After a short break in the afternoon, the two sides continued their discussions.
Compared with their attitude in the morning, the attitude of Liu Chong and others had softened a bit. They no longer insisted on such outrageous demands as marrying a princess or becoming a duke. Instead, they began to bargain over official positions, fiefdoms, and the retention of private soldiers.
This gave Ma Zhongxi a glimmer of hope. Although the other party's requirements were still far from the conditions the court was willing to give, since there were signs of concessions, it meant there was a possibility of success. There was a lot of time for these people to spend on
Here, as long as they don't attack cities and plunder territory everywhere, and give their own side time to deploy troops and generals, it is naturally a good thing.
If a recruitment and security agreement can really be reached, for me, it will be a great achievement in suppressing the rebellion.
In short, there is something for everyone, so you might as well spend it with them.
After a lot of verbal exchanges, blowing beards and slapping the table, and then sincerely persuading Xiaozhi, Xiaozhi was moved by emotion and reason. The two sides reached another agreement in the afternoon discussion. That is, they agreed to confer four officials with the rank of fourth-grade prefect.
count.
It was getting late, and the two sides stopped talking. They camped on the spot to rest, and agreed to continue talking tomorrow. It seemed that both sides were sincere.
In the evening, Ma Zhongxi even brought wine to where Liu Chong and others were staying to drink as a show of goodwill. The two parties started drinking around the bonfire. There was laughter and harmony by the Zhulong River. This Ma Zhongxi was actually a man of temperament, and he was originally interested in this gang.
I have no good impression of rebels and despise this group of gangsters. But listening to the words of Zhao Sui, Liu Chong and others, I feel a bit of admiration for them.
After all, they were forced into desperation. The policies implemented by the imperial court in Hebei simply forced people to rebel. To a certain extent, they were not to blame.
The next morning, the two sides continued to argue. They kept arguing. At the end of the day, some progress was made in some small aspects. So they agreed to continue the discussion.
On the afternoon of the third day, when the two sides were arguing over the number of private soldiers to retain, suddenly, from a distance on the west bank of the Zhulong River, several horses came galloping towards them. Ma Zhongxi hurriedly ordered people to stop him, because the rules of the negotiation could not be broken, and it had nothing to do with it.
No one is allowed to enter.
After sending a chief officer to inquire, the chief officer rushed over shortly afterwards with a pale face and an extremely frightened expression.
"What happened?" Ma Zhongxi asked loudly.
"Urgent military intelligence report, please excuse me." The officer looked at Liu Chong and others and said in a low voice.
Ma Zhongxi frowned, held up his hands to Liu Chong and others, and said, "I'm sorry, I'll excuse you for a moment."
Liu Chong crossed his legs and smiled at Ma Zhongxi: "Master Ma, there is no need to avoid us. Sir, let me guess what the emergency military situation is? Is Hejian Mansion under siege? Hejian Mansion is.
Did the defenders send someone out to ask for help?"
The principal's face changed drastically and he was stunned.
Ma Zhongxi said in shock: "Chief Liu, what did you say? Chief Zhang, did he guess it right?"
Seeing this situation, the chief officer no longer had to avoid Liu Chong and others, and said with a mournful face: "It's absolutely true. Commander Sun, who was staying at Hejian Mansion, sent someone to ask for help. Hejian Mansion was besieged by a large number of thieves last night, and the attack was fierce.
The city is in danger, please send your troops back to rescue us."
Ma Zhongxi was stunned, his mouth was open, and he was speechless for a moment. After a while, he turned to stare at Liu Chong and others and started to yell and curse.
"Are you the trouble? You bunch of scoundrels are actually plotting behind my back. You are using the recruitment negotiation as a cover to attack my Hejian Mansion secretly. Despicable, despicable people! How could you do this?
?Is that still a human being? If a human being has no faith, how is he any different from an animal?"
Ma Zhongxi's beard was trembling and his spit was spraying out far away. He no longer cared about his official demeanor. He wanted to pour out all his vicious curses on Liu Chong and others.
Liu Chong laughed loudly and said: "Master Ma, we are each other. I just received a report not long ago that Bazhou soldiers and horses have attacked Wen'an and are approaching Xiong County. You are not a good bird either. You are allowed to play tricks, but we are not allowed to
Is that so? You are unkind and I am unjust, so we are even."
Ma Zhongxi said angrily: "That's nonsense. The imperial court has a decree and will only mobilize troops if the recruitment fails. How can it attack Wen'an?"
Liu Chong sighed: "Master Ma, you are so stupid. I don't know how you became such a big official. If it is true or false, won't you know it when you go back and ask? Master Ma, now that things have happened, I
Look, we don’t have to act here. It’s been three days, and it’s more tiring than fighting. We’re not embarrassed either.
You, you, Mr. Ma, are not bad at all. At least you gave us some good wine and food. You stayed here with us brothers for three days, and we are considered acquaintances. We are friendly people, even if you and I are enemies.
I won’t embarrass you at this time. Let’s break up and go back to work each other. Hahaha.”
Ma Zhongxi was so angry that he almost went crazy, but now, the recruitment matter must have been ruined. Only then did he understand that neither the court nor the other party had any interest in the recruitment matter. They
They all used this matter as a cover to confuse the other party and secretly organized actions.
Everyone from top to bottom and even the opponents knew that this matter could not be done. Only I was fooled by others, and I was still wasting my words here. I once thought that the matter was going to be done. Now that I think about it, it was just Liu Chong and others who deliberately let go to delay it.
He just wanted to allow his troops to have time to reach Hejian Mansion and attack the city.
Calculating the time, it took two days and two nights as of last night, which was enough for the rebels to reach Hejian Mansion from the south. Perhaps from the beginning, they had already stationed troops somewhere and were preparing to launch an attack.
Liu Chong and others stood up with a smile and left.
When Zhao Sui left the hay shed, he turned around and said a special warning: "Master Ma, our Generalissimo Renyi, I won't embarrass you today. But it won't be so good next time. When we meet on the battlefield, there is nothing to say."
Okay. I advise you, Mr. Ma, to stay away from here and never go there.
This is muddy water. By the way, don't be fooled and go to save Hejian Mansion. We have captured Hejian Mansion. We have already received the news that there is a large amount of food and supplies there, which we need. Don't mess up the situation. You
Those two guards and horses couldn't save Hejian Mansion. Their lives were not in vain."
Yang Hu looked back from the front and said with a smile: "Brother Madman, you are so kind, you even reminded him."
Zhao Sui smiled and said: "I can't help it, I've always been soft-hearted."
Ma Zhongxi had no time to argue with these people about these verbal sarcasms. He wanted to go back to rescue Hejian Mansion. Now that the news had been sent out, it meant that Commander Sun, who was left behind in Hejian Mansion, was still resisting desperately.
There are 2,000 men and horses in Hejian Prefecture, plus at least 3,000 men including Tuanlian, Yamen, fast jailers and so on. The city is very strong. The bandits have sent out 10,000 men and horses, so they may not be able to attack it.
There are two options right now.
First, regardless of the affairs of Hejian Prefecture, since Bazhou soldiers and horses have captured Wen'an County, I can form a flanking attack on Xiong County with the imperial troops and horses. I can discuss with the leading generals of Bazhou to attack Xiong County and attack Baoding Prefecture to recover it.
Lost ground.
The second is to immediately return to Hejian Prefecture for rescue and repel the traitors to ensure the safety of Hejian Prefecture. Hejian Prefecture has more than 200,000 soldiers and civilians, and a large amount of supplies and food. Once captured by the traitors, the losses will be huge.
In addition, if Hejian Mansion is lost, it will be lost under his nose, and the court will definitely blame him.
After weighing the two aspects, there seemed to be nothing to hesitate about. Saving Hejian Prefecture was much more important than attacking Xiong County. Not only for himself, but also for the overall situation. So Ma Zhongxi quickly made a decision.
He and his people quickly left the Zhulong River and rushed back to Renqiu County. On the way, he received another message from Commander Sun asking for help. This strengthened his determination to rescue.
At Shenshi in the afternoon, Ma Zhongxi returned to Renqiu County. He immediately organized an army of 10,000 people and rushed to Hejian Prefecture for rescue. Renqiu was not far from Hejian Prefecture. He set off at Shenshi and would arrive in the early morning.
However, the impatient Ma Zhongxi underestimated the appetite of the rebels. During the first watch, his troops were attacked by a large group of rebels on the way. On the way to Hejian Prefecture, an official road passed through an unknown hill.
At that time, it was discovered that the official road was blocked by a large number of trees and rocks.
By the time Ma Zhongxi realized that he had fallen into the opponent's plan of siege and reinforcements, it was already too late.
When the officers and soldiers were crowded on the mountain road, there were loud shouts of killing from both sides. About 30,000 bandits were lying in ambush on the hills in the wilderness. After several rounds of random arrows, the bandits launched an attack.
Ma Zhongxi had no choice but to rush into the battle. The sky was dark and the ground was dark. The thieves were several times his own, and they encountered a surprise attack in a rugged wilderness. The result can be imagined.
The battle lasted until dawn, and the two guards in Hejian were defeated. More than 10,000 people fled and more than 3,000 others were killed, and the rest were all annihilated. Ma Zhongxi was hit by an arrow in the shoulder, but was saved by his own guards and rushed out of the siege and fled back to Renqiu.
He did not dare to stay long in Renqiu, so he fled with thousands of remaining soldiers to Wen'an County and returned to Bazhou.
At this point, the rebel army once again completed an incredible victory. All the original Hebei garrison were annihilated by them. In the entire area south of Wen'an in Bazhou, Hebei, there were no more officers and soldiers to compete with them.