After driving away the more than thirty soldiers who were making trouble, Han Qian and Zhang Ping led Zhao Ting'er, Yao Xishui and others into the county government house.
The size of Wuling County is three or four times larger than that of Yuanling City. The county government also has a front office and a back house, next to the post house. Ordinary prisoners of war are imprisoned in the prisoner of war camp, but the more important prisoners are detained in the back house and the post house.
In the museum.
The defenders of Wuling City are mostly elites from the direct lineage of Tanzhou. Not only the main generals and military attachés, but also ordinary generals, their families and children are settled near Tanzhou City. This is also how difficult it is to attack the two cities of Yuanling and Wuling.
important reason.
As for the official subordinates in Wuling County, except for a few high-ranking officials such as the county magistrate and the county magistrate, whose family members were detained by Ma Yin and his son as hostages in Tanzhou, the six subordinate officials in Liufang County are mainly local officials.
People or descendants of local tycoon clans can serve.
There were three to four hundred people in these subordinate officials and their dependents, which almost constituted the upper class of Wuling County. At this time, they were all imprisoned in the county government house like pigs and dogs.
Han Qian came over and saw the pale faces of these people. They must have known what was going on outside just now.
In the 13th year of Tianyou's reign, Han Qian accompanied his father to Xuzhou for his appointment. In order to ward off the enemy, he set up a sacrificial tent for Wang Yu in Wuling City. At that time, he met all the main officials of Wuling County.
For example, Wuling County Magistrate Wang Dazhi, County Magistrate Chen Lu, County Lieutenant Zhou Chu, Chief Secretary Zhao Jicheng and others, Han Qian had drinks with them twice, and this time he could be regarded as meeting old friends.
In addition to the subordinate military attache who was imprisoned in the post house, Wang Dazhi, Chen Lu, Zhou Chu, Zhao Jicheng and other four people also enjoyed the treatment of principal criminals. Tian Cheng and others had previously brought shackles and shackles to them from the county prison.
Although it had only been a few hours, the shackles and shackles weighed fifty or sixty kilograms in total, which was quite a torture. They were sitting in the corner of the yard, and when they saw Han Qian walking in, they struggled to stand up.
"Let Mr. Wang loosen their bonds,"
Han Qian inspected these subordinates without complacency, and ordered to untie the shackles of Wang Dazhi, Chen Lu, Zhou Chu, Zhao Jicheng and others, and said in a deep voice,
"I know that all of you, sir, were coerced into betraying the imperial court because your family members were in Tanzhou. You had no choice but to help the rebels defend the city before. However, I can only imprison you for now, and everything will have to wait for His Highness the Third Highness to deal with.
Please forgive me, my lords."
"How dare you? How dare you?" Without being humiliated, tortured, and receiving preferential treatment from Han Qian, as the principal criminals, Wang Dazhi and others dared to ask for too much. They all came forward to thank Han Qian.
"I don't have the power to release the subordinate officials in Wuling City. At present, I can only force you to take your family members to the medical camp to serve as temporary hard labor and take care of the wounded. Of course, there must be some of you who dare to have different intentions, cover up each other, and finally cause trouble.
If trouble arises, Han Qian's abilities are limited. I'm afraid he won't be able to continue to treat you favorably. Please keep an eye on each other and don't cause trouble. As long as everyone is in peace, Han Qian will try his best to help you after Tanzhou is pacified.
Please plead with His Highness the Third Highness." Although how these subordinates will be dealt with in the end will ultimately depend on Jinling's orders, Han Qian is just trying his best to ensure that they are not harassed, but first he also wants them to promise not to cause any trouble for him and warns them.
After a while, Zhao Ting'er was asked to take these people away.
At present, including the wounded of captured soldiers and civilians accidentally injured in the war, the medical camp in Wuling City has to treat a total of 3,000 to 4,000 wounded and sick people.
The more than a hundred medical staff transferred from Yuanling, Qianyang, and Linjiang could no longer meet the demand. Han Qian sent more than 200 subordinate officials and their family members there to help, which could be regarded as the best of both worlds.
For these subordinates and their families, instead of being sent to a hard labor camp to repair the city in the dark, or being sent to a prostitution camp and having hundreds of generals vent their animal desires, they can go to the medical camp to take care of the wounded soldiers.
It is undoubtedly the best preferential treatment.
Immediately, a large group of people knelt down to thank them, and then followed Zhao Ting'er, Yao Xishui and the others.
After sending most of the people away and leaving only the four chief offenders Wang Dazhi, Chen Lu, Zhou Chu and Zhao Jicheng, Han Qian asked about Wen Ruilin's whereabouts.
Zhao Jicheng, the chief secretary of Wuling County, had some impression of Wen Ruilin's whereabouts and said: "After the Wuling army entered the city, Mr. Wen changed into a blood-stained soldier's uniform. I don't know if he mixed in with wounded soldiers or pretended to be a dead body to escape the Wuling army.
Search…”
The dead body had to go through several checkpoints before being buried out of the city, and it was not easy to fake it. After hearing what Zhao Jicheng said, Tian Cheng immediately sent people to the medical camp to focus on searching the captured and wounded soldiers.
Wang Dazhi, Chen Lu, Zhou Chu, and Zhao Jicheng were the main criminals. Han Qian could not advocate their release without authorization. He set up a separate courtyard in the back house of the county government to put them under house arrest. They were provided with food and clothing as favorably as possible to prevent them from suffering any grievances.
, and even asked them for advice on how to restore the order of people's lives inside and outside Wuling City as soon as possible.
Han Qian's top priority was to minimize the impact of the war on farming and other matters as much as possible. He ordered the confiscated treasury to be used to open a porridge restaurant to provide relief to the refugees whose homes had been destroyed in the war.
At this time, Han Qian temporarily took over the command of the Wuling Army. Next, he would take this rare opportunity to clean up the military discipline. First, in addition to necessary garrison, all Wuling Army generals and prisoners should be withdrawn.
When camping outside the city, it is strictly forbidden to enter the city at will, and it is even more strictly forbidden to harass nearby villages at will.
The generals of the Wuling Army were mainly recruited through recruitment, and they came from a mixed background. They were even more difficult to manage than the simple rural soldiers. Especially in the past six months or so, the soldiers had been recruited for continuous bloody battles, and too many negative emotions and desires had accumulated in their hearts.
vent.
After such a difficult siege, according to tradition, the generals were even allowed to come in and plunder the city for three days, and then the army was disciplined.
Han Qian didn't want to follow the tradition of setting up a prostitute camp, deporting the subordinates and their families there for the generals to vent their anger, and he would not indulge in the chaos of public security in the city. As a compromise, he found the operators of the three prostitute villages in the city.
, requiring them to resume operations at their respective brothels as quickly as possible to prevent civilians from being harassed.
In the afternoon, the generals and captured soldiers of the Wuling Army withdrew to the camp outside the city. Several fires in the city were extinguished before dark. Hundreds of civilians whose homes were burned down were reviewed and allowed to leave the city to seek refuge with relatives and friends. Everyone else returned home.
Houses and several main streets and alleys have also been cleared, and the dilapidated Wuling City has regained its rare tranquility after nightfall.
It was almost late at night before Tian Cheng took Wen Ruilin, who was pretending to be a wounded soldier, from the medical camp and escorted him over.
Han Qian, Zhang Ping and Li Chong met Wen Ruilin several times at Deng Xiang's Defense Envoy's Mansion in Xiangzhou City before the full-scale war between Jing and Xiang broke out.
At that time, Wen Ruilin, as the counselor around Ma Xun, the prince of Tanzhou Jiedushi, was quite as magnanimous as a feather fan, but now he was in a much more embarrassed state. It is not known whether he was injured in the rebellion or to pretend to be a wounded soldier.
His face was cut several times, and his nose and eyes were swollen. He was wearing a blood-stained soldier's uniform, his hair was messy, and he was as thin and haggard as two people.
"It's really not easy for Tian Cheng to personally lead people and pull him out of the medical camp," Han Qian put down the official letter in his hand, looked at Wen Ruilin several times, and then said to Zhang Ping and Li Chong with a smile.
Zhang Ping smiled slightly.
Li Chong was quite puzzled, wondering why Han Qian felt relieved after finding Wen Ruilin.
He and Zhang Ping were under too many restrictions here. Han Qian arranged for people to find out a lot of information. He had only met Wen Ruilin in Xiangzhou City and knew that he was Ma Xun's adviser.
Li Chong thought that Ma Xun was just like that, and the counselors around him could not be very powerful, but at this time, he could still feel the importance Han Qian attached to Wen Ruilin.
Just now he and Zhang Ping came to see Han Qian. After a while, Han Qian would ask the people around him if they had traced Wen Ruilin's whereabouts.
Regardless of what Li Chong thought, Han Qian stared at Wen Ruilin and continued: "Why did Mr. Wen come to Wuling City alone when he is not with Ma Xun to offer advice?"
"If the crown prince and Ma Yuanheng had listened to my strategy and intercepted you when you went to Xuzhou to seek trouble, they would never have had the disaster that happened today. Even before the fall of Yingyu Village, Tanzhou had killed your father and son and controlled Chenxu and Chenzhou.
I have the opportunity, but the prince refuses to listen to my advice."
Even if Wen Ruilin fell into the hands of Han Qian, he didn't want to beg for mercy. He straightened his clothes and stood upright, saying with regret,
"But this time the Dragon Bird Army divided its troops and entered Yuanjiang. The king and the prince still harbored illusions. I could only ask the prince to let me come over to help Ma Rong defend the city and strive for the last chance of victory, but the situation was over."
Xi Rong stood behind Han Qian and couldn't help but look at Wen Ruilin.
During the battle of Yuanling, the Wuling army captured several middle-level generals under Ma Rong. At that time, Xi Rong knew that Wen Ruilin had long been advising the Ma family and his son to make a decision on Xuzhou.
It is hard to imagine what the situation would be like if the Ma family and his son took Wen Ruilin's suggestion seriously. Perhaps Emperor Tianyou would not dare to withdraw the vassalage from Tanzhou easily. Then the situation of the Han family and his son in Xuzhou would definitely be more miserable than it is now.
A hundred times, right?
Li Chong was secretly frightened. He entered Yuanjiang River with Li Zhigao and others. He really didn't know these details. He didn't expect that there was such a powerful character beside the Ma family and his son, and he had already seen through Emperor Tianyou's plan to cut down the feudal vassal.
At this time, he looked at Wen Ruilin's expression and became solemn.
"Ma Yin, Ma Xun and his son are too indecisive and have no heroic spirit, but they have failed in your talent." Han Qian smiled and asked, "From what you have seen, the third prince led hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses.
, when will the chaos in Tanzhou be completely quelled?"
Wen Ruilin wanted to show some integrity and kept silent.
"When will Tanzhou be pacified? The third prince has already foreseen it. Is it possible that the Shu army dares to send troops to attack Jingzhou at this time? Is it possible that the Liang army dares to continue to gather in Caizhou? I am asking you now just to see if you really have it."
What a true insight." Han Qian said calmly.
Wen Ruilin sighed: "Hanshou only has two thousand guards. Even if he doesn't abandon the city, he can't hold it for ten days. Ma Yuanheng is far worse than Ma Rong. He abandoned his family and fled alone in Xuzhou."
, at this time, it is impossible to expect to fight Jiang'an City to the death when the retreat is cut off, and surrendering the city may be just around the corner. In that case, the Shu army will not withdraw from Yiling, but more to prevent the Chu army from taking advantage of the situation to seize Yiling.
It is absolutely impossible to send troops to invade Jingzhou. Even if the Liang army gathers in Caizhou again, there will be no chance to attack Nanyang. In this way, Yueyang cannot be defended. The king and the prince abandon Yueyang and retreat to Tanzhou, and they may still be able to survive.
Give it a while!”
"Yes, the Hanshou garrison has abandoned the city and fled eastward. I don't know when Ma Yuanheng will surrender in the isolated city of Jiang'an." Han Qian turned out an official letter. This was Zheng Hui who sent someone from Hanshou Kuaima before night.
The message came back.
Before Zheng Hui arrived with nearly 20,000 troops by land and water, the two thousand defenders of Han Shou abandoned the city and fled eastward. After Zheng Hui captured the city of Han Shou without any effort, he waited for Li Zhigao and Zhang Feng to lead their troops to advance.
Arriving at the bank of the Yangtze River, he reunited with Zhang Wei and forced Ma Yuanheng's troops who were beleaguered in Jiang'an to surrender.
"It stands to reason that Ma Yin and his son should abandon Yueyang immediately and withdraw their troops to Dongting and Hunan at this time. Then he and his son are indecisive. Maybe they will wait until Ma Yuanheng presents Jiang'an City before making a decision?" Wen Ruilin sighed and said.
, "If Han Sima uses my strategy, he may be able to end the war as soon as possible and save the people of Tanzhou from the disaster of war and chaos!"
"How to attack Tanzhou, you have no place to comment?" Han Qian smiled disdainfully and motioned for Wen Ruilin to be imprisoned. He couldn't help but talk to Zhang Ping and Li Chong said with a smile, "Wen Ruilin is such a defeated general.
, but you are telling us what to do, it’s really ridiculous!”
Zhang Ping was a little confused, but Li Chong's expression became serious...
