jdhmnovel Chapter 212 Former comrades and honored guests, now caged birds in a lonely city.
Chapter 212 Former comrades and honored guests, now caged birds in a lonely city.
Meanwhile, Peng Qi, the "Heavenly Eye General," had been captured alive and taken to the mountain. Hu Yanzhuo and Han Tao both thought he was long dead. Unexpectedly, they met again here today. The two were both surprised and delighted, but also had a thousand doubts, just like a tangled mess of hemp, impossible to unravel or cut.
Han Tao, being straightforward, grabbed Peng Qi's arm and looked him up and down. Seeing that although he had changed into a tight-fitting outfit like a Liangshan leader, his complexion was rosy and his spirits were high, showing no trace of the dejected air of a prisoner, he couldn't help but ask, "Brother Peng! You... how come you're here too? Could it be... could it be that you've also surrendered to this band of bandits?"
Upon hearing this, Peng Qi gave a bitter smile. He didn't reply, but simply sat down at the table, picked up the pot of "Heavenly River Jade Brew" that was warmed to just the right temperature, poured himself a full bowl, and then poured a bowl for Hu Yanzhuo and Han Tao. Only then did he let out a long sigh, as if he wanted to pour all the mixed feelings of the past few months into that sigh.
"My two brothers, this is a long story." Peng Qi picked up his wine bowl, toasted the two of them, drank it all in one gulp, and then slowly began to speak. His eyes, which always carried a hint of sharpness, were now filled with vicissitudes and感慨 (gǎnkǎi - deep feelings).
"Back then, when I heard that you were coming to conquer Liangshan, I thought that with the abilities of General Huyan and the others, it would be a piece of cake to flatten this mere marshland. Who would have thought that Li Hanxiao was so cunning, with so many fierce generals under his command, and even more so with his unpredictable firearms and military tactics, that you were defeated so quickly."
At this point, Han Tao also felt the same way and said bitterly, "Li Hanxiao's military strategy is indeed unparalleled in the world, and extremely vicious! We almost lost our lives at his hands!"
Peng Qi shook his head and continued, "When I was first captured and brought up the mountain, I felt the same way as you two brothers. I thought I had fallen into a bandit's den and thought every day about how to offer my neck for execution to preserve my honor. I would never associate with these rebels. Li Hanxiao was strange. He neither killed me nor humiliated me. He just put me under house arrest in a house in the back of the mountain. He served me good wine and meat every day, but no one came to persuade me to surrender. He just let me live or die on my own."
"At first, I thought he was just playing cat and mouse, and my resentment grew stronger. But as time went on and I saw more, my feelings gradually changed." Peng Qi's gaze seemed to pierce through the walls of the house, looking out over all directions of Liangshan Marsh. "Brothers, do you know what Liangshan Marsh looked like when I first came here? Apart from the Hall of Righteousness and a few dilapidated old strongholds, it was all barren wasteland, overgrown with reeds, swarming with mosquitoes and flies, and filled with starving, emaciated refugees. But in just a few months, look at Liangshan Marsh again, brothers, what a sight it is now?"
He stretched out his fingers and recounted each and every event as if reciting a familiar story: "Li Hanxiao first opened the granaries to distribute grain and gather refugees, regardless of age or gender, providing them with food and clothing. Then, he ordered 'Nine-Tailed Turtle' Tao Zongwang to lead several thousand people to cultivate fertile land, build dikes, and irrigate the wasteland. Now, the area around this mountain stronghold has tens of thousands of acres of fertile land, including dry land, paddy fields, terraced fields, orchards, vegetable gardens, and fish farms. This autumn, we will have a bumper harvest, and the tens of thousands of people in the stronghold will be self-sufficient and will no longer have to worry about food!"
"He also ordered the construction of schools and recruited all the scholars captured from Jizhou Prefecture. Not only did he not mistreat them, but he treated them as honored guests. Now, those scholars have all become his 'political workers,' going deep into the fields every day to teach the illiterate children of peasant families to read and write, and to talk about new principles such as 'investigating things to acquire knowledge' and 'unity of knowledge and action.' I have secretly listened to them a few times. Although the principles are different from the teachings of the sages, every word speaks to the hearts of the people! Now, everyone in this mountain stronghold knows why they are fighting and why they are living. Their spirit is completely different from ours in the government army!"
Hu Yanzhuo and Han Tao were dumbfounded. They only knew that Liangshan was good at fighting, but they never thought that this group of "bandits" was actually doing such groundbreaking and pacifying things.
Peng Qi took a sip of wine to moisten his throat, his eyes gleaming with an unusual light—a mixture of admiration and fervor. "My two brothers," he said, "what I admire most about you isn't any of that. It's the magnanimity of Chief Li! After acquiring Yuncheng County, he not only refrained from plundering a single penny, but also distributed all the ill-gotten gains to the people. He implemented 'equal land distribution and tax exemption,' ensuring that farmers owned land and that the people had enough to eat! He abolished the status of 'lowly people,' allowing those who had been enslaved for generations, living worse than pigs and dogs, to live with dignity and dignity! Such magnanimity, such actions—I dare ask you, my two brothers, throughout the history of our Great Song Dynasty, which king, nobleman, or general has ever achieved this?!"
His words were powerful and resounding! Han Tao was already filled with fervor. He slapped his thigh, his usually simple and honest face now brimming with excitement and longing. "Brother Peng is right! This...this is true justice! We serve the court, working for those corrupt officials who only know how to embezzle and break the law, only to end up being discarded after our usefulness is over! It's better to follow Chief Li and fight a glorious battle; even if we die, it will be worth it!" He turned to Huyan Zhuo and suddenly knelt on one knee, clasping his hands in a fist, saying, "General! This humble general...this humble general has figured it out! The Song Dynasty will eventually perish in the hands of those corrupt officials! Rather than be buried with them, we should choose a wise ruler and fight for a way out for the people of this world! This humble general is willing to surrender to Liangshan!"
Having said that, he turned to Peng Qi, his face showing urgency and pleading: "Brother Peng, but... my family is still in Chenzhou. If I surrender to Liangshan, the imperial court will surely punish them. I wonder... I wonder if Chief Li could have mercy and send someone to bring my family up the mountain? If that can be done, I, Han Tao, will sell my life to Liangshan from now on! I will go through fire and water without hesitation!"
Upon hearing this, Peng Qi laughed heartily and helped him up. "Brother Han, rest assured! Leave this to me! My chieftain is a man of great loyalty and righteousness; how could he allow his own brothers' families to wander outside and be bullied? You can stay here in peace, and I will inform the chieftain immediately. Within ten days, I will bring your sister-in-law and nephew safely up the mountain so you can reunite with them!"
Upon hearing this, Li Hanxiao did not hesitate at all. He immediately selected two generals, "Desperate Saburo" Shi Xiu and "Iron Whistle" Yue He, and ordered them to disguise themselves as merchants, take fifty elite confidants, and set off immediately to Chenzhou. They were determined to bring Han Tao's family to Liangshan without anyone noticing.
Seeing Li Hanxiao's straightforwardness and integrity, Han Tao was deeply grateful and immediately bowed down in surrender without further ado. Li Hanxiao was also generous with his rewards, appointing Han Tao and Peng Qi as generals of the Liangshan cavalry on the spot, temporarily placing them under the command of Lin Chong and Guan Sheng.
Both men knew in their hearts that this was not a matter of being subservient to someone, but rather that the chieftain was intentionally cultivating them.
Peng Qi, in particular, seeing Li Hanxiao's profound gaze, vaguely guessed that the chieftain's actions were likely a preparation for Huyan Zhuo's eventual surrender, a move to secure his right-hand man. For a moment, he was completely convinced and had no other thoughts.
Of all the people in the tent, only Huyan Zhuo remained, his face still ashen and silent.
The shock he felt was even greater than Han Tao's. Everything Peng Qi said was like a series of heavy hammer blows, striking his already shattered beliefs.
He suddenly felt that perhaps staying in Liangshan and watching how this group of "rebels" changed the world would be much more interesting and... much more meaningful than returning to that already corrupt court and continuing to be a pawn that could be discarded at any time.
In the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, warlords rebelled, and the people suffered greatly.
In fact, Hu Yanzhuo also knew that in the chaotic times such as the end of Qin, the end of Han, the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and the end of Sui, although there was bloodshed and brutality, at least some countries or regimes would pursue the existence of the rule of law. Generally speaking, as long as the chaos ended, everyone would return to normal. Only during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period did the Han people, who had upheld Confucian culture for thousands of years, completely tear off their masks for the first time and reveal their most bloody and brutal side.
The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period was the precursor to the regional military governorships of the late Tang Dynasty. At that time, the regional military governors (jiedushi) were not under the control of the imperial court, and the military leaders under their command were also not under their control. It was commonplace for the military leaders of each regional military governorship to kill the military governor and replace him with someone else. Each military governor was terrified of his soldiers. Paying them military salaries was not enough. If he wanted his soldiers to fight, he had to give them rewards. If he didn't give them enough, the soldiers would not be happy and would kill him if they were unhappy.
Such a situation, if prolonged, would have a very negative impact on the entire society. It would mean that whoever has the most power would have the final say, the management would become completely ineffective, and the entire Central Plains would almost fall into a state of no ruler and no father. When the Tang Dynasty existed, the remaining authority of the Tang emperor could still suppress this to some extent, but once the Tang Dynasty fell, the various regional military governors completely let themselves go. At that time, Confucianism and Legalism, the idea that the ruler is the guide for the subject, and the idea that one should share one's clothes and food with others were all useless. Loyalty was worthless. If you displeased me, I would just kill you and make you the emperor.
It's no wonder that after Zhao Kuangyin achieved initial unification, he couldn't wait to "release military power over a cup of wine." His subordinates were either military leaders who would rebel if they were unhappy, or vicious people who liked to eat people's hearts and livers. You would be afraid if you were in their shoes.
His ancestor, Huyan Zan, lived through this era. At that time, Emperor Taizu of Song unified the country, which was in line with the will of the people and ended the chaotic world.
But now, the situation is different, and perhaps I should also be more flexible...
The news of Liangshan's great victory in the Battle of Wolong Valley and the annihilation of Huyan Zhuo's entire army spread like wildfire throughout Shandong overnight.
The entire Liangshan stronghold was jubilant, and morale was at its peak. Within the stronghold, lavish banquets were held for days to celebrate the victory and bestow rewards, details of which need not be elaborated upon.
The Valley of Crouching Dragons was in complete ruins after the war.
Under the unified command of "Master Strategist" Jiang Jing, thousands of Liangshan soldiers were methodically cleaning up the battlefield.
Although Liangshan achieved a great victory in this battle, suffering nearly a thousand casualties themselves, this was insignificant compared to the annihilation of the government army. More importantly, the spoils of war were enough to drive anyone mad!
Nearly three thousand pairs of heavy armor of linked horses, mostly intact, were piled up in an open space at the mouth of the valley, sorted by type.
The armor plates, forged from wrought iron, reflected a chilling gleam in the sunlight. Each suit weighed over a hundred pounds, impervious to swords and spears, and impervious to water and fire! Such superior weaponry was only available to the elite troops of the Imperial Guards in the capital region throughout the entire Song Dynasty.
Now, all of it has become Liangshan's possession. There are also thousands of sharp spears, hundreds of powerful crossbows, and mountains of arrows, provisions, gold and silver... Jiang Jing, who was in charge of counting and registering, was making a "clattering" sound with his abacus, and the shrewd smile on his face, which always carried a hint of calculation, was now stretched to his ears.
It's not that Liangshan Marsh couldn't produce these things, but rather that they were very expensive, time-consuming, laborious, and difficult to manufacture. Therefore, Liangshan Marsh never made them, and instead focused all its resources on developing firearms.
Being able to seize it from the enemy now is a risk-free deal, so it's naturally great.
Li Hanxiao was not blinded by this great victory. He knew that these three thousand sets of heavy armor, though treasures, were also a hot potato.
Without matching elite soldiers and tactics, this heavy armor would be nothing but a burden. He immediately selected dozens of officers from among the five thousand surrendered soldiers who had previously served as captains and lieutenants in the linked cavalry. These men were all his trusted followers, handpicked by Huyan Zhuo, and were thoroughly familiar with the training and tactics of heavy cavalry.
Li Hanxiao did not look down on them in the slightest because they were surrendered generals. On the contrary, he treated them with courtesy, comforted them with kind words, and promised them generous rewards and appointed them as instructors of the newly formed heavy cavalry battalion of Liangshan.
They then selected two thousand of the most valiant and skilled cavalrymen from the Liangshan army and combined them with the few hundred surviving remnants of the linked-horse unit, ordering them to train day and night.