Chapter 284 289, Guo Yang and the Seven Monsters
Lin'an Prefecture, on the banks of the Qiantang River, Niujia Village.
A group of villagers gathered under a large pine tree at the entrance of the village, listening to a young man who had attended a private school for a few years, reading in a rhythmic manner the notice that had just been posted by the police:
"...Yong's army is brutal, leaving no grass wherever they pass...They drive the people to attack the city, and after they break it, they massacre the people for ten days, leaving corpses piled up like mountains and blood flowing like rivers. They also make human meat jerky to serve as military rations...They capture young girls to feed the dragon, and can only fill their stomachs by eating a hundred girls a day...The violent Yong is coming, and the men of the Song Dynasty should rise up to resist and protect their wives, children and the elderly from being killed by the violent Yong...Those who wish to join the army may come..."
This is a recruitment notice.
First, they exaggerated the brutality and tyranny of "Bao Yong" and explained how the people would be harmed if the Bao Yong troops arrived. After some intimidation, they called on those who were brave to join the army and defend their hometown. Those who were not brave enough could also donate money and food to supplement the military expenses.
In short, the effect of this notice was really good. After hearing it, the villagers of Niujia Village all looked panicked and pale. Even the young man who read the notice turned pale, had cold sweat on his forehead, and his voice trembled.
At the back of the crowd, there were two young men who looked to be in their twenties.
One of the young men, who was tall and strong with thick eyebrows and big eyes, frowned and said:
"Is the Yong Kingdom really that cruel? Second brother, what do you think?"
The fair-skinned young man next to him said:
"It's hard to say... Yong State just destroyed Jin State last year and took over all of Jin State's population and land. If they are really that cruel and violent, the people in the country will surely revolt in order to survive. Jin State is a large country with a population of tens of millions. If there is a real chaos, we won't have enough time to quell it, let alone raise troops to attack Bashu."
The burly young man said:
"Did he kill them all? Or did he kill so many people that the remaining ones were scared?"
The fair-faced young man shook his head and said:
"How can tens of millions of people be killed in a year? How much resistance will such a massacre provoke? Besides, if everyone is killed, where can we recruit soldiers and food? Without soldiers and food, how can we attack Bashu? It's too much to believe even a word of the government's words. In my opinion, most of the so-called brutal deeds of the Yong State in this notice are fabricated. Otherwise, it is impossible for the Yong State to invade Bashu with such an overwhelming force after only a year of rest."
Having said that, there was still some worry in the young man's eyes.
After all, even if the government exaggerated, even if the Yong army was only 20% or 30% as brutal as the government claimed, it would still be a disaster.
The burly young man said:
"My brother and I finally made it to Song State and have settled here for only a year. Unexpectedly..."
The young man's name was Guo Xiaotian, and he was a descendant of Liangshan's Earth Blessing Star, "Sai Rengui" Guo Sheng.
The fair-skinned young man was named Yang Tiexin, a descendant of Yang Zaixing, a famous general under Yue Wumu.
The two men were originally from Shandong. Dissatisfied with the Jin Kingdom's heavy taxes and levies, and with their parents and relatives no longer around, they had no one to rely on, so they went south to join the Song Dynasty.
However, Song and Jin had an agreement that "Southerners return to the south and northerners return to the north", and they strictly guarded against the northerners. Guo and Yang went through hardships and traveled for nearly a year before they successfully entered Song and came to Lin'an Prefecture and settled down in Niujia Village. Unexpectedly, they had only settled down for more than a year when the north attacked.
Although the invaders were not the Jurchen Jin, but the newly rising Yong, Guo and Yang did not know much about Yong and did not know which was better. Judging from the government's propaganda, Yong seemed to be even more unruly than the Jin.
“According to the time, not long after you and I left Shandong and headed south two years ago, the Yong Kingdom began to attack the Jin Kingdom… No wonder the Jin government’s levies and extortions were even more severe than before you and I left.” Yang Tiexin sighed, “If we had left later, we might have seen the demise of the Jin Kingdom and witnessed the might of the Yong Kingdom’s military.”
Guo Xiaotian said in a muffled voice:
"It's more likely that the Jin Kingdom would draft them into battle and fill the gap. Now that the Yong Kingdom is going to attack the Song Dynasty, what should you and I do?"
Yang Tiexin was silent for a while, then slowly said:
"Let's take it one step at a time. Let's get more information. If the Yong Kingdom is really as the government claims, even if it's only two or three times as brutal as the government claims... I'm afraid we brothers will have no choice but to join the army and fight."
Guo Xiaotian nodded silently, agreeing deeply with it.
They were originally from the north and had settled here for only a year or so, so they had no responsibility to protect their hometown.
However, the villagers of Niujia Village were simple and honest. They not only gladly accepted the two outsiders and helped them settle down, but also arranged marriages for them because they were hard-working, generous and loyal.
Guo Xiaotian married a girl from the same village named Li Ping. Yang Tiexin was a handsome man who could read and write, so he was favored by a private school teacher in a neighboring village. He promised his only daughter Bao Xiruo to him. The two were already engaged and would be married soon.
Both Guo and Yang value friendship very much. The villagers treated them well and helped them to start a family and career. They would certainly not be ungrateful. They have regarded Niujia Village as their second hometown. If their neighbors are in trouble, they will stand up for them.
Early the next morning.
Guo and Yang went to Lin'an city together to gather information. The news they got in the city was varied and contained all kinds of news.
Some said that the official notice was true and that the Yong army was really that brutal.
Not only did they massacre many famous cities of Jin, such as Luoyang and Zhongdu, when they destroyed the Jin Dynasty, but after the Yong army entered Shu, the city of Chengdu was also massacred and turned into a deserted city, with not a single person left alive.
Some people also said that what the government said was not entirely true, and that the Yong army did not kill that many people. Although they liked to massacre people in cities, they only did so for three days and only emptied half of Chengdu.
The Yong army did like to drive the people to attack the city. Before each siege, they would send out scouts to search for villagers everywhere, using the rural people to consume the arrows and stones of the defenders.
In addition, the Yong army did not eat people, but they plundered everyone wherever they passed, regardless of whether they were rich or poor. They used their wealth as military supplies, their grain and livestock as military rations, their young women as camp prostitutes, and all the men, regardless of age, were captured to do hard labor and fill ditches.
This statement sounds more real than the rumors that the entire city was massacred and human jerky was made into military rations.
But because it is real, it is also more horrifying.
Not only was Guo Xiaotian horrified and indignant after hearing this, but Yang Tiexin also believed it about 80% of the time - because since ancient times, there have been countless similar incidents when two countries were at war, and it was not new at all.
After inquiring for information for a long time, Guo and Yang came to a small teahouse to rest. They ordered two large bowls of tea to quench their thirst and asked for a few vegetarian steamed cakes to fill their stomachs.
"Second brother, the Yong Kingdom seems to be a truly fierce army. Even though the claim that they slaughtered everyone wherever they went is not entirely true, their brutality and cruelty to the people do seem to be true."
Guo Xiaotian said worriedly.
Yang Tiexin frowned and said slowly:
"Throughout history, there have been countless armies that are both powerful and brutal. The atrocities committed by the Yong army are not uncommon."
Guo Xiaotian said: "It seems that you and I, brothers, must join the army to fight the war..."
As he was speaking, a clear female voice came into his ears:
"Nonsense! The Yong army is a benevolent and righteous army. They do not harm anyone wherever they go. They do not disturb or rob the people. Even for the troops that surrendered in time, they only detained their generals. The ordinary soldiers were either given travel expenses and sent back, or were disbanded and sent to the Yong army..."
Guo Xiaotian and Yang Tiexin were startled when they heard the words. They looked in the direction of the voice and saw seven strange people sitting around a square table in the opposite corner of the teahouse.
Sitting in the middle was a man in his thirties, dressed in gray, tall, with broad shoulders and back, a pointed face and thin cheeks, looking quite ferocious, with an iron rod next to him.
On his left sat a man in his twenties, holding a folding fan, wearing greasy clothes, dressed like a scholar. On his right sat a short, fat man with a long whip wrapped around his waist.
Sitting opposite them were four men, all of them were tall and strong men with bronze skin, with a carrying pole placed on their stools.
A short, fair-skinned peddler with a weighing scale on his waist.
A tall, strong and fat man, with his chest open, revealing his chest hair, and a thick-backed butcher knife hanging from his waist.
And a beautiful girl in her teens, wearing a green shirt, with big eyes, thin eyebrows and fair skin.
At this time, the six men were all sitting, while the girl stood up and argued with a young man who looked like a scholar at the next table.
"The Yong army was indeed harsh towards local tyrants and wealthy families, but they were very kind to the common people. Not only did they distribute food to the poor, they even distributed land to the poor tenants, and reduced the land tax to one-third of the 30th, exempted all miscellaneous taxes, and did not levy corvée, but instead used money and food to hire people to work. In short, although the Yong army was invincible and unstoppable, it did not gain power by brutality, but was a rare benevolent army in ancient and modern times!"
The young scholar sneered, "You are talking nonsense, little girl! Where in history has there been such an army? Even the imperial army of the Song Dynasty... cough cough, in short, what you said is just nonsense and exaggeration."
The guests in the teahouse agreed with her and nodded one after another, because what the girl said really sounded too unbelievable. Throughout history, where had there ever been such a righteous army?
Even in history, some powerful armies known for their strict military discipline could only refrain from abusing the people in their own territories. Once they entered the enemy's territory, they were equally cruel and inhumane.
After all, Sun Tzu's Art of War said it all: Therefore, a wise general will try to get food from the enemy. One catty of enemy food is equivalent to twenty catties of ours.
Due to the long-distance battles, the transportation of food and fodder was difficult and the transportation losses were huge. By the time twenty liters of food and fodder from the rear were transported to the front line, the baggage soldiers and civilians would have to eat and chew the food along the way, so there might be only half or even less left. Therefore, "taking food from the enemy" has been the right way of military strategy since ancient times.
What army would not plunder food and grass from the enemy country but instead distribute food relief to the people of the enemy country?
Furthermore, the soldiers are on an expedition to an enemy country, they are in danger and exhausted, they also need opportunities to vent their energy and even make money, otherwise how can the generals control the tigers and wolves under their command?
Therefore, once entering the enemy's territory, military discipline will often be gradually relaxed, and the deeper into the enemy's territory they go, the more brutal the killing and looting will be.
So to the guests in the teahouse, the girl's words did not fit their understanding of the army at all.
The girl in green blouse snorted and said:
"There has never been such a righteous army in history? Then how do you explain Grandpa Yue's army?"
The scholar was stunned and his face turned red. He didn't know how to defend himself for a moment.
Just as he was about to come up with a rebuttal, the girl in green clothes said:
"We went to the north last year and saw with our own eyes the former territory of the Jin Kingdom under the rule of the Yong Dynasty. We did not see the massacre of the people, but we did see with our own eyes the soldiers and civilians of the Jin Kingdom happily opening the city gates and welcoming the royal army with food and drink. We also saw the people happily receiving seeds, farm tools and even oxen, and working hard on the fields distributed by the government.
"We also went to Guanzhong. The Yong Kingdom had ruled Guanzhong for less than three years, but there was no beggar or refugee in Guanzhong, and the people in the countryside were no longer hungry. Every household had enough food. The government also organized a construction team, hired workers with money and food, built water conservancy projects, dredged rivers, and built roads, making Guanzhong prosperous.
"We also went to Bashu and witnessed the Yong army's conquest. Although the Yong army was ruthless on the battlefield, as long as they laid down their weapons and surrendered, they would never kill prisoners, and would even treat the wounded. They also never looted the villagers or drove them to attack the city. Because the Yong army didn't need to do that. No matter how dangerous the pass and the city were, they couldn't withstand the Yong army's frontal attack..."
Seeing that many of the guests in the teahouse were listening attentively and were slightly shaken, the scholar could not help but get angry and slammed the table, pointing at the girl and shouting:
"You little girl, you are so confusing right and wrong, making up lies, and misleading people. You must be a spy of the Yong army! Catch the spy! There is a spy of the Yong country here, spreading rumors and misleading people!"
The scholar shouted loudly and even rushed out of the teahouse, shouting loudly, which soon attracted a team of patrolling imperial guards.
Hearing that there were spies from the Yong Kingdom, the imperial guards rushed into the teahouse and shouted:
"Where are the Yong Kingdom's spies?"
The scholar pointed at the girl in green clothes and the six people sitting at the same table, his face flushed and his eyes filled with resentment:
"It is them who are spreading rumors about Yong State and misleading the people!"
When the captain of the imperial guards saw how pretty the girl in green was, his eyes lit up immediately. He thought that this trip was a good opportunity. He smiled and waved his hand without thinking:
"Take them all!"
All the imperial guards rushed forward, and the two fastest ones ignored the sword in the girl's hand and reached out to grab the girl impatiently.
In the eyes of this team of imperial guards, although the girl was carrying a sword, she had a petite figure, slender hands, and a delicate and weak appearance. The sword must be just a decoration, and she could only perform fancy moves at best.
As for the girl's six companions, although there were a few fat and strong men among them, judging from their attire and weapons, they were just a group of ordinary people from the market. How could they dare to go against the imperial guards in the city of Lin'an?
Isn’t that seeking death?
So the two imperial guards thought they could capture the girl easily and take advantage of her. However, they didn't expect that before they could reach out to the girl, she had already made a lightning-fast move. She kicked the imperial guard's left calf on the front bone, causing the calf to crack and break into a crutch on the spot. The guard fell forward with a scream.
Before the imperial guard fell to the ground, the girl raised her hand again, grabbed two fingers of the imperial guard on the right, gently folded them upwards, and with two more clicks, she folded his fingers back until they were pressed against the back of his hand.
In the blink of an eye, one of the imperial guards had a broken leg, and the other had a broken finger, and they screamed in pain.
The rest of the imperial guards were stunned and stopped abruptly. The captain of the imperial guards also had a drastic change of expression and pressed his hand hard on the back of his knife. However, the girl's half-smiley look made the captain feel a chill in his throat, as if a sharp sword was against his throat. He froze in his action of drawing the knife and dared not move at all.
After a long pause, the captain of the imperial guards smiled flatteringly:
"It's a misunderstanding, it's all a misunderstanding! This kid is spreading rumors and misleading the public, framing innocent people, we must punish him severely!"
As he spoke, he slapped the scholar who had brought the news so hard that he became dizzy and his nose bled. He then ordered two of his men to escort the scholar out, and sent someone to carry the imperial guard with a broken leg. Then he led his team and bowed as they retreated out of the teahouse.
Seeing the performance of the imperial guards, the tea drinkers sighed in silence.
Guo Xiaotian and Yang Tiexin also showed contempt on their faces.
"The Song Dynasty is doomed!"
Guo Xiaotian sighed softly.
Yang Tiexin nodded and saw the man at the head of the table throwing down a row of copper coins and walking out of the teahouse with his servants. He quickly took out a few copper coins and put them on the table, then pulled Guo Xiaotian's sleeve and followed them.
They were very interested in the seven people and also wanted to know whether the deeds of the Yong army described by the girl were true or false.
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(End of this chapter)
