Chapter 43 Zhang Yi

Zhao Xiao rode his horse back to the military camp at full speed, threw the whip into the guard's hand, and got off the horse.

"Where's Ma Zhenwei?"

The soldier said quickly: "Lieutenant General Ma has gone out and should be back in the afternoon."

"Go, get some people to find him for me right away!"

"yes!"

Not long after, Ma Zhenwei came back with a smile: "General, you are back! I thought you would arrive in the afternoon."

Ma Zhenwei lifted the curtain of the tent and put away his smile. Anyone could see that Zhao Xiao was angry.

"Come here."

Ma Zhenwei walked forward cautiously, feeling very nervous. Who had made the boss angry again?

"How's life in the barracks during my absence?"

"It's pretty good! The soldiers train diligently every day, and the prisoners are also serious about cutting trees. Nothing has happened."

Zhao Xiao looked into his eyes and asked, "Is there anything else you want to tell me?"

"Oh, by the way! I made a friend recently, he is a really nice guy! What he says is very appealing, and his ideal is the same as Master Zhu's, both want to overthrow the imperial court and lead the people to live a prosperous life!" Ma Zhenwei praised Zhang Yi to the skies, not noticing that Zhao Xiao's face had turned as black as ash at the bottom of a pot.

"General, would you like me to introduce this person to you? I think you will like him!"

Zhao Xiao sneered: "Okay." He wanted to see who this Zhang Yi was.

*

Zhang Yi was staying at the Xiangfengju Inn, and at this moment he was telling dozens of common people about the overthrow of the county government.

"I still remember that it was a thunderstorm day, with heavy rain pouring down like beans being scattered. People came out with umbrellas. What was going on? It turned out to be because of an unjust case!"

"There is a family surnamed Liu in Changming County, Zhongzhou Prefecture. The head of the family is in his early twenties and is a carpenter. His wife is two years younger than him, only eighteen years old, the age of a lotus. The couple has been married for less than two years, and there is only a baby who has just learned to walk in the family."

"That day, the two of them took their children and drove a bullock cart to the county to deliver furniture, but they didn't expect to get into trouble!"

The people around him held their breath and watched intently, their interest aroused by him.

"There was a wealthy family named Jia in the county who ordered a few chairs from Carpenter Liu, and the couple came to deliver the goods. The weather was hot, so the doorman kindly let the young lady take her child into the yard to cool off. Unfortunately, they ran into the young master of the Jia family who was coming back from outside."

"This Mr. Jia is a lecher. He couldn't walk when he saw the sweaty lady from the Liu family. He immediately asked his followers to ask her her name and where she lived."

"Mrs. Liu was new here and didn't know anything. She answered whatever the servant asked her. Unexpectedly, this sowed the seeds of disaster!"

"That night, it was dark and windy. Master Jia brought a dozen thugs and quietly came to where Carpenter Liu lived. Without saying a word, he broke down the door and dragged the young lady from the Liu family out of the bed."

"Carpenter Liu ran after him with the child in his arms, but was violently kicked to the ground by the young master of the Jia family. The father and son fell to the ground and watched helplessly as their wives were taken away. The poor child, who could not speak yet, could only hold his father and cry loudly."

The people who heard the story burst into tears. How many young ladies were raped to death and how many children were left without mothers when Prince Qing invaded Xuzhou a few months ago?

"What happened next? Did you find Madam Liu?"

The people around him blamed him: "Don't interrupt the King Yi, let him continue speaking."

Zhang Yi continued, "Carpenter Liu was furious and reported to the authorities, but he didn't expect that the Jia family had bribed the officials, and not only did they not return the man, they even wanted to beat him with a stick!"

"The people were so angry that they gathered around the county government office to seek justice, but the county magistrate insisted on carrying out the execution. They could only watch Carpenter Liu being beaten and wailing in pain. At this moment, something unexpected happened. Carpenter Liu's two-year-old son actually walked up to his father and blocked his father from being beaten with a stick by the yamen runners."

Everyone gasped in fear.

"Carpenter Liu was afraid of hurting the child, so he pushed him away. But a two-year-old child didn't know anything. The more he pushed, the more he refused to move. The unscrupulous yamen runner even raised his stick and hit the child..."

"Oh!" everyone screamed.

"I couldn't stand it, so I raised my arms and shouted, 'Go in and save them!' Thousands of people rushed into the government office, rescued the Liu family father and son, and smashed the evil county magistrate to death!"

"Good! Well done, Prince Yi!" The people applauded. Some even wiped their tears and asked, "Did the Liu couple reunite?"

"After we were reunited, I led a group of people to rush to the Jia family again, rescued Lady Liu, and tied up the young master of the Jia family who had abducted the woman and took him to the street, letting the people spit and curse him!"

"Good!" Another round of applause!

Zhang Yi took a sip from his teacup, and felt proud as he watched the cheering people. He had told this story more than ten times, but everyone still loved it. Perhaps it was easier for ordinary people to empathize with the common people, especially this kind of retribution story.

In fact, this story is half true and half false. It is true that Liu Mugong's wife was indeed robbed, but it is false that he did not have the courage to report it to the authorities. It is that the young master of the Jia family paid the government to beat him to death, but he accidentally injured the child and aroused public anger.

Later, these people became the first wave of people who followed him in rebellion.

Ma Zhenwei, who was standing at the door, wiped the tears from his eyes and walked towards him: "Prince Yi!"

"Brother Ma, you left in such a hurry just now, but what happened?"

"No, our general is back and just asked me to go back for questioning."

Zhang Yi's eyes lit up. Since the general was back, the city lord should be back as well. He was very curious about this mysterious Master Zhu.

"I mentioned your name to the general, and the general also wanted to make your acquaintance."

"Really?" Zhang Yi was somewhat flattered and said quickly, "Then take me there quickly, don't let the general wait anxiously."

*

Zhang Yi followed Ma Zhenwei to the military camp. Looking at the officers and soldiers training enthusiastically on the training ground, he felt something in his heart.

When he was in Zhongzhou, he was short-sighted and didn't think about training troops, so he fled when the Sheng army suppressed the rebellion. If he had such elite soldiers and generals under his command, what would happen even if the Sheng army came...

"Prince Yi, hurry up." Ma Zhenwei waved at him, and the two of them entered Zhao Xiao's tent together.

As soon as he came in, Zhang Yi felt an invisible pressure that made it hard for him to breathe.

He looked up at the general named Zhao. Although he was young, his majesty was frightening.

To put it bluntly, he was just a common scholar half a year ago, and being the King of Yi for a few months did not allow him to gain much knowledge.

"Are you the King Yi?"

"I don't deserve it, I don't deserve it, just call me Zhang Yi."

Zhao Xiao snorted and laughed: "You escaped from Dongzhou?"

"Ah... yes, yes."

Ma Zhenwei said: "General, Prince Yi and his men fought and retreated, and in the end only a few of them were left. It was not easy for them to escape. Don't underestimate him."

Zhao Xiao glanced at the fool and asked, "Did you listen to what he said?"

"Yes!" Ma Zhenwei repeated the story told by Zhang Yi.

"On the day when the Sheng army attacked the city, King Yi led tens of thousands of people to resist. However, their weapons were inferior to those of the Sheng army, and the people had no experience in fighting. They held out for seven or eight days before the Sheng army broke through the city gates."

"Prince Yi originally wanted to stay in the city and live and die with the people, but General He was afraid that he would be captured, so he knocked him out secretly and brought him to Xuzhou. Prince Yi wanted to go back to die several times along the way, but they stopped him every time!"

"Prince Yi also plans to borrow 10,000 soldiers to fight back to Zhongzhou and avenge the people!"

The more Ma Zhenwei spoke, the more he admired him: "Such a courageous and ambitious person, isn't he worthy of our friendship?!"

Zhang Yi smiled and waved his hand: "Brother Ma, thank you for your compliment."

"You deserve it!"

Zhao Xiao looked at the two of them acting like brothers and got furious.

"Since he is so powerful, you should follow him. Take off your military uniform and you don't need to come to the army from tomorrow on."

"Ah, ah?!" Ma Zhenwei was stunned, "General, why is this happening?"

"I see you admire him so much, wouldn't it be better for you to follow him?"

"No, no, I won't leave... I won't leave." Ma Zhenwei knelt down on the ground, beads of sweat the size of beans dripping down. Only then did he realize that Zhao Xiao was angry, and very angry.

Zhang Yi next to him was also startled, not understanding why General Zhao suddenly got angry.

Zhao Xiao stood up and walked to Ma Zhenwei, kicking him in the chest, "You can't even read a word, yet you're calling him a brother. Aren't you afraid that he'll sell you out?"

Ma Zhenwei didn't dare to retort, he got up and lowered his head to be scolded.

"Do you fucking know who he is? Are you so fooled by his lies that you don't know which way is which?!"

Zhang Yi trembled and said, "Did General Zhao have any misunderstanding?"

Zhao Xiao raised his hand and slapped him: "Shut up! Did I ask you to speak?"

The slap knocked Zhang Yi to the ground, his mouth full of blood. He looked at the furious man in horror, as if he had provoked someone he shouldn't have provoked.

Zhao Xiao continued: "When Zhongzhou was attacked, do you know how many innocent people died?"

Ma Zhenwei shook his head.

"Tens of thousands of people! Those unarmed civilians were dragged outside the city and beheaded and shot with arrows by the Sheng army just because they believed this liar. The King Yi you mentioned has already run away with his pants up!"

Ma Zhenwei raised his head in shock: "Is this... is this true?"

Zhao Xiao grabbed Zhang Yi by the collar and dragged him over: "Tell him yourself, is it true?"

Zhang Yi didn't expect that they already knew what happened in Zhongzhou. He looked ashen and could only explain: "I didn't expect... Sheng Jun would kill them..."

"Beast!" Zhao Xiao raised his hand and threw him out, causing Zhang Yi to scream in pain.

Ma Zhenwei stared at him with wide eyes, thinking about how he had been on friendly terms with this cowardly man these days, and he felt sick to his heart.

"As both of them are deputy generals, how come Du Chong can stick to his original intention and not be deceived by him? Ma Zhenwei, you disappoint me so much!"

Ma Zhenwei's face was covered with snot and tears. He kowtowed to several people and said, "General, I was wrong! I voluntarily resign as your deputy general and start as a soldier. I will become your deputy general after I have made contributions!"

Zhao Xiao nodded in agreement and let him go.

There were only him and Zhang Yi left in the tent. Zhang Yi lay on the ground pretending to be dead, hoping to be spared.

Suddenly, a voice came from above my head: "If you don't want to die, get up."

Zhang Yi was so scared that he quickly got up, knelt down and kowtowed to beg for mercy.

"Come with me to meet someone."

Zhang Yi didn't dare to refuse, and hurriedly trotted after him.

If Song Yuzhu hadn't wanted to see him, Zhao Xiao would have killed him long ago. Keeping such a person around would be a disaster!

After taking the man to the building, Zhang Yi knelt on the ground and did not dare to act rashly.

A voice suddenly came from above: "Are you Zhang Yi?"

"I, the humble servant Zhang Yi, greet you, Your Excellency..." This time he didn't dare to call himself the King of Yi anymore. His past had been exposed long ago, and if he continued pretending, he might even lose his life.

"Lift your head."

Zhang Yi raised his head tremblingly, and when their eyes met, he was surprised to find that the man in front of him was too young! He looked only about fifteen or sixteen years old.

Is he Master Zhu, the lord of Xuzhou City?

Song Yuzhu asked him a few simple questions and Zhang Yi answered them in detail.

He was originally a scholar, not very knowledgeable, and was somewhat restrained in front of Song Yuzhu, without any trace of his former eloquence.

Song Yuzhu was filled with disgust when she thought about how this man had killed so many innocent people. She waved her hand and ordered his men to take him away.

Zhao Xiao asked: "Is this person still here?"

"Keep him for the time being. Maybe he will be useful in the future. Send him to Liu Yanzi so that he can train him well." Liu Yanzi is different from Ma Zhenwei. He has been in the world for so many years and can tell what kind of person this is at a glance.

Song Yuzhu smiled and asked, "How is Xiao Ma?"

"I resigned from my post and returned to the barracks to serve as a private."

"That's good. He's young and has little experience. This should be a lesson for him. He should never trust others so easily again."

"What about the rest of the people?" There were seven or eight other people who came with Zhang Yi.

Song Yuzhu said: "If they obey the law, let them stay in the city for now. If they don't obey the discipline, drive them out directly and let them fend for themselves."

Zhao Xiao nodded and said, "Okay."

After explaining the business, Song Yuzhu said, "The Chinese New Year is just a few days away, and I plan to take Brother Quan home."

(End of this chapter)