Southern Ming: A boy soldier at the beginning, supporting the world

Chapter 105 The Fury of Thunder

Jiao Lian sent his personal soldiers to deliver the letter and waited for a reply. Danchu opened it and saw that it mentioned the banquet.

Started!
Dan Chu remained calm and read the letter again. He found the content to be peaceful, consistent with Jiao Lian's usual tone. He did not mention whether he could lead troops or how many troops he could lead, which was consistent with his usual rough character.

The personal soldier was also an old soldier from northern Shaanxi, and was familiar with Danchu. He said, "Gentleman, the commander will hold a banquet tomorrow to entertain the generals, reward the personal soldiers, and celebrate the victory of Quanzhou. He specifically told me to be sure to attend the banquet."

Danchu pretended to be angry and said, "No, my food was robbed and the commander refused to uphold justice. How can I celebrate the victory? No, no."

The guard smiled and said, "Please calm down, Governor. Marshal Jue has seized a batch of food and money from the Qing army. He may share it with the troops at the banquet to help alleviate their food and money problems.

"Then Feng Zhen will also attend the banquet today. After a few drinks, he will have no choice but to say anything. Marshal Jue governs the army impartially and will definitely give justice to Zhentai."

Jiao Lian had not yet revealed the truth to Dan Chu, and Dan Chu did not know what means he would use. It was fine if it was just a literary move, but if it really came to violence, how could he not be fully prepared?
Judging from the look on the guard's face, he seemed to be in the dark as well. Danchu asked tentatively, "Then I will take the guards with me to the banquet."

The guardsman was filled with joy and said, "Thank you, Governor."

Danchu wrote a receipt, sent Jiao Lian's personal soldiers away, dismissed his attendants, and asked Fang Yizhi, "Mizhi, what do you think the commander-in-chief wants to do? He wants to hold a Hongmen Feast? But why does he allow military generals to lead the troops?"

Fang Yizhi said without hesitation, "It is most likely that they are going to hold a Hongmen Banquet. Marshal Jue is a man of great skill, and he must have made all the necessary preparations. The governor does not need to be suspicious, just pretend nothing has happened and only bring a team of personal soldiers to the banquet."

"Well," Danchu pondered for a moment and said, "Let's do this. I will take the personal guards over there and secretly stay in the main camp. Tomorrow, order all the camps to be on guard in secret."

"promise."

At noon the next day, Danchu brought a team of personal soldiers to Jiao Lian’s camp for a banquet.

The camp was located in the west of Quanzhou City, with a relatively open terrain. The Qing army had been defeated, and the camp was not well guarded. Jiao Lian's personal army was preparing wine and food. Today, they killed a few horses to reward their personal army, and everyone was very happy.

It didn't look like a Hongmen Banquet at all. Danchu was full of doubts, but he had to pretend to be relaxed and stepped into the camp.

Bai Guozhen came forward, greeted Danchu, and asked, "Zhuoru, how many troops did you bring?"

"Personal guards, one hundred men."

Bai Guozhen was Jiao Lian's commander in chief and also Jiao Lian's adviser. He looked normal, as if he knew nothing about it and didn't care about the robbing of military rations.

"Okay, come on, take them to the southeast corner of the camp to rest. Give each of them a bowl of rice, an ounce of horse meat, and a cup of white wine."

Feng Zhiji happened to come along, too, with a large number of men, perhaps three to five hundred. He probably knew that he shouldn't have robbed food, and was afraid that Jiao Lian would blame him, so he brought more men with him.

When meeting an enemy, Dan Chu suppressed his anger, did not say hello, nor did he salute, and walked towards the central military camp.

But I heard the conversation between Bai Guozhen and Feng Zhiji from behind:

"Old Feng, you have so many people with you. Should we let them rest inside the camp or outside?"

"Hey, there are only three or four hundred people, all of them are my personal soldiers, let them rest in the camp."

"Okay, no problem."

……

Jiao Lian, dressed in casual clothes and with a smile on his face, invited the generals to take a seat.

"Someone, pour the wine."

The personal soldiers filled the cups for the generals. Jiao Lian raised his glass and said, "Everyone, Quanzhou has been conquered, and the army will march to Yongzhou soon. Today I will prepare some wine to entertain you. Drink."

There was no disturbance, it was a completely normal banquet scene. What was going on? There was no atmosphere of the Hongmen Banquet at all. Was it rare that Jiao Lian could swallow this? Dan Chu was suspicious, but he pretended to be calm and drank the wine in the glass.

Feng Zhiji was very alert, wearing armor, and took off his helmet after entering the tent. Seeing that Jiao Lian had no intention of blaming him, and everyone had the same wine and food, Feng Zhiji relaxed a little and drank it all in one gulp.

Most of Jiao Lian's generals were from Shaanxi. Feng Zhiji always felt out of place among them. At this banquet, he was the only one wearing a helmet and armor, which made him look very different.

After three rounds of drinking, the atmosphere at the banquet became much more harmonious. All the generals came to toast Jiao Lian. Jiao Lian was a big drinker and he never refused anyone. Dan Chu also went to toast and said, "Marshal Jue, if it weren't for your support along the way, how could Dan Chu have achieved what he has today? I offer you a glass of wine, please feel free to drink a little."

He stared at Jiao Lian, trying to find a hint of understanding in his eyes.

Jiao Lian just smiled and said, "Zhuoru is young and promising, and he is my favorite general. We must drink a full cup no matter what."

Danchu wanted to persuade him, but Jiao Lian had already finished the wine. He was a little disappointed and was about to leave, but he saw Jiao Lian's eyes seemed to move, as if responding to the question in his heart.

Feng Zhiji had no choice but to go over and toast. Everyone at the table looked at him with contempt and hostility in their eyes.

"I am extremely grateful for your kindness, Marshal. All my words are expressed in this cup of wine. Marshal, I'll drink it, you can do as you please." Feng Zhiji is a strong and powerful man with a very good alcohol tolerance.

"Old Feng, although you are an outsider, you have risen to prominence and made countless contributions to our army. I should thank you. Come, let's have a drink."

After drinking, Jiao Lian held his hand and said, "Old Feng, people go to higher places, and water flows to lower places. If you come to serve under the commander-in-chief, it will be no problem for you to be awarded a title and become a general in the future. I am also very happy about this and have no other thoughts."

"Marshal!" Feng Zhiji's face flushed red, maybe because of the alcohol or because he was moved by Jiao Lian's generosity. He said, "I am ashamed. I really don't know what to say!"

"We are all brothers, what is there to be ashamed of? You can still serve the court and destroy the Qing invaders under the command of the commander-in-chief, what is there to be ashamed of? Don't think too much, no matter where you go, we are all comrades in arms."

Feng Zhiji was so ashamed that he offered Jiao Lian another cup of wine.

Dan Chu was also very disappointed. It looked like Jiao Lian didn't dare to offend He Tengjiao and decided to keep the matter peacefully.

But Jiao Lian changed the subject and said, "The army is short of food. I heard that you borrowed the military rations from Danchu and Jiao Ke. You will be transferred to the commander-in-chief soon. I don't have anything to give you, so I'll use the military rations as a gift. There are still some misunderstandings here. You three can drink one each and let this matter be resolved."

Danchu was extremely reluctant, but he had to go with Jiao Ke and drink with Feng Zhiji to make peace.

Just as the guards filled the glasses, a lieutenant suddenly rushed in from outside and said, "Marshal, this is urgent."

Everyone turned their heads, wondering what other urgent military information was.

In the blink of an eye, the soldier who was pouring wine took out a dagger and slashed it at Feng Zhiji's neck.

Feng Zhiji had drunk a lot of wine, so his mind was distracted and his reaction was slow, but he still dodged subconsciously. The dagger slashed across his face, and blood immediately flowed. He was fat and strong, and had great brute force, so he immediately rushed to the door of the tent.

The personal soldiers had been lying in ambush for a long time and rushed in from outside the tent and behind the screen.

Jiao Lian's expression also changed, and he shouted, "Why don't you do it now!"

Danchu reacted, picked up a chair and hit Feng Zhiji on the head from behind.

In no time, they caught Feng Zhiji and stuffed a rag into his mouth.

Jiao Lian's eyes flashed with ferocity, and he said viciously: "Feng Zhiji, you robbed our army's rations, betrayed us, and changed your allegiance. This is intolerable! Behead me immediately!"

Feng Zhiji struggled desperately, but his head was cut off by a sharp blade.

The camp gate was already closed, Jiao Lian took Feng Zhiji's head, put on armor, held a weapon in hand, and came to Feng Zhiji's camp. Soldiers had already surrounded the camp, with bows and arrows drawn, and the fuse lit, ready to fire at any time.

Jiao Lian threw the bloody head to the ground and said loudly: "Feng Zhiji colluded with the Qing invaders and tried to rebel and surrender. Today, I will enforce justice on behalf of heaven and only punish the main culprit. You can continue to serve in my army and eat food. There is no need to panic."

Feng Zhiji's five hundred standard bearers were all terrified and no one dared to say no.

Soon, Jiao Lian, under the pretext of discussing matters, gathered all the officers above the rank of battalion captain and killed them all, and distributed the rest to the various armies.

He immediately dispatched troops to surround Feng Zhiji's camp, searched and killed Feng Zhiji's family, and annexed the rest of his troops and distributed them among the armies.

This thunderous rage shocked Danchu. Today, he learned another trick: never show any tolerance to traitors. Before launching an attack, he must make careful preparations and not reveal any secrets. When launching an attack, he must be decisive and swift, and must root out the problem without any hesitation.

(End of this chapter)