Chapter 58 Killing Shen Gouguan and robbing Qizhou City
A few days later.
The first day of September, Huanggang County.
The original Huangzhou magistrate's yamen has changed a lot now. The front hall is dilapidated, the wall collapsed and the well collapsed, but no one took care of it, but the back house has been decorated magnificently.
It is not accurate to say that it is decoration, because the putty on the walls is too lazy to be re-scraped, and they are just covered up with various silks, satins and cloth curtains. The original curios displayed by the wealthy families in the city were moved to the backyard of the government office and messed around.
Stacked and displayed.
The person currently living in the government office is none other than Liu Xiyao, the leader of the bandits who is known as the "King of the World".
Liu Xiyao was also from Shaanxi, and the leaders of Gezuo Fifth Battalion and many other bandits were from Shaanxi.
After many years of wandering around, he has developed a happy-go-lucky lifestyle. No matter what city he occupies or what mansion he gets, he will use it like a big tent in the military camp and be ready to throw it away at any time.
Since it is not regarded as one's permanent property, there is no hard decoration. Everything can be used when you move in and burned when you move out. Wouldn't it be nice?
In the past few days, Liu Xiyao was not in a very happy mood, and it was hard to say where he was unhappy. So much so that the people serving him were cautious, because several people who had done wrong things had already been beaten and whipped by Liu Xiyao.
Everyone also knew that Marshal Liu was uneasy because he sent a spy to sneak into Qizhou before, but later there was no news.
However, there is still a trace of thought in my heart, and I will not accept the reality until I am finally convinced.
"Hu Jin's killer didn't send someone back to report whether he succeeded or not. It really wasted the opportunity! If everything went well, we would have sent troops to kill him a day earlier, gained the city, and seized the bird family property of Shen Lin, but the beauty
Very good."
It was dinner time at the moment, and Liu Xiyao was munching on the food at the back house of the government office while thinking angrily and venting all his depression on the big pig's trotters in his hands.
Unfortunately, today's pig's trotters were in a hurry, and the chef's cooking was not very bad. He just happened to bite the tendons, which made the gaps between his teeth sore and itchy, which was very unpleasant.
Just when Liu Xiyao was about to touch the knife and scold the cook, and let someone punish the cook, suddenly a confidant from outside stumbled in, invisibly saving the cook's life.
"Your Majesty, something bad has happened! One of the agents sent to Qizhou has escaped."
Liu Xiyao was confused when he heard this, and he flashed the scabbard in front of him: "Can you speak? I was so surprised. It's a good thing that I'm back!"
The confidant was calmed down by being slapped, and then he spoke in detail: "No, Your Majesty, he was found out and escaped. Hu Jin and others were found out and chopped up by Officer Shen Gou! Only one sentry commander escaped,
He was quite righteous and secretly brought back the brothers’ heads that had been displayed to the public.”
Liu Xiyao was furious: "What? This Shen Gouguan is so brave. When I break Qizhou County, I have to cut him into pieces! As many pieces as he kills my brothers, I will chop him into pieces!"
After getting angry, he realized that after all he was the leader of a bandit, and he was still a bit wealthy. After calming down, he immediately summoned Liu San, who had escaped, and asked him about the situation in detail.
Fortunately, Shen Shuren didn't let Liu San do anything to lure the enemy. Liu San thought that it would be safest to follow Master Shen's words, so he acted exactly as planned.
"...Your Majesty, that thief Shen was extremely cruel and suspicious. He indiscriminately killed the squires who resisted his grain collection in Qishui, but he bought the hearts of the poor people and recruited people to serve as his soldiers. Even the nephew of the old thief Yuan Jixian was swindled by him.
Your Majesty has been killed in your name, and yet you are framed for it!
Just because he would rather waste his life and kill innocent people indiscriminately, even though our brother was very cautious, he was still found out. People with unknown household registration and origin cannot be soldiers under Thief Shen!"
Liu Xiyao had no doubts about these points at all, because the characteristics of indiscriminate killing of innocent people and suspicion made him feel very connected. He felt that this was what a person in a superior position should be like.
The dog civil servants he met were shy and face-saving, but in his opinion, they were perverts.
"Although this Official Shen Gou deserves to die, he is also a ruthless person, which suits me very well." Liu Xiyao actually nodded, and then asked, "Then how did you escape?"
Liu San bit the bullet and went with the original plan. He only said that there were wealthy gentry who dared not speak out against Shen Shuren, so he wanted to leave an escape route, but he was afraid that Liu Xiyao would kill the wealthy people and liquidate them first, so he wanted to Explore the way.
Of course Liu Xiyao would not object to this. It is not that he is rash, but that even if this condition is false, he will not lose anything if he agrees. If it is true, it is a business without capital, and there will be no loss no matter how you look at it.
He immediately said boldly: "What's so difficult about this? I will make an oath to the Yuan family and the Xu family in Qizhou. If he dares to take the token, I will give him some tokens.
This king promises that as long as they act as internal agents, they will conquer Qizhou and Qishui in the future, and will never plunder their family’s property, and will also give them 30% of the property stolen by burning and killing other people!”
When Liu Xiyao just said the word 30%, he regretted it for a moment. It seemed that the price was too generous.
But it was only for a moment, and then he quickly regained his composure - if he could really break the city, wouldn't he have the final say in everything? If he were to be given less, would those wealthy gentry still dare to dissatisfy?
It’s okay to exaggerate a promise that you don’t intend to actually fulfill. Let’s wait and see the other party’s reaction first.
After giving instructions on the surrender policy, Liu Xiyao asked some more about the military situation in detail: "What is the current military situation with Officer Shen Gou? Do the soldiers have a fighting spirit? If our army sends troops now, can the people switch sides?"
Although Liu San and others did not succeed in undercover and earn money to open the city gate in the future, they still spent a few days among Shen Shu's army, and they should have seen a lot of information, which was somewhat useful.
When Liu San heard the king's question, he was also slightly frightened: This was not the mission they were told when they were sent there. The original mission was just to lurk and make money when the time came.
But Mr. Shen actually thought that Liu Xiyao would definitely ask him about his military situation, and also taught him how to deal with it...
"After you go back, Liu Xiyao will definitely ask about the information about our army's preparations for war. If you tell the truth, he will definitely attack immediately, and he will definitely need you to be his guide when the time comes. When the time comes, the sword will have no eyes, and I will be sure to destroy him. , you can’t escape death either.
If you tell Liu Xiyao that our army still has a batch of military equipment that has not yet arrived, and seduce him to be greedy for money and delay the attack, you will have time to escape slowly, or pretend to be sick, or flee. If you want to die or live, you have to decide Bar."
These words were analyzed by Chen Shuren before Liu San was released.
The question Liu Xiyao asked at this moment was so consistent with Shen Shuren's prediction that it was difficult for Liu San not to recall these warnings.
"Indeed, if you want to seduce the king and send troops immediately, I will definitely be the guide and be sandwiched in the middle. Either I will be beaten to death by the officers and soldiers, or I will be killed by the king after joining the gang. It is better to advise the king to fight slowly and find an opportunity for myself to escape. good……"
After making up his mind, Liu Sanyi gritted his teeth and followed the instructions and said: "Your Majesty, although Official Shen Gou is cruel, because he suppressed the gentry and reduced rents for the people, he did win the support of the ignorant people, and the morale of the new recruits was high.
As for weapons and armaments, I heard that Shen Gouguan was from a wealthy family in Suzhou, so he brought a lot of swords, guns and arrows with him when he came, so there should be no shortage of them to defend the city.
In addition... the wealthy gentry in the city heard about it and said that Official Shen Gou became more and more nervous after he found out that the king had sent a special task force. He wrote back to Suzhou and asked his father, a doctor in the Ministry of Household Affairs, to transport firearms and weapons worth a million taels to Hongyi. Wealth comes to Huangzhou."
When Liu Xiyao heard this, he raised his eyebrows and immediately interrupted: "Wait a minute, is Shen Gouguan so rich? Can he just casually send Hongyi weapons worth a million taels? He also has smuggling connections with foreigners. Can’t do it?”
Liu San had a rare opportunity to show off, so he said naturally: "Don't you know, Your Majesty? I heard that the Shen Gouguan family is the richest man in Suzhou. Half of the maritime merchants in the Ming Dynasty belong to his family, and they rule the north and south with the Zheng family in Fujian. .I heard that this official Shen Gou is just here to get money and credit for his work so that he can be promoted quickly."
So rich?!
Liu Xiyao's eyes turned red.
After all, he was a bandit, and he wasn't very well-informed at first. He only knew that Shen Shuren was rich, but he still didn't expect that he was so rich.
Poverty limited his imagination.
Suzhou is indeed a land of unimaginable paradise and wealth. The people there are so hateful. Why should we Shaanxi people suffer from poverty?
Liu Xiyao felt the anger burning in his chest. This thief was allocating resources unfairly.
With anger, a plan slowly took shape in his mind: Since the morale of Shen Gou Guan's soldiers was temporarily high and their weapons were sufficient, a hasty attack might not bring any benefits, so it would be better to follow the original plan and postpone the entry until the autumn grain harvest. In this way, there is no need to worry about Shen Gouguanlong City being defended.
On the other hand, now that I know how to deal with Shen Gouguan, my vision cannot be limited to Huangzhou, but should focus on the foreign aid in the entire world.
Then, it becomes very important to send scouts to patrol along the north bank of the Yangtze River and the mouths of Xishui and Qishui rivers to search for enemy support fleets that may appear in the future.
He definitely cannot let Officer Shen Gou successfully obtain the overseas ordnance he needs, otherwise it will be difficult to attack the city in the future.
After their supply fleet entered Qishui and before it reached Qizhou County, they sent a small number of cavalry to intercept them, and then the army chased them, surrounded them, and robbed the supplies!
This is the most perfect "encirclement point for reinforcements", not to mention the "resistance" is in the nature of a food, grass and baggage train, which is so exciting.
Liu Xiyao has been a thief for ten years and has never eaten such fat meat!
Moreover, as long as the opponent's military supplies are intercepted, Chen Shuren will not be afraid of not opening the city gates to plunder them! At that time, the shortcomings of the rebels' lack of ability to attack the city can also be avoided!
No matter how you look at it, it doesn't hurt to do the investigation work well and prepare for war first.
The more Liu Xiyao thought about it, the more excited he became: "Send an order to send out all the cavalry in the army and divide them into small teams to search deep into the enemy's territory along the bank of the Yangtze River. Whenever you find a large fleet on the river that wants to transfer to Xishui or Qishui, come immediately." Report the message and organize interception.
However, don’t be too eager to fight. If Officer Shen Gou discovers our cavalry and dares to leave the city to expel them, don’t fight with them. Just go back or seduce them. I will send a large army to fight with them in the field and wipe out Shen Gou in one go. official!"
…
Liu Xiyao's army immediately accepted this combat formation and began to take action.
Chen Shuren also successfully relied on this fictitious "foreign aid munitions fleet" to delay the enemy for a while, at least for more than half a month.
Counting the days, it would take no more than twenty days to travel from Suzhou to Huangzhou on the border of Henan and Anhui via the Yangtze River Channel.
It would be at least twenty days before Chen Shuren's supply fleet did not arrive before Liu Xiyao realized that he had been deceived.
Moreover, as long as Chen Shuren noticed Liu Xiyao's cavalry making movements, he could infer that Liu Xiyao was waiting for the fleet.
Then, even if there is no fleet originally, Shen Shuren can create one for him.
At worst, when the fleet finally arrived at Qishui, they should have been more alert. As soon as they saw Liu Xiyao's cavalry scouts intercepting them, they would have given up the reinforcements and turned around and ran away.
Liu Xiyao didn't know what was on the boat, so he could just use the straw boat to borrow arrows.