Water Margin begins as a captain in Yanggu County

Chapter 96: Su Wu is truly the fierce king of Dongping Prefecture!
The army was on its way back and met Qin Ming, who was gathering two or three hundred men to support Su Wu in the battle.

Seeing that Su Wu had returned victorious, he was annoyed: "Why am I so late just because I rushed to Qingfeng Village to get some weapons, armor, bows, crossbows and arrows..."

Su Wu smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. It was because of Brother Qin Ming's hard fight that the bandits lost some courage, so I won quickly!"

Qin Ming knew what his brother meant, but he still felt uncomfortable: "Alas! Today I want to repay my brother with my own body!"

"There is still time to come, so let's go back first!" Su Wu waved his hand, and he knew that Qin Ming was upset.

This kind of discomfort is good, just hold it in for a while.

Qin Ming then cursed again: "How could that evil-hearted Song Jiang escape this time!"

Su Wu also smiled: "It doesn't matter, we will meet again someday!"

"Alas! Only by killing him with my own hands can I relieve the hatred in my heart!" Qin Ming was riding his horse beside him, feeling very annoyed.

When he arrived at Qingfeng Village again, Su Wu did not enter the village, but walked up from the road beside the village.

Huang Xin and Liu Gao came out to greet them immediately.

Huang Xin, the guardian of the Three Mountains, was also very excited: "Supervisor Su is truly mighty. Congratulations to Supervisor Su on his great victory!"

Liu Gao, standing aside, just looked back and forth, and said, "Congratulations to Su Dujian for his great achievement."

Su Wu also knew what Liu Gao was looking for, so he just said, "Hua Rong escaped long ago..."

Liu Gao's face darkened, but he forced a smile: "Supervisor Su is really powerful!"

Su Wu's horse was still moving, and Huang Xin and Liu Gao followed beside him. Huang Xin said again: "Su Dujian, Hua Rong's sister is still waiting for the Dujian to deal with her..."

Oh, and this...

Su Wu said casually: "Send it out, I will take it back to the camp together..."

He really hasn't figured out how to deal with it yet, mainly because Su Wu has not yet anticipated what his relationship with Song Jiang will be like in the future.

The bandits must be suppressed, but how the final result will be is a matter of future events, and there are many uncertainties in the future, so it is impossible to determine at the moment.

As for Hua Rong, Song Jiang's trusted henchman, there is still no definite answer as to how to deal with him.

Just take it back with you.

Huang Xin immediately returned to Qingfeng Village and brought out a woman. The woman's face was covered with traces of tears, but she was... beautiful.

Su Wu was too lazy to look at it any more, nor did he show any pity, he just ordered: "Put it in the back car and take good care of it."

Li Cheng got off his horse and walked forward, just grabbed the man and pushed him into the carriage with a door at the back.

"Goodbye, Governor." Huang Xin bowed.

Su Wu also returned the greeting, and Qin Ming on the side instructed: "You must guard the stockade well. The bandits have been killed and there may be some scattered bandits coming to cause trouble or sneak away. You must watch carefully."

"Don't worry, Master!" Huang Xin replied.

The army just returned to the camp, and the corpses of the bandits were piled outside the camp again. The weather was getting colder, so it didn't matter if they piled up for a few more days.

After settling down in the camp for a while, Su Wu and Qin Ming went into the city.

The prefect Murong Yanda had already known about Su Wu's triumphant return, and he had even gone up to the city wall to watch the troops return. He saw quite a few corpses and captives of bandits from afar.

When Su Wu entered the yamen, Murong Yanda was not sitting in the main hall, but was already waiting to greet him in front of the hall.

After a few pleasantries, Murong Yanda entered the hall first, followed by Su Wu.

Murong Yanda said again: "Thank you again, Supervisor Su, for fighting the bandits in Qingzhou with all your might."

Su Wu cupped his hands and said: "We are all serving the court, so we should serve with all our heart and soul."

Su Wu has said this official language several times.

Murong Yanda asked again: "Have the bandits from Peach Blossom Mountain really been dispersed? Have the bandits from Qingfeng Mountain also been driven away?"

Obviously, Murong Yanda was a little bit unconvinced. He also knew that it was very common for the army to falsely report military achievements. How could thousands of bandits just escape?

Su Wu followed up with this and said, "Some have dispersed, some have fled. The two mountain strongholds have been destroyed, but the bandits have gone into the forests. There are quite a few of them. Maybe they will come out to plunder again..."

Upon hearing this, Murong Yanda's face darkened and he was shocked. This meant that the enemy had been defeated in two battles and was temporarily hiding away and lying in wait?

Are you going to wait for Su Wu to leave and then make a comeback?
"General Su, we must wipe out all the bandits. We should search the mountains and forests again and make sure to catch them all in one fell swoop." Murong Yanda was really afraid that Su Wu would leave without saying anything, so this matter had to be completed.

Su Wu was waiting for this, and immediately replied: "Don't worry, sir. The bandits are not gone, Qingzhou is not at peace, how dare I leave first?"

"Okay, okay, that's good..." Murong Yanda nodded repeatedly, feeling relieved. It was good that Su Wu didn't leave, and he could continue to work while he was alive.

Su Wu naturally had to continue working and continue to suppress thieves whether there were thieves or not.

The bandits were so ferocious and there were tens of thousands of them.

Need more money!
Su Wu spoke: "I fought hard yesterday and was hit by two enemy arrows..."

Su Wu did not wear armor and took off his clothes directly. The wound was on his chest, which was bandaged, but there was some blood seeping out. It was no joke.

He also said: "Many of my soldiers were killed or wounded..."

How could Murong Yanda not understand? He first praised: "Su Dujian is truly loyal and righteous, a rare good general in the world. The soldiers under the Dujian are also effective in fighting. Don't worry, the government will take care of the pensions and rewards. I will allocate another 30,000 strings of cash, and once the suppression of the bandits is completed, I will definitely give him a big reward."

After saying this, Su Wu nodded: "Since you are so attentive, how dare I be perfunctory!"

Another thirty thousand strings of cash. I'm a little stingy this time, but that's fine too. I'll come back for more next time.

Su Wu also looked at Qin Ming.

Murong Yanda also went to see Qin Ming and said, "General Manager Qin's men also suffered many casualties. The government will also provide compensation and rewards. Don't worry."

Qin Ming was very excited. He was a defeated general, but he still received such treatment. He was even more grateful to Brother Su Wu. He stood up and saluted: "Thank you for your reward, sir!"

"Sir, I will leave the city first and bury the bodies of the bandits to prevent the spread of epidemics in the army. We will go into the mountains to search for and eliminate the bandits tomorrow." Su Wu bowed and prepared to leave.

Murong Yanda also said: "Tomorrow, 30,000 strings of cash, come in the morning."

It seemed like there was a natural tacit understanding, the tacit understanding of the Song Dynasty: if you pay money, you will send troops; if you don't pay, you won't move.

When Su Wu left the city, Qin Ming naturally stayed in the city, so he wanted to talk to the prefect and see his family.

Murong Yanda comforted him and said that Qin Ming had worked hard. He also gave him money. Compared with Su Wu's guest army, he was his own man. He regretted the past and wanted to make up for it now...

When they returned to the camp, they gathered all the statistics in the central army tent and gave out rewards without waiting, as the army had money.

If you kill a bandit, you will be rewarded with 20 strings of cash. Ten strings of cash can buy one mu of land, and another ten strings of cash can buy a cow. There are even some bandit leaders who will have many people come to share the money, and each of them will get 10 or 8 strings of cash.

In fact, there is not much money to give, and there are not enough to kill the bandits. Naturally, there must be a lot of pension. If someone dies in battle, he will get 120 strings of cash, which is enough to support his parents, wife and children for half their lives without worries.

If the wounded were seriously injured and could be cured, they would be given 30 to 50 guan. If they could not be cured and had lost their main labor force, they would be given 80 guan and allowed to stay in the army to help with chores and be supported.

Those who were slightly injured received five, eight, or ten strings of coins as compensation, depending on the situation. Even Su Wu himself received five strings of coins as compensation.

This small battle won’t cost much, but it does set a standard.

The soldiers in the army were naturally delighted and excited when they saw the rewards, while others were jealous and only regretted that they had not run faster or been braver.

Li Yunlong alone earned eighty strings of cash this time.

Needless to say, Luda and others.

Even each military officer received additional rewards. There was no standard for this at the moment, but Su Wu was always generous.

As soon as this matter was settled, Su Wu gave the order: "Take the bodies of the bandits and bury them in the mountains."

Lu Da asked: "Brother, can't you let it go for a few more days? That way people in the city can have a better look..."

Su Wu laughed and said, "We still have to suppress the bandits. There are still many corpses. If we don't transport these corpses to bury them, where will we find them to report for merit in the future?"

In these words...

Everyone was stunned, then smiled knowingly and said nothing more.

The weather is cold now, and the corpse can be used several times. We can't kill an innocent person and take credit for it.

There are tens of thousands of thieves in the mountains, and we always have to search and hunt them down slowly, one or two hundred today, two or three hundred tomorrow, and carry them back and forth several times.

In seven or eight days, or about ten days, we will have killed three to four thousand bandits. In this way, the bandits will be discouraged, and from now on, all the bandits in Qingzhou will be eliminated, and we can then return to Dongping Prefecture in triumph.

I think even if the prefectural government sent someone to look, it should be Qin Ming who came to check. Even if there are other people, it doesn't matter if Qin Ming comes with him, and he won't check it carefully.

Who would have nothing better to go through the pile of corpses one by one? Anyway, they are all piled together, right side up today, upside down tomorrow. Unless Murong Yanda goes into the mountains with Su Wu to exterminate them personally...

Su Wu is... It's not easy to learn good things, but in the Song Dynasty, it's easy to learn bad things.

The poor have their own ways. When they are poor, they will have to rack their brains to get some money...

However, he could not forget Cheng Wanli who was worried in Dongping Prefecture. When he had some free time, he quickly sent a letter to Dongping Prefecture by express horse to report the victory.

This matter is very important. On the one hand, it is to reassure Cheng Wanli, and secondly, it is to report the victory first. Cheng Wanli is familiar with the Privy Council, and he still has to be on guard against Murong Yanda's excessive behavior.

The letter said that there were tens of thousands of bandits, the actual number was at least eight thousand or more, and the mountains were full of bandits. How could Qin Ming win the first battle with a small force?

Su Wu himself, when the army arrived, how to fight hard, how to ambush, how to attack the stronghold...

How can we win victory after victory? Now we are planning to search the mountains and suppress the enemy again.

It's a bit exaggerated...

Here, Su Wu went into the mountains every day, searched the mountains every day, and encircled and suppressed the enemies every day. As soon as the money from Minister Murong arrived, he immediately worked hard and killed two or three hundred enemies every day.

It only takes three or four days for a fast horse to reach Dongping Prefecture.

The man who brought the victory, Li Yunlong, rode his horse into the city at full speed, shouting along the way: "Great victory, great victory, Su Dujian's victory in suppressing the bandits in Qingzhou!"

This is what Su Dujian told us to do.

The city was immediately filled with excitement and jubilation, with countless people following Li Yunlong's horse and rushing towards the government office.

For Dongping Prefecture, and even for the entire Shandong and Hebei regions, there has been no report of victory in the past hundred years. These things only exist in legends.

As Li Yunlong walked along, the streets behind him were soon crowded with people.

"Great victory, great victory, Supervisor Su won a great victory in suppressing the bandits in Qingzhou!"

Li Yunlong led a few riders, shouting at the top of his lungs, with countless people following behind him. It was lively, very lively, and full of joy.

Dongping Prefecture is in the limelight this time, and children, strong men, and even women all feel proud of it.

In the government office, a few officials came out to see what was happening, and then someone else ran to the back office to report.

Li Yunlong, the one who brought the victory message, was carrying a large bag on his back. That was his reward money. He brought back part of it directly. Of course, he would not go to Qingzhou again, but would send it back home to his mother first.

Now, Li Yunlong no longer has his trouser legs wet with urine.

Even when he got off his horse in front of the government office, he did not enter the government office first. He turned around and looked at the people, and said in a loud voice: "This time, my chief supervisor was like a god descending from heaven. He killed the bandits with a single move of his sword. Even in the bandit camp in the mountains, my chief supervisor was the first to climb up and killed the bandits so that they fled in panic. We have made countless contributions! The camp gate was filled with corpses. The bandit leader was killed and the bandits fled. I am here to report victory. My chief supervisor is still searching the mountains to wipe out the bandits!"

"it is good!"

"Great, great! Supervisor Su is mighty!"

"Brother, what's your name?"

"I am Li Yunlong, the deputy commander of the imperial guards under the command of the governor! Even my name was given to me by my governor himself, just because I serve the army like a flying dragon in the sky!"

Li Yunlong held his head high and looked proud.

"So it's Li Dutou under Su Dujian. Nice to meet you!"

"Captain Li, have you accomplished anything?"

The crowd grew larger and larger, some people stood on tiptoe, and some jumped up from behind to watch.

Li Dutou untied the bag on his back and said, "Since you asked, let me tell you. I am Li Yunlong, the leader of four thieves. My family's supervisor offered a reward of eighty strings of cash, but I haven't brought them all back yet..."

Just look inside Li Dutou's bag, and you will see yellow copper coins with square holes in them.

"Good! Good! Good man, good man!"

"Captain Li is truly a hero!"

"There are no mediocre people under Su Dujian's command!"

"Hehe..." Li Yunlong laughed. He felt really proud at this moment and tied the bag again.

Looking inside the government office, Cheng Wanli really walked with his shoes on backwards. He was taking a lunch break, but after hearing the report, he ran out with his shoes on backwards, from the back office to the front office, passing the back threshold and heading to the front threshold...

As he ran, he asked, "Where is the victory report? Where is it?"

"Sir, at the front gate of the government office..." The speaker was the bailiff Zhang Zhen. After Su Wu went on the expedition, he often walked around the government office.

Then I heard a... bang.

Zhang Zhen looked down and was shocked. Why is the threshold of the front hall so high?
The prefect has fallen down like a horse. It's a terrible thing. Go and help him quickly.

"Husband, be careful!"

But he looked around and saw that there were indeed people looking at him, so Zhang Zhen shouted, "What are you looking at?"

Everyone turned their heads away, pretending not to have seen anything. How could they look at their husband's misbehavior for any longer?

My husband got up by himself and waved his hand: "It's okay, it's okay..."

He took a step and ran forward again: "Where is the victory report? Where are the people?"

When Li Yunlong at the gate heard this, he quickly turned around and went to the government office: "Sir, I'm here to report the victory."

Li Yunlong stepped forward, knelt on one knee, took out a letter from his chest, and presented it with both hands.

"I'm here to see it, I'm here to see it..." Mr. Cheng, with an excited heart and trembling hands, took the letter, opened it and started reading.

Zhang Zhen also leaned over to take a look, and then several officials on the left and right also moved over to take a look.

Things like reporting victory are really something that my grandfather's grandfather did.

"Okay!" Mr. Cheng had just read a few lines when he started talking.

"Okay!" Mr. Cheng read a few more lines.

"Great, great! An ambush in the middle of the night and killing the thieves is really great!"

"Great, great! He bravely leads the charge in such an attack... Alas... Didn't I tell him to be cautious? Why did he lead the charge? He really didn't listen to me! I'm so angry!"

Mr. Cheng frowned and stamped his feet.

Zhang Zhen said, "My husband, we won! We won! Hey... I was just hit by two arrows. Hey! How come I was hit by two arrows?"

Cheng Xianggong immediately asked Li Yunlong: "How is your chief eunuch?"

Li Yunlong had already stood up. He was stunned for a moment, then looked at his husband and the people around him. He immediately became nervous and said repeatedly: "It's okay, it's okay. My chief eunuch is a lucky man. Two arrows are okay. I will personally remove the chief eunuch's armor and bandage him. It's okay, it's okay... The chief eunuch can still lead troops to suppress the rebellion..."

"Alas!" Cheng Wanli was so angry that he said, "You really don't listen to me!"

Cheng Wanli looked around again, blaming him: "It's all your fault. When we went to the battle, you had to say that he would definitely return victorious and make great contributions to motivate him. If anything goes wrong, we still have a big thief in Dongping Prefecture, and you will be asked to suppress him then."

Everyone immediately lowered their heads. Only then did they realize that when they were going to the battle, they had clearly said good things and auspicious words. Why was the prefect still angry?

Zhang Zhen also reacted quickly: "Alas... Su Dujian is a man of unparalleled loyalty and righteousness. We should not provoke him. If we provoke him again, he will want to go into battle himself and lead the charge. How can a commander do this? I will persuade him more next time."

"Yes, persuade him more." Cheng Wanli nodded.

Everyone nodded!
Even if someone had any doubts or distrust about Su Wu in the past, how could they not know who Su Wu was this time? He was so brave and brave, leading the troops to climb the mountain first, and even after being hit by two arrows, he still continued to fight.

This kind of thing is really just something that happens in stories and legends. I never thought that there really are people like this in the world.

Cheng Wanli continued to watch, and slowly he sighed instead of being excited: "Great, great, great, great merit. If we can wipe out all the Qingzhou thieves this time, we will have made a great contribution!"

Zhang Zhen also read the whole article and said: "Su Dujian's bravery this time is like the bravery of the King of Chu, Xiang Yu."

"This is the reincarnation of the Overlord!" someone else responded.

If Su Wu were here, he would inevitably criticize in his heart, you people, you have been in peace for a long time, you really have never seen the world. If Xiang Yu were Su Wu, who was a jack of all trades at this time, and had to write notes every day, how could he talk about overthrowing the Qin Dynasty?
Cheng Wanli looked around and said in a sonorous voice: "Su Wu, he is truly the fierce king of Dongping Prefecture!"

"My husband, the fierce and overlord's words are really good! The fierce and overlord Su Wu, it's really nice to hear!" Zhang Zhen immediately gave a thumbs up.

"Hurry up..." Cheng Wanli seemed to suddenly remember something, turned around and left, saying, "Hurry up, hurry up, report the victory to the Privy Council, we can't let Murong Yanda get ahead of us."

"That's right, that's right. I'll do the writing." Zhang Zhen followed quickly behind him.

"No need. I will write the letter myself and you grind the ink." Cheng Wanli waved his hand and said, "God have mercy on me. I, Cheng Wanli, a disciple of a eunuch, can have such a great achievement today!"
"That's great. I'll go get the inkstone."

Zhang Zhen was walking quickly. The officials on his left and right were taking pens and papers. Some were looking for sealing wax and a good envelope. Some had already arranged for fast horses.

(Brothers, kiss each other!)
(End of this chapter)