Fu Min's mind was still filled with images of his intimate moments with ten women that day when the soldier's cry of "The city has fallen! Run for your lives!" pulled him back to reality. Fu Min racked his brains for a long time but still couldn't figure out how the city had fallen so easily.
He clearly had an army of 100,000! 100,000! A righteous army loyal to the king! Every single one of them raised their arms and shouted with him to save the people of the world. Such a great cause, shouldn't Heaven help him?
More and more deserters poured out of the road ahead, each with despair and terror on their face, shouting for their lives.
Just yesterday, they had plundered Zhengzhou with their "power," and during the celebration drinking that night, everyone boasted that they were incredibly awesome, that they could crush that tyrant in a minute, that a fart could shatter the earth, and that they could smash the sun with their bare hands. They claimed that after gathering troops to defend the king this time, they would definitely be ennobled and would have endless wine to drink and women to sleep with.
Fu Min rubbed his swollen eyes, and his deputy Wu Zhenxiong said, "Commander Fu, let's quickly withdraw from Zhengzhou City first, and settle accounts with Zong Ze later!"
Fu Min slapped him across the face and roared, "Bullshit! I'm the best in the world! I lead a righteous army to protect the emperor, and that old scoundrel Zong Ze is nothing but dust! Dare to oppose me? I'll go and kill him right now!"
Fu Min led his men and rushed toward the city gate.
But the closer he got to the city gate, the more deserters he found. The eastern part of Zhengzhou was in complete chaos, with deserters everywhere.
Like a wounded lion, Fu Min roared, "Stop right there! Stop right there! Stop right there! I am Fu Min, the commander of the garrison! Anyone who dares to flee will be punished according to military law! You will all be killed!"
Someone's eyes lit up and they shouted, "What! He's Fu Min, the commander of the garrison! He's the one who sent people to capture us and bring us to fight! Quick! Everyone, charge! Capture him and hand him over to the court! We've done a great service!"
Fu Min was slightly taken aback, as was Wu Zhenxiong beside him.
As a group of people rushed over as if they had found a treasure, Fu Min was overwhelmed by the crowd before he could even order his soldiers to stop these crazy deserters.
They rushed over and pounced on him, emitting screams like Fu Min being slaughtered.
Just how corrupt were the Imperial Guards of the Song Dynasty?
Apart from a few elite troops like the Gongsheng Army, who were taken to Hedong by Zhao Huan during the Northern Expedition, the rest were basically rendered completely ineffective in their decadent lifestyle.
Take the Xinyang Army for example. When Wanyan Zongwang's army was at the city gates and the order to defend the capital was issued, Fu Min disguised himself and hid in a brothel for two months. After the Jin invaders withdrew north, he came out to act. In order to avoid punishment from the court, he led people to the mountain roads to suppress bandits. Of course, it was not a real bandit suppression, but to collect protection money!
Originally, Xinyang had nearly 80,000 Imperial Guards, with 40,000 vacancies and more than 30,000 old, weak, sick and disabled soldiers. The Privy Council's idea was to remove all the vacancies and reduce the Xinyang army to only 5,000, which would then be incorporated into Zong Ze's command.
When this news reached Xinyang, Fu Min was naturally outraged. He had long heard that Zong Ze was strict in disciplining his troops, and that drinking was not allowed in the army. Most importantly, it would be less convenient to visit brothels in the future.
Just then, the landlords and wealthy merchants of Hexi Road were dissatisfied with the new emperor. They heard that a prime minister in the court was also actively contacting high-ranking officials in the capital to plan for the restoration of the retired emperor. The two sides hit it off immediately.
Fu Min, whose brain was filled with fleshy lumps, was promoted to the position of commander-in-chief of the army that was loyal to the emperor. He and Cao Sheng, the commander of the Huaiyang Army in Hedong Road, were known as the "Two Commanders of the Army Who Loyal to the Emperor". Their slogan was: "Purge the court of corrupt officials and rectify the situation!"
Fu Min had only been dreaming for a few days when he was bound hand and foot by his own men and handed over to Zong Ze.
The city was breached through the siege route in less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.
The supposedly 100,000-strong army of Zhengzhou was like paper; the generals guarding the city were still indulging in a drunken stupor, and the city walls were filled with wine, with empty wine jars everywhere.
What's even more hilarious is that when Zong Ze's army was at the city gates, the defending general Tian Qi was drinking and playing drinking games with his subordinates. When his soldiers told him that Zong Ze's army was at the city gates, he impatiently said, "What are you afraid of! We have the brave and invincible Commander Fu, we are the righteous army that is loyal to the king, we have the protection of heaven! Come on! Keep drinking! Hahaha, I won, you drink it all!"
When Zong Ze saw Tian Qi, who was bound and thrown in front of him, completely drunk and unconscious, his face turned ashen. He was truly disappointed in him. If the Song army was like this, wouldn't the Song Dynasty perish if the Jin invaders attacked again?
Tian Qi was so drunk that he had no idea what was going on. He just mumbled, "Come on! Keep drinking! After we finish, we'll go to Yichun Tower to have some fun!"
Zong Ze's son, Zong Ying, roared, "What a disgrace you are, Commander of the Xinyang Army! You have utterly disgraced the Song Dynasty's military! I have never seen a commander as good as you! The court pays you handsomely just so you can drink and cause trouble!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than a military report came from below: "Report! The rebel commander Fu Min has been captured!"
Zong Ze was slightly surprised. He hadn't expected that Fu Min would be captured so soon after the city was breached.
The success of today's siege was beyond his expectations; he hadn't anticipated it at all.
Zong Ying also found it strange. He had planned to personally lead a team to capture Fu Min, but he didn't expect to be caught so quickly.
"Bring it up!"
Before long, Fu Min was brought up. By this time, Fu Min had been beaten black and blue, and the people who dragged him up were several greenhorn soldiers from the Xinyang Army.
“General, the current emperor is benevolent and virtuous. He has abolished corvée labor and reduced taxes, truly caring for us farmers. We were forced into the army by Fu Min. If we don’t join the army, his soldiers will kill our whole family. Please, General, do justice for us and for the common people of western Beijing!”
Upon hearing this, Zong Ze was furious. The nation had raised an army for a hundred years to resist foreign enemies, but now these imperial guards not only failed to set an example, but also oppressed the people. It was a disgrace to the Song Dynasty!
After seeing Fu Min, Zong Ying finally understood why Zhengzhou City could be captured so easily, and why the defending general was such a despicable person.
This is no army, it's a bunch of thugs and scoundrels! The Song Dynasty is doomed with these idiots!
Only now did Zong Ze truly realize why the emperor wanted to reform the army.
After capturing the commander, the new army began to enter the city to maintain order.
Subsequently, Liu Banshan, Wang Xiren, Li Fangyuan, and Meng Qiaoyan were all captured. From the commander-in-chief of the Xinyang Army to the military commander, military lieutenant, commander, and captain, everyone was arrested.
They were escorted to the capital to await the emperor's personal judgment.
News of the fall of Zhengzhou quickly reached the imperial palace, and soon the newly appointed prefect arrived in Zhengzhou to begin the subsequent reconstruction work. At the same time, officials from the Political Propaganda Department and newspaper staff followed closely behind.
Everything was carried out very quickly. The new army was stationed in Zhengzhou, and after a day and a night, they conducted a thorough investigation of the remaining forces in Zhengzhou. Then, Zong Ze divided his troops into three routes and marched towards other prefectures and counties in Hexi to begin clearing out the remaining forces of the Xinyang army.
Everything went smoothly on the Jingxi Road. It can be said that the new army temporarily displayed thunderous fighting power, quickly defeating the Xinyang army without shedding too much blood.
However, Jingdong Road at this time was completely different from Jingxi Road.
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