Chapter 146 Do you dare to say the word "behead"?
Chapter 146 Do you dare to say the word "behead"?
After entering Huayin County, a strong smell of blood filled the air on both sides of the post road.
Looking further into the distance, there seemed to be columns of smoke rising into the sky.
"What a sin..." Wu Qian didn't know how many times he had collected corpses.
His military career seemed to be spent always collecting corpses and cleaning up battlefields.
Dozens of corpses were lying in front of the manor, most of them were shot in the face by arrows.
The teachers stepped forward silently, loaded the bodies onto mule carts, and prepared to take them to a distant place to dig a pit for burial.
After entering the manor, there was a strong smell of blood.
Wu Qian sniffed and looked in one direction.
A middle-aged man who had been dead for a long time was tied to a tree. Judging from his age and attire, he seemed to be the owner of the manor.
Several naked female corpses were lying at the man's feet.
The body was unrecognizable, as if the thief had destroyed and insulted it after venting his anger.
One of the bodies was a middle-aged woman, with her lower body in a mess. Before she died, she stretched out her hand towards the man, crawled on the ground for a while, and finally died.
Wu Qian pointed and a teacher found some straw mats, wrapped the bodies together, and prepared to bury them in a pit.
"Clop..." The sound of horse hooves came.
After a while, several people came in. After seeing the bloody scene in the yard, they were stunned at first, then cursed "bad luck" and hurried out.
A quiet report was heard outside the courtyard.
Soon, a scholar in brocade robes came out. When he saw the situation in the courtyard, he frowned. He then glanced at Wu Qian and others and said sternly, "Give them a good lesson. Don't say too much and don't harbor resentment. The Xianbei Iron Cavalry was hired by Sikong with a large sum of money. They have broken through the enemy lines and made countless contributions. What's the point of being a little bit petty? I don't want to hear any rumors, otherwise I will kill them without mercy."
"Yes." Wu Qian and others responded.
"Dai Jijiu." After the brocade robed scholar left, Yang Teng, the chief official of Sima Yong's shogunate, immediately stepped forward and said with a smile, "This small place is crude and unsightly. Let's go to Huayin City to rest for a night."
"Okay." Dai Yuan smiled and said, "Changshi Yang has made great contributions this time, and Sikong will definitely reward him handsomely."
Yang Teng was delighted and said immediately: "It is still thanks to Sikong Hu's might, otherwise it would not be so easy to win. Dai Jijiu comforted the people on the battlefield and made them surrender, so his contribution is much greater."
Dai Yuan laughed out loud.
Yang Teng is a knowledgeable and interesting person, and we can make more friends with him in the future.
After the Xianbei cavalry defeated Peng Sui and Diao Mo, they pursued them all the way to Huayin.
The ones guarding this place were former generals from Hebei such as Qian Xiu and Shi Chao. Because they held the city firmly, it was difficult for the Xianbei cavalry to break through.
At the critical moment, Yang Teng, the chief official of Yongfu, arrived in person and falsely claimed to be Yong's order, ordering Qianxiu and others to withdraw, and then sent people to capture and kill Qianxiu. The bandits were defeated, and the Xianbei cavalry took the opportunity to rush in, killing and wounding more than 10,000 soldiers and horses.
Dai Yuan personally stepped forward to recruit the remaining 4,000 soldiers.
The remaining soldiers were in panic and surrendered.
Dai Yuan ordered the Left Guard General He Lun to send a small number of troops to escort these surrendered soldiers to Guandong and hand them over to the Minister of Works for disposal - they certainly could not be allowed to stay in Guanzhong, as surrendering and then rebelling was nothing new.
As the two were talking, they arrived at the Great Post Road.
The last group of Xianbei people left behind in Huayin were setting off for Zheng County.
As they were leaving, there were screams in the camp.
Several women stumbled out, but were soon shot in the vest by sharp arrows and fell to the ground.
Dai Yuan felt a little bit reluctant when he saw this, but that was just a little bit.
He is quite talented, otherwise he would not have been sent by Sima Yue to supervise the army.
But precisely because of his good talents, he knows what the most important thing is now.
Defeating Sima Yong and wiping out the last enemy is more important than anything else. Before that, avoid unnecessary trouble.
A small price to pay, totally tolerable.
Yes, it's a small price to pay.
Although the Xianbei were greedy and violent, the majority of the people in Guanzhong who were harmed were civilians. There were a few manor owners, but they were also powerful and their family names were not well-known.
If you ignore these things, it won't damage your reputation, and it won't be recorded in history books.
A hundred years later, he still has an impeccable reputation and may even be revered as a famous official.
The only thing that needs to be considered is that the Xianbei people cannot be allowed to go too far in Chang'an and act as they please in other places.
But he was also a little worried. After entering Chang'an, would the Xianbei people really be obedient?
He was not quite sure, and even wanted to deliberately slow down his journey and not go to Chang'an.
Anyway, after capturing Chang'an, Sima Yong was most likely doomed to fail, so it didn't matter whether he went to Chang'an or not.
Afterwards you can just go over to clean up the mess, pay tribute and appease people's hearts, and maybe you will even get praise from others.
Thinking of this, he put on a smiling face and said, "I heard that Huayin has beautiful scenery. I want to stay here for a few days. I wonder if Yang Changshi..."
"If the chief priest has such a refined taste, I will certainly accompany him." Yang Teng said immediately.
The two looked at each other and laughed, then walked away arm in arm. ******
The Left Guard of the Imperial Guards arrived in Zheng County three days later.
They saw several forts and manors along the way. Some were willing to offer money and food, while others glared at them.
Shao Xun understood their behavior very well, and in fact he was also very angry.
Xianbei bandits, why bother to rob food if you want, why kill people?
Shao Xun never considered himself a good person, and he was sometimes very perverted, but for many years he always adhered to one thing: do not harm the people.
The more power you have, the more damage you can cause.
If you have accumulated negative emotions, you can just vent them on your wives and concubines, and you can also have more children. Why should you deprive the people whose lives are already difficult from even the right to live?
"Did you see it all?" Shao Xun looked at the burning village and the well filled with corpses, and said, "If you are not strong, you will be trampled upon. If the Xianbei people break through Yunzhongwu and Yushanwu, what will happen to your wives and children? Let alone the Xianbei people, what will happen if any refugee leader breaks through our fortress?"
"Also, if you are not strong enough, you have to ask outsiders to help you fight. But you have seen what kind of people these outsiders are, right? They are no different from Zhang Fang."
"What good is it even if we win a battle like this? We've lost the support of the people and there will be reversals in the future."
"Everyone, whether soldiers or teachers, help clean up the ruins and bury the bodies. The dead must be buried in peace. Be more vigilant in your next life. You will die anyway, so you might as well fight the Xianbei people."
"Yes!" the generals responded one after another.
Soon, not only the Silver Spear Army and the Long Sword Army, but also the Imperial Guards began to take action.
Everyone looked solemn and silent.
The saying "When the rabbit dies, the fox mourns" is indeed true.
Although there was no national consciousness at that time, there was still a distinction between Chinese and barbarians. Guanzhong was always the orthodox core area of the Central Plains dynasty. What was the big deal when the Xianbei people came here to burn, kill and loot?
Of course, if their commander didn't care, these imperial guards wouldn't say much, even though they felt bad. In troubled times, where wouldn't there be such tragedies?
But didn't Shao Xun clearly point it out? Under his influence, the emotions of the soldiers of the Silver Spear, Long Sword, and Imperial Guards were slowly guided, and anger began to accumulate.
Even the soldiers from other battalions of the Left Guard who were passing by were a little agitated when they saw it.
Miao Yuan, who was also a general in the palace, even came over specially. After some inquiries, he felt a little annoyed that Shao Xun was making a fuss out of nothing, and at the same time a little annoyed.
Shao Xun withdrew first and did not see what the Xianbei did in Yuzhou, but he followed the Left Guard General He Lun to welcome the Minister of Works, so he saw some of it.
It is better than the tragedy in Guanzhong, but not much better.
After Miao Yuan left with a long sigh, when they set up camp in the evening, Mi Huang and He Lun came again.
Before Mi Huang could speak, He Lun knew Shao Xun's character very well, and hurriedly said, "Young Master, please don't do anything rash."
Shao Xun glanced at him and adjusted his bow on his own.
"I'm serious." He Lun said anxiously, "The Xianbei cavalry come and go like the wind, and they can't be caught. Don't be impulsive."
"General He's words are incredible." Shao Xun said, "Even Wang Jun, the governor of Youzhou, tried to stop the Xianbei people when he learned that they were looting women. You just stood there and did nothing?"
"Most of our troops are infantrymen, what should we do?" He Lun said helplessly, "Besides, if you attack and kill the Xianbei, Qi Hong and Liu Kun will not let it go, Wang Jun will also be angry with you, and Sikong will be even more furious. He has broken his promise to Wang Jun and the Xianbei, how can he get people to fight in the future?"
"That's something that Sikong and Wang Jun should worry about. It has nothing to do with me." Shao Xun said nonchalantly, "Big shots, don't you have any sense of responsibility?"
After hearing this, He Lun was speechless, but Mi Huang's brows were tightly furrowed.
Shao Xun's words were unpleasant to the ear, even a bit rebellious, similar to Zhang Fang's domineering nature.
But he was right in saying that the Xianbei cavalry invaded Yecheng, burned, killed and looted, killing many people, and took away a large number of Yecheng women before leaving. As the commander of the army, Wang Jun dared to say "anyone who dares to hide will be killed", although the Xianbei people did not give him face in the end, preferring to drown 8,000 women in the river rather than let them go home.
Now the Xianbei people have committed their old sin again, and you dare not even stop them? Do you dare to say the word "behead" like Wang Jun did?
There was a fierce battle going on in Mi Huang's mind.
On one side is the suffering of the common people, and on the other side is Sikong's great cause. The two seem to be in opposition.
If Sikong wants to succeed, the people will die.
"When the central army of Luoyang was still alive, in the Battle of Jianchun Gate, thousands of light and heavy cavalry charged directly at the enemy. The Xianbei, Wuhuan, and Xiongnu were all defeated. What is there to be afraid of?" After calibrating the bows, Shao Xun said another sentence.
"You also know that the Central Army was still there at that time." He Lun looked at Shao Xun helplessly and said, "But those people in the Cavalry Army may not be willing to listen to our command. They may also want to grab a piece of the pie."
"Then let's not rely on them, let's fight on our own," Shao Xun said.
"How are you fighting? Isn't this just suicide?"
"What if I can help?"
"What the hell do you have to say!" Even though He Lun was afraid of Shao Xun, he couldn't help but swear at this moment.
"Enough!" Mi Huang looked at Shao Xun and said, "Don't act rashly. I will send someone to Qi Hong's camp to enforce military discipline."
"Commander-in-chief, it would be better to let Hua Jijiu or the King of Runan go. They are people sent by the Prime Minister to supervise the armies. This is their duty. Why should they step forward in person?" Shao Xun offered a suggestion.
Mi Huang glared at him.
This young man is becoming more and more aggressive. Although he used to be brave, he still followed the rules. Since the Xuchang Armory case last year, he has become more and more unruly. I wonder where he gets the confidence from?
Mi Huang felt that he should save him to prevent him from further feuding with Sikong and eventually becoming out of control.
On one side is his friend regardless of age difference, and on the other side is his lord. Mi Huang does not want to see anything happen to either of them.
It is best to have harmony and good relations between the ruler and his subjects.
"I will send someone to invite Hua Jijiu and the King of Runan." Mi Huang said, "You guys should organize your troops and continue the march tomorrow."
"Yes." Shao Xun and He Lun responded.
(End of this chapter)