Chapter 261 The Trouble of the Great Zhou
After reuniting with the female student, they exchanged information. The female student then complained, "I don't know what the city lord is thinking. Why does he have to send cotton-padded clothes to the soldiers of the Great Zhou Dynasty? They're guarding against us like thieves. These 5,000 cotton-padded clothes might as well be given directly to the poor people of Jinzhou Prefecture!"
Although Qiu Ju Niang disagreed in her heart, she always obeyed Xu Zhenying's decisions and never showed it in front of outsiders. So she said, "Don't talk nonsense. The city lord must have her reasons for doing this."
"I can't think of any reason."
"Since we can't think of anything, we'll just do whatever the city lord says."
After Qiu Ju Niang left, the soldiers in Zhao Yi's tent stared at the cotton-padded jacket, still baffled. One soldier slammed the table proudly, "Whatever they're up to, they're sending us cotton-padded jackets. I saw it firsthand. Not only is it light and thin, but it also provides excellent warmth. If all our soldiers wore these jackets, how could so many people freeze to death like last year?"
"Anything that's out of the ordinary must be a sin. How could a traitor from Jinzhou Prefecture travel thousands of miles just to bring us warmth? General Zhao, this villain has wicked ambitions. We must be on our guard!"
Zhao Yi looked at Bai Ci'en and said, "You have been in Qianzhou Prefecture for a while. Tell me about it."
Bai Ci'en glanced at everyone in the room, feeling somewhat helpless: "If I tell the truth, you will definitely think that I am encouraging others and destroying my own prestige. You may even accuse me of treason."
Zhao Yi raised his hand and said, "Just tell the truth. What you said in the tent today will not be spread out."
Having said that, Zhao Yi swept his eyes around, and the generals who had been making a big fuss just now had to keep quiet for now.
"Speaking of rebels, I have seen many and have eliminated many. But the rebels in Jinzhou Prefecture are something I have never seen or heard of before."
Zhao Yi frowned, "How strange is it?"
"General, have you ever seen a rebel enter a city and not harm the people? Have you ever seen a rebel open the granaries to distribute food and even pay for everyone to learn to read and write? Have you ever seen a rebel win the people's loyalty in just one year?" Bai Ci'en thought back to his time in Qianzhou Prefecture, and even now feels that it was all a dream. "The people of Jinzhou Prefecture, they never lock their doors at night, have fields and food, it's a paradise that provides shelter from the wind and rain. General, I once wrote to Your Majesty, saying that the key to the Great Zhou Dynasty is not in the north, nor in the Ming King, but in the southwest!"
Zhao Yi's expression changed slightly.
Others disagreed. "General Bai, could it be that you've become timid after being captured by that rebel? How could you spread such lies to seduce the people? No matter how powerful that rebel is, he's only confined to a remote corner of the southwest, while these Tartars can reach Bianjing! Everyone can see who's more powerful. Could it be that those little rebels in the southwest are more powerful than the Tartars?"
"That's right, General Bai, you're exaggerating. He's just a bunch of rebels, nothing to worry about. If you give me 10,000 soldiers, I can immediately flatten the entire Jinzhou Prefecture!"
Bai Ci'en was helpless.
These generals are short-sighted and self-righteous, and their words are even exactly the same as my father's.
The entire Great Zhou Dynasty was waiting for Xu Zhenying to grow stronger, but no one took him seriously.
Bai Ci'en was angry, anxious and hateful, but no matter what, he had no choice.
It is said that the retired emperor was furious after reading his post and almost sent him to prison. If it were not for his father's mediation, he would not have been able to come to the north to be an idle general.
At this point, Bai Ci'en had become disillusioned with the court.
Seeing the heated arguments from the people in the room, Bai Ci'en didn't even want to argue. In the end, Zhao Yi knocked on the table to stop everyone from arguing. "Talk about it one by one, let's talk about the cotton-padded jackets. Do we want these 5,000 cotton-padded jackets or not?"
"Yes! Why not?! If he dares to give it to us, we should take it!"
"We absolutely can't accept it. As the saying goes, the one who eats the food is the shortest and the one who takes the food is the softest. What if he asks us to do something for him in the future?"
"You're stupid. Let's put things in perspective. He needs the cotton-padded jacket, but he can't do anything. Then he'll have to suffer in silence!"
"But what if we are falsely accused of collaborating with the enemy?"
"Why not take the cotton-padded jacket and immediately submit a letter to the court explaining the situation?"
"That's not good either. Will the imperial court think we're taking advantage of two powers and accepting enemy supplies, and then become suspicious of us?"
"Oh, the imperial court should have bought these cotton-padded jackets for us. Now that they won't give them to us, won't they allow others to send them? In the final analysis, they only want our people to freeze to death, right? Last time, the issue of military pay was repeatedly delayed, and the people under their command nearly mutinied. It seems that since they weren't the ones fighting in the front, they weren't in a hurry at all!"
Zhao Yi thought it over before saying, "Forget it. Go inform Qiu Ju Niang and tell her that we'll keep the cotton-padded clothes for now. Tomorrow, I'll write a letter to the Emperor, explaining the situation and urging the court to purchase more of these cotton-padded clothes. No matter what their future plans are, we can deal with them later. At least let the soldiers wear cotton-padded clothes first!"
Everyone had no choice but to agree, and as they were leaving one by one, Bai Ci'en was left alone.
The lights in the house flickered, leaving only the backs of two people.
The two sat opposite each other.
After a long pause, Zhao Yi asked quietly, "Ci'en, is that rebel in the southwest really that powerful?"
Bai Ci'en's face was solemn, "General, I only have one thing to say."
There was silence in the room for a moment.
Bai Ci'en's voice then rang out, "All the soldiers under his command can read and write. They drill every morning, study military law in the afternoon, and conduct actual combat exercises in the evening. They are not training soldiers, but generals!"
Zhao Yi's eyelids twitched.
"I don't know much else, but I do know they have a strict set of standards for hiring their soldiers. All soldiers are ranked based on their academic performance, drill performance, and combat experience. Only those with the highest scores are qualified to lead the troops. General, just imagine how terrifying an army like that would be!"
Zhao Yi's breath suddenly became particularly long.
He seemed to understand Bai Ci'en's words, "The key to the Great Zhou Dynasty lies in the rebels in the southwest."
Zhao Yi lowered his voice and asked, "What does the court say?"
Bai Ci'en smiled bitterly: "Your Majesty is busy fighting for the throne with Prince Ming, how could he care about a mere rebel in the southwest?"
Zhao Yi's expression was complicated for a moment, and then he saw Bai Ci'en hesitated to speak, "Ci'en, if you have any questions, just ask."
"Actually, I was just about to say that the female doctor mentioned two things, and everyone was only concerned about the cotton-padded jacket. But the second thing she mentioned is the big deal: the cowpox vaccine!"
Zhao Yi raised his eyebrows, he remembered that Doctor Qiu seemed to have mentioned something about cowpox.
But they didn't understand, and as they were talking about cotton-padded clothes, the topic was diverted and they forgot about the cowpox vaccine.
"The cotton-padded jacket is nothing, the cowpox vaccine is the key!" Bai Ci'en frowned. "When I was in Qianzhou, I heard they were researching a way to completely cure smallpox. They said it was a vaccine. All you had to do was make a small cut on a person's body and then apply their vaccine, and they'd never get smallpox again!"
"What did you say?!" Zhao Yi stood up in shock. "Preventing and treating smallpox? Is this true or not?"
Bai Ci'en nodded, "It should be true. I heard rumors about the vaccine when I was in Qianzhou in June. General Zhao, when I said this group of rebels were unusual, it was not empty talk. They have a research institute in Jinzhou Prefecture that specializes in researching all sorts of things, such as cowpox vaccine, pencils, and cement. I haven't seen cement, but I have pencils..."
Zhao Yi was stunned, then he struggled to find a pencil from a pile of documents. "You said this is something from Jinzhou Prefecture?"
Bai Ci'en took a look and said, "That's right. Most of the soldiers use this pencil to take notes. The pencil doesn't smudge ink, you can write as soon as you open it, and it's easy to carry. It's perfect for soldiers."
Zhao Yi felt mixed emotions at the moment. "So, the cowpox incident is also very likely to be true?"
"Yes. But I'm not sure why they would want to befriend us for no reason."
"Don't worry about that. As long as that cowpox vaccine can really prevent and treat smallpox, I'll call him Grandpa. Ci'en, you don't know that it's very cold in the north, and there's a plague almost every ten years. The last time smallpox almost destroyed the foundation of the Great Zhou Dynasty. If he really has a miracle cure for smallpox, as long as his request is not excessive and doesn't ask me to betray the country, I, Zhao Yi, am willing to agree to it!"
Bai Ci'en's heart skipped a beat.
What you fear will come true.
He had been in Qianzhou for a month or two, so he knew best how Xu Zhenying won people's hearts.
Even when Qiu Ju'niang came, he vaguely guessed that Xu Zhenying might be paving the way for the future. Whether he wanted to be recruited by the court or dominate the world, making friends with Zhao Yi in advance would be a good deal anyway.
But cotton-padded clothes and smallpox vaccine...are really irresistible!
This Xu Zhenying...it's like they have a weak spot in their hands, and they have no choice but to accept her kindness.
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In Hu Wei's house in Jinzhou Prefecture.
Lin Er stood respectfully beside him.
The firelight flickered, and the atmosphere in the room was somewhat uneasy.
Lin Er hesitated, "Master, do you really want to do this?"
"Now that things have come to this, there's nothing to hesitate about. If anything happens, I'll take full responsibility."
Lin Er frowned, "Master, please think twice. This isn't a question of whether or not to take responsibility. What will the city lord think if we're confirmed to have spread smallpox? And what if it spreads to our territory?"
"I've used the winter plague outbreak as an excuse to have Secretary Qian order the promotion of smallpox vaccinations. All citizens within the Jinzhou Prefecture must be vaccinated within a month. Take these clothes and head directly to King Zhoushan's territory. There are so many refugees there that even if a plague breaks out, they won't be able to trace it back to us."
Lin Er said nothing.
If the smallpox plague was released, even if one wasn't careful, it would cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. At this moment, he only felt the heaviness of the clothes in his hands.
"Lin Er, don't be soft-hearted, and don't confuse friend and foe. The refugees from King Zhoushan's camp will eventually turn into bandits and attack our Jinzhou Prefecture. Our soldiers are elite, and we absolutely cannot afford to suffer even the slightest loss. We're doing this for the City Lord's long-term plans!" Hu Wei's eyes gleamed, and he patted Lin Er's shoulder earnestly, "Now that chaos is about to break out, we must show no mercy to our enemies! As long as you make this trip, we can easily take King Zhoushan's territory into our possession."
Lin Er's face was filled with fear, "If the city lord finds out..."
"She won't find out. This dress was left behind by the medical school. The medical school staff didn't find out, and neither will the city lord's staff. This matter is known only to heaven and earth, and you and I!" Hu Wei's tone became a little heavier. "Lin Er! Those who achieve great things don't care about trivial matters. Don't be soft-hearted! Even if King Zhoushan suffers a great loss, I, Hu Wei, will bear the responsibility alone!"
Lin Er pursed his lips and said nothing. He thought for a long time before accepting the clothes worn by the smallpox patient.
"Master, I understand."
At the end of October, a full-scale war broke out between Jinzhou Prefecture and Qianzhou Prefecture.
Led by Xu Zhenying, they approached Xingyuan Prefecture; the west was also not peaceful, with the King of Zhoushan clearly showing signs of mobilizing troops; while the Qianzhou Prefecture in the south acted contrary to its usual behavior and actually chose to launch an attack when they were so stretched!
Jiang Yongkang personally led 15,000 native brothers from the south and directly attacked Jiezhou, the capital city to the south of the Big and Small Li Kings. The remaining 5,000 people encircled the area from both sides and were responsible for clearing the county town below.
Every time they arrived at a county town, they spread the false news that Jiezhou had been occupied, causing panic among the people in the counties below. Before the soldiers from Jinzhou Prefecture arrived, several places had already opened the city gates and surrendered.
The soldiers of Jinzhou Prefecture marched straight in, advancing as if they were in an empty space.
The people behind Xu Yinxi followed closely behind, and when they arrived at a point, they raised the flag of Jinzhou Prefecture. Then the propagandists followed closely behind, using the three magic weapons of Jinzhou Prefecture: Lanxian pigs, universal education and cowpox vaccine.
When these three measures, which concerned the vital interests of the people, were implemented, the people were already dizzy and no longer cared who was the emperor.
It doesn't matter who is the emperor, right?
In addition, the soldiers of Jinzhou Prefecture were very measured in their actions and methods, never exploited the common people, and sometimes even helped them with farm work. As a result, the reputation of Jinzhou Prefecture became increasingly famous!
In fact, Xu Yinxi is really stretched!
To capture each of these counties, we need to quickly stabilize the people's hearts and minds and immediately start operations, but where can we find so many people in such a short period of time?
So she could only send out some people to slowly carry out these tasks. For example, for comprehensive education, she would first survey the village population, which would take ten days to half a month, so she bought them time.
The common people are like donkeys pulling a millstone, with a carrot dangling before them, and they naturally have no choice but to follow. As long as they are given a glimmer of hope, they will willingly become people of Jinzhou Prefecture.
Therefore, Jiang Yongkang traveled south without any worries, and there was rarely any news of mutiny in the captured counties.
Furthermore, the Li Kings' men were a motley bunch; in the final analysis, they were no more than the same kind as Li Datou, only with more men under their command. As soon as the Jinzhou soldiers charged, the Li Kings' men scattered like birds and beasts, some even abandoning the city in surrender.
Along the way, they drove the men of King Li and King Li almost to the middle position.
In the end, almost all of the elite troops of King Li, the Big and the Small Li, were killed by them and hid in a place called Xiangshuifu.
The Xiangshui Prefecture is surrounded by walls on all sides, the city is solid, and the view is wide. Once you approach within five kilometers, you will be noticed. It has unique geographical conditions.
At this point, the war fell into a stalemate.
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