Ming Dynasty: Summoning game players at the beginning

Chapter 194: Traitorous Ministers Harm the Country
The midday sun is high in the sky, and the warm light fills the entire sky.

The renowned Black Flag Army was drawing closer, its murderous aura and prestige radiating from all around like a long black dragon emerging from boiling magma, spreading its demonic wings to cover the clear blue sky.

"Reinforcements are coming! Reinforcements are coming!"

The garrison officer, who had long admired the Black Flag Army, had burning eyes and tears streaming down his face. He couldn't help but raise his fists, cheering like a fanatical believer for the god who had descended to earth.

"It really is the Black Flag Army!"

Yang Shien also felt excited and his blood was boiling. His dominant right hand was trembling and hot, as if he wanted to draw the knife at his waist and fight in the battle.

If he hadn't been so confident about his position as a general, he would have wanted to sing a song at the top of his lungs to the reinforcements.

The shame and oppression of a crushing defeat seemed like a prelude to "suppression before praise", and the high fighting spirit buried deep in the soul was ignited, even more fiercely.

The officers and soldiers stationed in Nanyang were all cheering, which immediately dispelled the negative atmosphere of silence that had been in Nanyang for many days.

More than 2,000 Black Flag soldiers stopped two and a half miles outside the city. A heavily armored general led the way on horseback, approaching the city. Behind him followed ten strong and powerful armored men, one of whom held high a black bone dragon flag.

Outside Nanyang City, there is a Guanxiang Market supported by a wall. It is very popular regardless of spring or autumn. However, with the invasion of bandits and the passing of government troops, the originally bustling Guanxiang area has become deserted.

The people hiding in the houses inside the gatehouse looked out quietly through the cracks in the doors and windows, and saw a heroic young general in a black robe riding a horse.

The young general in the black robe spoke in a resonant voice, neither humble nor arrogant. "I, Li Si, the guerrilla commander of the Black Flag Front Camp, am under the orders of General Li, the Deputy Commander-in-Chief, to personally lead 2,100 soldiers to the aid of Nanyang. This is General Li's letter—General Li personally led the army to attack Gwangju, and I'm afraid they've already taken it."

The black-robed general pulled something out of his bosom and raised it above his head. "My soldiers have traveled hundreds of miles and are exhausted. Please open the city gates and let us enter to rest and restock our supplies."

The legendary powerful military commander was not arrogant or domineering, but rather humble and amiable, just like an intimidating and strong uncle carefully holding up a cute little kitten and caressing it in his arms.

The contrast of the tiger sniffing the rose made the soldiers feel like they were in spring breeze, and suddenly narrowed the psychological distance between them and the powerful army.

The strong army has joined forces in the city. There is no pressure to defend the city, and there is even hope of counterattacking the bandits to avenge their previous humiliation!

After verifying the text and seal of the letter, and learning that General Li had recovered the lost territory, Yang Shien had no doubts at all and immediately ordered people to open the city gates.

However, General Yang was not the only one in charge of the city.

"Wait!" Governor Song Yihe raised his hand to stop the soldier who was about to open the door, because he heard a loophole in the officer's words -

The Nanyang defenders did send letters for help to the north and east routes, but the bandits occupied the southeastern part of Henan Province. If the Black Flag Camp wanted to send troops to provide assistance, it could only take a detour through northern Hubei.

The news of the Southern Army's defeat had only been spread a few days ago. How did the reinforcements from the Black Flag Battalion arrive across hundreds of miles? Could it be that they were bandits pretending to be there to deceive the city?
You know, it’s already very good for the government troops to march forty or fifty miles a day. The Black Flag Battalion arrived in Nanyang in a short time, which is equivalent to marching eighty miles a day, and they were able to maintain a strict military appearance. Isn’t this strange?

Governor Song threw this speculation to everyone, but all he got was a burst of noise.

Several lieutenant generals and guerrillas claimed that the Black Flag Battalion could not be compared with the soldiers of ordinary battalions. The Black Flag Battalion was a group of tough soldiers trained with funds raised by local people. At the end of last year, they marched thousands of miles north to expel the Tartars, and their daily marching speed was also very fast.

It's impossible that everyone is a weakling, and when a strong person finally emerges, you say he doesn't exist.

Since its establishment, the Black Flag Battalion has sacrificed its lives and made many outstanding contributions to the country.

This time, despite the fatigue of the journey, he took a detour from the mall to Nanyang, and walked nearly a thousand miles on foot.

Heaven and earth can bear witness to such loyalty to the country. Even so, are you still a human being if you still doubt other people's intentions? Do you really have to make the Black Flag Army give you their hearts?

Is it true that corruption and idleness are the norm throughout the world, and loyalty to the country and dedication to duty are just the disguise of bandits?

Are bandits inherently more honest and righteous than government troops?

Faintly sensing the indignation emanating from the officers and soldiers, Song Yihe knew he was in the wrong. However, considering that the Black Flag Army was strong in both men and horses and had made many great achievements in suppressing bandits and conquering invaders, they must be unruly and difficult to control. Letting them in easily might lead to an imbalance between the civil and military forces.

He whispered and discussed with several officials and staff for a while, and finally made the decision with his powerful and arbitrary power of "controlling the military with culture" and refused to let the Black Flag Army in.

As for the food and fodder needed by the Black Flag Army, they can be lowered from the city wall by a hanging basket, providing the Black Flag Army with what they need for three days.

When he heard that they were not allowed to enter the city, the leader "Li Si" just smiled and bowed to say goodbye.

He turned his horse around and returned to the Black Flag Army. The troops were in a commotion, and the shouting and cursing of countless soldiers almost reached the city walls.

The shrill shouts and curses that came one after another were like a rain of arrows flying down from the sky. The soldiers on the city walls were filled with resentment and anger, feeling ashamed. They muttered that Governor Song was too harsh in criticizing the friendly forces and was still concerned about the difference between civil and military officials at this time.

Many personal soldiers requested Yang Shien to "execute first and report later" and open the door to welcome the Black Flag Battalion in.

His blood boiling in his chest, Yang Shien wanted to order the city gates to be opened, but when he turned his head and met the governor's eyes, he felt like a mouse losing its courage at the sight of a cat.

As a defeated general, he was not captured on the spot because the governor took the overall situation into consideration. If he dared to make a few noises, he would probably be dismissed from his post.

Yang Shien sighed and shook his head. There were Black Flag Army stationed outside the city gates, which boosted the morale of the people in the city. At least they didn't have to worry about the fall of Nanyang.

As long as the commander-in-chief can dispatch more reinforcements, everything will be fine.

General Yang patrolled the wall for half a day, and then led his personal soldiers back to the barracks for a rest.

Days of high-intensity work had exhausted him physically and mentally, and he was only able to hold on until the present day because of his sense of mission to defend the city and his desire to survive.

As for the battle plan, we'll discuss it tomorrow. The Black Flag Army's reputation for swiftly slaughtering the Jiannu is well-known throughout the north. One of their warriors is more than enough to defeat ten bandits. Recovering the lost territories of Nanyang Prefecture and Ruzhou is probably not far off.

Just as he passed several intersections and was about to reach the barracks, a man who looked like a servant rushed over and knelt in front of the general, "Master, help me..."

The boy hunched his neck and sweated profusely.

Yang Shien knew what was happening without having to think about it. Under the guidance of the servant, he brought more than a hundred personal soldiers to the house two hundred steps away.

Undisciplined soldiers surrounded a wealthy family's house. From within came the deep, beast-like roars, interspersed with faint sobs, like a woman's...

Yang Shien only saw a man's body lying in the hall of the house, and immediately understood what had happened in the house...

A rout often results in an army losing its last shreds of sanity and discipline, and these depraved lunatics will vent their anger by taking out the humiliation of defeat on defenseless innocents.

Yang Shien walked into the inner house with a gloomy look, followed by his personal soldiers.

All he saw along the way were soldiers with excited eyes, soldiers with bulging bags, soldiers weighed down by cloth, and innocent civilians lying in pools of blood.

The center of the accident was the girl's room of this wealthy family. A silent young child was lying in the room with a pool of deep red blood next to his head.

Yang Shien pushed his way through the crowd and walked in. Several women, their clothes disheveled, were huddled behind a few young militiamen and crying. The militiamen and soldiers were in a tense standoff in the room, and the air seemed to be filled with the pungent smell of gunpowder.

"It's more courageous to point the knife at your own people?" Yang Shien roared throughout the room, "Put down the knife!"

The remaining power of the general was still effective, and the two sides who were on the verge of a tense situation slowly put down their weapons.

Before Yang Shien could ask for details, the militiamen protecting the women started to complain loudly, "They wanted to insult these women! Fortunately, we discovered it in time and didn't let them succeed!"

Following the guidance of other militiamen, Yang Shien found a middle-aged man with a bleeding head lying unconscious on the ground in another room. A middle-aged woman was taking care of him. This suffering middle-aged man was probably the head of the family, the father of several young girls, and the husband of his wives and concubines.

Yang Shien kicked the soldiers present fiercely. The soldiers who were looting and violating discipline knew they were in the wrong and stammered, unable to utter a word of defense.

The general, whose prestige still lingers, is like a mountain standing in front of everyone, but where there are timid ones, there are also those who are bold and reckless.

A guerrilla officer named Liu Keyong walked out of the crowd, approached Yang Shien and whispered, "This house is occupied by the Futai's staff. Look, just a mere staff member, yet in Nanyang he can live in such a big house and enjoy these beautiful concubines.

Our brothers risked their lives to kill the enemy for them, but every day they have to eat bran and drink porridge and get beaten and scolded. Why is this so?
Look at the Black Flag Battalion. Who can compare with them in terms of loyalty, bravery and martial arts? But the civil officials just told them to stay outside the city in the wind and sun.

If the general insists on seeking justice for these pedantic scholars and chills the hearts of our brothers, who will guard against the bandits' night raid tonight?"

Yang Shien was furious. How dare this guy threaten him!

Yang Shien looked around and saw that all kinds of eyes were converging here. There were vaguely more than a hundred soldiers who had tasted the sweetness of looting gathering around, as if to help Liu Keyong to hold the scene.

The personal soldiers beside him also gripped the hilt of the sword tightly and gently pulled it out.

Yang Shien understood that if he resolutely executed a few officers and soldiers who had committed crimes, it would not only fail to enforce military discipline, but would instead cause the loose alliance of defeated soldiers to fall apart.

By then, the defenders in the city would be in great chaos, and the Black Flag Army would have to spend a lot of energy and time to enter the city to maintain stability, and in the end the bandits would take advantage of the situation and enter.

Even without considering the long-term consequences, he still had to consider the power of this group of people's sudden attack. Although the elite soldiers around him dared to fight, if he faced a few troublemakers directly, he would be fired upon by many people.

"Commander!"

The sobbing cries for help from several women and the wailing of the surviving family members of the staff hugging each other and crying reached Yang Shien's mind.

And pictures flashed through his mind.

Song Yihe criticized him in every way, other civil servants looked down on him, and even the civilian staff without any official rank dared to order him around when distributing food to the officers and soldiers.

The Black Flag Battalion soldiers were also blocked outside the city by civil officials.

Why is there a difference between civil servants and military officers? Why can these stinking scholars just ride on the heads of military officers and shit on them?!

"This is a small gift from me. I hope General Yang will accept it..." The guerrilla officer took out a bill and showed it to the general.

Yang Shien glanced down and his whole body trembled slightly as if burned by candlelight. It turned out to be a silver note with a face value of eight hundred taels.

Justice and anger were fighting each other. In the end, Yang Shien was overwhelmed by anger and took the banknote and put it in his arms.

"Don't go too far..."

He said this and left quickly with his personal soldiers.

When he was lying in bed resting, his mind was full of questions about why warriors were trampled under the feet of civil officials, and why he couldn't stand up straight and take the initiative.

He repeated it in his mind ten times, a hundred times, but still couldn't suppress the burning anger.

It was not until late at night that he was awakened by screams outside the house, having just fallen asleep.

"Great Marshal, this is bad! The enemy troops attacked the pass at night, and the Black Flag Army is in chaos!"

(End of this chapter)