Chapter 558: Forced to Migrate South

Qin Qiong was furious, "I just advised the commander to cherish the people, what crime have I committed?"

"You dare to talk back to me? I will kill you myself!"

Wei Wentong drew his sword to kill Qin Qiong, and Liu Zhan hurriedly stepped forward to plead for mercy, "General, General Qin just doesn't know the rules, please give me some face!"

Of course Wei Wentong did not dare to kill Qin Qiong. If he killed him, Qin Qiong's subordinates would definitely rebel. He was just looking for an excuse to dismiss Qin Qiong from his post.

Wei Wentong pointed at Qin Qiong and said, "Rebellion is a capital crime. Considering that you don't know the rules, I will spare your life. However, military law is as strict as a mountain. No one can violate the law. From now on, I will remove all your official positions and military status. Come, strip him of his armor and drive him out of the barracks with sticks!"

The soldiers took off Qin Qiong's armor, beat him with sticks, and drove him out of the camp.

The cold wind of December blew, and Qin Qiong was filled with sadness. He closed his martial arts school and worked hard for the court to fight against bandits for three years. In the end, a Sui general found an excuse to deprive him of all his official positions, and even forbade him to return to the army.

Qin Qiong also knew that this was clearly Wei Wentong's excuse to deprive him of his military power. "Rebellion against superiors!" He would be charged with this crime as long as he said something casually. It was really like finding a pretext to accuse someone!
At this moment, Qin Qiong was completely hopeless, and said to several of his personal soldiers: "Go to the camp and pack up my things, and we will return to Licheng County!"

The personal soldiers found a piece of cloth for Qin Qiong to wear, and then hurried to the military camp.

The guards rushed to the tent of General Qin Qiong, and dozens of generals were still waiting there. Seeing the guards coming back, he hurriedly asked, "Where is General Qin?"

A soldier sighed, "The general tried to persuade Wei Wentong, but ended up angering him. He was dismissed from all his posts, driven out of the barracks, and almost killed!"

Everyone was in an uproar, and Fan Hu asked anxiously, "Where is the general now?"

"It's just outside the military camp. Let's pack up. The general will be returning to Licheng County."

The crowd was furious and shouted, "What's the point of being loyal to this incompetent court? Let's rebel!"

"Rebellion!"

Everyone raised their arms and shouted, Jia Wuben said anxiously: "Everyone, please don't mess around. Let's go ask General Qin about his situation and then we can talk about it!"

The generals ran out of the tent and saw Qin Qiong sitting on a big rock in the distance. They quickly ran up to him and surrounded him, saying, "General Qin, Wei Wentong is bullying us too much. What should we do?"

Qin Qiong waved his hands and said, "Wei Wentong actually wants to seize my military power. He is only targeting me. It has nothing to do with you. I will leave now. Everyone should do what they should do. Don't make trouble. Don't let Wei Wentong catch you again!"

Jia Wuben shook his head and said, "Wei Wentong exploits the people in the name of suppressing bandits. If we follow him, our backs will be broken by the villagers. We won't do it!"

Fan Hu shouted: "Why don't we rebel too and join the Wagang Army!"

Qin Qiong glared at him, and Fan Hu dared not say anything. Qin Qiong then slowly said, "I won't surrender to the thieves. I just thought about it and decided to go to Jiangnan Road to surrender to the King of Jin. I have a history with him, and he should accept me!"

"Let's go too!" the generals shouted.

This made Qin Qiong a little embarrassed. If he took all the troops away, there would be big trouble. What would happen to everyone's families?
At this moment, Cheng Yaojin came riding over on horseback, holding a bloody head in his hand. He threw the head to the ground and said angrily, "How dare this fellow come to the barracks to take over the military power? I scolded him a few words, and he actually wanted to kill me. I killed him with one knife!"

Qin Qiong recognized the head on the ground at a glance. It turned out to be the judge Liu Zhan. He secretly groaned and cursed with gritted teeth: "You troublemaker, you have caused a big disaster now!"

Cheng Yaojin said nonchalantly, "If my brother is afraid of trouble, just tie me up and send me to Wei Wentong. He can kill me or chop me up as he pleases. I, Cheng Yaojin, have never known how to write the word fear."

Qin Qiong had no choice but to say to everyone: "I am leaving immediately. If you want to go with me, hurry up and pack your things and follow me!" Everyone returned to the tent, but unexpectedly, the whole army wanted to follow Qin Qiong. Qin Qiong was really moved. He made up his mind and ordered: "Assemble the whole army and withdraw to Licheng County!"

Without even leaving the tents behind, six thousand troops escorted the grain and grass convoy and evacuated westwards.

Wei Wentong's main camp was still more than ten miles away from Qin Qiong's auxiliary camp. Wei Wentong could not get any news about Liu Zhan, so he sent someone to inquire. An hour later, the soldier who inquired came back and reported, "Qin Qiong killed Liu Zhan and led the army to withdraw to Licheng County."

Wei Wentong was immediately furious. He had no time to gather his entire army, so he immediately led 5,000 soldiers to chase Qin Qiong's army.

After chasing for more than thirty miles, they saw Qin Qiong leading six thousand troops in a large battle formation in the distance.

The troops were neatly organized, their armors were distinctive, and they looked murderous.

Wei Wentong took a deep breath. He was a man who knew the value of his opponent. The other party had very high training quality. If a fight broke out, he would probably suffer a great loss.

But if he retreated, he couldn't swallow this humiliation. After thinking it over, he decided not to make a big deal out of it. It would be better to make a fortune quietly. This was just the beginning. Next, there were Beihai County and Donglai County waiting for him to make money!
"Retreat!" Wei Wentong had no choice but to swallow his anger and ordered a retreat.

Qin Qiong returned to Licheng County and immediately asked all the soldiers who were willing to go south to bring their families and go to Jiangnan with him.

The next morning, a huge army began to march south. Six thousand soldiers and more than ten thousand elderly, weak, women and children marched south. They had more than six hundred carts loaded with various food and supplies.

There is a river in Qi County that leads to Heshui, which connects to Sishui, and Sishui finally flows into Huaihe River, so it is better to let the elderly and children take a boat. Fortunately, this year is a warm winter and the river has not frozen. God is blessing them.

The team went south with 6,000 troops guarding them, and the bandits along the way did not dare to attack them. In the past, Du Fuwei might have ambushed them when they crossed the Huai River.

However, Du Fuwei had just suffered a serious injury and was hiding in the mountains to recuperate, so he was temporarily quiet.

The team's march was relatively smooth. Although a bit slow, they encountered no trouble along the way and headed south of the Yangtze River smoothly.

In a blink of an eye, the eighth year of Daye arrived. Just half a month ago, Li Min and his wife, who had lost their beloved son, came to Jiangnan in despair. Accompanying them was Yu Shinan, the newly appointed principal of Jiangnan Imperial Academy.

After a brief stay in Yanling, Yu Shinan went directly back to his hometown in Kuaiji County to worship his ancestors, and only officially took office after the Chinese New Year.

On the second day of the first lunar month, Yang Lihua, accompanied by several palace maids, came to the Xiangyang Courtyard of Prince Jin's Mansion. Prince Jin's Mansion covered an area of 500 acres. It was called a Mansion instead of a Palace only to avoid taboos. In fact, its area was almost the same as that of a large palace.

There are mountains and water in the inner house, including a small lake of 60 acres. There is also a small hill more than ten meters high beside the lake, with lush forests and gurgling springs. There is also an artificial island of three acres in the middle of the lake, with a pavilion built on the island.

Yang Lihua lived in Tanchun Garden in the southwest corner. Tanchun Garden covered an area of more than 30 acres and could accommodate her palace maids and eunuchs. Next to Tanchun Garden was Qiusi Garden, and Xiangyang Courtyard was inside Qiusi Garden.

Xiangyangyuan is Xiaomei's residence. In the past few years, Xiaomei has been traveling back and forth between Luoyang and Jiangnan. She has fallen out with her parents many times and has hurt the hearts of many suitors. Finally, her father Cui Hongzhou was so angry that he no longer cared about her marriage.

Xiaomei came to Jiangnan last summer and has lived here for more than half a year. In a blink of an eye, she is already eighteen years old. After the New Year, she will be nineteen years old. Her marriage can no longer be postponed.

Cui Yu asked Yang Lihua to talk to Xiao Mei.

Yang Lihua walked into the room and asked with a smile, "Xiaomei, what are you playing?"

(End of this chapter)

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