The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 394 The Rule of the Petty
The news that Li Heng, the garrison commander of Xiangyang, had led his troops to besiege De'an Prefecture, which infuriated Wang Lun, quickly spread throughout the imperial court.

However, no one in the court was surprised!
The imperial court had no control over these local officials. Moreover, Li Heng was not a local official of the Song Dynasty in the strict sense; he was merely a leader of a rebel army.

When the Jin Dynasty invaded the south, the Song Dynasty lost a large amount of territory, and these territories were often inhabited by rebel armies or bandits, such as Gong Yi and Li Kui.

Li Heng was one of them. However, the Southern Song Dynasty, with the intention of "creating some trouble for the Jin Dynasty," appointed Li Heng as "Xiangyang Garrison Commander," giving him a nominal title and letting him do whatever he wanted.

Later, this tactic was also adopted by the Kuomintang. When they fled south, they also appointed many bandits to official positions... cough... to avoid being banned, I won't go into details here.

Li Heng had a large army and many generals, and his fighting strength was not weak, but he was unable to conquer De'an Prefecture after a long siege.

The reason is that Chen Gui, the prefect of De'an, is a remarkable man.

At this moment, Yue Wenxuan, possessing the body of Jing Ke, was sitting in Qin Hui's residence: "Lord Qin! Have you heard about Chen Gui blocking Li Heng's attack?"

Qin Hui quickly replied, "I have heard! Li Heng has many soldiers and generals, yet he has been unable to conquer Chen Gui. It seems that Chen Gui has some strength."

Yue Wenxuan chuckled: "You'll know once you find out in detail how he defeated Li Heng."

Qin Hui quickly went to inquire, and returned shortly with a strange expression on his face: "I have inquired, and it turns out... Chen Gui defeated Li Heng using firearms!"

Yue Wenxuan chuckled: "That's right, it's firearms."

Qin Hui: "My inquiry revealed that the firearm used by Chen Gui was called a long bamboo pole fire gun. It was made of a giant bamboo tube filled with gunpowder. It was operated by two people, one holding the gun and the other lighting it. Once the gunpowder was ignited, flames would shoot out from the bamboo tube to burn the enemy."

At this point, he quickly flattered the Northern Song Dynasty: "Chen Gui's firearms are too low-level, just like the cannons used by Han Shizhong. They are flashy but impractical, and are far inferior to the firearms of the Northern Song Dynasty."

Yue Wenxuan nodded: "Yes, this guy's firearms are a mess, completely useless. Yet he claims they're firearms, which is an insult to the firearms of the Northern Song Dynasty. Young Master Yue is very angry and wants to capture this man and take him to the Northern Song Dynasty to humiliate him severely. Actually, Han Shizhong's cannons also angered Young Master Yue, but Han Shizhong is too high-ranking, and he knows you can't handle him, so he didn't mention it. Chen Gui is different; he's a lower-ranking official, so he's easier to deal with."

Upon hearing this, Qin Hui's expression immediately turned serious: "If we want to deal with him... uh... although he is a low-ranking official, he is still the prefect of De'an. I don't even know what reason to use to punish him."

Yue Wenxuan: "Reason? Isn't the reason right in front of us? Chen Gui and Li Heng served in the same court, yet they attacked each other. Isn't that the reason?"

Qin Hui's eyes lit up: "That makes sense!"

Yue Wenxuan: "Alright, that's the gist of it. I've finished explaining. Now it's up to Lord Qin to decide what to do." Qin Hui: "Please tell Young Master Yue, my lady, that you can rest assured and leave this matter to me. I guarantee that Chen Gui will be in deep trouble."

Yue Wenxuan's body flickered and he vanished instantly.

Qin Hui steadied himself. The task my father, the Northern Song Dynasty, entrusted to me must be completed properly. Alright, I must pull myself together, contact my allies in court, and prepare to dismantle the old ways…

The next day, the court meeting!

The civil and military officials lined up in the hall, and Zhao Gou said listlessly, "If you have something to report, then report it; if not, the court is adjourned."

Qin Hui gave a wink to an imperial censor named He Zhu, who immediately stepped forward and said, “Your Majesty, I have something to report. Not long ago, Li Heng, the garrison commander of Xiangyang, and Chen Gui, the prefect of De’an, got into a fight. After investigating the matter in detail, I learned that Li Heng was short of food, while Chen Gui, who clearly had food in his hands, sat idly by and watched the neighboring city suffer from famine. He is truly heartless… Li Heng was enraged by this and sent troops to attack De’an Prefecture. Those close to him were saddened, while his enemies rejoiced… I believe that the fault lies with Chen Gui, not Li Heng.”

The ministers in the hall gasped, thinking: Li Heng is a thief! This matter was clearly Li Heng who provoked Chen Gui, how did it become Chen Gui's fault in your mouth? Turning right and wrong upside down, is this how you do things?
Just then, an imperial censor named Wan Qixie stepped forward and said, "After my investigation, I found that Chen Gui is very suspicious. He invented a weapon called the Long Bamboo Pole Firearm. No matter how I look at it, it is clearly a firearm of the pseudo-Song Dynasty. I boldly guess that Chen Gui is a spy of the pseudo-Song Dynasty."

The ministers in the hall were taken aback. Those who had just stepped forward to speak for Chen Gui immediately took a step back and dared not utter a word.

As expected, Zhao Gou was furious upon hearing this. What he hated most now was not the Jin Dynasty, but the Northern Song Dynasty created by his seventeenth brother! Anyone who was associated with the Northern Song Dynasty had to die.

Zhao Gou angrily asked, "Has this matter been verified?"

Wan Qixie's expression remained unchanged: "We haven't verified it! The pseudo-Song won't give us a chance to investigate their spies. But we can analyze it by examining how they use their weapons. The pseudo-Song's main weapon is called a firearm, a long iron pipe that shoots bullets to injure people. Chen Gui's long bamboo firearm is a long bamboo tube that shoots flames to injure people. They are essentially the same weapon! Where did Chen Gui get this weapon? Why did Chen Gui sit idly by while Li Heng was short of food without providing support? Chen Gui used a firearm to beat his own people, but he didn't use a firearm when the Jin army marched south. Isn't this man suspicious?"

At this moment, another censor named Chang Tong stepped forward: "Your Majesty! I have thought about it carefully and also find Chen Gui extremely suspicious. The pseudo-Song has just captured Shouchun and is heading west along the north bank of the Yangtze River, and De'an Prefecture is on the pseudo-Song's westward route! Chen Gui is stationed here, yet he is fighting against our Xiangyang Garrison Commander. This... is quite intriguing."

Another person named Sun Jin stepped forward: "Chen Gui manufactures weapons and fights with neighboring cities. This is no different from the actions of warlords and should be severely punished."

At this moment, a minister named Hu Quan could no longer stand it and stood up, saying, "You treacherous officials! This is too much! Anyone with eyes can see that Li Heng was wrong in the matter of Li Heng beating Chen Gui. How can you turn around and frame Chen Gui? Your Majesty, I dare to ask that the heads of Qin Hui, He Zhu, Wan Qixie, Chang Tong, Wang Lun, Sun Jin and others be beheaded... Otherwise, I would rather drown myself in the East Sea than live in this small court."

Wang Lun: "Damn it! I just came back from the Jin Kingdom, and I did nothing but advocate for peace talks. Why are you asking me to behead you?"

Sun Jin: "You are the villain, your whole family are villains. Your Majesty, this man is spewing nonsense in court, he is a mad dog, he should be beheaded."

(End of this chapter)