Chapter 10: Rebellious Soldiers
Chapter 10: Rebellious Soldiers (Additional Chapter 23 for the Alliance Leader, Young Master Qingshan)
The fighting in Luoyang City lasted only three or four days and ended quickly.
King Sima Jue of Qi never imagined that after all his efforts to get all the kings' followers and cronies out of the city, he would end up like this.
The trusted general Dong Ai had two thousand followers under his command, while the King of Changsha Sima Yi had only a hundred troops under his command. In the end, he managed to turn the tables and won a great victory.
Sima Jue felt aggrieved before his death, but as the saying goes, the victors are kings and the losers are bandits, there is nothing much to say.
It was also at this moment that he suddenly felt guilty.
Since the first year of the Yuankang period (291), when Jia Nanfeng summoned King of Chu Sima Wei to the capital to kill her relative Yang Jun, the world has been in chaos.
Prime Minister Yang Jun, imperial tutor Wei Guan, King of Chu Sima Wei, King of Runan Sima Liang, deposed Crown Prince Sima Yi, King of Zhao Sima Lun and other famous ministers and princes were killed one after another. Now it was his turn, King of Qi Sima Jiong, and perhaps also his younger brother King of Beihai Sima Shi.
Most of the descendants of the Sima family died at the hands of the descendants of the Sima family.
Most of the Sima family's troops were consumed in their own wars.
The Sima family's empire is gradually collapsing.
It’s really your own fault!
He laughed bitterly twice and closed his eyes.
The big knife chopped down quickly, and Sima Jue's head rolled outside the Changhe Gate.
After his death, his three sons were sent to Jinyong City for imprisonment, and all his followers were killed along with their entire clans.
The once powerful power of Sima Jue, the King of Qi, disappeared into thin air.
The emperor, who was still in shock, issued a general amnesty and did not even wait until the last few days of the year to see off the evil spirits. He immediately changed the reign title to Tai'an.
Sima Yi, the King of Changsha who came to power, was also overwhelmed. His first task was to persuade the Guanzhong troops that had marched to Xin'an County, the western gate of Luoyang, to retreat, and the second was to appease the tens of thousands of Yuzhou troops who were still outside the city.
The latter is easier to deal with. Sima Jue is dead, and the imperial court has issued an edict to withdraw the troops. There is no reason for those hereditary soldiers to continue working for Sima Jue. They might as well go home early and busy themselves with spring plowing.
Moreover, when Sima Jue led his army to suppress the rebellion, he resigned from his post as governor of Yuzhou to show his noble character. Now the person stationed in Xuchang is Sima Hu (xiāo), the General of Annan, the governor of all military affairs in Yuzhou and the King of Fanyang. It is legitimate for him to lead his troops back.
The former is more troublesome and requires a complex exchange of interests.
The kings of Chengdu and Hejian originally planned to lead their armies into the capital. They expected Sima Yi to be unable to deal with Sima Jue, so they planned to use him to create chaos in Luoyang, and then the armies of Chang'an and Yecheng would swarm into the capital to seize power.
But who could have imagined that Sima Yi fought to the death and actually killed Sima Jiong, and at the same time he took control of the government. Once the emperor's edict was issued, the two kings of Hejian and Chengdu lost the legitimacy to enter the capital, and they must be very anxious at this moment.
Sima Yue, King of Donghai, immediately sided with the new victor and attached himself to Sima Yi, King of Changsha.
To be honest, it was a little embarrassing because he did nothing in this fight. But he also had his reasons. He only had fifty attendants assigned by the court, no soldiers and no power. What could he do?
Perhaps Sima Yi needed to win over the princes, so he gave Sima Yue some benefits: he added an additional 3,000 households to his fiefdom and asked him to recommend an official to be the prefect of Donghai County.
You must know that before this, although Sima Yue was granted six counties, it did not mean that these six counties were under his jurisdiction, because his fiefdom only had 5,000 households, and he did not have any titles such as governor or commander-in-chief. Compared with other princes, he was quite different.
This time he has taken charge of both military and political affairs, and can finally be on par with other princes.
Actually, this is not a big benefit, but Sima Yue didn’t do anything, right?
He did not have the courage to burn his boats, and did not dare to make arrangements in advance like Sima Yi, nor did he dare to fight to the death with only more than a hundred followers like him.
High risk means high return, low risk means some return is good enough, don’t ask for too much.
After the situation in Luoyang City stabilized, the chaos outside the city had just begun...
******
The boundless wilderness was filled with fleeing people.
They were driven away by the chaotic soldiers.
Sima Jue was dead, and tens of thousands of soldiers from the Yuzhou Governorate were at a loss and didn't know where to go. Before Xuchang could send anyone to bring them back, they fell into chaos.
Most people were ready to go home.
The soldiers were not recruited soldiers, had no military pay, were poor and destitute, and going home was their deepest desire. After losing the person they were fighting for, they had no reason to stay in Luoyang.
Before leaving, some "clever little ghosts" decided to rob, after all, they didn't even have severance pay. After they started to act, more soldiers joined in, and the looting began to spread.
Some of the imperial guards stationed outside the city received orders from the Northern Army Commander to go out in force to quell the rebellion. The looting Yuzhou soldiers were unable to resist and fled in panic. As a result, the looting around Luoyang was quickly stopped, leaving only a few aftereffects.
But even these aftermaths are enough to make many people suffer...
On the Lantern Festival, soldiers stood on the walls of Pan Garden and the sound of drums rumbled.
"Swoosh!" An arrow flew out and nailed a arrogant soldier to the ground.
"Swoosh!" Another arrow was shot out, killing another person.
"Whizzing!"
Shao Xun walked back and forth on the courtyard wall, which was wide enough for two or three people to walk side by side. He drew his bow and arrow from time to time, and rarely missed his target, killing hundreds of rebel soldiers and frightening them.
Some news from Luoyang came in one after another. There was no complete picture, only bits and pieces, and it was hard to tell whether it was true or false. But that was for other people. For a time traveler like Shao Xun, it was enough to complete the whole puzzle.
He has been thinking recently, what has he gained in the past year?
After much thought, the biggest achievement was that I was promoted from a squad leader to a team leader, although I was in charge of a group of teenagers ranging from seven or eight years old to sixteen or seventeen.
This achievement has great plasticity and growth potential, and he has been working in this direction.
In addition, the second major achievement was gaining the trust of Princess Donghai, who was actually in charge of Pan Garden - he thought so.
The princess approved of his behavior of teaching reading and calligraphy, and did not think that he was a "secret servant of the young man". At the same time, through the relationship between the Sikong Mansion, she sent a large number of pens, ink, paper and inkstone.
To some extent, this gives legitimacy to Shao Xun's actions.
He had been thinking recently that this relationship needed to be maintained and explored. He had sensed the princess's uneasiness - in fact, at this time, a sense of security was an absolute scarcity and luxury - and subconsciously wanted to do something, so this was his chance. Apart from that, there seemed to be nothing else to do.
It’s a bit frustrating and sad, but that’s the reality.
Not everyone is qualified to manipulate the chessboard, and most people are just chess pieces after all.
The wisest thing to do now is to "progress" along with Sima Yue.
Sima Yue has already outlasted his two "big brothers" Sima Lun and Sima Jiong. Now Sima Yi is his third big brother. Will he take advantage of the chaotic situation to recruit people and make secret arrangements?
He believes it will because that is the answer from history.
In addition to his political factions, military power must have been Sima Yue's top priority.
During Sima Lun's Rebellion, the Luoyang Imperial Guards were deeply involved, attacking each other and suffering heavy losses.
During this fight, the imperial guards stood by and watched almost the entire process, and even closed the gates of Luoyang at a critical moment. The seven imperial guards stationed in the city were like deaf and blind people, neither protecting the emperor nor sending troops to quell the rebellion. The Yamen troops stationed in the suburbs of Luoyang only went out in large numbers when the overall situation was settled, and eliminated the foreign soldiers who took advantage of the chaos to loot.
Are they doing a good job? No, no one is.
Both the emperor and the princes were very dissatisfied.
The Northern Army General is likely to be dealt with, and the Imperial Army will have to surrender to Sima Yi. What will Sima Yue think at that time? Will he have a strong urge to expand the size of his private army?
This is the opportunity.
Although the benefits may not necessarily fall upon you, there is no doubt that opportunities are opportunities.
Well, it seems that more performance is needed.
"Swoosh!" The long arrow broke through the air and directly shot down a knight who was waving a whip to drive away the chaotic infantry.
The soldiers on the courtyard wall cheered and made a lot of noise.
Shao Xun put down his bow and subconsciously glanced at Yang Bao, the leader of Team 8, who was waiting behind the gate.
He suspected that it was this grandson who had reported him, because he had dealt with him before, and Team Eight was one of the so-called main teams, so of course the team leader wanted to go further.
To be honest, it’s all Du Bo’s fault!
Who doesn’t want to get promoted?
This is a competitive relationship, and anything that happens is normal.
At the same time, Shao Xun also felt a little emotional.
Even though they are a group of people filled with misfits, they are fighting to the point of being like this. Should we say that the lower-level military households are too greedy?
But in an era of great strife, it seems that one has to be the king of rolls, otherwise one will be cannon fodder, although the king of rolls also has a great chance of killing himself.
Yang Bao listened to the cheers that were getting louder and louder, and felt quite indignant and even a little afraid.
This thief Shao Xun is really good at martial arts, and no one knows where he learned it from.
He had seen with his own eyes that when Shao Xun touched a long sword, his movements went from being clumsy at first to gradually becoming skilled and finally to perfection.
He felt that Shao Zei was not trying to learn how to use the long sword, but was trying to regain the feeling and memory of using the long sword.
This monster! Yang Bao spat.
"Boom boom..." The sound of drums rumbled.
"Squeak..." The gate slowly opened.
Two hundred soldiers filed out of the door and stood against the wall.
"Kill!" The shout suddenly rang out, scaring the soldiers who were watching from a distance, and hesitation and fear gradually appeared on their faces.
They want to steal things, but they are not fools.
The farm in front of us has high walls and guards, and it seems that the morale is good and everyone is united.
What's even more terrifying is that there is an archer on a high place, leisurely shooting anyone who dares to approach. Every arrow hits the target with incredible accuracy, making it impossible for them to advance or retreat.
If the main officers were still there, even if the enemy had sharpshooters, they would still have to attack, after all, military orders were difficult to disobey. But now, the officers themselves didn't know where they had gone, so who would be willing to risk their lives?
Of course, you should pick the softest persimmons to squeeze.
It is human nature to bully the weak and fear the strong. Wouldn't it be better to abandon the fortress where many people will die and instead plunder those scattered villages that have no ability to protect themselves?
So, they really wanted to leave.
"Swoosh! Whoosh!" Two more arrows were shot out from the high wall, killing one person and injuring one.
When the other archers saw this, their morale was boosted and they also began to draw their bows and arrows, shooting any bandits who came too close.
The chaotic soldiers retreated one after another, and as people were crowded together, panic spread a little.
"Kill!" The two hundred soldiers at the gate of the courtyard wall lined up in neat rows, ran in small steps, and rushed forward.
"Let's go!" Several leaders of the rebel soldiers on horseback walked ahead without any hesitation.
"Go!" The others followed closely behind, fleeing into the distance in a chaotic manner.
Shao Xun put down his bow.
The thieves have lost their will to fight, so there is no need to pursue them relentlessly.
This wave of crisis was dealt with. They also successfully protected themselves once in the chaotic times. Yes, it was just "once". The future crisis will only be greater than the current one.
(End of this chapter)