Although Xu Yun and Wang Huan came to Muzhou together, their tasks were completely different and unrelated to each other. They also had their own subordinates. They lived in different courtyards. After meeting Zhizhou He Jian, they went their separate ways.
Take action.
Wang Huan came to Muzhou this time to catch Chen Qing, not only at the request of his brother Wang Bo, but also at the hint of Qin Xianggong.
Early in the morning, Wang Huan sent seven or eight of his men out and divided them into several groups to collect information about Chen Qing from all aspects.
At noon, his subordinates came back one after another, but the news they brought back disappointed Wang Huan.
"There are no soldiers looting people's property? There won't be any!"
"Reporting to the censor, it is true that there is no such thing. Chen Qing governs the army very strictly. Looting people's property and raping women are capital crimes. The soldiers are very afraid. No one dares to mess around. And I heard that the soldiers are exhausted every day. I guess
I don’t have the energy to go out and grab money anymore.”
Wang Huan asked another subordinate, "What about embezzlement of military salaries? Did Chen Qing take out military supplies and resell them?"
"Reporting to the censor, I humbly asked two civil servants in the county government. They were seconded to take charge of the army's salary and supplies. The accounts they recorded were clear. Chen Qing did not embezzle a single soldier's salary, nor did he take any supplies out.
He was resold and held a low position. I also heard that Chen Qing even had the same food as the soldiers, so the soldiers were convinced of him. These were the exact words of the two civil servants."
"What a bunch of trash!"
Wang Huan cursed angrily. At this time, two subordinates responsible for investigating the killing of prisoners rushed over and said, "Report to the censor, your humble position will be rewarded."
Wang Huan was overjoyed and quickly asked the two of them to sit down and talk in detail.
"We asked some rural soldiers. Although Chen Qing did not kill prisoners, he killed all the wounded soldiers who were not killed by arrows. Those wounded soldiers wanted to surrender, but he did not accept surrender, and hundreds of them were killed.
"
Wang Huan was refreshed. This was indeed a gain. It showed that Chen Qing was cruel and bloodthirsty. Although Jingguan did not have it, the rule of killing and surrendering soldiers was confirmed.
"anything else?"
Another subordinate said: "He collected the trophies of the bandits who died in the battle, at least several thousand guan and several hundred taels of silver. I heard that he distributed all the trophies to his subordinates. I don't know how much he divided himself.
.”
Wang Huan narrowed his eyes. This was also a crime. According to regulations, the spoils of war had to be handed over, and then the court would use part of it to reward the soldiers. Chen Qing, as a small commander, actually divided up the spoils without authorization.
"Let's investigate again and see if there is anything else, such as using the heads of ordinary people to pretend to be rioters."
"Follow the order!"
The two men rushed away, and Wang Huan sneered in his heart. How could there be no problem? They were supervisory censors. As long as they wanted to investigate, even a mosquito leg could scrape off several kilograms of meat.
Hum! Chen Qing and his generals must take at least half of the thousands of dollars!
...........
Sui'an County is a small county. It is located in a mountainous area and is remote. The city is dilapidated and small, with a population of only a few thousand people and a few hundred households. It is generally poor.
The reason why Zhang Kui did not plunder Sui'an County before was because it was too poor and had little oil and water, and he also wanted to make Sui'an County his home base.
Things are different now. Zhang Kui has decided to move to Quzhou. Although there is no oil or water in Sui'an County, there are still three kilograms of nails in the broken ship, so he can get some food and women.
More importantly, only after he plundered Sui'an County would his bandits be willing to follow him.
Zhang Kui's village is about eighty miles away from Sui'an County. To take the official road, you have to go to Chun'an County first, and then follow the official road from Chun'an County to the southwest, which is an extra sixty miles away.
Zhang Kui led his three thousand men to march toward Sui'an County along a small road. The team stopped and walked. At dusk the next day, the army arrived in a forest about ten miles away from Sui'an County.
Zhang Kui ordered his men to rest in the woods, and sent people to Sui'an County to investigate the situation in the county.
Zhang Kui actually knew the situation in Sui'an County very well. The city walls were dilapidated and short, and could only be used as a defense against wild beasts. In several places, they were only two people high, and they could be climbed up using ladders.
There were no rural soldiers, only a dozen old officers responsible for opening and closing the city gates.
To them, it is a county town without any defense, allowing them to ravage.
As night fell, the men he sent out came back and reported to Zhang Qiu: "General Qi, there are no troops in the county. There was heavy rain in this area last month, and the southeast corner of the city wall collapsed. Currently it is only fenced with tattered mats.
It hasn’t been repaired yet.”
Zhang Qiu was overjoyed and immediately sent an order for the whole army to pack up and set off to spend the night in the county seat!
The three thousand bandits were full of energy, packed up their things randomly, and then followed their general and rushed to the county town, asking for wine, meat, and women. Everyone was impatient.
The team ran for about three miles and entered a wide area, with the Sui'an River on the left, dense woods on the right, and the outline of the county town ahead.
The soldiers completely forgot about the dangers around them, and everyone was eager for the county seat.
At this moment, a banging sound suddenly came from the woods, 'Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!'
Suddenly, a volley of arrows was fired from the forest, and the arrows were shot at the bandits like a storm. Thousands of bandits were caught off guard and were shot down by the arrows one after another, and screams were heard.
"kill--"
General Chen Qing took the lead and killed them first.
"Kill--"
Two thousand soldiers roared out and followed them. After a month of night battle training, they finally showed their effect.
Chen Qing rushed into the crowd, swept the halberd, and blood burst out. Three bandits were beheaded by the halberd blade.
Chen Qing became even more excited and waved his halberd to kill into the denser crowd. Wherever his horse passed, people turned on their backs. The fierce bandits around him were like weeds. They would die if they encountered him, and they would die if they were close to him. Chen Qing assassinated and hacked them to death.
countless.
The general is like a god of death, invincible, which makes the two thousand soldiers even more morale-driven and kill the enemy regardless of their own safety.
Three thousand fierce bandits were killed by a burst of arrows, and several hundred of them were killed. Especially at night, there was no telling how many enemies there were, especially when the enemy general was extremely powerful. The bandits were panicked and the team was in chaos.
Two bandit generals who secretly surrendered to Chen Qing, one named Yang Ke and the other Wang Yun, knew that the time had come to make atonement for their sins, so they ordered their men to shout, "The officers and soldiers are coming. Throw down your armor and run for your life!"
There was rebellion within, and the bandits became even more panicked. They abandoned their armor and weapons one after another, scrambling for their lives, pushing and trampling each other, and many bandits even jumped into the river to escape in their panic.
Zhang Kui was furious. He swung his sword and killed Yang Ke who was inciting the soldiers to flee for their lives, but he could not stop the soldiers who were fleeing in confusion.
Zhang Kui saw that the situation was over and he had no intention of fighting the enemy, so it was best to take action at this time.
He immediately shouted to hundreds of close soldiers: "Break through to the west, let's go to Quzhou!"
Zhang Kui's three hundred confidants were all forbidden troops he brought from Lin'an, and they were extremely capable. They quickly organized and began to break out to the west.
These three hundred confidants were also the focus of Chen Qing's attention. He saw at a glance that among the chaotic bandits, hundreds of them were lined up neatly and well-equipped, breaking out to the west. Apparently they wanted to escape. To the west was the third party led by Liu Qiong.
I'm afraid I can't stop them.
Chen Qing shouted: "First Battalion, follow me!"
He personally led five hundred soldiers to fight up, and Liu Qiong's army attacked each other front and back. The three armies fought fiercely together.
Chen Qing saw that these three hundred men were all extremely brave and had given up life and death. Even if they died in battle, they would die with the other side. One thousand of his soldiers suffered heavy casualties and seemed to be no match for the other side.
Chen Qing turned around and saw that the other bandits had been completely defeated and left it to Zheng Ping to take care of them.
He shouted: "Hu Yantong, speed up the second battalion to come and challenge!"
A soldier suddenly shouted: "Commander, be careful!"
Chen Qing also heard the look of piercing the sky. He tilted his head, and a powerful wolf-fang arrow grazed his helmet from behind.
Chen Qing was furious. When he turned around, he saw the enemy general who was shooting cold arrows. He also saw the long scars on his face. His face was ferocious. He could not be anyone else except Zhang Kui.
As soon as Chen Qing got his horse up, he went to kill Zhang Kui.
At this time, Hu Yantong also led the 500 men of the second battalion to attack and surrounded 300 strong soldiers from the north. The situation became a five-versus-one battle. The 300 soldiers could no longer hold on and began to appear defeated.
Zhang Kui was so anxious that the only way out was to kill the opponent's general and break out of the encirclement while the enemy was in chaos.
Zhang Kui shouted loudly and swung his spear towards Chen Qing. He was very skilled in martial arts and had outstanding marksmanship. Unfortunately, he met Chen Qing. Chen Qing ignored the opponent's complicated spear moves at all.
Stab the opponent's chest, this move uses millions of moves into one move, simplifies the path, and suppresses the opponent's moves with unparalleled speed and powerful force.
Zhang Kui was taken aback and quickly raised his gun to move outwards. Unexpectedly, the opponent's halberd was extremely heavy. He was not moved away. He was only slightly raised. The tip of the halberd was pointed at his neck. It was already in front of him. Zhang Kui tried to hide but was too late.
Already.
‘Poof!’ The halberd pierced Zhang Kui’s neck. Zhang Kui’s eyes bulged and he died immediately.
Chen Qing swung his halberd and beheaded Zhang Kui, picked it up with the tip of his halberd, and shouted: "Zhang Kui is dead!"
"Zhang Kui is dead!"
The soldiers shouted that none of Zhang Kui's closest soldiers surrendered, but Chen Qing's men had high morale and became more and more courageous as they fought, gradually engulfing the remaining hundreds of soldiers.
Zhang Kui's deputy general Li Shizong fled. He was once the deputy envoy of soldiers and horses in Wenzhou. He surrendered to Zhang Kui and became Zhang Kui's deputy general. If this person escaped, there would be no peace in Wenzhou.
Chen Qing led a dozen soldiers and chased him on horseback. Less than two miles away, there was a fork in the official road in front of him. Seeing that Li Shizong was about to rush onto the official road, a man suddenly ran down from the official road.
I saw that this man was about twenty years old, with a very majestic figure, riding a majestic white horse, wearing silver armor and a silver helmet, and holding a bright silver gun in his hand. He looked very heroic.
This is not the standard armor of the Song Army, it is civilian armor. The man shouted and stabbed Li Shizong in the face. Li Shizong was so frightened that he waved his knife to block, but the man used his silver spear to push it away. He stretched out one hand and grabbed Li Shizong's waist.
Silk ribbon dragged him off the horse.
The man threw Li Shizong in front of Chen Qing, clasped his fists and said with a smile: "A certain family went north and stayed in Sui'an County for the night. They heard that the soldiers were suppressing bandits, so they came here to help!"
Chen Qing ordered Li Shizong to be tied up, but saw the man riding away.
Chen Qing quickly caught up and asked, "May I ask your surname?"
The young man chuckled and said, "I am Yang Zaixing in Taiyuan. If we are destined to meet again one day, we will definitely meet again!"
After saying this, he urged his horse onto the official road and galloped away.
Ah! It turned out to be the fierce general Yang Zaixing. Chen Qing quickly caught up to Guandao, only to see Yang Zaixing leading two of his men away to the north.
At this time, Yang Zaixing was still a subordinate of the southern rebel Cao Cheng. He did not want to be a bandit and left Cao Cheng. However, his identity had not been cleared. Although he helped Chen Qing, he did not want to meet the officers and soldiers.
Chen Qing failed to catch up with Yang Zaixing, and felt quite regretful, so he had to return to the battlefield.
The battle lasted only an hour and ended. More than a thousand of the three thousand bandits were killed, and more than 1,700 surrendered, but two to three hundred people still escaped.
Nearly 300 officers and soldiers were killed in the bandit suppression, mainly during the fierce battle with Zhang Kui's 300 confidants.
Chen Qing immediately issued an order, ordering Zheng Ping to lead a thousand soldiers, using each unit as a team, to search for deserters from the rebels in all directions.
Hu Yantong said in confusion: "Commander, they should have fled home separately!"
Chen Qing shook his head, "It's okay if we just run away and go home. I'm worried that some small leaders will lead people to escape, and they will regroup and form a new bandit force."
"But...some may have escaped."
Chen Qing glanced at the corpses around him and said calmly: "We will do our best!"
