Son of Song Dynasty

Chapter 301 Zhancheng Pool

The sword he wears is a precious sword.Even the boots under his feet are the latest styles from the Central Plains.

His attitude towards Cheng Yuanling was respectful, almost groveling.

And the generals behind him with their chests and stomachs also kept saying good things one by one, and Cheng Yuanling was embarrassed to accept what he said.

You must know that the Northern Han Dynasty has admired Chinese civilization for thousands of years, and high and middle class people have always been proud of learning to speak Chinese.

And the northern Han people at the bottom, as long as conditions permit, will also consciously learn Chinese.

So Cao Jiang and his men's ugliness, not to mention Cheng Yuanling, even the Northern Han elite cavalry he brought, looked at these poor people with cold eyes and looked down upon them very much.

Many people thought to themselves.

Such a good land is controlled and occupied by such a group of waste?To let such a group of guys become their colleagues and comrades-in-arms is simply a shame to Bei Han.

Cheng Yuanling felt even more uncomfortable now. Although he originally thought that the Cao family was useless, he never expected that the contrast between what he saw with his own eyes was so great.

Even among the Cao family soldiers who were in front of them just to welcome guests, many of them didn't even have decent clothes and armor, only shabby and ugly uniforms.

Almost all of the weapons of many people are rusty, and there are even wooden knives and guns held by some people.

Cheng Yuanling shook his head, very dismissive.

The battle is imminent,

Apart from bringing more honors to the Song Army, what role do soldiers like Cao Jiajun play?
What's more, they are still the land of the Han army in name, although they usually promise to be allies to the Northern Han people.

But Cheng Yuanling is well acquainted with the insidious and cunning of the Cao family.

It can be foreseen that once the Northern Han Dynasty and the Great Song Dynasty fight with real knives and guns, the Cao family will inevitably save their strength and watch the excitement, and then choose a stronger side to serve.

This is something Cheng Yuanling and the Northern Han Dynasty are not happy to see.

Either be my slave and work for me, or die!

Cheng Yuanling became more and more unhappy when he saw Cao Jiang's bright clothes.

Since Cao Xi can send people to occupy the camp in Xishan Township, there is no reason not to manage it well. The only possibility is that people like Cao Jiang privately embezzled and embezzled.

This is what Cheng Yuanling learned, and it is a common problem of many Han people.

"If this person is not killed, Jiuzhen's military spirit will not be improved."

Cao Jiang's flattery was automatically filtered by Cheng Yuanling, and the ruthless intention to deal with him already appeared in his heart.

Cheng Yuanling himself was in the Northern Han Dynasty, so he can be regarded as a reformer.

After all, in the barbaric and ignorant Northern Han Dynasty, there were not many intelligent upper-class people like him.

He has always been in the army of the Northern Han Dynasty, and he governed the army with strict laws and regulations, and he hated scum like Cao Jiang the most.

Greedy soldiers' money, free and easy, completely disregarding the feelings of the sergeants who defend their homes and the country.

Cao Jiang said a lot of flattery and flattery here, but he couldn't get any response from the other party, so he couldn't help being a little dazed.

"Great... Your Highness! I have already prepared a banquet in the county mansion, and I invite Your Highness to come to the city to enjoy it."

Cheng Yuanling smiled slightly, "Entering the city? It's all yours at that time, your territory, your soldiers, your people, I think it's better to stay here."

"What? What do you mean..." Cao Jiang was at a loss, but years of experience in the officialdom made him faintly feel that an ominous omen came to his mind.

"Come on! Arrest him and the generals behind him."

"Ah! Why! General Cheng, we are allies..."

Cao Jiang's complexion changed drastically, and he immediately yelled, but the wolf-like Northern Han army didn't care what he said, and arrested him and a dozen generals behind him without saying a word.

"You...Cheng Yuanling, I have to remind you, after all, this is still the land of the Han Dynasty. I am an official of the Han Dynasty. Why do you Northern Han people come to my territory and arrest me?"

Cao Jiang shouted unyieldingly!

hum!really!
Cheng Yuanling sighed, all the allies are fake, and if something happens, he immediately shirks it with his own identity.

"Cao Jiang! Think about it with your conscience, how much money have you Cao family brothers taken from me in Beihan these years? Although things have been done, they are not our people after all, so their hearts must be different."

At this time, there were some commotions among the soldiers of the Cao Family Army. Some wanted to resist, some remained calm, and some actually helped the Northern Han Army tie up their superiors.

Cheng Yuanling saw it in his eyes and waved his hand, "I will kill all those who resist."

In an instant, the knife light flickered and blood spattered.

Dozens of people were hacked to death on the spot. This time, the soldiers of the family army calmed down.

No one rushed to resist. In fact, these people only obeyed the Cao family but had no will to fight for it.

Even if those dozens of people had the idea of ​​resisting, their equipment, abilities, and physical condition were no match for the Northern Han elite cavalry at all.

Especially after seeing the blood all over the floor, they became more honest.

"Your Highness, please forgive me! My Cao family has always been very cooperative with you!"

Cao Jiang already knew something was wrong, so he cried loudly and begged for mercy.

Cheng Yuanling looked at him coldly, "You don't do anything with money, that's one of the capital crimes. As an ally, you don't report information, putting us in danger, the second capital crime. As a Han, you are not safe after all. The third crime of death. I will take this place to resist Zhao Dezhao of the Great Song Army, the fourth crime of death."

"So, you are dead!"

After Cheng Yuanling finished speaking, he waved his hand, "Kill!"

"Don't..." The knife flashed, and the head fell to the ground.

Cao Jiang was beheaded by Cheng Yuanling on the spot.

The other generals were also killed by the Northern Han army, and then buried hastily.

As for the other hundreds of soldiers, there was nothing difficult.Cheng Yuanling thought it over, these people are very obedient, why should they be killed.

"It's the same for you to serve as sergeants for the Cao family, and it's the same for me to be a sergeant for the Northern Han Dynasty. The only difference is that I will not withhold your money, and I will give you decent military uniforms and decent weapons."

After appeasing these soldiers, Cheng Yuan ordered his troops to enter the city and directly lived in Cao Jiang's mansion.took over the whole thing.

Although the people in Jiuzhen City knew that they had changed, they didn't make any noise.

Cheng Yuanling recruited hundreds of soldiers in the city. In fact, everyone changed their clothes and weapons, and paid three months of military pay at once.

It's just that during the drill, two more soldiers of the Northern Han Army were arranged beside them.

As a result, Jiuzhen, a county that was originally a Han land, was completely occupied by the Northern Han people.

On the other hand, because the Northern Han people were prepared, it was not ideal to attack Taiyuan.

The Northern Han people knew they were invincible, so they just couldn't hold out.

However, Zhao Dezhao’s siege equipment was all in the Song Dynasty, which was too far away, difficult to transport, and time-consuming and laborious to rebuild.

Therefore, the two sides temporarily formed an offensive and defensive situation.

Chapter 3 and Three
In fact, it is mainly due to the weather in the south, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack.

But Zhao Dezhao was not idle either. While developing firearms and weapons, large-scale siege weapons were being manufactured.

He has already made a plan, this time he won the North Han City, and he will never return it. I want to take all these lands in China back forever, and never lose them again.

This determination is not only for the present, but also for the past life!

Since the dispatch of troops to Taiyuan, Fang Zhengqi and Shi Yuanliang split up and each brought [-] troops to the city.

He fought three battles with the Northern Han people, and won each time easily.

Among them, Fang Zhengqi singled out the No.1 general Han Liang of the Northern Han Dynasty, which attracted countless people from the Northern Han Dynasty to watch the battle.

This battle can be said to have completely destroyed the morale of the Northern Han people. Since then, the Northern Han people have never dared to fight against the Great Song Army.

They stick to the city and are determined not to fight.

The Great Song Army had 2 horses, and there was nothing to do for a while.

It wasn't until Ma Chengyuan of Beihan County blatantly killed Cao Xi's younger brother Cao Jiang that everything began to slowly change.

There were at least 2000 people present at the time, and no matter how tightly Cheng Yuan ordered the information to be suppressed, it was inevitable that it would leak out.

Cao Xi was furious, until the night of the news, he announced the complete severance of diplomatic relations with the Northern Han Dynasty.

As the head of the city, he has been dancing with the wind for a long time. He originally repaid the heart of not offending both sides, but in the end he found that both sides were actually offended.

The Song army thought he was a traitor, and the Northern Han people thought he took money and did nothing.

In the face of money, Cao Xi could have ignored these things, but the death of his younger brother made him see that he had to choose a side after all.

Moreover, this side can only be the Han Dynasty, and it can only be the Song Army.

On the other hand, although Ruan Cheng, king of the Northern Han Dynasty, was dissatisfied with Cheng Yuanling, he did not express any opinion on his decision this time.

Because he also knows that the current Great Song Army is in full swing, and it is inevitable to confront it.Since there is going to be a confrontation, it doesn't matter what form it takes.

Although he had maintained a friendly relationship with Caoxi before, this was a critical moment for the Northern Han Dynasty. Zhao Dezhao was famous all over the world, and it happened that the Northern Han Dynasty was also the best moment in hundreds of years.

Ruan Cheng basically unified the big and small tribes of the Northern Han Dynasty, and the people were also united like never before. Except for the occasional lack of food, the Northern Han Dynasty now has more soldiers and more money.Whether it can really rise depends on this battle.

So Cheng Yuan ordered to kill Cao Jiang and occupy Jiuzhen in order to support Taiyuan, and Ruan Cheng didn't blame him at all.

On the contrary, Cao Xi, Ruan Cheng also gritted his teeth with hatred, no wonder the Chinese language is not my race, so his heart must be different.There are five brothers in the Caoxi family, we donate money, food and women every year, and in the end we get such an ally.

Really killed less.It would be good to kill the whole family.

Here, regardless of his boss, Cao Xi wanted to meet Zhao Dezhao in person.

But Zhao Dezhao refused.

Finally, you are forced to choose a side, and because of the revenge of killing your brother, you can only choose Khitan and Song.

Then I have to think about it. In view of the fact that your Cao family has always gone back on your word, broke your word, colluded with the Northern Han Dynasty, and connected with foreign countries. If you can betray the Northern Han Dynasty today, who knows whether you will betray the Song Dynasty tomorrow.

Zhao Dezhao sent Qian Niu'er to come forward and tell Cao Xi straightforwardly that if he wants to reattach himself to the Han Dynasty and reconcile with the Song Dynasty, he must first donate [-] catties of iron, then [-] catties of saltpeter, [-] catties of sulfur, and [-] catties charcoal.

On the day when the things are delivered, you can directly meet His Highness Liu Dasong Liu, otherwise, you can return to your old nest and wait for your death at home.

Cao Xi gasped.

Although Zhao Dezhao's bamboo stick was not too heavy, it was not too light either.

These things are not difficult to find, but they are time-consuming and labor-intensive. Counting labor and various miscellaneous expenses, the total will cost a lot of money.

And the time was short, Cao Xi knew that even if Zhao Dezhao didn't bother him for the time being, Ruan Cheng, king of the Northern Han Dynasty, would definitely do so.

Because at this time, Yunzhou and the several major counties occupied by Caoxi were all important military towns.Throat.

Now that the two families have turned against each other, the Northern Han Dynasty may send troops to attack at any time.

If Cao Jiang hadn't been killed, I would have surrendered as soon as the Northern Han army arrived, but now that my brother has been beheaded in public, it is no longer a matter of revenge, but if I surrender again, I will Will not still be beheaded again.

Anyway, the face has been torn apart, the territory will definitely be seized, and it doesn't really matter if Cao Xi himself is alive or not.

It was precisely because Zhao Dezhao saw through his own problems that he dared to treat her like this.

Cao Xi thought about it all night, and early the next morning he immediately mobilized all the people in the territory to dig, buy, or even rob. These supplies must be collected within ten days.

Charcoal is the most, but it is also the best.

After letting go of the people and going to work, Cao Xi and the other brothers closed the door to talk.

"Looking at it now, we really made a strategic mistake. As I said long ago, the most important thing is to have soldiers in our hands. Look at the current situation, being held hostage by others on both sides, and we are still passive when we die."

Cao Hai, the boss of the Cao family, said very dissatisfied.

"Hmph! We are not short of soldiers. The combined number of our brothers is no less than 1, but we have no combat power at all. I'm afraid we can't even defeat [-] people."

Cao Hu was also very dissatisfied.

"It's not that you eat people and don't spit out bones. You have already made so much money, but you just don't want to spend a little more on those sergeants. Look at our soldiers, what they eat and wear every day, and they can't even guarantee weapons. How can we guarantee combat effectiveness?"

"Stop shouting! It's the same with you. I said earlier that our brothers each recruited their own soldiers, one paid for the equipment, the other paid for training, and the other... well, I don't want to talk about it, now The second child is dead, so it’s useless to say these things.”

Cao Xi sighed.

"Indeed, if we had organized our troops better back then, we wouldn't be under the fence and looked down upon by others now, and the second child wouldn't die. I regret it."

"However..." Cao Shan, Cao Xi's son, thought about it, and finally interrupted.

"However, Your Royal Highness, my uncles, did we follow the expectations of the Song Dynasty and the Northern Han Dynasty when we did not engage in poor military affairs? We deliberately did not engage in armaments, and the Song Dynasty has always been very reassuring to us. The same is true for the Northern Han Dynasty. .”

"This is the end of the matter. It's not too late for us to do these things. After all, we have land, people, money and food. I am not talented, and I have learned military tactics for several years. I am willing to send me to Yunzhou in the future." The issue of armaments should be seized."

"Elder cousin's words are reasonable. Several uncles, uncles, and nephews have also talked about the strategy of war, and they are willing to follow the elder cousin and contribute."

(End of this chapter)