Chapter 533 Clear rewards and punishments
Chapter 533 Clear rewards and punishments
Cheng Yaojin was not stupid. The opponent was on horseback, while he was an infantry general. The disadvantage of the infantry and cavalry was too obvious. The only way was to break the rules, take the initiative and put the opponent on the defensive. Then his chance would come.
Cheng Yaojin's axe seized the opportunity, and the axe came at him fiercely and quickly. Meng Kuan had no ability to be the first to arrive, so he could only bite the bullet and hold up his gun to block it. Unexpectedly, he missed it. When he was slightly surprised, he heard a "crack!" and then a sharp pain in his thigh. One of his legs had been split in two by Cheng Yaojin's axe.
This is the cunning of Cheng Yaojin. He shouted "chop the head", but the axe went straight to the thigh. Meng Kuan screamed and almost fell off his horse, but Cheng Yaojin's three axe blows were done in one go. The opponent was screaming, and his second axe came again, spinning and chopping horizontally. "Pick the ears!"
A sharp axe blade is not as simple as picking ears, it is actually a horizontal chop, the only difference is the integrity of the head, either half a head or a whole head.
"Crack!" There was another crisp sound of cutting bones, and Meng Kuan's huge head flew more than ten feet away. Blood spurted out, spraying Cheng Yaojin's head and face. The wildness in Cheng Yaojin's bones also boiled at this moment, and he completely forgot that he was on the battlefield.
He pushed the corpse off the horse and mounted himself. He had often stolen Qin Qiong's yellow horse and was quite good at riding. He turned the reins, roared, raised his axe and charged directly towards the enemy.
Otherwise, why do people say that Cheng Yaojin is a lucky general? People like him who don't follow the rules and rush into the enemy's camp will end up being shot into a hedgehog by arrows.
But the problem now was that the bandits had no bows and crossbows. The five thousand bandits had witnessed General Meng Kuan being beheaded and were already a little frightened. At this time, they saw an enemy general covered in blood and looking ferocious rushing towards them. Someone turned around and ran first, and the five thousand soldiers followed. Meng Rang shouted, but he couldn't stop the soldiers.
Qin Qiong was overjoyed, raised his iron mace and shouted, "The enemy general has retreated, kill him!"
"Kill--"
Five thousand soldiers shouted together, raised their spears and chased the enemy.
The enemy army was defeated, with hundreds of people killed and countless surrendering. Meng Rang only escaped back to Zhangqiu County with more than a thousand people.
The governor Xu Chunrang and the county magistrate Li Hui, who were watching the battle on the top of the city wall, witnessed Cheng Yaojin's bravery with their own eyes. They both decided to give Cheng Yaojin the treatment of the top scholar.
In Licheng County, people were beating drums and gongs everywhere to celebrate the victory. Cheng Yaojin wore a red robe, a big red flower on his chest, and a gauze hat with a red flower on it. He rode the black horse he had just robbed, and paraded through the streets amid the cheers of the people on the roadside. He was grinning from ear to ear. He had never been so glorious in his life.
He came to Qin Qiong Martial Arts School in a triumphant mood. As soon as he entered the school, the door behind him slammed shut. Qin Qiong stood in front of him with a gloomy face, staring at the triumphant Cheng Yaojin.
"Brother, what's wrong with you?"
Qin Qiong waved his hand, and seven or eight disciples rushed forward, pulled Cheng Yaojin off his horse, and brought him in front of Qin Qiong.
"Brother, what did I do wrong?"
Qin Qiong snorted and said, "Did you ask for my permission before you went into battle? Did you get my order when you rode your horse towards the enemy?"
Cheng Yaojin was speechless and couldn't speak.
Qin Qiong said coldly: "I will give you a choice now. If you are willing to follow me, you must accept the severe punishment of military law. If you think you are not wrong, please leave Licheng County. The world is so big, you can go wherever you want."
Cheng Yaojin hung his head, "Brother, I know I was wrong!"
Qin Qiong nodded and ordered: "Order the three armies to assemble!"
Soon, 7,000 soldiers gathered. Qin Qiong stood on a high ground, pointed at Cheng Yaojin who was tied up with his hands behind his back and said loudly: "Cheng Yaojin went to the battle without my consent, which seriously violated the military regulations. Even though he is my brother, I will never forgive him. According to the first article of the military regulations, those who do not obey the general's orders will be executed!"
Cheng Yaojin's face turned pale, and he regretted it immediately. He wanted to shout but couldn't. He whimpered and cried, tears falling. Qin Qiong said loudly: "He has made great contributions in defeating the enemy, so he can be spared the death penalty. Come, take him down and beat him with 100 military sticks!"
In full view of the crowd, Cheng Yaojin was pinned down and beaten with sticks like raindrops, making him scream like a slaughtered pig. When he was beaten with the seventieth stick, Cheng Yaojin let out a scream and fainted.
Qin Qiong then slowly said: "The remaining thirty sticks will be kept. If you violate military law next time, you will be severely punished!"
This severe punishment made Cheng Yaojin learn a thorough lesson: next time he makes a mistake, he must never be caught with evidence.
The disastrous defeat in Licheng also woke up the members of the Baohui Association. They realized that they were no longer the Baohui Association of the past. They were just a remnant force and did not have the confidence to flourish as before.
In the meeting hall, Gao Zhu slowly said to everyone: "I just got the news that after our more than 10,000 troops in Gaotang County were dispersed, the Qi Wang army did not pursue them, and basically all of them survived, but they all went their separate ways.
Hao Xiaode and Zhang Jincheng crossed the Yellow River and joined the Wagang Camp. Dou Jiande and Sun Anzu went to their hometown of Jizhou. Liu Badao and Sun Xuanya were the closest to us. They were in Douzihang, Bohai County, on the other side of the Yellow River. They had an army of more than 6,000 people.
"Please ask the leader to notify Liu Badao to go south immediately!"
When everyone heard that Liu Badao had an army of more than 6,000 people, they became excited.
Gao Zhu shook his head. "This is what I want to tell you. Liu Badao thinks we have no future. He and Sun Xuanya have officially announced that they will leave the Baoguo Society and work on their own. Including Dou Jiande, Shan Xiongxin and others, they are unwilling to follow the Baoguo Society. We are now facing an unprecedented crisis and unprecedented weakness. If we don't adjust our strategy, the Baoguo Society will be completely finished!"
"Master, what should we do?"
"Master, just speak frankly!"
Everyone was talking at once. Gao Zhu nodded and said, "After thinking it over again and again and discussing it with Wang Zhubo, I decided that we should move to Donglai County, use Donglai County as our base, work hard to govern it for a year or two, and then seize Beihai County and Gaomi County. If you don't want to follow us, you can go your own way."
If a flower blooms for too long without bearing fruit, it will wither.
This is the case with the Baohui Society. It has existed for more than 30 years but has never been able to make a comeback. The confidence of those who followed it has faded. The disastrous defeat in Gaotang County made the Baohui Society members completely lose confidence, and the generals who had followed it for many years all went their separate ways.
The leader of the association, Gao Zhu, was no longer able to do anything. The association now had no money or food, and all the little money it had was spent on recruiting troops.
They can't even defeat the hastily assembled militia in Licheng County, so what big things can they expect to achieve? Now it's not a question of development, but of survival first. This is the reality they have to face.
He said he was going to Donglai County to develop, but in fact he was going to escape to Donglai County and survive in the place farthest away from the capital of Sui Dynasty.
Moreover, their current 15,000 troops are too many and they simply cannot support them, so they allow everyone to go their separate ways.
"The day after tomorrow morning, we'll set off for Donglai County. If you want to leave, hurry up!"
The first person to leave was Meng Rang. He was originally the county lieutenant of Zhangqiu County and was one of the few foundations that Baoguo would retain in Shandong. Baoguo was able to settle down in Zhangqiu because of his protection.
But when his brother Meng Kuan was killed, Baoguo treated him as if he was a dead dog, and did not care at all, which made Meng Rang completely disappointed.
(End of this chapter)