Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 70: Not for the sake of petty gains

"Brother Liang San? Liang San..."

Zhang Baiyu woke up from his sleep, clenched his fists, but what he touched was not hay or felt, but a warm quilt. He was stunned.

He tried hard to open his eyes, but what he saw were green curtains, a red silk quilt and a mandarin duck porcelain pillow.

When the curtains were lifted, the room was found to be not furnished with carved beams and painted pillars, but it was furnished with mahogany and celadon, and had carved window lattices.

This is obviously not something that can be found in the military, and even ordinary families don’t have it. It can only be found in the inner chambers of wealthy families.

I can only say that it’s a good thing there’s no beautiful woman in the bed.

"Liang San!...Liang Pan!" Zhang Baiyu continued to call out to his personal guards loudly while putting on his clothes.

The door creaked open, and a girl with twin buns and a green jacket came in, carrying a copper basin. "My dear, it's time to wash up."

Zhang Baiyu's still-still-unclear mind drifted off for a moment, as if he were still at home in Lianshui, with maids helping him get up and dressed, and a kitchen preparing meals. But the next moment, he was completely awake: "Where am I? Why am I here? Where's that Liang Pan?"

The maid was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly answered one by one: "This is Wang's house. My husband's full name is Wang Shilong. Last night, he was feasting with the generals. He drank too much and stayed in the house. As for General Liang, I have never seen any General Liang."

Zhang Baiyu's face darkened. He quickly put on his short and tight clothes, picked up his sword from the bedside, tied it to his belt, and walked out directly through the door.

His heroic and martial demeanor made the maids and servants dare not stop him at all.

Only after stepping out of the guest room in the backyard and coming to the front yard did Zhang Baiyu see an acquaintance.

Several officers of the Dongping Army were having breakfast in the corridor. When they saw Zhang Baiyu, they looked up at the same time: "Silang, are you sober now?"

Zhang Silang pulled a smile from the corner of his mouth. "Excuse me, uncles. Have you seen that fellow Liang Pan?"

A captain, also a veteran bandit leader from the Liangshan Marsh days, sipped the rice porridge from his bowl and said, "Yesterday, your guards wanted to carry you back to the barracks, but they were scolded away by Chief Zhang... no... Commander Zhang."

Zhang Baiyu's handsome face twitched slightly, and he looked back into the courtyard: "My father, is he staying at the Wang residence too?"

"Except for Hu Yanchuo, who is in charge of the navy, and Zhang Qing, who is in charge of the infantry, almost all the other generals with over a hundred men are at Wang's residence." The captain took a piece of bacon from his bowl and shook it, saying with a smile, "It's not often that we get to eat at a wealthy man's house, let alone when Mr. Wang takes the initiative to invite us to eat."

Hearing this, Zhang Baiyu's smile became even more strained. "I remember Liu Dalang and General Wei also came to the banquet yesterday. Are they still here? Or let me ask more clearly. Besides our Dongping Army, are there any members of the Loyalty Army staying here?"

The captain thought for a moment, and his expression suddenly became strange. "No, at the banquet yesterday, the Loyalty Army didn't drink much. They all left when the banquet was over, saying they had a military meeting to attend."

Zhang Baiyu took a long breath, looked deeply at the people in the corridor, said nothing more, took big strides, and walked out of the yard quickly.

Those people looked at each other, and became a little panicked.

Zhang Silang had just walked out of the door when he saw Liang Pan sitting on a bench at a soup and noodle stall opposite Wang's house, with his head buried in a big bowl, eating very happily.

When he looked up and saw Zhang Baiyu, Liang Pan choked and coughed a few times before hurriedly finishing the soup noodles in his bowl. He took out a few copper coins and tossed them to the smiling shopkeeper, calling out from afar, "My dear, you're finally awake."

Zhang Baiyu didn't waste any words and asked directly, "What is Liu Dalang doing? What are the Loyal Army doing? Where are our troops? Have they released the sheep?"

Liang Pan, leading two horses, approached. "The Loyalty Army is still doing the same old routine: commending merit, awarding silver, and holding... oh, right, a trial meeting. Commander Liu... Commander Liu should be there, too. A few of our men are going to the review, a few are helping out at the trial meeting, and most are still resting in the camp." Zhang Baiyu took the reins and mounted. "It was my fault last night. I didn't expect I was so drunk, so I had a few more drinks."

Liang Pan didn't expect Zhang Baiyu to apologize first, and quickly responded: "I didn't think too much about it. Since Ah Lang asked Langjun to stay at Wang's house, I really can't say anything. I can only wait outside."

Many young people like Liang Pan are descendants of Liangshanpo in Dongping Prefecture. They used to live as Zhang's servants. To them, Zhang Rong is both the master and the leader, and there is a natural suppression of their status.

Not to mention that Zhang Rong is Zhang Baiyu’s biological father!

Zhang Baiyu gave a wry smile, but a question immediately crossed his face: "Brother Liang, tell me the truth, why don't you want to stay at the Wang residence, sleep on a soft bed, and eat some delicious food?"

Liang Pan also mounted his horse. After a moment's silence, he spoke: "When we decided to return to the barracks, Li Shiyi said that although Wang Shilong had rebelled, it was unclear whether he was a good or bad person. Today we are staying at his house to show our gratitude. Tomorrow he will be dragged to the stand for public trial and beheaded. If we speak up for him, we will be ignoring the law. If we don't speak up for him, we will be disloyal. We are caught in a dilemma. It would be better for us to stay in the barracks with you generals and be open and honest."

Zhang Baiyu nodded. "That's one way of putting it. What about you? What do you think?"

Liang Pan was silent for a long time this time, and then he said in a muffled voice: "I'm speaking from my heart, my dear, please don't be angry."

"Go ahead."

"I think Liu Dalang said it well: the Northern Expedition must be conducted with decorum. Soldiers should stay in the barracks; that's decorum; and they should not easily associate with local tyrants; that's also decorum. With this decorum, the Northern Expedition will be victorious. Without this decorum, we're not an army, but bandits. From ancient times to the present, I've never heard of bandits achieving great things."

Seeing that Zhang Baiyu didn't reply, Liang Pan continued, "If it were before, we might have just gone and ate at the rich houses like the brothers from the Dongping Army. But after going through this with Liu Dalang and the others, and looking at the Dongping Army again, I feel that everything is a little awkward."

As he spoke, Liang Pan became a little uneasy: "My dear, are we alienated from the other brothers?"

Zhang Baiyu took a deep breath and said, "No, you are doing the right thing. We just need to stick to our original intentions. Let General Wei and Liu Dalang take care of the rest."

Liang Pan breathed a sigh of relief and nodded quickly in agreement.

The two men rode their horses and soon arrived at the training ground west of the city.

This parade ground is where Haizhou stationed its troops, so it was built to be extremely flat and spacious. Not only did the Loyal Army set up camp directly here, but huge open spaces were also left on both sides for public trials and commendations.

Zhang Baiyu looked from afar and saw that the public trial was in full swing. The person presiding over the stage was the leader of the Loyal Army named Dong Cheng. This person seemed to have some difficulty with the clerical work. Most of the time he just shouted and maintained order. The one who was really in control of the situation was a surrendered person.

what do you say that is?

Zhang Baiyu tilted his head and thought about it.

Luo Shenyan, the eldest son of the former county magistrate Luo Guzi.

No, the three of them, father and son, could not be considered as surrendered people, because they had no official positions before and were righteous citizens.

Zhang Baiyu was daydreaming, but was brought back to his senses by a sudden noise.

"I don't accept it. We're all cavalry, so why does their first team get two rounds of merit while our second team only gets one? Are they raised by their biological mothers, while we're raised by our stepmothers?!"

(End of this chapter)