Northern Dynasties Imperial Industry

The New Year's Eve of the twelfth lunar month in the second year of Taiqing was originally a time for family reunions and celebrations, but now Jiankang City is in chaos and seems like a ghost land.

There are many temples on both sides of the Qinhuai River. In the past, they were prosperous and worshipers gathered, but now they have become military camps where people from all walks of life are stationed. On the north bank were Hou Jing's rebels, numbering in the tens of thousands, and on the south bank were troops from all sides of Nanliang rushing to help. The two sides faced each other across the Qinhuai River with their own fences.

Throughout the day, both sides exercised restraint and did not engage in any large-scale fighting. In the evening, the restrictions in each camp were somewhat relaxed, and occasionally people walked between the camps.

A tall and thin camp soldier wearing a blue military uniform and carrying a long ax walked towards the Dacheng North Camp. Wherever he passed, other camp soldiers looked at this man with envy and awe.

Hou Jing's rebels came from many sources, including rural warriors recruited from Huainan, as well as prisoners captured and collected along the way. After arriving in Jiankang City, they robbed soldiers and civilians, and released officials and private slaves, causing a large number of followers. , gathered tens of thousands of people.

There were so many rebel soldiers who didn't know where they belonged, and their generals had no way of distinguishing and restraining them. However, the masses soon concluded an experience, which was to distinguish the status of the disciples in the rebel army based on their clothing and weapons.

In the old years of Datong, there was a song in the south of the Yangtze River singing "Green robes and white horses are coming". Hou Jingqian asked the court for brocade, and the court gave him green cloth, so he made clothes for the soldiers in response to this old song. Therefore, those who got green robes in the army, Most of them are veterans of the rebel army who have been following him since Shouyang.

Hou Jing's army expanded to this place in a short period of time, and there was no more armor ordnance for the soldiers. Therefore, there is an obvious generational difference in the ordnance provided by the sergeants in each battalion. The most elite and core troops are naturally the most well-armed, while the rest of the motley crew may not even have short-bladed iron weapons.

This tall and thin soldier wears a green robe and holds a long ax. It is obvious at first glance that he must be an elite rebel. This is indeed the case. This soldier is Han Shao, who was captured and coerced by Shouyang soldiers at Han's Pi in Huainan earlier.

That day, in order to protect his younger brother Han Xie who was hiding in the reeds, Han Shao showed up and was arrested. Because of his tallness and bravery, he was recruited into the army and followed the rebels all the way south. Now he is under the command of Hou Jing's general Zhi Boren. The main camper of the famous team.

Because of this attire, Han Shao was able to frighten everyone, and he was able to travel freely through the camps. He quickly arrived at the camp near Zhuque Dacheng along the north bank of the Qinhuai River. This is where the rebel army's center is located. Many elite soldiers are stationed here, and all the baggage and supplies are also stored here.

There were many refugees from Beijing gathered outside the camp, and many corpses were thrown around the camp. These refugees gathered around the camp and howled and refused to disperse.

They were not driven here by the rebel army. The rebel army entered the city as early as October and quickly took control of the whole city. They divided their troops to guard key places in the province and had already surrounded Taicheng. All the captured soldiers, men and women were also placed around Taicheng, and earth mountains were built to attack Taicheng. Among them, the old, weak, wounded and dead were directly rammed into the earth mountains, and not even their bodies were seen.

As for the people and corpses on the north bank of Dacheng, the residents of the city who were originally hiding in various places heard that the reinforcements had arrived and swarmed out to prepare for the troops of King Qin. As a result, after the reinforcements passed Dacheng, not only did they not directly attack the rebels, Instead, they sent troops to plunder the people who came out to welcome them, killing many of them.

On the contrary, Hou Jing's troops came after hearing the news and temporarily scared the reinforcements from all sides to the south of the Qinhuai River, and then the two sides faced off across the river again.

Because it was New Year's Eve, in order to reward the soldiers who had fought for days, Hou Jingzhu ordered the soldiers to enter the camp tonight to receive food and wine rewards. This is why Han Shao came.

He was the first to achieve success in the previous battle when the army first entered Jiankang and attacked Dongfu City. Naturally, there was no perfect procedure for recording merit among the rebel army. They only used the official seals captured in Dongfu City to print on the cloth. Give all the meritorious service members a voucher, which can be used to receive food and wine today.

At this time, many warriors had gathered outside the back camp where the supplies were stored. Although each person was only given two liters of wine and three kilograms of dried meat, it was already very rare in Jiankang City, which had been in war for more than two months. rewarded.

All the meritorious soldiers who came to receive the rewards were all the most vicious members of the rebel army. The soldiers in charge of distributing the rewards did not dare to neglect them. After verifying the vouchers, they immediately distributed the supplies, which was extremely fast. It was Han Shao's turn.

However, when Han Shao handed over his Dongfu City merit certificate, the two soldiers inspected it and then waved their hands and said: "The official has ordered that you and other Dongfu City soldiers cannot protect the prince, and the prince will die." Hey, no reward will be given to anyone who has gained merit in Dongfu City!"

The official the battalion soldiers mentioned was not Xiao Yan, the Liang Emperor in Jiankangtai City, but Xiao Zhengde, the king of Linhe who served as Hou Jing's internal correspondent and helped the rebels enter the city. After Hou Jing's rebels entered the city, Xiao Zhengde eagerly ascended the throne as emperor with the support of the rebels, and made his eldest son Xiao Jianli the crown prince.

Dongfu City is an important garrison location in the city. Its location is second only to a few places such as Taicheng, and it also stores a large amount of supplies. Therefore, Hou Jing ordered the crown prince Xiao Jianli and his general Yi to go with him. Lu Hui was stationed in Dongfucheng.

Xiao Zhengde was extremely enthusiastic for the common cause and spent all his wealth to support the military and reward meritorious servicemen. The new crown prince Xiao Jianli was probably heartbroken when he saw his family's wealth dissipated. In addition, he was very irritable and lawless. While guarding Dongfu City, he even took some time off to lead bandits to loot and rob near Dacheng. , probably because he wanted to supplement the dwindling family income, but he was shot to death by Liu Ya.

This incident caused quite a stir among the rebellious army at that time. Even the pawns in the rebellious army could not figure it out even if they tried hard. Everyone held their heads in hands and followed the Supreme and the princes in their great cause of rebellion and stealing the country. This prince, his highness, Going to Dacheng to grab those three melons and two dates, but risking one's life, what on earth is the purpose?

"Open your dog's eyes and take a closer look. I am a subordinate of General Zhi Borenzhi, not a servant of that dog prince! Do you think you are guilty of depriving me of the reward and defrauding my axe?"

Han Shao himself had a domineering temperament in the countryside. After being coerced by the rebel army, he quickly adapted to the rules of survival in the rebel army. After hearing this, he directly swung his long Ke ax and cut through a wooden board.

The meritorious servicemen who were queuing up to receive the reward all clapped their hands and cheered after seeing this. Although they were all extremely vicious people, they all felt that the meritorious deeds they had sacrificed for their lives could not be nullified because of the Xiao family's dog prince.

The soldiers in charge of distributing rewards turned pale with shock when they saw this. They no longer cared about the so-called supreme decree and directly distributed Han Shao's rewards to him, and even added a little more.

After receiving the reward, Han Shao withdrew from the camp, and then searched along the fence on the north bank of the Qinhuai River. After more than an hour, he finally found the target of his trip, a building with about a thousand people inside and outside. Camp.

"May I ask the commander of the camp whether Huainan Guo is buying General Guo? A certain person who is also from Huainan has heard of General Guo for a long time. He misses his fellow villagers during the Chinese New Year. It happens that the princes and princes rewarded him with wine and food, so he brought an offering to pay homage to the general!"

Han Shao waved the wine and food in his hand in front of the soldiers guarding the camp and said with a smile on his face.

After seeing this, the soldiers of the camp did not dare to neglect, and quickly entered the camp to report. After a while, they introduced Han Shao into the camp tent.

The camp general Guo Zhengmai was sitting in the main seat in the tent, and beside him stood a maid from the East Palace who was given by the prince a few days ago, who was carefully pouring wine for him. When he looked up and saw Han Shao walking in with wine and meat, he smiled and said: "Look He is indeed a brave soldier. Where is your hometown? Which general is he serving now? Since you know my name, why didn't you surrender early?"

Guo Zhengmai was a local wealthy businessman in Huainan. He had led his troops to serve Hou Jing as early as Shouyang. When he saw Han Shao's strong body and merit, he immediately felt a love for talents in his heart and wanted to recruit him. Under his command.

Han Shao knelt down and presented the gifts he had received to Guo Zhengmai, and respectfully answered Guo Zhengmai's questions. He also expressed his willingness to rely on Guo Zhengmai to continue to make contributions and honor his ancestors.

After Guo Zhengmai heard this, he also laughed and ordered one of his generals to compete with Han Shao in his tent. Seeing that Han Shao had defeated several warriors in his tent, he couldn't help but love him even more and keep him. Give them wine in the tent and drink together.

The sky quickly darkened, and mist also floated on the Qinhuai River. Some soldiers entered the camp to convey the order of the prince. It was said that there were signs of large-scale dispatches by the Liang army on the south bank. The camps were told to be careful and beware of night fights between the Liang people and the camp. .

After hearing this, Guo Zhengmai couldn't help but secretly thought of bad luck, but he did not dare to disobey the prince's order, and even ordered to stop the banquet in the tent. When Han Shao, who was trying his best to please him at the banquet, heard this, he couldn't help but secretly thought it was a pity.

All the members in the tent dispersed. As a new recruit, Han Shao was appointed by Guo Zhengmai as the leader of the newly attached soldiers. However, it was already late at night and he had to give instructions to his troops tomorrow, so he would do it tonight. Let’s take a rest together in separate accounts first.

Although Han Shao was new, he was well-liked by the masses for his bravery and boldness. After entering the other tent, five or six people in the same tent were still discussing Huainan's rural affairs with great interest. Han Shao seemed to ask casually: "Although General Guo is a powerful man in the village, he was not so powerful in the village in the past years. How can he become so powerful by joining the Queen?"

"Of course there is a method..."

When several people heard this, they didn't doubt him, so they started talking about Guo Zhengmai leading his troops to rob people in Huainan Township. Han Shao still smiled to himself and said, "Is there anyone named Xia Fengzhuang among them?" Village?"

"How can I remember that..."

One of the soldiers in the camp had secretly felt that something was wrong. Before he finished speaking, Han Shao had already rushed forward and stabbed the man in the chest with a short knife. The man next to him felt a sudden gust of wind and turned around and shouted: "Han Er What to do..."

However, he was not spared and his throat was slashed. Several members were already drunk, but Han Shao came well prepared and suddenly launched an attack. He killed five people in the tent without making too much noise.

"Sister, the enemy has been found! Don't worry, we will send the rightful owner to hell tonight!"

He bent down and threw a few people onto the felt, and grabbed soil to cover their wounds to hide the smell of blood. He went out of the tent and let the night wind blow away the bloody smell from his body. Then he continued to buy Guo Zheng's store on the excuse of getting lost. Let's go to the dormitory.

However, at this time, Guo Zheng was wearing armor and marching out. Because the enemy troops were approaching Dagen, he had to raise the alert. When he saw Han Shaoxing coming, he ordered him to follow his own soldiers and go outside the camp where the fog was thicker.

There was destined to be no peace in the north and south of Dacheng that night. Under the strong recommendation of his cousin Wei Can, Liu Zhongli was finally able to serve as the general leader of the reinforcement armies and gained the power to nominally command the armies.

But Liu Zhongli also knew that if he wanted to make the armies truly respect and obey him, he still needed to have enough brilliant and dazzling achievements. Previously, Xiao Lun, the king of Shaoling, led his army to defeat, and Pei Zhi's high-ranking Huainan troops were closely connected with Xiao Fan, the king of Poyang. There are also other clans and generals who have their own conflicts, and the personnel within the entire coalition army is extremely complicated.

Among the armies that have arrived around Ji Nei so far, it can be said that only Liu Zhongli and Wei Can, as the crown prince's direct confidants, are really eager to rescue Jiankang's crisis. The other groups are not that concerned about the safety of the two palaces, and even It is possible that he secretly hoped that Hou Jing's rebellious army could take away the two palaces.

"Whether Jiankang's crisis can be lifted, let's fight here!"

After nightfall, Liu Zhongli visited Wei Can's camp from Xinting directly and informed his cousin of his battle plan. He would move the camp to Dachang and fight Hou Jing from the front. He hoped that Wei Can could march into Qingtang and cut off Stone City from Jian. Kang's road, and threatened the enemy's Genbei camp from the side.

Now all the armies are stationed in the south of Qinhuai River, and Pei's senior troops are even far away in the river. Wei Can knows that if he goes to Qingtang, he will go deep into the enemy's territory. If he is not careful, he may fall into the enemy's encirclement. However, Under Liu Zhongli's urging, and because he was eager to rescue the East Palace, he agreed to take the risk.

The fog became even thicker at night, and even the fishing lights hanging on the bow of the boat were compressed into an inconspicuous light spot by the fog.

This situation naturally aggravated the difficulties of the march. They had to avoid being discovered by enemy scouts, and also ensure that they arrived at Qingtang in time and set up camp. Wei Can and his party had a hard time.

Suddenly, there was a messy sound of gold and iron in the night. Wei Can ordered people to go in and investigate, only to find that there was an inconspicuous enemy sentry point in the river bend and pond ahead, and more than a dozen corpses of enemy soldiers were slaughtered. Near the sentry point, a bloody soldier was struggling to pull out a sword from the corpse of a general. The soldier himself was wounded in the abdomen and back and was critically injured.

"Could it be that all the rebels here were slaughtered by strong men?"

Wei Can came in and looked at the battle situation. He couldn't help but be in awe of the seriously injured man who was on the verge of collapse, and then said: "A certain Qin Wang division travels at night to fight against thieves. May I ask your name, warrior? Are you willing to accompany me?"

"My husband, the Xiao family, indulged in evil and raised thieves, causing all my relatives to be slaughtered. I will kill thieves for revenge and die without regrets, but I will never use my strength for the Liang family again! What kind of teacher is King Qin, a jackal wild man who is no different from a teacher of thieves?" It’s just a dog, I’d rather die in Tuzhong than go with him!”

Han Shao finally killed his enemy with his own hands. He let out a breath that was held in his chest. Hearing Wei Can's words, he couldn't help but sneered.

When Wei Can heard Han Shao's words, his expression darkened, but seeing that the man was seriously injured and dying, he no longer cared about his disrespect and offense, and ordered his entourage to leave some medicine for treating knife wounds and stopping bleeding, and gave this The people moved to a more remote location and settled down, while they continued to march.

Han Shao originally wanted to die, but he didn't expect to encounter this situation. When he was about to faint from the pain, he gritted his teeth and asked Wei Can's entourage in a deep voice: "What is the surname of your master? If I don't die in the future, I will I will repay this kindness.”

After hearing this, the attendant smiled and said: "My lord is Yongchang Marquis, the direct descendant of Wei Kaifu in Jingzhao. If you, a desperado, are lucky enough to survive, you can live in hiding. I don't need you to repay the favor."