Chapter 354 The Beginning of Great Chaos

One piece of hot knowledge is that,

Jiangnan Circuit is about two thousand li away from the two capitals within the pass.

Jiangzhou and Hongzhou are located in the center of Jiangnan Circuit in Guangliao.

According to the "800-li express courier" method, the journey was 800 li per day.

An urgent military dispatch would take at least half a day to travel back to Luoyang, the capital, via the fastest canals and official roads.

This doesn't even include the unexpected delays along the way.

Currently, the Great Zhou Dynasty still uses the ten circuits of the empire as defined by Emperor Taizong of the early Qing Dynasty.

Above the county and prefecture levels, there is no specific administrative unit within a single prefecture; each prefecture operates independently.

The positions of inspector and military governor were not regularly established in other regions except for the border areas.

Or rather, while these official positions exist, they have not yet formed the powerful real authority that Ouyang Rong possessed in his previous life, combining military, civil, and financial powers.

In short, administrative units at the provincial level are currently of no use.

The situation of the Great Zhou Dynasty, characterized by centralized power and bloated local authorities, with its emphasis on internal strength over external strength, had both advantages and disadvantages.

The advantage was that the area was divided into prefectures and counties, each with its own supervisory system, making it less prone to chaos and ensuring stability in the rear.

The downside is that if something goes wrong, the response is slow and no one stands up for you.

Therefore, before the news of the rebellion caused by the returning soldiers in Hongzhou could reach the capital and before the court could react,

The message takes about ten days to travel back and forth.

Only the officials in charge of the Jiangzhou and Hongzhou halls responded.

This is the current state of chaos and panic.

Inside the main hall, officials from Jiangzhou were gathered, and the atmosphere was silent.

He was met with the gazes of Ouyang Rong, Hu Fu, and the others.

Wang Lengran frowned and couldn't help but glance at Ouyang Rong's calm and composed expression.

His expression shifted between light and dark for a moment.

After a short while, he nodded reluctantly:

"Please calm down, Eunuch Hu. I will go and discuss this with the generals."

Wang Lengran hurriedly left the main hall.

Go and summon the generals of the Zhechong Prefecture.

Regardless, at this critical moment, Ouyang Rong and Wang Lengran share the same interests.

Hongzhou and Jiangzhou are strategically located, like lips and teeth; if one falls, the other will be vulnerable.

As the chief and deputy officials of Jiangzhou, any problems that arise in Jiangzhou would be detrimental to both of them.

At the entrance of the main hall, Ouyang Rong withdrew his gaze, and only then did he have the energy to observe Hu Fu, whom he had not seen for a long time.

The emperor's private envoy was dressed in a disheveled black robe, his face looking haggard and with deep dark circles under his eyes, likely due to his hurried journey.

His hand was still tightly gripping the hilt of the short knife at his waist, as if it were a lingering stress response from that night when he escaped by floating on the water.

Too.

Anyone who experiences such a sudden turn of events and a narrow escape from death would be shaken and on edge.

However, Ouyang Rong still remembered the mature and composed appearance of the young eunuch with a thick beard when he received Hu Fu at Xunyang Ferry.

The contrast between the two is quite striking.

Ouyang Rong pursed his lips.

Even the emperor's private envoys were ordinary people.

Even the imperial envoys from Luoyang, the capital, possessed the authority and dignity of the emperor and were of noble rank.

It's nothing more than a clay idol with a gilded edge; it can't even save itself when crossing the river.

Ouyang Rong suddenly thought that on the night the uprising scared away Hu Fu, were Cai Qin and the other soldiers thinking the same thing?

In a sense, this is a way of dispelling the mystique surrounding the oppressive power of the emperor.

It creates a sense of exhilarating revenge, as if the highest-ranking officials and the most powerful figures in the capital are nothing more than this.

Are kings and nobles born with a special destiny?

Throughout history, which man could resist such exhilarating and unparalleled passion?

This may be why most mutinies that disrupt the stable order throughout history end up in a violent way; they can't stop and can only go down a dark path.

The more you are bound and suppressed in front, the more expansive and boundless the world will be when you break free from the old order.

"Isn't Chief Secretary Ouyang worried about something happening in Hongzhou?"

As they walked out of the main hall together, Hu Fu noticed Ouyang Rong's expression and couldn't help but ask.

"Worrying or being anxious won't help."

Ouyang Rong shook his head: "There are many things that worry me. I can't keep rushing around and not even eat."

Khufu was silent for a moment, rubbed his face, and nodded: "That makes sense."

"Oh, right."

As if remembering something, Khufu touched his waist knife and said calmly:

"Thank you for the knife that day, Chief Secretary Ouyang."

Ouyang Rong raised an eyebrow slightly, sensing the unspoken meaning.

He looked around, then led Khufu to a secluded spot on the other side of the corridor and asked, "What happened that night?"

Hu Fu sighed and recounted in detail how Su Qian had saved him after he was awakened that night.

"Although Lieutenant Su doesn't talk much, he is extremely meticulous. If it weren't for his leniency, I wouldn't be able to see Prefect Ouyang today."

Khufu sighed.

Ouyang Rong listened quietly to the end.

Suddenly, he asked, "You only brought a waist knife with you when you rushed back at night. What about the official documents, seals, and your attendants?"

Hu Fu looked embarrassed. "This...it's all my fault for being so useless. I fled in such a panic that I'm sorry to have made a fool of myself in front of Prefect Ouyang..."

"It's not a joke, just a concern... Never mind, it's come to this, let's talk about something else."

Ouyang Rong shook his head and asked:

"Does Eunuch Hu still remember whether Cai Qin made any subtle or unusual moves before and after his change in attitude?"

Khufu frowned and pondered for a while, then regretted it deeply:

"It's all the fault of those local petty officials, who are short-sighted and disregard the big picture... From Raozhou onwards, strict guards have been stationed at checkpoints all along the way."

"It was from that time that Cai Qin and his team were alarmed, and the situation deteriorated further afterward."

"Wait, where did you say?" Ouyang Rong interrupted, asking, "Raozhou?"

Hu Fu nodded: "That's right, Raozhou."

Ouyang Rong remained silent.

Hu Fu scrutinized Ouyang Rong's narrowed expression and asked, "Is there anything different about this state?"

Ouyang Rong countered, "When Lord Hu passed through Raozhou, did he not meet the newly appointed Prefect of Raozhou?"

"The Prefect of Raozhou?" Hu Fu frowned.

"When I went to the main hall of Raozhou to demand an explanation that day, there were many people. I only remember Zhao, the Prefect of Raozhou, and I didn't pay any attention to the lowly Sima."

"Why is Prefect Ouyang asking this? Does he mean that there is something wrong with this person?"

Ouyang Rong pursed his lips and remained silent, not mentioning Li Zhengyan's matter.

There were no outsiders here. The tall and burly Khufu sat rather dejectedly on the stone bench in the corridor, sighing:

"Oh, right, and that Captain Du, something's not right with him either, ever since he arrived..."

"Your surname is Du?"

"That's right."

What kind of person is this?

Hu Fu explained in detail, and after listening, Ouyang Rong closed his eyes and sighed, "What accent does this person have?"

He spoke with a strong Chang'an accent. Having spent a long time in the Luoyang court, he was surrounded by the empire's elite and was accustomed to the Chang'an dialect.

Ouyang Rong said softly, "Most of the soldiers returning to the north are local men from Hongzhou and Jiangzhou, and they speak the Wu-Yue dialect with a gentle tone."

Hu Fu hesitated: "But looking at the south, there are quite a few people speaking the official dialect, but I didn't pay attention to it at the time."

“But even if you speak with the official accent of Chang’an, you will still carry a little bit of that accent. Think about it, isn’t this Commandant Du like that?”

Ouyang Rong stood with his sleeves tucked in and eyes lowered, asking:

"Is this Commandant Du's pronunciation of official rank in Chang'an exceptionally standard?"

Khufu paused, vaguely recalling the muffled voice of the taciturn young man in the felt hat...

His expression suddenly changed to one of surprise.

Judging from Hu Fu's expression, Ouyang Rong already knew the answer.

The atmosphere fell silent in the two-person room in the corridor.

That night.

The night was cool as water. We drank iced wine in the inner room.

Unable to sleep, Ouyang Rong rolled out of bed, covered Ye Weilai, who was shirtless, with a blanket, then got up and spread out a map at his desk.

Ouyang Rong then took out a set of keys from Longcheng, as well as a felt hat left behind by "Xunyang Passerby".

The key and felt hat were pressed on the intricately marked map, which was covered with tiny characters, as if the owner had made many annotations.

Under the lamp, Ouyang Rong leaned back in his chair, rubbing his face and muttering to himself:

"Is all you're after Hongzhou...?"

The following day, Ouyang Rong arrived at the main hall of Jiangzhou and immediately learned some news.

Wang Lengran had discussed the matter with his generals overnight and decided to send troops to provide assistance.

A single Zhechong Prefecture has only 1,500 active soldiers, roughly equivalent to five regiments.

The force sent to reinforce Hongzhou was led by Yang Xin, the Commandant of Jiangzhou, who led 900 soldiers.

Only six hundred men remained to guard Jiangzhou.

Nine hundred elite soldiers, skilled in archery, marched out of the military camp north of Xunyang City in a grand procession.

Ouyang Rong, Wang Lengran, Hu Fu, and the others watched them leave, each with their own thoughts...

The following month.

Besides the imperial decree that arrived late but as expected, ordering all the prefectures in Jiangnan to join forces to suppress the rebels, detailed news about Hongzhou also began to arrive.

Initially, it was Zhu Lingxu, the governor of Hongzhou, who, after receiving Cai Qin's petition, consulted with his generals about launching an attack on Cai Qin.

He then appointed Luan Xingjun, the commander of the fourth Zhechong Prefecture in Hongzhou, as general and led 3,000 troops to attack Cai Qin.

At the same time, orders were given to the two nearest prefectures of Jiang and Fu to send troops to intercept and attack Hongzhou.

Because of the advice of Ouyang Rong and Hu Fu, Yang Xin led the soldiers of Jiangzhou Zhechong Prefecture to set off early, and they were able to join forces with Luan Xingjun's main force, making a combined force of 4,000.

The reinforcements from Fuzhou were slower to arrive than those from Jiangzhou and were still en route.

With 4,000 officers and soldiers against 1,500 garrison soldiers, the advantage of "being on our side" greatly boosted morale.

Luan Xingjun's army, unable to wait for reinforcements from Fuzhou, arrived in Qianshan first.

However, Cai Qin used the dummies below the mountain as a diversion, while quietly heading towards Fuli, on the border of Hongzhou and Fuzhou.

It was only in the darkness that Luan Xingjun's army discovered the ambush, but fearing an ambush, they retreated to the south of the city and waited until dawn to pursue them.

At this time, Cai Qin's army had reached Fuli and fought alongside 500 reinforcements from Fuzhou on the Fu River. The Fuzhou army collapsed at the first contact and fled in panic. Cai Qin then marched straight to Fuzhou.

There were no soldiers left in Fuzhou City, and officials fled in droves.

After Cai Qinjun entered Fuzhou City, he distributed money and rice and recruited strong men. In one day, thousands of people gathered from all directions.

Cai Qin then divided his troops to defend the city, and declared himself the military commander.

The next day, Luan Xingjun led his troops to the city and stationed them outside the city. Cai Qin used rockets to set fire to the thatched huts outside the city. The fire spread to the government troops' camp. Cai Qin's army rushed out of the city and launched a surprise attack, killing nearly 300 government soldiers before returning to the city.

Under the cover of night, the city's inhabitants assisted in defending the city, with women holding drums to keep watch. Cai Qin gathered three hundred large ships from the city, loaded them with supplies, and sailed downstream.

When dawn broke, the government troops learned that Cai Qin had already left. They chased after him in a panic, without even having breakfast, and everyone was exhausted from the pursuit.

At this moment, Cai Qinjun's ships were seen lined up below the embankment. Several groups of soldiers on the shore discovered the arrival of the government troops and quickly hid on the embankment slope.

Luan Xingjun believed that Cai Qin was cowardly in the face of battle, so he led his troops to attack.

Unexpectedly, Cai Qinjun fought his way out from both the boat and the dike, launching a pincer attack that lasted from noon until evening, resulting in a major defeat for the government troops.

Luan Xingjun led his troops in defeat and retreated, falling into Heze.

Cai Qinjun caught up with them, and generals such as Luan Xingjun and Yang Xin died in the chaos of battle. About a thousand soldiers died, and the rest surrendered to Cai Qinjun.

Cai Qin inquired with the surrendered soldiers and learned that Hongzhou was undefended. He immediately led his troops north across the Fu River and launched a flanking attack on Hongzhou...

News of a series of defeats by Luan Xingjun's army in Hongzhou arrived rapidly, shattering the once peaceful and prosperous scene of Xunyang City, a vital waterway in Jiangnan and a bustling commercial hub.

Unlike Wang Lengran, Hu Fu, and others who were shocked, trembling, and sweating profusely.

After reading the battle report, Ouyang Rong's first reaction, besides frowning, was surprise.

This kind of troop movement, so precise and efficient, is a strategy that a previously unknown border guard could possess.

But when he thought of the "Commander Du" described by Hu Fu, and the figure of a certain Raozhou Sima who was vaguely appearing behind him, he was surprised.

Ouyang Rong pursed his lips and remained silent.

"It's not just about organization, but also about the thinking process—this clear and concise thinking... there's a master in this field."

He frowned, puzzled.

Sure enough, a few days later, another piece of bad news came back:

Hongzhou Governor Zhu Lingxu belatedly realized that Luan Xingjun's army had been defeated, and hurriedly sought help from neighboring prefectures. He closed the city gates and selected able-bodied men to defend the city, but the whole city was in a state of panic and had lost its will to defend itself.

In mid-July, Cai Qinjun's army of six or seven thousand men had arrived at the walls of Hongzhou, and the sounds of battle were deafening.

This was due to the fact that the soldiers came from Hongzhou.

Cai Qinjun spoke kindly to the residents outside the city and did not disturb them. He gained the support and help of the people of Hongzhou, and the city of Hongzhou was on the verge of collapse.

Seeing that no reinforcements were coming, Zhu Lingxu, the governor of Hongzhou, surrendered and gave up the city.

Cai Qinjun entered the city and did not commit any offenses.

At the same time, Zhu Lingxu, a pragmatic man who had previously caused no harm to the 1,200 families of garrison soldiers, was treated with great hospitality.

Turning around, they found that the coach Yuan Gongsi, the chief clerk Shi Qi, and others who insisted on postponing the event had all been captured, disemboweled, and executed in the street, to the cheers of the people.

Cai Qin's reputation soared, and more than 10,000 people in Hongzhou City were willing to follow him.

In the summer of the second year of Tianyou, a group of 1,500 returning soldiers from the north demonstrated through their actions to Her Majesty the Empress in the imperial court in Luoyang, and to the entire world, one thing:

They should be recruited, not forced to surrender.

News of the fall of Hongzhou reached Jiangzhou City.

A very straightforward and unyielding logic is laid out before everyone.

Of the 1,500 soldiers who returned north, 1,200 were from Hongzhou and went home. What about the remaining 300 soldiers from Jiangzhou?

Cai Qinjun's next target is almost obvious.

In a panic, Jiangzhou Governor Wang Lengran summoned the officials of the Jiangzhou government hall. Following the advice of Chief Clerk Ouyang Rong and Imperial Envoy Hu Fu, they began to gather supplies and defend Xunyang City while waiting for reinforcements from neighboring prefectures.

Throughout the end of July, Hongzhou remained quiet, and it was unclear whether they were preparing or waiting for something.

But everyone knew that a great upheaval was brewing in Hongzhou.

Just as the storm in Hongju was about to sweep across Gangnam Province.

A message suddenly arrived from the western border of Lingnan, a thousand miles away, adding fuel to the fire:

On July 25, Lan Changhao, the Prefect of Guizhou, was executed by "Hu Fu," the emperor's private envoy who had been sent to Guizhou, for the crime of plotting a rebellion.

(End of this chapter)