Tuo Junjing brought his deputy general Park Qianwen and the few remaining subordinates to Jiulong Mountain. The Qinglin Army was stationed here, and the defending general Geng Chen was Tuo Junjing's old subordinate.
As luck would have it, when Tuo Junjing and others arrived at Jiulong Mountain and reported, the Qinglin Army hurriedly welcomed them to Geng Chen's camp.
As soon as I entered the tent, I saw Geng Chen sitting in the commander's seat with a man standing below him.
This person was none other than the envoy sent by Li Ziqian. The envoy said, "General Geng is a man of insight. The other day, Tuo Junjing led his troops in rebellion. Fortunately, Your Majesty saw through the situation and has already suppressed the rebels. However, the rebel leader Tuo Junjing and his deputy, Park Sangmun, have escaped. Your Majesty has issued an order: whoever captures Tuo Junjing will be promoted three ranks and receive a reward of ten thousand taels. Whoever captures Park Sangmun will be promoted one rank and receive a reward of one thousand taels."
Before he could finish his words, Tuo Junjing rushed in with Park Qianwen and others.
The envoy was shocked and pointed at Tuo Junjing and said tremblingly: "That's it, that's it, that's the man. General Geng, why don't you capture him quickly!"
Tuo Junjing said nothing. Park Qianwen said coldly, "General Geng, if you capture us, your future will be limitless. If you want to capture us and ask for reward from that bastard Li Ziqian, you'd better act quickly!"
Geng Chen sat there without saying a word, and Tuo Junjing also said nothing, but Park Qianwen glared at Geng Chen angrily.
The messenger was anxious: "General Geng, why don't you act quickly? Do you want to betray His Majesty? Capture this man now!"
Geng Chen slammed the table and stood up, then drew his sword and walked down: "Catch him, we must catch him!"
The messenger smiled, and Park Qianwen took a step back, drawing his sword and preparing to fight. But Tuo Junjing stood there motionless, showing no intention of taking action.
Unexpectedly, when he walked to the side of the messenger, Geng Chen suddenly thrust out with his sword, piercing a transparent hole in the messenger.
The messenger opened his eyes wide in horror, unable to believe what he saw: "You, you..." After saying these two words, he spat out a mouthful of blood and fell on Lin.
Geng Chen walked up to Tuo Junjing and knelt on one knee: "General Geng Chen, I am honored to meet you, sir!"
Tuo Junjing just nodded slightly, then sat down in Geng Chen's seat without any hesitation.
Instead, Geng Chen lowered his head respectfully, which surprised Park Qianwen.
"Geng Chen, you already know what happened. I went to assassinate that bastard Li Ziqian, but I didn't know that he was well prepared. Of my 500 men, only these few are left." Tuo Junjing said sadly.
Geng Chen hurriedly bowed and saluted: "Sir, Li Ziqian's actions are atrocious, and the generals in various places have long been dissatisfied. But, sir, what about the ladies in the capital?"
Geng Chen didn't continue. Tuo Junjing felt a pang in his heart: "We fled in such a hurry that we didn't take any of our families with us. I think they must have been killed."
Geng Chen's eyes were filled with hatred. "Sir, when will we start? Let's attack Kaifeng and kill that bastard Li Ziqian to avenge my wife!"
Tuo Junjing waved his hand and said, "The enemy is powerful right now, so we don't need to rush into this matter. Go contact the nearby garrisons and find anyone willing to join me in the uprising. We will then rebel against Li Ziqian!"
Geng Chen bowed again and said, "Li Guo of Pingge County and Du Junteng of Lucheng have always been on good terms with me. They have long been dissatisfied with Li Ziqian. Now that you are here, for the sake of Da Rao's reputation, I can go and gather them together to revolt."
Tuo Junjing nodded and said, "Go down and prepare some food. My men are starving after traveling all the way."
Geng Chen bowed and left in an orderly manner, as if the leader of the Qinglin Army was Tuo Junjing, which left the deputy general Park Qianwen stunned.
Anyone who comes to seek refuge, even if they are your former subordinates, must be given enough face and not become the host. After all, if you say something unkind, you are like a dog that has lost its home.
Tuo Junjing, on the other hand, was the opposite. As soon as he arrived, he seemed to be the master here, and Geng Chen was his follower. Although Geng Chen was indeed Tuo Junjing's subordinate in the past, this was his territory after all.
After Geng Chen left, Park Qianwen hurriedly asked, "Sir, shouldn't you be a little more polite to General Geng?"
Park Qianwen expressed his concerns, saying that he was now living under someone else's roof and this was no longer his army.
Unexpectedly, Tuo Junjing just smiled lightly: "You are also surprised, aren't you? Others dare not, but Geng Chen will not betray me."
Although Tuo Junjing seemed confident, Park Qianwen still had some doubts.
Tuo Junjing smiled again: "Let me tell you this, Geng Chen was in my army back then, and we were brothers who shared life and death together. He saved my life, and I saved his. He was originally just a guard beside me. I helped him up step by step, and we were brothers who kowtowed to each other on the battlefield. Once, when we were fighting the Jurchens, I was surrounded in Wild Boar Ridge, and he led his men to rush forward and save me regardless of his own life.
Another time, we suffered a crushing defeat, and during the rout, he fell seriously ill. I carried a doctor back from a town a hundred miles away to treat him. Over a hundred miles, in the snow, the doctor refused to come. I knocked him unconscious and carried him for three nights. I was so stupid back then. The moment he woke, I punched him. By the time we reached Linfang, Geng Chen wasn't dead yet, but the doctor was nearly dead. Hahaha..."
At this point, Tuo Junjing burst into laughter, but then his laughter died down. A trace of sadness appeared on his face. "We have a life-long friendship. Do you know why he came to this remote place like Jiulong Mountain to garrison?"
Park Qianwen shook his head blankly: "I don't know."
Tuo Junjing sighed: "Five years ago, before you joined our army, Li Ziqian was already in power. Someone in the court falsely accused Geng Chen's father of collaborating with the enemy, and I suspected Li Ziqian was behind it. Geng Chen's family was wrongfully imprisoned. I didn't know what evil scheme they had used at the time, but they found letters with envoys from the Song Dynasty in Geng's house. At that time, Goryeo was affiliated with the Jurchens and was at odds with the Song Dynasty. Before the evidence was conclusive, Geng Chen's father had no way to defend himself, and it also implicated Geng Chen himself. It was my wife who risked being implicated and went to the palace to ask His Majesty to pardon Geng Chen's father. I was afraid that Geng Chen would continue to be framed in the capital, so I wrote a letter to ask him to come to Jiulongshan to garrison."
Park Qianwen finally understood why Geng Chen had been so anxiously asking about Tuo Junjing's wife's condition. He had immediately gone berserk when he learned that Tuo Junjing's wife's life was in danger. It turned out that there were so many complications involved.
Soon, Geng Chen and his men prepared wine and food. During the meal, Tuo Junjing drank and chatted with him, the two of them hugged each other and cried bitterly, and then laughed heartily. It was not until dawn that they fell asleep on the table.
From their conversation and behavior, Park Qianwen could tell that they were brothers who were willing to die for each other.
After three rounds of drinks, Park Qianwen could tell that Geng Chen was quite forthright. On the surface, at least, he seemed like a close friend. No wonder Tuo Junjing valued him so highly.
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