The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 494 Long time no see
"Thank you both for your help. Jize County is not a place to stay for long. Please leave quickly and inform Kang Fengpan, the magistrate of Puzhou, Shanxi, that the Kang family's affairs are over. If there is an afterlife, please assist the Emperor of Da Qi again!"

Wu Xiao winked at Lin Yu, and Lin Yu immediately took a few people out to protect him. Wu Xiao looked at his skinny nephew Kang Yingqian and didn't know what to say for a moment.

As the second-in-command of the Imperial Guard, Wu Xiao owed his rise to Kang Yingqian's promotion. When fleeing in Shandong, Wu Xiao would have never returned to Liaodong if Kang Yingqian hadn't sent for his timely rescue. Therefore, he has always been grateful to Kang Yingqian. When Kang Yingqian fell from power, Wu Xiao was one of the few people in Qi who didn't take advantage of the Kang family's misfortune.

"Your uncle will arrive in Jize County in half an hour. If you have anything to say, wait for Supervisor Kang to come back and tell him."

Wu Xiao said this, looked up at the devastated and dilapidated Kang family mansion, and sighed softly, "I never thought it would be so tragic. If the emperor knew, I wonder how many people he would kill."

Kang Jingxiu was overwhelmed with joy and delight when he heard his uncle was still alive. He grabbed Wu Xiao and eagerly asked, "Is my uncle dead or alive? Why did he return to Jize County at this time? Did the imperial court want him to return home and commit suicide?"

A guard from the Imperial Guard behind Wu Xiao couldn't help but interrupt:

"What nonsense are you talking about? What do you mean by suicide? It's about retiring to one's hometown! Didn't you, the county magistrate, receive the imperial edict? The Emperor Retired ordered us to escort General Kang back to Guangping Prefecture. Before he left, he also rewarded him with 40,000 taels of silver and countless antiques, calligraphy and paintings. The troubles that befell your Kang family were all caused by those ungrateful people in Guangping Prefecture. The Emperor Retired has nothing to do with it!"

Kang Jingxiu's face was filled with astonishment. After a long moment, he suddenly knelt on the ground, looked towards the northeast, and murmured, "The Emperor's grace, the Emperor's grace."

"Alright, Third Xue, enough talking. Let's drag these two idiot county officials out and chop them up first. Give these rats a lesson!"

After Wu Xiao finished speaking, Xue Laosan immediately brought a few guards, dragged the county official out of the courtyard, raised his sword, and killed the two Jize County swift men. The people who were watching the excitement at the gate of the courtyard cheered and dispersed.

Wu Xiao nodded to a young man with sharp eyes. The young man immediately stepped forward, grabbed Kang Jingxiu, and asked loudly:
"Where is Yang Su Ren? Where are the other Mino Guards? And where are the guys from the Chamber of Commerce?"

Kang Jingxiu had barely recovered from his shock when Wu Xiao introduced him, "This is Captain Li of the Suoyi Guard. Although he's young, he's very capable. He came with me to investigate the whereabouts of Yang Su and the others. If you have anything to say, tell him now."

Kang Jingxiu shivered, curled up like a hedgehog, and his body shook rhythmically.

Seeing that Kang Yingqian's eldest nephew looked pale and had a weak breath, Wu Xiao took out a water bottle and dry food and asked Kang Jingxiu to eat. Kang Jingxiu ate it greedily and told them in detail about the "beating the landlords and dividing the land" incident that happened in Jieze County a month ago.

"In the end, none of your men escaped death. Their heads were cut off and hung on the gates of five county towns. They remained there for a whole year, until their hair fell out and their flesh rotted, leaving them as horrific skeletons. Zhang Erniu and Yang Su were executed by slow slicing."

Li Zicheng's eyes were slightly red. Yang Su was the first friend he met in the Suoyi Guard and his fellow villager from Mizhi.

"Yang Su, what did you say before you died?"

Kang Yingqian's nephew recalled for a moment. At this time, there was a noisy shouting outside the courtyard. Kang Jingxiu turned a deaf ear to what was happening on the street outside. Xue Laosan hurriedly ran in from the gate of the courtyard and said something in Wu Xiao's ear. The face of the chief officer of the Imperial Guard suddenly became solemn.

On that day, Yang Su was the last one to be taken to the execution ground. He was wearing a fur coat and looked calm, peaceful, simple and elegant. Finally, he turned around and saluted Zhang Erniu's body, whose heart and tongue had been cut out, and bowed deeply. Finally...

"Finally, Yang Su said to the huge crowd of people from Jize County in front of the execution ground:
"Emperor Wu Ding will be here soon. We can't kill all the Suoyi Guards! We can't kill all the members of the Farmers' Association! The day the Qi army arrives will be the day you are rescued!"

He raised his fist and shouted amid the clanking of his shackles: "Look at the world of the future! It will surely be the world of Great Qi! Our goal is the stars and the sea!"

Wu Xiao's face changed slightly, and Li Zicheng also understood. This was a sentence often mentioned by the emperor. They had heard the emperor Wu Ding mention it countless times in Shenyang, Junzhou, Xiangyang, Xuzhou, and Luoyang.

However, he did not expect that the words that the retired emperor had been thinking about would be fulfilled on this Mizhi man who had just joined the Suoyi Guard, and that it would be fulfilled with his blood.

"After killing Zhang Erniu and Yang Su, they nailed several of your Farmers' Association leaders to wooden stakes with long nails and placed large vats of tung oil around them, turning more than a dozen living people into a dozen howling piles of fire... The next day, when I passed by there, I saw some half-burnt corpses shaking slightly..."

When Kang Jingxiu said this, a look of horror appeared on his face, and it seemed that he was still frightened.

"They killed all our people. No wonder there has been no news sent back!" Wu Xiao said gritting his teeth.

"Everyone thought that the area around the capital was peaceful and everyone had submitted to the Great Qi. We never expected that they would slaughter us like animals."

"Zhang Erniu certainly made mistakes, but killing the Suoyi Guards meant he was an enemy of the Great Qi. These two bastards are so bold, do they really dare to rebel?

Wu Xiao patted Li Zicheng on the shoulder and said soothingly, "Don't worry. The Emperor has already ordered us to arrest these two corrupt officials and bring them back to Luoyang for fair execution! We will avenge the Kang family and your brother."

Li Zicheng pushed Wu Xiao away, drew his sword, and walked out with big strides.

"I want to take revenge myself and kill that bastard Zhang Yingkui."

Wu Xiao hurriedly followed, but Li Zicheng had already rushed out of the yard.

Kang Jingxiu asked cautiously from behind: "General Wu, how many people did you bring to Jize this time?" Wu Xiao turned his head to glance at him, and seeing Kang Jingxiu's frightened face, he stretched out three fingers and shook them in front of him.

"Three thousand soldiers?"

"Thirty people."

Kang Jingxiu opened his mouth wide, not knowing what to say. Suddenly, he remembered something, looked up carefully at Wu Xiao, and added, "I heard from the deceased servant that a few days ago, Guangping Prefecture came with several Shanxi merchants and some Shaanxi horse dealers. I've never seen them before. They are staying in the back hall of the county government office. I'm afraid those two corrupt officials, Zhang and Li, are not that simple."

"Great! The next target of the Emperor's attack is the Shanxi profiteers. They've arrived just in time!"

Wu Xiao gave a wink, and a guard came up and smashed the prisoner's handcuffs and shackles with a knife. Another guard came forward, and the two of them carried him out on the left and right.

Wu Xiao stood in front of the gate of Kang Mansion, lost in thought. Kang Yingqian was still on the road and would soon enter the city. The purpose of Wu Xiao's trip was to protect Military Supervisor Kang. The yamen runner was dead, and the masters of the prefecture and county would soon get the news. Then they would close the city gates and catch the turtle in the jar. Many brothers of the Imperial Guard would also be killed here. What's more, so many people in the Kang family had died. If anything happened to Old Kang again, the emperor would definitely not forgive him.

Judging from the posture of the prefect and the county magistrate, it is obvious that they are planning a rebellion. They may have colluded with the bandits. Judging from the situation when the farmers' association was killed, the people in Jieze County are also unreliable. Wu Xiao thought about it again and again and decided not to let his brothers take risks here, and to escape first.

"Of the thirty-six strategies, running away is the best! Go out and tell your uncle not to let him in and walk into this trap. The masters of Guangping Prefecture have big appetites and are quite bold. When Deng Changxiong arrives with his troops, we'll deal with them properly."

After saying this, he called on his men to hurry up and they all walked out of the gate of Kang Mansion and strode towards the west gate of Jieze County. From there they returned to Luoyang without having to take another detour.

Wu Xiao, Lin Yu and Li Zicheng divided their troops into three groups, each with a dozen people, and scattered throughout the city, and finally agreed to meet in the west of the city.

There were few pedestrians on the street, and even the vendors had disappeared. Wu Xiao and his companions had a very smooth journey. They sneaked into the city without being discovered and made their way all the way to the doorstep of Kang's house.

"Strange, where did all the vendors go when I entered the city just now? It's still early in the morning, they won't be closing up now, will they?"

Wu Xiao, along with his eleven capable brothers, personally escorted Kang Yingqian's eldest nephew out of the city. They disguised themselves as traveling tea merchants. Two of the guards picked up two loads from somewhere and hawked their wares as they walked, looking quite convincing.

Jize County was born out of water, and within the county are Shahe River, Minghe River, Zhanghe River and Jiufu River.

Among them, Liulei River and Fuyang River flow through the central and eastern parts of the county, running through the north and south, and then flow into Ziya River in different directions. Niaoqixibang means chicken, and the place where water and grass are close together is called Ze.

Ji means bird and Ze means lake, sea or river, so the county is named Jize.

Due to the numerous rivers, Jize County has boats traveling back and forth from the south to the north, and the countryside is prosperous.

Like Junzhou, Jize County also has eight scenic spots, such as "Mingpu Spring Market".

The historical records state: "Five miles west of the city lies the bank of the Ming River. The people are diligent, and the fields are lush and green. The villages are all covered with green fields. As far as the eye can see, the plains are flat, and the people who hoe the rain and plow the clouds are the most magnificent in Mingpu..."

Walking to the west of the city, I saw from afar the withered willows on the banks of the Liulei River, the sun was setting, and a streak of blood-red clouds was flowing in the western sky.

The gate of the city wall was hung high, and Wu Xiao breathed a sigh of relief. Everything went well and the city gate had not been closed yet.

Beneath the earthen wall of the city wall, there was a pair of ragged guards. The soldiers were wearing Ming Dynasty mandarin duck jackets that were so dirty that their colors could not be seen. When they saw Wu Xiao and others coming, they waved their fingers from a distance to block their way.

A guard next to him clenched his pistol. Wu Xiao glared at him, and immediately someone stepped forward, took out some silver from his sleeve, and handed it to the Ming soldier guarding the city.

The soldier wiped his long, thin snot, took the silver, and waved his hand to let him go without even looking at the crowd.

Wu Xiao breathed a sigh of relief, finally he was safe and sound.

Just as he was about to walk towards the door in the earthen wall, he suddenly heard rustling footsteps and the clinking sound of armor colliding behind him.

Then, a familiar voice came into Wu Xiao's ears.

"Mr. Wu, long time no see."

Wu Xiao turned around suddenly, and when he saw who was coming, a look of astonishment appeared on his axe-cut face.

(End of this chapter)