Chapter 142
Looking at Chu Mountain.
The last remaining hideout.
I thought the situation could be resolved quickly, but unexpectedly the battle became a stalemate.
The bandits in Wangchu Mountain were elusive. A group of them would appear from here and another group from there, rescuing the people they had captured.
They were in a lot of trouble.
-
Looking at Chu Mountain.
Inside the fortress.
The boss of Wangchushan is surnamed Jin, and everyone calls him Boss Jin.
He was filled with anxiety at the moment, and his desire to escape grew stronger day by day.
"Sir, shouldn't we move faster? While the people in the court haven't reacted yet, let's run to Nanning quickly! Secretly cross their border and start a new business."
Sir, that is Yu Ruo.
Since the capture of Heitu Village in September last year, he dragged the chieftain to Hubao Village. However, not long after, the chieftain insisted that he was a spy for the imperial court, so he had to leave Hubao Village.
As he traveled south, he had to deal with the harassing letters from his fourth brother.
But the Seventh Prince attacked too quickly. He infiltrated the bandit's lair and had no time to gain their trust, let alone a say. There was no hope for this place.
He simply went directly to the last Wangchu Mountain.
This place is closer to Xiang River and Nanning.
Boss Jin of Wangchu Mountain was very superstitious. He fooled people for a while and successfully won the trust of Boss Jin with his theory of numerology.
But this man, although outwardly fierce, was actually a bit timid at heart. Having heard about the Seventh Prince's success along the way, he had already begun to feel frightened. Before the Seventh Prince even got close, he planned to run to Nanning with his brothers.
The leader of Heitu Village is reckless, while Boss Jin of Wangchu Mountain is timid.
Yu Ruo smiled.
"Hold on a little longer. The passage to transport the money out will be dug soon. We can't just throw the money away. If the boss abandons them this time, they will abandon you too."
Going to Nanning?
You wish.
People from Da Zhou should stay in Da Zhou. Nanning will not accept them.
Boss Jin wanted to give up some of it and quickly escape, but he swallowed his words and sighed heavily: "Alas!"
After he left, the smile on Yu Ruo's face disappeared.
Gu Xin climbed in from the window: "Your Highness, there is news."
He whispered something in Yu Ruo's ear.
Yu Ruo frowned, "So fast."
He left the room and looked down the mountain where the military camp was stationed.
"To deliver a letter."
-
They all knew that Zuo Tianlang's petition for merit had been approved, and they were very happy at first, but they didn't expect to hit a snag at the last minute.
Because they seemed to see different bandits every time, they couldn't even figure out how many bandits there were in Wangchu Mountain.
They had been invincible all along, but now they have suffered a setback and their morale has dropped a lot.
Zuo Tianlang felt vaguely regretful. The petition he had written to request merit seemed to have added a lot of pressure to everyone under the circumstances.
"Your Highness, I'm sorry. I just submitted this memorial because I saw that the matter was almost over."
Qu Dubian sat on a tree stump, holding a plate of mutton in his hand and eating it with a skewer.
The iron rule that popping champagne at halftime can easily lead to accidents is the same in ancient and modern times.
But he wasn't really stumped.
After all, bandit suppression is not a real battlefield. Every battle is a way to accumulate experience. For him, victory is important, but the process of how to win is more important.
"Why are you in such a hurry? There are many solutions. I was just thinking, they..."
Qu Dubian's eyes suddenly brightened.
whoosh——!
A sharp arrow shot out from the jungle and pierced into him one meter in front of him!
Lieutenant General Zhang's pupils suddenly shrank and he stood up abruptly to protect Qu Dubian.
“There’s an assassin!!”
"Enemy attack!"
"Protect the commander-in-chief!"
A dozen soldiers rushed over quickly and surrounded Qu Dubian who was sitting on the tree stump.
They looked around vigilantly. Qu Dubian slowly put a mouthful of roasted lamb into his mouth, chewed it, and reached out to pull out the arrow.
A folded piece of paper was tied to the tail of the arrow.
He put his meal aside and opened it. There was only one line of words written on it: [Find me within two days and you will get a piece of news that you will be interested in.]
The handwriting of this line of words is ordinary and there is no discernible style.
Qu Duanbian fell into deep thought: "Could it really be you..."
Thinking back to the past eight months, the favorability level suddenly increased for no apparent reason. It seems quite possible.
This guy is a bandit in Wangchu Mountain?
Nanning can't afford to support him anymore, right? After being a hostage, he became a bandit and insisted on eating and drinking at the Zhou's expense, refusing to leave, like a son-in-law.
"It's just a provocative letter."
He gave the letter to Zuo Tianlang and Lieutenant General Zhang. Lieutenant General Zhang was still young after all, and he almost exploded with anger after reading it.
"What the hell! They're dancing on the imperial court's head!"
"General, let's kill him!"
"Teach them a lesson!"
Qu Dubian comforted the soldiers and returned to his tent.
"Now that I think about it, Banban, do you think the third leader of Heitu Village is also Yu Ruo?"
Ye Xiaoyuan: "The people from the Black Slaughter Village who were captured all said that the Third Master was weak and frail. Someone drew a portrait of him that was really... It's not ruled out."
Qu Duanbian thought: "Why would he, a prince, appear in a bandit den in the Great Zhou?"
Ye Xiaoyuan: "We'll know once we catch him."
Qu Watanabe: “Not necessarily.”
If it was really Yu Ruo, he gave him two days, but this guy didn't say to stand there and wait for him.
When it was completely dark, Qu Dubian changed into black clothes and left the camp.
He took Lieutenant General Zhang with him and quickly disappeared into the night.
Brigadier General Zhang is young, has good eyesight, decent internal strength, and knows some light body skills.
Qu Dubian grabbed a stone, flipped up, avoided the bandits' sentry post, and landed on the mountain range of Wangchu Mountain.
Lieutenant General Zhang was extremely nervous. "General, what are you looking for? Just tell me and Commander Zuo. There's no need to come here in person."
Qu Duanbian touched his lips: "Shh."
He felt his way forward inch by inch and found an inconspicuous little hole hidden in a rock.
The rocks were pushed aside and the entrance of the cave became bigger.
It’s about enough for one person to bend down and squeeze in.
"?" Lieutenant General Zhang, "Why is there a hole here?"
Qu Dubian blew up the fire stick and was about to go in, but Lieutenant General Zhang grabbed his arm.
"..." Qu Dubian turned around and looked at him.
Without saying a word, Lieutenant General Zhang let go of his hand.
Qu Watanabe: "Wait for me for a moment."
He was thin, so when he bent over and walked in, he didn't seem too crowded.
The oxygen in the tunnel was very thin, and one would feel a bit stuffy and suffocated if walking for a long time. Qu Dubian groped for the soil in the tunnel and twisted it in his hands.
It wasn't unearthed recently.
There are two forks in this passage. Qu Dubian walked along the left one to the end and found that he had gone directly from one side of the ridge to the other.
There is indeed a tunnel here.
The bandits in Wangchu Mountain are different from bandits in other places. They know about tunnel warfare.
When he was almost at the end of the right fork, he heard faint voices.
Qu Dubian blew out the fire and quietly approached the outside of the cave.
The entrance to the cave was sealed with iron sheets, and he could faintly smell the smell of gunpowder, as if it was coming from outside.
"Come on, don't yawn. If the boss sees you, he'll scold you."
"If you don't tell me, when will our boss leave?"
"I think they'll be done in a couple of days..."
-
Qu Dubian came out of the tunnel, held on to a stone, and took a deep breath.
It was almost suffocating in there.
Lieutenant General Zhang pursed his lips and fanned him nervously.
Qu Watanabe, "Mark it, let's go explore somewhere else."
The tunnels were well hidden. He and Lieutenant General Zhang searched for half the night and found three in total, out of six exits. Three exits were inside the fortress and all were blocked with iron sheets, and there was gunpowder outside.
If someone tried to launch a surprise attack from the tunnel entrance, they would surely make a noise, and then swords and gunpowder would await them.
Lieutenant General Zhang avoided the bandit sentries and came down from the mountain before saying, "They are not rats. They dug so many holes, we must not have found all of them. No wonder we have not been able to catch them. Who can catch them?"
"But knowing there is a hole makes it easier. It's only a matter of time before we catch them."
Qu Dubian nodded, returned to the tent, and called Zuo Tianlang and the two deputy generals he promoted.
The people he promotes become his soldiers.
This is the fundamental reason why the eldest prince and the second prince competed for the task of suppressing bandits.
He circled the location of the tunnel on the map and said, "Get ready. We will launch a smoke attack before daybreak."
Speed is of the essence in war.
"Destroy their tunnels first."
-
"The tunnel is no longer usable."
After hearing the battle situation, Yu Ruo said, "The exposed tunnels must be completely destroyed. Don't let them have a chance to get in."
"They are attacking the mountain now. Have your brothers go out from the back of the mountain, go around the mountain to the garrison camp, and use ropes to throw stones tied to them and throw fireballs."
-
The fireball hit only once.
Qu Dubian ordered thirty soldiers to aim with the crossbows and smash the stones that were knocked down from above, and he took the remaining twenty or so people to kill the stone slingers on the opposite hill.
The other side relied on the advantage of the terrain and threw flints around the mountain, but he turned their advantage of the terrain into a disadvantage.
The south is mountainous.
Wangchu Mountain has never been the highest one.
-
"They moved the catapult! They copied your method and attacked us."
Boss Jin was so panicked that he wished he could take the remaining gold, silver and treasures and run away immediately.
"Sir, please don't buy me time to move the money. I don't want it anymore. I don't want it at all! If this continues, we won't be able to escape."
Yu Ruo: "Don't worry, you can run away."
His tone was very confident, so confident that Boss Jin felt that they were not facing a crackdown by the imperial court, but a group of children playing house.
Bang!
The rocks were thrown down from a great height, making a loud crash. Boss Jin suddenly shuddered, "No! No, we must retreat quickly. It's still not too late to run now..."
"You can still run away later. If you wait a little longer, you can keep more money, boss."
Yu Ruo: "I'll make one last move, and then we'll retreat, okay?"
Seeing Boss Jin struggling, he gave the order.
"Pour kerosene into the tunnel and burn the mountain to stop people."
After the order was executed, Yu Ruo left without any reluctance.
He did not take the newly dug escape passage, but went directly to the cliff of Wangchu Mountain.
The entire mountain of Wangchu is divided into two in the middle.
He grabbed the rope tied to the tree and jumped down. Halfway through the jump, Gu Xin grabbed his arm.
He couldn't help but say, "Your Highness, this is too risky. It's too high. If Wu Ying wasn't waiting below, I would be half crippled if I jumped down."
Yu Ruo: "There's no other way. If we take the underground tunnel, we'll be caught."
-
Qu Watanabe: "Stop the hole."
Without oxygen, how fiercely can the fire burn?
The southern region is very humid, and the smoky Wangchu Mountain looks like a huge steamer from a distance.
Zuo Tianlang wondered: "They set the mountain on fire. Isn't this cutting off their own escape route?"
Qu Watanabe: "The commander never thought about the bandits' retreat."
He estimated that the time was almost up. "The tunnel they escaped from should be at the exit in the south. Let the brothers go up the mountain slowly, and you lead the troops to the south to block them."
"yes."
"General Zhang, please take care of the finishing touches."
"General, where are you going?"
"I have something to do," Qu Dubian jumped on his horse, "You are not allowed to follow me, I will be back soon!"
He grabbed a compound bow and galloped across the mountain stream, the water splashed by the horse soaking his clothes.
There is a line of sky above the cliffs of Wangchu Mountain, and the dark canyon blocks out the sun.
If this place wasn't narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, it would be a very easy place to set an ambush.
Ordinary people would not choose to leave from here because it is narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, and one cannot stand on the mountain. Even a master of internal strength would easily fall to death.
but--
Qu Dubian stopped outside the canyon, narrowed his eyes, drew his bow and arrow, aimed at the white figure in front of him, locked the arrow rest, and loosened his fingers.
whoosh!
The sound of a sharp weapon piercing the air echoed throughout the canyon.
Gu Xin quickly drew his sword to block it, and the sword and arrow collided, making a crisp sound.
Qu Watanabe: "Yu Ruo!"
About a hundred meters away from him, Yu Ruo turned around.
He laughed: "You caught up so quickly."
"Long time no see. Your way of meeting is really vicious."
It really is him.
But this guy had a disguise on his face, and it looked a little different from his original appearance.
Qu Watanabe: "Yeah, long time no see, why don't you come and catch up."
Yu Ruo raised an eyebrow: "Why didn't you come over?"
Qu Watanabe: "Oh, I'm tired."
Yu Ruo: "What a coincidence, I'm tired too."
They both knew it well.
It was impossible for Yu Ruo to go out because he would be caught by Qu Dubian.
It was impossible for Qu Dubian to get in, because no matter how narrow the skylight of Wangchu Mountain was at the top and wide at the bottom, there was still the possibility of an ambush there.
Yu Ruo: "If you were on guard, why did you go to the meeting alone?"
Qu Duanbian spread his hands: "If I brought people here, would you still tell me the news from your mouth?"
Even if he brought people with him, he would never let the soldiers enter the Yitiantian Canyon before the situation above was fully clarified.
If the investigation revealed nothing wrong, Yu Ruo would have already run away during this period of time.
Yu Ruo: "Of course not."
Qu Watanabe: "I'm here, do you have any news?"
Yu Ruo raised his hand, Gu Xin grabbed his arm, and quickly left the canyon, leaving behind a sentence:
"The north wind has risen. If you have relatives who are not feeling well, please ask them to keep warm."
Qu Watanabe's expression changed slightly, and after a few seconds, he raised the compound bow again.
The first arrow was shot.
Gu Xin blocked it.
The second arrow was shot.
The witch shadow in the dark caught it.
The third arrow came whistling, brushed against Yu Ruo's temple and disappeared into the stone in front.
Yu Ruo touched the side of his face and felt a trace of blood.
Qu Watanabe: "Thank you for telling me, but I don't know if the north wind has the help of the south wind."
He would check what happened to Bei Feng himself, and he didn't believe all of Yu Ruo's words.
The news from the dark web had not yet been transmitted, but Yu Ruo, a native of Nanning in the Great Zhou, was able to find out the news from the northern border.
There is a possibility that Northern Xinjiang is colluding with Nanning.
Yu Ruo turned around and smiled: "Seventh Prince, you are not as grateful as you were two years ago! When I unify Nanning, I will treat you to Nanning sweet wine!"
He intervened in the bandit problem of the Great Zhou, helped them grow stronger, and disrupted the defense of the two states of the Great Zhou. We didn't chase him and kill him because he chose a good place.
Qu Duanbian also smiled and said, "What taste does mortal wine have? When your Nanning Kingdom is destroyed, I will send you to taste Meng Po's cooking."
[Yu Ruo's favorability +1]
Yu Ruo: "I'm waiting!"
He left the narrow passage.
On the other side, Qu Dubian stopped his horse with arrows on his back and did not look back for a long time.
The fiery clouds in the sky made the stream look like colored glaze, reflecting the young man on horseback.
Qu Dubian vaguely heard the soldiers' cheers of victory.
He was not in a hurry to go back. He led the horse to the river to drink water, and then he found a stone to lie down on.
It's been eight months since I last had a chance to relax.
-
The bandit suppression campaign has come to an end.
The night when the last batch of bandits were escorted back to Qingzhou.
The soldiers gathered together in a relaxed manner.
Several bonfires were lit.
Qu Duanbian was reading the news from the dark web. Just as he finished reading and burned it, his tent was opened by a group of soldiers, "General!"
"General!"
"Your Highness, you are here. Eunuch Xiaoyuan lied to us and said you were not here."
Qu Watanabe was stunned: "What are you doing?"
Lieutenant General Zhang said with a smile: "We brothers are having a dance competition! You should go and have a look."
Qu Watanabe: "A duel, sure. I can also give them some pointers."
As soon as he walked out of the tent, he was shocked for a second by the scene outside.
He saw the two lieutenants he had promoted dancing around the fire with their upper bodies naked.
The couple dance culture is unique here. There are several sets of couple dances with different levels of difficulty. They compete to see who has the lowest error rate and who dances best.
There were two young men, one from Qingzhou and the other from Jeju. Neither group gave in to the other, and the soldiers cheered for the people from their own states.
A warm atmosphere is overwhelming.
Qu Duanbian said with a smile: "It's this dance competition."
Lieutenant General Zhang winked and said, "General, you are going too."
Qu Watanabe: "I can't dance." He was never one to spoil the fun. Since they were all out, they might as well have some fun together. "But I'll accompany you."
He asked someone to bring the big drum and moved it to the open space next to the dance. Then he took two big wooden mallets and struck them: "Dong Dong Dong—"
The soldiers were startled and looked back.
Their young commander, his face silhouetted by the bonfire, was beaming with smiles and a cheerful look.
"Why are you looking at me? Dance! If you dance well, you will be rewarded!"
The atmosphere was silent for a moment.
Then it was like a raging fire splashing into boiling oil, the heat could lift up the night sky.
“Okay!!”
"The general is great!"
"We will follow you from now on!"
Lieutenant General Zhang laughed foolishly, folded his arms and looked for a long time, then suddenly noticed Ye Xiaoyuan standing in front of the tent.
He knew that this eunuch had been in charge of handling the general's private affairs, as well as some information handovers, so he quietly approached Ye Xiaoyuan.
"Eunuch, I heard that the Seventh Prince used to be sick, but he is doing fine now that we have been fighting bandits together."
Ye Xiaoyuan paused, "Your Highness just had a weak health when he was a child."
Lieutenant General Zhang: "Oh..."
He shook his head. "Seeing is believing after all."
Ye Xiaoyuan: "Yeah."
People in the capital only knew that His Highness had seldom been sick since Princess Zhiyi's marriage. But only he knew that it was not that His Highness had seldom been sick, but that he almost never called the imperial physician again.
For some minor symptoms that were not obvious, I just endured them myself and didn't even tell him.
He would show his feelings only occasionally when he was in extreme pain. He would feel lazy and would hold on to his dog or pillow, or else he would just lock himself up.
He is no longer the prince who would act like a spoiled brat whenever he feels a little uncomfortable.
He felt sorry for His Highness and wondered why it had come to this.
His Highness only told him that the current Seventh Prince could not get sick.
Only he and Lord Liuliu knew about this matter, and His Highness had forced them to keep it secret.
They knew the seriousness of the matter and never talked much about it. He only said to others that His Highness's body was no longer the same as when he was a child as he grew older.
Ye Xiaoyuan looked at His Highness who was beating the drum and making a scene with the soldiers.
The bonfire was not as hot as his.
-
After that night.
On the second day, the bandits were escorted back to Qingzhou.
At this point, the soldiers of Jeju had successfully completed their mission, and after bidding farewell to their commander-in-chief, they left Qingzhou.
And Qu Watanabe also has to deal with the aftermath of the bandit suppression.
Some of the bandits who were captured had been caught before, so they were not very scared.
The court's attitude towards them was mostly to assimilate and tolerate them. After all, those who fought desperately died in the suppression of bandits, and the rest could be reformed.
Ji Huanfutai's cells were packed.
The successful suppression of the bandits made him feel relieved, but dealing with these bandits was still a troublesome matter.
Qu Watanabe: "How does Lord Ji plan to deal with this?"
Ji Huan sighed: "Those who committed minor offenses were released after being punished. Those who committed serious offenses were sentenced to twenty years of hard labor."
Qu Dubian waited for him to continue, and after a while, he asked: "That's all?"
Ji Huan: "Killing the leaders and the small leaders to establish authority is enough. The others can be used as laborers to save money on hiring workers."
"The bandits thought so too."
Qu Dubian took out a few pieces of paper and pushed them together on the table, "Master Ji, take a look."
"If you want a greater deterrent effect, follow what is said above."
Ji Huan looked at it for a while and couldn't help but ask, "Isn't it too heavy?"
Qu Duanbian: "It doesn't make sense that the bad guys should be treated better than the good guys in order to surrender. Those who have never done bad things, or whose crimes are very minor, should be comforted, given land, and resettled so that they won't become bandits again."
Ji Huan was silent for a few seconds, "I understand."
The next day.
He brought with him a list of bandits who had been recaptured more than twice, which Qu Dubian had given him, as well as several additional sheets of paper filled with red circles.
Ji Huan stood in front of the cage where the bandits were held.
"If anyone repents three times and becomes a bandit three times, he shall be killed; if anyone commits adultery, he shall be killed; if anyone commits murder, he shall be killed; if anyone sets fire to a village, he shall be killed..."
A series of killings made the bandits, who were originally smiling and thought that they were just being forced to do hard labor, feel like they were falling into an icy cave. Originally, they could have found an opportunity to kill the guards and escape after being forced to do hard labor.
If you are killed, there is really no hope of survival.
“Why?”
"Why? It was never like this before!"
"We don't accept it!"
Ji Huan continued to recite steadily.
Five hundred and twenty-three bandits were sent to the guillotine.
The executioners' knives were bent, but the people were not chopped off completely.
The execution ground was covered with blood.
After the news of this terrifying deterrent punishment spread, the bandit problem in Qingzhou and Jeju was completely eliminated.
The bandit suppression campaign came to a successful conclusion.
-
Three days later.
Qu Dubian and Zuo Tianlang retired from Qingzhou after accomplishing their mission.
Brigadier General Zhang sent him out for a hundred miles, and finally gave Qu Dubian a box of fine incense and gave Zuo Tianlang the sword of a general from the previous dynasty.
"Please don't refuse. My master said that he didn't treat us well when we first arrived. Now that we are leaving, he must express his apologies."
Qu Duan smiled and said, "Okay, I'll take it."
He glanced at the troubled Zuo Tianlang and said, "Okay, take it. Just report to His Majesty when you get back."
Lieutenant General Zhang clasped his fists and suppressed his reluctance: "Take care, General!"
He called him the general, not His Highness.
Qu Watanabe: "Take care!"
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