Chapter 506: Ten Thousand Surrendered Soldiers
Chapter 506: One Hundred Thousand Surrendered Soldiers
While the main force of the enemy army collapsed, Xiao Xia ordered the Xue brothers to lead 10,000 cavalry to continue chasing Lan Zhaotian. Why did they continue to chase Lan Zhaotian? This was to prevent him from gathering the remnants. The 80,000 rear troops were defeated and fled. If they were to gather them seriously, 20,000 to 30,000 people could still be gathered. He must not be given any chance to gather the remnants. Lan Zhaotian was chased all the way and fled to Yongjia County in a panic.
At the same time, Xiao Xia led a large army into Kuaiji County, and Fan Shicheng led three thousand defenders to surrender to Xiao Xia.
Xiao Xia did not have a good impression of Fan Shicheng. He was narrow-minded and held a grudge. He was willing to betray Lan Zhaotian, who had been kind to him, just for the humiliation of a spit.
Of course, this is a different standpoint from which to look at the issue. Luo Shixin felt that Fan Shicheng was happy to avenge his enemies and did it very happily.
But Xiao Xia is a superior. From the perspective of a superior, Fan Shicheng is not a matter of revenge, but a person who repays kindness with enmity and cannot be used for any important task.
However, Xiao Xia still met with Fan Shicheng. After all, Fan Shicheng kept all the top-secret information about the Shanyue rebellion, which provided a basis for Xiao Xia to clean up the Shanyue local tyrants in the next step. From this point of view, Fan Shicheng still made a contribution.
"I, Fan Shicheng, pay my respects to His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin!" Fan Shicheng knelt down and kowtowed respectfully.
"Mr. Fan is a local?" Xiao Xia asked with a smile.
"My ancestors were from Nanyang Fan family. They moved south to Qiantang County in the south of the Yangtze River. My great-grandfather Fan Shusun was a general in the Southern Dynasty. Later, my grandfather taught at Yuyao County School and stayed in Yuyao County. I and my father are both professors at Yuyao County School."
"Since you have been teaching and educating people for generations, why did you follow Lan Zhaotian in rebellion?"
Fan Shicheng smiled bitterly and said, "Yuyao County is so small that we all know each other. Lan Zhaotian is a generous man. When my father died, he gave him a good cemetery. To repay this favor, I became his part-time staff member. I am also a professor at the county school and do not work in his palace."
Xiao Xia nodded, "I want to know, where will Lan Zhaotian escape to after his defeat? Also, where is Yuan Wenzhen?"
"Reporting to Your Highness, Lan Zhaotian will definitely flee to Yongjia County after this defeat. A cunning rabbit has three burrows. The Lan family still has 5,000 troops in Yongjia County of Yongjia County. He will definitely join forces with the Ming family to make a comeback in Yongjia County. In addition, as far as I know, the Lan family has transferred a large amount of wealth overseas. If Yongjia County is defeated again, he will sail out to sea. As for Yuan Wenzhen, whom Your Highness asked about, he should have boarded a ship in Yuyao County. I heard that he has a large ship in Qiantang Bay."
Xiao Xia walked a few steps with his hands behind his back and asked, "I heard that Gao Zhihui's descendants also came back from overseas and tried to assassinate me. If Lan Zhaotian went out to sea, was he in the same place?"
"Yes! It is a very far overseas country called Liuqiu, with a population of over 10,000. Many Shanyue tyrants have transferred their wealth to Liuqiu."
Xiao Xia was stunned. "Don't the Shanyue people go up the mountain?"
"Your Highness, after Gao Zhihui's subordinates successfully fled overseas, they later came back to recruit Shanyue tyrants from Kuaiji, Yongjia, and Jian'an counties. The Lan and Ming families responded one after another. They sent their property and some of their children overseas as the last resort. In fact, the Shanyue National Construction Association's base is overseas."
"What does the Shanyue National Congress mean?" Xiao Xia was stunned.
"It is an organization established by these Shanyue tyrants in imitation of the Northern Qi Baoguo Association. Lan Zhaotian is the leader of this organization. He calls himself the King of Yue. The reason why other Shanyue tyrants all recognize him is because of this Shanyue Jianguo Association."
Xiao Xia nodded slowly and asked, "Is the Liuqiu Island you are talking about the Big Liuqiu Island opposite Jian'an County?"
"Exactly! It is in the sea off Jian'an County. I heard from Gao Huaidao that it will take about three days to sail there. The island is very large. The Shanyue people can definitely establish a country on it. There are several thousand people there now, all of whom are the Shanyue people who escaped in the tenth year of Kaihuang."
Xiao Xia understood that the Shanyue people's founding association was actually in Taiwan. He thought it was in the Ryukyu Islands.
Xiao Xia then carefully inquired about the situation of the Shanyue tyrants, and then appointed Fan Shicheng as Yuyao County Magistrate, and appointed Li Guang, the Shangyu County Lieutenant who had previously cleared the river barriers, as Kuaiji County Magistrate. In the afternoon, the Sui army executed more than 300 Shanyue rebels who were mixed in with the surrendered soldiers. Xiao Xia then sent troops to capture the 80,000 fleeing soldiers. In three days, more than 60,000 people were captured. Together with the 40,000 who surrendered before, a total of 100,000 people, most of whom were Shanyue people. Xiao Xia planned to punish them with one year of labor to dredge and widen the canal in Yuhang County.
Xue Wanche walked into the commander's tent, clasped his fists and said, "Your Highness, the 100,000 prisoners of war have been gathered. Are we going to take them away directly?"
Xiao Xia smiled and said, "I'll say a few words to them first to calm them down so they don't become a potential source of instability."
"I understand the humble position!"
After a pause, Xue Wanche continued, "There is something strange. I discovered that among the 40,000 prisoners of war who surrendered earlier, there were 6,000 people from Dongyang County. I interrogated them and found that they were sent by the powerful people of Dongyang County to Kuaiji to participate in the war."
This is indeed a bit strange. Didn't they say that the Shanyue tyrants split into two major forces, the East and the West? How did they reconcile again?
Xiao Xia couldn't figure out the reason for a moment, and he couldn't take care of it for the time being. The most urgent task was to deal with the 100,000 prisoners of war in front of him.
The open space outside Kuaiji City was filled with one hundred thousand prisoners of war, and ten thousand cavalrymen were guarding them on all sides. The one hundred thousand prisoners of war were shrouded in a cloud of gloom. Everyone was trembling with fear and sighing, feeling that they were going to be executed. Many of them thought of their wives and children at home, and even covered their faces and cried.
Some people, like Xianglin Sao, muttered to themselves, "I don't want to rebel! I was arrested by Lan Zhaotian. I want to make it clear to them that I have never done anything against the will of heaven and earth!"
At this time, the drums sounded, "Boom! Boom! Boom!"
This was the drum to gather the troops. Everyone knew it, and hundreds of thousands of people stood up and walked towards a platform that had just been built in front of them.
At this time, Xiao Xia came surrounded by a large group of generals. He climbed onto the high platform. Below were a large crowd of 100,000 prisoners of war. Of course, only a few people could hear what he said, and the others could only rely on communicating with each other.
"I am the King of Jin of the Sui Dynasty!"
Xiao Xia's voice was full of energy and loud, and it could be heard from far away.
"Everyone listen, I won't kill you, but you must be punished for participating in the rebellion. I have decided to sentence you to one year of hard labor, and then release you to go home!"
Everyone listened in a daze, and when they heard the last sentence, they cheered together.
As long as they are not killed and as long as they can go home, it is enough to make everyone extremely excited. Although the people behind cannot hear it, their emotions can be contagious. The cheering of the people in front is probably not a bad thing, and the people behind will also cheer.
Soon, all the prisoners of war knew that they would go to Yuhang County to dredge the canal for a year. The government would provide them with food and sleep. Then literate soldiers in the army would write letters home to the prisoners, which gradually calmed the prisoners' emotions.
A few days later, 100,000 prisoners of war were escorted to Yuhang County and began a year-long dredging labor.
(End of this chapter)