"At first, we could no longer bear the bullying of corrupt officials and powerful people, so we rose up in Liangshan Marsh, rebelling only against corrupt officials, not against the emperor. However, the Jin army invaded, and Emperor Zhao Ji, the retired emperor, was in a state of panic. He abandoned his country and millions of people, and hastily abdicated and fled to the south. He was as busy as a dog that had lost its home, and as anxious as a fish that had escaped the net."
"The new emperor, Zhao Huan, succeeded to the throne without any ambition, completely inheriting the old emperor's legacy. Internally, he favored corrupt officials and excluded virtuous officials. Externally, he feared his enemies like a tiger, groveled and withheld favor. He even ceded territory and paid indemnities, selling out the ancestral heritage in order to survive. This is the greatest disgrace since the founding of the Song Dynasty. Such behavior will surely be nailed to the pillar of shame in history and despised by the world."
"The Song Dynasty is now in turmoil. Its foundation is broken, and hundreds of millions of people are about to be plunged into a devastating disaster. We, the heroes of Liangshan, hereby call on those who are unwilling to be slaves of a conquered nation to drive out the Tartars and defend the Han land. This is my order!"
To put it bluntly, this so-called notice is just a manifesto.
After reading it, Li Gang and Zhang Shuye looked at each other in surprise.
The article is written in a crude manner, full of slang and colloquialisms, but it is powerful and the logic is sound.
As ministers of the Song Dynasty, Li Gang and the other man had to keep some things in their hearts and not speak them out loud.
To some extent, this article expresses some of their thoughts.
Seeing the strange expressions on the two men's faces, Zhang Shixun came over and took a few glances at the notice.
Seeing this, I almost laughed out loud. Wang Dong is really full of tricks. It would be fine if he just made a fuss everywhere, but he also added unnecessary details and came up with this nonsense manifesto.
Judging from the choice of words and sentence structure, it should have been written by AI and then "polished" by Wang Dong.
Li Gang stuffed the "manifesto" into his sleeve and said to Zhang Shuye, "Have someone take down all the notices in the city."
Zhang Shuye nodded in agreement.
Li Gang looked at Zhang Shixun again, "Shixun, you took over a thousand soldiers to the streets, are you protesting against these unscrupulous people?"
"Not really." Zhang Shixun shook his head. "I'm using these 1,000 soldiers to create a net, or what we call a 'formation'. With this net, even if Shi Qian and the others have extraordinary abilities, they won't be able to escape."
Li Gang understood what was going on. "I understand. If we want to capture Shi Qian, we have to lay this net, right?"
Zhang Shixun nodded.
"In that case, please wait here for a moment while I go into the palace to report to His Majesty."
Zhang Shixun knew that he was going to ask for the imperial edict, so he nodded and said, "Okay, go ahead. I'll wait in the barracks."
After Li Gang left, Zhang Shixun brought Zhang Shuye to the playground.
A thousand soldiers have assembled and are sitting on the playground waiting for orders.
Hei Bie, the temporary deputy commander, was sitting at the front of the team. Upon seeing Zhang Shixun arrive, he jumped up and shouted, "Everyone, stand up!"
A thousand soldiers stood up in unison and saluted Zhang Shixun.
Zhang Shuye looked at the neatly arranged troops and the stern faces of the soldiers, and couldn't help but sigh inwardly: Zhang Shixun has a good way of training his soldiers.
He entered the officialdom with the help of his grandfather, liked to talk about military affairs, and later led troops as a civil servant. He first recruited Song Jiang and then joined the expedition against Fang La, making considerable achievements.
The emperor also recognized his ability to lead troops, and Zhang Shuye also boasted about his ability to lead troops.
But when he saw him today, he realized that he was nothing compared to Zhang Shixun.
Zhang Shixun held his head high and chest puffed out as he patrolled the team from the front to the back, stopping from time to time to carefully adjust the soldiers' clothes.
"Everyone, at ease!"
He stood in front of the team and said with satisfaction, "The hard training we've done has not been in vain. You're starting to look like soldiers now, but it's not enough. You're still some distance away from being qualified soldiers. You still need to keep working hard."
"Today, I will lead you out of the barracks to once again demonstrate the might of our First Army. At the same time, I will use you to set up a massive formation in the capital. Let's call this formation the Heavenly Net Formation. Once it's completed, not even a Daluo Jinxian, let alone someone like Shi Qian, will be able to escape."
This was a bit of an exaggeration, but the soldiers believed it. After hearing it, they were all in high spirits and couldn't wait to fly out of the barracks.
Zhang Shuye secretly complained to himself, "You keep bragging. Although I know you have supernatural powers, aren't you bragging a little too much?"
A dragnet formation?
Never heard of it.
Zhang Shixun hadn't seen the First Army officers and men for many days, so he had plenty to say. He talked about Shi Qian and the Jin soldiers, and then about the current situation. Finally, he said, "The court summoned me back this time and offered me the titles of Commander-in-Chief of the Right Wing of the Tianwu Army and Inspector of the Left Army, but I declined both."
When the officers and soldiers heard this, they were secretly shocked.
He was the commander-in-chief of the right wing, already the Grand Marshal, and yet he was rejected?
"Being an official is not my dream, especially when treacherous officials are in power..."
Zhang Shuye was shocked when he heard this and quickly stopped him, saying, "Shixun, be careful with your words."
Zhang Shixun turned and smiled at him, then continued, "I'm taking you out this time. After I capture Shi Qian and the others, I'll retreat back home. However, that won't be long. I believe I'll be back soon, donning my armor once more, and lead you to slay the Jin soldiers like a madman, driving them back home completely."
The soldiers were so excited that their blood boiled and they cheered loudly.
This speech lasted for more than half an hour, and the soldiers' emotions were completely aroused by him.
Seeing that Li Gang had not returned yet, Zhang Shixun ordered the soldiers to rest on the spot.
"Shixun, you're really outspoken." Zhang Shuye pulled him aside and said, "I'm going to give you some advice. You should keep some things in your heart and not speak them out loud, let alone to these soldiers. Otherwise..."
Zhang Shixun said with a smile: "Mr. Zhang, please don't forget my identity. I am just a commoner. What can't I say?"
"Alas!" Zhang Shuye shook his head. "I finally understand why the court dislikes you."
"Haha! I don't care...Mr. Zhang, I think Mr. Li should be back soon. Please wait here while I change into my military uniform."
Zhang Shuye nodded in agreement and strolled around the playground with his hands behind his back.
He suddenly discovered that there was a red object on the left arm of each soldier. He walked closer to take a look and saw three big words "First Army" written on it, and above it, there were two very small words: Tianwu.
He asked a soldier, "What is this?"
"My dear husband, this is an armband."
"armband?"
"I heard from the army commander that wearing the armband is to show the First Army's prestige to others and to remind soldiers to always maintain a sense of honor."
When Zhang Shixun returned from changing into his uniform, Zhang Shuye sized him up and down, praising him: "Shixun is a natural-born military commander. Wearing this armor, he looks majestic, like a general from heaven."
"Mr. Zhang, you are too kind."
Zhang Shixun spoke modestly as he looked toward the gate, muttering, "Mr. Li has been gone for so long and hasn't returned yet. Could it be that something strange is happening at the court again?"
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