Chapter 187 Yu Qilin, you come to kill your relatives for the sake of justice (6k)

Who are these two people? They are the ugly county horse Xuan Zan and the victorious general Han Tao.

The two of them hit it off immediately because they were both moved by the death of their companions.

At first, Song Jiang was eager to make a contribution. As soon as he arrived in the south of the Yangtze River, he and Lu Junyi split their troops into two groups. One group took Runzhou, Changzhou, and Suzhou, and the other group took Xuanzhou, Huzhou, and Hangzhou. Finally, they joined forces in Hangzhou to take Muzhou and Shezhou.

The plan is ideal, but the reality is cruel.

Runzhou, Changzhou, Xuanzhou and Huzhou were captured in less than two months, but it was more difficult to take Suzhou and Hangzhou later, and many Liangshan heroes were killed in these two places.

Song Jiang quickly adjusted his strategy, leaving a part of the troops to guard Huzhou, hoping to join forces to first capture Suzhou and then Hangzhou.

However, Fang La discovered the Liangshan army's intention and immediately ordered the Suzhou garrison to hold the city, while sending reinforcements to Hangzhou to threaten Huzhou, forcing the Liangshan army to be attacked from two fronts.

Song Jiang had to divide his troops to guard Huzhou, and the war between the two sides soon became stalemate.

Peng Qi was shot and killed in Suzhou, and Hao Siwen was unfortunately captured in a battle in Hangzhou. Later, he refused to disclose information when being interrogated by Fang Tianding, and was skinned alive and beheaded on the city wall for public display.

Xuan Zan and Hao Siwen were both deputy generals of Guan Sheng. They had been companions for a long time and had a deep friendship. During the campaigns against Wang Qing and Fang La, they often discussed gains and losses on the battlefield and both missed the days under Yang Chang's command.

Hao Siwen is different from other Liangshan surrendered generals. He is not keen on the court and yearns for the life of rivers and lakes. This is related to his experiences when he was young.

In ancient times, extraordinary people were often born with strange visions or had weird dreams.

Before Hao's mother became pregnant, she often dreamed of Jing Mu'an, so before her son was born, she guessed that he would be a pillar of the country.

After Hao Siwen was born, his mother nicknamed him "Jingmu'an" and, like parents who push their children to success in later generations, she tried her best to make her son learn literature and martial arts.

Inspired by this atmosphere and dreams, Hao Siwen, who did not like to study literature, mastered all kinds of martial arts, and the neighbors all thought he would have a bright future.

However, success does not come from hard work alone.

Fate is so wonderful that it makes those who strive for success suffer and lets the mediocre enjoy wealth.

When faced with sufferings in the world, those who accept them submissively are of low quality, those who dare to challenge are of middle quality, those who overcome sufferings are of high quality, and those who find a way out for others in sufferings are of the best quality.

The best person is like a light in the darkness, that is, a saint.

Saints are rare, and Hao's mother obviously hopes that her son will become a top-notch person. However, Hao Si gave up after failing the civil and military examinations several times. Then, he faced reality and joined the army to wait for his mentor, but was gradually smoothed out by life.

Perhaps he was discouraged by the injustice of the world, or perhaps he saw that there was always someone better than him after he went to Liangshan. Instead, Hao Siwen got used to the carefree life of the rivers and lakes, and got used to drinking and having fun with rough men. In the end, he stopped at the middle class and lived his life.

After all the members of Liangshan were recruited, Hao Siwen followed Song Jiang in his campaigns and was once again shrouded in the corrupt atmosphere of the court. Although he resisted in his heart, his body was like a worker, and he numbly followed the army to fight.

The only peace in his heart was the days he followed Yang Chang, so when he went to Huaixi and Jiangnan, he would often think of them to ease his mood.

Although Hao Siwen only reached the middle grade, he defended the honor of Jingmu'an before his death and refused to betray his companions, for which he was sentenced to death.

At that moment, Xuan Zan's heart turned cold.

What fame, wealth and honor, what red and purple robes, are these things worthy of my face?
Xuan Zan and Han Tao were both captured by Yang Chang. Instead of bearing a grudge against him, Yang Chang developed admiration for him, so he was the first to instigate them to surrender to Qinzhou together.

Han Tao was deeply saddened by the death of Peng Qi. He had been appointed as the Training Commander of Chenzhou before the expedition to Liangshan. When he heard that Lu Junyi was also given the title of Training Commander, he felt mixed emotions.

Among the Liangshan leaders who died in battle, Peng Qi was also a militia commander. Did the imperial court exchange him one-to-one?

Xuan Zan had a good relationship with Guan Sheng, and he should have said goodbye to him before leaving, but he was afraid that Guan Sheng would try to keep him and tell Song Jiang, so he left a letter and disappeared.

Han Tao originally wanted to call Ling Zhen, but considering that the news might leak out, he followed Xuan Zan's example and left a letter to explain.

The two men left without saying goodbye because Song Jiang was giving a speech at Chenqiao Inn at that time, and Shi Qian also slipped away quietly, just following suit.

In order to avoid any more trouble, Xuan Zan and Han Tao left the military camp in the middle of the night before Song Jiang closed the camp.

On the night when Su Yuanjing was sent away, Song Jiang, Lu Junyi and Wu Yong all sat in the center of the army.

Perhaps they were worried about the future, or perhaps they were commemorating their fallen brothers. They neither returned to their tents to rest nor spoke a word for a long time.

Outside the tent, the autumn wind suddenly blew, and Wu Yong shivered at the chill. He immediately stood up and said, "I didn't expect that the autumn night in the south of the Yangtze River would be so chilling."

"Where is the hometown at sunset? The Yanbo River makes people sad."

Song Jiang recited a Tang Dynasty poem with emotion, picked up the scarlet official robe on the table, suddenly stepped forward and draped it behind Wu Yong, and said with concern: "The bleak autumn wind has arrived, and the military advisor is wearing too little."

"This is your official robe, how can you..."

"What do you mean mine and yours? We are all brothers. With your merits as a military strategist, don't you deserve this fifth rank?"

"But the court is...

Wu Yong wanted to continue to refuse, but Song Jiang held his hands still and said in a deep voice: "I am not sure about being a general under Tong Guan. I will need the military advisor to give me more advice."

"Yes, yes, me too!"

Seeing this, Lu Junyi followed suit and picked up his official robe and draped it behind Wu Yong.

This action made Song Jiang dumbfounded, and he thought, why are you so excited?

He was afraid that if he failed to control his expression, he would reveal a flaw and let Lu Junyi notice his loss of composure, so he immediately changed the subject: "If we can wipe out Fang La, the military advisor will be more than qualified to wear the red robe. Unfortunately, it is not what we want."

"Yes, we won't be so independent anymore. My brothers' impression of Tong Guan is..."

Although Lu Junyi didn't finish his words, his meaning had already been expressed. He was a vassal in the team and his words changed with Song Jiang's mood.

Seeing the two sighing, Wu Yong pulled off his scarlet robe and said sternly, "The two vanguards should be more open-minded and not just look at one side of things. We have been at a stalemate with Fang La for a long time. It would be difficult to advance without reinforcements from the court, and we cannot take all the credit if we have outsiders to support us. Now that you are under Tong Guan's command, although you will lose some freedom, you don't have to worry about food and military supplies."

"What the military advisor said is true. If it wasn't for collecting grain, Kong Liang wouldn't have done that."

Song Jiang almost choked up when he spoke the last part. The Kong brothers were ordered to go to the countryside to "borrow grain" but were suddenly ambushed by local militiamen. Kong Liang was captured accidentally and was finally beaten to death by the mob.

Lu Junyi, who rarely gives advice, unexpectedly exclaimed when Song Jiang was feeling depressed: "Brother, should we order the troops to be on alert? What if the Southern Army suddenly attacks while we are at war?"

"Hmm? Officer Lu. No, it should be called Lu Tuanlian."

Song Jiang corrected himself in time and said solemnly: "Your reminder is very timely. I will trouble the militia to arrange the deployment and increase the patrol team at night to prevent the Southern Army from taking advantage of the opportunity."

"Oh ok, I'll be there right away."

Watching Lu Junyi leave in a hurry, Wu Yong approached and added meaningfully: "In the past six months, the two sides have fought each other and used many strategies. Even if the Southern Army gets the relevant information, they may misunderstand that we are using strategies. We should prevent ourselves from getting into trouble."

"That's what I meant."

When Song Jiang and Wu Yong were alone together, he immediately took off his usual hypocritical mask and nodded in agreement: "I have already taken precautions against those restless people. We cannot allow Shi Qian to escape, nor can we let anyone else leave. If the Ruan brothers and his navy were still there, we might have already conquered Suzhou. It's true..."

"The Ruan family moved out of Shijie Village. I guess they went to Qinzhou. Yang Chang's influence was too great."

"This man"

After hearing Wu Yong's words of agreement, Song Jiang squeezed out these three words from between his teeth.

When he encountered obstacles in his attack on Suzhou, he sent Dai Zong back to Shijie Village to invite the three heroes back, only to find that the Ruan brothers had already moved away with their family.

What they said about being tired of war and wanting to return home to be fishermen were all lies!

fraud!

From then on, Song Jiang exercised stricter control over his leaders, especially those from Shaohua Mountain who had a "criminal record", as well as those from Liangshan to the current Dengzhou, and specially set up secret sentries to keep watch on them.

The surrendered generals from the imperial court on Liangshan Mountain were the ballast of Song Jiang's team. He never worried about their disloyalty. As a result, he guessed the beginning but not the ending.

The garrisons in Huzhou and Wuxi began to take action upon receiving the order. They also ordered the navy to withdraw the warships from Taihu Lake and begin loading baggage and food onto the ships, waiting for Liu Yanqing and Zhang Shuye to take over.

The originally quiet city and military camp became noisy because of the evacuation.

When Song Jiang woke up the next day, he was able to sit in the center of the army instead of patrolling the camp. He was waiting for those with "disloyal intentions" to resign, and then he would try to persuade them to stay.

Not long after having breakfast in the tent, people came to the central army to report things.

The people from Shaohua Mountain and Dengzhou did not show up. Instead, Li Jun, whom Song Jiang thought was his confidant, was carried into the military tent by the Tong brothers.

"This is."

Song Jiang rushed forward in shock, and saw that Li Jun was pale and exhausted. He grabbed his hand, which was icy cold, and asked immediately, "Brother Li Jun, what happened?"

"Cough cough."

Li Jun tried to sit up, but failed after two attempts. It was the Tong brothers who supported him that finally gave him a difficult reply: "I just caught a cold."

"Everything was fine yesterday, how come it suddenly became so serious?"

Song Jiang's face was full of heartache at this time, and finally he looked at the Tong brothers curiously.

Tong Wei replied, "My brother was afraid of missing the important task of leading the vanguard, so he worked all night to dispatch warships on the lake. He was exhausted and caught a cold, so he got sick like a mountain."

"Did you call the doctor to take a look?"

"The military doctor has already diagnosed the patient and is sending people to the city to get medicine to boil."

“Use the best medicine!”

As soon as Song Jiang spoke, his arm was suddenly grabbed by Li Jun, who called out faintly, "Brother Gongming!"

"Brother, stop talking. It's more important to take good care of your health."

"you"

Li Jun held Tong Wei with his left hand, signaling him to wait for him to speak.

Tong Wei understood and clasped his fists and said, "Vanguard, the doctor said that my brother is in critical condition and needs to be confined to recuperate. However, the army is about to set out, and my brother is afraid of delaying the army's journey. He wants to stay in Wuxi to recuperate. I hope Yu will agree."

"How can I feel at ease if you leave me alone in Wuxi? Why don't you follow the army and go to Tokyo by water? Then, let General Su bring An Daoquan out. I think he will recover in no time."

"The waterway is bumpy, and there are often storms. We are afraid that brother's condition will be aggravated, so we brothers will stay to accompany him."

"this."

Song Jiang hesitated for a moment, thinking that if he left the three of them in Wuxi, and they were detained and controlled by Liu Yanqing, it would be very troublesome for him to return. After thinking it over, he stared at Li Jun and asked softly, "Brother Li has always been in good health, how about just holding on? We are not familiar with Liu Yanqing at all, and we are afraid that it will be difficult for you to get away after you recover from your illness."

"Mrs. Lake"

"Pioneer Rong Bin."

Tong Wei received Li Jun's reminder and continued to speak with a fist: "A few days ago, we were ordered to conduct reconnaissance in Taihu Lake. We met Fei Bao and the other four heroes of Taihu Lake. They were very friendly to us and said they could help us capture Suzhou. Now the army is transferred to the north to resist the enemy. The four heroes of Taihu Lake cannot help Suzhou, but they can protect my brother to recover from his illness."

Song Jiang suddenly understood and asked curiously, "When General Su came to Wuxi, I vaguely remembered that you two had something to say. So you met the heroes from Taihu Lake?"

"Ah."

Li Jun nodded slightly.

"In that case, when the weather is fine tomorrow, we will sail to look for the four heroes." As soon as Song Jiang finished speaking, he hurriedly pulled Li Jun to remind him: "Remember, once you recover from your illness, return to the camp as soon as possible."

"Yes"

"Vanguard, Brother Gongming"

Before Li Jun finished answering, someone outside the tent suddenly called out, the voice was urgent and panicked.

Song Jiang looked in the direction of the voice and saw Guan Sheng and Hu Yanzhuo coming together, both of them had ugly faces.

"Take care of Brother Li Jun to recover first, I will visit him in the camp later."

"Yes."

The Tong brothers carried Li Jun away. Generals Guan Sheng and Hu Yanzhuo had no intention of asking any further questions because their deputy general had escaped, leaving only a letter in the tent.

The contents of the two letters were almost the same. After reading them, Song Jiang's face turned as dark as a cloud, but he didn't want to get angry with the two generals, so he held up the letter and talked to himself.

"When did leaving without saying goodbye become popular? They are both officers who have been in the army for many years, and they are unwilling to tell each other in person if they want to leave? Even if we don't take into account our sworn brotherhood, they have lived and died together for the past few years. It's really chilling to think about it."

"From the letter, we know that the deaths of Hao Siwen and Peng Qi were the reason why they were discouraged. They didn't come to eat this morning. When we found them in the tent, we found that they were gone. Maybe they left last night."

“I reminded you last night.”

Song Jiang was just halfway through his complaints when he remembered that Lu Junyi was in charge of the defense last night, and it was inconvenient for him to complain in front of the two generals, so he changed the topic and asked Guan Sheng: "The two generals' companions died in battle, so it is inevitable that they will have emotional fluctuations. Didn't you pay attention to it?"

"Hao and Peng have been dead for more than a month. They are just leaving now. We really..."

"Forget it. If you are determined to leave, you can't be kept. Go and protect the rest of your people. Don't make such mistakes again."

"Yes."

As soon as Guan Sheng and Hu Yanzhuo walked out of the main tent, Song Jiang hurriedly sent someone to find Hua Rong, asking him to rush to Huzhou to supervise the army immediately to prevent other leaders and officers from secretly leaving the team.

Since the defeat of Tian Hu, he would leave every time he moved his troops. This left Song Jiang puzzled, and even the resourceful Wu Yong couldn't figure it out.

On August 29, three days after Su Yuanjing announced the decree, Liu Yanqing was ordered to rush to Wuxi to take over the defense.

It took two days to complete the handover. In early September, Song Jiang headed north from Yangzhou, passed through Shandong via the Huai and Si water networks, and entered the Yellow River. He then headed towards Hebei by both land and water.

On the day the army set out, there was a small boat on the Taihu Lake, watching the passing ships like a sentinel.

Not until the warship returned the surface of Taihu Lake to the surface did the small boat slowly sail towards the center of the lake. The passengers on the boat were Li Jun, Tong Wei and Tong Meng.

When they reached a deserted place, Li Jun changed from his lethargic state of the previous two days. He took off the quilt that had wrapped him and stood solemnly at the bow without saying a word.

Tong Wei hurriedly picked up the quilt and put it on Li Jun again, reminding him, "Brother, the cold has not subsided yet. There is frost in the lake this morning. You have to wrap yourself up to prevent your condition from getting worse."

"It's okay. The mental illness is gone and the physical illness will heal itself."

Li Jun had a resolute look on his face, frowned and said in a deep voice: "Row to Yuliu Village as soon as possible. I want to ask Brother Fei for advice on choosing a place to stay."

"Ok."

Seeing that Li Jun was determined not to take it, Tong Wei handed the quilt to Tong Meng to pick up.

In order to withdraw from the Liangshan army, Li Jun soaked naked in Taihu Lake for a night, forcing himself to catch a cold, and pretended to be weak in front of others, deceiving Song Jiang and allowing him to withdraw and stay.

In late September, not long after Song Jiang led his army to Zhending, Hebei, Tong Wei sent people to catch up with the team to report the death, falsely claiming that Li Jun was ill and died in Taihu Lake. The two brothers stood guard over the body and did not want to serve as officials. They secretly went out to sea with the Four Heroes of Taihu Lake to seek a free and easy life.

Song Jiang asked in detail the reason, but the fisherman spoke in Jiangnan dialect. Zheng Tianshou, who was fluent in the dialect, had died in the battle, and Shi Xiu had been away from home for a long time and could not understand everything.

It seemed that what the person said was very convincing, so everyone thought that Li Jun had really died suddenly. Song Jiang then cried bitterly over the relics.

Previously, Xuan Zan and Han Tao left without saying goodbye, and now Li Jun suddenly died of illness and the Tong brothers retired, leaving only 65 Liangshan leaders.

If those who are not of the same mind are excluded, the leaders and brothers that Song Jiang can use are less than half of the people who can gather together.

Before Song Jiang had time to worry about it, Tong Guan immediately sent an envoy to convey the order from the Xuanfu Division, asking him and Lu Junyi to go to Daizhou for consultation.

Daizhou originally bordered Zhending, but was blocked by Taihang Mountains. The shortest route was through Feihu Xing, but Feihu had been captured by Nianhan at that time, so Song Jiang had to take Jingxing (one of the eight paths of Taihang) southwest of Zhending.

Pass Jingxing, go to Pingding, turn to Taiyuan, pass Xinzhou, and arrive at Daizhou.

Song Jiang traveled through three more prefectures and arrived at Yanmen, Daizhou in mid-October.

At the Yanmen Xuanfu Division headquarters, Song Jiang met Tong Guan's staff team, as well as military officers Xin Xingzong and Ma Kuo.

The moment Song Jiang saw Xin Xingzong, he felt like he was deceived by Su Yuanjing.

When General Su went to Wuxi to convey the imperial edict, he clearly told Song Jiang that his role was to replace Xin Xingzong. He was the general that Tong Guan relied on most at the time, and Xin Xingzong could not extricate himself as he followed Liang Zhongping to fight the rebels.

However, all this is just due to information asymmetry.

Zhao Ji asked Song Jiang and Tong Guan to go north. As a subject, he could only obey the emperor's will, but he only trusted his old subordinates in his heart, so he sent people to Hebei to make operations before leaving Beijing.

Tong Guan regained the favor of Huizong, and Liang Zhongping had to give him face, so he allowed Xin Xingzong to take his personal soldiers to Daizhou, while Yang Weizhong, Wang Bing and other generals continued to stay to suppress the bandits.

Seeing everyone sitting down, Tong Guan stroked his beard and said to Song Jiang and Lu Junyi: "Song's defense and Lu's training came at the right time. There are tens of thousands of Liangshan troops stationed in Zhending. The threat of Feihu Trail can be controlled, but the main force must be deployed in Changshan to ensure that Yanjing's back is absolutely safe." (Changshan is Hengshan, which was used to avoid the taboos of Emperor Wen of Han and Emperor Zhenzong of Song during the Han and Song dynasties)

"Reporting to the Prime Minister, when I arrive at Zhending, I will complete the deployment as required and ensure that the Jin army is not allowed to cross the border."

After hearing this, Song Jiang hurriedly stood up and clasped his fists in response. Lu Junyi felt embarrassed to sit aside, so he stood up and stood beside Song Jiang to agree.

The height difference between the two was very large, creating an instant visual gap.

Tong Guan then realized that Song Jiang was dark and short. Thinking of how he was defeated by this man in the past, he felt an indescribable sense of shame in his heart. However, he could not express it in public, so he waved his hand to signal the two to sit down.

"Diplomatic relations are different from suppressing bandits. We need to be strategic in our use of both soft and hard tactics. If we follow Tan Zhen's example and just confront each other head-on, the conflict between the two countries will be intensified and eventually turn into the Jin people resorting to force. You can ask Ma Kuo for advice on this point."

"Yes, thank you for your guidance, Enxiang."

After receiving the reprimand from Tong Guan, the two men hurriedly stood up, clasped their fists and said yes, and nodded to Ma Kuo.

Tong Guan was secretly pleased by the humble attitude of Song Jiang and Lu Junyi. He then motioned for them to sit down and asked if the Liangshan army had any difficulties.

Before Tong Guan arrived in Daizhou, Tan Zhen had already actively set up defenses in Zhending Prefecture, and various supplies were also allocated to Zhending.

The fact that Liangshan has no shortage of military funds does not mean that Song Jiang does not have other needs. He and Lu Junyi have already been appointed officials, and dozens of brothers under them are still waiting.

Song Jiang couldn't urge him directly, so he asked politely, "Sir, Zhending already has 20,000 Yisheng troops, and I have 40,000 soldiers to spare. Should we transfer some of them to Daizhou?"

"Hmm?" Tong Guan was stunned for a moment, then murmured, "There are tens of thousands of Yisheng troops in Daizhou, it is enough for you to defend Zhending for me."

"Uh, I will obey your orders."

Song Jiang originally wanted to have more of his brothers show up in Daizhou, to indirectly remind Tong Guan to assign them official positions. However, the bearded eunuch refused to fall for it, so he had to sit back in his chair with helplessness.

Before he could even warm his buttocks, Tong Guan asked again politely: "If you have any difficulties, please tell me. I will try my best to satisfy you. Everything is for Your Majesty."

"If I really want to mention it, I do have a suggestion. Since Feihu is controlled by the Jin people, it is inconvenient for Prime Minister En to command from Daizhou and take care of the troops in Hebei. If the Xuanfu Division is moved to Taiyuan, it may be more convenient to pass on the order."

"Haha, General Xin, Song's defense coincides with your opinion."

Tong Guan laughed at Xin Xingzong, then turned around and responded to Song Jiang: "Since you all suggested it, I will move the Xuanfu Division to Taiyuan. Great minds think alike."

Song Jiang responded with an awkward smile, thinking that he had finally hit the mark in his flattery, but in the end ended up just repeating what others had said.

Are they laughing at me?
"By the way, after you have discussed this, return to Zhending and send more troops to search the wild mountains and ridges for a Jurchen with a curly beard and a tiger face."

"install?"

Just as Song Jiang was struggling with his conscience, Tong Guan suddenly issued a task and immediately pulled him back.

"The Jin people said that it was Aguda's younger brother who suddenly disappeared in Weizhou last year. One of the purposes of Nianhan's brazen attack on the three states this time was to find this Jin prince. Of course, according to Ma Kuo's personal analysis, this may be an excuse for the Jin people, but since the Jin people made a request and promised to exchange this person for the three states, it is still worth looking for him."

"Bearded tiger face?"

Song Jiang scratched his head, thinking that all Hu people look like this. Then he asked, "Does this Jin prince have a name?"

At this time, Ma Kuo stood up and answered solemnly: "This man's name is Jiemu. They are all from the Wanyan tribe, and can also be called Wanyan Jiemu. He is a general of the Jin Dynasty."

"Wanyan Jiemu? I'll make a note of it."

Song Jiang nodded thoughtfully, turned his head to look at Lu Junyi as if he understood, but guessed that he certainly couldn't associate it with Yang Chang.

The Hu man killed by Yang Chang last year seemed to be a nobleman from the Kingdom of Jin. Many people in Liangshan knew about this.

Could it be that the nobleman is the prince of the Jin Dynasty?

As soon as this thought came to mind, Song Jiang's head started buzzing.

There are many people in Daizhou and Xinzhou who know about this. Why does it seem that no one suspects Yang Chang? Just now, he said that we should be cautious in dealing with the outside world. Is En Xiang deliberately testing me?
What Song Jiang didn't know was that a new emperor appoints new ministers.

When Tong Guan replaced Tan Zhen, he replaced many officials in Daizhou and Xinzhou, and coincidentally transferred out several insiders. Only Ma Baoguo, who was trapped in Qinzhou, was left in Shanxi, and now there are dozens more.

Song Jiang thought a lot in an instant, but ultimately did not mention the matter in person, at least not by himself, otherwise he would be branded as a betrayer of his brothers.

On the way back to Zhending from Daizhou, Song Jiang set his sights on the simple-minded Lu Junyi, and prepared to lure Yu Qilin to "kill his own relatives for the sake of justice."

(End of this chapter)