonging to the prefecture were released to return to their hometowns. Those not from the prefecture but with a history were registered and incorporated into the local militia. In the spring of the following year, they were either conscripted into the Imperial Guard or given travel expenses to travel back to their hometowns together.

Those who committed wrongdoings, but were not extremely wicked, were tattooed and imprisoned as mining slaves. After the weather warmed up, they were sent to Fujian Province and other border prefectures such as Shicheng Prefecture, Dongchuan Prefecture, Zuining Prefecture, Huichuan Prefecture, and Jianchang Prefecture, which were seized from the Dali Kingdom, to guard the border and mine.

The grain and fodder were stored away, and most of the wealth was transported back to the capital by sled along the frozen canals and waterways.

It took two months of reorganization to straighten out Huainan East Road.

Kong Yanzhou was truly skilled at accumulating wealth. Besides rewarding meritorious soldiers and keeping a small portion for the local government, he sent a huge amount of money, amounting to tens of millions of strings of cash, to Liangshan's treasury.

The first batch delivered consisted entirely of the private property of Kong Yanzhou and his subordinates.

Silks, satins, coral, and jewels—everything imaginable was available.

Bian Xi, who escorted the goods, also offered over a hundred women as tribute.

These women were all abducted by Kong Yanzhou for his sexual pleasure. Most of them were from families of officials and were well-educated and reasonable. Pang Yi and his men dared not make a decision on their own, so they simply sent them along with Kong Yanzhou's family members.

Zhao Zhen sent people to inquire about the future prospects of these women. Those who had a future were given travel expenses, while those who had no future were sent to places like the Silk and Brocade Institute, the Tailoring Institute, and the Embroidery Institute, according to their talents, to make a living.

Upon questioning, it was learned that these women had long since lost their families and homes.

As for Kong Yanzhou's family members, both the men and the young were sent to the mine as prisoners.

His wives, concubines, and women were all sent to the brothel.

Bian Xi offered up one person alone: ​​Kong Yanzhou's daughter, Kong Caiwen.

Zhao Zhen initially didn't think much of it, but upon seeing her, he was astonished, finding her to be a celestial being. Her charming smile revealed a delightful face, and her allure was beyond description.

Zhao Zhen immediately changed her surname to Xu, taking her mother's surname, and conferred upon her the title of Cairen, sending her to the Chuxiu Palace. Her mother, Lady Xu, was granted the title of County Lady and bestowed with a residence.

As for Bian Xi, Zhao Zhen kept him in the court and appointed him as an assistant director of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Transportation.

Following a great victory, the imperial court's official gazette was printed in a hurry, and soldiers were dispatched to deliver it to various prefectures and counties.

Let the first year of Jingze pass by in great victory.

(End of this chapter)