Chapter 10 Hailing has been a land of great power since ancient times

Chapter 10 Hailing has been a land of great power since ancient times

Chapter 10 Hailing has been a land of great power since ancient times

September 1st, the tenth year of Emperor Xianfeng’s reign, Huai’an.

Shao Quanzhong withdrew his contempt for the Nian Army.

More than 30,000 Nian troops were attacking Huai'an Prefecture. Shao Quanzhong's six-man donkey team tried the same old trick again, wearing red envelopes on their heads and trying to get through, but was immediately stopped by a small team of scouts.

This team of scouts rode on real war horses and looked full of energy and spirit.

The Nian troops that attacked Huai'an were led by Prince Wo Zhang Lexing himself, and were indeed different from the detachment led by Zhang Zongyu in Jining.

It was impossible for Tian Xing to lead his men through the war zone relying solely on four pieces of red cloth, but the vigilance of that group of traitors was so poor that Tian Xing was speechless.

Seeing the scouts coming over to question him, Tian Xing jumped out on his horse, stared into the eyes of the scout leader and shouted, "There is a cloud hanging in the northwest sky!"

The scout leader was stunned and responded, "I wonder if it's white or black clouds?"

Tian Xing reached out and took out a waist badge, "After the black clouds come the white clouds, white clouds and black clouds are both clouds."

The scout leader smiled and said, "It turned out to be Lao He. What a misunderstanding."

Seeing the badge, he suddenly dismounted and knelt, "Meet the distinguished guest of the chief!"

Tian Xing dismounted and helped the scout up. "No need to be polite. I am just a humble servant. I happened to be there when the Heavenly King conferred the title of King Wo, and I got a badge from King Wo."

The scout leader turned around and called over a subordinate, "You are responsible for escorting the distinguished guest across the battlefield. If there is any damage, bring your head to me!"

With just a few words from Tian Xing, the donkey cart became a distinguished guest of the Nian Army and was escorted safely through the battlefield.

Wenxiu and her daughter in the car did not understand anything at all. They only knew that this Wudang swordsman was a subordinate of Shao Quanzhong and was well aware of the rules of the martial arts world.

Mrs. Wen was worried that Shao Quanzhong was connected with the Nian bandits and that the Wen family would be implicated in the future.

What Wenxiu was thinking was that even such a powerful chivalrous hero as the Wudang Sword Immortal was willing to join Brother Shao.

Brother Shao is humble now, but he may not be so in the future. Mother said that Brother Shao's righteous act was comparable to Zhao Kuangyin's sending mother to Beijing thousands of miles away. Zhao Kuangyin later...

I don’t know who is lucky enough to marry Brother Shao. Will she be destined to be an empress?

The righteous Wudang Sword Immortal and the fierce bandit Skywalker look very different and speak much softer. Skywalker's voice has been specially changed.

After traveling together for such a long time, the mother and daughter had not realized that the martial arts master who followed Shao Quanzhong to protect them was the gangster who had kidnapped them.

Haiqing is a man of the underworld, he understands this kind of underworld jargon, look back at his second brother and fourth brother.

The second brother had a smile on his face and clear eyes, and it was obvious that he was also an expert. Zhang Siwen's eyes did not change, and he drove the car with a silly smile on his face, as if he didn't hear it.

It would be fine if the fourth brother really didn’t hear it, but even if he heard it, it’s the same as if he didn’t hear it. This is called great wisdom appearing foolish.

I suspect he is just pretending to be stupid. I wonder what the origins of this overly strong fourth brother are...

The donkey cart slowly passed through the Huai'an battlefield. The battlefield was littered with the bodies of the Qing army and the Nian rebels, and there was no time to clean up the battlefield.

The battle has moved to the distant Huai'an City, where shouts of killing are deafening.

Qingjiangpu, which had been captured by the Nian Army, was engulfed in flames. The 20-mile-long street, the Ministry of Revenue's granary, and the Ministry of Works' four major shipyards on the canal were all burned down.

Wenxiu and her daughter were so scared that they hung the curtains of the car. Seeing that Shao Quanzhong looked at the corpses all over the ground and didn't care, Tian Xing felt that his second brother was definitely not an ordinary person.

Tian Xing looked smug, "Brother Shao, what do you think of the fighting power of this Nian Army? Can it compete with the regular army of the imperial court?"

Shao Quanzhong nodded and then shook his head.

"In terms of combat effectiveness, there is no problem. In the future, the monk king may be destroyed by the remaining elite troops of the Nianzi——"

Tian Xing felt his head buzzing. Shao Quanzhong's words contained so much meaning that he was stunned for a moment.

The words "remaining forces" indicate that the future of this Nian army is worrying, but if the monk king is destroyed, wouldn't the Qing Dynasty lose half of its territory? The monks in the north and Zeng in the south are the two white jade pillars that support the sky of the Tartars.

Ever since Shao Quanzhong successfully predicted Sengwang's defeat at Baliqiao and Emperor Xianfeng's expedition to Rehe, Tian Xing has believed in Shao Quanzhong to the point of superstition, otherwise he would not have joined him.

He and Zhang Lexing are good friends, can he save him?

Shao Quanzhong was unaware of the many thoughts that suddenly came to Tian Xing's mind, and continued to criticize the Nian Army, "However, just being able to fight is useless. Their strategy is problematic. This Huai'an City should not be attacked."

Tian Xing had no idea about "strategy" at all. "Is it wrong for the Nianzi to attack the Qing monsters?"

"Brother, look, this bandit's hometown is Huainan Bozhou. If he doesn't expand his base in Anhui, and sends troops everywhere to attack Huai'an, Jining and Kaifeng, it will be useless.

Even if we conquer them, we will just plunder and leave, and we won't be able to occupy the territory, so we will just lose troops in vain.

Can you compete with the imperial court in strength? Sooner or later, your elite troops will be wiped out. This is called the bandit tactics, which will never work.

The reason why the imperial court did not destroy the Nian Rebellion is because the Taiping Army needed to be destroyed first.”

Tian Xing said excitedly, "Brother, what would you do if you were Zhang Lexing?"

"Just ignore it, accept the amnesty immediately, there is no hope at all.

I tell you, the biggest problem of the Nian army is that there are no scholars under their command. Only scholars can help the leader govern the place and occupy the territory.

If the 200,000 ninjas can work together, gain a foothold in Huainan, and recruit scholars, there is still hope. But even if Zhang Lexing listens to me, can he bring back the brothers who have split away?

Even if they were recruited back, could this group of untrained and undisciplined peasants withstand the imperial court's encirclement and suppression? "

Tian Xing sighed. No wonder he had achieved nothing despite being a martial arts expert and running around the world for half his life. His knowledge on major matters was far behind his second brother.

Forget it, forget it. Don’t think about saving these old brothers. Just focus on assisting your second brother.

…………

Three days later, the donkey cart finally arrived in Hailing County, which is Taizhou, the hometown of County Magistrate Wen and Shao Quanzhong.

In those days, Yue Fei served as the Tongtai pacification envoy and Taizhou prefect, and was stationed here.

Taizhou combines the charm of Wu, Chu and Yue, and gathers the style of Jiang, Huai and Hai. It is a place with rich culture and many famous people. It can be said to be a place of outstanding people and beautiful scenery.

Finally, they saw Mingfeng Tower, which later became the famous Wanghai Tower, in the distance. Wenxiu and her daughter were filled with emotion and breathed a sigh of relief.

This journey of nearly a month was filled with many twists and turns, as well as defeated soldiers and the Nian rebels, but we finally arrived home safely.

Shao Quanzhong did not have so many feelings.

He has two hometowns in his heart, and his feelings for this place are not as strong as those for the white mountains and black waters of his previous life.

After all, he had only lived for twenty years in this world, but he had experienced more than fifty years of ups and downs in his previous life...

He returned to his hometown to start a militia. Although he was chivalrous in sending Wenxiu thousands of miles away, he also wanted to take advantage of the power of the Wen family.

Taizhou was not a place outside the Great Wall where beards were everywhere, and the imperial court's rule was quite solid.

This militia has no gentry background, and it cannot be run by a poor beggar like me. Even if I have some money now, it won't help.

I invested so much energy in Master Wen, but he died without any respect and even owed me a letter of recommendation. I should give myself some help to make the investment pay off, right?

Wenxiu's home is close to Daohe River, an elegant three-courtyard house.

The house is made of blue bricks and black tiles, with granite paving the way. The alley in front of the house is deep and secluded, and the courtyard is filled with lush bamboos. It is a typical "Thai-style residence".

It is comparable to the "Gan-style dwellings" in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi, the Hui-style dwellings in Shexian and Yixian, Anhui, and the Su-style dwellings in Wuxian, Jiangsu, and is known as the four major dwellings in Jiangnan.
The Wen family has been passing down poetry and literature for generations, and they have been a family of scholars and officials for generations. There was once a family with the honor of five Jinshi and three Hanlin.

It has declined now, and has only produced one seventh-rank county magistrate, who was also a double-listed Jinshi and still has great potential in the local area.

Wenxiu and her daughter got off the car. Haiqing went to knock on the door. The old servant Wengui who stayed behind went out and was stunned when he saw the mistress and the young lady suddenly came back.

When he looked at the urn in Mrs. Wen's arms, his body shook and he almost fainted.

When they got home, they said goodbye to each other. Zhang Siwen, Tian Xing and Hai Qing helped to move the valuables from the car, and Shao Quanzhong said goodbye to Mrs. Wen.

Mrs. Wen did not force him to stay, "Xiao Shao, go home to see your parents first.

I'll settle down here and help you find a relative-in-law, Wu Wenxi.

He is a close friend of Mr. Qiao, the Lianghuai Salt Transport Commissioner, and he should be able to find you a good job."

Shao Quanzhong bowed to the ground and said, "Thank you, Madam, for your support."

Three horses and a carriage headed east. Shao Quanzhong's home was in the relatively remote Jiangyan, forty miles away.

Shao Quanzhong still misses his family a lot because he is homesick.

The three brothers rode as fast as they could. Without the female passenger, Zhang Siwen's donkey cart was almost drifting.

They arrived at Jiangyan in an hour before dark and saw their own dilapidated stilt house by the Han Canal.

Who knew that the house was deserted and had collapsed.

Shao Quanzhong was in a daze when a small boat loaded with "Taizhou Red" rice docked on the Han Canal.

A young man with a healthy complexion saw Shao Quanzhong standing by the canal. He jumped onto the bank before the boat even stopped and hugged Shao Quanzhong. "Shao, why are you back? You look rich now, and you've become a government official."

It was his childhood friend, Song Laosan.

"Our family—"

"Your family has moved to Jingjiang. This is a long story. It's getting late. Stay at my house for the night. I'll have a good drink with you tomorrow and we'll talk slowly."

Song Laosan's family was well-off and wealthier than his own, so Shao Quanzhong didn't bother to be polite with him and the four brothers stayed at his house.

We were exhausted from the journey. The four brothers drank some porridge and fell asleep. When we woke up, it was already noon.

Song Laosan went out to prepare wine and food, and the stilt house was quiet and empty.

Shao Quanzhong walked out of the door with his hands behind his back. He just stretched himself, and before he could smell the familiar smell of rice fields in the air, a donkey came galloping towards him in the distance.

The person riding the donkey was Wen Gui, the old servant of the Wenxiu family whom I had just met yesterday. He was an old man in his sixties and was riding the donkey very fast.

The old man almost stumbled when he got off his donkey. He trembled when he saw Shao Quanzhong. "Shao Yishi, Miss Wenxiu asked me to come find you. As soon as the mistress and the young lady came back, something happened."

(End of this chapter)