I

Zhao Han's marching route was only the remnants of Wugong Mountain.

After climbing over the initial ridge, the rest is relatively flat hills or valleys. Only when going out of the mountain, we have to cross a ridge, and the snow is no longer so thick.

"General, in front of you is the Wannian Bridge. It was built by Yan Pavilion back then. After the Wannian Bridge, you will reach the county seat... Can you, can you let the late students go home..."

The person who spoke was a poor scholar who was forcibly invited by Zhao Han to lead the way before he left the mountain.

Jiangxi is really amazing. There are scholars in the mountains. Xiao Shizhong, the number one scholar in the ninth year of Yongle, came from the mountains. It belonged to Fei Yinggon's territory at this time, and it was a very remote place in his territory.

Zhao Han stood at the foot of the mountain and looked out. He could vaguely see the bridge and the county seat. He couldn't help but ask: "The Yan Ge Lao you are talking about is Yan Song?"

The poor scholar said: "Although Mr. Yan Ge is a traitor, he has an excellent reputation in his hometown and has done many great things that benefit the village."

While the soldiers were resting, Zhao Han asked again: "Tian Younian, the prefect of Yuanzhou, how is he doing in government?"

The poor scholar complained: "Tian Zhifu is capable of doing things, but it is inevitable that he will disturb the people. He recruits troops to suppress the rebel army, and the people of the whole government have to share it. Last year, my family shared an extra three buckets of rice. He also likes to make bows and arrows. Listen to me. It was said that it was sent to the capital to present to the emperor, so the materials for the bow and arrows had to be divided among them. A beef tendon was divided among five li. How could the people in the mountains be willing to kill the cow? How could they just pool the money together? I heard that the fishermen in Yuanjiang had to be divided among them extra. The fish bladders were exploited by the officials, and many fishermen fled. I heard people say that the rebels in Pingxiang County were forced to rebel by the prefect."

This is very interesting.

When Tian Younian heard that the Tatars were besieging the capital, he immediately recruited craftsmen to make bows and arrows, and then sent them all the way to the capital.

He seemed loyal to the emperor and patriotic, but he forced the people to rebel. He took the opportunity to train his troops again and suppressed the rebels. He actually trained an elite army, but the life of the common people became even more difficult.

Zhao Han asked the quartermaster to bring a piece of silver, and handed it to the scholar himself and said: "New Year's Eve is coming soon. You can take the silver back and celebrate the New Year. Don't go to Yuanzhou Mansion to report to the official."

The poor scholar took the silver and was in a daze. He thought he would be silenced by the rebels, but he didn't expect that there was still a reward to be received.

The man thanked me profusely and returned home over the mountains with his money.

After going up the mountain, he watched the rebels crossing the bridge from a distance, and suddenly began to wonder whether he should go to Fucheng to report the news?

After weighing and weighing for a long time, the poor scholar turned around and went home.

Why are you traveling so far to Fucheng in this cold weather? The prefect showed no kindness to him, but paid him a lot every year. If the rebels captured the city, he might be able to live better with another prefect.

In fact, Zhao Han was not afraid of him tipping off the news.

The New Year is almost here, and all the troops in Tian Younian's hands must have been sent home. Zhao Han wanted Tian Younian to gather troops, otherwise how could he eliminate those elite officers and soldiers?

Due to the terrain, Zhao Han was unable to make a surprise attack on Fucheng, so he had to capture Fenyi County first. His whereabouts could not be concealed even if he wanted to.

At this moment, Zhao Han was crossing the Wannian Bridge built by Yan Song and Yan Shifan's father and son.

This bridge spans the Yuanjiang River, with a total length of nearly 400 meters, a width of nearly 8 meters, and a total of eleven bridge holes. It was such a big project that it cost more than 20,000 taels of silver.

Hundreds of years later, the bridge and the county seat were all submerged underwater because of the construction of the Jiangkou Reservoir.

Today's Fenyi County is on the bank of Yuanjiang River. After Wannian Bridge is the east gate of the county.

"March at full speed!"

Thousands of soldiers ran towards the bridge, and from time to time some fell in the snow.

Until we rushed to the bridge, no one inside or outside the city realized what happened. Most people were celebrating the New Year at home - it was already the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month.

Even the soldiers who were guarding the city took refuge in the tower to warm themselves by the fire because of the cold weather. No one wanted to stand on the wall to blow the wind.

On the contrary, some people at the dock outside the city noticed something was wrong. They looked up for a moment and asked in great confusion: "Are these officers and soldiers or rebels?"

"The officers and soldiers are here!"

They are fully equipped with weapons and don't seem to be rebels, but the officers and soldiers are also scary, just like rebels.

Whether it was traffickers or out-of-town merchants, there was a chaos on the dock, shouting "The officers and soldiers are coming" and running away in panic.

The soldiers guarding the city were confused. The New Year was about to come. Where did the officers and soldiers come from?

These guys came out to look around, and in a daze, one of the soldiers exclaimed: "It's the rebels, the rebels came out of the mountains!"

"Close the city gate, close the city gate quickly!"

Zhao Han had already led his troops to cover most of the three-hundred-meter-long bridge.

The soldiers shouted in unison: "Avenge King Li Tian!"

The leader of the bandits in Pingxiang County who was wiped out by Tian Younian was called "Tota King" and was also called "Li Tianwang".

A few merchants heard the shouting and immediately ran away by boat, most likely going to the capital city to report the news.

Tian Younian, the magistrate of Yuanzhou, must have received military information: Although the leader of the Pingxiang bandits, Li Tianwang, died, his tribesmen who fled into the mountains have returned!

Huang Yao rushed so fast, moving his long legs as if he was flying on the snow. Next was Zhang Tieniu, carrying an ax and following closely behind, and in a blink of an eye he was already outside the east gate.

The two of them moved forward and backward, throwing the other soldiers hundreds of meters away.

"You are not allowed to enter the city, please retreat quickly!"

"Don't crowd, don't crowd!"

"Back off, back off!"

"..."

But the merchants and people outside the city were afraid of being massacred by the rebels and felt that the county was safer, so they rushed into the city.

The officers and soldiers guarding the city were closing the city gate, but they were unable to operate normally due to the rush of merchants and common people. In anxiety, the officers and soldiers raised their swords and started slashing, killing several people one after another, but the people behind them continued to squeeze in.

"Run!"

Seeing that they could not close the city, the officers and soldiers simply turned around and fled. Without the officers and soldiers to stop them, the people also poured into the city one after another.

When Huang Yao arrived, the city gate was already wide open. It was half closed but was pushed open by the people.

"Seize the door, don't rush again!"

After Huang Yao entered the city, he immediately guarded the gate.

Zhang Tieniu wanted to continue charging, but Huang Yaosheng held him back, and the two occupied the east gate.

Zhao Han and Fei Ruhe arrived with their troops and immediately assigned tasks.

Fei Ruhe led two thousand soldiers to seize several other city gates; Huang Yao and Huang Shun led a thousand soldiers to maintain public order in the city; Zhao Han personally led a thousand soldiers to capture the county government office.

The magistrate and the master were drinking in the backyard of the county government office. They were warming the wine in a small red clay stove and composing poems.

It's the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month again on a cold day, and the Chinese New Year is coming soon, so it's time to enjoy it.

"The county... the county, the county, the county, the rebels have entered the city!"

"What?"

The first reaction of the magistrate and the master was not to summon the officers, soldiers and government servants, but to flee to their respective residences, holding the money and trying to escape through the back door.

Unfortunately, the back door was also surrounded by rebels, so the magistrate and the master had no choice but to climb over the wall.

"The official is over here!"

Wu Yong led a team of ten people and happened to see the magistrate, master and domestic slaves setting up stools under the wall and preparing to dig out.

The county magistrate was also a man who wanted money rather than his life. He carried nearly two thousand taels of silver, which weighed over a hundred kilograms. He was carried to the back door of his residence in an attempt to escape. After his escape failed, he was carried to the garden wall from the back door. At this moment, he was sitting on the wall, letting his servants lift up the money.

"The rebels are coming!"

Several domestic slaves were so frightened that they gave up the wooden box containing the silver, and the silver fell and scattered on the floor.

The magistrate screamed: "My money... alas!"

The servants were so panicked that they grabbed the magistrate's legs and tried their best to climb up the wall. They climbed up, but dragged the magistrate down who was sitting on the wall.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the master did not dare to save the money, so he jumped over the wall and fled with only a few dozen taels.

Wu Yong led his troops to rush to the wall, pointed his gun at the magistrate, and shouted excitedly: "I have captured a high official again!"

…

Let’s talk about Chengnan County School. There is not a single student in the school. They have already gone home to celebrate the New Year.

When the county school official heard that the rebels had entered the city, he immediately took out a long sword, a crossbow and a pot of arrows. He strung up his crossbow as he walked, summoned the school's teachers and servants, and gathered a dozen people to guard the school nervously.

A scripture master trembled: "The rebels won't come to the county to study, right?"

"I must have gone to the county government office." Another scribe said.

The priest asked the handyman to bring up the ladder, and he climbed onto the wall to observe the situation. After waiting for a long time, they saw a group of rebels chasing the people and running towards the county school.

The priest was filled with indignation, aimed his crossbow at the rebels, and calmly pulled the trigger.

"Oh...there are archers, quickly hide!"

Huang Shun was a little confused at the moment. He was leading people to hunt down the looters. Suddenly, he was inexplicably hit by an arrow in the shoulder.

Reluctantly hiding behind the pillars under the eaves of the bookstore, Huang Shun carefully recalled the situation just now. He looked at the county school across the street and immediately shouted: "Someone is shooting arrows in the school, rush in and arrest them!"

Seeing the rebels rushing towards the gate of the county school, the teacher immediately ran back and said to the scribe and the servants: "Run away!"

The teachers and servants were resentful. The rebels were all attracted by the teachings. Wouldn't it be better to just hide in the school?

These guys quickly ran to the back door, only to hear a bang, but the main entrance of the school was knocked open.

"Catch them all, I want to live!"

Huang Shun was angry but also a little excited. He knew that Zhao Han wanted to form a long-range force.

He broke in through the main entrance of the county school and everyone inside ran away, so he gave chase and chased him half a street out of the back entrance.

Since every household was closed, the teachers, scribes and servants could not hide in the houses, but could only sneak along the streets and into the alleys.

The handymen ran fast, but the teachers lacked training and were chased closer and closer by a group of rebels.

"Ouch!"

One scripture master fell to the ground, but the other scripture masters ignored him and tried their best to escape.

Jiaoyu had already run ahead. After hearing the situation, he suddenly turned around and shot another arrow.

"ah!"

This time the shot was very accurate, hitting one of the pursuers in the chest. Fortunately, he was wearing thick cotton clothes, which offset most of the force, otherwise he would have died on the spot.

"Raise your shield and pursue!"

Huang Shun shouted quickly.

The rattan players under Zhao Han no longer use pot lids long ago, and now they all use serious wooden shields.

Except for the teachings, other scribes were arrested.

Huang Shun reluctantly pulled out the arrow. He was also wearing cotton clothes. The arrow did not penetrate deeply into the flesh, but it still hit the bone. This guy led the troops to speed up the pursuit, followed the teaching into the alley in a blink of an eye, and then lost the chase.

"Boss, there are footprints on the ground!" a corps leader reminded.

As the Chinese New Year approaches, there are few pedestrians in such alleys. Although there were many footprints in the snow, there was only one new one.

Huang Shun sneered: "The rattan player is in front, raise your shield to protect your teammates."

The teaching was hidden in a pile of debris at the end of the alley. When he saw the rebels surrounding him, he knew that he would not be able to escape, so he simply shot another arrow in the cold.

"ah!"

This time it was an arrow in the thigh, because the upper body was protected by a shield.

"Come forward, don't let him wind up, remember to catch the ones alive!" Huang Shun shouted.

Zhao Han has occupied the county government office. The master has escaped and is being pursued. The county magistrate is trembling and kneeling in front of him.

Huang Shun trotted over and said happily: "Zongzhen, what do you think this is?"

Zhao Han took the crossbow and glanced at Huang Shun's shoulder: "Go to the doctor to bandage, don't delay the injury."

Jiaoyu and several scribes were brought before Zhao Han. The scribes were so frightened that they knelt down and begged for mercy. However, Jiaoyu refused to kneel down and was held down by the soldiers to no avail. In the end, he was pressed down to the ground.

"Forget it, let him stand up." Zhao Han waved his hand.

Jiaoyu stood tall and looked at Zhao Han with contempt, as if he didn't bother to say a word.

"What's your name? Where did this crossbow come from?" Zhao Han asked.

The instruction was still silent.

The scripture master next to him said: "General Rongzhen, this person's name is Song Yingxing, whose courtesy name is Changgeng. He is the principal of Fenyi County School."

"Song Yingxing?" Zhao Han smiled strangely.