After Zhang Kai occupied Linming County, he was not idle. He knew that he was rebelling. If he was caught, he would be skinned alive by the army. From now on, it depends entirely on how long he can live.
How long can he last?
So after killing all the officials in the county government, Kaifeng began a large-scale raid in the county. He specifically targeted wealthy people, ransacked their homes, and then distributed the property to women to win over his subordinates.
Then he found someone who could write and posted a notice in the city. Anyone who was willing to follow him would have food to eat. This was undoubtedly a huge temptation for the hungry civilians, so more and more people joined the rebellion.
There were even children as young as eleven or twelve years old in the military ranks.
Food is the most important thing for the people. When they are about to starve to death, the emperor is nothing.
The few grains from the official warehouse of Linming County were taken out, Zhang Zhang loaded the grains into trucks, and then led more than 2,000 people to the east along the Ming River. He passed through villages and towns along the way.
Use food to lure the villagers to join his team.
The local people, who were already suffering from famine, looked at each other's carts of grain, their stomachs growling, so they called to the villagers, took their families with them, and followed Zhang Kai away.
It's human nature to go wherever you can survive.
Although their team looked more like fleeing from famine from a distance, after Wu'an County Magistrate Yang Cong got the news, he immediately ran eastward with his family, because there were too many rebels on the opposite side.
To the east of Wu'an County is Shangdang County. Not long after Yang Cong left the city, he ran into Lu Yongji's two thousand soldiers.
"Losing the city and losing the land, magistrate Yang is really not afraid of death?" Lu Yongji, who was old and had a big belly, rode forward and wanted to accuse Yang Cong.
Yang Cong didn't look down on him either. After all, he was from the clan. Hearing this, he said: "The bandit army is huge, with thousands of people. I can't stop it. Since Lord Qi has led his army, please go to the court as soon as possible."
Thousands of people? Lu Yongji was dumbfounded. Didn't the military newspaper say there were only a few hundred people? How could it be thousands?
"The rebels are just a group of rioters, a mob. As soon as the elite troops of our army arrived, their positions were thrown into chaos," Xue Anguo, the hussar general of the Shangdang Mansion, said: "Calculating the time, the rebels have not yet arrived in Wu'an County. Our military needs are urgent.
Enter the city quickly, refuse to defend the city, and then review the situation."
The cavalry general Zhang Junmou also said: "It's just a mob, nothing to be afraid of. His Highness the King of Qi has ordered us to suppress it as soon as possible. The prefect should give the order as soon as possible."
The two generals of the military government did not pay attention to these rioters at all, because they knew that what if there were thousands of people? Do they have armored stomachs? Aren't they just a bunch of civilians? There is no need to be afraid.
But Lu Yongji was afraid. He had never been on the battlefield. When he came out on horseback this time, he felt that the journey was hard and his body could not bear it. He did not have the courage to go into the city and fight thousands of rebels.
How big of a place is Wu'an County, and surrounded by thousands of people, can you still run?
"I think it's inappropriate. There is no food in the city. Once we are surrounded, how many days can we last without water and food?" Lu Yongji said: "The best strategy is to station troops outside the city and have a basis for advance and retreat."
Get on top of Zenima's head. If we are surrounded outside, we will really have trouble escaping. We are an infantry army. We don't have a hundred horses in total, and we are still pulling baggage. If something really goes wrong, how will we run away?
Xue Anguo and Zhang Junmou persuaded them so earnestly that their saliva was almost dry, but Lu Yongji was indifferent.
After all, they were relatives of the emperor and Shangguan. They couldn't resist, so they had to choose Wuji Township, not far from Wu'an County, to station, and then sent out scouts to inquire about the situation in the direction of the county.
It was not convenient for Yang Cong to run away, so he just arranged for his family to flee to Shangdang County. He followed Lu Yongji with seventy or eighty followers.
After spending a night in the countryside, there was no movement in the county town, so the scouts expanded their exploration scope. Another day passed, and not even a trace of the rebels was seen.
"Are you deceiving me? Where are the rebels?" Lu Yongji asked Yang Cong.
Yang Cong raised his eyebrows and said, "How can I lie to you like this? Who dares to joke about the military situation? At most, they misestimate the number of rebels, but nothing else is wrong."
As soon as these words came out, Xue Anguo and Zhang Junmou looked at each other and understood in their hearts, good guy, are you really tricking us? It seems that there are not that many rebels at all. The word "thousands" is very important.
One or two thousand is also thousands.
"In this case, we need to enter the city as soon as possible. The rations are almost gone. If we don't go into the city to replenish supplies, we won't be able to survive for a few days," Xue Anguo said.
Yang Cong nodded and said: "I agree with General Xue. After all, there is still some food in the granary in the county. I can also borrow more from the big families in the city. It is not a long-term solution for the soldiers to stay here to eat and sleep in the open."
Lu Yongji nodded. To ensure that everything was safe, he sent a hundred men to advance into the city. After confirming that everything was correct, the army would follow.
At noon that day, the guards came back to report that although the city was full of refugees, there was no trace of the rebels. So Lu Yongji led a large group of people into the city with peace of mind, and closed the city gates, not allowing anyone to enter or leave.
Kaifeng had no intention of attacking Wu'an County at all, because he didn't dare to go. The people were afraid of the soldiers. This was their nature.
He guessed that word of his rebellion must have spread, and there might be officers and soldiers chasing him behind his back, so he didn't even dare to enter the larger towns, and instead marched in the wilderness.
After walking for a few days, we unexpectedly entered Shexian County in Shangdang County.
Seeing that the food he brought was almost finished, once it was finished, he would have no trump card to make his subordinates follow him willingly, so after discussing with his subordinates, they planned to take the risk and attack the county town.
Every time there was a first time, there was a second time. Linming County also beat him up and killed the officials. Anyway, if he was caught, he would die, so it would be better to fight in a big way.
By coincidence, my scouts came to report that there was a convoy heading west on the official road not far away. The carriages were fully loaded and there should be a lot of property. They were overjoyed and immediately led the troops in person.
He led five hundred men to plunder the convoy.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! More than ten carriages were pulling Yang Cong’s belongings, as well as his wife, children and children.
Except for Yang Cong's concubine and a dozen maids, the rest became ghosts under the open sword.
He learned from his concubine that Wu'an County Magistrate Yang Cong ran away with his family after finding out that their rebel army was moving towards Wu'an County.
Moreover, Lu Yongji, the governor of Shangdang, had already led his army to find them.
If you look at it this way, there are no soldiers in Wu'an County at all? There are no soldiers in Shangdang County either?
Then what am I afraid of?
Zhang Kai immediately arranged for his men to pretend to be fleeing business travelers and headed directly to Shexian County. He followed quietly behind with a large group of people.
After the civil unrest broke out in Wu'an County, the city gates of all county towns in Shangdang County, which was a neighbor, would only open a crack during the day. If anyone wanted to enter the city, they would be allowed to enter after being strictly interrogated.
Once anything unusual is detected outside the city, the city gate will be closed immediately.
There were only about thirty people in the group pretending to be a caravan, and the leader was Zhang Shun, Zhang Kai's son.
"Where did it come from? Who are you looking for in the city?"
"I'm looking for your uncle!" Zhang Shun was also a fierce man. He turned sideways and bumped into the officers and soldiers in the crack of the door. The people following him quickly pulled out their weapons from the mule cart and stepped in sideways through the crack of the door one by one.
, to protect their young master.
There were only about ten gatekeepers in total. After Zhang Shun took the weapon, he hacked four of them to death in one breath.
It's not that he is brave, but that the people guarding the gate are really unprepared. Who would have thought that thirty people would dare to kill officers and soldiers and attack the county town?
In a moment, Zhang Shun had already taken the city gate. At this time, the two gates behind him were also opened. Looking out from the city gate, he could see his father leading the way with more than a hundred cavalry.
Rushing towards the city gate.
Behind Zhang Kai were the Zhang Jiajun, who were densely packed and in chaos.
Some people tripped over their feet as they ran, and some people bumped directly into the backs of the people in front of them, causing them to be implicated. In short, they looked more like refugees than rebels.
Zhang Kai told them that there was food in the city, so everyone was running to the city as fast as they could.
The few guards guarding the city wall originally noticed something was wrong with the city gate and were about to come down to check. They looked at the formation outside the city and couldn't stop checking. Each one disappeared faster than the other. They quickly went home to pack their luggage and greet their families.
Run towards the west gate.
In this way, Zhang Zhang successfully entered the county town. The first thing he did was to find the county government office. He grabbed a few civilians from the shops facing the street. After asking for the direction of the county government office, he led people to kill them.
The gate of the county government office was closed tightly. I couldn't find anything to hit the door, so I opened it and ordered a ladder to be stacked and climbed over the wall to get in.
As the brief sound of fighting in the courtyard ended, the door was opened from the inside. Without giving an order, the rebels rushed in.
The magistrate of Shexian County is Chen Xiang, Chen Shuyi's cousin and the eldest son of Chen Shubao's fifth brother Chen Shuqing. He has been kidnapped and brought to Kaikai.
"Where is the key to the treasury?" Zhang Kai stood in front of Chen Xiang in a rather powerful manner, holding the knife at his waist.
The Sui Dynasty's treasury was all made of iron bolts and iron locks. You don't need a key to open it, which is very labor-intensive. Opening it is also based on the experience of Linming County. The last time I opened the lock, I broke five knives and couldn't open it.
He opened it, and finally he had to smash the window with an ax to get in.
The windows in the warehouse are very high and small. It is very inconvenient to transport things outside through the windows, so it is best to go through the main entrance.
Chen Xiangwang opened the people behind him and said: "I know that you and others have no choice but to rebel. Now that we are descending rapidly, I can keep you safe. Only I know where the key is. You just need to put down your weapons and listen to me.
Everyone has food to eat.”
Good guy, are you trying to sow discord? How could Zhang Zhang allow him to continue talking? He directly slashed Chen Xiang's neck with his knife.
Not even two months after taking office, Chen Xiang died. His wife who followed him from Jiangnan to Shexian County was also raped to death by the rebels, and his seven-year-old son was chopped into pieces.
Civilian rebellion is like this, open and unrestrained, so that on that day, all the mansions of the rich in Shexian County were raided, and ragged women could be seen everywhere being kidnapped by the mob and kicked in every house.
Open the door and ask for food and property. If you don't give them, you will be killed.
In just one night, more than two thousand people in Shexian County died. Bodies could be seen everywhere in the streets. Zhang Zhangshun and his son, after successfully capturing two county towns, planned to attack Shangdang County, the capital of Shangdang County.
.
They were afraid that the officers and soldiers would pursue them, so they did not dare to stay in Shexian County for a long time. Two days later, Zhang Kai took 3,000 men and horses as well as food, grass and baggage and headed towards Shangdang.
The remaining refugees were all begging for food from him. They were wasting food that was not needed for the war, so they were abandoned by him.
You need to gain experience by shooting a gun and changing places. Rebellion also requires gaining experience. Zhang Zhang undoubtedly did it very correctly this time.
Lu Yongji, the governor of Shangdang, was completely confused after receiving the news.