Water Margin begins as a captain in Yanggu County

Chapter 160 Mr. Zhu, why did you commit suicide?

With a shout, countless sharp knives and blades flew out from the crowd.

The group of people who entered the crowd to catch the person who set off the firecrackers had no idea that they had walked into a den of thieves. Sharp blades were coming from all directions to kill them. For a moment, blood splattered everywhere.
Some people even fell in a pool of blood before they could even react.

On the dock, someone had already reacted: "Hurry up and protect my husband!"

Some people even shouted: "Kill the thieves, kill the thieves!"

There were at least seven or eight hundred farmhands under Zhu Jie's command, who had surrounded Zhu Jie. Suddenly, they stood up and rushed over from the outside of the dock with sharp blades, and countless long spears were immediately erected.

It can be seen that these people have received some basic tactical training in their daily lives, but none of them are wearing armor.

They were not an army, and it was not that Zhu Jie was so law-abiding that he did not dare to possess armor privately.

Instead, the main purpose of these people is to oppress the people and do some unscrupulous and plundering things, such as stealing the trees from Fang La's lacquer garden. Although Fang La was not born in a high-class family, he was a wealthy man and would not risk his life unless he had no other choice.

There was no need for Zhu Jie's private army to wear armor.

Moreover, armor is extremely expensive. It would cost a huge amount of money to equip it. Jiangnan is a prosperous place with a flourishing literary style. There has never been any big thieves here. Zhu Zhen has never thought that one day he would have to use farmhands and servants to fight against others.

Therefore, the farmhands under Zhu Jie had no armor, nor any powerful bows or crossbows.

Just look at the thieves on the dock, they are really brave. Even when facing a forest of spears, some of them bravely move forward to kill. And those brave people are indeed the local Taihu thieves.

Perhaps these people just knew that they were here to kill Zhu Zhen today, and they were so hot-blooded. Zhu Zhen was indeed too hated by the people in the Jiangnan area, and countless people hated him to the core.

However, in the impulse, several brave men were stabbed into a bloody mess by the forest of spears.

For a moment, it seemed that the thieves on the dock were unable to break through the protection circle of Zhu Jie’s guests.

This also made Zhu Zhen, who was just shocked, determined in his heart, and he shouted: "Hurry up and strangle all these thieves!"

Zhu Zhen was really frightened. No matter how much he thought about it, he never expected that there would be thieves in Suzhou City today.

Aren’t Fang La’s bandits still besieging Hangzhou?

Suddenly, someone behind Zhu Zhen shouted, "Hurry, hurry, there are thieves on the water!"

Zhu Zhen turned his head to look, and was immediately shocked again. On the surface of the river, countless boats suddenly appeared without him noticing. Those nearby were about to land, and those in the distance were also swarming in.

Some people had already come ashore from the first boat, and twenty or thirty people jumped out in an instant.

Zhu Zhen raised his hand and pointed, then shouted: "Quick, quick, quick! Over here, over here!"

Naturally, many farmhands turned around and hurried to the surface of the water, but this time, there was no tight queue or formation. The thief who came ashore was very brave, holding a steel fork in his hand, and went towards the farmhands.

With a steel fork, he would stab anyone he saw with great speed, killing one person after another, and several people would fall to the ground in a row.

Just by seeing this scene, the farmhands who were running to the waterside stopped in their tracks, with looks of fear on their faces.

The man holding the steel fork was Ruan Xiaoqi. He had just been fishing on the other side of the river and had caught quite a few fish. If he had nothing to do today, he could have sold them for a lot of money.

Fei Bao, who was standing by, called out, "Brother, you have great martial arts skills!"

However, Ruan Xiaoqi did not answer, but just nodded and walked away quickly. The farmhands did not come up, so Ruan Xiaoqi, the living devil, chased them and killed them.

Fei Bao was not to be outdone. He jumped forward with a steel knife in hand and chopped anyone he saw!
More and more people were landing behind him, and the farmhands who went forward to greet them were obviously timid.

Zhu Jie saw that the farmhands were afraid to move forward, and he shouted anxiously: "Go up and kill the bandits, drive them into the water."

While shouting, Zhu Jie was also turning around in circles. There were thieves surrounding him from the outside, and countless thieves came to the waterside of the dock. It seemed as if he was surrounded for a moment.

Just look at the thieves coming out of the water. They are really fierce. After a few encounters, they have killed the farmhands and forced them to retreat again and again. There is no way they can maintain a tight formation.

Zhu Zhen was already retreating, and when he retreated to the countless farmhands behind him, someone shouted, "Quick, take my husband out, take my husband back to the city!"

There were a few trusted confidants who drew their swords, pulled Zhu Zhen, and really squeezed towards the outside of the dock.

Just as Zhu Jie squeezed in several times, the formation became a little disordered. Then he saw a man jumping out from among the thieves outside the dock, holding a broadsword and leading the way in chopping. It was Bu Qing, the Taihu Jiao.

He chopped down a spear with his sword, and then chopped forward again...

Someone was shooting arrows from somewhere, but suddenly an arrow hit Bu Qing's head and killed him right in front of him. No one among the Taihu thieves was proficient in such a skill.

Even Bu Qing knew that this was the young man from Yangzhou. Of course, now he knew that the young man was not from Yangzhou, but was the playboy Yan Qing from Daming Prefecture, who was an expert in sumo wrestling and had an excellent crossbow shooting technique.

Bu Qing was overjoyed, and was just about to create a gap in the spear formation, but people were hacking at him and arrows were coming at him from behind. In an instant, the spear formation in front of him was broken.

Bu Qing moved forward and chopped with all his might. His thought was simple: if he could kill Zhu Jie here today, it would be worth it even if he had to sacrifice his life.

Where is Zhu Jie?
He was trying to squeeze his way out of the crowd, but suddenly he felt he couldn't move anymore. The people in front of him seemed to be retreating as well, and for a moment the place was in chaos.

Just standing on tiptoe to take a look, there were more than four to five hundred thieves outside the dock, and there were three to four hundred thieves landing behind them.

Zhu Jie was surrounded by a crowd of farmhands and was already at a loss as to what to do. He had never seen such a scene before in his life.
Then he heard someone next to him say, "Sir, squat down quickly, someone is shooting an arrow at you!"

Zhu Zhen really obeyed, and immediately squatted down with his head in his hands, panting and shouting desperately: "Quick, rush out, go back to the city, go back to the city!"

Suddenly Zhu Zhen seemed to remember something and shouted again: "Quick, send someone to ask General Su to come to the rescue!"

These thieves are really fierce. No wonder they are wreaking havoc in the southern state capital and no one can stop them...

I'm afraid that only Su Wu who came from the north can stop these desperate bandits.

Zhu Zhen just kept shouting, squatting with his head in his hands. He could not see anything but countless footsteps like the tide, crowding here and there.

But suddenly Zhu Zhen felt someone behind him squeezing him, and he knew that the bandits who had landed were really approaching.

Fortunately, the people around me are my most trusted confidants and they protect me, so I feel a little safer.

They could also be heard shouting, "Charge! Fight your way out! Protect your husband and fight your way out! A huge reward of 100 strings of cash, 100 strings of cash for each person!"

When these words were shouted, it was as if someone really heard them. I summoned up some strength, and the feeling of crowding around me suddenly eased.

But in less than a moment, the feeling of crowding returned.

Zhu Zhen was squatting on the ground, being pushed back and forth by people. He could no longer squat steadily, so he had to stand up slightly, for fear that he would fall to the ground and be trampled.

I only heard the person next to me shouting, "Kill, kill!"

The other one was also shouting: "Protect my husband, kill the thief, kill the thief!"

Even though Zhu Zhen stood up, he did not dare to stand straight. He just buried his head behind the people in front and behind him, and he really heard the sound of the arrows whizzing.

Ruan Xiaoqi was there, and he killed countless people with his steel fork, but he felt very happy in his heart. After fighting in so many battles, this was the first time he felt so happy!
Killing people is just like cutting melons or vegetables. Where in the past has there ever been such a comfortable battle?

Nabu Qing was outside, chopping and killing countless people with his big Pu Dao, and some even shouted: "We are the heroes of Taihu Lake. Today we will only kill Zhu Jie. Everyone else should throw down their weapons and leave. We will not kill innocent people!"

This line was not something Bu Qing came up with on the spur of the moment, but was decided long ago. As soon as Bu Qing shouted, everyone followed suit, dropped their weapons, and let the people go.

Shouts continued to rise and fall, and unexpectedly, someone actually threw his weapon to the ground, raised his hand and said, "Let me go, let me go!"

But the thief in front of him really kept his word and lowered his weapon slightly towards the man.

Seeing this, the farmhand who had been shouting immediately stepped forward and walked into the crowd of thieves. Really no one killed him!
This scene happened right before our eyes. Within four or five steps, the man abandoned his weapon and fled, and no one really tried to stop him.

Just as Bu Qing went for it with his broadsword, he really had great martial arts skills and was about to chop it again. Before he could chop it down with his weapon, he heard a man in front of him exclaim, "I'm leaving too, I'm leaving too!"

Bu Qing turned his sword and killed the man next to this man on the spot, and really let the man in front of him go.

Even Bu Qing himself was stunned. In the Jiangnan area, people were already terrified at the mention of thieves. Wherever Fang La's thieves went, whether it was a prefecture or a county, they were all invincible.

The people of Jiangnan have become rotten to the core. In just two months, dozens of cities fell into the hands of bandits. The speed was so fast that it is unimaginable.

Even if Fang La wanted to visit all these dozens of cities, it would take him two months to finish.

This kind of corruption of military and civilian morale is probably the scene that Bu Qing sees now.

In an instant, countless people dropped their weapons and ran away, but how could they expect these people to really work for Zhu Zhen?
Even Yan Qing, who was far away, was stunned for a moment. He thought it would be a bloody battle, but he didn't know that Zhu Zhen's private soldiers were not even as good as the former Liangshan minions...

Yan Qing also thought: Uncle planned so carefully, arranged all the details, and even arranged how to end it if it failed, but I never expected this scene...

The farmhands abandoned their weapons and stopped fighting in groups. For a moment, the situation became chaotic. Yan Qing was very anxious, fearing that Zhu Zhen would take advantage of the chaos to escape.

Even if he stood on a high place and looked around, he would find that Zhu Jie was dressed differently, so he could just look for him among the crowd. Even if he really took advantage of the chaos to run away, Yan Qing would also rush forward to stop him.

Yan Qing was worrying too much. He didn't see Zhu Zhen, but he did see the people around Zhu Zhen, all of whom were wearing different clothes. They were very conspicuous in the crowd.

Zhu Zhen bowed among his trusted guards, and suddenly felt the pressure of the crowd in front of him suddenly reduced. He thought he had already rushed out, and just shouted: "Hurry, hurry, protect me, go!"

He just kept walking with his head down. The pressure from behind him was getting greater and greater, as if someone was pushing him, so he quickened his pace.

Suddenly, there was a wailing sound not far ahead. The footsteps in front of him all stopped. He lowered his head and bumped into the back of the person in front of him. Zhu Zhen shouted, "What's going on?"

"Sir, the thieves are blocking the way ahead!"

"Kill them out, kill them out!" Zhu Zhen not only shouted, but also tried his best to push the back of the man in front of him. He just wanted to leave quickly and go back to the city. Everything would be fine once he got back to the city.

The city was not far away. On the city wall, many people were also stunned. Some soldiers guarding the city had already shouted, "There are thieves, there are thieves, there are big thieves outside the city!"

What do you think?

There was chaos on the city wall. There was real fighting outside the city. Everyone on the city wall had a pale face.

It has not been ten years, nor a hundred years. The city of Suzhou has not seen a war in many years.

Moreover, rumors are spreading everywhere now, saying how cruel, brave, and invincible the bandit Fang La is, and how he is invincible...

On the top of the city wall, in the midst of panic, someone shouted: "Quickly close the city gate, the big thief is coming!"

Someone went down to the city and ran north without even looking back.

Some generals even went down from the city wall and rode their horses away, not to rescue, but to rush home!

When the government office received the news, it was in chaos. The prefect, named Deng Wen, heard the news that the bandits came by water and were already outside the city...

Deng Wen was so frightened that he ran away... Su Wu was really not there and did not see this scene with his own eyes. If Su Wu had really seen it in person, he would probably have only one thought: it would be unforgivable for the Song Dynasty not to perish.

However, there was another piece of news coming from Hangzhou: Hangzhou prefect Zhao Ting had abandoned the city and fled!

Hangzhou had fallen into the hands of the bandits. At this moment, Fang La had already been called the Holy Lord, and he had established a formal court in Hangzhou. He changed the reign title to "Yongle" and was conferring titles on his ministers. The three provinces and six ministries were all in place, and he had officially established a country.

At this time, the city of Suzhou was in chaos. Soldiers and officials were running away, and the common people were so scared that they dragged their wives and children and ran northward...

There were only a few hundred thieves outside the city, but Suzhou city had become like this.

There are so many people like Zhao Mingcheng in the entire Song Dynasty.

There was still a fierce battle outside the city. Zhu Zhen was surrounded by the crowd and kept urging his men to move, but he was still unable to move.

I could only hear the bandits shouting closer and closer, their words becoming more and more concise: "If you abandon your troops and surrender, you will not be killed!"

The sound of weapons hitting the ground was clear in his ears, one after another, and Zhu Zhen had already started to curse: "You bastards, don't I treat you well on weekdays? Huh? Didn't I pay you? Why don't you risk your life now?"

Only the voice of the thief responded to him: "Only kill Zhu Jie, and leave others alone!"

Zhu Jie even shouted to his men: "You lead me to fight our way out, and then report to the emperor, and everyone will be given an official position."

Although he was talking, he only looked around. Who was not sweating profusely and looking pale? Even his trusted followers, holding knives in their hands, were shaking like sieves...

Zhu Zhen really stood on tiptoe and looked around, and everywhere he looked, he saw the thief in gray linen clothes.

Zhu Zhen saw a house on the dock not far away, where taxes were collected on weekdays, and he shouted, "Go into that house, quickly!"

A group of people came up from both sides and quickly pulled Zhu Zhen into the room. The room was not small, and dozens of people, including Zhu Zhen, could be entered in an instant.

After entering the house, Zhu Zhen couldn't breathe a sigh of relief, and shouted out his last straw: "Whoever rushes out to ask General Su to come to the rescue, I will guarantee that he will be promoted to the fifth rank official position in the future!"

Who rushed out?

No one can get out!
However, there was a very smart person beside Zhu Zhen, who suddenly came up with an idea: "Sir, I will pretend to abandon my troops and surrender, and when I get out, I will immediately go find General Su to rescue me!"

Zhu Zhen nodded his head vigorously: "Okay, okay, go quickly, go quickly."

I saw the man throwing away his weapon and going out of the door first. There were crowded people in front and behind him, so he just squeezed forward. After squeezing for a while, he saw the thief. He just raised his hand and walked forward. No one really attacked him. He walked into the thief, walked faster, and was really out in a moment.

General Su, where is General Su? Oh... in the south of the city...

Go quickly, just run fast to the south of Suzhou city. Why is Suzhou city so big... Why is the corner of the city so far away?
Looking back, I saw countless thieves surrounding the house, with no way out, and countless farmhands surrendering...

He ran faster and faster, and was about to pass the corner of the city wall. He looked back and saw that the house seemed to have been breached. Many thieves rushed into the house, shouting and killing, shaking the sky.

But I can't understand why these thieves are so ferocious?
What he couldn't understand even more was why he had so many trusted farmhands in the past, who usually acted so brave, but were so incompetent when they were needed?
Even as he was thinking, the man was still running. As soon as he passed the corner of the city wall, he was overjoyed. General Su really wore armor and came with a team of cavalry on horseback...

"General Su, General Su!" The man jumped up and waved his hands and shouted, but he really couldn't run anymore.

General Su's horse was fast, and he came in an instant, and asked, "What's going on?"

"General Su, please go and save Mr. Zhu!" The man bent over and supported his legs, panting.

However, General Su on horseback did not seem to be in a hurry at all, and asked: "Which Mr. Zhu? Which Mr. Zhu in Suzhou City?"

The man was stunned when he heard this, and immediately remembered that when they met a few days ago, this General Su was really a little dazed and stupid, so he immediately said: "Who else could it be? The Zhu Xianggong of Yingfeng Bureau!"

General Su asked, "He is a soldier, what official position do you hold? How can you call him a lord?"

The man was furious when he heard this, and he said, "You bastard, why are you still talking like this at this time? Go and save people quickly. There are thieves besieging Mr. Zhu, and you are still here talking to me about these useless things. Do you not want to live anymore?"

General Su on horseback smiled when he heard this, suddenly let go of the reins, and waved his hand: "Come, come closer!"

The man stood up straight and took two steps forward. "Why are you still dawdling? Go and save him! If anything happens to Mr. Zhu, you, a soldier, will be punished!"

Then General Su changed the spear from his right hand to his left hand, leaned forward slightly, and said, "Your mother is a servant!"

"Huh?" The man was slightly stunned.

Just as General Su's spear stabbed at him, the man lowered his head and looked in disbelief. How could...

How come this spear actually stabbed into his chest?
Just as the spear was pulled out, General Su was still talking: "Stupid, stupid bastard!"

I saw a man riding beside General Su step forward and slightly push his horse's belly, and a huge broadsword flew out of the air and fell down in an instant.

The head had already rolled to the ground. The man with the machete spat and said, "You son of a bitch, it's an easy death for you. My brother is such a great man, how could he allow a pig like you to make such a fuss?"

"Let's go and take a look..." Su Wu's horse's belly was also pinched.

After turning the corner of the city wall, I could see a mess at the dock several miles away. There were not many thieves in gray linen clothes, only about seven or eight hundred of them, surrounding the dock, hacking and killing, and even setting fire to it. In a moment, a huge fire broke out.

Su Wu looked at the city wall again, and found that there was no one on the wall. Su Wu was stunned. What was going on?

Su Wu squeezed the horse's belly, and the horse's hooves rose up. The four or five hundred knights around him rumbled away.

Then I saw the thieves in the distance suddenly turn around and retreat, all running towards the water's edge, some untying the ropes, some getting on the big ship, and some getting on the small boat.

After a while, the big ship was moving and the small boat was rowing...

Some thieves even jumped directly into the water, swam a few times, and then got back on the boat.

On the dock, several houses were already engulfed in flames.

Su Wu's fast horse was already approaching, but there was still a thief who was running slowly. When he saw the fast horse coming, he turned around and shot a crossbow arrow. However, the crossbow arrow was not accurate, and it didn't hit the person, but instead hit the door of a house that was on fire.

After the arrow was shot, the thief ran away quickly, jumped onto a boat, and the boat sailed away quickly.

The thieves have escaped on the boat. What should we do?
But I can't catch up.

Su Wu was helpless and could only shout at the dock: "Zhu Jiedu, where is Zhu Jiedu?"

In fact, Su Wu knew that Zhu Jiedu was in the room that was hit by the crossbow arrow just now, and the room was on fire, but Su Wu still shouted: "Zhu Jiedu..."

Unexpectedly, someone in the room actually answered: "Mr. Zhu is here! Open the door, open the door!"

Su Wu's face darkened. Is it too early?
Alas...something went wrong.

Why did he come so early? Su Wu thought that if something like this happened, the city of Suzhou would react quickly and the soldiers in the city would come out to support them early. He also thought that a fast horse would come and tell him to go to the rescue. Su Wu wanted to pretend that he was also anxious and anxious to kill the enemy and save people.

It would also allow the people in the city to see that he was able to rescue effectively...

Who would have thought that it would be such a situation. There was no one left on the top of the city wall, and no one was paying attention to whether he could be rescued quickly or slowly. No soldiers in the city came out to rescue him...

The Song Dynasty was truly a makeshift troupe. Su Wu knew where he had gone wrong. He had thought too highly of these people and that they were too normal. If he had known this earlier, why would he have performed these extra scenes? It was completely superfluous.

However, the mistake was not serious. Su Wu's plan had a high tolerance rate for errors and even had many backup plans, but in fact, they were not needed anymore. Instead, the current matter became simple.

"How is Zhu Jiedu?" Su Wu asked again.

"Open the door quickly, my husband is feeling choked by the smoke." Someone else answered from inside the house.

Su Wu then saw that the two copper rings on the outside of the house were pierced by a wooden stick, so the door could not be opened from the inside. The thieves were planning to burn people to death inside.

That being the case...

Su Wu looked around and found that the house was surrounded by knights. There was no one around. Even if there was someone, the tall knights blocked his view and he could not see inside.

Su Wu personally dismounted, with Wu Song and Lu Da following behind him. Su Wu personally went forward to pull out the wooden stick that was holding the two door knockers, but the stick was still stuck on the left and right door frames, and was stuck so tightly that it could not be easily pulled out.

Su Wu looked inside through the gap. There were figures lying all over the place. Under the thick smoke, only one person was still moving...

The man who was moving lay down at the crack of the door and shouted again: "Hurry up, hurry up..."

Could Su Wu be fast? He was not slow either. He pushed the door open with one push on the left and the other on the right. The man inside quickly stepped aside to let the door open first.

As soon as the door opened, the man wanted to rush out, but Su Wu went in first. The fire inside was not big, but there was a lot of smoke and too many people, so the place was packed with people all over the floor.

The man who could still move was actually too weak to leave even if he wanted to. Su Wu held his breath and went back inside. He dragged the man to him, put one hand around his neck and the other hand over his mouth and nose. He said, "Even Zhu Jiedu can't survive. Why are you still begging for life?"

The man struggled weakly for a few times, became unconscious for a moment, and fell to the ground.

Wu Song and Lu Da were standing at the door, completely blocking the situation inside the house...

Su Wu held his breath and went in to look for Zhu Jie. Zhu Jie was actually moving, his eyelids half closed and half open, looking up as if looking at Su Wu, but also as if not looking at Su Wu...

But Zhu Jie's hand suddenly rose up slowly, and there was a "uh uh" sound in his throat, as if he was trying to survive.

Su Wu did not wait, but picked up a knife from the ground, stepped forward and said, "Mr. Zhu, why did you commit suicide?"

Zhu Zhen's half-closed eyes suddenly opened wide, as if there was endless fear in his eyes, and his hands stretched out powerlessly, grabbing in the air...

Su Wu could feel Zhu Jie's strong desire to survive...

Su Wu stepped forward with a knife, lifted up Zhu Jie, and went around his back, helping him to commit suicide, also avoiding the direction of the blood spray...

With quick movements, as soon as the door was opened to let in some air, the fire grew rapidly. Su Wu helped others to commit suicide, then immediately turned around and left. It was very hot in the room and they could not stay there for long.

When Su Wu went out, he looked regretful: "I came too late, and they are all dead..."

As soon as he finished speaking, Su Wu issued another order: "Quick, go to the waterside and shoot the thieves."

The cavalrymen went as soon as they received the order, stood by the shore, and kept shooting towards the river.

As they chased and shot, Su Wu shouted again: "We need to put out the fire, put it out quickly..."

For a while, it was very busy.

Su Wu stood beside the fire and sighed slowly. This matter was finally accomplished. Of course, he still had to be cautious and see if there was any survivor.

After killing Zhu Zhen, Su Wu did not feel much relief. He only sighed, this Song Dynasty...

Su Wu turned his head and looked to the south. Without Zhu Zhen as a stumbling block, it was time to start a war...

(Brothers, maybe there will be another chapter tomorrow morning, I can’t guarantee it…)
(End of this chapter)