Zhou Yu hurriedly stuck his head out of the car window. He had already seen Qu Minggui, but he didn't want to cause trouble, so he planned to avoid seeing them. Unexpectedly, Qu Minggui took a fancy to these government officials, which made him complain secretly.
"Oh! It turns out to be Magistrate Zhou."
Zhou Yu was Qu Leng's confidant and had a good relationship with Qu Minggui. Qu Minggui patted Yang Yuanqing's broad shoulder with his riding crop again. The guards all showed anger in their eyes and pressed their hands on the hilts of their knives, about to commit murder. , Yang Yuanqing hurriedly gave everyone a wink, not allowing them to act rashly.
Qu Minggui didn't know that he had walked around the gate of hell and came back. He laughed dryly and said to Zhou Yu: "County Magistrate Zhou, you are such good government officials! Where did you get it?"
When Zhou Yu saw that he actually hit Yang Yuanqing on the shoulder with his riding crop, he was so frightened that his heart almost stopped beating. He quickly said to the officials: "You guys go aside first, I will have a few words with Mr. Qu."
Yang Yuanqing gave Zhou Yu a meaningful look, turned the horse's head, led the guards out of the carriage, and waited not far away. Only then did Zhou Yu realize that he had made a mistake and should not have let the government officials go away, but he had already stopped. There's a solution.
He had no choice but to bite the bullet and said to Qu Minggui: "Mr. Qu, these yamen servants used to be Dou Jiande's soldiers. I selected these twenty people from Pingyuan County to serve as yamen servants. They also brought the war horses back from the army."
Qu Minggui narrowed his eyes and smiled: "How about you give me a favor and these government officials will follow me from now on?"
Zhou Yu cursed secretly in his heart, "You don't know how to live or die!"
There was a look of embarrassment on his face, and he said after a while: "That's it! I left them behind when I left Baode County. I still need their protection in the past few days."
Qu Minggui was overjoyed, "Then we will make an agreement!"
He was afraid that Zhou Yu would regret it, so he rode out of the city and watched him go away. Zhou Yu shook his head, drove the carriage to Yang Yuanqing and others, pointed to an inn not far away, and said to Yang Yuanqing: "You can stay at the Anfeng Inn over there. If anything happens, I will come find you."
Yang Yuanqing understood what he meant and ordered the people around him: "Let's go!"
Twenty dozen cavalrymen followed him and galloped away. Zhou Yu looked at Yang Yuanqing's back and sighed. His wife, children and parents were all in Yang Yuanqing's hands. No wonder he was not afraid of causing trouble.
.......
The night is getting deeper, and the gate of Ande County has been closed. It has become quiet outside the city. There is no longer a shadow of a pedestrian on the official road. It is dark everywhere except for a few villages in the distance. There is a faint ray of light.
At this time, a cavalry team of about 500 people came unhurriedly from a distance, controlling the sound of horse hooves. They entered a forest and frightened the birds in the tree.
The leading general was none other than General Han Xiaoguo. They followed Magistrate Zhou and his entourage from a distance until it became completely dark, then slowly approached Nancheng, waiting for news from the city.
Han Xiaoguo led the cavalry into the woods. This forest covers an area of about a hundred acres and is dominated by pine trees. The woods are covered with soft pine needles. Han Xiaoguo urged his horses to pass silently through the pine forest and came to the other side. He watched. Looking at the south city gate two miles away, the city gate was also pitch black.
After watching for a moment, Han Xiaoguo turned around and ordered: "Everyone rest on the spot and wait for orders!"
The soldiers dismounted one after another to rest. Han Xiaoguo looked at the city gate from a distance, feeling a little worried in his heart. I wonder when will the news come?
........
The mansion behind the county government in Ande County is the residence of the prefect, Qu Leng. It is also where the command center of the Maitreya Cult is located. It was quiet outside the gate of the mansion, with several carriages parked. At this time, the side door opened, revealing a bright light, and two maids. He held a lantern and left the house.
"Prefect Qu, there is no need to send it off. I will disturb the prefect tonight."
Zhou Yu, the magistrate of Pingyuan County, walked out of the mansion, followed by Qu Leng. He sent Zhou Yu out, and Qu Leng said earnestly: "Magistrate Zhou, you must do what I asked you to do. Time is running out. , I hope you can go back tomorrow and start preparations immediately."
"Don't worry, Prefect, I understand in my heart that I will never make any mistakes!"
Zhou Yu got on the carriage, which slowly headed towards the post house. Zhou Yu saw that Qu Leng had entered the house, the door had been closed, and it became dark outside.
He immediately told the coachman, "Go to Anfeng Inn!"
The carriage turned around and drove towards another road. Not long after, the carriage slowly stopped at the door of Anfeng Inn. The surroundings of the inn were quiet, no one came in or out, and there was only a big, old, lifeless lantern hanging in front of the door.
In the backlight of the lantern, a dark figure stood faintly. Suddenly, the dark figure rushed towards him quickly. Zhou Yu was startled. He thought it was a thief who was robbing the road. When he got closer, he realized that it was a government servant wearing a uniform. The personal guard who had taken over the service, he breathed a sigh of relief and asked: "Is the prince here?"
"Please ask the magistrate to follow me!"
The guards brought Zhou Yu into the inn. The entire inn had been booked by Yang Yuanqing. There were no other guests, and the shopkeeper and waiters were not allowed to enter the inner courtyard.
After walking through two doors, I came to a small courtyard. Four guards were standing in front of the small courtyard. The lights were on in the room, and the lights were reflected in the courtyard. You could see the figures in the room walking back and forth.
"Reporting to the proprietor, Magistrate Zhou is here."
"Come in!"
Yang Yuanqing was the only one in the room. He was thinking about how to retaliate to the prince Li Jiancheng. It was not polite to come and go. Li Jiancheng was actually playing tricks in Hebei. It would be too easy for him not to retaliate to him.
Since last autumn, he has been preparing for the Hebei Campaign. It has been more than half a year. In these more than half a year, although there has been no large-scale war between the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and they have complied with the armistice agreement, the two sides have continued to make small moves. From the beginning of the year, the Sui and Tang Dynasties The Tang Dynasty used Hedong merchants to purchase large quantities of supplies from Chang'an, the Tang Dynasty bribed Wang Xu's son, and now it provokes rebellion in Hebei. The two sides have been fighting secretly.
Yang Yuanqing did not want to fight with the Tang army for the time being, but he wanted to deal with Li Jiancheng. If he had not accidentally obtained the news from Pingyuan County, Li Jiancheng would have succeeded.
At this time, the soldiers brought Zhou Yu in. Yang Yuanqing glanced at him and said with a smile: "I thought Magistrate Zhou would come with a large group of believers."
Zhou Yu's face turned red and he said, "Your Highness is putting himself in danger. This is a sign of trust in his humble position. If I betray this trust, wouldn't I be punished by God?"
Yang Yuanqing couldn't help but secretly praise him for his ability to speak. He did not say that his parents, wife and children were controlled by the Sui army, but said that he trusted him. Yang Yuanqing nodded, "If this matter is done well, you will be promoted to Pingyuan County Sheriff Shi .”
Zhou Yu knelt down with a plop, kowtowed three times to Yang Yuanqing, and said with tears: "Your Highness's trust and tolerance can only be repaid by being crushed to pieces!"
Yang Yuanqing said calmly: "I think you have sincerely repented, so I gave you a chance. If you have concealed or deceived at all, your head will have already fallen to the ground by now, get up!"
Zhou Yu felt grateful and in awe at the same time. He stood up and said: "Your Highness, I have important information to report. I just came out of the prefect's mansion, and all the important people who worship the Maitreya Sect are having a meeting in the prefect's mansion. Your Highness, this is an opportunity. "
"What's their plan?"
"Yes! Qu Leng told Beizhi that the time for the uprising has been decided to be brought forward and will start in six days. All the believers will gather in Ande County to see Maitreya off. At that time, the uprising will be launched."
Yang Yuanqing sneered. After six days of rebellion, they would have no chance.
........
The counties in Hebei have not yet set up county soldiers, so the city gates in each county are managed by government officials. They close and open the doors every day to check the number of people. However, the gate guards in Ande County are no longer government officials, but 500 people. The guardian soldiers of the Maitreya Religion. They are not only in charge of the four city gates, but also maintain the security of the county and serve as guards of honor in various worship ceremonies.
These five hundred guardian soldiers were commanded by Qu Minggui. Of course, they still wore the red and black uniforms of government officials. On the surface, they were still government officials.
Night shrouded the county town, and the streets were deserted. There was not a single pedestrian in sight, only the watchman's occasional banging sound and hoarse shout, "Bang-bang bang! The weather is dry and things are dry, be careful of the water!"
At this time, more than twenty men in black appeared under the eaves near the south gate. They moved quickly and agilely, and quickly approached the south gate. Two lanterns were hung under the south gate. Under the weak light, three defenders squatted Taking a nap at the base of the wall.
Several black shadows slowly approached. Their figures were like ghosts. They flashed to the three defenders and left quickly. The three defenders fell limply to the ground and turned into three corpses.
Someone waved, and more than twenty men in black rushed over. They clung to the wall and slowly walked up the corridor to the city. To their surprise, there was not a single defender on the top of the city.
All the dozens of defenders on duty were hiding in the tower and sleeping. More than twenty men in black rushed up to the city. They pried open the back door of the tower and rushed in. Only a low scream was heard. For a moment, thirty Several defenders on duty were all killed cleanly.
The suspension bridge was slowly lowered, the city gate opened, and an orange lantern swayed on the top of the city.
Two miles away, five hundred soldiers hiding in the woods were resting. Suddenly, a soldier pointed in the distance and shouted in surprise: "General Han, the signal is coming!"
Han Xiaoguo had already seen it, and he was overjoyed. He turned around and ordered: "Everyone mount up!"
The soldiers got on their horses one after another. Han Xiaoguo waved his sword and said, "Follow me!"
Five hundred cavalry rushed towards the city gate like a gust of wind. Although the sound of horse hooves cut through the silent night, no one heard it. The five hundred cavalry rushed into the city, followed the man in black, and rushed to the county government office in a moment. forward.
Yang Yuanqing had been waiting here for a long time. Han Xiaoguo stepped forward and saluted, "Please give me the order from the manager!"
Yang Yuanqing glanced at the prefect's mansion, murderous intent bursting out of his eyes, and coldly ordered: "Come in, kill them all, men, women, old and young, don't let anyone go!"
Five hundred cavalrymen rushed into the prefecture's mansion, slashing with swords, and screams resounded throughout the mansion. Prefecture Qu Leng and more than a dozen people, who were having a meeting in the study, noticed something unusual and fled out of the window, but were killed by the cavalry. Come, no one ran away, they were all killed.
.......
Two days later, Yang Xuanxuan, the governor of Hejian County, led 10,000 troops into Pingyuan County and took control of all the county towns and passes. They conducted a large-scale manhunt throughout the county and captured the Buddha, his disciples, and his grandchildren who worshiped Maitreya.
There are thousands of backbones, including more than 20 county officials who have joined the Maitreya Cult.
Yang Yuanqing ordered that all the more than a thousand backbones and officials be executed, and all evil objects in the church were burned together. All property donated by believers to the church was confiscated and would not be returned as punishment for their religious belief.
The so-called innocent believers have always been unreliable. Instead of persuading them with earnest words, it is better to let them lose their property and interests in vain. They will naturally be heartbroken and will no longer believe in Maitreya. This is more effective than any propaganda and persuasion.